A/n:

Thanks to Maleficentknits and Aleighy for their mad beta/prereading skills. This would be a much less readable story without them.

Jacob pulled away from me, and backed into my bedroom door. His eyes were wide with shock.

"Was that…?"

"No," I laughed nervously. "There's no way. I've only…" I really wanted to tell him that I'd only ever done it with him, but that was a bold faced lie. It was also pretty darned obvious that if I was pregnant it wouldn't be his. We'd used protection and it was at the end of my cycle.

"How long?" he growled.

I blinked at him, the question didn't make sense.

"How long have you known? How pregnant are you?"

"Jake, I'm not. There's no way, right? It's just not possible." I moved to the other side of the room, putting the bed between us.

"Bella, that felt an awful lot like something kicking in there." He pointed at my abdomen.

My hand unconsciously shifted to protect my stomach from his accusation. It was still hard, like it had been days before, and I could feel something.

"But I haven't…"

Shit.

How was I supposed to defend myself?

"You have to have known, you typically can't feel movement until like the fourth month, Bella. How long have you known about this?" he shouted.

"How would you know anything about pregnancy? Not that this is one, because it's not."

"Sam made us all read What to Expect When You're Expecting just in case something happened and he wasn't around. You're looking a lot like you're pregnant."

I flinched, and clutched my stomach tighter.

"I'm only a couple of weeks late, there's no way that this is – is… There's just no way, Jake," I argued.

"Then what the fuck is it, Bella?" he spat.

"Indigestion," I answered weakly.

The door swung open behind Jake. Leah was standing there with her hands on her hips, holding a sandwich. She looked irritated.

"What the hell is going on in here? You've interrupted sandwich time," she huffed.

"Bella is pregnant, really really pregnant, and has been hiding it from us," Jake growled again.

"I'm not, there's just no way," I protested.

"Only one way to find out…" Leah cocked her head to the side. "Jake, go run to the store like a good boy and buy a test."

"This is ridiculous! We used protection! There's absolutely no way… I'm just… I'm not even going to say it, that's how preposterous this is."

"Bells, knock it off and chill out for a few. Jake, I'm not leaving you alone with her, so go buy a pregnancy test," Leah ordered.

Jake backed out of the room, leaving me with Leah. We stood there just staring at each other until Jake was out of earshot.

"Your bags are packed, right?" she asked.

"I haven't unpacked since we started moving around again."

"Good, I don't think I'm going to be able to help you, but I'll do what I can," she said, her tone was dead serious.

"What are you talking about?" I stared at her, confused.

"He's not going to get a pregnancy test. Jacob's calling a council meeting, he ran in the wrong direction," she explained.

"But I'm not…"

"Pregnant," she finished for me. "If there's anything I've learned it's that there's more possible stuff in this world than impossible stuff, and you have been having sex."

"Leah, Jake and I used protection, and vampires can't procreate," I scoffed. I felt my stomach thump lightly against my hand again.

"Vampires can't have sex with humans either," she pointed at me, "and we all see how well that went."

"But there'd be others, wouldn't there? Vampires have been around forever. Carlisle is centuries old…"

"Most people don't fuck their food, Bella."

Leave it to Leah to find the exact insensitive words that I needed to hear. There was silence between us for a few moments before it was broken by a gasping breath, mine. Tears were rolling down my cheeks. Reality came crashing down. I was carrying a mutant hybrid baby of some kind.

"I'm not saying that it can't be Jake's, because it's much more likely for the condom to have failed than you being pregnant with vampire spawn. But whatever this is, it's part you, and you don't exactly seem all human lately." She grimaced. "I'm not saying this to scare you, but I really don't know what the council will do. I don't know what Sam will do. I'm assuming that they'll want to get rid of it."

I was still crying. I'd started to rub my stomach in some instinctual motherly manner that I never knew I possessed. I was automatically reacting to the information on a physical level. There was something inside of me, something small and tiny, and more likely than not, Edward's. The second I thought it, I knew it. As unlikely as it was, this was Edward's child. I had to protect it because no one else would.

"I need to go," I whispered.

"Your Volvo's here," she said, fishing the keys from the pocket of her cutoff shorts. "If you take the fire road through the forest, rather than going down to LaPush, you'll be off ancestral lands faster."

"Come with me?" I didn't want to be alone.

