Paul

Bella sat next to me at the edge of the cliffs as we watched the waves crash against the shore. Yesterday I'd sat here with Rosalie right before proposing to her, and now she was gone. We would never be married. We wouldn't spend our lives together. My imprint, the other half of my soul, was gone.

I clutched Bella's hand tightly in mine. Before proposing to Rosalie, I had decided against hiding the imprints during the fight but things had changed so much since then. We couldn't lose anyone else. I wouldn't subject my brothers to the hell I was living in. Jasper was right, the only way they would be safe was if they were hidden. We had all been so close to Rosalie and they still managed to kill her without anyone realizing, I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

"I need to talk to you about something, B." I said to her. She didn't turn to look at me, but squeezed my hand gently. "Did you know that we are the only two that can keep our thoughts from Edward? He can hear me, but I've learned to hide my thoughts."

She chuckled lightly. "I bet that drives him crazy. He hated not being able to hear me."

I laughed along with her. I was so grateful for Bella, the only one that could bring a smile to my face in the midst of losing my love. "I need you and the other girls to go somewhere during the fight, B. It has to be very far away. Jasper said that as long as we all think you're close by Edward won't catch on until it's too late. You're the only one that can keep this from him. You can't tell me or anyone else where you're going, but I need to know you'll go somewhere safe."

She laid her head on my shoulder and sighed. "I knew this would happen." She told me. "Jasper gave me IDs and passports for everyone under different names before Alice died. Yesterday I got one for Rachel too, and a credit card in my fake name to cover our expenses. I promise we'll be safe."

We sat for a few more minutes before leaving to get ready for the wedding. I could only physically handle walking when I was with Bella. I had hoped Old Quil could tell me why I was in so much pain, but he hadn't given Sam any real answers. Quil seemed to know something but he wouldn't tell us what it was. From what I'd read in the legends, the wolf only died when his imprint did if they were marked and Rosalie hadn't been. Our legends never mentioned a wolf being in physical pain over the death from their imprint. Sometimes it was almost like I could still feel her, but I knew she was gone. I saw the flames over our home that took her life every time I shut my eyes.

Bella drove me to my house where the guys were getting ready before heading off to the Cullen's to meet the girls. Surprisingly, nobody was here yet. I laid down on my couch and waited for them. The wedding was in two hours, so they'd have to show up soon. Being alone in the house- and alone with my thoughts- was something I hadn't realized would bother me the way that it did. I could almost see Rosalie sitting there with me. Most of our time together was in the house she died in, but we had made some amazing memories in this house.

"Paul!" Rosalie yelled, slapping me lightly. "I told you I'm no good at these games." She threw her controller on the floor and pouted like a child.

I laughed hysterically at her, spilling my bowl of popcorn all over the couch. We had been playing Mario Kart and she was angry that I'd hit her with a turtle shell. "Someone is a sore loser." I told her.

She huffed and stood from her seat. "I'm going to start your dinner. Emmett and Jasper let me win when I play with them at least." She grumbled as she walked in the kitchen.

I finished the race I was on and turned the game off. Rosalie wasn't fond of sharing the kitchen when she cooked, so I cleaned while she prepared dinner and we made small talk. We were staying at my house tonight to give Leah and Emmett some space. It was funny that she volunteered to cook because she actually hated the smell of human food and had planned to hunt while I ate. Once my cleaning was done I sat down at the bar in the kitchen and watched her.

"Why don't we stay here more often, babe?" She asked me.

I sighed. "I have a lot of bad memories here with my parents." I replied. "Besides, I like our house. I like being close to your family."

She came over to me and kissed my cheek. "After the fight, I want to remodel your house. We can make this house our own. The Clearwater's are right next door, we don't spend enough time with Harry and Sue."

I looked around the same room we'd had that conversation in. The remodel she dreamed of wouldn't ever happen. We never made it to living here and spending more time with Harry and Sue. I hadn't been back in the house since that night. I stood from the couch and walked back to my bedroom. I'd kept the same one I'd used as a child and it had remained basically unchanged. The last time I'd been in this room was with Rosalie too, and I wondered why her scent was still coming from the room. The door was shut, though I didn't remember shutting it the last time I was here.

