Previously:

"Some crazy redheaded leech wants to kill you, so you can't leave, okay," Paul attempted to make her understand.

"Move!" Bella yelled, determined to leave despite what we'd told her.

Paul gripped her shoulders so she couldn't move past him. "Bella, she will kill you."

"Good," She whispered, catching him off guard and slipping out of his grip.

Beta: MissEllen- Thank you!

CH. 50 All Things End

Quil's Pov

Paul shook his head, growled and then sprinted down the hall after Bella. I turned and called to my mom and Kay, "Stay with Embry," before following after Paul.

I made it to the front door and froze as the scene unfolded in front of me. Bella was standing in the middle of the road, with her arms stretched toward the sky shouting, "You want me? Come and get me!" as she turned around in circles.

Paul seemed unsure of what to do. I didn't have anymore answers then he did. Charlie charged forward, stumbling through the doorway. When he realized Bella was offering herself up for death, he moved to go after her. I held my hand up, stopping him from going any further. I was afraid if we crowded her it would just make the situation worse.

"Let's see if Paul can get through to her," I suggested; all the while praying to the spirits that he could somehow make her understand.

Paul reached out and grabbed Bella by the shoulders and pulled her into his own body. Her tiny hands were balled into fists. He just stood there while she beat on his chest, never attempting to stop her. I don't know how much time passed, it seemed to have frozen, but Bella's body finally gave out and her knees buckled. Paul caught her and lifted her into his arms.

"I'm going to take her to my house, I'll call you," Paul said just loud enough for me to hear.

"What... where?" Charlie stuttered as Paul began carrying Bella down the road and out of our sight.

"Come on, let's get inside," I told him tiredly.

Mom emerged from the hall and sat down on the couch. "Kay is with Embry," she let us all know. Charlie finally sat down and I nearly collapsed into the recliner.

"Paul took Bella to his place."

"Is that best?" Mom asked.

"I have no idea." Honestly, I didn't have a clue what the right thing was. "Maybe, getting her someplace neutral, where she's never been before, might help."

Charlie scrubbed his hands over his face. "I don't know. I just don't know," he confessed.

"We'll just have to wait and see. Coffee?" Mom asked as she walked toward the kitchen. Fuck coffee, I thought. I needed some of my granddad's shine.

Paul's Pov

I didn't have a clue what to do with the girl in my arms. I had never felt the compulsion to help someone before, but I had seen her broken and bloodied in the twisted wreckage of her car and I couldn't let her die after living through all that. Jared had been right. Bella was a good person.

I loosened my grip on her just enough to free one hand, and opened my front door. I still didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't have any kind of plan. I just knew when I saw her offer herself up that I couldn't stand by and let anything more happen to her.

I eased her from my arms and sat her down on my couch. She just sat, stone faced and unmoving. When she finally met my eyes, I second guessed my decision to bring her with me. I wasn't soft and sensitive like Embry. I wasn't funny and carefree like Quil. I wasn't serious and sure like Jared. I was an asshole.

"Look Bella, I'm a jerk. I have no idea what to do with you. But, I know I can't let you die."

Fuck it, I thought. All I had was honesty.

It took her nearly five minutes to respond to me. "Why? Why should I get to live when my son didn't?"

Fuck Me!

"Fuck if I know." I sighed, before sitting down on the floor in front of her. "Why did I live when my mother didn't?" I never talked about this shit. "I would have traded places with her."

I had to strain to hear her whispered question. "What happened?"

This is exactly why I never talked about this shit. I hated going back to that place even if it was only in my memories. It still hurt like a bitch.

"My dad." I growled. Even after all this time, the thought of that man set me on fire. "He liked to beat us." I had to take a deep breath. I could feel my wolf lurking on the surface. "One night, he didn't stop."

I could tell she wanted to say something, but she probably didn't know what to say. No one ever did. "That's the thing, he hurt my mom because he wanted to. Embry..." I stopped when the mention of Embry's name caused Bella to curl into herself. I gave her a few minutes, but she needed to understand I wasn't going to let her bare her neck so the leech could suck her dry.

"Embry," I started again, trying my best to ignore her heavy breathing. "He didn't want to hurt you. He would have given his life first. The thing is, he didn't have a choice. And that's the shit you need to know about before you let that bloodsucker take you."

I stood up and walked into the kitchen to grab a couple of drinks. I figured it would take a while to explain shit, plus it let her have a couple minutes to think about what I'd said.

When I took my place back on the floor in front of Bella, she was still staring blank faced in front of her.

"Do you know our legends?'' I wanted to know so that I could figure out where to start in this fucked up story.

"Yes," she whispered. "No, I mean, not really," she mumbled. "I... I know about cold ones... vampires."

Gritting my teeth, "Yeah, we'll come back to that fuckery." I promised.

"J-j-Jake..." she stuttered, "Jake told me the legends. I don't really know them though. Something about wolves..." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she looked up at me.

Huh, so the Baby Apha had spilled the beans.

"Yeah, a few of us lucky members of the tribe get to turn into huge wolves," I began.

I spend the next hour telling Bella our legends and explaining the treaty. "Questions?"

"Do you only shift if there is a vampire presence?" She wanted to know.

"As far as we know. According to Old Quil, the last pack of Quileute wolves formed when the Cullen's first arrived. After they left no one else phased, until our generation... when the Cullen's returned."

"But they've been gone for so long," she spoke aloud.

