CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
INVISIBLE LINES

Montana's leg shook nervously as she waited for the boys to return.

Beside her, Kim was apprehensively picking at the skin around her fingernails. The two teenagers had occupied themselves in conversation for most of the night, but the longer time went on, the more worried they were getting.

Emily was hovering around the kitchen, preparing to supply the pack with baked goods when they finally arrived. An untouched plate of biscuits rested in front of Montana, though she was certain it wouldn't take long for them to disappear once the boys got back.

It was long past 11pm when they finally did arrive. The girls had retired to the lounge, sprawled out across the couch, a movie on in the background that none of them were particularly interested in. Montana's eyes were heavy, half way to drifting off to sleep when she heard the screen door opening. In an instant, she had bolted upright, scrambling off the couch so fast that she nearly made herself dizzy.

Sam strode through the kitchen, meeting Emily half way and embracing her in a hug. Behind him, Jared and Paul strolled indoors, their interests peaked by the food in the kitchen. Kim let out a relieved sigh, hurrying towards her boyfriend, whose entire face lit up once he caught sight of her.

Montana smiled softly at them. Soon, her eyes caught Embry's as he stepped through the door, listening carefully to Quil, who was rambling excitedly.

As soon as Montana's gaze landed on him, Quil must have felt it, because his mouth clamped shut entirely. A huge grin spread across her face as she practically sprinted across the room, crashing into her best friend. Montana felt like she'd slammed into a brick wall as Quil caught her, wrapping his arms around her back. She threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly.

"I'm so glad I don't have to keep secrets from you anymore!" she exclaimed as she pulled back. Concern briefly flickered in her eyes, studying the expression on his face before checking him over for any injuries. "Are you okay? What was it like?"

"Painful," Quil replied with a slight grimace. "And terrifying. But kinda awesome."

"We chased him through the woods for hours," Embry groaned tiredly. "He runs kinda fast, actually."

"Yeah, bet I could finally take you on in a race now, Mon," Quil teased her.

"You wish." Montana chuckled. "I still don't even need wolf powers to beat you." Her eyes gradually began to drift over their shoulders, thoughts naturally gravitating towards Jacob, who she realised was nowhere in sight. "Is uh..." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "Is Jake okay?"

"He's fine, Paul's going to switch patrol with him," Embry assured her, giving her a gentle and knowing smile.

Montana relaxed a little at the information. After casting one final look into the darkness outside, she followed the boys into the kitchen, finding that everybody's eyes had landed on her. She came to a stop, swallowing heavily. "Um, can I help?"

Sam glanced over at Embry, who nodded his head in affirmation. Taking this as approval, the alpha stepped forwards. "Montana, I think we should talk?"

In the midst of her anxieties about the pack, Montana had completely forgotten about her own pressing worries. Unable to muster any response to him, she nodded weakly, letting him lead her out of the room. She knew that the rest of the boys would be listening, but realised that fact didn't exactly bother her much. The pack had become family to her, and she felt safe and protected around them.

Sam sat down across from her on the couch, resting his hands in his lap. Montana sat cross legged, fingertips tapping at the material of her jeans as she waited for him to speak.

Sam cleared his throat. "So, your parents explained everything?"

"Yeah," Montana replied. "I guess after finding out about shapeshifters and vampires, I shouldn't have been so surprised." The corners of Sam's mouth twitched, but the smile never fully surfaced. "How long did you know?"

"A while," Sam answered. "Nobody was certain you would inherit those powers."

Montana nodded. "Right." She chuckled awkwardly, scratching at the back of her neck. "Me neither, I guess."

There was a pause as Sam watched her shift seating positions, a little uncomfortably. "This isn't something to be afraid of, Montana. There are ways we can help you."

Montana lifted her gaze to meet his, her mind soothed by the genuine concern she saw within them. "Thank you, Sam."

