CHAPTER 35

Leah POV:

Seth came bounding through the door after school. "Hey, Sis! I had a great today. How bout you?"

I had to laugh at him. "What is up with you? What was so great about it?" He plopped down on the couch beside me with a big grin plastered on his face.

"Embry helped me with Ashley today. And she asked me to walk her to class. So I did and we met after school and I asked her to go to the dance with me on Friday night, and she said yes! Isn't that just fucking awesome!"

"Way to go, little brother!" I held up my hand for high five and he slapped it. "What did Embry do to help you?"

"He just helped me get started. He taught me to make eye contact with her and give a sly smile and nod. And it worked! Man, he's so smart when it comes to girls. He knows exactly what to do!" Seth gushed.

"Yea, he's smart alright," I said. "You just be careful how you treat this girl, Seth. Don't play with her feelings, OK?"

"Yea, yea. I'll be good, don't worry. I'm starving. I need something to eat!" He jumped up and headed for the kitchen. I just shook my head and thought maybe I better find out what all Embry was teaching him.

I was in the kitchen later putting supper on the table when Embry came in the front door. I knew it was him because I could hear Seth call out, "Embry! I asked her to the dance and she said yes!" I smiled and shook my head.

"Supper's on the table!" I hollered out. They came bustling into the kitchen, Seth talking a hundred miles an hour.

"And I couldn't believe it, dude! I just asked her and she said yes. Man, I was scared, but I tried to stay cool like you told me. I didn't let her see my fear."

Embry laughed and put his arm around his neck and pulled him to him then tousled his hair. He let him go and said, "See? All you needed was the confidence. You are a natural, Seth. You'll have them lining up to go out with you."

I gave Embry a look. He just smiled and said, "Hi, honey. What's for dinner?" as he moved over to hug me and kiss me on the cheek. I rolled my eyes and said, "Sit down and you'll find out."

It was just me and the guys for dinner. Mom was at work. I had put two chickens in the oven, stuffed with Grandma's recipe for dressing, and I made garlic mashed potatoes and green beans to go with it. I had everything on the table and Seth sat down and started digging into each bowl as fast as he could. "Slow down, Seth! There's enough for all of us, you know," I scolded.

He looked up sheepishly. "Sorry. Guess I'm just too excited."

"I guess," I replied as I sat down. We all filled our plates and Seth started peppering Embry with all kinds of questions.

"I never went to a dance with a girl. What if she wants to dance? I don't even know how to dance. I mean, where do I put my hands? And then . . ."

Embry cut him off with, "Seth, stop! Look, it's not that hard, dude. I'll show you everything after we eat, OK? Stop sweating it." He nodded and shoved a huge bite of chicken in his mouth.

From there we talked about school, and I told them about visiting Sam and how I thought he was going to be OK. Embry told us about Jake suggesting he ask his dad to go fishing, and that he was thinking about it. Seth nodded and added, "Yea, me and Leah used to go with our dad sometimes. But he mostly liked going with just Billy and Charlie. He said we talked too much and scared the fish away." Embry laughed and said, "You do talk a lot, dude."

I laughed and looked at Seth. He just shrugged and kept eating. We finished our dinner and we all cleaned up the kitchen. When we were done, we went into the living room and Embry said to Seth, "OK, are you ready for your dance lesson?"

Seth gave Embry a weird look and said, "You want me to dance with you?"

"No, idiot. I'm going to show you by dancing with Leah. It will be informative for you, and fun for me," he said wiggling his eyebrows at me. "Put some music on, dude."

"Here, I'll do it," I said. I knew Seth would have no idea what song to put on to dance to. I picked out a John Mayer CD and set it to "Your Body is a Wonderland." I walked back over and Embry smiled at me. I was actually looking forward to this!

"OK, Seth. Watch and learn," Embry said. He turned to me, gave me a killer smile and said, "Hey, Leah. Wanna dance?" I smiled and said, "Sure." He reached out and took my hand and led me out into the middle of the room.

He put his hands on my hips and I put mine on his shoulders. "You want to start out with a little room, let her get comfortable with you touching her. Look into her eyes as you start moving. Not big movement. Just small swaying to the beat of the music." He looked me in the eyes and smiled. I smiled back. This is fun!

"If the music isn't too loud, you can talk a little if you like." Embry looked down at me and said, "I really like this song. Do you know who sings it?"

I smiled and said, "Yea, John Mayer." "Then, as the song goes on, you move your hands from her hips, ever so slowly to her back. This will pull her a little closer, and she'll move her hands up behind your neck." Which is exactly what I did. "You can talk a little more about music, movies, whatever. Just make her feel comfortable." We danced a little more.

