"
There is no law except for the law that there is no law.
"
- John Archibald Wheeler
RIP Embry
Harper's the type of person to let someone know exactly how she felt about them through her facial expressions. People know where the stood with the girl. Eli and Sage knew that she liked them by the bright laughs and infectious smiles the girl shared with them. Sage knew that she liked her more. Quil and Jake knew she felt bad for them from the pitying gazes she shot them to and from classes. Paul and Jared knew she was suspicious of them by the narrowed and curious eyes. Sam knew she hated him by the constant nasty remarks she shot him while Embry Call could tell by the look of contentment that showed on her face as he looked at her from across the parking lot.
The girl quickly rushed into her car and sped away to Emily's home as if to race him there. She wasn't scheduled to work that day, thankfully, so she could spend as much time as she wanted in Hoh Rain Forest. It was easy to guess that it was excitement that had dragged her out of the parkinglot so quickly, but Embry had a feeling that it was him. It was safe to say she was pissed at him. And Harper was known to be unforgiving with that. Take it from Sam who had been at the end of that since she had arrived. In short, he was screwed. He had wronged Harper and thus he was a dead man.
Harper had indeed rushed home. Running up the stairs without so much as a glance to Sam and Emily. She had gotten even colder with Sam after the whole manipulating Embry Call into a gang ordeal. The girl quickly threw on a windbreaker, rainboots, and her prepacked bag. She only stopped to grab her notebook and rushed to Emily and Sam. She had the decency to kiss Emily on the cheek as she had been doing for the past couple of weeks and flip off Sam, which she had been doing for the past couple of weeks. She bounded through the trees and the trail to begin looking for a set of prints to find the wolf she had seen.
Emily sighed deeply as she watched her niece go through the trees and into the woods. Harper was unknowingly throwing herself into danger. "She knows..." she murmured out, the worry was evident in her unsteady voice and the way her heartbeat picked up.
Sam gently grabbed her hand and he could hear the heartbeat slow. "She knows that there are wolves, Emily," Sam told his wife. "She doesn't know what we are."
Emily nodded and wrapped her arms around him, looking for comfort. "What happened to the leeches?" She asked quietly. Emily had an understandable fear of vampires.
After Sam had imprinted on Emily, she had a nasty run-in with one. She still remembered the bright red villainous eyes. He had sharpened his nails, so when he slapped Emily three long and deep marks forever marred her face. The vampire greedily lapped at the blood on his nails before turning blackened eyes to an unconscious Emily. And then Sam had shown up. It was a flurry of fur, but a somewhat easy fight. Emily woke up halfway through the battle. The Quileute legends her Uncle Harry had told her once had flashed in her mind.
When Sam locked eyes with Emily her world shifted as she recognized those deep brown eyes. She knew.
Sam pursed his lips and tucked her head under his chin, "They're still around," he said sorrowfully. His eyes shut as Emily began shaking. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes and Sam was quick to say something to help. "Jared and Paul have been keeping watch over her."
This was true. During Embry's newbie stages one of them would stay with Embry and help him transition the two others would tail Harper. Sometimes even making a false trail to lead the girl away from where Embry and the other were shifting. Especially after she had actually seen him. If they caught the sickly sweet scent of the vampiress one would chase after that. It was tireless work for them as Harper was always in the forest. And yet Harper, as an outsider, wasn't allowed to know. The council wouldn't allow it, Billy and Old Quil refused. What Sam and Emily didn't think the council had realized was that Harper was determined and curious. She would find out soon enough even if they didn't want her to and that was something Emily would bet her house on.
Jared and Embry rushed into Emily's, each of them depositing their backpacks in the guest bedroom. Both stripping off their shirts and shoes before running into the woods. Embry had a job to do and Jared had to watch for some vampire. The usual day for a shifter.
In the woods, Harper was going to the place where she found prints the easiest, and most often. At this point, she had practically made a trail herself. Harper hiked her bag up higher on her shoulders while her eyes remained steadily focused on the muddy ground to the trees, looking for any sort of indication that a wolf had been there. Her eyes focused on the ground and a resounding smacking sound echoed around the woods as Harper had hit her forehead at her own stupidity.
