"So they're back?"

Jacob hands me a rag he swears is clean, and I blow my nose noisily. I wipe my eyes on the back of my sleeve. I must look like a horror show. Crying always makes my face blotchy and red and swollen.

"For now." My voice sounds thick and strangled. "They want to deal with Victoria. But I don't think...I mean, I think once that's done, they'll leave again." Even saying the words out loud creates an awful ache in my chest.

Jacob snorts. "We don't need them for that."

"What are you talking about?" I snap, bone-tired and in no mood for his posturing. "She's dangerous. We need her gone. Surely the more people who are trying to make that happen, the better?"

"She's one of them, Bella! When are you going to understand this? They're not peopleand they're dangerous. All of them. We can't trust them to take care of their own."

"But that's exactly what they did! Jake, they killed James to save me. That's what started all of this. That's why Victoria is here! They're not like other vampires." I shudder, just thinking about the seething evil of Volterra. "Believe me. I've met other vampires."

Jake kicks at the straw under his shoe, flexing his fingers in frustration. I think about Carlisle's warning. How easy it would be for Jake to lose it and phase right here in front of me. He's so close I can feel the heat coming off him, as if his anger was a tangible, physical thing.

"Look, just meet with them," I plead. "Hear them out. Carlisle just wants to talk. No one wants to breach the treaty."

"We'll meet your cold friends, Bella." I spin to look at the barn door, where Sam is leaning. His arms are crossed and his tattooed biceps look enormous. He seems bigger and bigger every time I see him. Jacob scowls, and hurls the wrench at his toolbox. It misses and scatters across the bench noisily.

Sam gives him a pointed look. "We will only discuss the matter of the redhead. There will be no change to the treaty or to the boundary lines. Tomorrow at midnight. In the clearing where we killed the leech."

I nod gratefully, getting to my feet. Jake has his back to me now, and his shoulders are rising and falling as he struggles for control.

"I'll let Carlisle know. Thank you, Sam."

He doesn't respond, his worried gaze fixed firmly on Jacob. I think about saying something further, about reaching out to catch Jake's arm. To try and explain, to let him know it's going to be okay.

"You should leave, Bella. It's time for you to go home." Sam's voice is cold and brooks no argument. I tug the sleeves of my hoodie down over my hands nervously, casting a final look back at Jacob, and leave the barn.

I call Alice from the truck as I drive back to Forks. "Tell Carlisle that Sam agreed to meet you tomorrow at midnight."

"Sam?"

"He's the Alpha. The other wolves will do as he says."

"God, Bella. I just hate you being out there. I hate you being around them, and I can't stand you being out of my sight. It's not safe."

I drum my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.

"None of this is safe, Alice. I have a vengeful vampire trying to kill me. Can we just agree that this is how it isfor now?"

She sighs. It's strange. I was so grateful to see her only a few short days ago, but so much has changed in the interim. I realize how frustrated I am, not only with my own powerlessness, but also with the Cullens' seeming impotence. I want Edward home, and safe, and surrounded by the people he loves. Alice can't make that happen. None of them can.

"I'll talk to you later," I manage, snapping the phone shut.

Charlie is waiting in the kitchen for me when I get back to the house. He's cleaning his gun, but I know. I'm still being measured, assessed. Like a suspect. He's still trying to work out if I'm about to fold in on myself again. Crumple, like last time.

"Emily sent us fish fry," I say, dropping the oily paper bag onto the counter, leaning back on my hands.

"How was it?" he asks, not looking up, concentrating on the barrel in front of him.

"Fine." I shrug noncommittally. "You want me to heat this?"

"I ate at the station."

"Well, I have homework." I shove the bag into the refrigerator, closing it a little more forcefully than necessary and heading straight up to my room. The air feels stale and close, and as I crack the window I can't help but run my hand slowly across the sash, thinking of every time Edward slipped in this way to be with me.

In the dark, just at the edges of the tree line, I can make out the enormous silhouette of a wolf. Whoever it is is taking a dreadful risk being this close to Charlie and his gun. Which means it can only be Jacob.

I consider the open window, and my own frustration with everyone I know making decisions for me. The tree looks close enough. I tug on a warmer jacket and open the door to my bedroom to listen. The Seahawks are playing and the game is just starting. Charlie will be staying put for at least an hour. The night air is crisp, and when I swing my feet out over the sill, the tree suddenly doesn't seem as near as I thought. My courage is starting to curdle in my stomach when I hear a howl in the distance. It spurs to me action, and I grip the nearest solid-looking bough, swinging into the trunk. My hands are scratched by the bark, and it stings more than I expected, but I climb quickly down, glad to be back on solid ground.

