Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Seventeen- Something in the Air

"Lived with the best times

Left with the worst

I've danced with you too long

Nothing left to say

Let's take what we can

I know you hold your head up high

We've raced for the last time

A place of no return

And there's is something in the air

Something in my eye

I've dance with you too long (yeah)

Something in the air

Something in my eye"

-David Bowie- "Something in the Air"

By request of Beautiful-Liar13 this chapter is in Jacob's POV

My paws pounded against the ground as I ran along the Cullen's borderline. Nothing had happened in months. The Cullen's had a few visitors, but they gave us a heads up before entering the territory. By this point, I was used to running around for hours and finding nothing in the process.

Neither vampire nor wolf dared cross the Cullen's line, not with Seth, Leah, myself and a family of vampires waiting on the other side.

Today, much to my surprise, I caught the scent of one of the boys from Sam's pack. Every once in a while one of the boys patrols close to our line, so I wrote it off. My thoughts turning to our impending move.

The Cullen's were moving with or without us. Leah was staying with Bella, that much was obvious. Seth and I had to choose, either go with the Cullen's and Leah, or rejoin Sam's pack. I was leaning toward the former.

Seth was a little more torn than I was. He's still just a kid. With his mom in La Push and Leah moving with the Cullen's, he really had a choice to make between his mother and sister. Of course, if he decided to stay with his mom, he would be forced to re-join Sam. He would surely face consequences from Sam for leaving in the first place. It was a difficult decision, one that was too big for him to make on his own.

Torn once again from my thoughts as the scent became stronger and I realized it was Sam himself. Now I could hear his paws hitting the ground coming toward me. A second set of pounding footfalls alerted me that someone was with him. What could he want? I wondered.

I stopped in my tracks and waited for Sam and Jared, I think, to reach me. They paused long enough to phase into human form, so I did the same. Slipping my shorts on and walking toward them simultaneously.

Sam and Jared- I was right- came into my view. For the second time today, I was surprised. Shocked, almost at their appearance. They each had dark circles around their eyes as if they hadn't slept in days. A normal appearance for a wolf who spends his nights running around protecting his home from vampires.

There was something else in their eyes, a sense of loss, loneliness. They stopped a foot away from me. Seeing them closer now, the sense of loss was stronger in their eyes. Now I was more than curious, I was worried.

"What happened?" I asked, reading the looks in their eyes. Not being able to go home, I hadn't been to La Push in months. Anything could have happened during that time and I wouldn't have known.

My dad and Sue Clearwater keep Seth, Leah and I up to date on most things, but nothing about pack business. Sam kept pack business to himself. Despite the fact we were all friends, I still see Quil and Embry regularly, Sam put the order out that no one is allowed to share anything with us without his permission.

A tremor shook Sam's body. I instinctively took a step back, misreading the tremor as anger and a sign he was about to phase. Looking into his face made my heart clench. Something was terribly wrong.

Sam spoke finally, "Some of our imprints are missing."

Shock hit me like a bucket of cold water. "What the fuck are you talking about?" I said without thinking.

Jared's knees seemed to buckle at that point and to the ground he went. Sam looked at him, but said nothing. For a small moment I was glad not to have an imprint.

"We need to talk with you and the Cullen's. Maybe they can help us out," Sam said. "And I really don't feel like repeating this over and over. It hurts enough saying it once, I'd rather not repeat myself."

"Um," I was still dumbfounded by this news, "Okay, let's go back to the house. Seth and Leah are with the Cullen's." I knew it was dangerous taking them back to the Cullen's home, Rosalie still has a grudge against Sam that isn't likely to resolve itself anytime soon. Just the look in Sam and Jared's eyes made me agree to take them to the Cullen's.

Together, we ran side by side to the Cullen's house in our human forms. Normally, I loved the feeling of tearing through the woods; the scent of the trees just after it rained comforted me. Wind in my face, tearing at my clothes, pulling at my hair; it all let me know I was still human. I could still feel. You'd be surprised the things you wonder about when you become a shape-shifter.

When we reached the Cullen's, we entered through the back door and through the kitchen to find everyone sitting in the living room waiting for us. No doubt they had heard us approaching. Perhaps catching Sam and Jared's scents and sensing there was a need for a big discussion.

Sam and Jared remained standing next to the kitchen door while I took the empty seat next to Rosalie, whom I had formed a surprising friendship with. She smiled faintly at me, but her eyes were cold when she turned her face to Sam. I almost laughed. Yup, she still had a grudge against him for the way he treated Leah. Despite the fact Leah and Bella were perfectly happy and in love, Rosalie just didn't forgive someone easily.

Carlisle took over as he always did, "Tell us what's happened, Sam."

Sam looked at Leah. I caught a glimpse of something in his eyes as he took in her appearance. Leah was on the couch holding Bella's hand tightly in hers. He wiped all emotion from his face and turned to the rest of us.

