Her brother was coming back home. Finally. The bad news was that while he was uninjured, he was basically surrounded by vampires. While James was one thing (he was Victoria's brother) these other two vampires he was bringing back with him were unknowns, most probably human drinkers, and thus dangerous. Leah just wanted her brother back home, safe and sound with her where she could keep an eye on him.

It was hysterical to think that 'home' and 'safety' was in the Hunter Home (vampires! VAMPIRES!) but the Rez had thrown them out and their mother had been forced to agree to the terms. Sue was spending more and more time at Charlie Swan's though, and Leah felt she wasn't only spending time with her boyfriend, but wanted to be closer to them as well - as every time she was down she either came to visit Leah or asked Leah to pop over with Bella.

Still, while there was this truce, things between the Clearwaters and the Rez were very shaky. Even if things got better though, Leah couldn't see herself returning to live there. Seth probably would. His friends were there. He could find a nice girl there and settle down, he was by far a better person than Leah - he probably had already forgiven their old pack while she never would - at least - she'd never forgive Sam, who'd given the orders to hurt her baby brother.

Embry and Quil had volunteered to be beaten just as badly as Seth had been to rectify their actions, and while Leah would no doubt take them up on that offer (not hitting Quil's face be damned) as long as Seth was okay with it, she would find it in her to look passed their transgressions and accept them as pack. Seth would no doubt forgive them, would probably not even want to beat them up (screw that!) so Leah was doing her best to try and get used to the idea from now. She didn't do good with things just being thrusted upon her, it was way better to ease her into uncomfortable situations. Otherwise she got a little… hotheaded.

Victoria had promised Leah her room was hers for the rest of her life if she wanted, and while Leah had merely huffed and shrugged when the offer had been extended she'd known the vampire could read just how much that had actually meant to her. That's what she liked about Victoria. She didn't need to be all girlie and talk about her feelings unless it was absolutely necessary, Victoria got her. A part of Leah, one that she'd never admit to or say out loud, had figured that Victoria would be the coolest vampire to Imprint on.

Instead, of course, she'd gotten the vampire she'd spent the last couple of days guarding. After the first two the vampire had stopped trying to break her allegiance to the Black Pack, and had instead spent the time quite oddly - she was talking. A lot.

Leah wanted to be annoyed, but the vampire had lived a very long time, and done a lot, and seen a lot, and she'd once had a mate - Afton - who'd been murdered while trying to protect some high up wife named Diddy Me or something pornish like that. Leah had lost Sam to Emily and the Imprint, and Chelsea had lost Afton, so the two of them had some common ground there.

"Have you never actually left Forks?" Chelsea asked curiously as she leaned with her back against the cage's bars, looking very comfortable given the fact she was a prisoner and all that. "Don't you want to get out and travel? See the world?"

"This is where I belong," Leah informed her in a lazy tone as she eyed the carcasses lying around Chelsea. The vampire wasn't happy with her new diet, but the amber tinge in her once scarlet eyes proved that she'd refused to starve during her imprisonment. "I'm not forced to stay here, but this is my home, and this is where I'll live, protecting these people, till the day one of your kind kills me."

Chelsea frowned as she hugged her knees to her chest. "Or you could just die peacefully of old age."

Leah shook her head. "If I keep shifting I'll never grow old. And I'll never stop protecting Forks and LaPush, or its people. So I'll die at the hands of a vampire." She raised an eyebrow tauntingly. "Maybe one of your friends will be the ones to do it."

Eyebrows nearly touching as her frown darkened, Chelsea pursed her lips, looking troubled. "All Aro wants is for Edward and Alice Cullen to become a part of the Guard. If they would just stop being so stubborn—-."

"They have a right to choose what family to be a part of." Leah had never thought she'd be defending vampires, and even as she snapped this her inner monologue was so ridiculous it almost made her smile, almost. "Alice is the girlfriend of one of my pack's members, and Edward's my Alpha's mate. Your boss isn't getting either of them. We'll die first."

