Bella POV:

I sat, paralyzed, in the front seat of my truck as Edward drove us somewhere away from that awful scene. He pushed my poor truck so hard that the engine groaned and shuttered. I was so shocked that I didn't even scold him.

How? How was this possible? My cousin was human, wasn't she? She couldn't be...be this creature. Katie was like a sister to me and now I find out that she isn't even fully human? I gasped, choking on this realization. Oh my god, what was I going to tell Charlie?

Edward placed a cool, comforting hand on my back, but didn't say anything. He, too, was beyond words. The back of my truck thunked and I started.

"Don't worry Bella, that's just Emmett, he's going back home to tell Carlisle what happened to prepare in case the mutts come back for more." Edward said, his voice hard.

"Y - you don't think that they'll do that...do you?" I stuttered out. I wanted to scream, why was my life full of mythical creatures? That stupid pack had already taken my best friend and now my cousin? They've also tried to fight the Cullens every chance they got. Would they take one of them too? When would it end? When would it be enough for them? Ugh! I couldn't take it!

Edward didn't answered but sniffed the air and sighed. He turned to me and said, "Charlie's home and you've got company. I'll be back when they leave. Don't mention the wolves."

"Yeah, no shit Edward." I responded. He didn't smile, and left the car in a blur. I shifted over to the drivers seat and pulled into my houses driveway, where I saw Billy and Sam out on the front porch, talking to Charlie.

I parked the truck and walked nervously up to the group. Sam turned to give me a hard gaze while Billy kept up amiable conversation with Charlie.

"Uh, hi dad. Why are you home so early?What's going on?" I asked her

"Hey Bells! I got off work early to come take care of Katie, but Sam here was kind enough to come over in person and let me know that Emily and Jake came over and took her to Sam's house for some soup, but she crashed over there." Charlie said this all with a huge smile, as if this were the best news.

"Oh okay." I said, unsure of how to respond.

"Isn't that just so nice? See, that is what good friends do for each other." Charlie clasped Sams shoulder, "Thank you for always looking out for my girls."

Sams smile was warm and genuine, but I could see the edges of strain around his mouth.

"It's our pleasure. Emily and I adore Katie. As do the boys. She's welcome anytime."

Billy cleared his throat, "Yes, Jacob was telling me about how ill she felt and I gave him permission to help Emily bring her over to the Rez." Charlie's smile grew.

"That boy has such a good heart." He said.

Billy nodded, still looking tense.

"So, um, should I start dinner?"

"No, I invited you and Charlie over to my place. Katie's there and Emily made extra food." Sam said, his voice mild, but his eyes dark as he looked at me.

Billy added, "And I came to tell Charlie that he better bring beer cause there's a game on tonight."

Charlie smiled and clapped his hands, "Alright then! I'll grab the beer and we'll head over."

I swallowed, unsure of what this night was going to hold for me. Somehow I had ended up with the Alpha of a werewolf pack and the head of the tribe angry with me. Great.

—————

During the drive over though, my nervousness turned to righteous anger. It seemed like it was their fault that Katie changed. Katie was like me. Katie was human. But then Jacob just had to imprint on her and ruined her life. I know, I know that imprinting was a "wolf thing" and he can't control it, but why did that have to cost Katie her entire life?

I didn't blame Jake, not at all, for imprinting on her. But I thought that meant that Katie was going to have a faithful and loving partner for her entire life. Not that her body was going to rip itself apart and she was going to continue to transform into that monster.

Believe me, I wanted Jake to be happy. Nobody wanted that more than me. But did his happiness have to cost Katie hers? I remember the way Jake was after he shifted for the first time. He was angry and bitter and miserable. I just couldn't picture levelheaded, witty, sarcastic, easy going, Katie being trapped in that horrible existence. I hated that Jake had been forced to change in the first place, too. I hated that my best friend had so much anger and pain, but now that pain was not only forced on Jake but also on Katie. I didn't want either of them to suffer through this!

I just wanted to know why. Why did she shift? Because Jake looked just as confused as I did. Was this some weird part of the imprint bond? That didn't make sense because Emily and Kim didn't shift. Ugh! Why couldn't life just be normal?!

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice that we had pulled into Emily's driveway. Charlie put the car in park.

"Alright Bells, what's wrong?" Charlie asked me.

"Uh...nothing." I answered unconvincingly.

"Really? Because you look ready to throw a fit."

I sighed and didn't answer.

It was true. My I felt restless and hopeless and frustrated. I was so scared for Katie. Was she even going to be here?

Charlie just glanced at me, sighed and opened the door.

Yeah. What a wonderful dinner we were about to have.