CHAPTER SEVEN

THE WOLVES

"Jasper?"

He was there for a second. And then he was gone.

Was he even really there?

Bella carried her tray to an empty table. I was chatting with Angela about a new camera she'd gotten. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her looking over at us. She took a breath and tried to casually join us. They noticed but they just kept talking.

"I'll kill Tyler if he gave me his flu," Jessica whined.

"It's going around," Angela jumped in, "My sister was so sick she couldn't come on our hike this weekend... so she didn't see it."

Eric patted her shoulder, "Ang, maybe you should keep that to yourself-"

"Wait..." I interrupted him, "What did you see?"

Angela looked at me, "It was jet black and huge; on all fours it was still taller than a person. A bear maybe."

"Or big foot," Jessica smirked.

"Or an alien," Mike chimed, "Lucky you didn't get probed."

Angela was discouraged by the dismissal, "We saw it..." She looked scared and deadly serious.

"You're not the only one." Bella said out of nowhere.

Everyone stared silently at her, shocked that she just spoke. But she continued, "My dad's been getting reports at the sheriff's station. A couple hikers went missing. People are scared."

Everyone got chills. Mike blanched, "I did hear some guy talking about it at the store."

"Last time you clowns doubt my girlfriend," Eric challenged.

Angela mouthed thanks to Bella. They shared a smile. But I pushed away my plate, suddenly not hungry.

What was out there killing people?

Embry hadn't been answering any of my calls. When I asked Quil, he told me the same thing. Bianca was getting restless and wanted to go down there. I couldn't help but think that he was avoiding me. I knew he had a crush on me. Maybe now that... Jasper was gone, he hoped he had a chance. And I wasn't being fast enough for him.

I decided to just drive to his house. I'd knock on the door and ask his mother if he was in. If he wasn't, I'd come back later or leave the note I wrote with her to give to him. I left Bianca home though so as not to raise her hopes.

I knocked three times on the door and waited until a tan Native American woman opened the door. She looked young for the mother of a teenager but I didn't say anything. "Is Embry here? I'm Heather."

The woman wrung her hands, "I'm Natalie. Embry's mom. He's sleeping but I was just about to wake him up. Would you like to come in?"

I was about to decline when she opened the door the whole way. I bite back a sigh, "Sure."

She sat me at the dining room table right outside the kitchen and there was a plate of cookies out. "You're welcome to some cookies. I have plenty."

Not wanting to be rude, I took one.

It was quiet after she left the room. I heard quiet conversing – maybe a fight – down the all since it was an one story house. Then I heard, "What are you doing here?"

I looked up at someone that looked like Embry. But it couldn't have been him. He was shirtless... and filled out. His hair was cropped short. There were bags under his eyes like he hadn't gotten enough sleep. And he had this black... tribal tattoo that I couldn't help but feel that I'd seen before.

"What happened to you?"

Embry didn't say anything for a while. Soft tremors were racking his body. He leaned against the wall and bit onto his fist, breathing harshly.

I'd seen those tremors before... I narrowed my eyes at him as he tried to breath deeply, as if attempting to calm himself.

The Native American Warrior faced Victoria with tremors shaking through his body. I noticed a flash of black ink on his arm just before he erupted into fur and fangs.

The Warrior's tattoo.

Embry's tattoo.

Tremors.

Shaking.

Wolves.

I gasped, "You're a... wolf?"

Embry abruptly stopped shaking. His eyes bugged out of his head, "What?"

His voice was hard and I flinched. I set my half eaten cookie down, "You're a... wolf, shifter... thing."

His hands were clenched into tight fists. "How do you know?"

He would think I was insane if I told him about my dream, plus I didn't know if he knew about vampires. So I lied. "Um... a book I borrowed from Bella last school year. It had some Native American Legends in it. I didn't imagine that it could be real though."

Embry laughed bitterly, "Well. It is."

