A/N – I do not own any of the characters taken from the Twilight series. They belong to Stephanie Meyers.

I'm working on keeping my chapters in the right POV as I write which is something I've never even considered before. Thank you to ATT for pointing this out!

If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I'm not going to ask for reviews but I do love getting them. I'll update as I have a new chapter to share. :)

Chapter 5

TPOV

Uma arrived just after Sam finished his conversation with the police. She asked him to take me up to the cottage and make sure I stay in bed until she arrives. I hate being coddled. I don't like this feeling of not being able to take care of myself. However, I don't think I'm ready to walk up that hill so I resign myself to the fact that Sam is going to carry me.

He picks me up gently carefully and we start up the hill.

SPOV

We are about halfway up the hill when I notice that Tia is still shaking slightly. She's still frightened. I stop to look down at her.

"Tia, I can tell that you've been hurt beyond the bruises that I see. I'm not going to force you to tell me about it but I do want you to try to open up to someone, whoever you choose. Now let's get you up to your room so Uma can take care of you."

I take her to her room, help her remove her shoes and tuck her into bed. I walk out into the kitchen to wait for Uma. I can see her walking up the path. She stops now and again to pick a leaf or two or take a bit of bark from a tree. She knows what she is up to and I trust her.

Chief Swan's car pulls up to the cottage right as Uma is about finished with her collecting. I say hello to Charlie and lead her into Tia's room.

"Tia, this is Chief Swan, the chief of police in Forks as well as a family friend. He has a couple of questions for you. I want you to tell him everything that you remember. Do you want me to stay in here with you?" I can see that Tia is wary. She shakes her head, pushes up onto the pillows. Charlie takes a seat beside her, pulls out his notepad and starts to work. I hear them quietly discussing today's events when Uma walks through the door.

I follow her into the kitchen as she starts to prepare some tea with the plant bits that she collected. I raise an eyebrow. "She's going to need some help sleeping tonight. This tea will help relax and heal." She says as her deft hands mash the leaves and add the hot water.

She finds a plate, adds a couple of cookies to it and picks up the tea heading for Tia's room. When we enter, Charlie is standing. "Thank you for all of your help Tia. I hope you get some rest. We'll all do our best to see that this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Have a restful night." He says as he about to leave. Uma goes to her bedside with the plate and cup. She talks to Tia about needing to eat a bit and getting some rest as she tucks the covers in tighter around her granddaughter.

I walk with Charlie to his car lost in thought along the way. Once we are outside and out of ear shot, I turn to talk to him. "Charlie, what's your take on what happened?"

"Well, I think this is an isolated incident. To my knowledge, we don't have any record of these two scum bags causing problems anywhere else. I don't think you have to worry about this sort of thing happening again." He sighed. "However, off the record and speaking as a father, I can tell you that Tia needs to talk. She has something bottled up. At one point while we were talking, I saw a look in her eyes that reminded me of Bella after that bastard Cullen broke up with her. My suggestion is to layer on a bit extra TLC for the time being. She'll talk when she's ready."

I say goodnight to Charlie and he drives away. I think to myself for a couple of minutes and walk towards the woods. I phase in and call the pack.

"What's up Sam? Is Tia ok?" I hear Jared ask.

"She's going to be ok. Come over to my place in a few. I want to talk to you all."

"Alright, we're headed that way." Replied Quil.

I head home. Within a few minutes, the boys are assembled on my back porch waiting. I give them orders to keep an eye on Uma and Tia for the night. Patrol lines are rearranged slightly to include their home. "Quil and Jared, are you willing to take first shift? I need to talk to Emily. I'll take the late shift with Jake."

"Jake, you remember my request about Bella? Do you have any plans for her next Friday?"

"Nope, nothing that can't be rearranged. Why?" he asks.

"I'm going to talk Emily into having a girls' night for Tia. She needs to feel like she belongs here, with us. Our girls would be good for her."

"Alright, I'll text Bella before I catch some sleep. I'll see you in a couple of hours." He says as he and the rest of the pack are about to leave.

"Quil, could talk to you for just a moment?" He nods and gives a look to Jared that says that he will catch up to him in just a few. He leans on the porch railing listening.

