A/N Happy February! I'm so excited that you all are enjoying this. Thank you so much to my new followers, new favourite-ers and reviewers. I love hearing your thoughts. I live off of those...they motivate me to keep going in telling this story. You don't know how thrilled I get whenever I get an email(although something was wrong with FF sending out of emails notifications this week to my inbox and I received them days later)...it's like Christmas!

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Jo absolutely loved how the sunlight shone against the crystal clear water below them. She leaned over the side of the row boat and put her hand into the cool water. It was such a change compared to the lakes she had fished in years ago. For one thing, there was never any majestic mountains surrounding her and the air was far from being this fresh. There were no sounds of cars on the highway, echoing in the distance. It was peaceful here and it was exactly what she needed. Surrounded by water, she felt as though they were in the middle of no where. It was almost silent. Except, Embry's whistling as he popped the top of their bait container caught her attention. For the first time since she had known him, he was wearing a shirt. Jo assumed it was due to the fact that they were off the reservation and had to run into a few stores before making their way to the lake. He wore a straw hat and had on a pair of sunglasses, both of which suited him quite well. On a day like today, Jo was happy that she had brought her sunglasses along as well. Her native skin enjoyed the sunshine. After hearing about the threat of rain, it was turning out to be a nice day.

Embry passed her a rod and offered to tie the worm on, but she simply shook her head.

"You forget that I was raised by a man who was an avid fisherman," Jo quipped. "I was putting my own worm on my hook when I was 3 years old."

He put a hand to his head and feigned ignorance. "You're a Clearwater. How could I forget?"

Jo couldn't help but laugh at him.

Embry looked over at Jo when he felt the boat rock slightly with her movements. A smile came to his lips when he saw that she had pulled off her shoes and put her bare feet up on the edge of the boat before turning herself to sit across the bench in the front. Realizing her idea was a good one, he kicked off his own shoes and followed suit, dropping his fishing line on the opposite side of the boat and angled himself so he was facing her as they fished.

"Embry, thanks for taking me out here today," Jo finally said.

The young man looked over at her and smiled. "My pleasure. I used to go fishing quite a bit, but I don't get the chance to go too often anymore. So, I'm just as happy to be able to do this with you."

"How come you don't go fishing anymore?"

Embry smiled knowingly as he turned his attention to the rod in his hand. Life in the pack didn't leave much time anymore. He carefully turned the reel slowly as he spoke.

"I have different priorities now," he replied.

"You grew up."

Embry nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose that's what it was. But it doesn't mean I won't drop everything given the chance. Jake and I used to go fishing nearly every weekend when we were kids."

"You're talking about Jacob Black? Billy's son?"

"The very one," Embry replied with a smirk. He glanced over at her to gauge her reaction as they spoke about him. The smile that she had on her face earlier had fell and Embry could have kicked himself for bringing Jacob's name up. He was supposed to be cheering her up and he was failing miserably after the mere mention of the younger Mr. Black.

While Embry tried to think of something to change the subject, he was surprised when Jo spoke again and mentioned Jake.

"Is there something wrong with Jacob?"

Embry tried to come up with the best response to her question, not entirely knowing what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

Jo looked out at the lake and sighed. "I don't want to come across as judgmental. I know he's your friend, but he came across as a little strange when I met him last night."

Embry nodded and laughed. "As his friend, I'd have to agree with you. But, honestly, Jake is a great guy. He's just a little shy."

If the pack could hear him now, they'd be roaring with laughter. Jake didn't have a shy bone in his body. But Jo didn't need to know that her mere presense had made him speechless and awkward, two traits that simply weren't Jacob. Telling her that he was shy was the best reason that he could come up with.

"Oh," Jo said softly as Embry turned back to the fishing rod in his hands. "But that's not an excuse for why he just got up and left after I spoke to him."

"No, it isn't," Embry agreed. "Jake's been through a lot this past year."

"Really?"

Embry nodded. "Frankly I shouldn't be telling you this, but it is common knowledge amidst most of the tribe and if you don't hear it from me, you'll probably hear it from one of the other guys."

Jo didn't say anything but simply waiting for the explanation.

"There was this girl..."

He watched as Jo rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh, that's all you need to say. Let me guess - she broke his heart?."

Embry smiled and nodded. "He was hung up on her for years, except she didn't want to be anything more than friends. She had a boyfriend, but then said boyfriend just took off, leaving her. She turned to Jake and the two became close. For a while they were inseparable, until the jerk of a boyfriend returned and she went back to him. It ripped Jake apart."

