WHEN THE STARS FORGET US - EMBRY CALL

28. another mono case

( when the stars forget us! )
↳ chapter twenty-eight ↲

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❝ WAIT UNTIL HE FINDS OUT
ABOUT TALIA. ❞
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THE DAYS DRAGGED ON, and Bella grew more restless with each unanswered call. She had tried everything—texting, calling, even showing up at the Black residence once, but Billy always had the same response.

     "He's got mono," Billy told her, his face unreadable. "He's really sick. Needs rest."

     But something about it didn't sit right with Bella. Mono? Jacob had been burning up at the theater, sure, but he was angry, not sick. And now, suddenly, he was too weak to even pick up the phone?

     Talia, of course, knew the truth. She kept her lips sealed, though, watching Bella pace her room with her phone gripped in her hand. Guilt consuming Talia.

     "What if something else is going on?" Bella muttered, glancing at Talia. "You don't think Billy's lying to me, do you?"

     Talia hesitated for a moment before forcing a sigh. "I don't know, B. Maybe he really is just sick." It was the safest answer she could give.

     In reality, she did know what was happening. While Bella was left in the dark, the pack was deep in the middle of helping Jacob come to terms with what he had become.

     And it wasn't going smoothly.

     Embry barely had time to react before Jacob shoved him, hard.

     His back slammed against a tree, but he stayed on his feet, rolling his shoulders as his eyes burned with barely restrained fury.

     "You really wanna do this?" Embry growled.

     Jacob's hands were shaking, his breaths ragged. "You lied to me." His voice was sharp, cutting. "You sat there and watched me lose my mind. You let me suffer while you—what? Played along with Sam's bullshit?"

     Embry scoffed, stepping forward. "You think I wanted to keep it from you? You think it was easy watching you go through it? We all did, Jacob." His voice was cold, steady. "You're not special."

     Jacob let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "Right. Because you guys are so damn loyal to Sam now, huh? Your little pack—your little cult. You'd rather keep his secrets than be a real friend."

     Embry's jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists at his sides. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

     Jacob's lips twisted into a sneer. "Don't I?" He took a step closer, voice lowering into something venomous. "Guess it makes sense. You were always so desperate to belong somewhere, right? Guess you finally found your place—licking Sam's boots."