You hit me once

I hit you back

You gave a kick

I gave a slap

You smashed a plate

Over my head

Then I set fire to our bed

Broke your jaw once before

I spilt your blood upon the floor

You broke my leg in return

So let's sit back and watch the bed burn

Blood sticks sweat drips

Break the lock if it don't fit

A kick in the teeth is good for some

A kiss with a fist is better than none

Florence + The Machine - "Kiss With A Fist"

Chapter 44: Reunion

Brady

I was running.

Not just a jog, but a full out run.

The type of running where your sides hurt and your lungs were screaming and every muscle in your body felt like it would melt off your bones.

I didn't want to stop. I couldn't stop – not until he was dead.

I ran until I could barely breathe. I'd caught his scent and nothing would stop me now. I'd been about to head into La Push for patrol when the scent had caught my attention, making me abandon every thought in my brain and go barreling through the woods after it. Now I was breathing heavily, my hands on my knees feeling like I was going to puke. My shoes were drenched from running through the muck and the mud as the cuts and scrapes across my shins healed, leaving little crisscrosses of dried blood in their wake. Sweat poured down my face and neck as I rose up, stretched, and tried to catch my breath.

Looking around, I realized I was still in the forest around La Push, but the side that was near the stream. The stream that bordered Cullen territory.

The wintery darkness was betraying, making the night seem later than it really was. Glancing upwards towards the sky, I realized it had to be not even midnight based on the position of the moon in the sky. It was fighting the clouds but streams of moonlight gave my eyes enough light to cut through the cold forest. Moving through the ferns and underbrush, I opted to walk the rocky shores of the creek that separated our territory from the Cullen land. Maybe my wolf scent had disgusted the vampire enough that he'd been more likely to go towards land that smelled like his own kind.

Not likely, but I was running out of ideas. I knew he would be back for her – it was only a matter of time. Vampires had nothing but time, and what better game to play than to taunt me by returning?

My feet hit the rocky bank of the river, which was still half frozen but bubbling beneath a thin sheet of ice. Lifting my face towards the light breeze, I inhaled deeply and tested the air around me.

Instantly, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

Vampire.

Fuck.

I was alone, but I wasn't about to miss a chance. Turning, I readied myself to phase before something stopped me. Up the bank, a figure stepped through the trees at the top of a slight incline. My eyes easily zeroed in on it through the moonlight, my wolf senses instantly alert. I growled deep in my chest, in warning.

The vampire turned and looked at me, blood red eyes glowing in the dim light. It hissed in response, sinking into a crouch. It was preparing to run, or it was preparing to fight.

Either way, I was ready.

We stared at each other for a moment, our eyes unblinking, both unyielding. Another growl sounded, but this was from the vampire.

I'd heard enough. Flinging myself into action, I tore up the rocky line of the creek and sprung my body into a flying leap. The vampire did the same, propelling itself into the air and meeting me head on mid-air. Our bodies hit with a dull thud, the cement-like body of the bloodsucker landing lithely to my left. Springing up, I watched with wide eyes as it knelt into a crouch and prepared to spring. One last hiss and it made due on its promise, powerful legs propelling it back towards me after our mid-air crash. I growled and surged forward, only to be met with a concrete punch to the jaw.

I hit the ground hard. The resounding thump knocked the wind out of me momentarily, making me pause as anger roiled up in my chest. Reaching up, I wiped a spot of blood off my lip and rubbed it between my fingers.

"That all you got?"

It flew at me again, snarling louder. I jumped up, lithely missing a swinging punch to the gut. It hissed in frustration before doubling back. Before I could blink, it landed another blow to the opposite side of my face. It hurt, but I was prepared.

I reeled backwards with a growl, quickly catching the vampire on the back with a sharp kick before it could get away. It screeched in surprise, whirling around to take and angry, uncalculated swipe at my chest. I ducked, snarling back at it as I prepared myself for the next barrage of hits. It slid to the side of the rocky clearing and hissed again, crouching briefly before propelling itself at me, full speed. Swinging my arm out, I caught the leech using its own force and turned, tossing it into the trees like a shot-put. The pines swayed and cracked with the force of it before the vampire fell to the ground with a grunt. In another instant it was up on its feet and racing towards me again with renewed speed, body-slamming me so hard I saw stars.

"Fuck," I growled, hitting the ground. Turning over on my stomach, I spit out a mouthful of blood and let out a garbled cross between a growl and a grunt as I stood. A slow, sadistic smile spread over my lips as they curled over my teeth. "Now that's a little more like it."

The bloodsucker backed away, circling me like prey with its teeth bared and red eyes glowing. I snarled in response, daring it to come at me one more time.

One more time was all it would take, I thought. I would end this – enough playing around.

