Embry

Jake called as I was heading back to Forks to ask me to bring Bella by his house. Her riding with me had saved me a trip to get her, but I still wasn't happy with how things had gone with Leah. My mind was going over and over things I could've said or done differently and I was growing frustrated. Had I crossed a line with her? I continued to ruminate as I made the turn for La Push.

I had no idea what the hell Jake needed Bella to be present for tonight. It was no secret to any of us the crush he'd had on Bella, but after learning about imprinting he decided not to pursue her. He cared too much about Bella to take a chance on hurting her. Charlie and Billy were the best of friends, so she was still around a lot. Jake had expressed his distaste for her relationship with Edward on more than one occasion, but she'd always brushed it off.

She talked my ear off on our way to Jake's house. She wasn't usually this chatty, but she had a few drinks after Leah left with Edward. Surprisingly, she wasn't jealous of Leah and seemed excited to start a friendship with her. It hadn't taken much convincing from Rosalie and Alice for Bella to offer to help Leah in her time of need today. We knew she'd struggle to get ready on her own with her wrist still swollen but she wouldn't ask anyone for help. I felt a small twinge of guilt in manipulating the situation, but it seemed the two of them had really clicked. When it came to Leah, I would do whatever I could to help get her on the path to leaving her abusive marriage.

Seth and Quil were sitting on the porch of Jake's house, but they stood and went inside when they saw us getting out of the car. They both looked upset, but neither spoke. Billy and Charlie were both sitting at the kitchen table waiting for us.

"What's this about?" Bella asked. "Why all the long faces? Did someone die?"

Jake chuckled. "No, Bella, nobody died. I'm just worried about you."

"Me? Why? I feel gooooood."

Drunk Bella was incredibly annoying.

"How much has she had to drink?" Charlie asked me.

I raised my hands up. "Don't look at me, I'm just the chauffeur."

Jake sat down next to Bella. "Bells, I heard you met Paul Lahote today."

Paul? He was the reason we were meeting? What the hell did he do to her?

She waved her hand in front of her face. "Do you have a bad memory? I met him when we were kids and he bullied you guys. I told that asshole he could go to hell when I saw him today."

I couldn't hide my smirk. I would've paid good money to see little Bella Swan tell Paul Lahote what she thought. Bella had always been quiet when we were kids, but she was perceptive.

Everyone laughed and Jake smiled brightly at his friend. "I'm glad you remember that. Just promise me you won't forget what kind of person he is, okay? I don't want to see you hurt. Swear to me you'll be careful around him, and avoid him as much as you can."

"You made me come all the way out here for this?" She asked. "I have to work tomorrow, Jake!"

"I think you'll need to let Carlisle know you're not coming tomorrow, Bells." Jake told her. "You wanna sleep here or you want Charlie to take you home?"

She shook her head frantically from side to side. "No, no, no. I am not sleeping here, Jacob Black. I will go home with Char- I mean, my dad."

Charlie helped her up from her seat and she waved goodbye to all of us. When Bella left, Jake's good mood went with her.

Billy wheeled into his bedroom and came back with his shotgun. "Are we ready to go to Sam's place?"

"Whoa. What is going on?" I demanded. "Why did you tell Bella to stay away from Paul?"

Jake's face was blank. His eyes were yellow, and I knew I wasn't talking to the man anymore. Jake was all wolf right now.

"He imprinted on Bella." Billy answered for him. "He called my daughter in Hawaii and told her he was filing for divorce over the phone. Not so much as a damn explanation. Not much he can say, really. But he could've waited for her to return from her trip before dropping this bomb on her." The look on his face wasn't that of a council member, it was the look of a father wanting to settle a score for his daughter. "I never should've allowed their marriage. She wasn't his imprint, but we thought it was rare.. I.. I didn't protect her from this pain like I should have." Billy's head hung a little lower.

Jake nodded, looking from his father to each of us. "I'll take Paul, you can all take Sam together."

Seth spoke up. "Neither of you are thinking clearly. First of all, if Sam and Paul are there Jared has to be too. Do you think the three of us can take Sam and Jared? What about my sister? You know she's there, too. Do you really want her to find out about the pack this way?"

Jake didn't like being questioned. He stood up and started to walk toward Seth when I pushed him back.

"Run it off, Jake." I demanded. "I know you're pissed, but this isn't the answer. We can't go shoot Paul or fight Sam for something he couldn't help. He shouldn't have fucked Rachel over, but did you ever expect anything different from our childhood bully?"

