~A/N I have a big announcement this time. I finished the story. Yeah! I love it when that happens to my satisfaction. I hope the readers feel the same way. Tentatively, I'll post the last five chapters, one per week unless I feel an urgency to post quicker. Next couple of chapters go back and forth between Jacob and Bella's POV.

Copyright disclaimer: Twilight and all recognizable characters are sole property of Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 21: Last Chances

Bella woke up with a start. Jake. She only wished it were true and she was back with him. They would soon have a new baby. She knew in an instant the infant in her arms was Linx's daughter. "We'll love her so much," she whispered into the atmosphere, hoping her affectionate thoughts made it to their lost pack member somehow.

Bella thought it might be a better day. She didn't feel feverish or quite as sore. Damn Edward. The infection she was experiencing was brutal at times. She tried to make her point, survival away from Jacob was not possible in the long run. They appeared to be a package deal. She hoped he was still going strong. She needed him to be if he was going to find her.

.

.

.

They all made it to the rendezvous point for the day. Jacob and Charlie had a system in place. They were covering lots of ground. Today, the Cullens were joining them. They'd exhausted all other pointless leads just in case the bloodsucker made it out of the US.

Jacob was passing out assignments: who would go where and with whom. They covered tremendous ground that first day but still no Edward sightings. Charlie's guy had done an excellent job with the sketch. Jacob gave every detail he could remember about the demon that came from the lake to ambush Linx.

The more they got the pictures out there, the better chance someone might see one of them and call into the tipline. The full page ad ran in the paper that morning. Alice Cullen approached with said paper in her hands.

"This." She pointed to Edward's accomplice, "How do you know this man?"

"Because that was the face the kid saw just before he tore into him. Pack mind, that's why."

"I know him. We all do."

Alice told them all about Caius and she insisted the sketch was a dead ringer for the Volterra escapee. He had quite the reputation. He also was missing from the Volturi before Edward ever came back and ended up killing Avery.

"I think I get it now. Caius had wolves in a dungeon. He liked to do experiments. Aro was fed up with him and his strange obsessions." She explained the history in a little more detail.

"What do you mean, wolves? In Italy?"

"Children of the Moon, real werewolves, not like you at all. Edward must hide behind them. That's how he avoids me."

"Are you saying this maniac that relished killing Linx and probably set my damn house on fire with my kids inside, has werewolves where Bella's being held? Tell me everything you know about this twisted fuck and werewolves."

Carlisle joined them and the tales he spun were those of Jacob's worst nightmares. It was one horror story after the next. The werewolves struggled with the bloodlust similar to vampires, but probably even less control under a full moon which was merely two days away. He described brutal eviscerations and throats ripped apart. They weren't nearly as neat and tidy as the vampires who tried to be more inconspicuous

"Edward will protect her from that and no, I'm not defending him. It's just, as badly as he wants her back, he isn't letting these werewolves anywhere near her. I'm sure of that."

"How sure?"

"Almost positive, but I'm worried about this paper? Chances are, he'll run even further if he gets wind of this."

Charlie and Jacob thought it was a good idea for getting their faces out there with Bella's story. The masses usually rallied around missing person cases, especially young mothers. Bella's kidnapping was sure to pull at a few heartstrings. People would be on high alert and might spot one or all of them. His knowledge of the werewolves made the rescue mission an immediate life or death matter. He wasn't trusting Alice's belief that Edward was fully able to protect her from the werewolves. He had to find her before the full moon which was two days away. There was no doubt about it, time was running out.

.

.

.

Bella considered drifting off again, but rolled over when she heard the door open. She reached for an object, anything would work. She always missed, but at least Edward knew each and every time she was not looking forward to his visits. One night, he actually had the nerve to try and climb in bed beside her. He was lost in an old memory when she lived at her father's old place. She went nuts on him, started wrecking the room and hurling any and every insult she could at him. He claimed to be horrified at the language she picked up around those uncivilized men. He got the picture by the time she completely wore herself out.

"Miss, it's me, not Master."