It raced at me again. We both took off from opposite ends of the bank with a snarl. With a flying leap, we collided in midair in a tangle of limbs and fists flying. I fought with all my might, grabbing and clawing as we rolled along the bank of the river, fighting for our lives.

A sharp hit to the gut had me rolling, gasping for air. I was on my back – it was over. It held me down with its iron grip, the force so strong it would put steel to shame. Blood coursed in my ears as I fought to remain conscious. Its icy hand closed around my neck.

This is it, I realized. This was the end.

I could feel the blood vessels in my eyes bursting as the oxygen flow halted, making my chest heave as the monster straddled me. It held me effortlessly in its grip, the cold fingers tightening around the soft skin of my neck like the hold alone was death itself. I tried to gasp for air, but nothing. Looking up, I fought to focus as the monster came into view.

Only it wasn't a monster. It was someone I knew, but she wasn't herself. Blood red eyes stared back at me, cold and unfeeling. Her snow-white, diamond skin was offset by the glow of something damp on her lips – a fresh kill. Her teeth were bared at me as she snarled and leaned closer. I could smell fresh blood on her breath and it made my stomach turn.

"Lexi," I tried to gasp, arms flailing, fighting against her iron grip.

She panted as she leaned closer, her eyes zeroing in on the pulse beating wildly in my throat. Wincing, I held my breath and watched as she lunged at me like lightning.

"Brady!"

I gasped, sitting straight up in my bed. I felt like my stomach was going to jump out of my throat. My heart was pounding as my eyes took in the sight of my messy bedroom in the house I shared with Embry and the twins. Sweat covered every inch of my skin, soaking my clothes and making them stick to every crevice. I took a deep breath as I realized it was just a dream – no, take that back, a nightmare – and I was actually fine.

"Holy shit," I muttered, raking a hand through my sweat-soaked hair. That was the most terrifying nightmare I'd ever had. Every detail was still so fresh in my mind and it was like it had been real.

Embry gazed at me from the foot of my bed, his eyes wide and unblinking as he took me in. I was a mess. Panting, heart racing, drenched in sweat.

"She was gonna kill me," I muttered, wiping my face with my hand.

Embry frowned, glancing around the empty bedroom with a bored look. "Who?"

I shot him a dark look. "Never mind. What is it?" I snarled.

Embry wasn't shocked at my less than pleasant demeanor. He was one of my oldest friends and was used to my moods by now. I think he knew better than to take anything I said personally.

"Get changed and come out to the kitchen," he simply stated, his dark gaze unmoved. Shuffling out of the room, he shut the door and left me to my thoughts.

I flopped back against the mattress, shaking my head. Never before had a dream felt so real, so utterly terrifying that it had my heart racing. I'd felt fear. Life threatening fear. Of course since imprinting on Lexi my only fear had been losing her and now that that had happened, well, I was a tough one to intimidate. I hadn't even considered the idea that she could literally kill me now if she felt the urge.

Or would I fight her? I didn't know. What if my dream somehow came true and I met her in the woods? What if our paths crossed and there were humans around? Would I do my duty and protect the humans by tearing a blood thirsty newborn to pieces, or would I be powerless to let the innocent be murdered by her bloodlust?

I growled to myself and flung the covers back. No use worrying about it – I'd figure it out if it ever happened I guess.

Stumbling out to the kitchen, I realized we weren't alone. Sitting at the table with Embry was Quil, Jacob, and Renesmee. I grunted a greeting and made a beeline for the coffee pot. I haphazardly poured a steaming coup, realizing with a flinch that my hands were still shaking. Taking a long gulp, I ignored the blistering heat of the liquid and hid behind my cup as the small group of my friends watched me.

"You look like shit," Jake deadpanned. "What happened?"

I answered him with a glare, ignoring Renesmee elbowing him in the gut. She was so much like her family – rudeness wasn't tolerated, whether you were insulting their very being or how Esme made her pot roast. You just didn't in that family. How she was soulmates with Jake, who acted like he was raised in a barn half his life was still completely beyond me. Tossing him one more stern look, she stood gracefully and sidled up next to me as I leaned on the counter in front of the coffee pot.

"How are you?" she asked, her brown eyes full of concern. Figures. I hadn't seen the kid in weeks or taken an interest in her life in months, yet here she was selflessly asking about my wellbeing.

I met Jake's gaze over her shoulder – he was giving me his best Alpha be nice look. I shrugged.

"Been better, Nessie."

A lopsided grin appeared on her pretty face at the term of endearment before she shook her head. "You still have us, Brady," she patted my hand and went back to Jake. I watched her body curl into his side and I fought the urge to vomit as pain ricocheted through my body.

I missed Lexi so bad I hurt.

I took another scorching sip and set the cup down. "To what do I owe this early morning visit? Come to tell me again how things aren't that bad, or are we finally letting that shit drop?" I asked matter of factly.

