I am super duper sorry for the delay! I have never been this busy before. Take this chapter as my apology, since some pretty intense stuff happens, if I do say so myself. The chapter title comes from the Swedish title translation of the book The Fault In Our Stars by John Green. Happy holidays, and happy reading!

Chapter Eleven: Sooner Or Later I Explode

Eli

For a few minutes, there were no clouds to obscure the sun setting over La Push beach, turning the sky into swirls of orange and pink. This morning, Olivia had called to ask me to meet her at the beach. The urgency of her tone made me regret that I was spending the entire day out, but I had to get school supplies and run errands with my mom. It was weird, because she sounded upset over the phone but also anxious. She was obviously nervous about something, but I didn't know what.

We made plans to meet up this evening, after I had a chance to come home and eat dinner. I didn't want to get my hopes up, but a small part of me thought that maybe she was going to finally tell me what happened to her. For the rest of the day, I couldn't hide my anticipation for our meeting. My mom finally voiced her curiosity when we were eating lunch at a diner in Forks, but I brushed off her questions. After all, I didn't actually know what was going to happen.

It was a long day out that including stops at multiple stores and a visit with my Uncle Jake and Nessie. Spencer, as usual, was over-excited about everything we did, but I was too busy thinking ahead to this evening to enjoy our outing. When we finally got home I was in a huge rush to get out of the house. Both my parents noticed how antsy I was during dinner.

"What's eating you, Eli?" Dad asked between mouthfuls of steak.

"Hm? Oh." I decided to just tell the truth. There wasn't anything important to hide anyway. "I'm meeting Olivia after dinner. I think she's going to tell me something important tonight."

"What did I tell you about bothering her, Eli?" Dad cautioned.

"She invited me, Dad. It's not a problem," I replied defensively.

"Alright," he gave a non-committal sigh. It seemed like we were finished with the topic, and we went back to our previous conversation about going back to school. But when I got up from the table, Dad gestured for me to come into the kitchen with him.

"Just be careful, okay?" he warned me. "We can all see that Olivia's been getting better thanks to you, but she's sill emotionally unstable. Sam is already pretty broken up about what happened. He doesn't need your help."

"Got it, Dad." I turned toward the back door, but he stopped me again.

"Have fun, Eli," he said, smiling and giving me an affectionate pat on the back. I returned the smile and finally made it through the back door. In my excitement to meet Olivia, I started sprinting toward the beach, wondering for the hundredth time that day why she was so anxious over the phone. I hoped against hope that today was the day that I would find out what really happened to make her so depressed. When I was about a block away, I slowed my stride so that when I reached Olivia, I would not seem over eager.

I clutched at a stitch in my side while I as I walked the rest of the way to the beach. Arriving out-of-breath and obviously excited probably wouldn't go over too well. I tried to hide my feelings for Olivia, but sometimes they would slip through in something I said or something I did and she would get a pained look on her face. It wasn't that I didn't understand why she didn't want me feeling this way; if she hated me at this point I still would love her, or at least really like her.

It took me a moment to locate Olivia, but I eventually found her pacing at the edge of the beach a few yards away. "Hey Liv!" I said as I rushed to her side. Her head snapped up as if she was completely absorbed in her thoughts before I intruded.

"Oh, hi, Eli," she replied kicking the little stones that made up the beach into the trees that hugged the shore. When we were younger we used to hide out in that part of the forest to escape our parents and play make-believe. She opened her mouth, but closed it again. What was making her act this way?

"So what's up?" I prompted her.

"I want to talk to you. In private," she exhaled, stepping further into the cover of the trees.

"Sure. You can tell me anything," I replied with caution, following her until we reached a slight clearing with large, moss-covered stones scattered across the forest floor. The sound of cicadas was dying down for the evening as we sat on the same rocks that we claimed as kids. So much nostalgia. Olivia turned to me with a final deep breath before beginning.

"Things have been going really well," she articulated slowly "And you've really helped me get better. I'll never be perfectly back to normal, but I think that something might get me close to cured, for lack of a better word. You said that thing about it making me feel better to tell you what happened and… I think you're right." The words exited her mouth as a whisper and an excited shiver shot up my spine. I tried to hide my excitement, but she read it right away.

