~Edward~

Leaving my Bella in the morning was incredibly difficult. We'd made such progress during the night; while her small flinch before I left hurt as always, I was still heartened by how far we had come. She was incredibly brave to even agree to spend time with me, knowing all she did. For her to actually want to be with me, and enjoy it for the most part, was a miracle I would never take for granted.

I leapt down from her window, landing softly and listening for a moment until I heard her leave the room. Alice and Jasper were a couple hundred feet into the woods that bordered the edge of the Swan property. They'd found a convenient tree to perch in while they kept watch for me.

Things were much better now between me and my family. Finding my mate, even under the unusual circumstances that existed for us, lightened my load significantly and made me easier to live with. I no longer had to worry that I was destined for eternal lonliness. Now, my destiny was under my control; I would either manage to win Bella's heart, or fail trying.

"Alice, Jasper, I'm going to head back home to get changed. I shouldn't be gone any longer than fifteen minutes. Thank you for keeping watch while I'm gone."

Jasper nodded and while Alice spoke for both of them, "Don't worry, Edward. We'll keep her safe."

"Do you see anything, Alice? Not about what Bella decides, but about her hunter?" I knew she'd tell me if she saw anything, but I couldn't stop myself from asking a few times every day.

Alice looked at me with sympathy, she knew how hard it was for me that the one time I really needed her talent, and my own, neither worked. "I'm sorry, Edward. Ever since you ran into those wolves, you and her have both been blanks. Whatever the future holds, they seem to be an integral part, and my visions are not going to come back until they are no longer involved."

I, all of a sudden, had a fabulous idea. "Okay, I'm going to go kill all the wolves now. What do you see?"

She laughed, "That would only work if you really meant it. Sorry. Still black."

Jasper broke in, "I'll go kill them. No skin off my nose."

Alice's face stilled and her eyes lost focus as happened every time she had a vision. Edward immediately saw it and started snarling.

Bella huddled in a cage hanging from the ceiling in a cold, rank room. She's naked, and there is a pile of waste below the cage. Shivers constantly rake her emaciated body covered in poorly healed vampire bites. Over and over she begs to the empty room for them to kill her, please kill her.

"No!" I shouted, and then jumped up to the branch they were in and knocked Jasper out of the tree. "Stop! They're killing her!"

I was punching Jasper over and over, he wasn't even trying to defend himself, only waiting for reason to return. Alice screamed for me to stop, telling me the future was black again. I let go of Jasper and fell back onto the ground, shaking and crying tearless sobs. As long as I'd live, that image was going to be forever burned inside of my head. I wanted to reach into my eyes and rip it out, wanted to tear my own head off and throw it to the burning sun, erasing what I saw.

Alice dropped down next to me, and put her arms around my shaking body. She'd seen it too, there was nothing she could say, she could only share the burden with me.

Fighting everything I saw, I replaced each horror laden image with one that was beautiful. Bella; sleeping, telling me she wanted me, kissing me, making me laugh—making her laugh. I had a lot to draw on now; I was very thankful for that.

Sitting back on my haunches, I looked over at Alice and gave her a small smile that was more like a grimace. She briefly placed her hand on my cheek before getting up and walking over to Jasper, collapsing in his arms and doing her best to weep without tears. He stroked her back and whispered platitudes in her ear, the sound of his voice doing all the actual soothing. I saw in his thoughts that he bore me no grudge for my attack; I nodded my head at him, thanking him for his understanding. Not ready to talk yet, I gestured I was going to head home and then ran as fast as I could in order to be back to my love sooner. I felt an intense need to hold her, to know she was safe. Tomorrow, I was going to ask Alice to bring me clothes and I'd change in the woods.

I was halfway to home before I heard the unmistakeable chatter of multiple wolf minds in one body. It was much worse than the last time, there was a whole pack of physical wolves here, in addition to the two I'd dealt with previously, who were not here now, but up north. Images repeated over and over as each wolf had a thought and the other processed it and had it's own. I had to concentrate to make sense of it; blocking out the images and focusing on the words, deleting each duplicate unless it made sense.