He nodded. "Kaia and your uncle are going to come home, they'll be able to help you. The council are knowledgeable too...You won't be alone in this Montana." His tone softened. "You're a part of this family."

Montana blinked up at him in surprise, a warmth filling her chest at his words. She chewed on her bottom lip, glancing down bashfully. "That means a lot."

Sam smiled softly at the young girl in front of him. When nothing more was said, Montana took it as the conclusion to their conversation, and began to get to her feet.

"Oh, and Montana?" He spoke again.

She turned her head back to face him. "Yeah?"

"You and Jacob will be okay."

Montana breathed in deeply, realising that the entire pack probably knew what had happened between them. "Stupid mind link," she muttered. Montana almost caught another hint of a smile on Sam's lips. "Don't even go there."

Sam chuckled, but honoured her wishes by not furthering the conversation. With her cheeks red in embarrassment, Montana headed back to the kitchen, which was unusually quiet. As soon as the boys heard her footsteps, scattered mundane conversations quickly broke out. Montana, obviously, knew better than that, and could quite obviously tell that they had been listening.

She slowed to a stop in front of the table, her brows lifting. "Yes?"

Jared smirked at her. "Oh, hey Montana. You and Sam have a nice talk?"

"Right, like you didn't hear everything," Montana shot back. Quil snickered.

"We tried our best not to," Embry grinned innocently at her.

"Personally, I think you could have tried harder," Sam said, walking up to Emily. His eyes drifted over the table of teenage boys in front of them. "You should all get some rest. It's been a long day."

As if on cue, a yawn escaped Quil's mouth. "Don't need to tell me twice."

Embry leaned over, messing up his friends hair by rubbing the top of his head. Quil shoved his hand away, both of them laughing as they fought playfully. Montana couldn't deny the rush of happiness their simple interaction brought her. It had been a long and difficult few months for their friendship group, and particularly for Quil. Montana hadn't seen him smile that way in a long time. She could only hope that it was a sign of things returning to normal again. Sort of.

"Jake's here." Jared's statement prompted Montana to whirl her head around.

Involuntarily, her lips curved into a small smile as she caught sight of him striding effortlessly up the porch steps. His hands rested casually in his jean short pockets, the top half of his body absent of any clothing, as always – not that Montana was always looking to take notice.

Jacob's brows were pinched in a slight frown, mind unable to give him a break from constant restless thoughts. When he looked up to give Sam a nod, Jacob was side-tracked by the sight of Montana. His expression softened as her gentle eyes locked with his, and he unintentionally came to stop by the open doorway.

"Hey."

She smiled. "Hey."

Behind her, Embry and Quil shared a knowing look, both nudging one another with their elbows. Jacob resisted a roll of his eyes, and allowed his attention to briefly drift to Sam instead.

"Any problems?" Sam asked him.

"No," Jacob replied. "Paul's taken over."

Sam nodded his head, though he seemed momentarily distracted by the distance, or perhaps he was just admiring the way the moon looked in the sky that night, or, like Montana, he was thinking about how beautiful Jacob looked underneath the soft beams of light. That last one was probably a doubt.

"You should take Montana home." She snapped her head up at the sound of her name, returning back to reality. "It's getting late."

"Sure," Jacob said, looking over at her.

Montana swallowed thickly, taking a step away from the comfort of Embry and Quil. She gave the room a small wave, mumbling goodbyes through her tiredness, receiving the same level of response back from the exhausted boys, and in Kim's case, absolutely nothing, as the girl was fast asleep against Jared's shoulder.

Embry and Quil grinned at Jacob, wiggling their eyebrows suggestively whilst Montana wasn't looking – both of them knew she would tell them off if she caught what they were doing.

Jacob purposely narrowed his eyes at his friends, but the harsh look melted away once Montana glanced up at him. He quickly straightened up, ignoring the stifled giggles of his friends as they chuckled at his behaviour. Jacob began to lead the way outside, saying a quick goodbye to the rest of the room.

