Chapter 21

Edward POV

It had finally reached the deadline time. Alice and Emmett had split up to mess with the mongrels'. When Emmett gave me the sign, I would run in and take Bella away from them for forever. I was actually really anxious and of course, Emmett hadn't actually told me what the sign was. All he said was that I would know once it actually happened. Perfect.

Alice was heading in from the front door to be a distraction, since they were expecting me, then Emmett would continue the ambush coming in from the back. He would supposedly give me 'the sign', and I would do what was most important.

Alice broke down the front door in one swift movement, and I heard three heartbeats in the front room, and one (my favorite heartbeat in the world) was still in the back of the house. After a minute or two, Emmett charged in and I could hear things getting rough when Emmett made 'the sign' up in his head.

Time to go get your girlfriend, Eddie. I scowled at him mentally, and charged into the house from the back door. I followed her scent into a room in the middle of the hallway and heard her screams.

"Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" I let a snarl go from in my chest and got to her doorway in vampire speed. The thing that surprised me was, when I got there, it wasn't Aaron she was yelling at, it was Carl. I knew better than to trust him. I realized a second too late that she had yelled my name out, but I had to ignore her or I would lose control. Her scent was extra appealing now that she was in fear.

"What are you doing to her?" I snarled at the boy who was grabbing at her arms. That's when I finally allowed myself to look at her. She was horrible, her blood was extra appealing because it dripping all over her face, not because she was in fear. I doubt she could ever go into fear, I think it was impossible for her. Her right leg was limp and I was guessing that it was broken.

Carl made a hasty reply but I didn't care about him right now. All that mattered was that Bella got to safety before it was too late. She tried to move to get closer to me, and suddenly cried out in pain.

"What is it?" I asked suddenly feeling panicked. Was there something else that he had hurt on her helpless little body?

"Yesterday night when I was at your house, he broke her leg so she wouldn't try to escape during the night." Carl explained to me but I didn't want to listen to him anymore. I picked her up as carefully as I could, trying not to inflict anymore pain on her and ran out to Carlisle.

I had no clue what Alice and Emmett had accomplished so I was quite surprised when Alice appeared beside me and started to try to help Carlisle with Bella.

I turned to face the door again trying to avoid the pain that would most likely appear on her face, but her cries stopped me for a second.

"No! Don't leave, please don't leave!" I felt horrible for leaving her but I couldn't just let them go unpunished for they had done to her. I was on a fury rage now and they were going to be very, very sorry for what they had done.

Alice POV

Bella had passed out from all the pain and Carlisle told me to support her head.

"Carlisle, you need to get Edward back here, now. He doesn't know what he's doing and I'm blind so I can't see the outcome. We don't even know how to kill them. It could be a lot more difficult than just the shape-shifter wolves." Worry crossed his face for half a second before Esme was dialing on her phone.

"Jasper? Jasper, you need to get out now. You don't know what they're capable of." I couldn't hear what Jasper said which frustrated me even more.

"You have Emmett to help you, I don't care what you have to do, but Bella needs him." And she hung up the phone. "Edward is out of control."

"I can go back and help." Rosalie suggested. I hadn't noticed that she had been sitting on the ground in misery before she spoke up. I knew she felt extremely guilty for being selfish, when she looked at me with a deep sadness in her eyes. I would've gone over and comforted her had Bella's head not been resting on my thighs while I was in somewhat of a squatting position.

"Absolutely not, Rosalie. I know you feel bad but I'm not letting another family member risk themselves." Esme replied.

"Esme, I didn't mean I wanted to fight, I meant to help knock Edward out of his rage."

"Listen to Esme, Jasper and Emmett can control him. I don't want anybody else in danger since Alice can't see anything." Carlisle said as he was still examining Bella.

"What am I supposed to do? Sit here and wait till the love of my life comes back. If he comes back?" Rosalie shot back sharply.

"Rosalie! We don't need this now." Esme scolded. How could she be so negative in a time like this? All of us were worried about our boys, she was so self-centered! And I thought she had learned earlier, I guess not.

Bella tried to move around a little bit, drifting into a dreaming state.

