A salty, smoky aroma seeped under Bella's door when she woke the next day. She followed the scent to the kitchen, where Jacob was busy making breakfast. Waffles, fresh fruit, and syrup were piled high on plates. He threw her a wide grin, flipping the bacon with chef-like ease. She raised her eyebrows, a mixture of surprise and amusement on her face.

"So, you can cook too?" she asked, looking hungrily at the food. She filled a glass with orange juice before taking a seat at the island in the center of the kitchen. He smirked, placing a plate in front of her with an exaggerated flourish. It had been a long while since she'd been cooked for like this. Usually she was the one who cooked at home, Charlie about as useful in the kitchen as a screen door in a submarine.

"Like I said, you should come around here more often." His eyes twinkled playfully, and he took a seat next to her, tucking into his own stacked plate. She could see the wolf in him even when he ate, his movements ravenous and instinctual. A smile creeped at the corners of her mouth. She fought to suppress it.

"This is amazing, Jake. Thank you." She relished the flavours on her tongue. He shrugged modestly, although his smile widened as if to say you've seen nothing yet. She was looking forward to observing more of the surprising culinary prowess of Jacob Black.

For a moment, the only sounds were the soft chirping of the birds outside and the clinking of knives and forks against plates, the snap of perfectly cooked bacon.

"How are you feeling?" he asked between mouthfuls.

"A lot better. Although, I think next time we go swimming, I'll bring shorts," she laughed awkwardly, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.
"Better yet, a towel." The memory of her nearly drowning then freezing to death yesterday flashed briefly in her mind; she still felt slightly mortified about being saved, but tried to push it down.

He chuckled, "Yeah, I forget you're not running at 110° temp. I won't make that mistake again."

"Is that how hot you guys actually are?"

He shrugged. "Nah, I don't actually know. As you can imagine, supernaturals don't tend to mix well with doctors." They both smiled. Bella remembered a few cases where Carlisle had had to pretend to check over Edward. It was always amusing to watch him pretend to strain to hear Edward's heartbeat, or watch Edward fake pain where he obviously didn't have any. It was all part of the façade of fitting in. Something she'd have to get used to, once she turned.

"So, what's the plan today?" She asked, pushing the plate away from her. She could feel the bloat in her stomach, but it was a good kind. Defeated but full. Jacob forked her leftovers into his mouth. She was impressed at his appetite. I suppose wolves burn a lot of calories she thought curiously.

"Funny you mention swimming," he grinned, his own plate wiped clean. She rolled her eyes.

"You can't be serious."

"Bella, when was the last time you visited La Push?"

They drove through the winding roads, the scenery shifting from dense forest to the familiar sight of La Push's rugged coastline. Not a soul was there. The waves crashed against the shore, the sound soothing and familiar. Bella felt a wave of nostalgia wash over her as they approached the beach. She remembered coming here with Jessica and Angela before; Mike and Eric had been running along the beach, throwing piles of seaweed at each other. It had been a while since she'd seen any of them, too caught up with everything going on to have the time. She made a mental note to reach out to them, once this was all over.

"I was thinking we might do a little surfing," Jacob said as they pulled in. He began to unload two large surfboards from the back, laying them out on the sand. Bella's face dropped.

"You're kidding, right? I struggled in a canoe, Jake. I've got the balance of a toddler." She looked alarmed. She looked over to the shore once more, watching how the waves crashed against the rocks. She could imagine herself caught between them, smacked hard against the crags and curves. She grimaced at the idea.
It was like watching a play in her head: the waves dragging her along violently, her head whipping the sides of the board, Jacob having to jump in and save her again. The only way this would end was with a trip to the ER, a concussion and a mean cut. Hard pass.

"The waves aren't too strong today, we'll start off slow," he grinned, amused at the sheer panic on her face. He took both boards, moving to run them down to the coastline, gesturing for her to follow.

"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered to herself, shaking her head as she watched him go. He seemed so at ease in the elements. It wasn't hard to imagine his wolfish self out there, pacing the territory, scaling the mountains.

"C'mon, Bella!" He called, hand beckoning her over once more. It seemed like this trip was going to be the Jacob Olympics. He's supposed to keep me safe, not try to kill me with sports, she thought cynically.

She pulled out her phone, checking the messages for what felt like the hundredth time. Still no texts from Edward. She stowed it away, trying to bring herself back to the present.
"Fine," she concluded. "Surfing. Great." She hopped out to follow him.

"So, Bella. We're going to practise on the sand first. Get you comfortable with the board." He'd laid them both parallel, away from the crashing waves.

"Wait, we're not even going in the water?" Bella looked relieved. Sand she could do. Firm ground she could do. The dramatic images in her mind ebbed away. The ER visit was replaced by a warm campfire, smores and burgers. Jacob cracked a smile. He was enjoying watching the cogs turn.

