Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and its characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Chapter Twenty-Three

Since my change, I'd had no reason to really fear anything. We were virtually indestructible, I was surrounded by a loving and vigilant family, and caution was in all things the Cullens did when interacting with the outside world.

I'd felt anxiety, I'd felt anger, I'd felt panic… but never before had I felt the stark terror that blistered through me at the moment.

Seeing Edward's eyes, feeling his grip locked on my hand as we rocketed through the forest, the sound of heavy thudding steps chasing us… all of these things awakened in me fear for the first time, and with it, an automatic sense of self-preservation.

I'd pulled Edward into my shield around from the moment we both began to run, but even so, I could feel my physical body tensing, preparing to turn and defend myself and my mate should it become necessary. I didn't need to know what was chasing us, if it posed us a real threat, or if I would even be able to successfully defend us. None of that mattered. All that mattered was that I would fight to my last breath to protect Edward.

After a short time, the steps behind us began to fall further and further back, until I wasn't able to hear them any longer. "What…" I started to gasp, but Edward shook his head and pulled me on at the same rate, not speaking.

Trees kept whipping by us, and in my heightened sense of awareness, time did as well. In what seemed like mere minutes, I recognized the thinning forest, and then we burst into the clearing around our home. Edward had me up the back steps and inside the house, nearly ripping the door off its hinges, before I could even think to slow down. He slammed the door behind us and stood watching out the window, his eyes scanning the treeline.

"Where are the others?" I managed.

"I can hear Alice, she and Jasper are close. But I can't hear Carlisle or Esme…"

Just then, two blurs broke free from the forest and Edward threw the door open again to admit Alice and Jasper. Edward rounded on Alice immediately. "Carlisle? Esme?"

"I… I don't know," she whispered, her eyes wide. "I caught a brief vision of the smoke, and of you running, so we knew… but I can't see either of them right now."

Edward groaned faintly. "God, Alice, please…"

She went rigid except for a faint tremor that my human eyes would never have seen, her gaze going completely blank. Jasper placed an arm around her shoulders even as he began scanning the treeline through the windows, just as Edward had done. It wasn't until Alice returned to us with a gasp that he looked down at her.

"I can see them now, they're running," she said faintly. "Esme is hurt, Carlisle is…"

"Do we need to go after them?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, they're circling around. They'll be here in just a moment."

Jasper snarled quietly. "Edward, can you hear them? Are they close?"

"Not at the moment," Edward replied immediately, "But they're on their way. That much was clear."

At that, the breath that had frozen in my lungs released in one great whoosh. "Edward, tell me now. What's going on?"

He turned to look at me, clenching his jaw a few times before finally answering. "It's the wolves, Bella. I don't know how they found us, but they're here."

"The wolves," I repeated, dumbfounded. "They were chasing us…"

"Yes," he said tersely. "And they… they killed Irina."

Alice let out a little cry, and I felt my own grief well up immediately. Sweet, quiet Irina, gone. "Why?"

"I don't know… it all happened so quickly. When they're in wolf form, they have a group mindset which is very strange for me to read. Instead of one voice, one mind, there are many all in one. I heard it just before we saw the smoke…"

I started to ask a question, but then let it die on my lips when I realized that the purplish-black smoke we'd seen had been from Irina's funeral pyre. The only way to kill a vampire is to tear it apart and burn the pieces, Edward had told me once. Evidently, this was something the wolves were aware of as well.

A loud crash came from the front of the house, and then Carlisle and Esme appeared, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, supporting most of her weight against his body. Esme's face was twisted in a grimace of pain that she quickly tried to hide as both Alice and I reached out for her. Carlisle didn't release his hold on her, but spoke immediately, looking at each of us in turn. "Is everyone else all right?"

"Yes, we're all fine. But they'll be here soon enough," Edward replied.

"Carlisle… let me go," Esme whispered, and her husband turned to face her, the full weight of his worry evident on his face.

"We've got her, Carlisle. It's okay," Alice said gently, and at Esme's nod, he reluctantly loosened his grip on her. Esme sagged into Alice's arms, and she and I helped her into a chair.

"What happened?" I asked as she sank down slowly.

"One of them caught us by surprise… got his teeth in my leg as we were turning to run. Carlisle managed to fight it off…" She grimaced in obvious pain. "It hurts, but it's healing. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Don't worry?" I whispered in disbelief, beginning to shake with anger. "Esme…"

She gave me a fond, tired smile. "We heal very quickly, Bella, don't trouble yourself. The process is painful but the results are complete. Just let me rest, go stand by Edward now. Alice, you too. We all need to be prepared for what's to come."

The pain in her features didn't reassure me, my fury building at the injury done to the woman who was essentially my mother. Esme saw it and shook her head. "Bella… go. He needs your strength."

Alice gripped my arm then, and steered me back to where Carlisle, Edward, and Jasper were grouped tensely around the back door. Carlisle was just ending a call on his cell phone when we joined them, and his eyes flickered to us. "I've warned Eleazar and others to get out of the woods as quickly as possible, to get to the nearest town or populated area of the park. The wolves won't dare follow them there."

"Did you tell them about…?" Alice started hesitantly, and Carlisle shook his head.

