Chapter 10: The Believer

Lily reluctantly agreed to Leah's offer, but getting her to agree ended up being easier than getting her passed the one man Gestapo that was her father. Leah tried to hide her impatience as Dr. Matson requested contact information and itinerary for the fake slumber party weekend. The tedious chore took an additional thirty minutes. All she's missing is the ankle bracelet, she thought.

Earlier in the day, Leah had arranged for Seth, Quil, and Embry to meet her in a clearing that edged a thick forest, far from prying eyes, though she was careful not to tell them why. Leah knew she needed to be strategic and she needed all of their help. But she knew that Embry might cause the whole thing to go awry and her efforts would be for naught. Helping Lily understand was only half the battle, she knew that Embry need to understand as well. She drove in silence straight from Lily's house to the private clearing and parked the car. Lily sat in the passenger seat clutching her duffel bag looking at her with apprehension.

"Follow me." Leah ordered. Lily trailed behind her with an anxious look. Why did I agree to this? Where is she taking me? She thought begrudgingly as she carefully navigated the uneven ground to the clearing.

"Leah, what are we doing here?" Leah didn't answer. Her eyes were fixed on the edge of dark trees. The three boys appeared side by side as they emerged from the trees into the clearing. Embry winced when he saw Lily step out from behind Leah.

"Aw, what is she doing here?" Embry whined. He was still bruised by not only Lily's public rejection but her subsequent interest in Jacob over the past week. Though he took a small pleasure in how Lily stormed off during the bonfire, even though he knew it was wrong. Leah ignored his protest; she knew that Embry could be a sore loser sometimes. Like I have a right to talk, Leah reminded herself.

"She knows." Leah said plainly.

"What do you mean she knows?" Embry asked impatiently. Quil and Seth stood silently looking back and forth between Leah and Lily.

"She knows," Leah emphasized. "About us."

"How?" Seth interjected.

"Jacob told her at the bonfire." Seth and Quil exchanged questioning looks of concern. Embry, however, howled in a petulant protest.

"Aw, man, why does he have to go blabbing our secret every time he goes googley over some girl?" He blurted.

"Ah, hello? I'm standing right here. I can hear you." Lily added with annoyance. Embry made a face at her and stuck out his tongue. "Oh, real mature, Embry."

"Oh, real mature, Embry." He mocked. Leah walked forward and stood before Embry, staring him down. "Can I help you?" He said daring her to try something. In a swift and sudden movement, Leah reached up and flicked him hard in the center of his forehead.

"Ouch. That hurt!" Embry cried.

"Get over yourself." Leah replied as her eyes remained locked on Embry. Quil and Seth snickered as Embry rubbed his forehead. He shot them a look as Quil tried to control his laughter.

"Serves you right, Emb." He said. Seth just shrugged his shoulders and smiled innocently. He knew better than to mess with his sister.

"She's not the first girl to turn you down and she certainly won't be the last." Leah added. "So zip it."

"Fine." Embry replied wounded, but Leah still looked at him unsatisfied. "What?"

"Apologize."

"What? Why?" He began to protest but stopped when Leah raised her fingers to flick him again. He cowered slightly. "Hey, geez, alright. Sorry." He mumbled to Lily.

"Thank you."

"Well, now that that's settled?" Quil said changing the subject. "Why did you call us here? You said she already knows."

"She's a little skeptical and this is the only way she'll talk to Jacob again."

"I said I'd think about it." Lily interrupted. Leah whipped around to face her.

"No. This isn't a negotiation. You will talk to him when we are through her."

"Ah, Lee," Quil interjected somewhat cautiously. He was puzzled how the four of them standing before Lily was supposed to convince her of their secret. "What do you mean? What are we doing here?"

"Phasing." She replied.

"What? No way." Embry said shaking his head and waving his hands in adamant disapproval. "Why should we do that?"

"Lee," Seth said. "I'm all for helping Jacob out, but why should we phase to prove our secret to an outsider?"

"Thank you!" Embry interjected.

"Shut up, Embry!" Quil roared. He was tired of hearing him whine. Embry looked at his friend in shock, but Quil ignored him and turned his attention back to Leah. "But, Seth has a point. We have rules to consider. Did you run this pass Sam?"

"No." She answered flatly.

"I don't think this is such a great idea." Seth said. He didn't like the thought of ticking off Sam. Phasing for an outsider without Sam's knowledge or permission was equal to mutiny or just plain insanity.

"If we do this, you know that Sam is going to kill us when he finds out." Quil added. Leah sighed. She didn't want to talk about Sam.

