AN:Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited! It's people like you that make writing a joy, please continue to do so! To the couple of people who were upset that I left it on a cliffhanger- chill out guys, the story has not been marked as complete and still has a good amount left to go, I'm not going to end the story on a cliffhanger. I hope everyone enjoys the next chapter and that it helps you if you're quarantined during this pandemic. Stay safe everybody!

Jacob POV

I could feel the trembling in my limbs but I couldn't bring myself to get away from the situation, there is no way that I heard Bella correctly. She couldn't be serious- there's no way her and Edward could have sex. He'd kill her! I felt the trembling getting stronger and stronger but I pushed it down.

'That's a sick joke Bella, he will kill you.' I said to her feeling every single part of my body shaking.

'No he won't Jacob, he would never hurt me.' Bella said to me, trying to calm me down but it had the opposite effect. Bella is not a stupid girl, or at least I never thought she was until now. There's no way that she believed that Edward would be able to control himself, if she did then she was an idiot.

'He won't be able to control himself Bella! HE WILL KILL YOU!' I screamed at her and realized too late that I was the one who had lost control. I had wanted to get my point across so badly that I had ignored my own warning signs that I was getting too close to losing it. She realized it the same time as I did and I saw her turn to run away from me but slowly, too slowly.

I felt the shudder ripple through me signalling the start of the transition, I couldn't do anything to stop it. I quickly felt myself expand beyond the size of my clothing and felt it rip to shreds around me. It was as if it happened in slow motion, I had no control over my transition. My arm reached out but as it reached forward the arm stretched and expanded growing fur, fingers shrinking and nails extending outwards.

Bella had just barely managed to turn by the time my arm came down on her back by her right shoulder. She called out as my claws raked a path from her shoulder, down the back of her right arm then curved across her back as she turned and fell cleaving a ragged path on an angle across her back down to her left hip.

As I landed on all fours heaving with gasps I watched her fall and land on her stomach soundlessly. I watched briefly as the blood pooled on her back and started to pour off of her right upper arm saturating the sand below her. I was completely frozen just watching the blood pooling on and around her, small rivulets of blood wearing their tracks through the sand. After what felt like an eternity I turned and ran knowing that I had nothing to offer, no way to help her. I would only cause more damage.

I knew that in the state I was in there was no way that I could transition back to my human form; I just had to hope I could contact someone that could help her before it was too late. I couldn't believe what I had done, my mind was seized with panic and I wasn't thinking clearly. I had hurt the person that I loved most in the world and just left her bleeding in the sand, possibly leaving her to die. I called out in my mind, for someone- anyone to hear me. The one time I longed for that link that connected all of us, that I yearned for the contact in my mind only silence greeted me.

There was no one, nothing; in all the time since I had first transitioned I had never been alone in my head when I was a wolf. Now, inexplicably I was the only person in wolf form with no one to share in my grief. My paws pounded the ground spraying sand all around me as I ran. I had never been so lost, as I ran I threw my head back and a long and mournful howl ripped its way out of my throat and I hoped that someone would hear my cry for help.

I'm sorry Bella.

Bella POV

I must have blacked out, for when I woke I first realized that I was face down in the sand arms on either side of my head as if I had tried to break my fall. I lay there for a few minutes struggling to remember what brought me to be here- lying face down on the beach. I was fully clothed so I wasn't here to swim, and wasn't I with somebody? My head didn't seem to be working quite right; my thoughts were slower and more sluggish than normal. I decided that sitting up would be a great first step in deciphering my situation.

I went to slide my hands to either side of my body to push myself up and felt two things at once. First, the movement had triggered a searing pain that I felt first in my right shoulder and then the pain exploded across my back taking my breath away and knocking me back to the ground. The second thing I felt as the pain knocked me flat was that my right arm hadn't fully cooperated when I tried to use it to push myself up. After a few minutes of lying still panting through the pain I opened my eyes to look at my right arm.

