Que Quowle (Stay With Me Forever)

by Clearlyivemadesomebaddecisions

Living in an abusive home was not easy for Maxine Felix. Her father would take his anger out on her leaving her scarred in all ways possible. One day, a nice couple comes to her rescue and moves her away from her troubles and to La Push, Washington. There she meets Embry Call, the handsome, mysterious brown eyed stranger who has a life all his own that will maybe also change hers.

17. Chapter 16

"I'm sorry" (English, obviously)

"Es tut mir leid" (German. I didn't need to use Google Translate for this one. Go amateur German skills)

"Lo Siento "(Spanish)

"對唔住 "(Chinese (Cantonese)

"对不起"(Chinese (Mandarin)

"Het spijt me!" (Dutch)

"Je suis désolé "(French)

"Uxolo!" (Zulu)

(Just so you know the concept of saying sorry has nothing to do with the upcoming chapter like the past quotes have. I just wanted to say I'm sorry in advance for not uploading in a while).

After saying sorry in a whole bunch of languages I thought I'd explain the origin and hopefully find some really cute story where this old guy says he's sorry for leaving this old women and she's really pissed at him for leaving but everything's happy pappy when they forgive each other in the end blah blah blah.

But after a long time searching for something like that I found absolutely nothing, but I wasn't ready to give up just yet. I would find a way to make this really cute way of coming out of hiatus, so I instead went in another direction and looked up the definition hoping it would be something cute and whatever. And when I looked it up on Google I immediately went to Urban Dictionary because it was the first link my eyes went to, and I have had no serious troubles with the site yet. So I clicked on it hopping to find this really cute definition but instead found this:

Urban Dictionary defines 'sorry' as:

A word commonly used to make a yelling person shut the fuck up.

Thanks Urban Dictionary, knew I could always depend on you.

---

Embry's POV

After my realization in the woods, I drive back to my house. Usually on any other day or occasion I would have gone straight to my meadow and just sat there in my wolf form, using my superhuman hearing to listen to even the tiniest sounds of birds chirping, singing their sweet song back and forth to each other, using my advanced superhuman smelling to smell the rich scent of the woods and pine around me, until Seth or Sam invade my thoughts and call me to my night shift, but today I decide to go straight home from where I was.

A part of me wanted to run on foot straight from where I was to First Beach and tackle Seth to the ground for even messing with my imprintee, but I soon realized that that wasn't a reasonable idea.

Another part of me was urging the rest of my body to at least go to First Beach and see what they were doing together, but I soon decided even quicker that that would make me look like a pedophile, creeping in the woods and spying on people, and shot down that idea right away.

So I decide to go home instead. My mom should be home by now and the minute I walk through the door she'll start asking questions on where I was and what I was doing. Better save her some worry and get home as soon as I can. I haven't gotten any messages from her so maybe she got caught up at work or something. Who knows?

I pick myself off the ground and run back to my motorcycle, sitting in the same place as where I left it, and hop on. I fish the key out of my pocket and put it into the ignition, twisting the handlebars a little bit to help the bike start up. Finally, I kick up the stand before putting my backpack back on and twisting the handlebars, sending the bike flying forward and down the road back to my house.

It's a short ride from where I am back to my house, so I take the cynic route, to swallow up some time. But when you forget to slow down because you're driving twenty over the speed limit, the cynic route turns out to be five minutes and you get home even quicker than if you took the regular way.

My mom's car is parked in the driveway, and I hop off my motorcycle and set it in my usual spot, against the garage, before heading inside, shutting the door behind me. I wonder why she hasn't called me yet? She usually does when I'm not home right after school.

I walk a few feet into my house, seeing the usual brown paint and picture on the walls. They're your usual pictures of flowers, sunsets, and puppies, but one photo stands out to me every time.

It's a photo of my mom and me from when I was probably around three. I don't know where or who took it but my mom's sitting on a bench in a park, I still to this day haven't found the park, with me on her lap. It's a close up picture so all you can see is her face, her long black hair hanging in one of her eyes, leaning down to look at me. Her arms are tight around me, my small hands wrapped around her wrists. Her face has a glow in it that I haven't seen in a while and is free of wrinkles and worry. She looks young, but I know that she was young when she had me.

"Embry?" A quiet voice comes from the kitchen, snapping my focus away from the photo, "Embry, honey, is that you?"

"Mom," I say walking further into the house so that I'm in the kitchen and throw my backpack on the kitchen table, "I'm home."

"Oh, Embry," she says standing up from where she was sitting at the kitchen island, the worry lines on her delicate face more pronounced, "Where were you?"

"I-I got caught up with some work at school and had to stay after," I swallow down every lie I continue to say, "I'm sorry."

"You went out yesterday night," she says taking another step toward me, changing the subject, "Where did you go?"

"Mom," I swallow down the lump in my throat, "You know I have troubles sleeping. I just went out for a walk is all."

She doesn't say anything. She just continues to look at me with sad eyes, and inside I know her heart is breaking. Finally she says the same line she's said for the past year and a half, "You can tell me anything you know that, right?"

"Of course," I respond with the same response I've been giving her since I first had to leave in the middle of the night for a late shift and when I returned she demanded answers I couldn't honestly give her. It's become the only phrase I've regretted more than anything I've ever said, "I know that I can tell you anything. I-I just have trouble sleeping. My brain just gets jumbled and everything. It's hard for me to concentrate on relaxing my thoughts and just sleeping. You know that."

"Have you been taking your medicine?" She asks coming forward more so that she's standing in front of me, looking up into my eyes. She really is a short woman.

I feel bile rise in my throat just hearing about the medicine. After my mom took me to the Doctor and they found nothing wrong we went back home and continued our lives as usual. Of course though, I still continued to leave and use the same response over and over again saying that I couldn't sleep.

She took me to the Doctor again where they told me nothing was wrong for a second time and my mom didn't believe them so she took me to the drug store and got me four different bottles of sleeping pills; Sleep Renewal, Melatrol, Oxy Sleep, and Alteril.

I started off taking just two pills but as it got worse, and I continued to not sleep my mom then bumped up the number of pills I took to four. Technically, they're not prescription so she can legally give them to me but you can still overdose on them, which scares me. It's not that I don't trust my mom, which I do with certain things; it's just that I think she's getting desperate with trying to cure my problems that she doesn't think about what she's doing. That's something we've always had in common.

I nod and swallow down another lump in my throat because truth is I haven't been taking the sleeping pills. I took it at first because my mom had given me it and watched me as I took it, but once she trusted me to take it by myself that's when I stopped taking it all together.

I took the pills out of the container so she thought I was taking them but immediately put them in a drawer in my room. It's not that I needed them; obviously, I just really didn't need to be sleeping on my night shift.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" She says again, tears forming in her brown eyes that are so familiar to my own.

I nod again, unable to speak because of the lump in my throat, "Mom," I'm finally able to squeak out, "You have to worry about. I'm fine, really."

She nods and tears begin to flow down her cheeks and off her face. My heart aches and twists into a small ball in seeing my mom cry. It's like this every time though. The constant pain and guilt I feel at seeing the affect I have lying to her. I know it's hard for her in the first place, and I only make it harder.

"Please, don't cry," I beg reaching for her hand, but she moves a few steps back and sits down where she was before, resting her elbows on the countertop and puts her face in her hands.

"How am I not supposed to cry, Embry?" She says taking her face out of her hands and turning toward me, "You worry me so much. I fear that every time you're away from my sight that you're getting involved in drugs or alcohol. You've changed a lot, Embry. You're not my little boy anymore. You think I don't see that, but I do. I see the handsome man you're turning into and it scares me. It scares me so much. You think I don't think that your friends have had some influence on your choices, but I do think that. I'm always thinking about that. I know that deep down inside they're good boys and all because you've known them for so long and they've been so kind to us considering-" She pauses, but I know what she's going to say even though she won't say it. They've been so kind to us considering we're not full Quileute. But of course she won't say it. She hasn't in a while.

Instead she just skips it, as if pretending that she even brought it up would take away the fact that she did, "Every time you go out, even if it's just to go to school, I'm afraid you won't come back," she puts her face back in her hands, and I hear her mumble so that I won't hear her, "I'm afraid you'll leave just like your father did."

