Chapter 3: The Earth Moved

Jacob drew the short straw by default when Claire failed to notice her phone tumble off the edge of the table as it vibrated with an incoming message. With nimble fingers, he caught it inches above the floor.

Filled with a sudden sense of foreboding, Jacob read the text from Quil: "Humor me - everything ok?"

"Never better," Jacob tapped out on the screen without so much as a hiccough from his conscience. "Talk to you in the morning?"

"Ok. Call if you need anything. Phone will be on. Night, kiddo."

The alpha stared at the phone in disbelief. He expected Quil to demand answers or to hear Claire's voice. That was … just a little too easy. Unsettled by the implications, he set the phone aside and took a deep breath. He promised Quil and Leah three days without any pack business and he'd move heaven and earth to give it to them. They deserved a break. Time to lay down the law for his underage pack members until they spoke to their parents.

Damn phone. Claire slapped at it blindly, swore, and blinked into the harsh rays of light pouring through her bedroom window.

Sunday morning. Two days since Calder phased and turned her life inside out. Again.

As a newly-phased wolf, Calder needed a human-free place to crash for the weekend, so Bella decamped the Black and Ateara kids and headed over to the Ateara house for a few days while Uncle Jacob spent the weekend at the Black's place, coaching Calder back into his skin time and again.

Claire sighed.

She heard Jacob tell Bella over the phone that Calder's temper would be pretty hair trigger for a while, being forcibly separated from his imprint for safety's sake.

The petulant, selfish inner sixteen year old voice she did her best to rise above murmured in the back of her mind, pointing out rather unhelpfully that he imprinted on her and could never—would never—hurt her. As if he possessed that kind of control, as if her dad wouldn't come down on him like the wrath of God if Calder so much as hugged her too hard.

A mine field is what it was.

Forced to concede her alpha uncle probably knew exactly what he was doing, Claire tried to make the best of it. When Jacob assigned Calder to morning patrols, he also gave permission for a brief visit for the newly-imprinted pair—in wolf form only and from a distance. Claire adhered to her uncle's strict instructions yesterday morning, waving from the window and wishing her wolf a good day and safe patrol.

So when Saturday night rolled around, anticipation made for insomnia and a late night, followed by an even later Sunday morning. Blinking awake at eleven, her breath caught in her throat.

She missed her chance.

Tempted to give into self-pity, she bargained with herself. She could explain to her aunt. With a wolf to chaperone, surely they could see each other later in the day. Dinner at the latest, right? Right, so … she'd just get her shit together, get dressed and—

A flash of bronze flickered at the edge of her field of vision. Through the kaleidoscope of reflected shapes dancing on her ceiling, she spotted a hazy outline in familiar colors. Smiling, she closed her eyes and inhaled before launching herself at the window to throw up the sash and greet her red and white wolf on his second morning of training.

Calder yipped once in greeting, playfully pawing the ground at the rear edge of the yard. His puffy red tail wagged, the white tip of it waving like a banner as he gamboled amongst the shadows.

Waving, Claire blew him a kiss. She laughed in delight when he leapt and twisted in the air as if to catch it.

"You're such a goober," she whispered. "Sorry I overslept. I'll see you at dinner tonight, if we're allowed. You better go before we get in trouble. Run safe, learn wolfy things!" Her fingers wiggled in farewell.

The wolf bowed over his front paws and yipped again, nodding in understanding and disappearing into the trees.

Claire sighed, resigned. She understood the restrictions, but she didn't have to like them. The Ateara house overflowed with young teens as her cousins' and the Black kids' friends came and went all weekend. They piled in everywhere, taking up every couch and square foot of floor space in their rec room for a two-night sleepover.

As the only girl and missing her wolf, Claire kept to her room and flipped the lock. Not that it mattered. Her aunt Bella had hearing like a werewolf. Every time Calder got within ten yards of the house, Bella called upstairs to remind her it was only temporary—code for "new wolves are unstable and you can't visit without a wolf chaperone yet".

Dammit.