I opened the door and was overwhelmed with her scent. I walked in and shut the door behind me, locking it quickly. I didn't want any of the guys to walk in and taint her scent with theirs. It seemed she had started the remodel on her own. My old raggedy bed and my dresser with two drawers missing had been replaced by a new matching set. The carpet had been torn out and replaced by hard wood flooring, and the walls were painted a deep forest green. The new furniture was a dark oak, and the bed was a king size instead of my old full. There was a new TV mounted to the wall across from the bed and a small entertainment center underneath containing all of my favorite video games. I walked over to the bed and saw a note with my name on it laying between the pillows. I'd recognize her handwriting anywhere.

I started remodeling without you. I thought you'd enjoy a new room for us to stay in the night of the wedding. Hope you don't mind. We'll break in the bed together. Love, Rosalie.

I sank to the floor with the note in my hand. This is what I had lost, what had been taken from me. Rosalie was so thoughtful and she had planned this out perfectly for us to have a night alone and leave the house to Emmett and Leah. The pain in my chest came back, and more intensely than last time. I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them as I sobbed. How could I go on without her? How could I ever learn to live with this pain?

I heard the front door open and knew the guys had arrived. I didn't know how I could stand to walk outside, but I didn't want them to come in. I tucked the note in the drawer of the new bedside table and crawled toward the bedroom door. I pulled myself up using the door handle and managed to step out in to the hall, shutting the door behind me. I started to walk toward the pack and was hit with another sharp pain that brought me to my knees. Jared yelled and ran toward me, trying to help me to my feet. He carried me to the couch and started to call Bella, but I asked him not to. This was my burden to bear. Emmett sat down next to me and told me that they would understand if I couldn't come to the wedding. I was so angry at the situation I was in. My imprint was taken from me and now I was going to miss Emmett and Leah's wedding. Embry offered to stay with me while the rest of the pack left. Jared had wanted to stay but he and Kim were both stepping in to the wedding party. Carlisle offered me something for the pain before he left and I accepted. He gave me two shots; one for the pain and one to help me sleep. I knew the effects of the medicine wouldn't last long and I hoped that with sleep would come pleasant dreams of Rosalie.

Embry

I sat by Paul's side until he fell asleep. I hated to use Paul after what he'd been through, but staying with him provided the cover I needed to leave. Quil had been my best friend since we were kids, I knew that he knew more than he was saying. Something about this whole situation didn't seem right to me. I knew Paul would suffer over Rosalie, but he shouldn't be in any physical pain. Emotionally he'd be in the same hell as me, but the physical aspects of the imprint should have stopped when Rosalie died. If Rosalie was actually dead. I already had a plan, but before I left I was going to pay my dear old dad a visit. I looked around the room for something of Bella's, and slipped her scarf in to a sealed bag before leaving.

I walked up to the front door of the Black's house and saw Charlie's cruiser outside. I had a lot of respect for Charlie and I didn't want him to be involved in this confrontation, but at this point he was in on the secret and I would talk in front of him if I had to. In the kitchen sat Billy, Charlie, and Old Quil.

"Embry?" Billy looked puzzled as I walked in. "What are you doing here, son? Shouldn't you already be at the beach?"

He had a lot of audacity calling me son after he'd denied me for my entire life. Today was not the day for his bullshit. "No, Paul can't walk to the wedding so I'm staying with him. Before you leave I want answers."

"This is hardly appropriate to discuss in front of Chief Swan, Embry." Old Quil scolded me. "This is a discussion for another time."

He stood and started to leave, but I blocked his exit. "Sit down." I commanded. "Nobody is leaving until I get answers. I've read the legends, I know something isn't right with this whole situation."

"What are you implying, Embry? We don't know why Paul is reacting this way. We would help him if we could, you know that." Billy told me.

"Do I know that, Billy? You watched me grow up without a father for all of those years and never told the truth, you are certainly not above lying." I felt my hands shaking and tried to calm down. "Just tell me what you know. Is she still alive?"

Old Quil's eyes grew wide and I knew in that moment she couldn't have died. "You saw that fire with your own eyes, boy." He told me. "Don't you think if she was alive we'd have the entire pack out looking for her?"

