Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing characters or marvelous places from Stephanie Meyer's the Twilight Saga however I do own my characters and plot line of this story such as Zoe, Liam, their mom, and what other character you peoples don't recognize.

Chapter 16

"Zoe?" Xena said as I crashed through the front door, slamming it behind me as I stomped into the living room.

"What happened to you? You look like a mess." She said stopping me and caressing my leftover mascara and eyeliner ridden cheeks.

"Jake got into a fight with Embry over me. He hurt Em really bad and I…told him to go and he never came back. He's gone Z and no one knows where he is or what he's doing." I sobbed as she pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Shh. Everything's going to be okay. He's going to turn up sooner or later." Z said trying to soothe me.

"Will everyone stop saying that?!" I yelled in frustration breaking free from her arms and running into my room. I flopped onto my bed and squeezed my pillow so tight that I thought it would burst at any moment. At least it would feel just like me.

What if he never comes back? What will I do? I know I seem like a whinny clingy little leech but I've never needed anyone like I've needed Jake. When I'm around him, or even just think about him, my heart flutters and all my problems just seem to disappear. When we fight, I feel so low and when we're apart, even for just a week, my world comes crashing down. I don't know why I have this feeling or what it means, but I've never felt this way about anyone else in my life. Just thinking about him made me grip the pillow tighter as I continued to cry. I slid my hands under it and felt a paper between my fingers. I sat up and turned on my lamp as I read the sloppy note with droplets of liquid staining the letters and making them appear smeared.

Dear Zoe,

I'm so sorry about the way you found about the real me. I know I haven't exactly been Mr. Honest with you lately and that's why, but I am going to be completely honest with you now. Leaving was the only way I could think of to cope with myself and all the messed up crap that has been happening in my life lately. I really want to go running back to you, feel your arms around me again and have everything go back to 'normal' like it was before I was turned into this monster but you probably still hate for what I did not only to you but to Embry and I don't blame you for it. I wish I could take it back but I can't no matter how much I try. I hope you could forgive me one day.

Love Always and Forever,

Jacob Black

Reading this did not help my mood or the way I was feeling, it just made me feel even worse. I cried myself to sleep and once again dreamt of Jake in his wolf form but this time he was running from something, running from the world. Better yet, he was running far away from me.

*Day 26*

I can honestly say that this past month wasn't the most pleasant one. To put it in simple terms, I feel like I was hit by a car and thrown onto train tracks only to be hit by a cargo train then stampeded by a herd of elephants after that scraped off the tracks and finally fried in a frying pan like a pancake. Oh, and then I was slowly digested by a giant with acid reflex. Yeah, life's good. Anyway, I think I'm sick or I'm dying, maybe even both therefore I am going to call Billy and tell him that I am unable to go to his house.

"Please tell me you're coming this time." Billy said into the phone before I could even say 'hello' as I sat onto the couch and wrapped a quilt around me.

"I just don't feel well. I think I caught some bug-type-thing." I said coughing for effect.

"Just come over." He whined.

"I can't even dri…" I was cut off by a loud banging on my front door.

"I've already got that covered dear. See you soon!" He hung up quickly as I slowly stood up and backed away quietly hoping whoever was behind the door would realize that I'm home but it was no use. Two burly men stood in my doorway with huge, malicious grins spread from ear to ear.

"No! You'll never take me alive!" I yelled sprinting towards my room. My hand only barely skimmed the doorknob when I was dragged away by hot arms latching themselves through mine.

"Unhand me you filthy mutts!" I growled.

"Not a chance." Paul said smiling widely. The last sight I saw was Xena stepping out of the bathroom in just a towel and a confused look painted across her gorgeous face.

"Help!" I screeched grabbing onto the porch railing.

"Stop resisting!" Seth laughed only having to tug me lightly for my fingers to lose their grasp. My eyes narrowed as I gave up and just let them win. Paul handed me over to Seth and got into the driver's seat while Seth climbed into the passenger's seat with me still locked in his grasp.

"I hate you both." I said scrunching up my face.

"Love you too!" They said in unison as they kissed my cheeks.

"Eww! Doggy germs!" I squealed rubbing my face as the car jetted forward, taking me back to the Rez.

"Hello sweetie." Billy said smiling up to me.

"I don't like you." I glowered.

