AEGIS ↠ EMBRY CALL [R.U]

46| NO MORE SECRETS

"You saw Will there, didn't you? That night."

"Yeah? But I didn't think he was actually real, I thought I was the only one who saw him."

He shook his head. "When a member of the current generation—like Reed—comes across the scent of vampires—or in our case, Will—their physique will build before they phase for the first time. Had Reed changed at all since you first started to notice Will?"

She was silent as she thought about it. Reed had suddenly grown taller, although he blamed it on a second puberty and that he was merely adapting to Utah—which Callas couldn't be bothered to correct. His body temperature had spiked and she assumed that he had been sick, but when it wouldn't go back to what it used to be, she had ultimately thought of the worse. That maybe he was getting sicker and he wouldn't be able to get better. He did have better eyesight than before, better hearing, better reflexes, his stamina had improved significantly and he seemed to be able to withstand things no one else could have. Callas noted that Reed hardly ever caught colds, or showed any injuries, even after coming back home from practices and away games that he had with the school team. His appetite had increased as well, he needed to have more food constantly—despite never seemingly gaining much weight, unless, of course, it was muscle. She wasn't sure why—considering she never felt the need to tally up everything that changed with Reed or link it together—but she hadn't noticed all of the significant changes until now.

"Yeah," she responded finally. "So?" Sam sat forward more.

"The instinct to phase is only triggered when a tribal member crosses the scent of vampires and senses the tribe's need of protection," he answered. "Reed caught Will's scent, and when you mix that with Reed's conscious and subconscious need to take care of you after everything you have been through... it just... happened."

"So, it's my fault?"

Sam shook his head. "No. It was bound to happen at some point. We don't... live that far from a coven of vampires."

"What?" Callas yelled loudly.

"But they aren't like Will."

"How? Vampires are all the same, aren't they?"

"The Cullens—"

"Like Carlisle Cullen? My doctor?" Her voice rose while Emily placed Callas's cup on the coffee table.

Sam sighed. "They are different. We will get to that later," he told her. "But, Reed works in Forks, right?"

"Does he? Does he still have a job there?" Callas tilted her head, glaring at Sam. "Did you bribe Chief Swan in order for Reed to keep his job?"

Jacob laughed quietly. "Charlie, uh... Charlie knows what we are."

"You've got to be kidding me." She rubbed her face. "Am I the only one who doesn't know?"

"No," Jacob replied. "We try to keep it a secret."

"Unbelievable," she muttered. "Okay, can we just continue? Please."

"Gladly," Sam mumbled. "There's no exact age to determine whether the member is old enough for the gene to activate, as Seth is one of the youngest to have phased, I can only imagine the phasing's that Will is going to force now that he's trespassed onto the Reservation following on from your brother's. Anyway, the only numbers needed are ones to counter the numbers of approaching vampires—such as the Cullens being so close to where Reed works and the fact that Reed went after Will on his own before we went to follow him. Hence, he needed to shift in order for it to be a fair fight. The transformation generally occurs roughly when a boy reaches manhood and is accompanied by a sudden growth spurt lasting for about two months. Which I'm sure you've noticed in Reed."