"I feel an army in my fist." ― Friedrich von Schiller

With rage and terror crawling up my spine, I barge into the Swan house, pushing the stone-cold leech to the side. I hear her huff behind me, a little surprised I have the strength to move her. But I don't care. Nothing in me burns as much as the desire to see the one who carries my child to make sure she is alright.

Bella sits swaddled by a blanket on the couch, clearly having been crying. Her wide, brown eyes look up at me. Underneath her eyes, the already puffy red skin seems to get only more irritated as she wipes at her face.

"What's wrong?" I say.

She shakes her head.

"What did you do to her?" I turn to the unwelcome visitor hovering behind me.

"I didn't do anything," the blonde vampire snarls.

"It's okay, Sam," Bella says. "Rosalie hasn't done anything."

I don't want to acknowledge Rosalie right now. Sitting next to Bella is the only thing I seem capable of doing at the moment.

My hand instinctively reaches out to her, but the picture I've been holding drops and we both glance downward at it. My breath is stolen once again.

"So you did see it," Bella breathes out a shaky sigh.

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. All of the desperation I had felt minutes ago to tell her I want this baby and will never leave either of them still throbs inside of me, but the panic of the situation prevents me from saying anything. There are a million things to say, the onlooker audience be damned, but my stomach coils in shame. It feels as if anything I say wouldn't be enough.

So I just nod at her.

I can see her eyes cast downward.

Fuck, no. I don't want her thinking I don't want this, that I'm not as invested as she is. I should have studied poetry harder in high school. Maybe I'd know the right words then.

"I'm glad," I finally make myself choke out, "that everything's healthy."

Bella looks back up at me through watery eyes and gives a small smile. I hope she knows that I do mean what I say. That I'll walk to the ends of the earth if it means keeping them happy and healthy.

"Please tell me what happened," I say. "I want to help."

More emotions shift on her face. She looks at the blonde leech still frowning in the corner of her house.

"They're all coming back," she chokes on a sob.

Oh.

Oh.

I think of the single vampire who I watched from a distance while all the others had partners. I think of hearing that he became infatuated with a human girl and the natural disgust that came from that. Most of all, I think of Bella curled up on the forest floor, abandoned and heartbroken, and how one look at her changed my world forever. No, nope. They cannot come back.

I stand back up to face Rosalie and snarl, "Tell them to turn around."

"It isn't my choice," she hisses, then she crosses her arms over her chest. "I hear you're having a vampire problem anyway."

"My pack is more than capable of taking her on," I take another step towards the blonde.

"Really?" she asks devoid of emotion.

My fists instinctively curl, "The more vampires in the area, the more of us will turn. We will chase your little group out."

This time she laughs with meaning. My whole body lurches backward an inch hearing her obvious doubt. Suddenly, I remember what Bella told me right after we faced Victoria outside of the Cullens' house. The mind-reader, the future-teller. Defeating them would be nearly impossible. But I won't not try for her sake.

Bile rises to my throat. I'm forced to swallow it down.

"And yet it's our little group that you ancestors made a pact with," Rosalie states.

"That can be easily undone," I growl. I don't even picture the disappointment Billy might feel towards me if I did this, only the hurt still painfully present on Bella's face. "I don't want him going near her."

"Neither do I," she snarls.

I take a step back from her and look her over more closely from head to toe. She seems to be telling the truth, even if her clearly expensive outfit, made of cashmere and whatever, would generally imply she doesn't care about anything other than herself. Maybe vampires have to play into stereotypes too.

Her gold eyes shift to look over at Bella and she sighs, "I never wanted him to get involved with a human." But then she glances back over at me with another condescending frown. "What's your excuse, dog?"

I laugh because it's easier than exploding. If only you knew, leech.

She flicks golden curls off her shoulder as she stares me down, "I've heard the stories from Carlisle. So many accidental maulings. Your kind is rather impulsive, don't you think?"

