With every violent outburst, I felt like I was losing more and more of myself. Bella was the most important person in my life now, and I hated myself for the way I yelled at her. The fear in her eyes was now seared into my mind. Fear of me - I saw it every time I closed my eyes.

I wanted to apologize, but unless I was ready to tell her about the imprint (and I wasn't), I had no good explanation for my behavior. How could I explain that her rejection felt like my heart was shattered into a million pieces without telling her why?

Paul was waiting for me when I got back. It had been several hours, and I hadn't expected Bella to be there but she was. I could see her nestled up next to Jake on the couch. Her face was red, and I wondered how long she had been up crying over me. It hurt to see her that way.

I barely sat down at the kitchen table before Paul struck my face. While I wasn't expecting it, I deserved it. I knew exactly why he'd hit me too.

He asked, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

I wasn't as shocked as I'd been just a few days ago when he asked me the same question. So much had changed since then, and so much was painfully wrong with me now.

"I don't know who can get through to you, Seth. I told you what you needed to do, and so did Leah. You can see the position I'm in. Do you want the same thing to happen to you?"

A few days ago I wouldn't have been able to fathom the idea of Bella dying. Now, though, the idea of her death gripped me with fear. Death was an unavoidable truth for everyone, unpredictable as it might be.

I finally asked him one question I'd wanted to ask for days. "Did Leah know?"

When I thought about the way the two of them had always acted around each other, I could see either scenario being plausible. Maybe she knew, but she didn't love him the way he loved her. Or, perhaps she thought he only loved her platonicly and settled for Sam.

Sam was good to my sister, but in hindsight, it was obvious he never cared for her the way Paul did. Paul would have moved heaven and earth for Leah if he could have. Sam couldn't even bother raising his child and was intentionally throwing all we had left of Leah away.

"I don't truthfully know if she did or not." He told me. "She knew I loved her, very much. I know she loved me. I don't know if you knew this, but they took a break and she came to me. We spent a few days together, and I laid all my cards on the table, as much as I could without telling her verbatim I'd imprinted on her. I wanted her to want me without knowing about it. I needed her to choose me for me, not because the spirits had chosen us for each other. She was going to break up with Sam. She didn't see either of us for three weeks. Then she found out she was pregnant. When she told him, he said she couldn't force him not to be in his child's life and begged her to give him another chance. She didn't want to get married, either, but she thought it was the right thing to do. It's funny that we're in this situation now since she would've been with me if he hadn't made her feel so guilty about the baby. We never would've been in Neah Bay that day if not for Sam."

I could see the pain in his eyes. I knew everything he'd told me was true. Leah valued family over everything, and if Sam had convinced her that marrying him was the best thing for her baby she would've done it even if she didn't want to.

"Did Sam know?"

Paul chuckled. "Definitely not. I'm sure the pack can tell now, but he didn't know while she was alive. Your father knew, though. He told me not to give up. As soon as I imprinted on Leah, I stopped sleeping around and tried to be someone she could be proud of. Harry made me promise to look out for you. That's why I was harder on you than the other guys were. That's why I never let you drive."

Tears flowed down his cheeks again. "I think in her heart, she knew we were supposed to be together."

I had noticed a vast difference in Paul after he phased, but I hadn't ever considered it being because of my sister. We all matured and changed the way we behaved after our first phase. It was natural that Paul's change would be the most dramatic. He was the one they had been in the most trouble before phasing.

"I don't know if Bella knows anything," I admitted. "I can't tell her now, even if it could solve this problem for me."

He shook his head. "You're not stupid, Seth. You have a way out of this situation right before you, and it has nothing to do with Bella. Charlie and Billy, they can't treat you this way. They can't send you to a foster home. I promised you when everything fell apart and you stopped seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, I'd be there for you. This is me keeping my promise. I won't tell you what to do, because god knows you won't listen if I do, but remember that you're a protector."

I nodded although I didn't truly understand. I felt too mentally exhausted to examine it any further for now. I peeked in the living room at Bella still cuddled up to Jacob. They weren't alone. Quil and Embry lay on the floor right in front of them. Jared and Kim had an air mattress on the other side of the room. If we intended to do this for long, we would need more beds in my house. We had a full basement and guest room. There was plenty of space.

Paul snapped his fingers at me and tore me from my thoughts. "Do you see what time it is? If you're going to see the baby in the morning, you need to get some sleep. Kim is going to wake you when she's ready to go."

He was right; I needed to sleep. He followed me down the hall to my bedroom. It was right next to Leah's. How he pushed the door open and slammed it behind him took me back to when we were younger when Leah had a date with Sam, and she was outside sunbathing.

Leah had always had a perfect skin tone, but sunbathing wasn't about tanning for her. She loved to lie out with a good book and enjoy the feel of the sun on her skin. Unfortunately, Leah was on her stomach and didn't see Dad or Paul when they came up behind her with our water hoses and sprayed her down.

Before she could make it to her room to change, Paul beat her there and locked himself inside. He didn't know about the date with Sam, and when Sam showed up Leah was a soaking wet mess. She didn't speak to Dad or Paul for a week, and neither did Mom.

I stared at my ceiling and tried to put Mom and Leah out of my mind, but I couldn't help the onslaught of memories. They were everywhere I looked.

I saw Leah in the plastic glow of the glow-in-the-dark stars she had put on my ceiling when I feared the dark. Mom was in the perfectly organized open closet in the corner of my room that she spent hours maintaining after I cried my entire way to school over my lost favorite t-shirt. I saw both of them in the photos splayed in my room. Hell, all over the house.

