"This sucks."

I smirked as Andy repeated herself for the fifth time in as many minutes. She was being handed a crash course in the hardest part of being the only human surrounded by a batch of supernatural creatures; being left at home to worry and wonder while everyone else flocked to the fight.

"They should be back soon."

"Not nearly soon enough," grumbled Rachel.

Emily nodded her agreement, barely glancing up from the baby booties in her hands. Beside her Sam Jr., the toddler I'd seen at the bonfire…was it really only last night?...slept happily, his thumb stuck in his mouth as he enjoyed the sweet innocence of youth, where the monsters under your bed really are make-believe and your Daddy is the biggest, baddest monster killer you know.

Then again, in Sam Jr.'s case that might very well be true.

Embry and Paul had shown up with the girls and little Sam in tow not long after Edward had dropped me off, claiming they didn't want them left alone out on the reservation. If the quick flash of gray fur I saw slipping through the trees meant what I thought it did, what they really meant is that they wanted all of the women out of the way and they were leaving us together with Leah to make sure it happened.

"There's got to be something better we could be doing than sitting here with our thumbs up our…"

"Andy!"

"What?" She glared at me. "This whole "leave the little woman at home" thing is archaic. I think this afternoon alone set women's lib back 20 years!"

Jake's sister laughed.

"I think it's more of a 'leave the little human at home so she doesn't become a snack for the big, bad vampires' thing," she pointed out practically. "I, personally, am perfectly okay with that."

"Aren't you worried about Paul at all?"

I couldn't fathom how anyone could be so calm, knowing that the man they loved was planning to go head to head with creatures that made my worst nightmares look tame. My stomach was in knots knowing that both Jacob and Edward were out there, somewhere.

She shrugged.

"Paul can take care of himself. Besides, it's not like he's going to be the one challenging said big, bad vampires if it comes right down to it, and Jake can take out a vamp with his eyes closed and one paw tied behind his back."

Just then Leah burst through the door, her eyes glowing triumphantly as she wrapped her arms around Rachel and spun her around the room.

"They got him!"

"They got who?"

"The bloodsucker! What's his name…the strange one…Caius. That was it. Traced his scent to the beach and caught it on Billy's body. And Edward caught him thinking about it. They've got him cold! Hot damn, that Italian leech isn't going to weasel out of this one!"

The two women jumped around the room, laughing like loons. I grinned, thrilled to hear that Billy's killer would be brought to justice. Then Rachel's words finally sunk in.

"Wait…what happens now?"

"Now Jacob's going to kill him."

My horror must have been written all over my face, because Leah sneered.

"Don't tell me you're going to pick now to get all sentimental about the vamp. He killed Billy, he deserves to die."

"No…no, I agree." My voice was dazed. "It's just…why Jake?"

Rachel looked at me, frowning.

"Jake's his son, and the alpha of the pack. Well, one of the alphas, anyway. It's his right to demand retaliation for Dad's death. He and the leech will fight, he'll kill him, and we'll all live happily ever after. What did you think was going to happen?"

"I guess those stupid vampires didn't learn the first time, because they're headed back to that clearing again-you remember, the one where we killed all the trampy vamp's undead spawn?" Leah cackled gleefully, but if she said anything after that I didn't hear her over the sound of the door banging closed at my back. I had to get to Jake before he got himself killed.

The trip to the field took forever, each second flashing another image of Jake's body, mauled, maimed or worse, far worse, bitten, held prisoner by the vampires' toxic venom as he died a slow, painful death. The final mile racing up the edge of hill was murder, my lungs burning, my legs screaming as I ran, pushing myself farther than I had in years.

'If I live through the rest of this day,' I thought wryly, 'I am so going to join a gym.'

Finally the clearing came into view and I tumbled out of the trees, gasping for breath. Strong arms caught me before I hit the ground.

"Bella? What are you doing here?"

"Have…to stop…Jake," I croaked, leaning into Esme's supporting arm as I sucked in air. Straightening up, I realized with horror that I was far too late.

On one side of the field stood the pack, fur bristling, with Sam at their head and the Cullens by their side. On the other stood Jane, Alec and Aro, hands folded in a parody of prayer as they calmly watched the proceedings playing out in front of them. In between the two were Caius and Jake, the russet haired wolf snarling as it circled its prey, the vampire as still as stone, completely certain of his victory. A scream bubbled up in my throat and I tamped down on it viciously, knowing it would only distract Jacob and give Caius the opening he would need to tear Jacob's throat out the same way he had Billy's.

Suddenly the wolf lunged and the vampire dodged, landing a glancing blow on his shoulder that sent him tumbling before dancing nimbly out of the way. He snarled, slinking lower to the ground, only to lunge and be knocked over again. Caius was playing with him, waiting for him tire before landing the death blow. Jake must have realized that because he suddenly froze, his eyes locked on Caius's cold, reptilian gaze.

The only sound I heard was the pounding of my heart over the silence that washed across the field as Jacob faced his father's killer. Caius smirked smugly, dodging to the right, then to the left. The wolf didn't move, staring straight ahead as if he was blind.

Oh god. It was Alec. Alec could cut off his senses. Jacob had no idea what was going on, and Caius was preparing to take advantage of that. They were cheating…but who would know? You certainly couldn't tell by looking at Alec's face, which was as clear and as smooth as glass, and if the frustration on Edward's face meant anything the group had once again been shielded from his mind reading. Jacob was going to die, and no one would ever know why. They'd just assume…

…that he'd gone out and picked a fight with the wrong vampire. Jazmine's words rang through my head, pounding like a gong. Wolves couldn't survive without their mates. Jacob thought I was going to become a vampire. He was standing in the middle of a field, completely cut off from his senses, facing down an enemy that would show him no quarter and no mercy, and he wasn't fighting back. He wasn't doing anything, and he was going to die, and if he died today I'd never be able to tell him I loved him.

Wait. I loved him?

Oh god, I did. I loved Jacob. A hundred different moments over the past few months passed through my head, and it dawned on me that I always had. What had started as a teenager's desperate need for her best friend had evolved into a sweet memory, then something deeper, something that had lain dormant in his absence and was now blooming, thriving under the love and care he'd showered on me since he walked back into my life. Suddenly it didn't matter that we might be bonded on some mystical, supernatural level that I couldn't begin to understand. It didn't matter that he'd left. It didn't even matter that I was supposed to be married in a few months.

Married. Edward. What was I going to do about Edward? I realized in a rush that as much as I loved Edward, I had come too far to accept the future he was offering. A part of me would always love him; he had been my first love, my first real kiss, my first real heartbreak. But it was like Andy had said, that love eventually burned itself out. I had loved Edward with all the fierceness and intensity of a child, but it was Jacob I had grown to love as a woman loves a man. A whole new future filled with possibilities was laid out in front of me with that shocking revelation. I just had to keep him alive long enough to share it with him.

Caius was still toying with Jacob out in the middle of that field, but I could tell he was growing weary of the game. The clock was ticking, and Jacob still hadn't moved. I had to let someone know what was going on…but who?

Then it didn't matter anymore. A blur of black, a helpless yelp, and the russet wolf lay on the ground as Caius reared back and sank his teeth deeply into the scruff of his neck.