What I have: two incredibly fat cats, one tiny cat, and one old grumpy cat who pees in the bathroom sink. What I don't have: ownership of these characters...

Bella's POV

I frowned as I caught sight of something running along the road beside me. I turned my eyes, but it was gone. I could have sworn it was a giant wolf. I slowed down and kept peering out the window. The sun was setting and the light was in my eyes, but I wouldn't hallucinate that, would I?

I slowed down more and pulled off to the side. If it was a giant wolf, chances were pretty high I knew him. I carefully opened the door and stood up in the truck, looking over the top of the cab. I frowned when I saw Leah walking nonchalantly towards me wearing a sports bra and bike shorts.

"What the hell?" I demanded. "Does Jake worry about me so much that I can't even drive to and from school on my own?"

She raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean? I'm just out for a run."

"Bullshit."

She sighed. "I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"Was it an order?"

She scowled at me. "No."

"Then spill."

We stared at each other for a few beats before she finally rolled her eyes and climbed into the truck. "Ok, but you can't tell Jake I told you."

I raised my eyebrows at her. "I'm not making any promises until I know what the fuck is going on."

"Victoria's back."

She said it bluntly, like telling me that we were supposed to get some rain that night or that the sky was blue. I stared at her in shock.

"And you're only just now letting me know?" I demanded. "How long?"

"Since before you moved out to the res."

"You've known for over a month and no one felt the need to tell me?"

She sighed. "It was Jake's call."

I scowled out the windshield at the first fat drops beginning to fall. "How long have you been following me to school?"

"Sam and Jared and I switch off. We've been doing it since the camping trip."

I nodded, furious. "I'm going to kill Jake," I announced, starting the truck and getting back on the road towards La Push.

"Bella, come on. He's just trying to protect you. He didn't want you to worry about it."

I snorted. "So I'm just some blind bait or something?"

"No, we're watching you. You're safe."

"I don't feel safe," I grumbled.

"Well, you are. The Cullens are even helping out. The head woman is taking some classes at your school so she's closer to you. I'm surprised you haven't seen her."

So was I. I'd definitely be looking for her now. "She's the only one?"

Leah was silent. "I don't know about the young ones. They seem to have left, for the most part. We smell them occasionally, but it's pretty infrequent."

I nodded. So it was apparently just Esme and Carlisle working to protect me. I drove in silence the rest of the way, dropping Leah off at her house.

"Leah," I called as she headed inside. She turned to me expectantly. "Let them know they don't have to hide anymore. I'll drive you guys so you don't have to run in the rain."

She smiled and nodded, heading inside. I watched to make sure she made it, more out of habit than any real concern for her personal safety. I'd seen the other wolves tangle with her and I had no doubt she could kick any normal human's ass, even in her underwear.

I drove home, fuming. By the time I got to the small house, I was ready to blow. I stormed into the house, slinging my backpack on a chair and glared at Jake from his seat on the floor. He looked up at me, his eyes wide.

"Uh, hey Bells. Bad day at school?"

"You asshole."

He blinked. "What'd I do this time?"

"Victoria's back and you didn't think I should know?"

He sighed and pushed himself up. "I didn't want you to worry." He reached for me but I stepped out of the range of his arms.

"Bullshit. You should have told me so I could at least have been on my guard."

"You're no match for her and you know that. Why bother you with something you can't control?"

"So you think it's best to just let me go about life normally without the knowledge that a psychopathic vampire is after me? Gee, I feel so much better knowing you're looking out for me."

I stomped past him into the kitchen and started making dinner, slamming things on the counter as I worked.

"Bella, be reasonable. You would have just been distracted and worried the last six weeks, more than you already were. On top of moving out here and the shit with Emily…" his voice faltered. He didn't tell me, but I knew he was still scared I'd miscarry, too. The baby seemed way too active already for that to be a possibility but he still worried about me.

I turned to face him. "You should have told me."

He sighed. "I probably should have, yeah."

"No, no probably, SHOULD HAVE."

