Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or New Moon or any characters of Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 22 (Bella's POV)

I left the people to dance and went to make sure everything was put up. I first went to the arena and found it was cleaned out all ready. I went to the horse rides and saw nothing there. For a second, I thought a heard something, but it must have been my imagination. I was halfway across the field when I heard a whinny. I looked behind me and saw Lizzy galloping at me. She must have caught scent of me.

She slowed down, steaming with her run. She didn't have any saddle on or anything else besides her harness. So I walked her to the stables, taking my time. I wasn't holding on to her for she followed willingly. I was at her stall when she started shifting nervously. I looked out into the darkness, but saw nothing. I hurriedly put her in her stall and heard the other horses whinnying. Something was out there.

The horses kept getting even more jumpy and I started walking to the open area of the stables, where we kept the horse storage. I heard something crunch behind me and I started running. I went to the back area and lifted a box, revealing something Charlie and I teased Edward when he first got here. My shotgun. I took it out and loaded it. Making sure the safety was off; I pointed it out to the open night.

I was sure I wasn't overreacting; the horses would not be so frisky if it was a person. I heard a growl and repositioned the gun. A big wolf came into view. At first, I thought it was a bear, but as I saw it come under the back light, I saw its shiny russet coat. As it came closer, I shot 'em. It didn't look like it did anything, so I shot again. I was sure that it hit the wolf, but he made no whine or anything.

"BELLA!!!" I heard Edward's voice call for me. "BELL-ah!"

He came around the corner, first seeing the wolf, and then its prey-me. But as it looked at Edward, the big bad wolf stalked towards him. I reloaded, this time putting three in instead of two.

"Edward, don't move." I said as I slowly stepped forward to the predator. The wolf growled at me, giving me a snarl. I pulled the trigger, allowing another shell to be shot at at the wolf. I knew definitely that I hit the damn wolf. "HE WON'T DIE!!!!"

At my frustration I screamed that and saw the wolf getting ready to pounce on Edward. "NO!!!!" I screamed as he leaped towards him. I ran at him, not anywhere near as fast as the wolf. But another wolf tackled him in mid air, taking him down right in front of me. Four more wolves came into view. Well, just barely. "Edward, GO!!"

There was no way I could get around the wolves. The two fighting wolves were in front of me, and the other wolves were right there, just in case I made a break for it and went around. Before Edward could reply, the other wolves stalked closer, getting into the fight. They grabbed the red-brown one by the mussel and threw him out into the night. The rest disappeared within seconds. Edward was by my side, holding me up as my knees gave out.

"Are you ok-" A howl and yelp broke off his sentence. We heard crunching and thought it was the wolves, back to finish us off. But it wasn't them, it was my father.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked worriedly. He immediately began checking me for injuries. But there were none.

"Yeah, they left." I said, breathing hard. I looked up to my dad, "We should call the dance off, Dad. Those wolves shouldn't have been this close. Or that BIG!!"

"No, Bella. It'll be fine. Just-just forget it ever happened, okay?" He was rushing his words.

"DAD!! Everybody heard the gun go off. So they know something-"

"The music's too loud for anybody to hear anything." He said, deterring away from it.

Edward asked the question before I could, "How did you hear it then?"

Charlie looked uncomfortable, "Well, I must have just been—Look. Let the people have a good time. I'm positive nothing will happen. If it does, I will end the party, but for now, let them enjoy it."

"Dad," I said astonished. "How-"

"I have to get back. My feet are killing me." With that, he left Edward and I flabbergasted as his words.

"What the he—"

"Bella! Language!" Edward chastised me.

"Oh, sure. You're not wondering about it too." I said sarcastically. Edward was cut off from his reply as we saw the wolves rush through the center of the field, still fighting. Just quietly. "Let's go!"

I rushed Edward to the ladder to the stable attic. I made sure Edward went first and then I grabbed a blanket and flashlight I kept around just in case. I went as fast as I could up the attic, but when I was at the top, I looked back and saw the wolves gone. I still went up, just to be safe. Edward helped me up and took the stuff from my hands. He dropped them on the floor and swept me off my feet. Literally.

He hugged me so tight, I couldn't breathe. "Edward…can't…breath."

He loosened up, but not a whole lot. He started showering me with kisses.

