After her conversation with Leah on the beach, a strange sort of restlessness settled over Bella. What little sleep she gleaned at night was laced with memories and dreams, until she felt haunted. She dreamed of Jacob; his laughter, his sunny smile, and his dark eyes that had always seen her. She dreamed of the woods and sea surrounding La Push, almost hearing the thunderous waves as they echoed over the cliffs. She thought she could almost smell the sharp acrid smoke of the Quileute bonfires, and taste the salt on the wind. On the third night after the Clearwater's arrival, Bella's dreams woke her with a gasp. She was covered in sweat and goose-flesh, her aching body suddenly chilled and cold. She hadn't been cold since her sham wedding day, and she shied away from her bed, yanking on a shirt and bathrobe.

She shuffled quietly down the stairs and stepped into the warm night, the wind lifting her hair, drying the sweat on her skin. The odd aching chill in her bones eased a little as she walked, and Bella let her eyes drift half closed. She'd stayed with Phil and Renée because she'd felt safe, hidden, alone. She'd known the feeling would fade, but now she felt—lost. She frowned. Not lost, exactly. Misplaced, uprooted, adrift; as if the land beneath her feet had become liquid, shifting under her, tossing her back into the world, like the sea tosses a ship without an anchor. This place was wrong now. Bella turned her face to the ocean. The sea was wrong too.

Near silent footfalls were all that betrayed Leah's presence, in wolf form. Bella turned and stared at Leah's wolf, her silver coat glinting when the moon broke through the clouds.

"You must rest, little mother," Sue's voice drifted out of the darkness. She stepped out from Leah's shadow.

"I can't," Bella said, and the words were sharp, cutting her loose from the last mooring of her old self. This wasn't her place anymore, and this wasn't her sea. "I don't belong here," Bella said firmly. Now that she'd found the words, she felt an aching tugging pull inside her to run away, far away, from here. "I have to go." Leah tilted her wolf head to one side and glanced at Sue. Bella could almost smell the tension between them. She'd let Jacob run away from her, while she'd run as hard as she could in the opposite direction. The pack was used to her running from them. But this restlessness was different. "I have to go back—" Bella throat closed around the word 'home' before she could say it. She wasn't certain if she meant Forks or La Push or Jacob.

I love you, Bells.

In a hidden corner of herself, Bella knew wherever Jacob Black was, she would find her way there. He wasn't in Forks or La Push, but it was as close as she could get to him. He would come back, and she needed to be there when he did. She wouldn't run from her choices or their consequences anymore. Sue smiled, a gentle knowing look, and reached for Bella's hand.

"We will go with you, little mother."

"Now." Bella said, the word falling down sharp and immovable. "Tonight."

Leah snorted, a happy contented wolf sound, and bounded away towards the darkened bungalow.

"We'll pack a bag and leave a note for your mother," Sue said, walking alongside Bella. Her firm leathery hand shifted under Bella's elbow, supporting her. "It's a four day drive to La Push."

When they reached the house, Leah sprang from the house, and almost slammed into them, growling, a deep threatening grumble in her throat. Even with Leah in human form, the sound sent chills running along Bella's spine.

"Lee?" Sue's voice was strained.

Bella knew the answer even before Leah hissed, "Bloodsucker."

"Wait," Sue gripped her daughter's arm before she could shift. "How many?"

"One," Leah sniffed. "Possibly two. Less than half a mile south." Her head swung in the direction of the road. "Don't wait for me." She shrugged out of her mother's grasp, shifting with a wrench of bone and shredded clothes, disappearing into the humid night.

"I'll pack your things."

Bella nodded as Sue headed for the stairs. She grabbed a pen and a yellow legal pad from Phil's desk, scribbling a quick note for Renée. She sealed it in an envelope and was about to slip it under her mother's bedroom door just as Sue appeared. Sue held a small purple duffel bag and Bella's threadbare backpack from high school. Bella hesitated, frowning, then crumpled the note in one hand. She knocked gently on her mother's door. Renée had taken her in when she was lost and had no where else to go. Bella couldn't leave now and not say goodbye in person.

"Bella," Renée's sleepy face appeared in the doorway. Her eyes widened. "Is it the baby? Should I get Phil?"

"No, I—I have to go, Renée." Bella said gently, and took her mother's hand. She gave it a squeeze, silently praying Renée would understand. "I'll see you soon."

"Go?" Her mother frowned. And then she nodded, her eyes softening. "Back home?"

