**** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ****

Embry lay awake on the floor of the Swan's living room. He hadn't been able to sleep at all, and not because of the fact that he could hear both Jake and Charlie snoring. The smell of bleach and sweet burned sugar was what was keeping him awake.

"How is Jake standing that smell?" Embry mumbled to himself as he rolled to look at his friend, asleep soundly on the small couch. "I can barely breathe and he's sleeping like a baby!"

Embry decided to take this time to think about the smell, Bella, and what the possibility of Emily Young being involved meant.

Sam didn't arrive in a car. Embry's mind was suddenly running a thousand miles a minute. He thought back as best he could, thanking his photographic memory, and realized that Sam hadn't been in a car. He walked up, shirtless as usual, and drove away in Billy's car.

Sam is the one who "found" Bella. The young Native teen's thoughts were travelling down a dark path now. Sam had been the one to come report the accident with the claim that he, Paul Lahote, and Jared Cameron had 'found' Bella on a complete fluke.

Was that even possible? Or was it more likely that they were the ones to attack her? Embry didn't like where that train of thought took him so he tried to avoid it, especially since he truly had no proof and didn't want to start problems where none existed if he could help it.

Jared and Paul abandoned their individual lives for Sam. Back onto thoughts that wouldn't cause Embry to think about the possibility of sharing a reservation with woman beaters, Embry considered this. While it was true that Jared had been a rather popular and friendly guy, which he had been before disappearing for a week, Paul on the other hand had been friends with very specific people and had ran in completely different circles than Sam or Jared.

Yet both of them had just up and disappeared for around a week and then reappeared but were suddenly so fucking weird. Jared skipped school sometimes, though his grades weren't suffering for it yet. Paul stopped hanging with the friends he'd had since childhood and nearly instantly looked like he was drinking steroid shakes like they were water.

They both also were seen sneaking out of or back into their respective houses recently, and Jared had always been such a good kid. Never did anything like that. Paul was just a loose cannon, but that sort of came with living alone after a divorce and a piece of shit for a parent left. He lived alone on the barest edge of the residential part of the Reservation lands- his house backed right up to the woods.

Paul had also managed to get himself in trouble with the law, Charlie Swan to be specific, recently as well. Couple fights outside of bars he claimed he hadn't been in.

"Just 'bout the only good thing in a small town- everyone knows everyone else's business." Embry smiled to the ceiling as he talked to himself still mulling over the thoughts in his head. The sky was beginning to lighten outside, dawn was fast approaching and he couldn't be happier for it. "Hopefully the clinic will call with good news soon- I'd rather wake Charlie up with a good surprise than smell this suffocating air much longer."

Jake snorted loudly and rolled over on, and then completely off, the couch. His startled reaction and instant drop into a bullshit 'karate' pose made Embry laugh out loud but thankfully not too loudly. Jake glared at his friend with still tired eyes as he tried to collect himself a little.

"You sleep at all?" Jake yawned.

"I did, yeah. It's a little hard to stay asleep when I think about what possibly happened to Bella. We didn't get jack shit for information last night and think about it, man, if she was attacked and taken towards the Res then it's possible whoever attacked her is from the Res." Embry replied offhandedly. He was looking out the window and missed Jake's shocked look, one that he quickly shook off of his face as Embry continued to talk. "I don't know, Jake… Something isn't right here. My gut, it's in knots."

"You sound like the widow Akil, all words and intuition." Jake laughed as he stood and stretched, his back popping a couple of times. "When you feel like stopping your menopause or whatever let me know- it was probably a wrong place wrong time thing."

"Yeah…" Embry let the word drag as Jake moved to climb the stairs, presumably to go to the bathroom. Once Embry was alone he finished his sentence. "But even you know you're spouting bullshit."

Jake snuck past Charlie's door with as much tip toe silence as he could, which wasn't much due to the creaking of floorboards. Thankfully the older man kept sleeping- he hadn't gone to bed early and was probably still drained from the night before. Continuing his attempt at silence Jake turned the handle before trying to shut the door in hopes of it not clicking too loudly.

