Their curiosity finally squashed, we headed back towards Sam's house to start cooking for our normal Sunday night pack dinner. I wondered if Jake would show up, or if he would continue hiding. We had nearly reached the house when Kim asked a question that unintentionally played right in to my biggest fears.

"So, are you and Sam, like really together now, or just kinda gonna co-parent?" She asked as we pulled in to the driveway.

I froze as I felt the dread fill my heart once again. Sam was happy to be having a baby, but he had never said anything about what we were. He was sweet and considerate to me and we had amazing chemistry, but nothing had been said about what kind of relationship we had. I had been in love twice before and neither of them had stuck around, so why would Sam? Would he eventually imprint again and leave me for her? Would he come to resent the child we had, the tie we had?

I put the car in park and then turned and looked at the two girls, who were impatiently waiting for my answer. What the hell was I supposed to tell them, when I had no idea what was gonna happen or even what Sam was thinking? "Um, we haven't really talked about it yet I guess."

How the hell was I even supposed to bring this up? 'Hey Sam, am I just your baby momma, or do you love me the way I love you?' Yeah that didn't make me sound insane!

"Well, where are you gonna live once the baby is born?" Rachel asked gently, like I might break. "Does he want you to live with him?"

My heart sunk even further. Sam and I hadn't talked about that either. In fact all I really knew right now was that he was happy the baby had survived the first trimester unlike Emily's. And we had great sex. And I was marked. But there was no talk of a relationship, or a future of any kind. And that scared me.

"He hasn't said anything yet." I forced out through my engulfing panic. Instead of continuing this stressful conversation, I climbed out of the car and went inside the perpetually unlocked house.

As we began gathering ingredients for meat loaf and mashed potatoes I couldn't get my mind off the girls questions. Did Sam actually want me for me, or only because of the mark and the baby? I wanted to be with him, hell I was in love with him, but I had no idea how he felt about me. And where was I going to live once the baby was born. I knew my dad would let me live with him, but I wanted my baby to have a real home, with both parents there to care for him.

"Are you okay?" Rachel finally asked once the meat loaves were in the oven. "You've been really quiet since we got here."

I shrugged. "Yeah, just got a lot to think about I guess."

She hugged me tightly. "Well, you know we're here for you no matter what right?"

I nodded and hugged her back. "Yeah and I really appreciate it. Afterall, who's gonna babysit alpha for me?"

The girls laughed and then both hugged me tighter as tears filled my eyes. I was lucky to have such amazing friends! At least I knew they would always be around for me. We were still hugging when the boys walked in. They froze in the foyer, watching us carefully.

"Everything okay in here?" Paul asked cautiously, eyeing us like a bomb that could go off at any second.

We giggled, loving the nervous expression on the guys' faces. "We're fine." I assured them, meeting Sam's eyes. "Just having a girly moment."

He smiled at me as the other wolves came over and kissed their imprints in greeting, but remained in his spot near the front door. Jealousy filled me for a moment as I watched them together, so sure of their love and desires, while I had no idea what was going to happen. I watched him, wanting him to come over and greet me, to even awknowledge my existence, but he remained rooted in spot next to the dining table.

I eventually turned away from him, feeling like I might drown in my disappointment if I kept watching them. I busied myself with pulling the food out of the oven until I felt a warm body pull me against him. My heart flooded with joy for a second before I realized it wasn't Sam, but Paul who had pulled me in to an embrace.

"You okay Bee?" He bent to whisper in my ear.

I knew he would know if I lied so I shrugged instead. I tried to continue with my task, but he would have none of that. Paul gently took my chin in between his thumb and forefinger and lifted my face until I was looking right in to his dark eyes. His brows lifted, silently urging me to answer the question.

"I'm okay." I forced the lie past my lips, not wanting to alert anyone else to my sorrow.

Instead of calling me on the obvious lie Paul nodded and pulled me against him, tucking my head in to his chest, protecting me from the view of everyone else. I felt my tense body relax, inhaling his comforting scent, curling in to the safety of my brother imprint. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in his arms and cry out my sorrows, but it wasn't in the cards right now.

