Hello all! I'm posting a little earlier today because I've discovered I write this fanfic to procrastinate on my growing pile of homework. Oops! Thank you all for the lovely reviews! It's so nice to hear your thoughts, predictions, likes, and dislikes, and it's amazing to see that real people have found this somehow and are clicking and sometimes reading and enjoying. Big thank you to LeticiaBS :) Also if you're reviewing as a guest, I can't respond to you, which is dumb, but I appreciate you! Thank you all! 3

It felt like weeks before I had sweat out the worst of the stomach bug, but in reality it was only one day. I felt weak after. Shaky and hollow. Jared offered to come over but I told him not to. Mom brought me cups of ice chips to stay hydrated, and then heated some broth for me when I started to feel better. I texted Bella. She was feeling sick and said that Jacob was sick too.

I still felt shaky when Quil showed up at my door, banging and yelling my name. I groaned. I wasn't ready for this. Mom told him I was sick and that he should come back later. I thanked my lucky stars and fell asleep for the rest of the day. Quil came back to my house after school on Monday. We went for a walk.

"Tell me what the fuck is going on," he said through his teeth. "And don't you dare lie."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't know."

"Bullshit."

"I'm serious," I said. "Jared doesn't really talk about what he does with his friends. When he blows me off to hang out with them he calls it 'work.'" I drew quotes in the air as I scowled. I didn't have to play up my annoyance at that particular habit of his.

"How can you be with someone like that?" Quil asked, aghast. "What's the appeal, Kim?" I shrugged. He spat. "I don't get it. And I don't get why the hell you're acting like Embry and Jake had a choice in this. I know they didn't."

I felt bad about the 1000 dollar bet story. It might have worked if Jacob hadn't joined, but now it was like a slap in the face to Quil. He glared at me. "I know you know more than you're telling me."

I frowned. I wasn't supposed to tell him anything, but because I wasn't in the pack and under magic orders, it was physically possible for me. "I don't know what they do," I hedged, "but I know what they call themselves."

"The Protectors?" Quil asked with heavy sarcasm.

"I think they believe it."

"Believe what?"

"That they're protecting people," I sighed. "I don't know why they are singling out your friends. I don't know what they are doing or what they are offering. But I think they make a compelling case, beyond bets or money." Quil glared at me with such vitriol I half expected him to start shaking and phase on the spot. But he didn't shake.

"Tell your boyfriend and his friends to stay the fuck away from me," he spat. Then he stomped off.

"Quil!" I called after him, but there was really nothing I could say. He didn't look back.

As the week wore on, my mood worsened. Jared texted often, mostly to say that he was alright but that he couldn't meet up. I told him I wasn't upset even though I was. I knew what he and his friends were trying to do but it didn't seem like they were making all that much of a difference. More people were disappearing. Police and hunters were setting traps and going out to shoot the killer 'bears.' It felt like we were living in a small town serial killer documentary. Jared insisted, through text, that he was being careful but I couldn't help but be angry that he was out there, risking his life when it didn't seem to be making any difference.

Bella spiraled. The clarity that she had gained through hanging out with Jacob in recent months seemed to be fading. She looked increasingly listless. Angela and Jess asked if I knew anything and I confided that Jacob was distancing himself.

"Poor Bella," Angela said.

Jess rolled her eyes. "That girl needs to find a sense of self-worth that isn't based on what a boy thinks of her." In spite of what I knew, I couldn't help but agree.

When I finally saw Jared again, he looked exhausted.

"Ok," he said. "It's uh… it's not going so well."

You think? I kept my expression neutral and fought the urge to say something sarcastic.

"We keep missing them," he said. "Every time we get there just a second too late." I stayed quiet, hoping he would offer up more information. Instead he asked. "How are you?"

I frowned. "Not great," I said. "Quil's pissed." Then Jared smiled. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, still smiling. "I liked your loan shark story." Then he frowned. "Except for the part where you marry a wealthy bachelor to settle your debts."

I smiled too. "I didn't think you would love that part, but hey for a thousand bucks?"

"Not for a million," he said, solemnly.

"Gross," I groaned. "That's so cheesy." He laughed and kissed my hair.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked.

"I think we should tell Quil. And Bella."

"Wait, what?"

"It's not fair to either of them. Quil's pissed. Bella's spiraling."

"Kim you can't."

"Quil is likely to join soon anyways. And Bella already knows most of it," I said, counting off the benefits on my fingers. "It's not really fair for either of them not to know. Quil just lost his two closest friends and if he's kept in the dark he's more likely to do something stupid. And Bella has dealt with the supernatural before. She knows how to handle that stuff. She knows how to keep secrets. And she might be able to help you." Jared stared at me, open mouthed, shaking his head slightly. "It is vampires right? That's what you're chasing? That's what's killing those people?" Jared said nothing, which I took as a confirmation. "Well Bella's something of an expert. She knows more than we do."

