I awoke to the sound of a sobbing toddler; my eyes flashed open and I sprang to my feet at the sound, crouched in a fighting stance with my knife held in my hand. I turned towards the noise to see a child, his hair matted to his forehead from sweat and blood, his skin a dark bronze color, his eyes red from crying. He appeared no older than three years old. His shredded tatters of clothing hung on him, too large. Rain poured down over his face as he stood sobbing, looking towards the east, as if waiting for someone to come back for him.

He still hadn't noticed me; I quickly searched for any signs of danger in the area of tall ferns in the forest where I had chosen to rest for the night. Then, in a quick dart of energy, I hastened over to the little boy.

"Shhh! You have to be silent, okay?" I uttered barely above a whisper, my hand on his wet cheek. The child looked up at me with wide, puffy eyes. He simply nodded and bit his lip.

"Stay quiet. I'll get you out of here, don't worry," I promised him, using my filthy shawl to wrap the child to my front, as a koala mother would hold its child to her. The boy grabbed onto me and buried his face in my chest, his tears calmed.

Wiping the sweat from my eyes, I searched around me and headed north. Where I would keep him, I had no idea. I had run from Forks, in the west, a mere three days earlier, narrowly escaping Jane in an unreal chance of luck. For so many reasons, I could not take this boy back to Forks. Even as a slave in a vampire's house, he would live through hell. Orphanages like the one I lived in were brutal and would raise him to be a vampire warrior. I had one acceptable option.

I would keep him with me in the wilderness. I could hunt for him, protect him from wild animals, and raise him. The only risk was the chance that the vampires would come looking for me and would find me.

Orphanages were more than brutal as far as living conditions. We also fought hand-to-hand combat. Slaves in vampire homes were also "taught" to fight, but not as harshly as we were. Since there was such a surplus of humans, vampires could afford to kill us off if we didn't make the cut. On weekly bases, orphanages came to The Circle (A/N: think of the Colosseum and gladiator battles) where we fought other orphans to the death. Once a child reached an age of 6, they were thrown into the battle. Luckily, the vampires were somewhat smart in their choices of who battled whom. The young kids went up against kids of relatable ages; the vampires were brutal, but they did want further generations of warriors to survive. I had begun in The Circle a mere two years previously.

The result was the harshest, bravest, fiercest warriors alive, besides, perhaps, the wolf fighters. Although, the wolf fighters and vampire warriors were comparable in their fighting abilities.

There was no way in hell I was going to throw this boy into certain death in Forks. At the same time, if we were to be caught in the wilderness, our fate could be even worse. I would protect him then, protect him from everything our world was.

That night, I found us a spot to sleep deep in the forest among tall ferns and even taller old trees. As we laid down to rest, I put my arm behind my head and stared up at the sky. Through the leaves and branches of the canopy, I could see the dark night sky illuminated by the bright stars. The boy snuggled deeply into my side, sighing.

I looked down at him a bit apprehensively.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

He looked up at me beseechingly.

His lips moved… but I heard no sound.

"What did you say?" I meant to ask, but the words were muddled. The boy gave me a strange look as his face too began to swirl into a pool of colors. My breathe quickening, I looked around at the forest, which was quickly turning into a mass of colors, as if it all was a painting onto which buckets of water was poured, washing away any distinct lines. My world was blurring and I was falling, falling, falling… Fuck I hated that sensation…

I awoke, sitting straight up, my hands going to a defensive stance… where was my knife? I looked down, startled at my hand, which was empty of my knife which was always in my pocket… I jerked my hand to my pocket… but there was no pocket. Instead, I got a handful of lace and satin.

Startled beyond belief, I stood straight up in a start, only to feel the ground below me give a little, my body bouncing up and down on the ridiculously soft ground below me.

I looked down…

A bed?!

WHAT THE FUCK?!

A throaty, raspy chuckle sounded from across the room. I spun around to see none other than Adonis himself, sporting a rough leather outfit fit for hunting and a white, panty-dropping half smile. It was the gorgeous man from the forest. I was decidedly unimpressed.

In a flash, I had him up against a wall, his arms bound above his head, my knee conveniently placed between his legs, and my teeth barred. I hissed at him menacingly, a habit I perhaps picked up at some point during survival in the wild… or from vampires. His eyes were wide; he had not expected a petite little girl like me to be so strong.

He let out a somewhat nervous chuckle as he looked to the ceiling.

"Don't forget, Nessie, I was your greatest student," he said smiling, as he swiftly captured my leg between his own, knocking my balance, causing me to release his hands above his head. He leaned forward, catching me around the waist as I fell backwards. It was humiliating to realize he had me captured so easily. I would not allow it to continue. All men have a weakness; it just so happens that they all have the same weakness.

I looked up from my lashes, my eyebrow raised, my lips curving, into an irresistible, sexy smirk. I arched my back, thrusting my pelvis towards him – simultaneously pulling my torso away.

"Hmmm… Why don't you show me what you know then?" I suggested.

His dark eyes darkened; his hands slipped lower onto my hips. His smile widened. "I'd love t—"

I swiftly elbowed him in the face, twisted my leg out from the hook of his leg, twisting his the wrong way in the process, and hurled my weight onto him. Still intertwined by his hands around my waist, we fell backwards. My legs straddled his stomach and my hands landed on his chest, my face inches from his.

