Chapter 12: Coming Home

Brady

I hit 'send' on my phone and waited. I had just admitted to my imprint that I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss in her driveway.

And I couldn't.

I'd had a lot of rage inside of me for a long time. Like, a lot. Phasing had never been a problem – I would just think of my father and his behavior, and bam – the wolf took over. Just remembering the way he'd treated me and my mother was enough to generate plenty of heat and anger to last me a lifetime.

Lexi's kiss was like a strong breath to a flame. It made it all vanish.

I put the phone down on the couch beside me and sighed. I was home for the night with Embry. He had recently imprinted himself, and wasn't having that much luck with his own imprint. He had a completely different set of problems. I knew from patrolling with him and scanning his thoughts that his imprint, Sydney, was a complete head case herself. Sydney was complete with daddy issues, a deceased mother, and worst of all – a boyfriend she was head over heels for. Lexi was young and pig-headed, but she was at least available.

I pitied Embry.

He was currently in the kitchen potting around, the smell of a plate of nachos wafting through, making my stomach grumble. I would have offered to talk to him about his problems, but Embry was a bit more reserved than most of the other wolves in the pack. I'd been a complete asshole to him for a while now, so I was not expecting him to willingly open up easily. The more convenient route was to just give him space.

I checked my phone again and sighed. Still no messages from Lexi.

Fuck.

I had probably scared her shitless with that last text. Oh well – at least she knew how I really felt. We had already kissed. What was next? I wasn't sure, to be honest. In the past, I'd always made fun of my imprinted brothers and had rarely taken the time to observe other imprinted couples. I was just convinced it wouldn't happen to me. But then, it did. Imprinting was something I dreaded for so long, and honestly now that it happened, I felt relieved. Of course there was the possibility – alright, the strong possibility that Lexi would reject the imprint. She might even only want to be friends. But just the sliver of hope that she might someday return my feelings was definitely there.

She gave me hope.

She gave me a light in the dark, a tiny feeling of security. I might someday be able to rely on her the way my pack brothers did their imprints, and vice versa. That kind of love never went away; it could never be reversed. Once an imprint made the decision to love her wolf, she never went back on that choice. If I could just get Lexi to fall for me, there would be no turning back. I would make her the happiest girl in the world, and she would in turn make me complete. It seemed shallow and trite, sure. But I was selfishly hoping that our one kiss made her want more. I would definitely give it to her – one touch of her lips against mine, and all I wanted was to bring her the moon if she asked.

Falling for someone as good and pure and whole as Lexi didn't make me feel like my old self, and I liked that.

I didn't want to be that old version anymore. I wanted to lock it up and bury it in the ground and never think of that old person ever again.

A knock on the front door made me jerk out of my fantasies and back to reality. Embry shuffled to the door and let it open, the scent of a fellow wolf wafting through the air. Seth ducked his head to walk through the door and let his dark eyes dart around the dim living room where I sat.

"What's up?"

Embry glanced over at me on the couch, and then back to the nachos he was devouring and shrugged as if to say 'nothing'. He shuffled back to the kitchen and let his shoulders hang as he walked. Seth looked over at me from the doorway and I only shrugged.

"You guys up for some training?"

"Your imprint doing her homework tonight?" I shot at him. He smirked.

"It's still summer. Besides, if she was doing homework, your imprint would be there too since they're in the same class."

"Touché," I muttered, standing up. "Who we fightin?"

He shook his head and motioned to Embry. "No one. Remember that vamp that we found on the night of Prom? Fred?"

"Fucker has a name?" I snorted. "Yeah, I remember him. He ready to be turned to ashes yet or what?" I asked, the memory of that night rising up in my chest. Of course I knew his name. He was the vamp that had bested me in the woods that night. He claimed he had been looking for the Cullens so he would be able to learn and practice their 'vegetarian' lifestyle.

I still didn't like him.