"Brady…"

I held up my hands in mock arrest and snorted. I wasn't in the mood for their pity. Maybe I should have told them Lexi had texted me a few nights ago, but I didn't. My mind drifted at the thought, suddenly remembering the message that had popped up on my phone before patrol. A bolt of pain sluiced through my chest at the memory before I pushed it back down. I wasn't in the mood to think about that now, not with Jake and Nessie hanging all over each other in my kitchen. He had an arm slung around her shoulders and was rubbing her elbow as she leaned practically off of her chair and onto his lap. Had Lexi and I been like that, I wondered? It was utterly sickening.

I wasn't the only one watching them. While Quil seemed content to ignore them, the longing look on Embry's face was almost too much to look at. His face was drawn and his eyes were bloodshot; it didn't take a genius to know that he'd spoken to his imprint, Sydney again recently.

"We picked up his scent again last night," Jake state. "It's close again. Thought you'd want to know."

Growling to myself, I gripped the cup in my hand so tight it threatened to break. "Wonderful. I don't suppose you caught him and are holding him out back for me to rip him to pieces then, eh? No? Well, then I guess we're back at square one."

"I just wanted you to know. I told Edward you and the twins were the only ones off last night. He's telling his family, I'm telling the pack. You don't have to be a jackass about it," he shot back. Renesmee put her hand on his neck, likely telling him to calm down. He avoided my eyes and instead chose to pout by frowning down at the kitchen table.

Whipped, I snorted to myself.

"We done here?"

Quil's eyes shot up to mine, giving me a warning glance. Whatever, I wasn't in the mood for any niceties.

"Are you alright? Really? Is there something I can…do for you? You've gone comatose on me Brady, I…I'm struggling here. What do you need?"

Quil nodded in agreement. "We're here for you, bro."

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "Great".

He stood, Renesmee and Quil following. "Just doing my duty, ok brother? Try to have a better day."

The front door shut and the three of them were gone. Embry stared at the floor, avoiding my gaze.

"Dick," I growled under my breath.

Embry's eyes flicked up. "He's trying to be a good Alpha. And a good friend," he muttered. "Can't you at least cut him some slack for that?"

"Whatever man. Can't he just respect that the last thing on my mind right now is how he fucking feels about all this? For once it's not the Jake and Renesmee show and he can't stand it. I get that he's the Alpha but Christ."

"At least he's still hunting him. Can't you at least be glad about that?"

I snorted, turning to pour another cup of coffee. "Right. I'm supposed to be glad there's a wild vampire darting through Forks and La Push every few weeks and our Alpha is hunting him? Can you imagine if a human died on Jacob Black's watch? We'd never hear the end of it."

"Yeah, only cause he wouldn't. His father in law with skewer him if that happened. He'd see it as breaking our half of the bargain to keep the town safe. Jake would never let that happen, not if he could help it."

"I get it," I growled. "Don't kid yourself, he's more worried about protecting the town than keeping Lexi safe and getting vengeance for her."

"Is that what this is about?" Embry looked up again. I shrugged.

"Maybe. He killed her once… sort of, and… I owe it to her as my i-"

I stopped before I said it. Imprint. I didn't want to hear that word ever again. My throat was suddenly dry. To be honest, I didn't even know if she was my imprint anymore. I didn't know anything anymore, come to think of it.

Clearing my throat, I tried to change the subject.

"I take it by the look of things you talked to Sydney?"

Embry brushed his too-long hair out of his eyes and shuffled to the refrigerator to dodge answering my question. "What makes you say that?" he finally muttered.

"Seriously? You think I look like shit? You look ten times worse."

"Thanks," he said dryly. I watched him twist the milk open, take a tentative sniff, and place it on the wooden table.

"Grab me one."

We poured enough cereal into our bowls to feed a pair of horses and sat down across from each other at the old table. We'd had a lot of parties in that little house over the years, and the cramped little kitchen had seen its fair share of poker, beer pong, and late night drinking with friends, each of us roaring with laughter and talking about good times.

Now, it just felt cold and empty.

We crunched in companionable silence for a few minutes, our eyes not leaving our bowls.

This poor, miserable bastard.

Dropping my spoon, I heaved a sigh. "She won't date him forever, Em."

"You don't know that. You don't know anything, Brady."

Embry's imprint was what we all dreamed of when we heard about imprints as new, gangly wolves. Sydney was a beautiful girl from the Makah tribe, she was twenty two, and she was studying to become a lawyer, so she was incredibly smart and witty. That was where the good news ended, at least for Embry. Sydney also had a boyfriend. A boyfriend she was supposedly in love with, but with Embry in the picture that was rocky at best. So far, Sydney had nerves of steel and was fighting the imprint pull to remain faithful to her boyfriend.

The only real thing she was doing was slowly killing Embry.

"I talked to her again, but… I don't know. I can't keep this up. Last time I was there, I… I saw him, Brady. I saw them together, in Seattle. He's… everything I'm not."

