Chapter 3

Edward p.o.v.

After calling Charlie for the details on where they had been camping, we headed that way. Trying to find her scent to see where she could be.

Careful to not get in the way of the searchers that Charlie had out looking, we tried to find her trail. We'd been at the search for almost an hour, when I heard from Rose's thoughts that she caught a whiff of it. Very faint, but though her thoughts, I knew it was Lauren's.

Rose then said, "Edward it's her scent here. We should follow it and see if we can find her."

We agreed and started following it. After about 10 minutes, we came to what looked like their campsite, and her trail stopped there. We were puzzled. Why were we not able to catch her scent after that?

We looked a little longer, but didn't find a sign of her. Jake called to check in. I told him we had nothing new. It was just before dark when we decided to call it quits to keep up pretenses.

I told Jake that we'd be back and to call Charlie to and tell him to call it quits for the night and that they would take over.

Jake agreed, and when we got home, he said that Charlie agreed that would be best. He got ready to meet Seth and Leah for a run to check it out.

Just as he was about to head out, the phone rang. It was Charlie.

He said, "Hey Carlisle, more bad news. Tyler has gone missing as well. He was out there today, and we warned everyone to stick together, but somehow, he has also disappeared. Let Jake know when they run tonight, to keep an eye out for him too."

Carlisle hung up the phone and looked at us. He said, "Did you guys find anything out of place? Did you pick up any scent?"

I shook my head no, and said, "No scent other than those that were said to be there. I guess tell Charlie to post for everyone to stay out of the forest. We can help Jake and the packs when Charlie calls off the search team for the nights."

Carlisle nodded and sighed. We then all separated and waited for the call from Jake, to let us know that Charlie had called off the search for the night. We searched more, but again didn't find or smell anything.

We headed back around dawn before Charlie's crew was back out.

We again went out after Charlie's team quit for the night but found nothing.

The next evening, Charlie called again to report that one of his officers from the search had gone missing the night before. It was getting out of hand and, Charlie was starting to get worried. He now knew that the disappearances a year ago weren't due to the wolves, but didn't know exactly what had happened.

He said, "I really hope this doesn't start up again. The unexplained deaths, but the difference now is that we can't even find the bodies. While you guys had left for those months. Bella had gone in the woods and saw that what was then thought to be a bear, were actually the wolves. However I know now that was Jake. I know that they aren't killing people, but protecting their tribe. I just can't make sense of this. Tell Jake to keep me posted if they find anything."

Carlisle said that he would let Jake know and asked which exact path the officer had taken.

Later when the search party called it quits, we again went out. We followed the path that the officer had followed. And then at one point, Jasper said, "Hey you smell that? The blood smells only hours old."

We followed the smell and found a spot of scattered leaves and dirt. We also found a few drops of blood and then Bell noticed a paw print of a bear with a drag trail. It went for a few miles and then suddenly stopped.

Emmett then said, "If it was a bear attack, why does the trail stop here?"

We were all baffled. But it looked plain as day to be a bear attack. I guess that was our answer, but is it one bear or were there others. But where were the bodies? Most bears kill humans, but won't eat them unless they are starving.

We headed back and told Jake all that we had found. He called Charlie the next morning and told him what was found.

"Yeah Charlie it seems to be real bear attacks this time. Just remind everyone that it would be best if they stay out the woods until we find this bear. We found a trail but it just stopped. We aren't sure if it's one or more bears. We don't even pick up the smell of the bodies. If you guys are gonna be searching, let us know your schedules. We'll have one or more wolves in human form with each search party and we'll also have some of them doing a patrol as well. I promise we'll stay well out of your way, but we are more than capable of seeing you and hiding or fighting off a bear. Together I think we can find this thing."

Charlie agreed and said he'd call me after a meeting with both the officers and volunteers.

About three hours later Charlie called and said, they were ready for another look around. Jacob had Seth, Embry, and Quil from his pack, and Sam had sent Paul, Brady and Collin from his pack. Charlie decided to split into three groups. There would be one officer, one volunteer and two guys from the packs to make up each search group. Charlie's group took the path of the officer the day before. He had to keep up the pretenses that the wolves hadn't found anything.

Charlie found everything as they had told him about the night before. He then radioed the other groups to join the search in his area. They searched and searched the area but found nothing but the drag trail and it stop.

Charlie called off the search again at dusk. He then said, "Well it looks like a bear attack. We'll keep everyone out of the woods for now. Let's try looking for a few more days and try to find some more clues or trails. But without a trail or actually seeing the bear, there isn't much we can find."

They headed out. The Cullen's joined the wolves again for another search but didn't find anything. Everyone was starting to get confused.

Jasper said, "I just don't know if it's a bear or an animal at all. We would have picked up its smell if it were. Not that we could tell Charlie, but we could follow the path of a bear easy, as well as if it was just a human. Another thing that I want to know is why we can't even smell the dead humans. Even if they had been killed, we'd be able to smell there blood for many more miles. The only time we stop smelling them, is if they have the blood completely drained from them. That would leave the only option of it being a vampire, but again we'd smell that to."

Then Bella said, "Unless his or her talent is to have their smell covered up."

We all shook our heads as the sun started to rise and let Charlie's groups take back over.

A/N: It's really about to pick up. I'm finding it a lot harder to write this story than when I first came up with the idea. The plot is really intriguing, but harder to pen than to just think out. I promise you I will complete it. I really hope it happens before Halloween. I already know it won't be a very long story. The maximum of 10 – 15 chapters, maybe even less. I hope I can live up to your expectations on it. If you do like my writing, please check out my other stories. Creating My Own Destiny is Leah's story. It is complete. And the other is Searching for a Love Everlasting. It's a kind of spin off about a character named Sophia (one that I created in Leah's story) and Seth. This one is still ongoing. Well this is long enough for an author's note so I can get back to writing the next chapter. I hope I have caught and kept your attention even a little bit. If I have, please click that button at the bottom that says review. I'd love to hear from you guys. Until next time, lots of love, Missionarycook.