Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.

The only thing I can focus on is the burning. I forget about Victoria, the punishment she's dealt me. I can't think about the fact that she was still smiling after her head had been ripped from her body. The howl from the wolf beside me fades into nothingness, as does the smell of sickly-sweet smoke.

The fire in my veins quickly spreads, igniting every inch of my body, lighting up every last nerve. It unfortunately didn't take long to get the feeling back into my legs and soon enough they were on fire with the rest of me. I'm not sure how long I burn for, though I begin to notice small changes in the way it moved through my body. My fingertips and toes are extinguished, leaving them feeling cool and tingly. The relief I feel is short-lived; as the fire slowly travels up my arms and legs, it centralizes in my heart. Each inch of retreat adds to the inferno in my chest. Am I screaming? I can't tell. Eventually the only source of the pain is my heart, and it beats frantically beneath my ribs, trying desperately to fight a fight I know without a doubt it will lose. Finally, it gives one last painful, pitiful thump, and all falls silent around me.

It is then that I remember the wolves, and I wonder if they lingered all this time, if they plan to kill me too. Can a person- now vampire- die twice in one day? I continue to hold perfectly still until curiosity gets the best of me and I inhale deeply, immediately regretting it as the smell of putrid, wet dog fills my sinuses. My eyes fly open, and I realize I am standing in a crouch- wasn't I just laying down?

Movement across the field catches me eye and I see a human male step towards me. I don't hesitate to stop breathing even though every instinct in my body is begging me to breathe him in, the thump-thud of his heart is so tantalizing.

"Go away!" I hiss, trying to conserve my air. "I'm dangerous, I don't want to hurt you. You must leave!"

Two wolves, the one on the left is gray with dark patches of fur on his back, the other is the russet wolf I remember from earlier, though the memory is quite fuzzy compared to how clear I see everything now. I take a step back, cautious as the gray wolf bares its teeth at me. They come to a stop on either side of the half-dressed man, who I vaguely recognize as Sam Uley. I gasp in shock, the wet dog smell so thick I can taste it on my tongue.

"Wait, wait, wait," I say, my voice smooth and bell-like to my ears and momentarily distracting myself. I shake my head to clear it, possibly too fast because Sam looks at me in concern. "The wolf thing is real?" I finally manage to get back on track.

"How the hell do you know about the wolves?" He shoots back, crossing his arms. Beside him the russet wolf's ears flatten, looking like a very large, guilty puppy. On the other side the gray wolf snarls angrily.

"Jacob Black told me last year when I asked why the Quileutes hate the Cullens so much," I look between Sam and the wolves, realizing there was one missing. "Are you the black wolf I saw earlier?"

The human man hesitates before nodding his head. Before I can ask if the two wolves behind him can turn into humans too, Sam is speaking. "I assume you know what you have become," I try to nod my head slowly, but based off the look the three of them give me, I don't think I succeed. "We will include you in the treaty we have with the Cullens. If you do not harm a human, we will let you live. You so much as bite one, we will destroy you. Do not enter the reservation under any circumstance, if you wish to speak with us, you may stand at the boundary line, we run patrols every twelve hours."

I tilt my head in agreement. "What about my father?"

"Your father is none of your concern now," Sam stated, crossing his arms. The gray wolf snarls again, its hackles rising along its shoulders.

I glance at the russet wolf; it is the only one that hasn't shown me hostility. It looks familiar, I realize. "Jacob? Is that you?" I ask hesitantly. The russet wolf wags its tail and opens its mouth in a wide puppy smile. "Can you grab a couple of my things? Some clothes, books, a notebook and a pen or two?"

"Why?" Sam asks, his voice cold.

"Because I have nothing, and I can't go back to get them- it will be too dangerous. I would also like to write a letter to my parents, letting them know that I am okay and that I am sorry." I reply, hoping Sam will allow it, since he's clearly the leader of the group.

Sam thinks for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. I tell them where I keep my duffle bag, and what kind of clothes and books I'd like. We work out a plan to explain my disappearance; I will write my father a letter, explaining that I can't stay in Forks with all the memories. I packed a bag with my essentials and left on a plane. Jacob will take my truck, tell Charlie that I gave it back to him. We work out the finer details for another hour or so before Sam leaves with Jacob to gather my things, the gray wolf stays behind to watch me. I make a show of sitting down, promising to not move a muscle until they return. The Jacob-wolf seems to find amusement in this and barks out what sounds like laughter before he takes off into the woods towards town.

I don't move once the entire time Jacob and Sam are gone, I'm too scared the gray wolf will interpret it as an attack and I don't feel like being torn to shreds. When they return, Jacob is in human form, and he sends me a blinding smile.

