"What the hell just happened?"

Paul huffed in annoyance as the newest member of the pack stalked towards them, a deadly look in his eye. On one hand this would be fun watching Jacob's reaction as he realised that Paul had imprinted on the girl he had been harbouring a secret crush for, but on the other hand he knew exactly how this was going to go and he wasn't for getting into a fight right now. He had much more pressing matters and that was to talk to Bella.

It didn't take long for Jacob to reach where the group was gathered, he glanced around at their faces; Paul looked cocky, Jared seemed smug while Embry looked apprehensive and Sam, well he looked like he had, had enough already.

"Jacob" Sam warned, "Let's not do this now" His eyes flickered to Bella and back to the new wolf

"Do what?" Jacob questioned, his eyes never leaving Paul's but he remained by Bella's side.

Paul smirked, "Sam's right, pup. This isn't really the place or time"

Jacob's nostrils flared as he took a step towards Paul. "Pup? Who do you think you're calling pup, Lahote?"

Paul growled, his body once again beginning to shake as he glared into the black eyes of Jacob.

Bell watched the two men face off against each other, completely confused as to what was happening right now. One minute Paul looked ready to rip her head off and the next thing he's looking at her like she's the most important thing in the world to him.

"Oh sorry, did I say pup?" Paul grinned, "I meant mutt, my bad"

Jacob snarled in response and shoved Paul away, another growl emitting from him in response as he begun to charge forwards toward Jacob once again. Sam, obviously sensing what was about to happen suddenly turned toward Bella, "Get back Bella, now"

There was something in Sam's tone that told her he wasn't going to take no for answer, so Bella begun to step away slowly and it was a good thing she did, in a blink of an eye Paul was gone and instead, a large, grey wolf stood in his place. Bella held her breath as allowed her eyes to roam over him. It was the one from her dream, it felt like all the air had vanished from her lungs and she struggled to breath again. What did this mean? Did it mean anything? She didn't have much longer to think because then Jacob changed right on front of her too, in his place now was a slightly smaller wolf compared to Paul's, but in an auburn colour.

The remaining pack members and Bell watched as for a moment the wolves stood glaring at one another, then without warning Jacob's wolf left out a loud, sad sounding howl as he charged towards Paul. "Jacob, no!" She yelled, unable to keep shouting the warning at her best friend, she didn't want him to hurt Paul, sure Paul didn't seem the friendliest of guys but that didn't mean she wanted him hurt.

Jacob seemed to take no notice of her and instead the both went barrelling towards the forest, destroying a boat in the process. The further they got, Bella could still hear their snarls.

Sam sighed, turning his attention to Bella for a moment before speaking to Jared and Embry. "Take Bella to Emily's place" With that, he turned and ran towards the forest, obviously following the sounds of the angry wolves.

Jared and Embry approached Bella, "Guess the wolf's out of the bag now"

Bella wasn't sure how she managed to drive to Emily's house without crashing, it seemed she actually had a bit of luck for a change. Jared had offered to drive for her but she declined, she needed to try focus on something else other than how her best friend had changed into a werewolf on front of her, or how she now seemed to have a strange pull towards the guy she thought hated her. She shook her head as she took the turn off Jared had instructed her to, her eyes followed the winding path until it brought them to a cute and homely 2 storey house. Bella couldn't help but smile as she looked at the small porch outside; it had a few boxes of sunflowers decorated over the porch, there was a small table and two blue chairs facing each other. Leaves were littering the small roof that covered the porch, and for a moment Bella could picture herself sitting outside a house like this.

The roar of her tired truck died down to a quiet purr before going silent as she parked up, Jared and Embry jumping out almost immediately, making a calling sound as they walked towards the house.

Bella paused for a moment, unsure whether or not to get out, she finally settled on getting out and following them. "Hey, will they be okay?"

