JACOB'S POV

Our plane to Miami had landed in record speed and I'm not sure why. Either Mr. Smith had had a private word with the pilot, explaining that he needed to get to Miami as soon as possible, or perhaps fortune was just on my side. I wanted to think that fortune was on my side, especially since I hadn't yet felt any signs that Bella was in danger.

I was putting a lot of faith in Trudy. She had told me that if I wanted proof that something was off about Edward and Bella's love for each other, to pay attention to whether they were truly able to agree to their wedding vows. Bella hadn't been able to. That alone had made me have more trust in Trudy. Now, I just hoped my trust in the imprint talisman I had placed on Bella was justified.

I had to admit though, when our plane touched down, I had wondered around aimlessly. Miami was a big place. How was I supposed to know where to go? Leah and Seth, who had blindly followed me, were wondering the same thing, though they were afraid to outright ask.

Finally, Leah came up with the simple and genius idea to ask where the fanciest hotel of the city was located.

"You mean the Sagamore?" asked the taxicab driver we had flagged down. "You're trying to go there?"

I immediately didn't like the tone of his voice. I didn't like the way he was looking at us either. I knew what he was thinking as he took in our disheveled appearances.

"Did she stutter?" I said to the cab driver.

He snorted at me. "Look," he said, "it's a good 50 miles away and it's going to cost you."

"Well, we're in a hurry, so let's get going," I said, refusing to think about the fact that we had no money. I knew this detail was something that didn't escape Seth, who was nervously rocking back and forth. I put a firm hand on his shoulder to hold him still. His anxiety was not being any help to us. I privately cursed my luck, thinking about how of all the pack members, the ones that end up following me had to be the youngest and the only girl.

"We have business to attend to," said Leah, trying her best to be polite and poised despite her shabby clothes and disheveled hair. I had to admire her ability to channel elegance after all we'd been though within the last 24 hours. Maybe there were some benefits to having a female pack member. Plus, I knew that being outdoors did not permit for me to use the same tactic I had used with Mr. Smith. My aggression did not seem to work well with this cab driver anyway. It seemed best to take a step back and let Leah handle this.

"What type of business, girly?" he asked.

"Is that really any of your business?" she said, the slightest bit of edge creeping into her voice.

"Look-" began the cab driver.

"Sir," said Leah, cutting him off, "all we're asking for is a ride."

"You got money to pay?"

"Yes."

"Hop in."

The three of us crammed into the backseat of the taxi. We all exchanged glances, wondering how we were going to make our way out of this. We had no money and nothing of value on us.

Our only other option would have been to get there by foot, and that wouldn't be possible. Going by foot in human form would take too long. Going in wolf form would cause mass hysteria because there were too many people around. This was a hot tourist spot.

When we reached our destination, we were just going to have to jump out the cab and make a run for it. We'd need to find a place to hide and figure out our next move.

Perhaps there is some form of rhyme and reason to this mad world that housed supernatural freaks of nature.

Fate does exist and sometimes it is on my side. That's what kept going through my mind as I ran blindly with a purpose, to exactly where I needed to be. Leah and Seth were at my side, following my lead with no questions asked.

People yelled and screamed behind us. We had done the only thing I thought we could do—jumped out of the taxi when we reached our destination and ran.

The cab driver through a fit. He almost started to chase us on foot before catching the attention of some police officers and security guards who were now hot on our tails. Of course, they weren't as fast as us. We had an obvious advantage over them, though it was becoming more and more frustrating each time my foot hit the pavement that we couldn't just burst into wolf form to maximize our speed. It was too dangerous. We were already pushing and shoving tourists and pedestrians as we ran to the hotel that fortune lead us to—the one I knew contained Bella and Edward, without a doubt.

It was almost as if the stars had lined up too perfectly. As soon as the cab pulled over, it hit me.

I felt a wave of panic and pain. My heart trembled. My breath got caught. And a vision of Bella danced before my eyes as plain as day. I knew this was the sign. She was in danger. The time had come.

"It's now," I had said. "Now!"

That was all it required to get Leah and Seth to spring into action right behind me.

