Jacob and the girls were relaxing on a beautiful hill in Serendell, enjoying the afterglow of testing their new lightning abilities and sharing chips from the bottomless bag.
Jacob remembered something. "By the way, girls, I have a Cryokinesis ability I can pass on, but only to one of you. You'll have to decide among yourselves."
Malia tilted her head. "What does this Cryo ability do?"
Jacob explained. "Cryokinesis is the power to lower temperature, create ice, and control frozen matter. It can range from making ice cubes to flash-freezing people or entire landscapes. Like the powers of that yeti I fought. So, who wants it?"
"Not me," Lydia said immediately. "I want fire."
Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Really? Ice would go really well with your snow white hair when you shift."
Lydia smirked, flipping her red hair. "And fire would go perfectly with my red hair."
"Fair enough," Jacob conceded. "Then you'll have to wait until I get a fire ability."
Malia shook her head. "I don't want it either. I want a teleportation ability, or something like that. You can give that to me when you get it."
Jacob looked at Allison. "What about you? Do you want it?"
Allison's face lit up with excitement. "Yes, please! I love ice powers."
"Alright," Jacob said. "Turn around."
Allison turned her back to him. Jacob stored the chip bag in his pocket dimension, placed his hand firmly between her shoulder blades, and focused internally. 'System, give Allison the Cryokinesis ability.'
[Are you sure, Host?]
'Yes.'
A wave of intense, chilling energy flowed from Jacob's palm into Allison's body. She gasped, her entire frame tensing as a profound cold spread through her veins.
A minute later, a system notification appeared.
[Cryokinesis has been successfully merged into your mate, Allison Argent. You may remove your hand now, Host.]
Jacob pulled his hand back. Just then, the grass beneath Allison began to crystallize with frost, and the air around them grew noticeably colder.
"Alright, girls," Jacob said, standing up. "Let's head back to the palace and let Allison get used to her new ability."
They teleported back. Jacob went straight to the kitchen and devoured twenty kilos of Sker Buffalo meat to replenish his energy, then rejoined the girls in the living room. He lay down with his head in Lydia's lap and promptly fell asleep.
He woke up four hours later to find the girls watching season three of The Vampire Diaries.
Allison saw he was awake, launched herself at him, and gave him a deep, grateful kiss. "I love the ability you gave me! I can flash-freeze everything around me in a hundred-meter radius, create all kinds of sharp ice weapons, and I even made ice golems, like the magma ones you used against the yeti!" She kissed him again, her eyes sparkling. "Thank you so, so much."
"You're welcome, love," Jacob said, smiling as he hugged her close. He settled in to watch the show with them, his mind drifting. 'I wonder if The Vampire Diaries world is real. I'd love to go there for Hope—before she becomes a vampire, though. I hate vampires… but she's also a witch. I don't like witches either, especially after meeting the ones in our world.'
Lydia glanced at Jacob's thoughtful expression. "Hey, Jay. If the world of The Vampire Diaries was real and you could go there, which girl would you want to marry and add to our family?"
Jacob looked at her suspiciously. 'Can she read my mind?'
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lydia asked, noticing his stare.
Jacob cleared his throat. "Nothing. As for which girl… the answer is none. I mean, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie are hot, but I don't like vampires, and I don't like witches that much either, especially if they practice black magic."
Allison chimed in. "What about a good vampire? Or a good witch?"
"I don't know if a truly good vampire or witch exists," Jacob said thoughtfully. "Vampires drink blood, which I find disgusting, and they can just switch their emotions off and do horrible things. Witches practice black magic, and I hate people who do that. You girls have met the witches and wizards in our world. You know what they're like."
"Yeah," Allison agreed, her expression turning serious. "The witches and wizards from our world are definitely the 'kill on sight, no questions asked' kind."
"Speaking of adding new members to our family," Jacob said, shifting the topic, "I think it's time to talk to Melissa. She was almost attacked by the Black Shuck yesterday. She could have died. And now with Gerard and the Zimas in town, they might target her to get to Scott—to either use her to kill him or control him. So, what do you think, girls?"
Lydia studied him. "First, tell us why you like her. She's older and has a son our age."
"That's exactly why I like her," Jacob said. "She raised Scott alone since he was eight, working double shifts to give him everything he needed and keep the bills paid. She's been single for eight years for her son's sake. She's a good woman, I respect, and like her for that. Plus, I find her very attractive. So, I want to talk to her and see what she thinks about… being with me."
Lydia shrugged. "Well, go ahead then. But you have to take me shopping and watch…"
Jacob groaned. "Please don't say The Notebook."
Lydia smirked. "Relax, I won't. I want you to take me to see the new Twilight movie."
"Alright, I will," Jacob promised.
He looked at Malia. "What about you?"
Malia shrugged. "I don't want anything. And if Melissa says no, I can help you kidnap her."
Jacob gave her a flat look. "We are not kidnapping anyone."
"Oh, okay," Malia said, then winked and nodded knowingly. "I understand."
"I'm serious."
Malia winked and nodded again, even more exaggeratedly. "I understand."
Jacob shook his head with a resigned smile and looked down at Allison in his arms. "What about you?"
"I don't want anything," Allison said softly. "And you should talk to Scott first."
"I will."
Lydia threw her hands up. "Come on, girls! Ask for something! You're making me look bad!"
"But I really don't want anything," Malia insisted.
"Me neither," Allison echoed.
Lydia sighed dramatically. "You two are so boring."
Jacob checked the time and found it was still only 5 a.m. in the outside world. 'Melissa would still be sleeping,' he thought.
He stood up. "It's still early outside. I'm going to go play some video games."
Malia jumped to her feet. "I'm coming with you!"
"Can't you just watch TV with the girls?" Jacob pleaded.
"You don't want me playing with you?"
"You rage every time you lose. How many controllers and keyboards have you smashed so far?"
Malia slung an arm over his shoulder, guiding him toward the gaming room with a mischievous smirk. "Don't worry about that. We can always buy more. And I'm getting good at playing! I won't lose today. And I will not smash anything today… probably."
Jacob just sighed and let himself be led away.
---
Two hours later, Malia returned to the living room, looking slightly sheepish. Jacob had clearly kicked her out.
Lydia glanced up from the TV. "What did you smash this time?"
Malia sighed. "A controller."
Allison raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"...the TV," Malia admitted, wincing. "And I kind of used my lightning and short-circuited his console. Also, I bit him."
The girls burst out laughing.
Lydia wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm surprised he just kicked you out without punishing you."
Malia's sheepish look morphed into a smirk. "Who said he didn't? He spanked my ass red before he kicked me out." She chuckled. "He was so pissed."
Allison shook her head, still smiling. "You should probably stop playing games if you're going to rage like that every time."
"No," Malia declared, crossing her arms. "I like playing games. So, I'll ask him when he calms down to buy me my own console and computer. I'll only play on Easy Mode." She stood up. "Okay, I should go ask Cogman to teach me how to drive."
Allison watched Malia leave the room and sighed. "Now it's Cogman's turn to go into rage mode."
Lydia smirked. "Yeah. She's a terrible driver."
To be continued… 😊