A gasp, one of pain and mumbled apologies, reassurances, had Reyna stalling in her reading - pausing as she gazed down at the floor in the general direction of her friend, knowing the girl was in pain.
She was not alone, Jacob with her, but he and Edward were conspiring to talk the girl out of her choices. It was uncertain what the boy would think, his devotion to Bella would cloud his mind so completely from what the girl was trying to do that he could ruin things he did not think possible to ruin.
It was sincere words, whispers of love and triumphant that turned Reyna back to the book, fingers digging a little harder than necessary as she sped through the pages - glosing over the pictures of monsters clawing from a mothers stomach. This baby wasn't a monster, no baby was or could ever be born a monster. These were nothing but old folks tales, tales of obscure cultures and societies from times long ago, before they could have hoped to understand even slightly.
Carlisle didn't acknowledge the sudden tension in her shoulders, how her spine became rigid, and how this she was thankful, uncertain if she could handle speaking her mind so freely and angrily about the situation.
Because Reyna would have died for any child she carried - uncaring of whether they were fully human or a true bred demon. Never could she fault Bella for wishing to do the same.
It was growing dark, the stack of books growing higher, when she finally returned to Bella - an itch in her mind that she couldn't hope to scratch haunting her. There was something she was missing, something they were all overlooking that would make this all rather simple and cause less stress in the end.
Bella was asleep, tucked comfortably on the couch with blankets covering her for warmth. Rose stood by, Emmett and Edward hovering, and Reyna stayed just outside the room, not wishing to disrupt the tranquillity of it all.
Silent and peaceful moments were hard to come by now, much more so when all of them were approaching the point of starvation. They were all tense, all alert.
Reyna was the first to hear it, seemingly always the first now. The howls were loud to her ears, calling and filled with despair. It brought her to the window, quickly, Edward moving to her side immediately, searching for what only she knee was out there.
The howls, the pack, something was wrong. She glanced to Edward, asking, and with his nod of approval she's moving out the house quickly, flipping down the front steps gracefully as she darted to the woods - following the sound of the wolf cries.
She was still faster, stronger than the other, but just barely as she neared the end of the newborn period, any additional enhancements like those of Edward's speed or Emmett strength would reveal themselves soon but until then, if even she had any, she would use what she had to her advantage.
Feet carried her fast as she propelled herself forward, launching herself between trees, digging up dirt as she went. She could hear it clearer now, then stop in the howls but the distant, barely there thud of paws against the forest floor.
Closer, so close, and she was throwing herself over the road, landing in a neat little crouch at the other end before moving forward - nearly crashing into the large furry mass as it skids to a stop in front of her.
Reyna shrieked, heels digging hard into the earth before looking up at the russet wolf that towered over her.
"Jacob?" She whispered, confused. "What in the world is going on? I heard you all from the house."
The wolf bobbed his large head, paws hitting the floor with a huff before he nudged her in the stomach with his nose, pushing her back in the direction of the house.
Nodding, she spun on her toes and walked to the side of the road. "Alright, keep up. I want to know what's going on," she stated before shoving off again, leading a clear path back to the house the fastest she could go.
Jacob kept close to her heels, speed close to her own, and the other, smaller wolf panted after them, his heart thrumming erratically in his chest. Reyna felt bad, realizing that they must have been going to fast for him.
It didn't slow her though, not until they were drawing to a stop in front of the house, Edward flanked by Jasper and Emmett on the porch.
"What's wrong?" Edward demanded.
Reyna shrugged, rolling her shoulders in one swift motion. "It's just them. Is it good news?" She asked hopefully.
The dimming of Edward's expression was clear, the way he became rigid and firm - leaping off the porch with a loud hiss.
"They want to kill Bella?" He demanded, livid, and Reyna grew still, hackles raising defensively and skin flickering in and out of focus like patches.
Emmett and Jasper were jumping down now, standing protectively and prepared to attack when Edward called them off. "Not them, the others - the pack is coming."
She had not realized that she was snarling and spitting until a cold hand was on her elbow, firm, and she was looking up at Emmett's equally dark, sympathetic eyes. The red haze to her vision clearing as she leaned against him for comfort.
Seth was gone, she noticed, Jasper as well, and Edward and Jacob remained there talking.
"What of Embry?" She muttered, staringly pleadingly at Edward. "Was he going to kill her? Kill us?"
Neither answered and Reyna released a shuddery gasp, laughing breathlessly. "Who was going to kill me? Did they have it settled or was it an unorganized free-for-all?"
Jacob whined, looking away purposely from her direction and Reyna realized that they had, in fact, decided who would attack who.
She turned expectantly to Edward, skin crawling with any possibility of what he was going to say but there was no response. They either thought her unworthy to take out or too much a threat - she didn't know which she'd prefer.
"Fine," Reyna hissed angrily. "I'll ask him myself."
She yanked away from Emmett, hands clenched dangerously at her side. Every part, inch, centimetre hair space, wanted to run to him, to hear the words from his own lips and know that she was deserving of such a fate - to let him gauge the phantom of her heart from its place in her chest cavity where it was slowing building anew, let him watch her burn as she was deserving.
