Olivia's POV:
Sam's always been the shy, quiet one between the two of us but today it's feeling quite the opposite. My heart has been hammering in my chest all morning at the thought of meeting the pack and all of Sam's friends. I don't know what constitutes the nerves, but I think it's a bit of a mixture of everything. I'm nervous they'll all think I'm annoying or boring. I'm worried that I won't make a good impression and then be stuck with these people for who knows how long. Then I'm worried just because I'm worried. I try to remind myself several times that it's all in my head and it'll all be fine, but it's hard to do.
I've been pretty used to being around the same people most of my life. Portland is a decent sized city but I knew most of the people in my grade and I had a consistent group of friends since childhood. I have a horrible fear of being seen as average, boring, or annoying. I'm not quite sure what brings it all on, but I just feel like I can be all those things at times. I pictured this moment a lot, meeting a new group of people and impressing them with how cool and different I am. How corny.
I did spend some extra time getting myself together for the day, although now we're getting into some warmer temperatures. It's sunny today which is abnormal even in the summer and it's warm enough for shorts, which sort of ruined my whole outfit plan I cooked up in my head. I still managed to make it work, but it was stressful for a minute there.
Emily's been cooking all morning for this cookout and Sam's been cleaning up around the house, finishing up some quick house projects. I offered to help but I was swatted away multiple times until I gave up and decided to get ready. Lucky I did because I can already hear a crowd of people forming downstairs and I'm just now finishing up. The people sure don't arrive fashionably late.
With a few deep breaths and whispered words of encouragement I leave my room and head down the creaky, narrow steps. One the last step I pause and look out at the crowd of people. It's a whole lot of men, that's for sure. I actually don't spot a single girl from here, Emily's probably still setting things up in the kitchen. My eyes do a better scan and I spot a few familiar faces from Emily's instagram breakdown yesterday. I'm not the best with names but I can notice the faces.
I'm surprised to see all these guys fully dressed, Emily said they usually show up in jean shorts and nothing else. She said she's even seen a few packages on accident when the guys bust through their shorts while phasing. Needless to say she sees a whole lot through that glass sliding door in the kitchen. I'm sure Sam is somewhat regretful for installing it. Emily's too shy and modest around the boys to say anything though, I'm sure she just glances away and suppresses a giggle til they're gone.
"Liv!" I hear my voice in the crowd and I realize I've just been staring out blankly, how stupid of me. A moment later I realize it's my brother waving to me from the far corner of the living room. I drop down the last step and keep my eyes on him as I swim through the crowd. It feels several degrees warmer down here than it was upstairs, likely from all the people. Every time I attempt to serve through the crowd I end up knocking into a rock hard body and muttering another apology, til I finally make it to Sam.
His hand clamps down firmly onto my shoulder, heaving me closer to the circle of people he's talking with. "This is my little sister Liv. Liv this is Billy Black, Jacob Black, and Quil III, we just call him Old Quil." He points to each of the men.
Billy wears his hair down as he hasn't cut it unlike the younger men. He's got a kind smile on his face as he glances up at me from his wheelchair seat. He extends a hand and I shake it. "Nice to meet you, kid."
"Nice to meet you too." I smile before my eyes lift to Old Quil. He's clearly a bit older than Billy and he looks quite wise, serious even. His jaw is clenched and his face is stern as he scans my face before extending a hand. "Nice to meet you." I shake his hand, offering a nervous smile.
A moment later his face breaks out into a smile too and he loosens his grip on my hand, dropping his arm back to his side. "Nice to meet you too Olivia."
"Jacob here is Billy's son and he's my Beta. Someday he'll take over as alpha, when I'm ready to call it quits." Sam motions to Jacob. I can tell he's a born leader, he just stands out in that way. He looks older than the other boys Emily showed me and his facial features looks hard and strong. He stands tall and his shoulders are drawn back, though he seems to be in a relaxed state, smiling at me.
Jacob just rolls his eyes at Sam, "Nice to meet you, Liv. Got any embarrassing stories about my alpha here?" He asks, raising a brow teasingly.