"If I had, nothing would have kept them from going back after them and in the wolves' pack form, in the woods, they have the advantage. Edward, could you tell how many there are?"

"At least eleven," Edward replied slowly. "It was difficult to get a grasp on numbers when they share a group mindset."

Eleven…

Carlisle took a long deep breath. "They're coming here, you said?"

"I'm almost certain, yes. If nothing else, they'll track our scents here now."

"All right," Carlisle replied quietly. "In that case, we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Should we run or drive?" Jasper asked, and Carlisle's eyes flicked over to his injured wife.

"Drive. If we can get to town, to a populated area, they won't be able to follow us in that form. We'll at least be able to…"

"Carlisle," Edward interrupted, his voice suddenly low, "They're already here. I can hear them again now. We won't make it down the drive in a car before they'd be on us."

There was the briefest beat of silence before Jasper spoke. "We need to fan out in here, watch every angle they could approach from. I doubt they'll try to get into the house, that would put them at a disadvantage, but we can't be too sure."

"Agreed," Carlisle said immediately. "Alice, can you see…"

She shook her head, desperate frustration written all over her pretty face. "I can't see anything right now, for any of us. It's like anything with their involvement punches holes in my vision."

Carlisle gave her a curt nod. "Fan out then, and give the alarm if you see any of them approaching the house. Keep your voices down, I don't think they can hear as well as we can, so we should be able to speak to each other. Don't provoke anything or leave the house. Let's wait and see what Edward can get from their minds before we act. Bella…"

He turned to me then, his jaw tense, his face showing nothing of the calm, compassionate man I'd grown to love like a father. This was truly Carlisle Cullen as a vampire, protecting his mate and his family, no matter the cost in life or blood to other creatures. "You are physically the strongest of all of us here now, but don't put too much faith in that. They know how to kill vampires, and two or more of them could easily kill any one of us."

I nodded, my throat dry. "What should I do?"

"Stay close to Edward, and do whatever he tells you to do. One thing you need to know… our venom is lethal to a werewolf. Do you understand me?"

Again, I nodded, and Carlisle turned away from me to his wife. "Esme…"

"I'll be fine," she said quietly. "It's almost healed now. Stop worrying about me, do what you need to do."

Alice and Jasper had already vanished to watch out the south and east facing windows, and Carlisle went to stand at one that faced west, positioning himself between the window and Esme. Edward tugged at my hand and we went back to the north-facing back door, watching the forest for any sign of movement.

"Edward," I said after a moment, keeping my voice low and fast as Carlisle had instructed us. "What are we going to do?"

"For now, wait. They don't know that I can hear their thoughts, so that's one advantage we have. It may be our greatest one."

"Should we call Emmett and Rosalie?" Jasper's voice came from the other side of the house, but we could all hear it clearly.

"No…" Carlisle said slowly. "Inside we have the advantage. If any of us were outside, they could be on us in a second. I don't want to bring Emmett and Rosalie into that situation. Edward, what were you able to hear?"

"They killed Irina," he said again, and continued over Esme's horrified gasp. "Although I think it was an accident in that she wasn't their primary target. They were closing in on us, and happened to cross her path. They caught our scent and began chasing us, but after Bella shielded us both they lost it. I think they followed yours, and Esme's."

"Do you know what their plan is?"

Edward's eyes stopped their scanning and fixated on one point in the trees. "They would have killed us if they'd caught us in the forest. They're following orders now, though, and waiting… they have an alpha that they obey without question. He's… I think we may have an answer sooner than we thought."

Just then I too saw movement amongst the trees, but the form that stepped out of the woods wasn't who or what I expected. A tall man, bound with muscle in brown skin, clad only in a pair of sweatpants.

"Sam!" I murmured in astonishment, the name coming automatically from the murky recesses of my human memories.

"Sam Uley," Edward confirmed. "He was there the night Carlisle and I met with the Quileutes."

Sam paused for a moment and looked over his shoulder, waiting until another upright form stepped out of the trees behind him. This time there was no doubt in my mind who had joined him; no matter what had transpired between the two of us, I would never forget the boy I'd thought of as my best friend, my brother. Jacob.

His face was as hard and blank as Sam's as the two of them strode across the clearing, stopping halfway between the woods and the house. It was a bold move, but I was sure the rest of the pack was still in wolf form and tensed to spring at any sign of aggression on our part.

There was a brief moment of silence as Sam regarded the house. "Cullens!" he finally shouted, his voice carrying clearly to our ears. "I've assumed this form to speak with your Carlisle, but know that any move to attack us will bring the rest of the pack out of the woods, and they will not hesitate to destroy you. We have things to discuss. Carlisle may bring one other with him. If you choose not to come out, we will set fire to the house and destroy you one by one as you flee."

Edward was already talking to Carlisle. "He's telling the truth, he does want to talk to you. But he also meant what he said about any sign of aggression being met equally on their part. And they are prepared to set the house on fire if we don't comply."

"What does he want to talk about?" Carlisle asked, already moving towards the door. Esme got up painfully from her chair and limped over to us, I put my arm around her waist and she leaned gratefully against me.

Edward hesitated. "I think you'll want to hear it from him. In any case, there's not enough time to explain."

