Chapter 5 - The Whole Truth And Nothing But
A/N: I don’t own Twilight or any of its characters, Stephanie Meyer does, and I don't make any money from this. I know, I’m sad about it too.
The idea for a small portion of Ruby’s explanation of her powers came from The Covenant, in case anyway thought it sounded familiar. I didn’t want anybody going nuts wondering what movie it came from, lol.
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“Love is when two people know everything about each other and are still friends”
“Grandma,” Ruby sobbed as she trudged through the front door of her house. It took her a long time to get home. She kept having to pull over to cry her eyes out and blow her nose.
“Moon Star, what’s wrong?” Margaret asked, worry in her voice, as she walked out of the kitchen. Her heart broke as she saw her granddaughter’s body swaying in exhaustion, her eyes puffy and red, tears slowly running down her cheek. She got to Ruby just in time to catch her as she fell to her knees and she cradled her like a child as she wept.
“Jacob knows about me now and I know about him too,” Ruby sighed.
“Know about him? What did he tell you?”
“Did you know Werewolves exist?” Margaret looked surprised but not shocked.
“I’ve heard rumors.”
“Yeah well, it turns out I’m dating one and he’s dating a witch.”
“Did he take the news badly?” Ruby shook her head. “Do you not accept him as a wolf?” She said as if she would be ashamed if Ruby said no.
“I don’t care what he is. It doesn’t affect the way I feel.”
“So what is it child?”
“Did you know vampires are real, too?” Ruby sounded so much like a child, so lost.
“Yes. I’ve dealt with a few. Why? What happened?”
“I was in the woods with Jacob, having a picnic, when Bella, my friend from college, and her boyfriend, Eddie, showed up. Then I smelt the trouble coming but by the time I convinced everyone to go, vampires showed up. The boys each took one but there was another we didn’t see and it attacked. I used my telekinesis to stop it and to kill it,” she choked out. “I had to rip its arms and legs and head off and set it on fire. I know I had to do it and I know it was a bad vampire but it… with everything else that I found out it was a lot for one day.”
“There’s more you’re not telling me.”
“Eddie is a vampire but he doesn’t drink human blood, just animals and it’s weird because I knew something was up with him but I still like him. I think he’s nice and he loves Bella so very much.”
“And…” Margaret prodded.
“Jacob imprinted on me.” When Margaret just stared at her in confusion, Ruby elaborated. “That means he or his mind or his body, I don’t know… that something recognized me as his soul mate. That we share an unbreakable bond.”
“But that’s good, isn’t it baby?”
“Yeah, I know, but thinking someone is your soul mate and knowing it are two completely different things. I guess I freaked at the time and I left. I don’t have much experience with people grandma, I didn’t know what to do and I panicked.” What she didn’t say was that she was afraid their love wasn’t real, that it was something out of her hands, something forced but she didn’t like where that train of thought went so she pushed it back.
“How do you feel now?”
“Honestly?” Margaret nodded. “Like an idiot for leaving Jacob. Gods, I hope I didn’t hurt him. I acted like such a horrible person.”
“You should go to him.”
“I will but… can I just be your little Moon Star for a while longer. I just… I didn’t see the vampire that attacked us. Bella warned me, if she hadn’t, I’d be with mom, dad and grandpa, not with you.” She cried in her grandmother’s arms, right there on the hallway floor, and Margaret tightened her hold on her.
“Take all the time you need baby.”
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Ruby spent most of the night on the hallway floor crying in her grandmother’s arms. She was terrified that she could have died, revolted by the act of dismemberment she had to commit and astounded by the fact that there were other supernatural beings in the world. But more than that she wondered about the imprinting.
After quite some time Margaret commented about the lack of feeling in her legs and Ruby sheepishly apologized. She got up and helped her grandmother to her feet. She promised her grandmother that she was better and Margaret told her to go Jacob before hugging Ruby and walking off to bed.
Ruby raced to La Push but had to slow the speed of her car considerably when out of nowhere it started to pour; big fat rain drops that seemed to be poured onto the road by the bucketful. Even her windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the amount of water raining down and she had to slow down until she was sure snails where passing her on the road.
It was past midnight when Ruby showed up at Jacob’s house, her car splattering up mud as she pulled up in front of his house. She hastily shut off the car, jumped out of her car and raced up the steps, getting completely drenched in the process. She knocked softly, hoping she wasn’t waking anyone. She heard someone coming and she quickly brought one hand up to pat down her hopelessly messy hair, pulling away the wet strands clinging to her face and trying to scrub clean her tear-stained cheek. She had just brought her hand down when Billy opened the door.
“Ruby,” he sounded pleasantly shocked to see her.
“Hi Mister- I mean Billy. How are you? I didn’t wake you did I?”
