Year Four, Chapter Twenty-Six
Embry's Court Date
Jacob's Point of View
This was not the third birthday Nessie deserved. She and I had been stuck sleeping on a plane all last night, before we picked up the rental car to drive the rest of the way to the Oregon courthouse for Embry's indecent exposure court hearing. It was not what I had envisioned, and I was pretty sure it was not what she wanted for her birthday. This time there was nothing I could do though. We planned on celebrating with her family when we returned to New Hampshire. It was the best I could do. For now I had to be there for Embry. This court, trial, hearing, thing was expected to consume us for almost three days, what with the time it took flying across the country, then the hearing would take most of the day, as best as Alice could tell, and finally flying home. And Nessie refused to be away from me for that long.
Nessie's family had offered to get Embry some high priced lawyer but the reservation was technically its own sovereign nation, with its own laws, courts, judges and lawyers. It was customary to handle tribal matters and incidents regarding members internally. A bunch of the tribes lawyers, along with the council of elders, Sam, Leah and myself would be going down to petition the Oregon court that we should handle Embry's case back at La Push, or at the very least, that he serve out his sentence, whatever that may be, on the reservation.
"Happy Birthday Nessie." I said as we pulled up to the courthouse in the rental car.
"Jacob, you already wished me a happy birthday. Remember?"
"I know, I just thought I should say it again. And I am sorry. I promise I will make it up to you."
"Jacob, you have nothing to be sorry for. It isn't your fault we're here and this is much more important than a party. We can celebrate some other time."
We had been in the car for just over an hour. It had actually been a pleasant drive, despite the reason for the trip.
"So, do you know if Embry is bringing Colleen with him?" Nessie asked me. Her plan of getting the imprints to speak to Colleen and get her to at least talk to Embry had worked, sort of.
"No, she is staying on the Makah Res with her boyfriend." Colleen had agreed to come back to La Push after the breakfast she had with Nessie and the rest of the imprints and she met Sam, Paul, Jared, Quil and myself. After hanging out with all of the imprinted couples for the rest of the morning, we had asked her if she was ready to meet Embry again. She had been told about the imprinting during breakfast and had relaxed considerably. It still was a long road to get to where they were today however. But even just them being friends was so much better than nothing for Embry. "She probably would have come if Embry had asked her though, but he didn't want her to see him like that."
"That makes sense. They were having a hard enough time as it was, they don't need more things to complicate their relationship."
"What relationship?" I huffed. I know I always told Nessie that each imprint had a choice, that friendship would be enough if the imprint wanted it that way, but it had never happened before and I still held out hope for Embry and Colleen.
"Okay, so they only have a platonic relationship, right now. But you always told me that that would be enough, for you at least," Nessie said mirroring my own thoughts, "if that was what I wanted. Were you lying?"
"Renesmee, I have never lied to you. You know I love you, and when you are older I will still want to love you as much as you will let me. But if you only want to be friends, then that will have to be enough for me, because I can't lose you."
"Alright, so why then, do you seem upset when Embry and Colleen are trying so hard to make their friendship work? Embry spent over a year in agony, now for the past three months he finally seemed happy. He may not be dating her, but they are together. And who knows what will happen in the future."
"I'm not upset, exactly. I just want what is best for him. For him to be as happy as possible. I see how happy Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim and Paul and Rachel are."
"But aren't we happy? And Quil and Claire? Don't you think they are happy?"
"Of course Quil and Claire are happy. And you are, right?"
"You know you make me perfectly happy, Jacob." After a minute of neither of us talking she changed the subject back a bit. "So, how is it working out between Embry, Colleen and her boyfriend?"
"I think it is going fairly well, mostly. Embry didn't like the idea of her dating to begin with, but he could hardly stop her. It is her choice and he wants her to be happy. But he did insist that he check out the guy first, though. They planned some casually meeting, over lunch one afternoon, so he could inspect the guy, without it being too obvious."
"What does this guy think of Embry? I would assume he might be jealous of some man hanging out with his girlfriend more than he does."
