Chapter 4
A.N. All of the characters are from Stephanie Meyer's btw if I haven't clarified that before. Also, the pack mind/chat thing is italicized if you haven't figured that out yet. Also, I made Embry's hair short. Sue me, I 100% prefer them all with shorter hair.
(SPOV)
Paws?! Is this like the legends or some shit?
Crap. I let out a howl, alerting Jared and Paul to phase-in, and I start running in the direction where I sense Embry is in.
Embry, that's a surprise. No one thought to look out for him because we all thought he was just of Makah descent, but apparently not. I see a girl I vaguely recognize in his sight, and that just makes this phase that much worse. Not only does Embry now know his potential father has probably been on the reservation this whole time, but now we need to find some excuse for this girl.
Embry! Embry hold on! I shout, and then I hear in his mind that he thinks that I'm part of a gang. Some gang. Embry do not go near the girl! Don't scare her! Holy crap is she petting him?! Where do I know her from?
Why would I hurt her? She's my girlfriend!
I feel the phase of one of my packmates, and then his voice pierces through my adrenaline spiked mind.
Bella leech-lover Swan? He asks incredulously, and that's where I know her from. She was dating one of the Cullens until they dumped her in the forest only for me, Jared, and Paul to find her. I know she was a wreck when we brought her back and the months that followed. It makes me a bit happier to see her much better now. And because she knows vampires are a thing it'll be much easier to explain this to her.
Okay, Embry calm down and try to think of yourself as a human.
Okay okay.
I'll explain everything to you and maybe Bella once everything calms down. Damn, she is good with freaky. And she really is. She's freaking petting him for Christ's sake!
I feel him phase-out, and my mind is reeling. No one, no one, has phased out that quickly. He is going to be natural. I keep running to his last known location and I finally pull up to a secluded road that's out of sight. I look around and see no one, but I hear and smell Bella and Embry a couple of yards to my right.
I phase out and pull on my cut-offs and make my way over to them. Bella is huddled over his naked, sweat covered body, her face red and her eyes wide and puffy. She looks oddly under control though, with Embry's head in her lap and she's stroking his short hair from his eyes.
Embry's passed out and breathing a little quickly, his heart beating steadily, the sound easier to decipher to my enhanced ears. Bella looks up sharply as I purposely step on a twig so she'd be aware of my presence.
"Sam Uley?"
"Yes Bella, calm down I'm not here to hurt you," I reassure her when she clings to his prone form a little tighter after she identifies me.
"Is this why there's a 'gang'?" She asks, and I sigh and nod yes.
"Yes, it is, and now Embry has apparently joined. I definitely would've preferred that you not know, but that is unavoidable now isn't it? At least you weren't hurt. Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron are on their way to help Embry and bring him to my house. Jared and I will bring him in and you can ride with Paul to the house. Is that alright?"
"Yea-"
"Bella?" Embry's breathing quickens and he bolts upright and looks around and hugs Bella to him, already showing signs of the wolf. Protect first.
Bella blushes bright red, and you only have to look down to see why. Embry blushes down but she quickly diffuses the situation by handing him her jacket. Are they really dating? They're both so shy.
I hear Paul and Jared approach and Embry tugs Bella up and pushes her behind him.
"Easy pup, we're not gonna hurt the wannabe bloodsucker." Paul jabs at them and then walks to stand on my left.
Embry growls at him, even though he doesn't really understand the term 'bloodsucker'. Bella pales and looks like she's in shock. She turns around and throws up into the bushes, before turning back around to us and looking down at her feet, her skin flush. We need to get to mine and Emily's house before this situation gets out of control and someone sees us.
"Enough. Paul take Bella to my house, Embry, come with Jared and me."
"Why should I? Aren't you part of some gang?"
(BPOV)
"No, we're wolves you dumbass, what do you think you just turned into?" Paul retorted and then pulled me from Embry, which resulted in Embry growling at him.
"Let her go."
Paul immediately dropped my arm which was in his grasp and started to walk to where my truck was parked from my outburst earlier. "I'll be driving, come to the truck when you're ready princess!" I roll my eyes at his name-calling and then focus my attention back on Embry and Sam.
"Can someone explain what's happening please?"
"We can really get into it later, but the Quileute's carry a gene for phasing into wolves when vampires are near. When the person with the gene reaches the right age and is in close proximity to a vampire, it kickstarts the gene. First, the guy bulks up, the growth spurt, and muscle growth. Obviously, Embry has experienced that." I glance down at his six-pack abs, which have only become more defined with the 'phase'. I lick my lips and look back up into Embry's eyes, and his normal onyx color seems to be even darker. "Then a couple of months later, the fever sets in, and his skin will become warmer to the touch. Then a certain emotion triggers the phase, most likely anger," I remember when I told Embry that Jacob forced his kiss on me, and this whole thing makes even more sense. "and he phases into the wolf. Which is what happened to Embry here. He probably went into Forks and came close to one of the Cullen's."
