Faux
My first ever Twilight story, so please be nice!
Disclaimer: Twilight is the property Stephanie Meyer and sadly not mine. I’m just playing with her toys for a while. If I were only that talented…sigh.
Rating: Teen; mostly because of the packs bad language.
Distribution: Wherever I’ve put it and whoever asks nicely.
Summary: Jacob discovers some things about their bond that Nessie hasn’t told him and Leah discovers yet another thing that makes her unique.
Chapter One
It’s only after he nearly loses his Beta to it that Jacob remembers why he once conversed with her about how wrong the whole imprinting thing is. Of course no wolf ever died from imprinting, well he doesn’t think so anyway; but his imprint has nearly caused the death of the only female werewolf.
He shouldn’t blame Nessie, not really. Hell he shouldn’t even be able to blame her if his adoration of his imprint were anything like any of his other pack mates was. It’s not really like anyone else’s though, so here he sits, determined not to let his selfish, spoilt little imprint get anywhere near his beaten Beta.
Nessie’s not really so awful, he reminds himself as she sits across the room from him with her parents and her obsessive aunt; all of whom are glaring at him for upsetting their precious girl.
It’s their fault really that she’s the way she is. Theirs and his and the fact that despite being incredibly advanced for the twelve years she appears, she is truly only four years old and is behaving in the naturally self absorbed manner of all small children; particularly, hopelessly indulged ones.
If only she hadn’t become so attached to his stubborn, contrary Beta, then the stupid girly-wolf would never have followed her into the woods when the girl threw a tantrum and ran off. If she hadn’t then his stubborn, unnervingly loyal Beta wouldn’t have gotten herself half killed by the vampire that got just a little too interested in little Nessie.
It didn’t help that Nessie had been just as curious about him as he’d been about her, and being Nessie, had apparently expected him to instantly adore her as everyone other than Leah immediately did. So when the mystery vamp had turned on her, it had been up to one of the few people that didn’t think his imprint was the most wonderful thing ever to save her overly curious, disobedient little ass.
None of the pack would ever have let a brother’s imprint get hurt, mostly because they now had some idea how awful that that would be for themselves. All except for the one wolf that hasn’t imprinted; whom nearly died protecting the object of the thing she despised most about their abilities. Why did she have to be so fuckin’ awkward all the damn time?
But does that mean he’d rather she had let Nessie die at the hands of that leech? Just how bad a wolf is he if he really needs to think about that?
He knows without even thinking about it that Quil or Embry or even her own little brother would not have considered Leah’s life over the lives of their own imprints. The utter devotion is just that strong; at least it’s meant to be.
It’s not quite like that for him though. Whether it’s because Nessie is half vampire or because as Alpha of his pack he has responsibilities beyond his own imprint he doesn’t know. All he knows is that Sam is an Alpha too and he can’t imagine him ever considering sacrificing Emily to protect Jared.
Just for once he’d like the females in his life to be straightforward and normal, instead of the contrary, stubborn, uniquely extraordinary ones that currently occupy all of his time and attention. And that’s another thing, his pack mates spend every spare moment with their imprints.
Seemingly unable to tear themselves away, they will spend days at a time with them if possible, but most of his time is spent either working or with his pack. He doesn’t even feel the urge to be with her as strongly as he once did, when she was tiny and vulnerable.
When she was born he would have moved the Earth and hung the moon for his precious little Nessie. But now that she is older and less reliant on him she is not quite as necessary to his very sanity as she once was.
Don’t get him wrong, he’d still be very, very likely to rip out the throat of anyone who even looked at her funny. She is, after all, the closest thing he has to a little sister or a daughter of his own.
These thoughts make it hard to believe that he could ever be in love with her the way that Jared is with Kim or Embry is with Selene. The idea of ever touching Nessie that way not only makes his stomach turn, but also feels intensely incestuous.
He knows that Edward hears his thoughts about his daughter and their bond; he has been frowning in deep concentration ever since his thoughts took this turn. The vampire in question looks up and catches his eye and both men turn to look at the russet haired pre-teen that occupies their thoughts.
As though she knows that they are thinking about her, (which is not entirely impossible) the girl looks up from her murmured conversation with her Aunt and tilts her head as though listening for something. She hops to her feet and crosses the room to where he sits, her gaze concentrated on the floor at his enormous feet.
