A/N - Thank you for keeping with me. I had a keyboard malfunction this week. I would type and whenever I'd type an R, K, N, or D, I'd get a run-on of those letters...so annoying and frustrating! So, I've had that fixed and I'm back at it. I hope this chapter meets your expectations. Please review! :)

Thunder rolled in the distance and over the sound of the crackling fire within the hearth. Emily had dozed off on the couch while Rachel sat crossed legged on the floor in front of her with a stack of magazines and a flashlight in hand to read them. At the opposite end of the couch, Bella sat, staring into the flames that danced over the wood. No one had spoken in quite a while and it allowed her mind to consider many things as she sat in the silence. Bella was so deep in thought that a sudden rumbling over the porch startled her. Her mind couldn't help but assume that Victoria had once again found her.

On the floor, Rachel sat up straight before quickly turning her attention to the front door. Ceremoniously, the door was pushed open before Paul walked in, shaking the water out of his short hair with his hands.

Rachel's eyes lit up before she sprang up from the floor, dropping the magazines on her lap with a slap, startling Emily to wake. Rachel dashed across the dim room and jumped up into Paul's arms, her legs wrapping around his waist before her mouth descended upon his.

Bella watched as Emily stood up and made her way over to the door just as Paul and Rachel were pushed aside to allow Embry, and another young man to walk into the house. They teased and feigned gagging over the public display of affection being held at the threshold of the home before making their way into the kitchen.

Embry caught sight of Emily, and told her that Sam would be in shortly with Jacob.

Upon hearing his name, Bella pushed herself up to stand. The commotion continued into the kitchen with Emily's voice bellowing unusually loud over the noise.

"With the power out, you're going to have to settle for sandwiches tonight. Take everything to the table where there's more light."

Bella watched as the broad shoulder men moved quickly with armfuls of bread, cheese, meats, mayo and jars of pickles, olives and peanut butter and laid them on the kitchen table. One of them looked up and caught her staring before he smirked.

"We love our sandwiches," he told her with a wink.

Bella continued to stare at him, realizing that she somehow knew him, yet she couldn't place the face. When the front door suddenly opened once again, her attention was drawn back to it. A young woman, with her short hair plastered against her face from the rain walked in and glared at her sourly before Embry tossed her a towel to dry off.

"What are you staring at?" She said, scowling at Bella before making her way towards the bathroom.

"Don't mind Leah," Embry told her.

"She's not a fan of this weather," the other young man added.

Leah?

Almost instantly, Bella made the connection of who this angry woman was. Not only was Leah the one who had blocked her path when she had been intent on talking with Jacob the day prior but years ago, Quil had told her about Leah's part within a strange love triangle between her cousin and Sam Uley. As Bella suddenly realized who Emily was in the twisted story, Embry spoke loudly from where he was quickly putting together a massive sandwich.

"Quil, you complain more about the weather than she does!"

It suddenly hit her. He was Quil - the stalky boy whom Jacob once told her that he had a crush on her. While Quil had gotten taller and more broad shouldered since she had seen him last, his eyes and smile had remained the same. As Bella recalled her last conversation with him and how he had mourned the loss of his friends to Sam's gang, it was clear that Quil was now a card-carrying member of the club. It seemed that Quil didn't appear upset about the turn of events. In fact, he seemed at ease within the group as he teased Embry back before he happily encouraged Bella to sit down beside him.

"Come and join us, Bella," Embry added with a smile as he sat down with his sandwich. "And don't worry. I'll make sure that Quil wont bite."

Embry grinned at Quil's narrowed eyes.

"He had better not," Emily warned, leaning over the boys and placing a stack of cups on the table. "They all know that I have rules in my house when it comes to the treatment of guests and the behaviour of the boys whom I have at my table."

Quil rolled his eyes and groaned, having heard the 'rules' from Emily far too many times. She was determined to keep her pack of wolves as civilized as possible.

Ignoring Quil beside her, Bella turned back to Embry.

"So, where's Jared?"

"Knowing him, he's half-way to his girlfriend's house by now," Paul quickly answered with an amused smirk. Carrying a tall sandwich on a plate, he sat down beside Embry. "That boy is whipped."

"Dude, and you aren't?"

Paul smirked as his eyes caught Rachel as she walked out of the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand.

"Didn't say I wasn't. I was just stating a fact."

Quil laughed, and continued the conversation with Paul regarding Jared and his inability to say no to anything Kim suggested. Embry chuckled while Rachel smirked, finding that she rather liked hearing the laughter within the house especially after a tense evening. Emily did her best to speak on Jared's behalf, but soon found herself adding fuel to fire with the mention about Sam being the same way. Howls of laughter seemed to echo out of the house.

Bella turned her attention to Embry, just as he took another bite of his sandwich. He caught her eye and she leaned forward.