I laugh lightly, shrugging my shoulders. "I got tons." Sam being the alpha of a wolf pack, a guy all these other guys look up to, is pretty funny to me. Sam growing up was such a dork, I couldn't imagine anyone looking to him as their "leader". He never fit in with the popular guys and he never had girlfriends until he was much older. As a kid he had acne, unkept hair, was poorly dressed, and a total geek.
Jacob laughs at that, looking to Sam. "I like her already. We're glad to have you around, we heard a lot about you. Mostly lectures on what not to do around you, which plenty of the guys definitely needed."
Billy lifts an arm to swat at Jacob's stomach. "Don't be telling her things to scare her off. The boys are-"
"A bunch of dogs." Old Quil finishes with a sneaky smile. "Keep your wits about you and stay far away from them, I'm sure your brother already told you. Your brothers the only pure hearted, good boy in the group." Old Quil winks at Sam.
I roll my eyes at my brother, "Did you make him say that?" I laugh a little.
Sam stiffens his shoulders and puffs out his chests. "Old Quil is mighty wise and knows more about this pack than anyone. I would believe him if I were you." Sam points a finger at me that I instantly want to swat away, but I don't.
"Your brother just wants to see you do better than these guys, no one can blame him on that. Have you been my grandson yet?" Old Quil asks, scanning the crowd behind me.
I shake my head, "No not yet." I say innocently. I won't admit to stalking everyone's instagrams, I'll look like a freak.
"Quil!" Old Quil barks out. Instantly there's a new boy at my side. Yup, I remember Quil. His curls bounce a little with his movement and he has a wide smile on his face. I can smell his cologne strongly and stiffen a cough. I'm surprised the super smelling wolves aren't bothered by this. I take a casual step back to give more space in between us.
"You yelled?" Quil teases his grandfather.
Old Quil simply points to me. "This is Sam's little sister Liv. We wanted you to meet her before you did something stupid in front of her." He says blatantly.
Quil just smiles at me, offering me his hand. I'm surprised but I take it, giving him a gentle shake. I go to drop my hand but before I do I feel his thumb rub teasingly up and down my palm before I drop his hand like it's burning hot. I feel my face heat up a tad but I try to act unphased. What a douche move. "Nice to meet you Liv." He leans in a little as he talks, giving me a boyish grin. What a damn flirt.
"Go see if Emily needs help in the kitchen." Sam says, pulling me by my shoulder so I back up from Quil.
I scan over Quil's still smiling face before turning on my heel and make a beeline for the kitchen. I find Emily pulling out a few condiments from the fridge and quickly move into action so I can help out. She's managed to keep everyone out of the kitchen so she can set out all the food in peace. There's crackers, cheese, and jams all spread out nicely on a board resting on the kitchen table. She has cooked hamburgers, hotdogs, and corn on the cob resting out on a plate with steam pulling off them. She has all the side dishes prepared as well with spoons set inside each one ready for serving. It looks great.
"How can I help?" I ask after placing the condiments next to the buns.
"You can go meet people." She says, shooting me a smile. "How's it going? Actually don't answer that they can hear everything." She says after a thought.
I chuckle lightly, leaning on the sink. "It's going fine, Sam said to come help you." I shrug. It looks like all the major leg work has been done already. Emily clearly works well alone, she knows what she's doing. I think this business idea of hers is a good one, I hope Sam sees that too. Maybe this is her way of showing him that.
"I think your brother is just scared one of these boys will flirt with you." She giggles, coming over to the sink to wash her hands. I slide down the counter to give her space. "I bet Jared and Kim will be here soon, you'll like Kim. She's really funny."
I think if I'm gonna be fully happy here in La Push I'll need a girlfriend. Emily's plenty, but she's also not always down for leaving. She's very content spending her time on the couch watching her reality TV or cooking for fun. I love that in moderation, but I want to explore La Push and have some fun.
