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Happy Holidays Everyone! Here's some fluff stuff~

"She's back... I saw her at the store today."

"If that vampire follows Cadence home..."

The urge to protect and to shield Leilani from any harm overcame me as my instincts took over. There would be more bonfires in the future for me to relive the tribe's legends, but right now my gut had this unsettling feeling that worsened over the past few days. It started off with a small pinchy feeling, like walking with a pebble in your shoe that you try to ignore at first. But now it felt like a small skewer was punctured and twisted into my abdomen. Hearing the news of Leilani's return and being at risk made me realize that it was the reason behind it.

My paws pounded against the forest floor, running fast towards the familiar path to her home. A familiar scent tickled my nose. The warm lavender smell becoming stronger as I reached the perimeter of the forest line, stopping just at the edge. From my spot, I was able to see her in her garage through the window and a bit through the door that was left ajar.

I smelt a thin tang of musk and salt intertwining with her familiar lavender. She was straddled on top of the fallen (and now heavily beaten up) punching bag, her shoulders slack as she cradled something to her chest. I couldn't tell from her back facing me. I could trace the smell of her sweat, literally hearing it as it dropped and splattered against the concrete flooring. My senses were all too focused on her. The saltiness flickered again through my nostrils as I heard a series of short intakes of air.

And then I heard it. A single heart wrenching cry as she began to weep.

She shifted her body to move from the punching bag, twisting in her position and moving to sit beside it. I saw her bring an injured hand closer to chest, knees bent like she was in her own cocoon.

When I first found out she left, I had been shocked at her sudden move. When I tried to talk to her, to hear her reason, she never returned my calls, my messages, or emails. Nothing. There was no explanation. But then it didn't take much before I felt a tinge of her emotions, the strong misery of heartache. We had built a friendship, strengthened it, and right when we reached the peak before we could be something more, I pushed her off. I broke her trust.

I remember being a whirlwind of emotions afterwards. I went from wallowing over her absence, desperately trying to reach her to get her to come back, to even small windows of being angry at her for never giving me time to tell her the honest truth.

Having an imprint was the best and worst thing in you could have in your life.

You knew who you were to spend the rest of your days with. You knew there was an unbreakable bond magnified over a hundred times where you could feel what they were feeling. It was like the cheat sheet to finding your soulmate.

I thought her leaving was the worst pain I'd ever feel. Yet seeing her crumpled in her own sadness while I couldn't do a damn thing was beyond comparable.

Another cry refocused my attention to her as she shakily held her sheltered hand out to inspect it. Her knuckles were a mixture of red and purples. I could smell small specks of blood from her broken skin.

I didn't like the scene in front of me one bit. I wanted to go to her, craving to have her in arms reach. I wanted to apologize for everything in the past and promise her the world for a better future.

A whine escaped my wolfish lips. Her posture turned rigid as her head snapped upwards towards me, unsure if she could actually see me or not from where I was.

I regretted not thinking about changing out of my clothes before phasing and bringing it along with me. It's not like I could just come out of the woods naked and hug her. I don't think she'd take that all too well.

She let out a sniffle, coming to a stand as she brought her wrist back to her chest. She walked out of her garage, stopping after a few steps. Her posture was straight, unafraid as she searched for something to show up.

I should've taken this as my cue to leave, and I almost did make it out of there. I raised myself and carefully avoided any twigs or branches that would've crunched unnecessarily loud to draw her towards me. Yet even without a sound from me, she made her way closer, now standing halfway between the forest and her home.

"Come out of there," she daringly called out, taking another step.

I let out a small huff of air. What if I wasn't me and instead a vampire? Leilani needed to know when to walk away from her curiosity. Calling out like that was just asking for danger. I'd need to have a talk with her about that in the future.

"I can see you from here!" True to her words, her eyes were fixed in my general direction. They were squinted, barely being able to be seen in the dark. The only thing illuminating the backyard was the light fixture hanging beside her garage door, hardly reaching where I was.

