Bella's POV

Wearing jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a heavy jacket, I reached the end of Route 110 and climbed out of my car—I'd had to give up the truck when I was pregnant with Lizzie, since it had no back seat for her car seat. The rest of the trip would have to be made on foot. The first time I'd come out here after Edward left—with Jacob's help—I'd gotten horribly lost. We'd come back several times after that, eventually getting close.

The first time I found it, I was by myself, and I'd never been happier about that fact. I'd broken down in horrible, gut-wrenching sobs. That had been the worst moment I'd had in months, and I'd felt again like I had right after he left. That was exactly a year ago, on the first anniversary of the day Edward took me to his meadow.

Now, exactly two years to the day, I was going back. If someone had asked me why, I wasn't sure I could tell them. It was a way to keep him close. A place that was...just us.

Memories assaulted me as I quickly hiked through the trees.

Wildflowers, in violet, yellow, and white

Soft sounds of the birds, a nearby stream, and the wind as it blew through the surrounding trees

Edward, sparkling in the sun for the first time

Showing me his strength, his speed

Our first kiss...

Other memories of my time with Edward raced through my mind, making my stomach flutter, like a thousand butterflies had been set loose inside me. Some were good, some were bad, but I could look back on them now without falling apart—usually. I would never stop loving him, and I would never forget him, but everything I'd been through in the last eleven months had put a lot of things in perspective.

When I finally reached the edge of the meadow, I took a moment to collect myself and then stepped out into the sunlight. As it always had, the beauty of it took my breath away. The flowers were still the brilliant colors I remembered. There wasn't much of a breeze at the moment, so everything was still.

Ethereal.

I walked out to the middle of the field of flowers and sat, letting my emotions swell and build, until I found tears running silently down my cheeks. I was crying for lost love and heartache. I still ached for him as much as I had the day he left. I wasn't whole, and even though I loved Lizzie with every fiber of my being and would die to protect her, there was a piece of me that was missing. When Edward left, he ripped a hole in my chest and tore my heart to shreds. When my daughter was born, that first moment I saw her, when she gripped my finger in her tiny fist, that love helped repair some of the damage done when Edward left me in the woods, telling me he didn't want me to come with him. But I was far from healed. In fact, wasn't sure I ever would be. I truly believed, at the very least, that I would always feel a twinge in my chest when I woke up and realized Edward wasn't back.

But some of the tears were happy tears, brought forth from the memories of my time with Edward. I remembered the first time he brought me here to the meadow—how new we still were as a couple, making every moment I spent with him feel magical, especially in this place that was full of life and innocence. Seeing his skin in the sun for the first time, sparkling like his body was covered in diamonds, had just added to the magic. He'd made the beautiful scenery seem dull in comparison to the wonder that was Edward—from his skin, to his strong jawline, and his fathomless eyes, which went from a honey gold to black and back again. This place was where he'd ultimately declared his feelings for me, the insignificant human.

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."

The word love coming from his perfect lips had warmed me beyond measure.

It was at the end of that first visit that we'd shared our first kiss, as well. Just the briefest touch of his cool, firm lips to mine, and I was lost. I'd thrown myself at him, shocking us both, but it had been a moment I would never forget.

For a moment, I was back in time. I could almost feel him with me, his finger tracing the blush that inevitably rose on my cheeks in his presence, his nose sweeping across my collarbone to my neck, inhaling gently, acclimating himself to my scent. Like he had that first visit to this special place, I could feel him hug me to him, resting his ear against my chest as he listened to the rather excited beating of my heart.

For a long time, I sat there in the sun, lightly touching the petals of the nearest flowers with the tips of my fingers. It was so peaceful, like a healing balm to my soul.

And then...I heard a voice.

"Ahh, it's the lovely Bella," Laurent said. His French accent was thicker than I remembered from our previous meeting, but unlike last time, I could hear the menace dripping from his words. His blood-red eyes were like a beacon of evil.

"What, uh...what are you doing here?" I stammered. "I thought you were in Alaska."

