A/N: First, thanks to the reviewers I can't respond personally to. Second, I have a challenge one-shot up for Team SOB's "rain scene" that is open for voting until the 7th and there are lots of other really awesome stories there to vote for! www[dot]fanfiction[dot]net/~teamsob (and of course you use actual periods for the web address).

I'll try and keep this brief: I was near the end of this chapter, so I pushed through to get it up, but the next one might take a little longer. I lost two extended family members within a day of each other, so I'm going to take a few days for myself and a couple days for the funerals. I wanted to let you all know only because I know I'm pretty regular with updating, but it won't take me real long to get back to it. It's proving a good distraction. Thanks for sticking with me!

Bella was smiling and swaying a little to the music while I lay back and watched her. Her long brown hair trailed down over soft, milky pale shoulders.

She was smiling and laughing at me as I presented her with a stuffed dragon at the carnival, a stick of pink cotton candy in her hand. Her chocolate eyes were twinkling; she looked so incredibly happy.

When I forced myself back to reality, instead of seeing a happy and smiling Bella, I saw her lying still on the ground. Blood had slowly trickled from her mouth and dried on her chin. I could see darkening patches of skin as she began to bruise. There was dried blood on her leg, her back still seemed to be bleeding slowly, and she wasn't moving. I tried to suck air in my lungs, but apparently they were frozen.

Come on Jake, I told myself. You're Alpha, you need to snap to and take care of her now!

Then I felt the warmth of a hand rest on my shoulder; I drew what strength Leah gave deep into me and came back. If Bella wasn't able to calm me down, Leah was my second choice. It was enough to get me to move. I heard the thundering of feet through the forest and the whole pack arrived, skidding to a stop when they saw what lay before them.

"Oh my God," Embry whispered. They were all staring in shock.

Sam snapped to attention, ordering his pack and the rest of mine, to start patrolling immediately.

Swiftly, Leah knelt next to me, Seth standing on my other side. "Jake, we need to check and make sure there aren't any breaks we could make worse by picking her up," she said calmly.

Immediately I began running my hands carefully over her legs, her back and around to her stomach, checking to see if anything felt different. Leah checked her arms, neck, and upper chest. Panic still wanted to overtake me, but I knew it wasn't going to help Bella, so I kept going.

"It doesn't feel like anything is broken," I said and she nodded, not having found anything either.

"Seth," Leah ordered, "Run home and get us clothing and call 911."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "If nothing is broken, I'll carry her to the car and we'll drive her to the hospital. It'll be faster."

She agreed. Seth came back before we even left the forest and we yanked our clothes on quickly, and I leaned down to pick Bella up, being careful of her back. I cradled her against me, making sure her head was supported and hurried back to her house. I heard Sam tell Leah to get in touch with him as soon as we knew anything.

Back at the house I heard Qahla barking like mad at the door, scratching at it. "Jake, we need to reach Charlie immediately. Is he at the station?"

"I have no idea," I answered, my leg bouncing anxiously. "I believe he has a cell phone for work you can call, though. I'm pretty sure it's by the telephone. Hurry, though!"

"Seth, call the number and see if you can get a hold of him. If for whatever reason you can't, call the station and leave a message for them to get in touch with Charlie and tell them what happened," Leah rattled off, opening the door.

Qahla was on the porch immediately, barking furiously, hair bristled on her neck. She ran over to me, whining and jumping up. Leah ran into the kitchen for a bottle of water and hurried up the steps to Bella's room as I took her to the truck. Seth came out then, shaking his head.

"Jake, he's not picking up his cell. I don't know if he has it with him or not. I called the station and spoke to one of his deputies; they're going to try and track him down. They said he was out working on a case and weren't sure if they would be able to reach him immediately. They're trying, though."

I nodded, frantic to get Bella to the hospital. "Thanks Seth. Bring Qahla with, okay? I know Bella wouldn't want her left alone after all this."

