The next 10 days were a blend of wonderful and awful. Grace was doing her best everyday to show up, be her truest self, and carry the pack through rounds. She pulled extra shifts, trained more with the new members, and made sure to keep her distance from Jacob to give him the space he needed to reacclimate with his brothers.

Leah was the hardest on him. Speaking from experience, Leah knew what it meant to be exceptionally burned by someone you love. She wasn't completely on Grace's side either. She just understood the pressure of the imprint.

On one of their rounds together, Leah pushed Jake more:

So are you ever going to forgive her?

Just drop it Leah.

I can't, it's all you think about.

Then tune out. He veered left to move deeper into the hedge of the forest, but Leah followed him.

You know I get this right? I am you in this scenario.

Jake didn't respond but replayed an image of Sam holding Emily and watching Leah curl her fist in intangible anger. She winced at his memory.

Yes. That. But Jake. Grace is not Emily. And Paul is not Sam. They're not together. They can't be. The imprint has made sure of that. What they did was beyond stupid, but were you really that surprised after how devastating a breakup they had once Rachel showed up?

So what? Grace was getting back at Rachel? That's messed up to.

No. She's not trying to get back at anyone. Grace is...lost. Or maybe she was lost. I don't know but after she went and talked to Ti'Hal, things got better and she is trying.

I could really care less.

That's fine. She hurt you and she deserves to be iced out. But don't let it destroy you.

Jacob looked at her midrun and came to a halt at the edge of a clearing.

I am trying. To let her go. And put it behind me, but it still….sucks. When I was out there on my own, with no one else in my head, it was like the world opened up and I could fade into whatever existence I wanted.

But you came back…

Because she called out to me. Everyday whether she meant to or not. Or maybe it was me, I don't know. I thought I was going crazy at first, but I heard it everyday And it's not fair. Something in me won't let me let her go and it's not fair because I want to.

A call and return….Are you sure you didn't imprint? That's some serious shit.

I'm sure. I don't think the imprint would let me hate her this much for this long.

Well, whatever you're trying to do, just don't let it be at the expense of you. This shit will eat you alive if you let it.

Thanks.

Jake brought an image to his mind now, one that showed Grace laughing at something he said awhile back and he cringed.

She's still in there, you know.

I know. That's what he was afraid of.

October

Grace stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom and pulled on a cropped red sweatshirt and some dark wash jeans. She laced up her brown boots and pulled her messy black hair into a high ponytail. The red sweatshirt made the apples of her cheek exceptionally warm looking.

"Me. Be me." she said to herself in the mirror. "Right, totally easy. Great advice." she continued sarcastically grabbing her cell phone and shoving it into her back pocket as she bounded down the stairs.

When she looked up, she stumbled backwards falling back onto the stairs. Jacob was standing in her doorway, shirtless with steam rising off of his exposed chest from the cold rain falling in sheets outside.

"Sorry," he said with a faint smile. Grace clutched at her chest and pulled herself up.

"Fuuuuu-it's okay. What's up? I was just heading out." Grace replied, turning to walk toward the kitchen for some water just to get her gaze off of him.

"Ah, needed a shirt. Do you still keep some upstairs?" he asked evenly.

"Yeah, help yourself," Grace said, no emotion in her voice. As she moved toward the staircase, Grace beelined it for the front door to escape, but he swung around.

"Hey." She stopped and turned on her heel trying to keep her face serene.

"Yeah?"

"Have you heard from Bella?" His voice was tinged with worry, but she didn't know if that was why he was asking her that question.

"Uhhh, no not yet. She's due back in a couple of days though."

"Kay," he said, still standing there, hands on his hips.

"Anything else?" she offered.

"No, sorry I didn't...mean to hold you up," he said awkwardly, his eyes fluttering away from hers.

"Okay, see you later," she said. It took all of her energy not to sprint down the porch steps toward the treeline. As she recast and thought about how weird that completely civil, albeit totally awkward, interaction with Jake just was, her phone rang.

She saw the number and eagerly answered. Speak of the devil.

"Bella!"

"It's me," Edward said, grim.

"Edward….what's wrong?" Grace's heart dropped to her stomach and she reached out to a tree to steady herself.

"It's Bella she…" He stopped.

"Did you?" Grace was finding it hard to swallow. Did he actually change her while they were on the honeymoon and it had gone horribly wrong? Oh fuck, she was going to have to kill them after all.

"No..we're heading home early. I need you to be there when we get back." Edward said tight lipped.

"You're freaking me out, what's happened to Bella? Is she there, can I talk to her?" Grace was panicking her eyes darting around the forest, calling out for the nearest wolf.

"Just meet us at the house, please. I need your help." Edward said before abruptly ending the call. Grace hung up as her whole body shook.

