CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Quil arrived just as we were getting ready to leave the next morning and immediately began to grumble that we were going over to Sam's to hang out with 'a couple of losers', but when we set off, he walked with us without further complaint. Sam, Jared and Paul were outside when we got there and Emily was cooking up the usual brunch. Embry and I took Quil in the house first and introduced him to her. Then we headed out the rear door to join the others.
As we ate Sam talked and I watched Quil's expression change gradually from disbelieving to interested and then finally to excited.
"I'm seriously going to turn into a wolf?" he said, a forkful of food halfway to his mouth, which had been hovering there for several minutes.
Embry and I grinned at him.
"Cool!" he finished. "So you're not all involved in some creepy cult thing then."
Sam raised an eyebrow and laughed. "No, it's easier to let people think that though."
The pack spent most of the day just hanging out and talking after that. Kim came over and she and Emily joined us when we went down to the beach and fooled about there and Quil fitted right in with everyone - even Paul. The next day the pack all phased while Quil watched with fascination and envy and then stayed behind at the house with the girls while we carried out a short patrol.
It was another week before he joined us properly. By Wednesday he was complaining of being too hot and we could all see it was imminent. We took him over to Sam's again on Friday night and in the absence of anything to yank his chain, he phased for the first time just by visualising it. It took him a while and he almost gave up, but then suddenly he was a chocolate brown wolf standing grinning at us, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and tail waving. Jared and Paul were already phased at that point so they could communicate with him. The rest of us shifted quickly and the first thing I heard was Quil's excitement.
"Wow, I'm really a wolf! This is so cool!"
From that day our patrols continued only at night now we had a full pack and the threat of vampires was close, frequently everyone staying at Sam's house to make things easier although there were some objections from unsuspecting parents - mainly Tiffany Call. Of course Dad and Quil's Gramps knew what was going on and Paul's Dad didn't much care, assuming he was out with girls, but Jared and Embry both had some explaining to do. It was only days before Embry's Mom was at our house, expressing her displeasure at Embry's absences in person rather than calling Dad. We both happened to be there at the time, having come home together straight after school for dinner.
Dad sent Embry and me to my room while he talked to Tiffany, but her raised voice came clearly through the walls as she shouted that enough was enough. A friend of hers who had a boy in some of our classes said we walked around school holding hands and kissing all the time, flaunting ourselves for anybody who cared to look and the fact that Embry had taken to staying out all night and making the excuse that he was at Sam's was the last straw. She was planning to make a move to Seattle to be closer to her sister and the man she had met there and she would be taking Embry with her, as soon as she could make the arrangements.
Embry's face turned white and he jumped off the bed and burst out of the room. I followed quickly as he marched into the living room.
"I'm not leaving!" he cried. "You can't make me go to Seattle!"
"I can make you do whatever I think is best! I'm your mother and you'll do as you're told!" Tiffany snapped.
"I'm sixteen in three weeks," Embry reminded her. "Then I can legally walk out, so I won't be going anywhere with you."
"So what do you intend to do? Stay here with your...gay friend?" demanded Tiffany. "I've had enough of this, Embry. You'll do as I say!"
"And I've had enough!" Dad's voice drowned her out. "I think it's time you left, Tiffany. I won't have you in my house insulting my boy - and your own - over something no one has a problem with except for you. Bullying him isn't going to help matters and as Embry said - he'll soon be old enough to take responsibility for himself and whether he had the option of coming here or not, I'm guessing he'll still choose to stay behind. You've got to let him live his own life, Tiffany, or you're going to lose him."
"You already did that a long time ago," Embry added sadly. "You can't turn me into what you want me to be; this is who I am. I've already said that."
"And I always thought you'd come to your senses. You're fifteen, Embry, you don't know what you want yet."
"Yeah, I do. I want to be with Jacob; that's more important to me than anything else."
"More important than your own mother?"
"Yes." Tears filled his eyes and he blinked them away rapidly and sat down on the sofa. I joined him and took his hand, squeezing it firmly.
Tiffany sighed heavily and after a moment perched uncomfortably on the edge of a chair.
