A/N: Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone for sticking with me so far, even when it takes me almost a month to update... (Yikes, I know.) Also, welcome new readers! I'm so thankful every day for your support.
My new semester of school starts on Monday (ugh), and I have lots of adult-ish responsibilities on top of that (such as work and an internship, among other things), so I will be trying my absolute best to get updates out as quickly as I possibly can. Please understand that even if updates are kind of slow, I have 0 plans of abandoning this story, so don't worry! This is a story that's quite literally been two years in the making and I have no intention on giving up now.
Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
Suggested listening: You and Me by Lifehouse
"There's you and me and all other people, and I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you."
Chapter 7: Imprint
"Well, I really hope this truck works… Otherwise, we're all walking to Emily's," Quil said, grabbing a set of keys from the hooks next to the back door. Most of the pack, save for Leah, had met at his house in the middle of town at around five o'clock to carpool to Emily's place. It was a ten minute drive out there, but if they had to walk, they would end up being late for dinner. No self-respecting member of the pack would ever be late to dinner at Emily's.
"It made it from the shop to here yesterday. It'll be fine," Embry tried to reassure him. The pair had spent countless hours this past week working on the beat up old truck that Quil had recently gotten, rebuilding the engine and crossing their fingers that it would run.
"Is everyone ready to go?" Quil asked. They guys nodded, getting ready to make their way outside.
"Shotgun!" Paul called, racing out of the house to claim the passenger's seat. Jared was faster, however, beating Paul to the door and hopping in before he could even get his hands on him. Jared laughed at Paul, closing the door and locking it from the inside so that he couldn't get in.
"Not fair," he complained, banging on the door. "I called shotgun! You know the rules."
"Some rules were meant to be broken," Jared said with a smirk as the rest of the guys filed outside, watching the pair have at it.
"You're gonna get it," Paul said with a devilish grin. "Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But you're gonna get it, Cameron."
"Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just sleep with one eye open. That's all I'm saying."
After he exited the house and pulled the door shut, Quil leaned over to Embry, saying, "Wait, Paul isn't wearing a shirt. Didn't Emily say…?"
"Yep."
"Should we tell him?"
"Nope."
The two of them, listening to Jared and Paul bicker, joined the others by Quil's truck. Quil walked over to the driver's side, opening the door and motioning for Paul to come around.
"Here, why don't you just sit in the middle?" he suggested. Paul obliged, sliding in next to Jared.
"One eye open," he repeated slowly, emphasizing each of the words.
Quil sat down in the driver's seat as the rest of the guys hopped into the bed of the truck. The engine sputtered and revved a bit as he attempted to start it. Embry held his breath, hoping for the best. After what felt like an eternity, the truck finally sprang to life.
"Are you sure this thing is safe?" Brady asked, making eye contact with Embry from across the truck. He had a worried expression on his face.
"Yeah, it's safe. The worst thing that could happen is that it stops running."
Brady gave Collin an apprehensive look, to which Collin simply shrugged.
"We can get out and push it if we have to," he said to Brady, who seemed less than thrilled with the idea.
"Hope not."
With the truck running and no time to waste, the pack set off for Emily's house. It wasn't exactly a smooth ride, especially for the four in the back. After a moment of silence, Embry turned to face Seth.
"Is Leah coming for dinner, or will I just have to meet her out on patrol?"
"No idea. Haven't seen her at all today," Seth shook his head. "She seemed super annoyed that Emily's cousin is gonna be staying for so long, so... I'm not banking on her showing up."
Brady overheard their conversation. He rolled his eyes a bit, saying, "Well having someone around who can't be in on the pack secret is kind of annoying for all of us. Not just her. The least she could do is go."
Collin gave Brady an offended look.
"Chill, bro. Leah can do whatever she wants."
Embry chuckled to himself. Typical Collin, defending Leah. The kid had been infatuated with her ever since he joined the pack a few years ago; his little crush was the definition of puppy love. But everyone including Collin himself knew that realistically, Leah would never reciprocate.
"That's only one part of it, though," Seth explained. "Leah will never admit it, but she's really jealous of her…"
"Jealous of who?" Embry asked.
