A/N: Exciting chapter! I really enjoyed writing this one. For anyone who thought this story was dragging, I apologise. But I've had this idea for a while so this chapter is the start of something BIG. Thank you if you're reading this! I know, I know, I skip author's notes too.

Bella's POV

"Bye!" We cried, waving as Emily and Sam disappeared around the corner. Rosie had her face buried in my hair, her soft snores close to my ear. It was early morning, the day after Emily and Sam's wedding, and they had just left for their honeymoon.

"Morning, Rosie," I cooed, as Rosie's long, dark eyelashes fluttered open and she yawned. Her big brown eyes took in her surroundings, stopping on me with happiness.

"Belle," She said sleepily, snuggling into my neck. I chuckled and turned to Jake.

"Alright, can you drop off Rosie and Claire at my house, with Sue? I'll start packing," Jake who had been holding Claire's tiny hand, swung the toddler up on to his hip and nodded.

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible," He kissed me quickly before taking Rosie from me and walking towards my car.

"Drive careful, okay?" I shouted after him and Jacob rolled his eyes. "Don't hurt my baby." Jacob's eyes widened and this time it was my turn to roll my eyes. "I meant the car, Jacob."

When I entered my room, there was something in the air which made my instincts flare. I looked around the room for any intruders and saw nothing. Nothing was different; everything was where it was meant to be. I shook my head, opening up one of the folded cardboard boxes and emptying the contents of my closet into it.

The window was open, letting the fresh spring air into my room. The dust collected through the last few months, danced in the light shining through the glass. I smiled serenely, as I taped up the box full of my winter clothing.

My gaze followed the beam of light all the way to my desk in the corner of the room. It was highlighting a picture of Emily sitting on the beach with her hands behind her head; a smile on her face as she gazed up at the cloudy sky. It was a nice picture, but I didn't recognise it: I certainly hadn't taken it. There was note (my pink personalised paper) attached to it. It was a ripped piece, possibly off a corner of an A4 page, and was jagged at the edges. It had the number '1' written on it in red marker. What was this? My fingers traced the edges of the photo and a shiver of horror ran down my spine.

"Bella?" Jacob called from downstairs, announcing his arrival with the slam of the front door.

"Upstairs!" I shouted back as I hurried to hide the photo and note at the bottom of a box, and stuff a cushion on top of it.

"Hey," Jacob said, not hesitating as he walked into the room. Nothing leechy then? Okay. "Need some help?"

I grinned, forgetting about the note and unfamiliar photo, as Jacob started carrying the heavy boxes I had already packed, down to my car.

"Belle!" Rosie cried, toddling over and wrapping her tiny arms around my legs. I chuckled, sweeping the child into my arms and tickling her. She squirmed and buried her face in my hair.

"Hey, Izz," My Dad said from the doorway. Claire was nestled in his arms, asleep.

"Hi Dad," I greeted him, my voice softer now I saw Claire was asleep. "They been okay?" He rolled his eyes at me.

"I dealt with much worse, trust me," He gave me a pointed look, raising his eyebrows. Confused, I turned away to settle Rosie on the floor.

"HEY!" I proclaimed, twisting around to confront Charlie who had already gone, laughing on his way. I pouted.

"I'll go and unpack your things from the car," He shouted over his shoulder. I threw my car keys into a dish on the hall table, smiling.

"Hey!" Leah shouted in my ear. I jumped.

"Lee!" I whined, massaging my ringing ear. "Not cool!" She grinned.

"Wow, Bella, that hurt," She said sarcastically with her hand over her heart. "I mean, really, that stung," I looked at her strangely, before walking away to the kitchen. She followed.

"Hey, Sue," I hugged my Dad's girlfriend and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Hey, Bella," Seth said from opposite me but I ignored him.

"Did someone say something?" I asked Leah who sat down next to me. Leah shrugged.

"I don't know. Seth did someone say something?"I sighed.

"You don't get the rules of this, do you, Lee?"I folded my arms in front of my chest and glared silently at Seth.

"You know, it wasn't my fault, Bee," He complained, holding up his hands to show his innocence.

