AN: Very proud of myself for getting what would have been the rest of the last chapter to you so quickly. I love all the reviews you've been sending and the guesses some of you have made. Might get answers to some of them here. I had a blast writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy. Can't wait to hear what you think.

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Narrator POV

With his morning paperwork finished, Charlie sipped on his second cup of coffee and thought. He tried to think of what he needed and wanted to say to Billy. They'd been friends almost all of their lives, yet Charlie was at a loss to figure this out. Billy-and their mutual friends Harry Clearwater and Quil Ateara IV-had been a huge help to him when his wife had walked out and taken their daughter with her. He'd tried to repay the favor when Billy's wife Sarah had died, when Quil had drowned, and when Billy himself had been confined to the wheelchair.

Charlie had been thrilled when Bella had reconnected with Billy's son Jake, her old childhood playmate, and through him made more friends. The trio-and some of Bella's loyal friends from school-had done miracles in helping her recover from her breakup and illness. Now, though...neither Jake nor Quil's namesake son had been around in days, or even returned Bella's calls and messages as far as he knew. And to top it off, he'd just found out that Jake apparently hadn't done anything yet to fix Bella's truck, even though he'd promised to take care of that almost a week ago.

Charlie stopped by the receptionist's desk on his way to the privacy of the break room. "Gonna make a call about my daughter's truck, Nancy. Come find me if you need to."

"Sure, Charlie."

Ring, ring, ring

"Black residence."

"Hey, Billy."

"Charlie. How are you?"

"Fine. You?"

"Still dancing." Charlie's mustache twitched at the use of the catchphrase that was as natural to Billy as 'sure, sure' was to Jacob. "How's Bella?"

"Okay. Saw Leah off to college this morning. Bit emotional all around, looked like."

"They'll be fine-not like kids don't stay connected nowadays. And Bella's got lots of friends still here."

"Yeah," Charlie wondered if he should mention that Bella had a new boyfriend now to help out, too. He didn't, though-Bella deserved to be able to share that when she wanted to, and Billy was Jake's dad. On that note, "How's Jake?"

"Fine, fine."

"So what has you calling me to chew the fat in the middle of the day, Charlie?"

"Just wanting an update on Bella's truck. She's really antsy to get it back."

"Sorry. Jake's not done with it yet."

"Not done with it? From what Embry said over at Harry's place this morning, it looks like Jake hasn't even touched it yet!" Charlie's voice had a touch of heat in it now.

"He's trying, Charlie, but it's a little more complicated than he thought."

"So, what? Is Jake going to be able to fix it, or should I just call Dowling's and have them tow it to the shop here?"

"Jake hasn't given up on it, I promise. And Dowling's...Charlie, you know as well as I do that they charge an arm and a leg for their work, and a premium for replacement parts. Jake may be young, but he's good-and he's determined to work on this for Bella, so I know that he'll be persistent in tracking down any parts the old beast will need-and get them at a better price than Dowling's would offer you."

"So I've got your-and his-word that the truck will be fixed-and soon?"

"Jake will do everything he can as fast as he can," Billy promised. "Give him a chance."

"Okayyyy," Charlie drew the word out. "But I'm going to start thinking of a Plan B. I don't want my girl getting stranded somewhere because her truck went bad again. Might need something better when she goes off to college, anyway."

"Probably not a bad idea. That old truck has lasted a really long time, but I guess nothing lasts forever."

"Guess not."

"I'll tell Jake we talked and get back to you."

"Some reason Jake can't just tell Bella directly? They're about to be seniors in high school-we shouldn't have to play the piece of string in their game of Telephone."

"He will if he can."

"And why can't he? I may be butting into my daughter's business here-but after all the stuff that's happened this year, I think I'm entitled to-so why has Jake been missing in action all this week? He been so busy staring at the guts of that truck, or looking for parts that he couldn't bother to stop by and see her or even return one of her messages?"

"It takes time, Charlie-"

"Time? How much time does it really take to figure out if it can be fixed at all, or if he knows how, or if the parts are even out there to be bought? And don't think I didn't notice how you avoided answering about Jake and Bella."

"He'll call her."

