Howl.

"God dammit, Embry," I groaned, throwing the passenger door of his truck open and climbing out.

"What else did you want me to do? Let him go on his merry way? I'm sorry," Embry said, following me up the steps of my front porch, "but after the way he was talking to you..."

"I don't need you to defend my honor for me. God, you're acting like we're dating." I crossed my arms, and looked up at him. His mess of hair was amusing, but even as adorable as he was, I was still furious with him.

Embry sighed, and chewed on his lip for a moment. "You're still sick. You should get inside."

"Don't tell me what to do," I growled, narrowing my eyes. My fever had only gone down slightly, but the body aches were still as painful as they had been a week ago. "What makes you think that just because some guy is hitting on me, that means you have to punch him?"

"He wasn't going to leave you alone if I hadn't." Embry frowned, and pushed his fingers through his hair.

I clenched my jaw, and turned to the front door. "God, you know we can't go back there, right?"

"Yeah."

"And that was my favorite place ever."

"I know."

My thoughts raced while my knees throbbed in pain. I pivoted, turning back to Embry. "You know what's wrong with me, don't you?"

He made a face, and raised his eyebrow. "No? You're sick. It's a fever."

I shook my head, "no. I heard you talking to Sam about Leah. You said, 'Leah has it.'" Embry shrugged, and reached around me to open the front door. "Fuck, Embry, if you know something, tell me."

He stared at me, and I was getting even more agitated. "I don't know, Lilly. You're sick. Ok. How do you know I wasn't talkimg about Leah to Sam because she had something else?"

I groaned, and pushed against his chest. He didn't budge, and it was like I had suddenly lost all of my strength. "Jesus, Embry," I whined, falling against the door. "I can't feel my arms."

His eyes flickered in panic, and he took a step back. "You look really weird."

My body shook, and I hardly any time to cry, because a burst of pain spread throughout my whole body and I exploded, and realized I was standing on all fours. Everything had been brightened, and I had to blink a few times before my eyes could focus on Embry, who was lying on his back on the ground. He stared at me, a look of horror on his face.

I was overwhelmed by all of the sounds that I could hear, like Embry's heartbeat, Jacob's light snoring, and Mary's guitar playing. My nose was filled with the smell of the damp ground, the woods behind my house, and the gasoline from passing cars on the highway outside of La Push.

It only took me a split second to realize what had just happened. I jumped off of the porch and ran around my house to the back yard, where I could escape into the woods without the urge to rip Embry's face off. My mind raced as I ran, and then I realized that what I was hearing wasn't just my voice.

God, Jared, you're such an idiot.

Shut up, Quil. You're just trying to throw me off so you'll win.

Maybe. But I'm still faster, so it wouldn't matter anyway.

What the hell was happening to me? I jumped over a fallen tree trunk and skidded to a halt when I came face to face with two other wolves. They were as big as me, both with dark brown fur, but still recognizably different. They stared at me, and I realized that I knew them.

Can you hear us? One of them asked.

I nodded, and took a few steps backward.

Dude, the other wolf thought. Jared, he looks really familiar.

She, I thought, hoping they heard me. I'm a she.

L - Lilly?

Lilly! Where are you? It was Embry's voice this time, and I looked over my shoulder to see him trotting over to us. His fur was dark, almost black, but when the sunlight hit it through the trees, it glimmered with a brown color. He had tufts of grey fur on his muzzle and paws. I had never seen Embry as a wolf before, and I was almost captivated by the form. Are you ok? he asked, his ears twitching.

I stared at him.

We should take her to Sam's, Jared said, looking at Embry.

Before they could say anything else, I ran. The wind felt good on my face, and I wasn't even sure about how fast I was moving. I was a monster. How could I not know this was going to happen to me? I had no idea that anyone in my family even had the gene, let alone could've been a werewolf.

I had to talk to Dad. From all of the legends that I'd heard, it was always the male who carried the gene. If I could find him, I could get the answers that I needed.