CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MORE THAN FLOWERS

The hardest part of Montana knowing about the shape-shifting werewolves in town, was not being able to say a word of it to Quil.

Montana knew she'd be absolutely miserable if she hurt him by abruptly distancing herself the way the boys had done, so she decided to continue on pretending as if she knew nothing. It meant that, at school, she would have to continue avoiding Embry and the others for the time being. Jacob still wasn't back, but it would only be a matter of weeks before he returned.

It was hard for Montana to see her friends in the hall every single day, but he unable to talk to them. Embry had been particularly disappointed since he'd only just got her back, and now he had to completely avoid her again. He understood why she chose to spare Quil's feelings, and was grateful that she had such a caring heart to do that for their best friend. After all, it was easier if questions were avoided altogether.

Fortunately, Montana wouldn't have to distance herself from them all the time. She was often invited to the home of Sam and his fiancé Emily, where the pack all hung out. Montana had been hesitant at first, not wanting to intrude, but also feeling a little uncomfortable after what had happened to Leah. Over time, it became a little easier, but it never stopped Montana from harbouring guilt.

Embry and Jared had also taken up the role of picking up Montana from her late night diner shifts, depending on which one of them had patrol. Of course, Jacob desperately wanted to be the one having that extra time with Montana, and his constant pining was driving the rest of the pack insane. Jacob couldn't imagine himself ever losing control around Montana, but he couldn't take that risk so soon. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he ever put her within an inch of harms way, so until he was completely under control, he had to reduce his time with her.

Naturally, Jacob's painfully limited interaction with his imprint was torturing him. Montana hadn't noticed the longing, aching looks he would give her from across the room, or the way his eyes constantly followed her every movement, ensuring that she wasn't in any danger. She definitely didn't think anything of it when he started sitting so close beside her all the time, not realising how badly he craved being in her presence. Even a simple touch, like the gentle brush of her arm against his, would send his mind into overdrive.

In fact, Montana hadn't even questioned why Embry and Jared had started driving her pretty much everywhere. She didn't know that Jacob had practically begged them to make sure she was safe at all times whenever he couldn't. Especially, since the red haired vampire had been around so much lately. She kept coming back, and they still hadn't figured out exactly why. Most nights, Jacob spent a lot of his time in wolf form, guarding outside Montana's house, just in case.

The imprint secret had thankfully been kept quiet, and whilst Jacob knew that Jared and Embry had just about enough brain cells between them not to accidentally let it slip to Montana, he was worried that it wouldn't quite extended to anybody else in her family, especially Dakota, who was already suspicious about why one of them was guarding their house every night.

For now, Jacob was focused on spending whatever time with Montana that he possibly could. He wasn't entirely sure when he would tell her, or exactly how he would do it; there was no way of knowing how she'd react, but Jacob was prepared to take things slowly if she needed him to. All he wanted was to be with her, whether that was in a month or a year, as long as she was by his side nothing else mattered.

Today was the first time Jacob had seen her in almost three days, and it had been the longest seventy two hours of his life. On the way to Sam and Emily's place, he dropped by Montana's house to pick her up, opting to walk there so he could spend more time with her. Unfortunately, Jared and Paul were also in tow, and were making his life hell, but it was worth it.

Montana sighed as the three boys pushed and shoved one another, knocking into her as they walked. "Jake, just because you turn into some massive dog now, doesn't mean I won't still kick you in the fucking nuts."

"Oh, fighting talk, huh?" Jacob teased, turning towards her with a grin. "I'd like to see you try." He nudged his shoulder against hers,  careful not to hurt her – sometimes Jacob underestimated his own strength. Fed up, Montana shoved his arm hard in response, though looked up at him with a smile. Jacob met her amused eyes, seeing everything he could ever possibly want within them.

In the distance, Embry watched the pair of them with a bright smile, laughing quietly to himself as Jacob slung an arm over Montana's shoulder, bringing her closer to his side. He'd realised that he wasn't actually entirely surprised that Jacob had imprinted. Whilst Quil was mostly oblivious to just about anything, Embry was more quietly observant, and had taken notice of the way his two best friends behaved around each other.

When they were kids, Jacob was always desperate to have Montana's attention. He would follow her around everywhere, as if a direction without her wasn't somewhere worth going. He was the one who held her hand when she broke her arm in second grade, the one who picked her a bunch of flowers when she was heartbroken from being rejected by Chase Ward – and, coincidentally, he was also the person who broke Chase's nose for spreading rumours about her. The way that Jacob felt for Montana ran deeper friendship, it went beyond them just being kids who grew up together, it was more than holding hands, more than flowers. And it was plainly obvious to anybody who had eyes, that Jacob looked at Montana as if she was the only person in the world worth seeing.

Montana had known the boys her entire life, but the way she looked at Jacob, the way she smiled at Jacob, it was different; it was subtle, deep, minuscule details missed by anyone who didn't truly know her, but all Embry could wish for was that he would find somebody to look at him the way that Montana Bradley looked at Jacob Black.

