A/N: This is after the wedding. I'm kinda sticking to this time frame at the moment since it is an important event in the story of Sera and Seth.
Thank you for all your reviews, you guys. They keep me motivated. (:
This update wwas really fast. I updated yesterday and now today. Well, don't expect this consistency. The only reason the chapters are flying out is because my computer has been down and I've been hard at work at this story due to the rare free time I've been having.
Chapter Song: Addicted, by Saving Abel.
"And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays."
~William Shakespeare
Seth POV
Two weeks passed since anyone saw Embry. We hadn't tipped Jake off about it yet since he was probably a ridiculously happy man on his honeymoon, but if Embry didn't come back soon, we'd have to give him a call.
Alice told me they were in Sydney, Austrailia for their honeymoon. They were definitely too far away to be any help.
I tried phasing, getting ahold of Embry a couple of times, but the second I did, he phased back quicker than I could even formulate my thoughts together.
But I always saw a flash of the excrutiating pain he was in.
I leaned on Sera more than I ever had before during these times.
It was horrible for me to know that somewhere out there, Embry was in pain, and I couldn't do anything about it or find out where he was at least. My appetite took a hit, as well as my sleeping patterns. I had bags under my eyes, and I looked pale, even with my dark Native American skin. I began looking like a walking ghost.
"Seth, you don't look good. You didn't eat breakfast yesterday, so eat something today," Sera told me as we seated ourselves at the Cullen's dining table. We decided to stay in Forks for the time being until Nessie and Jake came back and we found Embry.
"I just don't feel good anymore," I said in a whisper, looking down at my french toast. On a normal day, I would already be halfway done with them. Now, they just looked unappetizing.
Sera got up from her seat and jumped up on my lap. I noticed how she now looked more five than four, her body more graceful and porportioned. Her hair, even though still unruly, was getting shinier and longer. She picked up my utensils and began cutting my food in bite-size pieces. She forked a piece of french toast and turned around in my lap, offering me the food with the fork she was holding in her hand.
"Really? You're going to feed me?" I asked, chuckling. She raised an eyebrow.
"This is the only way you'll eat. And besides, you fed me when I was a baby," she reminded me.
I sighed, and feeling ridiculous, I opened my mouth. She popped in the french toast with a satisfied smile on her face.
Chew, swallow. I was a machine.
"More," she said, forking more food and then putting it into my mouth.
She sighed when she saw I didn't get that instant satisfaction on my face that I always get when I eat. "You can't blame yourself," she said.
"You blame yourself," I reminded her.
She let out a huff. "Yes, but that's different! I practically caused the reason he disappeared. You've done nothing to make him sad or angry. You were there when he phased and just needed someone. And I-I..." To her displeasure, a tear rolled down her face.
"Oh, honey," I murmured, wrapping my arms around her. I felt another tear fall onto my arm.
"I wish I could apologize," Sera whispered.
"He knows you didn't mean it."
"How would you know? He always phases back to a person before any of you would reach him!" In her little ball of anger, she stabbed the table with the fork. The teeth slid in about halfway.
Her mouth dropped. "Wow, I'm strong," she murmured.
I chuckled at her. "I've known that for awhile." I grabbed its handle and pulled it out of the table with one tug.
Sighing, she took the utensil from my hand and forked more food, putting more into my mouth. "I still want to apologize to him. I hate feeling like Quil has to join our pack for the time being to keep an eye on Embry, and help you out."
"We're all going through a rough time right now, Sera."
"That I caused."
"Listen to me, Seraphina. Nothing you said or did would have made Embry better, or not find out eventually. He's in the same pack with Jacob. When we're in wolf form, we share thoughts, and he would have found out eventually. Please stop blaming yourself. I can't stand it," I told her, my eyes wide and begging.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Jake needs to come home."
"I agree, but he's on his honeymoon-"
"For Nessie's sake."
"Huh?"
She sighed, and looked out the window. "She's been pregnant for two weeks now. That means that she might be showing. I had a vision about the baby. The baby is more vampire than werewolf. It'll chew its way out-"
"Have you told Carlisle this?" I asked her, already pulling away from the table.
"I just woke up. I just had this dream," she reminded me.
With the food forgotten, I set her down on the ground and reached for my cell phone. Frantically, with fumbling fingers, I made a call to the doc in less than thirty seconds after she told me this. "Carlisle, its Seth. Sera had a dream last night that Ness has a bun in the oven, and the baby growing inside her is more vampire than werewolf. Which means that it's going to chew its way out. Now, I didn't ask for specifics from Sera, but if it's anything like I saw in Jake's mind when Bella was giving birth, Nessie needs to come home. Now."
"Sera saw the actual process of the baby ripping its way out?" Carlisle gasped.
I glanced down at my imprint, and for the first time noticed the dark circles under her eyes. She definitely would not be looking like this if the dream was pleasant. "She did."
"I'm calling Nessie right away," he said, and hung up the phone.
I bent down to pick up Sera. She was swaying side-to-side with exaustion. "You didn't get much sleep, did you?"
She shook her head. "It was a bad dream. But you were starving yourself. And the others were out hunting, and you were the only person I could tell-"
I kissed her head. "You don't have to protect me. I understand your worry, but your visions are too important to take precedence over my eating habits."
She sighed. "You're right. But it was a bad dream."
"Sounds like it." I kissed her hair.
"What's bad is knowing that those bad dreams might come true."
I hadn't thought about it that way, but then I had an overpowering urge to protect Sera from her nightmares. "We won't let anything bad happen, I promise."
The others came in through the back door with expressions of worry. "They're on their way home. Nessie's showing a lot already. They were betting that because of Nessie's strong body and Jake's human genes, it would be born normally. And apparently, they were too caught up in their honeymoon for it to occur to them to call us," Carlisle shook his head and chuckled a little bit, "I guess we can owe Sera's dreams to saving Nessie's life." Carlisle walked over and kissed Sera's cheek.
