For Shadowgirl61; because your reviews are the best. :)
Okay, enjoy this chapter. It took me forever..for some odd reason. Yay for more imprints!
The pack seemed to like me. I thought about this as I sat in Jacob's lap and helped him shovel as much of Emily's spaghetti in his mouth as he could. They'd all greeted me nicely enough. I'd even earned a few nicknames from Embry, and Seth.
The pack kept the questions firing after Leah's escape, until they were sure of every single measly piece of information about me. Favorite band, color, day of the year, and even my shoe size. Once they seemed satisfied they laid the Spanish Inquisition to a rest, devouring almost all of Emily's spaghetti.
Now the sleepy wolves were lounging in the living room; Sam splayed out on the couch while the rest occupied the floor and a few chairs. They were laughing and joking, even Sam, and that was strange for him. I was in the kitchen, helping Emily wash all the dishes and clean up the kitchen after their ravenous feast.
"The girls will be here soon," Emily said lightly, taking a towel to the chipped plate I handed her. When I looked confused, she felt the need to elaborate.
"The other imprints. Jared's Kim, Brady's Melanie, and Collin's Jenna."
"They've all go imprints?" I asked incredulously, scrubbing the sauce off another plate and handing it over to Emily. She nodded as she dried, her eyes bright. My nerves began to boil again. Emily seemed to see this, and she placed a damp hand on my arm. "They'll love you. Us imprints have to stick together," she placated me, smiling warmly. I did my best to smile back as the creak of the screen door brought us to attention. "Hey!" Emily cried as three equally russet skinned girls entered the kitchen with three equally large smiles on their full lips.
"Hey, Em!" The first said cheerfully, planting a kiss right on my cousin's cheek. Then she came forward, and did the same to me. I dazedly bumped my lips against her cheekbone, confused. "Hi, Lurai. My name's Kim. Jared belongs to me," she sang, flipping her long, black hair over her shoulder. I smiled up at her. Kim was tall and slender, with a round face and extremely long eyelashes. Her hair cascaded all the way down her back. "And I'm Melanie!" a younger girl said excitedly, her shoulder length auburn hair swinging around her face as she came forward in a bone crushing hug. I gave her an awkward one-armed embrace back, seeing as Kim had grasped one of my hands firmly in hers. She began to swing it back and forth like a child on a playground. My smile came more truthfully now.
Jenna -at least, the girl I'd assumed to be Jenna- stood back, still in the doorway. She was biting at her thumb nail nervously, but her eyes were bright. I could already tell why she and Collin were perfect for each other. Jenna was absolutely tiny, around five feet tall. Her dark eyes were large, almost too large for her face. She looked around fourteen years old, a few months younger than Collin, who had just turned fifteen. I smiled attentively in her direction, and she grinned back, her cheeks pink. "I'm Lurai," I said to her. I would have waved, but Melanie had taken my other hand.
Emily put an arm around Jenna's shoulders. "Jenna was the new girl until you came along," she explained, rubbing Jenna's shoulders lightly.
"Jenna!"
Collin came busting into the room, his arms wide open, followed by the rest of the pack. Jacob claimed both of my hands as Melanie and Kim let go, swept up into their respective boyfriend's arms. As I watched, the once nervous Jenna changed before my eyes.
Jenna's smile was to die for. Her perfect white teeth glinted against her skin as she leaped forward, throwing herself into Collin's huge arms. She buried her face in his neck with a delighted cry of "Babe!", and covered his face in kisses. I couldn't help but smile as I reached around Jacob's middle, linking my hands around his waist. His smile was broad as he leaned down to kiss my lips gently.
"You girls having fun?" he asked, tracing his thumb across my chin and up to my ear. "But of course!" Came Kim's howl from across the room, where she was holed up with Jared. Brady had his arms around Melanie and Sam's were around Emily, I felt a rush of pity for Embry. I was careful to block Paul from my mind.
