AN: Sorry this one took so long. My beta ACEMCKEAN was unavailable this week so this is unBETAed. I hope you all enjoy. Next chapter is the battle. I will send a preview to all who review. :) Interview with a vampire will be up soon!!!

Chapter 54

*****EPOV*****

The scene before my eyes was like a war zone. Charlie's cruiser was torn to shreds and the wolves looked destroyed. Their thoughts were all on one thing. Paul. Leah, the naked female on the side of the road was almost comatose due to her grief. She was lying across Paul's naked body. I assumed he must have been her mate.

Victoria had killed Paul.

I listened to Jacob's thoughts. I knew we had broken the treaty by being here, but there was no stopping Bella. I decided to stay with her, but all the others were waiting right at the treaty line.

Jacob's thoughts finally lingered on the fact that we had broken the treaty before he shook his head and addressed me in our minds.

"Hey Edward. Yeah you broke the treaty but I just don't care," he said.

"How can we help, Jacob?" I asked him.

"Can your doc help Leah? And maybe we'll need clothes or blankets," he asked.

"Let me call everyone, Jacob. I'm sorry about Paul. He didn't deserve this," I told him.

"It's my fault. I thought he'd be safe. I didn't do my part. It's all me," he said.

I heard the other wolves argue with him, internally. He wasn't listening.

"Jacob, there was no way you could have known, Man. I never knew she was this vicious. Man, she had Bella and my kids. I've been killing myself. I couldn't even protect my girl and my babies!" I told him.

Bella squeezed my hand in response.

"Bella, call Carlisle and get them all in here. Tell them we need blankets and maybe some clothes. Tell them Victoria killed Paul," I told her.

"Oh God No!!!! Damn Victoria to hell!! Oh my God!! Edward, what about my dad? What about Charlie?" she asked, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Nobody knows love. There is no trace of him. We know Victoria attacked him but there is no blood and no body," I told her, reading the information from the wolves' minds.

She took a few deep breath and dropped my hand. She gave me Arriel and picked up her cell phone. She dialed Carlisle's number as she walked over towards the cruiser. I watched as she walked, my eyes never left her.

"Carlisle," I heard her greet as he answered.

"No, Edward says the treaty is fine. We need you all here. You'll need your bag though," she told him.

When she got to the cruiser her free hand brushed her father's door. She moved the twisted metal, easily, and sat in his seat.

"No, it's not Charlie. They killed one of the wolves. They killed Paul. His mate is here. She isn't doing good." Bella said. "She'll need some clothes. She is a wolf too and well she phased to human and has nothing."

I watched as she walked to the back of the cruiser and forced the trunk open.

"Hold on, Carlisle. I have blankets and Charlie's coat here. Just come now. Thanks Carlisle," she said, closing the phone and grabbing the items from the back of the cruiser.

She walked back over towards us, but turned instead to go stand with Leah.

"Leah," she addressed the naked girl. My brothers, sisters and friends will be here in under a minute. Let me help you get this coat on and cover Paul."

Leah, who to this point had not even moved, cautiously sat up and turned towards Bella.

The tears streaming down her face did not cease for even a second, but she nodded and let Bella slip the coat on her. Then Bella spread open the blanket and Leah helped her cover Paul, not as you would cover a dead body, but as you would cover a person in bed.

Bella sat next to her and rubbed her back soothingly. Leah did something I completely didn't expect. She launched herself into Bella's arms and sobbed loudly.

Bella held her, as she would hold one of our children. Pulling Leah's head to her chest and rocking her soothingly. When she turned her head in our direction, I saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.

I heard the others approaching and turned and told Jacob that they were here.

"Jacob, everyone is here now. Carlisle will do what he can for Leah," I told him.

"Bella's already done more than any of us. She really is incredible," Jacob said to me in his mind, then addressed the wolves. "These guys are here to help us. The treaty is intact as I have invited them here. Nobody will harm them and you will treat them with dignity and respect, as they have treated us."

The wolves grumbled internally for a minute, but the sight of Bella crying while cradling Leah next to Paul's lifeless body was enough to stop them. Once again, Bella seemed to surprise everyone.

As the others arrived, I noticed Carlisle was missing.

"He's gone for the bag," Esme said in her mind, addressing my unspoken question.

