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Disclaimer - This is based off of the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. She created the characters and the basic plot, and this is my spin on it. These are my words about her world. Stephenie Meyer has all of the rights to her characters and the parts that were taken from her plot.

Chapter Sixteen

Sam's legs burned in protest as he ran with all the force he could muster. It didn't help that his chest felt like his heart was being ripped free after leaving Bella behind. Knowing she was upset, knowing she wanted him to stay with her, made his stomach heave and his heart twist. He might as well have stabbed himself in the gut with a knife.

But he had a good reason for leaving her. He was keeping her safe.

She's gonna be okay, Jacob thought towards him. Do you want me to go inside and sit with her? That would probably make her feel better.

Sam knew Jacob well enough to know that he wasn't just offering to do Sam a favor. Bella had been his best friend for years, before she moved away from Forks in the first place. Now that she'd returned, they're friendship had only gotten stronger. Of course Jacob would want to comfort Bella while she was so obviously frightened, but he needed Sam's permission to enter the house and bedroom of the Alpha's mate. I think that would be good for her, he responded. Go ahead. Phase.

He felt Jacob's mind pull away from his as the Beta phased into his human body. He focused his mind on the other conversations happening between the rest of the pack.

I'm not picking up any scent up here, Paul thought. He was surrounded by trees, farther away from Sam than the others. They're probably out you're way, Jay.

Jared was just as distracted as Sam was, picturing the heartbroken expression on Kim's face when he'd stopped by to, more or less, say goodbye. Seth, follow the scent of the female. She went south. I'm going north.

Someone catch me up, Sam ordered. Did they split up? How many are we talking?

Three. The response came from Seth. They were all together, but when we started after them, they went straight to the water. Now we're trying to pick up where they exited.

Who caught the initial scent?

I did, Quil interjected. His eyes were locked on the tree line across from Bella's house, his ears tuned for any unnatural sound in the woods.

They were hunting near that old abandoned house, Embry added. You know – the one that old fisherman used to live in? Before he – uh –

Croaked, Paul provided.

Embry shifted his gaze towards Bella's bedroom window when the lamp flickered on. Jacob must have joined her. Sam suddenly hoped she would appear in his sight while Embry's eyes were watching for her, but he wasn't lucky enough. Yeah, Embry thought bitterly. I think they've been squatting there for a while.

Makes sense, Brady commented. He was weaving through the trees near the little stream that Seth and Jared were searching, trying to find any hint at their direction. We don't usually patrol out there.

And why the hell not? Sam snarled.

It's too far out of the way, Sam, Paul reminded him. You wanted us to focus on Bella's house, remember? We could only afford to have one wolf patrol off of the Rez, and we can't be in two places at once.

Sam checked his temper and weaved faster through the trees. You're right. It just makes me sick to think they were so close to Bella all this time.

Then something dawned on Quil. If they were staying so close to her, why the hell have they waited until now to make a move?

Who cares? Jared snapped. He certainly wasn't in the best mood. He was irritated that he'd had to leave his own imprint to go and defend someone else's.

Sam sympathized with him, but he wasn't about to send him home. He needed to keep Bella safe, and if he had to force Jared away from Kim, he was going to do it. Jared stumbled a little at Sam's thoughts, but didn't say anything.

No, I'm serious, Quil insisted. If they've been this close to her this long, why are they picking now to show themselves? When they knew we were on guard?

What are you implying? Sam thought. His stomach was uneasy as he guessed the direction Quil's thoughts were going to go in.

Embry shivered. Do you think there's a chance we're getting played?

Quil scanned the trees again and shuffled his feet in the leaves. I don't know. But I just have a generally bad –

Jared snarled viciously. I caught it, he thought urgently. The female went north, towards the Rez. Towards Kim. Sam could tell mentioning his imprint hadn't been his intention, but her face was suddenly the only thing he could think about.

Collin, go with him, Sam ordered briskly. The young wolf was only a few yards away. Sam himself turned and ran in their direction, but he skidded to an abrupt halt when Seth let out a low, menacing growl of his own.

I found the other two, he barked. They're making a U-turn. Seth paused, like he didn't want to think the next three words, but he couldn't stop them. Towards Bella's house.

Instantly, Quil and Embry were in action. Embry lifted his nose as he let out a screeching howl to alert Jacob. Quil backed away and ducked around to the other side of the Swans' house, keeping himself just barely hidden within the trees.