I take two large steps near her, ready to pound into her with my balled-up fists. She remains still as a concrete wall. Well, I can easily slam the force of a speeding car into her. My breath hot and heavy has to be hitting her in the face now. She doesn't say anything about it, but my nerves sizzle at the notion that if she's looking for a fight, she's going to get one.

"Are you certain you're really fit to be a father?" she probes.

I glare at her, refusing to raise my voice again. Suppose it doesn't really matter if I'm ready or not. Bella and that baby are mine. Not hers, not fucking Edward Cullen's. They are mine.

I'm almost ready to pounce. I don't want to phase in Bella's house, but if it will get this demon out and protect my imprint, I will do just about anything.

"Rosalie," Bella moans. "Please."

Glancing back at her, I can immediately tell the tension has only worsened her state. Worry sears through me. I know from reading something somewhere that pregnant women need to avoid stress. I swallow and look back at the vampire one more time. It's not worth it.

"Call them off," I repeat.

Rosalie rolls her eyes again, "Not possible. Alice has made it very clear that it's us Victoria is looking for. But you already knew that. Or do you want more people to die?"

"Don't think I haven't put it together," I growl back. "The leech wants to kill Bella in front of you for revenge. She would have been much safer if you stayed the fuck away."

Bella whimpers from the couch. Instinct tells me to go over to her, but I try to keep still.

"You're going to be safe," Rosalie says to her, giving me an evil-side eye as she does so. "No one will let her get near you."

"I'll die to ensure it if I have to," I add. I won't let this vampire outdo me in terms of the effort we're willing to put in for Bella. I don't believe a single soul on this Earth could come close to what I'm willing to do for her.

Her eyes widen considerably.

"So will I," Rosalie calmly states.

We both look at her with our jaws fallen open. I glue mine shut quickly, but Bella begins to silently cry once more. I instantly know what she's feeling: she doesn't want people to die for her. I'd like to tell her that won't happen either, but I can't promise it.

"There's only one thing I've truly wanted in my life," Rosalie looks at us both with finally another emotion besides disdain. She looks at Bella, but not at her face. She looks at Bella's abdomen obscured by Bella's knees still being pressed up to her chest. But I understand the meaning regardless. "So I won't let Victoria take it away from you. At any cost."

At this point, the burning to reach for Bella is too intense to ignore. I sit back down on the couch with her and would definitely have reached for her hand if it wasn't buried underneath the blanket. I pick up the ultrasound picture I left on the edge of Bella's blanket. Again, my thumb traces over the baby currently growing within the woman I care most about. If someone else is willing to die for this miracle, then how can I reasonably argue against that?

"September 23rd," I say. My eyebrows furrow together as the meaning hits me. I swallow as the date suddenly means so much more to me. When did I ever really pay attention to September before recently? Now I know it's both her birthday and the month my child will enter into this world. The thought makes me dizzy. It's April now. I know better than to assume we have a lot of time to prepare. The millions of things babies need run through my head.

Bella smiles softly again, wipes away a tear falling out of the corner of her eye.

"You said she remembered something," I snap my head back up at Rosalie, who immediately glances at Bella, a panicked look growing on her face.

Rosalie presses her lips together.

"Sam," Bella's voice is hoarse. "I will tell you later. I just can't right now, okay?"

I might have fought and insisted I know right now if not for the pain apparent in Bella's eyes. My stomach sinks. Something is going on, but if she's asking for time, I won't deny that. Her physical safety doesn't appear to be threatened, or else I might really demand to know right away. Instead, all I can see is emotional exhaustion. The desire to not make it any worse for her wins out inside of me.

"Alright," I relent.

Rosalie rushes me out of the house with barely enough time to ask when I can see Bella next. She's starting school again the next day and sometimes has to work at some hardware store. I wanted to tell her not to force herself to work, I've got some money saved up, but the lack of time to tell her and also the inkling that Bella won't like being told what to do like this stops me.