By the time Embry finished speaking, Jo's smile had faded. It was more than a hard breakup. He had been trampled on and left for dead. As Embry had explained, Jo found herself being jealous of the attention that this undeserving woman received from Jacob, and then finally she was pissed that she would have taken advantage of his affection the way that she had.

"What happened to the girl?"

Embry could hear the malice in Jo's voice as she spoke. He was starting to see her view of Jacob change after he simply told her Jacob's story. She went from disliking him to feeling defensive on his behalf. A corner of Embry's mouth turned upward before he scoffed.

"She married the ass hole boyfriend and Jake found out when he received an invite to the wedding. He took off after that."

"Wow," Jo breathed. "That really...sucks."

Embry nodded in agreement as he turned the reel on his rod, pulling in his line so he could recast. Jo was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again.

"He doesn't still like her, does he?"

Embry looked over at Jo. Her voice had a hint of annoyance. Although her dark sunglasses covered her eyes, he could tell that she was concerned as she waited for his answer.

He shrugged. "I really don't know."

"What was her name?"

Embry sighed, seriously wanting to stop talking about this, especially with Jacob's imprint.

"Bella Swan."

There was a pause. "Swan? Is she related to Chief Swan?"

"She's his daughter," Embry replied.

He watched as Jo returned her attention to her fishing rod in her hand as she felt it pull. Embry saw the rod dip slightly, indicating that something was tugging at her line. In a swift motion, Jo pulled on the rod, the end clearly bending.

"I think you got one!" Embry announced cheerfully.

Memories of the past conversation quickly forgotten, Jo's smile reappeared on her face as she began to slowly reel her line in. She put her feet up on the side of the boat for leverage as she spent the next ten minutes fighting with the fish. Embry looked over the side of the boat, hoping to catch a glimpse of the beast that was hopefully getting tired of the tug o' war.

"Do you see it yet?"

Embry looked back at Jo with a smile and nodded before he turned around to pick up the net. "Looks like it could be a large mouth."

A few meters from the boat, the fish suddenly jumped out of the water, attempting to throw the hook. After the second time, Jo felt the tension go slack on the line as she leaned back from the change.

The fish was gone.

"Damn it," Embry groaned. "That was a nice one too."

Jo smiled, as she reeled the rest of her line in order to re-hook it.

"At least we'll have a good fish story," Jo said, with a laugh.

When Jo turned in the boat in order to rehook and bait her line, Embry smiled at her.

"I'm glad that you're having a good time, despite loosing one fine fish that is now free to swim around until it grabs my hook," he said with a smirk.

Jo rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to her line. Embry watched her as he held onto his line, debating on whether he should even bring up the topic of her nightmare. Talking about Jacob and Bella wasn't pleasant and he didn't want to do that again. If the subject of the nightmare Jo had last night caused Leah to become concerned, he didn't know if he wanted to go there.

"I was...I was talking with Leah earlier," he began, still slightly hesitant. "She mentioned that you didn't sleep well last night. Something about a bad nightmare."

Jo shrugged and quickly dismissed it. "It was nothing."

"Leah seemed concerned and for her to be worried, it can't be just nothing," Embry continued, despite Jo's opinion.

He watched as Jo sighed as she continued to work on the line. Although her eyes were covered by her sunglasses, he could see the growing bitterness in her face. It was obvious that she wasn't impressed that her life was being shared by people outside of the house.

"You know that you could tell me if there is something bothering you," he added, sincerely.

Jo had never been someone who would express her feelings into words. She kept things bottled up and to herself. She was not only private about it but proud of the fact that she could manage her life on her own. Finally, she looked up at Embry. "I can handle it."

Jo turned her attention back to her line and grumbled, "I've lasted this long on my own."

Embry wasn't certain how much he should push her. For him, when he joined the pack, one of the best parts was that he wasn't alone. He had that network of support when he first phased and when it seemed like life was spinning out of control.

"But you're not on your own anymore," Embry argued. "You don't have to go through things by yourself."

"Look, Embry," Jo said, her frustration hitting a high point. "I know what you're trying to do, but I thought we came out here to fish. If I wanted to talk about me and my feelings, I would've called Dr. Phil."

He watched as Jo sighed and reeled in the remaining line before she could recast.

"You're right," Embry told her, slightly miffed himself for being shot down. Afterall, he was just trying to help. "Forget I even asked."

