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Date: January 2010Location: Second Beach, La Push, Washington state
Jacob Black stood shirtless near the icy water, cold wind and drizzle whipping his tall frame, wondering how he had gotten roped into this.Leah Clearwater had showed up at his house a few days prior (again), late at night with no warning (again), after spending the weekend with her new friend/girlfriend/imprint/whatever, Rae. She’d been absolutely glowing. You were right, she’d said. This was the best weekend of my life. I love her more than anyone I’ve ever known. There’s just no comparison.He'd thought briefly about trying to harness this new emotion into helping her understand and/or forgive Sam, but reconsidered, mainly because he himself wanted to know more about Rae and their imprint, and didn’t want to hijack the conversation. See, he’d said confidently. I told you it didn’t have to be sexual. I’m glad you’re happy.Her response, however, had floored him. Yep, you were right. I mean, we were both so knocked over by this, especially once I explained everything about wolves and imprinting, that we figured we should give it a try, just in case there were parts of us we didn’t realize, you know... Her lips turned up into a smug half-smile; Jacob’s eyes widened when he realized the implications of her words. And it technically worked, I mean, she came, hard… but it just didn’t really do it for either of us, you know? So that’s off the table, which is a relief, you know?He didn’t know. He had no idea. He couldn’t even imagine how having an actual orgasm with someone you loved wouldn’t lead to wanting more of them. Maybe it was a girl thing.He himself had had one girlfriend in junior year of high school, and he still missed her a bit even though their time together had gone horribly wrong, mostly because of his messed-up head and the fallout from Bella. And there was that time Embry dragged him to a bar on his 18th birthday and he wound up making out with two girls in the bathroom; and even though that felt awkward and oddly wrong at the time, he still fantasized about it. (He hadn’t especially liked them until they started kissing each other, probably to get his attention, but boy, did that ever work. Embry reassured him later that it was normal and common for guys to be really into two girls together.) But then he was looking at Leah’s little smirk and imagining…oh my god. Get it together, man. He’d just been grateful he didn’t say it aloud.So when the next part of her speech had been about how she promised Rae that she would show her how wolves worked, and that she wanted another wolf to shift in front of Rae first, because in case Rae freaked out or had questions (more likely she’ll have questions, actually. She’s got such an amazing brain and incredible emotional control, Leah had gushed), Leah wanted to be there for her, and since Jacob was the only wolf that knew about Rae, it had to be him… He had agreed without thinking.Two days later - a few hours ago - he’d climbed out of his truck and hiked over to Second Beach, as requested. Off-season, on a day with iffy weather, it was the best chance they had of being totally private, without being in the actual forest. Leah was already there, sitting on a piece of driftwood next to a small figure, in a hoodie and jeans, that he assumed to be Rae. As they heard him and stood up to turn and greet him, he noticed several things about Rae right away.One, she was short. Not unnaturally short, maybe 5’2”, but compared to Leah’s 5’11” and his 6’7”, still very short.Two, she was black. He felt weird and oddly racist for having (he just realized at that moment) not expected that. He tried not to think too hard about whether he had assumed she was white because she was from the South, or worse, because she was a doctor – and resolved to have an introspective chat with himself later.Three, she was pretty. He took in her neat box braids, her smooth chocolate skin, and her lively dark eyes. Not drop-dead gorgeous like Leah, but she was curvy and cute and the overall effect was impressive.Rae, this is Jake. Jake, meet Rae. He’d shaken her hand – solid grip, he’d thought – and mumbled the usual pleasantries. They’d sat on the beach and started talking; Leah had already explained what she knew about werewolves, but Rae still had what seemed like hundreds of questions. Her mind was clearly racing as she asked about their body temperature and protein folding and cellular transformation and telomeres and the pack mind until it became clear to her that he didn’t know any more about the science of it than Leah did; likely even less. He got a sense that Rae was still a little overwhelmed, trying to reconcile this with everything she thought