Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, items, products etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original character and plot are mine. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, products or locations. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Four

The lot and surrounding beach was empty of the tourists and the huge expanse of sand was littered only with the occasional drift wood logs and seaweed. There weren't any other vehicles around so, I assumed we were early. So, in theory, I would have more time to get my nerves under control before I met my twin's pack of friends.

After opening my door, Embry waited patiently for me at the front of his truck.

"Welcome to first beach, sis! This is where all of the magic happens." He gestured over his shoulder. "That's James Island. Back in the day, it was a fortress used by our people from invading tribes. Our past chiefs are buried at the summit, so their spirits can still keep watch over us."

I squinted into the fading light and could just make out the dark shapes rising out of the ocean at the far end of the beach.

"Huh; that's cool. I have so much more to learn about our history; it would have been great to have been brought up here. Everyone thought I was Mexican growing up. My foster parents even pulled me out of school for Cinco de Mayo —they thought I should celebrate my heritage."

My last comment got a chuckle out of Embry as he led me further down the beach, away from James Island and toward the unknown.

Embry must have heard them before I did, because he started smiling and quickened his pace; I had to skip a couple times in order to keep up with him. We walked in silence for another few moments before I finally heard the party. The bonfire's flames reflected in the water, giving it a larger-than-life look. There were several dark shapes sitting on driftwood logs facing the fire and others seemed to be lurking just outside the fire light. My stomach soured with every step I took closer to the fire. I didn't know the first thing about being Quileute. How could I ever think this tight knit group of people would accept me?

Embry had slowed his steps to match mine so he could throw his arm over my shoulders.

"Everyone will love you, Cassie," he said, hugging me to his side. He must've been really in tune to me because that was exactly what I needed to hear. I couldn't help the smile that broke across my face as Embry's small, brotherly gesture gave my wavering confidence a jump start.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as we approached. Thankfully, there weren't as many people present as I thought there might be. My overactive imagination had me prepared to meet a small army. Embry had said there were sixteen people that worked in security with him, but there were only nine seemingly-normal people waiting for us. Seemingly-normal meaning, all of the guys were freaky-huge, half-naked, and showing off their perfectly-sculpted-copper torsos. In comparison, the few girls that were present, minus Leah, all looked quite ordinary. Emily was there and I knew she would at least attempt to include me; maybe I could sit by her and the other females.

Embry cleared his throat, which brought me out of my thoughts.

"Everyone, this is Cassandra. Cassie is my twin sister and Sam's half sister, so be super nice to her…or we will kill you." Everyone laughed at his comment, and I allowed my gaze to travel around the group in front of me. Embry began to make introductions and gestured to everyone in turn.

"You know Sam, Emily, and Leah…that's Kim and Rachel next to them…" Sam was holding Emily's hand in his lap and they both smiled at me. Leah winked at me as Kim and Rachel gave little waves in my direction. "Next to the ladies are Paul and Jared…" Paul and Jared were just as large as Sam and Embry, but neither were quite as built as Quil –but it was a marginal difference in size. "Between Jared and Quil is Seth, he's Leah's little brother." I wouldn't have referred to Seth as Leah's little brother; he was just as massive as the rest of the guys.

Seth had just flashed me an enormous smile when Quil winked in my direction and suddenly body slammed Seth, knocking them both into a cloud of sand. Quil had moved so fast I almost missed the collision, but the echoing whack of them colliding must have been heard for miles.

Seth recovered from Quil's sneak attack quickly, and the heap that contained the two men became a jumbled mess of punches, elbows, and swear words. They were moving so quickly I couldn't tell who was winning or if this was even normal behavior so I glanced up at Embry. He was looking at me, so I raised my eyebrow and cut my eyes over at the two guys rolling around in the sand.

"Yeah, umm…that's totally normal. Don't worry about it. They're just trying to impress you." Embry gave my shoulders a squeeze before he released me and wandered over toward Jared and Paul.

