Getting Close

Mara settled in the living room of Emily and Sam's cabin after lunch with a mug of tea and her notebook out. When she and Embry returned from their walk, most of the guys had left though Jacob and Paul had stuck around. Sam still hadn't returned. She wasn't sure what to make of it. She still felt like it had something to do with her asking about the attacks, though Emily had said something came up at the shop that he owned.

Lunch was a much more pleasant experience than the interview had been. As soon as she had walked back through the door, the jokes had started up and she spent nearly the entire meal laughing as Paul and Jacob shared stories from growing up on the reservation and some good-natured teasing - much of it directed at Embry.

Even Mara opened up, sharing a few embarrassing stories from high school. But now that they were in the living room, Mara planned to get back into the attacks.

"So, this isn't the first time something like this has happened around here," she said, looking around the room. Paul and Emily glanced at Jacob, silently referring to him. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Like Sam said, we've had a fair amount of animal attacks around here over the years. Kind of goes with the territory. Though the last we've seen something like this was several years ago," he said.

"Did you ever find the animal causing it back then?" Mara asked, scribbling things down.

"No, but some of the guys from the reservation went out with the police to try and track it down. The attacks eventually stopped on their own, so we assumed the animal either died or moved out of the area," he said.

"What did you think it was?" Mara asked.

"A bear," Jacob said immediately. Mara glanced up at him.

"A bear?" she asked.

"Again, not unusual," Jacob said.

"It's hitting the local tourism industry pretty hard, though," Paul said. "Already gotten a fair amount of cancellations with the local lodges. Lot of La Push and Forks rely on campers and hikers coming in."

"We've even warned people not to go out into the forest alone. Always go in groups and avoid being out there at night. At least until we can track it down," Embry said, looking at Mara. "You probably shouldn't go back out to any of the accident sites as well unless you have someone with you."

Mara blushed slightly, though she kept her eyes trained on her notebook. She wasn't sure why she was reacting this way because of his concern for her safety.

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied.

"Should take Embry with you. He knows his way around these woods," Paul said, grinning. Mara's face just heated up more.

"Was it locals in the past as well? Inexperienced hikers?" she asked, pushing her feelings aside as she looked over at Jacob.

"Mostly locals, though not all were hikers," he said. Mara nodded, thinking over what she knew about the current hikers.

"The reports said this latest round was all people who knew what they were doing," she commented.

"Whether you know how to hike or camp doesn't really change much. If a bear wants to attack, it will," Jacob said. Mara frowned.

"But wouldn't they know how to take measures to avoid that?" she asked.

"They might. But still, it happens," Jacob said, shifting in the chair where he sat.

Mara couldn't help but think there was something he was leaving out as she glanced around the room. Paul was looking down at his hands, while Emily fiddled with her mug. She wanted to push them, but then remembered how Sam stormed out earlier. She had just gotten them to open up to her.

Perhaps now was not the time.

"Anyone need more tea?" Emily asked suddenly. "I'll get some." She then pushed herself out of her chair and started gathering the mugs.

"Here, let me help," Mara said, quickly jumping to her feet.

"Thanks," Emily replied, offering her a warm smile.

After the two left the room, Paul grinned at Embry.

"So… take it the walk went well," he said casually. Embry couldn't help but smile slightly as he nodded.

"She's… well, there's a lot more to her than I thought," he said, glancing towards the kitchen where he could hear the kettle start and soft talking. "God, she found her dad dead at their home when she was 15."

Jacob's eyes widened as Paul's eyebrows shot up.

"That so?" Jacob asked. Embry nodded.

"He was a reporter too," he added. Part of him felt like he was betraying her trust, but at the same time, Jacob would know everything the next time they phased anyway. The whole pack would. "She said that's why she wanted to be a reporter."

Both Paul and Jacob let the information sink in as they glanced towards the kitchen. While Mara had come off as guarded earlier, she had spent most of the time with them laughing and smiling. They had no clue she held such tragedy in her life.

"But there's more… she suspects that these aren't random animal attacks," Embry continued, lowering his voice as he leaned forward on his knees.

"That's not good," Paul replied.

"No, shit," Jacob replied.

"She's determined to figure it out because she thinks the police are covering it up," Embry said, worry started to fill him.

"We still haven't managed to figure out who is causing them," Jacob said, his brow furrowed. "Even though we know what it is - this bloodsucker is good at getting away."

"I know… I'm worried what it could mean for Mara if she gets too close to the truth. They could come for her if they catch on to her investigation," Embry said. "She'll eventually have to be told about us, but… she can't know about them."

Paul and Jacob were silent a few moments.

"Have you decided when to tell her?" Paul asked. Embry shrugged as he leaned back on the sofa.

