AN - Thanks to my betas batgirl8968 and SqueakyZorro


"Jake, help me!"

"Where are you? Nessie, please, tell me where you are," he begged.

"I don't know. It's so dark. I don't know where I am."

The darkness surrounded him, too, and a growl rumbled behind him, then in front of him.

The wolf came into view before him, and Nessie screamed.

But he couldn't phase. He couldn't phase to get to her because he already was phased, and his body was stuck in two forms he couldn't control. His wolf continued to advance closer then finally stopped at his feet, dropping the small object from its mouth before turning and running swiftly away.

He reached down to pick it up.

Jake hit the wooden floor beneath him, the impact creating a loud thud that vibrated through the second floor of the cabin. A gray, gloomy light was all that came through the bedroom window, and he groaned. He'd survived on very little sleep before, especially the nights when he patrolled, but after a night of tossing and turning and horrible dreams about Nessie when he did finally sleep, his head was pounding and he could barely open his eyes.

Feeling himself being pulled in multiple directions all at once, Jake's stomach flip-flopped from the guilt he felt, and he reached up on the bed for his pillow, covering his head. What a mess he had made. He didn't think it was possible for him to be any bigger of an idiot than he had been last night. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he have just said the words Nessie wanted to hear? Because you're an idiot, that's why.

Jake sat up and leaned back against the bed, clutching the pillow in front of him while the cold, metal bed frame pushed into his back. He had to tell her. He had to let her know how important she was to him, how much she meant to him. It wasn't only what she wanted now, but what she needed. He could feel it deep in his bones, in his soul, and he couldn't deny her that any more than he could deny his feelings for her now either. He stood up and opened his bedroom door, stepping into the hallway. All the other doors were still closed, and Jake knew it couldn't be much later than six a.m.

Not wanting to wake Nessie up too early and risk ticking her off even more, Jake pushed aside the overwhelming pull toward her room and instead headed downstairs to the kitchen. He made a pot of coffee and sat down at the counter, contemplating his next move over a bowl of Fruit Loops.

If Nessie wanted a date, he would take her out on a date. He would buy her a huge bouquet of flowers and take her to a fancy restaurant, some place that served things like caviar and pâté and other gross shit that women seemed to like. Or he would take her on a romantic picnic in the park and they could eat fruit salad and those tiny, triangle-shaped sandwiches. He'd need to eat a lot of them to fill himself up, but if that's what she wanted, then he would do it. He would give her the world...if she ever forgave him, that was.

After two cups of coffee and another bowl of cereal, the pull finally became too much for him to ignore any longer, and he thumped his way back upstairs, stopping in front of her bedroom door. He knocked lightly, careful not to wake Seth and Leah, but when he didn't hear a response, he knocked a little louder. "Nessie?"

When there was still no answer, he quietly turned the knob, opening the door just enough to peek through the crack and see her empty, made bed. "Ness? You in here? I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry I was an idiot last night. I shouldn't have said those things…Nessie?"

Still hearing nothing, he pushed the door open the rest of the way and looked around the empty room, the only sign of movement a lace curtain blowing in the warm, summer breeze coming in through the open window.

Jake turned away from the empty room and padded back through the hall and down the stairs. How could I have missed her down here? He turned back toward the kitchen and shuffled to the glass door that led out to the porch where he was met with a sprinkle of rain as he walked out to the wooden deck. "Nessie?" With still no sign of her, he made a full circle twice around the cabin before walking back inside.

"What's up, Jake?" a groggy Seth asked as he thumped down the wooden stairs.

"Can't find Nessie." Jake pushed past him and back up the stairs, a hint of panic beginning to form in his chest, when Leah opened her bedroom door and yawned.

"Is Nessie in there with you?"

"Well, good morning to you too, Jake."

"I mean it, Leah. Is she in there?"

"What? No. Why would she be?"

Jake moved down the hall to the bathroom, switching on the light and pulling back the shower curtain to an empty tub, before rushing back to Nessie's room, checking her bathroom, then her closet, and even under her bed until finally turning his attention back to her open window. Seth and Leah stood at the doorway as Jake walked over to the ledge, catching just the faintest hint of her scent lingering on the slant of roof underneath.

"Where the hell did she go?"

Jake rushed back into his room, grabbed his cell phone out of his jeans pocket, and pushed the speed dial directly to Nessie's cell. He was certain she would answer and tell him that she was okay, wherever she was, whatever she was doing, but that certainty faded quickly. That stupid song Emmett had put on her phone, that stupid song that they had all found so funny at the time was sounding closer and closer to him. And when Leah appeared at his doorway, holding Nessie's cellphone, that song wasn't so funny anymore; it was nothing but the sound of pure dread. Jake's stomach dropped, his breakfast threatening to force its way back up, and his cell fell from his hand, hitting the floor with a thud.

"She probably just needed some time to herself after everything that happened last night," Leah offered, trying her best to sound calm. "It had to all be pretty overwhelming to her. She wouldn't have gone far."

