Chapter 10! Hope you all enjoy! Thanks for reading this far :D

Jasper

I watched as Alice ran off into the woods. My chest hurt at her departure, but I had felt a spark when I'd kissed her. I still love her. I knew I still did. It's the same love that I've always had for her. And yet, somehow it's different. It's like I'm pulled in two different directions at once. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. How is this possible?

I wander back to the house, punching a few trees down in frustration before entering. Upon shutting the door, I smell Valerie. She's been here a while and I hear her soft voice echoing from the front of the house. Her and Carlisle are talking as I peek into the room.

"What are you two talking about?" I ask, stepping farther into the room, taking in her amazing scent.

"Jasper!" Valerie turns and her eyes startle me. They are fiercely glaring at me and she strides over and tries to hit me in the chest. Not just a slap though, she has a tightly balled up fist that almost reaches me, before I catch it in surprise.

"What?" I ask in confusion, still gripping her wrist tightly. She struggles and replies, "You need to stay away from me!" Before I can respond she rips her wrist from my grasp, wincing slightly, and stalks out the front door, offering an apologetic look to Carlisle.

"Jasper," Carlisle says with sympathetic eyes.

"Alice said the same thing," I say with a sigh. Carlisle pats me on the shoulder and walks out of the room saying, "There'll be bigger things to worry about soon, don't you worry."

Valerie

The nerve of Jasper. Having just split with Alice and then beginning to flirt with me? And he'd been good at it! I'd even thought he might've truly liked me. Not good. Delivering the awful news to Carlisle had been even worse. He'd said he had to think about it, but how much time did he have? I contemplate all this as I nervously drive back home, tapping anxiously at the steering wheel. I roll past the house, glancing at the sky, and decide to calm down before seeing Trev. It's not raining too heavily anyway.

I drive into a parking lot by the side of the forest, intended for active tourists, and park by a dirt path that's seen better days. Getting out, I ignore the umbrella stowed in the glove compartment and wander between the trees, feeling the refreshing rain wake me up. Pausing, I sit under a large, old oak tree. The moss squishes beneath me and I sigh at the drizzling rain. Good, I deserve to be soaked and uncomfortable. I'm not only a bearer of bad news, but a home-wrecker too. Awesome.

A rustling to my right disturbs my pity-party. I tense and fear creeps along my spine. A sniffing sound and more rustling get closer. I scoot back right up against the tree, hoping I can pull a chameleon or something like that and turn invisible. Or at least less visible. I look dismayed at the oncoming rustling. Suddenly, the rustling stops. I let out a little breath. A growl and a giant, brownish-tan wolf leaps from a cluster of ferns. I let out a small scream before clamping my hands over my mouth, remembering what it really is.

"Okay, which one are you?" I squeak, still fighting to bring my heart rate down. The wolf rolls its eyes and snorts. "Leah," I say with a small grin. The wolf gives a sniff, as if the answer was obvious and looks at me inquisitively. "Oh, yeah," I gesture to myself. "I must look crazy huh?" Leah gives a little shoulder roll in response, sniffing at my right hand. "What? Oh," I finally notice some dark bruising and an increasing soreness emanating from the joint. Must've been when Jasper had blocked my hit, I think with a mental shrug.

Leah woofs quietly and pokes at the bruising. "Hey ow!" I protest, pulling my wrist to my chest and protecting it with my hand. Leah rolls her eyes again and nods her head back to the right. I stare at her, not understanding. She gives a huff and sticks her head under my shoulder and shoves me from the tree. "Hey! Watch it! Bad girl, sit! No!" I grimace as I rise from the wet dirt and leaves. Leah snorts and pushes me with her head again toward the right. "Lie down! Stay! Leave it!" I try out all the commands I know and then give up. Leah cough-laughs and rolls her eyes indignantly each time I attempt to command her.

We walk, with her bullying me on, to the right and continue that way until we reach the beach. The rain had since increased and I curse the weather channel for having lied. Once on the sand, Leah kneels down, still reaching my upper thigh and nods at her back. I raise an eyebrow and she bares her teeth. Fine. Fine. I clamber on her back and hold on tightly with my good hand. She stands up and runs. While it's not as seamless or gentle as Jasper's running, she's fast. I feel the wind whipping my hair and I can feel tears being ripped from my watering eyes.

