Chapter 12

A/N: sorry if it's been a while! Fortunately, this chapter is significantly longer than I think any of the rest of them. We're still with Edward, annnd yeah, I really hope you enjoy! And that you're all excited, technically it's Monday now, which means we've only got FIVE days til the REAL Breaking Dawn!! Of course, I hope you all stick with my story til the end anyway, I'm really hoping to at least get a chapter or two up before Saturday, but I make no promises. As always, read and review if you like it!

Disclaimer: Not Stephenie Meyer, just having a little fun with her characters.

Chapter 12

Edward's POV

I walked up the porch steps and through the front doors to find I was the first one home. Naturally I was the fastest runner, but also no one could have been more determined to find Bella than me. I sank into a chair in the front room feeling defeated to wait for the others. The lack of communication from my family could only mean that no one had come across anything worth reporting. I sat immobile in that chair for hours, thinking of every moment of horror that Bella was suffering through alone, wishing I could be there for her.

Slowly everyone else began dwindling into the house over the course of a few hours. Emmett first, followed by Rosalie, Alice, Esme, Jasper, and finally Carlisle. As each person entered, they claimed a spot in the living room and mimicked my actions, just sitting in silence. Well, not silence for me.

I'm sorry Edward, I didn't find her, I heard from each member of my family too many times to count. I experienced the journey each member of my family took through their own minds, and soon it was as if I had run and scoured the entire area myself.

Please calm down Edward, Jasper thought, your feelings of despair are so strong that I can't fight them … I'm transmitting them to everyone in the room. I glared in his direction. Look around, he insisted.

Reluctantly I glanced around the room: he was right, of course. He had an arm around Alice's shoulder, and she was curled up into a ball, hugging her knees with her head down. Emmett was sitting, head down, with his arms wrapped tightly around Rosalie, who had her face pressed into his chest and her arms wrapped around his waist. Carlisle was sitting with one arm resting on the arm of the sofa, and the other around Esme's waist; she had one leg crossed over the other, her arms folded across her chest, and her head leaning onto Carlisle's shoulder. My mood was really making matters worse. I sighed, drew in a deep calming breath, and turned to Carlisle.

"What do we do now?" I asked, hopeless. All the heads in the room lifted to look at me, and then turned to Carlisle.

"Well," he began hesitantly, casting a glance at Jasper.

"We need help," Jasper replied.

"The folks in Denali have offered to contact us if they become aware of anything, but they have also vehemently refused to take a stand against any member of the Volturi. It's hard to blame them for that," he added upon seeing my appalled expression. "You would expect them to risk their lives to save a newborn they don't know? As fond as Tanya is of you, you couldn't expect her to go that far."

"If she knew Bella," I began, but knew it was hopeless. No one could understand how I felt about her. The only people I could think of who cared about her as much as I did were her parents, and bringing them into the situation could only make matters worse. "If only they loved her as I do… as we do," I amended upon seeing the shocked faces of my family at the suggestion that I was the only one who cared.

"Well, we're not likely to find anyone who could actually be helpful to us who cares about her as much as we all do," Emmett said glumly.

Except for that filthy dog, Rosalie thought to herself. Suddenly, all of the pieces seemed to click in my mind. Why had it taken me so long to think of the wolves? Even if Jacob was the only one willing to put his life on the line for Bella, one more ally was never a bad thing.

"Jacob!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet. The faces of the rest of the family flashed bright with comprehension. "Rosalie, I could kiss you!" I cried, dashing across the room and scooping her up into a fierce hug.

"Hey," Emmett barked, laughing. I set Rosalie back down on the couch gently, and Emmett wrapped an arm back around her. "How come no one thought of the dogs before?"

"Will Robert's ability work on them, do you think?" I asked, hope flooding through me for the first time since the moment I saw Aro at the diner.

"Well," Carlisle began slowly, "it's difficult to say. Our ability to sense others of our kind stems from the common bond of what we are. The wolves on the other hand, they sense us for being their enemy. We are able to hide from and manipulate each other, but they don't distinguish between us. It's possible that his ability might not work against the wolves. It's something we'd have to test; just like the search we just undertook, it would have to be an experiment. They might repeat the actions we just went through and come up with nothing. At the worst, I suppose it would just be one more day wasted. They run nearly as fast as us, do they not?"

"Well, maybe not me," I said with a grin. My hope was restoring itself quickly. "But yes, they can match us in speed quite easily. I remember Bella saying that when Laurent ran from them, they caught up with him in no time at all."

