Chapter song is Bat out of Hell by Meatloaf!
Thanks for reading so far!
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Emily's house was absolutely silent as everyone entered. Embry couldn't help the puzzled frown that marred his face. What the hell had just happened? Sure, he was aware of Jared's knowledge and everyone else's, but understanding everything was still odd.
To recap, Paul's imprint and Jake's crush was some mix of human and something else, and she'd just beat the shit out of her brother who they hadn't known existed. Bella wanted to break the sacred imprint bond and there was some threat they'd whispered about named Medora? She just ran away from all of them and now the brother was in their custody?
Embry's head hurt, but he tightened his grip on Drayer nonetheless.
"Easy there." Drayer warned. He sounded completely calm. Way more on top of things than Embry felt he himself was.
Embry looked down at the smaller man. Sam had ordered that he be brought back to be questioned. Emily was called and told to stay with Sue until this threat was figured out. Embry suspected that Bella's brother had more control over the situation than they did.
His heartbeat was even.
"Sit him down here, guys." Sam demanded. He was already sitting at the beat-up kitchen table.
Embry nodded at Jared, and together they set Drayer at the table. Jake was in the corner of the room with his arms crossed. He had been woken up when Bella ran away. The look on his face was murderous.
The alpha looked Bella's brother over thoughtfully. Sam wasn't one to overlook details, especially those of a man who had threatened a pack member.
Jared's neck was red with thin lines that were slowly disappearing.
"Well, now it's time for a game of Twenty Questions?" Drayer asked lazily.
"I would like some answers." Sam responded mildly. He seemed at ease, but Embry knew he was close to doling out the worst possible punishment; Paul was outside tearing trees apart and for once Jake and him were on the same page.
Embry, ever the pacifist, wanted to just leave the house and go to bed. Jared was, after all, alive.
"I'd be more than willing to answer. I need to get out of here and save my dumbass sister."
Embry internally jumped in joy. If this could end peacefully, then he wouldn't have to help Emily clean up the rubble later.
Sam's voice was dead."Well, go ahead. Why the hell did you trespass on our land and attack us." It wasn't a question.
A serene, innocent smile spread across the stranger's face. Embry resisted the urge to rub his eyes because of how much the man looked like Bella at that moment. "It's really not that complicated. I wanted to see if your Paul was good enough for my baby sister."
The kitchen grew absolutely silent.
Sam blinked once. Twice. "You're actually an idiot."
"If love makes one an idiot, then I am an absolute imbecile." Drayer's smile grew bigger. "And your boy passed!"
A growl ripped through the room. "How the hell did that jackass pass?" Jake demanded in disbelief.
Sam shot an exasperated look at Jake. "Is this really the time for your high school bullshit?" He waved a hand at Jared. "He was held hostage."
"Sorry boss, but this is a lot to handle. The mechanics of what this loon just said literally makes no sense."
Jared was now indignant. "Really, Jake? What happened to bros before hoes?"
"Bella is in no way a h-"
Jake's idiotic statement was interrupted by Drayer clearing his throat politely. "Can I finish telling you all what is going on?"
"Yes, that'd make my fucking day." Sam grumbled.
Embry couldn't help but note the irony of the two siding with one another.
"Basically, Bella and I have an evil grandmother who is trying to use my sister as a pawn to further her cause of genocide. Bella ran to take the heat off of Forks."
"What the fuck?" This time it was Embry who swore.
Drayer ignored him. "I must confess, the injured human that my sister described to me is most likely because of Medora. She in all probability wishes to use Bella to take out our mother."
Sam was now razor-focused. "Medora is your grandmother? Why would hurting Harry help her get to Bella?"
"Yes, she is, at least by blood. In actuality, we have had no relationship with her our entire lives. As for why the attack on one of yours, Bella would be able to tell once she touched Harry that our kind was responsible. Think of it like a war flag or intimidation tactic to draw Bella out. Medora grew tired of waiting." Drayer spoke quickly, as if annoyed that he had to explain something so obvious.