"Just, please don't tell anyone what I'm going to tell you. You're the only person who will know about this other that me, and it's painful enough to have experienced it without having the entire pack know about it."

"You didn't tell your parents?" I asked incredulously, honored that Olivia decided to only tell me her secret...another reason why I thought we should be together.

"No. It would have hurt them too much. I haven't had the strength to say anything about it until now. And even now I'm a little shaky," Olivia explained, failing to meet my eyes.

"Wow. Then I definitely won't tell anyone," I declared. She gave me a watery smile and began to absentmindedly play with the end of her ponytail, twisting and turning it in her fingers. Though my promise of secrecy seemed to make her feel better, Olivia always played with her hair like that when she was nervous or anxious.

"Thank you for understanding. So…I'm sure you remember when it happened," she began. "I went to Jill's house to hang out and I ended up eating dinner there, so it was starting to get dark when I was walking home. You know the shortcut that I always took. I took it as usual and…someone said my name." Her voice had almost reduced to a breath, and she took a moment to collect herself, biting her bottom lip in a way that suggested that she was trying not to cry.

"It was the…Volturi. Four of them in black cloaks just like in the stories. And I tried to run but the one, the only girl…Jane…it was more painful than anything," Olivia's voice broke at the end but she didn't cry yet. I knew so little about what happened to her that this alone part made my jaw drop in disbelief.

"I was surrounded and they wanted me to come with them to Italy and I tried to say no, but they just tortured me more. One of them lifted me from the ground and ran away with me to a car and they took me to the airport. And we boarded a plane and there was nothing I could do." A lone tear finally slid down her cheek followed by a few more. I reached out a took her hand, but she said, "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I…maybe. But I can't stop now," she replied in between sobs, sounding determined. I still held her hand when she started again. "When we got to Italy…from what I saw, it was beautiful, but they immediately took me to their headquarters. We had to go through tunnels underground and then up an elevator into a lobby with a human receptionist. Gianna," Olivia spat out her name, the anger creating a pause in the tears. "The traitor," she whispered with even more acid, her hand clenching into a fist in mine. Now I was starting to get a little agitated, but I could tell that there was worse to come.

"They have a throne room. They even gave me a bedroom and food before it really started. You remember how they are in the stories right?"

"Yeah. There are three of them that are like kings, right? But the one is sort of in charge of the others," I answered, looking at her to confirm. Without meeting my eyes she nodded. More tears were spilling from her eyes.

"The next morning the one in charge…Aro," she choked out. "He started questioning me about myself and…about the p-p-pack and the Cullens. Jane was there to…I had to answer some of the questions. I felt like a t-t-traitor. Aro wanted me to let him read my mind, but I wouldn't let him. I don't know what would have happened it I d-d-did…"

Olivia collapsed into a fit of sobs, leaning on my shoulder for support. I tried to focus on comforting her, but I was starting to get angry with the Volturi. Luckily, I could momentarily keep it under control, but the thought of someone kidnapping Olivia for information she might not even have was difficult to swallow. Especially because it was the Volturi and we had been taught from a young age that they were beyond evil.

"I didn't know what he wanted from me," she whimpered into my shoulder. "Maybe it was because I was young and they thought that they could b-b-break me enough to say something." Well they definitely succeeded in breaking her judging by the weeks of depression Olivia had spiraled into.

"I was even more confused when they sent a letter to my parents, well to the Cullens. Nothing made any s-sense. I was stuck there for a week until my dad came but then they did something…" The frequency of her sobs increased, but what could have been worse than what had happened to her before that point? "One of…them…can dissolve relationships between people so when I ran toward my dad… I didn't recognize him for a minute. It was like I had never met him."

My jaw dropped. Of all the awful things to do to someone, that was rock bottom. Now I was being consumed by rage but she continued on, talking faster than before, having not noticed my sudden anger. "Some of the Cullens had come with my dad and Aro wanted them in exchange for my release, and they did it. They are stuck there in that infernal place because of me—Eli you're shaking," Olivia observed, obviously frightened.

