I had planned to upload this last night, but it would've been the first of 2 short Sam chapters, with a weird break off point in the middle. So I decided to just keep straight on and treat you all to one, big, long Sam chapter. Hope you didn't mind the extra wait too much.

Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight Saga. I own twitchy fingers that enjoy writing for no profit.

Chapter 21: Newbies and New Theories

Sam POV.

Embry turned out to be the easiest new wolf I'd dealt with so far, and the hardest. His natural calm, easygoing nature led him to gain control over his temper with much more ease than the rest of us had, and I was frankly amazed when he'd mastered the ability to hold back his anger, and was safe to return to school in about a week.

But that, of course, was where part of the difficulties with Embry began. Neither Jared nor Paul has had the sort of friends, more like brothers, that Embry did. Sure, they'd each had a group they'd hung out with, and close friends within those groups, but nothing like the bonds Embry had with Jake and Quil, so neither of them had found it too hard to ease themselves away from their friends, a necessity both to help protect our secret, and to keep their friends safe in case their tempers got the better of them. But Embry ... Poor Embry felt like I'd taken half his family away from him. He never said as much, but sharing mind space, it was inevitable that I'd know, and feel, what he felt about it. He understood why I had to order him away from them, but that didn't make it any easier for him to do it. Both emotionally and physically.

Both his friends considered him family too, and neither of them was about to take Embry's strange new behaviour sitting down. They were angry and concerned; they knew something was wrong, but of course Embry couldn't tell them what, so both their worry and their bitter anger made Embry's situation even harder for him to bear. Like me, he'd grown up with his family consisting of just himself and his mom, and losing two friends he loved like brothers was tearing him up. And there lay the other difficulty with Embry's phase. The fact that he had.

He shouldn't have been one of us at all. His mother, Tiffany, was a member of the Makah tribe, who had moved to La Push single and pregnant. Everyone had always assumed that Embry's father was also Makah, and Tiffany had never challenged the assumption. But now we knew better. His father had to be Quileute, and not just any member either, but one who carried the wolf bloodlines. That put just three men in the frame for fathering him; Billy Black, Quil's father, Quil IV, or my own father, Joshua. All three would've been married when Embry was conceived, so the possibility for scandal and in-fighting was huge. We all hoped that the culprit was Joshua; he had already proved himself a shitty husband and father, so there was less potential anger and heartache for everyone concerned if it was true. I hoped it was true for another reason too. Having grown up alone with my mother, and especially now she wasn't talking to me, I craved true family connections like a middle-aged woman with PMS craves chocolate. To know I had a half brother would be amazing. Especially one like Embry. He was a smart, kind, calm soul and although I'd not known him past the nodding if we passed on the street stage before he phased, now, only a little more than a week later, I really enjoyed his company. Unfortunately, getting a DNA test done to see if we shared a father was just not possible. None of us knew what an analysis of our DNA might reveal about us, so instead we were forced to content ourselves with trying to spot similarities in our features, both human and wolf. I often fancied I could see something familiar in the shapes of our mouths and noses, and Paul swore that the black spots on Embry's wolf's grey fur were due to our shared parent.

How Embry himself felt about the revelation regarding his father, whichever of the three it was, he was trying hard to keep to himself. He seemed to doing a pretty good job of keeping Jared and Paul in the dark, but keeping his Alpha out of his head was a much harder task. I'd had more than a few flashes of his true feelings on the matter, and they were a tangled mess of relief at knowing the possible candidates had narrowed down from hundreds to just three, anger with his mother for refusing to tell him what he had every right to know, shame for the knowledge that his very existence proved that one man had betrayed his wife and family, and hope that he might one day discover which of us, Jake, Quil, or myself was really his half brother.

When Jared, Paul and I found him, the day we'd chased the leech to Port Angeles, Embry was, unsurprisingly, a quivering, shivering reck, lying, muzzle tucked under his front paws, on the forest floor, tail tucked between his legs, and shaking from head to toe. What was surprising was that he'd managed to stay put without an Alpha order; his natural instinct would've been to run, as the rest of us had done when we has first phased. I was impressed and told him so.

"You did well, Embry. Now you need to try to calm yourself down, so you can phase back." He seemed surprised at my praise, so I let him see how I had reacted the first time I phased, and Jared and Paul, taking their cue from me did the same. I could feel Embry's pride at handling himself so well in the circumstances, and I let him feel my own pride for him too. As a distraction it was working well. His shaking slowed and then came to a complete stop, and his muzzle came out from under his paws to rest on top of them instead. I'd learned from Jared and Paul's first phases that it would be quicker to just show him my memories of Billy telling the wolf stories, rather than attempting to put them into my own words, so I did the same for him, not knowing if he would've heard them at all before now as he had been brought up as Makah, not Quileute. He seemed fascinated by the legends, but incredulous about the existence of vampires, so I decided an educational visit might be in order before we started trying to help him phase back.

