Hello all! Sorry I haven't been posting but life is a little bit crazy. I finally got a new chapter out and I'm bringing in a couple of the OCs people asked me for. You'll see later in the chapter...those who asked for one will probably recognize their descriptions! Anyway, thank you all for the fantastic reviews! They are what inspired me to come back and try to finish this story.

I have plans for the very end of the story but not so much how to get there from here so it might be a bit slow until I get back into the swing of things but I DO plan on finishing this one.

Anyway, thank you all again and now,

On with the story!

Disclaimer - I do not own Twilight, if you recognize anything that means it's probably not mine. This is purely for entertainment.

"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
'Pack Mind'

Chapter 24

Bella P.O.V.

I wake up to the normal feeling of my Leah wrapped around me. It wasn't until I opened my eyes that I realized this wasn't a normal morning. Instead of being in our bed we were in the Cullen's living room and I was hooked up to a multitude of machinery. It only took me a moment to remember the previous day. I start looking around the house to see what everyone was up to.

I could see Carlisle, Sam, Emily, and Sue off in a corner talking. Spread throughout the room is Renee, Kate, and the rest of the Cullens. I shift around a bit which wakes up my Leah as well as drawing attention to us.

Carlisle walks over when he notices me moving. "How are you feeling Bella?" He asks compassionately.

"Umm." I think for a moment, taking stock of how I'm feeling. "Ok I guess. A little weird though."

Carlisle nods as if he expected that answer. "It appears that you are going through the same things the wolves do but at a much more rapid pace. I expect within the next 24 hours or so. Your temperature is already much higher than usual. "He pulls out some device and a few seconds later shows me the meter which reads 106.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

I nod my thanks and smile slightly at him before turning to Renee. "So is there anything else you know? Anything at all?"

She shrugs. "Nothing that I can remember, I always thought they were just stories so I didn't really concentrate on remembering the details. It was only because grandmamma drilled into my head the symptoms 'the change' as she called it, that the story triggered in my mind at all."

I nod and turn to my Leah to give her a chaste kiss. "Hey baby."

She opens her mouth to answer but is interrupted with a yawn. "Morning." She says after she finishes.

"You look tired. Go back to sleep. I'm going to get up for a bit if that's alright?" The last was to Carlisle who nodded in response.

Leah P.O.V.

I was about to argue when I yawned again. "Alright, I'm gonna go crash in your room upstairs."

She nods and slips out of bed pulling me along with her. She pulled a bit too hard and we nearly topple over. She giggles. "Guess I gotta get used to my new strength."

I nod and press a quick kiss to her lips. "I'll see you in a few hours." I say as I take in a deep breath. Her scent has changed a little, she still smells like my Bella but there is a feline hint to it now. I make my way up the stairs and into the bed that used to be Bella's. I'm out before my head even hits the pillow.

I wake up and glance out the window. 'Wow, looks like I slept most of the day.' I hear my Bella's voice downstairs and make my way down to join her. She hears me and turns waiting for me to lean in and give her a kiss hello. I happily oblige and wrap my arms around her from behind resting my chin on her shoulder. She leans back into me and sighs contentedly. "So what's happening?"

She shrugs. "The Cullens have been talking to the elders. They are trying to get everyone organized to go find these werewolves while still protecting the town and the reservation. There is still one more night of the full moon."

Just then Alice enters the room. "We are hoping to find them tonight and follow them back to where they are staying in the morning. So far they haven't hurt anyone but until we know more we are being cautious." My Bella and I just nod and she thanks Alice as the pixie moves to stand by her mate.

I nod and press a kiss into my Bella's hair as I pull her tighter against me. "How are you feeling baby?" I whisper in her ear. I feel her shiver and I smell her arousal making me grin.

"I'm ok I guess. It's just, knowing this is coming and not being able to do anything but wait is making me crazy." I nod knowingly. I don't know what I would have been feeling if I had known beforehand it was coming.

Bella P.O.V.

After a few hours of sitting around talking to everyone those that were going to search for the werewolves had to leave. I was glad that my Leah didn't even consider going, she knew that I needed her here.

As time passed I could feel myself getting even warmer and every once in a while I would start shaking for no reason. Finally it got to the point that I was shaking almost nonstop and I called out to everyone. "I think it's time."

Carlisle appeared at my side and began leading me to a clearing a little ways away from the house, my Leah trailing along behind us. She and Carlisle stopped at the edge of the clearing, the rest joining them after a few moments. I could see the look on my Leah's face and knew she didn't like it and wanted to be right here with me but she stayed put. We had argued about this earlier but all I had to do was tell her that I couldn't stand it if I hurt her. She went on about how she knew I would never hurt her but I just reminded her of Emily and she reluctantly agreed.

I moved to the center of the area and took a seat in the grass nearly twenty feet away from everyone. I wanted to make sure no one got hurt when I phased. I was wearing sweats and a t-shirt, we had other clothes close on hand incase mine shredded like we expected. Now I just had to wait…the shaking began to get so quick that I felt like I was shaking right out of my skin…and that's exactly what happened.

I exploded.

Leah P.O.V.

It was so hard to watch this happen to my Bella. It took everything in me not to just run over and take her in my arms. Her body started shaking so quick that it looked like she was vibrating. I could tell she just wanted it to be over and I longed to comfort her. As it continued the look on her face made a tear run down my cheek. She looked up and I could almost feel her sadness for causing my tears. I was about to tell her that it wasn't her fault when she exploded, scraps of clothing falling all around her.

It looked much the same as when we phased but with one huge difference. In her place wasn't a giant wolf, it was a slightly over-sized tiger. She was freaking beautiful. She was mainly white and she had black stripes every few inches. Her long tail flicked back and forth but her eyes…they were a piercing blue. Even though the color was different the look in them was the same as our eyes met…pure love and adoration shone through.

