Chapter 3 – Blood Splatter & Advice

Embry's POV

Two months…five days…13 hours…11 minutes…28 seconds…

Step.

Two months…five days…13 hours…11 minutes…29 seconds…

Step.

Two months…five days…fuck! I stopped walking through the woods to berate myself.

I had to stop this. I had to stop counting the minutes…hell, the seconds…since I last saw Rebecca. I hadn't seen or spoken to her since Jacob's wedding. From what Jacob told me, she and her husband got into a fight shortly after I left the reception, which was unusual for them considering they were the perfect couple who never argued. I wondered what triggered the argument. When I left the reception, they were practically dry humping each other.

Pain shot through me at that reminder and I cursed some more. It was ridiculous that since the wedding my life had gone into a downward spiral to hell. Everyone else seemed cheery as shit. Even Sam had calmed down after Ryan imprinted on his kid and he now…grudgingly…let Ryan have as much time as feasible with Gracie.

Ryan and Gracie were even more ridiculously cute together than Quil and Claire were when Claire was that age. The few times I had been to Sam's house, Ryan was either carrying Gracie around every where he went, or she would toddle by his side holding his hand, always seeking his attention. They worshipped each other…Ryan constantly hovered over Gracie like an overprotective brother and she lapped it up. So Ryan was happy…great, glad his imprint worked out for him.

What bugged the shit out of me was the fact that you'd think I'd get a break from the constant pain I was in. But nope, not me. Every day was a struggle for me. I felt like I was grieving someone's death. When I didn't feel a sickening emptiness inside me, I felt like I was living in the pits of hell. My body and soul hurt.

Why didn't the pain ease up? If all Rebecca wanted from me was friendship, then why wasn't that enough to release me from my torment? We're supposed to be what our imprint wants.

Except the idea of being "just friends" with Rebecca made me feel physically ill. First off, we weren't friends…friends talked to each other. I didn't even have her number to call her. Secondly, the whole idea of being friends just felt…off. It didn't make sense to me. So did that mean Rebecca needed me as more than a friend and she didn't know it? Because I knew I sure as hell needed her.

I was man enough to admit that I was in love with her and had been since I was thirteen. The crush that I thought had gone away never really had. It only deepened into something more profound without me knowing it. No wonder none of the women I had dated before I'd imprinted ever measured up. I dated plenty in high school. I had even lost my virginity before Quil and Jacob. But I never felt whole.

The incompleteness I'd always felt left the moment I laid eyes on Rebecca and then returned tenfold when Rebecca left town with her idiot husband. The only way I could deal with the longing I felt for my imprint was by repeating my conduct after I left Jacob and Ness's reception.

I got drunk almost every night and slept around. I didn't go back to Ali, the girl I met the night of the reception. Instead, I found another girl…Aerial. I slept with her a couple of times a week. I met her when she dropped her car off at the garage. She was some rich girl from Port Angeles who was out visiting friends. It took one dinner date to get her into bed. She wanted to "slum it" by sleeping with a lowly mechanic, and I got the sweet, pain-ridden oblivion I was becoming addicted to by sleeping with someone who wasn't my imprint. We were "fuck buddies." Nothing more. And after the first few times, I was even able to stop puking right after sex.

I still went to the garage during the day and worked. I still phased, though I was careful not to do it while Seth, Quil, or Jacob were out running. We were all part of Jacob's pack. If one wolf felt pain, so did the others. It wasn't fair to my brothers to be in my head. So I ran alone. Hell, I was always alone anymore.

Even now, I was walking aimlessly through the woods between Forks and La Push…just walking in human form, trying to keep my mind occupied as my stomach tried to recover from my latest alcohol binge. I found that as long as I kept my mind busy, the pain didn't consume me.

My nose suddenly started to burn. Glancing around, I was startled to realize I was getting close to the Cullen property. I debated momentarily whether to go see Jacob or not. Ness was going to have her twins any day and the littlest things set Jake off. Seth sneezed in front of Ness the other day and it took both Quil's and my strength to hold Jake back so he wouldn't pummel Seth.

"Hello Embry," a voice called out. I turned my head and smiled. I didn't even have to force it.

"Hello Esme."

