Soooo Sooo Sooo Sorry this is late! I was a little bit stuck!

Thank you SOOOO MUCH for the review! I'm glad you liked the cute little part in the end.

Pretty tense chapter, don't ask how. Just now as "fun" as the last one was =)

Here ya go...


Chapter Eight

I shivered again as the cold breeze hit my damp skin though Embry had an arm wrapped securely around me. He kept gazing into the beautiful waves, narrowing his eyes a little bit, his perfect brown hair a shade darker, some of it still on his forehead. His hair was the only thing that stayed wet; probably because of his freakish temperature. After a while, I wasn't so cold anymore; his heat was enough to dry me too. Apparently, when it's 'almost December', a towel is barely enough to dry your hair.

Frankly, I didn't like this silence. Especially that I knew it was uncomfortable. Of course, by now, and after the little 'show' Embry made in the water, I was really sure it wasn't me that made him upset. But, again, what kind of 'little argument' with his mother would upset him that bad?

I thought of possibilities but couldn't come out with something that didn't sound so soap opera-y. So I decided to speak up; I still felt this urge to comfort him, wipe away his worries. I wanted him to be happy. Just as simple as that.

I looked up at him and found him still gazing, unaware of all the staring I'd been making for the last couple of minutes, which was good, I guessed; I would've blushed even more than usual if he caught me staring at him. I touched his smooth, warm cheek with my not-so-cold hand and succeeded to get his attention.

"Earth to Embry," I said, smiling. He smiled back immediately.

"Sorry I got lost for a second." A second? How aware were you?

"It's okay," I reassured," Are you ever going to tell me what's bothering you?" I asked. He sighed.

"It's nothing, really," he said immediately." Just like I said, a little argument with Mom." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Embry," I tried to sound persuasive," You can tell me. You know that, right?" I said, seeking reassurance." Do you trust me as much as I trust you, Embry?" I asked, repeating his question from earlier. His eyes got wide for a second.

"Of course! Of course I trust you, honey," he said immediately," It's not that I swear- It's just-" he paused and I sighed.

"Come on," I pushed, fully aware that he'll feel much better if he let it out," Like I said, maybe I can help." I didn't know where all this courage came from but what I knew was that I wasn't going to keep pushing if he didn't tell me.

"Okay, I'll tell you but you have to promise me something." His face was...worried when he said that. I wondered why but nodded." Promise it won't change the way you...look at me. I'm still the same, okay? Really. It's no big deal, but it's-" He was rambling so I cut him off.

"I promise, Em. I don't see what could've happened that would make me 'change the way I look at you'." I made quotation marks in the air, earning a small smile. He sat upright, and so did I, facing him now. I could feel the difference between when I was so close to him and now, it was so cold.

"So, here's the deal." He was looking at me straight in the eye, making me lose any chances to think straight in the first place."You know how only direct descendants from the first werewolves phase later?" I remembered what he had told me before and nodded, frowning; I couldn't see how those were connected."Well, back to before I was born, Mom moved here, to La Push I mean, from another reservation, the Mekkah reservation," he explained," And, in a couple of months, she had me, which is why everyone immediately connected me to her ex-husband, but, then, after 17 years, I phased." His eyes were sad when he said this, almost ashamed." Which brings us to point number one-" I cut him off.

"Your father is definitely a Quiluete," I concluded. He nodded.

"Exactly." There was more to the story, I could tell, but I wanted to get to the point of what really made him upset; he must've known about THAT for at least 7 years, from the time he first phased. I patted my head mentally; I was getting to understand this.

"And?" I urged him to continue. He sighed again.

"I didn't tell Mom I knew. But then, last night, I told her about everything...even the wolf thing, she didn't know about." His tone was getting lower by the second," And I haven't seen her since then," he finished, grimacing." I'm worried about her, Mary; after all, she's my Mom," he said,"She's the only family I have and I don't know what this had done to her. But, again, I don't want to go home now; afraid I might not find her there, or worse, afraid I'd find her there and she hates my guts...or afraid of the monster I am." He took a deep breath."This sucks!"He concluded and I hugged him tightly.

"It's going to be just fine," I cooed," She's going to accept it, believe me; I did. You're her child, Embry, she would never hate you. I can guarantee you that," I said soothingly, truthfully,"Now, do you want to go home? We can-" He cut me off, shaking his head.

