Interlude 2: Embry

aka

Build a Home for Your Family, Build a Castle for Your Friends
(Keep Them Safe Until the End)

The No Shirt, No Shoes, No Entry sign taped to the Clearwaters' back door was a new addition.

And, quite frankly, a little insulting.

It gave my bare-chested, bare-footed self pause for all of two seconds — long enough for me to raise my eyebrows at the careful penmanship in red marker and scoff at the little drawing of a decapitated wolf in the corner, complete with an arrow pointing at it and 'EMBRY' scribbled in huge, bold letters.

Leah had really outdone herself. Anyone would have thought she didn't want to see me — anyone a little less perceptive than me, anyway, who could obviously read the sign as a half-hearted attempt at getting my attention.

Naturally, I could do little else than honour her wishes by barging my way into the kitchen.

"Honey, I'm home!"

Camped out at her usual spot at the table — studying, of course — Leah didn't even look up from her book. "Note to self," she murmured. "Make the drawing bigger next time."

"Maybe try locking the door if you don't want visitors."

"You'd only whine and scratch at it if I did," she fired back.

Well, someone was in a bad mood. "Rude. I'll be forced to reinstate Quil as my BFF if you're not careful."

"No dice — I already called dibs. He remembers to wear clothes, at least."

"I resent that."

"Well next time you can't be bothered to wear any shoes and trail mud through the whole house, how about you spend the afternoon scrubbing the carpets," she grumbled under her breath.

Pointedly ignoring her, I claimed the seat directly opposite, putting my bare feet up on the chair between us. "Come on then, tell your Uncle Embry. Who pissed you off, and why was it Jake?"

"I'd hit you," she hummed mildly, "but I think it would be considered animal abuse."

A snort escaped me. "How long have you been thinking about that one?"

She slowly dragged her eyes away from her book, her stare level. Better wolves than I had run from that look in the past, but she didn't scare me — not anymore. It was pretty hard to be frightened of someone who lived in your every waking thought, especially if those thoughts belonged to Jake or Sam. And seeing as I regularly patrolled with both of them (though never at the same time, if Sam had anything to do with it), The Leah Show was a constant, blaring thing.

(Not that I minded. I much preferred listening to a four-hour-long monologue from Jake about Leah than I did about the other imprints. I knew the rest of the guys did, too — mostly because Leah and Jake hadn't done The Deed . . . yet. And, thankfully, because of her insistence to wait, Jake's thoughts were pathetically G-rated for a dude who was nearly seventeen years old and a virgin.

I couldn't even mock the poor kid for it. He was so in love with her that he didn't even seem to care if he lived out his days as a monk.

Imprinting was so weird.

Shit, I probably wouldn't be able to look Leah in the eye for a week when the time finally came. It had taken me a solid month to stop cringing whenever I looked at little Kim after she'd cemented her predestined bond with Jared — although perhaps that had something to do with the fact she was underage, and hearing those kinds of thoughts about her was akin to hearing about my baby sister getting her rocks off . . . nevermind that I actually had to see it.

Not that I knew what having a real sibling was like, but I digress.)

Leah narrowed her eyes further. I supposed at this point I was meant to be running away in fear for my life. As it was, I simply smirked as she said, "I have more, if you would like to hear them. Most have been tailored for you specifically."

"Hit me," I dared.

But she simply returned to her book instead, waving her fingers at me. Dismissing me. "Later. I'm trying to study. I think I bombed my Calculus exam — no, I know I bombed it," she said anxiously, pushing her hair back from her face, pulling at it. "And Government is next, so my day's only going to get worse. Honestly, Em, you're better off finding someone else to entertain you for the rest of the week. I don't need any distractions."

That's exactly why I was here — because she did need the distraction (and I was bored), or else she was going to burn right out. And I lived to serve. To protect, to patrol, to pester, forever and ever, amen. I was a goddamn professional at it.

"Oh but please."

She sighed, her agitation practically saturating the air. "If I throw a stick, will you go away?"

"Poor." I faked a yawn. "Generic. Also a little speciesist."

"Take a hint, Embry," she muttered, not even bothering to meet my eyes as she idly turned a page. Something was really wrong; I'd felt it as soon as I walked in, but now I was sure it wasn't just about her obsession with graduation. Something had happened.

"Come on, sweetheart, you're supposed to be the smartest in your class. Try again."