From the position I was in I had a partial view of my upper arm and the first thing I noticed was the blood. It saturated the sweater I was wearing; the once white material was now crimson and ripped to tatters. Judging by the cool breeze on my searing back I assumed that my back looked much the same as my arm and I struggled to remember what had happened.

Edward was hunting. I was at work… it was raining and Mrs. Newton sent me home early. Instead of going home I went to… went… to… My brain struggled to work past the pain and remember the sequence of events that led me to this point. Think, Bella. You left work and it was raining, it was raining and you drove to… La Push! You went to see Jacob and you were cold and wet and he dried your clothes and warmed you up. Jacob… where is Jacob? I lifted my head to glance around me and I was well and truly alone.

The sky still swirled with grey and white like it was threatening to open again at any point. 'Jacob?' I said weakly, my voice raw and weak from blood loss. There was no response. I warmed up and it stopped raining. I laid my head back on the soft sand and continued trying to retrace my steps. We went outside for a walk, we walked on the beach. Jacob… Jacob got mad. He got mad about me and Edward, tried to convince me to be with him and I turned him down. I told him I could have a normal honeymoon and he… and he…

'Jacob…' I whispered aloud, this time in realization and not because I was calling him. Jacob did this to me. Memories flashed back to me, Jacob shaking, Jacob yelling, Jacob losing control. Me: turning, trying to run- but too late, far too late. I gave a shuddering sigh and closed my eyes steeling myself for what I must do. Jacob had done this to me and left me here, I was on the pack's land so even Edward couldn't come here to save me.

Crap, Edward. I thought. Alice couldn't have seen what happened to me but I knew that she would see the aftermath and she would immediately call Edward if not come here herself. I knew one or multiple Cullen's would soon be breaking the treaty to come to my aid, I also knew that this could trigger a war, a war that would certainly have casualties. It was with this thought that I finally steeled myself to force myself to my feet.

Again I pulled my left arm underneath me fully and pulled my right arm as far as it would come ignoring the pain. You've had worse, you've had worse. I repeated to myself thinking of the day in Phoenix that James had almost killed me. A part of me thought though: But have you? Aside from the vampire bite you probably would have survived the encounter. Even if you had been left for hours without help, you had the Cullen's for help. You wouldn't have bled out on that dance studio floor, you could bleed out now.

'Shut up.' I told my inner thoughts and pulled my knees underneath me to help my arms. The pain in my back got exponentially worse as the ravaged skin was pulled and stretched and I felt a new pain in my left hip. I rode the wave of the pain and didn't let it knock me back down knowing that would make it worse. I thought idly to myself What happened to going into shock and not feeling anything?

I figured that maybe I had slept through that part of being horribly injured but as I looked around I realized that the light in the sky was the same as my last memory before passing out- I couldn't have been out long. The other thing I noticed was the amount of blood in the sand, I could see a bit on the sides of my sweater but it was mostly localized to my back where I couldn't see it.

Too much blood I thought to myself as I put my left hand on the large driftwood tree and heaved with all I was worth getting my legs underneath me and hauling myself to my feet. I swayed dangerously as a debilitating wave of nausea and dizziness washed over me. I stumbled a few feet over to a tree that was still standing and put my left hand on it to steady myself as I waited for the dizziness to pass.

I experimentally moved my right arm and realized that I had almost no ability to straighten my elbow and it shook with the pain and effort. With my left arm I gently took my right hand and placed it in the front pocket of my hoodie and let it hang, the sweater taking the weight of my arm. My right hand felt the familiar shape of something in my pocket. With my left hand I reached in and grasped it pulling it out and seeing my truck keys and breathed a sigh of relief. I was so thankful that I had grabbed my keys out of habit on my way out of Jake's house.

Jake. I thought again. Why did he leave me here? I knew that he didn't hurt me on purpose, but to leave me here alone to try and get myself to help was just cruel and I couldn't understand it. I shook my head banishing the thought, I'm sure he had a reason, I'm sure I'm missing something I told myself knowing that with my blood loss it was very likely.