"No, no, not now. I can't do it," he replied immediately. I nodded understandingly."Plus, I have to speak to Sam first." I frowned.

"Why?" I asked, not able to connect Sam Uley to the incident in any way. Okay, maybe because he's a wolf, too? I didn't know...

He chuckled humorlessly," Turns out he's my half-brother," he said. I tightened my grip around him then brought a hand up and ran it through his now-dry hair.

"Do you want to go now?" I suggested. He broke away from our hug.

"But it's your-" I cut him off with a glare.

"It isn't always about me, Embry. Now, come on." I was about to stand up when he opened his mouth, probably to argue," I need a place to change in anyways." I rolled my eyes. Damn this imprinting, making him forget about himself.

He agreed, getting up, too. Then, as I took the jeans and top in my hands, he wrapped the towel around my shoulders. I smiled as he picked up my bag- Something that I'm really getting used to- and took my hand with his free hand.

Walking on the sand in half-wet flip flops isn't really the most comfortable thing in the world, but I managed. It made us the tiniest bit slow though. We walked our way to Sam and Emily's in about 15 minutes. I was honestly tired by then; I have slept for almost 5 or 6 hours only and I hadn't eaten anything but a toast. He must have noticed. Awesome.

"You're okay?" he asked," You're panting," he pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"People tend to pant when they walk a lot, Mr. Wolf." He smiled but then slapped his forehead.

"I should've-" This was getting a little bit annoying.

"Embry Stephen Call stop that!" He looked surprised by my tone. I sighed," Seriously, I'm fine. I would tell you if something's wrong, promise." He kissed me quickly.

"Sorry, ma'am," he said sarcastically, laughing a bit. I laughed along as we finally made it to the door, he didn't bother to knock, he just opened it. Emily was there, she got out of the kitchen immdiately.

"Mary!" She said, greeting me with a brief hug," Long time no see, young lady," she said. I chuckled.

"Missed you, too, Emily." She looked at Embry with worried eyes.

"How are you doing now?" She asked. He just shrugged.

"Is Sam here?" he asked.

"On his way," she said." Hey, don't be upset. Now, I'm your sister-in-law you know that?" He chuckled.

"Never really thought about it that way. It sounds better." She laughed.

"Are you two hungry?" She asked." I have some food left in the kitchen. Can you believe it? There's actually some food left!" She seemed really happy. We smiled.

"Sure; I can smell the chicken from here," he said. Seth came out from the kitchen, chewing something.

"And the dessert is much better," he said while eating. It sounded more like 'Ad de desset id much better'. He finally swallowed." Hey, Mary!" I waved at him.

"Hey, Seth." He smiled, getting back into the kitchen as he ran his hand through his long, black hair to get it away from his face.

"Seth Clearwater!" Emily practically yelled at the much-taller, much-stronger but obviously younger guy." You got cake in your hair!" He rolled his eyes.

"Gee, Em! Watcha gonna do when you have your own child?" he asked. She rolled her eyes.

I changed into the dry underwear I got and pulled on my white top and skinny jeans in Emily's bathroom. Then, when I got out, I got to eat some of those delicious chicken rolls that Emily had made. Sam arrived while we were eating and Embry excused himself to talk to him. I smiled and kissed his cheek, reassuring him again that everything will be just fine.

I went on eating silently, wishing that everything will turn out alright. Emily sat next to me on the kitchen table.

"How was he?" she whispered, her tone concerned. I sighed and stopped eating.

"Not so well, Emily," I replied," He's so worried about his mother." She nodded in understanding.

"Of course he is," she said," Nobody has seen her ever since." She looked at me," Are you better now?" she asked. Yeah, yeah. Nothing stays hidden here.

"I'm more than fine," I reassured with a smile," A lot of people have been asking me this lately." I rolled my eyes. She chuckled.

"That's what you get for being imprinted on," she joked, washing the dishes. I was about to get up and hel her when my phone rang. I had to dig in my bag for a couple of seconds until I found it. I glanced at the caller's ID. Matt. I answered immediately.

"Matt!" I said.

"Hey, M. How're you doin' now?" he asked. I smiled.

"Fine, really," I said," Did you just wake up now, Matthew?" I asked suspiciously. He chuckled.

