When the time outside reached 7 a.m., Jacob left Serendell and made his way to the guest wing of the mansion. He found Scott's room and was about to barge in, but then remembered he needed Scott's permission before pursuing his mom. Deciding to be nice—or at least, nicer—he knocked.
But he still wasn't that nice. He did the Sheldon knock.
Knock, knock, knock. "Scott."
Knock, knock, knock. "Scott."
Knock, knock, knock. "Scott."
A few moments later, a groggy Scott opened the door, hair sticking up in all directions.
"What do you want this early in the morning?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"We need to talk," Jacob said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.
"What's going on?"
Jacob didn't beat around the bush. "I'm going after your mom. And I'm not joking this time."
Scott's sleepiness vanished instantly, replaced by wide-eyed shock. "What? Come on, man, you can't do..."
"Listen," Jacob cut him off, holding up a hand. "She was inches away from being killed by the Black Shuck yesterday. And now Gerard and the Zima hunters are in town. They'll find out what you are, and that you're my friend. They'll go after you—either to kill you or to control you. And the easiest way to get to you is through your human mother."
Scott opened his mouth to protest, but the words died in his throat. The memory of the hospital hallway, the creeping cold, and the terror on his mother's face was still fresh.
Jacob pressed his advantage, his tone earnest. "I can protect her. I can make her strong—strong enough to protect you and herself. I can give her the ability to teleport somewhere perfectly safe to escape any danger. And I can give her a life without struggling with bills or double shifts." He met Scott's eyes directly. "Scott, she worked herself to the bone for you. She deserves to be happy and cherished. It's time for her to enjoy life. I promise, I will never, ever make her sad."
"But you already have three girlfriends," Scott protested.
"Not girlfriends," Jacob corrected. "Allison, Lydia, and Malia are my wives."
Scott's eyes widened. "Wives? When did you marry them?"
"The moment they agreed to be with me, they became my wives for life. We have a supernatural connection deeper than love, and we can't harm each other. And even though I already have three wives, you don't need to worry about Melissa. Like I said, I'll do everything to make her happy. Tell me, have you ever seen Allison or the others sad?"
Scott sighed. "No."
"So, what do you think?"
"I don't like the idea of my friend and my mom being together," Scott said, his voice strained. "But she… she could have died yesterday." The horror of the near-miss finally hit him fully.
"Exactly," Jacob said. "And it won't be the last threat. This world we're in… it's not getting safer. It's getting more dangerous."
"Can't you just do me a favor and help her get strong without being with her?"
"I could," Jacob admitted. "But all I could give her is the potion I gave Stiles. I'm selfish too, Scott. If you want her to be as strong as Allison and the others, then she has to be my wife."
Scott ran a hand through his hair, letting out a long, weary sigh. He paced the room once before stopping. "What… what did Mom say about all this?"
"I don't know. I haven't talked to her yet," Jacob said. "I wanted to talk to you first. If you say no, then I won't go after her. I promise."
That admission seemed to tip the scales. Scott looked at Jacob—really looked at him. Not just as his friend, but as the impossibly powerful dragon he'd seen fighting the yeti that night. He knew Jacob didn't need to ask his permission; he could just go after Melissa and there'd be nothing Scott could do about it. But Jacob was asking, seriously and directly, however bluntly.
He remembered the genuine concern Jacob had shown for Melissa when he arrived at the hospital yesterday, how she had brightened the moment he arrived, and the way she'd look at him when she thought no one was watching. He knew she had feelings for Jacob—feelings she buried because of their age gap and his friendship with Scott.
As a werewolf, he could sense her joy during Jacob's visits as clearly as he felt the quiet sadness beneath her smiles at home—a sadness he now realized she'd been carrying for a while.
After a long moment, Scott sighed again, "Fine. Talk to her. If she… if she agrees to be with you, then I guess… I don't have a problem with it." He pointed a finger at Jacob, his eyes flashing yellow for a split second. "But you treat her right. You make her happy. Or we're going to have a problem, no matter how strong you are."
A relieved smirk touched Jacob's lips. He clapped Scott on the shoulder. "Thanks, son."
Scott's eyes immediately glowed a fierce yellow, and a low, warning growl rumbled in his chest. "Don't push it."
