She stumbled as she tried to pick up her pace, but she simply couldn't do it. A sharp slice of pain tore through her leg, like it had many times on her journey from the edge of Port Townsend, but this time it made her leg give out beneath her. She tumbled to the ground, her backpack a nearly crushing weight on her back.

She tried to push herself up with her arms, but they shook and gave out on her, like her legs. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it anymore.

She twisted her body to look down at her leg.

Her empty stomach clenched with nausea at the sight of the long, jagged gash on her upper leg, raw flesh barely visible with blood trailing down her leg. It had started to scab over after only a couple hours into her trip, but with her constant running it wouldn't stay closed, and she knew she'd lost a lot of blood.

So this was it. After everything, this was how it was going to end. She had fought for the past seven years of her life, and now her pain would finally end.

She almost welcomed the darkness that came over her as her eyes drifted close…

XXX

Two wolves loped through the woods, one chocolate brown, the other sandy colored.

"Jeeze, do you ever get used to the stench?"

"Quil, you've been part of this pack for, what, eight months? Get over it."

"Hey, not all of us can be BFFs with the Cullens, Clearwater."

Seth rolled his big, wolf eyes as he loped ahead of his pack brother. Then a disturbing scent drifted over the spring breeze to his nose, jerking him to an abrupt stop. Quil ran into him from behind.

"Dude! What the heck?"

"Don't you smell that?"

Quil sniffed the air. When he caught the scent Seth was referring to he froze, his muscles going stiff.

"Why would someone be this far out here besides the Cullens?"

"I don't know. Lets check it out."

The two wolves raced through the trees, following the terrifying scent until it lead them to a part of the woods several meters from the highway, so that they could see the highway through the trees, but no one driving by would see them. The two wolves stopped side-by-side, looking down at the source of the smell that caught their attention.

A girl, barely any younger than Seth, lay unconscious on the forest floor. She was wearing a hooded jacket, jean shorts, running shoes, and a heavy-looking backpack. Quil nudged her over with his nose, rolling her onto her side. He recoiled at the sight of the large gash on her leg.

"What the hell?!"

"Why would someone this badly injured be all the way out here?" Seth asked worriedly.

"I've no clue, you moron. …You think Carlisle would be willing to help her?"

Seth nodded, his large, shaggy head bobbing. "Yeah, Carlisle would never turn down someone this badly injured."

"He won't…change her, will he?" Quil's thoughts were doubtful. He clearly wanted this girl to get some help, but he didn't want another 'Cullen' added to the already large coven.

Seth huffed as he nudged his nose near her chest, seeing if he could feel her heart beat. It was very weak. "I don't know. But if she doesn't get help soon, she's not going to make it."

"You get the word to Carlisle while I get her there." Quil said before he phased back, pulling on the cutoffs that were tied to his ankle. He then took off the girl's backpack and slipped it on himself before he scooped the girl up into his arms. He nodded once to Seth before racing through the trees toward the Cullen's mansion a few miles away.

Seth threw his head back and howled as he jogged after Quil. Immediately several voices popped into his head.

"What's going on?"

"Seth are you okay?"

"What's up?"

"Can I talk please?!"

Everyone fell silent at Seth's request. He could tell by everyone's thoughts that the whole Black Pack was phased in, which, beside himself and Quil, included Jacob, Leah, Embry, Kori, Josh, AJ, and Scott. He could also tell from Jake's thoughts that Sam and Jared from the Uley Pack were there, too.

"Quil and I are on our way to the Cullen's place, we found an injured girl near the road. Has a huge gash on her leg. We're not sure if she's gonna make it. Could someone give the Doc a heads up? We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Yeah, I'm at the Cullen's right now with Kori. We'll let 'em know." Jake answered tensely. Seth knew how he felt. Random teenage girls don't just show up in the middle of nowhere with life-threatening injuries like that.

Seth picked up his pace slightly so he was running alongside Quil, though he could run much faster, but he wanted to stay with Quil in case he needed any help.

When they reached the Cullens' house Emmett was waiting outside. Quil handed the girl over to Emmett, who blurred into the house to one of the rooms upstairs.

