Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight, but not Merged Souls

Author's Note: Once again RE-POSTING see if I have done a better job this time around. I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Pienuniek for her support.

Chapter 2

ChPOV

I couldn't believe my eyes one minute Bella was standing at the window then she smiled at me and leaned back deliberately allowing herself to fall out of the window...Oh God, my baby...she was gone. I was sure she was dead; she was so delicate there was no way she could survive that fall.

But why? Why did she do that! What was so wrong that she couldn't have talked to me or to Jake? Maybe I had pushed her to hard to forget that Cullen kid. Maybe I should have got her professional help, or sent her back to Renee. This was all about that damn Edward Cullen, it was his fault! I just wanted her to be happy with Jake. He was the perfect guy for her. He was someone who would listen to me and who would not take my baby girl away. Someone who would make me happy. God listen to me I was so selfish! But I'd lost Bella once when Renee took her away and I'd just gotten her back, then that Cullen kid came along and became the centre of her universe. I was afraid that I would lose her a second time... to him.

I should have known how she would react. I really should have seen this coming. But she was too young, her love for Cullen couldn't be the real deal. She insisted over and over that it was. Hell, she had even pleaded with me to understand that Edward meant everything to her. I was sure it was just his money and good looks that had turned her head. But she said she would wait for him, she really believed that he would come back for her.

But how could I deny the things she told me about Jake, I had turned a blind eye and deaf ear to the things he would do and say even when I knew he was out of line. I had convinced myself he and Bella were just getting used to being a couple. After all what couple didn't fight? Besides Bells could be difficult, stubborn and fiercely independent, she just needed a firm hand... right?

I was so sure that the Cullen kid was rotten, that he would hurt her. And I was right look at how often they fought, and he did hurt her when he left! But he never left a mark on her. Hell, he never even really yelled at her. He never tried dragging her out of the house against her will! In fact Edward Cullen wasn't at all rotten, he just wasn't my choice. I knew that Edward would never need my advice, but he would always put Bella first. And he could give her so much more than I could. Yet I made no effort to help her find Edward, even though he was the man who would make her happy. I wouldn't even talk to Carlisle and Esme to see if we could work together and help them work things out. I was so stupid and now my baby, my Bells was probably dead. I saw it in her eyes and in her smile just before she fell, it was the only way she could show me. It was so clear she would rather die than live another day without Edward Cullen.

I am as much responsible for this as Jacob. I had helped Jake by supporting his twisted version of the facts. I had even encouraged him while ignoring my baby's pain... Oh god I'm a monster. I should have helped her find Edward. Hell, I should've gone out and found the damn kid myself and dragged his ass back to my daughter. Why didn't I listen to Bella, instead I tried to push her into what would make me happy. It might as well have been me that pushed her out that window.

It was Renee and I all over again, I had tried to control her life and now I tried to control Bella's. I wanted Bella to settle down in a small town after living in the big city. I wanted her to go to a college nearby to keep her close to home and to me. And I wanted her to marry a local boy who would keep her here after College. Only now did I recognize how sick and callous the threat was that Jacob made about torching Alice. These were the kinds of threats that Bella had told me about and I told her she had just imagined them or he was just kidding.

I couldn't have been more wrong about Jacob he was dangerous and was not someone I wanted for my baby. It wasn't until I saw that last look and smile from my Bella that I could see how deep her love for Edward was. That smile wasn't for me or Jacob. It was for the future that she had hoped to have... That smile was for only one person...Edward Cullen.

I turned and ran down the stairs and through the kitchen to the backyard, the noise coming from there was unbelievable. But the sight that greeted me scared the shit out of me. All the Cullen's minus Edward were crouched around Bella. Carlisle was kneeling over her broken body in full doctor mode. But it was the monstrous wolves that circled them snarling and snapping that made me stop dead in my tracks. What the fuck? Why did this feel familiar, but not in a comforting way? Oh My God! I remember now, the old Quileute legends those crazy damn stories that Billy used to tell me when we were kids sitting around a bonfire. HOLY SHIT, THEY WERE TRUE!

I think for the first time since I'd known them I really took a close look at the Cullen's and saw what I had never acknowledged before. Their deathly pale complexions and they all had the same colour eyes, yet none of them were blood related. I remembered shaking hands with Edward and Carlisle and how cold their hands were. And how I'd never seen Edward eat, Bella said he was on a special diet. Yeah, it was special alright! I must be crazy but it all points to...I mean it can't be true can it? But that would mean that, the Cullen's...yeah the Cullen's... Nope, no way they can't be! Yet looking back the Cullen's they had always appeared somewhat otherworldly, and right now just a little feral, including Esme, and even little Alice. Wait a minute, did I just hear Alice growl?

