Hi, I'm back with chapter two, FINALLY. Tell me what you tkink, that motivates me !
The shape-shifters were the protectors of the land of their ancestors. We were warriors in charge of the life of each human on our territory, in constant fight against dark forces at the origin of the worst darkness : vampires. The latter, if we relaxed our vigilance, if we could not defend their prey using our fangs, would not hesitate to commit countless murders to satisfy their desires and to plunge the city into chaos. The Cullens, who I think to be wary of, were an exception under the treaty. Protecting was our duty. And in exchange, unlike the centuries of honor our ancestors had known, we didn't get much. Just stupid, nonsensical rumors. Apparently, we are a gang of dangerous teenagers led by Sam Uley. Young and poor people destroyed by drugs. A few boys and one girl. If they knew. If she knew.
- What were you doing out last night ? That is not the first time and you know it. I heard you come out. My mother said, her voice heavy with concern, from the doorway of my bedroom.
At the end of the morning, a summer breeze reaches us through the window, the pale blue curtains flutter under the weight of the wind, and a few leaves fly in my room. It is simple and large, I have no complaints. After all there are only two bedrooms in our house and my mother having given me the biggest one, the room even seems very empty with a large double bed, a desk, a bookcase and a chest of drawers. I've never been one to hoard useless items or clutter. I had a preference for order.
- I was with friends, calm down, it's summer, I can have fun no ? Or is it too much to ask ? I mumbled, after having largely yawned.
- You've been having fun for weeks. Embry, I don't see anything wrong with you enjoying summer, you know that, but you're only sixteen and I feel I have the right to know what you're doing, where, with who and when you're going.
She thinks I'm in the middle of a teenage crisis, rebelling against authority and playing a game. I spent half the night doing rounds with Paul instead of Jared who ran out at the last minute. And the last few weeks had by no means been calm, quite the contrary. While most of my old friends slept in, tanned on the beach, and went out to Port Angeles at night to meet girls there... I had spent June preparing for a war against an army of new vampires, to protect Bella, the rest of humans, and our people from a tough redhead. Victoria. As soon as his name crossed my mind, my heartbeat accelerated, as if adrenaline took possession of my body. However, I did not find it very impressive. It was surely because she had killed Harry Clearwater that an intense hatred towards her was so instinctive to me. Fortunately, that story was behind us.
- I don't like this Sam. I don't like your new friends. You're lying, you're never home, I haven't recognized you lately. What's up with you? You know you can tell me about it. You are threatened, right? A thousand and one questions come out of her mouth, without me having time to say anything.
- There is nothing ! Nothing at all, let me alone ! I scream louder than I was thinking, exhausted, after suddenly getting up from my bed.
A sudden step in her direction, from the top of my 6'4. I would never, ever hurt her, but the image of Emily, both perfect as a doll and ravaged as a nightmare at the same time, imposes itself on me like a bad omen. It's all I can see before I see my own mother's watery eyes. By my fault. Only my fault. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. That's what I want to tell you, but I shut myself up in my silence, and you leave. I can't tell you anything, it's an absolute rule, and even if it weren't the case I wouldn't tell you about it. I don't want you to see me as a monster, a part of me wants to remain your little boy. It's always the same circus: you can't find me in my bed, you scream, you don't get what you want and you burst into tears. It's my fault. And as usual, I jump out the window to land easily on the ground strewn with dry grass in the garden. And I run breathlessly towards the forest, like an infinite and wild kingdom.
My mother's name is Tiffany Call. She was very young, barely older than me and pregnant, when she left the Makah reservation to settle in La Push. We were well received and always well treated by the population, while remaining strangers to the customs of the Quileute reservation. Until the day when I transformed and when the identity of my father became kind of obvious: Quil Alteara, Billy Black or Joshua Uley. Only three options. All of these men were married at the time. It's easier to think it's Joshua, because he already has a bad reputation here and no one has seen him for years. But as far back as I can remember I've always been the man of the house. I carried the groceries, I yelled at the plumber who told inappropriate things to her, I learned how to fix the sink which always has a problem, I listened to my mother talking about the hours of her colleagues and her friends... And when I was sleeping with her because she was afraid of the coldness of the bed or to be alone, no one was there to reassure me in turn. I'm not complaining because I didn't need it. Because she only has me. I am aware of having a pack, of being part of something bigger than me, that my wolf is a gift given to me by the spirits... But I feel like a free spirit, a wanderer who does not belongs to no one. I am infinitely free despite my ties.
I do not blame him. I don't blame them. It's a nonsense I know it but I blame myself. Yes, I am no longer the same. I don't recognize myself anymore. I step aside and lose myself behind my wolf. I protect others and my wolf protects me from my weaknesses. My limbs lengthen, my fangs deepen, the hair grows and the wolf tears my body. Embry is silent but the wolf howls.