Carlisle thought for a moment and then nodded. "Jasper will come out with me. Edward, I want you to stay here and monitor their thoughts. Speak to me if you need to, I'll be listening for you."

In a flash, Jasper and Alice were back in the room, and Carlisle's golden eyes slid over his family. "In the event that something goes wrong, run straight to Wasilla. The sooner we get to a populated area, the better." His gaze came back to rest on Esme, and for a moment, the torment and anger he was fighting back surfaced on his face.

"Don't worry," I said quickly. "I'll carry her if need be." Esme gave me a gentle squeeze.

Carlisle clenched his jaw, and then wrapped his hand around the doorknob. "We'll try our best to make this as non-confrontational as possible, but please… everyone, be careful." With that, he pulled the door open and strode out, Jasper close on his heels.

Edward shut the door behind them, and the four of us fell into a tense silence. Edward's brow was creased with concentration, listening to the Quileutes' thoughts as Carlisle and Jasper strode across the clearing. My gaze was locked on Jacob.

He looked even bigger than I remembered him, if that were possible, but there was more than that. My Jacob had a happiness that always lit his face, even when he wasn't smiling, a warmth and radiance that reminded me of the sun. It was as though he carried with him his own sense of internal joy, and it shone through in everything he did. I'd loved him so much. He had been my brother in every way, and in the fleeting moments when I'd thought of Forks and all that I'd left behind there, I genuinely grieved losing him.

This Jacob, however, was nothing like I remembered. His face was as blank and cold as slate, as though all the life had been drained out of it, leaving him void of the joy which had once radiated from him. I saw his fists clench as Carlisle and Jasper came closer, and a slight flicker of disgust crossed his face, but otherwise he appeared as emotionless as Sam.

Was this what the supernatural world had done to my best friend? Stolen away all that was happy and carefree and loving about him, leaving him a slave to a pack? The Jacob I had known would never have killed a stranger; would never have attacked Esme. At that thought I clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle a sob, and Esme hugged me tighter. "I know, I'm sorry Bella," she whispered quietly.

Carlisle came to a stop about ten feet away from Sam, Jasper hovering just over his right shoulder. Tension was trembling in all four men's bodies, and Carlisle finally broke the silence.

"Why have you attacked us?"

Sam regarded him icily. "We consider our treaty with the Cullens to be void."

"You have killed another of our kind, though."

"We never had a treaty with any leeches other than yours. Vampires are our enemies, and we deal with them accordingly."

"Surely you saw her eyes," Carlisle replied, and I could hear the effort it was taking for him to remain calm. "You had to know she posed no threat to any humans."

"It was irrelevant," came the harsh reply. "You are all a threat to humankind."

"You committed murder, without provocation!"

At Carlisle's words, Jacob barked out a short cold laugh, but Sam's hand snapped up sharply, commanding silence. "Murder is the reason we are here today, and the only reason we haven't already set fire to your home, to flush you out and tear you all to pieces."

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle's voice had flattened back out again.

"The only reason I am speaking to you now is to give you one chance to tell us the truth. I believe, as do my brothers, that we already know the answer, but the elders demanded that we try before we destroy your entire forsaken clan. We know that you were somehow involved in Bella Swan's disappearance."

I froze, and Edward's hand snapped down to take mine even as Esme's arm tightened around me.

"Are you accusing us of being involved in her death?"

"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," Sam sneered back, his veneer cracking just a little. "Your stink was all over and around her truck. And how convenient that her body was never found. Did you kill her and stage the accident? Or just take advantage of the situation after it had already occurred? If it were up to me, we would already be avenging her death, but the elders ordered us to find out if she's still alive, somewhere. Billy Black in particular still holds out hope that you haven't killed her yet, since it seemed to amuse you to keep her as a pet."

"We had nothing to do with Bella Swan's accident," Carlisle replied immediately. "Our treaty held for decades because we vowed never to harm a human. We would have been fools to have violated that."

Sam's lip curled up in disbelief. "Her friendship with you was known, she admitted it herself. And we have evidence that you had sucked her in more deeply than even she admitted. It's the only reason Billy Black insisted we try and find out if she was still alive. He clings to hope because she was like his daughter, and he would never forgive himself if he didn't try everything in his power to save her."

"What are you asking me?" Carlisle snapped. "We did not kill Bella Swan. What else can I tell you?"

Edward moaned softly next to me. "It's not going to matter, Carlisle," he said softly, knowing his father would hear him even over the distance that separated them. "Unless you produce a human Bella, they're going to attack us."

Sam was already speaking again. "Lies won't save you, bloodsucker. As I said, your stench was all over her truck. Who do you think found it before the police did? Who do you think picked up her mail, addressed to Bella Cullen, after her mother forgot to have it forwarded to her home in Florida? How long had you been planning all this? What did you do to her to convince her that you'd adopt her into your family? As I said, only Billy's hope that she's still alive has kept us from destroying you already."

"It seems to me that you've made up your mind already." Carlisle's words, although calm, stabbed fear directly into my heart. Esme, Edward, and Alice wore equally grim expressions, and we could all see Jasper's body tense and crouch slightly, ready to move at a moment's notice.

