Lex's hands tighten on the comforter, squeezing until her grip leaves tiny wrinkles on the grey fabric.

"You didn't see it. There's no way." Maybe if she turns away, averts her gaze for long enough, Kim'll drop the subject.

Maybe the shock's gone to her head. Maybe none of this conversation is really happening.

Kim places one cool hand on top of Lex's. "I didn't have to see it. Jared told me. Embry showed him," she says quietly, studying Lex's face. "This is kind of a big secret, so if I tell you everything then you have to promise you won't tell anyone."

"When you say big secret…" she trails off, quirking an eyebrow inquisitively.

Kim nods solemnly. "I mean it's a guard-it-with-your-life type of thing. If this ever got out, the tribe would be in danger. I know you, though, and I know I can trust you. You just gotta say the word."

They sit in silence for a long moment. It would be so much easier to say no and pretend none of this ever happened, to go back to Beaver and resume her old life as if she was rewinding the clock. That would be easy. She doesn't want that, though - she wants Embry, holding her tight and safe; she wants Kim, and Quil, and Jared, and all of her new friends, welcoming and loving. She wants this.

"I promise," she whispers, twisting to face Kim. "Tell me everything."

For a long while, Kim speaks and Lex listens. Aside from having to repeat the confirmation three times - yes, they turn into humongous wolves - Lex takes it pretty well, all things considered. In a normal situation, the imprinter would be doing the talking, laying it all out before the final imprint reveal. Lex and Embry weren't normal, though, and Jacob had given Kim the go-ahead to salvage the situation in whatever way she could, especially since the likelihood of getting Embry back into a pair of jorts anytime soon was incredibly slim. Surprisingly, Lex doesn't bring him up at all, not even when Kim mentions that Jared phases, too.

"Who else? Leah does as well, right?" she asks, pursing her lips in contemplation.

Kim nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, she was the first girl to phase. Right now she's the only one, but Quil thinks his little sister might go soon. It's kind of hard to tell. Pretty much everyone that hangs around Emily's place are wolves - not Emily though."

"Oh, so you don't, uh, change into a wolf either?"

She laughs, picturing herself fighting vampires. "No, no, I don't. Just the guys."

Lex's brow wrinkles. "If he didn't...hulk out...would you have told me? How did you find out?"

Kim scrunches her nose, thinking. "I know because Jared told me. You would have found out eventually, but I think you should ask Embry. He can explain it better."

Lex shakes her head, a sudden sour look spreading across her face. "Really? I don't know about you, but he wasn't doing too much sharing before today. Like, shit, a warning would have been good."

"Try and think about it from his side. How many times have you avoided him after he tried to get all deep and meaningful with you?"

"I'm not that bad-"

"I've literally lost count of how many times you've attempted to ghost him."

"Okay, maybe I am that bad," she sighs, serious for a split-second before slipping into laughter.

Kim's laughter is a comfort in the stark hospital room, something homey that puts her at ease. Lex isn't discharged for another hour and a half, but she doesn't mind. Kim's company is more than enough.

Quil thinks he may just explode into tiny ribbons of wolf if he has to stay phased any longer.

Okay, asshole, not helping, Leah grumbles.

If he could shrug, he would. Sorry, boss. It's not like being nice was helping anyway.

Jacob's assigned them to babysitting duty while he gets everything else under control. In practice, they're stuck watching Embry cut loose in a clearing deep in the woods, taking his emotions out onto the scrub until nothing remains.

Surely he's almost done. We've been out here forever, Quil whines.

It's true. Leah's ass is numb from all the sitting she's been doing. They'd tried speaking to him, calming him down, but it's of no use. His thoughts are a mess of pictures and fragmented words, all sewn together with a string of raw, unbridled panic.

Lex, wide-eyed and aghast, her hand outstretched.

Skin prickling.

Lex, crumpled on the floor.

The scent of copper.

Monster.

Holy shit, we have words! Embry, man, it's okay. She's okay. Kim's with her.

Ifuckedupohgodohgodshe'sgoingtodie

His thoughts are rapid and chaotic, a dizzying cacophony of self-loathing and hysteria that makes Quil's head throb.