Chelsea scratched her arms roughly. "I don't understand - how can a vampire be a wolf's mate? We're mortal enemies." She nibbled on her bottom lip before her gaze rose to Leah's curiously. "Aren't we?"

Leah didn't answer, instead she stood when she realized that Chelsea had scratched her arms raw. "Stop that. You're hurting yourself."

Surprise filtered over Chelsea's face before she glanced down at her arms and flinched. "Oh. I didn't even realize."

"How could you not realize?" Leah wanted to know, reaching for her phone to get in contact with Victoria and ask her to bring some more bunnies for Chelsea to drink and thus heal herself. "It looks painful."

"It's not as painful as the withdrawal," Chelsea shocked her with that sigh.

Leah didn't finish marking in the numbers. "You're a junkie?"

"It's not—," Chelsea defended quickly before stopping herself from scratching once more. "If we're away too long from Corin we get—-withdrawals. She and I are Aro's most powerful and important Guard members, I keep her and everyone else loyal, while she keeps me and everyone else content with our lives." The brunette tilted her head up to the ceiling of the cage. "If we're away from her - and her power - too long we go through withdrawals. Demetri and Jane are definitely going through it now too."

Fury churned in Leah's gut as she gripped the bars tightly. "And that's the kind of person you want to force Edward and Alice into serving? Someone who brainwashes people into following his every order?"

"It's not—," and yet Chelsea seemed unable to finish that defense, so she tried another. "Werewolf Alphas have command over their subordinates, so don't act as if you're not forced to do things you don't want to all the time as well."

"I'm not. Not anymore. Not under Jake." Leah shook her head, able to defend her boss, unlike the vampire. "When I belonged to Sam's pack he used his Alpha Voice on us all the time, and I didn't have a choice whether to join his pack or not because there was no other pack I could join - and wolves need a pack, an Alpha. So I was stuck with him, with the situation. But then Jake started his own pack and I chose him as my Alpha, and ever since I've been a part of his pack he's never forced me to do anything I don't want to, he's never used the Alpha Voice." She forgot, for a bit, that she was leaning against a cage housing an imprisoned vampire. "I understand what you're going through, I didn't have a choice in Sam's pack but since there wasn't any alternative I just made do and made sure I was important enough in that pack so that I couldn't be thrown away the way I had been for Emily." It hurt to say that. "I was important, and Sam tried to get me back when I left for Jake's pack, but I never looked back. Not once."

Chelsea shifted in her seat to better look at Leah, her expression curious.

"It was scary, and it physically hurt so much to break those ties, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me." Leah was shocked at the words coming out of her mouth. She didn't talk emotions, didn't like it, and yet here she was spilling her guts to some vamp who probably would only try to use this against her, and yet she couldn't stop. "This isn't what I'm used to, my pack has vampires in it as core members, and I can't see my mother whenever I'd want to because of my choice, but this is the choice my brother and I made, and we're happy because of it."

Chelsea stumbled to her feet and slowly, carefully, made her way towards Leah while rubbing her arms. "What's it like?" Her voice was soft, her eyes curious. "What's it like to be a part of a vampire and werewolf pack?"

"Weird," Leah admitted, and the both of them chuckled softly at that admission. "We're supposed to kill vampires, you know? And when I see scarlet eyes that's my initial instinct… but my best friend right now is a vampire, and I'm okay with that." Leah would never tell Victoria she was her best friend, but she figured the damned redhead already knew. "There's some getting used to to be had. For one, there's the fact that you guys smell really sweet, and the bags of blood in the fridge next to the milk, or the frozen animals in the deep freezer next to the steak and stuff." She made up her nose before laughing. "But one of the many points on the plus side is that we now don't waste a single part of the kill any longer - the vampires suck out the blood while the wolves consume the flesh. It's more respectful to the creature that way I feel."

Chelsea was now right there, eyes wide, hands gripping the bars under Leah's hands. "You guys hunt together?" When Leah nodded, Chelsea exhaled loudly. "I'd love to see that. I can't—it's just so impossible to believe!" Her grip on the bars was incredibly tight. "Caius and the other Elders - they said werewolves and vampires could never - that it was dangerous - that it was all a trap - I don't know what to think." She rested her forehead against the bars.

