Chapter 11 - Insecurity's A Witch
A/N: Events from Eclipse will start to be weaved in from here on out.
I do not own Twilight or its characters. They belong to Stephanie Meyer. Ruby is from my imagination. I make no money from this.
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“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason to madness.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
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Ruby woke up at a quarter to ten and she carefully untangled herself from Jacob so not to wake him. She took a quick shower and put on her best white cotton dress. It had spaghetti straps and a full skirt; it was her favorite. She felt like she stepped right out of an I Love Lucy episode, if Lucy had ever shown her bare shoulders or cleavage. It was something she always did, when she felt upset or down or knew she would be having a trying day, she would always wear one of her favorite outfits, to brighten her a day just a tad. She paired it with a red sash across her middle, tied into a neat bow in the back, cherry earrings and because she felt like being barefoot, or close to it, a pair of red flip flops.
She gave Jacob a soft kiss to his cheek, taking a moment to look at him and hope that their love was true. She just had one more thing to check and she would be sure. She ran out the door and jumped into her car, hoping the sound of it starting wouldn’t wake Jacob. He was always pushing himself and she felt the extra sleep would do him good.
She arrived at Charlie’s house at half past ten and saw Bella and Edward standing by the side of his car. Pulling alongside them, she lowered her window. “I know, I know, I’m late but I feel asleep. I’m sorry.”
Edward escorted Bella to the passenger side of Ruby’s SUV. “Quite understandable.” Edward gave Bella a kiss, waited for her to sit in the passenger seat of Ruby’s SUV and closed the door after her.
“Well, bye Eddie. I don’t even know what to say to you. Have fun? Bon appétit?”
Edward chuckled. “We should be back in a few hours. We are not going far. I’ll call when we return. Thank you for doing this Ruby.” The girls said goodbye and Edward waved. Ruby drove back to La Push unable to make small talk. She wasn’t sure if that was because she was tired or if she was afraid of how big a part Bella would play in her love life.
They drove up to the house and parked. Ruby knew that Jacob almost always used to come out to greet Bella and maybe the fact that he didn’t was a good sign. The two girls walked into the house and were shocked by the sight that greeted them.
Jacob was standing in the living room and he was wearing a towel.
Only a towel.
Water was slowly sliding over his russet pecs, down his tight sculpted abs then absorbed into the edge of the towel; a towel that was wrapped dangerously low on his waist, exposing the thin trail of dark hair that began at his bellybutton and disappeared beneath the towel. He had another towel in his hands and he was using it to vigorously rub the water out of his hair causing his muscles to move, in Ruby’s opinion, in some interesting ways. He obviously hadn’t yet realized anyone was in the house with him.
Ruby heard a whimper and after a moment realized, with embarrassment, that it came from her. Of course she had seen him without his shirt before, the boy was practically allergic to shirts, but this was the first time she saw him so… naked and wet. They usually brought their clothes into the bathroom with them and changed in there, both still somewhat shy about where their relationship would eventually end up. He hadn’t done that today, assuming he had enough time to shower and get back to his room to change without bumping into anyone.
Glancing at Bella she noticed the girl looking at Jacob with wide eyes and a slight flush on her pale cheeks. Ruby silently turned back to Jacob. He took a few more steps before the silence was broken.
“Is it getting hot in here?” Ruby was shocked that Bella would say such a brazen thing, especially with his imprint standing right next to them. But when she turned to look at her, Bella was not looking at Jacob. Bella was instead looking around the room, fanning herself.
“Ruby. Bella. I didn’t know you were here.” He stopped rubbing his hair with the towel and draped it over his shoulders.
“No really, is it hot in here or is it just me?” Bella repeated.
Ruby, finally taking note of the temperature change, blushed scarlet. “That would be me, sorry,” she mumbled. “Sometimes my thermokinesis has a mind of its own if I’m overly, um… happy or… excited.”
Ruby started to pick at the hem of her skirt and chanced a glance at Jacob. He looked flabbergasted and the slightest tint of pink was present on his cheeks.
“Does that mean you like what you see?” he asked Ruby, who let out an unintelligible noise. Jacob let out a loud booming laugh and the next thing Ruby knew, she had a whole lot of naked Jacob wrapped around her as he gave her a hug. “I didn’t know I could have that much of an effect on you. Gives my ego a big boost,” he whispered into Ruby’s ear causing her to suck in a breath of air. He then walked into his room without a backward glance at either of them.