Seth could feel my distaste as I stood up. "Hey, give him a chance. He hasn't slipped once since, and he just wants to be accepted. Carlisle assured me he was safe to have in the area, and he thinks Fred could teach us a lot about how to handle a vampire with a gift. What's more impossible than fighting someone we can't see or smell?"

"He has a point, you know," Embry muttered. "When does he want us?"

"Right now. We're meeting on the old battlefield to practice with him."

"He should have died with Riley and Victoria," I muttered.

Seth frowned at me as we left the house. "He didn't ask to be bitten, Brady. Give him a chance."

"Hey man, asked or not, this guy is still a fucking vampire. And most of them need to die in my book, alright?"

Seth and Embry met gazes and collectively rolled their eyes. We walked into the yard, the three of us already pulling off our clothes. Nakedness no longer bothered me – it used to make me feel weird, stripping down in front of a bunch of guys, but now I no longer thought anything of it. As the light faded from the sky, we shifted into wolf form and took off towards the field.

As we ran, I would occasionally let my nose skim the ground as my mind worked to keep my thoughts at a minimum. I was still looking for the scent of the vampire who had attacked me and Sean that day in the woods this spring. He had come out of nowhere and completely kicked our asses before leaving again. Nervousness crept into my mind as I thought about his fighting style. He didn't appear to have a gift of any sort, and I was grateful for that. He just seemed to be vicious.

As we ran, I concentrated my thoughts on vampires and their fighting styles so that I wouldn't accidentally slip and think about Lexi. My pack knew about the imprint, but I didn't want to let them in on any of the details surrounding our relationship – yet.

We need to pay special attention to Fred. His talent is hands down the toughest we've ever come across. We need to know how to defeat someone like him who has a gift we won't be able to expect, Seth coached.

I mentally rolled my eyes and tried to tune out his positive, go-get-em mental drabble. He was a good person to have on your side when times were tough; his friendship with a mind-reading vampire had given him multiple opportunities to play-spar. He knew how to fight a vampire in ways that most of us didn't. I know he was trying to help us, but I just wasn't in the mood.

I wanted Lexi to come home so we could talk about...well, a lot.

We arrived in the clearing where the battles of the past had been fought; the newborns, the Volturi...I shuddered. None of those were nights I would ever want to relive. Jasper stood in the center of the field, flanked by his creepy fortune teller wife, Carlisle, Emmett, and my personal favorite – Rosalie. The blonde vamp eyed us all with a look of disgust as we trotted onto the field with the rest of the pack. Every vampire made my skin crawl, but Rosalie made me want to run for the hills and never stop going. She was almost as lethal as her mind reading brother in a fight, and I wanted nothing to do with that. I'd happily take on her husband before I went head to head with her.

"Welcome. Thank you for joining us," Jasper welcomed, only to be met with silence. We stared at him in wolf form and waited for him to continue. "As you know, we have a new family member among us. His name is Fred, and he has made great strides as of late to adapt to our family's lifestyle."

I shuddered internally.

Even as a wolf, the scent of blood made my stomach churn. If I was deep enough in 'wolf mode', I could ignore it, but I was never that good with the particularly squeamish aspects of blood – human or animal. The thought of draining something of all its blood was downright disgusting to me. I didn't understand how vampires did it.

Pay attention, Jacob warned me. I growled to myself and turned my attention back to Jasper.

I listened as he spoke, explaining more about Fred's gift. The details of this new vampire's particular little talent made my insides bunch up and twist. This vampire could literally make himself seem so repulsive that it was easier to just forget he was there. They weren't sure whether it was a type of mind control or not; even Edward who could listen to thoughts had a difficult time with Fred sometimes. Great. Fucking great. Even the powerful vamps are afraid of him.

Seth seemed to echo my sentiment, but of course he had a different take on it. Well, at least he's on our side then, right?

Jasper kept talking about their new 'family member'.