Leah came out of the house then, hurrying toward us with a change of clothes. She got in the driver's seat of the truck, while Seth sat in the bed of the truck. I carefully eased Bella down onto my lap. Qahla sat on the floor by my feet, her head resting on the seat near Bella's leg and whimpered. As Leah drove, every worry I had crashed down on me as I looked down at Bella's pale face. It seemed like forever that she had been out, but in actuality it wasn't really that long.

Leah sped to the hospital as I stroked a hand over Bella's hair. Suddenly her eyelids flickered. With my heart pounding in my chest, I leaned over her, stroking the cheek that wasn't cut. "Bells? Honey can you hear me?"

She moaned softly, twitching. "You're safe. We're taking you to the hospital," I whispered. "Bella?"

"Jaaake," she whimpered, drawing my name out on a pained moan. "Hurts," she murmured. She gagged a little at the taste of blood in her mouth so I quickly and gently eased her up and dripped a little water in her mouth. She swallowed and slipped away again.

"Lee, hurry," I begged. We were nearly there, but I needed Bella in that hospital. Now.

She raced up to the curb and jumped out. I carefully eased myself out of the truck, so I didn't jostle Bella. Leah asked Seth to park the car and stay with Qahla and she would be out to tell him what was going on. I barely heard her as I raced into the ER.

A nurse saw me and hurried over. "Please," I begged. "Please help her."

I carefully laid Bella on the stretcher another nurse brought over. They began checking her over. The young, dark-haired nurse flashed a light in Bella's eyes. "What happened?" she asked briskly.

"Another animal attack," I said, not wanting to get too into it.

A doctor came – the same doctor that treated her cuts from riding motorcycles – and he nodded at me. They wheeled her away from me. The panic and uncertainty drove me to pace. Why didn't I get to her sooner? I could have stopped that bloodsucker from ever laying a filthy hand on my Bella. I couldn't help wondering why Bella went into the woods, though. Thoughts circled in my mind, never ceasing, as we waited.

Leah was quiet, silently lending me her support. "Lee, nothing from Charlie yet?" I asked worriedly. He couldn't have been that hard to get a hold of.

She shook her head. "No, nothing."

I resumed pacing and worrying. Luckily it didn't take as long as I thought; the good thing about Forks was that it was a small town, so waiting for hours didn't happen extremely often.

Dr. Snow came out to us. I jumped up from resting my head in my hands. "Jacob," he said. I guess we had been in there often enough to make an impression.

"She'll be okay," he said calmly. "She has a lot of bruises and a couple cuts that needed to be stitched up. Her wrist was sprained. Her leg seemed to get the worst of it; it's a relatively deep muscle bruise and we needed to stitch up a cut on it as well, so she'll need crutches."

My breathing evened out, but only slightly. "She was bleeding from the mouth; what about that? There's nothing else wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"We checked it out. She bled because the inside of her cheek got cut up. We ran some x-rays and made sure there were no internal injuries. The loss of blood and the trauma was what caused her to pass out. She'll need a lot of rest, ice on her leg, and some pain medication. She was really very lucky."

I inhaled a shaky breath. "Thank you, Dr. Snow. What about Charlie?" He still wasn't here.

"Bella was awake and coherent to sign her check-out papers. We gave her a dose of her medication after because she was in pain. You can pick up her medication from the hospital pharmacy," he said, handing me the prescription. "The bills will be sent to her father, since he isn't here yet, just so you won't have to pay anything or run into any problems. We all know each other here," he said with a smile.

"Okay. Again, thank you," I said fervently, shaking his hand.

A nurse wheeled Bella out in the wheelchair and I felt my heart break seeing her look so fragile in the wheelchair. She seemed to be floating between awake and sleep. Leah took the offered crutches, and I declined the wheelchair, picking Bella up instead and carrying her first to get the prescription filled and then out of the hospital. Back in the truck, I tried to soothe her, but she wasn't quite awake and was restless.

"Jake. Wolf," she mumbled.

