Thanks for the reviews so far. I love hearing what you think.

A couple reminders, this takes place after my other story Power of an Imprint so there are a couple spoilers for that story in this chapter…nothing major. Also, someone asked about Embry's mother knowing that he imprinted on Abby. In the Twilight stories his mom doesn't know and he decides not to tell her. So as far as we know, Embry's mom doesn't know a thing about the wolves.

Someone mentioned Vanessa and how she sounds like a stinker. She totally is, but in a good way. She is loosely based on my 4-yr old daughter. When she's not thinking, she pronounces her "th" sound as a "d" sound too, therefore fedders = feathers. There are a few more speech things we need to work on before Kindergarten, so Vanessa may sound like my daughter because of it.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4.

Our wolf pack has become the most recent popular legend in North America. People have heard about the multiple sightings of gigantic wolves throughout the country. Some people think we're bears because of our size. Many people think we're dangerous when little do they know we are protecting them from blood sucking vampires. Forget about Big Foot or the chupacabra, the Olympic Wolves have reached the top of the paranormal hierarchy!

We've been spotted several times by campers and tourists who have visited the area to catch a glimpse of us. We haven't had the need to travel in packs more than two or three lately, so the sightings haven't been too frequent. There have been enough sightings to pique the interest of several paranormal television shows.

Many of the Quileute people have been interviewed. The news programs have zeroed in on our community because of our legends and figured out that if there really are gigantic wolves, then we may know a little bit about them. Sam Uley has even been interviewed, which was quite funny to watch. The Alpha of our pack made up lies and denied everything, trying to keep our secret safe.

It just so happened that the SciFi channel was sending out a group to camp in the woods this weekend for one of their television shows. Sam asked us not to phase unless absolutely necessary or if it was our turn to patrol. So much for visiting Abby in my wolf form.

Even though I had a short visit with Abby that morning, I still had the longing for my evening peeping- Tom visit. Since I wasn't allowed to phase and it wasn't my night to patrol, I couldn't easily go all the way to Forks without being noticed. I decided to go to visit my other favorite girls, Tala and Vanessa.

As I approached the house I could smell something wonderful coming from the kitchen.

"Smells like I'm just in time for dinner!" I said as I walked through the front door of Seth and Tala's home.

"Hey Em! Yep, you timed it just right. The oven timer just went off." Tala winked at me as she pulled out the pan. "Chicken and dumplings," she said.

"You don't mind, do you?" I was unnecessarily asking permission to invite myself over.

"You know you're always invited," she shooed of my question. "What's up?"

"Since I'm not allowed to phase, I can't be all stalkerish tonight," I admitted.

"I totally understand why you do it, but you know that's creepy, right?" Tala honestly said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm over it. I don't watch her dress or anything. Now that might be stepping over the lines."

Tala laughed, "Yes! Yes it would. Pervert."

Tala was right, I was a pervert, but not when it came to Abigail. I didn't think of her in that way. Sure, I wanted to kiss her and hold her and feel her warmth next to mine, but I didn't get the usual fantasies I have had about other women. Abigail was different.

"Uncle Embry!" Vanessa ran down the hallway once she spotted me. She threw herself at me squeezing my neck. She was wearing her pink feather boa.

"V-Bee, how was your day?" I asked as I picked a pink feather out of my mouth.

"Good. You saw Miss Abby today," Vanessa said as she climbed into her seat at the dinner table. Tala gave me a smile as she placed food on the table.

"How do you know?" I asked Vanessa.

"She told me," Vanessa shrugged a reply like it was no big deal.

"Did she say anything else?" I knew I wouldn't get too much information from a four-year-old, but I thought I would try.

"No." Bummer.

"Maybe I misinterpreted, but she did seem a little disappointed that I was picking up Vanessa. She kind of had that hopeful look in her eye when Vanessa went running for the door. Once she saw it was me, her face fell a little." Tala piped in.

Really? I could feel my face beam.

I absentmindedly grabbed for the rolls, but the basket slid away from me quickly. Shocked from the sudden movement, I looked up at Tala and she smirked at me. Tala had moved them, but not with her hands.

"Not yet!"

"Sorry Lord Vader" I chuckled. Tala was telekinetic. She discovered after a car accident she could move things with her mind. It happened to be the same day Seth imprinted on her. It came in very handy for her, especially when she was pregnant and huge and couldn't easily get things for herself. Her powers also got her into trouble when members of the Volturi guard, the royalty of the vampires, tried to turn her into a vampire, enhancing her powers, and take her home to their master. The wolves, along with a little help from a half-vampire, half-human, Renesmee Cullen, put a stop to that.

Seth had made his way home from patrol half way through dinner. As soon as Vanessa was excused from the table Tala started in on her favorite subject of late, Abigail and me, while Seth added his two cents.

