A/N: I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out to you. We had a death in the family and as a result, I forgot to forward the chapter to my beta. As soon as I did, she whipped through it and got it back to me asap, so huge thanks to gatorgrl91 and GiGi Scott as well.

I'm looking at about 3 more regular chapters and then an epilogue, so we're almost at the end. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing.

P.S. To the guest reviewer who finds all of my Bellas to be the most annoying Bellas ever: why are you reading my stories then? Go flame someone else.


Edward pushed the Bentley as fast as it would go, but it still seemed as if we'd never reach Jensen's place. Alice hadn't seen any decisions from Jensen which led me to believe he was either unconscious or dead, and I prayed he wasn't dead.

It took us twenty-nine hours to get to Star City, Arkansas, and both Alice and I let out sighs of relief once we passed the city limits sign. Ten minutes later, we were driving down a dirt road that led to Jensen's house and junkyard, and I could smell blood the closer we got. Immediately, I shielded Alice, Jasper, and myself. I didn't shield Edward because I knew he could handle the smell of blood, plus he would need to be able to hear any thoughts. The last thing I wanted was for one of us to go ape shit when we'd come down here to help Jensen.

Edward threw the car into park in front of Jensen's house, and we all climbed out, calling Jensen's name. I could hear a faint heartbeat coming from the back of the junkyard, and the four of us took off toward it after Edward grabbed an old medical bag from the trunk of his car. I didn't even question why Edward had a medical bag with him, but Alice did. He told her he'd taken to carry it when he'd started following and hanging out with me. Since humans were fragile, all you know

We leapt over rusted cars and around car parts that seemed to be scattered throughout the junkyard until we finally reached Jensen, and I came to a skidded halt. Jensen's body was lying on the ground, blood caked and dried upon his skin and clothes. I could just barely make out his breathing, and a sob welled up in my throat. Alice reached out and clasped my hand in hers, murmuring that Jensen was going to be just fine. It sure as fuck didn't look like it from where I was standing.

Edward, medical bag in hand, knelt down next to Jensen and began to exam him. Carefully, Edward rolled Jensen onto his back, and I let out a gasp at the damage I saw. Jensen's face was beaten, bloodied, and bruised, swollen to twice its normal size. His orange vest was ripped in multiple places as were the rest of his clothes. Samuel had done one hell of a number on him.

"I need to get him inside, so I can assess his wounds," Edward told us, standing up with Jensen cradled carefully in his arms. "Bella, can you grab my bag?"

I nodded and picked it up before following Edward back to the house. As we got closer, it was evident that a struggle had taken place. The front door was off its hinges, and the rocking chair had been smashed. The inside was even worse. Furniture was overturned, stuffing had been ripped out of the cushions onthe couch, and there was glass all over. It looked as if someone had been looking for something.

"Where's his room?" Edward asked, and I pointed toward the stairs before leading him up. I looked back to see if Alice and Jasper were coming, but Alice told me to go ahead.

"We'll start cleaning up this mess," she told me in a sad voice. "You and Edward take care of Jensen."

Once we were in Jensen's room, Edward laid him on the bed and began to remove Jensen's vest and shirt to get a better look at the wounds. There were several deep gashes on Jensen's torso, and it was obvious he'd been stabbed. Out of habit, I took a deep breath and steadied myself. The wounds were serious, and I knew Edward would need to be focused in order to help Jensen.

For the next twenty minutes, I handed Edward whatever item he needed from his medical bag, and I watched as he sterilized the wounds and stitched them up. Once the wounds were tended to and Edward changed Jensen into more comfortable clothing, he gave Jensen a shot of antibiotics and hooked up an I.V.

"He'll still be out for a while," Edward said softly. "He lost a lot of blood, and he was outside for quite some time."

"Will he be okay?"

"I hope so. I won't know more until he wakes up."

I nodded and sat down on the side of the bed, clasping Jensen's cold hand in mine. Edward left me alone and went to help Alice and Jasper clean the house. I didn't know how long I sat with Jensen, but eventually, Alice came up and told me to go hunt. The strain of constantly having my shield around the three of us was starting to take its toll. Knowing that Jensen was in good hands, I headed downstairs.

The three of them had done one hell of a job picking the place up. The furniture had been righted, and the glass swept up. I found Edward in the kitchen, wiping down the counter, and I told him I was going to hunt. He offered to go with me, but I shook my head. I needed some alone time, and Edward understood that.