For his part, Sam shrugged slightly. "You're indirectly confirming what we already knew. Your kind was responsible for her death, and in the most insidious of ways. You lured her in, convinced her that you were friends, and then took advantage of her trust to murder her. It's not only a violation of the treaty, it's proof of what we've always known about your kind. We've been looking for you for a long time."

At his words, I found myself in motion before I even realized it. Moving at vampire speed, but with the utmost gentleness, I shifted Esme towards Alice even as I began to slip my hand out of Edward's. He turned down to look at me, and the tension in his face was replaced by surprise and then shock as he realized I intended to do. "Bella…no."

I looked up at him, hoping that my absolute love and trust in him was reflected in my eyes. In that moment more than any other, I wished he was still able to read my mind, to understand my decision, to accept that we were all doomed unless we grasped at the slimmest of chances, the most tenuous of hopes. In that moment I genuinely understood a vampire's instinct to protect his or her mate, and that there was nothing I wouldn't do to assure his safety and survival. The wolves could tear me limb from limb for all I cared, as long as I knew he was safe.

The same instinct was foremost within him as well, though, and so I turned to Alice before he could protest again. "This will give everyone a chance to get away. While they're distracted by me, the three of you need to get to the highway, and then to Wasilla. This is the only chance we have, and you know it, Alice. Unless you want to watch Jasper being torn apart and burned in front of you, do this. This is our only chance."

Her face crumpled in pain before the truth of my words and her own fear for her mate out in the clearing, surrounded by wolves. "I understand."

"What?" Edward hissed, furious. "You can't do this!"

I ignored him for the moment. "Alice… take Esme to the front of the house and be ready to go. You can get to the highway, I think."

"Bella!" Edward snarled, genuine fury on his face now. "You can't think I'm going to let you go out there…"

I reached up and gently pressed my fingers to his lips. "This isn't a sacrifice, this is what we have to do. They want me. If you have ever loved me, if you have ever trusted me…" I saw sickened recognition flash in his eyes as I repeated his words from earlier. "Do this. Go. I will find you. I promise."

Despair tore his golden eyes to pieces at my words. "No. I won't leave you."

"Please, if you love me, please?" I begged softly, anxiously aware of the seconds that were ticking away from us. The knowledge that he was safe would ease my mind considerably in what was to come.

Edward snapped his head to Alice, his expression more feral than I'd ever seen. "Can you make it to the highway?"

Alice's eyes faded away for only a moment before they refocused, more resolute than before. "I think so."

"Go then, as soon as you know they're distracted. We'll find you there."

Alice's gave me one last despairing glance, obviously struggling with herself, and Esme started to speak.

"No, go, both of you," I interrupted, desperate for at least one plan to be solidified. "We'll find you there. All of us."

Alice pulled a protesting Esme away, and my eyes swung to Edward, still mindful of the tense buzz of conversation outside. "You aren't going to go, are you?"

"Would you leave me?" was his immediate reply.

"No."

"There's your answer, then," he said simply. "What's your plan?"

"Just to provide a distraction." I exhaled slowly, turning to look out the windows again. The body language between the Quileutes and Carlisle and Jasper had grown even more hostile. "You and I are the fastest, and you said they lost our scent when I shielded you?"

"Yes."

"Carlisle is listening for you. Tell him we're providing a distraction, and for both of them to run the moment we have the wolves' attention."

Edward's eyes narrowed, but he repeated my words in a swift quiet hum. The stiffening of Carlisle's frame was the only indication he'd heard.

"Stay behind me," I whispered, putting my hand on the doorknob. "For the time being, don't give them any reason to fly off the handle. We've got to give Carlisle and Jasper an opportunity to get away."

"Bella…" Edward's voice was a harsh whisper and I turned back to meet the gaze of the man who was my life. I loved him so much, there wasn't anything I wouldn't do for him or to protect him, but I knew and understood that he would no more leave me than I would him. Only that understanding gave me strength in a moment when I finally realized that I might be leading us both to our deaths.

"I love you." Such simple words, but they were all I needed to say.

He reached out and wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, wrenching my face to his for once last kiss. "I love you," he whispered against my lips. "And I trust you."

"I know," were my last words to him, before I turned and pulled the door open.

From the moment we first stepped out the door, Edward firmly within my shield, complete silence fell over the yard. I felt all my senses shiver and stand on end, hyperaware of the danger that surrounded us. My eyes were on guard for any movement, and they focused immediately on the four in the clearing.

Sam's face registered complete surprise, but it was Jacob's that I watched as comprehension and then horror dawned slowly across his features. "Bella..." His lips formed the words, but no sound came from his throat.

As Edward and I approached, several deep snarls erupted from the woods and we both froze immediately. Sam's eyes flicked from me, to Carlisle, and then back to me again, obviously shocked over this new turn of events.

"Carlisle and Jasper should go back in the house, Sam," I called to them, still dozens of yards away. "I can speak for myself."

His expression tightened but he didn't appear to protest when Carlisle and Jasper began slowly backing away. Jacob, on the other hand, had started to shake slightly, his face contorting into an expression of rage.

