Chapter 35:

Jacob POV:

Sam and I both tried the wolf call. If Leah was anywhere close, she would have to come to obey the Alpha command. She didn't.

"Maybe we should call Charlie. He could put out an APB out on them. Maybe we could report Leah as a runaway?" I suggested.

I just shook my head and said quietly, "I don't know, Bella. Maybe."

"I've been thinking . . . I mean, Leah is a werewolf. She can defend herself if she needs to, you know," she said.

Just then, my phone rang. "This is Jake. No. Yeah? Did you find them? OK, keep on it. Thanks, bro." I hung up. "That was Embry. He knows Evan's car. He is in Forks, trying to spot it. He'll keep us updated."

Seth just sat there at the table, with his head down. Emily walked in with Lily. She had just given her a bath, and had her ready for bed. "Someone wants to say goodnight," she said to Seth. He looked up and Lily smiled and held out her arms for Seth. He smiled at her and took her onto his lap. Emily looked at us and smiled. She always knows exactly what someone needs.

Quil was babysitting Claire, so he had to bring her with him. She walked over to stand beside Seth and talk to Lily. She would stay here with Emily if we had to go.

Bella's phone rang. She answered it as she walked out onto the porch. "Hello?"

I watched her walk out the door. I was standing behind Seth with my hands on his shoulders. I know he felt horrible, like it was his fault that Leah was missing. Sam had already yelled at him. Lily was working her magic on him. She had that way of making all of us melt. I smiled at her and ran my hand over her soft brown hair.

I squeeze Seth's shoulder and decided to go out and see who Bella was talking to.

She was standing there, very quiet. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. She leaned back into me. "Bella, did you hear something new?"

She nodded but didn't say anything right away. That's not a good sign.

"Alice saw something new, Jake," she said. She turned around to face me then said, "She saw Aro standing in a room. There were pictures, lots of pictures of you and me, some from our wedding, and Embry, Quil, Seth . . . and lots of Leah."

"Leah told me that Evan was a photographer here working on a book. I guess that was his cover," I told her.

"Yes," she said quietly. She closed her eyes and said, "He knows, Jake." She hesitated then opened her eyes and said, "Alice said he has been studying the pictures of Leah more than any other. He is excited when he looks at them. Somehow he knows she's a werewolf."+

I could feel the anger rising. "DAMNIT! I should have protected her!" I yelled. I stalked off the porch and went to stand in the yard a few feet away. This is so damn frustrating! I ran my hands through my hair.

Sam came running out onto the porch. "What's wrong? What happened?"

I turned and shouted, "I fucked up, that's what!"

Bella told him what Alice told her on the phone. He sunk down and sat on the porch steps. "We both fucked up." He put his head in his hands and said, "We have to find her."

I walked over to him and said, "I am so sorry, Sam."

Sam stood up and said, "Let's quit feeling sorry for ourselves, get off our asses and find her!"

Just then my phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket. "This is Jake. What? Where? Stay on it." I hung up and said, "Embry spotted the car."

"Where? Let's go!" Sam said hurriedly.

"Down by the old docks," I answered.

Jake hollered for Seth, and he came running. "What? Where are you going? Did Embry find her?" Seth asked hurriedly.

"He spotted the car down by the old docks. Jake and I are going to take off now. I need you to tell the others. We need to fan out around that area." I noticed how all of a sudden he jumped back into Alpha mode. I was just about to call him on it when Seth exploded.

"I'm coming with you! She's my sister, Sam. She's nothing to you anymore!" Seth yelled at Sam.

Sam hands curled into fists as he leaned toward Seth to yell back and I quickly stepped in between them and said to Sam, "You and Seth go now. I will tell the others and catch up to you."

Sam gave me a look, but didn't argue. He looked at Seth and said, "Let's go!" They phased on the run and took off.

Everyone else was out back. Some were on cell phones, some were pacing. "Hey! Listen up! Embry spotted Evan's car down by the old docks. He's looking around there and Sam and Seth are on their way there now. Quil, Jared, Paul . . . come with me. Everyone nodded and did as they were told.