He looked at Seth and said, "Watch closely. What kind of music do you listen to?" he said closer to my ear, which also brought his body right next to mine. Slick move. Man, he was good! His arms tightened just a little more around my middle. I found myself moving with him to the music and not paying any attention to what was going on around me. "Um, Leah, I asked you a question?" he whispered in my ear.

"Oh, huh? Music, oh yea!" He laughed at me and I said, "I like pop and country mostly."

Then he turned back to Seth and said, "Now that you have her right where you want her, you just pull her in and put your head close and just move to the music. I laid my head on Embry's shoulder and we moved to the music for awhile.

"You think you got it?" he asked Seth. "Yea, I think so," he answered. "As the song is ending, if you really feel in the moment, and this is a big if, bro, you can make a move and get a kiss, like this." Embry moved his head very slowly to place his face very close to mine. He looked into my eyes for a few seconds, still swaying to the music. Then he ever so slightly put his lips to mine and held them there for a moment then pulled back, and the song was over. He smiled at me and I smiled back. "And that is how it's done," he said. I just shook my head and marveled at the master.

He put a quick kiss on my lips and let me go. He turned to Seth. "Now, Seth, I can't emphasize enough not to rush the kiss. You have to feel the moment. If it's there, take it. If it isn't, don't worry. There will be another one." Seth just nodded. Embry walked over to him and asked, "Have you ever kissed a girl before?"

He looked up at him quickly then looked at me. "What? I won't say anything. I'll just sit right over here," I said as I sat down on the couch.

He looked back to Embry and said, "Well, kind of. Last year, we were on the bus on a field trip and there were a few of us in the back and someone wanted to play Truth or Dare. So, when it came to Jenna, this girl sitting by me, she picked dare, and someone dared her to kiss me. So she turned to me and kissed me on the lips. It wasn't a long kiss or anything. But, that's the only time."

"OK, well that's something. Well, when you kiss a girl, especially for the first time, you don't want it to be overbearing, you know what I mean? It should be soft and lingering. And no tongue on the first kiss. I hate it when a girl shoves her tongue down my throat! That's just gross, man. You work your way up to using your tongue, and only teasingly."

I stood up and said, "You know, I'm going to go upstairs to my room while you two have this little talk. I think I'm just a little uncomfortable with you teaching my little brother how to be an expert kisser." Then I walked over to Embry and said, "Although, you are really good at it." I smiled and kissed him on the lips then went up the stairs. I heard him laugh and say, "So are you, baby!"

I laid on my bed with my laptop and did a little web-surfing. I wondered what all Embry would really teach Seth. I guess he should learn from the best! But, I was glad that Seth had Embry to talk to now that Dad was gone. He would need someone to talk to about girls and sex. Oh God! Seth having sex. I don't want to think about that!

I was looking at some recipes on how to make a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin instead of using the canned stuff when Embry came to the door of my room. He leaned against the door frame and looked at me. I smiled and asked, "Lesson over?"

He smiled and answered, "Yea. I think I filled his head with enough for tonight." He walked in, but left the door open, and came to sit beside me on the bed. "You're not upset with me for teaching him this stuff, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I know I was worried about what you might teach him, but, I'm glad you talked to him. He needs a guy to talk to about girls and kissing . . . and I hate to even say it . . . sex. Without Dad around . . ."

"Yea, I know how that is. I had to learn on my own. Guess it's a good thing I'm such a natural, huh?" he said with a sly smile. I smacked him and he went on, "I don't mind talking to him. I love the little runt, you know that. And, he really likes this girl. I'm not teaching him how to kiss her and dump her. You know I don't work like that. I spent time with all those girls because I actually liked them and wanted to be with them. I can't help it if they all found me so irresistible!" He gave his sexy smile. Yea, that's the one I like the best.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Well, as much as I hate to admit it, you are pretty irresistible!" He leaned over and put his lips to mine. I sighed and he put his arms around me and pulled me closer and deepened the kiss. I kissed back until I remembered that Seth was home. I pulled back and said, "You know, my little brother is still downstairs. I don't really want to be a visual aide anymore."

He moved to kissing my ear and throat. "Yea, but he's watching a Mariner's game. You know how he gets when he watches baseball."

I moved my head to give him better access to my neck and shoulder. "Mmmm, hmmm." Oh why does that have to feel so good? Finally, I pulled away and smiled. "I can't do this with Seth downstairs. Sorry."

"Yea, I know. I can't either, but I wanted to see how far you would go before you caved," he said with a grin.

"Oh, you!" I picked up my pillow and plowed him in the head with it. He jumped off the bed with the other pillow and smacked me. Of course it escalated into an all out war, ending with Embry on the floor and me sitting on top of him hitting him in the head with my pillow. "Truce! I give!" he hollered at me. I looked down at him and tried to catch my breath. He looked at me and his smile faded as a different look came into his eyes. I knew that look. It was drawing me down, closer to his face, until I was kissing him. He had his hands in my hair and I had my lips on his devouring him. It was getting out of control quickly when he pushed at me and I pulled away to look at him.