"Oh, believe me. We're going to try in the water after this, but first I want you to practise getting up on the board." Her face dropped a fraction.
"So, first you're going to lie down in the middle. Yeah, just like that." Jacob started taking her step by step through the motions of learning to stand. She was surprised to find even balancing on land quite difficult. He fought the grin off his face.

"You're off-centre, Bella," He said, moving over to steady her waist with his hands. She felt the warmth of his touch.
"Keep more in the middle. It's much easier not to fall off that way."

She rolled her eyes again. Sometimes, it felt like Jacob was looking for excuses to get close to her. Or maybe that was just what her clumsiness brought. She could feel the heat of his fingers pressing against her waist, and was about to chase his hands away when she heard someone calling them in the background. She looked up, startled. Sam Uley was jogging towards them, eyes in a deep frown, expression serious. It was easy to see how he was the leader of the Quileute werewolf pack. He naturally exuded a sense of authority. She couldn't imagine ever wanting to cross him.

"You need to get off the beach," Sam barked, his voice gruff, commanding.

"Sam," Jacob said, surprised. "What's going on?"

"Now." His expression was serious. He was throwing looks to the trees. Bella was half expecting something to come jumping out.

"What do you mean? We just got here!" Jacob's temper was rising steadily. He turned to face Sam, muscles rippling along his forearm. Bella could see his hands trembling with rage. She was reminded of when she'd met Emily, and Jacob's retelling of a werewolf's temper. She backed away slightly.
"I was just teaching Bella how to surf," he added, tersely.

"I know, but she needs to go. You both need to leave. We got wind of some unusual activities from Seth and Lea. They're monitoring the perimeter." He threw a glance back at the trees. Bella thought she could see a glimpse of something in them.

"Unusual activities?" Bella asked, her curiosity piqued. Her heart plummeted to her stomach, eyes searching the forest behind them, looking for signs of anything at all, but the flicker she'd seen had long since gone.

"Signs of vampire activity," Sam whispered, his voice hushed and urgent. "You have to go."

Bella's heart skipped a beat. She knew that it had always been a possibility that they'd trace her back to here, but was surprised at how quickly they'd done it. Her mind wandered to Edward.
She hoped he was okay. Was this one that had slipped through their ranks? One that had slipped under the radar? Or was this one of many to come, because the Cullens had failed, and Edward was lying dead in the streets somewhere. She shuddered.
"Do you think it's the same ones who were after me?" She was trying to abate the spiralling thoughts in her mind.

"Possibly" Sam muttered darkly, turning back towards the dense forest behind them.
"We're keeping a close watch, but you need to get back to camp. Now." He called over his shoulder, taking off at a swift jog. His feet pummelled the sand, leaving large footprints that appeared to extend. He ripped off his shirt, and masses of thick, brown fur stretched into place, covering the skin on his back and arms. She saw claws stretch out over where his fingers had been.

By the time he reached the trees he was a man no more. Wolf had become him, and the only remains of anything human was the expression caught in his eyes as he gave them one last fleeing look. It was the only human quality about him, everything else appeared wild and untamed. He disappeared through the trees, howling.
Other howls came thundering through the trees from either side, and Bella watched as several of them shook, no doubt jostled by the wolves that ran between them. She tried to catch a glimpse of the pack, only to be met with more blurring figures. The activity died down as quickly as it had started, and all went quiet.

"C'mon, Bella. Let's go." Jacob grabbed her wrist, pulling her at a jog towards the car. The boards could wait; they needed to get out of here.
He started up the engine, knuckles white on the steering wheel as he reversed at speed back along the path. Bella felt herself gripping her seat, alarmed by the aggressiveness with which Jacob drove, spinning the car around like a drifter in an action film.

"Jake!" She called, alarmed. She'd seen the apparent recklessness of Edward's driving, too, but felt that at least a vampire's sight might be more trustworthy.

"I got this, Bella." A small smirk crept up his face. "Hold on tight!"
Bella was surprised to see the zeal in his eyes, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He threw her a haphazard look, before pushing his foot to the floor, the car roaring down the road obediently. She let out a small squeal, jostled by the gravelled path.

Her eyes were still firmly glued to the trees, darting between any movement she caught within them. It was hard to see anything but a green blur, partly because of the sheer size of the forest, and partly because of the speed at which the car shot down the road. She kept her eyes firmly away from the dashboard, wanting to avoid seeing their miles per hour.

"You okay?" Jacob's eyes were firmly on the road, jaw clenching furiously. She let out a shaky breath, trying to steady her racing heart. She was struggling not to let the panic consume her.

"Y-yeah, Jake. I'm fine. Just keep your eyes on the road," she replied, her voice trembling. She took out her phone once more, debating whether to call Edward. She'd hardly had the time to ponder it before they were thrown off course.

