Part two in this two part saga shall now commence. Enjoy, and please review!

..

.

"It is freezing out here! How can you guys not have shirts on?" Kai shivered as the wolf men and their ladies sat around the bonfire on the Quileute beach that night. She remembered the view well, considering it was near where she'd first met Embry. He looked down at her in that moment, as if he knew what she was recalling. He couldn't help but smile. For better or for worse, they were meant for each other.

"Here, let me help," he offered, unzipping her jacket and sliding his warm arms inside and pulling her close. She felt the sweltering heat his body was giving off, and merely relaxed into it.

"Thanks Em."

All the wolves shared knowing looks. It was hard for all of them to be together like this and not talk about the day's patrols or news with other vampire clans etc, but they understood. Embry would tell her in his own time, or so they hoped.

"It's getting late. Wanna head back to the house?" Embry whispered to her, his warm breath grazing the shell of her ear and causing her to shiver.

"Yeah, and I have to get my car," she added, breaking her close proximity with Embry and making her way quickly towards the dark woods.

"Where's the fire?" Embry laughed as he took her hand gently and entwined his heated fingers with her frigid ones. She really was cold. The darkness of the forest swallowed the light from the beach and made the chill of the night all the more prominent.

"No fire, I just… okay, so I said I was afraid of open water and wolves, but I'm also afraid of the dark, and I've seen what can happen when the right combination of nature's forces meet and-" Kylah gasped as Embry spun her to him and quieted her rant with a kiss. It wasn't the first one they shared, but it was certainly different from all the rest.

His lips were warm and sweet as they parted against her mouth, allowing his tongue to just barely taste her. He was reassured however, when he felt her fingers tighten in his grip and her free hand move up the back of his neck, pulling him closer.

She was still craning her neck for the contact, but her eyes were closed in relaxation as Embry finally let his tongue slide into the cavern of her mouth. She sucked on it gently, getting accustomed to the strange sensation it caused in the pit of her stomach until she broke away for air, her hard breathing visible in the puffs of steam that hung in the cold night.

"Wow," Embry whispered, more to himself than anyone else, but Kai wasn't far behind in her approval.

"Kiss me again," she ordered softly, as she reached up once more to seal their lips, however this time, Embry let his mouth graze hers for just a moment. He knew that she wanted to be closer to him, but he didn't want to rush her, not here, in the middle of the-

"What was that?" Kylah jumped as the howl of a familiar alpha penetrated the silence of the forest. She clung with an iron grip to Embry's arm and hurried him forward until the lights of the house were in view over the hill. Even then, she didn't slow, not until they were on Embry's porch, in the house and on the couch.

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Embry reassured her, stroking her hair that had become slightly frizzy under the stress of the run back.

"I know, I know! I know it's stupid, but I've seen what wolves can do, alright?"

"What happened?" Embry looked at her seriously until she finally acquiesced. Once Kylah's breathing had returned to normal, she shook off the chill that had settled and began to wring her hands, the words pouring out of her in a nervous stream.

"So I grew up in a campground, around hikers, and backpackers and tourists and all those kind of people. I even met a guy who'd climbed Mt. Everest (he wasn't very nice though, come to think of it). Anyway, when I was eleven, one of the campers didn't return from his hike, and his cabin was empty for a week, so naturally, we called the police and started a search party.

"When we found the body…" Kylah trailed off and swallowed hard. "I'd never seen anyone dead before, and he was… shredded apart, like he'd been put in a blender, and all around, there were wolves and growling and just-" She shivered once more before standing up and slapping her thighs.

"And that's it, that's the reason," she finished, pacing the room once before heading into the kitchen.

Embry remained in his seat. Yeah, hurdle number two was looking trickier by the minute. How was he going to tell her now? Was he going to show her? Tell her? Let her stumble on it accidentally? Maybe he could have someone talk to her for him, like Emily or Leah (ok, not Leah) or Bella-

"Tea?" Kylah offered from the kitchen, turning on the stove and waiting for the water to heat up.