"Jared, you can have the honour of burning the leech's fingers as they're your trophies." I told him. "Take Embry with you. He could benefit from seeing proof of the bloodsuckers' existence and also get a nose for this particular bitch's scent."

"Ok, Boss." I winced internally at the term, knowing that Embry would almost certainly pick up the habit now too. Jared stood and looked to Embry, jerking his head in the correct direction. "Come on then, Newbie, lets go finger hunting." Embry rose to his feet, confusion and curiosity colouring his mind.

"I'll show you as we run." Jared told him, and they slipped off silently through the trees.

Once they were gone, Paul started walking along the tree line toward his house.

"Left my shorts back in Port Angeles in the rush to get to the redhead in time." He told me as he made a quick dash to his own back door, looking under the steps for one of the spare pair he kept under there for emergencies. We both phased back and went into his house, grabbing a beer from the fridge as we passed through the kitchen.

"So, you think it was a coincidence, the redhead veering off track like that and making a beeline for the Swans?" Paul asked me, twisting the cap off his beer and taking a long drink. It was the same question I'd been asking myself.

"I really don't know, Paul. On the one hand, it's a bit of a coincidence, isn't it? She's been heading towards their street whenever we've chased her off before, and then, bam, she's making right for them, completely off her usual course. On the other hand, it's just as possible that she was heading in her usual direction, caught a whiff of Charlie or Bella, or both, and decided to take a detour for a quick bite." He rolled his eyes at my bad, unintentional pun.

"I guess it's possible." He said reluctantly. "But coincidences like that make me uncomfortable. I was wondering if the bitch had caught Charlie's scent after he'd been out searching for that first missing person, and decided it was a vintage she'd enjoy, so she's been gunning for him ever since." I took a gulp from my beer, picking at the label as I considered Paul's theory. It actually wasn't a bad one.

"So you think that's why it looks like she's been heading towards their place?" I asked him.

Yeah." He said, leaning forward as he warmed to his theory more. "And I just realised, if she knows he's a police officer, she might've been taking the hikers and campers on purpose, to draw him out where she could get him before we could stop her." Paul looked both excited and horrified at his realisation. I was chilled to the bone. I'd always respected Charlie, but over the last few weeks I'd really come to like him, look up to him as a sort of father figure. God knows I'd never had a real one to look up to. The idea of a leech hunting him was just appalling.

"Fuck." I breathed. "You could be right. It would explain a lot. Although why she thinks Charlie's something she's 'owed' is beyond me. Something about it feels a little off, but it's the best working theory we've got, so I think we'll up security on Charlie for a while." Paul nodded. I was a little surprised he didn't make a fuss about protection for the 'leech lover's' father coming before protection for the Rez, but then I realised a couple of things. First, it was Paul's theory, so he wasn't about to dismiss it, second, Charlie had done a lot for Paul in particular lately, and Paul was nothing if not loyal to those he thought deserved it.

A short sharp howl from the forest nearby alerted us to the return of Jared and Embry, so pay land I headed outside to phase back to wolf form once more. The moment we phased we could feel Embry's shock, horror and revulsion at what he had witnessed.

"They just kept wriggling. Like two thick, white worms, digging through the leaf mould. If we'd left them would they have eventually found their owner? Can the leech feel her missing fingers? We're the fingers aware at all." The image in his mind of the redhead's lost digits s rambling about kept repeating in his mind. They were interesting questions, and ones which I couldn't believe none of us had thought to ask before. Personally I hoped the bitch had felt it when Jared burnt her fingers. It was the very least of what she deserved.

"Huh. Imagine if the parts of a partially dismembered leech did eventually find the rest of their body" I mused. "It's got to be the easiest way of tracking a leech ever. Just follow the ripped off hand or whatever, then tear the rest of the leech apart." Jared gave a small sniff and rolled his eyes towards Embry. I grasped his point immediately. None of this was serving to calm him down any. I shook the thought clear.

"Thoughts for another time though. Embry, you need to try to calm yourself if you can. Phasing back to human form takes concentration. You need to imagine yourself as human. The best way is to picture yourself doing something that requires a human form. Paul, why don't you show him." Paul nodded and began to imagine himself driving. He pictured every tiny detail as clearly as he could. From taking the keys out of his pocket and putting them in the ignition, to putting the car in gear and turning the wheel. Then he smoothly phased back to his human form and stood there naked before us.