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First Beach was completely inhabited by the pack and their imprints, along with the elders. Sam was at the grills flipping burgers and turning hotdogs as Emily set platters of salads and side dishes out on a table. Kim and Claire were splashing in the water trying to cool off from the rare blazing afternoon sun. Jared, Paul and Leah were taking on Seth, Collin and Brady in a game of touch football. Quil was talking with some of the elders and Embry was sitting on a log, quiet as always.
When the trio arrived at the beach, everyone greeted them and Sam called Jacob over to help him man the grills. Jacob kissed Ruby then jogged over to help his Alpha. Ruby and Bella walked along the beach making small talk when Bella’s cell phone rang. Ruby walked a few feet away to give Bella her privacy.
“Ruby,” Bella called out after a few moments. Ruby turned to face her. “That was Carlisle. They just thought of a plan and wanted me to tell the pack right away to see what they thought.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“We’ll go to the clearing with Jacob the night before. Get it saturated with my scent. Then Jacob will carry me away. Jasper thought of it when Rosalie was complaining about how bad I always smell when I return from hanging out with Jacob. Jacob doesn’t smell nice to vampires and supposedly the smell is so bad that it mask my … uh, appetizing scent. Victoria and the newborns will go to the clearing thinking I’m still there and the pack and the Cullens will be waiting for them.”
“Where will you be?”
“I’ll be up in the mountains somewhere. If Jacob agrees, he’ll bring me there and Edward will be waiting for me. I think I’m supposed to stay there all night.”
Ruby looked past Bella to where everyone was laughing and enjoying the calm before the storm. “You’re going to be here all day. Why don’t you sit on this info until later?” Bella furrowed her brow at Ruby. “It’s just that they’re having fun right now. I want them to have that for a little while longer before they switch to business.” Bella nodded in agreement.
A while after that Sam announced that the food was ready. Ruby saw the pack start to make a mad dash for the grills and the girls take several steps back. Using her power, she picked up the lids and placed them on the grills.
“Hey. You ever hear the saying ‘ladies first’?” she yelled when she noticed the boys stop short. They laughed and graciously stood to the side giving the girls space to go before them. Emily and Kim thanked her as they walked away with their food. “No problem. You would think with a pregnant woman here they would at the very least let her go first but their stomachs are bigger than their manners.” The girls sat down and watched in amazement as the boys devoured the remaining edibles.
“Ruby, I was wondering,” Emily began as she started to slowly lower herself into a chair, “actually Sam and I were wondering, considering your choice of career and your abilities and well, you are family now…”
“Emily, are you going to get to the point?” Ruby joked.
Emily laughed. “Well, as you know, we want to have a home birth and we were hoping if you’d be our midwife.”
“Oh my Goddess, are you sure? I mean I assisted my mom and grandmother before but that was a while ago and I was just assisting.” Ruby was stunned. She knew this was an immensely precious and important thing they were asking of her and she was floored.
“We’re sure. We have complete confidence in you. We know that no stranger would look out for me or our baby like we know you can.”
Ruby stood up and walked over to Emily giving her an emotional hug. “I would be honored. Wow!” She placed her hand on Emily stomach and felt the baby kick.
As dusk started to paint the horizon, the familiar clouds began to roll in hiding what little sunlight was left. Quil called out to Ruby. “Hey, witch girl.”
Jacob growled, not liking the nickname his girlfriend got stuck with but Ruby just smiled and rolled her eyes. “What?”
“You mind giving me a hand?” He motioned to the pile of wood behind him.
She got up and walked over to it, snapping her fingers igniting the flame on her thumb as she got closer. “You do realize that I’m not a lighter right?” she laughed playfully.
“Yeah, but this is so much cooler.” She made the fire jump out of her hand and the wood was soon engulfed in flames.
She returned to her seat next to Jacob and he put his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. Feeling content, she placed her head on his shoulder and she felt him kiss her head.
Jacob held her close, not sure if he was doing it to settle him or Ruby. Ever since that morning he had been feeling the need to be close to her, to make sure she still felt the same about him. He knew deep down that the feeling was ridiculous, that she loved him more than anything but he still needed to be near her, to have her in his sight.
