Chapter 2

Mike's POV

"Hey Jess," I said as I walked out the door and locked it. "Are you ready to go?" I didn't really notice the worried look on her face before, but I definitely noticed it now. She looked like she was about to throw up. "Are you okay?" I asked from a distance. If she really was going to hurl, I didn't want to be in the line of fire.

"No! It's Bella! She went into the woods and I don't know what to do. There have been reports that the wolves are back, and she just went like it was nothing. What do we do?"

I could barely register what Jessica had said. Bella was in the woods. Alone. I didn't say anything, just grabbed Jessica's arm as I made my way in the direction that she had pointed to earlier.

"Mike? Mike, what the hell are you doing? I don't want to go in there. Maybe we should call someone…" I didn't really hear anything she said. I just kept going.

We walked about a quarter mile before I heard Bella's voice. "Jacob Black, you get your ass out here right now." Why would Jacob Black be in the woods too? Were they both crazy? I realized how hypocritical that statement was, considering I was now in the middle of nowhere as well.

"What are you doing Mike?" Jessica whispered next to me. We hadn't made it known to Bella that we were standing right behind her.

"I just wanted to make sure she was safe," I said. In all honesty, I wasn't entirely sure why I had felt the need to put both Jessica and I in this strange and dangerous position. Maybe it was because I was worried about Bella. Or maybe it was because I wanted to prove to her that I could be a hero too.

"You wanted to make sure that she was safe, so you put us both in danger? Awesome. Thanks, I really appreciate it," she said sarcastically.

"Let's just wait a few minutes to make sure she's okay. Once Jacob gets here we can go." I didn't really want to think of letting another guy keep Bella safe, but I was actually starting to get scare myself. It was really dark where we were, and I wasn't too fond of the forest in the first place.

We waited for another minute or so when we saw the bushes across from Bella start to move. I felt Jessica freeze as we both waited to see what was coming. I had no idea if it was this Jacob guy or something else, but I prayed that it was the former.

It took me a minute to fully digest what was happening once the source of the rustling revealed itself. What scared me more than the huge wolf standing in the clearing, however, was Bella's reaction to the deadly animal. Instead of running away, screaming, she just looked pissed. Beyond pissed. She was livid.

"Jacob Black, how could you do that to me? You've been gone for over a month!" she yelled. What the hell was she doing? Why was she calling this animal Jacob? I'd met Jacob before and this definitely wasn't him. Had she completely lost her mind?

Beside me, Jessica was just as bewildered as I was. We both stood perfectly still, not wanting to either interrupt the moment or get the wolf's attention. I was completely at a loss. Why the hell was she talking to this thing like a person? I was seriously starting to worry for her sanity, but I still didn't know what to do. I didn't want to leave Bella alone with it, but I didn't want to put myself or Jessica in any more danger than we already were.

Suddenly, to my complete horror, the wolf snapped it's head up. It was looking directly at us.

"Oh shit," I head Jessica say under her breath. "Can we run now?"

"Um, yeah," I said, grabbing her arm and turning around, ready to sprint off into the direction we came from. I knew, however, that we were no match for the massive animal. It could probably get to where we were in one jump. Before we could take a single step, however, we realized that our path was blocked by someone. It was a woman, and she was beautiful. I was momentarily transfixed by how incredibly gorgeous she was, and for a second I completely forgot that we were in mortal danger. She had a head full of platinum blonde hair, and her hair almost sparkled in the moonlight. Her luscious lips were almost the exact same color red as her eyes. Wait, that couldn't be right. Why would she have red eyes?

Before I could comprehend the fact that her eyes were indeed a deep crimson color, I was distracted by a scream that came from the clearing. I turned my head slightly, to see where it came from, but my view of Bella was blocked by the giant wolf that was flying toward us at an alarming rate. I knew, even in the split second that I had, that there was no way we would be able to get out of the way in time.

I pushed Jessica in a hopeless attempt to put her out of the path of the animal, and it was then that she started screaming. I felt the impact of the wolf's massive form against my shoulder, and I knew that I was done. The last thing I remembered was looking at the rock on the ground that was coming perilously close to my head and the voices that began to fade away as everything turned to black.