“No, no. I was just heading to bed. Come in.” He moved slowly to the side and after Ruby walked in, closed the door. “I’m guessing you want to talk to him about today.”
“Yes, I do. How is he?”
“Honestly?” She nodded. “Not good. Went straight to his room and won’t come out or talk to anyone.”
“I didn’t mean- it was just a really long day and I-”
“It’s ok, Ruby. I think he’s asleep now, but you can wake him.” He pointed towards Jacob's room. “I’m going to bed now. Goodnight Ruby.” He placed his hand on hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“Goodnight Billy,” she said as he went to bed.
Ruby walked down the small hallway to Jacob’s door and found it locked. She made a motion near the keyhole as if she was opening the door with an invisible key and she heard the click as it unlocked. She pushed the door open quietly and saw him sprawled across the bed wearing the same pants as early but he had removed his socks and shirt.
He looked too peaceful to wake, instead she walked over to the wall that faced the length of the bed, kicking aside his discarded shirt, and sat down on the floor, placing her keys down next to her. She watched him as he took in each breath quietly and let it out with a snore. Being so close to him now, she felt better, more relaxed.
She noticed a car magazine on the floor, and picked it up to read it. After thirty or so minutes in which Ruby read which windshield wipers are the top of the line – and took note of so she can upgrade her own – and managed to dry off completely, Jacob stirred and instantly knew he wasn’t alone. The moment he did his eyes shot open.
“Ruby,” he whispered quickly and sat up even quicker. She felt her breath catch as she looked over his naked chest. Russet skin stretched over tight corded muscle. She thought he was the most beautiful thing she ever laid eyes on.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“You came back.” She damn near doubled over and started crying again from the pain and relief in his voice, but she didn’t. Instead, she forced a smile and nodded her head.
Neither one moved, afraid the other would not want the company. “I’m sorry about leaving earlier.” Jacob opened his mouth to say something but she held up a finger and silenced him. “Wait. I need to say this.” She sighed as she got her thoughts together. “I never had friends so I’m not really good with people or words sometimes. I don’t let people see me weak. That’s why I left. I was stressed and tired and overly emotional and whenever I felt that way as a kid I would go home and cry. So I did.” She gave a small embarrassed laugh. “I’m better now and I feel horrible for leaving without talking to you or at least taking you with me.”
“Maybe… maybe we could talk now.”
“Ok.” She bit her lip when they stood silent. “Umm. Anything you want to ask me?”
“So you’re a witch huh? How?”
“I was born a witch. I come from a long line of natural witches. One of my ancestors was actual part of the Salem witch trials. It’s inherited by the female mostly, men too but mostly women. We’re not the only family either. There are others. My dad and my mom were both natural witches. That may be why I have so many powers.”
“How many do you have?” Curiosity clearly evident in his voice.
“We’re usually only suppose to have two or three, maybe four. My parents had one each and my grandma has two. I was initially blessed with five but now I have seven.”
“You can get more?”
“Yeah but it’s not done often. Right before my parents died, they willed me their powers. I know it sounds weird but if you want someone to have your powers you can will them to the person you want to receive them, the only problem is you die. You see, your powers are a part of you and without them you can’t go on, you can't exist. Since they were mortally wounded in the car accident and were not going to survive, they willed me their powers.” It was quiet for some time. “You’re dying to know which powers I have, aren’t you?” she teased lightly.
“A little bit, to be honest,” he laughed, glad to have her talking to him again.
“You saw three of them today. I have a type of telekinesis, where I use my mind and my body to manipulate things. For example if I tried to open your window with just my mind, it’d be difficult and I’d probably end up breaking the glass by accident, but if I used my hands…” She brought her palms up and pushed up on thin air and the window opened even though it was across the room. She turned her hands around and pushed down and the window closed smoothly, barely making a sound.
“I’m pyrokinetic.” She snapped her fingers and a flame appeared on her forefinger. She brought her fingers close together and the flame was now on the tip of each finger. “It doesn’t hurt me. I can feel its warmth but it doesn’t burn.” She spread the fingers wide and her whole hand was consumed by the flame. The fire was extinguished when she made a fist. “I can smell danger coming. I got that from my dad.”
“That’s why you freaked out and wanted to leave.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t exactly say ‘Hey can we go, I smell trouble’.”
“Yeah that would have sounded weird, even to the werewolf. That’s three. What are the other four?”
“Thermokinisis.”
“Thermo- what?”