"Look, I'm going to Seattle as soon as I can arrange it. I don't want to leave you here, Embry, but it doesn't seem like I have any choice. I just hoped things would be different, that's all."
"They could be different, but it depends on you," Embry said. "I honestly don't know what the big deal is. Nobody even cares; no one at school says anything, not even the teachers. And Jacob's Dad has been more of a parent to me lately than you have."
"I know." Tiffany sighed again. "I'm sorry, Embry, I am. I guess I have these ideas in my head about how things are going to be and it takes a while to get used to them being different. My parents were very unforgiving, very narrow-minded - in fact everyone on the reservation was - and I grew up the same. I haven't made much effort to understand you, have I?"
Embry didn't answer.
"Perhaps some time apart will be good for both of you," Dad said. "You won't have to worry about Embry, Tiffany, I'll look after him. He's welcome here as long as he wants to stay. You could visit in a few weeks, or he could visit you."
Tiffany nodded slowly. "I think that's a good idea. I'm going to be staying with my sister for a few weeks until I get a job. Once I get settled and find a house to rent, maybe you could visit, Embry. It'll be the summer holidays by then, so you wouldn't miss school." She hesitated for a long moment. "And I guess...if you want...you could bring Jacob with you."
"You mean that?" Embry said.
"Yes, I do. I know I haven't been fair to you. You're just going to have to give me a little more time, but I'll get there. I don't want my past to affect you like it is doing. I left the Makah people sixteen years ago; I suppose I just haven't left their values behind." She got to her feet. "I'll leave you to it. Billy, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before. I guess I didn't really want to accept that you were right. I haven't been a very good mother."
Much to my surprise, and Embry's, she pulled out a hankerchief and blew her nose. After a moment Embry let go my hand and got up, then went over and slid his arms around her. I glanced over at Dad and he grinned as Embry and Tiffany hugged each other before she gave him a determined smile and left.
"Well, that went better than I thought it was going to," Embry said, brushing away a tear.
I got up at once and went to him, gave him a quick hug and then led him to my room. I was glad his Mom was going to make more effort, but at the same time I was delighted that he was going to be staying with me. I longed to have him with me every minute and I was about to get my wish.
Over the next couple of days I helped Embry move his belongings from his house to mine, using the Rabbit to transport them. He didn't have too much stuff - mostly clothes and CDs and bits and pieces and it easily fitted in. Afterwards I couldn't help smiling every time I opened my wardrobe and saw his clothes in there hanging next to mine, or went to brush my teeth and saw his toothbrush standing in the cup with mine and Dad's.
Tiffany Call left La Push a week later after spending a few hours with Embry, promising to email and talk to him on the phone regularly and make more effort to accept us being together. She hadn't changed her mind about us visiting in the summer and it seemed like she and Embry did have a future as mother and son after all.
When Embry turned sixteen, Sam and Emily threw a party for him at their house and everyone spoiled him with gifts. His Mom sent him a card with a hundred dollars in it, Dad promised to pay for him to have a few driving lessons along with the time I was going to give to teaching him and the others all gave him CDs and books and things. My gift was a silver wolf pendant on a chain that I had a jeweller craft especially. Embry always wore a necklace of some sort and he loved it immediately and promised to remember to take it off before phasing.
Two days later, the trouble started. We had been stepping up the patrols now that danger was imminent and Sam had been speaking to Carlisle Cullen about how best to protect the people of Forks, in particular Bella who much to my horror was now at the centre of everything due to one of a trio of vampires having been killed to save her. The dead creature James, had a mate, Victoria, who aimed to get revenge on Bella and the Cullens and it would only be a matter of time before our training was called upon.
I talked to Bella that weekend and asked her bluntly to tell me about the Cullens, admitting that I already knew anyway. Because of the situation she was in, Sam had given me permission to tell her about the pack and she listened in silence while I related the whole story including the fact that I Imprinted on Embry. She believed all of it without question and I guessed it wasn't so hard when she was already so close to another type of monster. Once I had phased, moving vampires from horror stories to reality in my own mind hadn't been so great a leap either.
