Disclaimer: I don't own them. I just wish I did.
AN: If feels so good to be able to update again. I have missed talking to all of you and reading your stories. I had to delete every e-mail I had the other night because I had close to three thousand of them. If any of you want to recommend any stories for me to read feel free to let me know. I'm in the process of trying to catch up on what I missed, but once I do I'll read whatever you send to me.
She picked up her phone from off the counter. She couldn't believe that she had left it that morning. She flipped it open to check to see if she had missed any calls or text when she saw a something that made her eyes widen. Embry had called her. Jacob must have given him her number. He had left her a voice mail. She dialed her voice mail as she sat down at the table.
Billy was lying down, Rachel had pleaded with her to cover for her so that she could go see a friend, and Jacob was outside in the garage.
"Hey Hannah, its Embry. Jake gave me your number, so I thought I'd call you. Call me when you get a chance. Bye."
He sounded as nervous as she felt. His voice was a deep rumble, compared to the soft voice that she remembered. She heard the back door open and she looked up.
"Who were you talking to?" Jacob asked coming to the sink to wash his hands.
"I was checking my voice mail." she said closing her phone.
"Have you heard from Rachel?"
"She said something about going to the beach." Hannah said with a shrug.
"Hmm." Jacob said sitting down across from her.
He was content to sit with her in silence. She could have thanked him, but she knew that she didn't need to. He understood how grateful she was that he was willing to set her up with his best friend. Ever since Rachel had found out that morning, she had been acting weird. Hannah was going to have to talk to her about that.
XXXX
Rachel pulled away breathless then Paul silently put his head to hers. They had been meeting like this for over a week. He still hadn't told her that he had imprinted on her. How would she react? He knew that Jacob and Billy had explained things to her. She had even gone to Emily's with Bella the other day. Emily had trouble keeping the secret to herself, so Sam had been there to keep her from telling Rachel.
"You know one day, were going to have to tell my dad. Jake, too." she said, running her fingers through his hair.
"I know. I just wanted us to have a little while to let it sink in."
"I have a question."
"What?"
"What's going to happen when you imprint? I'm not just going to just let you go. I'm probably going to beat the shit out of the girl."
"You don't need to worry about that." Paul mumbled before letting out a throaty laugh.
"This isn't funny! I'm already attached to you. This has never happened before."
"Trust me; it's not going to be a problem." he said, trailing a hand down her arm.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because, I've already found my imprint. I just haven't been able to find the right way to tell her. I'm not like your brother, or Embry, or Sam."
"I don't expect you to be. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not like Bella or Emily either."
"You're my imprint." he said as his eyes met hers.
Rachel stared at him before pushing him off of her. She straddled his lap before taking hold of his hands and putting them behind his back as she leaned down to meet his lips. She kissed him hard, sucking on his bottom lip as he shifted under her. He pulled his hands from hers to wrap his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer to him, almost crushing her.
Paul let out a guttural growl as she ground her hips into his. They heard a twig snap a few yards away, making both of them turn their heads. Hannah stood looking towards the ocean, not wanting to embarrass them.
"Your dad is making Jake and Quil look for you. Come on, unless you want one of them to find you."
"Who is she?"
"The only person who knows about us. Besides Sam and Emily." Rachel said smiling.
"Hannah." Hannah said with a tight lipped smile.
"Your best friend." Paul said with a nod.
"Hannah? Did you find her?" Quil asked from the top of the hill.
Rachel climbed off of Paul after giving him one last quick kiss. He quickly stood, before running in the opposite direction.
"She's down here, like I said." Hannah called as she and Rachel made their way up the hill.
They were home a few minutes later. Billy was in the front yard with Jacob. Hannah and Rachel walked up the ramp before Billy called Hannah's name.
"You left your phone on the counter. It rang while you were gone."
Hannah flipped it open with a sigh.
"I missed Embry again."
"How many times has he called?"
"Twice now." she said dialing his number.
"Wait, hang up." Rachel said, taking the phone from her.
"What are you doing?"
"What are you going to say to him?"
"I don't know." Hannah said, shrugging her shoulders.
"I have a better idea."
"This I have to hear."
"Let's go." Rachel said, grabbing hold of her hand.
XXXX
Bella sat across from Charlie, watching him eat. She had been trying to talk him into going to Billy's for the past twenty minutes. Neither of them had been down there in a week. Since when did her dad need to be coerced into seeing his best friend?
