CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Fire and Heat

***

Alyssa's growl was feral as I tackled her to the ground for the third time in a row. I very vaguely heard a chorus of laughter inside of someone's mind, and quirked my head to the side. 

 Alyssa was surprisingly good with training, and she could beat Leah two out of three times... but her size does give her an unfair disadvantage. She may be tall for her age, unlike how we were a few months ago, but she was still much smaller than all of us. 

 I'm not trying to be sexist or anything, but sometimes science doesn't play in your favor. 

Why is my brother such a dick? 

 Why is my sister so scrawny? 

 I heard the unmistakable sound of Seth's laughter, as Alyssa growled again, and leapt in the air, knocking me off balance and sending us both rolling to the side like an over-sized wolf snowball. 

The overlapping of voices grew almost unbearable. 

 Ha, you're such a loser! 

 I don't know whether to be scared or turned-on right now. 

 Keep your thoughts to yourself. 

 Shut it, Leah!

 (You can use your imagination to guess who said what, as I am not disclosing that information.)

I think we've had enough training for one day. Sam's voice cut in, although his thoughts did hold an undertone of amusement. 

 Go back to Emily's you losers.

 ***

 "Emmy, will you please tell Paul that he does not have a future as a gymnast?" I begged, pushing through the door, the rest of the pack close behind me. Emily's eyes lifted, and a grin spread on her face as Sam walked over to press a kiss on either one of her cheeks. 

 "Paul is gonna be a gymnast?" She teased, winking at me, "good for you, Paul." 

 I threw my hands up incredulously, gaping as Jared and Paul high-fived, and Embry rested his head in my shoulder. Jacob ran in a moment later, looking around the house with wide eyes and frantic features.  

 "Yo! Where are my keys?" 

 "Maybe you left them in your bike again," Quil teased, taking a step back as Jake breezed past him. He stopped in his tracks, reached into his pocket, and withdrew his chain, looking like he wanted to kill himself. 

 "Join us next week, on "how stupid is this pack', as we watch Tony look for his glasses on his head!" Alyssa exclaimed, holding out her hands like she was reading a billboard. I rolled my eyes, as Embry snorted lightly. 

 "Why do you need your keys anyway?" He asked, as I slung my arm around his shoulder. "Going to another book club meeting or something?" 

 "Okay, that was one time-" Jacob defended, indignantly holding up one finger. I laughed with the rest of the people in the room as the tips of Jake's ears reddened considerably. Jacob was in a book-club for a full week, when he had a book report due the next day, and he didn't read the book. So, obviously, he found a book club discussing the same book, and took notes.... it is kind of smart now that I think about it. "And I am going to pick up Bella for the bonfire." 

 "You invited the vampire-girl?" Paul demanded through a mouthful of muffin. "Dude, why?" 

 "Chill, Paul." I smiled lightly, "Bella Swan's not all that bad." 

 Embry gave me a skeptical look, raising an eyebrow in a way that should not have been attractive, but was. "How do you know, have you been hanging out with her?" 

 "I drove her here from school," I explained, laughing lightly at the expression on my boyfriend's face. "She told me that she admires your gum collection." 

 "Moving on from Call's gum obsession-" Jared began, as I lightly kissed Embry's forehead. "Is this fire-thing include a plus-one invite? Like, can I bring Kim?" 

 "You know we're not gonna tell you you can't bring Kim," Emily teased, ruffling Jared's hair and making him smile like a dope. "Plus, nobody could exactly stop me from going, so..." 

 "Emily, you know you're an honorary werewolf!" Alyssa grinned, and Emily mock-bowed as we all jokingly clapped. Seth bounced on his feet, looking like all of his dreams were coming true in this one moment. Leah had disappeared, and I don't blame her. 

 You see, she dated Sam a while back, until he imprinted on Emily... who also happened to be her cousin. That must sting, and I always feel bad whenever I unintentionally read her thoughts. It's something I am trying to learn how to tune-out, but it is really hard. 

 Seth is the opposite. I have developed a very firm fondness of the boy, and he always brags that Emily is his cousin, acting like she is the coolest thing in the entire universe... I'll admit, she's pretty close. 

 "Not letting you bring Kim would be like making Tony or Embry stay home." Sam grinned, and I turned to the boy beside me, lightly shaking my head. 

 "Sorry, babe... I'm gonna have to leave you behind." 