"No, I don't. You're the same group that banned her from the reservation when we met her. It wasn't until Leah imprinted on Emmett that you were even going to accept them, and if Harry wasn't on the council you probably wouldn't have even then." I needed to stop again so I wouldn't phase. I took a deep breath before continuing. "Just tell me. I've read the legends and all of the journals of the last pack. The only thing that does this to a wolf is physical separation from their imprint, not the death of an imprint."

Old Quil pulled a small tattered leather journal from his coat pocket and handed it to me. "You haven't read this one. The imprint is being broken, it takes a few days for his body to adjust to the loss. It doesn't happen instantly the way you might think."

I took the book from his hands and opened it. The pages weren't as yellowed, and the ink wasn't as faded. I'd read Levi Uley's journal that morning and I knew this paper couldn't be older than that. He was saying it was from the pack before Levi's and that simply wasn't possible. I threw it back to him. "These pages aren't old! The ink is fresh!" I screamed. "If you people won't help Paul, I will. I'm going to find Rosalie. If I don't find her before Saturday, I'll be back to fight with my pack."

I ran out of the house slamming the door behind me. Charlie had followed me and yelled for me to stop but I kept going. I phased and ran toward Rosalie's house. Her house had been destroyed in the fire, but her garage was not and I had the extra key to her car.

I arrived at the garage and the sight of the charred rubble that used to be her home made me sick to my stomach. I climbed in her car and took off toward Seattle. My hunt for her would start there, but I knew she had to be farther away for Paul to be in this kind of agony. I knew that someone in their army had to know, I just had to get them alone and torture it out of them. I wouldn't accept that she was dead- she couldn't be. My thoughts drifted back to one of the last times we'd talked alone.

"Embry?" Rosalie called out. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"

I was laying underneath a tree as my wolf deep in the forest when she found me. She must have been hunting. I phased back to human and slipped on my shorts so we could talk. "Sorry, Rose. I was just thinking. I needed some time away from the family and the pack." I sat down on the ground.

She sat next to me. "What's wrong? Anything you feel like talking about?" I shook my head but she didn't leave. "Well you don't have to talk, but I'm not leaving."

Her assertiveness had irritated me. "What if you're the one I'm trying to hide from?" I said softly. It was true, I hadn't wanted to be around her.

"Then that's just too bad." She replied, smiling at me. "I won't leave you alone while you're hurting. You're stuck with me."

I groaned. "I wish I was the one that's stuck with you instead of Paul." I told her. "It's killing me, Rosalie. I want you to be happy but I wish you were happy with me."

She hung her head down. "Em, please don't do this. I love you, you know I do, but I'm meant to be with Paul. You're going to find your imprint, I know it." She reached for my hand but I pulled away from her. "If you want me to leave I will, but I don't want to."

"I don't want to imprint on someone else, I want you." I told her. "Why would I want to imprint on a girl that could only ever hope to have a small part of me? My heart and soul belongs to you, Rosalie. I'm in love with you and I'm happy that you're happy with Paul but I don't know how to move on and I don't know if I want to."

She stood up. "Don't say that you don't want to imprint. When you find the right girl I promise you'll forget all about me." She stopped and giggled. "Okay, you can't actually do that you're still my best friend, but you'll forget about loving me."

I smiled. I didn't believe that I'd ever stop loving her, but I loved the effort she was making. I hoped that if I did imprint it would be as easy as she said for me to move on. "Thanks, Rose." I said. "Are you in the middle of a hunt?"

She shook her head. "I just finished. Want to race me back to my house? Esme made food for the pack." I nodded and we took off.

I let Rosalie win the race that day. She wanted to be faster than me and I didn't have the heart to actually beat her in a race, it made her so happy every time she won. Leah had never gave her that satisfaction.

The shrill ring of my cell phone tore me from my thoughts. I glanced down to see that Bella was calling me. I wasn't very fond of Bella and today wasn't the day for her to push me. I rejected the call and she called again immediately.

"Bella, now really isn't-"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" She screamed. "How could you leave Paul alone in his condition?"

As much as I didn't like her, I couldn't blame her for being angry over that. I had left my brother alone and in pain. "I'm sorry, Bella. There was no other way for me to get away from the pack." I explained.

"I came to get him for the wedding and he was sobbing on the floor alone." I felt so terrible. He had been fine when I left, I hadn't expected him to get worse so quickly. "What are you even doing? What could be so important that you would abandon us after we just lost Rosalie?"