But of course I hear her, and I cringe at that last part. There it is. The thing that's bothered both me and her for the longest time. She's never said his name, and I don't expect her to ever. As badly as the Elders and the pack want me to ask her I can't bring myself to do it. It's been a burden on her shoulders for sixteen years, and I don't want to deepen that burden.

Instead, I walk up to her and kneel in front of her, taking her hands away from her face and in mine. Her hands are cold, colder than usual, so I put one against my cheek and kiss her palm, "I'll never leave you," I say with fierce determination, "I'll never abandon you. I'm just a teenager, that's all."

She gives a wet laugh and leans down to kiss the top of my head. Taking her hand away from my cheek to lift my head by my chin she says trying to lighten the mood, "You're a sweet boy, Em. It's going to be hard one of these days to let a girl come into your life and take you away from me."

I laugh and think immediately without any hesitation, Maxine. I think about how much of a jerk I was to her and what she must think of me and say lowering my head, "Don't worry, that won't happen anytime soon."

She lifts my head again with the tips of her fingers and says with a look of concern all over her face, "You sure you're alright, Embry?"

I take her hand off my face and once again kiss her palm before standing up from my kneeling position, "Just fine," I say, trying to force some confidence in my voice, "I think I'm going to go into my room and get ready for bed."

"You sure? You're not hungry or anything?" She asks standing up from where she was sitting.

I shake my head and shrug, "I ate a snack at school. Really, right now all I need is a good night's rest."

"Alright, if you need anything my room is always across the hall. Nayeli, Embry. Goodnight," she says in the language she easily learned after coming here, and I soon learned from the Elders after hours in a tribal school after regular school until the seventh grade.

I lean down to kiss her cheek and say, letting the words flow from my mouth. I love you, "Nayeli, Mom. Goodnight," grabbing my backpack off the kitchen table before walking down the hallway and into my room, closing the door behind me.

After what just happened a part of me wants to stay home, be the good kid my mom wants me to be for once and lie down in my bed and sleep so that when she comes in later she'll see a son she's proud of. But a part of me knows that I can't stay here when my brothers are out risking their lives. It wouldn't be fair.

I know it's only nine o'clock, but I decide to head to my night shift early tonight. I think I owed them that from last night. Changing out of my school clothes and into a pair of cut off shorts and a muscle shirt, I take the screen off my bedroom window and open the window before hopping out and hitting the grass below. I close the window before running through my backyard and into the woods, stripping out of my clothes I just put on and tying them around my ankle before transforming into my wolf form.

I'm happy to find out that it's just me alone with my thoughts for once but as usual I run as fast as I can throughout the woods to our usual meeting place. No one's there so I just sit with my thoughts until I hear the voice of either Sam or Leah bitching or nagging about something, snapping me out of the only thing peaceful still left in my life.

At first it hurt like crazy to transform. To feel your bones bend in ways they're not supposed to was just an unbearable pain that chilled the deepest parts of me every time I even thought about it. But as I got used to it, it's gotten easier and no longer hurts. You grow a higher pain tolerance and you learn to deal with the cards you're dealt.

I was ashamed of what I was for a long time after I first transformed. Of what we were. I was ashamed to be connected to a family of monsters and liars, but they accepted me and my mom into their lives and they treated us as if we were Quileute. Without them we would be lost, so I guess I owe them my thanks, and I am no longer ashamed. They are my brothers after all. They are my family.

I sometimes feel like that even though I'm technically part Quileute I still don't belong in the Quileute tribe. I am technically still part Makah and some days I feel like getting on my motorcycle and driving south and seeing if I would fit in more there then here.

I know though that I can't do that. If my mom were to find out she would be heartbroken. She would think I was abandoning her and she would think she failed as a parent. The Elders or the pack wouldn't like it either. My loyalties are to the Quileute tribe, and I made an oath the day I got my tattoo that that's where they will forever stay. Just like the tattoo that can never be removed, our loyalties to our tribe are permanent.

Why is this so hard for me? Why am I stuck with this life of constantly lying to the women who loves me more than anything? Why am I stuck with this life of being a monster? As a kid you're warned, constantly warned, of monsters and how they're horrific creatures that kill and scare everyone. Never thought that someday I'd be one.

Surprisingly though, it took me a lesser amount of time to get used to the fact that this is what we are compared to the other guys. Since Sam was the first it took him an incredible amount of time to get used to the fact until Paul changed and he had to man up for both their sakes.

Paul's always been the brutal one of the group. As kids he used to take us out into the woods one by one and tell us to close our eyes so he could take us to this special spot that we couldn't see or our eyes would be gauged out. Then when we got far enough out he would run away leaving us all alone in the middle of nowhere.

I guess I should have seen it coming. It may sound ridiculous but as kids you believed anything. So as little kids do, we cried and cried until he came back with one of our parents, a smirk of laughter hidden behind his face, saying we wandered off into the woods without permission. I remember getting grounded five times because of Paul's little prank.

To us it was like he was made to be a werewolf, but to him it apparently took him some time to get used to it. Apparently Paul was shocked when he phased for the first time because really Jacob or I should have been the next to phase, according to the Elders.

Until his best friend Jared came along, of course. Jared was the third to phase and by what some of the guys have 'told' us he didn't take it like a man would or should.

In a nutshell, he cried. Some (Paul) have said buckets; others (Jared) have said a few tears of shock, stress, and confusion.

Then it was me, then Jacob, then Quil, then Leah, then Seth, then Collin and Brady. It was…well it was awkward when Leah first changed, to say the least. Leah, being the only female in the pack, liked to…assert herself when it came to dealing with us guys.

She, like Paul, had a 'little' problem with her temper. And I guess how can you blame her really? It took her a while before she could actually control her anger and not burst out into her wolf form whenever she got pissed at one of us.

Trust me, it wasn't a pretty sight when she had to change back and didn't have any clothes with her. Not that she isn't pretty or anything, but Leah's practically our sister and that'd just be awkward.

One of us, not saying any names (Paul), got caught by her thinking of it and she almost ripped his head off his body. It was pretty funny actually.

When Jacob first changed, it wasn't anything any of us were surprised about, like with when Leah changed. The only one not expecting it was him. Jacob didn't take it nicely. He often burst out of control out of pure frustration, like the rest of us, but I guess he had a good reason.

No one told Quil or him what was coming. As much as I wanted to warm him about it, wanted to tell him what was happening with me when Quil and him asked why I wasn't talking to them, I knew I couldn't. I was asked, no commanded, by Sam not to tell him what was going on and let 'nature' take its course. I was asked not to risk getting mad and accidently burst out of control and hurt one of them. I knew they were worried about me but there was nothing I could do about it.

Quil didn't want to be next. He must have heard from somewhere that we were getting involved in drugs, probably from the locals, and he was scared. He saw us all go through hell, one by one like dominos, until only he was left and we were all staring at him dead in the eye waiting for him to join us, waiting for him to transform for the first time. And in his defense he was scared, and I would have been to if I heard the same rumors he was hearing and knew I was the next to be sucked in.

Having Seth join the pack was probably one of the best things that could have happened to us. Even though he annoys the hell out of Sam and Paul, he brings a young energy to the group that makes night shifts and the whole experience more enjoyable.

Jacob, Quil, and I took Seth under our wings immediately after he changed and since he barely will do anything without our consent or permission. It's nice having a wingman at times, but sometimes it gets annoying. He constantly asks questions and won't shut up about the most random stuff but he's so proud to be part of the pack that you sort of forget that stuff once you see the huge smile on his face whenever we have night shifts or come together as a group.

When Collin and Brady changed it was weird having two more people join the pack. We thought it was just going to be the eight of us forever, but when two more boys, not men, barely even fourteen, joined the pack. It was just plain old weird. It was hard enough for us to go through it as fifteen, sixteen year olds; I could only imagine what it felt like to go through that at such a young age. Still in eighth grade they were. And their more vulnerable to let their minds wander so sometimes we get a glimpse of what was going through their heads and what it felt like for them and it just makes me sick to my stomach every time.

Especially since Collin's situation is so much like mine. Neither his mom nor his dad know anything about any of this so he can't tell them and is always sneaking out in the middle of the night only to be yelled at and grounded when he returns early in the morning.

