IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG FOR Lena to run back to the Cullen household. Alice was waiting on the edge of the forest, holding some clothes for her to wear.

"Thanks." She smiled, "Hey, how come you can see my future if you can't see past the pack?"

Alice shrugged, "I guess you're different."

Lena ignored the way her heart tugged at that, more and more reasons that she never belonged in the pack piling up right in front of her. She took the clothes and slipped them on just in time for Jacob to break through the trees behind them. Alice smiled and ran off, leaving the two to talk.

"You left too." Jacob said.

"Yeah." She shrugged, "I had to."

The two stood in silence. For once, they were on the same side, and they didn't know what to do with it. Then, another person joined them.

"Seth?" Lena asked in shock.

Jacob was a little sceptical, looking behind him as if the pack would follow the boy soon after. Seth smiled, "Don't worry, they're not following us."

"What do you think you're doing here?" Jake asked.

Seth shrugged, "I left Sam's pack."

"Go home Seth."

"I won't stand behind him!"

"Oh yes you will. I'm not kidding, get outta here."

"Guys!" Lena interrupted, arms out, "Shut up. Seth, you realise what you've done, right?"

"Of course I have!" He replied, eyes wide.

"Oh come on." Jacob spoke, "If Sam comes after us, which he will, are you really ready to fight your own brothers? Your sister?"

Lena swallowed, eyes stinging. She didn't want to fight her friends, but if she had to, she would.

"If it's the right thing to do." Seth nodded, determined. Lena smiled. She'll always love Seth.

"Whatever." Jacob huffed, "Do what you want."

Then the boy turned and walked off, Lena following behind him. Seth smiled and joined them with a skip in his step, "How cool is this? Three man pack. Three against the world!"

"Getting on my nerves, Seth."

"I'll shut up."

The three of them found themselves outside the Cullen house, the family now aware of the danger that was coming for them. Jacob was brooding by a tree whilst Seth and Lena were playing Charlie Charlie with two sticks on the ground.

"Man, I can smell them from out here."

They jumped up at the voice, facing Leah. Lena grinned.

"What the hell are you going here?" Jake asked.

"I'm not gonna let my little brother get himself killed." Leah said with an eye roll.

"Go away, Leah." The boy grumbled, "I can take care of myself."

"That you think so proves you need a babysitter." She replied. "Sure, you've got Lena, but a person can deal with you for only so long."

The two girls shared a smile, and Lena felt a little better that at least the Clearwaters didn't hate her guys.

"Did Sam send you?"

"Sam doesn't even know I left."

Then, howls echoed through the trees, and the four of them went quiet. Seth grabbed Lena's hand and she held on tight.

"Jake." Leah said, "I know what his plan is."

With Jacob informing the Cullens of Sam's plan, Lena was creating one of her own. She stood by the house with Leah and Seth, discussing what they could do to help the Cullens hunt without behind attacked.

"They won't need complete protection." She said, "Just enough to get them across the border without an attack."

"How do we do that?" Leah asked, "There's four of us and...a lot of them."

"It's better if we don't attack straight away." Lena nodded, accepting the plan that was forming in her head, "We distract them first, give the Cullens an opening, and we attack only if it's necessary. Sound good?"

"Sounds hard." Seth said, "How are we gonna do that?"

Later that night, the four of them were stood on the outskirts of the woods by the Cullen house. The only sound being the echo of the trees and the birds and the wind.

"I know they're out there somewhere." Jacob spoke, "But I can't hear them anymore. It's so quiet."

"I stopped hearing them too." Leah inputted, "The second I decided to leave."

Lena didn't realise it at the time, but the voices of the pack went silent in her head the moment she too broke away from Sam's meeting. She didn't hear Paul when he followed her, and she couldn't hear Leah and Seth when they left either. She supposed it was supposed to hurt, because she'd worked so hard to hear them in the first place, but she didn't feel anything. Her mind and body were both numb, and she was scared of the moment she would feel again.

"It's nice." Leah finished.

Jacob turned to her, "You know you can't stay here."

"But I don't have another—"

"I can't trust you with the Cullens. You hate them too much." He finished. Lena was inclined to agree, but didn't want to throw Leah away, she was probably one of her last friends left. "You don't even like me."

"I don't have to." Leah rebutted, "I just have to follow you."

"Look, Seth doesn't want you here. Neither do I."

"Being unwanted isn't exactly a new thing for me."

"Yeah, me neither." Lena added, turning to Jacob, "It's not for you, too, Jake. Don't act all high and mighty now. Just be thankful we have people on our side."

The three were quiet, and then Jacob turned to Leah, "Alright, I'm gonna do a perimeter run. You got my flank?"

Leah nodded and the two left. Lena stayed, alone with her thoughts whilst Seth slept soundly a few meters away. Her mind, now alone for the first time in a while, was running miles.