"Did you guys happen to see any wolves when you were out there tonight?" She said softly beneath the noise around them.

Hearing the question, Embry choked slightly before Paul pounded him on the back a few times. Emily quickly passed him a glass of water just as Leah walked out from the bathroom with a smile on her face. She had overheard Bella's soft question and Embry's subsequent choking.

Amused, Paul laughed as he stretched his arm out and put it around Rachel.

"There's all kinds of wild animals around here, Bella. I'd stay out of the woods, if I were you. You wouldn't want to end up like some of those dead hikers."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. He likes to scare people with his twisted sense of humour."

"Yeah, because for Paul everything is a joke," Quil added.

"Funny things usually are," Paul stated with a dark smirk. "Like, how little Quil here still has a crush on Bella after all these years."

Rather than get into a physical altercation like they usually would, Quil just rolled his eyes and casually shot Paul the middle finger from across the table.

"Dude, that was like three years ago."

"Some feelings just don't change though, no matter how much you try to deny it," Paul stated. "Just ask Jacob."

The patio door opened before Sam and Jacob walked into the house.

"Ask me what?"

Paul chuckled, looking down at his sandwich before winking across the table at Bella.

"Paul was just being his usual self," Emily admitted as she walked up to Sam, and greeted him with a kiss.

"That doesn't sound very comforting," Sam said, glaring down at the man sitting in front of him.

"I was being a perfect gentleman."

While Rachel covered her mouth to hide her smile, Quil chuckled.

"I'm sure you were," Sam said, not entirely convinced.

With a sigh, he smiled at Bella before turning to Jacob beside him.

"Jake, would you mind driving Bella back to Sue's place? I'm sure that there is someone there that she's wanting to get back to sooner than later."

Smiling curtly, Jacob took the offered keys for Sam's truck and turned to head outside.

Bella could feel her heart beating hard in her chest as she hugged Emily and said her goodbye's to the others. When it came to talking to Jacob about something as important as Daniel, her nerves hit an all-time high. After Jacob's reaction to her telling him that he was a father on the beach, Bella wasn't expecting an easy conversation.

Waiting outside for her, Jacob could hear Bella's heart racing. He looked up at the dark sky above him and clenched his fingers, praying to whatever spirits that were nearby would grant him the words that he needed to say and the way to say them without getting his anger involved.

Suddenly finding out that he had a son was one thing; discovering that his son spent his entire life being raised by a vampire had brought that anger to a whole new level. Jacob had so many questions and as he walked out onto the driveway towards Sam's pickup, he found himself becoming more and more frustrated.

The sudden scent of lemongrass infiltrated his senses and he couldn't help but take a deep breath. It momentarily calmed the anger within him. Finally, he turned, finding that Bella was standing only a few feet behind him.

"Bella, why didn't you tell me that I had a son? You could have called, wrote a letter...anything! Did you think that I wouldn't have wanted to know?!"

Bella had expected this reaction and anticipated him wanting to talk about Daniel, but not in the middle of Sam and Emily's driveway when she was certain they were within earshot of the people inside.

"Of course not! And I did call. Your Dad told me that you didn't want to talk to me."

Jacob nodded and sighed, his eyes narrowing. "He was right. I didn't."

"So, how was I supposed to tell you?"

"You could have just come home when you found out you were pregnant."

"Jake, I couldn't."

He scoffed as he shook his head. "You couldn't? What the hell do you mean, you couldn't?"

Bella growled and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.

"Dammit Jake!" She exclaimed. "I just...I can't explain it."

"Did it have anything to do with Cullen? Did that fucking bastard threaten you?"

"No!" Bella shouted before taking a deep breath. "It was nothing like that. He was protecting me!"

Memories of earlier that evening when Bella was being held to the tree by the red-headed vampire came to mind. The vampire's words and threats towards Bella replayed in Jacob's mind.

He lowered his voice.

"Protecting you? Protecting you from what?!"

Bella opened her mouth, finding the words on the tip of her tongue. But she couldn't force them out. She shook her head.

"You know what? Don't worry about it. I can deal with it," she told him resignedly, before she walked past him towards the passenger side of Sam's pickup.

Jacob didn't move in the driveway, but watched her walk past. Finally, he turned.

"'Don't worry about it?' Are you in some sort of trouble?"

Bella turned to look to him and smiled for his benefit.

"I'll be fine, Jake."

Even as she had said it, she was trying to convince herself of the same thing. Bella turned back to the truck.

"You don't need to worry about me."

Bella pulled open the door an inch before it was suddenly pushed shut despite her tugging. Looking towards the top of the window, she saw Jacob's russet hand pushing against the door, holding it closed. With a sigh, Bella turned and found Jacob leaning over her, his arm still outstretched, holding the passenger door closed.