I remember a week after he first changed he followed me home once our late shift was over, the sun was just coming up, and asked for my advice on excuses to tell his parents when they wondered where he went at night. I could tell he was really struggling, so I told him what the guys have been trying to get me to do since day one: tell your parents. Then I told him not to give excuses to where he was going but to reassure his parents whenever they asked that he was fine and that he loved them very much. I know I'm a hypocrite, but I don't want Collin to have to go through what I have to go through. I'm older, more mature, it's different for me.

It's like the feeling I get whenever I see or hear Maxine's name. My stomach drops and my heart feels like it's going to explode out of my chest, like it's doing right now. I know if someone were to check my pulse at this very moment they might think I was having a heart attack or heart palpitations because it was beating so fast, but really it's just because I'm thinking about her. I don't know what's different about her that's so different from any of the other girls here, but I know whatever it is I can't get enough of. Maybe it's her smile, or her smell, or the way how she's so insecure about absolutely everything but has absolutely no reason to be. She's beautiful. She has nothing to be insecure about.

I thought to myself who would have put such negative thoughts in her head and at that moment I wanted to murder the person who did. Was it a former friend? Or a random person at her old school? Or a past boyfriend?

The thought of her being with another guy made an impetuous jealous rage go through me. The thought that she was once with someone else even if all they did was hang out and hug made me upset in the weirdest way. Thoughts of her and some boy hanging out, dancing, smiling together, and kissing went through my head and a burning fire went through my body.

I was able to shake that thought away for a second and thoughts of her and I came into my brain. Thoughts of us smiling together while we lay on the floor of the meadow I've never told anyone about. One day I'm going to tell her about it though. I trusted Maxine, even though I really didn't know her, I would trust her with that secret because I know that she would enjoy it almost as much as I do.

Thoughts of us together on my motorcycle, her arms wrapped tightly around me as if to never let me go, her cheek resting against my back, as we ride to God knows where to do God knows what.

Thoughts of us kissing swarm my brain the most though and make a blush come to my cheeks. Us kissing in the most beautifully random places like First Beach and of course, my meadow. My hands cupping either side of her face, my long fingers twinning in her long blondish brownish hair, her arms wrapped tight around my neck, her small delicate fingers twinned in my hair as I lean down and she leans up so that our lips touch.

Her lips are like the silky pedals on a rose against mine. She hesitates as first; I can see it in her blue eyes that have yet to close, but a few seconds later she closes them, as do I, and presses her lips harder against mine. She presses her body closer to mine so that are chests are touching, and I move my hands from her cheeks to around her waist, lifting her up so that her feet no longer touch the floor and so that she can rest her elbows on my shoulders. The kiss deepens, and I lift her up more so that she can wrap her legs around my waist.

"Ew, Embry!" Paul yells in disgust, snapping me out of my thoughts, "Keep those thoughts to yourself."

I snarl, annoyed at Paul for interrupting my thoughts once again. I must not have noticed Paul transform, "Then stay out of my head."

"It's really hard, Em," he mocks me, and I roll my eyes, "when you're thinking so graphically about your imprintee."

"She's not my imprintee!" I snarl and a second after saying it I know he won't believe it for a second.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Embry," the voice of a leader snaps me into attention, Sam. I must not have noticed him transform either, "Finally, you've imprinted, congrats."

"Yeah, she's cute," Brady says and pictures of Maxine swarm his brain and into mine. Pictures of her that should only be seen by me.

"Lay off!" I yell out of nowhere, surprising not only the guys but myself.

Paul and Sam laugh, and I can feel my face turn hot. In that moment I'm glad that they can't actually see my face because they would probably make fun of me more if they could see how red it probably is.

I almost don't notice a small voice over the laughter of Paul and Sam, Seth. Who else have I not noticed transform in those few minutes I was lost in my thoughts? "I'm happy for you, man. Maxine's a really great girl."

His voice sounds sad. Like it did for a while after his dad passed away. The unselfish part of me wanted to ask what was wrong but the selfish part overtook my body and most importantly my voice, "Does she like me?" I ask before I can stop the words from coming out of my mouth.

Seth freezes in his place. His mind goes blank. It's never happened before with him. Seth's always been the one where we can't get him to shut up. Now it's like he just disappeared. I can't even hear Sam's voice or Paul's or Jacob's or anyone's voice.

Finally a small voice comes into my head just when I'm about to ask him again, "I don't know. She didn't say anything when we hung out at First Beach. All I know is that she's pissed at you but you already know that."

I do, I thought not wanting anyone to hear me, but of course they do. For a minute they turn off their connection to us and now it's only Seth and I. Seth sighs, and I feel his mind turn off again. Why is he turning me off? What's up with him today?

"Seth," I begin to ask and all of a sudden like a rush of cold air hitting me in the face I can sense him, "Is everything-"

But he cuts me off before I can finish my question, "I'm fine, Embry."

"I didn't mean to offend you or make you mad, I was only asking," I say urgently. Seth's never been mad at me before. Usually I was mad at him, never has he ever been mad at me.

"You didn't say anything to make me mad," he mumbles under his breathe. That's the thing about Seth; you always know when he's mad at you.

I sigh wanting to know what was up with him, "Seth, I know you're pissed at me. Tell me what I did? Did something happen between you and Maxine?" But of course I wanted to know what he and Maxine did together at First Beach so of course I attempt to trick him into telling me. Stupid teenage hormones.

"Nothing happened between me and Maxine," he says and I let out a breath of relief. He continues talking though, he voice turning angry and annoyed, "Why does it even matter to you? Why do you care about what I do? Stay out of my business."

How dare he think that this isn't my business? Seth now knows she's my imprintee. He knows that whatever she does even if it's eating or drinking water I need to know. And because she was out with someone else, Seth even, hell yes I need to know. I didn't want to be jealous of the fact that Maxine was out with Seth, practically my brother, but I couldn't stop the jealousy from coming out of me, "It matters to me because she's my imprintee," I hiss, "You know the rules, don't act like you don't. And I've always cared about what you did. You're practically my brother, Seth. If something where to happen to you I would be devastated."

"It's not like I killed her," I barely hear him, "And you'd get over if something were to happen to me. What if something were to happen to Maxine? Now that would kill you."

I don't say anything at first because, yes, it would kill me. None of us have been through what it's like losing our imprintee but when Sam accidently hurt Emily he told us what it felt like and we all imagined that's what the feelings almost like.

Sam's relationship with Emily has always been rocky though. Sam used to date Leah and since Leah and Emily are close, as close as sisters, she came to visit for the week and one day the two were hanging out and Emily walked into the room and like that he imprinted on Emily the minute he saw her.

He ended up breaking up with Leah, breaking her heart in the process, and constantly made it his goal to get Emily to be with him. Emily felt guilty though for breaking up such their relationship that she constantly denied him and one day when Sam visited her and again tried to ask her out she ordered him to go back to Leah, but he refused.

Emily, out of pure frustration and annoyance, called him a liar and said that he was just like Joshua Uley, Sam's dad. Just the thought of Sam's dad, a contender for being my own dad, makes Sam angry, so Sam outraged, lost control of himself, phased into a wolf and scarred her badly enough that 'mauled by a bear' was the only plausible cover story for when he told people what happened.

Now she's left with three deep scars that run along the right side of her face, from her hairline to her chin and extend down her right arm to her hand, pulling down the corner of her eye and her mouth, distorting her once flawless features.

The only good thing that came out of that is when she woke up in the hospital she found that she couldn't live without Sam and she accepted him for what he is and the two started dating soon after.

Now they're engaged. He explained to us that it felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside out. His whole world was spinning at a thousand miles per hour and he felt the string that tied him there in the first place become physically thinner and thinner. When it turned out that she was going to be fine but just left with a scar Sam made a promise that he would never hurt her again or let anyone hurt her.

To this day, he still blames himself for what happened and hates it when people stare at her scars for he can't stand being reminded of what he did to her.

I can only imagine how I would feel if I did something similar to Maxine. The thought sends a pain to my gut, and I wince.

I sense Seth roll his eye, and I say quickly, "You don't understand, Seth. You haven't imprinted yet. Once you imprint you'll understand that right now she's all and everything I think and care about. I can't help it, you know that."

He makes his eye roll more dramatic, "So I was right then?"