He chuckled—even that sounded evil to my ears—and shook his head. "Yes, well, as it turns out, that lifestyle didn't suit me. I left it some time ago."

"So you're on your own?" I tried to calm my racing heart, because I knew he could hear it easily, but one more glance at his deadly looking eyes had it beating infinitely faster.

"No..." he said, drawing out the word. "I met up with an old friend recently and have been traveling with her. You remember Victoria, no?"

Flaming red hair that matched her eyes. James's mate. Oh yes, I remembered Victoria.

"No," I said, trying to put as much bravado in my voice as I could muster. "Can't say I do."

He laughed again. "Oh, come now. Your mate—Edward, is it?—killed hers. I'm sure you remember James. After all, he did give you that...lovely scar, didn't he?" He glanced down at my arm, where the edge of the crescent-shaped scar showed just past the end of the sleeve of my jacket.

I didn't bother answering him, but pulled my sleeve down until I was clutching the end in my fist as I began backing away slowly.

"Where are you going?" he asked smoothly, taking a step toward me. "Don't you want to get to know one another better?"

I shook my head slightly. "I, uh, think I'd better get home. It was, uh, nice to see you again."

I turned and began moving much more quickly in the direction of my car, but before I'd taken five steps, Laurent was in front of me, halting my progress. I started to try to run around him—a futile gesture, I knew—and was stopped by his hands on my arms. His fingers wrapped around my biceps, squeezing just this side of painful.

"I think you should stay awhile," he said softly, pulling me to him. "I've been traveling a long time to see you, Bella. It would be...rude of you to leave now."

He held me tight to him, using one hand to brush my hair away from my neck.

"Wh-What do you want?" I asked, my voice shaking as hard as my body was beginning to.

"Oh, my delightfully scented Isabella..." He leaned in and brushed his nose along the column of my throat.

Funny, when Edward had done that, it had been erotic. Now, though, I was just terrified.

"I think I will enjoy this," he purred before leaning down once more.

I felt his tongue lick the side of my neck once, and then his teeth sliced through my skin, immediately bringing with it a fiery pain. I didn't know how long we stood there, him drinking from my neck as I struggled weakly, but the next thing I knew, he was yanking his mouth away.

He screamed something in French, and then he pushed me away from him. I fell to the ground, hitting my head on the hard earth, and as my vision dimmed, I saw him turn and run. Just before it all went black, I saw wolves race by, giving chase, and then Jacob's concerned face appeared above mine.

~*~*~FC~*~*~

Jacob's POV

On my orders, the rest of the pack raced off after the dreadlocked bloodsucker while I stayed behind to attend to Bella. As soon as I shifted back to two legs instead of four, I pulled on shorts and stumbled over to my friend, who was lying crumpled and bleeding among the flowers.

"Bella?" I called, bending over her in time to see her eyes slide closed.

Blood covered her head and shoulders. At first I thought she'd hit her head when the vamp threw her down, but when I looked closer, I saw... Shit! There was a gaping bite mark on her neck.

The fucker had bitten her.

For a moment, I thought about killing her—she was going to turn into a vampire, my natural enemy, after all—but I immediately dismissed that idea. Bella was my friend, and as much as I hated what she was going to become, I would give her the benefit of the doubt. If she didn't follow the "vegetarian" diet, though, I knew I'd have no choice.

Bella began to thrash about, moaning and muttering something.

"What? Bella, it's Jake. Say that again," I urged.

"Hurts!" she cried, still not opening her eyes. "Victoria! Oh, God, Laurent! Bit me! Jake, help! It hurts! Oh, God, Lizzie! Jake, help!"

Victoria? That was the red-headed vamp that Bella had told me about last year. Shit, was she involved? I had to get Bella out of here. When the screaming started—and I knew it would, if any of the stories I'd heard were true—I would need to have Bella far away, or the rest of the pack would hear her.

I moved away from Bella and shifted, immediately blocking the rest of the pack from my thoughts of Bella's condition.

