I tried to comfort myself with their lack of concern, but I couldn't drive the brutal image of the fighting werewolves from my head. My stomach churned, sore and empty, my head ached with worry.

"Let's go see Emily. You know she'll have food waiting." Embry looked down at me. "Mind giving us a ride?"

"No problem," I choked.

Jared raised one eyebrow. "Maybe you'd better drive, Embry. She still looks like she might hurl."

"Good idea. Where are the keys?" Embry asked me.

"Ignition."

"Well that wasn't a very smart move," Emmett said. "Someone could steal..."

"No one in their right mind would go near that thing," Rosalie scoffed.

"Besides, it's not that difficult to steal a car... even if it is locked," Alice smirked.

Embry opened the passenger-side door. "In you go," he said cheerfully, hauling me up from the ground with one hand and stuffing me into my seat. He appraised the available space.

"You'll have to ride in the back," he told Jared.

"That's fine. I got a weak stomach. I don't want to be in there when she blows."

"I bet she's tougher than that. She runs with vampires."

"Five bucks?" Jared asked.

"Done. I feel guilty, taking your money like this."

"I'm sure he's going to win both of those bets," Jasper said.

Embry got in and started the engine while Jared leapt agilely into the bed. As soon as his door was closed, Embry muttered to me, "Don't throw up, okay? I've only got a ten, and if Paul got his teeth into Jacob…"

"Now I know she won't blow," Jasper smiled. "Wouldn't want to disappoint him."

"Okay," I whispered.

Embry drove us back toward the village.

"Hey, how did Jake get around the injunction anyway?"

"He made her guess," Emmett said.

"Yeah he had already told her all this long ago," Edward said.

"The…what?"

"Er, the order. You know, to not spill the beans. How did he tell you about this?"

"Oh, that," I said, remembering Jacob trying to choke out the truth to me last night. "He didn't. I guessed right."

Embry pursed his lips, looking surprised. "Hmm. S'pose that would work."

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Emily's house. She's Sam's girlfriend…no, fiancée, now, I guess. They'll meet us back there after Sam gives it to them for what just happened. And after Paul and Jake scrounge up some new clothes, if Paul even has any left."

"Does Emily know about…?"

"Yeah. And hey, don't stare at her. That bugs Sam."

"Why would she stare at her?" Edward questioned, looking suspicious.

I frowned at him. "Why would I stare?"

Embry looked uncomfortable. "Like you saw just now, hanging out around werewolves has its risks."

Edward suddenly looked angry again, but he remained silent.

He changed the subject quickly. "Hey, are you okay about the whole thing with the black-haired bloodsucker in the meadow? It didn't look like he was a friend of yours, but..."

Embry shrugged.

"No, he wasn't my friend."

"That's good. We didn't want to start anything, break the treaty, you know."

"No, that definitely didn't break the treaty," Alice growled.

"Oh, yeah, Jake told me about the treaty once, a long time ago. Why would killing Laurent break the treaty?"

"Laurent," he repeated, snorting, like he was amused the vampire had had a name.

"Stupid mutt, what do you think we are?" Rosalie growled.

"Well, we were technically on Cullen turf. We're not allowed to attack any of them, the Cullens, at least, off our land – unless they break the treaty first. We didn't know if the black-haired one was a relative of theirs or something. Looked like you knew him."

"How would they go about breaking the treaty?"

"If they bite a human. Jake wasn't so keen on the idea of letting it go that far."

Edward growled at that and everyone else hissed.

"Oh. Um, thanks. I'm glad you didn't wait."

"Our pleasure." He sounded like he meant that in a literal sense.

Embry drove past the easternmost house on the highway before turning off onto a narrow dirt road. "Your truck is slow," he noted.

"Sorry."

"What...no defense for it today," Emmett chuckled.

At the end of the lane was a tiny house that had once been gray. There was only one narrow window beside the weathered blue door, but the window box under it was filled with bright orange and yellow marigolds, giving the whole place a cheerful look.

Embry opened the truck door and inhaled. "Mmm, Emily's cooking."