She remembered that 1) she was an idiot and 2) it had rained during the last period of school. She was sure that even if there was a wolf here, which was doubtful, its prints would be ruined by the rain. If they were fresh she was sure she would be lunch. Which she did not doubt as since she had started her forest treks she hadn't found a single animal carcass which left her wondering what exactly what they ate. As the thought passed through her mind she hurriedly dug out her notebook and pen to write that question in the designated question section. Harper frowned to herself at her idiocy, standing up, and brought her water bottle up to her lips.
She stood as still as a statue when a twig snapped. Not even bothering to make a sound Harper held her breath. Harper turned her head to look at where it came from and then she saw him. A loud groan came from her as she caught sight of him. Harper scowled at Embry who sheepishly came out of the treeline.
"God, you are such a creep," Harper murmured noticing how A) he was not wearing a shirt as per usual and B) that he must've been following her.
Embry curled his upper lip and crossed his arms. "That's not very nice," he frowned.
Harper rolled her eyes. It was rich coming from him. "You're the one following young girls while shirtless in the woods," she quipped and turned away from him. "Sounds like a creep to me."
"Wait!" He shouted after staring dumbfounded in the spot she once stood. He rushed to where Harper had in fact stopped. She turned slowly and crossed her arms. Harper's eyebrows raised to his hairline and he caught himself counting every mole, beauty mark, or freckle.
"Aren't you scared of the woods, Scaredy Cat?" She asked tauntingly. Embry furrowed his brows as he mouthed the nickname she had dubbed him. He shook his head as he tried to get his mind on the right track.
"Uh, nope," He said unconfidently. Harper was beginning to think being unconfident was his signature.
"So, your fear of bears was complete bullshit. Good to know," Harper commented snarkily.
Embry wanted to hit himself repeatedly in the face with a brick. How could he have forgotten? He had spent four days trapped in the body of a wolf while the thoughts of three other people were shoved into his mind and spent another two days learning how to phase.
Oh and he learned that the 'bears' actually coded for vampires or shifters. He would like to emphasize the whole vampire part of that. Oh, and learning that the dull as dishwater girl Jake's been in love with for the past year was dating one. The bear attacks were a product of vampires feeding in the woods and the bear sitings were just the wolves. He thought if he told Harper about the vampire part she might skin him alive. Or smack him. He did not like either thought at all.
"No, I just-" Embry tried. He really did, but Harper brushed passed him and went the way she came.
He followed after her and stopped when she held an arm out. He could see exactly where he had messed up. The blood drained from his face and he looked down with wide eyes. There in the mud were prints, his prints to be exact. He could see the wolf ones get muddled with the human and bit his lip looking to the girl and hoping that Harper would not figure it out.
She did. Harper's face immediately transformed into a harsh scowl as she looked down and noticed Embry's bare and muddy feet. She rushed down to get a better look at the prints. They were completely ruined. Each one trampled over by Embry. Her scowl stayed on the ground. She could barely hear Embry's approach as the moss muffled his steps.
"I'm sorry, Harper," Embry apologized, realizing what he had done. And the fact that she looked like she was going to cry was not easy on his conscious.
"Forget it," Harper spat at him, turning on her heel to go back home. Harper was seething. So incredibly pissed off at Embry. She noticed that he was following her from a safe and cautious distance. 'Good', she had thought with a frown maring her face.
It was kind of incredible the way she worked with such dedication. He probably would've appreciated it more if she didn't look at him like he was the scum of the earth.
He caught up to Harper quickly as they neared Emily's. "Hey, I'm sorry-"
"Piss off," she told him abruptly without even pausing or stop. Embry stood shell shocked, watching where she had stood. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her break through the trees and go inside.
Harper was very angry at him. Very, very angry.
