I rip my hands away, scowling at the boy. "Never meant to? Embry, I literally shut down, I couldn't do anything, for weeks." "I'm sorry, Andria. Genuinely." I shake my head. "You don't get to call me that anymore." I hiss, shoving past him, slamming my shoulder into his as I do. I sit down at my seat, realizing his seat is directly behind me. "You need to eat, Alex." "Stop with the food talk, Charlie. I can't do it anymore." I shove the plate away. "I'm gonna need a box," I tell Cora as Embry stiffens behind me. I stalk out after sitting and listening to Embry's friends joke around.
"Alexandria." I hear someone call from behind me. "Leave me alone, Embry." I slam the car door as Charlie and Bella come out. The ride home is silent and I slam my door when I walk into my room. My phone buzzes incessantly as I lie in bed. The next morning, Bella wakes me up, shaking my shoulders as she leans over me. Not being used to being woken up so aggressively, I sit up quickly, wincing at the crack that resonates through the room as our heads slam together. "Jesus, Bella." I rub my head, looking up at her. "Get dressed, we're going to Jake's." She states, walking out.
I get dressed, walking out to the truck with Bella. We pull into Jake's and I stay in the truck until she storms out of Billy's, walking to Sam and his gang walking across the lawn. I run out, following after her. "What did you do?" She yells, walking toward Sam. "What did you do? What did you do to him?" She repeats, shoving Sam aggressively. "Bella!" I try to pull her back but she holds her ground. "Easy." Sam scolds. "He didn't want this." She says. Paul straightens up, his muscles rippling as he does. "What did we do? What did he do, hmm? What'd he tell you?" Paul snarls quickly.
"Both of you calm down." Sam pushes his hands between the two as I step up beside Bella, shoving Sam's arm down. "Don't touch her." I snarl. "Nothing." Bella continues. "He tells us nothing because he's scared of you." This causes everyone to laugh, including Embry. My eyes snap over to him, immediately scanning him over as Bella smacks Paul. I gasp slightly. Paul's breathing shallows as he hunches over, twisting inhumanly as a wolf breaks from beneath his skin. Embry rushes forward, arms wrapping around me as he pulls me to his chest, blocking me from Paul.
He blocks the scene with his body as Jake comes out, a wolf breaking from beneath his skin too. He keeps me held to his chest as snarling and growling are heard, a large crash and Sam stating to take Bella and me to Emily's. Embry slowly pulls back, scanning me over quickly. "Guess the wolf's out of the bag." He jokes quietly, his eyes boring into mine. "Are you okay?" He asks, his voice just as quiet. I nod, staring at the now broken boat across the lawn as Jared walks over to help Bella up. As he drives, Embry spares glances at me every few seconds. "I'm okay," I whisper.
We pull up to Emily's and both the boys yip as they jump out of the truck. I ignore Bella, walking with Embry as he leads me inside, carefully sitting me at the table. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asks. I nod, looking down at my hands. "The poor girl's probably in shock." Emily laughs quietly. "Here, sweetie." She hands me a muffin, patting my hand softly. Soon enough Jake and Paul come in, shoving each other, and then Bella and Jake leave. "Hey, Alex?" Paul says, patiently waiting for me to look up at him. "I'm genuinely sorry if I freaked you out." I nod, looking up at Embry.
"She's not so good with weird." Sam jokes. "I'm sorry," I whisper, continuing to stare at Embry. "What's going on?" "Wanna go for a walk? I can explain everything." That's when Jared perks up. "Finally gonna tell her?" Embry stiffens, growling at the boy. "Yes." He says through gritted teeth. "Promise you're not gonna wolf out or anything?" I ask, half-joking. Despite staring a wolf in the face less than an hour ago, with Embry, I felt safe. Embry laughs, nodding. "Promise." He holds a pinky out causing me to grin, linking mine with his. He smiles, pulling me up and starting to walk.
After walking for a while, we stop, sitting in the middle of a clearing. "Listen, I know this is weird, and probably terrifying, but," "I trust you." I cut him off. "Even after everything I did?" I nod, moving closer to him. "Okay, so, it starts like this," He smiles, his hands coming up as he starts. "Our ancestors, they were called 'spirit warriors.' They shifted into wolves." His eyes light up with amusement. "To protect our lands they fought so many enemies, the only one that remains is the cold ones." I smile at his excitement and nod. "What are those?" "Cold ones?" I nod. He smirks.
"Vampires." He says, smiling wider. "Okay, so, wolves, vampires, what else is real?" He shrugs, shaking his head. "All I know about is the wolves and the vampires." I lean against him, basking in his warmth. "I'm sorry if Paul freaked you out." "I'm pretty sure you'd be freaked too if someone changed into a wolf in front of your eyes," I say and he laughs, wrapping his arm around me. "Yeah, imagine it happening to you." He chuckles. "Sounds terrifying. What's it like?" "It's like," He pauses like he's contemplating what to say before nodding. "Like fire. Like white-hot fire,"
He winces slightly. "Under your skin. And there are times where the wolf just begs to be let out, it just claws and claws. Like, when Paul shifted? I wanted so badly to shift and protect you." I smile slightly, my face heating up. "You did protect me, had you not moved me something bad could've happened." His eyes widen and he pulls me in tightly. "I don't even wanna think about that." He says quickly. "Come on, let's head back." I stand but he hesitates. "Can I ask why didn't eat Emily's muffin?" My face pales and I look down. "We'll talk about that later. For now, let's go." He nods.