We got back to her house and I carried her to the steps. I turned to Leah when she laid a hand on my back. "Jake, we'll stay until Charlie gets here and in case you need anything. Just yell for us."

I swallowed a little thickly. "Thanks Lee for everything. And Seth, thank you, too." She nodded and rubbed a hand over my back.

I carried Bella upstairs; she was half-awake and I was hearing her muted moans and whimpers. Each sound was a stab of pain for me, too; it was killing me to hear her suffering. I sat her on the end of the bed, rifling through her drawers for something comfortable for her to wear. Seth knocked lightly on the door and handed me a bottle of water and a couple ice packs he had found.

I thanked him again and then shut the door, gently pulling Bella's shirt over head. She looked so groggy, so I tried to be quicker. I carefully unhooked her bra, being careful of her bandaged back, and then helped her slide a t-shirt on. The pants were a little more difficult; I managed to get them off, but she cried out, and I nearly echoed it when I saw her leg. It was bruised and I could see the red skin around the bandage covering her stitches. She grabbed my shoulder weakly as I gently helped her get her sweatpants on. I managed to get her on the side that wasn't quite as bruised. I kicked my shoes off and slid into bed with her, very carefully easing her over to rest on me.

She was breathing heavier already, near sleep, and I felt as if I could pass out as well. Just as I closed my eyes I heard the screech of tires and the slamming of a car door. Downstairs I heard Charlie panicking; feet pounding up the stairs after Leah told him Bella was in bed. I didn't have the energy to get up, though, so I just waited until he barreled into the room.

He met my eyes, half of him uncertain about me being there, but his concern over Bella making it a non-issue. His face paled when he saw her; I carefully eased myself out of the bed. Man, I was so tired. Silently I handed him the discharge papers and let him read her injuries for himself. His throat worked as he read through it.

"It was the same thing that attacked me?" he whispered, his face pale.

I wasn't even sure not having the chance to talk to Bella, but I couldn't very well tell Charlie that I had seen a vampire attack her. "Well, I didn't really get a chance to talk to her about it; she's been pretty out of it. Leah and Seth were with me when I stopped by and we heard her scream. We made a hell of a lot of noise getting to her; I believe we scared it off."

He swallowed hard, his eyes never leaving Bella, who was sleeping fitfully.

"We got her the prescription pills, Charlie. She has crutches for her leg, and Dr. Snow gave us a cream to put on around the spots she got stitches," I said. "What's important is that she'll be okay," I finished in a whisper.

He nodded, looking completely shaken up. "I'd like a couple minutes with her," he responded. I turned to leave and I felt him reach out and touch my arm. "Thank you, Jake. I could never begin to thank you, Leah, and Seth enough for helping her tonight."

I nodded. "I love her. I'll always be there for her," I said simply before I left him alone with Bella.

BPOV:

My moments of lucidity after it happened came in flashes. I saw Jake standing there after he killed the vampire, his eyes on mine.

I was lying across Jake's lap in my truck. Everything hurt, and I could barely force any words out of my throat; it was too sore.

Jake was carrying me into the hospital; I was wheeled into a very white room. It hurt getting the stitches and I wished Jake was there holding my hand. I felt the coldness of tears on my cheeks.

I was awake enough to understand what Dr. Snow was saying. I signed the papers for my release, wanting to be back with Jake and at home. The pain meds dragged me under, so I only managed a glimpse of Jacob. It was enough.

I had been awake when we got back home, but my throat was just too sore and I was too tired from the medication to say anything. A shooting pain in my leg as he helped me get my pants off had me crying out. The agony in his eyes was as unbearable as the pain, but all I managed to do was hold onto his shoulder as he got my sweats on. Relief was what I felt lying on Jake's chest in my bed and sleep came fast.

I was swimming to the surface now, knowing something was pulling me there. When I managed to drag my eyes open, Charlie was sitting on my bed, his face in his hands. I reached out for him, struggling to sit up; it didn't matter if I was tired and hurting. I needed to show Charlie I would be okay. He turned and his brown eyes so similar to mine were red. There were a few tears on his cheeks.

