Thank you everyone for your amazingly kind responses! It is great to know that others are enjoying this journey with me.

I would like to welcome aboard (with great thanks) Leria who has graciously agreed to beta this story for me and have been a huge help with this Part of this story and hopefully many more to come.

So without further ado onto the story.


Part 6

To say that I woke feeling like I had had a good night sleep would have been a lie.

I felt stiff and sore, like I'd been run over by a bus and instead of dying I was left in limbo to feel the aches and pains of my mortal body. The only conciliation was that it was morning, and the next full moon was a faraway prospect.

The full moon! The debacle with the Quileute wolves! Mathew and Jacob fighting, breaking my arm, Jacob trying to kill me and the look of panic on Matt's face as I Changed back to my human form. It all came back in a rush that set my heart pounding in my chest as I fought the rest of the way to consciousness.

I opened my eyes to find myself tucked neatly in my bed in Edward's room. Dan was staring out of the windows at the forest beyond, and Carlisle stood motionless at the foot of the bed watching me. I took a deep breath and looked down at my right arm. To be honest it wasn't much of a surprise to see a cast encasing it from just below the elbow. What was a shock was the sunshine yellow of the material.

"Daniel will be relieved that you are awake. You were unconscious when I set and cast your arm;. It was probably for the best. You snapped both your radius and your ulna. Alice insisted on the color." Carlisle stated, and Dan turned to look at me, his eyes wide.

"Trust Alice." I gave them both a weak smile. "Is he okay? How angry is he?" I asked Dan who looked a mixture of pissed off and relieved now that he realized that I was going to be fine.

"Depends on who he is." Dan replied as Carlisle's cool hand descended on my wrist at the pulse point. "I'm angry but more with Carlisle than with you. Edward is trying to decide who to blame; you for keeping secrets from the Quileutes, Matt for getting in a fight with Jacob, you for your lack of self-preservation, Paul for breaking your arm, Emmett for not letting him kill Jacob, Jacob for not listening to him and Alice, or you for allowing yourself to be bitten in the first place. Paul is mad that you ever came back to Forks and is fine all be it his ear will probably never quite look right. Matt is more likely to kill you then want to talk to you currently although he is wearing a few of his own battle scars. Your precious Jacob seems to be fine except he hasn't moved or said a word since Esme showed him into the living room."

"For the record I did mean Matt." I replied feeling more than a little ashamed of myself that Dan would even think I wasn't talking about his brother, our pack-mate. To Carlisle's credit he didn't react to Dan's confession of anger toward him and carried on with my checkup. "I am sorry Dan. I couldn't let them hurt each other! If Carlisle hadn't grabbed you, you would have done the same, all be it with slightly different motivations."

"I know, that's why I can't be too mad at you. I'm more mad that I was stupid enough to encourage you to follow that rabbit." His light gray eyes looked tired and sad. Dan was so much like the younger sibling that I had never had that my instincts begged me to find a way to make him feel better. "I'm mad that Carlisle did catch me, and I wasn't there to help you guys. Maybe you wouldn't have broken your arm if I had been there to cut off Paul."

"Maybe… what if... It doesn't really matter little brother." I smiled at him then I sat up. "I'm fine. Aren't I Carlisle?" I looked to Edward's adopted father for support. He smiled kindly at me, and I could see the laughter that was playing at the corner of his mouth.

"Take it easy over the next couple of days and you should be more than fine. I'll set up a appointment for an x-ray midweek so I can calculate your healing time." Carlisle stood. "I'll send Alice up to help you dress."

"Don't worry about it. I can manage." I pushed the blankets off myself. "I don't need her trying to color coordinate my clothes with my cast." Carlisle chuckled and nodded from the doorway.

"I'll go tell Matt you're up. I just hope he doesn't try to kill you when he sees you." Dan made to excuse himself but I grabbed a hold of his hand as he made to walk by me.

"It wasn't your fault Dan, I made my own choices." I smiled at him before letting him go and getting on with the tedious and somewhat painful process of pulling on jeans and a t-shirt.

It wasn't dressing that really took the extra time; it was inspecting the rest of the damage that had been inflicted on my body. There were a bunch of small cuts and bruises on my arms and legs which would fade to nothing sooner rather than later. My right arm was broken and in the happiest color of yellow cast that I had ever seen before. I had an oval shaped bruise that almost covered my whole ribcage on my right side and four nasty gashes - two on either side of my neck just below my ears where a wolf's teeth had gotten through my fur and into my flesh.