The timing was all too perfect. I could only pray that we would actually reach her in time…

Ignoring the shouts and screams and yells and appalled stares surrounding us, we had reached the hotel building. Something told me rather than go inside and deal with all the hassle, climb the fire escape.

Leah and Seth followed.

How I knew what landing to get off on was beyond me. Whatever was guiding me was truly out of my hands.

I saw a balcony with glass doors—curtains pulled closed.

I heard an agonized scream.

That was all it took. I lost it.

Midway between jumping off the fire escape and onto the balcony, I morphed.

My heavy wolf from crashed through the glass doors. Glass shattered everywhere. The sound of a crescendo.

No. No. No.

The sight that met my eyes nearly crushed my heart.

Bella was on the bed, drenched in blood. Pale white. Her body was convulsing, unconsciously trying to fend off the attack. A bath towel barely covered her naked body as Edward-Edward, the love of her life, held her with a vice grip, feeding off of her.

He was draining her body of blood. Killing her. And he knew it because amid his feeding, he let out the most tortured and sorrowful cries I had ever heard.

Many things happened at once.

Leah, still in human form, cried out "NOOOO!"

Seth ran forward, directly approaching the scene and trying to stop Edward. Leah leapt forward, trying to stop her younger brother. I pounced, meaning to push them both out of harm's way, but instead, sent them flying across the hotel suite. They landed on glass tables. Glass exploded everywhere.

Sirens of police vehicles blared outside.

I blocked out all sound. I had eyes for Edward alone.

Edward.

I had decided against killing him. I had taken Leah and Seth on this long journey with the intentions of laying the truth out right before them. I had come here to talk. But all of that was before witnessing the nightmare in front of me.

Edward was not biting Bella to change her into a bloodsucker. He was sucking her blood. I knew what had happened. He bit her and his predatory instincts took over against his own will. That's why he was sobbing.

I felt no sympathy for him. Changing Bella was a stupid idea and he should have known how horribly dangerous it was. That stupid, short-sighted, blood-sucking bastard.

A low, angry growl rose up from my throat. I bared my teeth, which were aching to tear him apart for draining the life out of Bella.

Among all the commotion, it seemed to be my growl that had finally alerted him. He looked up, looked right into my eyes. His face was covered in blood. His clothes were stained with blood. Bella's blood.

"Help," he said in agony.

Sure. I was going to help alright.

I charged and pounced on Edward.

I pinned him to the floor. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Bella's limp body slide off the bed and onto the floor. She was covered in bite marks.

I howled. Sorrow. How could this have happened? Why did Bella have to be the one? Fortune hadn't been on my side after all. It hadn't been on anyone's side.

I curled my lips back over my canine teeth. Edward wasn't putting up a fight under my weight. I didn't care. He was going to allow this to be an easy kill. So be it.

I went right for his throat.

And then I was knocked sideways. For a moment, I thought he was fighting back.

"Jake, don't!" came Seth's voice. It wasn't Edward who had pushed me aside, but a smaller wolf. Seth had transformed.

"Too many people are around. We've got to do something quick! Before someone gets up here!" said Leah's panicked voice in my mind. She had transformed too.

"Who cares!" I yelled hysterically. "He killed Bella!"

I charged at Edward again. He still hadn't moved. He remained on the floor, his eyes wide as if in shock.

Leah beat me to him. She pinned him to the floor, but did not attack. In fact, she seemed to be trying to block me from getting to him.

"We have to be rational, Jake," said Leah, though she was looking into Cullen's eyes. "We've got a lot to figure out, and we've got to do it fast." She motioned her head to the broken glass balcony door that I had burst through.

The yells and sirens were still sounding from outside, several stories down. It was only a matter of time before the police came and stumbled upon a scene they wouldn't even be able to wrap their minds around.

Three wolves, a vampire, and a naked bloody dead girl.

Leah had a point. Yet, all I could think about was sinking my teeth into Cullen's hard flesh and then going back to Forks to kill the leader of his coven for creating this abomination who just killed the girl I loved.

Seth was beside her. He gently nudged her body with his muzzle.