After my twin had abandoned me, Emily caught my eye and smiled as she waved me over, so I could come and sit by her. Hopefully, I could just sink into the background and no one would be the wiser. Yeah right, not in this small of a group. Sam had gotten up when I approached so I could take his seat next to Emily. He gave me a genuine smile and my shoulder a quick squeeze before he, too, walked away. When he left I became fair game for the she wolves that surrounded me. Ugh. I absolutely hated my overly-dramatic emotions. I tried to mentally reassure myself that everything would be fine.

Quil and Seth had apparently finished their wrestling match, as they had joined the other guys who were cooking up enormous stacks of food by the fire.

Emily introduced Rachel again, this time as Paul's girlfriend, and Kim as Jared's. Emily, Rachel and Kim all took turns asking me about myself, simple superficial questions, but I appreciated their interest –sincere or not. Leah's face was turned as if she was watching the guys grill and horseplay, but her expression was vacant.

The guys must have cooked fifteen packages of hot dogs, which disappeared quickly. Leah ate at least six by herself. They were good, but I doubted I could have eaten six hotdogs in one sitting, even if my life depended on it.

Out of blue Quil came over and threw himself down into the sand in front of us.

"What's up, ladies?" The only answer he got was several giggles and a few eye rolls. Grinning Quil crossed his arms over his big chest and proceeded to look me over from head to toe.

Leah cleared her throat. "What do you want, Quil? Just spit it out."

Quil flicked his eyes at her before he turned back to me and started to point at my face and count out loud. What was he doing? He could have been counting all my insecurities out loud, for all I could tell. Gah. I chewed on my thumb nail anxiously, waiting for him to answer. Quil had counted to 'seven' before he wrinkled his brow and spoke.

"So, Cassie…The guys and I were wondering how many piercings you really have? I'm betting on ten," Quil asked, as he leaned back on his huge arms and shot a smug look over his shoulder at the other males.

One of my eyebrows quirked up and I stole a glance over his shoulder. All the guys were trying to look like they weren't listening for my answer, and I couldn't help the blush that warmed my cheeks. When I laughed, it betrayed me, sounding more nervous than confident.

"Well, Quil, I have fourteen…Is there something wrong with that?" I glanced around at everyone; they were all staring at me. My stomach turned and all I could think about was how to plan my escape or possibly stumble into a sinkhole and die. I didn't want to handle rejection on this large of a scale.

Rachel and Kim's mouths had dropped open, Emily's eyes had gotten substantially wider, and Leah was just smirking at me. I snuck a glance at all the other guys on the other side of the fire, but they weren't looking at me and…wait…were they exchanging money? My gaze caught Quil's twinkling eyes just before he burst into a huge howling fit of laughter. Everyone else joined him, even as they paid up their bets. Embry seemed to be the center of the money exchange; at least we were keeping the money in the family. Maybe my hazing had begun, and that was a good thing, right?

Quil was finally able to collect himself enough to speak. "There's nothing wrong with a bit of metal in your body. Paul has a huge titanium plate in his head."

Paul glared daggers at the back of Quil's head; he didn't come across as the easy-going-chill-type of guy. Quil stood up, dusted the sand off his shorts and saluted me before he jogged back over to the rest of the guys.

Everyone had gone back to their respective conversations except Seth, who was staring slightly-open-mouthed at me. His dark eyes briefly dropped to my chest before they flicked back up to my face. Seth's face reddened with a blush when he noticed I had caught him staring. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it, but I stuck my tongue out at him wiggling my barbell at him. He blinked several times before rubbing his eyes with his fists. My view of Seth was cut off when Embry intentionally moved to stand between us; no more harmless flirting for me, apparently.

Emily was giggling at the exchange between Seth and me, but Rachel and Kim's laughs sounded more forced than genuine. Leah either didn't notice or was choosing not to care about my little exchange with her brother. I probably had encroached on their territory a bit prematurely. Whoops.

Emily slung her arm over my shoulder as she continued to laugh, "Cassie, so far you have made quite the first impression." My smile died on my lips. Well Crap.

"You're fine, Cassie. They wouldn't have included you if they didn't like you. You're just new and different, and we are trying to figure out how to treat you. That's all." Leah said, giving me an almost sympathetic look.

"I just don't want to screw this up. This is the closest I have come to having a family in a long time," I said, staring into the fire.

