"Where's the fire?" Charlie joked as Bella and I bolted into the kitchen. He watched us in bewilderment as Bella raided her snack drawer and I grabbed water bottles from the fridge.

"We have to go see Jake," Bella said over her shoulder as she tossed granola bars into a bag.

"Right now?" Charlie asked, glancing at his watch. "Don't you think it's a little early for that?"

"It's important." I assured him. He must've realized the urgency because he nodded his head.

"Okay. Tell Billy I said hi, and I'll call him later about fishing."

"Got it!" We said in unison as we ran out the door to Bella's truck.

Ten minutes later, Bella was knocking on the Blacks' door. Billy opened the door, surprised to see us standing there.

"Hello, girls."

"We need to see him." Bella cut him off.

"He's not in right now." Billy's eyes narrowed slightly at her. Bella sighed before pushing her way past him.

"Sorry, Billy, but it's urgent." Bella headed toward Jacob's room, determined. I looked back at Billy apologetically.

"We know, Billy." I murmured. "We know about Jacob."

Billy sighed, visibly sagging in his wheelchair. As I took a closer look at the man in front of me, I could see that his face aged a few years; probably due to the worry and stress he had endured over the last couple of weeks due to Jacob's transformation.

"He didn't tell us," I added. "At least, not intentionally. He told us some legends when I first came here, to try and impress us."

Before Billy could respond, Bella was hurrying back outside, anger written all over her face. Billy and I looked at each other in confusion until realization flashed in Billy's eyes.

"Go outside with her," he urged, wheeling around. "I'll wake up Jacob."

I stepped outside and noticed Bella was already halfway across the yard to where Sam and the others had emerged from the trail.

"What did you do to him?" I heard Bella yell at Sam as she walked up to him. She pushed his chest in anger once she reached him, causing Paul to take a step toward her. "What did you do?"

"Both of you. Calm down," Sam said darkly, throwing his arm in front of Paul to keep him back.

"What did we do?" Paul snarled. "What did he tell you?"

"Nothing!" Bella spat at him. "He tells me nothing because he's scared of you!"

Paul laughed humorlessly, glaring at Bella. Before I could stop her, she punched Paul in the face. His body began to tremor with anger, and snarls came from his vocal cords.

"Too late now," Jared said, stepping backward.

"Bella, Autumn, get back!" Sam ordered, turning to Paul. "Paul, calm down now."

Paul didn't seem to hear Sam; in an instant, his body spasmed and Paul transformed into a huge gray wolf, snarling and growling as he stared Bella down. From behind us, we heard the back door slam shut.

"Bella! Autumn!" Jacob yelled from the porch. He hopped over the railing toward us as we ran toward the house.

"Jacob! Run!" Bella yelled as she reached him.

Without a second glance, Jacob hurled himself over us, causing both of us to fall to the ground, and transformed into a russet brown wolf in midair. He stood between us and Paul, growling defensively. Bella and I sat on the grass, watching in horror as the two lunged at each other, rolling into the woods.

"Take Bella and Autumn back to Emily's place," Sam told Jared and Embry before bounding into the woods after the other two.

"Guess the wolf's out of the bag," Jared joked as they walked over to us and offered to help us off the ground. We silently piled into Bella's truck and after Jared gave her directions, she drove to Emily's.

"Maybe we should go back and check on Jacob," Bella called out to Jared and Embry as they climbed out of the bed and headed toward the cabin.

"Jacob can hold his own," Jared reassured her.

"I hope Paul sinks some teeth in him," Embry chuckled. "Serves him right."

"No way. Did you see Jacob phase on the fly? I bet you five bucks he doesn't come back with a scratch on him."

Bella and I didn't move from the truck, both of us unsure of how the guys were so calm about what happened. Jared turned around once he got to the porch, silently laughing at us.

"Come on in. We don't bite."

"Speak for yourself," Embry said, winking at us playfully.

Bella glanced at me and I shrugged.

"What's the harm? We know what they are. They know that we know. Plus, it smells good." I pointed to the cabin. "Emily's making breakfast."

"Okay, okay." Bella smiled sheepishly as her stomach rumbled. Laughing, we got out of the truck and met the guys on the porch.

"Oh, hey. About Emily, Sam's fiancé? Try not to stare. It bugs Sam." Jared informed us before disappearing behind Embry into the house.

"Why would I stare?" Bella asked. She didn't get a response.

"Are you guys hungry? Like I even have to ask." A woman's voice floated from the kitchen as we entered the cabin. Jared and Embry were already grabbing a muffin from the counter where the woman was arranging plates. She turned when she heard us enter and we could see why Jared said not to stare.

