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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

"𝐇𝐈 𝐌𝐑. 𝐋𝐀𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐄, 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 Liz." Sixteen year old Liz Chamber says, the house phone held closely to her ear as she leaned against the kitchen wall, playing with the wire between her fingers.

"Who?" A raspy, irritated voice demanded on the other end. It was clear she had woken the older man up and as usual, he was hungover or most likely still drunk from the night before.

"Liz Chambers. Paul's friend."

    "Right. Well, what the hell do you want?"

"Can I speak to him?" Liz questioned.

"Who?"

Liz did her best not to snap at the piece of shit on the phone. "Paul. You know, your son."

"I haven't seen that ungrateful shit in days."

At first, Liz didn't believe him. It was Theo Lahote after all. The man spends most of his day at any bar that hasn't kicked him out yet and will be gone for days or even weeks on end. "He's probably in his room. He's been sick with the flu for a week now."

"Listen, girl, all I know is that bastard nearly killed me the other day and was dragged out of here by two large fuckers. He hasn't returned since and if he knows what's good for him, he won't."

Liz now didn't think he was kidding and pushed herself up from the wall. "What do you mean he tried to kill you? What two guys?"

"I'm hanging up now." Is all he says and before Liz could stop him, the line went dead.

If she wasn't worried before, she is definitely worried now. It has been two weeks since Liz saw Paul and since he doesn't have a cellphone, it was hard to reach him. Last she heard from him was last week since she basically called him every day to make sure he was okay and if he needed anything. He would only reassure her and then tell her not to risk coming over, not wanting to give her whatever he has. Now not hearing from him in days, she was fully prepared to head over to his place if he did not answer, which is why she was dressed.

But now she was just confused. Because if he isn't home with fever, then where the hell could he be?

Liz was so lost in thought she hadn't heard her mother come in and smile at her. "Hi sweetie." When her daughter did not respond, Lori Chambers waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello? Earth to Lizzie."

The blonde blinked and looked up at her mom. "Sorry, what?"

"You okay, honey?" Lori asked, coming to stand in front of her.

Liz has never really been the type to lie to her mother. She usually tells her everything so she did not change that with this. "I was just talking to Mr. Lahote."

Lori rolled her eyes. "Surprised he was sober enough to figure out how to answer the phone."

Her parents' hatred towards Paul's deadbeat father is no secret, despite Robert and Theo being friends in high school. It is why they basically adopted Paul as their own. Her mom even calls him her unofficial adoptive son and Paul doesn't mind one bit.

"Sober is too strong of a word," Liz muttered as Lori started to get the chicken out of the fridge to prepare for dinner tonight. "Anyway, he says Paul hasn't been home in days."

"You can't believe anything that man says, Lizzie. You know this."

"Yeah but he said Paul tried to kill him but was dragged off by two guys." Liz explained, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm starting to worry, mom. What if he's in some kind of trouble?"

Lori set the pan she grabbed from the cabinet on the stove and went over to her daughter, rubbing her arm comfortingly. "I think Theo might have been exaggerating, like usual. I'm sure Paul's fine, sweetie. Just give him some time, he will call. You two can't go long without talking anyway."

Liz forced a smile and against her gut feeling, she nodded her head. "You're probably right. He better call soon, or I'll go all detective and track him down myself."

Lori kissed her daughter's cheek and chuckled. "I wouldn't put it past you. Now, help me with dinner?"

"Depends... what are we having?"

"Chicken stir fry."

"Yes!" Liz says, pumping her fist in the air only for Lori to giggle at her daughter's weirdness. Liz got to work chopping up the vegetables but couldn't help but think about Paul.

He's probably fine. It's Paul. He will call soon.

✿

It started to drizzle halfway to the reservation, but Liz did not stop once unless it was a red light or stop sign. She is pretty sure she broke a few traffic laws, but her blood was literally boiling.