When Carlisle and Jasper reached where Edward and I stood, I heard Edward's voice speak to them in a low hum. I began walking slowly forward, trying my best to convey no threat to the two men before me, hiding my wedding and engagement rings behind my clasped hands. Edward was behind me again almost immediately, and stayed close as we approached the Quileutes.

"Hello Sam, Jacob."

"Bella. I'm surprised to see you here… although, we never expected to see you in this form."

"You wanted to know if I was alive and well. I may no longer be alive by your definition, but I am well, and I am happy." An unearthly calm had settled over me, and the words came easily to my lips.

Jacob let out a strangled moan and Sam silenced him with another sharp gesture.

"The Cullens did this to you?"

"The Cullens saved me. The car accident was just that, an accident. They found me as I was dying, and changed me, at my request."

"At your request?" Incredulity was plain on his face.

"Yes." I wished that I had Edward's gift of reading minds, to know what might or might not be the best thing to say. Would it help or be disastrous if I told them about Edward and I? Would more or less detail hurt our case? I could only hope that Esme and Alice, and then Jasper and Carlisle had made it safely away.

"You asked them to turn you into a filthy bloodsucker?" Sam's voice was remarkably level, but there was an unmistakable undercurrent of revulsion in it.

"Yes. This was my choice. You may consider the treaty void as a result, but you are not on Quileute land right now. You are on our property, and you have killed one of our friends. You had no right…"

"The treaty is indeed void, and we consider all vampires, regardless of their location, to be our enemy," Sam interrupted. There was a moment of silence as we regarded each other. It was surprising, but I felt absolutely no bloodlust towards either of them at all, despite the fact that they were in human form. The smell I'd noticed first in the woods was strong and sickening in my nose, and I had to physically keep myself from recoiling from the stench of it.

"How did you find us?" I finally asked, knowing that the question was irrelevant at this point, but hoping it would buy the rest of my family just a little more time.

Sam looked almost amused. "Your bloodsuckers aren't as clever or careful as you like to think they are. We knew they were involved somehow, but it wasn't until the memorial service, when your former boss came to pay her respects and mentioned your plans about moving to Alaska that we had something else to go on. We'd have tracked them anywhere they went regardless, to avenge your death, but at least that gave us another clue."

I sifted quickly through dim human memories but couldn't remember what he was referring to. "There's nothing to be avenged, Sam. I'm where I want to be, and I'm happy here, with my family."

"We were your family," Jacob exploded suddenly. "We weren't good enough for you, Bella?"

"I can't have two families?" I deliberately softened my tone, not wanting to make the situation any tenser than it already was. Jacob started to reply, but Sam cut him off.

"You're not only dead to us now, Bella, you've aligned yourself with the enemy. You count yourself among them, and we will now consider you as such."

I could feel Edward tensing behind me, and knew that the standoff was coming to its inevitable breaking point. "Sam, Jacob… please, leave us in peace. We won't return to Forks, and you know we pose no threat to humans. I'm happy now. Even if you consider us enemies, we don't want this to end in bloodshed or death. Go back to La Push and tell the elders that."

Sam snorted in disbelief. "You really think that we would go back to La Push and tell Billy Black that the Cullens murdered you, turned you into an undead leech, and that we didn't do anything about it?"

I focused my eyes squarely on him. "You know we are capable of killing you too, Sam. We don't want that, we'll act only in self-defense."

"That's unfortunate for you, because we won't even wait for that. Now that we know where you are, we won't stop until each and every Cullen is a pile of ash."

I smiled sadly just as I felt Edward's hand lock around my wrist. "Goodbye, then."

The next few milliseconds were an explosion of movements, all simultaneous and from all directions. At my words, there was a shivering blur of violence before us, both Sam and Jacob seeming to explode from the inside out, their human bodies disappearing as fur and claws and angry white teeth emerged. From the woods on either side of us, at an unspoken command, several more enormous wolves burst out from the treeline, all heading directly towards us. And then I was flying as Edward yanked me backwards, pulling me out of the way just as Sam swiped at me with a paw that was larger than my head and tipped with huge claws. Edward dragged me up next to his body and then we were both running, dashing around the house and down the driveway.

The footsteps we'd heard chasing us before were nothing compared to the cacophony that seemed to shake the ground behind us now. Edward threaded his fingers through mine as we burst from the drive and onto the highway, then began flying even faster than before along the asphalt.

"What about…?" I gasped.

"We can't go into the woods, they're in the trees on both sides of us now."

"But if a car…"

"I don't know."

I remembered Edward telling me that there was twenty-eight miles of road between our home and Wasilla. Twenty-eight miles was a guarantee that we would pass cars between now and then, but with the wolves on either side, we couldn't duck into the woods for cover.

"Are we faster?" I asked Edward quickly, our strides never faltering.

"Yes, but we can't slow down, they're right behind us. And we can run faster on the road than through the trees."

"Can they see us?"

"No, but they know they have us boxed in."

"Can they smell us?"

Edward didn't answer for a brief second. "I don't think so, no. One of Sam's thoughts was confusion that he could see and hear us when we came out of the house, but that we didn't stink like Carlisle and Jasper."

I breathed a brief prayer of thankfulness, a slight ray of hope starting to grow inside of me. "Will you be able to tell if we get far enough away from them to be safe?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Okay."

