One job. Alice and Jasper had one job. Keep Bella safe and to not lose her! How do you lose a woman?! When we'd met up with Alice and Jasper we were too late, she was already long gone.

"She'd made a split second decision! I didn't catch her in time!" Alice defended.

I groaned and Edward looked over at me, "Can you track her?"

"Don't you know where James is?" I asked the psychic who's supposed to know these things.

"All I saw was a ballet studio! There could be dozens in town!"

I groaned, tracking in wolf form was easier for me but I couldn't exactly walk around a busy city tracking Bella's scent. I followed the scent as best I could. And I wanted to give myself a pat on the back because we were maybe a mile away when we heard the commotion. We started running, and Edward being the fastest got there first but Carlisle and I got there soon after.

Edward had James pilled against a mirror and Bella was writhing in the corner, there was so much blood. Alice was holding her down but I saw the bite on her arm. I knew it hurt like a bitch the way she was screaming.

"Son, enough. Remember who you are. Bella needs you," Carlisle told him, I saw the crazed look in his eye, for a moment he lost control getting his revenge on the evil creature, Carlisle looked between me, Emmett and Jasper, "Your brothers and sister will handle him."

I looked over to make sure Bella wasn't looking over at us while we dragged him to the other side of the room. I saw she was in too much pain to even look over, perfect.

"I got him!" Emmett assured.

Jasper started ripping the floorboards off, "I'll start the fire."

I eyed James excited before looking over at Carlisle who gave me an approving nod before turning to care for Bella, making sure he blocked her from looking over at me. I took the moment to phase, letting the clothes rip off my body as I went in for the kill.

To say it was fun would be a major understatement. I barely left Alice anything to do. He was already in pieces by the time she came to help out. There was a sense of accomplishment that wafted over me as we threw his pieces into the large fire. I made every piece I got as small as possible, even though the fire made it final I didn't care. I found it entertaining as I ripped him to shreds.

This was what I was made for, in that moment I knew my father, my pack brothers, and my tribe, would all be proud of me. Killing vampires was a part of who I am. Ironic considering the family that took me in, but I knew that being with them only made me stronger.

As the last of James burned away Carlisle and Edward took Bella to the nearest hospital. With her gone I phased back, "Anyone bring any extra clothes?" I asked not even bothering to cover up at that point.

Alice nodded, laughing as she went to the car to grab a change of clothes for me.

Emmett smiled at me like a proud soccer dad, "You seemed to have fun," he noted as I proceeded to put on some clothes.

"It was a blast," I nodded.

"Well let's just hope it's not something you have to do regularly," Jasper added wrapping his arm protectively around Alice.

I shrugged, "I mean, it's what my kind is supposed to do, so I'm not complaining." I smiled as the four of us left the trashed studio and headed back to Forks as if nothing ever happened.

~

The official story was Bella got her injuries via falling down the stairs and going through a window. In her case, that's actually a very believable alibi.

Shortly after the incident Bella was back on her own two feet, and I'm saying that generously, being as she was in a cast and that made her even more clumsy. Edward insisted he take her to prom which proceeded with Alice forcing Bella into a dozen dresses until she found the one she deemed acceptable.

I ended up helping with her makeup and hair the day of. I wasn't going to go being as I wasn't much of a dress kinda girl, but seeing my artistry pay off on Bella brought a smile to my face.

I helped her walk down the steps to meet with my brother and her dad, I was happy to see both of them approved when she'd made it down without another bruise, mostly because I switched out the heel that Alice wanted her to wear for a converse.

I stood by Charlie looking over the specimen, making sure nothing was out of place, in a way I was living vicariously through her cause even though I mostly didn't want to go, a small part of me still did. There was just one thing I was missing....a date. Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong and independent woman who don't need a man. But having one still would've been nice.

"Alice lent me the dress, and Cate did my hair and makeup," Bella stated obviously as the three of us gave her the once-over.

Charlie gave me an approving nod, "Good work."

"It wasn't that much work," I chuckled.

"You're perfect," Edward breathed and I held in laughter as Charlie rolled his eyes very obviously, "I'll take care of her Chief Swan," he added.

Charlie scowled, "Yeah, I've heard that before."

I cringed, while Charlie didn't blame me for the whole situation, I still felt bad, which is why I went along with his request to drive them to and from the event. In reality I was just gonna drive them there and go home, they didn't actually need me afterward. As the evening's chauffeur I had no intention of phasing that night, so I wore a nice black blouse with tight black pants and pumps. The ride there was quiet and when I parked the car Edward left to go sign them in. So I waited with Bella on a bench, the two of us had actually gotten a lot closer while she was recovering.

While I was in the middle of discussing our next movie marathon I smelled an unfamiliar scent in the area. I didn't recognize it...yet somehow, something about it was familiar. Looking around I didn't see anything abnormal.

"Bella!" A voice behind us greeted and I saw a tall guy, olive toned-skin and long black hair walk out of the woods. His voice was deep, he had a white shirt with a dark tie on and some dress pants.