"We're as dysfunctional of a family as you can get, Cassie, and like it or not, you're already a part of it. We're just a very tight group, and we are very protective of our men." Rachel said, which surprised me. When I looked up I saw nothing but sincerity in her face, however, I figured I would postpone my flirting. I wasn't going anywhere; maybe Seth would make the first move -if Embry would even let him.

"So anyway…Cassie, which of your piercings hurt the worst? If I wasn't terrified of needles, I would get my ears done." Kim asked in her quiet but sweet voice.

I thought for a moment, biting my lip. After several seconds of thoughtful consideration I went with a safe answer.

"Well...the more sensitive the area is to begin with, the more it hurts. So..." I trailed off as I glanced down at my own chest so the girls could get the hint without the boys eavesdropping.

The responses ranged from "oh," and "oww," and Kim unconsciously rubbed her boob, which got Jared's attention from across the fire. We all burst out laughing, and the conversation came easily after that. We talked about clothes, school, jobs, all of those mundane things, and Emily, Rachel and Kim talked about their men. Occasionally, I would get a question about California or something, but our topics stayed light.

Eventually, the paired couples began to wander off down the beach or into the trees. Leah said goodnight and gave me a one-armed hug. Seth would have come over and said something to me, but he was practically being dragged away by Leah while Embry was gave him a death glare. Our flirting had definitely been put into check by our respective siblings, which was really too bad. I would look forward to getting to know Seth, or any other of the freakishly-hot men my brothers worked with.

The fire was starting to slowly die and Embry and I were left alone. He had come over and sat next to me, and slung his overly warm arm over my shoulders. I leaned into him, trying to capture as much of the heat radiating off him as possible, without the fire it had gotten cold.

"How much money did you win on my behalf, Em?" I asked glancing up at him in time to see him smirk, but he didn't look at me.

"Enough to pay you back for all those groceries you bought."

I couldn't help the groan that escaped my lips at the memory of the grocery store. Embry looked at me questioningly, so I spilled my slightly horrific story –complete with sound effects and gestures. Embry's body was shaking hard with silent laughter by the time I finished my epic tale. I couldn't laugh at my experience yet; it was still grotesquely fresh in my memory. It would have been far more amusing had it happened to someone else. Hopefully, I would never see Mike Newton again.

Embry helped me to my feet, and he doused the rest of the fire. We were walking back towards his truck when he broke the silence.

"So…the next grocery store run is mine; I take it."

"You're damn straight it is! I'm keeping my fingers crossed I didn't get cooties." He smiled at my statement before his face got serious.

"Don't worry about Newton. We will take care of him for you...He won't harass you again." I opened my mouth to say something. Mike didn't need to die for being creepy -he probably couldn't help it –Oh well, poor Mike; I wouldn't be crying over him.

"So, Cassie, what did you think of the pack?" Embry asked as we neared his truck. I waited to answer until we were seated in the cab.

"I liked them a lot, actually. I may need to stick around for awhile."

"Good. I'm glad you liked them. Everyone only had nice things to say. They want you stick around, I think –not nearly as bad as Sam and I do though." Embry watched me out of the corner of his eye as he started his truck and backed out of the dirt lot to take us home.

At this moment, I couldn't think of anything that could get me to leave this behind. Embry and Sam had been nothing short of wonderful, and the rest of their pack of friends had seemed nice enough.

"I would like to stay, Em. This whole 'family thing' would be hard to give up now that I have had a taste of it." I smiled at him, hoping my sincerity showed. It must have, because when he nodded he had a huge grin on his face.

When we pulled up to his house he came around to open my door for me.

"Welcome home, sis. It's really good to have you here."

"Thanks. It's good to be home."

The next few days passed fairly uneventfully. I would get up, make breakfast for myself and Embry, go for my run, during which Leah would show up, and then I would head home to shower and make lunch. The sandwiches I had brought yesterday to Embry and Quil at their garage had been a huge hit, so I had planned to do the same thing for them today.