Once again, I should've left at this moment but a part of me couldn't. I was entranced in her presence. My thoughts ran amuck as I processed what I should do. The proper thing would be to be able to talk to her again as my normal self, apologize for everything, try to regain her trust and explain everything to her, tell her the truth, and then introduce her to my wolf self (had she taken the information well).

But what did I do?

I absentmindedly lowered myself on all fours and slowly crawled towards her, still hidden from her clear view. It wasn't until my right paw reached the root of a tree that I stopped myself. I took in a break of air before breathing out, holding my paw out into view with my head peaking out.

There were so many times when I wanted to do this after I first phased. To have her meet me, the wolf me, but Sam had banned me from it. He told me that I needed to learn how to control myself before I could do so.

Her expression eased into a soft sight, a small smile playing on her face as she wiped the dry tears from her face. "Oh, it's just a stray dog." She bent over, holding her good hand out to me and cooing. "Come here, puppy-puppy."

I slowly continued, making it halfway out before I stood on all fours from my crouching position. I could pinpoint the moment in time that she registered my true size, falling over on her behind as she began to scramble backwards.

"Oh my god- that's a freaking wolf horse!" She held still, a few yards from where she stood previously. I lowered myself back down and whimpered at her retreat. It seemed to break her from her panic as she looked at me with a scrutinizing expression, trying to decipher what to do.

I didn't budge an inch forward, afraid of scaring her away. I laid on my stomach and lowered my head to my paws, whining once more.

I heard her take a deep breath in as she slowly brought herself back up, and cautiously stepped closer to me. It felt like years before there was just a few feet separating us. I lifted my head, tilting it like a curious puppy. That seemed to bring another smile onto her face.

"You're kinda cute, despite your monstrous size."

I lowered my head again, looking up to her in hopes that she'd get my clue.

"You... You want me to pet you?"

I let out a small yip, almost nodding my head eagerly in a 'yes' fashion. She raised a brow at me.

"You seem to be really smart to be responding to me like that." She paused with pursed lips, finally raising her good hand out. "Let's hope that I'm also smart and won't regret this decision later." She made her way closer to me. I could hear the pounding of her heart, afraid of me making any sudden moves.

An eternity passed before her hand made contact with my grey fur, easing from a hesitant touch to a soft petting. I nudged her hand, encouraging her to break her shyness. She took the hint and raked her nails against me that had my tongue hanging from my mouth. I rolled to my side, showing her my stomach as she dropped herself to her knees, continuing to scratch me.

"This is it." She said almost with a dead panned expression. "I've officially begun to hallucinate from fatigue. Maybe I accidentally hit my head to the floor instead of my fist."

A good half hour of scratching and petting me was enough to have her comfortable around me as she nestled into the side of me, laying perpendicular against me as I was once again on my stomach.

"You're really a giant... mutant puppy." I could hear the exhaustion in her voice as she drawled out her words. Her fingers ran through the spot atop of my head, a small yawn escaping her lips. "Cadence would kill me if she came home to you in our living room."

I let out a small laugh, or what could be considered as a laugh taken my present form. I swiveled my head around to spot her injury, leaning over to lightly lick it. She did nothing against me as I curled closer to her.

We laid there for a while, a soft snoring becoming present to my ears. I turned to look at her now sleeping form. Her face was held in content. I turned to look at our surroundings, taking in her home. Most of the lights were off and I didn't smell Cadence nearby. Carefully, I removed myself from her, easing her to the grass so I wouldn't wake her up. I ran into the woods, phasing back to my human self and acting quickly before someone thought I was a maniac.

A crazy, naked maniac carrying an unconscious girl back into her home.

I returned to Leilani, being mindful to her injury as I picked her up in my arms and quickly walked towards her back door. I managed to open it and make my way to her bedroom, using my memory to the best of it's ability. I carefully laid her down onto her bed, taking off her shoes and pulling back the comforter to tuck her back in.

I ran my fingers along her forehead and nearly melted at her easing herself into my touch. I ran a thumb lightly against her lips as I bent down to place a soft kiss against her forehead.

