AN: Well everyone, I apologize for the lengthy pause between posts. Real life has been quite hectic and it looks like that will be continuing for a little while. Still, got some time and decided to write, so I hope you enjoy! As always, I'd like to thank everyone who's been reviewing. Your feedback helps me and encouragement is key to pushing forward, especially with the disheartening direction that the site seems to be headed.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet"
Quil's POV
I blazed through the forest, the pack right on my tail. My legs were burning after the fight that we had just powered through, but I couldn't afford to slow down. Someone had taken Embry and I had no idea what their reason was.
Even in my distressed state, something seemed off. I mean, there was no disguising the trail, no attempt to evade. The scent was straight forward, not crossing any of the nearby streams that could have at least diluted things. I almost felt like this had to be someone inexperienced, but why would they kidnap Em?
As the scent grew stronger, I quit worrying about why this seemed easy. I could feel Embry's presence getting stronger as the pull continued to prove the validity of the scent's path. He couldn't be too far away, I just knew it.
Suddenly I skidded to a stop as we approached an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Forks. We weren't technically in our territory anymore, but I didn't particularly care. Standing at the door was the redhead that had been responsible for all of this. I bared my teeth and prepared to launch at her as the pack approached behind me.
"I wouldn't do that pooch. If you so much as break one of my nails, I will have your mate killed" she said, leaning nonchalantly against the door.
Seeing that I had halted, she continued. "Now, go ahead and be a good boy and phase back. We have things to discuss. Inside." She finished, smirking.
I did as she asked and stood there, waiting for her to lead the way. Jake threw me a pair of shorts and I put them on without paying attention. Modesty wasn't really important to me right now.
As I prepared to walk towards her, she held up a hand. "Oh, and you too Alpha. I think you'll be wanted as well. However, if you want to see your little brother again, I suggest you order the rest of these filthy mongrels to stay out here." She sneered. What was she going for? I looked to my Alpha and heard him order the pack to stay outside. He didn't show his care often, but he wasn't going to try and put Embry in anymore danger.
The redhead opened the door and walked in, satisfied with the situation and beckoned for us to enter. I quickly went in, Sam right behind me. The hallways were long and curving, but we seemed to be heading into the center of the building. Finally we entered an open space and bright lights lit up a large storage space.
As I looked into the massive room, my blood began to run cold. In front of me, high on a platform was Embry. He was wrapped in chains against a steel structural beam. Even worse was the fact that I could immediately identify the woman with a blade in her hand, daring us to make a move. It was his mother.
"Well Quil, from what Laurent told Victoria before you mutts tore him to shreds, my little Embry imprinted on you. Now, I know that you haven't imprinted on him, but Laurent seemed to think you eventually would. I'm just hoping that seeing him in danger will give you the push you need. If I'm right, I want to see if we can play ourselves a little game." She chuckled coldly.
With that, she pulled out a needle and injected it into his arm. Sam had to grab me to prevent my attempt to find a way up there, but I froze as I slowly saw Embry begin to stir. His eyes fluttered open and immediately locked onto mine.
It was unlike anything that I had ever felt before. I could see into his very soul through his eyes. They were pulling me forward and I wanted nothing but to be right beside him. I craved Embry and my wolf wouldn't be satiated until he was with me. It was everything that I had ever been told, and I knew that there was no mistaking it. I had finally imprinted on my Embry.
Embry's POV
I was pretty much at home in this world by this point. I lifted my head groggily, feeling a wet nose nudging against my face. I opened my eyes to see my wolf looking at me, concern written all over his face.
He helped me to my feet and we suddenly caught a deathly scent on the wind. Without hesitation I hopped on his back and we took off towards the source. It wasn't long before we found the origin of the stench: A pair of leeches. One with bright red hair and the other was my mom. Either my mind was playing tricks on me or my brief glimpse of the waking world hadn't been wrong. She approached me, fangs bared and poised to attack, but the wolf stood between us. He knew I couldn't face her, but he had no trouble with it. I saw the redhead beginning to charge, but I was able to catch her off guard, keeping her from flanking my wolf. I don't know what my strength in this world came from, but I wasn't going to question it. If I could go toe to toe with a leech in this form, I'd help my wolf in whatever way I could.