Montana and Jacob spent the first few minutes walking in a silence that occasionally would border on uncomfortable, but never quite reached it. Both of them had things they wanted to say, but neither one of them had the nerve to speak up first.

"I wanted to–"

"I was thinking–"

They paused, soft laughter escaping their mouthes at their shared timing.

"You go first," Jacob encouraged.

Montana nodded, tucking a fallen strand of hair behind her ear. She had been thinking all night about how to word things, going over and over the same sentences almost obsessively.

"So, uh, I was thinking about everything you told me," she started. "Um, actually, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

Jacob didn't say anything, even as silence slowly stretched over them. He knew Montana well enough to recognise the look on her face - eyes distant, bottom lip between her teeth, forehead crinkled - she was deep in thought, processing her words. He wasn't going to interrupt her, or say anything that guided her in a certain way.

"Imprinting, it's..." she trailed, her sentence falling short. Montana sighed in exasperation. "Look, as a feminist, I really want to hate it."

Jacob chuckled lowly at her response, smiling down at her. Montana caught his eyes, her shoulder brushing against his as they walked.

"It doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to be," Jacob assured her.

"I know," Montana said. She knew that Jacob had been nothing but sincere with her, and she was thankful for that. "You've been so patient with me, and I really appreciate it. I just..." She came to a stop in the middle of the path.

Jacob began to slow down alongside her her, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Montana reached for his hand, clutching it carefully between both of her significantly smaller palms. She tilted her head to look up at him, taking a moment to study the adorably unsure expression on his face as his eyes searched hers for the answers he was too hesitant to outright ask for.

"Jake," she spoke. "I don't want your entire world to revolve around me."

Jacob stared at her for a moment longer, the corners of his mouth twitching to the point he could no longer hold back his laughter.

Montana's expression faltered. "Are you seriously laughing at me right now?" She asked him, releasing his hand and taking a step back. "Jake!"

"No, no, no," Jacob quickly tried to rectify the situation, but Montana's eyes had already narrowed into a pointed glare. "It's just that, out of everything, that's what you're most bothered about?"

"I–" Montana opened her mouth and then closed it again. "It's not the only thing," she defended herself quietly.

Jacob nodded along, but could still not wipe the smile from his face. "Go on."

"Well, the imprint bond, is it..." she hesitated, almost changing her mind on what she wanted to ask. She inhaled sharply through her nose, looking away from him. It was becoming harder to look him in the eyes. "Is it what causes all the feelings you have towards me?"

"No," Jacob answered. "It didn't cause them. Just makes them more intense."

"And what...what exactly are those feelings?" Montana asked sheepishly, her words coming out a little more hesitant than she'd have liked. Her palms were growing annoyingly sweaty, despite the chill of the night air. She scratched at the back of her neck, pulling the collar of her jumper away from her skin to feel a little more comfortable. It didn't really work.

"You want the truth?"

Montana's heart pounded. "I do."

He nodded his head. Jacob was growing uncomfortably aware of how important this moment was. He dug his hands further into his pockets, shifting his weight slightly as he tried to regain some control over his thoughts.

Montana waited with bated breath for what he had to say.

"The way I feel about you is real," Jacob said honestly. "Before the imprint bond, after the imprint bond, you're everything to me, Montana. And I don't think you've ever fully realised the way that I feel about you."

He paused for a moment. Montana stared up at him with round eyes, waiting for him to continue. Jacob knew he had to pull himself together and keep talking, but telling her the truth of a secret he'd kept so close to him was proving to be harder than he'd ever imagined.

"When I first shifted and learned that imprinting was a thing, I was terrified," he continued. "Not because of what it was, but because, if it happened, and it wasn't with you, then I wouldn't know what to do. So that day, when it happened, I was furious with that vampire, so scared of losing you, realising how close I actually came to losing you, and then I saw you, standing there, and everything just stopped...

