Author's note: Ok, I know it's been like forever and a day since I've updated but if you've been keeping up with the , you would know that my laptop has gone completely crazy with this virus and I haven't even been able to get on the internet or Word. But I have it on safe mode for right now so I'm good for the moment. But I can't keep this up forever so, these next few chapters may come a little late. SORRY!

I wanted to address a few issues first, one of the reviewers pointed out that the wolves should be able to kill Azriel with no problem, after all, that's what they did to Laurent in New Moon. But you have to remember, Laurent didn't have a clue that the wolves were real. They took him completely by surprise. Now Victoria knew about the wolves and how to evade them and they weren't able to kill her.

Now think about Azriel, as a native Quileute, he knows everything about the wolves. He's heard the legends and knows they're true. He knows the boundaries of La Push like the back of his hand. On top of that, his brother Gabe is on the inside and knows the details of the pack. That is also a big factor. Azriel is smart and knows how to pick his battles, he knows about Imprinting and the wolves weak spots and now, he's going to exploit them. If you guys have anymore questions or concerns, feel free to ask. I'll gladly answer all you've got(:

Dedication: This chapter and the next one goes to ForeverBlonde. She asked for this chapter to be dedicated to her and even if she didn't I was going to dedicate it to her anyway. She has reviewed every single one of my chapters and even PMed me telling me that I needed to get my butt back in business and update. She so sweet and I really think you guys should take a look at her fics, they're freaking amazing. Thanks so much ForeverBlond, you're the best(:

Playlist:

King of Anything- Sara... something (I'm too lazy to look up her last name) :/

Bulletproof- La Roux

So Big- Iyaz

Love The Way You Lie- Eminem ft. Rhianna

Round and Round- Selena Gomez

Climax: Point in a plot or dramatic action

Of course, it wouldn't be anyone but Paul. Seems like he just couldn't take a hint. Not that I didn't want to see him, but it was getting harder and harder to stay away from him. He was sitting on the front porch and when I drove up, he stood and came over to me. It was dark and I couldn't see him face until he came and stood right in front of me.

"Where the hell have you been?" He snarled, grabbing me by the arms. His grip was tight, but he didn't hurt me. I could see the anger in his eyes, but I could also see the concern. He had been worried about me and I couldn't be angry at him for that.

"I didn't feel good today, so I left to clear my head." I told him, squirming in his grip. He loosened his hold on me and stepped back, the angry light, leaving his eyes. I put my hand on his arm to calm him and then froze. I pulled my hand away and looked at the wetness.

Blood.

I stared, wide eyed in horror at him. "Paul," I whispered looking up at him. His jaw was tight and his eyes guarded.

"The leech was back tonight," He said shortly, not meeting my eyes. I didn't know what to say. Azriel wasn't supposed to be messing with them and now Paul was hurt. Paul sighed and looked at me, "I couldn't find you, I didn't know where you were and it scared me."

I almost teared up at the tenderness in his eyes. "I'm sorry; I just really needed some time to myself," I told him, grabbing my purse and keys from the car and closing my door. Then I grabbed his hand and led him into the house against my better judgment.

Aunt Elaina was sleeping already, she had told me that she had a long day when I talked to her over the phone earlier today and so I pulled Paul into the den and made him take off his shirt. His right arm was ravaged, as if he had been thrown up against something.

"A tree." He explained, "The leech threw me into a tree." I shuddered in horror of him being so close to something that evil. I ran a towel under warm water and then cleaned the wound, ignoring Paul's protests that he would be fine. This was the least I could do for him.

After a while, he grew quiet and I finished bandaging him up and looked at him. He was looking at me with that adoring light. "I miss this, I miss being with you," He said, reaching his uninjured hand up to brush my hair from my face.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't want him to leave, but I needed time to figure out what I was going to do about Azriel. I opened my mouth, but I before I could say anything Paul spoke,

"Please sweetheart, don't send me away. I know I hurt you and I hate myself for that. But I need to be with you at least for tonight. Please," He begged, holding me to him.

