Chapter 19

*Jacob*

Jacob was running. He wasn't quite sure where he was going, but at this point, his destination didn't matter. He was filled with hot energy and anger, and to keep the combination bottled up seemed incredibly dangerous.

He already felt the twinges of emptiness begin to set in, though he'd only been away from Renesmee a few hours. She filled a void inside of him that he hadn't known existed until he had imprinted on her several years prior. Honestly, he only slightly noticed the change in himself when they voluntarily separated, but when they were kept apart, it seemed to appear much more quickly, and the pull of being away from her hit him much harder than normal.

As the trees thickened ahead of him, he readied himself to change into wolf-form. The transformation used to startle him, but he'd grown used to it after awhile. He felt the fabric of his cut-offs give way as he left human form, and as his four paws touched the ground, he gained speed, and began to tear faster through the dense forest.

He sensed someone behind him, and he slowed his pace slightly.

Where are you going, Jake?

Of course it was Seth.

C'mon, Seth…just give me some space, okay?

Sam saw you take off…told me not to follow you…but—

Being able to communicate through thoughts was often beneficial to the pack, but there were times when he despised the fact that all of them knew exactly where to find him, and what he was thinking…at times, it was like dealing with Edward. He shook his muzzle and growled softly.

Seth, I'm alright. Just go back to Sam's…I'll meet you there later.

Jake—

I'm serious, Seth. He thought firmly. Just get out of here, okay?

Fine. A low grumble escaped Seth, and he turned away to run in the opposite direction.

Jacob hated to be so blunt with Seth. He was a good kid. However, when it came to spending time alone, it was often hard to lose him. He felt a bit bad for telling him to leave, but he couldn't very well think of anything else but Ness now, and with Seth around—with any of them around—he would just be distracted.

He kept running, dodging undergrowth and the dense cedar branches. He didn't stop until he reached Second Beach, the least populated of the beaches on the reservation. As he reached the edge of the forest, he had to maneuver around 30 feet or so of huge driftwood that had washed ashore. As he cleared the mess of trees and his paws touched wet sand, he quickly took his human form and slowed to a stop before he reached the waves. It was low tide, and would be for another hour or so.

The beach was deserted. He searched for any early morning beach combers or clam diggers, but was relieved to find that he was the only soul around. Good. He thought. Peace.

Taking another glance around, he headed to the nearest sea stack and began to climb the jagged, oyster-covered rocks. It was almost dawn, and the tide would be coming back in soon. All of this would soon be underwater, so he decided to make the best of it. When he reached the top, he stood there for several moments, and scanned the area as far as he could see. The forest gaped at him like a neverending labyrinth, the trees tall and dark against the early morning sky. He glanced back down the beach.

Someone was making their way down the beach toward him. He slowly crouched down, unsure whether or not the stranger had seen him. Fantastic. He thought. So much for privacy.

"Jacob." The person called and held up a hand to wave.

He recognized the voice immediately. Bella.

It was a good thing that the treaty was no longer in effect. Despite his wishes to be alone, he would have hated to tell her to leave. In spite of everything that had happened between them, she would always be his Bella, and though he'd come here slightly angry, he knew that she always had a way of calming him down.

She was next to him in seconds, faster than he could blink. Normally, he reacted quickly to their immortal speed, but he realized at this point, he wouldn't have been concerned if she'd pushed him over the edge. That's how badly he was hurting.

"Hey, Bells." He said nonchalantly, and moved so he was lying on his back.

She lay down next to him and laced her icy fingers with his. It seemed natural to both of them to be so comfortable with each other after all of these years. They both gazed up at the star-filled, soft darkness, streaks of light now beginning to creep across the sky.

"No Edward?" Jake wanted to know. "I figured he'd be beating my door down, making sure I stay away from Ness until she's ungrounded."

"I think I made that clear when we spoke last, if I recall correctly." Bella smiled. "But if you'd prefer he do it, then…"

"No way." Jacob raised both eyebrows. "I think we have an understanding."

"Good." She squeezed his hand. "I'm glad I made my point."

The two lay in silence for several moments. It was well-needed, and awkward at the very same time, and for a very long time, neither of them really knew what they wanted to say. Finally, Jacob spoke again.

"How did you know to find me here?"

"Lucky guess." She shrugged.

"Sam told you." He replied, closing his eyes.

