Primitive Instincts

R I V E R

I was walking through the forest picking my way through underbrush and tree branches. Leaves were stuck all in my hair and it was dark. I had no clue what i was doing in the woods in the middle of the night. Maybe i sleep walk,I thought, trying to find my way back to civilization.

The thing was, when you have no idea where you are, you don't exactly know which direction you should be walking. For all i knew i was walking towards a waterfall with sharp rocks at the bottom and sharks waiting to swallow me whole. But that was probably an extreme exaggeration.

I wasn't completely off though. I emerged from the trees onto the cliffs i had seen from the beach but never ventured towards. My feet felt like the were melting into the rock and my legs felt really hot. I looked down to see i was barefoot and wearing a night-gown i had never seen in my life. It was long and white and flowy, like something old women wear to bed.

I spun around when i heard a twig snap behind me. I backed up several steps, towards the edge of the cliff. Brilliant. I couldn't control myself anymore. I was there, but i felt like something else was controlling my body. Like deja'vu when you know you've done something before but you do it anyways. Or when you know you shouldn't say something, but you say it despite yourself.

"Hello?" I called out, trying to calm my breathing. From all around me i could hear whispers, getting louder and louder. They were all saying the same heart-wrenching, gut-churning thing.

"He'll be back."

I sat up in bed soaked in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. I looked around the room frantically, searching for the source of the eerie whispering, but the room was empty. I couldn't remember getting up to walk into the house, but i was so tired i was probably half-asleep when it happened.

"Just a dream, just a dream, just a dream..." i trailed off, trying to calm my heart. I pushed my sweaty hair away from my face. Not really thinking, i pulled my shirt over my head, noting that it was soaked with sweat. I leaped off the bed, taking off my pants and pulling the curtains away from the window. I quickly yanked up the window and gulped down great heaves of the cold night air.

I felt a nasty feeling crawling up my throat, like acid and fire. I opened my mouth and let out a retching sound as my lunch fell to the ground below. I coughed several times as another round of puke made it's way up and out of my mouth. I whimpered from the raw feeling in my throat, wiping my mouth. I took several more deep breaths before i pulled back into the room, sliding down the wall until i was sitting on the ground.

I wasn't even sure why the dream had affected me so drastically. I wasn't sure what, "He'll be back" meant. For all i knew it was some crazy thing that my brain made up, but i had the distinct feeling that it meant something important, something very, very important. But what?! I had no way of finding out.

I stood up and collected my clothes, throwing them into a corner. Without thinking, i opened a drawer and pulled out a T-shirt and jeans. Pulling them on, i realized they were too small. Damn my height.

Putting them back where i found them, i starting searching around the room, trying to find something that would fit me. There was no way i was going to put those sweaty clothes back on.

Right at that moment, the door swung open and standing in the door-way was Embry. His eyes immediately grew wide at the sight of me.

"Get out!" i screamed, jerking the sheet off the bed to cover myself. "Close the door!" i screamed again, launching across the room and slamming it in his face.

"Sorry, sorry!" he called from outside the door. I sat down in front of the door, trying to get the blush to leave my cheeks and my heart-rate to calm down.

"Oh God..." i whispered to myself. Rubbing my face with my hands. That did NOT just happen.

"River...why don't you have any clothes on?" Embry called through the door.

"I umm...i was in the water in those and i wanted to put new clothes on but none of them fit me..." i trailed off, blushing even more.

"Here, i brought some for you, I figured you'd want to change." he said, opening the door a little and slipping some clothes in. There were a black pair of sweats and a green hoodie.

I pulled them on quickly, remembering that we had a bonfire to go to. I felt weird in his clothes. We were obviously something to each other, boyfriend and girlfriend even but it still felt weird. It made my stomach do flip-flops and my cheeks flush to the point where my face and neck felt like they were on fire.

Taking a deep breath and pushing my hair back, i opened the door. Embry was looking at his feet but when he looked up he smirked. Then it was my turn to look down.

"Thanks." i mumbled, pushing past him and into the hall-way.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked.

"Huh?"

He looked down at my feet and i realized that i wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Oh." i said, dashing back into the room and grabbing my tennis shoes. I pulled them on without any socks. I honestly wanted to get to the bonfire, i had never been to one before.

I ran back into the hall-way and looked at Embry.

"Am i decent now?" i asked, spinning in a circle. He pulled me into his chest, running his finger-tip around my lips.