If Sam had thought his legs were burning before, he certainly proved himself wrong. As he launched himself back towards Bella's house, his muscles protested with sharp pangs shooting through his paws and up his thighs.

Having Jacob sit with her was certainly more comforting than being alone, but Jacob wasn't Sam. And Sam was the only man she wanted to see at that moment.

No offense to her best friend.

Bella squeezed her hands together in her lap and chewed on her bottom lip.

"C'mon, Bells," Jake begged. "If you don't want to sleep, then let's do something to distract you."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Do you have a deck of cards? I could teach you how to play poker."

Bella, despite the situation, laughed. "I'm not playing any games with you, Jacob Black."

"Why not?" Jake whined.

Bella wagged her finger at him like a mother scolding her child. "Because you are a very sore winner, and I don't feel like hearing about how awful of a poker player I am for the next month."

Jacob flashed a cheeky grin. "How do you know you'll be awful? You've never played."

Bella gave him a pointed look. "Sometimes I think you don't know me at all."

Jacob laughed quietly, very aware of Charlie's chainsaw snoring across the hall. "Alright, point taken. And you'd probably give yourself a paper cut off of the cards."

Bella rolled her eyes, but deep down, she loved when they could have these moments. For a while, Bella had felt like their friendship had been lost. Not that they'd ever stopped being friends, because that could never happen. The two had just been so overwhelmed with life in general that their friendship had been put on the backburner. They had become the Alpha's mate and the Beta werewolf instead of best friends; but now, sitting cross-legged and grinning on Bella's bed, they felt like teenagers again.

And it was great.

Jacob rested his hands behind his head. "What are the chances you've got something in your fridge that's worth the trip downstairs?"

Bella thought. "What do you consider worth the trip?"

"Pizza," he responded immediately. "Or potato chips. Or both. Oh – and some sort of soda."

"The soda will be on a shelf on the door," she told him, "and the last time I checked, there was a slice of pepperoni pizza in there." When Jake's face brightened, she shook her head at him. "You'd better hope you beat Charlie to it, though."

Jacob grinned a cheeky smile and bounced up from the bed. "You want anything?" he asked.

Bella shook her head. "I'm good. Too nervous to eat anything right now." Her eyes drifted to the window and she hoped Sam would appear, but of course he didn't. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and sighed.

Jacob's eyes softened. "He's going to be fine, Bella. We all are."

Bella bit her lip and nodded, not trusting her voice.

After Jacob disappeared down the stairs, Bella felt her panic worsen. An uneasy feeling sent chills through her bones and a prickle up her spine. Something was wrong. Deep down inside, she could feel that something wasn't right. It was like all of her instincts were telling her she needed to do something.

Call it mother's intuition.

Bella knew it was deeper than that. It was the Alpha's mate's intuition.

When Jacob flew back into her bedroom empty handed and wide-eyed with panic, Bella knew she was right. He swallowed loudly and stared down at her.

"What is it?" she demanded quietly. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head, his eyes spacing. He was listening to something outside. After a second, he frowned. "I need to phase," he said. "I don't understand what they're doing . . . it sounds like Embry and Quil are splitting up."

"How can you tell?"

"I can hear their footsteps," he answered. "Quil's circling around the back of the house. Like he's –" when his sentence stopped abruptly, Bella's eyes snapped to his face. He looked too pale for her liking, and his eyes were scared.

Bella's heart sunk. "Oh, God," she whispered. "What is it? What happened?" Before she could censor the thought, she blurted, "How badly is he hurt?"

Jacob shook his head, his lips pressing into a firm line. "Sam's not hurt – no one is." His voice was low, but Bella could hear the underlying alarm trying to rise up.

She swallowed. "So, then . . . the danger isn't there," she whimpered. She curled herself into a ball for protection and met Jacob's gaze. "The danger is here. With us."

Jacob didn't speak for a long moment, and all Bella could hear was her heartbeat. "The leeches are outside."

Bella's heart stopped. "Oh, my God," she breathed, and waited for the terror to squeeze her gut. Suddenly, an overwhelming wave of nausea hit her but she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed. Immediately the image of three furious, red-eyed blood-sucking creatures popped into her mind. Bella had never seen a vampire for herself, but Jake had once given her quite a detailed analysis. Horrified tears sprung up and rushed down her cheeks.