He nodded but didn't say anything. He looked upset, but I couldn't quite figure out what about specifically. That I knew? That someone told me when they weren't supposed to? I was surprised he hadn't asked about that yet.

"So, are you going to stay home now that you know?" he asked hopefully.

"No. I still have a few weeks of classes left. I'm going to finish up, and then I'll sit home until Summer One starts."

"You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?" he grinned at me softly.

"When have I ever made anything easy on you?" I teased.

I let him pull me into a hug then. "So are you going to stay mad for a while?"

I sighed and rested my cheek against his chest. "No, I just hate being caught off guard like that. I think I'd have been even angrier if I didn't find out until she was attacking me."

"We won't let it get that far," he promised, tightening his arms around me.

I rolled my eyes. "You can't watch me 24 hours a day, Jake."

"You wanna bet?" he kissed the top of my head. "You're like the gold at Fort Knox, baby."

Jake's POV

I was going to strangle Leah for telling. No one else could have, no one else had the chance. That night when I phased for patrol, Seth and Embry knew immediately how angry I was.

Cut her some slack thought Seth. Bella kind of forced it out of her.

I snorted. Little Bella against Amazon Leah…not likely.

Isn't it better she knows now anyway? thought Embry. Now she'll be on her guard while she's driving.

I didn't want her to have to be on her guard. She's a fighter no matter what but I don't want her to have to be worrying all the time about that shit.

Embry rolled his eyes and padded off in the opposite direction. Seth gave me a wolf grin, then headed off away from Embry. My position was always near the house. I was starting to hate that we lived so close to the border. It wasn't close for humans, sure, but for wolves and leeches it was damn close. At a good pace, I could make it to the border in less than a minute.

I paced around, nervously, snuffling, trying to catch her scent. It was raining and that made it harder to pick up her smell. I wondered how Sam and Emily were doing. I hadn't been phased at the same time as Sam in a while so I didn't have access to that part of his head.

I froze when the breeze brought a sharp sickly sweet smell to me. It was fresh. I followed it carefully, my heart pounding.

Guys I thought she's close. I can smell her. She's definitely on the res.

We're coming thought Embry and I could see through Seth's eyes that he was coming, too.

I felt sick when I realized that the back door to the house was open and it reeked with bloodsucker. I carefully padded in, not bothering to phase. If she was still here, I'd need to be a wolf anyway.

She'd wandered into Dad's room, but apparently decided he wasn't worth it and had moved on. My heart pounded as I moved through the quiet house, following her smell. I stopped outside the door to my and Bella's room. There was no sound on the other side of it. It was closed, too, and I knew I'd left it open.

I was torn. I'd have to phase to open the door, or I could just break it down as I was. Bella's sudden scream decided it for me. I burst through the door and snarled.

The leech had a firm grasp on Bella and was lowering her mouth to Bella's neck. She'd passed out so was dead weight. The leech turned on me, her eyes blood red.

"So, you're the new mate," she sneered. "You'll be easy enough to kill." She tossed Bella back on the bed and threw herself out the small window.

I followed her with a growl. I hadn't smelled blood, so I knew other than being terrified, Bella was ok.

I practically ripped the side off the house as I leapt through the too small window. I hit the ground rolling and took off after her. I could hear and see Embry coming up on my flank.

Seth went to get the others he thought at me.

I didn't acknowledge it as we kept chasing her. She zigzagged around, doubling back on her own trail to try to throw us off, but I wasn't having it. I could smell Bella on her faintly so I followed that. Embry split off from me at one point so we could try to outflank her. Treaty line be damned, she was dying tonight.

Bella's POV

I grimaced and sat up slowly, my head throbbing.

"Bella?" I heard Billy ask me anxiously. "Are you ok?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked around the room, shocked at the splinters of wood from the bedroom door and the broken glass and siding from the giant hole in the wall. "What happened?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure. I heard you scream and Jake growling and then there were some crashing noises."

I rubbed my temples as it came crashing back to me. "Victoria," I said suddenly, standing up quickly. Too quickly. "She's back. She was here. She grabbed me and was going to kill me but Jake must have gotten here in time."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," said Billy with a sigh. "Other than getting wet."

