Into the streets, we're coming down
We never sleep, never get tired
Through urban fields, and suburban life

Turn the crowd up now, we'll never back down
Shoot down a skyline, watch it in prime time
Turn up the love now, listen up now, turn up the love

Who's gonna save the world tonight?
Who's gonna bring you back to life?
We're gonna make it, you and I
We're gonna save the world tonight

We're far from home, it's for the better
What we dream, it's all that matters
We're on our way, united

Save the World, Swedish House Mafia, from the album Until Now, released in 2012

"I understand why you did it.. and that you thought it would lead to the best outcome of the pack.. but I'm still angry."

I shrugged. That had been the answer I'd been expecting. She deserved her vengeance, but I had practically denied her that. But at least she didn't hate me. I meant everything I'd said, when I said I'd rather she hated me then get hurt, but that didn't mean I wanted her to. I nodded, before stretching.

She yawned, before gently moving down from the bed, her fur tussled and messy, and she was still graceful despite being covered in head to toe with bandages, rods, and bruises. Now, you might be wondering: 'What about your advanced healing capabilities?' Well, Bella's capabilities were practically non-existent. She hadn't lost them, no, but if we momentarily think of it like a fire.

The fire provides heat for as long as it has fuel. Once the fuel is gone, so too does the heat. That's pretty much Bella's healing system. There's no fuel because she hasn't been eating, so it can't work. Until her appetite increases, she will be healing at regular old human healing pace. But since her appetite was going to take time to return… well, it's simple.

"Can we go down for a walk?"

I was sceptical. She was injured, swaddled in more bandages then someone in a full body cast, and was much less walk, and much more waddle. Still, I couldn't keep her tied up, nor could a mollycoddle her to where she resented me. Plus, we were all keen to stay near the Rez for the minute, because of everything that had happened.

Close and at comfort. Still, I could possibly turn this into at least a nice expedition. And, if I said no, she could go anyway, and just sneak out. And with her shielding her mind, we'd be none the wiser.

"Yeah.. just let me prepare a few things."

She didn't comment, instead circling and repeatedly stretching with only a slight grimace of pain. I quickly made my exit, and down towards our fully stocked kitchen- or our hopefully fully stocked kitchen. Looking around, my dad and Charlie ducking their heads in- I very quickly shooed Charlie off because I liked our kitchen being in tact- before going towards the fridge. Stretching, I had a light bulb thought, before picking up my phone and phoning everybody's go to person in the pack.

"Hey Em? Yeah.. I have an idea, but it's quite short notice.."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see"

The pace we were walking at was fairly slow, and the path was largely untreaded. I was looking forward to this little event I'd planned, and I was hoping that it would allow us to relax a little, even with the threat of the missing leech and all of this animosity hanging over us. We needed to bond more, so nothing was better then a little meet and greet.

There was nothing better then being out in the wild in wolf form, trust me when I say that. The scents, the smells, the sense of being free. In some instances, wolf life was easier then human life, but in other instances, the other way round was also true. In human form, you didn't need to worry about hunting to survive. Anyway, stepping over a little bit of ageing shrubbery, there was an idyllic scene set out in front of us.

There was a series of large picnic blankets spread out over the grass, tartan blurring with chequered squares blurring with plain solid blocks of colour. Sat in the middle of the squares was Emily, Kim, and little Claire, who was standing up and hanging off of Quil's neck like a little monkey. There was a wide range of baskets spread out, plates scattering the blankets like snow, and the smell of food wafted around our noses.

Sam was patrolling around, as was Leah, Shadow and Embry, but they were dropping in every so often. The grey form of Paul was slinking around next to Seth, who was jumping up like he'd been on sugar. Jared was snoozing gently next to Kim, her hands going round and round in his fur, curling it and mussing it.

Turning back to see Bella's hobbling form, odd patches of fur wavering every so often, her eyes opened widely, turning her head in confusion. I braced her form subtly, walking up against her but being careful to not jostle her.

"I'm not trying to make you forgive me, but I thought it would be a good time to bond with the pack some more- they've been worried."

The last thing I wanted was for her to think I was trying to get into her good books by arranging pack bonding time. Trust me, I very much deserved being put 'in the doghouse'. Still, she didn't reply, causing me to look at her worriedly. She shook her head a little, as I could feel her shield expand and the other's thoughts begin to trickle in.

"Hi everyone?"

She called out, as everyone present turned to face us. We walked towards them, as Seth came bounding over, stopping just before he crashed into Bella. His tail was going mile a minute, as Paul came up alongside him aswell, with Paul's tail wagging lowly.

"It's nice to see you up and well Bella!"

Paul nodded in agreement, batting at Seth's face with his paw in an attempt to get him to calm down. Seth was a bundle of optimism, and I swear he was constantly hyper, yet oddly mature, which was an odd mix considering his age.

