Crashing
AN: Well, hm. This is a SHORT chapter. For me, that is. Like, less than half of my usual ones. Not one of my best chapters, either. Sigh. Sorry about that. But at least I'm updating a little sooner than before, eh? Oh, and some of you have expressed interest in chapters in Embry's POV. I think there will be some near the end, if more people are interested in that. I also may do a separate side-story rewrite of some chapters in Embry's POV of this story. If you are interested, let me know. If enough people want it, I'll give it a shot.
THANK YOU to everyone who's read this story and favorited/alerted. An even BIGGER THANK YOU to everyone who's taken the time to REVIEW. You have no idea how much I appreciate you doing that for me. It really helps me out. PLEASE keep it up- and don't be shy telling me what you liked or DIDN'T like! It truly helps me out more than you know.
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My cell phone beeped from the pocket of my work vest, alerting me to a new text message. I glanced around quickly to make sure Mike Newton wasn't watching before shifting the stack of heavy boxes I was carrying into one hand and fishing my phone out with the other. Rose had been sending me texts all day, annoyed that I was at work instead of helping her pack and write lists for things to buy in Paris.
This time, she'd sent me a picture of a very frilly, very sexy piece of pink lingerie, with the caption, 'I showed this 2 Embry n asked if he wanted me 2 find something lyk this 4 u'.
Bloody hell. Face flaming, I sent back a quick 'u did not!', and shoved my phone back into my vest pocket. Just because I hadn't been able to sleep the night I'd stayed over at the Cullens did not mean I couldn't sleep without Embry around. And just because he and I accidentally fell asleep together- next to each other- on the couch the next day didn't mean anything, either.
My phone beeped again, and I took my time arranging the boxes on their shelves before I looked at the new message.
"I did 2. N he almost fainted. I think he lyks it!"
Dear god in heaven. She was never going to stop teasing me about him, was she? Nothing I said could convince her that we were just friends and nothing more! If she didn't have such an awesome shoe collection that she'd given me borrowing privileges to, I might actually get ticked off at her.
"I can post ur Thriller vamp dance 2 utube." I texted back, smirking. It didn't take long for my phone to beep again.
"Shutting up. Get here soon?"
I grinned victoriously, but the sound of Mrs. Newton coming up behind me made me shove my phone into my vest pocket guiltily before she could catch me texting instead of stocking the shelves. She reached me, and I turned around to give her a friendly smile.
"Hey, Leah. The store's really dead today, so if you wanted to leave early...?" She looked hopefully at me, and I knew she'd much rather have me leave than cut Mike's hours. My smile widened into a genuine grin at the thought of getting out early.
"That'd be great, Mrs. Newton! Rosalie and Emmett are leaving early tomorrow morning, so it would be nice to be able to spend the rest of the day with them," I replied swiftly. Mrs. Newton thanked me, looking relieved, before she disappeared back into her office. I practically ran to punch out and ripped my ugly orange work vest off as I skipped out the door, vague plans of raiding Rose's closet and then maybe seeing how many times I could lap Embry in Wolf form around the perimeter forming in my head. I had just reached my Molly when I heard Mike calling out to me. Groaning, I turned around to find out what he wanted.
"Hey, glad I caught you," he panted when he caught up with me.
"What's up? Need me to switch some hours or something?" I questioned, hoping he didn't want me to work an early shift. I'd started to love sleeping in lately.
"No, no. I was just wondering... if you're not doing anything this weekend..."
He shifted nervously as he trailed off, and I eyed him curiously. "Are you and your friends getting together again at the beach?"
"Uh, no. I was wondering, if you weren't busy, if you wanted to go see a movie? With me, I mean," he clarified, looking more nervous than ever.
I stared at him, slowly processing. Oh. Dear. Lord. The blond puppy was asking me on a date? This wasn't at all awkward. My first inclination was to laugh in his face, but that wasn't very helpful or nice. And although I wouldn't in a hundred lifetimes consider going on a date with him, Mike was a nice kid. On top of that, he was also my boss's son.
"Oh," I finally answered lamely, still trying to figure out what to say. Bitter harpy Leah wasn't good at letting people down easily. "That's really, um, nice of you, Mike. But... I'm not- that is, I don't-"
"It's okay. I get it," he interrupted me suddenly. I stopped in mid-sentence, looking at him cautiously, but he didn't look angry. Disappointed, sure, but he didn't seem too surprised.
"I'm sorry," I told him, and I meant it.
He shrugged. "Naw, I kinda figured you wouldn't, but it was worth a shot."
"Thanks, though. Really."
"Yeah, sure," he replied, and I was relieved to see him grin a little. "It's that other guy, right? That friend of yours?"
My eyes went huge, and I could just feel the blush creeping up my cheeks. "I- what? What friend?"
"The big guy. What's his name? Call?" The blush on my face must've given me away, because he nodded a little bit. "Yeah, I saw the way you looked at each other."
"Wha... what way? How did we look at each other?" I managed to stutter out with a fake nonchalant laugh after swallowing a few times.
"Like you're looking at your first sunrise."
I stared at him, dumbfounded. "My first... sunrise?"
"Yeah, I know. It sounds stupid," he shrugged with a grimace. "Best way I can describe it, though. You two... you look good together."
I couldn't even answer him. I was freaking out too much internally to be able to do more than gape at him. First Rose, and now Mike. What the hell was wrong with the world? Why was everyone suddenly trying to hook Embry and I up? I had sworn off romance, and looking at someone like they were a sunrise- seriously, where the hell had that come from?- and everything to do with love in general!