A part of her is praying she is wrong. The conclusion she had come to was just her being paranoid and Danny was actually at his father's place, sick as a dog. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But she has always trusted her gut when it tells her something is wrong. She knows her instincts are correct. And she honestly believes Danny is not at Billy's house. He was at the exact same house she had tracked Paul down too when he did the same thing to her.

Danny is not going to pull this bullshit on her sister. Liz is determined and she is pissed. Two combinations that should never go together when it comes to Liz Chambers. The outcome is always destructive.

She memorized this address, because this address is the place where her life first started going downhill. It is where she lost her best friend.

They heard her long before they saw her. The motor of her Harley is not exactly the quietest sound and when she turned the corner, she saw the leader of this strange group standing in front of his house, arms crossed and waiting for her arrival. The last time Liz truly spoke to Sam Uley, it was when she came here to confront Paul and he told her to leave, which she kindly flipped him off.

By the time she got close enough to the house, she swung off her bike and turned it off. Jared Cameron and the famous man himself jogged out of the house, both taking their spots on either side of their leader, as Liz has grown used to calling him. It's true. They follow him like lost golden retrievers. It seemed like the appropriate term.

Liz took off her helmet and left it on her seat before heading straight for them, no bullshit written all over her face as she stopped a couple steps before them and put a hand on her hip. "Where is he?"

"Who?" Sam is the one to respond.

"Don't pretend to be an owl. Where is he?"

Sam kept his face tight and expressionless as did the others. "He's not here."

"Bullshit," Liz said, looking over their shoulders and inside the house. "Danny! Daniel Black, get your ass out here now!"

"He's not here, Liz." Paul held up a hand to silence her. "What makes you think Danny would be here?"

The blonde narrowed her eyes at him. "Because apparently this is where guys go when they pretend to be sick and then decide to abandon the people who care about them."

Paul tried not to look affected by her words but Sam took a step forward. "Go home, Liz. If we see Danny, we'll tell him you are looking for him."

Sam was about to turn and head back into the house but Liz rushed up and shoved him. He stammered but caught himself, not expecting it and turned, eyes wide and nostrils flaring. But Liz did not give to shits. "Listen to me you arrogant piece of shit! I have a sister who is crying her eyes out on the couch from worrying about her fiance who she is supposed to be marrying a little over a month from now. She is not eating nor is she sleeping because that jerk is pulling the same damn shit Paul pulled on me. If you think I'm going to sit back and let that happen, you have another thing coming."

"Liz-" Paul tried to interrupt but Liz snapped her vicious glare at him and he knew her well enough to shut his damn mouth.

"I'm not leaving until I see my brother."

Silence fell around the four and none of them commented on the fact that Liz just called Danny her brother and not her brother-in-law. Liz was too pissed to even think about what she said and glared at boys, hard and fiercely.

But clearly, Sam was as thick headed as her ex-best friend. "Go home, Liz. You don't belong here."

That is when Liz actually lost it. She laughed. She started laughing like a freaking maniac and it only caused the boys to stare at her like she was insane. Jared looked over at Paul, a bit freaked out. "Dude, is she alright?"

Before Paul could even think of a response, Liz snapped her head towards Jared. "Of course I'm not fucking alright, you idiot. You wanna know why? Well, maybe it is because of the fact that I haven't had the best year. In fact, it's been utter fucking hell. I lost my parents. My parents. I also lost my best friend prior to that. Right, Paul? I lost my dream of pulling out the impossible and becoming one of the top female track stars in this damn country. I am currently losing my sight, but slowly so it can torture me with the envitable. I was also nearly killed by a crazy psychopath.

"I have met people who I thought I could count on only to end up looking like a complete and total idiot for letting my guard down and having my heart broken into little bitty tiny pieces. I have been through hell and back and I am this close to losing my damn mind." Liz yelled at all of them, taking a closer step towards them. "So, Sam, if you want to avoid me going bat shit crazy on all of your asses and start making your lives a living hell the only damn way I know how, I suggest you step aside and let me talk to my brother. Because it is not pretty and I am not afraid to end up in jail. Charlie Swan knows which cell I prefer."