I carefully picked my way over to the hole and peered out into the driving rain. "I have plenty to be worried about, Billy. The father of my baby is out there fighting a crazy vampire. She won't stop until she gets what she wants or dies trying."

"I'm pretty sure she'll die trying."

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door. "Billy, Bella, open up!"

We looked at each other and then hurried into the other room. The door opened before we could get to it and Leah charged in, her wet hair plastered to her face and neck.

"Oh, thank God," she muttered, grabbing me in a tight hug. "I'm here to protect you. Jake said he'd kill me if you were dead when he got home. I think he meant it, too."

I hugged her back. "How's the fight going?"

"They're still tracking her, but they're getting closer."

I nodded. As much as I wanted Victoria to disappear from my life completely, I hated the thought of Jake in danger. The baby gave a little flip, expressing it's anxiety at the same time. I stood for a moment before heading into the kitchen. I wasn't getting back to sleep anyway; I might as well start some coffee brewing and get to work on food. With nearly the entire pack after her, Victoria wasn't going to last long.

Leah and Billy followed me into the tiny kitchen. Leah folded herself into a chair at the table and Billy started the coffee. He took his place at the table while I started unloading pretty much everything in the refrigerator. After a few minutes, Leah huffed.

"I'm going to go check," she muttered, disappearing from the kitchen. I kept throwing things into the egg mixture, not really paying attention to what was in there.

"I'm not sure spaghetti will work too well in eggs," said Billy calmly.

I looked down at my hands and smiled slightly. I'd been about to dump a small serving of spaghetti sauce into the bowl that looked like it was close to overflowing. "Sorry, I'm distracted."

"I understand. Don't worry Bella; nothing will keep Jake away from you."

I rolled my eyes at the fridge as I slid the spaghetti back inside.

Leah came trotting in, a triumphant look on her face. "They got her," she announced. "A couple are staying behind to burn the remains, but everyone's coming here after."

"Any injuries?"

She shook her head, grinning. "Not a scratch."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "How far out?"

"A few minutes. She took them for a chase up the mountain."

I nodded and turned to start cooking the eggs. I'd thrown meat in the mixture, so it was basically a giant scrambled egg omelet. I would have to cook it in batches, though.

Just as I was scooping the first batch onto a platter, the back door banged open and Jake entered. He was soaking wet and completely naked but I didn't care. I threw myself across the room and into his arms. He lifted me up and held me tight against his chest, burying his face in my hair. I wrapped my arms around his neck and started to cry. I didn't know how scared I'd been until I saw him again.

"Bells, honey, I'm fine," he whispered, kissing me lightly. "Not a scratch. I didn't even break a sweat."

I nodded, but I couldn't stop crying. I'd been so terrified something would happen and I'd lose him, too, that I wouldn't even admit my fears to myself. Now that he was safe in my arms it all crashed down on me and I couldn't hold the tears back. Jake smoothed my hair back with one hand and kissed me harder.

"I'm here, Bells. It'll take more than one fucking bloodsucker to change that."

I nodded and pulled his face to mine for another kiss. "I love you," I hiccupped, looking up at him.

He grinned. "I love you, too."

Jake's POV

Once Bella calmed down, we all dug in to the food she'd cooked. She stayed close to me the rest of the night, though, almost like she didn't want to let me out of her sight. I had to admit, I didn't want to let her out of mine, either.

Shortly after dawn, the others headed back to their respective homes. Bella had fallen asleep ages ago on my chest. I gently transferred her to the couch and went to assess the damage the leech and I had caused to the house.

It was pretty bad, I couldn't deny that. There was a giant fucking hole in the wall of our room and the door was completely obliterated. Dad rolled into our room and studied it with me.

"Well, it's a good thing you've got a job," was all he said as he turned and rolled back out. I grinned at him and shook my head. I bent down and started to pick up some of the larger pieces. Looked like Bella and I would be pushing the twin beds together in the girls' room for a while.

From Tali: again, thanks for all the reviews and favorites! It makes me giddy like the schoolgirl I never really was.