The Truth Comes Out, It Always Does

I was laying on my bed, staring at up the ceiling. A few dew days had passed since the bonfire. It was Sunday now. I still saw the group at school and said hello to them but I hadn't been back to Emily's since. They kept telling me I should and Kim even resorted to giving me her phone number while saying, and I quote, "you never know".

And every time I saw Embry, my heart skipped a beat. We always made this eye contact where we just got lost in each other's eyes. I could always see the others giving us sly smirks.

Skylar interrogated me about that night, wanting to know everything that happened. I simply told her we just chatted around the fire and told stories. I couldn't reveal the legends themselves, it was a special thing for the tribe. She was disappointed with my explanation and even more so when I was still talking to the group even after her objections.

So that leads me to now. Laying on my bed doing absolutely nothing since I had finished all my homework yesterday. I felt so alone, almost an ache in my heart. Why was I feeling like this? I usually like time to myself but I wanted to do something. I wanted to be with someone.

I reached over to my bedside table and lifted my phone off it. I went to my contacts and scrolled through the names before stopping. My finger was hovering above a name. I read the name and paused. It was Kim's name.

Why was I stopped at Kim's name and not Skylar's? Skylar was my best friend. I shook my head slightly and kept scrolling until I found Skylar's name. I went to tap the screen but my finger never made contact. I was hesitating. I had an internal battle going on in my mind.

A few seconds passed before I tapped my screen and sat upward in frustration. I held the phone to my ear as I heard it ringing.

"Hello?" A voice came through.

"Hey, Kim. It's me, Maddison." I had decided to ring Kim and I'm not really sure why.

I could hear the smile in her voice even through the phone. She was always so happy and nice. "Maddison, it's so good to hear from you. Can I help you with something?"

Her question threw me off guard. Why was I ringing her? "Um, I'm not actually sure. I was just kinda lonely and bored, you know?"

I didn't need to see her to know she had a big grin on her face. "No, I understand. Trust me, I know." She giggled a little but I'm not really sure why. Was it another inside joke? This is what happens when you join a group late. "I'm heading to Emily's soon. Do you want to come? I could give you a lift."

A smile automatically graced my face. "That'd be nice, thanks."

"No problem, just give me the address and I'll be there in 20." She replied.

It wasn't long before I saw Kim pull out the front of my house. I exited my home and went to her car to save her the trouble of knocking on the door. I hopped in the passenger seat while greeting the girl. "Thanks for this. I don't know why I feel so lonely, guess I wanted some company."

"It's fine." I saw her give a sly smile. "Let me guess. You have a bit of an ache in your heart."

I looked at her eye wide. "How'd you know?"

"Call it a skill." She chuckled.

The conversation died down as we rode to Emily's. This made me think of the woman. She was really sweet as well. Another thought struck me. "I don't mean to pry but I was wondering, what happened to Emily? With the scar?"

Kim tensed a bit when I asked and I immediately regretted ever saying something. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me. It's none of my business."

Kim gave a sad smile. "No, it's okay. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind you knowing. Emily was attacked by a bear."

I froze, thinking back to my vision. I saw she was attacked by a large, black-coated creature. So it must have been a bear that I saw, it makes sense. I felt sorry for the girl. "Poor Emily…" I mumbled.

Kim hummed in agreement, sadness evident in her voice. The car ride fell silent again after that but we were just pulling up to Emily's anyway.

Once the car came to a stop, the two of us jumped out and entered the house to be greeted by Emily. "Hello, Kim." She gave the girl a hug before settling her eyes on me. "Ah, Maddison, you're here too. It's wonderful to see you again." She gave me a hug as well.

"She was feeling lonely." Kim chimed up as she exchanged a knowing look with Emily, who broke out into a big smirk.

"I see. Well, not to worry girls. The boys should be back very soon." Emily stated with a big grin as she walked back into the kitchen. I could tell by the smell that she was cooking something. Probably muffins.

Kim's face visibly lit up when she heard that. She went over and sat down at the table, motioning for me to do the same. "Where are the guys?" I asked while sitting next to Kim.

Emily answered my question. "They're helping Sam, they work for him so to speak."

I was curious. "What do they do?"

Emily hesitated a bit with her answer. "Oh, just the few odd jobs here and there. They do a fair bit in security."

I nodded my head in response before looking outside. It was quite dark outside but luckily it wasn't raining. To be honest, it kinda summed up how I felt right now. Like a void in my soul. Strange, I thought being with others would help.

Emily came over to sit with Kim and I after checking on her cooking. The three of were chatting to pass the time, catching up on anything that had happened since we last saw each other. Kim was mid-way through explaining her school subjects when a loud howl rang throughout the house. It wasn't an ordinary howl either. It was full of fear and desperation, almost like a warning.

Emily and Kim stood up instantly, their chairs scraping against the floor. They were looking at each other through silent communication. Emily turned to me. "Come on. We need to go. Now. Kim we'll take your car."

I was confused of what was happening but from how panicked the girls were acting, I was scared. I stood up quickly and followed Emily and Kim who were running to the door. Emily guided Kim and I through the door first, with her following up the rear.

Kim ran to the driver seat while Emily took passenger and I took the back. We had just reached the doors when I turned to see a woman standing a few metres away from us, near the edge of the woods. She was extremely pale with short, blonde hair. But most noticeably about her was her blood-red eyes.

Emily and Kim had frozen in place, almost like they were scared to move a muscle. No one said anything as we just stared at the woman. She honestly scared me to death. She glanced at each of us, almost as if wondering who to jump at first.

My eyes flickered between Kim and Emily to the woman. What was happening?