On Friday night as usual we all went to Sam's to patrol and afterwards most of the pack slept there for the last few hours of the night, except for Embry and me who preferred our own bed since we didn't get very much privacy in a house full of seven people. We returned again on Saturday morning for brunch and Kim arrived shortly after, although this time she had a friend in tow - actually a friend who looked very much like her.
"This is my cousin, Kate," she introduced and proceeded to point out Sam, Jared, Embry, Quil and me to the girl beside her. Paul was inside the house, bothering Emily and trying to snatch bits of food before she was ready to serve.
"Hey, Kate, nice to meet you," I said.
She smiled and nodded, her neat black bob of hair brushing her cheeks, brown eyes sparkling. She was a pretty girl and I didn't miss the immediate interest on Quil's face when he looked at her.
The others added similar sentiments to mine and Kim went on to explain that Kate was from Port Angeles. Her parents were going through an acrimonious divorce and thought it would be better for Kate to stay with her uncle and aunt for a while and then decide whether she preferred to live with her Mom or Dad.
Kim and Kate sat down and I went into the house with Embry to rescue the food from Paul and make sure at least some of it made it to the picnic table.
"Paul, you're an animal, wait until it's on the table at least," Emily was saying.
"You're missing the excitement anyway," Embry grinned. "Pretty girl outside - Kim's cousin."
"Where?"
Paul forgot the food and disappeared out of the door. I watched through the window as he went to the picnic table and dropped onto the bench opposite Kate. A grin stretched across his face and he stuck his hand out to shake hers.
"Embry, take this plate out, will you?" Emily said, shovelling bacon and hash browns onto a large platter.
"Wait...Em, come here."
I grabbed him and pulled him to my side, pointing out the window and wondering if he would see the same thing I did - Paul sitting there motionless, still holding Kate's hand, an odd goofy expression on his face, which seemed to have frozen like that.
"Do you think he just Imprinted?"
"Yeah." Embry laughed suddenly. "You looked just like that too."
"Quil will be disappointed, I think he liked the look of her," I said.
"Guys...food!" Emily interrupted.
Embry picked up the plate she had indicated and set off outside. I took the dish of eggs and rack of toast and followed. Paul was now grinning from ear to ear like a fool and Kate had a faintly bemused expression on her face. I guessed Sam would let Paul and Kim tell her all about us later. I imagined she would become a permanent fixture in La Push unless she rejected Paul's Imprint, which she didn't seem inclined to do. As the meal progressed, she kept meeting his eyes and smiling and Quil had begun to look resigned, concentrating on his food instead.
We all spent the rest of the day together, heading down to the beach after a while to swim and play football. By the end of the afternoon Paul and Kate were holding hands and exchanging little kisses, apparently oblivious to the rest of us, so it seemed their future had quickly been cemented.
When Kim and Kate left in the evening to go home, finally the conversation turned back to the pack and the situation with the vampires and as usual we patrolled for several hours that night. By the time we were heading back to Sam's, it was Paul who was having difficulty in controlling his thoughts for once, which surprised the rest of us given his usual silence on personal issues.
"Kate...so beautiful...miss her...shit..."
"Yeah, now you're getting it," I teased.
"Fuck off, Jake. God I feel empty. Fucking shut up, Paul!" He shook himself vigorously, apparently embarrassed, and bounded away ahead of us, leaving the rest of us laughing.
We all followed more slowly, ambling along looking forward to falling into our beds, when suddenly we were hit by a tremendous feeling of anguish. There were no actual words, no imagery, just pain and we all stopped still and waited, ears flattened, listening as pounding feet could be heard heading towards us.
"What the hell?" Sam's voice said. He stepped between us, positioning himself at the front of the pack.
Suddenly out of nowhere a grey wolf appeared, slightly smaller than the rest of us, but lightningly fast. Seeing us, it veered to the left and raced onwards and as it vanished into the trees, we picked up on its thoughts.
"Dad, I can't believe you're gone, oh God, what are we gonna do without you? Help me! Sam, you bastard, the one time I need you and you're with her, I'll never understand why you left me, I still can't damned well get over you! What the fuck am I? A wolf? DAD!"
