The song belongs to Bob Dylan. please read and review. THANKS!

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"Paul, you need to relax. You're going to be no good if we do find Abby if you've exhausted yourself out by beating the crap out of a brick wall!"

I ignored Sam's calm, logical statement and continued to ram my fist into the hard, unforgiving brick. I ignored the throbbing pain in my hand and the hot blood that slid through my fingers and down the length of my bare arm.

"Paul!" Jared pulled me away from the wall and I struggled against him, trying to get back to it. The physical pain helped to lessen the emotional pain. It wasn't by much but it was enough to clear my head and help me think rationally.

We had been searching for hours, looking inside every abandoned building and shack for miles in either direction of Port Angeles and there was still absolutely no sign of Abby or the bloodsucker. I could feel the beginning of panic gripping my chest. If we didn't find them soon… I shook my head to clear it of the thought and turned to face Jared and Sam. They had made me stop and rest for a while, sending the others on ahead to see what they could find.

"Look, Paul, there aren't many other places they could be. We will find her and then we will rip the leech apart." Sam promised. "He won't kill her until we're there. He's a sadistic monster, and he wants you to suffer as much as possible. He'll be keeping her alive."

"Yeah but for how long?" I yelled. "How long until he decides he's waited long enough? You're making me stand here like a useless piece of crap while he could be hurting her! He could be torturing her!"

"Guys! We found something."

I whirled around to see Jacob jogging towards us, with Seth's wolf at his side. He stopped as he reached us and clasped me excitedly on the shoulder.

"Her scent and the leech's scent. Really strong. A few hours old at the most. They're heading into the warehouse district. I told the guys to wait there on us until we decided the best course of action."

Before I could take a step in the right direction, Jared and Sam had pulled my arms behind me and were holding me back. I growled and snapped at them but they ignored me as they began discussing 'strategy'. I growled again, louder, and struggled to get loose.

Abby was near. I needed to get to her.

"Paul you can't go charging in half cocked." Sam hissed. "You need to calm down and let us prepare."

I listened half heartedly to their rescue plan, knowing that when the time came all thoughts of planning would disappear from my head and I would be left on adrenaline and instinct. And that was good enough for me.

"Paul, are you listening?" Sam asked. I glared at him, suddenly sick of his calm demeanour and calm words. It was as if he didn't care if we found Abby or not.

The sensible part of my brain recognised that it was ridiculous to think Sam didn't care but the emotional side, the side that was currently ruling my thoughts, said that Sam was trying his damn hardest to keep me from rescuing Abby.

"Paul, he knows we're coming. He'll be able to smell us as soon as we get within a few miles of wherever they're hiding so we don't have the element of surprise. We need to work with what we've got."

"We've got eight wolves against one vampire. That's all we need." I retorted.

"No it's not. What are you going to do if he places Abby between one of the wolves and him? What if she accidentally gets hurt by one of us? Think about it Paul, we need to have a plan to get her out before we confront the leech."

I growled but stopped struggling, recognising the reason behind the argument.

"We'll send Leah in. She's the smallest and the one who looks like she could do the least harm. Hopefully he'll think she's the only one we've sent. If she can distract him long enough, maybe even draw him out of wherever they're hiding, then you can go in and get Abby and get her out. Don't worry, we'll leave the leech for you but I think it's best if you're the one that gets Abby… we don't want to scare her any more than necessary."

I nodded my agreement to the plan, still convinced that when the time came, instinct would take over.

"Let's go then."

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We ran for another half hour before stopping and shifting into wolf form. As soon as I sniffed, I could smell Abby. I could smell the weak scent of the perfume she wore, almost worn off, and the smell of her sweat and her fear. My legs almost buckled under me as the scent of her terror washed over my senses. My poor Abby was so scared. Sam brushed against my in a show of support and I followed him again, intent on finding the monster who had made her so afraid and tearing him apart.

The scent got stronger the closer we got to the warehouses. It was almost palpable when we came to a stop a few miles away, hiding ourselves behind various warehouses and the trucks that were parked around. I could smell Abby now. I could pinpoint the exact warehouse she was in and I had to bite back my growl as I paced angrily behind the trailer I was hiding behind. Sam was with me, no doubt to stop me from doing something ridiculously stupid and he shot me a warning look as I passed him. I glared at him as nastily as possible in my wolf form before sneaking a glance around the corner. Leah was at the door of the warehouse, growling loudly at it. I watched, breath held, as a pale face flashed past a window before the door creaked open and Leah stalked inside. The door remained open and I tensed, every muscle in my body reacting to the smell of my mate's fear. I could feel my lips curling back over my teeth and I could hear the low growl that escaped my throat despite my intentions to stay quiet.

Leah had suddenly reappeared and with her came the bloodsucker. Instead of following her to us, he leant against the door of the warehouse and flashed a grin in our general direction.

"I'm not stupid, dogs. I know the mortal's mate is here. I want him, only him. If he comes now and allows me to kill him, I'll leave her alone."

Lies. I hear Sam's growl in my head and I nod once in agreement. Not that I would refuse to give up my life for Abby but if I was going to die for it, she had better live.

"You killed my beloved, mutt. If you don't come forward, I will kill yours."

Okay, plan B. Quil, your built most like Paul. You're going to try to lead him away from the door so that Paul can get Abby. Then we'll ambush him.