Eleazar approached us and bowed his head to Jacob.

"I am sorry for the loss of your brother. I speak for my family, when I say we say we are terribly sorry for the loss of your brother. We will all help however you need," he said.

"Edward," Jacob said internally. "Tell him we need a car. We need to bring Paul's body home. Then we need to clear the cruiser and make it look like everything is okay."

I passed the message on to Eleazar and he nodded, returning to the others. I saw Alice pick up her phone and I assumed that she was having Carlisle bring the Mercedes. Some of the boys went over to the cruiser and I saw Emmett and Jasper lift the car and carry it into the brush. The others cleaned up the bits of shredded metal and went to place them in the cruiser. Alice and Esme joined Bella and Leah next to Paul's body.

It was only minutes later when Carlisle appeared in the Mercedes. He stopped directly next to Paul's lifeless form and hopped out slowly.

Bella looked up to him and gave a half hearted smile.

Jacob and I approached them slowly.

"Jacob," Carlisle addressed. "I am so sorry for the loss of your brother."

Jacob the wolf nodded his head.

Carlisle approached Bella and Leah.

"Leah?" he asked. "Can I get you anything? I can give you a sedative if you need. Just let me know."

"No," she sniffled. "I need to be able to help. I won't let him die in vain. I will avenge my imprint. I will..."

"We need to move Paul. Where shall we bring him?" Carlisle asked.

"To our house. We will lie him in the bed until we can bury him properly," she answered, still clinging to Bella like a lifeline.

"Do you mind if the boys carry him, or would you prefer if your brothers do it?" he asked gently.

"If they promise to kill that bitch, then they are my brothers too. If they treat him with respect then I would like for your sons to put him in the car and bring him home," she said before breaking into body wrenching sobs.

Bella pulled Leah tighter to her as Emmett and Jasper approached Paul's body. Carlisle went to the trunk of his car and brought out another blanket. He lay the blanket out next to Paul's body. Jasper and Emmett gently lifted Paul's form, still covered in Charlie's police blanket, onto the blanket Carlisle provided.

Once he was on the blanket Esme and Alice wrapped the blanket around all but his face. Then Emmett leaned down and picked up Paul's large form with the ease of a mother picking up her child, and carried him tenderly to the backseat of the car. Jasper went around to the far door and helped maneuver his large body onto the seat.

Once he was in the back and the door was closed Carlisle motioned for Bella to bring Leah to the front seat. After she got Leah in the front, he handed her the keys.

"We'll all follow on foot," he said quietly to her.

She nodded and looked at me. When our eyes met, she gently mouthed the word "I love you" to me. I mouthed "Me too" back. Then she got into the car and drove slowly towards the reserve. The wolves and the vampires, together walked alongside and behind the car.

It seemed Paul's death had brought us together. Natural enemies now had a common bond. We would work together to kill Victoria. What the future held after that was anyone's guess.

*****VPOV*****

There were wolves here!

Damn it! I knew I recognized that scent. It is a little different.

No matter though, if they are involved in this fight they will kill as many Cullens as they will kill my warriors.

Damn, I would never have guessed that THAT girl's father would know any wolves. I assumed that the Cullens' would have kept him protected, imagine my surprise when I came across his scent.

I had caught a scent from some of the Cullens and started to track it when I caught Charlie's scent in the distance. If that damn wolf hadn't have seen me it would have gone completely undetected until I was long past the area.

You see, I was quite a powerful vampire, that's what made James and I so lethal. I was glad that we had never shared that fact with that fool, Laurent.

Stupid man went and got himself involved with an animal drinker. What a joke!

I went for a visit, to try to see if he would join me to take down the Cullens. He always enjoyed my twisted ways. Imagine my surprise when I found that his coven was huge and had a powerful vampire patriarch that my senses told me to me to avoid.

I always trusted my senses. My special power was one of evasion. I could not only avoid personal attacks, but my sense always lead me away from danger. I always got away from any sticky situation. I was able to use it to avoid any vampires power.

I knew when I met Aro, that I must never shake his hand.

I knew that the little sight seer Cullen could only see me if I set my mind on one course.

I knew that the mind reader could only sense my current thoughts.

I knew that Kate Denali should not be touched.

