I hadn't spoken to Bella since the night she moved in with Kim. I'd made it very clear nothing had changed between us. Now that she was on the reservation, I kept a lot closer tabs on her than I had been. I had no interest in being her friend, but I wouldn't let her destroy herself either.

I had to admit that my motives for wanting her to live here weren't entirely pure. It was a lot easier to protect her on the reservation and we were all able to get a little more sleep now that we weren't running back and forth to Forks at all hours of the night. That's how I'd been able to convince Paul this was a good idea, anyway.

What I hadn't told Paul was that I preferred sleeping in my parent's backyard on the days the pull of the imprint was too much. I hadn't meant to eavesdrop on Bella, but I had, and I was dying to share what I'd heard with him. I didn't have anyone to confide in about her and it was driving me crazy. If I talked to Kim, she'd be too angry that I listened to them to pay attention to me.

It was the middle of the night when I heard my old bed creaking and Bella's feet pattering against the floor. She hadn't woken up screaming, so that was an improvement. I didn't have to move from my spot under the window to hear her walk down the hall to the kitchen and pull out a chair. A part of me wanted to join her. I'd had many wonderful conversations with Leah around that same table at this time of night when I couldn't sleep.

As if on cue, Kim got up from her bed. She often snacked during the middle of the night to avoid Jared pestering her about her eating habits. I quickly realized the girls would run into each other and I should leave. I didn't, though.

Kim asked, "What are you doing up so late, B?"

"Nightmare," Bella quickly responded. "Have you talked to Seth?"

There was a long pause. I couldn't see what the girls were doing, but I imagined Kim either had her mouth full or couldn't decide how to answer her question. Kim and I spoke every day, but never about Bella.

"I don't think you want me to answer that. I'm sorry he's being so difficult." Kim whispered.

"I wish he knew who actually went to Sam. Then maybe he wouldn't hate me."

I could hear the desperation, the painful truth that even I could detect in her tone. I hated myself for causing her undue pain. She had to be so confused.

I heard the undeniable sound of our squeaky old fridge opening. "We can surely figure it out, can't we? Who knew about Seth yelling at you? That's why he thinks it was you. You told him he wasn't in control of himself. So, when you weren't around, and Sam shows up saying almost the same thing verbatim... You also showed up during the confrontation like you knew exactly when it would be. I know it wasn't you. I can see why Seth suspects it was, though."

"Only the pack. I didn't tell anyone." Bella insisted. "Would any of the pack have told anyone?"

"Who could we tell?" Kim countered. "Nobody can know about our secret, and nobody is close enough to the story for it to make sense. Billy and Charlie wouldn't have gone to Sam. I don't know who would've, honestly."

I heard glass breaking and almost ran to the door.

"Bella, what is it? Are you okay?"

"I know who told Sam." Bella choked out. "You went to the store in Forks the next morning... see anyone we know?"

"Yeah, you know me and Quil ran into-" I heard more glass breaking. "Oh, you're fucking kidding me."

Did they know I was listening? Were they toying with me? I heard Jared walking and knew I should run before he could confront me, but I felt glued to my spot under my bedroom window. I needed to hear and just had to know.

"Kim..." he said in a low tone. "Tell me you didn't forget what you knew. Tell me my imprint and my brother didn't go into a store in Forks thinking about what was going on between Seth and Bella in front of the mind-reading bloodsucker."

Bella was sobbing and all I could feel was anger, but not toward Kim or even Quil. Edward was the one who went to Sam? He'd heard the entire thing in one of their thoughts and rushed to my alpha. Another fucking Cullen betrayed me, wedging me further away from Bella just as he'd intended. That sonofabitch took advantage of an already unstable situation and manipulated it to his advantage, as he always did where Bella was concerned.

"I'm so sorry, Bella.." Kim was crying now, too. "I was worried about both of you, and I'm sure Quil was, too. Edward's ability was so far from my mind I…"

"It's not your fault, Kim." Jared insisted. "I blame Sam as much as Edward. He could've told any of us a year ago instead of letting everyone assume Bella did something wrong, and Seth wouldn't be torturing himself. Now, it feels like he did it just to be petty."

"While you're at it you should blame Paul," Kim muttered just low enough for me to hear. I didn't stick around any longer. I didn't agree with Kim's opinion of Paul and I didn't want to hear Jared's response.

I didn't breathe a word of what I'd heard to anyone, though I wanted to tell Paul badly. I didn't think it would change his mind about Bella, however, and I wasn't certain it had changed mine. It sounded more like Edward than Bella to repeat something verbatim to Sam, though. Bella had a bad habit of changing stories to be more PG than they were, always giving others the benefit of the doubt. I knew if I asked her about the bloodsucker leaving her in the woods, her version of events would paint everyone involved in a different light. Leah had called her out on it more times than I could count.

Paul continued to pester me about getting a job. I didn't think I needed one, but he insisted. When I wasn't busy searching every lead for my nephew, I volunteered. Mom and Leah had both been passionate about volunteering their hours at the women's shelter in Port Angeles, so I picked that up for them once I had my license. I knew they'd want me to, and it made me feel closer to them. I spent a good number of hours at the clinic on the reservation, too.

