AN: this is set after breaking dawn, so there are a few new wolves. Jacob's and Sam's packs have become friendly again, so they spend a lot of their time together.

Embry POV

Sam and Emily's barbeques were always fun, but they were definitely the best when the whole pack, all of the imprints, their families, and the elders were there. Hey, the more the merrier, right?

But it was rather annoying when half the pack was off with their imprints. You had Sam and Emily doing the whole host/hostess deal, then Jacob with Nessie, Quil with Claire, and Paul with Rachel. Thank God Jared and Kim weren't here yet; I think I might throw up from all of the lovey-doveyness around here. Sam says that I'll understand when I imprint. I probably will, but for now it just seems annoying.

The rest of the pack is playing football in the sideyard, a little but away from the party. Well, we WERE playing football, until Claire wandered over and Quil made us stop for fear of hurting her. Jesus. Now Brady was arguing with Quil, trying to get him to pick her up and just take her out of the football area.

I sighed, and turned back to the party, hoping to maybe see Seth come in. We had gotten a lot closer after both Jacob and Quil had imprinted, leaving me alone. but Seth was cool. He had a great pesonality, even if he was a little too optimistic sometimes.

I saw the back door from the Uley's kitchen open, and watched Emily lead Mr. Louis out. I like Mr. Louis. He was a great guy, and could always make you laugh. But he had had some health problems earlier this year, and had had to go to the hospital. I hope he is feeling better now.

I watched the door swing open again, and expected to see Sam or Sue emerging from the kitchen. But instead, I saw a gorgeous young woman. Her hair was mahogany, her eyes were ocean, her skin was teak. She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. Suddenly, I felt all of my earthly connections float away from me. I expected to fly away into space, untethered, but she brought me back. A bond had formed, a thousand times stronger than all of the others, and it held me to the earth and to her. Suddenly, I realized...I had imprinted.

"Embry! EMBRY!" I felt a hard thud as Collin threw the football at the back of my head. I turned around, annoyed that they had distracted me from this wonderful creature.

"What?" I said, dazed.

Collin looked at me weirdly. "Are you okay, man? You look a little bit...weird."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I said, waving him away. "I have to go talk to Jake."

Collin gave me a weird look. "Yeah, okay, man, whatever."

I walked through the party, trying as hard as I could to not just stop and stare at my imprint. I found Jake talking to old Quil on the patio.

"Hey, Jake, can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked.

Jake looked at me. Seeing my expression, his eyes widened. "I'll be right back," he said to old Quil.

Jake lead me around the edge of the house, away from the cheerful chaos of the barbeque. "Who is it?" he asked knowingly.

"The girl, the new girl..." I struggled to explain. "I don't know, I've never seen her before."

Jake nodded. "That must be Mr. Louis's granddaughter."

"He has a granddaughter?"

"Yeah, she just moved here this afternoon, from Sacramento. I was just talking to old Quil about her. Her mother, Louis's daughter, died about a year ago. Her name is Ari."

"Ari," I breathed.

Jake looked at me. "Dang, was I like this with Nessie?"

I laughed. "Totally, bro. You had it badddd."

Jake smiled. "And now you do. Here's a tip. Be nice, welcoming, not over the top. Try to be friends first, so she won't be creeped out. Okay?"

"Gotcha," I said.

"Okay," Jake said. "Now let's get back to the party."

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