Jared chuckled, "Paul should sink some teeth into him, it serves him right"

Embry scoffed, "No way man, Jacob's a natural. Did you see him phase on the fly? I say $5 that Paul doesn't touch him"

The two young men shook hands, both with a determined look on their face until they realised Bella wasn't behind them. Embry smiled comfortingly at her, "Come on, we don't bite"

Jared smirked and then winked at Bella, "Speak for yourself"

Embry snorted, he could just imagine Paul's reaction when they were on patrol later and he saw that in Jared's memory. He let Jared walk on in ahead as he waited for Bella, he knew how nerve wrecking this could be, it didn't feel like long ago when it was himself making the walk into Emily's for the first place, he couldn't imagine how it felt to be Bella though, the girl who was known to hang out with the vampires, but everyone would be welcoming and he knew Emily would be especially.

Bella took a deep breath as she finally got beside Embry, "I trust you"

"Good" Embry beamed, before his expression turned more somber. "Just one thing, about Sam's fiancee, Emily. Just...don't stare, it bugs Sam"

Bella frowned at him, what was with people being so cryptic? "Why would I stare?"

Embry didn't answer, instead he ushered her to go first and they both entered Emily's home. Bella shuffled awkwardly, she could only imagine how annoyed they must be with having her in the house, none of them had seemed too fond with the Cu-with them. Even in her nervousness she could appreciate the homely atmosphere of Emily and Sam's place. Her stomach rumbled as the scent of something freshly baked hit her nose, she felt herself blush as Jared and Embry looked at her before laughing.

"You guys hungry?"

Bella turned towards the soft voice coming from the kitchen and saw the back of who she assumed to be Emily as she plated up a plate of fresh muffins.

"Like I have to ask" Emily laughed, placing the final muffins on to the plate before glancing up to meet the eye's of Bella. "Whose this?"

"Bella Swan" Jared answered through a mouthful of muffin

Emily sighed, "Jared, how many times do I have to say not to speak with your mouth full?"

Jared swallowed before grinning at her, "Sorry Mom!"

Emily rolled her eyes but her eyes twinkled with amusement before turning her attention back to Bella, "Hmm, so you're the Vampire girl?"

Bella scoffed, she wasn't the Vampire girl anymore it seemed and for a moment she felt the searing sting of the Cullen's betrayal threaten to overcome her again, her breath caught and she tried to keep her face impassive so the others wouldn't worry. She could see Emily watching her with thoughtful eyes and said the first thing that came to mind, "So you must be the wolf girl"

Emily laughed softly, she had got her there. "I guess so" She lifted the plate of muffins from the counter and placed on the table, pausing for a moment and shaking her head as she watched Jared attempt to lift another one. She quickly swatted away his arm, "Leave some for your brothers" Jared sighed but nodded. "And ladies first, of course" Emily smiled at Bella, encouraging her to take one from the pile, it didn't take a genius to see the poor girl was starving.

Bella felt her stomach rumble again and smiled gratefully at Emily, "Sure. Thanks Emily" She delicately lifted a muffin from the pile and begun to nibble on the sides of it.

"Leave it to Jacob to find away around Sam's gag order" Emily leaned against the counter and watched Bella

Bella sighed, "He didn't tell me anything. Really, he didn't"

"It's a wolf thing" Embry replied, "Alpha's orders get obeyed whether we want to or not. And we get to each hear each other's thoughts" He wiggled his eyebrows making Bella laugh, he grinned at her.

Jared shook his head, "Shut up man, these are trade secrets! This chick runs with Vampires!"

Bella winced, she felt so pathetic that one word could turn her into a mess but she tried to keep a smile on her face and join in on the fun. "You can't really run with Vampires, you know" She smirked, Jared stared at her indecorously while Emily laughed. "They're fast"

"Oh yeah?" Jared leaned forward, a victorious glint in his eye. "Well we're faster" He watched and waited for her reaction, to see the fear or surprise in her eyes, but there wasn't any. "Freaked out yet?"

Bella let out her own small laugh at this, "You're not the first monsters I've met you know"

Before anyone could say anything else, foot steps outside alerted them to someone else coming in, they turned to the door and found Sam walking in. He looked a lot less stressed than he had back at Jacob's house so Bella was going to take that as a good sign. Sam smiled at her, "Jacob's right. You're good with weird" He nodded once before quickly approaching Emily, his eyes lighting up with love as he drunk in the sight of her. He gently placed his arms on her shoulders and kissed every part he could reach, starting with her scars.

