Defined - Jacob Black {2}

Chapter 4: Celebrations

I soon realised we were approaching my yard, I could tell from the smells of the pack and their family members as they lingered in the air, though they were fresher than I remembered. Not being able to help it, I strained my ears and was met by multiple sets of thumping hearts. Were all our friends waiting for us?

Jake stopped and I could feel a warmth radiating from behind me, it was strong but it felt nice on my skin. It may sound strange but I could tell there were a lot of people, all their scents were mixing together, the almost synchronised sound of their lungs filling with air and their hearts beating to an awkward, grouped rhythm.

"Ready?" Jake whispered as I felt his hand begin to unknot the tie behind my head.

"What for?" I asked innocently, though my high sensitive ears could hear what he had planned for us.

"This." He pulled the tie from my eyes and I got a flash of the back of the house before he gripped my hips and whirled me around to the inside of a marquee.

The heat I felt before radiated from a small open fire in the centre of the marquee, there was a small opening in the ceiling of the tent for the smoke to escape. The rest of the the room was again adorned with bouquets of fresh blood red roses and petals were scattered across the grass. Candle lanterns hung from the ceiling illuminating the room to give us some light. I couldn't have imagined anything more beautiful.

"Congratulations!" Chorused Jake and I's family and friends. Our closest family members were in the centre of the room, with the Cullens standing just to the side of my dad and siblings.

"Oh my god! Wow!" I was shocked... I couldn't believe that Jake was able to pull this off without me finding out. "I need to keep a closer eye on you." I muttered to Jake as our families swarmed towards us.

"Don't ruin it for yourself." He laughed and pulled me into his side so he could place a sweet kiss against my temple.

"I'm so happy for you, girl." Tori greeted me with open arms as she threw herself at me. "Lying to you was such a struggle."

My face blanked and I stepped back from her. "So you all knew he was going to propose tonight?" I asked bewilderedly. How had they all kept this a secret?

"We all did. What happened at the house earlier was part of the act." Scarlett explained with a giggle, covering her mouth to try and muffle the sounds.

"You guys!" I whined exasperatedly. "I do not like how you got around my mind reading, I'll be keeping an eye on all of you." The group laughed as my dad pushed through to envelop me on his arms.

"We are so happy for you, Aria." He was beaming with pride as he held me close. "Congratulations to the both of you, I know you've been waiting for this."

"Sorry, Rob. It just had to be perfect." Jake chimed in, again his body moved into mine as he wrapped his strong arms around me.

Jake and I were then passed around from family member to family member and then Tori shoved a phone in my face. "It's Mom!"

I placed the phone to my ear and then my mother's sweet, warm voice spoke out. "Hello?"

"Mom! Mom! Mom!" I answered back, my voice showing the sheer happiness and excitement that was coursing through me.

"Yes, sweetheart?" My expression faltered as her usual light-hearted voice came back shaky and unsure.

"Oh, is everything okay?" I strained my ears to see if I could hear anything on her side but all could hear was her breathing and another's that was a lot heavier and deeper.

"Yes, yes it's fine." She said quickly, I could almost imagine her waving me off with her hand.

"Are you sure?" I pressed, something was definitely wrong. A new nervous lump formed in my throat and the pit of my stomach. I swallowed harshly and ignored the wondering and confused stares of everyone around me as I focused on my mom's voice.