Leah glanced between Chelsea and the phone before she cleared her throat and pocketed her phone. "I can, uh, show you that it isn't a lie. Our kind might've been enemies for as long as we can both remember, but Jake's right, we don't have to continue being enemies. If you didn't drink human blood I'd have nothing against you, and there are ways we can help each other - ways we're only starting to learn."

Chelsea stared up at her, clearly conflicted.

The werewolf cleared her throat. "If you want me to show you, put your arms through the bars." She met Chelsea's wide amber eyes. "I won't hurt you. I promise."

There were clear questions and worry, and fear, but there was also intrigue there. The short, curvy vampire gulped before slowly easing her left arm out through the bars, her whole body jolting when Leah took it. Chelsea's breathing accelerated as Leah eased that arm up to her lips, and a sharp gasp pierced the silence that'd fallen in the room the second Leah's tongue darted out and ran over the blood scratches.

In seconds Chelsea leaned heavily against the bars, a soft cry tumbling from her lips as Leah's licks carefully tended to the injured skin. The vampire's skin was a cooling chill against Leah's ever burning skin, and the taste under her tongue should disgust her (this was a vampire's blood) but Chelsea's skin tasted like honey.

And then the scent filled the air.

It took Leah a couple of minutes to figure out what she was smelling, but when it got strong enough, musky enough, she knew without a doubt what that scent was. She gulped, refused to look at Chelsea as she finished licking the self-inflicted wounds on those arms.

Only when she was done with both arms did she take a step back and look up at the vampire, finding her paler than usual, staring at her arms, which were slowly yet visibly healing.

"It doesn't happen when we do that to ourselves," Leah admitted. "Only when we do it to a vampire." To one's mate. She was very uncomfortable as she hugged herself, unable to meet those wide eyes. "Jake and Edward were very hedgy about how exactly they discovered this, but, uh…" She hadn't even known if it would really work with Chelsea, and yet here it was, further proof that the vampire she was helping keep captive was her Imprint, her mate.

"It hurts less," Chelsea whispered shakily, looking shocked.

"Of course, it's healing," Leah mumbled.

"No, not—-," Chelsea whispered as she held up her hands through the bars. "I mean the withdrawal." Her arousal thickened in the air. "Lick me more."

Leah's eyes widened as her heart stopped skipping a beat. "What?"

Embarrassment wafted off of the vampire almost physically, as did her ever-strengthening arousal as she subtly rubbed her thighs together. "Please lick me more."

…

"Murdock said that by the time we get back more vampires and werewolves will have Imprinted and mated," Seth declared as he somehow kept up with the vampires even in his human form. "Apparently it's like a self-preservation instinct in a sense. In times of no danger you're allowed a wooing period, but when there's times of danger in which the Imprints and Mates need to work together and draw from each other and their bond, it's a much quicker, more physical and less romantic kind of thing. I guess the instinct is that romance can come after the danger has passed or something like that."

Murdock must've told Seth that during James' 'time out', because this was news to the blonde.

"It makes sense," Garrett declared as he jumped from tree to tree above them just to be a showoff. "You said that werewolf mates somehow affect the vampires' abilities, right? That they can stop or amplify? If we're in danger, our instinct - no matter how subconscious - is to protect ourselves. If it's mating and connecting with the one who makes us most vulnerable - and thus pool our resources and make us even stronger - any vampire would pick that in an instant, again, no matter how subconsciously."

"As a species we're also really attracted to power," Riley informed Seth from where he walked a little slower than usual, matching Seth's stride. "We're the power version of gold-diggers."

"Do all vampires have a special ability?" Seth asked curiously, not seeming to question Riley's sudden change in attitude.

"Nah, most are useless like Garrett," Riley informed him and easily dodged the branch Garrett sent down at him like a spear. "But there are some of us who do have abilities, like James' ability to track, Victoria's ability to hide from danger, and my self-control."

"Self control is a power?" Seth asked in surprised.

