Indian summer

Chapter 9

But in Forks nothing is perfect. The sky cut loose then and started to pour buckets on us, quickly plastering our hair to our faces. "C'mon," I said over the roar of the rain. Lightning flashed in the sky above us and thunder cracked loudly. It seemed to shake the forest around us like someone up there was mad at us. I grabbed is hand, tried to ignore the zap that ran up my arm, and tugged him for the house.

"Are you sure it's ok?" He said, referring to my parents seeing me come out of the woods with a strange man.

"They aren't home." I replied. Embry quickened his pace to match mine. It wasn't as if he made an effort of it though. I was pretty sure he could quickly out run me and run for a while without breathing heavy. That was probably a wolf thing.

The security lights flashed on as we entered my backyard. We went in through the back door that led into our garage. "Ugh," I muttered; grabbing a shop rag from the box on the work table and starting to dry my arms and face. "I'm never going to get used to the rain." I looked up at Embry; he was dripping all over the place. His sloppy hair cut was plastered to his face and his jeans were darkened from the downpour. "Aren't you gonna shake or something?" I kidded.

"Ha ha." He laughed sarcastically. He leaned over and shook his wet hair in my face then, spraying me.

"Hey!" I squealed in protest. I quickly grabbed a shop rag and handed it to him.

"You wanted me to shake," he laughed and accepted the rag. "So I did."

"Remind me to not be so literal next time." I muttered; opening the door that lead into the house. Sure enough, my parents weren't home yet. They would be soon, though. I glanced back at Embry. He was shutting the door and I couldn't help but notice how smooth his motions were. Everything seemed effortless; like he was never trying hard at anything. The couple seconds I watched him I began to believe that he really was a wolf.

"How long have you been a shape-shifter?" I asked, bringing him into the living room. We sat down on the couch. He sat close to me but far enough to respect the fact that we've only known each other for three days. He leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.

"Almost a year I think." He said. "Maybe eight months? I'm not sure."

"But not your whole life..." I stated.

"No," He shook his head, "No this doesn't happen till you mature. Depending on the amount of youth in the tribe at the time some kids as young as 11 might change, though."

"What triggers the change?" I asked and Embry sighed. "You said you changed when there was danger?"

"Yeah," He said. He acted like he didn't want to tell me. Was it really that bad? "We change when vampires move into the area."

"Vampires?" I repeated, making sure I heard him right. "Are you serious?"

"As serious as I am about the fact that I can change into a wolf." He looked me in the eye with his dark animal like eyes. I shivered.

"Are there vampires in the area?" I asked timidly.

"Yeah, for now." He said. "They don't eat humans, though. We have an alliance with them. They'll be moving on soon." He said the last part like he was sad about it.

"Isn't it a good thing they're moving? Even if they don't eat humans?"

Embry's mouth twisted, "Not when it comes to the Cullens. About a year ago the Chief of Police's daughter moved here from Pheonix. She fell in love with one of the Cullens. They had a kid, while she was still human but she's a vampire now."

"Wait," I inturupted, "They had a kid? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm serious," He laughed. "I haven't lied to you yet. Well my alpha, my friend Jacob, imprinted on their daughter. So if the Cullens leave, Jake will probably leave."

"But he's your alpha, doesn't he have, like, liability or something?"

"If only," Embry sighed, "Jake didn't want to be alpha. He was kinda born into it. It's a long story but the jist of it is, he was born to be an alpha so eventually he broke off from the pack and some of us followed him."

"That's how you formed the two packs." I stated.

"Hey, should your parents know I'm here?" He asked.

"Why?"

"'Cause someone just pulled into your drive way."

"Do you have super hearing or something?" I asked, I stood up to look out the window. Sure enough, my mom was getting out of the car.

"Comes with being a wolf. Should I sneak out the back?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, motioning for the door.

A part of me wanted Embry to stay. I wanted to share the joy I had suddenly found in him with my family. But the other part of me knew that them walking in to find a strange man in their living room was not the way to introduce him. "Yeah, you should go."

He hesitated; I didn't want him to leave and I knew he didn't want to leave. "I won't be far." He said lowly. He touched my cheek with the back of his feverish hand before darting out the back door.

I was standing in the middle of the living room looking at the door Embry had escaped through when my mom walked in. "Dixie, what are you doing?"

I turned to look at her. She was staring at me with a confused look on her face. "I was... um... I thought I heard something."

"Outside? Is there something in our backyard?" My mom started walking for the back door and Embry's words fluttered through my mind – I won't be far.

Shit.

"No," I quickly moved in front of my mom, blocking her way to the back door. "In the front yard. It was probably just you."

My mom stared at me for a moment. "You've seemed really jumpy lately, Dixie." She muttered as she moved past me to start working in the kitchen.

Maybe because I recently found my 'soul mate'... in all his wolfy glory. "Sorry," was all I said.

"How was school?" She asked as she started getting dinner together. "Are you fitting in well?"

"School was fine," I muttered. My mind was elsewhere. It was back in the woods, Embry pressing himself against me, the heat of his body....

"Dixie!" My mom had turned all the way around.

"What?" I almost whined.

"Are you sure you're ok? It seems like I've been talking to a robot lately." She moved forward and placed her hand against my cheek where Embry had touched it. "You're a little warm."

I swatted her hand away. "I'm fine mom." I pivoted away before she could come up with a rebuttal and went to the seclusion of my room. But the more secluded I was the more my mind wandered. My mind took me back to the beach. The rain was pouring down, thunder rolled, and lightning crashed but we didn't seem to care. I ran a hand over the side of my face. This was getting out of hand. That's what the logical side of me said, anyway. The rest of me didn't seem to care.