Bella emerged from the tent, she gave us a weary smile, "Hey Seth....Cate," she watched me with a curious look. I have a small laugh, I knew what she was wondering. Footsteps behind me signaled Edward's approach. I turned and greeted him, Bella, however asked where Jacob had gone.

"He didn't leave yet. He's checking to see if the woods are clear for him and Cate," he answered.

I trotted into the tent and phased back, putting my clothes on before rejoining, "So how was the storm last night?" I asked.

"Cate," Edward cringed, "Can you quiet your thoughts? I don't need a play by play."

I opened my mouth annoyed, "I wasn't even-"

"It's playing in the back of your mind like a movie," he responded.

Seth walked off most likely to meet up with Jake while Bella looked at me with a small frown on her face, "So you and Paul..."

I nodded, my brother gave me a look "What? Is that a sour subject for you two?"

"Bella spent the night in the tent keeping warm next to Jacob," Edward scowled.

"That's rough," I commented before snorting, trying to hold in my laughter, I left them to talk following Seth's paw prints where I quickly met up with him and Jake.

He sent me a smirk, "Have fun last night?"

I put my hands up in confusion, "Is it that obvious?"

"A little," he chuckled, "Ready to go kill some bloodsuckers?"

I nodded, "Always. First I'm going to give Bella the necklace Paul got me for safe keeping," I remembered, unclipping the necklace, "Don't want to risk losing it. You comin'?" I asked pointing back to the campsite.

Jake followed me back. It was too late, he heard the end of the conversation before I could stop him.

"Mrs. Cullen," Edward finished.

Bella gave a light sigh, "This is the twenty-first century. I at least want to hyphenate my name."

"You're marrying him?" Jake spat frozen on the spot.

The look of shock on her face was clear, but Edward's face said it all. He knew we were there. Without a word, Jake stomped away, Bella moved to follow him but Edward grabbed her arm.

"Don't!" She yelled ripping her arm free and following him away.

I sighed, "He deserved to know. But not like this."

Edward looked at me sadly, he noticed the necklace in my hand, "Want me to hold onto that for you?" I looked at the necklace and back at my brother, he didn't particularly like Paul so I was a bit apprehensive turning over what was basically a betrothal necklace, he sighed, "Cate I promise I won't let anything happen to it." I slowly put it in his hand, he looked down at it before looking back at me, "You really love him?"

I nodded, "Take care of that for me," I turned and started making my way down the mountain.

Not even a minute into my walk Jacob ran to meet me, "It's starting."

That's when we started running, stripping as doing so. Once we successfully tied our clothes to our ankles we phased, our paws thumping on the rocky terrain as we rushed to join the fight. There was a lot of yelling and growling once we'd arrived. Once we were in it was like all of us were moving as a unit. The Cullens and the Pack, working side by side taking out newborn after newborn.

There must have been dozens. But they weren't expecting us, with the element of surprise on our side I was able to take out a handful before they even realized what was happening. I saw one newborn in the air about to grab Rosalie, that's when I jumped off a pile of rocks and sunk my teeth into his neck and biting down as if he was a breadstick.

Soon everything was a blur, we were all moving in perfect unison. These guys never had a fighting chance. What surprised me the most was Emmett going to Paul's aid when a few newborns were overwhelming him. Emmett started ripping limbs apart giving Paul enough time to take out the newborn on his back. They gave each other a respectful nod before moving on to the next.

Saying it felt good, killing all those newborns, would be an understatement. Killing them was euphoric. The only thing that topped it was the previous night.

"Gross, Cate, that's nasty," I heard Embry gag while he took out another newborn. At this point we were all having a blast.

"Don't be jealous," I joked. Suddenly we could hear Seth, he was fighting. Victoria was there with Riley, "Seth I'm coming!" I yelled trying to find an opening to go back to where I'd left him.

"I'm good! I got this!"

The determination in his voice was persuasive. I could see him handling his own, so I let him be. By then the fight was over, it was quiet. I helped Jasper and Emmett by dragging the bigger body parts into the big fire they were making.

By the time Edward and Bella got back we'd gotten rid of every piece, Alice told us that we were in fact getting a visit from the Volturi. But that it was Jane, one of the younger members who was leading. Which would explain why we hadn't seen them sooner, they weren't acting out on behalf of Aro, Caius, or Markus.

"How long?" Edward asked.

"A few minutes. Maybe ten?" She guessed.

Carlisle looked over at me, "The pack needs to leave. They won't honor a truce with werewolves."

From the corner of my eye I saw a straggler lunge at Leah, "He's mine!" She claimed running in blindly. I growled when I saw it get its arms around her neck.

"No!"

I sprinted and got it off of her, only to have him evade my attack and wrap himself around my midsection. I heard the bones cracking before I realized what happened.

"Cate!" Everyone was yelling for me but then came the bite.

The newborn threw me to the ground and I phased back involuntarily. I started screaming, the pain was too much. I didn't see them kill him but I heard the familiar crunching noise over my screams.

It didn't stop, the pain didn't go away. I could hear people talking to me but everything sounded like I was underwater, all I could make out was, "shattered," and "bitten"

There were more voices, frantic ones. I heard someone crying, "Fix her!"

I opened my eyes, tears streaming down my face, I could see so many people leaning over me; Carlisle, Bella, Edward, Sam, Paul. He looked the worst.