"Then whose fault is it? It's not Jake's. It's not Leah's. It's not Claire's even," Seth rolled his eyes as I counted off people on my hands. "It's not Quil's. It's not Jared's. It's not Collin's. I-"

"Actually, it is sort of Collin's fault," Seth pointed out, thanking his mum who had just placed a massive bowl of spaghetti Bolognese in front of him. Rosie climbed up on to my lap, and began sucking her thumb. I stroked her ebony hair absently.

"Hardly," I scoffed and stuffed a fork of spaghetti into my mouth.

"Well, if Collin hadn't gone rushing to Jake in the first place, none of this would have happened," Seth said, making a piece of spaghetti slurp through his lips annoyingly.

"Well, if you hadn't kissed me, nothing would have happened."

"You don't know that," He paused and scowled. "And it might have happened, you know? Another time," I scoffed into my plate of pasta.

"Not likely. Because sooner or later, I would have found out what an idiot you were. I mean, after all we're practically brother and sister," I'll admit, it was low. But what Seth said was lower.

"Funny, because sooner or later I would have found out what a heartless bitch you were. I mean, after all you can't choose your family," The kitchen went silent as Seth stared me down with a menacing glare. I had frozen, a fork full of pasta halfway to my mouth. Leah, who had the recently awoken Claire in her lap, gawked at her brother.

"Seth, say sorry right now," Sue snapped, hitting her son over the head with a tea towel as she saw my lip begin to tremble. I bit down on it hard, drawing blood.

"Seth, how could you say that?" Leah asked, still shocked. He did look quite abashed but he stood his ground.

"You heard me," He growled. I pushed Rosie gently off of me and stood up so I was standing next to Seth.

"I thought you were one of the only people who would never say anything like that about me," I whispered but my voice cut through the room like a knife. "I guess I was wrong." And I grabbed his bowl of Spaghetti and dumped it on his head. The red sauce dripped down his forehead and into his eyes, just like the tears now rolling down my cheeks. Seth's mouth was agape but his eyes were hidden by the bowl.

"If I'm a heartless bitch, why am I pretty much giving up my childhood to your pack? Why am I giving up dancing at Julliard for Jacob? Why did I move here, instead of staying with Emily and Sam? Why did I leave to look after the man who killed my own mother? Because I care too damn much about other people, especially my family," I lifted the bowl slightly, so I could look him in the eye. "And I care about you. Too. Damn. Much." Then I pushed down on the back of his head, so that his face sank into my bowl of spaghetti too. And then I ran.

"Jacob," I said desperately to myself, grabbing my car keys from the dish and flying out of the door; my tears blurring my vision.

Jacob's POV

I was sitting in my bedroom, sorting through some of my old clothes which I hadn't had time to throw out. Everything that had been going on for the last few months had been so hectic, that I had decided to spend some time with my dad tonight and just clean up a bit. I had been doing quite well, and had two massive bags full of clothes that I were either completely destroyed or didn't fit anymore. But then I felt something.

You know that feeling before you're sick? That moment when you think 'Oh, great, here it comes' and you just want it to be over? The clammy forehead, the contracting of your stomach and that lump in your throat; yeah, well, that's what it felt like. Everything went sort of bright and I sank to the floor, clutching at my chest. My breaths were coming quick and painfully and black spots appeared in my peripheral vision. Bella.

"Dad!" I gasped, leaning over my knees and heaving. My bedroom door squeaked and my Dad entered in his wheelchair, his eyes falling on my collapsed form. "D-Dad, call –gasp- Charlie." He nodded, hurriedly reversing and wheeling himself towards the kitchen.

I tried to sit up so I could lean against my bed, but a painful burning sensation shot up my left leg. How am I going to get to Bella when I can't even stand up? I thought desperately, throwing my head back against the covers as tears of pain and anger welled in my arms.

"Arrggghhhh!" I screamed, an unfamiliar, excruciating, pain shooting through my chest. The sound of my dad's wheelchair hitting the joints in the wooden planked flooring echoed through the house, and he soon appeared in the doorway again.

"Jacob, Bella ran off ten minutes ago because Seth said something that upset her. She drove off in her car, supposedly coming here," He came forward and scraped my sweaty hair stuck to my forehead, back. "Leah and Seth have already gone out and phased. They'll find her Jacob and they'll bring her to you," I shook my head, folding in on myself in pain.