"Yes," James answered, a little amused at Riley's boastful stride. "It's important to be able to control your bloodlust and your emotions if you're a vampire, the more you can control yourself, the less likely you're going to get yourself or your coven discovered or killed. They're also the best to send in as spies." He smirked at Seth's confused look. "Carlisle Cullen is a good example. Who would believe he's a vampire when he's constantly around injured humans - and all their blood - yet doesn't lose control and attack them?"

"I see." Seth's eyes widened. "That's impressive."

Riley's chest puffed out in pride.

Garrett threw another branch at him.

Not sure what was going on, James just decided to be relieved his fledgling had accepted Seth, and not look the gift horse in the mouth.

…

Marcus watched as the bond between Chelsea and Aro finally finished disintegrating with the rapidness of something suddenly set ablaze. Out of the three bonds to the Guard, this was the one that had been (surprisingly) the fastest to dissolve, and now that Chelsea was no longer using her ability to force loyalty between Aro and his Guard, he knew that the other two holding out wouldn't last much longer, especially not with whatever was prompting the rapidly sprouting bonds that were slowly replacing Aro's.

Not only had the link between Chelsea and Aro disappeared, but it almost seemed as if she'd turned her own ability on herself and forged a bond between her and someone else entirely.

He knew he should be telling Aro what was happening, yet Marcus couldn't find it in himself to say anything. For the first time since his sweet Didyme's death, Marcus found himself intrigued by something, focused on something, fascinated by something. He didn't want to lose that, even if his interest ending up losing Aro his Guard.

What was going on in Forks? Was there a vampire there like Chelsea but stronger? One who could break and make bonds? Alliances? Was this vampire the reason werewolves and vampires were forming packs together?

He wanted to go, wanted to see for himself what was happening in Forks. And yet, at the same time, he felt the need to wait, if only for a couple of days more. He didn't understand why, but he listened to that inner voice, to its desire.

Soon he'd know what was in Forks, and why it called to him.

…

"I'm a part of this pack! I'm not leaving!" Bella stomped her foot as she glared between Alice and Jasper. "I won't run away while everyone I love faces—-!"

"You heard what James found out," Jasper soothed, no doubt using his power on her to calm her down since she wasn't half as angry as she knew she would normally be. "Aro is planning on using you against us, and the only way he can do that is by stating our law: no human can know about vampires. You need to leave for a while until the danger has passed, Alice and I will take you to—-."

"No." Bella shook her head, refusing to just turn tail and run away, not when her pack needed her the most. "If my being a human is such a big deal then—-then I'll ask Victoria to turn me. She said she wouldn't unless Jake said she could, but I'll convince him to give her the okay." She raised her chin defiantly. "And don't you dare tell me not to."

Alice shared a look with her husband before reaching out and drawing Bella closer. "We don't want you making any rushed decisions, Bella. You still have so much to do - and Charlie—."

"You think I don't know how important this decision is? Do you think I've only just decided to become a vampire at this very moment? I'm not that rushed and immature." Bella glared at the pixie-like vampire. "I've been thinking about this for a while now, I've weighed the pros and cons, and it's what I want. I'm graduating in a couple of months, and Charlie would've had to—-even if you and Jasper—-," Bella stuttered a second before catching her breath. "Even if you two had never—-I would still want this. I always had."

Alice sighed as she tilted her head, clearly trying to gather her thoughts.

Jasper, on the other hand, grabbed Bella's hand. "Okay."

Bella's eyes widened. "Okay?"

Jasper smiled as he nodded, pulling the surprised girl onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her with a sigh. "Okay."

Alice glanced between the two of them before finally smiling as well and leaning forwards, resting her forehead against Bella's. "Okay."

Hands finding theirs, Bella squeezed them and smiled.

A new phase to her life was about to begin.

She couldn't wait.

…

Jane raised an eyebrow, clearly highly unimpressed with the bunny in the cell with her. Unlike the others she was fighting eating animals, and due to that she was very hungry, and due to that she was more bitchy than usual, which meant that Collin constantly found himself at the end of one barb after the other.

