cold -embry call-

eleven

"Baby, I swear I was just trying to protect you." I sit in silence the entire way to the school, snapping, "I don't need you to protect me." when I get out. I don't mean it but I'm upset he never told me. I walk through the hallway, my chin held up stubbornly as I do. Embry catches me at my locker, grabbing my hips roughly. "You do when it comes to this." He growls in my ear, shoving me away from him before walking away. I huff, following him to class, sitting my seat as far away from his as I could. He grabs my thigh, pulling my chair closer. "Knock it off." He growls quietly at me.

Today was a long day, I enjoy my small break as I was with Seth in study hall, joking around as we do his work. Embry meets me at my truck, both of us still angry with the other for the way we're acting but neither of us wants to apologize because it means admitting we were wrong. I drive Seth home before stopping outside Embry's house. He grabs my jaw, making me face him. "Drop the attitude before tomorrow." He snaps, getting out and going inside. I planned on dropping it tonight and calling him later to apologize, but that just makes me angry, so I keep the attitude.

I look outside my window that night after watching Bella look outside hers. I notice two extremely pale people speeding away just as two large wolves take their place. The wolves are apparently working with Bella's precious Cullens. I've heard her talking to Edward about it. The next morning Embry picks me up for school but instead of sitting in the middle like I normally do, I sit by the window, smirking when he growls at me. "I told you to drop it." "And I didn't listen." I snap back. His hand grips my thigh tightly before he pulls over. "Drop it, Alexandria." He uses my full name.

I swallow my pride and move into the middle, setting my hand on his knee. Today he ignores me during school, talking to only one other girl, her name is Sarah, she's pretty. Jealously flutters in my stomach, growing to a pit by the end of the day when I decide to hang out with Jake and Bella, having them pick me up instead of Embry driving me home. "We're going to a party tonight," Jake says while looking in the rearview mirror at me. "Awesome, will Embry be there?" And although I will it not to, my voice sounds slightly hopeful. "Yep," Jake says. "What's up with you two anyway?"

Bella turns around to look at me as she asks. "I'm just curious." She says after my silence. "There's nothing going on with me and Embry. We're just friends." I answer and Jake scoffs, smirking. "Friends who make out." "Shut up!" I hiss, my face going red as Bella snaps around to look at me again. "You're making out with Embry?" "That's none of your business." I snap. "You totally are!" She laughs. "Whatever." I groan, my face still red as I look out the window. We hang out the entire day until dark comes around and we walk the beach to a small get-together with the pack.

I see Embry look up at me, an expectant look on his face, but I find his best friend instead. "Quil, right?" I ask, stepping in front of him. He chokes slightly on his water, nodding. "I'm Alexandria. I'm not sure we've officially met." "We haven't." He says, smiling at me. I look at Embry, smirking and sending him a wink. Someone whistles and Quil offers me his hand. "Wanna sit with me?" He asks. "Yeah, totally." I drop my hand into his as he leads me to a small log, only the two of us being able to sit on it. I scoot closer to Quil, pretending to shiver. Embry glares at me as Billy starts to talk.

"The Quileutes have been a small tribe from the beginning, but we have always had magic in our blood. We were great spirit warriors, shapeshifters that transformed to the powerful wolf." Billy says as Quil drops his arm behind me, his hand sitting beside my hip. Tonight isn't about me and Embry so I listen to the story intently. "This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe." The fire crackles as Billy pauses. "One day, our warriors came across a creature. It looked like a man, but it was hard like stone and cold as ice."

He pauses again as Quil shifts closer to me before looking at Embry and moving a bit away. "Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire would completely destroy it. They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone. And they were right. She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed." The surrounding area is silent, not even the wind makes a noise, like it itself is listening to the story being told. "Taha Aki's third wife could see that he would lose."

I've never heard the stories this in-depth before. "The third wife was no magical being, no special powers but one... courage. The third wife's sacrifice distracted the cold woman long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared. But one remains," He pauses again, looking at Bella now. "The cold ones. Our magic awakens when they're near, and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming and we must all be ready, all of us." He finishes, staring Bella down as he does.

Quil looks over at me. "So, who brought you?" He asks. "I did," Embry growls, pulling me up. "Oh, hey, Em, I didn't know." Quil shrugs as Embry growls again. "This is Andria." He says my name like it has its own special meaning. Quil's eyes widen and he stands, stepping away from me. "Dude, I had no clue, I thought she was just another of Jake's friends." "I am." I smile, slipping my hand into Embry's, knowing he wouldn't pull away. Embry nods stiffly. "She is, but she's also my Andria." He says. Quil smiles and claps his hand on Embry's back. "I'm glad you found the one, dude." He says.

Embry drags me to his truck, shoving me against it on the passenger side so people don't see us. "What was that about?" He hisses. "That was for talking to Sarah all day and ignoring me." I snap in return. He groans, throwing his head back and running his hands down his face. "You did this on purpose?" He questions. I nod slowly. "Andria, you should've just talked to me." He says, carefully pulling me against him. "I couldn't. I thought you were still mad at me." I huff, curling my fingers in his shirt and pulling him closer to me. "Even if I was, talk to me. I want this to work."

"Won't this work whether we want it to or not?" I ask. "I want this to work cause it works. Not cause it has to." He says, brushing hair out of my face and kissing my forehead. I smile, pulling back. "I love you, Em." My eyes widen as I slap my hands over my mouth. Why did I just say that? Oh my God. I'm such an idiot. He pushes himself away, continuing to stare down at me, an unreadable look on his face. I quickly walk away, pulling Bella and Jake to Jake's car. "Can we go please?" I plead, climbing into the back. "Yeah, of course. What's going on?" Jake says, his voice worried as he climbs in as well. "I told Embry I loved him," I whisper.