Bella...vampire...pet...coven...kill...Cullen...bloodsucker...kill...James...

The last was all I needed; the wolves wouldn't have that name unless they'd come across him, the one coming for my Bella. I needed to figure out what the fuck was going on and I needed to know now; this multi-mind-meld thing had to stop.

I ran at full vampire speed to where they were gathered and scattered them like pins hit by a bowling ball.

"Enough!" I roared. "All of you, phase to human right now and someone tell me what's going on. I can't understand with all of you thinking at the same time."

Of course they all then started shouting at me in their heads, wanting to attack but knowing they couldn't without violating the treaty.

Quickly identifying the alpha, I ran to where they were pacing in a group, and before they could react, grabbed the big, black wolf by a hind leg, whipping him toward me until I had him in a crushing bear hug. I could hear the ribs straining and whispered in his ear, "One more millimeter and bones start breaking. Order them to phase, immediately."

The wolves were panicking now, I had their alpha at my mercy. So far, the wolf I held was making no move to comply with my order, instead choosing to try to break free. He would tire before I did, but I was not planning to wait much longer. This was about Bella, and I had zero patience for anything that delayed getting the information I needed.

"Alpha, give the order. You know you're trapped. There's no time for this! I promise, I give you my word, none of you will be harmed. I'll let you go as soon as they're all human."

Phase, he's right, I can't get loose.

They all protested, but as he was their alpha, there was nothing they could do, and the air around me almost sizzled when they all phased to human at once. The cacophony in my head cleared to a manageable level immediately. Unfortunately, they were all incredibly angry with me now, and were no longer thinking of Bella and her tormentor.

I let the alpha go and stepped back warily in case he attacked instead of phasing. Without the element of surprise, he would be a bit more difficult to subdue, especially since all the other wolves would then phase back and attack all at once. Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to grab the alpha.

Fortunately, he phased to human instead of tearing my frigid ass to shreds.

"Sorry," I immediately apologized, knowing I was in the wrong. "That was way out of line, I over-reacted when hearing the vampire, James, referred to in a thought. As you know, he's a threat to my mate."

Hopefully, since the wolves had their own mating method, there would be a little understanding of my plight.

The alpha, I could see from the thoughts of the others his name was Sam, nodded his understanding but continued to glower at me. It was a bit difficult for him to concentrate given that he and the others were sitting on one of the other wolves, Paul. Apparently, that one had a bit less self-control than the others, even under a direct command from the alpha, he still kept pushing and hurting himself by straining against the invisible leash binding him. I swear, I saw one hand turn into a paw for a moment before going back. It was fascinating to watch, but I had to get information.

"Sam, please, what is it you saw?" I begged him to tell me, show me, anything.

He left Paul to the others and came to stand before me, in his mind, I saw everything he was exposed to from Leah's mind along with the current status. So far, Leah and Jake had not found the coven's current hide-out. None of the wolves had crossed with any other vampire scent meaning we had no idea where James was. The idea that he might be able to mask his scent chilled me to the core. That meant I couldn't depend on my siblings to watch Bella, I was the only one who'd know when he came near as I'd be able to read his thoughts. Even so, that would only leave me about a 4 mile warning, mere minutes at vampire speed. He would scent us long before I would hear him.

Shouting my thanks to the alpha over my shoulder, I sped back to Bella's home, needing to see her immediately. I heard him calling for me to wait in order to make some plans, but that was going to need to be after I reconnected with Bella.

Reaching Alice and Jasper's tree, I gestured for them to come down. Quickly I explained the situation to them. Thankfully, Jasper was a master strategist and had some ideas.

"Edward, we can handle this. Even if we can't smell him, there's other ways we can detect him. It just requires a different kind of focus. We listen to the woods, really concentrate on every single sound from all the living creatures. You know what happens when we pass. Think of it, what will we hear? Furious beating of wings, tiny legs scrambling, bird calls quickly all changing and moving. Smell, we can follow that too, many animals bursting into movement at once creates an unmistakeable scent we can track. We'll be chasing a negative, but we can do it."