I straightened myself and decided that I should quickly go before she woke up. I wouldn't really have a good excuse if she caught me in my... bare state. I nearly laughed as I caught my reflection in the mirror, but a photo next to it drew my attention. Besides the ones of her with her family, at the top line of photos was one of her and a blonde, blue-eyed man. They seemed... uncomfortable close and cozy to one another. Who was he and why was his arms wrapped around Leilani like that? He felt a searing tinge of jealousy flow through himself as he noticed how carefree and happy she had looked.

Had she found someone else? He tore his gaze away as he exited her room and soon her house. That photo would be etched into his memory as he recalled the words of Sam.

'Imprinting is a rare thing and having someone reject you is even rarer. Regardless of their decision, you must be there for them anyway you can, anyway they want you to. Despite my thoughts on imprinting being the reason to raise stronger warriors and to protect our tribe, you have to be what they want you to be, regardless as a lover or a friend.'

'A friend.' He shifted back into his wolf form as he decided to take his time to return to his pack. Selfish as it was, Embry didn't want to have to be just her friend. She had to have known that. She came back for a reason and he wanted to believe it was for a second chance to redeem himself to her. He ended up back at his place, phasing back to his human self and reaching under a loose board at the backyard of his porch where he kept a case of backup cut-offs if need be. He entered his house after changing, making his way to his bed, plopping down onto it as he laid back and stared off into the ceiling. He closed his eyes, thinking about what he going to do before falling into a light slumber and dreaming about his past memories with his imprint.

- Embry's POV - 7 months ago -

We were sprawled out on the couch of my living room, both at opposite ends as the open textbooks lay forgotten on the coffee table in front of us. Our attention was focused on the third installment of the X-Men series playing on my TV.

A piece of popcorn bouncing off of my head turned my attention towards Leilani, a bored smile on her face as she threw another one towards me. I quickly opened my mouth and failed at catching it in my mouth, drawing out a chuckle from her form.

"We're so screwed for this chemistry exam tomorrow."

I gave her a look as I reached for the bowl of popcorn, turning the game around. "Maybe you are but I'm a natural when it comes to science."

She snorted, missing the popcorn and reaching over to pick it up from her lap and place it into her mouth. "Says the kid who said H2O stood for Carbon Monoxide."

"Shut up, I was thinking of HO."

"That's hydroxide, idiot!" She bursted into laughter at the cut look I gave her. I threw a handful of popcorn at her face, returning the laugh at her expression. I'd be mindful to clean up the mess after my mom came home from work today. She let out a gasp as she sat up and jumped on me, attempting to pin me down so she could tickle me.

Things like this quickly became a normal thing for us. I was easily comfortable around Leilani, and vice versa. We had been hanging out for a few months now and she fit into my group of friends, almost like she had always been friends with all of us for the longest of time. While she was another person I could open up to about everything, she was special to me in a way the other two guys weren't. Well for one, she was a girl. And two, she was a girl I had a crush on since middle school.

"Give up, Cameron!"

"You're in no position to demand such things, Call!"

We both struggled for dominance, attempting to fighting off each other's tickling hands of doom. The room echoed in our laughter as we rolled onto the floor, still fighting like children. We didn't hear the door open as Jacob and Quil watched with amused looks from behind the couch. The shorter of the two deciding to make their presence known.

"Woah, is this a bad time? Cause I'd hate to a cockblock."

Both of our heads popped out from our side of the couch, myself clearing my throat as I gave Quil a hard stare at his implications. Leilani just giggled as she picked up a kernel and flung it at him. She began to pick up the rest of the fallen pieces as I fixed the pillows on the couch.

"What brings you guys here?" I turned towards Jacob. "I thought you were going to hang out with that bird girlfriend of yours today."

Jacob let out a sigh as he and Quil sat on the other couch adjacent to ours, "Her names Bella Swan. And no, she had other plans today."

Leilani moved to sit beside me, an action that Quil slyly wiggled his eyebrows at me for while she wasn't paying attention. I shook my head at him. I swear I was going to kill him one day.

"Aww, Jacob's finally got a date that wasn't me?"

That statement had both Quil and I's heads whipping towards her, simultaneously going 'Whaaat?' And 'You two dated?!'

Jacob shook his head and laughed at us. "Our older sisters are best friends. When we were younger they thought they could try and get us together so that we'd eventually get married and they'd become family."

