JPOV

The drive into town to Bella's apartment is made in silence. Anxiety ridden on her end and worry ridden on my own end. Large angry red scars riddled Bella's torso, leading down in more covered parts of her body. Between Peter and I, we could've blown through a whole town to track down the fucker who did that to our mate. This would explain the spikes of anxiety when either one of us touch her, aside from touching her hand, which still makes her second guess either herself or us, I'm not too sure. Looking over to where she sits, I notice she has dozed off into a light slumber which relaxes me a bit knowing her body is trying to rest.

By the time I pull up to the apartment complex Bella is completely asleep, so I quickly park the truck and go around to the passenger side. Carefully I reach into Bella's bag to grab her key's before picking her weightless body up into my arms and carry her to her apartment. Once inside, I walk towards her bedroom and place her gently onto the bed in the middle of the room. She stirs as I slip off her shoes and cover her up with the fuzzy blanket on the foot of the bed. As I grab her cell phone from the bag to plug onto the charger, I notice she is staring up at me. After programming Peter and I's phone number into her cell, I place it down on the nightstand and kneel down beside the bed to her eyelevel.

"I put our number's into your phone," I tell her quietly. "Get some sleep, darlin'," I say just as her eyes slip shut once more, drifting her into a deep sleep.

Standing up, I can't help but want to place my lips on her so I do the safest thing I can think of and place a soft kiss onto her forehead which automatically causes a soft sigh to emit from Bella. I make my way back home to Peter quickly and notice that the lights are off except for the bedroom where I hear the water running. Grabbing a change of clothes for myself, I head into the bathroom to join Peter where he faces the wall with his face in the water. Coming up behind him, I wrap my arms around his torso, tucking my face into the crook of his neck and close my eyes. Contentment fills the air as we stand there for what feels like years before we start cleaning ourselves.

The rest of the night is spent in bed talking softly about tonight and I inform him of the treaty we had with the Quileute pack in Forks. Wolves. Peter thinks for a split second before understanding what I think put those marks on our mate. I tell him we will have to wait until Bella is ready to tell us her story and how she got to be here.

BPOV

"Don't walk away from me!" He growls angrily as his hand catches me by my elbow and yanking me towards his body roughly.

"You're hurting me, let me go!" I shout at him as I try to tug my arm free of his hold but to no avail.

Surely, I won't be able to wear any short sleeved shirts for a while after this. His anger lessens slightly but enough for me to break free of the hold he had on me.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't mean to- "

"Just stop," I say. "Leave me alone. I don't want to see you again," I say as I try to walk away again.

The next thing I know there is a deep growl from behind me, making me stop in my steps and turn around just in time to see his outstretched paw- claw- whatever rip across my torso. A scream rips through me as I hear howls echo from around us just before I collapse into the dirt where everything goes black.

I wake with a start. Its only four in the morning so I turn over and try to get some more sleep, but I can't stop thinking about it. By the time four thirty comes around, I have given up on the idea of getting more sleep and throw the blanket off of my body before going into the bathroom and starting a shower. I let the water run over me until it starts getting cold before cleaning myself and getting out and drying off. Putting on my pajamas, I make my way into the kitchen to make a cup of tea when I can feel eyes on me.

Goosebumps cover my arms as I turn the light on but see nobody inside which only calms my nerves a little. Making the tea quickly, I go back into the bedroom and sit in bed with a pillow in my lap, holding the mug. The feeling of eyes on my disappears around five thirty which relaxes me enough for me to lay down and try to go back to sleep.

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"Oh! Bella dear, you look completely exhausted!" Mrs. Newman exclaims as I begin stocking the books.

"Just didn't sleep well last night is all," I reply cursing myself for waking up late and not having enough time to try to put on a bit of makeup to cover the dark circles under my eyes.

"I was just about to go make a quick run to grab myself a coffee, would you like one dear?" She asks sweetly.

We've gotten in the habit that if either of us go out to grab something, we get the other something as well, so I nod slightly.