I groaned. She wouldn't understand and I didn't feel like explaining. "Let me talk to Paul."

"Em? Where are you?" Paul asked me. His voice was gruff but weak. Whoever had Rosalie was either hurting her or moving her farther from the reservation than she already was.

"I don't think she's dead, Paul." I heard him gasp softly but I didn't give him a chance to respond. "I'm out looking for her. I'll be back in time for the fight if I don't find her, I promise."

"Come on Em, don't do this to yourself." He pleaded. "She's dead. Old Quil told me that it just takes a few days for the imprint to break and that I'll feel better soon. Please come home. You're going to miss the wedding but you can make it for the reception."

Old Quil must have left the Black's and went straight to Paul with his fake journal of a wolf that probably never existed. "He's lying to you, Paul. I'll see you in a few days." I disconnected the call and turned off my phone. I didn't need the rest of the pack bothering me.

When I arrived in Seattle, it wasn't hard to find the area where these leeches were staying. There were vehicles turned over in the streets, small fires burning, and screams that could be heard miles away. I parked the car and pulled Bella's scarf out of the bag. I handled it with gloves and tied it to the driver's side mirror of the car. I knew her scent would draw them out. I probably should have phased and waited for them, but I wanted to fight as a man instead of a wolf. Rosalie would be mad at me for leaving Paul and for coming out here alone, but I didn't care. I had to find her. I knew in my heart she wasn't dead.

I heard a rustling behind me and turned around frantically. I could smell a leech nearby but I couldn't find them. I ran a short distance away from the car and it was like the scent trail was gone. I had never been the best tracker, that was Seth's title, but I didn't think I was this bad. I walked back to the car and my heart skipped a beat when I saw a blonde leech standing by it. The closer I got the more obvious it became that it wasn't Rosalie, but it was one of the family. It was Kate Denali.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I growled at her.

Kate had been with Rosalie the night I phased but we hadn't really met. I'd seen her in passing enough to know what she looked like, but Sam had insisted she stay away from us. She turned to look at me and my entire world shifted as our eyes met. Rosalie had been right, when you imprint the other bonds and feelings you had seem so irrelevant. I still loved Rosalie and I wouldn't stop looking for her, but I could see that she was my sister now. Kate was my life now.

She walked toward me slowly, her golden blonde hair blowing in the wind behind her. It was the exact shade of Rosalie's, but stick straight and smooth. "I heard my cousin's pet dog was out looking for her. Jasper knew where you'd go and I told him I'd come find you." She paused for a second. "He told me that he saw the fire himself, Embry. Rosalie is dead."

"I'm surprised you even came. You know I'm the one that helped her kill Laurent, right?" I had to make sure she knew about that. I didn't want it to come up later on.

"Of course I do. But I know Rosalie much better than my sisters. She wouldn't have killed him without a good reason. He was supposed to be committed to our way of life, not killing a human at his friend's request." She explained. "Rose told me his eyes were red when you saw him. He was too far gone."

"I'm not going home." I told her. "I know something isn't right about this. Rosalie has to be alive."

She shook her head. "You wolves are stubborn. Jasper knew you wouldn't come home. I'm here to help, but we have to be back by Saturday if we don't find her. Jas said that Rose was supposed to look over the girls so I'm stepping in."

We sat down together and waited to see if one of the newborns would show up. She was really curious about the pack. I told her about Billy, Jake and Rachel. Rebecca probably didn't even know we were siblings yet. Kate seemed as shocked as I was that Billy had kept it from me that he was my father for all of these years. Her shock quickly turned to anger. We talked about my friendship with Quil and Jake. I told her about Rachel and she told me how excited she was to meet Jasper's new mate.

Kate told me about her relationships with each of the Cullen's. She'd never gotten along with Alice, but Rose and Jasper were her closest friends. She talked a lot about her family. One of her sisters was in love with Edward, the other mourning over Laurent. They both clearly had terrible taste in men.

It felt like we'd been talking forever and no time at all when one of the newborns appeared. It was a young girl with dark hair down to her waist. "Where's Bella?" She asked in a hushed tone. "You have to get her out of here, it's not safe."

