Here's the next chapter... I got a couple reviews on the last one :)

just a reminder... again... DON'T LEAVE NEGATIVE COMMENTS. IT'S NOT ANYTHING I CARE ABOUT. GO WHINE TO SOMEONE ELSE ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU DON'T LIKE THIS STORY OR DON'T LIKE MY CHOICE OF CHARACTERS!

This isn't one of my best chapters... but it's pretty long, plenty of action, plenty of JacobXBella, so I find it an interesting one haha I hope you do too!

ENJOY!

We had finally found a place. It wasn't within any sort of walking distance of any houses or towns or even buildings- it was all by itself. That would mean that no one taking their afternoon walk would happen to stumble across it and find a werewolf or even me all by myself- we would be left alone. Jacob could run to the next town when he needed to, and he could give me a ride also, if needed. The cabin was small, only one room, but very well built. Jacob guessed it to be at least a hundred years old, but my guess was only fifty. It was in very good condition, and the bed felt like a feather mattress (although that could've just been because I hadn't slept on a bed in quite a while). There was a corner that was like a bedroom, with a bed and a dresser that had a broken, dusty mirror on it. In another corner there was a small wood burning stove and oven. There was a fireplace on the far wall that was pretty big, and with a wire rack still inside, which could be used for heating food up. There was a small pantry kind of room (with a bathroom next to that) in between the fireplace and the stove that had pots, pans, tools, a mop, a broom stored in it. There were a couple chairs near the fire, and they all had very tattered quilts on them that appeared to be hand-made. There were no windows in the house at all, and the door was very crudely made, so that it barely fit into the door-frame. Jacob made a new one right away so that the wind was kept pretty well at-bay.

After we had officially settled in, we got a really bad snow storm that actually snowed us into the house. Jacob had guessed the storm would be bad, though, so he'd gone into town and got us all kinds of canned foods and boxed pastas, so that we would have enough food to last us through the storm. We had built a fire, which warmed the whole room nicely, since I didn't want to just hug Jacob all day, although I still did for most of the day. I used all the old quilts and piled them up in front of the fireplace, and made myself a nice nest of warm blankets all around, Jacob behind me, and the fire in front of me. We poured a bunch of cans of soup into one of the pots and I hung it over the fire on the rack, so that it was warm all day for us to eat.

As day slowly turned into night, Jacob kept going out to get more wood, but it was getting much colder in the cabin. When he went out the final time, he was gone for a solid twenty minutes, and by the time he got back, I was shivering violently as the fire crackled and popped very weakly. I had tried to keep it going, but after having my hands out from under the blankets for five minutes, I'd gotten too cold. When Jacob opened the door to come in with the wood, I buried myself deep under the blankets until he could get the fire going again.

"Hey, Bells, fires going again. Come out from under the blankets, or at least open them so I can get in. You need to warm up a little," Jacob said when he had finally restarted the fire. I pulled up one arm, looking out the small crack in the blankets to see where he was, and then I wiggled around and tucked my arms around his waist, pressing my face against his warm skin as he inhaled sharply against my cold hands and cheeks.

"Bella, you're freezing. I've only been gone twenty minutes… how did you get so cold?" He seemed worried as he dug his hands into the blankets, trying to get his arms around me to warm me up. I just shrugged, not really wanted to talk at the moment since I was too busy marveling at the warmth radiating off him. He sighed and leaned back against one of the chairs, and I scooted closer to him, laying my head more on his shoulder and moving the blankets so his skin was directly touching me.

We lay like that for a few minutes, and then suddenly Jacob snapped up and he sat up straight like he'd been electrocuted. He seemed to be sniffing the air, and I watched him, intrigued and worried at the same time. It was like flipping on a light switch- everything about him had changed. Where just a second ago he'd had a softness about him, now he seemed hard, chiseled, like he was coiled to spring. He got up, going into a crouch as he stared at the door menacingly, a horrible grimace on his face. Then he looked at me, and his eyes softened a little. I could see the worry in them, and it scared me.

"What," I whispered, knowing he wanted me to stay as quiet as possible. "What's happening? Who's out there?" I kept my gaze locked on his, never moving my eyes for a second, knowing already what he was going to say. He stood up a little straighter, coming over to me.