She presses her white skinned hand to his copper toned cheek and he is assaulted with her gift. The visions and feelings she bombard his mind with overwhelm him briefly until he gets control and begins to understand what she is trying to tell him in her own unique way.
She gently pulls away and looks up into his face with regret etched clearly into her expression.
‘I am sorry my Jacob.’ She whispers.
Even as she says the words he can feel the ties that bind him to her begin to snap.
His brain is blank and he is unable to form a reply. The single thought that finally comes to mind is that he still can’t be mad at her. Even for this.
What ‘this’ is, is a betrayal of him as a person, of him as a pack Alpha and of the honour of his people. And yet he still can’t be mad at her. Hell, he can even understand why she did it, and that she was just too young to understand what it was she was doing when she did it.
He only hopes that he can persuade Sam and the Elders to see it his way. If he explains it badly they could go to war over this. It may not technically be an infringement of the treaty, but it is a desecration of a bond that the Quileute people hold sacred.
The bond between a wolf and his imprint is held in reverence, an ideal of commitment beyond any marriage. And Nessie had faked it; falsified the bond and lead him into believing that she was his imprint to save her own hide and that of her mother.
He is still sitting stunned and horrified with his head in his hands when Carlisle finally emerges from the room that he himself was ejected from after laying Leah carefully on the plastic sheeted bed.
His concern had apparently been to distracting for him to be allowed to stay whilst his beta was tended to. It hadn’t really helped that he had growled at the good doctor whenever Leah had whimpered as he checked over her injuries.
‘She’ll be okay.’ Carlisle tells them and his relief is so intense that he forgets for a moment the revelation of just a moment ago.
‘Can I see her?’
‘Of course. She lost consciousness a little while ago and she will probably remain that way for several days, but you can certainly sit with her.’
‘How bad is she?’ he asks, almost afraid to know. For her to be out for days must mean that she is in bad shape, but Dr Cullen wouldn’t tell him she was going to be alright if she wasn’t.
‘She’s not good Jake. She’s taken several serious blows to the head and solar plexus. There doesn’t appear to be any brain trauma, but she has suffered some internal bleeding and the lacerations to her stomach, side and back all needed far more stitches than I am happy with. She will heal, but it’s only because of the regenerative benefit from shape shifting that she is still with us.’
He lowers his head back into his hands, feeling dizzy and sick. His horror at Nessie's surprise and overwhelming relief that Leah is going to be okay battle for dominance of his strained emotions.
He squeezes his eyes closed briefly in an effort to stem the tide and then gets up to follow Carlisle into Leah’s room. He is just about to walk in when the doctor’s ice cold hand on his arm stills him.
‘You called Miss Clearwater’s mother didn’t you?’
Jacob frowns.
‘I thought you said she was going to be okay.’ He growls.
‘I did and she is,’ Carlisle assures him calmly ‘but your friend is going through something right now that only another woman would truly understand. Whilst Esme would be more than happy to fulfil that role for her, it has been many, many years since this was a problem for my wife and we both know that Miss Clearwater has never been particularly comfortable with any of my family.’
Jake guesses that he must look confused, because Carlisle explains further.
‘She is menstruating. I believe that this is the first time she has bled since she phased for the first time. She is clearly quite disturbed by it and I think she would feel better having someone she is comfortable with to talk to.’
Jake feels the blood drain from his face. Not only is he concerned about what this means for his Beta, he is also pleased for her, knowing how deeply the belief that she was infertile had wounded his friend.
Mostly though he is terrified that she will want to talk to him about it, she may be his Beta and they may discuss practically every other aspect of their lives with one another, but periods are one thing he definitely cannot do.
He realises many things in those few seconds he is stood outside that room. The first is that she is his best friend, though when that happened he has no idea. The second is that he would do absolutely anything for her. Anything but discuss her menstrual cycle that is.
He leans against the door and closes his eyes telling himself to suck it up and be a man. After all the times she dealt with him whining about Bella or pack problems (mostly Sam) if she wants him to sit and listen to her talk about this then that is probably the least that she deserves.
The room smells of morphine and blood. It also smells like Leah, but Leah like he’s never smelt her before. He opens the door fully and sees her lying prone on the huge white bed; then he promptly slams it shut and runs away as fast and as far as he can.
