Disclaimer: Recognizable bits still not mine.

A/N: Hey, all! Sorry for the long-ish break! All the visiting relatives have gone back to their respective homes, and nearly all the annual physicals and dental appointments for my many children are out of the way, SO updating should be at least weekly again! I've missed this story and you all. Thanks as always, for all of the lovely comments, favorites, and follows. They are always appreciated!

Chapter 26

Bella POV

Alex meets us at the car when we finally arrive back on campus hours later.

"Bella!" he calls, and swings me into a hug as soon as I step out of the car.

"Hey, Alex! I wish you'd been able to come with us. I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, Little Sister," Alex says, putting me down carefully. "Now, what's this I hear about leftovers?"

He begins sniffing the air in the car.

"Down, boy!" I giggle and swat at him.

"The cooler's in the back, dawg," Victor tells Alex.

"Let's take it up to your room, Bella. We don't have a microwave in ours," Alex says, grabbing the cooler full of food in one hand and my backpack in the other. "C'mon, you guys! I haven't eaten any of this yet! And you've been talking about it for days!"

"I'm going to go drop my stuff off in the room first. I'll meet you over there," Victor calls after locking his car.

"How much do you want to bet that 'putting stuff in his room' means 'calling Leah'?" Alex jokes.

As I'm already counting down minutes until I can call Embry, I'm not really in any sort of position to tease him. So I tease Alex instead, "You know you'd still have a microwave if you hadn't tried to microwave a can of soup that was still in the can, right?"

"Hush, you. I was distracted with studying and not sleeping and all I was thinking about was the need to eat. I didn't even realize what happened until Victor started yelling."

I notice Alex stiffen as we get closer to the door of my dorm building. His eyes are darting all around and nostrils flaring.

"Alex?" I whisper.

"Call Victor right now," he says low, but with an intensity that I recognize.

I grab my phone out of my pocket and immediately call Victor. I can tell he's rejecting my calls by how quickly it goes to voicemail. "Dammit, V," I growl.

"He's not answering, but I have an idea," I say so quietly that I know only Alex will hear. He's moved us into a patch of sunshine on the green area and is clearly concentrating with all of his abilities.

"Bella?" answers a confused sounding Seth. "Did you get back to school okay? We miss you already! If it weren't too wimpy for words, I'd make a paper chain to mark the days until you get back," he says with a sigh. My heart swells a little at that.

"Oh, puppy. I love and miss you, too, you sweet thing. I really want to talk more to you, but right this minute I need you to get Leah. I think she's on the phone with Victor, but Alex and I really need to talk to him."

Seth seems to snap to attention. He's suddenly out of sweet boy mode and into wolf mode, "What's going on, Bells? Is everything okay? Are you safe?"

"I don't know. Alex scented something, and he wants Victor as backup. But V keeps rejecting my calls. We're standing outside in sunshine, and Alex is amazing and alert right now. So, I'm sure I'm safe. But my guess is that he's not willing to go check anything out with me along, nor is he willing to leave me unattended." I notice Alex's mouth twitch into a tight smile and he nods at me so slightly that I would have missed it if I hadn't been looking right at him.

"LEAH!" I hear Seth bellow through the house. Ouch. That hurts my human ears. I can only imagine what it's doing to hers.

I hear some scuffling, yelling, and possibly punching on the other end of the line, but then Leah's voice comes on. "Swan?"

"Leah! Are you talking to Victor? We need him here!"

"Seth already explained, he's on his way over. Any other details other than a scent?"

I glance at Alex again. He's still on full alert. "No, not yet. I promise we'll call as soon as we know something. Any chance I could convince you to keep this to yourself until we know more?" I ask hopefully.

Leah sighs. "I'm only doing this because I know Embry would just take off running down to you without a moment's thought. You have one hour, but you better check in at least every 20 minutes, Swan. I'm not kidding."

"Like I'm not still terrified of you?" I scoff.

"You better be, girlfriend," she growls.

"Aw, Leah? Are you just angling for another hug?" I tease.

Her string of curses is cut off by Victor's arrival.

