Bella is trying to settle back into her life.

And we begin in earnest! If you've been here since the beginning, I owe you my life. If you're just joining us for the ride, I also owe you my life. Buckle up; the pilots have informed me that we'll be experiencing some turbulence. Please leave a review! They're the best motivation I've found so far.

I felt so safe in Edward's arms.

I wasn't sure if it was the way he held me so carefully, like I was a priceless artifact… or maybe just the fact that he had saved my life. It probably didn't matter.

He carried me up the narrow stairs to my bedroom without even a bump. Charlie had hovered over me the whole way back from the hospital, but once we got home he'd veered off to the kitchen, saying something about it being past time for dinner.

I wasn't sure I had it in me to eat. Even though I'd been doing nothing since The Incident (as my brain helpfully labeled it whenever it came to mind), I was… so, so tired. It felt hard to keep my eyes open. Even harder once Edward settled me gently into bed.

He drew the covers over me. I grabbed for him as he started to pull away.

"Don't go. Please," I whispered, feeling tears prickle at my eyes.

Edward settled back down on the edge of the bed, leaning on one elbow to look down at me. "I'm not going anywhere, love," he said.

He's looking at me like someone seeing the sky for the first time, I thought. I probably look that way too.

"I just…" I didn't know how to explain. "I thought you were dead. I thought… I'd never see you again. And…" I swallowed, then grimaced as it jarred the wound in my neck. "I thought I was going to die too. And I think inside I was a little glad. If you were gone… I didn't want to be alive. To keep living in that world. I don't know. But I never stopped hoping you would come. As long as I kept fighting, maybe you would come."

Edward smoothed hair away from my face, looking at me with so much love that I thought my heart might stop. "I will always come for you, love. No matter what obstacles lie between us. I will always come."

The tears were beginning to spill over. "I'll never doubt again."

"I'll be here as long as you want me here," he whispered, bowing his forehead to mine.

I didn't even have to think about the answer. "Forever."

He laughed, a little sadly. "Forever, then."

Why sad? I wondered, feeling my eyelids getting heavy again. Does he think I don't mean it? There was something I was missing—something important, but it was gone when I tried to reach for it.

"Forever," I repeated dreamily. "Promise?"

He brushed a kiss across my forehead. "I promise."

Forever…

I sat bolt upright in bed, hissing at the wave of pain that rocketed through my leg.

Something's wrong.

It only took seconds to figure out what it was.

Edward isn't here.

A minute later, I remembered what had happened earlier tonight—or last night? What time is it? The clock said that it was a little after four. I tried to relax. It's okay. He'll be back after school.

It didn't really feel okay. I was almost never alone for more than a few minutes. Not since The Incident. Once, I would have chafed at the lack of privacy. Now… I felt uneasy. Exposed.

James is dead, I reminded myself. And Victoria couldn't get through the Cullens.

Unless…

They were distracted to night. I had seen how much the phone call had rattled them. Was it a plot? To get them off their guard and then get to me?

It seemed paranoid, but could I really rule it out? What was the saying… it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

Nobody was sure if Victoria was out to get me, but it seemed like a reasonable guess. I was the reason her mate had died, and vampires took that kind of thing very seriously.

I could understand that. If I was a powerful immortal and someone killed Edward, I could imagine wanting revenge.

They must have thought of that, I rationalized, trying to ignore the fear that curled in the pit of my stomach. I'm safe here. Charlie is safe here.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make myself believe it.

Was that a noise? From outside?

For a minute I was paralyzed, frozen in the bed. Then something rustled. I threw the covers off and dragged myself to the window.

I don't know what I expected. To see Victoria climbing up the side of the house, maybe. Or the Cullens standing guard in the forest.

Nothing stirred. I started to feel a little silly peering out a window in my pajamas.

Just as I was about to hobble back to bed, I saw something. The trees were moving. It seemed like something—someone?—was creeping stealthily through the forest.

I felt strangely comforted. A vampire wouldn't be so obvious, would she? A memory flashed into my mind of researching wild animal attacks in northwest Washington, back before I had decided to move to Forks.