Jacob laughed. "Too soon. My bad." He walked to the door, then paused and came back, a rare hint of nerves in his voice. "I'm suddenly feeling nervous. What do you think, would she agree to be with..."
"Get lost, or I'll change my mind," Scott growled, cutting him off.
Jacob wisely decided not to press his luck further. He raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm leaving." He opened the door, sighed, and muttered just loud enough to be heard, "Everyone says it's hard to connect with stepkids at first… I guess they were right."
Scott kicked him hard, sending Jacob crashing through the door of the opposite room.
Scott closed his own door and went back to bed. He lay down, the anger already fading into a smirk. 'That was the first time I've landed a solid hit on that idiot since I've known him. That felt satisfying.' He yawned and pulled the covers up. 'As for him being with Mom… she couldn't find a better man, I guess. I know he'll take care of her. I've seen how good he is to Lydia and the others—he's even scared of them sometimes.' With that, Scott drifted back to sleep, finally putting the thought of Jacob and his mom to rest.
Jacob found himself sprawled inside Stiles' room. Stiles, who had been sleeping sideways with his head dangling off the edge of the bed, was kissing the air and mumbling something about Erica. Startled awake, he sat up in a panic. "I wasn't doing anything!"
Then he saw Jacob on the floor. "Jacob! What's going on?"
Jacob stood up, dusting himself off. "Nothing. Go back to sleep."
Stiles shrugged. "Alright." He fell back onto the bed, hugged a pillow, and was asleep again in seconds.
Jacob shook his head and left the room. He walked down the hall to the guest room where Melissa was staying, took a steadying breath, and knocked softly.
A moment later, the door opened. Melissa was already awake, fresh from a shower. She wore the comfortable hoodie and sweatpants Allison had left for her, her hair still damp.
"Jacob," she said, a warm, slightly curious smile on her face. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Melissa," Jacob replied.
"What was that noise just now?" she asked.
"Nothing. Just Stiles falling out of bed."
"Really? That was pretty loud. But then again, he does fall out of bed often when he spends the night at my house."
Jacob said. "Do you have a minute? I was hoping we could go for a walk. There's something important I need to talk to you about."
"You look serious," Melissa noted. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, everything's fine."
The two of them left the mansion and found Kate sitting outside in the gazebo. She walked over to them. "Jacob, is Allison awake? I want to talk to her."
"Yeah, let me call her," Jacob said. He sent a quick telepathic message to Allison, then studied Kate's sad expression. "Are you still thinking about Gerard?"
Kate sighed. "No. Although I was heartbroken after seeing him yesterday, I've always known he's a monster. I've already moved on."
"So, what's with the sad face?"
"Beacon Hills is too dangerous for me these days," Kate admitted. "I don't want to trouble you and Allison, so I've decided to leave for a while—take a little break from the supernatural. I'm just a little sad to leave Allison."
Allison, who had just teleported from Serendell to the mansion, walked out in time to hear her. After hugging Kate, she said, "Are you really leaving?"
"Yes, sweetheart. I need to travel for a bit to clear my head. I've been Gerard's pawn since I became a hunter. I need to remember who I am."
"When are you leaving?" Allison asked.
"Today. I was just waiting to talk to you over breakfast and then head out."
"But what if Gerard finds out? He has so many connections, and he'll definitely try to kill you."
"I'll be fine," Kate assured her.
Allison shook her head. "Cogman and I will drive you to the airport and stay with you until you get on the plane." She looked at Jacob. "Jay, can you give her one of the phones and the nano masks that Cogman made, please?"
"Sure," Jacob said. He retrieved a phone, a nano mask, and a nano-vocal band from his pocket dimension and handed them to Allison. "Explain to her how they work."
"Thanks," Allison said.
"Alright, goodbye, Kate," Jacob said, turning to leave with Melissa.
"Wait," Kate called. "Aren't you going to give me a hug?"
Jacob looked at her for a few seconds before shrugging. "Why not?" He walked over and gave her a hug.
Kate wrapped her arms around him. "Thank you for everything. Take care of my precious princess." Then her hands slid down and pinched his butt. "I'll miss you very much, handsome."
