A/N: Hey everyone! New chapter here! :-) Hope you enjoy and feel free to review. I adore hearing from you! HAPPY READING!

CHAPTER THIRTY - ONE

(BPOV)

I ran hard and fast for what felt like miles. My breath becoming more stolen and harder to catch as I pushed myself forward. I wanted to get as far away as I could... not knowing if there was anything left to Edward... not knowing if he had somehow survived the blaze and was seeking me out. I had stumbled and fallen more times than I could count in the pitch black of night, my hands and knees now bloody and shredded from the many falls. My clothes torn and tattered. In spite of the pain and the fear flooding through me, I continued on, listening to any noise that lurked around me and hoping Tanya wouldn't catch me.

I knew the odds were well stacked against me for this. Knew that she would have surely discovered Edward in his state and that I had escaped. She would be hunting me by now and if she caught me, she would surely kill me without hesitation.

My body shook from the fear and the cold while I ran further and further into the dense woods, my eyes struggling to see what was in front of me as I went. My heart hammered as I thought of the scent I was leaving behind for Tanya to discover. My bleeding hands that had touched too many trees to count along my stumbling way in here.

It was a blood trail and it would fuel her lust. Further ignite her thirst for vengeance.

I couldn't have left her a better map of where I was if I had tried.

Shit...

The loud snap of a twig behind me caused my head to whirl around sharply in the direction of the sudden sound, my eyes stinging with tears as the fear I had tried to keep at bay for hours now began to grip me by the throat, making it hard for me to keep going. I sucked in a sharp breath, becoming as still as I possibly could while frantically searching around me for any sign of sudden movement. The trees swayed in the wind, casting shadows on the ground from the moonlights faint glow above. This soon faded away as its light dimmed from the encroaching clouds up in the sky.

The only light I had was now being snuffed out.

Tanya would find me.

She would hunt me until she could end me.

I pressed my back up against the large tree just to my left, my breaths coming out in gasps as I sunk down there from pure exhaustion.

I hadn't eaten or had any water in hours.

I was dehydrated and beyond spent from running tirelessly this long.

I winced when I wiped the blood from my hands on my torn jeans, shivering violently from the cold wind that whipped unforgivingly around me. I was truly lost... having not even the faintest idea of where I was at this point.

The forest was full of so much noise at night and every unique sound made me jump in terror. My nerves felt shot as I slowly stood on shaky legs, knowing I couldn't rest for long with Tanya out here somewhere with me... in constant search of me. To end my human existence. My legs felt impossibly heavy as I ran onward without direction, my head filling with the sound of Jacob's warm voice.

Keep going Bells... Just keep going.

I knew it was bordering on damn delusional but his voice sounded so clear in my mind, even in the midst of the chaos and terror I felt now, Jacobs husky voice surrounded me and it was enough to keep me going. It was enough to break through the choking fear and the heavy darkness I felt I was drowning in out here.

Everywhere I turned was more darkness. More wet forest and more confusion that mixed with the terror of the many scatterings beneath my feet as I ran and ran... and ran.

The rain soon began to fall in buckets, soaking me to the bone and making my body feel damn near frozen. Flashbacks of the last time I had been in the cold wet forest like this, began to run wildly through my head.

I had walked for miles trying to find Edward and now I was running from them. How the tide had swiftly changed from before.

I cursed aloud as I tripped on another stump, causing me to fall to the ground for the fifteenth plus time, except this time, I didn't get back up. I clutched dried leaves in my trembling hands as a sob broke from me.

I couldn't run anymore.

I slowly pulled myself up into a sitting position, Jacobs voice in my head growing louder, as I came to rest against the base of another large swaying tree.

"I'm sorry." I whispered into the darkness, feeling the emptiest I had felt in a long time. I huddled in on myself, trying to keep warm the best I could and failing.

I was a fool to think I could outrun them. Even just one of them.

Edward may still be out here. Despite what I did to him.

The sound of rustling around me made my eyes snap open as I bolted upright, squinting into the darkness and catching the slight movement of something as it rushed past the trees ahead of me.

I forced myself up and began to run as fast as I could. My adrenaline pumping and my will to live making my legs go faster than I thought they would go. The wind whipped furiously around me, throwing my hair in my face as I tore away from the branches that tried to tangle me up in the forest while I went.

I could hear her now. Hear her pursuit of me... feel her closing in.

She was playing with me. Toying with me.

Her running footsteps sounded heavier than they should and fast, but not as fast as they could of been. She was doing this on purpose. Stalling her game and making me fight for my life till the very last minute.

My sobbing grew louder as my exhaustion peaked, my body shuttering with the horror of what I knew she would do to me when she got her talon hands around my throat.

