Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Alice came in sometime after dinner, when Bella, Charlie and I were sitting in the living room—Charlie watching the ball game, Bella and myself cracking jokes or making fun of Charlie's team (this was more my doing, as I don't think Bella could even tell you who was playing). It was nice to be able to just sit there, pretending to be normal. I could definitely live like this. Bella was so easy to be around.

Alice announced her arrival as she was walking in the door, and I took that as my cue to leave. Not that I thought I could stand the smell much longer, anyway. I stood, and I was happy to see that Bella frowned as I did so—unhappy to see me leave.

"Hey, Bella, Charlie," Alice trilled, waving. "Hello, Jacob," she added, almost as an afterthought. I nodded my head in very reluctant greeting. I stood, watching Bella look up at me with a slightly confused expression before it dawned on her that me being in the house with a vampire for an extended period of time was probably not a good idea.

"I'll see you around, Bella?" I asked, knowing perfectly well that I would be running around her house tonight, keeping an eye on her as always. Bella nodded.

"I'll walk you to the door."

I nodded, waving at Charlie. "See ya." He waved back.

"Stop back soon." It sounded like he really meant it. I think it helped my case a bit that Chief Swan liked me. Hopefully Bella wouldn't want to kill me so badly when she found out I had imprinted on her with this thought in mind.

I let the way out, grabbing my shoes when I got to the door—without putting them on of course. Bella looked a little sad.

"Bells? You ok?" I looked at her, concerned, trying to remember if I had said anything to upset her. I couldn't remember anything but smiles from her.

She nodded, looking embarrassed. "Yeah. Kinda don't want you to go." Her cheeks flushed. I grinned, which she noticed, swatting my arm.

"Great. I made your head even bigger than it was." I laughed. She had a point.

"See you tomorrow? Maybe we'll do homework," I chuckled. I knew she had to be missing a lot since she started hanging out with me.

She nodded. "Are you gonna be okay… with Alice here? I think she mentioned staying another day or two."

I wasn't thrilled, which must have been obvious to her, but I nodded my head.

"I'll get over it," I said, smiling down at her. Man, I had grown a lot taller. She looked especially tiny now. "I gotta go. Sam probably wants to see me," I added in an undertone so Charlie couldn't hear. She nodded, understanding that. I was glad she was over her hatred of Sam, now that she understood the reasons behind the actions. I sincerely hoped she was over her distrust of me—not that I blamed her much if she wasn't. I must have hurt her pretty bad.

I bent down and kissed her forehead, making her blush again. "Night, Bells."

"Night, Jake," she said softly.

I walked out the door, breaking into a quivering run when I got to the end of the driveway. I phased as soon as I got to the woods.

Long time, no see, Paul joked in my ear. Apparently we're not as cool as the vampire girl.

Jake, you reek, Embry complained. I laughed.

Yeah, sorry. They knew all about the leech by now, most of them unhappy with it. The only reason I was allowed to go to Bella's by myself was because I pointed out that it would upset Bella, which would upset me. It was kind of an unspoken rule that you just didn't mess with a pack's mate, in any way. Sam let me go, but I knew Embry and Jared had been running around in the vicinity, listening for trouble. A part of me was grateful for that.

Any sign of the redhead yet? I asked. I got my answers in a matter of microseconds, all of them negative.

Not yet, Sam said anyway. Gotta run just in case. If she comes through here, we'll see her.

The urgency of the matter was only increased by the knowledge that this vampire was after Bella, specifically. I didn't want to think about the idea of the leech getting past us to Bella. My pack mates, however, were more concerned about me—what would happen to me if Bella was harmed. Truth be told, I didn't really want to think of that, either.

I focused on running to get the thoughts out of my head. It worked very well—just becoming the wolf, and letting those instincts take over. So much more simple than being a human, really. Humans are capable of a much wider range of emotions—which isn't to say that wolves and other animals, don't feel love, and hatred, and pain. They just felt it on a lesser scale. It was comforting.

After about ten minutes of this, a smelled something foul. Really foul. Instantly my hackles were up, looking around for danger. The others smelled it then, and we got into a circular formation, our backs pointing into the circle.

Jacob. Sam commanded my attention.

This smells different.

After a moment, I thought I understood what he meant. This smell was different from the smell of the redhead. It was a different vampire.

More than one? Paul hissed.

A voice called my name. I halted mid-snarl, my ears perking up automatically. I listened intently.

"Jacob," the voice called again. It was sing-songy. Definitely a vampire—and definitely male.

"I mean you and your pack no harm," the voice said, the sound growing louder. The vamp was coming closer. I growled in warning.

"Easy," the voice said. "I mean you no harm." This voice was irritating. And somehow… familiar. My eyes widened.

Cullen.

Author's Note: Thank you guys SO much for all of the reviews-- especially the ones telling me to continue ^_^ More to come soon! Sorry for the shortness of the chapter.