Jacob promised her it would get easier when her dad and Leah came home. Down by two experienced wolves, the pack had to deal with a rash of nomads passing through, so the patrol schedule stretched a little thinner than usual, even with a pair of new wolves.

"Claire…?" Bella called upstairs when the window rattled as Claire lowered it.

"I know!" she snapped, flinching when a soft rap sounded at the door. Cracking it open, she met her aunt's gaze with a guilty smile and whispered, "I just opened it to say hi. He was alone and he stayed in the trees."

"It's okay." Bella laid her hands on Claire's cheeks and kissed her forehead. "I was just coming up to tell you your dad called me because you didn't answer your phone. He worries when he doesn't hear from you for nearly three days."

"I don't know what to say to him," Claire admitted. "Uncle Jacob said not to discuss pack business until they get home."

"Jake's not wrong about that. When you tell him what happened on Friday, it should be in person, but that doesn't mean you have to cut yourself off from him." She brushed the hair out of Claire's eyes. "He still needs you and loves you. You're his daughter and a big part of his life. Maybe he wants you to feel like you're not being left out now that he's dating, or wants your opinion on flowers or where to take her for brunch. You're a woman as well as a daughter. He values your opinion very much."

Claire eyed her aunt. "How'd you get to be so smart?"

"Naturally gifted. I married the pretty one. One of us had to be the smart one." She winked.

"Uncle Jacob is pretty?" Claire giggled.

"Embarrassingly so at times. Taking him to a PTA meeting is a nightmare." Bella rolled her eyes.

"I bet." The teen brightened considerably, imagining her aunt's exasperation. "I've been to the grocery store with Dad—no ring on his finger. Yeah. I sooo get that."

"Speaking of your dad." The buzzing of Bella's phone interrupted the commiserating.

"Tell him I'm gonna call him in two minutes." She dashed away to brush her hair and grab her phone.

Two minutes and twenty-one seconds later, Quil accepted the video call. "You're late!" he joked, propping the phone up while he made coffee in the well-appointed kitchen of the hotel suite. His bleary eyes, wild hair, and the trace of chocolate smeared under his jaw told the story clearer than any anecdote he'd share with his teenage daughter.

Quil had a good night.

"Sorry!" Claire apologized, frazzled and crazy-eyed. "I woke up with bedhead. This place is crawling with twelve year olds. I'm camped out, hiding in my room." She tidied up, gathering dirty clothes and neatening the bedspread while she spoke over her shoulder to the webcam on her desk. "How's Spokane? Is it amazing? I bet it's amazing. Aunt Bella said you were only going to be in Seattle on Friday, then fly to Spokane the rest of the weekend. I heard the riverfront is fun. That's where you're staying, right?"

"Yeah, Spokane. It's great—got a balcony with a view of the water over the park on the promenade. You said you're at home?" Quil's eyebrows dropped, concerned with the change of plans. "Is everything okay?"

Claire paused, struggling to work around her uncle's request to hold off divulging any news on pack business until their return. "Something came up, so Uncle Jacob sent us over here with Aunt Bella. Uncle Embry's been stopping by all the time. Everybody's fine!" she hurried to assure him.

Staring at her like a bug under glass, his eyes narrowed. "Did Jacob order you not to tell us any bad news?"

"Nope!" she answered honestly with a grin. Jacob ordered her not to tell them any pack news.

Quil eyed her, but let it go for the time being as he carried his coffee and a plate piled high with fruit and danishes to the living room to set on the table. He turned the camera around and walked to the sliding balcony doors, panning slowly across the incredible view to sate his daughter's curiosity.

"It is a pretty great view," Claire admitted before poking at her dad with a devilish grin. "You know … romantic? It's looks really romantic. Is that an empty bottle of champagne I see on the table?" she teased.

Her cheek dimpled when Quil turned the camera on his red face. He tried to scowl. "We did go on a date and, yes, we drank champagne. People do that—grown up people with college degrees, people who are over thirty who have careers and mortgages and car payments, whose parents approve—"

"So…" Claire didn't want to cut him off, but her dad played the "do as I say, not as I do" song often enough. No need to hear it again. She fidgeted, parted her lips, then clamped her mouth shut. Dying to know more, she wasn't sure what to ask or if she was being nosy.