"Sound good." I sigh contently, pushing off the counter. I go to head back into the living room when I bump right into someone's back. I go fly back two steps, nearly falling straight onto my butt when I'm swooped back up to my feet. Embry. He's got one hand on my lower back and the other gripping onto my wrist, looking down at me with a concerned and concentrated look.
"I'm sorry, are you okay?" He asks, sounding genuinely worried for my well-being. Being thrown to the ground by a rock solid body isn't the worst way to go. His hands feels interestingly hot on my back and his chest, which is several inches from mine, seems to be radiating heat too.
I swallow and collect myself, standing up straight. He lets go quickly, standing upright as well. "I'm all good, sorry I wasn't paying attention." I point at him.
Now that I'm standing right I realize he towers over me by several inches and I'm not a short girl. Jake and Quil towered over me too I just didn't think on it. These guys are really superhuman and unnatural, although they're built like gods. Chiseled and toned in every place. No wonder Emily is so chill and happy.
"I'm Embry, you're Liv right?" A smile spreads across his face.
I nod my head, taking a step back so I don't have to break my neck to look at him. "That's me." I say awkwardly. What else do I say?
"It's nice to meet you finally. Sam talks a lot about you, yanno?" I can only imagine what Sam says. He definitely doesn't at as a wingman, that's for sure. He probably tells them humiliating stories so they keep far away from me.
"I can only imagine what he says." I chuckle, smoothing out my outfit.
Embry nods his head, "I'll admit, it sometimes a little embarrassing." He laughs. "But nothing too bad, we all embarrass ourselves quite a bit. We don't know much about Sam or his family though so we're excited to hear some stories from you. I'm sure you have tons."
"Oh I do, embarrassing ones too." I assure him, dropping my voice a bit in hopes that he won't hear me. His grin widens further and he chuckles at me. He's dressed a little differently from the other boys I notice. They're all in skintight t-shirts and cut offs, but he's wearing full length jeans and a colored shirt, looking pretty nice. I don't smell an abundance of cologne on him either. He looks like a good guy. Calm, orderly, mature. Some of these other guys look like gym rats.
"Food's ready!" Emily shrieks from the kitchen, making me jump in place, my hand slamming against my chest. "Sorry, it's the only way people can seem to hear me." Emily says in a quiet voice from the sink area behind me.
I let out a breath, turning to walk back to her, leaving Embry behind. Quickly the boys all pile in but Sam barks orders at them to let the "ladies and old men" eat first. Soon the boys have created a single file line with Old Quil and Billy in front of them. Still they wait so Emily and I can make our plates first. Embarrassed I grab a plate and quickly make a small portion of food, feeling shy about filling up my plate to the brim in front of all these boys. I'll grab seconds later on.
As that thought passes through my head Old Quil takes a step closer to me. "Kid you better fill your plate better than that. Seconds don't exist when these dogs are around." He juts a thumb in the direction of the line. I giggle, adding a few more scoops of some stuff before moving away. I follow Emily outside to where they set up a few wooden tables to eat at.
The sun feels warm and cozy on my skin and the fresh air feels much better than breathing in all that sweat and cologne in there. Emily leads me to the table in the center, taking a seat across from me. Her eyes are squinted as she raises a hand to shelter them from the sun. "Let me know how the food is, I tried something new with the burger." She taps the table with her finger.
"I will." I carefully pluck my burger from the plate, taking a tentative bite. "So good." I moan with a mouthful of food.
She smiles to herself, taking a bite of her own. "So Embry?" She asks, raising an eyebrow as she covers her mouth while chewing. "Cutie, huh?"
I shrug my shoulders nonchalantly. "Sure." I mean they're all cute. There's not one ugly guy in that room.
"I'll get the scoop from you later." She winks at me right as I hear the glass sliding door toss open again. Sam marches right for us, dropping down on the bench beside his imprint. He presses a kiss to her cheek before diving into his food without a word. It's bizarre how he eats, he just pounds it down without a breath in between bites.
His eyes peek up at me for a second before they drop back to his food. "Anyone taught you not to stare?" He says with a mouthful of burger.
