Chapter One
Edgar POV
Ugh I can't believe that my idiotic father had to go and get himself killed, leaving me with no choice other then to go back to the mother I've never met. The Mother and Brother, my Father took me from. My Dad did a runner with me after we were born, he loved my Mother, but he knew he wasn't good for her and that he should continue in his quest to rid the world of vampires. Father was never one for understanding simple concepts like, oh there are about a thousand vampires out there and you can't take them all on. At least I was away the day that my Father's work finally caught up with him, because I'd be dead as well if I wasn't. Coming home to find the man who had raised you ripped into tiny little pieces on the floor wasn't fun. Sure yeah he was a piece of work, but he also was my Father.
I had given him a proper burial and had gotten into the motor home, I was nineteen and even though I could live on my own I didn't want to. Anyway, my Mother must have been curious about what happened to her second baby and maybe I'd get to know my twin brother. Anyway I wouldn't have an Alfa, which was a definite upside to everything, all the orders my Father had given me over the years were fading with his death, talk about your strange family relationships. Some guys are afraid to disobey their parents, I couldn't disobey my father, literally.
I sighed and started driving, you might think me unfeeling but that guy was a complete bastard, he ordered me never to even get close to a girl and always defend him with my life! Parents are supposed to defend their kids not the other way around. I sighed and flicked through channels till I found a classic rock station, I liked moody songs that told a story and Lady Gaga's Monster, which I found to be hilarious, because it basically described me.
I listened to the music for a while, before popping in a Lady Gaga CD, she was hot and different, I liked girls that were different. I grinned and listened to the CD, I continued to drive for about four hours, before stopping off at a diner and buying twelve one dollar burgers. I continued to drive into late into the morning until I finally reached the reservation, before realizing that I didn't even know if my Mother even lived her still, or if she'd even be interested in having another son.
I sat on the hood of the car contemplating what to do next, when I saw her, she was with a bunch of guys that were well muscled, but I didn't pay attention to them, all that mattered was her, she was my world suddenly. I had to go over and introduce myself, I actually stood and started to walk over, I normally never approached groups, what the hell was wrong with me? Why did it feel like I'd been punched in the gut and suddenly nothing mattered but this girl.
"Hello I'm Edgar, want to..."What did teenagers do anyway? "Grab some food?" I said lamely.
"I'm not interested." She said coldly, not even looking my way and I felt like crying.
"Please?" I demanded. "You look..."Why did my Father insist on me not being with girls? "Amazing!"
"So not interested." She said.
"Come on Leah, what's the worst that can happen?" One of the guys asked.
"Some creepy ass guy could molest me."
"Yeah right, you can just go all furry dominatrix on his ass and he'd put it away as fast as lighting."
"I don't want to molest you." I said.
"It sure sounds like it." She stated and then arrogantly glanced at me, before her jaw dropped and she stared blankly at me.
"I know I'm hot, but I'm not that hot sweetheart." I said and grinned impishly.
"Don't flatter yourself." She said and I laughed.
"You know, I like bitchy, it turns me on." I said and she raised an eyebrow.
"Really, cause I can emasculate a guy, very easily." She said and I laughed.
"I believe you, but I don't think you could do that to me so easily." I said and grinned. "I'm a whole lot of wonderful and I'm not like any guy you've ever seen. By the way, do you know if Molly Call lives here?"
"Why do you want to talk to my Mother?" A guy asks and I stare at him, its like looking in a freaking mirror.
"Dude you must be like my twin." I said and smiled. "Well I'm Edgar and you must be Embry."
"What?" He demanded and started to shake. "You aren't my brother, I don't have a brother."
"You sure about that, looks like Mother has some explaining to do."
"Then you know who Embry's Dad is?" One of the muscle bound guys asked and I nodded.
"My dad, but he's dead now." I said and Embry looked crestfallen. "Hey dude don't be upset, he was a bastard, trust me I should know, I've been with the guy for nineteen years."
"How did you get separated?" Leah asked and I shrugged.
"My Father needed me to continue his quest to kill...Um gangs, yeah that's it gangs." I replied and they seemed to all share a look.
"These gangs, did they happen to be cold to the touch? And smell like terrible cheap perfume" Leah asked and I stared at her, my jaw hanging open.