"Everything will be okay." Paul whispered so low I knew the others wouldn't hear. "I promise."

I nodded from my cocoon in his arms and then slowly peeled myself away, knowing I would crack if I spent any more time there. "Alright boys, dinner's ready."

The boys began to stampede towards the kitchen only to halt at Sam's voice, reminding them that ladies went first. After I made myself a small plate I sat at the table and waited for the others to get their food and join us. Kim and Rachel ended up in their imprints laps, while Sam ended up across the table from me, not even trying to take the empty seat next to me.

After eating just a few bites my nausea returned, and I had to once again push the food away. I looked up, right in to Sam's eyes, only to find him surveying me with concern. I couldn't help but wonder if the concern was for me, or for the baby who wasn't getting as much food as he hoped.

I was once again contemplating how to approach Sam with my concerns when the front door slammed open and Jake strode in. He was no longer vibrating with anger, he was deadly calm and glared murderously at his pack brothers. I knew if I did nothing, Jake would try to hurt his brothers, so hoping to stop the threat of violence I stood, trying to gain his attention.

"Jake, can we talk?" I asked quietly, knowing he would hear me in the silent room.

He met my eyes and for a moment I was stunned. The anger and hatred that stained his normally sunny eyes was so out of character I couldn't believe this was the same boy who had helped bring me back after Edward's departure.

"Talk?" He raised his brow mockingly. "Talk about what? How you betrayed me? How one of my pack brothers betrayed me?" He snorted indignantly.

I took a soothing breath and did my best to remind myself that Jake was just hurt. "Please Jake? Can we just go talk somewhere?"

"No, I think I'd rather not talk to you." He answered snidely, before turning his blazing eyes on the rest of the pack who were sitting at attention at the table, waiting to see what would happen. "I only came to find out which one of my BROTHERS thought it was okay to mark MY girlfriend."

My brows rose at his reference to me as his girlfriend. "Girlfriend? I am not your girlfriend and I wasn't your girlfriend when I was marked either."

Jake glared at me, his hand trembling slightly at my response. "I don't care if we weren't together anymore. You will always be mine."

"Yours?" I screeched angrily. Perhaps my hormones were just a little more out of control than I thought. "Dammit Jake, I do not belong to you. I don't belong to anyone. I am not a possession."

He began to speak again but I simply yelled over him.

"You have an imprint. You ended our relationship, not the other way around. And if you really loved me you wouldn't treat me like this." I ended my little speech breathing heavily as anger coursed through my veins.

Jake looked momentarily shocked at my outburst, before he allowed his anger to once again take over. "Then why not let me mark you? Why let one of them mark you? Were you trying to make me jealous?"

I scoffed, so completely caught up in our argument that the rest of the room disappeared. I hadn't even seen Sam slowly make his way towards me. "I had already been marked when you asked you idiot. So no, I wasn't trying to make you jealous. Now, can we please go and talk?"

Jake looked outraged that I had already been marked, but I still needed to tell him about the baby and I would prefer to do that alone, without an audience. "No. I just want to know which of my brothers did it."

Sam stepped forward, his height towering over every one else in the room. "It was me." It was so quiet it felt like his voice was echoing off the wall. "I marked Bella."

The whole room, other than Embry and the girls, looked at Sam in shock. Solid, reliable, imprinted Sam had marked me. Quil and Jared literally had their mouths hanging open as they stared at their alpha, waiting for an explanation.

"Bella and I were both broken." Sam met my eyes, the bond caressing me softly, surely. "We were hurting and found solace in each other." He turned back to Jake. "The marking was not planned to harm you in some way. My wolf…. He demanded it."

"Your wolf demanded it?" Jake screamed. "Why would he dem…." As realization hit him that Sam had not JUST marked me. "You fucked her too?"

Sam's blush was visible even through his copper skin. "I wouldn't have put it that way, but yes."

Jake lunged at Sam, knocking in to me on his way. I fell to the ground with an umph, my hands closing around my belly in an attempt to protect the baby. I froze for a moment before looking up to find that Sam was now on top of Jake with his forearm digging in to his throat, holding him against the ground.

