Another week at school passed miserably uneventful. Wednesday was the worst day by far, however. Another torrential downpour had descended on La Push while I was in class and by the end of the day I found myself in the familiar situation of standing outside underneath an awning while contemplating how crappy walking home in the storm was going to be. Only this time there would be no Jacob to come to my rescue like a super hero in a VW Rabbit. I couldn't even ask Seth or Kim for help since Seth was on patrol and Kim had French club after school. Nope, this time I was going to have to walk. And I did. Quickly at first but I gave up on that after the first minute. There was no possible way I could get any more wet than I already was, even if I jumped in the ocean, so I gave myself up to the inevitable and settled into my normal leisurely pace. Every soggy step I took made the idea of asking Embry for driving lessons seem better and better.

I walked up the porch steps with water dripping in my eyes and pooling in my boots and stopped at the door where I saw a piece of paper with the logo of my Dad's hotel/bar at the top. It read:

"You and Me

Dinner

7:00 Friday Night

-JL"

After not hearing from Jimmy for two days I had begun to hope that maybe he'd forgotten he'd asked me out or that maybe he was more intimidated by Paul than he let on and decided against it. But no joy. I'd made my bed by trying to show the pack I wasn't under their control and now I'd have to lie in it or look like I didn't mean what I said. I ripped the note off the door and sloshed my way to the living room where I threw it in the fireplace and commenced building a healthy fire that burned the note to ash within seconds. Sitting on the couch wrapped in a blanket and the memories of the last time I'd sat by a roaring fire made my heart ache for Jacob and the warmth of his strong arms around me. I couldn't help wondering where he was and what he was doing. More importantly, whom was he doing it with. For all anybody here knew he was healing his heart in some hotel room with a different girl every night. Jealousy flared inside me and cemented my decision to go out with Jimmy.

Friday night I spent my time getting ready while I talked on the phone with Frankie as he patiently dictated exactly what I was suppose to wear that wouldn't seem too sexy or welcoming: Jeans and a black off-the-shoulder top that draped in a way that didn't cling to my figure but still looked nice, and how I should wear my hair: down to cover my bare shoulders, and what makeup I should go for: Neutral but with heavy lipstick that would deter any thoughts of kissing. Apparently, men hated getting girl's lipstick on them. At least, that's what Frankie said and for whatever reason, he thought he knew all about straight men.

"So, tell me again why you're going on this date with a guy you don't even like?" Frankie's voice was tinny through the speakerphone as I followed his orders to get ready.

"Because my brother and his friends think I'm just going to date whoever they handpick for me and that's not okay with me. Why should they get to tell me what to do?" Saying it out loud suddenly made me feel like a petulant child and I could practically hear Frankie rolling his eyes.

"From what you told me, your brother and his friends sound like real stand-up guys so why wouldn't you go out with the guy they like versus the icky jerk that none of you like? Gee, An… sounds like the only person that you're screwing is yourself. Great plan!" His sarcasm was heavy and unappreciated but he was right. He always was.

"Ugh! So you're right! You, Seth, Embry, Paul, Kim, Emily… you're all freaking right! I'm making my point but I'm cutting off my nose to spite my face. Happy?"

Frankie laughed, "Drama, drama, drama," he said, quoting our favorite line from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

I groaned, "Well, it's too late to call and back out now. He's supposed to be here in 10 minutes. I'll just suck it up and go. We'll have dinner, I'll listen to him talk about himself for an hour, and then he'll bring me home and I can turn down any future dates he asks me on."

"Order the lobster and that won't be a problem, my darling."

His know-it-all attitude was getting to me. "Bye Frankie!" I said pushing the END button on my phone.

I finished getting ready and when I looked in the mirror, I was only mildly surprised that I looked exactly the way Frankie had planned: Nice but uninviting. With the same demeanor and a little luck, he'd lose interest and end the date quickly.

I heard a knock on the front door and went to open it. Jimmy stood there, once again looking like a model and knowing it. His long hair was pulled back in a leather thong and he wore a black dress shirt that was starched stiff. Even his dark-rinsed jeans looked pleated. What kind of weirdo irons their jeans?