"He was in college at the time, working on a biology project in a remote area. Like many that Riley turned that year, he was isolated and his absence wouldn't be particularly alarming. As a human, Fred spent most of his time alone, without the companionship of others," he said firmly. His voice suddenly quieted. "He was teased. Bullied, by those who didn't like him. He spent much of his time avoiding others, and we believe this is how he attained his particular gift. He wishes to no longer run, and more importantly, no longer claim the lives of humans for his nourishment. He mourns his human life, but looks forward to living as a vegetarian," Jasper added.

We muttered our agreement and watched as Jasper turned his attention back to the tree line. We all followed the vamp's gaze but saw nothing. Then, suddenly, he just appeared. Out of thin air.

"Fred was using his talent just now," Jasper explained. "You will notice that he can turn it off and on, much like a switch."

Calmly, the new vampire stepped forward. He was nothing special to look at, but I knew better. I shuddered internally as he put himself directly beside Jasper and gazed out at us with his startling amber eyes. They had tiny flecks of red in them still, but looked a lot better than they had the night of Lexi's prom. He was as tall as Emmett, yet built like Jasper – wiry, lean, and almost on the skinny side. He was dressed in typical Cullen attire – fancy looking clothes in muted colors. I didn't know why they made so much effort to wear designer labels if they were just going to be draining elk all damn day, but I guess that wasn't up to me.

The Cullens both annoyed and fascinated me. Firstly, they were so materialistic and snobby that it was rather annoying. They always had the fastest cars, the biggest houses, and the newest clothes. If my father knew about them, he would have tried to schmooze his way into being best buds with Carlisle; that was for sure. To me, they put a lot of emphasis on looking good and having all of the newest toys. Jacob insisted they only did that to appear normal and just snobby enough to be slightly unapproachable to most humans.

I just thought they had more money than God and wanted everyone to know. Typical old world wealthy people. On the other hand, they were quite interesting to me. Here they were, easily as powerful or more so that their competition – the Volturi, yet they blindly ignored their power. They were peaceful and not power hungry like most people would think they would be. I thought back to the wars fought several years ago when Bella was human and when Renesmee was born. We won one easily and could have won the other had it gone to fruition. Yet, they were complacent to live as they were - vegetarian, peaceful, and as a family.

I didn't get them.

I shifted and stared as Fred took turns fighting with each member of the Cullens. Of course, family members like Alice and Jasper, who were gifted fighters gave him the most trouble. But even then, he was practically invincible. He could disappear and reappear at will, flexing his talent to first taunt and then disappear on his challengers. Jacob was the first wolf to step forward, and so my night of training began.

I winced as I lowered myself down on the couch later that week. Five nights in a row of training with Freaky Fred as I called him, I was hurting. Fighting him (or trying to) was no easy task. It took learning an entirely new way of battle that I wasn't used to. Frankly, he had gotten the better of me every single time. A few of us had been able to master our sense of smell and use that against him, but it would take more time. I could see how the training would come in handy as a good learning experience, but that didn't make my aching body hurt any less.

"Fuck," I growled, picking up my ice pack. I threw it over my shoulder and clenched my teeth. After phasing back into human form, I had discovered that a majority of my body was either sprained, cut, or fucking purple from one giant bruise.

"Tell me about it. He came outta nowhere every single time," Embry moaned from the recliner. He held a bag of frozen peas to the side of his face. Of course it had just been training, but sometimes during the learning process, we had to take hits. Needless to say, we ended up having our asses handed to us.

My phone buzzed on the couch next to me. I tried not to smile as I picked it up and saw a text from Lexi. The past week had really dragged by with her gone, so I guess I should have been a little happy for the distraction of Fred.

Do friends come over for dinner?

My heart leaped into action, hammering against my chest. Lexi was back! I fist pumped the air and instantly texted her back, ignoring the curious 'you're clearly nutso' looks from Embry.

They can. Is this an invite?