"No... No!" I cried aloud, knowing she was closing in on me fast and I couldn't gain any further ground on her.

Like a predator plays with its prey before devouring it. I felt utterly trapped as the rustling from behind me grew louder ... closer... faster.

My shirt became torn further as it snagged on yet another branch, leaving my midsection nearly bare now as I let out a strangled cry.

There was nothing more I could do. Nowhere to go... nowhere else to run to. My fate was about to be sealed. It had caught up with me and it had done so with a vengeance. I continued to run despite her chase. I would not give her the satisfaction of me surrendering to her.

She would change me. Strip the flesh from my very bones. I knew she would, but I wasn't gonna stop and beg her not to. I would not give her that pleasure.

When I heard the hissing surround me further, I knew she was ever so close to me... so close that she could end this if she wanted to. She could drop from any one of the above trees and snatch me for her own but she didn't.

She was taunting me and dragging it out like the vile creature she was. I had truly expected no less.

My entire body began to feel utterly numb when the sound of another sudden and violent hiss echoed out around me in the darkness. I ran faster and harder, stumbling and tripping all the more along the way. Just as a terrified scream threatened to leave my lips, I collided with something. Something solid and unmoving. The jolt of it jarring... disorienting... almost knocking the wind out of me as I was lifted off my feet completely.

This was it.

She had found me.

I instinctively fought against the firm hold. Sobbing harder as I tried to get free and knowing that I never could. That I never would.

In my fight to get loose and surging on pure adrenaline ... to somehow escape the hold... I hadn't noticed the heat that I'd slammed into. The warmth that had enveloped me now. I hadn't recognized the pair of strong arms that desperately held onto me, despite my fight to get free. I hadn't heard the deep and husky voice that spoke my name... that called out to me.

"Bells... Shh... shh-... honey...-"

I stilled instantly as recognition hit me, feeling the arms that I was just desperate to get away from, now tighten around me, holding me securely in them.

"It's me, honey. I have you."

I wrapped my arms around his neck then, clinging to him and fearing this wasn't real.

"Jacob-"

He hauled me up further in his arms, moving us back against a tree in a protective manor, his frame shaking with impending tremors that quickly tried to take hold of him.

"I've got you, honey. I'm here."

A loud and taunting laugh surrounded us then, Jacobs body damn near quaking with his imminent phase. Fear took hold of me as I realized then that he could be out here alone.

Jacob released me with an uneasy expression, his hands cradling my face when he spoke.

"You're bleeding, honey-" He breathed, checking my hands and seeing the blood on my torn jeans.

"You came for me-...even after I-"

"I'll always come for you-"

"Tell me you're not here alone." I breathed, my eyes wide in the faint returning glow of the moonlight when they met his.

"I ran ahead of the pack. They couldn't keep up with me. I had to get to you... they will be here."

"Jacob-"

Regret lashed at me as I thought of how I'd left him back at Billy's when this all started. It had been stupid... selfish. I hadn't given him the chance to protect me like I should have. Like he deserved.

"I know." Jacob sighed, his lips brushing mine with his words as he hovered protectively over me. "You were-"

"... wrong." I finished, hearing the sound of a shrilling voice loom out over the trees now.

"Isabella..."

Jacob pressed me closer to him, his body still shaking from the effort it took to hold his tremors at bay.

"Shh-" He hushed me, placing a hand on the back of my head as I held my breath and trembled.

He was here alone... for now... he had outrun the others... and I didn't know how far behind they were.

"I can smell you and I know you're not alone." Tanya chimed, her voice full of a sick thrill as she spoke. "He came for you didn't he? Your precious Jacob. Aro will be pleased when I bring you both to him... or at least one of you. Whichever one survives."

Tears spilled from my eyes as Jacob met my gaze. His look full of a ferocity I had never seen from him. I tried to block out the unwanted images of him fighting her alone... to keep me safe. I was beginning to fall apart as she continued, her taunting enough to make me want to scream.

"Remember what I told you, Isabella. What Aro will do to him. I know you're here alone pup. Trust me when I tell you that you're no match for me. I'll snap your bones like a twig and then I'll take her to Italy."

Jacob kept his gaze on mine, as a low growl rumbled through his chest. His tremors were becoming painful for him to hold.

"You destroyed Edward!" She then roared to us. "... and for that I'm going to make you pay."

I shook like a leaf as Jacob continued to hold me close, his look seething now. We were alone but as my gaze locked on his once more, I knew something had shifted in him and that he couldn't hold back his tremors any longer.

"I love you, Bells." He breathed to me, placing a kiss on my forehead before abruptly moving away from me and erupting into the giant russet wolf. The size of him made my breath hitch as I watched him take his stance in front of her, a mighty roar pouring out from him and filling the forest while he stood protectively over me.