Fiction/Young Adult
Revelations — Chapter Twenty-Seven
When separate worlds collide
Jacob rolled over and lay on his side next to Madison. He took the blanket that was beside her and covered her up. “What’s wrong?” He could tell, as well as his wolf, that something was bothering her.
“Nothing. Why?” Madison pulled the blanket up higher on her chest. It seemed somehow Jacob knew she hated being exposed, all naked, like she was some sort of buffet or something.
Every time they had one of their moments, he would always cover her up and then snuggle in beside her. Of course, he never worried about being exposed, but then again, why would he? His body was perfectly sculpted into one fine male specimen.
He kissed the tip of her nose and brushed back the strand of hair that fell into her eyes. “Because I can sense when something is bothering you. My wolf can tell when his mate is upset.” Jacob kissed the side of her neck and worked his way down her throat. “And we would do anything,” he nipped at her neck, “to make sure she feels better.”
Madison giggled at the tickling feeling he caused but moved farther over on the bed so he wasn’t able to reach her. “Nothing’s wrong.” Jacob raised one eyebrow as if to question her response again. “Okay.” Madison blew out a large sigh. “I still don’t understand any of this.” She waved her hand between him and her. “What’s going on with us? Why do we have the same patterns around our bite marks? What are you going to do about Brindle? And…what ever happened to Zach? You all know Emily has been totally devastated since he got up and left, right?”
Jacob waited a few seconds to see if she had any more to add to her list, then shrugged when she finally glanced over, waiting for a response. “Us.” He started with the only answers he could think of or had any idea of what to say. “You said we have to wait. I’m ready for that to be all over, but that has to be up to you and when you’re comfortable doing that.” He scooted over on the bed so he could be next to her again. Since she was already against the wall, there was no more escape.
“You said we, or you would get in a lot of trouble for us being together right now.” Madison was trying hard to keep her concentration on what she wanted to say, but it was kind of hard to do with Jacob running his hand lightly up and down the side of her body.
“Not for us being together.” Jacob kept the motion of his hand going as he sensed her arousal. “But for me being disobedient again, this time to the whole pack.” His hand stopped when he thought about what the consequences could be regarding the ultimate act of sin that they did according to the pack laws.
Madison put her hand on top of his, which was resting on her bare hip. “That’s why.” She softly kissed him on the lips. “We stay shushed about us.”
Jacob nodded but it still seemed like he was in deep thought about the matter.
“Have you been with Brindle? Or, well, anyone, since us…you know.” She wanted to ask him if he’d had sex with anyone else since they got together but didn’t know exactly how to come out and ask the question.
Jacob pulled her so that she was now lying on top of him. “Well.” He pursed his lips and stared blankly over her head. Madison saw he was using his fingers to count so that must mean he was trying to remember all the girls.
She rolled off of him and smacked him in the chest. “Just tell me, Jacob.” She felt used and betrayed. She hadn’t been with anyone else, not that anyone was standing in line to be with her, but if she really, really wanted to, she was sure she could get someone, maybe if they were drunk or something.
He chuckled at the defensive look she was giving him, but he saw the hurt in her eyes over his antics. “Madison.” He tilted her chin up so that she was forced to look at him. “No one, not even Brindle.”
Madison didn’t know whether she should believe him or not, maybe he was just saying that so she wouldn’t whine over him being with other girls when they couldn’t be together.
“Really?” Her tone depicted a hint of nervousness. Since he had made her look at him in the eyes, there was a sense of tranquility that washed over her, like he was telling her the truth. “What does she say about that? You know, you not wanting to be with her like that.”
Jacob’s lips turned into a half smile and he shook his head. He loved it when Madison went from this big badass with wicked comments for everyone to the small, timid woman who was afraid to ask him anything that dealt with sex. “I always make sure there’s not enough time for that. You know there are other things you can do with someone than just have sex with them.” Madison’s little innocent persona quickly changed back to one of anger with her narrowed eyes and open mouth.
“Whatever, Jacob.” She uncovered herself and quickly scrambled over him. She was off the bed before he had a chance to respond and pull her back. “I.” She picked up her underwear and put it back on. “Don’t.” Next was the bra. “Want to hear." Her loose yoga pants were put on. “Anything about what kind of sex games, foreplay, or anything else you guys do.” And lastly, she pulled on her T-shirt and grabbed her hoodie. “I’m leaving.”