"My granddaughters are such strong girls," he said, smiling at Sera. Sera beamed and reached out for her granddfather. Carlisle took her in his arms.
"Grandpa, it was a bad dream. They have to get home," Sera said seriously.
"I understand, angel. We'll do everything in our power to save her life." Handing Sera to Bella, he, Edward, Japser, Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice went upstairs to set up the medical equipment. Bella took Sera to the couch, and I followed.
"Thank you, Sera. We would all give up our lives to save each other, but you saved my daughter's life. I love you. Thank you." She kissed Sera's cheek.
"You're welcome, Aunt Bella." Sera wrapped her arms around Bella's neck.
She chuckled. "I've missed this, you know. Nessie was more independent than any other person I have ever met. All she wanted to do was act like a mad woman and run around everywhere half-naked with Jake." She chuckled at the memories of her showing up well past dark with mud matted in her hair, and her clothes torn and ripped, smiling like crazy.
Sera laughed. "I can be a mad woman too."
My eyes bugged with worry. "Please don't," I told her.
She smiled mischeviously. "No promises."
This little girl would be the death of me. "At least, if you're gonna go crazy, make sure I'm there to protect you."
Sera rolled her eyes but smiled. "Deal."
Bella laughed at her niece, and Alice and Jasper emerged downstairs. Alice danced over and picked up her daughter.
"I'm going to go see if my husband needs me," Bella said, and giving me a wink, she darted up the stairs.
Alice sat down next to me with Sera in her arms. "You are such a brave, smart girl. I want you to know that not all of your dreams are going to be good ones, but your dreams have been pleasant enough, thanks to your extremely overprotective family and your personal bodyguard, Seth." Alice grinned at me. "But that doesn't mean that the good ones are any less important. I found that out when the Volturi came to visit us all those years ago."
"Darlin', you're everything to us. You're such a clever girl, and you're so full of life. I think you've realized that part of being a Cullen is always having each other's backs, especially when times get rough. You're a true Cullen," Jasper told her daughter, and kissed her cheek.
He turned to look at me. "Seth, I know I had my reservations in the beginning, but you've protected my daughter like she was your own life. Sometimes, you've done it even better than I could. Thank you."
Jasper turned and gave Alice a look. They seemed to disagree about something.
"Seth, can I talk to you?" Alice asked, giving Jasper a little glare. He sighed and slumped.
"Um, sure Alice." I got up and walked outside out of earshot.
"Yeah?" I asked.
She got straight to the point. "Sera asked me what imprinting was the other day."
I took a step back. "Did she?"
Alice nodded and looked in the direction of the house. "I didn't tell her what it was. I just said it's something that a wolf does. She's been asking me about it constantly. Now, from what I've seen with Jacob and Nessie, if you wait until she's older to tell her, that causes more issues than what it's actually worth. So...tell her."
"Wait, really?" My eyes had to be bugging out of my head.
"Don't say anything about the soul mates though. Leave that part to her. But tell her you imprinted on her, at least."
"Does she have any idea what imprinting is?" I asked Alice.
"All she knows is that it's some form of connection. And she also knows Embry was tossing that word around a lot when he talked about Jake and Nessie..."
"I see," I muttered.
"Yeah, so...tell her. Just nothing about soul mates," she repeated.
"I understand," I said, feeling my stomach knot over and over again.
How would I do this? It wasn't exactly your everyday conversation. Hey kiddo, you and I are connected for life! How 'bout it? No. Definitely not. It wasn't something I could just underplay, and then when she's older, drop the bomb on her that we are, in fact, soul mates, even though I can't imagine ever seeing her like that. If I had no previous experience on the subject, I would just say Sera and I were destined to be platonic forever, and I would be a happy man. But Jake's experience proved otherwise. I could only just count down the days until nothing made sense anymore.
But still. I knew the reason for imprinting. Throw in your other half, some gibberish about making stronger wolves, and viรณla! You got the "true definition" of imprinting.
But only imprinted wolves knew it was much more than that. Way more. It was about being so completely connected to someone that it was literally essential to your survival if that person was happy or not. And that was only scratching the surface.
It was about literally being another half of someone. It was crazy how well Sera already knew me, how well she could pick up on my emotions or thoughts, and she was only a little kid. And our bond was only getting stronger and stronger.
If only they gave wolves manuals on how to tell their imprints this shit.
I knew that Sera would find out eventually though, through her uncanny visions or just simply thinking it out, which I knew she was more than smart enough for. And again, that would cause problems.
Of course, I got the uncannily smart imprint with a temper. Not that I was complaining, it's a bit shocking to have an eleven-month old child be so many steps ahead of you at any given time.
I pondered this over as I walked back to the house. I caught a glint of Sera's raven hair, and I walked to where she was.
Sera was sitting on Jasper's lap, listening to him talk about the Civil War. When he saw me walk in, he eyed me knowingly.
"Okay, Seraphina. I'm going to let you two talk." Jasper sat Seraphina on the couch. He walked over to me. "Seth, Alice and I don't exactly see eye to eye on this. I think you should wait. Whatever you decide..." He trailed off, and giving me another meaningful look, he walked away.
"What's wrong, Seth?" Sera asked from the couch, eyeing me. I gave her a half-smile.
"Nothing, kiddo. I just got something to tell you." I walked over and sat next to her on the couch. Her dark blue eyes were trained on mine.
"I hear that you know what imprinting is." Straight to the point.
Sera shook her head. "I've heard the term before. I know it's something wolves do, and I know that Jacob has done it with Nessie. But that's all."
"Well, they're not the only ones. Sam had done it with Emily, Jared with Kim, Quil with Claire, Paul with Rachel, Collin with Darcy, Leah with Lucas...I've done it too." I gave her a smile.
"Who have you done it with?" Sera asked, her eyes big.
"Tell me, intelligent one," I told her, "Who do I spend most of my time with?"
She blinked a couple of times before the realization set in. "Me?"
"Yes" was all I said.
"...Well, what is it?" she asked, cocking her head to the side like a puppy. This was the hard part.