"No," Jared said.

"I'm not going to spill any of your corporate secrets," I said as I rolled my eyes. "I'm just asking you to think about it."

"It's Sam's call," Jared said. "He ordered us not to tell anyone."

"I know. I meant all of you." Jared sighed and flopped down on his bed. His eyes were closed. He looked beat. I rubbed his hair. "Want me to go so you can sleep?"

"No stay," he mumbled. I smiled and lay down next to him. I put my head on his arm.

"It's nice that we can finally talk about work again," I whispered after a few moments. Jared didn't answer. His breathing was deep and rhythmic. I carefully sat up and slipped out of his room. He needed sleep.

There was a thick envelope in the mail the next day, mixed in with the usual bills, ads, and catalogues. The return address was from Columbia University. I dropped the rest of the mail in the street and tore open the envelope, then and there. The first sentence on the first page started: "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted…" Then the tears in my eyes blurred the rest from view. I scooped up the rest of the mail I'd dropped, dumped it on the front table, and carried the envelope up to my room. I read the letter twice, and then a third time, expecting the print to rearrange itself into a more believable message. But it was real. And I wasn't dreaming. My chest was so tight, with excitement, nerves, fears, doubts, elation, worry that it was almost painful. I held the packet in my hand for almost twenty minutes, until I felt so overwhelmed that I slipped the pages into my desk drawer and then lay down on my bed.

It's not real yet, I chastised myself. I still need to hear back from the financial aid office to find out if I can actually go. But in spite of the obstacles ahead, I felt the fantasies materializing in my head in a more tangible way.

I felt like I had a weight on me, as I went through school and life over the next few days. I kept it a secret. Jared stayed busy. Quil stayed angry. Bella stayed hollow. My boss at the lab asked if I had any news. Decisions were coming out and he knew it. I said I was waiting to find out about aid and he smiled and said congratulations, and that something would work out. I smiled back and thanked him, hiding my annoyance. Financial aid would only seem like a non-issue to someone who'd never needed it.

On Saturday night, I got a surprising text from Jared.

Jared: Bonfire 2nite?

Me: Sure! Who's going?

Jared: Pack only. Plus you and Emily.

I frowned at my phone, confused, when another text came in that raised more questions than it answered.

Jared: We're celebrating.

My breath caught in my throat. He couldn't know could he? I hadn't even told my mom yet. Jared picked me up in his dad's car.

"Hey," he said. He kissed me when I climbed into the front seat.

"What are we celebrating?" I asked, cautious. He grinned but didn't answer as he pulled back into the road. "C'mon tell me!" He glanced at me.

"We got one of them," he said.

I raised my eyebrows. "You killed a vampire?" He nodded. "Wow! That is a cause for celebration!"

He laughed. "You sound surprised!"

"To be honest I was starting to wonder if you had it in you," I teased.

"Ugh! That hurts!" He thumped his heart. "So little faith."

"So… one down… like nine to go?"

"Nine?!" He cried.

"What? I wouldn't know because you don't talk about work."

"There were two," Jared said. "We think they were a mated pair. We killed the male and now we just have to kill the female."

"Oh, too easy," I chuckled.

"We'll get it done," he said. "But tonight we are celebrating."

I was confused by this move of letting all guards down while a likely vengeful vampire was at large, but what did I know? I was hardly an industry expert on this mysterious, unspoken line of work.

"What's wrong?" Jared asked. I must have been frowning.

"What if this is what she's expecting you to do?" I asked.

"Who?" Jared asked. He sounded completely serious. I frowned. He was so slow sometimes.

"The female," I said, trying to sound sinister. "What if this is all part of her malevolent plan?" Jared was chuckling now. "And when you're all good and drunk, I pull off my human skin suit and feast on your flesh!" I hissed and then bit his shoulder for full affect.

"Oh you couldn't fool me," Jared said, unfazed. I frowned. "If you were a bloodsucker I would smell it."

"I forgot about that," I admitted, totally derailed. Then I laughed. "It's been so long since you've made me shower before we could hang out."

"Yeah," Jared smiled. "I don't miss that."

"The Cullens?" I asked. "Yeah I think only one person really does."

"How is Bella?" Jared asked, suddenly hesitant.

"Um," I hesitated too. "She… she's not great. Kind of like before, but not as bad. Jess and I were talking about it actually. Jess thinks Bella puts too much of her sense of self in the boys she's dating. I don't think she's wrong, but I guess it would be kind of a blow if both your first and your second relationships ended in total ghosting." Jared was quiet for a moment.

"They'll be able to hang out again soon," Jared said. "Soon as Jake gets his transformations under control."

I shook my head. "It won't be the same." Because there would be something between them then. A festering unspoken secret. Bella might speculate as to what Jacob disappeared to everyday, what undisclosed work drama was always stressing him out, but she would have even less to go off of than I always did.

