Chapter 4

Embry could not sleep. In fact he had hardly slept at all since he imprinted on Leah seven days earlier. He could feel the pull to go to her and the only thoughts running through his head all night were, Where is Leah right now?, What is Leah doing right now?, and God what I would give to just see her right now. These thoughts ran around in his head again and again as he laid on his bed, in his dark bedroom, while staring out the window at the night sky.

He thought a lot about the day on the beach. When Leah had informed him that she had not phased in about three years or so, he knew this had to do with why he had only recently imprinted on her. When he touched her foot while they were talking that day, her normal human skin temperature confirmed things even further. Leah was "unfrozen". She was just like any other woman again and this allowed Embry to truly see her for everything she is.

It was at 6:45 am that Embry decided to just get out of bed. He reached over and made sure to turn off his alarm. Normally Embry would never get up 15 minutes before his alarm, but this last week was obviously different.

He went into the kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal. When he sat down, however, he found that he had no appetite. He stared at his cereal without really seeing it.

"Hey, bro." Came Jacob's tired voice from the doorway. "You're up early again?"

"Oh, yeah. Just can't sleep." Embry mumbled and leaned back into his chair.

Jacob stared at him a moment. A look of concern crossed his face. "You're still not eating too? Are you okay?"

Embry thought about his question for a moment. He debated on telling Jacob the truth, but knew that he wasn't ready to tell yet. Suddenly, another idea came to mind.

"Actually, I am feeling kinda sick." Embry lied as he stood and dumped his bowl in the sink. "I think maybe I'll skip work today. Think you guys can handle a day without me?"

Jacob snorted and clapped his friend on the back. "I think we'll be just fine, dude. You better be there tomorrow though."

Embry grinned and walked back into his room. Shutting his bedroom door behind him, he switched on his computer. His goal was Facebook. He hoped that a clue about Leah's plans for today would be on her page. It didn't take long for him to find the page. He smiled wide when he saw her last post. It read:

Leah Clearwater

Yoga in the morning, but what about the rest of the day? I guess I'll have to wait and see. Maybe I will relax with a couple movies.

Embry shut off his computer again. He was going to go over to her house today. Now all he needed was a reason to show up. He had no intention on telling her the truth yet either. He wanted to get to know her better first and vice-versa. He needed to be her friend first. Embry went out to the living room and laid on the couch. He needed to at least look sick so Jacob wouldn't get suspicious.

About an hour later Jacob came emerged from his bedroom fully dressed for work. He eyed Embry for a moment.

"You know Sam won't be happy about you missing patrols again, right?"

Embry rolled his eyes and groaned before replying, "I don't really care. Besides, it's not mandatory right now, right?"

"No, but-"

"Then I don't know why Sam is flipping his lid about it. Alice Cullen will warn us if she sees something coming."

Jacob rolled his eyes and opened the door to leave. Just before exiting he said, "Fine, but let's see if you're this brave when Sam comes looking for you later."

Embry pouted and squinted his eyes at the front door. Unfortunately, Jacob was right. Sam would come looking for him and Embry didn't want to be around when he did.

Well, I guess hiding out at Leah's is a better reason to go over there than no reason at all, Embry thought.

…..

Embry pulled into the driveway of the Clearwater home at about 12:05 that afternoon. He practiced in his head what he was going to say all morning and during his drive here. He was going to give her half the truth. He was, in fact, hiding from Sam. The reason for this, however, he will not make too clear. He was just going to be himself and hoped that Leah would be relaxed and understanding enough to let him hang out with her.

On the walk up to the front door, Embry once again for the hundredth time that day felt a sharp pull at his insides. Yeah I know, I know, He thought to himself. The pull to his imprint had been an ongoing thing since the day the imprinting happened. Only when he was near her was when the feeling eased up. That's how he found her at her mother's diner a couple nights ago. He simply followed his gut feeling and there she was.

Embry knocked on the front door and waited. Seconds later she answered. He allowed his eyes to give her body a quick once over. She looked totally hot in a pair of very short running shorts and a loose fitting, long sleeve v-neck shirt.

"Well, well," Embry said teasingly as he leaned against the door frame. "Hello there short-shorts."

Leah's beautiful face was fixed in a confused and slightly annoyed look. "W-what are you doing here, Call?"

"Look, I need a place to hide out for a couple hours." He explained in a more serious tone. "Sam's been looking for me because I've been skipping patrols and I really don't feel like dealing with him today."

Leah squinted her eyes at him for a moment before stepping aside to let him in. Embry celebrated this little accomplishment in his head as he walked into the living room. He turned and saw that she still seemed confused by his presence.

"As much as I understand not wanting to deal with Sam's bossiness, I don't understand why you aren't doing patrols. I thought you loved the whole wolf thing." She said and crossed her arms over her chest.

Embry gave her his famous crooked smile before answering, "I do love the whole wolf thing, but patrols get really boring. I'm just tired of it for now and Sam doesn't seem to understand that."

"Oh." Leah answered as she dropped her arms and she no longer looked confused. "Well, I can understand that."

"Thanks, Short-Shorts." Embry teased again as he plopped down on the couch. "So what are we watching?"

He heard Leah sigh and walk towards the kitchen. He turned his head so he could watch her from where he sat.

"I'm watching Avatar." She answered as she opened a cabinet and reached for something.

As she reached, Embry saw a slice of her flat stomach which made him bite his lip. Those shorts alone were about to drive him crazy, but seeing that nearly made him go over and touch her. He clutched the sofa cousin to remain seated as she walked back into the living room. She set a box of cheez-its on the coffee table and sat on the opposite end of the sofa.

"Have some food." She said as she grabbed the remote and pressed play.

For the first time in days, Embry actually felt hungry. He grabbed the Cheez-it box and opened it. He realized that his anxiety was completely gone now that she was next to him.

Hmm, he thought as he started eating, I'm going to have to start forcing myself to eat if this is the way it's going to be. This feels so great!