The silence that fell after her outburst was surreal. You could hear a pin drop, that is how quiet it suddenly became. Sam, Jared and Paul were blinking at her, stunned and even a bit nervous for what she meant by ruining their living. But Paul knew. He knew her better than anyone and grabbed Sam's arm, turning towards him.

"She means every fucking word of that and it is not going to be pretty." Paul tells him, while Sam looks at him with unsure eyes. "Trust me."

Sam looked back at the angry blonde standing there, arms crossed and a look that could scare children and that even sent a shiver down his back. Realizing this was a fight he was going to lose, Sam nudged his head towards the house. "Alright, but he is really not here. Come inside, I'll call him and have him come back."

Satisfied, Liz walked up the porch and patted the large man on the shoulder. "See? That wasn't so damn hard, was it?"

><><><

𝐋𝐈𝐙 𝐇𝐀𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍 a lot of awkward situations before. Like, for example, the time a senior asked her out when she was a freshman and she rambled on for a good three minutes before finally giving him an answer. Or the time she once made a joke to one of her teammates on the track team who had been crying and she told her she looked like someone ran over her dog... which turned out that that is exactly what happened.

Liz never ran out of a room so fast in her life.

But even that has to take second to this. Sitting on the couch in Sam Uley's house, Paul sitting in the loveseat and Jared was on the same couch to her left, tossing a tennis ball in the air and catching it with one hand. No one has said a word since Sam excused himself to call Danny, not like Liz had anything to say. She hardly knew Jared, only hung out with him a couple times in the past since he and Paul had always been buddies and Paul... Well, she was trying to pretend Paul wasn't there.

It was not working.

Liz has never been good in awkward silences. She normally is the one trying to break them. But this time, she couldn't. Not when Paul kept glancing at her and when a part of her wanted to ask him how he's been.

Again, the treacherous side of her was starting to show.

When another minute goes by, Jared seemed to also not be taking the silence well and turned to the blonde on his left with furrowed brows. "So, when you said that you would make all our lives a living hell, what exactly did that entail?"

"You don't wanna know." Liz informs him, looking down at the carpet. Her hair was still damp from the light rain outside but it seemed to have cleared up, but she could tell her hair was going to start curling up pretty soon.

Jared blinked about three times before nodding his head. "No. No. I think I do."

"Dude," Paul said, gaining his friends' attention. "You really don't."

As if the look Paul gave him was enough, Jared leaned back into his seat and started tossing the ball in the air again just in time for a familiar woman Liz awkwardly met when coming in walked into the living room, carrying a tray with drinks and a plate of cookies.

Sam had introduced her as his fiance, Emily Young. The woman was extremely beautiful and had that kind of smile that it was contagious. Even as Liz was meeting her right after threatening to wreak havoc on the guys, she found herself kindly returning the smile. Liz had been surprised by the three enormous scars down the side of her face. Liz did not see or even comment on them, but despite the scars, she was still such a pretty lady.

"I made some snacks while you guys wait," Emily says before turning to Liz. "I hope you like chocolate chip."

"I do, thank you." Liz told her, but did not make a move to grab the large freshly baked cookie from the plate. They smelled devine, and any other time she would be attacking the plate just like Jared clearly is, but for once food was the last thing on her mind.

Sam finally entered the room and stood next to his fiance and looked directly at Liz. "Danny is on his way. He'll be here in a couple minutes."

Liz just nodded and let the silence fall between them again. She would have been happy to sit here in silence until Danny came but Emily seemed to break the silence. "So, Liz, are you a junior or senior?"

"Senior." Liz simply stated.

Emily smiled. "That's exciting. Are you happy you only have one more year left of high school?"

"If I can find some way to graduate, then yes, I'm thrilled."