However, while on our run, Leah had informed me that I would be going with her to Port Angeles for a shopping trip instead. I needed to pick up some more rain-friendly clothes, and not having a job gave me the time. My calls had yet to be returned about working for the County Hospital's ambulance staff, so my one and only lead was stalled for the time being. There weren't a whole lot of emergency medical services to choose from up here, and apparently, the supervisor, Dr. Cullen, was currently out camping with his family. I wasn't really in any hurry, but would give him another week before I showed up and demanded a job.

I decided to dress to impress, since we were going off of the Rez. My black skinny jeans, lime heels, and green, short sleeve, cashmere sweater was a nice change from the jeans and t-shirts I had been wearing for the past several days. Leah knocked on the door right as I finished straightening my hair.

Leah had dressed up a bit too, and the maroon color of her shirt was beautiful against her dark copper skin. She smiled at me and gave out a low whistle.

"Look out, boys! Here we come."

Some screaming-chick band was blaring as Leah started her Jeep and pulled out of the driveway, and once the un-ladylike screaming had been turned down; it was a rather pleasant drive. We grabbed lunch on the way, and I was reminded that I wasn't in California anymore; the Subway in Forks charged me additional for extra veggies. Seriously?

I had just taken a large bite of my sandwich when Leah cleared her throat from the driver's seat.

"Just so you know, Cassie, I'm not sure I like you… yet. It's great that you're here, and I know Sam and Embry think it's really cool. But I want you to know, I am very protective of my family, which includes the pack. If you're not serious about sticking around, or if you ever hurt any one of my guys, I will tear you apart and you will wish you had never left California. Do I make myself clear?" Leah's tone was menacing and her gaze was hard as she glanced at me before turning back to the road.

I choked down the sandwich in my mouth, which had gone surprisingly dry. The gulp of my soda gave me the precious seconds I needed to form a good answer.

"Tell me how you really feel, Leah. Sheesh. The whole 'welcome wagon' thing you had going on had me fooled." Leah's dark eyes cut over to me and I continued. "I'm glad my brothers have someone who is looking out for them, though. Honestly. I'm really jealous of the family and friends they both have here. I've never really had that.

"Leah, I swear –I'll be sticking around for awhile. I don't plan on hurting anyone, and I can't think of any reason why I would. I'm only human though. Okay?" I stared at her hardened silhouette for several seconds before her expression softened.

"Okay. That's fair. Maybe I do like you…a little bit. Now about the shopping around here…" Leah continued as if she hadn't just threatened dismemberment and we were back to being friends –or whatever we were.

Port Angeles didn't have much in the form of shopping, but Leah knew where to go. We hit up several boutique stores near the touristy downtown area and had some success. Leah and I had similar taste in clothes. Plus, it was nice to share my shopping woes with someone who understood what a pain in the ass it was to be tall and have long legs.

Leah became chattier as the day went on. Being the only single female in her group of friends was rather tedious.

Apparently, Leah had been engaged to Sam once, back in the day, but then Sam had met Emily and called off their wedding. For the life of me I couldn't understand why Leah would have kept hanging around him after that. Sam is my blood and I love him, but what he did to Leah was inexcusable. I didn't care if he did fall madly in love with Emily at first sight, what a horrible thing to do to someone you once loved. Adding insult to injury, Sam would never have met Emily if she hadn't come down to help Leah plan her wedding. Unbelievable. That was soap-opera bullshit to the extreme. I thought my love-life drama was bad, but at least I had been able to leave it behind and not have it rubbed in my face every damn day.

Leah seemed to have gotten over it though, and she kept throwing out words like "fate" and "destiny." Whatever. That was still a lousy thing to go through. No wonder Leah listened to screaming-girl-power music; her past drama made me want to listen to it!

It was almost 6pm by the time we headed back toward La Push, so we stopped at the diner in Forks. Being a good sister, I called Embry so I could bring home dinner for him. Embry was apparently having some of his pack friends over for a Halo tournament before he and Quill had to go in and work a Security patrol. After witnessing how much food my twin and his friends could ingest I added on several orders of wings. I didn't want my nicely stocked fridge cleaned out.

The diner was a typical small town hangout. All of the teenagers congregated by the outdated arcade machines opposite of the old men who huddled, gossiping over their coffee and pie.