"Let me deal with him." Leah said softly. "Besides, he'll understand why we need to do this." The three boys stood before her puzzled. She sighed at their thick headedness. "She's like Claire and Emily." Leah grimaced as her voice strained on the last word.

"Oh!" They whispered simultaneously and the questions ended with Leah's last statement. Embry's face fell suddenly with shame. He realized that he had been acting like a Jackass the past week and in the process made Jacob feel guilty for liking the same girl as him. Embry now knew that his crush on Lily paled in comparison to what Jacob was feeling, to what she meant to Jacob.

"I'm such a moron." Embry muttered sincerely. "Lily, I'm really sorry I've been acting like a real jerk. It won't happen again. I hope you can forgive me for acting like a complete ass." He looked down at the ground unable to look at her in the eyes and kicked the patch of dirt at his feet. He was truly embarrassed.

"It's ok. You're forgiven." She said slowly. These guys are hot one minute and cold the next. I don't get it, she thought.

"Alright," Leah said getting back to business. "Now, that we've had that after school special moment, one of us will have to stay behind. I need to someone to phase in front of her."

"I will." Embry said hoping for a little redemption. Leah nodded and headed into the woods first.

"Wait," Lily said nervously. "Where is she going?"

"We can't phase with our clothes on, they'll get ruined." Embry answered. Quil and Seth shrugged off their shirts but waited behind momentarily until they heard Leah's howls from the forest.

"You're not going to get naked are you?" Lily asked wide eyed as Embry removed his shirt as well.

"No. I don't care about my shorts. They are old any way." He removed a black leather cord from his pocket and secured his shirt around his calf. He removed his shoes and handed them to Lily. "But I'll need you to hang on to these for me, please."

"This is just a little too weird." Lily said taking Embry's shoes.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Get used to it." Lily repeated with a dry laugh. "What exactly am I supposed to be getting used to and why did Leah say I was like Claire and Emily?" Embry shook his head solemnly.

"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I think that is something Jacob should explain to you. It's not for me to tell you."

"Yea, that's not what I wanted to hear."

"Look, I can imagine how upset you are with all the cryptic talk and all of us ducking your questions, but you should give Jacob a chance." He said softly. Lily stood silent processing the words and debating whether or not she would give Jacob the chance to explain. Frankly, she was more than a little mad that she was being involved in all this craziness. Embry could see the indecision wash over her face. "I know you don't understand now but soon you'll realize just why this is so important. The thing is, you just have to trust us…you need to trust Jacob."

How am I supposed to trust people that I barely know? She posed the question to herself silently. They stood silently for a moment until they heard two more wolves howl in the distance.

"Ok, now I'm going to need to you stay here when I phase. You need to keep a distance and the others will stand between us, just in case."

"Just in case? Why?" Lily asked wide eyed.

"Phasing has been become easier for us over the past year, but it is still connected to our emotions. When we phase, we still run the risk of losing control of our emotions, like if we are angry or upset. Most of the time we can control it, but anyone who stands too close to us when we phase is at risk to get hurt. That's a risk we don't like to take so keeping a distance is just a precaution."

"Oh," Lily replied. "That makes sense." None of this makes sense, she thought and Lily didn't like the sound of being at the mercy of four supposed werewolves. She looked up at the edge of the forest anxiously and gasped. Embry turned to watch his three friends emerge from the woods.

A gray wolf, which was the smallest of the three, walked toward Lily flanked by a larger wolf on each side. Lily couldn't believe her eyes. The three wolves were huge, larger than any wolf she had ever seen.

"Who is who?"

"Quil is on the left, Leah is in the middle, and Seth is on the right." He said and then addressed the wolves. They turned their heads and met his gaze. "I'm going to phase but stand guard between us."

Lily looked on in shock as the three wolves nodded in recognition of the command and moved to form a wall between Embry and herself. She clutched Embry's shoes to her chest as he walked toward the edge of the woods and stopped. Embry began to shake faintly like a shiver was rolling down his spine. The shaking intensified and Embry's face twisted as if he were in pain. Lily stood cemented to the ground as the scene unfolded before her and her eyes widened as Embry's skin transformed into fur. The shorts Embry wore shred into small tatters of fabric. She watched his form mutate and the scream that emitted from his mouth became a howl. In a matter of seconds, Embry's human form no longer existed and a fourth gigantic werewolf stood before her. Leah turned and stared at Lily with a question she understood. Do you believe us now? Lily nodded and realized there was no turning back.

Author's note: This might be the last update until last week, but if I get chapter 11 completed this weekend. I'll do my best to post it up. I'm going on a job interview out of state and I'll be gone the week. I'll keep writing, just don't know if I'll be able to post.

Ok, read and enjoy. Please review. Let me know what you think. 0)