she knew about the world, and hiding her disappointment at the fact that he didn’t have the answers she sought. Maybe she needs to talk to Carlisle, or Rosalie, he’d said to Leah. He then turned to Rae. She told you about the vampires, right?Leah hadn’t. This was clear by the way Rae’s eyes went wide, but only for a second, and then the questions started pouring out of her again. It took a few more hours until they actually got to the show-and-tell part of their appointment.And now Jacob was standing on the beach, about twenty feet away from the girls (he should say women, he thought idly; Leah was 24 and Rae was 27), and he’d just taken off his shirt in the brisk January drizzle. “Y’all really don’t get cold, do ya?” he heard Rae ask Leah, amazed. “Nope, told you”, he heard Leah reply with a laugh. “Here, lean into me, I’ll warm you up.”He cursed his wolf ears. He didn’t need to be thinking of them cuddling when already he had put a face to the name and couldn’t stop thinking about what Leah had said – stop. You’re here to show her a wolf. Now is not the time to pop a boner.Next went his boots, then his jeans, which he placed in a neat pile on a large rock. He could feel the eyes of the girls – women – on him as he turned away toward the water and stepped out of his underwear. He didn’t turn back towards them as he said “Ready?”“Ready as I’ll ever be”, Rae drawled back at him. He bent forward and let his enormous russet wolf take over; the warm familiar buzzing feeling as his bones and muscles stretched and shifted, as he felt his fur come in and he stopped feeling the wind.He turned back toward the women, worried that he would see Rae panicking, but her eyes were gleaming and her mouth was open in surprise. “Can I…touch him?” he heard her ask Leah, shyly, as she rose to her feet. “Ask him”, he heard Leah reply, chuckling. He nodded his large head at her, forestalling the question, and padded over to them. Rae looked up at him as he approached, keen interest in her gaze. “Can I see your teeth?” she asked, fascinated. He opened his mouth and she stood on tiptoes and peered inside. “Amazing”, she murmured. She ran her hands up over his head, behind his ears, and even pricked the tip of a fang with her finger. It took several minutes of physical inspection before she turned to Leah and said “I think I’m ready to see you, now.”Jacob padded back over to where his clothes were, and shifted back before realizing he was still facing the women. He saw Rae’s eyes go wide before he spun around, cursing softly, putting his clothes back on as quickly as he could.He walked back to where Rae was sitting, and took Leah’s place on the driftwood as Leah headed in turn towards the water. He was trying hard not to blush. Rae patted his hand and leaned over, whispering. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t checkin’ you out; you’re not my type. I’ve just never seen a man that… big. Talkin’ ‘bout your wolf, of course.” She grinned at him, eyes sparkling. He laughed, despite himself. (Leah was right: she did have an amazing smile.) “Well, if you’re not into girls, what is your type?” he couldn’t help asking, convincing himself he wasn’t disappointed. “I like shy guys”, she answered. And then, as if she could tell what he was going to say next, “You’re not shy; you just think you are. You’ll get over it... Good lord, y’all really look like that with no gym, huh?” Her eyes focused on Leah, who was stripping down by the water, bold as brass, smirking at them both. He couldn’t help but stare a bit, too. “Lee’s just a showoff” he answered. “She tries to get a rise out of us, sometimes.” Rae snorted a little. “She looks like a dang supermodel; she could get a rise out of a dead man. If I were into women, I assure you I would absolutely be into her. But somehow, I’m just crazy in love with her instead... Oh my!”
Rae clutched Jacob’s forearm as they both watched Leah’s wolf emerge. Rae sprang to her feet and ran toward Leah. She leaned right in, throwing her arms around Leah’s neck – Leah’s grey wolf was smaller than Jacob’s, so her head was at the same height as Rae’s – and Leah nuzzled her. Rae said a few things that Jacob couldn’t catch, between the wind and the fact that she was speaking into Leah’s fur. He could tell, though, that Rae was not only completely fine with Leah in wolf form, but that they were so bonded to each other that it almost came off them in waves.He rose to his feet and hollered out “Ok so I’ll go then? I’ve got stuff to do…” Rae waved and called out “It was a pleasure to meet you, thanks so much, again!” and Leah just glanced at him and nodded her head. He walked back to his truck, wondering how to tell Carlisle that he was no longer the only supernatural doctor in town.