CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: NUISANCE
(Jacob's POV)
I couldn't have planned it better myself. Embry had a habit of leading girls on, and it was finally coming back to bite him in the ass. Before he started phasing, he always played the shy card. He acted all nice and sensitive, and they fell for it every time. To his credit, he never really took it too far, but it was still a mean game to play. I think he just liked the attention.
After going through his first phase, shooting up several inches in height, and putting on some muscle, he'd changed his game. Shy wasn't necessary anymore, since girls seemed to notice him without the act. Now he just grinned and let them fall at his feet. This one had fallen a bit too hard, and now she was standing at our door.
"You're Jessica? From last night?" Rachel asked. Apparently Paul had filled her in.
Embry turned a little green and looked around for an escape.
"Hey, Embry! Your woman's here!" Rachel yelled. She was getting as much enjoyment out of this as I was. I couldn't blame her. Embry annoyed her nearly as much as I did growing up, and it didn't look like she'd forgotten it.
"My what?" he choked. His eyes darted around nervously, silently begging us for help, but he was in the wrong company for that.
He jumped out of his chair, ready to take off, but Paul anticipated his move, springing over to Rachel and swinging the door open wide. The look on Embry's face when Jessica jumped in his lap was something I'd never forget. And I planned on playing it over and over in my mind every time we phased for the rest of our lives.
We all sat watching in amusement as he half-heartedly ate the food he'd been dying for just minutes earlier, and Jessica talked his ear off. She was going on and on about some dress she needed, asking him a million questions she never gave him time to answer, and scolding him for being too messy when he ate. Too bad he hadn't imprinted on her. I could have watched this go on forever.
I glanced over at Bella to find her expression fighting between pity and humor. I knew she'd feel sorry for Embry---she felt sorry for everyone. But I was glad she was getting a silent laugh out of it, too. She was quickly becoming one of us.
"That was great, Bella. Thanks," Seth said, pushing his chair away from the table.
Bella smiled at him, clearly pleased. His eyes lit up as he returned her smile, and then he suddenly looked at me. Immediately he cleared his throat, his gaze dropping to the empty plate he held, and he shuffled away to the kitchen. Smart boy. His crush on Bella was becoming obvious. I really couldn't blame him, but he was only going to get away with so much.
"So…I need to get home," he said. "Told Mom I'd help her with the yard."
No one paid any attention to him. We were all too busy watching Jessica pick at Embry's hair as she explained why he needed to grow it out like some guy she saw on TV.
"Umm…guys? Hey!"
Even Jessica noticed Seth this time, and she scrunched up her face in annoyance. Seth repeated his bit about the yard work, and then he just stood there, looking at everyone expectantly. Sam had to get home to Emily, but Jared and Quil reluctantly offered to help. Embry, seeing his opportunity for escape, started to volunteer as well, but Jessica cut him off, insisting they didn't get enough quality time together.
Bella's pity finally took over, and she asked Jessica to help her with the dishes. Jessica didn't look happy about having to be a whole ten feet away from Embry, but she followed Bella into the kitchen anyway.
The second she was out of reach, Embry sprung toward the door.
"Not so fast," I said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "This is your problem. If you leave, take it with you."
He glared at me, glanced over at the door again, and then sighed. "Fine. What's on TV?"
While the girls cleaned up from breakfast, Embry and I flipped through channels, trying to find something decent to watch.
"So what happened last night?" I asked him.
"You know what happened," he said.
He was right, to an extent. As focused as he'd been on hunting vampires last night, his thoughts had still occasionally flitted to Jessica. I knew he and Quil had caught up with the girls a few miles from Newton's, and they'd driven out to the Timber Museum together. Leah had tormented Lauren just long enough for her to mouth off, and it looked like someone was going to be sporting a black eye for a while. Poor Quil had been stuck with a pouting Lauren while Embry swapped spit with Jessica---and not in my car, thank God. I really didn't want to have to torch it after all the work I'd put into it.
"I only know what you were thinking about," I said. "Apparently I missed something epic, like a proposal."
He rolled his eyes. "Dude, all we did was mess around a little. Not even third base! I don't know what her deal is."
"I'd say her deal is you," I grinned.
"You gotta help me get rid of her," he said.
"Nope."
"C'mon, man," he pleaded. "It's part your fault anyway."