Less than a minute later a shrill ringing blasted its way through the house- the phone was ringing. There was a corded phone in the kitchen that Embry almost leapt to in the hopes that it was the reservation clinic with news that meant a good morning.

"Swan house," Embry said quickly as he picked up the phone in anticipation. He heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs as he waited for a response.

"Yes, this is Dr. Whitehawk with the clinic here on the reservation." The male voice on the other end was cheerful and sickly sweet, but Embry rolled with it.

"Oh, hello Dr. Whitehawk- I'm surprised that it's you calling. I thought you only did the private practice at the clinic?" Embry replied then, smacking himself in the face, gave a quick explanation as to why he knew the doctor. "Oh, this is Embry Call by the way. The Chief is here, if you need him."

"Hello Embry! I wondered why I recognized a voice that certainly wasn't Charlie Swan's! Yes, if you could please put him on the phone that would be a great help." Embry turned and held the phone out to Charlie, who had managed to get almost right behind him. Charlie took the phone with a shaking hand as Embry gave him a reassuring smile. The way the doctor was talking this wasn't bad news.

"Hello, this is Charlie Swan speaking." Charlie sounded nervous. Both Jake and Embry thought he sounded almost like a boy trying to talk to his first crush. Embry wondered if that is what it felt like to be a parent to a child in danger or need. He resolved to ask his mother about it sometime.

"Hello Chief Swan, this is Dr. Whitehawk from the clinic. Do you remember me? You brought Billy here a couple of times for appointments…" The doctor began to ramble for a moment before a feminine cough in the background jolted him back to the topic at hand. "Bella has come to this morning in the early hours. Your officers were called when she awoke and have already gotten what little bit of a statement they could from her. Sadly, she has some memory loss of last night but she is doing well otherwise. A little bit of bruising and a cracked rib but otherwise still doing alright physically."

"What do you mean physically?" Charlie's reply was quick, to the point, and sharp in its tone.

"Well, she is having some issues that is possibly related to PTSD- trauma from whatever happened that she may not be able to remember consciously. I was talking with my nurse Sue Clearwater and we wondered if you would be willing to try to help us talk her into coming back here to Sue for a couple of weeks. Sue has a psychology degree on top of her nursing and Bella has opened up to her a little bit in the few hours she's been awake, but I don't know if she already had a woman she might be able to go to…"

"No, she doesn't really. Not that I know of anyway- Renee won't be much help about this." Charlie thought for a moment before nodding his head. "I'll talk to her, but I can't make promises."

"That is amazing, Chief Swan! Sue and I believe she can easily make a full recovery, even mentally, but we both know she's going to need help to do so." Dr. Whitehawk sounded more relieved than happy but Charlie chose to ignore that for now. "Bella will be free to be picked up in two hours or so- she just needs to hold down her breakfast and pass a couple of standard coordination tests."

"Don't hold your breath on those, Bella can trip on air." Charlie muttered with a muted chuckle, Jake guffawed in the background while Embry just tilted his head in confusion. Jake promised to fill his friend in later. "Alright, I will get around and come to pick up Bella here within an hour and a half. Rather be early."

"Very good Chief Swan, we will look forward to seeing you and seeing Bella safely home!" Dr. Whitehawk hung up almost immediately. Charlie turned to the boys who were both waiting expectantly for news.

"She's coming home, guys." Both young Natives gave a whooping cheer and high fived. "You two hungry?"

Almost exactly an hour and a half later Charlie dropped Embry off at his house, on one of the outskirt neighborhoods in the residential section of the reservation. Embry waved Charlie off as he drove towards the clinic.

Turning towards the beach, a short ten-minute walk, Embry decided he would go see his mother at the souvenir shop. He did have to tell her that Charlie wanted to buy another basket after all.

While walking there his mind swirled again with the same type of thoughts that had bothered him at Charlie's house.

Sam hadn't driven to Forks. Sam had 'found' Bella. Sam's fiancé had been there at the clinic when she barely had training for that. Paul and Jared were involved somehow. Sam. Sam. Sam.

