"I'm not doing your homework for you, Em. You have to do some of the work too."

Alex stated to a clearly distracted Embry Call. His eyes were gazing out the window of the living room in the Call household and when Alex spoke the boy nodded in acceptance but she could tell he took none of her words in.

Once again the boy simply mumbled a reply, not thinking nor hearing what Alex was really saying.

The small brunette fought the struggle to roll her eyes for what felt like the millionth time in the past hour. Embry was the one who asked her to come here in the first place, claiming the history homework they both shared would get done a lot quicker if they worked on it together.

Alex grabbed a pen from where it rested on the table beside her and chucked it right at Embry, the pen smacked right on the side of his cheek. Alex smiled.

Embry turned his head quickly at the impact and sent a small glare Alex's way. "What the hell, Alex?"

"You're not listening to me. What are you thinking about?" Alex asked Embry kindly, her interest wasn't faked either she genuinely cared about what her friend had to say. Something was plaguing his mind and the brunette knew that it was better when you could tell someone about these things.

Embry looked at Alex but shook his head rather quickly, gaze diverting to look at the history homework pages open in front of him. "Nothing, I'm just tired."

"Bullshit," Alex announced at the sight of his face. He wouldn't look away if he was telling the truth, she had dealt with her twin doing the same thing to her many times. This wasn't her first rodeo. "Embry, tell me what's up. I can help, or at least try to."

"I just feel weird," Embry answered now honestly. He had no other word to describe what was going on inside him. It was like nothing he had ever felt before and it puzzled him.

Alex narrowed her eyes at the boy. "Weird in what way?"

"I don't know," Embry's voice seemed frustrated, like he had asked himself that same question more than ten times. He was sure he had a fever and knew that some kind of sickness was coming on, but Embry felt there was more than that going on. Something was brewing inside him but he had no clue how to tell Alex exactly that. "I think I'm coming down with something."

Alex's eyebrows raised at that fact. She moved in her chair and raised her hand to Embry's forehead. Upon touching his russet skin the brunette had to pull back immediately – the heat of his skin was intense, even hotter than the temperature of Paul's skin she had grown used to touching.

Embry sent the girl a questioning glance at how fast she had retracted.

Alex tried her best to fumble a smile, reassuring the boy in front of her that all would be well – she hoped at least it was as convincing as she tried to be. "You've got a fever, Embry. Like a really bad one."

"I know," Embry felt like his skin was burning from the inside out. It was no wonder that Alex had moved away from his forehead so quickly, he felt like he was on fire and he only bet that it was the same feeling on the outside. "I'll tell my mom as soon as she gets home from work."

Alex nodded but wasn't sure if she should. Embry's mom probably wasn't the right person to tell about this and that was why the girl quickly excused herself to the bathroom and was pulling out her cellphone from her pocket as she scurried off.

Paul had told Alex that Embry wasn't a guaranteed person to shift. His mother didn't have Quileute blood and she was the only one who actually knew the identity of his father, which left him a case to be solved. Alex knew however that this was the beginning of the shift, his body temperature being the giveaway of it all. She didn't know who else to call but Paul, he could help Embry.

Alex didn't know what she would do if Embry got hurt in all this – he was someone she trusted wholeheartedly and had become one of her closest friends.

"What's up, Lex?" Paul answered his phone on the second ring.

Alex let out a small breath, she hadn't dealt with the shift in this way before and she began to worry whether it was too late to call the Lahote boy. "Uh, you are going to want to come to Embry's house. You or Sam, or just someone."

Paul's voice took a more serious tone than before, hearing instantly the concern and worry in Alex over the line. "Why? What happened to you, Alex?"

"Not to me," Alex let out another shaky breath, gripping her cellphone tighter in her hand than she thought she ever had.

When only silence followed after this, Paul had to keep his voice strained as he talked. He was desperate to help Alex, everything in him wanted to fix whatever was making the girl stumble over her words. "Lex, you have to talk to me. I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

Alex wished none of this had happened, she had nothing against the wolves in fact she was pretty sure she had become very attached to one but that didn't mean she wanted this life for Embry. He was so full of life and optimism, Alex didn't want the darkness of the world to strip him of that.

"It's Embry, I think he's shifting."

♡♡♡♡♡

Alex hadn't even been on her lunch break for more than two minutes when someone was tapping her on the shoulder.

The brunette turned from where she was emptying books into her locker to see Embry's friends Jacob Black and Quil Ateara standing behind her. They looked lost, like they were missing a limb and Alex noticed quickly that this was going to be about Embry.

