In which Alice Cullen invites the Volturi's second in command to live with her family
Or
Jacob Black is bound by fate to be with his sworn enemy, forcing him to choose between loyalty and love
˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ :...
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The forest stretched wide and endless, an infinite cathedral of evergreens swaying in the late afternoon wind. Shafts of pale light filtered through the canopy, gilding the mossy earth in fractured gold. Somewhere far off, a creek murmured over stones, the sound blending with the rustle of branches.
Jacob ran through it all like he belonged to it; like it belonged to him. The ground gave under his stride with a muted thud, soft with centuries of fallen leaves. Ferns whipped past his legs in green blurs, and the sharp wind peeled the never-ending heat which radiated from his skin.
He had told Sam he was taking a short run, the excuse as thin as smoke. Clearing his head, he'd said. But running only sharpened his piercing thoughts instead of scattering them. Bella's face surfaced in his thoughts without asking permission. It always did. Not the pale, guarded version she wore frequently these days, but the one from before, when her smile was warmer than the sun on his back. Her being clung stubbornly to him. Similarly to the tar that could often be found on La Push. Sticky and warm when fresh, but he felt it growing tough; reality told him she was already drifting further away, further into the cold.
The rumble of an engine carried through the thick weave of forest, unnatural against the heartbeat of the woods. His ears pricked, and his body slowed before he even decided to stop. He drew up in the middle of the road, chest heaving. The air around him steamed faintly, the cold drizzle evaporating as soon as it touched his scorching skin.
Headlights carved through the trees, cutting a white path that stretched across the damp road. Jacob's jaw tightened, his feet planted to the ground. To be honest, he wasn't completely sure Edward would even stop, not for him. The bloodsucker would rather plow through than give him the satisfaction. But Bella was in the car. He could feel it, as if her heartbeat called out through the forest. And with Bella there, Jacob knew Edward would have no choice. She wouldn't let anything happen to him.
The car screeched, gravel crunching beneath the tires before it rolled to a stop. The purr of the engine vibrated in Jacob's chest, too calm, too civilized, like everything about Edward Cullen. A predator pretending to be tame.
Through the windshield, Jacob saw him. He looked unbothered, the same way he always did. But Jacob could see the tension coiled in his shoulders, the way his jaw flexed ever so slightly. A standoff, even before a word had been spoken.
Bella was in the passenger seat, her face turned toward him. Her eyes found him instantly, soft but strained, as if she was holding two worlds inside her at once and didn't know how to carry them both. Jacob's chest pulled tight. She was the reason he was standing here at all, the reason he hadn't torn through the car and ended this before it began.
Jacob ran into the woods, sure they would follow behind him. And they did. His voice came out rough, hotter than he meant it to. "So you're still alive for now?"
