Hello everyone! There was something weird going on with the Update Alerts. I know there are a couple people who didn't get their email, so you may want to double check to make sure you read Chapter 6.
Chapter 7
When we got to the beach it was very busy. There weren't any parking spots close to the beach so we had to park the car a short hike away from the sand.
"I hope you don't mind walking a bit," he said looking over at me across the front seat.
"Not at all. Exercise will do me some good. I haven't worked out since the accident," I replied. Seth gave me a timid smile and looked up at my scar. He turned around and got out of the car. I sat there for a second trying to interpret his thoughts. I decided not to worry about. When I turned around to open the car door, Seth was already there opening the door for me, offering his hand. I grabbed it and smiled at him. I could get used to this chivalry.
Seth opened the tailgate to his truck. He had thought of everything. There was an umbrella and a large blanket. He opened up the huge cooler and handed me a bottle of water. I took it with a smile and eyed the massive amount of food.
"Are you expecting others?" I asked trying not to sound disappointed.
"No," he laughed. "That's all for us. I wasn't sure what you liked so there's a variety. Plus, I'm a big eater," he admitted sheepishly.
I held out my arms, offering to take something. He wouldn't let me. He grabbed everything and started walking towards the beach. By the time we walked down the road and across the sand I was winded. The walk and the extra weight didn't seem to affect Seth.
We found a secluded spot on the beach near the shade. As I was eating my sandwich I was quietly thinking of all the things I wanted to talk to him about. I had a lot of questions for him, but I wasn't sure how to bring them up or what to ask first.
"This sandwich is so good," I said between bites.
"I have a confession to make. I stopped by Emily's this morning and she helped me with everything." He pretended to slump his head in shame. I laughed.
"That's ok. This is all great. I'm having a really good time."
We carried on a casual conversation, asking each other simple questions, trying to get to know each other. It was the type of information you usually find out before you share a passionate kiss. I was enjoying myself as I was getting to know more about him. I was relieved to find out we had more in common than a strong attraction to each other.
"So, your people are Makah," Seth stated, "the Qwiqwidicciat." He pronounced it perfectly.
My jaw dropped and I looked at him, "Impressive!" I praised. "You were doing your research."
"Nah, we learned about the other natives in the area in school. So, do your people have any legends?" he asked.
"Nothing exciting," I replied. "Only the Two-Men-Who-Changed-Things. They were supposedly the ones who created all the plants and animals out of these plain creatures. They were preparing the earth for humans. It's nothing compared to the Quileute legends."
"You know about them?" he seemed shocked.
"Of course! Our school taught us stuff too," I teased. "It's my favorite legend too. Decedents of wolves? That's pretty cool. You know, I was offered an internship with the Conservation Society for Wolves and Whales in Kent for the summer."
Seth was silent. I looked over at him and he was staring at me with disbelieving eyes.
"What?" I asked wondering if I said something that made me sound like a major nerd.
"You've got to be kidding me?" he asked. I couldn't read the look on his face.
"No. Why? Is that weird?" I started to ramble quietly, feeling a little uncomfortable. "Um, I thought it would be cool to hang out with wolves and learn about them, and, you know, take boat rides out in the ocean to map out whale tails. But I'm not sure if the whales are around this area in the summer. I don't know hardly anything about their migration pattern…" I trailed off when I heard Seth chuckle.
"No, that's not weird at all. That's really cool." He continued to laugh.
"Then why are you laughing at me?" I felt insecure. I think he could hear it in my voice because he stopped laughing. He fought hard to keep a straight face.
"I'm sorry," he said and crawled over to me, putting an arm around my shoulder. "It's just really ironic, is all." I wondered what he meant by that, but didn't ask. "When do you get started with the internship?"
"I won't. I had to turn it down because of the accident." I felt Seth's arm stiffen around me.
"Oh, I'm sorry." He said and kissed the fuzz covered scar. His apology reminded me of one of the questions I wanted to ask him.
"Yeah, about that. Why are you sorry?"
