Author's Note: So I originally posted this chapter two weeks ago but I had to take it down for two reasons. First, it was confusing and, after re-reading it I understood why. Second, when I sat down to outline the last few chapters I realized that I needed to change some of the circumstances in this one.

So if you already read this chapter, you probably want to read it again because some stuff has changed. Time moves forward and back in this chapter again, but then I think that after this everything will be pretty straight forward.

Sorry about this and thanks for being patient with me. This is, after all, a work in progress.

Also, since it's been so long, here is a quick update for you!

Previously on: Tainted

After confirming her suspicions that Edward and his family are vampires when she visits them in their house on Sunday afternoon, Bella learns that she herself may be slowly becoming a vampire because Edward accidently bit her one night in her room. Most of the venom was removed from her system, but she has been slowing and subtly taking on vampire characteristics.

Billy and Sam are concerned about why Bella is spending so much time with the Cullens. Now that Paul has become the third werewolf and completed the pack, they devise a plan to keep a closer eye on her movements from now on.

Jacob, who still knows nothing about the existence of vampires or werewolves, hears that Sam wants to follow Bella around and calls Bella on Sunday evening to warn her. When he shows up at her house that night, he is greeted, not by Bella but by a mysterious and gorgeous red headed woman.

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First Strike

She knew it was wrong, what she had just seen, that she should be outraged, that she should feel something, but she just didn't care. It wasn't intentionally done. Carlisle would see that immediately and even he would have a hard time blaming her, but she didn't feel bad about it and she knew that was the part that her father would condemn her for. Oh well, she thought, she kept them from harming the other one. Surely that would count for something.

She hated to disappoint Carlisle, but what was more important at the moment, Rosalie thought as she ran through the woods back to her house and her family, their guests close behind her, was focusing on what would likely happen next. This was not going to just go away.

It's not that she didn't think they could take them if they came looking for vengeance. Her family outnumbered them, they didn't stand a chance. Emmett and Jasper would probably finish them off so quickly it wouldn't even be fun. Of course, that was only if Carlisle let them fight at all and Rosalie knew that wasn't likely. Yet, she couldn't see any other alternative. Neither side would leave without a fight.

Her stone cold heart broke for him. She didn't feel bad about it, but she was sorry that Carlisle would be forced into this battle she had allowed to start.

The other two followed her silently. She slowed down as she approached the house and could hear by the sounds of their movement inside that everyone was gathered in the living room as planned. She wondered if Alice had told them what happened before she left or if it would be up to Rosalie to break the news.

She turned around to the two vampires that had been following her home. The leader, Laurent, was tall with red eyes and black hair and spoke his English with a Mediterranean accent. He must have come over from Europe recently, she thought. He nodded at her, signaling that he understood they were visitors in her home and all of the decorum that accompanied the invitation to enter.

The other one had not spoken since the incident, she didn't even know his name yet, but Rosalie felt uneasy about the way he was looking at her. She got the feeling he was waiting to attack something. Again.

She opened the door to greet her family. Carlisle, Esme and Emmett were facing her with their much practiced easy smiles, ready to greet their visitors. Carlisle believed that creating a casual atmosphere when visitors showed up helped to keep them from getting too curious or suspicious. They were very good at acting casual in tense situations, but not this good. It answered her earlier question.

Alice had not told them, they did not know.

Their smiles started to fade as they began to realize that some part of their plan had gone terribly wrong. Esme's hand began to squeeze tighter around her husband's arm. Carlisle eyed their visitors cautiously before his eyes rested on his daughter.

"Is everything alright, Rosalie?"

"They've killed someone. It was one of the Quileute."

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He knew the other two could hear him thinking, a fact of pack life that they were all still getting used to, but Paul didn't let it bother him as he followed behind in formation. The other two had struggled with accepting this life that had been forced upon them by their ancestors but he did not. He could hear them thinking about it now as they compared their experience to his. They had been scared, confused, angry. Paul experienced none of those things. This was the coolest thing that could ever have happened to him and he didn't care who knew it.

He took the responsibility seriously and understood the great honor it was to serve his people in this way, but there was no question he enjoyed it in a way that the other two did not. Shifting into his wolf form acted as a release for Paul, a way to expel emotions that built up inside of him when living in his skin. In his fur, acting as an animal, everything was physical, primal, instinct. He had a different relationship to this body than he did to the one he was born into and he was amazed that something so seemingly unnatural could feel this innate.

Every moment of the last 12 hours had been fascinating. He was chased by Jared and Sam through the county, scaring a few motorists along the way. He hunted as a wild beast. He phased back into his skin for the first time to go meet with Billy Black about the Swan girl.

