CHAPTER 38

Embry POV:

We didn't talk much on the way to the lake. I guess it bothered him more than he thought it would that he was recognized in town. I wasn't sure how I felt about it either. I hated that Quil's dad looked at him like he was a criminal or something. I guess that was bound to happen though. When he left, I'm sure there were all kinds of rumors going around about him. There were still people here that remembered that time, like Quil, Sr. Maybe after he was around for awhile, people would find something else to talk about.

I looked out the window at the scenery of LaPush flying by. Dad was a part of this reservation. His family was one of the first in the tribe. I had the wolf gene for God's sake! I was part of the royalty of this tribe, and so was he. I wanted so much to see him treated with respect like Billy was. I looked over at him as he drove. I was amazed at how defensive I was all of a sudden about this guy. I just met him! It was so long ago I called him an asshole for leaving my mom. I shook my head and looked back out the window.

He turned onto the road that leads to the lake. As we got close, he glanced at me as he asked, "This spot OK with you?" I nodded and answered, "Yea, sure." He parked the truck at the lake and we got out to take our gear from the back. He pulled out a brand new rod and reel and handed it to me. "Wow, this is sweet!" I told him as I looked it over. "Thanks, this is cool," I added.

"I'm glad you like it. Let's go try it out!" He grabbed his gear and we made our way down to the lake. We found a spot we liked and I cast out my line then reeled it in to get a feel for the new pole. "How's it feel?"

I smiled as I cast it out again. "Fucking awesome!" Then I realized what I just said. "Oh sorry," I said sheepishly. He laughed and said, "Don't apologize! I want you to be yourself, Embry." He cast out his line and we just . . . fished. All of a sudden it hit me. I was fishing with my dad! Something I had wanted since I was a little kid. I glanced over at him and he smiled at me. It was very weird, but very cool.

"Hey! I think I got one!" he called out as he reeled in his line. He held it up to show me a very small bass. "Is it big enough to keep do you think?" he asked with a laugh as he took if off of the hook. "You know I promised your mom I'd bring home dinner!"

I laughed at the sight of him holding up this fish that was about 5 inches long. "I think you better throw it back and try again. That's not even an appetizer!" He laughed and threw it back into the water. He baited his hook and cast out again.

"Um, Dad?" I started then said quickly, "Oh, is it OK if I call you Dad?" He looked over at me and said, "Yes. I'd like that." I smiled. "OK, Dad," I began again, "I have kind of weird question. You don't have to tell me if you don't want."

"It's OK. You can ask me anything. What do you want to know?"

"I was thinking the other night, what do you look like when you're . . . you know, when you phase? Are you all wolf, like we are, or do you . . . look different?"

He took a deep breath then said, "That's hard for me to answer, Embry. When I turn into this . . . thing, I don't keep myself in tact, like you do. So, I can't tell you what I look like, but I can tell you what others of my kind look like. When I was up north, there were about a dozen of us, I guess. When we phase, we become wolf-like, but not entirely wolf like you. The first time I saw someone change, I couldn't believe the size! But since we have that genetic flaw, we keep some human characteristics, like being able to walk on two legs instead of all four. It's so hard to describe. I know watching it through human eyes, it's terrifying. I'm actually glad I can't remember anything after I phase back into human form. I have always felt that I wouldn't want to remember what happened during those times."

"I'm sorry, Dad. That you have to go through that. I really wish you were like me and Sam."

"Me, too. You don't know how much I wish that." He was slowly reeling in his line. "You seem to be OK with this wolf thing."

"Yea, it's cool. At first it was really hard. Especially not being able to tell Mom anything about it. I'd be out all night and I couldn't tell her why." I laughed and added, "She'd ground me and I'd go right back out do it again. I had to! Sam's orders cannot be denied. But now, now that she knows, it's so much easier for me."

He nodded. "You know, since we ran into Quil, I guess I'd better call Billy Black and ask to meet with the elders. I really want to get that over with."

"Yea. Do you really think they won't want you here?" I asked.

He looked over at me as he took his phone out of his pocket. "I don't know. I guess we'll find out! Can you give me Billy's number?"

I nodded and reeled in my line. I put my pole down and dug my phone out of my pocket. I told him Billy's number and he dialed. "He knows I'm back, doesn't he? Jake told him?" I nodded.

"Hello, Billy. It's Josh Uley. Do you have a minute? I really need to talk to you." He turned and walked back toward the truck to talk.

