AN: *IDNOT - I do not own Twilight.* A HUGE thanks to GracelesslyFalling for your words of encouragement and inspiration! It really helped me get this chapter out! And thanks to J.C Jackals as well for reading and reviewing! I appreciate any and all feedback!

Chapter 4

It Has To Be Today

I had decided that today was going to be the day. Well, to be honest I had been saying that for almost the past week now, but today was definitely the day. I had been on patrol last night and had slept in late this morning after I had gotten home. I was going over to Emily's for lunch and then I had the rest of the day free – free to go look for that girl. It was a sunny day today, so far at least, and that was a good sign. She was always out on sunny days, I smiled to myself as I opened the screen door to enter Sam and Emily's.

Most of the pack was already at the table, except for Quil and Jarred, who were finishing up the late morning rounds. It looked like Emily had been serving up hamburgers and hot dogs for probably the last 30 minutes straight, most of the guys were patting their stomachs and Colin and Brady were debating back and forth on how many of each they had already eaten. Emily looked over at me and smiled briefly before turning her attention back to the stove, where she had more hamburgers waiting to be flipped. I ruffled Seth's hair as I walked past him to take a seat next to Embry.

"Hey!" he complained as he smoothed his hair back out. Embry laughed and punched him in the arm.

"Don't worry dude, nothing she does will make it look any worse!" he crowed. The table roared with laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mom went a little nuts with the scissors the other day…" he retorted, "It'll look fine a few days."

"I bet I could fix it for you!" Kim piped up cheerfully. She was sitting with the guys waiting for Jarred to show up. She was training to be a beautician and was already halfway done.

Seth paled. "Uh….no thanks. It's really not that big of a deal." He tried to sound nonchalant. I held back my laughter as best I could, but still letting out a small snort. Kim shrank back into her chair, a small pout on her face.

Although Kim was in training, we had all seen her…interesting handy-work on Jarred about a month ago. His hair was all different lengths and stuck out at funny angles. Nothing he did would smooth it out or get it into any kind of a style. He couldn't even pull off the "just rolled out of bed" look. The boys roared over it the first time they saw him. He insisted that it looked fine and demanded that none of us say a word to Kim about it. Of course, Paul couldn't resist, which led to a big fight between the guys – one they still weren't entirely over if truth be told. Kim ended up, after many tears, giving him a buzz cut. It looked hilarious for a couple weeks but was finally back to normal.

Seth looked around the table to the guys and at me, worrying about Kim and what Jarred would say when he got back. He looked back to Kim who was next to tears and finally blurted out "Alright! Alright, you can fix my hair. But I wanna be able to see what you're doing the whole time!"

Kim beamed, "Thank you! You won't regret it, I promise!" she squeeled before bounding upstairs to the bathroom to get scissors and stuff.

The guys all laughed and took turns consoling Seth and patting him on the back for "taking one for the team." I calmly got myself a burger and dressed it how I liked. Ketchup and mustard, two slices of cheese and dug in. I was surprised at how hungry I was given my nerves over trying to find that girl. I was mid bite when Quil and Jarred came bounding in the door with Sam.

I looked away, avoiding Sam's eyes and not wanting to watch his greetings from Emily. It still made me just a little sick. And I could feel everyone's quick subconscious glance in my direction. It was annoying, frankly, being the subject of everyone's pity. Luckily Quil, the goofball that he is, broke the silence with a giant whine.

"Heeeey! What happened to all the FOOD?"

"Whoa! Somebody has been hanging out with a certain 6 year old a little too much, huh?" Jake joked.

"Hey! Claire is very mature for her age, ok?" Quil shot back.

"Then what does that say about you!" Paul guffawed.

Quil ran to give Paul a slap on the back of the head, but he ducked. Then he was running for Quil, ready to tackle him.

"Enough." Sam said. Both boys stopped in their tracks. It hadn't been an alpha command, but it was enough.

"We weren't serious, Sam," Quil mumbled.

"I know. You can wrestle later," Sam said, "In the yard, please."

Embry snickered and Paul shot him a glare.

"For now, we have something to discuss."

All eyes were on Sam. Everyone's heart rate sped up ever so slightly. Paul and Quil took their seats and joined the circle. All attention was on Sam.

"Alright, Jarred. Tell the group what happened," Sam nodded at Jarred.

"Sure. So I was running this morning and smelled a very faint trail of vampire. I turned around and followed it, staying hidden as best as I could. From the undergrowth I looked out onto a clearing and saw a girl. I circled the area, but the smell of vampire was very faint. I could tell she wasn't a vampire, but I'd like to know why she has the lingering smell of one." Jarred finished.

"I agree with Jarred," Sam added. "I know that Leah has seen this girl at least once, and Seth and Brady ran past her on a patrol earlier in the week."

I nodded, as did Seth and Brady.

"She's on our land quite a bit. I think it is time that we find out what her story is and figure out why she is wearing eu de vampire."

"I say we just go ask her!" Colin chimed in.

"Really? You're kidding right?" Jacob's jaw had dropped.

"Well, why not? We aren't gonna find a better source of information on her than herself. The quickest and easiest way to find out what's going on is just to ask."

There was a long heavy silence around the table. Everyone was thinking about what Colin had said. He was right. It would be fast and simple to just ask her. I could feel my chest about to burst open. This was perfect! I could just volunteer and then I would have a pack-sanctioned reason to go befriend her! I opened my mouth to volunteer –

"I'll go." Paul stated simply. Sam looked over at him and nodded.

"What? No!" I practically shouted. The whole table turned and stared at me in confusion. Great…

AN: OOOOOO...What now? Will this be where the pack finds out? What will their reaction be? Or will Leah be able to find a way around telling anyone? Hehehe Thanks for reading! Please review! I don't care if you love it or hate it - just let me know! Thanx Tata for now :) Kate