CHAPTER FOURTEEN
STORIES

Montana sat quietly in the corner of the room, nibbling on a chocolate bar.

She and Dakota had taken the shape-shifter revelation much better than Embry had anticipated, though the single fact that Montana, of all people, had been silent for over half an hour was beginning to worry him. She hadn't uttered a single word since he'd explained the truth of the Quilute legends– well, almost everything, since he'd obviously had to leave out the parts about imprinting.

It wasn't that Montana was scared of them; in fact, she thought the whole shifting process was quite incredible. But she simply could not get her head around the fact that her best friends now turned into gigantic wolves. Of course, Montana was well aware of the legends, and had been throughout her life. She'd attended the annual bonfires where the stories had been told, but that's all she thought they were...stories.

Dakota stood in the kitchen, humming to herself as she made them all a hot chocolate drink. Embry watched the older girl for a few moments, becoming slightly concerned with how well she had taken things, especially in comparison to Montana. His wandering eyes flickered back to his best friend in concern, whose mind was clearly still elsewhere. Montana placed the last square of chocolate in her mouth, chewing slowly. Embry suppressed a heavy sigh as he watched her stare blankly at the wall, worried he'd accidentally traumatised his best friend.

"Laurent was a vampire." Montana's sudden statement caused Embry to jolt, his eyes widening in surprise. He hadn't quite expected those to be the first words out of her mouth. "And he was going to...eat me."

Embry bit the inside of his cheeks, forcing back a laugh as her innocent brown eyes met his. "Well, I mean–"

"But you guys saved us," Montana carried on. "Because you're giant wolves..."

"And that's what we do," Embry added, smiling softly over at her. "It's our job to protect the people in this community."

Montana fell quiet again, shifting her position to sit up properly. "So this is why you guys stopped hanging out with us?"

"To protect you," Embry clarified. "It's hard to be around people when you first shift." Montana nodded her head in understanding, feeling guilty about the hostility she'd felt towards him and Jake. Everything made sense now. It was why her friends abandoning her was so unexpected, and why it felt so wrong. They never wanted to, they just didn't have a choice. "Also, we were physically unable to tell you."

"Um, is Quil..."

"No." Embry shook his head before she could finish. "At least, not yet. You can't tell him, though." Montana's heart sank at that thought. Never in a million years did she want to hurt Quil by knowing a secret that he didn't. She couldn't abandon him now that she knew, she wouldn't ever do that. "Hey, look, I'm really sorry, about everything," Embry added sincerely. Montana's gaze softened. "I missed you so much, like, to the point that I was seriously bumming the guys out with my thoughts. And then Jacob phased and he was so angry that he was hurting you too, and there's nothing we wanted more than to just tell you everything, but we couldn't and it was so hard watching you and Quil look so hurt all the time, and–"

Without warning, Montana rose to her feet, crossing the room and throwing her arms around Embry's neck. A smile curved on his lips, laughter escaping him. He wrapped his arms around her back to steady her, neither of them willing to let go.

"I missed you so fucking much," she whispered.

"I really fucking missed you too."

Dakota paused in the kitchen doorway, a warmth in her chest at the sight of the two of them. It had pained her to see Montana so hurt by the actions and avoidance of her friends, but now that everything had been explained properly, it could all go back to normal...sort of.

Gently, Dakota placed two mugs of hot chocolate on the coffee table, sitting down on the other couch with her own. "Thanks, Kotes," Embry spoke up, his voice prompting Montana to eventually pull away from him.

Dakota smiled at them both as Montana shifted to sit close by Embry's side. "Hey, so, now that we know the truth, does this mean our family is finally gonna stop lying to us?" Dakota asked, looking towards Embry hopefully. He'd explained to them earlier that their parents being part of the council meant they knew about the shape shifter gene, and that some of Montana's ancestors had even been shifters. Both girls were relieved they wouldn't have to hide the secret from Nita and Tye, and also realised why their behaviour had been so shifty recently. Embry nodded his head in assurance in response to Dakota's question, who relaxed. "Thank god."

Montana sipped her drink, unable to help her eyes constantly drifting back to Embry. Her mind was still desperately trying to process everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours, but the only main emotion she seemed to be able to feel was relief. Firstly, because she hadn't ended up a meal for a vampire, but secondly, and most of all, her best friend, who she'd worried she'd lost for the rest of her life, was actually sat in front of her again, goofing around with Dakota as normal like nothing had changed – which it hadn't that much, other than the fact he now turned into a gigantic vampire-fighting werewolf.

"You know, you guys took this seriously well," Embry commented. "I expected at least one of you to pass out."

"Montana almost did," Dakota pointed out in amusement.

"Hey, I was in shock," Montana defended. "It was a normal reaction."