"Bella, what…"

He didn't have time to finish his question, for at the same moment we both saw headlights, diffused and splintered through the trees in the early Alaskan twilight, crawling around a bend ahead. As fast as Edward and I were running, we'd be on them in a second.

I didn't allow myself to think, only act. I wrenched my hand free from Edward's grasp, wrapped my arm around his waist, and hoped that I still had enough newborn strength inside of me to save us both. One more stride to make sure I had a firm grasp on my husband and then I pushed every ounce of strength from my body into my legs, vaulting us upwards and off to the side, landing approximately thirty feet up into the lowest branches of a Sitka spruce.

We both automatically gained hand and footholds where we could, and then froze. I double and then triple-checked that he was safely inside my shield as the car flew by on the highway, so frighteningly close below. We could both hear the heavy footfalls of the wolves intent on their chase now, and I realized with even greater clarity than before that these could be the last moments of our lives.

My impromptu leap into the tree had resulted in us landing with Edward's back against the trunk and our chests pressed together, hands and feet grasping and easily supporting us on the thin sticky branches. Our faces were only a breath apart, and as a wolf ran by underneath us, Edward carefully leaned forward and pressed his mouth to mine.

Not for a kiss, though. His lips molded to mine and then moved silently: I love you, my Bella.

I love you, too.

The heavy footfalls were all around now, but they were slowing… and those that had gone past were stopping and turning around.

My wife, my mate, my love.

I couldn't even respond now as the padding of paws circled around us, thick snuffling noises and the sickening smell of wet dog heavy in the air. Careful not to move or make a sound, I kissed Edward with all the love in my body, vowing that if these were my last moments on earth, they would be spent with our bodies pressed together, his lips on mine. He kissed me back with equal intensity and then we pulled our lips barely apart, leaned our foreheads together, shut our eyes, and waited.

It seemed as though hours passed, although I knew realistically it was only a few minutes at the most. I didn't dare look down at the wolves below us, afraid that any small movement might draw their attention, but Edward opened his eyes at the same time I did, and there was a faint glimmer of hope in them. Wait, he mouthed.

Finally the heavy padding of paws began again, this time turning back to the direction we'd just come from. Neither of us moved for another few minutes, before Edward's entire body relaxed infinitesimally. "They knew they'd lost us," he finally whispered, "But they didn't know how. We just vanished to them, and they finally decided we must have somehow jumped onto or into the car that passed us.

I let out the breath I'd been holding for minutes. "Did they all go?"

"Yes, I'm almost certain of it."

I slowly pulled back from where I had him pinned against the tree. "Is it safe for us to run through the woods?"

"I think so, yes. Even if they turn around and come back, we'll have a big enough head start that we should make it to town before they can catch up with us."

At his words I looked down and then carefully dropped from my branch to the ground below, landing with the softest of thumps. A split second later, Edward joined me, and we began running through the woods, towards town.

"What about the others?" I ventured after a moment.

He shook his head. "I don't know. There wasn't anything in their group mind about having caught any of them, but we don't know if Carlisle and Jasper got out of the house in time. It was sheer luck that the wolves who were in the front of the house circled around to the back when you surprised Sam and Jacob."

I went cold at the idea of Carlisle and Jasper trapped in the house with the wolves circling around… and the wolves' threat about burning it down around us…

We didn't speak again until the faint but concentrated smell of human beings prompted a slight burn in my throat, but the bloodlust was inconsequential to me at that moment, and I pushed it aside easily. We slowed to a quick walk just before emerging from the trees.

I looked around quickly, searching for any sign or scent of our family, when Edward suddenly tugged on my hand. "This way."

Mindful that we were once again visibly underdressed for the weather, and that traffic was heavier as people began the trek home from work, we moved as quickly as we could without attracting undue attention. It appeared there was only one chain motel in town, and it was towards it and around the back that Edward led us.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised at the sight of Alice waiting for us at one of the side entrances to the hotel, the type that could normally only be accessed with a key pass. Her face was considerably calmer than the last time I'd seen her.

"Everyone is here, we all made it okay," she said immediately, answering our unspoken question. "Esme is in worse shape than she or Carlisle let on, that dog practically ripped her leg off, but she's healing okay now."

We slipped in the door behind her and she moved to the elevator. "We were all much more worried about you two, obviously. What happened?"

I shrugged, suddenly feeling strangely tired as the elevator doors slid open with a protesting squeal. "I tried to reason with them. They weren't interested."

"You outran them?"

"Not exactly," I said simply, and slumped against Edward. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned into it gratefully.

"Thanks to Bella's shielding ability and a bit of dumb luck with a car, we were able to hide until it was safe for us to run through the woods to get here."

Alice turned her solemn golden eyes on me. "You saved our lives, Bella, all of us."

I turned my head and pushed my face into Edward's neck instead of replying. Something akin to a delayed reaction seemed to be crawling through me, the last vestiges of what must pass for adrenaline making me shake slightly. Edward pressed a firm kiss to the top of my head as the elevator stopped and we stepped out onto the third floor.