Embry Call, sit your ass down and fucking listen. I know for an absolute fact that she's not going to die. You might, though, if you don't calm down and listen, Leah snaps, gnashing her teeth in his direction.

Surprisingly, he listens. Embry slumps until his body lays flat against the beaten earth, stretching out until he's a puddle of fur and brambles.

I did something terrible. I have one fucking job and I failed her. She deserves so much better.

Dude, you didn't fail her. Failing would be actually phas-

Quil, enough, Leah snarls. He shuts up instantly. What Quil meant to say, she thinks, is that you kept her safe from something worse. You already protected her from her dad. She slipped and hit her head, but you didn't harm her. She's okay.

She's okay? Embry asks, perking up infinitesimally.

Yes. Kim says it's a minor head wound. Jake gave her the go-ahead to explain the basics before she comes back to the Rez.

God, how am I supposed to explain imprinting now? Embry whines, digging his snout into the dirt.

Well, at least you don't have to sit down with her parents after elementary school lets out. The spirits haven't entirely fucked you over. You'll get there.

Embry, Mom's setting up for taco night. You wanna come and take your mind off things? We'll go see Lex tomorrow when she's settled in, Leah offers.

We? Like, you're going to be in the same room as her? Like that's going to go well, Quil snorts.

Embry raises his head to look at Leah. Before he can even ask, his mind is flooded with glimpses of memories, ones that are clearly not Quil's.

"...I don't think he's had a single independent thought in months."

Adrenaline courses through her veins, quick and hot like the fire that licks at her nerves. She'd give her left kidney for a chance to really tear into the selfish little bitch that stands in front of her, all meek and mild like some innocent young girl. She's nothing like that - Lex is needy and demanding, delighting in the push and pull relationship she's cultivated. Embry couldn't truly be serious about her - she wouldn't even give him the time of day if he wasn't hanging off her every word like she's freaking Jesus.

Leah knows better. Really, she does. Still, she doesn't hold her tongue - whether she's able to is an entirely separate issue - and she lets loose a string of comments so vile that she actually feels a prick of shame.

"You don't get to walk in here like the world revolves around your white ass!"

Leah doesn't mean to say it, not really, but it's true. She has no right to be on the Reservation, running around like she's one of the pack. She's just some nosy outsider, some neo-colonialist bitch with a superiority complex. Imprint or not, she doesn't deserve Embry. Embry's selfless, giving to the point of concern, genuine and soft. When Jake had kicked her to the side after that mutant Renesmee had been born - the fuck was that about anyway? - Embry was there, reassuring and loyal. He deserved the world and more, not some damaged little brat.

Jared had torn her a new one - literally - when he'd corralled her into the woods, but it doesn't change how she feels. Actually, it does - she hates Lex even more for getting between them. Leah's been there from day one, when they'd all phased and had to figure out how the fuck to deal with battling vampires on the daily.

Leah could deal with vampires. Could Lex?

Embry's mind is a blank slate. Even Quil, normally the master of incessant chatter, is speechless. An awkward moment passes, one where Leah feels like she should say something, anything, but what is left to say, really?

I can't believe you said that, Quil offers, finally. I knew you didn't like her, but that's something else.

His disappointment is palpable. She was expecting reproach, sure, but Quil's disapproval cuts deeper than any alternative.

That's not protecting me, Leah, that's being an asshole for no good reason. I'm old enough to choose what I want. I don't need you fucking this up even more, Embry growls.

Choose? What part of fucking fate did you sign up for? The bit where you sign your life away in a single freaking blink? You're insane if you actually think what you have with her is real.

Jesus Christ, just because you had your heart stomped on doesn't mean you need to mess up my life. I'm choosing to be with her because I actually care about her. Sam made his choice. We are not the same. I could walk away if I wanted to, but I'm not going to pretend I don't love her, because I do. If you care about me, deal with it.

Love her? You can't be serious. She doesn't give a fuck about you!

Embry's circling Leah, his muzzle coming dangerously close to her flank. His incisors gleam a brilliant white as he snarls, blinding and threatening. A warning.