A small smile graced Bella's muzzle, as a mental laugh shyly rang out, accompanying the odd noise that was our wolf laugh. We all walked towards the blankets as Bella curled up on the mat, nudging ever so slightly into the side of Emily, chuffing as Emily tussled her fur, or what little she could get to anyway.

"You want something to eat?"

Bella looked contemplative, before nodding slowly. I sat down next to her as Claire's curiosity seemed to overwhelm her, toddling over to us with Quil watching with a fond look on his face. Crawling into Emily's lap, she reached out to touch Bella's fur, before jerking her hands back sharply. Big and shining eyes looked between Emily and Bella, as Emily took a break from stroking Bella and instead directed Claire's attention to her own eyes.

"Wolfy is hurt?"

I snickered a little at how Bella was referred to as Wolfy, but then I also remembered how the two of them had never really met in the first place. Claire's concern was honestly sweet, because it was clear she didn't want to hurt Bella by accident.

"Her name is Bella, Claire. She just had a little accident. She's special, like Quil and Jake and Sam."

She walked over to where Bella was lying, and held her hand out experimentally. Bella nudged into it, and I saw her tongue dart out to lick Claire's hand, causing her to giggle happily. Claire went down onto her knees and gently outstretched her hand again, causing Bella to tease her by quickly flicking her tongue out, before instead moving forward and licking Claire on the face- the cheek.

It was only there she licked, nowhere else- and it caused her to laugh wildly and in delight. It was a good idea, I thought, arranging this whole thing. I haven't seen Bella laugh like that or smile like that for a while.

"Could I stroke you Bella?"

Claire's pronunciation was honestly adorable. Be-la. She didn't hold the syllable for very long, looking and sounding adorable as she tried in vain- pulling an impressive look of concentration-to say 'Bell-lah'. Still, Bella nodded her head, as Emily guided Claire's hand to Bella's neck. She- Bella- inhaled sharply as Claire ran her hands along, causing all of us to look at her worriedly, before she exhaled, relaxing a little.

There was no need to panic after all. Or at least, not much. No more then usual. Although with everyone gathered, I was reminded of yet another topic of conversation I needed to bring up.

We'd swapped runners for a little while. I'd been lacking in that particular job lately, so I swapped out with Sam, giving him a chance to wind down and chill. It also gave Bella some not pissed off time away from me. Which was always a benefit. As much as I disliked leaving her alone, rationally I knew Shadow, despite having the chance to swap out with someone, refused, continuing to patrol.

Honestly, it was rare I even saw Shadow, because he slept out in the wild, and very rarely interacted with us at all. He even hunted his own food, which wasn't weird but most definitely unusual. It still made me question why he had agreed to join our pack, but each to their own. I loped around without much point, circling around La Push and round that little jut that was Bella's house.

Ever since we had added it to our patrol line, our neat little circle round La Push had turned into a weird circle thing with a square on the end. It's a shape that is weird to describe. Shadow appeared out of nowhere- literally- next to me, startling me a little bit as he easily picked up my stride, as we bounded over logs and crunched logs beneath our clawed paws. Bella's shield had tightened to around just those in the clearing, leaving me, Shadow, Seth and Paul time to talk between ourselves.

"It is nice to see Strawberry out and moving."

I nodded in agreement, as I turned to look at him, still keeping a look on my surroundings. I didn't want to headbutt a tree because that would hurt, funnily enough. That was another funny thing about Shadow, he very rarely called us by our human names. Only our scent names.

I'd guess it was something to do with his nature. Still, I scented the air experimentally as I tried to explore my surroundings without physically exploring my surroundings. Any deer or woodland creatures had long since vanished when a pack of wolves came in, trying to avoid becoming our lunch.

"It is. I'm happy she's happy."

The sun was still shining high in the sky, the clouds clear in a rare day in Forks. Despite my life seeming relatively okay for the minute- the Pack were strong, my Imprint was okay for the current time, and well, we hadn't lost anyone. Touch wood anyway.

But I had a feeling that all was not right, but for the life of me, I couldn't determine why. With the knowledge about my new found power, I had no idea whether it was that or not. I wasn't exactly making a decision or anything.. and my wolf didn't have much idea either, despite all his wisdom.

"As any heart-bond should. Heed that warning, because it will never fail you."

An odd thing to say, but I assumed it was to do with his experience with his own powers. He didn't elaborate, and I had learnt to not prod. Still, Shadow uttered something under his breath in a language that was not wolf, nor English, before closing his eyes briefly and opening them back again, heterochromic eyes staring with an unknown emotion, and the sound of twigs snapping ever so more loudly under his paws.

"She'll come back to you yet. Strawberry walks the line between anger and understanding, treading on both sides before coming to a decision."

How exactly old was Shadow? He sounded so wise, yet looked so young. At some point, surely, we had to learn how old he was, or at least part of his background. It wasn't essential, but it would help us understand him. He caught wind of my thoughts- hardly a difficult feat considering we were very much linked- and I swear I saw the flicker of a frown, before his face carefully went neutral once more.