"No, I'm good." Kylah looked up from her frantic haze and noticed that her boyfriend had become suspiciously tacit all of a sudden.

"I knew it," she admitted, placing her banlged hands on her hips and staring him down.

"Knew… what?"

"The first time I told you I was afraid of wolves, you looked at me like I was joking or crazy! Clearly, you had this completely opposite experience with them, where, oh, I don't know, they rescued you from an avalanche or something-"

"Would you like to meet one?"

Embry nearly punched himself in the face as the words slipped out. Please say no, please say no, please, please…

"What are you talking about? Meet a wolf? Yeah, like that's gonna happen. Are they your buddies or something?" Kylah let out a laugh as she poured the boiling water into her mug and returned to the living room sofa.

He noticed she was still confused about his comment, and he really couldn't explain himself, unless the cat… or the wolf, came out of the bag.

"I know it's weird, but it's really important that you… trust me."

"I do trust you." Kylah set the mug down and turned to the tall dark-skinned man beside her, placing her hand on his thigh and leaning up to kiss him. Embry saw in her emerald eyes that she did bare the trust she claimed, but he also knew she had no idea of the magnitude of trust that would be required for what lay ahead, and he pulled away from her touch.

"Listen, please, just come with me to the mountains tomorrow. I know it sounds crazy, but just trust me."

The emotions flying through Kai's mind were making her head hurt. Confusion, love, fear, all mixed into one furious melting pot inside her, but she knew what was coming, and she was ready, ready for him.

"I do."


"Jake, I can't thank you enough-"

"Yeah, yeah, it's because I'm the tame one."

The morning following the bonfire, Kylah had agreed to skip out of work at the campground early and meet Embry for a hike into the mountains to face her fears, and now, Embry had to bring his plan into action.

"No, Seth is the tame one, but he's in Portland on vacation, so you'll have to do," Embry jibed, nudging Jake, who was just about ready to phase, in the ribs as they headed off to meet Kai.

"This is some crazy plan Em. It'll either solve all of your problems, or the whole thing will blow up in your face-"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Embry mumbled as Jacob's enormous russet silhouette disappeared in the foliage of the forest.

Perfect timing, he mused as Kylah appeared in front of the house, bundled up for the cold and with a look of utter apprehension in her green eyes. He approached her slowly, not wanting to create any more anxiety than absolutely necessary, and wrapped his arms around her torso, letting the warmth of his body seep into hers. The tension she was carrying in her shoulders eased slightly as they fell into a comfortable pace up the mountain. She remained unnaturally silent the whole way.

Meet a wolf. Meet a wolf? Meet a frickin' wolf? What am I? Crazy? I must have a suicidal death wish. In the silence, Kylah was dealing with her inner turmoil about the confrontation to come.

I trust Embry. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me… unless… this whole thing is an elaborate scheme to lure me up in the mountains and-

"We're nearly there." Embry's voice cut through the disastrous train wreck of thoughts going through Kai's mind and once again, her body was relaxed. It was something about his voice, his presence, his everything that just called to her. It was off-putting at the same time. She never expected to have such a strong reaction to some boy, let alone a boy she'd only known for a few short months.

Kylah sighed. It was a conundrum she faced every day. The way she constantly thought about him, the way her mind, body and soul succumbed to his being like a drug. It wasn't natural. And the worst part was, she should've cared… but she didn't. She loved him.

Yeah, that's just what an 18 year old guy needs to hear from a girl he just started dating. He'll run for the hills if I let that one slip. It just totally sucks! I want him to know how I feel, but what if he doesn't say it back?

Sucking in a huge gulp of air, Kylah readied herself as the clearing came. She'd barely noticed their ascent since her train of thought caused her mind to wander off the subject at hand.

"Okay… let's just do it." Kai nodded the ok to Embry who led her begrudgingly out into the field, her breath coming out in huge pants as she scanned the edge of the forest for any possible movement. "Oh, look, no one's here! Better luck next time! Let's go-"

"Close your eyes," Embry demanded, pulling her gently to his chest and using his free hand to stroke her neck comfortingly. She didn't notice the sweat beading on his forehead as the confrontation crept closer.