I need to move I told myself now feeling the blood dripping at an alarming rate down my back, butt and legs and I forced my legs to move slowly and carefully one after another. I had placed my keys back in my pocket and was gripping them with my right hand now like a lifeline. I used my left hand to steady myself on every tree I passed, I was extremely grateful that I was almost out of the sand when I had fallen otherwise I would have had to stumble through the sand with nothing to hang onto as I walked.

I silently cursed myself as I realized that I had left the little silver cellphone Edward had given me in the truck where it lay completely useless. I just had to get to it to call him and stop him from breaking the treaty to get to me. The walk that was just 10 minutes less than an hour ago now seemed like an eternity as I stumbled my way back towards Jacob's house.

At one point my left leg which had begun dragging more and more as the pain overtook it and the loss of blood got worse, got caught on a tree root and sent me sprawling to the floor thankfully on my stomach again. My right arm which was trapped under me took the brunt of the landing and I cried out in pain. Getting up this time was much harder and slower than it had been the first time; I had a tree next to me but no low hanging branches to grab onto. My hand grabbed desperately at the rough bark of the tree trying to gain some purchase.

I finally managed to get my legs underneath me for a second time and noticed how much worse I was from the first time. I was soaked with blood now, the clothing on my back and legs clinging to my skin with my every movement. Holding my head up now was too much effort and I just walked slowly and robotically in the general direction of Jacob's house.

The crunch of gravel under my feet almost made me cry from relief; I looked up and hadn't realized how close I had come to Jacob's house finally. The sun was starting to sink a bit in the sky and I assumed it had taken me about 45 minutes to get here from the beach. Now that I had reached the end of treeline I had to make my way to the truck without anything to steady myself.

It was only about 20 feet away but it may as well have been a mile. I stood there swaying, vision swimming, stomach roiling with nausea and I took a deep breath and took my first step towards my truck. As I slowly walked to my truck I thought about how shocked I was that Edward hadn't broken the treaty to get to me yet. I didn't think there was any way that he would have agreed to wait for me to pass the treaty line and in all honesty I didn't think I could even make it anymore.

Where are you Edward? I thought pathetically wishing he would get here even though I knew beyond my selfish needs that I didn't want him here, I didn't want a war. But honestly, where is he? I tried to remember where he was and why I came here instead of seeing him after work then I remembered the black eyes of him and his family. Hunting I suddenly remembered he's hunting, they're all hunting. Hours away.

My legs nearly crumpled under me at this realization but I was close enough to my truck that I just stumbled my way to it catching myself on the driver side door. He couldn't get to me for at least another hour, possibly more depending on how soon Alice had the vision. I felt tears threatening to come but I forced them down, I knew if I broke down then that would be the end of me. I leaned against the truck leaning my forehead against the cool wet window trying to fight the nausea that was getting worse.

I fumbled in my pocket with my left hand fishing for my keys and pulled them out carefully knowing if I dropped them now and had to bend down to pick them up I wouldn't get up again. I carefully pushed the key into the hole in the door handle with my shaking hand and turned it to pop the lock up. I pushed myself away from the door and using all of the strength I had left to wrench the heavy metal door open.

I bent over the seat leaning on my left elbow while still up in a standing position, I realized immediately that I wouldn't be able to get into the truck- it was too high. I looked up and saw the forgotten cell phone discarded on the passenger seat and reached with my left arm over and wrapped my fingers around it. My legs chose this moment to collapse from under me and I managed to lower myself to the floor without seriously injuring myself and sat on the gravel with my ruined back pressed painfully against the step.

I shakily pulled the cellphone up to my face and realized that the phone was vibrating in my hand with the little display lit up; my eyes weren't working well enough to bother trying to read what it said so I flipped it open.

'Bella?!' I heard a panicked tinny voice anxiously shout at me and I shakily raised the phone to my ear.

'Edward?' my voice was barely above a whisper.

'Bella, what happened? Are you ok?!' he asked frantically and I could hear the rush of wind behind him. 'Alice couldn't see.' He said as if in explanation.