"Imprinting is...it's when a wolf sees that one person. And not just any person, because to the wolf, gravity shifts. Now, this person is holding you to the earth. When you're an imprint, your wolf would be anything and do anything for you. Whether you needed a brother, or a friend, or a protector...so on."
"And you've done it to me." She said it as a statement.
"Imprinted, yes."
She stayed quiet. I figeted nervously in my seat as she gave me a steady, inquisitive look. Her dark eyes took me in.
"Imprinted," she repeated, in a voice no louder than a whisper.
"Imprinted," I responded with more strength.
She continued her gaze. From what I could feel off of her, she was fairly calm. Yet her dark-eyes seemed to shake me up and stir me around.
"Sera, tell me what you're thinking," I begged.
Her eyebrows furrowed. "I was trying to make sense of it."
"What do you need help with?" I asked.
She turned her gaze out the window. "When did you imprint on me?"
"The first time I saw you. You were a day old. That's the only time you can imprint on someone, when you first see them. If you don't imprint on them the first time, you'll never imprint on them."
"I remember that day," she said.
"I'm glad you do. What did I look like?"
"You looked like...you had seen a ghost."
I chuckled. "More like an angel, honey."
She nodded and smiled a little bit, but didn't meet my eyes.
She thought for a few more moments. "Was it forced?"
"What? No! I mean, when that person is the right person, it just kinda hits you, so in a way, it chooses you. But I don't regret it, Seraphina. Like I said, I would do anything for you," I told her honestly.
That's what I didn't get. When Jacob told Nessie about the imprint, she thought it was forced upon him and she ran away for three weeks. To say Jake was a mess would be an understatement. When she finally came to her senses about the fact that they were soul mates, and the imprint just showed them that, she came home.
"But you didn't necessarily choose me," Sera responded, meeting my eyes with a passion I had never seen before stirring in them.
"Do you mean, did I walk down an aisle in a store and pick you out beforehand, no I didn't. Did I have any clue at all that I would imprint? Hell no. Did I know it'd be you? Hell no. But I did, and it was you. It was always supposed to be you. Just remember that. Even before I knew that it was supposed to be you, it was always you."
"So you didn't know when or who you would imprint on, but you saw me and that was it. It came out of nowhere."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"You just admitted to not having a choice," Sera said despondently, a tear rolling down her face. I leaned to wipe it away, but she jerked away from me. My hand fell limply to my side.
"There was no choice," she growled. I was taken aback.
"Sera, listen to me. You may think that, but that's not the case. Even if I wasn't a wolf, I would have still found you eventually because you were the one all along. Imprints just show you who it is faster, that's all."
She slumped, defeated in her seat. "I want to give you a choice."
"If you gave me a choice Sera, I would choose you every time. That is a promise." I held out my pinky.
She stared at it for a moment before meeting my eyes again. "Are you sure? It doesn't sound like you have much of a choice right now."
"I'm as sure as life itself. Trust me, it's a promise I can definitely keep. It's my choice. I could have denied my imprint, you know. But why would I do that? Is it really so bad to have someone live and die for you? Because it's definitely not bad for me."
She seemed unsure about what to think, but she eventually decided to trust me. She looped her small pinky in mine, almost grudgingly, but I nudged her. She looked up at me with sad eyes. "There's a reason you came into this life, Sera. You're my imprint. You don't need to ever worry about being alone again. Even if you don't want me, I'll stalk you." I grinned triumphantly.
She laughed. "Why would I not want you? You're my best friend." As she said this, she seemed almost saddened at this idea. I poked her tickle spot, and she thawed right out. I grinned at her.
"You're mine too."
"Okay, I have another question," she said, and this time, looked down at her hands. "Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim, even Nessie and Jake...they're all together. If Claire grew up and wanted Quil to be her husband, would he be?"
"Yes," I answered honestly. "If that's what Claire wanted, and they were in love, well...they were supposed to be together from the beginning, right?"
"And Lucas and Leah?" she pressed.
"When Lucas grows up, he might pursue Leah. And if he does, Leah would only too-happily exchange his feelings." I didn't want to think about that particular "pursuing," especially with my sister. It was bad enough knowing Leah and Sam had sex.
I should have probably seen where this was going, but I was still blindsided when she said, "And you and I?"
My hands dropped. "If that's what you wanted," I answered honestly. I couldn't lie to my imprint. Well, I mean, technically I could, but I could also cut off my arm if I wanted to. Would it hurt? Hell yeah. Would I want to do that? I'd pass. Lying to your imprint was the same concept.
"But we're just best friends," she stated, taking my huge hand in her small one. I smiled.
"We are best friends. Forever and ever," I told her.
She grinned. "Forever. We don't need to get married. We can run away and live on the beach or something," she said.
That would be interesting if we lived on the beach just like my dream. My life would officially be awesome. "Okay, when you grow up, we'll live on the beach."
"In La Push though. I want to live right on First Beach," she said, grinning.
"Ooh, that will be a tough one to swing. But who knows? It could happen," I told her, "Besides...between you and me, I have friends on the Elder Council, and my sister is the Alpha."
"Leah? No way!" she said, laughing.
"I think if we begged enough, she'd let us," I confided.
Sera threw her arms around me. "Thank you, Seth."
"You're welcome kiddo."
Later, Jasper and Alice asked me to put Sera to bed, since they were going to go out of town for the weekend. I, of course, consented, but Jasper was a bit cooler to me than usual. But I mean, Alice's thinking was fool proof. Waiting to say anything about imprinting just caused problems.
I was sitting on the couch, watching TV with Sera on my lap, but she was getting tired. Her face started getting the blinky-eyed expression.
"C'mon, let's go to bed," I told her, picking her small frame up in my arms.
She was half-asleep by the time we got upstairs. She didn't have her own room like she did in the house back in Idaho, so she just slept in her parent's bed. I tucked her into the luxurious sheets.
"You know, Seth," she murmured sleepily, "I wouldn't mind marrying you. That way, we could really be best friends forever."