Jake pushed past me and burst into his wolf just as he made it out the door. Quil came up to me immediately after Jake left.

"I didn't expect any different from Paul, but I'm not the defenseless kid I was back then. I'm done taking shit from them, Em. Jake might calm down for tonight but there's a fight coming and you've got to wrap your head around it."

He ran outside too and I didn't follow. Billy held his gun lower in his lap as he joined us at the table. Seth excused himself to get back to his shift. It wasn't very busy being a police officer in Forks, but he said he wanted to be closer in case they needed him. I knew he just wanted to get out of here, and I didn't blame him.

Billy poured himself a glass of whiskey and drank it slow while we sat there silently.

"You were right to stop us tonight, Embry. We weren't prepared. But one day soon we will be, and you need to be ready."

I wasn't afraid of fighting Paul. I wasn't even afraid of fighting Sam. I was afraid of Leah being caught in the crosshairs and getting hurt. I didn't want her to be pitted between the two of us, and certainly not when I knew she'd still choose Sam.

Jasper standing in front of the clinic was always an indicator that I'd have a bad day. Rosalie was picking me up for work now that Leah knew about my ties to the family. There was no reason for me to downplay the truth. I still insisted I could walk most days, but Esme protested and I didn't want to upset her.

I should've known that was what Leah was upset about. I couldn't fault anyone for what happened. I hadn't had a chance to tell her, and Dr. Austin had no idea that it was a secret. Carlisle always introduced me as his son when I was at Harvard. Nobody there knew about the politics of the issue back home, and I hadn't expected to ever return to Washington.

I was glad that she had confided in Edward. He wouldn't have shared her thoughts unless she had told him in conversation. Our family meeting after his talk with Leah and my encounter at Jake's was interesting to say the least. Now our family had two goals; get Leah away from Sam, and keep Bella away from Paul. Carlisle didn't know about the imprint, and I felt guilty for lying to him, but Bella wasn't safe with Paul. The problem was that we needed Bella to spend more time with Leah, but we also wanted her to stay away from the rez.

"What'd she see?" I asked Jasper as I walked alongside my sister to the clinic doors. "She knows she can just text me this stuff, right?" Alice hated to give bad news, so Jasper was always left doing the dirty work for her.

Jasper snickered. "Who would calm you down then?"

Rosalie shrugged in agreement and walked back to the nurse's station. "What is it, Jas?"

"Bella and Leah have both called in. They're spending the day recovering from their hangovers at Leah's house. Alice can only see the phone call between the two of them, she can't see anything that happens for the rest of the day."

That meant they'd be with a wolf. I could only assume it would be Sam or Paul.

"Lovely." Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Leah hasn't ever called in, you must have really pissed her off."

I knew I had but I don't know what Rosalie had expected from me. I couldn't have known Dr. Austin would make those comments.

"What does Alice say we should do?" I asked.

Jasper shook his head. "Nothing we can do. Charlie is off and Bella wants to get out of the house."

"There's no way to get them both to our family's house? Alice can't invite them over or something?" Rosalie suggested.

"Works for Bella, not for Leah. You need to decide, Embry. Do you want them together today or do you want Leah to be alone with Sam and Paul?"

I hesitated for a minute. The answer should have been easy. I should've wanted to protect Bella from Paul. I knew how strong the pull of an imprint was, and the more they were around each other the harder it would be for her to reject him. I selfishly wanted Leah to be safe more, though.

"What did Edward say?" I asked.

"Not to leave Leah alone." He replied.

I was surprised. I would've expected him to want to protect Bella. His answer spoke volumes about how much Leah meant to my entire family, and the lack of depth of his feelings for Bella.

"He's right, you both know it's true. We can't undo any physical harm Sam does to Leah. If we push him and Paul, especially right now, she could be seriously injured. I'm not willing to take the risk." Rose looked solemn as she spoke.

I agreed with them. "Fine. I'll have Seth check on them later." My mind was warring with the guilt of using Bella and the weight of my worry for Leah's safety.

I didn't have to work in the clinic, and I had no intention of doing so without Leah here. I said goodbye to my siblings and made my way to the ER to work out my long day. I made sure to text Seth and tell him what was going on before I shoved my phone in my locker and changed into my scrubs.

Carlisle worked alongside me in the ER and we talked about the possibility of me going to work for Dr. Austin. I would love to, but I couldn't leave Leah behind. I looked down at my wrist. The bracelet my mother made for me when Lucy died was a reminder of why I was here. There wasn't anything I could do for Leah right now, but I owed it to Lucy to be the best doctor I could be and to help other patients like her.