"Oh Gabriel, thank God. Please come in, tell me how the trip went yesterday." She and the werewolf had become friendly. He was on high alert about not displeasing the masters, but she knew he had a sensitive spot for her. Edward was almost always listening in, but she knew Gabriel was her ally even if he didn't completely get that. They had managed a few secrets recently. She found out there were two of them. Damien, his brother, was not as controlled, so Bella never met him. Caius had done terrible things to Gabriel, she could tell without him ever going into details. She assumed he did far worse things to Damien, because Gabriel always spoke of his brother with sadness in his eyes. It was one of the reasons, he always obeyed Caius and Edward. They would let him do supply runs, but if he messed up or talked to anyone, Damien would pay the ultimate price for never fully submitting.

Bella knew after her second day, when Gabriel brought her a handheld breast pump from the pharmacy, he still had some humanity. Edward sent him for medicine and a few basic supplies, but he heard her frustrations about being removed from her infant daughter. It turned out Gabriel was a doctor and Damien was a lawyer, but not in the modern era. She had no idea how they were changed or how they were acquired by Caius. Once, Gabriel admitted there were many more, but they were dead either by choice or experiments gone bad.

She'd never seen Caius since she'd been there. He was a scary freak when she was in Volterra but that was a distant memory. Despite, Edward's constant interruptions and meddling on top of all his high tech surveillance and listening devices, she and Gabriel had developed a kinship. He was conditioned and trained, but she knew he too wished to be free, but he was mostly afraid for his brother. Bella pleaded with him in the beginning since she knew he was allowed out, to get her a paper with news from Washington.

Days passed before he brought in a paper. It had been completely dissected by Edward, no doubt, so she didn't know the date or the city it came from. All she knew was a story about a large fire not too far from Port Angeles was reported. There were no known fatalities, only speculation that an unknown female had been kidnapped and a manhunt was underway. The second article he brought listed her name and a recent picture. Bella felt it in her heart, the kids were okay, but the articles confirmed her mother's intuition. There was a small quote from her father. He said, 'the family was hopeful to find her safe and bring her home, her husband and kids needed her.' There was no mention about Linx or Embry, but Bella knew Jacob would keep that private if he could because of the supernatural aspects. She relived watching Linx die in front of her over and over and she couldn't help but worry Embry suffered a similar fate. It didn't make sense that he hadn't shown up at the house in a rescue attempt when all hell broke loose. It crushed her to think of the possibility, but she prayed it wasn't true.

"Come in, Gabriel. It's good to see you."

He had a tray of food for her. She preferred him waiting on her way more than Edward. "Thanks, I'm starving." She had skipped several meals when she felt really bad. He insisted on checking her temperature and listening to her pulse before she got started.

"Much better, Miss. Hopefully, the last medicine I brought is doing the trick." They both knew it was only temporary though. Bella had experienced days like this before, but always relapsed. Jacob was her only hope for a cure.

Edward, soon came over the intercom and told Gabriel he had plenty of things to do, to let Bella eat in peace. He jumped up to do so, but she held onto his arm. With her voice as low as it could go, she spoke, "Please, is there a way we can speak in private?"

Gabriel pulled away in an instant. He didn't respond to her question. Bella had to come up with a plan. She heard from Edward that Caius had a thing for fire. He also was a sadistic vampire that was obsessed with hurting wolves. There had to be supplies. Think, Bella. You were one of them. She had extensive knowledge of so many random and pointless things. She and Emmett used to dabble in explosives for kicks way before Ness got sick. He was easily amused and liked to annoy Rosalie. They never hurt anything important or living, but blew some shit up before. Bella mentally made a list of what she needed. Whatever Gabriel couldn't find around the house, he could grab on a supply run.

He knocked and entered the room again. He'd come to collect the tray. Bella tried to help. She gathered everything to hand to him, but as the tray exchanged hands, she felt a slip of paper being shoved into her palm. She quickly crinkled it under her fingers to hide it since Edward was on the way inside her room.

"Leave us. Hurry up!" he barked the order at Gabriel.

"What do you want Edward?"

"I've come to talk about that disgusting mark on your back."

"It's better today, but until I get back to Jake, I won't get well. In fact, I'm sure to die eventually, so congratulations. This plot you concocted to get us back together is aces." She rolled her eyes and he looked uncomfortable with her sarcasm.