When she heard the offence spoken through Embry's words, she softened slightly. She never meant to offend him.

"Embry," she began, her voice softer. "I'm sorry. I just...I don't really want to talk about it. It wasn't pleasant and I really don't want to think about it again. Can we just go back in time to ten minutes ago when we were joking about the fish that got away?"

After she finished speaking, Jo was afraid that she'd burned a friendship with Embry. In just the short time that she had known him, she came to value that friendship. She wouldn't go as far as to say that she trusted him, at least not yet. Jo had come to realize that her trust wasn't something easily given; not anymore.

After a few seconds, she's saw Embry nod as a smile appeared on his face.

"So, how big are we going to say that fish was? I wanna get the story straight before we back home."

Jo smiled, enjoying the playfulness in Embry's voice once again.

"We should go with three feet," Jo told him. "Anymore than that and they wouldn't believe us. Any smaller, and it wouldn't be a good fish story."

Embry nodded, agreeing with the idea.

"My dad had some pretty good fish stories," Jo told Embry.

"It's too bad you didn't grow up on the Rez," Embry commented. "You could have grown up with all the Quilleute rituals, stories and parties."

Jo smirked. "I had a pretty good childhood living the suburbs of Port Huron, Michigan. Lakes all around us, awesome snowmobile trails, and ice fishing in the winter."

"Ice fishing? Can't say I've ever tried that out here. The lakes never freeze enough, at least in this part of Washington."

"My Dad loved it."

Mike Clearwater. Embry didn't know much about the older Clearwater brother. Up until last week, he wasn't aware that Harry Clearwater had a brother. Being that Jo brought up the subject of her father twice now, he gauged that it was a pretty safe topic to speak to her about and one that he was curious about.

"Why did he leave La Push?"

Jo sighed. "From what I remember he and my Mom saying, he didn't want to become the man that his father wanted him to be. He was being groomed to become a tribal elder." Jo chuckled before she spoke again. "I remember asking him about where he was born. He always talked about La Push as a place he'd never want to come back to and that I should never visit. He was completely serious about it too. He talked about it like there was some mysterious magic hiding here. He told me scary stories about how there were monsters hiding in the shadows of the forest. I think it was his way of justifying to my Mom and me a reason as to why he left, because as far as I can tell, La Push is a great place. I have yet to come across any evil monsters around here."

Embry smiled, although it was forced. It was clear to him that Michael Clearwater knew more about La Push than originally thought. If he was being groomed to take over as elder for the Clearwater's, it made sense that he was informed about the magic that surrounded the tribe. And being that Michael had abruptly left the tribe, the position then fell to his younger brother; Harry.

"If your Dad always told you that La Push wasn't safe, why did you come out here?"

Embry wasn't sure if Jo would be willing to answer his question. He was surprised when Jo laughed.

"You'll think I'm crazy."

Embry put the fishing rod down beside him and turned in the boat to face Jo.

"Believe me, whatever you think is crazy, I can guarantee you that I've probably seen crazier."

"Okay," Jo said, turning in the boat to face Embry and meeting his challenge. "But don't laugh."

Embry put up his hand, in a mock 'scouts honour'.

"I had a dream," she told him flatly. "It's a bit odd. Just before I left, I had a dream of my Dad. He sat on a picnic table and invited me to sit down with him before he went on to explain that it was time for me to go to La Push. In my dream, I argued that my Dad always told me that La Push wasn't safe. He told me that I'd find it to be safer than anywhere and there..."

Jo paused, looking at Embry as he stared at her in amazement. She couldn't help but laugh.

"And?" Embry asked eagerly.

"You're not believing any of this, are you? It's just a silly dream."

"Keep going," he told her, not bothering to answer her question. Embry was genuinely intrigued. "I wanna hear it."

With a sigh, Jo continued as she absently picked at the edge of the medical tape around the gauze that covered her wound on her leg.

"And I would find not only my destiny but create a future within the tribe," Jo stated, awkwardly. "As I said, it's silly."

Embry looked down, concealing his look of astonishment. He wasn't too surprised by Jacob's dream when he heard that he was told to come back home. But to now know that Jo was told to come to La Push at the same time as Jacob's arrival, was beyond incredible. Embry knew then that there must be something bigger than them that caused this to happen. He knew that imprints were strong, but this seemed more powerful than a simple soul-mate thing.

"Well, that settles it," Embry stated with a smile.

