The Heat of You
by Wizardtho
Chapter 24:
Jacob POV
Things were going pretty good when I phased in for patrol tonight. Bella was phased in with Paul, and I apologized for how I’d acted. I truly was sorry for pushing myself on her, and I deserved to be compared to the images she showed me last time.
I was a little sore that she already had phasing on the fly down pat, but Bella was generous enough to go through her thoughts and actions as she explained how I had to time it just right with my own phasing… that the time it took me to phase needed to be calculated into it. Huh… I suck at math.
Then, as I rounded toward the top side of the rez, it came time for Paul to teach Bella how to hunt. She swore she could do it without giving over to her wolf, and I ended up having a good chuckle when she lost not 1, but 2 meals because she was hard-headed.
Once she finally gave hunting over to her wolf, she quickly stalked and took down a good-sized male elk. She had it pretty much stripped clean before she was sated, but then I wasn’t surprised, with how hungry her wolf was. Hunting was definitely going to be a frequent event for Bella in the coming weeks.
I was enjoying the breeze near the cliffs when Bella stilled with a growl. She immediately looked to Paul, who asked through the link if she smelled it. It was touchy until he got her to calm down and think, then he taught her how to search out the individual scents.
I hated to admit it, but he had a way of getting through to Bella quickly, and she responded to him in a way she never had with me. It didn’t take her long with his guidance to be able to individualize all 7 scents.
With how well she was taking to their scents -having the same negative reaction any wolf would have- I knew the next step was to take her to their lair. Bella didn’t even question it and said she was ready.
Everything went to shit the instant she saw their backyard, though. The mind link filled with chaos, full of images and snippets of conversation. I couldn’t tell up from down for a full 2 minutes, and when I finally got my bearings, Paul told me to phase out… to get Sam.
I hauled ass, but I still got tripped up nearly a half dozen times from the chaos in just the short few minutes it took me to reach Sam’s yard. I actually had to take a second to gather my wits once I phased out and dressed, but even still, I was out of breath as I knocked on Sam’s back door.
Sam whipped the door open, his eyes wide and the alpha double timber in his voice, “Fill me in.”
I shook my head as I panted, “It’s Bella. It’s real bad, Sam. The whole mind link is filled with so much chaos and pain that it knocked me on my ass more than once running here to get you. I think that’s why Paul told me to phase out and get you. He knew I’d be no good at blocking her enough to patrol. It happened right when she saw their house… I think she’s remembering. There was so much; I think she’s remembering all of it.”
Sam immediately told me as he rushed inside and bent over the kitchen table to write Emily a note, “Call Charlie. She’s going to want to put eyes on him, once she’s calm enough to phase out. She’ll want to make sure he’s safe. If we can get him on the rez and safe at Paul’s, she may calm down sooner. Tell him to go there, let himself in, and catch a nap in a guest room if he needs to. Let him know what’s going on… tell him Bella will need him.”
I nodded, then pulled my phone from my shorts as Sam walked quickly toward the forest. My conversation with Charlie was short, but when I hung up, I was able to tell Sam’s wolf that Charlie was on his way to Paul’s.
I was surprised to see my Dad awake when I walked through the front door of my house. I’d been trying to push away all the images I’d seen in the mind link on the walk home from Sam’s, but when I looked into my dad’s eyes, I crumpled.
Tears fell as I gasped for air, and I cried for everything my friend had endured. I cried for the violent loss of her innocence, for the fight I knew was yet to come, and mostly for the reality that she was never really mine. She was always his, and tonight it showed. Tonight, in her most vulnerable state, I couldn’t hack it. I couldn’t help her. Yet he did. Even now, he was out there doing something I couldn’t… the one thing she needed. Paul was being the mate that I never would be to Bella.
So I cried.
Sam POV
I took several deep breaths to center myself before I phased in. I still wasn’t prepared for the vast amount of pain radiating through the mind link when I landed on 4 paws, but I quickly shook my head, focused, and could block most of it from my mind. Paul didn’t say anything, but I felt him calm a bit once I phased in, so he knew the rez was safe. He could concentrate fully on his mate.