"Excellent," Emmett said with a grin. "They helped us last time, they'll help us again!"

"Not so fast," Carlisle warned, "they helped us last time because we shared a common enemy. The Volturi aren't threatening the area again, only us. There's a chance they won't help."

"But there's a chance they will!" I pressed on. "We have to ask, we just have to." I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to help her, even if that meant I had to go ask Jacob for help. He was the only one I had ever considered a real threat to our relationship so I hated to need to involve him, but my concern for Bella's safety overshadowed my jealousy.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask," Carlisle said slowly, "but how do we talk to them without seeming threatening?"

"I'll go to Seth," I suggested. Even with the rivalry between our groups, Seth was the most approachable. He and his mother had actually come to our wedding, and we shared a sort of bond after our time together fighting Victoria.

"I'll go with you," Jasper said, rising to his feet. You know, just to keep everyone under control, he thought.

"Good idea," I agreed. "Let's go, it's only eight o'clock, it's not too late to go over there."

"Just be careful," Carlisle warned, "you mean no harm, but there is still a treaty in place, and we're really not supposed to be on their land. Run, and explain your side quickly before they attempt to take any sort of evasive action against you."

"We'll be on their doorstep before they even realize we've crossed the border," I assured him with a grin. "Let's go," I said, turning to Jasper.

We strode out the front door together and sprinted off into the forest. In a manner of minutes, we were standing on Seth's doorstep, knocking lightly. I hoped he would be the one to answer the door and not his sister; she disliked us even more than the others. If she knew that I was capable of delving into her mind, I'm sure she would've censored herself around me, but she did not, and I gathered from time spent together that she blamed us for all of her troubles. Sam had become a wolf because of our presence in the area, which in turn led to him imprinting on Emily and leaving her. It also led to her transformation, and the reluctant fact that she now had to share her innermost thoughts with almost all of the males she knew. Finally, she hated me more than the rest of my family because of what my involvement with Bella had done to Jacob. Please don't let Leah answer the door, I thought to myself.

To my immense relief, the door swung open to reveal Seth, wearing only a pair of mesh shorts. Perhaps he had just been out patrolling, as Bella had mentioned they often did.

"Edward!" Seth said in surprise, stepping back and opening the door wider to allow us to enter. "Jasper, this is a surprise! What brings you guys down to La Push?" he inquired, leading us into his living room.

"We needed to talk to you," I said urgently, taking a seat on the edge of the sofa.

"Actually, you shouldn't even be here," he said nervously, casting a glance toward the door. "This is a total breach of the treaty."

"Yes, we're aware," I said quickly, "but this is important. Bella's been kidnapped."

"She what?" he asked, startled.

I explained the details as best I could, but felt it necessary to leave out the detail of her being bitten. I figured there was time to warn them of that issue when they agreed to help. There were so many of them now that even if the entire pack didn't agree to help, I was sure at least some of them would.

"Well, of course I'll help," he said simply.

"Do you think you can get in contact with," I hesitated on the name, unsure of how touchy the subject was, "…Jacob?"

His expression grew uncomfortable at the thought. "Well, if he's in wolf form, I can certainly give him the details on what's happened, but I can't guarantee he'll come back. You know he came back to see her the night before the wedding, right?" he asked.

"No," I said simply, and I was certain my eyes had darkened, my expression become dangerous.

"Oh," he grimaced, flinching back away from me. "Well… yeah, he did," he said, grimacing again, almost as if he was waiting for me to attack him. I took a deep breath and settled myself back on my seat in an attempt to appear less threatening, though on the inside I was still livid. A wave of calm feelings washed over me, and I nodded appreciatively at Jasper. I laced my fingers together and set my hands calmly in my lap, waiting for Seth to proceed. Seth looked from Jasper to myself a few times, and finally decided it was safe to continue. "He just wanted to talk to her one more time before she went through with it," he said sheepishly. After that, he took off again; he couldn't stay here and deal with the reality that he'd lost her, I think, he thought.

"I see," I said, and was silent for a moment to think things over. He was still going to be angry that we'd been married, of course, but I hoped there was still enough concern for Bella's safety that he would be willing to help us. "Well, I think he should know," I said after a minute, "so could you go fill him in on the details?" I asked. "Preferably right this second?"

"Sure," Seth said, standing. "If you guys can hang tight for a minute, I'll let him, and anyone else who might be listening, know. Hopefully Leah won't come home in the minute or so that I'll be gone," he said, with another uneasy glance toward the door.