"It will be something," Jared said. I didn't answer. "Something-weird happened today."

"What?"

"When we caught up with the leech today, Bella was there with him."

I froze. "One of the Cullens?"

"No it definitely wasn't one of them," Jared said. "We know what they all look like. But she definitely knew him. They were talking. Really threw us off though. At first we didn't attack. We were technically on Cullen land, and it looked like it might be… a friend of hers or something. We waited until we were sure it was going to kill her."

"Is she ok?!"

"Yeah, yeah she's fine!" Jared said. "We stopped him."

I sighed. "I ought to buy you a drink sometime, sheriff," I drawled, in my best cowboy voice. Jared smirked. We were quiet for a moment. "Seriously, you should all talk to Bella. Clearly she's involved in this."

Jared frowned and didn't say anything but I had a hunch that he agreed.

The party was already going strong by the time we got there. Everyone was roasting hot dogs and s'mores over the fire. It was cute. I met eyes with Jacob across the fire who was wearing a severe expression and a new short haircut that everyone in the pack wore. To my surprise he smirked at me.

"You lost the bet," he said. Everyone in the circle started laughing.

"Goddamit, Black we had a deal!" I returned to my cowboy voice and spat in the sand for affect.

"What's this new accent?" I heard Paul whisper to Jared, who just shrugged. I ignored them.

"Now if I don't cough up I'm a goner!" I said, playing hysteria. "These loan sharks've been following me everywhere."

"Wait aren't the loan sharks me, Jake, and Jared?" Embry asked, raising one eyebrow.

"He follows me everywhere!" I pointed an accusing finger at Jared, who just smiled and rolled his eyes. I turned and locked eyes with Emily. "They can smell fear," I whispered. I reached out for her hand and she took it delicately, looking entirely overwhelmed by my antics. "If I die, tell my story!" Sam shook his head. Jared hid his face in his hands.

We ate our hotdogs and s'mores. The boys recounted their victory. I cringed at the part where they waited, trying to decipher whether Bella and the mystery vampire were friends, but otherwise I was happy to be in the loop. Then they talked 'business' for a while. How were they going to kill the female?

"She's been more elusive than the male," Sam said. "She doesn't draw attention to herself and she doesn't stay in one place for long. But this might change soon. We've killed her mate. So she will either flee out of fear-"

I snorted. "She won't flee." Everyone fell silent and stared at me. "She's not going to flee," I repeated. "If you really killed her mate, she's not going anywhere. She's not going to try to make you hurt for it, regardless of the personal risk."

Sam stared at me for a moment, eyes narrowed slightly, before he finally collected himself and continued. "Or she will seek revenge, which will make things easier for us. If she attacks us, we just need to stay together, make sure she can't catch any one of us individually. We'll have safety in numbers." Everyone around the circle nodded solemnly.

I frowned, letting the pieces fall together in my mind. I thought of the Cullens and the way they moved in their little pairs. Alice with Jasper. Emmett with Rosalie. Edward with Bella. Like they were orbiting each other, like twin planets, trapped in the gravity of their partner. Like Sam with Emily. It dawned on me that I knew exactly what type of revenge a vampire would seek.

I took a deep breath. "I think… that death isn't a punishment for their kind," I said. I felt the eyes of everyone on me. I scrambled to try to put my thoughts in order. "I mean, their days are endless. Their lives don't have any real meaning because they have no real ending. They just kind of exist, but they find comfort in each other. Their mates are the one thing that gives their existence meaning. The female, she wouldn't view it as murder. She would view it as a... theft. A really serious theft." I paused to choose my words carefully. "I don't think she'll just want to kill you. I think she'll want to make you hurt for it. And she would uh... want the punishment to match the crime." There was a long silence around the crackling fire.

"So, what… she would steal something from us?" Embry asked. He sounded confused at the beginning of his question but trailed off into understanding at the end.

As I looked around the circle, all eyes were on me. Mine eventually settled on Emily. Sam's gaze had shifted from me to her as I looked at her. Fear was beginning to color Emily's expression. Sam's expression morphed to abject terror. I pulled my eyes down. I couldn't look at either of them. Jared was starting to shake next to me, but when I put my hand around his, the trembling slowed.

"Where's Bella?" I asked. My voice was soft but it carried easily now that the only competing sounds were the waves and the crackling of the low fire. "Her scent was in the field, and you came in to save her. The female might start there. Might consider that a lead…" I trailed off as all eyes fell on Jacob, who looked panicked.

"Probably at home," he said. He was already standing and started to walk off. He was shaking. "I'll check."

"Wait," Sam said. Jacob froze. "Embry, Paul, go with Jacob. Check the house, make sure Bella is safe and that the female hasn't been there."