You couldn't help but like Esme. If you forgot the fact that she reeked like the undead and was older than my great-grandparents, she had a gentleness about her that made you want to hug her. I stopped walking and put my hands in my pockets.

"Out hunting?" I asked.

"Yes…Carlisle wants the family to be prepared for when Ness goes into labor. We don't want a repeat of what happened to Bella when Renesmee was born." Esme smiled at me.

I was momentarily confused until I remembered Jacob telling me that Rosalie almost attacked Bella when she went into labor. Rosalie hadn't fed the days before Bella gave birth and she ended up losing control when she smelt Bella's blood. If Jacob hadn't been there to drop kick her, Rosalie may have ended up killing the love of her brother's life as well as his unborn child.

"Are you here to see Jacob?" Esme questioned kindly.

Since I had really no objective but to distract myself while out walking, I could say in all honestly that seeing Jacob and his imprint were the furthest things on my mind when I set off on my walk. But I still found myself nodding my head.

"Well, he and Ness are in the living room. If you'll excuse me…I must catch up to Carlisle," Esme responded, and with a cool breeze, she was gone.

I walked slowly to the house and let myself in. The first person I saw was Edward who was seated at his piano. Bella was sitting next to her husband on the piano bench. Edward was playing a song softly, pausing every few notes to kiss Bella on the forehead or to touch her hand. Sheesh…vampires in love were almost as bad as imprinted couples. Rosalie and Emmett were sitting in an armchair together, Rosalie on Emmett's lap as they sucked on each others' faces. I could hear Jasper and Alice in the kitchen.

Alice was trying to master cooking. It was the one thing she was really bad at, which was surprising given that you'd think she'd be able to see into the future to know when the food was done cooking. She still managed to be a failure in the kitchen, though my brothers and I forced ourselves to eat whatever crap she gave us. Whatever she was trying to cook today burned my nose more than the scent of vampire.

Jake and Ness were on the couch. Ness had her head on Jacob's lap. His one hand rested on her round belly, the other was moving soothingly through her hair. They kept looking at each other adoringly. Last night's liquor churned like acid in my stomach.

Jake looked over and noticed me standing there. "Embry…hey."

"Hey…sorry to just drop by like this. I was out for a walk and found myself headed this way."

"No problem man," Jacob replied. "The Mariners game is on soon."

I settled in a chair and began watching TV. The noise distracted me and I soon found myself relaxing, making small talk while still managing to ignore all the couples around me. Ness was soon dozing…baseball was not her thing. Jacob and I were in the middle of discussing our fantasy baseball team when Alice walked out of the kitchen holding something that smelled strangely like a combination of rotten eggs and compost.

"Embry! Just the wolf I was looking for," she exclaimed excitedly. I inwardly groaned as she walked toward me saying, "I made quiche, and I'd love to get an opinion on it."

She slid something toward me that looked like filmy sludge. The alcohol residing in my system protested angrily. No freaking way was I going to eat that. At least I didn't have to worry about offending her mate by not eating her latest monstrosity, because Jasper couldn't stand to be near me anymore. My depressed vibes were too much for him to bear.

Suddenly Ness groaned and opened her eyes. She got off the couch and took two steps before stopping. She put her hand on her stomach and sucked in a breath.

"You okay, babe?" Jake asked, his hand already reaching out for his imprint.

Ness suddenly cried out and we heard something splash on the floor. Looking down I saw blood running down Ness's legs, a pool forming between her feet. Jasper was out of the kitchen in seconds, his eyes wild as he took in the fresh scent. Jacob picked Ness up in his arms and cradled her to his chest, growling inhumanly as Jasper began to crouch in attack formation.

Emmett, Rosalie, Bella, and Edward moved to stand between Ness and Jasper. I ran over to stand next to my Alpha and his imprint. My body began to tremble. Alice threw her quiche on the floor and ran over and threw her hands up against her husband's chest.

Feeling Alice's touch on his skin snapped Jasper out of whatever stupor he was in. Shaking his head in apology, he ran…straight through one of the living room windows and took off through the trees.

"Jacob! Get Ness upstairs to Carlisle's office," Edward ordered. "Rosalie, go find Carlisle."

Jake and Rosalie ran to do what Edward instructed. Looking at Bella, Edward added gently, "Bella love, why don't you get some fresh air."