"No!" I yell. Gosh, why is Seth being so stubborn right now? "Seth, you know if something were to happen to you I don't know what I'd do. You're practically my brother. It's just that right now, I don't know. Give me some time and I'll be able to control my feelings. You know that."

I hear him sniffle, and I know he's crying no matter how hard he tries to hide it, "But what if I never imprint? Have you ever thought about that? Imprinting's a rare thing and a few of us are not going to imprint. What if one of them is me? I thought it was going to be me, Leah, Collin, Brady, and you who weren't going to imprint. Who weren't going to fall under the spell, but of course you had to imprint. You were the only one I could go to when I wanted to joke about this whole imprinting thing because you hated it as much as I do. Now, I feel as though you got sucked into another pack and left me behind. You're going to be too busy with Maxine to even want to hang out and joke with me anymore. And I was friends with Maxine first! She may hate your guts right now but she will fall for you sooner or later and she will forget our friendship that has just formed. Gosh!" I hear him yell before his cries disappear completely.

"Seth!" I yell, worried that something happened to him.

"He left," Sam's voice comes into my mind out of nowhere.

"Well, where did he go?" I demand, my voice trembling.

"Heck that I know. All I know is that I can't connect with him and he isn't that good at turning off his thoughts to be this silent. He must have transformed back into a human."

"I have to go after him. What if he gets in trouble or gets himself hurt?" I say about ready to transform back into a human but Sam stops me.

"No, you will not go after him," he voice orders, and I can't disobey an order from the Alpha.

"But-" I try to protest but Sam interrupts me.

"Right now all we can do is leave him alone. All he needs is to blow off some steam. Seth may be a kid but he isn't stupid enough to get himself into any major harm."

As much as I want to go after Seth and apologize, Sam's right. If I go after him all he'll do is get madder at me. I need to leave him alone for now.

"Why didn't you tell us you didn't want to imprint?" Sam asks after a few awkward moments of silence.

"Because most of you guys have imprinted and it didn't sound appropriate for me to express my hatred for something that we're supposed to do. Also, I was getting used to the fact that I wasn't going to imprint, and I didn't want to keep bringing up my apparent misfortune and continue to sound whiney. I just didn't think you cared, as well."

"Embry, you know you can tell us anything, right?"

I twitch a little bit and groan under my breath, "You sound just like my mom."

"Looks like we're down one on patrol," Paul snickers before Sam can respond to my comment, "Shame. This pack won't be the same tonight without Seth here to annoy the hell out of all of us."

"Paul-" Sam shakes his head but I interrupt.

"Shut up, Paul!" I yell, shocking not just Paul but Sam too, "At least Seth doesn't bitch about his constant worrying about his imprint and how she might leave to go back to college without him because he can't control his own anger!"

I hear Brady and Collin give a chuckle and Paul snaps his head in their direction to give them both the death stare before looking back at me. He gives me a toothy smirk before he walks over to me and starts to circle me, clicking his tongue before he starts to speak through his teeth so that he's hissing at me, "At least I admit to myself and to others that I'm capable of loving," I'm about to growl something at him but he continues talking, his voice rising in anger and I can tell he's trying his hardest to control himself the best he can, "At least I had the balls to tell my family what was going on with me, what is going on with me right now and what will be going on with me forever."

"Shut up, Paul," I whisper, my eyes refusing to meet his, trying to control the beast from ripping out Paul's throat but he doesn't understand and continues talking anyways.

"Don't you get it, Embry?" He spits out before he stops circling me so that he's standing right in front of my face, "This is who we are. This is what we do. Fight vampires. Protect our families and our land. Carry on the thing that's been passed down to us through generations and generations. It may not be the life you wanted but you're stuck with it so you better get damn well used to it and you better get damn well used to it fast."

"You don't think I know that?" I growl, my eyes still refusing to meet his.

"'I know you like to pretend you don't. I know you sometimes purposely come to night shifts later then the rest of us so that when you arrive and there's no one here it's like this whole thing is a dream."

My head snaps up and my eyes meet Paul's, "How did you know that?" I whisper out of complete disbelief. I've never told anyone that, not even Edward, who has read my mind millions of times, knew.

"Why didn't you tell us that, Embry?" Jacob asks and I turn my head to meet his sad worried eyes.

"Because I can read his thoughts, we all can, stupid. I'm surprised you haven't heard him after all this time. The one time he let his shield down for a minute thinking no one was there to listen, I was there, and I caught everything he was thinking at the time, including what I said before. You may think you're alone at times, Em, but you're never alone. Get that in your head before it's too late."

It was like time had stopped. He, they, knew everything I had tried so hard to keep a secret for so long. I wondered at that moment if they knew about my meadow without thinking knowing that they could hear every single one of my deepest darkest thoughts.

"I know about that too," Paul says the minute I think it and I feel my heart drop in my chest. The only thing I've tried to keep a secret more than anything else, he, now the whole pack, knew.

"What else do you know?" I ask after what seems like a century and a half.

"Everything," he says plainly, but that simple word makes my heart drop out of my body and to the ground. I look around at the others and they all sadly shake their heads in agreement, "Except I don't know a lot about this girl you've imprinted on. Except her name, of course. Maxine, is it?"

I must have twitched when he said her name because Paul smirks and shakes his head and rolls his eyes, "Now you're really stuck forever," he mumbles under his breath.

I growl and he laughs before walking closer to me so that his snout is only a few inches away from mine, "You must really have imprinted hard if you're having such graphic images of her all the time."

I feel a hot blush come to my cheeks and Paul gives a short laugh before flooding my brain and the packs with images of Maxine. Her smiling face, the face that's haunted my every thought since the day I've imprinted on her. Her long blondish brown hair that sometimes gets in her beautiful blue eyes that when every time I see it I want to push it away and tuck it behind her ear and watch her as she smiles in thanks. The slight blush that comes to her cheeks whenever she gets nervous or embarrassed and how it makes me blush even harder when I notice it. Her voice, sweet and smooth as honey even when she's angry or upset with me.

"Stop it!" I yell, the beast inside creeping out little by little. No one should see these thoughts. He's showing the pack my most treasured thoughts and he shouldn't be.

But he doesn't stop it. He just continues and then he floods our brain with the more graphic thoughts I've been having about her and I. Us kissing, her lips soft against mine, my hands cupping either side of her face, one of her small hands cupping the back of my neck, the other twinned in my hair.

No. These are private. These are personal, "Stop it, now!" I yell fiercer this time, the beast almost completely out, the beast I've been able to keep inside for so long despite my protests. But Paul just laughs and keeps flooding our brains.

And the thought of us kissing swarms out brains and I freeze in my spot. It's the thought I've had so many times since I've imprinted. What it would feel like to hold her and kiss her lips. I only knew where these thoughts were going and they can't see that.

"Please, stop it!" I yell angrier this time, my whole body trembling from trying to keep the beast inside me. I can't lose control right now. I promised myself I wouldn't lose control.

But of course he doesn't stop and the thought continues. We start kissing each other with more passion and I lift her up so she can rest her forearms on my shoulders and wrap her legs around my waist. One of my hands find their way to the back of her head to twine my fingers in her hair and the other to the small of her back. I raise the hem of her shirt a little bit so that I can place my bare hand on her bare skin and she shudders at my touch pulling back for a minute to cup my cheek with her hand that was once twinned in my hair. I kiss her palm and she gently pushes the hair that's fallen in my eyes from my face and leans down to kiss my forehead, then both my cheeks, then my nose, then my jawline, then my neck, before returning her lips back to mine as if they're the center of everything.

My bodies trembling so hard every part of me is shaking. I only know where this is going and no one except me will see my Maxine that way. I can't keep the beast in any longer and without a second thought I lung at Paul, tackling him to the ground, stopping the thoughts immediately.

Except I don't stop myself even when the thoughts end. I start biting and clawing at Paul, attacking him with every fiber of my being, making him pay for what he did. But he fights back and starts biting and clawing at me, pushing me up from on top of him and tackling me to the ground. I can feel blood in my fur and I have no idea if its mine or Paul's.

Suddenly, I'm ripped away from Paul by Sam and Paul is ripped away from me by Jared. Despite that we still try to get back at each other, fighting against the ones trying to hold us back.

