The following days flew by between the smell of fresh blueprints at the Cullens' house and the smell of saltpeter at the reservation. On Wednesdays, I continued to go to work with Esme; I liked the quiet atmosphere of her studio, although now I paid more attention to how none of them ever blinked. I told Esme that I needed Fridays off to "practice surfing," that I was very excited about learning and needed the day to go to the beach. She, with that eternal sweetness, agreed without any problem, telling me it was important to make the most of my youth.
But the truth was that "surfing" was just the excuse to continue turning myself into a walking weapon.
After the fight with Paul, something unlocked in my head. Training under the sea with the supervision of Sam, Jared, and Paul (who now looked at me with a mixture of fear and absolute respect) bore incredible fruit. It was no longer just three meters; my shields now expanded to more than ten meters with a simple thought.
Thanks to the fight with Paul, my shield managed to expand to seven meters, and with yesterday's training, I was able to reach ten.
Becoming invisible no longer gave me a headache; it was like holding my breath—a bit tiring but manageable. Sam stayed on the shore with his arms crossed, watching to make sure nothing happened to me, although we all knew that now I was the one who could give them a scare.
Friday arrived, and we met at The Diner, our usual restaurant. Before entering, we ran into the school group. Mike Newton approached Bella with that "here I am" smirk to try and strike up a conversation. I let out a groan of annoyance that could be heard across the entire parking lot.
"You stay here, I'm going with Dad," I told Bella, leaving her there with the annoyance that was Mike.
I went inside and saw Charlie at our usual table by the window. "Hey, Dad, how are you?" I said, sitting across from him. After a while, Bella arrived, apologizing and dropping into her chair as if she had run a marathon.
"Mael, I ordered you the usual burger and fries. And for you, Bella, a spinach salad," Charlie said proudly. "I hope you like it."
"Thanks, Pa," I nodded, starting to devour the fries.
"Next time we should all eat salad, it's healthier," Bella commented, looking at my plate with envy.
"No way," I replied with my mouth half-full. "I'm a growing boy, plus I'm going to start surfing a lot and I need protein so I don't get skinny."
We were in the middle of the meal when the waitress (I think her name was Cora, but I never remember the names of people who don't fly through the air or turn into wolves) approached Charlie. She had a look of concern that killed the appetite.
"Chief Swan... the other customers are asking if you've found anything at Queets River today," she said in a low voice.
I stopped eating instantly. I looked at my dad, and Bella did the same. Charlie put down his silverware, glanced at the other tables, and sighed with resignation. "Yes... we found a human footprint. But apparently that person, whoever it is, is heading east. The chief of the neighboring town will take over the search from now on," he finished, sounding quite uncomfortable.
The waitress lowered her head. "I hope they catch them soon," she said dejectedly before leaving.
My mind started working a mile a minute. A human footprint and not an animal's? That wasn't a human. I knew perfectly well it had to be another one of those vampires hunting. I just hoped they really had gone far from Forks.
The tension at the table was heavy, but it broke when we saw the boys outside the window, making faces and acting like animals to get our attention. Charlie let out a chuckle. "Looks like your friends want you to go out with them. I'm going to bed early anyway."
"Me too," Bella said quickly.
"Not me," I intervened. "I'm going to take a ride to the reservation, I'm meeting the guys."
Charlie looked at Bella. "See, Bella, you don't have to stay locked up just because I do. You could go out with Mike Newton, he seems like a good kid."
"He's just a friend, Dad," she replied sharply.
"Yeah, he's a good kid, but too immature for our Bella," I added mischievously. Bella shot me a look that, if it were a laser beam, would have disintegrated me.
"And is there any other boy you like in this town?" Charlie insisted with fatherly curiosity. I could almost see Edward's marble face projected on Bella's forehead. She was so nervous she stomped on my foot under the table.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, there might be a guy out there she likes, Dad."
Bella turned red as a tomato and decided to counterattack. "And you, Mael? Any girl out there you like? Or a boy?" she said with a half-smile, thinking she was going to embarrass me.
Poor Bella. she doesn't know that I don't pay attention to what people think of me. I stared at her with all the calm in the world and smiled. "Well, yes, there might be a girl and a boy I like out there. We'll see how things flow," I said, shrugging.
The silence that followed was epic. Charlie and Bella turned red at the same time and started coughing, choking on their water and food. Like father, like daughter, truly. Taking advantage of the confusion, I reached out and snatched the Chevy keys from Bella on the table.
"I'm off! Don't wait up!" I shouted as I left the restaurant.
