claudia | embry call

ten : the meadow

The walk had been silent since Claudia had taken Embry's hand. He led her down the path that went to her house, but instead of turning down the road he walked straight across it and back into the woods-only now they weren't on a trail. Embry seemed to know where he was going, though, so she didn't question it. His hand burned dully in her own, but not in a bad way. She watched her feet as he pulled her along behind him, making sure not to trip over any stray branch or protruding root. Eventually, the path became more even so she looked ahead of her again. There was more light shining through as the trees narrowed, and Claudia could only gasp lightly as she realized where they were. Had Embry really been watching her? Did he know about the meadow from someone else? Did he know about her wolf? Her mind swum with answerless questions as they stepped out into the sun of the meadow. Embry let her hand go and took a few more steps, not turning back to face her.

"I've been trying to figure out how to tell you this." He started. "How best to do it, so you're not scared."

"Embry, what are you talking about?" Claudia asked nervously. Embry sighed.

"I have to show you something." He said, turning his head back towards her. "Just...trust me, okay? And promise you won't run away."

"I won't." She shoved her hands in her pockets so he wouldn't notice them shaking. Embry didn't say anything, just pulled off his shirt. Out of instinct, she looked elsewhere, her eyes focusing on a pair of butterflies ten feet away. The only thing that drew her attention back to Embry was a loud ripping noise. She looked back quickly, but Embry was gone. His clothes were in a pile on the grass, as well as his shoes, and next to them, sitting and staring at Claudia, was the grey wolf she'd become so accustomed to. It took her brain a minute to process anything, really. "Wha...? But Embry was...right there..." The words slipped out of her mouth almost incoherently.

She felt confused as she sunk down to her knees, feeling like she was nearly about to pass out. The wolf, her wolf, walked over carefully and pushed it's nose against her arm before meeting her eyes. "Embry...?" It nodded, sitting down in front of her. Her head was spinning, and she felt like she couldn't breathe so she moved and laid down in the cool grass. She heard some shuffling, and looked over just in time to see the wolf, or Embry, slipping behind a tree. She looked back up at the lazily moving clouds, and after about a minute, she heard regular, human footsteps on the grass. Embry walked over, sitting down next to her and watching her face carefully, though she didn't look back at him. "You're a wolf." She stated.

"We all are." Now she looked over at him. "Sam, Paul, Jared, Jake...we're all like this." She sat up now, eyes focused on him. "Sam was the first one, a few years ago. That's when all that stuff with him and Leah happened. Then Jared, then Paul, me, Jake...Quil's bound to be soon, too." She let out a shaky breath.

"So...so all that time...all those months I..." She could barely wrap her head around the words she was speaking. "I wasn't talking to a wolf, I was talking to you." He nodded.

"The first night, when you came out and found me..." He began picking at the grass. "I was gonna run away. I didn't want something to happen and for you to get hurt, so I was gonna run. But then I...I looked into your eyes I just..." He glanced back up at her before refocusing on the grass. "After we first phase, first become a wolf, we can...there's this thing. It's called imprinting. It's like...I dunno, love at first sight I guess, but not really? It's hard to explain, I know Sam or Jared could better since they've imprinted too but basically...it's like our, powers...telling us that we've found our soulmates. When you first look into her eyes it's like...like everything in the world changes.

"Like nothing else matters anymore, not as much as her. And it hurts, psychically hurts, to be away from her." Embry's voice was slow, like he was choosing each word just before he spoke it. "That's why...why I couldn't run away, that first night. Why I kept coming back."

"You imprinted on me?" Even though Claudia didn't really understand her words, she understood them enough. He nodded. "That's why you love me?" This made him look up.

"No! Well, kinda, but not really?" He cocked his head to the side slightly. "I loved you before I imprinted, before all this wolf stuff. But the imprint, it only made my feelings stronger." She nodded lightly, knowing it would take days to process everything he was telling her. "But I don't want you to feel pressured about anything! L-like if you don't feel that way about me, I'd understand. We could just be platonic soulmates, that's fine. I just want you to be happy, Claudia. And knowing I caused you so much unhappiness I...I swear, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"Embry..." Claudia mumbled.

"I swear, I won't get in the way of you and Quil, if that's what you want." He continued. "I mean, I might have to kick his ass again to make sure he gets that I meant it but-"

"Embry." She spoke up this time, and Embry stopped talking. "I...I'm not dating Quil."

"What?" His expression read surprise. "But you guys were holding hands." She let out a short laugh.

"In case you haven't noticed, my only two other friends recently turned into wolves." She joked. "Quil's...all I had." She shrugged. "He could tell that I needed...I dunno, attention, I guess. Affection. Whatever I used to get from you, so he started hugging me and holding my hand more and stuff. It was nice, but we're not together. You also do know that Quil's my cousin, right?"

"Wait, what?" He raised his eyebrows and she giggled lightly while nodding.

"Third cousins, I think." She thought for a moment before nodding to herself. "Yeah, third. Because him and Jake are second cousins." Embry let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god, I was ready to fight tooth and nail for you." She laughed again.

"Embry...I...I love you, too." She pulled her knees up to her chest and watched him carefully. "Since like...forever." He chuckled.

"Good thing I imprinted then, hmm?" He scooted closer, and she could feel the heat radiating from his skin.

"Is the heat part of this whole wolf thing?" She asked, reaching over and letting her hand rest against his hot skin.

"Yeah." He nodded. Her hand moved down his arm, and her fingers slowly laced through his. "Are we okay?" She sighed.

"We'll get there." She said after a few seconds. "But for right now, sure. We're okay."

"Good." He smiled widely. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too." She found it hard not to return his smile. "But I'm sure you know that already."

"I am sorry about that." He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "I meant to tell you all this sooner, but I just got so nervous and then when I tried you wouldn't listen to me so I thought I just...wouldn't try again."

"I'm assuming your outburst today sparked the change of mind?" She joked lightly, and he nodded.

"I'm sorry about that, too." He sighed. "I dunno what came over me I just...seeing him with you, like I wanted to be with you...I just...lost control, I guess."

"Well, you're gonna have to tell him all this when he phases too." She said. "I'm not apologizing for you, and I bet he's mad enough to fight you again if you tried today." He nodded.

"It won't be long." He said lightly. "A few weeks, maybe."

"Then we can all be together again." She said hopefully. "Movie nights, arcade nights in Port Angeles. Everything. Right?"

"Of course." He nodded. "Just...maybe not right away."

"Why?" She raised her eyebrows. He sighed.

"Well...there's kinda this vampire that we're hunting right now..."

"Wait, vampire?"