Jasper's calm, intelligent way of handling this issue was helping to settle me down. He was right, knowing what to focus on was almost as good as being able to scent the vampire himself. As long as we we knew where we were at all times, any unexplained animal activity would be a marker. We'd have to co-ordinate on this with the wolves as well. There senses were almost as good as ours and the natural life didn't fear them as it did us.

The wolves had caught up; Alice and Jasper started to fill them in on our plan while I continued on to Bella's house. The distasteful thoughts of the wolves followed me; they were unhappy at having two new vampires forced on them. I didn't give a shit.

After reaching Bella's back door, I attempted to take a moment for collecting myself. The easy self-control I usually had command over had gone completely absent. I knew as soon as Bella saw my face, she'd know what was going on. Part of me wanted to hide everything from her, whisk her away to Disneyland and never let her know how close her enemy had gotten. But I knew that wasn't what she'd want. She'd handled the situation with incredible bravery since her mother's death, learning all she could and doing any little thing she thought possible that would help prolong her life. It would be insulting of me to try hiding this from her now.

It was time to get this over with. I knocked.

The door was flung open, and I'd no sooner entered and shut it behind me, when my Bella launched herself into my arms and wrapped herself around me. It was a greeting I'd never thought possible from her, and I couldn't even enjoy it. Time was of the essence; I had to tell her now.

As gently as possible, I tried to get her feet onto the floor, unable to speak words until I was looking at her. When it came time to dismember James, it was the hurt look she had on her face right now I'd remember. My beloved thought I was rejecting her; for that alone, he deserved to be destroyed.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I understand if you're pissed from when I woke up," she whispered.

Softly, I placed my hand under her chin, lifting her face so our eyes could meet. I could see the hurt in her expression, but once she took in my own, hers quickly changed to fear. As I thought, she knew immediately knew something was wrong solely from looking at me. Still, as much as it pained me, I had to say the words.

"He's back, Bella."

For the briefest of moments, she appeared confused, as if she didn't know to whom I was referring. Then, it sunk in, I could see it on as terror replaced confusion; her eyes opened wide and started to dart all over as if he might be in the room with us. I drew her close to me and wrapped my arms around her. Trembles were shaking her body while the sound of quiet sobs vibrated against my chest. No other vampire on earth has suffered as much as James will.

"I've got you; he won't get to you. Alice and Jasper are outside, along with some other unexpected allies."

She looked up at me, her eyebrows drawn together in confusion as she appeared to wonder who our allies could be.

"Your friends from La Push." I smiled at her, letting her know this was a good thing.

"Jacob?" she asked.

"Yes, Jacob and the rest of the pack. Do you know anything about them?"

Her face settled a bit into concentration, and I was glad for the distraction talk of the wolves gave.

"Not really. Pack? There was something about wolves on the internet. Are you saying he uses wolves to fight vampires?"

This was going to be interesting. Part of me was itching to leave this little house and take Bella to the Cullen home where we had extra protective measures we could put into place. However, Bella was expected at school, and we needed to take care of that first before I could get into detailed explanations.

"Bella, I'll tell you everything. For now, we need to handle school. Can you call your father and have him get you excused for illness?" I hated having to ask her to lie, but I couldn't protect her well enough at school when we only shared one class.

She grimaced, but then went to the phone and made the call. If it wasn't such a difficult time, her attempts at subterfuge would have made me laugh. As it was, the stress of the situation took care of making her sound unwell enough that her police chief father believed her.

That taken care of, I called out to Jasper and Alice, requesting them to come to the door. Once I heard they were in place, I picked Bella up and carried her out the back way towards the woods. It was safer for us to protect her with our bodies than with a car; as a single entitiy, with the wolves trailing behind, we ran from Bella's house to our own. As we ran, Sam reached out to Jacob and Leah through the wolf neural net telling them to come back as soon as possible, that Forks was the priority now.

I could tell the exact moment when Bella got her first good glimpse of the wolves, she stiffened in my arms and started muttering, "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

We ran at the fastest pace we could maintain while still keeping the group formation. The wolves' collective thoughts were driving me crazy again, and I was trying my best to block them, causing me to almost miss another mind in the area.

