Jamie was snapped out of her staring by a couple loud growls. The boy blinked before he let go of her backpack strap, letting it fall on the bed by her good leg. He stepped back and glanced nervously at Sam. Jamie did the same.

Sam was glaring at him, his fists clenched at his sides, but Embry had full on stood up, his whole body shaking as he glared down at the boy.

"Sam…Embry, I-I didn't mean…" he trailed off, looking back at Jamie with a scared expression. Jamie had no idea what her face looked like. She didn't even know what happened. What was that weird shift? And what was with that little staring contest. She had just gotten completely lost in his beautiful brown eyes. Wait, what?! 'No, don't think that.' she scolded herself as she looked down at her lap, knowing her facing was blushing a bit darker.

"Embry, Brady, lets step out for a few moments." Sam suggested sternly. Well, it sounded more like a command, and the two boys walked stiffly out of the room with Sam following behind.

Collin burst out laughing and Jamie looked at him in disbelief. He immediately sobered up and smirked down at her.

"Um, they'll be fine. This just might be a while." he answered.

"What happened?" she whispered quietly, not sure what to make of everything.

Collin thought for a moment before he shrugged. "Their taking on their roll as overprotective brothers?" he suggested jokingly. Jamie tried not to, but she couldn't help smirking at him. He didn't seem so bad.

XXX

Sam stalked down the stairs of the Cullen home behind Embry and Brady. When they passed through the sitting room everyone turned to look at them. Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie were sitting on one of the sofas. The other Cullens must be out hunting, except Bella and Edward, who were away visiting family or something. Jake and Leah were sitting on the two arm chairs, and Kori and Seth were sitting on the floor with Nessie.

"What's going on?" Seth asked worriedly as they passed.

"Brady imprinted." Sam growled. He couldn't help it. He barely knew this girl, but she was his sister. And now she was going to be dragged into the supernatural, and they didn't even know if she planned on sticking around.

Everyone's jaws dropped, but the trio continued on outside. Jake got up to hurry after them, probably so Embry could understand what was being said. Sometimes not being able to hear the other pack could be a pain.

The second they were outside Embry burst into a wolf, quickly followed by Brady, Sam, and finally Jake.

"Guys, I'm so sorry, okay? You know we don't have control over it." Brady pleaded, crouching down on the ground as he looked up at his Alpha and friend.

"She doesn't even know anything about the legends! How do you think she's going to take it?! And we don't even know if she's sticking around!" Embry shouted, using Jake and Sam's connection for everyone to hear him. Brady whimpered when he said she might be leaving.

"Maybe we can convince her to stay?" Jake suggested gently. "Maybe if you guys take time to get to know her she'll want to stick around. From what I heard earlier, she doesn't seem to have any living family besides her step dad. And she doesn't seem in a hurry to go back to him."

Brady perked up slightly. "Why do you think that is?"

Sam shrugged his large, muscular shoulders. "I guess the only way to know is if she tells us."

"And that means we have to gain her trust." Embry added, having calmed down a bit.

"So…can I go back in now?" Brady asked anxiously, wanting to get back to his imprint.

Sam sighed. "Alright fine. But don't mention anything about the legends, vampires, wolves, any of it. We want to gain her trust, not chase her away. If she left she could probably get pretty far. She proved that with having run all the way here from Port Townsend."

"She ran that far?" Jake asked in surprise and awe. "Dang. Impressive."

"I know, right." Embry agreed. "It's the genetics, obviously."

Jake snorted. "Right." he agreed sarcastically.

The four wolves phased back and pulled on their clothes before heading back inside. Brady lead the way up to the room Jamie was staying in. He knocked before entering the room.

Jamie was eating the food on her lap and talking with Collin, who was sitting in the chair Embry had abandoned. Brady nodded a greeting to his best friend before approaching the girl in the bed.

"Um, hey. Uh, I'm Brady." he said nervously, holding out his hand.

Jamie felt her face heat up and smiled nervously at him as she slowly took his hand. "I'm Jamie." she whispered.

"Sorry about earlier. Complicated guy stuff." he glanced over his shoulder before leaning a little closer to her. "Embry was being a pansy." he whispered, mocking seriousness. Embry came up behind him and smacked him on the back of the head, making Brady wince. Jamie covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. Brady smirked at her, secretly loving the sound of her laugh.

XXX

"This is a really good one."

"Really?" Jamie asked doubtfully as she picked up the sketchpad to get a closer look.

Her and Brady were sitting on her bed, looking through her sketchbook that was in her backpack. She had been staying at the Cullens' for almost a week and had met a lot of new people. She met most of the Cullens as well as a lot of her brothers' friends. Out of everyone she had become pretty good friends with Brady, Collin, Seth, and Kori. She had also been getting much closer to her brothers.

"Yeah, where'd you learn to draw like this?" Brady asked admiringly.

