— DESPITE being angry at him, Brooke held Jacob's hand in her own. What Bella had just told her had made her feel uneasy. As of right now, Jacob was her only source of comfort, being a shifter and all. Jacob seeming the notice how her hand shook slightly, gripped it tighter with his own.

Sam was the first to appear, his gaze landing first on Bella, then Brooke. The boy gently nudged Brooke to stand behind him. Sure, she didn't need to be protected from them, but Brooke wasn't leaving Jacob's side.

"What have you done, Jacob?" Sam demanded.

Paul noticed the way Brooke hid behind Jacob, she was scared, but not of them. Of the person who'd been roaming around these woods before.

His anger seemed to get the best of him, something Brooke hadn't seen firsthand.

"Why can't you just follow the rules, Jacob?" Paul thrusted past Sam, speaking before Jacob could defend himself. "What the hell are you thinking? Is she more important than everything—than the whole tribe? Than the people getting killed?" He threw his arms in the air.

"She can help." Jacob said quietly.

"Help!" The angry boy shouted. Brooke noticed the way he'd began to shake. "Oh, that's likely! I'm sure the leech-lover is just dying to help us out!"

"Don't talk about her like that!" Jacob shouted back.

Brooke stepped back cautiously, moving to hild her twin's hand instead.

"Paul! Relax!" Sam commanded.

Though it fell upon deaf ears as Paul shook his head back and forth, and though it looked like he was defying his alpha, he was trying to concentrate.

"Jeez, Paul." Jared muttered. "Get a grip."

Paul twisted his head toward Jared, his lip curling in irritation at the boy's commentary. Before glancing at Bella, Jacob putting himself in front of her.

"Right, protect her!" Paul roared in anger. The growl that came from him sounded anything but human.

"Paul!" Sam and Jacob shouted.

Brooke's eyed widened as the boy seemed to fall forward, except...he never hit the ground. She watched as a large dark silver wolf stood in his place now.

The three of them were pretty far from the pack, giving Jacob enough time to run. Shifting as he did so, not liking the way Paul's wolf bared it's teeth at the older swan twin.

"Jacob!" Bella shouted.

The twin's watched in horror as the russet brown wolf attacked the dark silver one. The two wolves biting at each other, growls filling the air.

Both wolves seemed to disappear, Jacob having been able to push Paul off of him, not getting a chance to fight back as Paul pounced on him once more. Sending both of them tumbling away.

"Take them to Emily's" Sam ordered the two remaining boys as he followed after the others.

Once Sam disappeared into the tree line, the sounds of growls began to fade away. Embry's laugh filling the clearing instead. "Well, there's something you don't dee every day." He snickered.

"I do." Jared grumbled. "Every single day."

"Aw, Paul doesn't lose his temper every day," Embry disagreed, but the grin on his face stayed. "Maybe two out of three."

Jared kneeled down, picking up Jacob's white shredded shoe. "Totally shredded." He said. "Billy said this was the last pair he could afford—guess Jacob's going barefoot now."

"This one survived," Embry held up the other shoe. "Jake can hop."

Jared began to grab the remains of the shredded clothes on the ground. "Get Sam's shoes, will you? All the rest of this is headed for the trash."

Embry noticed the way Bella looked more queasy than Brooke. He approached the twins cautiously. "Hey, you're not gonna faint or puke or anything?"

"I don't think so." Bella gasped.

"Here, Bells. Sit." Brooke helped her sister sit on the ground, hoping it would ground her. Watching as her sidter but her head between her knees.

"Jake should've warned us." Embry complained , turning to Jared.

"He shouldn't have brought his girlfriend into this. What did he expect?"

"Well, the wolf's out of the bag now." Embry sighed. "Way to go, Jake."

Bella raised her head, glaring at the two boys. "Aren't you worried about them at all?" she demanded. Embry only blinked in surprise. "Worried? Why?"

"They could hurt each other, asshole!" Brooke rolled her eyes, Embry only felt relief at her words. Not because of what she said, but because she had spoken to him.

"I hope Paul gets a mouthful of him," Jared said. "Teach him a lesson."

"Yeah, right!" Embry disagreed. "Did you see Jake? Even Sam couldn't have phased on the fly like that. He saw Paul losing it, and it took him, what, half a second to attack? The boy's got a gift."

"Paul's been fighting longer. I'll bet you ten bucks he leaves a mark."

"You're on. Jake's a natural. Paul doesn't have a prayer." With that, both boys shook hands, grinning.

"Let's go see Emily. Y'know she'll have food waiting." Embry looked down at Bella. "Mind giving us a ride?"

"No problem." Bella choked.

"Maybe you'd better drive, Embry. She still looks like she might hurl." Jared raised an eyebrow. "Good idea. Where are the ke—" before he could finish, Brooke held them out to him.

The boys walked them over to the truck, Embry opening the passenger door for Bella to hop in. "You'll have to ride in the back." He told Jared.

"That's fine. I got a weak stomach. I don't wanna be in there when she blows."

"I bet she's tougher than that. She runs with vampires."

"Five bucks?" Jared asked.

"Done. I feel guilty, taking your money like this." before he could offer Brooke to sit in the middle of him and Bella. The girl was already taking Jared's outstretched hand to help her into the bed of the truck with him.

Embry frowned, sighing as he went to the drivers seat and got into the car.

"He missed you, y'know?" Jared's voice broke her out of her thoughts, Brooke only shrugged. "He hurt my feelings, Jared. I'm not gonna let him off that easy.

With a sigh, Jared nodded as Embry drove further from the clearing.

—

i miss brooke and embry 💔