"Actually, from what I have seen in Embry's mind, the last time we were both phased before I left, it seems that he is under the impression that Embry is gay. Embry doesn't seem to mind and is actually encouraging that thinking. Embry thinks that if the guy sees him as a threat it might lead to either Colleen breaking up with the guy, or him breaking up with her, or if she really likes the guy, her telling Embry to take a hike. None of which would particularly make either of them happy."
"Well, I don't want Colleen to reject Embry again, but I don't think he should be lying to the guy. It will most likely end badly for everyone, that way. Is Colleen aware of what is going on?"
"I doubt it. And I already told Embry that he needs to come clean. He is technically not lying, he never told her boyfriend he was gay, he just never corrected him. He could not lie to Colleen, because of the imprint, even if he tried, but if this guy can't handle her being friends with Embry then maybe he is not the right guy for her."
We had just pulled up to the courthouse so we would have to pause this conversation for now.
"Where are we meeting everyone?"
"Just outside of Courtroom B, I think. The trial isn't suppose to start for another hour and the lawyers want to go over everything with the elders, Embry, Sam and myself one more time.
"Um, Jacob? I understand the lawyers wanting the elders here but, why you, Leah and Sam? I mean, I know it's because you and Sam are the Packs two Alphas, but what are you planning on telling the judge? And why Leah?" Nessie looked confused. Something that I rarely ever saw.
"The Quileute lawyers don't know that we're wolves either," I chuckled, "they are just showing some representatives of the tribe who will take responsibility of Embry if they release him into our custody. And you know how Leah is my second, it's only right she be here, since she has basically been running my Pack while I've been gone. Actually my entire Pack should be here. It's the last time we might see them and they insisted on coming to say goodbye one last time." It was saddening to think about. But I would have to deal with that later. I needed to be here for Embry now.
"The lawyers better be successful." I continued. "I don't like the thought of Embry being stuck in a jail cell. Just him being locked up for the 6, or so hours he was before we bailed him out was worrisome. He probably would not do well confined and away from Colleen for longer. I don't know how long he would be able to last before he lost it and phased."
"Don't think like that. He will be going home by the end of the day. I know it. We need to think positively. And if the worst case scenario happens, then Embry has a wonderful person waiting for him when he gets out, and maybe she could visit him. At the very least, going back to her gives him a reason to remain calm. It's not like when he first got arrested. They are together now, even if it is just as friends."
"I hope you are right, Nessie. I don't know what I would do if I was in his shoes, just the thought of being away from you sends shivers down my spine." I shrugged, actually feeling cold for a second. "Come on. Let's go find everyone."
….
Contrary to what we were hoping for the Oregon court actually tried his case there. But the outcome of the hearing was the best we could have wished for. It was Embry first offence so he was only sentenced to 200 hours of community service, with no jail time. After some back and forth between our lawyers, where they re-stressed how this was an internal tribal matter, and the judge who pointed out how the "incident" took place in Oregon not the reservation, the judge finally agreed to let him carry out his sentence on the Reservation. There would be a lot of paperwork that would need to be filled out to document that he was actually fulfilling his 200 hours, but we could handle that.
Embry was so thankful. Just like us, he was really worried about going to prison, even if it was only a very slight possibility. Our lawyers had already explained to him that that was extremely unlikely, but Embry was still nervous, not about jail, he just did not want to be forced away from his imprint for any amount of time.
Once we left the courtroom we all met back up in some empty room lawyers used to prep clients and witnesses before trials. My father talked briefly with the tribal lawyers and assured them we would take care of everything. They asked to have us give them all of the completed paperwork to look over before submitting it. It was important everything be handled correctly. If something like this were to ever happen again, we needed to make sure we established a positive record that we could take care of things on our own land. So that next time, if there ever was one, I hoped not, but perhaps a judge would just let us take care of the entire matter ourselves.
"Okay so now that the suits are gone, what do we do now? I'm not going to have to pick up trash on the highway or something am I?"
"Embry, those suits, as you call them, just saved your butt. You should be more respectful." Was he kidding me.
"Yeah, sure. But seriously though, what am I going to have to do? 200 hours is a long time to be away from Colleen."
"I think we can all agree that you and the rest of the wolves," Billy began, "have all done more than your fair share of community service over the years, patrolling and keeping us all safe."