I picked up my pole and cast the line out into the water. I really hope Billy doesn't give him any shit. I hadn't talked to Billy since my dad was back, so I didn't know how he felt about it. I know that Jake told his dad about going with Leah to see Dad and about his story, so maybe hearing it from Jake would help him understand a little better. I wondered where Dad was thinking of living. With us? I mean, I know about the imprinting thing, but are they really ready to get married? They hardly know each other, really.

Dad walked back to me and smiled and said, "Billy is calling the elders and we're going to meet tomorrow night." He picked up his pole and baited the hook.

"How did he sound? Was he pissed or . . . "

"He was OK. He told me that he had talked to Jake and he said he was actually curious about my story. I guess he has some questions for me. That should be fun," he said sarcastically. I smiled. He cast his line out into the water sat down on the bank.

"So, let me ask you a question," Dad said. "I know that you became a wolf to protect this reservation against vampires. Since there are so many of you, that must mean there are a lot of vampires in the area. Is that true?"

I looked over at him. "Well, kind of. You see, there is a family of leeches that lives near Forks. The Cullens. They are kind of like a family, but they are different than other vampires. They don't feed on humans. They live on animal blood. I guess a long time ago, they made a treaty with us. As long as they don't bite any humans, we allow them to live here. We even have a treaty line. They stay on their side, we stay on ours. But, because they live here, sometimes others come through. When Bella hooked up with Edward Cullen, we had more. She's like a bloodsucker magnet!"

"Bella . . . isn't that the name of Jake's girlfriend?" Dad asked.

I smiled and nodded and sat down beside him. "Uh, yea. Well, you see, Jake fell in love with Bella when they were kids. But she moved away with her mom when she and Charlie got a divorce. She only visited in the summers. Then, a year ago or so, she moved here to live with her dad and Jake fell for her all over again. But, she fell in love with one of the bloodsuckers, Edward. Then he left her after his brother almost lost it and bit her, and he was gone a long time. That's when Jake and Bella got close. But then, this Edward comes back and Bella falls for him again. They even got engaged and she was going to let him turn her into one of them." Dad looked over at me in shock! "No shit?" he asked.

I laughed, "No shit! Anyway, there was this one vampire chick, this redhead, who hated Bella because Edward killed her mate. So she built this army of newborn vampires to come here and kill all of the Cullens, and Bella. They didn't count on us though! We joined forces with the Cullens and kicked their asses in no time. But Jake got hurt pretty bad during the fight. Bella heard and came running. I guess before the fight, Jake kissed her and got her to admit that she loved him, too. So, she spent two days taking care of Jake and the next thing you know, she decides she doesn't want to be a vampire, and she tells Edward to take a hike and she's with Jake. And then, Jake imprints on her! So, Edward leaves town for good, and Jake is a happy dude."

"Wow! That's quite a story," Dad said. "So, these vampires, how did they learn to stay away from human blood? I can't imagine that would be easy."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really care, as long as they stick to the treaty. Their, um, I guess you would call him their leader, Carlisle, he is good guy. He's even a doctor! I don't know how he can be around all of that blood at the hospital, but he is."

"Hmmm. That's really interesting. I'd really like to meet this Carlisle sometime."

I looked at him and said, "Ask Jake. Him and Bella know him pretty well. He might be able to set something up."

He nodded. "I might just do that."

We were quiet again for awhile. I got a bite on my line, but when I pulled back to reel it in, I lost it. "Damn!" As I was putting more bait on my hook, Dad said, "Tell me more about this shop you and Jake want to have some day."

I smiled and said, "Are you sure you want me to? I can talk for days about it!" He smiled and said, "Yea, I want to know." So, I launched into an explanation of all of our plans for our auto shop. Jake and I had been really thinking about it a lot lately. As I talked he would nod and add comment or two. It was cool being able to share this part of my life with him.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just chatting about stuff. He told me about his house and how much work he has put into it and how he really kind of enjoyed doing that. We broke out the snacks and I told him about the Jeep we were fixing up for Leah. We actually caught some fish, but none of them were big enough to keep. It got to be after 5:00 and Dad said, "Well, we better head home. I guess we'll have to stop and buy dinner since we didn't catch any!" He laughed.

We picked up all our gear and put it in the back of the truck. As we climbed inside to go home, I said quietly, "Thanks, Dad, for today. I . . . had a good time."

He looked over at me with a smile, and put his hand on my shoulder. "Me, too, son." He started the truck and we headed for home.

