Finally, the final installment of this story. Thank you Egratia, for editing this chapter for me. Jet-lagged and still not unpacked from vising me down under, you polished and gave this gem some luster. Thankyou.

FYI- This is the longest Epi in the history of written word. Part of me sends an apology, but most of me says enjoy a good, hearty chunk of story...

Epilogue.

William ran up the hill. His feet pressed into the loamy soil as he sprinted, bare chested and bare foot. His heart pounded with excitement. He was enjoying the new power and strength his growing body had given him.

Bella jumped as he ran inside, slamming the door. "Mom! It was so good. Dad was doing all these kind of flips and stuff."

She put the last grilled cheese onto the press, wiping her hand on a dishtowel. "Was he?"

Her eldest son opened the fridge, and took an apple from the crisper, taking an oversized bite. "Mh- hm."

She looked him over as he came to sit at the counter. He'd gotten darker over the summer, running and playing with his siblings and cousins in the water. And taller. Much taller.

They'd all been worried last spring when both Will, and Sam and Emily's eldest two started to have growth spurts. But they'd never developed any kind of fever and they'd never gotten the heated temperament of a new wolf. They were just boys growing up.

Will continued to talk around a full mouth as his brother and sister came in. "There's this swing that he said uncle Paul made and he made it swing really high and then he'd do a somersault off from the top."

Bella looked at her youngest, Drew and her daughter, Sarah as she pointed to the two empty chairs. "Come and sit down for lunch."

Sarah climbed up on to the stool, next to her older brother. "Dad said you had to wait for us and make sure we got home okay. You ran too fast, Will," she whined.

Bella pulled the toasted sandwiched from the press, her fingers smarting with the heat. "He's not coming up for lunch?" She cut the sandwiches, starting the hungry hoard off with a quarter piece each.

"He said to tell you he went for a run," Will said with his mouth full. Bella put her quarter on his plate and set about cutting up the rest.

"We'll did he say how long he was going to be? I wanted him to help me make the other beds before Uncle Em and Aunty Penny get here."

The teenage boy just shrugged like all good adolescents do.

Sarah jumped up and down on her seat. "Are Ruby and Grace coming tonight?"

Bella nodded, "and Sage."

Embry had three girls. One almost two years older than Sarah and directly in the mists of adolescent delinquency , and the other two, Irish twins Ruby and Grace were less than a year apart and in the same grade as Bella and Jacob's daughter, Sarah, at school. Between his wife and his three daughters, both Jake and Bella thought Embry Call was thoroughly wrapped up around their fingers. And the grey and black wolf couldn't have been happier about it, and that made the Black family happy for their friend too.

"Yes!" Sarah shouted. "We're so watching Pitch Perfect tonight!"

The two boys groaned.

Jake had been attempting, with varying degrees of success, to give up his wolf.

It had been five years ago that he'd first tried; his eldest, Will, had been ten at time., Sarah had just started school and their baby boy, Drew, had finally gotten out of diapers. Bella had been ready to get back into her copy-editing job and Jake had wanted to be able to guarantee his time at home so she could.

Five years, and it was still an uphill battle with the beast.

There were weeks when he didn't feel the itch of the monster beneath his skin in the slightest.

And there were others, like this week, where his need to go wolf each and every day— to simply tolerate the kids— almost consumed him.

He'd been playing by the river with the children before lunch, swinging off the rope and doing risky things, which Bells wouldn't have approved of, when he'd felt it creep on. The ants crawling under his skin. The clawing at his ribs. The heat of the phase charring him from inside.

He'd left Will to get the other two back to the cabin while he stretched his paws. Jake knew from years of coming down to their Colorado cabin that the wolf wouldn't be happy until he'd done at least one circle of the title perimeter. This place, the cabin, that the whole pack called a home away from home, had some tense memories for the wolf— some astounding ones for the man, but still, some tense ones for the beast. Jake knew what it would take to calm him enough to go back to the grilled cheeses he could smell wafting from the now much expanded cabin.

He was following the wolf-worn trail, headed back up towards the cabin when he first smelt it. Or at least he'd thought he'd smelt it. It was barely detectable even to his wolf nose, but he was sure he'd smelt it none the less. It was that too- sweet, sickly scent of leech. It was less acrid than the regular scent of vampire, rather a more subdued and earthy odor. The moment his nose had picked it up memories of cold, pale, yellow eyed beings filled his mind. It was the scent he'd have once associated with a Cullen.

He'd come across his fair share of red-eyed blood suckers over the years, and dispatched of them quickly. But this scent, the one of the vegi-vamps, was a scent he'd not smelt in years; not since the most agreeable couple of the crypt came to visit Bella and him when she'd had still been studying at Washington State. They'd more or less lost all contact with the Cullen family. The fortune teller had sent her a letter on occasion. Jacob would generally ask his wife burn it after she'd read them, they stunk up the house. She'd learnt to not even bring them inside anymore.

The soldier vamp had made contact through a solicitor over a decade ago with the details of a grant they'd set up for the wolves to help with education. Just like the cabin, the proud alpha in him bristled with the assumed charity from his enemy. But the reality was, apart from Bella and then Seth, none of the rest of the pack, wolf or human, had furthered there education beyond high school or their GED. It had been the bloodsuckers return to the Pacific Northwest that had been the catalyst for their hairy metamorphosis. It had tied them all to the Reservation for life, with no chance of parole. But the grants had given them that chance of rehabilitation. A way to better themselves and give back to their community while still on two feet. Just like Bella accepting the cabin all those years ago, the pack had accepted the grants too. Guilt money it may have been, but the outcomes were advantageous to everyone, none the less.

Embry finally got his degree with it. That was where he'd first met his wife Penny— in dentistry school. Bella and Penny had quickly become the best of friends too. They had shared many of life's milestones as women of the same age tend to do: adjusting to life on the reservation; the excitement of being young brides; the kicks and tightening as their first-born's grew inside them; and the trials and heights that they weathered from being mates of werewolves. Jake new Bella was going to be happy when Em and Pen arrived later that afternoon. Jacob just hoped they were on time to deliver the thing he'd asked them to bring with them. He wanted to be on the road by sundown. He had some memories to reminisce on with his wife.

And being out here, in this forest, searching for that elusively familiar scent, there were some memories that Jake hoped Bella never had to recall again. At least she had never had to see Edward again. Jake figured that after that day there in that forest, when Bella had told the sparky shit-head she never wanted to see him again, the mind-leech had finally listened to her, finally.

On each contact with the Cullen's, none of the parasites had mentioned their brother, and neither Bella nor Jacob had asked. Out of sight out of mind.

Jake was sure Bella was curious though, Jake was… just a little. So long as the mind reader didn't try the moves on his mate, it might have been good to see how he was getting on. So long as he didn't try his vamp juju shit on her again, because Jake knew he wouldn't have been as gracious as he was at sixteen if he did.