"C'mon, it's a cute bunny," Collin urged as he motioned towards the thing wriggling its nose at her. "Think of all of that warm blood rushing through its veins just waiting for you to snap its neck and drink."

Those scarlet eyes narrowed on him angrily. "I refuse to drink from a rodent."

"It's a rabbit not a rat," Collin whined, knowing he was constantly losing when it came to this vampire. When he'd found out Imprinting was a thing he'd always known he'd Imprint on a super cute girl, and he had, but he'd never realized his Imprint would be so difficult - or scary!

The snarl that escaped her lips sent shivers down his spine.

"We're mates, you know," Collin mumbled as he rubbed his arms nervously. "You should be nicer to me. I'm going to be taking care of you for the rest of our lives."

"Does this 'taking care' look anything like you feeding me rodents while I'm being held captive?" Jane wanted to know testily. "Because if it does, just kill me already."

He honestly hated it when she said things like that. A lot of the time Collin did not like Jane, and most of the time he was actually kind of terrified of her, but he didn't want anything to happen to her, and didn't appreciate her making comments about him actually hurting her, much less killing her. "I'd never hurt you."

Suddenly Jane was there, rattling the cage as the blacks of her eyes expanded. "But you are hurting me! You idiot! You're slowly starving me to death!"

"Bunny!" Collin pointed at the bunny with all his might.

"I don't want the freaking bunny!" She snapped as she rattled the cage angrily. And then her stomach growled, loudly, and she groaned as she leaned back hard against the cage and slid back against the bars to sit on the floor, something she'd been far too proud to do all these days since her capture.

Worry filled Collin with the intensity of a lightning strike. "Are you okay?" When she didn't answer, his voice went higher in panic. "JANE! Are you okay?"

Jane shifted to give him her back as her stomach growled again, loudly.

The bunny hopped towards her and twitched its nose invitingly.

Jane turned her back on the bunny even as a soft whimper escaped her lips, one he wouldn't have heard if he didn't have enhanced hearing.

The sound did something to Collin. He hadn't even realized what he was doing until the wet warmth trailed down his arm. "Jane, come."

The scent of blood caused her to stumble to her feet and turn to look at him, eyes wide in shock. "Are you an idiot?" She looked up from his bleeding arm to his face. "I'm a vampire. My venom—-!"

"I told you, didn't I?" Collin interrupted softly as he eased his bleeding arm inside the cage between the bars. "I'll take care of you."

Confusion was open on Jane's face as she just stared at him.

"C'mon."

Jane gulped before she slowly came closer, and then in seconds she was there, gripping his arm. The vampire didn't bite down into his flesh, instead she licked the blood trailing down his arm, chasing it away with her tongue before following it to the wound he'd made with his Swiss army knife. The blonde licked his wound roughly before seeming to realize he was flinching, and then, surprisingly, she went softer.

A sound that sounded close to a purr echoed off of the room as she drank from him, the feeling only a little weird and not painful like he'd thought, and then she pulled away much sooner than he'd have thought she would. Confusion was visible on her face as she backed away from him, licking the blood from her lips.

"I'm… full." Jane stared at him in utter bewilderment. "I hardly drank."

She must've staunched the bleeding somehow, because he wasn't bleeding over himself anymore, which was great. This was going to be hard to explain as it was, but Collin didn't regret it, he'd done what any good Imprinter would've done in his place, he'd provided for his Imprintee.

"Why would you do something as stupid as that?" Jane asked softly, surprisingly enough without the bite every single other word she'd ever spoken to him had carried. "I could've killed you easily by either sucking you dry, filling you with venom, or ripping your arm right out of its socket. It would've been so easy."

"Then why didn't you?" Collin wanted to know curiously as he leaned against the bars and stared at her.

Jane opened her mouth, closed it, and then blinked, clearly disturbed by something. "I—I don't know why."