Eventually, I see houses in the distance. Two other wolves come to join us as we race along, but I don't see Paul. Slowly, Leah begins to trot, jolting me up and down. Before we hit the pavement I tug at her fur. She stops and snarls. I half jump, half fall off of her and straighten up. She growls at me and glares. "I'll walk from here thanks," I pat her back and start walking. I can feel her eye roll from behind me.

The other wolves follow, snuffling at Leah, who growls and snaps at them, which only sends them off in a flurry of amused yipping. We step onto a street and Leah steers us to a house. It's a beautiful little house and I am head-nodded to the door. I glance back as the wolves and Leah trot away to the side of the house. Shrugging, I wince as I accidentally knock with my right hand. Whoops.

The door is opened by a beautiful woman, Emily from the bonfire. I try again to swallow my shock at her horrific scars. She smiles kindly and welcomes me in.

"Valerie right?" She asks, leading me to another room.

"Yes, it's nice to see you again," I reply politely, trying to hide my shivering. She looks at me with sympathetic eyes. She leads me into a bedroom and begins pulling out clothes. It seems like people do this a lot for me, I muse silently, thinking back to when Esme did the same thing. She's about my size so I breathe a sigh of relief as I slip on the t-shirt and jeans. She bundles up my clothes and tosses them in a dryer in the next room.

"So Valerie, let me get a look at that wrist," she asks once we're settled in the kitchen with mugs of steaming tea.

"Oh, you noticed huh?" I grimace, holding it up.

"Well, when someone tries to covertly dress with just one hand it takes a lot not to notice," she chuckles, standing up and retrieving a first aid kit.

"I guess I wasn't as sneaky as I thought," I admit with a laugh. The shivering had quieted down but I was still relieved when she wrapped a fleece blanket around my shoulders, leaving my right arm bare.

Just as she was about to examine it, Paul bursts through the back door.

"Where is she?" He demands, still halfway outside and dripping wet.

"Right here, calm down Paul," Emily says calmly, backing back.

"You're hurt." Paul strides over and looks down at my bruised wrist.

"Not badly, it's only bruised, not fractured or brok-" I begin to explain when he interjects, "It was him, wasn't it?" I don't dare to look up at him.

"Valerie," he says, voice strained. "Was it him?" I slowly meet his eyes, begging him not to lose it.

"Yes," I finally say, almost unintelligible. I watch as a ripple spreads throughout his body, hands clenched and face contorted in rage. I stand up, but Emily pulls me back toward the wall.

"You have to go, run if you can," she says, voice shaking.

"No I-" Leah, Jacob, and Sam barge in, assess the situation, and immediately get between Paul and Emily and I. Sam and Jacob push at Paul, edging him toward the door.

"Come on man, outside. You have to get out," Sam says through gritted teeth, looking at Emily. Paul is now visibly shaking and I watch the tremors grow worse and worse. Leah backs us further up against the wall and shouts, "Get him out now Sam!" Paul grabs his head, fighting for control, and I catch my breath in worry. "Emily get farther away!" Sam yells over Paul's growls. He looks at her with knowing worry and I feel Emily start to pull me toward the other rooms.

"Control it," Jacob warns Paul, easing him closer to the door.

"I- I'm trying," he replies, teeth grinding and hands gripping a wooden chair. It starts splintering in his hands. He's locked in place, but exerting all his effort at controlling his change. They're not getting him out fast enough, I think, nervously glancing at Emily and Leah as we back away. Sam and Jacob tug on him harder and Leah pushes Emily and I back faster. Unfortunately, because the day decided it could get worse, I trip over my own feet and feel myself fall. Without warning, I land hard on the wooden floors, with the breath knocked out of me.

Leah and Emily quickly kneel down, peppering me with questions of concern. I'm about to respond, despite the stars swimming in my vision, when Paul's face comes into view. He's still breathing heavily and has to blink a couple times before focusing on me, but his tremors and shaking have stopped.

"Valerie! Are you okay?" His face has transformed from one of pain to one of worry.

"Paul," Sam growls warningly, crouched and ready to jump between Paul and Emily. Jacob is behind him, shocked at Paul's swift transition.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Paul waves him off and lifts me easily from the ground. "Are you okay?" He repeats to me, setting me on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Yes," I say, just as shocked as everyone else, "You… You controlled it?" I stare wonderingly at him. He shrugs, nodding at Jacob and Sam. They relax slightly and lean against the granite counter.

"That's pretty damn impressive," Jacob finally concedes, hopping up onto the counter, bending forward a little to avoid the cabinets.

