Wow, darlings, this is it...the epi. Final chapter. Donezo. This story is done. *blinks*
Thank you SO MUCH to all those who EVER reviewed, including all those anonymous people! Thanks doubly to my more than amazing beta, laurazuleta18, who not only beta's amazingly, but writes fantastically as well! Thank you so much for all the support and love!
Another shout out to Stealth_Liberal for plot hunting with me!
For the last time... Enjoy! :D
Two Winters and a Summer: Epilogue
Embry.
Embry was fucking there, for her! For Shannon! She started to crawl towards him, every part of her body screaming to be touched, to be held by her true love. And then she sprang forward, her bare, bloody feet slipping on the floor. She kept on, though, until finally she ran into his body.
His arms caught her perfectly and he clutched her to his chest, pressing chapped, broken lips to her head. "I love you so much," he said brokenly. Shannon began to sob, but nodded.
"I love you too, Embry… So fucking much," she murmured, burying her head in his muscled chest. Embry's hands came down to grip her waist, a sign that he would refuse to lose her ever again.
"How?" Shannon asked in amazement. A grin curved Embry's lips, but he was prevented from speaking by both the feral growl that escaped Collin's throat…and the crashes that came from downstairs. Shannon gasped and whirled to face Collin, backing up so she was covering Embry with her body. Both of the wolves snarled.
"You're using my imprint to protect yourself?" Collin barked, disgusted. Shannon fisted her hands and threw them in front of her.
"Shut up, you sick bastard! I'm fucking protecting him by choice! Leave us alone!" she screamed. Embry leaned down, kissed her earlobe.
"Shannon, baby, please move," he pleaded. She shook her head stubbornly and responded with a firm no. Embry sighed. "Still the same wonderful Shannon," he chuckled darkly. Collin let out an outraged snap.
"She was mine from the fucking beginning!" he yowled. Shannon snorted.
"Please. I didn't know you…I never wanted to be with you. I was just pretending, you prick," she scoffed. Collin looked like he was being twisted from the inside out, agony bearing down on him. The imprint connection wanted her to go to him… but she flicked it off like an annoying mosquito.
"But I love you," he pleaded. Shannon's eyes flashed.
"Right, right!" she screamed. "That's why you locked me up! That's why you took away all my choice! That's why you fucking tried to brainwash me. That's why you took away everything – everyone – I loved!" Shannon's words enraged him.
"I gave you everything! You have no meaning without me! You bitch!" Collin snarled. Embry, with a gigantic roar, moved Shannon to the side and swiftly launched himself at Collin. The two held each other's necks for a moment, fingers tightening, and eyes popping…
And then they were falling backwards… They had made a hole in the fucking wall and fallen out of it. Mouth open, Shannon streaked towards it, still naked. She struggled to grab a sheet from the rubble and pulled it around herself before stepping over stone and rock to the edge of the floor where the wall was broken. She kneeled down and searched for them…
Instead, she saw two wolves, clawing and snapping their furious jaws at each other. She gasped as she realized these wolves were Embry and Collin. She rooted for the one she remembered as Embry as he swiftly ducked Collin's snaps and claws. She cheered when he bit Collin on the hind leg, but then… something happened.
She didn't know what it was. Quick as a flash, Embry was running toward the tree line, then making a swoop to go back to the house. Collin was trailing him viciously, eyes never leaving the grey wolf's running legs. As he neared the house, Shannon prepared to jump.
She knew that was what he needed, so they could make a fast escape. So, she tied the sheet around her as tight as she could, tiptoed to the ledge, prepared to jump, and then…
Something hit Embry so hard he was knocked sideways onto his stomach. Shannon gasped and tilted over the ledge, watching in horror as wolf upon wolf converged her true love, tearing at him monstrously. He managed to fight off a couple of them, but some wolves still got in a few good bites.
Deranged, Shannon leaned forward as far as she could while praying maniacally that he would be alright. "Please, Embry! Please fight for us!" she screamed. This seemed to enrage Collin but motivate Embry to keep going, which was what she had hoped for. Some people became blind or slow in their fury… hopefully Collin was one of these men.
Embry's movements were fast, precise, and he took out… fuck, he killed two wolves before Shannon's eyes. All of the wolves began to foam at the mouth, striking at him more and more. Embry suddenly snapped, turned, and ripped out a wolf's throat.
It was Collin's… he had ripped out Collin's throat. Shannon should have been happy, unbelievably happy… The man that had tortured her was dead.
Instead, a pain so awful it burned her from the tips of her fingers to the bottom of her toes. She screamed, clawing at her chest, nails scraping against her skin. The sheet dropped to the ground as she fought for that pain to be free, gone, awayawayawayaway…
Embry heard her screams, saw her pain, saw Collin, and realized what he had done…
He howled, realizing what was about to happen… just as Shannon tripped and fell out of that hole.
Collin was dead… she meant nothing to the pack. So no wolf went to catch her, or protect her… No, she was freefalling, still clutching her body and convulsing painfully. Embry tied to run. He really did.
He tried to run, to get her, but being distracted in the middle of a pile of wolves was not a good thing to be.
When they ripped his throat out, his eyes were still fixated desperately on the woman he loved.
Shannon was still in pain when she hit the ground and died.
The wolves were monsters. They deserved what they got, in the end. Killed by each other, by vampires.
It didn't matter that a few wolves survived… Brady, Seth, Nico… They led lives far away, and tried to forget about the fucked up mess that was their lives.
The Imprint House was left alone, far in the woods. Eventually people found it, but they never found out what exactly happened there.
It was a good thing they hadn't… some things were just too fucked up for humanity to handle.
One more thing before you go! I, with the help of the lovely Stealth_Liberal, have created a website for readers and writers of all kind! The URL is: www(dot)thewordgarden(dot)freeforums(dot)org! There is also a link on my profile! So, yes, check it out! :D