She didn't have to think about it for long. Five seconds, maybe. "Being a pest isn't a crime, so you're free to go, sweetheart."

"Marginally better. Room for improvement." I leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Now — tell me what's really going on."

She continued to avoid my eyes. "None of your business."

"Have you and Jake had a domestic? 'Cause I want to make it known now that if there's a custody battle, I'm staying with you. Jake can have Quil. We can share Seth on holidays and stuff."

"What about Collin and Brady?"

"We'll take one each. I want Brady."

Leah looked up from her battered Government textbook, arching a brow. "This isn't The Parent Trap."

"Tell them that when they find each other again at summer camp," I said, cracking a quick grin. "Come on. Tell me. If you don't, then you know I'm only going to find out from the guys anyway."

"I hate you," she muttered. But she had to know I was right: whatever it was that bothered her — whatever it was that Jake had done — was going to be all over the Rez come sundown.

After half a minute of contemplative silence, her heartbeat picking up with every second that passed, she finally said, "Bella kissed Jake."

I gawked at her . . . and gawked some more, my mind blanker than the Algebra test I'd flunked lifetimes ago. I shook my head. "Sorry. For a minute there I thought you said Bella kissed Jake."

"Does it really sound that unbelievable?" Leah asked wryly. "I was sure you guys had put money on it. I mean, I would have, if I'd known there was a pool going."

The Pack had a pool going for just about every eventuality we could conjure. Except for this.

Man, they were going to be so pissed. And not just because they'd lost an opportunity for extra money.

"I don't think even Paul thought Bella would be that stupid," I muttered. "Hell, I can't believe it. What happened?"

She didn't answer immediately, and my stomach began sinking at the expression on her face — I was going to have to kill one of my brothers, wasn't I? Damn Jacob Black.

"Oh, hell," I groaned. "He didn't — he didn't kiss her back, did he?"

"No," she said, and I sagged in relief. It was barely half a year ago that The Leah Show had been The Bella Show. And although I did not doubt Jake's unfailing devotion to Leah, I knew the past could not be totally forgotten after imprinting. Sam's thoughts about Leah, thoughts he was surely having as we spoke, were proof of that.

I hadn't detected a single hint from Jake that suggested he still felt that way about Bella, but Sam had hidden his desire for so long I supposed that maybe Jake could still . . .

No. It was impossible. Even the thought of it made me sick to my stomach.

"Why?" Leah asked then. "Did you think he would have?"

I instantly hated myself for the doubt I'd put into her voice. "No. No! He'd have been stupid to. And even if he had, he'd have paid for it badly afterwards. It'd kill him to hurt you." It had almost killed Sam. I hadn't been in the Pack when he'd lost control with Emily, but I relived the memory often enough through him. "You can't just ignore an imprint."

Leah was unmoved. "Sam did," she countered. "Bella did."

"He's an arrogant asshole, and she's a backstabbing bitch," I reasoned. And to think I'd been stupid enough to invite the girl to the bonfire, hoping she might educate herself — and loosen her claws in Jake as a result. I was a fucking fool. "I hope you made her bleed."

"Not quite," Leah answered. "Might've bruised her, though, from the way her cheek was looking when Quil herded her out."

"Good," I said bleakly. Just when I had begun to think the leech lover's stupidity had peaked, what with wanting to become one of them and all, of course she had to go one step further and piss my best friends off in the process. "What did Jake do to her?"

"Nothing. Didn't give him the chance." Leah closed her textbook with a snap and said, "Quil and I turned up just as she more or less threw herself on him. Said that she wanted to say goodbye. Then Quil took her home."

"That little . . ." Calling her a bitch again wasn't justice, but there wasn't another word good enough.

Leah nodded in easy agreement; I didn't have to say anything for her to understand the sentiment. "Yep."

She stood from the table, suddenly restless. She paced for a few seconds before turning on her heel and storming down the hallway and into the living room, apparently at a loss with what to do with herself.

I was hot on her tail. "Do you want me to go and kick Cullen's ass?" I asked. Leah could take care of Bella at the same time. And with the mood my wolf was in, I'd probably get in a few solid hits.

"I bet Paul will be game, too," I added as an afterthought. We were Pack. Hurt one, and you hurt all of us. "Especially if you come."

"As much as I appreciate the offer, I'll probably kill her if I see her again," she said, dropping down onto the couch. "Or die trying, because Edward would kill you and me and Paul before we got anywhere near her. And Jake will be so mad that he'll end up in the same boat. Dead."

