I hovered at Julie's side, my eyes scanning the forest for the other werewolves. When they appeared, striding out from between the trees, they weren't what I was expecting. I'd gotten the image of the wolves stuck in my head. These were just four really big half-naked boys.

Again, they reminded me of brothers, quadruplets. Something about the way they move almost in synchronization to stand across the road from us, the way they all had the same long, round muscles, under the same red-brown skin, the same cropped black hair, and the way their expressions altered at exactly the same moment.

They started out curious and cautious. When they saw me there, half-hidden beside Julie, they all became furious in the same second.

Sam was still the biggest, thought Julie was getting close to catching up with him. Sam didn't really count as a boy. His face was older—not in the sense of lines or signs of aging, but in the maturity, the patience of his expression.

"What have you done, Julie?" he demanded.

One of the others, one I didn't recognized—Jared or Paul—thrust past Sam and spoke before Julie could defend herself.

"Why can't you just follow the rules, Julie?" he yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "What the hell are you thinking? Is she more important than everything—than the whole tribe? Than the people getting killed?"

"She can help," Julie said quietly.

"Help!" the angry boy shouted. His arms began to quiver. "Oh, that's likely! I'm sure the leech-lover is just dying to help us out!"

"Don't talk about her like that!" Julie shouted back, stung by the boy's criticism.

The other boy only smirked, angrily. "I guess I shouldn't really be surprised," he practically spat the words out. "After all, you'd follow her around like some stupid lost puppy."

"Oh, shut up, jackass!"

For a second I wasn't sure who had shouted. I scanned the now shocked faces of the four kids standing across from me. Then turned my head and looked up at the also surprised face of Julie. I realized that I had been the one who spoke. I felt my mouth go dry and try to swallow.

"What—did—you—say?" the angry boy was seething now, having recovered from the shock of my words.

"Julie—Julie is just…" I started stammering a little, "She's trying to help… I'm trying to he—"

A shudder rippled through the angry boy, along his shoulders and down his spine.

"Paul! Relax!" Sam commanded.

Paul shook his head back and forth, not in defiance, but as though he were trying to concentrate.

"Jeez, Paul," one of the other boys—probably Jared—muttered. "Get a grip."

Paul twisted his head back toward Jared, his lips curling back in irritation. Then he shifted his glare back in my direction. Julie took a step to put herself in front of me.

That did it.

"Right, protect her!" Paul roared in outrage. Another shudder, a convulsion, heaved through his body. He threw his head back, a real growl tearing from between his teeth.

"Paul!" Sam and Julie shouted together.

Paul seemed to fall forward, vibrating violently. Halfway to the ground, there was a loud ripping noise, and the boy exploded.

Dark silver flur blew out from his body, coalescing into a shape more than five-times his size—a massive, crouched shape, ready to spring.

The wolf's muzzle wrinkled back over his teeth, and another growl rolled through his colossal chest. His dark, enraged eyes focused on me.

In the same second, Julie was running across the road straight for the giant wolf.

"Julie!" I called, full of fear.

Mid-stride, a long tremor shivered down Julie's spine. She leaped forward, diving headfirst into the empty air.

With another sharp tearing sound, Julie exploded, too. She burst out of her skin—shreds of black and white cloth blasted up into the air. It happened so quickly that if I'd blinked, I'd have missed the entire transformation. One second it was Julie diving into the air, and then it was the gigantic, russet brown wolf—so enourmous that I couldn't make sense of its mass somehow fitting inside Julie—charging the crouched silver beast.

Julie met the other werewolf's attach head-on. Their angry snarls echoed like thunder off the trees.

The black and white scraps—the remains of Julies clothes—fluttered to the ground where she'd disappeared.

"Julie!' I choked out, staggering forward.

"Stay where you are, Bella" Sam ordered. It was hard to hear him over the roar of the fighting wolves. They were snapping and tearing at each other, their shapr teeth flashing toward each other's throats. The Julie-wolf seemed to have the upper hand—she was visibly bigger than the other wolf, and it looked like she was stronger, too. She rammed her shoulder against the gray wolf again and again, knocking him back toward the trees.