"Don't worry," Jasper said calmly, "if she does, I'm sure I can handle her until you get back."

I don't know if I like the way he just said "handle her," Seth thought, with a glance in my direction. I rolled my eyes to convey the point that he needn't worry about Jasper, and he turned and ran out the door and into the woods across the street from his house.

You didn't tell him she'd been bitten, Jasper thought.

"I thought that particular detail could wait until they promised to help," I said sheepishly.

You don't think they deserve to know what they might find? He asked. I don't know how she'll respond to them as wolves, but if any of them get within a hundred yards of her as a human, she'll attack, he thought sternly.

"Well they won't be running as humans," I said with a scoff, but I knew he had an excellent point that I just wasn't willing to accept. I didn't want to think of the possibility of my poor Bella being savagely bloodthirsty, and turning on her friends.

They'll need to know before they actually agree to help, he thought sternly, and a wave of remorse rushed through me.

"Stop it," I spat at him. I didn't want him manipulating my emotions to make me give away more details than I thought necessary. "I'll handle it," I finally insisted, rolling my eyes.

A moment later, the pack members began pouring through the front door one by one in human form. They all eyed us suspiciously, thinking various thoughts about why we were there. I did my best to block them all out and turned my attention to Sam, who had been the first to come in, and who was seated the closest to me.

"You're all here then?" I asked, glancing around and counting.

"All but Jacob," he confirmed with a nod.

"Excellent. So Seth has given you all the details then?" I said, glancing around. Everyone nodded silently.

Just then, Jasper cleared his throat loudly. Edward, he thought, warningly. Tell them.

"Relax," I hissed sideways to him, "I'm getting there." I turned back to the pack. "So, can I assume that you're all here because you're all willing to help?" Once again they all nodded, some more eagerly than others. "Thank you, you have no idea how much this means. However, there is one small detail I omitted when speaking with Seth," I began slowly, holding off the moment as long as I could. "Bella has been… bitten."

At the final word, the room exploded in an uproar, with pack members jumping to their feet and closing in on Jasper and I threateningly. I turned to Jasper and gestured for him to do something. As he began calming the room, I yelled over the uproar, "Not by us!"

Moments later, the room was back under control, thanks to Jasper's calming sense and Sam's forceful commands to keep order. "Just before Aro carried Bella away, he … he bit her." My voice cracked embarrassingly on the last words, but at least now they couldn't doubt my sincerity. "Now, I know you're all screaming in your heads that we broke the treaty, but the truth of the matter is that we did not. We broke it by coming here today, yes, but not by changing Bella. Trust me," I said somberly, "I tried everything in my power to prevent it from happening, but I couldn't stop it. This is not our fault."

"You meant to change her anyway," Leah spat bitterly, and I glared at her. "Someone else just beat you to it."

"That's irrelevant," I growled at her, and Jasper sent more calming vibes between us. My face and my aggressive stance relaxed a bit, and my voice grew quieter. "It's not our fault," I repeated, more calmly this time.

Leah opened her mouth once again to retort, but at that moment Sam cleared his throat loudly and she stopped, and turned impatiently to face him. "In light of this, ah, circumstance," he began, casting his eyes around the room at the faces of his fellow pack members, "anyone who feels the need to withdraw their offer of service would do well to leave, now. This decision is yours," he stressed to them, as some shifted uncomfortably and looked around. "If you choose not to be involved, your decision will be respected."

Immediately, Leah scrambled to her feet and stomped off down the hallway towards the door. She paused when she reached it, turned, and looked back on the rest of the pack to see who would follow. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall with a scowl. Is no one else coming? She thought a little desperately. She had expected that at least one other person would join her; she didn't think she'd be the only one. She stood there, fighting the pros and cons in her mind for a moment, before stomping back into the living room and plopping into her place on the floor once more.

"No one will think less of you if you leave," Sam stressed again, looking directly at her.

"No, I'll help," she huffed, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. I couldn't help but grin; this meant that they were all willing to help. "Not for you," she spat viciously. "Only for Jake."

"Your reasoning doesn't really mean anything to me, as long as you're willing to help," I said simply.

"Speaking of Jacob," Jasper commented, "were you able to talk to him?"

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," Seth began, "he's-"

"-Right here," Jacob said, stepping into the room. Wow, talk about excellent timing. "Don't think for a second that this is at all a favor for you," he began, his voice full of emotion. I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, there were so many things running through his head at once. "I promised Bella I would be waiting in the wings when you failed her, and now you have. Even if she's not…human, anymore, she's still Bella, and I'm going to pick up the pieces and find her."

