Since the shift Embry has found himself lost. Everything that he had known for his whole life had been torn up in his face. Even though his mother never brought up his father before he always had a feeling that he might have been dead. Which would have sucked but would've had been better than the current reality. The fact that his father could have always been in his face hurt more than having him dead.

Sighing he shifted to his wolf as he smelt Jake and Quil nearby. It was his turn to watch Quil and having Jake there too made it easier for him. This way it was like he was kind of hanging out with them again and not spying. He knew in the back of his mind soon his friends would join the pack. The only thing he hoped for was that when they joined they would shift together and completely understand why he abandoned them.

"Quil," Jake sighed lightly. Quil gave a slight grunt as he place a log up to be chopped. "I don't want to be this leader, my dad, been telling me I would become. I just want to fix a few cars for the rest of my life. All this pressure about my 'birthright' is wearing me down." Truthfully I rather make a living fixing cars or something along those lines.

The ax went down as soon as Jake was finished, splitting the log in half. The ax could use a good sharpening. When they shift I could do that for them. Quil looked over his shoulder at him and sighed lightly. "He's been really drilling you about It a lot lately."

"A bit but not like he used to. I just miss how things were before all of it," he mumbled. "I miss hanging out with my sis and Seth. I miss not having all of this pressure on my shoulders."

"Jake you have to make your own path man. Just because your dad is the Chief doesn't mean you have to be. Trying to be something just to please him will only make you hate him in the end."

Jake turned over in his head for a few minutes before nodding his head. "Yeah, your right. Let me get a few whacks at that."

The conversation changed to something light and carefree. Embry imagined that he was there next to them sharing jokes and just being a kid again. But that wasn't possible for a while still. It seemed like after all of the chaos that happened with Rachel both boys slowed down for the most part. It was as if their wolves knew that they weren't needed right now.

"Yo Bry," Paul's gruff voice breached his mind ready to release him of his duty. "Take a lap around the rez and then you're free to go."

Embry moved slowly away from his friends wanting to get out of his wolf skin as soon as possible. His nose hit the trail that they all followed. The faster he gets through this the fast he can escape Paul's mind.

Not bothering to say a word Embry retreated further into the forest. In a matter of minutes, his mind was filled with Paul's longing for Kim. He tried to focus in His route and push Paul's loud thoughts to the back of his head.

From what he knew about imprinting, this was normal for a new imprint. This longing would go away after both wolf and mate accepted the imprint. Kim still was trying to grasp everything that was happening. But it was only a matter of time before she fully accepts it.

Embry didn't really think too hard about imprinting. It wasn't like he thought it would never happen to him. He actually hoped that it would happen. Just after he found a decent job where he could support his imprint. As of right now he didn't have much that he could offer. However, another, smaller, part of him knew that he had to find some closure with his father issue before he could even think about having to offer something to someone. Finishing his run he pushes the thought behind him and focused on getting home.

His mother wouldn't be home until later. Which gave him enough time to think of a way to bring up his father issue with her. Yes, it was mostly for him but it would also help the pack link bloodlines. And he would finally have access to the journals that held so much of his family's secrets in them. He would feel as if he truly belonged in the pack and a bit less like a freak.

Shifting as he reached his backyard, he sighed in relief at the sight of his house. This was his safe haven. Somewhere he could get away from the pack even if it was only for a few hours. Walking in through the back door he went straight to the fridge. A quick snack before he planned out how he was going to approach his mom.

Finding the leftovers from last night he turned to dig out a fork. Soon he was filling the bottomless pit called his stomach. The day after his first shift he discovered how quickly his stomach empties. If it wasn't for Emily and Sam his mother would have gone broke restocking every day.

The thought of Sam made him cringe slightly. Everyone was blaming him for the whole Rachel incident, but he felt that the blame mostly fell on the shoulders of Billy. He treated his own daughter as trash for months a leading up to her shift. He was amazed that she didn't run straight past them to get to Billy. Honestly, he thought Sam was kind of a hero. Yes, there was things that he could have done different but there was no point in punishing him for it. He, like the rest of them, was only human.