"I don't think I can tell her right now," he admitted. "Honestly, I think I need to wait until she gets to know me, us, a bit better."

"She seems to have a good head on her shoulders. She should be able to handle it," Jacob added. Embry nodded.

"But it's better to wait," he said.

"Probably not a bad idea…"

"You guys really do have a lovely home," Mara said as she watched Emily pour more hot water into the mugs and reach for tea packets.

"Thanks," she replied. She glanced up at Mara and then towards the living room. "So, did you enjoy your tour of the reservation?"

"Yea, it really is nice out here," Mara said. "My family used to go camping a lot, but I haven't been in ages. It's been nice getting away from the city for a bit."

"You should come out this way more often. When you're not working and can really enjoy the area," Emily said. Mara nodded slowly.

"I was thinking I might do that, actually," she said. "But probably not when there's a murderous animal stalking the woods."

"Right," Emily said. She then stopped her work and looked Mara straight in the eye. "What do you think of Embry?"

Mara's eyes widened as her mouth dropped open slightly. She hadn't been expecting her to ask about him. Was this whole day a set-up? Is that what all the furtive glances and looks between everyone had been about?

"I, well, I haven't really thought much about him," she lied, starting to fiddle with some tea packets before dunking them into the mugs. Perhaps Emily could read her mind. She had found her thoughts – and her eyes – drifting towards the man often during lunch. However, she had thought she'd been discreet about it. Emily chuckled.

"It's okay… I did notice you kept looking at him," she said, turning to lean against the counter. Mara's eyes flew up to her as her cheeks started turning pink.

"And here I was hoping no one noticed," she confessed.

"Well… I'm a bit more observant than your average person," Emily replied. "Not to mention, he's been looking at you just as much." Mara studied the woman a moment, wondering if perhaps she could confide in her about everything. The odd experience in the woods, how Embry suddenly dominated her thoughts and dreams, how even now, she felt this pull towards him.

But at the same time, reason told her not to. She had just met the woman. She also barely knew Embry.

"Well… he's certainly attractive. And he seems sweet," Mara said. "But ultimately I am here for work. I need to stay focused on that." Emily nodded and then reached out, taking Mara's hand. Mara was surprised at the gesture. Seems the people of La Push were all touchy-feely. Well, not Sam.

"He's a good guy. And I can tell that you're a good person as well. Surely you can spare some time to get to know him better while you're here," Emily said. "And I know we'll all feel better about him having a friendly face when he moves off to Seattle in a few months." Mara nodded.

"I think I can at least do that much," she said.

"Good," Emily said, smiling as they loaded up the mugs on a tray and carried them back to the living room.

"Look at him. He's still smiling," Paul said, causing Embry's cheeks to heat up.

"Stop it," Emily chided as she handed him a plate with a sandwich. "He didn't give you a hard time when you imprinted."

"Still can't believe it was my sister," Jacob said, shooting Paul a look.

"I like her," Emily said, offering Embry a warm smile. "I think she'll make a great addition to the family."

Mara had left about 30 minutes ago and as soon as she left, the ribbing had started up. Usually Embry would have been embarrassed, but he found that he was too happy to care. Overall, things had gone well, and he couldn't stop thinking about when he could see her again. They had managed to exchange numbers before she drove off and he had spent the last 30 minutes wondering when would be too soon to text or call her. After their talk while walking around, he wanted to know even more about her.

"She gone?" Sam asked as he walked in. The laughter died down as they all turned to look at him.

"About half an hour ago," Jacob said.

"Did you really have to give her the cold shoulder?" Emily asked, stepping over to kiss his cheek. "She is really kind. And she's got good intentions."

"It's not her intentions I'm worried about," he said as he sat down. "It's her getting too close."

"But Embry imprinted on her. She's going to be let in on the big secret eventually," Paul countered.

"That's not the secret I'm worried about," Sam said. "She's here to look into the attacks. And we all know that they aren't being caused by a bear. Or a human."

An uneasy silence spread around the room as they thought back to what Embry had shared with them earlier.

"She's already suspicious," Embry told him. "She's starting to put things together and knows that the police are giving her the runaround."

"Then we need to make sure she finds information that leads her elsewhere," Sam said. "She can't find out about the others."

"Look, the Cullens are in Canada. And we can take care of whoever's been around in the woods before it gets that far. There won't be a reason for her to find out about the others," Jacob said reasonably. "We'll take care of the situation and make sure the official story is that it was animal attacks."

"And you're sure she'll buy that?" Sam asked, looking at Jacob. Jacob looked over at Embry, who sighed.

"I'm not sure… from what I've learned of her so far, she's intuitive. But she also needs evidence. I think if she's shown strong evidence that it's a bear or whatever, she'll buy into it," he said.