"Anyone teach you manners?" I tease, motioning to him. Emily giggles, but says nothing. Soon all the boys are coming outside and taking seats at the wooden tables. Old Quil, Jacob, and Billy all sit with us.
Sam indulges in conversations about the pack, updating Billy and Old Quil on information they need for their "records". I'm just happy to listen in on what's what. Jake adds in some comments from time to time about things Sam forgets to mention and Sam pats him on the back for the help. It seems like there's no jealousy between them despite the confusing power dynamics. Jake's the "rightful" alpha while Sam is the alpha due to phasing order. That's gotta suck for Jake but he seems to take it well. Plus all these guys are his friends.
"Hey Sam." I turn my head to see an older looking guy, closer to Sam's age, come walking towards us with his fingers intertwined with a girls. She looks nervous and stiff but the guy seems oblivious to that.
I turn back to Sam but his face is unreadable. The other men at the table seem to look at them with disbelief. "Paul, glad you could make it. This is my sister Liv." Sam motions to me.
Paul glances down at me with a grin. "Nice meetin you little Uley." He shows me his fist and I gently knock mine against his.
"Nice meeting you too." I smile, turning back to the others at the table who still stare at them in disbelief.
"Oh, uh yeah. I imprinted on Rachel and she's accepted me. It's an honor Billy." Paul nods towards Billy, pulling Rachel into his side. She seems to relax a little at his touch but still her eyes are wide as she stares at Billy. I'm suspecting it's his daughter and he's not too pleased that she's paired off with someone, or maybe he's not happy because it's this guy in particular.
"You.." Billy trails off.
Paul raises an eyebrow, clearly not reading their discomfort. "Imprinted." He finishes for him, looking proud of himself.
"Is that a joke?" Jake scoffs, looking between the two. "You really imprinted on my fucking sister?" His voice lowers dangerously, he sounds awfully mad.
Paul still doesn't seem to get it. "Yeah I did. She accepted it, she's happy to be imprinted to me, what's your issue kid?" He looks at Jake like he's acting strange, which only seems to enrage him more. His hands slam against the wooden table making me and Emily jump a little. He slowly rises to his feet and backs away from the table, walking right over to Paul and Rachel.
Rachel goes from scared to annoyed in seconds. "Don't start Jake, you're not dad." She says with an eye roll.
Paul glances down at Rachel before looking back at Jake. "I thought you'd be happy for us Jake." He says, sounding a little offended. "You don't gotta worry about some prick dating your big sister, she has me. I'll take good care of-"
Before he can even finish Jake slams his hands into Paul's chest, shoving him back several feet. Paul stumbles back but doesn't trip. He had the good sense to give Rachel a little shove so she moves away from the two of them. Jake continues to march right up to Paul, shoving him in the chest again, making him stumble back another few feet. "The fuck?" Paul calls out, anger slowly building in his tone. "What's your problem?"
Drawn to the conflict I stand from my seat to get a better look. "Don't call me kid. Don't touch my sister. Don't-"
"I'll touch your sister all I fucking want or all she wants. She's my imprint-"
Before I can blink Jake pulls back his fist and sends it flying into Paul's face. I hear the loud thud all the way from where I stand, which is now several feet away from them. I didn't even notice Sam get up but he's already jogging towards the two. Paul seems to be in shock as he touches his cheek where Jake just landed his punch. "Oh that's fucking it-"
Sam grabs onto Paul winded fist before it could collide with Jake face. "You two are not doing this, or at least you're not doing it here." Sam says in a strangely calm voice. "Paul did you imprint on Rachel?" Paul nods. "And did Rachel consent to the imprinting?"
Rachel's voice raises from the other side of the yard. "I did!"
"Then it's settled Jake. You can be upset about it but it's true, Paul and Rachel are imprints. There's nothing you can do to stop that, that's final." He speaks calmly, maintaining order. I glance around the yard to see all the other wolves staring at the conflict, looking to be on high alert. I see several nods through the crowds, agreeing to what Sam's saying. "Paul I suggest you show some respect to Rachel's father and brother and they should show you the same. You're all practically family now."