Sam looks pointedly at me, and I challenge him with an even more defiant stare. "This would've happened anyway even if I didn't date Edward, don't blame me for the change, Sam."
"You're right, sorry Bella."
"Okay okay. One thing at a time. First of all, Bella, you knew they were vampires?" Embry looks at me, a look of bewilderment on his face.
"It wasn't my secret to tell," I say quietly and look down. I may loathe Edward, but I still don't like talking about their vampirism. It stresses me out, and now to be near a vampire makes me feel even worse. I would never go back to him.
"Alright, we can talk later. Second of all my mom is Makah and my da-. Oh, he was Quileute. And I'm assuming only a few members of the tribe have the gene because then half the population of the rez would be bursting into furballs. And I'm also assuming it would have to be some main gene or something because my mom is Makah, and doesn't carry any gene to turn into a wolf."
I glance at Embry with sympathy, I couldn't imagine finding out that your dad has known you your entire life, but hasn't sought you out to be your father.
"You're right. That means the pool of potential fathers has dwindled down to three. Billy Black," I gasp and lean into Embry, who I'm now sitting next to. That would be terrible, not only would Billy have to have been married at the time of conception, he's known Embry since he was in diapers and hasn't done anything. "Quil Ateara IV," I take Embry's hand and interlace our fingers, showing my support. Your best friend's deceased dad..."Or my father, Joshua Uley, but he left the rez almost 2 decades ago." I turn around and lean my head into Embry's shoulder and say sorry, although it's muffled against his skin. I don't expect him to hear it, but he does.
"S'okay. So where are we walking?"
"We're not. We're running in our wolf forms. Jared and I will teach you how to phase, and the rest of the quirks. Bella will go with Paul to my house, where my fiance Emily is. She also knows about the wolves. We'll be back in a couple of hours Bella." He turns and walks into the woods, in the direction where I'm assuming Jared walked off.
Embry leans down and captures my lips in a passionate kiss. He licks my bottom lip and coaxes my mouth open. His hot tongue latches onto mine, and I explore his mouth. I slide my hands up over his broad shoulders and cup the sides of his neck. He starts kissing along my jaw, licking and nipping a path to my ear. When he reaches his destination, he pulls a lobe into his scorching mouth, and bites down on it, eliciting a hiss from my mouth. He sucks on the lobe and licks it, soothing the sting from his bite. I start licking his jaw too and tilt my head to the side offering him my neck.
He groans at my inadvertent submission and starts licking and sucking there. He then kisses a path back up to my mouth, where he plunges his skillful tongue back into my mouth. I suck on it before he starts peppering kisses onto the other side of my head, and begins the journey to my other ear. He latches onto it and bites down harder than the last time, which just brings out another moan from me. I lower my hands back down and rake my nails against his abs, he hisses and is about to start sucking on my neck when Sam calls out.
"Embry, stop sucking face and get over here!" Embry and I both immediately disengage. My red face is brought to a whole other level, and I see the pink under the cover of his russet skin. How the hell can Sam know what we're doing? I look around trying to see where he was, but all I see is the forest, and when I look into the forest I don't even see Sam's figure.
"We can hear, see, and smell better than normal humans. Like right now I can hear how your heart is beating out of your chest. And I can smell how you're... excited." It takes a moment for me to figure it out, but if I thought my blush couldn't get any darker, I was wrong. He's right though, I can feel the wetness pool at the apex of my thighs from that intense kiss we had shared moments before. "Relax, it's hot. And it smells, really really good. Sexy." He offers me a smug smile, and I smile back at him, but then do something I've never had the courage to do before. I grab and squeeze the hardness that is trying to protrude from the cover that the jacket provides, and give him my own smug grin. He groans loudly and then looks at me with a new fire in his eyes.
"Two can play at that game mister." And then I turn around and sashay back to the truck.
(EmbPOV)
Trying to will my erection away, I make my way over to where Sam was and use my new super-senses to find where exactly where he is.
"Good, you're already using your senses, you're going to need them to track and sniff out a vampire. To phase you need to have a sudden burst of emotion, anger works the best. With practice, you can do it on will without having to change your emotions. Also, vampires trigger it, you have to actively work not to phase when you're in their presence." His body blurs and contorts, morphing into a horse-sized, giant black wolf. He yips at me, which I take as a signal to phase. Knowing I have to strip, and that I'm going to have to get used to nudity, I take off the cover of the jacket and think of Jake's hands on Bella. Immediately I feel a surge of hot energy go through me, and I feel my body blur and shift into a slightly smaller, but still big, salt & pepper wolf.
