1 'Again', Sam repeated, his face indifferent, as he watched me struggle for consciousness.

'Just give me a minute!' I growled at him, gasping for breath. I felt my temper begin to flare, despite my diminished energy.

'I'll show you again', he continued, as if I hadn't spoken. Sam then shifted himself flawlessly from his human form, only to become the incredibly large, black wolf. I felt myself recoil involuntarily as I watched the wolf appear where Sam Uley had been only moments before. I'm never going to get used to this, no matter how many times he phases tonight, I told myself as he shifted once more into his human form. I watched the fur shrink away from his body, only to be replaced by his dark skin, and his muzzle disappear as his nose reformed to its usual size. It was at this moment that I realized just how exhausted I was, but I knew it was all worth it when I thought of the reason I was doing this.

Bella.

I felt the corners of my mouth twitch into a smile at the mere thought of her. Sam too - with his ever-observant eyes - noticed this. He sighed, automatically knowing what I was thinking of. He understood, my love for Bella something he knew only too well. But then again there was no possible way he couldn't. That was, after all, probably the most aggravating parts of being what we were; werewolves. This is because as long as we are in wolf form, our minds are open to the rest of the pack. However, with us being in wolf form most of the time lately, the strength of my love for Bella wasn't exactly a secret. Not that it was a secret anyway, I reminded myself. It was good that I was currently in human form. If the pack could hear my thoughts all the time, if they knew just how much I thought of her, they probably would have murdered me a long time ago, just for their peace of mind. This was the main reason I was glad that when we're human, our minds are safe.

All too soon, I felt my temper begin to flare once more as I thought of the reason for all of this. This pain. This misery. I clench my teeth as I picture his inhuman face in my mind, his rancidly sweet scent burning my nostrils at the very thought of him. Stupid bloodsucker I said to myself, as I tried to re-focus on the task at hand. It was difficult however, owing to the fact that my feelings of being betrayed by Bella were still fresh. How could she just go back to him as if nothing ever happened? As if he had never caused her so much pain? I shuddered at the memory of the way she looked after he had left, and again at the memory I had of the way she had looked when Sam found her that one night. It seemed so very long ago now, although not much time had passed. How could he have possibly caused her so much pain? How could he even have thought about doing it, let alone following through? I would never have done that to her.

'Jake, calm down!' Sam's impatient tone snapped me from my thoughts, and I noticed that I was visibly shaking with anger.

'Sorry...' I mumbled, ashamed that I had allowed my anger to grow that much, that I had almost lost control and phased. But after all, that was the reason I was doing this. I was learning to control my temper, so I would not phase unless by will. Just so Bella would be even safer around me. Not that she was in any danger before, I scoffed as I watched Sam shift form again, trying to show me what to do. It had been Sam that insisted I took these 'lessons', so the same thing would not happen to Bella that happened to Emily. As I pictured Bella's face disfigured like Emily's now was, my mind re-focused on what I was supposed to do.

I tried to phase, without resorting to anger, and began to feel the familiar sensation in my body as I began to sprout fur all over. My nose lengthened and I bent down onto four legs in order to make the transformation easier. I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe I had finally done it; I had shifted form by will. That was only once though. I groaned audibly, realizing that the hard part now lay ahead, the training of it all. It would be worth it in the end though, there was no doubt about that.

'Great', was all Sam told me, but as I looked at him, his face said what his voice hadn't. For once he wasn't the reserved Sam that we all had gotten used to. He was smiling, and I could tell he was proud of me. This also made me happy, but not as much as the thought that I was actually doing what I had set out to do, I was protecting Bella, even if she hadn't been in any real danger from me in the first place.

And that was a good enough reason for me.