"Well, you love me. Plus, it's healthier for you to be here. If Jake…" He started but just the mere mention of his name felt like someone was punching me in the gut.

"Please don't." I said swallowing hard.

"Fine. Let Sue check you out though. There hasn't been a case like yours in awhile."

"A case…like mine?" I asked confused.

"What I mean is that there hasn't been an imprinter away from his imprint for more than a week in a few decades."

"Well don't I feel special." I grumbled as Sue walked through the front door with a small smile gracing her lips.

"Hi Mom!" Seth said running over to the woman and picking her up as he hugged her.

"Hey baby. Did you do you summer reading yet?" She asked glaring at him as he looked away guiltily.

"Of course he didn't Ma. He's been too busy looking for Sir Dipshit." Leah scoffed standing behind her.

"Shut up Leah." Seth and I said in unison side by side. We looked at each other with the most serious expressions on our faces, silently knuckle touched and then glared back at her.

"Double teaming now? I see how it is. Going against your own sister…" She dramatically gasped placing a hand over her chest.

"What about Jake? He's our brother too and while everyone is out searching for him, you couldn't care less!" Seth yelled out of his normal happy tone.

"That's not true. I just think he's an idiot, I mean, look at her. She's a mess." She said motioning to my body.

"Thanks Leah."

"Anytime." She smiled before turning away and jogging out the door.

"Isn't she just a gem…anyway, let's get on with the check up." Sue said then advising me to go to Jake's room, seeing as that was where we would have the examination. As I turned the corner to his room, my legs froze. The sudden rush of his scent filled my lungs, nearly knocking me over.

"Come on dear." Sue urged pushing me gently as she rubbed my back. After she shut the door and locked it behind her, she instructed me to take off everything except for my undergarments. If it was anyone else I would have found the strength to lift up one of the stray weights on the floor and beat them with it but strangely, I was comfortable with her, actually, I was more comfortable with the people on the Rez than I am with others. It's weird. It's like I'm meant to be here, socialize with the people here. Whatever, I guess it's probably part of the imprint thing, 'wanting to be where your soul mate is and liking who they like'. That theory would be correct if he was even here.

"Oh…" Sue gasped breaking me out of my trance.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked.

"When was the last time you looked in a mirror child?"

"Um, two weeks ago…why?" I asked scared. With that she placed her hands on my shoulders and turned me around to look in Jake's floor length mirror. My body was pale and bruised. I was almost so transparent that you could see my veins clearly. My scar used to just be a red color but now it looked too gross to describe. It was also…pulsating.

"I'm going to kick his ass when he gets back." I growled.

"If you don't, I will." Sue said angrily causing me to chuckle. After I got dressed, she opened the door and reported her 'findings' to Billy, who was equally pissed and concerned as Sue. They talked about it for a little, called Jake a few choice names, and then told me to go take a nice, warm bath because after that, I'm going to Emily's house. I happily agreed until I remembered what could be waiting for me once I got there.

"Em? Sam? Anybody?" I asked poking my still wet head through the door.

"Come in Zo!" Emily's voice called from the kitchen. I quickly stepped in from the cold and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey Em." I said trying to keep myself from falling apart. Emily turned around with a smile on her face that quickly faded. When her eyes met mine, she almost dropped the bowl in her hands. Her eyes then narrowed as she rushed behind me and threw the door open.

"SAM! YOU'D BETTER GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE NOW!" She screamed out the door and walked back to the counter nonchalantly.

"So, how have you been?" She said as her smile barely returned.

"Not good, I guess. I'm hurting all over and I've tried everything to get rid of the pain but nothing works." She nodded and went back to stirring. Within ten minutes, Sam and a few others returned.

"You called?" He said wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek.

"Take a good look at Zoe and then tell me how 'waiting it out' is going for her." She ordered walking away from him with a tray of brownies in one hand as she opened the stove with the other. Sam turned around and swallowed hard at my appearance, doing wonders for my self-esteem.

"Exactly, now stop worrying about Bella so much and go after Jake. She made her choice by choosing Edward and there's nothing we can do about it but we can find Jake."

"We've tried multiple times hun, he just doesn't want to be found."

"It doesn't matter what he wants. What matters is that they are both really sick and he has to come back sooner or later or else she's going to feel like someone's slowly pouring acid through her veins every moment of everyday. Trust me, I know about this particular subject." Em said causing Sam to drop his head.