I stalk across to the tree line, spoiling for an argument. I'm surprised when Quil emerges from the forest, shirtless despite the cold, his feet bare.

"Are you crazy?" he gasps at me. "What if you'd slipped?"

"What are you doing here?"

He runs a hand through his hair, looking anywhere but at me. His dark eyes dart toward the house, back to the trees. I wonder who else is around. If this is Jake's stupid idea or Sam's.

"It's not safe, Bella. I need you to go back inside."

It's like something snaps inside me. I am so sick and tired of everyone making these pronouncements about my safety. "Screw you. You don't get to creep around my house like this without telling me. What's going on?"

Quil looks torn. I think back to when I first met these boys, out at First Beach. God, so much has changed. So much innocence lost.

"Look, I've had enough of people keeping secrets, whatever their motives." The light changes behind me and I spin around. Charlie has turned on the lights in the kitchen, probably making a half-time snack. If he finds us out here, I'm toast. I start jogging without thinking, along the path through the trees away from the house.

"Bella!" Quil hisses behind me in a noisy whisper. I pick up my pace, and hear him curse and start to come after me. I run faster. The trail is wet and uneven, and there isn't enough light to really see where I'm going, but the cold night air is flooding my lungs and I feel a rushing sense of freedom turning my back on him, on everyone.

It only lasts for a second.

Suddenly there is a crash behind me, and a blur of movement in front of me, and before I can react all the air is knocked from my lungs and I'm falling. The ground rushes up, frozen stones hitting me in the back and cold fingers grasping painfully around my throat. Victoria's red eyes gleam, a sickening look of triumph across her pale face. She presses me into the ground effortlessly with one hand, holding the other up at Quil who is panting and snarling in his animal form. "If you move," Victoria sneers at him, "she dies." Quil's rumbling growl is deafening. He steps forward briefly, one paw reaching tentatively toward me, but hesitates. He's only a few feet away, his breath rising in clouds from his snout, his jaws snapping. I can see the torment and indecision in his eyes from here. Victoria's grip tightens on my neck, and I can't breathe. There's nothing but cold, and pain, and the spill of Victoria's bright red hair. My fingers clutch helplessly at the snow under me.

I close my eyes. I don't want to see her glinting teeth. I wish I couldn't feel her icy breath. I think about Edward, so far away. I wonder if he'll be able to leave Italy once he learns I've died. At least he can't blame himself for this.

I'm feeling faint, light headed, and then it's as if a tornado blows over me. Noise, and force like thunder. Roaring, loud and impossibly hot. Victoria's death-grip disappears from my throat in a cloud of shrieks and snarls as a giant wolf leaps from the trees and slams her bodily across the trail. They disappear from sight and I struggle up onto weak elbows, as Quil leaps after them to join the fray.

There is a sharp pain in my arm, and it takes effort to get to my feet. There is a sickening crunch from a few feet away and I cry out in fear. Then my worst nightmare: a shotgun blast.

Charlie.

I scramble off the track and into the trees, toward the house. My heart is pounding in my ears and my breathing is ragged and loud. Another shot. I reach the tree line. There's no sign of Charlie, and the front door to the house stands open, warm light glowing from inside like a haven.

I'm frozen with indecision. My father is somewhere nearby, putting himself in mortal danger. He may have killed Quil; I have no idea if the wolves can survive gunshots. And Victoria.

Victoria is out there.

All I can taste is bile.

I burst onto the lawn and start to scream. If Victoria has taken Charlie, then she can have me too. "DAD! DAAAAAAAAADDDDDDD!"

For an impossibly long moment I hear nothing, and then...

"Bella? Bella I told you to stay upstairs!"

He emerges from the trees a few feet to my right, and I run towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He hugs me tightly with one arm, the other pointing his gun away at the ground. He smells like gun oil, and beer, and I revel in the illusion of protection, whimpering in relief.

"Shhh, it's okay. You should have stayed indoors." He pulls back and looks at me, smoothing my hair. His face clouds. "Why are you wet?"

"You were shooting at something, Dad! I ran out here, and I..." I gesture helplessly at the icy ground. "I can't stay on my feet when I'm trying to walk in a straight line."

His expression softens into concern. "You were really scared, huh? Look at you. I'm sorry. It was just a wolf is all, nothing to worry about." Charlie's a terrible liar.

"Did you..." I don't want to know. There are tears welling up in my eyes.

"No. It was moving too fast. I'll get some of the guys from the Rez here tomorrow, and we'll see if we can track it. Not safe having them coming this close to town."

I collapse against Charlie in exhaustion and fear.

"Come on. That's enough excitement for one night. Get inside and get dry."

I look over my shoulder as he guides me back to the house. The forest is silent and dark.