"I can't. I'm of no use to you anyway, the second I phase, you won't be able to rely on me," she sighed. "If Sam orders me to kill you, or restrain you, I won't be able to refuse. Remember, Alpha's orders have to be obeyed. He doesn't use it much with me but I think this would be the exception."

I nodded.

"Carlisle Cullen is your best hope; he and the golden-eyed Cullens, the vegetarians, never sided with the Volturi. I don't know if they'll be able to protect you from them, but they're your only option. You can't make a run for it like this."

I nodded again. My vocal chords were paralyzed. This was all too fast, hadn't I just been planning to fight with Leah when the Volturi brought the war back to our door? Weren't we just allies? It only took a matter of minutes for her to tell me that I couldn't trust her, that I had to leave, and that Jacob was currently betraying me to the council. How did everything get so fucked up so quickly?

I quietly collected my things. It didn't take long to shove my dirty laundry into my bag and zip it. I pulled out Leah's claw and offered it to her. If I was going back, then I'd be on the wrong side of the treaty. I was going to Edward, not Carlisle.

"Keep it," she said, and pressed it back into my hand. "You'll probably need it even more now."

A single tear dripped down Leah's cheek. I brushed it away with my thumb, and hugged her tightly. She sniffled and returned the hug. It was an odd sort of bond that we'd formed.

With my bag on my shoulder and keys in hand I started to leave. Unfortunately, I'd wasted too much time. Jacob stood on the porch; we hadn't even heard him arrive. His arms were folded across his chest. He meant to keep me there.

"Move, Jake, I'm leaving."

"No," he grunted.

"You want me gone, that's blatantly obvious. Let me leave," I argued.

"Not until the council decides."

"It's not their problem, or their choice. I'll go back to the vampires. You won't have to deal with this." I folded my arms and mimicked his stance.

"We're waiting for the council. You don't get to decide, Bella," he spat.

I'd had enough. I shoved him. He grabbed my wrists painfully tight. I could feel the bones simultaneously strain and heal.

"Let go," I begged, new tears formed in my eyes.

"I can't, Alpha's orders. You will stay here," he said through gritted teeth.

"Jacob, you're hurting me."

There was a yelp off in the woods, and Paul came running into the small clearing shortly after it.

"Decision's made. We have no choice. You're to take care of it," Paul panted.

"No!" I shouted, struggling with Jacob again.

He subdued me in an embarrassingly short series of movements that ended with his arms wrapped around me, and his nose in my hair.

"I'm sorry, I have to… I can't… It has to be done. Please don't fight me," Jacob whispered. When he pulled back, his eyes were watery.

I saw an opportunity and took it, even though I knew that I couldn't outrun him. I slipped under his arms and ran for the car. I heard the telltale ripping noise of a wolf phasing, two of them. One moment my hand was on the car door, the next, I was on the ground, pinned down by a mass of smelly russet fur. I sobbed.

I felt his cold nose raise the hem of my shirt, and I felt the baby kick against it. I struggled to move my legs or my arms, but I couldn't.

"Jake!" Leah screamed. "Jake, Paul, no!"

Jacob paused with his teeth bared over my naked stomach.

"You're going to kill her," Leah cried.

Jacob growled softly.

"Are you prepared for that, Jake? Are you prepared to kill the only girl you've ever loved? She's there. That's still her, and the only way this ends is with her dead!" Leah shouted. She was off the porch, closer to us. "Please don't. Please don't do this."

Tears began slipping from the corners of my eyes, down my cheeks and into my hair.

"Jacob Black, you can't kill her, because no matter what Sam says, you still love her."

I could feel Jake's legs start to tremble, then he looked at me. He took a good, hard look, and released me. I didn't know what to do. Was he letting me go?

Jake turned on Paul. The two wolves bared their teeth at each other. I dumbly pulled my shirt down and sat up in the dirt. I couldn't move.

"Bella, go!" Leah shrieked.

I shook my head to clear it, still not comprehending what had happened. I stood to get into the car only to discover that the keys were no longer in my hand. I looked around and found them between Jacob and Paul. There was no choice, I'd have to make my escape on foot. If I remembered correctly, and there was a very big chance that I was wrong, the border wasn't far to the North on foot. I slung my bag across my body and ran.