An older female waitress came over and took our order, and boy, was she was she surprised at how much food Leah wanted! Leah just smiled and mentioned how she was eating for two, giving me a wink during her explanation.

Once the waitress had walked away, I whispered, "You're not really pregnant are you?"

Leah just laughed. "Of course not, but it's an easy explanation as to why I can eat so much. Trying to explain that I have some bizarre-genetic mutation that gives me a super-high metabolism just takes too long."

"That makes sense. I sure couldn't eat like you and the guys do. I'd have to run four times a day if I did," I said, taking a drink of my tea. The door chimed as someone entered the diner. I wasn't facing the door but I watched as Leah's whole body tensed and her dark gaze morphed into a glare. I'm not usually nosy, but I tried to casually turn and look over my shoulder at the new arrival.

My eyes widened. Just inside the door was one of the most beautiful and well dressed females I had ever seen. She only stood about 5'4," but she held herself with such confidence and poise that she looked taller than she actually was. Her skin was so pale it could have been translucent, and her weird topaz colored eyes looked strange with her long chestnut hair. She smiled as her gaze met mine and she started to walk over to us. A chill crept up my spine; something wasn't right about this woman. As she glided across the floor towards us I turned back to Leah, who looked as though she might be sick. I understood why, as soon as the female stopped next to our table. There was weak but intense sickly sweet aroma emanating from her. The smell reminded me of the decomposing body in the florist shop I had been called to pronounce 'dead,' while working in San Francisco.

"Bella, what can we do for you?" Leah asked through gritted teeth.

The female –Bella– glanced between us before smiling sweetly. She looked at me and held out her tiny hand.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Bella Cullen."

I glanced back at Leah, who was scowling, before giving Bella a small smile and taking her hand.

"I'm Cassandra Call. I just moved here."

Bella's hand felt cold and hard, like she had just pulled it out of a freezer. I tried to discretely breathe through my mouth as Bella's perfume, or whatever the horrible smell came from, permeated the air around us. Bella's eyes had widened slightly.

"Oh! Are you related to Embry? I didn't know he had a sister."

Somehow Bella's sweet smile and genuine interest didn't seem completely real. Bella didn't seem real. She was too perfect, her movements too sure, and her eye color was just bizarre and unnatural looking. Did they even make contacts that color? And how did she know Embry?

"Yeah, umm, I'm his sister. We just found out about each other, actually. That's what made me move here…" Leah cut me off.

"What did you want, Bella? Our food is about to get here, and I don't need you ruining it."

Leah's blatant rudeness seemed slightly out of sorts, even for her. Granted, I obviously didn't know the history between them.

Bella watched Leah carefully as she answered. "I have been trying to get a hold of Jake, but he hasn't returned any of my calls."

"He's been out of town, but he'll be getting back any day now. If it's important, I can have Sam call you. He is the acting…supervisor while Jacob is gone." Leah spit out, not breaking eye contact with Bella.

Bella must have been holding her breath because the long exhale she gave was only followed by a brief inhale through her wrinkled nose.

"Oh, well, okay. It's nothing like that; I just need to speak with Jake. Will you let him know I need to see him?" Bella asked.

"Uh-huh. Will do." Leah nodded before turning back to me in her attempt to end the awkward and forced conversation.

Bella stood there for a few more seconds before turning her big creepy topaz eyes to me.

"Welcome to Washington, Cassandra. It was nice to meet you. Good-bye, Leah."

I watched as she turned smoothly on her heel and practically sashayed out of the diner.

Once the door closed behind her I turned back to Leah, who was scowling as she watched Bella get into her black Aston Martin.

"Bella was kind of creepy-weird in an overly-beautiful way, and holy crap did she smell terrible! I thought I was going to have to excuse myself and make a run for it if she had stuck around much longer. Ugh." I waved my napkin in front of my face in an attempt to disperse the lingering stench.

When the Aston Martin finally pulled out of the parking lot Leah faced me, and she had a weird expression on her face.

"You could smell that?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course! It was putrid!" I scrunched up my nose.