This evening was the most interesting yet. Even the other two, though worried at what this might mean for the tribe, were somewhat excited.

There's a difference between being excited and being alert, Sam thought at him in an attempt to bring his focus to the task at hand.

They crossed a new scent trail tonight and it was definitely not human.

They had come across it several miles outside of La Push and were following it along the stream that ran through the woods that connected the reservation with the tiny town of Forks. The smell was putrid, which meant it had to be a bloodsucker. But it wasn't the doctor or his family.

They were making their way along the southern border of town, thankfully still neutral territory. The bloodsucker had stayed in the forest but was dangerously close to the people who lived in town. Sam was the first to realize where the trail was leading and he quickened their pace. Jared and Paul followed swiftly behind, noses off the ground as they broke into a full-out run. Paul wondered how they had not guessed it sooner. Where else would a bloodsucker new to town be tempted to visit? Chief Swan's house reeked of Cullen.

As they approached the house Sam halted. All three picked up the other scent at the same time. Jared instantly recognized it as the blonde female and Sam ordered Paul to commit her aroma to his memory. They moved slowly now, trying to make as little noise as possible. It was lucky that they were coming in from the southwest now, downwind. Hopefully they could get close enough to see what was going on without alerting anyone to their presence.

When they reached the threshold of the forest, all three stopped dead in their tracks. The one they had been following was there on the porch, a red-headed female, and the blonde Cullen was in the yard staring at her but they were not alone.

Jacob Black was standing in between them.

Sam was outraged, his mind trying to come up with a hundred different ways to get Billy's son out of there but he didn't have time to form a cohesive plan. They had barely taken in the situation before they saw two sets of eyes turn towards where they were concealed to Jacob's in the tree line. The two females had been speaking but stopped when they noticed the wolves.

Sam knew they had to get Jacob out of there as quickly as possible. As soon as he decided on their course of action, Jared and Paul became like extensions of his own body, they did exactly what he commanded them to.

As a pack, they moved forward, out of the darkness of the trees and into the moonlight. The treaty was with the doctor and his family, so the blonde was off limits but the red head was not. As they approached this was the only plan of attack they had. Attack the red head. If the blonde had a problem with it, they would deal with her next.

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They were all in the living room now, even Emmet and Rose had joined them. Bella had asked that everyone come out of 'hiding' so she could get to know them better. Edward was still in disbelief that, after everything, she hadn't gone into shock. She certainly didn't seem as comfortable now, after his confession, as she had at first but she was still making an effort to at least seem as okay with everything as possible. For what felt like the hundredth time that day, he told himself that this was a remarkable, rare creature.

She was asking Carlisle the details of his story. Even thought the rest of them had heard it a hundred times, they all sat and listened earnestly about how their patriarch came to this life and his existence before he decided to create a family of companions. He was in the middle of talking about his time in Italy when her cell phone rang.

At first it looked like she was going to ignore the call but something about the number made her stop. She looked up.

"I should probably take this."

"Of course," Edward said as he gestured her towards the kitchen. It was really impossible to have a private phone call in a house full of vampires, something she now realized, but he thought she would appreciate talking to whoever it was without his entire family staring at her.

She smiled apologetically and moved in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Bella, it's Jacob."

She stopped and turned back towards Edward, who had frozen. Whatever the boy's reason for calling, he thought, they could not be good.

"Um, hey, what's up?"

"Sorry to do this but I have to talk to you."

She paused again before proceeding with caution. She was trying to keep her tone friendly but anyone who was really listening would never buy it. Her acting skills needed some polishing.

"I'm all ears, Jacob, what's going on?"

"It's Sam. He came over here tonight to talk to my dad, to seek his council, and…"

"And what, Jacob?"

"…and they were talking about you."

"What?" The word had left both her and Edward's mouth at the same time. She turned away from his gaze when she said it, her attention now completely belonging to her caller.

"They were talking about you and your, uh, friends and trying to figure out a way to get you to stop hanging out with them."

Edward laughed darkly to himself. If only those fools knew how intertwined her life was with his family. Emmett laughed heartily out loud. She responded with a scoff before the boy on the phone rushed to try and explain the situation further.

"Listen, I need to get off the phone in case my dad comes home but there's more I need to tell you. Can I meet you at your house?"

She turned back around, her eyes asking for assistance with how to answer his question. Edward wanted to know what else was going on, especially if it sounded like the Quileute were making an organized, mobilized effort to interfere with her. Bella's condition seemed to change from day to day, this was not a good time for any added observations. They needed to do what they could to keep them from poking around.

