Disclaimer: This story is based off of the characters written by Stephanie Meyer in the Twilight Saga. I do not own any of these characters.

Jacob

My ears perked at the sound Embry's howl somewhere from the north. With the sound, Jared and I changed course, now racing to meet him.

Through Embry's eyes I watched him sniff the area trying to find the direction the blood sucker went. His excitement drown out the instinctual rage when he found the trail and started that way.

Wait for us, Sam growled. Embry stopped with frustration. Jared and I picked up our speed. We weren't too far to begin with, and Sam and Paul had been even closer.

A few miles out I sniffed shortly, and my speed faltered. Bella. I all but stopped.

Bella? Jared asked, sniffing the air, he turned and looked at me. He smelled her too.

What do you mean, Bella? Sam bellowed over the chorus of the packs questioning.

I looked around, searching for more traces of her scent. When I found it I drew in a big breath. The trail was fresh, less than hours old.

I kept my nose low to the ground trying to zero in on her footpath. Irritation and pain struck through me. I wasn't with her to look for her meadow, so she went out looking for it herself.

I cursed at the thought, of course she would. I hadn't talked to her in weeks. She wasn't going to wait around for me forever, and I didn't deserve for her to. But why, why did it have to be when a leech was in the area? Hadn't she heard about all the disappearances? Wouldn't she have figured it out?

Jake, focus. Sam thought. Focus on what? I wasn't going to follow the blood sucker who could run into her at any moment. I needed to find Bella. I needed to make sure she was safe.

Fine. Sam resigned. You're right, we can't let anything happen to the Swan girl. The pack was running to me now, annoyed.

I kept my head low and moved slowly with the trail, letting everyone catch up to me. Fighting the need to run after her scent.

Jared trailed me, careful to stay out of my way. Careful not to think of anything bad that could come from Bella being out here alone with one of those things near by.

Paul snorted at Jared's reserve. Are we even sure this leech lover is in any danger? She liked the Cullens. Maybe she's friends with this one too. I growled.

Enough Paul. Sam ordered. But I could feel the twinge of speculation from him, and the others.

They were close now, and knowing that I picked up my pace. I followed her scent, weaving through the trees. As it grew stronger I moved faster, and after a moment Sam told me to stop.

We were close then, she had stopped. I could smell her, and my ears perked at the sound of the thumping of her heart.

It was beating too fast, something was wrong.

The wind shifted and suddenly I knew what. The sickly sweet scent of the blood sucker wafted though the air and my fur stood on end. The entire pack came to a halt. Alert, and ready.

We need to move quietly, if we startle it, it could attack her. Sams thoughts were quick and direct. He took the lead then and we quietly moved forward.

I could barely see the two of them now, the vampire close to her. Too close. Whispered the word, "Unbelievable," and I thought he'd seen us.

Slowly. Sam urged. Everyone stopped and focused on listening to the pair. Bella's heart continued to pound in her chest. And it took everything I had not to run at them.

A low growl rumbled through Sam and we were moving forward again. Our pace quickened but our tracks were light.

Everyone's eyes were trained on the leech as we moved into the clearing. It was bent close to Bella, like it was embracing her or something. I didn't have time to figure out why.

It was quick to notice us. In a blink it was on the other side of the clearing. Then backing away at a slower pace, gauging its opponents.

Sam growled again once we had surrounded Bella. He scuffed his front paw and we stared at the leech with predatory focus. Sam pounced.

My eyes peeled away from the vampire, and I caught sight of Bella's profile. She looked stressed, panicked. Her heart beat was irregular and I couldn't figure out if it was because of the leech, or because of us. I wouldn't blame her either way.

The rest of the pack followed after Sam, and Bella's heart beat skipped. After a moment she turned her head toward me.

Bella, I wanted to say. It's okay, we'll get him and you'll be okay. My eyes couldn't move from her face. It was full of fear. I wanted to phase back, to show her this was going the way nature had intended. The wolves would kill the blood sucker and there would be no more threat.

I wanted to comfort her. I wanted to make sure she knew that we were here as protectors, that there was no way we'd hurt her.

But most of all, I wanted to apologize, because even though we had no intention of hurting her here. I had hurt her. I wanted to apologize for not calling. To tell her I was sorry for leaving her, after I said I wouldn't.

