Jacob dragged me further and further in to the forest. He walked fast enough for the trees to blur past us, but he managed not to break out in to a jog or run. For the first time, I noticed he was shirtless. I guess it didn't matter much to my anyways, I loved Quil.

"Is your leg doing okay?" He asked, slowing a bit to wait for my response.

"Yeah, it's good," I told him, daring to glance up at his face. "Thanks."

He gave a firm nod and got back up to his normal pace. Then, I closed my eyes and gave a silent yawn.

I guessed I should have been freezing, even in the warmer months in Washington the cold always reappeared at night, but Jacob was warm. Another lovely werewolf trait.

All of a sudden, I felt a new sort of warmth come over me.

"Claire!" Quil's voice said excitedly. I opened my eyes as I was traded from Jacob to Quil. This time, I noticed automatically that he was also without a shirt. He laughed as I smiled drowsily at him. He took a seat on a log and shifted me so I was up right on his lap. I then noticed what had warmed me, there was a blaring fire only a yard in front of me.

Around the camp fire sat five others, besides me and Quil. Four of them were part of the pack; Seth, Embry, Leah, and of course Jacob. Jacob sat with his arm around his girlfriend Nessie Cullen. Nessie was the one and only daughter of Edward and Bella Cullen. I instantly remembered what Quil told me, Nessie was an imprint to Jacob. Just like I was to Quil.

She smiled over at me. I smiled back and gave her a little wave of my hand.

Jacob abruptly kissed her lips and stood up. "It's time for a change. Again," he said, with so much power backing up his voice. "I have called you all here because of the situation we are in.

"A while ago I broke away from Sam because he failed to realize that the Cullen's were peaceful. Now, this time around, I've discovered again that he does not trust the Cullen's. And, well, that's stupid. They are what we need in this situation; Zachary possesses a power which makes it almost impossle to hunt him down.

"I know that last time, both Seth and Leah came to join me. I'm hoping that I'm close enough to you, Embry, that you will join us. And, Quil, I can guarantee you that Claire will be much more safe under the new pack."

He paused, looked down, and spoke again. "The only thing is, I don't have an exact plan for you, Claire," he looked up at me and I feared him just a little bit. "We can't just take you to the Cullen house, you are under custody of Sam and Emily. But, I do have other strategic plans that I have talked over with Edward. But, I'll have to talk about that later. For now," he turned to look at Quils, and then shifted to his glance to Embry. "Do you two know what you want to do yet?"
Embry stood up as soon as Jacob had finished, "Hell yeah! I'm not going to miss out on that again!"

He stood up and gave Jacob a quick hug and pat on the back.

I looked up at Quil. His face was unreadable. He looked at me and nuzzled his cheek against mine.

"What do you think?" he asked in a whisper.

I closed my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder, "I'm not really sure. Whatever you want, Quillie."

"Quil?" Jacob's voice boomed towards us. I pulled away from Quil so I could face him.

"I don't know," Quil said, very warily. "Can I have a day or two to think about it?"

I saw the sides of Jacob's mouth go down, I think he expected it to be easier.

"I guess that's fine. But that means we have to wait until you've decided before we break apart from the pack, otherwise Sam might get to you before you make your decision and screw with your head," he snorted.

It surprised me a little how everyone was so against my Uncle Sam. I mean, I loved him like any Uncle, and people were always looking up to him and following him. I always thought he was right. And I knew that was wrong.

"Jacob, Claire is tired and she has school tomorrow, is there anyway we can call this meeting good?" Quil asked him, speaking almost exactly what I was thinking. I did have one question to ask though.

"Why can't you take me home Quil?" I asked, out of pure curiosity. If Quil dropped me off, then we would have some privacy to do whatever we wanted.

"If Sam smells me, he'll think I'm there to visit you or something... when he smells Jacob, he'll just think he's running around the perimeter or something," he told me, almost like a story. His voice was soft and he was brushing his face against mine again. It was a weird way of affection, but very intoxicating.

