The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter CXLIV

Jake was hauling more driftwood to the bonfire site, since out little hunt hadn't gone exactly as planned. When Jake had gone to take a shower after we'd gone home that night, I'd sat down with Nessie to talk about her aunt and uncle's proposal. "I think that it would be fun," she admitted. "But I don't want my mom and dad there, you know?" I nodded. I did; I understood. "I just don't know what I can do to prevent that."

"If you really want to go, then you can," I whispered. I could still see the hesitancy in her eyes. "Why don't we give it a test run? You can go with Rosalie and Emmet during the bonfire," I suggested. It was the only way that I could manage to get rid of her without being completely rude. Nessie wasn't a technical part of the Pack or the tribe. Even if she knew about the wolves and about the vampires and all the legends, even if everyone of us had come to accept her presence in our family, she wasn't Pack and we weren't allowed to have her there for tribal matters. Period.

"For the weekend?" she asked, still unsure.

"Yep," I popped. "If anything happens, you call us and we'll come and get you right away," I promised her. There was still a little reluctance, but she eventually agreed to go with her aunt and uncle.

Jake took the two of us on his back to the meeting spot in Seattle. I made sure that Rosalie and Emmet were indeed alone. Jake made sure that Bella really wasn't there and threatened the parasite with their lives before he agreed to leave. We were hiding, not so well considering we were around supernatural vampires, until Nessie was smiling and chatting away like the little magpie she was. And then we loped off towards the beach, since I was already dressed and ready for the bonfire.

All of our friends were sitting on the logs, around the fire that was just barely starting to burn. Paul had Charlotte in between his legs, her back resting against the log and his chest. It was good to see him happy, with someone that made him the kind of guy he was supposed to be. Claire was sitting on Quil's shoulder, looking completely and utterly content among her friends regardless of the age different. Jared had Kim sitting sidesaddle on his lap, her head cocked at an angle to rest on his shoulder. Jared had laid his cheek on on top of her hair, his arm idly stroking his arm. Nate and Leah were just arriving, Leah riding piggy back on Nate, laughing as they walked down the hill. Sam was standing behind Emily, his arms wrapped around her waist and, in a rare show of affection, his face nuzzled in her neck. Seth, Collin, and Brady were all off playing a strange version of three-way football.

But the couple that truly caught my eye were Penn and Embry. I had met her a handful of times and spoken to her even fewer. I knew her by reputation, but if there was one thing that I had learned with the back, it was to ignore reputations. Paul wasn't anything like man-whore that I'd always thought him to be. And Penn Rivers was no different. Embry had only imprinted on her about three months ago and since her attack, he was all but living with her. And now, she was sitting, huddled into his side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear. All she did though, was nod and press herself closer. She knew. I could see it in her eyes. She knew about the wolves. And she was trusting Embry to take care of er.

"Do you remember what you said?" Jake whispered. I practically jumped out of my thoughts and turned to stare at him. He quickly caught on. "When I told you that I imprinted on you, you asked me why me. Do you remember?" I nodded. There were days that I still couldn't believe that the spirits had chosen me to be with him. "You said that Jared needed someone who would show him something other than social status. I think we can both agree that Kim does that for him." I smiled and nodded. Billy came rolling up with Sue right behind him. "You said that Paul needed someone that was going to teach him how to control his temper. He can't yell with Charlie because she can't understand. That's another problem solved, huh?" I smiled up at him. "Quil has definitely been learning patience from Claire," he laughed. I turned away from him to find Claire stamping her foot on the ground and throwing a fit because of something Quil had said. "Leah has learned that not everyone in the world is out to hurt her." The diamond on her finger glinted in the fire's light. "And Embry? I think he's figuring out that not everything about his life is shit. He's finally learning that there are people who have it worse than him."

I smiled and let him tug me into his side. "And you Jake? What does your amazing imprint do for you?" I asked with a laugh. I was expecting his normal tease. But he turned and looked at me with nothing but fire burning in the depths of his serious eyes.

"She's the most incredible of all. She's the Alpha imprint," he began. "She's taught me that I can trust myself to make the right decisions. She's shown me that not everything in the world is black and white. Somethings are grey and then you have to decide what's best. But the most miraculous thing that she's done so far?" I was blushing like a tomato, looking at his chest instead of his face. Jake's hand wrapped around my chin and forced me to look at him. "She's made me into the man that my mother would have wanted me to be." I smiled and felt tears welling up in my eyes. "I love you, Ryanne Lee Swan."

He sealed the promise with a chaste kiss to my lips. But I quickly grabbed his face between my hands and pulled him to me, licking his bottom lip and jumping up on him at the same second. He stumbled back a little but caught himself and me. His fingers squeezed my ass through the denim of my jean shorts while my fingers threaded themselves through his hair. "I love you, too, Jacob Black," I muttered against his neck. He nuzzled my neck until my face was up where he wanted it again, lips against lips.

A wolf whistle from the cloud interrupt our heated session. Jake dropped me down to the ground while I buried my head in his chest, having broken my own rules about public displays of affection. I just couldn't bring myself to care this time. That, of course, didn't stop the embarrassment that was there. Embry was barking short howls that had everyone laughing while Charlie, unable to hear any of this, was just smiling at me with sympathy. "You brought that one on yourself," Jake whispered. I shook my head against his sternum.

"I blame you. You don't get to say shit about the kin of person that I make you and then think that I'm going to let you leave," I replied. Jake leaned down to kiss me again, less heated than the last time, but still just as loving.

"One is way too many," he muttered before pressing his lips to me again. "But one more is just never enough."

"Yeah, well make it enough!" Embry shouted, tossing a stone towards us. Jake pulled me behind him to shield me from the blow that never came. "Some of us would like to eat our food and get this thing going," he added. I glared at him a little but quickly noticed Penn's face. She didn't look at all at ease around us. Best to keep the mean teasing to a minimum until she could understand us all a little better.

"Go play catch with the guys," I said. "Leave the cooking to the people that aren't going to burn everything to a crisp," I suggested. He pressed another kiss to my cheek and nodded towards the guys. I saw Embry hesitate a little when he stood, Penn keeping her hand on him, her eyes wide. I had never known Penn Rivers to be afraid of anyone. "Hey, it's uh, Penn right?" I asked, walking over to them. She nodded, a stoic mask dropping over her face. "I'm Ryanne Swan."

Embry nudged her towards me and while she was still cautious, she released him and took a step towards me. "You're the one who fights MMA right?" I nodded. "Does that gym you go to give lessons?"

"No," I admitted. Her face showed just the tiniest disappointment. "I could talk to Frank though; he's the owner. I'm sure he'd be willing if you're interested. You looking to compete?"

"Just self defense stuff," she admitted. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that she didn't need self defense with all the guys around her, but I just nodded.

"Frank's really big on all that kind of stuff. I'll let Embry know what he says," I promised before I noted the perspiration on her forehead as she struggled to stay upright. "Maybe after you're fully healed." She simply nodded and followed me to where we were all helping Emily. Even Leah was standing there...laughing.

I let out a shrill whistle for the men about a half hour later. Everyone with an imprint came trotting over and found their girls and Nate. Jake was staring at me fro ma distance, a slight smile on his face. Undoubtedly dreaming about the food. "See something you like?" I asked, thinking that I could start his plate.

"No," he replied. I frowned. Jake loved food. He took a few steps closer to me. "But I see someone that I love." I laughed.

"You're corny."

"And you're a bitch." I laughed and turned in his arms. "But I love you for it."

"I love you too, Jake."