"How?"
"Cause we fight vampires too, you a werewolf?" My brother asked.
"Come on man, he's got to be or a body builder." One of the guys said and I shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm a werewolf, so what?" I asked and shrugged. "Look man, can you hook a brother up with some good hunting at least?" I asked and Embry laughed.
"Why don't you head over to Emily's she'd be delighted that Leah has finally imprinted."
"What's that?" I asked them.
"Well you and Leah are like soul mates, you must have had some sort of connection with her."
"Yeah freaky ass connection, that sounds about right." I said and smiled at her, she sort of melted and smiled back at me, which made me get a curious stirring feeling throughout my body and sigh contentedly.
"Dude did you just see that?" One of the guys asked and I sighed.
"Shut it." I said and Leah nodded, I grinned and hesitated for a moment before draping an arm over her, she wrapped her arm around my side and smiled up at me, she was only an inch or two shorter than me. I couldn't help myself, I brushed my lips on her forehead, at once a feeling of warmth and contentment filled me, suddenly it seemed like everything was right in the world. I sighed and got lost in her eyes, I could care less that I was staring at her, all that I could see were those wonderful black pools.
"Dude like snap out of it!" Embry said and I shook myself as Leah did the same.
"That was..."
"Wow." She said and I agreed fully.
"Yeah, wow."
"Come on lover boy." Embry said and grabbed my hand. "Mom is at work and she wouldn't want you to call her Mother."
"Fine, but Mom sounds so weird." I said and he laughed.
"Not as weird as Mother." He said and I grinned. "Be prepared there are a lot of pups at Sam's house, we have two packs, Leah, Quil, Seth and Jacob are in Jacob's pack."
"I'm not big on fallowing orders, if I can stay out of the packs I will." I said and shuddered. "Father dearest was pretty damming controlling and authority smarts."
"I'm not sure you can avoid someone being your Alpha."
"Watch me, you know that we're not even related to this line of wolves Embry?" I asked and everyone's jaws dropped.
"What?" My brother demanded and I smiled.
"We're descended from one of Taha Aki's son's that barely managed to escape the vampires alive, a woman from the Makah tribe got him back to health and they married. I suppose we could be considered very distant relations, but you don't get any of your furry abilities from this lot." I smiled and clasped him in a manly embrace. "Pretty sweet huh?" I asked and he nodded.
"Yeah I suppose." He said and I grinned.
"Well let's get the show on the road then." I said and looked around the street. "So where are we headed anyway?" I asked and Leah laughed.
"Right, lets get going." She said and we walked together to a small house, I could hear crashing inside and I grinned, I stripped to my boxers neatly folding my clothes before shifting and darting through the extra large dog door. I found two younger wolves wrestling on the floor and joined in, making sure not to hurt them, I let out a bark of laughter, and I'd played like this with my Father before sometimes when he wasn't a royal asshole.
"Who are you?" A woman demanded and I wagged my tail before going over to her and sitting at her feet, of course that's when my stomach growled and the others came into the house. I whined at Leah who was carrying my clothes.
"This is my IMPRINT." She said possessively. "He's Edgar, is that right?" She asked and I nodded. "Embry's twin brother."
"Really?" Emily asked and then suddenly her arms were around me, she wasn't my mate, this wasn't comfortable. I growled and she let go at once, no one but my family and my mate could take liberties with my body.
I went over to Leah and looked up at her and she grinned at me. "Apparently he doesn't like it when you touch him." She said and I nodded, before jumping up onto my hind paws and licking her face. "Ewe, gross!" She said and I whined. "But I liked it." She said and licked my mussel. I wagged my tail and she crouched down, before petting me. I suddenly felt warm and contented and I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and so I started to fall asleep, succumbing to her comforting stroking. She smiled at me as I fought back sleep, I didn't want to sleep, not when I found the woman I was destined for, but I was so tired...
The next thing I knew it was sunset and I had been moved to a dog bed in a corner, I cursed my inability to wake up and sighed before stretching and yawning, I liked being a wolf but I'd had enough of it for now. I saw my clothes and smiled, before placing them on my paw and flipping them to my back. I then stood and looked around me, suddenly surprised that I had been able to sleep because this place was loud! I looked around me and heard Leah playing some sort of video games with one of her friends on the couch. I smiled and walked over to her and barked twice.
