Paul
I hadn't felt the kind of adrenaline I was feeling now since my very first phase. I had to keep Rosalie and Embry safe. We had to separate ourselves from the rest of the Cullens. Emmett and Rosalie would be allowed to come on the reservation, but none of the rest. We couldn't trust anyone with ties to Alice except our imprints. I felt Jared phase, but he didn't get much information from me. The same few words were running through my mind.
Embry. Brother. Rosalie. Mate. Protect.
"Paul, what's going on? You need to calm down." He told me.
I ignored him and kept running. I had to get to Embry before Alice did. Jared ran by my side but didn't try to talk to me again. I decided to show him what had happened with Alice and Edward. He remained silent, but ran faster. We stopped right outside the Cullen home, growling as we watched the way they interacted with our brothers. Were more of them in on this? Who could we even trust at this point? I could see through the windows that Embry and Jacob were both on hospital beds in the living room. Jacob must have been a blood type match for his older brother, because his blood was being taken. Leah sat protectively at Embry's side and I wondered how much she knew. She didn't trust Alice any more than I did.
"Think Sue Clearwater could handle Embry's care?" Jared asked.
"Rosalie has a medical degree. Between the two of them, we will figure this out on our land."
We walked inside and were greeted warmly. I saw that Alice had arrived and was sitting next to Bella. She put her hand on Bella's stomach and I growled. Rosalie looked up and me and ran to my side, grabbing my hand. I let her touch me, but I didn't meet her gaze. I knew she was going to be unhappy with with me, but I had to protect Embry.
"Come on babe, we need to test your blood. Embry will need more than Jacob can give." She tried to lead me away but I stood still.
"How is Embry doing?" I asked.
"He's improving, but we will need your blood Paul. Jacob has already given more than he should." Carlisle explained.
"Is he good enough to be moved?" Jared asked. "I love you guys, but he was bitten by a leech today. My wolf can't handle this. I think we should take him to the Clearwater's place and let Sue keep an eye on him."
"Agreed." I said. "My wolf wants to kill every one of you except the imprints, starting with Alice since she's so close to our pack baby."
"I would never hurt Bella." Alice growled.
Sam spoke up. "The wolf can't differentiate the enemies and our friends, they just see bloodsuckers. I'm surprised so many of us are in control here."
Jared scoffed. "So many of us? Show of hands, who is struggling not to phase right now?
We looked around the room as every wolf's hand went up except for Sam's.
"Seems you're the only one in control, alpha." Quil commented.
"My mom doesn't know about the pack." Leah reminded us.
Sam shook his head. "She will have to know now. I will call the council. Embry will have to be moved."
Jacob spoke up. "I'm sorry, but we can't have any Cullens on the reservation except for the imprints until Embry is healed. It's too hard for our wolves for you to be near him or even Bella right now. As soon as this transfusion is done, we'd like to take him and leave."
"Of course." Carlisle nodded. "Please know that you're all still welcome here. You are part of our family. I'm sorry this has happened, but we understand."
Carlisle walked over to Jacob and removed the needle from his arm. Jasper glared at me as we watched Carlisle and Sam prepare Embry to be transferred. He was explaining the specifics to us on what we needed to do. He expected that Embry would wake up relatively soon, but we couldn't be sure. Leah drove her car around to the door and I carried Embry out, laying him down in her backseat. We loaded the hospital bed and all of the equipment we needed in Emmett's jeep. Sam climbed in to Leah's car and they took off toward La Push. I texted him to take Embry to his house and not Leah's, and I hoped he would see it.
Rosalie agreed to help Bella and Emily pack a few things before driving them to the reservation. We would need the girls to go to the store too, since we hadn't been living at our houses for the last few months. I was worried about them being unprotected, but Seth volunteered to go with them. The rest of us phased and started our run back home. The pack bombarded me with questions. I was hit with everyone's thoughts at the same time, and I could hardly think straight. I decided to just show them what I'd heard and as they saw what happened they all were quiet.
Jacob was heartbroken. "She stole my dad's blood? Embry is my brother? And Alice is going to kill him?"
Quil growled. "She won't get near him."
"I'm so sorry you found out this way, Jake." I told him. "We have to get rid of Alice."
"Paul, you're not going to the Clearwater's place?" Quil asked as I passed it.
"I told Sam to take Embry to his house. I wanted the Cullens to think he's at the Clearwater's so Alice will go there and we can take her out." I explained.
"Jasper won't be too happy with that." Quil commented.
"No, it's a good idea." Jacob agreed. "Charlie installed cameras at our house and the Clearwater's, so if Alice breaks in we'll have proof."