Compared to everything else, a mountain lion feels almost like a relief.

I eased my way back into bed, remembering how tired I was. Even without Edward there, my eyes started closing on their own.

Somewhere in the forest, a wolf began to howl.

"Are there wolves in Washington?"

Charlie frowned absently over the top of his newspaper. He'd been quieter than usual that morning, which was saying something. "Of course," he replied. "Not usually around here, though. Most of the packs live out east."

"I thought I heard one last night."

"I've seen a couple reports cross my desk." He took a long sip of coffee. "Farmers complain, people get scared but… wolves are good for the land. Something's gotta keep the deer population down." He started to raise his cup again, then stopped abruptly. "Sorry, Bells. I know you don't much like the idea."

A year ago I probably would have been upset. But a year ago I'd been a different person. "It's fine," I shrugged. "The food chain." I wonder what he'd say if he knew what really was keeping the local deer population down.

He cleared his throat gruffly. "Well. I wonder what's driving them west. It's a long way from Wenatchee."

Not that long. But maybe it was long to a wolf. My mind snagged on the idea of what might be driving them west. A bigger, scarier predator? Like… Victoria? What if she had taken up residence on the other side of the state? Watching… waiting…

I realized too late that I had plowed through all of the too-hot vegetable stir-fry. My mouth hurt. So did my throat. Even though Carlisle said that it had healed well, my neck still ached on and off and my leg was still weeks from being in good shape.

I'd skipped painkillers that morning. I was already groggy from my night's adventures and bad sleep. I didn't want to stack the medicated haze on top of it. I should tell the Cullens about the wolves, I realized. About Victoria. They might already know, but...

Charlie folded the newspaper methodically. "Sleep well last night?"

"Not really."

"Pain keeping you up?"

If only. Pain's one of the least of my problems right now. "I guess." I didn't want him to worry too much about me.

He leaned back in his chair. "I ran into the neighbor when I was grabbing the paper this morning. Liz Edmonds. You remember her?"

Not really. My brain grasped for anything that might be related, and dredged up the image of a pleasant-looking middle-aged woman with the ability to put capital letters and exclamation points in every word she said. "I think so?" Why?

My father seemed to be considering his words. "She's been having trouble sleeping lately too."

I made a sympathetic noise, considering—and then just as quickly dismissing—the possibility that they were romantically involved. As far as I knew, Charlie's romantic history had exactly one entry and he'd thrown away the pen.

"Said she was up late last night and she happened to be looking out of the window."

The light dawned. Oh no.

Charlie leveled a steady look at me. "Did you happen to see anything last night? While you were having trouble sleeping?"

Do I tell him I snuck out? Or that I snuck Edward in? Or just deny it? What did Liz see? I wasn't a great liar, especially if I didn't have time to practice my lies. I finally settled on "I don't think so," trying to sound as sleepy and vague as possible. "I took a painkiller, so things were a little fuzzy."

The corner of Charlie's mouth tightened and he blew out a breath. "I remember when I was your age, Bells. The world felt real big. But you've got your whole life ahead of you. You don't need to live all of it at once."

It probably would have felt better if he'd yelled at me. I felt very small. "I know, dad."

"You'll understand one day."

I hate it when adults say that.

"The res kids get their spring break next week," Charlie said, clearly changing the subject. "How'd you feel about having Jacob around the house during the day?"

I perked up immediately. "Sounds fun!" Then I remembered the tension between him and Edward and wilted slightly. "You have to go back to work?"

"Yep," Charlie said, in the kind of no-nonsense voice that suggested he wasn't as nonchalant about something as he was pretending to be.

Is he tired of looking after me? I mean… I guess I can understand. He didn't really sign up for this. I felt guilty. Or... there's something he doesn't want me to know about. Something about his work. The feds? Have they found anything out? My stomach flipped.

"The boys at the station are holding things together," he continued, "but there're things I have to handle myself."

"Like… the feds?" I ventured, trying to sound casual.

He didn't blink. "Yep."

Even more no-nonsense. I felt both vindicated and annoyed. So we're both hiding something.