Without realizing it Embry hadn't walked to the beach- his feet had carried him down a path towards a quaint little house that had obviously once been grey. It was a nice looking little place, with a window box and a porch that held a couple of chairs. Embry was nearly hurting himself trying to figure out who lived there until he saw the indistinguishable native woman walk out the door, confusion written on her scarred face.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her voice even and calm.

"I'm not sure." Embry replied in what he hoped was a calm tone. "I was trying to walk to the beach and got to thinking- ended up here."

"Well you're a fair sight away from the beach, Embry Call." Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned on one of the supporting beams to the porch. "What were you thinking about?"

"To be honest? Stupid things. But I'm not surprised my feet led me here anyway."

"You were thinking about Sam weren't you?" Emily asked in what was now a nearly nervous tone. "He isn't home currently, went out for a jog."

"As ripped as he is, I'm sure." Embry replied mildly. His annoyance levels were going up for some reason, he didn't understand what was going on. His expression and voice remained calm however. "Emily, can you tell me something?"

"Depending on what you ask, Embry." Emily's eyes darted to the forest. She knew Sam was too far away to be here quick enough if Embry had intentions of attacking her. He'd be able to feel her fear, but he wouldn't be able to get here in time. She sent a prayer up to the Spirits in hopes that Embry was just here on childish whim. He couldn't phase, he wasn't Quileute.

"How did Sam make it to Forks last night if he didn't have a car with him? He walked up to the Swan's house, left with Billy, and no extra cars were in the road or driveway." Embry began and found he couldn't stop. "And while we're at it isn't it a little weird that he just so 'happened' to come upon Bella in the woods after stopping his car for some reason? And why was Bella brought here? She barely comes to the Res, and even when she does she stays pretty firmly at the Black's house or the beach."

Emily opened her mouth to respond and was hushed immediately when Embry held up a quivering hand. Emily's eyes widened as it shook. Could Embry be of Quileute descent? Oh Spirits, if he phases here…

"And why were you at the clinic last night? You don't have much medical training, if I remember correctly. You had been beginning your schooling for it but then you had your accident, which I give my condolences for, and stopped. Why were you with Sue Clearwater? Was Sue even there? And why did Dr. Whitehawk call and say he had been Bella's doctor last night? He doesn't take care of cases like that!"

Embry's words came faster and faster as his body shook more and more. Emily looked at him in complete fear as his body began to nearly seize. Embry was going to phase, whether he knew it or not.

"Why?!" Was the last question out of Embry's human mouth before his entire body literally exploded into shreds of clothing, skin, and fur. The act of phasing was painful, as Emily knew, and he wasn't expecting it. Suddenly, where a boy had been pacing there was now a large and fully freaking out wolf. Emily backed a couple steps away as she tried to talk to the out of control teen.

"Embry! Relax, relax and listen to me! Try to clear your mind. I know there is probably a thousand things going through it right now- trust me! But you have to clear your mind, Embry. Try to listen." Emily was talking quickly, hoping that the wolf would relax enough to hear her words. Sam would know Embry had phased, if he was phased himself, but Emily didn't know what he, Paul, and Jared had planned to do.

What the hell?! Embry was screaming in his mind as he looked at his body. He wasn't human! He was… furry?! He had a tail? What the ever loving fuck is going on?! What just happened, I'm a wolf… wait… I'm a wolf?! That's a Quileute legend! I know this story!

Emily had kept talking to Embry in hopes he would hear and finally he looked up- but only for a moment before he launched himself off to the woods with a whine.

"This is not good at all." Emily panicked as she ran into the house to call Sue and Harry Clearwater. "Oh this is going to cause so much trouble!"

Embry was running hard and fast, his nose to the ground. Something was pulling him… somewhere. He wasn't sure where, and he wasn't sure why, but there was this tugging at the back of his mind- a need to find whatever was calling to him. He came across what smelled like denim and found some shorts stuffed in a semi-waterproof box in a rotting tree. He grabbed them with his mouth and kept going.