“Thermokinisis,” she laughed. “I have the ability to affect the temperature of an object or room. It manifested when I was born, very rare. My mom figured it out when my nursery would get cold every time I was upset or crying and it would get warm when I was happy. I can manipulate plants, make them grow faster, which was really popular in my house because of my parents being ‘flower children’. We always had a flower in our hair or tucked behind an ear,” she laughed. “I can read people’s auras. I can tell if they’re good or bad, nice or mean. I can tell a lot about a person from their aura. My mom gave me healing. It’s new so I haven’t figured out how to heal myself yet but I know how to heal others. I don’t know why she didn’t heal herself at the accident... maybe my dad was already gone and she wouldn’t exist without him. They were so very much in love.” She sighed sadly. “What about you? Any kicks to being a werewolf?”
“A few. I’m never cold. My body is always one hundred and eight point nine degrees.”
“That’s why I’m always warm around you.”
“It could also be that you’re always blushing around me,” he teased causing her to blush.
“Shut up,” she laughed.
“Am I wrong?”
“No, you’re not wrong. Incredibly cocky? Yes.”
“I’m hurt. I like to think of myself as confident, not cocky.”
“Same thing. Anyway you were telling me about the werewolf benefits.”
“Right. So I don’t get cold, I’m fast, got great hearing, I heal fast as long as it’s not a life threatening injury. I won’t heal instantly and the worse the injury the longer it’ll take but I heal faster than any other human.” He took a deep breath, afraid the next thing he said would overwhelm her but he wouldn’t lie or omit things from her. Not again. Not ever. “While I continue to change between man and werewolf, I won’t age. I- I won’t get any older.” Whatever reaction he was expecting it wasn’t a laugh.
“How funny… in a weird we-just-found-out-we’re-both-supernatural-beings sort of way. Me neither.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yup. How old do you think my grandmother is?”
“Hey, I was raised to never guess a woman’s age.”
“Just guess,” Ruby said rolling her eyes.
“Ok. Mid seventies?”
“She would love that. She’s actually one hundred and twenty six years old.”
“What?” Jacob choked out incredulously.
“Yeah she was born in the late eighteen hundreds. We witches age very, very slowly. The only reason she even looks that old is because after my grandfather died, she didn’t want to wait too long to follow him.” She looked down and started tugging at her shoelace. “She says he was her soul mate,” Ruby glanced at Jacob at the word, “and life didn’t make much sense without him so she stopped using her active power and started to grow old really fast. It was a shock to me to see her get old.” It was quiet again for a few minutes.
“So…” Jacob began, “You said you age slowly, so are you really nineteen or just look it?”
“No, I’m really nineteen,” she laughed out. Then she looked at him with semi mock-suspicion. “How ‘bout you?”
Jacob let out a small laugh before answering. “Only eighteen, no older.”
“You tried to tell me earlier, right? That you are a werewolf.”
“Yeah, but we got interrupted.”
“I saw it in your aura that you were willing to be open and truthful. Actually I knew in your aura that you were all different - the guys her at La Push and the Cullens - I thought… well I don’t know what I thought I just didn’t know it was this different.” Again they were silent. “Are you in control of yourself when you’re a wolf?”
“Yeah. It’s still me just a little hairier.”
“Can you do something for me?” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he whispered back.
“Can you change?” It took him a long second before he understood what she meant.
“Phase?”
“Yeah.”
“No,” he yelled, shaking his head looking horrified. “No,” he said, more softly this time. “I can hurt you by accident.”
“No you won’t,” she said calmly. “If you get too close, I’ll just…” She put her palm facing outward and gave a little shove and his shoulder jerked back. “Please?”
He rubbed his hands over his face before agreeing. “Just stay over there and don’t move,” he ordered before she heard him mumble sarcastically, “Could we have done this in a smaller room?”
He placed his hands on his knees and pushed off them to stand up. He took a deep breath before he started to shake, almost vibrate, and the next second he exploded as fur replaced skin. One minute Jacob was standing there, the next a huge wolf was in his place, pieces of tattered and torn cloth floating to the floor that looked a lot like the pants he was wearing a second ago.
Ruby tilted her head to look at him. She was too shocked earlier to really appreciate the beauty of the wolf in front of her. Shaggy red brown fur covered his massive form. Anxious onyx eyes stared back at her, waiting for her reaction. An impressive set of claws emerged from his massive paws.
“Cool,” she said softly before breaking into a huge smile. She started to reach out to him but pulled her hand back, “I don’t know werewolf etiquette. Can I?” she asked.
Jacob answered by folding himself down to the ground where she sat. She brought her hand up again and ran it through his fur as Jacob closed his eyes in bliss. She couldn’t remember touching anything softer, not the dandelions that she wished on when she was a young teen or her million times washed once red but ended up pink fleece teddy bear when she was five, could compare to the softness of Jacob’s fur.