I awkwardly took a bite of my cookie. He spoke again, "You probably know what we hunt."

I swallowed and whispered, "Vampires." I kept looking down at the table, afraid to see his reaction to my realization.

"You know about the Cullens." Something about him now made him more blunt and harsh. I wasn't sure that I liked it.

I nodded quietly and said nothing.

"And you're … okay with that?" His tone was laced with poison and disgust.

I chanced a look up at him now and his eyes held the same thing. I sighed, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Embry's glare seemed unforgiving, "Because they kill people! They're monsters!"

I stood up, rigid, "You're the one who turns into a wolf! They don't hurt people! They feed off of animals. They haven't done anything wrong!"

Embry scoffed, "How can you defend them after what he did to you?"

I was quiet for a moment. Then – on impulse – I grabbed a cookie and through it at him. It broke upon impact on his chest. "That has nothing to do with this! The Cullens are good people."

Embry was staring at me in shock. He looked slightly amused, "Did you really just throw a cookie at me?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Don't change the subject! The Cullens leaving is none of your business!"

Embry went angry fast and glared at me, "The Hell it isn't! I see what he did to you! You're not yourself. You're barely around. You don't eat. You don't sleep unless you're having nightmares. There's a shrine to Edgar Allan Poe in your bedroom – the most depressing poet in the world. And your poetry is just as depressing. You're miserable. You're falling apart. And I can't snap you out of it. I can't help you. And it's entirely HIS FAULT!"

"SHUT UP!" I screamed. "You don't know him! You don't know why he did what he did! And don't pretend like I don't know how I come off to people but there's really nothing I can do about it. I need time."

Embry struggled to find something to say – or hold in his temper, "What am I supposed to do in the mean time? Do you know how I feel about you?"

"Yes!"

Embry flinched at that. He was silent. Dead silent. And I realized what I said. My eyes widened. I gaped slightly. My shoulder's hunched, "Embry..."

"You know?..." Embry asked, "You knew?"

I sighed heavily. And nodded. "Jacob told me not long after... Jasper and I started dating. He thought I should know so I don't unintentionally... give you the wrong idea... or something."

Embry turned and slammed his fist onto the wall, putting a hole into it. I jumped at the loud noise, "Embry, I'm sorry."

His shoulders moved with his every deep breath, "You don't have to be. It's just... you knew and you didn't say anything."

I folded my arms, "I didn't want to open up that can of worms. Embry... you're my friend."

"And that's it," He snapped, turning to face me, his eyes empty, "You're still in love with him."

I looked down, a lone tear tracking down my face, and shrugged, "I guess... I haven't had enough time."

I felt his hand – not shaking – on my chin. He lifted my face to face him and whispered, "If I gave you more time... do you think we'd ever...?"

I wanted to say yes. I wanted to bring the light back into his eyes. I wanted to be good enough for him. I wanted to give him what he wanted. But I couldn't. "I..."

He dropped his hand from my chin, "I see."

"Embry..." I whispered desperately.

But he pressed a finger to my lips and shushed me gently, "It's okay. I get it. But give me one thing..."

I looked at him with curiosity, "What?"

He quickly leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I didn't move my lips but it felt like I did with how much he moved his. His lips were warm and soft. But not as soothing or passionate as Jasper's. I couldn't help but compare the two. But there was no comparison.

I pulled away softly before it went on too long, "Embry..."

"I know," He interrupted me, "You love him more."

I sighed. But then I jolted when I heard the phone ring. Embry reached over the kitchen bar to grab it, "Hello?"

He was quiet for maybe three long seconds before he said, "Okay. I'm on my way."

"Who was it?" I asked as I crossed my arms in front of me.

"Sam. Our Alpha." He gave me a grim look, "Jacob phased."

Sorry for the false alarm. Jasper's not back. I needed that conversation between Embry and Heather so she could tell Embry that he really has no chance and give him the chance to move on. Let me know what you think.

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