On second thought, he never wanted to see that lanky sparky ass ever again.

But as he trotted though the forest flanking the Gunnison National Park he was almost positive he'd caught something like that scent wafting down the mountain again.

It wasn't a leech he knew though. He'd memorized each of those blood sucker's stenches to heart years ago. They were etched into his brain like the dirt gouged tracks surrounding their vacation home.

He didn't know this scent. It was a faint scent too, almost so faint that it was almost missed. Jake wasn't sure if the odor was weak because it was old or if it had been deliberately concealed. On the off chance that option two was right, he had to go investigate. He wouldn't have tolerated any leech scent around his cubs, regardless of their diet, but an unknown one, who might have been hiding, was unacceptable.

The wolf doubled back to where he thought the scent had originated. As he turned, his huge paws skidded into the soft layers of pine needles that littered the undergrowth. With his nose to the ground, the Alpha of the pack hunted in search of the owner of the offending smell.

At full pace, Jacob circled around the building that sheltered his family. He searched in a pattern that spiraled outwards from the log cabin, if he could still call it that. The building that caught his eyes as he leaped over the trunk of a fallen old-growth now loomed three stories high. Just like his pack had helped him to clean up the aftermath of the Leech carnage all those years ago, all the wolves had helped the Blacks build on extra rooms as the pack had grown. They'd done it for love, and they'd done it for duty. But mostly they'd done it for a free place to stay on vacations from the Res. The little log cabin was now large enough to house two wolves and their families all at one time. Once, they'd managed to fit three couples, when the children were younger. The howling that must have been coming from that cabin that Christmas Break… the neighbors five miles over must have been ready to call the county Sherriff.

But no one was at his side in that moment, as he searched for the barely perceptible scent. The only wolf in howling distance, was Jake. His claws dug into the ground as he raced thought the forest. His muzzle snuffed and blew as he searched and ran. Around and around the wolf careered. Finding nothing, he circled back up to the house, listening to the clinking of plates as his mate and his cubs ate lunch. It smelt so good.

Bella had the habit of adding a little smoked cheddar into the normal cheddar mix. She made the best grilled cheese.

The wolf re-scented the air, hoping to catch another waft of the putrid smell that had sent him on that possible wild goose chase and prevented him from getting his grilled cheese.

Nothing.

The salty, crisp sent of the melted butter on the white bread was distracting. But he focused, closing his eyes for a moment and letting his spirit warrior propel him forward.

For fifteen minutes the wolf ran. Around and around. Circling back and forward, searching in vain for the source of the scent that was now gone.

Jake finished the last concentric circle, detouring back down to the river, to where he'd first noticed the stink. He slowed, coming to a stop at the edge of the bank that he'd been playing with his children on only minutes earlier in his own, human skin. The wolf bent down, watching his furry reflection in the gently flowing stream before leaning further and drinking great lap-fuls of the cool mountain water.

Quenched and having caught breath, Jacob, Alpha of the Quileute pack, ran a full circle of the boundary one last time. He zig zagged over the leaf-littered ground, sniffing the earth as he traced the same perimeter line he'd marked out over twenty years earlier.

He trotted further up the hill, beyond the cabin and towards the local access road. He paused at a great sandstone outcrop that he liked to sit on and contemplate life. The wolf sat back on his hunches surveying this domain, his back leg stretched up and scratched at an itch behind his shoulder.

He licked his chops, searching his eyes across the view of the valley that the Alpha saw as his. Below him was the lichen covered tiles of the roof that sheltered his immediate pack—Bella and the kids. He could see the small bundles of potted color that hung from the front porch, Bells made sure there was always bright salutations to great them as they drove up the driveway. Jake's gaze shifted to the side of the front drive, where the suburban was parked, to the silvering green of the forest that surrounded the cabin. Tall pines branched and stretched out, fingers of dichotomically sharp and soft needles and undergrowth twisted together to bring life to all those among it. Then beyond, in the distance, the water of the Gunnison shimmered out a soft silvery sparkle reflecting the afternoon sun as it headed over the Mesa.

The wolf let out a quick huffing breath, calmed and satisfied that whatever the scent, whoever it had been, was now long gone.

The breeze coming of the reservoir ruffled though his russet pelt. He scented the new air. Pine, loam, the fresh water of the lake below… and grilled cheese.

He leaned over her, sliding his plate into the suds. "Thank you." He pressed his chest into her back, nuzzling behind her ear as she wiped at the dishes.

Bella pressed back, turning slightly and lovingly rubbed her brow to his cheek as she continued to wash.

He bent further over the top of her shoulder, his hands spooning around her body and finding purchase on her breast. The other hand found its way under her shirt and up to the old silvered mark on her chest. His finger traced over the familiar crescent scar, tickling and soothing the skin. As always, like a spark to gasoline, his touch lit her up.

Jake inhaled, letting the gentle aroma of mate and home surround him. His hand cupped over her other breast, matching the one outside the shirt, and he rubbed playing with the now hardened nipple poking through the lace of her bra. "These are almost as good as that grilled cheese you just made."

Bella chuckled to herself, even after three children and almost twenty years of marriage he still couldn't seem to get enough of her body., aAnd her body, it seemed, still couldn't get enough of his touch. "You know your babies used to feed off these."

"And I plan on getting my own fill just as soon as those babies are asleep later tonight."

They both turned to the gagging sound coming from the refrigerator. "Really dad? I'm like right here. Save that shit for when I'm out of ear shot."

"Language!" Bella chided.

"Sorry mom, but—" Will's eyes followed down to where his father's hands were groping his mother. His face pulled back into a grimace of utter disgust. "Oh my god. I'm scarred for life. No kid should ever see that, you know? I'd say get a room but… oh man." He gripped at his head, pulling his long, black hair. "I don't even want to think about that… I don't even—" The refrigerator door slammed shut as their fifteen year old fled from the room of such corruption.

They both chuckled, smiling at the typical adolescent reaction of their son. It wasn't the first time the couple had been caught in a compromising position, not by a long shot. And it certainly wasn't the most compromising position one of the kids had ever found them in either. Their parents were in love and loved to show the other, it wasn't Bella and Jake's fault they didn't knock. The kids had learned to accept the physicality of the wolves; all the cubs had. Bella figured Will was just flexing his increasing hormones.

Bella turned back to finish the dishes. She fished out the last plate—Jake's— and wiped it before stacking it in the drainer. Jacob's hands slid away from his wife's body, slinking down and resting on her hips as he continued to look back to the refrigerator where Will had just been standing.

He'd been growing all summer. Bella was sure it was just a normal pubescent growth spurt. He was as cool to touch as the rest of his kids. But as Jake stood staring at the grip marks indented into the metallic handle of the refrigerator, he wasn't so sure.