There were noises behind me. Growling, yelping, and crashing followed me. I ran as fast and as hard as I could. My lungs were burning by the time I made it far enough away that I could no longer hear the fighting. I kept going, because there were more wolves out there and they would be coming for me. The treaty line on the North side was the river. I was pretty sure that Sam would have the pack pursue me over the line though. If he thought I was dangerous, he would do it.

I didn't stop when my feet touched the bank. I paused briefly when I reached the edge of the water to toe off my shoes. I spared just a moment to look at my bag before dropping it, and in it all of my possessions on the bank. I tucked my knife down the back of my pants, and dove in.

The water was freezing, I gasped as it covered me. There was no time to ease into it. I pushed on and started swimming for the other side. Halfway across my body acclimated to the water. It felt cold, but my teeth stopped chattering. When I surfaced for air there were tiny wisps of steam surrounding me.

I reached the opposite bank and trudged out of the water in wet jeans. They were too heavy, I couldn't run with them on, so I unzipped them and pulled the clingy fabric from my legs, I had to take off my shoes to remove them. There were noises not too far away. I grabbed my knife and left my shoes and jeans on the bank and ran as fast as I could.

Fifty yards into the forest, someone grabbed me. I tried to scream but a very cold, very hard hand clamped over my mouth. I was struggling to breathe through my nose since I was hyperventilating. The arms around me pulled me sharply back into a familiar form. I would have known him anywhere.

"Stop," he hissed sharply into my ear.

I involuntarily relaxed into him. Edward had been waiting for me. My breathing leveled out, and I closed my eyes. I felt safe; he would protect me from the pack.

"You're… warm…" he commented absentmindedly.

Without warning he slung me onto his back and began running through the trees. I held on tight and pulled deep breaths of his scent into my lungs. He ran until we were far enough away that the wolves wouldn't dare to follow us for fear of leaving the Reservation unprotected.

The sky was beginning to grow dark, and the shadows in the forest were lengthening into shapes that would frighten children. Edward allowed me to slip from his back onto the ground. I tried to step away from him but he turned and grabbed my wrist.

"You're not going anywhere," he murmured.

"No, I'm not," I answered softly.

"You will never leave me again, pet." He pulled my arm up to his face and ran his nose from my wrist to my shoulder. "You smell different... like the river and spices. It's… appealing."

"I'll try to remember that," I said.

"No talking," he reminded me with a firm swat to my hip.

I nodded.

"It seems that you've been a very bad little pet," he smirked. "You've run away from home, slept with a dog, somehow managed to get yourself run out of town, and you haven't been taking very good care of yourself."

He released my arm and started walking around me. Occasionally he would reach out and touch me softly with just enough pressure to be able to feel it. He took my hand and unclenched my fist that held the knife. It dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

"What should I do with you?" he whispered in my ear. "Stay."

He was away from me. He wasn't touching me any longer and it made me feel insecure. I needed him. When he returned it was with rope. I drew in a shuddering breath, and released it slowly, fighting the familiar chill that ran down my spine. It was time to pay the piper.

He removed my shirt and bra one-handed, but gestured for me to remove my panties on my own. As I bent over, he caressed my back and slid his hand over the curve of my hip. The gesture calmed me, centered me. I could feel everything else slip to the back of my mind. I was safe, the rest of the evening wasn't important. Edward would exact whatever punishment he thought necessary and we would go back to business as usual. He would make the rules, and I would obey them. It would be quite simple actually. I straightened myself.

"I am very glad to have you back," he murmured, stepping closer so that his body was flush with mine. We were like puzzle pieces snapping together, or spoons nestled up in a drawer. We fit. "But I do have to deal with your indiscretions." He kissed behind my ear and I shivered. "I'm going to let you choose." He sucked on the spot beneath my ear. "Ropes or paddle?"

I couldn't decide which would be worse. Bondage would last long enough to be painful, perhaps as painful as being beaten. I wasn't sure if I could bear anything like that first night with the speaker wire. However, submitting to punishment via bondage could result in being tied multiple times, like before the ginger. Which would be safer for the baby? There were too many variables.

"You're thinking about this too much, pet." He held my face and forced me to look him in the eye. "It's been too long."

I took a deep breath and found my center. I needed to give him an answer. "Both," I uttered the word as barely a whisper.

He nodded.

The rope slid over my body, familiar, welcoming. I hated it. I hated what it represented, my weakness. On one hand I could be held in place with it, and I disliked that, but on the other hand it represented my tie to Edward. He could tie me up and keep me secure with it, he liked having me at his mercy. My feelings were still rather mixed. I wanted it and hated it.

