Baby, I'm not made of stone, it hurts yeah
Loving you the way I do, it hurts
When all that's left to do is watch it burn
Oh yeah yeah baby, I'm not made of stone, it hurts

I took a minute till the penny dropped, you know
My tears don't fall too often
But your knife is cuttin' me deep
Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep

Hurts, Emeli Sandé, from the album Long Live the Angels, released in 2016

They were there. On their side of the non-existent treaty line, were six of the family of seven. Pure golden eyes, looking innocent, almost as if they hadn't left me. If there was one thing I had to be grateful for in this whole scenario, was that they still had their golden eyes, not a swirl of red in sight.

And no, I wasn't glad about it because that meant they had stuck to their morals (which apparently didn't include anything about leaving a girl to die), but it meant that no-one could have possibly be subjected to that cruelty. Sam had been the one to be our ambassador, as he was Alpha, but Jacob and Jared flanked him at both sides, each with a curl in their lips. Some of us were hidden in the trees, but the rest of us were standing behind our pack, bristling and snarling.

I knew that most of them wanted to jump and snarl and bite and tear chunks away from them, but Sam had told us to hold off on that for the minute. He wanted information. On my behalf. I needed my answers- I was beyond furious at how I had been treated, cast aside as if I wasn't worth anything, or like a child tosses away a toy. Edward wasn't with them, which was a very good idea as he would have had to deal with several pissed off, horse sized wolves.

As it was, I dug my claws deep into the earth, backed rigid and arches, with my wolf brimming close to surface. But she wasn't wanting to take over to protect me- no she wanted to work together. So I trusted her, mentally making room for her to join me in the forefront of my consciousness. I hope I don't regret this. As she handled the body side of things, having much more knowledge on the aspect of combat, I concentrated on my shield.

I pushed it around all of the wolves, making sure it nestled neatly over them without any discomfort. Once that was achieved, I imagined thickening them up, reinforcing them, until they were almost impenetrable. Well, it seemed like that anyway. It was taxing my mind, but as far as I was concerned it was worth it. Even if it was tiring me.

Slipping back to the side of my mind, I watched as Sam began to speak, and in the back of my mind I could feel Jacob's fury but also concern for me. I kept him as calm as I could, reassuring him that, for now, I was fine. Depending on how this conversation goes, my answer might differ.

"Leeches."

"Sam, Pack."

Carlisle replied, a strain in his voice. Now that was new. Rarely have I ever seen Carlisle have anything other then his usual smooth voice. Even when he was stressed, including the whole debacle with James, he had been calm. Worried, but calm. Of course, the fact that I had mentioned this, caused confusion to arise up in Jacob, and I could tell the rest of the pack felt the same.

Who was James? Was the collective thought. Shoving the memory down, I told them I would tell them all later. My paw burned at the memory, but Jacob fortunately seemed to think it was just a bad memory. Thank god. Now would not be a good time for Jacob to maul them. He was already pissed enough at them- again with good reason.

"Why do you come here?"

A good question to start on. Jasper had his arms around Alice, and Emmett was standing a few steps behind Rosalie, who, judging by her form, was angry. That wasn't anything new. Rose hadn't particularly liked me, for reasons she didn't deign to tell me. At first, I had thought I had done something, but after some reassurance from Edward himself, I was led to believe it was just how she was.

Had he lied to me about that? His actions had thrown everything he had ever said to me- various 'I love yous', 'You are my everything' and so on thrown into contention.

"We wish to seek permission to talk to Isabella Swan. We have come to understand she interacts with you?"

I couldn't help but chuckle, which of course made all of the Cullen's look at me. Great. Considering that A. Edward wasn't here, and couldn't act as resident wolf translator, and B. They didn't know I was a wolf, it would just seem odd. My reaction, that is.

