AN: Although I wish I did, I unfortunately don't own Twilight.

I circled Bella's house Monday night too. I alternated my attention between the house and the woods. All quiet, aside from the normal sounds of life. Reassured, I thought back to the pack meeting earlier in the evening.

(flashback)

"What happened?" Embry demanded of us, me and Sam in particular.

"You imprinted," I told him. "Congrats."

"She—I—" Embry spluttered.

"She's a she and you're a he. What's the problem?" Paul was in full form. For a second, I thought Embry would go after him as a convenient target.

"I'm only 16" he groaned. "And she's…," he looked at me in question.

"18, I think," though I honestly wasn't sure. But she was a senior like me, so I was probably right. I could see his point. Embry was the youngest of us to imprint so far, and the only one younger than his imprint. Okay, so Bella was a couple months older than me, but two months was nothing compared to two years. And it was another reason why she and Jake wouldn't have worked out. But—if I thought that, then were Embry and Kim similarly doomed? No, of course not, I decided. The imprint would bring them together. And being the Good Samaritan that I was, I volunteered to help bring them together.

(end flashback)

Shortly before dawn, Sam arrived to take over, so that I could get a little sleep before school.

Take tonight off, Jared, he told me. You can't keep pulling all-nighters without it catching up with you.

I don't know, I tried to object, but Sam overruled me. Get some sleep tonight.

***

In history on Tuesday, I was already in my seat when Kim walked into the classroom. As she settled into her desk, she casually dropped a note onto mine.

Meet me after school. I want some answers.

I nodded, and stuffed the note into my pocket. After school, I led her onto the grounds, over to a grouping of picnic tables.

"So what was the deal with your friend yesterday?" she blurted out once we were settled. "He was staring at me like…" words failed her.

"Like you were the most important person—the only person—in the world to him." I answered.

"Why? I never met him before then."

"What do you remember about our tribal legends?" I asked.

She frowned, not understanding how this related. "We supposedly descend from wolves, and they're said to protect our tribe," she finally answered.

"The legends are true," Embry said from beside her. Kim jumped, not having seen and heard him approach, the way I had.

"What?" she gasped.

"We are descended from wolves, and we do protect the tribe."

"We?" Kim looked between us.

"We," I confirmed.

"No way, no way. I've got to be dreaming; this can't be real." She was shaking her head, as if trying to make her world resume its previous shape.

"Embry?" I inclined my head toward the treeline. He nodded, and headed that way. I gave him a minute, then pulled Kim to her feet to follow.

"Where are we going?" she wanted to know.

"You don't seem to believe us, so we're giving you proof." I replied.

Once we were concealed from the school, Embry reappeared from behind a tree. Kim gasped. "That can't be—"

"Yes, it can. Hey, Embry." He yipped at us.

"It's real?" she whispered.

"It's real," I confirmed.

We headed back to the picnic table so that Embry could phase and get dressed. Kim sat down heavily on the bench. Embry rejoined us and sat on the bench beside her.

"Okay," she expelled a long breath. "So some members of the tribe are wolves. What does that have to do with me?"

"It's said that sometimes a wolf will meet a girl who is perfect for him, like his soul-mate. And a connection will instantly form between them, an imprint," Embry explained.

"And I'm yours?" she asked, dubiously. He nodded carefully.

"But I don't even know you!"

"We can start. It's not like there's a timetable for when things happen," he tried to assure her. "I mean, Sam met Emily two years ago, and they're not married yet." Her eyes widened at the casual revelation of another tribe member's alternate identity.

"But that always happens? Marriage?" Kim seemed to be freaking a little.

"Only if that's what you want!" Embry rushed on. "It's all about you and what makes you happy."

"I know this is a little weird, and a lot to take in," I told her, trying to calm things down a little, "but I understand how you both are feeling. I just imprinted a few days ago myself."

She looked curious. "Who?"

"A girl from Forks: Bella Swan."

"How does she feel about…?" Kim gestured vaguely.

"She sort-of already knew about the wolf part, and we're working on the imprint part." I told her. "She's just getting over a bad break-up, so I'm not going to rush her with anything. I'm not going to do anything that might hurt her."

"So this is all good?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Can I meet Bella?"

"Sure," I agreed. I was coming to think that they would probably get along great.

