Jacob leaned against the door heavily as the last person left after Mackenzie's birthday party. The party had been a great hit, and there had been kids running around underfoot until well past bedtime. Finally, well past ten, Kim and Rachel had hustled their children into cars for the short trek to their respective homes, and Emily had taken Alicia back to the house she shared with Sam for a sleepover with Maggie, who was about the same age. Sue had left not long after, promising to return the next day to finish cleaning up, and Billy, knowing there was pack business, had immediately retired to his room to give them some privacy.

"Okay, Bella has heard from Alice Cullen, and fortunately, the vampire had something helpful to say about the Volturi. Bella?"

Bella shifted from where she sat, Mackenzie passed out in her arms. "After I left to go home the last time I was here, I found a letter from Alice in the mailbox. Apparently she'd seen my efforts to contact her, and decided to head me off. She's having problems getting much information on me because I've been spending so much time with the pack, and I disappear for her when I'm with the wolves. But, she was able to get some information about who the Volturi is sending and when they'll be here, though she can't be exact yet."

"How many are coming?"

"Twelve. Jane and Demetri are with them, and Alice didn't think it important enough to tell me who the others are, so I think we can safely assume they're brawn. Jane is the most dangerous. Victoria is with them."

There were rustlings through the pack at that, and they continued until Sam held up a hand. "We tracked Victoria for months after you left. It was her departure that caused us to stop phasing. We assumed that she went after the Cullens. Did she never find you?"

"No. Alice said Victoria has stayed close, obviously just out of your range, waiting for me to come back because she couldn't find me after the Cullens took me away. She apparently heard rumors that the Volturi were after me, and offered them her help. They're still convinced that I'm with one of the Cullens, so they're taking them on a wild goose chase, trying to keep them away as long as they can."

"Well at least they're good for something. How long do we have?"

"After Christmas, but before New Years. It's going to happen in the same field where you killed Laurent that day, at night, during a full moon. She said she can see the Volturi's future until they enter the field and then they disappear, which means they're with the pack."

"So we have time. A little more than a month. That's good. Plenty of time to train and get ready." Sam stood, taking control of the room. "Collin and Brady leave tomorrow to go back to school in Seattle. They'll be back at Thanksgiving after finals, so they'll be here for this. There have been some signs of teenagers beginning to phase, but there are only a couple that have hit puberty yet. Ryan and Derrick and Matt, but they're all only fourteen. Nothing's happened yet, but I imagine it will. They'll have to be trained, but when this happens, they'll stay in La Push to guard the humans against any stragglers. Bella, since you're the target, we'll assign someone to guard you at all times. No offense to Alice, but she's been wrong before. I don't think we should take any chances with you. Jake, you and I will work out a schedule."

"There's more."

Two words immediately brought everyone's attention back to Bella, and Jacob stood up a little straighter, pushing off the wall, sensing that what she had to say was important. "What is it?"

"Alice thinks that if you can learn to connect the pack mind, that you can keep them out. Jane is the most powerful vampire I know of. She can kill you with a thought. But Alice seems to think that the pack mind is something they've never encountered before, and that if you can learn to work together, to be so connected that as soon as Jane focuses on one of you, all the others are trying to help, that she won't be able to do any damage. You have to learn to be completely focused on each other, to be one mind in several bodies, and if you can do that, she doesn't think the Volturi will be able to use their mental powers against you."

Quil sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Well that's going to take some doing. We've always tried to keep ourselves separate. We don't like hearing everything everyone else is thinking."

Sam nodded. "Well from now on out, we do the opposite. If the leech coming at us can kill us just by thinking about it real hard, we need every bit of ammunition against her that we can get. That's going to be thinking about nothing but staying connected. Focusing on our link, being aware if one of us is targeted." He glanced to Bella. "Is that everything, or did Alice have more to say?"