Who is she kidding? Of course she's being nosy!

But Quil knew his girl. "Everything's fine here, too," he assured her, returning to the living room and his breakfast.

"Aunt Leah?" she asked as he settled down to eat and ran a hand through his hair to tame the wild mess.

"Sleeping in." Holding the phone aloft, he sat still until the faint, rumbling snores of her aunt drifted through the phone. Leah slept like the dead.

Wary, but worried enough to need reassurance, Claire ventured a follow-up, "So why aren't you still asleep?"

He angled the phone towards the couch from the coffee table, sliding aside his mug when Claire grumbled about the blocked lens. "Dunno. Feels weird I guess—the change in routine, nobody shouting to ask where their sneakers are or if I signed a permission slip. And I haven't phased in a couple days. The wolf is happy—because Leah—" He grinned, unabashed. "But he could use a good, long run and stretch—no matter how content. Yeah, restless, I guess."

When he shrugged it off, she decided to change the subject—for now. Tucking her feet under her butt, she twisted back and forth in the swivel chair as she addressed the webcam. "I'm dying to know how it went, but I know it's none of my business." With an anticipatory gleam in her eyes, she tucked the fingertips of both hands in her mouth—an old nervous habit.

"You sure you're only sixteen?" he demanded.

Her eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"We took a few of your suggestions," he admitted, easing into the conversation, hands clasped between his knees. "You had some great ideas."

"Really?" she gasped, then leaned in, a grin splitting her face. "Which ones? What did she wear? What did you do? Tell me everything!"

Quil raised an eyebrow.

She snickered. "Okay… Not everything. Highlight reel?"

Nodding, he reached out of frame and dragged a stack of oddments and pieces of paper into view. He held up a matchbook for SkyCity at the Space Needle. "We started the weekend in Seattle after a long flyover of the national park…"

"This is different." Leah remarked as Quil offered a hand to help her from the town car amid the bustling sounds of a Friday night in the city.

Lifting her hand, he pressed his lips to the elegant fingers curled over his. "Different is good."

"Oh my god!" Claire squealed, bouncing in her chair. She gripped the armrests so hard, her knuckles turned white. "Did she die? I would have died." Affecting a dramatic sigh, she flopped bonelessly in her chair and threw a teasing grin at her dad.

Quil snorted. "Are you going to listen? Or kibitz and comment the whole time?"

"I can't do both?" She pouted and shoved hard, spinning her chair in childish delight. When she stopped, they eyed each other over the long distance connection and smiled—old buddies, peas in a pod, partners in crime. She loved her dad like no one else in her life, loved the way he knew her and let her have her moment and her fun.

She loved him, simple as that.

He cocked an eyebrow and waited.

Claire pretended to zip her lip, crossed her heart, and made a silent motion for him to continue.

Glancing around the plaza, Leah inquired, "So, where to? Or are we making it up as we go?"

"We have reservations upstairs." He hooked his thumb to indicate the Seattle landmark overhead.

Her eyes trailed the post-modern lines of the city's most famous building until they disappeared in the clouds. "We wouldn't want to be late." Adjusting her wrap against the damp Seattle air, she took the offered arm as Quil led her to their evening destination.

Exiting the elevator a few minutes later, he spoke to the maitre d and nearly missed the sight of Leah baring her shoulders as she loosened the silk wrap to hand it over to the coat room attendant. The glittering golden dress clung to her curves, striking him mute. Its neckline highlighted the long, delicate clavicles he loved to kiss and the satiny glow of her copper complexion. Long-limbed and graceful, she glided across the foyer to join him.

"All set?" she asked, taking his arm with a steady hand. Unable to resist, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to press a kiss to the spot beneath her ear. Her scent, her proximity, her acquiescence all combined to drive him quietly insane.

She nestled under his arm, fitting to him like pieces of a puzzle. He closed his eyes against the fantasies come to life, playing on repeat in his mind's eye—this, years of it—decades more of this. He wanted it all with her.

It was going to be a long night.