"Bathroom is down the hall." She said and I nodded, I went to where the bathroom was and smiled when I saw that there was a tug rope on the doorknob. I pulled it and the door opened, before I closed it behind me. I shifted and put on my clothes before going back outside, I then headed to the kitchen and leaned against the counter watching Emily who was starting on dinner.
"Hey let me help." I said and smiled at her.
"You can cook?" She asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, someone had to and my Father was a horrible cook, so I learned." I replied and washed my hands. "Least I could do for eating your food."
"Well you might be joining my husband's pack."
"I'm not into packs or authority figures, bad past experiences." I said and she laughed.
"You will be good for Leah, you seem a lot like her." She said and I grinned.
"So what do you need help with? What are you making?"
"Beef stew." She replied and I smiled.
"Stews are easy!" I said excitedly and started to chop the ingredients she had gotten out, sometimes shape shifter speed really helps a guy out. I grinned when I finished and slid the separate vegetables into a bowl.
"I need Sam to help me more often." She said and laughed. I smiled as well, she was nice and easy to get on with, but she didn't hold a candle to my Leah. I suddenly felt a swell of happiness and wondered at how just her name could make me happy. "So what music do you like?" She asked pointing to a radio.
"You have any classic rock?" I asked and she smiled.
"Sure do." She said the music started playing.
"Ain't nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time. You ain't nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time. You never caught a rabbit and your no friend of mine. When hey said you were high classed, well that was just a like. When they said you were high classed, that was just a lie. You ain't never caught a rabbit and your no friend of mine." I sang and blushed. "Sorry it just is one of my favorite songs, being a hound dog and all." I said and she laughed.
"You have a good voice, Leah does too, if you can get her to sing." She said and sighed as another song came on the radio, it was Wild Thing, man this was a great radio station.
"Do you mind?" I asked and she shook her head as I walked out of the kitchen and grabbed Leah's hand. "Dance with me." I said and she stared up at me surprised for a moment before nodding, we went back over to where the music was playing and I smiled as we danced together, she was so beautiful, so wild, and so free, she was my wild thing and I really wanted to know for sure. "This is one of my favorite songs, I like songs about our nature." I said and smiled at her. "I find them to be funny at times."
"Yeah." She said and I had a feeling she would have agreed with anything I said at that moment. Then another song came up.
"I thought love was only true in fairy tales. Meant for someone else, but not for me. Love was out to get me, that's the way it seemed. Disappointment haunted all my dreams. Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer. Not a trace of doubt in my mind. I'm in love, I'm a believer! I couldn't leave her if I tried. I thought love was more or less a given thing, Seems the more I gave the less I got. What's the use in tryin'?All you get is pain. When I needed sunshine I got rain. Then I saw her face, now I'm a believer not a trace of doubt in my mind. I'm in love, I'm a believer! I couldn't leave her if I tried." I sang and danced with her, she was so amazing in every way and when she smiled, it was like sunshine on a rainy day. I caressed her face and she blushed. "You are so beautiful." I said and she sighed.
"And you're very handsome, I never thought that I'd find love." She said and I smiled.
"Well, cupid is the sort of guy that likes to take it slow." I replied and she laughed.
"True, have you ever been in love before?"
"Nope, can't say that I have, you?"
"Yeah once, with Emily's husband."
"Awkward." I said and she laughed.
"Yeah, but I got over it the moment I saw you, I was really depressed before, hadn't been happy in years." She admitted and I felt tears come to my eyes, her unhappiness was my own, literally. I could see the pain she had suffered and it made me angry, I was so going to give Emily's husband a piece of my mind! Who did this guy think he was to hurt my Leah. I sobbed and started shaking. "Why are you shaking, I'm fine now, there's nothing to worry about."
"I'm going to kill him." I declared and Emily and Leah gasped.
"You don't understand, Emily is his imprint, fate and all that."
"He still didn't need to treat you like that, where is he?" I demanded and then in my father's controlling voice I demanded again. "WHERE IS HE? TELL ME NOW." Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing but I didn't give a rat's ass.
"No." Leah said and I glared at her. "I'm over it and anyway you need to calm down and think rationally." She said and I snorted.