"Baby, you better get up right now, or I won't stop," he panted. I smiled and kissed him one more time. He groaned and flipped me over and held my hands above my head. "You're playing with fire, Leah. I don't care if you're little brother is downstairs or not." I looked into his eyes. He wasn't bluffing. He would do it. And, oh, I really wanted him to. But good sense prevailed and I nodded and smiled and said, "OK. I give."

He got up and ran his hands through his hair then mumbled something about seeing me downstairs. I stood up and grabbed my hair brush off of the dresser and ran it through my hair. I looked at myself in the mirror and I could see my cheeks were flushed. I smiled. I liked playing with fire.

Embry POV:

I drove home from Leah's and parked my truck. I noticed Mom's car was home. I walked into the house and saw that Mom was curled up on the couch with the phone in her lap. "Hey, Mom," I said as I closed the door.

"Hi, honey," she said quietly. She sounded upset.

"You OK?"

She looked at me as I sat down in the chair. "Yea, I guess. I just got off the phone with Josh. He said that he will be out of touch for awhile. The fever started. He didn't know how long it would last, but he would call me when he it was past."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say.

She smiled. "I guess I got used to spending time with him. I'll miss him while he's gone. Isn't that crazy? I haven't seen him for 18 years, and now I'm worried about not seeing him for a few days."

"Yea. I was talking to Jake today about him and he told me I should ask him to take me fishing. When I was a kid, I always wanted a dad to do that with. Do you think that's stupid?" I asked.

She smiled and answered, "No, honey, it's not stupid. I think he really just wants to spend time with you. Ask him."

I nodded. "OK." We sat there quiet for a minute then I asked her, "Does it bother you to know why he can't be here right now? Have you thought about what he does when he's . . . I mean, what if he kills someone?"

"Oh Embry, don't even say that! Yes it bothers me. But I hate it because of what he has to go through. He told me that he has a remote location that he goes to, and so far, he has been alone there. Just some deer and other animals. I know that he tries very hard to stay away from people when he is like that. He is trying to be responsible. I guess I really don't want to think about it."

"Yea, I know. I was just thinking, that's all," I told her. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed. See ya tomorrow."

"OK. Goodnight."

I got up and went to my room and closed the door. I stripped off my shirt and took off my shoes then sat down on the bed. It was hard to think of him as this werewolf out hunting for blood. I guess we would have to learn to put that aside, and just concentrate on the man. It made me wonder what Mom thought of me when I was out as a wolf. I thought maybe I should ask her. I got up and walked back out in the living room.

"Hey, Mom?" She turned to look at me. "Yea?"

"Um, I was just thinking. You know what we were just talking about . . . I guess I was wondering what you think about me. When I'm a wolf. I've killed vampires you know. I mean, we've never really talked about it." I walked over and sat down on the chair.

"I guess we haven't. Well, as far as I know, you kill to protect us, right? I mean, it scares me out of mind to think about you doing something so dangerous. I try not to think about it really. But, how does that make you feel? To kill a vampire?"

"It's hard to describe. I mean, when I phase into the wolf, I become the wolf in body, but I still have my own mind, my own thoughts. When we see a vampire, we kind of go on the adrenaline rush we get from our wolf body. We chase it down and well, I don't want to get too graphic. But the first time, it's such a rush and you give in and go with it and you don't even realize what's happening until is over. Then it kind of sinks in and at first I felt bad. But these bloodsuckers are deadly. They kill humans and feed off of them. We have to kill them or they will kill those we care about." Mom just nodded. "I know it's got to be so weird for you. Knowing your son becomes a wolf to kill vampires. It's really not something most mothers deal with."

Then she laughed. "No, it's not. I don't think I've ever come across an article in any parenting magazine on that one." I laughed at that. Then she looked at me and asked, "What do you look like as a wolf? I mean, do you all look different?"

"Yea, we do. We keep some of our own characteristics, like our eye color, and I wear my hair longer and I have bangs, so I'm a little shaggier than the rest of them." I sat there for a moment and then I said, "Do you want to see what I look like as a wolf?"

"Can I?" she asked excitedly.

I smiled and said, "Yea, sure. Come on outside with me." We got up and went outside. "I usually don't phase until I get to the woods. It's just a short walk down the street. Is that OK?"

"Yes, that' s fine," she replied. As we walked, she asked me, "Can I watch you as you phase?"

I looked at her and smiled. "Well, I usually take my shorts off so I don't rip them to shreds. So, I would be . . . naked, and that's just a little awkward for me."

She laughed and said, "Uh yea, for me, too. I forgot. You told me that you tie your shorts to your ankle with the cord you wear there."