I forgot that she was still a little kid at times. It was obvious at times like these that there were many more things she had to learn about life, especially since she thought that best friends got married to stay best friends forever. I chuckled. "Sure, kiddo. Anything you want."
"Love you," she said tiredly. I kissed the top of her head.
"Love you too, Seraphina."
I could have stayed there like that, watching her sleep like the little angel she was, but I had to find my lost brother.
I had to find him, especially before Jacob came home. I had to find Embry.
At midnight, I stole out into the forest that I knew like the back of my hand. I was wearing nothing but some boxers. I stripped and tied them to my ankle before I phased.
I kept a low profile. I made sure my thoughts weren't loud, so that you wouldn't know if I was there if he was distracted. I seemed to be in luck that night- I felt Embry's presence through his dreams. Or rather, his existance. He was barely holding on.
I could tell from the hunger pains that he was feeling that he was emaciated. He wasn't eating. He was just waiting to die.
I pushed down all the emotions I was feeling, and focused on nothing but the forest. I would need to sneak up on him.
I couldn't figure out where he was, but I could follow the connection with our telepathy. The moon was shining overhead, full, and that gave me enough light in the forest to lead the way.
Embry was pretty far away, my connection told me that much. I dug my claws into the ground and ran faster than I ever had in my life.
Run, run, run, forest, animal, green, faster, was all I let myself think. I was keeping as low of a profile as I could muster.
I felt my telepathy get stronger. I was getting closer.
I could smell him now. He smelled like...Embry, but if Embry was also rotting slowly. It wasn't a good smell.
My legs ached. I had never pushed myself to run this hard.
I felt a stir in his thoughts. He felt my appraoching. But he couldn't realize what was happening in time before I shot through the trees, and ran to his side.
Embry! I rejoiced. He was alive.
But barely.
His ribs were prominent. He looked sickly and emaciated, and even through all of his ailments, I could still feel pain. It was the strongest thing about him at the present moment.
Seth? Even his mind couldn't formulate anything louder than a whisper.
Phase back dude, you're going to die if you stay like this, I commanded.
Ha, as if dying if the worst thing that could happen to me, he muttered sarcastically.
That son of a bitch. There was no way that I was going to let him die on the forest floor. But knowing Embry, he wouldn't listen to me without an Alpha command.
I would have to take charge.
As the true Alpha's Beta, I command you to get up, Embry Call! I felt power ring through my words. I guess that settled the Beta issue when it came to Jacob's pack. Besides, I was a Clearwater. I had three werewolf lines to boast in my name. Without Jacob, I would have the best claim to the Alpha power anyways. Leah already upheld hers.
Embry didn't have a choice. With shaking limbs, he struggled up. He was very weak.
Phase back, I told him in the same voice.
Embry phased. Usually, we could phase back and forth without any drain to our energy. But Embry was so weak that whatever energy he had been saving up was long gone now. He phased, and fell to his knees.
I phased back too and immediately began to tend to him. "Fuck, Embry. You look like you've gone to hell and back."
Whatever he looked like as a wolf was magnified as a human. His skin was gray. His eyes had no spark in them.
He might as well have been a walking zombie.
"We need to get you home. I'm giving you my boxers," I took them off and handed it to him, "and you're going to ride on my back to the Cullen's. We have to get you to see Carlisle."
Embry did not have the energy to fight me anymore. Everything about him was weak.
Embry was going to die.
I didn't waste any time. Embry could barely reach up to take the boxers from me, let alone put them on himself. Normally, I would have had an objection because I was a hetero dude, but this man was seriously ill. I slipped them on myself.
I phased into a wolf. Embry slowly but miraculously climbed onto my back. Trying to keep my gait as smooth as possible, I shot off into the woods.
Embry was groaning on my back. His breathing was labored. He had gone on so long without nutrition, I thanked whatever gods that made him a wolf, because if he was human, he would have been long dead by now.
C'mon Seth, faster, don't let him die, I pleaded with myself, willing my legs to move even faster than before. But this time, I didn't feel any pain. I had one objective, and that was to make sure Embry Call lived.
I could feel the Cullen's proximity. I assumed Edward could hear me. Edward, if you can hear me, make sure that Carlisle's in. I have Embry. He's going to die if someone doesn't help him.
With that thought, I raced forward, my only hope being that Embry didn't die on me.
Thankfully, Edward did hear me. He was standing at the front door with Carlisle in hand. I stopped my movement, and Edward and Carlisle raced over to me, pulling Embry off my shoulders.
Embry had passed out on my back. His heartbeat was barely audible. I could see every bone in his body.
"Save him," was all I said as they carted him inside. I followed shortly afterwards.
Using Nessie's medical equipment set up in the office, Carlisle immediately hooked him up to an IV and a tube that would pump much needed nutrition into his body.
"How long has he been without food?" Edward asked, surveying the skeleton before him.
"Longer than he should have," I replied, feeling my knees get a little shaky.
"He's very dehydrated," Carlisle said, working over him.
Edward sighed, looking down at Embry. "There's not much I can do. Carlisle's got him covered. Let's go, Seth, we'll find you some clothing." Edward led me out of the room and into Emmett's room. He pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts that looked pretty close to my size.
"I hope these clothes work. You clothes at home probably smell better," he said apologetically as I slipped on my pants.
"I'm not being picky right now," I said, "Although I wouldn't have an objection either way. I've been with you guys so much that I barely notice the smell anymore."
"As have I, Seth," Edward said, giving me a crooked grin.
I sighed, looking in Embry's direction. Will he be okay? I thought.
"I can't say for sure. In my personal opinion, if you hadn't found him, tonight would have probably been his last night."
I shook my head. "Dumbshit."
Edward chuckled. "I'm not used to the Seth that cusses now. Where did this come from?" he teased.
"Yeah, well. When you listen to Embry's sarcasm all day long, you pick up a few things. Hey, I might even end up with a few gray hairs on my head after tonight."
Edward chuckled. "You're still optimistic Seth though."