I was so livid, I don't remember flying across the room at him; I only remember the strong arms of Jasper and Sam pulling me off of him. I hissed a string of profanities at him, so angry that I could barely form a coherent sentence. He sat there on the floor where I had tackled him, not saying a word, but torturing me all the same.

You're weak, you let someone hurt her… you failed her. I never would've let anything hurt her. I'm going to fix this, and she's going to hate you for it. He sat there and thought the most vicious things he could imagine, torturing me. He knew exactly what to say to tear at me and make me feel like a failure. You got everything you wanted, and she got nothing. Now she's being held hostage by that other clan; she's probably terrified, miserable, worried…and I'll bet she's thinking over how much better things would've been had she chosen me. You must remember how close she came to choosing me, he thought with a malicious grin on his face.

I struggled against their hold, but Sam and Jasper held me in place. I wanted to tear Jacob apart. At that moment, I would've preferred that we try to find her alone than accept their help.

"Edward, outside, now," Jasper said firmly. Jacob disappeared down the hallway into another room after an order from Sam in an effort to put a little more distance between us, and I followed Jasper outside. "I know you want to kill him," Jasper began, "but we need their help. Please, if you care about Bella at all, I know you'll set aside your loathing of Jacob, and let them help us. They're willing to help, and they want to find her too, but ripping Jacob to shreds is not going to make them cooperate."

"I know," I grumbled, "but you couldn't hear all the terrible things he was thinking. About how I've failed her," I said miserably.

"You haven't failed her," Jasper stressed, "look, you took Bella away from him. He's bitter; he's going to do anything he can to make you miserable. You've just got to rise above that, and think about her. The only person who can match your incredible self-control is Carlisle so please, just use a little bit of that and forget about Jacob Black!"

"Fine," I sighed. He was right, of course. How much self-control I had exercised over my years with Bella was definitely an accomplishment. Surely I could harness some of that now and forget about Jacob. "Let's go," I mumbled, walking towards the door.

"Oh no, you're not calm enough," Jasper insisted, "I think I can tell whether or not you're ready to go back inside." With that, I felt a wave a calm wash over me.

"Okay," I sighed. "I really am ready now."

"Yeah, okay," Jasper said, sensing that I was still agitated, but I was under control enough to head back inside.

We walked back into the living room to find Jacob sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by his fellow pack members. At first, I assumed he was playing the hero, and recounting the details of what he'd been up to. Instead, I was surprised to find his face looking a little flushed, and he was staring at his hands, picking at his fingernails. The talking stopped abruptly when we walked into the room, but I could tell from their thoughts that everyone in the room had been giving Jacob an earful about how he took off without warning. They were all angry and disappointed with him, and they were excited to have him back in the same room so they could give him a piece of their minds.

An awkward silence accompanied our entrance.

"So," Sam began after a moment, "what's the plan then? What can we do?"

Immediately, Jasper's years of military involvement had him launching into different strategies and ideas. I sat by and let him do most of the talking, only interjecting on occasion when the need arose. He asked that they all run as we had and explore the different areas for any hint of vampires, and explained Robert's unusual gift and how he theorized that it might not work against the wolves. It was simple enough, and they all agreed immediately. Jasper pulled out his maps and showed them the routes we had previously taken; they split up into groups and each chose a route – the only ones without partners were Sam and Jacob.

"There's just one catch," Jasper said urgently. "I cannot stress enough how important this is: Bella is a newborn vampire. She will be bloodthirsty and irrational. No matter how close you think you are with her-" his eyes flashed to Jacob for the briefest moment "-I must urge you not to approach her in human form. No matter how much she'll fight herself not to hurt you, in the end she probably won't be able to hold out."

"That's nonsense," Jacob spat from his spot on the floor, "Bella loves me, she loves us… she could control herself. If I need to be in human form to communicate with her, I'll do it. She wouldn't hurt me," he finished confidently.

That arrogant little idiot, I thought to myself. Didn't he learn anything at all from the experience with the newborn army before? What made him think that a newborn who was literally only days old could control herself, when there were vampires decades – or even centuries – old who could not? Fortunately, Jasper stepped in to give a little more explanation.

"We can't always control ourselves," he began with a sigh. I realized he was about to tell them all about Bella's birthday party and his failure.

"You don't have to go there," I said warningly, eyes growing wide.

