Chapter 1

Jacob was still running. It felt as if he had been running for weeks, and he probably had. He was panting and sweating, his fur holding in all the heat the sun threw down at him. He could hear the other werewolves’ thoughts ricocheting around his head, calling to him, asking why he had run away, trying to convince him to come back to Forks, but he ignored them all. He continued to weave in between trees and jump rocks and streams, sticking to the shade for the most part to avoid the steaming sun.

‘Where am I?’ he wondered. 'I've got to be further south than I planned, or else it wouldn't be this hot.' He slowed down to a light trot, taking deep breaths to slow his rapid heartbeat. Finally he sat down and curled up, ready for a nice long nap. Then a horn blared nearby, and he jumped to his feet, hackles raised and teeth bared.

‘What am I doing?’ he thought. 'It's just a car. There must be a road close by. I shouldn't let anyone see me like this.' He calmed himself down enough so that a large shiver ran through his body, the hair retracted and he shrunk down to a fifth of his size. Soon, he was back to his human self: muscled, tan, extremely tall, shaggy black hair, and black eyes. He pulled his jeans from the string tying them to his leg and pulled them on. He had no shirt or shoes. They were too difficult to carry with him as a wolf, and he couldn't afford to keep buying more. Especially now, seeing as he had no money whatsoever.

Jacob sighed and sat down, putting his head in his hands and massaging his temples. ‘Why the hell did I come here?’ he asked himself, both furious and on the brink of depression. ‘Oh, Jacob, don’t even try to kid yourself, you know exactly why you came here. To get away from Bella, and the bloodsucker. You love her, you know you do, and she admits that she loves you too. But she also said that she loves Edward Cullen more, and you can’t deal with that kind of rejection. But this wasn’t the right way to try and cope, was it? Just running away? How stupid was that! You don’t even know where you are.