Chapter 19

And here is the second chapter that I am uploading together. They were originally one chapter but over 8000 words seemed a little excessive.

Bella POV

Talking to Jasper that night was reassuring. I hadn't realised how on edge I was until he answered my call and a simple greeting sent all of the tension melting out of me. The slight pulling in my chest was dissipating and before he even said the words I knew he was on his way home to me.

Both they, and Sam, had lost Victoria's scent, but the other group had tracked her previous location to Seattle and Alice could once again see her in the city which was good enough for us right now. Jasper also told me that he and Rosalie were making their way back to Forks, just in case something happened so he was close enough to protect me, and Rosalie had apparently grown tired of chasing a wolf. Really I knew that Jasper held Rosalie in very high regard as a fighter and would trust her to help protect me.

Carlisle's group however had made the choice to stay around Seattle and see what was going on. Alice wasn't able to see anything going on, but they were suspicious as to what Victoria might be doing there as there had been a slight increase in recent weeks in crime. He didn't sound too concerned but I was anxious to find out if she was up to something.

Emmett and Edward, being the two best trackers were staying out to try and lure Sam back into a chase and back home.

Eventually Jasper could hear the tiredness in my voice and we said our goodbyes, although it was fairly early, and I was able to have a very brief shower before I crashed for the night; utterly exhausted from a very big night and then a very long day. For the first time in many months, I had a completely dreamless sleep, only very quickly interrupted when Jasper let himself in in the early hours, but I barely even woke for that.

Charlie left by sunrise, and after making sure I had everything needed to pass onto the people in the know, I followed. My first stop was Billy's, where I once again found everyone planning the days searches.

Jacob and his friends seemed troubled that they still didn't have any sign of Sam, but Sam's friend Paul seemed angrier than what I would have thought the situation called for. He was grouchy and irritated that his friend had spent the night outside for the second night in a row. I understood that he was concerned but to be constantly snapping at everyone was a bit much. And then I heard him talking to Jared in the hallway where they thought they were out of earshot.

"I don't know what that Bella chick thinks she's doing here. Either come and help with the search or stay out of it. Is she just nosey?" He sneered.

"Paul, man, ease up a bit. You know she's friends with Leah and Leah could always do with some more friends, it really isn't that big of a deal, we overlap her being here for ten minutes while everything is being organised and then she stays out of it while we go and look for Sam." He reasoned.

"Yeah well she should at least ease up on that perfume she's wearing, I don't need a headache from smelling that when I'm trying to concentrate on finding Sam."

"Yeah she smells kind of weird but we'll be out of here in a minute."

I was so confused. I wasn't wearing any perfume, let alone some strange offensively sweet perfume. I should just smell like my usual strawberry shampoo. I quick sniff of the arm of my sweater revealed the only other possible scent it could be; Jasper.

I was wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt I had stolen from his wardrobe a couple of weeks ago and it smelt pleasantly of leather, pine, and a little smoky. I loved the scent of him and couldn't see how it would smell unpleasant to anyone, let alone offensively sweet. Or how they could even smell it, I was across the room from them the whole time!

We had bigger things to worry about though. I had to pass on the information to Billy that they were trying to lure Sam back up north, and that the other vampire in the area was gone but now known to not be friendly. That meant another conversation with Billy though and I hoped he was more receptive today.

Charlie lingered a little longer than he had yesterday, he waited for everyone to leave before he came to speak with me.

"Bells whose sweater is that?" He asked with a look that made it clear we both knew who it belonged to.

"It's Jasper's, I usually just sleep in it when it gets cold but I didn't have a chance to do any laundry this weekend." I answered truthfully.

"I just don't like the idea of you walking around in your boyfriend's sweater. People might get the wrong idea." He said.

"I guess Dad, but there are bigger things to worry about right now." I answered, really wanting him to get off the topic of how I acquired the sweater, I really didn't want to have that conversation in Billy's kitchen with more than one of my friends standing just outside.

"You're right, I'm just being an overprotective Dad." He said.

"I know, now go and find Sam so we can all put this weekend behind us." I said while playfully shooing him out the door, wanting to just get my conversation with Billy over with already.

Thankfully Charlie did leave quickly and I was able to relay the information I had to Billy. He informed me that he and the other elders would like to have a meeting with the Cullen's when this mess was all over, and he thanked me for my help with passing on the messages, and I decided to leave for the day. Go and check out what was happening over at the Clearwater's.

