I opened my eyes and was blinded by light; I quickly shut them again and took several breaths, shaking from whatever nightmare I'd been having. Something about the brunette woman, and the Cullens, and my Jacob—

I blinked. My Jacob was hurt.

My eyes watered, and I lifted sore arms up to cover my face, waiting until I could see the dirty black fabric of the sweatshirt before I sat up. I was on the ground, next to the same tree Jacob had put me against earlier. How much earlier? The sun was still bright through the trees, but was covered by some clouds and heading west.

There were still vampires and wolves gathered on the pavement, but the Rabbit was gone, as was much of the glass that had littered the pavement; I moved to stand and my head spun, but freezing cold hands caught me before I could fall.

I was almost surprised to see that it wasn't Edward who had caught me, but Carlisle, his comforting smile doing a lot more to help me than Edward's grimace would have. "What happened?" I asked, grabbing onto a low tree branch for support so Carlisle would let go of me. "Is Jacob okay?"

"Edward, Paul, and Jared went to find him."

"Edward? Why?"

"He thought it would be best if he…got some air." I knew in Carlisle's avoidance of my gaze that Edward's disappearance had a lot to do with my scratches.

"Is my blood what bothers him? Me specifically?" I asked, watching the blond vampire closely; he finally met my eyes, surprise in his.

"What are you talking about, Bella?" he asked innocently, but I wasn't an idiot; he had to know. I decided it wasn't important enough to talk about at the moment, letting go of the tree after finally gaining my balance.

"Okay, well, what happened to him?" I demanded, my voice a lot stronger than I felt. Inside, my world was falling into pieces, different images of the broken and mangled ways my Jacob could have been left by the brunette woman. "Jacob. Will he live?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll live," Carlisle said. "Edward made a little mistake in what he said to you, it wasn't the wisest of him."

"Will you just stop beating around the bush and tell me," I groaned, putting one of my hands over my face. "You vampires, so secretive."

"We have to be," Carlisle noted seriously, and I looked at him. "Other members of our coven were on the woman's scent when they were met by Jacob, also in the chase. They hunted her down and thought she had gotten away, but she returned with backup, four more vampires. Jacob was knocked unconscious in the fight but is well and whole and will be here very soon."

I sighed in relief, turning toward the tree and leaning my forehead against the damp bark. "Holy crow."

"There was nothing permanent or even lasting in terms of injuries. He'll be okay, Bella." I glanced up at Carlisle again, surprised he was genuinely trying to make me feel better.

Uncomfortable growls and whining sounded from the wolves, and I nearly gave myself whiplash looking over at them, searching for a sign of my Jacob's russet fur. The only wolves still here were Sam and a wolf whose coat I didn't recognize, who had to be Embry. He was gray with black spots, a little thinner than the other wolves. His coat was long and shaggy like Jake's.

Alice was awake now, standing, and the blond man was standing next to her. I glanced at Carlisle questioningly, and he nodded, seeming to know what I was wondering about. "That is Jasper, Alice's mate. He's also a member of our coven."

"Why are you waiting here with me?"

"I'm a doctor. I was staying near you so I could have the best idea possible of your situation."

"Like passing out?"

He chuckled. "Yes."

"Can we go out there?"

He held his arm out, motioning for me to go first. "Be my guest."

I climbed up the shoulder of the road and onto the pavement, still free of passing cars but full of wolves and vampires. Carlisle followed me closely, and I scanned the trees where we'd been standing and also every other inch I could see, looking for my Jacob.

"Do we know when he's getting back?" I asked, omitting the others bringing Jacob from the equation.

"I can't see it," Alice muttered angrily, and I was reminded of the wolves blinding her visions. I wondered if she had foreseen Jacob being attacked by the extra vampires, or if her sight deficit would have blocked the woman's retrieval of backup.

"Can anyone hear it?" I looked pointedly at the wolves, and Sam nodded, expressionless. Wow, that shouldn't have made me so mad.

"Where's the Rabbit?"

"We moved it," Carlisle said. "We needed as little wreckage as possible. Imagine the Forks police getting called out here." He smiled at me, probably hoping to make me laugh trying to imagine my father's reaction to this, but nothing was funny. In fact, every word out of anyone's mouth, including my own, was making my stomach hurt more and more.

It couldn't have been longer than five minutes before Embry began to get antsy, the vampires motionlessly listening. Then two more wolves emerged onto the street, one of them limping, followed by a vampire, and in his arms was my Jacob.