And last I checked, Alice could never see me when I hung out with Jake (perhaps it had something to do with him bearing the wolf gene- hang on, could she even see me any more?), and Jasper couldn't identify people by emotions. They were very general after all. Still, I didn't like all of the eye contact, especially with Rosalie's dead glare staring me down. In response, my wolf silently curled her-my-our? lip even further, and met the glare evenly, a growl bubbling at the back of my throat.

"She does."

Sam replied smoothly, his posture infallible and the protective note in his voice easily audible. It was sweet. But not as sweet as you. I threw towards Jake, as he practically fought to keep his menacing glare trained on the Cullens.

Wait, fuck. Jasper. Please tell me he didn't catch that emotion. Please. Still, upon scrutinising Jasper's face, he seemed to have a glance of confusion. But considering the fact that I wasn't an empath, I couldn't figure out why he was confused.

"But why should we allow you to see her? She holds anger at your whole coven, especially mind-reader Leech."

Sam lost a little bit of his composure there, a light shiver adorning his form. Jared edged closer to Sam's side as we all moved forward in formation, and the whole pack was filled with fury. 'How dare they want to see you after they left you' was one of the similar trains of thought. Of course, It varied depending on the person.

Quil moved closer to me, standing in solidarity as Sam continued to speak on my behalf, the Cullens not knowing that I was indeed in the clearing. If I had my way they wouldn't know at all- because true to Sam's words, I didn't want to see them. I wasn't asking for much was I?

A flicker of an unknown emotion streaked past Alice and Emmett's faces, and I fought hard to keep my cool. A part of me was angry with them, yet another part of me hated people hurting. They were warring, between what I thought and what would result in the least conflict- even if it seemed likely at this point. My wolf had no such qualms or internal wars however, her own red hot fury melding with mine to create an unrelenting inferno.

They hurt us. They left us without caring. Their cub hurt us yet they do not apologise. This is not how you treat pack.

I tuned out of what Sam was saying to the Cullens, preferring to communicate with my wolf. In the short time we had known one another, having literally been created in an attempt to save my life, we hadn't talked much. At all, really. Whether the other wolves communicated like this with their wolves I didn't know- I'd ask once this whole thing was sorted out.

Anyway, my point is was that she was incredibly eager to take my own angers and emotions as her own- I would have thought that she wouldn't care at the very least- because she hadn't been with me when I was attacked. You have no idea how long it took me to be able to openly admit that it was what Edward had done to me- attacked. I couldn't even say the word before.

You are me. I am you. We feel, think, fight, together. Your pain is my own, my pain is your own. We are bonded. Kin.

Speaking of which, is my wolf even a female? Do spirits have genders? Have I been calling her-it-he the wrong pronoun the entire time? Now I feel ridiculously bad.. I know I wouldn't want to be called something that I wasn't.

I am female as you put it. Do not be distressed young one.

Ignoring the fact she called me young one- I'm not that young- I began to focus on the confrontation again. Sam was shaking more violently now, and half of the pack were snarling, bringing me to the realisation that I had probably missed something vital. If it had angered them, it was going to likely annoy me as well.

The not-pack were providing not-pack-attacker with excuses. They did not expand. Just try to defend. Not-pack empath whisper that he cannot sense the pack's emotions. Displeased.

Well, I could see why they were riled up. And I was incredibly grateful to my wolf because she had managed to pay attention. I hadn't even noticed that I was snarling as well, ears pressed back in aggression. Giving my wolf the reins, she stepped into it easily, displaying aggression that I wouldn't have even been able to muster during my conflicting emotions.

"We need to discuss this with Isabella. It is a private matter."

They weren't going to leave, were they? Not unless they got an audience with me. Plus you can be sure as the fact that it's always rainy in Forks that I was most definitely not going to be with them alone. I glared at them, before deciding to consult my wolf.

Because I knew that unless they saw me, we were going to get nowhere. Or cause world war three. And as much as I was pissed at them and confident in our abilities, I don't want to get into a fight because of them.

I agree. Show them that we are not afraid. That we are Alpha female and will not bow to them. That we are not weak.

