Chapter 20
"Why the hell do you insist on arguing with me every step of the way you stubborn ass?"
Cocking his head to the side Embry couldn't help but shoot a small smile at Leah, fighting the urge to let that smile grow when she huffed and punched the pillow behind his head. "I'm not arguing with you Leah, I just can't stay in that damn bed anymore, I think I'm getting bed sores on my ass."
Leah rolled her eyes as she huffed into the kitchen, there were no sores on his ass. She of course knew this because she had seen his ass just yesterday. The water running into the sink brought her back the shower she had given him yesterday morning. Embry's body was healing exceptionally well, his bones slowly knitting back together. On the outside he looked perfectly fine, he still walked with a limp and every now and then he would suck in a deep breath if he stretched too much, but over all he was doing well. That was his argument yesterday when he asked to have a shower instead of his usual sponge bath. Leah more than aggravated at the fact that she was still waiting on him hand and foot shuffled him slowly into the bathroom and left him to fend for himself. The water hadn't been on for more than two minutes when she'd heard him suck in a sharp breath and curse. Faster than she realized she was rushing into the bathroom and ripping the curtain open. In the weeks since Embry's injury his body had gotten leaner but more toned if that was at all possible. Instead of looking sickly it seemed to make the muscles that he did have pop out more. Leah didn't realize she was holding the shower curtain open as her eyes raked down his naked back to his ass and then slowly up again. When Embry turned his eyes were on fire, his erection pointing at her begging for her attention, and in a moment of weakness she'd given it to him.
Warm hands wrapped around hers as an even warmer body pressed fully against her back. "I can't stop thinking about it either Lee."
A growl tumbled out of Leah's mouth as she sunk against him, "I'm not."
"I can smell you, I know you are."
Embry's name slipped from her lips as her hand moved from under his to grip the sink, "just forgive me Lee, stop fighting it."
Leah squeezed her eyes shut, as her fingernails dug into the counter. After spending all of her time with Embry she'd come to the conclusion that she would eventually quit fighting it. But she was scared, not really sure if she was ready to just fully hand her heart over again.
When Embry's lips pressed against her neck she moaned out and her hand dropped from the counter only to latch onto his thigh. "You know I'll never hurt you like he did. You know I can't, I'm yours."
"He was mine too."
Growling Embry gripped her shoulders and spun her around, his nose touching. "He wasn't yours, he was hers, he's always been hers and I've always been yours. You are always going to be mine. Nothing will ever break that Lee." Squeezing her eyes together Leah fought the tears, she told herself a long time ago she'd never cry over a man, ever again.
As Embry's hand cupped her face and his breath whispered the word please across her lips a sob broke free and she flung herself at him as gently as she could.
"Just tell me what you're worried about Lee, I'll tell you everything again, I'll have Old Quill come and tell you too. I want you to believe everything, know that I'll never leave you, that I will never break you like he did. I'm not capable of it."
Leah opened her eyes and took in the sorrow that filled Embry's gaze, she hated that his normally sparkling eyes were filled with so much pain and sadness.
"You might not ever be able to hurt me Embry, but it's not real. It's hard to want to stop fighting this when I know I'm a burden you've been dealt."
When his eyes flared Leah tried to step back but the sink was right behind her. Embry's chest was heaving, his fingers digging into her arms, not hurting but holding her still. She could feel the heat from his breath; feel as his body warmed in anger.
"I fucking love you don't you get it?" Embry snarled his body bending over hers, "I've loved you since the second I laid eyes on you. I hated any guy that came close to you, and more than once I plotted ways to hurt Sam because he had you and I couldn't."
Leah opened her mouth to speak but Embry snarled shutting her up.
"I loved you before Sam, I loved you during Sam and I loved you even more after him. Knowing that he'd had you, knowing what should have been mine all along you gave to him. I should have been your first kiss, I should have been your first everything Leah, but I wasn't and I don't care because I know that I've loved you better than any man ever could. Better than any man ever fucking will and you need to realize that. Realize that nothing is ever going to fucking take me away from you. You're never going to hurt when you're with me baby, you're never going to have to worry about anything if you'll let yourself feel the love I have for you."
"I want to Embry I just-"
"Then do it damn it Leah, please."