Harper slammed open the door to see Emily cooking dinner. The woman looked confused at her niece showing up early. She usually had stayed out for much longer unless she had work. Emily checked the schedule posted on the fridge and frowned. She wasn't working tonight.
Harper plopped herself on the seat of the table and pouted. Emily who watched with curious eyes rubbed the flour off of her hands and sat beside her niece. She could see the hint of frustrated tears collecting on her lash line, building up as they tried to go out of the dam she had built up.
"Hey, sweetie, what's wrong?" Emily asked softly knowing that Harper was metaphorically a ticking time bomb. She had dealt with a lot of actual ticking time bombs, ie the wolves.
Harper averted her eyes and jutted out her lip. "God, it's just..." Harper paused as she looked up to Emily before hearing the porch creek, seeing Embry fast approaching. "Nevermind, Auntie Em. You wouldn't get it," Harper dismissed. She pulled herself out of her seat and went upstairs to do her homework. She was tired of Embry Call and his bullshit. She didn't even want to look at him let alone speak to him.
Emily let out a pitying chuckle causing Embry to glance over at her curiously. "You are so screwed," she laughed out. The boy narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms grumbling about grudges and it not being his fault.
"Honey, she told me what you did, you were lucky I didn't beat you with a spoon when she shouted that you guys had sex," Emily reminded a heavily flushed Embry Call.
"You guys know she was lying, right?" He asked as he made eye contact with the older Makah woman. "Right?"
"Paul and Jared really believed her, but Sam's hearing was better so he heard her heartbeat jump. I was very convinced," Emily explained to him.
"Oh my God!" He groaned out as he put his head in his hands and leaned against the table.
He found himself doing this a lot lately.
Harper's plan didn't go as she wanted to. When she flounced down the stairs with her disposable camera to go to the local photography shop in order to develop the film of her wolf Emily had announced that Embry needed a ride home and begged that Harper take him.
More or less she had bribed her with the promise of waffles in the morning.
That was how she found herself blaring an angry alternative playlist and driving to Embry's house. Harper could hold a grudge longer than she thought. She was just still so pissed off at him. For leaving his friends. For joining Sam. For ignoring her after she thought they were actually friends. For fucking up the prints. Embry was as much as a nuisance to her as Samuel Uley was.
Embry looked over to see Harper glare holes in the windshield and felt a pang of insurmountable guilt eat away at him. That was until it hit him that he shouldn't feel bad about some of it. He went through a change he couldn't control. A change that gave his personality a complete 180. He made a lot of questionable decisions. He had been ordered to not talk to his friends. He had been given an order by his alpha to mess up her research. It wasn't his fault, yet he felt so incredibly sorry.
He should apologize. He knew he desperately needed to. He knew that he had to if Harper would ever let him near her again. He had to.
He didn't.
"Stop here," he told her blankly as she approached his shack of a house. "Thanks," he muttered almost inaudibly. The rain was coming down in waves and as soon as he stepped outside he was soaked. It felt great. Like taking an ice-cold shower.
For a second Harper turned to look at him and thought she saw steam rise before deciding that that was crazy. She waited until he had got inside before taking off to get that film developed. After Harper had dropped it off at a local shop she had decided that she certainly did not want to deal with Sam or Paul or Jerad or whatever half-naked man decided to waltz into Emily's house and drove to Moonstruck.
Eli couldn't wipe the grin off of his face when he saw her telltale beat up jeep drive in the parking lot. Bernie smirked down at him and bumped her hip with his. "Stop drooling," she chastised.
Eli brought a hand up to wipe away whatever drool he had actually accumulated while watching Harper step out of the car. She was drenched when she made it inside and shivering. Her clothes - a pair of jeans, a tee-shirt with some witty/dorky saying on it, and a windbreaker - clung to her skin in a way that left his cheeks burning. He adverted his eyes when he had noticed he was staring.
Harper had sat in the barstool in front of him with an embarrassing squeak. "Okay, so I know what you're thinking," she joked. Eli's eyes widened and he snapped his head to hers as warmth flooded his cheeks.
