Ironically, it had been the loud hushing noises that woke her, rather than the faint chatter she became aware of as she returned to consciousness.
Shit, her back ached something awful.
She stretched, fingers digging into the tough fibres of what she realised was carpet, toes curling in her oddly fluffy socks. Ah – yes, the sleepover – which explained everything; the back pain, the hair off her face, her very toasty feet, the large robe wrapped around her. Everything but the faint laughter which had started up as she stirred, and the hushed whispers.
She opened her eyes slightly, squinting at the bright light, and sat up to eye the crowd of half-naked men clustered in the kitchen. Her first instinct was to tell them all to shut up, perhaps throw something at them, but then her eyes – drawn like a magnet, something snapping into place when their gazes collided – met Jacob's dark stare. His face was unreadable but his eyes were heavy, and she stilled.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" It was Embry's cackle that broke the tension, and she looked away from Jacob to Embry's grin. Guilt flared in her gut momentarily. Jacob wasn't the only one she'd been avoiding, and unbidden, Embry's face as he left her in the kitchen, his broken face behind Jacob's house. She stood a little unsteadily, catching Paul's eyes. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she shook her head. Paul would have whisked her away if she had wanted, she knew it. But she had to be a big girl, face her mistakes head on.
"Where's your sister?" Paul asked instead, sniffing at her a little disconcertingly. She wrinkled her nose at him.
"She's in the back I assume. With Em and Kim." Alex almost laughed as Jared perked up comically, and if he had been a wolf, she could just picture his tail wagging. Jared and Paul jostled each other as they walked through the hallway laughing about something in low tones. Sam, however, stayed put.
He looked between the three of them, meaningful and stern. Then he turned on his heel and headed down the hall after the others.
"Long time no see, Alex." Embry broke the silence again, and when she looked at him this time, he was looking at her a little reproachfully. Shame made her cheeks burn, and she took a step forwards to explain.
"Sorry, I just-" Alex was interrupted by Embry's sudden embrace, wheezing out the rest of her breath as he shook her playfully. He set her down and laughed, patting her head like a dog.
"I missed you, dude." He said easily. "And, I get it." His voice held a promise, something to be discussed later – but Alex knew her friend, and she didn't need him to say it aloud, didn't need him to point out the elephant in the room. But because he was also a dick, Embry did anyway. "Besides, I think you two have a lot to talk about." He said, far too cheerfully for someone making a quick of an exit as he was. Alex glared at him as he swiftly backpedalled from the room. Turning to Jacob, she saw he was scowling just as fiercely. Clearly, he was just as reluctant to be in the same room as her as she was to be with him.
Acknowledging the realisation that, yes, they were alone in a room together made the strange flame in her chest ignite so strongly and suddenly that she sucked in a startled breath, and Jacob jumped, turning his scowl onto her. She pressed a hand into her sternum, massaging hard enough to ache, as if it would make the sensation stop. "Um. Let's go outside." She said shortly. Maybe the cool air and the lack of enclosing walls would stop the urge to reach out and touch him. She didn't wait for his answer before she was brushing past him, and even through the fluffy sleeve of her robe, the faint skim of her elbow against his forearm was enough to make her heart skip a beat.
God, she hated this. It was so… unnatural.
She wasn't sure exactly how far she had to go to be properly out of earshot of the wolves in the house, but when they were so far into the forest that she couldn't see Emily's house, and the soil beneath their feet was turning sandy – a sure sign they were nearing the ocean – Jacob stopped. It took her a few moments to register that he had, her feet the only thing making noise.
He wasn't looking at her, frowning at the tree two over from her. But he spoke first. "So when were you gonna tell me about the freaky head thing?"
Alex, still heated, had to fight to not snap at his accusing tone. "I was going to. But at first I wasn't allowed to tell anyone."
"What is it?" he asked, looking at her for a brief moment, curiosity clearly winning out over his obvious anger.
Alex shrugged, kicking her socked feet at the undergrowth. "Your dad thinks it's Dream Walking. But because no-one in the tribe has showed any signs for, like, forever, there's no definitive answer."
"Dream Walking." Jacob looked a little incredulous. "You're not Quileute."
"Yeah, duh. I know that. That's why I didn't know what it was at first." She rolled her eyes. "You think I was deliberately keeping it from you? It freaks me out, dude."