"Last Friday, Quil was babysitting his young imprint, Claire. Her parents had gone out for an early dinner and he left their house around nine that night. The next morning he went to her house to pick Claire up so he could take her to the beach. Claire's mother was frantic when she opened the door. Claire had gone missing during the night. Someone broke in the house and kidnapped Claire," Sam said, his voice shaking the entire time.

Esme gasped. "Oh my gosh! Did they call the police?" Her hand circled Carlisle's arm. Carlisle patted her hand, an attempt to comfort her, maybe?

Sam shook his head. "Quil said he smelled a vampire in her bedroom and all around the house. A vampire took her, so there's nothing the police can do. Involving them would be dangerous to them and any other humans. We promised we'd find Claire as soon as we could."

Rosalie shifted in her seat next to me. She loved children as much as Esme, and hearing this upset her.

Sam looked at Jared, who cleared his throat. "Kim came to visit me last weekend," he started. Last I heard, Kim was planning to become a lawyer and was studying at Seattle University. Without her around every second of the day, Jared was a mess.

Kim was determined to have her own life and career, especially since she was basically stuck in La Push for the rest of her life. Whatever children she and Jared had in the future would no doubt become shape-shifters themselves when they were old enough. Kim was smart in preparing for a future on the rez.

"On Sunday night, she drove back to school. She was supposed to call me when she got there, she always does. She didn't call me, thought. Sometimes she's tired and just goes to sleep and sometimes she goes out with her roommate, so I wasn't too worried when she didn't call."

He paused to take a deep, shaky breath. He closed his eyes, seemingly to will away tears. Leah spoke for the first time on the other side of the room, "Jared, whatever happened to her, we'll find her. She can't be dead or you'd know it. Just relax and finish the story." Her voice was calm and soothing.

Jared opened his eyes and looked into Leah's. Seeing something there, he took another deep breath and continued, "Monday morning her roommate called me and asked if Kim was going to be in class. I told her Kim had left the night before, but she said Kim never made it to her dorm. I went to Seattle to look around. Right outside her dorm was the scent of a vampire. It was faint because of all the kids in the hall mixing with it, but I definitely smelled it," he finished. He sat down on the couch next to Alice.

Sam took over once again. "Yesterday was Charlie Swan's birthday. You know ever since….Bella," Sam's eyes cut to hers and we knew what he was talking about. Charlie had been devastated after his only daughter "died". Sue Clearwater and Emily Young had been taking him food as often as he would allow. It was comforting for him.

"Well, Sue and Emily made him a big meal and a nice cake. They even went shopping for him and bought a bunch of new clothes for him," Sam said. Bella looked down at her hands, looking as if she could cry. Leah put her arm around her, an attempt to comfort her. While her intentions were good, it did little to comfort Bella.

"Emily took some food to him on yesterday afternoon. Billy and Sue went up and they had a little party for him with some of the other officers from the police station. Sue and Billy say that everyone left just after dark, that's when they left as well. Emily stayed longer to wash dishes and clean up for him. She told me she wouldn't be home until late.

"Around eleven, she still hadn't gotten home. I didn't think she'd be that late, so I called Charlie. He said that she had left around nine-thirty. Jared and I went to Forks and we found her car on the side of the road. She crashed into a tree and the driver's side door was open. There was a vampire scent all around the car," he finished, looking like someone was ripping his heart from his chest.

We were all silent for a long time. Carlisle finally asked, "Did you recognize the scent or scents? Was it just one or more?"

"As far as we can tell, there were two different vamps. We didn't recognize the scent but we know they were vegetarians. Friends of yours?" Sam's voice had a sudden edge to it, an iciness that matched the cold in his eyes.

I asked, "So, Claire, Kim and Emily are missing? Kidnapped by vampires?"

"Yes," Sam whispered.

"Is Emily's car still in the woods?" Carlisle asked.

Sam shook his head. "No, we took it back to our house." He looked down, pain uglied his face when he said the word 'our'. Maybe he was wondering if it would be their house again. Would he ever see his Emily again?

Carlisle stood, "May we have your permission to cross the border to check the scent ourselves? If they were friends of ours, they certainly aren't anymore."

Sam nodded. "Sure. Let's go."

A/N: Well, it certainly has been a long time hasn't it? I'm so terribly sorry about not updating. I could give you some excuse about why I haven't updated in nearly two months, but the truth is: I just haven't felt like writing and had a huge case of writer's block.

In case you're wondering why this chapter is in Jacob's POV, I got a request from a reviewer and I do love making your requests happen, if they fit my vision of course. Jacob is always fun to write anyway.

One last thing, PLEASE read my friend's story. It's called "Strong Enough" by theboysandgirlslike2play. There is a link to the story on my profile. Please read it and review for her. :)

Hope you liked this chapter! I will try to update sooner next time. –LCM-