ANNOUNCEMENT... I am about to begin another story.. but
please, don't freak out and think that I am going to neglect
this one! I hope that you will all read and enjoy the new one
too, but I am not going to be updating the new one as often
as this one, and the chapters are going to be considerably
shorter on average than theses.. think Cafano's "It's Always
the Quiet Ones"... I will not update the new one frequently
until this one is complete, but I really can't get this story out
of my head, so I am going to begin.

AN... Here you are! I hope you all like!
I looked at my traffic last night for the first time ever...
I was COMPLETELY shocked and elated to find that this story has
generated well over 17, 500 hits! WOW! I am humbled, truly.
I just want all of you who are reading this to know how incredibly
honored I am that you take the time to read this, and some of you
even leave me feedback... I FLUV you all!

To Prettyflour, my amazing pre-reader... I am so thankful for your
time and attention to the details that my eyes miss... I appreciate
you more than you know!

Disclaimer... I still own nothing. Bummer.

~UUaAP~

Chapter 27

All I Ever Wanted

Bella POV

As I exploded into a wolf, laying waste to my clothing, and the teenaged human I had been, I felt a surge of confidence and power like never before. I found myself excited as I glared across the room at Red Eyes. He seemed to be paralyzed with fear. I took a tentative step in his direction, and noticed him begin to turn. He was going to bolt for the door, I could see it, but I sprang across the room. I was elated to feel the strength in my legs. I turned mid-leap so that I could land facing him. I had not anticipated just how strong this body could be, and I slammed into the door, hard. I held back a whimper at the pain in my hip from said door slamming,I already knew that I would heal quickly, so I brushed it off.

Red Eyes darted around the room, trying to figure a way to escape. I saw him turn his head towards the blackened windows, and I knew he was about to try to make a run for it. I also knew that we wolves were fast. I sprang again, only this time, I sprang at him. I tackled him easily. I bared my teeth, and as his hands tried to take purchase of my chest, ostensibly to crush me, I sank them into his neck. I expected his skin to feel like marble… instead, somehow it felt malleable. My teeth sank into his flesh, and tore into his muscle. The sound was like the twisting of metal in a car crash, but the feel was something else altogether. I rotated my head as I sank my teeth further into his neck, and before I was prepared for it, his head separated from his body, rolling across the floor. It was almost anti-climactic. I was prepared for a fight. For the first time, I understood why Jacob always got offended when I tried to keep him away from Victoria.

Ah, Victoria. I wanted to track the bitch down right now. No more waiting. No more cowering in the corner in fear. No more worrying about my two families. Or was it just my family, singular? I began to walk towards the door, but found it difficult to coordinate with four feet. I hoped that I could get the hang of this quickly.

No sooner had that thought crossed my mind, then I heard feet approaching in the distance. Whoever was coming was coming quickly. I sprang across the room, and crouched, ready to defend myself. I sniffed at the air, and found familiar scents greeting my nose. It seemed odd to me that even though the scents were different that my human nose remembered, I immediately recognized them. I recognized the honey and lavender scent of Edward, and the evergreen and earth scent of Jacob. There were several others with them whose scents seemed familiar, but I couldn't quite distinguish. Realizing this, I relaxed my stance a little, and let out a howl, wanting to draw their attention to my location.

Before I had time to wonder just how close they were, the door broke open. I couldn't believe my eyes as Edward stepped back to allow Jacob through first. Seeing Jacob's wolf through my wolf's eyes was overwhelming. My heart felt like it would burst open wide. We stared at each other, nose to nose for what felt like forever. Then, I buried my nose into the fur of his neck. I was relieved beyond words to be near him. The part that was really strange to me was how he could not hear me. The pack shares each others' thoughts when they take the form of their wolves. Does this mean I am not a part of the pack? What am I?... I began to wonder.

I know I have to be something other. I should have phased once I started hanging out with the Cullens if I was going to become a wolf, right? I should have been hearing the thoughts of Jacob and Leah (who had also entered the room, along with Carlisle, Emmett, Rose, and Jasper) as soon as I made the change. I was met instead with silence. My whole life I had known that there was something wrong with my head… to me this had just served as more proof.

"I don't know, Jake." Edward said quietly, answering some question that I had not been privy to. "Bella, Jacob wants to know if you can hear him?"

I looked back and forth between Jacob and Edward before shaking my head. Jacob nudged my neck gently with his nose. I tried to walk, but got tangled up in my exceedingly long fur, and with my trouble coordinating my paws together, I fell down. I huffed out a breath in deep frustration.

"Can you phase back?" Edward was asking. I didn't know if it was his question, or a translation for Jake. Not that it mattered. I hadn't really tried to phase back, and I didn't know how. I shook my head once again. Jacob left the room suddenly, and I began to panic. I needed him near me.

"It is okay, Bella." Edward touched my shoulder gently, and began to speak soothingly to me. "He just went into another room to phase so that he can talk to you for himself." I sighed in relief. When he entered the room again, Jake wrapped his arms around me, hugging me gently to himself.

"Bella, everyone has a hard time phasing back at first… so don't freak out about it. The first thing you have to do is calm down. Take a few deep breaths, and relax." So, I did just that… I took a few really deep breaths, and gave myself over to the peaceful feeling of being wrapped in my Jake's arms, and his earthy scent. As I gave myself over to peace, I felt a strange tickling sensation in my chest. When I opened my eyes, I realized that I was myself again. It was just that easy. Just as I had given myself over to the intense anger and hatred, exploding into a wolf, giving myself over to peace and joy brought me back to myself. Jacob and Leah were amazed.

