CHAPTER THREE

JACOB POV

"BELLS" I shouted, of course it was more of growl than words. Bella had been missing for over a day now, she couldn't have just vanished. No! She needed to be here somewhere and I would find her. I had already come across my old rustic truck – well I guess officially it was hers now – so I knew she had to be around here somewhere. It had been raining heavily last night and most of her scent trail was gone – I shuddered, the thought of Bella being out here in this forest somewhere all night, during that storm... I shuddered again. The chances she survived it... no she would have, she was small...yes... but she was smart and resourceful. If she could handle dating that filthy bloodsucker then she could handle one night in the cold.

"Jake, would you please shut up and just look for her... your driving me insane" a voice attacked me inside my head. Leah! Ergh!

"Enough Leah" Sam's voice was full of resentment and who could blame him. Ok... so he had messed up. He had played Leah but she was just such a pain in the ass... sometimes I swore she was only about for revenge.

"Nice to know what you really think... screw this, that stupid leech lover can stay missing" her irritated tone only annoyed me to the point of distraction. But she was gone. Phased back to her human form.

"Ignore her Jake, we're going to find her" I didn't say anything. Most of the time it easier to remain quiet. Either way they still knew my every thought.

Hours flew by, the rays of light began streaming throughout the trees, brightening even the darkest areas. I was all but about to give up when I caught her scent. It was weak... maybe old but it was there. The others instantly joined me as I walked slowly trying not to destroy the scent line before it could lead me to her. Luckily last night had just been cold, if it had rained there would have been no way to track her. As I followed it the others fell in rank.

Although Sam had turned first followed by a few of the others, I was still the Alpha. Even if I didn't want to be. It runs in my blood, I had been told continuously since first making the transformation. Sam was my beta. I had made him second in command as he had run this pack before I had joined it. We agreed on most things and as the Cullen's had decided to leave, there really wasn't a lot for us to do. Sure, we had chased a few vamps away from our town... this one red head kept coming back and slipping through our defences but we had a plan now, we would kill her.

As the trail ended, I let out a loud growl, frustration ripping out of me and causing anger to serge through me until I saw it. It was small and over grown but there was an opening up ahead in the trees. I made a dash for it, the others close behind. As I got closer I could smell her. It was Bella, but her scent was different and yet the same. It reminded me of the time at prom, she had always smelt unbelievable – fruity even – but when she was with the leech his sickly smell rubbed off on her. Now, it was the same. Maybe there was a vamp up there with her.

"Be on guard" Sam commanded as he read my observation. Bursting through the final opening, I saw the shimmer of her dark hair being blown throughout the over grown grass. It only took mere seconds before I was at her side.

"Bella? Bells!" I said falling to her side. She was lying so still, her chest was hardly moving with each breath, her face was pale – ashen even.

"Is she alive?" Embry asked as I thought it.

"I think so" I nudged her with my nose, trying to wake her but nothing. I heard a mixture of words quickly said over and over in Sam's mind but all I could understand was 'Fangs, Bite, Leech'.

"What?" I turned taking in his terrified expression.

"Her neck" even his thoughts were quiet with shock. Before I had even looked down I knew what he was saying, it made sense, the stillness, her disappearance... the smell. My poor Bella was one of them. A filthy disgusting leech!

"We should kill her now, before she wakes." Sam was right but she was still Bella, at least till the change was complete.

"No." I stroked my hand to her face, the ice cold of her skin stung my fingers and I knew I would never be able to kill her... not my Bells.

"We can't just..." but I shut him out.

"NO" I repeated, for the first time using the Alpha command voice. I had never wanted to be there leader. I had never wanted this power and so when I got it I made a promise with myself that I would never order them to do anything. They would have free will. Except in this situation. This was Bella.

The argument didn't end there. One by one they brought forth reasons to destroy her now and one by one I shot them down. Eventually I had them agreed to move Bella, they didn't want her in LA PUSH but just outside the res there was a small cottage upon the mountains. It was old and run down but it was a safe distance.

"Maybe she can be like the Cullen's?" I spoke aloud. Sitting in the chair next to the small bed that we had placed Bella in, I held her hand trying to think of ways to save her. I would give anything for this girl, was all I kept thinking.

"That was a choice, no one forced them" Paul spoke as he paced back and forth, "Let's do it now" ignoring him, I moved on to the next voice that spoke out.

"Jake's right. We should give her a chance. I can't Imagine Bella being like well... one of them... she spent enough time with the Cullen's maybe something rubbed off." I could always count of Quill to be with me.

"You really want to risk it?" Paul asked looking at Sam for backup... Sam dropped his head.

"It's worth it. She is worth it." I spoke out before I had realised just how much I truly cared for this girl. It was settled. We would wait and give her the option. For the first time, I was thankful to be the Alpha.


CHARLIE POV

Where was she? I had searched everywhere I had ever known to look, every scrap of the grounds she could have gone to. The forest was beyond my knowledge but Billy had promised me that his boys were searching every centimetre for her. Two nights she had been missing. Maybe she had run off to see him? God knows he broke her heart, maybe she needed to talk it out... yes. She was fine... she was somewhere with him... fixing her broken heart... that was it. No need to worry. WHO WAS I KIDDING!!!

I was beginning to go insane. She would have called or left a note. She wouldn't just vanish like this... she was still a good kid even if she was depressed. Oh God. I felt the colour drain from my cheeks. She was depressed. I could see the light bulb appearing above my head as it all made sense... she was depressed. I was a police officer, I was the Chief. There was only three reasons for missing or dead teenagers in this small town... accidents, runaways and suicides. SUICIDES. Oh god! What if? I needed to get out of this house and do something but I had no idea what else to do, so instead I stood with my phone clutched tightly and dialled numbers. Pretty much the whole town had come out to find Bella. It was just like the day he left, the day she got lost in the forest. Except we had found her then... quickly.