I'm not even sure that the two men spoke, but with a nod at one another, Victor throws a casual arm around me. Alex leaves and strides purposefully towards my dorm, leaving us standing outside in the sunshine with the bags and cooler.

"Leah, he's for letting him know. I'll call you soon with an update."

"You better, Swan. And tell Victor I'll talk to him later, too."

He smiles at her words. "He heard. Bye, Leah. Please thank Seth for me, too."

"Will do, Bella. Bye."

Almost as soon as I hang up, my phone is ringing again.

"Alex?" I answer.

"Bella, I need you and Victor to come on up. The trail is old, but I need Victor to check around, too."

"On our way," I say, ending the call as Victor picks up the bags.

"Here, give me the bag," I say. "You'll feel better if you have your hands free."

He smiles tightly without looking at me and hands me my backpack. "Stay close and if I give you any command, you follow it."

It feels weird to get bossed by Victor. It's not really his style, but it lets me know that he's not fooling around right now.

"I promise," I whisper.

We take the stairs. Victor is silent and graceful, I'm huffing and puffing so loudly that I might as well just stick a neon arrow over my head.

When we finally reach my door, Alex opens it. "Bella, please don't touch anything. Victor, I need you to confirm the scent."

I watch Victor walk around the room and a cold feeling enters my stomach.

"Was there a vampire here? In my room?" I squeak in my nervousness.

One of the main differences between the La Push wolves and my college wolves where I'm involved is touch. If I'd been shaking like this at home, I'd already be in someone's arms. Probably surrounded by more. The AV Club doesn't do that. Not immediately and naturally like they can feel my need for comfort. But when Alex hears the tremor in my voice and sees me shaking, he pulls me into a big, brotherly hug.

"It's okay, sister. It's old, don't you think, V?" Alex asks.

"Probably the day we left, or right after is my guess. They stood at your bookshelf, your desk, and briefly at your closet. They touched a couple things in your closet, but I think the wolf smell probably helped get them out of here. They definitely rifled through the papers on your desk and touched the books, though…"

"Bella, is anything missing?" Alex asks.

I pull away and look around. I tend to be fastidious in where things go, but with my roommate I'm never sure. She always asks before borrowing something, or leaves me a note if she needs to take it quickly. And since she always takes such good care of everything, I never mind.

The books all seem to be there. The papers may have been gone through, but they're still neatly piled, and I don't honestly remember what was there anymore. It isn't until I look up at my bulletin board that I notice one of my pictures missing. "They took my picture of me with the pack!"

"Any chance this was done by one of the ones you knew? That seems really personal for random blood lust."

I look at Alex. I'm shaking harder. The Cullens wouldn't be here. And even if they were, why would they care about me? They left years ago. They cut off all communication. Why would they track me down now? And here? Then again, what if this is more sinister? What if this is James and Victoria all over again? A picture of me and the pack? Who would need that? Is someone tracking me again?

"Bella!" Victor barks at me and interrupts my internal freak out.

"Sorry," I manage to whisper, my throat suddenly dry with fear.

"Bella, I'd like you to come stay in our room for awhile," I hear Alex say. My mind is swirling with memories of broken mirrors and broken bones in a ballet studio. And the pain. So much pain.

"Bella?" He whispers, standing close and pulling me into another warm hug. It's the warmth that undoes me. I burst into tears. Damn, I've done a lot of crying this weekend.

"Do you want me to call Leah?" Victor reminds me.

"Oh, crap!" I yell, and jump out of Alex's hug to grab my phone. It's just past 20 minutes, but hopefully she hasn't done anything crazy yet.

After I explain to her what the guys found and what's missing, she says quietly, "Bella, I really think you need to let Sam know. Sam, Paul, and Jared were the only wolves when Cullens were still here. They would know their scent."

"Jake knows Edward's, too, from coming to my room and finding all the stuff Edward left hidden in my floor."

"Do you want me to talk to Sam, or do you want to call him?" Leah asks.

"I need to talk to Embry first. I don't want him finding out some other way. Then I'll call Sam."

"Okay. Keep me posted," she insists.

"You know if I don't, that Victor will," I tease.