It was rare that Paul had a full day off. He got EMS certified, so he'd be able to pick up extra shifts on the ambulance service when he wasn't working as a firefighter. Sam wasn't fond of it, but he didn't push us. He thought Paul needed to dedicate more time to the pack. When he picked up extra shifts at work, I picked up extra patrols to cover the weight of his absence. The problem was that Paul was one of our strongest wolves, and he couldn't help us pursue the redhead if he was working. When Paul was off, though, we made the most of the day.

Jared and Embry accompanied us on our adventure this time. Paul was off, and the four of us had a full day planned. It had been months since we'd gone cliff diving, and it wasn't raining that day. Our cabin wasn't far from the cliffs, so we walked there.

"How's Bella doing?" Embry asked.

Of course. Of all the times for him to ask, he'd have to do it in front of me. It had been a few weeks since I'd overheard her conversation with Kim, and I had heard nothing from her since then.

Jared shrugged. "She seemed better at first, but now it's like she's in a slump again. She wakes us up at night screaming in her sleep."

At least she's sleeping, I thought to myself. I wondered if her slump started when I stopped sleeping under her window.

"We aren't spending my day off worried about Bella," Paul interjected. "Your imprint isn't dead, Seth, congratulations."

Nobody responded to him, and I honestly didn't disagree with the sentiment. Paul's imprint was a hot topic with the pack, but something they never discussed with us. I knew they'd talked about it after Sam made that comment about Leah. That was another reason most excluded him from pack activities. It was hard to respect him after that.

Jared caught us up on everything going on with Kim's pregnancy while we jumped a few times. He was planning to propose to her soon. Her parents wanted them to be married before the baby came. They hosted pack dinners every Sunday night, and he planned to propose to her at the next one. Paul and I rarely went, but we promised we'd be there this time.

Paul didn't let anyone know this, but he was amazing at woodworking. His dad had taught him when he was younger. He had built a crib for Kim. I knew he'd tell her he bought it, but I knew better. It looked almost identical to the one he built for my nephew. He'd sworn that one was store-bought, too, and I hadn't been there when he built it. The next gathering would be the perfect excuse to deliver the crib.

We went back to the cabin to change before heading to Port Angeles. There was a new movie Paul wanted to see, but we got there hours too early. Our metabolisms were too fast to get drunk, but we went to the bar to have a drink, anyway. The bartender knew me well because this was where I always came to fight, just never with Paul. He'd been inside my head when we patrolled together. He knew exactly what I did, but he chose not to talk to me about it. I had a feeling it would stay that way until I got hurt or some charges stuck.

"What time is this movie, Paul?" Jared asked. "I can't stay out too late."

Paul shook his head. "Kim's got ya on a short leash, huh?"

"Not Kim, Sam. He's pissed that we won't let Emily come to any pack stuff or be involved with Kim's pregnancy. I told him if he expected us to support his jumping into bed with a slut before Leah's body was cold, he didn't know us at all. I'm on double patrols all week."

Embry slammed his fist on the table. "It's bullshit, man. When is Jake going to step up?"

"I'd be patient on that," Paul told him. "We don't want baby alpha to get hurt."

Paul preferred Jake to Sam, but to say he liked either of them was a stretch. He hated how Jake stood up for Bella. I did, too, but it didn't change the fact that he was one of my oldest friends.

"Why can't it be you?" I asked Paul. "You could easily beat Sam in a fight."

"I've been asking myself the same thing." He admitted.

Embry chuckled. "I say let the bitch come. Sam can't force us to be nice to her."

Paul shot him an icy glare. He knew how I felt about Emily, but I agreed with Embry.

"She would only come once," I told them. "One time of everyone treating her like the filth she is would be all she'd take. She wouldn't come back again."

Jared shook his head. "I loved your sister, Seth, and I am not letting the bitch that's fucking her fiancé come to her house. If Leah was here, she wouldn't want Emily around."

I didn't argue. Jared was right. Mom and Leah would just avoid her instead of being mean to her. I was tired of letting her live in her happy bubble with Sam, though. She was the reason my nephew was gone. She deserved to know what people thought of her. Sometimes I forgot how well the pack knew Leah. It wasn't just me and Paul who had such vivid memories of her, everyone did. Even Bella.

I sat in a corner with Jared while Embry and Paul went to chat with two women. I didn't know how Embry could date knowing one day he'd imprint and his girlfriend would suddenly mean nothing to him. At least I knew my so-called mate, even if I wouldn't let myself have her.

"Tell me your favorite memory with Leah," I said to Jared. "Or Mom, or Dad. I forget how well you all knew them sometimes."

A wide smile crossed Jared's face. "I have the perfect story for you. Do you remember when Sam's nose got broken?"

I remembered the day like it was yesterday. I loved Sam when we were younger. Of course, I loved Paul, too. The two of them took turns walking me to school. Sometimes, one of them would walk me in the morning and the other would walk home with me in the afternoon. Whoever didn't walk with me, walked with Leah. My parents didn't want either of us to walk by ourselves, no matter how safe the reservation was. Leah had walked me forever by herself before Dad found out. He insisted we have someone else with us, or he would drive us to school. We didn't want him to drive us. It would be embarrassing to be the only one being dropped off by their dad.

