Running away this time was far different than last time: I was alone. There was no Alice or Jasper to protect me from Victoria this time. Petrified from the moment I closed the door behind me, I pushed the truck as hard as it would go, determined to put as much space between me and Charlie as possible before Victoria caught up with me. My stress and fear were almost palatable in the air.
I had barely been on the road five minutes when flashing lights caught my eye in the mirror and a siren wailed behind me. This was just my luck, getting caught the very first time I'd broken the speed limit. Then I really started to panic. I'd been arrested today, and if they caught me trying to leave town I could be jailed for trying to leave the jurisdiction before I was charged. My heart started to hammer against my chest frantically when I realised I was also concealing a weapon without a permit. My mind boggled at how stupid I had been.
Figuring I couldn't get anymore reckless, I kept driving, flooring the accelerator in the hope of gaining what little more speed I could. If I was going down, I wasn't going down without a fight. Worse comes to worse I could run away and hide in the woods to wait for my death. That way I'd never go to prison, and this whole thing would be forgotten. Death was funny like that, it made people forget the bad and remember the good in people.
When the truck's speedometer inched over 70 mph I had to stop myself from celebrating; it had never gone this fast, at least since I'd owned it. In fact, the last time I'd gone this fast in a car the driver was not human. I shuddered at the memory, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach.
"Don't do anything reckless or stupid..."
The words bounced around my head with all the finesse of a wrecking ball. It took me a while to recognise the dry, humourless sound coming out of my mouth as laughter. Before I could stop it, my body was erupting into loud, senseless hysterics.
"Payback is a bitch, isn't it Edward!" I laughed until tears rolled down my cheeks, as realisation hit me. Edward had caused all of this. He'd told me not to be reckless, but paved the way for me to be doing the most reckless thing in my life by leaving me here unprotected. And it was SO funny.
I was still laughing when the police car pulled up beside me. I was still laughing when the car swerved in front of me. But it was no longer funny when the car in front of me stopped dead, forcing me to frantically swerve off the road.
(Sam POV)
Night shifts were the worst. Sitting alone in a car for hours a night just seemed to rub in the fact that I didn't really want to be a police officer in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful for the extra money, and I did enjoy the few arrests that I got to do, but it was just another responsibility in my ever-growing mountain of responsibilities. I was Alpha, which currently felt like a full time occupation with Paul still unstable and more pups on the verge of phasing. That also meant I was Chief-in-training to the tribe. Billy Black was still very much alive and kicking, but gradually I was taking over his role within our people. Between all that, my construction company, and being a police officer there were just not enough hours in the day.
It was the council's suggestion that I recruited into the police force. Talk had spread, as it does in small towns, and the word was I was the leader of the La Push gang. I laughed to myself at the ridiculousness of the suggestion. When would I find time for that? The council couldn't have their future Chief's name besmirched by gossip, so suddenly I had to get an extra job which would prove that I wasn't a bad guy. So far, all it had done was rid me of extra hours of sleep.
Throwing the crumpled, empty, doughnut box into the passenger foot well, I reached for the family sized bag of Doritos that were my sole company for the next 3 minutes. At least the extra money helped with the extra food I needed. Since I phased I can scarcely remember going longer than an hour without eating something. I tried not to look at the price at the till when I went grocery shopping these days.
My musings were interrupted by the distant, faded roar of an engine. My sensitive hearing picked up on the sound before I could see it. I recognised Billy Black's old rusty-red truck instantly. He'd sold it to Charlie Swan about a year ago. Swan. My mind strayed to the image of the broken girl I found in the forest all those months ago that still haunted my dreams now. She had been so fragile, so...helpless. The wolf had felt sorry for her. He'd wanted me to take her back to my 'den' and feed her up and keep her safe from the world. It was irrational, but the wolf thought she was ours. Like we owned her because we found her. But that was crazy, so I returned her safely to her father and made sure to have one of the pack, usually Jared, patrol her house at least once a day.
The monster of a truck zoomed past, not even noticing me. When I realised the driver was going at just over twice the speed limit, I pulled out onto the road and flicked on my lights and siren. The driver seemed to hesitate, then speed up, driving even faster. Unofficially, I admired the person who could force that beast of a truck to go that fast; it looked incapable of doing much over 50. This 'high speed chase' was hands down the most exciting thing to ever happen during one of my shifts, and I relished the chase. Didn't the driver realise they'd only get a speeding ticket if they pulled over? I wondered if someone had had the gall to steal a car out of the chief of police's driveway. Surely no-one could be that stupid? Then again I couldn't imagine Chief Swan or his daughter driving this recklessly.
"Payback is a bitch, isn't it Edward?" I heard a woman's voice ask, followed by laughter. Edward as in Edward Cullen? So it must be Bella Swan driving like a maniac, and laughing like one too. I wondered what had driven her to this.
