𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑

𝙋𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨

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╰┈˚ · ° .   LAYLA WAS A GIRL OF FEW WORDS I NOTICED AFTER spending the majority of the following week with her. She was skittish and quite shy, but I could also say that she was the sweetest girl I had ever met. Layla was kindness made person, her natural gift for empathy was only overblown with the addition of magic.

She loved reading, fantasy and romance her favorite genres. She always had some type of braid in her hair, to her words, her little sister loved doing hairstyles, and Layla was her favorite head to practice on.

Layla's element was water, and she impersonalized to the perfection the calmness of a perfect summer day. But like water and oceans and seas and rivers, she too had days where the current was stronger. Those days for her would usually come when Embry was near. I had no idea how that was possible since shifters were usually very good at calming the raw powers of the witches, but Layla couldn't even look at Embry without turning ten shades of red— which was quite a feat with the caramel color of her skin— but every time the boy was in her eye sight, she flushed red from head to toe and suddenly there was water everywhere, usually slamming him in some walls or slap him in the face.

The pack and the coven had all but spent nothing more than a few minutes together since the day the newest members changed. It was a bit weird, to be honest, and after two weeks, we were all more than ready to go back as we were before.

Paul and Jared's whining about it didn't help either.

We had to tell her about the imprint or risk that she thought of Embry as a total creep, since with only seeing her once, Embry had not called only his, but also started to act like a complete in love fool.

We had to go back to school, two weeks had already passed, and since we needed to stay together, it was imperative for Layla to keep her control with Embry. The boy wasn't fairing well. He was angry about his friends, his best friends that he had to ditch because of the pack, it had been the first time that Sam had to use the Alpha command on someone like this. But after Emily, he wasn't taking any risks.

"Are you sure that this is going to work?" Embry stressed, his hands passed over his short cropped hair, tugging at the roots. "I mean, she really doesn't like me."

"Give her some time, everything is new to her too." Jared replied as he brought more chopped wood to the center. "And you are the one that imprinted, not her. She doesn't feel the same way you do."

"That's the problem." Groaned Embry. "She feels nothing? Nothing at all?" He pleaded, his doe brown eyes searching for answers in his pack mate.

"Well, I'm the wolf that imprinted too so ask her." Jared nodded to me, grinning suggestively in a way that made me roll my eyes.

"Right!" Embry turned expectantly towards me.

"I'm not the best person to ask that, honestly." I grimaced. Paul and mine's past was a bit more complicated.

"Yeah." The youngest wolf cleared his throat with a winch, "Paul imprinted on you, which was very unexpected by the way. Didn't see that coming."

"And you saw you turning into a wolf?" I asked rhetorically, but Embry just stared, waiting and pleading with me with his eyes to just answer his question. "The fact that Paul spread a rumor about me and made me the laughing stock of the school didn't change when he turned. He was an asshole, I know it, he knows it, we all know it." The two guys snorted, agreeing with me, "The first time he saw me after he shifted, he almost turned into a wolf in my living room. Not the best start. I just thought that he hated me so much that just by seeing me he would wolf out. Turned out he imprinted and was out of control. I didn't feel any magical shift of gravity and what not, he was just the same asshole."

"Reassuring."

"But." I continued ignoring Embry's interruption, "I didn't notice when it was happening and I don't know if it's real or all in my head, but if I entered a room, I would search for him. I was painfully aware where he was all the time. Emphatic gifts don't work on the wolves that imprinted on us, so it made it easier to be around him then others, at least until he tried to get a raise out of me, that is. I somewhat always gravitated towards him, and if he was shifted, it was even harder to fight it."

"That didn't really help." The youngest whined, falling on the ground dramatically.

"Jesus." I rolled my eyes at his dramatics, finishing the setup of the last log for the bonfire. "I don't know, Embry, I told you that it was complicated. You can try to ask Emily, Kim is out of question though since she had a huge crush on Jared from freshman year. She didn't fight the imprint."

"Again, not helping."

"I'm three seconds away from setting your ass on fire." I deadpanned, completely serious. He was honestly whining like a toddler.

"Go and talk with Emily, Embry. Maybe she can help you." Jared told the boy with uncharacteristic seriousness, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine," he stood up, "I'll go, maybe she can help me more. Thanks anyway." He said sadly, turning around and walking towards the house.

When I looked at him, his shoulder slouched, eyes to the ground, I pursed my lips. "Embry," I called, making the boy turn around, "If she starts panicking or nervous or whatever... just–" I hesitated slightly. This was much more personal, maybe something that mattered more, I don't know why, but I hesitated for a second. "Purr. That helps a lot. I love when Paul does it, it makes me feel safe."

"Purring, right." he gulped, "how exactly do I do that?"

"You'll know when you are with her." Jared replied this time, "It's instinctual. It's the wolf, he wants to sooth his mate. Or when he is content, which, world of advice, it's every time you see your imprint, you'll feel like purring, even when it's not the ideal situation. It takes a bit of working."

I didn't know that. Knowing that Paul struggled to not purr every time he saw me made me smile. My heart made a hard beat in my chest and my eyes trailed to the forest where I knew he was somewhere doing his shift at patrolling.

"Thank you." Embry seemed relieved, the frown on his forehead had relaxed slightly, and the stiffness on his shoulders was almost forgotten. "I really appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it."Jared said with an arm around the younger boy's shoulder, "We are part of the pack, we are a family."

"Yeah." Embry whispered, and for the first time since he shifted, he smiled.