I took down a few deer and then sat down on the ground, not caring that my pants were getting dirty. All I could think about was how scared Jensen must have been when Samuel came after him. Sure, Jensen was a tough guy, but Samuel Allison was a scary motherfucker. I knew it seemed irrational for me to fear him with my strength and all, but the man was beyond resourceful, and he'd be more than able to gather several hunters to aid him in taking all of us down. I couldn't say in all confidence that we'd win against Samuel and the other hunters. As a hunter, I knew just how dangerous we could be, and I was afraid if it came down to a fight that I would lose someone I deeply cared about.

A soft rain began to fall, so I headed back toward Jensen's house, relieved that I could hear the steady heartbeat coming from Jensen. I stepped inside the house and found Edward slipping his phone into his back pocket before holding out his arms to me. I flew into his arms, letting out a sigh as they wrapped around me and held me close. I buried my face into his chest and took a deep breath, inhaling the wonderful, comforting smell that was Edward. He didn't say a thing; he didn't need to. He held me in his arms, stroking my hair.

"Who were you talking to?" I asked him, my face still buried in his chest.

"Carlisle," he said softly, giving me a gentle squeeze. "I was letting him know the extent of Jensen's wounds."

Slowly, I pulled away to look up at his face. "Are they going to stay at the house?"

Edward reached out and cupped my cheek before leaning down and placing a kiss on it.

"Why are you so worried about Samuel?"

"Because, he's incredibly dangerous. I realize that he may seem like a fragile human to you, but he's not. He's one hell of a fucking hunter who's not afraid of anything. I wasn't half the hunter Samuel is, and I was able to take out more than a few vamps on my own. With his experience and skill, he could easily do harm to more than a few of us. Samuel won't stop at anything when it comes to taking us out, and I have no doubt he won't show up alone."

"I understand that, but don't forget that we have Alice on our side. She'll see any decisions he makes, so we can take precautions," Edward told me.

"Speaking of which," Alice said from upstairs, "Samuel knows he can't take all of us down at once, but he can burn the house down as a warning, and that's what he's planning on doing. Please call Carlisle and tell them to leave."

"Why can't they stay and just kill him?" asked Jasper, and I was shocked to hear Alice tell him they couldn't.

"Why not?" he demanded to know, and I wished they'd come downstairs so we could have this conversation face to face. Seconds later, the two of them were descending down the staircase.

"We're going to need him in the future. I'm not sure why yet, but Samuel must stay alive."

If Alice said we needed Samuel, then we needed him, and there was no point in arguing about it.

"Okay. So what then? We have Carlisle hold Samuel captive?" Jasper suggested, and Alice shook her head.

"No. Let him burn the house. It will sustain some damage, but we can easily repair it. Once he's burned it, he'll leave and head down south to hunt some vampires who are doing major damage. He won't come after us again for a while."

Edward nodded and dug out his phone. After a quick conversation with Carlisle, Edward hung up the phone and let Alice know that the rest of the family would head for Bangor, Maine, tomorrow morning.

Alice nodded her head in satisfaction. "Good. We'll join them after Jensen's awake and stable. He should be waking up in four minutes, and then he can tell us what happened to him."

I let out a low growl. "I think it's pretty fucking obvious what happened to him. Samuel Allison got him."

Alice nodded. "Yes, he did, but we need to know why and what he was looking for."

Alice had been really upset that she hadn't seen the attack on Jensen before it was too late. We figured that the attack must have been a last minute decision on Samuel's part, but that hadn't comforted Alice at all. At one point in the car, her guilt had been so overwhelming that I'd had to shield us all from it until Jasper calmed her down.

Exactly four minutes later, Jensen's heartbeat sped up as did his breathing, and the four of us went upstairs. I opened the door and peeked around to see Jensen struggling to sit up.

"Be still," I told him as I entered the room.

"Don't tell me what to do," he griped back, and I let out a snort. Same old Jensen.

I rushed over to him and gave him a gentle hug, Alice doing the same once I pulled away. Jensen gave us a grimacing smile and then looked over at Edward and Jasper. A glimpse of fear crossed his face, but it quickly passed, and I knew it had to do more with Jasper than Edward. There was something about Jasper that induced fear and discomfort in humans as well as vampires.

Alice and I introduced the boys to Jensen, and he gave them a small smile.