"Normal please?" I tell her as I hear her keys jingle.

"Be back soon, dear!"

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Around three in the afternoon I get the feeling of being watched as I ring up a few customers. Looking out the store windows and door, I see nobody around, so I try to shake the feeling off as I bid the last customer a good day. Bending down I grab my drink from under the counter just as I hear the bell ring signaling someone walking in. Standing straight up to welcome the customer I see someone with short dark hair and tanned skin walk by the store outside making my heart skip a beat. I force a smile at the lady who walked in with her young son and ask if I can help with anything. Four thirty couldn't come fast enough and when it does Peter walks through the door as I am gathering my things.

I raise an eyebrow and smile a bit. "How is it you two know exactly when I get off work?" I question him earning a cheesy smile in return.

"I'm good with computers," Peter replies. "Do you have anywhere you need to be, or can I kidnap you?"

Just then I feel eyes on me again making me frown and the look and posture of Peter tells me I'm not wrong. I see the flash of him once more rounding around a corner.

I shake my head. "Where to?"

Peter looks almost relieved as we make our way out to my truck. "You have someone following you. But by the looks of it, you already know that. So, my question is- do you know who it is?" Peter asks as he takes out his cell phone. "Go to your apartment, sugar."

Within minutes we pull up to the complex and before I have time to unbuckle my seatbelt, Peter is pulling open my door and holding out his hand for me to take. Slipping out, he tucks me into his side where for the first time I don't feel trapped being held like that which shocks me slightly. Once in the apartment, the door locks and a slight breeze blows my hair around as Peter runs throughout the apartment.

"He's not here anymore smells like he's been in recently though," Peter says through his phone talking to who I can only assume is Jasper on the other end. "She hasn't answered yet… yeah I'll find out," Peter snaps his phone shut and looks at me. "Do you know who it is, Bella?"

I nod a bit, hanging my bag up on the hook. "Jacob," I tell him. "He's from the reservation in Forks."

"So, the Major was right," Peter growls lowly. "He's the one who did that to you isn't he?" He doesn't wait for an answer, I assume my expression gives me away and instead he walks towards me until he is standing directly in front of me. "He's getting close… you'd be safest at the house," Peter shifts almost nervously.

JPOV

I growl in frustration as I lose track of the mutts scent, so I make my way back towards the bookstore to see where he's been hiding out. An abandoned building just diagonal from the store is what I take notice to and begin to snoop it out to find his scent heavily inside. This is most certainly where he's been hiding out at and by the looks of it, he's been here for a few days. My phone buzzes in my pocket so I fish it out to see Peter's name.

"I've got his hide out," I begin.

"It's someone called Jacob, she said. I've got her packing a bag with a few days' worth of clothes," Peter tells me. "We'll be on our way in a couple of minutes. See you at home?"

"Yeah, see you at home," I reply before snapping my phone shut and going through the small amount of belongings that are tucked into a corner to find multiple food wrappers and a couple of changes of clothes.

Quickly, I leave the building and make my way back home to my mates, waiting only a few minutes more before they are pulling up in Bella's truck. Peter gets out quickly, taking what I assume is Bella's bag as I open up the truck door and gently pull Bella out. Her feet don't hit the ground as I quickly make way for the house, Peter right behind us as we make our way to the living room. Nervousness is the primary emotion that assaults Bella and in turn- me. I push out calmness to help her settle down a bit and it helps a good amount for her to stop fidgeting.

"Jacob…" I start and at his name, Bella's heartbeat accelerates. "He is part of the Quileute pack, right?"

Bella confirms with a slight nod. "Yeah… he's the reason why I left Forks to begin with."

Peter lets out a small growl in anger- not loud enough for Bella to hear yet but I shoot him a warning glance just in case he decides it's a good idea to get louder. "Will you tell us about what happened, darlin'?" I question gently as Peter and I make ourselves more comfortable sitting beside Bella on the couch while Peter goes to the chair next the couch.