How he had come up behind her so quickly and quietly was beyond her, and it was the furthest thing from her mind. At the moment, all Bella could concentrate on was how close he currently was. Bella could feel heat radiating off of him as his eyes seemed to look right into her. Jacob was close enough that she could smell an earthy freshness mixed with the scent of the newly fallen rain. It had been years since she had been so close to him and Bella felt heat rise in her cheeks from his proximity.

Jacob heard her heart rate speed up as he leaned over her. He took a quick inhale of a breath, and he surpressed a groan as the wolf delighted in being so close to the woman Jacob had marked as his years earlier.

He swallowed.

"I know you and I aren't in the greatest of places right now, but I can help you...and Daniel. Let me help you."

Bella shook her head.

"Jake, you can't. This is something that is above anything that you could possibly do for me. I appreciate the offer, but I got myself into this and I don't want to drag anyone else into it." Bella paused before she continued, her eyes averting from his face.

"But there is something that you can do for me."

"What's that?"

Bella took a deep breath, feeling her throat choke up on her before she could even say the words.

"Something came up and I have to leave Forks again," she admitted, forcing a smile onto her face. The seriousness in her tone, caused Jacob to back away from her in surprise. This wasn't what he was expecting. "And for his safety, I'm going to leave Daniel here. I need you to.."

Bella felt a sob well up in her chest before she took a deep breath, forcing it back down.

"I need you to look after him. Jake, I get that the whole father thing is new to you and forgive me for not telling you about him sooner. I'm sure that Billy or my Dad and even Sue could help you out for a while. I can't speak for them, but I know my Dad loves Daniel and would be willing to help raise him."

All the while as she spoke, Jacob shook his head.

"Bella, you don't have to leave."

"I have no choice."

"And I know what it's like to grow up without a Mom. You can't do that to Daniel."

"Believe me, I don't want to."

"You have no choice, right?" There was a thick layer of anger laced within his words. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe running away from your problems isn't going to solve anything? That's always been your solution, Bella - you get scared, you run away."

"I'm not running from my problems!" She growled at him. "I'm doing this for you, for Daniel...to keep everyone safe."

Jacob took a step towards Bella, a darkness on his face that caused a ripple of momentary fear to course through her.

"For me and Daniel, huh? How the hell is you running away from Forks supposed to keep us safe? Did you come back just to leave Daniel here before you ran back to that filthy bloodsucker that you love?"

Bella paused, seeing the anger on his face, reminiscent of that to when she had spoken to him on the beach earlier that night. He had jumped to conclusions then and had said similar things that still gave her pause.

...

"You were fucking pregnant with that leech's baby!?"

...

"How the hell is that even possible!? They're fucking dead!"

...

"Tell me Bella, was that filthy bloodsucker that you love as good a lover as I was?"

...

She realized that Jacob had a deep hatred for Edward, but having remembered being told the Quileute legends regarding the Cullen's, Bella wondered if perhaps Jacob thought of them as being more than just stories and possibly knew about them as much as she did. If that were true, for Bella, it would make explaining everything all the more easier to explain. He wouldn't think of her as crazy. Feeling bold within the darkness of Sam and Emily's driveway, it was now or never.

"Bloodsucker? You called Edward that before."

Jacob pause, taken aback and cursing his loose tongue. He quickly recovered and scoffed.

"He took you away from me. I've used more colourful words to describe him in the past."

Bella shook her head.

"But, 'bloodsucker'? You told me the Quileute legends a few years ago, and referred to the Cullen's as descended from an enemy clan known as the Cold Ones - vampires. Remember?"

Jacob smirked darkly and crossed his arms.

"The legends are just some old scary stories."

"But with every legend, there's a bit of truth in them." She paused and glanced over at him, taking a deep breath before she spoke. "What would you say if I told you that the Cullen's are a family of vampires and that there is a vampire named Victoria who wants to kill me because Edward killed her mate? And in order to protect the ones that I care about here from being hurt by Victoria I have to leave Forks."

Jacob's arms fell to his sides as her words hit him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Things were suddenly starting to make sense; the reason behind the red-headed vampire frequenting the area, her subsequent threat against Bella, Bella's reasoning for suddenly wanting to leave Forks and leave Daniel behind. While it all began to come together, another thought came to Jacob's mind - this Victoria could have been the reason behind Bella leaving originally two years ago.

Curses filled his mind as anger flooded his vision, yet only one word left his lips.

"Shit."

"That's not exactly the reaction I was expecting," Bella admitted softly while Jacob shook his head.

"Are you serious? About what you said, about...this vampire wanting to kill you."

"Yeah...I mean...". She paused, shaking her head in disbelief over what was happening. "Wait, you actually believe me about the Cullen's?"

Jacob took a step closer to Bella, clenching his fists at his sides.

"Bella, you can't leave," he implored to her, still digesting that Bella finally admitted to him what he had known all along about the Cullen's. At the same time, he was afraid for her safety if she left Forks.