He pulled his eyes from the dints as he heard the plug being pulled and the slurping sound of the water as it drained. He looked down over her shoulder as the soapy suds popped and dissipated down the drain. Bella flicked the white froth off her fingers, drying her hands on the dish towel to the side. Jake stepped back a little and her eyes followed to where his had returned to; the imprints on the fridge. Maybe it was that kind of growth spurt after all. She wondered how much of his childhood her son had left.

She stood close to Jake, wrapping her arms around his side and burrowing under his arm. "He had four sandwiches and then drank, I'd say, almost a half-gallon of milk."

Jacob shrugged, shaking Bella by the shoulder in an attempt to down play and distract. He hated that she was so worried. "You know we all love it when you add that smoky stuff."

She turned from her station by the sink, spinning on the spot until her body was flush with her husband's. Her arms draped around his neck, pulling him down to her. "You know it's just the Bacon Easy Cheese with Velveeta, Right?" She let herself be distracted for just a little while more. But she understood the gravity, no matter how Jake tried to spin it.

His hands settled on her hips and his thumbs brushed along the edge of her waist band. Jacob always loved the soft skin just above her hips. "Then it must be the way you butter the outsides or something."

Bella stood up on her tippy toes, bringing her lips into a pout. They kissed softly; dry and simple, but comforting and full of the happiness and undisputable love that they shared. "I know that's just the wolf bias talking. You have to love my cooking. Paul's the same for Rach, and we all know that she can't cook to save herself."

He held her by the shoulders kissing her one more time. They'd spend all afternoon like this if one of them didn't change the subject. "Speaking of wolves and their wives who can't cook, you wanted me to do something before Em and Pen arrive?"

Bella nodded and took him by the hand. She pulled him out of the kitchen and upstairs to the second master bedroom. "The beds are still unmade. They need to have clean sheets. You know I can't get those fitted ones on those king beds by myself."

He tapped her on the bottom as he followed her up the wooden staircase. "Short ass."

Bella Black was hanging her kids' damp towels over the front railing of the front porch when she felt it; that other sense that told her she was being watched. The wind was blowing through the trees that loomed above her, but that was all. Just the leaves rustling. No soft cheery song of the robin. No occasional whistle of the warblers. The birds were silent.

Jake had helped her to make the beds up and then they'd watched a little TV before he'd gone out for a run, on the pretense of collecting more firewood. They did need more wood, but Bella knew her husband's real reason for going for a run… the wolf needed to stretch his paws. He'd been feeling the pull of the wolf more strongly of late. She worried that it was in preparation for him handing over the reins to the next generation. To their son.

The kids were all inside watching a movie— the boys had chosen— and it was just her out there on the porch, but she knew she wasn't alone.

A cold shiver trickled over her skin and goose flesh rose in its wake.

Bella blinked, straightening a wrinkle in the terry toweling with a long stoke of her fingers. When she opened her eyes, there was a woman standing at the base of the steps.

She was staring at Bella with her golden eyes. They were lighter than she'd ever remembered Edward's or any of his family's being. They were greener than the topaz of the Cullen family, they reminded Bella of the color of wheat only weeks before harvest when the thin leaves of green still clung to the yellowing kernel.

The woman stood statue still, unnaturally so. Her skirt flapped against her thighs as she continued to stare at Bella. Her face was neutral, not scowling or malicious, but not smiling either. Bella felt her pulse quicken as her natural cautiousness and sense of self-preservation kicked in. The woman seemed curious, but Bella knew that in a fraction of a second the Nordic looking woman's curiosity could be satiated with her blood.

The woman blinked, licking her lips as she looked Bella over. Her eyes seemed to take inventory of the frail human who stood nervous clutching the rail for support. Bella stared back, her heart galloping with adrenalin, her breath coming in short, hiccupping pants; it had been near on two decades since she'd last seen a vampire. Her blond hair was braided in a single long twist that hung over her shoulder. Stray wisps of hair flicked against her jaw and cheek in the breeze. She was a stunning woman, tall and willowy with skin as smooth and pale as any vampire she'd ever seen.

"They were right, you do smell wonderful," she smiled at Bella, a hint of Germanic accent in her bell like voice. "I can see, now, what all the fuss was about."

"What do you want?" Bella asked, not wanting the false pleasantries she come to expect from the cold ones.

"To meet you, of course."

The wind picked up, flapping the towels against the rails and blowing the sweet honeysuckle scent of the woman across Bella's face.

There was a crashing sound from inside the house, like a chair had over turned from standing up suddenly.

Her eldest, Will, called out from within. "Mom?"

Bella stepped her hands over the railing, quickly moving to the top of the steps and placing herself between the vampire and her children.

With eyes still on the lithe looking woman below, Bella called to her son over her shoulder, "it's okay Willy, keep watching the movie."

The vampire's lips lifted in a pleased smile. "You have wolf children."

"They prefer the term shape shifter. And my children are none of your concern."

She held her hand out in a placating, biblical manner towards Bella. "Peace, child. Don't be afraid for them. For over eighteen centuries I have had to endure the heart break of watching the descendants of my children grow old and pass though this world. I would never submit another to that kind of torture."

There was a rustling in the forest beyond, something moving towards the cabin. Fast. Her breathing steadied as she waited for her wolf to reach their children and her. He'd always promised to protect her and she'd never doubted that oath for all the years they'd spent at each other's side.

As she waited for her soul mate to arrive, Bella reached across the short stair case, leaning out into the open. "Jacob!" she called into the forest. "Jake!"

A figure emerged from the bushes and Bella felt her heart seize as she took in the blurred figure as it raced across the clearing. Her heart pulled in her chest as a foreign worry, and a fear she'd not felt in years, began to grip her. Where was Jake? She felt a hopelessness overcome her as the second vampire stopped and stood protectively next to the other woman.

Finally, after all those years, the supernatural world had caught up with her. Her blood had always called to the undead, it had been nothing more than a lucky break and the vigilant lupine protection of her pack that she had kept her blood flowing though her veins for so long. Finally, after such a warm, abundant and loving life, it was going to end at the cold, hard hand of a vampire. She always knew she'd had it too good for too long. She just wished she could see him one last time. Tell him that she loved him. She always had and always would.

She closed her eyes as she held her shoulders strong and square. She would not scream, she would not cry out. But she didn't want to see them coming for her. She'd stand strong as she did all she could to keep her children unaware and as safe as they could be until their father arrived to protect them.

He'd protect his cubs, Bella knew that. But she also knew that he'd die a little inside after she was gone. Maybe more than a little even. He'd probably be not much more than a shell. But he would survive; for the kids. For them he'd keep getting up every day without her by his side. It gave her courage to know he'd continue, but she still wished she'd have a moment to tell him how much she loved him. Just one more time.

Pressing her eyes shut tighter still, she breathed in a deep, final breath. She tried to remember how her lungs felt filled with his kiss. How the heat of his sweat breath felt on her lips as he'd kissed her and his body had loved hers. Her fingers played at the old pink scar that sat at her wrist and her hand pressed a warm palm above her breast, above his mark. Their mark of fidelity and unity. Her mate. Her wolf. Her husband. It tingled and sparked as she said one final good bye to her love.