Jake! Sam snarled, Get moving.

It wasn't often he used the heaviness that was the voice of the Alpha. But something in my thoughts made him decide I needed to be commanded to move away from her.

I realized he was probably right to do so, the way my thoughts were headed. I really was on the verge of phasing right there, to make sure she knew she was safe.

I huffed. Still, I hated being ordered around. I paused a second more, not wanting to leave her. Then I pushed myself away from Bella and toward the pack who was closing in on the vampire.

...

When I reached them, the leech was surrounded, huddled low in a defensive crouch. Paul was taunting, gnashing his teeth at it and growling.

I wasted no time, when I was close enough I leapt, and at that same moment the blood sucker shot itself into the air. I caught it's head in my mouth and I heard a hacking sound that was Jared's laugh. When I hit the ground the pack closed in, each grabbing a limb.

A strong sense of satisfaction wove through our minds as we tore the leech to pieces, but for me it was short lived. I spit the things head out onto the ground. I hated the taste of it.

Too easy, Paul thought, tossing a leg into the air like you'd throw a graduation cap. The rest of the pack hacked their broken laughs in agreement, only I was quiet.

I needed to go back to Bella. To get her out of here. Sam was quiet now, I looked at him. I'll phase, I won't let her know anything. I just need to make sure she's okay and that'll be the end of it.

He nodded once. The rest of them picked up the pieces of separated blood sucker, and I turned around to head back to Bella's meadow.

...

As I circled to the side of the meadow I listened for her. Her heart beat was still irregular. Maybe still in shock? As I listened I realized she was crying, and mumbling something to herself, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

I phased back onto two legs and pulled my shorts from my ankle up and over my hips. I took a deep breath and jogged into the clearing. My eyes scanned the area but I couldn't see her.

I moved to where I'd seen her last, and inhaled. I followed her trail forward, and into the trees. It was like she had been trying to come after us.

Maybe ten feet into the forest she'd collapsed. I felt pained remembering what she looked like to Sam when he found her in the woods after he left.

Fool. I thought bitterly.

I was close enough to hear what she was saying now. It was broken up with sobs, but she just kept repeating "Get to the Cullen's house. For Charlie."

I stiffened. Why did she want to go there? Did she think they were back? A stronger sense of fear hit me. Were they back?

Had this blood sucker been with them? It couldn't have been right? It had been hunting in the area which wouldn't have happened if it knew about the treaty.

But had she really known the leech we just killed? Had we interrupted some sort of reunion?

I paused staring at her and shook the thoughts from my head, I walked toward her. She was curled into a ball, clutching her hand to her chest.

It looked a lot like what she did when she thought about him and his family, like she was trying to hold herself together. I leaned down and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. That's when I saw the wound.

I mixture of panic and rage rippled through my body, heat trembling down my spine. My hands shook with anger.

The thing hadn't been her friend. She had almost been its meal. But we'd stopped it, and now she would become one of them.

I couldn't handle that. The thought rose more fury, and a little nausea kicked through my stomach. But then, the pain of loosing Bella completely outweighed the disgust of her becoming like them. I couldn't lose her. She was my best friend, and I loved her.

I took a deep breath, and then another, and another trying to calm myself. I couldn't phase. The pack couldn't see what had happened. I knew what would happen if they found out, and that fear wiped out all traces of the anger.

I would not let them kill Bella Swan.

Bella had been very still in my arms as I jogged through the trees. I was moving quickly but cautiously not wanting to run into any of the pack. I needed to keep this a secret at least until I talked to Sam.

I hesitated at the edge of the trees, I could smell the house from here. Though it wasn't as bad as I had been expecting. The smell was stale, and it stung my nose but it wasn't unbearable.

I moved forward and across the grass, inhaling deep as I went. I stopped, catching the newer trace of a scent. The blood sucker we'd torn apart had been here. My eyes darted around watching for any signs of a mate, or even a Cullen. I tried to listen harder, further out but there wasn't anything to listen to. Not anything out of the ordinary at least.

I pulled in another breath, and started forward again. I bound as smoothly as I could up the stairs, and - even though my body objected - and kicked the front door open.

The house was furnished, which surprised me but I was also relieved. I moved Bella inside and laid her down carefully on the sofa, looking around.