"Thinking rationally will get you killed, I'm a more of fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy." I said. "So I say again WHERE IS HE, TELL ME!" I said and all the werewolves shuddered, what the hell was going on, actually I was too angry to care what was going on.
"He's on patrol." One of the younger kids said, apparently not being able to stand the pressure anymore and I nodded, that was fine I would go after him! I glared around the room, before suddenly Leah kissed me, at once all my anger melted away and I wondered why I had wanted to kill a complete stranger. I shook myself and smiled at her.
"I felt your pain, it was my own and I can't stand that anyone ever hurt you like that." I said and she stared at me. "I'm not the kind guy you see in the movies or read of in books, I've been hunting vampires since I shifted at the age of eight and I've been killing them just as long. To survive as long as I have, you need to not back down ever and you need to always be sure of yourself, one slip up can mean your death." I sighed and rubbed my head. "I'm sorry I kind of went all Alfa on everyone's assess."
"The odd thing is you don't even belong to a pack, to be that strong of a leader..." One of the guys I had yet to be introduced to said and I smiled.
"I'm not that much of a leader, I've just been forced to fallow." I replied and they all stared at me and I shrugged. "My Father was a wolf, you do the math." I stated, before going outside, I needed to work off some energy and there were several trees out in back. I spotted one and started to beat on it, using several different fighting styles. I worked out until I was tired and not as angry, then went back inside.
"Dude that was amazing." One of the younger ones said and I smiled. "You totally owned that tree!" That made me laugh.
"Just some boxing kid." I said and he pouted.
"I'm not much younger then you."
"Yeah right, then why do you look like your fourteen, my guess would be eight." I said and he stared at me and I shrugged.
"I went through it too, have you gotten girls trying to flirt with you yet?" I asked and he nodded, I laughed. "Just act your age, that puts em right off."
"Thanks!" He said brightly and I smiled, I'd always known I had a brother out there somewhere, but I'd always wanted a much younger brother.
"Hey kid, put up your dukes." I said.
"What?" He asked and I smiled.
"I want you to fight me, I'll go easy on you." I said and he looked me up and down.
"I don't know, my Mom would be mad at me." He said and I smiled.
"What your Mom doesn't know won't hurt her." I replied and lightly cuffed him on the shoulder, using my left arm and connecting with his right shoulder.
"Ow!" He said and rubbed his shoulder. "That hurt."
"I was being gentle, now come on, do you want to fight or not?" I asked and he bit his lip.
"Okay." He said and made two fists, I corrected his grip and stance and stepped behind him, showing him what a proper punch felt like with both of his wrists. I then stood back in front of him and held out my hands palm up.
"Alright, I want you to hit my palms, it won't hurt me very much if you don't put much force behind it, and this is to get you used to the motion more then anything else." I said and he nodded and hit my hand directly, we continued to do this for about thirty minutes until Emily called us into dinner, apparently my death threat had been forgotten.
I smiled and sat next to Leah. "Hey Mr. what's your name?" The kid asked and I smiled.
"I'm Edgar, and what's your name?"
"Jason." The boy said brightly.
"Nice to meet you Jason." I said and smiled, as Sam came in, I felt my hackles go up, there was a sense of power to this guy, I couldn't help myself, I growled, he stared at me for a moment before growling back and I stood from the table. "You hurt my mate!" I accused and he stared at Leah, shocked for a moment before smiling and then me.
"You found your Imprint?" He asked and Leah nodded.
"Stop it Edgar I told you, I'm over it. Anyway if you had a girlfriend, could you really be with her after you met me?" She asked and I realized that put like that it made sense.
"Fine, but if you ever hurt her again, we're going at it, mano y mano."
"I wouldn't have it any other way, same goes for Emily." He said and I nodded, feeling a new sense of respect for him. "So Edgar right, I'm Sam."
"Obviously dude, otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation." I said and Leah snorted very unlady like, but adorably, I laughed and felt my insides melt. "Your snort is so cute."
"Not as cute as your laugh." She replied.
"Ewe, get a room!" Jason said and we both laughed, I ruffled the little boy's hair.
"You'll understand one day Jason." Sam said and sat next to Emily.
"This looks great."