"Fuck," she whispered before quickly recasting to the Cullens.

Seth crashed into the clearing she was just inhabiting as she disappeared and called out to her but only heard the birds chirping and circling above him.

Grace quickly ascended the steps of the Cullen home and as she raised her arm to knock, Carlisle was there pulling the door open. She ducked inside and looked around frantically.

"Carlisle, what's going on? Edward called," Grace said, starting to sweat a little. Alice was in the foyer now putting her hands on Grace's arms to help calm her.

"We're not sure, exactly. Edward was very vague and what we think it is might not even be possible. I'll need to see her first to understand," Carlisle said calmly though he clearly looked worried.

"What did you see?" Grace spun to Alice, "Is she alive?!" her mind was racing.

"She's alive, of course she's alive. We're just not sure what the outcome will be yet because no decisions have been made yet. They'll be home in a few hours, they just boarded their last flight." Alice tried to soothe.

Esme was there suddenly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and escorting her into the living room.

When she was settled with Esme next to her, Carlisle looked at her sternly.

"I think you should call Sam and let him know you're here."

"What why? That sounds like a really bad idea actually." Grace said, her voice still rushed.

"It would be better if he knew where you were so that you weren't hiding anything from him and to maybe also to…" he paused.

"To get in front of this," Esme concluded. Grace looked to both of them. Rosalie and Emmette entered the room now. Rosalie had her face set in a serene, determined look. Alice suddenly zoned out, seeing a vision. Jasper moved into the room to stand beside her. When she snapped from her reverie, her eyes narrowed to Rosalie who was now looking at Alice full on, no shame.

"Rosalie, why would you do something like that?!" Alice cried. "She'll die!"

Grace looked from Alice to Rosalie alarmed.

"It's not your decision, it's Bella's." Her voice was hard and she glanced at Grace momentarily. She turned and left the room, Alice going after her.

"Bella's going to die?" Grace said her eyes clouded with tears. She clenched her jaw and shook her head. She wouldn't let them kill her, no matter what happened, as she made a move to go after Rosalie, Esme stopped her.

"Rosalie isn't going anywhere. You need to call Sam."

Grace stayed in place and looked from Esme to Carlisle now. Carlisle gave her a curt nod and she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She'd need his help anyway if they were going to kill Bella. She made her way out onto the balcony that hung over the forest off of the living room. She knew they would still be able to hear her conversation, but she didn't want them to see her face.

"Sam." She said curtly when he answered.

"You okay?"

"Fine. Listen, Bella and Edward are on their way back from the honeymoon." Grace said solemnly. "I'm at the Cullen's house right now."

"Is she…" Sam said slowly.

"Not sure. I wanted to let you know."

"Can you hear Jake still?" Sam said quickly. Grace winced and concentrated. His thoughts floated into her head quickly like they'd been playing behind a door left slightly ajar. She could always mostly hear him, she just tried to tune it out so that she could give him space. It was second nature at this point though. She heard him more clearly than any member of her pack no matter how hard she practiced with the others.

She tested it still, Jacob, can you hear me?

There was hesitation, like he was thinking about not answering and then a quick, Always have.

She let out a quick breath at this and answered Sam, "Yes."

"Okay. Thank you for being honest with me."

She snapped her phone shut.

What's going on? Jake called out to her.

Bella's coming back. But it doesn't sound good. Sam's gathering everyone. I'm at the Cullen's.

She went back inside and sat on the couch, trying to keep her face smooth. "Done."

"Thank you." Carlisle said, softly.

The next few hours were spent watching Carlisle pace the living room with Esme getting up and moving things around in their places and then trying to sit back down. Alice and Rosalie hadn't returned. Jasper and Emmett were sitting over a chess board, playing back to back games.

Grace kept a line in to Jake. He presented her with memories of Bella, of her, of him, anything to keep himself, and Grace by proxy, calm. She sank herself into those memories for some solace, thankful for the distraction.

The door could be heard opening and closing downstairs and Grace got to her feet, Esme beside her. Alice and Rosalie were still missing. Edward and Bella walked into the living room, a small smile on Bella's face. Edward looked disheveled. Could a vampire look disheveled? His arm was looped around Bella protectively and his eyes were wild with fear. Carlisle was to them in a second.

"Grace!" Bella breathed, happy to see her.

She's okay. She's okay. She's okay. She's okay. Grace kept repeating in her head to Jacob showing him Bella's face as it shone before her. An audible sigh of relief sounded through his head.

Carlisle was talking low with Edward and Bella went to hug Grace. She was warm, human, Grace could clearly hear her heartbeat and it made her shiver. When she pulled back Grace was crying and Bella looked at her alarmed.

"What's wrong?" she wiped the tears falling from Grace's eyes.