Looking into Embry's eyes, she saw the truth there. She felt the weight of his words and the desperation of his request. She wondered for a moment if his words were true, if it were really possible to not feel sad anymore, to not want to rip Emily's face off and shove it up Sam's ass every time she saw the two of them together. When he whispered the words again while rubbing his thumb across her now trembling lip Leah made the only decision she was capable of, "yes."
~U~
Paul heard Embry's whoop of joy over the rumble of his truck from a half a mile away. Smiling he grabbed Angela's hand and pulled her across the bench seat as he cranked a u-turn in the middle of the road.
"Paul what are you doing, I thought we were going to visit Embry."
Still smiling Paul kissed the top of her head and turned the truck down an unmarked road, "change of plans Angel, we'll visit later."
~U~
Paul was lying on his back eyes closed counting the clicks of her camera. Happy that something good was going down between Embry and Leah he didn't want to intrude on that moment. Unwilling to take her home he'd taken Angela to yet another one of his favorite spots. In the middle of the woods in a clearing no bigger than the crappy shed that sat in Sam's backyard was a spring. The spring fed into a tiny pool barely large enough to fit himself in and no deeper than four feet. You could see to the very bottom of it, and the sound of the water feeding to it often calmed him.
"I could take pictures here all day long, I'm glad you insisted that I bring my camera."
Paul smiled as a few more clicks sounded to his let and rolled shocked that she was sitting cross legged her camera pointed right at him. Frowning for a moment Paul reached for the camera not really wanted to take it just wondering if she was ready to let him see. When she jerked back and a smile split her face he smiled too, some day.
"I thought you'd be taking pictures of the brook or the sky or one of the hundreds of other amazing thing's I'm letting you experience out here."
Angela snapped another picture off at him, her eye not even on the view finder, "I don't get to take pictures of this amazing scenery enough."
Snorting Paul rolled onto his back while patting his chest, "comer over here."
It wasn't long before Angela's side was pressed up against his own, her camera resting on her stomach.
Paul smiled feeling her eyes on his face, "stop looking at me, look up."
Huffing out a breath he could practically see her rolling her eyes. "Now take the camera and snap one shot, just one."
Looking out of the corner of his eye Paul could see her nose scrunch up a question on the tip of her tongue, but she did as he asked. Then brought the camera to her chest and looked at him.
"May I" Paul asked while running his finger down the leather strap he'd made for her, and I'm sorry I didn't get to take you to prom present.
Smiling Angela bit her lip and slowly cradling the camera like a baby handed it over. The action filled Paul's heart with so much warmth he thought he'd melt into the damp ground under him.
She was still looking at him when he placed the camera up and looked through the view finder; she was fuzzy so he scooted back until the picture he wanted came into perfect clarity. He didn't hesitate and snapped the picture. Angela snorted again and reached for the camera, "cute."
Paul gave it willingly and agreed "damn right."
~U~
After hanging out in the clearing for another hour Paul figured they'd given Embry and Leah enough time so they'd packed up what little they'd brought and headed back to the truck.
Pulling into the Clearwater's Paul was surprised to see Bella and Leah sitting on the porch talking. He was even more surprised when Kim came out of the house carrying a pitcher of what looked to be lemonade.
"It looks like we weren't the only one with this plan today."
"Looks like it," Paul muttered when he saw the gleam in Kim's eye. Unfortunately for Angela he was pretty sure she was about to be subjected to Kim bombarding her with a ton of sex related questions. Not that he cared if Angela talked about the shit they'd been doing, he just didn't want her to be forced into it.
Jumping out ahead of Angela when Kim sprinted down the steps he stopped her with a hand in the air, "don't push her."
Kim narrowed her eyes but snapped to attention and gave him a snotty salute before darting around him and squealing to Angela that she just had to hear all about Prom.
Making his way up the stairs Bella's face went flame red before she looked away and surprisingly Leah didn't cuss at him, instead she smiled and told him with a waggle of her eyes that the boys were out back. Given the smell of sex that seeped out of the house he didn't question it, he just went.
~U~
Out back was more like a mile and a half into the woods. When Paul made it into a pine grove and saw Embry, Jake and Jared standing around naked he phased back.
"What's up with the sausage fest girls?"
Embry shot him a warning look before Jared came to stand a few feet away, "he's having some trouble phasing."