"Follow me," the host replied, leading them to a little-known private dining room. He laid hand-written chef's table menus out and popped the cork on the champagne as they drifted to the wide window to take in the view of Puget Sound. "The private dining room is yours for the evening. There's an outer door at the end of the panoramic window that slides back to give you access to the balcony." He pressed the power button on a small device behind the table and soft music spilled into the room from hidden speakers. "When you're ready to order or need beverage service, press the red button on the wall—" He pointed. "and wait for it to turn green. Enjoy your evening." He excused himself.

They stood quietly for several long moments—she, riveted by the cityscape, he, lost in his own thoughts, wondering if this was real, if she was real.

"The view is incredible," Leah breathed, touching her fingers to the glass. It fogged, the halo billowing outward from the warm gust of breath.

"It is," Quil agreed, but he'd argue his was better as he took in the view of Seattle and the Sound framed by the curve of Leah's shoulder. He pressed his lips to her skin, ghosting across the bare flesh as goosebumps raced down her arm behind his touch. He kissed the gentle slope, sliding his hands along the length of her arms to cup her elbows. Encouraged by her purring rumble, he slid his hands down her arms until hers laid over his. He laced their fingers together and drew her arms up to wrap around her middle. Taking up a gentle swaying motion, he whispered, "I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life."

"Quil…" She leaned into his embrace.

"Dance with me?" If she looked into his eyes, she would have seen the "Stay with me", the "Don't ever leave", the "I'll fight for you because you're worth it".

She would have seen the longing, the love written plainly on his face.

An exaggerated sway of her hips and a tightened grip gained his attention. With a smile in her voice, she teased, "You mean I'm not already?"

"Dancing with me?" A low laugh rumbled in his chest as he dragged the beginnings of a five o'clock shadow across her shoulder. "You've been dancing with me for years—you just didn't know it."

"Hmm…?" Moving as if to turn, she met his eyes while he held her fast.

"I take a step forward," he led her as he spoke, a step forward.

"You take one back." He stepped again, drawing her into the figure of a simple waltz. "You make a move, I give you plenty of room so you don't feel crowded and rabbit off again." Drawing her arm up to rest behind his head, he slid his hand along its length, chasing it with kisses to the shoulder as she loosened her hold and the arm fell when she leaned into the heated press of lips.

Skimming her throat, he nipped gently. Teasing and tasting her skin, ghosting across it with the tip of his nose, he pushed the strap aside to nibble on the spot that made her back arch and her head drop on his shoulder in surrender. He murmured, "Don't you think it's time we change the steps in this dance?"

Turning in his arms, she laid a hand on his biceps and he barely resisted the urge to flex under her hold. He grasped her other hand and brought it to his lips to pay it the same homage the other received before dinner, turning her in the easy steps of another slow waltz learned at the Akalat center when they ran wild on the rez for hours every day as kids—except during summer rec.

"You remember?" he asked, leading her in the simple figure.

Smiling in contentment, she replied, "I do." She tucked her head under his chin and Quil fumbled, nerves twitching in his gut, making him feel twelve years old all over again.

"Your hands were sweaty and sticky." She chuckled, then sighed quietly when his hand slid down the curve at the small of her back. "And you had a comic book in the back pocket of your shorts. You had Funyuns for lunch and your mom made you go to summer rec because she worried Jake's Game Cube was rotting your brain."

"Jacob danced with Embry to avoid getting paired up with a girl so they could learn the steps and get out early." Quil snickered, remembering the pained expressions on their faces and Embry's mortification when Jake picked him as partner.

"But not you," she whispered, the heated words warming him from the inside out.

"What?" He pulled back, amber brown eyes searching her face as he struggled to recall where he was was, and when, lost in the memories of hot summer days and smooth skin.

"Quil…?" She waited patiently with an indulgent grin for him to catch up.

The goofy smile stayed when his eyes cleared, "Yeah?"

"You were the only boy tall enough to dance with me. You took your lumps like a champ, though. I loved you for that. You remember?" Her eyes glittered with the memory of a moment he barely recalled, but not in the same way. He was younger, after all, and she was the goddess who made him trip over his words every time her eyes met his.