"Okay," Sam said. "We can do that much. But you're going to have to make sure that she buys it." Embry nodded. He didn't like the idea of lying to Mara, but he knew that ultimately it was in her best interest. No good would come from her finding out about the vampires. One way or another, there was a high chance it would end up with her killed. Even Charlie Swan had no idea about their existence, though he definitely knew that the Cullens and Bella were different.

"Since that's settled," he said with a sigh. "Better eat up. We've got another patrol tonight."

"Got it."

Mara couldn't help the smile that played across her face as she settled down at the table in her motel room with her laptop. She glanced through her notes from the reservation, mentally starting to organize them. She would need to give Richard an update soon.

She then turned her attention to her email. There were a few from Richard, but one from Chief Swan grabbed her attention immediately. She opened it, glancing through its contents. It was short – just a small update that the police were planning to go back out in the woods the next day to continue hunting for the animal. He had also attached the latest report on the third autopsy.

She quickly opened it, scanning through the contents. It was the same as the others, with the medical examiner concluding it was definitely an animal attack. Mara frowned as she sat back in the chair. She thought back over her time at the reservation and her suspicions that the deaths weren't random attacks. She then sat up and sent off a reply, letting him know that she was coming by the next morning to talk to him.

The best way to approach this, in her mind, was to be direct.

After that was sent, she started through her notes again, typing them up in longform. But her fingers slowed as her mind kept drifting back to her visit. She had enjoyed being up there for the day. After the initial coldness of her arrival, everyone seemed to open up to her. And she found that she wanted to spend more time there. Perhaps she could afford to take some time off from the story. Surely one night or afternoon of fun wouldn't kill her as long as she still made deadline. And Richard had been happier with her recent updates. She could always tell him that it was for the story – building rapport with the locals.

Her thoughts then turned to the conversation in the kitchen with Emily. Mara had met few people who were as observant as the young woman – her father being one. Though she supposed she had made it easier with her constant glances toward Embry. She still didn't understand why she felt such a deep, sudden attraction to him.

Duh, it's love at first sight, idiot, she could hear Katie saying in her head.

Mara stopped typing as she sat up and then leaned her chin on her hand. Was that what this was? Surely not. Mara didn't believe in love at first sight. She believed in taking time to build trust and a relationship. Then love would come into play. There was absolutely no way that she was falling for a man she had literally just met yesterday.

You are way too uptight, Mar. Sometimes you need to just go with it, Katie had told her once. Sighing, she wondered if her best friend was right. That she was too uptight. She rarely had a relationship that went longer than two dates, always finding something wrong with the man and ending it in the name of not wasting anyone's time further. She had told herself it was because she needed to focus on her career. But she couldn't help but feel that something in her life was missing.

And that every time she was around Embry, it felt like that something that was missing had appeared.

"This is crazy," Mara muttered to herself. "I can't actually be thinking about doing this…"

Everything about the situation was crazy. She was supposed to be focused on the story, not some guy she barely knew. She couldn't let herself get distracted. However, even she couldn't deny how often her thoughts drifted towards him. Or how she couldn't help but smile when she thought of him or was around him.

Maybe it was time that she took Katie's advice and just went with it.

Embry dropped into his bed, exhausted. It was late and he still had homework to finish, but he would put it off until tomorrow. He still had some time before it was due. And he didn't think he could stand to keep his eyes open any longer after the patrol that night. They hadn't found anything – again. It was frustrating. But at the same time, he hoped that whoever was behind the attacks had finally moved on. It had been a week since the last one at this point.

But then he realized that if they were over, that would mean Mara would have to go back to Seattle.

Another smile spread across his face as he thought about her visit earlier. It was worth taking the day off just to spend time around her. And she seemed to fit in with the others. Even though he didn't really know what the future would hold, he felt more excited about it than he had in a long time. And he knew it was because of her.

It was amazing how everything had shifted. He suddenly wasn't so worried about the future. All he wanted was to be with Mara. To protect her. Keep her safe. To make her happy. An image of her smile filled his mind. He wanted her to smile like that always. It was bright and a small dimple appeared on her right cheek.

Sighing, he rolled onto his back and tucked his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. He never thought that when he imprinted it would be like this. But at the same time, he felt that he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

There was something about Mara. She was his match and he couldn't wait to discover more about her. Sure, it would take some time. Imprintees didn't always instantly fall in the same way that imprinters did. But he would be patient.

Mara was worth the wait.

Sorry I'm late on posting this! Got a large work project that I'm trying to finish up by Tuesday and also bogged down a bit by another story I'm working on for this site. Plus trying to get editing done on an original novel that I want to self-publish this year. But will be posting regularly on this one since it's already done. ^_^

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