A figure shot out in-between two trunks, blurring in front of the path. Bella barely had time to register what was happening before the car hit the figure head-on, the world spinning violently as the car flipped through the air, metal screeching and glass shattering around them.
Bella's scream was caught in her throat, too shaken for any sound to come out. The car rolled, finally coming to a shuddering halt upside down. For a moment, there was only the sound of their ragged breaths and the distant murmur of the forest. The blurring figure had gone, disappeared back into the forest.

"Bella? Bella, are you okay?" Jacob's voice was urgent, panicked. She blinked, trying to clear her vision. Her eyes slid into focus. The front of the car was embedded in the trunk, the branches punching holes through the windshield. Glass was smashed and scattered everywhere, in her hair, on the roof of the car. Why the hell didn't the airbag come out?
She could feel something wet dripping down her cheek and moved her fingers to wipe it away. Her fingertips came up red.

"Bella, answer me!" Jacob was frantic, tugging on the seatbelt to get a better look at her. The mechanic was stuck, binding him firmly to his seat.

"Jake... I'm here," she managed to say, her voice weak and wavering. She felt a sharp pain in her side but tried to push it aside. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jacob said, already working to free himself from his seatbelt. He dropped down, landing nimbly on the roof of the car. "We need to get out of here. Can you move?"

"I'm not sure," her voice sounded odd to her, delayed and uneven. She could feel the words escaping her lips but had no recollection of thinking them. She nodded almost mechanically, moving to free herself from the seat, but grimaced slightly, realising something else was keeping her tethered to it. She looked down. A wooden branch had penetrated her middle, staking her to the fabric behind. She tried to grasp it with her fingers, groaning with the pain.

"Not here, Bella. We're gonna keep it in for now." He pulled her hands away, snapping off the edge that still clung to the tree. She shrieked, almost blacking out with the pain. When she blinked again, she realised he'd left the rod of branch inside her.
Jacob knew that pulling it out might injure her more, and right now the wood was the only thing to stem the bleeding. They needed to get out of here, fast.

She fumbled with her seatbelt, fingers trembling with adrenaline. Jacob moved to help her, tugging at the seatbelt with brute force. It snapped and he caught her, easing her onto the roof, which was still lying on the floor of the forest. They crawled out of the wreckage.

"Jake, you're bleeding..." Her gaze was going in and out, but she saw the superficial cuts lining Jacob's arms. He'd clearly put them in front of him instinctually, to protect him from the glass.

"I heal quick, remember?" He seemed unfazed. She remembered that wolves had a quicker healing factor, too.

Suddenly things had gotten too bright. Her eyes were struggling to keep open, the blinks slow and heavy.
"Whoa, whoa, Bella! Stay with me here," Jacob's voice was urgent, tinged with panic. He lunged forward, hands reaching for her as her body began to sink, her vision blurring. She felt the sky stretching away, the world tilting around her.
"Stay with me, Bella. Let's get you out of here." She could only nod, trying to find him through the fog.

They began to walk through the forest, Jacob's arms around her waist to steady her. She lost her footing a few times, but he helped her find it.

"...What was that?" She asked slowly, her lips heavy; uncoordinated. It was like speaking through jello. She could hardly make out where they were going now, the green and brown of the forest a wash of colour in her brain.

"Vampire," Jacob replied darkly, his hands firmly packing the wound in her stomach. He could feel the blood seeping between his fingers and knew they didn't have much time. They didn't have long to go now, but he needed to keep her walking. His phone was smashed, unusable, and he didn't count on the idea of a rescue. The only thing they could do was keep moving. He could feel her leaning against him more and more.

"But, why didn't it- why didn't it kill us?" Bella's voice was weak. She closed her eyes a moment, biting back the dizziness that plagued her vision. She could feel the sweat coming off her, her body warning its limit. She knew she'd have to stop soon.

"I'm not quite sure," Jacob said quietly. "I think it was running. The pack must have been right behind it."

Bella tried to focus on his words, but it was getting harder to stay conscious. Each step felt like a monumental effort, and the pain in her stomach was growing sharper. She lost her footing, and this time couldn't find it. She felt like she was floating.

"We're almost there," Jacob said, his voice a determined whisper. "Just a little further, Bella. Hang in there." She felt a rush as firm hands landed beneath her. She blinked again, realising Jake was carrying her, his arms tightly wrapped around her frame.

"I can walk, Jake..." She muttered feebly, the words barely floating from her lips. Jacob's grip only tightened.

"I got ya," he said simply, watching as she battled unconsciousness.

She nodded woodenly, her vision narrowing to a tunnel, the edges darkening. The last thing she felt was Jacob's grip firm around her, the heat of him a comforting presence in the encroaching void. Then, she drifted away.