"Yes, very interesting," Sam says, more to himself than anyone. Emily offers him a relieved smile and he softens, coming to stand beside her.

"I just kind of snapped out of it," Paul admits, crouching and taking my wrist in his hand.

"I'll take care of that," Emily interrupts Paul's examination despite his protests and shoos him away. She pulls out a stiff fabric and a softer one and begins gently wrapping my wrist. I keep my face blank, trying not to give away how much it hurts. I can just imagine how much Leah will laugh at me for tearing up at a bruised wrist. Not even broken, I sniff to myself.

Once done, I thank Emily and decline her generous offer to stay for dinner. I'm sure I've already caused her enough trouble for the evening, and with much thanking and promising to spend more time on the reservation, I exit with Paul, who insisted on taking me home. I gingerly test my wrist, now completely immobile thanks to Emily's impressive wrapping. It still hurts, but now it's more of an ache. Emily had guessed that it had been deeper bruising than we originally thought and I grimaced at the memory of Paul's stormy face at the mention of worse injury.

We walk along the street, silence weighing heavily on me. Finally Paul says, "I'm glad you're okay. And I'm sorry I lost control back there." I stop, grabbing his hand.

"But you didn't," I say, voice soft. "You didn't lose control at all," I go on, keeping his hand firmly in mine. He shakes his head.

"But I almost did, and that's what counts. I put you in danger," his hand clenches and distress flashes through his eyes.

"No, no… not at all," I squeeze his hand, "What counts is that nobody was hurt. What counts is that you controlled it and you didn't put anyone in danger."

"If you say so," he replies gloomily. He sighs and clears his throat.

"So, I need to get you home," he gives me a small smile and I return it, glad he's not upset still.

"Oh! My car, it was at the edge of-" I begin to say.

"Okay, stay right here, and I'll be back in a second," his smile transforms into a grin and he jogs back behind a grouping of houses. I wait, holding my arm, and think about how crazy this day has been. My thoughts are cut off by a large, silver-gray wolf bounding up to me. I stare in awe.

"Really Paul?" I laugh as he kneels down and allows me to climb onto his back. He makes a rumbling sound and barks softly before loping off. I cling on for dear life and hope I don't fall. His fur is silky and tough at the same time, and I attempt holding on with my one hand and stroking the smooth fur at the same time.

We continue to race along, reaching the woods and darting in between trees and clumps of ferns. I crouch low to his back as we leap and swerve around forest debris. Finally, we hit the end of the forest and I see glimpses of my truck. At the pavement, Paul waits as I slide off and then motions, in a weird canine way, for me to wait. I wait quietly as he disappears back into the woods, and reemerges minutes later wearing dark shorts and no shoes or shirt.

"Thank you," I smile at him.

"Oh, I believe I said I'd take you home. And since you're not home yet," he grins.

"Wow, I just can't get rid of you huh?" I tease, unlocking the car.

"I'm charming like that," he slides into the passenger seat, but then pauses. "You shouldn't drive with your wrist," he points at it for emphasis.

"I'll be fine," I lie, hoping to sound convincing.

"Nope, switch," he replies.

"Mmmh, no I'm good," I smile sweetly, sticking the key in the ignition.

"Didn't want to have to do this," he says with mock regret. He sticks his left leg into the driver's side foot area and pulls the key out, blocking my objections by scooting closer to the driver's seat and lifting me up.

Although I squirm and flail, it is useless. He effortlessly lifts me up over the center of the front seat, careful of my wrist, and sits me halfway on the passenger seat and halfway on his lap. I work up a glare to throw at him, but quickly realize just how close we actually are. His arm is around my waist and his other hand steadied my legs. I breathe in startled and blush involuntarily. I am increasingly aware of every point he's touching and it burns intensely through every fiber of my being. His deep, dark eyes gaze into mine, holding me breathless.

"Valerie, I-" He brings his hand to my cheek, brushing back my hair and cupping the side of my face. I don't dare to move. "I-" He hesitates and the spell is broken. I shake my head before he can continue and move closer.

"I know," I whisper and he brings our lips together.

The kiss is warm and gentle. I am so acutely aware of his movements that I barely even notice I've shifted into a compromising, straddling position on his lap. Arms around his neck, I sink deeper into the kiss and he wraps his arms tighter around my waist, pulling me closer. He pulls back, breathing heavily and runs his lips along my neck, kissing delicately. I tilt my head back, knowing that I should keep a clear head. I should stop this before it gets out of control. I should do a lot of things. But I won't.