Jake! they all called when I joined them in silent conversation.

What's going on? I asked.

Seth, my second-in-command, barked an order to everyone else to hush before answering me. We have the vamp trapped and are about to go in.

Be careful, I warned them. I'm taking Bella somewhere safe. She said Victoria had something to do with this, so I'm not taking any chances. Quil, Embry, go guard Charlie's place. I'll check back after we get where we're going.

I didn't wait for any responses before I shifted back, threw my shorts back on, and carefully picked up the now-screaming Bella.

"Come on, Bells," I murmured. "Let's get you someplace safe."

With Bella securely in my arms—which was more difficult than I'd thought it would be, considering she was thrashing about like crazy—I raced up the mountain as quickly as I could. I knew of a spot way up, surrounded by trees and far from any possibility of coming across a human, and it was far enough away that no one—including my pack—would be able to hear her screams. It would be perfect for us to stay while Bella finished changing.

I had no idea what we would do then. Poor Lizzie and Charlie. Leaving her daughter would hurt Bella more than anything else ever could, including when Cullen had left her in the woods two years ago.

The next three days were hell on earth—quite literally for Bella, as she lay there screaming until she was hoarse. I tried several times to calm her, but my touch only set her off more. I could only guess that she was feeling hot enough that the extra warmth from my body made it worse.

About twenty-four hours into her change, I'd shifted and called to Seth privately. With him as my Beta, the two of us had the ability to speak to one another without any of the rest of the pack listening in, even if they were in wolf form. I'd given him our location, told him to give orders to the pack to continue keeping an eye on Charlie, Lizzie, and the rez, and ordered him up to Bella and me immediately.

When he'd made it up the mountain, I'd taken a few minutes to explain about Bella and then sent him off to stand guard in wolf form, so he'd hear if anyone—human or otherwise—came near. Being able to keep our thoughts private from the rest of the pack was a big help in cases like this, when one of us needed to be in our other skins but still maintain some privacy.

Now, I knew it was just a matter of hours, if not minutes, until Bella woke, fully transformed into a vampire. I'd left Seth with Bella a few hours ago and shifted to get something to eat. As a wolf, I could hear her heartbeat, and it was beginning to speed up significantly from the last time I'd heard it, so I assumed it wouldn't be long before it finally stopped beating altogether.

Most of what little knowledge I had of vampires and their "change" I'd learned from Bella herself. She was how I'd known to expect about three days for the transformation to complete. Unfortunately for me, that and the burning she was certainly feeling were pretty much all she'd known. Cullen hadn't been too forthcoming with her about it. I was smart enough to figure a few things out on my own, though. I assumed that when she first woke, she would be overcome with thirst—something I figured was a given. So as soon as her heart beat its last, I'd have Seth run out and catch her a deer. That way, she could eat as soon as possible.

I was sitting there across from Bella in the little cave we were in, when she started gasping for breath. Seth came running into the opening in wolf form, shifting as he did.

"Her heart!" he cried, looking horrified.

I nodded. "It'll be any minute. Go." When he didn't move, I said firmly, "Now, Seth. She needs you."

He loved Bella, and having to watch her go through this was tearing him apart inside, poor kid. He nodded and had shifted again by the time he turned around.

I looked over at Bella and stood, backing away slightly. I didn't want to be too close when she woke, because I wasn't sure how she'd react—to her new circumstances or to my presence.

With one last, gasping breath, Bella fell still and silent. For a long moment, nothing happened, until finally, suddenly, she opened her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

"Bella," I started.

She hissed and jumped up, backing away to the far corner. Her head whipped back and forth, her hands balling up into fists at her sides.

"Whoa, Bells, it's just me...Jake. Do you remember what happened?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and soothing.

Bella was quiet for several minutes, staring at me, and then glanced around the cave before looking back at me with a horrified expression on her face. When she spoke, her tone of voice damn near broke my heart.

"V-Vampire... Oh, God, Lizzie!"