(s)Good job, you're a natural at phasing. And since Bella knows and you seem to have good control, I can allow you to go out with her. Just be careful and when you start to shake, getaway as soon as possible.
(e)Cool.
(jd)Hey Embry! You seem to be a natural dude. Sam, shouldn't you tell him about imprinting?
(e)Imprinting?
(s)Imprinting is when you see your mate for the first time; when you make eye contact. Your entire world becomes her, and she becomes everything to you, you will be tied with her with little strings, connecting your hearts together. It hurts you to be apart from her, it's like a great gravitational force knocks you off your axis.
(jd)Yeah, my imprint is Kim. She's so great! I immediately get a flood of pictures and memories in my mind, some of them x-rated and very unnecessary for me to see. But the thing that's bothering me is that that never happened to me and Bella.
(s)Embry, it's supposed to be very rare and is not supposed to happen to every wolf. And while it would be nice to guarantee that nothing will take you away from Bella, you have to ask if you would risk love for her so you can be happy in the future.
Seeing how accepting and amazing Bella was with me, only makes me realize that yes, I do love her, and no I am not giving her up for something that may or may not happen.
(e)I'm not giving her up. You can't force me to.
(s)Actually I could, I'm alpha and I can alpha command you to do anything I want. But I would never because while I love Emily, I know how liberating and amazing it is to love someone freely. And as much heartbreak as I went through with Leah and Emily, I know I would do it all over again to have those moments with her, and she told me herself she would too. I would never take your free will away to see her, unless I absolutely need to.
(e)Thanks, Sam.
(jd)Sam, don't you think he should be allowed to find his true soul-mate and destiny that the gods appointed him?
(s)We make our own fate and destiny Jared, not others. I will let Embry do what he wants. Let it go. Jared huffs and drops the subject. The next four hours we go over patrols, vampires, our abilities, and everything else that has to go with being a wolf. This is still unbelievable to me. But also really cool. Although we now have bottomless pits as stomachs, so we head to Emily's for some food. Bella's also there...
(BPOV)
"Hey, princess, or should I say, leech lover?" Paul sneers at me and turns the engine onto the truck.
"I'm not a leech-lover anymore, I love Embry." I am shocked that I admitted that so easily, and especially to Paul, but it doesn't make it any less true. With all that's happened in the past 2 hours, I realize how much I love Embry, from how he goes from shy and cute around others, to sexy and confident with me, like he's sharing a piece of himself that no one else sees but me. How caring and attentive he is, and non-judgemental. I love him. "Besides, if you call me leech-lover, then I'll call you a manwhore. Cause that's what you are, right?" I shoot back at him, and the scowl on his face turns into a wolfish grin.
"Absolutely correct, princess. Guess I can't call you a leech-lover anymore huh? You're a wolf-lover now, but Embry isn't the only wolf you have to love." He waggles his eyebrows at me, which causes me to snort, cause as attractive Paul is, he isn't Embry,
"In your dreams fido!" He chuckles this time, and takes a turn with the truck, bringing us on to a secluded road.
"Ooh, feisty! I like it. You and I will get along just fine princess." With that remark, which causes me to grin because I can already see us having a love-hate relationship-like fraternal love-as odd as that is, we pull up to a small 2 story cottage. It has a bright blue door with faded yellow walls, which just add to the homey feel of the cabin. Flower beds live under the windows, and the wind chimes add an unrhythmic melody into the air.
Paul steps out of the truck and walks into the house, leaving me behind. I hurry out and follow him into the cabin, and make my way into a large kitchen filled with food. Muffins, fried chicken, and other dishes are served at the large dining room table, and Paul plops down at a seat and digs in, obviously without manners. He's oblivious to the shocked stare of my eyes as he shovels food down his throat as if he hasn't eaten in years.
"Paul, who's this?"
Paul glances up from his food and brings his attention to the raven-haired woman who's standing in front of the stove to my right.
"Bella Swan. Embry's girlfriend. New wolf-girl, old leech-lover." He brings his attention back down to his food and leaves us to our own conversation as he continues to throw fried drumsticks down his gullet.
"So Embry phased then?" When it became obvious that Paul wasn't going to answer, I spoke up.
"Yeah, he phased in the middle of the road and I saw, and right now he's out with Sam and Jared."
"So Embry imprinted on you then?" Imprinting? Emily looks at me with a fascinated glimmer in her eyes. Paul glances up from the table, an annoyed look and something else that I can't quite place in his eyes.
Before I can speak, Paul answers. "No, he didn't. Imprinting is when a wolf finds its mate for the first time when they make eye contact. The imprint becomes the wolf's entire life, and they feel a pull to them and are connected to them for the rest of their life. Emily is imprinted to Sam, that's why she gets to know about us. Kim is also imprinted on by Jared." I wasn't imprinted on, Sam would've said something. Embry would've said something. Is he going to leave me? Even if it's involuntary is he going to leave me? Just as I can love again, just as I am happy again?