"So which of you fixed me up 'cause I know it wasn't one of the girls. Neither of them are this good at stitches."

"I did," Edward said, stepping forward. "I've got a medical degree in case you were worried."

"Nah, I'm not worried. So, will I live, doc?"

"Yeah, you'll live. However, if you'd been left outside much longer without medical attention, things could have ended up worse."

"Well, thanks for fixing me up."

Edward nodded, and once he was done checking Jensen over, Jensen began to tell us what had happened to him.

"I'd just sat down to eat one of those frozen dinners that I have and watch some reruns of The Dukes of Hazard when I saw lights coming down the drive. Now, I wasn't expecting nobody, so I got the old Winchester out of the gun case, just in case. I took a look out the window, and I saw Allison getting out of his car. I had to admit; I was a bit worried, but I didn't expect him to go all crazy on me."

Jensen paused to catch his breath and take a sip of water from the glass Alice held out to him.

"Doing the brotherly thing, I set my gun aside and let Samuel in. I figured he'd be asking about y'all, but he didn't. Instead, he took a swing at me before demanding to know where the two of you were. He was out of control; his eyes were wild looking. It was almost like he wasn't himself. He started screaming that he knew y'all were vampires and how I was traitor. Next thing I knew, a knife was being stabbed into my chest."

Growls emanated from Alice and me.

"I did my damnedest to fight him off, but he was stronger and had a knife. He wanted to know all about you and the Cullens, but I didn't say nothing. He trashed the place, and he must have found something because he dragged me outside, tossed me in the yard, and muttered something about Forks. He hadn't taken my phone, so I managed to get a call out to you."

"How did he found out about Bella and Alice?" Edward asked, concern etched on his face.

Jensen shook his head, wincing a bit as he did. "I don't know, but it gets worse. He kept muttering about hunters being murdered and how he knew y'all were the ones behind it."

My jaw dropped open. "Are you fucking kidding me? Where the hell did he come up with that idea?"

Jensen took a deep breath, coughing a bit as he did so. "No clue, but we have lost five of our own within the past two weeks."

I just stared at Jensen. While it wasn't unusual for hunters to be killed, it was unusual to lose so many in such a short span of time.

"Who?"

"Two weeks ago, Mike Newton and Ben Cheney were found with their throats ripped out. Last week, Jess Stanley, Ty Crowley, and Angela Weber were found dead in their homes."

"Jesus," I murmured as I took in what he'd said. They'd all been good hunters and fairly decent people, Newton being the exception. He'd been a bit of a douche, but he certainly hadn't deserved to have his throat ripped out.

"So, this Samuel guy thinks my family is behind the murders?" Edward asked, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.

Jensen nodded his head. "I have no idea why he thinks that or how he even knows about your family. Charlie and I kept our friendship with Carlisle a secret. Only a handful of people knew about it, and Samuel Allison wasn't one of them."

"Maybe that's why he trashed your place. He was looking for evidence," Edward suggested.

"It's certainly possible," Jensen agreed before letting out a large yawn. He was struggling to keep his eyes open, so Edward suggested we let him get some more rest. Edward gave Jensen some more painkillers, and then we headed downstairs.


We stayed at Jensen's place for a week until he was stable enough to be on his own. Alice and I would have stayed longer, but Jensen kicked us out, telling us he'd be just fine. Neither of us put up too much of a fuss when Alice saw that Jensen would be okay. I was a little worried that Samuel would come back if he realized that Jensen was still alive, but I knew Alice would be on the lookout.

It was a twenty-five hour trip to Bangor from Star City, but Edward had us there in twenty. Thank God. All I've got to say is that twenty hours in a car with a psychic, a mind reader, and an empath was slightly annoying. The ride to Jensen's hadn't been filled with annoyance because we'd all been too worried. However, the trip from Jensen's had me wanting to shove them all out of the car.

Jasper was in the back singing country songs, Alice was chattering about fashion and gossip from some trashy magazine, and Edward—Edward was tormenting me with his sexiness. I doubt he even realized what he was doing, but every so often, he'd reach out and grasp my hand, run his fingers through my hair, or squeeze my thigh. The man was driving me fucking insane, and I knew Jasper could feel it, especially when he flashed me a smirk. Eventually, I had to wrap my shield around me; or else I was going to attack Edward, Alice and Jasper be damned.

