Midnight Sun ❖ (Embry Call - The Twilight Saga)

17

THE NEXT DAY, was most unexpected for Gracie Biers. She hadn't thought of the possibility of having to see her friends unless she first made the arrangement. Instead, Jacob Black had brought Bella Swan from Forks High School all the way to La Push on his motorbike.

To her luck, Seth had pre-warned her - not being able to keep a secret to himself. Gracie made sure to be out of everyone's way that morning, at least until Bella left. It's not that she didn't want to see her close friend, but she still didn't want to face reality.

Seth had joined Gracie in the meadow, waiting for Seth to pick up a train of thought from the pack. Of course, the young cub filled the beautiful golden blonde haired girl with everything that came into his mind.

"Well, Bella's arrived and the pack is teasing Jacob." Seth laughed.

"He deserves it. Always talking about Bella whenever he gets the chance." Gracie laughed again.

There was a swift pause because Seth concentrated of his thoughts.

"I can hear Jacob, talking to Bella. She's asking about you."

Gracie looked to Seth, worried in what he'd say next. "Well, what did he say?"

Seth smiled lightly. "The truth. Don't worry, Bella understands from what I hear."

Gracie and Seth took another second of silence until the boys had re-joined them.

"Seth's trying to take your girlfriend, Embry!" Jared said boldly, to which the pair snapped their heads to the boys.

"Embry's girlfriend?" Seth asked softly, Gracie nodding politely.

Seth looked a bit taken back but then smiled to cover it. Gracie got up, heading over to Embry.

The next few days seemed to get more unusual for Gracie. Bella had some intruder come in and take one of her blouses which apparently meant that both the Vampires and the Wolves would have to work together on watch patrol over Bella's house. That meant for Gracie, that she'd get time away from Embry.

At least until that night.

There was a tribal council meeting for all the wolves and mates. There would be the Chief's as well as giving Gracie the chance to meet Jared's imprint. Also, Jacob had stated that he'd bring Bella along, to at least understand the heritage of the wolf lineage. This would be the first time Gracie had seen anyone outside the wolf pack and she knew she'd probably have to talk to her at some point. Gracie was purely nervous about it. She knew she told herself she was avoiding her friends so she didn't have to pretend everything was fine and forget about it all - but the truth was, Gracie was avoiding her high school friends so that she could forget about her life, pretend everything was ok. Deep down, she knew she'd have to face her problem eventually.

The night came and Jacob was seen coming into view with Bella by his side. Leah gave a small grunt whilst Seth shot up to run over to his favourite wolf - Jacob. Whilst Seth and Jacob were play fighting together, Bella had made eye contact with Bella - both giving one another a soft smile and sad eyes.

Billy Black sat at the height of the circle, Sue Clearwater beside him. Leah sat beside her mother, then sat a couple more council members before it reached Sam and Emily opposite Billy Black. Beside them were Paul Lahote, Jared Cameron and his imprint - Kim. She seemed nice to Gracie, though really quiet. It was harder for Gracie, she wasn't Native American in any way at all, she was different. Beside Kim, sat Seth Clearwater, then Gracie and Embry. Over on Embry's other side sat Jacob, Bella and then Quil beside his grandfather.

Billy Black began the meeting, "The Quileute's have been a small tribe from the beginning. But we've always had magic in our blood. We were great spirit warriors, shape-shifters who transformed into the powerful wolf. This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe. One day, our warriors came across a creature. It looked like a man but it was hard like stone and cold as ice."

Gracie listened intently, almost as intrigued by what happened as Bella had too. Embry glanced at Gracie whilst she was looking, a small smile whilst he face was just so serious.

"Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire would completely destroy it. They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone. And they were right. She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed. Taha Aki's spirit wife could see that he would lose. The third wife was no magical being, no special powers but one. Courage. The third wife's sacrifice distracted the cold woman long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared. But one remains. The cold ones. Our magic awakens when they're near, and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming and we must all be ready. All of us."

The meeting came to a conclusion, everybody heading into Billy Black's house to feast. Gracie kissed Embry before she headed over to Bella.

"Bella..." Gracie asked softly.

"Gracie!" Bella pulled the girl into a hug. "Why didn't you answer my calls?"

Gracie looked like she was about to cry, and only Bella could notice Embry look over his shoulder to check on Gracie from afar.

"I didn't want to accept losing Riley." Gracie sniffled a little.

Bella furrowed her eyebrows, "Hey, we don't know that he'd gone for sure yet."

Both girls knew the possibility of finding Riley Biers, alive and well, was close to zero - but Bella's statement almost made it seem possible.

"When will you come back to school?" Bella asked Gracie, who flicked her eyes at the thought of school.

"Graduation."

Both girls laughed a little, but Gracie was actually serious. She would return in a week - the day of Graduation. She'd missed nearly three weeks of school but she'd already completed her exams before the situation and had not need to be there. She needed to endure another week and a single day of seeing everybody at school - she knew that would half kill her.

"I'll make sure nobody messes with you that day, don't worry. Jasper can fix your emotions that day too." Bella smiled.

Gracie laughed with her friend, but the truth was - Bella was living in a surreal world. She hadn't lost anybody, her parents loved her a lot and she could attend school without people asking her questions all day long. The only thing they had in common was that they both had such loving and caring partners who had supernatural qualities about them. The more she thought about this the more she mentally distanced her relationship with Bella.

Gracie loved having Bella around, but right now - she wished she was out there searching for her brother, to forget about forgetting and to start being real and doing what she really wants. To be with her brother once again. 

2017 ©misstonii