The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter LXVIII

As we neared Paul's house, I fingered the mark that Jake had put on my neck. I wanted to say that nothing about our night together had hurt... but it had. But I didn't regret anything that had happened. Jake had been so gentle, so careful with me. And it was in a different way then he usually was.

His kisses lingered on my skin, on every inch of me. His hands were all over me, holding me tight against him. Both of us had, uh, finished before the dads got home, which was a good thing. And the mark didn't look anything like a hickey.

No, it looked like a regular old dog bite on the little juncture between my neck and my shoulder. I was glad that my hair covered it because I didn't need to explain to my father what had happened and how I had let a large dog that close to my neck.

"Stop messing with it," he said when he looked down at me.

"Sorry," I whispered, blushing.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," he laughed, pulling me to a stop and pressing his lips against the fresh mark. Electricity zapped through my body, shocking me with its intensity. "I'm certainly not sorry about anything." His deep chuckle rumbled through his body, shocking my skin with it.

"Regardless of what it is, it's still a wound, Annie. Let it heal and stop messing with it."

Paul bounded down the steps of his house as soon as he smelled us approaching. I felt bad for the guy. He had wanted to wait for the right time to tell his imprint the truth about the wolves. Not only had Sam taken the timing away from him when he'd Alpha Ordered Paul to tell her, but he had taken the choice away from Paul when he'd provoked him in front of Charlotte.

There were a lot of places where I felt like Sam was screwing up lately, like he was slowly losing his touch as Alpha. And if you asked me, that meant that it was about time for Jake to take over.

Jake's magical solution to the world crashing down around us had been for Paul to carry me up the hill to the meeting place, where I would stay with the vampire and the bitch - I mean my sister.

Jake couldn't carry me; his scent was too close to mine. We had tried it and Jared said that he could still smell me, but not as much as he could smell Paul. I wondered how Jake's mark would change things.

"Way to go man," Paul said. "Nice to know you have some balls."

I turned redder than a tomato as I realized what he was talking about. Leave it to Paul to make me feel uncomfortable about this. I shouldn't really be surprised. Paul did have a reputation that was pretty well backed up. At least from what I'd heard. I wondered what that would mean for his imprint. I couldn't even begin to guess what it was going to feel like for her when she realized just who Paul LaHote had been.

"Leave her alone, Paul; or you'll pay," Jake warned.

He pulled me swiftly into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "I'll see you real soon, okay? I'll be up on the hill about the same time as you and Paul, okay?"

"Stop worrying, Jake," I said into his chest, listening to his heart pound underneath my ear. "Nothing is going to happen to me." He just nodded. "Now go get my sister."

"Don't start that again," he warned.

"I didn't mean it like that," I said honestly. "I just meant go and get to her so that we can get this whole thing started."

He nodded and pressed his lips against my forehead. Paul made some vomiting sound behind us. "Don't think I won't do this when I meet your girl," I said.

"Won't matter," he said simply. He turned his back to me, bending into a crouch so that I could jump up on his back.

"She's deaf."