Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga or any of the characters in the story.

I won't waste any time up here! Happy reading everyone!

Chapter Thirty Four

The pain in Bella's arms is what caused her to wake up although her left seemed to be hurting more for some reason. Bleary eyed, and her head feeling heavy she moaned softly. Once again she was face down on the cold ground, and her body shivered from the freezing cold air around her.

"Don't worry, Isabella. I've administered a transfusion so that you won't bleed out. We will be leaving soon," Edward's chilling voice spoke from behind her. Bella barely had the strength to move her head, trying to get a glance of her kidnapper. Not to mention the other three vampires that accompanied him.

"The other's have gone for now, though I have no doubt they will try and return. It seems that James has taken a strong interest in you… But he doesn't understand that you're mine, Isabella. All mine," Edward said. Bella whimpered at the psychotic ramblings of the vampire behind her.

"We'll get to the airport far before they can reach you… We'll will disappear off the map," he said, "And then no one will be able to take you from me."

Bella's body vibrated with her terror. The ache in her chest from the imprint was growing stronger. Did that mean that Jacob was going in the opposite direction as her? Perhaps he had followed a faulty trail that Edward had set?

Please, Jacob. Please find me before it's too late. I need you.

"Cullen!" came Laurent's voice echoed around the cave.

"What is it Laurent?" Edward asked in a bored tone as he gripped Bella's shoulders and hauled her into a sitting position again. In the terrible light, Bella could see his black eyes looking her over. And then his head snapped back to look away from her, probably towards the mouth of the cave.

"There are vampires approaching," Laurent spoke, and Bella's heart stuttered in her chest.

"Fuck," Edward hissed in pure anger as he looked back at Bella's face, "It seems that we'll have to start making our trip sooner than planned."

She could only whimper in fear as she felt his hard, freezing arms grab her around the waist and throwing her over his shoulder. The breath wheezed out of her lungs at the sharp hit to her stomach and in a flash she was out of the dark cave and was now able to see the dark forest surrounding her.

Her mind floated in a million different directions. There were more vampires coming after Edward? Could it be his family? The Cullens, who had told her that they would help her if their son had tried to harm her.

Breathing deeply, Bella tried to regain her breath as Edward paused outside the mouth of the cave. She had to try and get their attention. Edward was cunning, but as long as she was conscious, he couldn't keep her from giving away their location.

So drawing in a long breath, Bella screamed as loud as she was able to with the gag in her mouth .

"Shut up, you stupid human!" Edward snarled, but Bella did not take note of it. Swinging her bound legs as much as she was able to, she squirmed in his hold, letting out another piercing scream.

Get the Cullen's attention.

Get back to Jacob.

In her heart the imprint bond sung with the intense strain being put on it, and Bella tried to convey just how badly she needed her mate through the bond between them.

Jake. Jake. Jake. Jake. Bella's mind chanted in encouragement as she continued to fight against Edward's iron hold.

"Stay behind and fight them off," Edward commanded the other vampire over Bella's screams of protest.

"What about my share? You agreed I would get an extra share for helping you further!" Laurent hissed with a furrowed brow. He'd been standing behind Edward and Bella's eyes met his own ruby red ones.

"The deal is off! She's mine!" Edward snarled, and before she could blink, Bella was flying through the air, landing on the hard rock of the mountain side. Bella yelped in pain and surprise, unsure of what had happened to make Edward let her go. As she wiggled to try and turn herself so that she could see the two vampires instead of seeing two bodies, she could only see blurs, and hear vicious snarls as the two vampires fought one another.

After a few seconds there was a sickening snap and then it was silent. Bella blinked again, unsure of what had just happened when suddenly Laurent's head landed in front of her. Letting out a scream of disgust, Bella lurched as she gagged at the sight of the severed head, still blinking eyes trained on her face, mouth open in a silent scream.

A few feet away Edward stood, methodically disassembling the rest of Laurent's body while Bella watched with wide, horrified eyes. When he had finally pulled off the last arm remaining attached to Laurent's torso, he dropped the dead body and his eyes snapped back to Bella.