It made perfect sense that they were destined to spend the rest of their lives together, and Embry couldn't even begin to express how happy he was for them.

As Jacob and Montana approached him, Embry smiled fondly, heading down the porch steps. "I wondered when you two were going to show up."

"Montana walks slow," Jacob teased, fist bumping Embry in greeting as they reached him.

"Uh, not true," Montana said, untangling Jake's arm from around her shoulder. She glanced behind her, motioning towards Jared and Paul. "I just had to spend the past twenty minutes babysitting these idiots." Embry laughed at the thought. "Ooh, I smell muffins," Montana stated, striding past them through the open door, met by the welcoming and delicious smell of Emily's baking.

Once Jacob had finally lifted his adoring gaze away from her, he looked over at Embry, who wiggled his eyebrows, earning a hard shove from Jake in response.

"Montana," Emily smiled kindly at the younger girl as she stepped indoors. "It's so great to see you again."

"Hi, Emily," she greeted warmly. Montana had spent a lot of her free time at the house over the past week and a half, and she'd gotten to know Emily very quickly over that time. It felt as if she'd known the woman for years, which made her feel very welcome in their home.

There was always a sense of guilt niggling in the back of her mind though, thinking about how Leah would feel if she knew Montana had been enjoying herself with the two people who had shattered her heart last year. She knew that Leah would never hold anything like that against her, in fact, she'd probably even say that she was glad Montana was happy. But Montana still felt bad, and she wasn't sure, no matter how much time she spent with Sam and Emily, if she would ever stop feeling guilty about it.

Naturally, the boys headed straight for the plate of muffins on the table, both of them practically inhaling their food before Montana even had the chance to sit down. She picked up one for herself, taking a bite as Jared and Paul came bounding through the door. Soon, the four werewolves began to fight over who got the remaining muffins, earning an eye roll from Emily as she sat down beside Montana.

"So how's school going?" Emily asked her.

Montana grimaced slightly at the thought of school. Homework had been at the very bottom of her priorities recently, so her GPA was taking a hit. Luckily, she could afford that since her grades were high to begin with – not that the same could be said for the boys, especially after they'd all missed so much school recently. And with patrols now too, they were so exhausted that they were falling asleep in the middle of class. Jared got detention for it only the other day.

"Really busy," Montana told her. "But I'm trying not to fall behind too much."

"Nerd," Jared commented, voice muffled by his mouthful of food.

"At least some of us have brain cells," Montana replied.

"Hm, that's debatable," Embry chuckled.

Montana raised her middle finger at him, making him laugh. "Anyway." She turned back to Emily. "I don't want my GPA to slip, because otherwise coach won't let me continue practicing."

"Oh that's right," Emily said, her eyes lighting up as she recalled something Jacob had mentioned the other day. "You're quite the track star, right?"

Montana shrugged her shoulders, smiling modestly. "I wouldn't say star but–"

"Can't outrun us though, can you?" Jared grinned, reaching over to mess up her hair.

"I could totally beat you in your human forms," Montana said confidently.

"Wanna bet?" He challenged, eyebrows raising.

"Well, my bet's already on Montana," Embry stated in full confidence.

"Definitely on Montana," Jacob added on with a smile. He'd seen her race countless times, always in the stands with Embry and Quil, cheering her on. Her parents worked long hours and often didn't make it to see her compete, but the boys and Dakota would always be there without fail, more than proud of what she'd achieved so far.

Jared looked at Paul expectantly, waiting for his best friend to back him up, but Paul gave him a wry smile instead. "Sorry, man, I'm backing Montana."

Jared huffed, leaning back in his chair as he glared at Montana, who smiled triumphantly. "I just– how can you think she'd win, we literally have some enhanced speed in our human forms too!"

"You haven't seen her race," Jacob countered as the others chuckled at Jared's reaction, enjoying winding him up.

"Ugh, Sam, back me up," Jared whined to his alpha as he stepped through the door. Emily instantly beamed up at her fiancé as he stopped behind her chair, placing an affectionate kiss to the top her head. Montana couldn't help but smile as she caught the way they looked at each other. "I could totally beat Montana in a race, right?"

"I think she'd give you a run for your money, Jared," Sam replied, sending a wink across the table at Montana.

She grinned in satisfaction as Jared began to grumble about how wrong they were. The conversation eventually moved on to patrols, so Montana reached for another muffin to occupy herself with whilst they discussed. All of them sounded completely exhausted, as if they needed to sleep for at least a week solid to help with their tiredness. Montana hated that they were out at all hours working so hard, but that was their job, they had to protect the town.

She noticed that a red haired vampire had come up in conversation a few times, seeing the way they all tensed up at the mention of her, sitting up a little straighter, jaws clenching a little tighter. None of them had any idea what she wanted, or why she kept coming back, but Montana had a feeling it wouldn't be long before they found out.

A/N

One thing I'm grateful for lockdown bringing me is the time to reread the twilight series ✌️