I know, I know. You are sitting there saying "She doesn't update for over two months, and then we get two updates in the same night?"

Yeah. Because I was on a roll, and my wonderful Beta, JUL5857, was able to correct them quickly. Make sure you check out her stories too. I beta them, and they are awesome. MY PAST, YOUR PRESENT, OUR FUTURE and TRIBAL DADDY.

Bella's POV

The ride to the house on Second Beach was mostly silent. Seth drove the truck, while Leah called Billy and explained everything that went on. But instead of having Billy call my father, she called her mom and had her call him, with the excuse that Sue and Leah needed my help with a few things, and that they would make sure I made it to school in the morning.

I smiled my thanks to Leah. She gave me a small smile and patted my hand. We rode the rest of the way to the house in a heavy silence, all three of us mulling over the events of the afternoon.

We reached the house and all three of us went in. We made our way to the kitchen. I went to the cupboard, looking to see what to make for dinner, when Leah stopped me.

"Hop in the shower Swan, you have had a hard afternoon. I'm sure a hot shower will relax you."

"But what about dinner? I'm sure you and Seth are hungry, and Jake will be starving when he gets here. I was just going to make some pasta and sauce."

Leah shook her head and pointed towards the doorway.

"No. I can boil water just fine. Now go. A shower will help you relax. Besides, you smell like leech. Jacob isn't gonna want to smell that filthy bloodsucker all over you."

She winked at me and I smiled. I nodded my head, and made my way towards the master bedroom. I closed the door behind me and made my way to the bathroom, starting the shower on the hottest I could stand, and grabbed a towel and washcloth, before stripping off my clothes and hopping in.

The hot water felt wonderful as it pelted against my back, rushing over my body like a giant wave of warm comfort. Like my Jacob.

My body froze as I thought of him. I almost lost him today. Suddenly my body felt heavy and weak and I slumped to the floor of the tub. I felt the terror bubble to the surface. I sat there in the tub, pulled my knees to my chest, and wrapped my arms around myself. I sat there under the stream of water, crying, letting my tears and anguish wash over me, and then disappear down the drain.

Jacob's POV

We stood there around the fire, watching it consume the rest of the bloodsucker's body. When I was satisfied that he was thoroughly cremated, we extinguished the fire, and gathered up the wet ashes. It was precautionary. We did not think there was anyway to resurrect a bloodsucker after they had been burned, but in our world, anything was possible and I wasn't taking any chances with Bella's life after tonight.

Jared had gone back to the reservation and picked up his truck, bringing with him large buckets that we now used to collect the ashes of the vampires we burned. I left Jared, Brady and Colin to do that, and told them to head back to the reservation when they were finished. I sent Embry and Quil and Paul out on patrol.

Sam and I stayed, making sure that the store looked as normal as possible. We even took one of the camp lanterns off the shelf above where Mike had been found to make it look like that had fallen on his head and knocked him out. Carlisle called to inform us that Mike was fine, but we needed to get out of there because Mike's father was en route to lock up the store.

With that Sam and I went into the now empty woods, stripped, phased and headed back to La Push. We both remained silent, and tried to keep our thoughts as concealed as possible. My mind was a broken record of the pain and terror I had experienced today when I had almost lost Bella.

We were in the woods right near the house on Second Beach when I felt a terrible pain rip through me. I felt sorrow and fear wash over me, drowning me. And I knew it was Bella. I let out a heartbreaking howl before I phased back and ran to my house, not even bothering to put my clothing back on.

I burst through the front door just in time to collide with Seth who was turning the corner from the living room to head down to the bedroom, where Bella's sobs were coming from. Leah had already reached the door and flung it open, speeding into the bathroom.

"What the hell happened?" I growled through clenched teeth, as Seth and I skidded into the bedroom.

"I don't know man. Leah had sent Bella off to take a shower, while we got dinner ready, and all of a sudden we heard her crying." Seth explained to me as we headed toward the bathroom.

I grabbed him and pushed him backwards, a little more forcefully than I had intended. "Fuck Seth, stay out of the bathroom. She's fucking naked."

As I headed into the bathroom, I saw Leah kneeling on the floor by the tub, her head inside the shower talking to Bella. I stepped behind Leah and looked in. Bella wasn't responding to Leah. She just sat there, curled in a ball, the hot water pelting her skin and turning it red. I pushed Leah out of the way, as gently as I could, and stepped into the shower. I grabbed Bella, crushing her to my chest, wrapped my arms around her, and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth. She looked up at me, her brown eyes bloodshot from crying, then unwrapped her body from around itself, flinging her arms tightly around me, and sobbing into my chest.

I look out of the shower and notice Leah is still there. I make a motion with my head for her to leave. She nods. I hear her and Seth shuffle down the hallway and back into the kitchen, I imagine Leah is being responsible and turning off the stove and whatnot. Moments later I hear the front door open and then shut.

I return my focus to Bella. Her sobs have decreased to sniffles. The water has turned cold and she is shivering in my arms. Still holding her I reached over and turned the water off. I stood up and scooped her into my arms, carrying her bridal style out of the bathtub. I let her down,grabbed a towel and began to dry her off, running the towel over her body quickly, trying to create enough friction to warm her up and dry her off at the same time. I wrapped another towel around her head, and then quickly dried myself off. Because of my high body temperature, there wasn't much water left on me, but I ran a towel over my head. Then I scooped Bella up in my arms and carried her into the bedroom. I lay her on the bed, and wrap her in the top quilt. I then sat in the bed, resting against the head board, and pulled Bella between my legs, wrapping myself around her.

Bella, who has stopped crying but remained silent the whole time since getting out of the tub, turns in my arms and looks up at me. She locks eyes with me, and pulls an arm out of the quilt to touch my cheek. She runs her hand all over my face, and pulls my face towards hers. I close my eyes and breathe in her scent, as she explores my face with her hands and lips, placing kisses and light feather touches all over. Her lips brush against mine and I feel like I have been shocked by electricity. My hands spring into action, turning her so she is now on her knees, pressed against my chest. One of my hands goes to the back of her neck, holding her to my mouth, as I deepen the kiss. She wraps her arms around my neck, the quilt dropping off her upper body and pooling at her knees. I felt her nipples, hard from the cold and her aroused state, press against my chest. We both moaned at the contact.

She swiped her tongue over my bottom lip, begging to be let in. And of course I oblige her, opening my mouth for her little pink tongue to dart inside my mouth, rubbing against my tongue, sending shock waves down my body. I am hard, and I can smell her arousal thick in the air. But I pull back. I put my hands on either side of her face, and look deep in her eyes. As much as the wolf in me wants...no needs... to claim my imprint after this afternoon, I am unsure of doing so. The events were hard on her, I don't want to push her.

Our eyes lock. She smiles at me. I feel her mind, her thoughts, open up to me. I can see what she desires, what she needs. She presses forward again, and kisses me with hunger and passion. She moves so that my legs are now caught between hers as she straddles me. She pulls from the kiss, smirking at me, rubbing herself against me.

"Let go Jacob. Let the wolf out, let him reclaim what is his."

Mmmm, yeah Jake, claim it baby.

Uh yeah, so I am writing the chapter for OUTTAKES that contains the lemon from this chapter and hope to have it finished and to my beta tonight. So as soon as I have it corrected I will post.

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