The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter XVII

We had barely gotten to the beach before Jake pulled me into his arms. My arms were pressed against my chest. I was still shaking, but I didn't know if it was because I was cold of because I was still afraid. Well, with Jake's body temperature, I wasn't cold. "I should've killed Paul," he whispered into my hair. "I should kill him now." A violent tremor ricocheted through him.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling away from him to look into his face.

"You just watched people you've known your entire life turn into wolves and you're asking me if I'm okay?" he said sarcastically. I smiled and nodded.

"I saw Paul go after you. That couldn't have felt pleasant," I said. I didn't know how else to describe it. I probably sounded like an idiot. To my relief, Jake laughed.

"No, it didn't. But then again, I got him back," he said as we continued walking. We marched in silence, the seagulls cawing, the waves crashing. "You okay?" I looked over at him. "Your hand; you've been messing with it for the last little while."

"It's just a little sore. I hurt it when I was trying to get away from Paul," I said. Jake started trembling again, his eyes darkening as he stared at my lime green cast. "So the legends are true?" I whispered. Just as I expected, his eyes flashed up to mine. He nodded. "So a werewolf that isn't bound to lunar cycles?"

"Something like that," he laughed. He jumped up onto a rock, sitting down and patting the space beside him. I, in turn, waved my arm in front of his face. I wasn't exactly up for climbing up a rock. Jake leaned over, his hands at my shoulder level. He lifted me like a toddler, until my feet were dangling a few feet off the ground. He pulled me into his chest while I clung for dear life to his neck. "You good?" he asked. Without the ability to catch myself, the ten foot drop was suddenly the scariest thing I'd ever seen. "Don't be afraid," he chuckled, his lips a breath away from my ear.

"So you can smell fear?" I asked, hoping to distract myself from the drop. He nodded. Great; now he'll know what a coward I am. Now he'll know that I am literally afraid of everything. He held me close, his grip tightening with each shiver that stumbled down my spine.

"Don't be afraid of me, Annie. Please, don't. I promise you that I'm still the same guy I was before. I won't let you get hurt," he whispered.

My fears subsided as my brain processed what he said. "Jacob, I'm not afraid of you," I said seriously. "I am afraid that I'm going to fall and break something when I try to catch myself." I looked down again, but Jake swung me around so that I was sitting beside him, away from the edge.

"You're not afraid of what you just saw?" he asked, wrapping a tree-trunk arm around my shoulders and pulling me into his side. I shook my head. "But?" he asked.

"But I am afraid of making you guys angry. I mean, I'm not exactly known as one of the quietest people in the world," I said. "And we both know that I just say whatever I feel like," I added. He chuckled and smiled. "Even if I wish that I could take some of them back." Jake just looked down at me, puzzled. God, please don't let explode on me right now.

"Jake, I know I shouldn't have said those things to your sister. She just made me so mad; I knew that it was my fault and I didn't need her to remind me. And you were so sick, I just wanted to get you in bed, you know?" I said hurriedly.

"Rebecca should be sorry, Annie. She shouldn't have said those things about you. And what happened to my mom and dad, Annie, it was an accident. No one, least of all my dad, blames you for what happened," he said, his voice quiet, serious. "My mom wouldn't hold you accountable for it either, Rye. We were just kids. I know that my dad isn't mad at you."

I shook my head and looked off at the water lapping at the shore. "Your dad hates me, Jake. Let's face it. The only reason that he even started letting you around me again was because of the whole thing with Murphy."