Howling Moon

Author's Notes: So, it turns out that while I'm not terribly happy with how the last two chapters turned out, my muse would not allow me to sleep until I came up with a solution and a continuation; I was supposed to just write a chapter or two and then go to bed, because I work tomorrow morning.

But my muse had me rolling and turning in my sleep until I couldn't take it anymore... So, here I am, it's four in the morning and I have work tomorrow, and I'm writing another chapter. I'm not sure if I'm doing this or my muse, you wonderful readers out there, myself, or all three rolled up into a fat blunt that's burning up my sleep time. ROFL! Nah... I think it's for you readers. I love you guys. You're awesome because you keep me writing, and I get that happy little flip-flop in my tummy with each new review.

Here's to sleep-deprivation and longer, better chapters!

Smoke on, Baby!

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After about six hours in the waiting room, Carlisle came out to inform me that Amelia would be ready to leave before the end of the week, but that she could not, currently, have any visitors. I was crushed, but happy at the same time; I vowed to spend the time I could not spend with Amelia hunting down the silver beast that had attacked her.

Don't worry, Amelia... I'll avenge you.

I did exactly as I had planned: I spent what time I could with Amelia in the hospital and the rest of my time trying to hunt down the rogue wolf. I came back to the hospital, each day, completely empty handed. I had no answers and I was getting more and more frustrated as the days floated by. Amelia looked in terrible shape; her arms and neck were bandaged, but healing quickly. I was glad, but Carlisle still looked extremely confused each time he took a look at her chart. I decided, one day, to ask him about it while Amelia slept.

"Well," Carlisle answered, heaving a heavy breath through his nose to release a sigh. "She's healing quickly, Jacob, but that's the problem... I don't know why. I can't place my finger on it. It's almost like she's got some sort of... Rapid healing ability. You didn't see her when she came into the emergency room, Jacob-- she was mangled up pretty bad. It looked like she'd been mauled and even I wasn't sure if she was going to make it. But, by the time we had cleaned her up and rolled her into the ICU, it didn't look as bad as it did before. That... And she lost a lot of blood; we thought we would have to give her a transfusion for her to pull through, but her cell count is growing so rapidly, we can barely keep track of it. I'm... At a complete loss."

Carlisle had left me with more questions than answers, but while things made absolutely no sense to me, I had a feeling that I was following a different trail than I needed to. I said nothing to Carlisle's words, but simply watched Amelia as she lay asleep. I would have to talk to Amelia once she was out of the hospital, and the more I thought about it, I began to grow angry.

Not at myself... But at Amelia.


The day that Amelia was able to leave the hospital, I volunteered to pick her up. She was right as rain when I came into her room to retrieve her. She hopped out of her bed and practically jumped into my arms. I didn't even force a smile, but managed to wrap my arms around her before giving her a change of clothes. Once we were out of the hospital and on the way home, I knew Amelia thought something was wrong.

"Jacob? Is everything alright? You seem... Distant..."

"It's nothing, Amelia... I just... Have a lot on my mind."

Which was true. I did have a lot on my mind. A lot of questions that I had to ask, and a lot of answers I wanted-- no... needed.

Once we were home, I parked the rabbit immediately and cut the engine. When I got out, I didn't even go around to the other side of the car to help Amelia out, but headed straight for the woods where she had emerged from the week previous, naked and caked in her own blood.

"Jake? Jake! Wait up! Where are you going?"

I heard Amelia calling after me nervously, but I continued to walk. I heard her trudge up behind me, following me silently when she realized that I wasn't going to answer her. I followed my nose to the place where I had found the silver wolf and her torn clothing; neither of which had made sense before, but were starting to make sense now.

I stopped in the middle of the little clearing, fuming and doing my best to control my temper.

"Jake? What's this all about? Please, talk to me!"

Amelia's mousy voice only served to irritate me, and when she put a hand on my arm in an attempt to get my attention, I snapped, losing almost all control I had. I grabbed Amelia's wrist and whirled around, holding her in an iron grasp. She cried out, but I could barely hear her over the sound of the rolling thunder in the skies above us. The clouds opened up and rain began to fall and the thunder and lightning in the sky mirrored the rage I felt inside.

"What are you playing at, huh?! Tell me!"

I yelled at her, my voice rising high above the sound of thunder. The look in her eyes suddenly changed from confused to absolute terror. She had never seen me angry before, and I had heard from Bella that it was a very terrifying thing to see. I felt no pity for Amelia, even as she replied.

"I... Jacob... I don't know what you're talking about! Let go of me, you're hurting me!"

I flung her arm away from me, letting go of her wrist as I took a step forward, my rage knowing no bounds.

"Don't lie to me! Tell me what's going on or I'll kill every one of them!"

"You... You've gone mad!" Amelia's voice squeaked out, tears forming in her eyes as she took a cautious, fearful step away from me.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you dare play coy with me! Tell me what your game is and I'll think about sparing your life, Amelia! You know I don't want to kill you, but my pack comes first!"

Amelia said nothing, shaking violently where she stood; she looked diminished... Shrunken as she cowered from me and I towered over her with rage as hot as the sun. I could see the steam coming off of my body as the rain hit me, my body temperature reaching the boiling point as I did all I could to keep from phasing out of anger. I had to get my answers, and I could not ask my questions while I was a wolf.

"The torn clothes! The white she-wolf! Your throat the only thing that was mauled! You're rapid healing rate! The fact that I could only smell you out here and not that she-wolf! TELL ME, GOD DAMMIT! I can't have a roving pack of wolves out here in my territory! This is mine! The pack and my territory come first, Amelia! NOW GIVE ME ANSWERS BEFORE I START DEFENDING IT!"

