~Ariel's pov~

Jumping up from Embry's side, my face flushing from being caught by my mom, I head to the kitchen to help her make something for Embry and I to eat.

What I wasn't expecting was for my mom to be watching me walk in with a giant, cheesy grin on her face, and I was hoping she wasn't gonna bring it up... I should've known better.

"So... What was that?" Best strategy, play dumb and she might just drop it.

"Taking a nap on the couch? I was exhausted from all the excitement." I say with feigned innocence, the second part with a bit more sarcasm. I still dont know what I should be thinking about all this wolf business..

"I'm not an idiot Ariel. Embry, you care for him don't you?" She says quietly.

"Wha—? I just met him Mum, and I did, after all, cause his injuries. I'm just helping him get better. I mean...nevermind."

Did I care for Embry? What I said was true, we just met and it's my fault he's hurt. The least I can do is help him feel better, but I guess in the back of my mind there was something that seemed to draw me to him— make me want to help him, be close to him..

I shake my head looking back to my mother, and she just smiles lightly at me, seeming to know about my internal dialog.

"You what? Feel as if there's something pulling you to him?" She says this and I can't keep my eyes from widening in surprise. How the hell did she know?

"It's alright if you do Ariel, he's a good guy—"I don't mean to but I cut her off with a scoff.

"Yeah that's what I thought about Jason Ma. You know we shouldn't be talking about this now, let's just bring the sandwiches out and wait for whatever storm is to come."

I say grabbing the plate of turkey sandwiches we've been making while talking, while my mum grabs more water and follows me. I smile slightly at Embry who is now sitting up as I set the plate on the table.

We each grab one, and before the awkward silence can go on any longer, the front door is opened with a bang.

"Scarlett?"

"In here Sam." Sam comes in followed by Billy, Jake, and Quil.

"Good to see you awake Embry. How are you feeling?" Sam asks as they all sit with us.

"I feel fine, honestly. I don't know what happened. One minute I'm arguing with Paul outside, he lunged for me, but Ariel was in the way. So I jumped in front, because Paul hadn't seen her, he hits me and then nothing. Then I woke up just a bit ago." He says with a shrug and everyone looks stumped.

"And when you woke up, how did you feel?" Billy asks.

"I felt, I feel fine. I'm not sore, when I thought I would be after going against Paul."

"And why were you two fighting? I thought Paul had his temper in check?"

"Me." I cut off Embry before he can explain. "I was in an "unfavorable" situation and Embry helped me. When Dad brought me here to meet everyone, I didn't tell him I had already met Embry and that must've pissed him off." I rush out nervously with a shrug.

"No El. It isn't your fault. I had said things to Paul that I shouldn't have. I'll explain everything later Ariel." He says after I try to interrupt again, knowing that it started before they said those things.

"I see." Billy nods, keeping eye contact with Embry and some kind of understanding passes between the two of them.

"This is something I've not seen before. The only thing I can think of, that this is very common to you and Paul." He tells Mom and she nods in understanding, whereas I'm still lost.

"But, that wouldn't have made me pass out like I did... I should be able to protect, to my full capability, that means not passing out in the presence of a threat?"

"That's true. We'll look into it. I think, as long as this doesn't happen again, I wouldn't worry too much about it. For now, I think you have a lot to explain Embry."

Billy nods to Embry before rolling over to my mother and talking with her. Embry smiles at me slightly, nervousness rolling off of him, as he walks toward me.

"Would you like to go for a walk? Get out of this stuffy house?"

"What about my Dad? Should we–"

"The pack will find him, don't worry El. That's what Billy is talking to your mom about."

"Okay." I say with a small smile. "Let's go for that walk." He smiles and leads me from the house, into the surrounding green forest.

"So um, how long have you been a wolf?" I ask nervously. Is that a question you can ask? I don't wanna overstep boundaries. Surprisingly though, Embry lets out a deep, heart-felt laugh, making me smile at the sound.

"Well now that's an interesting question." I simply raise an eyebrow, confused.