"When they find her, they have to take her straight to hospital," Billy's eyes widened as he stared at me.

"It's that bad?" I nodded; in too much pain to do anything more.

"This is worse than phasing for the first time, Dad," I didn't need to say anything more: Billy was already out of the door and calling the other elders.

My dad had watched me go through the first phase; and my sisters for that matter, but he knew. He knew how much pain we had gone through as our bones snapped and refused to meld together in a natural position. But this pain now – the one that was practically snapping my heart in half and blocking my wind pipes – was so much worse.

Leah's POV

The kitchen had never been more silent. The gentle ticking of the clock on the counter, suddenly seemed much louder than usual and I concentrated on counting the seconds that went past.

Five whole minutes passed before Claire started fidgeting and jumped out of my lap; running over to her twin and shouting: "IT!" and running out of the kitchen. Rosie giggled before following.

My mum moved first, walking forward and lifting the bowl off of Seth's head. His upset and truly embarrassed face appeared spaghetti hanging down from the top of his head.

"Why? Why did you do that?" I spat, tempted to tip my own bowl of pasta over his head.

"I don't know," He mumbled and placed his head in his hands.

"That girl's not normally wrong, but," I pulled some of the spaghetti out of his hair. "You're not an idiot." I scoffed. "You are so much worse, but that girl is too damn nice to say anything more. Even when she is so pissed off with you, she wants to strangle you," Seth hung his head.

"Where's Bella?" Charlie asked, walking into the room with a big smile on his face. But one look at all our faces, and Charlie's grin slipped off of his face. "What?" Seth – whose hands had been clutching his hair in tight fists as he shook – straightened up and slammed his fist on the table. A resounding crack echoed through the room and Seth sighed.

"Sorry, Mum," He apologised, staring down at the large split in the table.

"It's okay, honey," Mum replied and she handed him a cloth to clean his face with.

"What happened here?" Charlie demanded, wrapping his arms around my mum's waist. I looked away. Gross.

"Seth was being an idiot," I stood up and started clearing up the bowls. "As usual."

"Leah-"But my mum was interrupted by the wailing of the phone. Charlie stomped off to retrieve it. It was silent again in the kitchen.

"Well, where is she, Billy?" We heard Charlie practically scream. I looked at Seth; eyes wide.

"Bella's not with Jake," My brow knitted together in worry and I trembled. "Something's wrong."

"Let's go find her then," Seth said, pulling open the door and walking down the hallway. "Charlie, we're going to look for her, okay?" Charlie nodded, still talking hurriedly to Billy.

"He can't get up? Billy, you need to get him to a hospital," He said, as we left. "Or at least here."

When we phased, complete silence greeted us in the mind link.

(Seth – italics, Leah – bold)

No one's phased. I thought simply. Raise the alarm, Seth. Seth nodded and a few seconds later, Seth's howl ripped through the air. Everything blurred around us as we ran in the direction of Jake's house, hoping to catch Bella's scent on our way.

Lee. Seth whined and I realised he had stopped about fifty metres behind me. I looked into his mind and froze. It's Bella's car. I sprinted back to my little brother and nudged his shoulder comfortingly.

I'll go, okay? He nodded, looking like he was going to be sick. I knew how he felt. My stomach twisted and lurched as I walked forward to the car wreck. Please be okay. Please be okay. I prayed, phasing back to human. It was bad.

The car had rolled over into a ditch and a massive dent was in the side of the car in and all the windows were smashed. The damage was so bad that the car had been practically folded in half. But no other car was in sight.

*Flashback*

"Mum?" I asked, tears already pooling in my eyes. I clutched Seth's tiny hand and pulled him into the room. She looked so broken there. Her neck was in a restricting brace and she had bruises up and down her arms and legs. Her eyes – staring at the ceiling – settled on me and my ten year old brother.

"Lee?" She said, hoarsely. I sobbed, my hand covering my mouth in horror. "Lee, it's okay," Seth ran forward, clutching mum's hand and burying his head in her side. I saw her wince slightly but she stroked Seth's hair and brought his hand up to kiss. "Hi, Sethy," I was still rooted to the spot trying to control the sobs that shook my body.

