"Are you sure they'll like me?" Embry only laughed. "Em..."

"Of course they will." He hugged her closer to his side as they walked down the path. "Jake already does-even if he doesn't want to, and the others will too. Emily's really excited to meet you, actually."

"Really?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Course." He nodded. "There's nothing to worry about, Claudia, I promise." She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Mm, Emily's cooking." He sighed happily.

"What? How do you know that?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Wolf senses." She snorted. "I'm serious. I can smell and hear shit like super far away."

"Yeah, okay wolfy." Embry laughed loudly as they came around the bend. Claudia still couldn't smell what Embry had, but her eyes landed on the small cabin tucked into the trees. A large sliding glass door took up a good portion of the wall, and behind it Claudia could see the pack. Sam, Jared and Paul were sitting around a table, laughing and eating-though Jake was gone. She brushed it off, figuring he was probably still following Bella around somewhere. The door slid open, and Emily Young stepped onto the porch. Of course Claudia already kinda knew her, knew of her, but it really was their first actual meeting.

"Hey guys." Emily smiled, though it only showed on the undamaged half of her face. "I was wondering when he'd finally bring you around."

"Yeah, yeah." Embry huffed. "What are you making? I could smell it a mile away."

"Muffins, fresh batch just came out." Embry was gone from Claudia's side in a second, hurrying to the table where a large pile of muffins sat on a platter. "Come on in, Claudia. Welcome to the family."

"Thanks." Claudia gave her a small smile, and entered the warm house. Emily slid the door shut behind her and moved towards the kitchen.

"Do you want anything?" Emily asked, and Claudia shook her head. "Alright, just let me know." With another smile, Emily was gone. Claudia moved over, sitting next to Embry at the table.

"Want one?" Embry's mouth was full as he held a muffin out towards Claudia. She chuckled lightly, taking it from him. He didn't waste anytime in grabbing another for himself.

"How's that other kids face?" She looked across the table, seeing Jared was talking to her. "Quil, I mean."

"Oh, yeah he's fine." She shrugged. "Bruised, but he's fine. He's definitely had worse." Jared chuckled.

"Good thing Embry isn't that strong." Paul teased, and Embry reached across the table to hit him. "Oh, what was that? I barely felt it."

"Shut up a second." Sam commanded, and the whole house fell silent. Then, Claudia heard it. It was very distant, but she could just make out a wolf howl in the distance. "Jacob." He huffed, standing up. "Be ready, we might need to leave." The other three boys all nodded and in two long strides, Sam was out the door.

"What do you think it is this time?" Paul scoffed at Jared's question.

"Bella Swan, of course." Paul picked up his tenth muffin. "Seriously, you'd think he imprinted on her by the way he acts."

"Did he?" Claudia asked, and Jared laughed.

"He wishes." Claudia felt Embry's arm settle over her shoulders. "Seriously, looking into his mind is sickening. Every time he sees her, he's staring into her eyes desperately trying to imprint. It's obnoxious." Another, closer howl cut through the house, and the three boys shot up immediately. Paul and Jared were quick out of the house, but Embry stopped in the doorway, looking back at Claudia's confused and worried face.

"We'll be back soon." He said with a smile, before turning and jogging after the others. Emily came out of the kitchen, placing a mug of steaming tea in front of Claudia before sitting down with her own.

"Is it always like this?" Claudia asked, and Emily chuckled.

"Oh, yeah." She nodded. "You'll get used to it, trust me."

———————

Claudia was laughing at something Emily had said when she heard the door slide open again. She peaked around the corner, her smile widening when she saw Embry. Jared plopped down at the table, and she barely registered the fact that Bella Swan was standing in the doorway she moved over towards Embry. "Sorry about that." He chuckled as he sat down. One of his arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her down into his lap.

"Don't worry about it, it was nice to spend some time with Emily." She shook her head lightly.

"You guys hungry?" Emily asked as she pulled the fresh muffins from the oven. Emily then turned around. "Oh, who's this?"

"Bella Swan, who else?" Jared shrugged, eyeing the muffins.

"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around." Emily shook her head lightly. "So, you're the vampire girl?"

"And you're the wolf girl?" Bella's voice was stiff. Emily, Jared and Embry laughed, while Claudia peered curiously at Bella. They'd known each other off and on their whole lives, but it was the first time she'd seen her in about a year, since she first moved to Forks. She didn't look much different than she had, a little sadder maybe, but Claudia couldn't help but feel a little adverse to her. After all, she did sympathize with vampires-and everything Embry had told her about them terrified her.

"I guess I am." Emily chuckled, looking back at Jared. "Where's Sam?"