No, no, NO. No backing out now. This is a good plan. Even if she screams and hates wolves, well… at least she won't hate me… as much as she hates the wolf. And that's Jake. It's okay if she hates Jake. Whew.

Kylah swallowed hard, but closed her eyes tight. When was she going to tell him how she felt? Now? Never? The way he was holding her gave her every confidence in her feelings. It was just his feelings she was worried about. He'd taken her up to the mountain, they were all alone, holding one another in the beauty of nature. Maybe now was the best time to spill her guts.

"Embry I-"

Just as she was about to let the dreaded words slip from her lips, Embry slipped out of her embrace and she opened her eyes suddenly to see what the deal was. And she nearly fainted. A silent scream gripped her throat as she stared into the enormous brown eyes of a giant, rust colored wolf.

She didn't cry out, she didn't move, she just pulled her arms to her sides and shook violently. Her field of vision was narrowed in on the beast who looked too impossibly large to be real. And where the fuck was Embry anyway? He was supposed to help her face her fears, not leave her there for her fears to consume her… literally.

"Told you there were giant wolves."

Kai shrieked and jumped out of her skin as Embry came up behind her and grabbed her arms for support. He was even smiling. Smiling.

"W-what're you so damn happy about?" She hissed, clenching her hands into fists and throwing a glare at the bored looking beast in front of her.

"I said trust me, and I promise you won't regret it," he continued, laughing as he approached Jake's left side and ran a hand through his fur. The alpha appeared to roll his eyes and looked back at his friend's imprint to gauge her reaction.

"You never swear," Embry reminded her as he patted the wolf's side and finally threw an arm over its back.

"What are you doing? Get away from that thing!" Kylah's voice came out high pitched and raspy and she silently hoped that the whole ordeal was some sort of terrible nightmare. But the worst part was, that just like in a nightmare, nothing was as it seemed, and this wolf, did not seem like it wanted to hurt anyone. It actually appeared quite docile.

"Is this some sort of prank? Like… what is going on?" She asked, more to herself than Embry who was now eyeing her like a hawk as her demeanor suddenly changed from chillingly still and terrified, to calmly confident. She cautiously stepped forward toward Jake with a renowned curiosity that had previously seemed out of reach.

"This is too weird," she whispered, stretching out her hand toward the creature's face, hoping, praying that it didn't bite her arm off. And it didn't. Instead, it pressed it's surprisingly soft muzzle into her touch. Almost… affectionately. Like it wasn't trying to scare her, or intimidate her.

"Em… what is this thing?"

Embry had remained silent up until this point. He'd wanted her to sort of figure her own way around Jake but now he was facing some hard decisions.

"We call him Jake." Embry watched Kai's face intently. She smiled and then stepped up to the wolf's side beside Jake and crossed her arms.

"Jake? Did you name him that, or did Jake name him that?" For once, Embry didn't really want to reply. He was reveling in the fact that she was cracking jokes around the thing that up until a few moments ago, he'd deemed her worst fear. It was good, not good, it was great… just unexpected.

"Well… it is Jake." An odd silence fell as Kylah narrowed her gaze, peeling off her glove and running her fingers through Jake's fur, as if to test whether it was truly real or not.

"Haha, like, Jake from the bonfire? I don't think so-" Kai laughed before the wolf turned its great head sharply around to catch her gaze. She jumped before realizing why it had done it. "No way, nuh-uh. I don't believe that for one second," she continued, trying to laugh off her confusion as the wolf Jake continued to stare at her quizzically.

"I can accept that there is a huge, seemingly sweet, giant circus freak wolf in front of me, but no. Not that this wolf is Jacob Black." This time, the wolf sat down and stared at her matter-of-factly. With no response from Embry, Kylah collapsed on the dead grass stunned. She ran a hand over her hat and pulled it from her head as she shook it back and forth in disbelief.

