CHAPTER 21
VAMPIRES, AND WEREWOLVES, AND BEARS - OH MY!

"EMBRY visited my house yesterday."

Margo had been playing with the damp lettuce on her tray, but upon hearing Melinda's statement, she looked up. The cafeteria was buzzing with commotion, however Margo heard only her friend in that moment. She glanced around the lunch room with suspicion, spotting Bella sitting with Jessica and Angela, not saying a word. Margo felt like she was being watched all day, and though she told herself she was freaking out over nothing, she knew the wandering eyes fell on her new scar. Thankfully for Margo, it was small, and just telling herself that set her at ease. It only stung a bit when she touched it, and her head was also fine, besides the large bruise. Margo wore a hat to cover it.

She finally turned back to her friend, quirking a brow upward. "What happened?"

"It was weird," Melinda shook her head and dropped her fork. "He was gone almost as quickly as he arrived. I asked him ... well, I asked him what the hell happened. He told me he couldn't say directly. 'You and Margo need to find out on your own,' he said. God."

Margo chewed on her bottom lip, watching Melinda sigh. "I think I might know, Mel. Just take a minute, and really think about what you saw."

Melinda blinked. She leaned forward and whispered, "I know I saw your boyfriend turn into a big dog."

"Was it a big dog?" Margo asked with wide eyes. "Or was it something else?"

Melinda sat back in her seat, crossing her arms on her chest. She knew exactly what her friend was thinking. This was just like when she told her the Cullens were vampires. "No," she replied, "you're not thinking that."

"Lemme provide you all the evidence," Margo grinned big. "It started a while ago, when Jacob first told me that the Quileutes were descended from wolves ..."

•••

Once Margo had taken more time after school to explain her case to Melinda, her friend couldn't help but begin to believe her. It was difficult not to when she actually had a lot of evidence this time. But, the two still didn't have confirmation, and frankly, Margo didn't know when she'd get it. She was still dodging Jacob's messages. Margo simply needed more time – and possibly more evidence – to even think about what she'd seen before her eyes. Clearly, something was going on; Jacob wasn't consistently calling her for nothing.

Jenny cooked Margo her favorite meal the next night. It was the first time she got home from a shift early since the start of the month, and with Margo just getting out of the hospital, she decided to make her niece a homemade dinner. Margo could practically smell the stuffed peppers all the way from her room while she studied for an exam, though she tried to focus as best as she could. She found herself touching the small scar on her chin often.

When the two finally sat down at the table, there was pure silence between them, besides the forks and knives scraping against the plates. Once Margo was halfway done with her meal, Jenny began to talk about the chief of police visiting the hospital today. Margo suddenly remembered that the chief was Bella's dad.

"He told us that his daughter saw large wolves in the forest surrounding the town," Jenny said with a shake of her head.

Margo almost spat out her food.

"First, the fuckin' bear that attacked you and Melinda in the woods, and now wolves." She sighed heavily. "Sometimes, I hate living in the middle of nowhere."

The niece said nothing. She remained conveniently quiet, staring at her hands like they were interesting. Margo began to down the water in her glass until Jenny continued, "You're awful quiet. Did the wolf get your tongue too?"

Margo immediately spat out the water.

Jenny watched it happen instantaneously, eyes growing wide. Margo wiped her mouth and slid her vision to Jenny, who gave her a slightly angered expression. "My god, Margaret," she scoffed, standing up to grab the paper towels. "Do you suddenly have a hole in your mouth?"

As Jenny handed her niece the paper towels, the home phone on the wall buzzed with a loud ringing. Jenny sighed again, pointing to Margo to clean up the spill before walking over to the phone. She picked it up lazily, sitting the phone on her shoulder as her ear leaned into it. "Hello?" She greeted cheerfully.

Margo grumbled to herself as her aunt continued to speak on the phone, "Yes, this is she ... Oh, I'm just fine, Jacob. Thank you for asking."

The niece quickly looked up at that. She crumpled the wet paper towels in her hands.