I couldn't deny him that, not when I wanted the same thing. I wordlessly grabbed his hand and brought him into my room. I let go long enough to grab my bedclothes and change in the bathroom. I turned the lights off in the bedroom and climbed in the bed with Paul.

Arms as strong as steel wrapped around me and pulled me to an equally muscular body. How I had missed this feeling. The other night, I hadn't been able to get enough sleep and the day had begun to wear on me. I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open and enjoy this moment with Paul, no matter how fleeting. For tonight, it would be easy to think that it was just him and me.

Sooner or later though, we all have to face reality.

The even pattern of Cassie's breathing told me when she dropped off to sleep and I smiled, relishing the feel of her being in my arms. I thought back to when I saw her on the docks with Gabe. The look of fear in her eyes and scent and stench of leech clinging to her and Gabe. I didn't know if I was angrier at the leech for daring to get close to her or myself for letting her fall into the hands of a vampire.

I quickly assessed that she was fine physically and then I tried to get her to talk to me but she adamantly refused. I had to respect her. When she left with Gabe, I was sure my jaw hit the ground and it took everything in my power not to rip him a new one. As it was, I phased and followed them at Sam's orders, keeping an eye on him and Cassie.

I heard her yell about him killing someone she cared about and his threatening her which made me angry. I stayed in the woods until I knew Cassie was safe inside her house and then I phased and put my cutoffs on, following Gabe on foot.

I caught him before he reached him house, which was on the same street as the Clearwater's. I stepped in front of him and stood there, unmoving, trying to conceal my anger. He stopped and his eyes grew wide. I could smell the fear emanating off of him and I reveled in it. He might not like us wolves, but he knew what we were and what we were capable of.

"You took Cassie," I said my entire body clenched. Being in the presence of someone who had touched my soulmate like that, it was so hard to keep from killing him. But I wasn't a monster; I wasn't going to hurt him.

At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

At first Gabe tried to play the innocent card and go with the story that Cassie told us but when he saw the deadly look in my eyes he shut up real quick. "You and Cassie both reek of vampire and its trail followed yours. So you can either tell me the truth or I could just go ahead and kill you now." I was bluffing of course, I couldn't kill him just like that, but he didn't know that.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gabe said his voice pitifully weak. If I had been in the mood, I might've laughed but seeing as we were discussing Cassie, I wasn't in the laughing mood.

I took a few steps closer and I could feel the growl threatening to come out, sometimes I really did feel like an animal and tonight, when my temper was starting to get the best of me I was about ready to phase and jump this pansy ass. "If you don't start telling me the truth, things aren't going to get pretty."

"Ok, yes we took her," Gabe whimpered, his eyes were darting around everywhere.

"How?" I asked, trying to keep my voice in check.

Gabe was quiet for a long time and he wouldn't look directly at me. "I drugged her," He mumbled, his voice was so low that I could barely hear him.

When those words hit me, I lost all shred of control and sanity. In the blink of an eye I was on him and I had him pinned to the wall of his house. I snarled at him and I was shaking so hard, I could barely keep a grip on his tiny little neck.

"I swear to God if you ever touch her again, I will kill and I'm not making any threats this time. Leave Cassie alone," I snarled at him, my fingers tightening ever so slightly to emphasis my point.

Gabe was gasping for breath, but even so he managed to speak. "I can't do that." His eyes were wide and fearful, but I didn't care. I reached my other fist back, intent on letting all of my frustrations out.

Jake, Quil and Jared were there pulling me off of Gabe before I could hurt him. I struggled against their hold, but all three of them were strong. There was no way I was breaking out of their hold. Gabe had run off into his house the first chance he could get and I snarled at him, trying hard to wrench myself away from my brothers.

When I finally did, I didn't try to get to Gabe. I ran straight for Cassie's house, not letting myself phase. It was getting darker and when I got to her house and Cassie opened the door, I could hardly breathe. It was like this every time I saw her, this overwhelming sense of beauty that clung to her, blew me away every time.

I could tell that she had been crying and she still looked a little cold, but she tried hard to hide her pain. I could see it in her eyes. Once I found my voice, I tried to get her to tell me what had happened again. I thought that since it was just me and her that she might tell me, but she shut me out again.