"You know damn well that she has some sort of feelings for you. Well, maybe not exactly the same, but she's an imprint. There's something there. It's just gonna take time." Tala said.

"That's probably gotta suck for her. If she does have those feelings and then also still loves her husband…how confusing!" I sighed in frustration.

"I'm going to become her friend," Tala said like she just had a crazy idea.

"What do you mean?" Seth gave her a curious look.

"She is officially a wolf-girl now, but she just doesn't know it. I'm going to try to become one of her close friends. Start volunteering more at the daycare, inviting her out for coffee or to hang out with the other girls…you know, become her friend."

"She needs friends. The poor girl just sits home every night alone," I said sadly.

"Then it's settled. I'm pushing myself on the poor girl. I'll get some information from her. I'll keep Embry fresh in her head as much as possible."

"You're trouble," Seth teased Tala as he pulled her into a hug. I wanted that with Abby.

"Oh, by the way, I'm inviting myself along to that Family Fair thing at the school," I said.

"It's for the public, Embry. Everyone is invited," Tala grinned.

"Whatever…I'm going 'cause Abby is going to be there."

"Maybe you could help her with the dunk tank. That's the booth the Pre-K is running," Tala informed me.

"Ok, that's what I'll do. I'll ask her if she needs help."

"I'll ask her tomorrow morning," Tala volunteered.

"I'm so gonna be there to dunk you man!" Seth was enthusiastic. "You're going down."

********

The stupid piece of shit Escort was finally fixed. Well, as fixed as it would ever be. Once again I asked if someone else could call Craig. Collin gave him a call and he informed me that Abby would be picking up the car after work. The shop closed at 5:00 p.m. Abby didn't get out of work until 6:00 p.m. Collin told Craig that the late hour would not be a problem. He knew I, personally, would keep the shop open to wait for her. He didn't even need to ask me.

I was overly excited for Abby's arrival. After everyone else left for the night I started to clean things up especially in the office where Abby and I would be settling the paperwork. I'm not sure why I was so worried about the cleanliness of a mechanic shop. She won't care! I kept yelling to myself when I caught myself cleaning up a grease spot on the floor. I stopped cleaning and decided to focus on my own cleanliness. I scrubbed my hands and changed my shirt. I checked myself in the mirror to smooth my hair and wipe any grime from my face.

Right at six o'clock I stopped what I was doing and looked out the window down the road. Abby would be walking to the shop soon. It was a twenty minute walk from the daycare to the shop, for a normal human. I quickly thought about going to pick her up, but decided against it. Too much. Too pushy.

The sun was setting making it darker outside. I made sure I left the outside lights on for her, but kept the door unlocked. Finally I saw her tiny figure walking towards me. Although she was only a silhouette, I could tell it was her from her walk and her curves.

Rushing into the office, I sat down and waited for Abigail to enter. The door bell clanged from its hanger when she walked in. I casually looked up with a smile to greet her. I could hear her heartbeat quicken.

"Hi," she said shyly. "Sorry I made you stay here after hours." I wasn't sorry.

"No problem at all," I tried to shoo away her concerns. "I had some things to take care of anyway. Come in, have a seat."

Abigail sat down on one of the two chairs in front of the main desk. I grabbed the paperwork that she needed to sign and circled the desk to sit down next to her. I tried to not invade her personal space, but with my size and the room being small, it was hard to do. Abigail's heartbeat quickened again. I looked up to her face to make sure I wasn't scaring her from being so close. She was looking down at the paperwork with a small smile on her face. It looked and sounded like she was trying to control her breathing. The electrical charge around us was very strong. It took all my strength not to wrap her arms around her and pull her to my chest.

I cleared my throat. "Ok," my voice was a little too unstable. I cleared my throat again to try to regain my composure. I went over the repairs I made on the car and showed her where she needed to sign. Then we got up from the desk and made our way out to the Escort where I popped the hood to inform her of what she needed to look and listen for. She listened intently and asked great questions, but she made little eye contact with me. Probably because when she did her heartbeat would accelerate and she had trouble speaking.

How easy would it be to casually ask her out to dinner right now? How easy would it be to mercilessly flirt with her and put on my charm? I could tell by her body's reaction to me that she would give in so easily. The universe sucked, so I couldn't. Instead, I ignored the urge.

"I was thinking," I started, "I should probably follow you home." Abby's head popped up and looked me in the eyes. "I'm not too certain about that transmission and I want to make sure you make it home safely."

"I'm sure you did a fine job. I couldn't ask you to do that," Abby replied. "That's out of your way. Don't you live here?" Be more convincing Embry!

"My friend's stepdad is Chief Swan. A bunch of us are going over there for dinner," I tried to cover quickly although I didn't like making up a lie. "It will be on my way."

Abby gave me a big smile and agreed. After I opened the door for her and helped her into the Escort, I rushed to my car to make the drive to her house. I was going to have a couple more minutes with my Abigail.