"Take her to Emily's," Sam shouted toward the other boys, who were watching the conflict with rapt expressions. Julie had successfully shoved the gray wolf off the road, and they were disappearing into the forest, though the sound of their snarls was still loud. Sam ran after them, kicking off his shoes on the way. As he darted into the trees, he was quivering from head to toe.

The growling and snapping was fading into the distance. Suddenly, the sound cut off and it was very quiet on the road.

One of the boys started laughing.

I turned to stare at him—my wide eyes felt frozen, like I couldn't even blink them.

The boy seemed to be laughing at my expression. "Well, there's something you don't see every day," he snickered. His face was vaguely familiar—thinner than the others…. Embry Call.

"I do," the other boy, Jared, grumbled. "Every single day."

"Aw, Paul doesn't lose his temper everyday," Embry disagreed, still grinning. "Maybe two out of three."

Jared stopped to pick something white up off the ground. He held it up toward Embry; it dangled in limp strips from his hand.

"Totally shredded," Jared said. "Billy said this was the last pair he could afford—guess Julie's going barefoot now."

"This one survived," Embry said, holding up a white sneaker. "Julie can hop," he added with a laugh.

Jared started collecting various pieces of fabric from the dirt. "Get Sam's shoes, will you? All the rest of this is headed or the trash."

Embry grabbed the shoes and then jogged into the trees where Sam had disappeared. He was back in a few seconds with a pair of cut-off jeans draped over his arm. Jared gathered the torn remnants of Julie's and Paul's clothes and wadded them into a ball. Suddenly, he seemed to remember me.

He looked at me carefully, assessing.

"Hey, you're not going to faint or puke or anything?" he demanded.

"I don't plan on it," I managed to deadpan.

"You don't look so good. Maybe you should sit down."

"I'm fine. Really." I breathed deeply, trying to convince myself more than him.

"Julie should have warned us," Embry complained.

"She shouldn't have brought her girlfriend into this. What did she expect?"

"Well, the wolf's out of the bag now." Embry sighed. "Way to go, Julie."

I glared at the two boys who seemed to be taking this all so lightly. "Aren't you worried about them at all?" I demanded.

Embry blinked once in surprise. "Worried? Why?"

"They could hurt each other!"

Embry and Jared guffawed.

"I hope Paul gets a mouthful of her," Jared said. "Teach her a lesson."

I frowned.

"Yeah, right!" Embry disagreed. "Did you see Julie? Even Sam couldn't have phased on the fly like that. She saw Paul losing it, and it took her, what, half a second to attack? The girl's got a gift."

"Paul's been fighting longer. I'll bet you ten bucks he leaves a mark."

"You're on. Julie's a natural. Paul doesn't have a prayer."

They shook hands, grinning.

I threw my hands up in the air. I tried to comfort myself with their lack of concern, but I couldn't drive the brutal image of the fighting werewolves from my head. My stomach churned, sore and empty, my head ached with worry.

"Let's go see Emily. You know she'll have food waiting." Embry looked over at me. "Mind giving us a ride?"

"Sure, no problem." I choked.

Jared raised one eyebrow. "You still look like you might hurl."

"Maybe one of you'd better drive then." I began to rub my temples. "Keys are in the ignition."

Embry opened the passenger-side door. "In you go," he said cheerfully, hauling me up and setting me down into my seat. He appraised the available space. "I'm driving. You'll have to ride in the back," he told Jared.

"That's fine. I got a weak stomach. I don't want to be in their when he blows."

"I bet she won't." Embry smirked.

"Five bucks?" Jared asked.

"Don't. I feel guilty, taking your money like this." He glanced at me, "After all, this girl is tougher than you think She runs with vampires."

"You can't run with vampires." I raised an eyebrow at them. They both just stared at me. "Because they're fast."

They both started crowing with laughter. I felt myself smirk a bit. Embry got in and started the engine while Jared leapt agilely into the bed As soon as his door was closed, Embry muttered to me, "I don't think you will, but don't throw up, okay? I've only got a ten, and if Paul got his teeth into Julie…"

"I'll do my best," I whispered.

Embry drove us back toward the village.

"Hey, how did Julie get around the injunction anyway?"

"The… what?"

"Er, the order. You know, not to spill the beans. How did she tell you about this?"

