Recap: 'I love you, dad…'
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Jasper sat in his car, Dekan's words repeating over and over again in his head. He smiled each time it repeated. Jasper saw that the wolf was walking Dekan to Sam's house; no doubt it was one of Sam's pack. He drove off back to the house, putting his car back in the garage, Alice waiting on the front steps for him. She had a huge smile on his face; either Edward had heard the conversation or Alice had saw it happening. Of course the others would know. That didn't bother him at all. Alice came up to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"I saw what she said!" Alice said. "If I could cry, I would be right now. And Esme is just in love with Dekan even more! I want to adopt her."
"If she were an orphan and we looked older than 17, I wouldn't hesitate to." Jasper said, chuckling.
Alice and Jasper walked back inside the house, everyone smiling and happy except for Rosalie.
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The wolf ran off when Dekan approached Sam's front yard, dashing off into the forest. Dekan shook her head, walking in and once again seeing the gang there, watching television and eating.
"Did you have a nice time?" Emily asked.
"It was fantastic. We had a great time!" Dekan said, smiling.
Jake stood up, walking over to Dekan, looming over him. Dekan simply put her hands on her hips, ready to butt heads with Jake. She was not going to be intimidated simply because he was freakishly tall.
"You do know he has a girlfriend." Jake whispered.
"Dude, really? I had no idea. I really thought Alice was just some freaky stalker chick." Dekan said, rolling her eyes.
"How about I call her and tell her what you and that freak are doing, hmm?" Jake said. Paul joined Jake.
"We know you're having an affair with him!" Paul said, smirking.
"I'm having an affair. With Jasper. Oh that's great!" Dekan said, laughing so hard she snorted and caused Emily to laugh along with her.
"This is serious, Emily!" Jake said, glaring.
"Dekan, you will stop seeing that leech." Sam said, crossing his arms, his Alpha double timbre having no effect on Dekan.
"Okay, Sam I love you, but you do not tell me what to do. I'm not having an affair with Jasper. If I were, don't you think I'd be a bit more yippee-skipee if I was getting tappin' that ass?"" Dekan said, smiling so sweetly. Emily started laughing hard.
"I'm the boss here and your mother put you in my care! It's not safe for you to be around him!" Sam said, standing up.
"You're not my boss. And Jasper is not a freak. Or a leech. Or whatever lovely term you have for him or any of the Cullens. Keep talking like that and I might just go stay with those "freaks."" Dekan said.
Jake grabbed his cell phone, calling Alice. He waited a moment before Alice answered.
"Did you know that Jasper is having an affair with Dekan, yeah they've been going out and spending a lot of time in his car. What do you have to say about that?" Jake said, putting the cell phone on speakerphone.
You could hear Alice's tinkling laugh, along with the rest of the Cullens in the background. "Are you serious? I know they've been going out! I encourage it! How often do you find your relatives just like that?"
"Your what?!" Sam shouted, angry.
"Yes, Sam, I'm related to Jasper. Now you see why I've been spending a lot of time with Jasper?" Dekan said.
"You can't be related to that leech!" Jake yelled, gripping his cell phone so hard it almost broke.
"I told you all to stop calling them that!" Dekan shouted, pushing past Jake and Paul and Sam, going to her room and packing a few pairs of clothes and her backpack, walking back out. "Alice, can you tell Jasper to pick me up at the border please?"
"Of course, sweetie." Alice said.
"No! Don't go…" Embry said, pushing the others out of the way.
"And why not? I'm not going to stand here and listen to everyone insult Jasper." Dekan said.
"Just…don't go. They don't mean it." Embry said, grabbing Dekan's hand.
"Like hell!" Paul said, glaring.
"Jasper said he will be there when you get there, Dekan." Alice said, her voice coming from Jake's speakerphone.
"No. I'll drive her over to your place." Embry said just loud enough for Alice to hear. Dekan looked up at Embry, wondering why he was acting so strange.
"I'll see you all in a little bit." Dekan said, Jake snapping the phone shut.