It didn't seem the Cullen's planned on being gone for long. As irritating as that was, maybe that was a good thing. After all, if Bella was becoming like those leeches, they could at least teach her not to kill people.

I kneeled on the floor next to the couch and watched her for a few minutes, her face was scrunched up like she was upset. She mumbled her reminder again, telling herself to get to their house. She didn't want Charlie to find her like this.

"Bella, you're here. You're out of the forest. It's going to be okay." She didn't respond to my voice.

I sighed, Charlie was going to go through a lot of pain because of this. We'd have to play it off like she'd gone missing. That would also make things more complicated for the pack.

Even though we'd caught the blood sucker responsible, the disappearances were still something we'd been tied to. I'd have a lot of details to figure out, and soon.

I took Bella's hand and examined the sickly wound. It looked like a nasty burn, but it was sealed - not bleeding - like it was already starting to heal itself.

I knew nothing about the transformation from human to blood sucker. That was never part of the legends.

I sat there with her hand in mine for a few minutes, aside from her pounding heart, she was still. And I was grateful for that, maybe at least she wasn't hurting.

After a few more minutes I resigned to the fact that I needed to get to work. I didn't want to leave her here alone, but I needed to talk to Sam.

I got up, and after another glance I jogged back out the front door unbuttoning my shorts and tying them around the leather cord on my ankle.

I shook any thoughts of Bella from my head. I needed to be careful not to let anything slip. Once in the forest I phased, sprinting away from the house. Sam, I thought.

Sam's with Emily, he went to let the council know we caught the leech. Embry replied.

Are you by the house? I need him to meet me a few miles from Charlie's. We need to talk.

Is it about Bella?

Everything's fine. Please Embry. And he was gone.

When I reached the place I'd pictured for Sam to meet me, I phased back pulling my shorts up again. I paced back and forth. I could feel when Sam had found me, and I waited for him to join me on two legs.

"What's going on Jake?" He asked, coming into view.

I lifted my chin, making a last minute decision, "When are you going to officially offer me my place as Alpha?" I said more than asked.

He paused for a moment, clearly taken aback by my forwardness. "I had thought you didn't want-" he paused and started over, "I was waiting for you to gain more control..." he stopped again, not sure how to say what he wanted to.

I nodded once. "I will accept the role." I said gruffly. Our eyes met and he nodded slowly. He looked...relieved.

We stood there for a moment, I wasn't sure if the conversation was all that needed to happen. The power dynamic since I first phased had been strange between Sam and I. I had to follow direct orders, but it had been easier for me to get around things than it was for any of the others.

He knew as much as I did, that I had a birth claim to the role. My grandfather had been the last Alpha for the pack, and his the second in command.

I also knew that he had been planning on offering the role to me. But up until today I had every intention to deny that title, and Sam knew that. But he was so happy to lift the burden off of himself, he didn't seem think twice about what could have changed my mind.

Before I could ask if there was anything left to be done, Sam said, "I'll inform the others, and we'll need to speak with the council."

My lips pressed together, "Let my dad know I'll meet you at his house in an hour. There's something I need to do first."

Sam nodded again, and took off.

...

I decided not to phase on the way back to the Cullen's, I didn't want anyone to see where I was headed.

When I got back to her, Bella hadn't moved much. She only seemed to have lolled her head a bit. I worried she may fall off the couch when I wasn't there, but I wasn't sure if there was a better place to put her.

I pulled hair from over her face, she still didn't seem aware of anything outside of herself. I sighed, and then decided I should start looking for a phone.

I snorted when I found one in the dining room. What the hell was the point of them having a kitchen or a dining room? It's not like they ate.

I sat down at the phone and dialed the number for the hospital.

After going through a few transfers, and assuring all of the people I talked to that I didn't need any medical attention. I finally got someone who had the forwarding information for Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

I hung up and called the number. A woman answered, and again I was transferred from person to person just to find that there was no Dr. Cullen at that hospital. How convenient.

I growled and hung up.

I could hear Bella's breathing pick up and I went to her. I smoothed her hair and ran my thumb over the crease between her eyebrows. I sighed.

"I'll be back soon Bella. Everything is okay," I whispered, "or it will be."

I stood up again. I would not think of her in my wolf form, I couldn't worry until I knew everything else was in order.

Not until I knew none of the pack could come after her.