I bit my lip and shoved my hair behind my ears as I examined the developing bruise on my left eye in the mirror. Brilliant. Bloody perfect. At least I could hide the other ones. Well…I guess I could try and cover it with concealer. I sighed and headed down stairs. Your probably wondering were these bruises come from, and why I would feel the need to hide them. Well my Mom's a drinker, and she get's a little….aggressive sometimes. It sounds worst then it is. She's not that bad. Really. She just get's a bit carried away sometimes is all. She wasn't always like this. She just suddenly started having a glass of wine at night. And then one became two. And then a bottle. And then two. But it was okay, I could handle that. But then she started getting physical a few weeks back. That was when everything started going down hill. I passed my brother Embry's room and heard his obnoxious snoring. Guess he's skipping school. Again. The normal routine was for me to wake him up, we'd have breakfast together and then he'd drive me to school. And he'd always let me sleep with him in his room when Mom was having a fit But things were different now. He was different now. He used to be the most caring brother in the world, now I was lucky if I even saw him around the house. I didn't realise a person could transform so quickly. From protecting me to ignoring me. From making me laugh to making me cry. From being surrounded by his friends to being surrounded by drug using freaks. From being thin and lanky to beefy and huge. It was like I'd stepped into some alternate reality and everything involving Embry had changed. And I really didn't like it. I wanted to turn a clock and make things go back to how they were. Before he started getting angry at the flick of a switch. Before he started hanging around with Sam Uley. Before he left me to sort out Mom on my own. As shitty as things were, at least then I had him. I had the first two periods free, so I grabbed a trash bag and started filling it with the empty wine and vodka bottles scattered around the lounge. The entire house seemed to be looking more and more like a bar everyday. Roll on my sixteenth birthday when I could move the hell out. Believe me, as much as I loved my Mom, she was seriously ruining my life.

"Jesus Christ" I turned quickly and watched Embry as he leaned against the door frame. Oh, how nice of boy wonder to finally grace me with his damn presence.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked grabbing the last bottle and shoving it into the bag.

"I thought she was getting better" Embry replied, ignoring my question.

"Ha. She doesn't give a fuck about getting better anymore" I sighed turning to face him and his mouth fell open. Why was he looking at me like that? I just-Oh no. I quickly turned away from him and took the trash bag outside.

"She did that to you didn't she?" he said angrily.

"It's a bit late to play the protective big brother now, don't you think?" I said as he followed me out into the yard.

"Erin...I...Why didn't you tell me?" he asked and I rolled my eyes.

"Please. Your never fucking here!" I shout whispered and I felt tears fill my eyes.

"I'm…I'm here" he sighed running his hand through his short shaggy hair.

"No your not. You don't eat here any more, you barely sleep here anymore. And you defiantly don't give a damn about me. If you did, you wouldn't have fucking abandoned me!"

"I wish I could explain…explain why things are the way they are. But I can't. I'm not aloud" Embry replied earnestly. Tears slid down my cheeks and he quickly wiped them away, gently running his thumb across my bruised eye.

"Why can't you tell me? You used to tell me everything. Even things I didn't want to know" I said and he smiled.

"I know. But there are rules now"

"Rules? Who's rules? Sam's?" I asked and he sighed, looking down at the floor.

"I knew it. Why do you listen to him?" I sighed angrily, moving a few feet away from him, towards the woods surrounding the house.

"Because he's right. He knows what he's talking about Erin. He's just trying to help us. And keep everybody else safe"

"Safe? Safe from what?" I asked crossing my arms.

"Us partly" he sighed turning away from me.

"You? Embry you couldn't hurt a fly, and you certainly couldn't hurt me" I replied.

"You don't know…you don't understand" Embry muttered and I sighed.

"How can I fucking understand when you don't tell me anything? Please. Your just making excuses, trying to justify why you left me to fend for myself. I bet you've been having loads of fun, ah? With Jacob and Quil, and all those girls who keep asking me for your number. Your supposed to protect me. You promised you'd always protect me. But where the fuck were you when I needed you?" I sobbed and my eyes widened as he started shaking. "Em-Embry what's wrong? Calm down, I didn't mean it" His shaking became violent and I tried to grab hold of his hand, but he moved away from me towards the woods. He's body shook and shimmered around the edges as he walked away from me, and I quickly rushed after him.

"St-sta-stay away. Too da-dangerous" Embry stuttered as he grabbed hold of the nearest tree, and I gasped when I saw the large gapping hand print marks in the bark. What the hell was wrong with him? Okay, I was dreaming. I had to be. Embry, my brother Embry, was so furiously angry he was rapidly loosing control. Nothing usually phased him. Nothing. It was like he was transforming into the incredible hulk. What was I supposed to do, ring an ambulance and say my brother was having some kind of breakdown? I hung back a few feet away from him, and watched, utterly speechless and powerless to help him. His body seemed to stretch and contort, and he started panting. I closed my eyes and tried walking backwards, but tripped and fell to the floor. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Was he okay? I couldn't hear him panting anymore. I slowly opened my eyes and gaped at the sight in front of me. Embry was gone, and in his place was a huge dog. No, not dog, wolf. Were the hell was my brother? I looked around at Embry's shredded clothes, before my eyes met the saddened eyes of the wolf. Embry? No Fucking Way! I had to wake up know. I had too. I blinked a few times, hoping the image in front of me would change. It didn't. I felt confusion and dizziness consume me, and my eyes closed slowly as my body sagged against the cold, damp earth.