The day passed almost exactly as it had the day before. There was no news from the search parties because there was no news for them to find. They were looking for a human close to La Push when Sam was currently still a wolf about fifty miles south of Forks, though he had followed Emmett and Edward further north. A text from Emmett that was slyly shown to Sue told us that Sam was getting tired and Edward could hear that he just wanted to get home and for someone to explain what was going on. It sounded like he was terrified. But that made sense really.

I didn't hang around as long as I had on Saturday, Leah hadn't slept all night and there was no point in me continuing the charade once she fell asleep. Her cousin Emily also fell asleep in the late afternoon, and as I was leaving Sue walked me out and gave me her phone number so I would be able to pass on any more information I heard. I told her I would send her any updates I received but I knew the Cullen's would be trying to get him home as soon as possible.

I was halfway home when I saw Jasper on the side of the road ahead of me, I didn't even bother to slow down, he just jumped in as I drove past and settled into the passenger seat.

"I was just standing by the border there," He explained, "Rosalie ran the whole border with me this morning to show me exactly where I can't go, we hadn't really bothered setting it out like that before now other than a 'don't go further north there'." He added.

"Thanks for showing me where it is on the road then, that's handy for me to know." I said with a smile.

"So anyway, how is it all going up there?"

"Okay, Leah is understandably upset and all of the boys are on edge, but it's getting tiring to keep the lie going." I said. "Oh, and there was this really odd moment this morning." I said before explaining what I had heard between Paul and Jared.

"You should talk to Carlisle about that," Jasper answered looking a little confused. "But the wolves smell awful to us so it probably goes both ways and those two might be close to making the change." He wondered out loud.

"Possibly, they are all somehow related, and it seems to be a genetic thing." I pondered. "So what's happening with all of you?"

Jasper explained that Edward and Emmett were slowly heading back up north, they had to be careful about it to avoid any humans that were out on the many hiking trails in the area. The expected that they would be back late this evening and hopefully Sam would be right behind them. He also told me that Carlisle, Esmé, and Alice were only an hour or so away now as they had seen a bit of what was going on in Seattle and wanted to share their findings with us.

"I don't know what's going on with Victoria, but I have a feeling she is planning something big." He finished.

"Yeah me too." I sighed as I pulled into my driveway.

Jasper and I spent the afternoon together, doing all the little odd jobs that needed to be done on the weekend but I hadn't had a chance to do. I cooked a big pot of past for dinner, did that load of laundry I told Charlie I needed to do, and Jasper helped me to finish off my Spanish assignment.

We were just relaxing in the lounge room, I was curled up in his lap and we were kissing rather passionately when I got another text from Edward. Sam had apparently recognised Edward and Emmett and had also ran himself into exhaustion and had stopped for a while. Edward and Emmett chose to run ahead and leave some scent trails that could be followed back to Forks but they were also hanging around.

I was texting Sue to pass on that information when Charlie made his way in the front door.

"Hey Bells," He said walking in, and then he saw Jasper. "And Jasper." And paused of a second seeing me practically laying on Jasper. "Ugh." He sighed.

"Hey Dad, how did today go?" I asked, looking up from my phone as Jasper picked me up and placed me on the couch next to him.

Dad stared for a moment before responding.

"Alright, there still isn't any sign of him but I'm optimistic. He's a smart kid and knows the area so I'm sure he just wandered away and found somewhere to batten down until he could make his way back. There also isn't any sign of any big animals around so none of us are too worried about his safety." He responded, still looking at Jasper and I strangely.

"Well that's good then. I'd be more worried if the rest of you were concerned." I answered as I stood up and put my phone away. "I made past for dinner." I said, heading towards the kitchen.

"Thanks Bella, you staying for dinner Jasper?" Charlie asked as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and pulled the plates out of the cupboard.

"Yeah if that's alright?" Jasper responded and Charlie nodded. It had become more common for Jasper to actually stay for dinner, and he would eat a reasonable amount and then excuse himself to the bathroom later. At first I was against wasting food like this but it did help make Charlie more oblivious to the other slightly strange things that happened.

Dinner was its usual quiet affair. We were all focused on eating, Charlie and I hadn't eaten much in the last few days, and Jasper was concentrating on his performance. We made some light conversation though once we were done.

"I forgot to ask earlier." Said Charlie, "How was Leah today?"

"Still pretty upset, it's like she's blaming herself." I answered.

"Didn't anyone tell you how this all started?" Charlie asked, confused. He continued when I shook my head. "Sam and Leah had a fight on Friday night, something about Leah wanting to go away to college and Sam wanting to stay. Harry said it got pretty heated." He finished.

"Oh poor Leah, no wonder she blames herself. So what happened after that?" I asked, wanting more details.

