Genre/Universe: AU - Set in a post-New Moon alternate universe where Alice never returned to Forks prompting Edward to flee to Volterra, thus the wrath of the Voulturi was never evoked. Some timeline events are true to Canon.

Pre-reader/ Beta: malorla/ Maria Vilson

Summary: The battle with Victoria and her newborns nearly takes the life of one of the Quileute wolves. Indebted to him for saving her life by risking his own, Bella stays in La Push to nurse him back to health, but winds up healing emotional wounds that were caused years earlier.

Disclaimer: The following is based on the characters, settings, and events from the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. All recognizable characters, settings, etc., are the property of their respective owners. The author, know by the pen name Maddie-the-Muse, is in no way associated with Stephenie Meyer, or the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise related to The Twilight series. Only aspects entirely unique and original to this story are owned by this story's author. This work is intended for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 1: A New Nightmare

My life changed on an unusually hot Thursday night in July.

Jacob had put me back together after Edward and the rest of the Cullens had left Forks. I was devastated over the loss of a family I was never going to be a part of, and the prospect of not spending eternity with Edward. Jake never gave up on me and eventually I started to realize what a fool I had been. I was ready to give away everything, my very life, to be with someone who was essentially a 105 year old reanimated corpse.

Edward had tried to contact me at one point earlier in the Spring, but by then I had gone from being depressed over his abandonment to being disgusted in myself and my choice to throw it all away to be with him, so had I told him that I didn't want him in my life. The Cullens had stayed away and Jacob had helped me through everything. I was finally getting back to having a 'normal' life...well, as normal a life as anyone could have with a pack of gigantic, mostly naked, beautiful men - and Leah of course - who happened to be shape shifters as their only real friends.

These very shape shifters - the Quileute wolves - had been tracking Victoria and her band of newborns through the forest for weeks, only to lose her again and again. It had gotten to the point where Charlie didn't even question why I was staying over in La Push so often; it seemed that as long as he thought I was spending time with Jacob, everything was alright in his books.

With ten wolves in the pack, they were confident that they could take her and her coven of four others down; it was only a matter of time until they caught her, eliminating the threat she posed not only to the tribe, the people of Forks, and to me personally. I was the one she wanted after all. She had gotten it into her head that my life was forfeit for that of James, her mate, who had been taken out by the Cullens last year after he had attacked and bitten me in Phoenix.

It always seemed to go the same way: one of the wolves on patrol would catch her scent, or that of one of the other vampires, and would raisethe alarm. This put me, Emily, and Kim - the mates of Sam and Jared - under protection on the reservation of the youngest wolves. A chase would ensue, and she would somehow slip through their grasp.

It was a pattern that we were all growing weary of, and exactly what we had all come to expect when Embry sent up the alarm on a hot night near the end of July. We all had begun to become a bit complacent with the situation, assuming it would continue to play out the same way each time. You know what they say about assumptions.

That fateful night, after a month of this pattern, I had decided to stay at the Black residence where I had been visiting with Jacob, rather than head over with the imprints at Sam and Emily's house. Nothing made me feel more inadequate about rejecting Jacob's advances than being around the imprints in the panic moments; the devotion the imprints had for their wolves was overwhelming. I didn't think I could ever feel that strongly for anyone after the devastation I had felt at Edward's departure. I couldn't stomach to be around them when the lives of the wolves were in danger. I wasn't Jacob's imprint. I wasn't even his girlfriend - we'd sort of tried that, mostly for his sake, but it just didn't seem right for me. He said he didn't want to risk our friendship by pushing me into a relationship - I was his best friend.

Jacob was convinced I would be safe with Billy, but had asked Sam to station Brady in the woods outside regardless. So I was shocked when Jacob burst into the house shouting to Billy and I that Victoria and the other Vampires had been taken down, but some of the wolves had been hurt.

Jacob got Billy into the passenger seat of my truck with his wheelchair in the pickup bed and told us to get over to Paul's house. He said he would meet us there after he met with the other Tribal elders, and that Sue was on her way there from the medical centre. Then he took off into the trees again.

I pulled up to the small faded green house a few minutes later, and could immediately sense the buzz of activity inside. Jared and Brady rushed out to help Billy from the truck and into the house. I sat motionless behind the wheel of my faithful Chevy, shock washing over me. Jacob had said that Victoria was taken down.

Did I get that right? Victoria was...gone?

The nightmare I had been living was finally over. While I sat there hoping beyond hope I had heard Jake correctly, Jared walked back to the door of my truck and tapped on the glass, making me jump.

"Bella, come inside," he said motioning with his hand for me to follow him into the house that Paul apparently lived in alone.

I trudged in behind him, my body feeling as if it weighed a ton. As soon as I stepped foot into the small house, a new wave of fear hit me. Everyone in the room was on edge, and the smell of blood and antiseptic filled the air.

The wolves stood around in varying levels of disarray, all of them filthy from head to toe, most of them having suffered minor cuts and bruises. Screams of agony burst from an open door down the short hallway causing me to jump. I could hear Jacob and Sam talking loudly with Sue Clearwater over Paul's anguished cries.

My stomach started to tie itself in knots. I had walked out of one nightmare safely, only to walk into a new one.