That's her! The scent, every bit as luscious as I remember, and so much more now. Moving too fast. Something's not right. Vampires. Why is her scent surrounded by vampires? No! They can't have her, she's mine. And there's that horrible stench from before again. What the fuck is that? It better not be coming from her.

It was him, and he knew I and my family were with her. He hadn't identified the wolves as anything yet other than a bad smell. That was good, we had the element of surprise.

Fuck, that awful smell is following hers. Whatever it is, I'm going to make sure I destroy it this time.

I almost laughed aloud at his thoughts. Between my family and the pack, he didn't stand a chance.

We made it to the house in a matter of minutes and darted right in, closing and locking the door behind us. The wolves had no interest in coming in, choosing instead to form a blockade around the house. While the were willing to help keep Bella safe, actually entering our home would be too much for them. I was very surprised they were even helping us at all. With no discussion, and even though I'd been horribly rude to them each time we met, they'd aligned themselves with us to keep Bella safe.

Once we were all in, Jasper hit the switch that raised the metal shutters over all the windows. We'd made it in and Bella was secure. I let my body relax a little bit and gently placed her on the couch, kneeling in front of her to hold her close while she dealt with the affects of all the adrenaline coursing through her body. She was shuddering profusely and appeared to be nauseous going by how much her throat was convulsing. Alice was a blur as she zipped from the room to the garage to grab a bucket, making it back and shoving it between Bella and I one half second before Bella started retching into it.

I moved to sit next to Bella on the couch while gently gathering her long hair in my hand and keeping it from getting soiled. Bella hadn't gotten to eat breakfast before I dropped my bombshell on her this morning, and most of the expectorate was acidic mucus. In a gesture I knew well, her hand came up to try soothing her burning throat, and once again Alice came to the rescue, this time with a glass of ice water.

Dry heaves racked her body, preventing her from taking sips. Tears streamed from her eyes while she sobbed; it was the release of nearly a decade of fear, all coming out at once, now that day she'd dreaded for so long had come.

There was nothing I could do other than keep next to her, and make sure she knew I was protecting her.

Eventually, her sobs slowed, and her breathing steadied. She looked up at me, and her face made me wish I could cry tears of my own; her eyes were red rimmed and blood shot from crying, and her tears had left shining tracks down her beautiful face. But, there was a new determination now in her gaze; she looked at me straight, and I could tell she was ready to fight.

"Tell me everything," she said.

I did. I explained the origin of the wolves, the uneasy truce between us, and how it was for her sake alone that we were working together to keep her safe. Drawing on the images I'd seen in the wolve's minds, I recounted their encounter with James' coven which allowed us the forewarning of his intent.

The rest of my family had come back home while I was talking and listened as I brought her up to date.

It was remarkable how still she held herself during my explanation and how little reaction there was to the truth behind the La Push pack. She was like a soldier, taking it all in to use for the upcoming battle. Pride in my mate overcame me as I watched her maintain composure and consider all that I'd revealed.

"Bella, the most important thing to know is this; there are seven vampires in the house right now, and five shape-shifters patrolling around the house. The other two shape shifters are on the way. There is absolutely no chance one vampire, or even three, have of getting through to you. We know he's out there, and we're going to come up with a plan to keep you safe, while hunting him down and destroying him."

Bella nodded, and said only, "good," before flopping to the back of the couch and closing her eyes. She looked to be exhausted, and I felt bad for keeping her awake most of the night before.

I turned to start making plans with my family when she abruptly straightened up again and grabbed my arm to get my attention.

"Edward, there's something else you have to promise me."

"Anything, love, anything." I assured her.

"Not a one of you can get killed. I wouldn't be able to bear it if someone else died in my place. Can you do that?"

Before I could answer, it was Jasper that spoke up, surprising us all as it had been obvious from how stiff he held himself, he was struggling with the scent of her blood in the room.

"Darlin' that boy will be no more difficult for us to handle than any other piece of trash we dispose of. Now, you can take my word on that." He nodded as he spoke, and Alice placed an arm around Jasper before kissing him on the cheek, showing her gratitude for the assurance he provided.