"I love you Jake," she whispered, almost inaudibly to herself.

The vampire still heard.

"Jacob's coming Bella. I can hear him. I simply abhor the idea that you'd fear me."

Bella's heart stopped. Her breath was apneic at the sound of that voice.

With her palm still pressed hard to her chest, Bella opened her eyes.

Next to the beautiful blond Norse goddess was a boy, tall and lanky with pale white features. Bella looked him over, her eyes weaving though the tangle of bronze hair that contrasted against the white of his skin. Edward.

Bella was a maelstrom of emotions: relief, longing, anger, nostalgia and relief once more.

Relief that she most likely was not going to die in that moment, longing for Jake to be at her side, nostalgia at the memory of the man she'd once loved—or at least the silly high school girl she'd been had loved, and relief once more at the bullet she'd dodged. The being in front of her was no man, he was a boy, frozen in time and unchanged from the last time she'd seen him. She truly understood then that she'd never have been truly happy with that life, with Edward. She'd never had been happy without Jake. Her sun.

Bella stared at the bronzed hair vampire, comparing her dull, human, memories to the vivid, unearthly image before her now, in the flesh—so to speak. She hadn't dreamt of the day she'd see Edward again—because dreaming of someone implied she had only fond memories of him. But she had wondered.

Everything about the way they'd both 'broke up´ with each other all those years ago had been callous and self-protective. Adolescent. First when Edward had deserted her in the forest. And then when Bella has told him she hated him and to never return. She'd meant it at the time, her wallowing had transformed to anger. But Bella was a forgiving person, and not one to generally harbor a grudge. She was in a much better place emotionally now. She was sure of her feelings and devoted to her husband and the family they'd made together.

What she and Jake had shared for the past twenty years was real and true. She adored the man like her heart would explode. After all this time she was still madly in love with him. Her natural path. There were no doubts. None. But there had been good times between Edward and her. Very good times. And she had truly loved him once. She was glad for the opportunity to say a more cordial good bye.

Bella was pulled from her inner contemplation's by a quiet yet determined voice coming from behind her. "Mom?"

She didn't turn around, her eyes remained locked in with the boy—because the creature in front of her really was sill that frozen in time seventeen year old she remembered. "Please go back inside Will."

He stayed right where he was. "Are they… are… are they…?"

Jacob had made sure all the children who were likely to have the gene knew the legends. And as they matured and reached an age to be trusted and not terrified of the truth, all the children of the pack were told all the truths. Will knew his father was a wolf, he'd seen it with his own two eyes. But Cold ones… he'd never seen one of those. And there were two, at his home away from home, and they were staring at his mother.

Bella turned her head, tearing her eyes from Edward's to face her son's. The wood of the door frame was cracking and splintering under the young man's grip. Bella licked her lips, slowly nodding her answer to his unsaid question. "Yes."

Will let out a long, whooshing breath and then in a rolling roar of bones cracking and skin tearing, Bella watched on in horror as her son transformed, for the first time, into his wolf.

The gangly beast stood at the top of the steps, his humanly long hair falling in long, cascading flows of a dark red-brown pelt. A rumbling growl built in his chest as he crept forwards. One paw in front of the other.

Edward stepped protectively in front of the other woman, pulling her behind him, his hand nestled into her waist.

"William. My name is Edward Cullen. And this is my mate Astrid. We will not harm you or your mother. We are peaceful. We do not hunt humans. You know about the treaty my family have with you people?" There was a pause as Edward listened to her sons thoughts. She'd forgotten how weird that was. Edward nodded seemingly appeased that Will remembered the teaching of the treaty.

The new wolf knew the anonymous version, what the child-man didn't know was just how deep his mother's involvement with the founding members of said treaty had been. And who this cold one in front of them had once been to her. It would all be divulged now he was pack.

"Then you know that my mate and I are no threat to you. Please," Edward begged.

Edwards's words echoed though Bella's mind. His mate. Not his friend, or his companion. His mate. Bella wasn't sure how she felt about that. She figured she had no right to feel jealous, or anything akin to that, but she did wonder. He'd declared his undying, never ending love for her in that forest just a mile or so down the mountain the last time she'd seen him. It had been twenty-five years, but surly that was only a blink for an immortal being. He'd blinked and when his eyes had opened he'd found someone else to dedicate his life to.

Bella supposed she hadn't been much better either. She'd declared her undying, never ending love for him in that forest back home when he'd left her all those years ago too. She'd love him so very much that she'd let herself waste away to virtually nothing. Physically and spiritually. All over the love she'd once declared unequivocally. And then she'd found Jake. And she'd been freed of the venomous hold Edward had had on her. And all the adolescent ardor and whimsical daydreams had paled in comparison to what she found in Jacob's soul in the life they'd made together. Bella had learned that love had many layers, may depths. As pretty and exciting as her love for Edward had been, it had been fleeting and evanescent once the deep rooted, life affirming love of her mate had been allowed to thrive.

She wondered if Edward had had a similar epiphany when he met this woman. She hoped so, for his sake.

The gangly wolf stayed positioned at the top of the steps, guarding his mother and reading himself for attack all at once. He growled at the vampires again.

Bella stepped forwards, laying a calming hand on the wolf's back. "It's okay baby boy. Can you hear your dad?"

The gigantic wolf looked to her, his oversize dark brown eyes blinking once. He had his father's eyes. Deep and soulful, but still—thankfully— innocent and trusting.

"Listen to him. Do what he says. I know that they probably stink," the wolf snuffled, pawing at his nose in agreement, "but they are the good ones Will, they're not gunna hurt us."

"Truly," the female said, "we will not you hurt you, child of the spirits."

William looked at the cold ones, assessing and gauging the risk. Then suddenly, in one movement, all eyes turned to the tree line. Watching. Waiting for something that her human ears couldn't yet pick up. A few seconds passed and Bella felt it throb-out in the scar on her chest. Jacob.

The wolf stalked out the bushes, his glorious, thick, red coat waving in the summer breeze. He eyed the cold ones, nodding to Edward as he walked past, positioning himself between them and his family.

He was calm and not as agitated by the scent of a vampire so close to his family as she expected him to be. Bella understood then that he'd seen it all unfold in the eyes of their son.

Will's wolf whined as his father and Alpha approached. He brushed against the larger wolf, baring his throat in a sign of submission. Jake licked at the young-ones neck, then over his head and ears in a grooming manner. Bella smiled at the gentle show of affection. Even as a fierce and formidable warrior, her mate was still loving and kind. He was giving their son the comfort and reassurance he needed in such a time of upheaval in his life. What a thing it must be to have your body transform into a beast in a heartbeat, thought Bella.

She watched as the wolf comforted the other. The hard strain trickled from the smaller wolf's tremoring muscles.