When the truck began swerving carelessly across the road I decided to put an end to this. After easily overtaking the old vehicle, I slammed my breaks on, forcing it to either stop or crash into me. The truck swerved off to the right, brakes screaming in protest. I winced at the sound, before quickly parking at the side of the road so no-one would crash into my car. As I got out, I saw a little slip of a girl running into the woods and inadvertently smiled.
Oh yes, I would hunt her down and take her home. To her home, not mine I had to remind myself.
The wolf was restless and wanted to toy with the little girl who had strayed onto his territory, but I wouldn't let him out. Instead, I followed her into the forest soundlessly, instantly feeling like I belonged. Apparently she belonged to the forest too. I couldn't scent her or hear her at all. I guessed the forest had taken an interest in this little girl that night, just as my wolf had.
Standing stiller than a statue, I inhaled deeply and listened. Above the rustling of the wind through the tree tops, I could hear faint breathing and a strong, fast heartbeat about 50 yards to my right. She was hiding from the big, bad wolf. It tickled my sense of humour. Knowing this was likely to be the only thing I'd do tonight, I indulged her, playing along with the game. Purposefully, I rustled around, snapping sticks so that she would hear me coming.
The tell-tale sounds of her scrambling about gave her away, and I chuckled quietly at her predictability. After a few moments, I silently doubled back behind her hiding place. She didn't hear me, and I watched her for a moment while I could. She had lost weight, and it made me frown. Why wasn't she looking after herself? I cleared my throat, loudly. Her scream pierced my ears, temporarily stunning me as she tried to scramble away. Quickly I stepped in front of her, blocking her path. She looked up at me guiltily, all doe eyes and innocence. As soon as I met her eyes I froze.
Time stood still as my life rewrote itself around this little girl, my soul entwining with hers until I could no longer tell where I ended and she began. I was so awestruck and lost in the moment, I nearly didn't notice her trying to slip away again.
"Oh no you don't," I told her before throwing her over my shoulder possessively and walking back to the roadside.
"Put me down!" she demanded furiously, kicking and squirming in an attempt to be free of my unbreakable hold. She had a lot more fight in her then I had realised and I liked it.
When we reached her truck, I placed her carefully on her feet. Instantly, I saw her look to the woods contemplatively.
"Don't you even think about it Isabella Swan. I will catch you, drag you straight back here and cuff you to my car," I warned her sternly. She frowned, clearly unhappy about being ordered around.
"Do I know you?" she asked, coldly.
"We've met once," I said dismissively, moving round to the passenger side of her truck. There I found a substantial suitcase, a coat and her purse. Was she running away? I growled under my breath. She wasn't going anywhere.
"What are you doing?" she asked, sounding concerned.
"You ran away so I have to search you and your vehicle," I informed her, watching her pale.
"Or you can save us both the bother and tell me what you're hiding."
Guiltily, she stared at her feet before nodding. Her hand reached behind her back, and she produced a gun. Biting her bottom lip anxiously, she handed it to me.
"Tell me you have a permit," I demanded, trying to distract myself from just how much I wanted to bite that lip. She shook her head.
"It's Charlie's," she mumbled.
"Dammit Bella! Speeding and carrying a weapon? What the hell did you think you were doing?" I asked, angrily. I couldn't believe her stupidity.
"It's none of your damn business!" she growled back.
"Get in the car," I ordered, pointing to my cruiser.
"Are you arresting me?" she asked sarcastically sweet.
"Get. In. The. Car," I instructed, keeping my voice carefully even.
"I will not get in your car unless you are placing me under arrest," she informed me, dignifiedly.
Grabbing her arm, I dragged her over to my cruiser and sat her in the front seat.
"You stay here, or so help me god I will put you over my knee," I warned, slamming the door shut.
"You can't do that!" she cried incredulously at my back as I was walking away. I ignored her.
Swiftly, I grabbed her suitcase, coat and purse and locked her truck with the keys she'd left in the ignition. Carelessly, I threw it all into the trunk of my car, and then climbed into the driver's seat.
"What were you doing Bella?" I asked her, calmly. She ignored me. Her whole demeanour was really starting to grate on my nerves.
"You can trust me," I told her, hoping to coax an answer out of her.
"If I can trust you, you won't tell Charlie about this. It would kill him," she said, glancing at me through her long brown hair.
"You don't think waking up to find you gone would have been worse?" I challenged her, raising an eyebrow.
"You don't know anything about it!" she shouted, her cheeks flushing red with her anger. It was adorable.
"You're right. I don't," she looked at me quizzically, "But what I do know is that it's selfish and cowardly to leave your father without saying anything to his face." I told her with a frown, knowing I was thinking far more about myself than Chief Swan, but she wouldn't know that.
Bella laughed, a horse, dry sound lacking any humour.
"Being selfish. Yeah, that's totally what I'm doing," she shook her head, a wry smile on her face. I didn't understand what that meant.
"Look..." she fumbled.
"Sam," I interrupted her, "Sam Uley."