Yes. My house at 6?

See you then, I responded. With a load groan, I jumped out of the recliner and hobbled to the bathroom to shower.

"Imprint calls, I see," Embry chuckled.

"Fuck off," I laughed, slamming the door behind me. After easing my aching body into the steamy water, I let out a sigh of relief. My body was instantly feeling better knowing that my imprint was back in the same town safely after her trip. I couldn't wait to see her. Pausing, I chewed my lip and realized just how happy I was to see her.

Not show her off. Or fuck her. Or play head games with her, which were usually the things I looked forward to doing with girls.

I was simply happy to be breathing the same air as her.

Lexi was different, and I knew that. She was my imprint. None of those other girls mattered a single bit anymore, and that was a sobering thought. Of course I was used to the idea of it all by now, but what did it mean?

It means she's the one for you. So don't fuck it up, my subconscious lectured. I rolled my eyes and began scrubbing the mud and dirt that seemed to be caked in every crevice of my body. Rolling around fighting a disgusting leech all week would do that to you.

I couldn't screw this up with Lexi. That kiss had been...well, it had been magnificent. A part of me that had been dormant for a long time was finally coming back to life – the good part of me. I had been the asshole for so long that it felt strange to not want to simply fuck this girl and toss her aside like I normally would. I couldn't screw this up, no matter what history had against me.

This was Lexi.

I couldn't wait to see her. Maybe she would let me hug her. Or maybe we could kiss again. Or maybe...

I raised an eyebrow and stared off into the steam. What would it be like to do something other than kiss her? I felt a stirring in my groin that had also been dormant for a while. I glanced down and welcomed my little sidekick with a grin. As much as I loved Lexi, I did miss my old libido and how much fun it used to bring me. I knew what others would think – what a whore. Well, I was. Sex to me was like booze to an alcoholic; it wasn't good for me, but I liked it in excess. It took a train wreck to get me to even stop or slow down when it came to womanizing. Or at least, used to.

I didn't know it for a fact, but I assumed Lexi was a virgin. And very much so. Unlike most guys, my ideal situation in the sack didn't start with someone with little to no experience. Those girls were always so shy and slow and just took forever to convince. As a general rule, I avoided them like the plague. I had always liked a girl who knew what she wanted and who also knew how to give me what I wanted.

Call me crazy, but virgins usually weren't able to provide it.

Experience aside, Lexi was definitely someone I was interested in 'getting to know'. Besides being the most utterly gorgeous girl I had ever met, she was of course, my imprint. I knew from our shared mind link that imprint sex was pretty much better than anything on the planet. That thought alone was appealing, as obsessed as I was with the act.

As I soaped my body, I paid generous attention to my nether regions as I thought about Lexi. Her hair, her eyes, her curvy little body...I tried to imagine how she would look beneath me, moaning my name. I gripped myself with one hand and used the other to prop myself against the shower wall. Embry would probably kill me for taking so long in here, but I was past caring. My fantasy encounter with my imprint played over and over in my mind like a sexy movie as I stroked myself. Just the mere thought of her sent me tumbling over the edge in a matter of seconds.

Afterwards, I opened my eyes and blinked in the steam. Holy shit. Just the thought of her had been the sexiest, hottest, and dirtiest fantasy of my life. If just thinking about her was like that, what would the real thing be like?

Thank you to NinkyBaby for beta-ing! She's been sick (as have I) so thank you for your patience on this one.

If you'd like to see some banners/art for this fic, head on over to my blog as I will be posting more of them on the AOM tab.

I haven't seen many stories that include a lot of Fred, but he will have a big role in this fic and I'm really looking forward to getting to write him. I always thought he would eventually hunt down the Cullens after reading Bree Tanner. Thoughts?

Up next: Dinner at Lexi's house with her two dads. I'll give you a hint - turning point up ahead for these two. Until next time!

Please review! This sicky will love you forever! : )