Embry's POV

It was late, and though he'd wanted nothing more than to shift to his wolf form after following Lysandra home in Jared's truck, he didn't. Instead, Embry went to Sam's house, like Jake had asked him to.

"She's gorgeous man," Jake put his hand on Embry's shoulder before sitting down at the table next to him. "Paul and Jared showed me what happened."

Embry nodded grimly. More than gorgeous; out-of-his-league-gorgeous, just as she had been way back when.

"You know her, right? I felt like I did too. What was her name again? Lysandra?" Jake pondered. "Hmm. Wait, Lysandra as in your first kiss-Lysandra? Geo's granddaughter?"

"Whoa, wait! First kiss?" Seth leaned forward with a grin. Only Seth could get away with being out past one in the morning, the other younger members of the pack definitely couldn't. "Dad just told me yesterday that Geo's granddaughter just moved back here from California to take care of him! He has cancer I guess, just like her dad did."

"Really?" Sam pondered, Emily put her hand on her husband's shoulder and sighed sadly before placing the dish of cookies on the table in front of them.

"I heard Geo was going to lose the house too," Seth added. "And she moved in with him instead of letting him stay at the hospital, so she must be doing something about the rent and medical bills."

"Yeah, dad told me about that too, in passing of course." Jake nodded. "I can't believe it's the same girl Emb. And your first kiss; guess you knew you'd love her way back then huh? Congrats man."

Embry listened intently, his thoughts running wild.

He hadn't spoken to his old friend, no, imprint, for years, nor her grandfather. But he remembered when her father died when they were children, and how hard it had been on them all. And now she and her brother had to watch her grandfather go through it again too? He wondered where her brother was, and how her mother was. He felt an urge to know everything about her, but he'd ruined that by ignoring her.

"And that was the girl we called the other day?" Seth added. "She seems feisty."

Embry shot him a glare. She only reason he hadn't ripped Seth and Quil apart for taking his phone was because Jake had told them to leave them be. So he had, but he was still mad.

"Why were you avoiding her?" Seth continued. "We were going to ask you but you never shifted after."

Jake leaned forward and grabbed another cookie off the table. "The same reason I avoided Bella at first." His voice was quiet, "and the same reason he didn't tell his mother."

The others nodded, and Sam glanced back at his wife, who was doing dishes at the counter and humming to herself. Her face was proof of how strong they could be, how dangerous. Nothing was worse than putting the ones you cared about in danger.

"Forget what she said to her friend. She's your imprint Emb; call her," Jake urged.

Embry shook his head.

First off, it was past one in the morning, and second, he wasn't even going to try the next day. He planned to watch her carefully, but from a distance; he needed time. Though that wasn't going to be easy.

His stomach felt like a rock, and the pulling sensation he had when he closed his eyes was nearly unbearable. All he could think about was her shiny blonde hair, perfectly tanned skin, and that damn smirk he'd wanted to kiss off her face.

They would understand after the meeting later; the one thing he remembered about Lysandra was that she was headstrong and independent. And she sure as hell wasn't the type to let people treat her the way he had.

That's why he was "no one." He'd gone so long without talking to her; after she moved away, it was like she hadn't even existed. And it didn't matter that he'd ignored her calls once she was back to protect her, and Seth had told her that he'd ignored her, even if it was only a few calls, but she hadn't known why.

He knew deep down that Lysandra wasn't going to give him the time of day.

"Dad said that imprints go both ways man," Jake said slowly as if reading his thoughts.

Embry shot his best friend a glare; Jake was twisting his father's words in his favor.

"Okay, so no he didn't," Jake agreed. "But there has never been a situation where it hasn't in Quileute history.

"It's also supposed to be rare," Embry muttered.

The others smiled at him. Six of them had imprinted so far, and the ones who had, wanted nothing more than to do the very same. Even the pups. Even Leah.

"You won't be able to stay away for long man," Jake explained. "She's involved now, no matter how much you don't want her to be in the line of danger. If you try to fight it, the need to be around her will just get worse. Whether it's as friends, or more-which you should probably try, because seriously-"

Jake made a face that insinuated that she was something special. Though that could have been Embry filling in the empty space with his own thoughts.

"You'll want to be around her, all the time. No, not want, need. You'll NEED to be around her. You'll NEED to know where she is at all times. You'll NEED to know everything about her. When she's happy, your entire world will hum and your body will feel like it's on fire with bliss. And when she's angry or sad you'll end up doing everything in your power to fix it, even if that means doing something stupid," Jake trailed off, realizing he was rambling and staring off into space. Clearly, he was thinking about his own imprint.

Sam sighed and stood from the table, then walked over to his wife and put his arms around her as she finished the dishes. Embry watched him kiss her on the head and felt a surge of jealousy.

What if Lysandra really didn't want him? What if she hadn't been lying when she had told her friend that she was no one? Her brother's word clearly meant more than it should.

"Just call her," Jake said again. "Actually, I'm ordering you to call her tomorrow. Sam will order you too. You can't say no to us."

Embry watched his best friend with sad eyes and nodded to him before standing.

It was late, and he needed to sleep before their meeting in a few hours.

He didn't bother speaking to them as he left and hopped into Jared's truck, Lysandra's voice still ringing in his ears.

"No one. No one important."

"No one. No one important."

"No one."

..