It had been around a week from when Alex had discovered that Embry was about go through the shift that had now caught up to four Quileute descendants in La Push. Alex didn't know much about the situation – she wasn't allowed to go and visit Embry until he had the change under control and she had seen Paul a lot less than usual as he had been helping Embry do just that.

"Alex, do you know what's going on with Embry?" Jacob was the first of the two to speak up and Alex was positive that he was the one who had tapped her on the shoulder.

Funnily enough, despite being friends with Embry for quite a while now Alex hadn't actually hung out with his two friends much. They had talked of course but to her knowledge, much like Embry had, they weren't the biggest fan of Paul and the other wolves that Alex was friends with. Embry had even once said they were in a cult, which Paul laughed at immensely when Alex told him later that night.

"I'm not sure, his mom told me he had mono or something." Alex lied straight to the faces of the two boys. She didn't like it but there wasn't any way around it, they weren't to know about the wolves unless they shifted. The chances of that were quite high for Jacob and Quil – they were both descended from great shapeshifter legends.

Quil looked convinced with what the girl was saying, although it was clear his mind was more on what was happening with his best friend than what Alex had to say. "It's just weird that his mom won't let us see him."

Jacob nodded along and Alex felt the need to speak up again. "Maybe shes just making sure you don't catch it. Don't worry, I'm sure Embry will be fine soon."

It was a bald face lie that Alex had to spurt out to the boys. It was probable that Embry might not be allowed to talk to them until they shift, but the brunette couldn't just say this right to their faces. Everything would work out, at least that was what Paul had told her over the phone repeatedly as she freaked out about Embry shifting.

Both Jacob and Quil looked to their left and upon seeing someone they were quick to say their goodbyes and move on their way.

Alex didn't have to look to know who had been coming her way and her suspicions were only confirmed when Paul came into view, with a small smile on his face.

It had been about a week since the boy had turned up for school and Alex had grown rather lonely only hanging out with Kim –Jared and Paul were both on training Embry duty.

"I'm sorry, are you a new student? I don't think I have seen you in these halls before," Alex joked to Paul as he lent on his shoulder against the locker right next to Alex's.

Paul sent her a playful glare. He had missed seeing her, with his hands full he had only been able to speak to her on the phone while he was working with Embry. It pained him, it really did but one thing he was passionate about was making sure Alex could see Embry without him ripping her to shreds – he knew about how close the two were and wanted Alex to be safe in his company. "You should be a comedian, Lex. You would make a killing."

"I'll think about it. It's nice to see you again though, school is boring without you here to make stupid comments."

Paul's hand came to rest on his heart jokingly, although he was slightly astonished at how it sped up when he was close to Alex. "Your compliments make my day. What did Jacob and Quil want? Were they warning you not to join this cult that I have become a part of?"

Alex was sure that was one of Paul's favorite things she had told him. He found the cult joke very entertaining and she imagined that Embry had been made fun of for saying it now that he was technically apart of the so called cult he used to despise. "They're just worried about Em, how is he doing?"

"Much better," Paul watched Alex's eyes twinkle just that little bit brighter at positive news. It made his heart beat that tiny bit faster, knowing that he was telling her something she had been waiting to hear. "You should be able to see him tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Alex said hopefully, wondering whether she heard Paul correctly.

Paul smiled at the excitement in her voice, it alone made him feel what she did. "Yeah, tomorrow. We are having a pack bonfire, you are officially invited. If you want to come that is."

Seeing Embry and hanging out with the rest of the pack seemed like a dream to Alex – she had wanted it to happen so badly as for the past week she had been worried sick of what would happen to Embry. She smiled gleefully at Paul, looking up at him due to his towering height. "Of course I'm in."

Paul's hand moved to tuck a strand of hair behind Alex's ear that had fallen loose from her ponytail. Alex wished he would keep it there, his warmth making her skin almost melt.

"So, Embry has his control sorted?" Alex asked as a follow up question, her fingers wanting to move up to her face where Paul's hand had brushed as it tingled intensely.

"Of course," Paul said without a flicker of doubt. He wouldn't be letting the girl around him otherwise, Alex's safety was more important to him than a lot of things were – most things in fact. "You think I would let you around him if there was any chance he might flip his switch?"

Alex didn't even think before she was shaking her head. She knew he wouldn't do that, Paul was someone she trusted and somehow she always felt safe around the much taller boy. It was a feeling that she reveled in, she liked feeling protected.

And being with Paul made her feel safer than she had felt in a very long time.

♡♡♡♡♡