"Do you think he'll ever be right again?" Embry rolled over on his side, pulling his blanket over his head in an attempt to muffle Quil's voice.

"Dunno." Jake spoke. "Sam said that when Emily was rejecting him, telling him to stay away...the only thing that he thought would ease the pain would be-"

"It won't come to that." Quil argued. "It can't." The pair sighed. "I think it's time."

"Really?" Jake sounded surprised. "I dunno man, we really should leave that up to him."

"It can't be up to him anymore, Tiffany won't leave Sam alone." Quil sighed. "She's convinced it's Sam's fault."

"Shit..." Jake huffed. "Alright, let's go." Embry didn't hear them talk again, and then a few minutes later the doorbell rang.

"Jake, Quil, come on in." Tiffany's voice was sad as is flowed down the hall and through Embry's cracked door. He hated himself for a lot of things these days, but seeing how hurt his mom was over how he was slowly ate away at him. He could barely stomach to even look at her anymore. "I haven't seen much of him yet today, I'm afraid. He won't get out of bed."

"We're actually here to talk to you." Jake sighed. "It's...about what happened, what's been happening." He heard shuffling, and then the couch creaked as they sat down. "Embry didn't want you to know this, but he just wanted to keep you safe."

"What's going on?" Embry now rolled over on his back. He knew what they were going to say, but he didn't have the heart to get up and stop them.

"This is gonna sound...insane...but we swear it's all true." Quil spoke. "You can ask Sam, or Billy, or Sue-they'll all tell you the same thing." He heard Jake sigh lightly. "Jake, Embry and I...as well as Sam, Jared, Paul, Leah and Seth...we're all..."

"We're werewolves." Jake spoke up. "Just like the old legends of our tribe, we can turn into wolves to defend the tribe when the cold ones are around."

"Those are vampires." Quil added. "The Cullen family, that doctor and his wife and their adopted kids, they're vampires. Them being around is what started all this." Embry didn't want to listen anymore, so he rolled over, fishing his headphones and mp3 from his nightstand. There was only one playlist he listened to anymore, only 5 songs. Claudia had made it for him one night, right before she disappeared. Thinking of her made his heart hurt, his whole being hurt, but it was hard not to. He sighed, pulling his blanket back over his head and shutting his eyes.

———————

'You're being an idiot again.' Quil huffed as they trotted along. 'She'll love it dude, I promise.'

'I dunno, maybe she'll think it's too cheesy.' Embry let out a low whine.

'Have you met Claudia?' Quil barked a laugh. 'You know how much she loves those dumb romantic movies-even if she won't admit it. I mean, have you ever seen her watching Titanic? She cries every time.' Embry laughed too. 'Or The Notebook? Man she loves that movie. Swear to god it's her favorite.'

'Okay, okay. I see your point.' Embry laughed. 'Fine. I'll give it to her when I go over to her place tonight.'

'Oooh.' Quil teased, and Embry bumped his shoulder against Quil's, making him stumble. 'Hey, not cool man! You know you're still bigger than me.'

'Still am and always will be.' Quil's low growl only made him laugh more. They fell silent for a few minutes, still walking the perimeter when they felt someone phase.

'What are you two doing?' It was Sam, he sounded angry and worried. Embry could tell he was running.

'Checking the perimeter, what's up?' Quil glanced at Embry uneasily.

'Caught the redheads scent going East.' Sam said, and Quil and Embry turned around and began to run. 'Embry...' He didn't have to continue. Embry could smell it in his thoughts. It wasn't just the redhead's scent, Claudia's was there too. This only made Embry move faster, Quil struggling to keep up.

'How did this happen?' Embry growled, and they felt Paul, Jared and Jake all phase in. 'We didn't smell her at all.'

'She must've come from the water.' Everyone was now racing to meet Sam, who was still hot on the trail. 'It's fresh, not more than an hour. She can't have gone far.'

