I waved eagerly, and watched her face as she took in the three werewolves leaning over me. Her eyes narrowed.

"Go show them who's boss, Shorty," Emmett chuckled.

But, before that reaction, her face was full of stress and fear. I bit my lip as she skipped to my side.

Jacob, Quil, and Embry all leaned away from her with uneasy expressions. She put her arm around my waist.

Emmett seemed to find this funny.

"Don't antagonize them, Alice," Edward said.

"I'm not," Alice said, it would be obvious if she was really antagonizing them.

"I need to talk to you," she murmured into my ear.

"Er, Jake, I'll see you later . . . ," I mumbled as we eased around them.

Jacob threw his long arm out to block our way, bracing his hand against the wall. "Hey, not so fast."

"But I might have a hard time controlling myself if he antagonizes me," Alice narrowed her eyes.

Alice stared up at him, eyes wide and incredulous. "Excuse me?"

"Tell us what's going on," he demanded in a growl.

Jasper appeared quite literally out of nowhere. One second it was just Alice and me against the wall, Jacob blocking our exit, and then Jasper was standing on the other side of Jake's arm, his expression terrifying.

"Oh, dear…this doesn't look good," Esme fretted, though she wouldn't expect any other reaction from Jasper.

Jacob slowly pulled his arm back. It seemed like the best move, going with the assumption that he wanted to keep that arm.

"You know, I don't need you to do that," Alice said to him.

"I know," Jasper smiled at her.

"But I'm glad you came," Alice added. "His face must have been quite amusing."

"We have a right to know," Jacob muttered, still glaring at Alice.

Jasper stepped in between them, and the three werewolves braced themselves.

"Hey, hey," I said, adding a slightly hysterical chuckle. "This is a party, remember?"

Nobody paid any attention to me. Jacob glared at Alice while Jasper glowered at Jacob.

Alice's face was suddenly thoughtful.

"It's okay, Jasper. He actually has a point."

Jasper did not relax his position.

"Which I would never have expected him to," Alice said, shaking her head.

I was sure the suspense was going to make my head explode in about one second. "What did you see, Alice?"

She stared at Jacob for one second, and then turned to me, evidently having chosen to let them hear.

"The decision's been made."

"You're going to Seattle?"

"No."

"Damn," Edward hissed, "they're coming here."

"That's what I was thinking," Jasper said, though he didn't seem to think that was such a bad idea.

"I know," Edward glared at him. "You think it would be better to face them here... but still..."

"They would be too close to Bella," Jasper said to him, a little amused.

"Argh," Edward groaned.

I felt the color drain out of my face. My stomach lurched. "They're coming here," I choked out.

The Quileute boys watched silently, reading every unconscious play of emotion on our faces.

They were rooted in place, and yet not completely still. All three pairs of hands were trembling.

"Yes."

"To Forks," I whispered.

"Yes."

"For?"

She nodded, understanding my question. "One carried your red shirt."

Edward growled at that, and everyone looked angry.

I tried to swallow.

Jasper's expression was disapproving. I could tell he didn't like discussing this in front of the werewolves, but he had something he needed to say. "We can't let them come that far. There aren't enough of us to protect the town."

"Obviously not…it would be best if we lead them into a clearing," Jasper said, disappointed.

"Jazz, you've only known about this for a few minutes," Alice smiled at him, "not thinking about it for the last hour or so to determine the best way of handling this."

"Oh, right," Jasper smiled back at her sheepishly.

"I know," Alice said, her face suddenly desolate. "But it doesn't matter where we stop them. There still won't be enough of us, and some of them will come here to search."

Everyone shuddered at that.

"Don't worry," Carlisle said. "The wolves will help us."

"No!" I whispered.

The noise of the party overwhelmed the sound of my denial. All around us, my friends and neighbors and petty enemies ate and laughed and swayed to the music, oblivious to the fact that they were about to face horror, danger, maybe death. Because of me.

"It's not because of you," Edward said, his look was guilty.

"It's not your fault either," Carlisle and Esme both said at the same time.

"Alice," I mouthed her name. "I have to go. I have to get away from here."

"That won't help. It's not like we're dealing with a tracker. They'll still come looking here first."

"Still, she can't be here for this," Edward said.

"Then I have to go to meet them!" If my voice hadn't been so hoarse and strained, it might have been a shriek. "If they find what they're looking for, maybe they'll go away and not hurt anyone else!"

"NO!" Edward shouted.

"You know we would never let her do that," Alice said.

"I know," Edward said.

"She just wants to protect all of those people," Esme smiled sadly.

"It's an admirable characteristic," Carlisle smiled the same way, "but we couldn't let her get hurt any more than any of the others."

"Bella!" Alice protested.

"Hold it," Jacob ordered in a low, forceful voice. "What is coming?"

Alice turned her icy gaze on him. "Our kind. Lots of them."

"Why?"

"For Bella. That's all we know."

"There are too many for you?" he asked.

Jasper bridled. "We have a few advantages, dog. It will be an even fight."

"No," Jacob said, and a strange, fierce half-smile spread across his face. "It won't be even."

"So, it's the pup that brings it up," Emmett said. "That makes sense"

"Excellent!" Alice hissed.