"I want you to help me with Tia. There's a good chance that she's going to be anxious about returning to school given what happened. Would you walk with her to and from school at least for the next week or so?"

"Sure Sam, no problem."

I give him a wave indicating that he needs to hit the patrol and he leaves. I go in the house to find my Emily sitting on the couch waiting for me. I sit down next to her snuggling her in close under my arm, placing a kiss on her temple as I do.

"Sam, I can't stand to think about what could have happened to her if Jared and Quil hadn't been there. She could have been raped or killed." She says tremulously.

I pull her in closer and tell her my plan about the patrols and Quil. We talk about the sleep over and Emily agrees to pull help. Making Tia feel safe and secure is what we're going to do.

TPOV

Finally everyone has left my room. The cookies on my plate look delicious but I can't eat right now. I sip Uma's tea. It has an interesting flavor, sort of minty and herbal. I take my sketch pad out flipping through for a blank page when I came across the eyes again. I shudder and keep flipping finally finding a new page.

I stare at the blank page for a few minutes. I want to draw but soon realize that I'm feeling very sleepy. I push my pad to the other side of the bed and burrow into the blankets. Sleep comes as night falls.

Third Person POV

A couple of hours pass as the patrols continue with Jared and Quil circling by Uma's as ordered. Nothing much is happening so the rounds have been going smoothly. Sam and Emily have called it an early night. Uma is reading by the fire.

Suddenly, Jared catches something on the wind. "What the…" and the chase begins. Just ahead of them is a red headed leach laughing as she races through the woods. They chase her all the way to La Push where she jumps into the water. Howls go up and the light at Sam's flips back on.

UPOV

Feeling just a bit restless, I look up from my book to take a sip of tea when I hear the howls. I set my cup down and look into the fire. The flames part and I see the chase before me. I reach further into the flames to see what lies ahead. I see the golden eyes reaching for her. It's about time.

QPOV

Jared and I check to make sure that the leach is off of the res before catching up with Sam.

Sam, it was that red headed bitch, Victoria. I report. We lost her at the cliffs. She dove into the waters.

Sam growls. Ok, you two call it a night since your shift is almost over anyway.

Jare and I split up and head for home. Man, I'm exhausted. I phase into my wolf to head home quicker. I'm about to pass Uma's place when my inner wolf makes me stop. I look into Tia's room. Something isn't right. I can see her thrashing her arms about and whimpering. She's dreaming. I watch as she lets out a cry, sits up in bed and turns to look out the window straight at me. I duck my head and run.

TPOV

(The dream returns…)

I'm walking through a misty forest. I can hear the night creatures stirring. Suddenly I see the red blur again and hear that female laugh surrounding me. The mist changes to smoke and then fire again. Golden eyes are staring at me from beyond the flames. Then suddenly, in place of the eyes, there's the silhouette of a man reaching his hand out to me. I want to take his hand but the flames rise higher. There's no escape! I'm going to burn…NO!

I wake up with a cry, finding myself sitting upright in my bed. Trying to get my bearings and calm down, I start to look around my room, no forest, no mist, no laughter. I'm safe. I look up to the window and scream. EYES! Staring at me…golden eyes! Then, they're gone. Shaking myself mentally, I decide that it was just a lingering bit of my dream. I grab my music, turn it on and try desperately to go back to sleep. The rest of the night was a long road of fear and confusion.

The next morning, I wake up very late feeling like I didn't sleep at all. I go into the kitchen to see that there's breakfast on the counter waiting for me with a note telling me that I wouldn't be going to school this morning. I go to the table to eat when I hear Uma come in. There's a familiar car parked out front.

"Emily and I are going to run into Forks for a few things. Will you be ok for an hour or so by yourself Tia? She asks.

"I'll be fine." I reply giving her my best smile.

She gives me a kiss on the cheek, picks up her shopping list that was on the counter and heads out the door.

