Author's Note: My excuse…writer's block. I knew what I wanted to happen in the chapter, I just couldn't get it written out. I promise the next chapter won't take so long. Also, usually this is in Jared's POV, but I totally forgot about that until the chapter was almost done with and in Bella's POV. So you get to hear her again.

DISCLAIMER: Stephenie Meyer, along with Little, Brown and Company, owns all the rights to the Twilight Saga. I own nothing and profit nothing from this story.

I whipped my truck into Sam and Emily's driveway. Not knowing what exactly had happened in the woods, I had hoped that their house was where they would all eventually come back to. It was the sort of headquarters for the pack after all.

Without knocking I let myself into the small home. I headed straight to the kitchen where I saw Emily standing tense and staring out the window over the sink.

"Emily," I said.

"Oh," she shrieked. "Bella, you scared the living daylights out of me. I didn't hear the door, I'm sorry. I'm glad to see that you're all right though with my own eyes."

"Thanks, I mostly stayed in one piece. And I'm sorry for scaring you. Em, what's going on out there? In the woods it sounded like a fight and then a bit later there were howls. And God, Emily, it sounded as if the wolf was in pain, extreme pain."

"There were two new phases today," she said quietly, looking back out the window.

"What? Two, really? Who were they?" She turned to me with a grim expression, just as she opened her mouth to answer another voice cut her off.

"Bella!" Jared's voice filled the house. I turned just in time to see him before he grabbed me up into a tight hug. "Baby, it's so good to feel you in my arms."

"You saw me just this morning, Jared."

"I know, but I was still worried the whole time out there. I love you."

"I love you too," I said before giving him a brief kiss. When I broke away he nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck, breathing in my scent.

"How's your hand? Does it still hurt? I can get some ice for you," he said setting me done and taking my arm gently in his hands.

"It's still sore. Ice could be nice." Jared got a sandwich bag and filled it with ice. After wrapping it in a towel, he put it to my wrist.

"I thought you said you didn't get hurt?" Emily inquired from her spot at the window.

"No, I said I was in one piece. Big difference there when it comes to me."

"So is one of you going to tell me who it was that phased? I mean what other guys are there to phase that are even of age?"

Jared looked as if he was trying to figure the best way about telling me. Emily was sniffling into a Kleenex. I turned over to her.

"Emily, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm just a little shocked still. And worried."

"Shocked is one word that definitely fits the situation," Jared muttered.

"Will someone just tell me already?"

"One was Seth and-"

"Clearwater?" He nodded his head. I could understand Emily's distress. Seth was her much younger cousin. "Oh, that's awful. He's so young to have to go through this."

"Yeah, well, he's not the shocker."

"Really? Then who is, Jared?"

"I'd say his older sister takes the prize on that one."

"Leah?!" He nodded his head. Emily sobbed. "Well, that complicates things, I bet."

"You have no idea. She's being a complete bitch, no pun intended."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we're trying to help her, but she won't listen to anyone, especially not Sam. If she doesn't stop bitching about how fucked up her life is then she's going to be stuck in wolf form."

"Like forever?"

"Well, not forever, more like for the night. Everyone is getting pretty fed up with her pretty quick. I could tell that Sam is thinking that a night to let her cool off may be what she needs to listen."

"What about Seth?"

"He's fine. I don't think he's totally got everything absorbed yet, but he's willing to listen. He's been trying to get Leah to listen too, but she just ignores him. I think if he stopped focusing on her and tried to phase back himself, then he would have no problem. Leah's being a selfish brat. I mean she's the older sibling, and yet it's Seth, her baby brother that's five years younger, that is trying to take care of her. It's pissing everyone off."

A howl came from the woods beyond the backyard.

"That's Sam. I better head back out there. He only allowed me to come in and check on you for a second so I would shut up. I'll be back as soon as I can though." He leaned down to place a small kiss on my lips. He hovered near my ear and whispered. "Keep an eye on Emily for us. She seems to be taking the Leah thing pretty badly. She doesn't want Leah to hurt anymore."

I nodded and Jared left for the woods. I turned around to look at Emily. She was still staring out the window.

"Hey, Em," I said softly.

"Hmm."

"Why don't we start on a late lunch for the boys? I'm sure they're all starving. Maybe they can come in and eat in shifts while the rest still help with Leah and Seth."

"That's a good idea," she murmured, so quiet it was almost to herself.