Dekan picked up her backpack and her purse and a change of clothes, walking outside. Embry was waiting for her on the porch, taking her heavy backpack from her and carrying it to his motorcycle. He strapped it to the back, getting on and kick-starting it. Dekan climbed on after a moment, wondering whether or not she should trust being on a motorcycle. She'd never ridden one before and her mother would freak out if she knew. It was a chilly night and Dekan was wishing she had brought her coat. Dekan wrapped her arms around Embry, feeling the warmth coming through his thin shirt. She subconsciously scooted closer to her, trying to absorb as much heat as he took off into the night, heading to the Cullens' house. Embry was in heaven. He was riding around on his motorcycle with his Imprint. And his Imprint had her arms around him tightly, even if it was just because she was trying to stay warm. Dekan had laid her cheek on his back, closing her eyes and just letting the wind whip around her. Embry just wanted to keep driving so he could feel this for as long as possible. But too soon the Cullen's house came into view, prompting Dekan to move her head. Jasper and Alice were waiting on the porch, waving when they saw and heard Embry's motorcycle. Edward and Esme walked out of the house a moment later, Edward's eyes trained on Embry. He put the kick-stand on the motorcycle, turning the key off and helping Dekan off. Embry unstrapped Dekan's backpack, taking it to the porch and handing it to Jasper. Alice came up and pulled Dekan into a back-breaking hug. Jasper could sense feelings of sadness coming off in strong waves from Embry. He could also feel waves of anger and hurt coming off of Dekan as well; equally strong. Edward leaned over and whispered something to Esme who nodded.
"Embry, we have some leftover dinner from where Bella ate earlier. Steak and mashed potatoes. How about you come in and I'll get you a plate." Esme said, her voice kind as she ushered Embry inside.
Edward then whispered something quickly to Jasper, only using the span of a second before walking back inside the house, motioning for Alice to follow him so Jasper and Dekan could speak privately. Jasper walked over to Dekan, offering her his arm before walking around the house through the magnificent gardens.
"What's wrong, Dekan?" Jasper asked after a moment.
"What makes you think anything is wrong?" Dekan whispered.
"I know emotions. Plus what Alice saw and Edward told me from the thoughts he heard in your head." Jasper said, stopping and pulling Dekan to sit beside him on a swing.
"Sam tried to forbid me from seeing you. Then Jake called Alice trying to stir up trouble by telling her we were having an affair. That's what hurts. Sam…I know he means well. But I don't like him putting you down or anyone else. And then there's Embry. It's like he's trying to keep the peace, poor guy. But there's something off about him. He's…sad. I don't know why." Dekan said, sighing.
"Ah. I thought something like that might happen. He knows we're related though, doesn't he?" Jasper asked.
"Yeah…I told him. He got even more upset. I didn't mean to upset him but him and Jake and Paul were ganging up on me and I just go into defense mode and push them away from me." Dekan said.
"Don't worry, Dekan. It will all be okay. I think Alice is waiting on you upstairs. She went shopping for you a while ago." Jasper said, chuckling.
"Really? For me?" Dekan asked getting excited.
"You're family now. Get ready for a lot of that." Jasper replied, pulling Dekan into a hug.
Dekan hugged him back before running into the house and up the stairs to the room Alice and Jasper shared, excited about new clothes. Jasper walked into the house and straight to the kitchen where Embry was pushing food around on his plate. Esme walked out, patting Embry on the shoulder.
"Why are you so sad, Embry?" Jasper asked, sitting across the table from Embry.
"It doesn't matter." Embry whispered, his fork making a scraping noise on the plate.
"It does. Please tell me." Jasper replied.
"I've…imprinted. On Dekan. But she doesn't like me." Embry admitted, looking up at Jasper's face for a reaction.
"Did you tell her you imprinted on her? Does she know how you feel about her?" Jasper asked, feeling sorry for Embry. He had heard how painful an Imprint's rejection was.
"In a way…I didn't tell her about Imprinting. She doesn't know about my other…self." Embry whispered.
"Why not? She knows we're vampires. She only freaked out for a minute." Jasper said.
"So I should tell her, then? What about asking her out…I know you're related to her. And vampires don't exactly like werewolves…" Embry said, his hopes rising a bit.
"I think you should…I'll send her down here. I'm glad that since it's a werewolf that it's you. No offense to the rest but…" Jasper said, shrugging and smiling. Embry smiled back.
Jasper walked upstairs quickly, sending Dekan down to the kitchen. Embry stood up, looking at Dekan.
"Jasper said you wanted to tell me something?" Dekan asked, sitting down. Embry sat back down.
"Yeah…Dekan, you know how Jasper and the rest of them are vampires?" Embry asked, taking a deep breath. Dekan nodded.
"Well…I'm not a vampire. But I am a werewolf…" Embry said, looking for Dekan's reaction.
"A werewolf? Why not." Dekan said, chuckling.
"You're not going to freak out?" Embry asked, still cautious.