With a tearless sob, Bella took off immediately through the broken window. She had only been a vampire for seven years now, and while she did well around humans, fresh blood was harder for her to handle. Alice looked at the floor that was covered in blood splatter and then sadly at the broken window.

"I'm going to try to find Jazz," she said, before walking out the door. Edward was already headed upstairs.

Emmett and I just started at each other blankly when we heard a sudden loud thump upstairs followed by Edward cursing. Emmett began to snicker.

"Sounds like Jacob's just took a nosedive," Emmett joked, his smile turning evil. "I'm so giving him shit for that."

"He's connected to Ness…he feels her pain as though it were his own. She must be in a lot of pain…even more so than what's normal," I explained. Emmett immediately stopped smiling and looked worriedly at the ceiling.

"Embry…I need your help," Edward called out. I ran up the stairs and went into Carlisle's office.

"Jake…Jake…" Ness kept muttering softly, reaching out for Jacob, who was passed out on the floor next to the table she was on.

"Ness honey…you need to take these pills," Edward pleaded with his daughter. I could see he was trying to give her morphine to knock her out.

"Jake," Ness cried.

"Jake would want you to take the pills," I said, reaching out and grabbing her hand, which was waving aimlessly in the air for her husband.

Feeling the warmth of my hand, so similar to Jake's, Ness began to calm down. She took the pills and minutes later her eyes rolled to the back of her head and the tension left her body. Carlisle and Rosalie came running through the door. Edward, upon seeing his sister, began to growl ferociously.

"Rose, why don't you go downstairs and help Esme clean up the blood," Carlisle said calmly.

"I want to help…I've gorged myself on blood the past few days in preparation for this," Rosalie pleaded.

"We have enough help," Carlisle said, nodding towards me. He began to feel Ness's stomach, a frown forming on his face. Edward was still growling angrily.

Sighing, Carlisle looked up, "Please do as I asked Rosalie."

Giving me a bitter look, she turned and left the room. Edward instantly quieted, his eyes turning towards his daughter.

"What do you think Carlisle?" He asked worriedly.

"Ness has reached full maturity. Her body has become immortal. I doubt she'll be able to have more kids after this. If Jacob hadn't gotten her pregnant when he did, I don't think they would have ever had children together."

"Saving her this pain," Edward replied surly. He was giving Jacob's unconscious form a look that made me nervous. I moved protectively over to my Alpha.

Reading my mind, Edward relaxed slightly and chuckled. "Don't worry, Embry, I have no intention of killing my son-in-law. First of all, Bella wouldn't like it. Secondly, killing my daughter's husband would cause Ness unbearable pain, which I would never do to her. So relax your stance."

I relaxed only slightly as I turned my attention back to Carlisle. He ran a scalpel along Ness's flesh. It broke the blade.

"Edward, I'm going to have to use my teeth to get the children out," Carlisle explained, looking up at Edward. Edward nodded slowly.

Carlisle looked at me, "Embry, I'm going to need your help too. When I pull the first baby out, I'll hand it to you. Edward, I'll need you to take the next one, so that I can focus on Ness. I won't be able to use stitches on her skin, so I'll have to use tape and gauze. Her skin should mend itself."

Edward and I both nodded, although I was more than a little disturbed. How the hell did I get myself into this? I watched with a horror I couldn't quite hide as Carlisle bit into Ness's flesh. He made a precise line down her stomach before lifting his head and parting the ripped flesh. He reached in and pulled out the first baby.

"A boy," Carlisle said before biting the cord and holding the baby out for me to take. I reached over hesitantly.

"Make sure you support his neck," Edward instructed.

I placed a hand underneath Jacob's son's neck and moved him so that he was cradled in my arms. He squirmed for a minute before looking up at me with eyes too intelligent for a newborn. I remembered Ness had been the same way. Freaky cross-species babies.

I heard a cry from the operating table and looked up to see Carlisle passing a baby to Edward.

"Edward, take your granddaughter," Carlisle stated. "I need to bandage Ness up."

Esme entered the room. "The blood is cleaned up downstairs."

She walked over to me to peer at her great-grandson. The girl continued to cry. Jacob stirred on the floor and sat up, putting a hand to his head.