Embry chuckled, though his attention couldn't help but wander towards the clock on the wall to check the time. The others had been gone for quite a long while, which led him to assume that Sam and Jared had their hands full trying to calm Jacob and Paul down. It was inevitable that Jacob's anger about Laurent was going to spill over at some point, especially since Montana had now become his imprint. The instinct to protect loved ones was heightened, but when it came to imprints it was on another level. Paul probably shouldn't have reacted the way he had, though in fairness to him, Dakota did call him a hot head. She had been entirely within her right though, since all of the pack had been complete assholes to her and Montana. It was just unfortunate that everything happened the way that it did.

"Hey, so you mentioned that the Cullens are, vampires," Dakota spoke up, frowning slightly as she recalled Embry's explanation, pieces of which were difficult to recall due to his jumbled up rambling. "So does Bella know about them? About what they are?"

Embry's posture stiffened at the question, his mind casting back Bella Swan. She'd placed Montana and Dakota into an unforgivably dangerous situation, and he never ever wanted to think about what would have happened if the pack hadn't turned up in time. "Yeah, she knows."

Montana found herself wincing at his answer, unable to understand how Bella could be in love with someone who was...well, dead. The thought was disturbing enough to send a slight shiver running up her spine. "Weird."

"Tell me about it."

The front door burst open abruptly, cutting their conversation short. Montana whirled around, half expecting to see her parents, but was instead met with the sight of Jared. His features were notably harder than usual, his lips pressed into a firm line, and whilst his eyes were a little narrowed in frustration, his gaze was apologetic once it landed on Montana and Dakota, and soon his entire body relaxed.

"So, you didn't run for the hills then?" He smirked, coming to a stop behind the couch to ruffle Montana's hair playfully. "Did either of them pass out?"

"Nope," Embry replied proudly.

"Nice!" Jared exclaimed, high-fiving Montana. "Paul owes me ten bucks."

He made his way past, nodding his head over to Dakota as he did so, both of them seeming to communicate something through their eyes which Montana couldn't quite interpret. She really hoped that they could reconcile their friendship again, now that Dakota understood why Jared had distanced himself from her without any warning.

The door was flung open again, sending Montana's heart jumping, hoping to see Jake. Instead, Paul took a hesitant step inside the house, biting his bottom lip as their stares landed on him. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, eyes downcast. Montana studied his appearance, noticing the faint red lines of scratches on his arm, which already seemed to be healing.

"Um, I'm sorry for how I reacted," Paul apologised. "We cool?"

Montana turned her head to face him, a gentle smile on her lips. "We're cool."

Paul gave both girls a stupidly charming smile, prompting Dakota to roll her eyes. "Yeah, we're cool," she said. "Sorry for calling you a hot head."

Paul simply shrugged, strolling past them into the kitchen. "Hey, you owe me ten bucks!" Jared called out after him, flopping down onto the couch beside Dakota. "So did Embry explain it all, everything make sense?"

"Yeah," Montana told him. She shifted her position so she could cast a look back at the door, feeling restless as she wondered where Jacob was. "It's pretty cool, actually."

"Pretty cool?" Jared repeated. "It's awesome. We can read each other's thoughts!"

"Yes, don't we all enjoy that," Paul said sarcastically, stepping back into the living room with a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Hey, uh, where's Jake?" Montana eventually asked, her stomach tightening nervously. She'd noticed the scratches on Paul's arms, and truly hoped that Jacob's injuries weren't any worse than that.

"He's talking with Sam outside," Paul responded, perching on the arm of the couch. He flashed Montana a knowing smile. "Don't worry, he's fine."

"Can you hear what they're talking about?" Dakota wondered curiously.

"Oh, we can totally hear them," Jared answered with a sly grin.

Despite usually being the last person to try and stop Jared from accidentally letting a secret slip, Embry shot him a hard warning stare. Truthfully, other than Jared, who had the biggest mouth of all of them, Embry was probably the worst at keeping things hidden. But when it came to Jacob's imprinting, as badly as he wanted Montana to know (and also for his best friends to fall in love immediately) he felt very protective over the secret.

Upon hearing footsteps approaching, the boys looked towards the door simultaneously. Montana noticed their movements, turning her own head around as it was pushed open. Finally, Jacob stepped inside, eyes barely hovering over the room before they'd locked with Montana's.

It was as if somebody was pulling her up like a puppet on a string, and she was no longer in control of her own body. Montana didn't even give herself chance to think about her actions before she had risen to her feet, making her way towards him.

Jacob opened his mouth to say something, anything, but he quickly realised that Montana's expression was completely unreadable; and he knew that he had to prepare himself for whatever outcome. Montana was possibly the most caring, forgiving and understanding person he knew, she couldn't hold a grudge for long even if she tried, but Jacob wouldn't hold it against her if she was furious with him for what he did.