"I was terrified—deathly afraid I would trip or step on you," he admitted with a wry smile and pink cheeks. "You were tall, but so slim, I could have wrapped my arms around you with room to spare. You wanted to learn the dance and you knew the steps, so I followed your feet, and the teacher kept yelling at me to stop looking at my feet."

"I remember." She nodded, smiling fondly as his hand spanned her back and they turned a flawless figure across the small dining room space.

Quil recalled the moment, his tone wistful, "You smiled when you told me to forget about my feet—the floor wasn't going anywhere. I finally looked into your eyes and didn't pass out." He took a deep, shuddering breath and confessed, "I would have followed you anywhere, but you were wrong about one thing."

Her eyes met his, mirroring the expression in them in his memory. "About what?" she asked.

"The earth moved and I stumbled, head first, in love with you."

"Dead. I am dead," Claire slumped in her chair. "Did she melt? I'm melting. Can I just…? Ugh! I want to hug you, and her, and you again!" She twirled in her chair and thrust her hands in the air victoriously. "That is the sweetest thing ever!" She squealed and hunched over, stomping her feet.

"Almost," Quil agreed, running a hand nervously through his hair. He bowed his head.

Claire stopped her victory dance. "What?"

"I wanted to show you something before I show Leah." Reaching out of frame past the pile of souvenirs, he fumbled and rocked the camera. Sunlight caught the object in his hands, blinding her momentarily as he continued, babbling and out of character, "I know this might seem sudden, but we've known each other for years and, well… Friday, something happened, like a light bulb went off in my head or some switch flipped. I don't know. I came to my senses— I realized—"

Swallowing the ball of nerves rising in the back of her throat, Claire almost couldn't bear to look.

She knew exactly what happened on Friday.

"I packed it just in case, but I wasn't planning on anything in particular for awhile." He shrugged, fidgeted, clicked the thing in his hand twice in a nervous gesture. "It is what it is. I wasn't kidding about dancing around her all this time. On Friday, me and the wolf finally got it together and decided we waited long enough—all of us. You think she'll like it?"

The angle of the camera shifted when Quil leaned over to whip the drapes and block the light. Claire lost her breath. "Oh my god."

Nestled in black velvet, an icy white diamond flanked by tiny peach-colored stones winked in the filtered light.

A/N: OMFG, I know, right? RIGHT?

Exactly.

*sighs*

QUIL. (^_^)

Thanks again to my writing partner, best friend, and Gal Friday, meliz, for all the hand-holding she's done to help me figure out how to write the romantic stuff. I did my best and she's been my rock and helped make it even better while I navigated these unfamiliar waters. *hugs* This chapter has been given one final fluff since her last review of the previous draft, so any errors are entirely and completely my own. Thanks also go to jarms and mewlingquimlover for their patience and encouragement. This is one of the more difficult things I've written. I'm very fortunate in the awesome, supportive friends I have who help me along the way.

About this chapter: This is PART TWO of a two-part continuation of ADI written for Silverfires for Tricky Raven's 3rd Annual Author/Artist Silent Auction. I'm unofficially marking this story complete for now, but I plan to revisit it again someday when a fresh idea strikes for a flash or follow-up that works with my ideas for future storylines in this AU. My outline for future chapters centers primarily around Claire. Let me know in the reviews if you'd like to read more and what sort of thing you're looking forward to in this AU. I'll see what I can do. ;D (I know I still owe a bunch of you replies to your reviews, but I've been swamped with projects lately. Please forgive me and I'll do my best to make it up to you.) For now, I need to go put all my time and energy into a little something meliz and I are working on together, temporarily dubbed "COLLABY". It's a silent auction piece we're writing for GeezerWench. Keep an eye out for that, hopefully very soon and under its real title (which will not be "COLLABY", for obvious reasons). If you're reading this on FFn, be aware that it's entirely possible COLLABY will be posted exclusively on Tricky Raven, so if you want to read it and get a notification when it's posted, go check out TR, sign up, and accept Mist's friend request so she can send you fic invites! Tell them ChrissiHR sent you!