Leah huffed at my dad. "Yeah but he never would have gotten us in this mess if he had just come clean about his imprint in the first place."
"Sheesh Leah, I think the pain being without her all those months, was punishment enough." How could she be so uncaring?
"Yes, and look where it got us. Once you found out, Nessie was able to come up with a plan to fix his mess immediately. This fool would have never gotten Colleen if left up to himself, and would probably still have ended up in court, just with a restraining order instead."
"I know you are not a fan of imprinting because of me," Sam tried reasoning with her, "but don't punish Embry for it. You know we have no control over the imprinting drive. We are compelled to be with them, forsaking everything else that matters to us. But he did the best he could . . . we all do."
"Embry was reckless and endangered the tribe. This had nothing to do with my feelings on imprinting, or you. And don't flatter yourself Sam, it's been almost 5 years, I got over you a long time ago. If you think I am still hung up on you then you are even more delusional than I thought. This only has to do with Embry's actions. He stalked that poor girl for over a year; who knows what else could have happened. The indecent exposure charge was probably the best case scenario. Maybe it is because of the imprint that you guys just can't see it, but Embry lied to all of us, he kept secrets from his Pack. He put us all in danger.
"I agree." Nessie spoke up. She had been sitting in the corner keeping out of the discussion until now.
Sam looked over at her, for the first time that day and did a double take. I couldn't blame him, the last time he saw her she appeared to be about three years old and now, two years later, looked closer to 15.
"I'm sorry Renesmee I know you're here . . . with Jacob, but this is an internal matter.
"No, I don't think so. And I happen to agree with you and my Aunt Leah."
I think hearing Nessie call Leah her "Aunt", which she technically was now that Sue married Charlie, made Sam rethink her place here. She was more than just my imprint, she was family. But I also didn't miss what Sam was implying regarding Nessie and me. What was he thinking? A slight growl escaped my throat and I made sure to give Sam a warning glare and slightly shook my head at him. She was still way to young after all for that, no matter how old she appeared.
"Imprinting does not excuse bad behavior. Even though Embry's intentions were honorable." Nessie continued, ignoring my growl. "What if something like this happens again, or worse, and leads to more wolves going off on their own. The thing that makes wolves strong is how you work together, is that not why you have your wolf telepathy in the first place, so you are not running around doing your own thing, chasing your tails? You need to always communicate with each other. When the communication breaks down . . . disaster happens."
It was ironic everything Nessie was saying. I wondered if she realized how what she said applied to me? Of course she did, she thought of everything. In a few hours after this was all over I would be leaving again, with Nessie, away from the rest of the wolves. Alone, on my own. No more wolf telepathy. No more Pack, no more family, no more anything.
"But I also agree that he has been punished enough." She continued, looking at Leah now. "Further reprimands or disciplinary actions will do nothing to fix anything and may make others even more reluctant to come forward if they have a problem in the future."
"Alright fine. Sam, I will handle Embry, he's my responsibility since Jake is leaving again, and he left me in charge of his Pack. I will take care of things, but I see that you and my Niece have a point." Leah glared at Sam.
"Good, just go easy on him. And you know you can come to me if you need anything." Huh? I wonder if those two will someday become friends, at least. They loved each other once. And it would be nice if they could at least start to be civil to each other. Maybe that offer was the first step. Sam made his way towards Nessie, giving her a small hug. "It was nice seeing you again Renesmee. I need to be getting back." Then walked over the me and shook my hand. Jake I guess this is goodbye. Take care of yourself. I'll see the rest of you back on the res."
"Yeah, bye man." I called, but he was already out the door.
"Alright, so now that all the serious business is taken care of I think we have a birthday girl that needs some celebrating." Quil smiled at Nessie.
"Really, what did you have in mind?" She looked so happy now. I loved her smile.
"Nothing big, Nessie, I just thought we could go to a local restaurant for dinner. I hope that is okay?" I couldn't not celebrate her birthday at all.
"That is perfect Jacob. I was hoping you would get to spend some more time seeing Billy and your Pack." Leave to Nessie to be so selfless to put me before her own birthday.