I do know this though, I am willing to risk it for Embry. Even if it is for a couple more minutes, anytime with him I will keep before he has to leave me. Paul must've seen the look of worry on my face because he looks up from his plate again.
"Relax princess. Old Quil said something about affecting the imprint bond when I was meeting with him a couple of days ago. No offense Emily but I want to keep my free-will. Go speak to him about it Bella, I think it will help." I nod and offer him a small smile as thanks. As short as our friendship has been, and as much of an asshole as he seems, Paul is a good and loyal friend that I will keep.
"So would you like to help me with the spaghetti? These wolves stomachs are never filled." From then on the light and friendly banter between me and Emily fills the room, and we set a massive pot of spaghetti and meatballs on the counter just as Embry and Sam enter the room.
(EmbPOV)
When I walk up the stairs, I immediately look for Bella, already smelling her scent of strawberries and vanilla. Her brown doe eyes finally find mine, and there are equal looks of terror and hope.
Imprinting.
I walk over to her and pull her into my hot embrace, and I pull her into a secluded corner of the house for the illusion of privacy. They'd hear us anyways.
"Imprinting?" She nods her head in response, and I bury my head into the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent to soothe me.
"Paul said that Old Quil can help us." She whispers into my neck, and her breath fans over my ear, sending welcome chills down my spine.
"Then we'll go as soon as possible." She nuzzles my neck and we just bask in each other's presence, the day's events waring us down. "Paul?"
"He's been nice to me, and I think we're friends." That's surprising, and I'm happy she's becoming situated with the pack already, but Paul?
"That's right princess!" I smile and kiss her cheek. Pulling back to look in her eyes, we share a moment of amusement over Paul before she responds. I'm glad she has an ally because I can tell people, mainly Jared, are not going to take her presence in the pack well.
"Shut it fido!" I laugh and pull her from the corner and back to the dining room, where Jared has just come in from the back.
"Hey, Sam, Emily, Paul, Embry. Bella." Bella looks down at her name, obviously sensing the unwelcoming feeling that Jared is giving off.
"We're gonna head out, thanks for today and all the help Sam. I'll be back for patrol at 6."
After a chorus of goodbye's from everyone, Bella and I head out of the house, and over to the Ateara residence. When we stop outside the house, I listen for a heartbeat, and I only hear one coming from the living room. I don't smell Quil at all though, so I know the coast is clear. We're still going to be keeping our relationship secret for the most part.
Bella knocks on the door, and a full 45 seconds go by before she knocks again.
"Alright alright, I'm coming!" Old Quil shouts, obviously annoyed. He opens the door to reveal Bella and me and he smirks at us, and I can tell he already knows what we're here for. "Ah, young wolf and someone I'm assuming is not his imprint." Bella looks down, obviously shy, and Old Quil leads us into his house, and to his answers.
Walking hand in hand back to my house, we are silent, both mulling over what Old Quil told us. He said that if the wolf marks someone who he deems fit as his mate, it will prevent the wolf from being forced to mate with his imprint, and allowing the wolf to deny it himself. So I could still get an imprint, but if I mark Bella, it would give me the choice to deny my own imprint.
I'm absolutely fine with that, and I think she is too if the way she is gripping my hand and leaning into my side is any way of telling me. When we reach my empty house, I pull her inside and onto the couch.
"So..." She starts out awkwardly.
"So, do you want me to mark you? Because I know I want to. I mean only if you want to, nothing against your will.
"Oh! Yes, I do want you to mark me, but doesn't it have to be, um, during uh sex?" So that's what she's worried about. Now that I know I love her, I am ready to take the next step, and I will wait for her to be ready.
"Uh yeah, and I know I said I wasn't ready to do that before, but I am now, because... Um because I fell in love with you." The grin that spreads across her face lights up my insides, and I know she is ready too.
"Yeah I am ready too, but can we take it slow, because uh, I am still a virgin." She whispers out the last part, and I smile because I wouldn't care if she was or wasn't.
"I am too, we can take it as slow as you want to." Her smile brightens, and it makes me even happier. I bring her closer to me and kiss her softly, conveying all my love and happiness and hope into that one kiss, before I pull back and toucher our foreheads together.
We stare into our eyes, and she whispers the one thing that could make this moment even better.
"I love you too."
A.N. AHH! So that happened! Yeah, I made the rules for imprinting a little different, because I didn't want Bella to worry about it, and it's for the plot. You'll see. The next chapter is kinda fluffy but also helps move the story along a little bit more. Don't you just love Paul? Alright till next time! I'm going to be busy in the next couple of days, so I don't know when I'll be able to get another chapter out, but we'll see.