CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
BETWEEN TWO LUNGS

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THE FIRST FLASHES OF dawn bled through the darkness of night like splattered paint on a canvas. Mae watched in muted wonder as dark purple slowly but surely gave way to the lightest of pinks; then, an orange hue that streaked just above the line of forest green trees that rose up in the distance, their bared branches scraping desperately to reach the sky.

Allison had picked a nice spot to end their trip, somehow managing to secure a camp-site where Mae could just make out the cliffs of La Push through the caravan's sun-faded blue curtains. They were so far down the coast that Mae could've been imagining them, but as dawn inevitably dipped behind familiar grey clouds, she knew they were out there somewhere. At Mae's feet, Spot started to whine in his sleep, his paws twitching as if he was chasing something in his dreams. Mae was just happy Allison had let her bring him along. Like Kira, she wasn't much of a dog person, but Spot seemed to charm everyone he came across, even her.

His new favourite person — second to Mae, of course — just so happened to be Allison's friend, Verity Wu. Mae didn't know much about her, and two months spent together hadn't changed much. She knew Verity was twenty-six and one of the 'mature age' students studying archaeology at the same college as Allison. That, despite attending the same school together for more than two years, they met in a bar one night a few months ago where Verity drunkenly spilled beer on Allison's favourite red leather jacket. What a surprise it was the next day when they ran into each other in the college library, where a horribly embarrassed Verity offered to pay Allison's dry-cleaning bill, and they quickly became fast friends.

Or so they said. Frankly, Mae called bullshit. She didn't know many friends who were happy — excited, even — to sleep in the same twin bed for two months. Who snuck kisses when they thought Mae wasn't watching, who casually spoke about moving in together when they returned home the following week. But Mae didn't mind their secrecy. She liked seeing Allison happy. As dramatic as it might make her sound, at least one of them was.

When the last of the sunrise was gone, Mae dropped the curtain back over the window and crept over to the small kitchenette on the opposite side of the room. Spot, sleepy-eyed, woke up and immediately followed after her, almost like he could read her mind and knew she was getting him breakfast. She reached for his bedazzled food bowl, which Kira had insisted she take with them, and grimaced as he barked eagerly.

"Mae, shut up," Allison groaned, her face buried deep in her pillow.

Mae glared at her sister's head. It wasn't her doing the barking. Still, she knew what Allison could be like in the mornings, so she quickly finished mashing up mince and dog biscuits before taking the bowl and Spot's leash outside. The fire pit was smouldering in the fresh, early morning breeze. Three damp fold-out chairs were tucked beneath the awning, surrounded by beer bottles and empty chip packets. Mae sat down, gripping on tight to Spot's leash as he dug into his food. No one else was up this early, and Mae had half a mind to crawl back into her bunk where it was warm when Verity creaked the door open.

"Morning, Mae," she held two mugs of coffee in her hands. "Thought you might like one."

"Thanks," Mae eagerly accepted the drink as Verity sat in the chair beside her. "I didn't get a chance to make one without risking Allison biting my head off."

Verity chuckled, her fondness unmissable, a soft laugh of indulgence that could only be for a lover. "That's Allison for you."

Mae shrugged, sipping on the hot coffee and grimacing when it inevitably burnt her mouth. "Hey, it won't be me living with her when we get back. Maybe I'm just trying to warn you."

When Verity said nothing, merely scratching Spot's head once he finished his breakfast and went searching for attention, Mae took a moment to look at her. She was pretty, and Mae could see why she'd caught her sister's attention. Black curly hair that fell down past her shoulders, kind eyes and soft features, an almost dizzying smile. Mae would've had a crush on her if she wasn't Allison's girlfriend, secret or not.

And Embry. Even then, with hundreds of miles between them, her mind betrayed her and wandered to him. Her phone sat heavily in her pocket, weighed down by dozens of missed calls and unopened texts. She was grateful that it was early then. He called at least once a day, maybe twice if he desperately wanted to hear her voice.

With something sour in her heart, she turned to Verity again, searching for her own distraction. "So..." Verity looked up at her curiously. Knowingly. That was another thing about her. For everything Mae didn't know, Verity seemed to see right through her. "Have you two found a place yet?"

"We have," Verity's eyes lit up with excitement. Nudging Spot's head aside when he chased her hand, she fumbled for her phone and brought up an apartment listing. "Here. It's nice, isn't it? We have a viewing with the owner next week when we get back, and it's right by the college, so..."

Verity's rambling faded into the background as Mae scrolled through the photos. Verity was right, it was nice. Timber floors, high-rise windows that overlooked a park and some shops. The bedroom, singular, was made up of cream carpets and wooden accents, like Allison's room back home used to be. Mae could already see her sister in it.

"... I'll have to sell the caravan, though." Mae handed the phone back just as some of Verity's brightness dimmed. "Năinai won't keep it at hers. I'd ask my sister, but she lives in an apartment too, and I don't want to leave it at the share house."

"Why don't you ask dad and Kira?" she suggested, knowing almost as soon as she said it that Kira would be skeptical.