“You’re soft and so warm,” she said in awe. “This should be weirder than it is but it’s not, it almost feels normal. Right?” She kissed him on his forehead and Jacob let out a whimper of content causing her to grin. “Just sit with me for a minute,” she asked of him. He placed his head on her lap. His huge form covered her thighs completely, warming and comforting her and she started to pet him in silence. After a few minutes, her breathing evened out and her hand fell to the side. Jacob lifted his head and looked at her. She had fallen asleep, her eyes were closed and her head was slumped against her shoulder, her hair falling into her face.
Walking away from her slowly, he picked up a pair of sweatpants with his mouth and, keeping a close eye on her, retreated to the corner, quickly phased back into a human and using his enhanced speed, jumped into his pants. He knew he needed to move her before she got a stiff neck, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He would love it if she stayed but he couldn’t ask that of her after the day they had. He merely sighed.
Spotting her keys on the floor, he grabbed them and put them in his pocket before sliding one hand under her knees and using his other to support her back as he lifted her. Her head was now lying against his neck and he couldn’t help breathing her in, she smelled fresh and warm, like a summer rain, with a hint of chocolate chip cookies.
He was just about to open the door to his room when she woke. “Where are we going?” Her voice was thick with sleep.
“I’m going to take you home. You had a long day, you need to sleep.”
“No,” she mumbled with her eyes closed and brought her arms up to hug him. “I want to stay with you.” Jacob froze, his heart beating madly at the thought that she wanted to stay with him as much as he wanted her to stay.
“Are you sure? What about your grandmother?”
She yawned before answering. “She was sleeping before I left the house. She won’t miss me.” He nodded and carried her to his bed, gently putting her down. She shifted and instantly fell asleep again. He knelt by the bed and started to undo her laces on her sneakers before taking them off along with her socks, he smiled when he saw each perfect little toe painted bright red.
Once her feet were free, she curled up on her side and Jacob covered her with a thin blanket, kissed her on the cheek and walked away. He heard the bed creak softly as she turned. “Jacob, where are you going?”
“To sleep on the sofa. Go back to sleep, I’ll be right inside, don’t worry.” He pointed in the direction of the living room.
“No.” She sat up and extended her arm to him, beckoned him to her.
“What? Umm, I don’t know.” As much as he wanted to run and jump into the bed with her, he was still a gentlemen at heart and wasn’t sure if he could be in the same bed with her without kissing her senseless and wanting to touch her; a step he knew they were not ready for.
“Jacob, please. I was really scared today and then I pushed you away when I should have just hugged you and never let you go. I just want you to hold me but you don’t have to if you don’t want to, you could just lie next to me. I just want to know you’re close by.” Her voice cracked a little at the end and he wasn’t sure if it was because she was still scared about the day’s events or if she was scared he might not want to hold her.
“Of course.” He walked to his bed slowly as she turned around to face him. He got into the bed awkwardly due to the fact that A) it was only a twin sized bed and he barely fit on it when it was just him lying in it, and B) he was nervous. He never had a girl in his room before, let alone his bed.
He put one arm outstretched and she used it as a pillow. His other arm hovered over her, unsure, until she gently grabbed it and placed it on her hip, in almost the same spot he had put it earlier in the woods. She sighed contently as she snuggled deeper into him. His legs were bent and Ruby's were practically entwined with his if they were to stay on the bed.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked.
“Mmmm. Very.” And she was, she had the wall against her back and Jacob wrapped around her. She’d never felt safer or warmer. She looked up at him and asked softly, “Does it hurt you when you change?” He became stock-still for a moment and for a second he considered telling her a lie, what good could the truth do, but he swore no more lies.
“At first it felt like I was burning from the inside out and then I explode outwards, but it only last for a split second. I’m used to it by now, it doesn’t bother me as much anymore.”
It was quiet for a long time, where the only thing he heard was the pounding of his own heart. One of her hands was sandwiched between their chest and her other was draped over his side. “We never did talk about the imprinting,” she said softly, startling him.
“I didn’t want to bring it up.”
“In case I freaked out again?”
“Uhh…”
“I’m sorry about that earlier.”
“It was a lot to take in. Of course you needed time to yourself.” She knew he was just being polite. She had hurt him badly and he was trying to hide it.
“But I hurt you. I know I did, your aura became filled with pain.” She brought her hand up to his face and placed her hand on his cheek. “You’ve never hurt me and I just know that you would never ever hurt me, not in a million years, but I hurt you and I hate myself for that because…” She looked up at him and held his stare for a moment before taking a deep breath, “Because I love you.” She looked down and started to talk fast. “I know we just met and I’m a witch and you’re a werewolf but you did imprint on me, so-,” She was cut off when Jacob crushed his lips against hers, wrapping his arms around her to give her a tight squeeze before pulling back.
“I love you too.” Her smile grew until her teeth were showing.
She looked at him for a minute before saying “Good” and cuddled closer to him before closing her eyes and falling asleep to the sound of rain falling outside.