Jacob stalked furiously over to the window. His arms trembled just the slightest bit, but Bella didn't have any fear of him phasing. Her terror was completely directed towards the creatures that wanted to kill her, looming in the darkness surrounding her house. Jacob let out a low, feral growl and smacked his palm roughly against the wall. "Damn it," he snapped

Bella sniffled. "What, Jake?"

"I have to phase." His shirt was ripped off of his body before Bella could blink. He kicked his shoes off violently and they thudded against her closet door. The mirror hanging in front of it rattled loudly, and Bella's shoulders tensed; the last thing she needed was for Charlie to wake up just as the mythical creatures that roam the general Forks area come to a battle in her back yard.

"Wait, Jake –" Bella begged uselessly.

He spared her a glance after he'd discarded all of his clothing except his boxers. He pinned her with a look to threatening it had her cowering against the headboard behind her. He lifted a hand, which by then was full-on vibrating with his anger and instinct to phase, and jabbed his pointer finger down at her. "You stay right here. Do you understand me? Don't you dare leave this bedroom, no matter what you hear or see or think you hear or see."

Bella's chest heaved with a sob and she nodded obediently.

"I'm serious, Bella," he stressed. A worry line appeared right between his eyebrows. "No matter what you think you should do, or feel you need to do –just don't, okay? Let us take care of this." He paused. "Let Sam take care of this."

And Bella, too soon for her liking, was left to wallow in her fear once again.

Sam hadn't expected to feel relieved when he finally saw the leeches that had been terrorizing La Push, but he was. Probably because he didn't have to wonder anymore. Finally they had an image to pair with the hate.

The two bastards that had surrounded Bella's house were both male.

Sam had to admit he was surprised at the appearance of the first one. According to human eyes, vampires are unnaturally beautiful, but Sam and the pack had never seen them that way; they were all equally hideous to him just because of the absolute loathing he felt towards them. But something about this vampire was different. Sam was positive that no human would find him attractive. He was pale – sickly pale. If it had been snowing, he would have been camouflaged by it. He was blonde, and his hair was caked with dirt and filthy, and knotted in the back. A tight leather jacket limited his arms when he moved. His ripped, ratty jeans were spattered with blood over the thighs. Clearly he was a violent feeder. His feet bare feet sunk deep into the grass as he bent forward in a defensive crouch, eyes locked on Embry, who had taken up his own offensive position a few feet away. This leech, of the two, was obviously the muscle of the group.

The other was sporting a solid pair of dreadlocks. His eyes were equally as red as the snarling blonde's, and his expression was just as bleak, but his wardrobe was a polar opposite. While the blonde reminded Sam of a biker, this one looked almost homeless. He wore pale, weak shades of auburn and brown. His brown trench coat was torn at the elbow, like his prey had fought back and probably lost. He, too, had no shoes and didn't seem to be bothered by it. This one wasn't growling or preparing to fight. His eyes were calculating, synchronizing Embry's every breath. Every so often, he would turn to look at Quil, who kept a safe but defensive distance. If Quil didn't move, Sam was sure he would be left alone. This leech didn't seem to want to shed unnecessary blood.

If the pack backed away now, they would all walk away from that battle unharmed. But if they backed away, these two leeches would kill Bella.

And there wasn't a chance that was happening.

The darkness didn't both the leeches any more than it bothered the wolves. There wasn't a star in the sky and the streetlights were dim, but it made no difference to them.

Sam knew exactly when the leeches could hear the rest of the pack coming; they both turned towards them in synchronization. He was extremely satisfied with the shocked expressions that crossed their faces.

With a satisfied jolt, he realized they'd been expecting the majority them to follow the female – probably assuming their loyalties would stay with the Reservation and tribe. They'd been expecting this fight, but not this high a number of wolves they'd be fighting.

The pack had the element of surprise and they outnumbered them. This could be an easy win.

As long as Sam kept his head out of the game and ignored the frantic pounding of Bella's heartbeat

The entire pack with the exception of Jared and Collin created a semi-circle around the house, covering the entire wooded area around the Swan residence. The vampire with the dreadlocks must have realized he was at a severe disadvantage because he slipped into a deep defensive crouch, mirroring the blonde leech.

What's the plan? Paul demanded.

Sam lowered his head and bared his teeth when Dreadlocks looked him right in the eye. They don't leave this fight alive, he snarled. This ends here.

Who makes the first move? It came from Seth, who stood on Sam's right side.

Let them try to get into that house. Sam let out a savage growl when the leech deepened his crouch. I'll rip his head off before he takes a step.