Okay this is just too much! I took a deep breath to try and steady my nerves, and then relying on my years of training as Chief of Police I tried to take charge of the situation and yelled: "What the HELL is going on!" Suddenly out of the surrounding trees another three wolves appeared, running to stand in front of the Cullen's facing out at their own kind. Then things got real quiet, and all heads turned in my direction. I could feel the tension in the air, and I knew that Jake was standing behind me which made me feel a lot less comfortable than it would've a few hours ago.

Carlisle looked up at me and smiled sadly: "Charlie, Bella has a head injury. It's very serious and we need to get her to the hospital now!" I just nodded and took a step towards Bella but Jake grabbed my arm pulling me aside and arrogantly announced: "I will take Bella to the hospital, and you Cullen will not be her doctor! So get away from her leech." The air came alive again with growling and snarls as Carlisle pulled out his cell phone to make the 911 call. Carlisle never looked up from Bella but said in a very quiet and dispassionate voice: "Only Charlie can make that decision Jacob Black, so as of right now I'm Bella's doctor until he or Bella tells me otherwise."

With the ambulance on its way I tried to think of what to do, when the paramedics get here I would be explain the Cullen's presence. But what could I say about a bunch of horse size wolves? Jake still had a hold of my arm and I could feel the heat rolling off of him. I tried to turn to speak with him when he let go of my arm. I stopped short of saying what was on my mind because he was shaking so damn hard I thought he was going to come apart. Then Alice screamed: "Charlie, duck!" But before I could do anything I was flying through the air and landed at the feet of the biggest Cullen boy...Fuck, that hurt ...Umm I can't seem to remember that kid's name, but man is he big! I think he's yelling but funny thing I can't hear him or anything else. I turned my head to the left and saw Bella's hand just out of my reach; maybe if I could just touch her she'd know it was me. I needed her to know I was sorry.

Shit I couldn't breathe and damn it hurted! Clouds were coming in it was getting dark fast. Oh god something was not right Fuck that hurted! Ahhhhh, now that was better, the pain was gone, that was much better. I wondered if berry cobbler was on the Diner's menu. You know I don't think I've ever told Bella how beautiful she was, what kind of father never tells their kid that? She looked just like her Grandma Swan did at her age; she had such deep soulful brown eyes. Yeah Bella had an old soul too, Renee used to say that Bella was born middle age. Maybe that's why I didn't like Edward he's an old soul too, they belong together. And if the legends are true I wondered how old he really was? If he turned out to be a cold one, how would that temperature difference work for them in the bedroom? Oh shit I was so not going there, that was my daughter I was thinking about, I put a stop to that thought, lalalalalal.

APOV

Esme had started emergency breathing for Charlie just as the ambulance careened into the drive kicking up gravel. The paramedics whipped out their equipment and started taking orders from Carlisle.

APOV (Just prior to Bella's swan dive)

"Carlisle, grab your bag! Bella and Charlie need all of us now! Come on people let's move it! Or someone is going to die tonight!"

I had seen Charlie in Bella's room arguing about Edward and Jacob yet again. Then everything went black and next I saw her falling out of her bedroom window and just at that point my vision ended. I knew the missing pieces meant Jacob Black and the wolves were involved. I gasped in horror as the vision ended I was just passing Rose and Emmett on the stairs. Jazz was by my side. "What happened darlin?" "I don't know Jazzy everything just went black on me, I can't see a thing!"

The whole family raced out the door and through the woods to Bella's house like the demons of hell were after us. I decided then and there that all of this had gone on long enough. It was time for Edward to make a choice. But I wasn't really going to give him a choice. He was going to come back to Forks one way or another and he was going to fix this mess. I pulled out my cell phone and called Edward, he damn well better answer me this time or he may just lose his chance at forever with Bella.

The phone rang three times before he picked up "Edward?" he didn't answer, well that was just so typical those days, I sighed and said: " I know your there... okay look don't answer me you pig headed stupid leech, just listen. Bella threw herself out of her bedroom window, and no I don't know why, except you and the dog figured into her decision. She loves YOU, you idiot and NOT the damn dog! She realizes that he used her, she never loved him as anything more than a brother. She knows now that he manipulated you both. Now get your ass back here or she may die!" There was still no answer. "Okay still not talking, well fuck you Edward Cullen, but you have exactly 24 hours and then I'm sending Emmett and Jasper after your sorry ass. And remember this Jasper does not like Brazil in the rainy season, so he will not be in a good mood and that puts everyone around him in a bad mood. Also I've already alerted Kachiri and Zafrina and asked them to start tracking your dumb ass ..." I hadn't even finished my sentence when he let out a heart broken roar and hung up. Okay I hadn't really gotten a hold of the Amazons yet, but he didn't need to know that. I smiled to myself when I had a quick vision of my big brother getting on a plane and he looked awful.