Amazingly, a small smile actually appeared on Bella's face after hearing Jasper speak.

"Well, alright, lets mount up then!" she said in the most horrendous southern accent ever. It broke the tension like nothing else could, and we all laughed. It was exactly what we needed.

After the chuckles died down, Bella turned to me again. "I want to talk to the pack. Is that okay? It doesn't seem right that they are risking themselves to protect me when I haven't even met most of them yet."

I cringed inside; they were volatile and dangerous creatures. As ungrateful as it made me sound for what they were doing, I didn't want them anywhere near her. It wasn't up to me though; if she wanted to talk to them, then I'd make it happen. First, I was going to make sure the Alpha and I were on the same page. Jake and Leah had come back by now, and I wasn't sure how well a talk with Bella would go over.

"Let me go check and tell them you want to talk. I'm sure it will be fine, but it would be best to make sure. You'll probably only be able to talk to one or two since we would lose the protection they're providing if they all phased."

"Thanks." She picked up one of my hands and lightly rubbed her cheek on my palm while giving me a small smile. "Mmm, you're cool skin feels really nice right now; I hate how warm I get when I freak."

I gathered her back in my arms; she was right, she was very warm and must be terribly uncomfortable. Glad that my cold body could be put to good use for once, I lightly held her for a few moments longer until her temperature was back to normal. While holding Bella, I listened to the rest of my family in the background.

Aloud, they spoke of how we would track down James and destroy him. Their minds, however, seemed focused on the novelty of seeing me with my mate. For so long, I had been on the outside. Now, like them, I had someone who meant everything to me. Finally, I knew what it was like to truly love another person. They were all very happy for me, even Rosalie.

"Okay, Bella. I'm going to go check in with the pack. I think Esme has been planning to test her cooking skills out on you. Don't worry; she's very good."

I got up from the couch, and Bella's hand seemed to have trouble disengaging from my own; neither of us wanted to let go. I gave her a smile and then lightly tugged away, her own face turning a bit petulant and rueful, but accepting of what needed to be done.

Outside, Sam and Jacob guarded the front of the house while the rest of the pack ran circuits.

"Sam, Jacob. Bella would like to speak with you if you have a moment."

No sooner were the words out of my mouth when Leah trotted up.

Jake doesn't go anywhere near that girl without me.

My eyebrows raised, a bit surprised at Leah's statement; Bella was no threat to her relationship with Jacob, yet Leah seemed consumed with jealousy. I didn't want her in the house with Bella if she was going to be unpleasant.

I started to respond, but Sam broke in first.

Leah, calm down, stay out here while Jake and I go in. There's no reason for three of us to stop patrolling.

Are you going to order me, Sam? If not, I'm going in. There's no way I'm going to sit out here while my imprint makes moon eyes at some other girl.

Maybe I could help.

"Leah, Bella is my mate. As grateful as she is toward your pack, she has no interest in anything beyond friendship with any of you."

Fuck off, blood-sucker. I wasn't talking to you. It's bad enough I've got these furry assholes stuck in my head. You stay the fuck out.

Alrighty then.

"Sam, when you and who ever is phasing with you is ready, please let me know, and we'll come out, as I know going into our home would be uncomfortable for you. Please, make sure they keep back. I trust you, but she's my mate; I'm sure you understand."

Sam broke off remonstrating Leah for her vitriol long enough to sadly reflect on his own mate's scarred face before letting me know they'd keep a certain distance.

I headed back in, and found that the living room had emptied while I was outside. Bella was in the kitchen with Esme, enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich. Rosalie and Emmett were in the garage gathering up some supplies in case we had to go mobile in our hunt. Carlisle was in his office with Alice and Jasper going over what he knew of the whole concept of a singer and how we could use that to our advantage. While we certainly wouldn't use my Bella as bait, he had some interesting thoughts regarding spreading her scent to confuse the vampire and drive him crazy.