I can feel an infinite and terrifying power in each of my limbs, but I also feel imprisoned in my secret. My paws leave deep tracks in the mud, as I climb the mountain in a few long strides and invade the forest with my presence. All I can do is control what is in my power. Say nothing and protect mine. Others cannot understand. Sam is independent and has no family, Jacob's father and Quil's grandfather , I mean they know everything. Brady and Colin are just kids with no responsibility. Seth and Leah have their mom, they can tell anything to her because she is also in the secret, and Jared and Paul have their imprints. Damn, this thing is supposed to be rare, an exception, and it's been four already. I can't even hope that happens to me. Imprinting.
Jacob considers imprinting as a curse. I do not agree. I wouldn't mind, being tied to a woman unconditionally, and even if I can't choose not a little girl like Quil... Luckily none of my brothers are in wolf, my thoughts are mine. For the moment. Just for that moment. When you are a wolf, you give up everything for the sake of others, for the greater good. Arrived at the top of a cliff, I take human form again and take some clothes that I knew were hidden there. That's the part I hate the most, tearing my clothes off and ending up naked somewhere almost everyday. Damn, I know that sounds weird. Khaki shorts that fall on my thin and muscular hips, I throw myself into the ocean, from high. Come on, drown me, swallow me... The ocean can try, I'll be stronger. I must be. I have to be. The waves hit my face and for a moment I can't breathe, there's nothing, I'm nothing, my figure slowly rises to the surface, and nothingness has never seemed to me so liberating.
The Uley house could be described as a kind of headquarters for the pack. With its open windows, its wide floor, its hammock and its garden chairs, the house seemed to be ready to welcome anyone. The building was small, in need of a lick of paint, and located near the forest and away enough from the rest of the tribe. As a place of peace and tranquility. A place where secrets had no place. We meet here at any time of the day or night, to eat, to laught, just chat, be together. I sometimes wonder if it doesn't bother Emily to see us taking up her living space so much. She might like to enjoy her fiancé without being invaded by a horde of animals. I mean, literally. I could hear Seth yelling as Paul laughed at him.
- Hi Emily !
- Hurry before your brothers finish eating everything ! Exclaims the young woman when she sees me stepping out of the door of her home, before I enter info the kitchen.
I take for myself two, then four, then six muffins before sitting down with the others. Only Paul and Seth are present while Sam is in the other room with Emily. Jacob is still recovering from his injury, and saw his heartache at the approach of the wedding of his dear and tender Bella, bedridden at home.
- I don't know how Rachel does to stay with you, you're unbearable. Seth mutters to Paul about his imprint.
Rachel and Paul's story had been making us laugh for months, but it was less and less funny since Paul had gotten what he wanted. Indeed, Rachel, Jacob's older sister, is a brilliant student who has returned to the region to find work. And Paul, still in high school, convinced her to wait for him a little more and to stay in town. The insufferable Paul had softened. It was almost scary. Like on that moment, the usually angry wolf smiles and he surely wonders why she is with him.
- I can't tell you, you're still a kid.
- Urk, disgusting! Seth yells whale laughing.
I roll my eyes and laugh quietly, before Sam joins us. I glared at him and straightened up. He was our friend, an older friend, but above all he is the alpha of the pack and he had a natural authority. An authority that pushed us to improve and to obey at the same time. It was a mix that brought us closer to him but also put distance between him and us. There was nothing enviable about this role, I preferred mine, which was more solitary.
- Where was Jared last night ? It was him who was supposed to be with Paul. I don't care, it doesn't bother me, but my mother started yelling and imagining crazy things. I tell nonchalantly, my long fingers playing with one muffin, while the others were already in my stomach.
- There was a problem with Kim, so he stayed with her. Sam answers in a deep voice, a cup of coffee in his hand.
- A problem ? Frowning, I question him.
Jared and I weren't really close. I could die for him on the battlefield and I know he would do the same for me, but other than that, we weren't hanging out. My true friends and pack brothers were Quil and Jacob, that hadn't changed in years. I found him arrogant, always opening it up for nothing, and he thought I paid too much attention to Kim. His imprint. It would be stupid and useless to try to come between two people who have such a bond, I would never dare. I just liked to look at her, her face, her regular features, her small eyes and her wide cheekbones. I knew that it's nothing in comparison to imprinting, that was the source of my conflict with Jared. But if Kim had a problem, we all had one, just like anyone related to the pack.
- Her parents received a call in the middle of the night from the Seattle police. They found her sister, don't ask me how, because I have no idea. Explains Sam, in the silence of the kitchen.
It was like a storm. The story of Lynn Evans, the four-year-old Quileute girl who disappeared twelve years ago, made history on the reservation. Like blood whose red trace is indelible. I was the same age, although I don't remember. According to the most scary theories, she would have ended up in child trafficking or murdered by a pedo. The thought of this happening again is disgusting and makes us all want revenge.
- You mean she's dead ? By « they found her », you mean her body ? Seth asks, awkwardly, before Emily's footsteps are heard.
Honestly, all she had to do was turn to the kitchen and take a step for me to hear her. Thanks to my wolf side.
- God, no, the police found a young girl by chance and apparently, I mean apparently, it would be Lynn Evans. It's good news boys, the tribe finds a lost child.
Good news, yes. It wasn't long before I got up and left with a simple thank you for Emily, not knowing why this conversation left such a bitter impression in a corner of my mind.