I mean, she said it better then I could. Although, technically I wasn't Alpha female, because Jake hadn't taken the Alpha position- the only hold I held on the title was through him, and I wasn't particularly eager to hold it. I would make a terrible leader.. especially at the minute. I turned heel and slunk off into the undergrowth, without a backwards glance. Claws clenching deep into the dirt, and my eyes blazing, I was either about to regret this or get the closure I've been wanting.

"I'm phasing back. Paul, Leah, will you flank me when I'm phased back?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Jacob interjected, as I ducked away behind a particularly thick oak tree, sitting on my haunches. Fortunately I had some clothes squirrelled away. I most definitely wasn't confronting the Cullen's naked- Christ no. I'm modest! I couldn't even stand being seen by the pack in my birthday suit. Ugh..

"Yes, I need to do this. They don't even have any good excuse from what I've heard. I need to do this for myself."

Although I could tell Jacob was uneasy about the whole thing, I collected myself, and forced myself back into my usual bipedal form. I slipped on the baggy t-shirt, and the baggy leggings, before taking a minute to calm myself, trying to force away the tremors adorning my body.

It was far from easy, but after a few brief moments, I walked out, with the lithe grey wolf of Leah and Paul's own ashy grey wolf flanking me by my sides. Walking back into our clearing, with Jacob temporarily breaking away to greet me with a nose to the hand, I stood next to Sam, trying to convey my non-existent confidence. I was done being quiet about this.

I was done with the nightmares of Edward, the feeling of abandonment lurking beneath me at all times. I was going to get my answers, one way or another. Surely I deserved that at least. I allowed my wolf to bleed through into my human form, and she helped to mask my light tremors, and hardened my eyes. Hopefully not to the extent where they would guess that I was a wolf- that was not something I wanted to give away right now.

"Bella- It's nice to see you again"

Keeping my expression a tight neutral face, and my shield even tighter, I practically chanted in my head not to lose it, to be civil. If I started screaming at them, or even worse phased, I wouldn't get any answers. Plus I would have a massive shitstorm on my hand. And I didn't have another word to substitute shit for in that sentence..so here we go. I think I've cursed more in the past hour then I have in my lifetime.

"Carlisle, family."

I nodded as Jacob pulsed confidence through our bond, as I stroked the back of Leah's fur in an attempt to reassure myself. Hopefully, the gesture wasn't visible to them- and that they thought that my scent was just masked by the others. It helped that Jasper apparently wasn't able to read my emotions with my shield up- perhaps it had gotten stronger when I had become a wolf? Obviously I hadn't been able to control it before.

Otherwise Edward could have read my mind- because I would have figured out how to take it down. Wait.. upon looking actively for the orbs, they almost seemed to fade into existence around me, and a massive purple one appeared out of nowhere.

I was willing to bet that this was Jasper trying to use his gift- and it occurred to me that I would have known that Jasper couldn't read my emotions. As I slackened my concentration, the orbs seemingly faded back into non-existence, leaving my sight clear.

"Why are you hanging out with them Bella? Don't you know what they are?"

Carlisle gave Alice a look that clearly read disapproval, and I was focusing on schooling my expression so that it didn't look like I was offended. Funnily enough Alice, considering I was in a clearing with them, and not looking scared at all, I am aware of what they are. It isn't as bad as you make it seem to be. At least they didn't beat me up and leave me for dead, or just abandon me completely.

With an incredible bit of self restraint, I didn't let her hear my rant.

"I am very aware of who and what they are Alice. And I'm hanging out with them, as you so eloquently put it, because they were actually there for me when I needed them."

Esme had a look of hurt on her face, and admittedly I felt bad. She had always been kind to me- sort of replacing eccentric Renee as my mother figure- but even she wasn't excused from the fact that they had left me. I hadn't even figured out if they knew what Edward had done to me. I guess we'd find out soon.

"They're dangerous."