I took that as a go ahead. I looked in the fridge and found it fully stocked. Emily must have gone shopping that morning in efforts of blocking out the packs earlier trail mission. Examining my meal choices, I pulled out the ten pounds of ground beef. Tacos would be easy. I could lay everything out and they could each assemble the tacos how they wanted. I started to brown the first pound of beef, before pulling out all the other things I'd need.

After five minutes of already cooking I determined that Emily wasn't going to be much help as she was still glued to the damn window. I was sure why she even bothered looking; it wasn't like she could even see anything. The pack was hidden beyond the tree line.

Another thirty minutes and I had enough food ready for the first couple of wolves to work their way down the taco assembly line I had created on the table. I walked out the backdoor and took only a few steps in to the yard. I knew I could be heard perfectly fine from there.

"Sam, if you want to send a couple of them in, I have lunch ready. I figured they could come in shifts of two," I called out. A few minutes later Embry and Quil barreled out of the trees.

"Thank you so much, Bella," Quil hollered as he bypassed me in direct route for the door.

"Thanks, Bella," Embry said graciously, holding the door open for me to enter into the house first.

"Not a problem."

I went back to work as the two of them stuffed their faces. They finished quickly, thanking me again on their way out. I walked over to Emily. I laid a hand on her shoulder and she jumped.

"Emily, why don't you eat you something?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Why don't you eat anyway? It would make me feel much better."

She sat down at the table and I fixed her plate. She ate mechanically in front of me. Jacob and Paul bounded into the house loudly.

"Nah, man. I think she's a defect. I mean there aren't supposed to me girl wolves," Paul said filling his plate.

"I don't know. I don't think our ancestors would have just let a mistake slip through. I think there's a reason for it."

"Yeah, obviously to make our lives harder than they already were. She's such a freaking bitch. I bet she'll only get worse too."

"Give her slack. Getting your heart broken isn't the easiest thing to recover from," Jacob said solemnly, and I felt a pang of guilt. It was my fault his heart had been broken. We had all moved passed it, well, mostly. Kim and I still didn't really get along. But Jacob and I had recovered most of our friendship. I was thankful that we could forgive each other for our trespasses.

"Whatever." The ever eloquent Paul grumbled.

Those two finished up and headed out as well. I saw that Emily had finished at least one of the small tacos I had fixed. She stood up and left for her bedroom silently. I let her go. I'm sure she had a lot to think about. Would Leah hate her even more after learning the truth? With Leah as a wolf, could Emily lose Sam? What did a female phasing mean for the tribe and pack?

I had just laid out the remaining food when I heard the back door and open and close once again. Warm, strong arms wrapped around me.

"Thank you, baby, this smells great." I leaned back against his chest.

"You're welcome." I looked around for Sam only to see Jared and I were alone in the kitchen. "Where's Sam?"

"He made a bee line for the bedroom to check up on Emily."

"She's sort of been a zombie this whole time. I had to force her to eat."

"She's just worried about what going to happen with Leah."

"The imprint is still there, right?"

"Of course, Leah phasing can't change that. I can already tell it's going to be hard on Sam, though, having to have his ex in his head like that."

"I'm sure Leah isn't jumping for joy either."

"Well, no. I think we've made a little progress with her. Or well, Seth has. He's turning on the baby brother whining act."

"Whatever works at this point is good."

"Yeah, really. I wish she would just get over whatever it that is holding her back. We don't have time for this. The pack should be focusing on the redheaded leech. Sam has us going in turns making patrols around the borders. We can't let newbies sidetrack us. I have to say, they phased at like the worst time."

"Well, go ahead and eat before it gets cold. I just put some freshly browned ground beef on the table." Jared nodded before unwrapping himself from me and fixing his plate.

As Jared was eating his second plate, Sam came out of the bedroom alone. He silently made his plate and sat down at the table. I could see the tightness in his muscles. He looked way overly stressed. The two of them ate in relative silence while I started to clean up the kitchen. I fixed the remaining tacos with everything. I figured once they finally got Seth and Leah back to being human, the two of them would be hungry. I put some wrap over them and slid the plates into the fridge.

"We're going to head back out, Bella. See you hopefully in a little while." He left a kiss on my check before heading out the door. Sam followed behind speaking just before he stepped through the doorway.

"Thank you, Bella." I nodded my head and he closed the door behind him.

I sat on the couch after I finished cleaning. Emily was still in her room, and I was left with nothing to do. I reluctantly turned on the television. I didn't think much would be on and shocker, I was right. I settled on the news station out of Port Angeles. The pretty blonde tried to look somber as she delivered her report.

"Police reports account for 7 dead and another 10 reported missing in Seattle. The crime spree is stumping police with no leads to follow. All victims seem to be picked at random with no pattern to be found. Police speculate that…"

I switched the channel. I really wasn't in the mood to listen about death and sorrow. I had enough life or death drama issues of my own.

While flipping channels, I was startled by a chorus of howls. I jumped off the couch and headed back toward the kitchen. The backdoor was already being opened when I reached the room. The boys started to flood through the small doorway. Embry, Quil, Jacob and someone I was shocked to recognize as Seth came in first. Seth the sweet, little boy I had not seen for awhile was much, much taller. He was still a bit gangly looking, not fully filling out his new height. His hair looked to be in knots with a few leaves sticking out of it.

After realizing that I was gawking at the kid, I went to heat up his food. I placed the plate in front of him and he immediately began to scarf down the tacos.

"Thank you," he muttered through his bites.

"You're most welcome. And welcome to the pack."

"Thanks!" he said excitedly. I was a bit taken back by his enthusiasm.

"He thinks it's cool that he's a werewolf," Jacob answered my confused look.

"Oh, well, that's nice. You know that he likes it."

"Leah's not too happy though," Seth said in between tacos.

"I'd imagine not."

"What, you don't want to join the pack, Bells?" Jacob asked with his namesake smile.

"No, I like being an imprint just fine, thanks."

"Imprint, that's what you guys were saying about Emily, right?"

"Yeah, Seth, it's finding your soul mate," Quil answered quietly.

"So that means that Quil here is going to be your cousin one day in the far future," Embry snickered and Jacob joined him. Quil simply glared at his best friends.

"My cousin? If Emily is Sam's, and Lynn is married, that doesn't leave any more girl cousins."

"Sure it does, Seth, think harder," Jared added, walking into the kitchen. He was followed my tense Sam and lastly Leah. She wore a scowl and glare that had me looking back to sweet Seth very quickly.

"Well, there's only Lynn's daughter's left, Melissa and Claire. But they're only four and two." Quil hung his head and sighed.

"You imprinted or whatever the fuck this shit is on one of our little cousins?" Leah roared.

Quil nodded a little. "Yeah, on Claire-bear."

"You sick pervert!" She growled.

"It's not like that!" He shouted back. "I don't think of her romantically, just as a baby sister or cousin."

"This imprinting crap is ridiculous. Could it ruin a few more lives?"

"Claire's life isn't ruined and mine certainly isn't," Quil defended.

"Has imprinting ever been done without fault or hurt?" That cause the whole room pretty much to look away. Imprinting had its perks and positives, but there were downfalls to anything. "That's what I thought." The room was silent for a moment before a growl echoed in the room.

"Lee-lee, was that your stomach?" Seth asked chuckling.

"Shut it, Seth."

"Leah," I spoke quietly, "would you like some tacos? I saved you some." She looked over at me with wide eyes like she'd just noticed me.

"Bella Swan?"

"Yes."

"You're who they were thinking of earlier?"

"Maybe…"

"Does your dad know you're dating a werewolf?"

"Nope."

"Oh, all right. Yeah, I'd love some tacos. Thanks."

"Not a problem. Just so you know, you'll be eating like a pig from now on if you're anything like the guys."

"Great," she grumbled. She quickly ate her meal, scowling at anyone that stared as she did so.

"Embry, you're up next," Sam said walking back into the kitchen. I hadn't even noticed that he'd left. I assumed he went to check on Emily again. I couldn't believe she was still hiding in there.

"Up next for what?" I asked.

"Patrol, I'm taking over for Paul."

"Oh, that's why it's so quiet." The boys all laughed in agreement.

Embry slipped out the door and the room started to get over its uncomfortable silence. I was wondering why Sam wasn't saying anything. Weren't there things he needed to tell Leah and Seth? He stood there frozen, staring at nothing. Jacob and Quil were telling Seth all the perks to being a wolf. Leah was glaring at the backdoor. I started to think that she probably wanting to be anywhere other than where she was, but a nipping at the back of my neck made me loose that train of though instantly.

Jared had made his way behind me, pulling my body flush with his own. He started to murmur sweet nothings into my ear. I closed my eyes and breathed in his earthy scent. I always felt safe and content with him so close. I started to drift away in my mind. I subconsciously heard the door open, but gave it no thought. I ignored the sudden silence as well. But the stream of curse words was enough to bring me back. I opened my eyes to see what the fuss was over.

"Well, shit," I mumbled.