I'm haunted by the ghostly look Rosalie gives Bella as she finally closes the door on me.

I might stand there for another two minutes, fists balled up and breathing heavy. I stare at this door I had once worked on so long ago, I stare at the wall paneling and remember accidentally letting a nail pierce right through my skin. I lied to Bella the first time we talked. The memory sours my mood considerably. I don't want to lie anymore.

But given how terrible she just looked, I can't bring myself to make it worse by telling her of the imprint.

The walk home is tortuous. I could phase and run back in minutes, but my mind's too empty to focus on keeping the others out of my thoughts.

I do know where I need to go, however. The Black house looks as decrepit as ever. It matches my mood exactly.

"We've got a problem," I announce to Billy as soon as he lets me into his house. I see Jacob straighten up at my presence, though his usual expression of antipathy is present. He's not going to like to hear what I have to say either. "The Cullens are coming back."

No one says anything for a second, but that isn't long enough. Jacob shoots up from the table, scratching the wooden chair harshly on the ground as he does so. His father winces. I know the look, it's all rage.

"You can't be serious," he bellows. He looks at his father with exasperation. Then he looks back at me to see if I'm joking. "You can't allow that freak to get near her."

I ignore him, if only because the same thoughts with no clear solutions have been running around in my mind. "One is already here."

"Shit," Billy curses. He wheels away from his spot on the table to reveal an elderly, crouched man sitting, half-obscured due to the weak kitchen lights. Old Quil. "There's another issue too, son."

The old man regards us with withered pain and wisdom in his eyes, "My grandson's time is fast approaching."

I lick my lips. My first, horrible, instinct is to feel that an additional member isn't a terrible thing. There's another person to fight off the Cullens if needed, and Victoria for certain. Yet, the pain and confusion that goes into this process severs another piece of me each time I have to see it.

"Alright, we'll set up shifts for the pack to watch him, try to delay it for as long as possible."

"You didn't do that for me," Jacob sneers.

I look at him and for a long time in a while, feel something other than annoyance. One day I'm going to have a child of my own who will demand I learn and improve. My stomach drops remembering Jacob's first phasing. The words scratch my throat, "You're right. I was wrong in my approach towards you. I hope you can accept my apology."

Jacob's eyes almost bulge out of his head in shock. He tries to shake himself back together. I can tell he's suspicious of my words, but it's worth it to say them anyway.

The four of us remain silent. It would be so easy to use this chance to tell them about Bella's condition, but I would be risking a major breakdown from Jacob. And something else tells me I need to at least talk to her about how we want to tell people anyway. My skin bubbles at the notion we will get to make decisions together like this for at least the next eighteen years. Maybe it'll be enough to be adjacent to

I excuse myself from the Black house. The sun finally dips below the horizon and exhaustion seeps into every bone. Only this morning was I explaining to the pack the need to distract Victoria, now our resources will be split further monitoring Quil. At least I can do that part.

At night when it takes me hours to sleep, I dream of many children surrounding me. All with Bella's eyes. For a moment, the happiness of this moment exceeds everything I've felt in the last five years. I want to take them all by the hand and hug them, and be with their mother forever. But Edward Cullen appears and he stills my children away. I wake up covered in sweat, a rage that takes fifteen minutes to calm down from.

But that same rage is repeated when I announce to the pack that the Cullens are coming back, especially with the intent to help protect Bella and kill Victoria.

Everyone yells at once.

"What the fuck!"

"More leeches?"

"Are they for real! We don't need them!"

"We'll kill them all when they get here."

I stop being able to recognize any individual words. The chaos lasts too long and I get easily annoyed these days.

"Silence," I tell them. "We're not going to fight the Cullens right now. What good will that do?"

Paul pipes up, "Easy, it'll make more dead leeches."