Alice led the way down to what was probably one of the few suites in the hotel and slid the key card into the mechanical reader. She smiled wryly at us. "Luckily I had the presence of mind to grab my wallet before Esme and I took off." She held the door open as Edward and I slipped into the room, and I took in the scene in one glance.

It was bizarrely incongruous: the sight of a clean but slightly cheap-looking hotel room, Jasper standing guard by the one large window in the far wall, and Esme laying propped up in one of the two beds. She was wrapped firmly in Carlisle's arms and all three of them looked considerably relieved when they saw us.

"We're all right," Edward quickly reassured them. "We just had a close call in getting here."

Esme struggled slightly to sit up, worry still plain on her features, but Carlise held her fast in a rare show of vulnerability and concern. "Please be still… you'll heal faster if you just lie still."

Edward sank into a worn chair across from the bed, pulling me onto his lap, and Alice perched on the windowsill next to Jasper. No one spoke at first, all of us silently grateful that we'd made it this far.

"So what more do we know?" Carlisle finally asked, his eyes moving from Esme's face to Edward and I.

"From what they told us and what I read in Sam and Jacob's minds, along with the pack's thoughts, they've been looking for us for a while. They didn't believe for a moment that we weren't involved in the accident somehow, and they started looking for us almost immediately. Evidently, the memorial service at La Push was just for show. Bella's former boss attended and mentioned to one of them that Bella had been planning to move to Alaska."

Carlisle frowned. "What?"

"I don't remember that," I whispered, and Edward shook his head.

"It's all my fault. I should have remembered something like that, but I didn't… the first day we went back to your apartment, Bella, Lori came to visit. You told her that you wouldn't be able to work for her anymore and when she asked why, you said you were leaving town, and going to school in Juneau."

Lori… I had a very vague memory of my former boss, but I didn't remember the conversation in question. I was sure Edward remembered it word for word, though. "I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault," Carlisle said calmly. "Go on, Edward."

"They inquired at the hospital and were told we were moving to Ithaca, and that a 'family emergency' had called you away sooner than expected. A few of them went to Ithaca first, as it seemed more likely, and spent much of December searching for us in New York. When they didn't turn up anything there, they decided to take a chance and search for us here too. They've been here for almost two weeks… when they didn't find anything in Juneau they spread out. Luckily they started their search much further north than they needed to. I don't think they expected to find us so close to civilization."

"Luckily for us… not so luckily for Irina," Esme said softly.

"Yes," Edward acknowledged, and then continued. "They thought we'd either killed Bella, or were hiding her away somewhere. Their plans were to avenge her death… they genuinely never expected to see that she was a vampire now. As it is though, they consider the treaty completely void, and the Bella they knew is dead to them. Our Bella is now counted among the enemy."

"Are they set on retribution, or do you think they'll go back to La Push?" Jasper asked tersely from the window. Edward shook his head.

"They made it very clear that they will not give up until they've destroyed all of us. The boundary line is irrelevant to them now."

Carlisle's face was impassive. "There is no reasoning with them?"

"No, Bella tried, and they would have listened to her before any of us. They phased and Sam…" I felt my husband shudder and I curled closer into him at the memory of a giant paw swiping at me, teeth snapping bare inches from my body as Edward yanked me backwards. "He… he tried to attack her just before we had a chance to run."

He took a moment to compose himself before speaking again. "Words weren't needed to convey their determination, Carlisle. We can only run and hide amongst humans for so long. And we can't do it forever."

Carlisle didn't reply immediately, instead laying his cheek against the top of Esme's head, obviously deep in thought. We all knew that it went against every fiber of Carlisle's being to consider wholesale slaughter, even for self-preservation, but we also knew that he was as fiercely protective of his mate and his family as any of us. "You don't think there's any other way?" he asked finally.

Edward shook his head.

"We'll have to take them out one by one, when they come into town," Jasper said quickly. "We can't chance going into the forest after them. We should have Rosalie and Emmett come back as soon as possible, to even up the numbers."

"No," Esme whispered almost inaudibly, and Carlisle agreed.

"I don't like the idea of calling them, only to bring them directly into danger. We should probably warn them against coming back, ask them to meet us somewhere…"

"What about the Denalis?" Edward asked quickly.

"Yes, they're in more danger right now than Rosalie and Emmett. We could enlist their help if need be."

Carlisle, Jasper, and Edward fell to discussing strategy, but it made me feel slightly ill to listen to them plan how they could best pick off the wolves, one by one. I understood all too well how Carlisle was feeling: my protective instincts were at their height, but still part of me cringed from planning the murder of a group that I'd once considered my adopted family. I was sure that I could and would kill in an instant if anyone posed a danger to Edward or myself, or to my family, but I loathed the idea of ambush.

I wriggled free from Edward's hands, getting up from his lap and crossing the room to crawl onto the bed next to Esme. She immediately reached out her hand to me.

"You're thinking about Jacob, aren't you?" she whispered.

"Yes. I can't help it."

"It's understandable." She winced a little and squeezed my hand. "If only it hadn't come to this."

"I wish I could just make him understand…" I said softly. The Jacob that I remembered would be furious, but he would never hurt or kill anyone, least of all me.

"Do you think he would listen to you?"