I anxiously sit with Embry in Emily's, staring at the muffin in front of me, and to be polite, I choke down small pieces of it. Embry takes my hand, smiling at me. Emily comes over with a glass of water. "No need to eat if you don't like it." She says with a genuine smile. "Oh, no, I do like it, my stomach is upset. There's a lot going on." Her smile widens and she sits beside me. "Did Embry tell you everything?" "Yes," Embry says too quickly. "So she knows about imprinting?" Emily smirks and I immediately turn to the girl. "What's that?" "It's nothing, Andria." He yet again speaks too quickly.
"I wanna know." I gently push his shoulder, smiling when he caves. "Imprinting is like," He pauses. "It's, like, you look into their eyes and it's no longer gravity holding you down," He pauses again, a smile breaking out across his face. "It's her." I notice how he changes it from them to her when he speaks. My stomach drops and I nod. "How do you know who it's supposed to be?" "You don't. It sneaks up on you, it just... happens." I nod again. "Has it happened to you?" "No." My heart drops just like my stomach had. "I mean, it's cool to think about. To know you have someone out there for you." I shrug.
Embry nods before Emily smacks the back of his head. She tuts before going back to what she was doing. "What was that about?" "Nothing. Are you ready to go home? Charlie might want his daughter back." I nod, smiling and waving at Emily who waves goodbye in return. The entire drive I sit as far away from Embry as I can. "Listen, I know this is a lot to take in, but you can always ask me questions if you have any." He says, continuing to drive. He spares a few glances but I never look at him. When he pulls up to the house, I get out without another word. "I'll see you later."
He speaks quickly before I close his door, walking into the house. I lie in bed, my phone buzzing beside me. I decide to ignore it and just go to bed. I wake up in the morning to hear someone knocking on my door. I groan, pulling the covers over my head. "Go away." The door opens and my bed sinks at their weight. "Come on, Emily wants you to come over again," Embry says, attempting to pull my covers off. I hold tighter, groaning again. His hands find their way to my sides after he yanks my covers away, his fingers grazing my skin. "Get up or I tickle." "You wouldn't."
His fingers slowly start to move as he quickly moves to sit on my hips, pinning me down. He tickles me as I squirm beneath him, gasping for air between laughter. "Okay! Okay! Fine!" I try to get him to stop, agreeing to go to Emily's with him. He stops, continuing to stare down at me. His hands tighten on my waist as he leans down, his lips ghosting over mine before I lean up, pressing my lips to his. The metaphorical fireworks that they feel in movies explode. His hands tighten and he deepens the kiss slightly, pulling my lip between his teeth before pulling back. "Em-" He cuts me off with another kiss.
My door opens. "Woah," Bella says causing Embry to pull back quickly, not moving off my hips. "We were just-" "Yeah, I know," Bella smirks, walking out. My face goes red and I look up at Embry. "Sorry." He says, moving off me completely. "Just come by whenever." He quickly walks out, the door almost slamming behind him. I sit up, quickly getting dressed and walking out. I'll drive to Emily's myself. I grumble to myself, not understanding why he walked out so quickly when all we did was kiss. It was just a small kiss, but... it didn't feel small. I groan, throwing my head back.
I pull into Emily's, staring at the small, homey cabin in front of me. I knock, walking in. "Hello, hello." I smile at the girl who drops what she doing, pulling me into a hug. "Where are the boys?" "They're out, but," She drags out the word, smiling widely. "I heard you kissed Embry." My face goes red and I look down, my
hand coming up to my lips. "Who told you?" "Embry was ranting about it when he came in." My eyes widen and my head snaps up. "What was he saying?" "Something about he couldn't believe he actually kissed you and that Bella ruined it."
I sit at the table as Emily goes behind the counter, preparing coffee. "What was it like?" She asks. "You know how in the movies they say you feel sparks? You know, like, fireworks and such?" She nods as she hands me the cup, sitting down beside me. "Like that," I state. I can hear loud voices and footsteps as I drink. "I should go." I set the cup in the sink before waving to Emily as I walk out. I'm stopped at my truck, someone grabbing my wrist. "Don't go," Embry says. "You clearly didn't want to be around me, why should I stay?" "Didn't want to be around you? I was angry we were stopped."
I turn to him, my face going red as he smirks. "What?" His hand comes up, pushing hair out of my face. "Yep." He leans down, pressing his lips to mine, his hands dropping to my hips. I pull back as the guys wolf whistle from the doorway. My blush deepens as I stand there. "Wow, now that was hot," Paul says, motioning to us as he bites into a muffin. "It was better earlier. And I'll get it again." Embry brags. I shove his shoulder, walking past him. "Not if you keep that up." I walk inside to Emily, leaning against the counter beside her. I can hear the guys 'ooh' as Embry comes inside.