"Seth, it's just me. Please tell the pack not to attack. My family is here." Alice Cullen's tiny voice danced through the pack mind.

Who's going to phase to talk to them? I half-screamed my thoughts. I really didn't want any of us to phase because I was terrified that one of the Cullens would attack us. I never trusted them, vegetarians or not.

I will. Sam. He was comfortable enough to phase and talk to the vamps without fear.

Okay, Sam. We have your back. Paul and Jared, I want you both next to Sam. I'm hitting the perimeter with Leah and Quil. The rest of you stay close to Sam. Jacob's authority rang true through our minds, but I didn't have time to worry about leaving Paul with the vamps. It was time for me to shine.

I dug in deep, pushing my muscles harder than I had in weeks. My lungs filled easily and my intense senses picked up several new vampire scents. Cullen, Cullen, not a Cullen. What the fuck?

Jake, who the hell is that?

I don't know. Let's go; you take left, I'll take right.

We ran around the perimeter and caught sight of a vampire we'd never seen before. It was a female with long blonde hair and golden eyes like the Cullens- a "vegetarian" vampire.

Leave her, Leah. She's a veggie. Friend of the Cullens.

Fuck that, Jake. I don't trust her.

Don't make me pull rank, Leah. Leave it. Let's get back to Sam.

Grr, I hate this. It feels wrong.

I know; all this shit feels wrong. We just have to go.

We turned back and ran at full speed as we left behind the blonde vampire.

Jake, Leah - Dr. Cullen said Edward and Bella are close. Really close - they should be here any minute from what Alice said.

This was going to end badly. There was no way Bella would be left unharmed. Edward was insane and everything was going to shit around us. I hated being surrounded by bloodsuckers. They made my nose burn and my hair stand on end.

Leah, give it a rest. I know this sucks for all of us.

Sorry, Jake. It's just hard to stay focused.

Just try, please.

Jake and I ran up to where Sam was standing with the Cullens. They were all staring intensely at Alice who had her hands clenched on either side of her head, shaking it back and forth.

"No, no, no! He's going to hurt her. No, Edward!" Alice's voice sent shivers all over me.

I tilted my head to the side, hearing something far off in the distance. The entire pack shifted in that direction, knowing that this was going to happen no matter what we did.

Jake's mind was a locked box while all of us flooded the pack mind with thoughts of destroying vamps and injured humans. I could sense the pain Alice felt. I couldn't understand why a vampire would care so much about a stupid human girl, but those Cullens were a freaking strange bunch of vampires.

How the hell could I have ever known what would happen next?

We smelled them before we saw them. Bella was still human, but probably not for long. The vampire stench was burning through her blood and she was screaming furiously, writhing in Edward's tight grip. Edward's eyes were blazing red, the bloodlust filling him with a fury that was nearly impossible for him to control. Emmett and Jasper shifted uncomfortably, inching closer to Edward and the screeching Bella.

"Edward, put her down. You don't want to do this." Dr. Cullen spoke firmly but quietly, trying to calm Edward and get him away from Bella. She only had a few minutes if she was going to stay human.

"Please, Edward, please. You love her! You can't let this happen." Alice's sweet voice was screeching through my head, piercingly high-pitched.

My ears perked up at the sound of a vampire approaching from behind Edward. It was the blonde veggie vamp that Jake and I had seen before. She shocked all of us by slipping closely behind Edward, sliding her hands up his arms and pressing her face against his ear.

"Mmmm, Edward, let this little morsel go and let me remind you what it's like to be with a real woman," she purred so loudly I thought the pack was going to lose it. The boys' thoughts went to places that made me nauseous. Jake gratefully pulled rank and shut them up, reminding them of Bella dying in front of his eyes.

Edward's bloodlust had apparently clouded his better judgement, and he dropped Bella like a sack of potatoes and turned to the blonde vampire, forcing his tongue into her mouth and wrapping his arms around her.

After a quick glance at Jake, and Jake's sharp nod, Dr. Cullen grabbed Bella from the ground and immediately began to suck out the venom.

The pack couldn't control the growls that ripped through us as we watched Dr. Cullen pull the venom from Bella's flailing body. Jake's thoughts were no longer guarded and we could all see him struggle with phasing and helping Bella, or staying wolf and destroying Edward.

Jacob's agonizing decision was made for him as the blonde vamp ran off with Edward in tow. Jacob furiously delivered an Alpha order for Quil and Jared to tail them through the woods so they couldn't get away. Once he knew they were being followed, Jake phased into human form, yanked on his shorts, and crouched down next to Bella.