"M-mum, I can't," I shook my head, backing out of the room. "I can't be here," The tears began to fall as I turned and fled the room, Mum and Seth calling after me.

I ran down the corridor, tugging at my hair in complete madness. Everything that happened in the last few hours came crashing down around me and I heaved, slumping against the wall and slowly sliding down to the ground. I drew up my knees, wrapping my arms around them, and buried my head in my arms; painful wailing sobs tearing through my whole body.

"Leah?" Someone – a boy – asked. They sat down next to me and wrapped their arms around me. I didn't care who it was, they were warm and they smelt of the forest and diesel. I guessed it was Sam but Sam could never fix a car to save his life. "Leah, it will be okay," they said, stroking my hair slightly. I sobbed harder. My dad was dead. Dead.

I looked up through my wet eyelashes into the kind and familiar face of Jacob Black. He was fourteen and I spent my whole childhood playing around with him by the river whilst our Dads – including Charlie Swan – fished. He was one of the best people I knew and he used to be one of my best friends, until I went to school and I didn't want to hang out with a boy three years younger than me. But he still came round and babysat Seth when I wanted to go out and he still played football with my little brother every Sunday.

"Jake?" I felt terrible. "Jake, I'm so sorry." He nodded, looking away from me to the wall opposite. His mum and Dad had been with mine in the-, I gulped at my train of thought. "Your mum. She was a great person, Jake," He nodded and ran a hand through his hair. It had always been a habit of his.

"I don't know what we're going to do without her," He said, his lower lip trembling. "She meant everything to my Dad. He won't be able to cope without her. Especially now." So it was bad. I hadn't really heard anything much about the others, just that Sarah hadn't made it and Billy was in surgery.

"Are your sisters here?" I looked down the corridor towards the waiting room.

"Rebecca went home to call Auntie Connie and Uncle Kevin," He grabbed my hand. "And Rachel's in the waiting room, so we can hear how surgery went. We're waiting for Charlie." I nodded. We all needed the Chief here with us; he had always been here for us.

"Your Dad, is he gonna be okay?" I asked, shy. Jake frowned and looked up at the ceiling.

"Define okay," He pulled at a thread in his shirt. "They think he's going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His legs and the bottom of his spine were crushed. He won't ever fully recover," Somehow, there was a deeper meaning to his words than just the fact that Billy's legs wouldn't work again.

"My mum escaped pretty well then, didn't she?" As soon as I said it though, I regretted it. Jake's eyes filled with tears and he began to tremble. "God, Jake, I'm so sorry," He nodded before pulling me into a big bear hug and burying his face in my hair.

"No, you should be glad that your mum's okay. She was lucky." He pulled back and smiled; a sad smile at that, but it was still a smile. "How's Seth?"

"He's okay. With mum at the moment." I looked back down the corridor towards my mum's room. Jake stood up and stretched. "Jake?"

"Hmm?"

"If you need me, just call, okay. Mum's in room 72," He nodded. "Mum would love to see you, I bet. I think it would do you some good too if, you know, you spent some time with her." I stood up too, smiling at Rachel who had appeared at the end of the corridor. I had always been jealous of the younger girl; how her hair was perfectly crimped and her skin was flawless. She was smaller than me too and I had always hated being taller than every other girl in my school.

"Hey, Lee," Rachel said, hugging me tightly when she reached us. "Charlie's here," She said to Jacob, ruffling his hair affectionately. And just as Rachel said his name, Charlie appeared; his eyes bloodshot and cheeks wet.

"Charlie," Jacob said, running forward and wrapping his arms around Charlie's waist. He began sobbing into the older man's shirt, but Charlie didn't complain – in fact, he hugged Jacob close and stroked his hair comfortingly. Rachel ran forward too, and was soon in Charlie's arms. I felt oddly out of place.

"Leah?" Charlie asked, breaking free and walking towards me. "Leah, honey, are you okay?" I shook my head before I too was in the arms of my Dad's best friend. He smelt of peppermint and musk; probably from being locked up in the station all day and chewing gum. "It's going to be okay, Lee," He said, stroking my hair like my dad used to. "It's going to be okay."