"Nothing concrete, and I probably shouldn't bring it up, but I got the feeling from her letter that Alice doesn't want to be a vampire anymore. She kept talking about how none of them chose to live forever, and that they wanted more than just an existence, they wanted a life. They were all turned against their will."

Jacob blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of that. "The bloodsuckers want to be human again?"

"That was the feeling I got, yeah."

"Is that even possible?"

"That's what I was hoping you would know. I thought that once you were a vampire you would always be a vampire."

Sam pondered the issue for several minutes. "It's an interesting question, Bella. I don't have an answer for you, but that doesn't mean there isn't one. If we have an answer, it's going to be in the old legends. You know, the ones we all laughed at growing up? If you want, I can arrange for you to have access to the manuscripts. If there's ever been anything known about it, it'll be there."

"Sam, they've been dead for decades. Their hearts don't beat, they don't age, they're hard as stone and cold as ice. They can't possibly turn human!" Leah's voice rose to the point that Mackenzie stirred restlessly against Bella's chest, and Bella glared at the female wolf pointedly. Sam held up a hand to silence them both.

"The point is, we don't know. And I don't think any of us would get our feelings hurt if vampires started being human again. Makes our job easier. And think of it this way, the more time Bella spends on the reservation, the easier it is to keep her out of trouble. I'm not going to spend many man hours trying to find out, but if Bella wants to, that's her choice."

Jacob was looking at Bella, a funny expression on his face. Finally, he sighed. "Okay guys, I've got to get the monster into bed."

"I'll be by tomorrow to work out a patrol schedule. I don't want anyone patrolling alone. Quil, you can see Bella home."

Within minutes, the house was empty save Jacob, Bella and Quil. Jacob tried to take Mackenzie from Bella, but the baby tightened her grip on Bella's hair and snuggled in closer. Smiling, Bella stood. "I think maybe I should carry her up."

"She likes you." Quil ruffled the soft black hair gently, placed a kiss on Mackenzie's forehead. "I'll wait for you outside, Bella."

Silently, Bella and Jacob climbed the stairs and walked down the hall to the nursery. The walls were a sunny yellow, and the crib was hand carved and decorated in white lace linens. Bella smiled at the abundance of stuffed animals, toys and books. It was obvious Jacob's daughter was adored on the reservation.

"You're mad at me" Bella carefully detangled her hair from Mackenzie's grip, cradled the baby against her breast until her eyes closed and breathing slowed once more, signaling sleep. Slowly, she lowered Mackenzie into the crib, settling her amidst the blankets and letting her fingers drift over the silky skin before efficiently removing her shoes and socks.

"I'm not mad."

"Upset then. About the Cullens wanting to be human."

"All of them?"

"I don't know. If Alice wants it, Jasper would do it. Rose would jump at the chance, which means Emmett would just because he doesn't want to be without her. I don't think Carlisle and Esme would want to, but I can't be sure. And Edward? Well, your guess is as good as mine there."

"And if it's possible? If you find someway to make that happen, what then?"

"You mean, am I going to go running back into his arms forgetting everything that he did, forgetting how badly they hurt me, forgetting everything I feel for you, and everything that's happened since I got back?"

Sufficiently put in his place, Jacob sighed again. "Something like that."

"Jacob, trust me. Alice is my friend. Rosalie and Emmett and Jasper, they were like my siblings. Carlisle and Esme are people that I love dearly, and at one point, I wanted to spend eternity with Edward. But now, now I've realized that what I wanted was a child's dream. Life is a gift, and it's not something that should be wasted. They hurt me, they left me, they abandoned me. And while I understand, while I forgive, that is not something I can just forget. Some part of me will always love Edward, but I'm not in love with him anymore. I don't want that existence anymore. And at some point, if you want this to have even a chance of working, you're going to have to start believing me when I tell you that."

"I do believe you. I just know how it was the last time. They left, you were broken, and I put you back together. Then they came back, and it was like I didn't exist anymore. I handled it then, and not very well, but it's not just me I have to think about now, Bella. I need to know you're not going to go running back to them the second they come back."