"Despite the fact that we were like, eleven and didn't really like eachother." Leilani chimed in.

"But don't worry Em," Jacob slapped a hand to my knee with a cheeky grin. "I'm not here to steal your girl away."

Alright. Jacob just made his way onto the top of my hit list. I fought the redness heating my face. Watching as Quil sneaked a high-five to him. Real mature, guys. I'd remember to have my revenge later on whenever I'd come around to see Bella.

"Please," Leilani cut in. "I'm just another one of the guys around here."

I felt a part of me dimming in the hopes of eventually confessing my feelings to her. I think Quil saw this on my face, quickly changing the subject.

"So, Byron's holding a party tomorrow night. His parents are going to be out of town so he's going all out with inviting the whole school, again. You should go too, Leilani! It'd be a nice relief after taking Smith's chem exam during last period. We'll all be there to let loose, right Em?" I nodded my head casually and looked over to her.

"Well, I won't be there cause I'm going to the movies with Bella, but you guys should definitely go." Jacob spoke up. "Everyone looks forward to his parents leaving town on a business trip."

I heard Quil's voice take a playful tone."You can even invite that Gordon kid people say you talk about a lot." I mentally screamed at him, that light for confessing my feelings to Leilani dimming even more as her face lit with a bright redness spreading across her cheeks. "What is he by the way ...a family friend? ...Boyfriend?"

Leilani's sentence broke out into a stutter as she absent mindedly played with the hem of her shirt. "He's just a good friend of mine." I felt uncomfortable at her response, but forced a smile to my face when I remembered Lahote making a sly joke with Leilani when she ended up tackling me in a game of football, a while back. I would be a real asshole if I didn't want her to be happy, so I had to suck it up. We were friends first and if that's all I could have her as then I'd take it. But I couldn't promise myself that I wouldn't be jealous of this guy.

"I could pick you up before the party," I decided to offer. Half of me wanted to spend more time with her while the other half wanted to be an excuse so that Gordon wouldn't. "Unless," I started hesitantly, "You're going to ask Gordon to take you?"

"Uh," She paused in thought. "No, I wasn't going to ask him. I'll probably see him there anyways." Her cell phone began ringing. She excused herself before stepping out of the room. "Be right back, Cay is calling me."

As soon as she left I turned to give Quil a jab in the shoulder. "Dude, what the hell?"

He rubbed the sore spot before questioning me. "Whaaat?" Our voices were in hushed whispers.

"Are you trying to ruin my chances with her, inviting Gordon?"

"You weren't going to ask so I did. I wanted to know who he was. I was trying to help you out man!"

"Oh yeah, you two were doing such a great job with that, slick comments and facial expressions, everything. Totally didn't give anything away."

"Em," Jacob interjected. "Are you blind, you guys are definitely into each other. So what if she has a crush on him, go for it this weekend and let her know how you feel."

"Says the kid who hasn't been able to confess his feelings to the girl he's going to the movies with, tomorrow."

Jacob blushed, eating his own words. "I'm going to, tomorrow. We're going to watch a scary flick and I'm hoping she'll jump onto me so I can tell her how I feel."

Before I could make a comment, Leilani returned into the room, telling us that her sister wanted her home before it got dark. Quil and Jacob took this as their cue to leave, while Leilani and I got into my car so I could drive her home. The drive was a comfortable silence, myself engrossed in thoughts on how I'd hope this weekend would play out. I glanced my eyes to see her sitting with a content smile on her face, watching the scenery out of the window.

Something that I noticed about her was that she was easily entertained and found contentment with the littlest of things. She didn't dwell on things too long and took them as they came. She was thoroughly engaged with the world with an open heart. She wasn't blinded by the negativity she encountered but she wouldn't let it hinder her. That was a quality that I loved about her.

I pulled into her driveway, parking my car as she undid her seatbelt and turned to me. "Do you wanna hang out for a little? I can finally show you my favorite spot to hang out."