I went back and forth with the redhead, parrying most of her blows and landing a couple of good hits. Occasionally I'd sneak a look at my wolf who seemed to be holding his own pretty well. Overall, I couldn't see how either side would end this fight.
Suddenly the fighting stopped at the sound of loud growl that drowned out everything else. I looked up to see a large brown wolf leaping down to stand between us and the leeches. The brown wolf took off, chasing the pair, and I felt the world beginning to slip away. We chased after the familiar wolf and to my surprise, my wolf wasn't fading with the rest of this world. It was time for us to both return to the surface.
My eyes shot open and immediately locked onto Quil. I watched him freeze as he fell into the trance that I could easily identify. Suddenly the redhead pushed him over, laughing as he toppled. I lurched to get at her for attacking my mate, a growl resonating from my throat. It came out muffled, however, and it was only then that I realized just how restricted I was.
I was wrapped in chains, holding me to something solid behind me. My mouth was covered by a thick rag. I was effectively rendered useless and began to thrash against my restraints, garnering only a cold laugh from beside me.
"All right, I think it's time to stop messing around. The stage has been set for my little game." My mother said darkly, running a cold hand across my cheek. I cringed from her touch and had to do everything I could to keep from letting my wolf explode out. I know that it's a powerful transformation, but even I don't think that I could survive the chains around me.
"Oh Em, Em, Em. You see what you've done to me? If it hadn't been for you and your little werewolf gene, I would have never had to go to Seattle. But no, you ran me out of my own home by telling me you were a monster. Then one of Vicky's newborns turned me into this. You see, Em? This is all your fault!" she sneered at me.
Something in me snapped this time. Before, I probably would have agreed with her, but not this time. I had tried to be a good son, and for what? To be abandoned and left to fend for myself. I felt nothing but anger rising up and thrashed violently against the chains.
"Ungrateful little mongrel!" she yelled, staring into my eyes and seeing the hate that boiled there before backhanding me, causing a growl to erupt from Quil. I know, it's horrible to hate someone who raised you, but I couldn't control it any longer. The years of neglect, disgust, and blame had finally tipped the scale.
"But alas, that's all in the past. I've come here today to settle a few scores, and your little wolf is going to help me." She said, smirking.
"So, Quil, I'm going to need you to listen closely. I'm giving you a chance to save your imprint. You just have to do a couple things for me. The first is to kill the lasting reminder of the bastard that left me with him" she said, pointing at me. "After that, you just need to kill…who was it Vicky, a pair named Edward and Bella?" The redhead nodded and I looked over at Quil, who had never taken his eyes off of me.
I watched as his eyes glazed over, entering some sort of trance as he turned towards Sam. The Alpha held up his hands, trying to show that he wasn't a threat, but once his pack brother phased, he had no choice. I watched in horror as the wolves began to go at each other, violently crashing into walls, pillars, and anything else that got in their way.
"It's funny what powers we can have" my mother stated as she watched this duel. "You see, I was always good at taking advantage of people's relationships. Part of why I was able to make Vicky over there send her army to distract everyone. With enough time, she might have succeeded, but I wanted my revenge now and keyed off of her fury about losing her mate. Getting your little friend there to imprint on you just made things so much easier. The more devoted people are, the easier they are to control." she whispered in my ear.
It all made sense. As a human, she'd always manipulated my emotions. She knew that because she was my mother, I'd always cave to her will. I always felt that I owed it to her to listen and strive to be as good of a son as possible, but it was never reciprocated. She just took and took, but never cared about anyone else. The woman had so much practice at playing with people's feelings that it fit her well as a leech.
I continued to struggle as I watched Sam and Quil continue to brawl. Sam wasn't giving it his all, but Quil was holding nothing back. I was afraid that Quil might actually be able to kill our Alpha in this state. This needed to end now.
I suddenly felt my wolf rise through my body, but just as he was there for me in his world, he wasn't leading me astray in this. His strength channeled into my limbs and I pulled with an unimaginable power. I could feel the chains cutting into me, but suddenly the sound of links snapping filled the air.
