A/N: I'm definitely not going to be able to keep up the pace of updating daily to my wonderful *2* whole followers! Lol. You're fantastic! But… I hope this shows that even if people have difficult childhoods, they can find nuggets of sunshine in it. To any potential Jacob-lovers out there, don't get mad at me. I think he's a wonderful character. Serenity, ummm, doesn't.
Timeline: Serenity is turning 6 years old. She's mentally as competent as an adult. She's physically very close to 17 years old and probably a little more mature than that emotionally.
Chapter 4
Birthday Gift
I could smell the wolf before I could actually hear or see him, and my body tensed the moment the word, wolf, entered my mind. Born from a long and tenuous relationship with these creatures of magic and myth, my fighting instincts flexed in preparation for a clash that had not yet materialized. The forest's scent of moss, decay, and soil often mingled with the wolves' scents, but there was a distinct woody flavor that accompanied them. I could tell the difference between each wolf, not only by their coloring and size, but by that flavor which hung about them. This wolf was so common in my world that I could identify him without opening my eyes.
Embry landed in the small patch of grass with barely a sound. It was about 15 feet long, almost rectangular, and quite secluded from the forest which lay mostly to the right. My family rarely came this close to the city preferring the deeper hardwoods of the White Mountain Forest. There had been a host of bear problems over the last 10 years which made it a hunter's pleasure. It was one of the main reasons my family chose to move to New Hampshire. Not only was the wildlife prevalent, but the Canadian wilderness stretched out to the north of us, and there was zero chance of running into previous acquaintances. My family was methodical about remaining shrouded in the indistinct. I personally loved this spot because the kids who might play in the sparsely wooded area that bordered the forest would have never noticed this area which was only accessible by a 20 foot jump across damp ground that fed into a tiny pond. Mountain laurel, 6 feet thick, hedged the alcove and preserved the solitude. The ground had originally been soft soil but now a thick blanket of fescue covered it making this the perfect place to be alone when there were just too many people in the house.
Embry lay down with his overgrown snout next to my feet.
"What's the pack doing today?" I asked.
Embry closed his eyes and blew a breath out allowing his body to twist slightly and relax in the warm rays. He rolled slightly to his right, and if I wanted, I could reach out and touch his snout. I'd probably lose my arm up to the elbow. Distance was always good with these guys.
"That much, huh?" and I closed my eyes to continue my previous activity. If he had waited 10 more minutes, I'd have been asleep. Embry and I had the most comfortable relationship of any of the wolves; he seemed less annoyed by my presence than any of the others. Seth was fine, but he tended to hang out with Edward and Jacob. He was really into the Beta thing, and, aside from a few protection details, I rarely saw him alone. Leah left a few months after I was born, and she was nothing more than a repertoire of glares to me.
Embry sighed faintly, and he seemed to be saying, "Sleep sounds great." Only a week ago, another vampire's scent had been in the area, which meant that the pack was on alert—not much sleep to be had when a potential killer was on the loose. The scent dissipated with the rains; likely the vampire had only been passing through. No disappearances or suspicious deaths were reported, so it was back to business as usual.
We remained like this for about a quarter of an hour. Sheer curiosity hit; none of the wolves had ever voluntarily decided to hang out with me. I opened one eye to see him staring up at me. I was starting to get a complex. "Why don't you phase back? I really don't like wolves." He tilted his head to the side and an evil look crossed his eyes. It took me a second, but I realized just exactly what I had asked for. My eyes widened, and the blood rushed into my face. He rose from the ground and stood deliberately in front of me. He stared straight in my eyes as his body started to shrink slowly, and the fur shortened ever so slightly. I threw my hands over my face and shrieked, "I didn't mean right here! Go over there or something!" I motioned, waving my hand towards the pond. I felt the grass spring back as he leapt across the pond. Less than a minute later he was back bent over laughing.
"I had no idea you were into that stuff, Serenity!" Embry chortled as he flopped down beside me in the clearing.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked. There was no way I could hold a straight face when a guy almost appears nude right in front of me. Honestly! What was he thinking? I was innocent to a fault. Oh, I had every idea of how things worked; there were too many married people in my world for me not to know, but my family did an A+ job of keeping me from anything or anyone that could provide an intimate situation. It was just Embry, though, so I couldn't help laughing.
Embry seemed blessed with a life free from the imprinting "curse". He thought it was great for people like Sam and Jacob, but he preferred to be unattached. His greatest fear is that he'll imprint on a baby like Quil and be sentenced to 18-20 years of celibacy. He's the undisputed bad boy of either pack with a very long list of ex-girlfriends. I, however, think that there should be a time limit before the word, girlfriend, applies. Like at least a day. One-night-stands are just too short for them to be considered relationships. If you looked at it this way, Embry was a golden child.
It's not hard to understand his appeal. You know the wolf type: drop-dead gorgeous, dark brown hair that shimmers with golden streaks in the sun, a body that takes most men months in the gym to achieve, god-like bronze tan, and a grin that causes your body to erupt in tingling sensations on demand. This sort of thing was common in La Push, but here on the east coast, teens and women alike did a second and third look when he walked by. Being so perfect, he had absolutely no free time; girls literally followed him around. None of this was lost on my parents, so they persuaded Jacob to lay down Alpha law that neither Seth nor Embry would corrupt my youthful naivety. It was a perfect bubble to everyone but the person inside the bubble.