I stayed in the living room, waiting for Bella to be done with her snack, not wanting to interrupt the time she was spending getting to know Esme. My mother figure had much love to give Bella. While she'd certainly never presume to replace Bella's own mother, she knew that the kind attentions of an older woman would more than likely be very welcome by a young girl who had gone without for so long. As always, my own love and appreciation for Esme knew no bounds.

While waiting, I reflected on this uneasy truce we had all of a sudden found ourselves in with the wolves. Really, it sort of sprang up out of no where. Up till now, all my dealings with them had been acrimonious at best. I certainly never thought I'd want any sort of help from them. Now, faced with the reality that a vampire was coming for my mate, I understood it would be arrogant and ignorant of me to refuse any help I could get.

The situation also gave me a new appreciation for the wolves themselves. It would have been easy for them to turn their back on Bella, knowing that she was with me of her own free will. Yet, they stuck to their chosen calling, to protect every human in their territory from vampires, even if it meant working with us.

If I was being honest with myself, I knew they could more than likely handle James on their own. While it was easy to defend myself against them, that was in large part due to my ability to read their minds. James didn't have that luxury. Again though, it would be every bit as stupid to depend on them to take him on unaided, when having seven vampires to help would ensure complete success.

Edward; Jacob, Leah and I have phased and are ready to meet with Bella if she'd still like. We'll wait on the porch.

I couldn't help but chuckle; of course Leah had gotten her way. There was something oddly likeable about her.

"We'll be right out, Sam. Bella is just finishing up a small snack."

I headed into the kitchen to let Bella know the pack was waiting for her.

"Bella, do you still want to talk to the pack? You don't have to. They're happy to help whether you speak to them or not." I still hoped she'd change her mind, even though I knew it wasn't very likely.

She swallowed the last bit of her sandwich before brushing off her hands and hopping down from the stool she'd been sitting on.

"Okay, I'm ready." She turned and waved to Esme. "Thanks for the grilled cheese."

We headed back out to the living room, but I blocked Bella from actually opening the door at the last moment.

"Bella, please, if at any moment it seems like the wolves are getting upset, get behind me, and stay there. They do not always have complete control of themselves. This should be fine, and I don't want to scare you, but I need to make sure you understand this is not without risk."

She stepped away from the door and wrapped me in a hug. I swear, there was no other way to describe the feeling of her arms coming around me, other than to say, I was home. I was where I belonged. There was nothing I couldn't fix in order to be able to spend more time there.

"I'll be careful, Edward. Don't worry, I promise."

Then she stood up on tip-toes and kissed me, sealing her vow.

Satisfied, I let her turn back to the door and open it, before we both stepped out onto the porch.

Sam, Jacob and Leah stood at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for us to come out. One pack member still in wolf form stood behind then, guarding their backs. It was Bella's first good look at a shape shifted wolf, other than when we were running and I could hear her gasp.

"Beautiful!" she exclaimed.

I wasn't sure I'd go that far, after all, they did stink something fierce, but I had to admit, they were not your average wolf.

Jacob became very excited at seeing Bella, a wide smile crossing his face as he stepped forward to greet her. He stopped in his tracks when Leah growled, and I growled back at her as I whipped in front of Bella making sure she was closely behind me.

"Leah, enough, I let you here against my better judgment. Do not bring shame on us by acting hostile toward the human we're protecting."

While I would have been a bit—firmer—in my demand, I had to admit that Sam was doing a good job of keeping her under control. By playing to the pride she had in her pack, she became determined to control herself and do nothing to embarrass the tribe.

Bella peeked out from around my back and addressed them.

"Please, I don't want anyone to be forced to protect me. If she doesn't want to be here, please let her go back home."

I could tell Bella was very upset at the thought Leah was there against her will. She had no idea of the exact difficulty Leah had with her since I'd never thought to mention it. Bella knew they were mated, but did not know the thoughts Jacob frequently had of her.

Speaking directly to Leah, Bella went on, "It's okay, really, I understand if you're not comfortable with this. Edward explained to me that your tribe has difficulty tolerating all vampires, even the Cullens."

She looked up at me then, from where she was twisted around my torso, her eyes full of questions as she seemed at a loss for what to say to make sure Leah felt comfortable going back home.

