Disclaimer: I don't own it. It's not mine.
So, here's the next chapter!
I'm really not that thrilled with this one, but I just wanted to get it posted so I could move onto the more interesting stuff! I really love Emily, but I always pictured her as a very maternal character, so in this chapter I channeled my mother and I guess that's why Emily turned out the way she did here. Also, there's kind of a lot about Imprinting, I think? I guess that's just because I love werewolves, love the whole Imprinting thing, and also it sort of sets the tone for this story in a way. But mainly it's because I'm in love with Sam and Emily and Kim and Jared. But whatever. ;)
Please read and review! :D
The worst part of being a werewolf? Losing my friends.
I couldn't talk to Jake or Quil anymore, at least for the time being –Sam, the alpha of our little pack, predicted that both of them would change soon themselves – because I was still young and not fully in control of my emotions. At any given moment I could turn into a big giant wolf and rip someone's head off.
The best part? The brotherhood. Sam, Jared, Paul and I had been running together for about a week, and already they were like my family. Spending all of our spare time together was one thing – being inside each other's minds was another altogether. My mom was none-too-pleased, but I didn't care much. These guys were the only people in the entire world who understood.
"Oh! Dude! Pay up!" Paul guffawed, holding a hand out to Jared for the money they'd just bet on God knows what. Sam rolled his eyes, and in the kitchen, Sam's fiancé Emily called, "No gambling inside of my house, Paul!"
I put my feet up on the small table in front of the couch, devouring a bag of potato chips and flicking through the channels on the TV. To my left, Jared was whispering into his girlfriend Kim's ear, his happiness plain as day.
Imprinting was one of those things that could be viewed as good or bad. To Sam and Jared – who'd both Imprinted on their respective partners, Emily and Kim – it was a blessing. They loved them more than anything in the whole world. I knew because I could see their thoughts, and how they were completely wrapped around their imprint all the time. Sam didn't make a decision without thinking of how it would affect Emily; Jared didn't go anywhere without making sure Kim was safe and happy first. Paul often joked that it ought to be considered the worst thing to ever happen to a man – one vagina for the rest of his life – but Sam and Jared certainly didn't think of it that way. And me, I'm not sure how I feel about it.
"Jacob's growing bigger everyday," Sam told me, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. Sam was tall – taller than my six-four, probably taller than everyone on the entire rez – and something about him was so chief-like that even if he wasn't my Alpha, I bet I'd listen to him anyway.
"Aw, man," I said, tossing the remote and chips away from me. Nothing killed my laid-back mood like a mention of my best friends. I couldn't wait until Jacob and Quil changed – except that a part of me wasn't sure I wanted them to have to go through all that.
"If I have one more werewolf barging into my house and eating all of my food, I'm relocating," Emily announced bluntly, sliding a tray of nachos onto the coffee table. "For the love of all that is holy, Embry, get your feet off of my table!"
"Sorry, sorry," I muttered. I sat up straight and stretched out my neck. Emily rolled her eyes as Paul and I immediately dove into the nacho platter, almost breaking her table down in our haste.
"Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…" she mumbled to herself as she turned back to her kitchen, no doubt to make more food for her own personal pack of wolves.
Sam glared at us, irritated that we'd upset his beloved Emily, and hurried off in her direction.
"Well, then," Paul huffed.
Kim was now resting on Jared's chest while he stroked back her hair. It would have been a rather nauseating sight except for I was completely used to it by this point. Plus, I was smart enough not to comment on it like Paul always did, because I knew one day it could happen to me, and I probably wouldn't want the rest of the guys teasing me about it.
"Sam's pretty psyched about Jacob phasing," Paul snorted. "You'd think he doesn't want to be alpha."
"Yeah, well, Jake's not gonna want to be alpha either," I muttered.
