I'll be home for Christmas

Chapter 19

Chapter 19 - I'll be home for Christmas

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading.

Jake shivered suddenly as he was driving.

"Jake?" Angela asked.

He looked around at Bella. "I don't know what that was… but it felt… different."

"Was it a wolf?"

"Not sure. It felt as if the magic shifted. Does that make sense?"

"Magic? The tribe has a shaman," she explained to Angela.

"Old Quil. But he's eighty five," Jake said. "And he should have been training his replacement, but there wasn't anyone."

"Maybe there is now?" Bella suggested carefully.

"I hope so."

"You said Josh had magic," Angela reminded her. "Could it be him?"

Jake and Bella exchanged a weighty look.

"Could be," said Jake.

It was miles later when Jake grabbed his phone before Bella got to it.

"Embry? It was a vamp? … Good… yeah, stay out patrolling… We are almost home. Thanks." He hung up. "Dave was right," he said to Bella.

"He knew I was a bit off in the bar. Worried about something."

"He's got good instincts."

Angela looked worried. "A vamp? What is that? A vampire? After us? What did it want?" Her voice rose slightly at the end as her fear came through.

Jake patted her arm. "They didn't stop to ask it. But we know it was after Bella. The pack took care of it."

Angela twisted around in the seat to look at Bella in the back. "What aren't you telling us?"

She sighed and didn't answer.

"Bells?" Jake asked.

"I-I… can I tell everyone at once?" Her voice was tiny.

"Meeting," Jake said. "First thing tomorrow."

Bella sighed again. "Okay." She didn't sound happy about it.

Bella was looking out the window. She was desperate for a glimpse of the rez. All she could think of was Josh. They had most certainly met in dreams but the last time she saw him, he had passed out and was unconscious on a bed. She nibbled at her nails.

Jake glanced at her. "We've got a welcoming committee."

"What?"

"There's a wolf out there. One I don't recognize."

"What? Where?" In the near midnight light, she couldn't see.

Jake pointed.

"It's… black; yeah black."

"Like Sam?"

"Yeah. But wolves aren't usually family colors."

"Josh!" She scrabbled at the door. "He knows this car. It's Josh. Stop the car."

"Here?"

"Now, Jake! I know it's him."

He pulled over and she couldn't get the seatbelt off or open the door fast enough. She stumbled out of the car in her haste.