"See? It's both simple and yet very complicated at the same time." I told Embry. "Jared?" Jared pictured himself brushing and braiding his imprint, Kim's hair. It was a peaceful, relaxing scene and I silently commended Jared on picking something that both demonstrated the best way to phase back and at the same time help to relax and calm Embry some. His playful, light-hearted nature made it easy to forget the deep thinking that often went on behind Jared's joking nature. As Jared flowed back into his human form I turned to Embry. I didn't expect him to get it right first time; it had taken the rest of us several attempts to manage to phase back, but I had hopes that with his calm nature, Embry might get it before too many hours passed.

"Ok then. Imagine yourself doing something that requires hands, something that you enjoy, that relaxes you." I told him, and he began to picture a scene of him playing cards. In his mind he shuffled and dealt, his friends appearing at a table with him, Jake, Quil, and then Bella. They talked and laughed as they played, and I was so fascinated by this insight into a laughing, playful Bella, that for a moment I forgot to help Embry focus. Realising after a moment that I had allowed my attention to wander, I re-focused and began to direct Embry once more.

"That's it. Concentrate on how relaxed you are, then on your hands. Picture yourself shuffling and dealing again. Allow yourself to feel the cards in your hands, feel your fingers gripping the edges, feel the smoothness of the cards as they slide over each other, then push your mind into the human form you're imagi..." I stopped short in my coaching as Embry amazed us all and phased back. It was a choppy phase, sure, forced bit by bit rather than as a smooth motion, but nevertheless he'd done it first try. I phased back and joined with the other two in congratulating him.

"Really well done, Embry. None if us managed it first try. We're all very impressed." I assured him and he blushed a little, probably in part from being naked in front of three relative strangers as well as from embarrassment at the praise. Paul handed him some of his spare shorts from under his back steps and Embry scrambled to get them on as quickly as possible. We all filed back inside Paul's house, as his mother wasn't likely to return for several more hours, and Paul grabbed a beer for each of us as we all flopped down in the living room. The next couple of hours were spent filling Embry in on the ins and outs of his new life. We covered who he could and couldn't tell, patrolling routes and schedules, signal howls and fighting tactics. Despite his calm disposition, I planned to keep him off school for at least a week to help him come to terms with things before he would have to confront his friends. This of course was something he wasn't at all happy with, but after explaining the dangers of both exposure of the secret and accidentally hurting them, he reluctantly agreed without me having ti issue an order. I set him to patrolling alongside Jared for the next few days, until he'd learned the routes for himself, and then we left, Paul heading out for his turn at patrolling, and the rest of us to our respective homes.

The next week and a half was hard on all of us, taking extra time to help train Embry, while still keeping up our usual patrolling schedule, and then even more so when he returned to school and had to separate himself from Jacob and Quil. We all felt his depression like it was our own, and so on the Sunday I decided a rest day with a bit of bonding was called for. Billy had told me that Jake had finished work on the bikes and would be calling Bella to come over. Charlie had already arranged to come over to the Rez to watch a game with billy and Harry Clearwater, so, with both Swans on the Rez and relatively safe, I ran a early patrol, the met the rest of the pack on top of the cliffs for some cliff diving. It was just what we'd all needed; the chance to relax and act our ages for a change. I always worried over the way these teenaged boys were forced to become adults overnight, so seeing them, if only for a short time, able to throw off the responsibility weighing on them lightened my own burden a little.

We'd been on top of the cliffs for a couple of hours, messing about like unruly kids, when I heard the unmistakable roar of Bella's truck driving down the coast road. Looking over, I could see the bikes in the back of the truck lurch as the truck suddenly skidded to a stop. Bella jumped out of the cab, gesticulating wildly first at the cliff where we were, and then at who I assumed was Jake still sitting in the truck. I wondered what the problem was for a moment before a few screeching words drifted over to us.

"Fuck...fall...phone. NOW!" I heard her yell, and realised at once what was going on. "Ah. She thought Paul fell, rather than jumped." As I watched, she began to calm a little so I assumed that Jake was explaining to her just what we were doing, and that no one needed medical help. Not sure where they were planning to take the bikes to ride, I guessed I should shadow them, I had after all given my word to Charlie to keep her out of harm's way. Saying a quick goodbye to the guys, I jogged down the track from the cliff to the lay-by where I'd left my truck earlier, and I raced off in the direction I'd seen them heading, keeping my window open so I could catch their scents as I drove and not lose them. As it turned out I didn't have to worry about losing them, Bella's ancient truck being so slow, I was more in danger of them noticing me trailing them than I was of losing sight of them. They pulled onto an unused loggers trail, and I held back at the entrance, not wanting to interrupt them, but at the same time wishing I could be a witness to her first ride. As I sat there in my truck, listening to Jake double check with her that she knew what to do, I allowed myself a little fantasy of Bella, dressed in skintight biking leathers swinging her leg over her bike to dismount, removing her helmet and flicking her head back to shake free her hair. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, rearranging my now half hard dick in my cut-offs. The sound of a bike being kick started after several attempts cut through my reverie and I could just make out Jake's voice over the engine.