"That I am. Can't get rid of me that fast," I joked.
"You're a good match for Sera, you know," he said out of no where. I raised my eyebrow.
"I know that seems out of no where, but I see the way you are with her. She acts old for her age."
I rolled my eyes, but my heart expanded talking about my imprint. She was my favorite subject. "That I know. It's a bit surreal at times. Sometimes I have to do a double take and tell myself she isn't even a year old yet. Sometimes, she acts like she's four, and at other times, she acts like she's forty. She's got a lot of depth."
"I agree with you. I think it's because of all her visions," he commented.
"What does she dream of?" I asked curiously.
"You, mostly. You're right up there with her parents as her favorite people. She's also been dreaming of Nessie a lot more, and now, Embry. She also sees different people's decisions that might affect the family. For instance, she dreams of the Denalis, because they're our cousins and they're due for a visit soon."
"Huh. But no nightmares?" I had to ask. I had to protect her.
Edward chuckled. "She rarely ever has bad dreams. The first real one was the other night when she dreamed of Nessie being, well..." Edward flinched.
"That graphic, huh?" I asked.
"It was uncanny. Even Alice's visions don't get that detailed."
I felt a lump rise in my throat. "Poor girl."
"You see, when you just automatically know everything, you don't have much of a chance to be a kid. You make her a kid, Seth."
I scratched my forehead. "It's all I want for her. I want her to be as much of a kid as possible. I could only imagine being in her position. She could never have a normal dream, and she's constantly surrounded by the fact that if she has a bad one, it could become a reality. That's got to be hard. But I'm going to protect her. No matter what."
"She needs that. Because even though she acts like she's forty, she's got a twenty-one-year-old in there rearing its head. She's got quite the wild streak."
I face-palmed myself. "Tell me something I don't know. I'm going to have my hands full when she gets older."
Edward chuckled. "I pity you. Nessie had her fair share of wild moments."
Nessie was the definiton of a wild child back way when. She was responsible, but that only helped out with the fact that she could get away with not getting caught. Jacob and Edward probably wore a permanent hole in the carpet from pacing so much after all the late night parties and several boyfriends she possessed. I don't think Jake was the only one relieved when Ness finally came to her senses about her best friend was the one she wanted all along.
"Ugh, don't remind me," Edward said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
I chuckled, and heared Carlisle walk into the room. "He's stable now. He's asleep for the time being, but still weak. Even with his advanced healing, he's gonna need a couple days on the IV and lots of nourishment."
"I don't understand why he has a sudden death wish. I mean, he's in love with Nessie, but he shouldn't kill himself over it." For the life of me, even though I spend hours a day in his mind, I will not ever begin to understand Embry Call.
"I think the biggest sickness he is suffering from right now is a broken heart. His eyes...they're lifeless." Carlisle shuddered.
"He's in agony right now," Edward whispered, "I know the feeling."
"I wish there was some way I could help him. Embry's in critical condition right now, but when Ness gets home, how are we going to manuver the two of them around each other? Nessie's obviously gonna be a little bit more important, but Embry almost died tonight. He can't do anything for awhile either," I said, trying to mull this over, figuring out a way they could be around each other without bringing Embry suffering.
"Does he know about Nessie?" Carlisle asked.
"No. I don't know if we should tell him."
"Maybe..." Edward said, but trailed off at the last second. "Never mind."
"Just say it, Edward," I pressed.
He sighed. "Maybe Seraphina could tell him, since it was her vision. But Embry's unstable right now, and that would put Sera in danger..."
"I agree. We have to leave Sera out of this," I immediately said.
"Leave me out of what?"
Our eyes snapped to where Sera was standing in the doorway. She was still in her nightgown, with her eyes puffy and her hair wild. She was holding in her hand Remus, the stuffed wolf I gave her for her six-month birthday. It matched my fur perfectly. I smiled at her.
"What are you doing up, Sera? Couldn't sleep?" I asked, and I held my arms out for her. She immediately bounded into them.
"I heard Aunt Rose and Mommy arguing downstairs about what to do when Nessie comes home, because Embry is here too," she said, looking at Carlisle, "Is Embry here?"
"Yes, darling, he just fell asleep."
"How did he find his way back?" she asked.
Carlisle smiled at her. "Seth went out to find him. Good thing too. Embry was about to die. He was very malnourished, and weak."
"You found him?" Sera asked, staring at me with big eyes.
"I did."
Sera kissed my cheek. "You saved his life."
I blushed a bit. "No big deal," I muttered. Edward laughed at me.
Sera giggled. "Yeah right, you're just being bashful."
"Whatever you say, Smartie," I said.
She giggled again. "So what do you want to leave me out of?"
I sighed. "Edward thought it would be a good idea if you told Embry about the vision of Nessie, since it was your vision, but-"
"I'll do it," she said suddenly.
"Nope. Absolutely not."
"Why?" Sera whined.
"Because, he's too unstable right now. I'm not having you within one hundred feet of him just in case he phases, let alone in the same room." My eyes dared her to differ.
She glared at me a little. "Why do you have to be so protective of me?"
"Sorry, kiddo. It's the deal that comes with imprinting."
"So you told her about imprinting?" Carlisle asked.
"Yeah, per Alice's request. Jasper didn't want me to, but she's heard the word thrown around a couple of times, and you know how Smartie is. Hates to be left out of the loop." I nudged her tickle spot, and she giggled.
"Does she know about...?" Carlisle asked.
"No," Edward responded.
"What don't I know?" Sera asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
"Nothing," we all said at the same time. I assumed they were talking about the soul mate clause. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward nod his head.
"Fine, don't tell me then," Sera grumbled, crossing her arms and refusing to look at me. That kid's emotions were like a rollercoaster.
"C'mon, kiddo. Don't blame me, I didn't decide not to tell you."
"You didn't decide to tell me either," Sera snapped.
"C'mon, Sera. Please don't be mad at me. I'll do anything. It's just, your parents said I couldn't say anything, but I promise you will find out eventually-"
"But you always give me what I want," Sera pleaded with huge eyes.