Jake's wolf had closed his eye as he'd comforted the younger one. Then his head turned, his ears cocking upwards and proud as his eyes opened directly in to his mates gaze. Bella. He made the final step up to her.

The beast let out a deep, contented grunt as he brushed his muzzle against her cheek. The tension ebbed from them both at the caress. Bell closed her eyes, letting the warm softness and earthy, musky sent of her wolf envelop and swaddle her.

She felt the air shimmer around them and then she was enveloped in not just his warmth and scent but in his strong protective arms as well.

"You okay?" he whispered as he kissed her temple.

She held him tight and nodded her reassurance.

Jacob let her go to reach for a damp towel hanging from the rails and wrapped it around his waist. He took his wife's hand before moving half way down the steps.

The man stood tall towards his once rival. He felt no threat from the geriatric child, but he still was not happy for the disruption to his life and upset of his wife. He'd yet to really process how their appearance had brought on the phase in his son. "What are you doing here Edward?"

The female shifted from behind Edwards's protective torso. "Don't blame him. It was me. I wanted to come see for myself the woman who could still hold so much of this beautiful man's heart."

Bella felt her heart pull. She didn't want to think of Edward still holding a flame for her.

Edward's eyes flicked to his mates, and then to Bella's. He shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "She doesn't hold my heart Addie. How many thousands of times have I tried to explain that?" He stopped over, holding the woman by the face gently as they gazed into one another's eyes. "You do."

The blonde woman smiled, her eyes searching Edward's before shifting over to Bella and the man and young wolf surrounding her. "I know that Edward. But there's still a piece of that love that you're still clinging to. You need this goodbye."

There was silence in the yard for a moment as the two immortals stood frozen in a silent conversation the rest weren't privy too. An owl in the trees above hooted, the twit-twoo breaking the silence. Edward unfroze, his shoulders relaxing as he stood taller. He nodded towards his mate, turning towards the cabin again.

His gaze traveled up the steps, assessing Jacob before settling on Bella. She leaned in towards Jacob's chest, stooping under his arm and gathering strength from his silent power.

"Edward," Bella said softly, nodding her acknowledgment but neither indicating her happiness or displeasure in seeing her old beau—she wasn't sure herself.

"Bella. How many years has it been? Twenty-five?"

"Almost."

Edward smiled at her, the soft gentle grin that she'd had the privilege of seeing all those years ago. "You haven't changed a bit, still the same sweet girl I knew back then."

Bella wondered if he meant sweet in the figurative or literal sense. She figured it was both.

She shifted her arm, searching out Jake's fingers to link them together. She watched as the depth of his smile faded as he saw her draw strength from her mate. "I might look more or less the same, but I'm not that naive little girl anymore, Edward. A person can grow and change quite a lot in that kind of time."

"True," he nodded. "Quite true."

Edward and Bella were exchanging niceties; small talk that circumnavigated the reason from the cold ones' intrusion into their life.

"So," Jacob cut in, sick of waiting. He knew Bella needed this, he just hoped it didn't take all god damn night. He had a schedule planned. And he damn-well hoped the blood sucker wasn't gunna try to rip her throat out with blood lust. It went against every fiber of the wolf to even contemplate leaving her with the cold, dead thing. But the man inside was stronger than the emotional beast. Jake just hoped Bella was stronger than the emotional pull the leech had on her. She'd been strong enough twenty-five years ago, he had to trust that she would be strong enough now.

"I suppose you want to talk with my wife alone?"

Edward's eyes flashed to Jacob's, a silent conversation going on in their heads. "She's safe with me Jacob, she always was."

"Not always," he bit back.

Bella's eyes glanced between her husband and Edward. She saw as the pale man-boy paled even further, obviously being shown by Jake a time in Bella's life when Edward had indeed harmed her. He'd broken her heart. "That's why I'm here. To make amends."

Jake scoffed, "what, are you on some kind of AA program for leeches or something?"

The female nodded, laughing, "Something like that." She stood taller, softly taking Edward's hand. "I'll go now, leave you with some privacy. I'll be up near Huntsman Ridge, there's meant to be plenty of trout in the streams around there."

He took both her hands, pulling her in for a heartfelt kiss. Bella noted how there was no holding back as he kissed the vampire, in the way he'd held back with her. There was no need to be as careful as he had been with the human. Jake had never needed to be that careful with Bella. She was his equal.

The cold pair separated and the female turned to address Bella, "It was a pleasure to finally meet you Bella." She paused for a moment, laughing to herself, Edward chucked as well, nodding.

"I suppose I've been remiss," she said, pressing a soft hand to her chest. "My name is Astrid."

Bella nodded, her lips tight. "Hello." Bella had forgotten how strange and awkward vampires could be sometimes.

"Bella, I want to thank you for releasing Edward and giving him the freedom he needed to find me. He always thought he had been alone for many years, but I had been alone for so many more. So, for him, I am grateful to you."

"Um" she murmured, she was contemplative for a minute at the ancient being's gratitude. Once Bella had realized her feelings for Jake and placed her heart in his care, there had no longer been any sense of sacrifice or loss at Edward's departure from her life. They were never meant to be, Bella knew that now, she'd understood that for over two decades.

Edward and Bella had never made sense. They were different species for heaven's sake. Predator and prey. They'd been mismatched from the get go. And now, when Bella thought about how she'd once wanted to be like him, frozen in time, without a heart and without heat, she shuddered and pressed herself closer to the warm man at her side. Bella thought she should probably thank Edward for leaving her back in that forest all those years ago. His actions had lit the catalyst that would set her on the path she should have always taken. Her natural path.

She smiled at the other woman, the one who made sense when standing by Edward Cullen's side. "Your welcome, Astrid."

The tall woman turned to Edward, lifting up and kissing his cheek. "Take as long as you need."

And then she was gone. Like an ethereal specter sweeping in the wind.

The sudden movement seemed to upset William's wolf. He growled, hedging forward off the porch.

Jake held his hand out, his strong muscled arm reaching and placing a calming palm on his wolf-son's shoulder. "It's okay, Will, let her go."

The wolf stopped mid-step, looking back at his father.

The two shared an unspoken moment, implicit trust emanated from the younger of the deep brown eyes.

Jacob patted Will's shoulder, his long, reddish fur reminded him of his own fur the day he'd first phased— before the Sam had made him hack his human hair off. Jake and his pack had learnt a lot since those early foundational days. Including how to wear their hair as their ancestors had—long— and to still be able embrace the wolf in earnest.

Jacob had much to teach his son, the future alpha.

As he fidgeted and stepped on the spot, the pads of his paws lightly pressing into the maple wood decking, it appeared that patience was to be his first lesson.

"Wait just one minute son, just one minute."

Jacob turned then, his yes boring down in to Bella's has he wrapped both arms around her. "Do you want to?" He asked, the actual question left unsaid.