"When? Not like he's been burning up the phone lines this week like he used to do. But she isn't exactly sitting by the phone waiting for him to call anymore, either. She's got her friends to help her out if Jake can't or won't."

"Jake is still her friend, Charlie, and he always will be."

"Not acting much like it right now. What kind of friend ignores a person for a week?"

"He's just had stuff to deal with the last few days. Tribal business-"

"Don't give me that tribal business crap, Billy. We've known each other too long for that. Okay, maybe you were right in the end about the Cullen's not being the best sort of people. But how in the world can you sit there and tell me that after I just watched my daughter claw her way out of that hole she was in-and doing it with your son's help-that I should somehow be okay with Jake abandoning her just that Cullen boy did?"

"This is nothing like that!" Billy was the one getting angry now.

"You're right: Cullen at least moved out-of-state. Just forget it," Charlie kept talking without giving Billy the chance to say anything. "I don't really want to hear your excuse again; I'm not the one who should be hearing it, anyway. I've got to get back to work. Just have Jake call Bella about her truck soon, okay?"

As soon as Billy agreed, Charlie hung up. He rubbed his face, trying to calm down. Losing his temper like that was almost unheard of for Charlie Swan, but something just wasn't right about all of this.

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Embry POV

The morning was amazing-as all time with Bella was. Even the rain didn't put a damper-literally-on being at the beach. I probably puffed up some when Bella approved of how I helped an older member of my unofficially-adopted tribe and she had fun playing with Pixie into the bargain. I think-okay, I know-I skirted the line getting myself in trouble helping coach Bella on her throwing technique. For all that I was new to this physical stuff, I was picking things up quickly-or else my body knew what it wanted and was just dragging my mind along with it. But fortunately Bella hadn't seemed to notice my problem and Mr. Pelletier had taken Pixie home only a little while later. Talking to Bella about the features surrounding the beach helped distract me-at least, until my stomach interrupted.

Almost as soon as we were out of sight of the people on the beach, I gave up the fight I'd been engaged in almost all morning. I spun Bella around, pulled her closer and up onto her toes, and laid one on her. Vaguely, I felt her hands come up and grip the elbows of my jacket; it was only a faint awareness, because almost all of my attention was focused on Bella: on her soft lips, the whisper of breath through them, the unique scent that surrounded her. When her mouth opened under mine, I was emboldened to explore it. The delicate touch of my tongue to hers-well, there was nothing delicate about the jolt that raced through both of us, breaking us apart.

A breathy whisper of "Wow" was all that Bella could muster; I couldn't even manage that much.

"Good thing you didn't do that in front of my dad," Bella said, once we'd both pulled our brains back together.

"Probably. Couldn't wait any longer to do that, though."

"How long did you wait?"

"All morning...all night...all evening...all afternoon... If my mom hadn't taught me all those manners, I would have just kicked Leah off your porch yesterday and not stopped kissing you," my declaration made Bella blush, and the way her tongue ran over her lips did nothing to stop me from wanting to put actions to words.

"And when my dad came home?"

"I dunno. Like you said, maybe it's good that we didn't find out."

"Yeah. He reacted enough this morning to that little peck. This one...he'd combusted for sure." Her additional comment, "Like I just did," was almost too soft for me to hear. I figured I hadn't been meant to, so I didn't say anything. But I definitely did a mental 'yes!'.

Once I made sure Bella had her feet under her again, we resumed our journey back to my house. We'd barely covered any ground at all before I noticed someone walking in our direction, coming out of the woods and obviously heading for the beach. It wasn't until he got closer that I realized it was Quil-but my friend was almost unrecognizable. His hair was buzzed short-not that it had been all that long in the first place. The lack of a shirt revealed a well-defined set of abs that I would have sworn under oath that he hadn't had last week. His face didn't seem as young as I remembered, and his eyes were filled with some emotion I couldn't quite decipher.

"Embry?" his voice cracked in disbelief.

Why is he looking at me like that? He's the one who's changed.

"Quil." I couldn't really help that my reply wasn't very friendly. It was hard just now to see him as my friend and not as the Uley-gang clone he'd somehow morphed into. "Long time no see."

"Yeah. Um. I've been...around. Busy. You know." Okay, so this verbal fumbling was typical of the Quil I knew, but that was about the only familiar thing.