"You're familiar with the old Quileute stories right?" He asks as we walk farther into the forest, sun shining through the trees.

"Yeah the ones I thought were just stories until recently?" He laughs slightly.

"Yeah, those. Obviously they're more true than not. Do you remember the one that tells of the warriors being able to protect their tribe for many years?" I search my memories of our apparent history and remember something along those lines.

"Something about however long they changed into wolves, they "stayed young and vigilant" or something like that?" Embry laughs at my poor imitation of Billy, but nods his head in agreement.

"So wait... Does that apply to all of you? My brother will stay 18, while I get older?"

"In theory yes. However we do have a choice to age again. If we were to stop shifting into our wolf forms, our aging process would begin again."

"So you could just, wake up tomorrow and no longer want to do this, and you'd start aging again?"

He nervously rubs his hand at the back of his neck. We've now stopped at a beautiful, secluded meadow, the both of us drenched in sunlight.

"Well it isn't that easy. There's a certain event that happens to the wolves and it's kind of the deciding factor of if we age again or not."

I simply wait for him to continue. He takes a deep breath, trying to get rid of the sudden anxiety that's filled up our spot.

"It's called Imprinting. I guess you could describe it as love at first sight. Cheesy I know. What it is, is that the wolf has found its soulmate. Before it was seen as, a hardwire in our wolf gene, connects with another that will best carry on the gene." The poor boy laughs in awkwardness.

"Now though, we like to see it as, the wolf is willing to be whatever their imprint needs. Whether it be; a best friend, a protector, or a soulmate. Otherwise it's just too much pressure on the imprint and the wolf. When the wolf finds his imprint, he has to make the decision; to keep shifting and not age, or stop shifting and live their lives with their imprint."

"And do most of them give it up right away?"

"It depends. Sometimes fate likes a laugh and well, some wolves' imprints are younger than they are." He says with a slight laugh and I raise a brow.

"So then, does the wolf keep shifting and wait for their imprint?" Now sitting across from each other, Embry's smile fades a bit.

"Yes. He becomes her best friend and protector until she's old enough to make the decision of what she wants him to be."

"Wouldn't that suck though? To love someone so much and then after years of waiting, they just decide to friend-zone you?"

"It would, but in the end, we just want our imprint to be happy. Whether it's with us or not."

His sentence fades as we just look at each other. There's a lot to take in here, and it sounds like he really knows what he's talking about. So unfortunately for me and this incessant pull towards him, it seems he's already found his soulmate...

"So why are you telling me all this? I'm not a wolf, and it already sounds like you found your girl. Shouldn't you be with her?"

Suddenly he's nervous again and I'm confused slightly. He takes a deep breath and seems to think over whatever he has to say next.

"Well I guess to really understand us, you've got to know what we're about. But also, this really explains why everything just happened, why your Dad wanted to keep you away from it. From us."

"So that one of you couldn't "imprint" on me? That should be something that's a good thing right? No more heart-break, no more cheating. Knowing that someone is going to love you as long as they live, no matter how damaged you might be?"

I finish my rant, realizing I wish I could have that kind of love. Wish that I could imprint, so I don't have to worry about someone breaking my heart again. Embry smiles slightly, but it fades again.

"Yeah, and that's how I feel about it too, but being with the wolves, there's a lot of danger involved. We protect the people from vampires and other threats and sometimes, our enemies realize these attachments and bring harm to our imprints. To harm us."

"I understand that. I do. But when was the last time that happened? Am I really in that much danger when the majority of La Push, my dad, god dad, and brother being three of them, are wolves?" Laughing slightly at the end, Embry's lips twitch up and he seems to relax a bit.

"But more times than not, we are the ones hurting our imprints. We lose control of our anger and explode, literally, and sometimes you guys get too close and we hurt you."

"Well I think that kind of comes with being involved with a wolf. There's going to be some down sides, but once you understand–like I did with Ash, you know what you're going into, and you trust them not to hurt you."

I say remembering what I told Embry that day when I challenged my father. He simply looks at me with awe before responding.

"Wow. You're really okay with all of this aren't you?"

