A/N: Don't worry everyone, I can promise you that Edward will pay for what he has done… eventually. XD Now everyone knows that someone or something is coming. What is going to happen when James and company get there? We will have to find out. Enjoy!

Chapter 25 – Challenges

Emmett didn't want to admit it to Bella, but he was worried… very worried about what could be coming at them. First, there was no way to know if the vampires Edward knew had special gifts or training. Second, there were too many variables that left openings where they could get Bella without much of a fight. She wouldn't stand a chance against a vampire whether there was special training or not. Only another vampire or a werewolf would be able to compete, and unless she had something secretly hidden deep inside her like that, she would need to be guarded 24/7.

Sighing, he wondered if she actually understood the situation they were currently facing, or if she would balk at the idea that she was about to be surrounded by vampires. He glanced down at the girl that was currently wrapped in his arms and smiled. Bella wasn't stupid and she probably understood more than anyone would give her credit for, but he had a feeling that if push came to shove and someone she loved was put in danger, she would sacrifice herself. He didn't think he would be able to survive that one.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked without looking up from her position leaning against her mate's side. She was a little, ok a lot, freaked out by the visit of Jasper and Alice earlier. It seemed that just as they got over one hurdle, another one that was set higher would appear. When would it end? They had just gotten together and it felt like the universe was working against them. If destiny or fate or whoever it was brought them together, why did it seem like they had to fight tooth and nail just to be together. They loved each other, it shouldn't be this difficult. Why couldn't people just accept things as they were?

Kissing the top of her head and giving her a small squeeze, Emmett told her softly, "I don't like the thought of someone trying to hurt you."

Bella laughed interrupting him, "Yah, I don't particularly like the thought of that either."

"You're not funny."

"Oh really? I thought I was a laugh riot," Bella giggled feeling some of the tension dissipate, and then in less than a moment, she was pinned down to her bed with Emmett hovering over her.

Leaning his face close to hers, he whispered, "Oh yah, you're just as funny as Charlie Chaplin." He then proceeded to tickle her and listened to the musical sounds of her laughter ringing through the room. He liked that sound and never wanted it to end.

When the tickle session was done and Bella was attempting to gain back the breath she had lost, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked at the man next to her. He had wound himself so far into her heart that sometimes she didn't think it was real or possible, but one kiss from him or one smile sent her way, and she knew everything was real. It had been somewhat of a shock to learn that some of the things that go bump in the night actually did exist, and she was grateful to that because if they didn't, Emmett wouldn't be here beside her. A picture of Emmett as a decrepit old man popped into her head and she found herself laughing again. Unable to support her shaking body, she fell back onto the bed wracked with amusement.

"What is so funny?" Emmett raised a brow in inquiry. One minute she looked like she was going to say something and the next she couldn't control herself and was laughing so hard she was shaking the bed.

Bella looked up at her mate and the chuckles that had started to subside, albeit barely, came back with a vengeance. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her; maybe she was hysterical from the imminent danger or maybe she was sincerely enjoying herself and trying to push the bad stuff away for a brief period of time. She wasn't sure, but she did know that she couldn't stop herself from laughing every time she pictured it because if Emmett hadn't been turned, he would be in his nineties right now and the thought of making out with someone that old was funny to her for some reason. She knew that Emmett was in a sense that old, but he stopped aging at the ripe age of 20 and looked far from being an old man. In fact, if he had looked in his nineties that might have been a little disgusting to have a make out session with him… and the thought of that caused another round of laughter.

Shaking his head, Emmett knew he had to wait for her to calm down before he could get anywhere, but it seemed that every time she looked at him, the giggle fest would start up again. Did he need to cover himself up? Maybe leave the room? He wasn't sure, but he was a patient man and could wait her out probably longer than she could wait for him.

Taking in a deep breath, Bella forced herself to calm down and refused to look at Emmett… at least for a couple of minutes. When she felt like she was more in control of herself, even if a couple of snickers were escaping here and there, and said, "Ok, I think I am ok now."

"Do you want to tell me what that was about?"

"Not really, no."