Paul, who was picking at the hem of his shorts, looked up at that statement and frowned. "I thought your grades were improving?"

Liz squinted her eyes. "Why would you think that?"

"Danny said they were."

The blonde gritted her teeth. "Of course he did."

Silence fell between them and Emily had excused herself back to the kitchen, understanding this was not the time to chit chat. Liz felt slightly bad, mainly because she hadn't done anything and this was her home.

A few minutes went by when Jared sat up again. "Nope. It's bothering me too much. What did you mean about making our lives hell?"

Before Liz could get the chance to attempt to explain to him her methods, the door swung open and loud footsteps followed. Liz stood as Danny entered the room and she couldn't hold back the scoff that escaped her lips the minute she saw him.

Just like the others in this room, Danny was not wearing a t-shirt and now had a very visible tribal tattoo on his arm. It is not the first tattoo she has seen on him, but seeing as how it matched the rest of the guys, it was more of a surprise. Luckily, he left his hair alone. It wasn't long enough like it used to be when he was a teenager, but it was still the same from the last time she saw it.

Danny looked a hundred times better then when she last saw him, curled up in bed. His whole demeanor looks different, just like Paul's was. Like they were a whole different person.

"Liz, you shouldn't be here." Is the first thing that comes out of his mouth. Liz was close to slapping him.

1, 2, 3. Breathe. 1, 2, 3. Breathe.

"Neither should you." Liz found herself saying. "You know where you should be? At home. With your fiancé who is worried sick about you."

Danny looked down at the ground. "Things are complicated right now."

"It's complicated now, Liz. You wouldn't understand." The distant memory of Paul's words replayed in her head.

"I don't give a shit. I don't care if you are getting cold feet or you are going through a midlife crisis in your damn 20s. All I care about is my sister who is not about to deal with the same heartbreak I'm dealing with. So whatever the hell is going on with you, figure it out. Now. Cause you are coming home with me and you are going to talk to Ester about whatever this is."

"Liz, I can't." Danny said, running a stressful hand over his face before sharing a look with Sam. Liz looked between the two and scoffed in disbelief.

"You have got to be shitting me," Liz cursed, turning her attention to Sam himself. "What the hell do you do to these idiots that makes them not have minds of their own anymore? Seriously, Sam, I'm curious. Because not even gang leaders have their members this obedient."

Sam wasn't at all fazed by her words, just turned toward Danny. "Are you sure about this?"

Danny hesitated but nodded before Sam turned to Paul who also nodded in some kind of silent agreement. Sam motions to the couch. "You might want to sit down."

"I'm not one of your bitches, Sam. I'm not following your orders."

"Do you want to know the truth?" Paul is the one to ask. Liz was a bit surprised but nodded slowly. "Then sit down and listen."

Reluctantly, Liz took her seat on the couch once again as Danny pulled a chair from the kitchen so he was sitting near her. Sam remained standing, standing on the threshold between the living room and the kitchen. He didn't look too happy but he was remaining silent. Danny had to clear his throat, giving one more look to the others before finally nodding.

"Liz... do you remember the tribe legends my dad used to tell us whenever he had too much to drink?"

A memory of last January popped into her head instantly. One that consisted of her, Bella and Jacob walking on the beach as Bella weaseled information about the legends from Jacob to learn about the Cullens. Liz had even gone home that exact day and questioned Ester about them even more, which is the exact day she learned the Cullens were vampires.

"Yeah, I remember."

"What do you remember about them?"

"Not much. Just that you guys are apparently descendants from-" Liz paused immediately, everything hit her at once as her eyes widened and her body became stiff. "Wolves."

Danny sighed, knowing she was putting the pieces together. He didn't want to sugar coat it. This was not an easy conversation. "We know about the Cullens, Liz."

Liz's eyes darted up to meet his. "What-What do you mean?"

"The Cullens are vampires." Danny was not being blunt. "We know you know. You've known for a long time."