Every single feeling I've ever had about you hit me all at once. All the little things, all the moments we've shared, words that may not have meant much on the surface, but held a deeper meaning than maybe either of us knew, everything just made sense. I'd been so in the dark, so confused about why all this had happened to me. And I still feel angry, frustrated, that we've had to go through these changes, but one thing has always stayed the same, and that's how I feel about you."

Jacob breathed in deeply. This was it.

"So, you have a right to know exactly where I stand." He swallowed thickly, his eyes locking with hers. "And it's right here, in front of you, trying to tip toe over this invisible line because, Montana, I'm in love with you."

Montana fell quiet. She couldn't think, she couldn't speak. All she could do was simply stare at him. At Jacob Black, the boy who she had known her entire life, her literal soulmate. And poor Jake had spilled his entire heart out to her, and was awaiting some sort of coherent response, watching her so softly, as if she was so special and important, prepared to hang on to her every word – but Montana couldn't even form an actual thought.

Fuck.

She found herself completely melting under his adoring gentle gaze, the nervous knot in her stomach tightening further. Her pulse was racing uncontrollably. She might pass out. Oh, how embarrassing that would be.

"Jake..." she finally breathed out.

Jacob understood why she was finding it so hard to put anything into words, because, as he went to quickly add something, his mind seemed to shut down too. He been practicing an entire speech, but his head was completely empty. Jacob had even been considering what he'd do if she turned him down – move to the other side of the world so he never had to think about it ever again, or, alternatively, simply die.

Around them, the previously gentle breeze had started to pick up, a reminder of how late into the night it was getting, though neither of them noticed. To be honest, Jacob should have actually been getting Montana home, he was sure her parents would be worried. But suddenly that didn't matter. None of it mattered. Because, right at that very second, Montana said the two words that changed everything.

"Kiss me."

Jacob swore his heart stopped. Genuinely. He almost did a double take, having not expected those words to come out her mouth. Jake began to panic. He hadn't thought far enough ahead. He never even thought he'd get that far!

Montana made the first move, taking a small step forwards to close the space between them. Her heart was thudding so hard in her chest that she was a little worried she might be going into cardiac arrest.

They stood in front of one another. For a second, it seemed that all they were going to do was stare into each other's eyes. Montana could get lost in his, to be fair.

Jacob slowly lifted his hand, carefully tucking fallen strands of her hair behind her ear. He could see her expression fully now, and how unbelievably beautiful she looked.

Jacob smiled, his tanned palm moving round to cup the side of her face. The pad of his thumb slowly traced along her cheekbone, his fingers resting underneath her ear. Montana could already feel goose bumps lining her skin. How a simple touch could be so utterly electrifying, she would never know.

His brown eyes were watching her intently, making sure he was reading her signals correctly. Montana gave him the look, and, very slowly, their faces began to draw closer.

She felt his warm breath against her, their noses brushing, foreheads touching. And then Jacob pressed his lips to hers.

At that second, the whole world could have gone up in flames, and Montana wouldn't have even realised, because she was entirely caught up in her own world with Jake. And for, maybe the first time in her entire life, her mind had fallen blissfully quiet, allowing her to feel everything she had once been holding back.

Jacob's thoughts would not rest. He'd presumed he knew almost everything about Montana, to the point where nothing could surprise him, but he wasn't prepared for the overwhelming feelings that kissing Montana Bradley would cause.

The past few months, both of them had been pulled into a universe that felt like a fantasy, and sometimes it felt hard to escape it's realms. But what was happening right now, was real. And in that moment, nothing else mattered but them.

Montana was finally kissing Jacob, and Jacob was finally kissing Montana.

A/N

Only took them twenty eight chapters!!!!!

This was by far the hardest scene to write, so I really hope it reads well because I almost had several breakdowns trying to edit this.

My New Years resolution is to update this book more regularly, I swear!! I've just been so busy lately, but I'm gonna try my best.

If you haven't already brought in the new year, then I hope you have a wonderful night saying good riddance to 2020!! Stay safe 💓