Embry's POV
"Happy birthday Paauuuul, happy birthday to you!"
"And many moreee," Quil began to sing but was stopped when Seth pushed him off his stool. Claire giggled in her seat next to him cheerfully.
Embry sighed and watched the group start to dig into the slices that Rachel was handing out. Paul and Jared were both borderline drunk and having the times of their lives. Sam had been nursing his drink. He'd been drinking too, but not nearly enough. Jake was grinning as he and Leah spoke in the corner quietly, and Embry felt a surge of jealousy course through his veins.
It was stupid, he knew that, to get jealous of Leah and Jacob's friendship. It was like getting jealous of Quil and Jake's friendship. But Leah got away with hell and back; disappearing whenever she wanted, not shifting for pack meetings when they were called.
Yet Embry was being scolded left and right for his "newly-found attitude."
It was hypocrisy, and he was over it.
Another bottle was pushed in front of him by Emily, who smiled at him sweetly before walking over to Sam and placing another in front of him.
Embry nodded to her, knowing that Sam would start a fight if he didn't, and the last thing they needed was a fight. It was kind enough that the bar let them back the back room on a Saturday night, and considering him and Jake were both drinking underage, all hell would break loose.
"Hey man," Embry looked up to find Jake placing his hand on his shoulder. That had become a habit recently; as if he were older and wiser. "I'm getting out of here. Promise me you'll try to have a little fun with the guys, yeah? You have more control than you think, one night of letting loose a little would be good for you."
Embry shrugged him off. Jake knew that it would be better if he stuck around, but he wouldn't. Not with Renesmee waiting in Forks for him.
Jake sighed and leaned down to speak quietly in his ear, though the rest of the pack could hear the words he spoke, their family couldn't.
"Just try not to bring everyone else down, brother."
"Leave him be Jake," Leah whispered. "I like the new Embry." She sent him a wink, and Embry forced himself to smile weakly at her before taking a long sip of his beer.
..
The hour after Jake left went by in a blur, and many, many drinks later, Embry was finally feeling the effects of it.
"I want to dance!" Kim pleaded, begging them to go to the club down the street and pulling Jared and Emily at the same time. Emily grinned and Sam began to follow. The younger pups had gone home with Leah to play video games, and Quil had already taken Claire home to her parents.
Paul grinned but shook his head. He hated dancing, everyone knew that. But if Rachel asked him to dance, he would. This is what Paul got for choosing the one place just outside of La Push that was down the street from a club that is packed on a Saturday night.
Embry started to tell them he was going to make his way home, but something in the back of his mind told him to stay.
Maybe it was Jake's sad eyes when he'd told him to not bring anyone else down, or perhaps it was the alcohol. Whatever it was, he supposed another hour wouldn't hurt him. It was only nine, still early.
He sighed and offered to hold the girl's purses under his breath, earning him a slap on the shoulder from Jared and bear-hug from Paul. Kim kissed him on the cheek, and Jared pulled her away playfully, but with narrowed eyes.
Embry barely remembered walking to the club, or entering it, or walking to the balcony where he could see the entire dance-floor below. But once he was there and Emily was handing him a drink and thanking him, the effect of the booze was starting to wear off. That was the gift of healing so quickly, if he didn't keep drinking, alcohol's effect wouldn't last.
He sighed and placed the drink on the table, watching Emily wander off cheerfully down the stairs and toward their friend. Paul was dancing with Rachel, just as Embry knew he would.
"Hi," Embry turned to see that a girl had wandered up to his table. He took a deep breath, preparing himself as he noted her sway and the look on the girl's faces that were watching from the bar a short distance away.
"I just, I just was- I was wondering," the girl said, a grin covering her face as she leaned against the table. "If maybe you wanted to dance with us."
The girls from the bar began to giggle, and he politely told her no thank you.
"Oh but pleaseeee?" the girl leaned forward, her cleavage jumped out at him as he shirt fell forward. She puckered out her lips in a pout, and Embry had to force his gaze to stay on her face. He hated girls like this. The ones who had low esteem and thought to make up for it through showing their skin and acting in a way that made it seem as if she was asking for it. And she was asking for it, and the wrong sort of guys would take advantage of it, and it pissed him off beyond belief. He wasn't that guy, and he wished no guy was.
"I don't dance," he explained mildly. "I'm just watching my friend's bags."
"Oh," the girl looked upset, and for a moment, he wanted to dance with her just to cheer her up, and wondered for only a split second if Jake was right. Maybe he needed to loosen up a bit.
But seriously, Embry didn't know how the others managed it, being in a stuffy room like this for too long. The smells of sweat and booze mixed and it was unbelievably strong, especially against the girls wearing perfume like the pouty-faced one was, and he could smell the oil that the ken-doll bar-tender had smeared all over his body from across the room.
He watched the girl walk away and ignored the glances from the other drunk girls, turning when he smelt Sam coming his way. He glanced down to see that Paul was still dancing with Rachel, and had apparently sobered up significantly, as they all did quickly, but Emily and Kim had started dancing on their own. He assumed Jared had gone to the bathroom or to get another drink.