'I… no.' Was all I could manage.

'Bella I'm too far away, you need to call Charlie, I'll call an ambulance and tell them you called me.' I closed my eyes at the realization that I was right and a tear traced its way down my cheek. Also, Charlie. Why hadn't I thought of that?

'Bella. Hang up and call Charlie. I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?' He said slowly and clearly, the wind had died- he must have stopped so that I could hear him.

'Okay.' I whispered 'I love you.'

'I love you too, more than you know. I will be there as soon as I can okay? Bella, are you at Jacob's house?' He asked me.

'Yes.' I whispered.

'Is he there?' he asked.

'No.'

'Bella… did he do this?' he asked me reluctantly.

'…yes.' I said after a pause knowing there was no point hiding the truth, the fact that he wasn't here said everything.

I heard Edward's muffled voice swear 'Bella. Hang up. Call your father. I'm calling an ambulance. I'll see you soon, okay?' He said slowly and clearly again making sure I understood.

'Okay.' I whispered even more quietly and pushed the end button.

I struggled to look through the small directory on my phone grateful that Charlie was near the top of the list. I pressed the centre button on his name and held the phone to my left ear as it began to ring. After a few short rings I heard the familiar voice of my father.

'Hey Bells.' He said cheerily, oblivious to my predicament.

'Dad…' I said my voice still coming out as a whisper.

'Bella? Are you okay?' his voice was more alert now, alarmed.

'No.' I said with a bit more volume this time, trying hard to make sure that he heard me and understood me.

'What's wrong?' he asked simply jumping into Chief Swan mode.

'I'm hurt.' I told him, the few words exhausting me.

'Bella, tell me where you are.' He said authoritatively.

'Jacob.' I managed to get out.

'You're at Jacob's house?' he asked me and I heard the sound of the police station door opening and the ambient noise of a car passing on the street.

'Yes.' My voice was a whisper again. I heard him speak now but knew it wasn't for me. 'Dispatch I need an ambulance out to the La Push reservation to the Black residence' I heard his car door open and close and he then listed off their address and said something else to them but I was dozing off, my body starting to give up now that I knew help was on the way.

'Bella? Bella!' I heard my father's frantic voice from far away and realized I had let my arm drop bringing the phone away from me. With a tremendous effort I pulled it back up to my ear.

'I'm here.' I said.

'Stay awake Bella. Where are you hurt?' he asked.

'Arm, back, hip.' I told him.

'What hurt you?' He asked me.

'Wolf.' I told him, telling him the truth; I was unable to come up with a suitable lie in my condition.

'Wolf…' he said shocked. 'Bella, is Jacob there?' he asked me, hoping someone could give him more than one word answers I guessed.

'No.' I said leaning my head against the inside of the open door.

'Is Jacob hurt too?' he asked.

'No… not here.' I told him.

'Jacob was never there?' he asked me.

'No.' I sighed, lying to protect him.

I could hear the sirens of his police car through the phone now and the roar of the engine. 'I'm on my way to you Bells; I'll be there before you know it.'

I didn't answer this, just listened to the sounds of his cruiser speeding towards me.

'Bella? Stay with me, keep talking to me sweetheart.' He said and I could hear the fear in his voice now.

'Okay.' I said simply.

'Did the wolf bite you Bells?' he asked.

'No.'

'Did it scratch you?'

'Yes.' I said, thinking that scratch was the understatement of the century.

'Are you bleeding?'

'Yes.'

'Badly?'

'Yes.' I heard the engine of the cruiser roar impossibly louder.

I could feel myself slipping further away with every second, I just hoped that my dad would make it here before it was too late. In my semiconscious state I became aware of the faint sound of footsteps running on gravel and it very quickly grew louder as whomever or whatever it was grew nearer. I realized that there was more than a single set of footsteps, it sounded like something more than a human running at me and I tensed and opened my eyes expecting to see a wolf.

It turned out that it was four feet, but they belonged to two humans. I rolled my head backwards to peer up at them and I saw the two shocked faces of Sam and Seth standing in front of me.