Seth phased back and pulled on his shorts before he hurried into the house after everyone else.

All the Cullens were there except Edward and Bella, who had gone to stay with the Denali's for a couple weeks. Jake, Sam, Leah, Embry, and Kori were also there.

"Seth!" Nessie shouted happily as she bounded up to him and leapt into his arms. Seth smiled and hugged her before setting her back on the ground. Nessie was almost a year old, but she looked like she was ten.

Kori hurried up to him as well, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck as his wrapped around her waist, his lips finding the skin of her neck.

Most everyone stayed downstairs but Jake, Sam, Quil, and Embry went upstairs to see what was going on.

The girl was already laid down on a hospital bed, needles and an oxygen mask hooked up to her. Embry finally got a good look at the girl his two friends had brought in.

Her skin was pale, probably halfway between his skin tone and the Cullens', but it was more of a sickly shade. It was probably due to blood loss. If Embry had to guess, he'd say her skin would be just barely lighter than his. She also had dark brown hair that probably went just past her shoulders, but it was hard to tell in her position. Her hair also had a windblown look to it, like what girls' hair looks like after they've run a few miles with their hair down.

"She looks familiar."

Embry looked over his shoulder at Quil, who was watching from the doorway. He turned back around to look at the girl again, wondering what Quil was talking about. When he looked a little closer, something about her did seem familiar, but he was certain he didn't know her…did he?

Carlisle was looking back and forth between the girl and the monitor she was hooked up to. "She's obviously lost a lot of blood, and she's also suffering from dehydration and malnutrition, but those can be dealt with later." Carlisle began typing away at a keyboard and Embry started feeling antsy. Shouldn't he being doing something that was going to help this girl instead of working on a keyboard?

"What are you doing?" Quil asked, almost as if he could hear Embry's thoughts.

"I'm analyzing a sample of her blood to see if I have any of the same type to use for a blood transfusion." Carlisle answered as his eyes scanned the screen. His carefully blank face changed slightly, but no one could place how. He made a 'hm' sound with his throat.

"What?" Jake demanded, stepping up in front of the others as they tensed behind him.

Carlisle clicked on the computer mouse a couple times and the screen changed. Carlisle sucked in a shocked, unnecessary breath.

"What?!" Jake and Sam both demanded impatiently.

Carlisle turned to look at the group of werewolves in front of him. His golden colored eyes gave nothing away.

"I was comparing her DNA with some of the other blood types I have available on hand…and I came up with two matches."

Sam and Jake exchanged a glance while Embry and Quil did the same, all four confused. Sam turned and met Carlisle's eyes.

"What does that mean, exactly?" he asked slowly.

Carlisle looked back at the computer screen and sighed before he looked back up at them.

"Her DNA is almost an identical match to two files I have here. That can only mean one thing…She's related to them, by blood."

The four wolves looked back at him in absolute shock.

"Who are they?" Jake demanded before anyone else had time to recover. Embry had a few ideas already in his head. Seth and Leah. Jake and Kori. Even Bella and Renesmee.

Carlisle sighed again, clearly not happy to be the one delivering this news. He looked up and met eyes with Sam.

"Sam Uley," his eyes switched and met eyes with Embry, "and Embry Call."

Everything stopped. All eyes switched to stare at Embry in absolute shock. When the words finally registered in Embry's mind he slowly lifted his head and met eyes with Sam.

"How?" he breathed.

Carlisle typed away quickly before he answered. "It appears…you all have the same father. Joshua Uley?"

Sam crossed his arms and looked down with a long sigh. He nodded his head slowly, as if ashamed to call that man his father.

Embry's body felt numb, cold as ice. His father. He finally knew who his father was. It wasn't Billy Black. It wasn't Quil Ateara. It was Joshua Uley. Sam was his brother. Embry felt himself slouch back against the wall as the weight of the information crashed down on him.

"Could one of us donate blood for the girl?" Sam asked quietly.