Since I could tell all three were under control, I stepped to the side a bit so Bella was next to me instead of behind. I dropped a kiss on the top of her head before turning back to the pack.

Leah was looking at Bella and I, her mouth kind of opening and closing as she went to say something and then changed her mind. In her thoughts, I could see she wanted to hate Bella, but was having a hard time when it was obvious there was nothing to actually hate about her.

"Look, I'm fine being here. Don't worry about it. It's this asshole I'm pissed with, not you," she said, while whacking Jake on the back of his head.

Bella smiled back at Leah. "Well, I'm glad I'm not the asshole you're pissed with. That looked like it hurt!"

Everyone got a little chuckle from Bella's comment, and I marveled again at her ability to cut through tension with only a bit of humor to lighten the moment. Even Leah looked to soften a bit as her hand moved down to hold Jake's. Surprised, Jacob looked down at their hands, then back at Leah, and from their thoughts, it seemed like the first time they'd connected like this. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

"Really, I just wanted to say thanks to you all for helping. I'll be forever grateful."

Sam replied for all of them. "It's what we were created for. No vampire will harm a human on our territory as long as we exist." His words were a bit brusque, but I could tell he appreciated her gratitude all the same.

Bella smiled at Sam, and I nodded my agreement at his words. This really was the safest place for humans, as far as vampire attacks were concerned. Even if the wolves did stop patrolling, we would never allow vampires to hunt on this land.

"Edward, we're going to phase back now. We'll let you know if we see anything," Sam said.

I started to reply when a new voice entered my head. Shit, it was Bella's dad. He was coming up our driveway in his cruiser.

What has my daughter gotten into? I was told the Cullens are good people, but she's supposed to be home sick, not hanging out with a bunch of other kids who should also be in school.

Fuck, this wasn't good. Somehow, Chief Swan had found out Bella was here.

"Sam, Chief Swan is coming up the driveway. Get the pack out of sight."

"On it, Cullen."

Sam, Leah and Jacob immediately phased back, leaving destroyed clothes all over the yard. Bella was tugging on my arm, but I had to zip down and pick up the fabric before the chief saw it.

I ran back up the stairs and hustled Bella into the house, calling out to the family as I came in. They'd already heard the car and my comment to Sam and were getting ready to put on our human guise. It was too late to hide Bella; we didn't know how he'd found out she was here and couldn't risk coming under the scrutiny of the law. We'd have to play it like a simple case of hooky.

Chief Swan reached the house and slowly exited the car, taking a good look around in the process. His demeanor had "cop mode" all over it as he examined every little thing his eyes passed. Invisible to the eye, but deep in his mind, he was in "worried father" mode and was using his cop training to delay what he thought he'd find, his daughter in a bad situation of her own making. Memories of a very sick and drugged Bella flew through his mind, and I winced to see the condition she'd been in. This was something she hadn't told me about yet, and I felt even more anger at the thought of what she'd been through since her mother's death. Unfortunately, his memories were keeping him from thinking about exactly how he'd found out Bella was here, putting us at a disadvantage.

Bella was very nervous beside me, wringing her hands and muttering under her breath about bad daughters and cop fathers who lost their jobs.

"Shhh, it'll be okay, love. If there's one thing we're good at, it's dealing with the authorities. They love us."

She looked up at me and tried to smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Carlisle came forward, prepared to answer the door once the knock came. I could see he had a complete and believable story already in his head, and I felt confident we'd be able to appease the chief, and maybe even keep Bella with us.

I whispered to Bella to let Carlisle talk to her dad before saying anything, and she nodded, eyes still trained on the door in dread.

The knock came and Carlisle went to answer it, the smile he kept handy for his patients moving onto his face in preparation.

"Chief Swan, I'm Dr. Cullen. I apologize you needed to come out here. I was just about to call you."

"You were, were you?" The chief wasn't quite ready to fall under Carlisle's spell, though his worries did ease a bit at finding an adult home and ready to acknowledge that something was going on.

"Yes, sir. Bella accidentally, what did you call it?" He looked at me as if to get help in remembering a term.