I raced forward, darting around Paul and Jared to Edward, who lay Jacob down on the grass. I didn't mention how pissed Jake would be if he'd known that a vampire had been carrying him. Someone had put pants on him, considering his clothes had been torn to shreds when he'd phased, and the jeans looked a little too tight. I didn't know whose they were, and didn't have the mental energy to try and figure it out.

"Jacob," I breathed, taking his face in both my hands as I knelt next to him. I glanced up at the people all around us. "When is he going to be okay?"

"It shouldn't be much longer," a voice said from the trees my Jacob had been brought out of. I had to lean my head all the way back to see the face of the giant vampire now in my view, his skin just as pale as the others', his eyes yellow little suns. No, not suns, I scolded myself. Don't compare their eyes to your Jacob.

His hair was dark and curly, unkempt and dotted with twigs or leaves. He smiled down at me, and I saw how beautiful he was, but also incredibly large. He looked like some kind of bodybuilder model hybrid.

"Why's that?" I asked him, unable to be intimidated by either his size or his species.

"Didn't get hit too hard. Just thrown against a tree, and you should have seen it, snapped right in half." He chuckled. "Who needs lumberjacks when you can toss werewolves?"

"Shut up," I growled, hearing matching growls from the wolves behind me. The new vampire boy laughed again, glancing back behind him into the trees. Rosalie emerged at his acknowledgment, and I recognized her stuck-up and angry expression both from having seen it at school, and also having seen it on Edward.

"The little one's feisty," the stranger noted, still chuckling as he approached the rest of the vampires, now grouped together but keeping their distance from the wolves. "She's human?"

"She's his imprint, like we told you," Alice said, still looking frustrated with her lack of sight; I stopped caring about them after a second of watching and brought my gaze back to Jacob. He looked unharmed, like he could have been sleeping. I kept one hand on his face and brought the other to his heart, feeling for its steady beating.

"We need to get off the road," Alice said, breaking the silence. "I don't know what we're doing waiting around, because I can't see it, but cars are going to start showing up."

"Embry is getting a vehicle for Jacob," Sam said, and I glanced up, not even having noticed him changing back into a human and putting pants on. "He'll be back shortly. We're not far from the reservation."

"Well get them out sight," Alice ordered, and Sam's expression darkened. If he didn't like getting told what to do, why did he do it to everyone else?

He was at my side swiftly, picking Jacob up. He started into the trees without speaking, and I followed after him hastily, glancing behind us at the coven of vampires in the road, all watching me.

"What's her name?" I heard the stranger ask.

"Bella," Edward said immediately.

Sam didn't travel too far into the trees, lying Jacob down on a relatively clean area of grass. "I'll send Paul or Jared to wait with you," he said brusquely, and I nodded, kneeling down next to Jacob again. He stalked off, still broody, and I rolled my eyes at the attitude from what felt like everyone around me.

Except Jacob, of course. It felt like I'd kissed him a thousand years ago, and I reached down and touched his lips, smiling weakly despite the situation. He looked so fragile, so tired like this. I wanted to scoop him up in my arms and just run, away from the vampires and the other wolves and from anything that could hurt him.

I heard footsteps and looked up to see Paul as a wolf loping toward us, planting himself near Jacob's head facing away from the road. He was probably scanning for some kind of danger. I just kept my eyes on Jake, on his long lashes and his perfect lips and flawless skin, and mentally willed him to wake up and be okay.

I heard the roar of my truck and glanced toward the street and then back at my Jacob, whose eyes began to flutter seconds later. "Bella?" he asked, and I grinned. Had the familiar roar of my engine woken him up?

"I'm here Jake, right here, I'm okay," I breathed, his face in both my hands. "Permission?" I asked, wanting desperately to kiss him but not wanting to do it while he was still mostly unconscious.

He laughed weakly, and my stomach hurt. Was he in pain now? "Permission," he breathed, and I grinned, leaning down and kissing him hard.

His hands reached up and tangled in my hair, and I was elated, hoping that meant there was nothing wrong with him. I broke the kiss first, pulling back only an inch so I could speak. "Quit worrying me, punk," I ordered, and he laughed, kissing me again.

"Ditto."

"I didn't worry you at all!"

"Hmm, I'll give you that one. But for future reference."

"If I promise not to worry you, you have to promise not to go getting thrown into trees by vampires," I said, only half-kidding.

"Deal."

"Deal." I kissed him, sealing our exchange, and he smiled against my lips, his warmth sending all my worries away.

"Come on," Embry said, suddenly behind us. I glanced up, starting to stand and then reaching down to help Jake up. Embry moved quickly, doing all the work in getting Jake on his feet, and then the three of us walked to the truck, my Jacob moving much slower than usual but looking mostly fine.