The idea for a small portion of Ruby’s explanation of her powers came from The Covenant, in case anyway thought it sounded familiar. I didn’t want anybody going nuts wondering what movie it came from, lol.
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“Love is when two people know everything about each other and are still friends”
“Grandma,” Ruby sobbed as she trudged through the front door of her house. It took her a long time to get home. She kept having to pull over to cry her eyes out and blow her nose.
“Moon Star, what’s wrong?” Margaret asked, worry in her voice, as she walked out of the kitchen. Her heart broke as she saw her granddaughter’s body swaying in exhaustion, her eyes puffy and red, tears slowly running down her cheek. She got to Ruby just in time to catch her as she fell to her knees and she cradled her like a child as she wept.
“Jacob knows about me now and I know about him too,” Ruby sighed.
“Know about him? What did he tell you?”
“Did you know Werewolves exist?” Margaret looked surprised but not shocked.
“I’ve heard rumors.”
“Yeah well, it turns out I’m dating one and he’s dating a witch.”
“Did he take the news badly?” Ruby shook her head. “Do you not accept him as a wolf?” She said as if she would be ashamed if Ruby said no.
“I don’t care what he is. It doesn’t affect the way I feel.”
“So what is it child?”
“Did you know vampires are real, too?” Ruby sounded so much like a child, so lost.
“Yes. I’ve dealt with a few. Why? What happened?”
“I was in the woods with Jacob, having a picnic, when Bella, my friend from college, and her boyfriend, Eddie, showed up. Then I smelt the trouble coming but by the time I convinced everyone to go, vampires showed up. The boys each took one but there was another we didn’t see and it attacked. I used my telekinesis to stop it and to kill it,” she choked out. “I had to rip its arms and legs and head off and set it on fire. I know I had to do it and I know it was a bad vampire but it… with everything else that I found out it was a lot for one day.”
“There’s more you’re not telling me.”
“Eddie is a vampire but he doesn’t drink human blood, just animals and it’s weird because I knew something was up with him but I still like him. I think he’s nice and he loves Bella so very much.”
“And…” Margaret prodded.
“Jacob imprinted on me.” When Margaret just stared at her in confusion, Ruby elaborated. “That means he or his mind or his body, I don’t know… that something recognized me as his soul mate. That we share an unbreakable bond.”
“But that’s good, isn’t it baby?”
“Yeah, I know, but thinking someone is your soul mate and knowing it are two completely different things. I guess I freaked at the time and I left. I don’t have much experience with people grandma, I didn’t know what to do and I panicked.” What she didn’t say was that she was afraid their love wasn’t real, that it was something out of her hands, something forced but she didn’t like where that train of thought went so she pushed it back.
“How do you feel now?”
“Honestly?” Margaret nodded. “Like an idiot for leaving Jacob. Gods, I hope I didn’t hurt him. I acted like such a horrible person.”
“You should go to him.”
“I will but… can I just be your little Moon Star for a while longer. I just… I didn’t see the vampire that attacked us. Bella warned me, if she hadn’t, I’d be with mom, dad and grandpa, not with you.” She cried in her grandmother’s arms, right there on the hallway floor, and Margaret tightened her hold on her.
“Take all the time you need baby.”
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Ruby spent most of the night on the hallway floor crying in her grandmother’s arms. She was terrified that she could have died, revolted by the act of dismemberment she had to commit and astounded by the fact that there were other supernatural beings in the world. But more than that she wondered about the imprinting.
After quite some time Margaret commented about the lack of feeling in her legs and Ruby sheepishly apologized. She got up and helped her grandmother to her feet. She promised her grandmother that she was better and Margaret told her to go Jacob before hugging Ruby and walking off to bed.
Ruby raced to La Push but had to slow the speed of her car considerably when out of nowhere it started to pour; big fat rain drops that seemed to be poured onto the road by the bucketful. Even her windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the amount of water raining down and she had to slow down until she was sure snails where passing her on the road.
It was past midnight when Ruby showed up at Jacob’s house, her car splattering up mud as she pulled up in front of his house. She hastily shut off the car, jumped out of her car and raced up the steps, getting completely drenched in the process. She knocked softly, hoping she wasn’t waking anyone. She heard someone coming and she quickly brought one hand up to pat down her hopelessly messy hair, pulling away the wet strands clinging to her face and trying to scrub clean her tear-stained cheek. She had just brought her hand down when Billy opened the door.
“Ruby,” he sounded pleasantly shocked to see her.
“Hi Mister- I mean Billy. How are you? I didn’t wake you did I?”
“No, no. I was just heading to bed. Come in.” He moved slowly to the side and after Ruby walked in, closed the door. “I’m guessing you want to talk to him about today.”