Bella looked away then, feeling as if she was intruding in on a private moment between the pair. As she glanced out the door, her worry and fear for both Paul and Jacob disappeared as she watched the pair walking down the path, laughing and gently pushing each other. Jacob still seemed a bit uneasy and a frown appeared after he laughed, but at least he wasn't shaking. And neither was Paul.

Paul entered the house first, and he made sure he took the seat closest to Bella. As he grabbed a muffin, he flashed her a grin and winked. "Sorry about what happened back at Jacob's"

Bella felt her face flush at the intensity of his gaze, she shook her head and gave him a small smile. "It's okay. Sorry about the, uh...slap"

Paul chuckled, flashing her a toothy smile. "No harm, no foul babe"

Bella rolled her eyes and before she could stop herself, "Don't call me babe".

Where did that come from? She was never that abrupt before.

It didn't seem to phase Paul though, if possible his grin grew wider. "Sure thing...babe"

Bella rolled her eyes before meeting the watchful eye of Jacob, he nodded his head, signalling that he wanted to speak with her outside and Bella nodded, she thanked Emily for the muffin and left the house, glancing back through the door as she left to find Paul watching her intently.

Bella and Jacob walked in silence down the path until they reached a small, secluded beach area. She took a deep breath and allowed the fresh air to fill her lungs, why could her life not be simple? Why did she have to be stuck in the middle of everything supernatural?

It felt like they had been walking forever when Jacob touched her shoulder gently, "Please Bella, say something"

Bella shook her head and avoided his gaze, "So you're a werewolf?"

"Basically, yeah" Jacob nodded, sighing himself and looked out towards the water. "A few lucky members of the tribe have the gene. When a bloodsucker..." Bella glared at him. "Moves into town, then the fever sets in"

Bella clicked on, how warm and feverish Jacob had been during their night at the films, she let out a laugh. "Mono? Really?"

Jake shrugged, "What did you want me to say Bella? I didn't have a clue what was going on until I finally phased, only then did Sam and my Dad tell me everything. Believe me, I wish it would have only been mono"

Bella shoved her hands in her pocket and took a seat on a slightly damp log, she stared at the waves and watched them roll over and back again, she just wanted her fried back. The one who helped her fix bikes and kept her mind from thinking of...him. Although, now it seemed her mind was beginning to get occupied by someone else. "Isn't there a way you could just...stop?"

Jake stared at her, "This isn't a lifestyle choice Bella, I was born this way. I can't help it" He hissed, feeling slight trembles towards the girl. He let out a bitter laugh, realising exactly what she was doing. "You know, you're such a hypocrite. If Paul knew what you were saying, he'd be furious"

"Paul?" Bella asked, confused as to why he was even mentioned. "What has Paul got to do with this"

Jake shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, damn it he wasn't meant to say anything. "Nothing...Just leave it, alright?"

"No" Bella challenged, "How is Paul involved? We weren't even speaking about him"

"No we weren't" Jake's eyes flew open again, "But apparently he's the wrong kind of monster for you"

Bella frowned, what was he talking about? How was Paul the wrong kind of monster for her? Paul didn't even like her, did he? "Jake you're making no sense! It's not what Paul is, or what you are. It's what you do. They never hurt anybody. But you..." Bella chewed her bottom lip, feeling bile rise up in her throat the prospect of her words. "You've killed people. The pack kills people"

Jacob was shocked, shocked at the fact Bella could actually think that he and the pack could kill innocent people. "Bella, we're not killing anyone! We're protectors, we only protect the people for Forks and the reservation"

"Then whose killing those innocent people?"

"What we're trying to protect you from" Jake stated as matter of fact, "What I've been trying to protect you from. And they're the only thing we do kill. Vampires"

"Impossible, you can't kill vampires Jake"

"Oh really?" Jake challenged, "We took that leech with the dread locks out easy enough"

Bella flinched as the memories of Laurent flashed through her memories, the way he had caressed her skin and sniffed her scent, it made her stomach roll at the thought. But what Jake said next made her body go cold and number.

"His red headed girlfriend is next"

Victoria.

At the thought of even seeing Victoria again was too much for Bella, she felt her body heave and as she beat over, she promptly threw up all over Jacob's shoes.