He also noticed that she was acting in a similar manner. She seemed unsure of herself around him and he knew that was a very un-Ruby thing. She was acting as if he would get up and leave her. At times she was even acting as if he wanted Bella instead of her. As if he could ever want Bella after setting his eyes on Ruby. That was partly why he was sticking so close to her; to reassure her.
Bella’s phone rang again and after she answered it, she handed it to Ruby. “Edward would like to talk to you.”
“What’s up, Eddie?” she asked once the phone was to her ear.
“We have just returned. If Bella is enjoying herself, she can stay as long as she likes. Just give me a call when you are heading back.”
“I think she’ll want to go home but she has to tell Jacob about the plan first. I didn’t want her telling them early and ruining the fun day.”
“I understand.”
“If the pack agrees to the plan, I want you to know that I will be going with you. I’ll be with you as we wait for Bella and Jacob.”
“I figured as much.”
“OK. Let me give you back to Bella.” Ruby handed the phone back to Bella.
“What was that about?” Jacob asked.
“When Bella gets off the phone, she has something to tell you.” He looked wary so she added “Don’t worry. Nothing horrid. They want to run a plan by you. And maybe afterwards you can drive her to the treaty line for me.” She handed him the keys.
Jacob furrowed his brow, he felt like he was being set up for a test. “Are you sure? I can get someone else to do it.”
“No. I don’t feel like moving and I don’t think Edward trust anyone else to protect her on the drive. He may not like you but he does trust you to protect Bella.” Secretly, Ruby wanted to give him the chance to be alone with Bella. Give him the chance to see how he truly felt about her before they took their relationship any further. He looked like he wanted to argue but Bella called him.
“Jacob, can I talk to you for a minute?” Jacob nodded slowly, looked at Ruby carefully then walked with Bella a few yards down.
Ruby got up and walked over to where Embry sat. Sitting next to him, she bumped her shoulder into his playfully. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Why so glum, Em?”
“Paul imprinted.”
“On who?” Ruby leaned forward on the log, trying to look for an unfamiliar female face she might have unintentionally ignored.
“Some girl from town. Liliana. She didn’t come because she doesn’t know the secret yet. He wants to wait until after the war, make sure he’s still alive.” He was quiet for a long moment. “I feel like I may never imprint.”
“Is that possible? For a wolf to not imprint, I mean.”
“Yeah.” They were still for a moment before Ruby started to shake her head.
“No. I don’t think that will happen with you. Call it a witch’s sixth sense or a women’s intuition but I see happiness in your future. I can feel it. You’re going to imprint on a good girl, someone who will adore you like you deserve.”
“You think?”
“I know.” He smiled and she knew she did her job; she made her friend feel better. “Besides, it could be worse.”
“How?” She focused on Bella in her jeans and button-up shirt, and Jacob wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt. She was amazed at how he could look gorgeous in anything he wore.
“Well,” she began, “my boyfriend was in love with my good friend, and I don’t know what to do with the fact that I recently found out that she loves him back… at least in part.”
“She loves him?” Embry was surprised by the information.
“Yeah. It’s all over her aura. For me it’s clear as day but she doesn’t know. Her love for Edward dwarfs it so much that she doesn’t feel her love for Jacob.” My Jacob, she silently added.
“But even if she did feel it, Jacob would never act on it. Not now that he found you.” She looked carefully at Jacob’s aura, looking for any sign of affection or desire or want as he looked at Bella. She found none. But then he looked at Ruby and winked at her and she found all the affection and desire and want she was looking for before, directed at her.
“I get that now,” she said smiling brightly at Jacob. She looked over at Embry. “I guess I’m just acting like a girl. I guess it was bound to happen once,” she joked.
Bella came over and said goodbye to them, then moved on to say goodbye to everyone else. Once Jacob was done, he came over and gave Ruby a quick kiss before going to drive Bella to the treaty line.
Ruby saw Sam alone at the grills, scrubbing them clean, and saw it at her opportunity to speak to him. They had been cordial with one another since their little scene in the hospital, but they never actually got around to acknowledging it, giving themselves the chance to forgive and forget.
“Em, I’ll be right back.” He nodded in understanding when he noticed who she was looking at.
She got up and walked towards him. He was only a few yards away but she took the long way to him, trying to take the few extra minutes to summon her courage. Then she finally managed to get within five feet of him.