She lifted her face upwards and her eyes roved across the smooth caramel skin over. She looked over the angles and lines of the man she loved. The man she'd chosen. The man she still chose.

She shrugged. "I don't not want to. Maybe it would be good to say a proper goodbye. All the other ones have always been so heated."

"They've certainly been something," Jake agreed.

They stood silently for several heartbeats, feeling the connections flowing between them, reaffirming the love and devotion that had long been affirmed and assured. Their hands moved like reflections, coming up until their palms touched and their fingers intertwined. Jake's face lowered down until his lips pressed slowly and softly onto Bella's.

"I'll take Will for a run. Just get some of the nervous energy out of him. Teach him how to phase back." His hand stilled on her hips, pulling her closer until her soft body melded into his. "We won't go far, Bells. Just call if you need me."

She nodded as he stepped back. She watched the way his muscles bunched and flexed as he removed the towel from his waist and hung it back over the railing.

The alpha man stood, naked as the day he was born at the top of the steps, his mate and protégé behind him. He placed his hands on his hips, his feet shoulder with apart as he stood tall and proud looking down towards a waiting Edward.

"Say your piece, Cold One, and then let this saga finally be done. I'm trusting you with her one last time, Edward. And then I want you and your kind to leave my family alone, for good."

"You have my word, Jacob."

He nodded as he stepped down the first rung. His eyes flicked over to Will's indicating for him to follow. As his feet reached the cooling damp grass he paused and turned back towards the cabin. His eyes met his best friend's, as a smile started on his face. "Love you Bells." Then he winked happily and trustingly. A bright, full, sunshine smile burst across his face as this body began to shimmer and, in a quiet explosion of skin, he lowered to all fours and unmasked his inner beast.

Bella watched as the two wolves lopped off into the forest, their colors only differentiated by the creamy swirls that covered Wills flanks and the tip of his tail.

"They're very similar." Edward commented, breaking the peaceful silence. Bella had forgotten he was there, momentarily.

Her eyes flicked down to the front yard where he stood. "Like father, like son."

"Their minds are very similar too. There's a quiet fury inside them. It just sits at the edge of their emotional mind, pushing them and reminding them that they are both human and animal both at once. Jacob has more control though."

Bella shifted her feet, stepping down. "Will is just a child, I'd be surprised if he had a tenth of his father's control."

Edward nodded, stepping to the bottom of the steps. "They both love you though. Obviously in different ways, and Jacob's is far more consuming." Edward leaned on the side rail, his elbow bent as his wrist hung easily down. It was a very human gesture, but the sceptic in Bella wondered how much calculation went into the seemingly benign gesture. "It's fascinating really," he continued, "the way his entirety focuses around you. His consumed with you. He doesn't exist without you."

Bella stood up straight, stepping down the last of the steps. "Why are you here, Edward?" She placed a hand on her hip. She might have conceded that some closure would be good, for both of them, but she wasn't about to reminisce about the good 'ol days and she already knew how much Jacob loved her- unlimited, unconditionally and unequivocally.

"Because Astrid led me here."

"She very beautiful."

"Yes, I think so."

"You love her," she stated. No emotion in her tone.

Edward paused, pursing his lips. "I do. I truly do."

"And a part of you still loves me."

He was silent for a moment. The tepid breeze blew thought the yard, sweeping around them and making the hanging towels flap.

"I do."

"But not as much as you used to, or as much as you do her."

He was quiet again. His fingers combed long, scooping sweeps thought his ragged hair. He turned on the lower step, folding gracefully until he sat. "No. Not as much. Not anymore."

Bella followed him down, and sat purposefully close. His knee touching hers, their elbows brushing. "But we did love each other once, Edward. We just got so caught up, and messy and angry. We were good together for that little while, but we weren't good for each other. You know what I mean?"

He nodded, grasping his hands together. "You hated me."

"I did. You hurt me. And I couldn't see your reasoning. But I don't hate you anymore." Bella licked her lips as she thought how best to continue. "I guess… I guess, with age, the anger's been tempered. You might be a hundred years old, but you were just as inexperienced as I was back then. We were both making it up as we went along."

"And I presumed wrong. I underestimated your human emotions." He turned to her, taking her hand in his. "I want to apologize for that."

His sweet breath blew over her and for a moment Bella remembered how she'd come to love the boy currently holding her hand. But that was all ancient history now. And her heart was far too full of the love she felt for Jacob and their family to have any squeeze room for Edward. They weren't going to rehash the past.

Bella pulled her hands back. His hands were cold. She didn't like it. They felt wrong… on many levels. Too smooth. Too hard. Too cold.

Too dead.

"I want to apologize for saying all those things to you that day, too." She tucked her hands under her butt to warm them back up. "I meant them at the time, but it was the hurt and the fear and the anger talking. A part of me still loved you. I suppose it still does."

"But not as much as you love him."

"No. Not even close," she answered without missing a beat.

He looked up at her through his lashes, a small, pensive smile just touching his lips. "I'm happy for you Bella, honestly. You're living the human life you were supposed to. Full of warmth and love and laughter."

"Yeah, Edward," she smiled back, a few loose strands of her reddish-brown hair falling across her eye. It flicked and shifted as she blinked, before she tucked it behind her ear in a soft, single swipe. "I'm happy." She bit her lip, trying but failing to hide her grin. "So, so, happy."

He smiled openly at the palpable sincerity of her words.

Bella stood and Edward followed then. She turned to look up at him. "Are you happy Edward? I want you to be happy."

Edward stepped onto the ground and turned to face Bella who was up a step higher. They were almost eye level like that. On equal footing. They'd never been on equal ground back when she'd been with him.

"I wasn't happy," he started. "For the longest time I wallowed and sunk into a cold, dark solid block of nothingness. I think it was almost a decade." He shifted on his feet, his shoulders rising and then falling as he gently slid his hand into the pockets of his sweater. "And then I found Astrid. Or she found me," he chuckled, remembering something only he knew. "She slowly thawed me out. Kneaded and worked my dead, cold soul until it was open enough to see her standing there, waiting to love me."

He looked up at Bella, his ocher eyes taking on a molten liquescence as he spoke of his mate. "She loved me. And I fell, Bella. I fell hard. And deep. And all consuming. I haven't been this happy in my entire existence."

Bella smiled. Happy for her old flame. "You know what I think Edward?"

"What?"

"That you and I were just training for each other. Preparation before the real thing swept us up and consumed us whole. It gave us the insight to recognize what real and true, healthy and perfecting love looked like. And we found it. Just not with each other. And I found it a little sooner than you. But we found it. And I don't know about you. But I'm holding on to it with both hands." She held her fits up high, pressing them together. The petite gold band on her finger caught in the sunlight. "I'm never letting that man go."

"And I don't plan on letting her go either."

"Then perhaps what we need to do, is let go of each other?" Her fists opened and fanned out in demonstration.

He smiled. "I think you might be right." It was that same, inhumanly perfect smile gracing his inhumanly perfect lips.