"Ok now, Bells. Slow and steady. Keep your feet out to start with, so you can catch yourself if you need to, and give it just a little gas as you slowly release the clutch" with that I heard the bike slowly moving off. The engine got louder as the speed apparently increased, she was obviously growing in confidence, I smiled to myself, impressed with how quickly she had picked up the basics.

Suddenly the engine noise cut out completely and I was chilled to the bone to hear Jake's panicked voice yelling.

"BELLA! Oh fuck no." Another, different bike was kick started and by the sound of it, ridden at speed along the track. "Fuck. What the hell happened?" I wondered, starting my own engine up and heading up the trail to see if I could help. I hoped it was nothing more serious than a little tumble, but the panic I'd heard in Jake's voice was disconcerting. By the time I got past Bella's truck and far enough up the trail to round the bend and see what was happening, Jake had already reached her, dismounted his own bike, and was bending over her lying in the grit and mud. from the gouge her bike had put into the ground, she had been going too fast to make the turn and the bike had skidded out from under her. Visions of broken limbs raced through my mind, causing a little panic of my own, which was more than doubled when Jake moved just enough for me to see her face and realise she wasn't wearing a helmet. "Stupid idiots. It didn't occur to them to get her a helmet, at least for her first time?" I pulled my truck over to the side of the trail, in case an ambulance might be needed - it would have to be able to get past easily - and could hear Jake still panicking as he tried to get Bella to answer him. "Shit. She must've hit her head. Is she conscious?" I could clearly hear her breathing, so I knew she was alive, but Jake's position, kneeling next to her meant that I couldn't see any more of her than her mud encrusted legs.

"Bells? Bella? BELLA?! Are you ok? Did you hit your head? Can you move everything?" The desperation in Jake's voice was clear, he was close to breaking point. He began patting down her limbs, running his hands over her legs, looking for injuries, and despite knowing precisely why he was doing it, and despite the tension of the situation, I could barely keep myself in check. My wolf really didn't like seeing his hands on her like that. "What the fuck is that about? First the scent thing, now no-one's allowed to touch her?" I'm not sure if I was asking my human self or my wolf self this question, but either way, this wasn't the time for internal debate. Bella had apparently hit her head, and without a helmet, it could very well be a serious injury.

"Heeeey Jakey. Watcha doooin'?" I was relieved to hear her voice; she was conscious, although from the slow, slurring speech it was clear she'd hit her head very hard. Jake answered her, clearly relieved himself to have her finally answer him.

"Just checking you've not broken anything, Bells. Relax. I'm not getting fresh or anything. You hit your head?" I jumped out of my truck and was striding over to them as Jake asked her this. Her reply was strangely cheerful, and still slurred. She sounded almost drunk.

"Yup. Haaaard."

"BELLA! You ok? Is she ok? Bella?" I was still a couple of yards behind Jake, but I couldn't hold my worry in check any longer.

"That's clever." She slurred. "Do it again." I was confused. "What's clever? do what again? What's she on about?" Jake turned to look at me, his face holding the same confusion I felt. Once he saw who it was that'd called out, though, his face hardened into an angry mask. I was saddened but not surprised. He and Quil blamed me personally for what they saw as Embry's betrayal of their friendship, but while I sympathised for their loss as they saw it, right now I just didn't have time to tip-toe around his feelings; Bella's welfare was the priority. I peered over his shoulder at Bella, getting my first proper view of her. She didn't look too good. There was no blood that I could see or smell, but she was caked in mud and grit, her jeans, the shirt and hoodie she was wearing, which she'd clearly commandeered from Charlie once again, and her hair and face were all thick with it, and much more worrying, her eyes were unfocused and a little crossed.

"Bella! Are you ok?" I asked her. "That was a fucking stupid question, Sam, she's just dug a trench into to trail, using her head and body. Of course she's not ok!"

"No, no, noooo. That's not how you do it. Get Jake to show you how. He can say it without his lips moving." She answered, confusing me again. "I can see your lips moving. They're pretty. You've got a pretty mouth, Sam's face. It's a shame the rest of you isn't here. I like looking at your cheese grater."