We stopped and picked up pizza on the way home for dinner. We walked in and Mom laughed. "I didn't know fish came in pizza boxes!" Dad walked over and put the pizza boxes on the table then he took Mom in his arms and kissed her. Wow. That's the first time they had done that in front of me. It was really weird to see my parents like that! I wondered if I would ever get past everything seeming so weird.

Leah had stayed and hung out with my mom, so she got up and came over to hug me. "Did you have a good day?" she asked me.

"Yea, I really did." I kissed her and said, "But I missed you." She gave me her dazzling smile and said, "I missed you, too."

"OK, everyone! Let's dig in!" Dad announced. We all grabbed a plate and ate pizza. We told them about our day, and Mom and Leah told us about theirs.

"We drove to that little fruit market outside Forks and bought some apples, and made pie. I had a feeling we might need some dessert tonight," Mom said.

"Pie? I love pie!" Dad said excitedly.

"Well, who doesn't love pie, Dad?" I said to him with a smile.

He laughed and said, "I wouldn't trust a man who didn't love pie, son. It's just not American!" We all laughed at that.

After we finished the pizza, Mom and Leah presented us with their homemade apple pie. It was delicious! I ate three pieces!

"Man, you can eat! And you're so skinny," Dad said to me.

"Wolf metabolism. I think I'm the skinniest of all of us, though. Sam and Jake are the biggest, and well, I guess Seth is smaller, but he's still growing." Sam. I remembered that Sam wanted to talk to Dad again. "Speaking of Sam, um, he told me he wants to talk to you again."

Dad looked at me. "Really?"

I nodded. "I went over to help him paint the baby's room a couple of days ago and he said he's been really trying to get through this shit," Mom gave me a look, but Dad just smiled. "Uh, stuff, and he wants to talk to you. I told him that you were gone, but I think you should call him and let him know you're back."

"I'll do that right now." He took his phone out of his pocket and walked to the living room.

Leah looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and stood up to help Mom clear the table.

We could hear Dad's side of the phone call: "Hey Sam, it's your dad. I just wanted to let you know that I'm back . . . . . I'm good . How are you and Emily? . . . . Good. . . . . . Yea? I'd like that, Sam. I have a meeting with the elders tomorrow night, but I'm free during the day. . . . . Oh, he did? Yea, I forgot about you being a part of that. . . . . OK, we'll be there. Thanks, son. I'm looking forward to seeing you and Emily. . . . . OK, bye." He hung up and stood there for a second just looking at his phone then he put it back into his pocket and came back to the kitchen.

He looked at Mom and said, "Sam invited us to his house tomorrow afternoon. How about that?"

Mom looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise. "He invited me, too? Are you sure?"

Dad laughed and said, "Yes. He said, 'Why don't you and Angie come over tomorrow around five.' Your name is Angie, isn't it?"

She looked at me and shook her head in amazement. "Wow. Yea, I'm just really surprised."

I looked at her and said, "Mom, he knows about you two, imprinting."

Dad turned his head quickly to me and said, "Did you tell him? Was he upset?"

"I didn't have to. He said he knew just by looking at you both. You know, Sam does have some experience with imprinting." I glanced at Leah, and she gave me a weak smile. "And no, he's not upset. He told me he couldn't be, cause, well, he gets it. He's OK with it."

"I am so glad. I really didn't want him to be upset about us being together. I know he loved his mom so much, and I don't want to try to replace her or anything. But I would really like to be a part of their lives," Mom told us.

I smiled and added, "He said he was moving past all of that for the sake of his baby. He even said he was pretty sure you would be his step-mom someday."

That made Mom beam! She looked over at Dad and he smiled and put his arm around her. Just then my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket. "It's Sam," I said. "Hey, what's up?" I answered.

"Just got a call from Dad. I told him to bring your mom and come over around five tomorrow. You and Leah want to come too? I thought I would grill or something."

"Uh, yea, that's cool. Family cookout, huh?"

"Yea. Look at us! We're the all American family. Kinda scary, isn't it?" he said.

"No, it's cool. Let me ask Leah, hold on." I looked over at Lean and told her what Sam said. "Yea, sure, let's go!" she said. "We'll be there at five, bro."

"OK. See ya then." He hung up. "He actually sounded happy about all of this," I told Leah. She smiled and said quietly, "Bout fucking time!" That made me laugh.