'Oh my god Bella.' Seth said frozen in shock at the look of me, I imagined I looked dreadful.

Sam crouched down in front of me 'You're going to be okay Bella.' He said trying to keep me calm. I could hear the tinny voice of my father again and looked down to realize my hand had fallen to my lap again without me realizing and I didn't have the energy to lift it back up to my face. I shifted my left hand in my lap pushing my hand slightly closer to Sam motioning for him to take the phone.

He saw what I wanted 'Hello?' he said as he pulled the phone to his ear. 'Chief Swan? It's Sam Uley from La Push, Seth Clearwater and I just found Bella outside of the Black's house. She doesn't look good Chief.' I closed my eyes again as Sam talked to Charlie and Seth came over and took my hand. I squinted my eyes open at him.

'Stay awake Bella, we're going to get you help you just have to stay awake.' He told me then added more quietly 'Bella, I'm so sorry, this should have never happened.' I quickly and quietly shushed him and motioned towards Sam on the phone with my dad and he nodded grimly.

'Seth, go into the Black's house and grab as many clean towels and blankets as you can.' Sam had rested the phone on the ground beside him and come over to me. Seth gave my hand a slight squeeze and immediately followed his Alpha's instructions sprinting for the house.

'Bella, I'm sorry, I have to move you, okay?' Sam said and I furrowed my brow and slightly shook my head, the pain of moving I knew would be terrible.

'I know Bella, but I need to try to stop the bleeding. You're still bleeding and I don't think you have much blood left to lose.' He said to me and I knew he was right. I tried to nod, my head came down but I didn't have the energy to lift it back up and it more so just slumped onto my chest. Sam took this as permission and as gently as he could put an arm under my legs and leaned my torso onto his trying to touch my back as little as possible.

Even so the movement made me cry out in pain, my voice hoarse. The pain almost made me pass out but somehow I managed to cling to consciousness and leaned into Sam's warm chest. I didn't realize until that moment how cold I was and a slight shiver took me whether from the cold or pain and shock I didn't know.

'Help me get her on her stomach.' Sam said and I opened my eyes again to see that Seth was back, I hadn't realized they were closed. Sam lowered me to the grassy floor so slowly I barely noticed the movement and laid me on my left side, all my weight went on my left hip and I whimpered.

'Sorry Bella, we're going to shift you onto your stomach, okay?' Sam said and I whimpered again in response eyes tightly closed.

'Seth, gently pull her legs straight and we'll roll her over.' I heard Sam order. Two warm hands encircled my ankles and slowly pulled my legs straight, at the same time I felt Sam's hands gently guide me onto my stomach and despite their kind ministrations a broken gasp still escaped my lips and a tear slid down my cheek. I felt someone remove my right arm from the pocket under me and place it beside me.

'Bella.' Sam whispered, I assumed to avoid being heard by Charlie on the phone 'I am so sorry, I don't know why Jacob let this happen but there is no excuse. I am so sorry that you were hurt in this way.' I felt towels being gently placed on my back now. 'I don't know what I'll do yet but we will make this up to you, okay? The whole pack is behind you.' I opened my eyes and his head was almost level with mine, the pack is behind me- which meant they weren't behind Jacob. I couldn't respond- all I could do was frown in concern.

He helped Seth to cover my injuries in towels and the two of them gently pressed them into my still bleeding wounds. The pressure on my wounds made me whimper again pitifully. They both offered quiet apologies as they tended to my wounds to the best of their abilities.

'How much longer Charlie?' I heard Seth say and I assumed he went to get the discarded cell phone. 'Okay, good. She's… she's…' he seemed lost for words 'She needs help Charlie. Okay, okay we'll see you soon.' And I heard the click of the phone shutting.

I heard the sound of car tires quickly approaching on the gravel road and the sound of two doors opening, one closing. I could hear two men talking to each other and I sensed Sam get up and go to them. I lay on the grass with my head turned to the left and Seth sitting next to me holding my left hand.