Actually, I think alone time is just what I need. I finish eating and then take a quick shower. I refuse to look at the bruising on me. Those will fade soon enough. Walking out into the living room as I brush my hair, I start to look at all of the family photos hanging on the walls. I can see pictures of a sea of faces most of which I don't recognize. I do recognize Sam with Uma. I also find one of me as a toddler standing by Sam. I smiled at that picture. Then I found one that I wish I had seen before. It was my mom and dad with me as a baby. Dad was smiling into the camera holding me but mom's eyes looked worried. She never explained to me how dad died or why she left the reservation. She willingly left everything she knew to be a single mom out on her own. It just doesn't make sense. Maybe I'll ask Uma about this later. I remembered that I had texted mom yesterday before…and I didn't know if she had replied. I find my phone to see that she had. "Good! I'll call to catch up with you soon. Love you."

I tried to lay back down to sleep but sleep wasn't coming. Then I tried doing some homework but I couldn't focus on it. Sighing, I grab my tunes and pad wanting to go back down to the lake. Drawing and my music would help.

I walk out to the lake finding the picnic table but decide to give it a pass. I want a different angle today so I find a comfy spot under a big tree. I settle myself down on the ground turning on my music. I open my pad. Sometimes flipping through my old work is a good thing. I stop on the soul eating eyes piece.

My fears and confusion return full force. I rip my ear buds out and anger hits me. Before I realize it, I'm crying and sobbing as I never had before. The tears won't stop and the pain overwhelms me. There's no one else around so I decide to just let it go.

QPOV

I'm heading over to Sam's place using the back way when I hear crying. I walk towards it to see Tia with her head on her knees sobbing. I can't walk away from her. I go to her calling out her name quietly.

"Tia, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" I ask. She shakes her head refusing to look at me. She continues crying and hugs her knees tighter. My wolf whimpers seeing her in pain.

I sit down beside her and pull her into my arms. I'm going to stay right here with her until she's feeling better. After a while, her crying subsides and she calms down. A minute later, I feel her breathing deepen and her shoulders relax. She has fallen asleep. I lean against the tree with her in my arms thinking that I liked how she felt in my arms.

It was a half hour before she stirred. I brushed her hair back away from her face. I could see the tear tracks as they crossed over her bruised jaw and my heart clenched.

"This feels good." I hear her say quietly. She still won't look up at me.

"What feels good?" I ask hoping that she will share her reason for crying on her own. I don't want to push.

"Feeling safe. I feel safe right here, right now." She sighed. She tucks her hands in under her chin against my chest.

"Have you not felt safe before?"I want to know. She nods. "Why?"

"I've never felt like I belonged or that I had people in my life that cared for me. I mean my mom cares but it's not the same. She's always working, always busy, always…"

I see another tear falling. I hug her tighter.

"Tia, let me tell you something about the Quileute and life here. We take care of our own and you are family. We will be by your side whenever you need us. Please don't feel this way. I don't like seeing you cry." I feel her shift in my arms trying to sit up. I turn my head trying to make it look like I'm thinking, just to give her a moment to dry her tears.

I can feel her looking at me. I turn my head to see her teary eyes and it happens. I look into her eyes. Our souls connect. The world shifts around us. All I can see is her.

"I want to believe you Quil." She smiles.

TPOV

After my crying jag with Quil, he heads out over to Sam's but not before he asks if he can walk with me to school in the morning. I agreed. I really liked the feeling of security that I had earlier by the lake in his arms.

I go inside the house to the kitchen table and dig into my chemistry homework. I have hours of homework ahead of me today. Burying myself in balanced equations and math would take my mind off of things.

QPOV

I knock on Sam's door. I know that I could just walk in but I really don't want to walk in on Sam and Emily when they are sharing a moment, which is often. The door swings open and Sam takes one look at me. "What has happened?... Quil?... I know that look."

Taking a seat at the table, I sit down rather shakily. Emily starts to giggle. She knows this look too.

"Who?" he asks.

"Um…well…it's Tia." I look up at Sam just knowing that he is going to be upset at me. Instead, he shakes his head and smiles. Emily hops around excitedly.

"Well Quil, you have a good idea of what imprinting means but I do ask that you go slowly with her. She's fragile at the moment. I won't stand for you pushing her faster than she's ready." He pauses thinking to himself. "I don't think that telling her about our wolves is a good idea just yet. Let's give her some time. You just mind your wolf in the meantime, you understand?"

I nod in agreement. Emily and Sam go into the kitchen to give me some space. I sit there staring out the window up at Uma's cottage. How am I going to make this work? I need to give her time space but I want to be by her side. This is not going to be easy.