I shook my head and thought how much my life had changed in such a short time. Mom and I had gone from being just the two of us, to being a part of a family! Both of us had someone in our lives that loved us. It was actually a little overwhelming, but I was starting to like it.

I looked at Leah. I really wanted to spend some alone time with her. "Hey, baby, want to go for a walk or something?" She smiled and said, "Sure." I took her hand and said to my parents, "We're going out for awhile then I'm going to take Leah home."

"Thanks so much for having me over today. I really enjoyed our afternoon, Angie," Leah told my mom. Mom reached out and hugged Leah. "Anytime, sweetie," Mom replied.

"See you tomorrow," she said to my dad. He smiled and said, "See you then."

"I'll be back, later," I said as I led Leah outside. They nodded. I'm sure they needed some alone time, too. Yea, don't go there!

"You OK?" Leah asked as we walked toward my truck. I opened the door for her and said, "Yea, I'm good. I just wanted some alone time with you." She smiled at me and I bent down and kissed her. "Mmmm, good idea," she said.

She got in and I walked around and got in behind the wheel. "Where are we going?" she wanted to know.

I started the truck and said, "I don't know. Want to walk on the beach? We haven't done that in awhile." She nodded and I pulled out and headed for the beach. "So, you had a good day with my mom?"

"Yea, I really did. She is so happy, Embry. She told me today that she never gave up hope that you all could be a family someday. She really is hoping that they can get married. Are you ready for that?"

I thought about that for a minute. My mom and dad, married to each other. "Kind of blows me away, really," I told her. "This is all happening so fast. It's hard to get a grip on it."

She nodded. "I take it you had a good day with your dad?"

"Yea, I really did. Except when we ran into Quil's dad at the gas station. He treated Dad so . . . I don't know, like a criminal, or something. It was pretty uncomfortable. I hope they don't treat him like that tomorrow night when he meets with all of the elders."

"Me, too."

I pulled up to Leah's house. "I'll just park here and we can walk down to the beach, OK?" She nodded and got out of the truck. I walked around to take her hand and we walked back to the trail that would lead us to the beach. "It's a nice night. Look at all of the stars."

She looked up and smiled. "I love clear nights like this. Doesn't seem like we get many here in rainy Washington." We made it to the beach and Leah turned to walk along the water when I stopped her. I took her in my arms and kissed her gently on the lips. She wrapped her arms around my neck and put her hands in my hair. We stood there kissing for awhile then I took my lips away from hers to say, "Life is so good right now. Does it ever scare you a little? You know, you get this feeling that for some reason it won't last?"

She gave me a small smile and answered, "Yes. I remember feeling that way right before . . . never mind." She took my hand and started walking.

"You were going to say before Sam phased, weren't you?" She looked at me and nodded. "It's OK, Leah. I get it. Sam and I just talked about that the other day. I know what you had was really intense, for both of you. And I know it is in the past." I hesitated trying to decide if I should tell her or not. I heard myself say, "Sam tried to fight it, Leah. The imprinting."

I could see the surprise in her eyes as she asked, "What? What do you mean?"

"He told me that when the elders explained to him about imprinting, he told them he wasn't giving into it. He wanted to stay with you, Leah. He told me that he really loved you, and didn't want to give you up. He stayed away from Emily for a week. He explained to me how much pain he went through by physically staying away from her. I won't go into the details, but he finally realized that, how did he say it? 'Imprinting is a strong bond that cannot be denied.' That's when he . . . well, you know, had to tell you. He said it killed him, and watching him say it, I know he was telling the truth."

Leah had tears rolling down her cheeks. "Why didn't he ever tell me that?"

"I don't know. He only told me because he wanted me to know that he doesn't hate my mom. He knows that Dad imprinted on her, and he says that he gets it. He knows it cannot be denied."

She nodded and looked out at the water. "I'm sorry, baby, I shouldn't have told you that." I put my arm around her shoulder and she laid her head on me.

"No, I'm glad you did. I guess I always thought it was so easy for him to walk away. I should have realized it wasn't." We stood there quiet for a few minutes, just looking out at the waves rolling in. Leah lifted her head and said, "Even though it hurt so much, I can now say it was for the best." She turned to face me. "I know now that you and I were meant to be together. I can't imagine living a day of my life without you, Embry Call-Uley." And then she smiled.

I took her face in my hands and put my lips on hers. She kissed me back with all of the love she was feeling. I couldn't imagine living a day of my life without her either. We were meant to be.