Preyed (Hunted: Book Two)

Chapter Six

    Within seconds of realizing I'm unconscious, I'm am up on my feet. My every thought is in high definition as I take a second to gather my senses. Stumbling my way to the bathroom, I splash cool water on my face. Staring at myself in the mirror, I try to remember what happened when I was last conscious... Carlisle and the others hadn't come home. Jasper was pacing the length of the living room, worried that something had gone wrong. I guess at some point I must have passed out and Jasper brought me upstairs. I dry my face off and toss the towel into the laundry basket before flopping back down on my bed. A loud knock interrupts my thoughts as my door burst open. Emmett stands in the doorway with a giant smile on his face.

"I knocked this time," he says.

"It defeats the purpose if you're just going to open the door anyway," I say.

He shrugs, "at least I knocked. Anyway, it's not like you were doing something important."

"I could have been and that's not the point, the point is..."

Then it kicks in that I'm talking to Emmett. I fly across the room and tackle him into a hug. He laughs before hugging me back. After a few seconds, he pretends to cough as if he can't breathe.

"Can't breathe," he gasps.

I look up at him with one eyebrow raised.

"You don't breathe. You're kind of undead."

"That is beside the point. If I could breathe, I wouldn't be able to."

"Whatever," I laugh.

I sit down at my bed, "so, what happened? Is everyone okay? Is the pack okay? Do they still want to kill me?"

Emmett holds up his hand, "one question at a time, Wolfe. Carlisle will explain everything once we're downstairs and you have stopped your boyfriend from eating us out of house and home."

"My...Seth came back?" I ask.

"Yeah, guy refuses to go home. Said that he wasn't sure he could even if he wanted to."

I run my fingers through my long hair and sigh. This is all because of me. Seth can't go home because of me, the Cullens are risking their lives and their treaty because of me.

"Hey, you okay?" Emmett asks.

"I don't even know what okay is anymore. The people who were once like family to me now want me dead. Seth may never get to go home again, and you guys are risking your life for me.

"We aren't risking our lives, we're saving yours. Everyone downstairs knows exactly what they're risking. We don't care as long as it means you're safe."

"I know, but..."

Emmett pulls me into a hug.

"You're a part of our family now, Wolfe. Carlisle hasn't spent his entire existence fighting off rouge vampires and the Volturi to let some bent out of shape wolves tear apart his family."

"The Volturi?" I ask.

Emmett shakes his head and chuckles, "I forgot that you don't know Carlisle's story."

"He has a story other than he got bit and turned."

"Yeah. I'm actually surprised that he hasn't told you yet, especially since you guys share a similar struggle to accept who you are."

"Carlisle Cullen struggled with the fact that he's a vampire?" I ask, one eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"Yeah, he did but..."

Emmett pauses and nods towards the door.

"Come on."

"Where are we going?" I ask, following him out.