Okay, okay, that's enough. Em, I'll see you at home, okay? Let me talk this out with Leah before you guys kill each other.

Fine, he snaps, casting her one last bitter look before loping away.

They sit in uncomfortable silence until Embry fades from the collective consciousness. Finally, when it's just the two of them, Quil crosses the clearing to lean against her side.

Just like I like you, even though you're an asshole, he has his reasons. You don't have to like her. Just try and be nice. Please.

Being nice to her is physically painful, Leah grumbles, but there's a lightness in her eyes, the playfulness he's been missing.

Do it for me? Quil pleads, offering her his best attempt at puppy-dog eyes.

Fine. God, you've got me on a tight leash.

That's the goal, he taunts, nipping at her heels.

Well, Call's passing on those tacos. You coming?

Bet.

There's a six-pack on Embry's doorstep later that evening with a crumpled blue sticky-note attached. There's only one word scrawled across the paper - sorry - but he doesn't need any clues to identify the sender. Embry likes to consider himself as observant, the kind of person to pick up the little things that others miss. He'll kick himself later, looking back, for not thinking twice about the way Quil beams at the gift, but in the moment, it's totally innocuous.

Embry had mentally pencilled in a full evening of wallowing in his misery, but there's someone hovering over him every freaking second, lingering like an unpleasant smell. It's Jake's last night in La Push and, truth be told, he feels beyond guilty that they've barely spent any time together. Jake's easy-going, the kind of understanding that puts everyone else to shame, but, nonetheless, Embry wishes the circumstances would have been different. Working on Lex's Mazda with him is like jumping into a time-machine, warping themselves back into the Black garage, fifteen and carefree. Their past is so far removed from their present-day reality, almost like an alternate timeline, one where everything was still normal.

It hurts to wonder what life would have been like if shifting wasn't a thing.

Embry jerks his head upright suddenly, cracking his skull against the underside of the engine bay. The bump will be gone in ten minutes, tops. The pain is a welcome sensation, and he's sure that his pain's only a fraction of hers -

"Embry. Turn that brain off," Jared groans, slapping Call's outstretched leg.

He sighs, rubbing a grease-stained hand across his face. "You say that like it's easy."

Jacob lifts his head from the toolbox, shooting him a sympathetic look. "Messing up is natural. Look on the bright side - everyone's limbs are still attached," he says, grinning.

Quil snorts, shaking his head. "That's what I said! See, I was right!"

"What if you weren't phased, Jared? What if it was just me and her? Fuck, I could have done so much worse," Embry moans, dropping his swollen head into his hands.

Jared slugs him on the shoulder, hard and fast. "Don't give me that. You'd self-combust before you'd ever hurt her."

Embry opens his mouth to disagree, but Jake's quick to silence him with a single raised finger.

"As your oldest friend - don't even try, Quil - I can tell you right now that you wouldn't hurt her. You aren't like that. None of us are. Besides, the imprint's basically a failsafe. I couldn't even take Ness out, and she's meant to be an enemy."

Jared nods. "He's right, Em. Plus, I've seen inside your head practically every day since high school. You can't even hunt as a wolf."

"Ugh, just because I don't like raw meat like some people," he says, shooting Jacob a pointed look. Jacob only grins.

"Okay, we've established Em's a teddy bear. Can we go back to the car now?" Quil asks, taking a sip of his beer.

He only chokes a little when Jake pitches a spanner in his direction. Embry almost wishes it would have finished him off.

"I'm not getting up."

"Well, I'm not going to argue with you. But I can bring them here if you won't move your ass."

Lex lowers the covers slightly to glare in Kim's direction. "You wouldn't."

"I'm straight up telling you I will. Move."

Lex hesitates for a second before sliding over on the mattress, clearing some room for Kim. She sits slowly, her eyes not leaving Lex.

"If you're about to ask for more details, I've said all I'm allowed to. Embry has to tell you the rest."

"No, I wasn't going to ask for that...I don't think. I don't know. I just keep thinking of how freaking insane he looked," she mumbles, rubbing her temples.

Kim strokes her back, the kind of gesture that she thinks a mother might do.

Lex wouldn't know, though.