"'Around', huh? 'Busy'? Yeah-too busy to give a friend a call, right?"

"I'm sorry."

"Me, too. What's up with you, man? Jake, too."

More spluttered attempts at explanation. "Just...stuff."

"Like what?" I could feel my temper starting to smolder. It was almost like Bella felt it, too, because she stepped up closer to me and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. Her move caught Quil's attention and he stared at us, a clearly horrified expression taking over his entire face.

"What are you doing?"

"Going home for lunch," I retorted.

"No! You-you," his hands waved around to include everything around us.

"I-what?" What was going on? Did he think I was too geeky or awkward or something to have a girl like Bella be interested in me?

"What are you thinking? You can't-she-you-can't-"

"I'm thinking that I don't know what your problem is. And I-she-we can do whatever we want."
Quil's hands did their best to fist in his hair. "This-Jake-Em, you can't." His entire body-and was I crazy, or was he even taller and bulkier than I remembered?-was practically dancing in his agitation.

"I-can't?" Oh, he had not just said that. No one, not even one of my best friends-or former best friends, I had no idea which-had any right to tell me what to do.

"Em, you know Jake-"

"I know that he what, Quil? He never said anything about liking anyone, not that I ever heard about."

"He didn't have to! We know him too well. I saw it and I know you did, too."

"Do I really know him? Or you? I'm not a mind-reader, Quil. He never said anything to anyone, so if someone else made a move while he was daydreaming, then tough cookies."

"I'm not a psychic, either," Bella added. "Why didn't he say anything to me? It's not like he's shy or anything. And now...ignoring me isn't a way I've ever heard of to say 'I like you'-more like the complete opposite."

"He's not-"

Bella didn't seem inclined to let Quil finish many sentences, any more than I had. "Yes, he is. He's ignored me just as much as he has Embry-just like you."

"He does like you, Bella. I swear. He-you-it's meant to be. Just give him a chance, please! Don't fight destiny."

"Destiny? Please!" Bella scoffed. "It doesn't work that way, Quil. People meet, get to know each other, and fall in love. Love at first sight is a book and movie myth."

"But-"

"Don't, Quil. The last guy who tried to spout that kind of a line to me abandoned me in the woods a couple months ago."

"Jake isn't like that Cullen!" Quil exclaimed, his entire body freezing up, which was worse, somehow, than the trembling.

"No, you're right-Edward moved away when he left me."

"Don't-" Quil growled, looking right at Bella for the first time since they'd started their conversation-if that was even the right word for it. He just stared for a minute and then it was like all that tension he'd been shooting off just evaporated. "Bella, he hates not being around right now, and as soon as he can, he'll come and tell you everything, okay? Please, just be patient."

"I don't have to do anything if I don't want to," Bella denied. "And if all of this 'stuff' is so important, then why can't he tell me now?"

"Sam," blurted Quil, before he slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Sam? Sam Uley? What-never mind. I don't care." Then, to me, "Can we go get lunch now? I'm starving."

"Sure," I agreed. With a little tug, I pulled her closer to me and wrapped my arm around her. "Whatever my girlfriend wants is what she gets." We walked past Quil, me giving him the proverbial evil eye as we left him behind. Neither of us looked over our shoulders, but I didn't hear him moving to follow us.

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Quil POV

I walked through the woods—human—and tried to figure out how my life had spun out of control. Not even a week ago, I'd been horsing around with my two best friends; now, I only had one of them, and he was acting like he'd willingly take me down if I tried to steal away his girl. I didn't like Bella that way, and I didn't want to imprint on her.

Honestly, though, I didn't get why people were so upset. I mean, Sam is sure it's gonna be Jake who imprints on her, and Sam's the Alpha and knows what he's talking about. I'd say it's mostly Paul trying to stir stuff up and make things interesting for him to sit back and watch.

After I'd left Sam's place yesterday, I'd gone looking for my grandfather. I laid it all out to him and asked what he thought.

"The Spirits send signs, but the interpretation belongs to the one who receives them."

"So if Sam's sure that Jake will imprint on Bella, then that settles it, right?" I'd asked.

"Perhaps."

"Grandfather," I groaned. He was often spouting such vague responses.

