WHERE I BELONG [P. LAHOTE]

[09]

Skylar shot up, breathing heavily. The nightmares she had had all night were terrifying, and Skylar hadn't really gotten any real sleep.

Not even five seconds later, Bella burst into her room. "Come on."

"Where are we going," Skylar shouted after her. Bella threw some clothes at her, urging her to get dressed. "Just come on."

Skylar soon found out that they were going to Jake's house. Yawning, she followed her twin up to the front door. Bella started to knock loudly, stopping when she saw Billy wheel up.

He opened the door wide, greeting the twins. "Bella? Sky?"

"We need to see him," Bella said, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "He's not in," Billy responded. Grabbing Skylar's hand and pushing past him, Bella began walking towards Jake's room. "Okay, I'm sorry, I really need to see him."

Opening the door, Skylar peered around Bella to see Jake sleeping peacefully. It made her smile, seeing Jake's large frame cramped up in the tiny bed. Hearing a hoot, she looked out his window to see four other boys emerging from the woods.

Following her sister again, Skylar bounded outside, trying to keep up with Bella's fast pace. "What did you do?" Bella shouted, shoving Sam. "Okay, what did you do?"

"Bella, calm down," Skylar attempted, grabbing Bella's arm. She forcefully shrugged her hand off, making Paul growl. "Easy," Sam said, making him step back.

"What did we do? What did he do?" Paul said, getting up in Bella's face. "What did he tell you?"

"Both of you calm down," Sam ordered.

"Nothing. He tells us nothing because he's scared of you," she assumed, making them laugh.

"Bella, come on. Stop!" Skylar said, grabbing Bella's hand again. Bella pushed back a little harder than she meant to, making Skylar stumble and fall. "Oh, my God, Sky I'm so-"

She didn't finish as she heard Paul's furious snarl and loud breathing behind her. Turning around, Bella noticed Paul shaking furiously.

"Bella, Skylar, get back!" Sam yelled, trying to calm the quivering boy down. Bella grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her up, backing away slowly. "Bella, what's going-"

He suddenly snapped; Skylar watched as the enraged boy transformed into a wolf. Roaring furiously, he stepped closer to the twins.

Skylar was in a state of shock. How did he turn into a wolf? How was that possible?

Bella tugged Skylar's hand, making her fall back. Both begin to run back towards the house and saw Jake jump off the porch. "Bella! Skylar!"

"Run!" Bella screamed. "Jake, run!"

Doing the opposite, Jake jumped over the twins, shifting in mid-air. Stumbling again, Skylar fell down, unable to breathe. She watched as the two wolves fought, edging closer and closer to the woods.

"Hey. Take Bella and Skylar back to Emily's place," Sam ordered, running to the two wolves.

Embry began walking to the two Swan twins. "Guess the wolf's out of the bag."

Still unable to catch her breath, Skylar began to feel dizzy. "Hey," Embry whispered, squatting down next to her. "Hey, calm down. It's alright." Shaking her head, Skylar wheezed out, "No. Don't touch me." Looking to Bella, she clutched onto her twin and tried to even out her breathing.

The car ride seemed impossibly fast as the four of them sped down the road. Skylar was still in a trance like state from seeing the two boys change into wolves. She couldn't wrap her head around it. Her best friend was a werewolf. The boy she couldn't get out of her mind - for some reason - was a werewolf.

They pulled up at a small, but cozy house. Jumping out of the car, the two boys rushed towards the house.

"Hey, I think we should go back and see if Jacob's okay," Bella said while rolling down her window.

"I hope Paul sinks some teeth in him. He got pissed that someone pushed him imprint, I would be too. Serves him right," Jared said. "No way," Embry argued. "Jacob's a natural. You see him phase on the fly? I got five says Paul doesn't touch him."

Staying in the car, Skylar clenched her jaw. "Come on in girls, we won't bite," Embry shouted, motioning the girls inside. "Speak for yourself," Jared commented. Pausing for another moment, Skylar reluctantly followed her sister out of the car, heading inside.

"Oh, hey, about Emily, Sam's fiancée? Don't stare. It bugs Sam," Embry advised.

"Why would I stare?" Bella asked. When she didn't get a response, she went inside, still holding her sister's hand.

"Are you guys' hungry? Like I even have to ask," a woman said, laughing. Standing in the doorway, Skylar watched as she turned, revealing scars that stretched across her face. "Who's this?"

"Bella and Skylar Swan. Who else?"

"Hmm," Emily smiled. "So you're the vampire girl?" She motioned towards Bella. Bella started walking towards the stairs, leaning up against the rail. "So you're the wolf girl?"

Emily laughed, nodding her head. "I guess so. Well, I'm engaged to one." She placed a plate of muffins down on the round table, smacking Jared's hand away from them. "Save some for your brothers. And ladies first. Muffin?"

Skylar slowly walked to the table and sat down beside Embry, nibbling away on the soft muffin.

"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around Sam's gag order," Emily said, walking back into the kitchen.

"He didn't actually tell us anything."

Skylar became lost in her thoughts for a moment, still trying to straighten everything out. She had just found out that vampires were real last night, and now werewolves apparently exist too? Was anything normal?

Sam strode in the doorway. "Jake's right. You're good with weird," he said at Bella, frowning a little when he saw Skylar's pale face. She watched as he walked to Emily, giving her a long peck on the lips, then placing light kisses around her face, making her giggle. Skylar felt like she was intruding on their moment, so she glanced towards the door as the two boys that have previously fought walked in.

Paul came right on in as Jake stood at the doorway, smiling at Bella. Paul pulled up a seat beside Jared, looking at Bella. "Sorry." Turning around, he glanced at Skylar and smiled at her, it fading when he also noticed how pale she was.

"Hey," he grabbed her hand, ignoring the warmth that spread throughout him. "You okay?" She nodded, and smiled back. "Yeah."

"So now that you know," Embry began excitedly, "we can start hanging out again, like old times. You, Jake, and me. I missed hanging out with you," he winked. Skylar missed Paul's low growl, but Embry caught it.

Throwing him a smirk, he leaned back in his seat. "Besides, you're like... part of the pack. We protect you now."

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