The right side of her face was scarred, from her temple to her jawline. Piercing brown eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Who is this?" She asked with a warm smile.

"Bella Swan and Autumn Watson, who else?" Jared rolled his eyes. Recognition lit up Emily's face.

"Ah, so you're the vampire girl," Emily directed to Bella before turning to me, "which means you're the girl Embry won't stop teasing Jacob about."

I grinned at Emily's connections, smirking at Embry who grinned back mischievously.

"Hey, it's funny watching him squirm." Embry shrugged.

"Yeah, that's us." I laughed, shaking Emily's hand.

"I guess, you're the wolf girl." Bella said, her awkwardness with strangers slowly showing. Emily just laughed brightly.

"Yeah, I guess I am. At least, I'm engaged to one." She set the muffin basket on the table and playfully smacked the back of Embry's head. "Hey! Save some for your brothers. And ladies first! Would you like a muffin?"

"Um, sure." Bella walked around to the other side of the table and carefully picked up a muffin.

"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around Sam's gag order." Emily chuckled as I reached for a banana muffin.

"He didn't tell us anything," Bella said in his defense.

"That's a wolf thing," Jared explained. "Alpha's orders get obeyed, whether we want to or not. Oh, and check it out. We can hear each other's thoughts."

The smirk on Jared's face gave a pretty clear indication that the wolf pack knew all about the love triangle between Bella, Jacob and I. Or rather, love square, if they knew about Edward. Jared's expression led me to believe that they did, and he personally found the situation somewhat amusing; I just wasn't sure on whose end he found the humor.

"Will you shut up! These are trade secrets!" Embry shot him a look. "Damn it! This chick runs with vampires!"

"You can't really run with vampires," Bella said, a small smile on her lips. Emily giggled as Embry and Jared looked at Bella in confusion. "Because they're fast."

"Oh yeah?" Embry leaned forward across the table. "Well, we're faster. Freaked out yet?"

We shook our heads, sharing a secret smile with Emily and Jared.

"You're not the first monsters I've met." Bella told him.

"Jake's right," Sam said as he walked in, "you two are good with weird."

Sam immediately went to Emily and kissed her, causing her to smile. As he leaned down and kissed her scars, her smile turned into giggles. Bella looked away from them, pain flashing across her eyes. Just then, Paul and Jacob walked inside, Paul immediately sitting down in the chair in front of us. He turned to Bella and gave her a sheepish grin.

"Sorry about that."

He turned his attention to his brothers at the table, reaching for the muffin basket. Jacob met Bella's gaze and tilted his head outside, silently telling her that they needed to talk. She looked back at me and Jacob shook his head, not looking at me. I nudged her with my shoulder, and she headed for Jacob, the two of them disappearing into the woods that led to the beach. I plopped into the chair next to Paul and reached for another muffin, angrily picking at it. Sam watched me carefully, an amused expression on his face.

"You can ask us anything, Autumn." Sam spoke gently. "You don't have to take it out on the muffin."

"We'll be more than happy to answer your questions," Emily added, setting down a mug in front of me. I recognized the hot chocolate immediately and knew that Jacob must have told her. Or the guys knew from their mind connection.

"Thank you," I murmured before taking a sip, savoring the rich chocolate mixed with whipped cream and cinnamon. "How much do you guys know? About Bella and I?"

"You mean, do we know about Jacob's feelings for you both?" Jared teased, earning a smack on the back of his head from Sam.

"We know that Jacob is as confused about his feelings for the two of you as he was before he first phased," Sam said slowly as if choosing his words carefully. "Jacob has always had a crush on Bella, even when they were kids. But when you came into the picture, something in him changed. He couldn't figure out what you meant to him exactly."

"Sam convinced him to ask you out," Emily interrupted. "He didn't want advice from Sam, we all know how Jacob viewed Sam. Especially after Embry changed. But Quil managed to persuade Jacob to listen."

"After what happened with your ex-boyfriend, Jacob was a mess." Sam looked at me sympathetically. "He felt terrible. Still feels terrible. And with your anonymous stalker, and the red-headed vampire coming back every night, Jacob just wants to protect the both of you."

"Wait, red headed vampire?" My eyes widened in horror. "You mean Victoria?"

"You know her?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Sort of... Edward... killed her mate last year," I said, my voice trailing off as my mind raced. "My first date with Jacob. There was an incident with Bella in Phoenix on the same day."

"I remember that." Sam said darkly.

"James, the mate, tricked Bella into going to her old ballet studio alone." I recalled, remembering the conversation I had with Bella when she came home from the hospital. "He was going to kill her. It was just a game to him. Because Edward had protected her from him the first time they crossed paths. Edward and his brothers killed him, and Victoria must be looking for revenge. A mate for a mate... but she doesn't know... that Edward left Bella."