"Damn, Bella! It took me twelve hours to learn to phase back! You are a natural at this!" Leah exclaimed.

Jacob held me tightly to his chest, covering my nakedness. Jasper, Carlisle and Edward quickly turned their backs as Edward slipped off his shirt for me to wear. After I was covered, I stood up, and began to look around the room. I noticed that the body of Red eyes was missing, as were Emmett and Rose. Jacob noticed the puzzled expression of my face, and quickly explained that Rose and Emmett had take the body and were busy burning it outside.

"Bells, what did he do to you?" Jacob asked me point-blank.

"I don't really want to talk about it." I stated flatly, while sub-consciously rubbing the crescent shaped scars I knew ran up and down my arms under the shirt. Edward noticed, and grabbed one of my arms, slipping the sleeve up almost to my shoulder.

"Fucking bastard!" Jacob seethed, as everyone's eyes filled with comprehension and/or sympathy. Leah and Jake both had tears running down their faces, and Carlisle and Jasper both looked agonized as they began to look around the room, taking stock of the equipment lying around. I could see Carlisle piecing together what had been done to me. As comprehension of the magnitude of what I had suffered filled his eyes, his knees buckled beneath him. Edward's head snapped quickly in his direction as he took in Carlisle's thoughts, and was quickly in the same position… on his knees.

Edward looked broken. As I looked into his eyes, for the first time, what I saw was a friend and companion, not a man I "once loved"; just Edward… my dear friend. I walked over to him, and placed one hand on his shoulders, and the other under his chin to look into his eyes. He wrapped his arms around me, and held tightly me for a moment.

"As if you didn't already have enough reason to hate vampires." He whispered hoarsely.

"Not all vampires, Edward. I could never hate our family." I stated with conviction.

"You still consider me family?" he sounded surprised.

"You will always be my family, Edward!" I realized that this was the first time that he and I had really spoken to each other since I let Jacob carry me home that night. It felt like a lifetime ago, although it had only been a few days ago. I realized I couldn't really be sure how many, because I didn't even know what day or time of day it was. I could see natural light out in the next room. Suddenly I needed to get out of this place, and darted quickly outside. I was feeling so claustrophobic all at once that I thought I might go mad. It hit out of the blue, and I had to escape.

I rushed outside, trying to gulp in fresh air, only to be choked by noxious smelling plumes of a thick purple colored haze. I ran towards the woods as quickly as my legs would carry me, wanting to escape this place, and to breathe clean air. I was willing away a panic that threatened to overwhelm me. I had managed to live through God knows how many hours of torture, and never once was seized by panic. Fear? Yes. Pain, and desperation? Yes. Panic? Not a bit. So why now? It's over! He was dead. Red-eyes was dead, and would never harm me or anyone else again. I should been dancing by the pyre that was his rapidly burning corpse. I should have been elated.

Jacob and Carlise approached me slowly, their eyes filled with concern. Carlisle's arms were held up, palms facing outward, and Jacob was mirroring his stance.

"Bella, you are okay. It's over now." Carlisle's voice was gentle and strong. "Breathe deeply, Bella. Try to take slow, deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth." His voice became melodic, as he chanted softly. "In through your nose, and out through your mouth" very slowly, so that I was breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth at the same pace that he said the words. I could feel a calming wave wash over me, as Jasper approached. Between his gift, Carlisle's words, and Jacob's presence (he was by then behind me, rubbing my back and shoulders gently), I was able to fend off the terror that had seized me from nowhere.

"Thank you." I said, truly filled with gratitude. "Thank you all so much." Tears began to fall from my eyes. I was emotionally drained. Everyone formed a large group-hug, with Jacob and I at the center.

"What day is it?" I asked, to no-one in particular.

"It is Thursday morning." Rose spoke for the first time, stepping towards me. She opened her arms, and her eyes held out her question. She wanted to hug me. I didn't know how to respond. She had always been the one person in my vampire family who didn't accept me. I stepped into her arms, and circled my own around her. I had always hoped that she and I could become friends.

"Bella, I am so sorry for how I have treated you. I want you to know, I have never disliked you." She said quietly.

"I am so glad to hear that, Rose. I have always wanted us to be friends." I told her, looking her directly in the eyes.

"I want us to be more than friends, Bella. You are a part of this family. I want us to be sisters." She said, the expression of her eyes lending to her honesty. I pulled her back into a tight hug again, nodding against her shoulder as answer.

"Someone should call Esme and Alice to let them know that we have found her." Jacob said pointedly.

"Yes, I should have thought of that already!" Carlisle said quickly, opening his phone and dialing speedily. He began relating the events at vampire speed, the words tumbling out of his mouth far too quickly to be comprehended by human ears.

Emmett suggested that we should head back home, and to me that was the best idea I had heard in some time. Jacob walked a few feet into the woods, and phased. Leah followed suit. When he returned to my side, Jake crouched low, indicating that I should climb on. I shook my head.

"No way!" I told him firmly with a smile. "I am a werewolf now. I intend to give you all a run for your money!"

~UUaAP~

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