Emmett was at the door at 6:30 AM the next morning, wanting to get a head start on the drive, and probably wanting Delilah to have as little time alone in a hotel room with a boy. He tried to mute his intentions from his energy, but it wasn't possible.
Embry never really tried to hide his strength, and he especially wasn't doing so then as he toted all five of their bags, one stacked on top of the other as they walked down the hall, passing dozens of rooms. Even on a quick trip, the Cullens always seemed to go the extra mile in terms of luxury. The hotel was the nicest one the young girl had ever stayed in. Carlisle had even offered to give everyone their own single room, though the idea was quickly rejected.
A woman with a towel wrapped around her head and a bucket full of ice stared at the large man in awe as they passed by her briskly. Delilah knew how she felt about him and his shocking beauty, but sometimes she wondered what it might have been like to see him outside of their connection. Clearly, he was a sight to behold regardless.
"Delilah, there's a complimentary breakfast buffet in the lobby. Why don't you and Seth head over there while we check out and get everything in the car?" Bella hadn't been the type to take the reigns from what Delilah had known of her before, but all she'd gone through had made Bella someone more prone to rising to the occasion. Delilah wondered if after all he had been uneasy about regarding Bella's relationship with Edward... if Charlie had noticed this positive change and absorbed it.
Seth's hand instinctually rested on Delilah's shoulder as he turned her to the right, where there seemed to be a room dedicated to the buffet of breakfast foods available to the hotel guests. After what had occurred the night before, if it were possible, Embry seemed to be keeping an even more watchful eye on the brunette. He stood by the hotel desk next to Bella and Emmett, not tearing his eyes away from her even after she physically disappeared into the room. Somehow, Delilah knew he was still looking her way.
Delilah found humor in the way Seth was over piling three different plates with food. She thought about the mess that was awaiting the rental car with all of the unpackaged food Seth was bringing in. Like the other pack members, he was excitable when he ate and rarely didn't make a mess.
Delilah filled her singular plate, taking four or five things to make sure she never felt hungry in the car, being that every other person in the car with her had super hearing of some kind and would surely hear any rumble within her stomach. She turned around, satisfied with her plate, only to see Embry lingering in the doorway. The bags had been packed into the car and it was now his turn to get food for himself.
Embry shook his head and laughed softly as the younger wolf tried to balance all of his food as he made his way out of the small room. It was then that Embry approached, his large figure towering over as he looked to her rather than the food.
"Not gonna be able to see you too often from here on out," Embry mumbled. This had occurred to Delilah as she laid next to him the night before, wrung in a single bed sheet and his large arms. She'd known what she'd wanted that night, but it only made her want to be in his presence more after, and that wouldn't be possible for the next few days. She'd get over it, though. So would he.
"I'll come to say hi." She promised. She pictured herself going out and seeing him in his monstrous wolf form for a small portion of time after everyone had gone to bed. She was sure that Embry had figured that this would happen too.
"Focus on your family." Embry's soft eyes showed her genuine encouragement. She knew he wanted to be with her too, but that normalcy would help her more than anything else could during that time. He would encourage her to do what was best for her and her only, always. He had promised himself that.
"Eat up." He encouraged her to do something else that he thought would be good for her after they sat down with Seth, running his hand over her right cheekbone attentively before turning to his own large portion of food.
Delilah wondered about her father, and she knew that he must be wondering about her too. She had been a little harsh in her way of wriggling her way out of town, and she wondered how much he had considered that Delilah was hiding things from him.
"Give your dad a call before we all head out," Embry suggested, almost in passing. He did this a lot, mentioning what she was thinking but not saying. It always helped reassure her, though. She was grateful to be on the same wavelength as someone the way she was with him. It was comforting. It was special.
She'd miss him, ache for him even, for the next few days.
After a quick phone call with her father, his slightly lighter demeanor by the end of the call making her feel better, she walked over to the rental car, Embry holding onto her tightly. He'd have to let go soon, heading for a nearby wooded area with Seth so they could bound over to Cadee's home, where they'd linger in the forest to watch over Delilah as best they could from their hidden distance.
"I'll be nearby," Embry reassured her again, holding her face in his hands before kissing her firmly and knowingly. It was long, and it also lingered after his lips had pulled from hers. She really would miss him. Maybe too much.
"You're never far." Delilah laughed and looked up at him slowly. His face contorted, as though he felt that there might be hidden double meaning in her comment. "I like it that way," his stance loosened again, like for a moment he had questioned whether or not she had actually wanted him around as much as he was. How could he even question anything after the night before? Emotions of all kinds were totally heightened for that same reason, she supposed.