"Yeah, Jake. She'll be back. Girls do things like this sometimes, you know? Leah storms off when she's upset all the time," Seth added, trying to disguise the nervousness in his voice as well, but with their alpha's imprint missing and the fear that was now rolling off of him, it was difficult for them to hide their unease.

Unfooled by their attempt, Jake stormed out of the room, and Seth and Leah followed him downstairs and outside to the front of the cabin where the sprinkle of rain was now becoming more of a drizzle. "No. Something's wrong. Her scent's too weak; she hasn't been here for hours. I should've realized...the pull…damn it!"

"Let's think about this rationally," Leah urged, trying one last attempt to placate Jake. "Where would she go? I mean, look, the Hummer's still here. Maybe she just went into town and didn't want to disturb anyone. You've heard it. That thing's a beast when it starts up. And she was pretty pissed at you last night. So, she snuck out – like her last shot at teenage rebellion. Maybe…maybe she went back out with Shawn, just to get under your skin. Hell, I would've done the same thing."

Jake shook his head at Leah's suggestion as he caught another faint whiff of Nessie's scent on the breeze, this time heading into the trees. As much as he wished what Leah said to be the truth, he knew it wasn't. He knew his imprint was in danger, just as much as he knew the sky was blue and the grass green. He knew it just as much as he knew heaven existed, because when he was with Nessie, even when they were fighting, even when she was being her most stubborn, she was still his heaven. He knew it just as much as he knew he loved her.

The thought of her lost and possibly even hurt in the forest twisted the knot in his stomach into a physical pain so intense that had he been any normal human, he would have doubled over in agony. Instead, he would use it to his benefit. He would use it to find Nessie. It wouldn't cease until he did. Turning his gaze out into the now ominous forest in front of him, the alpha in him emerged, steadier and stronger than ever before, and Jake gave the first order in a tone that was so jarringly calm under the circumstances it surprised even him. "We're going to find her. Leah, stay here in case she comes back."

Leah nodded, and Jake and Seth immediately phased and sprinted off into the woods, their snouts low to the ground, following the faint trail of Nessie's scent.

While Jake's thoughts were solely on finding Nessie, Seth noticed there were no other voices in his mind. If there had been, both packs would surely be on their way to help. Sam's pack must be on shift right now. Jake, we could use their help.

Jake could hear Seth saying something, but he couldn't focus on whatever it was. He needed to focus on Nessie. The drizzle was rapidly becoming a downpour, and what was left of her scent was being washed away. Jake knew if they didn't find her soon, their only trail would quickly be gone.

His paws sank deeper and deeper into the thickening mud beneath him, the weight of his massive form now becoming a hindrance. It felt as if the earth was playing some sort of cruel joke, trying to grab hold of him and pull him under like quicksand, trying to prevent him from finding her. And so, he ran harder and faster, unwilling to let the earth win.

Her scent grew stronger, and his body instinctively followed, moving in the direction his nose led him, around trees, down embankments, without taking any direction from his brain, the pressure in his chest driving him to search harder, run faster, be stronger than he ever had before.

He ran with such force the ground quaked beneath him, and he thought he might have heard Seth say something about a Richter scale. Then, just as he had reached speeds he never even imagined possible, his body automatically came to a screeching halt, and his feet came out from under him. He slid through the mud with such force a large pine tree split in two and toppled over as his back slammed into it.

Geez, Jake. Wait up, would you? Seth ran up from back where he had fallen behind.

It stops here. Jake stood, simultaneously shaking the mud from his fur as he walked to the deer carcass that had begun to rot on the forest floor. She was here, Seth. But she didn't bury it. They always bury the carcass after they hunt; Nessie's especially particular about it.

Jake walked slowly, following her scent away from the deer, stopping underneath a tree. What the hell, Seth? Why does it just stop here?

Seth continued to sniff out the forest floor surrounding him until something odd caught his nose. Jake, there's a strange smell over here.

Jake turned away from the tree and walked over to Seth.

It's weird, like some kind of animal but human, too, almost like...but how could there be…

The realization seemingly grabbed hold of both of them, and they met each other's eyes, the thought slipping from Seth's mind before he could control it. If it's wolves, Nessie could be dead.

Jake turned away swiftly, sniffing back to the spot on the forest floor with the highest concentration of Nessie's scent. Digging his nose deeper into the ground, he kicked back the mud and dirt with his paws, his worst fear running over and over through his mind, dreading what he was going to find once he stopped digging.

Jake. Jake, stop! Seth cried in his mind, but Jake continued to dig relentlessly, praying he wouldn't find his imprint buried underneath him.

Jake, look! Seth yelled, finally getting Jake's attention. You just kicked it up in the mud.

Jake paused and scanned the ground, seeing in his mind exactly what Seth was seeing, but not willing to believe it until he saw it with his own eyes. Then, underneath the camouflage of the mud, his eyes found what he'd hoped they wouldn't. An overwhelming feeling of déjà vu came over Jake, and the recurring nightmare that had plagued his nights for so long seeped into his reality. He knew what the wolf in his dreams had been trying to warn him about, what it had been holding in its mouth, what it had dropped at his feet night after night. He knew because now he was staring right at it.

