A Wolf's Caress Chapter 14
Sam led them deep into the woods where a small creek flowed between the shades of the large oak trees.
Paul handed out the fishing poles while Sam showed Avadore how to use a net.
Embry and Paul went further down the creek to fish, leaving Sam and his two imprints alone for the first time in days.
Emily sat down on the banks of the creek with Sam as Avadore waded out into the shallow waters.
"How are you, Em?" He asked as he set down his fishing pole and brushed his fingers through her long hair.
Emily leaned into his touch as she dunked the bait at the end of her pole into the water.
"I'm tired. With everything that's happened in these past few days I feel like I could nap for a week." She said as a yawn escaped her lips.
Sam's ears perked up as he turned to her with a goofy smile.
"Then why don't you?" He asked as she laughed and shook her head.
"As much as I'd love to, we've still gotta keep up our schoolwork so we all can graduate on time." She said as Sam surprise her by scoffing.
Looking more than a little bit confused, she tilted her head to the side as he refused to meet her brown eyes.
"It doesn't matter if we graduate. We've got a pack to run now. Plus we have to plan a wedding soon." He said as he turned his eyes to the trees all around them.
Something in the air didn't smell right. He couldn't recognize what it was, but it was nearby making him on edge and tense.
"What do you mean it doesn't matter? Of course it matters if we graduate. Just because we're imprints and we have wolves to take care of doesn't mean that we can't have a normal life too." Emily said as Sam turned to her with a look of disbelief.
"A normal life? Do you hear yourself right now? That's not gonna happen, sweetheart. The days of us being normal has come and gone." He said as Emily shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest while fiddling with one of her shoelaces on her sneakers.
"I don't think that's true. I think we can still try and have a normal life." She said as her voice broke a little.
Sam raised an eyebrow at her as he watched her disappear into herself.
"Em, we're wolves. You and Avadore are most likely going to phase soon. And the rest of the pack will be phasing as soon as another vampire steps foot on our territory. We have a lot more to worry about then just school." He said as he tried to pull her close but she moved further away from him.
"Well I want to graduate. I want to still have my plans for the future that don't include us getting married right away and me having a bunch of kids. I'm only seventeen, Sam. Both Avadore and I have plans to go away to college and get degrees before we even think of settling down. I'm not just going to drop that because I'm mated to you." She said in an annoyed tone making Sam growl low.
"Well I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen. Your responsibilities are now tied to this pack. You can't just up and leave us behind. The imprint doesn't work that way. There's no way you can leave now unless I go with you which isn't going to happen. I have to be the Alpha that I was meant to be. There's too much risk right now with these vampires suddenly appearing out of nowhere. There's got to be something that's drawing them here and we can't stop and rest until we find out what it is."
He said seriously as Emily rolled her eyes and got to her feet.
"Too bad. This has been our plan since we were kids. There's no way that I'm going to give up my dreams for you, Sam." She said as her voice raised a few octaves drawing Avadore's attention as she carefully made her way back onto the grassy banks.
"What's going on?" Avadore asked as she watched Emily start to walk off into the woods.
Sam got to his feet instantly and stalked after Emily making her even more annoyed with him.
"Just leave me alone, Sam. I need to get my homework done anyways. I'll see you later." Emily said as Sam grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him.
"No! You can't go back by yourself. You need one of us to go with you. The woods aren't safe anymore. What if you run into a vampire? You're going to die if that happens." He said in a deadly calm tone.
Avadore figured now was the best time to step in so the fight didn't escalate further.
"It's okay Sam. I'll just walk back home with her. She's right. I need to finish a project for English anyways. If we walk together we'll be safe." She said gently as she tried to calm down her angry mate.
"I said no. You two need to stay where I can see you. And like I said, homework doesn't matter anymore. Our pack is what matters and you two are my imprints so you need to set an example for the rest of the pack." He growled as Emily huffed and pushed on his chest trying to get away from him.
Avadore was surprised at Sam's words and wondered what had gotten him so angry.
"What just happened here? Why are you two all angry all of a sudden?" She questioned as she looked between her two mates.
"Sam said that school doesn't matter anymore and that we're never allowed to leave La Push for college. I sure as fucking hell won't agree to that and neither should you." Emily growled as Sam's eyes flashed at her in warning.
Avadore was stunned that Sam would think that he could force them to stay anywhere.
Fixing him with a serious look, she pulled Emily away from him and wrapped an arm around the upset girl.
"You have no right to say that, Sam. You're not in control of our lives. We have a right to go wherever we want to go, imprint or no imprint. If you're thinking that you're going to lay down the law with us, then I think you need to take a step back and remember that not only are we your imprints, but all of us are just seventeen years old. We need to take things one step at a time, not just jump into pack life without any regards as to the lives we lived before. Both Emily's parents and my own always wanted me to go to college outside of La Push. If you have a problem with that then I think we need to discuss the boundaries of our relationship because you forcing us to do anything, is NOT okay."
A flare of anger went through Sam's body as he began to shake heavily.
Paul and Embry had come back to see what the noise was about but when they took one look at Sam, they raced over to him and tried to calm the Alpha wolf down.
"Sam, stop it. That's Avadore and Emily. You love them more than anything. If you phase and hurt them then you are going to regret it." Paul said as he placed a hand on Sam's shoulder.
Embry went to stand in front of the girls as he fixed his Alpha with a challenging look.
"You are NOT going to hurt them. I won't let you. Girls, you need to go back home and take the car and go out for the rest of the afternoon. If he's like this now, it may get worse and you don't want to be here for that." He said as he kept his eyes firmly on the shaking Alpha.
Paul grabbed onto Sam as his shaking got worse and he fixed a glare on his two imprints. "Go, go now!" Paul shouted as both he and Embry phased right as Sam lunged at them.
Emily let out a shriek and grabbed Avadore's hand before taking off towards the house.
"What the fuck just happened?" Avadore yelled as they stumbled over fallen tree logs and slippery leaves.
"I don't fucking know. One minute he was fine, the next minute he freaked out." Emily shouted back as they broke through the trees and into their back yard.
There was no more smoke billowing out of the house giving them the all clear to step inside and assess the damage.
"Leave it. We need to go now." Emily said as Avadore peeked into the kitchen to see a burnt pot on the stove.
She nodded and grabbed her car keys as she and Emily quickly locked the front door and raced into her car.
Avadore quickly sped out of their driveway and headed down the road where she turned off into Forks.
Both girls were breathing heavily but stayed silent not knowing what to make of their mate's sudden change in behavior.
Deciding that Paul and Embry would take care of it, they shook themselves off and headed over to the diner to kick off the rest of their night.
Little did they know, that soon their worlds would be turned upside down.