Chapter 1: Thanks For Your Help
Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer.
A/N: Just to clear it up- the pack is sort of one again, Jake and Sam switch off with being the Alpha. Right now (in the story) Jake is on vacation with the Cullens and "his" pack is in La Push with Sam, except for Leah, who left to go to college and doesn't really phase much anymore.
Elly's Point of View
I watched as the woman put my tiny bag down next to me and got back into the car. She had the look of someone who had once cared a great deal, but had seen so many horrible things that she didn't care anymore.
"Your dad's name is Joe Uley. Bye," She said it as quickly as possible and drove off, going faster than the speed limit allowed.
Which left me on the side of the main road of the La Push Quiluete reservation with no money, food, or clue as to where I was supposed to go. The orphanage that I had spent my entire life in was closed and I was the only kid that hadn't been able to find a home or another orphanage to take me in.
So, after a lot of searching, the people who were supposed to be taking care of me until I turned eighteen discovered who my dad was and dropped me off in the town of his supposed residence.
I spotted a store that was open and walked in, my feather light bag in one hand. There was a huge boy sitting at the counter. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. He had the typical brown-tan skin and black hair, but he was really tall and... big. He must have been on steroids or something.
"Um... excuse me?" I said in a tiny voice.
He looked up and I flinched. I could feel his gaze on me. I knew I was beautiful, or as beautiful as any starved and abused girl can be.
My hair was Native American glossy black, but it fell in soft curls down my shoulders. My russet skin was perfect, the bruises and scars hidden by my clothes. My body was really skinny, but still full of curves that I despised. I hunched my shoulders forward and hid behind my hair as I whispered, "Do you know where I can find Joe Uley?"
"The Uleys live a couple minutes walk from here, but I don't know any Joe," the boy told me, his eyes still on me.
I mumbled a thanks and practically ran out the door. I sank onto a bench and curled up in a ball. Tears fell down my face.
It started to rain. I had nowhere to go and no umbrella or rain jacket. My baggy, ragged, and thin clothes clung to me, absolutely soaked. They were probably emphasizing my figure.
It got dark out and I guessed that it was getting late. The boy came out of the store, locking the door behind him. He saw me and frowned, walking over.
I shuddered and pulled myself into a tighter ball. I'd had too many bigger, stronger boys at the orphanage try to get alone with me. I'd had too many drunk or cruel matrons slap and hit me.
"Don't you have somewhere to go?" he asked in that deep voice that sent shivers up my spine. I'm not talking about the kind of shivers that come when you like someone, but the kind that come because you're afraid. I shook my head the tiniest bit. "I can take you to the Uley's, that's what you want."
I looked up at him from beneath my soaked, but still curly hair. He didn't seem like he wanted to hurt me. And it wasn't like I could stay out in the pouring rain forever.
"Sure," I said it so quietly he probably only barely heard me.
He gestured for me to follow him. I picked up the tiny bag that contained little more than air and followed him.
I stayed a short ways behind him the entire way to the small, cozy-looking house. He opened the door and gestured for me to come in. I walked just far enough in so that the door shut.
My eyes widened and I tried to disappear into the shadows as I saw the occupants of the house. The room was filled with nearly a dozen or so huge, shirtless, and rowdy boys. There were a few girls, each with one of the boys as if they couldn't bear to be separated. I shrank back even further as one of them let out a huge laugh.
"SAM!" the boy next to me bellowed.
I winced. A man, no longer a boy, came forward. Like all the other, he was very, very tall and very, very muscular.
"This girl said she's looking for Joe Uley," the boy next to me said respectfully.
So quickly that it seemed unnatural, silence fell. Everyone looked at me and I wished they wouldn't. I could feel boys' eyes running up and down my figure, clearly visible with my soaked and thin clothes sticking to me.
"No one here is named Joe Uley," the man said in an authoratative voice, "Why do you ask?"
"He's my father," I said it in a voice softer than a whisper and even then it was hard to get out of my mouth.
"He doesn't exist."
I paled. I was practically dead. Might as well kill myself now. Nowhere to stay, no money, no food, no clothes, no identification. I reached into my pocket and took out the paper that had stayed dry inside its plastic sheath.
"Isn't there somewhere else you can go?" the man asked.
"No," my voice trembled as I stared at the paper.
The boy next to me reached out and I closed my eyes as I turned away my head. I couldn't get any further away from him without opening the door. But he didn't touch me. He just took the paper. He read it quickly then gaped at the man.
"This says... this says that her dad is Joshua Uley, proven by DNA tests, and that she has two half-siblings. Both are his children. They're names are Sam Uley and..." he trailed off, "me."
Embry's Point of View
I walked out of the store, closing up behind me. Curled up in a huddle on a nearby bench was the girl who had asked for Joe Uley. She was soaked and shivering.
My upbringing got the better of me and I walked over to her. As I approached, she shuddered and tucked herself into a tighter ball.
"Don't you have somewhere to go?" I asked.
The girl shook her head and hugged herself, looking absolutely terrified. I offered to take her to the Uleys' and her one worded consent was so quiet that I almost missed it, even with my supernatural hearing.