"Well, uh, I better get back to work, so... see you later?" Mike asked after an awkward minute or two had passed.
I blinked, swallowed, and forced myself back to reality. "Yeah. I'll... see you around."
He gave me another half-hearted grin, and disappeared into the store before I could get my brain functioning well enough to get my body inside my car. I didn't get farther than getting the key in the ignition before I dropped my head against the steering wheel with a loud groan.
What the hell was happening to my nice, safe, predictable world? Everything seemed to be going haywire lately, and it was all Embry's fault! Why did he have to be so damn perfect? He was exactly the kind of guy I could fall head over heels in love with, except for the one itsy-bitsy, minor problem of him being a Wolf. There was no way I was going to make that mistake again!
I banged my head against the steering wheel a few more times, which made me feel marginally better, then yanked Molly into gear and peeled out of the parking lot. A big part of me wanted to head home to the rez and hide out in my room, but that would just mean Embry would eventually show up and demand to know what was wrong. That, and Rose would probably kill me for skipping out on her the night before she and Emmett left for Paris. No, the best plan was definitely to head to the Cullens, and do my best to hide up in Rose's room pretending Mike had never said a word.
Once through the main part of town, I stomped on the gas and sped down the winding road towards the Cullen house as fast as I could. My new step-father would have a heart attack if he only knew how little attention I payed to the speed limits anymore. Hell, I was hardly paying attention to the road at all today. Mostly, I was just thinking about what Mike had said about Embry, me, and sunrises, and just what on god's green earth I was supposed to do about it.
I rounded a corner, and abruptly, a huge log loomed up in front of my speeding car, completely blocking the road. Reacting on instinct, I slammed both feet onto the brake pedal and swerved, hard. Everything happened so quickly, even my heightened senses couldn't keep up. My Molly spun, slammed into something, and suddenly rolled over and over. The windshield and the windows shattered, broken glass flying everywhere, and I could tell the sticky, hot liquid blinding me was my own blood. I wasn't even sure how the car had come to a stop; I only knew my left arm and side were almost numb with pain, and I couldn't move. I could hardly breathe. My lungs screamed at me when I coughed a little, and there was so much blood!
Dazed, I vaguely heard a metallic, ripping sound, but the ringing in my head made it impossible to focus on anything. I struggled to take another breath, and was suddenly hit by a wave of an icy, ancient stench.
Oh, god. Cyrus.
I was mangled and bloody, and I was pinned to my seat, but sheer terror forced me to move. Broken bones grated harshly against themselves as I pushed with every ounce of my strength against the steering wheel and dash that kept me prisoner. Black spots danced in front of my eyes, but I kept pushing. My only hope was to give myself enough room to shift.
One lean, frigid hand fisted tightly into my short hair, and another grabbed hold of the back of my shirt. I shrieked in pain as I was roughly torn out of my destroyed car, skin and clothes ripped open by the jagged metal haphazardly, and then slammed hard into the rough bark of an overgrown pine. I landed in a broken pile on the ground, fighting to stay conscious as the waves of pain tried to drag me under. Cyrus stood on top of the wreck of my Molly, looking down at me with a frighteningly impassive face. His scarlet-rimmed eyes were the only things that gave away his cold and calculated excitement.
That was enough for me. Half-dead and paralyzed by terror or not, I wasn't going down so easy. Summoning every ounce of will-power I ever possessed, I concentrated. My bones shifted, moved, and realigned, broken or not, and I screamed once again in pain. Only this time, my scream became an ear-shattering howl half-way through as I burst out of my skin.
Cyrus was on me in a moment, his hands crushing my throat to stifle my howl. His breath hissed out through his teeth, and his impassive mask cracked into anger. In desperation, I swiped at him with my only good paw, and he snarled when my claws caught his shoulder and tore his stone skin. He retaliated by squeezing my throat until I choked.
"LEAH!"
Embry's horrified voice ripped across my consciousness, and I would've sobbed in relief if I had any breath left. Jacob and Seth joined him almost instantly, and for once, I was eternally grateful for our connected Pack-minds. I couldn't concentrate hard enough to actually answer them, but they didn't need me to. My pain, my terror, was theirs. Dimly, I heard their howls as they raced through the woods toward me.
"We're coming, Leah! FIGHT him!" Jacob demanded harshly. His Alpha command was so strong, it raised a strength in me my mangled body didn't realize it had left. I swiped at Cyrus again, and this time managed to catch the left side of his face. My claws dug in and ripped before he flung me roughly away. Jagged claw marks, so very similar to the scars Emily bore, marred his granite skin, and he snarled at me with terrifying anger. I tensed and tried to prepare myself for his next deadly attack.
It didn't come. He glared at me, but he had heard the howls of my Pack getting closer to us every second.
"Next time, you won't be so lucky," he hissed darkly at me, and then he was gone, disappearing into the trees like a specter from a nightmare.
I couldn't hold out anymore. The waves of pain crashed over me, and my consciousness drifted away out of reach. And all I could focus on before I was dragged under was Embry's voice in my head, frantically calling my name.
AN redux: Okay, so I know I'm not very good at the drama stuff. I'm much more comfortable writing the cutesy fluff. We'll be getting back to cutesy fluff, I promise. Please let me know what you thought of my attempt at drama and what I can do to improve. Thanks so much!