"Also if you talk to Bella, tell her what's going on," I chimed in. "And ask her what she knows about the vampire in the field." I turned to Sam. "You said she knew the male. Maybe she knows his mate. Even if she doesn't, she knows more about vampires than we do."

"We know enough," Sam said.

"You can never know too much," I pressed.

"I'm grateful for the insight you've shared but-"

"But I've never dated one," I said, firm. Jared gagged a bit theatrically. "Bella will know more than I do."

Sam looked back at Jacob, who stood still but looked very impatient. Embry and Paul were frozen beside him.

"Tell Bella everything," Sam said, "we'll be at my place." Jacob, Embry, and Paul sprinted off.

Jared nodded. "C'mon Kim." He grabbed my hand and towed me to the car. While Jared drove, I texted mom.

Me: Is it ok if I sleep over at Lauren's tonight?

Then I texted Lauren.

Me: I told my mom I'm sleeping over at your place tonight. Cover for me? Thanks boo!

Lauren texted me back right away: Sure thing babe! This was followed by a string of increasingly suggestive emojis. I snorted.

"You're taking this well," Jared grumbled.

"Just setting up my alibi," I said. I looked over at him and his expression was tense and miserable. "Hey. It's going to be ok."

"I'll keep you safe," he said, nodding.

"I know," I said. "Sorry for totally killing the vibe at the barbecue. Ugh, I'm such a downer, right?"

He laughed, though he sounded a little hysterical. "I can't believe we thought we could take a night off. To celebrate." He was shaking his head back and forth. It looked almost like he was trying to get water out of his ears.

"I mean," I rolled my eyes a little. "You probably do need to take some nights off. Sleep isn't really optional, is it? You just need to know what you're up against."

Jared didn't say anything to that. We pulled into Sam and Emily's gravel driveway, right behind Sam's car. Jared opened the door before he killed the motor. He poked his head out the door a bit. "We're clear," he said. Then turned off the engine. I realized he was smelling the air, and made a conscious effort not to comment. We followed Sam and Emily into the house.

It was cute inside. Emily had eclectic tastes. "Sit, sit," she said, smiling gesturing to a yellow sofa which was somehow bright and tired looking at the same time. I sat, marveling at how she could play gracious host so well, as if supernatural threats on her life were a part of her daily routine.

Sam and Jared debated in hushed tones whether they should stay inside or try to put up a perimeter. Emily put a glass of ice water in my hand. After a brief whispered debate Sam decided to go outside and phase in case the others were trying to make contact, while Jared would wait inside and listen for the signal, which was barking of course.

Emily settled down in an armchair and stared out the window. I watched Jared as he paced back and forth in the kitchen. Eventually he locked eyes with me and froze. Then he came over and sat down and put his hand around mine. I tried to smile at him to show that I was ok. I wasn't sure what my expression looked like but it definitely didn't set Jared at ease, so I focused on keeping my face blank. After what felt like hours, but was probably only thirty minutes, Sam came back inside.

"It's ok," he said. He looked much calmer than he had when we went outside. He walked over to Emily to rub her shoulder. He looked at me. "You were right. About almost everything." I didn't comment. "You were right about the way the leeches view revenge. Mate for mate. But you were also right about asking Bella, because apparently the two leeches in Forks weren't a pair. The Cullens killed the female's mate last spring, and now she's after Bella."

Jared sighed, clearly relieved, a split second before I let my head fall back, where it collided audibly with the wall behind the sofa. "Ow," I said. "Sorry, I forgot there was a wall there." Jared sniffed in a poor attempt to conceal laughter. "It's just...ugh poor Bella," I said. "That girl has like zero luck."

"It'll be ok," Sam said, calm. "We're not going to let anything happen to her. We'll keep up a perimeter at all times. We'll run in shifts. And now that we know what she wants, hopefully we'll be able to wrap this up sooner." Sam focused on Jared now. "Once she starts making passes again we'll run an outer and an inner group. The outer group will let her slip by and then we can collapse on her."

Jared nodded. "How do we split groups? Two on inner, three on outer?"

"Maybe."

"We could put Jake and Embry on the inner."

"They're too new."

"The outer will have more work though, Jacob's a natural."

"Not if she slips by the outer. Maybe Jacob with one of us and Embry with the other two?"

I tuned them out as I battled conflicting emotions. I was relieved that I wasn't really in danger, and then guilty that I was feeling relieved because Bella was, and scared that Jared would be on the front lines.

Jared didn't seem remotely scared now. He was excited, strategizing with Sam, a total one-eighty from when he thought I was in danger. What an emotional roller coaster I'd put him on tonight. I met eyes with Emily, who looked just as wary as I felt. Clearly it wasn't news that the pack had no fears when it came to themselves. They thought they were invincible, and it seemed like only Emily and I realized that that kind of reckless bravery could get them killed.