“Yes, I do. How is he?”
“Honestly?” She nodded. “Not good. Went straight to his room and won’t come out or talk to anyone.”
“I didn’t mean- it was just a really long day and I-”
“It’s ok, Ruby. I think he’s asleep now, but you can wake him.” He pointed towards Jacob's room. “I’m going to bed now. Goodnight Ruby.” He placed his hand on hers and gave her a reassuring squeeze.
“Goodnight Billy,” she said as he went to bed.
Ruby walked down the small hallway to Jacob’s door and found it locked. She made a motion near the keyhole as if she was opening the door with an invisible key and she heard the click as it unlocked. She pushed the door open quietly and saw him sprawled across the bed wearing the same pants as early but he had removed his socks and shirt.
He looked too peaceful to wake, instead she walked over to the wall that faced the length of the bed, kicking aside his discarded shirt, and sat down on the floor, placing her keys down next to her. She watched him as he took in each breath quietly and let it out with a snore. Being so close to him now, she felt better, more relaxed.
She noticed a car magazine on the floor, and picked it up to read it. After thirty or so minutes in which Ruby read which windshield wipers are the top of the line – and took note of so she can upgrade her own – and managed to dry off completely, Jacob stirred and instantly knew he wasn’t alone. The moment he did his eyes shot open.
“Ruby,” he whispered quickly and sat up even quicker. She felt her breath catch as she looked over his naked chest. Russet skin stretched over tight corded muscle. She thought he was the most beautiful thing she ever laid eyes on.
“Hi,” she whispered.
“You came back.” She damn near doubled over and started crying again from the pain and relief in his voice, but she didn’t. Instead, she forced a smile and nodded her head.
Neither one moved, afraid the other would not want the company. “I’m sorry about leaving earlier.” Jacob opened his mouth to say something but she held up a finger and silenced him. “Wait. I need to say this.” She sighed as she got her thoughts together. “I never had friends so I’m not really good with people or words sometimes. I don’t let people see me weak. That’s why I left. I was stressed and tired and overly emotional and whenever I felt that way as a kid I would go home and cry. So I did.” She gave a small embarrassed laugh. “I’m better now and I feel horrible for leaving without talking to you or at least taking you with me.”
“Maybe… maybe we could talk now.”
“Ok.” She bit her lip when they stood silent. “Umm. Anything you want to ask me?”
“So you’re a witch huh? How?”
“I was born a witch. I come from a long line of natural witches. One of my ancestors was actual part of the Salem witch trials. It’s inherited by the female mostly, men too but mostly women. We’re not the only family either. There are others. My dad and my mom were both natural witches. That may be why I have so many powers.”
“How many do you have?” Curiosity clearly evident in his voice.
“We’re usually only suppose to have two or three, maybe four. My parents had one each and my grandma has two. I was initially blessed with five but now I have seven.”
“You can get more?”
“Yeah but it’s not done often. Right before my parents died, they willed me their powers. I know it sounds weird but if you want someone to have your powers you can will them to the person you want to receive them, the only problem is you die. You see, your powers are a part of you and without them you can’t go on, you can't exist. Since they were mortally wounded in the car accident and were not going to survive, they willed me their powers.” It was quiet for some time. “You’re dying to know which powers I have, aren’t you?” she teased lightly.
“A little bit, to be honest,” he laughed, glad to have her talking to him again.
“You saw three of them today. I have a type of telekinesis, where I use my mind and my body to manipulate things. For example if I tried to open your window with just my mind, it’d be difficult and I’d probably end up breaking the glass by accident, but if I used my hands…” She brought her palms up and pushed up on thin air and the window opened even though it was across the room. She turned her hands around and pushed down and the window closed smoothly, barely making a sound.
“I’m pyrokinetic.” She snapped her fingers and a flame appeared on her forefinger. She brought her fingers close together and the flame was now on the tip of each finger. “It doesn’t hurt me. I can feel its warmth but it doesn’t burn.” She spread the fingers wide and her whole hand was consumed by the flame. The fire was extinguished when she made a fist. “I can smell danger coming. I got that from my dad.”
“That’s why you freaked out and wanted to leave.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t exactly say ‘Hey can we go, I smell trouble’.”
“Yeah that would have sounded weird, even to the werewolf. That’s three. What are the other four?”
“Thermokinisis.”
“Thermo- what?”
“Thermokinisis,” she laughed. “I have the ability to affect the temperature of an object or room. It manifested when I was born, very rare. My mom figured it out when my nursery would get cold every time I was upset or crying and it would get warm when I was happy. I can manipulate plants, make them grow faster, which was really popular in my house because of my parents being ‘flower children’. We always had a flower in our hair or tucked behind an ear,” she laughed. “I can read people’s auras. I can tell if they’re good or bad, nice or mean. I can tell a lot about a person from their aura. My mom gave me healing. It’s new so I haven’t figured out how to heal myself yet but I know how to heal others. I don’t know why she didn’t heal herself at the accident... maybe my dad was already gone and she wouldn’t exist without him. They were so very much in love.” She sighed sadly. “What about you? Any kicks to being a werewolf?”