We ran back to Sam's and walked in to see Embry lying there. He looked worse than he had before we moved him. I could feel my rage building and had to run back outside to phase. How had we become so complacent? Why did we let our guard down enough for this to happen? It made me sick that we allowed this to happen to Embry. We welcomed the entire Cullen family on to our reservation. We laid all of our cards on the table in front of our enemy, and one of them had nearly killed one of my brothers. I hoped that Rosalie would forgive me, because I planned to burn Alice Cullen and anyone that stood with her.
Rosalie
Emily and I had grown apart since I'd gotten to know Leah better, but we still fell in to an easy conversation on our way to the store. Bella was overjoyed about being pregnant and I was so happy to see her excited about something after the depression she went through. Seth was equally as animated, ready for the first pack baby. We made plans to shop for her after all of the madness with Victoria was over. Being around Bella was bittersweet for me. While I was excited for her, I felt a pang of jealousy knowing that I'd never be able to give a child to Paul. Emily and Sam had also been struggling to get pregnant, but I was confident it would happen for them eventually.
We each got a cart at the store, and I knew we'd still need more food within a day or two. I hoped that Embry would wake up soon, but we planned to have food ready most of the time for when he did. Surprisingly, none of the pack seemed angry with me, and they trusted me to be around the other imprints. I still blamed myself for taking too much of his blood, but they praised me for saving him. Paul had even seemed to be protective of Embry when he demanded that he be moved to the reservation today.
I knew the two of us would need to talk about what happened in Seattle, but it would have to wait until Em woke up. I didn't trust Edward and I was becoming suspicious of Alice. I wondered what Paul knew, because I could tell at our house that he wasn't close to phasing and neither was Leah. It seemed that the entire pack had simply followed his lead. I didn't mind that we wouldn't be living with my family, I knew that I'd be with Paul wherever we went, but I wanted to know why. I found Seth a few aisles away from me with a cart full of snacks. Emily and Bella had both made more sensible choices. We made our way to the check out line and quickly loaded the groceries in the car. When we pulled up at the Clearwater residence, I was surprised to see that none of the pack was there. We sat in the car for a minute and Quil eventually ran up to the door.
"Sorry guys, change of plans. Took Em over to Sam's place." He told us.
Why wouldn't they tell me the plan had changed?
"Where do you want us to put the groceries?" I asked.
"Take them in here, then come over to Sam's. Pack meeting." He walked around to the back of the car and started to unload things. "Emily, Bella, can you help Sue start dinner while Rose and Seth come with me?"
"Of course, Quil." Bella replied.
Quil was treating me differently than the other imprints, and I wasn't used to that. Paul had always insisted that I be protected the same way they are, and most of the wolves had dismissed my strength and treated me like a defenseless human. I wondered if the situation with Embry had changed the way the entire pack would treat me, or if Quil was different. He helped us as we unloaded all of the groceries and said goodbye to Bella and Emily.
"Are we driving to Sam's or leaving them the car?" I asked Quil.
"We can just run and leave them the car if you want." He replied.
We walked to the woods and I turned my back so they could phase. I turned around to see Seth in wolf form, but Quil was standing there looking at me.
"Rosalie, can we talk for a sec before we go?" I nodded, and he looked to Seth. "Go on to Sam's, tell them we'll be there in a minute."
I waited for Seth to be out of earshot before replying. "What is it, Quil? Is something wrong?"
"It's Embry." He replied.
If my heart had been beating it would have stopped. What had happened now? "Please tell me he's okay." I choked out.
He looked down. "He still hasn't woken up, but that's not it. I saw the way you took out that vamp for him. I hate that you had to bite him, but I know you did it to save him. I'm not worried about him physically Rose. He is in love with you and it's been easier for him since Sam ordered him away, but I don't want him getting the wrong idea again."
My chest ached. Had what I done given him hope of a relationship between the two of us? "Quil, I haven't done anything to imply-"
"You didn't have to." He cut me off. "I know that you love him, and I know he loves you, but you're with Paul. I know Embry is going to want comfort from you when he wakes up, but you have to tell him that you only did what you would have done for anyone else. If you're not cold toward him, he's never going to understand."
"But I can't-"
He cut me off again. "Don't. You had human blood for the first time for Embry, right?"
I nodded. "Quil I-"
"Stop. If you could do that for him, you can do this for him too."
"But I do love him, he's my best friend. I don't want him to suffer. I don't want him to think I don't care." I replied.
"He will suffer even more if you lead him on again. You may not have meant to the first time, but this time I'm telling you. It's caused problems within the pack, and Paul has been hurt by this too. Before you saved him, I thought you were just using him when Paul didn't want you. I know that you care about him, and you need to help him move on. Thank you for saving his life. Now, stay the hell away from him and let me and Jake help him through this."