Carlisle nodded. "Yeah, that would probably be best. I think I have enough of your guys' blood in storage to give her and still have some left over."

Sam nodded one, tense nod and Embry bolted. Quil went to follow him, but Sam put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, causing Quil looked up at him.

"I'll go talk to him." Sam said before he followed Embry.

He was standing at the top of the stairs, his hands bracing himself against the wall. Sam walked up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulders.

"How're you holding up?" Sam asked quietly.

Embry's shoulders slouched farther.

"I don't know." he finally admitted in a weak voice that cracked near the end. He took in a deep, shaky breath. "My whole life, I've wondered who my father is, who I am. Then, when I phased and we narrowed it down to Billy, Quil, or Josh…I didn't know what I wanted anymore. I mean, I wanted to know who my father was, but…what if one of my best friends turned out to be my brother? I don't know…how I'd handle that."

Sam looked down at the floor, his hand still on Embry's shoulder. "I don't know what to tell you, Embry. Joshua…he left my mother and I when I was about four years old. I've only spoken to him a few times since then. He was never really much of a father to me. And I'm so sorry he had to go and do this to you, too."

Embry turned around to look up at his brother. His eyes glanced briefly past Sam to the doorway of the room they'd just left before he looked back up at him. "And now he's done it to her."

Sam nodded gently. "Unfortunately, it seems that way. I guess we'll have to hear her full story when she wakes up."

Embry looked at the floor. "If she wakes up." he muttered quietly, actually feeling afraid for his…sister.

Sam looked down at the floor, unsure what else to say. Then, he looked at Embry's face. "Embry, I really am sorry for everything my…our father did to you. You definitely didn't deserve any of it. But I want you to know you're not alone in this. Despite all the problems Josh has caused, he did do one good thing. Because of him, we're brothers. Technically, we always were, but either way, that doesn't change anything. I promise I'll help you get through all of this."

Embry smiled up at Sam in appreciation. "Thanks, Sam."

Sam nodded and clapped a hand on Embry's shoulder.

"Come on, lets see how things are doing in there."

Embry nodded and the two of them walked back into the room. The only thing that had changed was that Carlisle had set up an IV that was injecting blood into the girl's arm.

"So, what now?" Embry asked when they entered the room.

"She may be unconscious for a couple days, but I should be able to get her everything she needs through the IV, so she should pull through. Then, maybe we can find out what exactly is going on." Carlisle answered.

Embry nodded as he watched her sleep.

"Well, I got to get going. I've got to baby-sit Claire. You coming, Em?" Quil asked curiously as he turned to the door.

Embry shook his head as he sat in a chair by the bed. "Nah. I'm going to stay here, if that's okay." he answered quietly, not taking his eyes off the girl in the bed.

Quil and Jake exchanged a worried glance before they looked back at their best friend.

"Alright, well, I'll see you later, Em." Quil said as he left.

"Yeah, I'm going to go fill in the rest of my pack about what happened." Jake said as he, too, headed for the door.

Sam looked down at Embry. "I've got to go fill my pack in, too. You going to be okay here?"

Embry nodded as he looked up at him. "Yeah, thanks Sam. For everything."

Sam smiled as he clapped Embry on the back. "No problem, bro. See you later. I'll probably stop back in, in a couple hours."

Embry nodded, not bothering to respond as Sam left. As he continued to watch the girl sleep, he finally noticed what Quil had been talking about earlier. She did look familiar, but not in the way he originally thought. She had several similarities to both him and Sam, just more feminine, obviously.

She had a similar nose that got a little wider at the end, like Sam's. Her cheek bones were also a bit more pronounced, like Sam's as well. But her eyes and lips were closer to Embry's.

She really was their sister.

Embry sighed at that thought. "Get better." he whispered weakly.

XXX

Hope everyone liked the first chapter of Runaway. It's sort of a continuation of my other Twilight fanfic You Don't Have to be Alone, which is all about my OC Kori Black; however this story can stand alone.

Also, I apologize if I got any of the blood transfusion stuff wrong, I'm not exactly an expert on that kind of stuff.

Please review and let me know what you think!