"That's just strange you can smell it. Very few people can." Leah stared at me for a few more seconds. Then our food arrived and she dug in, apparently forgetting about Bella and the horrible smell. How could anyone not smell that? I was still phantom-smelling it and it was corrupting the taste of my turkey sandwich.

"So, what's the deal with Bella? You didn't seem to like her much…" I trailed off, as Leah looked up from her almost empty plate.

"I don't like her –at all. She brought a bunch of really bad shit into this area and caused a shit-ton of unnecessary drama. All the while she was slowly ripping out Jacob's heart, only to stomp it to bits. She destroyed him for no other reason than she was a selfish and heartless two timing bitch." Leah ground her teeth before she ripped off a huge chunk of her sandwich and shoved it roughly into her mouth.

"Wow. Tell me what you really think, Leah. She seemed pretty familiar with you, and she knew Embry." I wondered if it was a super-secret-security thing, since even during her bitter tirade Leah was overly vague.

Leah had finished her sandwich before she answered.

"Bella stuck her nose where it didn't belong and brought a huge fight to our door that we never should have been involved in. We do our job to protect human life, so we helped her out a few times. This would be a very different area if we hadn't stepped in and saved her stupid ass. She and her family are a bunch of blood-sucking leeches."

"Huh…okay." Was all I managed to say before Leah grabbed the check and hustled us out of the diner.

We talked about everything not related to Bella or her family during the rest of the drive back to La Push. Whatever the deal was, it wasn't really any of my business. Leah talked about her upcoming family reunion down in Westport. She was taking Seth and her mom down there for the weekend and wasn't overly happy about it. Before I knew it, she was dropping me off outside my house.

Even with only a few bags there was no way I could juggle them all and safely open the front door without dumping the food, so I lightly kicked it several times. I could hear the guys and their general commotion from inside but the door remained shut. I was in the process of maneuvering the bags all over to my left arm when the door finally swung open.

My heart stuttered in my chest as I stared unblinking at the guy who had opened the door for me. He was by far most gorgeous man I had ever laid eyes on. He was really tall, at least 6'6" and his bare torso was so sculpted it belonged on display in a Grecian museum. His russet colored skin seemed to glow in the faint illumination of the porch light, and his jean shorts were slung scandalously low on his hips –I could feel my brain begin to fog over. I forcibly dragged my eyes back up to his face, to his beautiful and strong jaw, his perfectly straight nose, and his deep brown, almost onyx black eyes. Oh God. His hair! I wanted to drop my shopping bags just to free my hands so I could run my fingers through his short satiny black hair.

Our eyes met and I swallowed hard as my cheeks flushed scarlet. He had been scrutinizing me just as closely as I had been him.

His eyes widened as he continued to ogle me and I swear I heard him mumble a "wow" as his gaze scoured my body. He seemed to shake himself and then he spoke.

"Do you need some help with those?" He gestured to my bags with his muscular arm.

I had to get a hold of myself, but his deep husky voice was so intensely sexy I felt like my brain was melting out my ears. I forced myself to stare at the door frame next to his beautiful face –I needed to get a grip and fast. Taking a deep breath I gave him my most dazzling smile, and then I dared to open my mouth.

"Oh…umm yeah...I mean yes! That would be nice! Thank you!" Ugh. Awesome. Word vomit was exactly what I had been striving for.

He reached for my bags and when he took them from me his overly hot hand brushed against the back of mine and sent a tremor of warmth straight up my arm into my spine. He must have felt it too, because his hand jerked back and he met my startled gaze through his long black lashes. We stood gaping at each other for several seconds before he straightened up and took a step back so I could walk inside. Miraculously, I managed to get inside without tripping over my now jello-filled legs.

Quil and Embry must have been battling to the death because neither one of them even glanced up as we entered the living room. I would be forever grateful. I didn't want to have to explain my blush or sudden lack of coordination. The take-out got deposited on the kitchen bar before I carted the other bag into my room. I could feel him following me; his hot gaze was tangible as it followed my retreating backside.

Embry hollered after us, "Thanks for the dinner, sis! You're awesome! And thanks for helping her carry in her crap, Jake!"