"Oh, that," I said, remembering Julie trying to choke out the truth to me last night. "She didn't. I guessed right."

Embry pursed his lips, looking surprised. "Hmm. S'pose that would work. Clever you."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Emily's house. She's Sam's girlfriend… no, fiancée, now, I guess. They'll meet up with us back there after Sam gives it to them for what just happened. And after Paul and Jules scrounge up some new clothes, if Paul even has any left."

"Does Emily know about…?"

"Yeah. And hey, don't stare at her. That bugs Sam."

I frowned at him. "Why would I stare?"

Embry looked uncomfortable. "Like you saw just now, hanging around with werewolves has its risk."

"Hanging around with vampires had risks, too." I said, more to myself than him.

"Hey, speaking of," Embry seemed glad to steer the conversation away from Emily, "are you okay about the whole thing with the black-haired bloodsucker in the meadow? It didn't look like he was a friend of yours, but…" Embry shrugged.

"No, he wasn't my friend."

"That's good. We didn't want to start anything, break the treaty, you know."

"Oh, yeah, Julie told me about the treaty once, a long time ago. Why would killing Laurent break the treaty?"

"Laurent," he repeated, snorting, like he was amused the vampire had a name. "Well, we were technically on Cullen turf. We're not allowed to attack any of them, the Cullens, at least, off our land—unless they break the treaty first. We didn't know if the red-haired one was a relative of theirs or something. Looked like you knew him."

"So, how would they go about breaking the treaty?"

"If they bite a human. Julie wasn't so keen on the idea of letting it go that far."

"Oh, thanks." I glared at him. "I'm glad you didn't wait."

"Our pleasure." He sounded like he meant that in a literal sense.

Embry drove past the easternmost house on the highway before turning off onto a narrow dirt road. "Your truck is slow," he noted.

"I've had a really long day. Maybe don't diss the truck."

"Sorry."

At the end of the lane was a tiny house that had once been gray. There was only one narrow window beside the weathered blue door, but the window box under it was filled with bright orange and yellow marigolds, giving the whole place a cheerful look.

Embry opened the truck door and inhaled. "Mmm, Emily's cooking."

Jared jumped out of the back of the truck and headed for the door, but Embry stopped him with one hand on his chest. He looked at me meaningfully, and cleared his throat.

"I don't have my wallet on me," Jared said.

"That's okay. I won't forget."

They climbed up the one step and entered the house without knocking. I followed timidly after them.

The front room, like Billy's house, was mostly kitchen. A young woman with satiny copper skin and long, straight, raven-black hair was standing at the counter by the sink, popping big muffins out of a tin and placing them on a ceramic plate. For one second, I thought the reason Embry had told me not to stare was because the girl was so beautiful.

And then she asked "You guys hungry?" in a melodic voice, and she turned to face us full on, a smile on half of her face.

The right side of her face was scarred from hairline to chin by three thick, red lines, livid in color though they were long healed. One line pulled down the corner of her dark, almond-shaped right eye, another twisted the right side of her mouth into a permanent grimace.

Thankful for Enbrys warning, I quickly turned my eyes to the muffins in her hands. They smelled wonderful—like fresh blueberries.

"Oh," Emily said, surprised. "Who's this?"

I looked up, trying to focus on the left half of her face.

"Bella Swan," Jared told her, shrugging. Apparently, I'd been a topic of conversation before. "Who else?"

"Leave it to Julie to find a way around Sam's gag order," Emily murmured. She stared at me, and neither half of her striking face was friendly. "So, you're the vampire girl"

I stiffened. "So… you're the wolf girl."

She laughed, as did Embry and Jared. The left face of her half warmed. "I guess I am."

"Then, yes, I am."

She smiled and turned to Jared. "Where's Sam?"

"Bella, er, surprised Paul this morning."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Ah, Paul," she sighed. "Do you think they'll be long? I was about to start the eggs."

"Don't worry," Embry told her. "If they're late, we won't let anything go to waste."

Emily chuckled, and then opened the refrigerator. "No doubt," she agreed. "Bella, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin."

"Thank you." I took one from the plate and started nibbling around the edges. It was delicious, and it felt good in my tender stomach. Embry picked up his third and shoved it into his mouth whole.