Sam's wild eyes met my gaze, looking me over quickly. "Are you okay?"

I nodded slowly. Compared to the last time Jake had thrown me to the ground, this was nothing. My tush had taken the majority of the fall, and I knew that the baby was safely tucked in my womb. "I'm fine."

Sam looked back at Jake, his face settling in to a hard mask of anger. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He demanded of the younger man. "You knocked Bella down lunging at me like that. You could have hurt her, this girl that you claim to love so much."

"I hate you." Jake ground out past the arm on his throat. "You are no longer my brother."

"Go run it off Jake." Sam said, practically throwing him through the front door. He strode over to me and pulled me up off the floor. As soon as I was on my feet he moved away from me. I tried to catch his eye, but it was like he was purposely avoiding me and it hurt so much more than I thought it would.

Sam turned back to face his shocked pack. "Paul, Embry, Collin, lets go keep an eye on Jake. He has proven tonight that his judgment is not sound. Seth, Quil, Jared, Brady, why don't you guys stay here with the girls." He headed towards the door as some of the group followed him, but then stopped and looked back at the others. "Pack meeting tonight at 8. We have more to discuss."

And then he was gone.

I stood frozen looking at the now closed door. He had left. I knew rationally he had to deal with Jake, but why was he avoiding me. It felt like he didn't want anything to do with me and I hated it. I hated feeling this confused.

I finally turned back to the girls, who were staring at me with pity on their faces. I felt my lip wobble before I finally broke down and began to sob. I couldn't believe everything that had happened since I got back from Florida. I never wanted to hurt Jake, but I had. And now Sam was avoiding me. I felt like my entire life was falling apart, when I had started to think that things were finally coming together.

A warm pair of arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a bare chest. "Shh." Seth whispered against my hair, gently rocking me back and forth.

"I didn't mean to hurt him." I whispered. "It just sort of happened. I was so upset and Sam was so sad and it just… happened. But I swear I didn't do it to hurt Jake."

"We know." Seth told me gently.

"It just hurt so bad to lose him and Sam knew exactly how I felt and he helped me feel alive again. The sex helped me forget the pain and move on."

"Jake will get over it Bells. It's gonna be okay." Quil voice filtered in to my little cave of warmth.

"No it isn't." I wailed, completely out of control now. "Sam doesn't really want me. He's just stuck with me cause his wolf marked me. He probably resents me for causing problems." I curled up closer to Seth as I felt like my whole world was falling apart around me. "Jake h…hates me. He was my best friend and I didn't mean to hurt him, but he hurt me and now everything is all messed up and I don't know what to do any more."

"I'm sure Sam doesn't feel that way." Seth murmured.

"Yes he does." I whimpered. "Maybe I'm just cursed. First Edward, then Jake, now Sam. Maybe I am broken. Or maybe I'm just a horrible person. I mean, I do stupid things. I dated a vampire for fucks sake. What is wrong with me?"

"Nothing is wrong with you." Quil's voice was much closer and I soon felt him rest a gentle hand on my back. "You're not a bad person Bells."

My stomach churned all of a sudden, letting me know whatever I had eaten earlier was about to make a return. "Oh God." I groan as I tore myself out of Seth's arms and ran to the bathroom just in time to toss my cookies again.

When I was sure nothing else could come up I leaned against the wall of the bathroom and continued to cry. The door cracked open and Kim leaned her head in. "You okay?"

I shook my head and then buried it against my knees. She came in and knelt in front of me.

"I just keep messing things up." I told her, my voice raspy form crying. "Jake is flipping out and he doesn't even know about the baby yet."

I heard the gasps from the bathroom and cursed myself for forgetting the boys super hearing. Well, now the rest of the pack knew about the baby. "See?"

"This isn't all your fault." Kim told me.

"Yes it is." I curled further over my belly. "If Edward and I hadn't dated, the Cullens might have left sooner and the guys wouldn't have phased." I looked up and met her eyes. "I'm destroying the pack."