Before I could reply, he phased and took off through the woods. I sank to the ground, not wanting to move. I had never wanted to hurt Embry, he was my best friend. He was the only one that was really there for me when Paul wasn't. I had prided myself on never having human blood before, and I gave that up to save his life. Now I was supposed to turn my back on him? All I wanted was to be near him and make sure he was okay. Did Paul think I was leading Embry on too? Had I hurt my imprint with all of this?
I thought back on all of the time I'd spent with Embry. Every time he hugged me, every time he comforted me, and every time we laid next to each other at night while he slept. I should have realized that it meant something different to him. I loved him, but not the way I loved Paul. I knew that I meant more to Embry than the other imprints did, but I had convinced myself that he sought me out because the rest of the pack had ostracized me in the beginning. I thought that he would have done the same for Bella or Emily. Embry was truly the kindest person I'd ever known and I had led him on and used him when my relationship was rocky. Sam's order didn't do anything to me, but I still hadn't tried to reach out to him. Quil was right about me. Maybe I didn't deserve Paul either.
I knew I couldn't go to Sam's and pretend not to care about Embry, but I couldn't go back to my family either. I didn't trust Alice. I thought about going to Seattle to check up on Angela and Edward but I didn't trust him enough to go alone. I finally decided on going back to the Clearwater's house to help the girls. I hadn't had a chance to meet Leah's parents earlier. I was about to stand up when I heard someone approaching. I panicked for a second, knowing how angry Paul would be that I was in the woods by myself with Victoria still out there. I was relieved to see that it was Paul, who phased and came to sit next to me. He wrapped his arms around me and I laid my held on his shoulder.
"I knocked the shit out of Quil when he told me what happened." He muttered.
"You shouldn't have. Everything he said was true. I deserved it."
"No, you didn't. He was wrong to talk to you that way, Rosalie. We're supposed to protect the imprints not hurt them." He pulled me closer to him.
I pulled back and turned to look at him. "Look at me and tell me he was wrong. Tell me I didn't hurt both of you. Tell me that you don't think I was using Embry when you didn't want me at the beginning." He didn't say anything. "Damn it Paul, be honest with me!"
"Fine, Rose. Of course I was hurt! I wanted you so bad and Call was feeding you lies about me and Leah and you listened to him. You didn't even give me a chance to explain." There were tears pooling in his eyes.
"Did he lie about Lauren Mallory too?"
He looked away from me. "Why are you doing this Rosalie? Things are finally good for us, why do we have to rehash all of this?"
I didn't want to hurt him, but I felt guilty. I just needed to know the truth. "I just want you to be honest with me about how you feel, Paul."
He hugged me again. "I don't care about what happened before. I love you, as long as I have you nothing else matters. You don't have to listen to Quil, you can still be there for Embry."
"I can't hurt Embry again. I'll try to stay away." I told him. "How do you feel about Alice?"
His expression darkened. "Not now, babe. I can't."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Babe, I'd love to tell you, but I actually can't. Sam will explain when we go back to his place."
"Let's go now then. I want to know what's going on." I stood up and took his hand.
Paul phased and I ran next to him back to Sam's place. Only a few of the pack were there, Sam was standing in the kitchen while Quil and Jacob sat on either side of Embry's bed. Jared walked down the hallway and greeted us warmly. The three of us sat on Sam's couch together, watching Embry as if he'd wake up any second. It pained me to see him lying there lifeless. I did this to him.
"How long did it take Bella to wake up when this happened to her?" Jared asked.
"Not this long." I muttered. Quil shot me a glare from across the room and I flinched.
I started to walk out of the room when I heard a groan behind me. I turned to see Embry had rolled on his side and was looking at me. "Are you leaving, Rosie?" He asked between gritted teeth.
I ran to his side and heard Quil growl. "Are you in pain, Em?"
He groaned again. "You remember what the venom felt like, don't you?"
Emmett laughed behind me. "I remember it all too well. Didn't the burning stop after she sucked the venom out?"
"I don't remember anything but the burning after the leech bit me. Then I just felt nothing for a long time." He replied.
Jacob looked over at him. "Do you remember what Rosalie did?"
"No?" He questioned. "What did she do? Did you say she sucked the venom out?"
"I did. I only did what I would have done for anyone else in the pack." I told him coldly. His face dropped.
"I don't believe that for a damn second. You carried Emmett miles back to Carlisle because you didn't want to taste human blood, but you bit me out there? The rest of your family couldn't have been far." He looked angry.
I looked away from him. "Like I said, I would have done it for any of the pack."
