Jacob POV

The members of my pack had creative ways of passing the time while they ran patrols. Quil had an obsessive habit of counting the squirrels that he saw running around the forest, Embry thought of new ways to get girls to give him their phone numbers, Jared and Sam thought about their imprints nonstop and Paul…spent his time complaining. The topic for tonight was lack of vampire activity and useless patrols.

The pack had learned not to interrupt Paul's inner monologues. We noticed that when he was allowed to vent in this manner, he seemed to have more control over his temper when he was in his human form. He knew whoever was on patrol with him could hear every thought he had, but for whatever reason, just knowing that someone was listening to him seemed to be a comfort to him.

At the moment, Paul was wondering why we still had to run patrols so frequently, even though the only bloodsuckers around were the Cullens. There hadn't been any other vampire activity in months.

Paul's train of thought suddenly shifted, and he reflected on the fact that for a while he resented Bella when Bella and I first started hanging out. He wouldn't let go of the fact that she had continued to pursue a relationship with the bronze-haired leech once she realized that he wasn't human.

Paul thought about how screwed up in the head Bella was the first couple of months after the leeches left. He was under the impression that Bella had been using me as a means to pass the time until the bloodsuckers came back for her.

It shocked me at first when I realized that Paul had thought I was a decent guy and that I didn't deserve to be hurt by someone who wasn't capable of even loving herself.

Once Paul realized that I'd imprinted, the negative thoughts about Bella began to change, and Paul started to hope that Bella would realize that I was the best choice for her. I smiled when I heard Paul think to himself that he now liked Bella and that she'd proven herself worthy of being a wolf girl.

I watched Paul make one more sweep around Bella's house before he would go inside to get dressed for the party. Suddenly, Paul caught the sickly sweet scent in the air. The next instant, Victoria stood in front of Paul with an evil smile on her face. Just as quickly she was gone, and Paul chased after her through the woods. He howled, and almost immediately I heard many voices in my head wanting to know what was going on. Paul said, "The redhead is here! I just found her in the woods right behind Bella's house. I'm chasing after her right now. I can't believe this. It's been months, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, here she is!"

I ran as fast as I could toward Bella's house. How could this be happening? It had been months since the red-headed leech had been around. How could she be so bold as to come so close to the house? I knew that she could smell Paul. What was she thinking? Then it occurred to me that if Paul was chasing her then Bella was unprotected. Through our thoughts I yelled to Paul, "Go back to the house and protect Bella! It's a trap! She wanted you to run after her so that Bella would be unprotected!"

I ran with all my might, and once I reached her house I leaped into Bella's window. Immediately, I knew that I was too late. Bella was gone. I looked around the room and saw blood smeared on the wall alongside her dresser and on the carpet. I sniffed the air and was confused because there wasn't a fresh bloodsucker scent. I quickly searched the whole house and found nothing. Everyone was searching the woods, and the only scent they could find was Victoria's. My Bella was out there somewhere, and I had no idea if she was still alive, dead, or turned into a leech.

Raven POV

Human fear was so appealing; I had missed it over these past months pretending to be something that I wasn't. I lied to the Cullens about who I really was and what my gifts and talents actually were. Yes, I was a shield and could tell the future, but it went way deeper than that. I was also a mind manipulator that had the ability to make a person see what I wanted them to see. Mind readers heard what I wanted them to hear. I had the ability to hide my true scent. I could mask it to smell like any other vampire that I had ever come in contact with or I could have no scent at all. Human blood didn't make me sick, but I had a lot of control when it came to resisting it.

Victoria and I were once part of the same coven, until I decided to venture off on my own. It took some time, but eventually she found me and asked if I would help her get revenge on the people who killed her mate.

The wolves knew that Victoria was after Bella, and they had her heavily protected. That's where my gifts came into play. If I could become part of the family then I would have easy access to Bella. The only complication was that Edward was banned from visiting Bella, and she wasn't allowed to come to the wedding. It would have been odd for me to want to come and see her without Edward, so our plan was at a standstill. But then that stupid alpha dog handed Bella over to us on a platter when he invited Edward to come and visit her. While the wolves were focused on Victoria running around the forest, I was here in Bella's room torturing her.

"I see that you have noticed the change in my eye color; I had a little snack before I came to see you. I'm sure that you have a lot of questions, but I can't answer them right now. We have to get going. There's some place that you need to be."

Bella opened her to mouth to scream, but before she could let out a whimper, I grabbed her by the neck and raised her off the floor. She attempted to pull at my hands as she thrashed around, but of course that did her no good. I flung her across the room like a rag doll. She crashed into her dresser and fell unconscious to the floor. I picked her up, slung her over my shoulder, and leaped out the window. This was just too easy.

Bella POV

I woke up and the first thing I was conscious of was the pain. My head was pounding, it felt like a couple of my ribs were broken, and my throat was very sore. I attempted to sit up but felt a sharp pain on my left side, and my head began to spin. The room was empty except for a couple of chairs and an old broken down table.

"Glad you could join us, Bella."

My heart almost stopped beating. I knew that voice; it was Victoria. The time had finally come. I was going to die.

Victoria walked toward me and said, "Well, well, well, it looks like I finally won. You are at my mercy and there is no one here to protect you. Your fate is in my hands."

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and realized Raven was standing in the corner.

It hurt to know that she had assisted Victoria with kidnapping me. "Raven, how could you do this? I don't understand. Do you realize how much I mean to the Cullens? They will be crushed when they find out what you have done. Edward will be heartbroken. How could you do this to him?"

"Bella, you just don't get it, do you? I couldn't care less about the Cullens and about Edward's feelings. This was just a game for me. I never felt anything for him and when this is all over, I'm gone. None of you will cross my mind again."

"I don't understand. How were you able to fool Alice, Edward, and Jasper?"

"All a part of my gift, I'm a manipulator of the mind. People see and hear what I want them to see and hear. I wanted Edward to fall in love with me, so that is what happened. I needed to be close to the family so I could have easy access to you. As of right now, no one has any idea where you are or what is happening to you. All they know is that Victoria is around and that she has something to do with it, but that is about to change. Part of Victoria's plan is to let Alice and Edward see what is going on, so that they can suffer when they have to watch you die. I almost feel sorry for you. Victoria is going to torture you until you beg for her to kill you and then she is going to suck you dry."

Victoria impatiently said, "Enough talking. Raven, let your shield down so that they can see what I'm about to do to their precious Bella."

Victoria looked at me with hunger in her eyes as she slowly crouched low to the ground. Next thing I knew, she was directly in front of me. I tried to scoot back but moving was too painful. Victoria shoved her fist into my side and if my ribs weren't broken before they were now. I heard the sound of my bones as they cracked, and I screamed.

There are two chapters left before this story will be completed. Will Jacob find Bella in time?