Seismic Shift Chapter 6

Nobody sees, nobody knows

We are a secret, can't be exposed

That's how it is, that's how it goes

Far from the others, close to each other

That’s when we uncover

We could build a universe

Right here

All the world could disappear

Wouldn't notice, wouldn't care

My asylum is in your arms

When the world gives heavy burdens

I can bear a thousand tons

On your shoulder

I can reach an endless sky

Feels like paradise

I just need you near

~ Zara Larsson, Uncover

We spent the rest of the month hiding out in our secret garden. We stretched out together in the grass as the wildflowers blew around our faces, talking about everything from our families to my science final. The end of my school year was so close, and I would graduate with honors.

Only to stale on the shelf while I was stuck in La Push.

I hadn't heard from the council again, but Sue assured me that I would be free to take on that summer job, and that she wasn't angry with me for needing space. She and Harry were working on changing some of the laws, especially the handful that restricted our freedom.

Jacob Black was the son of Billy, the council leader. He lived a few doors down from me and was best friends with Seth. Today he was in my house, all six feet two inches of him sprawled on the sofa next to my brother, playing video games. He looked up as I passed them on my way out the door. I was desperate to get to Edward, as usual.

“Hey, Bella, can I talk to you for a sec?” Jake glanced at Seth nervously as he paused their game.

“I guess so,” I replied slowly. I walked out onto the porch and stopped at the rail, facing the yard and the dried out summer grass.

The screen door slapped familiarly as it closed behind Jake. “I think I'm, uh… I've got a high temperature, and I can't stop eating. I'm tired all the time.”

Even though I knew what he was getting at, I couldn't help but pick on him. “Early menopause, huh?”

“What?! No!” He looked mortified at my teasing. I laughed so hard my sides ached, and he scowled at me. “Ha. Ha. I talked to Sam about it, but he makes me feel like I’m joining a cult.”

I sobered. “I know. He pretty much believes that, or something close to it. I've gotten away with not running patrols because I'm in school, but he lives to tell us he's the Alpha and that we have to do as he says. If you're given a direct order, you have no choice but to obey. That's super annoying.”

“So, does it hurt? Shifting, I mean?” Jake asked nervously, resting his forearms on the rail next to me.

I pondered that question, and the answer I would give him. “God, no. It's like- like an urging in your brain, encouraging you to let the beast out of its cage. When it happens, everything shimmers and shifts, and there's an electric charge. Like a current running through your veins.” I sighed, a little dreamily. “The wolf, that's another story altogether. Mine is wild, and loves to run. God, I'm fast in that form. I can run without getting tired, as far as I want. I can swim far and fast, too. It's like... you can hear old souls whispering in the wind, calling for the tribe to fulfill centuries of promises. You feel it with every fiber of your conscious being, finding inner peace in all that's wild and carefree.”

It was silent for several heartbeats, but I refused to apologize for my vehemence. Finally, Jake spoke. “Then I'm looking forward to it, and I won't be scared anymore.”

I turned fully to him and smiled. “That's good, Jacob. Just remember, Seth, Leah, and the elders know, but you mustn’t mention it to anyone else.”

“Of course.”

He went back inside, but I needed to continue on my journey. After speaking of it, I longed to phase, but then Sam would have my thoughts of Edward in my head. I ran on foot instead, which wasn't that bad for me, but I couldn't quell the need to be the other part of myself.

But then I saw Edward, and I realized he was the other part of me. I launched myself across the expanse between us in half a second, jumping him and wrapping my legs around his waist. I fused my mouth to his as his hands wound themselves around me, gripping my ass and holding me tightly to him. There was always an intense sense of relief when we were together again, like I lived with an aching soreness that suddenly vanished with his touch. The growling sounds emanating from deep inside Edward’s body sent any remaining wildlife scattering for shelter and caused a pulsing to start deep within my core.

I cried out into his mouth as he nibbled my tongue, gently enough not to draw blood, but erotic enough to set the flames higher. His strong fingers squeezed my ass cheeks, and my heated center rubbed against his impressive vampire cock. It was a wonder I didn't combust.

“When can I show you truly how much I love you?” I asked breathlessly against his lips. They curved against mine.

“Not in the middle of the damn wilderness, you can count on that.” I wouldn’t complain if that was his intention, but yeah, something softer would be nice.

“Sue tells me I can live in Forks for the summer, but I haven’t received official permission. I know you have plenty of sets of ears over at your place.”

“How do you intend on finding a place? The summer is practically here, Bella.”

I unwound my legs from his waist, taking his hand and tugging him to sit with me in the grass. “I know. I’ve been searching online, since I’m not even supposed to step a toe off the reservation.”

“You should let me look for you. I have free time, since I am no longer pretending to be in high school. I could also assist with documents if you want help getting into the university. I would also hope that you would want me to live with you; being apart is becoming increasingly intolerable.”

I couldn’t help but lean toward him, kissing him softly and pulling his full lower lip into my mouth. I could never find the strength to resist him, and soon I was climbing onto his lap and straddling him. His hands grasped my hipbones, his touch almost painful as he kissed me back. Our restraint was waning and despite how much I wanted to make him mine, and me his, I didn't actually want to have sex with him on the forest floor.  

But it didn’t mean we couldn’t make out like teenagers, and I rocked my hips against his as he continued that tight hold on my body and his sanity. Sometimes I discovered bruises at the end of the day, but I still maintained that I was stronger than the average girl.

“You would do that for me?” I finally asked as I broke away from him, the need to breathe finally breaking through the haze of desire. “You’d find a place for us, and help me go to college?”

“If it makes you happy, Bella. That is the only thing that matters to me. If you find that the elders tell you that you cannot go, I would find a way to make it happen. A brain like yours unable to achieve higher learning would be a shame. And the place you describe working at is exactly your personality.”

“Sue gave me money for a deposit and first month’s rent, but I’ll only live in a place that’s within my means. I guess that means we have to discuss our finances eventually, don't we? I won’t let her pay my way anymore. That’s very important to me.”

His amber eyes darkened to a shade so intense, the black nearly eclipsed the white. “Every day I find another reason to love you.”

My heart rate tripled at his confession, and I found I felt the same. “You know that our souls must be made for each other. I can’t think of any other explanation for how or why my feelings for you are beyond what I can explain or comprehend.”

“I have read about something among your people called imprinting. It comes about when a person meets their exact mate, the one person they are meant to devote the rest of their future to. You do not age as long as you phase regularly, and you must have a true mate by your side to share your burdens for such a long life. Ideally, the other is also a shape shifter that lives as long as they wish, or the heartache would be too great to endure if one were to age and die. There would be no relief from that type of pain, and the one to remain would die of a broken heart.”

“Then I’ve imprinted on you, Edward.” My hand brushed across his brow as I spoke, and I felt warm at the concept of mates. I knew in my heart that this was true for the two of us. I can’t live without him.

“You are the only thing that holds me to this earth; gravity and physics have no meaning without you. We have been tied together with a thousand steel bands, and there is nothing in existence that could cut through them. You are my life now, Bella, for as long as I may exist.”