A/N: Hello, my lovelies! I would first like to thank those that have continued to support this story and those that have left reviews in the little box. Thank you for everything. Now onto the next thing, here's a little update for this story. It took a while to get it started and finished because of my busy schedule, but I managed to put this little piece together. I hope that you enjoy it as you now begin to read it.
OOOOOOOOO
Sadie stared down at the aged wood of the picnic table as the words that she had said sunk into the minds of the three people around her. She could see the bloody scenes that she had tried to run away from and hear the screams of the people that she loved dying. It took all of her strength to keep herself from slapping her hands over her ears and curling into a little ball, crying her eyes out.
Keep calm, she told herself, clenching her hands together on her lap where no one was looking. That happened far, far away from here. It's in the past and I don't have to revisit it every moment of my life.
"Do you know if any member of your family managed to make it out of that mess alive?" Carlisle asked, looking at her.
The wolf shook her head and frowned deeply. "I tried to use the mental bond that wolves have between each other and I heard nothing. I kept trying for days, but I had to keep running until I felt safe because that's what my sister told me to do." Tears swam in the girl's eyes and she hated herself for it. "No one in my family made it out of the battle except for me."
Esme wrapped her arms around Sadie as the tears fell from her eyes. She made soft soothing sounds and petted the girl's dark hair. Carlisle fell silent, but Sadie could hear the vague voices of Sam and his pack on the edge of her mind. Thinking hard, she built up a wall against him and his pack, doing everything in her power to keep their thoughts separate from them.
I'm not forming a pack again, Sadie told herself. I can't be a part of a pack again. To hear the death cries of my pack mates echo forever in my mind is something that I can't do again. I really can't do it and I won't let that happen to me. Not again. Not when I've begun to start healing from it.
Sadie lifted her head away from Esme's shoulder and wiped at the tears that fell down the curve of her face. Esme kept hold of one of her hands and squeezed it gently. The motherly vampire looked over Sadie's head, sharing a look with Carlisle that Sadie didn't miss.
"You're never going to join my pack, are you?" Sam asked slowly, staring at her intently even though she could tell that he couldn't reach her thoughts through his mental voice. "Even though it's probably the safest place for a new wolf to be…You're going to risk harming people because you don't want to be a part of a pack?"
"That's not it," Sadie muttered, glaring at him. "I don't want to join another pack. Ever. It's too painful and I'm not going to hurt anyone, Sam. I'm not some young wolf that doesn't know how to control herself around normal people. My sister helped me work through all of that when I first became a wolf. You don't have to worry about me and my wolf problems. I'm a good wolf." She looked away from him. "And I'm going to remain a lone wolf, whether you like it or not."
A soft growl built up in the pack leader's chest, but he didn't say anything else. Without looking back, the man turned and walked away. Sadie didn't look up until she couldn't feel Sam's thoughts touching hers. Esme was still holding her hand and Sadie felt some strength and comfort in the gesture.
"Carlisle," she began, glancing at the man. "Please don't think that I'm ungrateful for everything that you've done for me because I'm eternally grateful for you and everything. But, you need to know that I may one day have to leave you and your family. If I feel like I'm putting you in danger, I'll leave and I won't look back."
Carlisle smiled kindly. "I am sure that you're not going to put my family in any kind of danger, Sadie," he said. "We have been through a lot and nothing that you had to face back in your native lands will come after you or put us in any danger."
"You don't know that. I'd hate to be the one that hurts your family by bringing my past monsters into the area. I'd hate to hurt anybody in your family. I can't stand that thought, Carlisle." She took a slow breath. "Please, promise me that you'll let me go if I say that I need to go. Can you do that?"
It took a moment, but Carlisle nodded. "I promise."
Sadie's eyes turned towards Esme and saw that the woman was frowning. "Esme?"
Sadness filled Esme's eyes as the woman looked back at Sadie. She squeezed her hand tighter and nodded. "I don't like the thought of you running off on your own, but I promise. I promise that I'll let you go if you feel like you need to go."
"And you two won't tell anyone about what was said here?" Sadie asked, glancing between the two vampires. "Because I don't want the others to hear what I want to keep hidden. I don't want their pity."
"We promise," Carlisle said after sharing a look with his wife.
"Sadie, honey," Esme began, bringing Sadie's attention back to her. "Do you want to go get something to eat before we go back home? You haven't eaten in a while and Carlisle and I would be happy to buy you some food."
Even though her thoughts were not focused on eating, Sadie nodded at the offer. She had a feeling that once she smelled food that her entire body would crave everything that it could eat. The young wolf rose to her feet, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jacket and allowed the two vampires to escort her out of the park and back towards their vehicle.
I hope that Edward will keep his mouth shut when he hears their thoughts, Sadie thought, biting her bottom lip. If he doesn't, I'm going to kick his ass to Kingdom Come.
OOOOOOOOO
Sadie decided to sit in her room for a while after she had come home with the parents of the coven. She had one of the giant windows opened to the outside world and was perched on the slim windowsill. The cool breeze filled the room, caressing her and playing with her dark hair. The wolf took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh air.
I needed this, she thought, looking out at the green trees that surrounded the Cullens' house. Some fresh air and some alone time. No one to bother me –
"Hey Wolfy!" Emmett's voice boomed from the world below her. "What are you doing hanging out of your window?"