"We're having a bonfire and stories on Friday night," Embry told her. "We have one every time we get a new brother; and now when one of us finds his imprint, since they get to know everything. It'll be your and Bella's first time."

"Jake's too," I reminded him. "At least, the first time knowing that the stories are true."

"Jake? Jacob Black?"

We nodded.

"And does he have…?"

"No, it's just us two and Sam who've imprinted so far," Embry clarified. "Neither Jacob or Paul has yet."

I glanced up at the sky to judge the time. I'd gotten out of the habit of wearing a watch since I'd become a wolf—too expensive to replace regularly, plus very hard to tear off when phasing in a hurry.

"I've got to run," I told them. "Kim, I know this is a lot for you to deal with, but I hope you'll try to get to know Embry and to look at all this with an open mind."

***

When I got home, I worked on homework, helped my parents with dinner, and annoyed my twin 13-year-old siblings, Andrew and Savannah. After trouncing everyone in a game of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit ®, I made it an early night. Sam had been right, I admitted. Three straight night patrols had worn me out.

I jolted awake from a nightmare I couldn't remember, and reflexively glanced over at my alarm clock. 1:21 am. I turned over and tried to will myself back to sleep, but almost immediately I threw back the sheet and was on my feet. Far in the distance, an imperative howl echoed. I quietly eased open my bedroom window and slipped outside. I stripped and phased, then cast out for the originator of the call.

Jared! Thank goodness you heard me. It was Jake, sounding very relieved.

What's wrong?

You've gotta get over here, man. Jake was on Bella-patrol tonight.

What is it? I asked urgently, already at a run, my body having begun to propel itself forward without my knowing it.

Bella's having a nightmare—a bad one.

I was surprised. I'd known, abstractly, that she'd been having them before, but the past few nights had been so quiet that I'd thought she was past them. Apparently, I'd been wrong.

She sorta woke up a bit ago, and just started screaming. Bloodcurdling screams. Charlie came in for a minute, but he's back in bed now.

And Bella? I asked him.

She's quiet again, but I'm not sure if she's asleep.

I slowed to a walk as I neared the edge of the Swans' yard, and stopped beside Jake. We looked at each other, both at a loss.

Whatcha gonna do? He asked me.

Don't know, beyond staying here. She didn't do this when I was here the last few nights. I felt a bit better having decided that, but not well enough. How do you think she'd react if I…?

He figured out what I mean when I indicated her window. Not sure. Guess you can find out.

I phased and donned my sweatpants, pausing to collect a few small rocks from the ground before approaching the house. I tossed one up against her window, taking care not to damage the glass. Just after a second went aloft, her face was at the window. She raised it and leaned out.

"Jared?" she asked, a bit uncertainly.

"Yeah."

"What are you doing here?"

"Jake called me when you had your nightmare." Her face was confused. Jake briefly edged out of the trees enough for her to see him, and then retreated.

"Oh." I guessed she remembered what I'd said about our mental links as wolves.

"Are you okay? I can stay if you want; it seemed to help the last few nights," I offered.

"You were here every night since Saturday?" I nodded, even though she might not be able to see it. Her response was to raise the window all the way and move back into her room. In a series of jumps, I scaled up the tree and inside the house.

When I looked up, she was sitting on the end of her bed, looking back at me.

"You ran all the way over here, just because I had a nightmare?" She seemed to find that hard to believe.

I nodded. "I meant what I said, Bella. I'm always going to be here for you, and not just when things are going fine." Her eyes teared up, and she blinked them away.

"Have you been doing okay, with so little sleep?" she asked me.

"Not too bad. Almost—no, I actually did fall asleep in class yesterday, but one of the girls woke me up before the teacher noticed." I saw her eyes narrow slightly. "Don't worry—oh, you might find this interesting—a few minutes later, Embry imprinted on her.

"What?" she mouthed.

"Yeah. No one saw that coming. Her name's Kim."

"Do you know her?" Bella asked.

"Not really. I mean, she's been in some of my classes over the years, but I only know of her." Bella seemed reassured by my lack of knowledge. "She wants to meet you."

"She does?"

"Uh-huh. Shared experience and all that."

"When?"

"She'll be at the bonfire on Friday, so you'll probably have some time to chat."

"How has everyone taken this? I didn't think imprinting was supposed to be this common."