I leaned toward him and he was right there, wrapping his arms around me. I pressed my cheek to his shoulder and let him hold me. A smile curled my lips smelling his familiar smell; leather, a hint of spice, and coffee.

His hand moved over my hair. "Oh Bella," he mumbled. "I'm so glad you're okay. I keep thinking about those hikers…" his voice choked off. "I was so scared, just imaging that. I can't lose you."

Tears began to slide unchecked down my cheeks. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'm so sorry." I hated lying, but I needed an excuse as to why I went in the woods. "I let Qahla out; she heard something and ran toward the trees, and I panicked and ran after her. It had really scared her. It just happened so fast," I said in a shaky voice.

He discreetly wiped his hand across his cheek. He checked my leg and my back and then got up to let me get some rest. Jake came back in and perched on the edge of my bed, Qahla in his arms. She was whimpering a little as he set her down, making sure she wasn't going to leap on me. She immediately came over to lick my cheek then settled down with her head on my stomach.

I was dozing off almost immediately, but reached out for Jake when I heard Charlie mutter that they should leave and let me sleep. "Don't go, Jake," I mumbled.

I held onto his hand and I heard Charlie sigh. "Fine, you can stay with her."

"I'll leave the door open. In case you want to check on her," Jake said quietly.

He stretched out next to me, shifting Qahla to another spot, and I carefully rested my head on his chest and fell fast asleep.

JPOV:

I woke in the middle of the night and checked on Bella. She was twitching against me, her brow furrowed. I stroked my hand over her hair, trying to soothe her, watching her long dark lashes flutter against her cheeks.

"No," she moaned. "Please don't."

"Bells, baby, wake up," I said brushing my hand over her neck.

Her breath was coming faster, and I tried to urge her to wake up. She still woke with a cry as her body spasmed. Her face was contorted in pain and I felt so helpless. "My back," she panted. "It itches and it hurts. So does my leg."

Hurriedly, I reached for the cream. I gave her some for her leg and carefully lifted her shirt. I eased the bandage off and winced at the raw stitched cut. I saw Charlie appear at the door. "Bells? Are you okay?" he asked.

I began to carefully apply the cream to her back. She twitched at the touch. "It hurts," she murmured. "But I'm okay, Dad. I just needed some cream." He nodded and went back to bed.

When I finished with her back, I saw her head turned to the side, the cream still on her fingers. She looked a little ill. "I can't even put it on; just the sight of it makes me feel sick," she whispered.

I kissed her temple and applied the cream to her leg. Once fresh bandages were put on, we lay back down. I felt a little wetness on my chest and I glanced down at her. Carefully, I tilted her face toward mine and saw that she was crying quietly.

"Bella, they won't hurt you again. I won't let it happen."

"I'm sorry," she gasped trying to control her tears. "Everything just hurts and I'm scared."

I stroked her hair, kissing every spot I could reach; her forehead, her eyelids, her temple. I brushed my lips over the little butterfly bandage on her cheek. She leaned up and her lips brushed against mine. We kissed softly, just breathing each other in.

"Thank you for saving me," she mumbled just as she drifted off to sleep again.

The following day was harder in some ways. She was tired, she hurt and it was making her cranky. The pack, Emily, Kim, and her friends' from school all wanted to stop by so Charlie was telling them to come later to give her a chance to calm down. It was beyond difficult watching her trying to maneuver with crutches and unable to do anything. Qahla followed her around, and I could see she wasn't herself either, even when I took her outside to go to the bathroom.

We ran into a problem with showering, too. She couldn't do it by herself; Charlie certainly wasn't going to help with that, but he got irritated by the idea of me helping her. "Absolutely not," he snapped. "One of her other female friends can help her."