"No," I answer. "We would be risking our pack when Victoria is still out there. Does anyone really think we can fight the Cullens without losing one of our own? No? Then we're going to at least listen to what they say. Our odds might be better this way."

"I don't like this," Embry mumbles.

"Neither do I," I respond. "But this is the best plan for now. And listen up, we've got to start watching Quil too."

I explain his upcoming transition and the desire to hold back on it for now. Too many things are happening at once. Jacob and Embry admit that they cut off contact with Quil since he started asking too many questions and that likely exasperated his anger. I don't have it in me to chastise them. Lord knows what that would lead to with Leah around. Instead, I make sure neither of them is left with watching Quil as accidentally seeing those two may make him turn quicker. No one disagrees with my orders.

The others phase and run off into the forest, which seems to only get greener with each passing day. The upcoming summer seems to contradict the internal darkness still within me.

Leah pulls me aside, "Are you sure this is good for her?"

I shake my head, "Something's happened to her, but I don't know what. Regardless, one of them is with her now. Any fighting will just put more stress on her."

She seems to accept that notion.

So all I can do now is wait. It drives me insane. I've gotten used to panicking about Bella. It lives inside of me now. But something else takes hold. Panic about both Bella and the baby. Jared can detect the shift in me. It's been always Jared, with an imprint of his own who has been the most suspicious about how unaffected I've been about Bella. So I put him in the group to watch for Victoria while Seth and I monitor Quil from a distance.

It's late Tuesday afternoon when the phone finally rings. I shoot up from the couch to answer. Thankfully my assumption that she'd most likely call after her classes ended was right. I couldn't bear to miss her again.

"Hi, Sam," Bella's voice whispers into the phone. I'd probably have to strain to hear her if I wasn't who I am. I wonder if she knows the extent of what I'm capable of. I wonder if she'd stick around if she did.

"How are you?" I rush out. I don't even attempt to hide the worry caused by two days of simmering panic. "Is everything okay?"

She laughs, drying, "Okay for now. Rosalie is willing to drop me off at some boundary line if you can pick me up…"

I cut her off, "I'll be there, when?"

It's a mystery how Rosalie Cullen was able to procure a luxury car in the couple of days since I last saw them. She and Bella step out from a Mercedes. While my imprint wears her usual jean and jacket attire, the vampire is once again dressed extravagantly in all white. It does nothing to distract from the scent of death they always release.

Bella and Rosalie talk to each other and I decide not to listen to their conversation out of respect. It probably won't be the last I see of the blond vampire tonight. I'd be too stupid to hope Bella can stay the night, despite what kind of thoughts that elicits from me.

"Ah, look who's finally wearing a shirt," Rosalie mutters, acknowledging me in a condescending tone once again. I'm beginning to realize this might be her personality. Colder than Leah and hopefully less prone to violent outbursts.

I can't help but hug Bella when she gets near. Though there are many layers of clothing between us, the feeling of something round ghosts against my skin where Bella's belly lies. I want nothing more than to run my hand over it to see.

"They're going to be here soon. Tomorrow night," she whispers.

I put my hand on the small of her back and guide her to my vehicle. Looking over at Rosalie from behind my shoulder one last time, I wonder what sort of thoughts are happening behind those piercing yellow eyes. Condemnation, certainly.

"You brought your van," Bella laughs with a strange undercurrent.

"Did you want me to carry you?" I ask, perplexed.

"No," she blushes. "I've just never seen your wolf."

Some strange emotion sears through me as I sit in the driver's side and turn the ignition on. Bella shifts in her seat and I can't help glancing down at her abdomen again. The urge to touch her still burns.

Instead, I say: "You have. In the clearing when the first vampire came."

Her lips form into an 'o' but she doesn't comment. I won't lie and say that doesn't hurt me at least a little. Maybe I do look the scariest being all black. But with being the most savage-looking, maybe I am capable of protecting her the most.