He pulled away to look at my face and his eyebrows pulled together. "I'm sorry you weren't able to take the internship."
"No, not that. In the hospital…that was you, right? Holding my hand? You kissed my forehead and told me you were sorry."
"Oh, you heard that. Wow." He pulled away from me to lie on his back. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He laid there for a minute not saying anything. "Ok, I'm just going to come right out and say it," he finally said, but more to himself. He sat back up. He looked me straight in the eye, his face smooth and serious. He looked nervous.
I immediately got tense. Is this where my tall, dark and handsome, the man of my dreams, my one and only, tells me something so horrible about himself that I won't be able to look beyond it? I knew he was too good to be true.
He sat in front of me with legs in a pretzel and grabbed my hands. His mouth kept opening and shutting, inhaling and exhaling, as if he was trying to figure out the best way to break the news. I was gnawing on my bottom lip and trying to keep my breath steady. I waited for what seemed like several minutes before he finally spoke.
"Ok, you know about our legends, right?"
I nodded.
"What would you say if I told you the legends were true?" he asked slowly and carefully, still looking into my eyes.
It took me a few moments to process his words. Seth waited patiently. A few visions of the Quileute stories flashed through my mind until I stopped at one. The Spirit Chief who left his body to patrol the land looking for danger, but his body was stolen by his enemy. Having no body, he took on the form of a wolf to warn his people of his enemy's malicious plans.
"Your ancestors really did turn into wolves?" I asked cautiously. Hoping he wouldn't laugh at me.
Seth nodded slowly and let my mind process his confirmation. Another image rattled through my mind. It was of a large sandy-brown animal that walked around my car at the accident, its nose sniffing through the window and the gravitational pull that I had towards it. The same feelings I had towards Seth the first time I saw his big, dark eyes. The same feelings I still had that very moment. I gasped and looked up at him again, letting go of his hands. I looked intently into his eyes and over his face, trying to see something that would verify my thoughts. Seth's face seemed to look like he was going to be sick with worry. I thought about his comment after he laughed when I mentioned my internship. It's just really ironic, that's all.
"You…are a wolf?" I asked, again with caution. It sounded crazy when I actually said it out loud. Seth nodded again. This time he seemed to have relaxed as if a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders.
"Are you messing with me?" A nervous smile crossed my face. "Is this some sort of Quileute prank for all the new girls?" I looked around as if I was expecting Embry or any of the other guys to jump out of the trees to laugh at me.
"No," he said sternly and gently grabbed my hands again. "I will never lie to you." His face was smooth and expressionless. It was the most serious I had ever seen him. I watched him for a minute waiting for his expression to change and to tell me that it was in fact, a joke. He stayed straight-faced.
Finally, I accepted it to be true. It would explain why Seth was sorry for my accident. He was there. He was the one I was gawking at when I hit the tree. Of course, that wasn't his fault. I looked down at our hands. His huge hands were covering mine. Our skin color matched perfectly, but his hands were rough and manly. I couldn't picture them changing into paws.
"No…way," I eventually whispered. Seth's thumb caressed the top of my hand in a way to comfort me. I knew he was letting the idea sink into my head—waiting for me to ask questions, scream, run away—waiting for some reaction.
"No way!" I whispered again. "How is that possible? I thought I was crazy." I looked up at him. "That was you by my car?" He continued to bob his head, his mouth pulling down in the corners.
"So, you're what, a werewolf?" I asked skeptically.
"Well, technically no, I'm a shape shifter. But I only turn into a wolf, nothing else. We consider ourselves werewolves, but we don't need the full moon or anything" he started to sound excited as he was explaining things.
"We? Who else?"
"All the guys. The younger Quileute men. Oh yeah, and Leah."
"Leah!?" I gasped.
"Yeah, she's the only female. We're not sure why." I looked up at him and his face looked energized. I could tell he enjoyed filling me in on his secret. "Leah and I went through the change at the same time."
I lifted my legs up and put my head between my knees with my arms wrapped around my head. I was feeling dizzy. I didn't know how to respond. This was just too much information to process. I had so many questions. I just kept muttering to myself that I couldn't believe it.