Bella looked at him, seeing the anger in his face, but found that for once it not being directed at her.

"How..? I don't get why you believe me. I thought you'd laugh."

He shrugged. "The legends are part of our culture. Besides, I've seen too many freaky things around here to not believe in them."

"The wolves," Bella concluded, swallowing thickly.

"You've seen them?"

Jacob already knew the answer to that. Bella nodded, explaining to him how she had seen them in the woods along with Victoria.

Jacob nodded. "They'll protect you. Their job is to protect people from vampires. They're here to fight them; kill them. That's why I'm telling you that you don't have to leave."

Bella scoffed incredulously. "And here I thought that you were going to think that I was insane."

A small smile pulled at Jacob's mouth.

"So, they're werewolves?"

Jacob shrugged. "Our legends call them Spirit Warriors."

"And they're really wolves that turn into men?"

Jacob hesistated, considering how he should answer her. Sam aside, he knew that his Dad would flip if he found out that he had told Bella about the pack. It was years ago when he still thought of the legends as being silly stories and he had unknowingly broken the treaty by telling Bella everything.

"That's what the legends say."

"But who are they, really?"

Jacob smiled, knowing that he wasn't going to go there. "No one really knows. But trust me, Bella when I say that you're safe here."

Silence had filled the small house. There were no more conversations and either than Embry's soft drumming of his fingers on the table and the ticking of the clock, it was quiet. Emily could vaguely hear the muffled tones of words being spoken outside, but there was no way that she could clearly make out what was being said. And for that, she was glad. This was a conversation that Jacob and Bella had to have in private. Except now as she looked at the pack members sitting around her table, all eating unusually slow, she knew that later, Jacob would have wished he had chosen a more discreet location to talk to Bella.

"You guys aren't eavesdropping, are you?"

Clearing his throat, Quil took another large bite of his sandwich before exchanging an anxious look with Embry across from him.

"They had better not be," Sam stated, as he walked out of the kitchen with his own sandwich. "There will be double patrols for those that do."

Paul rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Sam. You can't be serious. Aren't you the least bit interested to hear what Leech Lov..." he paused upon seeing Sam's dark glare, "...Bella has to say?"

"I am," Sam admitted as he sat down beside Emily. "But that is between her and Jake. It'll be up to him to fill us in later, if he even chooses to."

"But she ran with vampires," Leah argued.

"Maybe in the past," Embry told her. "But I don't think she is anymore."

"What's important right now, is that they have a child together and they'll need to come to some sort of understanding, for Daniel's sake," Emily added while Paul snorted.

"Either way, if I were Jake, I wouldn't trust her."

"I guess it's a good thing that you aren't Jake," Quil mumbled.

Paul sat up straight and narrowed his eyes at Quil. "What the hell do you mean by that, Ateara?"

"I mean, what do you have against Bella? You've been so hard nosed about her ever since she came back."

"To me, she is a Cullen. She chose to fall in love and live with a fucking vampire, the same damned creature that knew that by sticking around Forks, we'd turn into monsters. If my life wasn't already fucked up enough, I had to deal with shifting into a huge ass wolf. If that's not a kick in the balls, I don't know what is. Knowing that she left Jake for a Cullen didn't put her on my list of favourite people."

"People can change, Paul," Rachel said softly. "I know you have."

Quil nodded across from him.

"You're not an angry bastard anymore," he said before he smirked. "Now, you're just a bastard."

A smile appeared on Paul's face before it suddenly disappeared, his head quickly turning towards the closed door behind him.

"Did you guys hear that?"

Silence descended over them again, and not even Sam warned them about eavesdropping. He was listening as well, not believing what he was hearing.

Quil was the first to speak.

"Holy shit. Bella told Jake about the Cullen's."

"What?" Rachel squeaked in shock, looking from Quil to Paul beside her who was chuckling.

"I didn't think she'd have it in her to betray them. Maybe she really has changed."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that her dislike for Edward is legit," Quil added with a smirk. "I think she..."

The smile quickly fell just as Sam stood up swiftly, having overheard the same words that had been spoken by Jacob.

"Fuck," Embry breathed. "Jake wouldn't tell her about us being the wolves she saw, would he?"

"He's not allowed," Sam replied softly. "I trust that he wont."

Quil leaned back in his chair and sighed. "So, that red-head has been after Bella all this time. She only came back because she thought that Victoria had been killed."

"Victoria?" Emily asked.

"The vampire we've been hunting for years," Sam said darkly. "She's been here, looking for Bella all this time. And now that she knows Bella's back, she's a target."

"As is Daniel, if Victoria finds out about him," Embry stated.

"She wont," Sam assured them, as the sound of the pickup turning on rumbled into the house. "And I'm sure that Jacob will be ensuring that."