I didn't even bother to hide my sigh of relief when Edward turned down a cobblestone driveway, and a large brick house came into view. Like the house in Forks, this one was gorgeous and surrounded by a wooded area. Edward parked the Bentley next to Carlisle's Mercedes and Emmett's Jeep, and we all climbed out. I assumed the rest of the family had gone hunting since there was no one to greet us when we walked inside.

"My room's this way," Edward said, leading me up the stairs to the third floor. "Well, I guess I should say our room."

He pushed the door open and led me into the sparsely decorated room. There was a large bed, a dresser, and a bookshelf. That was it.

"I didn't live here for long," Edward told me with a shrug as I tossed the bag Alice had packed for us on the floor near the bed. "Carlisle and Esme moved here during my rebellious period."

"Well, perhaps we can add to the room at some point. Do you think we'll stay here long?"

"No idea. Alice is the one to ask," he said, flopping down on the bed and bringing me with him. I fell on top of him, moaning at the feel of his hard body underneath me and raising an eyebrow when I felt a certain part of him hard as a rock.

Edward flashed me a wicked grin as he pressed himself up against me, causing me to rock against him. The moan I let out was loud and embarrassment washed through me when I realized that Alice and Jasper could hear us.

"They went to hunt. We're alone for now," Edward smirked before ripping my shirt and bra off. My jeans and panties were tossed on the floor seconds later along with Edward's clothing. I'd been primed and ready for him for the past twenty hours, so no foreplay was needed at all. He was inside of me in one quick thrust, and I began to ride him hard. God, I'd fucking needed him.

I felt my orgasm spring upon me, and I moaned Edward's name as he continued to thrust into me before rolling us over. His thrusts became harder and faster, and we both groaned when we heard the sounds of our family coming from the woods nearby.

"Fuck," he whispered, gripping my hips tightly before thrusting into me faster and faster. It took mere seconds for both of us to come, his mouth covering mine to keep my screams at bay. I knew, without a doubt, that Emmett would have something to say.

Pulling out of me, Edward rolled onto his back and tucked me into his side. We stayed like that for a few minutes until Esme called our names. Edward told her we'd be down in a minute, and we hopped into the shower for a quick rinse before drying off and getting dressed. Properly clothed and with the sexual tension relieved, we headed downstairs where we were greeted by Esme. It didn't matter that we'd seen her not that long ago, she still hugged and kissed us as if we'd been gone for months.

"You okay, little sisters?" Emmett asked Alice and me after he'd given us big hugs. Alice and I nodded in response to his question.

"Good. Now tell us what's going on."

So we did. Sitting on the floor between Edward's outstretched legs, I told them about Jensen and Samuel.

"And you have no idea how this Samuel Allison knew about you and Alice?" Esme asked me. I shook my head.

"Maybe someone told him," Rosalie suggested, causing me to turn and look at her. She'd been quiet since we'd arrived, and I'd almost forgotten that she was around.

"Like who?" I asked. "Not many people know about us. You all, Jensen, the Volturi, the Denalis, and Demetri."

"Allison's a hunter, right? Maybe he captured one of the Denalis or Demetri and tortured the information out of them."

I stared at her, unable to believe that I hadn't thought of that. Apparently, Malibu Barbie wasn't as dumb as I thought she was. As soon as Rosalie had voiced her opinion, Carlisle had his phone out and was calling Eleazar while I called Demetri.

I frowned when Demetri's phone when straight to voicemail. The guy tended to screen his calls, so I wasn't overly worried until I tried him three times and got no answer.

"Fuck," I muttered before letting them know that Demetri wasn't answering. Carlisle let out a heavy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

"All the Denalis are accounted for, so it would seem that Demetri is the missing link. The question is how did Samuel find Demetri?"

I shook my head and looked at Alice who shrugged. She didn't have a clue either. She hadn't really been keeping an eye on him because she hadn't thought she needed to. I could see the guilt in her eyes, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders at the same time Jasper took her hand and gave it a squeeze before placing a kiss on her head.

"I don't know," Alice said, her voice heavy. "I wasn't keeping track of Demetri, and I didn't see Samuel make any decisions until he attacked Jensen. How did I not see anything?"

"Maybe someone's shielding his decisions, kind of like Renata did?" Jasper suggested, but I shook my head.