"Oh, fuck," Sam said, his body visibly shivering. "It's Leah."
"Paul! Get back here!" Jared's voice instructed, but Paul was already trotting back towards us.
"What happened to Harry Clearwater?" Paul said. "Did he die?"
"Heart attack!" Leah's scream echoed into our heads.
"We need to get after her. Sam, come on, man, get it together!"
Jared as Beta took over the organisation of the rest of us and we turned as one and began to follow Leah. She was going flat out and we had to push ourselves to get near, but we were all bigger and stronger and despite having already patrolled for hours, we closed the gap and finally tracked her down in less than an hour. Her small grey wolf was cowering under a bush, projecting abject misery and desperation. After a moment's hesitation Sam went to her and the rest of us stayed back, closing our minds to anything we might hear.
"God, poor Leah," Embry said to me. "I hope Seth is ok."
"Shit, poor kid, I'd forgotten about him," Jared said.
We didn't have to wait long to find out about Seth. As if the shock of Harry dying and Leah phasing wasn't enough, a little while later a second lost wolf came into view, a similar size to Leah, sandy and black in colour with a sweet but terrified looking face. He was Seth, still not even fifteen years old and having phased after the upset of his Dad's death followed by seeing Leah turn into a wolf in front of him. He was shivering and crying and Jared and Embry went to comfort him, the rest of us hanging back rather than crowding him.
It was a very long night. We didn't leave the woods until dawn, by which time Leah and Seth at least understood what they were and had more or less accepted it, but they suffered horribly from the loss of their Dad and from guilt that they had both run away instead of staying with Sue Clearwater when she most needed them. They were keen to get home and we all headed back to La Push together.
The rest of us also felt Sam's pain and guilt although he didn't project words, only feelings. He still loved Leah in a way, but Emily was his life and he felt guilty for both of them. I realised how lucky I was and how uncomplicated my life was in comparison to theirs, with my Imprint beside me, knowing we would always be together.
When we reached the reservation, Embry and I said goodbye to the others at Sam's, phased back and pulled on shorts, then headed for home. Dad had just got up and was making himself some coffee. We filled him in briefly on what had happened and then went to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.
We woke late in the day and returned to Sam's to find the rest of the pack already there, including Leah and Seth. Leah had apparently come to an uneasy truce with Emily and at least now understood the reason why Sam had broken up with her, although she was still bitter.
We patrolled together once again and Sam told us he had talked to Carlisle Cullen earlier before the rest of us had arrived. An attack was coming and finally we would be called upon to defend our land, our people and Bella - and of course the Cullens themselves who we would be fighting alongside. The next few days would involve training with the vampires to ensure we were all as ready as we could be to face an army of newborns intent on destroying the Cullens and getting to Bella herself. We had until Friday and then it would be a fight to the death.
On Thursday night, Embry and I had the house to ourselves. Charlie had taken Dad back to his place for a change of scene and since Bella wasn't home - visiting friends, Charlie had said although I knew that she was in fact under Edward's protection from now until after the battle - Dad intended to stay the night in Forks.
It was the first night Embry and I had actually been able to make proper use of my new bed, what with Dad usually being in the next room and the patrols keeping us out at night so often, so we intended to make the most of it. We retired early and made love long into the night, each knowing, although we didn't voice it, that there was a chance it could be the last night we would have together like this if things went badly the next day. I knew if it came to it I would protect Embry with my life, but together we were strong - so strong since I Imprinted on him - that I was confident we would have a good chance. We were our own small army standing against everything that dared threaten our happiness. With the pack now numbering eight and with seven vampires on the same side, we were a force to be reckoned with. But until then, we still had a few more hours before we had to leave the house and prepare ourselves for battle.
I lifted my hand from where it rested on Embry's stomach and touched the small silver wolf on its chain at his throat.
"You're my life," I murmured in his ear. "I hope you know that."
"I know. I love you, Jacob. Always."
He turned his head slightly and brushed his lips against mine. Then he rolled over and I wrapped both arms tighter around him, moulding myself to his back. We always slept that way - me wrapped around him, protecting him, like I would for the rest of my life.