Seth, Leah and Embry were in wolf form as they came up beside us while we ran and I could see that they had been joined by another of their kind I think his name was Quil. "Hi Quil welcome to the club so did you finally realized that Jacob Black is the devil incarnate?" Leah tossed her head and snorted, Embry just rolled his eyes and nodded, well this was going to be interesting, since Jacob's pack seemed to be falling apart. But that presented lots of questions like how could Quil just leave his Alpha! For that matter how had Seth, Leah and Embry been helping me all along? The answer had to be Sam, I guessed he never gave up his Alpha status. Could there really be two packs at the same time? Was that even possible and was Sam a pack leader or a rogue Alpha? Jacob, the dumb mutt, didn't even realize he was losing his power and his people. The original Alpha was still out there, and he offered an alternative to the demented Jacob Black.

I could hear the wolves at the back of the house just beyond the tree line. "Okay everybody, we need to enter the backyard from the front, because I can't see a thing back there." Emmett came to a screeching halt and looked at me open mouthed then whispered: "You're blind?" That cued one amazing eye roll from me. "No you idiot, the wolves prevent me from having visions when they're involved." "Oh, okay. Hey Pixie is that normal?"

Rose smacked Emmett on the back of the head and pointed to the side yard and then pushed him to get moving. "Leah, Seth and Embry you guys circle around and come from behind the others but don't risk it if there are too many." I turned to my family. "Okay Cullen's lets all take a deep breath and hold it. The smell back there is terrible." Emmett took in a deep breath and then gagged and started to laugh: "Damn Pixie, that's an understatement that smell is revolting! Ouch damn it honey!" Rose had clipped Emmett again. "Okay, okay, I know let's roll and save our little sis!"

The scene in the backyard was horrific, Bella was ashen coloured and very still, miraculously there wasn't any blood, but her left arm and leg were bent at odd angles. Several wolves had come out of the forest snarling and snapping, as our family converged on Bella. We encircled her while Carlisle knelt down to examine her, she must be in bad shape. His face was drawn with concern and fear. But I could still hear her heart beating even though it was faint. I should have brought her to stay with us, despite Charlie's feelings, and Bella thought she could handle Black. I knew that Jacob Black was dangerous but I believed that Charlie would always protect her, guess I was wrong about the Chief's priorities.

Speaking of Charlie he had just stepped out of the back door yelling: "What the HELL is going on!"

Thank god he hadn't grabbed his gun because things started to happen just a little too fast. Suddenly Jacob Black was standing behind him looking like the evil mutt he was, Carlisle was calling 911 and then it all went to hell in a hand basket.

Jacob was yelling at Carlisle not to touch Bella, his pack was snarling and snapping all around us. Then the Cullen friendly wolves rushed out of the forest to stand in front of us facing their former pack mates despite being out numbered.

Jacob grabbed Charlie to stop him from coming towards Bella and at the same time he lost control and started shifting. I yelled for Charlie to duck but he was turning to look at Jacob and suddenly found himself airborne and landing at Emmett's feet. That's when Sam showed up pushing through the pack and coming nose to nose with Jacob. Sam stepped up to him growling in challenge but rather than stand up to Sam, Jacob turned tail and ran into the forest leaving his pack behind.

I could hear the ambulance coming down the street; we needed to get Charlie and Bella out front and in the ambulance before the wolves were seen. Emmett and Jasper were so jazzed by the tension that they wanted to stay and fight with wolves supporting us. But Sam saw their intent, and he snarled at me shaking his head before he turned and charged into the forest after the fleeing Jacob.

That left the two packs standing there and the La Push wolves Paul, Cody, Brady and Jared seemed at a lost as to what had just happened as they looked around into the woods. They seemed unsure about what they should do. Rose and I grabbed Emmett and Jasper to hold them back. Esme and Carlisle had moved Charlie and Bella out front to expedite their transfer. Carlisle had left us with strict orders that he didn't want us to interfere with the wolves. Instead he instructed us to only observe the action and let the wolves handle each other; anything that happened was between them.

The wolves stood there basically in a holding pattern without their Alpha's telling them what to do. So while it looked like a Mexican standoff, there was still lots of snarling, but no action...Huh I wondered, what's up with that? Maybe the different packs can't hear each other's thoughts, maybe their minds aren't connected? Then the air started to shimmer around Leah and Paul, and "pop" we now had one naked human female and one naked human male yelling at each other. And they were completely unconcerned that they were giving us an eye full.