I got into the truck laughing to myself. I had to go to the reservation. The footprint in Queets River had me uneasy, and I needed to talk to Sam. If there was something lurking out there to the east, we had to be ready.
I drove the Chevy down the dirt road toward Sam's house, feeling the old engine protest with every pothole. When I arrived, I saw the guys gathered on the porch; the atmosphere wasn't that of a friendly meeting, but a war council. Sam was standing, arms crossed, with that leader's gaze that seems to see through the trees.
"Sam, we have a problem," I said as I got out, getting straight to the point. "At the restaurant, I heard my dad. They found human footprints at Queets River. Someone, or something, is moving fast and hunting."
Sam nodded slowly, unsurprised. "We already know, Mael. Tracks have been appearing near the boundary. We're planning night patrol rounds to cover more ground. You should join us tonight. With your shields, we could corner anyone who tries to cross."
I stayed pensive for a moment. The idea of hunting was tempting, but I remembered the headache after facing Paul and how my mental "sun" almost went out. "Not yet," I replied truthfully. "I'm not strong enough to go on a real patrol alone yet. If I run into something like the one in Port Angeles and I burn out halfway through the fight, I'll be a hindrance. I need more stamina."
"I understand," Sam said, giving me a pat on the shoulder. "Discipline is what will keep you alive."
I walked away from the house and headed to my private corner on the beach. The sky was black, only lit by a moon filtering through the clouds like a pale eye. I stepped into the water, but first, I covered myself with my shield so I wouldn't get wet until it reached my chest, and I closed my eyes.
"Come on, one more time," I whispered to myself.
I went deeper into the sea and expanded my shield to its maximum capacity so as not to get wet. I felt alone in the vast sea and darkness. Luckily I didn't suffer from thalassophobia, because then this wouldn't be possible.
The blue dome glowed faintly underwater, displacing tons of liquid with a dull hum that vibrated in my teeth. I felt the external pressure trying to collapse my creation. I held the shape for a minute, counting every second as if it were an eternity, and then I snapped it back to my skin.
BAM!
The shock of the water rushing back into place almost knocked me over. But I didn't stop. "Again."
Expand. Retract. Expand. Retract.
By the fifth time, the pain in my temples was as if someone were driving hot nails into my brain. I felt cold sweat running like salt water down my forehead. My mental strength pulsed with exhaustion and pain, but I grit my teeth. I knew that without pain there is no glory; if I wanted to protect my loved ones from the vampire who left that footprint, I had to be able to do this in my sleep.
I came out of the water staggering and sat on a dry log. My hands were shaking so much that I struggled to open the packet of cookies I had brought. I bit one, feeling the sugar return a bit of sanity to me. I looked toward the dark forest; somewhere out there, something was moving at a speed no human could reach.
"It's not enough," I said, swallowing the last piece of cookie.
I rested for about half an hour and then stood up, ignoring the slight dizziness I felt. My head was still protesting in pain, but I forced it to continue again. I went back into the sea once more, determined that the next time Sam asked me to patrol, my answer would be "I'm ready." The cycle of expansion and contraction began again, illuminating the lonely night of La Push with flashes of a power that continued to grow in the darkness.
After the third round of expansion underwater, I felt like my brain was going to short-circuit. I walked out of the sea dragging my feet, my vision blurry and a sharp ringing in my ears that wouldn't let me think. I collapsed onto the dry sand, far from the reach of the waves, and lay there, staring at the dark sky while waiting for the world to stop spinning. I knew I was pushing myself to the limit, but every stab of pain was a reminder that my shield was becoming denser.
About an hour passed until the hammering in my temples dropped to a manageable level. I stood up, still a bit shaky, and decided that enough was enough for today. To test my reflexes, I turned invisible; I felt the light curve around me with hardly any effort. I walked toward Sam's house like a non-existent shadow among the trees.
Just before reaching the porch, I deactivated the refraction and became visible. I didn't want to scare anyone or have a wolf jump on me for appearing out of nowhere. I entered the house, but to my surprise, I didn't find Sam or the guys. Instead, there was a girl sitting at the kitchen table. She was pretty, with sharp features and an expression that seemed etched in stone, as if she were always on the defensive.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she snapped at me, with a voice that cut like a knife.
I was taken aback, but I didn't look away. "I'm Mael, Charlie's son, the police chief. I'm a friend of Sam's... or well, something like that," I replied calmly. "And who are you? I haven't seen you before."