"Come back Edward. Come back." She mumbled. It was so soft that the sound would be barely audible to a human. "I love you, don't leave." She sighed and rolled on her left side.

I looked up at Esme and she looked just as pained as me.

"I didn't know she loved him yet. I just thought he loved her." Rosalie mumbled.

"All the more reason for Edward to get out of there. This is a lot for her to endure." Carlisle said. "We need to go back to forks and fast. Her right leg is internally bleeding and needs to be cared for."

Edward POV

I ran back into the house in full rage mode. Jasper and Emmett were already fighting off Aaron and Jeremy, and Carl was nowhere to be seen. Emmett was fighting off the one who was at Port Angeles on Friday, who I was guessing was Aaron. I charged at him from the side and knocked him into the wall.

"Edward we have to go now. Bella needs you, we can kill them later." Emmett was pulling on me. I looked behind me and Jasper threw Jeremy about 20 yards away from him, and came to help Emmett get me off of Aaron.

"I can't let him get away from me. I can't bear to look at her injuries and know that he got away with it unpunished." Jasper's phone rang and he let go of me and I turned back to Aaron to destroy him and he had a smile on his face. "You will pay for what you have done!" I picked him up and threw against another wall in the room and he had a pained expression on his face. So they are more vulnerable without their coats.

I was by him again using my vampire speed and I ripped off his arms. Blood started pouring all over him but it was the most disgusting blood I had ever smelt before. Jasper and Emmett were pulling me off of him and I still fought against them, but they were so much stronger than me with their combined power.

I didn't want to be dragged anymore so I willing turned my face from him and ran to where Carlisle and the rest of the family were with Emmett and Jasper behind me. I reached the clearing in a minute or two and went directly by Bella's side.

She looked horrid still and the urge to go back and finish off the man that did this to her intensified. I restrained myself wanting to be with Bella. She needed to get to a hospital and fast.

"Edward she needs to get back to Forks." Carlisle told me. I picked her up like I did before and motioned for everyone else to lead the way. Alice was the only one that lingered behind and I started to run and she ran next to me.

Bella POV

My dream was horrible just like everything else at the moment. Edward was killed when he went back into the house and Aaron got me back. It really scared me because at first it felt like it was real.

I woke up in a hospital room and I heard whispers outside my door. My heartbeat monitor sped up when I looked around the room until they landed on Edward. He appeared at my bedside, and he brushed his hand across my face. I moved right hand up to grab his hand and realized it was in a cast supporting my broken fingers.

"Bella, I am so sorry. I should've been there to protect you from him. This should've never happened to you." He said with his velvety voice with a pained expression on his face.

"Edward don't. Please don't blame yourself. All-"

"But it's my fault that you're even in here."

"You're the reason I'm here and safe from Aaron." He was about to protest and I objected, "Just please stop blaming yourself."

"Ok." I grabbed his hand with my left hand and held it on my face. I suddenly forgot that I probably looked like trash and looked down at myself and found that I was only dressed in one of those hospital gowns and I blushed. He laughed at me and sat down on an empty part of the bed that wasn't occupied.

"Edward, please don't leave me again like that. I didn't think you were coming back."

"I promise I won't." He picked up my hand and kissed it. "I should go get Carlisle or your father."

"Just stay in here with me. Please." He looked down at me and just smiled at me, making my heart radar speed up again making him chuckle at me. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks again and I made myself look away before my heart exploded.

"I will make sure that nobody hurts you ever again. Even when you eventually find someone else to love, I will still make sure nobody hurts you."

"What? No! I'm not going to be with anyone but you. You are my only love. I promise you that." He bent over to kiss my forehead and looked down at me again.

"Don't say that." I pulled my hand out of his grasp and pushed myself up so that I was sitting up and almost eye level. And let me tell you, that's a lot harder with only one hand.

"Why not? Why don't you want me to like you?"

"Because it's not good for your own safety."

"If it wasn't for you, who knows where he would've have taken me. You saved me, I would've been his slave. Do you know why he beat me up so much?" The pained expression was back on his face as he shook his head. "I wouldn't do what he wanted, because I was already in love with someone other than him. He wanted me to love him back but I didn't. It was actually the opposite.