"Bella! Bella!" Jake was shouting loudly, reaching toward Bella, but holding back until Dr. Cullen moved away from her.

Bella had stopped screaming and her breaths were coming in shallow pants. Dr. Cullen pulled back and glanced around at the panting wolves and his vampire family.

"She's going to be fine, Jacob." Dr. Cullen put Bella into Jacob's arms and he held her tightly against his chest. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. I never thought that I would ever see a vampire actually help a human. Well, keep her human. A strong sense of relief washed over me, and even though I couldn't understand why Jacob loved her so much, I was glad that Bella was going to recover.

"Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, please go find Edward and Irina. He needs to be stopped before he hurts someone else. Alice, call Charlie and have him meet us at the house. Tell him Bella had a hiking accident, but that she will be fine. Esme and I will take care of her." Dr. Cullen calmly sent his family to complete their tasks and Jacob carried Bella back to the Cullen's house.

Sam stepped up and delivered the pack's instructions.

Seth, Brady, Collin, and Jared, head back to the reservation and keep watch. Take turns and get some rest, too. Leah, Paul, Embry, and I will guard the Cullen house and keep watch for the return.

I shook out the dust that had settled in my fur and scratched my ear with my paw.

I'm up. Who am I relieving?

Me. I need to crash. Paul and Embry are still up by the house. There's been no sign of the other Cullens. Charlie's here, now so be sharp. Thanks, Leah.

You got it, Sam.

I arched my back and stretched out my legs, spreading my toes and warming up my muscles.

Want me to do a lap, guys?

Sure, Leah. It's been pretty dead around here. Well, except for Bella and Charlie.

Ha ha. So not funny, Em. I'll be back around in a minute.

I dug deep, breathing in all of the scents and listening to all the sounds surrounding me. I caught the scents of the Cullens, but they were fading away in the distance. They hadn't come back this way or I would definitely know.

I knew the worst of it was over. I was exhausted and I missed curling up with Paul and forgetting about all the wolf/vampire/treaty fighting over humans bullshit. I just wanted to go back to being a semblance of normal with my Paul. We were still running patrols, but Jake had backed off since Bella was safe and Edward ran off to Alaska with the blonde vamp.

I finally had a chance to sleep in my own bed, and I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of my rest. I pulled the shades down and shut off my alarms. I put a note on the door for mom so she wouldn't wake me, crawled into my bed, and yanked the covers over me. I slept dreamlessly for twelve hours. When I woke up, I felt like a new woman. I showered and got dressed and grabbed my phone.

Paul had sent me a text.

Hey baby, I know you're sleeping, but I wanted to see if you'd want to look at an apartment when you wake up. Send me a text when you wake up. Love you.

My heart fluttered as I read the message, and I knew that things were going to change for the better. As long as I had my Paul, I would be just fine.

I sent a text to Paul, grabbed the keys to the Lincoln and headed to Paul's house. I wasn't sure where he was thinking about moving, but now wasn't the time to worry. We finally had a few hours to ourselves and didn't have to worry about all of the supernatural drama that was always swirling around us. For today we were just Leah and Paul, a devoted couple, looking for their first place on the reservation.

I parked the Lincoln in the driveway in front of Paul's house and took a quick glance in the rearview mirror, checking to be sure that I didn't have anything in my teeth. It seemed stupid, but little human things like food in your teeth could make you insanely happy when you'd spent the last month preparing and stressing about being in a war with vampires who were dead set on ripping you and your family to pieces.

I hopped out of the car and jogged up to the door, excited to have Paul all to myself for the day. The last few weeks had been exhausting, and we'd barely had a chance to be together let alone had time to talk about moving in together.

I had only tapped on the door once when it flew open, sending a rush of glorious scents rushing toward me.

"Leah! God, I missed you!" Paul bear tackled me and nearly took me down on the porch, but I stuck out my arm and caught the doorjamb and held us up.

I couldn't help the laughter that spilled out of me. He was so funny when he acted unabashedly in love.

I curled my mouth up to his ear and whispered, "I missed you, too, Paul. So much. I love you."

He shuddered a little as my breath tickled his ear and he responded, "I love you, too Leah. You hungry?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" I curled up the corner of my mouth and pushed us back into the house.

"My mom and my aunt couldn't resist when I said you'd be coming over. They've been cooking for the last four hours. I think they made enough food to feed the whole pack." Paul laughed into the crook of my neck and placed a kiss on my ear.

I whispered a tiny moan and said, "Later."

"Promise?"

"Oh, yeah. It's been way too long, baby."