"Are you okay?" I asked, and he nodded, reaching out and bumping his knuckle on the side of my chin.

"I'll be fine, love," he said, using the nickname he'd used earlier, and I grinned instantly, grabbing his hand out of midair and kissing it.

"Get a room!" the new vampire called, and I glared at him automatically, very obviously kissing Jacob's hand again. The vampire laughed, then grabbed Rosalie and planted a huge kiss right on her mouth. They were together, then?

Not wanting to be beat, Jacob grabbed me unexpectedly and kissed me even harder than before, and it was hard to remember where I was, what had happened, that anyone existed besides Jacob…

"That's enough. Jacob, you need to get home." There was Sam, forever ruining mine and Jacob's moments, but Jake responded immediately. He hopped into the truck and slid over so he was in the driver's seat, and I sat next to him, surprised when Embry closed the door.

"Are we going back alone?"

"Yeah, go straight to Jake's house," Embry answered through the rolled-down window. "We'll be back soon, we just have to go through some things here."

"Okay," I said uneasily, worried about what could be waiting for us back at the reservation. Another group of four or five vampires?

Jake drove quickly, and we made it back to his house very soon after we left the group on the street. He looked a little uncomfortable, and I wished I could read his mind, like it seemed Edward could. He turned off the engine but didn't move more than that.

"Jake, what happened?" I asked, content to stay in my truck with him. It felt safer in here, like we had an escape.

He bit his lip, unintentionally this time, and I leaned my head against his side, his warm arm already around me. "Well, I didn't want to leave you, but no one else could follow her, not really. Psychic and Blondie were a little preoccupied. American Eagle doesn't look much like he could hurt anything. So I figured of all the people that should have chased her, it should have been me." I could tell he felt guilty, and kissed his side where my lips were, glancing up to make sure he felt okay. "I'm sorry, Bella."

"Don't be sorry. I didn't get hurt, did I? You saved me."

He smiled weakly, still looking sick to his stomach. "I chased after her and got a few pieces off of her but she just kept going, and I should have realized she was leading me – just letting me get close enough to think I had her but then darting right away again. The other vampires popped out, more yellow-eyes, the ones you just saw on the road. She looked surprised to see them, but just kept doing what she was doing, and then after one second it was like she was gone. Like she'd outrun us. And we stood around like idiots scratching our damn heads while she went off and got backup, and I had no idea what to do – stay with them and fight? Or go back to you to make sure she hadn't sent backup there?

"I had to fight at first, there were too many for me to leave and go back to you. They were easy, though. Inexperienced. There was one left plus the brown-haired leech, and they split up, so the other yellow-eyes went after her and I went after the backup, because I knew it'd get me to you faster. But I guess the brown-haired girl played her disappearing act again and showed up right in front of me with no warning or scent or anything and just threw me against a tree. I blacked out, and next thing I knew, I was with you."

I had been listening to his story utterly enthralled, and when it was over I pulled away to look at him, seeing he looked angry. Upset with himself, surely. I reached up and kissed his jaw, and he turned his chin so I could reach his lips, already so familiar to me. Everything about Jacob was just so easy to get used to, so easy to love.

"Everything's okay now, nobody got hurt," I said when he stayed silent. "Why are you upset?"

"Well, I know you don't want to hear this, but Sam's gunna be pissed," he said, and he was sort of right – it wasn't that I didn't want to hear that, I just didn't want Sam to affect him at all. "Always telling me to never let my guard down, never take the easy way, always focus on the problem and nothing else." I kept my mouth shut, knowing it would only hurt Jacob for me to voice how much I hated Sam's attitude.

"What else?" There was something else bothering him, something bigger.

"I don't know…" He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut. "The way the woman is acting doesn't make sense to me. I don't know for sure, but I think – she had to know by now that that car wreck wouldn't have hurt me. But she jumped in front of the car, she knew it wouldn't hurt her and she had to know that it wouldn't hurt me because she knows how hard we are to break without some kind of vampire strength."

He stopped for several seconds, and I started to piece together what he was going to say before he said it. "I think she jumped in front of the car to hurt you."

"Why would she want to hurt me?"

"I don't know. To get back at me for killing her girlfriend, because you're the easiest one to kill out of all of us. I really don't know for sure if that was the reason she even did it. And we already knew you were in danger just by proximity. But if she did something major like that, went out of her way to make sure that you got hurt, then she has it out for you. Which isn't a good thing."

I nodded, fear sinking into a pit at the bottom of my stomach. This vampire woman didn't want to just kill my Jacob, then. She wanted to kill me, too.