"He's a werewolf."

Now concern replaced disbelief in Kylah's gaze, but Embry was committed. She would hear the truth, right now.

"And so am I."


It had been seven days since the mountains. Seven days since Kylah had said a word to Embry, or anyone for that mattered. Sure the wolf had been tame… ish, but that didn't mean that werewolves could exist, could it? Kylah had stewed on that meeting for a week with no answer to her questions, and the one person who did have answers well… he was either a lunatic, or an extremely dangerous magical being. Either way, she wasn't sure she was ready to talk to him yet.

But the feelings remained the same. The longer she was away from him, the more her heart yearned for his company. Every time she pictured him as a wolf, she didn't perish the thought. She wanted him in her life, even if he did have fur and fangs.

Embry however, had been a nervous, moping wreck. The whole pack had congratulated him on finding his soul mate however, none of them had any words of advice on how to proceed. Jake cheered him on, and Sam encouraged communication, but Kai wasn't answering her phone. Her parents had let him know she'd be taking rides from her friend, but they didn't disclose how long. And seven days seemed like an eternity when uncertainty loomed about the fate of you and the person you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with.

After school on the eighth day, Embry drove out to the beach. He watched the horizon until the sun had sunk beneath it. Then he waited and hoped his soul mate would come to him, feel him calling… but just like all those times before, no one ever came. And the one woman who did show up wasn't even speaking to him.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Embry nearly jumped off the park bench he'd been brooding on when he heard Kai's voice from behind him. Strands of her wavy brown hair were whipping out of her ponytail as he tried to capture her unsure gaze.

"Yeah, sure." Real smooth, Embry chided himself mentally as he walked beside his imprint into the envelopment of the trees. Soon, the sounds of the waves were long behind them.

Minutes passed that seemed to stretch on and on in Embry's mind. What did she want? Why was she here? Was it a good thing? Or a bad thing? She was still silent. It was frustrating, but he didn't dare question her. He merely glanced occasionally down as she fingered that damn locket. The locket that started everything.

Kylah wound the thick chain around her thumb as they descended deeper and deeper into the woods. Her heart was shattering at the sight of the poor, confused man beside her. He surely had no idea of her intentions, and she couldn't bear to hurt him any longer.

"Okay, here is good." Embry blinked at her.

"Good for what?" Kylah crossed her arms and stamped her feet to get warm before throwing a challenge his way.

"If you're a werewolf… then prove it. I wanna see."

Kai felt like a complete idiot. She couldn't believe she'd just told a nearly grown man to turn into a werewolf. It sounded completely far-fetched and fanatical… until he told her to close her eyes.

"You're not going to disappear, are you?" she asked him almost jokingly. At the same time however, she was deathly afraid of the coming moments. What if he was a werewolf? What would that mean?

"Well… sort of."

When Kylah snapped her eyes open again, her heart nearly stopped beating in her chest as she saw the familiar form of Embry morph into an enormous, fang-bearing beast, whose legs alone almost surpassed her shoulders.

"Oh my God," she whispered. The wolf before her was Embry. There was no doubt about it now. He was what he said. But still… what would it mean? "You're… you're huge!" she choked out, reaching out and grabbing fistfuls of his light brown fur to support herself. The shock alone was turning her knees to jello.

And she continued to grasp his fur tightly, leaning her body against his just to reassure herself that he was real. Her boyfriend, her love… was a werewolf.

"You are a werewolf," Kai whispered to him. Embry swiveled his head around to look at her, and when she looked into his eyes, she knew it was the same man she'd met on the beach two months ago. And even in that moment, when it seemed nearly impossible to accept him as he was… she couldn't help herself from telling him what she'd wanted him to know for over a week.

"I love you. So much." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him to her, his soft fur pressing gently against her cheek. She felt an odd sensation though, as the fur seemed to melt away and give way to real human flesh beneath her fingers. When she looked up, Embry was glancing down at her, a smile lighting up his face.