"I'll be glad to escort Claire home," Jake said, leaving Nessie's side after giving her a lovingly look. "I suppose, in return, you can accompany Ness while I'm dropping Claire off?" He asked, and then came over and picked me up like a baby.

"No problem, Jake," Quil stood up and kissed me on the forehead before Jake started walking off.

"Thanks for including me," I said as soon as we were out of earshot, even for the wolves.

"Don't mention it, Claire," he shooed off the thank you as if he had done nothing. I smiled and tried to fall asleep again.

Right before the darkness took over my vision there was a scream that shot out. Jacob and I gasped simultaneously.

In one suave motion I was on the ground and Jacob stood away from me. "Get home. Now." He growled at me and ran off faster than I had ever seen a person run. I was guessing the scream came from Nessie. And Quil was with him.

I didn't have to listen to Jacob, he wasn't my alpha. My stupid broken leg kept me from getting up and running back towards Quil, so instead I crawled along the forest floor as fast as I could. "Quil!" I whispered, too afraid to scream. "Quil!"

And just like the little, weak one I was; I started to bawl. Quil was in trouble right now, and again I couldn't help him. But, I remained crawling. Before long, though, I could hear a voice calling out my name. Not the strong voice of Quil that I longed for, but the boy-ish tone of Seth. "Claire, where are you?" He asked.

I was surprised he couldn't hear me sobbing, but I couldn't cry out, because... well, honestly, I didn't want to be found. If Seth got to me he would take me home and then I couldn't help at all.

He eventually saw me, and got on his knees to talk to me. "You all right?" He asked me.

I shook my head, though I wished I could have slapped him. Of course I wasn't all right!

"Take me to Quil, I need to help him!" I told him.

He frowned and shook his head back at me. "No, strict orders from Quil to get you home."

"Why didn't he come and find me himself?" I asked, afraid that maybe he was just making it up.

"He's sort of busy," he heaved me off of the ground and started running the opposite direction where I wanted to go.

I kicked and screamed, but he didn't loosen his grip.

He kept running. It seemed like forever when we finally reached my house and he ran in and sat me on the couch. Then, he ran down the hallway, probably to talk to Sam or something.

Only seconds later did I see Sam running back down the hallway, followed by Seth, and out of the door. "You stay. Keep them safe," he growled right as the door slammed close."

Emily followed a few seconds later, dressed in a light pink bath robe that she was struggling to pull on. She saw me and leaned down in front of the couch.

"What's happening, Seth?" She asked him, even though her eyes kept on me.

"That Zachary guy... Jake left for just one second and he attacked out of nowhere."

I expected her then to wear the same scared expression I had, but she remained absolutely calm. "You need your sleep, honey. Seth, can you carry her to her bedroom?" She asked of him.

I shook my head furiously, "No. I don't want to be left alone," I cried. "Please, Aunt Emily," I threw my arms around her neck, "I don't want anything else to happen."

She nodded and climbed up on the couch so my head was in her lap and was rubbing my hair.

But, there was something in her that wasn't so calm. It was because Sam was out there. Her Sam. Our men were out there, fighting. And yet, I was bawling my eyes out and she remained calm and collected.

We sat like that for hours, or maybe it wasn't, I didn't know. She maintained the same rhythm of her hand as it brushed from the top of my head to my neck. I could here Seth, pacing behind the couch.

I sat up the very second I heard his footsteps stop.

He looked out the window, and through the woods. I saw nothing, but he had super wolf vision. But, then I saw wolves gently descend from the woods. I saw every member of the pack, except Jacob.

I wish I could have ran out there and throw my arms around my wolf, that's what Emily did. Instead, I waited for Quil to phase back, get some clothes, and finally run inside to me.

"Claire bear," he sighed, relieved that I was okay, again.

"What happened? Where's Jacob and Ness?" I asked him quickly.

"Everyone is okay. Jacob brought Nessie back to the Cullen house in case she had any injuries. Zachary got away again," he growled.

How long would this process repeat before one of us turned out dead?