"Maybe, if Sam…" I froze, and then took a deep breath when I realized they had ceased all conversation and were concentrating on my words. "Jacob might listen to me. If Sam wasn't there, maybe he would listen?"

Edward was already shaking his head. "How would we get the two of you alone long enough for him to listen, love? And he's under orders from Sam, the entire pack is. Sam is the alpha, so to speak."

I shook my head, feeling surer with every passing second. "He would listen to me, I know he would."

"No." Edward's voice was determined, and I lifted my eyes to stare straight at him.

"Tell me the truth. What was he thinking, after he saw me?"

Edward scowled. "He was… horrified, angry, regretful. It caused him almost physical pain to see you."

"But did he want to hurt me?"

He hesitated for a moment, but then looked directly into my eyes, showing me the raw honesty there. "No, he didn't want to hurt you. He wanted to kill me, but he would have stopped Sam from touching you, if he could."

I swallowed hard. "I have to talk to him, then. If we can just find a way to tell him…"

"No, Bella," Edward said again. "They came here, the entire pack, to kill us all. Jacob is the only one who doesn't want to hurt you, but his will is subject to Sam's orders. You can't count on your previous friendship to keep you safe."

I stiffened slightly. "Aside from killing them all, what else can we do?"

"For the time being, we may have to relocate to Italy, close to Volterra," Carlisle murmured. "Our safety would be virtually assured there. And until we can organize the most… practical travel arrangements, we'll just have to stay in town. They won't dare expose themselves by attacking us here any more than we would."

"We'll need to hunt…" Alice said tentatively, and again all eyes turned to me. I knew that the rest of them could go up to two weeks or so without hunting, but I had been going at least every other day. I was the one they needed to be concerned about. I set my jaw determinedly.

"You don't have to worry about me." Even as I said the words, my eyes went to Edward's and he gave me a faint half-smile. I knew that he would make sure it was true, even if I ended up having to visit the local petting zoo… God forbid.

After every conceivable strategy and avenue had been discussed, I found myself back on Edward's lap, curled up in the shabby armchair. Carlisle and Esme were quiet, locked together in an easy silence that truly came from having known and loved each other for so long, while Alice maintained her position next to her ever-vigilant husband. I shut my eyes and leaned into Edward, breathing him in, trying my best not to panic.

As they occasionally did, a random memory from my human life flitted back into my mind unbidden.

I was thirteen years old, and on one of my enforced vacations to visit Charlie back in Forks. I hated going there, hated all the rain and the green and the boredom, and unfortunately, Charlie took most of the brunt of my early-teenage angst.

Although he always took as much time as possible off work when I visited, there had been one day when he'd had to go in and deal with an armed home invasion… a rare event in sleepy little Forks. I'd been so self-centered and selfish that my only thoughts were for the trip to Port Angeles that we were supposed to take that day. It had been canceled because of the once-a-year type of crime that required the police chief's personal supervision.

Charlie finally came home, hanging up his gun belt and toeing off his boots as he always did. I was sulking at the kitchen table.

"Did you catch them?" I demanded, more interested in gory details than anything else. "The neighbors said the robbers killed someone."

Charlie sighed. "Don't listen to everything the neighbors tell you, Bells."

My pout deepened. I'd been dead-bored all day and wasn't in the mood for any of his put-offs. "You know, when I tell people back home that my dad is the Chief of Police, they always want to know if you've shot and killed anyone. So have you?"

He groaned slightly and cracked his neck. "There's nothing glamorous about it, get that into your head right now."

"Have you?"

"No."

"Would you?" I was pushing it, I knew. Charlie preferred to leave all shop-talk at the station; he never liked to bring it home. A surprising flash of anger animated his face for a moment; Charlie rarely showed any kind of emotion.

"Of course I would… but only if I had to. There's nothing noble or exciting about shooting or killing someone, Bella. I don't want to kill anyone, and I wouldn't be happy if I did."

"What would make you do it? I would do it if I had to." I was too young and naïve to recognize that I was on dangerous ground.

Charlie gave me a black look. "To protect you, or anyone else I loved, or anyone who needed my protection, I would do it. But you will never know what it's like until you're in that situation. Would you be able to kill someone, to take a life? It's easier to say than to do, Bella. Understand that. You won't know exactly how you'll react unless the choice is staring you in the face, do you hear me? You don't know how hard it is to make that decision until the time for the decision has come."

xoxoxoxoxo

A/N: Well, we all knew it was coming, and now the wolves are here. Whose plan do you favor: Jasper's round-em-up-and-kill-em-all strategy, Carlisle's thoughts about moving to Volterra, or Bella's hope for a less violent outcome?

If you were surprised to read that the wolves knew about burning vampires, go back and re-read Eclipse Chapter 11. It's in there, I promise. And mega kudos to those of you who correctly deduced that Bella's conversation with Lori back in Chapter Five would come back to haunt her!

Thanks to the super-beta, Stratan, for doing some brainstorming on this bad boy. Thank you SO very much to everyone for every single review, alert, and recommendation, as well as the encouragement you all provide! Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter as lazykatevamp, and you can come let me know your thoughts or ask questions in the Twilighted IDBiV thread...you can find a clickable link on my profile!