"Do you want me to? I can scream a bit, flail about, you know that whole thing." Dekan said. It was Embry's turn to laugh.
"There's something else too." Embry said, growing somber.
"What?" Dekan asked, looking at Embry.
"I've imprinted on you." Embry confessed.
"Uh…does that hurt?" Dekan asked, confused. After Embry had explained what imprinting was and how if affected the werewolf, Dekan bit her lip.
"As…great as that sounds, I can't. I just…I can't. I can't." Dekan said, getting up and leaving the room.
Embry banged his head on the table, trying his hardest not to cry but failing. He stood up, slamming the chair against the wall and splintering it, going outside. Jasper and Alice heard this, Jasper doing damage control with Embry while Alice went to go talk to Embry.
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"Embry, what happened?" Jasper asked, stopping the upset werewolf.
"She rejected me!" Embry said, his voice cracking. Jasper winced as the intense feelings slammed into him.
"Did she give a reason?" Jasper asked.
"No! She just said she can't and she sort of freaked out!" Embry said.
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Alice followed Dekan to the backyard. She took a seat beside her on the swing, silently swinging for a moment.
"What happened in there, Dekan?" Alice asked softly, looking over at Dekan.
"Embry…he's a werewolf. And he imprinted on me. I..I just…" Dekan said, closing her eyes and shrugging.
"So you don't like him, then?" Alice asked.
"It's not that. I do like him. He's great." Dekan said, her tone sad.
"Then what's the problem?" Alice asked.
"Jerry. He's the problem. He's always the problem." Dekan whispered.
"Who is Jerry?" Alice asked.
Dekan took a deep breath and explained her life story to Alice, pouring out her heart and soul. Dekan cried while Alice held her, comforting her. An hour had passed and Dekan had nearly fallen asleep in the swing with Alice holding her and rocking her gently. Jasper walked out back, whispering so quietly that only Alice could hear.
"Embry left." Jasper whispered. Alice nodded, then motioned for Jasper to take Dekan upstairs and lay her down in bed.
Jasper carefully picked Dekan up, holding her close. He walked slowly up the stairs, Dekan burying her head in his neck, sighing softly. Jasper took her to the bedroom that he shared with Alice and laid her in bed, covering her up. Dekan yawned and turned over, muttering.
"Mmmnight Dad." Dekan muttered. Jasper smiled and walked out of the room, downstairs to where Alice had gathered the rest of the group.
Edward, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Alice, and Emmett were situated around the living room, waiting on Jasper.
"Okay so I have called this meeting because there is someone we have to protect Dekan from." Alice said, standing up. After Alice had explained Jerry's relationship with Dekan and what he had done to her, she sat back down. Jasper had taken up pacing around the room, very pissed off. He wanted to track this Jerry down and make him pay slowly and painfully for hurting Dekan.
"Emmett, track down any information you can on Jerry from the internet." Jasper said, heading for the door.
"Jasper! Where are you going?" Carlisle asked, standing up.
"To have a little talk with Embry and then Sam. I'll be back later." Jasper said, walking outside and grabbing his cell phone, calling Embry first. Embry picked up after three rings.
"What?" Embry said, his voice hoarse.
"Embry, its Jasper. We need to talk. About Dekan. It's important." Jasper said. "Meet me here as soon as you can. I think I know why Dekan is refusing and I know how to fix it."
"I'll be over in a few minutes." Embry said, hanging up.
"One down, one to go." Jasper said. He opened the phone again, dialing Sam's number.
"Hello?" Sam said.
"Sam, it's Jasper. I assume you know about Jerry." Jasper said.
"Dekan's stepfather? What about him?" Sam asked.
"You don't know. Meet me at the border in an hour. Jerry is going to be…taken care of." Jasper said, clicking the phone shut just as Embry pulled up on his motorcycle.
"What's going on?" Embry asked, shutting off his motorcycle. Jasper walked over and whispered what he had been told earlier.
Embry started to shake and transformed instantly into a werewolf, growling and snarling. Embry looked at Jasper, the look of murder in his eyes. Jasper smiled and nodded, agreeing completely.
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Author's note: Dang. I wrote a lot. Be happy! I did this rather than working on my NaNo writing. I want to thank my lovely readers and reviewers: rockangel777, Lecia, Reality-IS-Fiction, Jenren, Wolfy Pup, carconee, amalin06, and fusedtwilight! Mwaaaah you guys and gals are just fantastic! Leave me love!