"The cure for pain is in the pain..."

-Rumi

Quil wiped the morning dew off the black letters on the familiar grave. The pain burned, pulsing through him. He doubted there would ever be a day when it did not suffocate him.

He stood, tilted his head to the sky, and prayed to the gods. This was why he came home. To finish what he started… to keep his promise, his vow, and to protect her.

Penance… yes, it will come… but not yet.

A faint rustling sound brushed his senses. He crouched down low, baring his teeth in warning. An echo of a growl, one who knew well, responded to the threat. Quil waited until his missing brother in arms stalked out of the trees.

Embry's grey wolf seemed thinner, the dark spots on his back covered in leaves and mud. The animal approached cautiously, nudging at his stomach, snuffling at the scent of lingering pack. He petted the gigantic head, threading his fingers through the damp fur, "It's not better for you either, is it? Even losing yourself to the phase hasn't helped."

The beast gazed at him with watery eyes, then curled himself around the headstone.

Quil sat next to him, continuing the alleviation of touch, hoping to ease Embry into transforming back to his human self. "I had to leave too… considering what I did before I left, it looks like a coward's reaction."

An oversized paw came to rest on his hand.

"It wasn't. I knew what I did… the implications of it. I guess, in a way, I left because I couldn't think straight… It feels like I might betray him. His feelings and hopes for her… he loved her."

He stopped himself from revealing the act of marking. It was, after all, Jake's back-up plan… if Bella chose him, the threat of imprinting would still hang over their heads. He spent a few nights in the Archives room in the Council building with Embry, and emerged with the solution.

Marking. Irreversible. Binding.

He breathed in deep, feeling the moisture in the air, the smells of La Push. During his return, thoughts of Claire and the imprint breaking were whispers in the back of his mind. Unfortunately, there were questions he had which needed answers. He may have changed, inside as well as on the outside; however, that did not mean he wanted Emily's niece to suffer ramifications of a broken imprint.

He could not leave his friend… even though he knew he had to face his grandfather and her soon.

Trudging through the forest, making her way to Quil and Embry, Leah made as much noise as possible. If the actions she heard of were an indication to how much Quil had altered, she did not want to startle him with her sudden presence.

Sam told her what her pack mate did; in detail, and with contempt. She understood why, even if it did nothing to heal the fractures her former love created those years ago. Death changes things. It shifts people, circumstances, and - in her case- emotions she fought to push away... this intense caring for Embry.

The scene she walked upon was heartbreaking. The slim wolf whined and moved away from Quil to be with her. Leah nodded once to Quil, "Sam is looking for you."

He shook his head, "Figures." Standing, he dusted himself off and motioned toward his friend, "You got it from here?"

She kneeled in front of the wolf, crooning and purring while the animal licked her cheek, "We're good."

As he jogged away, Leah's voice stopped him in his tracks. "For what it's worth, I know why you did it. I don't blame you. Fate fixes mistakes in the strangest ways." He glanced back, witnessing Embry painfully change to his human skin and Leah wrap her arms around him.

Jared was restless.

Not only was his imprint smothering him, she called repeatedly… obsessively, to the point where his skin was crawling with discomfort. Thinking about her made him angry. Confused. And so many other underlying things with names that terrified him.

Why now? Months after he looked into those brown eyes -he used to prefer hazel eyes in girls- did not make sense.

Pacing. Thinking… thinking was dangerous. The paranoia was building. It had been mounting, little by little, and now it was overwhelming. Were his choices truly his choices? Or were they hers?

You know you can't lie to me.

I don't have to explain it to you.

She said that to him. Clinically; as if stating something as banal as the weather. And he knew - he knew - she was right. He did not have the ability to lie to her, and he loathed it.

There was one thing she couldn't drag out of him… and it had to do with her.

He glanced at the girl still sound asleep on the cot. Surprisingly, he felt responsible for her. She sobbed uncontrollably, yanking at her shirt, clawing the skin above her heart. Those brown eyes begged him to make it stop, and he could do nothing. The only comfort he could give her was a shoulder to lean on. So, he stayed beside her.

A part of him wondered if the parasite had dulled her emotions so she would not feel Jacob's death as deeply. Whatever happened with the marking, she was no longer under their charms.

Eventually, after hours of agony, she lay on her side, and closed her eyes.

Sam came by his house shortly after the girl fell asleep. He was on his way to see Chief Swan, per request by Elder Black, and his Alpha needed the girl to be away from Forks. Elder Ateara and Elder Black were going to break every Council rule in the books to tell their friend the truth. After so many years of lying, even after they saw the Swan girl wedging herself in the middle of a vampire clan, they had to atone. The 'what if's' were too many, and the old men were tired… so much heartache needed to be healed. They all needed to heal the infected wounds left by soul draining monsters.

TBC