Chapter 14: Changed

Jake brought Lauren's demand to Sam the werewolf way—telepathically. He paced my driveway for several minutes, sometimes growling, but mostly making faces that reflected his mute communication. Based on the frequent scrunching of his nose and his tense jaw, things were not going well. Lauren texted with Jess while we waited. Occasionally she teased that maybe Jess would want to meet the wolves. When I told Lauren about the Volturi she rolled her eyes, but she didn't mention telling Jessica again. She did ask if that was why I hadn't told Angie or my dad. I let her believe it was.

An hour later, Jacob finally started speaking. "We've reached a decision."

I pursed my lips but didn't bring up how little 'we' had to do with it. Jacob looked ruffled by Sam's decision. Although for once, I had a feeling I was on Sam's side. If it were up to Jake—who, frankly, was sometimes a little too trusting and open for his own good—Lauren might be half way to the reservation. If it were up to me, a mad scientist would break in, use their experimental men-in-black style mind-wipe device and Lauren would forget everything supernatural. As unusually calming it was telling her the truth, she was still Lauren and I wasn't sure she could be trusted.

More than that, it occurred to me I was a bit…unnerved. She was the first person in the know besides me. The Cullens—aside from Rosalie—had welcomed me with open arms. So far Jake's pack had been cautious but willing. Lauren didn't fit into that equation. She wasn't welcoming or compromising. The more she knew, the more she could use against us.

"We're not an open house," Jake said, his tone making it clear he was repeating Sam's words, "and you're not welcome."

Lauren's jaw tightened. Her eyes narrowed. Her grip on her phone looked dangerous. I wondered how fast her fingers were. How many seconds would it take for her to use her blackmail against us? How many seconds before everyone in town would hear? Lauren, despite being a venomous snake unafraid to bite, somehow was naturally popular. Jess wasn't a bad person, yet Lauren was her best friend. Angie and Lauren weren't exactly close, but Lauren didn't purposefully tear her down like she did me. Maybe I was overestimating Lauren's humanity, but it seemed very small of her to hate me. So what if I was the shiny, new thing that came to town and some of the boys took interest? Aside from Tyler, I didn't believe any of the interest was more than passing. Even Tyler had moved on after Edward and I had started dating. I couldn't—didn't want to—believe that Lauren was blackmailing us just because she was jealous that I got attention.

"If you agree to delete all copies of the recorded file, we have a compromise to offer," Jake continued, arms crossed as he stared down at her, towering with his full height. Lauren was tall, but she looked like toy poodle next to a dire wolf.

Lauren's clenched muscles relaxed. "I'm listening."

"We are allowing you to meet two of us."

Lauren's mouth popped. "Two? Are you joking? I definitely counted five of you when you rescued Bella and I near that stupid meadow."

"I'm sure they thought about allowing you to see half the group," I said icily, "but," I shrugged, "I don't think the math works on that. Lauren, two is a huge compromise for these guys."

She turned her back to us, her head shaking. She wasn't into compromising. "I have blackmail, and you're compromising? Geez." She turned halfway and frowned. "You don't scare easy."

"After hunting vampires," Jake said, showing all his teeth, "no. We don't scare easy."

She shook her head once. She tapped her phone repetitively on her bicep. She stared in silence for a whole minute. I saw the minute change on her phone screen. As if on cue, her head popped up and she squarely faced Jacob.

"Okay. Two. I can work with that," she agreed. "For now. But none of this bouncer bullshit. I can google images of shirtless guys with muscles. I want to see two werewolves. In clear daylight. I won't take pictures." She made a sign over her heart and smirked. "Cross my heart and hope to die, and I figure you'll be extra pissed if I try to maneuver more blackmail out of you."

Jake looked at me, probably restraining from rolling his eyes. I smiled nervously and shrugged. This was a compromise. At least she was working within our rules now.

"We can do that."

Lauren grinned. "Perfect. Now I'm guessing you're wolf number one. How long before number two arrives?" She bit her lip and stared toward the door.

Now Jake rolled his eyes. "Not here." He turned toward the door. "You want to see a werewolf—fine—but we're not pets. We don't do indoors."