Jared jumped out of the back of the truck and headed for the door, but Embry stopped him with one hand on his chest. He looked at me meaningfully, and cleared his throat.

"I don't have my wallet on me," Jared said.

"That's okay. I won't forget."

"That's right...you can't let him get away with a bet," Emmett chuckled.

"Like you've never tried to get out of a bet before," Jasper smirked.

"Um..." Emmett stammered and Jasper just sat back with a smug smile.

They climbed up the one step and entered the house without knocking. I followed timidly after them.

The front room, like Billy's house, was mostly kitchen. A young woman with satiny copper skin and long, straight, crow-black hair was standing at the counter by the sink, popping big muffins out of a tin and placing them on a paper plate. For one second, I thought the reason Embry had told me not to stare was because the girl was so beautiful.

"I doubt anyone would ask you not to stare because they're beautiful," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

And then she asked "You guys hungry?" in a melodic voice, and she turned to face us full on, a smile on half of her face.

The right side of her face was scarred from hairline to chin by three thick, red lines, livid in color though they were long healed. One line pulled down the corner of her dark, almond-shaped right eye, another twisted the right side of her mouth into a permanent grimace.

Edward stayed still as a statue again, his face frozen in anger; and this time no one tried to say anything to him to stop him from worrying about this happening to Bella, they all seem to be worried too.

Thankful for Embry's warning, I quickly turned my eyes to the muffins in her hands. They smelled wonderful – like fresh blueberries.

"Oh," Emily said, surprised. "Who's this?"

I looked up, trying to focus on the left half of her face.

"Bella Swan," Jared told her, shrugging. Apparently, I'd been a topic of conversation before.

"Who else?"

"Natural...really, who isn't talking about Bella Swan these days?" Emmett smirked.

"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around," Emily murmured. She stared at me, and neither half of her once-beautiful face was friendly. "So, you're the vampire girl."

I stiffened. "Yes. Are you the wolf girl?"

"Good one!" Emmett laughed.

She laughed, as did Embry and Jared. The left half of her face warmed. "I guess I am." She turned to Jared. "Where's Sam?"

"Bella, er, surprised Paul this morning."

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

"Don't worry," Embry told her. "If they're late, we won't let anything go to waste."

Emily chuckled, and then opened the refrigerator. "No doubt," she agreed. "Bella, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin."

"Thanks." I took one from the plate and started nibbling around the edges. It was delicious, and it felt good in my tender stomach. Embry picked up his third and shoved it into his mouth whole.

"Save some for your brothers," Emily chastised him, hitting him on the head with a wooden spoon. The word surprised me, but the others thought nothing of it.

"Why... they're all just one happy, freaking, weird family," Emmett chuckled.

"And what would someone call our family?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know, but we are weirder than they are," Emmett shrugged.

"Pig," Jared commented.

I leaned against the counter and watched the three of them banter like a family. Emily's kitchen was a friendly place, bright with white cupboards and pale wooden floorboards. On the little round table, a cracked blue-and-white china pitcher was overflowing with wildflowers. Embry and Jared seemed entirely at ease here.

Emily was mixing a humongous batch of eggs, several dozen, in a big yellow bowl. She had the sleeves of her lavender shirt pushed up, and I could see that the scars extended all the way down her arm to the back of her right hand. Hanging out with werewolves truly did have its risks, just as Embry had said.

"Then don't stay there long," Edward muttered.

"She probably doesn't have a choice," Emmett offered. "They're going to have to keep her close to protect her."

"Right," Edward groaned.

The front door opened, and Sam stepped through.

"Emily," he said, and so much love saturated his voice that I felt embarrassed, intrusive, as I watched him cross the room in one stride and take her face in his wide hands. He leaned down and kissed the dark scars on her right cheek before he kissed her lips.

"Hey, none of that," Jared complained. "I'm eating."

"Then shut up and eat," Sam suggested, kissing Emily's ruined mouth again.

"Ugh," Embry groaned.

This was worse than any romantic movie; this was so real that it sang out loud with joy and life and true love. I put my muffin down and folded my arms across my empty chest. I stared at the flowers, trying to ignore the utter peace of their moment, and the wretched throbbing of my wounds.