"The Alpha has wisdom and insight. I have heard his beliefs. I have heard that young Jacob feels strongly tied to this girl. Do you?"

I shook my head. "She's nice, and it's not like being around her has been a bother; but I don't feel that strongly about her, not like Jake does. I don't want to hurt my friend like that. I don't want it to be me."

"Do not worry, my grandson. When you see her next, you will all know what is and what is not."

I was only partially reassured, but I knew from long experience that he wouldn't say anything more. At loose ends until later in the evening, I had to find something to do that would keep me out of Jake's way. What I really wanted to do was spend time with Embry, but I couldn't. I hated that I'd abandoned him this way, but I didn't have a choice in it. Once I'd gotten back to human, Sam had told me—and Jake, too, later—to keep my distance, "for his own safety". Even if I hadn't gotten that Alpha command, I wouldn't know what to say. There really wasn't any way to explain any of this without spilling secrets that I couldn't share. In the end, I'd vegged out in front of the TV until Mom called me to supper.

"I'm going to have to get used to cooking more," Mom observed.

"Our protectors must be well-fed," Grandfather agreed. I would have, too, but my mouth was full. Food demolished, I stood up to clear the table, only to drop the dishes with a clatter when a howl rose from out in the backyard.

"Gotta go!" and I bolted outside.

Patrol time, Paul said after I phased.

Jake okay?

Guess so. Sam got him back home and human before he called me out. We're on until midnight and Jared'll take over. Oh, Sam wants you to steer clear of Jake tomorrow, too. Doesn't want you becoming the scapegoat for Jake's dad.

Me, either.

Night patrols meant that Mom would let me sleep in for part of the morning. Then I had to spend the rest of it cleaning up my room.

"You're a wolf, not a pig," as Mom put it when I tried to avoid the chore.

Finally done, I threw a sandwich together and escaped before Mom could find anything else for me to do. It didn't fill me up, but maybe Emily would have something else for me—or maybe I'd just stay gone until Mom left for her part-time job.

Even with the misty rain, it was nice enough that I decided to take the long way and swing by the beach for a little while. I quickly wished that I hadn't.

I was almost to the beach when I caught the sound of a pair of heartbeats coming my way. I looked to see who they belonged to and I nearly choked. Leaving the beach I was heading for were none other than Embry and Bella. My eyes zeroed in on them.

What are they doing here? I had time to think.

Then, Embry spun Bella around, leaned close, and kissed her. All I could do was stand and watch my childhood friend kissing our best friend's dream girl. Whatever they were saying to each other didn't penetrate the buzz in my head, but I could tell that Bella hadn't minded what Embry had done. They started walking again and that's when they spotted me. I focused on Embry—I wasn't about to look at Bella if I could help it. I didn't want Jake to pound me; and he would do it, no matter what Sam said.

"Embry?"

"Quil." He just stared back and me, not at all friendly. Embry didn't think much of my excuses. I could see him starting to get angry and didn't know how to stop it. It took a lot to get Em really mad and the last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt hitting me. Just then, Bella stepped closer to Embry and took his hand. It all completely clicked then, and I felt sick. They were together. The only really clear thought I had was a stream of profanity. Em couldn't—he just couldn't—have made a move on Bella. Impossible. She was—would be—a wolf girl. This was a shit-storm in the making. Em had to know that I knew: his eyes just dared me to say something. And I did—I had to. This had to stop before all the people I cared about got hurt.

Neither of them seemed to get that, though. They were both mad about getting dropped. Then Bella scoffed at the idea that she and Jake were meant to be together. When she compared the imprint bond to whatever she'd felt for that Cullen, I nearly lost it. I forgot all about not looking at her, stared straight into her eyes, and…nothing. No imprinting.

Relief that Jake wouldn't kill me swept through all 6 feet 3 inches of my new height. But then I forgot all about that with Embry's blatant claim of Bella as his girlfriend. I was brushed aside when they left. Embry gave me a death glare as he went by. They were long out of sight and sound before I could move again, and when I did it was to collapse in a heap.

Hell. Fuck. Shit. This was and would be a huge mess.

When I didn't think I'd make a fool of myself, I got to my feet and headed back home. There was no way I was going anywhere near anyone in the pack—Jake or otherwise—until I absolutely had to.