"I want you to go over by the fire. Stay as close as you can to it… there's a vampire outside. I smelled him as soon as he was down wind of us. I'm going to try not to phase unless I have to, but if I do, stay out of the way. I won't hurt you if I know where you are." He turned and grabbed one of the half burned sticks, holding it out to me. "Use this as a barrier. He won't come anywhere near you if you keep it out in front of you."

I stepped toward him, taking the stick from him and kissing him quickly, and then I stepped back, crouching down next to the fireplace with the stick held near me.

"I'll be in this corner if he comes toward me. Then I'll be able to keep him away. Jake," I said, as he turned toward the door. "Please be careful… I'd rather we just ran away than you fight him. You can run a lot faster than him when you're a wolf. Please?" I looked at him, trying to get him to look at me, but he wouldn't.

"Yeah, I'll make sure you're safe, don't worry," he said, giving me a smile that I wasn't sure the meaning of. I sighed, hoping against hope that he wouldn't try to keep the vampire away from me and hurt himself in the process. I backed up against the wall, trying to push the thought from my mind as I focused on the door and what was about to come through it.

I had to admit, I was nervous. The last vampires I'd seen who were trying to kill me were the newborn vampire army… and Victoria. Jacob had ripped her apart, but what about this one? What if he had powers that Jacob couldn't foresee, what if he hurt him in some way that wasn't fixable?

There were too many what-ifs running through my head; I needed to stop. I put my full attention toward the door, waiting for the vampire to break it down. As the seconds ticked by, I started to get confused. Where was he? Could he smell us inside? Probably not… he was surely coming up with a good solid plan to get into the cabin and get a hold on both our throats.

Then, suddenly… there was a knock on the door. Not a loud knock, just a polite 'knock, knock, knock.' Jacob's face was a mask of shock, his features quickly going from his horrible grimace to shocked to a polite and calm face, with a hint of worry.

He opened the door a bit and stuck his head around so that the vampire could see him.

"Hello? Who's crazy enough to go out in this weather?" He opened the door far enough that I could see the vampire, and I held my breath, not able to take my eyes off him.

He was handsome, even as far as vampires go. He had curly blonde hair and his skin was the palest ivory I'd ever seen. He was really muscular or tough looking, but the way he held himself, you'd of thought he was a pro-wrestler. His eyes, on the other hand, were a very, very dark burgundy color, which I had never seen before. As I thought about it, I realized that I actually did know what this vampire's burgundy eyes meant… I had seen Laurent's eyes when he had attacked me in the meadow, and they had been a lighter shade of burgundy, since he'd been thirsty. The darker the burgundy, the more thirsty they were, and this vampire's eyes were almost black, which meant he was very desperate to get to me, and maybe even Jacob if he still needed it. That scared me; a desperate vampire wasn't likely to run away if there was any chance he could die- he'd keep fighting to get to me until he died.

"Hello. I was just wondering if you could lend me your hospitality for the night and allow me to sleep in your cabin. It is terribly cold out here, and I am sure to die if I stay out much longer. You see, I was taking a walk in the forest when the storm hit, and, stupid me, I was too far away from my house to get back without getting lost. So I stopped, and when it stopped snowing, I started walking again, but I seem to be lost, and it's very chilly." He was so polite as he talked, but his dark eyes were giving him away, flashing toward me every couple seconds. I shifted positions next to the fire, and suddenly his nostrils flared. He looked at Jacob for a split second, and then he attacked.

Everything happened in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, there was a large russet wolf and a vampire locked in battle in the middle of our cabin. They were both moving so fast that I could barely see them, and I definitely couldn't tell who was winning. As I watched, horrified, I heard a yelp followed by a horrible cracking sound, and then Jacob was on the ground in his human form, howling screaming in pain. The vampire moved toward me, and I held the fire out in front of me, swinging it at him as he came closer. He hissed every time it came near him, but it kept him away.

"What do you think you're doing? You're werewolf friend is gravely injured- he won't be walking for at least a few hours," the vampire said, his eyes narrowing as he glanced at Jacob curled up on the floor. "You can't hold me off for that long- you're going to die tonight. I might kill your friend, too. He's smelling better and better by the second." The vampire's voice sounded slightly like a snake, and his eyes, now that I saw them up close, had very thin pupils, almost like slits, so that he looked even more snake-like. He terrified me, and as I watched him pace back and forth in front of me, I knew he was right- I couldn't avoid death any longer. I loosened my hold on the stick, and right as I did, I knew it was a bad move. He attacked so fast that I didn't even have time to get the stick anywhere near him- suddenly it was across the cabin and he had me pinned up against the wall.