"Butt dialed? You know, when the kids have their phones in their pockets and sit on them?"

He was trying to gain camaraderie with the chief as a fellow father of dumb teenagers.

"Anyway, she accidentally dialed my son earlier today. Apparently, she'd been vomiting at the time, and he became quite concerned about what he heard on the phone. He'd been on his way to school at the time with his siblings, and detoured over to your home to make sure she was okay. Finding her feeling very poorly, but otherwise fine, he brought her here so my wife and I could watch over her. My children were just about to head back out to school when you arrived."

Oh, shit. While Carlisle's explanation sounded completely plausible, the Chief's thoughts finally revealed that he'd been told she'd been taken from the house into the woods by us. This didn't match our story at all.

"Mmm,hmm. Well, Dr. Cullen. That doesn't exactly jive with what I was told. I don't know what you're covering your kids for, but I don't want my daughter involved. Bella, you go on out to the car right now."

She looked up at me, panicked, her eyes wide and frightened.

I had no way to let Carlisle know what the chief had been told, he was looking at us too closely to even use our higher pitched vampire voice.

Then, I saw it, the Chief had an image in his head of the person who'd told him we have Bella. It had to be him, the one after my Bella, I could tell the person in his mind was a vampire, and he'd come up with the only way to separate her from us. Unable to control myself, I tightened my hold on Bella, not willing to let her go.

The chief's gaze narrowed on me, as if he could tell my arms had tightened around her.

"Dad, please, it's nothing like that. They haven't done anything wrong." She pleaded with him, but I could see it wasn't going to make a difference.

"I'll be the judge of that, young lady. You take yourself out to the cruiser right now. I have a couple more things I need to say to Dr. Cullen here."

This wasn't good. I could walk her out to the car, but then we could only follow behind while in the woods, keeping her under surveillance, but unable to get anywhere near close enough for my taste.

Bella's arms reluctantly left my waist, but I kept hold of her hand, not ready to let her go yet.

"Chief Swan, I am very sorry for any impropriety. I'll walk Bella out to your car while you speak with my father." I hoped my adult tone would comfort him a bit.

"You'll stay right where you are. My daughter is perfectly capable of walking out to the car on her own." He held out his hand holding his keys for his daughter to take as she walked by.

My mind raced, it raced as fast as a vampire mind could, and I could see the minds of the rest of my family were doing the same. There was no hope for it though, none of us could figure out how to get Bella from our house to the car without leaving her to make the walk by herself. We'd have to pray that the wolves were enough to keep James at bay, and that his plan was to try going after her later. My entire body clenched at the thought of leaving her safety to the untried wolves outside. I comforted myself with the thought that if he was close enough to grab her, I'd already be hearing him.

It was up to me to let Bella go, as I could tell she wouldn't be able to do so on her own.

"Bella, I'll talk to you soon, I promise. Go with your father now. Okay?" I used my eyes as much as possible to assure her we'd keep her safe until we were together again.

I released her hand, and she looked at me confused for a moment, as if she couldn't believe I was really going to let her go. In that moment, I wanted to destroy Chief Swan almost as much as James. I held her gaze, still trying to reassure her, and she finally seemed to read what I was trying to send. She bravely smiled up at me, and let my fingers go, before turning and grabbing the keys. Bella said nothing to her father at all before heading out the door. He was disappointed for a moment, before going back to his original plan.

"Now you listen here, Dr. Cullen..." the Chief started.

I tuned him out as I listened to the sound of her steps on the front porch. She was heading down the stairs to the car, and I could only wait to hear the sound of the cruiser door open and close, letting me know she was inside.

There were five stairs between our front porch and the ground. She was moving slow, and the time between each stair existed as its own eternity in my mind.

Finally, she made it to the ground. From where the chief had parked, it was about ten more steps. With each, she moved slower and slower, as each took her further from the safety of our house.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Come on, Bella, take the next step. Please!

Two seconds.

Four seconds.

Nothing.

I couldn't wait any longer. Staying as close to human speed as I could, I strode to the door and flung it open, vaguely noticing that it went flying off the hinges, into the room.

She was gone.