"If anyone can do it, it would be you, B. You've just got some type of supernatural calming effect or some wacky wolf relaxer mojo." He told me and I gave him a look of disbelief. I didn't think it extended that far, but I guess I was weird in a supernatural way, otherwise Edward would have been able to hear my thoughts too. I looked toward Leah's door and took a deep breath. "I'll be right out here. If she starts shaking, you get your ass out here, got it?"
I nodded, taking a deep breath and heading to the door at the end of the hallway. I knocked and heard a 'Go away' from the other side. "Leah, can I talk to you?" I heard some shuffling and the door opened slightly.
"You won't go away until you do, right?" She asked and I shook my head.
"No, if you don't want to talk, I'll leave you alone, I just thought I'd try." I told her and she looked away. "Look, I know you don't seem to like me, probably because of my previous life choices, but I am pack now and the pack is my family. I am loyal to my family, to our pack."
Apparently that was the right thing to say because she opened the door and let me in, closing it behind me. I sat down in a chair across from her bed where she sat. She looked up at me with a curious glint.
"Did you know?" She asked. I looked back quizzically. "Did you know they were leeches?" I gulped and nodded.
"I figured it out on my own, with a little help from the Quileute legends. But yes, I knew." I told her, not lying.
"So you chose to date someone who could have killed you in the blink of an eye?" She asked with malice and I nodded.
"I was pretty weak minded then. I was captivated by them. They didn't hurt people, so I thought it was okay. I was manipulated, though. I was controlled, and I didn't realize that until Embry imprinted on me and showed me what love is supposed to look like. I had thought I was in love with Edward, but it wasn't love. Not even close." I told her. She seemed to look at me strangely then.
"Imprinting. I keep hearing the word and no one has told me what it means." She said and I froze for a second. No one had told her yet? She had only been a wolf once, but shouldn't someone have filled her in afterwards?
"Um, well, it's sort of like an instant soulmate. Like for me, Embry and I had been friends for a little while before he phased, so he'd looked me in the eyes countless times. After he phased, the first time he looked me directly in the eyes, he imprinted on me. The whole world stopped for him. Any previous connections we both had were severed and nothing else mattered anymore but each other. After the imprint happens, the wolf becomes whatever the imprint needs. A protector, a friend, a lover. Embry and I tried to be friends at first, but it was so easy to fall in love with him. And the imprint doesn't chose for you, it just guides you in the right way. The elders thought it was meant to breed stronger future wolves, but we've all agreed that its not. It's to make better wolves, a better pack, a stronger one." I told her, trying not to leave anything out.
She seemed to process it for a few minutes, then looked back up at me and asked. "Who all has imprinted?" She asked and I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair.
"Uh, just Embry… and Sam." I told her and her eyes went dark.
"So he imprinted on Emily? He just looked at her and she was the one?" She asked in a low voice, breathing deeply.
"Yes, he said he tried to fight it, and Emily tried to fight it too. She tried to get him to go back to you, but she didn't understand that he couldn't and he got angry and phased in front of her, which is why she has the scars now." I told her, silently begging that it didn't set her off.
To my surprise, she started laughing. "So what you're telling me is that the spirits essentially fucked me over in more ways that just one? First, they take away the love of my life, the man I was going to marry, who I'd been with for 3 years, and make him immediately fall in love with my cousin, my best friend. Then they say screw you again by making me turn into a giant wolf, the only girl in the pack, who is cursed to share a mind with man who nearly broke me, who is still madly in love with my cousin, even after he scarred her for life? This is seriously a cruel fucking life, Swan." She said, reaching for a bottle on her nightstand.
"Leah, are you drunk?" I asked her and she shook her head.
"I've drank almost the whole bottle and I've only got a little buzz. I don't understand why I'm not black out drunk right now." She told me and I reached over and grabbed the bottle.
"Because you're a wolf now. Your body burns the alcohol faster off than you can get drunk. Besides, I don't think you need to be drinking right now." I told her and she tried to grab it back.
"My dad is dead, Swan. I turn into a giant fucking wolf. I need this more that anyone." She told me, grabbing the bottle back and downing the rest of it.