It made me angry again, but I saw the hurt in her eyes, hurt that cut all the way to my soul. I had hurt her today and I could tell that she was still mad at me for it. I would try to give her the space she needed, but I couldn't leave without kissing those perfect lips of hers.

After I left, I phased and stayed near Cassie's house knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep without her in my arms and safe. I could hear her tossing and turning around in her bed all night and I whimpered. As much as I wanted to go and comfort her, I knew she wouldn't appreciate it.

Seth, Sam and Quil had also phased and were patrolling. My shift wasn't until tomorrow after school, but I told Sam that I would swap shifts with Jared who was supposed to be patrolling later on tonight.

I took the border closest to Cassie's house, not wanting to be any further from her than I had to be all the while listening to Sam chew me out for confronting Gabe like that. He had seen it in my thoughts and hadn't been too pleased about it.

When morning came, I had exhausted myself out, from sleep deprivation and nearly running myself to death all night, but I went home, took a short shower and made my way to school avoiding my mother and Riley as much as possible. I only wanted to talk to one person and she wasn't speaking to me right now.

At school I watched from the corner of my eye as Cassie pulled up and even from seven feet away, I could see that she too, didn't sleep well. I tensed, fighting the urge to go to her and pull her into my arms. The entire pack was watching her warily. They didn't know what to expect after yesterday and to be honest, neither did I.

I growled as I saw Gabe go up to her and try to offer her food. I had told him to stay away from her and yet there he was. He must've thought I hadn't been serious or very dumb. I watching aptly as Cassie chewed him out, her voice carrying over to where I was. I smiled halfheartedly despite myself. My imprint had a lot of spunk, one of the many reasons why I loved her.

She turned around to walk away from him and when Gabe reached out and forcefully grabbed her hand, once again, I lost any and all control that I had. I made my way over to them ignoring my brothers' warnings. I didn't even hear what Gabe had told her I was so angry.

Cassie snatched her hand away and the angry light left her eyes and was replaced by tears and the faint scent of fear. I snarled at Gabe, pulling Cassie toward me at the same time. I had warned him to stay away from her and he was going to learn it one way of another, even if I had to bash it into his head.

Cassie was quick to try and diffuse the situation and extract herself from my hold and though my mind was mostly on her, I didn't let my gaze drift away from Gabe. The only thing that kept me from phasing and clawing him fiercely was the fact that there were people milling around and someone was bound to see a huge wolf burst from a high school student.

Jared came up to me, saying something about going to class and I nodded, giving Gabe one last glare before I left. I didn't think anything needed to be said, it was obvious he wasn't going to listen to me and I couldn't put my hands on him without good reason and without Sam killing me for it. Him putting his hands on Cassie, though was as good a reason as any, but he didn't physically hurt her so I would let him live.

For now.

I hurried to first period, trying to catch Cassie before the bell rang. I sat beside her in first period, trying to listen to the lesson and admire her beauty at the same time. The work we had was easy and once I caught Cassie looking at me. I looked into her beautiful eyes wanting nothing more than to pull her to me and keep her safe.

Second period was anything worth mentioning and I was so happy when the bell for third period rang. I would be able to see Cassie again. I sat down and waited for her and noticed that when Gabe came in, he sat on the opposite side of the room which was more than fine with me.

Cassie came in and looked at us both and then made her way towards Gabe, looking ill. I clenched my jaw tight, not liking whatever hold Gabe had on Cassie but I didn't want to upset her any further so I didn't do anything. I kept an eye on them the entire period though, noting how annoyed Cassie seemed to be getting with him.

I walked with her to fourth period and sat behind her and afterwards walked her to her locker. She apparently got tired of the silence between us and pinned me with her deep green gaze asking me what I was doing. I tried to calm her down and apologize to her, but it didn't seem to help much.

She ended up walking away from me, leaving me scowling at her. I saw it in her eyes that she wasn't really mad at me anymore, but was just trying to stay away from me. I made my way into the cafeteria, not surprised to find Cassie sitting with Gabe and picking at her food.