"Love, Caius and I have been studying and we think we have a solution." Bella rolled her eyes again. She hated when he called her that. It didn't matter what she said, he never listened. That wasn't new since the beginning. He continued. "As soon as we have the necessary supplies, we think it's possible to excise that imperfection. Think of it as a plastic surgery procedure. You have an imperfection that we'll rid you of."

Bella's temper exploded. She rushed him, but he moved out of the way and she tripped and fell. He seemed humored by her clumsiness. All those years, she could take him and now she was helpless yet again. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but she couldn't stop the tears falling from her eyes.

"Why are you doing this? I might have a new body, but I remember everything. You barely paid any attention to me most of our marriage, so why would you desire us to be together again? I doesn't make sense."

"Because, you are mine, not his! I won. You loved me more. I remember everything as well. Now that you're really you again, it's even better. I think we were truly meant to be like this... human you with me. Forgive me, for causing you any pain, but I'm sure when we get rid of that branding mark, you will start to forget the dog. His hold over you will lessen."

"Forget Jake? You are clinically insane. Will I forget my children too? Maybe that's what you did when Renesmee died, but I never forgot her and I won't forget Alexander and Brooklyn. You are a cruel, evil bastard to do this to me and you claim to love me."

"I do, more than ever. I'm sorry you reproduced with him, but there's no way for me to keep those children. That male child has phased already. He couldn't coexist with us."

"Phased? Now, I know you're mad. AJ is practically a baby still."

"Well, I scented him. I'm quite sure he did." Bella was suddenly sick with worry for her son. Edward might be bullshitting her, but he seemed very matter of fact. What happened to her child? She hoped he was okay and they'd calmed him down. He was far too young to have to deal with that experience. "He's fine, I'm sure. He's with his kind. You won't have to worry about them and if you really want more children, I can give them to you."

Bella picked herself up off the floor and walked slowly towards him. "Idiot, that's how we got to this place in our history. You said you remembered, but the first time killed me, not to mention the fact, I would be repulsed. You will never lay a finger on me again. I can't be changed. I told you that once before."

"Again, Caius is fairly certain, he has a way around that. He's very interested in the hybrid breed, but I won't give him our child. I assure you. However, he drives a hard bargain, I have to give him something in return for all his aide through the years."

"Like what?"

"We'll be taking some of your eggs as soon as we can administer certain hormones. First things first, the mark has to go."

"You vicious bastard, you are not going to do surgery on me. I swear to God that's not happening. Leave my mark and my eggs alone or else." Or else to her meant taking her own life, but if she said so, he might tighten his already suffocating grip on her.

"Or else what, Bella? Honestly, you know I'll do whatever I think is necessary to get us where we need to be again. The surgery is in two days, because we need to get out of here quicker than I planned. The search has expanded and I can't underestimate the family or the dogs."

He'd taken almost everything out of the room that she could toss, but Bella pounded her fists against the locked door after his departure. She knew she was essentially out of time. It was then, she remembered the note. Bella managed to stash it on the bed, so she acted like she was making the bed before heading into the bathroom. She opened the note and found the secret message.

The bathroom closet, up in the ceiling.

Bella had to stack a couple of suitcases to reach it, but she found a loose piece in the ceiling. She pushed it up and reached her hand around. She found a notepad and a pen. Bella turned the tub on full blast. She knew Edward could listen in the bathroom when he wanted, but there were no cameras inside there.

She quickly scratched out a message. She told him about Edward's plan to cut her open, but she insisted she had an idea. She told him what she needed and she also promised him that she knew someone that could help him and his brother. If he helped her escape, she'd be sure they were also safe. Once the note was completed, she returned it to the exact spot she located it. She actually took advantage of her tubful of water and had a long soak. Bella had so much to accomplish and so little time. She was also dependent on Gabriel for everything. She had to be right about him or her fate was worse than death.

~Thanks for reading.

So Edward is crazy... more to come.

I know there are requests for other story updates. I'll do my best, but I really needed to focus on one thing at a time lately. I plan on finishing Won't Go... next. It's way overdue. The others will get done as well, but I might take a step back and concentrate on writing without posting for a bit longer. I appreciate your patience.