"Jake!" said Seth. "She just moved! She's not dead!"

"What?"

I rushed to Bella's side, bringing my head close to her. I looked at her chest; it wasn't moving. I brought my head close to her face. I felt no breath.

I needed to feel for a pulse.

I calmed myself enough to return to human form. Seth followed suit.

I picked Bella up, gently cradling her in my arms and then placed her on the bed. I grabbed her wrist, feeling for a pulse. I got nothing.

"I swear she moved," said Seth. "She moved, just barely, but she did."

I laid my head on her chest…

"My god," I said. I looked back toward Leah. "She has a faint heartbeat." Leah was still in wolf form, sitting with her two front paws on Edward's chest, keeping him pinned to the floor.

"What does this mean?" I cried. "Is she going to change? Is she going to die?" I ran my hands through my hair, confused and frustrated.

"Let's call an ambulance."

"Let me take her to Carlisle," said Edward.

"You! Shut the hell up!" I yelled. "How dare you even speak right now!"

"Look, I'm grateful you're here. But you can't take her to the hospital. Human doctors won't know-"

"SHUT UP!" I roared.

"Jake-" said Seth.

Leah huffed and I think it was directed at me.

"They're coming," said Edward.

"Who?" I asked, annoyed.

"Police. The hotel manager. The cab driver," said Edward.

I swore. Why was nonsense like this going on when the girl I loved was dying or possibly turning into a monster?

"Please," said Edward to Leah, "use our clothes. Quickly!"

Everyone paused for a moment. Then Leah leapt off of Cullen and raced to a closet. The movement was so sudden, it caught me off guard. Unfortunately, Cullen was quicker to act. The very moment Leah left him, he rose to his feet.

"WAIT!" Seth yelled. But it was too late. Edward had ran and jumped off the balcony.

I yelled in fury. He wasn't supposed to get away. If Leah and Seth wouldn't let me kill him, I was going to at least tie him up and deliver him to Sam.

I rushed to the balcony, looking over the edge. I heard people shrieking, but there were no signs of Cullen. He was a vampire who had just feasted on human blood; he was stronger and faster than he had been in decades after a diet of only animal blood. That meant, clearly, he was moving in a speed too fast for the human eye to observe. There was no telling where he had gone.

"Jake! Honestly!" said Leah. I turned around. She was dressed in some of Bella's clothes, and she threw some of Edward's clothes at me. That made me suddenly realize the reasons for the shrieks of onlookers down below.

Seth was already putting on some of Edward's clothes.

I quickly began dressing, turning my nose up at the sickly-sweet scent of the shirt I pulled over my head. I struggled into a pair of pants—Cullen was a lot shorter than me. His clothes fit a little better on Seth, who was thinner and only a little taller than Cullen

Bella's clothes fit Leah perfectly.

"Go!" Leah yelled at me and Seth. "Hide! I'll handle it!"

My mind was in too much of a fog to object. I grabbed Seth and we moved to another area of the penthouse. We ended up in the bathroom just as someone burst through the doors. Leah draped a towel over Bella.

Yells. Screams. Questions. Demands.

But Leah out-shouted them all.

"HELP! HELP! SHE'S DYING!"

Angry, scandalized yelling quickly turned into shocked and concerned yelling.

"Someone get an ambulance! NOW!"

"I'm calling!"

"Oh my God!"

"Look at this place!"

"Somebody help!"

"What happened?"

"Quick, call for backup!"

"Who did this?"

"What happened?"

"Hey! What happened here?" some authoritative voice, probably the hotel manager, yelled over everyone.

"I don't know! I don't know!" Leah screamed.

"What were you doing up here?"

"I was visiting. I-I saw the balcony doors burst…I knew something was wrong-"

"How'd you get in? The door was locked…Unless she let you in. Did you see what happened to her? How'd she get in this state?"

"No! The door was open…I locked it back! I thought whoever did this might be out there somewhere!"

Whoever did this…

The phrase jolted me back to reality. The person who did this was gone, but Seth and I were hiding in the bathroom. It was only a matter of time before they started searching the place. And we would look like prime suspects hiding here.