I lead her down the road to Sam and Emily's house and she crept along a fair distance behind me. She kept looking at me as if waiting for me to hurt her in someway or another. When we got to the house I gestured for her to come in, but she only came in far enough so that I could close the door.
Everyone in the pack was there. Paul looked at the girl then raised his eyebrows at me, probably wondering if I had brought a pretty imprint along with me.
I shook my head as she tried to vanish into the shadows. When I called for Sam she winced and shrunk even further away from me. I explained to Sam that she was looking for someone named Joe Uley. I wondered if she meant Joshua Uley, Sam's dad.
No one was talking anymore. They were all watching the petrified mouse of a girl.
"No one here is named Joe Uley. Why do you ask?" Sam said in a voice that made the girl beside me cower.
I wanted to tell Sam to relax, he was freaking her out, but I got the feeling that I was freaking her out just as much as he was. And that saying anything in her defense would make it worse.
Don't get me wrong. I didn't imprint on her. I knew what imprinting felt like, thanks to having to listen to the thoughts of those that had, so I knew that this was different. I felt more like she was my younger sister or something. All in all, it was really weird.
She stuttered out something about Joe Uley being her father.
"He doesn't exist," Sam said.
The girl turned bone white, something I hadn't even thought was possible for someone with russet brown skin. Her trembling hand reached into her pocked and took out a plastic-encased paper. I could only read the biggest words on the page. They said something about the findings of a search for Elena's family. Was the girl beside me Elena?
"Isn't there somewhere else you can go?" Sam asked.
"No," her voice was so weak and hopeless that it pulled at my heart.
I reached out to take the paper and her entire body flinched away from me, her eyes closing and her head turning in the opposite direction. Like she was expecting some sort of abuse. That made me mad. But I read the paper. And then I read it again. And again.
"This says... this says that her dad is Joshua Uley, proven by DNA tests, and that she has two half siblings. Both are his children. Their names are Sam Uley and..." Sam was unsurprised, he already knew who his dad was and his dad hadn't exactly been a great dad, "me."
The girl standing next to me was my half-sister. Sam was my half-brother. Oh man.
Elly's Point of View
I slipped outside, unable to bear being around so many huge people any longer. My experience with other human beings hadn't been exactly happy.
There was only one person in the world who I actually liked. Only one person I would miss if I was the only one left on the planet.
I waited for something to happen, for someone to tell me something, as the rain made my curls even wetter. I didn't have to wait long. The boy who was one of my half-brothers emerged form the house and spotted me immediately.
"I'll take you to my house. You can stay in the guest room 'till we figure this out." That made me shudder. "I'm Embry Call." He added as a sort of after thought.
"Elly," I breathed.
I guess my name was technically Elena Uley, but if someone called out that name I wouldn't know who they were talking to.
The boy, Embry, walked over to a truck and opened one of the doors. He gestured for me to get in, so I slipped in, my soaked and empty bag in hand.
The only thing in it was a plastic-encased sheaf of papers. They held meaningless mumbo-jumbo. Stuff that had been found out about me when the orphanage had looked for any relatives of mine.
I sat as far away from him as possible, practically smashing myself into the door. It only took two minutes to get to his house, but it felt like two hours.
He didn't say anything and from the deep in thought expression on his face I guessed that he hadn't known who his dad was.
Embry showed me around the small house and pointed out the bathroom, his room, him mom's room, and the guest room.
I tenatively sat my bag down as he grabbed a towel out of a closet and handed it to me. I really didn't want to stay- let alone sleep- in a stranger's house, even if the stranger was my half-brother.
Us being related wouldn't stop him from hurting me. There was no 'if' in my mind. Everyone I'd ever known had hurt me in one way or another.
Except one person. But it was best not to think about him.
I went into the bathroom and did everything I could think of to avoid looking in the mirror or at my naked body. I used the toilet, washed my hands, washed my face (the rain had pretty much already taken care of that) and dried my hair with the towel. There was nothing I could do about my sopping clothes.
Finally, I had no choice but to look. I wanted to break the stupid thing. It showed a beautiful, breathtaking, scared, teenage girl. A girl with fine, but strong bones, large eyes, long and curly lashes, and lots of flowing, black hair.
I threw on the soaked clothes and walked very quickly out of the bathroom, literally running into Embry. He had in his hands an old, long-sleeve t-shirt and pants.
I jumped backwards and slammed into the wall. It was an automatic reaction to having another body that close to mine. Embry reached out to touch me, but stop when I shuddered and pressed myself into the wall.
Embry's Point of View
I was standing outside the bathroom with some clothes of my mom's that I thought might fit Elly, when she came rushing out. She looked like she was running from something- except no one was in the bathroom- and didn't notice me until she ran into me.
She jumped backwards and hit the wall with a painful thud. I thought she was just surprised by the heat of my skin so I reached out to make sure she was okay. Elly's entire body shuddered and she tried to flatten herself into the wall. I quickly pulled back and handed her the clothes.
"I hope they fit," I said. My mom was a lot less skinny than this girl.