“Hey, Sam,” Ruby spoke timidly. Sam may not have been her alpha but he was an alpha, a leader, and he had a commanding presence to him that made Ruby want to respect him.
“Ruby,” Sam turned, surprised to find himself alone with her. “Is everything ok? Do you need anything?”
“No, everything is fine.” There was an awkward silence for a moment as Ruby scratched the back of her neck. “We never really talked about what happened, when we argued about Dr. Cullen.”
Sam sighed heavily and stopped scrubbing the grill grates. “No, we never did.”
“Do you hate me?”
Sam put down the wire grill brush and turned to face her fully. “Of course not. You stood up for what you believed in and I believed in something else. I happened to be wrong. I don’t hate you. I think we should put this behind us. We have a fight coming up and we shouldn’t be dwelling on this. It was nothing. We may have disagreements but we will always be family.”
Ruby bit her lip and smiled. “Alright. As long as we’re good.” She patted him on the arm and walked away, leaving him to finish cleaning the grill.
She made her way back to Embry, without taking any detours this time, and sat next to him again.
“So, how’d it go?”
“Good,” she said simply with a smile on her face.
Ruby and Embry sat on the log talking for a while, occasionally being joined by Quil and other members of the pack. After a while, Ruby noticed once again that all the girls, even Claire, were wearing similar braided bracelets. Finally having a quiet moment, and someone who would know the answer, she decided to ask.
“Em, what are those bracelets for?”
“Jacob never told you?”
“I never asked.”
“They a Quileute equivalent of a promise ring. We usually make them after we imprint then give it to them.”
Ruby wanted to say something but just then she yawned. Her body was starting to feel the effects of the little sleep she got. It felt weird for her to be ready for bed when the sun hadn’t completely gone down yet but then again she hadn’t been on a regular sleeping schedule since meeting Jacob. Just then she felt arms reach around her causing her to jump and gasp.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Jacob said as he kissed her cheek.
“It’s ok.” She yawned again. “Jacob, I know it’s still early but would you mind if we went home now? I’m so tired.”
“Sure, let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet. “You want me to drive?” She nodded yes and they headed toward the car together, awkwardness between them for the first time.
I do not own Twilight or its characters. They belong to Stephanie Meyer. Ruby is from my imagination. I make no money from this.
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“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason to madness.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
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Ruby woke up at a quarter to ten and she carefully untangled herself from Jacob so not to wake him. She took a quick shower and put on her best white cotton dress. It had spaghetti straps and a full skirt; it was her favorite. She felt like she stepped right out of an I Love Lucy episode, if Lucy had ever shown her bare shoulders or cleavage. It was something she always did, when she felt upset or down or knew she would be having a trying day, she would always wear one of her favorite outfits, to brighten her a day just a tad. She paired it with a red sash across her middle, tied into a neat bow in the back, cherry earrings and because she felt like being barefoot, or close to it, a pair of red flip flops.
She gave Jacob a soft kiss to his cheek, taking a moment to look at him and hope that their love was true. She just had one more thing to check and she would be sure. She ran out the door and jumped into her car, hoping the sound of it starting wouldn’t wake Jacob. He was always pushing himself and she felt the extra sleep would do him good.
She arrived at Charlie’s house at half past ten and saw Bella and Edward standing by the side of his car. Pulling alongside them, she lowered her window. “I know, I know, I’m late but I feel asleep. I’m sorry.”
Edward escorted Bella to the passenger side of Ruby’s SUV. “Quite understandable.” Edward gave Bella a kiss, waited for her to sit in the passenger seat of Ruby’s SUV and closed the door after her.
“Well, bye Eddie. I don’t even know what to say to you. Have fun? Bon appétit?”
Edward chuckled. “We should be back in a few hours. We are not going far. I’ll call when we return. Thank you for doing this Ruby.” The girls said goodbye and Edward waved. Ruby drove back to La Push unable to make small talk. She wasn’t sure if that was because she was tired or if she was afraid of how big a part Bella would play in her love life.
They drove up to the house and parked. Ruby knew that Jacob almost always used to come out to greet Bella and maybe the fact that he didn’t was a good sign. The two girls walked into the house and were shocked by the sight that greeted them.
Jacob was standing in the living room and he was wearing a towel.
