Howl.

It had been three days since Freddie Warner raped me.

Today, I couldn't stop crying. The feeling of his grubby hands covering my mouth while he violated me, while he stole my innocence. A thousand things were running through my mind all at one time and I had no idea how to cope with it. I had never even as much as kissed a boy before that, and he took it all away in five minutes.

Sniffling, I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands. I had stayed in bed the whole day, hoping that Embry would come over, or maybe Mary, even though she was the last person that I wanted to talk to right now. Carefully, I sat up, a few tear sliding down my cheeks from the tenderness of my inner thighs. I hadn't yet had a chance to really confront the problem and look at myself.

And, I refused to let Freddie destroy me like this.

Sliding out of my bed, I dragged my feet into my conjoined bathroom, where I shut the door behind me and began to strip myself of my clothes. Standing in only my panties, I took a deep breath. There was a body length mirror positioned on the back of the door, and the moment that I opened my eyes, I knew there was going to be some more tears.

And I was right.

There were bite marks along my shoulders and neck, which were turning a yellow and purple-ish color. My throat closed when I moved downward, observing the various cuts and bruises from his hands.

A knock on the door startled me. "Lilly?"

Embry. I held my breath, grabbing my tee shirt and trying to pull it on while I attempted to speak. "I - wait!"

I didn't want Embry to see me like this, even if he had seen it at it's worst. After my sweatpants had been tied securely around my waist and the hem of my shirt tucked into them, I opened the bathroom door to reveal a very exhausted looking Embry.

He smiled meekly at me, slouching a little. "Hi," he said.

"You're here."

"Of course I am. I said I would be."

I sighed, and walked by him, crawling onto my bed. What I had seen had been enough for today. Embry watched me. I could feel his eyes boring into me. After a moment, he followed my lead, sitting on the bed beside me, taking my hand and entwining our fingers together. "My first response to that would be to call you a liar," I whispered. "But, that wouldn't get us anywhere."

Embry looked at me, frowning. I knew he wanted to say he was sorry, but that he also knew I didn't want to hear it. So, instead, "how are you feeling? Any better?"

I gulped, and rested my free hand on my belly. "No, not really. Everything still hurts." And when I said everything, I meant everything.

Embry sighed softly, letting his head fall against the wall. "I swear to God if I ever see that bastard again I'll kill him."

"Let the police take care of him, Embry," I said sharply. "If you try and take care of anything it could only get you in trouble." He squeezed my hand, sighing quietly. I knew that Embry knew I was right, but he was too damn stubborn to admit it, instead he didn't respond. "Geez," I commented, "you're burning up. Are you feeling alright?" The warmth of his skin was startling, and I was surprised that I hadn't noticed it until now. His temperature had to be above one hundred degrees.

Embry smiled, and shook his head, his eyes closed. "No, I feel perfectly fine."

"Em, I really th-"

"I'm fine, Lilly," he laughed. "Don't worry about it." He looked at me, the caramel color of his eyes melting my insides. "I'm here for you, not me."

I rolled my eyes, and pulled my hand away, tucking it underneath my thighs. I had spent the last three days trying to understand why it had happened, and how I could've prevented it. I didn't believe in fate. It all sounded like a load of bullshit to me and I wanted nothing to do with such nonsense.

"Hey, Embry," I said, turning my television on, but lowering the volume so that it was almost inaudible. "Why were you at that party on Friday? I mean, you stopped going to school a while ago. There's no way you could've heard about it."

"You'd be surprised what gets around, Lilly," he replied with a smirk. But it fell away just as soon as it appeared. "I was ru- bored. Thought maybe a party might be a fun idea."

I stared at him for a moment, concentrating on the stumble he had made. "What are you not telling me?"

Embry sighed softly, pressing his lips together before answering. "I'm not ready for you to know everything yet, Lilly. But I promise that I'll tell you."

"But when is that going to be?"

"Whenever you think you're ready to keep a secret that's not yours." His tone was mysterious, and I grew a little suspicious.

We didn't speak for a long time, enjoying each others company and watching reruns of Chowder on Cartoon Network. His words played over and over in my head, and I knew that even though he was being mystical, it was going to be a huge deal.

"So, um," Embry said softly, shifting his weight, "there is a bonfire tomorrow night. Would you want to come with me?"

"If it's just going to be the elders talking about that werewolf mumbo-jumbo," I replied, "I've heard it so many times I can recite the legends word for word." My eyes caught his, and he frowned.

"I'd really like it if you went."

"Maybe. It depends on how I feel."

I was so sick of hearing legends. Ever since I was a small child, the Elders of the reservation have been telling the stories of werewolves and vampires, treaties, and soul mates. It all sounded like bullshit to me, and despite that my father re-enforced the stories, I never believed any of them.

"You should really consider it, Lilly. Everyone else will be there."

"Everyone else as in who? Paul? Yeah, because he's fun to be around." I rolled my eyes. Everyone that I knew had experienced Paul's violent temper at some point in their lives. He was hot-headed and I avoided him.

"Jared will be there, and Jake. Come on, Lil. Do you remember - you had the biggest crush on Jake?"

"Yeah but then he started to look like you." I lied on my belly, then turned over so that I could see him. "What happened to you anyway, Embry? Did you take like, steroids?"

Embry sighed, rubbing his temples. "No, I'm not on steroids. I'm not on anything except oxygen."