"I thought...Edward said...You're okay!" Grace let out a sob and then tried pulling herself together. Bella looked over her shoulder at Edward and glared at him.

"You told her I was hurt?!" she accused.

"No." Edward said simply, his tone thick with anger. "Bella please, Carlisle needs to examine you."

"Wait what's going on?" Grace held tight to her arms looking frantically at Bella's face again. But when Bella turned to look at her, she was smiling brightly, shy even and let a hand fall to her stomach.

"This is going to sound crazy. I know it is...but Grace….I think I'm pregnant," Bella said, clear as day, happy, content, excited.

Grace looked at her wide eyed in surprise before stuttering out a, "Holy shit," and loosening her grip ever so slightly.

"Bella, please come," Edward pleaded from the doorway.

"Come with me," Bella said grabbing Grace's hand and pulling her toward the door. As she passed Edward, he looked at her with desperation and Grace felt confusion rattling through her.

Grace. Jake called out to her, calm, sure.

She's okay, I think. There's….there's something they have to figure out. Grace said, trying to cull her thoughts and not give away the whole picture.

What are they figuring out?

Grace was watching as Bella lay out on the makeshift exam table that Carlisle had set up in his study.

Grace. Jacob called out again, fiercer this time.

I don't know. But she's okay. Grace showed him Bella's human face, the bright happy smile on her face as she told her she might be pregnant with none of the dialogue.

Is she sick?! What are they figuring out?

Grace blanked him out.

Carlisle was preparing the ultrasound and Bella was cautiously rolling up her shirt. Edward stood in the doorway but would not come into the room. Grace moved toward Bella and stood next to her, taking her hand.

Carlisle worked the wand over Bella's seemingly flat stomach, scrutinizing the screen.

"Is this even possible?" Grace asked looking at Carlisle.

"There are stories, but I've never seen anything like this before. I can't see anything. It's like there's a thick protective barrier. I'm just looking for a—" he stopped short as the sound came in clear over the ultrasound—the clearly beating heart. Bella's face was awash with wonder and surprise as her eyes moved over to connect with Edward's. She let out an excited laugh and then her fact turned when she saw Edward's twisted face. Grace held tighter to Bella's hand, her eyes never straying from the machine.

"Edward," Bella pleaded. Edward shook his head and said softly.

"I won't lose you," as he turned to leave.

Grace was still in shock when a voice clearly broke through, echoing in it's anger.

ANSWER ME, GRACE ALO.

She was snapped back into focus and the clear command in Jacob's voice shook her.

Grace couldn't muster the words to tell him what was going on but she showed him the ultrasound, the beating heart, everything to try and communicate the situation.

Grace leaned down on her forearms bringing Bella's hand to her lips and holding it there as she stared at the machine. A buzzing was happening in her head, the pack in disarray at the news. She just needed it to be quiet while she figured this out.

Rosalie was standing in the room now. Carlisle gave her a stern look and shook his head, disappointed. Bella swallowed hard and gripped Grace's hand harder.

"What do we do?" Grace asked no one in particular. The looks around the room volleyed between pain, happiness, calm, and absolute uncertainty.

"I don't know what you guys are going to do, but I'm going to have a baby," Bella said to herself quietly.

It was dark before Grace left the Cullen house. Bella became glued to Rosalie after the ultrasound. Carlisle had set himself up in his office to do more research and Edward was nowhere to be found. Once she reached the edge of the forest, she quickly recast herself to Sam's house, holding a hand to her head as she came across the threshold.

Everyone was gathered around the table and Sam was leaning against the island with his arms crossed. Jacob stood up when Grace entered and no one said anything for a minute. The silence was deafening but a welcome reprieve from the buzzing going on in her head from earlier. Grace let out a slow breath and looked to Sam.

"Is she pregnant?" Sam said, hoping for a different answer. Grace nodded.

"Seems like it." Grace confirmed.

"What do we do?" Jared said, confused.

"We can't let that thing live, it goes against nature." Paul said. Grace squirmed a little bit and Jacob's eyes moved from Paul to Sam.

"It'll kill her," Jacob said.

"So what? We kill the thing but don't kill Bella?" Leah asked.

"What did Carlisle say?" Seth asked quietly. Grace looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed a hand across her eyes.

"Every Cullen except for Rosalie is against it. They want to get it out of her. But Bella is adamant about...keeping it and Rosalie is protecting her." Grace recalled the events from today, as Bella had explained to Grace why she wanted to keep the baby as if it was the easiest decision in the world and not guaranteed to kill her. Rosalie was on board but everyone else thought the same as the wolves: this thing whatever it was, was unnatural.

Jacob's face fell and Grace took an automatic step forward. She stopped herself and let Seth pull her into a brief hug.

