chapter 6: pack

I was still in shock that a vampire was taking me to a werewolf for safety that we got to the house quicker then I expected. It was in a nice quiet little neighborhood. The houses were each spaced evenly and fairly large and each lawn was perfectly cut. Jake set me down, knocking on the door in front of us. In seconds the door flew open. It happened so fast I found myself jumping back behind Jake.

"Well hello Jacob! What an unexpected surprise!" The man's voice was light with a sort of edge to it. "What's the moon child up to tonight?"

"Ah, nothing out of the ordinary. We just need a place to stay for awhile."

"We?" The man asked curiously. Jake suddenly pulled me beside him.

"We." He pointed back and fourth from himself to me. "Is that possible, Jason?"

Jason gazed at me for a long moment. He was incredibly well built. He didn't have a shirt on so I could see his perfectly sculpted body. He was much tanner then Jake, or me. His dark skin was an amazing golden color. His eyes were golden too but a little lighter then his skin. His hair was short, dark dirty blonde and so was the slight facial hair he had. He was insanely handsome.

"Human?" He breathed, moving his eyes to Jacob who nodded. His eyes shifted back to me. "Sure. No problem. I'll let the others know." He moved aside to let us pass. When I didn't move, Jake moved us in.

"Make yourselves at home, I'll be right back." Then he spun around and disappeared.

Jake led me into a living room with a big couch and TV. We sat down. The couch was comfortable but I wasn't. I looked at Jake.

"Others?" I asked anxiously. He looked at me now.

"Of course. It's not like he could live without his pack." He laughed for a moment, then cleared his throat seeing the worried look on my face. "Sorry. I guess I could have mentioned there was going to be more then one."

"That would have been good to know." I agreed sarcastically. "What do you think Kale will--"

"He doesn't need to know!" He interrupted me, his eyes wide. Yeah, that's what I thought. For some reason, Kale would hate this idea. Suddenly Jason was back in the room with a few others who had his same tan skin.

"Jason, I thought you were kidding!" The only female let out as if not even thinking.

She was very pretty and tall, much taller then me, the same height as the other men around her. Her eyes were a light golden color, her hair was also a golden color that was lighter then her skin and it was long! I had a brief moment of being a total girl, wishing I had her hair.

Her face was soft, almost angelic, if she wasn't scowling at me. That's when I noticed the other men, all tall and well built, looking similiar to Jason but of course with much different features, hair color and shades of golden eyes, were all scowling at me too. There were six of them, including Jason and the female, in the room with us.

"Anya, no need to be rude. She can't help being human." Jason told her, glancing at me with a playful grin. I glanced up at Jake who looked at them as if amused. My eyes wandered back to Anya. She rolled her eyes at Jason.

"Not the girl, the moon child."

Then I realized none of them were actually scowling at me at all, but at Jacob. Taking a better look, the scowling was more playful then it first appeared to be. I must have really been freaking myself out.

"Nice to see you too, muts."

"That was cold, Jake." Anya pouted. He laughed.

"Yes, it was." He agreed.

"It's nice to finally have someone to irritate Anya again." One of the men mumbled jokingly. The others laughed as she shot a glare in there direction.

"Well aren't we all being rude now? We don't even know the girl's name." One of them spoke up as if just noticing me.

"Oh, right! This is Jamie. Jamie, this is Jason and Anya's pack...Well, a few of them. Where is everyone?" Jake asked.

"Out for the night." Jason shrugged. "What have you gotten yourself into now, anyways?"

Jake's head nudged toward me as he spoke;

"Dante's clan is going nuts!"

"You take something of theirs?" Jason raised his eyebrow, his eyes shifting to me momentarily. They spoke as if I were too stupid to figure out they were talking about me.

"You know how Zero gets, if he wants it bad enough, he'll stop at nothing to get it."

Both Jason's eyebrows shot up now. He looked at me again.

"Zero? You mean he actually--"

"Yep. Surprised the hell out of the whole clan. Both clans, actually. He's not giving her-err-it up."