Shit. Willpower draining, and fast. "I do. But this time, I can't. Do you want me to get in trouble? Would you do that to me?" I pleaded. Guilt manuver, always works.
Sera sighed and looked away. "No," she muttered.
"So please don't be mad at me. I promise that eventually, and maybe very soon, you'll find out. You may even figure it out yourself. Isn't that what you live for?" I said slyly.
Sera huffed in response.
"That's my girl," I said, grinning.
Sera's eyes blinked tiredly. I looked at the clock. Crap, it was three in the morning! Jasper would have my head put on a plaque.
"I'm gonna put you back to bed. Heaven knows you've had a long night."
"But I want to figure it out!" Sera exclaimed.
I smiled at her. "You'll figure it out better when you've had a full night's sleep."
She couldn't deny my logic. "Fine. But I will find out."
I chuckled. "You usually do," I said honestly.
I carried her back to Alice and Jasper's room, and tucked her back in.
"Good night, honey. I love you," I said, and I kissed her forehead.
"Love you too, Seth," she murmured, already slipping into unconciousness.
I walked back to the room where Carlisle and Edward were standing.
"You're really good with her. I've never seen her so automatically pacified with anyone," Carlisle said.
"Yeah, Lord knows she gives Alice plenty of grief when it comes to shopping, and Jasper just gives her whatever she wants," Edward said, chuckling.
"I usually just give her whatever she wants too," I responded.
"Yeah, but she also sees reason when she's with you. She's got some spunk, that little one. She's definitely Alice's daughter," Edward told me, laughing.
That she was. Sera didn't like shopping, but other than that, she was her mother's daughter through and through. Whether it was visions, or personality, or looks, she was Alice. She gained Jasper's seriousness, empathy (she cried when she killed her first deer), and devotion for loved ones. Other than those two, it seemed like the person that influenced her the most in the house was me.
Edward nodded in agreement. "Alice and Jasper's daughter."
We began talking about Embry's condition and what we could do for him, as well as arrangements for when Jake and Nessie got home, when all of the sudden I felt a pang in my gut. I heard rustling in the sheets down the hall, and Edward's eye snapped over.
"Sera" was all he said. He didn't have to say anything more. I ran down the hall to her room.
Sera was thrashing around in the sheets. Her eyes were still closed, but I could see the tears rolling down her face. I immediately ran over, and I picked her up. I held her in my arms.
"Don't disturb the vision," Edward said from the doorway.
As much as it pained me, I knew he was right. My presence soothed her somewhat, but the tears were still coming.
After a few more minutes of watching in horror, her thrashing stopped. I nudged her a little bit.
"C'mon, Sera. Open your eyes for me. It's Seth. It'll be okay," I murmured, and slowly but surely, she opened her eyes.
When she saw me, she breathed in a sigh of relief, and a new round of tears came about. "Seth!" she cried, and threw her arms around me. I rubbed circles on her back.
"It's okay, honey. Shhh, I'm here," I promised.
"Embry," she whispered.
"What about him?" I asked her, pulling her back to look at her face.
She drew a shuddering breath. "He's going to try and kill Nessie and Jake's baby. He lunged, and I couldn't see what happened after that," she said, and she sobbed.
"We won't let him touch their baby," I promised her, suddenly feeling angry that Embry would even try something like that. His best friend's child. Or so I thought.
"He was very angry. I-I saw Nessie give birth again, except Grandpa was there. The baby still tried to rip its way out. Embry w-wasn't thinking clearly. Jake was passed out in the corner from the pain Nessie was in. "
"We'll try to stop it," Edward said, walking over and putting a hand on her shoulder. He bent down to hug her.
"You're such a brave girl. These can't be easy, dreaming of the future. But you save lives, Seraphina. Always remember that."
She touched Edward's hand, and her eyes glazed over for a fraction of an inch before she pulled back.
"That was you, when Nessie was born," she whispered, "You looked sad."
"Bella almost died," he whispered back.
"She looked terrible. Like a skeleton. She looked like Embry, except covered in blood."
Edward smiled grimly. "That she did, but we saved her. We'll do the same with Nessie this time around." He touched her head for a second before walking out of the room.
"You're everything to us, as well as your cousin, Sera," Carlisle said, kissing her forehead. "We'll make sure she lives."
Carlisle walked out of the room as well, leaving just me and Seraphina.
"Seth, don't leave," she whispered brokenly. She hung onto my arm like her life depended on it.
"I won't go anywhere," I promised, and slid into the bed next to her. She snuggled under my arm.
"I hate my dreams," she muttered, burying her face into my side.
"There's good things and bad things about every gift. Edward's gift is very helpful, but he also has to listen to voices all day every day. Jasper can help with the emotional climate, but he's also very affected by them too. Alice is like you too. She sees good things and bad things. Sometimes, certain times are better than others. I don't always like being a wolf too."
"Shut up, you love being a wolf," she muttered.
I chuckled. "Yeah, but there are sometimes where I wish I could turn it off. I can't go more than a couple days without phasing. I eat like it's the last meal I'll ever have. I spend more time without clothes on than I do with them on. Some aspects of being a wolf are annoying."
"What's your favorite part?" she asked.
I thought for a moment. "Running. Being with my brothers. Feeling like you're strong enough to protect an entire group of people. That's my favorite part."
She nodded. "If I was a wolf, that'd be my favorite part too."
"What's your favorite part about being half-vampire?"
She laughed. "I get the best of both worlds. I get the speed and the strength of a vampire, but I can also exist in the human world with eating and sunlight."
"And your least favorite?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't quite fit into either world. The only person who can relate to me is Nessie, but she lives with Jake now. I'm not talented enough to be a vampire, and I'm too talented to be a human. I'm right in the middle."
"That doesn't mean that not fitting in is a bad thing."
"Sometimes."
I sighed. "Go to sleep, sweetie. I'll be here when you wake up."