"I hated him and he hated that. He broke my fingers when I first woke up because I had attitude towards him. My face was bleeding because he hit me so much when I would talk back to him. He broke my leg because he knew that I would try to escape again during the night since I had already done it that day.

"And the bruise that I probably have on my right arm is where he punched me when I told him that I loved you and that's why I said your name so much when I sleep. He was infuriated that he couldn't be what you are to me but he handled it the wrong way." Flashes of anger had crossed his face while I was speaking but he tried to hide it from me. I felt the tears coming to my eyes but I knew I couldn't hold them back.

He hesitated for a moment, then pulled me into his lap so that my legs were still facing the end the bed still. I turned a little in his embrace so that I could rest my head on his shoulder and held me while I cried into his shoulder. His head rested in my hair.

"Edward, thank you so much for saving me. I don't know what I would've done without you." He squeezed me a little tighter and I finally found the restraint I needed to stop crying. I turned my head so that I was facing him.

"I want to try something, but you have to stay still for me please, love." My face was still wet from my tears but I nodded and his face leaned in closer. When our lips met it sent a shock through my whole body. As his lips caressed mine I was afraid to kiss him back from the memory of Aaron. He pulled away and looked at me worried. "If your not ready for this, just tell me. I'll wait till you're ready."

"No it's not that," I quickly said when he was pulling away from me and I pulled him back towards me. "It's just that, the only other person that kissed me, or tried to, was Aaron and it just brought back the memory of it."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Edward asked trying to hold back his anger.

"Well, when he kissed me the first time, my arms were tied up and that's when he threatened me that if I didn't cooperate he would have Charlie killed. And he kissed me another time too, and it just…" He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my hair again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think about that."

"It's ok, I want to try it again, without being forced to."

"Bella, if you're not comfortable, I'm not forcing you to do anything."

"No, I meant… Aaron forced me to."

"Oh." I turned my head towards him again and his hand caressed my cheek again. "Remember to stay still again, I'm still working on control." I nodded and his face neared mine again.

I felt more comfortable when his lips touched mine for the second time. The shock still shot through my body, but faster this time. When I opened my mouth, I felt his cool breath go through my body when he suddenly broke away and laid my body down on the bed again. He sat back down in his chair again when I heard the door handle start to open. Dang!

"Bells? It's me, dad." Charlie walked through the door and looked at me then he ran over and hugged me to his chest and I hugged him back. I was kind of sad at first that it broke up mine and Edward's kiss, but then I was so glad to see him. "Bella, I'm so sorry. I should've been more careful. From now on I'm getting an extreme alarm system built into the house." Like that would have helped, I was the one who went out of the house.

"Ok, dad." I saw Edward walk out of the room and I threw him a frantic glance but he mouthed to me:

"I'll be right here." And he pointed to the outside of the door.

"Gosh, I'm so glad that you're okay." That's when I saw the dark circles under his eyes. "Renee has been so frantic too when I called her. She's on a plane right now to head down here. Did he touch you or anything?"

"No, he tried to kiss me a couple times but I tried to resist as much as I could." He looked at all my injuries.

"Is that why he hurt you?"

"Yeah, and I had an 'attitude'." I made air quotes with my fingers. He hugged me again and sighed.

"You take after your mother, always a fighter. Well, I'm going to go get Carlisle he said he wished to speak to you when you were awake." He kissed my forehead and turned around to walked out the door and I heard him talking to Edward. "Thank you for the privacy, Edward."

"No problem," Edward replied.

"And another thing, I can never repay you for finding her. I don't know what I would've done without your help." Then I heard his footsteps fading away. Edward came in with his crooked smile.

"See I'm not the only one that would have been in misery without you." He chuckled and pecked my lips once more before sitting down again just as Carlisle walked in.

"How are you feeling Bella?" Carlisle asked with interest on his face as he looked at Edward just smiling at me.

"Um, well right now I can't feel anything, I'm guessing from the morphine, but I like not feeling the pain." I smiled at him and he returned it, finally taking his eyes off of Edward.