I couldn't help the pleased smirk that washed over my face. Finally I was getting a sign that she was interested in me. My wolf was having a little party in my head at the thought. Maybe I was right and it wouldn't be a problem for my wolf if I was to date her which, now I knew she at least had some interest in me, I was totally planning on asking her. She continued talking, the pronounced slur in her voice still there.

"No. Wait. I don't mean cheese grater. Hey! Did you see the pretty fire in the trees?" Just at that moment there was a tiny shift in the breeze. A familiar, sickly sweet, bleachy smell hit my nose instantly. "Shit! The leech. She's here. Got to get Bella away from here, NOW. Got to get them both away from here." I quickly formed a plan to do so as quickly as possible. I turned to Jake.

"She must've hit her head pretty hard." I said. "We'd better get her to the clinic. My truck's right on the bend there. If I carry her to it, can you ride your bike back to her truck and drive it to meet us there? We can pick her bike up later." His jaw tensed. He clearly knew I was right, but the source of the advice was sticking in his craw.

"Fine. But you be careful with her. I'll only be a few minutes behind you. He warned me, then turning back to Bella he told her "Bells. Sam's gonna drive you to the clinic. I'll meet you there, ok?"

"Silly Jakey. A face can't drive. Sam's face should've brought the rest of him. It's got arms. They're very muscly. They could help." Any other time I would've laughed, both at her almost drunken rambling, and at the fact that she had clearly been admiring my muscles, but I was beginning to tremble, needing to phase due to the proximity of the leech, but knowing I couldn't with Jake and Bella here; I was almost desperate to get her away to safety as soon as possible, and all the talking was holding things up. Her slurring ramble continued, however. "Also you could grate abs on his cheese. No. That's not right either. Cheese on his abs. That's it. You could cheese abs on his grates." Jake stood up and I stepped forward to pick her up.

"Hey, there's the rest of him now." Her slurring was getting worse, and she was beginning to look pretty sleepy, she was definitely concussed, and now another danger was clear; I couldn't let her fall asleep with a concussion. Her eyelids started to droop. "Now his arms are here, he can drive." I picked her up and pulled her against my body, taking in a nose-full of her wonderful scent, mixed with Charlie's due to his shirt and hoodie, to settle myself down and it worked; slowing and then stopping my trembling and calming my almost feral wolf into a more manageable mindset. as I walked towards my truck, she forced her eyes open again.

"Taha Aki's seen your butt." She said, matter of factly. "But it's ok, cos you smell good." I was so shocked i actually missed my step and tripped before catching my stride again and heading, quicker now, to place her into my truck. "What the actual FUCK?" I wondered. "Where the hell did she hear that name? And what the hell does she mean, he's seen my butt?" She nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck and her eyes drifted shut again. "Wait. She thinks I smell good?" My wolf was loving that, it served to calm him even more.

"So do you, Bella, so do you." I murmured quietly so she wouldn't catch it. She was falling asleep, and I couldn't allow that, not with a head injury. "Stay awake now. Keep those pretty eyes open for me, Bella. We'll be at the clinic in just a few minutes." She looked like she was trying hard to do as I asked, but she was definitely struggling. Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I dialled Jared's number. It rang for a long time, and I was just about to give up and end the call, when suddenly I heard his voice.

"Yeah?" He sounded out of breath. I guessed he'd had to run up the cliff path to get to his cell before it stopped ringing.

"Redhead. Old loggers trail. Cut through the forest due East and you'll hit her trail." I murmured, knowing he'd hear me with no trouble, but not wanting Bella to catch my words. "All three of you go, but try to keep Embry under wraps unless you're 100% positive you can take her out or good. You were right the other day; having a fourth wolf to take her by surprise might be the ideal tactic."

"On it, Boss" he replied and hung up immediately. I relaxed a little knowing I'd put the pack on her trail. I'd felt torn between needing to get Bella out of danger and knowing there was a bloodsucker on MY Rez and needing to chase her off or kill her. That job done, I quickly called Billy's place, giving him a quick run down on Bella's accident (but keeping the leech business to myself, for now at least) and asking him to have Charlie meet us at the clinic.

Looking over at Bella, I could see her struggling to fight off the sleep again. I kept talking to her as I drove, shaking her shoulder gently when it looked like she was giving in to the sleep that was trying to overtake her. I told her how I enjoyed working with her at the drop-in centre, how much I liked her and admired her determination to change her life and overcome her depression. I told her how impressed I was with the way she was continuing to stand up against the bullying tactics of the local gossips. I was fairly certain she didn't register any of what I said past the fact that my talking was preventing her from giving in to sleep. I sped across La Push, taking every short cut I knew and was at the clinic surprisingly fast. Arriving at the clinic, I jumped out of the truck and ran round to the passenger side, pulling her gently out and carrying her through the clinic doors to stand in front of a very startled Sue Clearwater. Looking down at a very pale by now Bella, I told her

"We're here. Stay awake now. No sleeping." She once again forced her eyes open, wincing at the bright lights of the clinic.