She's been inside my house many times now, but I always feel like it's still not worthy of her. The panicked cleaning I did hours ago again doesn't feel like enough. Bella never comments on any of my possessions. I want nothing more than to let her decorate this house to how she feels fit.

I offer her something to drink, but she declines. I can see the way she shifts her weight back and forth on her feet that she's anxious. So I guide her to my couch, letting her sit on one end instead of crushing her next to me.

"I know I can't ask this of you, but please don't be angry," she says, eyes that refuse to look at mine.

"I won't be angry at you," I say. I mean it. I think Bella could make terrible mistakes in life, but none of them would change how I feel about her. And truthfully, I know her enough to believe she would never do anything evil on purpose.

But I can see shame when it's in front of me. The universe knows I've felt that inside me for so long. She's afraid. Afraid of judgment. I want so desperately to tell her that I won't judge her at all. I've seen her at a pretty low place, surely what she tells me now can't be worse.

"They messed with my mind," Bella admits, her voice a small whisper.

Messed with your mind?

"Why?" I ask. I shake my head, feeling a numbness come on. "How?"

Messed with your mind…of course, they messed with your mind, they're vampires. And yet, I can't stop the sinking feeling at the bottom of my stomach. Something isn't right about what she's saying. My stomach flips, nausea I normally never feel crashes over me. I don't know if I want to know this. I don't think I do at all.

She tells me. She tells me of garbled memories I can barely understand. But the meaning seeps through. The violation that has been done to her…It's a kind of rage I've never known before.

"Sam, stop," Bella's voice sings through the air.

I suddenly realize what my body is doing, though I am now completely powerless to stop it. All of me shakes violently, worse than I've ever felt before. I've backed myself into a corner, trying to put as much distance as I can between us. The wall shakes, but Bella approaches anyway. No, no, I need her to leave. She's not safe now. I'm going to destroy something. I am going to annihilate it.

Sam, stop.

Oh, I would if I could. The wolf inside me aches to break through. It aches to sink its teeth in vampire concrete and pull them apart limb by limb. I ache to light them on fire, reduce them to nothing more sand, and still far more than they are worth. And since they aren't here, I'm going to go outside and kill something. It will be practice for when they get here and face their deaths.

"Get out of here," I hiss at her with my eyelids squeezed shut. I don't even know if I can bear to look at her face right now as she sees me teeter on the edge of becoming a monster. Of revealing the monster that always lives inside. "I don't want you to see this."

"No," she states firmly.

My vision swarms, but I feel her hand wrap around mine. It's the only part of my body that instantly stops shaking. It's still too dangerous. I'm not going to risk her while I'm in this state. Not when the desire to break Cullen's marble neck screeches through me. Previous plans be damned, he is going to be personally murdered by me.

But Bella pulls me towards herself, laying my hand flat across her abdomen.

And I feel it.

The soft, round swell, somehow a lot bigger than I anticipated.

I stop breathing. I stop moving altogether.

My hand covers all of her stomach now, but it won't for very long. The swirling of life beneath my fingertips. Its heartbeat is the only thing I can hear as my eardrums slowly stop pounding. My knees buckle. I almost want to collapse in front of her and press my ear into her side. Anything, anything to feel more.

I circle my other hand around her waist and pull her closer to me. A soft yelp from her hardly registers to me. Only the need to claim and defend takes over. But I can't move anymore. I can't do anything. My mind ceases to even run.

Bella reaches up and presses her lips to mine.

If possible, my body would freeze even more. Though the brief contact ignites me, the wrath still simmering beneath

It lasts for only a second, not long enough for me to close my eyes and focus on her soft skin pressing into me. I want more.

I stare down at her, confused.

"It's yours," Bella echoes the words to me said between us a week ago. I feel just as uncertain then that something like this could ever belong to me. Something so small and so perfect. I'm still perplexed by the very idea that the universe deems Bella to belong to me either. But as I face her now, I know it's the other way. I belong to her, to them.