 "Bold of you to assume I wouldn't trespass." 

 "Embry may have a questionable past that we do not know about," Emily grinned, as Jake sprinted through the room, yelling his good-byes and disappearing from the house. We all rolled our eyes as he left, wishing that our friend didn't have to be so involved with a girl who doesn't like him back. 

 "Seriously though, when is this starting?" Quil asked, Alyssa leaning into his side comfortably. "Because I have a history of being late." 

 "It's true," I piped up, making Quil stick his tongue out at me. 

 "As soon as it gets dark." Was Sam's reply, wrapping his arms around Emily's middle and resting his chin on the top of her head. "I know, it's cryptic, but that was the response Billy Black gave me." 

 "And you don't have to be worried about tardiness in our house," Alyssa smirked, leaning her head back and letting her hair fall down her back. Quil stared at her, smiling at her in a way that I knew he wasn't aware of his surroundings. "Anthony doesn't tolerate that." 

 I scoffed, as Embry laughed, pointing at my sister in agreement. "One time, I was three minutes late to leave for school, and he cussed me out in Spanish the entire walk there."  

 I felt my face reddened, as everyone laughed to my expense. I held my free arm up in the air in defense. "I'm sorry I have an issue with punctuality." 

 "I'm sorry that you sue the word punctuality," Paul muttered, before taking a sheepish bite of his muffin when I glared at him. 

 "Stop bullying me." 

 The rest of the pack shared a knowing look, and I rolled my eyes again. 

 "You all suck." 

 ***

 The first sight Bella Swan got of me, was when I shoulder-checked Jacob into a pile of wood. 

 Before you judge me to greatly, let me explain. So I was just chillin' you know? Arguing with Embry on whether or not they are going to make another season of Hannah Montana, and then I turned, and spotted Jacob jokingly wrestling with Seth. Bella watched them with a hint of fear, mixed with amusement, in her eyes. 

 "Remember that thing we had, when we had to embarrass Jake in front of Isabella?" 

 Embry sighed, already knowing where this was going. "Yes." 

 "Watch this." 

 I jogged over to where Jacob was wrestling, and then picked up my pace. "Not my son!" I yelled, ramming my shoulder into Jacob's. 

 He swore loudly, stumbling over his own feet, and then catching on a stray log, crashing to the ground with a loud thump. 

 Seth burst into laughter so intense, I was unsure how his lungs didn't combust, but I laughed just as hard as Seth reached his hand out to grip onto my shoulder to avoid falling over. Jacob scrambled to his feet, his face red, and ran over to shove my shoulders. "You suck, Carter!" 

 I flashed him a coy grin, winking jokingly and flouncing around him so I could wave to Bella. "Isabella Swan, it has been much too long." 

 She smiled shyly, waving back and brushing her hair behind her ears, leaning her head to the side. "Hi, Tony." 

 "Oh, how do you feel, Jakie?" Embry demanded, his lips pink, but his mouth stretched into a wide grin. "That was Tony's revenge for ten years of your bullying!" 

 "Hell yeah!" I reached over to high-five my boyfriend, who then laced out hands together and took a step closer. "You had this coming, Jacob Black!" 

 He rolled his eyes, "whatever." 

 "Guys! Come on!" 

 Seth was the first one to run over, jumping over a log and almost tripping over his own feet. I laughed lightly as he sat next to his sister, and lightly tugged Embry over. "Come on, hurry up!" 

 "I wish we had marshmallows." My boyfriend muttered under his breath, as we took a seat on one of the over-turned logs. I immediately wrapped my arm around his shoulders, and his head leaned on to mine. 

 Billy Black's voice was so smooth, that his words felt more like a dream to me than actual real things being said. Embry's hair was soft, and where my hand touched the exposed skin on his arm burned with electricity. 

 As if he could sense me looking at him, he turned his head up slightly, and I took my chance to gently lower my lips to his, the buzzing feeling I always got when we kissed not failing to make an appearance. 

 In that moment, with the crackling of the fire, the stories that I thought were once fairy-tales echoing around in my mind, and the warm embrace of the person I like to be around most...  it was perfect. 

A/N: Aww, my babies are just the cutest. 

 Any recommendations for future chapters? I want to add another original one, before we get int the whole "graduation party and training" thing.

 Thank you all for reading, and don't forget to vote and comment! Have a lovely day/night!