I was in the middle of my second period English class when my sixth sense picked up a Bella related incident. It had become habit to stay tuned into the perpetual buzz of thoughts that swirled around the complete blankness that marked the location of Bella's silent mind, so when I picked up a particularly harsh thought it made me stop short.

This child is entirely too arrogant. It's bad enough with those Cullen kids, but at least they have the perfect grades to back it up. A B+ student like Isabella could do with a lesson in humility, god she's not even paying attention!

"Isabella!" Mr Varner snapped bitterly, "Are you paying attention?" he scowled. My desk creaked slightly from where I was gripping it too tightly in my iron grasp.

"Yes, sir." Bella bit out, and in Mr Varner's mind's eye Bella's beautiful face twisted into a disdainful sneer.

"Then you will have no issues solving the problem on the board." he smile was biting. From Mr Varner's mind I watched as Bella rose from her chair with a huff and snatched the marker from his hand on her way to the board, she contemplated the problem for merely a moment before hastily scribbling down the answer – the correct answer. Bella dropped the marker with a clattering noise onto the little shelf of the whiteboard before she stomped back to her seat. "And where, exactly, is your working out?" Mr Varner asked with raised eyebrows.

"In my head. Where math is done." Bella snarked and I had to bring my fist to my mouth to smother the surprised chuckled that escaped me at her sass.

"Out!" Mr Varner snapped angrily in response.

Well shit.

XxXx

There was an oppressive silence in the car as I drove Bella home that afternoon. Bella had to know that I knew what had happened during her math class, and I couldn't keep waiting for her to bring it up. "Are you going to tell your father that you almost got detention today?"

"Well, no. I mean the key word there is almost." Bella grumbled as she stared out the passenger side window.

"Bella," I murmured, concern lacing every edge of the word. I didn't know what was bothering her, or why she had been so on edge since we had returned to school, but I wanted to help – besides, irritating our teachers was not going to help matters any. I knew Bella was young, but she had to know that flying under the radar of the humans around us was the best way to stay hidden.

"Would you stop that." Bella growled, smacking her hand against the car door in aggravation. She snapped her head in my direction, a furious scowl marring her face. "I get that you're a century old and everything, but you're my boyfriend not my parent. I don't need you to scold me for my behaviour." As I turned down Bella's street I frowned over at her and opened my mouth to respond but Bella didn't give me the chance. "I know what I did was stupid, okay? But it's just… God!" she thumped her head back against the head rest of the seat, I carefully pulled into Bella's drive as I frowned worryingly, Bella was always a very emotionally charged person, but this sort of outburst was entirely unlike her. "I was asked to find the answer to an equation, and I knew the answer! I didn't fucking feel like pretending to take the time to work it out! Fuck!" her hands were clenched into tight fists and she struck them against her legs in impotent rage. With jerky movements Bella threw open the car door and rushed out, slamming it roughly behind her. I followed cautiously and I watched with a wary eye as Bella paced the driveway like a caged animal, all wild fury and barely contained rage. Usually, Bella was beautiful in her anger – she glowed with an unearthly animal radiance whenever she embraced the wilder side of her being. This though… this was… heartbreaking.

"Bella?" I called softly, my stance open and nonthreatening.

Bella's wild eyes met mine, red rimmed and brimming with tears she groaned, "God, Edward." she pulled at her hair manically, "I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm running on, like 4 hours of sleep so I am so fucking tired but at the same time I am so keyed up. I… I just- I want… I need." Tears began to silently cascade down Bella's face, an external release of a torrent of unending emotion – she was a dam filled to the brink by a thunderous storm, and the weight of so much was pressing down upon her until tiny cracks began to appear on the surface.

"Bella, can I hug you?" I murmured softly, knowing that her superior hearing would catch it. Bella nodded in quick, wobbly motions and I didn't hesitate to rush to her side and hold her in my arms. I folded my arms around her loosely, wanting to comfort her but not crowd her in her distress. I felt like a failure, I had known Bella had been affected by the events with James but I had no idea how bad it had gotten for her. I expected her to be able to just brush it off and get on with life, to behave as if everything was normal, as if what had happened was of no consequence – once again I was reminded of just how young Bella was. For her, this was new, she had never experienced this sort of fear before, so of course she would become overwhelmed by it. "It's a fight or flight reaction, humans aren't meant to experience it for prolonged periods of time and I'd wager neither are werewolves." I mumbled against the top of her head.

"Make it stop." she begged miserably.

"I wish I knew how, my love." I replied mournfully as I rubbed soothing circles on her back.

Bella seemed to shake in my arms, her shoulders trembled sightly with each tormented breath, I didn't know how else to comfort her other than to hold her as she cried. Her silent tears began to slow, but her breathing just became more laboured as she continued to quiver in my hold, and I could feel her hands become fists where the rested against my back. "I-I-I can't." she gasped out.

"What? Bella-?" I whispered anxiously.

"Can't." she rasped. "I… can't-can't do this."

And then I was flying.

With supernatural strength Bella shoved me away, a shocked gasp fell from my lips as I landed in the grass a dozen feet away. I hastily picked myself up off the ground to see Bella clawing at her clothes, pulling off her jacket as she stalked towards the woods, "Bella!" I screamed as I tripped over myself in my attempt to follow her. I passed her discarded jacket, then her shoes, quickly followed by her jeans and then I heard a gut wrenching scream – a scream accompanied by the snap of bone and the scent of blood. The scream turned into a harrowing howl and the sound caused my heart to crash to the bottom of my stomach before shattering into a thousand pieces.

I could see Bella in the woods ahead of me now, her massive lupine form still dripping with the remnants of her transformation as her monstrous form heaved with each torturous breath, large clouds of air escaped her blood dripped snout as it escaped into the cool Washington air.

"Bella!" I called out, my voice broke around her name.

Bella showed no indication that she heard my plea as she took off into the dense undergrowth at a sprint. I gave chase without hesitation. I lost her a few times in the mossy woods, her dark form blending into the forest as if she were born to it, but I always managed to find her again by the sound of her thundering heart and pounding paws. "Bella! Please! Wait for me!" I begged hopelessly as she continue to get further and further from my grasp. Branches snapped and snagged against my clothes, tearing at them violently as I raced through the woods and I angrily shoved them away from myself, enraged by them – how dare they try and keep me from my Mate? Bella was fast. I knew this, of course, but never before had it been so obvious just how much faster she was than me.

Slowly, as the distance between us grew, I lost sight of her for the last time, unable to spot her again amongst the forest ferns – still I pursued her, tracking her solely by the sound of her heart until… until I could no longer hear it. I ground to a halt, turning in frantic circles I desperately sought out the one sound I coveted above all else. It was no use, I was alone. Bella was gone.

She had left me behind.

A/N: Happy Holidays. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I know it's short but I have covid so it is what it is. Looking forward to your thoughts.