I traced the scabbed over gashes lightly with my fingertips. They stung a little when I touched them and I couldn't see them fading quickly enough to not be noticeable by the time I had to be at Melika's or my father's homes. Paul had gotten a good hold on me before I Changed back into my much weaker human self.

I sighed and pulled a t-shirt over my head. I shook my head at myself as I buttoned up my jeans and went in search of a sweater to hide the gleaming yellow monstrosity on my arm.

I could already imagine my dad's reaction to me showing up on his doorstep bruised and broken. A few bruises and scrapes weren't abnormal after a full moon but broken arms and gouges on my neck were. Matt and I were going to have to come up with one hell of a good story to tell my father so he didn't run Matt off with a shotgun for not looking after me properly.

I rummaged through Edward's closet until I found probably the only hooded sweatshirt that he owned and pulled it over my head. It was time to face the mess that I had created and it was all downstairs patiently waiting for my arrival.

I cringed, took a deep breath and made my way out of Edward's room and the only safe haven that it felt like I had.

Edward was standing just outside. I could tell that his attention had been totally fixed on the door until I walked out. He gave me a strange look and reached out touching my neck, right over the scabs that Paul had left. His ice cold fingers soothed the painful skin around the healing wounds.

"They look worse than they are." I offered covering his cold hand with mine and gripping lightly. He looked disheveled, well as much as a god-like creature could look disheveled. His clothes were ever so slightly rumpled, his hair looked a mess even though his style tended to be intentionally messy, and his eyes were almost coal black.

"Nice sweater," he said.

"I just needed something to cover this." I held up my encased arm. He gave me a half smile, and I knew that I was forgiven.

"I'm going away for a while Bella," he cupped my face with his hands and looked closely at me like he was trying to see into my very soul, to the core of who I was. I would never be sure if he could come to terms with what he saw there. "I can't stay here and watch - I can't stay and try and play nice when all-" There was anguish in his voice, and I swallowed hard. My throat closed slightly as I stopped the tears that threatened from falling. Hurting Edward was not something that was pleasant for me although it seemed to come naturally enough for it to happen at every turn.

"I'm not going to see you again for a long time - am I?" I bit my lip and felt the little hole that was Edward in my chest tear open just a little as he nodded his affirmation. I could feel his hands tremble slightly, and I nodded my understanding although it hurt to do so.

"If you need me, I won't be far away," he promised, placing a lingering kiss on my forehead and then he was gone.

I felt numb.

I shuffled down the stairs. My feet felt too heavy to lift. I wanted to turn tail and head in the opposite direction and lick my wounds in peace but even I knew that I would eventually have to face the consequences of my actions. I didn't even make it to the living room before Matt found me in the hallway. He was angry; I could feel the anger coming off of him in waves. He grabbed me by my upper arm and steered me into the kitchen before turning me to face him again.

He looked like he had taken a bit of a beating last night too. He had visible cuts, bruises and a few minor gashes on his arms, the back of his neck, around his throat and a wonderful looking split lip. I could see one particularly nice bruise at his collarbone that even the neck of his black t-shirt couldn't entirely cover from sight. I almost smiled thinking that he could at least be grateful that he hadn't broke his arm and ended up with a far too cheerfully colored cast to match mine.

Matt looked more tired than angry, and he was very angry. I could see the anger growing on his face as he took in my somewhat battered appearance. According to his face I looked a whole lot worse than I thought I did. I almost quipped that at least my face looked fine as the silence dragged on for a moment as he collected himself. I caught myself and thought better of it. When my own emotions were riding one hell of a rollercoaster was not the time to provoke an already angry werewolf.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" he roared at me after what seemed like a lifetime of standing and waiting for him to speak.

I clenched my jaw to stop myself from throwing an instant retort back in his face. If there was one thing that I learned about Matthew Wainwright it was that you didn't antagonize him when he was already mad.

"I-" I opened my mouth to answer his question, but he cut me off sharply.

"You know this territory better than we do! What were you thinking ignoring your surroundings and letting Daniel lead you off on a merry dance? Why didn't you follow Daniel back to Cullen territory? What were you thinking leaping into the middle of a fight you couldn't help in?" He clenched his fists tightly at his side and his muscles seemed to tremble under the strain of his own anger.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't paying attention. You forget that I'm not a Cullen! I have never had to worry about boundary lines or treaties when I've been here before because the only thing that Jacob and Edward fought over was trying to keep me away from the other. I have always come and gone freely and when I wanted to. I messed up and yeah it got me hurt. I'm not going to stand here though and apologize for going back to help you." I held my hands up in a form of half surrender. The wolf in me wished to submit to the anger of her Alpha but at some point in my life I had learned to be proud and the woman in me wouldn't allow me to do anything but back my own decisions.

