Twenty-Five: Mila

"Where you even listening Mila?" Embry asked me.

"Yes I was listening Embry!" she said to me. He let out a frustrated sigh and stepped back. He shook his head and started mumbling to himself. I had no idea what was going on. I turned around and looked at the bonfire. Everybody was standing up and saying goodbye. Two of the guys put the fire out. Embry grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the beach.

"Where are we going?" I yelled as I ran behind him. He didn't say anything. I tried to keep up with him but as he lead me away from the beach and towards the trees it was getting harder to. My chest was burning. It was getting harder to breathe. Suddenly we stopped. I bent over to catch my breath. Embry stood looking concerned. How nice of him to be worried after dragging me off into the woods.

"I should have carried you here. I'm sorry. Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine…just tell me what's….going…on?" I asked when I was finally able to stand up straight.

"Well you said you wanted to see a wolf. Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine. So how exactly are you going to do this? You have some beef jerky or something?" I said laughing at my own joke. Embry rolled his eyes and held his hand up. "Just stand right here. Don't move and don't scream. Alright?" I nodded her yes. Then he turned around and started walking away. His shirt came off first. He took a few more steps then his shorts and shoes came off. The only thing left was his boxers.

"Embry what the hell are you doing?!" I yelled out. He finally stopped walking and turned around to face me. His chest was gleaming and I saw him take a deep breath. He closed his eyes and suddenly his arms started to shake. The same way Paul's arms were at Emily's.

"Embry," my voice was full of concern "Embry are you ok?" I wanted to go over towards him but I promised I wouldn't move. His legs started shaking and his breath started to stagger. I heard a snap that sounded like bones cracking. Embry groaned. I started running towards him when I heard more bones snapping. Suddenly Embry exploded. I blinked and suddenly there was a wolf standing there in front of me. "Embry," I said slowly "Is that you?"

The wolf yipped and bobbed his head up and down. I walked towards him slowly with my hand out in front of me. His tongue rolled out his mouth and I saw his teeth. When I got closer he dropped down to the ground and laid his head on his paws. When I got closer I saw the black spots on his gray fur. I reached out and gently stroked his head. He tail was wagging back and forth. I reached behind his ear and tickled a little. He let out a cough and I quickly pulled my hand back.

Embry stood up and walked towards me. As I watched him walking something clicked. This was the same wolf I had seen in the backyard. The smile I had on my face fell. "Wait a minute, you were in my backyard?" He stopped walking and nodded. "And you were…you were there in the clearing that day…with the other wolves! You were there!" Embry let out a whimper. My breath started to come out in spurts. My chest was heaving up and down, hard. He was there and he saw her. He knew that I knew what I was talking about and he tried to make me think it didn't happen.

"Turn back right now!" I yelled at him before turning my back on him. Embry whined and walked away from me. He stopped and I heard him whimpering. It wasn't long before I heard bones snapping. He came running in front of me, his shirt still dangling in his hand. "You are such a fucking liar Embry Call!" I yelled at him.

"Mila, I'm not a liar. I wanted to tell you but I couldn't tell you."

"So you let me think I imagined the whole thing!" I yelled at him.

"I had to Mila ok. There are rules to this. I couldn't come out and tell you the truth. But the truth is I'm a Spirit Warrior. Me, Jake, Sam, Collin, Brady, Paul, Quill, Jared, Seth, even Leah! We're all Spirt Warriors and we protect our tribe and the other humans from Cold Ones or Vampires as they are better known."

"Wait a minute," I held my hands up "All of you explode into wolves? Do Emily, Kim, and Claire know about this?"

"Yes all the imprints know. It comes with the wolf territory."

"The imprints? What the hell are imprints?" I asked him. Embry looked like he hadn't meant to say that. He scratched his head and let out a deep breath.

"Ok so imprinting is something that most all of us in the Pack have done. It's kind of complicated but only because it can happen at any time. And the fact that most of our pack has done it, is like super rare."

"What the hell is it?" I interrupted him.

"I'm getting to that," he took another deep breath before he started talking again. I guessed he was waiting to see if I would cut him off again. When he finally figured I wasn't he continued talking. "Imprinting is something we do as wolves. We imprint and the person who we imprint on becomes p[art of the imprint group. Kim, Emily, Claire, Rachel, Dakota are all imprints. They are all mates to one of the wolves."

"Mates? Like soul mates?"

"That's exactly what it is. The imprint is the wolves soul mate. The Spirits pick the person who will make the wolf the strongest it can be. The imprint is a bond that is unbreakable. Every wolf is incomplete until they meet their imprint. The wolf is to be whatever their imprint needs them to be. They will feel what the other feels; happiness, joy, sorrow, fear, pain. Whatever their mate needs them to be that's what they are."

"Ok so Jared and Kim, Quill and Clare, Sam and Emily, Paul and Rachel, Dakota and Seth. They all have imprints. So your girlfriend, whatever her name is, is your imprint. So that means Leah, Brady, and Collin don't have one. Wait, that's why Leah was so sad? She does have her soul mate and the person she thought was her soul mate is actually her cousin's soul mate. This imprinting stuff is complete bullshit you know that."

"Mila it's not."

"How can you say that? The spirits come in and decide who you should be with for the rest of your life! You have no say so in it. That's fucked up Embry. Good thing you and your imprint hit it off so well."

"Actually we haven't...not quite."

"But you said she's pregnant. I mean minus that mess with me you guys must be alright. You're having a baby."

"My imprint thinks that the imprinting stuff is complete bullshit."

"That's funny I just said that…wait a minute are you…what are you saying?" I asked him. I shook my head. He wasn't saying what I thought he was saying. There was no way he was saying that. He had a girlfriend and a baby on the way. He wouldn't have done that if he knew she wasn't the one. He would have waited just like the rest of the pack did. That was the smart thing to do. Embry stepped up and grabbed my hand.

"My ex-girlfriend isn't my imprint Mila. You are the one the spirits say I'm supposed to be with for the rest of my life."

I know this chapter is REALLY short, even for me. But I had to end it somewhere and I wanted them to have started the conversation. So what do you guys think?