"Jacob, say hello to your son and daughter," Esme said, cooing at the boy in my arms.

"A girl and a boy…" Jacob said, emotion making his voice husky. He got up cautiously from the floor before asking, "How's Nessie?"

"She'll be okay," Carlisle responded as he finished wrapping a bandage around Ness's incision.

I walked over and handed the baby to Jacob. Tears welled in his eyes as he stared at his son. The baby was still covered in blood and fluid, but it was obvious he resembled Jake already.

"What are you going to call them?" Esme asked, as she peered over Edward's shoulder to stare at the girl.

"Ness and I talked about a few names, but our top choice for a boy was Gabriel, after my maternal grandfather."

"And for your daughter."

"Well…we decided to name her after Ness's great-grandmother Wilhemenia. But we'll just call her Meena."

"You're going to name her after my mother?" Esme asked.

If vampires could cry, Esme would have been balling by now. The air was filled with a quiet joy as Rosalie, Emmett, and Bella entered the room. Rosalie and Bella immediately began to fuss over the babies. Emmett just smirked and started making fun of Jacob for fainting.

The jovial moment was ruined by a sharp gasp from Edward.

"What?" Jacob said, instantly frantic for his daughter as he made his way over to them.

"Meena bit me…it stung."

Carlisle stopped working on Ness for a minute and looked at Edward in surprise before returning to his administrations. "She's venomous? Strange that she inherited that when Ness didn't. Jake, perhaps you shouldn't hold your son until we know for sure if he's venomous or not. We wouldn't want him to bite you."

Jacob refused to let go of his son, even as Bella reached for him.

"Ness came out and bit Bella as soon as she was born, because it was part of her nature…to act as a vampire. Did Gabriel bite anyone?" Jake asked. We shook our heads.

"You think he's going to take after you?" Carlisle asked.

Jake just shrugged. "Maybe. It would explain why Ness craved blood and human food while she was pregnant. Normally, she doesn't eat solid foods unless she has too."

"Well, we don't want to risk anything," Bella said.

She went over and placed her finger gently in between Gabriel's lips. He opened his eyes to glare at his grandmother before biting down on her finger in protest. Bella removed her finger and leaned in to kiss his forehead.

"Nope, not venomous, but I'd say he's hungry. Rose, can you get him a bottle? I don't think Ness is going to wake up anytime soon and who knows if she'll be able to feed them. My granddaughter will need a bottle of blood."

"Meena," Jacob said softly, his eyes glowing as he looked over at his daughter, who Edward was still holding. "Meena and Gabriel."

Once Carlisle was finished, he took first Gabriel, then Meena, and cleaned them off and measured them. Jake went back to hold Ness's hand who was still unconscious. Rosalie came back in with two bottles, one filled with a cloudy white substance, the other filled with red liquid. Bella and Rose each took a child and began to feed them. Jake went to take his daughter from Bella.

"Jake, I don't want you to get hurt," Bella protested.

"I'm not going to avoid contact with my daughter for the rest of our existence," Jacob said firmly, reaching out for Meena.

Bella reluctantly handed the baby over to her father. Meena opened her eyes and stared at Jacob. It must have been an extreme temperature change for the kid. One minute she's in ice cold arms, the next, burning heat.

"Wow…look at those eyes. I've never seen a color so green before," Jacob murmured as Meena continued to stare at him. She smiled angelically at him and Jacob added, "don't bite your father," before leaning down to kiss her forehead.

Meena made a cooing noise in response and I saw Jacob fall in love all over again. He took the bottle of blood and began to feed his daughter as he walked back over to Renesmee. Gabriel made a crying sound and Rosalie took him to the other side of the table Ness laid on. The rest of the Cullens, Jasper and Alice now included, surrounded the babies and began chattering excitedly.

Feeling like a third wheel and still feeling disturbed by the violence of the twins' birth, I left the room and made my way outside to the Cullens' backyard. I sat down on a boulder that wasn't too far from the backdoor and placed my elbows on my knees and took a few deep breaths, trying to control my nausea. I don't know how long I sat out there, before I heard light footsteps. I knew who it was even before the smell hit me. I sat up straight and looked expectantly.