"What's going on with Cass?" Seth asked as I sat down with him and the rest of the pack. They were all looking at her and probably all thinking the same thing. I shrugged, not wanting to discuss it with my brothers.

After meeting my gaze, Cassie abruptly got up and left the cafeteria, taking all of her things with her. I frowned and got up to follow her. I got outside just in time to see her drive out of the school parking lot. She was probably going home, which I thought would be best for her, all things considered.

I stayed at school the rest of the day and afterwards phased for patrol, trying to ignore my body's cry for sleep that I had been pushing away all day. Jacob phased a few minutes later and we waited for Seth to join us. Almost instantly after we started our patrol, Seth was taken by surprise by the leech whom had sprung up at him from the water.

Jacob and I quickly joined him, but the leech was strong and knew how to evade us. It would dart into the water where our senses were muddled and then unexpectedly shoot out of the water and attack.

'He's fast!'

Seth snarled, shaking his head from a blow that the Leech had delivered. Jake howled, alerting the others and then leapt at the vampire who had darted for Seth again. I tried to cut it off from the water, but the leech was faster than I thought and with a swipe of his arm, he knocked me into a tree. My foreleg hit hard and I felt the blood well up.

The vampire bared his fangs at me and started toward me, but out of nowhere, Leah and Quil came and together threw him backwards. The leech snarled, not liking the odds and flew into the water, leaping past Jake and Seth, who tried to stop him. I leapt to my feet and jumped into the water until it reached my belly.

I looked for the leech, trying to sniff it out, but I couldn't find anything. Angered, I went back to shore trying to ignore the pain in my leg and shook the excess water off of my fur. It was getting kind of long.

Time for a haircut.

'What the hell happened?'

Sam had just burst from the forest with the rest of the pack hot on his heels. Jacob replayed what had happened while Embry, Jared and Leah took off down the shore, making sure the leech wasn't coming back. Quil and Seth were assigned to patrol the other boundaries while I sat with Sam and Jacob and licked my wounds. They were pretty deep and weren't healing as fast as wanted them to.

I thought of how Cassie had left school early and I didn't know where she was, which made me anxious. Sam gave me permission to go and make sure she was safe and I didn't waste any time rushing to her house. I quickly assessed that she wasn't there and hadn't been since this morning.

I was starting to freak out. What if while we were distracted with the leech, Gabe took Cassie again? I snarled, mentally asking the pack if any of them had seen her since she left school today and I tried to keep myself from freaking out. I hated not knowing where Cassie was.

Jake came with me and we patrolled the outskirts of La Push searching for any sign of the leech while simultaneously trying to sniff out wherever Cassie was. It took about two hours, but we caught her coming back into the La Push in her car, music blaring.

I growled angrily at her and made my way towards her house, mentally thanking Jake for helping me look for her. I phased and waited for her to get home and then chewed her out when she did. I had been so worried about her that everything I was feeling spilled out. She looked at me with those wide green eyes of hers and I realized that I was snarling at her.

I let go of her, trying to calm down. She was safe now and that was all that mattered. When she found my injury, her eyes got wide and I told her about the random vampire attack today and she pulled me into the house, washing the wound and binding it. I tried to tell her that it would heal up in a matter of hours but Cassie wasn't listening to me.

She never did.

I got quiet when I realized that this was the first time in a day and a half that I felt content. Cassie was with me and she was safe. I didn't want to let go of the feeling and I told her such.

Now, she was sleeping, in my arms and I looked down at her, smiling softly at the serenity of her face. How fragile she looked. I was continually blown away by her beauty and strength. I yawned, my body's need for sleep finally catching up with me. I wrapped my arms more securely around Cassie and succumbed to sleep, the heavenly scent of Cassie all around me.

I blinked lazily and moved my head, trying to keep the sun out of my eyes. I felt Paul move under me and I lifted myself up to find that I was halfway sprawled across Paul's chest. I was confused for a second until I recalled what had gone on last night. I reached around Paul for my phone on the nightstand and saw that it was five twenty-eight in the morning.

I also had nine text messages and three missed calls.