"Save some for your brothers," Emily chastised him, hitting him on the head with a wooden spoon. The word surprised me, but the others thought nothing of it.

"Pig," Jared commented.

I leaned against the counter and watched the three of them banter like a family. Emily's kitchen was a friendly place, bright with white cupboards and pale wooden floorboards. On the little round table, a cracked blue-and-white china pitcher was overflowing with wildflowers. Embry and Jared seemed entirely at ease here.

Emily was mixing a humongous batch of eggs, several dozen, in a big yellow bowl. She had the sleeves of her lavender shirt pushed up, and I could see that the scars extended all the way down her arm to the back of her right hand. Hanging out with werewolves truly did have its risk, just as Embry had said.

No, that wasn't fair. I was in no place to judge. I had hung out with vampires. How was it any less dangerous? How were vampires and the dangers they presented somehow better than the werewolves? It wasn't better. It was a different kind of danger, but a danger just the same.

The front door opened, and Sam stepped through.

"Emily," he said, and so much love saturated his voice that I felt embarrassed, intrusive, as I watched him cross the room in one stride and take her face in his wide hands. He leaned down and kissed the dark scars on her right cheek before he kissed her lips.

"Hey, none of that," Jared complained. "I'm eating."

"Then shut up and eat," Sam suggested, kissing Emily's scarred mouth again.

"Ugh," Embry groaned.

The joy and life that radiated from Sam and Emily was touching to witness, but it made me ache. I had to admit to myself that I felt a sense of longing to feel something like that again. To be so happy and so in love with someone. To have that closeness. At the same time, I felt a fear of it. The fear of what happens when that love ends, when it goes away. It was ridiculous. Why should I be afraid of trying again? Why should I dance around the edges and not dive back into it?

I was grateful for the distraction when Julie and Paul came through the door, and then shocked when I saw that they were laughing. While I watched, Paul punched Julie on the shoulder and Julie went for a kidney jab in return. They laughed again. They both appeared to be in one piece.

Julie scanned the room, her eyes stopping when she found me leaning, slightly awkward and out of place, against the counter in the far corner of the kitchen.

"Hey, Bella" she greeted me cheerfully. She grabbed two muffins as she passed the table and came to stand beside me.

Paul took a seat at the table just in front of us. He twisted around to look at me.

"Sorry." He half smirked. I nodded quickly in response.

Julie gently bumped her hip into me, "How are you holding up?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Good muffins." I picked mine back up and started nibbling again. I felt calmer with Julie beside me.

"Oh, man!" Jared wailed, interrupting us.

I looked up, and he and Embry were examining a fading pink line on Paul's forearm. Embry was grinning, exultant.

"Fifteen dollars," he crowed.

"Did you do that?" I whispered to Julie, remembering the bet.

"I barely touched him. He'll be perfect by sundown."

"By sundown?" I looked at the line on Paul's arm. Odd, but it looked weeks old.

"Wolf thing," Julie whispered.

"Okay, that's kind of neat," I whispered. "Are you okay?"

"Not a scratch on me." Her expression was smug. I couldn't help but smile at how proud she was.

"Hey, guys," Sam said in a loud voice, interrupting all the conversations going on in the small room. Emily was at the stove, scraping the egg mixture around a big skillet, but Sam still had one hand touching the small of her back, an unconscious gesture. "Julie has information for us."

Paul looked unsurprised. Julie must have explained this to him and Sam already. Or… they'd just heard her thoughts.

"I know what the redhead wants." Julie directed her words toward Jared and Embry. "That's what I was trying to tell you before." She kicked the leg of the chair Paul had settled into.

"And?" Jared asked.

Julie's face got serious. "She is trying to avenge her mate—only it wasn't the black-haired leech we killed. The Cullen's got her mate last year, and she's after Bella now."

This wasn't news to me, but I still shivered.

Jared, Embry, and Emily stared at me with open-mouthed surprise.

"She's just a human," Embry protested.

"I didn't say it made sense. But that's why the bloodsucker's been trying to get past us. She's been heading for Forks."

They continued to stare at me, mouths still hanging open, for a long moment. I ducked my head.

"Excellent," Jared finally said, a smile beginning to pull up the corners of his mouth. "We've got bait."