I'm going to assume my clothes are fucked. Embry thought to himself as he ran. The pull was lessening and he was beginning to slow. Looking out of the woods he realized in the early daylight that he had run to the clinic. What is here?

Embry stopped suddenly with the realization that he didn't know how he'd become a wolf so it was a damn solid bet that he didn't know how to get back from being one!

Hold on… think, think… What would I do here? He paced as he thought about how he would write ideas down, list, plan it all out, and then finally try to fix whatever the problem was using that plan. Rewriting as needed, of course.

"What would I do?" Embry said to himself aloud and then realized he was human, and very much naked. His chest was covered in a few nasty red scrapes but they didn't look bad. Looking down at his chest and abdomen he almost gasped. He looked like Paul did suddenly- overly defined abs and pecs. His arms were huge too. All around Embry just felt too… too big.

Shaking his head and slipping the shorts over his naked form, thankfully they fit even if they were a little loose. He looked to the clinic and could see someone walking outside to sit at one of the tables. The pull in his chest was tightening, he needed to go there. To see them. To meet them.

Running as a human with no shoes was much slower than the wolf form, Embry realized, but he much preferred being on two feet than four. He neared the clinic quickly and realized that the person sitting at the table had wrapped ribs, the bandage stark against the shirt that looked too large. They were also female, and pale, with brown hair that flowed in the light breeze.

Could this be Bella Swan? Why am I being pulled to her? Embry thought again as he neared the table. He hoped she wouldn't scream when she saw him, because that would completely suck. Embry stopped dead only a few feet from the girl when he saw her skin. It was covered in nearly invisible white scars. They were everywhere! What the hell happened to her?!

As if he had said the words out loud the girl looked up. Her brown eyes captured his almost immediately and he felt something inside of himself shift- he was sure that his face probably looked completely dumb. Most likely completely comedic too.

"You've got some cuts, kid." The girl said in a soft and caring voice. "The doctor is in talking to my dad, but Sue Clearwater may still be here. I don't know- she got a pretty frantic call a bit ago."

"Um… I'm okay, they've been cleaned and seen before. I was just here to see why the Chief of Police in Forks was here… saw his cruiser and wanted to make sure there wasn't trouble…" Embry nearly stuttered over his lie- but it seemed like the girl bought it. He reached a hand out between them. "I'm Embry, Embry Call."

Bella looked at the hand and nearly winced before she reached one of her own hands and clasped his. "Bella Swan. My dad is inside talking to Dr. Whitehawk because I managed to get myself in some trouble last night."

"Oh, so you're the famous Bella? Jake talks about you…" Embry couldn't quit staring at the girl. He loved her, but wasn't in love with her. He couldn't see her sexually, which was weird because she was very pretty. She felt more like a sister, or even a motherly figure. What was going on. "Um, not that it wasn't nice to meet you but I've gotta go. Um… I'm gonna be in enough trouble as it is."

Embry began to back away from Bella and waved a little before turning back around and running towards the woods. He thought better of running straight into them and jogged down the road enough to where Bella wouldn't be able to see him before he entered the treeline.

Not even thirty feet in and suddenly he was grabbed by his shoulders and thrust back first against a tree. The hands holding him were strong as Embry tried to shake off the hit to his head, which had smacked the tree too. Once his eyes focused he found himself staring into the stern face of Sam Uley with Jared Cameron wearing an amused expression behind him. A rather pissed off looking, and slightly growling, Paul was who was holding him to the tree.

"What were you thinking?!" Sam didn't yell, but his voice was commanding as he began to rebuke Embry there in the woods.

"Honestly? I wasn't… I just realized thinking gets me in trouble." Jared laughed a little at Embry's reply and Paul pushed him a little harder into the tree. "What? I'm serious…"

Sam sighed and ran his hand through his short hair. "We need to talk, Embry Call."

A/N: To those wonderfully faithful readers: thank you! You really do brighten my day with messages and reviews!

To those who I know will wonder why this particular chapter is so long- it is because I had to get in a lot of information here and I couldn't half ass the chapter. I'd rather one long chapter than 2-3 short when I can make it all work if I tweak it a bit.