Why was this girl trying to protect her? Her crimson red eyes told me she fed from humans, she had to be part of the army. Kate stood up and electricity was crackling from her palms. "You're going to tell us what we want to know or I'll lay your ass out. Where is Angela?"

The girl looked afraid. "I don't know. Angela was my friend. She was working with Alice behind Edward and Victoria's back, but she disappeared. She told me that Alice hadn't checked in with her and she was going to see Rosalie, but she never came back." She looked down at her feet. "My name is Bree, I was helping Angela with her plan. She doesn't want Bella to get hurt."

"Bullshit!" I yelled. "Angela killed Rosalie, she's not the good guy here!" I started shaking and Kate grabbed my hand. Her touch soothed my nerves and kept me from phasing, but I was still angry.

"I don't trust you." Kate told the girl. "If Bella had been here, you probably would've killed her."

The girl shook her head. "No, I wouldn't! I came to warn her. You both need to go, take me with you if you don't believe me. Her scent is strong here and the others will be here soon. You'll see."

"You are not going anywhere with me." I told her. "Why should we believe you?"

"Angela told me that Bella was her friend. She never wanted this. I never wanted this." Bree broke in to tearless sobs. "I don't want this life. I want to live like the Cullen's, but I can't just leave. Victoria and Edward will kill me. Angela was my only friend here after they killed my mate and she's gone now too. Angela couldn't have killed Rosalie, Edward must have found them." She sank to the ground. "Please don't leave me here to die."

I looked closely at Bree. She couldn't have been older than 14 before her change. She seemed genuine, but it was hard for me to trust anyone after what Alice had done. I wished Jasper was here. I didn't want Carlisle to offer her asylum if Jasper didn't think she was worthy of it. I turned to Kate, hoping she'd tell me not to save this girl. I couldn't kill her if my imprint didn't agree.

Kate looked the girl up and down. She kneeled in front of her and whispered in her ear. "If I do this for you and you hurt any single member of my family I will kill too slowly. Our tracker is better than anyone I've ever seen. There won't be a single corner of this world you'll be able to hide from him." I knew she was talking about Seth, but she was certainly overestimating his skills. Jasper just have spoken highly of him, because I knew they'd never met.

Bree nodded quickly. "I won't hurt anyone, I promise. Please help me."

Kate grabbed a note pad from Rosalie's car and wrote down the address for the Cullen's home on it. "When the wolves find you, you need to kneel and hold your hands above your head in surrender. Ask for Jasper and tell him that Katherine Lillian McCarty sent you. The girls will strip search you and burn your clothes but they'll give you new ones." She patted Bree down and made her empty her pockets before handing her the note. Bree started to run off but Kate grabbed her arm tightly. "If you make me regret this, you'll wish Victoria had been the one to kill you."

Bree took the note from her. "Thank you. I promise you won't regret this." She ran off in to the night.

"Should we have done that?" I asked Kate once Bree was out of earshot. "I feel like we should have killed her."

Kate grinned at me. "What do you think Jasper and Peter will do? I thought this would give them the chance to get some information out of her. Maybe she can give them a better idea of what we're up against."

I couldn't argue with her logic there. It would be nice to have some inside information about the army that was moving against us. I untied Bella's scarf from the mirror and opened the passenger side door for Kate. "Come on, we better get out of here."

She climbed in the car and we took off down the road. "Is that name you made up a code for something?" I asked her.

She laughed. Her laugh was like music to my ears. "Yeah, when Jasper was in the southern wars they couldn't just turn people and send them to him for training. He wouldn't know who to trust. Handwritten notes were impractical and cell phones didn't exist back then. Peter had the idea of making up a name including the first middle and last of three allies to let them know they'd actually spoken to one of them. I used my first name, Rosalie's middle name, and Emmett's last name."

I chuckled. "Leave it to those two to come up with a code like that. We have cell phones now though, couldn't you have called him?"

"What would be the fun in that?" She giggled.

Rosalie told me I'd forget my love for her when I imprinted but I hadn't. I'd never forget the way I loved Rosalie, but I understood her place in my life now. I wouldn't accept that she was dead. I was so grateful to Jasper for sending my imprint my way, even if he didn't know that would happen. The two of us would find Rosalie before the fight, I just knew it.