Jason and his pack were looking at me in wonder now. I tried not to look at any of them but it was almost impossible. They were so stunning, all of them.

"Anya, will you take Jamie? She could probably use a hot shower..." Jake began. I looked up at him, not wanting to go with her alone. As I looked up at him, my stomach made a piercing growling sound. He glanced at me and smiled. "And something to eat, I have a feeling she's hungry."

I frowned, not liking he was willing to leave me with a wolf. Anya smiled now, which made her look beautiful now.

"No problem." She moved forward. Jason, who had his arm around her waist, let her go. I didn't pay much attention to detail so I missed this little gesture of obvious affection. No wonder Jake had said 'Jason and Anya's pack.'

"They won't hurt you. We can trust them." Jake encouraged me quietly when I moved closer against him. Anya stopped moving towards us as I looked at her.

"It's okay." She smiled warmly. "I don't bite too hard." She teased.

Jake tensed as she said this but my face broke into a smile as she reached her hand out toward me. I took her hand hesitantly, feeling oddly like a young child.

"Follow me, dolcetto."

And so I did, wondering what the heck she just called me, as I moved cautiously away from Jake. He let go of my arm. Anya led me past the others. We moved out of the room. I felt clumsy as I followed behind her. She was so graceful. We went through a short hallway, into a kitchen and into another hallway. We moved all the way to the end of the hallway until we got to a staircase which we ascended.

It didn't take long to get to the top. When we did, she continued to move down another hall until we came to the second door on the right. She opened the door and flipped the switch. I blinked momentarily until I saw it was a master bathroom, with a large shower meant for at least 10 people with a clear glass door.

"Take your time, dolcetto." She told me, pushing me gently into the room. "I'll go make you something good to eat."

Before I could object or even thank her, she shut the door and silently disappeared. I sighed. But didn't waist anymore time. I was in the shower in seconds, not sure how long it had really been. The water was warm and incredible. I used the ocean fresh scented shampoo and conditioner and soap. Of course I felt amazingly clean when I was done. As soon as I wrapped the towel around me, there was a knock on the door. I moved to the door and opened it. It was Jake.

"Are you doing OK?" He asked. I nodded.

"Not too bad, actually."

He smiled, gazing down at me.

"Good..." He was staring now.

I cleared my throat. He blinked and looked at his hands then held out the clothes that he was holding.

"Anya figured you might want something clean."

"Oh, no. I couldn't."

He glance behind me. I did too, seeing my worn out tank top, ripped jeans and dirty hooded zippy. I looked back at him. He raised his eyebrow.

"Fine." I murmured, giving in and taking the clothes.

He grinned satisfied then shut the door. I took a better look at what he gave me. It was one piece of clothing. It almost looked like a really long shirt but when I put it on, it actually was meant to be worn as a sort of dress.

It was black with long sleeves but was shoulderless. The length surprisingly went down just above my knees. I looked in the mirror, looking way more attractive then I wanted to be looking right now. My hair was still wet and even somewhat messy. My eyes looked as tired as ever. Was I really that exhausted?

Then there was another echoing knock on the door. I spun around, getting to the door. It was none other then Jacob again. His eyes widened and I swear he let out an awed gasp.

"Back so soon?" I teased, leaning against the boarder of the door.

"I just...I mean..." He cleared his throat and shut his eyes for a second. "Your food is ready." He informed me clearly, then opened his eyes again. I nodded. Since he didn't move, I had to first. I shut off the light and headed down to the kitchen.

Anya and Jason were the only ones in the kitchen. They were turned away from us, talking quietly as Anya put the grilled cheese sandwhich on a plate beside a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Seeing the food and smelling it made my stomach go nuts. They both turned around. Jason let out a surprised whistle.

"Well then..." He even sounded surprised. Anya smiled.

"I didn't think she could look even more adorable!" She looked at Jake. He shrugged.

She spun around, grabbing the plate and setting it across the counter. She motioned for me to sit, which I did as Jake followed, sitting on the stool next to me. As soon as my hands touched the food it was in my mouth. I didn't even notice all three of them were watching me until I finished the soup.