"Matthew?" he laughed," Yeah, I just got up now and, y'know, took a shower and such."

"Great," I said then remembered what Dad had told me," Oh, by the way."

"What?" he asked.

"Why, oh why, did you tell my father about what I told you yesterday?" I asked, trying to make my tone a little mad but wasn't that successful.

"Oh," he said," Didn't any one ever tell you how intimidating your father can be?" he asked," The man knew I was smoking and I didn't come anywhere close to him then he asked me about what happened. I thought he could read my mind for a second." He freaked out.

"No, it's okay," I said," Really, I'm not even grounded."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can't believe it either." I smiled," So are you-" I was cut off by a howl outside. I glanced out of the window to find the huge gray wolf with the black spots- AKA, Embry. "Oh my," I whispered.

"Um, Mary, is something wrong?" Matt asked.

"No, no. I'll- Uh- talk to you later. Bye." I didn't wait for him to reply, I hung up on him and threw the cell phone on the kitchen table, running outside to see what went wrong. I was about to get out when I felt two strong arms grab my shoulders, preventing me from moving any further.

"Don't," Seth said." He's not in control right now-" He tried to reason as we stood on the front porch, now two wolves in the scene, Embry and Sam, I assumed.

"What happened?" I asked as Seth loosened his grip on my shoulders.

"His mother," he explained," She was with Quil's Mom this morning but she's nowhere to be found now." My eyes widened in horror.

"What?" I whisper-yelled, "Where do you think she went?" I asked, still staring worriedly at my wolf that was now whimpering on the ground.

"Nobody knows," Seth answered, sadly."And don't worry about him, Jake's probably phased, too. He looks like he took one of those Alpha orders." I sighed.

"Can I go to him now?" I asked. Seth just looked at the Black Wolf, Sam, before he talked.

"Okay, I guess." The other wolf stepped back, giving me space. I ran to him and sat on my knees, making our heads in the same level. My hands were shaking as I gently stroked his fur and he whined. It was the second time I see him in this form.

"I know, I know," I said," She probably just needs her time, right?" I asked, not really sure, honestly." She's not going to leave." Who'd believe I was saying that? "You have to believe that she's okay." Physically, at least. His head rested lightly in my hand and I ran my other hand through his silky gray fur, feeling his pulse everywhere I touched.

He licked from my collarbone to my cheek. I made a face at him but laughed.

"You're...So...Going...To...Pay...For that, Em!" I was rolling with laughter as he licked me again. I managed to stand up and straighten my top." Go phase back so I could talk to you," I smiled. "Come on!" I pushed him as someone threw a pair of pants at him. I turned around reflexively and found out it was Jacob. He smiled when he saw me and I could feel the Embry-wolf run towards the woods.

"Thank you," he said. I frowned, confused. So he explained,"He relaxed a lot." Oh.

I nodded and turned around to find Embry coming, his face quite unreadable. He hugged me.

"I love you, Mary, you know that?" he said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, mmm, let's see," I said," You said it about one million, two thousand, one-hundred and fifty-seven times now."

"And I still can't make it clear enough." Aww, Embry! I pulled away from our hug.

"Do you want to go home now?" I asked," I still have about two hours before I go home." And I really don't care about the compromise with Dad now; it's not like we're going to his house to make-out. He nodded.

"If you don't mind," he said.

"Wow," Seth and Jake said. I turned around and looked at them questioningly. They just looked at Embry and laughed while he glared darkly at them.

"I'll just go get my stuff and come, 'Kay?" He nodded.

"Sure," he said," And I'll go get the motorcycle; it's a long way there." 'And you seem tired' hung in the air. I smiled as he kissed my forehead and walked away. Seth and Jake were still laughing when I got inside, while Sam and Emily were talking in the kitchen. I grabbed my bag but I still had to wait a little before Embry would come so I decided to ask what they were laughing about.

"Hey, Seth," I called," Jacob." They turned to me, still muffling their laughter.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell!" Seth volunteered. I raised an eyebrow at him, "It's just-" he laughed again-" weird that Mr. I-Dated-Half-The-Females-In-The-State is asking before taking you home!" I blushed crimson red as I realized what they meant and was about to talk, defend myself when Embry got here, throwing daggers at both of them. I noticed that he had a shirt on.