For reasons I'll never understand, but that I'm very grateful for, the vampire took his time. He had me in a very tight grip on both my arms, and he took a deep breath, his mouth very close to my neck. My eyes were closed, and I was already thinking about what I would say when I saw Edward. The vampire's hand moved down my arm to my wrist, and he held on so tightly that I felt like my wrist was going to break in half- but it didn't. He took another deep breath, and then he looked me right in the eyes, a satisfied smile on his face.

Just as he was leaning toward my throat, Jacob, in an instant, phased and pounced on the vampire's back, ripping off his head and toppling him backward. As he and the vampire fell to the ground, Jacob phased back to human, and he cried out in pain, his face screwing up into a painful grimace that would haunt me for a long time. I stood still, shocked into silence for a few long seconds, and then I quickly dragged the vampire's head, and then body, into the fireplace.

"Jake?" I put a hand on his shoulder, intending on rolling him onto his back, but he groaned in pain as soon as I touched him. "Jake, what happened?" He was scaring me. He hadn't moved since he'd fallen almost five minutes ago, but I'd heard groans and growls coming from him. I continued to watch him, and then suddenly he let out a scream like I'd never heard before. I got up onto my knees, waiting for him to say something to me, but he just continued to scream and he started to writhe in pain. I reached out to touch him, and this time he turned, looking at me.

"Please, Bella, don't touch me. That bloodsucker crushed me like a tin can- broke a buncha my bones. Help me onto the bed, and then stay over by the fireplace. I don't want you to see me like this, and you need to stay warm," he said in a strangled whisper, and I quickly helped him, putting an arm around his shoulders and half-dragging him over to the bed. I sat down once he was lying as comfortably as I could get him and took his hand, running my hand across his forehead. He shook his head, trying to talk, but all that came out were grunts and groans. I tried to keep my tears at bay as I watched him, but eventually they fell anyways, making small trails down my cheeks.

He moved a lot- every time his body started fixing a bone, he'd writhe and twist in agony. By the second time, I moved to the ground. Him moving around on the bed was bad enough- whenever he bumped into me, I could see his face screw up even more. I needed to stay out of the way and let his body do what it needed to.

After I'd been sitting next to the bed for what felt like hours, I started to shiver. Jacob's body wasn't giving off the kind of heat that it usually did, since it was working overtime to fix itself. He was sweating like crazy, but he didn't even feel warm. I had to move closer to the fire- I was going to freeze to death if I didn't, and Jacob wouldn't be very happy if, after everything he'd done to keep me safe, I died of something stupid like hypothermia.

There was still a lot of wood by the fire, but no matter how big I made it, I just kept on shivering. I got as close as I could to the fire and I tried to block out Jacob's cries of agony. I covered my ears with my hands and pulled all the blankets around me and over me, but it didn't help. It was like we were connected- even when I had all the blankets around my head, I could still hear his piercing whimpers and cries of pain, and it was driving me crazy.

When the noises finally stopped, I don't know. I lay by the fire, all the blankets over top me, shivering like a leaf for what felt like days.

"Bella?" I heard a half strangled whisper from the bed, and I jumped up so fast that I almost fell back down again. Jacob was lying there with his eyes half closed, covered in sweat, and he even looked like he was shaking a little bit. I knelt down next to his head, running my hands across his face and wiping the tears from both our eyes. He started to talk again, but I put a finger to his lips.

"Shhh, please. Don't talk, you need to get better. I threw the vampire into the fire as soon as you… decapitated him. He's been burned for a long time. How are you feeling?" I didn't want him to worry- everything was taken care of, so he needed to stay where he was.

"I feel like I was just pulverized about a hundred times in a row. All my bruises should be gone in another hour or so, and hopefully I'll be warm again, since I can feel your cold hands. How's the fire going?" Jacob tried to sit up, but I put a hand on his chest to keep him down. He was so weak that even I could push him back onto the bed, and that scared me a little. "Jake, are you sure you're going to be okay? I just… I've never seen you this weak before. I'm a little scared…" He half-heartedly smiled at me and closed his eyes, mumbling something about 'being fine' as he passed out again. I sighed, watching him for another second and then going back over to the fire. This time I used the blankets as a nest, since I didn't have to block out Jacob's screams anymore. I curled up tightly right next to the fire after throwing a few big logs into it, and I quickly fell asleep.

"Bells? Are you awake?" I heard Jacob's voice and my eyelids fluttered open. He was leaning heavily on the chair, his face still pale and glistening with sweat. I watched him for a second, and then I remembered that he shouldn't be standing.

"Jacob! Why are you standing up? You need to rest- I don't want you to hurt yourself again!" I jumped up and ran over to him, sliding my arm around his back and putting a hand on his chest to steady him.

"I'm alright, Bella, I'm just really tired still. The bed was starting to get really chilly, so I thought I'd come over here," he said, wincing as my cold hands touched his slowly warming chest. "Woah, feels like you need me over here. Fire not working out so well as a heater?" I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"Do you really want to come over here? The bed's a hundred times more comfortable I'm sure. You really need all the rest you can get," I said, watching him apprehensively as he lowered himself down into my little nest and patted the blankets in front of him.

"Yeah, your body heat- what little you have- is definitely worth coming down here for. It'll keep us both warm, me being down here. Then I can control the fire, since you seem to have a knack for killing it," he said, looking at the smoldering remains of the blazing fire with hint of amusement.

I settled down in front of him, watching his face to make sure I wasn't putting pressure on my bruises, but he seemed okay. I leaned back into him and he leaned against the chair I'd moved, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the flat little cushion. As he put his arms around me, though, I couldn't help but shy away from his hands. I had pretty nasty bruises on my arms and my wrist where that vampire had grabbed me, and I didn't want him touching those or I might cry.

We sat like that for a minute, but I continued to shiver. I turned onto my side, pressing my face against Jacob's chest, but I just couldn't get warm. He was shirtless, and he watched me for a second, then he reached for the hem of my longsleeve t-shirt.

"It'll be easier to get warm if you take this off. Heat transfers better from skin to skin," he said with a little smirk, but I couldn't take my shirt off. I shook my head, pushing his hands away from my shirt and back around my waist.

"No, I'll be fine like this." He looked at me, confused.

"Bella, you're shivering. Still! If you don't warm up soon, it could be dangerous." He pulled my t-shirt, and I had to admit he was right. No matter how much I didn't want him to see my bruises, I needed to get warm, and fast.

I lowered my arms apprehensively, knowing that he would notice the bruises right away, and he didn't let me down.

"Bella. What happened to your…" he trailed off, thinking back to the fight, and then his eyes flashed to my face as it dawned on him. "He got that close? I wasn't thinking… I didn't know he actually grabbed you…" Jacob started to shake, and I knew I had to calm him down.

"Jake, Jake, calm down. It's alright, he didn't hurt me. They're just bruises!" He continued to shake, so I leaned in, kissing him softly. I slid my arms around his shoulders and pressed my body to his, and the shaking slowed, and then stopped eventually. I could feel him trying to focusing on me, his arms encircling my waist as his lips responded to mine. I stayed like that until I was so deprived of oxygen that I was seeing spots and then I turned my head slightly, taking a deep breath. Jacob was breathing heavy too, and he pressed his lips to my neck, taking a deep breath as he did.

"Thanks, Bells, for calming me down. Sorry I got so out of control- it's scary, that he got that close to you. I…" He trailed off, mumbling something at the end that I didn't catch.

"Jake, you shouldn't have gotten so upset over it," I mumbled into his hair. "He didn't actually hurt me- they're only bruises." He sighed into my neck, and I knew he knew I was right.

"Yeah, I know. It's just a reminder, though, of how many times you've gotten that close to a vampire. You looked almost peaceful- definitely not scared. What were you thinking?" He looked at me curiously, but I knew he could already answer that question.

"I didn't want to panic and scream and beg for mercy like I'm sure his other victims did, so I just closed my eyes and pretended like it was Edward. It was easy, actually," I said with a half smile. "I'll never be scared of another vampire again." I had to smile sarcastically as I said that- I had been terrified.