"We didn't think so either. Maybe we were wrong." Of course, that wasn't the only time we'd been mistaken about Embry. My face must have shown something of my thoughts, because Bella noticed.

"What is it?" She would never cease to amaze me. Here I'd come over to comfort her, and she was trying to do that for me.

"It's just that Embry's a…sensitive subject sometimes."

"Why? I've always thought he was nice; certainly better than Paul." She grinned, and I had to grin back.

"It's not that; you're right, he is nice. We're just not sure why he joined the pack."

She settled back against her pillows, and patted the bed beside her, obviously inviting me to join her. After a miniscule hesitation, I did, though I made sure not to settle too close to her.

"So why would people have been surprised when Embry joined the pack? He's about the right age, isn't he?" Bella inquired, offering me a starting point.

"We didn't think he was Quileute. His mom moved down here 17 years ago, when she was pregnant with him."

"So if he wasn't Quileute, what did everyone think he was?"

"His mom was from the Makah Reservation, up north; Emily's from there too. Everyone assumed that her baby's father was also Makah, and that she'd left him up there."

"But because he phased, you know that can't be true?" Clever Bella. I turned my head toward her.

"Right. Only Quileute's can phase, so if he can, then one of his parents has to be part of the tribe. We know his mother isn't, so it has to be his father."

"Who is it?"

I shrugged. This was the awkward and uncomfortable part. "We don't know, not for sure."

Bella likewise shifted in bed, turning on her side to face me. "Any suspicions?"

"Based on age and timing, the elders figure there were three Quileute men who could have fathered him."

She tilted her head. "And they haven't taken it further?"

I shook my own head. "It's who—and what—they are that makes this delicate. You see, Bella, the three it could have been were all married at the time Embry was conceived, two had pregnant wives just then, and one's an elder now."

Bella and I both propped an elbow under our heads. She reached out with her other hand and laid it gently on my arm. "Who were they?" she whispered.

"Joshua Uley, Quil Ateara, or Billy Black," I whispered in return. Her hand fell away and she dropped back onto her pillow.

"Billy?" I knew he'd been one of her dad's friends for her whole life, so I could understand her shock; in fact, we all shared it.

"It's kind of a catch-22. We want to know, and yet we don't. No one wants to know which man betrayed his wife, and fathered a child he never claimed."

"Sam, Quil, Jacob…one of them has a brother?"

"Yeah."

"Even though I can understand not wanting that kind of knowledge for themselves, how can they deny it to Embry? Doesn't he deserve to know who his family really is?" her concern for Embry was real, and I had a feeling he'd be grateful for her support. Objectively, I agreed with her; he did deserve to know the truth. But I could also understand why no one was pushing the issue.

"We honestly try not to think about it, but if we do, we honestly hope that it was Joshua; Sam's dad wasn't around much and wasn't really a father to him, either. Quil's dad died a few years ago; the one who'd be most hurt by the truth would probably be Billy, since he's still alive and here."

She clearly wasn't satisfied; neither was I, but we couldn't solve the problem right now. I looked at her clock and saw that it was almost 2:30.

"I ought to let you get some sleep," I said, regretfully. I was grateful for this chance to spend some time talking with her, regardless of the circumstances. As I moved to shift off the bed, her hand reached out again to grab my arm.

"Please, don't leave me. I've slept better in the last few nights than I have in months, and you were here, when you weren't before. Stay, please."

I stopped moving. Wild horses couldn't drag me out of this room if she wanted me to stay. "Would you like me to move to the chair?"

She shook her head. "No." More quietly, "Stay right here?"

"Sure. I'll stay until you wake up, then I'll have to run home."

"Thank you," she whispered. As she settled back into bed, I gently tucked the sheet around her, and got myself comfortable. Just before I drifted off, I felt her hand carefully insert itself into mine. I cradled it lightly, and succumbed to sleep.

***

I know I said that the bonfire would be in this chapter, but my muse decided that this stuff needed to come first. The chapter literally wrote itself today; I hope you've enjoyed it. I think I can promise the bonfire for next chapter, but if it doesn't happen then I'll stop making predictions. As always, I welcome thoughts, comments, and suggestions.

Time's almost gone to vote in the Embry's father poll on my profile. If you haven't contributed yet, please let me know your thoughts before I get there in my writing. I'll try for another chapter this week, if my schoolwork allows.