"Ellie, please wait for me!" said Embry, out of breath. "So not going to happen. It's not my fault your fat, lazy butt can't keep up." I said. "But you don't even know where we're going." He said. I stopped and realized he was right. "Fine," I pouted. He laughed and took the lead. As I was following him I kept thinking how he would react to make telling him I like him so much more than a friend. I want to tell him, but I can't ruin our friendship. "Hello, earth to Ellie." Embry said while waving a hand in front of my face. "What? Sorry I spaced out." I said. "I know", He replied, "You're weird like that." "Oh just shut up Embry! Where are we?" "We're at Sam's house." "Okay" I said timidly.
Don't get me wrong, Sam is great and he's like a big brother, but I think he's hiding something from me. "Hey Ellie, do you want a muffin before the rest of the guys get here? You know how they eat." Emily asked as I walked through the door to the kitchen. "Sure" I replied. I knew if the guys could eat for hours straight if they had enough food. I remember once Embry came over for dinner (a normal thing at my house) he had six plates piled high with spaghetti. My entire family looked at him waiting for him to start feeling sick. My memories were interrupted by the guys and Leah bursting through the door.
Sam went to Emily first and kissed her lovingly. 'I wish that were Embry and I' I thought. I just stayed there watching everyone do their thing. Paul, Quil, and Jared were playing video games on the couch, Jake and Embry were making bets on who would win, Leah was sulking in the corner, and Seth, Collin, and Brady were laughing quietly. After awhile Sam walked into the living room and everyone gave him their full attention.
"Ellie," he said, "I have something important to tell you. Please don't be scared of us. All of us here, except for Emily, are shape shifters. We're wolves and protectors of the Quileute people." I was shocked. I mean I knew he was hiding something from me and I guessed based on what the legends tell, but I didn't expect all of them to be wolves. "Okay so your wolves. No biggie." I said. "What do you mean? Aren't you scared of us?" asked Sam. "Not really, I already knew Sam was hiding something and the legends told me enough to guess what it was. I figured you would tell me when you were ready." "Ellie can you come outside with me for a second?" asked Embry. "Okay" I said and followed him out the door. "There is something else about being a wolf I need to tell you." He began. I was listening intently. "Wolves can imprint. Imprinting is when we find our soul mate. It's like that other person is our world and it feels like she's keeping you tied to earth instead of gravity. We would die to protect our imprints. We also would be anything they needed us to be whether it be a brother, a friend, or a lover. Emily is Sam's imprint, Kim is Jared's, and Claire is Quil's." He said. I couldn't stop the tears forming in my eyes. "So have you found your imprint yet?" I asked him. "Yes" was all he said.
Now I wasn't just upset, I was furious. I love Embry with all my heart and someone else gets to love him and kiss him. It wasn't right. I was shaking now and my vision blurred by red. Embry saw my violent shaking and tried to calm me down with a concerned and worried look on his face. That was it. I couldn't take it anymore, couldn't take the pain. I fell to the ground in agony. My bones were shifting and my skin was on fire. All of a sudden the pain stopped. I tried to stand up only to realize I already was. When I looked down on myself, I saw that in place of hands I had paws. Huge, white paws. Howling, I took off running. Deep into the woods and no clue where I was going.
I could here paws hitting the ground behind me and a chorus of howls in the distance. Stop running so we can talk about this, Said Embry's voice in my head. Oh great now I'm going crazy too. I thought. Not crazy, it's just a wolf thing the whole pack can hear each others thoughts in wolf form, Embry laughed. Great, so pretty much no privacy? I said. Pretty much, now stop running. I did what he said and waited for him to catch up. He came out from behind the trees wearing a cut off jeans and no shirt. I took all I had not to start panting right then and there. "You have to phase back so I can talk to you." He said. "Just take calm, deep breaths and picture you as a human." I started to relax and calm down. I felt my bones shifting again but no where near as bad as the first time. Reaching a hand to my face to find I was once again human. I stood up to face Embry. He blushed a deep red under is russet silk skin and looked down quickly. "You might want to put these on" he said. I blushed even deeper then him when I realized my clothes were gone. They must have ripped when I phased. I grabbed the clothes quickly and ran behind a few bushes. Changing fast, I stepped out going to meet Embry again. "Why did you run off?" he asked. I stayed silent. "Well Ellie?" he prodded. "I ran off becauseā¦.. Because I love you okay? I love you with all my heart and I always have. It's not fair that someone else gets to love you like I do and have you love them back." I was screaming and crying like a child but I didn't care. I sank to the ground. He caught me in his arms and stroked my hair "Ellie, Ellie, Ellie" he whispered into my hair. I looked up to meet his eyes and the entire world melted away around us. I felt an invisible rope tug at my heart. "Ellie, I imprinted on you. You're the only one for me and I think you just imprinted on me too," Embry said. "Oh" was all I could say. He laughed at that and it made me smile. "I love you" He whispered as he rested his forehead on mine. "I love you too and I always have" I whispered back. Then his lips met mine gently and sweetly. I wrapped my arms around his neck deepening the kiss and pulling me closer to him. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled us closer still. Imaginary fireworks and chimes went off in my head. 'If being a wolf meant he was going to kiss me like this, I should have phased a long time ago,' I thought and smiled into the kiss.