My head nodded with a grin. Our hangouts normally consisted of us either at my place, or somewhere along the reservation. There were a few times where I briefly hung out in her living room but her sister slightly intimidated me whenever she came around. Not that I'd tell her that. I hopped out of my truck, following her to the garage besides her house and to say the least, I was more than impressed.

"Quite a man cave you have here."

She took in a proud breath of air with her hands on her hips as she took in her settings like I currently was doing. "Yeah, well. It's my comfort zone."

My eyes traveled to the older car to the left. I let out an appreciative whistle. "Sweet car."

She grinned as she made her way over to it, myself following besides her. She placed a loving hand on the hood. "It was my dads." I felt a bite of guilt, bringing up her deceased father. She had told me many stories and precious memories she had with him before the accident. "He won it in a bet with my uncle way back when they were younger. Don't ever tell Jared, but this baby could have been his." She let out a fond laugh, a glaze look coming her eyes. "We used to get together every now and then, my dad and I when he was free, and I'd help him fix her up. He told me when she was good to go that I'd get to have her."

This was a girl who wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Had Jacob known about this, I don't think he'd let someone like Leilani slip through his fingers. A woman who'd rather work under the hood than pose on top of it.

I think I just heard my heart stutter.

"My mom tells me to sell it for parts to buy a newer car but I can't find it in myself to do it. Too much memories here."

I lifted my chin curiously. "I never asked, but how're you with your mom? I know you told me she's out a lot because of work."

She softly shook her head. "It's not what a lot of people think; the working mother leaves her children to grow bitter in their mom's absence." She placed a hand on her hip as she leaned on it. "My mom does it, partly to pay for my sister's tuition, partly to save for my future college funds. I love her for everything she's done us. Sometimes she offers to help out with Lilo." I smiled at the nickname she gave her red car. It matched with her favorite Disney movie.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at her. "Well if you need any help, I'd be glad to offer my assistance."

She stood in front of me with a slight look of surprise. "You know your way around a car? I mean like, besides just driving it and filling up the tank?"

I looked at her, almost offended. "And here I thought you knew me. To be honest, I was a bit shocked to find out this fact. Total tomboy, should've guessed. Don't tell Quil, but knowing more about cars is the reason why Jake and I are closer."

"I'm sorry, it's just that whenever we're with Jake in his garage you seemed to, y'know, not help him out and Quil just kinda squabbles around."

I chuckled at her, remembering all the times Jake called us useless for lounging around the garage instead of assisting him. "Speak for yourself, I barely see you helping out either." I averted my gaze to the car as I continued. "You distract me from helping him."

The silence had me cautiously glancing at her. She held a shy smile, biting the inside of her lips that I eyed for a second longer than I should have. I licked my lips, unable to hold back the grin on my face. I found myself gravitating towards her, giving her plenty of time to move away if she found my advance unwanted. I opened my mouth to speak, only to have her sister call out from the inside their house.

I cleared my throat and stepped back, taking it as a sign to save it for another day. I didn't notice the disappointed look on her face that she quickly hid. "I'll take this as my cue to head out." I began my exit, turning towards her once I reached the doorway. "So I'll see you tomorrow night, right?"

She beamed at me, nodding her head as she followed me out of the garage, turning off the lights behind her. "Yup, you'll see me. Thanks again for everything Embry, I really appreciate it." She stood on her tiptoes, engulfing me in a hug and watching me make my way to my truck. She finally entered her house when I began to pull out of the driveway.

By the time I reached my house and settled into my bed I noticed my phone light flashing, alerting me of a new message.

From: Lani

'Need a job? I know a girl who would really really appreciate the help with rebuilding a car. There's no pay but she'd forever be in your debt.'

From: Lani

'Maybe even let you drive her car a couple of times when everything works.'

I smiled warmly at the message. Jacob's advice ringing in my head as the dim light began to illuminate a brighter glow.

From: Embry

'Let me know when I start :)'

Huehuehue, I enjoy writing scenes with the Quil-Jake duo tag teaming and teasing Embry.

The flashback scenes are getting closer and closer to THE NIGHT. *dundundunnn*

I'll definitely put a lemon warning at the top of the chapter and right before it happens, just in case.

Let me know what you guys think, review :D