I let out a little huff at my own thoughts.

"Oh, pet, you've gone back to your old habits," Edward tsked. "I know what you're doing, you're overanalyzing this. Don't think. Accept it for what it is. You've done some very bad things, and now it's time to pay for them."

I closed my eyes and focused on the rope. He was wrapping me in a tight web, tighter than usual. When he finished, I was on my knees, bent over at an uncomfortable angle with my head close to the ground. He was gone momentarily.

"I'm not going to ask you to count," he whispered. "Just feel."

When the first swat landed, I was fine. He was using a leather paddle judging by the feel of it. I wondered if he'd been dragging a bag full of gear around the forest, waiting for me. Several more blows landed before I realized that I couldn't detach my brain and just feel them. I wasn't focusing. I couldn't find the place inside where his punishments usually sent me. I wasn't with him, my mind was back at the cabin, completely terrified of my best friend and one-time lover. I couldn't compartmentalize it. I was having trouble breathing. This wasn't how things had become. I'd fallen out of sync with Edward. It was more like the first time, when he was needlessly brutal.

Unlike the first time, he stopped mid swing. He sensed that something was wrong, and knelt down in front of me, lifting my head at an uncomfortable angle with tips of his fingers.

"Eyes," he said softly.

Whatever he saw changed his plans. I heard the paddle hit the ground, and then felt his cold hands removing the rope. It slid swiftly between his fingers and across my skin. When I was free he rubbed my skin, paying special attention to the rope marks.

"You're totally useless to me if you refuse to focus," he growled. Part of me was suddenly paying very close attention; I'd missed the growling. "We're going to revisit this punishment later, but for now it's been too long."

I nodded, keeping my eyes on his feet. I wondered idly how long it would be before I couldn't see them when he stood close to me.

Edward's hands hovered over my skin, touching me and not touching me. I was growing frustrated at the lack of actual physical contact. His proximity was causing an arc of electric current to crackle between us; if I crossed my eyes I could see it. I'm fairly certain that I made a whimpering noise. I needed him to touch me, I needed him to make everything better.

He finally brushed the hair off of my neck, and ran his long fingers down from my ears in a slow path down my neck to my chest. I felt the block of anxiety in the pit of my stomach begin to melt like ice. His cold hands continued their feather-light path down to my waist and up my back, his arms encircled me in what seemed suspiciously like a hug. He caressed his way back down my naked back, warming the skin there even though he was freezing.

I wanted to be closer, skin on skin, connected.

"Please," I sighed. I hadn't meant to speak. I waited to see if it would anger him, if it would break the moment. It didn't, not really.

He reached down between my legs and found my clit with his thumb. I pitched forward into his chest and grasped his shoulders, fingers digging into his shirt.

"Please?" I asked. I wasn't begging. This wasn't the same as before, I wasn't pleading with him to stop or begging him to continue, I was asking, not as a slave, but as a lover. "I want you."

He made quick work of unfastening his pants one-handed, while still rubbing my clit. My trembling hands slid under the back of his shirt. I was still leaning on him for balance. He laid down on the ground, bringing me with him. I settled myself over him and slid down.

"Ah," I panted. He hissed and grabbed my hips roughly.

I might have been on top, I might have been with him willingly, but Edward set the pace. He moved my hips up and down while thrusting until I felt my orgasm build and let loose with an intensity that I'd missed. He was hard, and firm, and cold. I'd missed him.

Spent from the day's excitement, I started to sway. He pushed me gently backward while he sat up. When he thrust, I was still sensitive but he was rubbing a totally different spot. I gasped and writhed.

"Oh oh oh oh oh," I chanted.

"You feel that?" he said too smoothly.

I nodded and muttered something that made no sense even to my own ears. I shuddered and came again, softly this time.

"You don't ever get to leave again," he growled and pulled me up to sit in his lap. His fingers dug back into my hips, bouncing me up and down. He thrust hard several times and came.

"I'm staying," I whispered into his neck.

"Good," he grunted.

I felt my eyes drift closed, and collapsed into him.

"Sleep, tomorrow will be a long day," he said just before I drifted off.

End Note:

Smut University starts this week, with a little something about research from me.

I know you all have questions, and that it seems like Edward didn't really notice anything, but he did. You'll see…