Sue had me lay Bella down on a hospital bed and I held her hand while Sue picked up a little pen-light.

"Hello, Bella. I'm Sue Clearwater." She said, shining the light into Bella's eyes and switching it from one eye to the other, then back again.

"Can I go to sleep now please?" Bella asked plaintively. "I just want a little sleep."

"In a little while. First I need to check you over and take a couple of X-rays. But once I'm done, you can sleep." Sue replied reassuringly, and she tried to wheel Bella away from me to the x-ray machine. I couldn't make myself let go of her hand. Not until I knew she was going to be ok. Sue gave me a curious look and I shrugged at her.

"We both know the x-rays won't harm me. I'll stay with her til she's allowed to go to sleep, or until Charlie gets here." I whispered to Sue, and she raised a questioning brow at me, but made no comment.

The X-rays only took about ten minutes, and Sue and the clinic doctor looked at them while I sat by Bella's bed, still holding her hand. I could clearly hear the doctor mumbling to Sue about the pictures.

"Well she's either the most accident prone person I've ever encountered, or a victim of some serious child abuse." He was telling her. "Look at all these old hairline fractures. Most of them are years old, but if this is what her skull x-rays look like, I'd hate to see images f her arms and legs." He shook his head and I quietly snorted. As if Charlie would abuse Bella as a child, or allow anyone else to do so. He would've spotted the signs in an instant and fought Bella's mother tooth and nail for custody if he'd gotten even the slightest whiff of violence against his daughter. No. She was quite simply just the clumsiest, most accident prone person in the world, I had no doubt. Finally, they stopped talking and Sue walked over to us.

"The doctor says Bella can get some sleep now, but we'll be waking her hourly to do vitals." She told me, trying hard not to eye my hand and how it was still keeping its grip on Bella's. I nodded my understanding and the next time Bella's eyes began to drift shut I didn't try to keep her awake, I just let her fall asleep quietly.

Once I was sure she was fast asleep, I gently pulled my hand free and went outside to wait for Charlie to arrive. Jake got there first though, giving me an angry glare as he stalked into the clinic. I pretended not to let it bother me, but in truth his anger did make me sad. I would've done almost anything to have prevented Embry from having to join us, had I known he was going to, and the same went for Jake, who must be only days away from his first phase now if I was reading the signs correctly, and for Quil, who by the looks of things - his height and muscle tone, and according to Old Quil his temperature - wouldn't be far behind Jake.

I pulled out my cell, and once again dialled Jared's number, wanting an update on the leech's whereabouts. He answered on the second ring this time, he'd obviously been waiting on my call.

"Missed her, Boss." He told me straight away, knowing what I'd ask before I asked it. "She was gone before we even got there. Headed straight back along that corridor and out of the area again." I was torn between relief that she was off the Rez, and frustration that we missed her. Again.

"So much for the theory that taking a chunk out of her would see her off for good." I said, rolling my eyes to myself. "Not even two weeks later and she's back. But Paul's theory that she's after Charlie isn't looking strong now either. It was Bella she was watching this time."

"I wouldn't put that theory to bed just yet." Jared argued.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"What was she wearing?" He asked me. I wondered where he was going with this.

"Jeans, a shirt and a hoodie." I told him. "Why? What the hell is that to do with anything?"

"One of Charlie's shirts again?" He questioned. I was momentarily stunned. How had I missed that?

"Fuck." I breathed. "You're right, it was. And his hoodie too. She must've caught his scent off them and come running." Paul's theory was looking stronger. I heard Charlie's cruiser approaching.

"Got to go. Double up on patrol runs. Take Paul with you, and send Embry home for some rest. I'll take over with him in a couple of hours."

"Got it, Boss." He replied and hung up. Just moments later, Charlie pulled into the parking lot and I walked inside with him. After getting the full story from Jake, he went into Bella's room to sit with her, and I wandered off to grab myself some coffee and something to eat.

Returning to the waiting area outside Bella's room a couple of hours later, I was just in time to see Charlie coming out to seek some coffee himself. He looked a little shaken, unsurprisingly, at his daughter's accident, so I decided to leave off telling him the full details of Bella's adventure until she was completely out of danger. Jake had already gone in to sit with her so, nodding at Charlie as he walked past me to find his coffee, I quietly slipped into the room too, leaning against the wall by the door and running my eyes over her in the bed.