"I know why you want to go down there. You haven't seen Jacob in over a week."
"There is that. But, this is the longest you and Billy have gone without talking."
Truth be told she wanted to check on Quil. She knew he was doing better; Embry had come by that morning to talk to her about it.
"We'll go after lunch. Billy and I can go fishing, and you can get your Jake fix."
"That's all I'm asking for." she said with a laugh.
XXXX
Embry sat behind the counter with his feet propped up on the counter. There hadn't been a single customer in over an hour. He heard the bell above the door jingle, making him pull his feet down. He leaned over the counter seeing Rachel come in. He could see someone on the porch, but couldn't make out who it was.
"You look busy."
"Yeah, I'm swamped." he said rolling his eyes.
"Why don't you go outside? It's not like you won't see anyone that comes in."
"Who's out there?"
"Go and find out." she said, gesturing towards the door with her hand.
He came from around the counter with a sigh. Whoever outside had better be worth it. He pushed open the door, looking down at his feet.
"Hey."
His head shot up so fast that he almost got whiplash. Hannah stared back at him, giving him a curious look. His heart stopped beating for a millisecond as his stomach lurched into his throat. Her hazel eyes gave him the kind, mischievous, inquisitive look that he had always associated with her. Her light brown hair was longer than the last time he had seen her. When his heart rate was back to normal, he smiled at her.
"Hey."
"Do you want to sit down?" she asked from where she was sitting on the steps.
"Yeah." he said, sitting next to her.
Their arms brushed against each other, causing friction to run down the right side of his body.
"How have you been?"
"Good. You?"
"I've been good too. Is it okay that this awkward?" she asked, laughing nervously.
"It wouldn't be normal if it wasn't. We haven't talked since you left for college."
"Well, yeah. You've changed." she said, looking over at him.
"You haven't." he said, shaking his head.
"You look older than I thought you would. Then again, so do Jake and Quil."
"Thanks, I guess." he said with a smile.
"Your smile hasn't changed." she said, smiling back at him.
"Why haven't you called me?"
"Well, I left my phone at the Black's this morning when I went to work. That was the first time. Jake came in as I was about to call you. I didn't feel like playing twenty questions. He can be really intimidating. Then again, you knew that. The second time, I was looking for Rachel. Again, I had left my phone at the house. She thought it would be better if I came here, instead of calling you."
"I'll have to thank her later."
"Me too."
"Hey Em?" Rachel said from inside the store.
"Yeah?"
"Mae Atearra is on the phone. She says if you don't get back in here you're fired."
"How did she know?"
"She can see us." Embry said, waving across the street.
Mae waved back before going back inside the Atearra house. He stood before holding out a hand for her. She took it, letting him pull her close. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. Rachel watched from inside, she was glad that she gone with her instincts.
Embry let Hannah go, before looking down at her.
"You should come over after work. We can hang out."
"Actually, I have plans tonight. Do you wanna do something tomorrow night?"
"Embry Call, are you asking me out on a date?" she asked teasing him.
"Yeah." he said, smiling again.
"Sure."
"He'll pick you up at seven." Rachel said from inside.
"Thank you for speaking for me."
Hannah laughed as he let go of her. He went back inside, only to have Rachel stop him at the counter.
"So?" she asked, giving him a questioning look.
"What?" he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Did you imprint on her?"
He smiled, not trusting himself to speak.
"I'm so glad." she said hugging him.
"Yeah, me too." he said with a laugh.
"Just think you don't have to go through the awkward getting to know you stage."
"Thank God." he said under his breath.
"I have to." Rachel said, as her eyes widened in surprise.
"What?" Embry asked, giving her a questioning look.
"Nothing." she said before pulling away.
"Tell me." he said, grabbing hold of her arm.
"You can't tell anyone."
"There are only three people who haven't imprinted yet. And I hope it's not Seth, or Leah."
"Then why do I need to tell you?"
"I didn't even know that you had seen Paul."
"A few days after I moved back in." she said nodding.
"Your brother's not gonna like it."
"It's not up to him. I should go." she said, shrugging her purse onto her arm.
"I'll see you later."
Embry watched as Rachel got into the car. He waved as the car pulled away. He saw Quil pulling up in his driveway as the girls started down the road. He looked towards the store, before Mae walked out of the house. She pointed to the store, and Quil nodded. He ran across the street, and up the stairs as Embry held the door open.
"Did she send you over to check on me?"
"No. She wanted to know who you were talking to."
