The Outcome

The crackling of the fire did little to sooth my nerves and I was hyper aware of the prickly bark against the back of my knees, along with the millions of grains of sand working their way into my socks. Brayden sat to my left; constantly sending me the side eye and silently telling me to calm down.

But how could I?

My mood much more matched that of Erick who sat on the other side of me on the log. His back straight, shoulders locked, and a frown settled deep down in his cheeks. He looked the part of an angry Alpha and it was all because of me.

Across the winding licks of the fire sat the boys of the La Push pack. Embry, Paul, Leah, Seth, Quil, Jared, and Jacob all looked at me with a mixture of competitive mistrust and wide eyed interest. Well, everyone except Jacob. Their gaze was unapologetic and unembarrassed. It reminded me when I was a kid on the reservation, when they first started the tests on me. I hated feeling like an animal in a cage, surgical lights burning and putting me on display.

And here I was again.

We were waiting for Sam to get here from speaking with the elders not fit enough to make it to the beach. I used the time to stare a Jacob in the same way he refused to look at me. It seemed like a long time since I seen the caramel radiance of his skin. Shop class was a lonely place in his absence, my already shabby work reflecting exactly how much I needed my partner. Mr. McDevitt never said anything about it.

Suddenly, Erick rose to his feet next to me, followed by the rest of the boys. At the same time, all the wolves opposite me stood and faced away from the fire. As usual, my instincts were later than everyone else’s. When I did get up I saw Sam making his way towards the group of us, his face strong and unemotional. He was shirtless and the smell of tress still clung to him, so I figured he’s shifted right before coming towards us. I felt a pang of jealously.

“Everyone can have a seat.” Sam spoke upon arriving to the rest of us. His voice was deep and held the familiar air of authority. Everyone in is pack slowly took his seat, as did I and my boys until only Erick and Sam remained standing.

“This will be a civilized meeting Erick, we just want to know what’s going on here. When we first met with you said you all were here to look into the vampire problem in Forks, you told us the girl was human.”

“Macie is human…to an extent.” Erick defended me. “She was born of this pack by two pure blood descendants of wolves. But she does not shift.” That caught Leah’s attention and her head snapped to look at my face.

Jacob shook his head and stood from his seat. “That’s bullshit! She was thrown clean across the clearing into that tree. I heard the bones in her back breaking from where I was!”

I didn’t like the way he was talking about me like I didn’t exist. Like all those moments with his arms around me didn’t happen. “If you would have stuck around long enough I would have had the chance to explain!”

“Both of you clam down! Jacob, take your seat or go home. Macie now is your chance to tell us what the hell you are and what you’re doing here.” Sam directed. Jacob glared in my general direction before plopping back down to the log. I tried not to find his temper tantrum so cute, remind myself of his anger and confusion.

Erick looked at me and I silently asked for his permission to tell the truth. With a slight nod he sat back down and waited for me to take it away. With a deep breath, I prepared myself to let new people into my secret.