The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide (51 page)

Sam spent the longest two days of his life waiting for Emily to return to her home in Neah Bay. He forced himself to keep his distance while she was with Leah, determined to keep from hurting Leah any more than was absolutely
unavoidable. Emily was very surprised to see Sam, having heard about the breakup. She was horrified when he explained that he had broken up with Leah in order to be with her. She told him to leave. He did what she wanted, but was unable to stay away for long. He tried to talk to her again, and Emily heard him out. He told her all his secrets, because she wanted to know them. She didn’t believe any of it, and demanded that he show her. So he followed her into the forest and phased. At that point, she had to believe everything, but she told him she still couldn’t accept his feelings for her. But she didn’t order him to leave and never come back. So he returned, and they continued to argue. Emily wanted him to go back to Leah and try to make it work; Sam said that would be living a lie, that he would be hurting Leah more—did Emily want that?

Emily was fascinated by the fantasy of it all—the reality of the legends, the danger of the vampires, all of it.

Many of these conversations took place in the woods outside of Neah Bay. While Emily continued to have many problems with Sam’s behavior, she respected the secrecy he had to maintain, so they discussed these things only in private. And Emily was fascinated by the fantasy of it all—the reality of the legends, the danger of the vampires, all of it. Sam, thrilled to please her, described everything in detail. She even met the other members of the pack. But then she heard that rumors were circulating about her behavior. She realized how much time she’d been spending with Sam, and recognized what that would look like to Leah. Furious with herself, she lashed out at Sam. She met him in the woods and told him that he had to stay away from her. Knowing he would have to obey if it would make her happy, Sam despaired. Next she
ordered him to go back to Leah. This Sam could not agree to; he would not hurt Leah further by pretending. He told Emily it was impossible for him to love Leah the way he loved Emily, and he wouldn’t ask Leah to settle that way. Emily couldn’t doubt that Sam truly cared for Leah’s well-being, but that only made her angrier about her own behavior. She called him a liar and shoved him away. She told him that he was just like his father, that he was running away from his responsibilities like Joshua had.

Sam had lived his whole life trying to be the opposite of his father.

Sam couldn’t calm down enough to go with Sue to the hospital, and he hated that, as he was already racked with guilt.

This was a more sensitive issue than Emily had imagined. Sam had lived his whole life trying to be the opposite of his father. Just hearing his father’s name threw him into a rage. Sam had never perfected his control of phasing. He tried to remain calm all the time, but he lacked the ability to calm himself once the fury hit. He realized what was happening with less than a second to react. He tried to move away from Emily, throwing his hand up to warn her away. Emily didn’t understand; she thought he was trying to avoid her words. She stepped forward, refusing to let him back away from her accusations. When Sam burst into his wolf form, he took up much more space than he had as a human. His hand, still extended to warn Emily, turned into massive claws, which raked down her face and right arm. Emily was knocked unconscious by the blow. Sam, believing that he had killed her, was frantic. He could not control himself enough to phase back into human form. Luckily, Jared was in his wolf form at the time and heard Sam’s hysteria. He swiftly contacted Paul, and then Sue Clearwater, who, as a nurse, was the
perfect person to help. Paul drove Sue to the scene while Jared went on foot, in wolf form. Jared revived Emily and Sam paced and hovered while they waited for Sue. Sue stabilized Emily and then got her to the nearest hospital. She told the attending doctor that Emily had been mauled by a bear. Sam couldn’t calm down enough to go with Sue to the hospital, and he hated that, as he was already racked with guilt.

Sam eventually calmed down enough to become human again. He was desolate and wanted to die. Jared kept him updated on Emily’s condition, which was not critical. The next afternoon, Jared told Sam that Emily was asking for him. Sam went into Emily’s hospital room and saw her face covered with bandages. They both already knew that she was scarred for life. Sam asked her to tell him to kill himself so that he could escape the misery; he couldn’t even commit suicide without knowing for certain that this was what she wanted. But Emily had asked for him to visit because she knew how horrified he would be and how unintentional his action had been. She didn’t want him to blame himself for what was truly an accident. She had already forgiven him. She also had realized, as she lay there in the hospital, that the one person she really wanted there with her was Sam. She felt lonely and incomplete without him.

Sam was never able to forgive himself entirely, but he put those feelings aside as much as possible to make Emily happy. Emily no longer fought the relationship. She called Leah to tell her about the change in her feelings; due to the need for secrecy, she was not able to explain herself well. She begged
for forgiveness, but Leah refused. Leah’s pain was a difficult thing for both Emily and Sam, but their relationship progressed easily from that point; they found it effortless to be close both emotionally and physically.

As the pack grew, Sam struggled with his role, sometimes being too slow to take command, other times going too far with his authority.

Embry Call joined the pack, and then Jacob Black. Embry was a surprise to everyone, but Jacob was expected, as he was descended straight from the last Alpha wolf, Ephraim Black, and Sam had been waiting for him to take his place as the new Alpha. Jacob was opposed to leading the pack, and insisted that Sam stay in charge. Sam, who had been the acting Alpha up to this point due to being the first to phase, was now the official Alpha, with all the power that entailed. As the pack grew, Sam struggled with his role, sometimes being too slow to take command, other times going too far with his authority. He tried hard to balance his leadership and do the best for his pack.

J
ARED
C
AMERON

Jared is known in the pack for having the best vision.

Jared was born in La Push and grew up there. He was a casual friend to Sam Uley, though Sam was ahead of him in school. Jared had an experience similar to Sam’s the first time he phased; he panicked completely and ran. But he had Sam, who quickly explained things and helped him through the rough beginning. As a consequence, Jared was able to resume his human form in just a few days. He and Sam became very tight after Jared joined the pack, and remain best friends. Jared is known in the pack for having the best vision.

Jared was the second wolf to imprint. His journey was much easier; he imprinted on a girl who already had a crush
on him. Kim was only too pleased to have Jared interested in her. She took the werewolf aspect in stride, and the two are nearly always together.

P
AUL
L
AHOTE

Paul was born in Tacoma and lived there until he was eight. When his parents split up, his father took him back to La Push, where Paul spent the rest of his childhood and teenage
years. He was not close to either Sam or Jared, though he was in the same year of school as Jared. He had his own circle of friends, so when he abruptly stopped hanging out with them and instead became inseparable from Sam, it drew attention. People began to notice the wolf pack and speculate about it being a gang.

Sam had to stay very close to Paul to make sure these out-of-control moments happened in private.

Paul had a great deal of difficulty controlling his temper. More than Sam or Jared, Paul frequently phased accidentally. Sam had to stay very close to Paul to make sure these out-of-control moments happened in private. After Emily was injured by Sam, Paul began to take his temper problems more seriously and improved somewhat, though he still found control more difficult than did any of the others.

Paul was the fourth wolf to imprint. After he imprinted, the rest of the pack became truly worried that they would all share the same fate. Paul imprinted on Jacob’s sister Rachel, which caused a bit of drama in the pack; Jacob wasn’t excited about Paul joining his family. Rachel had not been comfortable in La Push since the death of her mother, so she had a difficult time choosing whether to stay there with Paul. She had just graduated from college with a degree in computer engineering and had been offered a job she could do from home. She’d planned to look around for an apartment in Seattle or Portland, but she decided to stay in La Push for a while to see how things worked out with Paul. At that point, restraint became much more important to Paul. After the vampire situation was under control, he wanted to be able to give up phasing so he could travel with Rachel.