Abigail pulled into her driveway and I parked my car behind hers in the wide driveway. I quickly got out and was at her car door before she could open it herself. She let out a small yelp when I opened the door for her.

"You scared me," she said breathlessly as she clenched her chest.

"Sorry," I mumbled. "How did it drive for you? I saw that it shifted a little hard into third."

"It was fine. That's how it shifted before." Abby made her way out of the car and leaned up against the car. I stayed in my position holding the door. "Thanks for following me home. That was very sweet of you."

Abby looked up at me and seemed to be inching towards me. The gravitational pull we had between us was trying to force us together. Abby's heart was racing again. I cleared my throat and that seemed to snap her out of her trance. She noticed what she was doing and quickly backed away. I pretended not to notice.

"Tala was telling me that you may need help with the dunk booth at the fair. I could help out if you needed it," I offered. The change of subject seemed to help the tension.

"Yes, Tala mentioned something to me about it this morning. She said you wouldn't mind. No one wants to volunteer because the water can get pretty cold sitting outside all day," she replied.

"I can handle it," I laughed. I noticed headlights coming down the road and quickly backed away from Abby. The purr of the Corvette told me it was Craig. On all the nights he decides to come home at a decent time, it was when I wanted, needed, to visit with Abby.

Once I backed away, Abby's head turned and caught a glimpse of the car approaching the drive way. She quickly shut the car door and headed towards her house.

"I'll contact you about the fair. Thanks for everything Embry." Then she was in her house and I was separated from her again. I didn't like how she looked so anxious.

I didn't even have time to respond when Craig was out of his car approaching me very quickly. I tried to put on a friendly face to this man I despised. I didn't need to cause any more tension between Abby and her husband.

"Who are you?!" he asked loudly. "What are you doing here?" He had his chest all puffed out trying to intimidate me. Me. I towered over him as I did every other normal human. I tried to keep my cool and be polite.

"I'm Embry. I fixed the Escort," I tried to explain as I stuck out my hand out for a shake. "I spoke with you when you brought the car in." He seemed to calm down a little but kept questioning me. He didn't shake my hand either, which was fine by me.

"What are you doing here?" He sneered.

"I followed your wife to make sure the car was driving alright for her," I explained. "I was driving this way anyway." If he knew anything about cars my excuse may be hard to pull off.

"Wouldn't you guys test it before calling me?"

"Everyone drives differently…" I trailed off. "It seemed to drive just fine. Give us a call if you have any problems." I decided to get out of there before he became suspicious of my intentions.

Craig just grunted in reply and headed towards the house.

I really wanted to stay to make sure Abby was going to be fine. I couldn't just wait around for no reason. I couldn't phase and leave my car parked somewhere. I didn't hear any signs of hostility from the house so I decided to go home. I wasn't allowed to phase anyway per Sam's orders. And I wasn't on patrol that evening.

Abby was going to be fine. She had to be.

*******

Through Tala, I received the information I needed to man the dunk tank at the fair. I was disappointed Abby didn't call me herself. Since I was the only person to volunteer, I had a three hour shift on the dunk tank. I didn't mind because I would be working the booth with Abby. She would be taking the tickets.

It was the afternoon of the fair and I hadn't been able to see Abby in two days. I tried hanging out at the store during lunch time, but she never came in. I ended up visiting with my mom and dodging any questions that came up about Abby. I couldn't tell her anything. It would be much easier if I could. As far as I know, she was still unaware of the wolf pack. If she did know anything, she never let on.

The fair started at 5:00 p.m. I was asked to be at the school fifteen minutes early, but I arrived by 4:30. I was too eager to see Abigail. Once I arrived at the school's parking lot I noticed several people scurrying around getting ready for the festivities. There were so many booths in the tight space and I had no idea where the dunk tank was. I decided to track Abby down by following her scent. After I caught the vanilla and cinnamon aroma I found Abby in the corner of the lot decorating the booth. She didn't see me approach.

"Embry Call at your service," I said as I tried to bow gracefully next to her. Once again, I startled her. Abby was a very skittish person.

"Embry, Hi," she said with her hand to her chest. "Man, I never hear you. You're so quiet!"

"Sorry," I said sheepishly.

"And, you're early," Abby continued. "Not that I'm complaining." She mumbled. My eye brows shot up at her comment and I gave her a big smile. She tried to recover, "I mean I could use help with set up." She returned my smile and slightly shook her head in embarrassment.

"Ok, just tell me what to do," I told her. She instantly had me hanging the signs and moving the tables to where she needed them. The dunk tank was already filled up so all I needed to do was climb up on the bench where I would be perched just to make sure it would hold my weight.