Yes, this power has served me well over the years.

I had Charlie slung over my shoulders in a fireman's carry. He wasn't heavy, just bulky and I wanted to move fast.

I was glad that I had kept Charlie from bleeding, that would not have gone over well with my warriors to have fresh human blood flowing before the battle started.

I would wait until the Cullens arrived before letting loose any blood. Then I would cut him.

It would work my glorious newborns into a frenzy, while serving to distract the Cullens. They seemed to love this lowly human, not quite a pet, as Bella had been as a human, but close.

Plus Bella would probably do anything for Daddy Dearest.

New plan....hmmmm. I just know it will work. All I need to do is separate Bella from her mate, then get Bella close to her daddy before I do it... Then, at my bidding, sweet little Bella will .... well I better keep my mind moving or that little seer will know.

And this is my plan... nobody will know until it's time!

I still wondered how that little witch got away from Bobby and Riley, and how those two ended up dead. They probably got caught by her mate and his coven. Even with their gifts, they couldn't avoid that many vampires. I just hope that they took out one or two, making today easier.

Since Bella knew my plans, I knew that she and the Cullens would show up at the right time, I just changed my plans a bit in the middle, and I kept the knowledge of our numbers a secret from all but myself. Riley and Bobby knew of my twenty five newborns, but nobody knew of my nomad friends, that were joining us. Today would be a good day to watch people die, and finally avenge my mate!

I arrived at the field, knowing that the rest of my warriors would be here soon. I took Charlie's limp body into a high tree and ripped pieces of fabric from my skirt to secure him there. If he was conscious by the time the battle started, he would have a front row seat to the destruction of his daughter and her family.

*****BPOV*****

I drove the car slowly towards the village. I saw Jake run ahead, I'm assuming to let the elders know about the new turn of events, and that sixteen vampires were descending on the village.

Once we hit the main road, Leah looked up, more aware of her surroundings.

"Our house... my house... is on the first road to the left. Next to Sam and Emily," she said quietly.

"I've never been here,since my change," I said quietly. "You'll need to show me."

"Okay. And, Bella... Thank you," Leah said softly.

"It's okay, Leah. We're all here for you... It's just that boys don't think the same as we do," I said softly.

"What am I going to do without him?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know, Leah. I can't even begin to imagine," I said, reaching out to grab her hand. She placed her large, dark skinned hand in my small, pale one. Fire touching ice, yet neither of us pulled away.

"That's the house, on the left," she said motioning towards a small blue house.

I turned the Mercedes into the driveway, and stopped so that the passenger side was right by the front door. As soon as I was parked, the only neighbor was on her front porch, looking at the car.

I got out first, and she glared at me. She knew about vampires. This must be Emily, Sam's mate. I walked around to the passenger side and opened the door for Leah. I could hear the others approaching, they would be here in seconds, so I reached my hand down to take Leah's and help her out of the car, the whole time I was aware of the other woman's eyes on me.

As I led Leah from the car, the other woman gasped.

"Leah," she cried, launching herself from her front porch towards us. She hadn't even taken three steps across the grass when a large black wolf cut her off, and used his muzzle to gently hold her back.

"Sam! Let me go to Leah. Look at her! She needs me," Emily pled.

Sam growled softly and pushed her back. It was then I saw the long scars on the left side of her face. They had been hidden by the angle she been walking at and her long black hair.

"Please, Sam," Emily begged. "I need to be there. I can't just stand here knowing that she's hurting. Please, Sam, let me go."

The huge wolf looked into his mate's eyes and let out a huge huff and stepped to the side.

She ran across the remaining distance between us and grabbed Leah's other side.

"LeeLee, what happened?" she begged.

"Paul..." was all Leah managed to say before her body was wracked with sobs once again.

Emily grabbed Leah into a tender hug, which was only slightly awkward since Leah refused to let go of my hand.

"Emily," I said, looking at the girl. "Paul's dead. He died trying to protect Charlie."

Emily looked at me, horror struck as the other wolves and vampires started milling around. She pulled back away from Leah and stared at Sam, the wolf, shaking her head, no. He bowed his head in response, as did all the other wolves.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"In the car," I said softly.

"Leah asked that we bring him here for now. She wanted him here for the battle," Carlisle explained.