With stunning speed, Julie yanked a can opener from the counter and launched it at Jared's head. Jared's hand flicked up faster than I would have thought possible, and he snagged the tool just before it hit his face.

"Bella is not bait."

"You know what I mean," Jared said, unabashed.

"So we'll be changing our patterns," Sam said, ignoring their squabble. "We'll try leaving a few holes, and see if she falls for it. We'll have to split up, and I don't like that. But if the redhead is really after Bella, she probably won't try to take advantage of our divided numbers."

"Quil's got to be close to joining us," Embry murmured. "Then we'll be able to split evenly."

Everyone looked down. I glanced at Julie's face, and it was hopeless, like it had been yesterday afternoon, outside her house. No matter how comfortable they seemed to be with their fate, here in this happy kitchen, none of these kids wanted the same fate for their friend.

"Well, we won't count on that," Sam said in a low voice, and then continued at his regular volume. "Paul, Jared, and Embry will take the outer perimeter, and Julie and I will take the inner. We'll collapse in when we've got the redhead trapped."

I noticed Emily didn't particularly like that Sam would be in the smaller grouping. Her worry had me glancing at Julie, worrying, too.

Sam caught my eye. "Julie thinks it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in La Push. The redhead won't know where to find you so easily, just in case."

"But what about Charlie?" I asked.

"March Madness is still going," Julie said. "I think Billy and Harry can manage to keep Charlie down here when he's not at work."

"Wait," Sam said, holding one hand up. His glance flickered to Emily and then back to me. "That's what Julie thinks is best, but you need to decide for yourself. You should weigh the risks of both options very seriously. You saw this morning how easily things can get dangerous here, how quickly they get out of hand. If you choose to stay with us, I can't make any guarantees about your safety."

"I wouldn't hurt Bella," Julie mumbled looking down.

Sam acted as if he hadn't heard her speak. "If there was somewhere else you felt safe…"

I bit my lip. Where could I go that wouldn't put someone else in danger? I couldn't bring Renée into this—pulling her into the circle of the target I wore… "I don't want to lead Victoria anywhere else," I said.

Sam nodded. "That's true. It's better to have her here, where we can end this."

My breath caught in my throat. I didn't want Julie or any of the rest of them trying to end Victoria. I didn't want them anywhere near her. I glanced at Julie's face; it was relaxed, almost the same as I remembered it from before the onset of the wolf thing, and utterly unconcerned by the idea of hunting vampires.

"You'll be careful, right?" I asked, my voice tight with worry.

The boys and Julie burst into loud hoots of amusement. Everyone laughed at me—except Emily. She met my eyes, and I could suddenly see the symmetry underlying her scars. Her face was still beautiful, and alive with a concern as fierce as mine. I was grateful for the understanding in her eyes.

"Food's ready," she finally said, and the strategic conversation was history. The guys hurried to surround the table—which looked tiny and in danger of being crushed by them—and devoured the buffet-sized pan of eggs Emily placed in their midst in record time. Emily ate leaning against the counter with me—avoiding the bedlam at the table—and watched them with affectionate eyes. Her expression clearly stated that this was her family.

All in all, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting from a pack of werewolves.

I spent the day in La Push, the majority of it in Billy's house. He left a message on Charlie's phone and at the station, and Charlie showed up around dinnertime with two pizzas. It was good he brought two larges; Julie ate one all by herself much to my amusement.

I saw Charlie eyeing the two of us suspiciously all night, especially the much-changed Julie. He asked about the hair; Julie shrugged and told him it was more convenient.

I knew that as soon as Charlie and I were headed home, Julie would take off—off to run around as a wolf, as she had done intermittently through the entire day. She and her brothers of sorts kept up a constant watch, looking for some sign of Victoria's return. But since they'd chased her away from the hot springs last night—chased her halfway to Canada, according to Julie—she'd yet to make another foray.

I had no real hope that she might just give up. I didn't have that kind of luck.

Julie walked me to my truck after dinner and lingered at my door, waiting for Charlie to drive away first.

"Don't be afraid tonight," Julie said, while Charlie pretended to be having trouble with his seat belt. "We'll be out there, watching."

"It's not just myself or Charlie I'm worried about, Julie," I looked up at her.

