Don't worry people; chapter four is in the works.
And again, WARNING: coarse language.


EMBRY CHAPTER THREE: EXPLANATIONS

She exhaled deeply, a heavy sigh. “God, I have a feeling I’m going to regret telling you this,” she whispered, a hint of pink spilling across her caramel-colored cheeks.
“How could you think that?” I wondered.
“Because I’m a freak, that’s why. People always run from people like me, because of the damn stereotypes and it pisses me off.” She sighed. “I guess I can’t put it off any longer,” she said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “There are a lot of myths about my kind, about what we are. Some are way off, and some are right on target. But humans … they only ever listen to the ones that make us look like evil monsters. But that’s not what we are. We protect them. We kill the creatures that kills them and what, in the much earlier years, killed us.”
I listened to her silently, not wanting to interrupt, though I wished that she’d get to the point.
“If your parents told you the legends of your tribe, then you already know what I am,” she said, surprising me. She finally looked up at me. “Are you aware of the legends?” she asked. I nodded. I was only too aware of the legends, since I was now a part of them.
“So, you’re a werewolf,” I guessed, knowing I was right. She nodded and looked back down at her hands. “Well, that’s a relief,” I added, making her head jerk up in astonishment.
“How is that a relief?” she demanded, her expression confused.
“Because now you know what I am, what the others are,” I told her truthfully. “Welcome to the pack,” I added, making her smile. She leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Thank you for this,” she said.
“Anytime,” I replied, meaning it. Then I leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, but she leaned back and leaned forward just as fast, jumping off the truck. Her suitcases were now in hand. “Denied,” she teased. She winked and skipped back into the house, laughing the whole time. I could only watch as she left, smiling at her playfulness. I loved how she could be all serious one minute and sarcastic the next.
While I was still sitting in the back of the truck, Jared and Paul came out of the house, followed by Jacob and Quil, who were saying their goodbyes to Seth.
Ah. It was time to go.
“Let’s go, Romeo,” Jared joked as he reached the truck. “Juliette will still be here tomorrow, dude. Get a move on.”
I rolled my eyes at the Shakespeare reference. “Stop being such an ass, Jared,” I responded, smiling just a little.
Jared grinned. “You say it as if that’s possible,” he chuckled. “So, how’d it go with the new chick?” he asked.
“Maya is great,” I replied, my smile growing. “She’s a very feisty little thing, you know.”
“For your sake, hope that he doesn’t know,” Paul interrupted, laughing. I rolled my eyes again at the innuendo and hopped off the bed of the truck. Walking to the front of the truck, I heard Maya’s voice again.
“It was nice meeting you guys. Um, I hope you guys come back soon.”
Jacob and Quil both laughed. “Oh, I think that can be arranged,” Jacob replied, still laughing.
“Is there something you guys aren’t telling me?” Maya asked, sounding confused.
“It’s an inside joke,” Quil explained. “You’ll probably be in on it soon enough.” There was a hushed “shit, that hurt” following that, so I guessed that Jake elbowed him for revealing something.
If Maya noticed, she didn’t say anything. Instead she chuckled. “If everything goes well, I just might,” she replied cryptically, chuckling still. “Nice meeting you.” And then the door shut.

“So, does it seem like you’re imprinted?” Jacob asked me in the truck.
“Yeah, it does,” I replied, not looking anywhere but at the windshield. “It’s pretty much the way the legends say it would be: protective, loving,” I continued. Then I blurted out the thing I knew would get me in trouble: “with no secrets, either.”
Jacob sighed heavily. “Ah, so I’m guessing you told her?” he asked. His voice was resigned as if he already knew the answer.
Well, as long as he didn’t rip my throat out…
I nodded, not giving any other answer or response. I’d decided not to tell the pack about Maya being a werewolf, since it wasn’t really my secret to reveal. It was Maya’s, and it would stay that way.
To my surprise, Jake laughed once. “It didn’t take you very long, did it?” he chuckled. Sighing again, he said, “Well, I guess it happens to the best of us.”
“If it helps, she reacted well,” I told. No reference to the fact that she was the exact same thing. “She didn’t even gasp or anything; she just … smiled.”
“Of course she didn’t scream,” Jake replied, grinning. “Of course, she did probably think you’re crazy, but she wouldn’t scream. She’s your other half, remember? No matter what, she’s gonna support you.”
“Oh, well, that’s helpful,” I replied, still refusing to look anywhere but out the windshield. He was right. That’s what imprinting was: finding your other half.
Jake’s phone beeped and he pulled out of his pocket and looked at a text message. “Paul says to hurry the hell up. He’s hungry again,” he told me.
I laughed. “Well you can tell him to go screw himself because I’m not going any faster,” I retorted. He typed in my response and sent it to Paul. Then he turned to me. “It’s Nessie’s birthday tomorrow,” he informed me.
Nessie, or Renesmee Cullen, was the object of Jake’s imprint. She was a hybrid, a combination of a human and a vampire. She was an odd little thing – perky, trustful, and clever – but she was very likeable, I had to admit.
“And for a weird kind of present, she asked me to introduce Maya to her,” he continued, completely catching me off guard.
“Wait a minute, what?” I demanded, hitting the break. That wasn’t exactly a good thing.
“Don’t worry, they won’t bite her or anything,” Jake assured me.
“How reassuring,” I muttered. The Cullens biting Maya wasn’t exactly what I was worried about. In fact, it was the other way around. I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling that Maya wouldn’t react to being around a whole coven of vampires. “How’d she find out about Maya, anyway?” I asked.
“Seth told her,” he replied simply. Okay, that makes sense, I thought. Seth liked the Cullens for some odd reason that made no sense to the rest of us, even Jake; he only put up with them for Nessie’s sake (that, and her mother was his best friend.)
“So, how old is Nessie turning?”
“Three, though she could probably pass for a twelve-year-old.”
“Does that ever get weird, the whole aging thing with her?” Hey, I had to ask.
Before he could answer, his phone beeped again, and he looked at another text message. “Paul again,” he said, laughing. “He says, and I quote: ‘Tell Embry that I’ll screw myself when hell freezes over and that he needs to drive faster ‘fore I bust his ass up.’ In other words, hurry over to McDonald’s before he fucks up your truck.”
“Fine,” I replied. “But tell him that he’s paying for all of it.”