"Knock it off, both of you!" Sam yells and Paul and I both stop from trying to rip each other's throats out. The Alpha has spoken, "You're both acting like children right now and need to knock it off!" He turns to Paul and growls, "That wasn't fair to Embry what you did. I thought you were trying to prove to Rachel that you could control your anger? You're not helping yourself by doing this," I chuckle and Sam turns his head to growl at me, "And you. You shouldn't have said those things about Paul. And you shouldn't have attacked him. Damn it, Embry. I thought you were always the one that was able to control their anger better than the rest of us?" I'm about to say something back but he gives me a look and I automatically be quiet, "I want both of you out of my sight and mind in five minutes and if I hear another thought from one of you to the other I swear to God I'll rip both your tails off. Got it?" We both stubbornly nod, "Good. Now go."

Jared is the first to release Paul who sprints out of the woods and out of our sights. We can still sense his presence by the multiple swear words he expresses on his way out but we can't see him. That's good enough for Sam who releases me soon after with a look of apology and guilt only I could see because it's gone before I can even blink.

Without another glance at any member of the pack I sprint fast out of the woods and out of all their sights before heading back to the woods near my backyard. Paul must have transformed back into a human because I don't hear another word from him on my way back to my house. I notice that all the lights in the house are tuned off meaning my mom must have gone to bed. Hopefully she hasn't checked my room yet or I may be in more trouble then I already am.

Swallowing down a lump in my throat, I transform back into my human form and slip on my clothes that are still tied to my ankle and slide on my boots that are still sitting by the tree completely untouched.

I stretch my muscles a little bit before running back through my backyard and to my window, opening it and hoping through, my feet landing on the wooden floor, my eyes adjusting to the dark. I gently close the window behind me not wanting to disturb my mother before walking over to the light switch by my bedroom door and turning it on, the light illuminating the small room. I kick off my boots before overlooking the room. The room looks completely untouched except from the clothes I changed out of earlier, still lying on the floor. I quickly strip off my muscle shirt and cut off shorts and grab a pair of sweats and slip them on.

I wonder if my mom was still up so I gently open up my bedroom door and slide out, closing it behind me. As quietly as I can I head first down the hallway to the kitchen and living room where I find nothing, then I tiptoe to her room and as quietly as I can I open the door and make my way inside, closing it behind me.

The lights are off and only from the glow of the night can I see her sleeping peacefully in her bed. I smile to myself before walking over to her and leaning down to kiss her forehead before making my way out of her room and closing the door behind me as quietly as I can. I head back across the hall to my room and open the door and let myself in, closing the door behind me.

The lights still on so I walk over to my mirror and just stand in front of it.

I give a chuckle when I notice all the little notes and ripped pieces of paper sticking out of the places where the mirror meets the frame. Little notes reminding me of past homework assignments and stuff to remember to pick up from places like the grocery and general store. Little notes with various quotes and sayings that I've acquired from books and the Internet over the past few years. And in the bottom corner of the mirror, one of the edges bended back (somehow no matter how many times I bend the edge back to normal it always bends back), is a picture of my mom and me from my fifth birthday party.

I don't remember much from that birthday except that one of my mom's friends took the picture, and I found it in an old picture album a few months ago. It somehow made its way to my mirror and hasn't left since.

While looking at the photo I see myself, but not the person I want to be or expected to be when I was a kid, in the mirror and look away from the photos to stare at myself, something I haven't done in a while. I still have the same physical features as I did when I was a kid but they're more pronounced now that I'm older.

I see a boy who was forced to become a man early staring back at me with the same brown eyes I've had my whole life. My face is still the same shape and everything but my hair has grown longer so that it occasionally gets in my eyes when I forget to sweep it back.

My shoulders have become broader and my chest harder, my abdominals more pronounced. My arms, my biceps, my forearms, once mushy and soft, have hardened into stone. I look at my left arm and then to my right arm and my eyes stop on the tattoo that was put on my skin by the Elders a few days after I transformed for the first time. It was done by the Chief, as it has always been, in his own home surrounded by all the other Elders, Jared, Paul, and Sam.

I remember walking over to their house with Sam, Paul, and Jared at my sides. It was the middle of the day so my mother wouldn't know, during the week where I had first transformed, and when my mother had pulled me out of school because of my accused mono. I was nervous as anyone would be mostly because Sam hadn't told me what we were doing at the Elders house after he dragged me out of my own in the middle of the day. All I was told was that it was a rite of passage and when I asked what that meant Paul told me to shut up.

The first thing I noticed after walking inside the house was the smell. The smell filled my nose and made me cough. It smelled like burning incents and that's exactly what it was. Around the room I could see the smoke from various different smelling incents making the air slightly foggy.

The second thing I noticed was all the Elders standing with their hands behind their backs in the living room. Two chairs sat right in front of them and next to the chair on the right was a table with a box on top of it. I only knew who they all were from when I was a child and had to learn Quileute from them.

Sam pushed me forward so that I was standing right in front of them, and I felt my heart begin to speed up in my chest, "What's going on?" I asked nervously looking around the room for an answer.

One of the Elders stepped forward, an Elder who I recognized more than anything, Jacob's dad. Jacob's dad had been an Elder on the council secretly without Jacob knowing until Jacob transformed and he could finally tell him, "You're here today for the last piece of your transformation to be complete, the marking ceremony," he said in his stern voice I've heard more than a few times.

"Marking ceremony?" I asked, a look of confusion all over my face, "What is going on?"

"You've obviously realized by now that the legends we used to tell you boys when you were young weren't just legends. You've been given this gift, this gift of being able to transform into a wolf passed down through generations to protect our lands from the Cold Ones. Vampires."

"Filthy bloodsuckers," Paul mumbled behind me.

"Now it's your time to use your gift just like your brothers have already to protect your mother, your brothers, and your land from the things trying to destroy it. We and everyone though must know your loyalties. What pack you stand for now and forever. We must know that you would never use this gift you have for evil instead of good. Sit."

I nervously sat in the chair in the middle of the room and the Chief stepped forward and sat in the chair next to mine. I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders and looked up to see Sam holding both my shoulders against the chair so I couldn't move.

"What's going on?" I asked. My whole body was beginning to shake and I jumped a little bit when I felt a hand push up the sleeve on my t-shirt and he asked Sam in Quileute to hold it there. I looked to my right to see him reach into a box and pull out an old fashioned tattooing needle and black ink.

I began to struggle harder then but Sam's grip on my shoulders was to strong and I knew I wasn't going anywhere.

"It will be alright, Embry," Sam whispered in Quileute, "Just hold still. It will be over soon. It barely even hurts."

"With this marking I pronounce you not only a faithful protector of the Quileute lands and the people who live here but with this marking your loyalties are forever with the Ulley Pack and whatever pack you may join later on in your life."

And with that he dipped the needle in the black ink and set it on my upper arm and began to dig it into my skin, tattooing, marking me so others would know my membership within the pack.

It hurt like hell. I remember I screamed in pure pain the moment he made the first mark. It was an old fashioned needle, not like one a tattoo artist would use now, so of course it would hurt more. It was like a thousand tiny needles were digging into my flesh but I knew in that moment I had to be brave and strong, that's what the marking ceremony's all about, so I put on a tough face, looked away and let him finish what he started.

Once he was finished he said some words in Quileute that were for protection and strength and then he placed a necklace with a pendant attached over my head. I immediately looked down at the pendant and picked it up with my left hand, holding it between my thumb and forefinger. The pendant was made out of medal and felt cold against the hollow of my throat. I realized after looking at it for only a short moment that it was the same symbol I had just got tattooed onto my skin. I didn't understand why I needed both so I looked at the Chief and he gave me a smile and a light shoulder squeeze before standing up and saying to everyone in Quileute that the ceremony was officially done.

Before I could ask again Sam punched me light in the shoulder in congratulations, Jared squeezed my left shoulder, and even Paul gave me a somewhat consider full look. I felt like I belonged for once. I felt happy. No one ever told me why I needed both the pendant and the tattoo, but I guessed it was easier for people to see then for us to have to pull up the sleeve of our shirts every time we wanted to prove our loyalties. Either way I've never taken the necklace off since the Chief put it on me.

We left right after that, and I had to spend the next week icing and putting salve on my arm so I wouldn't ruin the tattoo or get an infection.

I remember after that I never wanted to get another tattoo again. It was hard hiding it from my mother at first. There were a lot of times where I would wear long sleeve shirts in ninety degree heat just so she wouldn't see the tattoo.