A loud knocking pulled me from my nightmarish thoughts. Running for the door I shouted her name only to be quickly disappointed when I saw Jacob standing in front of me.

"Anything?" I searched his face with desperation. Someone had to know where my little girl was.

"Charlie we need to talk. Come with me?" he spoke softly and I could hear the false calm he was putting on. OH GOD!!! he found her!!! She was... I gulped! I followed him as he walked quickly into the back garden and into the trees.

"Jake what on earth?" I asked, looking around for some kind of clue.

"Well I guess here is better than anywhere else. Charlie I need you to listen to me." I nodded. This didn't sound good. "I know where Bella is" my heart raced a hundred beats per second.

"TAKE ME TO HER JAKE! RIGHT NOW" I shouted. If he knew why was he wasting time with this.

"Wait Charlie... listen... it's important you understand" I could feel the confusion on my face. "I need you to be open to the possibilities here Charlie." He gulped and I was suddenly intrigued by his strange behaviour. I nodded slowly. What on earth could he possibly mean? "You know all those myths and legends about my people?" I nodded again. Billy always told me some legends once he had a few too many after the game. "Well let's just say they were real" I laughed.

"Right... you all turn in to werewolves... was it? And oh yeah the best one... Bella was dating a cold one" I laughed again remembering the ridiculousness of Billy the night he told me the Cullen's were vampires.

I thought my heart had stopped beating, the air rushed from my lips, my head shook and I waited to pass out. Jake had let out a low growl of frustration before shaking and ... before me stood a large brown wolf in place of ... but how? My thoughts slipped through my mouth. "What... are... was... huh?" he shook again and suddenly a naked Jacob was standing ahead of me. I was frozen.

"Do I have your attention now Charlie?" his sarcastic tone filled my mind but I was too lost in trying to rationalise what I had just seen to care. I nodded... barely. "Like I said... the myths are truth. Long story short. I'm a werewolf, in fact there are many of us down at La Push that can do this. We protect it from the cold ones!"

"The Cullen's?" I mouthed out.

"Well... yes and no. You see the Cullen's are vamps but they are diff... They don't feed from humans and all that... but every other one I have met... viscous animals." My mind was spinning... vampires and werewolves surly I had passed out.

"What has this got to do with Bella?"

"Well... you see... we found her" his voice breaking as he spoke. This was bad! "It seems one of them" his disgusted face made it clear he wasn't talking about the Pack or the Cullen's "got to Bella first. She's alive" he rushed noticing my face. "Well kind of... damn this is harder than I thought. You remember the myth Charlie about their kind. A changing of blood and bam your no longer human..." I was going to be sick.

"PLEASE JAKE GET TO THE POINT!!!" I shouted again trying to hold myself together.

"Geez ... ok ... so here it is... A vamp got to Bells and now she is... well she's asleep but when she wakes she will be... well... you know" pulling his hands into claws and baring his teeth. I pulled back from him. "Breathe Charlie. We have a plan!" I felt my spinning head go at double speed and before I knew it Jake was vanishing into the darkness.


BELLA POV

Being run over by a train, shot by a cannon, shredded to pieces and set on fire all at the same time wouldn't have felt this painful. The taster of this feeling James had given me was nothing compared to this. I refused to scream. Maybe I was on the outside but inside my head I was doing everything I could not to. I could move a muscle scared that if I did I would let out that first scream and I wouldn't be able to stop it again. As bad as the burning had been, I was able to think around it now so it was either lessoning or I was growing accustom to it. All I wanted was for it to stop. I heard voices from around me. Voices I knew and loved. Jacob. Charlie. No, it couldn't have been. How could either of them know about me, surely Victoria must be here somewhere. She would kill them. I wanted to scream run but I had worked so long and hard to lock my mouth shut that it seemed almost impossible to open it now. They were discussing something, I tried to focus hoping the distraction would help me open my mouth.

"What about school?" Charlie's tone was so close. He must have been standing right next to me.

"No... don't you get it. She can't go near people. I'm not even sure how she will last against us and look at her Charlie. Does she even look like Bella anymore?" Jakes frustration was more than clear in the tone he was using. I wonder what I look like? I had always hoped to be beautiful like them... maybe this was the fates sick and twisted way of giving me what I wanted. Great. Here I was alone. I had Charlie and Jake but I wasn't one of them anymore and the ones that I was like didn't want me anymore, they had left although if Victoria was telling the truth. Would they come back to me if they knew. Would he?

I was pulled from my thought process, losing his face in my mind by Jakes words "Charlie what the easiest death to create without a body?" he tone had an edge to it and I could just imagine his expression to go with it.

"Drowning... a few witnesses and a missing person. Most bodies are never found." It seemed that whatever Jacob was planning, Charlie was catching on to his idea.

"So if a few locals happen to see Bella... throw herself off the cliffs... cliff diving and then her body was never found... that would work?" So that was his plan to cover my disappearance. They were going to do a cover up and kill me off. I had to smile... that might just work.

"hmmm... it could work... it would work. But do we have to kill her off? What about all her friends?"

"If we don't do this then not only will they come looking for her but they will come for us as well... no one is meant to know about them" there was silence.

"Ok... let's do this." Charlie finally agreed, tightening his grip on my hand.