"Seth, actually." She returned. "I know you wanted to be left alone, but I just wanted to clear a few things up with you…you know, before we release Ness to the wolves." She smiled. "No pun intended…"

"Ha." Jacob smirked with amusement. "Whatever, Bella." He paused for a few moments. "What's this about?"

"Well—." She began, her voice trailing. "I know we discussed last night how much Ness means to you, and I fully agree that you respect her and care for her more than anything…"

Jacob turned on his side to face her. "Go on."

"But Edward and I were discussing a few things last night, and a topic came up that I'm not sure I'm fully ready to discuss with you…but I don't think I'll be able to stop dwelling on it until I confront you, so…"

"What exactly are you getting at with this?" Jacob questioned with a stern expression.

"I don't think there's an easy way to go about this, Jacob, so I'm just going to come right out and ask… You and Renesmee haven't…you know…ugh, this is embarrassing…been intimate with each other…have you?"

"Bella, come on!" Jacob raised his voice and sat up quickly. "Are you kidding me? Didn't we just discuss this? I respect her—."

"I know that you do!" She replied quickly. "But you if you were hiding anything from us, I wanted to let you know that you can always talk to me if—."

"First of all." Jacob said, almost angrily. "Edward would absolutely know, without question, whether or not Ness and I had been intimate." He rolled his eyes. "My thoughts alone would be a dead giveaway. Second, what the hell business is it of yours?"

He knew as soon as the words left his mouth that it was the wrong thing to say, but damnit, he was furious.

"Excuse me?" Bella's temper flared. "Jacob, I was just asking you a simple question. I thought we were close enough to discuss personal things like this, especially when the issue is my daughter."

"And I thought you trusted me enough to know that I wouldn't take advantage of Renesmee like that. And personal?" he scoffed. "Let's talk about personal, Bella, because I would love it if Edward would just read my thoughts some more when Ness and I are together…"

He knew he'd really done it this time.

"I can't believe that just came out of your mouth." Bella stood. "I thought we understood each other! You told me that you respected her—."

"I do respect her." He stood also, and they came face to face. "Bella, I can't help how I feel about her, sometimes. The imprint isn't something I can control!"

"Jacob, she's still young!"

"Bella, she's not a little girl anymore! I thought you, you of all people, really understood this. At least you acted like you did last night…"

"You know what, Jacob, maybe I'm not ready for this. Clearly, both you and Ness have some maturing to do before you're even prepared to continue with this relationship, especially you, considering some of things that just fell out of your big wolf mouth!"

"Are you seriously kidding me? Really, do you want to go there?" He was getting extremely hot.

"Forget what I said last night." She threw up her hands. "I thought by coming here, I would get my questions answered, and we would be able to agree, like we always do. I get that you need her…and that one day she will be your responsibility…but going over all of this now, I don't think I'm ready for that day to be soon. I thought that I was…but…"

"This is about him, isn't it?" Jacob fumed. "He put you up to this."

"No." She replied. "I defended you, Jacob, but maybe I gave you credit too early. I thought by coming here, it would just solidify the fact that you loved Ness, and that you would just wait for things to happen when both of you were ready, but clearly, your thoughts are more advanced than I originally thought."

"Bella, I'm trying to tell you that it's not like that!" He growled. "What I said before wasn't me talking…and you know that. I say things that I don't mean when I get angry…"

"I think that you did mean it, and right now, I think you need to just take a break from Renesmee…until further notice."

The sun broke out across the northwest sky, and Bella's skin gleamed in the morning light.

"Bella—."

"Jake, I'm sorry." She closed her eyes. "I had no intention of coming here to start this…but clearly, I got my answer…not quite the answer I was looking for, but I think it's the answer I needed. I think I was just being a little naïve. You and Renesmee just need to take a step back…"

She placed a hand on his chest, but he growled and shrunk away from her touch. "Please don't do that."

"Jacob, I really am sorry, but taking a step back from the situation myself, I think that's it's the best decision for both of you."

"Do me a favor." Jacob said firmly. "Don't ever try to tell me what's best for me…and as for Renesmee, she'll decide what's best for her."

The two stood face to face…almost touching…fire and ice…and neither one had any intention of backing down.

Then suddenly, without another word, Bella tore away from where they stood, and was out of sight in seconds.

Jacob hastily changed into wolf form, threw his head back, and let out an angry howl, as the waves crashed violently around him on the rocks below.