Okay okay, I know that I planned on updating sooner but what can I say? No excuses. I am grateful to my readers for reading, following, and reviewing my story. Also I am happy to hear the intrigue as you all try to figure out what will happy next. I kind of like the world where Bella grew up with knowledge of the supernatural, as I don't really favor the weak minded Bella who Stephenie Meyer has portrayed, no insult to her writing of course. In any case, as I sat today considering which direction I'd like to take this in I had an epiphany. I am so excited to put this chapter into place so I'll keep this short and get the next chapter started!

A/N: I do not own twilight or any of its correlating characters or themes.

Chapter Five: The Moment When Everything Changes

Edward POV:

It was my turn to be struck speechless. Did she actually just say what I think she just said? I affixed a stone smile to my face trying not to give anything away. "Now Bella, we are both a little old for believing in fairytales, don't you think?" She chuckled to herself and I probed her mind reaching to know what it was that brought the smile to her beautiful lips. That's when I realized that no matter how hard I pushed, I heard only silence. This I hadn't experienced before. How the hell am I supposed to win her heart without being able to read how she really feels? Through my bitterness I muttered, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Her head snapped in my direction.

"Excuse me?"

I sucked in an unsatisfying gasp, "You, um, you heard that?"

"Of course I heard that you pompous ass, I'm neither deaf nor dumb." Anger seethed behind her eyes, bringing their warm brown color to a cool slate gray; leaving them devoid of any emotion aside from rage. I flashed a dazzling smile again but it fizzled and fell flat, incinerated by the waves of heat radiating off of her. Her anger stirred up a strange emotion and from the bottom of my chest bubbled up a light chuckle; that was a big mistake. Her eyes were burning into the side of my shoulder.

"What the hell is so very funny?"

I immediately stopped laughing, "I'm not sure exactly, you draw strange reactions out of me." The look she gave me silenced any further banter and I sat quietly for a few moments before attempting once again discern any of the thoughts running through her mind. I would give anything to see inside of her mind, to see what she must have been thinking just then.

"And whatever it is you're doing, stop it!" She hissed. I didn't understand what exactly she was referring to. As I made one more feeble attempt to reach into her subconscious, I felt an intangible force shove back against me, elastic but impenetrable. "That!" She slammed her first down onto the tabletop, causing the professor to take a pause from his lecture, looking us both over harshly.

"Is there something wrong? Miss Swan? Mr. Cullen?" We both shook our heads in apology and he continued his lesson, with a snide thought about wasting his time on lesson plans for stupid teenagers that couldn't give a damn. I could hear her heartbeat thrumming loudly and I worried that she was unwell; in addition to that I detected a faint sheen of sweet raising the service of her skin. When I noticed her hands trembling, I felt guilty for apparently upsetting her, which couldn't be doing anything to help her situation. As I leaned over close to her to whisper my apology she abruptly stood, knocking her stool backward where it clattered loudly on the tile.

"I'm sorry Mr. Molina, I really don't feel well." With that she gathered her bag and stormed out of the classroom. She looked so distressed that he made no attempt to stop her, and that was my window.

As the door closed behind her I rose as well, "I would like to make sure she reaches the nurse alright, she was feeling rather dizzy." He gave a decisive nod, and I caught the small hall pass in my palm as I rushed after her. I scurried along as speedily as I could without raising too much suspicion and quickly caught up with her as she jogged into the woods behind the school. The change in her demeanor was obvious as she became aware of my presence but still she continued to run deeper into the trees. We eventually reached a small clearing when suddenly she stood at a halt and for a moment I breezed past her. I circled back around to stand directly in front of her, eying her suspiciously as her form still shook from her very core.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Stepping forward carefully, I regarded her as one would an injured animal, one you are trying to sooth into submission without spooking it further. With each step I further forward, she in turn matched it with her own backward step. Even after our run it struck me as odd that she had not even missed a breath. With both hands raised she ordered me to stop.

"Don't come any closer, Edward."

I made my gait wider, stepping in a broad circle but still advancing forward. "How can I stop, my dear Bella. I need to be with you, if anything just to be next to you. You cannot deny that you feel the effects our bond has on you. Please don't fight it, we were meant to complete one another, can you not see it?"

As her figured trembled harder it was as if the edges her very body began to blur. She was no longer retreating and I knew that if I could just touch her, kiss her even, then she would realize my affection for her and her own for me. And then we could finally be happy, the world would be set right. I drew myself up closer to her, and then took my chance. Taking her shaking form into my arms I held her against me, covering her lips with my own. The last sound I heard was the single word she shrieked as she shoved me away from her with all of her strength, "NOOO!" And in that moment the entire scene changed, into something I never could have dreamed or imagined.

Before me, in Bella's stead, I stood face to face with a wolf. Deep chocolate brown in color with big round eyes, the same color as her fur. She stood very talk, with the level of her eyes just a bit shorter than my own. She looked around herself, stumbled and tripping over her own feet until whimpering she bolted into the woods; her figure still blurring slightly.

There's not a thought I could have read anywhere, from anyone's mind that would have prepared me for this. And with that, a deep bellow escaped my throat and I fell to my knees sobbing wretchedly in the snow. My cries fell on the deaf ears of the empty wood, and it was only a matter of time before I was surrounded by the forms of my family. Emmett and Jasper gathered me up into their grasp and half carried me to our home. No number of words could bring me comfort and no amount of solace could lessen my sorrow. My love, my mate, my sweet, sweet Bella was lost.

Jacob POV:

I felt the change the moment it happened, and immediately I began running toward the source of the disturbance; unsure yet of what I would find. I couldn't think of who would possibly have joined the pack, there hadn't been any signs. As I sped through the woods, I thought of every boy who had come of age in the recent days. Would it be Quil, Embry, or even young Seth Clearwater? I shuddered at the thought of someone so young forced into this life. I was halted by Sam running the opposite direction, apparently looking for me.

Jake! I had to come find you; I knew you would feel the shift. You're going to want to stop and take this one in, man. No one expected this and no one knows what to do with her.

Wait a minute, her? That news stopped me in my tracks.

I never even stopped to think the next to join the pack would be female. This was another first for our tribe. Who was it?

Same shifted his weight between his feet, whimpering under the weight of my question, reluctant to answer.

Answer me, damn it! Give me a name of the one who phased?

Without a second's delay he spoke the one name that I never thought I would hear.

"Jake, it's Bella; she's phased."