"Thanks, Edgar helped and he was so fast! I should ask you to help in the kitchen more often."
"Emmy!" He whined and I laughed.
"Looks like you're in the dog house buddy."
"Well it's a good thing you know how to cook, because Leah doesn't." Sam shot back and I shrugged.
"I could care less." I replied and smiled as everyone served themselves helpings of the stew, I took mine last as I was a guest at the table and realized how poor table manners everyone around me had. I laughed and looked at Emily who stared at me as I delicately ate my soup.
"Why are you eating like that Edgar?" Jason asked and I shrugged.
"Cause I happen to believe that manners are polite." I replied. "Anyway I'm a stranger here and when you eat soup fast it burns your mouth."
"But wouldn't it just heal up again?" Jason said and I nodded.
"But it hurts until then, now enough questions Pup, go back to your soup."
"Why are you calling me Pup?" He asked and I shrugged.
"Its what my Father used to call me when I was little." I replied gruffly. "Now eat your soup."
"Okay Mr." He said and returned to his meal. As much as I loved little kids they could be real annoying.
"Looks like you made a friend." Emily said and I shrugged.
"The kid saw me doing my workout, he enjoyed watching me and so I gave him a few pointers, no big." I replied and shrugged.
"What kind of pointers?" Sam asked and I shrugged
"How to punch properly." I replied. "You know, you should be teaching them that, you can't always fight as a wolf, its good to know hand to hand as well."
"I never considered learning, why bother when you have teeth and claws?" He asked and I smiled.
"Cause it helps you when you're in your wolf form as well." I replied and returned to my soup. "This is great Emily."
"You did most of the work." Emily said and I shook my head.
"I did the prep work, you cooked it." I replied. "That's most of the work."
"Stop it you too, you don't need to bicker over cooking." Leah said and everyone stopped eating and stared at Leah.
"What is your problem?" I demanded and they looked away from Leah who was blushing at the stares. At least I was full and I sighed. "Come on Embry, let's get this over with."
"Now?" He asked and I shrugged.
"Can you think of a better time, is she home?" I asked and he nodded, standing from the table, we stood together. "You know its weird how much we look alike." I said and he nodded.
"Must be a twin thing."
"What are your markings as a wolf?"
"That's where we differ, mine is grey with black markings and yours is this weird reddish grey color."
"Don't dis my markings!" I said and glared at him. "They are unusual but still!"
"Whoa sorry dude, no need to bite my head off." He said and I laughed, he was so innocent, I couldn't believe that he was my twin brother.
"Well let's go see Mother." I said and he nodded we walked side by side and when people saw us on the street, they all did a double take, I smiled, I liked walking next to my twin. We walked together to a small house and Embry entered it.
"Embry, shouldn't we knock?" I asked and he shook his head.
"Come on, Mom will be in bed soon." He said and I sighed. "And she doesn't know about the whole wolf thing." He added and I raised an eyebrow, well that was odd. I entered the house and looked around, it was small but cozy, a woman sat with a light on and a book in her lap.
"Back already Embry?" She asked and Embry grinned.
"Yeah Mom and I found me a twin!" He said, at once her eyes snapped up and she gasped.
"Way to be subtle Embry." I said and he laughed.
"Well you weren't going to say anything."
"Is that you, Edgar?" She asked and I nodded.
"Hello Mother." I said stiffly as she ran up and embraced me.
"I thought I'd never see you again, oh my baby!" She said and started to cry, I wondered what it would have been like, if I had been raised with Embry and had a home with this lovely caring woman, that smelled like vanilla and cookies. I felt my body shake with sobs and I lost my composure and started to cry, for my Father, even though he was a bastard he was still my father. For my Mother, who had been waiting for me all this time and for myself, she led me over to a couch and held me as I sobbed.
"Father's dead." I finally managed. "I have no where else to go."
"You can stay here, you wouldn't mind sharing a room would you Embry?" She asked and I shook my head.
"I don't want to be a bother, I'll sleep in my motor home." I said and wiped my eyes. "My motor home!" I exclaimed. "I forgot all about it!"
"Where did you park it?"
"At the grocery store, luckily I always lock it up." I said and found the keys in my pocket.
"I can give you a ride." She said and I smiled.
"Thanks." I said. "Want to come Embry, we can catch up."
