Disclaimer: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, and all of their content and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. Text from the prologue belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Summary: Alternate storyline for New Moon – What if Jacob had been running alone when Bella met up with Laurent in the meadow? When you have nothing, will it set you free? What Edward would have found if Alice had seen Bella sooner. BPOV

Warnings: violence, assumed character death, and remember... I ship BxE

Prologue

"'Yes,' he assured me. 'I'll be very quick. You won't feel a thing, I promise. Oh, I'll lie to Victoria about that later, naturally, just to placate her. But if you knew what she had planned for you, Bella…' He shook his head with a slow movement, almost as if in disgust. 'I swear you'd be thanking me for this.'"

Chapter 1: Lure

Nothing I had ever experienced in my life could have prepared me for this. I felt my heart start to race and silently willed it to slow, knowing that Laurent could hear its every pulse. I took another small, involuntary step back, but was suddenly cut short.

"Wait!" Edward's soft, desperate voice rang out in my head, startling me yet again. I froze.

I took in Laurent's face, kicking myself again for missing the glowing red color of his irises. Wait for what? For him to apologize and tell me he's kidding? I hysterically responded, but my hallucinatory Edward gave no response. Laurent's devastatingly perfect features twisted into an apologetic smile as he leaned forward into a crouch.

How could I possibly wait? If Laurent was thirsty, I had perhaps moments left to live. But there was no way that I could outrun or outwit him. I was finished. Somehow, the prospect didn't bother me as much as it should have. Jacob had abandoned me once again, and with Edward gone, who did I have left, anyway? I whimpered as the hole in my chest flared in response to his name. I was about to die, what was there left to fear? Edward, Edward, Edward... I love you…The pain was almost a comfort at this point, the only thing that I could really depend on.

In that moment, Laurent's head whipped to the side in a movement so fast that I could barely tell it had happened. The smiling face of my would-be murderer quickly contorted into outraged confusion. I followed his line of sight to the side of the meadow and at once found the source of his hesitation.

And then I knew that none of this could be real. Because suddenly, I found myself staring down another fairy-tale beast.

A monstrously large wolf had emerged from the forest, covered in thick brown fur and armored with the most ferocious, razor-sharp teeth I had ever seen. The wolf's black eyes blazed with some undeterminable emotion, and there was an almost human-like awareness in them. Was this the creature that had been causing all of the chaos in town?

In any case, the beast had captured Laurent's attention entirely.

Suddenly, a terrible snarl ripped from the creature's throat, and it launched itself in our direction.

"Get out of there!" Edward's velvet voice cried out inside my head. I didn't need to be told twice. My instinct to run had been tensed to spring, and I willingly let it overtake my senses. I turned and started to sprint full-tilt back into the woods, to my truck. I prayed to some higher being for two things; one, for the wolf to prefer a confrontation with Laurent, and two, for my disabling clumsiness to somehow stay out of this.

On both accounts, I was lucky. I heard a matching growl come from Laurent, behind me in the clearing. Would this beast even stand a chance against a vampire? I wasn't sure, but as I ran, thunderous collisions echoed around me, punctuated by growls and roars. I could only continue to pray that the victor in this battle would be the wolf. Meanwhile, my feet carried me onward without seeming to find anything to trip over, for which I was wholeheartedly grateful.

It felt like I'd run at least a mile or two when my body finally began to give in to exhaustion. I'd burned through all of the adrenaline and was panting, but I knew that I had to push myself further. How far had I hiked to get to the meadow? Three, four miles? I had to be getting close. From there, who knew where I would go. I began to fully comprehend the ramifications of the danger that I was in. Even if I got to the car, could I escape? Laurent could easily follow me back home, or any place I tried to hide.

These thoughts were interrupted by one final resonating echo of what sounded like a semi-truck being ripped piece from piece. Had the wolf won? For a moment, I allowed myself to relax.

My relief was cut short by a drawn-out, animalistic moan.

The wolf had been hurt.

A silence fell over the woods, and it frightened me even more than the sounds of the battle had. Even the creatures of the forest seemed to be holding their breath. The sound of my footsteps on the gravelly earth felt unbearably loud, grating against the silence. Even worse, my gasps for breath seemed to multiply in volume against the quiet atmosphere. I stopped and, stupidly, hid behind the roots of a large tree.

I began to calm myself down, attempting to even out my breathing. I felt like even the beating of my heart would give me away now. As I crouched and began to prepare for the worst, my thoughts returned to the only subject that could still hurt me now.

Edward.

Where is he?

My perpetual savior was gone, and it felt as though a great weight had been dropped onto my shoulders as I realized just how alone I really was. A hysterical sob tried to wrench its way out from deep inside of me, but I stifled it at the last minute. I couldn't, however, help the way my vision blurred up, and the irrational tears that stung at my eyes. Hadn't I been through this already? He wasn't coming back. I was alone. I was more alone than I had ever been in my whole life, in Arizona or in the dance studio with James. I had no one. My thoughts flicked to Charlie, unknowingly out fishing, and more tears spilled.

"Aww, little Bella… don't cry. We'll have plenty of time for that later." A voice that was not imaginary interrupted my moment, and my head snapped up to see a face that I had honestly not accounted for.

Undulant waves of a fire-red mane encased the perfect porcelain face that I had never expected to see again.

Victoria.