Jacob PoV

I didn't know how many vampires I had already killed or how long this battle had already lasted. It seemed like for every vampire I killed, two new ones were showing up, fangs bared, fingers turned to claws, ready to rip me apart. I killed them mercilessly. Yes, they looked like kids, but they were everything but that. They were killing machines, half-crazy with bloodlust. They had already killed countless humans and would kill countless more if we didn't stop them.

At my side saw Embry fighting a black skinned female vampire who had tattoos all over her body and a lot of piercings through her nose and face. Embry was strong but she was fast and managed to jump on his back and cling her fingers deep into his flesh. Embry yelped in pain and tried furiously to get her off his back. I finished my vampire by ripping out his throat before I ran to help Embry. I managed to grab her leg with my teeth and nearly tore it in two in the attempt to get her off. I succeeded but only slightly. I threw her to the ground and let Embry do the rest while I looked around the battlefield. Everyone was fighting bravely, and it seemed like we really had a chance to win. But I couldn't enjoy the victory, not yet. I knew I had to find Victoria. She was the one responsible for this and it would only truly end when she was dead. She couldn't escape again, or she would simply find another way of hurting Bella.

This time, she would die.

But no matter how hard I looked, there was no sign of bright red hair amongst all this black, blond, and brown. Then a thought reached my mind.

Jacob... It was Seth and he sounded so weak that my heart stopped for a minute.

Seth? Where are you? What happened? I was already running at full speed towards the spot where Carlisle had left Bella, at a safe distance with Leah and Seth guarding her.

Victoria... Bella...Then his voice disappeared. I doubled my running speed. I had to get there, quickly. Vampires stood in my way, attacked me but I was too worried to pay them any attention. I tackled them down with my body or tore out limbs, arms and legs or even throats all the while running towards Bella.

At the edge of the battlefield, I stopped.

Horror overcame me as I took in the scene in front of me. Leah lying down in the snow, unmoving. A few feet farther, her brother, side by side with a dead vampire girl with red hair. But this wasn't Victoria...

Because Victoria was standing even farther away, looking triumphantly at something in her outstretched hand. Something small, fragile. Something with pale skin and brown hair.

My heart pounded so fast, it felt like it would rip right through my chest.

No!

Anger rose in my body, adrenaline flushed and suddenly I could move again. With a deadly growl I sped forward, running at full speed towards Victoria with only one thought dominating my mind.

Kill her!

My wolf growled and my human side screamed, my vision turned red and in my mind, I was already tearing every limb from her body before I killed her, ripping her head right off her shoulders.

I didn't see the blond vampire until it was too late. I saw only a flash of yellow before something hit me hard and made me fall to the ground. I yelped and tried to stand up but then something went around my throat and began choking me. With my paws I tried to reach the vampire, tear him down. I must have hit something because someone cursed loudly and suddenly the steel grip around my throat was gone. I wanted to run to Victoria again, who had by now thrown Bella a few feet away and looked at me with a nasty grin on her face. "Two for one I see... What a sweet, sweet day." She sounded almost like a little girl opening her Christmas presents. "Take this as a warning, dog. No one messes with me."

I got ready to jump, rip that damn smile off her face but then this annoying blond vampire kid was at me again. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Victoria turning and moving away and I growled. She couldn't escape. She had to pay for everything she did! I fought hard but this little kid was so fast...

Suddenly, Victoria stopped because something was blocking her way. No, someone.

I couldn't see clear enough to make out who it was but whoever this mysterious stranger might be, he had come at the exactly right time. Victoria called something and then she attacked, hands outstretched, fangs bared.

I didn't see the fight because I was busy with my own, but I hoped the stranger killed Victoria once and for all.

Finally, I could grab the bastard's head and with a quick turn of my head broke his neck. His body stilled immediately. Dark cracks appeared on his like a stone that had dropped from a great height. Just for good measure, I turned my head again and separated his head clean from his body.

Only then I allowed myself to take a few quick breaths before I ran towards the spot where Victoria had thrown Bella. The figure was kneeling in the snow beside her, one pale hand on her forehead the other at her chest. Victoria lay dead behind him, her head next to her body.

My wolf snarled and growled. It wanted to rip this stranger apart, get him away from Bella, my Bella. I was about to fight him too, everything to keep Bella save from the monsters that threatened her when the person suddenly turned its head towards me.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

I knew this face.

I would have recognised it anywhere.

The man who had nearly broken Bella and taken her away from me.

The one man I had hoped to never see again.

Edward.