"Edward, as much as I love this…let me get the ladder and pull it up." He let me go and helped me pull the heavy wooden ladder up into the attic (AU: I used to do this to get away from my brothers-or anybody else!) After that, I spread the blanket out beside the window. I sat down on it, looking outside. Edward came and sat beside me, holding me.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward whispered in my ear.

"Why did Emmett say 'I told you so'?" I asked him.

He groaned, but I saw the surprise of what question I asked, "Do you really want to know?"

"Um, I asked you, didn't I?"

"He-he said that I made you happy."

"Well, he's right." I looked to his gaze, "Edward, I love you. You make me the happiest I've ever been."

"Because of my clown expertise?" He grinned knowingly.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"When I first met you, you said I was a good clown compared to how I worked."

"Oh, yes. How could I forget?" Silence lapsed over us and we watched the band and dance.

As a song came on, I sang with it.

"I think about how it ain't fair that you weren't there to braid my hair like mothers do
You weren't around to cheer me on
Help me dress for my high school prom like mother's do
Did you think I didn't need you here to hold my hand, to dry my tears
Did you even miss me through the years at all?"

"Hey," Edward said after I stopped. "It wasn't you fault."

I laughed while tears cascaded down my cheeks, "Charlie and I weren't even here. We were at my riding show. I got first place. And Charlie was so proud of me. Mom was dead by the time I got my trophy."

"I didn't see any in your room." Edward kissed my cheeks, a tickling sensation going through me.

"I threw them all away. After that, I never entered a show again. Well, I did for Emmy today." I said remembering the first time that I actually rode around the barrels. It came back to me, as if it was implanted in my mind like an easy thing to do, like walking. I loved it, but I would never go back to it. I wouldn't have the time.

"Do you miss her?" Edward asked.

"Yes. Even though she was going to leave us." Whoops, didn't mean for that to come out.

"What?" He was astonished and pulled back.

"About a month before it happened," I took a deep breath trying not to allow my voice to break, "She asked Charlie for a divorce. Well, demanded it really. He fought and fought to try to persuade her to change her mind, but she was persistent. She wouldn't give up."

"So, were you going to go with her?" He asked after I stopped talking.

"No. She didn't fight for custody for me." I stressed the 'me' part.

"Who did she fight for?"

"The horses. She was going to take Charlie's horses and leave us with the farm." I said with my eyes watering. "But after a visit to the doctor two weeks later, she dropped the whole thing. She wanted to stay with us. She wanted us to forget that she didn't want us."

"What changed her mind?"

I sighed sadly, "She was dying. Leukemia." After his gasp of intake, I went on, "She only had a few months left and she decided she didn't want to spend them fighting her divorce. She told us about her sickness a week before the accident."

"Is it hereditary?" He asked, his breath picking up.

"In some cases, the disease is in family clusters. Once we found out, Charlie took me to Carlisle, asking to test me for leukemia or any other cancer. They didn't find anything, thank goodness. But Dad and I left Renee to her own. She never really talked to us, the times she did, it seemed forceful. Like she was trying to be happy. Charlie and I tried to help her but she didn't want to go through treatment. She hated doctors and hospitals. Although she loved Carlisle."

He laughed at this, "Everybody loves Carlisle."

I smiled, "True. Very true. The only reason Renee went was because she kept getting weaker and weaker. She could barely stand. Charlie wasn't going to let her ride the horses until she went to the doctor. And then, she wasn't allowed too. But, as you can tell, she did when we were gone."

"So I take it that that was the announcement you were going to make?" Edward must have picked that up from our earlier conversations.

"Yeah, at first it was the divorce, then it was Renee having leukemia." I exhaled heavily.

"Bet that was tough. Going through that when you were only twelve." He held me tighter as if he would never let me go. And as if reading my mind, he spoke with such force, that had me stumbling for breath, "Bella, I love you. No matter what has or will happen, I will never leave you. You are my angel, Bella."

"I'm not anything close." I was surprised he thought of me of an angel. His angel. "But, I am yours. Forever."

He laughed, "Do you know, that if it was anybody else saying this, I would not believe them?"

"Yeah. It's so cliché." I laughed at the situation with Edward. The only difference was that I knew I loved Edward. He was different than others. He was always there for me. He stood up to Charlie, Jake, anybody who hurt me or may hurt me. He was my knight in shining armor. My angel.

And I would never let him go, either.

Ah, Chapter 23 is the first sighting. Of what? You may ask. Well, Guess!!!??