"So, this is why you were ignoring me?" I ask, making sure I move each muscle as carefully and slowly as possible until I am standing. Sam stops beside the gray wolf while Jacob keeps walking forward. When he is about twenty feet away, I take a step back, holding my hands up. "Stop, I don't want to hurt you."

Jacob laughs, "take a deep breath, Bella, what do you smell?"

It takes me several moments before I inhale, immediately scrunching up my nose in disgust. "It smells like wet dog… only worse," I say.

To my surprise, the three Quileute men- well, two men and one wolf- snort in laughter. Sam is the one to speak next. "You're smelling us, Bella."

"Oh," I shift awkwardly on my feet, waiting for my face to flush with heat.

Jacob shrugs it off. "You should get a good whiff of yourself; you stink!" The small laugh I release sounds almost musical. "I wish I could have told you about this, Bells, but I couldn't. It's the same reason why you didn't tell me about the bloodsu- vampires."

The mention of blood sets my throat on fire- I had honestly not given my thirst a thought until now. I raise my hand to my neck, trying to soothe it. I look between Sam and Jacob in panic. "My throat… I need to hunt."

Sam, with a poorly concealed look of disgust, raises his hand in the air pointing at which direction I should go in. "That way should be safe."

I nod, glancing one last time at three of them before bolting away from the group. I thought it would be difficult trying to maintain a straight line through the woods, but I never lost my sense of direction no matter how many trees I had to run around. I reach the river and clear it easily, landing about fifty feet from the bank. I freeze when a scent wafts past me, carried by the breeze. Before I know it, I am running in the direction of the smell, venom filling my mouth the stronger the scent gets. Once I get closer, I leap into the trees to get a better look at what is creating such a delicious smell, and I am shocked to find it is a black bear; its heady smell carrying a hint of sweet berries. A growl breaks through my lips as I launch myself at the beast, landing neatly on its back. The bear collapses under my weight and I quickly sink my teeth into the pulse point in its neck; hot, sweet blood pools in my mouth, sliding down my throat and quelling the burning to a quiet sting. I drink until the animal is dry before I sit up again.

I look around me, unsure on what I should do next. Do I just leave it? Bury it? I never thought to ask them this when they were here, what they did with their prey when they were finished. In the end I decide to bury it, it doesn't take much effort at all to dig a hole deep enough for the body, my strong hands break through the earth and rock with ease.

I try to clean up best I can in the river, washing the blood and dirt from my arms, hands, and face. My clothes somehow managed to stay fairly clean, only carrying a few bear hairs and some streaks of dirt. I make my way back to the meadow, slowing down the closer I got so I wouldn't startle them. When I break through the tree line, three sets of human eyes are on me. In the place the gray wolf was one of Jacob's best friends.

"Embry?" I ask, shock filling my voice.

He tries to keep a neutral face, but a small smile breaks through. "I want to hate you, but you're still so much like your human self, it's hard to accomplish that."

"Your eyes are still red, Bella," Sam interrupts. "What did you hunt?"

"A black bear," I reply, "I don't know why they are still red."

Jacob steps forward, I don't stop him this time. When he speaks, his words are soft and questioning. "I thought they told you all about vampires?"

I don't have to filter through my foggy human memories to know I was never told what to expect as a new vampire. "E… Edward didn't like to go into detail about being changed. He didn't like the idea of me becoming one of them."

Sam tilts his head. "I thought you were his mate. In our history, vampires are nearly as attached to their mate as we are to our imprint-or mate, I don't understand why they would leave you here."

I shrug, "I don't think I was… when he left, he told me he didn't want me anymore," the memory of that day fills my mind, and it is one of the clearest human memories I have. I wrap my arms around myself as the hole in my chest breaks open, hoping to hold myself together for a little while longer.

Jacob sets down several duffle bags and a backpack on the ground and slowly wraps his arms around me, his wolfy stench filling my nose. I hold perfectly still, fearful that any movement I make could hurt him. "Thank you," I whisper.

I manage to carefully write out an apology letter to my father with few casualties. The wolves promise to be there for Charlie, to take care of him as if he were their own. It comforts me, knowing he will be looked after.

I effortlessly hoist the backpack onto my shoulders and grab a duffle bag in each hand. One was mine, the other was brand new and much larger. I express my gratitude, though they wave it off as if it were nothing, even though they gave me everything, and I take off into the woods again, in the same direction as before.

A/N: I was able to squeeze in another chapter this week! Hope you are all enjoying reading, feel free to leave any reviews.