It was Nessie's bloodstained bracelet.

#

Leah paced the cabin, waiting for Nessie to walk through the door at any second. She felt mostly to blame for everything that had happened over the past forty-eight hours. She had just wanted to help get Jake and Nessie together once and for all, but she never imagined it would lead to arguments and hurt feelings. The two were just so stubborn all the time; neither one could ever admit to wanting more before the other one would. Had she known Nessie would be so hurt by it, that she would run away, Leah would have just kept her big mouth shut like Seth suggested she do time and time again.

She glanced at the clock on the microwave for the fifth time in the hour since Jake and Seth had left, but time seemed to be moving torturously slow, much longer than an hour, she thought.

She picked up Nessie's cell and wondered if she should call Bella. She and Bella, though technically stepsisters now, never really talked except in passing at Swan-Clearwater family gatherings, but she thought for sure Bella would want to know her daughter was missing. Better to hear bad news from family, right? Then again, maybe she should hold off a while, just until they knew for sure Nessie really was missing. No need to incite panic in the leeches just yet, she decided.

Glancing at the clock once again, Leah finally decided just to find out what was taking them so long. Still in her pajamas, Leah stepped outside, pulling off her tank top and shorts, and let the heat take control of her body. A replay of everything Jake and Seth had discovered rolled through her mind, and the same feeling of dread they both were experiencing rocked through her as well. Then she heard Jake's second order.

Nobody phases back until we find her.

#

The shrill ring of his alarm clock jolted Quil awake from a dead sleep. He was scheduled to relieve Paul and patrol for what was left of the night and well into the afternoon, and after two previous all-nighters, filling in where Jake, Seth, and Leah otherwise would have patrolled, he was certainly not looking forward to the four a.m. start of his shift. Sleep had been scarce since they left. Along with the extra patrols, he'd also been busy keeping an even greater watch on Claire. After her near-death experience, Quil had decided to keep her in his sight as much as possible. That meant even later nights, earlier mornings, and shorter daytime naps.

He grumbled as he rolled out of bed and dragged himself into the shower, letting the lukewarm water, which would have been ice cold to anybody without a 108-degree body temperature, beat down on him uselessly, not doing a thing to wake him up. Giving up on the shower, Quil tiptoed into the kitchen, grabbed some cold, leftover fried chicken out of the fridge, and munched down a few pieces before heading out.

A full moon was beginning its decent toward the horizon, and Quil stopped to admire the night sky before heading into the surrounding trees. Once he was certain he was clearly hidden from view from anybody who was also unlucky enough to be awake at the early hour, he slid off his shorts, hung them high up on a tree branch, and let the heat rip through his body until he was nothing but mass and fur.

And that's when Quil knew the day was going to be much longer than he'd ever anticipated.

Pictures, sounds, and a stream of emotions flooded Quil's mind until he felt nothing but overload. He struggled to sift through and find a single voice that he could make out. He shook his head as a heavy feeling took over his body. He felt as if he was being crushed, held down by a force stronger than anything he'd ever experienced, and frozen in his wolf form. Finally, through the chaos in his mind, a voice came through.

Quil!

Seth! What the hell?

Nessie's missing. Wolves, we think.

Wolves?

Yeah. We can't find the trail. We had it, but it disappeared. Jake's just…in his own mind right now trying to find her. He's not saying much, just keeps running.

Quil tore through the forest to collect Embry and Sam's pack. If what Seth said was true and there were more wolves out there, they would need all the help they could get to find Nessie. But it wasn't only the instinctive pull to protect his alpha's imprint that guided Quil. He owed her. If it wasn't for Nessie, Claire would be dead. She'd put herself in danger and at risk of exposure to save Claire, and she'd never even given it a second thought. She just did it because that's who Nessie was, putting others before herself. It was her compassion and acceptance of what was different from her that the members of the wolf packs admired most about her. She was their friend, and now she was in danger. Quil would do whatever it took to save her.

But as he tried to catch up to Paul before he phased back for the night, Quil realized he had two problems: First – the rest of the packs were probably all asleep, and second – Jake's order left him with only one way to communicate with Embry and Sam's pack in his current physical state.

Redirecting his run away from the center of the reservation, he ran up the familiar cliffs that overlooked First Beach and positioned himself on the edge. Then, facing in the direction he knew the sound would travel best across the cliffs, Quil released a howl so urgent, so sorrowful, and so authoritative that it shook both packs from their sleep as it echoed through the forests of La Push.

#

"Where is my daughter?" Edward roared as Quil replayed the events of the night as he knew them through his mind.

Embry lowered his head, and Bella, the rest of the Cullens, and Sam and Paul surrounded the two wolves as they all anxiously waited for an explanation.

"What is it, Edward? Please?" Bella begged.

Edward turned and pulled Bella tight into his arms. "We'll find her, love. We will find her."