Before I could even say hello, he leaned forward to kiss me on the cheek. "You look… nice," he said, taking in my outfit.

Yes, I did look "nice" and he was clearly disappointed there wasn't the possibility of another cleavage shot in his near future.

We drove the short trip into the slightly larger town of Forks which was cool since I hadn't been there much. We ended up at a lodge/steakhouse and were quickly seated, even though this was obviously the place for a nice meal around here and there weren't many empty tables. There wasn't a lobster to order but I did order the prime rib that was fairly expensive and the meal went quickly despite my date going back and forth between finding reasons to grope me and shamelessly flirting with the pretty brunette waitress named Jessica, who completely ate it up. Good, she could go on the next date with Mr. Hands. As expected, he talked non-stop about himself but the only thing I found interesting was that his father was Chinese and that he felt a special bond between us because we were both "half-breeds" and not completely welcome on tribal land. I didn't have to deal with that as a child but I knew what it felt like to be considered an "outsider" here as an adult and I couldn't imagine growing up that way. I started to feel bad for him and that was my first mistake.

After dinner, I expected Jimmy to drive me home immediately so I was surprised when we drove past the turn-off to my house. "Where our we going?"

"It's a full moon tonight and the sky is actually clear for once. The ocean is going to look amazing and I know this great viewpoint about a minute away where we can go check it out. Have you ever seen the Pacific under a full moon?"

"No," I said and to be honest, I was mildly curious. A few more minutes with Jimmy couldn't be so bad. That was my second mistake.

We drove off the main road and parked in a small clearing that overlooked the beach. He was right. The moon loomed large over the ocean whose waves were a deep purple as they hit the rocky beach. It was nature at it's most awe-inspiring but I didn't get the chance to enjoy it long.

Jimmy used his right hand to brush my hair back and expose my shoulder, which I ignored. "Pretty amazing, huh?" he asked me.

"Yeah, it's great… but I should get home now. Embry's probably wondering where I am."

"Hmmm, your father says Embry doesn't come home much so you're usually there by yourself. That must get lonely." Jimmy leaned in and began kissing my shoulder.

I immediately tried to pull back. "OK, Jimmy, the date's over. Take me home now."

"You can't go home now, we're having such a good time," Jimmy said as he worked his way up to my neck while he leaned across the middle console and unclicked my seat belt.

"Get off!" I raised my hands to his chest to push him back but he grabbed me by the upper arms with a vice-like grip and gave me a hard shake.

"Play nice now, little girl, and you'll go home soon enough." He spoke through gritted teeth and his voice was hard and demanding, he wasn't even trying to pretend this was a date anymore.

With one last struggle, I lunged for the door but Jimmy used my momentum to swing my legs underneath him and pin me diagonally across the seat, the back of my head thudding soundly against the window, making stars explode behind my eyelids.

I was shaken for a moment but when I pulled myself back together, I realized that one of his hands was under my shirt and making its way toward my bra. His touch made my skin crawl and I redoubled my efforts to get him off me. "Knock it off!" Jimmy yelled. He had to readjust his position to keep me under control and inadvertently gave me the opening I needed. As hard as I could I brought my knee up between his legs.

"Ungh!" Jimmy groaned in pain and instantly recoiled back to the other seat so he could grab his crotch. I took advantage of his distance and reached behind me to jerk the door handle and practically fell out of the truck cab backwards. I slammed the door to the truck closed and began walking as quickly as I could in the moonlight. I didn't want to stop and waste time trying to get my boots off but I also didn't want to start running on the rocky ground in high heels and risk twisting my ankle. The beach we had parked at wasn't too far from my house so at least I wasn't lost.