Before she had the chance to walk out, Jacob leaped up off the bed, put on his boxers, and jumped in front of her and the door so that she wasn’t able to open it. “Why can’t you take a joke?” He pulled and nudged her until she was the one against the door. He put both hands on the door so she wasn’t able to go around him.
“I never know when you’re joking or being serious. Fuck, Jacob, I don’t know much about you except this whole bond thing we have going on between us.” Madison looked down at the floor from his penetrating stare. After thinking about what she wanted to say, she glanced back up at him. “I know in here,” she said, putting her hand over her heart, “that you wouldn’t, or your wolf wouldn’t let you do anything that would hurt me. But up here,” she said, tapping her finger on the temple of her head. “I just don’t know.”
“Well, I know that this beautiful, sexy tattoo marking you have going on.” He pulled down the neckline of her T-shirt and kissed the faded bite mark and the imprint that was surrounding it. “It says that you’re mine. No one can tell what happened unless they see we have the same imprint mark.”
“What about when you’re around the rest of the pack and you all undress to shift?”
“I’m usually the first one out to shift or I just rip my clothes as I do. Don’t worry, no one has seen the mark.” Jacob glanced at Madison from the corner of his eye. “Has anyone seen yours?” His tone sounded like he was accusing her of doing something wrong.
“Well.” Madison drawled out the word. “I was changing one time over at Alex’s and she saw it.” Madison bit down on her lip. She was anxious about telling Jacob this, as she knew it could probably get them both into a lot of hardship with his family.
Madison glanced over at him. He seemed a little pissed off at the situation. “But,” she tried to get herself out of any trouble she may be in with him, “I ignored her when she asked about it and she hasn’t said any more about it, so maybe she forgot. See, nothing to worry about.” She gave him the happy girl smile that usually gets her out of a lot of problems.
“Just play it safe, okay?” He couldn’t stay mad at her, no matter how much he wanted to. “And the whole thing with Brindle, well, she’s getting more questioning since we haven’t had sex or done anything like that.” He saw that Madison tried to hide the smile that wanted to come out since she found out that he wasn’t having any type of relationship with Brindle or any other girl. “But I usually tell her my dad is back and I have to follow his commands, so I have to leave right after school and most nights I have to stay home because of all the trouble that I get into.”
“Most nights. So, there are times that you do go to see her.” Madison tilted her head at him, waiting for an answer.
“Ugh, you’re going to kill me with all these questions and accusations. Can’t we go back to pretending we don’t like each other?” Jacob rubbed his face with both hands. This woman was making him more frustrated by the minute.
“So all those times you were nasty to me, you were pretending not to like me.” A sweet smile spread across her face, knowing that Jacob never really despised her.
He shook his head in disbelief at her one-eighty turnaround of feelings. “I think you may be bipolar with the way that you change your emotions like a light switch.” He put his hands on his hips and jutted one hip to the side. “There are times that you go to see her." He was doing an impression of Madison when she was angry. “You were pretending not to like me.” He clapped his hands and jumped up and down, using a happy Madison tone of voice.
“Why do I have to have a boyfriend who’s an ass?” Madison shook her head at his antics.
“You think of me as your boyfriend?”
“Um…well…” She stuttered around for words, not knowing how to answer or what kind of answer he was looking for.
“That’s cool.” He backed her up against the wall. “And I know that you really like my ass.” He pressed his groin into her.
“I said that you acted like an ass. I didn’t say anything about your nice ass.”
“So, you just admitted that you think I have a nice ass.” He nipped at her as his tongue traced her lips, seeking entry.
“Hmm.” Madison let her tongue dance around with his until Jacob deepened their kiss. She finally pulled back after her lungs were ready to explode from a lack of oxygen. “Just remember that it’s mine now.”
Jacob leaned his forehead on hers and took in some slow, deep breaths. “Always.” He kissed the tip of her nose. "It seems like you’re getting ready to leave or something.” Jacob pulled on her T-shirt sleeve.
Madison nodded and leaned the top of her head on his chest. “I have to get home. Isn’t everyone coming over here soon?” She remembered him saying earlier that Danny and his brother were coming over in the evening.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave. You can wait up here for me all nice and snuggled in my bed.” He ran a line of kisses up her neck and felt her shiver with each touch. I’ll be back from the hunt soon and then,” he waggled his eyebrows at her, “we can have more play time like we did this afternoon.”
Madison ducked under his arm and went back to the door. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
Jacob nodded, saying that she would.
“Who or what are you hunting?”
“We have a couple of trackers searching for Orfeo and that creature of an offspring and Danny and I are going to see if we can scent Zach anywhere.” Jacob walked back over by the door so he could see Madison out.