Did I mention that they were both naked, ...Jasper was ready to bust a gut and could barely spit out what was on his mind: "My god darlin, when Leah gets pissed she is a force to be reckoned with, remind me never to get on her bad side." Leah was yelling so loud that she had Paul backing up and stuttering, I didn't think she even took a breath. She was on a tear, but it took her short order to explain that Black was using the pack for his own twisted desires. Paul admitted that Jacob's obsession over Bella was getting to the other pack members, but as their Alpha it was hard to resist the compulsion to follow his orders.

Leah stabbed at his chest and then proceeded to yell at him in Quileute! I didn't have a clue what she was saying but none of it sounded very flattering. Emmett was laughing his ass off and Jasper just stood there with his hand over his mouth trying not to laugh, while Rose and I were applauding wildly and yelling: "Go Girl"!

One by one the other wolves started to transform and just stood there, watching Leah take a strip off of Paul. My but those boys were all well endowed in every sense of the word! Rose was standing there a little slacked jawed and with a roving eye was taking it all in. Emmett had stopped laughing and was now staring at Rose and looking like a thunder cloud. Oh well, couldn't fault the girl, after all a free show, is a free show. Not that they had anything on our guys but it never hurts to check out the local merchandize just to make sure your not being short changed. Jasper was picking up on my mood and he was not amused, so he started pushing out feelings of embarrassment that had the wolves all running into the woods looking for a fig leaf.

EPOV

I was already at the Rio airport with the intent of heading back to Forks when I got Alice's call. I was a mess I had tried and failed Bella; I couldn't stay away from her any longer. So I promised myself that I was just going back to only check on her, to see if she was happy and if she was then I would leave her alone. And she would never know I had been there. So when my phone rang I frankly wasn't in the mood to answer it. I was too busy contemplating a lonely existence stretching into the eons. In other words I was being a pathetic morose, emo a Victorian throw back wallowing in self pity. But I opened my phone and was prepared to listen to Alice's rant anyway.

When Alice told me what had happened I roared into the phone and crushed it in my palm. If I could have run home faster I would have been off before the call had finished. Within a few minutes I had taken my seat in first class. I closed my eyes and I could visualize my Bella lying on the ground under her bedroom window, possibly dying. It felt so real that I actually called out to her and I swear I heard her whisper "Edward." Then a shiver of pain and despair passed through me. But I held onto the vision of my love on the ground and the hope that her last word gave me. The last word that came from her lips had been my name.

Bella had to survive there was no other reality that I would even contemplate. So I tried to imagine how I could win her back. I didn't know if Bella would take me back or even forgive me, but I knew I could never be able to leave her again. I couldn't survive without her, and I would spend the rest of my life and hers protecting her even if it is just as a friend or, god forbid, from a hiding place in the shadows of her life. Of one thing I was certain though... that mutt would die. I was sure he was behind her trying to kill herself. Bella would never do that to Charlie and Renee...and yes dear god I knew, she would never do that to me!

I had finally realized after all the emails, letters, texts and voice mails from my family that Jacob Black had played me. He had appealed to all my insecurities and he had gotten me to do the worst and most monstrous thing of my life. He convinced me I should lie to Bella. So I told her that I didn't love her anymore and that I was moving on, and that had been the worst possible kind of blasphemy.

God, why couldn't that plane go any faster!

Bella and I should never be apart. I can see that now, we were always destined to be in each other's lives. She is my mate at the deepest level possible! We are the missing pieces of each other souls. Bella was right about me all along I was afraid, I was afraid of the future and that I wouldn't be enough for her. I never saw myself as she saw me; in reality it seems to be a problem that we both have in common. But it would seem that my soul ... and yes I said my soul, was meant to be entwined with hers. And that's why I had to wait over a hundred years to find her and for us to be together. My heart ached, and I wished so much that I could cry. All I could think about was my beautiful Bella. She had to hold on, I love her so much she just had to keep her heart beating!

So I whispered my mantra over and over again as I waited for the plane to make its way to Seattle. "Bella, please wait for me, keep your heart beating my love. I want you for forever. I will love you for forever", and as much as a I knew it wasn't possible my heart told me that she had heard me, and I swear to god I heard her reply: "I'll wait for you Edward, I'll keep my heart beating come for me my love," and so I closed my eyes pretending to be asleep as I waited repeating my mantra over and over. I listened for her voice but I didn't hear her again. Yet I could feel her in my heart. I knew she was alive and I believed that with every fibre of my being...because we were soul mates. For one of us cannot live without other.