"You know, you're not alone anymore. I know you don't want to talk to Emily anymore, but I'm still here and I'm pretty good about being objective. Maybe you should go out for a run, I've heard that wolves deal with things better that way. Burn off some steam. I can ask Paul to run with you, he's pretty good at keeping his thoughts to himself." I told her and she raised her eyebrows. "I can cover for you here, if you want."
"You'd do that?" She asked and I nodded.
"I'd do anything for my pack." I told her honestly and she seemed surprised. "Just don't forget to take your clothes off and tie them around your ankle before you phase, otherwise they'll be shredded."
She nodded at me and opened her bedroom window, jumping out. I quickly walked out of the room back to where Paul was standing and he had his eyebrows raised.
"Damn, B. Give a little warning before volunteering me to run with a volatile pup." He said jokingly before taking off his shirt, throwing it at me before bounding off out the door to follow after her.
I was still standing there, holding Paul's shirt when Embry walked back inside with my dad. He gave me a confused look before pointing at Paul's shirt.
"Paul went on a run with Leah. He threw this at me on his way out the door." I told him and he raised his eyebrows and nodded. Charlie just raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"Who got Leah out of the house?" Embry asked me curiously.
"I did. I went in there and talked to her for a little while, explained some things, and told her she might feel a little better if she went on a run, then told Paul to go with her just to make sure she was ok." I told Em, careful of how I said it because Charlie was listening.
"Okay, good." He gave me the look that said we'd talk about it more later away from prying ears.
"So, Dad, what do we need to do?" I asked Charlie who was watching as Embry kissed the side of my head.
"Um, I think Embry here helped with what needed to be done, so you guys can either hang out or go I guess. Seth might need some company though, he's looking a little worse around the edges. We'll be having a bonfire tonight in Harry's memory." He told us.
"Em, you want to go grab Seth and we can take him down to the beach for a little while?" I asked Embry who nodded, bounding up the stairs to get Seth.
"I like this one, Bells. I think he's good for you. You seem… happy." Charlie whispered to me, even though I knew Embry could hear.
"I am, Dad. Happier than I've ever been. I think he's a keeper." I told Charlie, who's eyebrows rose, but didn't have enough time to respond before Embry and Seth were back down the stairs. "We'll be down at the beach if you need us."
Embry slid his hand into mine as we walked out the front door, Seth trailing behind. "So your Dad likes me, huh?" Embry said as we walked down the path next to the house towards the beach.
"I know you heard what he said." I told him with a smile then turned to Seth. "How are you holding up, Seth?"
"I'm doing better today. I just can't believe he's gone." Seth said and I reached my hand over and wrapped it around his arm.
"I know there's nothing we can say to take the pain away, but we will be here to help you through it all. Like I told you last night, we are family now." I told him and he smiled kindly over at me. Even being only 15 years old, he towered over me.
"Just knowing you guys are here already helps, so thank you." He said as we made our way down to the black sand beach.
"I would suggest you guys phase and run some, but Leah and Paul are phased and it'd probably be better to wait until they're done. Her thoughts were a bit… erratic this morning." I told them. "Seth, maybe Em will run with you later, before the bonfire?" I looked over at Embry who nodded.
"Yeah, I think that'd be great. I really feel like I need to burn off some steam. So I heard a little bit about what you were telling Leah about this morning, about imprinting, is that what you guys have?" Seth asked us and Embry smiled, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and pulling me close.
"Yeah, I imprinted on Bella. Only Sam and I have imprinted so far though. Let me tell you, man, it's the best thing in the world. Bella and I are perfect for each other and I'm not sure if we'd ever have known that if I didn't imprint. I mean, I had a crush on her but I thought she was going to be Jake's girl, so that would have never played out. It was supposed to be a rare thing, but I'll be interested to see if any of the rest of the pack will imprint too." Embry told him as we walked down to the water's edge.
He held me closely and ever once and a while he'd lean over and kiss the side of my head or the spot where the mark was on my shoulder.
Embry explained several things to him about the patrols and how to kill vampires and about the pack mind and Seth's eyes got wide.