Bella slipped her arms around his waist, tipped her head to look up at him. "Jacob Black, I am not going anywhere. I missed you every day that I was gone, and I want to take a chance and see what we have. I want to give us the chance I was too scared to give before. You never left me, you never hurt me. You're right, you did put me back together. And that was the problem. This time, I put myself back together, and spending that time with myself, making myself deal with it, it made me ready to move on. It made me ready to come back to you."

"You really didn't even look for the Cullens?"

"I thought about it. I won't tell you I didn't. But when my life was in danger and I knew I needed help, you were the one I wanted. You are the only one who has never let me down, who has never turned your back on me, even when I deserved it." She let her fingers skate over his face. "I'm ready, Jacob. But you need to be ready too."

He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth, pulling away before she could respond. "I am. I'll pick you up at five thirty on Tuesday. That'll give me time to shower and change after work. Dress nice."

****

Quil was waiting at her truck, leaning against the driver's door and studying the toe of his show when Bella came out of the house. He grinned when she tossed him her keys, eagerly slid behind the wheel of the Tahoe.

"I've been itching to drive this thing. Traded up from the old truck, hmm?"

"I had to leave it when I left with Edward. Then he got me some flashy sports car, which they left when they left. I traded it in a couple years ago for this baby. It's much more practical."

"And probably brings back memories. You should bring it by the shop, get one of us to take a look at it, make sure everything's running good."

"The shop?"

"Jake didn't tell you? Embry, Jake and I opened an auto shop a few years back. After high school, we went to the tech school in Port Angeles, got an automotive sciences certification and set up shop. We do pretty good. Seth works there, so do Jared and Paul most of the time"

"What about Leah and Sam?"

"Emily opened a restaurant about three years ago. Sam's good with paperwork, so he pretty much manages both places, makes sure we don't go bankrupt. Leah is a personal trainer at the gym in Forks." He looked at her curiously. "What have you been up to, Bella? I know you didn't sit on your ass for ten years."

Bella laughed. "No, no I didn't. I didn't work while I was with the Cullens. They wouldn't hear of it. But after they left, even though they left me plenty of money, I didn't want to live off of their charity. So I donated it. I kept enough for a deposit on a shitty apartment and two months of bills, and got rid of the rest. Then, I worked at a bookstore for a while, and as a waitress. About four years ago, I started writing. I figured I'd always loved books, so why not? I've published a few short stories in magazines, done some freelance work for online blogs, but last year I had a novel published."

"What kind of book?"

"What else? One about vampires. Fiction. Bloody and gory and fun. Nothing too close to the truth because I don't want to get the attention of the Volturi, but it was a blast to write. I've been working on one about werewolves for the past few months. It's due to my agent in January. I'm not a bestselling author by any stretch, but if I'm careful, I can write full time."

"Imagine that. Our Bella, a published author." Quil beamed at her, patted her leg enthusiastically. "I'm proud of you."

Suddenly, his face changed, and he began slowing the truck, rolling down the window to stick his head out. He sniffed the air, a low growl rising in his throat. Bella unbuckled her seatbelt, twisted to look out the back window. When she turned around, a scream tore out of her throat.

Because, in the middle of the road, maybe a hundred yards away, was Victoria. Her red hair hanging halfway down her back, her eyes glowing blood red in the dark, her hands clenched at her sides, her teeth bared in an evil smile. She began walking toward them, her heels clicking ominously on the pavement. Quil was quickly stripping out of his clothes.

"Stay here. No matter what you hear, you stay in this truck. Call Sam and Jacob."

Quil phased and charged the vampire. But Victoria, grabbed him by the throat and tossed him aside, his big body bouncing off the rock before coming to a stop with a sickening crunch. Before Bella could move, Victoria had ripped the door off the truck and dragged her out by her throat.

"Hello, Isabella. I think I'll kill you now."

****

Yay for cliffhangers. If you want to know what happens, leave a review!