Paul nods along to what Sam's saying, looking glum, until the word 'family' is mentioned. A smile rises on his face as he looks at Jacob. "You're practically my brother-in-law n-"
Another swift punch goes landing on Paul's jaw, sending him flying back another couple steps. "Fuck man." I hear one of the guys laugh out. I turn to see it was Quil. His eyes connect with mine for a second before they turn back towards the conflict and I do the same. Childish.
"Take a run." Sam says in a deep, low voice towards Jake.
Jake's eyes remain on Paul's rather than Sam's until a moment passes and he goes jogging off towards the woods. An uncomfortable silence fills the yard and I slowly sit back down, glancing up at Billy. He still seems to wear the same shock but he just sits there quietly, his eyes darting back to his plate before he pushes it away from him. Old Quil says nothing put places a hand on his shoulder, giving him a few light pats.
"Emily honey maybe it's time for-"
"Dessert." Emily swiftly stands up, collecting her plate and walking off towards the house. "I made brownies and cookies!" She calls through the yard. Sam quickly falls in line with her and soon chatter begins again. I look over to see Rachel approach Paul, reaching out a hand and placing it on his cheek. His once angry face turns soft and his cups her wrist with one hand, pulling her closer with another one.
I want to ask why Jake or Billy cared so much, I mean they seem so happy, but I don't say anything. I just watch.
"We're late but we're here!" I hear a girls voice call out. Turning towards the side of the house I see a girl and a guy emerge. It must be Kim and Jared. They walks with intertwined fingers too but it's clear they're not newly together. They look like a seasoned couple. They go right towards the table with Embry and Quil sitting there and I slowly get up, collecting Billy's and Old Quil's plates to take inside. They each give me a smile which I return before stepping away from the table.
"Would you guys want some dessert? I can grab it for you." I offer, standing at the front of the table.
Old Quil shakes his head before turning to Billy who says nothing and just continues to stare at the table. "We're good for now sweetie." He smiles, waving me off. I nod and turn to take the dishes inside when Kim practically flies in front of me.
Her smile is big and bright, she seems excited. She's a really pretty girl with really shiny dark brown hair and beautiful glowy skin. Her eyelashes are long and thickly coated with mascara and she wears a beautiful deep blush color on her cheeks that match her lipstick. "You must be Liv, I heard so much about you! I'm Kim and this is my boyfriend Jared." She motions to herself and then Jared, who smiles kindly at me. They both seem nice.
"Damn Kim you couldn't have waited a second longer, huh?" I hear a boy chuckle at her enthusiasm.
Kim's smile fades for only a second as she yells "Fuck off Quil." Before turning back to me.
"Yeah, I heard a lot about you too!" I assure her, giving her a smile. I feel terrified to fuck this up as if it's a first date. I just know if Kim hates me then they'll all hate me. She's the only girl of the group which is clearly a big deal and she's imprinted to one of them. They're probably all a close knit group and if I don't get in with Kim I'm screwed big time. I shift my weight, readjusting the plates in my grip.
"Want help with that?" She motions to my handful of plates.
I shake my head, "I got it, want some dessert?" I nod my head towards the door.
She smiles and falls in line with me as we walk towards the backdoor. Kim carefully opens the door for me and I slip inside, dumping the paper plates into the trash. Emily's stacking plates full of brownies and cookies in Sam's hands as we enter and her eyes dart to us. "Oh good! Girls will you take these out?" She asks, holding up more trays.
Kim and I each take a tray of assorted cookies and follow Sam, who's clearly struggling, outside to the party. Before I'm even remotely near the table Paul, Quil, and Brady are all swarming me. They each pluck at least two cookies off the tray before slipping away, trying to see what Sam has to offer on his. Embry comes over and I expect him to take some cookies too but instead he grabs the tray from my hands, walking it over to the table without a word. I expect him to hog it himself or something but he simply sets it down and then gets out of everyone's way as they crowd it.
Okay that may make me swoon. That was adorable.
"Are you free tonight?" Kim shows up at my side, asking me with a hopeful smile.