"You can't still be going to fight. NO!" she yelled, obviously horrified.

"Emily," Edward said, standing next to me, our children in his arms.

Emily stared at him, then at the babies.

"Sam needs some thing Emily. He needs you to go inside and get clothes for all the guys. They phased so fast that their clothes are shredded back at the Black place," Edward said, calmly.

"NO! How can this happen? How can you know that? Please, someone tell me this is a joke!" She asked, obviously going into shock.

Carlisle reached into the trunk of the Mercedes for his bag again, looking calmly at Sam, who was still in wolf form.

Emily seemed stuck in place, trembling and shaking her head back and forth.

"Edward get Sam to tell you where the clothes are and Rosalie and I will grab them," Alice said.

"Laundry room, off the kitchen in a brown box," Edward replied.

All eyes were now fixed on poor Emily and Leah, who both seemed to be falling apart. Honestly, who could blame them?

The tears were running down my cheeks freely at this point and Edward stood as close to me as he could with the babies in his arms. Esme seemed to sense what we needed and she came and scooped the babies from Edward's arms, freeing them so he could wrap them around me.

Everyone was still for a moment, frozen in grief and fear... and love.

Alice and Rosalie broke the stillness, as the ran back towards us with the box. Opening the box, they grabbed enough pairs of pants and shorts to give one to each wolf. As Rosalie turned to start distributing them she realized an important point: None of the wolves had hands.

She looked around, shocked for a moment, before grabbing all the shorts and running around to the back of the house, dropping them in a pile in the woods, and running back.

As soon as the wolves made their way to the back, I pulled away from Edward's grasp and started to pull Leah inside. She needed to be wearing more that a long police officer's coat. Emily realized what I was doing, but seemed unable to move. Still frozen with shock and fear.

By the time I had the sobbing Leah at her front door, Sam was back, in human form, and had scooped Emily up, bridal style and carried her towards their house. I brought Leah into her bathroom and started a shower for her.

"Leah, why don't you have a quick shower. I'll grab you some clothes and be right back," I told her.

She nodded and stepped out of Charlie's jacket, not at all uncomfortable with me. I went to the bedroom and searched for some clothes for her. I pulled out some comfortable black sweats and underclothes before fixing up the unmade made, for Paul. As I walked back down the hall I met Alice.

"The wolves are going to bring him in now," she whispered.

"Okay," I said softly.

"His brothers are going to clean and dress him. so keep Leah in there for a little bit," she added.

I nodded, before entering the bathroom again. Leah was sitting on the bottom of the shower stall with her knees pulled up and her face on her knees. The sobbing had stopped.

"I bet it was his temper," she said in a hoarse voice.

"What do you mean, Leah?" I asked.

"Why this happened. His temper always managed to get the best of him. He probably argued with Charlie and caused Charlie to stop the car," Leah added.

"Leah, Victoria is an evil monster. She is heartless and cruel. If Charlie hadn't been out of the car when Paul saw her, he very well may have killed him by phasing in such close proximity. That would have killed Paul. He did his best and I know he died trying to protect my dad. I will be in his debt forever," I promised her as I turned off the water and handed her a fluffy white towel.

"But your dad is still gone," she said, almost seeming to question why I was grateful.

"It doesn't change the act. He died for my dad. When we find him, I'm sure he'll say the same thing," I said, although my conviction of finding him alive was slowly waning.

I helped Leah dress, because honestly, she hardly seemed able to stand up. I listened intently to the action in the house and I knew that the wolves were all in the bedroom. I slowly brushed out Leah's hair, giving them a few more minutes. I was relieved to hear them walk back down the hall. I pulled Leah out and into the living room. She was instantly swarmed by her wolf brothers in human form. As Nathan scooped her up into an Emmet worthy bear hug, I took my leave to go and sit with Edward. He held Jace close to him while Rosalie sat to his left with Arriel. As I approached he shifted Jace over and pulled me into his lap. I snuggled my head into his neck, reveling in his scent.

"You did good, Bella," he told me softly.

Good job? Hah! If I had truly done something right Charlie would be here and Paul would be alive.

"What about Charlie?" I asked him.

"I don't know, Love," he answered sadly.

Review for a Preview!!!!