He didn't say anything, but merely leaned down and sealed his affection with a kiss. Nothing too brash or hard, but it felt so good to have her near him once again. She was holding him close, her eyes fluttering shut as she reveled in the taste and feel of his mouth on hers. Her scent was sweet, so close to his sensitive nose and he picked up the familiar traces of lilac and English breakfast tea that he'd so missed in her absence.

It wasn't until she pulled away that Embry even noticed anything was wrong. It was only Kylah's face that gave any indication. It was beat red, staring down at him with a mortified, and slightly guilty expression. She immediately turned away before he noticed her staring at his nude form for too much longer.

"Yeah, that sometimes happens. Sorry about that," he laughed. He however, had no regrets that Kai had gotten an eyeful. Hopefully it gave her some ideas about her prospects for the future. And it actually did. While Kylah peeled off layers of her own protective clothing, she hastily replayed the scene in her mind until it was burned in her brain. The view was one she'd like to see again, perhaps at a later time in their relationship, however. One step at a time. It was comical though, to see Embry wearing a blue North Face jacket like a sarong around his waist. Kylah still couldn't stop blushing.

First, however, she had to deal with the werewolf baggage. Then they could talk about sex.

As they walked back down towards Embry's car, Kylah's head was swimming with all the raw information Embry was now sharing with her, but in her mind, there was one burning question she needed answered.

"So… how many people know about this?" she asked a little hesitantly. For the most part, she was pretty sure the wolf trait was limited to a few select individuals.

"Well, the whole pack is me, Jake, Sam, Quil, Paul, Jared, Seth, Collin, Brady and Leah, then, pretty much all their families know, and well, that's pretty much it!" Except for their imprints, Embry thought a bit dismally. He couldn't tell her yet. It was a huge step to reveal to someone that they are tied to one person (with no choice in the matter) for an eternity. Though I guess that was a perk. The wolves lived forever, and so did their mates-

"You zoned out again," Kylah commented squeezing Embry's hand as they walked toward his car on the beach. "I guess this is your stop," she whispered, rocking back and forth on her heels and leaning back against the driver side door to prevent their parting for a little longer.

Embry didn't need to be told what to do. His warm hands found their way into her now loose hair and pressed them both up against the side of the car, her small body molding perfectly against his. His tongue found its way inside her mouth, tasting her, feeling her own tongue pressing wildly against his in the passion of the moment. Kylah loved the feel of his superheated bear skin under her hands, and her fingers grazed their way from his shoulders all the way down to his hipbones where her jacket was secured to cover him up.

After the kiss, Kylah pulled away panting from the heat overtaking her from her head to the tips of her toes. It was a feeling like none other, and she couldn't wait to feel it again… later. The sun was now set in the forest, and although wolves howled into the night, she was no longer afraid.

"Well, um, I guess I should get going," she said finally, pulling out of her werewolf's embrace and heading towards her own vehicle on the waterfront.

"I guess so. See you tomorrow?" His warm eyes shined with a renewed hopefulness.

"Yeah, as long as you promise me that there aren't any more surprises in store! No zombies or vampires, right?" Embry's face dropped, and there was a brief silence before Kylah laughed.

"I'm just kidding! I know they don't exist!" she laughed, waving a sweet goodbye to him before climbing into her car and vanishing down the gravel drive.

No vampires that you need to know about, Embry sighed. A smile spread on his face as he gazed over the water however. Sure, a lot more things were going to need to be explained, but he was ready, and more importantly, she was ready. He remembered a night, just a few months ago when he wouldn't have dreamed to feel hope.

But he'd found his somebody, and life was alright now.


Okay, that's the end! Hope everyone likes it! I started writing this like, two months ago, so yeah, once again, my commitment issues are ever prevalent. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think, liked, didn't like etc. I'm thinking about doing a Seth/OC, but I haven't quite wrapped my head around it yet. I just started college now and I'm so busy all the time! It's shocking!

Review please!

~DMar