Sam:
The smell hit me like a cement truck. Even the smallest trace of it felt like having an entire bottle of industrial grade bleach poured straight into my nostrils. I had been so careful to not lose my temper, knowing full well the danger I could put Emily in if I lost my cool. I was braced, ready every single time she said something even slightly inflammatory. All that effort meant nothing, just more proof that I have absolutely no idea how to be this great leader everyone suddenly expects me to be.
My guard was completely down when Emily wrapped her arms around me. I had never in my wildest dreams expected the smell of leech to be embedded in the fibers of her sweatshirt. The instinctual need to protect her was so strong I lost all control, my truest form bursting its way through my skin like a hot knife through butter. I tried so hard to keep it in, and then again to send her flying far enough away when I realized I would fail.
It wasn't far enough.
My long claws, meant to tear apart impenetrable vampire skin, slid their way across her face as I watched in horror. Red blood flowed fast from the jagged gashes I had just opened across the left side of her beautiful face.
EMILY! I roared in my mind but she obviously couldn't hear me while I was trapped inside this monstrous body. I had never hated the wolf more than I did at that moment. Emily was screaming, writhing in agony and all I could do was watch, terrified to get anywhere near her in this state and hurt her worse. The strong chord connecting us thrummed as I closed my eyes, trying with everything I had to calm down and phase back.
But Emily was screaming.
After the longest moment in history she stopped and my eyes snapped open in horror, thinking she must have been hurt worse than I had thought. I had killed her, oh my God I had fucking KILLED HER. I started to spiral but her rapid shallow breathing brought me back instantly. I needed to phase back; she was going into shock. This was my only chance. I focused on the sound of her breathing and a few seconds later I felt the wind on my bare skin.
I ran to her and scooped her head into my arms, grabbing a few scraps of my eviscerated shorts and tying them over her wounds as carefully as I could while still applying a good amount of pressure. I lifted her up out of the sand and sprinted as fast as my long legs would carry me, which was luckily very fast, to the small clinic in the heart of La Push.
"Bear attack!" I yelled as I burst through the double doors, sending them flying into the walls on either side.
The receptionist stood and ran to the small window dividing the clinic and screamed for help. Two women in scrubs pushing a gurney and another woman in a lab coat came running out of the back at full speed towards me. I laid Emily gently on the cot as one of the nurses laid a white sheet around my shoulders. I couldn't care less in that moment that I was completely naked but I could understand the need for modesty so I tied it around my waist.
"I was wearing shorts but I ripped them up to try and stop the bleeding,'' I explained quickly, and she patted me on the back.
"You did good honey, that's exactly what I would have done. What's her name?"
"Emily Young. Her Aunt and Uncle are Harry and Sue Clearwater."
I watched helplessly as they started to wheel Emily away from me. I wanted more than anything to follow her but I knew I needed to leave, needed to get a grip on myself so I could be sure my presence here wasn't putting her in more danger.
I turned and ran out of the clinic, allowing all the guilt and horror I had been keeping locked down flow freely, transforming me once again into the monster. I had a leech to hunt.