Bound to You

Summary: A harmless prank by her high school classmates leaves Bella lost in the woods. Resident tribal leader Sam Uley takes it upon himself to find her.

*Bella is 18, a senior at Forks High School. She has not interacted with Edward yet*

Pairing: Sam/Bella

"Guys, are you sure this is the way? It's dark through there. I think we should turn around," Bella Swan whispered, turning around to glance at the few people that had decided to show her around. It was Friday, and Jessica Stanley, Mike Newton, and Tyler Crowley had decided to take Bella down to LaPush. The residents there didn't mind it too much if the "pale faces" came around, as long as they didn't disrupt anything and had to be gone by 11 pm.

It was probably close to 9 in the evening when the trio brought the 'new girl'. They all wanted to go down to the beach but wanted to shortcut it by cutting through the woods. Tyler gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah, it's fine. We come through here all the time," He walked past her to lead the way, and Bella narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on his quickly disappearing form.

Mike and Jessica walked ahead of her, Jessica beckoning her forward. As they started to blend in with the scenery around her, Bella struggles to keep up. It was different terrain, and this place was foreign to her. "Guys?" She called, cursing silently as her foot caught on an uprooted tree.

She caught herself on her hands, standing back up. She dusted off her hands, frowning as she didn't know which way to go. She jumped, hearing a tree-branch somewhere snap. "Mike? Jessica? If this is some sort of welcoming the new girl bullshit, I'm not here for it," She snapped, looking around, her eyes just barely adjusting to the darkness that was settling in.

She trudged forward, her feet catching on vines and roots, and she did her best to raise her feet high enough to avoid constant tripping. She could hear the beach around her, but it was hard to follow as it sounded like the waves were all around her. She felt along the trees, her face scrunching in disdain at the different textures of the bark.

On the other side of the woods stood the trio of teens, snickering lightly. "Any minute she should come out of there," Mike whispered. "You left out some markings of tape right Ty?" Jessica asked, bumping her shoulders with him. Tyler glanced at her confused. "Marking tape? You guys never told me anything about marking tape," Jessica looked between the two of them, panic slowly setting in. "Then how the hell is she going to know her way out? She's uncoordinated as hell. Today we were playing volleyball and she hit Mike, which bounced and hit like three other kids. One of them sprained an ankle. Ugh, guys. It's almost 10:30. I was supposed to be home like 15 minutes ago. Jeez…" She ran a hand through her hair. "Look, I…I'll go back and get her," Tyler volunteered.

"No, it's getting late, and we wouldn't know where to start," Jessica nervously chewed on her thumb, tapping her foot against the sand. "10 minutes," She mumbled, pushing Tyler into the woods. 5 minutes later, Mike and Jessica waited anxiously hoping for any sign of Tyler or Bella, or both of them. "Dude, we're screwed," Mike whispered. "Not yet," Jessica responded, looking at her watch. Mike pulled on her arm, pointing in the direction of the large man that was coming their way. "Yes. Now. We just tell him what happened. He should know these woods better than us,"

Jessica could only gawk at the large pecs that flashed her like eye candy, her eyes running up and down his muscular body. His voice though sent shivers down her spine, and she glanced into his dark eyes, quickly looking away from the smoldering gaze. "What are you two doing out here?" He asked, looking between them, before looking back at the woods. Before either one of them could answer, Tyler ran out from the woods breathing heavily. "Guys," He panted, leaning over to catch his breath. "I couldn't find her. This was a bad idea," He panted, raising up to see the giant that stood there.

"You left your friend in the woods?" He asked, looking at all of them, raising a thick brow. "It was supposed to be a harmless prank, but we forgot to leave markings for her to follow…god what if we can't find her? We pretty much killed the Chief's daughter," Jessica groaned, shaking her head. "Go home," He commanded, heading towards the trees. "Wait! Go home?! We can't just leave!" Jessica called. The man turned back at her, glaring down at her. "I said, go, home,"

He disappeared into the shrubbery, leaving the trio behind.

The wind was slowly starting to pick up, and Bella wasn't as prepared for the weather as she should have been. She pulled her thin sweater around her tightly, looking around. "Guys?" She called, slightly tripping over her shoelace. "I really should've taken those hiking classes," She mumbled to herself.

She froze, hearing the soft tapping of shoes against the leaves. "Hello?" She called, her eyes scanning the darkness. She reached her arm out, trying her best to see in front of her. Her heart thumped beneath her ribcage, sounding like a cannon in her ears, fear slowly settling in that she was lost.

She sucked in a gasping breath as a twig snapped to her left. She twirled around, reaching her hand out wildly. "Hello!" She called, backing up slowly. "Please…" She whispered, her foot catching on what felt like a rock. She flew backward, pain blooming on the side of her head. She reached her hand to her temple, feeling the sticky liquid on her fingers.

Like a spotlight, the moon shining through the canopy of trees. Directly across from her emerged a man, one taller than she'd ever seen, muscles the size of boulders. Her eyes widened as he stalked forward, and Bella quickly tried to scramble backward.

He stopped a few feet away, noticing her demeanor. "Bella Swan?" He asked cautiously, and Bella froze, slowly nodding. "Yes…" She trailed off, sitting up slowly. "My name is Sam Uley, your friends said you were out here. The woods aren't the safest place. Are you hurt?" He asked, moving forward slowly. Bella removed her hand, zeroing in on the blood that stuck to her hands.

"Um, I uh, I hit my head," She mumbled, gasping softly as Sam crouched down in front of her. He was beautiful. Insanely, beautiful. His dark eyes turned to hers, and her worries seemed to melt away as looked upon the beautiful man that was Sam.

His touch was soothing as he grabbed her hands, pulling her up to stand. She grasped his forearm to steady herself, and his grip was tight, unwilling to let her fall. He brushed his finger over her bleeding wound, frowning at her wince. "Sorry," He mumbled, tearing her sweater, carving out a large piece. He balled it up, pushing it onto her temple. "Apply pressure," He urged, and before she could gather another thought, he was lifting her like she was a feather. "My friends," She stated, looking around her. "They're fine. They thought you'd come on your own I guess. A prank," He briefly explained, watching her face drop of any concern. "Some prank," She muttered. Sam could only hum in agreement, knowing her head wound could've ended up much worse. "Thank you. For finding me. I thought I'd be lost forever," He looked down at her, taking in the features of her face. "Trust me, you won't get lost anymore," He vowed.