What Happened in the Forest

To Know the Truth

"SHIT!" Embry shouted as he kicked the tire of his truck, causing the entire vehicle to shake and some of the wolves gathered around him to jump.

He was normally the calm one. He never lost his head. But right now he was snarling just as much as his wolf, wanting to sink his teeth into the leech and rip his head off. He glared at Jacob.

"How could you let him get away?! And why would you stop me from going after him! He almost got her!" he shouted.

"Easy, now," Jacob said calmly, though his eyes were firm. "He could have killed you if I let you go off after him."

Embry ran his fingers through his hair and then scrubbed his face, replaying everything that happened. Getting the heavy scent of vampire and realizing it was coming from the parking lot. Seeing Mara trapped against her car, the vampire just waiting to lunge.

He almost lost her tonight.

"I've got to get to Mara," he said, already turning towards his Jeep.

The vampire got her scent and very well could have followed her. He needed to make sure she was safe. Somehow, the damn leech had managed to slip through their fingers again, though not without inflicting more than a few injuries.

"Hold on, we need to come up with a plan!" Jacob shouted, reaching out to grab Embry's arm, while holding his other close to his body. He grimaced in pain.

"She's not safe! He could go after her!" Embry yelled. "I should have told her... I need to tell her everything... I can't lose her..."

"Just hold on, Embry. If you go banging on her door right now and tell her everything, her head is going to explode. You saw how freaked out she was," Jacob said. "She could try to run and then he'd follow her. She needs to stay here where we can watch her."

"But what if he's already there?! Shit, I should have gone after her," Embry said.

He felt like he was losing his mind. Turning, he tried for his car again, but Jacob's grip held.

"He went in the opposite direction of Forks. He knows we're out here. He won't go after her tonight," Sam said rationally. "Think about it, Embry."

He stared at Sam a moment before nodding.

Right. The vampire likely wouldn't come back tonight. At least he hoped so.

And if he told Mara about the wolves tonight, it would not go over well. Now that he was finally calming down, he could see that. She was terrified, and there was only so much a person could handle.

But he knew that he needed to tell her everything. Before she left Forks. Everything that had happened that night made it all the more apparent.

That is if he could convince her to speak to him again.

The look of betrayal and hurt on her face was etched deeply into his mind. His chest tightened as he worried that he still had lost her forever.

"You haven't lost her yet," Jacob said. "She's strong. Once she's calmed down and you tell her about us, she'll get it."

Embry looked over at him, nodding.

"I still want to go watch the motel. Make sure she's safe," he said. Jacob nodded.

"I'll see if Rosalie or Emmett can go with you. You'll need to sleep at some point and they don't need to," he said. "They'll be able to help."

"Fine," Embry said.

He then started jogging off, easily phasing before running off through the forest.

The only thing on his mind was keeping Mara safe.