I'd forgotten he was there. Paul kept silent at the left corner of the kitchen, hands in his pockets and his eyes downcast. He wouldn't meet mine. I glared in his general direction. Emily piped up from the sink, where she had been washing her hands.
"School starts next week, Lurai," She sprung on me, smiling sheepishly, "I forgot to tell you. But Sam and I've got you all registered. You'll be starting eleventh grade with the rest of these unruly boys, and Kim."
"Not us!" Collin and Brady chimed in together, each looking crestfallen. "We'll only be going into tenth. It's not fair, we don't get to sit with the pack at lunch," Brady whined, hand clasped on Melanie's. Collin nodded fervorently as Jenna dozed against his shoulder. It suddenly struck me how young they both were. Collin and Brady looked so old. I turned back to Emily, my eyes still wide.
"Thanks for the heads up, cousin," I cried incredulously, rolling my eyes to the ceiling exasperatedly, "That's only-" I paused, counting the days in my head, "-four days!" Emily rounded on me, hands on her hips. "Well I figured you'd know!" She exclaimed, waving her scarred right hand in the air. I sighed and covered my eyes with one of my hands, and Jacob squeezed me reassuringly. "We'll help you," he offered, casting his eyes around the room at the pack, who all nodded fervorently. "Yeah! We got your back, little one," Seth called, clapping his hands together loudly. I smiled gratefully at all of them. "Thanks a lot, guys," I managed to mumble, my face burning red again. Emily smiled across the sea of heads at me, an 'I-told-you-so' expression dominating her features.
The people in the kitchen dwindled slowly during the afternoon. Collin was the first to leave, along with Brady, Melanie and Jenna, muttering something about having chores. Seth was gone next, having to check that Leah hadn't killed anyone. Embry and Quil left with him, apparently going out for pizza even though they'd eaten enough food here at the house to end world hunger. Now Jared, Kim, Emily, Sam, Jacob and I were the only people left sitting in the living room. Jacob, Sam and Jared were involved in a very upbeat game of War, while Emily, Kim and I dozed against the edge of the couch. The game seemed like it had been going on forever, as War often did. Jared was in the lead, and Jacob was losing. He kept muttering every time he faltered that he was never good at card games. Emily began to braid Kim's silky hair, while I sat and watched, half mesmerized by the slow workings of the comb through the individual strands.
Suddenly Jared slammed his huge fist down on the floor, and a recognizable tremor shook the boards. "I win!" he cried, smiling, as Sam and Jacob flung the remaining cards at him. "I hope you're going to pick those up!" Emily advised, a warning buried deep in her words. The three boys made a show of quickly scooping up the cards and shoving them hazardously into the dilapidated box. They set it back on the table and rose stiffly from their positions, horizontally across the floor. Emily, Kim and I did the same, stretching and yawning almost in unison. We laughed.
Jared took Kim's hand in his huge one, kissing her lips. "You ready?" He asked, checking the antique clock on the wall. It was almost midnight.
Kim nodded mutely, turning back to us and smiling hugely. "Thanks for the food, Em, it was amazing as always." She leaned down to plant a fat kiss on my cousin's forehead. Then she turned toward me, her tired eyes bright again. "And Lurai, I'll be picking you up around two tomorrow." Kim leaned down farther and kissed both of my cheeks, patting my shoulder.
I stared at her, my eyes confused and apprehensive. "Picking me up for what?"
Jared began to pull him toward the door, after he'd shaken hands with Jacob and Sam. "School shopping, of course!" She sang in her usual, clear voice, before allowing herself to be towed out the creaking door. A flash of panic ran through me as I remembered my lack of money in my purse upstairs. "Uh…"I managed to utter, before Emily's voice rang out from the kitchen.
"Bank account, stupid. You'll never believe how much is in there!"
Jacob's arms were around me then. I molded myself into his chest, resting my palms against it gently, looking up at him, bemused. How had I gotten money? And why did Emily know about it? I remembered putting some away every time I had a bit to spare, which wasn't often. Last time I'd checked, I had only a few hundred.