We had to leave and trust that Leah could take care of herself.

"We gotta go," I said to Seth.

"But Leah-"

"Is smart and can handle herself. We'll find her later."

I ran to the bathroom window and hoisted it open. It was our only chance of escape.

"Come on! Quick!"

"We're jumping?" said Seth, coming to my side in a panic.

We were several stories high. I glanced out the window and understood his concern. That was a long drop…

This was not the side with the fire escape. The window was small, we'd have to jump out in human form and even then, it would be a tight squeeze.

We were screwed.

Think. Think. Think.

The noises outside filled my ears.

I struggled out of Cullen's clothes. "Do what I do," I said hurriedly, knowing there was no time to explain.

I put the edge of the shirt and pants in my mouth. They flapped before me. I approached the window—and forced my way out of it.

Adrenaline rushed through me, putting my body into shock as I fell. The clothes flapped in the wind. My falling body accelerated.

Change. Change. God, please.

Forced out of my shock, I burst into wolf form, mid-fall in the air.

"Seth, come on!" I yelled with my mind.

I crashed loudly. Pain exploded all over my body. I had landed in a dumpster. There was no time to pay my injuries any attention.

I looked skyward.

There was Seth, still in human form and freefalling from several stories high. The clothes he borrowed from Edward were billowing in the wind.

He was falling…falling…

And then he transformed. His body exploded into its wolf form. I felt relief run through me. It was no easy landing as a wolf, but it was safer than landing as a human. No human would survive this kind of drop.

Seth was drawing nearer.

I watched paralyzed as many stories above, police officers and hotel staff and security guards crowded at the window Seth and I had jumped from. They screamed and swore.

Seth landed on me and we both howled in pain.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?" someone yelled.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE?"

"WERE THEY IN HERE?"

"HOW?"

"THIS WAS AN ANIMAL ATTACK!"

"Jake, I can't feel one of my legs!" Seth cried into my mind.

"Well use the other three!" I said. "We've got to keep moving!"

An ambulance truck blared, pulling up to the hotel.

I groaned, struggling out the dumpster. Seth whimpered, but followed me. We took off, running down the alley. Seth ran with a limp. My paw ached as I ran. It felt wet and I suspected it was bleeding. But I kept going, all the while, yelling encouragement to Seth to keep running. Keep going.

We kept going until we reached what look like an old and abandoned building. Somehow, we managed to enter, unnoticed.

Seth collapsed and whimpered again.

I reverted back to human form. A wound on my hand bled freely. My body was bruised and aching. I struggled back into Cullen's clothes and then turned my attention back to Seth.

"Seth," I panted, kneeling down to him. He whined. Slowly, he returned back to human form.

His right arm appeared to be twisted in an odd angle.

"I think it's broken," he said, out of breath.

"You're going to be ok," I assured him. "It'll heal."

As werewolves, our bones were so used to shifting and changing that they realigned and healed by themselves.

Glad to see that he too, had managed to hold on to his clothes, I ripped the right sleeve off of his shirt so he could get his injured arm through, and then helped him dress. While helping Seth dress, I noticed that his body was full of scrapes and bruises.

I then took the spare cloth from Seth's shirt sleeve and wrapped it around my bleeding hand. I felt a twinge of guilt. Seth was just a kid. He shouldn't be dealing with all of this.

What had I gotten us into?

Everything had gone so wrong.

"Seth, did anyone see you jump out the window?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. They hadn't come in yet when I jumped. I think they only saw me after I changed to wolf."

I nodded. That's precisely what I was hoping. I had heard the yells about an animal attack. That was good. No one had seen us transform. They just saw a pair of freakishly huge wolves. And of course, they didn't know about vampires.

"We gotta find Leah," said Seth.

"I know," I said. "We're going to have to go out and find the nearest hospital. That's where she'll be. With Bella."

"Jake, we need some shoes."

"Right," I said, noting he had a point with that.

We weren't too far from the tourists' area. There would be shopping areas all around. All we had to do was steal a pair of shoes. That seemed like nothing compared to all that we had already done.

"Let's go," I said.