We were just about to head out when Bella grabbed my arm. "I'm coming with you, Jake!"

"The hell you are!" I yelled. I took her by the shoulders and said more calmly, "Bella, please. You have to think about the baby. Do you hear me? It's not just you anymore. You are carrying our baby! Please, stay here. I can't go and do my job if I am worried about the two of you. Do you understand?" I was pleading with her. Please let her understand.

The tears were falling down her face as she nodded. I pulled her close and said, "Thank you, Bells. I'll be back soon with Leah. I promise." I pulled back and kissed her. Then I let go, turned and took off at a dead run to catch up to the others. I just hoped I could keep that promise I just made to Bella.

As the wolf pack descended on the old docks area, I was trying hard to keep up on everyone's thoughts. Sam and Seth had run hard and they were there with Embry. Jared, Paul, Quil and I were closing in. Embry was checking out the old boat house while Sam and Seth were scouting out and around. Quil took off to join Embry.

Suddenly, Sam picked up a scent. It's the same scent that was on the rez, Jake. The one who took your picture. And it's close.

"Follow it. We're on our way. Embry, anything at the boathouse?" I was on a dead run. We were close, but I wanted to be there now.

Embry reported, "Yeah, bloodsucker scent . . . and someone else - it's warm – Leah's scent and Evan's. But I don't see them anywhere. Shit!"

Suddenly Sam and Seth snarled and leapt at a figure in the shadows. It was a woman. A fucking leech!

"Don't kill her! We need her to talk," I screamed to them in my head. "Hold her . . . I'm almost there."

They held her down, as Jared, Paul and I ran up. Paul had to get in on the action, so he ran right over and added his weight. I phased into human form so I could talk to her. I went to stand in front of her, not bothering to take the time to cover myself. I could care less if a fucking leech saw me naked.

"Who are you and where is Leah?" I demanded.

She was scared, but trying to play it cool. "I am Petra," she got out. The guys were leaning on her pretty good, so I told them to back off a little and let her talk.

Seth backed off completely and came to sit by me. "OK, talk. NOW!"

She looked up at me. Her eyes blazed blood red. She was tall and thin, with long black hair sprayed all around her as she lay there on the ground. She hissed at Sam and Paul. Paul leaned on her and I heard a snap as he broke her arm.

"Where is Leah?" I demanded again, this time louder.

"Gone!" she screeched. "You are too late. They took her to Italy to Aro." Then she laughed, cackled actually. Paul leaned on her leg this time. CRACK! That shut her up.

I whipped around to see who was left. Quil had caught up to Embry and they were hot on their trial – they couldn't have gotten far. "Seth, Jared! Go out and scout around – find a trail. Sam, Paul, take care of this trash, then catch up." I phased on the run and listened.

I heard Embry, "We found Evan! Small barn. Come quick!"

I ran as fast as I could. Please let us find her in time," was all I could think.

"She's not here. Just Evan. Shit! SHE'S NOT HERE!" Embry was shouting.

"I'm almost to you. Seth ,meet me at the barn. Embry, Quil, keep on the trail . . . Jared, go with them."

I got to the barn and phased to human form. I pulled my shorts on quickly as I ran to the door of the barn. There was Evan, slumped over, leaning against the wall. I couldn't tell if he was out, or if he could talk to us. I walked over and kicked him in the foot. He put his head up. He had a black eye, and was holding his arm like it was hurt. He looked at me with a haunting look, like he didn't care if he lived or died.

I squatted down and looked him in the eye and said, "Evan? Where's Leah?"

He just sat there staring. I took a hold of him by the shoulders and shook him and screamed, "DAMNIT, EVAN! WHERE'S LEAH!"

"She's gone. They took her," he said very quietly. "I tried to stop them, but I couldn't."

I looked back at Evan. "Listen, Evan. I know you were working for Aro, you son of a bitch. You talk to me NOW!"