"Jacob! Hey," She smiled when she saw him.

He gestured to her attire, "Nice."

"You too, are you crashing the prom or something? Did you come with a date? If not, Cate's available," Bella joked.

I rolled my eyes and giggled, "Shut it cripple, I'm going home as soon as my brother comes back," I joked before nodding to the Jacob dude, "Hey, I'm Cate."

He gave me a polite smile, "Nice to meet you," then he looked back at Bella sheepishly, "My dad actually paid me to come talk to you...twenty bucks."

"Wow. What a bargain," I said sarcastically.

Jacob looked at me amused, "Something tells me we're going to be pretty decent friends."

I nodded in agreement before Bella looked at him confused, "What did Billy want you to talk to me about?"

His smile went away, "Just don't get mad, okay? He wants you to break up with your boyfriend."

My eyes widened and I stood up from the bench, "I should let you guys talk about this alone," without even waiting for a response I went off to find Edward.

As I walked away I heard Bella inform him, "Cate's one of Edward's siblings."

I quickly found him and we went back to get Bella, "I'll take it from here," Edward had a hard look on his face as he helped her off the bench.

"I guess I'll see you around Bella," Jacob looked at my brother annoyed before looking at me, "Want some company walking home?"

Edward roughly grabbed my arm and pulled me away from him, "She's fine."

I gave him a confused and angry look, getting out of his grasp. "Actually, that would be great! See you guy later!" I bid before walking toward Jacob leaving a very annoyed Edward and a very confused Bella in my wake. As we walked there was a very comfortable silence, "So I haven't seen you round school, what's up with that?"

"I go to school on the Quileute reservation," he explained.

I nodded, "Ah....makes sense then."

"So, you seem different than your brother."

"Yeah, I joined the family back in July, almost a year ago, now that I think about it," I realized before looking back, I looked at him discreetly, analyzing what about him could possibly be dangerous. I wasn't catching any red flags, "So..." I was probably going to get in a lot of trouble for asking, "Do you know why my family isn't aloud on Quileute land?"

He shrugged, "The tribe council-" I froze, I knew the Quileute people were a tribe but them having their own council made me miss home a lot more, he caught onto my reaction, "You okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah...Just that before I moved here, my tribe was killed. I miss them a lot."

We forgot about the question about our "feuding" families, and proceeded to talk about our tribes. I realized quickly that Jacob and I were a lot more similar than I'd originally thought. Both our moms were gone, but he still had his dad. His dad was basically the chief, but they had a council who made the bulk of the decisions for the tribe.

Hearing everything he was telling me made me even more curious to meet his people, but I knew with the treaty in place I couldn't cross onto his territory.

"Ya know," Jacob told me, "I think my dad would love to meet you, he'd definitely get a kick outta you," he chuckled.

I gave a polite smile, "Aww that would be great, maybe one day," I lied knowing full well I probably would never be able to meet him unless it was on my side of the treaty line. The sun started to go down and I felt bad making him walk all the way back to La Push, "I can make it the rest of the way back from here, I don't want you home too late. Tell your dad I'd be glad to meet him one day, if you want to meet at the diner or even Bella's house," I smiled before adding with sincerity, "I hope that your clear dislike of my brother doesn't interfere with our blossoming friendship," I laughed.

He gave me a nice smile, "I don't think it will. Nice meeting you Cate! I'll text you," He bid before heading off in the opposite direction.

When I got home I felt very proud of myself, I'd made a new friend while simultaneously annoying Edward. I call that a productive day. Carlisle and Esme saw what was probably a goofy look on my face when I'd entered the living room, but they weren't the ones to bring it up.

"What's with your face?" Emmett asked obnoxiously.

I rolled my eyes, "Nothing last I checked."

Alice looked at me and squealed, "She met a boy!"

"No! Well-" I paused, "I did but that's not the point, he's just a friend. I'm allowed to have those right?" I checked.

Esme smiled and gave me a motherly hug, "Of course you are sweetheart. What's his name?"

That's when I started clamming up, I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, "Uh.....His name is Jacob...."

Emmett eyes my reaction, "What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing," I answered automatically, ".....unless you count his living arrangements a problem," I muttered.

Carlisle looked at me confused, "Where does he live?"

Jasper eyed me, "Why are you so nervous?"

I groaned and conceded, "Cause he lives in La Push..."

"Are you serious?" Rosalie snapped, "First we got Edward with a human and now you with a-"

"Rose!" Carlisle shushed her, "If Cate says Jacob is just a friend, then we have no reason not to believe her."

I nodded, "Thank you Carlisle! Now if you'll excuse me," I walked off to change out of the dressy clothes and into something more comfortable.

"Ya know-" I heard Emmett say as I walked away, "Sometimes it's hard to remember she's actually a dog."

I rolled my eyes, being constantly underestimated and overlooked was something I was used to at that point. And I wasn't even mad at it, because one; I love my family and two; one day they were going to see how powerful I really was.