"My fault? How is this my fault?" There was no way I was taking the fall for this.
"I wouldn't even have met her if I hadn't been helping you out," he insisted.
"Okay, first of all, I didn't ask for your help, and---"
"Just because you didn't have the balls to---"
"And second, you're the one who went chasing after her."
"But---"
"You screw with girls' heads all the time, man. Odds were you'd eventually get a stalker."
His mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but then he quickly shut it. He narrowed his eyes at me and grabbed the remote.
When the girls were done in the kitchen, Embry jumped up from the sofa and moved to the chair. He looked pretty satisfied with himself until Jessica hopped on his lap again. Apparently nothing was going to keep her from sitting with him. Bella snuggled up at my side, but there was no getting comfortable with Ms. Fatal Attraction in the room.
I'd felt sorry for her at first, but the more she talked, the more that feeling faded. She was louder than the TV, no matter how much I turned up the volume, and even though it was obvious that Embry didn't want to be around her, she just couldn't take a hint. I was tempted to just spell it out for her, but it was kind of fun watching Embry squirm. Besides, Bella seemed to be getting along with her well enough, and even though I knew they weren't very close, I didn't want to be rude to her friend. Even if she was the most annoying person I'd ever met.
When it came time to check in with Sam, Jessica didn't want to let go of Embry. Apparently she didn't believe him when he said he'd be right back---and neither did I. I didn't know what to do to get out the door without her following us, though. It's not like we could say, 'Hey, we're gonna go morph into vampire slaying monsters real quick, okay?' Fortunately, Bella saved us by asking Jessica about a dress. Jessica got a wild look in her eye, let out an eardrum shattering squeal, and started spewing words so fast I couldn't tell if she was excited or insane. But either way, we had an appointment with the pack.
Embry and I bolted out the door and ran to the woods, phasing the second we were behind the thick cover. We tried to keep our thoughts quiet, simply listening as Sam and Jared tried to talk Collin down from hysteria. We'd been expecting it for a few days now, but we were all kind of hoping it wouldn't happen. It seemed that the leech attack had been just enough to rip him out of his human form. It sounded like the only thing that had kept him from phasing earlier was the gallons of cold medicine his mother had been filling him with, keeping him completely calm and practically comatose for a few days.
Poor kid was only thirteen, and I doubted he was ready for something like this. Then again, none of us had been. Sam had been trying to get access to Collin for days, but short of telling his mom what was really going on, there was no way he could argue with her when she insisted he was contagious and couldn't have visitors. The result was that his mother had been standing in the doorway to his room when he phased, and she was convinced he was a demon who'd taken her child and was now trying to kill her. Her panic only fueled his agitation, and he was too upset to phase back any time soon. From Sam's thoughts I gathered that he and Jared were just out of sight near Collin's house, while Emily and Leah were in the house, doing their best to calm the hysterical woman. We waited a few minutes, knowing that Sam recognized our presence, but we were just a distraction to him, so we phased back.
"So, I guess Brady's a goner, too, huh?" Embry asked.
"Looks like it," I replied, pulling my shorts back on.
Brady was another one that was too young for this, but his "fever" had started a few days after Collin's did, and it was just a matter of time before he joined us. We were probably just lucky they didn't both phase at the same time.
"We're gonna have our hands full," Embry said.
I nodded and looked over at him. Why was he still standing there naked? Oh. Shit.
That sneaky little bastard grinned deviously and leapt away from me, phasing just after his feet hit the ground. I yanked my shirt back up, trying not to rip it as it tangled over my head. I couldn't exactly walk back in the house with no clothes on while the girls were there, and he knew it.
"Dammit, Embry!" I kicked off my shorts and sprung, phasing mid-air to chase after him.
I zeroed in on his mind, ignoring everyone else who was phased. Poor Collin was just beginning to calm down, and now he had to witness a full on chase through his mind.
'Embry!'
'No!'
'You can't run forever!'
'Watch me!'
It was all pointless. He was going to have to stop eventually. I was faster than anyone in the pack, including Sam, and even with his head start, Embry wasn't so ahead of me that he'd get very far. And if luck was on his side, and he managed to slip too far ahead, Sam would simply command that he stop. He'd be lucky if he got out to the mountains before I caught up to him.