She pointed out, which was only slightly hypocritical of her. Who was I safer with? The blood drinking Vampires or the people protecting albeit with minor anger issues wolves? I'll let you be the judge of that. Hint- it's fairly obvious.

"So are you."

Sam coughed, effectively cutting off our mini debate-turning-argument. Flashing him a thankful look, I turned to face the Vampires once more, hopefully hiding what I had been feeling. It felt wrong.. and I hated that I had to do this. Well, I guess you could argue that I didn't have to do it, but if they knew how I was feeling they could use it to exploit something. So, no go.

"Sorry,"

I apologised. Hopefully this would spur the conversation on, because I very much wanted to find out my answers. But don't assume my apology for forgiving them, because I wasn't going to forgive them that easily. Not after all of this. Sam nodded slightly, before remaining silent, giving me a chance to speak out.

"So what is it you wish to speak to me about?"

I'm quite proud of that neutral tone. Not a sight of anger or really any other emotion- my wolf was doing well at managing the tremors at my body, and was also being good at remaining hidden. Thank goodness for small mercies I guess? If it had just been me managing my self restraint, I probably would have been phased ten minutes ago, blowing my secret in great proportions.

"Perhaps we should take this somewhere private?.."

A low growl emerged from my side, and as I flicked my eyes downwards, I could see that Paul and Jacob had switched positions, so that Jacob, in all his russet furred glory was next to me. Whether he was aware of it or not, he was brushing up against me, and I would be lying if it wasn't doing a good job of calming me down.

"No. Anything you want to say can be said here."

It was foreign to me for actually standing up for myself, but judging by the approval in the bond, I could tell Jacob was pleased. I ran my fingers through his course and soft fur, wanting nothing more then to hang my arms around his neck- but I couldn't do that with them watching. Was I ashamed of Jacob imprinting on me- No. Never.

I could never regret it- but I didn't want them to know so that Edward wouldn't ever know. I didn't want him to ruin another thing for me. Not this time. Because honestly, with his drastic personality change, I could see him trying to ruin one of the few things I had left- and I would not let him.

Carlisle narrowed his eyes, before un-narrowing them just as fast, the rest of his family bunching closer to him. In response, the pack did the same thing, apart from the others who were hidden in the woods.

"You've changed, Bella."

Oh, Alice so did not get to pull that card. Both myself, my wolf, and Jacob bristled at the accusation, and three spirits worth of anger was far too much for me to hold. And so, uncharacteristically, I did something a bit unusual for me.

With the force of an explosion, I threw away my shield from where it was covering me (giving me somewhat of a headache, but I was hoping it wouldn't last too long), leaving it covering the pack, and retorted, fully aware that Jasper could now read my emotions:

"Well, people tend to change when they are left for dead by someone who claimed to love them."

Judging by their shocked faces that I could instinctually tell weren't fake, they apparently didn't know that fact. Huh, who'd of guessed?

Key

Italics - Thoughts

Italic Underline - Speaking to Wolf

Bold Italics - Pack Speech

Author's Notes

Ahhhh! *hides*

Please don't kill me. I had every intention, believe me, to have all of the confrontation in the one chapter. But noo. It kept going and going and going and eventually resulted in this. I hadn't even gotten to what they wanted to discuss!

So, it's an unintentional cliffhanger. My apologies. This time I wasn't wanting to be cruel. Unlike the people who wrote half my exam- okay I'm shutting up now.

On another note, raining, raining, and even more rain. 'Tis the weather of Scotland. And I'm ridiculously cold. Like, 'I can't type' cold. If you were to look outside of my window right now, you would literally see tracks of water, and that's about it.

Anyway, enough rambling, here's a question. I have no clue who actually reads the AN (and I hardly blame you there), but I like to give them anyway.

What is everyone's favourite animal? Mine is a wolf. Just how they are misunderstood in the world, to their loyalty to one another (even if I feel bad for an omega in wolf pack structure), they are just my favourite animals.

Anywho, see you next time!

~A very cold Bookworm.