Jacob

Not 30 minutes later did the door crash open and Sam and doctor Gerund come walking through, with Bella safely tucked in their arms. She was pale and wearing Embry's t-shirt, covered with tiny little cuts, a patch of gauze on he cheek bone, just under her eye. She'd never looked more beautiful.

There was a slight bulk under the shirt where her stomach was and I frowned. But when I reached over to lift it up Sam put his hand on mine and shook his head grimly.

I swallowed, that wasn't a good sign. I'd already prepared a bed, on the couch, for me of course. She was staying on my bed, in my room. Sam walked into my room and set her down as gently as he could.

"We're going after Quil. He's really freaked out right now." Half of my brain was listening while the other half, the bigger half, was focused entirely on Bella. It had seemed an eternity when they'd been gone and I couldn't help thinking that if anything happened to my Bella I would surely die. My Bella. When had I started thinking of her as mine?

Oh, probably when your friends walked in carrying her, beat to a pulp, and you still thought she was the most beautiful creature on this earth.

Right.

" . . . want to come with us?" I shook my head mutely, I was staying with Bella, no matter what.

I heard the door close and realized, vaguely, I was alone with her. I sat down on the bed beside her, staring at her. Then the agony broke through.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. I could've protected you, I could've done something!" I whispered raggedly.

My eyes burned with tears and I furiously wiped them away. I couldn't brake down now, I needed to be strong, if not for myself, then for Bella. I sat down carefully on the bed, then reclined so I was lying on my side, facing her. The background faded from dark to black and pretty soon the only thing I could see, the only thing in my sight was Bella.

Even with all the bandages she was beautiful. Her ivory skin smooth and silky, her mahogany hair spread out beneath her, and her hands folded lightly above her chest, like sleeping beauty. It was only then I caught a whiff of her scent.

Her smell was intoxicating, like some sort of exotic flower, something earthy . . . and maybe some vanilla, rolling across my tongue like the sweetest sin. It was something I wanted to sink my teeth into. Something delicious and entirely mine.

The passionate promise of damp, pink flesh that would be warm and slippery to the lap of my tongue, succulent like a treasure. This is crazy, she's your best friend, a tiny voice in my brain screamed but it didn't make sense, didn't seem logical compared to te urging inside me, telling me that she was mine and nobody else's.

Hunger crawled up my spine, ripping through my system with such ferocity I almost expected to look down and see blood seeping through the bark flannel of my shirt. My nostrils flared as another soft drift of mouth watering scent crashed through me. I shivered. Oh, yes, this was definitely ridiculous.

Only a couple of seconds later, when Bella shifted slightly, a small frown on her brow did I realize I was growling. The smell alone had tied me up in knots, making my body feel even more awkward: tight, hot, and swollen. This was something succulent and rich that sat on the tip of my tongue, like a warm drop of honey. I wanted to roll it around for a deeper taste, draw it into the cavern of my mouth and bite down on it, holding it. Keeping it. Fighting for it.

These past few days, women had come easily to him. Slipping their numbers, hotel keys in his pockets, none of them knew that if they did have sex with him, it would be illegal in all 50 states. And I'd smelled all of them.

But Bella's smell was different. Give me blood and battle and I was right at home. Give me loose and easy and I could make her scream, either from ecstasy or fear. But give me something complicated, something that tangled with my emotions, and I shut down. Too much work and I didn't have the time, but with Bella, this could maybe work.

This? What's this? There is no this. A rational thought entered my head but I stubbornly pushed it away, there would be a 'this' if I had anything to say about it.

And Bella smelled complicated.

As I stared down at her small delicate body, barely covered by Embry's over sized shirt, a fierce, possessive wave of heat poured through my veins, my mouth watered, and it was only with conscious thought I controlled the urge to pant like a bitch in heat.

A nice long howl would have felt good, though hardly appropriate, considering the circumstances of my position. But Bella was hurting now, and I needed to protect her, even from myself.

Left with nothing else to do, the beast inside me grumbled it's displeasure, curling back into it's self and quietly seething in agitation, while my human half struggled with the intense need to grab her and run as far as I could to keep her safe.

I settled for holding her, wrapping my arms around her cold skin and warming her with my heat, praying to god that he would keep her safe.