And then we were across the road and moving through the forest that ringed the Cullens’ house. Could Edward hear us yet?

Maybe we should be thinking something like, “We come in peace.”

Go for it.

Edward? He called the name tentatively. Edward, you there? Okay, now I feel kinda stupid.

You sound stupid, too.

Think he can hear us?

We were less than a mile out now. I think so. Hey, Edward. If you can hear me—circle the wagons, bloodsucker. You’ve got a problem.

We’ve got a problem, Seth corrected.

Then we broke through the trees into the big lawn. The house was dark, but not empty. Edward stood on the porch between Emmett and Jasper. They were snow white in the pale light.

“Jacob? Seth? What’s going on?”

I slowed and then paced back a few steps. The smell was so sharp through this nose that it felt like it was honestly burning me. Seth whined quietly, hesitating, and then he fell back behind me.

To answer Edward’s question, I let my mind run over the confrontation with Sam, moving through it backward. Seth thought with me, filling in the gaps, showing the scene from another angle. We stopped when we got to the part about the “abomination,” because Edward hissed furiously and leaped off the porch.

“They want to kill Bella?” he snarled flatly.

Emmett and Jasper, not having heard the first part of the conversation, took his inflectionless question for a statement. They were right next to him in a flash, teeth exposed as they moved on us.

Hey, now, Seth thought, backing away.

“Em, Jazz—not them! The others. The pack is coming.”

Emmett and Jasper rocked back on their heels; Emmett turned to Edward while Jasper kept his eyes locked on us.

“What’s their problem?” Emmett demanded.

“The same one as mine,” Edward hissed. “But they have their own plan to handle it. Get the others. Call Carlisle! He and Esme have to get back here now.”

I whined uneasily. They were separated.

“They aren’t far,” Edward said in the same dead voice as before.

I’m going to go take a look, Seth said. Run the western perimeter.

“Will you be in danger, Seth?” Edward asked.

Seth and I exchanged a glance.

Don’t think so, we thought together. And then I added, But maybe I should go. Just in case…

They’ll be less likely to challenge me, Seth pointed out. I’m just a kid to them.

You’re just a kid to me, kid.

I’m outta here. You need to coordinate with the Cullens.

He wheeled and darted into the darkness. I wasn’t going to order Seth around, so I let him go.

Edward and I stood facing each other in the dark meadow. I could hear Emmett muttering into his phone. Jasper was watching the place where Seth had vanished into the woods. Alice appeared on the porch and then, after staring at me with anxious eyes for a long moment, she flitted to Jasper’s side. I guessed that Rosalie was inside with Bella. Still guarding her—from the wrong dangers.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve owed you my gratitude, Jacob,” Edward whispered. “I would never have asked for this from you.”

I thought of what he’d asked me for earlier today. When it came to Bella, there were no lines he wouldn’t cross. Yeah, you would.

He thought about it and then nodded. “I suppose you’re right about that.”

I sighed heavily. Well, this isn’t the first time that I didn’t do it for you.

“Right,” he murmured.

Sorry I didn’t do any good today. Told you she wouldn’t listen to me.

“I know. I never really believed she would. But . . .”

You had to try. I get it. She any better?

His voice and eyes went hollow. “Worse,” he breathed.

I didn’t want to let that word sink in. I was grateful when Alice spoke.

“Jacob, would you mind switching forms?” Alice asked. “I want to know what’s going on.”

I shook my head at the same time Edward answered.

“He needs to stay linked to Seth.”

“Well, then would you be so kind as to tell me what’s happening?”

He explained in clipped, emotionless sentences. “The pack thinks Bella’s become a problem. They foresee potential danger from the… from what she’s carrying. They feel it’s their duty to remove that danger. Jacob and Seth disbanded from the pack to warn us. The rest are planning to attack tonight.”

Alice hissed, leaning away from me. Emmett and Jasper exchanged a glance, and then their eyes ranged across the trees.

Nobody out here, Seth reported. All’s quiet on the western front.

They may go around.

I’ll make a loop.

“Carlisle and Esme are on their way,” Emmett said. “Twenty minutes, tops.”

“We should take up a defensive position,” Jasper said.

Edward nodded. “Let’s get inside.”

I’ll run perimeter with Seth. If I get too far for you to hear my head, listen for my howl.

“I will.”

They backed into the house, eyes flickering everywhere. Before they were inside, I turned and ran toward the west.

I’m still not finding much, Seth told me.

I’ll take half the circle. Move fast—we don’t want them to have a chance to sneak past us.

Seth lurched forward in a sudden burst of speed.

We ran in silence, and the minutes passed. I listened to the noises around him, double-checking his judgment.

Hey—something coming up fast! he warned me after fifteen minutes of silence.

On my way!

Hold your position—I don’t think it’s the pack. It sounds different.

Seth—

But he caught the approaching scent on the breeze, and I read it in his mind.

Vampire. Bet it’s Carlisle.

Seth, fall back. It might be someone else.

No, it’s them. I recognize the scent. Hold up, I’m going to phase to explain it to them.

Seth, I don’t think—

But he was gone.

