This is my first attempt at writing, but who could fail to be inspired by Twilight?! Huge thanks go to my friends Nikki and Dani for reading through my draft chapters and encouraging me to carry on. Also the fab peeps at Project Team Beta for taking the time to look through my writing for me and not making it too painful (so far!). Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it :o) x

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 1

My eyes opened quickly as I was snapped rudely out of my dreams by the front door latch clicking into place. Without moving any other part of my body, I turned my head to the right to check the space where he should have been. Empty. Not again, I groaned inwardly. This was getting beyond ridiculous.

I sighed as I closed my eyes and moved my head back, shaking it in exasperation. I flipped over onto my side and pulled the comforter up to my chin, lying motionless, listening to the deafening silence inside the house.

As I lay there a feeling of restlessness began to build in me, starting low down in my legs. No, I told myself firmly, I'm not letting his paranoia affect me yet again. I tried desperately to fight the tightening in my muscles as it built up, forcing myself to take deep breaths to try and relax. I'd known deep down though that I wouldn't be able to fight it for long; just as it built to a level that felt like my legs might jerk to life of their own accord and my stomach would burst from my body, I gave in, throwing the covers back, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and sitting up, all in one fluid movement.

I sighed again and a quiet moan of exasperation left my lips as I stood up, pushing my feet into my flip flops and appraising my robe momentarily before deciding it was too warm for it. Making my way around the bed to where the door stood slightly ajar, I pulled it open and crossed the hallway. I glanced quickly towards the front door, unsure of what I was expecting to see there and moved into the room that played host to the kitchen and small living area. My irritation increased as I tripped over one of his huge running shoes, left sprawled across the carpet with its partner. I cursed loudly as I just managed to save myself from falling. Reaching the window where the early dawn light was just creeping in at the gaps, I pulled the drapes back sharply.

My heart sounded a violent thud inside my chest and then stopped as I took in the scene before me. My whole body was frozen, aside from my eyes which grew increasingly wider the longer I stared. Finally the shock wore off, releasing my muscles simultaneously. I spun around and tore towards the front door, desperate to reach him as quickly as possible.

****

"Jake! What..? I mean, who…?" I paused, gasping for breath before spitting out "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" I stood panting, the adrenaline coursing through my body. The huge russet coloured wolf looked up, surprise showing in his dark eyes at seeing me there, his teeth still bared in the snarl that he had been directing downwards only moments before. As soon as he was distracted, the small, dark-haired female that he was standing over shuffled backwards quickly and, climbing swiftly to her feet, darted quickly towards the forest, disappearing into the trees. The wolf's eyes narrowed as he swung his head round. He immediately realised what had happened and made to move after the woman. I sprang forward and grabbed two large handfuls of the shaggy fur on his neck, drawing him to a halt. "NO!" I yelled forcefully. "Jake, that's enough! You need to tell me what's going on, right now!"

I felt his shoulders stiffen and he stopped trying to pull away from me. I released my grip on his fur and stood back as the wolf before me phased back into his human form. His face was burning with anger as he looked down at me.

"I can't believe you just did that Nessie! I had her! I could have stopped this from going any further." I frowned and took a step back, unsure exactly of what Jacob was talking about.

"Stopped what Jake?" My voice was softer now, the confusion taking over from the anger inside me. "Who was she exactly? And what were you doing out here with her?"

The anger appeared to subside in Jake too and he looked down and off to the side as he sighed deeply.

"Ok Ness, you win. I'll tell you what this has all been about; this just now and why I've been so…" his mouth twisted upwards on one side as he sought the right word for the odd behaviour he'd been displaying recently "…preoccupied for the past couple of weeks." He half smiled as he glanced down at himself, standing utterly and magnificently naked in the early morning light, the pale sunlight making his beautiful bronze skin glow an even richer orange where it touched him and casting shadows where his beautifully defined muscles stood out from his chest and stomach. "Mind if I put some clothes on first though? It's kind of hard to stay serious when you're looking at me like that," he teased.