“Be careful.” She tippy-toed up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “And tell Zach if you find him that Emily is miserable without him and he’s not being a very good mate.”
Jacob nodded he would tell Zach, then grabbed his T-shirt and threw it on. He reached for Madison’s hand and led her down the stairs. They’d just made it to the entryway when Danny and Adam came in through the front door. They both looked at Madison, then quickly at Jacob, who was still only in his T-shirt and boxers.
“What the hell is going on here?” Adam took on the role of alpha male in regards to his little brother’s latest goings-on.
“I was just leaving.” Madison sidestepped past Adam and Danny and walked out the open front door. “And, Jacob, tell Mr. Michaels that I did what he requested, but next time find your own tutor for math so I don’t have to be bothered by you.” She walked down the sidewalk a little, then turned around once more to the three guys, who were watching her leave. “And, Adam, maybe see if you can get your baby brother a sippy cup or something since he obviously can’t handle a real glass of soda. He spilled it all over himself.” She motioned toward Jacob being in his boxers. “Later.” She walked over to her car and got in to leave.
“You needed help in math and Madison helped you.” Danny was shocked to find those two together and neither one of them was dead.
“Mr. Michaels asked her before the break if she would help out for extra credit and some type of referral for college. No big deal, nothing went on with us.” Jacob kept up the story that Madison was able to make up rather quickly.
“Does she know anything about being your mate or what we are?” Adam walked farther down the hall and into the living room.
“First, I don’t even want her as a mate. So the longer I can prevent that from happening, the better off I’ll be.” Jacob was putting on his best impression of him being irritated and angry. If it could throw them off track concerning him and Madison, it would make everything a little bit easier. “And if she knows anything about us or the pack, it’s not from me. Maybe question Danny or Zach, they’re the ones who are friends with her.” Jacob walked back out of the room. “I’m going to hunt, you guys coming?” He walked out the front door and shifted automatically into his black wolf. He sauntered into the dense woods behind the house, leaving his shredded clothes behind.
“It’s a good thing that he can afford to buy more clothes. He’s been ripping a new outfit apart every time we go on a hunt.” Adam got undressed and went outside to shift. Danny followed behind and they both picked up on Jacob’s trail, which was only a few miles ahead of them. They caught up to him a few minutes later, after he’d stopped over at the crossovers of Gibsonia and Turner roads.
All three wolves tilted their heads and sniffed the night air. They were all able to pick up a slight trace of something that resembled the scent of a vampire. Adam and Danny shifted back to their human forms. They waited for Jacob to turn but he walked over to the edge of the wooded lot and scouted around in the thick brush.
“What is that?” Danny questioned Adam regarding the scent. He caught sight of the black wolf out of the corner of his eye and saw that Jacob was still rooting around for something in the thicket.
Adam shrugged. “I don’t know. It smells like a vampire, but then there’s a human scent around it.”
“Could it be the dhampir?” Danny was building with anticipation of maybe finding and getting rid of this abomination once and for all.
“I don’t know. It’s too close to these houses.” He nodded toward the homes in the distance. “Maybe we’re picking up on both vampires and the humans around here.”
“Isn’t that Emily’s house?” Danny pointed to the home that Alex and Zach had shown him, where Emily and her aunt lived. “Zach’s mate.” Danny clarified who the name belonged to when Adam gave him a confused look. “That is her house,” Danny answered his own question. “Could the vamps be looking for our mates?” He was ready to shift and head on over to Alex’s house to make sure that everything was all right there.
“If no mating process has been done, then they shouldn’t be able to pick up your scent on them.” Adam knew this from his history. Rose would still be alive if they’d just waited and not done their bonding until later that year.
Danny was relieved to know that Alex was probably safe in the meantime. He and Adam shifted again and started on their hunt to find Zach. They knew Jacob would follow as soon as he was done doing whatever it was he found interesting in the bushes.
Jacob heard the other two leave and remained still until he knew they were farther down the way. He made his way out of the mass of thorns and undergrowth of the trees and caught another whiff of the smell that they’d assumed was vampire and human. He had to go look for Zach with the others, but his wolf wanted to go over to Madison’s to make sure everything was all right.
Not only did they have to worry about the pack, but now he had to worry about vampires finding her because they’d be able to pick up his scent from their bonding. He fought the need to run the opposite way and check in on Madison and followed the scent of Adam and Danny up through West Lakes Park and up the steepest part of the mountain.