"Alright." He said, looking very relieved. We walked to a Hyundai sonata and I smiled.
"That's a pretty good car." I said and she smiled.
"Yeah, gets pretty good mileage, you like cars?"
"Not that much, I was trying to convince my Father to get a car instead of the deluxe motor home we bought, it's pretty big." I said and she nodded.
"Yeah its around forty feet" He said and I smiled.
"My Father just bought it, we'd been saving up for a while." I sighed and stared ahead, thinking of the Father who I hated as much as I loved. The rest of the ride continued in silence and I was glad when I could get to my motor home, Embry got into the passenger side and I smiled at him.
"This is almost as big as my house." He said and I nodded, I turned on the stereo and he laughed. "Lady Gaga? Seriously?"
"Listen to some of the songs and you'll get why I like it, here's a good one." I said switching to Monster. "Its hilarious."
"Pretty funny." He agreed by the end of the song, while he had been laughing throughout. "Alright so she has some good songs." He admitted and I grinned.
"What music do you like to listen to then?"
"Heavy Metal." He said and I smiled.
"It's alright, but I prefer classic rock personally, or trance."
"I love trance, it's so trippy!" He said and I laughed.
"Dude that's the point." I replied and he laughed as well, I parked outside of the house and yawned.
"I'm pretty tired." I admitted and he smiled.
"Sleep then, it seems like you need it."
"Will do." I said and yawned again. "Do you want to see the motor home first though?"
"Sure." He replied and I took him back, the kitchen was pretty small admittedly, but my father had insisted that the overhead and pull down couch bed be pretty big, we even had a third bed that could be made when you repositioned the small table. "Wow this is awesome, but there isn't much space."
"Yeah, whenever we got sick of each other, I'd pitch a tent and sleep outside, other then that the loft acted like my room, Father bought the curtains so he could have some privacy when he was...Entertaining." That was one way of putting it, bringing home whores and plying them with alcohol until they forgot to insist on a condom was another. My father, delightful man, note the sarcasm.
"Entertaining, was he a..."My brother's eyes widened and I nodded.
"First thing I do, I'm getting that couch reupholstered." I stated and his eyes grew wide, I laughed, man seriously he had lived such a sheltered existence. "Anyway I'm tired so scat, little brother."
"You don't know that I'm younger." He said petulantly.
"I'm older where it matters, your still a kid, where I had to grow up fast." I said and ruffled his hair. "Actually, if you don't mind sleeping where the table is, you can spend the night here, but just to warn you, I snore."
"Really?"
"Sure." I said and he grinned at me.
"Thanks!" He said brightly, as if I had given him the best gift in the world.
"Do you know what our Father looks like?" I asked and he shook his head. "Just a minute." I said and jumped onto my loft, grabbing my pride and joy, my digital camera I handed it to him. "Be careful." I said and he nodded flipping through the pictures.
"These are actually really good." He said and I blushed.
"Thanks." I said. "Can't draw worth crap, but there's something I like about taking pictures."
"I understand, I don't have much of a hobby, but I love to run, I'm one of the faster wolves actually, but Leah is even faster."
"I never got to have fun when I was running, either it was a training exercise or we were chasing a vampire. Come up to my space and we can play some video games, that is if you like video games."
"Dude, I'm a guy, what guy doesn't like video games?"
"Lots of guys don't." I replied and shrugged jumping up onto my loft and setting up my game system.
"Whoa, cool TV!" He said and I smiled.
"Thanks, for Christmas last year, Father let me save up for half of it and I had to buy the game consol and all my games by myself, he explained that it was his job to take care of stuff like food and clothing but anything other then that, I was on my own for." I said and shrugged before handing him a controller and starting a game of Halo Reach. He was pretty good and we were competing against one another pretty soon, laughing as the other died and pretty much having a good time, until I started to feel sleepy. Then of course it started to rain, which lulled me closer to sleep then ever, there's just something about the rain that makes me want to go to sleep. I turned to Embry and yawned. "I'm getting tired."
"Yeah me too." He said and turned off the television and the X Box 360 we were playing on. I yawned, sleepy and not wanting to move, before my eyes drifted shut. "Goodnight Edgar," was the last thing I heard, before I fell deeply asleep.