PREVIOUSLY-
"No divorce? Are we married?" I asked him teasingly.
"As good as… it's more than a marriage and all three of us know that. It would be nice to call you my wife eventually though. I'm sure Quil feels the same, although we know we legally both can't be married to you." He replied truthfully as I looked at him in awe.
"We don't need a piece of paper for you to call me your wife, Embry. Quil either. Who cares about what's legal or not? I can change my name if I want to even if we're not married. Our kids can carry on your name and Quil's name if we want it to be that way. I couldn't stop the line at Quil Ateara V now can I?" I said to him, now flipped over with my arms across his chest, my chin resting on them as I looked up at him.
"I don't know what we did to deserve you, Bella. I love you so much." He told me sincerely.
"I love you too. And Embry?" I questioned, turning his gaze back to me. "Please don't ever try to hide your scars from me. You're perfect to me, scars and all, and I love every part of you."
After school the next day, Embry picked me up. This time he looked extremely nervous.
"So… meeting your dad today?" He asked as I climbed into the truck.
"Yes, Em. Come on, he's already met you and I promise he likes you. It's just going to be the standard father run down." I tried to reassure him but I could still feel his nervousness.
"Quil will be patrolling in the area, probably listening in half the time. He's on edge today." Embry explained to me as he drove my truck toward my house.
"On edge? Did something happen? Is it because you're meeting Charlie as my boyfriend but he isn't?" I questioned him worriedly, hoping it was neither of the two.
"No, no nothing like that. Remember, I told you that it was completely his idea that I be the 'in-public' boyfriend. Trust me, he definitely thinks this is the best idea. Not that he'll ever be ashamed of being with you, I swear. He loves you just as much as I do." He assured me. "And no, nothing happened today, at least that I'm aware of. He said he just has a bad feeling about something. Like he feels like something is going to happen soon. I won't lie, I have about the same feeling. I just can't figure out why."
"But Victoria is gone." I whispered, more to myself than to him. I had so many different scenarios running through my mind of things that had happened in the other timeline.
At this point, we'd changed so many things that nothing should remain the same, but that fear in the back of my mind was there.
"It's okay, Bella. I promise. We'll be able to take care of whatever it could possibly be, you know that." Embry told me with his hand resting on my thigh.
"I know. I trust you." I leaned over and kissed him after we pulled into the driveway. Charlie's cruiser was already parked there so I took a deep breath and looked up at Embry. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be." He kissed me again before getting out of the truck.
He held my hand as we walked to the door, but before we could get all the way onto the porch, his attention shifted to the woods.
"Keep a good perimeter and howl if something happens." He said toward the treeline. I knew he was talking to Quil and that it was because they were both on high alert for some reason.
"Everything okay?" I asked Embry right before we opened the front door.
"Yeah, Quil has Jared and Paul out there with him." He replied. "Come on, Bells."
I opened the door and we walked inside.
"In the living room." I heard Charlie say from around the corner and I looked up at Embry, nodding.
I poked my head around the corner and Charlie looked at me. "I brought someone, Dad."
His eyebrow rose and he said, "Well, bring him in."
I nodded and grabbed Embry's hand, pulling him into the living room with me.
Embry walked in and held his hand out for Charlie to shake. "Chief Swan."
"Embry. Good to see you again, son. Come on in and sit down." Charlie told him.
We took a seat and Embry looked up at Charlie as he rested his hand on my leg again.
"So, I hear things are getting pretty serious between the two of you. Just how serious are we talking, son?" Charlie asked him and I ran my hand over my face in embarrassment.
"As serious as it comes. She's my whole world." Embry responded proudly and without a shadow of a doubt.
"Now I've heard that before and that bastard, left my daughter in the woods to catch hypothermia and die. What's different this time?" Charlie asked him.
I wondered what Embry's response to that would be and I looked at him with worry and intrigue.
"With all due respect, sir, Edward Cullen was a sick and controlling freak. He wouldn't let Bella make her own decisions and she and I have talked about that. I'll never do that to her. She makes her own decisions and the fact that she chose me means more to me than anything in the entire universe. If she ever decided that she wanted something different, I'd respect that without question. I love her with every part of me. I promise I'll always keep her safe and make sure she's happy, even if it's the last thing I do."
I was nearly in tears hearing his words. I sat there in awe of him, never loving him more than I did at that very moment.
Even Charlie sat, shocked at Embry's confession. He rubbed his mustache and looked over at me before looking back at Embry. "That's some deep stuff there for a 17 year old. How do you know you won't change your mind later on down the road?"
"Not even a remote possibility. It's difficult for me to explain, but there's something more between us. She's my other half without a doubt. It feels almost… supernatural in a way." Embry looked down at me and smiled as I suppressed a giggle at his true statement.
"I'd say. The way you two look at each other seems like a lot more than just some teenage romance." Charlie replied. "And you swear you'll take care of my daughter?"
"More than anything." Embry responded.
Out of nowhere, we all heard a howl, followed by two more coming from outside.
Embry stood immediately, pulling me up to stand behind him.
"What the hell was that? Are those wolves?" Charlie asked, standing up as well and grabbing his shotgun.
"Yes, Charlie, but they're not dangerous. At least not to us." Embry told him adamantly.
"Not dangerous? How could you know that? They're wolves." Charlie replied in clear confusion. Embry looked back at me, closing his eyes. I could see in that moment that he'd made a decision.
"So am I." Embry told him.
Before Charlie could respond, Embry led us both toward the back door.
Looking through the window, I could see the three wolves approaching in the yard, growling at something just behind the tree.
Charlie tried to push past him with his gun loaded but Embry held him back. "You have to stay here."
"What is it Embry?" I asked him worriedly.
"A Cullen."
I sucked in a breath as he opened the door.
"Charlie, please stay inside." Embry asked him.
"Like hell I am, son." Charlie replied immediately.
"Then stay behind me." Embry told him before the three of us walked outside. "I'm going to phase, Bella. Keep your dad far enough away. I'm staying with you both, but I need to be able to hear what's going on."
"What the hell does he mean by 'phase'?" Charlie asked me with extreme confusion.
"Just watch, dad, and stay with me. Don't use the gun." I begged him. He was hesitant, but he stayed with me as we both watched Embry walk forward and take off his shirt and shorts.
Charlie's eyes went wide and looked at me like a crazy person. I motioned for him to look back at Embry just as he phased into his wolf.
I heard Charlie grab his gun again, pointing it at my wolf and I put my hand on it, pushing it down.
"Bella, what the hell is going on?" Charlie asked me worriedly.
"Calm down, dad. It's still Embry, and that's Quil, Jared, and Paul. They're going to protect us." I explained to him.
"Protect? Bella, they're giant wolves! All these 'animal attacks'… baby, put two and two together!"
"They're not what's causing the animal attacks, dad! They're protecting us from what is! They're protectors." I told him as Embry turned to walk up to us.
I walked forward and ran my fingers through Embry's fur as Charlie watched in complete disbelief.
I wondered how Sam would react to Embry spilling their secret, but it was too late now.
"You realize I'm going to need some answers after this, right?" Charlie whispered to me.
"I know, dad."
Embry turned and growled at someone coming out from behind the tree.
It was Alice.
A/N- Surprise!
I know it's been too long and you're probably going to have to go back and re-read some... (I know I did and I'm the author, lol) As I said in my update for Anomaly, mental health is no joke. I've really been struggling. Writing makes me feel better and your reviews always cheer me up, so please review. I hope that I'm finally getting back into things. I didn't want to force myself to write before I was ready so I didn't. Instead, I let it come naturally.
I hope you enjoy and please review.