He nodded to her and she quickly agreed to meet him there in a half an hour. That would be plenty of time for him to get her and the truck back to her father's house and would give him time to hide somewhere in the house.

As she hung up the phone and began to make her way back into the living room, Edward's attention was suddenly pulled to Alice. She was having a vision.

A vampire. Female, with red hair, running through the forest. She comes across a scent that she recognizes as one of her kind but it is not someone she knows. She is curious and decides to follow it, knowing the other two will have no trouble finding her. She emerges from the woods right in front of Bella's house.

When Alice came out of the vision, everyone was looking at her. Edward was now standing next to Bella with his arm around her he stiffened when he recognized Bella's house in the vision and she had noticed. Concern crept slowly over her face.

Carlisle asked the question on everyone's mind.

"What did you see?"

"Visitors," she replied. "One for sure and it looked like two of her friends were supposed to be following her. She was following faint traces of our scents towards the house but then she came across a fresher one. It was Rose's from when she came back from Bella's this morning and, rather than follow it here she followed it the other way."

Everyone in the room could hear Bella's heart start racing.

"Of course, once she decided to approach the house, everything disappears because Bella would be inside."

"How long?" Jasper asked.

"Twenty minutes."

Bella snapped her heat towards Edward. "Charlie?"

He was able to answer her quickly. Alice had already looked to make sure Chief Swan would still be at work.

"He's still at work and has no intention of leaving any time soon."

"Do they seem hostile?" Jasper asked.

Alice thought for a moment before answering. "No, they're just curious. As long as we don't provoke them, they probably won't stay long or cause any trouble."

Bella seemed reassured for a moment then reached for her phone again. Edward reached out a hand to stop her. He was forming a plan. As much as he wanted to get her as far away from Forks as possible in the next twenty minutes, he knew that running away would only cause suspicion and the last think he wanted to do was draw attention to her right now. Raising suspicion might entice their visitors to stay longer.

"I need to warn Jacob."

"We need to talk this through first."

She looked like she wanted to protest but she remained silent. They turned towards the rest of the room. Jasper had already gathered that Edward was working on something.

"What are you thinking we should do," he asked his brother.

Edward began explaining the strategy he had been piecing together.

"First, I think we should send Rose back to Bella's to meet the female. I don't think she'll trust any of the rest of us, since it was Rose's scent she followed in the first place. I also don't think she'll be friendly if any more of us are there. She won't want to feel outnumbered from the start. Rosalie can invite her back here."

Emmett did not like the idea of his wife going alone to meet this unknown vampire but Rosalie told them she was confident that it wouldn't be a problem. Edward knew that she always got her way and didn't spend any more time worrying about whether or not Rose would go along with the plan.

"While she's gone, Alice, Jasper and I will leave with Bella to go back to her house. If we time it right, we should get there just as Rosalie is getting back here. Bella can meet with Jacob as planned and Alice, Jasper and I will be there to make sure nothing happens to disturb them."

Edward could hear the minds of his family thinking over his idea. Everyone except Esme thought it sounded feasible. Esme never liked it when everyone split up, but eventually nodded her approval along with everyone else. Edward turned to Bella to see if she objected.

"Will Jacob be alright?"

Rose answered for her. "We'll be long gone before he even shows up."

She was hesitant, to be sure, but eventually Bella, too, nodded.

With everyone in agreement, the house became a flurry of activity. Rose prepared to go meet their visitor. Esme, Carlisle and Emmett began tidying up the already perfect house. Alice and Jasper went upstairs to grab a few things before departing with Edward and Bella who, themselves, were embracing as he tried to reassure her that everything was going to work out alright.

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Jacob Black was stuck between two of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. He was also more confused than he had ever been before. He had been about ready to answer the red head when the blonde showed up.

"Greetings, visitor." Stunning as she was, her voice and her stare were equally icy. The red head looked at her with caution.

"You're the one I followed here."

"I am."

"Why have you been visiting this house?"

The blond smiled.

"I would be happy to explain, if you would like to follow me back to the house I share with my family."

"Family?" She hadn't asked it so much as laughed it.

"Yes, we prefer that word to others." For the second time that day, Jacob was certain there was more going on in this conversation than he was capable of understanding. The tone of each woman's voice was friendly, but their eyes were cautious.

"Interesting. How many of you are there?"

"Seven usually, but three are out."

"Seven? You rarely hear of groups that large. How do you stand it?"

The blond smiled sweetly, yet Jacob still couldn't help but notice that her eyes were still hard and cold.

"As I said, I would be happy to explain everything if you would follow me back to my house. The humans who live here will be home soon and I would prefer to not be here when they return."

