High Tide

1. Something's Wrong

Blinding, something was shining on my face. I opened my eyes. Pleasantly to my surprise, I discovered I was outside. I was forced to squint, the sun was blazing in my direction. It had just reached the rim above the mountain tops, but that was enough to rouse me from my slumber.

"Damnit."

I couldn't believe it. I'd fallen asleep outside of Nessie's house. Again. I needed to stop this habit of mine. It was starting to become some sort of strange tradition. It felt perfectly normal sleeping outside in my wolf form, but I really needed to go home to my dad at night. He still worried about me when I didn't come home at night. The fact that I was a full grown adult male/alpha wolf didn't change his judgment. My dad should give me more credit and worry less. A man of his age shouldn't worry so much. It's not good for his health. If he thought I wasn't safe alone with vampires, he was wrong, so far. It had been over six years and still I hadn't been attacked by Edward or Bella or Nessie. Actually, Nessie tried to sneak tackle me every once and a while, but that didn't count. When was my dad going to be able to trust them? I did.

Edward and I were somewhat acquaintances, I'd even venture to call us friends. He wouldn't hurt me and Bella she would never lay a finger on me. The mental image of her trying to attack me cracked me up. Then I remembered the time when she had actually lunged for me. The memory triggered the mental image of poor Seth jumping in front to save me. Since then, Bella never tried to attack me. I knew she could attack me, if she really wanted, but she wouldn't. She was just Bella to me, even after her transformation into a bloodsucker.

Nessie must have heard me wake up because I saw and heard her rushing. She was coming from what I inferred was an early morning hunting trip. She made her way into the little clearing in front of the house. She stopped and waved to me from the opposite side of the clearing. I didn't respond to her motion.

"Jacob?", she asked confused pulling her eyebrows slightly together. She waved more slowly again this time.

I couldn't reply. I was still half asleep and dazed. I was dazed by her. Today was an uncommonly sunny day in Washington. It was not overcast nor gloomy. The sun was being reflected off her skin and made her shiny. She twinkled. I didn't know any better word to describe it. Her shine was not as obvious as the Cullen's. But whenever she stepped into the light she still had a similar glow.

I brought myself back to reality and flashed her a grin.

"See you inside." She said still standing on the outer tree line of the clearing.

She looked at me a little differently this time before she left. She did not seem like she was confused but I couldn't be sure. Her facial expressions were always maturing as she grew older. I had never seen this expression on her face before. A second after she saw me looking at her stare, she dashed into the cottage. That was strange. She usually would let me study her expressions. Nessie always wanted to share what she was feeling with me. I was going to follow her inside to take a deeper look into her weird behavior. But before I could even start after her, Edward took her place in the clearing where Nessie had stood less than second ago.

He greeted me, "Good morning Jacob."

There was no cheer in his voice or face when he addressed me. He had no expression. What was up with everyone today? I wondered if I needed a haircut. Maybe my hair was too shaggy that I started to become unrecognizable. It had been a long time since I'd cut my hair last. Actually I couldn't remember the last time I had cut my hair. Yup, I'd need to cut my hair soon. I would make that a priority.

I nodded to him. Nodding was my typical greeting to most people. I was going to nod to Bella but she was no where to be seen. She wasn't in her usual spot, close to the left side of Edward. Where was she? Edward and Bella always arrived back from hunting together. I heard her running in the distance. She was still several seconds away. This was Interesting. Edward never ran faster than Bella he always slowed down to keep pace with her on trips. Maybe, my unruly hair was not the cause of the anomalous behavior today. First there was the stares, now Edward leaving Bella behind. That was absolutely an atypical action of his. His appearance did seem a little off-