At this point, I was screaming in her face, pointing randomly out in the direction that the she-wolf had run to. I had my suspicions, and I was furious about the fact that I felt I was right; Amelia had to be a werewolf. She was of our tribe, and the blood easily flowed through her veins. I wasn't sure if she had imprinted on me, or if I had imprinted on her-- either way, that was what saved her, in that moment, from me killing her without asking questions. But, I had to protect my territory, my pack, my tribe... And I felt that she had threatened all of that. She was a wolf, like me, like Leah... And she had to belong to a pack, and that pack had to be somewhere around. She could lead that pack here, and who knew how many members they had? If they had more than my pack and Sam's combined, our territory would be completely overthrown and our tribe massacred. I could not choose one over many, no matter who that one happened to be.

Amelia didn't speak for a while, and it only served to anger me further. I said nothing, but reached forward and grabbed her shoulders, roughly shaking her; the look on her face told me everything. She was the silver wolf, but when she finally spoke, she gave me more information that threw my suspicions to the birds. She had to have known my secret by this time, and the realization of it was written across her face. While I thought I had her secret completely figured out, I was thrown completely through a loop.

"Jake... I... I'm not like you. I don't have a pack..." Amelia's voice was soft, frightened.

"I... I was afraid of you, at first. I could smell you, that first day I met you. I knew what you were before I even knew your name. I could smell the alpha on you, and I knew that I was on your territory. I was terrified that you would find me out, so I tried to stay away from you. But... But that day, when I wanted to borrow some sugar... When I looked up into your eyes, all that fear melted away; it was like my soul sang for you... Like there was no one else in this world that I wanted by my side, other than you. I wanted to hide my secret from you... My secret is so much worse... Deadlier... Than yours, Jake... So much worse..."

As I listened to her describe her fears and her love, my anger slowly began to dissipate. I was getting answers, and I was starting to feel sorry for how I had demanded them.

"What do you mean you don't have a pack? And what do you mean by 'worse'?"

My tone was still a bit rough, and I still held Amelia roughly by the shoulders as she explained. The rain was coming down hard, now, and we were both soaked to the bone. Neither of us seemed to really care.

"I'm a werewolf... But not like you. My mother... I was with my mother the night she died. We were going down a back road in Seattle... Taking the scenic route home from a party at one of my friend's house. We hit a dog on the road, and we didn't want to leave it behind. When we got out of the car, we saw that the dog was huge... Gigantic... It looked like a wolf. We decided to leave it there; it was too dangerous to tote an injured wolf around instead of a dog. But... As we turned to leave... The wolf attacked my mother, I was barely able to get inside the car before it scratched me. I remember watching my mother get mauled by that thing outside before I ran off into the darkness. I couldn't move... I was terrified. My mother died before a trucker found me..."

The heartbreak in Amelia's face tore my heart to pieces all over again. I felt terrible... She was going through the same changes I had when I was first phasing, and here I was making things worse for her. The only difference was that she only had to worry about it once a month, on the full moon.. I could do it at will. That, and if she lost control and attacked someone, she could either kill them, or make more of her kind.

"... So... It was you that I attacked that night? It was you howling out here?"

"... Yes... I got curious when you started howling back; I didn't know that it was you. But when I came here, and smelled you... I wasn't sure what to do. I knew that, by instinct, you might attack. That's why I tried to show throat... Hoping that you wouldn't kill me."

"Oh, God... Amelia... I'm so sorry. I didn't know... I just... I didn't know..."

I pulled Amelia close to me, holding her tightly against my chest. My heart was racing. I knew the truth and closed my eyes against the wave of guilt that rushed through me.

"Who knows about what you are..?" I asked warily.

"Only my Dad... I don't even think Aunt Sue or Leah knows..."

"I'll have to warn the pack about this. I hope Sam doesn't see this as a threat... If anything, I'll let you join my pack. You're my mate, after all. Everyone will have to respect you, for that title."

I couldn't help but grin, glad that the anger had finally dissipated. Amelia didn't seem afraid anymore, and she didn't seem angry, either; the both of us seemed pretty happy that the air had been cleared, but I knew that I would always feel terrible about how I had treated her that day. I still do, and still apologize for it to this day, but I'm getting ahead of myself again.

I pulled back from Amelia's embrace and looked down into her eyes. I raised a hand to cup her cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Jake... I should have told you sooner. I knew what you were... I just didn't want you to... To think I'm a freak."

"No, Amelia... I would never think you're a freak. EVER. We're both wolves, we both howl and get fleas... But most of all, you're my soul mate. We're imprinted... Nothing will ever separate us. We might get angry at each other from time-to-time, but in the end, we'll always be together."

"... Always?"

"... Always..."

I leaned down and offered Amelia the most passionate kiss I could muster. Our tongues mingled, breath hot and sweet invading each others' mouths. I held her close, wrapping my arms tightly around her. Amelia's kiss was furious and deep, as though she meant to pour all of her emotions for me into it. I could barely contain my instincts to pin her to the ground, and I had to pull away. I looked down into her flushed face, the rain still pouring on top of our heads.

"... Let's go home. I'm afraid of what I'll do to you, otherwise. I don't want to do anything to drive you away, Amelia..."

"No... Jacob. Please... I want this. I need this... I've been fighting with myself since the day I looked in your eyes. I have to have you..." Amelia whispered against my lips, looking into my eyes. She had to know that looking into her eyes was my weakness... My kryptonite.

"... Are you sure..?"

"I'm sure..."