“A few. I’m never cold. My body is always one hundred and eight point nine degrees.”
“That’s why I’m always warm around you.”
“It could also be that you’re always blushing around me,” he teased causing her to blush.
“Shut up,” she laughed.
“Am I wrong?”
“No, you’re not wrong. Incredibly cocky? Yes.”
“I’m hurt. I like to think of myself as confident, not cocky.”
“Same thing. Anyway you were telling me about the werewolf benefits.”
“Right. So I don’t get cold, I’m fast, got great hearing, I heal fast as long as it’s not a life threatening injury. I won’t heal instantly and the worse the injury the longer it’ll take but I heal faster than any other human.” He took a deep breath, afraid the next thing he said would overwhelm her but he wouldn’t lie or omit things from her. Not again. Not ever. “While I continue to change between man and werewolf, I won’t age. I- I won’t get any older.” Whatever reaction he was expecting it wasn’t a laugh.
“How funny… in a weird we-just-found-out-we’re-both-supernatural-beings sort of way. Me neither.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yup. How old do you think my grandmother is?”
“Hey, I was raised to never guess a woman’s age.”
“Just guess,” Ruby said rolling her eyes.
“Ok. Mid seventies?”
“She would love that. She’s actually one hundred and twenty six years old.”
“What?” Jacob choked out incredulously.
“Yeah she was born in the late eighteen hundreds. We witches age very, very slowly. The only reason she even looks that old is because after my grandfather died, she didn’t want to wait too long to follow him.” She looked down and started tugging at her shoelace. “She says he was her soul mate,” Ruby glanced at Jacob at the word, “and life didn’t make much sense without him so she stopped using her active power and started to grow old really fast. It was a shock to me to see her get old.” It was quiet again for a few minutes.
“So…” Jacob began, “You said you age slowly, so are you really nineteen or just look it?”
“No, I’m really nineteen,” she laughed out. Then she looked at him with semi mock-suspicion. “How ‘bout you?”
Jacob let out a small laugh before answering. “Only eighteen, no older.”
“You tried to tell me earlier, right? That you are a werewolf.”
“Yeah, but we got interrupted.”
“I saw it in your aura that you were willing to be open and truthful. Actually I knew in your aura that you were all different - the guys her at La Push and the Cullens - I thought… well I don’t know what I thought I just didn’t know it was this different.” Again they were silent. “Are you in control of yourself when you’re a wolf?”
“Yeah. It’s still me just a little hairier.”
“Can you do something for me?” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he whispered back.
“Can you change?” It took him a long second before he understood what she meant.
“Phase?”
“Yeah.”
“No,” he yelled, shaking his head looking horrified. “No,” he said, more softly this time. “I can hurt you by accident.”
“No you won’t,” she said calmly. “If you get too close, I’ll just…” She put her palm facing outward and gave a little shove and his shoulder jerked back. “Please?”
He rubbed his hands over his face before agreeing. “Just stay over there and don’t move,” he ordered before she heard him mumble sarcastically, “Could we have done this in a smaller room?”
He placed his hands on his knees and pushed off them to stand up. He took a deep breath before he started to shake, almost vibrate, and the next second he exploded as fur replaced skin. One minute Jacob was standing there, the next a huge wolf was in his place, pieces of tattered and torn cloth floating to the floor that looked a lot like the pants he was wearing a second ago.
Ruby tilted her head to look at him. She was too shocked earlier to really appreciate the beauty of the wolf in front of her. Shaggy red brown fur covered his massive form. Anxious onyx eyes stared back at her, waiting for her reaction. An impressive set of claws emerged from his massive paws.
“Cool,” she said softly before breaking into a huge smile. She started to reach out to him but pulled her hand back, “I don’t know werewolf etiquette. Can I?” she asked.
Jacob answered by folding himself down to the ground where she sat. She brought her hand up again and ran it through his fur as Jacob closed his eyes in bliss. She couldn’t remember touching anything softer, not the dandelions that she wished on when she was a young teen or her million times washed once red but ended up pink fleece teddy bear when she was five, could compare to the softness of Jacob’s fur.
“You’re soft and so warm,” she said in awe. “This should be weirder than it is but it’s not, it almost feels normal. Right?” She kissed him on his forehead and Jacob let out a whimper of content causing her to grin. “Just sit with me for a minute,” she asked of him. He placed his head on her lap. His huge form covered her thighs completely, warming and comforting her and she started to pet him in silence. After a few minutes, her breathing evened out and her hand fell to the side. Jacob lifted his head and looked at her. She had fallen asleep, her eyes were closed and her head was slumped against her shoulder, her hair falling into her face.