The red head was about to respond but then stopped. Both women then turned their heads slowly towards the woods that bordered the side of the Swan house. Jacob looked to the woods too and for a moment couldn't see anything. What he saw next made him gasp.

Three giant wolves slowly emerged from the darkness of the forest. The one in the middle walked slightly ahead of the two which flanked its sides. Their movements seemed strangely cohesive for wild animals, choreographed almost.

Jacob and both women were frozen as they approached. No one moved at all. Jacob remained frozen out of habit, it was what his father taught him to do if approached by a wild animal in the woods. When they were about twenty feet away they stopped their advance.

Without moving, Jacob whispered to the both women, "stay still, ladies, and they shouldn't hurt you. They're probably just curious."

Both laughed in response, breaking the tension that had settled around them. At nearly the same moment, all three wolves lunged forward.

It all happened so fast that afterwards Jacob hardly knew what had happened. Everything seemed a blur of white, red, grey and black. There were two noises, the one the wolves made as they attacked and the one the red haired woman made as they tore her to pieces. Jacob's heart was pounding as his breathing got heavy but he couldn't tear his eyes away.

A hand was placed on his shoulders, pulling him back. Unsure of how it had happened, he found himself standing in the driveway now, farther from the porch now.

The blonde was storming away from him, fire in her eyes. She seemed completely unphased by what was going on right in front of them. She started hissing at the animals and they stopped and began to back away.

Jacob's stomach turned. There was nothing but pieces left of the woman who, moments ago, had been standing next to him on the porch. He couldn't tear his eyes away from what was left of her. He had never seen an animal attack and, though he knew they were dangerous, he never imagined it could be this bad.

The blonde seemed to be staring down one of the wolves, the one who had acted as the leader when they emerged from the woods. The surrealness of it all made Jacob wonder if he were really dreaming and what kind of therapy he would need when he woke up. He had been thinking about the old legends a little too much lately, he told himself. The dream theory was cemented a few second later.

The leader wolf started violently shaking and growled. One second he was waiting for it to attack the woman and the next he was looking at a very angry, very naked Sam Uley.

"Do you have a problem with our disposing of your friend?" It was less of question and more of a challenge.

"Not at all." Her response was very matter-of-fact.

He looked at her for a moment, as if trying to decide if she were telling the truth. She rested all her weight on one leg and crossed her arms.

"What are you going to do with the pieces?"

Still naked, he snarled at her. He reached down to a pouch tied around his ankle that Jacob hadn't noticed before and pulled out a match.

"Idiots!" She was hissing again. "Do you want to alert the entire neighborhood to what you're doing? You're lucky no one came running when she screamed."

"Excuse me?" He was standing right in front of her. Of course, he towered over her petite frame but she looked just as menacing as he did.

"Take. Her. Somewhere. Else."

He paused as he considered what she said. Then he took a step back and suddenly became a wolf again. All three of the wolves looked at each other, silent and unmoving, until one with dark grey fur started shaking as violently as the leader/Sam one had before. This one became a naked Paul.

Jacob thought he was definitely dreaming.

The blonde still looked furious as she stared down Paul the same way she had stared down Sam.

"How many more of you am I going to have to see naked tonight? I'm not sure if my stomach can take any more."

Paul started shaking again but then the leader/Sam wolf growled at him and he stopped. He reached down to the pouch tied around his ankle and pulled out a pair of shorts that he pulled up quickly.

"Better?" His voice was thick with sarcasm.

"Much. Are they getting her out of here?"

She hadn't even finished her question before the two wolves took off, their mouths full of pieces of the red-headed woman who, just minutes ago, was standing next to Jacob.

"They'll take it back to the reservation and burn it there. I'm taking Jacob home and you're getting and staying away from Bella and Chief Swan as soon as possible." He paused when she didn't respond. "Can you remember that or do I need to write it down?"

"You'd better get this boy out of here before something bad happens to you both."

"Like you could hurt me."

"Believe me, mutt, I could, but I think someone else is coming that would enjoy it more." Her lips began to curl up into the slightest of smiles. "She wasn't travelling alone."

Jacob stood there, still frozen in awe of what he had just seen, staring at Paul who was standing right beside him who, himself, was staring at the blonde. She moved to turn away when something distracted her. Her eyes never changed, they remained hard and cold as a pale white blur came rushing past her.

His body being thrown into the side of his car was the last thing Jacob Black remembered.

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Author's Note: So, if you didn't catch it, the difference between this draft and the last one was that in the first version Edward, Bella, Alice and Jasper were home when Rose returned with Laurent and James. For reasons that will become obvious when you read the next chapter, that needed to change.

If you think this was more effective than the last version or if it was still just too confusing, please let me know!