"You can say that again." Jacob said, eyes wide and almost smiling, and for a moment Alex felt like they were just friends again, just human, just idiots hanging out. Then, her chest heated again, and she was reminded of what they were. She hadn't even noticed she'd moved until Jacob gave her a look, and she realised she'd taken an involuntary lurch towards him.
"Sorry." She muttered, and took two steps back.
He shrugged. "Does Dad know why?"
Alex gave him a slightly disbelieving look. "Obviously because of you."
"Me?" he asked, frowning.
She waved a hand at him. "The only reason is because of this shit." She touched her chest lightly. "You're descended from Blacks, Alphas and direct descendants of the first wolves. Of course it's because of you. You've tied me to you, and whatever wolfy-god is up there is just trying to boost your power." Jacob's face slowly morphed into a frown again, and she sighed, wondering what exactly she had said to piss him off this time.
"I tied you to me?" Jacob asked, and she almost laughed. "You think I want this?"
"Obviously not." She snapped, "I'm just saying – if you had listened – that Dream Walkers are implicated to be alongside Alphas. It connects them more strongly to the Dream World, to their pack, to their-" she choked on the word. "Mate."
Jacob looked pretty close to gagging too. "Jesus Christ."
"Yep." Alex said shortly, folding her arms across her chest, hugging Sam's robe tighter to herself.
"And you can't… stop?"
She gave him a furious look. "You think I haven't tried?"
"I don't know. Kinda seems like something you'd like." He shrugged, looking mutinous. "Can't stay away from someone if they're in your head." Alex's jaw dropped.
"Ex-cuse me?" She growled at him, and balled her fists. Crap, just walk away, walk away, don't make things worse- "Fuck you, Black. Seriously, fuck you."
"What? Can't handle the truth?" Jacob asked, stepping towards her with a faint tremor that sent a spiral of nervousness up her spine. "Can't handle when people tell you you're unwanted?" they were close now, closer than she'd been to him since he'd Imprinted. It made her skin prickle.
Alex trembled, body seizing in pure rage – fed by the endless cycle of fury from both of them – and she leapt towards him. He was quicker than her, and she fell to her knees as he neatly side-stepped her, and she rose to her feet breathing heavily, lashing out at him with everything she had. "FUCK-" she punctuated each word with a savage swipe at him, freshly painted nails scratching at his bare chest with true vindication. "YOU!" she kicked at him, and he caught her ankle, grip just a shade too tight, tremors running over his body in earnest. "YOU THINK I GENIUENLY WANT THIS? I HATE IT! I HATE IT – AND I HATE YOU!" She had been hopping awkwardly, trying to rip her leg from his grip, but he tossed her casually, with so little effort it was embarrassing how far she flew, landing safely on the soft loam, but tangled in a heap, and she spat out leaves as she rose again.
"Trust me." Jacob's voice wasn't a yell as her own had been, but it shook with rage, and his jaw was clenched so tight he seemed to struggle to get the words out. "The feeling is fucking mutual."
She ran at him again, and he shook, splitting apart before her – and Alex knew, she fucking knew that she should have stopped, should have held back – but she was so goddamn angry that she didn't stop her furious hurtle towards him, even as his wolf reared up, snarling and snapping before her. She wanted to hurt him, wanted to rip him apart, wanted to set them both on fire, try and overwhelm the hard beating pulse of the Imprint bond in her chest.
The violence of her own impulse should have startled her too, but then she was upon him, biting down on his foreleg like she was an animal too. Her teeth were not sharp enough to do anything, and she couldn't even penetrate his thick overcoat, getting a mouthful of fur for her efforts, and he shook her off like an irritating fly.
She went tumbling over herself again, and when he snarled at her, bone-chilling and loud enough to make her ears ring, advancing on her with rage in his amber eyes – she just screamed at him, loud enough to drown out his noise.
In hindsight, she knew that they should have stood down then. Jacob should have left to calm down, she should have run and hid, should have removed herself. Because it was dangerous, he was dangerous, they were dangerous in this red-hot place of anger they'd found themselves in.
But even as she heard howls in the trees, the crashing sound of the pack hurtling towards them, she was rising to her feet.
Jacob's teeth were bared, and there was a darkness in his eyes as he snarled again, bracing himself for her impact despite the fact she was a tiny, breakable non-threat. As the first of the wolves broke through the trees, Jacob's jaws descended and Alex's fingers – curled like claws – extended towards his eyes.
They fell together, tangled, and around them the world howled.