*End of Flashback*

The rusty, metallic smell of blood brought me back to my senses and I heaved. As I neared the car, I heard a soft whimpering.

"Bella?" I asked, incredulously.

"Lee?" I heard my sister's weak reply. "Lee, it hurts so much," She cried and my heart literally broke. I sobbed as I yanked on the destroyed door handle. It opened easily and I felt feint at the amount of red that stained the pale leather seats.

"It's going to be okay," I mumbled, looking over my shoulder and hoping Seth would see. "Bella, what hurts?"I swallowed down a lump in my throat as I realised it was only me with Bella.

"My leg and m-my chest. My back and neck hurt too," Oh, god, that doesn't sound good. "Lee, there's blood everywhere,"

"Bright-Spark, I need to go and phase, okay?" The sound of the seatbelt clicking echoed through the destroyed car. I choked back a sob.

"Bella, did you say your neck hurts?" A howl went up in the forest and I whipped around to see Sam's dark shape by the tree line.

"Yeah." She replied. "Leah, I need Jacob." She sobbed and I gulped.

"I'll see if I can get him, okay, Bella?"

"Okay,"

"Sam's here, Bella. One minute, remember?" And then I phased and ran back into the shadows of the forest.

Bella's POV (Yikes)

After leaving the house, I had jumped in the car and – tears streaming down my face – driven pretty much blindly towards Jacob's house. I wiped at my eyes with my arm and whimpered into the silence of the car. The road winded and I absently steered because I knew the roads so well. But I wasn't fully concentrated.

As I turned a sharp corner, the wheels of the car screeched and I realised that I had been going too fast. But – stupidly thinking I was the only one who would be on the road at this time of night – I had been going wide round the corners. Next thing I heard was a resounding bang on the right side of the car. Screeches. Screams. And then darkness.

Pain. That was all I could feel. Everywhere in my body was on fire and all I could see was smoky darkness. I screamed out in pain; sharp searing pains shooting through my chest. My ears were ringing and I felt cool glass against my cheek. I slowly willed my eyes to open and I looked around at my surroundings. My neck screamed and I whimpered. Oh, no, that's not good. It seemed that my car had been hit because one side had caved inwards, and I had also rolled into a ditch.

Fifteen minutes passed of me assessing the damage to me and I suspected at least a broken leg and whiplash: my neck was killing me.

I tried moving my legs but it had gotten trapped under the collapsed dashboard and was bent in a weird way. Oh, no, that is really not good. I couldn't get out? How on earth would someone find me here in a ditch? I whimpered and brushed the glass out of my hair.

"Bella?" I heard a muffled voice from outside and my heart skipped a beat.

"Lee?" I asked my throat dry and my voice hoarse. "Lee, it hurts so much," I cried and I just wanted Jacob. I needed Jacob. He was in pain too. Leah sobbed and I saw the passenger door open easily, out of the corner of my eye; my neck hurt too much to move.

"It's going to be okay," She mumbled. "Bella, what hurts?"Lee sounded nervous so I tried to reply in a calm tone.

"My leg and m-my chest. My back and neck hurt too," I looked down at the red which stained the seats; looking for the source of the blood, my eyes fell on my searing leg and my hands caught the steady drip from my temple. "Lee, there's blood everywhere,"

"Bright-Spark, I need to go and phase, okay? I promise you I'll be back in one minute," I reached down and undid my seatbelt, and my body wailed in protest.

"You promise?" I heard Leah choke back a sob, as I started to whimper in pain.

"Bella, did you say your neck hurts?" A howl went up in the forest and I knew that everything was going to be okay.

"Yeah," I replied. "Leah, I need Jacob," I cried. I cried because of the pain shooting through me because of the accident. I cried because of the absolute need of having Jake near me now. And I cried because I knew my family were coming and I was going to be okay.

"I'll see if I can get him, okay, Bella?" Jake.

"Okay," I wiped the blood from my temple but it kept coming. Oh, no, am I going to pass out?

"Sam's here, Bella. One minute, remember?" And then there was silence for a moment. And then...

"Bella? Oh, god, Bella," Sam's voice cried from the passenger seat. I painfully turned my head to look at him and he had tears flowing down his face. "Bella, honey, please,"

"S-Sam, it hurts," I said, not wanting to lie and say I was okay when I wasn't. He sobbed.