Disclaimer: Twilight is the property Stephanie Meyer and sadly not mine. I’m just playing with her toys for a while. If I were only that talented…sigh.
Rating: Teen; mostly because of the packs bad language.
Distribution: Wherever I’ve put it and whoever asks nicely.
Summary: Jacob discovers some things about their bond that Nessie hasn’t told him and Leah discovers yet another thing that makes her unique.
Chapter One
It’s only after he nearly loses his Beta to it that Jacob remembers why he once conversed with her about how wrong the whole imprinting thing is. Of course no wolf ever died from imprinting, well he doesn’t think so anyway; but his imprint has nearly caused the death of the only female werewolf.
He shouldn’t blame Nessie, not really. Hell he shouldn’t even be able to blame her if his adoration of his imprint were anything like any of his other pack mates was. It’s not really like anyone else’s though, so here he sits, determined not to let his selfish, spoilt little imprint get anywhere near his beaten Beta.
Nessie’s not really so awful, he reminds himself as she sits across the room from him with her parents and her obsessive aunt; all of whom are glaring at him for upsetting their precious girl.
It’s their fault really that she’s the way she is. Theirs and his and the fact that despite being incredibly advanced for the twelve years she appears, she is truly only four years old and is behaving in the naturally self absorbed manner of all small children; particularly, hopelessly indulged ones.
If only she hadn’t become so attached to his stubborn, contrary Beta, then the stupid girly-wolf would never have followed her into the woods when the girl threw a tantrum and ran off. If she hadn’t then his stubborn, unnervingly loyal Beta wouldn’t have gotten herself half killed by the vampire that got just a little too interested in little Nessie.
It didn’t help that Nessie had been just as curious about him as he’d been about her, and being Nessie, had apparently expected him to instantly adore her as everyone other than Leah immediately did. So when the mystery vamp had turned on her, it had been up to one of the few people that didn’t think his imprint was the most wonderful thing ever to save her overly curious, disobedient little ass.
None of the pack would ever have let a brother’s imprint get hurt, mostly because they now had some idea how awful that that would be for themselves. All except for the one wolf that hasn’t imprinted; whom nearly died protecting the object of the thing she despised most about their abilities. Why did she have to be so fuckin’ awkward all the damn time?
But does that mean he’d rather she had let Nessie die at the hands of that leech? Just how bad a wolf is he if he really needs to think about that?
He knows without even thinking about it that Quil or Embry or even her own little brother would not have considered Leah’s life over the lives of their own imprints. The utter devotion is just that strong; at least it’s meant to be.
It’s not quite like that for him though. Whether it’s because Nessie is half vampire or because as Alpha of his pack he has responsibilities beyond his own imprint he doesn’t know. All he knows is that Sam is an Alpha too and he can’t imagine him ever considering sacrificing Emily to protect Jared.
Just for once he’d like the females in his life to be straightforward and normal, instead of the contrary, stubborn, uniquely extraordinary ones that currently occupy all of his time and attention. And that’s another thing, his pack mates spend every spare moment with their imprints.
Seemingly unable to tear themselves away, they will spend days at a time with them if possible, but most of his time is spent either working or with his pack. He doesn’t even feel the urge to be with her as strongly as he once did, when she was tiny and vulnerable.
When she was born he would have moved the Earth and hung the moon for his precious little Nessie. But now that she is older and less reliant on him she is not quite as necessary to his very sanity as she once was.
Don’t get him wrong, he’d still be very, very likely to rip out the throat of anyone who even looked at her funny. She is, after all, the closest thing he has to a little sister or a daughter of his own.
These thoughts make it hard to believe that he could ever be in love with her the way that Jared is with Kim or Embry is with Selene. The idea of ever touching Nessie that way not only makes his stomach turn, but also feels intensely incestuous.
He knows that Edward hears his thoughts about his daughter and their bond; he has been frowning in deep concentration ever since his thoughts took this turn. The vampire in question looks up and catches his eye and both men turn to look at the russet haired pre-teen that occupies their thoughts.
As though she knows that they are thinking about her, (which is not entirely impossible) the girl looks up from her murmured conversation with her Aunt and tilts her head as though listening for something. She hops to her feet and crosses the room to where he sits, her gaze concentrated on the floor at his enormous feet.