"And that's so strange? Like I said all of my family is involved in this, and I want to be involved. I kinda of have to be okay with it."

"I guess so." His thinking face returns, and I have a million questions running through my head.

"So... How do you find your imprint?" He brings his eyes to mine and if I'm being honest, I'm enraptured by his gaze.

"Well, like I said "love at first sight". The way we know that we've found her is, when we make eye contact with her, everything literally shifts. You know how you kinda go throughout life, and it kinda feels like you're wandering about." I just nod, knowing exactly what he's talking about.

"Well, no longer do we feel like we're wandering. She's the one thing that holds us to the earth. She's our anchor and becomes the center of our universe."

"So how many wolves have imprints?" This question makes him laugh loudly.

"A better question is which don't. Pretty much any wolf that's in a relationship, will be in one with their imprints. Your aunt Kim was a bit hard to convince, but she came around." This new knowledge surprises me.

"Aunt Kim?"

"Yeah, it was kinda karma biting Jared in the ass for being so hard on your dad when he imprinted."

"Wait. My parents are imprints?"

"Yeah, apparently the strongest one to date. I thought you knew? What did they tell you?"

Now it's his turn to look confused and I can't wrap my mind around this. True love and soul mates, real?

"Just that they grew up together, but had a falling out in high school. A couple years later, Dad realized his mistake and after a lot of ass-kissing, Mom forgave him. Then they confessed their love for each other and that's that."

Learning everything now, I'm shocked at how much has been left out of my life. Like my parents purposely left this big hole.

"In a sense, yes. They just didn't mention how after Paul imprinted, Jared wasn't happy about it and they got into it. It was a gnarly battle. Scarlett's got the scars to prove it." He says and my eyes widen.

"Those—that's how she got them? Jared?"

"Like I said, when we get really angry we can't control it. Scar tried to step in between them and break up the fight, but Jared didn't see her. We never mean for these things to happen.."

That's why Dad looked so scared... it was a repeat of his past.

"Hang on. You're talking about all this like you were there. How old are you?" He laughs nervously before looking at me again.

"Truthfully. Two years younger than your parents." At that I can't help it when my jaw drops and my eyes seem to pop from my head.

"But I'm frozen at 19." Well that's a little better, but this whole not aging wolf thing is weird...

"So you haven't found your imprint yet, since you aren't aging right? Well then, who's all imprinted in the pack?"

"Well, the aging isn't something that automatically happens when you imprint. You have to make the decision. And your parents are imprints, Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim, Quil and Claire—"

"I didn't know they were imprints!" Claire is a good friend of Bethany and myself. We were there when Quil finally asked her on a date.

"Yeah, ever since she was little, but that's a story for another time though. Then there's Jake and Nessie, andyouandme.." The end of his sentence rushes out and I can't make it out.

"And who?" He takes a deep breath before grabbing my hands gently in his warm ones.

"I imprinted on you, Ariel." At his words I'm stunned.

"That's why I've been filling you in on everything, hoping you aren't too overwhelmed by everything. Now you've seen it firsthand, so you know I'm just not making this up." He attempts to keep eye contact, but I drop my eyes to our hands.

"I didn't want to tell you until you felt better about your ex, and all this shit blew over with your dad. But seeing that I passed out today while protecting you, they thought it would be a good time as any. I guess."

He pulls his hands away from mine and I can't help the feeling of emptiness that's left behind. Now I know I've upset him with my silence.

"I'm sorry. I should've given you more time to adjust to all the weirdness, before laying this on you. C'mon. Let's get you home." He says dejectedly like a kicked puppy and it breaks my heart. He slowly gets up and starts to walk back.

"Embry wait. I'm sorry, it's just a lot to soak in, but like you said, I've witnessed imprints apparently. And I trust you, with all of this. I'm not going to lie, when I left your house this morning, there was this weird pull. Pulling me back in the direction of your house. Back to you. I'm just going to have to mull all this over okay? Anyways, we just met. What's the rush?"

I say with a smile, making him smile before we walk back to the house. A little less confused, but still filled with questions.