Another thing I could never repay Carlisle for; he paid for Lucy's funeral and her burial plot. She was buried in Forks. I had sent flowers to her gravesite every year on her birthday and every major holiday but I hadn't been there since her funeral. I didn't think I could handle it. She had such a huge impact on my life in the short time I'd known her, and I couldn't stomach seeing the picture of her sweet face on her tombstone.

I remember the one and only fight I'd ever had with my family. The day I found out what they were, I blamed them all for Lucy's death. Most of them had been dying when they were turned, and the venom was able to overcome their illness. Carlisle told me her age was the issue. If she had made it to her teenage years, he would've saved her. Turning a child would've been a death sentence for my entire family. As much as I loved her, I couldn't imagine putting my family in jeopardy. Her parents were the ones that were truly to blame. Lucy could've possibly recovered from her illness if she'd had proper medical care earlier in her life.

I pushed my thoughts of Lucy aside and made my way through my list of patients. We weren't particularly busy, but I welcomed any distraction from the negative thoughts that had been running through my mind all morning.

Alice showed up at lunchtime to bring me food. She told me she'd talked to Bella and they seemed to be fine, but that did little to reassure me. Bella wouldn't talk about what she was seeing if she was there in the bad situation in the moment. She did provide a picture of her and Leah on the couch together and I didn't see Sam, so that was a good sign.

The problem with Leah's situation was that we knew what she was going through but she hadn't asked us for help. We could only do so much to help without her asking for it. I hoped Bella being around would at least keep her safe.

The rest of my day went by quickly. It still wasn't insanely busy, but there was enough work to go around. When I finally made it to my locker to check my phone I had a text from Jake.

Council meeting tonight. Both packs will be there.

The thought of being in close proximity to Sam and Paul was almost enough to make me phase right there, but I had to maintain my composure in the hospital. Rosalie was waiting for me by the front doors and drove me to our family home. There was more privacy for me to phase and run.

I hadn't spent much time as my wolf since I imprinted on Leah. I loved running as a wolf. I felt so free and so powerful. I ran by Sam's house, hoping for a glimpse of Leah. Our imprint felt like a tether. I could feel how far away she was and I was soothed by her presence. I could tell she was in the house as I ran by, even though I couldn't physically see her.

I was the last one to show up at the meeting. Seth was working a shift tonight, but his cruiser was out front. We met at the council hall. Billy, Harry, and Old Quil sat at a long table in the front of the room. Sam's pack sat on one side of the room and ours on the other. Harry looked furious, but his fury was nothing compared to what I saw on Sam and Paul's faces.

Harry cleared his throat and every face snapped toward him.

"I've called this meeting to discuss the future of our protectors. There was never meant to be two packs, and I think we've allowed this pissing contest to go on long enough. By the end of this year, you will be one pack under one alpha."

Jake's hands balled into fists and he started to breathe heavier.

"What gives you the right to make that decision?" Billy snapped. "Both packs are meeting the council's expectations."

"Are they? Well, let's put the matter to a vote." Harry suggested.

Old Quil looked nervously between the two men. "I'll open the floor. I'm not sure why we need to change something that seems to be working."

Quil, ever the child, raised his hand.

"Yes, grandson?"

"I will move to Australia if I have to follow Sam Uley."

I agreed with him, and so did the rest of the room from the laughter that erupted. Sam and Paul didn't seem to find it very humorous.

Jake smacked Quil in the back of his head and I heard Jared laugh again. At least he had a sense of humor.

"Harry, can you explain why you'd like to see the two packs become one? Or any member of either pack is welcome to speak up."

Harry glared at Jake and looked back to Sam before speaking. "We can table this discussion for now. I'd like to regroup before explaining my reasoning."

Old Quil wasn't satisfied with his answer. "You understand how suspicious it seems that you'd like to table something you called a meeting to discuss?"

Harry nodded. "Of course, but I can assure you it will all make sense. In the meantime, I'd encourage both packs to avoid interfering in imprint relationships or congregating with the Cullens. They are our natural enemy, it would be wise to remember that."

His answer scared me. Did he know we had told Bella to stay away from Paul? Or had one of them seen me with Rosalie?

Seth raised his hand with a smirk this time. Harry looked concerned but asked him to speak.

"When you say we shouldn't interfere with relationships between a wolf and their imprint, does that include Sam and Emily?"