"So many things are trying to keep me from you. But don't worry, Bella, soon enough you'll be all mine," Edward spoke softly, as if he was trying to comfort her.

Her chest felt tight as she watched him take half a step towards her, and then a flash of russet fur flew through the air with the most animalistic snarl Bella had ever heard in her life.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she watched the enormous wolf, her enormous wolf, snapping and roaring at snarling vampire. There was high pitched scream to her left and she saw that Alice Cullen was being held back by Jasper. The Cullens had come! And as this thought passed through her mind she saw that other members of the pack had started emerging from the woods, carefully circling the fight, but not intervening.

Bella wondered why they didn't go and aid Jacob, but as she thought this her eyes met those of the light gray wolf that was closest to her. Leah. Bella's heart felt lighter, even knowing that the rest of the pack was here, but why didn't they come to help her?

Looking back at Jacob, she realized that despite the fact he was directly in front of her, the ache in her chest did not dissipate. It was almost an opposite effect where she felt as though she was about to explode, though not out of pain.

With one last roar that left Bella's ears ringing and her heart racing, she saw Jacob pin Edward's body to the ground while his large jaws tore his head clean off of his stone shoulders. The sound of metal being torn made her jump and Bella screamed unintentionally as she watched Jake continued to tear the sinister Cullen to shreds directly in front of her eyes. It seemed to go on forever and only when a few tears dripped into her mouth did Bella realize she was crying.

Finally seeming satisfied with his work, Jake finally looked up from the shredded remains of Edward Cullen. Bella saw his eyes close and his nose twitch as he scented the air. But when he opened his eyes again, they locked onto her own and she was left breathless.

The eyes that stared at her were not Jacob Black's. And yet, she felt as though she knew the soul behind those eyes better than she even knew her own. More tears leaked from her eyes as she watched Jake walk towards her confidently. Her eyes did not leave his, but from the corner of her eye she could see the wolves warily moving around, as if to intervene if something got out of hand.

She should have been scared. She had just seen him mercilessly kill something. Tear it apart until there was nothing recognizable left. But she was not.

The feeling that filled her, she realized, was not the same ache from when he had been away from her. It was the most intense, raw acknowledgement of Jake's soul that had twisted itself to surround her own. The feeling that she was about to explode was not because he had been running away from her, but rather, because his soul was growing closer to her own until it was able to fully protect her from the outside world.

Bella tilted her head back to keep eye contact with her mate. He stared at her intensely, and came to a stop directly in front of her. In the woods a few feet away came a rustling and in a flash, Bella found herself underneath Jake's huge body, a threatening growl filling the air. She was unable to see what had produced the reaction from him, but the rustling had stopped. Jake still did not move from his position. Minutes passed and Bella felt her head begin to grow heavy once again.

A small whimper came from her throat as she tried to get Jake's attention back. It worked to a point and Jake moved to the side and looked down at her. His nose leaned in closer and snuffled around her body. Bella jumped when he growled while his muzzle was next to her cheek and his teeth, almost tenderly and without scratching her, began tugging on the bit of fabric that gagged her. After a few moments, the fabric ripped and Jake tossed it to the side, swinging his head back to Bella and snuffling her body again.

He did the same thing with the ropes around her wrists and ankles, growling as he smelled them, and then steadily tearing them off of her body. When Bella was finally free from the ropes, ignoring the raw pain of the chafing, she reached up a shaking hand and grabbed the fur on the side of Jake's neck. Under her fingers she could feel his muscles jumping and twitching with restrained, and a soft whine left his throat.

"Jacob," Bella whispered in a quivering, tearful voice. Another growl left Jake's body, although he broke their eye contact, surprising Bella by walking behind her and gathering up the material of her shirt in between his teeth and picked her up gently as though she was no more than a puppy. Bella didn't try to fight it, and instead let him carry her, starting to run through the forest towards some unknown destination.