We hadn't been sitting longer than fifteen minutes when the rest of the pack returned, all in human forms as they approached the truck. "Do you have to tell them your theory, or did they hear it in your head?" I asked.

"I was thinking about some different stuff when we were all wolves," he said. "I should explain it to them now."

I waited in the truck with the door open, Jacob's back against my knees, as he spoke to his pack members about what had happened to us and what he suspected about it. The lines in Sam's brow grew deeper the longer Jake spoke, and when it was silent, Sam was the first to respond.

"That's definitely worth considering, and we should take measures to protect Bella. Are you spending the night at her house again?"

"Yeah," Jake answered quickly.

"Then take her there and do what you normally would. We'll send a wolf over there every once in a while to make sure everything is safe on the outside."

"She won't hurt Charlie, will she?" I asked, suddenly frantic – would this woman involve my father in whatever vendetta she had against me?

"That's unlikely. In any case, Jake, try to stay alert while you're there." Sam's words were an order, as always, and Jacob nodded, turning to get back into the truck.

"Wait," I said, suddenly curious. I remembered what I'd figured out about Edward, his mind-reading abilities and problem with my scent, and wondered if I should tell them. "Do you know if any of the other vampires have abilities?" I'd addressed Sam, considering my Jacob might have been forbidden to talk about it, and everyone looked surprised.

"Not for sure," he said, his stern expression softening. It seemed he knew I wasn't a fan of his. "They brought the rest of their coven, though. Everyone you saw and then another woman, who Carlisle's mate."

"Why are they all here?" I asked, wrinkling my brow. "Is one woman that serious of a situation?"

"Maybe they saw the opportunity to come back to their old home and took it," Jared said.

"I don't know, but I'm not happy about it. More and more of us are going to turn, and I'm worried about the damage it will do." Sam's eyes darkened, and I pictured Emily's scars, sure a lot of us were doing the same.

"Are you going to tell them to leave?" I asked, and Sam shook his head.

"No, we don't have the authority. The treaty is in place as long as they don't harm another human or cross into our lands."

"What are you going to do if that stuff happens?"

Nobody spoke, but Jacob tensed in front of me. Nothing good, then.

"It'll be okay, Bella." Jake's comforting voice rumbled in his back against my knees, and I nodded, a twist in my stomach asserting that it most certainly wouldn't be okay. If any of those vampires got out of line, it would send my Jacob into a war. One he didn't ask for, one he didn't have a choice but to partake in.

"Do they trust us?" I finally questioned, looking around at the group of them. I knew I wasn't necessarily in the pack, but I was as close as it got without actually turning into a giant wolf.

"It appears they do," Sam said, confusion pulling his dark brows together. So many on the reservation had the same inky black hair, their eyebrows and eyelashes so dark. "I'm uncomfortable with some of their behavior." Nobody had to say Edward's name to know that was who Sam was talking about.

"I am too," Jacob growled.

"I can talk to them at school," I suggested, but apparently I had said the wrong thing; Sam and Jacob both tensed and said "no." firmly and in unison, and I nodded, holding up in surrender the hand that wasn't on Jake's back, untangling his hair.

"Message received."

"Good. Get home safely, Bella." Sam nodded at me and then at Jacob, and they turned and jogged toward the trees, Embry's hair blowing in the wind behind him.

"You know, we could still get you a haircut," I said, grinning at Jacob; he laughed, waiting for me to slide over so he could climb up into the truck.

"Maybe another time." He started the roaring engine, and we drove off toward Forks. The place in the road where the group of vampires had gathered was empty, not a single piece of glass on the pavement, and I watched the trees through the window, thinking for a moment that I saw a flash of bronze.

We made it to my house quickly and Charlie had already ordered pizza, thankfully two of them, since Jacob could probably have eaten a whole one and then some on his own. It was comfortable, safe, to sit in my living room with my two favorite guys in the world – and at the same time, terrifying. What if I never had a moment like this again? What if that woman hurt Jacob? Hurt Charlie?

Hurt me?

Jacob promised he had no homework, and although I didn't believe him, I did mine alone anyway, trying to explain what I was doing to him while I worked. He laughed, gazing down at me mindlessly while I scribbled numbers and graphs. We were at the kitchen table while Charlie was in the living room, so we snuck an occasional kiss, and every time I had to spend a good minute regaining my focus to continue doing homework.

While I wasn't kissing Jacob's lips, he found other places to kiss, like my neck, shoulder, arm, cheek, forehead; I would giggle every time, telling him halfheartedly that I needed to focus, but he would just grin and move away, only to kiss me again seconds later.

I was pretty sure I got every answer on my homework wrong.