I nod, still transfixed on her growing body.

"Whatever has happened to me, won't change that," she whispers. "And I'd like it if you wanted to be there."

She bits her bottom lip and lets a curtain of her dark hair wash over her face. She's embarrassed.

"I want to be there," my voice scratchy, I try to look at her but my eyes water before I can stop it. I can't fully articulate just how much I want to be there, for both of them. "But what about what happened to you?"

"I'll deal with it," she says, rubbing at her running nose. I focus on her more, has she been crying too? My own cheeks feel damp and my throat hoarse.

"You can talk to me," I whisper, holding her gaze. Anything you need, anything.

She nods.

"I just don't want to see him. The last time I saw him, he said he didn't want me." her voice almost breaks.

I want you, I think. Is this the right moment to say that? I grab ahold of her hand, "Let me be there with you."

She shakes her head, "I don't think he'll allow it. He knows to come to my room at night when no one else but me is there."

Another blast of fury goes through me. I keep myself still so as not to crush her hand. The thoughts of how this despicable being could invade her privacy like that cloud my mind. In order to not break in half, I rub Bella's hand with my thumb, trying to give her a single piece of comfort even if I don't feel it myself.

"Then I'll stay with you at night," I swear. "Every night if needed."

Bella rubs her eyes and sniffles, "I'll have to face him eventually."

"He's going to have to face me eventually," I counter.

She shakes her head, "It's not your responsibility, Sam."

"It is," I nearly growl.

"Rosalie doesn't want him to see me either," she adds. "But they're all coming here for me."

"You still don't have to," I say.

I begin to think of the other two vampires Bella mentioned that aided in her torture. Even with whatever special powers they have, I'll find a way to make them suffer for what they did. While the news from Bella that their own family is ostracizing them is good to hear, it's nowhere near enough.

Bella sways on her feet a bit. I catch her on the arm and hold her steady, feeling her fast heartbeat through her skin. I focus on the baby's heartbeat again too. It's always fast. I wonder if that's normal.

"Are you feeling sick?" I ask, the words tightening in my throat. "Have you felt sick a lot?"

She smiles, "Yeah, I think I threw up a lot. I was really dumb for not figuring it out sooner. But I don't feel nauseous anymore. Just dizzy when I don't eat. I'm actually hungry all the time now."

Bella laughs and it's a glorious sound. It's glorious because there's no hint of pain anymore. There's even a tone that suggests she's not at all upset by the symptoms her condition causes. It's a sound I'd like to hear until my dying breath.

"I can make you something."

I glance over at my kitchen. I'm not an amazing cook by any means, but I know enough recipes to keep myself from starving. And that happens to require quite a large grocery bill. There's plenty to spare for her. Even if there wasn't, I'd happily go hungry.

She blushes and shakes her head, "I'm pretty sure Rosalie wants to put me on a special diet."

"Forget that," I tell her. "Eat what you want."

Still, she refuses, mentions something about just wanting unhealthy food now anyway. I try to think of any fast food places near her, but my mind goes blank. Maybe the La Push Diner? In the end, all I can convince her to do is drink more water. She seems embarrassed enough to do just that in front of me.

"We should talk," I start to ramble, "about plans for the future…"

"Don't you dare offer to marry me," she warns.

I blink. Isn't that the right thing to do?

She laughs without humor, "I mean, I don't even know if you like me." The edge of her voice is frayed with underlying nerves.

"I do like you," I say immediately.

Her cheeks gain color and she turns away, "You know what I mean."

"Bella," I want to reach out and clutch her hand, "if I didn't like you, we wouldn't be in this situation now."

She looks toward the ground and I can hear the nervousness in her voice growing stronger, "You've never kissed me first."

Immediately, I stand up taller. I take a step forward and our chests press together, despite her being at least a foot shorter. She shivers as my warmth extends around her. Sometimes I forget how hot I am, but I definitely don't now.