"Do you think he would have actually…" Lex trails off, miming a strangling gesture.

"Oh, hon," Kim whispers, pulling her into a tight hug.

Kim's shirt is damp where her face presses against it, and she realises a second later that the wetness is from her cheeks. When did the tears start? Probably the same time her sniffling did, she rationalises, trying to stifle the noises that escape her chest.

"Is that something you talked to Chief Swan about?" Kim asks quietly.

Lex nods once.

"Okay. Well, um, you can talk about it if you want. Or not. That's okay too. Embry's not going to do that to you, though. He's not going to hurt you. If you don't want to see him, I get it. I can get Jared to talk to him."

She doesn't tell Kim about the dream she had last night, the one where the man in her kitchen and the figure from the station had morphed into one. She doesn't talk about the way the boundaries had blurred, shimmering and flexing until the transformation was complete, producing a horrendous looming figure that stalked her into the corners of her unconscious. Lex had awoken with tear-stained cheeks and quickened breath, stuck between the beast she knew and the beast she didn't.

He wasn't her father. Logically, she knew that.

She had to see him one more time to be sure.

"I want to go. Can you take me to him?" she says, her voice cracking.

Kim's uncertain, but it doesn't matter. Lex is already up, tugging on yesterday's jeans before she can be talked out of it. It's been a crazy few days, and she should rest (and maybe call a therapist, pronto), but she needs to see him. If seeing is believing, then maybe speaking with Embry will be cathartic, a confirmation that she doesn't need to fear his presence.

Reassurance can't come quickly enough.

Kim calls Jared, who calls Jake, who abandons his reconnaissance mission at Forks Police Station to return to the bungalow. It isn't that he doesn't trust Embry - I mean, he has been extra unhinged lately - but the one thing that Jake knows better than anyone is wolf stuff. The biggest realisation he'd come to as Alpha centred around how desperately his friends' wolves craved the presence of their leader, their spirits calling to him like a siren's song. They shared the link even when he was away, but there was a power in the physical that distance could not replace. He felt at peace when he was surrounded by his kin, and they thrived under his leadership.

La Push would always be home.

Embry visibly relaxes when Jake enters the room, striding to sit beside him on the moth-eaten couch. Jake raises a hand to rest on Embry's shoulder, hot and familiar, as if the years and the distance haven't passed between them.

"You'll do the right thing. I know you will."

Embry isn't sure if it's reassurance or an order, but he nods nonetheless. Having Jake beside him is settling - even if he's unsure of himself, he knows Jake could never harm Lex. He would never.

Would Embry?

The men sit in silence until the familiar tin-whistle of Kim's car draws close, the sound painfully reverberating in his ears until she finally cuts the engine. Waiting for the women to come inside is torture, especially when he can hear every footfall, every breath, that leads them closer. They pause at the screen door, hovering at the threshold, and he wants to leap up, to welcome them in, but he knows that his presence is probably more fear-inspiring than friendly at this point.

Jake's hand squeezes tighter on his shoulder until Embry winces.

"Do not move. Do you hear me?" he orders.

A blessing and a curse.

Embry would nod if he could. "Yes."

"Good," Jake replies simply.

Kim enters first, her hand tightly grasping Lex's. Lex's head is bowed, her eyes downcast, but her heartbeat is steady. She's nervous, but she's here, and maybe he can fix this.

Jake greets them, but it's all fuzz. He needs to hear her voice, he needs to apologise, hell, he needs to beg for her forgiveness. Still, Jake's authority compels him to remain obedient, silent, and so he simply watches Lex, mentally willing for her to look his way.

She does.

Her eyes are lifeless, a far cry from the last time he'd seen her - but he can't picture that now. She blinks, hard, and he wonders if she's chasing tears away, if he's the source of her misery. He already knows the answer to that.

Lex's voice is scratchy when she finally speaks. "Kim told me what you are. I don't care about that. Okay, I do, but that's not important right now."

She trails off for a moment, looking at Kim for something, anything, and Kim responds with a firm squeeze of the hand. Embry would do anything for that to be him comforting her. He'd do anything to wind the clock back, to have Jake order him to stay away, to keep her safe like he'd vowed to do.