I shrugged. Hell, I didn't have all the answers. "We don't know. Their presence could have set everything in motion and it wouldn't have mattered how short or long they stayed in the area. Or it could be the redheaded bitch we've been chasing. We really don't know."

Bella took a sip from her coke, then looked up at me all wide eyed and haunted. "I don't understand. " She took a deep breath and looked down at her hands folded into her lap."I don't ... You said E-Em.. you said that Embry didn't want to hurt me? You said he didn't have a choice, what does that mean?"

Fuck, why didn't I call Jared?

"We're a pack. All wolf packs have a hierarchy. An Alpha, a Beta and so on. Sam Uley was the Alpha and Jake was the beta. The Alpha gives our orders. Once an order is given, we have to obey. It's a compulsion. It's physically impossible to go against an order. When Embry phased he was ordered not to tell you. Hell, he couldn't even tell his mom. None of us can tell anyone." I picked my coke up and finished it, wishing I had something stronger.

"Why?"

"Keep the secret," I shrugged. I had always understood keeping the secret from people. It just never made sense to keep it from those closest to you.

"But, what does that have to do with him... with him doing what he did?"

Yep, I should have called Jared. I was not good with all this emotional shit.

"When Jake joined the pack, it was all kinds of fucked up between him and Embry. Sam kept them apart, but eventually they had to phase together. Remember how I explained the pack mind?" I waited until I knew she was with me before I continued.

"When they were phased together, Jake could see every thought Embry had about you. Jake was pissed." It was strange telling her all of this. It was her story, but she didn't know any of it.

"Sam had never had a problem with Embry dating you before. The barbeque is the first time any of knew anything was off. When we all left, it was because the redhead was spotted. We were all chasing her. Fuck, we were so damn tired of the bitch. While we were trying to lead her into a trap, she switched direction and headed toward the populated part of the res. Toward Sam's." I took a breath. My wolf was agitated just thinking back on that day.

"Sam ordered me to keep watch, but then you left." I swore I could almost feel Embry's anger from that fucked up day wash over me all over again.

"I asked Sam what he wanted me to do... he told me to stay with the imprints."

"Imprints?" Bella quietly asked.

Fuck me, I thought. Goddamn there was so much to explain.

"Imprinting..." I couldn't help but sneer the word. It's not that I thought it was all bad, it was just that so far it had done nothing but fuck people over.

"It's what happens with the wolf in human form sees his intended mate for the first time. It could be someone you've known your whole life or it could be a complete stranger. Supposedly, you see them and the world shifts. At least that's what we've been told. But, who the fuck knows."

"Good?" I asked when several minutes passed in total silence.

With a tiny nod from Bella, I went on. "I phased back and got you to come back with me. Fuck girl, Embry loves you. I couldn't just let you walk away with that leech on the loose." I growled out.

I blew out a breath. This was the most touchy feely I'd ever gotten. I was pretty sure I could feel hives forming over my body.

"The morning Jared came and got Embry..." I pretended not to see Bella's eyes tear up or hear her sniffle when I brought up that morning. "We killed a dreadlocked leech..." I stopped mid sentence when a gasp left Bella.

"You know the leech I'm talking about?"

"There was a group of nomads. Victoria- the redhead, her mate, James and Laurent. The Cullen's killed James in Phoenix. The vampire with dreadlocks, his name was Laurent. He was supposed to be in Alaska with another coven of animal drinkers." She explained in a small voice.

"Well his eyes were fucking blood red. We caught him. Killed him." I left out the part where it was Embry who actually killed the leech. I wasn't sure if she could take that kind of mind fuck right now. So far she was doing alright, but I didn't know if it would last. Figured it was best not to push it.

Standing up, I pretended to stretch my muscles. Truthfully, I was agitated and I knew if I was antsy, then my wolf was damn sure edgy. "We - the pack met up in Sam's yard for a meeting after we took care of the leech. We had our meeting and as we were leaving, Sam told Embry to stay behind." I paused my pacing and stood in front of Bella. Once she looked up and met my eyes, I went on. "We had no idea what Sam was going to do. It wasn't until later that we learned what happened. That Sam as our leader had given Embry an Alpha order to stay away from you. He was told to end his relationship and all communication."

"Why?" she asked with tears running down her cheeks.

"We don't know. We were told that it was to keep pack unity. We know that's bullshit. It tore the pack apart. We really don't know what the real reason was. We believe it has something to do with Jake, but no one will admit it, and we can't figure it out. It's like we're missing a piece of the puzzle."

"Bathroom?" She asked.

"Down the hall, first door on the right."

I watched as she stood up on shaky legs and made her way down the hall. When I heard the door close, I finally let myself take a deep breath. "Fuck," I sighed.

I could hear her soft footfall coming closer. I turned and watched her timid approach.

"Do you understand?" I took a couple steps toward her, "Do you understand that Embry didn't do what you think... at least not the way you think. He loves you, Bella."

When she lifted her eyes and looked at me. It was all I could do not to hit my knees. She was so fucking empty. "I... I.. It hurts too much," she cried.

Looking at the broken girl in front of me, I knew it wasn't going to be as easy as explaining a few legends. It would take more than a tale normally told around a bonfire to undo all the hurt that had been done.

AN: First, I want to thank everyone for all the kind words. It means more than you all know.

I can't promise that I'm back to regular updates, but I do promise to continue working on all of my stories.