"Shut up," he growled and looked at Jacob," You of all people should know it isn't about this!" he yelled and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Come on, honey," he whispered in my ear and we went out of Sam and Emily's and we hopped on the motorcycle as usual. "Do you want to go to your home now? I know about the comp-" I cut him off.

"No, let's go to your house and hope your mother is there, okay?" He sighed and nodded.

"'Kay," he said and sped up until we reached a small, brown house. He parked in front of it.

"Uh- Em, I know now isn't exactly the best time, but I really like your house." He chuckled, a nervous shade in his voice. I took his hand and squeezed it as we entered.

"Mom!" He called and a woman was running downstairs with a suitcase in her hand. He dropped my hand and went to her side.

"Embry." She looked surprised to see him there now. She looked over his shoulder and saw me. I could see she was a little confused but she dropped it. He looked at her suitcase and balled his hands into fists.

"Mom, where are you going?" he asked, dragging the letters." Please don't tell me you're leaving." She dropped her head.

"I just need to sort some stuff in my mind," she whispered, still looking at the ground." It won't be-" He cut her off, grabbing the suitcase from her.

"No," he said, "No, Mom. I'd leave for a while if you want. Just-" He sighed in frustration," Don't go anywhere." I could see she was crying.

"Baby, I don't want you to-" she sobbed," I talked to Kiki today," she said. Quil's mother, I guessed." She told me all about- you know, the 'wolf thing'." She sighed," I know you're disappoin-" he cut her off.

"Mom!" he said." I'm NOT disappointed. I'm NOT mad. I'm perfectly FINE with...what happened. Okay?" I could feel the tears in his voice. I never thought I'd see the day when Embry Call cried. He hugged her and she hugged him back just as urgently. I felt like an intruder all of a sudden."You won't leave, right? Promise me you won't." She nodded into his shoulder then took a couple of deep breaths before wiping her tears and noticing me, again. I forgot that we weren't introduced. Awkward. I cleared my throat as they broke their hug. He turned to me after he quickly ran his hand on his cheeks, probably to check that no tears were there. I smiled and waved at his mother. She smiled back and looked at her son for explanation. He stretched out a hand for me and I took it, getting closer to him. "Mom, this is Mary, my girlfriend," he introduced," And my imprint, since you know about that, too." She smiled, contrasting with her teary-eyes.

"Hello, Mary," she said, her voice still low," Um- As you know now, I'm Embry's mother, Amber." I smiled and reached out for her hand and we shook hands briefly. Embry glanced at his clock.

"We'd better get going now so you could go back before, 8 right?" he asked. I nodded.

"Better than grounded," I muttered. He nodded in agreement. I glanced at his mother.

"See you later-" What do I say? I settled for nothing but my tone was obvious. She smiled again.

"Call me Amber." I nodded. He kissed his mother's forehead and put a hand on my back, leading me outside. We went out and rode on his motorcycle again. I put my bag between my legs and rested my head on his strong chest as he sped and closed my eyes. I was pretty tired by then.

"It went well," he commented after a moment of silence. I inhaled the fresh, cold air and smiled.

"I told you." That sort of reminded me when I had trouble with my parents. Apparently, he remembered too; he chuckled.

"Yeah, I know," he breathed. I remembered something then, as all the nervousneess from the previous situation subsided.

"Did you really date half Washington?" I asked, honestly curious. He laughed.

"About," he replied." How many did you date?" he asked. I opened my eyes to glance at his curious face, almost nervous.

"Technically?" I said. He nodded."None."

"No. Way!" I rolled my eyes.

"What makes it so hard to believe?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Nothing it's just-" he paused, "Here we are," he announced as usual as he stopped in front of my house. I sighed as I hopped down, exhausted by now and literallly dragged my over-sized bag. I looked up at him and smiled, pecking him on the lips.

"Call you tomorrow?" I asked. He nodded.

"Sure," he said." First thing." I grinned.

Well, duh, Embry. First thing! My life kinda revolves around you now! I sighed happily and turned on my heels, already half-asleep as I knocked on the door. Allen opened.

"Done making out?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and pushed him out of the way.

"Shut up."

What do you think?

This is getting old, I know, but I REALLY wanna know 'cause I'm nervous about this one.

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