"I'll tell you why," Collin declared softly. "It's because you're my Imprintee and I'm your Mate, just like I've been telling you for the last couple of days. I'm sorry you're in here, I don't want you to be here, but my Alpha—-as soon as I am allowed to let you out I will." His gaze met hers. "And I'm sorry for trying to make you eat bunnies. I should've provided better for you. That's my bad. But now that we know you can drink my blood you won't have to worry about drinking from rodents, okay?"

Jane tilted her head. "You—you're going to let me drink from you from now on?"

"Sure!" Collin grinned brightly. "It's a wolf's greatest pleasure to provide for his Imprintee. I still might be new to all this, and have a lot to learn, so you'll have to be patient with me as I screw up - but I really want to be a good Mate for you." He sighed. "I know it sounds like a whole load of crap coming from someone on the other side of prison bars, but I really mean it. I'll get you out of here as soon as I can, and when I do I'll do my best to make you happy."

There was utter silence, before Jane cleared her throat and bent to pick up the bunny, holding it in her arms as she rubbed it. She licked her lips and raised her chin. "Well, as long as we're on the same page about my meals I mightn't have to kill you when Aro gets us out." She pet the bunny as she sat down regally on the fold-out seat she'd had him bring for her the first day of her capture because she's refused to sit on the floor.

"I'd really appreciate you not killing me," Collin assured her.

Jane just stared at him before shaking her head, the ghost of a smile on her lips for a split second before she cleared her throat and raised her chin once more. "I'm bored." She continued to pet the bunny like a crime boss would the white cat on his lap. "Entertain me."

Smiling, Collin did just that.

…

Jake froze the second he entered the room and stared between Leah and Chelsea. The vampire was seated in the middle of the cage, humming happily to herself while finishing a meal out of a rabbit. The werewolf was seated at the very farthest corner of the small room, studiously ignoring both Chelsea and him.

The Alpha stared at the female werewolf and took in a deep breath, able to not only smell the absolute arousal in the air, but the fact that both the vampire and werewolf had each other's scents on each other. That, and the fact that Leah's scent was inside the cage. He would've snapped at the girl for risking entering the cage while in her human form, but the scent of sex was so strong in the air (and Leah was once more outside the locked cage and looked perfectly fine - if not completely mortified) that he decided not to mention anything right now.

The door opened and Edward stumbled visibly the second the scents hit him. His eyes were wide as he turned to Leah, his tone somewhat petulant when he muttered: "You beat my record."

Leah raised an eyebrow as she glanced between him and Jake, visibly doing her best to pretend this wasn't horribly embarrassing. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," Edward huffed before sighing and seeming to brush off his annoyance. "Bella's here with Alice and Jasper, says she needs to talk to you immediately." He inhaled deeply. "I didn't try to read her mind, but she was so nervous her thoughts were screaming at me - it's the talk."

"What talk?" Leah asked in confusion before her eyes widened in understanding. "That talk?"

Edward, able to read he thoughts, nodded.

Sighing, Jake glanced between Chelsea and Leah, and wondered just how many 'talks' he was going to have today.

Utterly depressed, Jake turned and followed Edward out.

…

Alec paced back and forth. He hadn't complained yet, but Aro could tell the boy was unnerved with how long his sister had gone without communicating with them. Despite how much the twins tried to pretend they didn't care about each other, it was little tells like this one that let Aro see just how much they truly cared.

"Soon, my boy," Aro declared as he placed a hand on Alec's shoulder, stopping his pacing. "We have to allow Chelsea to continue her work breaking the bonds between the Olympic Coven and the werewolf and mixed pack. The weaker they are, the easier and less bloody this has to be."

Alec nodded and returned to pacing.

Intrigued at the fact that Alec hadn't calmed down, Aro pressed his fingertips together and watched the young vampire pace.

…

"This is humiliating," Seth mumbled into James' neck as the moon light bathed their surroundings with its soft glow.

"You're the one who said we shouldn't stop to let you sleep," James replied as he rearranged his grip on the werewolf, who was very reluctantly taking a piggyback ride. "We mightn't sleep, but werewolves do, so this was really the only way."

"Was it though?" Seth whispered, clearly humiliated.