"The poor girl can't even enjoy a moment like this," Esme sighed.

I was grateful for the distraction when Jacob and Paul came through the door, and then shocked when I saw that they were laughing. While I watched, Paul punched Jacob on the shoulder and Jacob went for a kidney jab in return. They laughed again. They both appeared to be in one piece.

"See.. they're fine," Emmett said.

"Okay," Esme smiled.

Jacob scanned the room, his eyes stopping when he found me leaning, awkward and out of place, against the counter in the far corner of the kitchen.

"Hey, Bells," he greeted me cheerfully. He grabbed two muffins as he passed the table and came to stand beside me. "Sorry about before," he muttered under his breath. "How are you holding up?"

"Don't worry, I'm okay. Good muffins." I picked mine back up and started nibbling again. My chest felt better as soon as Jacob was beside me.

"Oh, man!" Jared wailed, interrupting us.

I looked up, and he and Embry were examining a fading pink line on Paul's forearm. Embry was grinning, exultant.

"And he just won the other bet," Jasper smirked.

"Fifteen dollars," he crowed.

"Did you do that?" I whispered to Jacob, remembering the bet.

"I barely touched him. He'll be perfect by sundown."

"By sundown?" I looked at the line on Paul's arm. Odd, but it looked weeks old.

"Wolf thing," Jacob whispered.

"I didn't know they could heal so fast," Carlisle said, smiling.

I nodded, trying to not look weirded out.

"You okay?" I asked him under my breath.

"Not a scratch on me." His expression was smug.

"Hey, guys," Sam said in a loud voice, interrupting all the conversations going on in the small room. Emily was at the stove, scraping the egg mixture around a big skillet, but Sam still had one hand touching the small of her back, an unconscious gesture. "Jacob has information for us."

Paul looked unsurprised. Jacob must have explained this to him and Sam already. Or… they'd just heard his thoughts.

"Likely the latter," Carlisle said.

"I know what the redhead wants." Jacob directed his words toward Jared and Embry. "That's what I was trying to tell you before." He kicked the leg of the chair Paul had settled into.

"And?" Jared asked.

Jacob's face got serious. "She is trying to avenge her mate – only it wasn't the black-haired leech we killed. The Cullens got her mate last year, and she's after Bella now."

This wasn't news to me, but I still shivered.

Jared, Embry, and Emily stared at me with open-mouthed surprise.

"It is rather shocking isn't it," Emmett said. "How many humans are on a vampire's hit list?"

"Shut up!" Edward growled, looking like he was trying really hard not to attack him.

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

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

They continued to stare at me, mouths still hanging open, for a long moment. I ducked my head.

"Excellent," Jared finally said, a smile beginning to pull up the corners of his mouth. "We've got bait."

Edward growled at that and then his eyes he snapped to Jasper.

"Sorry," Jasper sighed, looking a little ashamed.

"Just don't think it!" Edward threatened, taking a deep breath and gritting his teeth.

With stunning speed, Jacob yanked a can opener from the counter and launched it at Jared's head. Jared's hand flicked up faster than I would have thought possible, and he snagged the tool just before it hit his face.

"Bella is not bait."

"You know what I mean," Jared said, unabashed.

"So we'll be changing our patterns," Sam said, ignoring their squabble. "We'll try leaving a few holes, and 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 try to take advantage of our divided numbers."

"Good plan," Jasper said, but he was thoughtful at the same time.

"Quil's got to be close to joining us," Embry murmured. "Then we'll be able to split evenly."

Everyone looked down. I glanced at Jacob's face, and it was hopeless, like it had been yesterday afternoon, outside his house. No matter how comfortable they seemed to be with their fate, here in this happy kitchen, none of these werewolves wanted the same fate for their friend.

"No... it's a hard life being supernatural," Carlisle sighed.

"Well, we won't count on that," Sam said in a low voice, and then continued at his regular volume. "Paul, Jared, and Embry will take the outer perimeter, and Jacob and I will take the inner. We'll collapse in when we've got her trapped."