"Emily's cousin, Julia. Always has been," Seth rolled his eyes as he mentioned his sister's pettiness. "Julia and Emily are close... Closer than Leah and Emily used to be. I mean, they both lived on the Makah rez for years and were with each other all the time."
Embry nodded in understanding, not saying anything.
Great, he thought. Another thing for Leah to complain about.
They had turned onto the unpaved road that led right to Emily and Sam's house, and within the next minute, they had arrived.
"Well… I still hope Leah comes," Collin said with a cheesy grin. The guys laughed as they hopped out of the bed of the truck. Embry waited for Quil, who was the last to get out.
"Not going to lie. I'm kind of surprised it made it all the way here without dying on us," Quil said, glancing back at his truck as they walked toward the house together.
"Guess we did a good job on it, huh?" Embry said, grinning at his friend who nodded and high-fived him.
"Now we can work on finishing that bike of yours."
As they entered Emily and Sam's house, the guys were greeted by the welcoming aroma of Emily's homemade pasta sauce.
"Hey Em!" Seth called out, greeting her.
"Sweet, we're having spaghetti!" exclaimed Collin.
"Are we eating now? Because I'm starving," Quil said.
Embry and his pack brothers made themselves at home. The table was already set with the abundance of food that would all be gone soon, thanks to the guys and their seemingly insatiable appetites. That was just one of the many little quirks of pack life - they could eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and still would be hungry for more.
Paul, following his nose to a pan of garlic knots, also noticed an unfamiliar figure standing behind the counter.
"Hey, Em, is this your cousin?" he asked, eyeing her as he made his way over.
"Yes. Everyone, this is my cousin, Julia," Emily announced, drawing attention over to the stranger in the room.
Embry, along with the rest of the pack, turned their gaze on the girl. She looked down nervously as Paul approached, tucking her hair behind her ear. From where Embry was standing, he couldn't really get a good look at her - Paul had dwarfed her small frame and blocked her from view. He heard Paul introduce himself, then watched as Emily went over to them.
"...Paul, what did I tell you on Tuesday?"
"That we should be here on Thursday for dinner and to be on our best behavior."
"What was the other thing I told you on Tuesday?"
"Oh… Shirts. Mandatory. Right. I… Forgot? Sorry," Paul said in a rush. Embry and Quil glanced at each other, giving each other knowing looks and suppressing any laughs that threatened to escape.
"It's alright. We'll just get you something of Sam's to wear," Emily said, leading Paul away. The rest of the pack failed to hold in their laughter as he looked back, narrowing his eyes at the group as if to say I can't believe you didn't remind me. Embry glanced at Sam to see that even he was chuckling along with everyone else.
"Anyways," Embry turned to Quil again to continue their conversation instead of going over to introduce himself to Emily's guest. Besides, Seth had already made his way to her. He could say hello after everyone else got a chance, he decided. "I'm gonna spend some time in the shop tomorrow to finish my bike, if you wanted to come."
"Sure, if my truck doesn't take a shit on the way home. No promises."
"Has anyone besides your mom ever told you that you worry too much?"
"...Says the guy who worries about everything."
Embry shook his head, giving a flat, sardonic laugh. Quil wasn't wrong. He looked at his friend with a sober expression in his eyes and said, "Because I have everything to worry about, Quil. My mother has barely spoken to me in weeks. Nothing. Nada."
"She gets moody all the time though. What's so different now?" Quil asked, seeming lost.
"She told me a couple weeks ago not to even bother coming home if I was going to be out all night again," Embry had thought about that particular moment a lot since it had happened, but up until now had never actually talked about it in detail with anyone. The conversation he had with Leah had been pretty one-sided, with the one side mainly being her. She had tuned into his thoughts that night, and she had initiated. Since then, he had come to accept the idea in his head that his mother could kick him out whenever she wanted. Vocalizing it, on the other hand, felt weird. "I think she wants me gone."
"Gone as in… She wants to kick you out of the house?"
Embry nodded quietly.