Everyone looked at me and I nodded. "She's fine." I turned back to my Bella and noticed she was holding up a paw, looking at it and swatting the air. I couldn't help but giggle. "Bella." I called. Her head snapped up to look at me again and she stalked forward slowly. Her head bowed down showing her passiveness. I held my hand out in front of me and waited.

She rubbed her head against my hand and I smiled then began to pet her lovingly. When she stood straight her head reached just below my breasts. She purred at my touch and I chuckled. She tilted her head towards the field off away from the others.

I nodded and started that way but she jumped in front me and shook her head. She looked pointedly at a paw then back at me. I thought for a moment. "You want me to come right?" She nodded. "But you stopped me because you want me to phase first?" She nodded again and I swear her lips pulled into a grin.

I smiled and headed towards the woods a bit away. I stripped down and tied my clothes to my leg then phased. As I walked back to my Bella I could hear the pack in my mind.

'Leah!' they all yelled together. The entire pack was phased waiting for news I guessed.

'Quiet down' Sam interjected. 'How is Bella?'

I smirked 'See for yourself' I told them as I stepped back out of the woods to where I could see my Bella.

'That's Bella! Wow!' I wasn't sure but it sounded like Jake.

I ignored them after that and made my way to my Bella. She just waited for me and we walked side by side…wolf and tiger into the clearing.

Bella P.O.V.

I was worried what would happen when my tiger met her wolf…I thought instinct would flare up but thankfully none did. It was like they knew they were mates and didn't mind the difference in species.

We walked side by side into the clearing and as soon as we passed the trees I pushed my head into her side playfully. When she turned to me I pounced away turning to her flicking my tail playfully. She understood what I was wanting and started to chase me and I took off. The feeling of the wind in my fur was amazing. 'So this is why she loves running so much.'

She started falling behind and I giggled internally. She was the quickest in her pack and I was out pacing her easily. I turn around and she stops. I crouch down and crawl slowly as if I'm stalking prey and in a way I was. She just stared at me waiting to see what I would do. When I got a few feet from her I pounced on her side pushing her to the ground. Half my body laying over hers I looked into her eyes and I could see the glee in them.

We ran back and forth playing for a while longer then she lay down on the grass. I pillowed my head on her stomach and let out a snort of happiness. She leaned her head towards me and gave me a long lick across the face and I scowled growling slightly and she gave me a wolfy grin. I used my paw and rubbed the fur back into place.

I nudged her with my head and she got up to follow me back to the Cullens. She stopped on the edge of the woods to phase back and dress. I went around the side of the house to do the same. We met back up at the back door and turned to each other with a smile. "I'm faster." I teased and she nodded in agreement.

"I think the boys are scared now…I heard them talking about seeing who was better until you outran me so easily." She said with an evil grin.

I giggled..."Who all saw?"

"Everyone" I was surprised. She nodded. "Apparently everyone figured I'd phase so they all waited to see what would happen."

I shrugged. "I was hoping I would be able to hear you but I had nothing but silence."

She nodded. "Maybe you have to be a member of the tribe to be a part of the pack?"

I shrugged. "That's too bad…I was hoping to be able to share that with you."

She nodded in agreement and we walked silently back to join the others. When we arrived they were wall looking at me expectantly. "So how was it Bells?" Alice asked in her bell-like voice. It was at that point that I noticed my hearing was very much improved.

"It was…amazing. That's really the only word to describe it. The feeling of knowing how strong you are and being able to move so quickly is like nothing I have ever experienced before." This got nods of agreement from all the supernatural beings present. "So, did you find anything?" I asked Alice, who was part of the search for the werewolves.

She nodded. "We found what looks like a camp not far from where the werewolves were."

I couldn't help but notice that she looked troubled. "What is it Alice?"

She bit her granite lip and sighed before speaking. "We could smell Tanya's group in their camp Bella."

My Leah and I sucked in a breath. "Oh, guess that could be a bit worrying." I said faintly. My Leah growled softly and wrapped her arms around me pulling me tight to her; I gratefully sank into her embrace.

We all sat around talking about what was coming for a few hours. Just as I was drifting off the doorbell rang. Carlisle quickly flitted over to answer the door, I heard some murmured conversation then the footsteps of Carlisle and three others moving towards us. It's crazy that I could so easily distinguish the footsteps with my new senses.

Carlisle's steps were even and sure footed as if he knew exactly what he was doing, yet they were somehow still soft as if his compassion extended to wanting to protect even the ground under his feet. Following him was a set of slightly heavier steps that I was almost positive was male. Next was a set of footsteps so soft even I could barely hear them. It almost sounded like she was floating along using her feet for guidance, reminded me a lot of Alice actually. Finally there was the sound of a light but confident gait.

As they rounded the entrance I began to take in the slightly rag-tag group before us. As I suspected the first behind Carlisle was a male. He looked to be about 16 years of age. He stood tall at around 6'2" with shaggy dark brown hair and blue-grey eyes. He was wearing a pair of cut-off jean shorts and nothing else. At his side was a small girl who looked maybe 17 and stood at barely broke 5'. She had light brown wavy hair that reached just past her shoulders. She had a mischievous smile on her face and wore a simple gray tank top and a pair of tight jean-shorts.

Finally was the girl with the confident gait. She stood nearly as tall as my Leah at 5'10" and she had brown hair with purple streaks. There were also the ice blue eyes and the piercing in her lip. She had a aura about her that almost made me want to kneel before her and with that I knew she was the leader.

We all stared for a few moments before the leader spoke. "I hear y'all have got a bit of a wolf problem? Well…we're here to help."