"Cullen's not that good," I huffed sourly.

"Except he can read our minds, and the other one — Alice — will know we're coming as soon as the next hour of their futures goes dark."

"What, then? We gotta do something. Oh, don't look at me like that — I'm sure there's a bunch of other shit we could do. Egg her house, or something. Let down her tyres."

Leah stared up at me, dumbfounded.

I shrugged, palms upturned. "What? I'm not a girl, I don't know the rules. I can go and ask Kim, if you want, but I'm pretty sure she can't run from the scene of a crime as quickly as I can," I said quickly. "Thinking about it, she's more likely to knock on Charlie's door and apologise for the mess instead."

Leah tipped her head against the cushions, laughing because it was true — Kim didn't have a single bad bone in her body.

It encouraged me enough to continue pleading my case for revenge. "I'm just saying, we need to get even. I think Jared still has that fake wheel clamp he uses when he goes to Port Angeles."

Leah sighed tiredly, sinking further into the cushions as I finally stopped pacing and sat beside her, weight dipping the couch. "You'd make a great henchman."

"I know," I said simply, because it was true. As Jacob's unofficial second, and as Leah's number one BFF, my alleigance to the Reservation's number-one ass kicking couple could never be questioned.

That, of course, was solely dependent on whether Leah would ever permit Jacob to step foot in her home again.

"Where's Jake now?"

Leah shrugged as if she didn't care, but I knew better. "Sleeping, probably. Or he's looking for you so he can make you watch the whole thing back from his perspective," she said. "Y'know, for self-flagellation purposes."

I raised a brow, quietly impressed. "That's a big word." I didn't even know what it meant.

"Valedictorian," she reminded me.

"As if I could forget." She poked her tongue out at the roll of my eyes, shoving my shoulder. "Well, I hope he doesn't come lookin' here, 'cause I'd rather leave all the self-flabberation to Seth."

"Flagellation."

"S'what I said, valedictorian." I flicked her ear. "Though I suppose you might not be for much longer once they find out you cracked some girl's face after she kissed your boyfriend. Nevermind that the Chief of Police is her dad."

"I didn't crack her face."

"But you wanted to."

"Hell yes," she said, not at all contrite.

". . . And you're sure you don't want to go and finish the job? I'll hold Cullen back for you."

She chuckled. "I know you want Round Two, but it's really not going to happen, Em."

"Can you blame me for trying? I miss all the good stuff," I sighed, dramatically forlorn. "I don't think I would have driven her home, though — our Quil is much a better person than I am." He always had been, despite how much we all ragged on each other. "I would have made her delusional ass walk."

Leah snorted, sounding amused but in agreement with me nonetheless. "He was probably just trying to give me space to kill Jake without any witnesses."

That piqued my interest. I peered down at her. "And did you?"

"Nah," she said, pulling her legs up underneath her and finally relaxing.

"Shame. Jake getting his ass handed to him isn't something that happens all that much; I would've liked to see it. Paul, too."

"It's not his fault, not really. I know that. I'm just being a bitch and making him sweat a bit."

"I love how cruel you are." I grinned, draping my arm around her. "You're my favourite sister."

She laughed and leant her head against my shoulder, but not without giving me a half-hearted jab in the ribs first. "I'm your only sister."

"Way to ruin the moment, sweetheart. You were supposed to say, 'And you're my favourite brother.'"

"Are you going to look into Seth's puppy dog eyes and tell him he's been benched?"

She did have a point. The kid could commit a felony and make the whole affair look positively angelic.

"Fine. I'll settle for being your second-favorite brother if I get one of those exclusive invites to the Clearwater family dinner. All this talking has made me hungry," I mused, giving her my best Seth impersonation.

"Never do that again," she said, "unless you want everyone to think you're constipated. Fine. You can stay, but only on the condition that you drag Jacob out if Charlie starts laying into him, or me, or both of us."

"Charlie's coming?" I gasped, torn between horror and delight. "Say less. Leah, I will do you the honor of attending tonight."

"Fantastic," she commented, standing suddenly. "I'm going to go scream in the shower. You're on guard dog duty."

"With pleasure," I said affirmatively, watching her pad up the stairs with a warm sense of affection.

Leah didn't need to tell me that I was her favourite. Though she lied for Jacob and Seth's benefits, the two of us knew the truth, and there was nothing I was better at than keeping secrets.