She shrugged. "Well, I took a lot of art classes as a kid, but I stopped when I was about eight. But we also had art classes at school that I took."

"Why'd you stop when you were eight?"

Jamie pursed her lips as she absentmindedly turned the page to the next drawing. "Well,…my mom died and my step dad didn't want to pay for that kind of thing." he was too busy buying alcohol and stuff, but she didn't say that out loud.

"Oh. That stinks." Brady sympathized as he continued looking through her drawings.

"Yeah." she sighed absently.

There was a brief moment of silence before the door opened, and in walked Carlisle, Sam, and Embry.

"Jamie, how are you feeling?" Carlisle asked kindly.

Jamie shrugged. "A little stiff, but that's nothing new." she answered honestly.

Carlisle nodded with a warm smile.

"Well, you'll be good to leave in a few days, however, you're still going to need to take it easy. And you can't really do that on the go."

Jamie looked down at her lap, making it look like she was looking through her sketchpad.

"So, you really only have three options." Carlisle continued.

She looked up at him nervously. "And what's that?"

"You're first option is that I call your step dad and have him come pick you up."

Jamie winced and Brady grabbed her hand. She looked up to see him looking at her worriedly. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand, silently showing him she appreciated the support. She hadn't told anyone, including Brady, why she didn't want to go back to her step dad's, but Brady knew how much she dreaded the idea of going back.

"You're second option is that you could stay here with us."

She looked up in surprise. "Really?"

Carlisle nodded with a smile. "Yes. We have a couple extra bedrooms that you're welcome to, so you don't have to feel like you're in a hospital."

Jamie looked down again. "I've already stayed here for over a week. I don't want to overstay my welcome."

"You wouldn't be, I promise."

"Still…" Jamie wasn't sure she wanted to stay here much longer. Despite being extremely nice, something about the Cullens made her nervous.

"There's still your third option." Carlisle reminded her. She looked up at him again. "Sam and his fiancé, Emily, have offered for you to come and stay with them."

Jamie looked up at Sam in shock. She'd heard A LOT about his fiancé Emily, both from him and many of the other guys. She was highly praised on her cooking skills, her beauty, and her kindness.

"I-I don't want to put you out. Emily already has to feed all the guys, I don't want to cause any trouble or anything."

Sam smiled at her. "It was my idea, but Emily really wants to meet you. She's been going on and on about it. We'd love to have you live with us. We have a couple spare bedrooms that are just sitting there. You're more than welcome to one."

"Plus, whatever you eat would barely be a quarter of what one of us eats. You'll be fine." Embry assured her with a smile.

"Well…" Jamie trailed off as she thought over the pros and cons.

She'd get the chance to get to know her brothers better, and get to know Emily, too. Brady also mentioned he goes over there a lot, so she'd get to hang out with him a lot, too.

But what if Rick found out? He'd be furious. What if he tried to hurt them just to hurt her?

Maybe she could just stay there until she was better, then she could leave.

"Okay." she finally answered, "I'd like that. Thanks, Sam."

Sam smiled warmly at her before moving around the bed and hugging her gently.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, about ten o'clock. Okay?"

"Okay." she answered as she smiled up at him.

The three men walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. It was at that moment that Jamie realized Brady was watching her.

She turned and met his eyes. He was smiling at her.

"What?" she asked with a laugh, feeling a little self-conscious.

He shrugged as he looked back down at her sketchbook. "Nothing."

"Whaaat?" she asked loudly, poking him in the cheek. He laughed and leaned out of her reach.

"Just thinking." he answered with another smile in her direction.

"About?" she urged.

His eyes scanned her face, making her feel self-conscious again.

"I'm just glad you're sticking around." he finally answered.

Jamie felt tears prick her eyes as she stared at her feet. Yeah, she was staying, but for how long? How long could she risk staying in one spot without putting everyone in danger?

She felt a warm, calloused finger under her chin, tilting her face up. Brady became worried when he saw tears welling up in her eyes.

"I didn't mean to upset you." he spoke quietly, not sure what he'd said or done that was wrong.

Jamie pulled her chin out of his grip and wiped her face clear of any tears that might have fallen. "No, no you didn't do anything wrong. I'm being stupid."

Brady put his finger back under her chin and pulled her back to face him. "You're not stupid."

She looked up at him from under her eyelashes. "Thanks." she murmured quietly, forcing a small smile on her face.

Brady smiled back before he picked up her sketchpad and looked at one of the drawings. It was a sketch of a person from her drawing class. As an assignment, they had to draw someone.

"I wish I could draw like this."

Jamie blushed and took the pad from him. "If you want, I could draw you sometime."

Brady perked up, a huge, heart-stopping grin splitting his face. "Really?"

Jamie nodded. "Yeah."

"I'd like that." he admitted quietly.

Jamie smiled at him. Maybe sticking around here would be good for her.