══════ 🜂🜁🜃🜄 ══════

╰┈˚ · ° .  The bonfire was lit, the food was served, and the only thing that remained was for Layla to arrive with Kim. They were late, but no one could fault them. We all knew that Layla was a bundle of nerves that night.

Finally, when the sun had finally set, a car arrived. Kim was quick to join the water witch's side, connecting their arms together and literally dragged the other girl with her.

It was suddenly silent, and my hands twitched from the nerves. Embry, who hadn't stopped moving for the past hour, now was locked in place, eyes not moving from his imprint.

Emily was the first that approached the duo, with her Maddison. It helped relax the witch further when both Amelia and I joined them.

"Come on girly, they don't bite." The air witch wiggled her eyebrows suggestively earning a squeak from the newest member of the coven.

"Sure." Layla commented, nodding sarcastically. "I'm more worried about drowing everyone with water, though."

"Wouldn't be the first time that one of us accidentally set our powers on them, don't worry about it." I said, trying to make her more comfortable.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah." I grinned, "I once sneezed and Paul's shirt caught on fire." Snorts and laughs broke across the group, lifting slightly the heavy tension.

"I would love to be able to do that, but no, I have to take Jared's clothes off all on my own." Kim dramatically siad, making a show of the pout on her lips.

"Such a tragedy indeed." Maddison added, nodding vigorously with her head.

Layla finally broke into a fit of giggles that made soft smiles break on our lips. She was the youngest of us all, of only a year to be exact, at sixteen years old, but that doesn't mean that she wasn't a bit of the baby of the coven.

"Come on, I'm sure you are starving." Emily brough her forward, sliding her arm over the shoulders, "Let's get you something to eat."

We had completely ignored the others for the time benign, directed all together to the table set with still warm food. We piled our plates before setting around the bonfire.

It was then that the pack joined us. We stilled as the witch made a noise of distress when she saw Embry, cheeks turning pink and looking even redder with the light of the bonfire. The water in Amelia's cup started to slosh, and we were all expecting for it to attack at any second. But Embry widened his eyes, still looked in his gaze with the one of his imprint, and suddenly, we were all silent as a purr vibrated through the air.

The effect was almost immediate. The water stopped moving, and Layla relaxed her shoulders, not looking quite like a cornered animal any longer. "Oh," She mumbled under her breath. "That's nice."

A not so secret smile was displayed on everyone's lips as we watched Embry now, blushing ten shades of red, suddenly stopping his purr— which made Layla frown until he began doing it again.

"That went well." Kim whispered to the rest of us, her excitement clear on her face.

"Better than I ever imagined." Agreed Maddison with a nod.

Across the bonfire I caught Paul's eyes. One second, two— and then he was on his feet confusing all of us.

He looked like a man on a mission as he stalked around the burning logs until he was on my side, walking to me.

"Uhh Paul? What are you doing?" Kim asked, but she earned no reply from him.

"Aren't you dramatic?" I asked once my boyfriend was standing right before me. He looked like he wanted to devour me whole. He looked like a wolf.

"Shut up, Beatrice." he grumbled, yanking me upright and over his shoulder earning a sound of astonishment from me. What the hell?

"Asshole put me down before I fry you. Don't forget that your wolf ass is still on the line for a beautiful rug."

"All I got from that is that you think I'm beautiful."

At that moment I don't know if I should've blushed or be annoyed.

"Do I have to remind you that that is my sister, Lahote?" I raised my head just in time to see Sam raise his eyebrow unimpressed to his third-in-command.

Paul rumbled, the sound echoing in his chest, before he ignored his alpha. The man sat down back in the chair that he was previously occupying, me in his lap. And he too started purring.

"I guess I can pass over the manhandling." this time it was me that melted completely. I couldn't even find myself to care that he had just thrown me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Told you we had a hard time controlling it." I heard Jared say to Embry as I relaxed against Paul's chest.

Jared skipped his way towards his imprint, kneeling in front of her with a grin that was all love and happiness. Kim was in his arms before she could let out a string of giggles, and the purr that followed made her melt against him just like I was doing.

"What is this? Imprinted wolves fest?" Amelia sarcastically asked as she watched Emily go to Sam voluntarily, slipping in his hold as another purr began. "Maddison?" The witch turned to the girl that had looked rather melancholic this past few weeks. Her fraying friendship with Jacob was heavily weighing her down lately. "Do you want to make out?"

Fortunately that seemed to cheer the Swan girl slightly, and just like the rest of us, she let out a laugh. "I'll think about it."

The rest of the evening passed rather uneventfully. We talked and laughed and the stories were told.

Embry had sat down next to his imprint for the entirety of the time, and not once had I seen Layla during these weeks looking so serene.

It was a beautiful night, one that I was sure to remember for years to come. And when I fell asleep in Paul's arms, with my head on his chest to hear his heartbeat, I had never felt as grateful and happier than at that moment.

And with what was coming, we all would need it.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone! 

This chapter was a bit more dedicated to Layla and Embry, but I really love it. Wolves purring only for their imprint will never fail to make me go all soft. Amelia is my favorite person EVER. She is so cool, I don't know if I want her or want to be her.

We all know how New Moon continues, so let's get ready for Jacob, shall we? Leah and Seth are close too, I can't wait! A lot is going to happen soon. And maybe we will have some moments between Paul and Beatrice? Maybe a bit of smut? (You'll have the smut) So much drama is coming guys.

Thank you for reading this chapter, I'll see you on Thursday!

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