Finally, in a dense part of the forest, Jake slowed to a stop and gently let Bella down onto the pine-needle covered floor. The night was thickening around them, but the glowing yellow eyes were constantly visible. Jake used his nose to push on her shoulder so that she sat back, and opened his mouth, gripping the fabric of her shirt in his teeth, pulling it off of her body. He did the same with her skirt, and Bella was left in her bra and underwear, shivering slightly as Jake moved a few feet to the left, digging a hole with his paws, and dropping the clothes inside of it. Quickly he returned to her body and circled around, laying his giant body down on the ground and using his paw to bring her body as close as possible into his warmth.

In a human-esque move, Jake placed one of his front legs over her torso, as if to pin her underneath him. Bella should have been uncomfortable with the fact that she was laying in the middle of the woods in nothing but her underwear, but the overwhelming feeling of relief that she was back with her mate consumed every single thought in her head.

Her hands reached up and grasped at the thick fur on his shoulders, raking her fingers through it and feeling a low, almost purr like sound. Tears formed in Bella's eyes and she choked on her breath as she lurched up from the ground, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face into his warmth. A soft whine came from Jake as she clung to him like a terrified child.

"I was so scared, Jake. I was terrified he'd take me away before you could get to me," Bella sobbed, shaking underneath his body. Bella waited for Jake to give her some kind of sign that he'd heard her, but instead Jake used his large muzzle to push her back onto the ground underneath his body. Bella looked into the yellow eyes of her mate and slowly understood that she was not dealing with Jacob. She was dealing with his wolf.

As she came to this conclusion in her own mind she watched as Jake dipped his head down and began to lick her skin with his large, overheated tongue. Bella did not protest and was almost surprised at how soothing the heat of his tongue was on her skin. He appeared to be cleaning her, or maybe covering her with his scent? Bella was unsure of his intent, but she was no closer to understanding Jake's motives than she was of understanding how a true wolf's mind worked.

The rumbling from Jake's chest returned again as he bathed Bella slowly and tenderly, covering every inch of her exposed skin. Bella lay there underneath him, the weight of the situation washing over her like a heavy tide. And then Jake paused in his ministrations. There was silence and then a growl began to build in Jacob's chest and Bella opened her eyes to see what he was doing.

She saw his gaze trained on the crease of her elbow. Moving her arm slowly so she could inspect it her eyes fell on the red, raw and open wounds that were the replica of a human bite mark. Raising her other hand, Bella felt her hands begin to shake and her body become chilled despite the fact she was blanketed with Jacob's incredible heat.

The vampires had marked her. And then Edward's words came back to her mind. He'd told her that the other vampires had gone… but they would be back. They would come looking for her again.

In a clumsy movement since her waist was pinned by Jake's leg, Bella lurched up and to her side, vomiting violently to the side at the thought that the two vampires who had drank from her body were still at large and would come back to find her.

Jake's growling turned deeper as if to warn off whatever had upset his mate, and yet he tenderly began nuzzling at Bella's back, his tongue running over the skin he had yet to cover on that side. She continued to vomit until there was nothing left in her stomach, and then rolled back into her position under Jacob's body. Her skin had a light sheen of sweat and if she hadn't been covered in Jake's heat she would feel her body get a chill.

"There are others, Jake. They're going to come for me. Please, come back to me. Tell me that you understand what I'm saying," Bella begged him quietly, looking into his yellow eyes. Jake stared back at her for a moment, still showing no signs of any human understanding. Instead, he nuzzled her body in closer to his own, covering her with his heat and resuming his methodical licking of her body.

Bella tried to take a deep breath, and reveled in the protection that covered her like a blanket in the form of her mate. Her powerful, mate who wasn't just a wolf, but an extremely territorial alpha. As her head grew heavier and the warmth lulled her into a sleepy state, she tried to stay awake to make sure that Jacob would not leave her. That this wasn't a dream. But the exhaustion was too much for her to bear and Jacob's soft growling continued, almost putting her into a trance. Her hand burrowed deep into the coarse, warm hair of his pelt, holding on tightly and thanking every higher power that ever existed that she was back under the protection of her mate.

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