"Embry, I want to apologize to you," the Doc stated. "I put you in grave danger today by having you assist with the birth. If Gabriel was venomous and bit you, he could have killed you. I wrongly assumed that because Renesmee wasn't venomous, her children wouldn't have inherited that particular gene."

I couldn't help but wonder if being bitten wouldn't have been so bad. Vampire venom was lethal to us…if I'd been bit, wouldn't I at least be out of my misery?

Still, I responded, "Don't worry about it."

Sighing, Carlisle added, "You would think that because the children are only a quarter- vampire that that part of their nature would be diluted. We still have a lot to learn about these hybrids."

He looked over at me and smiled, "I also wanted to thank you for all your help tonight. You're very calm under pressure."

"Yeah…it was no problem," I muttered.

"Edward said your presence calmed Ness down while Jacob was unconscious. She was refusing to take the morphine until she felt another wolf's presence."

I shrugged not knowing how to respond. The doctor looked off in the distance as though debating with himself about something. Finally, he turned to me and I felt a flash of dread.

"So Embry," Carlisle said hesitantly, "Jacob told me about your imprint situation."

When I didn't say anything, he added, "I hope you don't mind him confiding in me. He's worried about you."

I shrugged again and looked ahead. I wanted to tell him that I didn't feel like discussing this with him. I wanted to tell him to mind his own damn business, but I couldn't. For one thing, I truly liked the Doc and knew he wasn't trying to pry. For another, if I was disrespectful to Jacob's grandfather-in-law, Jacob would go all Alpha on my ass.

I looked at Carlisle and snorted. I couldn't help it. The idea of him being anyone's grandfather made me laugh, especially when I compared him to Quil's grandfather. Hell, iI/i looked older than Carlisle.

"So…how are you handling things…it must be very difficult for you to be away from your imprint."

Before I knew what I was doing, I was pouring my heart out to the Doc. I told him everything…how it felt to imprint, my feelings for Rebecca even before I became a wolf, how I didn't understand why I was in such pain if my imprint didn't want or need me, and I confessed the fact that I was turning myself into an alcoholic man-whore to escape my pain.

"From what I understand of imprinting," Carlisle said once I finished speaking, "It isn't about just finding a mate to pass on the genetic line…it's about finding your match…physically, emotionally, and mentally. Whether Rebecca needs you as a friend or something else though is yet to be determined. Maybe you feel so much pain and longing because your fate is undecided still."

Carlisle walked over to me and gently squeezed my shoulder before stepping back.

"I'm sure there's a reason the imprint magic in your blood chose Rebecca as your mate," Carlisle continued. "In the meantime…perhaps there's a better way to occupy your mind other than alcohol and women."

"What did you have in mind?" I asked somewhat sarcastically. My methods were working fine by me.

"Have you ever thought about college? Jacob said you were the smartest kid in your class in high school."

"Why would I want to go to college? Quil and I are running the garage and doing pretty well too."

Carlisle smiled at me before looking away. "But what are you passionate about Embry? What was the job you always wanted to do when you were a kid?"

I thought about it for a minute, before shrugging, "I always liked science and math…I used to think about becoming a teacher….I don't know…"

Carlisle nodded, "I think you'd make a fine teacher. You kept your cool tonight and have a high tolerance level. Think about college…I think you'd find a lot of satisfaction in putting your energy and concentration on something more challenging than the path you're currently on."

With that Carlisle got up and left. I sat where I was for a few minutes before getting up and walking into the woods to head back to La Push. College? Did I really want to do that? Would it be enough of a distraction to make me stop thinking about Rebecca?

I stopped walking when I realized that it was the first time I had consciously thought of Rebecca since leaving the Cullen house. I mean…she was always in the back of my mind, but it was the first time in months where she wasn't my foremost thought. Maybe school was the answer.

I thought about it some more over the next couple of months and decided to get some information from the colleges in the area. The closest four-year college to me was over three hours away…still I could run in wolf form and be there within 45 minutes, maybe less.

I was still debating it after another pain inducing night of sex with Aerial when I got a call from Jacob one morning. He had some news and wanted to give me as much advance notice as possible.

Rebecca was coming back for a visit.

A/N – Thank you again for all your support so far for this story! As always, please review!