Only a towel.
Water was slowly sliding over his russet pecs, down his tight sculpted abs then absorbed into the edge of the towel; a towel that was wrapped dangerously low on his waist, exposing the thin trail of dark hair that began at his bellybutton and disappeared beneath the towel. He had another towel in his hands and he was using it to vigorously rub the water out of his hair causing his muscles to move, in Ruby’s opinion, in some interesting ways. He obviously hadn’t yet realized anyone was in the house with him.
Ruby heard a whimper and after a moment realized, with embarrassment, that it came from her. Of course she had seen him without his shirt before, the boy was practically allergic to shirts, but this was the first time she saw him so… naked and wet. They usually brought their clothes into the bathroom with them and changed in there, both still somewhat shy about where their relationship would eventually end up. He hadn’t done that today, assuming he had enough time to shower and get back to his room to change without bumping into anyone.
Glancing at Bella she noticed the girl looking at Jacob with wide eyes and a slight flush on her pale cheeks. Ruby silently turned back to Jacob. He took a few more steps before the silence was broken.
“Is it getting hot in here?” Ruby was shocked that Bella would say such a brazen thing, especially with his imprint standing right next to them. But when she turned to look at her, Bella was not looking at Jacob. Bella was instead looking around the room, fanning herself.
“Ruby. Bella. I didn’t know you were here.” He stopped rubbing his hair with the towel and draped it over his shoulders.
“No really, is it hot in here or is it just me?” Bella repeated.
Ruby, finally taking note of the temperature change, blushed scarlet. “That would be me, sorry,” she mumbled. “Sometimes my thermokinesis has a mind of its own if I’m overly, um… happy or… excited.”
Ruby started to pick at the hem of her skirt and chanced a glance at Jacob. He looked flabbergasted and the slightest tint of pink was present on his cheeks.
“Does that mean you like what you see?” he asked Ruby, who let out an unintelligible noise. Jacob let out a loud booming laugh and the next thing Ruby knew, she had a whole lot of naked Jacob wrapped around her as he gave her a hug. “I didn’t know I could have that much of an effect on you. Gives my ego a big boost,” he whispered into Ruby’s ear causing her to suck in a breath of air. He then walked into his room without a backward glance at either of them.
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First Beach was completely inhabited by the pack and their imprints, along with the elders. Sam was at the grills flipping burgers and turning hotdogs as Emily set platters of salads and side dishes out on a table. Kim and Claire were splashing in the water trying to cool off from the rare blazing afternoon sun. Jared, Paul and Leah were taking on Seth, Collin and Brady in a game of touch football. Quil was talking with some of the elders and Embry was sitting on a log, quiet as always.
When the trio arrived at the beach, everyone greeted them and Sam called Jacob over to help him man the grills. Jacob kissed Ruby then jogged over to help his Alpha. Ruby and Bella walked along the beach making small talk when Bella’s cell phone rang. Ruby walked a few feet away to give Bella her privacy.
“Ruby,” Bella called out after a few moments. Ruby turned to face her. “That was Carlisle. They just thought of a plan and wanted me to tell the pack right away to see what they thought.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“We’ll go to the clearing with Jacob the night before. Get it saturated with my scent. Then Jacob will carry me away. Jasper thought of it when Rosalie was complaining about how bad I always smell when I return from hanging out with Jacob. Jacob doesn’t smell nice to vampires and supposedly the smell is so bad that it mask my … uh, appetizing scent. Victoria and the newborns will go to the clearing thinking I’m still there and the pack and the Cullens will be waiting for them.”
“Where will you be?”
“I’ll be up in the mountains somewhere. If Jacob agrees, he’ll bring me there and Edward will be waiting for me. I think I’m supposed to stay there all night.”
Ruby looked past Bella to where everyone was laughing and enjoying the calm before the storm. “You’re going to be here all day. Why don’t you sit on this info until later?” Bella furrowed her brow at Ruby. “It’s just that they’re having fun right now. I want them to have that for a little while longer before they switch to business.” Bella nodded in agreement.
A while after that Sam announced that the food was ready. Ruby saw the pack start to make a mad dash for the grills and the girls take several steps back. Using her power, she picked up the lids and placed them on the grills.