I told her to put the soaked clothes she had on in the bathroom tub. Mom would put them in the washer when she got home.
When she got home I had a lot of explaining to do. I thought that Mom might be happy to help Elly, she did a lot of charity stuff, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure.
Elly muttered something that sounded vaguely like "thanks" and all but ran into the guest room. I frowned. What kind of past had she had, to make her act this way?
Elly's Point of View
Embry pulled away from me and handed me the clothes. I didn't listen to what he said, something about hoping they fitted, and hurried into the room that I was borrowing for the night.
I put on the clothes, placing the wet ones in the bathroom tub like Embry told me too. The clothes that he had lent me were too big, but that was okay. At least they were long.
If I wore a short sleeve shirt or shorts, everyone would be able to clearly see the scars and bruises of my past. I couldn't deal with that.
I stared at the bed. It was small, just a one person bed. I had closed the door tightly behind me, but I still didn't feel safe enough to sleep. I had never felt safe enough to truly sleep. Well, almost never.
There had been a few months a long time ago during which I had felt safe. But I never thought about that slightly happier time.
I slipped in between the sheets. I closed my eyes. Sleep didn't come. But a sort of half-unconsciousness did overtake me.
When I was fully conscious and alert again, I slipped out of the bed and made it, leaving almost no trace of my stay. I didn't have any other clothes, besides the ones that were soaked, so I just went into the bathroom and washed my face.
It was the most I could do. Without a hairbrush and hair-ties, there was nothing to be done about my glossy curls and no toothbrush made it impossible to brush my teeth.
As I crept into the kitchen- I didn't want to disturb anyone- I caught a glimpse of a clock. It was six in the morning.
On the kitchen counter I discovered a note written in elegant script.
Embry-
I won't be back until late tonight. You had better be asleep in your bed when I do get back. Tell your half-sister – Elly, right? - that she is welcome to stay here as long as she likes. Maybe you can find some more of my clothes that might fit her? Also, no eating the cheddar cheese in the fridge.
Mom
I was allowed to stay here as long as I liked? Were they planning to do something horrible to me? No. I didn't believe that. Every time I'd ever... gotten hurt... had been because I'd been handy. Convenient. In the wrong place at the wrong time.
I sat, perched really, on a stool and waited.
I kept doing this. Waiting for someone else to do something.
But Embry had said something about figuring stuff out and I figured missing the planning of my future would be bad.
After about an hour of waiting there was a really loud noise that sounded like a giant pig snuffing around the house.
I wasn't scared- I was really only scared of humans- so I headed in the direction the noise had come from. I was just outside Embry's room when I heard it again. Coming from inside his room.
Embry was snoring. I put my hand over my mouth as I smiled. Smiling at someone else's expense was a dangerous thing. It got me many bruises until I learned not to.
I went back to the kitchen and spent a good deal of the next half an hour trying not to think about the tricky situation I was in.
What finally woke Embry up- at around seven forty-five- was the phone ringing. There was no way I was going to answer it so it kept going off until Embry's stumbled out of his room and picked it up.
"Hello?" He grumbled in a voice that was slurred from sleep, "Yeah. We're coming."
He hung up muttering something about alphas and adding a few not-so-nice swear words.
I flinched and he seemed to notice me for the first time that morning. He ran his hands through his short hair and walked closer.
I cowered away from his enormous frame as his hand shot out. But he just picked up the note from his mom and dragged himself to his room. When he came out of the bathroom five minutes later he looked much refreshed.
He looked at my sleep crumpled outfit and handed me my clothes from the day before. They were dry and clean. I went into the bathroom and changed quickly into my dull gray long sleeve shirt and baggy, colorless jeans.
Embry's Point of View
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring. The phone rang as I cracked one eyelid.
My mom had probably already left and if Elly was already up she wouldn't answer the phone.
Ring, ring, ring. The phone insisted.
I had to get up. I shoved myself from my bed and stumbled- werewolves don't stumble, but I still managed it- to the phone.
I answered it sleepily, still not fully awake. Sam's wonderful voice greeted me telling me to get my butt and Elly's over there. Emily had cooked breakfast and he couldn't wait around for the two of us all day.
I hoped Elly, who was sitting at a counter stool, couldn't hear him.
I assured him that we were on our way (a lie) and then hung up, grumbling about alphas.
Elly flinched when I grumbled a swear word and I walked closer to her. I grabbed the note that was in front of her, noticing once again how she cowered and flinched away from me, and stomped back to my room.
The note was from Mom, telling me Elly could stay, to find Elly some more clothes, she (mom) wouldn't be home until late and I was to be here in time for curfew, and not to eat the cheese. I dressed, even adding a t-shirt to my ensemble even though it was summer, because I didn't want to make Elly even more nervous.
I didn't have time to sort out the protective, elder brotherly feelings I had for a sister I had only just met.
I gave Elly her clothes that my mom had cleaned and then took her to Sam's.
A/N: What do you think? Just remember that person Elly keeps referring to. The "he" who made her feel safe and let her sleep, the only person in the world that she would miss. He becomes important.