"Samuel wouldn't work vampires if his life depended on it," I responded. "I've never seen someone hate something so much. Don't get me wrong. I hated vampires as well, especially after they killed our mom, but my hatred was nothing compared to Samuel's."

"Do we have any idea where Demetri may have gone?" Esme asked, running a hand down Carlisle's arm. I felt horrible for him. First, Jensen had gotten attacked, and now, Demetri was missing, perhaps even dead. They'd been friends for a long time, and I mean a long time. Hundreds of years from what I understood.

"When he left Forks, he was thinking about heading overseas, but I don't know where exactly or if he even did," Alice told Esme.

"I'll call around and see if any of our acquaintances have seen him," Carlisle said, getting up and heading out of the room with his phone in hand.

While Carlisle was making calls, Esme asked about the house in Forks. Alice told her that Samuel had attempted to burn the place to the ground, but the Forks Fire Department had put it out before it sustained too much damage.

"We should be able to repair it quickly," Alice told Esme, and I heard Esme's relieved sigh. She had once told me that the house in Forks was one of her favorites. They had houses all over the world, but she was particularly attached to that one.

Edward's phone ringing interrupted our renovation talk with Esme, and Edward frowned when he looked at the number. Standing up, he walked over to the window and looked out as he answered.

"Sam," he said in a gruff voice, and I turned to look at Alice. Who was Sam? I knew it wasn't the Samuel we were after, but Edward didn't seem to care to be talking to the guy on the other end.

"Sam Uley," Jasper said quietly. "He's the leader of the Quileute wolves."

"Oh! The ones that kill vamps?"

Jasper nodded. "If Sam's calling, then something important must have happened. They never call us unless there's an issue."

Dear God, didn't we have enough issues as it was? I swore our lives had more drama than a daytime soap opera. It was bordering on ridiculous. I just wanted to live my happily ever after in peace and quiet. So far, that wasn't happening.

"Okay, we'll be there tomorrow," Edward told Sam before hanging up the phone. "We need to go back to Forks."

As soon as Edward spoke, Esme began making flight reservations while Rosalie headed upstairs to begin packing. I followed her and ducked into Edward's room to grab our bag. Thankfully, we hadn't unpacked anything yet. I desperately needed to hunt if I was going to be on a plane full of humans and was going to be shielding Jasper and myself, if not Alice as well. The others were more experienced around humans, so I wasn't as worried about them. Motioning toward the back door, I let Edward know that I was going out. He nodded at me before heading upstairs to Carlisle's office. I knew the two of them would be up there for a while discussing everything.


By six the next morning, we were boarding a full flight to Seattle, but it was okay because Esme had booked us first class seats which wasn't really my thing. Hell, flying wasn't my thing. It fucking scared the crap out of me, and I spent the entire flight clutching Edward's hand, much to his amusement.

"Even if the plane crashed, we'd be just fine," he whispered in my ear.

"You're not helping," I muttered through gritted teeth. "And what if the plane explodes in mid-air? Won't we burn to ashes?"

Placing a soft kiss next to my ear, Edward did his best to assure me we'd be fine. I didn't quite believe him. I kept imagining the worst case scenarios, and I was extremely relieved when the plane finally touched down on the landing strip. I was even more relieved when I walked off the fucking flying piece of tin.

"All right, little sis?" Emmett asked as we headed toward the car rental area.

"Yeah," I said, and I was honestly surprised when Rosalie didn't make some kind of snarky comment. To tell you the truth, she'd been very non-Rosalie-like for this whole trip.

"Esme and Carlisle had a little chat with her once you guys took off to Arkansas," Emmett murmured in my ear after seeing me looking at Rosalie. "They pretty much gave her an ultimatum. Either, she had to behave, or she had to leave and not return until she'd straightened up. Later on, Esme pulled her aside and had a long talk with her. I don't know what they talked about, but she's trying to be nicer."

"I'm glad they put their foot down, and I'm glad she's trying to be nicer," I told Emmett. I would have hated for him to leave, because I know he would have left if Rosalie had. I still didn't understand what he saw in her, but it was obvious to anyone that he loved her deeply.

Two and a half hours later, Carlisle pulled the rented van into the driveway of the house, and I winced at the damage before us. Half of the house was burnt and looked like it would crumble if you touched it. We got out of the car, and a horrible stench filled the air, making me almost gag.

"God, what the hell is that smell?" I asked Edward.

"Wolves."


a/n: Let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next week.