His jaw clamped shut as she slowed to a stop in front of him, pulse racing, mind running in overdrive. Montana stared up at him, tears threatening to pool in her eyes. Without wasting another second, she practically crashed into him, wrapping her arms around his larger frame. Jacob released a heavy breath, broad shoulders dropping down as he relaxed into her touch. He wrapped his arms around Montana, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could. His chin lowered to rest against the top of her head, eyes closing as the entire world melted away around them. She was there, in his arms, and that's all that mattered.

Montana breathed in his familiar scent, her fingers lightly grasping at his tight fitted t-shirt. Jacob raised a hand, stroking it gently through her hair. "You're okay?" He asked almost tentatively, halting his actions when he earned no response.

She eventually drew away from him with reluctance, her hands remaining placed against his chest for a few extra seconds. "I'm okay."

Jacob felt the nervous knot that had coiled in the pit of his his stomach begin to loosen, a smile twitching on his lips. His hands remained rested by her hips.

"We should get going, patrols need to start soon," Sam spoke up, announcing his presence for the first time. Jared and Paul, who the statement had been directed at, nodded their heads in compliance, rising to their feet. "Montana, Dakota." He looked between the two teenage girls. "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask." 

"Oh, I have millions," Dakota replied. "But I'm going to bombard Embry with those instead."

Sam left with Jared and Paul shortly afterwards, preparing for their patrols of the night. When Embry had been explaining their responsibilities, and the extents they went to keep the residents of La Push safe, it was as the least enthusiastic he sounded about everything. Montana knew it must be exhausting for them, the long hours and the hard work on top of everything else going on in their lives. It felt unfair that they had to go through such huge transformations out of nowhere, and then have such a huge burden placed on them.

Montana's parents returned later that evening, surprised to find Jacob and Embry on their couch again. Once Montana had informed them that they knew everything, her mother drew her into a hug, relieved that she no longer had to hide the secrets of their people. Tye patted Jacob and Embry on the back, thankful that they'd put the smile back on Montana's face again – though Jacob expected he wouldn't be quite so welcoming once he found out that he'd imprinted on his daughter.

One takeaway later and an entire Back to the Future binge watch, the clock struck midnight. Montana's family were asleep upstairs, and the light snores emitting from Embry's open mouth suggested that he'd also grown too tired to keep his eyes open any longer. He was sprawled out across the couch, his legs taking up most of the room, which meant that Montana was cuddled close to Jacob's side. Not that either of them minded.

All night, Jacob had been stealing small glances, looking at the girl he'd known his whole life in an entirely different light. Jacob was pleased that he'd imprinted on somebody that he already had some level of feelings for beforehand. Nobody made him happier than Montana, and the thought of getting to spend the rest of his life with her was enough to keep his mind awake and racing. Everything made perfect sense when he was with her. She was the missing piece to making him complete, and she always had been.

"You're staring," Montana noted, her tired voice barely above a whisper.

Jacob's cheek flushed as he glanced down at her. "I missed you a lot."

"You were only gone for, like, four weeks," Montana pointed out. "I didn't see Embry for three months."

Jacob shared a small smile with her, his pulse racing as she snuggled even closer to him. He shifted his arm into a more comfortable position, wrapping it around her small frame. Montana pulled the blanket over them, though, when she leaned fully into Jacob's side, she quickly realised all the heat she'd need was coming from his abnormally warm body temperature.

Jacob's fingertips ran absentmindedly over her arm, lightly tracing circles against her skin. When his eyes fell briefly back onto the tv, he missed the way Montana looked up at him in pure adoration. "Hey," she whispered. "I'm really glad your back."

He looked down at her again, the beautiful smile on her lips sending his stomach doing backflips. Jacob's gentle gaze met hers. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

A/N

They are so soft 🥺🥺🥺

More crucially right now, I just want to take the time to say how important the Black Lives Matter movement is. In my bio there is a link to a number of helpful resources with ways to help the cause through petitions, donations, protests and more.

Here are some of them:

• https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• https://blmsites.carrd.co/
• https://useyourvoice.carrd.co/
• https://biglink.to/blmresources
• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ra1crnSHFzgznux5BBPuFkd-7vCo7YAPCeIWZr3Ryjg/edit?usp=drivesdk
• https://bibookishbabe23.wordpress.com/2020/06/06/blm-resource-master-list-businesses-creatives-books-resources-and-more/amp/

To my fellow white people, it's so important that we take the time to listen, learn, educate ourselves and check our privilege. Please keep doing what you can to help spread awareness, amplify black voices and creatives. This is something all of us, including myself, should have been doing a lot more of a long time ago, and it is so important that we do so right now to help with the fight for justice around the world.

Stay safe and well 💛