"You didn't help me Isabella; you almost got yourself killed!" The anger seemed to be intensifying in his voice not dissipating. "You never Change, you hardly know how to use your senses unless you're human, you haven't even perfected the simplest ways to hunt prey let along another predator, and you think that you're qualified to get in the middle of a fight between two Alpha wolves. What was going through your head?"

"You don't know Jacob, Mathew! His whole purpose in life is to kill vampires. He's been training for years to do it too. He's killed many of them. Do you think that he was about to take kindly to being challenged on his own territory?" I cried, my temper taking hold of me inch by inch.

"Seems like you have forgotten who I am Isabella, -" he growled right back, his eyes changing from blue to the yellowish green of his wolf. I was dealing with my Alpha, wolf and man together.

"How could I forget who you are? You never let me. You are Matthew Wainwright son and almost heir to the great Ian Wainwright and his even greater Clan! Alpha, enforcer and playboy - the big bad wolf." I snapped right back. "What I think is that you've forgotten your situation now. You do not have one of the biggest Clans in Europe and North America backing you at every turn. You only have Dan and I, and what is your brother going to do without you if you let a shape-shifter kill you?"

"And whose fault is that?" He threw at me, his voice rising higher and higher, causing me to flinch.

"Both of ours." I replied, clenching my fists at my side. "It took both of us to make the mess that landed you out of your father's good graces. I should never have slept with you, but I was trying to move on; I was trying to work out how to live a life that didn't involve the man that I did love and you knew it! You knew that I didn't love you, but you bit me anyway! You didn't even give me a choice. The only choice I did have was not to give up what family I have left. So don't you dare try and pin it all on me you self-righteous son of a bitch!" I yelled back at him.

"Yeah that's right, it's my fault, and I have to live with it." He turned away from me and leaned against the counter. It was as if he couldn't even bring himself to look at me anymore. "But that doesn't excuse your behavior last night or ever since you were Made. Most of us try and do the best we can in a bad situation, but no, not you, not the irrevocably broken Isabella Swan." He turned and glared at me. I glared right back at him as he continued his tirade. "No, you refuse to even acknowledge your Change until the full moon forces it on you. You won't even learn what it is to be Clan because heaven forbid that you actually like what you find. And why? All because your precious Jacob loved the human you. How the hell do you expect to act as part of a Clan or even defend your pack-mates when you don't even know how to be a werewolf?"

"I did just fine last night didn't I? You're fine, and Dan wasn't hurt. I would say that I did rather well under the circumstances." I took a deep breath to try and calm myself.

"That's not good enough!" Matt exploded, slamming his fists into the black granite counter top. "You almost killed yourself last night!"

"Nothing that I do or have done in the last couple of years is right Mathew. Not for you! You don't seem to understand that I never wanted to give up my family or friends. I gave up the first love of my life because that was the only way I could be with him. What makes you think that I would make a different choice now? You grew up in a Clan; you grew up a werewolf, a slave to the full moon. It's always been your life! It hasn't always been mine and you expect me to just instantly fall in line. That's not who I am anymore." I threw my hands in the air in exasperation.

"So that makes me the big bad guy?" His jaw was working overtime as he looked at me.

"No, it just means that you can't force me to be this correct Clan female. I am not like your mother or sister or any of the other women that you grew up with. I want a life. I want my own life." I looked at the floor and sighed.

"Just tell me what the hell you were thinking last night? I had Edward tell you that I didn't want you to be involved and you still turned back," he frowned, all traces of his rage disappearing as he looked at me. "I just don't understand!"

I made eye contact with him again. "I couldn't let him hurt you, and I couldn't let you hurt him!" I said softly as he moved toward me. His hands found my shoulders and squeezed gently. "What would I have done then? I love him Mathew, I can't seem to do a damn thing about it, but I love you too, just differently. You're my rock, my friend, my Alpha. It would have destroyed me to have to hate either of you." He pulled me into a rough embrace, one of his arms tight around my torso as his other hand held the back of my head.

"You scared me," he whispered into my hair. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly back.

"I didn't mean to," I said. He stiffened and released his hold on me; I frowned at him before turning and looking at the open doorway. It turned out that we had almost all of the Cullen's as an audience, and I didn't know how long they had been standing there.

"Well I think the show is officially over and since no one was killed or needs further medical attention we should all probably head to the living room." Alice clapped her hands together, a smile on her face that Vanna White would have been proud of. She started to shoo everyone down the hallway, and I looked at Matt.

"Did you notice?" I waved my hand at the retreating backs feeling a little foolish about having witnesses to our argument.