I barely heard my twin because I was now standing in my bedroom with him. Jake, Embry had called him; short for Jacob, no doubt. This had to be the one and only Jacob Black. I had heard quite a lot about him, but everything I had known about him seemed to fizzle out of my brain as I stared at him.

Jacob spoke, breaking my trance. "Where do you want these, Cassandra?"

Oh, God. My name coming out of his mouth made my knees weak. It also brought my gaze to his gorgeous full lips. I blinked furiously –I really needed to get a hold of myself. This was just a guy; I had never gotten this spastic around a male before. Ever.

Grasping for my displaced confidence, I finally answered him, and my voice barely trembled.

"You can set them anywhere." I gestured around my room before turning my back briefly to him and tossing the bag I held up onto my bed. Without turning around I continued, "You can call me Cassie, by the way."

My internal monologue of OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! GET A GRIP! didn't seem to be having any influence on my focus or on my spasming heart, so I turned back around. Mistake. Jacob's eyes were smoldering so hot they bored directly into my soul, and he slowly licked his bottom lip like he wanted to eat me. That sounded like a wonderful plan to me. Wait, What? Why didn't I have any control over my brain or motor functions?

Jacob took a step toward me and I could feel the heat radiating off him and washing over my body –it gave me goose bumps. I had decided to just throw myself at him when Embry called out from the living room, and we jumped apart.

"What the hell are you guys doing back there?"

Oh Crap! How long had we been standing back here? I was wracking my brain with something –anything– to say, but Jacob saved me.

"She had a lot of bags, Em! You know girls…" he trailed off giving me a wink. Then in a low voice he directed at me, "Sorry about that… I …umm...would you wanna go for a walk and, y'know…or something with me?"

"God yes!" I said a bit too eagerly, again with the unwanted word spewing. Screw it.

My brain had checked-out long ago. This guy –Jacob–seemed to be the only thing I could clearly focus on. Everything else in the room was blurry, including my old reality. My whole body was screaming at me to get closer to Jacob –to touch him and learn everything about him. He was suddenly all that there was for me. I didn't know what was going on –it was kind of an out of body experience– and quite frankly I didn't care. Whatever it was, it felt amazing. Suddenly, I was optimistic; maybe I could have a happy ending. Every inch of my being hoped that this feeling –this connection– wasn't one sided. I would shrivel-up and die if was.

I admired Jacob's flawlessly sculpted back as I followed him back out into the living room. His ass looked fantastic in the jean shorts he was wearing. I could have looked at his backside for days.

The only change in the living room were the food containers I had left on the counter were now empty and in the trash. Neither my twin nor Quil's eyes left the television screen as we walked back into the living room and toward the exit. Finally, Embry looked over when Jacob opened the front door.

He looked between me and Jacob with his eyebrows raised. Then some sort of realization dawned on my twin and he jumped up from the couch and was standing toe-to-toe with Jacob before I could even blink. I took a step backwards in surprise; Embry look positively deadly. My twin growled threatening at Jacob but before he could force his clinched jaw open to say something, he was interrupted.

"We're going for a walk. We'll back in a while." Jacob's statement came across with unspoken authority and didn't leave room for any negotiation or comment. He had drawn himself up to his full height and appeared to tower over my brother.

Embry's mouth seemed to close all by itself, and he took a step back from Jacob. His eyes were tight as he continued to glare at Jacob.

After Quil had annihilated my brother's video-game character, he looked over at the group of us. The tension was palpable but I watched as Quil's eyes widened and he burst out into a fit of booming laughter. Quil was at Embry's side in an instant and had his huge arm tightly around my twin's painfully tense shoulders –clamping him in place.

I'm positive Embry stared after us as we walked out and Jacob shut the front door behind us. Quil could clearly be heard from outside the house.

"Holy Shit, Dude! I can't believe he imprinted on your sister!" Quil's roaring laughter that followed his statement didn't quite drown out Embry's growls, and the sound of breaking glass echoed from inside of the house before everything went quiet.

AN: This was a big chapter with more introductions. How'd I do with Bella? Dare I ask how I did with Jake? Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

Thanks to PTB, for lending me their betas! I don't like commas, and ellipses...yeah... :P They scare me.