Chapter 1
Sprinting through the trees, I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face. Pine needles cushioned my footsteps as I dodged brush and bark. The birds flitted safely through the branches, twittering as they went. This was my favorite part of the day when I could run free with my best friend. School was starting back next week and I was trying to soak up as much fun as I could.
This was my first time going through school unlike the rest of my family. I would be entering my junior year at Nome-Beltz High with Seth who was visiting our grandparents for the summer. Jake and I returned early because I missed the rest of my family. It was nice seeing Billy Black, Jacob’s father, especially since his health was failing.
My parents, Aunt Alice, and Seth’s sister, Leah, would be starting their senior year. Uncle Jasper, Jacob, Aunt Rosalie, and Uncle Emmett just graduated (again). Rosalie and Emmett married again and were off on another honeymoon this time in the UK. My father preferred it when they took their passion elsewhere, so he didn’t have to suffer with their thoughts of each other.
Jacob drew closer. His wolf form was faster than me. He could tackle me to the ground and rip me apart if he wanted to. His old pack would have before I was born by killing my mom, yet he stopped them. I hadn’t told him, but I was undeniably in love with him. He’d had my back my entire childhood. Now that I would be an adult in 2 weeks, I couldn’t get my mind off him. It drove my father nuts, not that he’d say anything to me about it.
My mother knew too and snickered about Dad’s foul moods whenever the topic of Jacob came up, which was often since he practically lived with us. I wanted to push for more from Jacob, but he’d be my first boyfriend and I didn’t know how to broach the topic. I didn’t want to change things between us in case they ended badly though I also wanted to try. He was everything I wanted in a partner. He never pushed. He’d always just been there for me in any capacity I desired without any thought of himself. Even when I tried to gather his thoughts, they reflected my own.
My dad rolled his eyes as I thought about him earlier this evening. Before our run, I’d thought of pouncing on him and kissing him. Dad made a gagging sound while Mom laughed to herself.
“Just tell him already,” Dad finally chimed in with his opinion when Jake went off to grab something from the main house. “Stop making me suffer.”
“I don’t know if-” I started but Mom cut me off.
“Nessie, he wants you more than his next breath. You’ll make him the happiest man in the world if you tell him you’re thinking of him romantically.”
I grinned at her words. Mom knew Jacob from when she was still a human. Their friendship shifted after I was born and my father turned my mother into a vampire, but they were still good friends. Good enough to where I took her advice seriously. I was going to tell Jacob how I felt.
“Go before you kill me!” Dad groaned.
Mom smacked Dad’s shoulder playfully before he leaped on her. They wrestled around the room like two teenagers in love, sometimes breaking things in their nonsense. I sighed, wanting to have that with Jacob.
He leaped on me, sending us both plummeting to the ground with him breaking my fall. His soft russet fur cushioning me and protecting me from harm. Jake would never do anything to hurt me. It was one of the many things I loved about him. He rolled onto his back and wiggled about with his long, pink tongue flopping from his mouth. I laughed at his overgrown dog act. I rubbed his belly telling him “You’re a good boy,” in a high pitched voice. He stopped wiggling and narrowed his eyes at me. I laughed again. It would be weird to have an animal display human behaviors like that if I didn’t know my best friend was in there.
Jake gave me a wolfish grin before rolling over and shaking pine needles and dirt from his fur onto me. I pushed him over and glared at him. He barked out a laugh and darted back toward the house, retracing our path so I’d have a hard time finding him. I growled as I ran after him, watching closely. As soon as he got far enough away, he’d shift and climb a tree.
I missed the shift and him throwing his pants on, but I caught the smallest change in his scent from the new to old and I knew he was in a tree close by. I stopped and looked up on time to see a large mass leap on top of me. Immediately, I crumpled to the ground with Jake laughing at me. His arms were around me once again protecting me and caging me to his bare chest. My eyes searched his with longing. This could be our first kiss if I let my feelings be known.
“Jake, I lo-”
I was interrupted from confessing my feelings when Grandma Esme called for me from the main house. Jake leaped off me, pulling me to my feet in the same motion. “Go,” he told me. “We’ll talk later. I have to run patrol anyway.”
He was usually on patrol through the forest to make sure no intruders ventured onto our land here in Nome, Alaska. We had to stay in areas with a lot of dark days because my parents and their siblings couldn’t be seen in the sunlight without drawing unwanted attention. I didn’t share that problem though our inability to age also drew attention. That was why we finally had to leave our home in Forks where my other grandpa lives. He stayed with Jacob’s old pack on the reservation and we visited regularly. We also visited our friends down in Denali often.
Grandpa Charlie was getting old and Mom explained that humans had a lot shorter lifespans than we did. They didn’t completely understand us and our way of life so we had to be careful with most of them. Charlie knew a lot about Jacob and the pack, but he wasn’t allowed to know about Mom and Dad because of the vampire laws.
I hung my head and nodded with my eyes downcast. I finally found the courage to tell him and I was interrupted before I could. Ugh. How much longer could I hold my feelings in before I burst?
I sprinted to the house hoping this wouldn’t take long and I could get back to my Jacob. The main house held my dad’s parents, Esme and Carlisle. Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett (when they were in the country), Jacob, Aunt Alice, and Uncle Jasper lived with Carlisle and Esme despite Aunt Alice’s frequent headaches from my presence. She could see the future of vampires and humans, but werewolves and half-breeds like myself blocked her power. Since my life was entangled in theirs so much, it gave her headaches when she tried to see what would become of us.