He looked at me and nodded. "I'm so sorry, Jacob. I was sent here by Aro to spy on all of you. I really didn't understand why. I was doing it because he promised me that if I did this for him, I would see my sister again. She has been missing for months. I followed her to that place where Aro lives, and I lost her there. I kept going back everyday to find her. One day, some guy grabs me and takes me to Aro. He lays out this plan for me to come here and pose as a photographer. That way I can take pictures of all of you and this place and send them to him. He told me something about you guys being werewolves, which I thought was ridiculous. But I agreed. I needed to find my sister. I promised my mother before she died, that I would do everything I could to protect her. I guess I failed at that, huh?"

"We don't have much time here, Evan, focus! How did you find out that Leah was a werewolf?" I demanded.

"She told me."

"WHAT? That's not possible. She would never tell you. We are not allowed to tell our secret to anyone," I said.

"She said that with imprints, it's different," he said softly.

I grabbed him by the shoulders again and shook. I saw him wince in pain. "What the hell are you telling me? Are you telling me that Leah imprinted on you?"

"Yes, Jacob. Yes! She just told me about imprinting. She said that when she met me on the beach, she imprinted. She said she couldn't believe it herself. At first I was just glad that she wanted to be with me all of the time. She was my in with all of you. But I didn't plan on falling in love with her. I couldn't help it! She is so beautiful, and kind. And she's tough . . ."

"Spare me the fucking love talk right now, OK?" I let him go and stood up. I raked my fingers through my hair. She imprinted on this guy . . . fuck. I turned back to him. "If you loved her, why did you tell him?"

"I didn't. Petra did. She is the other spy that Aro sent. She overheard Leah and I talking yesterday. She told Aro," Evan answered.

"Where did they take her? We need to catch up to them."

He shook his head. "Italy. Aro wanted her there immediately. He wanted me to take her, but I knew I couldn't. I told him to give me a little time to figure out how I was going to get her to leave, just to stall for time. I knew he wouldn't buy it, and he didn't. So I had made plans to pick her up and take her away from here for awhile. We left her house, and as I was driving, I told her I had to get her away from here. I didn't tell her why. I just told her she was in danger. But she told me she couldn't leave. She was bound here as a wolf. I was panicking! I knew I had to get her out of here. We stopped at the old docks to talk. She loves it there for some reason. Then, they found us. There were four of them. I tried to stop them, but . . ."

"Yeah, I see that. OK, I want to know one thing. Are you still working for Aro? Or are you serious about being in love with Leah?"

"I love her, Jacob, honestly. I want to be with her for the rest of my life. And I know now that it is too late for my sister. After being around Petra, I understand what Aro and his kind are. She is one of them now." Tears were rolling down his cheeks fast now.

Just then, Seth came trotting in, still in wolf form. Oh, when Seth found out, this wouldn't be pretty. "They find anything? Anything at all?" He shook his head.

"OK. I know this won't make sense to you now, Seth, but I need you to carry Evan back to Sam's. Tell Bella to talk to him and listen to his story. Tell her . . ." I looked over at Evan. He was a broken man. "Tell her, I trust him. Then tell her to call Edward. Leah is headed for Italy." I saw the pain in Seth's eyes. "I know. We'll find her. Edward and Carlisle are there. They'll help." He nodded and walked over to Evan.

I helped Evan onto Seth's back. "Hold on with everything you have," I told Evan. Seth took off at a trot and went out the door.

I hung my head. What a fucking freak show! How am I going to find her if she is already on her way to Italy? I can't leave here and go to Italy. I decided to phase and join the pack, looking for clues as to where they took her. There was still a chance we could find her here before they left. I took off at a dead run, and before I could phase, I felt a sharp stab in my neck. Then everything went black.

I tried to open my eyes, but they were so damn heavy. I felt so drugged, like after the newborn fight, only worse. I could hear a humming, like an engine of some kind. I couldn't move. My hands and legs were tied, and I had something over my mouth. I tried again to lift my eyelids, but I couldn't. I gave up and everything went black again.