I knew that Charlie was aware that Bella and I were sleeping together, so it hardly seemed like a big deal. Bella solved that problem, though. "Alice helped me before and she's not here to do so again." A flicker of sadness crossed her face. "I want Jake to do it; I don't feel comfortable with anyone else," she said grumpily, attempting to make her way to the steps, visibly getting annoyed and tired from walking around.

Charlie reluctantly agreed, looking just as annoyed, but not wanting to argue with her. I had carried her upstairs; she protested at first, but she was too tired and knew it. We had to re-adjust her position in the bathtub a few times to wash various areas and keep other areas dry. I did my best to wash her hair, since her right wrist wasn't of much use. It wasn't an easy task and she ended up just being frustrated. I wrapped a towel around her, helping her out of the tub, and I ended up just keeping my arms around her. She laid her head on my shoulder, and we just stood there saying nothing.

Finally I let go, though it was difficult. "I love you," I said, tucking a wet strand of hair behind her ear.

"I love you, too," she murmured.

I let her get dressed and dry her hair alone, giving her the freedom to do something herself. I called Billy to make sure he was okay and didn't need anything, and he assured me that he was fine and that Rachel was helping him out when he needed it. I just got off the phone when I heard Bella thumping her way down the steps.

I raced over to the steps scared that she would fall. She was inching her way down on her behind, crutches thumping as she dragged them behind her. "Bells, I would have come to get you," I said helping her up.

"I know you would have, but I thought I should do it myself," she said. She winced as she stuck the crutches under her arms.

I knew she was feeling a bit grumpy, but I had to ask. "You okay?"

"Yes," she sighed. "I'm just tired of my armpits hurting already."

She eased onto the sofa and I sat next to her. "Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" I asked, leaning in toward her armpit.

I surprised a giggle out of her. "Jake, stop!" She put her hand on my forehead, trying to push me away. "You're not kissing my armpit; that's weird."

I kissed her shoulder instead. "We should let Qahla out," she said, attempting to get up. "We need to keep an eye on her, too, just in case…"

"I already did, honey. I went out with her, too. She's still nervous; she stayed right up against my leg the whole time. In fact, she was so close I thought she was going to end up peeing on my foot."

She giggled again. "Stop trying to cheer me up when I'm being grumpy."

I smiled. "Why don't you rest for a little while? Then you can try a few more things by yourself and see how it goes."

She agreed and lay on the sofa. I got her another pill and after she took it, she reached up toward me, so I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. I forgot everything at the touch of her lips. Every time we touched I was reminded of how lucky I was to get to her in time. I breathed in her clean, soapy scent and kissed her cheek.

"I'm sorry I'm being such a pain," she mumbled.

"Don't worry about it, Bells," I said kissing the top of her head. "Just sleep; I'll wake you up when everyone gets here." She nodded sleepily and was out before I left the room.

BPOV:

I woke up when I heard the commotion in the kitchen. I pulled my hair up the best I could because I knew it was a mess and tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes. The next hour was filled with people coming in and out. Angela, Jessica, Mike, and Eric all stopped in to see me. They chipped in and bought me a silky blanket and nap pillow. When they left, Mike and Angela gave me an extra squeeze.

Kim and Emily brought covered dishes of food for us and stayed to chat with me. They told me that there was another meeting at Sam and Emily's tomorrow and if I felt up to it, I should come. I agreed immediately; I was already sick of feeling stuck in the house and it had only been one day.

The whole pack stopped in to say hi, Sue stopped by with more food for us and Renee called. Charlie had called her and succeeded in calming her down a little bit. She still cried on the phone and got me all teary as well. When I finished Seth came in and perched on the sofa near my feet.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Bella," Seth said shyly.

I smiled. "I owe you a thank you, Seth." I reached a hand out and touched his.

He met my eyes briefly. "There's no need to thank me."

We were both quiet for a moment and then he looked at me and blushed. "Um, Bella? We all know that I like you; I think you're really pretty and you've always been so nice to me. I know I have no chance, I always did. I would never do that to Jake anyway. I just wanted you to know that."