"Sam, we can't let this thing live. I'm not super psyched about Bella dying but she's made her bed. We have a job to do, right?" Paul continued.

"It's not that easy," Grace said.

"She's right, if blondie is protecting Bella, there's no way we could even get to her without engaging the Cullens and that would end in casualties," Jacob said. Grace nodded.

"And I don't know about you guys, but I'm not interested in losing anyone. I need to figure out more about what this thing is and maybe I can convince Bella to…"

"Get rid of it," Embry said simply.

"But you don't even know how much time we have," Sam said skeptically.

"It's worth a shot if it means Bella lives," Jacob said sternly. Sam hesitated and looked at Grace for a little bit.

"Can you convince her?"

"I can try, but it's not going to happen overnight." Grace said.

"Fine, we'll run this line first and then if in two weeks we're no closer to a definitive way to solve this because Bella refuses, then we'll go from there." Sam said. Paul grumbled and Jared shook his head.

Grace looked at Jacob worriedly and he gave her a shrug.

Two weeks quickly turned into two months. Grace spent most of her days holed up in the Cullen house with Bella watching movies and talking. Edward refused to leave her alone for too long after that first day and his eyes were black as night and terrifying. The uncertainty that Bella's pregnancy brought kept everyone on edge and most of the Cullen's were skipping meals.

In the evening, she would report to Sam or send updates to Jacob through their link but for the most part, it was kind of boring. She was having a fairly normal pregnancy according to Carlisle other than the fact that he couldn't see the fetus due to the protective layer that couldn't be penetrated by an ultrasound, needle, or any x-ray. Carlisle was going off purely how Bella told him she was feeling to track the progress of her pregnancy.

Rosalie was also skipping feeds and she and Edward were getting into fights on a regular basis much to Grace's irritation.

"What about Sylvie?" Rosalie said threading a glittering button to a doll that she was making.

"I told you, I'm pretty sure it's going to be a boy," Bella said happily, putting a hand on her slowly developing baby bump. "I keep having dreams that it's a boy."

"You know they say that it's usually just the opposite of what you expect. My mom thought she was having twins, but then she had me prematurely." Grace said as she chewed on some beef jerky sticks. Bella was dipping a banana into sour cream and eating it much to everyone's disgust.

"I just have a feeling," Bella said.

"Well, we'll just get two sets of clothes, one if it's a girl and one if it's a boy. Easy!" Rosalie tittered. Edward scoffed and muttered under his breath. Rosalie immediately took the bait.

"What was that?"

"You're talking about clothing an abomination. It's ridiculous." Edward said.

"An abomination? Really?"

"Here we go," Grace sighed as she moved closer to Bella who's heart rate started to pick up with stress.

"Guys," she tried to stop them.

"When are you going to knock off this charade Rosalie? You don't care about Bella, you could care less if she died." Edward accused.

"How dare you," Rosalie spat.

Grace tried to tune them out but it was hard when Bella became wide eyed and stressed every time they went at it.

"Guys!" Grace tried again. But they continued, Rosalie hurling an insult about how terrible of an expectant father he was being and Edward instantly throwing it back that he wasn't a father to that thing.

Are they fighting again? Jake's voice warmly pulsed through her head as she leaned it on the back of the couch next to Bella.

It's all the time with these two. And it's freaking Bella out. Like yes she's pregnant with a demon spawn but she's still pregnant. I'm pretty sure stress is bad for any kind of baby.

She heard Jacob laugh at that and he showed her what he thought the demon spawn would look like. It was a grotesque twisted stunted demon with Edward's face. Grace let out a laugh and Bella turned to look at her.

"Is it Jake?" she asked. Grace nodded and showed Jacob Bella's face. Grace enjoyed the warmth that flowed through Jacob's consciousness as he looked at her.

She looks good. Are we sure this thing is gonna kill her?

Honestly, I have no idea. She seems super healthy, but I'm not holding my breath.

This was how Jacob and Grace often talked now. Their shared consciousness only got stronger after Jacob returned from his time away from her and so they used it all the time. Grace appreciated the company and Jacob didn't seem to mind, seeing it as a necessity to stay updated on Bella's progress. He couldn't bring himself to see her in person just yet. Grace used his mind as a reprieve from the constant tension at the Cullen house, often letting her mind drift in and out of his serene thoughts. He showed her La Push, laughed as Quil stumbled on a loose rock and bumped into Embry, thought about sleep, and sometimes, just for her benefit, he'd think about the cove in front of her home, the waves gently lapping onto shore, touching her feet, a strong hand reaching out to brush the hair back from face before the image would go black.

As Jacob ran through the thick of the forest, the light casting cool shadows across the floor, Grace settled into his consciousness and drifted off to sleep.