"Gustoso?" Jason grinned. I cocked my head, not understanding. "Tasty?" His grin widened as he translated.

"Very." I nodded and then a hiccup escaped my lips. All of them laughed amused as Anya grabbed me a glass of water.

"Thanks." I hiccuped, taking a long drink then setting it down. "For everything." I finished my sentence.

"A friend of Jake's is a friend of ours." Anya shrugged.

"And what an interesting friendship this is." Jason mused, almost to himself.

"Are you guys not used to humans or something?" I asked looking from Anya to Jason.

"We're just not used to a human like...you." Jason answered. I was cocking my head again.

"Meaning...?"

Anya and Jason smiled simultaneously.

"Meaning your kind doesn't usually take lightly to what all of us are." Anya told me now. I laughed, looking at Jake.

"And here I thought vampires were the only ones bothered by this." I looked back at them now. "Well, I guess I'm no ordinary human. I find it very hard to be bothered by any of you." Even though at first they had made me nervous. "And I even know what all of you are." I shook my head.

Anya and Jason looked at eachother once again then at Jake.

"I think you have a keeper here, Jacob." Jason smiled. I couldn't help but notice how straight and white and K-9 looking his teeth were. I did my best not to shrink away like my natural insinct suggested I do.

Jake suddenly looked out a nearby window. My eyes followed suit. There was a light blue-grey color outside. The air was cold and crisp threw the opened window. If nothing else, this was our sign that morning was approaching.

"Looks like it's time for our friends to get some rest." Jason announced as we continued to stare out the window. Jake tore his eyes away and nodded in agreement, taking my arm.

"Sleep well, Jamie." Anya smiled at me.

"Will do." I smiled back.

"Sweet dreams, dolcetto." Now Jason was calling me that? I smiled at them both now, still wondering what that meant.

"I dream too..." Jake pouted under his breath. They both laughed.

"Dream well, moon child." They said in unison.

Then all three of them were laughing. It wasn't that funny to me, but it was to them. Jake finally led me out of the kitchen. We went back into the living room and through a door on the other side of the room that I hadn't noticed before. We went down a flight of stairs, through yet another hallway and to another door. He opened it, turning on the light, revealing one large bed and other then that, an empty room.

"Do you stay here often?" I asked almost sarcastically.

"No." He laughed. "But when I do, I've always got a place to stay."

"So this is your room then?"

He grinned. "Of course."

I moved over to the bed and glanced over at him. He nodded and I crawled in, hitting the pillow with a yawn. He waited a moment then shut off the light. I felt the other side of the bed move.

"Is this OK?" He asked a little unsure.

"Of course." I yawned again, stretching out under the covers. I felt him move, seeing his hands relax behind his head. "What was that about?" I had to ask.

"What?" He asked back.

"You, Jason and Anya seemed to have an inside joke out there--"

"Oh. You mean what they said about dreaming well?" He interrupted.

"Yeah. That." I breathed. He laughed quietly.

"It's just there way of saying goodnight to me."

I turned on my side, facing him.

"But there has to be more to it then just that?"

He tuned to me now. "There is. But I'll tell you some other time. Master Zero will kill me if you don't get good rest."

I nodded and turned on my back.

"Jacob?" I asked now.

"Jamie?" He responded, making me hit his hard shoulder playfully with the back of my hand. He chuckled.

"What does dolcetto mean?" I needed to know or it was going to nag at me all night.

"It's Italian for 'little sweet one.' " He informed me.

I blushed instantly. I heard him snort quietly as if holding in a laugh. I'm pretty sure he could tell I was blushing by his reaction.

"Y-you speak Italian?" I tried not to let the embarassment seep threw my voice. Why would they call me something like that?

"Just a little bit, dolcetto." He teased light-heartedly. "Now, sleep before your boyfriend kills me."

I blushed even more and we both became silent. My heart was pounding in my chest as I shut my eyes, thinking about Kale. Maybe it was him being called my boyfriend or maybe just thinking about him that made my heart go wild, at the time I wasn't sure.

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The pictures in this chapter are Jason and Anya