"You could have told her that."
"I lied. It gave her a reason to send me over. What was she doing here?"
"Rach came up with the bright idea to bring her to see me."
"Yeah? How'd that go?"
"Let me call Jake. I don't wanna tell you and not tell him." he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
"Hello?" Jacob said, sounding distracted.
"What are you doing?"
"Hanging out with Bella."
"I just thought you'd like to know that something happened."
"What?" Jacob said, sounding worried.
"What's wrong?" Bella asked, in the background.
"I imprinted."
"Hallefreakinluiah!" Quil said with a yell.
"On who?" Jacob asked after a moment of silence.
"What's going on?" Bella asked, once she heard Quil yell.
"Embry imprinted." Jacob said with a laugh.
"That's great little brother!" Bella said taking the phone from Jacob.
"I know right?" he said with a laugh.
Bella and Embry along with their hugging ritual had been calling each other sister and brother pretty much since they met. They shared a bond that none of the others did. Neither of them had any biological siblings.
"Who's the lucky girl?" Bella asked, pushing Jacob's hand away when he reached for the phone.
"Her name is Hannah."
"Rachel's friend?" Bella asked as Rachel's car pulled up.
"Out of my lap, come on." Jacob said lifting her.
"I'll talk to you later. I wanna hear about Hannah." Bella said as Jacob walked out the front door.
"You're coming tonight right?"
"I'll be at the bonfire."
"I'll tell you about her then."
"She isn't coming?"
"I haven't had a chance to talk to her about everything."
"Gotcha."
"I better let you go. Quil's destroying the store."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Rachel came in as Bella closed Jacob's phone. She walked into the kitchen without saying a word. Bella saw Jacob and Hannah sitting on the hood of the Rabbit, deep in conversation. Rachel came back into the living room and sat down next to Bella.
"My brother is crazy about you. Becca and I noticed it when we were kids."
"What?"
"We used to tease him, relentlessly. I knew it would only be a matter of time before he realized that we were right."
"You and Rebecca used to tease him because you thought that we would eventually date?"
"We didn't think, we knew. We never made it easy on him. Our mom would always get onto us about it. She used to say that she would love to have you as a daughter in law. Now, she'll never get to see it happen." Rachel said sadly.
She swiped at her eyes slowly as she sniffled. Bella didn't know what to say that would make it easier. Bella didn't remember much about Sarah Black. She did remember that she had been a good mother to her kids, and a good wife to Billy.
Jacob walked in seeing Rachel crying, and Bella watching her with sad eyes. He would ask about it later. He could only deal with issue at a time. Right now, he needed to call Sam and get him to meet him at the store.
"I have to go. But I'll see the two of you later." he said hugging Bella.
He put a hand on Rachel's shoulder as she pulled herself together.
"So Hannah Banana, what are you doing tonight?" Rachel asked breaking the silence.
"Making up my resume. Then hopefully filling out job applications on line."
"What are you hoping to do?" Bella asked, joining the conversation.
"I want to be a teacher."
"She's great with kids." Rachel said nodding.
"That's really nice." Bella said with a smile.
"What are you two doing tonight?"
"We are going to the bonfire."
"I'll put in a good word for you. Because you'll more than likely be coming with us next month." Rachel said patting Hannah's arm.
"You guys have a bonfire every month?"
"The first Saturday of every month." Rachel said with a nod.
"Have you ever been before?"
"No. I've been busy the past few months. Now that I'm done with school for the time being, I told Jake that I would go."
"You're not starting college in the fall?"
"I am going to go. I'm just putting it off for a year."
"How does you dad feel about that?"
"He wasn't happy at first. I had made the decision before Jake and I started dating. I need a year off from school."
"I'm glad that I am done." Hannah said with a laugh.
"Oh shut up, Miss High and Mighty." Rachel said throwing a pillow at her.
"Was I the one who told you that you should become a doctor? No!" Hannah said throwing the pillow back at her.
Bella watched the two friends interact. She was glad that Embry had finally found someone, and also glad that she could get to see a different side of Jacob, that only his sister could bring out. His argumentative side, he never argued with anyone the way he argued with Rachel. She personally thought that it was funny. He didn't.
XXXX
Bella pushed Billy's chair into the clearing as she saw the fire in the distance. Rachel made her way up the incline to get someone to help carry Billy's chair up.
"You nervous?" he asked, turning his head to look up at her.