Anxiously, I raced along the western border. Wouldn’t it be just peachy if I couldn’t take care of Seth for one freaking night? What if something happened to him on my watch? Leah would shred me into kibble.

At least the kid kept it short. It wasn’t two minutes later when I felt him in my head again.

Yep, Carlisle and Esme. Boy, were they surprised to see me! They’re probably inside by now. Carlisle said thanks.

He’s a good guy.

Yeah. That’s one of the reasons why we’re right about this.

Hope so.

Why’re you so down, Jake? I’ll bet Sam won’t bring the pack tonight. He’s not going to launch a suicide mission.

I sighed. It didn’t seem to matter, either way.

Oh. This isn’t about Sam so much, is it?

I made the turn at the end of my patrol. I caught Seth’s scent where he’d turned last. We weren’t leaving any gaps.

You think Bella’s going to die anyway, Seth whispered.

Yeah, she is.

Poor Edward. He must be crazy.

Literally.

Edward’s name brought other memories boiling to the surface. Seth read them in astonishment.

And then he was howling. Oh, man! No way! You did not! That just plain ol’ sucks rocks, Jacob! And you know it, too! I can’t believe you said you’d kill him. What is that? You have to tell him no.

Shut up, shut up, you idiot! They’re going to think the pack is coming!

Oops! He cut off mid-howl.

I wheeled and started loping in toward the house. Just keep out of this, Seth. Take the whole circle for now.

Seth seethed and I ignored him.

False alarm, false alarm, I thought as I ran closer in. Sorry. Seth is young. He forgets things. No one’s attacking. False alarm.

When I got to the meadow, I could see Edward staring out of a dark window. I ran in, wanting to be sure he got the message.

There’s nothing out there—you got that?

He nodded once.

This would be a lot easier if the communication wasn’t one way. Then again, I was kinda glad I wasn’t in his head.

He looked over his shoulder, back into the house, and I saw a shudder run through his whole frame. He waved me away without looking in my direction again and then moved out of my view.

What’s going on?

Like I was going to get an answer.

I sat very still in the meadow and listened. With these ears, I could almost hear Seth’s soft footfalls, miles out into the forest. It was easy to hear every sound inside the dark house.

“It was a false alarm,” Edward was explaining in that dead voice, just repeating what I’d told him. “Seth was upset about something else, and he forgot we were listening for a signal. He’s very young.”

“Nice to have toddlers guarding the fort,” a deeper voice grumbled. Emmett, I thought.

“They’ve done us a great service tonight, Emmett,” Carlisle said. “At great personal sacrifice.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just jealous. Wish I was out there.”

“Seth doesn’t think Sam will attack now,” Edward said mechanically. “Not with us forewarned, and lacking two members of the pack.”

“What does Jacob think?” Carlisle asked.

“He’s not as optimistic.”

No one spoke. There was a quiet dripping sound that I couldn’t place. I heard their low breathing—and I could separate Bella’s from the rest. It was harsher, labored. It hitched and broke in strange rhythms. I could hear her heart. It seemed… too fast. I paced it against my own heartbeat, but I wasn’t sure if that was any measure. It wasn’t like I was normal.

“Don’t touch her! You’ll wake her up,” Rosalie whispered.

Someone sighed.

“Rosalie,” Carlisle murmured.

“Don’t start with me, Carlisle. We let you have your way earlier, but that’s all we’re allowing.”

It seemed like Rosalie and Bella were both talking in plurals now. Like they’d formed a pack of their own.

I paced quietly in front of the house. Each pass brought me a little closer. The dark windows were like a TV set running in some dull waiting room—it was impossible to keep my eyes off them for long.

A few more minutes, a few more passes, and my fur was brushing the side of the porch as I paced.

I could see up through the windows—see the top of the walls and the ceiling, the unlit chandelier that hung there. I was tall enough that all I would have to do was stretch my neck a little… and maybe one paw up on the edge of the porch.…

I peeked into the big, open front room, expecting to see something very similar to the scene this afternoon. But it had changed so much that I was confused at first. For a second I thought I’d gotten the wrong room.

The glass wall was gone—it looked like metal now. And the furniture was all dragged out of the way, with Bella curled up awkwardly on a narrow bed in the center of the open space. Not a normal bed—one with rails like in a hospital. Also like a hospital were the monitors strapped to her body, the tubes stuck into her skin. The lights on the monitors flashed, but there was no sound. The dripping noise was from the IV plugged into her arm—some fluid that was thick and white, not clear.

She choked a little in her uneasy sleep, and both Edward and Rosalie moved in to hover over her. Her body jerked, and she whimpered. Rosalie smoothed her hand across Bella’s forehead. Edward’s body stiffened—his back was to me, but his expression must have been something to see, because Emmett wrenched himself between them before there was time to blink. He held his hands up to Edward.

“Not tonight, Edward. We’ve got other things to worry about.”

Edward turned away from them, and he was the burning man again. His eyes met mine for one moment, and then I dropped back to all fours.

I ran back into the dark forest, running to join Seth, running away from what was behind me.

Worse. Yes, she was worse.