EMBRY
Seth and I go back to La Push to visit with friends. He tells me about seeing the bruises on Avalon, caused by her ex, how angry he got about it. He told me about he and Edward’s trip to her ex’s house and running into her brother, and how he said he was going to take her away. I tell him that she would never leave him… I’ve seen the way he looks at her and the way she looks at him. They both need each other more than the other knows. I tell him he just needs to get away for a little while and have some fun. So that’s exactly what we do.
We go over to Emily and Sam’s place to crash. We all go outside for a bonfire, where we all eat a ton of food. Hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, brats, and even muffins and Emily had put in the oven. Sam and Emily sit on a log together looking at the fire and talking quietly. Jared is there talking and laughing with Kim (the girl he Imprinted with), Quil is playing with little Claire, Paul is off talking quietly with his imprinted girl, Rachel, Brady and Colin are off wrestling around, and Seth and I are still stuffing our faces. Even Leah showed up, she’s off visiting with Sue, Charlie and Billy.
After a couple of hours, once everyone has finished eating and it’s nearly dark, Sam and the rest of us werewolves go out into the woods. He asks which of us wants to go on a run, just like we used to do. Even though we won’t be able to communicate with the rest of them, Leah, Quil, Seth and I decide to go with them. We all phase and start running around, howling and wrestling around. We stretch our legs, running as fast as the wind carries us.
I freeze, hearing voices in the distance. I sniff, and instantly smell… vampires. One scent is faintly familiar, but the others I don’t recognize. Sam has stopped running too. He obviously called the others because Paul and Jared have stopped just ahead. I nod my head toward Sam, trying to let him know that I’ve smelled it too.
Vampires? Quil asks me.
Yeah. I only recognize one scent—
Seth interrupts me. Avalon’s brother. He takes off running. Sam, missing what we had just said, follows Seth. I’m right on his heels, with Quil and Leah right behind me. We come into a spot just outside Seth’s house.
Why…? he briefly wonders when the scent hits us all: burning vampire.
I’m finally even with Seth, with Sam on his left side. Leah and Quil flank us; Jared and Paul flank Sam. Brady and Cody are nowhere to be found. Sam probably sent them out to search the perimeter. There is a fire and standing to face it, to face us are four vampires.
Seth growls and takes a step forward. Jex! he shouts.
Seth don’t! Those are powerful vampires. I remember when we almost had to fight them a couple years ago, I warn him.
His whole body is shaking with rage. He barks and growls again, deep in his chest.
Sam gets low and yips.
“Ah. Who let the dogs out, huh?” the vampire in the middle of the other three says.
Seth is glaring at him and he growls again.
We can’t fight these ones on our own, Leah thinks heplessly.
Quil’s mind flashes to little Claire.
Edward!! I scream in my mind, knowing he’s too far away to hear.
“This will be fun,” the girl vampire says, smiling. She looks at Seth and then he’s on the ground, howling in pain.
“No. We killed who we came here for. I’ll take care of that one on my own. Soon. But not today, Jane,” the middle one, Jex, says.
She scrunches her eyebrows.
