You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Three

Embry's POV

How creepy was it that I looked forward to meeting a six year old girl more than I could remember looking forward to anything in a good while? I wished I could pinpoint what it was about her, but I could think of nothing to explain my odd excitement. My heart spazzed whenever she came up, or when my thoughts strayed her way. It made no sense. I hadn't even met her yet. I knew her name, her age, and that her mother had killed herself, leaving the girl with no family except us. That was it.

And yet, there my heart went again, speeding up.

I'd memorized the schedule for today. Quil and Leah were set for the first introductions. Quil because he was surprisingly good with children - though I suppose it wasn't so surprising now that he'd imprinted on Claire. And Leah because it was probably best to get her introduction over with. Pairing her with Quil would hopefully soften her attitude if she woke up to a bad day. Never could tell with her.

Next up was Jacob. He was the only one going individually--because he'd be getting off patrol around that time, while Jared was sticking around for a double shift to patrol with me since he'd traded a few days ago so he could take Kim out, so Sam figured Jacob might as well drop by then.

I was paired with Jared to go after Jacob. Lucky for us, we got a slot between lunch and dinner, which meant there was a strong possibility we'd get cookies or brownies or some other delicious treat. Emily was awesome that way.

After Jared and me was Paul and Seth. The idea was that sticking Paul in with Seth and for dinner would lighten his mood if he had his own bad day. I suspected he'd be better in the situation than Leah, since Leah almost always got touchy whenever anything concerning Sam or Emily came up, but Sam's planning was smart.

Finishing out the night would be the youngest pack members, Collin and Brady, for no other reason I was aware of than that they were the newbies. They were still easing into the pack dynamic, so waiting until the end of the day to introduce them would probably be helpful, since they could take cues from what the rest of us do throughout the day as we meet Sam's sister. Both boys were good kids, so it wasn't really a worry, but caution couldn't hurt.

"Dude," Jared thought to me as we ran our patrol around noon. Jacob and Embry had left about half an hour ago and were surely meeting Kinley at that very moment. "Why are you thinking so hard about this?" No suspicion or accusation, just genuine curiosity. Join the club.

I huffed, picking up speed. "Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it'll go away later?" Once I actually met her.

I sensed Jared turning ideas over in his mind, but I didn't peek over to see what he was coming up with. Last thing I needed was more fuel to my current brand of crazy. "Maybe," he said without conviction.

Yeah, I didn't have high hopes either. But there was nothing I could do about it. So I kept as I was doing, running and running. Keeping the reservation safe.

Sometime later, Jared skidded to a halt. "What's wrong?" I asked, changing course to head his way.

From what I could tell, he didn't move. He wasn't fighting anyone or following a scent. He was just frozen in place, mind still spinning. "I think I know why you're so obsessed with Kinley."

With those words, it was my turn to stop. Jared's whirring thoughts had come to a conclusion. And he must have been pretty sure about it if he was reacting like this. "Really?" Now I tried to see what was going on in his head.

Suddenly, he blanked his mind. It was only for a moment, but when it went back to normal, whatever he'd figured out was buried so deep I would have had to dig to find it. Out of courtesy to each other, we tended to avoid doing that. "I really don't think I should tell you. If I'm wrong, it'd be bad." I prepared to protest, because my curiosity was going wild, but he added, "And if I'm right, you'll know soon."