James and Kira only met Verity the night before she, Allison and Mae left for their trip. They stayed the night in the office, in the room that James kept stocked for Allison, and then they were gone in the morning. Still, Mae hated the thought of seeing the caravan go for good. It was the only thing that had kept her sane those past few months. A safe haven from what she'd left behind.

Verity paused. "They wouldn't mind?"

Mae shrugged. "Can't hurt to ask, right? And you're Allison's... friend, aren't you? Should be fine."

Verity's smile was shy. "I guess so."

"I heard my name?" Allison emerged from the caravan in a hoodie and sweatpants but still shivered as the breeze reached her. She stared down at the fire pit longingly, obviously wondering how pissed off the neighbouring campers would be at an early morning bonfire. When neither Mae or Verity said anything, she narrowed her eyes at them playfully, coming to sit in the final chair next to her sister. "Well? What lies have you been telling, Mae?"

"Hey," Mae frowned, kicking her bare ankle as Allison laughed. "I'll have you know I was helping you, for the first and last time now."

"Mae said we could ask your dad and Kira about keeping the caravan," Verity's voice was tinged with anxiety. She was hesitant to witness Allison's reaction.

To give her credit, Allison's expression remained neutral. She watched Mae from the corner of her eye, and Mae winced in an attempt at a grin. "We can try..."

"Oh, I hope they say yes," Verity confessed, a spark of excitement returning that Allison smiled at, some of her hard edges softening like they always did around Verity. "Maybe next time, we can bring Gideon as well."

Gideon. Verity's sister.

"Sounds good to me," Mae grinned, winking at Allison when she frowned at her. "Who knows? Maybe we'll also become the type of friends that share a bed."

As Verity's face burned and Allison muttered curse words at her, Mae laughed and disappeared inside to change. She was still in high spirits, brushing her teeth over the kitchen sink when her phone started to ring.

Mae froze.

She spat out the last of her toothpaste and quickly turned off the water before darting to the other side of the room. Dread, heavy and suffocating, settled in her gut as she plucked the blaring device from the covers of the bottom bunk Allison and Verity were sharing. Her sigh of relief was short-lived.

"Hey, Lina, you're calling early..." On the other end of the line, Lina let out a shaky breath. Mae's brows tugged into a confused frown. She sat down on the edge of the bed, some of her confusion fading into wariness. "Lina? Are you there?"

"Mae..." Her sister's voice was small and afraid, tinged by a hint of hysteria that was uncommon for Lina Song to so openly show.

"What's wrong?"

Immediately, Mae feared the worst. Something must've happened to Kira or James, something that would shatter the remaining fragments of Mae's life into pieces. She was barely clinging on by a thread. Watching sunrises not because she loved them but because sleep evaded her. Always changing the subject so her mind never settled. Hoping she'd never have to come back home.

Then Lina spoke again. "It's Bella."

Mae was confused again. "Okay?"

It wasn't that she didn't like Bella Swan — now Cullen, she supposed, after Bella's recent marriage to Edward Cullen the vampire — just that Mae didn't have much to do with her. She was invited to the wedding, sure, but she didn't go. She feared who else would be there, the unavoidable truth of her own choices. So why Lina was calling about Bella, she wasn't sure.

"She's pregnant."

"Okay..." Mae repeated. It was safe to say she had some questions. "And the baby is... whose child?"

"Edward's," Lina scoffed, as if this should've been obvious. Mae rolled her eyes. How was she supposed to know the fertility rates for a vampire? "But that's not all."

"Just tell me, Lina," she said, beginning to lose her patience.

"The pack wants to kill her and the baby. They think she's a monster," Lina cried, and Mae's stomach dropped both at those words and Lina's fear. She sounded terrified, not to mention way in over her head. "Mae, I need you. This is too much. I can't do this on my own."

That, Mae understood. Better than anyone.

Lina knew it, too.

Mae sighed. She stared at the suitcase with clothes sprawled everywhere, yet to be packed. She thought she'd have more time. One more week to breathe, and hold on, and avoid home. Avoid him.

But Mae couldn't run anymore. Lina needed her. She might not care about Bella, might not know her beyond the surface, but the pack in her mind weren't people who would kill just for the fun of it. Something was very wrong, and did she mention that Lina needed her?

"I'm coming home," she said, steeling herself against the impact of the words in her own brain just as Allison and Verity led Spot inside. "Let me sort some things out and I'll come straight to you. You're at the Cullens?"

"Yes," Lina mumbled, the smallest hint of relief in her voice. "Thank you, Mae."

For being there. It was unspoken, but both of them knew. Mae was always there. No matter what it cost her own heart and mind.

Mae hung up and turned to Allison, who was frowning at her. Again. Lately, all she seemed to do around Mae was frown and hesitate, like she was struggling to recognise the sister she'd last seen in her. Mae wished she had more time with her. That this dawn had held out for a little while longer, kept the real world at bay.

"Change of plans," she said. "I'm needed back home."

Home. Where Embry was.

And now, a new war, with him on the other side. Mae barely kept her head above water the last time. Just what would be waiting for her now?

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INTRODUCING. . .

JESSIE MEI LI
as VERITY WU