"That's ridiculous. If she ever does that, you know my mom would find room for you at our house, man…" Quil said, frowning and shaking his head. Out of the corner of his eye, though, two people approaching caught his attention. He immediately changed his expression to a friendly smile. Embry followed his gaze to see Emily dragging her cousin Julia over to them.
She was a tiny little thing - shorter than Emily, but especially in comparison to the members of the pack. Embry guessed that the top of her head would just about reach his chest if she were standing right next to him. She had a slim yet athletic body, strong but feminine thanks in part to her long brown hair. It was almost as dark as Emily's, framing her round cheekbones and falling nearly all the way down to her waist. She looked to Quil first, seeming relieved that he was giving her a welcoming smile. Embry watched their exchange.
"Hey, my name is Quil," he introduced himself with a wave. Her face lit up in recognition.
"Quil? Like in Claire's drawings?" she asked, giving a nod in the direction of the fridge that was covered in Claire's art.
"Yeah. I'm that Quil. Not like you've met many more, I'm sure."
Julia gave him a smile, then looked down for a brief moment as she turned to face Embry. He immediately thought to offer her his hand.
"Hi, I'm Embry," he said as she took his hand and looked up to meet his gaze. It was just one look... But that was all it took for his world to change completely.
Before he could even register what was happening, all of the remaining thoughts in his head had fizzled out. Any notion of time and space was gone, and in their place it was simply her. He wanted to take in every detail about her that he could... Her light, floral scent. The way her full lips curved up ever so slightly at the corners as she smiled at him. How her lashes curled in just the right way to showcase her dark, almond-shaped eyes. Embry would be perfectly content to look at her forever.
It made no sense whatsoever considering he had been mulling over it for weeks, but the conversation he had just had with Quil and the issues with his mother seemed so trivial now. If she kicked him out tonight, he would find a way to make it work as long as he could still see Julia tomorrow. Just moments ago, she'd been a stranger; someone he had even written off as a kind of inconvenience to him and his fellow pack members. Now, she was nothing short of his entire world. Nothing else mattered anymore, nothing except for this girl standing right in front of him. As he held her small hand in his own, precious and seemingly fragile, Embry vowed that he would do everything in his power to keep her safe. He knew he would do anything for her, bend over backwards and go to the ends of the earth to make sure she was happy.
And she had absolutely no idea.
"Um… Nice to meet you?"
To Embry's dismay, her smile faltered a bit and she broke eye contact as she spoke. His thoughts raced a million miles per second, trying to come up with a reason why she wouldn't still be smiling at him. Had he already done something wrong? Did she think he was weird? Or worse… Was he intimidating her? He could feel his heart pounding fast inside of his chest. Making her uncomfortable was the last thing he wanted to do.
He was brought back into the real world again with an uncomfortable jab in the ribcage from Quil. Embry blinked a few times, coming to his senses. He realized that he had been gripping her hand for much longer than what anyone would consider a normal handshake, and that she had been trying to pull away. He quickly let go, missing the feeling of her hand in his the second that he did.
"Oh, uh, sorry… Julia," Embry said, too awestruck to be able to form a coherent sentence. He knew he was staring, but he couldn't do anything to stop himself. How could he not stare at the most beautiful girl he had ever seen? He noticed that her round cheeks started to flush with color, and he couldn't help but find it completely adorable. Embry would have stood there and looked at her for hours, but Emily's voice broke the dead silence between them.
"Okay… How about we all sit down for dinner?"
With an unreadable expression on her face, Julia looked him over once more before turning around and falling into step behind Emily. Instinctively, Embry made to follow after her, hoping to take a seat next to her at the table. However, Quil grabbed his arm and yanked him back, halting him in his tracks.
"Dude," he said to Embry in a hushed tone. He knew exactly what was going on. "You need to play it cool."
Embry quickly freed himself from his friend's grasp, not taking his eyes off of Julia as she walked away.
"Am I not playing it cool?"
"No, you're acting like you have your head stuck up your ass."
Embry sighed at Quil's comment, mumbling, "Sorry. Can't help it."
"I know, but you just met her. Act normal. Like Emily asked us to."
"Normal. Right."