I had just gotten to the main road when I heard Jimmy behind me. "What the fuck, bitch? You think you can just do that and get away with it?" He was beyond pissed and without looking back, I started to break into a run but Jimmy was faster and in no time, I felt him grab aggressively on my arm and the momentum of his pull caused me to twist around and lose my balance so that I fell backwards. Luckily, I had the reflexes to put my hands out and partially catch myself before my tailbone hit the ground but I cringed as my palms scraped against the little rocks on the street and I could feel their sharp little points digging into my flesh. I looked up to see him advancing toward me, his hands balled into angry fists. I tried to scramble backwards but that was getting me nowhere fast so I stopped and brought one leg up so I could kick and maybe keep him at bay while I prayed for a car to come along. I wasn't small but I was no match for a guy who outweighed me by a good 60 lbs. Jimmy just laughed, "That's not going to work this t- Oof!"

Someone had slammed into Jimmy from the side so hard that the two of them went skidding a good five feet across the street, Jimmy only saved from vicious road burn by his leather jacket. I knew instantly that the figure on top was one of the pack by the way he hopped back on to his feet like it was nothing, but the moonlight wasn't enough to let me see his face. Jimmy wasn't so quick to get to his feet, obviously rattled by the unexpected blow.

Someone else dropped to my side and I tensed up immediately. "Shhh, it's just me." Leah's voice was strong and comforting in the darkness.

"Who's that?" I asked, pointing to the dark figure.

"It's Seth," she whispered. "We've been following you, of course. Seth wanted to do this at the truck but I convinced him to hold off in case you could handle it. You did good but this fucker is persistent."

I may not have been able to see Seth clearly but Jimmy could and once he was on his feet he was laughing again. "Seriously? You think I'm going to be scared of a scrawny teenager and two little girls?" Sometimes it was easy to forget that not a lot of people outside the pack knew about the wolves but if Jimmy knew that the two people he was mocking could actually turn into 4-legged death dealers in a split-second, he wouldn't be laughing.

"No, I don't expect you to be scared of me," Seth stated calmly," But you might be a little scared of them." He pointed into the woods behind Jimmy and we all looked over to see 5 figures gliding out of the shadows of the trees. Even from as far away as I stood, I could tell the one in front was Sam. He created the formidable presence of a Quileute warrior with his legs spread wide and his arms folded across his bare chest. Behind him Embry, Quil, Jared, and Paul were just as intimidating and I could practically feel the heat of their anger rolling towards us.

Jimmy automatically began backing up, with his arms raised like someone was pointing a gun at him. "Sam, dude, you know I didn't mean anything by it. She was the one that was coming onto me all night and then she has the nerve to kick me in the junk when I try to give her what she wants. Girls… ya know?" He finished with a nervous laugh while continuing to walk backwards in the direction of his car.

Leah let out a low growl and I reached over to grab hold of her arm like I could hold her back if she decided to rip his throat out but she made no further moves.

Paul, however, took one big, quick step in Jimmy's direction causing Jimmy to take a few hasty steps back and trip over his own feet, sending him sprawling to the pavement and making Paul crack up laughing.

Deciding he had had enough, Jimmy got to his feet and took off running.

"Yeah, you better run, mother fucker!" Quil called out after him.

"You want me to go after him?" Paul asked Sam.

"No," Sam replied, "I seriously doubt he will try that with anyone else any time soon and I don't need you going and getting hot-headed and making a scene. If we make something out of this, it can't be handled quietly like a vampire."

Paul huffed in annoyance of being reigned in but he didn't dare contradict the Alpha.

The rest of the pack made their way across the street. "Nice tackle, Seth," Sam greeted us. "I wasn't sure you could hold back enough to not hurt him but you proved me wrong."

I could see Seth beaming from the high praise in the moonlight.

I waited for Sam to start berating me for my idiocy but he just looked at me with disappointment clearly written on his face and that was actually much worse. He wasn't just Jacob or Embry's Alpha, he was mine as well and I hadn't known that until just now. Even though he couldn't force me to do anything against my will like he could one of the wolves, I was still bound to him. He gave me protection and he deserved my respect in return. Not only that but he had welcomed me into the pack, even at the expense of Jacob's friendship and I had thrown it back in his face and made a huge fool of myself in the process.

