Chapter 10 wolf laps
Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer- this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.
Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing
He was fed until he could not eat anymore. His grandmother did blink at how much he could eat and he tried really hard not to eat everything, but it was like comfort food for him right now. She wanted him to stay. He told her he had been sleeping in the truck and she would not hear of him going anywhere else right now. Roman had gone home. He lived in another house in the Bay area.
He asked permission to phone the Black house. He had left his phone at home so that his mother could not harass him. He was hoping to catch Jake in the garage but he was out. But he spoke to Billy. He told him he had found his grandmother and he asked permission to stay for a couple of days. Billy was genuinely pleased for him. He said that he would speak to Bella about the truck and most importantly, to Embry's mum. Embry confessed that he did not want to talk to her right now. Billy understood. He told him to take as long as he needed and he would sort it with Jake too. He took down Raven's details in case they needed to contact him.
Embry told him Quil was coming back; if he wasn't already there by now. He wanted to say something about Quil's imprint, but he thought better of it. He had done enough damage already. That was Quil's news to tell and he wouldn't rain on his parade.
He lay that night in the guest room. Clearly, it was Raven's sewing room. There was a small table with a sewing machine and an overlocker squeezed onto it. It was full of stacks of plastic crates of material and half-finished quilts. Some finished squares were pinned to a cork board. She must have been trying to arrange one when he arrived and threw all her plans out the window.
The room smelt warm, if you could say that warm had a smell. He could pick up traces of lavender and cedar; she must use cedar balls to stop the moths getting into her material stash. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but it smelt like a home. He slept amazingly well and woke refreshed and recharged.
He pushed away his plate after demolishing an entire dozen eggs and half a loaf of bread. They spent the morning going through more photo albums. It was going to take a while to get the whole family back together, longer than the week she had hoped for.
Embry tried to tell her about himself but there wasn't that much to tell. He had finished high school; he wouldn't be going to college. He couldn't tell her why, because of the pack secret. He liked fixing up dirt bikes and riding them. He had two best friends and a bunch of others. He did not have a girlfriend.
Raven was determined to come back to La Push with him and he agreed.
She made him take her shopping. He was displayed for the whole town. She introduced him to everyone she knew.
"Whoa Raven," said the grocery store owner, "Cooper has been a very bad boy."
She just laughed, "No Bernard, this is Marlena's boy. Isn't he handsome?"
"Marlena's…" the shopkeeper was astonished, "Now that is a blast from the past. I haven't even heard her name mentioned in years…," he muttered. He pulled himself together and held his hand out to Embry. "Pleased to meet you, young man."
Embry shook his hand. "That is some handshake you've got there. You been feeding him up Raven?" he commented with a pointed glance at her grocery basket.
"Nothing but the best for my grandson," she beamed.
She was proud of him; it was a new emotion for Embry; pride.
After another salmon dinner with a stack of fresh vegetables, they sat companionably, listened to music, and talked about everything. From Native American politics, how things worked on the Makah reservation compared to the Quileute, the worrying unemployment rate on the rez, to how many quilts she had made and how she loved giving them away to others.
She sat and sewed; she explained she hated not having something to do with her hands.
Embry told her one of his best friends was like that. He told her about Jake and how he used wood carving to think. He explained that Jake was the chief's son, and what a hard life he had had, losing his mother and being a carer for his disabled father.
Raven said she could not wait to meet them all.
He sighed when she asked what had happened with his friend with the unusual name. Embry just said they had fought over a girl. He was silent for a while, thinking through all the stuff about Pititchu. He would talk to Jake about it; that would work. Quil's life had not exactly been easy either. Fuck, none of the pack had a story book history. Except maybe Jared. Count them… one.
Eventually they got to the topic of his father.
"And she never told you anything about him? Nothing at all?" Raven queried.
"It's weird huh? I think I kind of worked it out yesterday," Embry stated, "Fear. She is terrified of being hurt again."
"She has it all wrong," Raven huffed. "Isn't the saying 'it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all'?"
"She's definitely in the latter category," Embry snorted. He looked at his grandmother, "What about you?" he asked. He was not really sure he had the right to ask.
"I loved your grandfather, but he was a hard man. But you don't get to choose who you love, do you?"
That suddenly struck Embry. Imprinting was just like falling in love on steroids. You didn't get to choose, but sometimes you didn't anyway. It was love at first sight, wolf style. It might even be better, because you had the knowledge that the wolf gods considered this person the perfect mate for you, for whatever reason. So maybe you could trust them to get it right, more than you could trust yourself. How often did people fall in love with the completely wrong person?
"He looked after his family," she continued, "and he did get a little more relaxed with the younger children. I suppose he and Marlena were just too much alike. They clashed more than all the others put together."
"At least she had siblings," he sounded bitter.
She gave him a look.
Then he wanted to tell her more. "One of the guys on the rez is probably my half brother, but I don't know which one." He fiddled with his hands in his nervousness. "That's what started this whole trip; the not knowing was getting to me. It was making me crazy… I mean I have a brother and maybe more family and I don't even know who they are…"
She reached out hand to him and he took it. "When you find him," she told him earnestly, "you bring him to me. He's my family too."
He beamed at her and squeezed her hand.
He pulled himself together and patted his stomach. "I need to go for a run... a jog," he corrected himself.
"I think I will be in bed by the time you get back." She started to put away her stitching. "Give me a hug," she ordered.
He crouched down and hugged the tiny woman who had made a place in her heart for him. "Good night Gran."
He went to the guest room, dumped his shirt, and grabbed the leg cord.
Raven was in the hall with some towels for him to have a shower.
"You be careful out there in the dark," she told him. She gave a pointed glance at his bare feet and shirtless get up. Raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
He hugged her again, just because he wanted to.
She walked him to the door and watched as he ran off the porch and into the late evening. He jogged evenly and slowly until he reached the forest, then he could increase his pace. He wanted to phase; he felt joyous.
He phased and felt Paul; he must be on late patrol.
E: hey Paul.
P: Embry. How goes it, my man?
E: good. I found my family.
P: Dude that is great!
E: yeah… my Gran is so cool. He tried to flash Paul a melange of what had happened, Roman, the photo albums, and his new Gran.
P: excellent. I am really happy for you.
He wanted to tell Paul more but was worried he was boring him.
P: I have to go, Bella wanted me home on time. You'll be back soon?
E: yeah …soon.
P: see you then. And he phased out.
It struck Embry, that Paul had no family at all anymore. Only Bella. She was his entire family now; his whole life. And he had imprinting to thank for that.
He went for a quick run up to Cape Flattery. It was only about four or five miles away so he did another lap.
Paul did not mention Quil; that was odd. Maybe they were going to the long way home too. Probably still playing in the forest.
Embry felt a chill.
She had wolf eyes; when they phased they kind of kept their human eyes. At least they looked like it. She had the yellow edged eyes of a wolf. She turned around before she sat for fuck's sake; they might spend hours as a wolf, but none of the pack did that! Her human hair was wolf coloured, not black. And her speech was weird.
She must have been a wolf for a very long time. He thought again about imprinting. Quil was the one of them who had been so excited to become a wolf. He had revelled in it from the first day. It had made him so happy. He got his friends back and he had made his family proud.
Quil was the one of the pack who would almost be happy to be a wolf full time and he mates with a wolf girl. What were the odds?
Why had he chosen that word? 'Mate'?
He shook his head; he was tired. He thought about going for a swim in the ocean but worried about making Raven's house sandy and salty. So he let himself in the front door, latched it behind him and fell into bed.
FF_2154210_ - 11/01/2011 05:29:00 PM