"I know, honey. Bells, Jake can't be here right now," I cried harder, whimpering. "He can't get here until you get better, okay? He's hurting too," Jake.

"I need him here, Sam,"

"I know, honey. I know." He fell silent. "Bella, is your leg trapped?" I nodded slightly, only a little pain shooting down my back. I need Jake.

Jacob's POV

"Jake?" My dad said from the doorway. "They found Bella," I turned my head to look at my dad.

"What happened?" I whispered, scared of the answer. Billy wheeled closer to my bed and brushed my hair out of my eyes.

"It was a car accident," I started heaving and sobbing; my whole world falling.

*Flashback*

"Rach? Becca?" I screamed as I dropped my bag at the front door. Mum will kill me later: she's always telling me to put it in the cupboard or in my room. I had just got back from sleeping over at Embry's because mum and dad had gone out, and Rachel and Becca wanted a "girl" night.

"Jake?" Rachel replied from the living room. I walked into the room; grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl in the kitchen first.

"Hey," I said, flopping down on the couch and taking a bite out of the apple. There was no reply and I looked up at my older sisters, both looking down at me with tear rolling down the cheeks. "What's wrong?" I asked, scared.

"Jake," Rachel began, sitting down next to me on the couch and putting her hand on my shoulder. Something was wrong. "Jake, mum and dad are in the hospital," She sobbed, wrapping her arm tightly around me. I shrugged her off and stood up.

"What are you talking about? Why the hell are they in the hospital?" I demanded, shaking in anger.

"When they went out last night," Becca began, grabbing my hand. She whimpered and buried her face in her free hand.

"Spit it out. What. Happened?" I sneered, grabbing her wrist.

"They were in a car accident," And then my whole world stopped turning.

*End of Flashback*

"Son?" My dad asked, his brown eyes staring back at me with love and concern. "Jacob, she's conscious," I breathed out in relief and rested my head back against the pillow in exhaustion. "She's talking to them too. Mostly about you, of course. She says she needs you." I moaned in frustration and my own need for having Bella near me. I needed to see her; to know she was okay.

"I need her too, Dad. I just don't know if once I see her – if I can even get there- I won't go mad with worry and guilt," My mind filled with gory images of what the damage to my imprint could be and the wolf inside of me was scratching at the door, so it could get to Bella and protect her. "It's my fault. And it will always be my fault if something happens to her. Because I could have stopped it somehow. And it will be like that our whole life because she is mine and my responsibility." I finished my rave and covered my face with my hands.

"You make it sound like she's a child," Dad said. I looked at him incredulously.

"She is a child," I shook my head. "She's sixteen." My dad had always made me very aware of the fact that Bella was a child. What did he mean?

"She's not a child anymore, Jake. She's grown up a lot." My mouth fell open.

"No. Oh, god, no. We are not talking about this." I groaned. "I'm twenty three," Billy chuckled and ruffled my hair.

"I didn't mean it like that, Jake. I meant that she has grown up in the way that she looks at the world," His wise eyes stared back into mine. "She looks at the world in different colours now, not just black and white and right and wrong. Not that she ever did, but she's just become more like an," He smiled. "Like an alpha female." A warmth spread through me and the pain in my chest dissolved. I looked at my dad in alarm.

"It's gone. The pain. It's gone," My dad nodded and reversed so he could exit the room. I sat up, only a dull aching in my neck, chest and leg as if I had slept on them in a weird position.

"She had to go into surgery. You can probably feel the effects of the anaesthetic," And just like that, the feeling of being sick smacking me in the face.

"Surgery? What surgery?" Billy sighed and bit his lip.

"Just some surgery on her leg. It got crushed under the dashboard. They say it's going to be fine, Jacob," He reassured. I took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"I have to go," I said, walking past him and out my room.

"Jacob?" Billy called after me. I turned around to face him. "Drive me to the hospital too?" He was worried. Of course he was. He loved Bella.

"Of course, Dad," He nodded and smiled.

"Let's go then," So I wheeled my dad out of the house and helped him into the car. Bella. I thought, hoping that even deep under anaesthetic, she could hear me.

A/N: Thank you!