"Leah said he stormed out of his place and said he was going to walk home. Mrs Uley said she heard Sam come home but she was in bed, there was some banging around and then she heard him leave again but it didn't seem unusual." Charlie answered.

"So Sam got upset about whatever he and Leah fought about and ran off?" Jasper asked, feigning ignorance about the situation.

"Looks that way." Charlie answered.

"That's rough." Was all I could say. Poor Leah, she was feeling awful and thought she had caused her boyfriend to run away and possibly come to harm. I couldn't imagine how she was dealing with this and I just wanted it to get better for her.

Soon after Jasper helped to clear the table and excused himself to the bathroom. This was when Charlie would normally head to the lounge to watch some sort of sport but instead he stayed at the table and looked at me.

"Bells, we need to have a chat about… some things." He said hesitantly.

"What sort of things Dad?" I asked, seriously dreading where this could go.

"Look there have been a couple of things today, and recently I suppose, that have made me realise I should have spoken to you before this." He took a deep breath and a mouthful of beer. "You and Jasper are close. And there are some things you need to remember when you, you know, have a physically intimate relationship." He said, blushing slightly.

"Ahh, no." I said standing up, "I'm not having this conversation with you Dad, especially not while Jasper is in the house. Don't worry, Mom beat you to this years ago." I said blushing furiously.

"Well you didn't have a boyfriend years ago." He continued, clearly battling his want to drop the subject. "And now you've had two while living with me and I should have had this conversation while you were with Edward."

"Look. Dad. Edward is very much a 'no sex before marriage' kinda guy." I said, and then paused to think of what I was going to say about Jasper.

"Just promise you'll be safe?" He uncomfortably asked.

"Sure, don't worry I'm not a maternal person and that is the last thing you need to worry about." I answered. "Jasper and I will be upstairs, I'll even keep the door open." I said as I rushed out of the room. I heard Charlie mutter something about 'liking Edward a whole lot more' which was funny but I really wanted to put this all behind me.

I found Jasper laying on my bed laughing.

"Could you have not enjoyed that so much?" I asked, curling up alongside him.

"It was pretty funny, if only he knew." Jasper laughed.

We relaxed together on my bed, talking and enjoying each other's company for about an hour before Jasper got a call from Emmett.

Sam was on his way back, following the two of them and while they hadn't had any contact with him Edward was able to read his thoughts and knew that Sam was confused and had no idea how to change back. Emmett and Edward wanted to lead him back to someone who could help.

I needed to call Sue and arrange for that to happen.

Only ten minutes later I was saying good bye to Jasper at the front door while we pretended he was being picked up before I said good night to Charlie. Thankfully Charlie said he was exhausted too and followed me up the stairs and into his room.

As his door closed I closed mine and locked it behind me. I didn't usually do this but I needed to make sure. Jasper was waiting by my window, ready to head out.

I quickly changed so I was wearing a pair of leggings under jeans, a warm long sleeved shirt, my own hooded sweat shirt, and a water proof coat, just in case. Jasper passed me a knitted hat as I finished putting on my shoes and we were ready to go. He pulled me around onto his back and suddenly we were flying.

The wind blowing in my face was cold but also full of the scent of pine trees and woke me up better than coffee would. We ran for miles, everything around me was a colourless blur but there was something so calming to me to be wrapped around Jasper and to feel the world change around us. Soon I was able to smell the sea, and then I could hear it over the sound of the wind, we were running along the forest that lined the beach, heading towards La Push. Jasper slowed to a jog and we came across an empty clearing where I could see the rest of the family, other than Emmett and Edward waiting.

As we approached I jumped off of Jasper's back in what was supposed to be a coordinated movement. But unfortunately being me, I fell straight to my butt on the ground. Great Bella.

Jasper helped me straight up of course, with a little chuckle and I could hear most of the family laughing too and even I found it funny. Alice and Esmé both hugged me in greeting before I asked exactly what was happening.

"We're just about to go through those trees there, there is a little parking lot, where we are going to meet the tribes elders, and in a few minutes Edward and Emmett should lead Sam here." Alice said. "Though of course I can't see anything past when the boys get here, I still can't see the wolf." She said somewhat disgusted.

We all made our way to the parking lot through a little walkway that had been carefully cut through the trees and even had a paved path.

"Where exactly are we?" I asked, confused why this place existed.

"It's an old football field, Forks High used to play here, and the town team did too before they joined up the Port Angeles team." Rosalie answered for me.