I kept track of them as a silent onlooker while patrolling, and I noticed a couple of things right off the bat. For every memory of the Cullens that surfaced, Paul showed her a memory of his feelings for her or how close he would hold her. Things he never let slip in the mind link. He’d show her how the scent of her calmed his wolf, how he secretly loved when she’d wedge one of her legs in between his when they curled up to sleep, how he was so damn proud of her for standing up for herself with Jake, how he loved when she initiated contact between them, how much he and his wolf were both ecstatic that they had chosen her for their mate, and how excited he was to see her even before all this mess, anytime she came to the rez. He showed her how much he loved the expressiveness of her eyes, how she got sassy with him, and how she was genuine in everything she said or did.
I noticed that Bella automatically clung to Paul’s heat and memories, which led her to shove away the dark images of the Cullens. Another memory of them would surface, and I could literally picture her turning away from it to cling to the next memory of Paul’s. It reminded me of how she talked about her nightmare state.
Though it took about 2 hours for her to finally calm down, in the end, the only thing filling the mind link was Paul’s memories, and Bella’s feeling of safety as she curled closer into his wolf.
I thought softly, not wanting to scare her, ‘Bella? When you’re ready, I want the two of you to run back home. Take the rest of the night to decompress, okay?’
I could feel her disagreement as she said, ‘I can’t. Not yet. I need to see Dad. I need… I just…’
I offered in explanation, ‘I already had Jake call him, and explain that you would need him. He’s waiting at Paul’s. Go home, Bella, and let them take care of you.’
The mind link filled with relief, then Bella whispered through the link, ‘Thanks, Sam. I’m-’
I shook my head before I promised, ‘There is absolutely nothing to apologize for, Bella. Don’t say you’re sorry for what happened. We knew there was a chance you would regain all your memories, with how you were already regaining snippets. Not to sound like an asshole, but I’m glad you got them back now, and not when you were face-to-face with them.’
I could see Bella turning my words over in her mind, then a murky flash of her being curled up in a ball while Paul was fighting the whole clan by himself. She quickly shook the image from her mind before saying, ‘Me, too, Sam.’
Though they took their time, and Bella seemed a bit shaky when she first made it up on all four paws, they did head straight back to the rez. Paul’s string of memories continued, neither of them really thinking anything through the link. Somehow, I knew he was making sure to keep his side against hers, fur to fur. They both needed the contact.
Before they reached their back patio, I could feel Bella’s relief as she saw Charlie watching for them out the living room windows, a steaming cup of coffee cradled in his hands. I promised I’d check in with them later in the day, then ordered for them both the get some rest.
Jacob POV
Things were going pretty good when I phased in for patrol tonight. Bella was phased in with Paul, and I apologized for how I’d acted. I truly was sorry for pushing myself on her, and I deserved to be compared to the images she showed me last time.
I was a little sore that she already had phasing on the fly down pat, but Bella was generous enough to go through her thoughts and actions as she explained how I had to time it just right with my own phasing… that the time it took me to phase needed to be calculated into it. Huh… I suck at math.
Then, as I rounded toward the top side of the rez, it came time for Paul to teach Bella how to hunt. She swore she could do it without giving over to her wolf, and I ended up having a good chuckle when she lost not 1, but 2 meals because she was hard-headed.
Once she finally gave hunting over to her wolf, she quickly stalked and took down a good-sized male elk. She had it pretty much stripped clean before she was sated, but then I wasn’t surprised, with how hungry her wolf was. Hunting was definitely going to be a frequent event for Bella in the coming weeks.
I was enjoying the breeze near the cliffs when Bella stilled with a growl. She immediately looked to Paul, who asked through the link if she smelled it. It was touchy until he got her to calm down and think, then he taught her how to search out the individual scents.
I hated to admit it, but he had a way of getting through to Bella quickly, and she responded to him in a way she never had with me. It didn’t take her long with his guidance to be able to individualize all 7 scents.
With how well she was taking to their scents -having the same negative reaction any wolf would have- I knew the next step was to take her to their lair. Bella didn’t even question it and said she was ready.
Everything went to shit the instant she saw their backyard, though. The mind link filled with chaos, full of images and snippets of conversation. I couldn’t tell up from down for a full 2 minutes, and when I finally got my bearings, Paul told me to phase out… to get Sam.
I hauled ass, but I still got tripped up nearly a half dozen times from the chaos in just the short few minutes it took me to reach Sam’s yard. I actually had to take a second to gather my wits once I phased out and dressed, but even still, I was out of breath as I knocked on Sam’s back door.
Sam whipped the door open, his eyes wide and the alpha double timber in his voice, “Fill me in.”