Walking away from her slowly, he picked up a pair of sweatpants with his mouth and, keeping a close eye on her, retreated to the corner, quickly phased back into a human and using his enhanced speed, jumped into his pants. He knew he needed to move her before she got a stiff neck, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He would love it if she stayed but he couldn’t ask that of her after the day they had. He merely sighed.
Spotting her keys on the floor, he grabbed them and put them in his pocket before sliding one hand under her knees and using his other to support her back as he lifted her. Her head was now lying against his neck and he couldn’t help breathing her in, she smelled fresh and warm, like a summer rain, with a hint of chocolate chip cookies.
He was just about to open the door to his room when she woke. “Where are we going?” Her voice was thick with sleep.
“I’m going to take you home. You had a long day, you need to sleep.”
“No,” she mumbled with her eyes closed and brought her arms up to hug him. “I want to stay with you.” Jacob froze, his heart beating madly at the thought that she wanted to stay with him as much as he wanted her to stay.
“Are you sure? What about your grandmother?”
She yawned before answering. “She was sleeping before I left the house. She won’t miss me.” He nodded and carried her to his bed, gently putting her down. She shifted and instantly fell asleep again. He knelt by the bed and started to undo her laces on her sneakers before taking them off along with her socks, he smiled when he saw each perfect little toe painted bright red.
Once her feet were free, she curled up on her side and Jacob covered her with a thin blanket, kissed her on the cheek and walked away. He heard the bed creak softly as she turned. “Jacob, where are you going?”
“To sleep on the sofa. Go back to sleep, I’ll be right inside, don’t worry.” He pointed in the direction of the living room.
“No.” She sat up and extended her arm to him, beckoned him to her.
“What? Umm, I don’t know.” As much as he wanted to run and jump into the bed with her, he was still a gentlemen at heart and wasn’t sure if he could be in the same bed with her without kissing her senseless and wanting to touch her; a step he knew they were not ready for.
“Jacob, please. I was really scared today and then I pushed you away when I should have just hugged you and never let you go. I just want you to hold me but you don’t have to if you don’t want to, you could just lie next to me. I just want to know you’re close by.” Her voice cracked a little at the end and he wasn’t sure if it was because she was still scared about the day’s events or if she was scared he might not want to hold her.
“Of course.” He walked to his bed slowly as she turned around to face him. He got into the bed awkwardly due to the fact that A) it was only a twin sized bed and he barely fit on it when it was just him lying in it, and B) he was nervous. He never had a girl in his room before, let alone his bed.
He put one arm outstretched and she used it as a pillow. His other arm hovered over her, unsure, until she gently grabbed it and placed it on her hip, in almost the same spot he had put it earlier in the woods. She sighed contently as she snuggled deeper into him. His legs were bent and Ruby's were practically entwined with his if they were to stay on the bed.
“Are you comfortable?” he asked.
“Mmmm. Very.” And she was, she had the wall against her back and Jacob wrapped around her. She’d never felt safer or warmer. She looked up at him and asked softly, “Does it hurt you when you change?” He became stock-still for a moment and for a second he considered telling her a lie, what good could the truth do, but he swore no more lies.
“At first it felt like I was burning from the inside out and then I explode outwards, but it only last for a split second. I’m used to it by now, it doesn’t bother me as much anymore.”
It was quiet for a long time, where the only thing he heard was the pounding of his own heart. One of her hands was sandwiched between their chest and her other was draped over his side. “We never did talk about the imprinting,” she said softly, startling him.
“I didn’t want to bring it up.”
“In case I freaked out again?”
“Uhh…”
“I’m sorry about that earlier.”
“It was a lot to take in. Of course you needed time to yourself.” She knew he was just being polite. She had hurt him badly and he was trying to hide it.
“But I hurt you. I know I did, your aura became filled with pain.” She brought her hand up to his face and placed her hand on his cheek. “You’ve never hurt me and I just know that you would never ever hurt me, not in a million years, but I hurt you and I hate myself for that because…” She looked up at him and held his stare for a moment before taking a deep breath, “Because I love you.” She looked down and started to talk fast. “I know we just met and I’m a witch and you’re a werewolf but you did imprint on me, so-,” She was cut off when Jacob crushed his lips against hers, wrapping his arms around her to give her a tight squeeze before pulling back.
“I love you too.” Her smile grew until her teeth were showing.
She looked at him for a minute before saying “Good” and cuddled closer to him before closing her eyes and falling asleep to the sound of rain falling outside.