My mother looked at me in horror as I broke free of the restraints, finally allowing the wolf to surge through me entirely. The feeling was welcomed and I reveled in his fire as it consumed my body, transforming me and completely reuniting us again. I leapt off the platform and charged between my imprint and my brother, preventing Quil from progressing any further.
"Listen Quil, you have to stop. Do it for me. I know she has power, but think about what you're doing. This is Sam we're talking about. I need you to stop trying to hurt him. Would you really deny your imprint?" I pleaded, watching as he shook his head as if trying to clear out some cobwebs, which might have been funny if the situation wasn't so serious. Suddenly he looked up at me and we locked eyes. I could see my Quil breaking through her control.
"Sam, Em, I'm so sorry!" he said, backing away from us. He was beginning to berate himself for being so weak, despite Sam's words of assurance. I quickly ran over to him and put my muzzle against his. Quil responded in kind and in a purely wolf maneuver, I licked his snout. I wanted to show him that I was there for him, even in this madness. We were broken from our moment when I suddenly heard a bickering between the two leeches.
"You said it was fool proof! How was that mutt able to break out of your control? Now I'm never going to get my revenge! I was stupid to ever work with a newborn like you!" Victoria shouted.
"Work with? You played right into my hand. Don't even act like you're relevant." My mother sneered.
Suddenly our minds met Sam's and we developed our plan. We charged at the duo, using their distraction to our advantage. Sam & Quil ripped the redhead apart quickly, while I slowly stalked my mother into the corner of the room.
"Listen Em, you're my son. We shouldn't be fighting like this." She cooed, attempting to talk her way out of the situation. Quil and Sam were at my side, preparing to do the work before I called them off. This one was something I needed to take care of.
I launched at her, locking my teeth around her neck immediately. She had been trapped and didn't even try and resist. She blamed me for her transformation into one of those creatures. I agreed that it wasn't a life I'd want to live, so in one final act of mercy, I quickly crushed her neck, severing her head from the rest of her body. Her scream was piercing and would haunt me until I died, but I would have felt even worse if I had allowed for someone else to do this for me. I had killed my first vampire…and it was my mom. I guess I should be used to having strings attached by now.
I fell back to the ground, phasing immediately. I may not have been in their battle, but this phase had taken a lot out of me. Suddenly I was being picked up by Quil, his arms supporting my weight as if it were nothing. Sam led the way out of the warehouse and it wasn't long before we began hearing the worried chatter of the pack outside. Finally we emerged through the final door and I could feel each of them approach quickly until Quil growled at them defensively. They took the hint and backed off, clearing a path for him to pass.
I felt kinda embarrassed being carried like this by Quil, but he refused to let anyone get near me as he walked by them and carried me through the woods. As awkward as it may have seemed, I basked in the comfort of his arms as we continued in silence, no words needing to be exchanged. It was perfect.
The trees thinned and suddenly we were standing behind his house. He quickly trudged on and into his house and I noticed his mom make a move to get up, only to be held back by his grandfather. The elder was no fool. No matter what his opinion on us being together was, he could see the devotion in Quil's eyes that came from a tradition that he still held sacred.
I sighed in contentment as Quil put me down on his bed, pulling me against him as we both thought about the chaos of the last 24 hours. Between the battle and afterward confrontation, we were both exhausted. Despite the silence, it still felt amazing. I knew that I was his as much as he was mine. I had finally gotten to the point where his wolf would recognize me as his mate and that made my own wolf content.
"I love you Quil…" I said, as sleep began to creep up on me.
"I love you too Em" he mumbled, molding me against him. His breathing steadied and it wasn't long before I joined him in finally getting some rest.
Hey look, I didn't leave this one on a cliffhanger! Hope you enjoyed what I did with Em's mom. She just seemed like a fun villain to use, but maybe that's just me (Also, to note her power, it's kinda like a "relationship manipulation" concept. Not sure that it was my best, but I kinda enjoyed it). I hope that you'll review if you feel inclined, whether it be positive or negative (preferably constructive on the latter). Even if you don't provide feedback, thanks for reading!
Also, I'm not sure when I'll get the next one written. Life is continuing to be crazy as the month progresses, but hopefully I'll find some time to write a bit. Sorry for the delays!