"Bullshit Rosalie. Who killed the leech that bit me?" He asked.
Nobody answered for a few seconds. I looked to Sam for help. "I did." Sam answered. "I got there not long after you were bitten."
"So what, Rose and Lee just twiddled their thumbs and nothing bad happened to them?"
He knew we were lying. I wanted to correct him, but I saw Quil glaring at me and knew that I shouldn't.
"You're here aren't you? Can't you just be grateful for that and stop questioning everyone?" I snapped at him. It hurt me to talk to him that way, but I knew I had to.
He laid back. "Fine, lie to me. Can you all just leave me alone at least?"
"Of course." Sam said. "Jacob will stay with you, the rest of us need to have a pack meeting anyway. We will fill you in."
We walked out and toward the woods. I followed behind the pack, still upset about what I'd said to Embry. I hoped that eventually he would forgive me, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. Everyone had phased except for Sam and Emmett was sitting on the ground next to Leah. I was walked toward Paul to take the seat next to him when I felt someone shove me. I turned to face an angry shaking Jacob.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He yelled. "Why would you talk to my brother that way?" He pushed me again.
Paul moved to stand between us, growling at Jacob. I looked back to Quil and he shook his head.
"I can't give him what he wants Jacob. It's better for him in the long run this way." I still didn't believe it myself and it hurt to say the words out loud.
"Stay the hell away from him. You may be Paul's imprint, but you don't belong in my pack."
Jared and Paul both stood in front of me now, growling at Jacob as he ran away. I didn't blame him for being angry with me, I was angry too. Quil should have told him what he said to me, but I knew that Embry would need both of them to get through this. I followed Paul and Jared back to the rest of the pack and sat with them to listen to Sam.
"Emmett, what is your opinion of Jasper? Is he a very reasonable person?" Sam asked.
I was confused. "Why are you asking about him?"
Emmett ignored me. "He is. He is my brother and my closest ally. What's caused you to question his character?"
"Nothing. It's Alice we're suspicious of. We have a recording of a conversation between her and Edward that is very concerning. They are planning to kill you, Emily, Rosalie, and Leah." He told us.
I looked to Paul and he nodded at me, indicating that it was true. "I want to hear it." I told Sam.
He pulled Paul's phone from his pocket and started playing it. I watched Emmett's face as we listened to our siblings talk about us. I should have been hurt by Alice agreeing to help Edward kill us, but I only felt anger. She had lived with our family as my sister for all of these years and she was willing to kill me to get to Bella. She didn't even agree with what Edward had planned, but she was going along with it anyway. Emmett was digging his fists in the dirt as we listened to them. He stood up as the recording stopped.
"We have to take this to Jasper." He demanded.
Sam shook his head. "There's more you don't know."
"What the hell could be worse than that?" I asked.
I turned to see Paul standing beside me as a human, looking directly at Emmett. "Edward ordered the attack on Embry. He's working with Victoria, and Alice is in on it too. I saw her going to meet him last night while you were hunting. The leech Rosalie killed was a tracker. Jacob was his target but he got Embry instead."
"How would that happen?" Emmett asked.
"Edward said the tracker could hunt down relatives of anyone he had fed from. Alice stole some of Billy's blood from the hospital and gave it to them." Paul explained.
I was even more heartbroken for Embry. He had grown up around his father and never even knew. "So Billy Black is Embry's dad." I said.
Paul nodded. "We have to kill Alice. We can only tell Jasper what's going on if you're sure he'll be on our side."
"He will." Emmett and I said at the same time.
"There's more." Jared stood up next to Paul. "Edward told Alice to kill Embry. He said he didn't want Rosalie to get too confident."
"So that's why we moved him. I knew you guys weren't having trouble with being around us." I told them.
Emmett was shaking. "I'm going to talk to Jasper."
"Wait." Sam stopped him. "Should we wait to see if Alice comes to the Clearwater's place tonight?"
"No." I replied. "We should get Jasper in on it and set a trap for her."
"Let's make a plan then." Sam agreed.
We spent the next hour planning how we would get Jasper on our side and what would happen to my sister. Carlisle called Sam during the meeting and told us Victoria would be coming next weekend, and Paul confirmed that he heard Edward plan that with Alice. I hated the idea of either of my siblings being hurt, but hearing their plot to kill so many of the people I loved ignited a rage I hadn't felt since the night I killed Royce all those years ago. I looked around and realized that this was my family now, not the Cullens. I would find a way to fix things with Quil, Embry and Jacob. I belonged on the reservation with the pack and so did Emmett. I didn't know what would happen, but I knew Alice and Edward would burn and I would never return to my former family.