We worked well together. Our conversation was light and easy. I tried my hardest not to flirt with her too much to avoid any awkwardness. There was a little tension between us because of our connection, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. The tension may have been from my occasional stopping to take a glimpse of her. Of course there were the few instances where our hands would brush up against each other or we would accidentally bump into each other in the small space and then the sparks would fly. But, I noticed there was something a little off with Abby. I observed her enough to know that something was not quite right. But then again, it could be my close proximity. I seemed to make her jumpy and her heartbeat quicken.

When it was time for festivities to begin I pulled off my shirt and tossed it at Abby on my way up the ladder. As I was making my way up the ladder, I asked her how many throws each person had per turn. She didn't answer. I glanced over towards her and I caught her eyeballing me. Her eyes were scanning my body and her jaw was slack. She was still holding my t-shirt close to her chest.

"See something you like?" I couldn't help teasing her.

Abby's eyes flew up to look at me and a flush crept up her neck towards her cheeks.

"No! Yes!" she stuttered. "I mean…uh…I'll just put your shirt under here."

"Alright, who's the first to try to dunk me?!" I hollered at no one in particular.

"You're gonna freeze!" Abby hollered back.

"Nah! Only if someone hits that target." I replied.

From my perch and my superior vision, I could see everyone who arrived. I had fun taunting people that passed by, but no one could dunk me. Seth, Tala and Vanessa made their way over and Seth attempted to get me in the water. The first shot hit with dead-on accuracy. I waited for the splash, but nothing happened.

"Hey, this thing is rigged!" Seth complained playfully. It didn't matter; the money was going towards the school.

"Oh my gosh," I heard Abby gasp. "I think I forgot to have you undo the safety latch."

"It is rigged! Booo…" Seth continued to complain, making the girls giggle.

I looked down and saw Abby rushing up the ladder. She half-climbed onto the seat with me and reached towards the end of the bench seat to release the safety latch.

"I think all we have to do is flip this up," Abby said to herself as she tried to wiggle the latch.

"You know, you could've just told me," I said, but was interrupted by a crack of a ball hitting the bullseye.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. As soon as I heard the sound, I felt the bench seat give, I saw Abby lose her balance, and then felt the sudden chill of my body hitting the water. I was only under the water for a second and when I emerged I could hear Abby next to me shrieking while her hands were clawing for something to grab onto.

With one arm on the ladder I carefully grabbed Abby around the waist with the other. I pulled her close to my body, protecting her from going under again. Her body was pressed close to mine and she instantly pulled her arms around my neck. Our faces were close together and I could feel her breath against my face as her chest heaved for air. I couldn't tell if it was from the shock of the dunk or our closeness.

"Are you ok?" I whispered. Abby looked up and nodded and continued to stare at me. I watched as her eyes made their way to my mouth and she slowly leaned forward, her tongue darting out to lick her lips in anticipation.

I wanted this so badly, but I knew others were watching. I didn't want to turn her down, but I couldn't let her kiss me. We didn't need to spread any gossip about Embry and the married preschool teacher.

Just as her lips brushed mine I pulled back with a groan.

"People are watching," I warned her. Abby let in a small gasp as if she just came out of a trance and was aware of the inappropriate situation we were in.

"Sorry," she whispered as she tried to hide her face in my chest, out of anyone's view.

Without a reply I hoisted Abby up onto the ladder and helped her out of the water. We both climbed down the tank and grabbed some towels.

After seeing the crowd that gathered for the spectacle, I was glad I stopped the kiss. It didn't look as though anyone was eyeing us suspiciously, but I couldn't make Abby look bad. I didn't care what people said about me, but I didn't want Abby to have the reputation as an adulterer. As I looked up at the tank, it was pretty clear the view would've been blocked by most people.

"Abby, are you alright?" Tala asked as we were toweling off.

"I'm ok, just embarrassed." Abby replied with a chuckle.

"Well, you'll have to blame Seth for that. He was trying to catch Embry off guard and his plan went awry…didn't it Seth?!" Tala glared towards her husband.

Seth looked at Abby sheepishly, "Sorry Miss Abby."

"That's ok," Abby laughed. At least she was a good sport.

"Do you need some dry clothes? I don't live too far from here," Tala offered. "Seth can sit here with Embry."

"That would be great. We still have another two hours and it's starting to get cold." Abby glanced my way with a small smile and followed Tala and Vanessa towards the exit.

Before I climbed back to my perch, Seth stopped me.

"What the hell happened up there?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"Oh man, you saw that? Do you think anyone else noticed?"

"No, but you've gotta control yourself or it will get messy."

"You think I don't know that?" I spat. "It took all my strength to stop her from kissing me." My hands smoothed against my face in frustration.

"Dude, you're doomed."

"I know!"


ooohh...a small confrontation with the husband! Trying to throw a little tension in there.

Recommendations - Take the Cake by sandyk199. It's so good and the cupcake recipes make me drool.