I was exhausted from riding my bike all day with Embry. I spent most of my time with him now that Jake had his imprint. He and Kelly are officially dating. I was glad he was finally happy and completely over me. Though I did miss hanging out with him, sometimes. I could deal with his forwardness.

I crashed next to Embry on his bed. Well beds. It was the same as Jake's, two twin sized mattresses pushed together. It was still too small for him. I think he was done growing. He hasn't had to buy new clothes in awhile. I might go to Seattle soon. If he stays this size he could use more than cut offs and tight shirts…Ok. We could keep the tight shirts. It still amazed me how muscular he got. He wasn't Emmett but he had bigger arms than Jacob.

Embry and I have become friends now. I hung out with him everyday after school and on the weekends when he wasn't patrolling. There was never a time I was ever bored with him. Embry was my second Jacob. I could be totally open with him and he'd give me an answer to any question I asked him. He was really great.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him. He had an intense look on his face and he was staring at me. Of course he stared at me a lot. Embry never pushed me to love him. Though he imprinted on me, things weren't awkward. He cared about me but didn't expect anything in return, which I was grateful for. I spent less time thinking of Edward but a part of me was still wishing he'd return. The bright side was I could think about him and not feel like my whole being would crumble.

"You," he answered honestly.

I smiled. "Do you ever think you do that too much?"

"Nope." He placed his hand on top of mine.

"Is that apart of being a werewolf too? The heat?" I had noticed that Jacob was like that too. He always seemed to be running a fever.

"Yeah. We run a few degrees higher than normal humans. I could stand like this," He gestured to his bare torso, "and not be cold."

"What's the best thing about being a werewolf?"

He grinned. "Definitely the speed. It's a million times better than the bikes." I tried to imagine that, but failed. He was probably faster then the Cullen's.

"Does it hurt to change?" I remembered when I talked to Jake before he had made the change. He had sounded as if he were in pain. Then I had thought he needed to go to the hospital. I had been so worried about him. It all seemed so ridiculous now.

"Naw. My first time it did because I wasn't adjusted to the change and I was totally freaked out. It feels like fire, but it's not a bad feeling. I have a better control on it now. Before every little thing angered me and I turned. That was why it wasn't safe for me to be around any humans."

I considered what he said. Jacob was so sad about loosing his best friend. Even though half the time he hid his emotions from me. That was another great thing about Embry. He would always tell me how he felt.

"Can I see you do it?"

"I don't want to freak you out. It's weird."

"By now I think I can handle weird. Besides I've seen all of you as wolves any way. I just want to watch you turn. Please?" I begged, though it was probably unnecessary. I don't think Embry was capable of saying no to me, not that I minded.

He nodded. "Not right now though. My mom is on her way home and she doesn't know about me."

I raised my eyebrow. "How can she possibly not know?"

"The DNA came from my father's side, I think. The pack said I was aloud to tell her but I chose not to. She has a bad heart and this would really frighten her. I don't think she could take it."

"Where does she think you go all the time?" He constantly skipped school and he was never here. He spent most of his time with me or the pack.

"She thinks I'm on drugs." I looked at him to see if he was joking. There wasn't a hint of humor on his face.

"Wow."

"Yeah, but it's better than her knowing what I'm really doing. It's not so bad though."

I gazed up at him. He was so sweet and caring. He got in trouble all the time to protect his mother. He didn't even care if she was disappointed or not.

"She's here." He said after a moment.

"How can you tell?"

"Dogs have sensitive hearing."He jumped off the beds and held out his hand for me. He didn't let go of it as we left his room; it was nice. The simple gesture kept him happy.

His mother was in the kitchen. She had gorgeous copper skin and long black hair. She was short and skinny. When she turner around her eyes went wide. "You're home?" Surprise was clear in his voice.

Embry looked down with a look of shame. I squeezed his hand. "Yeah. This is Bella Swan. Bella, Amy Call," he introduced quietly.

"The chief's daughter. Nice to meet you Bella." She smiled brightly as she assessed me. I could practically hear the gears turning in her head. She was thinking I would be able to help her son and get him back to normal. Too bad for her, I was the reason she hardly saw him.

"Hi. You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Call."

"Please. Call me Amy dear." I smiled and nodded. "Are you two hungry? I was about to start dinner."

"I can't stay. I have to go home and cook for Charlie." If he was even there anyway. I didn't keep track of his schedule anymore. I was too involved with Embry and Charlie has been gone all of the time since the deaths started.

"He's more than welcome," she assured me.

"Uh…" I didn't want to be rude and reject her offer. If I left now Embry would just come with me. I could at least give Amy some time to spend with her son. "I'll go give him a call."

"Great."

Embry led me back to his room. I sat on the bed while I dialed. Embry sat down behind me and played with my hair. Charlie answered on the first ring.

"Hello?" Charlie's voice came through the phone. I could faintly hear a sports game in the background.

"Hey Dad. Have you eaten dinner yet?"
"No. I was about to order a pizza. Where are you?"

"Embry's…"

"You have been spending a lot of time with that boy lately. What happened to you and Jake? I thought you two had a thing."

I smacked my hand over my eyes as I sighed. "No. We're just friends."

"Aren't you friends anymore?"

"Yeah."

"Then why don't you spend your time with him anymore. I want you to hang out with more than one person all the time."

UGH! What was with all of the questions? Since when did he care so much about my relationships? "He has a girlfriend. I don't have to spend every single minute with him. I hung out with him four times this week. That's not even why I…" He cut me off again.

"So are you and Call a couple?"

"We're…friends. Dad I'll answer your questions later. Come over. Amy's cooking dinner. Ok?" I couldn't contain the annoyance that seeped into my voice. He just knew exactly what to say to irk me.

"I'll be there. I want to have a talk with this Embry."

"God!" I grumbled and hung up.

"He's just being protective Bell. Can you blame him for it?" Embry asked softly.

I sighed and leaned into him. He wrapped his arms around my waist lightly. I guess I couldn't blame him for being worried about me after Edward. I didn't handle that well at all.

"No," I sighed.

"We can hang out with Jake tomorrow if you want."

"No. He can hang out with Kelly. Can't we just hang out?" I realized I was being whiney but couldn't help it. I wasn't in the mood to be crowded by people.

"We can do whatever you want. You know that."

I smiled. He was going to make me spoiled by the way he gave me whatever I wanted. "Lets go to the cliffs." I suggested.

"Alright… This break must be so terrible."

"No. No where near it. I'm having fun."

"We will get her. I promise. Then everything can go back to normal."

Normal. For me, normal would be having Jacob to ride bikes with. That probably wouldn't be an option. Kelly didn't like the bikes. Besides it was painful for a werewolf to be away from his imprint. That was the main reason I had started hanging out with Embry but then I realized we had so much in common. I saw him everyday now. I wasn't sure I wanted normal anymore.