"I'm older then you know."

The conversation died then as Shadow sped ahead and put distance between he and I. I'd probably said something stupid.. yet again. Subtlety was not my strong suit, Jesus Christ. An image of Bella, happy and laughing flickered up in my mind, but the thought was, surprisingly, not my own. It was Seth's.

I could feel Seth's fierce protection of her, his determination to do his best by her and me. That kind of pressure wasn't what I wanted, but again, I knew it was inevitable. Still, I felt honoured that the pack cared for Bella so much, especially considering the whole.. Edward thing.

"She's one of us now. 'Thought she'd just manipulate us at first, after being with the Leech, but I was wrong."

Paul? Admitting he was wrong? Miracles did happen. Well.. I knew that all too well. The wolf in question smirked through the pack mind, loping throughout the woods, carefully paying attention to his surroundings.

"Yeah yeah, don't get used to-"

"There has been a Vampire here."

Shadow, in an action uncharacteristic of him, calmly spoke over what Paul had been going to say. The word Vampire made my ears prick up, my teeth bare themselves, my hackles raise and a growl begin to bloom in my throat. The Redhead couldn't be stupid enough to come here, could she? No matter- dangerous she may be but we would beat her, burn her, and make her pay for her role in Bella's experiences.

Shadow scented the air yet again, and as sure as the anger in my mind, the scent of acrid sugar and bleach confirmed Leech. It seemed sort of stale though.. I slammed down sharply on my feelings of anger, because I knew that if Bella got a handle on the fact that there was a potential Leech here, then injury or no injury, she would try her damnedest to be involved with that fight. She was ridiculously stubborn at the best of times.

"Nobody tell Bella."

There was a silence, but I knew they all would go along with what I had said, as we all knew what Bella was like. Still, we needed everyone at the picnic thing to know that there was potentially a Leech on the prowl. Thinking quickly, and channelling my inner Alpha, I organised things with the help of my wolf, who had his own ideas on what to do. He comfortably sat next to me in my mind, as we held a conversation in a mere few words.

Our Imprint cannot know. She is not healed enough to try and fight. Someone needs to inform the others, while keeping our Imprint unaware. I suggest the Pup. He need not be involved any-more then he has already.

I still had much regrets for taking Seth to Alaska, and then onwards to Russia, and if I could help it, I would keep him away from this war I wanted to wage. There was no reason to let them go this time, and I would not let them away again. And if it happened to be the Cullens, well, there was no second chance. Not this time.

"Seth, run back to the others and inform them, without telling Bella, what's going on. Tell them we need three patrollers to pick up our slack. Paul, come with me to where Shadow is. We have a Leech to hunt."

Unknown POV

Mid-Day. A risky day for most of the figure's kind, but it was ignored for the most part. Feet blurring, they travelled throughout the forest, skin reflecting light like glass shards on the floor. Vibrant colours that would sting normal eyes, the small drops of dew hanging on the edge of a leaf, the dirt hardly being disturbed by the fast-paced footsteps of the figure, as they set up position to watch their plans unfold.

Downwind from the Mutts, unable to be scented, high up, watching their minion be led to their death like lambs to a slaughter. He was useless in the scheme of things, no powers, arrogant, and overly prideful. Give him enough time, he would endanger the plan, and that was unacceptable.

The idiot moved around below her, and it did not take long for the mutts to come out, the large brown one, who she learned was mates to that bitch who took her James away from her, a large black one, Alpha of this mangy coven, and a grey one, the one she did not know about.

She would try and factor in the Bitch's mate.. take her lover away from her and see how she liked it. Hmm.. she was pleasantly surprised to see that the Bitch's injuries still lingered, not as fast healing as they were supposed to be. This was an interesting development.. as the wolves set upon the idiot, who tried to beat them all only to be torn apart mercilessly.

Once she was sure the idiot was dead, she turned and fled, a sadistic smile resting neatly on her face. Yes. It was an interesting development indeed.

Author's Note

Hello everyone! How are you all this fine evening- for me anyway.

I'm pretty good. Tomorrow is the last day of the term before I'm off for two weeks, which I'm looking forward to. And I've almost completely recovered from the labyrinthitis I had last week, which is even better.

I went to the Theatre on Tuesday Night, saw Saturday Night Fever, and OH MY GOD it was so good. I loved it. I need to watch the original at some point. Fun fact, as a result I was going to make the song 'Tragedy' for this chapter, but realised it suits better for another chapter.

Anyway, QOTW before I go off to bed- what do you think of brex- I'm kidding. I'm not touching that topic with a fifteen foot pole. What is everybody's favourite musical- or film, if you don't like musicals.

Honestly, now it would either be Footloose or Saturday Night Fever for my favourite musicals. I love 'em both. And my favourite film.. well, I'd guess any Marvel film in the MCU, or Bohemian Rhapsody, or Kingsman.

Now, I'm going to go sleep.

See you all next time!

~A sleepy bookworm