SPOV

Edward and what used to be Jacob, disappeared through the empty doorway. I was frozen in place, unsure of what to do. I wanted to run into the cottage but what was waiting for me inside? A super humanly strong boy, a wolf and Mandah's violent ex-boyfriend. What if they were all in on this together? I got the feeling back into my arms and legs at the moment and hopped back into Mandah's truck and locked the doors. I climbed into the backseat and curled into a ball.

Time had no hold on me. I didn't know if I'd been hiding for 5 minutes or 5 hours. I kept thinking about Mandah. I hoped she was okay but the chances were not good. I started to cry...well, to sob really. My best friend was gone. Mandah...is gone.

I was jarred out of my state by a knock on the window closest to my head. I jumped up and scooted across the seat to the other side.

"Shawnie?" a familiar voice called out. "I know you're scared. You don't need to be. I'm so sorry!"

With that apology, I knew that he was apologizing for Mandah's death. I lost myself. Consciousness slowly drained out of me. Time was still irrelevant. My eyelids fluttered and as I looked up, from my lashes, I saw Jacobs face. Before I could react, I was swallowed up by the blackness.

MPOV

"Open the goddamn door, Mandah!" Derek screamed, pounding on the cottage door.

I tried to remember where I had laid my phone down. I went running through the cottage searching. I hadn't found it by the time I'd made a circle through the cottage. I tip toed into the living room, eyes scanning for my phone, when it hit me that it was quiet. Definitely too quiet. I tip toed as quietly as I could to the door and strained to see through the cotton curtains. I saw nothing. I moved the curtain aside a tiny bit and still saw nothing.

I glanced down and saw the door was unlocked. Panic. Oh no. The lock I vividly remembered locking was unlocked. My breaths came in and out in gasps. My entire body started the shake. I slowly turned around to see him standing no more than 2 feet from me, smiling. He closed the distance between us, and locked the door behind me.

"Derek, what..." I started, he interrupted.

"...do I want?" he laughed. "Oh baby, you should have known that if you left, I'd miss you." He had moved so close to me that I could feel his breath on my neck. I had my face turned to the extreme left. He was no pleased that I didn't seem as excited to see him.

"Look at me!!!" he screamed at me. Grabbing a fist full of my hair, he turned my head so that I had no choice but to make eye contact with him.

"This isn't a very romantic reunion, Mandah. You can do better than this." He pulled me away from the door by my hair and threw me to the ground.

"My fallen angel..." he laughed. I felt my stomach roll with nausea. I still wasn't looking happy enough for him. He stood over me and let his fist come down. I blacked out.

I woke up to something wet touching my face. Warm and wet. It felt like my head was on fire, like every rib had been broken. It hurt to be alive. My eyes blinked open to see where the wetness was coming from. Well, I must still be knocked out. Hallucinating. There was a giant reddish brown dog, with a giant, flat, pink tongue....licking my face. As my mind entered my body more and more fully, I realized I was not hallucinating. I screamed and every part of my body screamed back.

I hadn't even blinked when Edward was suddenly in front of me. I screamed again.

"No, no, baby, please don't work yourself up. My fathers on his way. You're very hurt Mandah. You don't know how hard this is for me." he closed his eyes in pain. I was amazed. HE...was in pain? I was pretty sure I was the one in pain. Then the memories hit me.

I tried to sit up but a paw hit me in the chest and sent me back towards the ground with a umph. "Jake, please...go phase back."

Edward called the dog Jake. Derek must have caused me brain damage. Oh no. No college for me. The dog disappeared.

"Where's Derek?" I asked, unable to control the tears from pouring down my face or the my hands from vibrating with fear.

"Shhh, baby, please calm down. Derek is gone. You need to worry about you. Mandah, he almost killed you. We were almost too late. Please forgive me." he choked out a tearless sob.

"Edward..." a deep, strong voice called out.

"Carlisle, in here, hurry."

"Oh my. Alright, first things first. Are you in any pain Mandah?"

I nodded weakly. The pain actually taking a toll on me more than I expected. He reached into a black leather bag on the floor and pulled out a syringe.

"On the count of 3. 3, 2, 1....." he said.

I felt a slightly poke and felt the spread of relief throughout my body. My eyelids became heavy. Just before I was completely under, I saw Jake, shirtless, sweaty, worried...carrying an unconscious Shawnie like an infant cradled in his arms. Shawnie was hurt, too. That this was all my fault was my last thought.

SPOV

I woke up to a blonde god shining a flashlight in my eyes.

"Ok, that's enough..." I said, sleepily.

He smiled and my annoyance disappeared.

"Where's Mandah?" the words stuck in my throat. I looked from the blonde man, to Edward, to Jake. My heart started to race.

"She's fine Shawnie. In her room resting. Derek did a number on her. I'm Dr. Cullen, by the way. Carlisle." he smiled.

I felt as ease. I don't know if it was his smile, Jakes concerned look or Edward staring at Mandah's room like he wanted to be in there more than any place else in the world but I trusted them.

"Where's Derek?" I breathed.

"I can't tell you that Shawnie. It's best you don't know." Carlisle breathed, looking at Edward. Edward in turn steadied his stare towards Mandah's room.

"Oh, just go Edward. I've got things under control." Carlisle told him and with that, in blur, Edward was at her door, opening it gently and letting himself in.

"Derek caused some major bruising to Mandah's face. Broke several ribs, 3 fingers. As far as I can tell, there is no internal bleeding. The broken ribs came very close to puncturing her heart and lungs. She's very lucky." The look on his face was disgust for Derek and sympathy for Mandah. This man was very comforting.