"Much better than decent." he said, smiling. I looked down and pushed away from him. I still got all shy sometimes, whenever he said stuff like that, because i never knew how to respond. He made me wish i was as pretty as he thought i was.

"We better get going." i said, still looking down. I began to walk down the hall-way, but he caught up and grabbed my hand, slowing me down.

"I hope you like the bonfire." he said, seeming to get nervous. He inter-twined his fingers with mine, making me melt into his side. He had me wrapped around his finger. If he told me to jump, i'd ask how high. I was completely pathetic, and hopelessly in love.

"I'm sure i will." i smiled, hoping down the stairs. I was feeling energized, despite the events of the day before. I knew it was from the medicine Emily had "slipped" me during breakfast and lunch. She wasn't very good at hiding things in food, but i drank it anyways, it was supposed to help with the pain.When we got downstairs i realized it was empty.

"Where is everyone?" i asked, trying to peer down another hallway before Embry tugged me out the door.

"They;re already at the bonfire." he said, seeming to get more and more fidgity the farther away we got from the house.

"Is this like...a big thing? Should i be more dressed up? I should've fixed my hair before-" i began to panic, afraid that they would think i was disrespectful or sloppy.

Embry covered my lips with his own, forcing me to stop talking. Not that i minded. I began to kiss back but he pulled away and continued to walk. I knew he had only kissed me to prevent me from speaking for a while. It was like he knew kissing me would knock the breath out of me for a few minutes.

"You don't need to dress up any more than you already are. You look perfect. Just like always." he smiled.

"Shut-up." i laughed, shoving him and hiding my face in my hair.

"Why do you do that?" he asked, pushing my hair up behind my ear.

"Do what?"

"Cover your face. It's like you don't want me to look at you." he said, slowing us down even more. I leaned my head against his shoulder, hoping my honest answer wouldn't scare him away.

"Because i don't want you to see how you affect me. I feel pathetic. Like a little girl caught day-dreaming about prince charming." i said. He squeezed my hand tighter rubbing my thumb.

"Am I your Prince Charming?" he whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine. I was about to answer, but then i realized where we were. We were taking a trail, up to the cliffs.

I pulled us to a stop, remembering my dream all too vividly.

"River are you okay?" he asked, moving in front of my vision, blocking my view of the path up to the cliffs.

"Where are we going?" i asked, pulling my self a little closer to him to block myself from the cold wind blowing down from the cliffs. It was strangely cold for the middle of summer. August was usually the hottest month.

"The cliffs. The bonfire is always up there. Is that okay?" he asked, noting my movement closer to him. I had hoped it hadn't been obvious, but Embry never missed anything.

"Umm, yea. yea that's fine. i just, it seems kinda cold to be up on the cliffs." i fibbed, trying to shake my feeling of unease. It was just a dream after all.

"Don't worry." he said, putting his arm around my shoulder. "I'll keep you warm." I knew he knew i was lying though. He had the uncanny ability to see through me. I was a pretty good liar i thought, considering all my years of experience. He always knew, he could see right through me.

We continued walking up the trail until we reached the exact cliff from my dream. Only it was different, less eerie. There was a giant bonfire burning in the middle of a group of people. One of them was in a wheel-chair and there were a couple other older people. I also saw Kim, Jared, Seth, Leah, Quil, Sam, Emily, Max, Claire, Jake, and a couple others whose names i still didn't know.

"So this is a big thing." i whispered to Embry, pushing myself even closer to him.

"Come meet Billy." he said, pulling me behind him towards the man in the wheel-chair.

"Wait-Embry-Who...wait-" i began, but i quieted myself once we were in front of the man. He smiled at me kindly, his eyes seemed younger than he did, twinkling in the fire-light.

"Hello, you must be River." he said, extending his hand out to me. I smiled and shook it.

"And you're Billy right?" i asked, still unsure why I was meeting him.

"Yes. I'm Jake's father." he said. I just kind of stood there, not sure what to say. I swear i could hear crickets chirping in the back-ground.

"Well, it's almost time to start. Why don't you two go sit down?" he said, motioning to a log.

"It was a pleasure meeting you." i said, as Embry tugged me towards the log. AS i was about to sit down next to him, he tugged me into his lap, so that my head rested in the crook of his neck.

