Chapter 1

BPOV

As I lay on the damp forest floor, I couldn't help going over the conversation in my head countless times. "I don't want you to come with me. You're no good for me; I let this go on for too long." I always knew that it didn't make any sense for him to love me, he was Adonis personified, sent down from the heavens to exist among us mere mortals; of course I could never be beautiful enough or special enough for him, it didn't make any sense. This made more sense, it's what I always knew was coming, but if I knew it was coming, why did it hurt so much?

I felt numbness seep through my body and mind, a way to cope with the disappointment I was feeling. Although I knew that I could never be enough for him, I had foolishly hoped that he was true to his word and that he would love me enough to make me beautiful and strong, like him; but I guess that was wishful thinking. And then, as I was about to succumb to the numbness, I heard a strange sniffing sound and thought I saw eyes glowing in the darkness. I couldn't help but to laugh inwardly at the ironic twist of fate that my vampire left me just in time for me to be mauled by a bear, just like Emmett. The only difference, my vampire angel would not swoop in and save me, I would be lost.

As I waited for the bear to attack me, I began to hear snarling and growling from the opposite direction; I felt an ice cold finger stroke my cheek and I was overcome with joy thinking that Edward had returned for me. I opened my eyes, prepared to launch myself into his arms and beg him to never leave me again, only to have the joy be replaced with cold dread. I was staring into a pair of cold red eyes instead of the loving amber eyes I was expecting.

"Hello, Bella," Victoria cooed to me in a voice that reminded me of a little girl instead of the savage beast I knew her to be. "I see that you weren't all that important to him after all, for him to leave you in the woods, alone and unprotected, how very foolish of him. He destroyed my James to protect you, only to abandon you months later? Well it doesn't matter that he left!" she spat at me. "I shall have my vengeance, once I'm done with you, I will track him down and slowly remove his limbs, burning him as I go. But first, you are rather mouthwatering; I think I'll just whet my appetite with you before I hunt your lover down."

I closed my eyes, accepting my fate, as her teeth pierced my flesh, in the exact spot where James had left his mark in Phoenix and, just as I thought my life was over, I felt her suddenly ripped away from me with a menacing hiss. I couldn't understand what was going on, there's no way that a bear could have made a vampire flinch, let alone throw her off of me. I opened my eyes through the pain of the burning in my arm and saw the most unbelievable sight. Jasper, the vampire who had nearly killed me not 48 hours earlier, was crouched over me in a defensive pose and Victoria was cowering as three enormous wolves came out of the woods, surrounding her.

Just when I feared the wolves were about to be slaughtered, they lunged at her in unison and, in the blink of an eye, I heard the sound of metallic tearing as they managed to separate her limbs from her body. I saw her head roll briefly through my line of sight before I felt the flames of a nearby fire and smelled a very sweet incense that could only mean Victoria had been destroyed and was now being burned.

There was so much going on, and I couldn't make sense of any of it. I couldn't believe that Edward was arrogant enough to believe that Victoria would never come back for me, and I couldn't believe that she came back only hours after he left me vulnerable and unprotected in the woods. I couldn't understand what Jasper was doing here; Edward said that he had left with Alice and that the rest of the family was gone. Did this mean that Alice saw my attack and sent Jasper ahead to save me? Did Edward lie to me? Were the rest of the Cullens still here, or were they all back? And why was Jasper leaning over me with concern in his eyes? He's barely spoken to me since Phoenix, and he attacked me just two days ago.

Nothing made any sense to me, and it certainly didn't make sense to me why a tall, bare-chested Indian from down on the reservation was coming out of the woods to speak with Jasper. I thought I recognized him as the one from that day at La Push who said that the Cullens didn't come on Quileute land, the day that I learned what Edward and his family really were. Something tingled in the back of my mind about a story involving the Quileutes descending from wolves, but I pushed the thought back, trying to focus through the burning that was now rapidly spreading from my arm through the rest of my body. I wanted to scream to relieve the pain, but I wanted even more to understand what was happening, so I grit my teeth and tried to listen to the conversation flowing around me.

"What are you doing here, bloodsucker?" the half-nude man asked with venom in his voice. "Get away from her, it's bad enough that your brother abandoned her and left her stranded in the middle of the woods for hours. The entire town is searching for her; you and your kind have done enough! It's time for you to leave."

"Sam!" Jasper barked at him. "Would y'all just get off your damn pedestal for two seconds and take a look at the reality of what's happening in front of your eyes?" I was momentarily shocked by hearing Jasper speak like that, I don't think that I had ever heard any of the Cullens ever swear, except for maybe Emmett.

"I came back to apologize to Bella for a misunderstanding and try to right a wrong only to find you sitting back and not doing a fucking thing to save her from a bloodthirsty vampire, hell bent on revenge, preparin' to drain her dry. So excuse me if you and your damn treaty are not my first concern."

"Jasper," I whispered hoarsely through the pain. I attempted to lift my hand to touch his arm and his attention was immediately on me, the anger leaving his eyes, to be replaced once again with concern. "Please, don't fight…s'not their fault…s'not your fault either…please, no hurting each other."

At that he chuckled softly and took my hand gently, "Oh Bella, you are always worrying about the wrong thing, aren't you, darlin'? Don't worry, I'll get you out of here, I'll get you some place far away from here, some place safe, then I'll call Edward and he can come back, now that he won't have to worry about hurting you."

I immediately started panicking, "Jasper…please…not Edward… didn't want me before…wasn't good enough before…didn't want to change me…don't need him now…please…"

"Shh, darlin'," Jasper rushed to reassure me. "I don't have to take you to Edward, but I do have to get you away from Forks. It won't be safe for you here, I need to get you away from people; we'll go some place no one can find us unless we let them."

"Like hell you're taking her with you, bloodsucker, she's becoming one of you, isn't she?" Sam shouted. "I cannot allow this, the treaty clearly states-"

"That you cannot touch one goddamned hair on one of our heads unless we bite a human. Need I remind you, dog, that while y'all sat on your ass, it was the redheaded bitch burning over there who bit Bella, not me. Now you need to back the fuck down, y'all have no idea who you're dealing with and trust me when I say, you don't want to find out," he spoke all of this with an eerily calm voice that promised pain to anyone who crossed him.

"Now, since all y'all mangy mutts are out of your depth on this one, I will be taking Bella with me, we will be leaving, and you have my word that I will not allow her to hurt a human. Why don't y'all be useful, come up with a cover story for the town." With that, I found myself in Jasper's arms and I could feel the wind against my body as we ran through the woods. I whimpered in pain, finally beginning to succumb to the excruciating pain of the venom that had now spread throughout my body.

"Shh, darlin'," he whispered against my forehead. "I need you to be quiet just a little while longer. I know this is all confusing and I know it hurts, I promise you that I'll explain everything and help you through this. As soon as we're far enough away, you can scream all you want."

I felt a slight wave of calm pass through me, it barely touched the agony I was feeling, but I tried to touch his face as I breathed through the pain, "thank…you…Jasper."