For a minute, an intense stare-down had them all rumbling and glaring. The air was completely still, everyone hesitant to make the smallest move.

Dreadlocks glanced between Sam and Paul, sensing that they were the strongest fighters of the pack. Sam stared right back, daring him to make a move.

Dreadlocks blinked.

Sam bent his hind legs in preparation to run.

The backdoor of the Swans' house flew open and shattered the stillness.

In a flash, Dreadlocks was running, too fast for human eyes to follow. Paul and Seth both bolted after him, but Sam didn't move. Instead, he shifted his focus to Blondie, who hadn't moved an inch.

Sam didn't need to go after Dreadlocks. Jacob was prepared, and he phased just in time. The leech and werewolf collided just as Jacob's quivering body exploded. The leech was knocked backwards and Jacob landed with one solid paw in the center of its chest. He let out an infuriated roar and sunk his teeth into the leech's shoulder. As he started dragging the body towards the forest, Dreadlocks kicked and flailed, attempting to break himself free. He failed at all of his attempts and the two were once again shielded within the dense forest from any wandering human eyes.

Sam didn't have a time to wonder what the nearby residence would make of the sounds they were making. He was distracted by the smallest squeak reaching his ears from Bella's bedroom.

Quil and Embry instinctively moved to back Jacob up, but they weren't fast enough because Jacob, too, had heard Bella's yelp and lost his focus. Dreadlocks twisted Jacob's paw until a bone cracked and was standing again in the blink of an eye. Jacob rolled over, whining, before lurching to his feet and spinning to attack again. Damn it, Jacob swore, his thoughts echoing through the entire pack.

Dreadlocks was ready this time. He sent Jacob flying backwards. He collided with a tree, sending shards of bark tumbling to the floor. Jacob didn't retaliate as quickly this time, so Quil and Embry stepped in.

Apparently this wasn't these leeches' first rodeo. Dreadlocks battled both Quil and Embry, smacking one right after the other as they tried to counterattack him. This leech knew exactly what he was doing.

Brady, go after Dreadlocks, Sam ordered. Paul, Seth, and Jacob – go at the blonde.

The orders were carried out immediately, but neither side was getting any results. Just when one group of wolves got the upper hand, the other leech would overtake the second, or vice versa. Neither team could manage to break down the entire opponent at once. Sam was amazed, but also terrified. These were two leeches fighting and succeeding against a whole pack of werewolves. Exactly how experienced were these bastards? Fighting off three vampires at once was impossible. They were severely outnumbered, but they were holding their own.

The blonde vampire made his first move towards the house, but Sam shot out to clam his teeth down on his ankle to keep him in place. Paul came at him from the other side and went for an arm. It sounded like shattering granite when it was pulled out of its socket. Blondie howled in pain and threw his head back, snarling.

Dreadlocks flipped Quil over his shoulder and landed a swift kick to his stomach when he landed in front of him. That's my best friend, Embry thought and slammed into his side and sent him reeling. Brady tried to get a solid hold on its head to end the battle permanently, but the leech was fast. Dreadlocks flipped up just as Brady's jaw snapped shut around open air.

Suddenly, Blondie reared back and threw a punch just as Seth lunged at him from behind. Sam and Paul both cringed as the sickening, tell-tale sound of bones cracking hit their ears. Seth fell, whimpering dejectedly. Sam rose up on his hind legs and swiped a paw across the leech's face, forcing him backwards and putting a safe distance between it and Seth.

Are you okay? Sam thought, ducking as Blondie tried to connect his foot with Sam's shoulder.

Seth's thoughts were consumed with his pain as he lay amongst the leaves, but he didn't admit it, though he knew Sam knew exactly what he was thinking. I'll be fine. I think a few of my ribs are broken, but they'll heal. I'm out, though. I can't move.

We can take this bastard, Paul insisted. After all, he'd already rid him of an arm and was working on getting a leg to go with it.

Brady and Quil got Dreadlocks into a headlock and Embry yanked off a leg. The leech shrieked. Quil slammed his paw down onto its neck just as Jacob had done two minutes before.

It was at that moment that Jared and Collin, many miles away, finally arrived at Kim's house. I'm going in to check on her, he said and didn't wait for Sam's approval before he did so.

I'm not picking up the female's scent, Collin thought, sniffling around the ground. I lost it a while back.