Bella lets out a small sigh buts nods reluctantly. "Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning, right?" She asks but seems to be mostly to herself and continues without waiting for an answer. "I started going to La Push shortly after you all left- "Pain and abandonment are heavy in her emotions before she quickly shoves it aside. "Jacob was fun to be around. He was very easy going and carefree which was a nice refreshment from what I was constantly feeling. I guess that's what made me keep going back even though he was a bit too friendly at times. Eventually I gave him a chance after a while and things were fine until they weren't. Naturally, all good things must come to an because Victoria and Laurent had been snooping around Forks. A few of Jacobs friends had gotten pretty sick according to him and when they were allowed back to school… they were different. He didn't know at the time what was going on, but they completely flipped the switch and was hanging around Sam Uley. Jacob didn't like him- kept saying he was always watching him, almost like he was waiting for Jacob himself to join them. Not long after that we had gone to the movies with a couple of people from school and him and Mike go into it about something stupid. That's when his fever set in and after that I was told he came down with mono."

"They started phasing because there was new and more vampire's around," I say. "I tried to tell Carlisle and Edward we needed to hunt Laurent and Victoria down and end them as well, but they wouldn't listen."

"Edward seemed like he always knew best," Bella said shaking her head. "Anyways, after Jacob had started phasing, he said he couldn't see me anymore and made up any excuse that he could. Later on, he came through my bedroom window saying that he still couldn't tell me what was going on but that I had already known. Told me to think back on the story he had told me when I figured you guys out. He had inadvertently told me about the wolves so the next day I showed up to find Sam and a few other boys making their way over. Well… Paul is a hot head who just so happened to be who I got into it with then proceeded to punch in the face."

"Our mate is a badass," Peter praises with a grin.

Bella shakes her head slightly but continues on with the story. "A couple of days later they came for me with a few friends, so I got to camp out somewhere in the mountains while they got taken care of. After that things got more advanced with our relationship, but it got to a point where I didn't want to advance it as much as he wanted to so quickly. He let it go until the next time and the time after that with shouting on both of our ends… his grip got a bit tight a time or two, but it was the very last time that it got out of hand. In his words he wasn't dead enough to fuck."

A loud growl emits from my chest causing Bella to flinch and Peter to come sit between us to keep a hand on me. "Get it together, Major!" Peter demands.

"I'm sorry, Bella," I apologize. "Please go on."

Peter keeps me in check all the while squeezing my thigh in reassurance and I send him my thanks in return.

"I tried going home but instead Jacob wanted to continue whatever he was trying to accomplish. I almost got to my truck before he grabbed me again and I told him to let me go- that I didn't want to see him again. His grip loosened and I was able to pull free of him but the next thing I know he phased too close to me."

"What did Charlie- "I begin to ask but Bella shakes her head stopping me in my tracks.

"They had a doctor on the reservation who took care of me. Stitched me up, gave me some pain medication and as soon as I could move, I went home to Charlie still at work. I packed what I needed, wrote Charlie a note telling him I need to leave the dead town, said I didn't want to' get stuck there like my mom. The last of my trail was me taking out all the money in my bank account and after that I ended the account. I didn't stop until I needed gas and just kept going not paying attention to where it was that I was going." Bella shrugged her shoulders as she pulled her legs up to her chest to wrap her arms around herself. "I don't know how he even found me. Hell- I don't even know why he would want to find me. It's not like I am his imprint."

"Imprint? Like a mate?" Peter questions.

"Yes, it's their version of a mate," I answer.

"But I thought they couldn't leave the reservation. Why would he go against the Alpha?"

"Well, he was born to be the Alpha so technically all he would've had to do was overrule Sam. If he did that then he can do whatever he wants without care- even though he should've listened to the elders," Bella explains.

A/N: DUN, DUN, DUN!

Sorry guys, I thought I posted this last night but I only uploaded it to the doc manager.

-bellacullen166