"So, not a shape shifting wolf? Eh, girls get over that once you flash your abs at them."

He growled at me before picking up his spoon again. "You and I both know that isn't how it works, asshole."

"Fine, whatever. She'll come around. They always do."

Embry's eyes glinted. He looked like he was finally coming back around and had enough of my snark for one morning.

"You don't know that. You can't possibly know that, you… sad, cocky prick," he half groaned, half chuckled. "I'm pitiful, aren't I?" he leaned across the back of his chair, stretching and groaning miserably. "We're both pathetic."

"Yeah," I agreed lightly, "but your situation could change. Mine won't."

He straightened. "You don't know that. How… how do you know it couldn't work? Between the two of you? Just because it's never happened before doesn't mean it couldn't ever happen. One of our kind and… well, one like her."

"Don't be an idiot," I snapped.

"I could say the same thing to you! At least I'm trying."

"Well, it's a little different when your imprint has a fucking pulse. Mine kinda doesn't, or did you forget?"

Embry tightened his lips and shot me another grouchy glare. We were like two old married people, fucking bickering over shit we couldn't change over breakfast. It made me feel sad and old in an entirely new way I'd never felt before.

"She texted me," I said before thinking. Embry's eyes were now wide with surprise.

"She? Lexi? What…"

"Yeah. Few nights ago. Must have gotten a phone. She reached out and I…"

"What did you say? Are you going to talk to her? Are you sure it's safe?"

I laughed darkly and sipped my coffee. "I don't know anything. I don't know… I don't even know how to talk to her anymore. I don't know how I feel… shit," I cursed, bowing my head. A slew of emotions riled inside of me, bubbling at the surface and threatening to detonate.

The honest truth was that I was afraid.

I was afraid of having feelings for Lexi, even though she was a vampire. I was afraid I'd see her and feel nothing. I was afraid I'd hurt her, or now after that nightmare that she might actually hurt me. When it boiled down to it, I was living in a sea of uncertainty and fear, and I didn't know what to do about it anymore.

So, I did the only thing that I knew how to do.

I went back to being an asshole.

"Let's get fucking wasted."

I downed the bottle of beer in one long chug, finishing it off with a belch. Embry eyed me from his place slumped over the bar and cracked a grin. His calm demeanor and dry sense of humor had always amused me.

"We can't get drunk, idiot," he chided me, taking a long, slow sip of his beer.

I accepted another frosty bottle from the bartender and shook my head.

"Bullshit. I've been drunk before. You just have to try. Let's switch to harder stuff," I motioned for the bottle and the bartender raised an eyebrow. I pushed a few crumpled twenties onto the bar and gave her a challenging look. She didn't want a fight – the middle aged woman looked tired and utterly spent after a long night on her feet in the little dive bar, and she wasn't in the mood for any lip. We'd chosen one of my old haunts to drink in that night – it was a little saggy roofed dive bar that was conveniently placed within walking distance of several factories. It was one of those that was open twenty four hours a day so that no matter what shift the workers had, they could walk over for a beer on their breaks. It was older than my grandparents and looked every bit its age.

"You break it, you buy it," she muttered, sliding the bottle of liquor across the counter. She begrudgingly handed over two double shot glasses and turned away as I began to pour. She clearly remembered me from my pre-Lexi days. Embry gave a groan of defeat, and I knew he understood the way I was feeling. Our situations sucked and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it in this moment. All we could do was chase the feeling of forgetting, if only just a little while.

I caught my own reflection in the mirrored pane across from me behind the bar. I looked tired… and afraid. Fuck it.

"Cheers, bro."

Our glasses clinked and so it began.

Shot… after shot… after shot… mixed in with another five or six beers… and then the bottle was gone. Another one was purchased.

The liquid burned as it slid down my throat, but I knew it wasn't half the burn she must be feeling. I winced, chasing the thought away as my thoughts began to grow slow and blurry. Another shot. Another beer. Followed by another shot. I blinked and tried to focus, but my brain wasn't keeping up with my train of thought. Perfect, I thought sluggishly – the feeling I'd been chasing had finally been caught. My eyes moved slowly upwards to my reflection, and I paused.

Behind me, in the reflection, Lexi stood with her arms crossed in that cute way she had when she disapproved of something I was doing. Whirling around, I knocked over an empty beer bottle and almost fell off my barstool. Embry's drunken cackles beside me echoed in my ears as my eyes drunkenly scanned the nearly empty bar behind me.

Nothing.

I'd imagined it.

Fuck.

I turned back around, Embry slapping me on the back. "You alright man? You ready to stop?" he giggled behind his hand.

"No," I blinked, already feeling myself start to sober. My body temperature was soaring, but I wasn't ready to give up. My pulse was racing and my mouth was dry. "Let's keep going."

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