Bella's gaze skimmed over his angular features, so familiar yet so un-humanly foreign. Bella shifted in her sneakers, one white plastic toe pressed into the canvas side of the other. Her head tilted as she assessed her first love. It seemed like a life time ago now. She supposed it was. "You know you haven't changed a bit. Not physically at least. You look exactly the same."

He replied intently, his mind as sharp as it ever was. "You don't," he smirked. "You look twenty years older. I was just being polite before."

Bella faked a huff, the pout morphing into quiet and sarcastic laugh. "Gee, thanks."

His face softened. "But they're life lines, Bella." His hand reached up to smooth over the small crow's feet at her temples. In reflex Bella leaned back, silent setting the boundary between them. Edward's hand turned mid-air and slid back in to his pocked. He continued as if the silent conversation had never occurred. "They're from smiles and worries. Loss and love. They're the signs of life."

Bella took his lead, replying lightly and casually. "They're the signs of being the alpha's mate to a pack of teenage wolves and then having three of my own, that's what they are."

The vampire nodded to himself, his hand still stuffed in the front pocked of his sweater. "I bet you're a great mom. You were always a nurturer."

"I was," she agreed. "I am."

Bella looked up towards the cabin. To the front door where here two youngest children were still inside watching a movie. She turned back to Edward, her hand resting on the rail for support. She took in a big breath, "it's been good seeing you again Edward." Bella thought they'd said all they needed to say, it was time for the impromptu reunion to end. She knew she thought she'd said all she wanted to say at least.

He nodded, like he too had realized this final goodbye was now at its end. "Like wise, Isabella Swan."

She clicked her tongue at the back of her teeth. A habit she'd picked up from her spouse. "I go by Black now, I have for quite some time."

"You'll always be Swan to me. That's the girl I loved. This woman in front of me, the one that goes by Black, is Jacob's. And I wish them a long and happy life."

Bella pressed her lips together, her fingers absently finding the scar above her breast. It always grounder her, it connected her to him. "Be happy, Edward. Go find that excruciatingly stunning woman of yours." She nodded to the forest with her chin.

Edward held out his arms. "May I?" he asked. "For old times' sake."

Bella thought a hand shake could have sufficed, but she relented leaning forward and letting Edward take her into his arms one last time. It was uncomfortable and rehearsed, with none of the fluid warmth she was accustomed to from her caramel skinned lover.

He inhaled at the crown of her head, "You smell like a dog now," the vampire muttered into her hair.

Bella chucked, her face pressed into the soft fleece on his shoulder. "You smell like lemon bleach."

They embraced. Platonically and a little awkwardly. He was cold and hard and not at all the arms she wanted around her.

"Bye Edward," she whispered, relaxing her hold after a breath or two.

He stood tall as he let his arm fall to his side and stepped back. "Bye Bella. It was a pretty amazing story we wrote together, wasn't it. But I do like this new fairy-tale I'm currently in a lot better."

She nodded, "I like the legend I'm in better too."

Then without another word, and in nothing more that the blink of her human eye, Edward had turned from the cabin and vanished into the trees. Bella Black was left standing on her own, at the bottom of the stairs; by herself but far from alone. Her heart still pulsing the bond she shared with her love inside her.

.

Bella knew she was going to be covered in vampire scent. She'd hugged him for Christ's sake.

Drew, Sarah and a bowl of popcorn were happily continuing to watch Shrek the third for the fifth time as she re-entered the cabin. She went to the laundry room and stripped down to her panties and bra throwing her vamp tainted clothes straight into the machine.

It was only a few minutes later, as she lathered her hair for the second time that she felt him enter the bathroom.

She didn't ask him to join her. She knew he'd come regardless. He knew she needed him there.

They needed to reconnect. Emotionally, spiritually… physically.

She stood under the warm water, rinsing the shampoo from her hair as the curtain pulled back, and she felt his large, warm body slide in behind her. His arms wrapped around her waist and his hands settled on her soft stomach as he pulled her close. His face burred under her wet hair, inhaling through the water raining down. "You okay?" he mumbled against her skin.

"I am now you're here."

"Love you."

"I love you too. You know that right? It was just some closure and proper good bye. I don't have feelings for him anymore."

He turned her around, his hands falling on the swell of her hips and bottom. "Of course I do. I could feel how uncomfortable you were taking to him to whole time. Did he hug you or something? You were so nauseated towards the end. The smell's all gone, by the way. Just the front steps smell but that will go with the next rain."

He kissed her jaw, peppering small butterflies down her throat.

"Yeah. He stunk. I don't remember them stinking that much. It's caustic."

"It's B-leech."

She hummed in agreement before changing her direction of thought. "He's gone for good."

"Good." His hands lifted up to Bella's face and he pulled her up until her lips met his. "Finally, I can have you all to myself."

Bella pulled back, a worried frown as she searched between her husband's eyes. "You always had me. I was never torn. You don't think I've been holding a candle for him all this time?"

"No. No candle. But the decent human in you needed to say a decent good bye, that's the kind of thing I love about you, Bells."

His hands slid underneath her ass and lifted her up. Bella felt the warmth of his body as it pressed against hers. She felt the melding of their skin and their souls as she wrapped her legs around his hips. They both needed to reconnect.

He had that hungry look in his eyes. A look that would have brought Bella to her knees if she'd been standing. But she wasn't standing. She was wrapped around her husband's hips as his hard erection ran lengthways through her steadily dampening petals. "That…" he said as he lifted her up higher and then lowered her as he filled her in one fluid stroke, "and your pussy."

She'd known it was coming, she's been hungry for it too, but Bella still let out a playful yelp at the sudden penetration. He moved in her once, then twice, both of them feeling the way he warmed her from the inside out. She held on around his still powerful and strong shoulders as she wiggled her body around his length. "Ever the romantic, Jake."

"You know I love all of you," he said, moving his hips slowly and deliberately as they spoke. "Your heart. Your brains. Your boobs," he smirked, flicking his tongue out at her right nipple then up and over the now well healed but still ever responsive scar. Her body shuddered at his touch. "But I just left you with your old vampire boyfriend for like a whole fifteen minutes. The wolf is desperate to reclaim what's ours."

"Well, that would be all of me then. I'm all yours babe." She shifted her hips, pulling him infinitesimally closer to him. Deeper. Warmer. Tighter. One.

Hard and fast they started to move together. Knowing and safe in their comfort but still impatient to re-connect and re-affirm the love they shared.

Two souls reunited as one. Mates. Lovers. Friends. Twin flames.

"God I love you, Jacob," Bella panted as she held on to his shoulders and let the swell of pleasure begin to build within her body.

"I love you. I love you. I love you," they both panted together.

With each thrust the pair climbed closer and closer to that all too familiar but not less exquisite bliss. Her breasts bounced with each movement. Heavy and full, with dark pink nipples standing upright and scratching against his tanned chest. Their mouths met in a gnashing of teeth and lips. Tongues searched and hands held tight as they climbed inside the other's souls.