Lauren grabbed her bag. She looked at me, wanting to put one body—me—between her and the irritated wolf. I couldn't blame her. I'd mentioned, wisely, that all the werewolves I'd met seemed to be the Hulk—and even Lauren understood that she wouldn't like them when they were really, truly angry. She was pushing her luck with the blackmail. Naturally she wanted me as a shield. It gave me a little dark satisfaction that if Jake or whoever came would not be stopped by frail, human me. If Lauren every honestly made these guys angry, setting my hands on my hips and saying, 'Bad dog, no' wasn't going to help anyone.

Jake told me to get my keys. Lauren only made a minor fuss about being forced into my stupid truck. Jake led the way on his bike while I tailed him. I was surprising we were headed toward the reservation, but then I realized… It was like the Clark Kent / Superman glasses bit. Lauren would have to be a remarkable level of oblivious to ignore that Jake was from the reservation and especially ignorant not to guess that the home base was probably there. This was another compromise; he was letting her connect the dots just enough. We stopped on the side of the road. Jake nodded us into the woods. Lauren looked at me. Apparently, she was still trusting that as a fellow human I would want to protect her. Luckily, she was right, although I still was hoping to catch the MIB coming to erase her involvement.

I nodded at her and she hopped out of the truck. Lauren was slightly taller than me, and that extra couple inches, combined with the inch of her heeled sandals, made getting out of the truck look easy. She looked like she was stepping onto the catwalk instead of the moist, bumpy ditch.

We followed Jake in silence. I wanted to ask who it was we were meeting. I considered that it might be Sam—since he'd probably want to deal with Lauren. Sam's hardness would give Lauren little to chip at and maybe intimidate her enough that she'd get the hint. Maybe she'd erase the blackmail and try to forget all about us. No MIB necessary. But it probably wasn't Sam. He wanted Lauren to know as little as possible. Introducing her to their leader was probably too much information. Even if he tried to lie and say he was one of the pack, he wasn't subtle about his authority. Paul was crossed off my list quickly. He wasn't cool headed enough to handle Lauren. Sam had to have seen that in Jake's mind-sharing telepathy session. I didn't know Jared enough to guess how he'd handle this. Embry was a safe bet. He'd been Jake friend's long before they had fur in common; he'd probably volunteer.

Jake didn't take us far. The trees blocked the view of the road, but it was a straight shot. As directionally challenged as I was, it would be easy to find my truck. I wondered if Jake had anticipated that Lauren would bolt for the road if things got scary. Not that she'd get far with wolves at her one-inch heels.

"Bella, if you would please take Lauren's phone."

I held out my open palm. Lauren sneered but handed it over without a second thought. Curiosity killed the cat. For Lauren, curiosity was killing most of her caution.

Jake looked at me and smiled nervously. "I, uh, guess we don't have to wait."

"Sure. Go ahead." Lauren set her hands on her hips, ready for the show.

Jake nodded and stared at the ground. He wasn't nervous because of Lauren. I crossed the few feet Jake had purposely placed between us. I took his hand and gave it a tight squeeze.

"Jake, I'm here," I said. "I'll be here after too, okay?"

He eyes were tight and his jaw clenched. He turned my hand over and placed his other hand over mine. His hands were warm. Mine was like an ice cube. But he didn't let go, didn't say anything. He was stalling.

I touched his cheek. "Have a little faith in me." I lifted onto the balls of my feet and kissed the corner of his mouth. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

He squeezed my hand, smiled a little, and nodded. "Okay." He kissed me and then told me to stand back with Lauren.

Lauren whispered something about performance anxiety and I scowled at her. Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Ladies, if you don't mind." He raised a finger and made a circle.

I blushed and grabbed Lauren by the shoulders. She started to ask and I quickly explained that he didn't want to break his pants. She realized that unlike in the movies clothes didn't magically disappear and reappear conveniently.

I listened. Jake took a deep breath. I cheated, looked over my shoulder, just an inch at first. He started to shake.

A lot of movie comparisons had gone through my mind when I found out Jake was a werewolf. Transformations scenes were usually grotesque, painful, quirky, or some combination of all three. The change in front of me now was definitely a combination of something. The shaking was the first sign. It became like a shudder, echoing throughout his body. His eyes glowed, like the eyes of a night predator caught on camera. He leaned forward, his teeth clenched. I saw the change there first. The shapes of his white teeth seemed to change, move. Then red-brown hair crawled along his skin, short tufts that grew into a thick coat. His limbs reformed soundlessly, his finger shortening into paws and his arms into front legs. The change was quick. He had been leaning forward, a man, and then a second later he was all-fours on the ground, a wolf. He was a big wolf. If he raised his head, his snout could rest easily on my head.