"Margo?" Jenny asked. "Well, Margo is –" She then met her niece's eyes, noticing that she was waving her hands around in a frantic manner, as if to say, Don't tell Jacob I'm here. Jenny nodded slowly, taking the phone from her shoulder and holding it firmly to her ear. "Margo isn't here, Jacob. I'm sorry ... I think she might still be helping out the drama club decorate at school ... Okay, sorry again. Have a nice day, sweetie."

Margo threw away the damp paper towels in the trash before turning around to see her aunt staring at her with suspicion. Jenny had her hands on her hips with a lofted brow. "Is there a specific reason why Jacob is suddenly calling you back and you're now acting how he was weeks ago?"

"It's a long story."

•••

Once Margo shut the door to her bedroom, she released a breath of air she didn't know she was holding in. Margo rubbed at her eyes, but it only allowed her to see the wolf all over again. She wondered if she was actually going crazy, and if she was in a coma this whole time. That could definitely be possible, but once she pinched her arm and winced, she knew the truth was always right in front of her.

"Vampires, and werewolves, and bears – oh my," Margo whispered to herself.

Although it was early, she began to tug on her PJs. Margo threw on a pair of sweatpants and an old California tourist shirt before pulling her hair into a sloppy ponytail. As she wrapped her hair together, Margo heard a buzzing sound near her bed. She turned, noticing her cellphone was ringing. After realizing who the caller must obviously be, Margo spun back to her mirror and continued pulling back her brunette strands.

But as soon as the ringing stopped, Margo heard knocks at her window. She furrowed her brow at the curtain-covered window, swallowing down a lump in her throat. The knocks paused for a moment, and then continued. Margo crept quietly to the window, expecting to find the golden-eyed wolf from several weeks ago waiting behind the glass. She inhaled deeply and flung up the shade.

Jacob Black was on the other side, kneeling by the edge of her window.

Margo's eyes went wide at the sight of her boyfriend. She quickly pulled up the glass on her window, staring at Jacob with utter surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Why have you been dodging my calls?" Jacob blinked, sliding his cellphone into the back of his shorts. "And having your aunt lie for you?"

"I think you know why, Jake."

Jacob nodded slowly. "Yeah," he replied, "I think I do." He watched his imprint cross her arms over her chest, growing quiet – which was definitely an odd sight. The pale orange light was dim around her now. "Wanna let me in?"

With a moment of hesitation, Margo stepped back from the window, allowing Jacob to climb inside her bedroom. She walked over to a lamp, igniting the room in a bright, yellow glow. When she turned around to Jacob once again, she noticed he was in the same attire the last she saw him. It was at least forty degrees out tonight, and he was only in short and sneakers.

She sighed, stepping forward to place her hand on his forehead. "Aren't you cold –" When her fingers hit his skin, she felt an immense burning. Margo bit the inside of her cheek and recoiled her hand away.

Jacob wasn't focusing on that, because with the dim light now on, he could finally see the small scar he etched on her chin. His eyes filled with sadness as he reached out to touch it, allowing his fingers to just graze her lip. Margo felt the burning again, almost as if his skin sizzled against her own. She took in a sharp intake of breath.

"I'm so sorry, Margo," he muttered, bringing her into his tight embrace. Margo wrapped her skinny arms around his torso and felt his warmth cascade everywhere around her body. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, and although it boiled her nose, she kept it there. "I can't believe I ... I did that to you. I'll never be able to –"

"Hey, hey, hey," Margo shushed him as she leaned away. When their eyes met again, the anger and confusion that once resided in her towards Jacob Black immediately vanished. Margo sighed, "Just ... don't worry about it." Inside, Margo definitely felt self-conscious about the scar, but she'd never tell him that.

Jacob leaned his forehead on her own, and the soft fluttering of his breathing on her face kept her at ease. Margo placed her right hand on the back of his neck, growing accustomed to the scorching heat. "I wish ... I don't know. I wish I could explain," he murmured, "but I literally can't. Have you ever had a secret you couldn't tell anyone? One that wasn't yours to share?"