"I want this straight from you, Swan. Victor and I enjoy discussing other things when we're talking" she says in a mock sultry voice.

"Ack! I totally helped you two get it on this weekend. Doesn't that earn me a 'don't have to have those images in my head' card? You are both like siblings to me!" I whine.

"Whatever, Swan," she huffs, but I can hear a smile in her voice.

I hang up and turn to the guys. "Alex, will it mess up the scents in here if you heat up your food?"

He looks surprised that I would even think to ask. Doesn't he realize this isn't my first rodeo? "A little," he admits.

"There's a microwave in the community room by the elevators. Why don't you two go down there and I'll call Embry?"

"We're not leaving you alone, Bella," Victor says, sounding apologetic.

"Right. Okay, Victor, will you feel better outside the door in the hall, while I call Embry and Alex eats?"

Alex and Victor look at one another. "Deal."

Victor heads out, but Alex trails behind a bit. "You okay?"

I nod my head. He doesn't look like he believes me, but heads out anyway with the cooler in his hand.

Embry POV

"Bella," I sigh her name as I answer my phone. I'm laying on my bed. I was dozing in and out of a nap when the phone rang.

"Embry," she sighs right back, but with a little tremor to her voice.

"Is everything okay?" I'm instantly alert.

"Um, yeah," comes her watery response.

"Bella, what are you not telling me?"

And the story comes spilling out. I feel myself vibrating as my wolf also snarls to attention. I take a few deep breaths as I walk through the house.

"Bella, hang on one minute, babe," I say. My Mom looks at me from the living room with that knowing parent smile. "Mom, I'm going to go for a walk while Bella and I talk."

She nods at me, pleased that I've let her know where I'm going.

"Tell her I say 'hello'," Mom says. I give her the thumbs up sign and a smile before heading out the door for the tree line.

"Okay, Bella, I'm back. I just needed to be outside in case…" I let the thought linger there.

"Did you just call me 'BABE'?" She asks in an indignant voice.

"Seriously?" I chuckle. "You tell me a vampire is sniffing around you again and it's got you worried enough that you're crying. Then you tell me you expect me to stay here and go to school like a good boy even though you, my mate, is in probable danger. But you think you get to be mad at me for calling you 'babe'?"

I can hear her smile as she chuckles, too. "Well, when you say it like that, I suppose I'll let you get away with it this time."

We're both quiet for a moment.

"Embry, I love you," she whispers. "I do want you to stay home and get all your school work done, but I really wish you were here."

"Me, too, Bella. Me, too." I say, leaning back against a tall tree in the forest. "So, what's the plan?"

"I'll call Sam and talk to him. And then unpack my bag from this weekend, so I can pack another bag to go hang out in Alex and Victor's room until we find out what's going on," she answers, sounding a little annoyed but resigned.

"I'm glad you're being cautious, Bella. I know you don't like to feel helpless, but I trust those guys to keep you safe. And…," I pause because I know what I want to say, but I always end up sounding like a little girl when I'm with her.

"Embry? What is it?"

"Pleasestaysafeforme, Bella," I say quickly in one breath.

"Well," I can hear the teasing pleasure in her voice, "I was going to proceed with reckless abandon, but since you asked so nicely, Embry Call…," she giggles. "I'll be careful. I promise." I can hear the truth of her words. She not just saying them to placate me.

"Isabella Marie Swan, I love you."

I can hear her sharp intake of breath.

Confused, I ask, "What's wrong?" I start pacing. Is she okay? Did she find something? Did someone come in the room?

"Nothing!," she gasps, the takes an audible breath. "Nothing's wrong, Embry, just- just the way you said my name like that. It sounded like…" she trails off sounding embarrassed.

"Like what?" I ask gently.

"Like a vow," she whispers and I feel a rush through my whole body. Like a wedding vow, she means.

My name is Embry Call. I am 17 years old. I am a Native American, a shape-shifter, a protector, and a bastard in the literal sense. I share my body with a wolf spirit warrior. I am only a teenager, but I know that one day I will use her full name like that as part of a wedding ceremony.

"It always will be for you, Bella," I say with a confidence that I didn't know I had.