As Julia followed Emily away from Quil and Embry, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was just a little… Off. Quil had seemed friendly enough, but Embry… The way he had been so fixated on her gave her the chills. It wasn't inherently bad or good, it was simply strange and she had no clue what to think about it.
Giving Emily a little tap on the shoulder, she cleared her throat and asked quietly, "Hey Em… Uh, what just happened back there? Is Embry… Okay?"
Emily faced her cousin as they found seats next to each other at the table, giving her a look of feigned bewilderment. She knew the only thing she could do at this point was pretend that the interaction had been nothing out of the ordinary.
"Of course he's okay, Jules. Why do you ask?"
"I…" Julia started, not sure how to put her thoughts into words. Maybe she was overthinking it. "No reason. Never mind."
After his little conversation with Quil, Embry watched as Julia took a seat next to Emily, leaving a spot open on her left. To his annoyance, it was quickly filled by Seth, who chatted away happily with her. Embry would have to settle for a seat on the opposite side of the table. At least from there he would be able to look at her some more.
Soon, the dishes had been passed around and the pack made quick work of devouring what was in front of them. Although the meal did taste delicious, as Emily's cooking always did, Embry could not have cared less about the food in front of him for once. He was too caught up in stealing glances across the table at his imprint.
Imprint. After years of wondering if he'd ever get to experience the phenomenon for himself, and more recently accepting the idea that it wouldn't happen, fate finally decided that it had other plans. Jacob had been right: it really had happened when he least expected it to. Embry felt like the luckiest guy in the world. Maybe, he thought, he should go buy a lottery ticket later.
Meanwhile, Julia tried her best to enjoy her dinner despite being bombarded with all sorts of generic questions from Sam's friends.
"So," Quil asked through a mouthful of spaghetti. Cringe. "Where's home?"
"Depends," Julia answered with a shrug. Quil tilted his head like a confused puppy dog. "Well… I was born in Neah Bay. But I've been living in Port Orchard for the past ten years."
"Ahh…" he said, trailing off. "Yeah, no clue where that is."
Julia giggled softly. The noise was like music to Embry's ears, although he had wished he was the one making her laugh.
"Kind of near Seattle."
Embry sighed to himself. It was a far drive, no where near as convenient as Neah Bay would've been, but it would be do-able. The rational part of him couldn't believe that he was already making plans in his head to visit Julia once she went home, seeing that as of right now he had spoken about two sentences to her - and even that was being generous. To make things even more difficult, the most he knew about her was her name and where she was from. Thankfully, his pack brothers did most of the interrogating for him. He quickly learned that she was eighteen, an only child, played lacrosse, liked the color blue, and her favorite kind of pizza was cheese and pepperoni. Well, Embry guessed that any information about her was useful at this point...
"Are you a cat person… Or a dog person?" Brady asked slyly, hiding a smirk by shoving practically an entire meatball into his mouth. Sam shot him a disapproving look, but didn't say anything. The pack waited curiously for her response.
"I never had any pets growing up, but…" Julia said, oblivious to the glances going around the table between those who understood the not-so-subliminal message hidden in the question. "I guess I like dogs better."
A few of the guys snickered mischievously. Julia couldn't figure out for the life of her why they were so entertained by that particular question and answer.
"What? What's so funny?"
"Looks like we're gonna get along just fine," Jared said with a look of thinly veiled amusement.
"You all prefer dogs, too?"
"Yeah. I guess you could say we're dog people," Paul chimed in. He looked like he was trying not to burst out laughing.
Emily raised her brows at him, vexation clear in her expression. She looked like she was scolding him silently, but for what Julia did not know.
"Alright," Sam said, standing up suddenly. It made Julia jump. "We're just about done here, aren't we?"
The room became uncomfortably quiet. Julia looked around the table at Sam's friends to find that all traces of their previous gleefulness had vanished. Most of them were looking anywhere but at each other… Everyone, except for Embry. He had been looking at her. Truth be told, she had almost forgotten he was there - he hadn't said a word throughout the entire meal. Julia made eye contact with him briefly. She could still feel his eyes on her, even when she looked away. It was actually quite unnerving.