“Hey. You ever hear the saying ‘ladies first’?” she yelled when she noticed the boys stop short. They laughed and graciously stood to the side giving the girls space to go before them. Emily and Kim thanked her as they walked away with their food. “No problem. You would think with a pregnant woman here they would at the very least let her go first but their stomachs are bigger than their manners.” The girls sat down and watched in amazement as the boys devoured the remaining edibles.
“Ruby, I was wondering,” Emily began as she started to slowly lower herself into a chair, “actually Sam and I were wondering, considering your choice of career and your abilities and well, you are family now…”
“Emily, are you going to get to the point?” Ruby joked.
Emily laughed. “Well, as you know, we want to have a home birth and we were hoping if you’d be our midwife.”
“Oh my Goddess, are you sure? I mean I assisted my mom and grandmother before but that was a while ago and I was just assisting.” Ruby was stunned. She knew this was an immensely precious and important thing they were asking of her and she was floored.
“We’re sure. We have complete confidence in you. We know that no stranger would look out for me or our baby like we know you can.”
Ruby stood up and walked over to Emily giving her an emotional hug. “I would be honored. Wow!” She placed her hand on Emily stomach and felt the baby kick.
As dusk started to paint the horizon, the familiar clouds began to roll in hiding what little sunlight was left. Quil called out to Ruby. “Hey, witch girl.”
Jacob growled, not liking the nickname his girlfriend got stuck with but Ruby just smiled and rolled her eyes. “What?”
“You mind giving me a hand?” He motioned to the pile of wood behind him.
She got up and walked over to it, snapping her fingers igniting the flame on her thumb as she got closer. “You do realize that I’m not a lighter right?” she laughed playfully.
“Yeah, but this is so much cooler.” She made the fire jump out of her hand and the wood was soon engulfed in flames.
She returned to her seat next to Jacob and he put his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. Feeling content, she placed her head on his shoulder and she felt him kiss her head.
Jacob held her close, not sure if he was doing it to settle him or Ruby. Ever since that morning he had been feeling the need to be close to her, to make sure she still felt the same about him. He knew deep down that the feeling was ridiculous, that she loved him more than anything but he still needed to be near her, to have her in his sight.
He also noticed that she was acting in a similar manner. She seemed unsure of herself around him and he knew that was a very un-Ruby thing. She was acting as if he would get up and leave her. At times she was even acting as if he wanted Bella instead of her. As if he could ever want Bella after setting his eyes on Ruby. That was partly why he was sticking so close to her; to reassure her.
Bella’s phone rang again and after she answered it, she handed it to Ruby. “Edward would like to talk to you.”
“What’s up, Eddie?” she asked once the phone was to her ear.
“We have just returned. If Bella is enjoying herself, she can stay as long as she likes. Just give me a call when you are heading back.”
“I think she’ll want to go home but she has to tell Jacob about the plan first. I didn’t want her telling them early and ruining the fun day.”
“I understand.”
“If the pack agrees to the plan, I want you to know that I will be going with you. I’ll be with you as we wait for Bella and Jacob.”
“I figured as much.”
“OK. Let me give you back to Bella.” Ruby handed the phone back to Bella.
“What was that about?” Jacob asked.
“When Bella gets off the phone, she has something to tell you.” He looked wary so she added “Don’t worry. Nothing horrid. They want to run a plan by you. And maybe afterwards you can drive her to the treaty line for me.” She handed him the keys.
Jacob furrowed his brow, he felt like he was being set up for a test. “Are you sure? I can get someone else to do it.”
“No. I don’t feel like moving and I don’t think Edward trust anyone else to protect her on the drive. He may not like you but he does trust you to protect Bella.” Secretly, Ruby wanted to give him the chance to be alone with Bella. Give him the chance to see how he truly felt about her before they took their relationship any further. He looked like he wanted to argue but Bella called him.
“Jacob, can I talk to you for a minute?” Jacob nodded slowly, looked at Ruby carefully then walked with Bella a few yards down.
Ruby got up and walked over to where Embry sat. Sitting next to him, she bumped her shoulder into his playfully. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Why so glum, Em?”
“Paul imprinted.”
“On who?” Ruby leaned forward on the log, trying to look for an unfamiliar female face she might have unintentionally ignored.
“Some girl from town. Liliana. She didn’t come because she doesn’t know the secret yet. He wants to wait until after the war, make sure he’s still alive.” He was quiet for a long moment. “I feel like I may never imprint.”