I watched Quil stalk towards the bloodsucker slowly, carefully trying to catch his attention. The leech smiled suddenly and moved away from the door, moving quickly towards Quil. As soon as the space between him and the door was wide enough I shot out from my hiding place, knocking him sideways towards Quil as I passed. I could hear the rest of the pack move forward, surrounding him, growling and howling as I shifted. Ignoring my nakedness, I looked inside the warehouse.

Abby was lying on the bed, her back to the door. Her clothes were ripped in places and her arms, held uncomfortably by iron shackles on the wall, were streaked with blood and dirt.

"Oh Abby." I muttered.

"You're not real." She muttered to herself. "Go away."

"Baby, it's me. Come on, look at me." I kept my voice soft, trying to hide the rage that was gathering inside me. I didn't want to scare her anymore than she already was.

"No," She whimpered. "You're not real."

I placed my hand on the shackles and snapped them from the wall and she finally turned around. Her face was streaked with black lines and her eyes were red and swollen. She had one huge purple bruise along one cheek and there was dried blood at the corner of her mouth. Her hair was matted against her head and neck and I cursed softly.

"Paul?" She whispered. I nodded, falling to one knee and running a finger down her jaw.

"I'm here baby. We're going to get you out of here. It's all going to be okay. I promise."

She began crying again, curling herself against my chest and clutching at my skin. I lifted her easily, snapping the cuffs that held her hands and dropping them onto the ground. When I got outside, the pack was still circling the leech, keeping him imprisoned but waiting on me to attack.

"Baby, Seth's going to get you out of here, okay? You're going to ride on his back and whatever you do, don't look back."

"No, stay." She muttered, her grip tightening.

"I can't honey. I'm going to kill the bloodsucker who hurt you. I won't be long, I promise."

I turned and watched Seth break away from the circle, Quil and Jacob moving closer to fill the space left. I placed Abby on his back, my heart breaking as she sobbed, begging me to stay with her.

"I love you." I whispered against her hair. My nose stung with the icy sweet smell of vampire but I pushed the discomfort away as I strode towards the circle, phasing as I did so.

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The kill left me feeling cold and unsatisfied. There was no messing around; no time or energy to be wasted on playing with the bloodsucker first. I wanted to hurt him the way he hurt Abby. Every time her bloody wrist or her tear streaked face flashed in front of my eyes, I felt the rage build and I wanted to strike out and make him hurt. I wanted him to feel every blow, every single rip and tear as we pulled him apart. He wanted to die, I realised now as we walked home. He had lost his 'beloved' and he no longer wanted to live in a world without her. But instead of killing himself or having another bloodsucker do it, he wanted to hurt me first. I could still hear him telling me what he had done to her… how he had tormented her with thoughts of him killing me, or her. He knew he was outnumbered and had little chance of survival but as he explained to me, he didn't care.

"I've damaged your mate so much that she may never recover. I've hurt you as you've hurt me." He had laughed as he said it and I had lost control, tearing his head from his neck and throwing it away from me.

We had left Leah, Quil, Embry and Jacob with the pieces. They're were taking them somewhere remote and burning them. Jared, Sam and I were heading back to La Push, back to Abby and home. I parted from Jared and Sam at the crossroad. They were heading to Sam's to let Emily and Kim know what had happened and I was going home, to where Seth had taken Abby.

He was sitting on the porch when I approached and he stood to face me.

"She fell asleep when we got here; she's in your room." I nodded my thanks and he smiled bleakly. "Good luck, man."

I watched him jog away before shifting back to my human form and going inside. I slipped into a pair of cut offs and headed towards my bedroom. I stood in the doorway and watched Abby as she slept, tossing and turning and muttering unintelligible words under her breath. There were tears running down her face again as she slept and I felt my heart break further as she began whimpering softly, as if she were in pain. I eased my body down beside her and slid an arm around her small waist. She was freezing, despite the clothes she wore and as I pulled her against my chest, I rubbed my hands up and down her back to heat her up. She started awake suddenly and screamed.

"No, no…"

"Shh, it's only me." I murmured. I slid my fingers into her hair as she struggled to sit up and look at me.

"Paul?" Her voice was hoarse and huskier than usual. I ran my fingers over her face and down her neck, reassuring myself that she was alive and well in my bed.

"It's me." I assured her. "It's okay."

"Is he dead?"

"Yes."

She nodded against me, slowly, before pulling back. "Do you mind if I have a shower?"

I stood and took her hand, leading her into the bathroom down the hall and holding her against my chest as I reached around to turn the water on.

"I'll get you some clothes." I whispered as she began undressing. I rushed into my room and picked up an old, oversized shirt that would do until morning. When I returned to the bathroom, she was in the shower and the white shower curtain was pulled around it. All I could make out was her silhouette as she washed her hair. I could hear the sniffles that she was trying to hold back and I could smell her fear again. My senses as a human weren't as good as they were when I was a wolf but they were strong enough for me to know that she was still as terrified as she had been earlier tonight. I watched her shadow as she held her arm against the wall, supporting her weight. She was trying so much to be strong and I hated the fact that she needed to. I stood, ready to open the curtain and give her the support that she needed. As I reached for the curtain, she gave up the pretence and began sobbing loudly. I opened the curtain in time to see her slid to the floor of the shower and curl herself into a ball as she cried.

I had never felt as helpless as I did when I watched her finally break down.

She takes just like a woman, yes she does

She makes love just like a woman, yes she does

And she aches, just like a woman

But she breaks just like a little girl