"What?"

"You have to stay."

Jo shook her head.

"I'd love to stay, but I can't,"

"Why not?"

"I have other...commitments. Besides, there isn't anything here for me," she answered cryptically. She wasn't about to allow the people here to get hurt on account of her.

Not that you know of, Embry thought as a cheeky smile came to his face.

"There's me."

Jo was tempted to reach over the side of the boat and splash that smug grin off of Embry's face.

"But seriously," Embry added. "You have family here. And the elders, the tribe; we all think of you as a newfound sister. Besides, I know that you'd miss our fishing trips."

"That's true," Jo said with a smile.

"Please, just consider it," Embry told her. "Maybe give it until the end of the summer and then decide whether you're wanting to stay. The summer is the best in La Push. You wouldn't want to miss out."

He watched as Jo thought over what he was telling her. "And your dream was right, there is no safer place to be than here."

Jo laughed, hearing his corny line. "You sound like a Hallmark card."

Embry shrugged. "I try." He paused. "So, what do you say? Stick around for a bit?"

If what Embry was actually saying was true about La Push being safe, then perhaps she should stick around for a bit longer. She had been running for days and now with her name change and anonymity within Forks, the chances of being found were nil to nothing.

With a sigh, Jo smiled. "I'll think about it."

After another hour of fishing, the sky began to cloud over and the first hint of rain began to fall. Sensing the heavier rain coming, Embry quickly pulled in his line, noticing that Jo had already had her rod inside the boat.

"We're going to get wet," Embry told her as Jo laughed.

"It wouldn't be a real fishing trip if we didn't."

"Where did they go!?"

All eyes turned to Jacob as he walked into Emily's house that she shared with Sam and frankly, the entire pack. Emily was about to scold him for walking in without even attempting to dry himself off. But Sam quickly put his hand on her shoulder upon seeing the younger man's frantic expression. He knew exactly whom Jacob was meaning and he wasn't about to put Emily in the path of a frustrated wolf, especially one who appeared to be extremely concerned for his missing imprint. That gave Sam hope that perhaps Jake had changed his mind.

"If you're talking about Embry and Jo, they went fishing this afternoon," Sam told him, with a hopeful expression.

He watched as Jacob shook his head, as though he was fighting with his own mind; of what he should do and what he didn't want to do.

"Where are they?" he finally asked.

"Crescent lake, I think," Sam said, looking to Paul and Jared for confirmation. The two boys nodded. "They took my boat out. Embry called about an hour ago. They were caught in the rain and were headed back."

"Hey, Jake," Paul called out, from where he sat on the couch and effectively interrupting Sam's explanation to Jacob. "Since when do you care what your imprint does?"

Jacob turned and glared at Paul, a deep growl rising in the back of his throat. Sam took a step forward.

"Enough!" he called out glaring at Paul, before turning back to Jacob.

"Embry was looking after Jo today, they..."

The sound of an engine caught their attention before the familiar scent of a wolf came towards the house. Sam didn't even get to finish speaking before Jacob turned and headed back out the door as the truck pulled up in front of the house. Embry quickly jumped out of the car and turned to grab the rods from the back before making his way towards the house, except he nearly ran into Jake who glared at him.

"Whoa, Jake! You're here!" Embry said cheerfully before noting the hostility in the man's face. He was excited to tell him about what Jo had told him but his smile fell as Jacob stared him down. "What's your problem?"

"Where. Is. She?!"

Embry could hear the growl in the back of Jacob's throat. But Embry wasn't known to cower with his tail between his legs. He knew that there was no reason for Jacob to be so angry, so he didn't back down.

"I dropped her off at the Clearwater's," Embry said sharply, before side-stepping around Jacob to head towards Emily's house. He saw Sam, Paul and Jared standing on the porch, their muscles rigid as though they were anticipating a fight. Embry could only imagine the conversation that happened just moments before he arrived. Still, he walked up to Sam and passed him the rods, ignoring the intense glare that he could feel on his back coming from Jacob. He could hear Jacob deep breathing as he attempted to reign in his anger.

"Thanks for letting me borrow the rods," Embry said, softly to his alpha, before turning back to look at Jacob.

Sam nodded silently as he took the rods, keeping a close eye on Jacob.

"You smell like her," Jacob said through clenched teeth.

"Damn it, Embry," Jared whispered, although he didn't move his eyes from Jacob standing in the rain. "What did you do?"