"What do you want?" Jake asked rudely, not bothering to turn and look at me. He was beginning to tremble slightly. I didn't want to trigger his first phase right here in the clinic, so close to Bella, so I answered as quietly and calmly as possible.

"Just wanted to look in on her and see how she's doing." The nurse walked in just then to wake Bella, so Jake was prevented from answering. He turned and glare at me instead. I kept my eyes on Bella, and saw her open her eyes and look blearily at Jake the, wincing at the movement, turn her head towards me. As she turned her head back, the nurse shone her little flashlight into each eye in turn.

"Jake." Bella called, dragging his attention away from me. "Is my bike ok?" He rolled his eyes.

"I don't know, Bells, I was kinda more concerned about you and the dent you made in your head than the bike." I snorted in amusement, and Jake continued. "You should've seen yourself. Your eyes were all wonky and you were talking complete shit." He grinned a little. "If that's how you are when you're concussed, I shudder to think what you might be like drunk." I actually agreed with Jake on this one. She was pretty funny as a concussed patient. I bet she'd be hilarious as a drunk. She opened her mouth to protest, but the nurse interrupted her.

"She needs her rest, boys. Best to let her sleep now. We're going to have to keep waking her every hour as it is." I pushed myself off the wall and walked over to Bella's bed.

"I'm glad to see you're doing a little better. You get some rest and I'll come see you tomorrow, if that's ok?" She nodded at me sleepily and I left, leaving Jake to say his own goodbye. I had a couple of things to talk to her about; that Taha Aki comment for one, and for the other? Well, now I knew she was attracted to me, I was going to take my chance. Maybe she was ready fo a date. If I didn't ask, I'd never know if I had a hope, but I wasn't going to ask either question while I had an audience, so they'd both have to wait til the next day. I walked out of the clinic and to my truck, driving home and phasing as soon as I got there.

"Anything?" I asked Jared and Paul.

"All clear, Boss" Jared answered and phased back out.

"Fuck all." Came Paul's reply.

"Ok. Good job, Paul. Do me a favour and wake Embry on your way home?" I asked him. "Tell him to phase and meet me by the cliffs."

"Will do, Boss" he said, and I began my patrol run, angling towards the ocean to meet up with Embry.

We completed our patrol shift at two that morning, and Jared phased in right on time to take over. Both Embry and I headed to my place. I'd offered him the spare room to catch a few hours sleep without his mom giving him trouble for sneaking out on a school night, and once we got in I threw four frozen pizzas in the oven and we devoured two each before stumbling off to bed. He was already gone, I assumed to get to school, when I woke at about eleven the next morning, so I showered and made myself a huge breakfast of eggs and bacon before making my way back to the clinic to see Bella. I was a little nervous about asking her about her Taha Aki comment, and a lot nervous about asking her out on a date, but I wasn't one to back down. I'd decided to take my chance, and I was going to do just that.

When I arrived outside her room, a nurse was just about to take a tray of food in to her.

"I can take that for you." I offered, and she gratefully handed the tray over. I pushed the door open and walked in, waking her with my entrance.

"Hey there, Bella. How're you doing now?" I asked, setting the tray down on the little hospital table by her bed. "I just intercepted the nurse bringing this in for you."

"A little better, just tired." She sat up, blearily wiping the hair back from her face. She looked amazing, her hair all tangled and wild, and with that tired expression she appeared ... "All fucked out. That's how she looks. Fucking hot!" That was all my mind could manage right then, I shoved my hands in my pockets quickly, hoping to disguise the more than half a hard on I was now sporting due to my over active imagination. As the smell of the food reached her, her stomach began making alarmingly loud noises, and I was glad of the distraction for both of us. She blushed and I couldn't help my chuckle - it was mainly from relief that she'd not noticed the uncomfortable bulge in the front of my cut-offs.

"Well that answers my next question" I said. "I was going to ask if you were hungry." Her blush grew deeper.

"Well I guess I could manage something." She was trying to sound casual, like her stomach hadn't just made a noise like a feral bear, but she wasn't fooling anyone, she was clearly starving. I wondered when she'd last eaten. Probably breakfast the day before. I pushed the little table over her bed, and she tucked a pillow behind herself to stop herself from falling backwards. Once she'd started eating I started in on my questions.

"So," I began, sitting on the end of her bed, still trying to hide my now slowly deflating hard on. "You were saying some... Interesting stuff yesterday. Can you remember any of it?" She paused in her chewing, obviously thinking back, trying to remember what she'd said. She took her time thinking it through, then suddenly turned a deep, fire engine red. Yep. She'd remembered alright. I smirked, remembering all her talk about my pretty mouth, muscly arms and, if I'd successfully cracked her weird, concussed code, my cheese grater abs.