The electricity sparked, from both the fight and our close proximity. Just as I was about to pin him, he flipped us, leaving me trapped underneath him. I thrust my hips up, elbowed him once again in the face, and shoved him off me, getting a solid kick in to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

He landed on the ground as I landed lightly on the balls of my feet.

"Give up yet?" I taunted him smugly. He simply looked up at me, an indecipherable look on his face. He shook his head at me and got back up.

"Guess I've still got a lot to learn from you then, Ness," he said with a playful smirk. How he could still be so damn chipper after getting his ass kicked like that, I couldn't fathom. Wait…

"How do you know my name?!" I demanded, coming angrily closer to him. He held his hands up defensively, his annoying smirk in place. That grin was starting to irk the shit out of me.

"Do you really not remember me?" he asked me, feigning hurt. When I simply glared at him, his smile vanished. "You really don't?" he asked again, serious.

I became wary, shaking my head.

He inspected my face closely, as if looking for something, then did a full up-and-down as he checked out my body. I became angrier at his sheer arrogance, shouting in his face "Hey! My eyes are up here, buddy!" as his eyes settled on my chest.

His cheeks took on a faint blush as he looked back up at me, having the nerve to look embarrassed. "Sorry," he replied. "You just look… so different," he seemed to mentally gesture to my chest, "but so the same." He looked deep in my eyes, catching me totally off guard.

Well… not that off guard. "Well? How the fuck do you know me?!" I asked snippily. "Who are you?!" my voice rose with each word. I was beginning to feel the anxiety set it… psssht as if it hadn't already seeing as I had no fucking idea where I was to begin with!

He looked up at my, his dimple showing as he smiled at me for the gazillionth time. I noticed then just how tall he was. I mean, I was already really short at five foot three, but he had to be at least a foot taller than me, he simply towered over me. Plus he was all solid, male, muscular glory. Too bad I'd probably have to kill him. Especially since he still wasn't answering me.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" I screamed at my lungs' full capacity, my face in his.

"Jacob," he said simply, as if that answered every question in the world.

I rolled my eyes. "Fabulous. Well, Jacob, where the fuck am I?" I demanded.

His eyes looked slightly crestfallen, but he answered for me. "La Push Palace."

I'm sure my eyes grew three sizes at his answer. If there was one place in this world I was even more scared of than Forks Castle, it was La Push Palace. La Push was the Forks of the wolves. It was their capitol building, and held the largest number of wolves in the world.

Holy fuck! I was dead.

Jacob must've seen the panic in my face because he grasped my arms lightly and said, "Ness, really, there's nothing to be afraid of, it's really –"

"La Push Palace?!" I squeaked out in an embarrassingly high, damsel-in-distress voice. I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid! I repeated over and over in my head.

Fear was bad. Fear led to mistakes. Mistakes cost lives. I could not be afraid.

But Dear Lord, I was. I had to get out now.

I backed up from Jacob, the hairs on the back of my neck standing high.

"Ness," Jacob said cautiously as he approached me. I continued to walk back, my eyes portraying the perfect deer-in-headlights impression.

"I have to get out of here," I said, barely above a whisper.

"Ness, listen to me!" Jacob demanded. "I can keep you safe here, okay? You just have to trust me!" he continued to approach me.

I backed into the wall. I looked around panicking. The only escape was through Jacob.

"Ness! Listen to me! No one's going to hurt you!" Jacob shouted at me. I didn't listen.

Fear made my instincts slow, my actions sloppy, but I didn't care. I had to escape; that's all that mattered.

I kicked Jacob in the jaw shakily and made to punch him, but I was too slow, too sloppy. He grabbed my ankle in his strong hand, pulled me toward him, and pinned me in his arms.

"Shhhhh! Ness, it's gonna be okay. I'll take care of you. You have nothing to be afraid of." I didn't believe him, not one bit.

"Ahhhhhh, Jacob! I see you're getting acquainted with your new whore," a sly, slimy voice said from the doorway, an evil smirk in his voice. Jacob stiffened instantly. Jacob tucked me under his arm and stood in front of me, blocking my view of the man entering the room. Jacob crouched slightly, a growl threatening in his throat.

The voice laughed. "Oh, Jacob, no need to get protective. There's nothing wrong with sharing," he said devilishly. Jacobs growls became full on animal-like and ferocious.

"I'll get father in here!" the voice threatened. Jacob made no motion to back down. "Just let me see her! As your future king I demand it!" the voice roared. At that, Jacob's back straightened slightly.

With a sigh, Jacob replied, his voice guarded, "You can see her. That's all."

As Jacob moved to the side, my view of the visitor was unobstructed.

Holy motherfucker….

It was none other than Prince Sam, the future king of La Push. I nearly wet myself. It was all over.

Sam approached me, his evil eyes glittering with unadulterated lust. "Hello there beautiful," Sam said, making my skin crawl. He was an inch or two shorter than Jacob, but equally as muscular. He had the trademark dark coloring that all wolves had, along with, apparently, a keeeeen sense of smell.

Within inches of me, Sam stopped to sniff me, his nose inches from my shoulder. I refused to show any sign of fear, although I'm sure my heartbeat gave my anxiety away. In my ear, he whispered too low for Jacob to hear, "We meet again, my darling Renesme. Oh, how I missed you."