I turned completely and Lauren followed my lead. Lauren muttered a string of curses. I smirked. At least I was doing better than her. I was a little shocked. My brain was having trouble telling me that was Jacob. He wasn't like werewolves from a horror movie. His worried expression—tail tucked, ears perked—was not the expression of a monster. The size of him would definitely be cause for a scream if someone saw him passing in the dark. The size of his paws, even with his claws drawn in, were obvious signs. He was hiding his teeth, probably trying not to intimidate us further, and I had no doubt seeing Jake at night with teeth bared would make even a vampire sweat. But his eyes were Jacob. I forced my eyes to return to his eyes. Jake was worried I'd see a scary wolf and forget him—that I wouldn't accept this. I wanted to prove that he didn't need to worry. I wanted to be worthy of his trust.

I crossed the few feet. Jacob sat, reminding me too much of a domestic dog. I smiled and, with no hesitation, wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I told you I'd be here after," I whispered. His fur was soft. I pressed my cheek against his neck. I felt him exhale. I brushed my hand along the top of his back. His fur was thick, almost coarse but it was plusher than a feather pillow. I stepped away and found Jake smiling at me. "Good dog."

His ears flattened and his tilted his head at me. I laughed. That gave Lauren the courage to move a foot forward, but kept two feet between us.

"This is a werewolf," Lauren said.

Jake stood and bared his teeth. His movement raised my arm. To keep my hand on his neck I had to raised my elbow to about the top of my ear. It reminded me of a line from the first Thor movie when he walked into the pet store. "Can I get one of those big enough to ride?" It seemed less ridiculous now to suppose a canine might be big enough to travel on.

Lauren raised her palms defensively. "You're very intimidating," he assured Jacob. "I think I was expecting…to be more afraid. I'm honestly impressed with myself."

Jake and I exchanged a look and we both rolled our eyes. It looked odd coming from his wolfish eyes, and that made me laugh. He touched his nose to my cheek and I felt his tongue. I wiped the slight wetness from his dog-smooch and narrowed my eyes at him. He seemed pleased with himself.

"I'm really glad we reached a compromise," Lauren said. "One wolf is already intimidating. A whole pack might have been…too much excitement in one go." She held out her hand. "I'll delete it now."

"With supervision," I said. I handed her the phone and stood beside her, watching her screen very closely.

"Real creepy, Bella."

"So is blackmail."

"Whatever." She deleted the file form her cloud and her phone. "That's it."

"Email?"

"What?"

I narrowed my eyes. She rolled her eyes, opened her email and scrolled her sent messages and her drafts. She reminded me that the file would be way too big for that anyway. I didn't care. I'd done my due diligence. Hopefully Lauren wasn't crafty enough to have another way to save that recording. She hadn't had much time between the end of our conversation and when Jake had showed up. Hopefully she was being honest now.

"Is wolf number two close?"

Jake nodded.

"Embry?" I asked hopefully.

Jake touched his nose under my jaw. At least Jake had some backup I felt safe around. Jake sat again and looked behind him. Lauren and I followed his gaze.

We saw the dark grey through the trees first. I noticed more the closer he got. He was smaller than Jake, thinner, but still bigger and stronger than any natural wolf. He had dark spots on his back and his fur was messier, more course than Jake's. He paused halfway to us, his eyes fixed on Lauren. I felt Jake stand. Embry spun and ran off.

"What happened?" Lauren demanded.

Jake stepped in front of me and stared. I got the message that we weren't supposed to go anywhere and told Lauren to keep quiet. Jake nudge my shoulder and turned me around. I grabbed Lauren and explained that Jake was changing back. There was an explanation coming.

"This is…difficult to explain," Jake said.

"Is there another vampire?"

Lauren's face paled. "Another?"

"No."

"How many vampires have there been?" Lauren asked quietly.

"Is Embry okay?" I asked.

"He's fine. He's…"

I moved closer and put my hand on his shoulder. "Is Lauren okay?"

"You're not in danger," Jake assured her before she could consider bolting. "This is…the way it was explained to me is that it's rare."

Jake's head turned sharply. Embry was making his way over to us again, this time as a human. His eyes were on Lauren. He didn't even glance at Jake.

