Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

eighty two

Embry

"Absolutely not" Edward growled, still digging into my sisters head

"Edward, its the only way" Emmet tried to reason

"Why can't Emily do it?" Edward asked

"I'm too close to her, and he would know that something is up if her sister in law was on her side and not Sam's" Emily sighed, "I would if I could, but its too risky"

"It's risky with Bella, too, that's both targets in one spot" Edward was basically begging at this point, "I highly doubt Bella would be down with it anyways"

"When do I go in?" a quiet voice asked, startling all of us.

"Bella, no! It's too dangerous to offer both of you guys up at once!" Edward pleaded with his mate, but she seemed to be dead set on helping.

"We have to let Serena recover for a few days first, then we can see if it works" Carlisle said and Bella nodded.

"How long until she wakes up?" Emily asked, putting another blanket on Serena whose shivering increased. "It's getting late and the temperature outside keeps on dropping"

"Maybe he's trying to weaken her? Or he's waiting for the guys to stop chasing his buddy so they can meet up" Alice offered.

Its past midnight. 3:46 am actually, and Serena was still trapped in that stupid hole. Paul was now in his wolf form to produce more heat, but he was fast asleep. Sam took Emily home, and hadn't gotten back here yet.

The rest of the pack laid off on chasing Luke's friend, and had returned to their normal patrol schedule, Laken covering my shift while I sat here waiting for Serena to wake up. Jared had joined us here with some warmer clothes to put on Serena, then left shortly after.

"Embry," Esme whispered, gaining my attention. I had been staring at the clock on the wall for almost twenty minutes at this point. "Why don't you go lay in the guest room and get some rest? I'll come get you if she comes to before you wake up, ok?"

I nodded at her and followed her upstairs, thanking her as she left me alone in the guest room. Although I was uncomfortable falling asleep in a house full of leeches, this is probably going to be one of the best naps I've had in a while.

Serena

It's been hours since Luke left me alone in this stupid forest. I still couldn't move or speak. The only thing I cold do was sit here and wait for him to let me go. He left my lying on the ground, much like how I was when I first got dragged back into this thing. I was freezing.

I know for a fact that they're keeping me warm in real life, but that's not doing anything for me right now.

"I forgot one more important thing" Luke said, speeding up to me out of nowhere, "your parents asked me to relay a message for them before I let you go"

He grabbed my shirt and pulled me off the ground, pinning me against the closest tree. Luke laughed as my heart rate increased because I was terrified. I may have been able to stand up to him in the locker room, but that's when I knew the guys had my back. In here, I have no clue what he can and can't do to me, and I have no protection.

Luke got all up in my face and chuckled, "they want you to know that they'll love you even more when you're one of them" He dropped me harshly before running away agin, this time lifting his curse from me.

Like last time, touch came first. I felt coarse fur on my face and the soft material of a blanket wrapped around me. I heard people shuffling around me next, and the rhythmic breathing of the wolf who was keeping me warm. The taste of mud was still in my mouth. I'm going to have to brush my teeth as soon as I'm home. I could smell the fabric softener of the blanket I was using, gain fresh, my favorite.

Finally, I was able to see again. I blinked rapidly and observed the scene around me. Paul was in his wolf form, wrapped around my body. Sam was talking to Edward quietly in the corner, Alice was sitting on the couch, zoned out, and Jasper was next to her. "Welcome back Serena" Carlisle said, bringing the rest of the people in the room attention to us. Paul was still asleep, and Embry was nowhere to be found, but Sam made his way quickly to me, pulling me out of Pauls grasp and sitting me on the couch.

"How do you feel?" Sam asked me and I shrugged

"Tired, cold, afraid" I replied.

"What did he say to you right before you came to? I wasn't able to catch it because he left so quickly" Edward asked.

"He told me that my parents were excited for me to become one of them" I replied, "and that terrified me. I can't go back to those people"

"So the Hastings are vampires?" Esme asked, "How did we not know that?"

"I don't think they are" Sam intervened, "we would have smelled them"

"And he works at the hospital with me, I definitely would've noticed if there was something weird about him" Carlisle added

"Maybe they found a way to conceal their smell? They are super into science and stuff like that" I told the group, recounting on my childhood. "Plus, whenever they would hit me their hands wouldn't be ice like your guys's"

"What if they just turned into vampires recently?" Paul asked. I hadn't even realized he left to go change back, let alone noticed him enter.

"They did kinda fall off the face of the Earth, he hasn't shown up for a shift at the hospital in weeks" Carlisle concluded.

"So they want to be one big, fake happy family again? Why are they so obsessed with me? Why can't they pick someone else?" I asked

"Maybe Luke was that someone else, and now he's their puppet. They knew you guys were close, so they're using him to try and lure you in" Alice offered, making all of us uneasy.

"Those people are messed up" Embry said, coming down the stairs and finally going the conversation, Esme following behind him.