"Should I be?" she asked, giving him a smart alike, questioning look.
"No. Most girls would be though."
"I'm not like most girls."
"Thank God for that!" Billy whooped before laughing.
Paul and Jacob made their way down the incline with Rachel behind them. Paul picked up the chair from the front as Jacob picked it up by the handles. Rachel linked arms with Bella silently as the five of them made their way up to the bonfire. Bella heard a group of people talking at once, all of them male voices. It must have been the elders and the pack. At the top of hill Paul let go, and Jacob gripped the chair with everything he had before giving Paul a venomous look.
"You need help getting him through the grass? Why didn't you say so?" Paul asked, giving Jacob a smart ass smile.
"Easy Jacob." Billy said, giving Paul a reprimanding look.
Billy was sitting in front of fire while Jacob and Bella stood off to the side. He stood behind her, with his arms wrapped around her. His chin rested on her shoulder when a sudden jolt rocked through them.
"What the..." Bella said turning to look behind Jacob.
A young teenager stood behind them giving Bella a wide grin. She knew that smile.
"Seth!" she said glaring at him.
"Hey Bella!" he said, still smiling.
"Wipe the smile off your face. " Jacob said with a laugh.
"I've always wanted to do that."
"What? Scare the living daylights out of me?" Bella asked letting go of Jacob.
"Uh oh. You don't know what you just did Clearwater." Embry called from across the field.
"I was only playing! And no, I didn't mean to scare you. He has been able to knock me off my feet, just by shoving me, since I was six."
"Yeah, well you didn't succeed." Bella said crossing her arms over her chest.
"I wasn't trying! I didn't wanna knock you over."
"When did you get so big? I only saw you a month ago!" she said, taking in his size.
"I'm going through changes." he said with a laugh.
"No." she said, giving him a scared look.
"Yeah."
She looked pleadingly at Jacob, hoping that he would tell her that Seth was joking.
"It happened last weekend." he said with a serious tone.
"Leah too."
"Oh God." Bella said, trying to catch her breath.
Jacob was next to her, with his arms over her shoulders a second later. Seth looked between them worriedly. Jacob shook his head, letting him know not to say anything else. Seth walked away after smiling weakly at Bella.
"That's three in two weeks." Bella said just above a whisper.
"There are vampires planning to attack Forks. Did you think that the five of us could take them alone?" Jacob asked tightening his hold on her.
"I hoped that no one else would have to change."
"It's going to be okay." he said before kissing her forehead.
"How can you be sure?"
"Because, I have faith that we can do this. One day, you and I are going to look back on this and it's going to be just a memory. All the fear, the stress, everything is going to be gone."
"Leah's a wolf too?"
"The first female. And she never lets the rest of us forget it. She is one angry, bitter she wolf."
"Are you going to hog her all night?" Quil asked from a few feet away.
"I had planned on it." Jacob said with a laugh.
Bella hadn't seen Quil since he had changed. Jacob had explained to her, that every new wolf needed time to adjust to things. During the adjustment period, they were not allowed around humans. Why was Seth allowed to come tonight? Or Leah for that matter? Quil on the other hand, looked like he was ready to pry Jacob away from her with his bare hands. In a friendly manner, of course.
"Hey stranger." Bella said giving him a smile.
"Hey!" Quil said happily.
"Seeing as hugging her is out of the question, I guess I'll let you talk to her." Jacob said, before pulling away from her.
"Huh?"
"Read Embry's mind every once in a while. You'll get it." he said, patting Quil on the shoulder.
"What is he talking about?" Quil asked as Jacob walked away.
"Ask Embry. Let's just say that he'd get jealous."
"Has he staked a claim on you if you and Jake don't work out? Damn it, I wanted to do that!"
Bella threw her head back in laughter as Quil draped an arm over her shoulders loosely. He steered her towards the elders where Seth and Leah sat with their mom.
"Bella, it's good to see you." Sue said with a smile.
"You too Mrs..."
"Sue. You've never called me Mrs. Clearwater. Don't you start now." she said giving Bella a playful wink.
"Hey Leah."
"Hi." Leah said, not looking away from where Sam and Emily sat.
"Seth, you should apologize for what you did earlier."
"Sorry, Bella." he said, looking at his feet.
"Don't worry about. It's already forgotten." she said ruffling his hair.
He grinned up at her as Embry walked up to them. He engulfed Bella in a hug from behind. She put her hands over his, giving them a small squeeze.