Allison watched as the hug lingered a little too long—and she definitely saw Jacob sniff Kate's hair and let one of his hands slide down to squeeze Kate's ass. She angrily stepped forward and forcibly broke them apart. "That's enough!"
She glared at Jacob, who coughed awkwardly. "I was just being polite."
"Polite, my ass!" Allison snapped. "Get lost, you pervert!" She turned to Kate, who was snickering. "And you, bitch, I'm taking you to the airport right now."
Kate pouted. "Can I at least have breakfast?"
"No."
"Please?"
Allison relented. "Fine." She shot another glare at Jacob, who was still ogling Kate. "What are you still doing here? Don't you need to talk to Melissa?"
Jacob coughed again. "Yes, I need to talk to Melissa. See you later, love."
Allison gave him an evil smile. "Yeah, see you later, honey."
Jacob saw the look and reconsidered. "On second thought, I might not be coming back home for a few days."
"If you don't come back home today," Allison said sweetly, "then don't come back at all." With that, she dragged Kate—who was still laughing—back inside the mansion.
Jacob sighed. "Melissa, let's go."
Melissa smiled as she followed him. "Are you in trouble with your little wife?"
"Yeah, big time," Jacob admitted. "And it's not just her. She'll tell Lydia and Malia too, and they'll gang up on me just for fun."
"So even someone as powerful as you is afraid of his wife… or should I say wives?"
"Yeah, they're terrifying when they're angry."
"Do they beat you?"
"I wish. At least that would be a quick punishment—and I wouldn't feel a thing even if they used their full strength."
"Then how do they punish you?"
Jacob sighed. "They make me go shopping with them. Or watch boring romance anime or movies. They'll cook me a meal but use some dark culinary arts to create something disgusting-smelling and make me eat it while praising them. Or reorganize my Hot Wheels collection—I hate that. Or, even worse, make me have a 'girl talk' with them. Oh, the horror."
Melissa laughed. "Why are you scared of a girl talk?"
"Because I can never focus during one. The moment they start talking about clothes or jewelry or other girly stuff, my brain just drifts somewhere else or I doze off. I swear I try, but my brain just doesn't want to listen." He chuckled. "Sometimes my brain even turns into a muscular man, and I start fighting it with all my strength just so I can listen to the girls, but I always lose."
Melissa was amused. "Always?"
Jacob nodded. "Always. He's very powerful and can use some strong illusion tricks to trap me, or ask me stupid questions like, 'What is my walk-away-from-an-explosion song?' or 'If the couch were a person, would we be friends?' Then I start imagining the couch as a woman—always a chubby and kind woman if it's a couch, or a tall and mean woman if it's a chair. I don't know why."
Melissa laughed. "You have a wild imagination."
Jacob scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, anyway. When I'm fighting in my head, or trapped in an illusion, or trying to answer some world-changing question, the girls shake me back to reality and ask me what they just said. And if I don't know—which I always don't—they start saying I don't love them anymore, and I have to coax them by… crap!"
"What?" Melissa asked.
"Ahem, nothing," Jacob said quickly, thinking, 'Oh man, that was close. I almost told her that when I zone out I coax them by flirting and showering them with praise. If she decides to be with me and learns my trick, she'll never fall for it. I seriously need to learn how to shut my mouth. By the way, that hug with Kate was nice, and she didn't seem to mind me grabbing her ass… but she started it. Should I go after her...'
Melissa nudged him. He snapped out of it and looked at her.
"You were lost in thought for a moment," she said. "What world-changing question were you answering this time?"
"Nothing," Jacob replied, quickly changing the subject. "By the way, do you want to fly?"
"Fly?"
Jacob moved closer to her. "Yes, let's fly for a while before our talk." He hugged her. "Are you ready?"
Melissa's heart began beating hard the moment he wrapped his arms around her. 'Why did I get so excited when he hugged me? Pull yourself together, Melissa. He is your son's friend.' She thought. Aloud, she said, "Okay, I'm ready."
Jacob used his telekinesis to lift them both into the air. They rose above the Beacon Hills Preserve, then climbed higher until they were flying above the clouds. He used his fire ability to keep Melissa warm in his arms.
Melissa was scared at first, but soon she began enjoying the feeling and the breathtaking view. After a while, she looked at Jacob's face, so close to hers, and said, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
To be continued… 😊