"I told you I was sorry. You know that I couldn't just drop everything and rush to you even if that's what every fiber in my being wanted. It wouldn't have been right." He murmured walking over to her.

"I know you are sweetheart and I'm not trying to make you feel bad but something still has to be done." She said sweetly caressing his cheek.

"I'll do everything I can but I can't promise any results." He said giving in. She lent up on her tippy-toes and kissed him. I felt awkward watching them do this so I looked away towards the

"I love you." I heard him say.

"I love you too." She said back.

"Is dinner ready yet?" Jared yelled from the other room, breaking the two apart.

"Crap!" Em exclaimed pushing Sam away as he laughed along with me. She opened the oven door and took out the brownies just in time. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and let out a relieved breath. She then grabbed a wooden spoon and whacked Sam on the butt with it.

"Hey, what was that for?" He asked rubbing his behind.

"That's for distracting me!" She laughed.

"Oh you little…" He said as he chased her around the kitchen. I stepped out of the room and let them have their little moment as I wondered if I would ever had what they have. After they were done playing cat and mouse, we ate dinner and finished off with perfectly cooked brownies.

"Do you want to sleep over?" Em asked from Sam's lap.

"I would love to but I have no clothes with me. I was kind of brought here as a hostage." I said then turned my head to glare at Seth and Paul sitting next to each other with fake innocent looks on their faces.

"That's alright. I actually bought you a pair of pajamas the last time you were here just in case you didn't have any..." She said shyly getting up, only to be pulled back and kissed by Sam.

"Dude, we just ate." Quil said gagging. Em stuck her tongue out at him before standing up and getting me the clothes she'd promised. I slipped the pair of long black and white polka dotted pants and white shirt on in the back room and returned to the living room. Emily then braided my hair in a messy side braid before the devil walked in through the front door.

"Zoe." Was all that Embry said as his eyes met mine.

"Embry." I said coldly turning my head away from him.

"You look better than Leah said you did." He said sitting down next to me.

"Well, she's not the most Truthful Trudy on the planet, is she now?" I said scooting away from him only for him to follow. I grunted and stood up to walk away but he stopped me with what he said next.

"I heard from Jacob." He said bluntly causing me to turn around and stare at him wide-eyed along with the others.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"I'll tell you if come back and sit next to me." He said patting the once vacant seat next to him. I sighed and sat back down.

"Okay, so I'm here. Tell me." I ordered.

"Wow, he really messed you up…" He said loud enough for me to hear.

"Enough, I know I look like shit. Just tell me what he said."

"Okay, okay. I didn't really hear from him. I found him…in Canada."

"You found him and didn't bring him back?" I asked angrily.

"Well, dragging a giant wolf form is harder than it sounds. Plus I didn't really think of it then."

"You…didn't…think of it? You're such a moron! Sam, can I hit him? Please?" I asked. Sam nodded and I immediately reached for the pillow behind me and began beating him senseless with it.

"He asked…about…you!" He said in between beatings, making me stop.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"I told him that I haven't seen you since he left and I sort of replayed what happened after in my head. He was sort of upset of it but he just thought about what you would look like after this long, causing me to think about it too and trust me, we have pretty creative minds and what we came up with was even scarier than Leah in the morning. He told me to go back and tell the pack to look after you for a little while longer until he returns."

"Did he tell you when he was going to come back?"

"He didn't say. Sorry." He said causing whatever hope I had left to deflate.

"Well, at least some one has some sort of communication with him." Em said trying to liven the mood.

"Yeah, and now I know why I was savagely dragged here." I said leaning back on the couch.

"That too. Anyway, I think it's time for Zoe, whoever isn't patrolling and I to go to bed. I have a feeling that tomorrow's going to be a long day for all of us." Em said. I grunted as I stood up and shuffled my feet to the back room.

I lied down on the bed and opened my phone, finding that I had five new messages from Xena, asking why there was a note on the table reading 'Kidnapped, be home in a few days.' I once again sighed and texted back telling her that I was being held for a ransom three bags of gummy bears and two chocolate bars at Emily's house. She responded with an 'Oh shit…should have asked me about an hour ago. You know me and my cravings...I'll be there with my rescue squad in a few.' Thinking she was joking, I began to drift off to sleep when I was woken up by a loud blow horn. I got out of bed and rubbed my eyes sleepily.