“Is that possible? For a wolf to not imprint, I mean.”
“Yeah.” They were still for a moment before Ruby started to shake her head.
“No. I don’t think that will happen with you. Call it a witch’s sixth sense or a women’s intuition but I see happiness in your future. I can feel it. You’re going to imprint on a good girl, someone who will adore you like you deserve.”
“You think?”
“I know.” He smiled and she knew she did her job; she made her friend feel better. “Besides, it could be worse.”
“How?” She focused on Bella in her jeans and button-up shirt, and Jacob wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt. She was amazed at how he could look gorgeous in anything he wore.
“Well,” she began, “my boyfriend was in love with my good friend, and I don’t know what to do with the fact that I recently found out that she loves him back… at least in part.”
“She loves him?” Embry was surprised by the information.
“Yeah. It’s all over her aura. For me it’s clear as day but she doesn’t know. Her love for Edward dwarfs it so much that she doesn’t feel her love for Jacob.” My Jacob, she silently added.
“But even if she did feel it, Jacob would never act on it. Not now that he found you.” She looked carefully at Jacob’s aura, looking for any sign of affection or desire or want as he looked at Bella. She found none. But then he looked at Ruby and winked at her and she found all the affection and desire and want she was looking for before, directed at her.
“I get that now,” she said smiling brightly at Jacob. She looked over at Embry. “I guess I’m just acting like a girl. I guess it was bound to happen once,” she joked.
Bella came over and said goodbye to them, then moved on to say goodbye to everyone else. Once Jacob was done, he came over and gave Ruby a quick kiss before going to drive Bella to the treaty line.
Ruby saw Sam alone at the grills, scrubbing them clean, and saw it at her opportunity to speak to him. They had been cordial with one another since their little scene in the hospital, but they never actually got around to acknowledging it, giving themselves the chance to forgive and forget.
“Em, I’ll be right back.” He nodded in understanding when he noticed who she was looking at.
She got up and walked towards him. He was only a few yards away but she took the long way to him, trying to take the few extra minutes to summon her courage. Then she finally managed to get within five feet of him.
“Hey, Sam,” Ruby spoke timidly. Sam may not have been her alpha but he was an alpha, a leader, and he had a commanding presence to him that made Ruby want to respect him.
“Ruby,” Sam turned, surprised to find himself alone with her. “Is everything ok? Do you need anything?”
“No, everything is fine.” There was an awkward silence for a moment as Ruby scratched the back of her neck. “We never really talked about what happened, when we argued about Dr. Cullen.”
Sam sighed heavily and stopped scrubbing the grill grates. “No, we never did.”
“Do you hate me?”
Sam put down the wire grill brush and turned to face her fully. “Of course not. You stood up for what you believed in and I believed in something else. I happened to be wrong. I don’t hate you. I think we should put this behind us. We have a fight coming up and we shouldn’t be dwelling on this. It was nothing. We may have disagreements but we will always be family.”
Ruby bit her lip and smiled. “Alright. As long as we’re good.” She patted him on the arm and walked away, leaving him to finish cleaning the grill.
She made her way back to Embry, without taking any detours this time, and sat next to him again.
“So, how’d it go?”
“Good,” she said simply with a smile on her face.
Ruby and Embry sat on the log talking for a while, occasionally being joined by Quil and other members of the pack. After a while, Ruby noticed once again that all the girls, even Claire, were wearing similar braided bracelets. Finally having a quiet moment, and someone who would know the answer, she decided to ask.
“Em, what are those bracelets for?”
“Jacob never told you?”
“I never asked.”
“They a Quileute equivalent of a promise ring. We usually make them after we imprint then give it to them.”
Ruby wanted to say something but just then she yawned. Her body was starting to feel the effects of the little sleep she got. It felt weird for her to be ready for bed when the sun hadn’t completely gone down yet but then again she hadn’t been on a regular sleeping schedule since meeting Jacob. Just then she felt arms reach around her causing her to jump and gasp.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Jacob said as he kissed her cheek.
“It’s ok.” She yawned again. “Jacob, I know it’s still early but would you mind if we went home now? I’m so tired.”
“Sure, let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet. “You want me to drive?” She nodded yes and they headed toward the car together, awkwardness between them for the first time.