Sam couldn't focus enough to formulate a response, so he just filed the information away in his brain. Jacob knocked Blondie off of his feet and Paul pounced on him. Alright, Sam, Paul thought. His eyes were full of confidence as he lifted his head to submit to his Alpha, keeping his entire weight on the leech to prevent an escape. Do you want to do the honors? He gestured to Dreadlocks' head to clarify that he meant for it to be ripped off.

Satisfaction replaced the worry that had squeezed Sam's stomach the entire evening. His paw landed over the vampire's dead, silent, unmoving heart and the leech gurgled, jerking violently in an attempt to get free.

For the first time, both vampires were flat on their backs at the same time. The wolves had the other hand, and now it was time to end it with one injury and no casualties.

And they would have. If Isabella Swan hadn't followed her gut and exited the safety of her house.

Sam smelt her before he saw her; the air was humid and damp and allowed her scent to spread quickly. He sucked in a deep breath and felt his stomach drop.

He turned, and his little mate stood tall and proud right smack-dab in the center of her lawn. The silver knife she clutched tightly in her hand was reflecting the light of the moon.

No, Sam thought. No, Bella. NO!

He saw her intentions before the rest of the pack did, but there was nothing he could do to stop her. She wrapped her palm around the blade of the knife and squeezed, cutting neatly into her fragile flesh. The humidity did the same to the scent of her blood as it had the scent of her skin, so it only took a moment for the smell to hit their sensitive noses.

In a way, Bella was helpful. Both Dreadlocks and Blondie immediately stopped jerking around and froze, nostrils flaming at the scent. Taking the opportunity his imprint had provided, Sam and Jacob knocked their heads off in synchronization.

Things would have been fine if Collin had done his job. Bella could get a band aid for her cut, Sam could wrap her in his arms, Seth would rest on the couch until he healed, and the rest of the pack could go after the female. Except they didn't have to go after the female.

She'd come after them.

So in a way, Sam having to watch the redheaded leech break through the trees and shoot straight towards his mate was all Collin's fault.

Paul, the quickest member of the pack, took off at the same time Sam and Jacob did. The others started to dismember the rest Dreadlocks and Blondie, but Sam didn't care about that. His entire body was throbbing as his mate's life was being threatened right before his eyes.

From some points of view, Paul got to Bella just in time. From Sam's, he was a moment too late. Paul's body slammed into the redhead's and stopped her from sinking her teeth into Bella's neck, but he'd left her just enough time to swipe a hand out and connect with Bella's body in another way. The leech scraped her long, sharpened fingernails right over Bella's abdominal area, shredding her T-shirt and breaking through to her skin.

No, no, no, no. Sam's entire world fell apart.

Bella fell to the ground in a heap, clutching at her body as the blood instantly started to seep from the wound. Sam skidded to a stop as he hovered over her, planting one paw on either side of her face, just in time to see Bella's eyes drooping. She squinted up at him, confused, whimpering but not crying. A small, weak smile touched her lips and she stretched her uncut palm up to wrap her fingers in the fur at Sam's neck. "Sammy," she whispered, the words barely making a sound, and then her eyes fluttered closed.

ATTENTION: IMPORTANT THINGS IN THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE!

I know I'm a few days late with this chapter, and I apologize for making you all wait. Sometimes life just gets in the way. If you knew what kind of week I've had, you'd sympathize for me.

This chapter was a little difficult for me to write. I just couldn't get it to be where I'm satisfied with it, but I decided this is what it is.

So, now you all know for SURE which vampires are the problem (hopefully you can figure that out by the descriptions and Sam's nicknames for them). Next, we have to find out WHY they were a problem and what their deal was. That's coming up, I promise!

Remember that one-shot I've been talking about for the past umpteen chapters? It's finally posted! It's called The Mechanics of Love. Please, please check it out! I would love to have your feedback.

********I've done some planning out, and I think we're down to three more chapters plus an epilogue. I've had a few questions about my future projects. Yes, I will be writing another Bella/wolf story after Temptation's Reputation is finished. Actually, the first chapter is already in motion. The only problem is that I've also been working on a Bella/vampire story as well, and I haven't decided which one I'll be posting first. I'd like to do them both at the same time, but I don't think my life will allow weekly updates to two stories when I can barely handle one. I guess we'll see what the future brings.

As always, thank you all for your lovely feedback and for waiting so patiently for my updates! I so appreciate you all.

See you in Chapter Seventeen.