"You're silly. Hunting vampires is fun. It's the best part of this whole mess."

I shook my head. "If I'm silly, then you're dangerously unbalanced."

She chuckled. "Get some rest, Bella. You look exhausted."

"I'll try."

Charlie honked his horn impatiently.

"See you tomorrow," Julie said. "Come down first thing."

"I will."

"Okay." She stepped back to close the truck door.

"Hey," I reached out and grabbed her arm, my hand lingering for a moment, "Julie…"

She moved her hand over mine. "Yeah, Bella?"

I couldn't get any words to come out, so I just pulled her to me and threw my arms around her neck, gripping her in a tight hug. From my sitting position in the truck I was just high enough that my mouth was right at her ear.

"Please be careful, Julie." the words came out in a whisper.

"Sure, sure." I could hear the smile in her voice, and her big hand gently rubbed my back.

I reluctantly broke the hug, Julie took a step back, and closed the truck door. She gave me a quick reassuring nod. I nodded back, but I could tell my face conveyed my worry.

Charlie followed me home. I paid scant attention to the lights in my rearview mirror. Instead, I wondered where Sam and Jared and Embry and Paul were, out running in the night. I wondered if Julie had joined them yet.

When we got home, I headed straight for the stairs, but Julie was right behind me.

"What's going on, Bella?" he demanded. "I thought Julie was part of a gang and you two were fighting."

"It was… We made up. It was a misunderstanding."

"And the gang?"

"Another misunderstanding. We both had the wrong idea about it all. But I met Sam Uley and his fiancée, Emily. They're both very nice." I shrugged. "I don't know why I thought so badly of them. Sam was the one who found me… that day."

Charlie's face changed. He didn't seem like he wanted to bring that up. "Oh," he mumbled, then he attempted to redirect the conversation, "I hadn't heard that he and Emily had made it official. That's nice. Poor girl."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"Mauled by a bear up north, during salmon spawning season—horrible accident. It was more than a year ago now. I heard Sam was really messed up over it."

"That's horrible," I echoed. More than a year ago. I'd bet that meant it happened when there was just one werewolf in La Push. I shuddered at the thought of how Sam must have felt every time he looked at Emily's face.

Even then, I couldn't help but shake the sense of familiarity I felt about the story. A horrible accident, a cover up story. Mauled by a bear, fell down a flight of stairs… What was the difference? Werewolf attack, vampire attack. Emily and I both had our scars from the ordeal. My finger ran along the silvery scar on my hand, hardly a comparison to what Emily had suffered but who could say if things hadn't gone differently what state I'd have ended up in? I didn't want to think about it anymore. There were more important things to worry about.

That night, I lay awake for a long time trying to sort through the day. I worked my way backward through dinner with Billy, Julie, and Charlie, to the long afternoon in the Blacks' house, waiting anxiously to hear something from Julie, to Emily's kitchen, to the horror of the werewolf fight, to talking with Julie on the beach.

I thought about what Julie had said early this morning, about hypocrisy. I thought about that for a long time. It had been a misunderstanding and she had apologized for it. But was she right? Was I a hypocrite?

At first, I had been so terrified of Julie and the La Push boys; of the werewolves. Did I have any right to be?Were they the wrong kind of monster? Was Julie the wrong kind of monster? Was she a monster at all? If I honestly believed that, yes, the wolves are monsters because they're dangerous, because they're unpredictable… I was a hypocrite.

Vampires were dangerous, there was no doubt. My birthday had proven that they could be unpredictable. There was no real difference. Dangerous, unpredictable. Vampire, werewolf. If I believed Julie was a monster, then I had to accept that Edyth was a monster, too.

I wondered why this all bothered me so much. Why it nagged at my conscious. I couldn't answer the question, but I realized none of it mattered. When you care about someone it changes things. Nothing is black and white anymore. Sometimes, love is irrational. The more you loved someone, the less sense anything made.

I rolled over and tried to think of something else—and I thought of Julie and her brothers, out running in the darkness. I fell asleep imagining the wolves, invisible in the night, guarding me from danger. When I dreamed, I stood in the forest again, but I didn't wander. I was holding Emily's scarred hand as we faced into the shadows and waited anxiously for our wolves to come home.