LPOV

We were a half mile through the forest before I was able to process what was going on. Embry's cries of panic had alerted us to Emily's absence. A second later he lifted his nose to the air and bolted out the door. Scared for his mental state and worried about Emily, Jake and I were now running in our wolf forms at his side. Jake was connected to him, acting as a medium to link all three of us. His thoughts were scattered and heavy. I could feel the link he had with Emily and the reason for his hysteria. She was happy. Not just normal happy, it was like she had something she was looking forward to. Something that also had her feeling guilty. A determination that was out of place for one in such a frail state.

Jake tried to calm Embry down so he could focus. He was running on instinct without a clear destination. All attempts were useless. He could barely hear his own thoughts let alone Jakes pleas. I concentrated, attempting to block out the swarm of thoughts streaming through from Embry. Sniffing the air, I was trying to locate a familiar scent. There was nothing for the longest time. Then suddenly there she was. A fresh scent. Near the Cliffs.

Near the Cliffs? I thought.

My own panic level increased. Jake passed this on to Embry who turned sharply in his tracks. His mind was running over possible scenes now. Emily jumping. Emily's body crashing against the rocks. Emily's body floating towards the shore. Each was particularly painful for Jake to watch. I picked up speed, encouraging Embry to do the same. I needed to make this happen now. For both Jake and Embry.

We could all smell her now. Her scent was undiluted and strong. She was clearly still alive and not yet in the water. As we passed through the clearing her figure became more apparent. She was almost at the cliff ledge. We were greeted by her back facing us as her head was tilted towards the sky. She stood in her pyjamas, completely exposed to the icy wind that lashed at the flimsy material that covered her.

The sight was too much for Jacob. He suddenly pulled back and I encouraged him to take the base of the Cliff as back up. He said nothing but I could tell he was thankful. A re-enactment of Bella Swans death was more then enough to break the hard exterior he had spent two years working on. I was angry at Emily now. Angry that she would put both Embry and Jake through such pain. Suicide was the most selfish and cowardly act someone could commit. Pain was a part of life. You could face it head on or you could work through it. The easy way out wasn't Emily. She was the poster child for strength through adversity. It felt wrong and I knew there was more to this.

The three of us phased at the same time. Although it was still very early we were in a public area now. Each of us had changed too quickly to save our clothing. Three naked locals would be easier to explain then three large wolves. Running ahead of Embry I stopped him mid-stride, storming furiously towards Emily. It was obvious he was about to grab her and force her to come back home. If he startled her she could fall. Worse yet, his naked body could freak her out enough that she would jump. My eyes shot him a "leave this to me" look. Approaching her slowly I was careful to leave some space between us.

"Em" I said in a soft whisper.

She didn't turn around.

"Emily" I said, a little louder and with a more urgent edge to it.

Her body turned to face me. There was a strangely peaceful smile on her face that disappeared as she completed her pivot. She looked at both Embry and I and a mixture of guilt and anger washed over her.

"What are you doing here Leah? Can't you just leave things as they are?"

"Are you serious? Leave you to kill yourself. You have to be joking."

She groaned as she rolled her eyes.

"Don't you see Lee, this is what he wants. He wants me to join him. He and the baby, they are making a home for me up there."

I heard Embry's gasp from behind me and wondered if my own had been as loud. She had truly deluded herself into thinking that this was going to happen. This would connect her to Sam.

"Emily....Em. You don't know that..." She cut me off

"No, Leah, I do! He came to me in a dream. He showed me that he's with the baby and they're both doing great. He's working on the dream house we talked about. It's going to have seven bathrooms for the seven children we planned on. I always dreamt of my own bathroom as a kid so we wanted to make sure our children could have the things we didn't. He's also going to..."

She continued rambling and I glanced over at Embry. His eyes were full of pain. The conviction in each of her words was disturbing. This was not an overnight revelation. She had been planning this for a while now and neither of us had picked up on it. She stopped talking finally, her face covered in a beaming smile. A look of excitement, like a child on Christmas Eve. I stepped forward, ready to snap her out of it.

"Emily, Sam is dead. The baby is dead. You are alive. You have people here who love you and are concerned about you. Have you thought about what this would do to me? What this would to do Sue? You're family or Sam's already grieving family? What about Jake? This is killing him being here. He's been working through this for so long and now you're ready to take it away from him. Seeing this, all over again...I don't know how long it would take him to recover."

The craziness left her eyes finally as my words began to set in. The fake smile dropped and she collapsed onto the ground below her.

"I'm sorry" She whispered.

I took another soft step closer, unsure if I was able to comfort her yet. Embry rushed past me. Too fast. I had to grab him once again to hold him back.

"Its never going to get better is it Lee?" She asked just as quietly as her apology.

"It will, trust me."

"But I've lost the one love of my life. No one will want me now. Look at my face. Who would love this?" She started to work herself up now. Getting to her feet again I saw a self-pity in her eyes that I had never seen before. "I see the way children react to me in the street. I know I'm a monster. It was easier before, I wasn't alone. Now...well I just don't have the strength to deal with that on my own Lee and I can't keep relying on you guys to be there for me."

"Don't act like you're a burden Emily, that's beneath you. You are family, I really don't mind..."

"You don't, but I do. Sam loved me, he was there for me because he wanted to be. I didn't have to force him. I will never, NEVER have that again. I know how you feel about imprints Leah but it was the one thing that held me here. Now what do I have to live for?"

"You have me" Embry said.