Emmett studied her for a minute and noticed that she would not look at him. What exactly had gone on in that brain of hers? He couldn't help but chuckle a little bit himself… laughter truly was contagious. Shaking his head, his thoughts returned to what was headed their way and the man Alice saw in her visions. He knew that man was going to be a force to reckon with. Sighing again, he turned onto his side and stared at his mate. He would do anything to protect her and that meant giving up his own life, "We need to talk."

She could hear the seriousness in his tone of voice and that sobered her up quickly. She had known that they needed to talk about what was said this morning, but she also knew that it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation, "I know."

"I don't know who these people are, and we don't know if they have any abilities like Edward, Alice, and Jasper…," Emmett told her and hesitated for a moment.

"But?"

"But they are a danger to you, the people around here, and the coven."

"The people around here?"

"They drink from humans and not animals, Bella. We are not the norm in our world; you already knew that."

Bella hadn't thought of that. Could her friends and her father be in danger? Could a blood bath be around the corner and she would be the cause of it all? "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know yet. I will talk it over with Jasper and Carlisle, but you need to do everything we tell you to do. That also means that someone will be with you 24/7."

Furrowing her brow, she questioned, "I thought you had already made the decision that someone would always be with me because of Edward and Rosalie."

"I had, but not it is much more of a necessity than before. You have to listen to whoever is with you because it could mean not only your life, but others' lives as well."

"Maybe we should all leave so that no one is hurt," Bella whispered thinking aloud.

Emmett pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head, "Right now we will stay put, but be prepared that plan could change after I talk to the others. Something tells me Edward started a shit storm and he has no idea what is about to happen. If he thought he could control others because Carlisle and Esme would give into his whims at times, then he is a fucking idiot. He doesn't know what he started and I don't think he will be able to handle what is coming our way. The best thing we can do right now is plan and try to work with what we know."

"What if I was to leave or to…"she was stopped when a hand was placed over her mouth to shut her up.

"You leaving will not solve anything. The only thing that will do is put you in more danger because you would be on unfamiliar territory and we might not have the others with us," he stated and gave her a very pointed look, "And if you thought you would leave without me, then honey you have another thing coming. I am not leaving your side now or ever."

Smiling, Bella nodded, "Ok." She paused a moment before she decided to get a little cheeky because she needed to let out some of her anxiety, "But you will have to leave me at some point in time."

"What do you mean?"

"It isn't like I have a petting zoo in my house, and you need to eat."

"Smartass."

"But you love me anyway."

"I do," he grinned before turning serious again. He leaned in and gave her a small kiss, "I do love you, you know?"

"I know."

"I will do anything to make sure you are safe and that we are together for the rest of our lives."

"I know, and I love you too."

Emmett narrowed his eyes on her for a minute and asked, "So no trying to be a hero and no doing anything stupid that could get yourself hurt. Right?" There was just something that told him that she would be that person who would do something crazy if it meant others would be safe.

"I won't do anything without your ok first," Bella reassured him before leaning up and giving him another kiss. All talk of what would happen or could happen subsided for a few minutes before her mate pulled back and stared at the window, "What's wrong?"

"Your dad's home and someone is with him," he answered her and jumped off the bed making himself scarce so that he wouldn't be caught in her room.

"Bells?" Charlie called out for his daughter as soon as he walked in the front door.

Bella cleared her throat and hoped she sounded sick since that was supposed to be her cover today, "Up here dad."

Climbing the stairs, Charlie walked into his daughter's room and sat on the side of her bed, "How you feeling?"

"Better. Carlisle left not too long ago and he said it was probably the stomach bug going around."

"Yah, he called me and told me that too," the police chief smiled down at his little girl.

She was a little surprised to hear about that, but she tried not to let it show figuring Jasper must have told the doctor about the situation. Instead of saying anything, she just nodded and hoped that her father didn't know she was faking everything.

"Is it alright if I come up?" A voice called from her door.

Craning her neck to see past her father, Bella saw her friend, "Hi Jake."

"I was at the reservation visiting with Billy for a little bit today and Jacob was there. He wanted to come see you, so I said he could drop by when I came home to check on you," Charlie explained.