"What's…Z, Cat?" I asked as a group of angry, yet confused muscular men were surrounding Catherine and Xena, who had three bags of gummy bears in one hand and two Hershey bars in the other.

"You know them?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, she's like, my best friend and the other's my sister, who you know. What are you guys doing here?"

"We found her sneaking around the house while Catherine was sitting in the car." Quil said.

"Number one, I'm more like her sister. Second of all, I was responding to a worrying text about a vicious kidnapping. Now Zoe, can you call of your guard dogs so I can give them your bail and get you home?" She asked.

"Um, see, here's the thing. I'm supposed to be here for some stupid reason and I'm kinda not supposed to leave." I said.

"Is it because of Jake? That no good…I was going to rent a bunch of movies tonight so we could have a movie marathon to cheer you up but now we can't. That jerk's foiling my plans even when he isn't the same damn country. Whatever, looks like we're sleeping over too." She announced. I glanced over at Emily and she nodded.

"Okay, my room's in the back." I said to them as they followed me. Xena got to borrow a pair of Emily's pajamas while Cat borrowed pants from Em and a shirt from Sam seeing as she was…more developed than all of us combined. After they changed, Cat opened the bag of gummy bears and laid next to me.

"So exactly what are you doing here?" She asked eating the head off of some poor gummy bear while she was propped up on her elbow.

"Jake has gone missing, which you know, and the guys just want me here if he comes back. I'm pretty much the only one who could beat the crap out of him and get away with it." I said not exactly telling the truth but not lying either.

"Figures. When the hell is he just going to man up already?" Cat exclaimed eating a family of defenseless gummy bears whole.

"I have no idea but can we just go to bed now?" I asked done with the discussion. They nodded and we all squeezed under the covers of the queen sized bed. Eventually we all fell asleep in our strangely comfortable positions.

Waking up the next morning was pretty weird. Xena, Catherine and I all woke up to the sweet scent of pancakes. When we tried to get up to go get some food, we realized that we must have been playing Twister in our sleep because Xena's leg somehow found its way across my torso and by my ear while my hand was laying on her throat and my leg was spread over her body, making it impossible to get up. After five minutes of Catherine detangling us, we raced to the kitchen like a bunch of savages.

"Food!" Z exclaimed ignoring the cook's death glares.

"Zoe, tell your 'sister' to get her grubby paws off my food." Embry glared in front of the stove.

"Zoe, tell your 'brother' to get that stick out of his ass and get over it. I want me some pancakes." Xena said stealing his plate and running off with it.

"Why you little…" He yelled almost charging after her but remained back with the still cooking batch that was on the stove. Catherine stole some of that batch while I just stared at the frying pan.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Embry asked.

"Nope. I haven't really eaten much lately. I'm just not hungry anymore plus, the last time I ate pancakes the rest of the day didn't turn out well." I said patting him on the back and leaving the kitchen to go get dressed. I noticed that I had no clothes here but I had some back at Billy's. I went back to the living room to find my chipmunk-wannabe-sisters stuffing their faces with pancakes.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back. I'm going to go pick something up from Billy's." I said grabbing Z's keys and leaving them with mouths full of pancakey-goodness.

I drove back to his house to pick up my old laundry and to do his but first, I decided to check the mailbox first. There were some bills that I'll help Billy with later but one glamorous envelope caught my eye. I stood in the cold on opened it carefully. My jaw dropped as I read the invitation out loud.

You are cordially invited to celebrate the wedding of

Edward Mason Cullen

And

Isabella Marie Swan

All I saw were the names and the event and I discontinued reading the rest. Bella. Maybe she knows more about what's going on with Jake. I scanned the rest of the extravagant letter and found the RSVP number. I then took out my cell phone wearily and dialed the number and of course got her voice mail.

"Hey, it's Zoe. Before you hang up or delete this message, I just want you to know that I'm not looking to fight, I just want to talk to you about…Jake…he's been gone for awhile now and it's scaring me. I promise not to come within three feet of you if you just meet me at First Beach. If you decide to go, I'll be there by two o'clock. Please Bella, I'm begging you to show up. Bye." I pleaded. I hung up and walked to Billy's front door, not believing that I had just set up a meeting with the one person I hate the most in the world to discuss the very man she took away from me. I really must be desperate.