It was all quiet for a few minutes when Sera said something again. "If you could choose whether or not you wanted to be a wolf, would you still choose it?"
"Absolutely."
"Why?"
I kissed the top of her head. "Because I met you. If I wasn't a wolf, I wouldn't even know you existed, let alone all of this existed."
She smiled. "I love you, Seth."
"Love you too, Sera."
Sera's dreams did not disturb her for the rest of the night.
I woke up to an earthquake.
"What the-" I yelled, jumping up automatically and lifting Sera's still sleeping body with me.
I heard laughing from the corner. I whipped around and saw that Jake was laughing his ass off at me. I grumbled.
"What the hell, man?" I growled. Sera obviously did not like being woken up, so she hissed at me, flipped backwards in my arms, and slipped right back under her sheets with an annoyed expression.
"Hey, what if the house was on fire?" I asked Sera.
"Then I would have had a dream about it, and then woke you up before the fire even started," she hissed, and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. I rolled my eyes at her.
More laughing. I glared at Jake. "Sorry dude, I should think twice before I shake you awake," he said, and chuckled. I shook my head at him.
"Well I'm awake now," I said, straightening out my clothes.
I took a good look at Jake. He was still glowing from his honeymoon, but I could see the stress that was marring his features.
"How are you, dude?" I asked him.
"Honestly?" he said, "I could be better. I was having such an awesome time with Ness in Australia, and she started showing her bump, and god- she looked so beautiful with the whole pregnancy glow and everything. We were betting that because Nessie's body is strong and the baby was more human than anything else that it'd be a normal birth. Until Carlisle called, telling me otherwise. I've never been that scared in my life." Jake plopped down on the chair.
I looked over at Sera, who was awake and looking at Jake with a sad expression. Jokingly, I approached her cautiously with my hands up.
"Is it safe to pick you up, ma'am? Will I get hissed at again? Maybe lose a finger or two?"
Sera chuckled. "It's safe."
Laughing, I picked her up and held her in my arms. I walked back over to Jake who was watching us with an amused expression.
"Hey, Sera," Jake said, smiling at her.
"Hi, Jake. Is Nessie okay?" she asked worriedly.
"She's okay for the time being. She's feeling a bit sick, but that's it."
Sera looked worried. "I'm going to go see her. Let me down, Seth," she commanded, and I did as she asked. She immediately flitted out of the room.
"She's a character, that one," he said, laughing. I laughed with him.
I laughed, but it immediately turned to a sigh. "Did Carlisle tell you specifics of the dream?"
Jake's face darkened. "Yeah. The baby would rip its way out." Jake's heartbeat stammered nervously.
"It's okay. But...I need you to phase with me," I told him.
"Why?" he asked, confused.
"Because there's certain shit going on with a certain member of this house that you need to know about. Just please don't rip him limb from limb, because I think you'll regret it."
"What's going on, Seth?" he growled.
"Come outside." Without further ado, I walked out of the room, and Jacob followed me with shaking hands.
We walked into the cover of the trees, and took off our clothes to phase. I was immediately bombarded with images from the honeymoon that I definitely did not want to see.
Dude, really? I growled.
He looked abashed. Sorry, I had fun.
I shook my head. I immediately began thinking of Embry.
I started during the ceremony when I saw Embry cry, and my confusion. He didn't follow us into the limo. At the reception, he was standing in the corner of the party, getting drunk and his eyes red-rimmed. I took him outside, and I thought about his feelings for Nessie. Jake snarled ferociously.
His vision turned red, and all he could think about was Embry. She's mine, that fucker.
Chill out, I never said that she wasn't, and even he knows that she's your imprint. He established that he would never try anything. But you can't help who you love, Jake. I thought of Bella.
Bella has nothing to do with this. Renesmee is my imprint! he screeched.
Can I finish my story? I said calmly. Jake was still angry, but he nodded.
I thought about how he went M.I.A for two weeks after the honeymoon. I thought about what he looked like when I found him last night, emaciated, dehydrated, and near death. His eyes were lifeless. He smelled like he was decaying. He was waiting to die. Even though Jake was livid, he still shuddered at the sight in my mind.
He knows she's mine, he growled, although not as angrily as before.
That's my point, Jacob. It still doesn't change the fact that he's in love with her. I mean, just because Bella was married doesn't mean you ever stopped being in love with her.
I told you, Bella has nothing to do with this! Jake growled.
I think she does. It's the only thing I can compare it to, and so can you. But the difference between you and Embry is that Embry never once pursued her. You pursued Bella.
You're taking his side? he screeched.
I thought of the conversation I had with Sera, about not necessarily taking his side, but to be the voice of reason and try to pacify Jake. Jake sighed.
You imprinted on a smart cookie, Jacob said. I laughed.
I'm not sure if it's so great yet, I joked, but my voice was full of the love I felt for her.
Jake sighed. I still want to rip Embry to shreds.
I thought again of the sight I found last night. He flinched. I think Embry's suffered enough, don't you think?
Damn you for always being the voice of reason, Clearwater.
Hey, just be thankful I took charge while you left. If it wasn't for me, Embry would be dead right now.
He seemed unsure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.
Oh, shut up. You know it'd be a bad thing. In love with Nessie or not, Embry would never betray you like that. He's still one of your best friends.
Jake tried to find an angle to argue from, but he couldn't. My thoughts were smug.
Just try to talk calmly with him, Jacob. That may sound impossible, but you'd be suprised.
I was about to phase back when his voice interrupted my thought process. What if the same thing happened to you and Seraphina, hmm? What if Brady or someone else decided they had a massive crush on Sera? What would you do? Would you still be the voice of reason?
I already punched Brady while I was drunk, don't give me a reason to do it while I'm sober, I joked.
Exactly.
Honestly, I would probably be furious. Just thinking about one of my pack brothers doing that to me would make me beyond angry and more than a little jealous, plus very protective. But if the positions were reversed, and you were the one trying to pacify me, I can guarantee you'd be saying the same thing to me that I just said to you now.