Looking down at Paul, I ran a hand through his already mussed hair. I didn't want to wake him up and I knew that trying to avoid Paul wasn't going good, since he was in my bed, but things couldn't just go back to the way they were, at least not right now.

I closed my eyes and took five deep breaths to clear my head and when I opened my eyes, I met Paul's clear dark brown ones. He smiled at me and brought his head up, covering my lips with his own. I savored the feeling, losing myself in him and running my hands down his toned arms.

I froze though, when I came upon the bandages on Paul's arm. I pulled away from him and looked down at them. Paul reached over with his other arm and unwrapped them, showing me the clear, unmarked skin that lay underneath. Last night that skin was torn and bloodied and should've taken at least two weeks to heal up without stitches. There wasn't even a scar.

I ran my arm down the skin and felt Paul shiver under my touch. I looked up at him and took a deep breath before speaking. "I need to get ready for school," I told him, which was a lie since I had at least forty-five minutes before I even had to think about getting ready.

I tried to extract myself from Paul, but he held on to me tightly and made me look him in the eye. "Not until you talk to me," He said his voice soft yet stern. I didn't say anything and before I knew what was going on I was abruptly rolled over and pinned to the bed looking up at Paul.

"Paul! Get off me," I whinned halfheartedly, trying to calm my body down. I squirmed, but it got me nowhere. I looked up at him, glaring.

"Talk to me," Paul demanded, his voice leaving no room for argument. I bit my lip, determined not to say anything, but Paul was very convincing.

I racked my brain for something to say and finally just looked Paul and the eye and told him to get off of me. He did, but he still had a serious look in his eyes. I knew he could be very convincing when he wanted to be and right now he wanted answers.

"All I want is you to be safe Cassie and I can't keep you safe if there are things that you aren't telling me," He said, running his hand through my hair.

"I know you want me safe and that's one of the reasons why I love you, but you have to trust me on this. Everything's going to be fine," I told him, trying to sound as truthful as possible.

"I'm not buying it, Cass, but I don't know what else to do. I can't force you to tell me and if I make Gabe say something, you'd be pissed at me- don't look at me like that, you know it's true," He replied, leaning back to rest against my headboard, looking defeated.

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. If I showed up at school with Paul then Gabe would know that something was up and I didn't know what to do about it. I couldn't just go and act like Paul didn't exist again, but I couldn't let Gabe know anything was going on.

"What do you want me to do?" Paul asked me, his voice soft, but insistent as he took my hand into his, toying with my fingers. I contemplated that for a minute.

"I want you to go home and get ready for school. I'll see you later," I finally told him, focusing on the soft callousness of his hands in mine. I leaned over and gave him a small kiss that quickly turning into something more. I pulled back, my face flushed. Paul and I were like magnets. It was nearly impossible to resist him.

Paul got up and with one last look at me; he opened the door and went out. I exhaled a deep breath and went to take a long hot shower. As I washed my hair, I contemplated on what was going to happen today. My head felt like it was about to explode with everything that had been happening during the past few weeks. After rinsing my hair, I got out and wrapped a fluffy green towel around me while I blow dried my hair. I remembered that the bonfire was tonight and Gabe wanted me to go with him and I groaned. I just knew something was going to go wrong and I wasn't going to be able to stop it.

I pulled on a light pink blouse top with jean shorts under it since it was supposed to warm up today and painted my nails a cotton candy pink. When my toes dried I pulled on a pair of sandals and donned my Juicy pink sunglasses.

Maybe if I had a bright happy color on today, bright and happy things would happed…

And maybe not.

My hair was fully dry by the time I was done getting ready for school and so I sat down on the bed and brushed through it one hundred times, which was something I had done since I was a little girl. I looked at my phone, seeing that I had at least thirty minutes left until I usually left for school so I called my mother, who should've been up by now. She didn't answer but a few minutes later, I got a text.

Morning, love. In a meeting. I'll call you back asap. Xoxo

I scrunched up my nose. I knew that I if I insisted that she would call me back and talk to me wherever she was, but I didn't want to interrupt whatever kind of meeting she was in, so I just turned my radio on and listened to Round and Round by Selena Gomez and cleaned up around my room and the den trying to pass the time.