The next day, Jacob and I drove down to Seth’s place to pick up Seth and Maya to drive them down to the Cullens’ place.
Maya was sitting on the porch, cigarette in between her index and middle fingers and IPhone on her right leg. She was singing along to Eminem’s Cleaning out My Closet when I stepped out of the truck.
“I wonder if she knows that shit isn’t real good for her,” Jake said. I could only shrug.
“I wonder if you guys realize that my headphones aren’t in my ears and I can hear every word you’re saying,” Maya countered, putting the cigarette to her lips. “And this isn’t even a real cigarette,” she continued. “It’s water vapor, not smoke. My friends and I started using these when we were fifteen so we can smoke without getting lung cancer.”
“Smart,” I complimented.
“Thank you; it was my idea,” Maya beamed. Then she looked both of us over and smiled slyly. “Wow, you guys are actually wearing shirts,” she teased. “What’s the occasion?”
“My friend’s birthday is today, and we’re going over to her house to celebrate,” Jacob answered.
“We’re just waiting on Seth, but you can come if you want,” I added.
Maya chuckled nervously. “Thanks for the invitation, but I’m not the partying type, so…” she trailed off.
“Don’t worry about it, Maya,” I said. “Neither is her family.”
Maya smiled. “Are you sure they won’t mind if you bring along an uninvited guest?” she asked.
“We just invited you, didn’t we?” I questioned in return, smiling. “So, you’re not an uninvited guest.”
Maya nodded and turned her phone off. She put in her pocket and then removed the tip off of her fake cigarette, dropped it on the ground, and smashed it with the toe of her boot.
Seth came out on the porch at the same time Maya was standing up. He closed and locked the door behind him. “Okay, let’s go,” he said, bounding towards the truck with Maya a step and a half behind him.
I walked over to her and she took my hand. We walked over to the bed of the truck and I jumped up, pulling her up with me. She smiled and sat. “What, you’re not driving?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Seth wanted his turn at the wheel, so I said he could,” I explained.
“Plus you wanted to see if you could get lucky in the back of your truck, in twenty-eight degrees, while your friends can do nothing but keep driving,” she finished sarcastically, rolling her eyes and smiling wider.
I grinned wickedly and shrugged again. “Maybe those were my intentions,” I replied. “You never know.”
Maya chuckled in response. “You never know,” she agreed, smiling sweetly now. The truck started and soon we were driving out of the reservation, heading to Forks and the Cullens’ place.
Raven black hair blowing in her face, Maya shivered at the cold breeze. I guessed that she wasn’t used to this type of weather, and I wanted to help her so she wouldn’t freeze or anything. So I opened my arms wide, an invitation for her to come, and she took it easily, quickly scooting over from her place on the bed to where she was sitting right next to me. She leaned her head against my chest and rested in my arms, not shivering anymore.
It felt good to have her here, wrapped up in my arms like this. Hell, it felt better than good; it was amazing, sensational, exciting, and wonderful. It felt like I finally understood the whole love aspect of imprinting, even though I probably didn’t.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the Cullen’s place, where they’d lived for the past three years, since Renesmee at least wanted to stay in Forks through middle school. Jacob and Seth both got out of the truck and walked right into the house, while Maya and I took our time.
Warn her, yelled a voice in my head. Warn her now!
“Hey, Maya, I should probably tell you something…” I trailed off, uncertain of how to continue.
“Go on,” she prodded.
“This family here are, um …” I took a deep breath before continuing, bracing myself for her reaction. “They’re all vampires.”
Maya hissed angrily. “Wait, what?” she demanded, her voice low. Before I could try to calm her down, Renesmee walked out of the house and towards us, smiling.
Sometimes, and I’m being completely serious about this, God will just some of us hopeless pups a bone.