"So the entire pack can see what's going through my mind while we are phased?" He asked and Embry smiled with a laugh.
"Some of us can hide certain things better than others, but for the most part, yes. It's because we can't talk out loud in our wolf form, so we need some way to communicate so that when we attack, we can coordinate." Embry explained to him.
"I don't want my sister to hear my thoughts!" Seth said and Embry and I both started laughing at his terrified expression.
"I'm pretty sure none of us want to hear your sister's thoughts and she won't want to hear ours either, but that's just the way it rolls, man." Embry said, picking up a rock and throwing it into the ocean. "And it's not just hearing, it's seeing too. Better get used to some pack nudity. Poor Bells was a bit traumatized but I think she's gotten used to it now, right babe?"
"Unfortunately." I replied with a solemn look.
"OH MY GEE'S I HAVE TO SEE MY SISTER NAKED!" Seth yelled, freaking out. Embry and I started cracking up and I put my hand on Seth's shoulder as I wiped a tear from my eye.
"Hopefully she'll choose a different spot to change in, but I'm sure it'll happen at some point. Like yesterday, after they finished killing the vampire, Embry was hurt so no one was even concerned with putting clothes back on when they brought him inside, so I saw everything. I've just learned to block it out." I told him and he still looked utterly horrified. "Seth, honey, you turn into a giant wolf built for killing vampires and your terrified of seeing your sister naked?"
"I promise, it's much more frightening." He told me and I just laughed. We walked along the beach for a while longer before Embry decided to phase and see if Paul and Leah had phased out yet. He bounded off into the woods so that no one would see him phase.
"I'm sorry that this happened to you, Seth. You're only 15, you shouldn't have to have the weight of being a protector of the tribe on your shoulders." I told him while Embry was phasing.
"Honestly, I think it's pretty cool. Like I know there's the dangerous aspect of it, but I feel like it was meant for me. I'm kinda worried about going back to school though. I mean, I'm like 4 inches taller, super buff now, and turn into a wolf. Why do I need to go to school? They are just going to wonder if I was doing steroids when my dad just-" He began but trailed off.
"First of all, you won't be going back to school for at least a week, maybe two. Second of all, you most certainly still need to go to school, wolf or not, because you still need knowledge. Being a wolf doesn't have a full-time income. As far as I'm aware, the council provides some income but not enough to live, which is why the guys work for Sam. I'm sure once you get old enough he'll let you work too, but there's certain lessons that school teaches you, and who knows, maybe you have an imprint waiting for you... at school." I told him and he thought about it for a second before nodding his head.
"Doesn't Embry still have his senior year left? He's only 17, right?" He asked me and I smiled over at hit. Embry and I had discussed school (mainly because he missed a week when we first imprinted).
"Em's taking the two senior classes he needs over the summer and then he's going to graduate early in July. We haven't told the rest of the pack yet, except Sam, so don't say anything." I told him. (A/N- Yes, this does exist because I did it myself. I took the last 2 classes I needed for my senior year during the summer and graduated in July at 17 years old.)
"Wow that sounds great. So you'll be graduated soon, and Embry will graduate in July. Is it weird being older than him?" He asked quietly and I laughed.
"I used to think it was terrifying to be older than my other half, but it's really not. When you phase, It's not only your body that grows and ages, your brain does too. So he may be only 17, but he's got the mentality of about a 21 year old. You'll start noticing that soon, too. You look at least 19, Seth." I told him and he looked down at himself.
I heard a growl come from the edge of the woods and looked up to see Embry in wolf form, motioning his head for Seth to come. I patted him on the shoulder as he took a deep breath then ran towards the woods.
I walked over that direction and Embry met me at the edge of the woods, licked me on my face and rubbed his nose on the mark on my shoulder before running off into the woods with a smaller sandy wolf that was Seth.
A/N- So a lot has happened in the past few weeks... I was in the hospital for 4 days because I had a Gran Mal seizure. I'm home now and getting better. I also became friends with Kiowa Gordon, who plays the character Embry in the Twilight Series! Anyways, please review, because it makes me feel better.