I could hear his paws crashing through the dense undergrowth just ahead of me as he barreled between trees, leaves flying and branches snapping behind him, and I picked up my pace.. He was still running at top speed, his head down and paws heavily pushing off the ground with each step, and I was just getting started. I was watching the ground ahead of him through his mind, and he was doing the same with me. I felt his desperation as soon as he saw I got a glimpse of him. He was about to make a fatal mistake.
It takes a lot to make a werewolf stumble. Our phased bodies practically sense obstacles, and we can spin almost instantly, changing course without missing a step. Unless we're not looking through our own eyes.
Embry's focus was constantly changing between what was ahead of him and what I was seeing ahead of me. He was focused on what I was seeing again when it struck me, and I reacted before I even completed the thought.
I knew where each tree, each rock was in front of me. The only other thing in my path was Embry. I closed my eyes and leapt forward. He was still watching through my mind, and for a second, all he could get from my thoughts was the backs of my eyelids. I heard his confusion and panic just as he focused his gaze ahead and sideswiped a tree, slowing him just enough that I crashed into him. The struggle was over in seconds.
The second we walked in, Bella jumped up off the sofa and stalked toward me. She grabbed my arm and spun, trying to pull me toward my room. Finally. I didn't care if all we did in there was play checkers, as long as there was a closed door between us and her chatty little friend.
She kicked the door shut and turned to face me.
"Well, if you wanted to be alone…" I said, only to be surprised when she slapped my hands away from her.
"I do not want to be alone," she spat.
"What's wrong?"
I don't think I'd ever seen her angry before…at least not like this. I'd seen her upset, hurt, maybe a little mad. But I'd never seen her eyes flash fire or heard her voice quite so steely. For such a tiny girl, she could be a little scary.
"What's wrong?" she asked, stepping back to glare at me. "You two go off and leave me with her, and you ask me what's wrong?!"
Make that a lot scary. "We didn't leave, Bells. We just went outside for a few minutes," I said. I got that she wasn't happy with Embry and Jessica, but it wasn't exactly my fault. Jessica was her friend, not mine. And the only reason I hadn't already shoved her out of my house was Bella.
"Forty-seven minutes is not just a few, Jacob," she argued.
Had we really been gone that long? "Well, it took me a while to catch him."
"Catch him? He ran?" she asked, her voice rising.
"Hell yeah, he ran," I said. "Wouldn't you?"
She didn't answer, but she wasn't glaring…as bad.
"He phased before I could stop him," I tried to explain. "And man, he can really bolt when he needs to."
Her eyes narrowed at me. "Get rid of them," she said.
Gladly. "Okay. Just stop looking at me like that." I thought I saw a flicker of my sweet girl somewhere behind the anger. "Please?"
Bella and Rachel almost had dinner ready when Charlie showed up. Rachel's contribution to the meal had everyone making excuses not to eat, and Bella made me the guinea pig. I really hoped my supernatural abilities included immunity to food poisoning. Otherwise tonight was going to be a repeat of that Thanksgiving a couple of years ago when Rachel had tried to kill us with what she swore was turkey. I thought about warning Bella, but the look in her eyes and the tone of her voice slapped that thought right out of my head. Still, I wasn't looking forward to death by spaghetti.
"This isn't bad," I said. The noodles weren't over or undercooked, and the sauce was…"It's actually edible!" Bella's influence in the kitchen might have just saved all our lives.
We ended up talking about the attack, or, as Charlie knew it, the "arson investigation." I knew better than to hope the cops were just as clueless as the rest of the locals. Sure enough, Charlie told us they thought the fires were a distraction from the real crime.
It was hard to sit there without feeling guilty. Charlie had every official in the county working overtime, and he'd never get to the bottom of it. What's worse is that we all knew Bella was the target, and yet no one would, no one could tell him. It's not like he could do anything about it anyway. His department issued gun was nothing to a bloodsucker. But I'd take care of his daughter for him, even if he'd never know just how much.
Dad worked his usual magic, easily leading the conversation in a different direction just as everyone's nerves were starting to show, and when dinner was done, Rachel and Bella headed back to the kitchen to clean up. I wanted to help out, but they just kept pushing me out of their way. I hated that Bella had spent so much time at my house stuck in the kitchen, but she wasn't complaining so I let it go and gestured to Paul that I was going outside.
We were walking to the garage when we heard the howl. It didn't sound like an emergency, but we still couldn't ignore it, so we stepped around back and phased.