"What?!" He squeaked out. His grip on the glass he was wiping was so tight Harper thought he was going to break it. he didn't know why he was so embarrassed especially since they had done stuff. Maybe it was because Harper was pulling away. Maybe it was because he knew she would never want to be a girlfriend, let alone his.
"I'm not going to be one of those people that goes to work when they have the day off," she trailed off in confusion at Eli's adverse reaction.
Eli's entire body relaxed and he nodded. A joking smile replacing the look of horror he once held on his face. "Are you sure, because it sure does look like it," he teased. Harper's confusion wiped away and she felt a smile find its way on her face. The boy thanked God for whoever invented red lipstick.
Eli was just like that. He was this calming, easy-going, ray of sunshine that just seemed to make everything better. She liked working with him, she liked hanging out with him. And she wished he went to La Push. "What can I say?" Harper shrugged. "I like the view," she said with a wink. A satisfying feeling bubbled out of her when she noticed his cheeks deepen in color.
"Shut up," he mumbled out with a smile and averted his eyes. When he finally got that telltale flush gone he looked back up to her and furrowed his bushy eyebrows. "What's wrong?"
Harper's face immediately fell. She just shook her head. "I'll tell you the next time we lock up," she promised.
Eli found himself counting down to Sunday. He nodded and pursed his lips before brightening. "Hey, Mike's throwing a party on Friday, do you want to come?"
Harper remembered the funny blonde's antics and the rest of Eli's older friend group. She found herself nodding with a smile. "I would really like that, Eli." He liked the way she said his name. "I would hug you if I wasn't, y'know soaked," she said gesturing to herself.
Eli wouldn't have minded, but he was sure Ms. Mooney would. The boy laughed lightly and continued conversing with Harper to get her mind off of what was bugging her. Bernie watched as she walked back from taking an order. A knowing looked crossed her eyes and she decided that she wouldn't mess with him tonight. It was slow anyway.
When Haper left the diner it was dark. It was still raining in that downpour. And strangely enough Mina Murray was waiting in her car. She hadn't notice her until she looked in the rearview mirror and saw her in all her annoying mysteriousness smiling there.
It was safe to say Harper almost got into a car wreck.
She pulled over to the side of the road to turn back and look at the girl who was laughing maniacally as if her ruining Nova would be the funniest thing in the world. Mina wiped away a nonexistent tear from under her pair of sunglasses.
"Oh, you are just too cute!" Mina squealed out before hopping to the passenger seat, pushing Harper aside.
The girl looked at the intruder in confusion. "Hi, yeah. What are you doing here?" Harper asked bluntly.
Mina smiled softly to herself as if everything was an inside joke that only she knew. She let out a giggle as Harper's face twisted into something akin to disbelief, annoyance, and fear. "Genetic fascination," she put simply with a shrug.
Harper's eyebrows furled. "What did you just say to me!?"
Mina didn't respond in any way that would further explain her genetic fascination comment. The woman turned to look forward with such intensity that Harper had to aswell. "You didn't heed my warning, Harper Diana," Mina spit out.
The girl in question turned towards her incredulously. "Yeah, because I don't know you." Mina rolled her eyes. "And I would like to reiterate, what are you doing in my car?"
Scary Girl swiveled to meet Harper's eyes. Not that she would know, sunglasses and all. "I'm finding," more like making, "a pack."
Harper didn't appear confused for even a moment and her jaw dropped. "You know about them," she said in nothing more than a whisper.
"Oh, honey," Mina cooed out. "You should be asking what you don't know. Look into La Push's history. You'll find some interesting characters."
With that Mina left Harper in an endless void of questions and confusion. She seemed to always do that.
***
Eli you hopeless romantic you make me sick. She's gonna dEsTrOy him. RIP Eli 2020. But I really do not be angry about it. It will humble him. He doesn't need it, but still. Mina being a whole ass freakshow is my kink. Also Mina, hun. That is not how you form a relationship with your daughter who happens to be the same age as you, try bonding over like idk video games.