"Yeah."

"Is he back?" Renée looked over Bella's shoulder towards Sue. "Is Jacob home again?"

"He will come," Sue said, nodding.

Bella bit her lip, squeezing her mother's hand a little harder, wondering if Renée noticed that Sue hadn't actually answered her question. "I'll call when I get to Charlie's. I promise."

"You do that," Renée said, and then surprised Bella by pulling her into a quick, fierce hug. "Be happy, baby. I love you."

They found Leah pacing in front of Sue's sliver pickup truck, her own silver fur standing on end, her bright eyes glued to the south road. Bella sniffed the wind, but she couldn't smell anything other than sea, and salt, and people. Sue helped Bella into the passenger side, then gunned the engine, the grumbling roar ripping through the quiet night. It was risky, but Leah slunk alongside them, mile after mile, keeping easy pace with the truck as it sped west.

Bella's eyes drifted closed as she listened to the loping gate of Leah's paws, and the pant of her breath as she ran. So fast.

"Vampires are fast, Jake." She'd tried to make him understand. She hadn't wanted him in that fight. She hadn't wanted any of the pack to fight for her.

"We're faster," he had snapped back, grinning. "We're built for this, Bells. Trust me."

She had trusted him, not just with her safety, but with parts of herself she'd never shown anyone. Jake knew her secrets and her shame, her dreams and her fears, the important things and the stupid things. He knew she loved photography and cooking and Pokémon; he knew she believed in God and angels and demons, but never told anyone, worried she'd be made fun of; he knew she secretly loved dark purple nail polish and mascara, but pretended she didn't; he knew she wanted a tattoo of a lioness but was too chicken to get one; he knew she had no plans for her career and that terrified her; he knew she watched the same ten movies over and over, but never listened to the same song twice in one month; he knew her fear of death had started in the fifth grade when she'd had nightmares of Charlie suddenly dying, after his mother Sarah had passed away.

"I know you, Bells," he'd whispered to her in the tent the night before the newborn battle. "I don't need to read your mind to know you better than that leech ever could."

Maybe that was actually why she'd asked him to kiss her the next morning. She'd told herself it was only to keep him alive as long as possible. She knew now he wouldn't have kissed her, if that's all she wanted. That kiss had changed everything, for better, for worse. It had uncovered the hidden part of her soul she'd pretended wasn't there. Somehow he knew. He'd known all along, even as she pushed him away, breaking him with her words. She'd kept on trying to pretend everything was the same with Edward. But it wasn't.

A few minutes—or was it hours?—later, she heard a change in Leah's pace. Bella opened her eyes, catching a flash of silver fur as the wolf darted ahead and veered off into a clump of trees lining the highway. Sue pulled the truck over, waiting. Leah appeared a moment later, naked and panting. She leaned against the truck, her head filling the open window.

"Lee?"

"They're following us," Leah almost snarled, her body trembling.

"They?"

"Two of them." Leah bared her teeth, glaring over her shoulder. "Definitely two. They've been keeping perfect pace. I can't," Leah paused and glanced at her mother, "I can't take two on my own."

Bella blinked at the humble admission. Leah Clearwater was as fierce a protector as any of the male members of her pack. She had anger and bitterness as well as her pride to fuel her—but that pride had come with a price which Jacob had paid. Bella shivered, wishing should could stop the memory of his gut wrenching screams as his shattered bones were forced back into place after the newborn battle. He'd done it for her. And for Leah. They both knew he would've done it again, without a second thought. Leah's eyes flicked up and they were full of regret. "We need to get to La Push. And fast."

Bella nodded and shoved the truck door open, "Get in." Leah started to shake her head.

"I'll run."

"No," Bella's jaw clenched and she slid over to make room, "Get in, Leah."

Leah scowled, her body jerking forward. She collapsed onto the seat and Sue handed her daughter a blanket from the back. They exchanged an odd glance over Bella's head. She ignored them, her mind racing. What happened next was her decision to make. She knew Sue and Leah would follow her lead. "How far back are the leeches?"

Leah raised her eyebrows, "A mile, maybe less."

"Sleep," Bella ordered. She could guess who was following them, but she wasn't afraid. She laid her hand on her stomach and felt the muscles slowly harden. "We'll know if they get any closer." Then she turned to Sue, "We drive until we run out of gas."

"Are you ready, little mother?" There was a smile in Sue's voice, and an edge of pride.

Bella nodded. Even if she wasn't, her months of invisibility had run out.