"Yea. Then when I phase back, I slip them back on." We got to the end of the street and walked into the woods.

"Does it hurt when you phase into a wolf?" she asked me.

"No, I wouldn't say it hurts. At first it was hard to control. But now it's very natural and I can phase when I want to." I stopped walking and said, "Here is good. I'm going to go over there and take my shorts off then I will phase into the wolf and come back to you. Don't be afraid of me, OK? There's no way I will hurt you. Like I said, I may look like a wolf, but it's me inside."

She nodded and said, "OK. " I jogged over to hide behind some bushes and slipped my shorts off and tied them to my ankle. Then I took a few steps and phased on the run to the clearing where Mom was patiently waiting. I walked slowly to her so I wouldn't scare her. I walked up to her and looked at her.

She looked at me with wide eyes full of amazement. "Embry! That was amazing! Can I . . . pet you?" I nodded my head up and down and tried to smile at her. She laughed as she put her hand on my head and ran it down my neck to my back. "I see what you mean about being shaggy," she said as she found my bangs that flopped over my eyes. "Oh Embry. You are awesome as a wolf. Thank you for showing me." She hugged my neck and I rubbed my head against her.

"What's going on, bro? You playing wolf-boy with your mommy?" Oh great. Sam caught me. Just what I need.

"Yea, I thought she needed to see me like this. Did I break some wolf rule or something, or are you just fucking with me?"

"Just fucking with you. Big brothers do that you know."

"Where are you?"

"About 100 feet behind you. Didn't want to scare your mom."

"Come on out, but slowly, then sit down. I'll phase back and tell her." Mom had let go and I trotted away back to the bushes. I quickly phased back and as I was untying my shorts I yelled, "Mom, Sam is in wolf form and he is close. So if you see a black wolf, don't scream!"

She yelled, "I see him." I pulled on my shorts and ran back to the clearing. Sam was sitting there patiently waiting for me. I walked over to Mom and Sam got up and slowly walked toward us.

"Oh Sam, your father was right. You are a magnificent wolf," she said to him.

"Be careful, Mom. You'll give him an even bigger head than he already has!" Sam looked at me and growled and I laughed.

He sat down in front of Mom and she held her hand out and placed it on his head. He closed his eyes. She ran her hand down his head and said, "Sam, thank you for taking good care of my son and all the other members of the pack. I know it's a big responsibility, but you do it well. You are such a good big brother to Embry, and I am so glad he has you." Sam put his head down then he looked up at her. She smiled. He walked over to me and bumped me and I almost fell over! Sam is a big wolf! Then he turned and ran out of the clearing.

"Wow. That was . . . awesome, Embry. Thank you," she said as she pulled me to her for a hug. She let me go and we turned to walk home. "I didn't realize you would be so . . . huge! You are bigger than normal wolves, aren't you?"

"Yea, we are. You were good. I thought you would be more scared than you were. Especially when Sam came up."

"He is pretty intimidating! I was really surprised by your size, but yet I could tell it was you. And Sam looks . . . kind of like Sam. I see what you mean by keeping some of your characteristics. Is Leah as big as all of you?"

I shook my head. "She and Seth are a little smaller. Seth is the youngest, so as he grows, he will get bigger I guess."

She nodded. "What is it like for you and Leah to be in wolf form at the same time? That must be strange to hear everything that goes on in each other's head."

I chuckled. "Well, yea. But it's not too bad. A couple of weeks ago, Leah wanted to show me a place that she likes to go when she patrols at night. It's a high bluff that looks out over the water. A full moon was rising and we went there to see it. We got there and it was so beautiful. She laid down on her stomach and looked out at it and I could hear and almost feel how much she was in awe by what she was seeing. I laid down next to her and took it in. I remember she thought it was weird to lay side by side like that as wolves, but yet it wasn't. And she was right. It seemed as natural to me as sitting on the couch with her. Even when I look at her with wolf eyes, I still see Leah."

Mom smiled. "It's amazing to me the life you lead. I can't believe I didn't know anything about it. I'm so glad I do now."

"Me, too. I really hated lying to you."

We were back home, so I went up the steps and opened the door and held it open so Mom could go in. I followed and closed and locked the door. She turned and hugged me again. "I just want you to know that I love you and I am proud of you."

I hugged her back and said, "Thanks, Mom. I love you, too."

She pulled back and said, "I'm heading to bed. Goodnight."

"Night, Mom," I called after her. She made her way to her room and closed the door.

I stood there wishing I could see what my dad looked like in wolf form. Was he like us? Was he bigger? I was curious, but then again, I was a little afraid. Maybe I didn't want to know.

A/N: I know the Seth story doesn't really have anything to do with the major storyline, but I love Seth and just wanted to have some fun with him. There will be more later . . .