"Why does your grandmother want to take out Renee?" Jake asked, momentarily distracted from his imagined girl problems.
Bella's brother sighed. Grim lines settled around his mouth. All of a sudden, he gave the impression of being much, much older than he appeared. The words poured out choppily and flat. "Renee Crosse is the General of all fae in North America. Her being Medora's daughter is just an unhappy coincidence. If Mother falls, then the people will be leaderless and easier to switch over into Medora's camp. Any more questions before I make a request?"
What the fuck is a fa- Embry's thought was interrupted.
The door barged open and a shaking Paul entered through. Embry felt himself grow pale at the sight of him; he looked like the tree had somehow won in their dispute. Blood with no apparent source decorated his bare chest. It had dried in streaks.
"Where is she?" He asked.
Embry's stomach dropped when there wasn't any anger present. He sounded subdued, dead. Like a man with nothing to lose. It was by far the most out of character that any of the pack had ever seen him. Embry suspected that it was this side of Paul that had been buried beneath anger and sarcasm for an eternity. After all, a guy with not a single family member left alive, other than a convict that used to religiously torture him, had very little to treasure or look forward to.
The others had always resented Paul for placing such a strong emphasis on college and the prospects of money. Embry had always possessed the good sense to be thankful.
"Are you ready to go get her, tiger?" Drayer drawled. "I would like to get on her trail with some backup."
Eyes devoid of light gazed at the odd, small man in the center of the room. "Sure, let's go." He looked around the room. "Keep everyone safe, guys."
Sam looked at Drayer pointedly. "Paul, I don't know if we can let him go. He's already proven himself a threat."
Paul appeared slightly aggravated at not being allowed to leave. "I'm taking him away from LaPush. If you think that this guy was in any way forced to sit in that chair, you're wrong, Sam. We either need to all pile on him now and kill him or we need to release him." A grunt of pain suddenly escaped him and Embry's pack brother clutched at his bloody chest as though someone had stabbed it. "Let me go make sure that girl is safe." The last sentence was a plea.
Long silence followed as Sam assessed Paul with worried eyes. He then nodded silently.
Embry avoided a yelp escaping him when he suddenly felt Drayer easily go against the force that Jared and him had been applying on his shoulders. Embry and Jared both removed their hands at once.
The small, lean man smiled brightly around the room as he stood and stretched casually. "Thank you for the assessment, Paul. I knew I liked you for a reason. Alpha, I have one favor to ask you before I leave."
"What?" Sam snapped.
The jubilant personality left Drayer. He was a different man. "There's a woman I will be sending here for protection. She's human. She is special. Please treat her like one of your own." He bowed formally at the end of his request.
"We will." Sam sighed.
Nothing was left to be said. Drayer and Paul exited the kitchen. The door slammed anti-climatically.
Embry jumped when Sam slammed his hand on the table. He stood up abruptly and got a beer out of the fridge.
"If any of you fuckers even think about imprinting, you're getting neutered. Too much trouble. Fuck..." Sam chugged the beer and headed back out the door. "Let's get back to the border and see if the red-headed bitch is still around."
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Anna Crosse arrived at Forks Hospital tired. She had scored first class tickets to Washington within a minute of talking to Bell. It'd been too long since she'd seen her little cousin, and she sure wasn't letting that girl slip away without a fight.
They had lost more than Ben and Jack that fateful night. They had also lost Bella.
Anna still couldn't quite bring herself to forgive her aunt Renee for allowing Bella to leave home. She should've been with her family, the ones who knew her best. If given enough time, she knew that the little girl whom she had seen grow up before her very eyes would return. After all, Anna, to her very core, was a healer. A very talented one at that.
"Baby, stop worrying. She'll be okay." A warm hand grazed hers, startling her out of her revelry. Nate was the only one who could do that to her.