"Awww look at the two love birds!!" Quil cooed, putting his hands together on the side of his face and batting his eyelashes at us.

"Quil." Sam warned. At the sound of his voice everyone turned their attention to Billy. A kind of hushed anticipation fell over everyone. I had a serene feeling, like i was floating. Everything felt very warm and important, like the world was about to end, and we were listening to a man with a way to stop it.

(Okay so i am extremely lazy and do not want to write all of the legends in here. And honestly, who's gonna re-read them all? If you want to read them, pull out Eclipse and do it you're self bruh!! and they're really not that important anyways. Sooo yea, it just kinda leads up to you know what! So anyways, just pretend i wrote all the legends down and stuff.)

When Billy finished talking, everyone was quiet. Like they were waiting for someone to talk, someone to shatter the complete stillness and silence. It was like even the wildlife had ceased all activity.

"Come on, let's take a walk." Embry said. grabbing my hand again. i had been so completely comfortable and warm in his lap that i didn't want to move. But Embry stood up anyways and the mood of tranquility was shattered. Everyone started moving around and talking in hushed tones. As Embry and I walked away though, back onto another trail in the woods, it seemed like many eyes were following us.

"Where are we going?" i asked, noting that this was a different trail than the one we'd come in on.

"Just for a walk." he whispered. I felt him squeeze my hand tighter and didn't ask any more questions. He was acting really nervous. He kept putting his free hand in his pocket and then taking it out. His eyes shifted from side to side every few seconds.

We had walked for over ten minutes before i couldn't take the suspense anymore.

"Embry what are we doing out here?" i asked, pulling us to a stop. It was night time in the middle of the woods and i was beginning to get a little nervous. I wasn't scared that Embry would try something, i just didn't know what the hell could be out here.

He let go of my hand and paced back and forth a few paces, then he turned back to me, taking my face in his hands.

"You like me right?" he asked, staring deep into my eyes, past all the lies i had ever told and straight into the purest part of my soul.

"Of course I like you Embry...probably more than you know." i sighed, knowing there was no use in trying to hide what i really felt.

"The thing is River...I...i don't just like you. I love you. I love you so much that every time i close my eyes all i see is you. Every time i have a dream, it's a good one, and it's always about you. You're all i think about. I know it might seem stalkerish or weird and you probably think this is moving too fast but...i can't not love you. You're everything i have ever wanted River." he said, pushing his lips into mine with such a passion i thought i might pass out. I threw my arms up and clung to his shoulders, trying to keep myself standing.

After several minuted we pulled away, gasping for air. I felt unsteady and my knees knocked together before i could get a sentence out.

"I love-"

"Don't say it back." he said, stepping away from me.

"I don't understand. Why-"

"There's something i need to show you first." he said, backing away even farther. "But...just promise you won't move okay? Promise me right now." he said, stopping fifteen feet away from me.

"I promise." i said, having absolutely no idea what was going on.

"I don't want to hurt you okay? And...i want you to know me before you say that you love me. All of me." he said. Now i was starting to get a little freaked out. He peeled off his shirt. I tried and failed not to look at his body. I had no will power at all. No matter how many times i saw him without a shirt on i couldn't help but do a once over.

Then he did something he had never done, he started to pull off his pants.

"What the hell are you doing?!" i screamed, shielding my eyes so that i couldn't see his...manhood. As i said before i had no will power, and i didn't want to seethat!

"Just look at my face okay? Trust me." he said. I lowered my hand and kept my eyes trained directly on his face. That wasn't a bad thing to look at, just as i was about to go go-go eyes over his face, he started to tremor. Just like he had done twice before today.

"Embry?" i asked, taking a small step forward.

"Stay back." he said, and i retreated to my original position.

The tremors grew to something more like shaks. I could see that his whole body was shaking violently, almost like convulsions. I put my hand to my mouth as his shape began to blur.

"Embry." i muttered, unsure of whether to rush forward or stay put as he had asked me.

Before i could take one step though, he exploded. I don't mean blood and guts were flying everywhere, i mean he just, exploded. Like his skin couldn't fit him anymore and he had shed it in place of another, more comfortable one.

I let out a scream and hid my eyes, afraid to see what would now be before me. Would Embry be dead? No, he wouldn't do that. He said he had needed to show me something.

I slowly looked back at where Embry had been standing. But Embry wasn't standing there anymore.

In his place was a giant, bear-sized wolf.