"I think your secret is a bit obvious now, Jake," she frowned. "Melinda saw it all too. Whatever this is, we're keeping it between us."

Jacob gave her a side-eyed expression, so Margo finally answered his question, "Yeah, I guess I've had a secret like that. I haven't told you yet why I moved to Forks years ago, have I? Or why I live with my aunt instead of my parents?"

"You mentioned once that it was trauma," he said, "and I didn't want to pry."

"Well, that's because it's a big secret," she continued, "one that I'm not ready to share."

Jacob held her chin again, not being able to look away from the scar. He swallowed down his guilt before replying, "That's what it's like for me, except this isn't just my secret anymore, Mar. You have no idea how tight I'm bound."

"I bet I can guess," Margo tried smiling, but it looked false. Jacob looked away from the scar again and Margo moved his face towards her own. "What has Sam done to you? He's changing your whole mindset, Jacob. I mean, I know he's not the reason you ... you ..."

"Say it."

Margo's words trailed off. She was caught off guard by Jacob's statement. Her eyes blinked rapidly, and she couldn't get the words to roll off her tongue, or maybe she just didn't want them to. Margo let her arms fall limp to her sides for a moment, and then she began to rub at her forehead.

"C'mon," Jacob whispered, "just say it, Mar. You know what you saw. If you say it, I don't break any obligations."

Margo exhaled heavily before looking back at her boyfriend. She ran her hand through her hair. "Do you want me to put it lightly?" She asked, causing Jacob to nod. "You turned into a fucking wolf, Jake."

Jacob leaned his head back, releasing a sigh of relief. He gave no answer as to if she was correct or not, but the exhale said enough.

"I was – I don't know – researching all of this," Margo said, walking to her laptop and opening up the web page on the Quileute legends. She spun back around to Jacob, but he was already right behind her, squinting at the article. "I don't know if anything I've looked up is reliable, but ... All the signs were right in front of me. However, it never occurred to me that anything was out of the ordinary. Well, I could never understand anyways. This article says the scent or presence of vampires triggers phasing."

"Sometimes I forget how resourceful you are," Jacob chuckled softly, but stopped when he noticed she was serious.

Margo held up a finger. "So you're a werewolf. Sam is a werewolf. All of Sam's groupies are werewolves. And all of this is triggered by actual, freakin' vampires. Go figure." She shook her head. "What's next? Are you gonna tell me my hypothesis on the Cullens being vampires last year was real?"

Jacob slowly viewed up at his imprint, not saying a word but holding the answer within his stare. Margo's mouth dropped, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Do you remember when we walked on the beach at La Push? The first time we met?" He questioned, lifting a brow. "I told you that –"

Margo nodded. "That 'stupid, scary story?'" She repeated with a quirked expression.

"Yeah, that one." Jacob sighed and eyed her with a defeated look. "Guess I was wrong."

Margo bit her lip, unable to reply. Jacob brushed his burning hands across her cheek and moved a stray hair out of her face. Margo grabbed that hand, curling her small fingers around it. Shaking her head, she placed it on her cheek, relishing in the fiery heat.

"I need ..." She paused, dropping his hand. "I need some more time to process things. It's not every day you find out your boyfriend is like a character from the Underworld movies. Or that your old schoolmates were vampires, just like you predicted. Trust me, I researched that too."

Jacob grinned slightly, and Margo noticed his russet skin glisten against the yellow light. "I'll stop being clingy, I swear. Come to me when you're ready," he assured. "I just ... needed to know that you were okay. It's part of my duty now."

Margo's brow furrowed. Before she could ask what he meant, Jacob pressed his lips to her forehead and said, "I gotta go anyways. They'll start wondering where I am."

The feeling of Jacob's arms around her would be engraved in her mind forever. No one could ever understand the scorching warmth and peace Jacob Black could give. Only Margo Richards, his imprint, would ever know.

•••

A/N: WOWZA THIS CHAPTER WAS FULL OF ANGST