Instant panic filled her. Never had she ever thought she'd have to talk about this but clearly it was unavoidable. Despite them leaving her, she still has this instinct needed to protect them. To protect their secret.

"Liz, it's alright." Danny tried to console her but her mind was running wild. The tribe legend basically states that the Quileute are descendants of actual wolves. Liz learned about the Cullens from these legends. They were the cold ones. They were the unnatural beings told in these old stories. That means that the rest... the rest of the legend must be real.

"Are you..." Liz paused, looking over at Sam, then Jared and then Paul, her eyes lingering on the latter a bit longer before turning back to Danny. "Are you telling me that you guys, all of you are werewolves?"

Danny glanced at Sam one more time before nodding in confirmation. "Yes."

"We prefer the term, shapeshifters." Jared adds in, which earns a hard look from Sam and Danny both. He just grabbed another cookie and leaned back into the couch.

Liz felt her head spinning, the pain between her eyes was returning. She took a second to process this before shaking her head holding her head with both hands. "Werewolves are real. I know werewolves. First vampires, now werewolves. How does this keep happening to me?"

"She's actually handling this better than I thought she would." Danny said to Sam, as Liz was still in a bit of shock.

After a couple seconds, Liz leaned back towards the couch. "So, the reason you've been acting like this is because... what? Is there a full moon coming or something?"

Paul couldn't stop himself from laughing, neither could Jared. Even Sam cracked a smile as Danny shook his head. "No. Full moon is a myth. We can shift whenever we want. But last week is when my wolf gene was triggered."

"So having your wolf gene trigger entitles you to act like a dick to the people you love?"

"When we first shift, we are at our most uncontrollable. Anger is what usually causes us to shift. Any little thing can set us off. Learning to control it is the hardest thing that comes out of this," Sam starts to explain, looking a bit distant as he glances at the kitchen. That is when Liz remembers Emily's face and understands the seriousness behind his words.

"What causes the gene to be triggered?"

"What else?" Jared said. "Vampires."

Sam added in a better explanation. "Vampires are our natural enemies. They are what we kill and what we protect our people and the lives of innocent people from. We are faster and just as strong. We can normally go our whole lives without shifting. Some of us just grow up thinking these stories are simply that. Stories and legends. But since the Cullens came back a couple years ago..."

"It triggered your wolf gene." Liz finishes for him in a whisper. This is all insane. She looked at all of them, but her eyes lingered on Paul. "So this is what you couldn't tell me. This is the reason you threw me away like yesterday's garbage?"

Paul tried his best to keep a straight face. "I was the worst out of all of them, Lizzie. You know me. You know how hard it was for me to control my anger when I was still just a regular human. When I shifted, it took them two days to get me to calm down enough to shift back. I missed more school then Jared did and Danny almost has control, probably the fastest to gain it. I'm still learning it. I couldn't tell you because it is not just my secret to tell."

"We protect our people by keeping what we are a secret, especially from outsiders." Sam adds in, looking down at Liz who did not tear her hard gaze away from someone she once trusted.

"It was so bad that you couldn't come to my parents' funeral? Even when I begged?" Liz practically whispered to him and Paul looked down at the carpet, not having an explanation. Liz swallowed the lump in her throat and did her best not to let her emotions get the best of her and directed her attention back to Danny. "I have so many questions. I do. Tons. And I expect answers to all of them. But not now. Right now, Danny, you are coming home with me and you are telling all of this to Ester."

Danny leaned back into the chair and shook his. "I can't, Liz. There is more you don't understand."

"I don't care. Either she hears this from you and you two deal with it like normal fucking adults or I'm going home and I'm telling her all of this myself. And I don't care if she believes me or not. Because once I tell her where to find you, you and I both know she won't stop until she talks to you." She turns to Paul with a snarl. "We are sisters after all."

