IMPORTANT NOTES

NO, I'm not dead and no I haven't seen New Moon, not yet. Maybe later

I will not be updating this story as much, (about 2 times a week tops) sorry I've been working on a second story that will be posted soon called Brotherhood (details on my profile) and I also started to work on story # 3! More on that one later, but that is not the reason I took so long to update this time which brings me to my next point.

Sorry I didn't update sooner, my BF's convoy was attacked by an IED last week in Afghanistan and I was too stressed to write. He's fine so I'm no longer stressed so let the updating begin!

Thanks to the best beta in the world! and to Crystal, Elizabeth and Tyler for being the best Twifriends, and real friends, a girl can ever have!

I don't own Twilight.

*****

Bella's POV

"Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we go see how Embry is doing before we go?"

"I'm sure you can," he said smiling.

We walked up to the back door and Jake jingled the door knob and the door flew open.

"Hey Em?" he called into the house.

"In the kitchen!" came a reply.

Jake led me into the house. I looked around as Jake towed me towards the kitchen. There were pictures that lined the hallway, most of them of Embry in different stages of his life. When we got to the kitchen I spotted Embry face first in the refrigerator.

"Feeling better?" Jake asked him.

"Yeah I am. I'm starving though," he had his hand in a jar of pickles. "You know I've never liked pickles but right now," he closed his eyes as he chewed. "These are great. I wish my mom had the refrigerator stocked full of food." Embry now was eating pickles wrapped with what appeared to be ham, which were then dunked in peanut butter.

"Dude that is freaking gross," Jake said disgusted.

"What?" I'm freaking hungry!" he said with his mouth full. I had to agree with Jake, it looked really gross.

"Embry get out of my way!" I said storming in the kitchen.

"Woah, Bella! What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make you lunch! It is a damn shame you have to eat that…" I said motioning to the food he was holding. "It's gross, now get out here! This is my kitchen for the next twenty minutes."

"You better get out Em, before she bites your head off!" Jake said laughing. Embry did as he was told but not before taking the pickle jar with him.

There wasn't very much food in the house but I would make do with what I had. I made Embry and Jake grilled cheese sandwiches with ham inside and a bowl of tomato soup. I was surprised when I turned around and they had finished eight sandwiches between both of them. Jake looked satisfied but Embry looked at me expectantly.

"Still hungry?" I asked him, he grinned sheepishly and nodded his head. So I rummaged through the cabinets and found a box of mac and cheese. As that was cooking on the stove I looked in the refrigerator to see if I could find something else to add to it, I'm not a big fan of repackaged food. When it was done I watched Embry eat it with lightning speed.

"Embry you really put that food away! I didn't think that anyone could eat more or faster than Jake but I was seriously mistaken."

"A growing boy needs plenty of food," Embry said happily rubbing his belly. "Thanks Bella that was delicious!"

"Anytime Em," I replied.

"Em?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think we are on nickname basis here. Especially since you swore your never ending friendship," I smiled at the overgrown boy in front of me.

"Maybe you guys should make it official," Jake said cryptically.

"I don't like the sound of that Jake," he was up to something. I turned to Embry and he was smiling with a knowing look on his face. "What are you guys up to?" They both had identical evil smirks plastered on their faces.

"Well Bella, there is this ritual we Quileutes have when it comes to friendship," Embry explained.

"What kind of ritual? If it is that whole thing with cutting your fingers and mixing blood…count me out, I'm not very good with blood." I heard Jake snort, he was grinning and I remembered the night before and his blood…

"No nothing like that," Jake laughed. "It's an ancient ritual that isn't done anymore. Back in the day when tribes were at war and they finally made a treaty they would invite our tribe to conduct a friendship ritual."

"And in our tribe it was done between feuding families or people to help keep the peace. It is very binding," Embry added.

"It can only be done with a chief though," Jake said. "But since my dad practically is Chief and I'm his only son I can do it I suppose," Jake said shrugging.

"But I'm not feuding with Embry" I countered.

"Yeah I know," Jake said impatiently. "It was a way to signify the end of a feud but it was also done between friends to strengthen the bond. It's very different when it is done between friends, it's almost like you become family."

"Like a marriage between friends in a way," Embry added. "Quil and I did it, well all three of us, together, when we were little."

"Yeah my dad had us do it one day when we were fighting. I still remember the words."

Embry got on one knee with a smile and said, "Will you friend marry me Bella?"

I turned to look at Jake who was fighting back laughter. I couldn't help but laugh at Embry as well; Jake apparently wasn't the only drama queen of the bunch. "Yes, Embry I will," I replied equally as dramatic.

"Excellent!" Jake exclaimed clapping his hands together. "Hold his hands Bella." Embry reached out to me and held my hands in his enormous ones. "Okay Embry repeat after me."

Jake began to speak in Quileute and Embry repeated after him. It sounded beautiful. Jake then turned to me and said, "Alright Bells in order for this to work you'll have to say it in Quileute. So I'll say it slowly and just repeat after me okay?" I nodded my head.

I spoke the words that Jake uttered and as I did I felt a warm comfort coming from Embry's hands. As I uttered the last word I felt like I had just gained more than a friend… a brother. He bent down and gave me a loving kiss on the top of my head. When he did I felt compelled to kiss him on the cheek, so I did. I felt a connection to Embry, very different than the one that I had with anyone. Very different than the connections to Alice and Jake. It was nothing like what Jake and I had, he was still my best friend but there was more than just platonic love there, maybe. Embry was like a brother to me now, a brother that I never had or never knew I wanted.