She told herself that she didn't need them, but why was her heart still hurting?

The next few days were slow. Jacob and Lena spent their time rotating around Bella and guarding the perimeter whilst Leah and Seth stayed by the woods the entire time. Esme brought them food, which they were thankful for.

One afternoon, Lena was washing dishes in the Cullen's kitchen after Esme had made her and Bella pasta — which the human girl had thrown up soon after — when Edward pulled up beside her.

"Lena, can we talk?"

She nodded and dried her hands as he led her away from the family and into another room. They were silent for a moment, Lena's eyes darting around the room until Edward spoke.

"You left the pack."

She shrugged, "I don't think I ever belonged there in the first place."

"You left them." He nodded, "You worked so hard to be apart of them and then left. For Bella."

She nodded, "Sounds about right."

"Lena, I—" He stammered, and she thought it was the first time she'd ever seen the vampire show emotion other than sadness since she'd met him, "I have a deep appreciation for you."

She looked shocked at his words, but he kept talking.

"You have been Bella's backbone when she couldn't hold herself up. You have kept her afloat when she didn't have the strength to swim. You have always been an arms length away for Bella, and I could not appreciate that more. With Jake, it's—it's different. You aren't her knight in shining armour like he hopes he can be, you are her guardian angel that I hoped I could be. But with recent circumstances, it seems I am unfit for that role, and other situations in the past have also proved this fact. You have been a constant for her since the day you met, and somehow have always made the right decisions when it comes to her, even if it hurts yourself. And for that, I thank you. And I give you this."

He held his hand up, and in it he presented her with a chain. Hanging from it was a black stone, shining against the lights of the room. Lena took it from him, holding it up to her eyes in wonder.

"Black Obsidian." Edward commented, "Grants protection and keeps you strong. It was my sister's"

"Your sister?"

"My human sister." He clarified, "I think it's time it was passed on to someone else."

"Edward..."

"You don't need to say anything." He grinned a little bit, "I can read your thoughts, you know."

"Right." She chuckled, "Still...thank you. It's good to know that someone recognises what I'm giving up here. I mean, not that I—I would protect Bella any day of the week, it's not that—"

"I know." He interrupted, "You don't need to explain yourself."

She smiled, "Who knew you were soft, huh?"

He chuckled, and a silent truce was passed between them. They would protect Bella no matter what, from anything.

Although it seemed that task was getting harder and harder for the both of them as Bella was getting weaker as time went on. The baby was hurting Bella now, cracking her ribs and draining her of energy. Carlisle had told Edward and Lena that there was no stopping it, and that Bella's body would likely give out before she could deliver—which she was still adamant on doing.

It had caused an argument between the newlyweds, and Lena didn't know who's side to take. On one hand, she wanted Bella to live, and would protect her until her own dying breath. On the other, she couldn't tell her what to do with her own body, even if it kills her. Everyone was hurting, and even Jasper couldn't balance out everyone's emotions.

One night, the whole family (plus Jake, sigh) were gathered in the living room, watching a football game. Lena never really got the appeal around football, her mind elsewhere instead of watching the game. Her eyes were glued to her phone, at the text she had received an hour ago.

Today
19:14

EMBRY MY LOVE
lena
can we talk?
call me please

Her fingers hovered over the reply she had typed, but she hesitated on sending it. Embry was still with Sam, and no matter how much she loved and missed her best friend, she had to take into account that he wasn't on her side anymore. Her heart ached to talk to him again, but what would he say?

She switched her phone off and tuned into the conversation.

"We need to find a way to get some food into her system." Esme was saying.

"If I could only see the fetus—"

"The baby."

"—maybe I could figure out what it wants." Alice finished. Lena had a thought then, but didn't want to share it.

"I think you might be right." Edward said, looking at Lena, "Lena just had an idea."

"It wasn't an idea, it was a snide comment." She said.

"What were you thinking?" Carlisle asked.

She stammered, "That—uh, that maybe the baby doesn't want human food."

"Blood." Jacob realised.

"He's thirsty." Bella smiled at her stomach fondly.

"If it's craving, it's not gonna want animal blood." Edward wondered, shifting slightly in his seat.

"I have some O- laid aside for Bella." Carlisle spoke, walking into the back medical room to collect it.

Jasper shifted in his chair, and suddenly the room were aware that he hadn't been a vegetarian vampire for very long. Alice stood with him, and the two left the room for now. Emmett left not long after.

Carlisle returned, squeezing the blood from a bag into a glass. Jacob sat up, started, "Wait—you're gonna make her drink that?"

"What did you think they were gonna do? Inject it into her veins?" Lena muttered, but Jake ignored her. Edward chuckled despite his constant mood.

"It's the fastest way to test the theory."

After Bella gave them the okay and Edward had transformed the blood into a white cup with a straw, they were ready. The occupants of the room were on the edge of their seats as Bella took a sip, waiting for her verdict.