So much for that, Sadie thought as her body tensed.
The wolf looked down to see the giant vampire standing near his Jeep below her. "Is it really a problem for you that I'm sitting on the edge of my window? Because it has nothing to with you and it's not hurting you. So leave me alone, Emmett."
"Can't do that," Emmett called back. "I want to have some fun. Let's go on a run. We'll make a race out of it."
Intrigued, Sadie leaned farther out of her window. "What do I get if I win?"
"In the small chance that you'll win, your prize will be for me to leave you alone for the rest of the day."
A small smirk touched Sadie's lips. "And if you win?"
"You have to go out with me into the city and spend the rest of the day with me, doing whatever I want to do. Deal?"
"Since you're going to lose, deal."
Sadie pushed herself out of the window and landed on all fours on the ground so far below. She straightened and moved closer to Emmett, but made sure to stay upwind of him. The last thing she wanted was to breathe in too much of his flowery scent before a race.
"So, where are we running?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
A large grin spread over the vampire's face as he looked at her.
OOOOOOOOO
Sadie ran through the woods towards the destination that Emmett had told her would be the finish line, hardly glancing back as she raced away from the man. She wove through the trees and jumped over fallen trees and the occasional gulley. The feeling of being followed closely made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and the sound of Emmett's amused laughter pressed close to her.
"I'm catching up, Wolfy!" Emmett called up from somewhere behind her. "Better pick up the pace if you really want to win this race!"
A small bark of laughter passed through Sadie's lips as she put on another burst of speed. "You're not going to catch me, Fangy! I'm too fast for you!"
The two of them raced to the clearing that Emmett had told her was the finish line. She could see the vampire out of the corner of her eye as they grew closer and knew that it would come down to one last burst of speed. Sadie closed her eyes and pushed herself to move faster.
I want that day of peace, she thought, clenching her hands into fists. I want him to leave me alone for just a day. God, let me have that peace!
Both of them skid to a halt at the edge of the clearing, but Emmett was the one that made it to the clearing first. Sadie breathed heavily and bent over, hands on her knees as she fought to catch her breath. Her limbs ached and her chest was tight as she sucked in oxygen.
"Ha! I won!" Emmett shouted, throwing his fist in the air and danced around her.
"Oh, shove it up your ass," Sadie grumbled under breath as she straightened to her full height. "You only won because I'm not back to my full strength."
"Uh-huh, sure. Keep making excuses. All that matters is that you lost and I won, which means that you have to do whatever I want to today."
Sadie glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why do you even want to spend the day with me? Shouldn't you and Rosalie be buddying up and doing couple stuff? Stuff that doesn't involve me."
Something changed in Emmett's eyes. "Rosalie is out hunting on her own. We had a fight and she decided that she needs to kill something to make herself feel better." He shrugged. "Anyway, I'm bored and I think that you are too. So why shouldn't we go out and have some fun?"
"Because word is going to get back to Rosalie that you've spent time with me and that will make her bitchiness level go higher than it has ever gone. And that's not something that I want to put anyone through. Hell, I don't think that I would be able to sleep again because she might try to kill me for that."
Emmett let out a small laugh. "Like I'd let that happen." He moved closer to her, causing her to back up. "What are you really afraid of, Wolfy?"
The vampire's scent filled Sadie's lungs and she felt her heartbeat start to quicken in her chest. She backed up until she couldn't go any farther, backing herself up against a tree. Her finger nails dug into the bark of the tree and grounded her in the pain of having splinters bite into the flesh beneath the nails.
"I'm afraid of hurting and tearing apart your family, okay?" Sadie ground out, trying hard not to breathe in too deeply.
"You'd never be able to do that."
I could though if I'm going through what I think I am, Sadie thought, biting her lip once more.
Her eyes saw that Emmett's were darkening, not with bloodthirst but with some deep emotion that all creatures experienced. He moved closer to her and braced one of his hands against the tree beside her head. Sadie's heart pounded heavily in her chest and her stomach clenched painfully.
"You don't really know what I'm capable of," Sadie told him softly. "I could do a lot of damage, Emmett. I could hurt you."
"Doubtful on both cases." He poked her in the chest and smiled slightly. "I think you're trying to put up that wall because you don't want to make friends with vampires. With the exception of Alice, who everyone can't avoid becoming friends with. Because you're afraid to be hurt if the friendships end. Am I right?"
Not completely. Sadie nodded. "Sure. Let's go with that."
"Well, tough shit. I'm going to be your friend and there's nothing that you can do to stop me." He poked her again. "We're going to go back to the house to get my Jeep and then we're going to hang out for the rest of the day. Because that was the deal for my victory. Don't even try to worm your way out of it either. You promised and I'm holding it to you." He took a step back. "I'm going to show you how to have a good time."
And that's what's scary, Sadie thought, staring at him. Because there's more than one way to have fun and I don't want to cross the line that stands between those ways.
OOOOOOOOO
A/N: There we go. That's the end of this update. I think that the next chapter will be about their "date" and hopefully push the plot along. I may make it halfway through the date so that we can avoid a lot of filler. Please leave a little message in the box and I will try to get back to you when I can. Thanks! -Scarlet