Paul watched as Embry's whole body shook his skin blurring before their eyes. He could see his muscles straining to take on the lean form of a wolf but then everything snapped and Embry was on his knees dry heaving, his body covered in a sheen of sweat.
"I told you man it's too soon." Jake growled while bending down close to Embry.
"Damn it Jake it's not, this wolf is driving me fucking crazy, he wants out. I just can't- fuck." Embry punched the ground beside him and his body began to blur again.
Paul and Jared watched intently the scene making them both uncomfortable. The feeling settled slightly when Jared's shoulder pressed into Paul's. "Maybe the rest of the pack needs to be here, where's Sam, Seth and Quil?"
Jake looked up at him while pressing his hand between Embry's shoulder blades urging him to stop, "they're on their way."
~U~
"So I've already grilled Bella and all she gave me was that her V-card is still in tact, what about you?"
Angela's eyes shot into her hairline and Leah muttered a few cuss words under her breath as she shot Kim a dirty look.
"What, a girl's gotta talk about these things; I mean we are talking about Paul here. Was it dirty? Did he do some kind of kinky freaky shit with you?"
Angela still couldn't work out an answer as she looked at Kim; the girl was practically salivating at the mouth. Was she really that interested in her sex life or lack there of.
"I'll tell you about the kinky dirty sex Embry and I barely finished having before you showed up if you'll stop bugging these two for five seconds."
Kim's eyes narrowed before she swiveled around in her seat and clapped her hands, "tell me, tell me. I didn't think Embry would be a freak in the sheets."
Leaning back in her chair Angela looked at Bella with wide eyes, and nudged her head toward the house.
"You wouldn't believe how kinky Embry is if I sat here and told you until I was blue in the face Kim."
When Kim squealed in delight; Angela shot from her chair and ran into the house Bella hot on her heels.
Stopping just within the doorway of the kitchen Angela jerked around and caught Bella by the shoulders before she was able to plow her down.
"Did she really question you about last night?"
When Bella's face flamed even brighter and her lip went into her mouth Angela knew the answer to that question.
Taking her by the arm Angela pulled Bella into the kitchen and sat her in a chair. "So you didn't," Angela questioned in a whisper.
Bella's hands went over her face and she slumped against the table, "no we didn't." Her whisper was barely heard but Angela caught it.
Patting Bella's arm Angela lowered and took a deep breath, "we didn't either."
Bella's head snapping up caught Angela off guard and she had to jerk back before getting head butted.
"You didn't?"
Angela smiled and shook her head, slightly embarrassed but proud of herself all the same. "It was so hard Bella, but he said he didn't want me to be one of those girls to do it on Prom Night."
"He said that?"
Angela smiled again knowing those weren't his exact words, "yes but we did-"
Bella's eyebrows rose and her face slowly started to flush once more, "what did you do?"
Looking around the room Angela wondered just how much she should tell her friend, on one hand she wanted to talk about every single little detail of their night and following morning together. She wanted her friends opinion on what had happened; on the other hand she wanted their private moments kept private. Settling on telling something for now Angela lowered her voice even lower and leaned in close, "Bella he gave me a shower."
As a smile spread across Bella's face Angela smiled too, "it was the best shower I've ever had."
"So you're telling me that your hands were planted on the table and you're feet on the counter, and you were just kind of rocking there in mid-air?"
When Kim's voice cut through the silence Bella and Angela jerked back and shot a disgusted look at the table before Kim and Leah rounded the corner into the kitchen.
"Do you want me to show what I'm talking about," Leah asked in a sarcastic voice while rolling her eyes.
The gleam in Kim's eyes had them all groaning.
~U~
Watching Embry try and force the phase was one of the hardest things Paul had ever done. Paul had hated being a wolf at first, hated that very first time and the few times after it that he accidentally phased. After he'd gotten it under control though it wasn't so bad, and deep down despite all the shit he'd lost because of phasing he didn't think he'd ever take it back, didn't think he'd ever want to stop. Embry fought phasing as much as he could, he'd hated that he'd lost his two best friends because of it. At the time none of them were quite so aware that he'd hated Sam because of the whole Leah a thing, kids mind was a steel trap sometimes, but he'd fought long and hard before he finally just gave up. Even still though Embry didn't accept it nearly as much as the rest of them, so to see him actually try to phase and fail, well that was something else. Paul could hear Sam, Quil and Seth quietly making their way through the woods and a small wave of relief washed over him, maybe just maybe having the whole pack there would help.