Suddenly, growls could be heard. Out of the woods leaped a huge, red wolf. It attacked the pale woman before another oversized white wolf came out the woods, helping the red wolf. The white wolf bit down on the woman's torso while the red wolf ripped her head off.

I let out a scream as my hands flew up to my mouth. Emily turned to me and pulled me back towards the house as Kim followed us. The two wolves snarled and glanced at the body laying on the ground.

It wasn't long before another six wolves appeared from the woods. They all exchanged glances before some of them looked at us. Most noticeably, a large black wolf stepped forward staring directly at us. I was hiding behind Emily as she called out to the wolf. "It's okay. We're okay."

The wolves gave us one final look before turning and running back into the woods. One wolf lingered slightly. It had a light grey coat with black spots and a black nose. I made eye contact with it and I felt like the void in my heart instantly vanished. Another small howl was heard and the wolf broke the contact and ran into the woods with the others.

My mouth was ajar as I pointed at woods. "Wha- What?" I mumbled out.

My eyes flickered back the woman's body on the ground. Her head was ripped off her body but there was no blood. I had to slam my hand over my mouth to stop my scream.

Emily and Kim had to practically carry me inside since I was so distraught. They placed me on a chair just as the boys, plus Leah, came running through the back door shirtless. Sam ran up to Emily while Jared ran to Kim, asking if the were okay.

Embry came running up to me, kneeling beside me. "Maddison, are you alright? You're not hurt, are you? She didn't touch you?"

"Yeah, I'm- I'm fine." I managed to stutter out. I furrowed my brows. "Wait." I glanced at Embry. "How did you know what happened?" Embry didn't reply. I looked around the room to see how the boys fidgeting. No one was answering. Then I realised, there were eight of them. There were also eight wolves.

"Impossible." I said, standing up and stumbling back. My mouth hung open as I pointed at them. I tried to speak but nothing came out.

Fear was evident on my face as Embry stepped forward. "Maddison, please. We're not going to hurt you."

"You're- You're all…" I couldn't even finish my sentence.

"Maddison, please, trust me. Let me explain." Embry pleaded, staring me right in the eyes.

I stared straight at his eyes. I knew Embry. I've been with him before and he never hurt me. A moment of silence passed before I whispered with a shaky breath. "Okay." He was just going to explain. That's it. Then I can always leave.

Relief washed over his face as he slowly walked over to me. "Let's talk in private."

"You can go to mine and Emily's room." Sam called out to Embry who nodded in response.

Embry led me up to their room, closing the door. I was still nervous and I knew he could tell. I stood in the middle of the room as Embry stood near the door. He looked like he was thinking before he placed his hands together. "I don't know where to begin but those tribe legends, they're all true. I'm a werewolf. A shapeshifter. Along with the other seven downstairs."

"A werewolf?" I managed to croak out as I looked down at my feet.

"Yes. We have the power to shapeshift into a wolf to protect the tribe and to protect people." He explained.

I thought about the campfire. "To protect people from the cold ones?" I asked thinking back to the legend.

"Yes. The cold ones." Embry stated.

I gulped. "And that woman was a cold one?"

"Yes. She was going to hurt you girls and so we stopped her." He told me gently.

"What was she? What's a cold one?" I asked, glancing up at Embry.

He stared at my eyes, hesitating before telling me. "A vampire."

I rubbed my face with my hand. "Vampires. Right. That would explain why there was no blood when her head was ripped off."

Embry nodded before walking towards me, standing just before me. "I'm so sorry, Maddison. I didn't mean to get you involved in all this." He had such a sad look.

"It's okay." I smiled weakly. "But can you tell me more about werewolves and vampires?" Considering the fact I just found out they were real I wanted to know everything about them.

Embry smiled before telling me about the pack. He told me how they transformed because of the scent of vampires, the treaty with the Cullens, how they can read each other's minds, how no one knows and everything in between.

Everything was making sense now, especially everyone exchanges knowing looks at each other but I did have one final question. "If you can't let people get too close, then why did you guys let me?"

Embry let out a sigh. "There is one thing I haven't told you. It's a wolf thing." I looked at him not saying a word, allowing him to continue. "It's called imprinting."

"Okay, and what's that?" I asked with a slight tilt of my head.

"It's when a wolf sees her for the first time, everything changes. You're not just living anymore, it's like you're living for her. She becomes the most important thing in the world. You'd do anything for her, whatever she needed." He looked me in the eye. "Sam imprinted on Emily and Jared on Kim. I'm sure you've seen how they act towards them."

I thought about it and their relationships were ones of pure love. Those boys would do anything for them. "Yeah, I think I understand. But what has that got to do with me?"

"Maddison… I imprinted on you." I stared straight into his eyes and all I saw was love.

I was at a loss for words. I opened my mouth to speak but no words came out. I realised I probably looked like a gaping fish and closed my mouth entirely.

A worried expression was beginning to form on Embry's face. "Please say something."

"I- I don't know what to say." I stumbled over my words.

"I'm sorry." He began, looking at the ground. "I've upset you because of this. You can tell me to stay away, I won't bother you again, I promise." But I could tell his voice was on the edge of cracking. It pained him to say that.

"No." I blurted out making his eyes snap to mine. I thought being with the group is what made me so happy. I was with friends. But if that was true, I should be so happy when I'm with Skylar. When I was with Kim and Emily. "Please don't stay away." I mumbled quietly, averting my gaze, playing with my fingers.

I think I finally understand why I was so happy. The loneliness, the void in my heart. That all disappeared when I was with Embry.

I gathered all my strength and looked into his eyes. "I want you to always stay by my side."

Although I still don't know anything about this feeling, I'm pretty sure this whole time, I think I've been falling in love with Embry.