"Can't say that I did." He shrugged.

"We good?" I asked.

"Yeah." He nodded at me and then in the direction that our audience had gone. "I think that we have some explaining to do."

"Yeah." It was my turn to nod. Only at least we would be going together.

It was hard to make a living room as large as the Cullen's feel crowded but there were far too many emotions running high in the room.

Seth and Jacob were sitting on opposite ends of the couch stiff and ill at ease; Alice was hovering by a slightly open window and Dan was waiting for us by the door tenser than anyone else. They all looked at me as I entered, Matt a step behind.

"See, I told you he wasn't going to kill me little brother." I reached out and gave his arm a squeeze and he instantly relaxed as my eyes floated to Jacob.

Jacob was dressed, in jeans and a t-shirt that he must have borrowed from Emmett; his feet were still bare. He held his hands tightly together in front of him, his arms resting on his legs as he looked at me critically. His emotions were hidden behind a look of stone cold nothingness that made me shiver.

There was no physical sign of the fight on his body, his super healing having taken care of him almost as quickly as he was hurt. There were dark circles under his eyes betraying his tiredness, it was taking every ounce of strength that he had to stay seated and it was obvious the way that his one foot was lightly tapping the ground. He must have ran his hands through is hair a thousand times, the way that it was stuck up in a hundred different angles.

I moved to the chair that sat near where he was sitting on the couch and sat down myself. Trying not to fidget under his scrutinizing gaze the way that he had been before we arrived to take up his attention. Seth cleared his throat at the other end of the couch and shifted uncomfortably. I turned toward him and tried for a smile but knew it looked weak.

"Hi Jake," I said softly.

"What the hell were you doing last night?" he asked. Unlike Matt there was no rage in his tone, just exasperation and curiosity.

"Playing," I shrugged. "Daniel and I got carried away. We weren't thinking so we traveled across the boundary line; I apologize for the trouble that I caused." I said as I motioned toward the youngest of the Wainwright brothers so he would know who I was referring to.

"Why didn't you communicate who you were to us?" He was looking at me almost clinically now, and I frowned.

"I can't. We," I gestured with one hand to included Matt and Dan in my comment, "aren't like you. We are werewolves, Clan, the Moon's children. We don't have any sort of telepathy or hive mind. That's one of the differences between shape-shifters and werewolves." I shrugged. Jacob stood, running a hand through his short cropped hair and I frowned. All be it his hair had never been very long before he met Melika, he had started to let it get somewhat shaggy and I missed the look.

"How did it happen?" He asked me.

"I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I frowned at him.

"No, you becoming a werewolf? Are Charlie or Renee…?"

"No!" I shook my head firmly. "I was bitten," I tried to gather my thoughts for a moment and then tried to explain myself a little better. "If you are bitten, becoming a traditional werewolf isn't unlike turning into a vampire only you aren't guaranteed to Change. You have a fifty/fifty chance of dying in the process. "

"God damn it Bella, did you learn nothing before you left here?" he looked almost sad.

"You are the last person on the planet who gets to judge me Jacob." I replied. "I never would have left Forks if it hadn't have been for your stupid tribal blood." I was instantly sorry for what I had said but there was no taking it back or wiping the look of extreme pain from his face. I had stuck the lowest blow that I knew how and it had actually succeeded in wounding him. Part of me was surprised, another part glad but mostly I felt miserable. "Jake, I- "

"No Bells, you're right," he nodded his head, his jaw working for a moment as he seemed to look at the floor briefly and then looked up once more. His whole facial features had changed, hardened. He looked the same as two nights ago, angry, sullen and hostile. His eyes were black as night and hard as diamonds. I am sorry you were hurt. Seth will inform Sam and the rest of the Pack of what you all look like. Let us know if you plan to use our grounds to hunt."

"We will." It was Matt that spoke and for a moment Jacob's attention was fixed totally on him. It was a heated stare between the two men. Both were Alpha in their own right, both were strong and capable and both did or had cared for me. Only now Jacob knew my secret and I was sure he suspected the truth that I had alluded to in my letters. Matt had caused a big change in my life and now he knew what the change was.

"I hope you heal quickly." Jake looked at me once more, any feeling of sadness or the residual effects of my words were wiped from his face.

"Thank you for your hospitality," he said over his shoulder to Alice as Seth stood and moved to his side. They were gone from the room before I could breathe another word.

"Jake!" I called out, running out of the room after them only to find the front door slamming in front of me. Matt caught me around the waist to stop me going any further and held me tightly to his chest as I crumpled against him and the tears started to flow.