"Bella, uh, surprised Paul this morning." Jared huffed.

"Ah, Paul." Emily rolled her eyes. "Do you think they'll be long? I was just about to start the eggs."

"Don't worry, Em." Embry leaned back to look at Emily. "If they're late, we won't let anything go to waste." Emily chuckled, shaking her head lightly. She walked over, placing the muffin tray down. The boys immediately grabbed one and began eating. If Claudia hadn't already gone through the task of making Embry lunch the day before, she'd be shocked at how fast and how much they ate.

"Save some for your brothers." Emily scolded, hitting Embry's head with a wooden spoon as he picked up his third.

"Pig." Jared commented.

"Shut up." Embry fired back. Claudia sipped at her tea, her arm moving around Embry's shoulders as her fingers lightly moved through his hair.

"Em, do you need any help?" Claudia looked back.

"No, I'm fine." Emily waved her hand over her shoulder as she began to mix the eggs in the biggest mixing bowl she had. "There's more tea on the stove if you want some, though."

"Thanks." Claudia looked back, just in time to watch Embry throw a butter knife in Jared's direction. Jared caught it and slid it back across the table it a second.

"You're slow, Embry." Jared teased. "Even slower than Jake."

"No I'm not!" Embry argued. The door slid open again and Sam entered. He went straight for Emily, the cool ocean air lazily moving into the house.

"Hey, none of that." Jared groaned as Sam kissed Emily. "I'm eating."

"Then shut up and eat." Sam said over his shoulder. Jared groaned burying himself in another muffin. Laughing then filled the air, and Jake and Paul were playfully shoving each other through the door as they walked inside. Paul plopped down next to Jared, while Jake moved towards Bella. Claudia frowned, Jake hadn't even noticed she was there.

"Oh, man!" Jared wailed. Claudia looked over, seeing Paul holding up his arm. There was a faded, pink scar moving down Paul's forearm.

"Fifteen dollars." Embry smiled, looking up at Jared. "I almost feel bad, taking your money like this."

"Yeah, yeah." Jared huffed, falling back against his chair. "Come on Paul, how come you did this to me?"

"It's not my fault you bet your life savings." Paul snorted. "You only have yourself to blame, dumbass."

"Whatever." Jared huffed, picking up another muffin. "Kim's gonna be mad, I promised to take her to a movie this weekend." He mumbled.

"Hey guys." Everyone looked over at Sam. "Jake has information for us."

"I know what the redhead wants." Jake spoke, mostly looking at Jared and Embry-as Paul and Sam would've already heard his thoughts. "This is what I was trying to tell you before." Jake kicked one of the legs of Paul's chair.

"And?" Jared leaned forward.

"She is trying to avenge her mate-just not the black haired leech we killed." He explained. "The Cullen's got her mate last year, and she's after Bella now." All eyes flashed to Bella.

"She's just a girl." Embry protested.

"I didn't say it made sense." Jake sneered. "But that's why the bloodsuckers been trying to get past us. She's been heading for Forks."

"Excellent." Jared smiled. "We've got bait." Jake reached over, picking up the first object he could find on the counter and hurling it straight at Jared's face. Jared raised his hand, catching the can opener a few inches from his face.

"Bella's not bait." Jake glared.

"You know what I meant." Jared shrugged.

"So we'll be changing our patterns." Sam spoke, ignoring the pair. "We'll try leaving a few holes, see if she falls for it. We'll have to split up, and I don't like that. But if she's really after Bella, she probably won't take advantage of our divided numbers."

"Quil's gotta be close to joining us." Embry pointed out. "Then we'll be able to split evenly." No one spoke for a few moments.

"We won't count on that." Sam murmured, then his voice returned to normal. "Paul, Jared and Embry will take the outer perimeter, Jacob and I will take the inner. We'll collapse in when we've got her trapped." The boys all nodded. "Bella, Jacob thinks it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in La Push. She won't know where to find you as easily, just in case."

"What about Charlie?" Bella demanded.

"March Madness is still going." Jake pointed out. "I think Billy and Harry could manage keeping him here when he's not working."

"Wait." Sam held a hand up. "That's what Jacob thinks is best, but you need to decide for yourself. You should weigh the risks of both options very seriously. You saw this morning how easily things can get dangerous around here. If there was anywhere else you felt safe..."

"No." Bella shook her head, looking down at her hands. "I don't wanna lead Victoria anywhere else."

"That's true, it's better to have her here where we can end this." Sam nodded.

"You'll be careful, right?" Bella looked up at Jake. In a second, all the boys were laughing.

"Foods ready!" Emily called over the boys, placing plate of eggs on the table. And suddenly, all the seriousness swept from the room.