"Hey you." he said, smiling down at her.
"Hey."
"Now I get it." Quil said rolling his eyes.
"Sorry." Bella said with a laugh.
"Yeah, back off." Embry said protectively.
"Please, I can take you."
"Okay, children. That's enough." Bella said in mock aggravation.
"I wanted to talk to you." Embry said getting her attention again.
"Okay." she said nodding.
He let go of her as they walked side by side towards the tree line. He told her everything, he didn't hold anything back. He was scared for Hannah and what could possibly happen if he wasn't able to reign in his anger when they fought.
"Sweetie, I know what you mean. But, you have to forget all of that. No relationship is perfect. And about the anger issue, learn to walk away. Or give her some kind of warning that lets her know that it's about to happen. That's what Jake and I do."
"He said the same thing."
"Well, it's good that we agree on something. I knew that I was with him for a reason." she said sarcastically.
Embry laughed, as he shook his head. They walked back to the bonfire seeing everyone starting to sit around it. Jacob sat, leaning against a log that was occupied by Quil and Claire, who sat in his lap.
"Who's the little girl?"
"That's Claire."
"I didn't think Quil had another little sister."
"Just Ayanna. Claire is Quil's imprint."
"They can be that young?"
"I guess so." he said with a shrug.
He sat on the other side of Jacob while Bella got situated in between Jacob's legs.
"Pretty." Claire said touching Bella's hair.
"Thank you." Bella said giving the little girl a warm smile.
She was a cute little girl. Bella had never been around little kids. Charlie, like her was an only child. Her mom's brother and sister were closer to Bella's age, than her own. So she didn't have any cousins. Jacob wrapped his arms around her as his dad started to speak. She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Tonight, I feel that it is appropriate that we tell the stories of our ancestors. And the predators that we will once again have to fight off to save not only our families, but our land."
Bella listened to him intently. She had heard about the Cullen's from Jacob. But the story that Billy was telling went farther back than that. To a female vampire, who took out almost the entire village in a matter of days. It was a haunting, heart wrenching story. He spoke of how the first pack of wolves fought the woman off, only to have her come back, a hundred years later. One woman had sacrificed her life for her husbands. She was what Billy called the third wife. She had done something no one else would do. She had taken the attention off of her dead son and grieving husband, so that the other men could attack the woman. They had killed her that day. The Cullen's did not appear for the first time until a hundred years later. Starting the cycle again.
"My son, and his friends are willing to do everything they can to protect not only us, but the life of someone very special to each of them, and me as well." Billy said gesturing towards Bella.
Jacob tightened his hold on Bella before Bella smiled sadly at Billy. She hadn't expected Billy to say what he had. It made a piece of the shame that she felt for all that was happening fall away.
XXXX
Bella was washing dishes when the front door opened and closed silently. She looked over her shoulder as she rinsed off a plate, seeing Jacob taking off his shoes in the front hall. She had no idea that he was coming over since he had called to say that he had plans with Embry and Quil. He wrapped his arms around her silently before kissing behind her ear.
"Did your bromance date fall through?"
"I ditched them to hang out with someone who is definitely hotter than they are." he murmured into her hair.
"I would hope that you think I'm hotter than Embry and Quil."
"What did you do today?"
"I thought about you, and then I cleaned the house to fill the other six hours and fifty nine minutes of my day." she said with a teasing smile.
"Ha, ha." he said digging his fingers into her sides.
She giggled before squirming. She turned in his arms to wrap her arms around his neck. Something in his shirt pocket poked her shoulder and she pulled away to give him a questioning look.
"It's your graduation present."
"I told you that you didn't have to get me anything."
"I didn't spend any money on it." he said pulling the small object out of his pocket.
He closed his fist around it before she could see what it was.
"Close your eyes." he said with a smile.
She rolled her eyes, but did as he asked. He pulled her left arm from around his neck and she felt something wrap around her wrist seconds later.
"Can I open my eyes now?"
"Go ahead."
Her eyes moved to her wrist where a two toned brown leather chord bracelet was now resting. The different shades of brown matched her hair and eyes. She looked up at him with questioning eyes.
"It's tradition in my tribe that when you find the person that you love that you make them a bracelet. It's kind of like a promise ring."
"I love it." she said kissing him lightly.
Jacob rarely ever showed his sentimental side. She would wear the bracelet proudly and tell anyone who asked that he had made it for her and the meaning behind it. She couldn't love him anymore than she did right then.