"Yeah, Bella's tough. I just can't wait to see her." Evie's naturally loud voice pierced through the air. Her eyes, copied directly from their mother, were a piercing violet against the serene white scheme of the closest airport to Forks.
"Let's not get our hopes too far up." The caution unwillingly poured from her mouth. She knew that Bella was scared, had heard that fear in her voice on the phone. She ran from hurt ever since fate had punished her so cruelly when Ben died. Anna knew that fae normally perished immediately or went insane after losing a mate, but she attributed Bella's half-human side for her survival.
Isabella Swan was always the exception to the rules.
A little while later, Evie whistled through her teeth right before they arrived at Fork's Hospital. "Sis, they really worked this guy over." Her eyes were still merry despite the gory image that her mind had displayed. She was still excited to see Bella and it overruled everything else.
As Evie was only sixteen years old, Anna had a hard time relating to her often cold reactions. The exposure to violence was at an absolute minimum in the time Drayer and her were teenagers. The clan had been isolated from humans and their wars then.
"Stop." Evie's arm flung out to stop Anna from entering the hospital main entrance. Violet eyes were narrowed suspiciously. "There are people still in the room with the man. Two of them are those shapeshifters that Dray asked me to keep tabs on."
"Can you do anything about them?" Nate asked, his jaw stiff.
Evie's dainty nose wrinkled up. "Yeah, I can put them asleep for awhile as long as they don't know how to block magic. Which from my time at the crystal, I can almost promise they don't." With that, she walked back to the rental car and sat cross-legged on top of the hood.
Her eyes slid slowly closed within two and a half minutes after muttering some incantations under her breath.
Sweat began to drip down her face and time drifted lazily by as Nate and Anna flocked either side of the small girl. Nate's body bounced impatiently in a trademark inability to sit still. This continued for a total of twenty minutes before her eyes snapped open. "Done. Their minds were strong." She sounded mildly impressed.
They quickly went up several floors and to the room number that Ester indicated. The amount of sick people made Anna's hands itch, but she reminded herself that most of the humans' bodies were capable of healing themselves. Interference on her part would only do needless harm.
Light snores were the first noticeable element in Harry Clearwater's room. Three people, all in chairs around the injured man's bed, were asleep. A young boy was in the middle supporting two women, one younger and one older, on his shoulders. Judging off of the age differences and looks, they were Harry's children and his wife. Dark circles carved into each family member's face, highlighting the stress and grief that Medora had caused them.
The grave, cursed hurt coming from Harry supported his family's feelings. Rage filtered through Anna and then dissipated. She would take that agony away from him.
No longer cognizant of her little sister or mate, Anna laid a hand on the ravaged skin of Harry. She focused on him and a rush of information from his body's systems made themselves known to her. Medora's spell was interwoven in a cruel, clinical signature; it hampered the body's ability to heal itself. Anna took a deep breath and studied the situation for a second more before getting to work.
As Anna healed, Nate's phone went off in its default ringtone. "Yes?" He answered it with his eyes still on his mate, who was too far gone to notice the disruption.
"Hey, Nate." Drayer greeted. "Thought I'd check in before I lost signal. I am with Bell's guy and we are in Wyoming. Bella went rogue and I'm pretty sure Medora's after her for some reason so we are kinda trying to fix that?"
That was a little too much too process all at once. "What?" Evie and Nate were in complete sync.
"Oh hey, Evie." Drayer said cheerfully. They heard dark swears in a stranger's deep voice in the background. "So anyway, help out those shapeshifters while we are gone, I might need backup if things go to shit."
"Hey twinkle-fuck, I just smelled some vamps really close, so stop dicking around." That same deep voice cursed at their cousin. Drayer laughed and then loud static took over the call quality.
The phone disconnected. Evie and Nate stared at each other balefully.
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-what'd you think of Paul and Drayer working together?
More action to follow this Friday!
-rednight73