"Do you want me to?"

Her eyes bat close and her mouth parts open. I realize this isn't a chance I'm willing to give up. Not when she's so close, and asking, and safe, for now. I can feel whatever magic the imprint is comprised of humming around us, beckoning me even closer.

I brush the hair off her cheeks and tilt her head upward to meet me. Her feet press upwards off the ground naturally. My arms snake around her waist until I pull us close enough that our lips finally touch.

I had the intention to start off lightly, but my body isn't paralyzed like it was for the first kiss this night. So I grab her tighter and let my lips claim hers like they were always meant to. Like how the universe itself decided we complete each other in a way I could never have anticipated yet now realize with certainty. I think I have fought so long against the acceptance of this fact, but its truth pierces me right through the chest. I don't know how to let her go.

She moans into my mouth and the sound goes straight to my cock. This isn't the time, I tell myself. But the way her hips grind against mine makes it very difficult for my body to accept that notion.

We kiss until I feel her knees go weak, lending her only an ounce of the strength inside me to lift her an inch off the floor. I'm still careful to not crush the growing life between us. The need for more still beats inside me.

She pulls back from me and I fight to keep the sigh of disappointment inside of me.

"Rosalie's waiting," she whispers.

"Mm," I nod.

I want to tell her that maybe Rosalie can wait a bit longer, but Bella's feet fall back on the ground, forcing me to lessen my hold on her waist.

"Sam," she looks up at me. My name on her puffy lips only makes my body react harder. "Thank you for understanding."

The reminder of her pain cuts through my excited mood. I don't tell her that I don't really understand. That her desire to protect the rest of the Cullens may be honorable, but far from what they deserve. And I especially won't tell her that if I get a chance to kill Edward Cullen, I'm going to take it.

"Please be safe," I tell her instead.

She watches my gaze fall to her stomach and laughs, "Rosalie isn't going to let me out of her sight now that I'm even more fragile."

"Maybe that's a good thing," I sigh, hating to give the vampire any leeway. But I can't protect Bella all the time and also take care of the pack. Quil's situation comes to mind. It seems as if Rosalie cares enough about what happened to not allow the other leeches to hurt my imprint any worse.

Bella just rolls her eyes at me. The way her nose crinkles as she almost smiles makes me want to kiss her again. Maybe she wouldn't be averse to that even, but there's no telling if I'd be able to stop.

I lead her back out to the same place I picked her up from, with Rosalie seemingly not moving an inch the entire time. God, vampires are such freaks. Perhaps a tad hypocritical to say coming from someone like myself, but they are our natural enemy. I can be forgiven in this one instance.

"We still need to talk about, uh, baby things sometime," I tell her as a goodbye.

Her expression turns into a frown, "Let me tell Jake and my dad. You can tell anyone else."

I nod, "There are other things to decide too."

"I know, I just need a minute, for now," she sighs.

Realizing that we've been holding hands since I helped her out of the van again, I sadly have to drop her warmth and let her find her way back to her vampire protector. She looks at me with those large, beautiful eyes and vanishes back inside Rosalie's expensive car.

I let the hot water burn me in the shower at night. My cock still throbs from Bella's touch, but my fists ball together at the thought of Edward Cullen and the others. It makes for an excruciating juxtaposition.

The longer I stand here while the steam burns my eyes, the more I decide that something has to be done for Bella. For justice that she's entitled to. For the monster that left her devastated and broken on the forest floor.

So I try to think, I try to plot and plan in any way I can before the Cullens arrive. Before hell breaks loose even further.

A/N: So so sorry this took me much longer than anticipated to post! The end of the semester hit me a lot harder than I thought. I had to write a ten page paper sooner than I realized, so that sucked hahahah. Hopefully the kisses in this chapter made up for the wait!

Wishing everyone a lovely holiday season if I don't update again before Christmas!