Bella nodded and kind of wished they would both leave so that she could have Emmett back next to her. She knew it was wrong, but right now they were dealing with something of a crisis and she didn't want Jake there. Instead of saying that though, she smiled, "Thanks for coming."

"Carlisle said that Emmett would come by and check on you later and bring you some soup that his wife is making for you," Charlie said smiling. He really did like Bella's latest boyfriend. It might have been better if it had been Jacob, but he wasn't going to complain.

Frowning, Jacob asked, "Emmett Cullen?"

The Swan patriarch grinned, "Yah, that's Bella's latest boyfriend. He is a nice kid too. Better than that Edward Cullen. I don't know what it was about him, but he didn't sit right with me."

Jacob forced a smile, "I see."

"Well, I will leave you two to chat while I fix me a sandwich. Bella do you want something?" Charlie asked.

"No dad, I am fine," Bella replied.

The older man turned to the other teen in the room, "Jacob?"

"No thanks Charlie," Jacob answered. After the father walked out, Jacob took the seat on the bed that had been vacated, "Are you really dating a Cullen?"

Narrowing her eyes, Bella gazed at her friend. There was something in his tone of voice that didn't sit well with her, "I am, and I love him."

"You can do better, you know?"

"I don't want someone else."

"What if I were to ask you out?"

"I would say no."

"Because you are already with him?"

"Because I am with who I want to be with and I don't want someone else. Sorry Jake, but you are a good friend and nothing more."

"I see."

She really didn't think he did see or understand, but if she was on the outside looking it, she could see that it might be hard to accept, "Sorry."

Waving off her apology, the teen looked down at his friend, the girl he had been crushing on, and questioned, "So how are you feeling?"

"Ok, but not great," she stated. It wasn't exactly a lie. The danger headed their way was enough to make her feel apprehensive and her stomach start to churn.

"Well, hopefully the doc was able to help and you will be back on your feet before you know it."

"I hope so."

"Bella…"

"Yes?" She prompted when her friend didn't continue.

Exhaling loudly, he shook his head, "Never mind. Just be careful around the Cullen's. Ok?"

"Um, ok."

"I've got to go. I will see you soon. Maybe we can get together this weekend."

"Yah, maybe. If we did, Emmett might come with me though because I think we were supposed to get together this weekend too so that he could help me with a project."

Jacob clenched his jaw. That was the last thing he wanted, but he didn't have much choice in the matter, "Yah, ok. I will see you later Bella." He stood up and with one last wave left Bella's room to descend the stairs.

It wasn't until Jacob had driven off that Emmett had come out of hiding. It had been hard to stay where he was and not teach the kid a lesson. Bella and he were mates and no one had a right to question it or try to say anything against it, especially not a little teenager with a school kid crush. Sitting down on the bed next to his mate, he stretched out and whispered, "You ok?"

Knowing that Charlie was still downstairs, Bella spoke just as softly, "Yah, but Jake was starting to get a little annoying. It is ok though."

Emmett didn't think that it really was, but he wasn't going to argue with her, "I was thinking that after Charlie leaves, I will call Carlisle and Jasper to meet us over here to plan. I would say we could go to my house, but with Charlie worried about you being sick, I don't want to take the chance that he would check on you and you wouldn't be here."

"Sounds good. Emmett, what's wrong?" She knew something was bothering him.

"I don't like other guys asking you out or telling you that you deserve better than me," he was honest with her because that was one thing he always promised he would be in regards to her.

Wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head on his shoulder, she declared, "I don't care who says what or what they say, I am yours and we belong together."

Emmett nodded. He wasn't even sure why he needed reassurance. He knew they belonged together because they were mates, but that didn't mean that other men would not be after her. She was beautiful, funny, smart, caring, everything a man could ever want in his life partner. The fact that it had been someone from the Quileute tribe just made it that much worse. He pulled her a little closer and held her a little tighter making sure not to hurt her and just breathed in her scent. This is what he needed to stay calm; her in his arms with the scent and feel of her surrounding him. They were about to face untold dangers, but they would get through it and in the end they would have a long life ahead of themselves.

A/N2… A couple of people had asked me about Jacob, so I decided to put him in the story. I hope this was satisfactory. XD