"Yes, I do," he said resolutely. "They need to understand." The wolves all looked around at each other, wondering what they weren't getting. "I have the least amount of experience with this way of life," he began, "and it's more difficult for me than the rest. My beginnings weren't as … ah, innocent, I suppose, as the rest of my families." He hesitated as he carefully chose his words. "I … I slipped up… a lot. It was so much more difficult for me than for the rest because of how I was… well, was created."

The wolves looked from Jasper to me, still not comprehending what he was trying to explain to them. He sighed, a bit exasperated.

"I was created to … well, to kill," he said quickly. There were a few gasps, but mostly incredulous looks. "Someone changed me with the sole intent of hurting others. At first, I knew no other way of life; I didn't know it could be any different. I didn't enjoy it, but I didn't think I had other options either.

"Then I met Alice. She brought me here. Since then, I have struggled to follow Carlisle's ideals, because I wholeheartedly agree with him. However, given my beginnings, sometimes it's more difficult. On Bella's 18th birthday, we had a party for her at our home. Being as clumsy as she is," he said with a small chuckle that didn't reach his eyes, "she cut herself. As soon as it happened, my senses took over: I tried to attack her."

He radiated a wave of regret throughout the room, and I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. After a moment, the room felt calm again.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "Anyway, I tell you this because I care very deeply about Bella, and still, I slipped. I have much better control over myself than she will, and still, I slipped. That's why it's imperative that you don't approach Bella as a human: no matter how much she cares about you, her instincts will take over, she won't be able to stop it." There was silence for a moment as Jasper paused to let all he had just said sink in. "I mean, you all are still a very serious threat to those you love, regardless of how well intentioned you are, correct? You can still slip."

A few pairs of eyes darted in Sam's direction, but most stared uncomfortably around the room. It was almost painful, listening to Sam's thoughts about Emily, thoughts that the rest of the pack had heard many times without wanting to. Fortunately, remembering what had happened to Emily meant that they all really did understand how important it was for them to keep their distance from Bella as a human.

"So," Jacob said, climbing to his feet, "let's get to it."

Everyone else stood as well, and headed outside. Once we were all out there, we gathered in a tight circle.

"So we each run our course, and report and trace of vampires that we find, except for this Denali clan you mentioned?" Seth asked.

"Exactly," Jasper said. "Since you all can share your thoughts with each other, the second any of you run across a scent, Jacob will hear it, and so Edward will, too."

"Whoa, what?!" Jacob practically screamed, glaring at me. "Who said I was going with him?"

"Jacob," Sam began, "you will go with Edward because it is the quickest way to spread communication. You do want to find Bella, do you not? Every second counts, because we don't know what the Volturi are up to. You will go with Edward," he repeated sternly.

Jake glared at him, but didn't argue. "Fine," he hissed through clenched teeth. Sometimes I hate this stupid rule, he thought to himself. Of course, he couldn't disobey a direct order from Sam. I was very thankful for that. "Let's go then, bloodsucker," he mumbled at me, sprinting off into the woods.

"We're all set then?" I asked quickly, watching Jake go.

"Yeah, I can finish up here," Jasper said, "and I'll let the others know. You go catch up with Jacob."

I nodded, turned, and ran off into the woods after him. He wasn't difficult to catch up to since he hadn't transformed into a wolf yet. I found him standing, waiting for me, about a hundred yards into the trees.

"I'm only doing this for Bella, you know," he said bitterly, leaning against a tree and folding his arms.

"Yes, I'm very much aware," I said simply, crossing my arms as well.

"If she had picked me, she wouldn't have her life being threatened yet again by angry vampires," he added.

"I'm very much aware of that, as well," I said, my voice pained. I was all too aware of how our relationship put her in constant danger. It was fortunate for her that she wasn't so breakable anymore, but it still killed me every time I thought of how much pain and anguish she had suffered at my hands.

"Yeah, well…" he began, but didn't finish. We stood in awkward silence for a long moment before he finally said, "okay, well let's go."

In the blink of an eye, there was a shaggy wolf standing before me. Try to keep up, he thought, and dashed away into the darkness.

As if he could outrun me, I thought, rolling my eyes. I sprinted off behind him, hoping that this new plan would work, and that we'd at least find a trace of my poor Bella soon.

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so I hope that chapter wasn't too long ... all of a sudden I finished and was like, whoa... that's a long one. Hopefully you enjoyed it after such a long period of time without an update ...again, review please! I'll get another one up soon, I promise!