I blushed, too. I sat up and looked right at him. "Thank you, Seth. Any girl who falls in love with you – and who you fall in love with - will be extremely lucky," I said quietly. I carefully eased myself over on the sofa and placed a light kiss on his cheek.

Jake walked in and gave Seth a look. I thanked Seth again and Jake leaned over, taking my face in his hands and kissing me deeply. I gently pulled away, needing to breathe. "Relax," I teased gently. "He's a good kid and it was just a thank you kiss on the cheek."

He nuzzled my cheek. "Fine, but he better watch himself," he said half teasingly.

I rolled my eyes, and he kissed me again. "Bells, I'm going to go check on Billy. Rachel had a job interview, and I promised her I'd go check on him. Leah and Seth agreed to stick around here to keep an eye on you and Charlie."

I bit my lip, not wanting him to go, but not wanting to make him feel guilty for leaving for a little bit. Of course Jake could read my expressions too well. I glanced down and picked at the soft thread of the worn brown and green blanket that usually lay over the back of the couch. I felt his fingers brush my cheek, sliding under my chin, and tilting my face up to his.

"I'll be back soon," he murmured, pressing his lips against mine again. I tried deepening the kiss, and he seemed to go with it at first, his soft lips molding to mine as his tongue slowly explored my mouth. I gasped softly, and he pulled away. I sighed in defeat.

After he left I lay on the couch, dozing on and off until I heard a soft movement. I blinked my eyes open sleepily and saw Leah sitting on the armchair, gazing out the window where Seth sat on the porch keeping an eye on things. I heard Charlie mumbling in the kitchen and recognized Sue's voice as she answered him.

I swallowed hard. "Leah? I just… wanted to say thank you for helping Jake with me. I'm really grateful to you; he told me you really helped him out," I said quietly.

She turned to look at me, dark eyes a little somber, but also a little softer than usual. "Of course," she said simply. "I may not be the easiest person, but I did want to help."

I lay there in silence as she fiddled with the leather band around her wrist. It was only a few minutes until Jake came back into the house; apparently I had slept a little bit more than I had thought. Leah stood up to head out.

I was facing the back of the sofa, but I was sure I heard her whispered voice. "It wasn't just for Jake; I'm glad you're okay," she said as I felt a light brush of fingers on my hand; it happened so fast I wasn't even positive it had happened.

Jake stayed with me again that night and the following morning he asked me if I still wanted to go to Sam and Emily's. I was eager to get out of the house, so I agreed readily. He let me get ready, and I let him carry me downstairs. I was still grumpy about it, but I let it slide. In the Rabbit he laid my crutches on the backseat and kept the fingers of his one hand entwined with mine.

When we got to Sam and Emily's house, he got out to get my crutches. I eased myself out of the car and held myself up on it, trying not to wince at the ache in my leg. The ice and medication had been helping, but it was still difficult to walk. Seth appeared at my side.

"Want a hand?" he asked. I smiled at him and took his arm, using it as a crutch as he led me to the front steps.

I heard Jake give an exasperated sigh behind me. "You're a difficult patient, Bella Swan."

I turned around and blew him a kiss as Seth helped me up the two front steps. Inside Emily, Kim, and Rachel all clucked in concern, fluttering around me. Kim and Rachel helped get me settled on the sofa, while Emily made me some tea. I was a little embarrassed at the attention, but gave in when they waved away my protests. Once I was settled on the couch, Sam and Jake called the meeting to order.

They worked out coordinating schedules and promised to dig deeper, find more information and figure out what this is. I explained what I thought I saw and Jake said something was familiar about it, but he wasn't sure. I knew it would still take some time; this attack had thrown us all for a loop, but I did feel safe and protected with the pack looking out for me – and everyone – so closely. I felt Jake take my hand in his.

"We'll figure this out, honey, and I will personally make it my goal to keep you safe."

I smiled, squeezing his hand and feeling more content than I had the past couple days.