Defective - Jacob Black {1}

Chapter 49: Hunt

"This was just a precaution, really." I explained.

"Wouldn't want our precious parasites taking unnecessary chances." Leah said sarcastically and Jesse and I rolled our eyes.

"Nope," I agreed, ignoring the sarcasm.

"You've changed so much, Jacob. Talk about one-eighties." A light growl left my chest along with another eye roll. I let Aria flicker through my mind showing her exactly why I had changed. Jesse's reasoning was the same... family.

"You're not exactly the same Leah I've always known and loved, either." I added annoyed.

"True. Am I less annoying than Paul now?"

"Amazingly... yes." I had to give that to her. He was getting on my last nerves eating all the food in my house... they were my god damn chips.

"Ah, sweet success."

"Congrats." Jesse chimed in, unbothered. He thought she was still as annoying as Paul.

We ran in silence again then. It was probably time to turn around, but none of us wanted to. It felt nice to run like this. We'd been staring at the same small circle of a trail for too long. It felt good to stretch our muscles and take the rugged terrain. We weren't in a huge hurry, so I thought maybe we should hunt on the way back. Leah was pretty hungry.

"Yum, yum," she thought sourly.

"It's all in your head," I told her. "That's the way wolves eat. It's natural. It tastes fine. If you didn't think about it from a human perspective—"

"Forget the pep talk, Jacob. I'll hunt I don't have to like it." She grimaced, going over how disgusted she was by it inside her head.

"Sure, sure," I agreed easily. It wasn't my business if she wanted to make things harder for herself.

"If only you could put your hatred for the Cullens aside." Jesse teased. "You could be stuffing your face with a perfectly cooked meal and sleeping in a nice warm bed."

She snarled at him but didn't say anything. He laughed to himself, happy he had got to her. She didn't add anything for a few minutes; I started thinking about turning back.

"Thank you," Leah suddenly told me in a much different tone. It put a damper on Jesse's mood.

"For?" I asked.

"For letting me be. For letting me stay. You've been nicer than I had any right to expect, Jacob." She said and Jesse almost tripped over his own paws, who knew that Leah had this side to her?

"Er, no problem. Actually, I mean that. I don't mind having you here like I thought I would." I said sincerely.

She snorted, but it was a playful sound. "What a glowing commendation!"

"Don't let it go to your head." I added quickly.

"Okay - if you don't let this go to yours." She paused for a second, catching Jesse and I's full attention. "I think you make a good Alpha. Not in the same way Sam does, but in your own way. You're worth following, Jacob."

Jesse side glanced me in shock and my mind went blank with surprise. It took me a second to recover enough to respond. "Er, thanks. Not totally sure I'll be able to stop that one from going to my head, though. Where did that come from?"

She didn't answer right away, and I followed the wordless direction of her thoughts. She was thinking about the future - about what I'd said to Paul the other morning. About how the time would be up soon, about how I'd promised that she, Jesse and Seth would return to the pack when the Cullens were gone...