Jacob Black and I had been best friends since we were kids. Our birthdays were around the same time, and so our parents forced us together, forming a brotherly bond over the years. My mom had been good friends with Mrs. Black before she died. But Jacob thought all of the Quileute legends were a big joke. He laughed scathingly whenever Billy would try to go on about them. Plus, now he was friends with that Bella girl, the leech's ex-girlfriend. I liked Bella just fine, but I still felt some unspoken bitterness towards her for hooking up with a vampire. A vampire! Jacob wouldn't like any of this one bit.
Quil, though? I'd known him about as long as I'd known Jake, and we were every bit as close, and if I had any idea what was going on in that big head of his, I bet he'd be pretty freaking psyched about the werewolf thing.
Which was kind of sad.
Because I really wasn't.
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"So," Emily began that night at dinner, setting her fork down on her plate and looking straight at Sam. "I want to invite Leah and Seth over for dinner this week."
Paul and I – Jared having already taken Kim home for the evening – immediately glanced at Sam, then back at Emily, then at Sam again. He looked awfully uncomfortable. There were patches of red making their way up his neck, and he cleared his throat.
"You really…want to?" he asked, sounding like there was something stuck in the back of his throat.
Emily nodded. Sam looked torn between his own torture and his need for Emily to be happy. Poor Sam. He couldn't deny Emily anything.
"Sorta like rubbing salt in the wounds, huh, Emily?" Paul snorted. He chugged his glass of water and set it back on the table, eyebrows raised.
"She's already agreed to be in the wedding," Emily snapped moodily. "And I haven't seen her and Seth in so long. I'm sure she is completely okay by now." She paused, and twisted her engagement ring around her finger. "You know Leah. She's beautiful. I'm sure she has herself a million boyfriends by now."
Leah Clearwater, Sam's ex-girlfriend, was beautiful. She was pretty much La Push's resident Barbie doll and the subject of every boys fantasies since they hit puberty, including mine. But Leah had had eyes for only one boy since she was little: Sam. Sam had loved her too, of course, and they were together all throughout high school. Planned on getting married. Till Sam met Emily, that is – Leah's cousin and close friend – and suddenly he didn't feel anything towards Leah anymore. So now Leah was kind of a bitch, but no one could really blame her that much, since she had no idea about the whole werewolf or imprinting thing.
"Maybe I'll make my move," Paul suggested thoughtfully.
Sam threw a fork at him.
"Samuel Levi Uley!" Emily exclaimed, jumping out of her seat. "Do not throw utensils at the dinner table! How many times do I have to say that before you boys will actually listen?"
Sam put his head down, chagrined.
Paul rolled his eyes at me, and I chuckled under my breath. Only tiny little Emily Young could get the chief of the tribe to look so ashamed.
"What time's she coming, Emily?" Paul finally asked after a few moments. Emily had taken her seat again, but she looked very flustered, like maybe there was something more bothering her than Sam's habit of throwing silverware.
"Paul, I do not want you within thirty yards of my house tomorrow," Emily warned. "It is a family gathering. I don't want you ruining it in your drive to get some."
"Tomorrow?" Sam asked incredulously. "You already asked them?"
"Well, yes," Emily admitted quietly. She brushed a piece of hair behind her ears, revealing the long, red scars on the right side of her face. I automatically averted my eyes – I'd felt Sam's remorse for what he did so much that a part of me felt guilty for it. "But you should thank me. At least I didn't tell you when I first made the plans, or else you'd have to worry about it all week long."
Sam half-smiled and walked around the table to wrap his arm around Emily. Paul gagged on a piece of his chicken.
"That's my cue," I announced. I stood up from my seat and clapped Paul on the back. "Thanks for the food, Emily."
Emily gave me a kind smile – the kind you'd get from your mother or grandmother after you brought home a good report card – and I left.
"Dude," Paul said as we walked the few blocks to our houses, "you think Leah will get over Sam anytime soon?" There was a gleam in his eye that was both excited and hopeful.
"Maybe," I shrugged. "But definitely not for you, bro."