Same deal with Jacob and Quil. It was hard to just sit there and watch Jacob cringe and scream in agony, but I knew it was for the best. He put on a tough face like I did though, and was fine. After he was done Sam, Jared, and Paul gave the same gesture to him that they gave me, and I immediately didn't feel special anymore. It was something they did with everyone and I was a fool to think I was any different.

With Quil it was worse but same deal. Same screaming and crying in agony. Same tough face after he realized the whole point of the marking ceremony was meant to test your bravery and your strength.

My mother did find out about the tattoo though. One day when I was with the pack at First Beach she had driven by on her lunch hour and seen me out without my shirt on. The minute I came home she had demanded to see it, and I told her it was nothing but she grabbed onto my arm and pushed up my sleeve so that she could see it. She demanded knowing where and when I got it, and I easily made up a lie saying I had gone to a tattoo parlor in Seattle over the weekend with Sam, Paul, and Jared where they talked me into getting the tattoo. I also told her that I had forged her signature so that it was possible for me to actually get one legally.

She cried at first, and I knew that she was disappointed with me but as the days passed she grew to accept my decision and never questioned what the tattoo meant or why I got it in the first place. I think after seeing it a few times she realized the Quileute pattern and guessed I had gotten it out of pride and respect.

I give a lopsided smile at the photo and bend the edge back to normal before looking back into the mirror and my eyes once again meet the tattoo and the memory of getting it pierces my thoughts like a thousand knives going into my heart.

I shake my head in complete disgust and look down at the pendant. I take it between my thumb and forefinger, the same as I did when I first got it, and immediately let it go, watching it in the mirror as it drops back against the skin between both my collarbones. I'm both angry and upset but at the same time proud and honored at the whole situation.

I lean forward and set my right hand against the mirror watching as my reflection copies me. I look down and look up again at my reflection and angrily sigh before pushing off the mirror with my fingertips and turning away from the mirror so that I can no longer see myself staring back at me.

I head over to my bedroom light before heading over to my bed, lifting the covers, and hopping inside. I take my backpack from the ground and open it, taking out my homework I look over at my clock which reads two-thirty a.m. I really should get going to bed but I need to finish my homework.

I turn on my bedside lamp, set my pencil to the paper, and begin to fill out short answers for AP World History and write short paragraphs for Communication Arts when I feel my eyes begin to droop and in one solid movement my eyes close, the pencil that was in my hand falls out and onto the ground and the homework that's on my lap falls off my lap and onto my bed.

"Oh, Embry," I hear a quiet voice say my name and feel a small yet slightly cold hand against my warm cheek. Maxine.

I open my eyes slightly and see a woman wearing a white night gown sitting on the edge of my bed. My visions a little foggy from the sleep in my eyes so I can't make out her face. She sighs and leans down to kiss my forehead, her lips soft against my skin, before turning off my lamp, taking the books and papers off my lap and setting them on my bedside table. She tucks the duvet up to my shoulders before getting up from my bed and walking over to my bedroom door.

"Goodnight, Embry," she whispers sweetly before opening the door and walking out, closing it quietly behind her.

"Maxine," I whisper before my eyes close and sleep consumes me, if it hasn't already.

"Embry Call, you better wake up this instant unless you want to be late for school!"

My eyes fly open, and I rise in a jolt, bracing both my hands on either side of my bed, my whole body covered in sweat.

"It was just a dream," I pant over and over again, "It was just a dream."

Still breathing heavily, I look over at my clock which reads six-thirty a.m.

"Shit," I swear before removing the duvet from my body and placing my feet on the floor. I stop in my tracks though. I turn my head back over to my bedside table and see my books and papers sitting there. I feel a pounding in my head and reach up to press the heel of my hand against my forehead. It was just a dream. I must have put my stuff away and forgot about it.

Shaking my head, I hop out of bed and take a quick shower before changing into a pair of jeans and a light blue long sleeved shirt. I throw on my leather jacket, slip into my boots, grab my keys and wallet from my desk, and gather my books and papers into my backpack before walking out of my room and down the hall to the kitchen.

My mom is standing at the kitchen island sipping her coffee while reading a magazine. Once she hears my footsteps though she removes her eyes from the magazine and looks up at me, a smile illuminating her face, "Looks like you're finally up," she says reaching up into the cupboard to pull out a glass and sets it down before filling it up with orange juice.

"Yeah, sorry about that," I say walking over to the island, throwing my keys on the counter before taking the glass from her, "My alarm didn't seem to go off."

"That's because I turned it off," she says closing the magazine she's reading, looking up to meet my eyes.

"Excuse me?" I ask removing the now empty glass of orange juice from my lips.

"Embry, I woke up last night pretty late, around three a.m. when I saw a light on coming from your door. I was worried about you so I opened the door only to find you dead asleep with your bedside lamp still on and your homework lying all around yourself. Embry, I'm glad you were safe in your bed last night but you should have gotten your homework done earlier. You need your rest."

I don't answer right away because I'm too stunned to even speak. It was my mom that came into my room last night. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't Maxine, "I'm sorry, I had a lot of homework to finish."

"I'm just glad you were safe in your bed," she whispers giving me a small smile which I return, just the corners of her mouth rise, and I can tell this is the first time in a while that she feels even slightly relieved that I didn't sneak out in the middle of the night.

"I better get going," I say breaking the silence and walk over to the dish washer to put my glass away, "Thanks, mom," I say giving her a kiss on the cheek before grabbing my keys from the counter and making my way toward the front door.

"Wait," she stops me, "You sure you don't want any breakfast or anything? I can make you something real quick if you want?"

"It's alright mom, really. I'm not very hungry and if I do get hungry I can always grab something from the cafeteria."

"You sure?" She asks, a look of deep concern all over her face.

"Yes, mom," I say giving her the most convincing smile I can muster, "I'll be fine, really. Have a good day at work, alright?"

"Of course," she smiles, "Have a good day at school and be safe on that motorcycle, you know how I feel about that thing?"

I laugh, "I know. In your words, it's a death trap designed to impress women."

She laughs and smiles at me, "Get your butt to school. Nayelli, Embry. Be safe."

"Nayelli, mom. You too," I say and give her a smile before opening the door and walking out toward my motorcycle parked in the driveway, hearing the screen door shut behind me.

"Hey, baby," I say, hopping onto my bike, a smile on my face. I turn the key into the ignition and breathe in a sigh of relief when I hear the old bike's engine roar.

"It's going to be a good day," I say to myself before backing out into the road and driving off toward school.

It only takes me about ten minutes before I'm pulling into the same spot I've parked in every day since I've been able to drive to school. I park the bike, hop off, take out the keys, and walk out of the parking lot and into the school, heading in the direction of my locker.

I quickly gather my stuff, glad my locker friend and his girlfriend haven't showed up yet, before heading to the usual spot where Jacob, Seth, Quil, and I meet up before hell starts.

When I arrive I see Jacob and Quil standing talking to each other but Seth is nowhere in sight.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Hey, Em. Welcome to another day of higher education," Jacob greets me and smirks, "You look like hell. Still didn't get enough sleep even after Sam banned both Paul's ass and yours last night?"

Quil chuckles, and I roll my eyes, "Ha-ha, very funny. You would have kicked Paul's ass to if he showed such personal thoughts about Renessmee or Claire. They may be young kids but don't tell me you don't imagine them like that when they get older because I've seen you both think it."

Before either neither Jacob nor Quil can say anything Seth, a huge smile on his face, arrives hand in hand with Maxine. My face flushes, and I feel fire go through my body, my fists tightening at the sight of them together skin to skin. I see Jacob and Quil raise their one eyebrow out of the corner of my eye and Maxine shakes Seth's hand out of hers and I feel my fists unclench.

Seth gives her a look before turning his head to talk to Jacob and soon Quil joins in the conversation. But I can't take my eyes off Maxine.

She's wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a long sleeve white button up dress shirt with black buttons and a black collar. The sleeves are rolled up a little bit to her wrists and she has on a pair of white combat boots with black laces topped off with her black leather jacket. She looks so beautiful it turns my mouth dry and my palms begin to sweat. I shouldn't be staring at her like this. She obviously can see me staring at her, but I can't take my eyes off her no matter how hard I try.