"Did you want to hurt me?" she whispers, looking directly at him.

Embry thinks he might just expel the contents of his stomach onto the freshly cleaned floor. From the corner of his eye, he catches Jake's slight nod, the permission to speak.

"Lex, I can't tell you how much I regret it all. Fuck, I should have let you go, I should have never gone over -"

"That's not what I asked," she says flatly, her expression impassive.

Embry swallows. "I lost control when I thought you were leaving, but it wasn't because I wanted to hurt you. Hurting you is the last thing I'd ever want to do," he says shakily. "You deserve so much better than me, someone normal, someone that isn't an actual fucking animal."

He cuts off when his voice breaks, betraying the torment that he's grappling with. The last thing he wants to do is cry - not because he fears weakness, but because he knows that'll break Lex.

Lex studies Embry for a long moment before turning to Jacob, fixing him with a searching look. "Kim says you can read minds. I want to know what he was thinking about."

Jacob shifts uncomfortably, glancing at Embry. "I don't like sharing pack business, but I think you have a right to know. He thought he had killed you, and he wanted me to order him to leave the Reservation. When he phased, he was thinking about his father leaving, about me leaving," Jake says, wincing, "and about your father. About how you leaving would send you back to him. He lost control, but it wasn't because he wanted to hurt you. Knowing he hurt you nearly finished him."

Embry's crying beside him, his head in his hands, but Lex's eyes don't stray from Jacob.

"Did you order him?"

"No. He wanted me to force him to stay away from you, but that needs to be your choice. I don't want to take that away from you."

She nods, pensive. Eventually, she turns to face Embry, meeting his gaze when he raises his head from his lap.

"How am I supposed to trust you? How do I know you're not like him?" she questions.

He sinks to his knees slowly on the carpet before her, bowing his head in shame or penance or perhaps both.

"I know that I'm no better than him, but I'm going to spend every day making it right with you, Lex, if you want me. If you want to leave, I'll let you go, but I want you to know the truth first. Do you remember the bonfire we went to awhile back?"

She nods, though her face remains pinched in confusion.

"Kim's already told you that most of the legends are true, that we change into wolves to protect the tribe, but she's left the last story for me to tell. The legend about the night of the fire, the one where K'wati ties strings between the protectors and the people. It's real. It's real, and I'm bound to you."

Lex's eyebrows draw closer together, but she says nothing, and so he continues.

"The spirits gave me to you for protection, but the more time I spend with you, the clearer it gets. I love you, Lex, and I need to make this right with you, if you allow me. Or not. Say the word and I'll go, if that's what you want. Whatever you want," he whispers, his voice trailing off as she stares at him.

"You're telling me that we're stuck together?"

Embry shakes his head abruptly. "I'm not going to make you stay. You deserve better than me, but that doesn't stop me from wanting you. I want this to be your choice."

Kim rubs her hand soothingly, drawing slow circles with her thumb. "I know it's crazy to think about. I thought Jared was insane when he told me."

Suddenly, it all makes sense. All the looks exchanged, the sizzling intimacy between the other couples. The unspoken care and affection conveyed in every gaze, every gesture, or the way that they seem to move in sync. But...her? And Embry? Somehow bound together, by something greater than simple attraction? It seems like a mistake, like he's read the signs wrong. And, shit, she isn't even sure about how she feels about him turning into a gigantic, horror-inspiring wolf, a huge mass of claws and teeth and predation.

And that's without acknowledging the whole I love you thing.

"I think...I need time to think. It's a lot to deal with," Lex says, feeling guilty the moment the words leave her mouth.

Embry nods instantly, drawing himself off the floor and to his seat, like the pleading never happened. She won't forget, though.

"Take all the time you need. Just, call me, please, whatever you decide."

"I will."

When she leaves, it's as if she's taking half of his heart with her. The yearning resumes immediately, a fierce twisting that threatens to rip him in half if he doesn't pursue. Distantly, he wonders if she feels the same way, if the bond affects her as deeply as it does him.

Jake turns to him, looking more triumphant than ever. "She'll choose you. I know she will."

Embry isn't so sure.