Sam's friends began to stand up as well, stretching and following Sam's lead as he took his empty plate over to the sink. Some of them made their way into the living room. Jared and Paul said their goodbyes, mentioning something about two girls named Kim and Rachel, respectively. Only Embry and Sam lingered behind.
As Julia tried to help Emily clear the rest of the table, Emily laughed and shook her head.
"Don't you even think about it, Jules" she said, taking an empty bowl from her cousin's hands. "You've already helped with dinner. Go relax."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Emily motioned to the threshold leading to the living room. "I think the guys have the Mariners game on in there. Why don't you go join them?"
Nodding in defeat, Julia took a deep breath and reluctantly did as her cousin suggested. Embry waited a few seconds, then began to follow behind her, hopeful that there would be a spot where he could sit with her this time. He paused only upon hearing Emily loudly clear her throat.
"And where do you think you're going?" her question was blunt, but she had a smile on her face. A thought crossed Embry's mind of how eerily similar she had sounded to his mom.
"To watch the game…?"
"Sure you are. I think you have some explaining to do," Emily had turned to the sink to get to work on the pile of dirty dishes in front of her. She glanced up at him, her eye contact intense. "Because if I'm right, which of course I am, you need to tell us what happened before dinner."
Now Sam had turned on him with an inquisitive expression, his interest piqued. He too pressed Embry, asking, "What exactly happened before dinner?"
Embry was certain that Emily already knew. It had happened right in front of her eyes, and with Quil's silent corroboration, there was no doubt in her mind what had gone down between Embry and Julia. Now she just needed to hear it from Embry himself.
"Oh, uh, nothing crazy or anything," he said sheepishly, trying and failing to appear more composed than he felt. He couldn't help but grin, however, as he confirmed what Emily suspected. It felt amazing to be able to say it out loud. "I imprinted. On Julia."
Emily, hearing what she had been expecting, smiled up at her fiancée with excitement in her eyes. Sam, however, didn't quite share her sense of elation. Embry could practically see the gears turning in his head. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting that. A phenomenon that he had once regarded as rare was proving to be anything but, as Embry was now the sixth shape shifter to have imprinted. Besides that, he had been reminding his pack for the past few days that they would need to be careful in protecting their secret around Emily's cousin - only to find out now that she would have to be one more person included in on it.
"I guess we can just… Sit her down and explain everything. The sooner she knows the truth, the easier it will be for-" Embry began to say, only to be cut off by Emily.
"No," Emily said firmly, her eyes going wide and her previously happy demeanor turning to slight panic. She dropped the sponge she had been holding into the sink, turning fully to face Sam and Embry. "Not so soon, she just got here!"
"But Emily," Embry protested, his eyes pleading. "She's only here for a month!"
"I don't care," she said stubbornly. "She's nervous enough as it is being around all of you right now. Trust me, I can read her like an open book. Give it until after the wedding, at the very least. Besides, you need to take some time to actually get to know her."
Embry groaned. Emily had a point. However, he already knew he was on a time crunch here - eventually, Julia would have to return home to Port Orchard. Waiting around for weeks before he could tell her about the pack secret and the imprint seemed like it would be torturous. On the other hand, having some time before he could explain things to Julia would allow him to figure out the best possible way to go about it.
"Then you'll just have to wait, Embry," Sam didn't have to use his alpha voice to make it clear that there was no other option.
"Thank you," Emily said, leaning in close to Sam to give him a peck on the cheek. She turned apologetically to Embry. "Sorry. I know my cousin well. If you spring this on her right now… I can guaranteethat she'll freak out. The more comfortable she gets around you, the better."
Sam nodded in agreement, saying, "Just let the imprint bond work its magic."
Embry could understand where they were coming from. He would never purposefully want to cause Julia any distress. He'd wait, for her sake. Besides, there was nothing that he wanted more than to get to know his soul mate.
"I'm so happy for you," Emily continued in a sincere tone of voice. "You're going to love her."
Embry sighed dreamily, a surreal feeling washing over him.
"I already do."