Liz then stood and crossed her arms, looking between all three of them. "You have an hour. I'll see you at home, Danny." With that, Liz takes her keys from the coffee table and storms out, saying goodbye to Emily who smiled and waved awkwardly from the kitchen, pretending she had not been eavesdropping the whole time. 

Jared has a hand over his mouth, his eyes gleaming with so much amusement. "I like her."

><><><

𝐋𝐈𝐙 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 sitting out on the porch steps, anxiously waiting for a certain someone to pull up. Liz hadn't told Ester anything, just that she saw Danny and convinced him to come home. When Ester tried asking more questions, all Liz told her was that if Danny doesn't show up in an hour, she will explain everything.

Dragging Ester into this world is not something Liz really wanted to do. In fact, she hated that Ester's oblivious outlook on life would be shaken from this revelation. The supernatural world is not something most take easily. Even Liz when she learned about the Cullens, she was nervous and freaked out but handled it better than someone else in her situation would.

She believes Ester can handle this new reality. They were a lot alike in that way. They were strong and able to function with change... sometimes. Liz was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that there are werewolves as well as vampires. The things they told her made sense. It explained so much...

It was still such a hard pill to swallow.

The sound of an engine coming down the road broke the sisters out of their wandering daze as a blue Volkswagen came into view, pulling into the dirted driveway. There were clearly other passengers in the car, meaning that despite Danny making the decision to come, Sam wasn't going to let him without him being supervised. Liz thinks it's just to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't lose control in front of Ester. It was smart thinking... Liz just didn't see why the three of them had to come.

Ester was already standing and moving towards the car before Danny was even out of it. She wore gray sweatpants and a blue University of Seattle sweatshirt. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun and her skin was pale from the worry and crying she's been doing these past couple days.

Danny got out of the car only to be met with a hard slap across the face, one Liz winced at and should have expected. But now she was worried it was going to trigger Danny to change into a wolf. Shift is probably the better term. Sam, Jared and Paul all tensed, thinking the same thing.

Ester was fuming, glaring up at him as he held his cheek and tried recovering from the slap. "You piece of shit! Where the hell have you been? Huh? Don't you know how worried I've been? Do you know what you've put me through?"

Liz moved towards the others who had gotten out to watch Danny closely as Ester continued her interrogation. "We've been together for almost six years, Daniel. Six years! We do not shut each other out like this. That is not what we do. We talk to one another when we have problems. We take care of one another when the other is hurt or sick. We rely on one another. You do not run out on a hundred and five fever to your father's place and refuse to see or talk to me. No! We are supposed to be partners! We are supposed to communicate and love each other."

Ester barely stopped her ranting to breathe. Liz felt a glimmer of pride shoot through her listening to Ester stand up for herself and telling him off like this. Ester may be more reserved between the two of them but she definitely has that Chambers fire.

Danny, on the other hand, was just staring at her. His mouth gaped like a fish out of water. He barely even moved, just stared at her with big, wide eyes and a stunned expression. Liz wasn't the only one who noticed as the boys standing beside her seemed to be in as much shock as Danny himself.

"Well shit," Jared mumbles, a smile breaking out on his face.

"What?" Liz asked curiously.

"He just imprinted on her."

Liz squinted her brows together. "What the hell does that mean?"

None of them answered, just watched as Ester started shoving his chest with both hands repeatedly but Danny was taking each hit as the biggest grin spread on his face.

"Why the hell are you looking at me like that, Daniel? Don't you have anything to say for yourself? Because whatever the hell is going on, you need to tell me so we can-"

Danny shut her up by slamming his lips onto hers. Ester seemed startled by the action but responded immediately to the kiss and even though she was very, very confused on what just happened, a genuine smile spread on Liz's lips. Because whatever that was, whatever imprinting was, it didn't matter. Two people who were made for one another are together once again.

At least now she doesn't have to worry about canceling the wedding.

_____________________________

This may be one of my favorite chapters so far. I love a sassy and intimidating Liz. Liz is my spirit animal.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.