"Sam, just take me down to the station and get it over with. I don't need your judgement or advice," she told me seriously.
"Really, because it looks like you're making one hell of a mess of things," I interjected, raising my voice. I was a man, and not just any man but Alpha. There was no way I was going to be ordered around by a little girl with an attitude problem.
"You and your self-righteous attitude can fuck right off. You know nothing about me or what I'm going through. I don't know why you care, but you can stop giving a crap and do your job," she yelled at me, her hand reaching for the door handle.
"Put your seatbelt on," I growled, turning my key in the ignition.
"What about my truck?" she demanded sarcastically.
"Just do as you're told. I'm doing you a favour here and you don't want to make me regret it," I suggested my voice low. Silently she did as she was told.
The short drive back to her house was tersely silent. I was too angry and lost in thought to even attempt to talk to her. Imprinting wasn't supposed to be like this. Jared's Kim had fallen in love with him instantly and they were happy campers from day one.
Something about Isabella Swan just got under my skin. I don't know what she was trying to prove with all the anger and bitterness but it didn't suit her and it was fooling no-one. She was still just as broken as she had been when I found her in the forest, I was sure of it. But Bella seemed to have taken the whole world to war over it. That leech had really screwed her over. I swore to myself I would kill him if he dared to step foot in forks again.
There was no way I was going to put up with her crap though.
After parking my cruiser next to Chief Swan's, I jumped out the car and collected Bella's stuff from the trunk. Wordlessly, she let us both into the house, holding the door open for me. Charlie must have taught her some manners after all, I chuckled to myself.
"Which one's your room?" I whispered, trying not to wake up her sleeping father.
"I can carry my own bag up there," she hissed at me, trying to snatch the suitcase from me. Ignoring her attempts, I started up the stairs.
"It's the first door," she whispered after me reluctantly.
I pushed the door open and quietly placed her suitcase on the bed, careful not to make any noise. Surveying the room, I took in every detail, or lack thereof. There were not pictures on the walls, no books on the shelf. Just a bed, a rocking chair and a desk with an old computer sat on it. The room was bland, void of any life or personality. As I made my way down the stairs, I wondered if her room had always been so empty, or if it had become that way since the leech left.
"Where did you find the gun?" I asked her, pulling the old weapon out of my pocket.
"Hall closet. There's a shoebox at the back," she told me, arms wrapped around her chest as if she was trying to hold herself together.
With the gun safely where it belonged, there was little reason for me to stay, no matter how reluctant I was to leave Bella. Try as I might, I could find no valid reason to stay, and I was also on a shift.
I showed myself to the door, ever aware of the girl trailing behind me.
"Thank you Sam," she said softly as I stepped through the door.
"Don't let me catch you again. I'll return your truck and it better be here in the morning," I warned her. Bella slammed the door in my face in response. Walking to the car, I couldn't help but smile despite myself. The girl was so stubborn. It was going to be a struggle to have any relationship with her. But maybe the challenge was just what I needed.
(Bella's POV)
As soon as he left I slid down the wall, pulling my legs up to my chest to hold me together. Sam Uley set me on edge. Inexplicably, I felt drawn to him like a moth to a flame and it made me angry. For a second when our eyes met I felt whole again, like I could breathe for the first time in months. Then the hole in my chest had clawed its way back, just as vehement as it had always been.
Never had one person made me feel so conflicted: my instincts screamed at me to be as close to Sam as possible and to get as far away as I could. It unsettled me, scattering my thoughts and emotions all over the place. It confused me that every time I shouted at him all I wanted to do was apologise. It confused me that I had an overwhelming urge to touch him. But most of all it confused me that I had to try to be angry around him. In fact I was so used to my constant anger I had no idea what to do when I could no longer feel it. The effect he had had on me scared me.
But the thing that scared me the most was the undeniable sense of rightness I had seeing Sam in my house. He should not have belonged here but he did. My head just couldn't make sense of it all; Sam was a perfect stranger.
Worst of all, when he disappeared into my room the voice in the back of my head screamed that his presence was betraying the memory of Edward. It tore at my chest, and for a moment I thought I'd be sick. It was all so wrong. I didn't care if I betrayed Edward, he was the one who had betrayed me in the most permanent way. I was so furious at myself for even thinking such a thing. It was over between us. He was never coming back, and I didn't want him to come back. I really didn't.
But there was a part of me deep, deep down, that was still irrevocably in love with Edward Cullen. I hated myself for being that weak.
However, Sam Uley was the cause of all these emotions and realisations. It was easy for me to transfer the blame to him, focusing all my anger and resentment on him instead of myself.
After a while I crawled up to bed and settled down for the night. Tomorrow I would leave again and this time I wouldn't be caught for speeding. I would get away from Forks, and make sure Charlie was as safe as he could be. But between now and then, I resolved to avoid Sam Uley at all costs.
A/N: So Sam and Bella have met. What do you think of their relationship so far? Review and let me know :D