I ran a hand through my hair and tried to let all of the tension out of my mind. Then, I thought about Jake and I really just wanted to go and talk to him. He had been one of my good friends since I was a little girl and I would always call him up when I had a problem. I left the house and made my way over to Jake's. I let myself in and made my way into the kitchen where I knew he would be. Jake was bent over, looking into the fridge.

"Are you finally going to talk to me?" He asked, without looking at me. He probably heard me come in. I moved him aside and took out the eggs. I wordlessly turned the stove on and took a skillet from one of the drawers.

"I'm sorry I've been so out of it the last few days, but a lot has been going on lately and I needed to get my thoughts together," I explained waiting for the pan to get hot. He sat down at the table which seemed much too small for his big frame. He looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"You aren't going to tell me what happened on that boat are you?" He asked, looking at me. I focused on cracking the eggs into the pan and adding salt and pepper. I grabbed a spatula from the drawer to my left and flipped the eggs over.

"Nope," I told him, "I can't tell you… even though I want to," I said, turning to look at him. He was studying me, trying to read my mind like he could read the packs'. I turned back to the eggs and flipped them again, turning the heat of the stove on low. I took two plates and divided the eggs up giving Jake a bigger portion. He poured a glass of orange juice for himself and milk for me and I smiled, he remembered that I hated orange juice.

We sat down and just as we began to eat, Jake spoke up. "What do they have on you, Cici?" He asked his voice taking on that protective tone again. I bit my lip, and took a deep breath.

"They'll hurt Paul if I say anything," I whispered before taking a bite of egg. I saw the look in his eyes from across the table. He was livid.

"You don't believe that do you? They can't touch Paul or any of us," He said lowly. I knew that the pack thought themselves invincible, but they weren't and I knew that. I knew that somehow, Azriel would find a way to get Paul and that was my worse fear. I looked at my phone and noticed that we should be getting to school. We finished eating and talked about Gabriel a little more while we did the dishes together.

On the way to school, I told him about Gabe wanting me to go to the bonfire with him today and then immediately thought I should have kept it to myself. Jake was still yelling at me about it when we pulled into the school parking lot. I sighed and tried to block him out which was easy since I saw Paul on the steps of the school looking at me. "Hey Cici, are you listening to me? You aren't going anywhere with him," He said from behind me. We were close enough to Paul that he overheard us and I frowned as he got up and joined us.

"What about Gabe?" He asked, looking at me sternly. As relived as I was to see him, I was already tired of hearing Jake's voice and I knew Paul was just going to give me hell. I gave him a look and told him that I wasn't in the mood, but he was already gone and wasn't listening to me.

What a surprise.

I sighed and started for my locker. I grabbed the things I needed and went to first period ten minutes early, Paul trailing me and trying to unsuccessfully get my attention. I ignored him and sat down, finishing up my Quileute homework. After a few minutes, Paul quieted and we sat in an almost comfortable silence, but I could tell that he was still pissed off.

The rest of the school day was pretty much uneventful. At lunch, I sat with Gabe once again and but this time I didn't get up and I think that in itself was a great accomplishment. He told me that he was going to come over about an hour before the bonfire and talk to me about whatever and whatnot and then he tried to make happy friendly conversation with me while I tried to keep my eyes from meeting Paul's.

I stayed in seventh period another hour, venting all of my frustrations through gymnastics. I stayed on bars and worked on new skills and by the time I went home, I was tired and sore. I took a long hot shower and got dressed in ripped skinny jeans, brown and white furry boots and a brown rhinestone t-shirt.

The doorbell rang. I knew it was Gabe because Paul or Jake wouldn't have rung the doorbell. So I took a deep breath and got ready for the night that seemed like it was going to blow up in everyone's face.

If only I knew.

Ok, I'm not going to lie to you, the next chapter will not be done for about a week. I've only gotten one sentence typed up as it is. I'll see how much I can get done tonight but no guarantees. I'll keep on updating the P. Box so keep checking my profile and don't forget the Poll if you haven't already done it. Sorry again, that this chapter took so long but here it is. Review pleasee(: