Embry touched my face gently. "Are you ready to talk?" He asked. Emily still hadn't come back and it had been over an hour, and the fact that not a single werewolf had entered the house since makes me think that she must have told them to stay away, because you can't go ten minutes at Sam and Emily's without someone banging that front door open.

I nod. "I think so. I mean, I would rather you hear it from me directly than in my thoughts… Except I know you probably saw some stuff in Paul's." I sigh. "I guess it started when I was born, although I don't remember when I was a baby. It wasn't until I was around four or five that I started realizing that there was something different about the way I felt around my dad versus other people. I felt more comfortable around the cashier at the corner store than my own father. At first it was just a lot of angry yelling, slamming the door, stuff like that." My voice starts to trail off. "It started off with just spankings, but then it was grabbing too tightly, pushing, hitting. Paul and my mom got the worst of it I think. Paul used to always intervene, to protect Veronica and I as much as he could."

Embry's arms tighten around mine. "I can see why it was so hard on you when he left." He says sadly. "I mean, if Sam had known, maybe…"

I shake my head. "No. I can see that it was the right thing to do, especially with his temper. Although I'm one to talk." I laugh a little. It's pitiful. "My mom, I think, was scared that he would snap if she left or kicked him out. She tried so many times and always backed out. But I don't blame her, really. I know she was always trying to do what was best for us. And she was always there for us to run to, cry to, for protection." I thought back. "But she finally did it. He had thrown me against the wall the night before, when Paul wasn't around to step in. I had some pretty bad bruises on my back. But I broke down like I never had before, in my sister's room. I think my mom heard me crying all night, because the next day, when my dad came home from work, my mom went off. And she slammed the door in his face, came upstairs and threw all his stuff out on the front lawn and then had the locks changed. I don't know what she said to him to get him to stay away, but that was it. I never saw him again until today."

"And why did he have the nerve to show his face again?" Embry spits out, through clenched teeth. I realize he's shaking at this point and I stop for a minute to put my hands on his face, which he leans into and lets his eyes close. Slowly, he relaxes and apologizes. "I'm good now, sorry."

"It's okay, I understand." I wish I had the invitation so I could just show it to him, because saying it out loud is like a stab to the gut. "He's getting married. And he wants us to go. Says he's been seeing a therapist that he's changed, I don't know." I swallow thickly. "It just seems like a very surreal dream. I honestly just want to disappear. Just for a little bit anyway. To process all of this without all the prying eyes and minds on me."

And right on cue, the door opens and Jacob comes pouring in. I wipe the tears off my face quickly and sit up straighter, out of Embry's arms. I wonder if he knows. "Hey, I was just out with Sam." He starts off, talking to Embry but throwing a side-glance at me. Yep, he knows. "We're not going to have everyone go tonight. I'm going and I'm going to bring a couple people. Quil's already in. You game?"

"Um…" He trails off. "No, I don't think so." His hand finds mine and squeezes it. "I'm going to stay with Lucy."

Jacob pauses for a second, and looks towards me. "Well, why don't you both come?" He suggests. "I think it'll be a nice distraction."

Embry turns to me. "Do you feel like going?" He asks neutrally, but I can see in his eyes that he really wants to go.

"Yeah, why not?" I shrug. He kisses the side of my head and I relax. I know that I'm stronger than I used to be, but my old fear is still instilled in me that my dad could hurt me. But with Embry around, that fear went away. Nothing bad would ever happen to me as long as I was with him. Suddenly, the world seemed right again. Especially when the door swung open and Emily came through, bags in her hand, followed by Seth on her heels.

Emily's face was pinched in a look I had never really seen on her before. It took me a minute to recognize it as annoyance towards her second cousin. I listened curiously, wondering what they could be talking about. "Oh, come on Em!" Seth whines. "Please just talk to Sam! I want to be in the clearing too, not up in the mountains playing telephone!"

Ah, he was protesting Jacob's idea of having him stay with Bella while the rest of us fought. Unfortunately for him, even if Jacob wasn't second in command, Sam thought it was a good idea too, and made it an order. Emily's grimace twists and she puts her bags down. "Seth, I've told you three times on our way back home, it's out of my hands. Now let it go, and be happy you're even going to be out there. Sam knows what's best for the pack." And by her tone, I would take that to be final. Seth knew his only hope was getting Emily on his side, and now that she had taken her stance, he looked utterly defeated as he flopped on the armchair beside where Embry and I were sitting. "Now," Emily chirped. "Who wants breakfast?"

The four of us agreed happily and I ate my pancakes quickly before helping Emily with the dishes. While I was reaching to grab a dish from her hands to rinse, she stops, puts her hand over mine, squeezing it tightly, and then goes back to washing. She doesn't say a word, but it's comforting.

"I'm going to take off," I announce after the dishes are done. I sit on the arm of the couch next to Embry. "I'm going to spend the rest of the day at home with my family. What time are we heading out tonight Jake?"

"A little earlier than last night, probably around eleven." He says.

I nod and get up to leave. Embry stands with me and walks with me. "I'll walk you home." He says, grabbing my hand and leaving me no room to protest even if I wanted to. The walk is silent, and Embry stands on alert the entire time. When we reach the door, I lean up to wrap my arms around his neck. I may have gotten taller, but I still am only about 5'10, while Embry stretches up to about 6'4. At least he's not as tall as Jake, or I would need stilts. His lips find mine and the kiss is not quite as gentle as usual, and I can't tell if it's because of him or because of me. I clutch his face tightly, trying to hold him as close as possible because right now, he feels like my lifeline. Finally, we untangle. "I should let you go be with your family." He gasps.

I lean back in and kiss him again, soft and sweet. "You're my family too. Don't ever forget that." I look into his deep, brown eyes and know that he feels the same way. "I'll meet you inside the tree line at eleven. I love you."

"I love you." He whispers back.

I turn and find my way into the house. The front room is empty, and so is the kitchen. Quietly, I make my way upstairs until I'm at Paul's door. Without knocking, I open it. He's sitting on his bed with Veronica under his arm and they're whispering about something. He looks calmer, and she looks slightly pale. The wedding invitation that my father handed to me is sitting on Paul's nightstand. Both of them look up when I walk in and without saying anything, I walk over and crawl into the bed, tucking myself under Paul's other arm. Veronica reaches across and grabs my hand. I'm suddenly transported back five years, to the last time that I climbed into Paul's bed because of my father. But I don't feel the same fear and anger that I used to feel. I'm in a much better place than I was when I was eleven...

I think I fell asleep. Someone's shaking me awake. I groan, and stiffen. I'm not in my own bed, I can tell. I sniff the pillow. It smells like Paul. But there's another smell in the room, a very nice one. I think it's Embry. That must be who's shaking me awake. I finally lift myself up and sure enough, he's standing over the bed. I realize that my entire lower half of my body is hanging off the side of the bed, because Paul and Veronica are both squished behind me, sleeping as well. Thank God Paul has a double bed. Poor Veronica must be covered in sweat. My thoughts are all over the place and I finally remember why Embry is standing in Paul's room waking me up. It's dark outside.

I remember sitting in Paul's bed for hours talking. We discussed things we haven't brought up in years. We cried. I brought up our father's wedding and neither of them said anything about wanting to go. And then, exhausted from our emotional turmoil and of course, being up all night for Paul and I, we must have all fallen asleep. "Shit," I swear quietly, sliding out of bed, trying not to wake either of them. Paul opens his eyes for a second and mumbles something incoherently, rolling towards where I was laying before and stretching out. I follow Embry quietly out of the room and through the silent, dark house, out the front door and into the forest without a peep. I can feel the shimmer in the air as he phases and a few seconds after, I follow suit. Are we late? I ask him.

Not really. It's only about ten after eleven. I figured you must have been asleep considering how eerily quiet your house was. However, I wasn't expecting you to be in Paul's room. He answers back as we both break into a run to meet Jake and Quil on the outskirts of the forest near the clearing that we were in last night. I give him a quick replay of my day and he quickly understands. Of course, that means I've also shown Jake and Quil but I'm sure they've already heard about what's going on, and they are my best friends, so they deserve to know.

That really warms my heart, L. Quil can't help but throw in a snide comment.

Yeah whatever. Don't let it go to your already big head. It makes me happy that my sassiness has made an appearance again. We finally reach the edge of the clearing, where Jake and Quil had decided to wait for us. Sorry we're late.

No worries, doesn't seem like all the leeches are here anyway. Jacob says. His thoughts slip a little bit. He was listening for Bella and hadn't heard her yet. He ignores me. Lets go.

The four of us slink out of the trees to where the vamps have already started fooling around. At least, the big one and the one who was instructing us last night are. The rest are just lounging around talking. Jacob was right; Mind reader and Bella hadn't shown up yet. It was kind of nice, him not being able to read our thoughts. My fellow wolves rumbled out an agreement. The Cullens all look up at our arrival but no one bothers to get up except for the blonde leader and his wife, who walk over to us with their greeting smiles in place. "Welcome again," he says. "As you can see, Edward is not here yet, so unfortunately we cannot communicate as well as yesterday. Make yourselves comfortable watching and please let me know if I can do anything."

Jacob grumbles something and nods his head, which is I guess his way of acknowledging his greeting, and then he starts walking a little bit closer to where the fighting is going on. Everyone spread out slightly so we can see different vantage points, but not too much so that we're out of reach from each other. He instructs and then lays down right in front. Quil goes off to the left, Embry takes the right and I'm farthest away, which means I'm closest to the vamps. I try not to let that bother me and so does Embry, even though he has some choice thoughts about it.

Quil's thoughts are more one tracked. Man, Jake, are you sure I can't get in on this? I would love to take down one of those vamps. He says eagerly, body twitching slightly. I bet I could take down the big one. There's no way he's that much bigger than I am.

Sorry Quil, Sam's orders. No fighting with bloodsuckers until the actual fight. Jake says coolly.

Aw man. He's disappointed, but that doesn't stop him from letting his thoughts wander as he watches. I can't help but snort a little listening to him.

Suddenly, Jake's nose twitches and his head shoots up to stare over into the darkness of the forest. Bella and her mind reader vampy boyfriend come through the trees into the clearing a few minutes later. It's a little unnerving that Jake can recognize her smell from so far away, but I don't mention it and he wisely ignores my thoughts. It's only a minute before he gets up and goes over to where she's standing. I watch him go, and then turn my head back towards the vampires in the middle of the clearing. I've done my part to try and intervene and it did no good. Unfortunately Jacob was going to get his heart broken the hard way. I cringe slightly, remembering that he's in my head, but luckily he's in a mental conversation with the vamp and didn't hear me.

Careful. Embry chastises me rightfully.

Sorry. I huff. It's getting harder to ignore. The look in his eyes is almost painful. I turn to watch him, leaning against Bella as she pets his fur. The anger I had before I met her and talked to her at the bonfire resurfaces. It has to end sometime. She does know this right?

Quil speaks up next. Lucy, this is really not the time. Try to keep in mind that both Jake and Edward can hear you

Sorry that I'm not as skilled as controlling my thoughts as you are, mighty Quil.

There are a lot of things that you're not as skilled as me in, little Lucy. He retorts.

Oh yeah? I'd like to see you catch me with those big ass legs of yours, you little- I'm cut off by the sound of a louder voice in our heads. Jacob.

Can you guys can it? Jesus Christ. He says casually, but there's a hint of an order in his voice. He doesn't even look over from where he's engrossed in Bella's touch as she's fully leaning on him now. Quil, you do have big ass legs. And Lucy… All of a sudden, he trails off. I can hear the pity in his thoughts. Never mind. Just quit bickering please.

I huff, roll my eyes and put my head in my paws. The mind reader is standing off to the side and staring at me. He looks troubled. I can't figure out why, until I realize that he's just as much in all of our heads as we are, and he probably knows everything. My dad could not have shown up at a worse time.

Just ignore him, Luce. Embry pulls me out of my despair. Defending a vampire is not really my style, but I can understand how hard it must be to be in people's heads. I mean, can't we all?

Quil rumbles an agreement. Yeah you're right… It is not your style defending vamps.

I snort despite myself, a big huff of air out of my wolfy nose and turn my attention back towards the field. The battle is coming soon and through all my cockiness with Quil, I know I have little experience and I need all the visuals I can get.

I try my best to ignore Jacob and Bella snuggling in the corner and I think the mind reader is probably in the same boat as me.

These next couple days are a blur. There are no more vampire watching parties, but Sam still wants us to train separately even though it's not the same but we're practicing our speed and reflexes mostly.

During my break, I find myself at Emily's talking to her and Kim. Kim is quiet as usual, and Emily is making us lunch. Finally she sits down to eat and I take a bite of my sandwich. "I cannot wait for this to be over. I'm exhausted." I complain.

Kim looks up from her food and bites her lip. She has something on her mind, I deduce. She always bites her lip before she's about to say something she's been stewing on for a while. "I'm kind of jealous of you, Lucy." She murmurs.

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows, but Emily is quickly nodding with her.

"So am I." She agrees. "I hate sending Sam off into danger. But you… You get to be there, to help. You get to stand by and know that you can protect yourself and Embry, if you needed to. You get to watch him and know that he's safe at all times. And if he isn't safe, you can help…" She trails off. "I feel like a liability."

Kim nods. "That's how I feel, too."

I'm flabbergasted for a second, but I recover and try to help ease their worries. "Guys, from what I can tell you being in their minds all the time, you are all they think about. And you know what that means? They are out there, for you. And you guys give them something to come home to."

The conversation takes a different turn and we don't revisit the topic, but I can see a sparkle of something in both Emily and Kim's eyes. They look a bit happier. Obviously they had been feeling like this for quite a while. And as exhausted as I am, I realize that they're right. I love being out there with Embry. So I throw myself into our training more than before, trying to prove to myself and everyone else that I deserve to be out there.

And then all of a sudden, it's here. The night before the battle, everyone, sans Jacob who is sleeping somewhere with Bella up on a mountain, is supposed to get as much sleep as possible. We're keeping patrol, just in case, but only two at a time and only for a maximum of two hours each so that we can get as much sleep as possible. Collin and Brady take extra shifts and prepare to stay back, grumbling the entire time.

In the early morning, the rest of us all assemble by the clearing where the future seeing vampire, Alice, had told us to meet them. Seth has taken off to find Jacob and replace him, which has caused Leah to become very anxious being separated from him.

Embry is very close to me and hasn't left my side the entire time. Suddenly, a torn howl rips through the air. It sounds like Jacob. Sam is immediately on his feet, hackles up and ready to go find him, until we hear his thoughts. Married. She's marrying that thing. I can't. And he howls again.

I'm worried about him, but I don't have time to reach out. The Cullens have met us there and Alice has some information for us. Apparently, vampire royalty are coming to check out the situation and we can't be here when they do, because they won't take kindly to us being in an alliance or whatever this is. It's going to cut it close, she can't see exactly when they are going to show up, so the minute the battle is over, we have to get the hell out of here. Sam tells Seth, who relays it to Edward and they go off to talk.

Jacob has disappeared again. It's not long before we find out why. Seth has gone back to the tent and is sitting and watching it happen. Jacob and Bella. First she's apologizing, and then he's doing what he does best and threatening her to try and scare her. It works. And all of a sudden, they're kissing.

Gross.

That's really not something I wanted to see right before battle.

Why is he doing this to himself?

Why does she keep doing this?

What the hell is going on?

Why are we watching this disaster?

This is not good. I couldn't differentiate between everyone's thoughts until I hear Sam's voice. He's worried that this is going to start another fight, a more serious one, between us and the Cullens. Finally, it ends and Jacob is back in wolf form. It doesn't take him long to get here. And his thoughts are almost worse than watching everything unfold. Okay, Jacob. Are you ready to focus? We need you primed and ready for battle.

Jacob is almost giggling when he replies. Yes sir. I fight the urge to make a typical comment.

Suddenly, a scent wafts through the field and everyone stiffens. Sam speaks again. We're going to go around and cut them off. Ambush them before they even get a chance to think. Lets go.

We all stand up and start to follow him. The fight is starting.

A/N: A little shorter but the next chapter is the battle! We never really got to see it in the books and it'll be fun to see the pack's perspective on it. Anyway, if anyone wants a sneak peek at part of the fight, I'll send it to anyone who reviews! :) hope to hear from you guys xoxo