"She keeps coming back for Bella." Sam echoed, lost in thought. The others shared a look as silence settled amongst us. Before anyone could say a word, the phone on the wall rang. Emily hurried to answer it.

"Hello? Hey Jake... yeah, hold on." She held the phone out to Sam. "Bella just told Jacob the same thing."

"Jacob," Sam grabbed the phone from Emily, "get Bella back here now. I'm going to call the tribal elders."

He hung the phone back into the cradle and turned to face us, a grim expression on his face.

"Paul, you come with me. Jared, Embry, stay here and wait for Jacob. We'll be back soon with a plan. Autumn," Sam turned to me, "you are more than welcome to stay here. Whatever questions you have, Emily, Jared, or Embry can answer them. You are, after all, an honorary member of the tribe, so you can be filled in as much as possible if you want. All I ask is that you keep our secrets. Jacob will fill Bella in when he's ready, I'm sure of it."

With a quick kiss on Emily's cheek, Sam left with Paul in tow. Jared and Embry both watched me, waiting for me to figure out my next question.

"You guys know that Charlie is out there, hunting you right?"

"We know," Jared replied grimly. "We've been keeping an eye on him."

"That's kind of relieving," I nodded. "I can't stand the thought of something happening to Charlie."

"Neither can we."

"Okay," I took a deep breath. "You only hunt vampires then? Nobody else?"

"That's right. We protect humans, like you, from vampires. That's the whole reason for our existence in a nutshell." Embry spoke this time.

"And the treaty is in place between you guys and the Cullens, because they don't drink human blood?"

"Yeah. And the treaty hasn't been broken. But we still don't like them," Jared added. "It's in our DNA not to like them. Mortal enemies and all that."

"What's it like being a wolf?" I looked from Jared to Embry.

"It's... challenging at times. When we're in wolf form, there are no secrets," Jared explained. "We can hear each other's thoughts, but it's more than that. We can see the thoughts, the memories from the person's perspective. We can experience the pain, the guilt, the anger behind every thought."

"But that also comes in handy at times," Embry added, looking down at the table before meeting my eyes. "Since I phased before Jacob, I know what it's like to be the most recent member of the pack. How scary it is the first time you phase and you have no idea what's happening. If it wasn't for Sam, Paul, and Jared, I have no idea what would've happened to me."

"Sam didn't have anyone to help him the first time he phased. The tribal elders found him in the woods, but they weren't much help," Emily chimed in at this point. "It had been years since any of them had phased, and now that the gene has been triggered in these boys, the tribal elders won't phase again."

"What else happens when you become a wolf?"

"Well, if you're lucky, you get to imprint."

"What's that?" I wrinkled my eyebrows in confusion. "Imprinting?"

"It's basically like love at first sight, but way more... intimate." Emily explained. "Sam imprinted on me after his first phasing, and he was dating my cousin at the time. It's a long story. All it takes is one look at the person you're meant to be with and suddenly it's like everything just makes sense in the world. For Sam, being away from me caused him physical pain, but every step closer brought him relief. If that makes sense."

"How did he imprint on you?"

"I was the first person he saw after his transformation, aside from the elders. He says all it took was one look into my eyes and he was a goner." Emily laughed.

"Is that why Jacob won't look me in the eyes?" I blurted out. "Because he doesn't want to imprint on me? He wants it to be Bella?"

Emily glanced at Jared, and a sickening feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. I stood up from the table, unable to breathe.

"Is it okay if I leave?" I whispered. "I don't want to be here when they get back."

"You don't have time to make a clean getaway," Jared said, staring out the door. "I can see them walking up the trail."

"You can hide in my room," Emily said, putting an arm around my shoulder and leading me down the hall. "We won't tell them that you're here."

"Thank you."

Emily opened a door, and led me inside, shutting it behind her just as Jared greeted Jacob and Bella loudly. I flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as Emily sat down next to me.

"I don't know why Jacob has been avoiding you," she said softly. "But you are more than welcome to come here anytime you like. You're one of us, Autumn. In more ways than you realize. Sam will be back soon, he can tell you more. Why don't you take a nap?"

"Okay." I mumbled. "Emily?"

"Yes, Autumn?"

"Thank you. For everything."

"You're welcome."

Emily quietly left the room, and I could hear her talk to Jacob and Bella through the wall. Bella asked where I was, and Emily told her I went home to help my mom with the bakery. They seemed to have bought the story because I heard the conversation shift to Victoria. As the voices began to fade into a steady hum, I let myself fall asleep, dreaming of piercing brown eyes and wolves transforming from tribal magic.