She presses her white skinned hand to his copper toned cheek and he is assaulted with her gift. The visions and feelings she bombard his mind with overwhelm him briefly until he gets control and begins to understand what she is trying to tell him in her own unique way.
She gently pulls away and looks up into his face with regret etched clearly into her expression.
‘I am sorry my Jacob.’ She whispers.
Even as she says the words he can feel the ties that bind him to her begin to snap.
His brain is blank and he is unable to form a reply. The single thought that finally comes to mind is that he still can’t be mad at her. Even for this.
What ‘this’ is, is a betrayal of him as a person, of him as a pack Alpha and of the honour of his people. And yet he still can’t be mad at her. Hell, he can even understand why she did it, and that she was just too young to understand what it was she was doing when she did it.
He only hopes that he can persuade Sam and the Elders to see it his way. If he explains it badly they could go to war over this. It may not technically be an infringement of the treaty, but it is a desecration of a bond that the Quileute people hold sacred.
The bond between a wolf and his imprint is held in reverence, an ideal of commitment beyond any marriage. And Nessie had faked it; falsified the bond and lead him into believing that she was his imprint to save her own hide and that of her mother.
He is still sitting stunned and horrified with his head in his hands when Carlisle finally emerges from the room that he himself was ejected from after laying Leah carefully on the plastic sheeted bed.
His concern had apparently been to distracting for him to be allowed to stay whilst his beta was tended to. It hadn’t really helped that he had growled at the good doctor whenever Leah had whimpered as he checked over her injuries.
‘She’ll be okay.’ Carlisle tells them and his relief is so intense that he forgets for a moment the revelation of just a moment ago.
‘Can I see her?’
‘Of course. She lost consciousness a little while ago and she will probably remain that way for several days, but you can certainly sit with her.’
‘How bad is she?’ he asks, almost afraid to know. For her to be out for days must mean that she is in bad shape, but Dr Cullen wouldn’t tell him she was going to be alright if she wasn’t.
‘She’s not good Jake. She’s taken several serious blows to the head and solar plexus. There doesn’t appear to be any brain trauma, but she has suffered some internal bleeding and the lacerations to her stomach, side and back all needed far more stitches than I am happy with. She will heal, but it’s only because of the regenerative benefit from shape shifting that she is still with us.’
He lowers his head back into his hands, feeling dizzy and sick. His horror at Nessie's surprise and overwhelming relief that Leah is going to be okay battle for dominance of his strained emotions.
He squeezes his eyes closed briefly in an effort to stem the tide and then gets up to follow Carlisle into Leah’s room. He is just about to walk in when the doctor’s ice cold hand on his arm stills him.
‘You called Miss Clearwater’s mother didn’t you?’
Jacob frowns.
‘I thought you said she was going to be okay.’ He growls.
‘I did and she is,’ Carlisle assures him calmly ‘but your friend is going through something right now that only another woman would truly understand. Whilst Esme would be more than happy to fulfil that role for her, it has been many, many years since this was a problem for my wife and we both know that Miss Clearwater has never been particularly comfortable with any of my family.’
Jake guesses that he must look confused, because Carlisle explains further.
‘She is menstruating. I believe that this is the first time she has bled since she phased for the first time. She is clearly quite disturbed by it and I think she would feel better having someone she is comfortable with to talk to.’
Jake feels the blood drain from his face. Not only is he concerned about what this means for his Beta, he is also pleased for her, knowing how deeply the belief that she was infertile had wounded his friend.
Mostly though he is terrified that she will want to talk to him about it, she may be his Beta and they may discuss practically every other aspect of their lives with one another, but periods are one thing he definitely cannot do.
He realises many things in those few seconds he is stood outside that room. The first is that she is his best friend, though when that happened he has no idea. The second is that he would do absolutely anything for her. Anything but discuss her menstrual cycle that is.
He leans against the door and closes his eyes telling himself to suck it up and be a man. After all the times she dealt with him whining about Bella or pack problems (mostly Sam) if she wants him to sit and listen to her talk about this then that is probably the least that she deserves.
The room smells of morphine and blood. It also smells like Leah, but Leah like he’s never smelt her before. He opens the door fully and sees her lying prone on the huge white bed; then he promptly slams it shut and runs away as fast and as far as he can.