Then everyone left my vision but I screamed louder when I was lifted in the air. They were taking me somewhere. But I blacked out before we got there.

~3rd Person~

The volturi took their sweet ass time, it was past nightfall by the time Carlisle got to Billy's. He was frightened, terrified seeing his daughter in such a terrible state. Her body was going through such an ordeal he was unsure of how to proceed. The venom was likely poisoning her system, slowly killing her. He felt guilty, having to rebreak her bones given they healed incorrectly on their own. The small house erupted in more ear-splitting screams. That was the only noise they could get her to make, for it seemed she was not mentally present during the entire endeavor.

While Carlisle worked on her ribs, the entire pack waited outside respectfully. Jared and Sam had to continuously hold back Paul from going in there. The whole pack was a wreck seeing her that way but Paul had it worse. His eyes were bloodshot from crying so much. Even Leah felt bad, since Cate sacrificed herself to save her. Jacob was gripping his father's wheelchair, his knuckles turned white. No one relished at the sound of her screams and the sound of her bones breaking.

In the middle of the chaos, Bella's truck screeched as she pulled in. Her screams interrupted Bella's greeting. No one said anything, what was there to say? The girl who only ever thought of everyone else, who always put others over herself, was likely dying before their eyes.

"Any updates?" Bella finally asked.

Paul took a menacing step toward her, having to be held back by his brothers, "This is your fault!" He screamed, his voice cracking.

Sam was the only person who could answer her question, no matter how much it hurt him to say, "Doc is scared that the venom is poisoning her. But he says as long as she stays conscious there's hope."

"Why did she butt in I could've-" Leah started.

Paul grabbed his hair roughly to keep from swinging at her, "Shut up Leah!"

That's when they noticed it. She'd stopped screaming. Paul's adam's apple bobbed as he nervously swallowed what little moisture he had in his mouth. When Carlisle emerged from the house he addressed Sam and Billy, "I need to take her home so I can keep an eye on her." They quickly accepted, "I'll call my sons so they can help move her."

Not even five minutes later, Emmett and Jasper arrived. They both walked in and slowly carried her still body into the car. Just before leaving, Carlisle reminds them that he's in uncharted territory but that he's going to do everything he can to save her, "I'll keep you all updated," he promised before they got in the car and drove away, Bella following suit, leaving all of them teary-eyed and praying to god that somehow, someway, Cate would pull through.

When they arrived at the Cullen household, the others watched sadly as their youngest member was carried in. She was so still they feared she was already gone.

"She's alive," Edward told them, "She's in pain. She doesn't know what's going on."

Esme walked over to her daughter, putting her hand on her cheek, "Can she hear us?"

He shook his head, he paused for a second and shook his head stifling a laugh, "Only you," he muttered.

"What?" Emmett asked looking between Edward to his little sister.

Edward couldn't help but give a sad smile, "She's worried about Paul. She's wondering if he's okay," he remembered the necklace, and pulled it out of his pocket. He moves to put it back around her neck but flinches back when his skin come into contact with hers, "Carlisle!" He hissed.

Carlisle approached and put his hand tentatively on her cheek, "She's gone cold."

"But I can still hear her?" Edward wondered aloud.

"Something's wrong. Emmett, Rosalie, go to Carmen and Eleazar, see if they have anything about Cate's tribe. I need anything and everything that can help me figure out how to get the venom out of her system," he ordered. The two of them nodded and left within the blink of an eye.

All anyone else could do was sit and wait. Carlisle had her hooked up to medical machines, keeping track of her heart rate and body temperature. Both steadily continued to drop. An excruciating day later and things took a turn for the worse. It was three in the afternoon exactly, when Edward stopped hearing her thoughts.

With Emmett and Rosalie still gone, they were expecting the worst. Her heartrate was too low, and her skin felt like ice. Alice kept trying to look ahead to determine if Cate would make it, but she only gave herself a migraine.

Bella felt nothing but guilt watching Cate's motionless body. She was fighting to protect her. If it wasn't for her then she wouldn't be laying on a slab in the middle of Carlisle's study like a corpse. Bella fought back the tears thinking about how she was going to tell the pack if she died. How would they react? How would Paul react? Bella didn't know what happened to a wolf if their imprint dies, and she hated that she was going to find out.

None of the pack came to visit, but Billy called almost every hour asking if she'd gotten better. Carlisle kept them up to date and reminded them they're welcome to come see her.

"Thank you," Billy always said, "But it would be too hard for any of us to see her that way," then he would hang up.

~

It was the third day when Emmett and Rosalie got back from Alaska. They recounted the ruins that were once the Yuit tribe's land. By now everything was destroyed, the bodies were gone and buried. The land was deserted, but they did find one scroll. It looked ancient by the markings on the parchment but thankfully Carlisle was able to understand some of the words.

"Sleeper-wolves. The protectors undergo a transformation if bitten by a cold-one. Many of the protectors chose to die before the transformation was complete," he read aloud.

Emmett looked confused, "What does that mean? That she might decide to die?"

"What happens when the transformation is complete?" Jasper asks.

Carlisle sighed, "It doesn't say. Looks like the elders made that a secret that they only divulge by word of mouth. To keep from others finding out."

"Well that's helpful," Rosalie muttered.

"Well maybe she-" Edward froze when they heard it.

The still tone of a flat line.