What does Grandma need? I wondered as I opened the back door to the main house. It mirrored our one in Forks, which was perfect for us to live and be ourselves. We owned 100 acres of land to keep away any prying eyes, not that it mattered with the long winter nights. Snow didn’t bother us. My parents didn’t feel cold. Jacob had a thick fur coat to keep him warm when he grew out his hair in the winter. I had to have a coat, but I wasn’t as susceptible to the weather as a human was. We were in the spring. Snow melted from the long winter and the days lengthened to where it’d be daylight almost 24/7 once summer hit.
Jasper and Alice danced to music blasting from a stereo in the living room when I walked in.
Another happy couple to rub their relationship in my face.
“Hey, Auntie Alice! Uncle Jasper!” I called over the music. They heard me enter or scented me I was sure. You couldn’t sneak up on a vampire if you tried.
“Nessie!” Alice squealed, dancing over to me as Jasper disappeared upstairs. “You are officially an adult as of next week and I want to throw you a birthday party.”
“Really? That sounds like a lot of fun!”
Alice loved throwing parties and she so rarely got the opportunity. She used to force them on my mom before I came along. Now we only celebrated my birthdays though this was likely to be the last one. She didn’t show her disappointment, but I knew she felt it.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re more reasonable than your mother about such things.”
I laughed at the many stories I heard of my mother’s tantrums from Alice trying to throw parties for her. She could be so obtuse about the weirdest things.
“Who are you going to invite?” I asked.
“We’ll have to have Charlie come up and our friends from Denali. Of course, we’ll invite everyone from school too.”
“Let’s invite the pack too.”
Alice scrunched her nose but agreed. She hated the way the werewolves smelled though I thought they smelled good as did the vampires. I was the bridge between the pack and the coven.
“Oh, and Nahuel called. He’ll be here too.”
I frowned at the name. “Really? I thought he liked the warmer climates.”
“He wants to see how you turned out, I think. He didn’t give me much over the phone, but it sounded like he’s been waiting for you to grow up, so he could come see you.”
Warmth gathered along my cheeks. “That’s silly. Why would he care to see me?”
“You’re the only other half-breed that isn’t his sister. He’s curious.” She shrugged and danced off toward the stairs.
“Wait, when is he coming?” I shouted after her.
“Any minute.”
Sure enough, the doorbell rang. “It’s fine. I’ll get it,” I huffed after her.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about seeing Nahuel again. He’d been there to save my life when I was a child and we were under trial with the Volturi’s, the closest thing to a vampire governing body as we had. He showed them I could blend in with the humans without risking exposing the vampires to the humans. I also grew and was controlled, unlike the changed children who had insatiable appetites that fed and fed - incapable of discernment.
I yanked open the door to find a dark-skinned man with long braided hair and teak-colored eyes staring back at me. He was as beautiful as I remembered still appearing as an 18-year-old despite being 150. I reached out and touched the side of his face, showing him the memory. It was a power I had. My father read minds. My mother shielded certain powers like my father’s ability to read minds and I had the power to show people things like my memories.
Nahuel sucked in a breath at first and slowly exhaled with a smile at the memory. “Yes, that was me.” His heavy accent was beautiful to me as well as his looks. “You were so young. I’m surprised you remember.”
“I remember everything since my birth,” I told him as I welcomed him into our home.
“Have the Volturi been back?”
I shook my head. “No, they’ve left us alone these last 5 years.”
“You’ve grown into such a lovely woman.” He stepped toward me, but I backed away.
I inhaled sharply. We were the same and I loved that, but I wasn’t sure I wanted him when I had Jacob. Jacob was my rock. He’d been with me my entire life. “I appreciate it.”
He frowned and cocked his head at my behavior. “I’ve been told I’m attractive as a man. Do you not find me appealing?”
I blushed. “Uh, I mean - I guess you are, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be a couple.”
“Why? Are you dating someone else? A human or a vampire?”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not dating anyone at the moment, but-”
I never got to finish my statement as Jacob burst through the door with only jeans on. No shirt or shoes.
“Nahuel, you remember Jacob?” I bit my lip to keep from laughing at Jacob’s wild gaze. Alice must not have told him about the people visiting for my party. “Jacob, Nahuel is here for my coming-of-age party that Alice is throwing.”
Jacob schooled his features into a calm, cool facade at my explanation. “Sup?”
Nahuel frowned at the slang. “I don’t understand.”
“He means how are you?” I explained, fighting a smile.
Nahuel nodded in understanding. “I’m doing well, though I’m trying to find out why Nessie will not let me court her.”
My eyes widened at his blunt speech. Jacob shuddered before running out the door without another word. He shifted shattering his pants into a million pieces as he sprinted into the woods, howling in agony as he went. Mom was right. He did want me and Nahuel was ruining it.
Nahuel frowned with a furrowed brow. “I don’t understand.”
“Jacob likes me I think and you just admitted to wanting to date me too.”
“Why would the dog think he has a chance with someone as lovely as you?”
Fire licked up skin starting at my heart and spreading to my limbs. “Don’t talk about Jacob like that.”
I wanted to tear out his eyes for saying something so blatantly disrespectful toward my friend.
He cocked his head toward me. “You feel the same way toward him?”
“Yes.”