She measured me up and down with a cold gaze, as if she were deciding whether I was a threat or just a nuisance. "I'm Sam's girlfriend. My name is Leah," she replied curtly.
There was something in the air, a tension that had nothing to do with me. Leah seemed to carry a huge weight on her shoulders, something that made her look annoyed with the whole world. I was going to say something else when we heard the loud laughter of the boys outside. The door burst open and Sam entered leading the group, stopping short upon seeing the two of us inside, waiting for him for entirely different reasons.
"Mael?" Sam looked at me surprised, and then his gaze jumped to Leah. The atmosphere in the room changed in a second, becoming dense and quite uncomfortable.
The silence in the kitchen could be cut with a knife. Leah looked at me, then at Sam, and there was a bitterness in her eyes that made me want to turn invisible again and get out of there fast. Sam, for his part, looked tense, as if he were walking on eggshells.
"I didn't know you had visitors from 'the city,' Sam," Leah said, with a sarcastic tone dripping with venom.
"Mael is... he's different, Leah. I'll explain it to you later," Sam replied, trying to sound calm, but that only seemed to make things worse.
"'Later'? It's always later, Sam. Ever since you started hanging out with this group and spending all your time in the forest, everything is a secret," she blurted out, standing up with contained fury.
Sam sighed and said something in a low voice, something about how she couldn't understand certain things yet and that it was better for her to go home for now. That was the last straw. Leah shot him a look of pure hatred, turned around, and walked out of the house, slamming the door with a crash that made the pictures on the walls vibrate.
Sam stood there, staring at the closed door with slumped shoulders and an expression of absolute defeat. It looked like ten years had been taken off his life in a second.
"What was that?" I asked, breaking the ice. "I thought you were boyfriend and girlfriend... well, that's what she told me a moment ago."
Sam passed a hand over his face, exhausted, and sat at the table where she had been. "We are," he admitted hoarsely. "And everything seemed to be going well... until I made my first change. That's when the elders of the reservation explained everything that comes with being what we are."
He stayed quiet for a moment, searching for words. Jared and Paul entered afterward, much quieter than usual, and stayed to listen.
"Our wolves suffer from something called imprinting," Sam continued. "It's not something we choose. It's when you find your soulmate, that person who becomes your gravity, the center of your world. You feel like you can do anything for them, be whatever they need: a protector, a friend, a lover. Everything else stops mattering."
I sat processing the information. I looked at Sam, seeing the conflict in his eyes, and suddenly all the pieces fit in my head. "Leah isn't your soulmate, is she?" I blurted out, without much beating around the bush.
Sam shook his head slowly, looking toward the window. "Since I found out what imprinting is, I've tried to keep my distance. I don't want to hurt her, I really like her, but..."
"But you're afraid," I concluded for him. "You're afraid that one day you'll cross paths with that person, you'll imprint, and all the love you feel for Leah will be erased or pushed to the background by that magical connection. Wow... you guys really have a serious thing going on here. It's almost like a curse."
"It's a blessing for the wolf, but a torture for the man who already loves someone else," Sam murmured.
"And how do you know who that person is? How do you know who your soulmate is?" I asked, looking at Jared as well.
"We don't know until it happens, Mael," Jared replied very seriously. "It's like a lightning bolt. It simply happens and your life changes forever."
We stayed in silence for a while. The only sound was the creaking of the wood of the house. The drama of the wolves was almost as heavy as the threat of the vampires, and I realized that being a supernatural being in Forks wasn't just about having strength or shields; it was about having your life turned upside down all the time.
Sam shook his head, trying to get out of his own mental hole, and looked at me. "And why haven't you left yet, Mael? I thought you had gone after your practice."
"I was waiting for you to see if you had any news from the patrol," I told him, adjusting my hoodie. "Because of the footprints I heard about in town."
"Nothing for now," Sam said, regaining his leader's tone. "The trail went cold toward the east, but we're staying alert. Go get some rest, you look terrible."
I nodded, feeling the exhaustion finally winning me over. I left the house, breathing in the cold night air which felt better than the tension inside. I got into the Chevy and started the engine, which roared in the middle of the reservation's peace. Before pulling away, I rolled down the window and saw Sam had come out onto the porch.
"I'll be back tomorrow to keep training!" I shouted through the window.
Sam just raised a hand in farewell as I put it in gear and drove away. I had a lot to think about: hunting vampires, wolves who fall in love by destiny, and my own power that wouldn't stop growing. Tomorrow would be another day of headaches under the water, but after seeing Sam's emotional mess, I almost preferred the physical pain of my shields.