Total eclipse of a heart (Embry Call)

11. Crossing boundaries

Walking. That's what I've been doing this night. Walking aimlessly through the forest with a crossbow in hand I had to pick up from one of my hideouts. Ghosts of people I left behind have started to haunt me already, dancing through my mind like it's where they belong.

Rachel, Embry, Jacob...even Paul.

Despite the rage they've caused, I found myself hurt more than anything else. Hurt, not just my feelings, but my ego most of all, my pride and my honor as a hunter. Perhaps I'd be able to forgive him for lying had my ego not gotten a fatal blow.

I'm tired. I'm hungry. But most of all, I miss him. I hate him and I miss him at the same time and it only adds fuel to the fire in which my anger grows rapidly, obtaining epic proportions.

I cross the creek, sitting on a rock on the other side of it to rest my weary feet and mind, rubbing my temples.

When you feel your mind is overwhelmed and your judgement clouded, stop and take a breath.

It's what dad always said. He forgot to mention it doesn't work when the very reason you're in that state plays on your heart more than your brain.

How did they manage to have such an impact on me in such a short amount of time? Is that an ability I haven't accounted for. They sure as hell aren't a typical pack of werewolves.

Most werewolves shift halfway and only during the full moon, hunting humans and eating their hearts. They don't turn whenever they want into giant wolves who rip vampires apart instead of attacking the human next to them. They react to silver, but I've seen Paul wearing a silver necklace Rachel bought him. I was with her when she got it, so I know for a fact it's pure silver.

Head throbbing, I pull my legs to my stomach and rest it on my knees.

"Hello." A sweet voice interrupts my moment of solitude, so sweet I'd swear it's coated in honey if that were physically possible. The sound of it relaxes me, despite the anxiety I've been drowning in moments before.

"Do you need help?" It's a male voice, a slight accent to it. That's enough for me to lift my head up and face the source of such a heavenly sound and I'm not dissatisfied with the view that follows.

This man is the most gorgeous human specimen I've ever seen. His golden hair falls to his chin in wavy curls, perfectly tousled. His skin is pale, like he'd never seen the sun. His built is lean and strong, tall but not like the guys I've met in La Push. His plush lips, the very ones that produced a voice I found myself enthralled with, are a gentle coral color and inviting, a flame any moth would follow till it met its inevitable death.

"Thank you for asking, but there's nothing you can do to help me." I'm not sure why I chose the cryptic, yet open response instead of a closed off, but polite refusal. I was inviting him to talk, to come closer. I wanted to see more of him. I wanted to see his eyes whose color evaded me in the darkness that befell the woods.

"You sound oddly certain of that." The man points out, shuffling closer and I find my heart is racing as he lessens the distance between us.

"Maybe because it's the truth." I turn my head away from him with great difficulty, feeling almost pained with the movement.

"I disagree. If you'd let me, I'd like to hear you out. Two heads are better than one." He draws out a proposition, leaning on the rock I've occupied and his arm brushes mine.

Daring to look at him once more, I tilt my head to meet his eyes, my own drawn to a subtle smirk on his lips. Following the porcelain perfect lines of his face, I look into his eyes, a gasp leaving me unexpectedly.