"Sam, I'm so sorry," I tried to say but the roar of an engine starting up caused us all to look in the direction of Jimmy's truck. A few seconds later, he came screeching out of the woods and fishtailed onto the street, driving in the opposite direction.

Finally interrupted from his thoughts, Sam sighed and shook his head. "Embry, walk your sister home and clean up her hands. I didn't think it was necessary to explain pack loyalty to her but I was wrong so I'll leave that up to you too."

I wanted to explain to him that ironically, that conversation was no longer needed at all but when I opened my mouth to speak Embry took my arm to lead me away and silenced me with a stern look.

The walk home was quiet and Embry didn't speak to me at all until we were at home in our bathroom. I was sitting on the toilet lid and he was kneeling in front of me, picking rocks out of my palms.

"I was worried for you tonight," he said quietly, without looking up. "We all were. The fact that you would go out with a sleazy guy none of us like, not even you, just to make some stupid point…" he shook his head, "…is beyond absurd. What if we had just let you go with him by yourself? Do you even realize what he might have done to you?" Embry finally looked up and I nodded as tears of shame and embarrassment filled my eyes to Embry's absolute horror. "No, don't cry and make this all weird. You don't have to be scared. I would never let anything happen to you."

My brother had finally admitted that he cared about me and of course, this only made me feel like more of a jerk and cause me to sob harder. So much for not letting them see me cry. By tomorrow, the whole pack would have an image of me with a splotchy face covered in tears. Embry glanced around the tiny bathroom like he was looking for someone else to take over the crying girl problem for him but not seeing any help, he grabbed some toilet paper and handed it to me and began to pat my head, awkwardly. "There, there. You don't have to be afraid anymore." His ministrations might have been hilarious any other time but he was obviously trying really hard to not bolt for the door and I couldn't ruin that.

"I'm not crying because I'm afraid," I said through my tears. "I'm crying because I let everybody down and now you all think I don't care about the pack, especially Sam."

"Oh, is that all?" Embry asked, looking relieved. "Nobody thinks you don't care about the pack. Sam was just angry with you tonight for putting yourself in such a dangerous situation but he understands and tomorrow it will all be forgiven. You got a little more of a lesson than any of us expected and that's punishment enough. The Jacob situation sucks and if he was here right now I'd punch him in the face, pack brother or not. Nobody blames you for being frustrated and angry when it's obvious that it's because you miss him. Sam and Jared can't even imagine what it would feel like to have Emily or Kim just walk away from them like Jacob walked away from you. So quit crying because you're making me really uncomfortable, ok?"

I wiped my face with the toilet paper and with huge effort, managed to compose myself. When Embry was satisfied that I wasn't going to burst into tears again, he took my hands back to clean off the dried blood and bandage them for the night. He was trying to be so careful I couldn't help but grin.

"I'm putting alcohol on your cuts and that shit stings, what could there possibly be to smile about?"

"You like me. You really like me," I did my best Sally Field impression to tease him.

Embry grunted as he worked but I saw his skin flush slightly in embarrassment. "Yeah, I guess I do. After what you've done for our Dad, how could I not?"

"You did that too."

"Nah," he said. "I had 17 years to fix things with Dad and didn't do it. You're here six months and he's working toward getting sober."

I shrugged, "Except for Superbowl Sunday."

Embry snorted, "Well, yeah, but that was Superbowl Sunday. Who wasn't drunk? Rome wasn't built in a day, little sister. There, all patched up."

I got up and began helping stuff things back into the First Aid kit. "Thanks Embry. For everything."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't try to hug me or anything or you're on your own."

A/N: I promise Jacob is coming back VERY soon.

As for Anni's attitude check in this chapter, I had to do it. I wanted to make a character that equaled Jacob. She needed to be an awesome person to be worthy of him but Jacob is unapologetically human so he makes mistakes and Anni had to do that as well. So yeah... dating Jimmy, big mistake. I also wanted to dissolve the tension between her and Embry and also for her to become a complete part of the pack before Jacob came home so that accomplished that too.

What did you think?

Next up: Sam and Emily's wedding.