She leans over and places her small hand on Seth's forearm before whispering something in his ear that I can't here. It makes me jealous and angry that she's telling him and not me but then I remember that she hates me and wants nothing to do with me.

Before I can say anything, she walks away and down the hall, and I watch her until she disappears around the corner and I can no longer see her.

Only the bell snaps me away from looking down the hallway and I tell the guys I'd see them later before heading to my first hour class.

I spend half of my day wondering what Maxine is doing, what class Maxine is in, what Maxine is thinking. Maxine. Maxine. Maxine. No matter what I do and no matter how hard I try I can't stop thinking about her and I feel excitement run through me every moment I look at the clock and realize that in a few more moments I'll see her again. I hate to admit it but the guys were right. I imprinted and I imprinted hard.

Finally the bell rings for 7th hour, and I run to AP World History as fast as I can without getting in trouble, excited to finally be able to see Maxine again. I arrive and take my seat and take out my stuff, waiting for Maxine to walk through the door. At the last second, right before the bell rings, Maxine walks through the door and her blue eyes immediately connect with my brown ones. I breathe a sigh of relief when she walks over to me and takes her seat next to mine; glad she's here next to me.

Mr. Horvitz says his usual hello before handing out worksheets to each table. He always does this. Instead of actually teaching it he hands out worksheets in hope that it will get his point out easier. I honestly think he's just lazy though.

Once Mr. Horvitz walks by and sets the worksheets on our tables Maxine grabs hers fast, before I can even reach for mine, and begins working on it. I grab mine and set it in front of me but don't start working on it. My eyes freeze on Maxine, and I can't take them off her. I can see her staring at me but she doesn't acknowledge it, instead she just continues working on the worksheet.

It's a long assignment and the whole entire time I haven't took my eyes off her. A minute before the bell she finishes and turns her head to whisper scream at me so Mr. Horvitz won't hear, "Take a picture it will last longer!"

The bell rings before I can say anything and she angrily gathers her stuff and walks out of the classroom and out of my sight. Not again, I sigh before gathering my stuff and running after her.

She's walking fast, faster than she did yesterday, but my legs are longer so therefore I'm able to catch up to her faster. Like I did yesterday, I grab her arm and she once again falls against my chest and both our cheeks go up in flames.

Immediately, she pushes off me rather harshly but it barely hurts, so I grab both her wrists and pull her into one of the side hallways people barely ever use. She struggles against my grasp, and I push her back against the wall bracing both her wrists on either side of her face.

She stops struggling for a moment, so I bend one of my knees a little bit so my face is level with hers. She may be tall for a girl but I'm still a lot taller then she is.

"Maxine, please listen to me," I beg, my eyes staring into hers, "I'm sorry that I've acted so rudely to you. It wasn't right for me to ignore you like that. I just get so nervous around you, around new people I mean, and I don't think about what's coming out of my mouth before I say it." Kind of like I'm doing right now except this time it's working in my favor.

She just stares at me, her eyes not leaving mine, before she finally speaks in that sweet voice I love hearing so much even though she sounds absolutely pissed, "That doesn't mean you can just grab me, pull me aside against my will, and force me against a wall?"

"I know," I say lowering my head in shame to look at the ground then lifting it back up, "this is totally uncalled for, but you wouldn't talk to me no matter what I did. How was I supposed to get you to listen to me?"

Her voice still sounds pissed but I'm glad that she's finally willing to talk to me, "What makes you think I want to talk to you? Maybe me ignoring you is a sign that I don't want to talk to you. A guy like you never wants to talk to a girl like me. Take a hint!"

What does she mean 'a guy like me'? "You really know how to hold a grudge don't you?" I say instead raising an eyebrow, but I have to ask, "And what do you mean 'a guy like me?'"

I see her blush a bright red color and she says in a sarcastic tone that I immediately fall in love with, changing the subject, "When I have to get to class in two minutes and I'm being held hostage, yeah I know how to hold a grudge."

I give her a lopsided grin before saying, "I hope you know that I'm not actually holding you that hard. You could have pushed me away minutes ago."

She's about to give me another witty remark, I just know it, but she stops herself and looks at my hands holding her wrists. Another blush comes to her cheeks and she says her eyes returning back to mine, "Shut up."

Inside I'm smiling but on the outside is a whole other story. I smirk and snicker before saying, "Look who's being rude now?"

Before she can respond, the bell rings indicating that passing time is over and class has begun, the sound ringing in my ears.

"Great, now I'm late for class, thanks a lot," she says once the bell stops, trying to push against my wrists to leave, but I won't let her.

"Is yourself all you think about?" I ask pushing my hands harder against her wrists so that she couldn't, wouldn't leave.

"What?" She asks, clearly offended by my question.

"Yourself?" I ask again, "Is that all you think about? You say 'a guy like me wouldn't talk to a girl like you.' Have you ever thought for a second that 'a guy like me' actually does want to talk to a girl like you?" I continue to say, the words flowing from my mouth before I can stop them, "Maybe a guy like me actually really likes a girl like you," she gasps a little bit, and I swallow the lumpy that has formed in my throat before saying, "Maybe you should give me a chance." When I finish I involuntarily bring my face even closer to hers.

She doesn't say anything for a moment and my heart begins to race. What if she doesn't feel the same way back? What if she rejects me? What if she thinks we're moving too fast and never wants to talk to me again?

Finally she says something and my heart slows down a little bit even if the blush on her cheeks has gotten redder and her voice cracks when she asks, "You like me?"

I grin, she didn't ask to leave. She didn't reject me. I may still have a chance, "Why else would I be holding you here against your will?"

She smiles and even laughs a little bit, the same smile and laugh that I've been fantasizing about ever since I imprinted on her. My face lights up at seeing her smile, and I can't help but smile myself. She looks so beautiful when she smiles. She has the prettiest smile I've ever seen in my whole life and will ever see for the rest of my days.

I don't know what I'm about to do, but before I can second guess myself I start to lean my face closer to hers so that are foreheads are touching and to my surprise and utter happiness she doesn't pull back. I hear her breath hitch in her throat and it turns into a quiet gasp. I know I'm at my limit but I push my luck and lean in even closer and again to my surprise she inches her face even closer to mine. I'm so happy and nervous I can't breathe, but I have to. I feel her breath, soft against my skin and it smells like mint and she smells like lilacs and roses.

Our lips are so close from touching that we both have closed are eyes. I don't know what's happening. How did she go from hating me to our lips almost touching? I don't know and I don't want to question it. Our lips are just about to touch when someone coughs behind us causing both our eyes to fly open and Maxine pushes against my chest and I immediately let her go, taking a step back.

It's a teacher, one of the upperclassman teachers, but still a teacher, standing a few feet away from us, her arms folded across her chest.

"Shouldn't you two be in class?" She asks eyeing both Maxine and I.

Before I can nod or say anything, Maxine nods slowly, obviously too embarrassed to say anything, and the teacher just shakes her head and motions for us to follow her.

We are taken down the hall and to the main office where she tells the principal, a charming young man, if charming meant being bald, having a pot belly, and finding joy in torturing children with detentions, about what had happened. He looks mad and disappointed in the both of us, or maybe that was just how he always looked always, before calling both our parents, telling them everything that happened, and that we needed to be picked up from school as soon as possible.

My mom is not going to be happy about this.

After about ten minutes of awkward silence, except from the noises coming from secretaries typing and Mr. Sanders yelling at another poor soul, a women, short, with ink black hair, pale skin, and rosy red lips, comes barreling through the office doors, an angry expression on her youthful face. She gives Maxine a look but before she can start yelling at her Mr. Sanders interrupts her, "Hello, Mrs. Felix," he greets her and I hear a chuckle come from Maxine causing me to give a little smile. This is Maxine's mom. Definitely not the way I wanted to be introduced to her. She doesn't look anything like Maxine, I notice that right away, "My names Carl Sanders," and both Maxine and I burst out laughing only to have Mrs. Felix give Maxine another look causing us both to be quiet. Mr. Sanders obviously doesn't notice and continues talking, "I'm the principal. I'm sorry I had to interrupt you in the middle of your day but we caught your daughter and this boy together," he says pointing at me and Mrs. Felix looks at me quick with daggers in her eyes, "when they should have been in class."