I shook my head as I panted, “It’s Bella. It’s real bad, Sam. The whole mind link is filled with so much chaos and pain that it knocked me on my ass more than once running here to get you. I think that’s why Paul told me to phase out and get you. He knew I’d be no good at blocking her enough to patrol. It happened right when she saw their house… I think she’s remembering. There was so much; I think she’s remembering all of it.”
Sam immediately told me as he rushed inside and bent over the kitchen table to write Emily a note, “Call Charlie. She’s going to want to put eyes on him, once she’s calm enough to phase out. She’ll want to make sure he’s safe. If we can get him on the rez and safe at Paul’s, she may calm down sooner. Tell him to go there, let himself in, and catch a nap in a guest room if he needs to. Let him know what’s going on… tell him Bella will need him.”
I nodded, then pulled my phone from my shorts as Sam walked quickly toward the forest. My conversation with Charlie was short, but when I hung up, I was able to tell Sam’s wolf that Charlie was on his way to Paul’s.
I was surprised to see my Dad awake when I walked through the front door of my house. I’d been trying to push away all the images I’d seen in the mind link on the walk home from Sam’s, but when I looked into my dad’s eyes, I crumpled.
Tears fell as I gasped for air, and I cried for everything my friend had endured. I cried for the violent loss of her innocence, for the fight I knew was yet to come, and mostly for the reality that she was never really mine. She was always his, and tonight it showed. Tonight, in her most vulnerable state, I couldn’t hack it. I couldn’t help her. Yet he did. Even now, he was out there doing something I couldn’t… the one thing she needed. Paul was being the mate that I never would be to Bella.
So I cried.
Sam POV
I took several deep breaths to center myself before I phased in. I still wasn’t prepared for the vast amount of pain radiating through the mind link when I landed on 4 paws, but I quickly shook my head, focused, and could block most of it from my mind. Paul didn’t say anything, but I felt him calm a bit once I phased in, so he knew the rez was safe. He could concentrate fully on his mate.
I kept track of them as a silent onlooker while patrolling, and I noticed a couple of things right off the bat. For every memory of the Cullens that surfaced, Paul showed her a memory of his feelings for her or how close he would hold her. Things he never let slip in the mind link. He’d show her how the scent of her calmed his wolf, how he secretly loved when she’d wedge one of her legs in between his when they curled up to sleep, how he was so damn proud of her for standing up for herself with Jake, how he loved when she initiated contact between them, how much he and his wolf were both ecstatic that they had chosen her for their mate, and how excited he was to see her even before all this mess, anytime she came to the rez. He showed her how much he loved the expressiveness of her eyes, how she got sassy with him, and how she was genuine in everything she said or did.
I noticed that Bella automatically clung to Paul’s heat and memories, which led her to shove away the dark images of the Cullens. Another memory of them would surface, and I could literally picture her turning away from it to cling to the next memory of Paul’s. It reminded me of how she talked about her nightmare state.
Though it took about 2 hours for her to finally calm down, in the end, the only thing filling the mind link was Paul’s memories, and Bella’s feeling of safety as she curled closer into his wolf.
I thought softly, not wanting to scare her, ‘Bella? When you’re ready, I want the two of you to run back home. Take the rest of the night to decompress, okay?’
I could feel her disagreement as she said, ‘I can’t. Not yet. I need to see Dad. I need… I just…’
I offered in explanation, ‘I already had Jake call him, and explain that you would need him. He’s waiting at Paul’s. Go home, Bella, and let them take care of you.’
The mind link filled with relief, then Bella whispered through the link, ‘Thanks, Sam. I’m-’
I shook my head before I promised, ‘There is absolutely nothing to apologize for, Bella. Don’t say you’re sorry for what happened. We knew there was a chance you would regain all your memories, with how you were already regaining snippets. Not to sound like an asshole, but I’m glad you got them back now, and not when you were face-to-face with them.’
I could see Bella turning my words over in her mind, then a murky flash of her being curled up in a ball while Paul was fighting the whole clan by himself. She quickly shook the image from her mind before saying, ‘Me, too, Sam.’
Though they took their time, and Bella seemed a bit shaky when she first made it up on all four paws, they did head straight back to the rez. Paul’s string of memories continued, neither of them really thinking anything through the link. Somehow, I knew he was making sure to keep his side against hers, fur to fur. They both needed the contact.
Before they reached their back patio, I could feel Bella’s relief as she saw Charlie watching for them out the living room windows, a steaming cup of coffee cradled in his hands. I promised I’d check in with them later in the day, then ordered for them both the get some rest.