"Come on." I stepped forward smiling slightly and threaded my arm through his. "You're absolutely right, this sounds like it could be too serious for distractions," and sighing again I led him back towards the door and into the house.

****

Five minutes later we were sitting facing each other over the kitchen counter, Jake having covered himself up with an old t-shirt and a pair of his usual sweatpants. I looked at him expectantly and waited for his explanation, impatience causing my foot to jiggle up and down where it was resting on the bar of the stool I sat on. He sucked his bottom lip under his top one as he mentally deliberated on how to start. Finally he expelled a decisive breath through his nose as he nodded to himself and looked up to meet my gaze.

"Okay, so I know you've been thinking that I've been a little paranoid lately," he began tentatively. I snorted despite the resolve I'd set myself to stay quiet and just listen.

A little paranoid was a more than slight understatement for Jacob's recent behaviour. I'd lost count of the nights that I'd woken up in the darkness and rolled over to him, only to find his side of the bed empty and only warm, the intense heat of his body having faded with the time he'd spent away from our bed and from me. On those nights it was usual for me to get up myself and wander out of the bedroom to look for him, often finding him standing in the darkness with his hands resting on the window ledge, staring out into the intense black beyond the window pane, or sitting on the front step, head cocked to one side listening intently for anything out of the ordinary above the usual forest sounds. He would press his lips together in an attempt at a smile and urge me to go back to bed, promising to follow shortly. He'd never let anything slip about what he was on the lookout for and he downplayed any of my direct questions, always just claiming that he was unable to sleep. I knew him too well to know that he was feeling nothing less than threatened by something or somebody out there.

"This is more than just paranoia Nessie, this has come from your Aunt Alice," he continued as I rolled my eyes. With Aunt Alice's ability to see the future and my Dad's 'talent' for reading minds there wasn't a lot that a girl could get away with. Jacob saw my gesture and the anger flashed in him again. "Nessie, I'm serious!" he snapped, leaning forward in his seat. He knew exactly how I felt about Alice's visions. "I'm not talking about some threat to ruin your fun here; this is a threat to us, to me and you and what we have." He sat back again, apparently satisfied now by the look of shock on my face. "We always knew it would probably happen sometime Ness, you're the only one that he's not related to. He's coming back and he wants you. He wants to take you away from me." There was nothing in Jake to show that this was an option that he even considered. There was no sign of weakness or defeat and certainly nothing to show that he was willing to let it happen. He sat across from me, straight and tall now on his stool, his t-shirt pulled tight across his tensed muscles, his eyes narrowed with determination and his jaw set defiantly. Jake reached across the counter and took my hands in both of his before looking deep into my eyes with his own dark ones. "I'm not letting that happen Renesmee, you belong here, with me."

I knew without even having to think about it that Jake was right. Our lives had been inextricably bound together ever since my birth and being with him felt natural. Both of us felt the pull back to one another when we were apart and we each disliked it as much as the other did. As he continued to look at me I melted; those eyes always had that effect on me when he turned them on me in this way. I swallowed once then tried to speak, my voice only managing a hoarse whisper as we both leaned over for our lips to meet.

"I'm not going anywhere Jake, you don't have to worry about me." We kissed each other softly and as always Jake's kiss made everything right. After a moment he pulled away slowly and rose to his feet.

"I should call Edward."

"Wait!" I caught his arm as he turned. "You still haven't told me who the girl was." I gestured with my head in the direction of the earlier altercation. Jake turned back around slowly to look at me again.

"Well if Alice was right on what to expect from her vision of his aunt, then I'm guessing that she was one of Nahuel's sisters."

Confusion flooded me once again. "One of his sisters? I don't get it." I was frowning now as I struggled to recall information about the only other group of half vampire - half humans that I knew of other than myself.

Jacob shrugged, equally as mystified. "Like I said, I'm calling your Dad, he should know about this." He turned once again and walked away to make the call.