'Doesn't matter how far.' Embry asserted. 'We don't stop until we find her.' The pack soon met up, all catching the two familiar scents. They raced for hours, minds in sync and stuck on one thing-Claudia. They eventually crossed over into Canada, still following the trail. They traced it to the water, and didn't hesitate to swim to the other side. When the trail didn't pick up directly across, they split up and started running everywhere, but nothing. Victoria-and Claudia-had disappeared. They regrouped where they'd first come onto Vancouver Island, near the small town of Parksville.

'What now?' Jake asked. 'We can't...we can't just leave her...' Everyone felt Sam's indecision. He couldn't leave Claudia to die or turn, but he also couldn't leave the tribe unprotected.

'I'll stay.' Embry insisted. 'I'll stay and search, the rest of you should go back home.'

'I'll stay too.' Quil nodded. 'Anything for Claudia.'

'Count me in.' Jake looked at them.

'Okay.' Sam nodded. 'The three of us will stay close to home. If you find the redhead, do not engage her alone. One of us will always be phased so we'll alert the others and come to you. If you can, secure Claudia.' He and Embry locked eyes. 'We will find her, Embry.' Embry nodded. Sam, Jared and Paul began their swim back, while the other three split up again to search the island.

———————

Embry shot awake, sweat covering his body as he breathed deeply. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness, but he realized he was still in his bedroom. No sunlight came through the curtains now, and he looked over to see his alarm clock read 1:30 AM. He sighed, flopping back down and putting his MP3 and headphones back on his nightstand. He raised his arm over his face, his eyes focusing on on the bracelet that sat on his wrist. Handwoven by him-with the help of Emily-for Claudia. A promise of forever, one he'd never see with her. He dropped his arm back to his chest, sighing. After a few minutes, and once he'd calmed his breathing down, he pulled himself out of bed, shuffling down the hallway towards the kitchen. To his surprise, it wasn't dark like it usually would've been, and even more surprising was finding his mom sitting at the table reading something. She looked up when he entered the room, and they stared at each other for a minute.

"Oh, Embry..." Tiffany was on her feet and across the room in record time, wrapping her arms tightly around her son. "Oh, why didn't you tell me, baby? About any of this? I'm so sorry..." That was all it took. Embry wrapped his arms around his mom, burying his head in her shoulder as sobs began to wrack his body.

———————

Embry sighed, looking up at the sparse, slow moving clouds. The sun had barely risen, illuminating the meadow in a beautiful, slightly hazy orange glow. Embry laid flat on his back in the cool grass, fingers absentmindedly moving through blades. His mom knowing his secret was a surprisingly big relief, one he wished he'd given himself long before. She'd taken things well, everything considered, and had talked to Sam a little though she did believe Quil and Jake. She'd also reached out to Connie, Claudia's mom, to offer her support. Connie and Claudia's dad Kevin had also been informed on everything, though that was after the first week. Before Embry, Quil and Jake had even returned.

They took it less well, though of course they would. Embry couldn't image what his mom would've done if it had been him taken by a vampire. Taken. That's how Embry preferred to think of it. The pack went along with it but he didn't have to phase to know they all thought different by now. Two and a half months, and they'd found no signs of her. No matter what or where they looked, nothing. But Embry held out hope. He knew it was dumb, and that she was either turned or dead, but he couldn't bare to consider either option. Though, he'd rationalized being okay with her turning, as long as she was still Claudia, and as long as she came back to him, he couldn't care less what she was.

A breeze rolled past him just as he inhaled, and the scent that floated in the air made him shoot up. He scrambled up to his feet, his head whipping around anxiously. "Hello?" He called. He didn't care how stupid he sounded. "Who's there?" His heart was hammering in his ears as his eyes fixed on one point in the trees. "Claudia?" There was no answer. "Claudia, is that you? It sure smells like you." He couldn't help but chuckle at himself. He was being ridiculous, imaging things. He then heard a sigh from behind the tree he'd fixed on and froze. A branch crunched, and he saw movement. Then, he gasped. "Claudia..." His voice was barely above a whisper as Claudia stepped out of the trees, her skin beginning to shimmer in the orange light. She looked up, but looked past him instead of directly at him. Her eyes nearly looked the same as they had, a bright, golden brown. But he noticed the strange glint in the sunlight, the hint of gold, and he knew what she was.