"Keep you on your toes," and he smiled up at me making my heart flip flop around my ribcage. I've generally disliked the wolves ever since we first came here, but Seth and Embry aren't so bad. Jacob's a jerk, but I suppose it's not fair to generalize.
"Well, next time phase first. All that fur just creeps me out."
"You'd learn to love it." At this I had to laugh. The day had been depressing. Mom and Dad weren't talking- again, doing the whole, "suffer in silence" martyrdom. The tension was giving me a headache, so I left. They hadn't started the "let's-compensate-by-smothering-Serenity" game, and I just wasn't in the mood for it. Embry was a perfect distraction.
"Love rolling around in a rug? No thanks. I prefer silk and satin. Alice's influence, you know." I tossed back casually.
"Darlin' I would keep you snug…"
"As a bug in a rug!" I shrieked, and we both started laughing until tears ran down my cheeks. The laughter stopped immediately when I felt his warm fingers brush away the tears from my laughter, and I froze. I knew he could hear my heart pounding as well as I could. We'd never talked with remotest sexual intimation. Jacob had orchestrated that little arrangement when I turned 3 and had begun to take on the disposition of a moody preteen. Growth slows as half-vamps develop, and I was now very close to a 17 year old teenager physically though decades older mentally. Emotionally, well, I was still figuring that one out. He was so close, and the buzzing in my head wasn't going away. I swallowed and worked up some small talk.
"Tell me about your trip."
Embry rolled over on his back and propped he feet up on a pine tree trunk. "Good. It was cool to see the old clan. Sam's still chief and Alpha. Really takes that seriously. I'm glad I'm here with Jake. Sam's got mandatory school time and home time and wolf time." He just turned his head and smiled at me wickedly. "Not enough browsing time for my preferences. Feels like a tether to me."
"Can Sam give up the Alpha?"
"Yep, if he quits phasing. The pack has to have a leader. Jake's next in line, but since he's not in Forks permanently, it's difficult. That's if he even wanted it. Your family has talked about moving back since you can make them look like grannies and grandpas and all. But, who knows what's gonna happen? Just take it one day at a time, you know?"
"That's so you. Carpe diem."
"I'm not into that weird stuff, now."
I reached out and kicked him in the side. He didn't even flinch. "Ouch, baby, don't bruise me. I'm not into that kind of play either."
"Oh my gosh! You are being so awful! My dad would…," I left that threat unfinished because there was no telling what my dad would do, and if I had anything to do with it, he wouldn't find out. It was so nice to just be normal for a change. Flirty banter sounded perfect.
"Yah, whatever. The big bad vampires can do all of us little doggies in can't they?" He smiled crookedly and continued on his previous thought. "So Billy's not good. He's been sick for a while, weak you know. He can't get around. Rachel stays with him most days, but they're going to have to do something soon. Rachel's pregnant and Billy isn't exactly little."
"Awwwe, puppies!" I exclaimed with a dropping pitch. Perfectly condescending. Embry threw his shorts cord at me playfully. "Hey, I don't do bondage," I retorted smiling at my own dirty wit.
His laughter sounded so good echoing across the forest. It just bounded over the ground like a stag zig-zagging through the underbrush. His laughter was deep and hearty. It made me want to make him laugh more and more. "Touché, Serenity."
"So I guess the pack will have plenty of wolves. How many do Sam and Emily have now?"
Another chuckle escaped, "Yeah, Emily is keeping the pack stocked. She's got three kids and one coming in about a month. Kim's this bigwig lawyer for Native American rights, and that's keeping her busy. You know that Edward, Bella, and Nessie are staying with Charlie. He's about to retire, so they're planning a little something for him. And that's the La Push happenings, baby. Over and out."
"You forgot about Leah."
"Oh, yah, she was there visiting her mom. Ummm, Leah's good. I don't really talk to her much. She's all human now, gave up the wolf permanently. She's getting married soon. Seems happy, I guess." Embry shrugged clearly disinterested in the topic of conversation.
"I hope you aren't going to be so unromantic if you imprint. Girls love to talk about love, babies, and marriage. You'd better get used to it."
He leaned up on one elbow. "I know exactly what girls want in the romance department."
I'm not sure that I had ever stopped blushing from the earlier comments, but my face filled up again just to be safe. "Geesh, back to that again. Is this something that has to do with getting old? Is this what adults always talk about?"
"No, sometimes we talk about food." Just then my stomach growled, low and melancholically. We both burst out laughing.
I was still laughing when I said, "I'll make us something at the house if you feeling like coming along." I leaned forward to rise from the ground and unexpectedly met Embry not an inch away from my face. I caught my breath sharply and embarrassingly loudly and couldn't tear my eyes from his, and then he kissed me. He gently pressed his perfect lips against mine sealing the breath in my lungs. I couldn't even blink. Heat swept down my body and blood flushed my cheeks and chest. Shivers ran up the back of my neck into the base of my head making me dizzy with the rush. He pulled back just an inch searching my eyes for my reaction. He had always been so cocky and aloof, but at that moment, I could feel an entire other side to him in that one flawless kiss. My first.
"Happy 6th birthday, Serenity," he whispered.
A/N: