A/N: Sorry for the delay but all of this pollen in the air has made me an unhappy Bajita. Breathing is definitely NOT overrated. ;)

SM owns all things Twilight. I just enjoy playing with the characters.

Never Give Up Hope

Chapter 11

The following day dawned bright and cheery, only a few fluffy clouds in the sky. I took advantage of the light by spending the earliest part of the morning engrossed in my latest painting of a reddish brown wolf. I had him standing proudly on the top of a ridge with a slight breeze ruffling his fur. I couldn't help but smile softly as I painted yet another version of this particularly handsome beast. I had done several pieces featuring this fellow over the years.

As the morning light faded, I decided to work outside in my front flower beds for a bit. With spring just around the corner, they were in need of a good weeding and general cleaning. As I worked, I made mental notes of the types of flowers I would like to add to brighten my home. My dad hadn't been much of a gardener so when I was younger, it often fell to me if I had wanted to add color to the front of our home. Over the years, I had learned what types of flowers grew best in our beds and which ones required more personal attention. While I enjoyed my flowers, I didn't want to spend every day working in the beds.

Realizing that lunch time was close, I put away my gardening tools. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good day, I made myself a quick picnic lunch to eat down at the beach. I hadn't stopped by to visit my mom's rock in quite a while. We had some catching up to do. I grabbed my bag, put my lunch inside along with my ever present sketch pad and pastels before heading out the door. Collin was working all day so I had the afternoon and evening to do I pleased.

Walking carefully along the path through the dunes to the beach, I turned to the left to the boulder that held so many memories for me. Climbing up to sit on the top, I spent a good half hour pouring out my feelings for Collin. I had no doubt that he was it for me and I hoped that mom would feel the same way. A light breeze swirled around me making me smile. Surveying the quiet beach before me, I took out my sketch pad and half of my sandwich. I sat peacefully working for several hours, eating and drawing the beauty around me. Finally noticing that sun was about to set, I pulled out my pastels for one last quick sketch as the sky was changing colors. Sunset had always been my favorite time of day. The changing colors and cloud patterns were always new and exciting to me.

I must have worked on the sunset piece longer than I had intended because when I looked up again, the light was very quickly fading. Temperatures could fall quickly out here so I packed my things to head home. A glance at my surroundings told me that taking the forest path to my place was probably the quickest. I had traveled that path since my childhood days so I wasn't concerned as I entered the cover of the trees.

About halfway home, I began to feel uneasy, wary. The misty dark of the forest gave it an almost eerie feel. I stopped on the top of a hill where the path forked, looking over my shoulder. When I turned around to take the path down the hill, I saw a red haired woman at the bottom. She smiled but it wasn't a friendly gesture. My eyes darted around me. Then on the other path stood the strange blonde haired woman from the art supply store. My heart beat sped up as I realized that I was in trouble.

"Well, hello my dear." The red head sniffed the air. "Don't you smell….delicious."

The howl went up. I flew out of the house as Jared and Seth did the same. There was no denying the meaning of that howl, vampire on the res. We all phased, heading in Quil's direction.

I've caught two different scents coming from the west side of the res. We need to hurry! We sped through the trees. Brady stay near Emily's house to guard the imprints. With Sam off res working at a construction site and Leah on shift at the diner, we didn't have the pack's full force. We had to swift and efficient or we risked the Tribe's safety.

The west side? My heart nearly stopped. Raven! She's all by herself on that side of the res. My wolf pushed even faster to reach the blood suckers. We couldn't let anything hurt her. I'd die without her.

She's not your imprint, Collin. We won't let anything hurt her but you seriously need to back off. Seth snarled.

Growling, I couldn't stop myself from taking a swipe at his back flank the first chance I got. How dare he judge our relationship! I didn't need any sort of spiritual bond to tell me that she was the right one for me. I loved her with every fiber of my bearing.

Coming over a ridge, we caught sight of the vampires, both standing on different paths. The wind changed and my head snapped up as I realized who their prey was.

RAVEN! My wolf whimpered very softly as we stopped at a distance, trying to find the best way to handle the situation.

Jared stepped into his role as Beta, giving direction without hesitation. Circle around them. We'll lunge after the two vamps at once. Collin, you protect Raven. Wait for my signal.

We moved as instructed, silently and carefully. I chose to take the opposite side from Seth, not wanting the added distraction of his presence. My wolf was beginning to push past the Beta's orders to get to Raven faster.

"How nice of you to bring dinner to us. We appreciate your efforts. It's unfortunate that you will only be an appetizer." The blonde blood sucker stepped closer to Raven, looking at her like she was a choice bit of meat. Suddenly, the vampires must have caught our scent on the wind because their heads snapped up. The blonde lunged.

NOW!

All four wolves converged on the two vampires. Quil attacked the blonde, leaving the red head for Seth and Jared. I took my place between the fighting and Raven, shielding her as best as I could.

"What in the…?" She blinked in surprise as the scene in front of her changed so rapidly. Her eyes darting all over the place as she tracked not only the vampires but the wolves. Then, she looked up to see my reddish brown wolf standing protectively over her.

I looked over my shoulder for just an instant to make sure that she was ok, but her reaction was not what I expected. Her pulse spiked and her breathing sped up.

"Please….don't hurt me." She began to scrabble back away from me. Her foot caught on a root, sending her falling backwards. Raven hit her head on a rock, knocking her out cold.

No! Raven! I was afraid to phase back to human with the struggle with the two vampires so close but the human in me needed to check on her.

The fall must have caused a large cut on her head because both of the blood suckers went into a frenzy, trying to get to her. At that point, the three fighting wolves were able to quickly dispatch them with ease. Once they had been dismembered, I turned to check on Rae, phasing to human.

"Raven, please….honey, are you ok?" I kneeled down over her, touching her all over to look for injuries. Just as I thought, she did a gash on the back of her head, but it wasn't overly serious. I cradled her head in my hands, applying pressure to the wound.

Watching as the guys sent the vampires up in flames, I pulled her gently into my lap, cradling her against me. "Rae…open your eyes, please." I begged.

Slowly, she came to, her eyelashes fluttering. When she could finally open her eyes and look at me, everything around us stood still. This beautiful woman in my arms became the most precious thing on this planet. The Spirits had chosen her for me. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. She began to tremble, whether from shock or something else, I did not know.

She gasped. "Collin?" Her trembling got worse and then she passed out again.

I vaguely recalled the sound of footsteps behind me as Quil laid a hand on my shoulder. "We need to get her home, Collin. Jared and I will finish up here. Seth has gone for Sue." I glanced up at him. "As soon as she's ready, you can explain it all to her." He gave me an encouraging smile. "…'bout damn time your wolf woke up." With a pat on my shoulder, he and Jared took off to run along the border once again to make sure we had no more unwanted visitors.

Standing shakily, I held my girl in my arms. I kissed her forehead before heading in the direction of her house. I had come too close to losing her tonight. I wasn't happy with my wolf for not recognizing her sooner but maybe there was a reason for why this happened. Pushing that aside, I carried Raven home, unlocking her door with my hidden key and gently laid her on the couch. I sat on the floor beside her, my hands brushing her hair back from her face. "Please be ok." I whispered, leaning forward, inhaling her scent. "I've finally found you. Please don't leave." I closed my eyes and waited for Sue and inevitable.