"Makes sense, and that would be why I didn't know it either." I answered. And the place was really great, there was enough privacy that no one would see us and as long as we were fairly quiet no one would even know we were there. There was also easy car access so the humans who didn't have a personal lift could make it easily, and it was apparently neutral land too.

The other humans soon joined us. Billy, Harry, and an older man who I assumed was Quil's grandfather pulled up in the Clearwater's old minivan and made their way to us where we stood by the path to the field. All the Cullen's were trying to appear nonthreatening, with Carlisle and Esmé standing at the front holding hands, and Jasper and Rosalie flanking me behind them.

"Good evening everyone." Carlisle greeted them. "I have just heard from my sons, they will be arriving in the field behind us in a few minutes and they believe Sam is not far behind them.

"Thank you Doctor Cullen. We appreciate your cooperation on this matter." Billy responded.

I could have cut the tension in the air with a knife. I looked at Jasper and could have laughed. He was so bad at keeping the emotions he was feeling off of his face and he currently looked like he was severely constipated. I gently nudged Rosalie's arm and nodded towards Jasper and she snorted when she saw his face. Esmé looked at us as if we were naughty children and we quickly set about looking like we were on our best behaviour.

We lead the way to the field again, and they followed although I could tell they weren't happy to be in a somewhat remote and dark place with so many vampires. I suppose I didn't really blame them, they saw them as dangerous and the enemy, and it did take me a while to feel comfortable around them. They could have made more of an effort to be civil though. I knew that Harry didn't personally have anything against the Cullen's, well Carlisle anyway, but clearly in this situation it was whatever Billy said, goes.

We only waited for a few minutes before the boys ran into the field and came to stand beside us.

"He's about a minute behind us." Emmett said before taking his place at the back of our little group with Edward, finishing their protective circle around me.

We stood in silence for exactly one minute before Sam burst into sight. I could have been knocked over by a stiff breeze when I say him. There, only fifty or so yards in front of me stood the largest animal I had ever seen.

He shrunk down onto his haunches and growled right in our direction, his teeth bared and steam rising from his mouth into the frigid air.

"Sam!" Billy called from where their group was on the left of us, clustered around the end of the pathway. "Sam, you need to calm down!" He continued to yell. Calls for him to calm down. TO let him know they would explain what was happening. Telling him it was alright.

I felt a wave of calmness envelope me and I looked to Jasper, wondering why he was calming me, but I saw a look of intense concentration on his face and I knew he was working on trying to help Sam calm down.

"It's working." Edward mumbled.

And it did start to work. First Sam stopped growling and stoped baring his teeth. He stood up. His posture was more relaxed, maybe even a little frightened rather than aggressive. He circled around to come to stand in front of Billy's group while staying as far from us as possible. Eventually he sat down.

No one other than me even dared to breath in our little group. They were all still as statues, and I was trying my hardest although I was slightly trembling with fear.

Billy began to speak to the large wolf again. I couldn't make out the words he was saying, but I could hear the tone of his voice. It was his fatherly voice. The one that had the calmest, deepest, relaxing tones. I'd only ever heard Billy speak to his daughters on the phone in this voice, it was almost unsettling how it seemed to cut through the tension in the field.

It felt like an eternity had passed but eventually the wolf began to tremble slightly, and then right before my eyes turned back into the man I knew. He quickly wrapped his arms around his knees in what appeared to be an attempt at both self-comfort and covering his nakedness.

"What the fuck just happened to me?!" He said in a frantic voice. Clearly terrified. "What the fuck just happened? What the fuck are you?" He called out louder towards us.

"We'll explain it all in due course," Harry began as he walked towards Sam slowly, carrying a dark bundle in his arms. "By why don't you start with getting dressed?"

Sam quickly accepted the clothes being offered and everyone did the best they could to give some privacy.

"Where did you get my clothes?" Sam asked as he stood up awkwardly, adjusting to two legs once again.

"From my daughter's room." Harry deadpanned, clearly somewhat unimpressed to have found the clothes in that location. Sam had enough sense to look sheepish at that and I couldn't help but laugh, which only drew the attention back to us.

"We have a lot to discuss, and I think that having the Cullen's here will give us a good opportunity to discuss some important information that has long been disregarded." Billy said, looking directly at me as he said the final part. I was nervous to find out what he had to say.

Thank you for reading, as usual please leave a review, or follow the story or me. I'm really enjoying hearing your feedback as well as just little reviews telling me you like it.

Also, after this chapter I have officially published more words in this story than my other three combined, which includes one completed story! This is normally where a writer would encourage you to check out their other work but I can't even recommend my older works, they're pretty bad but a good reminder of how far I have come, and how much I can continue to improve.

Thanks xx