I hadn't noticed because of how furious I was, but I was convulsing. Red was creeping into my field of vision and a growl erupted from my chest. My eyes widened when I realized what was happening, but I couldn't stop the shaking. Through clenched teeth I barked at Olivia, barked, for her to get away, and she obliged running to the part of the clearing that was farthest away from me; too frightened to stay, but oddly captivated by what was unfolding.

"Those monsters," I managed to snarl before I exploded.

In less than a second I was all dark grey fur. I towered over Olivia, panting at the sudden transformation. Bits a fabric floated to the ground like candy falling from a piñata. Both of us were too startled to react for a moment. We stared at eachother until Olivia regained her courage and took a few slow steps back before turning and darting through the trees, without a word of goodbye.

My thoughts were reeling, darting between pure anger and shock. In the chaos I hadn't noticed that I wasn't alone until a voice inside my head was practically screaming my name. And it wasn't my voice. It was Jared, urging me to calm down. Jared had full insight into all of my confusion, but luckily he still couldn't figure out why I had phased. If he found out what made me angry enough to phase so early, it would betray Olivia's trust, and that was the last thing I wanted to do right now. Of course, after this Olivia probably would be afraid of me for a while. Things would be really difficult from here on out.

Eli, you need to run deeper into the forest so you won't be seen, Jared thought at me. My thoughts were still too frantic to respond coherently, but I obeyed, running for the first time in my new body. Everything about running as a wolf was different from anything I had ever experienced. The speed alone was almost frightening, but that wasn't the only thing to get used to. All of my senses were heightened so that even the slightest movements and sounds made me whip my head around to find the source.

And the crazy part was that whatever Jared saw, I saw, and his thoughts weaved through my mind as if they were my own. I almost ran into him because I was so distracted by everything around me. This part of being a wolf was way better than I had ever imagined. And now I wouldn't have to worry about being out of the loop all the time.

What made you phase? Jared inquired with interest.

I promised that I wouldn't say anything, I thought back, shoving the image of making the promise to Olivia out of my mind.

It could be important, Eli, especially if it involves Olivia. I was going to have to get used to controlling my thoughts because I was doing a pretty lousy job. The vague image that I had in my mind of the Volturi popped into my head and I began to growl involuntarily. But Jared already knew this so I wasn't breaking the promise.

I can't. I'm sorry.

You didn't imprint, did you? Jared asked suddenly. Come to think of it, my feelings hadn't changed when I looked her in the eyes after I phased. Jared saw this and let out a sigh of relief.

That probably wouldn't go over so well with Sam. Some images from Jared's mind showed how Sam felt when Olivia first went missing. It was painful to watch his anguished expression. Now I knew what Olivia meant when she said she couldn't hurt her parents anymore.

This sharing thoughts thing is really intense, I thought, mostly to myself.

Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet, Jared thought back. As if on cue, I felt two more wolves shimmer into being. The frantic thoughts of my dad and Sam played through my mind in stereo.

Olivia told me that you phased in front of her. What happened? Sam demanded. The power exuding from him was overwhelming. I couldn't lie to the alpha.

Olivia was telling me about what happened in Italy, there was a universal cringe, as if the place was a taboo. And it made me angry and I phased.

So many thoughts came from Sam at once including, You could have killed my daughter.

Take it easy, Sam. He couldn't control himself, Dad interjected. Are you alright, Eli? He added as a side thought.

I'm fine, Dad, I replied, my head spinning from all the voices inside it.

What did she tell you, Eli? Sam asked.

Olivia made me promise that I wouldn't tell anyone. Not even you, I thought timidly. Sam and I were usually on good terms, but I never had to look at him as my alpha before. He was beyond intimidating, and I was actually kind of scared of him.

I guess I can respect that, if they were her wishes, he responded after a minute, calming his thoughts instantly when he realized how frightened I was. I was impressed by how quickly he regained his cool. Maybe someday I would be able to control my emotions that well. I'll talk to Olivia about it then. And there's something else that I would like to bring up…

What do you mean? Dad, Jared, and I thought in unison.

After tonight, I'm not going to phase again.

All thoughts stopped.