She pecked his soft lips one more time before he turned to the younger member of the pack and they bounded across the parking lot, away from the human and two vampires. Delilah giggled at the two packaged pastries that Seth was still holding on to. Emmett opened the door to the backseat, and Delilah stepped in with her heart aching more and more with every step that took her further from Embry.
Emmett told stories of his family a lot of the way to the house. Well, she supposed it was her family too that he was speaking about, just from long before her time. Emmett mentioned that he'd forgotten a lot of what he was now telling Delilah and Bella. Heading back there under these circumstances brought back details of some sorts for random events that most vampires would never remember for themselves. He sounded grateful.
"Remember that you aren't supposed to know who any of them are. Including your brother. No questionable comments." Bella warned, her tone soft and playful with her brother-in-law. She knew all that could ensue if Emmett let his thoughts go flying.
"Right." Emmett agreed. He seemed to grow uncomfortable, as he began to readjust his position in the driver's seat of the rented sedan, much like a human would in an nervous state.
Cadee had been Delilah's favorite cousin from the start of their lives. They were both girls and were seven months apart, so it made sense. Cadee usually knew everything there was to know about Delilah's life. More than her friends back home did. It was easier to tell someone who lived so far away. Plus, Cadee never judged, and talking to her always seemed to help Delilah make a better decision than she would have if she had faced whatever it was alone.
Knowing she would never be able to truly have this sort of relationship with Cadee again made Delilah feel somber as the car's tires clashed with the gravel beneath them and into the driveway of their destination.
Bella heard the hitches happening in Delilah's breathing pattern, and she tried to focus more intently on it without Delilah noticing, though the younger girl noticed anyway.
Cadee's petite figure was on the porch. Her strawberry blonde ringlets bounced around as she began to wave her hands in the air as she rocked back and forth on her heels.
"Subtlety still isn't a family trait." the right side of Bella's mouth curved upward as she smiled at Emmett. His response was only a smile, but it was a broad one. Even when wordless, the large man was loud, proving Bella right.
Bella watched as Delilah left the vehicle. Suddenly, there were four or five younger people walking out as the screened door flew open effortlessly. Two boys had dark curls like Emmett's, Bella noticed right away.
More than that, Bella noticed how Cadee knocked the wind out of Delilah as she lunged at her, arms tight around her torso and not letting go. The younger kids, who ranged from four to eleven maybe, found various ways to embrace the newly arrived Delilah as well.
Because Delilah was an only child and her mom had passed, Bella always saw the girl as very similar to her in the way of family. As Bella watched more and more people trickle out of the house to greet Delilah, she realized this wasn't true. People would notice if she disappeared. They would care. The stakes for her safety were generally higher than Bella's ever had been, she supposed. It worried Bella more. This was the type of family that would never stop looking if Delilah ever disappeared suddenly. She thought back to Charlie telling her that he would never stop looking for her when he was on the Riley Biers case years before.
They really, really couldn't let anything happen to Delilah now.
Delilah saw photos of her mother from the 70s and various other decades hung on the walls of the house. They had always been there, but they were more startling now that her mother was gone. She tried to avoid looking at them at one point, hating the empty pit in her stomach that formed when she did look at them.
She watched Emmett analyze each and every photo though, finally stumbling across them. Delilah waited for him to reach the bottom right corner of the display in the hallway, where she knew he would see a photo of his brother. She watched his brow furrow together as he studied the photo. She knew his brother was older than he had ever seen him in the photo. Really, they were lucky that Delilah's aunt hadn't gotten to her project of creating a collage of historical family photos. Emmett might have appeared in that display.
That night, Delilah had slipped out of the house and toward the wooded area to the left of the home, where she knew Embry and Seth would be lingering. She was happy to see Embry was ready to greet her on two legs, stepping forward but still hovering amongst the trees. Delilah could still hear Emmett's booming laugh from all those yards away. This assured her that everyone was still distracted by the two enchanting creatures that had come to their home with Delilah. She could visit with Embry for a little while without the worry of being caught.
"I missed you." the russet-toned boy mumbled as he took her left hand in between both of his. She felt better being around him once again.
"None of them are around?" Delilah muttered under her breath, almost forcing herself to bring up the looming threat that had seemed so far away while she'd been visiting with her family moments before.
"Not that we have seen, no." Embry seemed to have found a way to stare at her even more intently than ever before. "We'll know if it happens." He added for reassurance. Another laugh came from inside of the house.
"I'll have you meet them soon. When all of this is over with." She looked back at the house that was lit up in every room and crowded with her family members.
"It'll happen soon." Embry's words were once again reassuring and kind.
"I love you." was all Delilah could bring herself to say as he leaned forward and captured her lips in a long kiss that was heavy in emotion.