It was only a moment later that together they reached a shared climax. Her walls clamping down and around him as he spilt his heated, virile seed deep within her. It never grew old. How could one ever tire of perfect love and happiness.

.

"Better?" she panted a minute or two later, as she came back to her body. Even after all those years, their sex was still other worldly.

Jacob continued to hold her with his strong arms. She rested her cheek on his shoulder as he stood buried deep within her, the warm flooding water of the shower beating across her shoulders.

Jake sighed. A contented grin pulling at his cheeks. "Much better."

She wiggled a little in his grip, making to disconect their bodies and stand. "Good. Now put me down you stud and tell me how Will is after his first phase."

Jake did as he was told. Sliding out of his wife's body and placing her carefully on the wet tiles.

He grabbed the loofah that was hanging over the facet and squirted the honey smelling cream all over.

He turned Bella around, soaping her up, and paying special attention to her ass and boobs. Even after watching her nourish their three cubs and a life time of free feels, her boobs were still his favorite play toy.

"He was good, Bells. Better than good. It was like it was all finally fitting into place for him. Like all the anger and crazy emotions he'd been feeling all suddenly made sense. And he's fast. The little bugger's gunna out pace me eventually."

Bell turned, wrapping her arms around his ribs. "So long as he's happy. And that he knows he has options still. That's all I need him to remember."

"He's happy Bells. And he knows now just how much his father loves his mother. He's seen it in my head."

She looked up at Jacob. Concern in her chocolate eyes. "So long as he's not seen how you express that love. No child needs to see that!"

"Christ no! That shits' been long locked away for years, Belly. I've shared a head with fucking Paul Lahote for crying out loud. My mental sex-tapes are in a vault. Safe and sound for me and my private time only."

"Good. I always wondered if episodes of Bella does Jake Across America played in the pack mind after we finally came home."

It was just before dinner when Sarah jumped up and ran to the front window. "They're here! They're here!" she yelled.

Little Drew looked out too, "that's not Uncle Embry's car."

"It's freakin' ugly, that's what it is," Will added, opening the front door.

Bella guessed he was looking forward to seeing another wolf. He'd been antsy and jittery the past half hour when Embry's wife, Penny, had phoned to say they were almost there.

Bella stirred the huge pot of chili she had slowly bubbling away on the stove. She tapped the wooden spoon on the side and went into the front room, wiping her hands on a dish towel as she walked.

Jake's footsteps thundered down the steps as he hurried down, a large duffle bag slung over his shoulder. "It's not ugly, Will, it's a classic and it's obscure."

"It's obscure because no one in their right mind would even want one. It's ancient," the new wolf answered back teasingly.

"Don't be so judgmental, son." Jake said, slapping Will playfully on the back. "Your mother and I owned a sweet ride just like this one back when we were younger. It served us well. Very well."

The young wolf did not want to know what he meant by that… he was lying to himself, Will knew exactly what that meant. And that meant he wanted to wash his eyes and ears out with some of that vamp smelling beach mom kept in the laundry.

Snickering at Will's apparent discomfort he turned back towards Bella. He rubbed his hands together in excitement. "You know what month it is Bells?"

She narrowed her eyes at her husbands, trying to figure out what he was up to. "It's June."

"And in two days it's going to be July, and then in six days it's going to be..?"

"The fourth," she laughed, understanding the significance of that day but still unsure where he was leading to.

"Which is…?"

Bella grinned further, giggling like the happy, fresh faced girl she'd been on the fourth of July twenty years ago. "Twenty years."

He dropped the duffle bag on the wooden floor and pulled his wife into his side. They looked out the front door, down to the white minivan with a wood-grain appliqué running along its sides. They watched as Embry Call and his family all piled out of the 1986 Aerostar. "Happy anniversary Bella Black."

She turned to look at Jacob, a sparkle and smile in her eye. "What did you do?"

"I searched high and low, and bought you a min-van for our anniversary." He placed his hand on her hips. "We're going on a road trip woman. I've packed us up. Emb and Pen are gunna pile all the kids in our suburban and drive them back home in a few days. And we, my wife, are running away in the middle of the night. Just you and me and our van. Like old times."

He reached up onto her tippy toes, wrapping her arms around him. "God I love you."

…

With a Ziploc container of chili for the road and a flurry of good-byes, Jacob and Bella Black waved goodbye as the trusty van rolled up the gravel drive way.

In the darkness of the night, with nothing but the soft lighting of the dashboard and the array of the headlights as they lit up the road, the couple drove in comfortable silence. Bella kicked off her shoes and curled up into her wolf's side.

It was only an hour or so into their journey when he stopped at a giant direction sign at Grand Junction. A cross roads for the interstate. And the road they always took for their journey home.

"Which way Bells?"

Bella lifted her head, studying the choices.

Straight ahead was home— North West, towards the Pacific coast and eventually Washington. Left was south— across the Rio Grande and into New Mexico.

The only other option took them deeper into Colorado, towards the Rocky's and then into Middle America. "Right, Jake. Let's go Right."

"We'll okay, lover. We never did make to Boulder Colorado, did we?

"Only now no one will think we're college students with scholarships and book smarts. We're just oldies in an ancient van, recapturing our youth."

"You never lost it Bells," he smiled, pulling on the hand break and turning in the driver seat. He tucked that pesky strand of hair softly behind her ear, cupping his strong but gentle hands around her jaw. "You look as beautiful as you did in that old beat up Chevy as we snuck out of town."

Her hand came up to rest on his as she leaned into the warmth of his palm. "We had no more idea where we were headed then as we do now."

"It doesn't matter where we go though, does it. As long as were together, babe." Jacob pulled Bella closer to him, her petite body slid across the bench seat and fell against his chest as his arms wrapped around her. He kissed the top of her head, inhaling and feeling the way their love pulsed together.

She looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest as they kissed quickly and sweetly. "We're on this road together Jake. For life. Hopefully even longer."

"Yeah. Just you and me, Bells. I want to run away with you, because I can.

Phew, I told you it was long. I hope you all enjoyed it thought. Let me know you thoughts.

I'd also like to thank whoever it was that nominated me for the Top 10 June fic over at twifanficrecs. It's such an honor. And pretty darn cool. And so are you. (who ever you are)

If any of you want to vote for The Runaways, head over to twifanfictionrecs . com

I'm sure our Jake and Bells would love their story to be a winner.

Thank you to every one who has read, favorited and reviewed on this story. I hope you all enjoyed this traveling story. I always thought that our heroes just needed that little bit more time together, without the Ed. They never got in the cannon books and that is one of the reasons why I love fanfiction; we get to right the wrongs we perceive in the original works... and we get to see what happens behind the fade to blacks :-P

Review, folks, then vote. Then have a happy day.

May the light within me, honor the light within you.

Namaste, Marina.