Ch. 10 Dogs

February vacation, the most wonderful time of the year. Luckily, my father was broke and decided that we wouldn't be traveling. This would've pissed me off any other year, but not now. Every day, I woke up at a reasonable hour, glad to be sleeping in for a change, had breakfast, and went to the beach with Embry.

So, I had no reason to expect anything different on Thursday. When I ran out the door, I noticed my dad had a strange look on his face, the same look he had the one time he tried to keep something from me-my surprise 12th birthday party.

"What?" I asked self-consciously.

He shook his head as if I had pulled him out of a reverie, "I didn't say anything. Have fun with Embry." My dad walked away.

I bit my lip as I walked to the old pickup. What the hell was that? My dad had something up his sleeve and I wasn't sure I wanted to now what it was.

"Hey," Embry said leaning across to kiss my cheek, "You look worried."

"Hmm…Do I?" I looked at myself in the rear-view mirror. "My dad's just acting weird that's all."

He nodded, and pulled out of the driveway.

"So, you said you were going to ask questions today…"he said when we had reached the beach.

"Yes," I tapped my chin trying to decide which question to ask. "How do you become a werewolf?"

"It's in your blood; the direct descendants from Taha Aki. I thought I told you that…"

I nodded remembering. "Do you live forever, or is that just vampires?"

He smiled. "We live longer than humans. Actually, we don't age until we can stop morphing for a while; until we can control ourselves."

"Oh, so you'll stay young forever," I joked.

Embry rolled his eyes. "Have a little more faith in me than that! For your information, it's been almost two weeks since I last changed!"

"Ooh, two weeks! Is that a record?"

He looked at me through narrowed eyes. "You are making it awfully hard to control my anger!" Embry's expression changed, and he said, "Besides, you shouldn't want me to stay young forever. Considering you'll still grow old, stupid human!"
I opened my mouth, shocked. Then realized it was true, and I had no comeback.

Embry smiled, victorious. "Any more questions?"

"No, I'll just end up being made fun of again." I sighed.

"Aw, did I hurt your feelings?"

I made a puppy dog face, looked up at him and nodded.

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll force myself to start aging again once you catch up to me in age, or size. Whichever comes first."

I blushed, "Age definitely…I'm done growing."

He laughed. "Figures, my other half would be my other, well, half."

"See there you go again! You keep making fun of me!" I stormed off in the other direction.

He caught up to me in no time and grabbed my arm. "I'm sorry, again. I'll stop. You know, you can make fun of me very easily."

I smiled, "You're right dog I can."

He winced, "You sound like a vampire, but I deserved that."

I turned and walked in the other direction. When I noticed that Embry wasn't next to me I turned and whistled, "Come here, boy!"

Embry narrowed his eyes again, and started walking toward me.

After more questions, a nice lunch with Bev, and an afternoon with Emily and Sam, Embry drove me home. My dad had called me asking that I come home by dinner. When we pulled into the driveway, I remembered how strange my dad had been this morning and felt anxious again.

I walked through the door, Embry's hand on my back, half expecting to be attacked. My dad was standing there waiting; he smiled when we came through.

"Hey guys. You've probably realized that I have a surprise for you by now, Mel. You've adjusted really well and I realized how great you've been considering how many times we've had to move because of me. I thought you deserved something."

My dad walked away, into the kitchen and returned moments later with the one thing I had not been expecting.

A dog. A medium sized black lab. The dog walked right up to me and started sniffing my jeans. After a moment, it looked up at me with beautiful, innocent brown eyes. I loved it already.

"Oh my god…" I whispered. "Umm, boy or girl?"

"Girl. Her name is Siprey."

I patted Siprey's gorgeous red tinted black hair, and she licked my hand.

"I love her, dad! Thank you!"

That night, I realized that I had everything now. It didn't seem fair. Why me? Why should I be so lucky? I had a dog which I had wanted since birth, two loving parents (even if they weren't together anymore), a wonderful boyfriend (soul mate), and an awesome best friend that I desperately needed to call.

I was happier than ever.

How long would it be before it all came crashing down?