"Well that's good. I've already informed Charlie of your injuries, now it's your turn." I nodded and he continued as Edward grabbed my left hand and started rubbing his thumb on my palm, "Your right knee has a clean break just below the knee cap, your ring finger and index finger on your right hand are broken also. You were very lucky with your right arm, he almost broke that too. It will probably hurt for a couple weeks, but he just bruised the bone, there is no break or fracture there. You also have quite a few cuts on your face, but those are all cleaned up now.

"Do you have any questions about anything?"

"No, I just about guessed that was going to be the truth. Thank you for giving me the pain medication, though."

"No problem. I'll send you home with the same thing to try to keep you out of as much pain as possible."

"Thank you."

"I'll leave you alone with Edward again. Have him come get me if you need something." He turned to walk out the door, but I forgot I had one more question.

"Wait, I actually do have one question."

"Ok, go ahead."

"Well how am I going to move around? You know since my fingers are broken, I can't exactly use crutches."

"You will have to use a wheel chair."

"A wheel chair?"

"I'm sorry but unless you don't want to go anywhere, you'll have to use it for about two months." I just groaned and a little smile came over his face.

"Anything else?"

"No you're free to go." He walked out and I slid down in the bed so my head was on the pillow again. I didn't hear him get out of his chair, but Edward appeared at my bedside with my hand still in his.

"Edward?"

"Yes Bella?"

"What did you do when you went back in the house?" I asked him and his body tensed.

"I went back to get my revenge against Aaron."

"Did you … kill him?"

"No but I hurt him pretty bad." He looked up at me, and paused a little while before talking again, "Bella, I need to get you away from here this weekend."

"Why? Will I even be able to leave here by Friday?"

"Yeah, You've been out a while so Carlisle has done all he can to make sure your body heals right. It's your own choice if you want to stay or leave."

"You didn't answer my first question."

"Must you be so perceptive?" He looked at me with a grim smile like he didn't want to tell me something.

"What are you not telling me?"

"The thing that is probably going to take place on Friday."

"Why aren't you telling me?" I asked frustration rising in my voice at him hiding something from me.

"I don't want you to feel scared or something."

"I don't think anything else can scare me more than I was yesterday."

"What are your theories on Aaron."

"What do mean?"

"Well you have to know that he isn't human."

"Well yeah, but I never really tried to figure out what he was before."

"Think about it now."

"I guess I just assumed he was a vampire, but his eyes aren't golden or red and he had warm skin. I didn't think there was more mythical creatures other than you in this world. How doesn't anybody know about this?"

"We'll talk about that later, but right now I want you to think of all the mythical creatures that you used to wish were real when you were younger."

"Unicorns?"

"Do you seriously think he is a unicorn?" He had a sarcastic smile on his face and I just wanted to melt away in his presence.

"Um, I don't really know a lot other than the usual vampires, werewolves, witches, wizards, unicorns, stuff like that." He didn't answer back, he just stared at me. I pushed myself up again and then it clicked, "Did I say it?"

He nodded and a smile started to creep onto his face.

"Which one?"

"Bella, I would think it would be obvious."

"Well he could be a werewolf-… He's a werewolf! Oh my god!" As the realization suck in, the more it made sense. This Friday was a full moon. They were supposed to be stronger on full moons. There was going to be a war this Friday. Edward wasn't done with his revenge. He was going to send me away so he could fight Aaron. "No, no, no Edward you promised you wouldn't leave me! You promised!" I practically screamed. He put his hands on my face forcing me to look at him.

"I'm keeping my word with you. I would kill myself if something happened to you while I broke my promise. I will always be with you."

"But don't you want to get more revenge on him?"

"I want to, but I want you more." He leaned in to kiss me again, I thought, but his face went to my throat and I tensed. "Do you really think I would bite you?" Dang, he had noticed.

I sighed, "No. I just have a lot of stress right now, I trust you." With that he leaned in again and laid his lips on my throat but just kissed me there before he pecked me on my lips again. "Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

"Can I say something without you getting mad?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

"I love you too, and I will keep you safe no matter what. That's my other promise to you and I can't guarantee that without my first promise." He kissed me on the lips and it was just as good as the first one, maybe even better.

A/N I got a little Edward and Bella time in there for you guys. Review plz! Goal is 10-12! Thx for reading!