It was Sam's turn to walk me home and Jared showed up in his place. I didn't know Jared well, but I knew he was Sam's friend. When we got to the house, Leah was sitting on the couch pouting and Mom was cleaning blood off of Sam's face. Seeing that much blood scared me. Leah led me back to her room and distracted me with cartoons. Mom yelled at Leah later that night, but I didn't know why.

Jared was barely holding himself together without laughing. "We were at school, in a crowd. Sam was showing off, the way young teens do, being a jerk to Leah for no reason. Leah didn't like a few of the guys Sam was talking to and she asked him to go with her to find Paul. Sam's friends laughed and asked him if he was going to let her boss him around like that. He said 'If you want to hang out with that asshole so bad you can find him yourself', and he barely got the words out before Leah knocked him on his ass. Those guys were speechless. They stared at her like she was crazy. Then she said 'Go get Paul Lahote for me or you're next.'"

By the end of the story, we were both laughing so hard we were crying. Leah was a small girl, she didn't have her growth spurt until high school. She was so quiet nobody would've expected her to do that. Paul was smiling at us, and he strolled over to our table.

"That was my favorite day, but not my favorite Leah memory." He told me. "I carried Sam out, right past those guys that thought I was an asshole. Harry couldn't be the one to punish Leah because he was so damn proud of her."

Jared slapped Paul's shoulder as he looked at me. "You know he's serious because he left that woman over there to tell you that."

The girl across the room looked so angry, and I felt a sick sense of satisfaction that he'd chosen to come talk to us about Leah instead of pursuing her.

Embry rejoined us a moment later. "I was always sad we missed that. It must have been nice to see Sam with his bruised ego."

"There's great satisfaction in helping the girl you love carrying her boyfriend with a broken nose and potential concussion home after she hit him for calling you an asshole." Paul grinned. "He didn't talk shit about me to our girl after that."

Embry said, "I thought the two of you were always good friends?"

That was laughable. They had been once upon a time, but the older they got the more jealous Sam was of Paul's friendship with Leah. He had never treated Paul any differently in Leah's company, but their friendship gradually crumbled.

The girls Embry and Paul were entertaining came to sit with us and I mostly just waited for it to be time for the movie. I had no interest in these women. I'm sure I came across as an asshole, but it wasn't worth my time to get to know someone they would only spend one night with.

I felt bad for Paul. We had nothing in our legends to tell us how a wolf would cope with losing their imprint. Would he imprint again? Would he marry someone who wasn't his imprint? Knowing Paul, he'd spend the rest of his life alone. Except for his one-night stands, of course.

Paul was notoriously bad at picking out movies. Even as a kid, his movie selections were not great. Would I be at the movies with Paul if Leah were alive? Never. But, he was the only family I had left, and he was excited to see this horrible new movie. Jared, Embry, and I had a group text on the drive there about how horrible it supposedly was. Paul was like a kid on Christmas morning, though, raving about it. He was lucky we all loved him.

I sprung for the biggest popcorn and got plenty of snacks so I wouldn't have to leave during the movie and I'd have a tasty distraction. Embry and Jared seemed to follow suit. Paul laughed at us and said he was waiting to eat until after the movie.

Great. That meant he wanted to go to his favorite Italian restaurant in Port Angeles before we went home. His taste in restaurants was much better than his taste in movies, I just didn't want to be out all night. Not to mention, not buying his own meant he'd be raiding my popcorn. I was damn near tempted to buy him one of his own to avoid it.

The movie didn't last as long as I'd feared it would, and it surprisingly wasn't horrible. I wouldn't willingly see it again, but compared to the other movies he'd made me sit through this one was pretty enjoyable, even after he'd confiscated half my popcorn and an entire box of milk duds. I'd be better prepared next time.

It didn't take long to get to Paul's favorite restaurant. The servers knew Paul by name. He wasn't exactly a regular, but he tipped well and flirted a lot. It made him pretty memorable. We sat at a corner table, and they gave us complimentary champagne. Embry and I weren't anywhere near old enough to drink, but being a wolf had its perks.

We were discussing the film and waiting for our appetizer when my phone buzzed on the table. It was a number I didn't know with a Port Angeles area code. I usually wouldn't have answered a call from a number I didn't know, but something was telling me I should get this one.

"Hello?" I answered. Three sets of eyes were glaring at me for answering my phone at the table, so I excused myself.

"Seth," Bella's voice poured through the phone. She sounded like she was crying. "I'm in trouble, I need you to come get me."

My heart was racing. I may not want Bella, but I damn sure wouldn't let anyone hurt her or make her cry. My first thought was that the redhead had to be to blame. "Where are you? I'm with Paul, Jared, and Embry. Do we need them?"

"No, no, please don't tell them. Kim is with me, Jared will be furious."

My concern was turning into frustration. "Where the hell are you, Bella?" What kind of trouble had she gotten Kim into?

"We got arrested. Please, come get us."

Fuck.