"Tastes..." She spoke slowly, nodding, "...good."

"Your pulse is already getting stronger." Carlisle said. And for once, everyone in the room had a reason to smile. Apart from Jacob, but that wasn't new.

The next few hours felt like fresh air. Bella was getting healthier—albeit slowly—with the blood, and the pack hadn't shown any signs of making a move thus far. Lena and Jacob stayed patrolling outside during the night, along with Leah and Seth, whilst also taking shifts with Bella.

It seemed as though the entire household had taken one big deep breath and sunk into the sofa with a cup of coffee. It was nice, even if it was still a little tense.

"You know, you should really try with Bella." Lena said as she watched Edward pour out another cup of blood. "I mean, I get that the circumstances aren't...ideal, but she's your wife and she's pregnant. You're supposed to be there for her, not moping around like a kid."

"I know." He murmured, "It's still difficult."

"Imagine how she feels." She replied, sending him a look, "You really want her to be better? Her husband facing the issue head on would definitely help with that."

"Okay, fine." He gave in, turning to her after throwing away the empty pouch, "But you have to face your issue head on, too."

Stupid mind reader. She rolled her eyes, "Okay, deal."

And with that, the two left in opposite directions. Edward, to comfort Bella, and Lena to finally make that phone call she's been stressing about. She went out to the balcony, taking out her phone and clicking the dial button.

It rang for a moment, and she held her breath until the voice spoke to her.

"Lena! Where the hell have you been?"

She smiled, "Rebecca. Hi."

"I haven't seen you in forever! And everyone is being super weird with me, what is going on?"

She could imagine her friend, blonde hair a mess, sitting in her room with her phone in one hand and a book in the other. It made her smile wider.

"Yeah, sorry about that. A lot has been going on."

"Like what?"

"It's—uh, it's complicated." She stammered, but she knew there was no backing from it.

"Lena." Bex deadpanned, "A month ago, some guy hit on you at an Arby's and instead of Paul hitting a wall like I expected him to, he turned into a giant dog. I know complicated."

Lena laughed, remembering the day that Bex finally found out about the pack. The situation was hilarious, and she didn't let Paul live it down ever. Sam was angry, but he knew it was an accident and let them off the hook.

"Well, uh, Bella's pregnant."

"...What?!"

"Yeah, and she...uh, well you know."

"Yeah. That's crazy." Rebecca knew about the Cullens, too. Sam and Lena had agreed not to tell her, but she found out in her own way after doing research on the tribe and confronting Lena about it. It was a...moment, but Bex was shockingly okay with it.

The two girls spent the next ten minutes gossiping about everything, and Lena filled her in on the situation with the pack.

"Those assholes!" She exclaimed, "They want to kill a baby?"

"Yeah, it's a little difficult right now." Lena muttered, "But we're going to protect Bella. Or die trying."

"Yeah...totally. I mean, don't die, because I love you and all but...tell Bella if she ever needs a fellow human to talk to that I'm right here."

"I'll let her know." Lena smiled, glad that someone was on her side and that she wasn't crazy. She spotted Carlisle in the corner of her eye, beckoning her down the stairs. "Hey, I gotta go but we'll talk soon, okay?"

"Of course. Bye, Leens."

"So that's the last of it?" Jacob asked after the older vampire had explained the situation to them. They were running out of blood for Bella.

"Bella could deliver as early as tomorrow." The man nodded, face set in stone, "She's not gonna have any chance at all, she'll need more blood."

"And you need to feed." Esme said, "You have to be at your strongest for her, we need to go tonight."

"You are the enemy now." Jacob spoke up, "If you go out there, Sam won't hesitate. You will be slaughtered."

"Emmett will go with us." Esme tried.

"It won't be enough."

"We have to try. For Bella."

"You'd risk your lives for her?" Jacob asked, astonished.

"Of course we would." Esme replied, "She's family now."

"Yeah, I can see that." He sulked.

Lena fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Listen. I have a plan, we'll get you across the border so you can feed. Don't worry about it."

"Thank you." They nodded, and she nodded back.

The two wolves left the Cullen household, and caught up with Leah and Seth. They sent the two questioning looks when they got there, and Lena took charge.

"It's time." She said.

"Time for what?"

"Time that I finally texted Embry back."

—mills speaks!

heyo!! this was kind of boring cos it was a lot of breaking dawn plot BUT we got a cute edward lena moment (which was entirely PLATONIC before any weirdos think otherwise). eddie protects his bi wife and her girlfriend 🙄 cmon

also i wrote in that rebecca knows about the supernatural thing bc i added it into an earlier chapter and forgot that she didn't know yet so if that felt kind of rushed it's because it was. 

anyWAY....yeah the next chapter will hopefully be better lol love u guys xx vote and comment !! and share!!!