Jake sighed. When did you get so damn smart?
I laughed. Hanging out with Sera has its advantages.
Leaving him to his thoughts, I phased back. I pulled on my clothes as I walked to the house.
When I walked back inside, I saw Nessie lounging on the couch. She looked a million times better than Bella had when she was pregnant. Nessie literally had the glow. I smiled.
"Hey, beautiful," I greeted as I hugged her. She laughed as she kissed my cheek.
"Hey, smooth talker."
I laughed. "Oh yeah, you know me, famous ladies man."
She smacked my shoulder playfully and grinned at me. "Look at me, I'm huge!"
Her belly was already the size it would be at five or six. She was wearing one of Jake's shirts, probably because none of her clothing fit over her bump.
"I can see that. So can I start calling you Mama Black again?" I joked. She swatted my arm.
"Shut up," she murmured, but she seemed overjoyed at the name.
Carlisle walked into the room. "Nessie, from what your tests show, your body almost done growing."
"Which means...?" Nessie asked, trailing off.
He sighed. "When your body stops growing, you stop reproducing. Your menstrual cycle will stop. Your body with become essentially immortal then, but you will still retain the half-human characteristics. What I'm saying is...this baby will be your only baby."
Nessie sighed. "I figured as much. I never wanted a plethora of kids anyways, but I think Jake will be more devestated than I am. He always wanted lots of kids."
Nessie sighed and leaned back in the seat, absently stroking her belly. She was staring out the window. I could see Jake just beyond the cover of trees, pacing back and forth.
"What is he doing?" Nessie asked.
I shook my head. "I had to tell him something about what happened after you guys left. I assume he's trying to either calm himself down to phase back or figure out a game plan to address it."
Ness cocked an eyebrow. "What did you say?"
I sighed. "It's better if you just talk to your husband about it. Wanna go outside and see him?" I asked.
Nessie nodded, and I stooped down to pick her up in my arms. Jake would kill me if I made her walk.
I walked out of the house and into the cover of the trees. Jake saw us coming and phased back. "Ness, Seth? What's going on?"
"You can explain to her what happened with Embry," I told him.
"You didn't?" he asked.
"I think it's better that you tell her," I said, and before either one of them could protest, I jogged back to the house.
Before either Nessie or Jake could get to him, I walked back upstairs to where Embry was. He was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He still looked skeletal, but his skin lost a little of the grayish pallor.
"Hey," I greeted, sitting on the vigil chair in the room.
Embry didn't say anything, he just continued staring at the ceiling.
"I told Jake about what happened," I said.
Embry smirked. "Is he going to kill me?"
"Embry, stop talking about dying," I growled.
"What?" he asked innocently, "I fell in love with his imprint. I could only imagine what he thought about me after that."
"It wasn't the best, but I pacified him," I said,
"You did?" he asked, shocked.
"Yeah. I just thought about what you looked like after I saw you last night, and he agreed with me that you've suffered enough. Seriously, dude. That's how bad you looked."
He didn't answer me. His mouth curved into a frown.
"I'm not well, Seth," he whispered, a tear rolling down his face.
"Neither is Nessie. Sera had a vision that the baby would chew its way out."
Embry's eyes snapped over to me. They had more life in them than I ever thought possible in his condition. "Are you serious?"
"Yes. But Carlisle's gonna deliver it before it can chew its way out."
"How can you be sure?" Embry snapped.
"Sera saw him deliver the baby safely." And then you tried to kill it.
Embry growled. "You know, it seems that Sera knows a little too much. She caused this, after all. The reason I ran away."
I felt something snap inside of me, and a dam that had been walling up any fury I had burst open violently. That crossed the line a million times over. I stood up, shaking and snarling. "Don't you fucking dare, Embry Call. She's a little girl, plauged with visions of babies chewing their way out of their mothers! Don't you think that would be fucking hard? Do you think she wanted this to happen to you? She fucking cares about you, Embry! She always asked about you and wanted to go search for you the entire time your pathetic ass was lying in the dirt, giving up on life. You don't even fucking deserve her empathy, you piece of shit!" I yelled, dangerously close to phasing.
A little whimper in the doorway made my blood run cold. My eyes snapped over to Sera, who was holding onto the doorframe so tightly she was making an imprint in the wood with her fingers. She was sobbing quietly, horrified.
"Sera-" I whispered, taking a step closer to her.
She didn't even regard me. Her eyes were trained on Embry. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-sorry, Embry. I'm a b-bad person," she cried, running away from the room, sobbing the entire way. I felt a tear leak from my eye. I wiped it away before rounding on Embry. He actually looked regretful.
"You fucker," I snarled, "If you ever even look in her direction again, I will fucking rip off your limbs and nail them to the wall. Understand?" I snapped.
Embry nodded weakly, even looking a little scared.
"Good. I'm done sticking up for you. Jake can tear you to shreds for all I care. You can insult me all you want, but if you ever say a bad word against my imprint again, it will be the last word you will ever say." With that, I stormed out of the room. I barely made it outside before the pent up rage I was feeling exploded, and I phased.
A/N: Shit, man. I got a little pissed with Embry at the last part too. I am definitely pro-Sera and Seth, so even just writing Embry in that way ticked me off. Sorry about the strong language at the end, but if there's one thing I learned about imprints, is that you don't mess with them unless you want to pay hell. Seth may seem easy-going, but he can turn into someone worse than Paul if you mess with Sera.
Sorry this chapter is really long. With all of the corrections and additions I made to my story (because I have a bad habit of being a little to blunt when I write and not going into a lot of detail), it ended up at just over 11,000 words. Phew! I hope it's worth the read. (;
And this update was really fast too. But as I mentioned before, while my internet's been down, I've been working on this story. I'm working on chapter 9 currently, but don't expect chapter 8 until I'm at least on 10. I'm my own beta, so I like to be a few steps ahead of the published chapters just so I can go back and edit them as much as I want until I'm satisfied. :)
Snowflakes and Christmas trees,
Chels, xoxo.