"It's called imprinting," Jake explained, his voice restrained. "When one of our kind imprints on someone…it's a bond for life."

Lauren jerked back and crossed his arms. "What kind of bond?"

Jake scratched the back of his head. He was watching Embry, face flushing as Embry finally reached us. "It can be…different things. It feels…like an intense need to protect that person, to keep them safe and happy."

"Someone wanting to be my supernatural bodyguard is okay," Lauren said tonelessly. She didn't look like she was okay. She was eyeing Embry up and down. He was wearing a shirt and pants, but was shoeless.

Embry stopped in front of her. She took a less than subtle step back. She narrowed her eyes at him. He laughed, gently. He looked at her like she was an old friend, someone he'd known his whole life. They'd met seconds ago—hadn't been introduced yet—and already there was such a change in him.

"Lauren," he said softly. He reached out his hand. "My name is Embry."

"I caught that." She frowned at his hand a moment. She looked over his shoulder—which was difficult to do since he was taller than her—and shot me a question with her eyes.

All air had escaped from my lungs. The familiar pieces of this scene scared me. I couldn't tell Lauren it was going to be okay. I didn't know how this worked. This was a bond forced on them both, not a choice. This was irreversible. Maybe Embry was happy like this—the warmth in his eyes and the fondness in his smile suggested he was—but Lauren was human. She'd asked for adventure—but I hadn't forgotten that she claimed to be killing time until she could get out of Forks. How could she leave Forks if some supernatural bond was tying her to Embry? Could he really leave his pack and play bodyguard wherever she went? Then, there was the other obvious problem—the part of the bond that Jake hadn't said out loud yet. It was obvious that supernatural bodyguard was not what the bond was meant for.

Lauren got anxious waiting for me to give her an answer. She took Embry's hand and attempted to give it a sharp, over-and-done-with shake, but Embry placed his other hand over hers. She looked up, clearly ready with a snarky remark, but she paused. She did another look over.

"Embry," she said. "It's an unusual name."

He laughed. "Yeah. I would say it's a funny story, but it's not. My mother named me after a soap opera star."

Lauren raised a brow. "You're mom's a soap opera addict too?"

He grinned. "We have at least one things in common."

Lauren and Embry stared at each other for a long moment. Embry released her hand and she crossed her arms snugly, but she didn't run away. She seemed intrigued. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"This imprint," I said, loud enough to break Lauren's gaze away, "it's traditionally platonic?"

Jake didn't answer.

"It doesn't matter," Embry said. "I've never been good with traditions. We didn't have too many growing up."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Lucky you. We have to do everything exactly as it was the year before—dating back to the founding of Forks, I swear."

Embry laughed. He shoved his hand sin his pockets. Lauren was watching his with a million questions in her eyes, but she was being cautious. She looked at me again. Time to ask the only question that mattered.

"Embry has imprinted with Lauren," I asked slowly, "but what does that mean for Lauren? She's not…part werewolf, right?"

Lauren's hand shot to cover her mouth. "Oh my God, I didn't even think—"

"No," Embry said, gently placing a hand on her back, "you're human. Definitely human. Me imprinting on you doesn't change anything about you."

She exhaled and dropped her hands. "God, Bella, don't scare the shit out of me like that."

Embry rubbed her back in circles. She didn't move away. She seemed to like the attention. Embry was attractive, thinner than Jake, but I could understand liking having his undivided attention.

"Our compromise is null and void," Jake grumbled. "You're one of us now."

Jake took my hand. He'd said an imprint was for life. It didn't feel like a stretch that an imprint traditionally had romantic roots.

Embry told Lauren that she'd get to meet the whole pack. She smiled at me cheekily, rubbing in that she didn't need blackmail to get what she wanted. She asked him a few questions about what it was like changing into a wolf and other things about his world. Embry lit up like Christmas lights on Christmas Day. They stood inches apart. The bond was an instant thing. He'd seen her from over the hill, in between trees—not even a straight, clear view—and that was enough. Embry was devoted to Lauren for life.

"Sam and Emily?" I whispered.

Jake blushed. "Yeah."

Sam had imprinted on Emily, but that hadn't protected her from however she received her scars. Lauren was curious, and more than happy to be getting what she wanted, but she didn't know what I knew. Experience had taught me that someone wanting to keep you safe was not the same thing as being safe.