Because how else was she meant to feel something, to feel human in those final moments where she could be closest to him, to the self she used to be, the last few moments spent as a human in an inferno that was her own body.
Reyna was ready to fly to the border, stand by the shattered remains of the treaty line and let him come to her - because he would come, when she was tackled by a large mass of fur, a weight on her back that she easily could have shoved off, but then the warmth was human-like Bella, and Reyna remembered how much she was needed to protect the baby because no matter what the pack thought of her, she knew her talent was unexpendable.
"Okay, I get it. Please, get off," she asked as politely as she could.
The wolf settled down, dropping himself fully on top of her, and Reyna sighed in dismay. "Jake, I'm sorry, I'll stay put. Please, just get off."
He didn't move, only groaning as he turned his nose away. He must have been tortured by the smell so close to him, but Reyna didn't find it so bad, having familiarized herself with the scent of wolves through continuous trips to the border. It was comforting despite how awful the others claimed it to be.
"I'll call him?" She offered, propping her head up on her hand. "You must know his phone number."
He shifted on top her before slowly rising to his feet, inching upwards to the free her and Reyna was slipping up to her feet immediately, putting distance between them - fixing her hair determinedly and repressing any urge she had to glare at him.
"He'll give you Sam's number," Edward told her. "You'll most likely find him there."
Reyna nodded, taking the phone from Edward as he offered it to her, the number already dialled and the first ring sounded.
A quick, barely-there glance over her shoulder and Reyna was jumping up to a second-floor window, dancing through with delicate steps until she was safely within her own room where she could get a semblance of privacy.
It still smelled of him, her mind rewarding her with hints of memory from when he was here. The ringing continued, she held her breath.
"Hello?" A sweet feminine voice answered. It must have been Emily, the woman that Bella had told her about.
"Hello, I'm looking for Embry," Reyna did her best to make her voice sound cheery like she was the cheerleading captain again trying to steer a pep rally.
There was a clatter at the other end, the background noise growing hush. "I'm afraid he isn't here right now."
And she could hear the hesitation, the stutter over the lie as the woman was probably too sweet to lie to anyone.
Reyna sighed. "I'm sorry, Emily, but this is very important and I'm certain that he would want to speak with me, even if it's just to make me happy. That's how imprints work, don't they? Tell him it's Reyna calling and if he still doesn't want to speak to me then the message will be clear."
A distant piece of her mind, the part that screamed at her, told her that she had never manipulated a person to get what she wanted before, that this was wrong -- she was wrong -- but she didn't regret it when she heard the phone being passed off.
"Reyna? How did you get this number?" His voice was deeper and rougher than she remembered, most likely from a lack of sleep.
"It was easy to convince Jake to give it to me when the other option was a suicide mission to hunt you down," Reyna forced a laugh, biting down her self-resentment and bitterness.
"What?" He hissed, a growl building from somewhere in his throat. "What did Jacob say to you?"
"Were you going to kill me?" She rebutted, listening to the way his breath caught in his throat.
"No, never," he gasps, denial vehement as he lies to himself.
Reyna breathes deep, letting the scent of him wash over her senses. Her voice is gentle, soft, when she asks again. "Were you going to kill me, Embry, or was it one of your brothers?"
She can hear a scratch, a stutter in his heartbeat, and Reyna was somehow prepared for the harrowing sob that he made.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! The thing needs to be dealt with and you're one of them, you're protecting it! It's for the good of the tribe, of your families!"
"And where does that leave me? I thought imprints meant something, even if you don't want me," surprisingly calm, she didn't buy into his grief as though she was already dead. "Would you have let me die? Again?"
Embry's voice was choked. "The tribe comes first. The pack. If you stood in our way, we wouldn't have killed you, but . . . you can be put back together."
"I won't stop you from doing what you believe to be right, even if we stand on different grounds," Reyna told him. "But you better be prepared to face me, Embry, because I will tear down any one of your brothers that go after my friend, that baby."
"Reyna, listen, if you just come, come to us no one will touch you I swear it. Please -"
Reyna whispered, "I'm sorry, Embry. I hope I can forgive you for anything you do for those you love, as I hope you will forgive me. Goodbye."
She didn't give him a chance to speak again as she hung up the phone, awfully delicate with the thing like it was the smallest child.
Putting it down safely on the table near the front room as passed, Reyna took her place by Bella once again, watching the movement within the protruding stomach with an awe-filled expression b regardless of the bruises that flowered over Bella's skin.
"He didn't mean what he said," Edward whispered to his place across from her, Rosalie looking over her shoulder at the girl - offering a tight-lipped smile.
"I know," she smiled painfully, forcing her lips into the movement. "He could never go through with such thinly veiled threats, but I believe they would - will try to get me out the way, but I mean what I said to him. I would do anything to protect Bella and the baby."
"He's not a very good liar," Rosalie mused.
"No," Reyna laughed. "His bluff was easy to call. Let's hope he doesn't try to call mine."
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2018-05-22