Embry smiled at me and I knew that he felt the same way. I was now his sister. That is when I first noticed that Embry was taller than Jake. I mean the boy was huge! "How tall are you Embry?"

"6'4" I think."

"No freaking way!" Jake yelled. "I've always been taller than you!"

"Well get over it Jacob," he snapped at Jake. He looked like he was half joking. "You don't always have to be the best or the biggest." He looked a little angry. He took a few deep breaths and said apologetically, "I guess I just had a growth spurt."

"Don't worry Jake you'll have one too!" I said jokingly trying to defuse the tension in the room.

"Yeah Jake, maybe you'll grow tall enough that you won't have to look up at me." Embry teased Jake. The tension was still there but it had subsided. I was weird it had come out of nowhere. Jake only huffed at him.

"How are you feeling Embry?" I asked him, he was a little pale under his dark skin.

"Alright Bella," he replied. I felt his forehead and he was still burning up.

"I think you should take some medicine and go to bed. You are burning up."

"Yes mother," Embry joked back, giving me a one armed hug.

After Embry was safely tucked in his bed Jake and I left his house. He silently grabbed my hand as we walked back to his house. We got into the truck and made out way to Port Angeles. We had not spoken a word to each other since leaving Embry's house, but it didn't bother me.

"Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"What does that ritual mean?" I asked.

"Well," Jake said thinking. "You know… it basically means that you two are, um, family. You promised to be there for him and protect him however you can. Same for his side of the deal. 'The Bond of the Brotherhood' is what my dad called it." He paused before adding. "Remember on the beach when I told you that our people are descendants of wolves?"

"Yeah"

"Well you know how wolves travel and live in packs?"

"Sure."

"Well Embry and you agreed to be 'Pack Brothers,'" he said smiling.

"Brothers?"

"Yeah," he said laughing. "I've never heard of it done between a male and a female, let alone an outsider, but I think in this day and age we need to modernize," he said laughing. "We could get in trouble for doing it without the consent of the Chief or the council, but don't worry about it Bella."

"When you tell me not to worry I worry even more, what could they do to you?"

"Bella, I'll most likely be on the council one day and so will Quil and we'll back you up. So don't worry about it alright," he said seriously. "Just don't mention it to anyone okay." I took my eyes off the road to look at Jake, who added in a nervous tone, "Well it's not like you can take it back. What's done is done and not even the council can undo it. Plus it's not like you did it with Quil or I."

"What do you mean, Quil or you?"

He laughed nervously, "Well our families have served on the council for generations and mine, well my grandfathers were chiefs, and when one of us makes a bond like that it affects the entire tribe, so we have to seek the approval of the council because of that."

"So you two wouldn't be able to do that with me?"

"We could but… It would affect the whole tribe," his words made me think.

"Bella I would do it for you. All you have to do is ask me, and I'll do it, I don't care about what the tribe thinks," he said looking out the window. "I would want to be bonded to you…anyway possible." he said in an almost whisper. I had a feeling that the last bit was not intended for me to hear.

"Jake I don't need a ritual or a few words spoken between us to know how strong our friendship is." He smiled at my words.

We arrived at Port Angeles and walked to the piers. I could feel the salty wind hitting my face. It wasn't as nice as the beaches of La Push but it was different and nice. Everything and everyone was bustling around me. Jake led me to one of the piers that ran alongside of a restaurant.

That's when I spotted him sitting with his brothers.

"What do you keep looking at Bells?" Jake asked waving his hand in front of my face.

"Nothing," I muttered. He arched his eyebrow clearly not believing me. "Edward is over there," I said caving in.

*****

Jacob's POV

I felt almost betrayed when she said his name, but then I remembered that at the moment she was mine. I turned to look, even though I didn't want to see her ex. There he was at the cafe some distance away but I could tell it was him. He was the only person that I knew of that was paler than Bella. He was sitting there with what I supposed were his brothers, older brothers by the look of them. Even though he was so far way I knew he saw us. He was clearly, as far I as I could tell, watching us.

I didn't appreciate this kind of invasion of privacy. He didn't have any claim to Bella was far as I was concerned. I watched him. The more I did, the more I began to feel heat beginning to build inside my body starting in my chest. It began to spread all around my body filling me with anger, my senses heightened. I could smell a sickly sweet smell in the air that over powered my nostrils. It was disgusting, I sneezed.

I felt my eyes almost pop out of my skull. If I hadn't closed my eyes to sneeze, I'm sure they would've flown out my head. When I opened my eyes they were a bit blurry but they began to slowly, and then quickly clear as my eyesight became sharp. I looked to see what Edward was doing and to my surprise I could see his face clearly. There was shock and worry written all over it.

Then my hearing became much more acute. I could hear everything crystal clear, that's when I heard a familiar voice.

"He's getting closer!"

"He's close to phasing, in the next few months he'll be joining us," another familiar voice added. I looked around trying to figure out where they were coming from when I spotted Sam and Paul down by the beach between the Cullens and me. Paul was looking excitedly at me.

"Pay attention to the Leeches!" Sam commanded. Paul turned around in the direction of the Cullens.

Leeches? What leeches? And why would they need to be watched?

"Jake are you alright? You're shaking!" Bella's frightened voice brought me back to reality. Her voice was soothing; I felt my entire body relax.

"Yeah I'm fine, what do you think he's doing here?"

Her face darkened and hung with shame. "He's protecting me, from you."

"What? Why would he do that? I would never hurt you," I was bewildered.

"I don't understand it myself. Can we just go back to La Push, please?"

"Sure Bells." I wrapped my arms around her but not before shooting a dirty look at Edward.

*****

Read and review tell me what you think will happen next! I'm going to trow you for a loop!

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