What Paul didn't expect was the snarl that ripped out of Sam's mouth and the sudden thunder of paws quickly coming up behind him. When Sam broke through the clearing foam dripping from his muzzle Paul phased and slammed into him. The action sent Paul careening into a nearby tree and finally he could hear it, the shouting coming from Sam, the pictures of him touching Leah in a way that no one else, beside Embry had ever done. Rage and hurt was his main focus and thank fuck for the rest of the wolves because they'd made a half circle around Embry who had a look of murder in his own eyes. One more snap and lunge from Sam was one too many and Embry phased a howl of pain pierced the air before his wolf form collapsed behind the wall of brothers.
Calm the fuck down Sam, she's not yours anymore, think about Emily.
The thoughts of Leah's naked body were quickly replaced by Emily's scarred skin and Sam's hurt and anger over the accident washed over the pack. The picture snapped back to Leah she was sitting on a porch crying her eyes out as Sam watched from the woods.
When Embry's howls of pain stopped and a snarl erupted from his muzzle Sam's wolf stood tall locking every muscle and waited.
Don't you think about her, Embry snarled through the mind link.
At that Leah's smile filled their heads as Sam swung her around in a circle at the beach.
I said don't think about her, she's mine.
As Sam lifted a paw to take a step forward a twig snapped behind them and Leah's panicked face popped out from behind a tree. Her gaze worked over all of them quickly halting for only a second on Sam before snapping to Embry's wolf form lying still in the dirt. Her hand went to her mouth and she made a move toward Embry. Before any of them could say anything Sam was naked in front of her holding her back, "don't go near him Lee Lee he's dangerous."
~U~
Leah didn't realize what she was doing until her hand was already in motion, when her fist connected with the side of Sam's face she howled in pain. The pain was only temporary because in the next second warmth wrapped around her wrist and then her body was on fire. Embry's smooth voice rumbled in her ear as he swooped her up into his arms and the wind began to whip her hair around them both.
~U~
"What in the holy fuck man?" Quil snarled as he charged at Sam. "You were really gonna attack him?"
"He could have-"
"You know he wouldn't have hurt her, especially since she's accepted the imprint." Sam snarled and took a step forward but stopped when Quil took a step forward of his own, "she hadn't accepted it yet Sam; it never would have happed if she had and you know it."
~U~
Paul's body jerked at the statement and he wanted nothing more than to ask Quil what the fuck he was talking about when Sam's chin dipped to his chest and a sob worked his way out of his mouth. The pack watched in stunned silence as Quil's arms went around Sam and he drew him in tight to his chest. Their Alpha was falling apart, his body shaking as he muttered the words he was sorry and that he didn't mean to do it. When Quil muttered that he knew Sam cried that it wasn't her fault, that he was to blame. Still uncontrollable in his arms Quil looked at the pack and jerked his head toward Sam. Without hesitation Paul and the rest of the pack moved forward to embrace their brother.
~U~
When Sam's sobs finally slowed and he gave a quick jerk of his head the pack slowly one by one with the exception of Quil had backed away giving him room. The questions hung in the air but Quil shook his head in a silent NO and led Sam into the woods. No one spoke as they redressed and slowly made their way back toward the house.
~U~
"I hope Leah is ok," Angela stated with worry etched across her face as Paul drove her home. "You should have seen her Paul, she just jumped up and grabbed her chest and started running telling Kim that something was wrong with Embry.
Looking across the cab of his truck Paul wanted to tell Angela that Leah and Embry both were ok, but he knew that it'd open up a million questions that he wasn't ready to answer and apparently couldn't, instead he reached across the seat unlocked her seatbelt and pulled her against his side. When she smiled and snuggled against him he wondered if holding off on sealing the bond with her was really the best thing. But the fear of losing her, of being left alone was something that Paul was too afraid to risk. When her hand slipped around his stomach and she rested her head on his chest he convinced himself that while his heart was weak he wasn't and he didn't need a fully sealed bond to protect Angela from his wolf.