"Please, call me Rose," Mrs. Felix, now names Rose, says extending her hand which Mr. Sanders takes and shakes it, "And I'm sorry that you had to call me. I'm also sorry that Maxine is in trouble, it really isn't like her."

"I can clearly see that, Rose. I've been looking at her old school records and she seems like an extraordinary student, but it's against school policy to be tardy for your classes. I'm afraid I'm going to have to give her four morning detentions because she was clearly at fault."

No, it wasn't her fault. I held her there. I'm the one that should be getting in trouble, not my Maxine. Before Rose can say anything I say quickly, "But it wasn't her fault," and the three of them turn to look at me but the only look I care about is Maxine's who gives me a look of 'what do you think you're doing?'

I return her gaze and clear my throat before saying to Mr. Sanders, "I mean…it was my fault Maxine was late. I didn't get the assignment for our last class, so I pulled Maxine aside to ask her for it. She told me she had to go, but I really needed the assignment. I wouldn't let her go and we must have lost track of time because before we knew it the bell had rung and now here we are. It's my fault, not hers."

Mr. Sanders looks from me to Maxine and asks her, "Is this true, Maxine?"

I give her a slight nod indicating her to say yes and thankfully she gives Mr. Sanders a quick nod in response.

"Well then," he says clearing his throat, "It may have not been your fault that you were late but you were still late. I'm still going to have to give you two morning detentions."

She nods and while Rose thanks and apologizes over and over again to Mr. Sanders Maxine whisper yells to me, "What was that for? Why did you do that?"

"It was my fault you were late, Maxine," I whisper back to her, "I just didn't want to see you in detention for something you didn't do."

"It's not your job to defend me," she whispers defensively. Only if she knew that it was my job to defend her. It will always and forever be my job to defend her.

I obviously can't tell her that though so instead I give a slight shrug and say with a smirk on my face, "I just didn't want to see a beautiful face like yours in such an unbeautiful place."

A blush comes to her cheeks that makes me smile but before she can respond Rose picks her up by the upper arm and hauls her out of the principal's office and out of my sight.

I sigh angrily before slumping back in my seat. Another half an hour goes by before my mom pushes open the office doors and I sit up a little bit. She's wearing her usual hospital scrubs and her hairs up in a ponytail, but I can tell just by the way she looks that she's had a long day at work.

She gives me a disappointing look before Mr. Sanders comes over and holds out his hand. My mom smiles and shakes his hand before he proceeds in telling her what happened and that I would be serving five morning detentions starting tomorrow. She thanks him and apologizes once again before practically dragging me out of the school by my earlobe and into her car.

"But what about my motorcycle?" I ask once I've buckled myself in.

"Call Jacob and ask him to drive it home for you once we've talked about today," she says in a monotone voice, not meeting my eyes.

She starts up the car and we drive home in complete silence. I text Jacob bits and pieces of what happened and ask if he can bring over my bike after school. I also think about Maxine most of the drive. I think about if she's alright and if Rose didn't kill her. I think about how much trouble she probably got into and if she blamed me for it. I also think about what happened in the hallway today. How it felt to be pressed up against her like that with our lips inches from touching. It sent chills down my spine, good chills of course. I wonder if she still felt that way about me and if that time wasn't just a one-time fluke.

Before I know it my mom's pulling the car into the driveway, and I hop out of the car and head into the house. Once I'm inside I try to make a quick break to my room but my mom stops me before I can even enter the hallway, "Embry Call, don't you even dare think about going to your room before we talk."

"Why? That's where I'm going anyways," I say walking back into the kitchen to stand in front of her.

"You were caught with a girl when you should have been in class," she says sternly, ignoring my comment.

I nod, "That's pretty much it."

"No, that's not 'pretty much it,'" she says folding her arms in front of her chest, "Embry, I don't even know where to start with you anymore. Oh, I know. How about you tell me right now what in God's name told you that it would be a good idea standing in a hallways making out with a girl rather than be in class learning like you should have been? I didn't even know you had a girlfriend? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I don't have a girlfriend, mom," I say folding my arms in front of my chest, "and Mr. Sanders told you that the only reason we were both late for class was because I was asking her for our homework assignment. And plus, I wasn't making out with her."

"I don't know what to believe from you anymore, Embry," she says shaking her head, throwing her hands up into the air, "All I know is that I got a call from your school, from your principal, when I was working that you were in trouble and needed to be taken home as soon as possible. This is the third time this year Embry that I've had to be pulled from work because you were in trouble with something. But this, being caught during class hours making out with a girl, is a new one for you. I don't know what to do with you anymore. You're already grounded for life, what am I supposed to do?"

I shake my head and shrug my shoulders, "I don't know. Blindfold me, drive me out to the middle of nowhere, throw me out of the car, and hope I don't find my way back?"

That gets a smile from her and she sighs, "No, I can't do that. You're too smart. You might find your way back."

I smile and she laughs before stepping forward to wrap her arms around my neck. I wrap my arms around her waist and she leans up to whisper in my ear, "Can you at least try to behave?"

"I'm sorry, mom," I whisper back, resting my head on her shoulder, "I'll try to behave, I really will. Nayeli, mom."

"Nayeli, Embry," she whispers back before taking her arms away from my neck and setting her palm on my cheek, "You ever going to tell me about this girl you were caught with?"

I laugh and roll my eyes, "It's nothing really, I promise. Plus, I don't think she even likes me that much."

My mom pats my cheek, "How can someone not like you? Embry, if you really like this girl ask her out."

I sigh and raise my eyebrow, "Am I really taking advice from my single mother?"

She laughs before hitting my cheek with her hand and taking it away, "Well, I'm all you've got so I'm all the advice you're going to get from a parent."

I laugh and we hug again before the roar from my motorcycle comes from the driveway. Jacob with my bike.

"I'm going to get going to my room, work on homework, solve the world's problems, you know teenage stuff," I say stepping a few feet toward the hallway.

"You sure?" My mom stops me, "I heard Jacob outside with your bike, you sure you don't want to say hi or anything?"

"Nah," I shake my head, "I'll see him tomorrow anyways. I really have to get working on my homework."

"Alright," she replies hesitantly, "I'll see you in a little bit for dinner?"

"Yeah, of course," I say giving her a convincing smile, "Thanks again for taking me home."

"This is the last time though. You promised to behave."

I laugh, "Of course," and she laughs to before nodding indicating for me that I can go to my room which I head straight to. I turn on the light once I'm inside and close my door and lock it before throwing my backpack onto my bed. I lied to my mom again. I wouldn't be seeing Jacob tomorrow because I'm going to go see him now. I strip off my shirt and pants before changing into my cut offs and muscle shirt. I make sure the doors locked before taking off the window screen and opening the window and sliding out into the backyard.

I run through my backyard and into the woods, stripping out of my clothes before tying them to my ankle and transforming into my second skin. For once in a long time I felt good, proud even to transform into the werewolf I was born to be. As Paul said last night, "This is who we are. This is what we do. Fight vampires. Protect our families and our land. Carry on the thing that's been passed down to us through generations and generations. It may not be the life you wanted but you're stuck with it so you better get damn well used to it and you better get damn well used to it fast."

Not only now do I have my family and my friends and the land to look over, but I have Maxine to look over and for her I'd get damn well used to this fast because she was now everything me being a werewolf was and is meant to be. She is the reason why I get up every night and go to late shifts and bear them and bear people like Paul and Sam. She was the strength I found during the marking ceremony when I was crying and screaming in agony even if I didn't know her then. And she is the reason why in this moment I felt proud to be able to transform into a werewolf because now I finally have a reason why and for her I'd do anything.

---

Woahhhhhhh, that was a longggggg chapter haha. Yeah, I thought you guys deserved it; think of it as a late Christmas present. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter though. Also, I thought you guys deserved something big before I tell you some bad news. I've hit a point where I don't have chapter just ready to upload anymore, so now I have to use the ones I've partly written and edit them and add some extra filling so they make sense. I'm really sorry, but I promise you this story will continue, but its just gonna take me longer time to get them up especially with finals and after school activities coming around the corner. Hopefully this chapter hold you over though :/ Anyway, thanks sooo much for reading :) Don't forget to leave a review, they're always appreciated and wanted, and check my profile for further information :)

Ave Atque Vale

-Sofia