"Your mother." Was all Jacob said. And then I understood. The money she'd had on her at the time, mixed with the money in her checking, savings, and retirement accounts. My mouth flew open, but I dare not dwell on the fact.
So, now I could buy school things. Clothes, supplies, anything and everything I needed for a new year here. And after that, I'd never touch it again. Jacob seemed to sense my discomfort. He rested his forehead against mine, blinking sleepily. "C'mon, baby," he muttered, scooping me up around the waist and throwing me over his shoulder. I let out a squeal of protest as the breath was knocked out of me, and I beat my fists against his broad back. "Bedtime!" Jacob countered me, and I could almost hear the smile in his voice. He sauntered into the kitchen, with my now limp form still hanging over his shoulder. Emily and Sam stared at us curiously. "'Night guys." I managed to huff, throwing a little wave in at the end.
Jacob took the stairs two at a time, and was soon at my bedroom door. He flicked the handle with one finger and it swung open eagerly, and clicked behind us as he stepped over the threshold. Then he flung me down gently on the bed, and turned his back again, huge hand over his eyes. "Go for it," he suggested, a grin turning up the corners of his perfect lips.
I rolled my eyes, but obeyed him, scouring my rumpled sheets for the pajamas I'd worn the previous night. They were nowhere to be found, and suddenly I realized that Emily must have done the wash while Jacob and I were with Billy. Panic flooded through me for the second time tonight. The only other pair of pajamas I'd brought were completely and utterly embarrassing.
I wrestled with myself for a moment, before Jacob let out an impatient cough near the door. I gave a resigned sigh and paced glumly toward the bottom drawer of my dresser. These pajamas looked more like a couple of spare pieces of fabric than actual clothing.
The top was a tank. Normal enough, white with horizontal purple stripes across it, and sloping dangerously around the front. I quickly pulled off my t-shirt and shoved it over my head, growling to myself about throwing them away the first chance I got.
The bottoms were the only really embarrassing part. The shorts hiked up my thighs, with identical purple stripes. I kicked off my shoes loudly and stripped my jeans off, pulling them down and throwing them at Jacob in one swift movement. The shorts were in place, and he removed his hand.
"Hey, what-" he broke off suddenly, his eyes wider than I'd ever seen them. My concern was genuine. I whipped around to glance out the window anxiously, almost expecting some sort of danger. I saw nothing but a thin sheen of rain hitting angrily against the glass. My eyes flew back to him, and landed right in the center of his chest.
Jacob was standing in front of me, staring down at me with an unreadable expression on his face. His hands were creeping up my arms slowly, hesitantly.
"Jake…?" I asked, equally as hesitant. His eyes were smoldering, burning with a new intensity that I've never seen.
"God, I love you," he muttered, crushing his lips to mine. Heat flooded from his lips to mine as I pressed them closer to his. It claimed my nose, my cheeks, my whole face, and progressed steadily down my neck until I was boiling. Jacob wrapped his arms around my back and lifted my bare feet from the floor. Automatically, I hitched my legs around his waist, and pressed myself against him. He gently forced my lips open and his tongue explored my mouth eagerly, his lips moving down my face. My jaw, beneath my chin, down my neck, my chest and lower….
I pressed my hands against his shoulders and shoved, pulling away from him. It took a great amount of effort to stop the kiss, when I wanted nothing more than for it to progress rapidly, but I knew we couldn't do this. Not now.
His grunt of protest nearly brought me back to kissing him again, and his lips moved against my collar bone as he spoke.
"Why?" he asked, his voice taking on the familiar, gruff tone I loved. I slid myself out of his slackening grip and landed roughly on the bed.
"Not now, Jake," I mumbled in response, and he nodded, understanding. I took one of his hands in both of mine, and attempted to pull him down on the bed next to me. It worked, and he slumped down on the side away from the wall, allowing me to curl up in the curve of his chest and stomach. My room was always cold, and I was insanely glad that Jacob was always so warm.
My eyes closed and I let my mind drift, locked in his embrace.
"You know, baby, I really do like those pj's." Were the last words I heard.