"Do you want to see me change?" he whispered.
My head snapped up at him. "What?!" I gasped. "You can do that right here, right now?"
"Yep, remember, no full moon needed. But, I would prefer to do it somewhere else. The tourists may freak out a little bit."
"I don't know. I don't know if I can handle it." My voice shook.
"You've seen me before. I thought you liked wolves?" he said with a teasing grin.
I gave him a shocked look. "Yeah but that's different, I…"
"Oh, come on, you've got to see it to believe it. I promise," he gently grabbed my face, "it's not that bad." His face was pleading. "It's actually pretty cool."
I took a deep breath. I can do this, I thought to myself. He was right; I had to see it for myself or I wasn't going to fully believe it. "Ok." I let my breath out slowly.
Seth grabbed my hand and stood up, gently pulling my arms. I didn't want to budge. I just stared at him. He gave me that massive grin that made me melt every time.
"Come on…" he urged.
"Fine," I smiled back and let him pull me to my feet.
**********
Seth and I walked towards the woods. We had been at the beach, talking and getting to know each other for hours. Many of the tourists were gone. The sun was setting low in the sky making the wooded area shady and dark in spots. Seth was walking one step in front of me, leading me along. I could feel my body start to tremble a little. It was an odd mixture of fright and excitement.
When we approached the trees he looked back at me. His eyes were bright with excitement. I could feel myself instantly relax. His affect on me was tremendous. Even though he made an unbelievable confession and was about to show me he turned into a creature of legends, my feelings for him never changed. I knew I could trust him. I knew he wouldn't hurt me.
As soon as Seth thought we were far enough in the woods, he stopped and turned to face me. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed me firmly. I could hear his chest pounding.
"Ok," Seth whispered, "just stand right here." He backed away a few yards, smiling the whole way. I couldn't help but smile back.
My heart started to race. I didn't know what to expect. I should've asked about the process so I would've been more prepared. I was startled when he quickly took off his shirt. I could feel my jaw fall slack involuntarily while my eyes trailed a line down his chest. I could see every ripple of his long lean muscles beneath his bronzed skin. His shorts were riding low on his hips.
"Are you drooling?" Seth interrupted my gawking. My eyes snapped up to his face. His eyebrows were high, making his forehead crease. "I know I'm hot, but focus Tala," he was teasing me.
I let out a breathy laugh. "Sorry." I looked away. My face felt warm.
Seth kicked off his shoes and put his thumbs in the front of his pants, ready to strip them off.
"Wait, wait! What are you doing?" I gasped. I threw my hand up to cover my view. I hadn't seen many naked men in the flesh. I felt a little embarrassed. I didn't want to get caught staring again.
"I have to take off my clothes or they'll shred. I didn't bring extras. It's me naked now, or on the ride home." I thought about that a second…a small smile crept to my lips.
"Fine," I groaned. "Just turn around then. I will feel more comfortable looking at you from behind."
"Oh! So you're a butt-girl!?"
"Seth!" I giggled. "Hurry up before I lose my nerve."
"Sure, sure." He turned around and dropped his pants. I let out a little gasp. I heard him chuckle.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready."
"You sure?"
"Just do it!" I blurted.
In a movement that happened so fast that I couldn't comprehend the process, I saw Seth's body quiver, heard an awful ripping sound, and then a sandy-brown wolf stood before me, its tail wagging. The quickness startled me and I stumbled back. The wolf turned around to look at me. My heart was pounding and my ears started to ring. My head started to feel like it was floating off my body. My hands went to my knees and I tried to steady my breathing. The blackness started in my peripheral vision and threatened to blind me. I knew this feeling, I couldn't stop it. I was fainting.
So there you go. Now she knows. Did you think it was realistic? What I wrote would be my reaction. I would totally faint...not from the change but from that ripping sound. Gross! And yes, I am a butt-girl and a hips girl. Those would be the things I would focus on too. Raaar...