"Oh hell." She hung her head in defeat. "Can I plead temporary insanity? You can't hold what a girl says when her brain's all jellied against her, right?" I laughed out loud, loving the way she was always so honest about her embarrassment, just like she'd been with the condom incident.

"I guess if you put it like that I'll have to cut you some slack this time." I said to her clear relief. I spotted an in for asking her for a date, and carefully set it up. "Though that'll make three you owe me" I added, and she swallowed nervously, looking thoughtful for a moment and then suddenly growing even redder. A wonderful waft of her arousal drifted to my nose and my previously waning half hard on sprung back to full mast instantly. "Now what was she thinking that caused that reaction?" I wondered. Briefly wishing she was inside the pack mind so I could see whatever it was. Insanely curious though I was, I let it go. For now.

"There was something else you said though, that I'm curious about." I went on, leaning forward a little. She looked almost panicked, though the arousal had spiked again for a brief second, and my curiosity almost burned me with its intensity.

"Y-yes? What was that then?" She asked.

"You talked about someone called Taha Aki. I was wondering where you'd heard the name?" She laughed a little shrilly, obviously relieved, and said

"Oh that? It just a name I think I probably read in a book. I had this dream where he was talking to me." I was very troubled by that. I'd assumed someone, probably Jake or Quil, not Billy -he'd have known better, had told her the name. But there was no way in hell she'd read it. The name was taboo. No book could've had it in print.

"Well that's not possible" I muttered, too quiet for her to hear, but i let the subject drop. I didn't think she was lying, I hoped she wouldn't lie to me anyway, so maybe she couldn't remember where she'd heard it. I couldn't think of any other explanation. I cleared my throat and looked out the window.

"I hear Jake's coming by to pick you up once he's out of school." I said, stalling while I collected the nerve to ask my next question. "Are you going to stop and pick up your bike on the way home, or did you need me to go do it?"

"No that's fine, thanks." She said, picking up her fork again. "We'll do it on the way."

"Ok then. There's just the issue of these favour you owe me then." I said with a little smirk. "I'd like to cash one of those in now, if I could." She looked a little concerned.

"Oookaaay" I said guardedly, obviously not wanting to commit herself til she knew what I was going to ask. "So what exactly is it you want?" Ignoring the screaming double entendre begging for attention in her question, I took a firm grip on my nerve and plunged straight in before I could chicken out.

"A date." I said quickly. She looked confused.

"A date?" She asked. "Like a dinner and movie, going out together, picking me up from my house kind of date?"

"No, a fruit from a palm tree." I rolled my eyes with a grin. "Of course a going out together kind of date. So what do you say? Wednesday night? I know it's a school night, but they're showing a few old classics at the movie theatre in Port Angeles Wednesday night. We won't be late, I promise." I got it all out in a rush, my mouth almost tripping overitself in its hurry to get the asking part over with. She still looked confused. Her mouth hung open in shock, and I reached out and gently pushed it closed with a couple of fingers. "Fuck. What I'd like to stick in there!" The thought popped in before I could stop it, and I quickly shook it off before it could make my bulging cut-offs problem any worse.

"I ... Um ... So ..." She was completely at a loss for words. I grew worried. "Oh shit. I've completely fucked this up. She's not interested. I've mis-read it completely. Oh shit, shit, shit. Abort! Abort!" I thought, completely panicked.

"It's ok, Bella. If you're really not interested, that's fine. We'll just forget I said anything about it." I said in a rush, standing up and turning towards the door, before she could notice my hard on, which was rapidly deflating with my embarrassment and disappointment.

"NO!" She yelled, shocking the hell out of me. She lowered her voice. "I mean no, it's fine. Wednesday's fine. If you'd like. Um ... What time?" I was almost weak at the knees with relief.

"Four thirty sound ok?" I asked. "We can eat after the movie and I can have you back home by ten thirty or eleven at the latest."

"O-ok" she stammered. "Four thirty on Wednesday then." I gave her a huge grin.

"Good." I turned for the door once again. "I'd better be going. I've got several jobs on at the moment, so I should get back to them or I'll never get paid." I was just about to open the door, when I had a thought. Wanting to press my advantage a little, I quickly strode back over to her and bent down, my face coming level to hers, getting a strong waft of her beautiful scent. Despite wanting more, I just placed a warm, gentle kiss on her cheek, lingering for just a few seconds before pulling back with a small smile.

"Til Wednesday. Bye Bella." I said in a low voice, and she nodded silently at me. I walked back to the door and this time left through it, not mentioning the fact that she was dripping pasta sauce on the bed, and smiling to myself at the pleasant tingling I could still feel on my lips from where they had pressed against her skin.