I finished Calculus and then moved on to English, having to go upstairs and type a paper on my ancient computer. I only had one chair in my room, so he lay on my bed while I swiveled in my office chair, waiting for the dial-up screeching. "Here," I said, tossing him a book. "Read this."

"Ooh, Romeo and Juliet, how compelling," he said, and I grinned and rolled my eyes.

"Sorry if you're bored, we can do something else."

"No, this is perfect. I could watch you all day."

I grinned. "I always think that about you."

He pretended that Embry had come to get him around nine-thirty, and I got in the shower when he "left," moving as quickly as I could and taking my brush with me to my bedroom to see if he would be there. Sure enough, Jacob was reclining on my bed, his fingers linked behind his head. "Could you take any longer? I have long hair too, you have no excuse."

I laughed. "Girls have to shave and stuff."

He rubbed his chin absentmindedly, and I realized I'd never seen much stubble there. "I don't have to shave yet, but I might soon."

"What do you mean?" I asked, continuing to brush my hair as I sat on the edge of my bed, my back against his legs.

"Well, Sam told me – I guess when we do this transformation, or whatever, we stop…aging."

I nearly dropped my brush. "What?"

"Yeah…so I'm gunna be sixteen for a while."

I couldn't say anything, my mouth open in shock.

"Don't – don't look like that, Bella," he said, worry on his features now. He sat up, taking my hand. "It's not – not a bad thing – don't be upset—"

I realized he must be thinking that I was upset with him, or maybe would change my mind about being with him, and I started shaking my head. "No, Jake, I'm not mad." I took a deep breath, putting my brush on the nightstand and turning so I could climb onto his lap. He let me, still looking terrified.

"What are you?"

"Confused." I put my hands on the sides of his face, kissing him. "So, you don't age. Why exactly is that?"

"Well, the vampires don't age. So what happens to us, the wolves, is that we make the change, phase, and then go through a crazy growth spurt where we mature physically to about like early to mid-twenties. That's why I keep getting taller, and why I think I might have to start shaving soon."

"Okay, but why aren't you aging?" I asked, mildly hysterical. Was I going to get older and older while my Jacob stayed the same age?

"I don't really exactly know the proper reason, but I know it has to do with protection of the tribe. Our enemies don't age, so pack members don't. Until we can control our phasing and stay out of wolf form, we're going to be stuck at the same age. But when we gain that control, we can start aging again and then be normal, not wolves. Sam said he'll do it eventually, to be with Emily."

I nodded slowly, still confused. "Are you going to do it?"

"Of course," he said, nodding quickly. "Of course. But we can't right now, not when there are vampires everywhere. One day, when we're all safer and there's less of an… infestation, that's when me and Sam are going to try to stop phasing and start aging again."

I nodded slowly again. "Oh."

"Bella," he pleaded, shaking his head. "Don't be upset."

"Oh, I'm not upset, silly," I said, meeting his nervous eyes. "Relax. This is just kind of shocking."

"Yeah, I agree."

"Nothing has changed, though." I knew he needed to hear it, and he visibly relaxed at my words, pulling me into a crushing hug.

"Good," he breathed, and I kissed his neck, then his cheek, then his lips, losing myself in how perfect his lips felt pressed against mine.

The next morning was as sad as the others had been, and I had to watch him leave out my window, racing across the lawn and disappearing into the trees. I touched my lips where his had been seconds earlier, closing my eyes and imagining he was still here. "Be safe, Jacob," I pleaded under my breath, knowing no one would hear me but meaning the words all the same.

I made it to school early, having been up sooner than necessary due to Jacob having to leave in time to get ready for his own school, and waited in my truck with the keys out of the ignition. The sun started coming out as I waited, and I glanced out the window, stunned; I opened the door of my truck and stood on the pavement, staring at the sky. The sun? How often did that show?

I wasn't the only one surprised to see it. Others were sitting at the damp picnic tables now, their jackets off. It was still pretty cold outside, but in the sunlight, it was warm.

Without thinking, I glanced over to where the silver Volvo would normally be to see if the vampires were enjoying the sun as much as the rest of the students. The spot was empty, the Volvo not there. Where were they?

I remembered vaguely several myths I'd heard about vampires and the sun, knowing that the Cullens had come here from Alaska, where the sun only shone months out of the year. My memory of the night that I'd first met them was vague, but I remembered Carlisle saying something about the ever-rainy Olympic peninsula. These vampires liked places that lacked direct sunlight. Why was that? Were they really so fragile that sunlight would hurt or kill them?

No, Sam would have said something about that when he mentioned the stories. So where were they?