Dropping the dish in the sink he walked to the living room. There was no point in thinking about it any longer they were going to have a meeting before sending Rachel off for her spirit training. Two days. That was enough time to show the rest of the pack that Sam did the best he could with what he had. He saved a foolish old man from death.

Sinking into "his" lazy boy he pushed that stress to the side and brought forth his father issue. There were a lot of ways he could bring this up but not each one would work. He would have to approach this as gently as possible. What if the man that fathered him was dead. What if it was a one night stand…. What if it was something much worse than that? The thought made his wolf crawl under his skin.

Shaking his head, he let out a short sigh. Almost on reflex his eyes sought out the picture of him and his mother. It was taken during their last visit to his grandparents. Grandma Call always took pictures during their visit. She wanted to make sure that they didn't miss too much of him growing up. But the truth was that Grandpa had Alzheimer. It was still in the early stages. But his grandmother wanted to make sure he remembered the family as much as possible. So she would take pictures and have him write on the back of them. She hoped that when it got a lot worst He would still remember them.

He rubbed the stubble that seemed to always be there no matter how much he shaved. In the picture, he looked like he was a normal 15-year-old boy. He was smaller and he was happier. The stress that he was currently carrying on his shoulders was nowhere to be found on his face. He looked happy...he was happy.

The front door opened and he could feel a heavy lump form in his throat. He didn't realize how long he had been staring at the picture. Pushing the lump as far as it would go down, he forced a smile. "Hey mom," his deep voice croaked out.

"Oh honey I didn't see you there," she stated ruffling his hair lightly as she walked passed him. "I half figured you were hanging out with Jared today."

"Not this time…"

"Well since you're here why don't we order some pizzas and have a movie marathon. School starts next week so why not be a little lame and hang out with your old mother," she joked. Now was the time to do it. If he did it now they could get it over with quickly. They could have a lazy night after it was done. It would be like the old times. But it won't be. "Em, are you okay honey?"

He shifted his eyes to hers and sighed lightly. "Mom...I know this might be hard to talk about...but...I need to know who my father is," he mumbled out.

She bites her lip and walks to the couch. Once she sits she finds his eyes again and search for something in them. Embry wanted to look away and not see the pained look in her eyes, but he thought better of it. After all, he was the one that brought it up.

"I should have figured this day was coming," she mumbled out. "Embry...this was your father's house." His muscles tensed up as the only man that came to his mind was Joshua. The man that fathered Sam and left as if it was nothing. But he was sure that Sam was living in his childhood home still. "When we met he was looking for a place to start anew. And in his search for that, he found me."

She looked away from him as memories flooded her mind. "Em...I know it's been hard not having your father around and I hope you don't hate me for it."

He shakes his head quickly. "You did what you could for me. I just need to know who is," he whispered feeling guilty he was putting her through this.

"His name was Danny Clearwater."

"Clearwater? You mean I'm related to the Clearwaters mom?!"

"Yes...that's why Harry always volunteered to take you to the father and son events. He felt guilty that his brother abandoned you and me."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This whole time He could have known about his father through the man that was pretty much was a father to him. "Does anyone else know," he questioned feeling his body start to shake.

"No...Harry wanted to tell you and everyone else during your next birthday." That was only a month away.

"Why?! Why wait this long to tell me?"

"Because he wanted to make sure you were mature enough to handle this." She sighed heavily. "He wanted to give you the proper welcome to the tribe...I know-"

She stopped mid sentence when she saw the tears falling. The man like boy openly wept as everything really sunk in for him. More than anything in the world He wanted to be mad at them that they didn't tell him. But how could he be? For the first time since his shift, he felt something other than confusion and anger. He was happy.

He didn't realize his mother had stopped speaking until he felt her cool hand against his burning skin. Raising his head slowly he sighed. "Thank you." Embry stood and engulfed her into a hug. "Why don't we order some pizza now?"

She squeezed him in return nodding her head quickly. For tonight, it was enough for him. He had a name and within a month, he would get the full details. He could wait. He's been waiting this long what could a couple of weeks more?