"We're faster than a bus would be," Garrett explained helpfully. "We have a better chance at making it to your pack in time if we're on foot, than if we took transport." He eyed Seth and James curiously. "So yes, I'm going to have to say that is the only way."

Seth huffed into James' hair. "Stop smirking, Riley."

"I'm not smirking." Riley smirked brighter.

The werewolf grumbled into James' neck, clearly able to sense Riley's evil enjoyment of his embarrassment. And yet, despite it all, he was very obviously exhausted from constant travel. It was the only reason why he was slowly relaxing against James.

Sending a look to Riley and Garrett which clearly conveyed his desire for them to shut up, James was pleased that even Garrett somehow managed to shut up. It was thanks to that that Seth finally relaxed completely against his back, having lost the battle with his exhaustion.

Garrett waved his hand to catch James' attention, and when he did he motioned whether they could go at their true speed now that the pup was asleep and wouldn't realize just how slow they'd been going to match his pace so he could remain in human form.

When James nodded, Garrett raced off, disappearing into the night.

Riley seemed about to do the same before he appeared in front of James and held up handcuffs, which he slapped around Seth's hands so the wolf wouldn't slip off during the ride. The fledgling could clearly see the questions in James' eyes as to why he had handcuffs, but other than an innocent smile which looked all kinds of wrong on his face, Riley didn't react before racing after Garrett.

Shifting the sleeping werewolf more securely on his back, James was glad no one could see the silly smile on his face before he took off.

…

"J-Jake." Bella left Alice and Jasper's side, the two standing by Alice's car, while the human hurried towards Jacob when they caught sight of each other. "I know this isn't the best time, and you have a lot on your hands, but I want to talk to you about something urgent."

"I know why you're here." Jake glanced behind her at Alice and Jasper, who were holding hands and leaning against each other, before his gaze returned to Bella as they stopped in front of each other.

Surprise fluttered over Bella's face as her gaze lowered to her feet. "Aro can't use my being a human against us if I'm not a human anymore." She cleared her throat and looked up at him. "With that alone we're upsetting the Volturi's plan."

"We can do this, stop them, without you giving up your life as a human," Jacob assured her, needing her to know this. He didn't want her to think she had to do this, not for them, not for anyone.

"I know," Bella was the one to assure this time.

"I just want to know you're not doing this for them," Jacob sighed as he motioned to where Alice and Jasper waited.

"I'm not." Bella grabbed his hand and held it tightly in hers. "Jake, ever since I found out that the supernatural world existed I've wanted to be a part of it. I want this, for me. Even if Alice and Jasper and I—-I'd still be here, right now." She squeezed his hand even tighter. "I want this, Jake. I want this with everything I've got."

"What about Charlie?" Jacob wanted to know. "We live with him, Bella. I think he's going to realize it if you disappear for three days only to return with golden eyes and skin that sparkles in the sunlight."

"I've got that all figured out," Bella admitted sheepishly. "I'll tell dad I'm studying and staying over at Victoria's. He wants me to get close to Leah because of Sue, so he'll jump at the thought of her and I bonding. I'll be turned, and I'll stay there - Victoria will help me. I can use colored contacts to keep my eyes brown, and when am I ever out in sunlight anyway? This is Forks."

"What about the bloodlust?" Jacob asked softly.

Bella was silent for a moment as her grip grew even tighter. "I am stronger than you give me credit, Jake."

"Bella, you run with werewolves and vampires," Jake whispered as their gazes met. "You're the strongest person I know."

Clearly touched, Bella blinked away happy tears.

"I love you, Bella, you're my best friend," Jake told her, voice thick with repressed emotion. "If you really want this, for the right reasons, I'll be there for you and help you as much as I can. I just want to know you've thought everything through and that you're making this decision for the right reasons." He cleared his throat. "I don't want you to ever regret joining this world, I don't want that for you, I want only the best for you, Bella."

Bella flung her arms around Jake and hugged him tightly. "I love you too, Jacob." She took in a very deep breath. "But I've made my choice."

Sighing, Jake nodded. "I'll message Vicki."