The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter CXXIV: Jacob's Point of View

"It's long over due, Jake," she was saying while we were lying on the bed, the morning light just starting to stream through the windows. This was my favorite time of the day. Annie's hair was a little wilder in the mornings, a frizzy mane around her face. The light would hit her sun-tanned skin in the most amazing way. This was when we did all of our talking. Annie would lie on my chest, her arms folded over my chest with her chin resting on her hands. "I mean, Nate hasn't actually gotten to go to a bonfire. He was run out. Charlie hasn't even been invited to one. And then you've got Penn now too. We have imprints that haven't gotten the chance to be welcomed the way they should have."

"Annie," I groaned. I had yet to set up a bonfire since I had become Alpha. Ever with her by my side, I didn't know if I could do it.

"Come on, Jake. You're Alpha now, which means that Sam can't run Nate out. Charlie knows us all but she's never gotten to be a part of the bonfires. And I don't even know Penn. I mean, I've talked to her, but I don't know her," she was begging. How could I say no to her when she was begging? "We can do the pack part of the bonfire before your dad shows up and then my dad, Nessie, and Billy can all come over."

"Annie, how are we going to put a bonfire together? I don't know what I'm doing," I griped.

"But Emily does. We could talk to her and get her help. We both know that Em will want to help; she loves this kind of stuff," she said logically. "And Sam can go chase a rabbit if he has a problem with it. You are Alpha Jake; things don't have to be done the same way that Sam did them. You're allowed to make your own decisions," she replied. She leaned down and pressed her lips to my sternum, still begging me to go along with her.

Her eyes were wide and her mouth puckered in a pout. With blue eyes staring at you with such longing, how could you ever say no to this girl. "Fine," I gave in. "You can go talk to Emily tonight and try to set something up for next weekend," I conceded.

"Next weekend?" I nodded. "Why not this weekend? Come on, Jake, everyone needs a little break from the craziness."

"No, Annie. You and I have plans this weekend," I countered.

"We do?"

"Yep," I popped.

"And when were you going to tell me about these plans?" I just laughed. "I'm serious; what if I had plans for this weekend? What were you going to do then?"

"You talk to me every day. You would have told me if you had plans. Nice try, whiny," I teased, leaning forward and kissing her nose. "We leave tonight. Pack the bags and we'll go as soon as I finish patrol tonight."

"Do I get to know where we're going?"

"When have I ever told you when I have special things planned?" I laughed. She frowned and looked at me with mock danger. "You always have fun when I make plans for us to do," I pointed out. "Have a little faith, Annie. You'll see."

"I always have faith in you, Jake. It's me I worry about. I don't handle surprises well," she warned me.

"I've known you for how long now? I know you better than you realize." She just frowned at me. "Besides, it's not a surprise when I tell you that we're doing something," I pointed out.

"But I don't know what we're doing; that makes it a surprise, Jake," she countered. I just rolled my eyes at her. "Okay, well can you put my girl mind at ease and tell me what I have to wear?"

"Nothing fancy," I said, having learned long ago that I just needed to tell her what to wear and she would stop her whiny. "It's just going to be us. We're not going to be going out or anything. Just enjoying the fact that it's just you and me."

Her eyes narrowed in the dangerous way that told me that I was on thin ice with her. But thin ice with her was thick enough to jump on. She was never really angry at me. She would get a little worried about things and yell at me, but in reality I was always in a good place with her. I kissed her cheek and rolled over, her groan turning into a laugh as I crashed on top of her. "I have to go to patrol," I said between her giggles. "And you have to sit here and pack. I'll actually need some shirts, by the way." She smacked my chest.

"I'm not your slave," she laughed. She smacked my arm when I bent down to kiss her cheek. I stooped again, chuckling this time. She turned her head and caught my lips in hers. It was nice to just kiss her, not to feel like the world is crashing down around the two of us. It was so easy for me to get lost in her when she did shit like this.

"Okay, okay; I have to go," I murmured against her mouth. I pulled away slowly but surely. "You suck at this whole letting go thing." She just laughed at me and kissed me again, following my lips until she was sitting upright with me. The problem was that I was no better. I wanted to kiss her all damn day. But not yet; just another couple of hours.

I finished patrol and made sure that I warned everyone to keep Nessie and Charlie safe. The little demon seed was an unexpected part of our family but she was a part of it nonetheless. Charlie and Nessie were the family that Ryanne had left and I would make sure that they were well guarded. We got it, Jake, Collin assured me when I saw the house waiting for me. I nodded one last time and phased out, pulling on my shorts and walking up the stairs.

The duffle bags that I had asked her to pack were sitting on the front porch, waiting for me. She hadn't packed much, which was the thing that I loved about her. She was always so great about being more practical than perfect. And her practicality is kind of perfect in its own way. "You ready to go?" I asked when I walked into the house.

"Where we going?" Dad asked from the kitchen. Annie laughed from her spot on the counter next to him. Dad was resting his hand on her feet, the only part of her that he could really reach with ease.

"We're going out for the weekend; like I told you Dad," I reminded him. I caught his eye, making sure that he knew what I was talking about. His eyes glinted with remembrance in the brief moment before he grabbed on her ankle and tugged, signaling her to hope down like he always had. She popped down, landed lightly on her feet and leaning over to kiss Dad's cheek. "We'll be back Tuesday night," I announced.

"I didn't pack enough for that long," she said, her eyes wide with worry. "I should -"

"We'll be fine, you worry monster. Let's get going," I suggested, pulling her hand away from Dad's chair and tugging her towards the door. "Come on," I said again. She refused to come easily, but what else was new with my girl? I stooped low and swung her up into my arms and over my shoulder, listening to her shout and laugh and beat me with her fists. I tossed her into the bed of the truck, tossing the duffle bags in behind her and making sure she didn't land too hard.

I turned around to make sure that I had all the things that we needed before nodding and opening the driver's door. "Are you going to stay in there the entire drive or did you want to join me?" I asked her.

She rolled her eyes and scrambled towards the edge of the truck and hopping over. As I'd hoped, she'd kept herself pressed against me during the short and bumpy drive through the forest. All of this gave me the reason to wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her into my side to keep her from flopping around like a fish out of water. "So remember after your sister's wedding when the two of us spent the night in the treehouse?" She nodded, her teeth chattering as she bumped along the road. "Well, I had fun that night." She blushed, remembering everything that had happened that night. "So we can't leave until I know that nothing is going to hurt my Pack," I began. "But we can go camping."

I came to a stop in the middle of a clearing that I had found a few days ago, a decent distance away from the Rez and Forks. Where she would still be safe and I could check on the guys if needed, but we were still alone. I helped her out of the car and switched her for the duffle bags, tossing them in the backseat and lifting the tarp in the back. "We're going to hang out in the bed of the truck for four day," I explained, revealing everyone essential to camping, including a mountain of food.

"We're going camping for four days?"

I nodded and smiled at her, knowing that she would be excited. The girl loved to be outside and alone with me. "Yep." And then the little spitfire attacked me.