Turning onto my side, I wished Bella was in here with me, instead of out there with Jake. I could go to her now, bring her back here, and tell her I've always loved her, even before the imprint. I could tell her how badly I wanted her to have a choice but that I can't stand it anymore and I need her to know the truth. Bella was a good person, and I knew she'd forgive me.

She didn't deserve this, though. No matter how badly I wanted her, I couldn't pressure her into choosing me.

I didn't push Bella, Mom, or Leah aside from my thoughts. Instead, I saw them in my dreams.

"Seth!" Kim yelled. "Seth, Seth, wake up!"

Kim was on top of me, shaking me awake. It would've looked almost sexual if you didn't know us. I assumed Bella had left. I didn't blame her.

"Seth!" She yelled again. "I have good news!"

I groaned. "Get off me, Kim. Let me wake up for a second, you have too much enthusiasm for me."

She huffed loudly and slid off me, standing next to my bed. She looked disappointed, and I felt bad.

"Okay, I'm ready," I told her after a moment.

A huge grin painted her face. I'd never seen her look so happy. "My parents are going to take the baby!"

I felt so many emotions I couldn't even process them all. She grabbed my hand and led me to the living room where the other guys were waiting and she filled them in. She had asked her parents the second she heard Sam would not be keeping the baby, and they finally told her this morning they would take my nephew. Paul hugged her and sobbed, thanking her over and over.

I took out my phone and sent a text to Rosalie. She would be as excited as I was.

I found a family to take the baby!

A few seconds later, my phone vibrated, and I expected a text from her. Instead, the message failed to send.

"Quil, call Emmett," I yelled. "My texts to Rosalie aren't going through."

Quil called Emmett and got his voicemail. Everyone tried to text Rosalie, and none of them went through. I didn't understand. Since we were all in the same house, I wondered if it was the reception.

We didn't care what anyone tried to do to me. This was the best news we'd had in days, and we all piled into Kim's car and Jake's and took off toward the hospital.

This was perfect. Kim's family didn't live far from me on the reservation, and she told me I could see my nephew anytime I wanted to. He'd be staying on the reservation. Nothing bad would ever happen to him here. I hadn't even thought of what could happen if he was out with a normal family and phased when he was older. None of that would be an issue now, though.

My mind ran wild as I thought of everything I could share with my nephew now. I'd be there for his first birthday, first steps, and first phase. He'd grow up knowing an adoptive family who loves him, and an uncle that loves him even more. The rest of the pack was just as excited. Kim was an only child and she had always wanted a younger sibling. She'd be a good big sister to him.

We walked through the hospital like we owned the place. We were on top of the world, and nothing could bring us down. I hadn't seen Rosalie yet, but I was sure she was in the maternity ward.

When we got there, though, we didn't see Rosalie. She wasn't standing outside the nursery the way she always was. Charlie Swan stood there with another cop, red-faced with fury. I ran to the window and slammed my palms against the glass. His bed was empty. My nephew wasn't there.

"Where the hell is he?" I growled to Charlie. "A family on the reservation agreed to adopt him."

Charlie looked at me sympathetically. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, Seth. This shithole is so unorganized nobody can tell me if a social worker picked him up or if he was just taken. Someone hacked into the hospital's system last night and jammed up the cameras and security doors, so I have no way of knowing who's been in and out. I contacted DCFS, and they told me their system got hacked, too. Everything is a mess over there and it's damn near impossible to track a nameless baby."

"So, what you're saying is, you do not know what's happening?" Paul spat. "Great job protecting and serving, chief. You lost a fucking baby."

The lady in the pantsuit I'd seen arguing with Rosalie the other day appeared. I didn't wait for another excuse about whoever was supposed to be watching him and dropped the ball. I took off down the hall and every pack member fell in line behind me. There wasn't a question about where we were going, and we weren't planning to drive.

Was this Sam's fault? Yes, of course. But Sam wasn't the one I'd been counting on. Sam wasn't the one who promised to stay by his side and keep him safe. Kim pleaded with us to calm down and think about what we were doing, but it was useless. She followed us to the woods behind the hospital and stood back as we all phased and ran away from her. Her cries echoed as we ran toward the destination none of us had to communicate with each other.

The house looked even more massive than I'd heard it described, with floor-to-ceiling windows lining the front. It was an interesting design choice for monsters that couldn't get exposed to sunlight.

They must have been expecting us. Alice, Edward, Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper stood in a v formation in their front yard. I didn't need to phase. Edward could read my thoughts.

"She's not here, Seth." He muttered. "Rosalie's gone."

Esme, the mother of the Cullen family, knelt before me. It would take next to no effort for me to take her head off right now, and we had them outnumbered.

"Seth, honey, I am so sorry. Rosalie couldn't live with herself. She wants you to remember what she promised you. No matter what she has to do, she will ensure your nephew is safe."

That promise means nothing now that she's gone. He's gone, too, and I do not know where he is. How, in hell, will she make sure he's safe if she can't find him?

Paul phased out before we ran home. "Go back to Seth's house, all of you. I need to talk with the Cullens. I'll be there soon."

None of us waited around to see what he needed with them. I couldn't wait to get away from here and back to my home.

When Leah and I were little, we'd race. As I got older, I grew to be taller than her. No matter how tall I got, I could never run faster than her. Nobody could. She started running as a pastime because she was so good at it. There were a million reasons that I wished Leah was here right now, but one was because I was finally running faster than her. I'd willingly lose every race with her again to have her back.