I woke up to a hand on my face. Confused, I tried to fight it off. I felt like I was moving through tar, the hand was so heavy, so hot. I tried to open my eyes. My eyelids were so heavy.

"Bella." Oh. Jake. I felt myself smile, relax. I forced my treacle eyes open. The room was dim, lit only by ambient light from outside. It was night, the air was cool. I must have been asleep for hours. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust, to figure out that Jake was kneeling on the floor next to the bed, leaning over me.

"Hey Jake." I tried to form the words properly, but they came out all slurred. Jake's face was all fuzzy above me, his features were softened by my sluggish brain.

A strangled moan came from the back of his throat. He groaned my name, and buried his face in my neck. "Can you please, please, stop almost dying?"

A huff of air bubbled from my throat, my attempt at a laugh. I meant to say "Stop over reacting, you big baby." But it came out as "Strrrph ovvrctnnng, ooo bgh bbeph." I felt Jake's body convulse on the bed, his big arm thrown across my body. I thought he was laughing at my stupid voice, but when he raised his head, his face was wet with tears.

"Don't you understand? If I had been less than a second later tonight, you would be dead. Dead!"

That didn't faze me at all somehow. I just smiled and tried to move my hand to touch his head, but it felt even heavier than the rest of me. Confused, I rolled my head to the side. My hand was swathed in thick white bandages, the tips of my fingers poking out from the end of a club of wadding. Jake followed my gaze, and moved his head to kiss the top of my ring finger. "They think it'll heal by itself. They hope they won't have to give you a skin graft or anything." His sigh seemed to deflate his entire body. "The story Charlie got was that Quil needed a walk, and you slipped, caught your hand on a sharp rock when you went down a bank." He shuddered.

I rolled my eyes around in my head. Where was I? It took a second to register, but I was in Jake's room. I was in Jake's bed? I tugged at the top I was wearing, one of Jacob's rarely used T shirts. What would my father say about this? "Ssss Charlie?" Jake smiled.

"It's turned into a bit of a party out there. Charlie's out with everyone, having a great time. He's completely trashed, Sam took his keys and I've set up a mattress in the lounge for him." I noticed music for the first time, coming in softly through the window.

The heaviness was falling from me, a dull ache started to throb in my hand. I lay in silence for a few minutes, trying to gather myself. There were so many things I wanted to ask him, but I was having trouble keeping my train of thought. Music and voices were coming in from the street. "What happened?" I asked at last.

Jake shuddered again. Grunting, he shoved me over on his bed and stretched out beside me, his feet dangling off the end of the mattress. "It was strange man. Quil was just in my head all of a sudden. I could see you, through his eyes, and feel how scared he was." His deep breath shook his body. "You were reaching up to him, like you were begging for your life. You have NO idea how lucky you are that he only just caught you with the tip of his claw… he could have easily taken your arm off."

He sighed. "I could see where you were, and just ran. It was so crazy, seeing you through Quil's eyes and mine. You looked like one of those old religious paintings. All curled up on the ground, hands at your throat. Praying." He rolled towards me and touched his fingers to my face. "We owe you a lot, Bella. Sam was a bit dubious, about how loyal you would be to us, because of the Cullen's and stuff. But you – you put yourself in danger tonight, to help one of our brothers. You have a big fan base, little lady." He rested the backs of his fingers against my cheek, brushing his thumb up my cheekbone.

I smiled "A fan club? Of mutants? That's pretty cool." Jake shook his head, his beautiful half smile on his face. "How's Quil?" I asked.

Jake grinned. "Typical. Someone tries to kill you, and you wonder if they're ok." He tugged my good hand up to his face and kissed my palm. Warmth spread through my fingers. "He's ok, considering. He feels terrible for taking a swipe at you. He was just scared, and was trying to make you leave, but he didn't know his own reach, or strength. He'll apologize in person, once he's got a better handle on himself."

I nodded, understanding. I wriggled my swaddled hand again. "Any permanent damage?"

He grimaced. "Not sure. It might take a while for you to be able to move your fingers properly. Just don't overdo it now, and they should heal ok. No playing guitar." He smiled weakly at his attempt at humor. "It's really gross. Quil just peeled the skin back off your wrist and hand, up to your knuckles. Like when you open one of those old fashioned sardine tins. It's clean, but it's honestly sickening. All your bones and stuff were showing." He pressed my functioning hand to his face, his eyes squeezed shut, and his body shuddered as he drew a deep breath. "You're way too important to me Bells." His voice was a whisper, muffled by my palm. "You can't leave me like that. You can't. I'll do whatever you ask me to, whatever you need. I'll leave you alone forever if that's what you want, but you can't… die… like that. What would I do?"

I was silent, stunned, as Jake's body trembled next to mine. He pressed his lips against my palm again, his hot breath making my skin tingle. He was whispering my name into my skin. His lips moved down my wrist, pressing kisses against the inside of my arm. His mouth set me on fire, electric pulses ran under my skin. I felt my heart quicken when his lips moved to the crook of my elbow, a wave of hard desire ran over me, making every inch of my skin prickle. A deep moan built up in the pit of my stomach, escaping from between my lips when Jake ran his fingers up the inside of my arm, only barely brushing my skin, sending my blood rushing, making my breath rasp in my throat.

Jacob's answering groan was almost a whimper, a question. His fingers brushed up and down the inside of my arm, making my hairs stand on end. I must have been on some seriously heavy painkillers, because it dawned on me that something was going to happen with Jake that I could never reverse, but I wasn't scared, I was enjoying it. I sighed throatily, closing my eyes and relaxing into the bed. Jake's hands started to shake slightly. His body was so close to mine, I could feel the heat radiating from him. He wrapped one of his unsteady hands around my waist, stroking my back. His face was still pressed into my arm, he seemed unsure of what to do. We lay there for an age, his fingers sliding up and down my spine. I moaned with every one of his exhalations, his hot breath running beneath the fabric of the shirt I was wearing, warming my skin.

He groaned my name, the sound was full of hope, longing, desperation, angst. "Bella." The sound of it sent tremors quaking through me. "What do you…"

Sound exploded in the house. I gasped, and Jake's fingers stopped dead, he half sat-up. "JAKE!" came Embry's voice. "JAKE MAN!" Jacob swore loudly, a frown on his beautiful face.

"Embry. You open that door and I will kill you." Jake growled. Embry's footsteps stopped outside the door.

"Jake." Embry sounded breathless, frantic. "She's here. Right freakin' here. You have to come!"

"Victoria." I whispered. Fear gripping my heart. Charlie was out there. Billy, Leah and Seth… so many innocent people.

Jacob leaped to his feet. "Sorry." He whispered, planting a quick kiss on my cheek. "Stay here. You'll be safe, I promise." Then he was gone.