'Old Quil and Billy just pulled up. Sam called them when we heard what happened.' I squeezed his hand in response appreciating the information, my eyes started to drift shut again. 'Eyes open Bella, Charlie will be here any minute, you just have to stay awake a bit longer, okay?' Seth rubbed my hand and I cracked my eyes open again and looked into his.

I heard the squeak of wheels and the approach of footsteps and Jacob's father Billy Black was pushed in his wheelchair into my field of view by Quil, a man I had only seen a few times. He pushed him onto the grass behind where Seth sat next to me.

'Bella.' Billy said sadly. 'I'm so sorry, I came as soon as I heard. Jacob promised you protection but instead he did… this.' He motioned towards me; all I could do was blink at him. I had no strength left. I could finally, blessedly hear the sound of police sirens as my father raced towards me and I sighed in relief.

'He's coming Bella, you're going to be fine.' Seth reassured me. I could hear the men talking but didn't have it in me to listen to what it was that they were saying I just listened to the ever increasing sound of police car sirens and felt the heat of Seth's hand in mine as he rhythmically rubbed his thumb on the inside of my palm.

Before long the blaring sound of Charlie's cruiser came barreling down the road towards the house. I heard the spray of gravel as he slammed on his brakes in Billy's driveway followed by the silence as he cut the siren. I heard his door open and slam closed quickly and the sound of his footsteps as he ran towards the growing crowd of men around me.

'Bella!' he yelled and he slid to his knees next to me taking my hand in his as Seth quickly moved out of his way. I slowly rolled my eyes up to meet his. 'Bells… I came as quickly as I could, I'm sorry it took so long. The ambulance is right behind me, we're going to get you to the hospital and fix you up, okay?' All that I could manage was to blink at him in response.

'She said a wolf attacked her?' Charlie asked turning to face the other men.

'It certainly looks that way, a hell of a wolf though.' Said Sam 'Charlie, the damage is extensive. It was a big wolf that attacked her.'

'How did this happen, where is Jacob?' Charlie asked.

'We're wondering the same thing; I hope the wolf didn't hurt him too.' said Billy with fake concern.

'No.' Charlie said 'Bella said that Jacob was never here.'

'She must have been waiting on the beach for him when the wolf found her. We have people out looking for him Billy to make sure he's okay.' said Sam.

The shrill sound of the ambulance could be easily heard now as it drew closer to us, I found that my eyes finally lost the ability to open both from lack of energy and because they were so dry from loss of fluids.

'Ambulance is here sweetheart; just hang on a little bit longer.' Charlie said quietly to me rubbing my hand and I squeezed his hand back with everything I had but all I managed was a slight twitch. The only thing left to me was my hearing, my sense of touch and the pain. The pain was everywhere and I knew that the paramedics would be moving me again in a short matter of time.

The ambulance arrived in the same way that Charlie had, alarm screaming, brakes slamming and gravel flying. The alarm cut again and I could hear voices, Charlie shouting directions, the sound of metal clinking against metal as what I assumed was a gurney was pulled from the back of an ambulance and quickly wheeled towards us bumping along the grass.

'18 year old female attacked by a wolf, experienced major blood loss no loss of consciousness as far as we're aware. She's still awake just very weak, please be careful with her.' Charlie explained, voice breaking at the end.

'Of course Chief Swan.' A female voice said 'Bella? My name is Alex, me and my partner Craig are going to get you to the hospital. First we need to load you up on the stretcher okay?' I couldn't respond, I just lay there waiting for the pain I knew was coming.

'Because of the damage to her back we're going to have to put her on the stretcher exactly as she is, it will make strapping her in harder but it will minimize any further injury.' Alex said to her partner.

'We could use some help to transfer her if anyone is willing to help, we want to hurt her as little as possible.' Craig asked the group of bystanders and I felt a myriad of hands on me and as someone counted to three I was lifted off of the ground and as delicate as they all tried to be with me the pain was still explosive and I let out one final pitiful whimper of pain as I finally blissfully lost consciousness.