"Jake, please watch after her. I think she's in shock. Keep her company and maybe get her something to eat and drink." Carlisle got up off her knee and headed towards the cottage door which was somehow, reattached.

"Call me if you need me, Jake. It was a pleasure to meet you Shawnie, perhaps next time it will be under better circumstances." He dipped his head and was gone.

Jake eyed me nervously and began pacing.

"Are you afraid of me?" he asked, not making eye contact.

Words escaped me though I knew what I wanted to say. My mouth would not cooperate. It just hung open awkwardly.

"I'll get you something to eat." he offered. His voice full of rejection. My heart broken. I needed to speak. Why couldn't I speak to him?

He returned with a plate of food from the restaurant we had stopped at. He used the fork in his hands to spear a heady mouthful of chicken Caesar salad.

"Open up." he said, staring at the fork.

I opened my mouth and he fed me.

"Jake, I can feed myself." I said with a mouthful of food. He flinched away with more rejection. I grabbed his hand and took the fork, setting it down. I grabbed his hand again and lifted it to my mouth. I flipped it over so that the palm was facing upward. I placed a kiss directly in the center. Slowly I raised my eyes to meet his.

"Thank you for saving my friend." I breathed.

He lunged at me, taking my face roughly between his hands. He caught me off guard and I gasped for a breath, I inhaled Jake. My fingertips grasped at his hot skin, trying hard to pull him onto me harder. He slid a hand under my back and pulled me up, arching me onto his bare chest. My hands were in his hair. Our mouths, hot against one another, were moving with an urgency I'd never felt before. He was more than boy, more than man and he would be mine. He broke free of my mouth and stared down at me, panting. He stood quickly and scooped me up, heading down the hall towards my room.

Once inside he set me down and took 2 steps deeper into the room before turning to look me in the eye again. I don't know what took over me, but I could NOT not have his skin on mine. I tore at my shirt, desperate to remove it, and jumped at him, wrapping my legs around his waist. He lips found my neck as we melted to the floor.

He pulled the left strap of my bra down and his lips traveled down my neck to my chest. I reached my arms around and unhooked it. He tore it off me, more impatient that I was. Lifted me higher in one bounce and I closed my eyes. I waited for his mouth to be on me, where no ones mouth had ever been before. I felt his tongue trail between my breasts, making it's way along the bottom of the left one. He blew cool air on the trail he made and I felt my skin freeze.

Suddenly, through the cold sensation, I felt fire. I looked down to see what caused it and I saw Jake's mouth on my nipple. His fingers ran down my back roughly, causing enough pain that I arched my back. He leaned forward and laid me on my bed. The look on his face was fear and intensity. I'm sure my face mirrored his own. I was terrified yet never so ready. I unbuttoned my pants to show him I was still on the same page and a look came into his eye I didn't recognize. He reached down and looped his fingers into my pants, ripping them and my panties from me. He threw them to the ground as his eyes drank in the view of me, naked, vulnerable, his....in front of him.

I blushed. I wished he'd stop staring. His mouth opened and a little sigh escaped. He climbed onto the bed and on top of me. He kissed me deeply on the mouth and then my neck. His hands were all over my body. My arms, my stomach, my legs but never where I wanted them the most. He slid his hand up my inner right thigh and finally, his hand found it's mark. I arched into him again as he slid a finger into me. I reached down and grabbed for his zipper. After I got it undone, he stood and slid them off and I could see he was extremely ready. I wanted him inside of me more than I'd ever wanted anything.

How could I feel this way about someone I just met? All I could tell myself was...Jake wasn't just anybody. I tried to shut the thoughts off and enjoy the moment. I was about to become his in a very real way.

I tried pulling his waist down towards me but he resisted. "Not yet..." he breathed against my stomach.

I felt chills throughout my whole body. He kissed my stomach, lower and lower. "Please!" I begged.

Suddenly, hotter than I had ever imagined, his slid his tongue against my most sensitive parts. I had not been expecting it, I squealed from surprise. My hands immediently shot to his hair. He glanced up at me, gauging my reaction, whether he should stop. I smiled at him and his eyes lit up. He returned to what he was doing, licking and nibbling at my clit. I thought I would lose my mind, I didn't know pleasure like this existed. "Please!" I finally screamed. I needed him inside me, there was no more waiting.

He could hear it in my voice and repsonded by crawling up my body, kissing my shoulders as he readied himself to enter me. I held my breath and closed my eyes, waiting for the pain.

"No Shawnie, open your eyes...." he sighed.

I slowly opened them and he placed a hand on the side of my face. He continued to stare intensely into my eyes as he slid into me. There WAS pain, but it was nothing I had expected. It was the best pain I'd ever felt in my life. We rocked back and forth together, building up to an ending he never let come. We were sweaty and breathing hard. I had never felt so close to someone. After moving from the bed, to the floor, back to the bed, after being on the bottom, top and bottom again, Jake suddenly changed his rhythm. Things became more serious. The rhythm was working up me, higher and higher...I felt like I was living for the first time. I screamed as everything came crashing down inside me. "I love you, Shawnie..." he gasped, feeling the same thing I was. There was a look of pain on his face that I knew was caused by extreme pleasure. It lasted forever. He collapsed on top of me, both of us scrambling for air. "I love you, too, Jake." I said as I wiped the little bit of sweat off of his forehead before I kissed it.

"My Shawnie..." he smiled, closing his eyes.