I tried to shut him up with my eyes. This didn't feel like the right time to tell her about his imprint. She looked at him confused and he took another step closer.

"Haven't you noticed it? The connection between us? There is a reason that you let me into your hospital room when you denied the other guys." He was looking into her eyes now, approaching slowly as he spoke. She stared back at him completely blank.

"I know you can feel it Em and I'm not trying to rush anything. I just, I want you to know that I'm here for you in any way you need. And maybe in the future, if you're ready...."

Recognition filled her face followed quickly by repulsion.

"Oh, god Embry, YOU IMPRINTED ON ME?" the fury in her words stopped Embry in his tracks. My head swung towards her, startled.

"That's...ugh....that's just sick." She gripped at her stomach as if she was going throw up. Embry's face fell at the sight of her pain. He was close enough to reach out to her now but he stood back as shame filled his face. He spoke in a light, pleading whisper.

"I didn't mean to do it. It's not like it was in my control. I didn't think you'd react like this....I'm sorry"

"How did you think I would react? The soil is barely settled on my husband's grave and you're already planning on moving in on his territory." she was furious, yelling over the crashing waves below.

"No, I swear its not like that."

Embry tried to grab her wrist in an attempt to console her but she recoiled with so much force she began to lose her balance. Both of our eyes flew open as she stumbled to recover herself. It was to no avail. She misjudged her step, her upper body leading her backwards. It was as if it happened in slow motion. Then suddenly, she was out of sight.

"EMILY" Embry screamed, throwing himself off of the cliff after her.

"Jake" I yelled out, looking franticly for him. This was why he was covering the base. I couldn't see him anywhere. I ran to the cliff base in seconds looking for a sign of anyone.

Nothing.

I had jumped off this cliff hundreds of times with Emily. It was safe enough. But at the angle she fell it was possible that she knocked herself out. That on top of the fact she didn't want to survive left me worried.

Then a head bobbed out of the water. Embry. He looked around locking eyes with me after scanning the immediate area. I shook my head to show I hadn't seen Emily and he quickly went back down.

Panic began to set in once again. I still wasn't sure where Jake was. If he had dived in or it had been too much for him. No one would blame him if it was. No one but himself. I sat and counted as Embry's head emerged from the water once, twice and a third time. My heart was in my chest and my stomach turned with worry. Then I heard foot steps, from behind me. Just one set. I turned quickly, afraid to hope. The sight filled me with overwhelming relief. Jake was walking, carrying a shivering Emily in his arms. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she clung tightly to his warm body. I ran towards them screaming out to Embry as I did.

"She's okay Em, you can come back, she's okay!"

I grabbed onto my cousin who was stiff in Jakes arms. When she didn't return the hug I backed away. Behind me I could hear Embry as he ran out of the waves. I was sure he too was equally relieved, if not more so.

"Are you ok cuz? Do we need to call a doctor?"

She refused to look at me and I struggled to figure out why she was so annoyed at me.

"Can you take me home Jake?" She asked as if they were alone together. He looked at me before looking down at her.

"Ah, sure. No problem."

I stood with Embry as we watched them walk out of sight. He was silent for awhile. I encouraged him to the forest, out of public view. He walked with me like a zombie. Not even registering when we made it into a sheltered area. He sat on the ground, blinking occasionally. I sat beside him.

This comforting stuff was getting easier for me. I stroked up and down his arm in a show of support. He didn't acknowledge me at all. We sat like this for over an hour, closer to two. He seemed to be slipping into a catatonic state. It was hard to imagine what was going through his mind as his he looked like nothing more then an empty shell. Occasionally his eyes would well up, then before a tear was shed they were hard again.

I opened my mouth in an attempt to connect with him.

"I know this hurts Em but she's just angry. Give her sometime for the idea to set in."

Nothing.

"I'll do my best to explain it to her. I get it, I do."

Still nothing. I gave up this time. Choosing instead to settle back into the spot I was sitting in but as I did Embry began to stand up.

"Leah" he said my name with a dead voice. Defeated and tired.

"Yeah Em?"

"Tell my mom I'm sorry. I'll try to update her when I can. I'm pretty sure I'm already fired so I shouldn't need to check in with work..."

"Wait, what? You're going somewhere?"

"There is nothing here for me but pain Leah. I need to go, to get away from this town. I need time to.....I just need time."

My breath caught as his words caused my chest to tighten. I felt like their weight would crush my heart. Suddenly finding it hard to breath I looked back at Embry with a plea in my eyes.

"But, if you stay we can work this out. There is no need to run off Em. You have no idea what's out there...or what's happening here. Plus, I need you to help me look after Emily. Jake and I can't do it on our own."

My words came out so fast a few of them were slurred together. I heard my voice crack but my brain was too full of worry to process why his words hurt me so much.

"You guys will be fine without me. Its not like I'm wanted here anyway. I have to do this Leah, I'm not changing my mind." His voice was in a monotone but I could hear the hurt that laced it.

"You are wanted here." I said, almost pleading.

He turned back to me for just a second. It looked like he was about to force a smile but it never quite manifested. Instead he burst through his human form and into the large grey wolf that was befitting of someone too full of human emotion to be contained in such a weak shell. He turned his muzzle towards me one last time as he darted through the trees and out of sight.

I was on the ground somehow, my legs having given out. Physically I felt heavier, weighed down by the pain. I didn't want to think of why it hurt so much because I didn't want to hear the answer. It was the same answer to the same question that had plagued me for the last year. The one I had tried to lie to myself about. Now, now that I knew what it was it was too late.

Embry was gone.