"I love you," Embry murmured back lowly.
"Delilah?" Cadee's voice could suddenly be heard, and not from far away. Embry whisked himself back behind the trees in a flash, leaving Delilah to her own devices. Cadee entered the woods, her green eyes flashing with friendly intent as she bounded toward her cousin.
"I just wondered where you went." the slightly older girl commented, settling both hands inside her sweatshirt's front pocket.
"Just getting air," Delilah replied simply, hoping it wouldn't cause too many questions. Cadee plopped herself down on a mossy log nearby.
"I heard you talking. Were you on the phone?" Cadee wasn't interrogating her. In fact, she only seemed to be paying half attention to whatever her cousin might say in response.
"Yeah, on the phone," Delilah pulled all of her hair over her right shoulder nervously as she took the excuse that her cousin had handed to her on a silver platter.
"Must've been on speaker. I heard your new guy. He's got a sexy voice." Cadee wriggled her eyebrows suggestively as she waited for an embarrassed reaction from her cousin.
"He's great." Delilah sat beside her as they both looked amongst the tall trees that stood in front of them.
"I'm gonna come stay with you soon. I'll meet him then." Cadee announced. Delilah felt her throat close up from a sensation of anxiety.
"School's busy. Maybe during summer." Delilah tried to keep her answer both definitive and kind all at once.
"If that's what you want," Cadee said slowly, for the first time sounding slightly suspicious of what her cousin might be thinking or doing.
"Just call me more." The blonde added, now staring at the ground below them, nudging Delilah's side lightly. She had likely been waiting until they were alone to make the request.
"I promise." Delilah barely got the words out when she saw a flash of red eyes yards away. They were gone as quickly as they came. Delilah felt her throat close up again. She saw them once more, this time closer.
"Cadee, I'll meet you inside." Delilah found herself saying. She had clearly caught her oblivious cousin off guard with her new set of plans.
"C'mon, I'll sneak some beers from the garage. Remember how much fun we'd have sleeping out here as kids? I'd make Molly bring us f-" Cadee was trying hard to make Delilah remember the good things that had happened on the property ratherthan just her mother. Delilah didn't have time to acknowledge her good intentions, though.
"Just go." She had never been so surprisingly harsh with someone, let alone Cadee.
After a couple of stutters and no real words, Cadee found herself heading toward the house again, leaving Delilah in the woods.
The eyes were much closer in their next appearance that happened almost immediately after the blonde had scampered off.
Delilah barely caught a glimpse of the fact that the figure was a male vampire when Seth's sandy wolf form jumped out from the other side of the woods, aggressive and towering even as the smallest of the pack.
Just as soon as he'd revealed himself, the vampire was gone and Seth was after him. Still in his human form, Embry shot out of where he had positioned himself before Cadee had entered the scene.
"What are you thinking?!" Embry's voice was booming and violent with anger. She had never seen this behavior from him directed at her before. She shuddered.
"He was coming to us. I-I had to get her out of here." She tried to hold firm in her confidence in her own plan, though she had acted on impulse and fear, nothing else. Little to no self-preservation was actually thought of or used on her own behalf.
"Why wouldn't you go with her?" Embry roared, looking toward the warm, safe house where Cadee now resided safely with Emmett and Bella, as well as her family.
"He might've tried to kill us both then, or seen you guys that way-" Delilah to explain her own logic, but it would never be enough for the shifter who thought Delilah was worth every life in the house, as well as his own. His body was beginning to shake.
"You handed him an opportunity! Everyone just wants you safe. If something happened to you. If he touched you…" Delilah felt her much smaller body lunge itself backward. Finally, some sort of survival instinct on her part.
Pulling herself off her back, she looked up to find Embry in his monstrous werewolf form, growling between his clenched, barred teeth.
He looked toward the house again, trying to gesture for her to go back. As soon as she began to lift herself from amongst the leaves, he retreated into the neverending cluster of trees, into the same direction that Seth had followed the vampire into.
Emmett stood on the porch, seemingly having heard something or everything that had happened.
Delilah got up from her knees, seeing Embry's torn clothes all over the area. Before she could bring herself to walk toward Emmett, she looked around the area again, trying hard to remember how to breathe.
Embry had lost control, and he'd done it in front of her and because of her.
Hello all! Long time no see. I had a majorly tough semester and had to take a step back. I hope you all understand. I ended the semester with a 4.0 though, so it was all worth it in the end. I hope you all like this update and I hope to update a lot over this summer. Please let me know if you are still following along! I'd love to know.
PS: My reservation with the Swan house in Oregon with my friends is coming up. I am beyond thrilled!
Stay healthy!
-Jordan