"Why didn't you just dance with her, man?" Sam asked him quietly. "Just loosen up a little." He shook his head before sitting at the table across from him and leaning over the edge.
Embry ignored him, and the thoughts he'd had only a moment ago that maybe he needed to, and turned his gaze to the crowd again. After a minute of watching, Jared sauntered up to their table and leaned over Sam to check on Kim.
"Paul's having fun!" Jared grinned.
Embry nodded to him and finished the rest of his drink in one swig. He stood and pulled his jacket off the chair, earning him a disappointed look from his friends.
"I thought Jake told you to try to have fun?" Jared asked. "You're clearly not even trying."
Embry shrugged and leaned forward to tell them he'd see them tomorrow, but stopped when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. And that something, though familiar, was making his entire world spin.
He heard the word's Seth had spoken the day before so clearly, in his ears it made him whimper.
"It can happen at any time. Even if he's met them before. There is no avoiding it."
"Even if he's met them before."
"Even if he's met them before."
"Even if he's met them before."
It felt like a punch to the gut, and then some.
"Holy shit!" Jared and Sam both jumped up at once and moved around the table, holding Embry up as he stared down at the crowd. Their eyes scanned the room, trying to follow their brother's gaze, but they couldn't.
After a moment, Embry lost sight of her and fell off his stool, leaning back against the railing for balance. The room was spinning, and he knew that the two were both talking, but whatever they were saying wasn't making any sense. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, fighting the intense urge to shift as the two started to drag him away from the table.
Embry opened his eyes to see that Paul was with them now, but the girls were nowhere to be seen.
"What if she's from out of town?" Jared asked though it didn't seem to be toward anyone in particular.
Embry shook his head.
"Which one Embry?" Paul demanded, his voice feigning re-assurance. "You gotta help us out man, tell us which one so the girls can talk to her and get you guys introduced."
They quickly led him down the stairs and out a side door and into an alley where people were smoking. Jared and Sam both coughed as they drug their friend down the alleyway and stopped just before it turned on to the street.
When they finally let him go, Embry leaned against the wall and put his hands on his knees.
"Dude," Paul leaned forward and spoke to him quietly. "We get it, all three of us know what it's like, and how hard it is to focus, but you've got to right now."
"Paul's right," Sam smiled at them knowingly. "You've got to go and talk to her. She's your imprint, man." He said the last part so cheerfully Embry wanted to throw himself on the ground.
"Or him?" Jared teased, making Embry scoff and the others laugh.
"Embry?" Sam urged.
Embry shook his head, "just, give me a second, alright?"
He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. The second he did though, all she saw was her. But not her, how he remembered her because he hadn't actually seen her since she was, what, eleven? And he'd been just shy of twelve?
His eyes snapped open when he heard the door of the alleyway open again. His mind thought only for an instant how convenient the timing was as a blonde girl in black boots, dark jeans, and a black leather jacket came out laughing with two others at her side. But Embry didn't bother looking at the others because he was too caught up in the sight of her.
She was nothing like he remembered, and that laugh, well that laugh was quite possibly the most mesmerizing thing that he'd ever heard. It sent shivers down his spine.
"That one?" Jared whispered to him with wide eyes. The look told Embry precisely what he'd thought only seconds before; the girl he once knew, once had a chance with, was now, as an adult, way out of his league.
The blonde walked backward for a moment, then leaned down and grabbed her phone from the side of her black boot, making Embry cringe as her jeans tightened in all the right places when she did.
"Embry?" Paul urged this time his voice louder.
The girl snapped her attention around when she heard the name, and a wicked smirk covered her face when she caught Embry's eye.
He had to force himself not to gasp when he took in her bright green eyes. The ones that were still the same, but they were somehow different.
The mischievous glint in them made him want to pin her against the wall and the thick coloring reminded him of the forest he loved running through. He could smell her scent from here; a mix of coconut and pine. His two favorite scents.
"Well, well, well," she closed the short distance between them and stopped with a cock of her foot and a tilt of her head only feet away. The smirk was still plastered on her face as she spoke, her voice a poisonous melody on her lips. "If it isn't Mr. Embry Call. Fancy meeting you here pretty-boy."
The piercing on her tongue caught against the light as she spoke, emphasizing each word. He took note of the other piercings in her nose and on her raised eyebrow. Embry loved piercings; he'd had a few in his ear before he'd change. Now he healed too quickly for them. He wondered if she had any tattoos, and hoped that she did.
"Lysandra," he nodded firmly, his voice came out meek, and quiet. He wished one of his brothers would punch him, or smack him out of it. Instead, they watched with amusement.
"You know each other?" Sam folded his arms, a grin on his face.
"Yes, we do," she didn't remove her gaze from Embry's as she spoke, and he knew that the second she did, he'd probably fall apart. "Embry and I used to be, well friends I suppose." She explained with amusement.
Embry watched her lips as she spoke, remembering his first kiss, and his second had been with her nearly eight years ago.
"My parents made him babysit my baby brother and I as kids, despite him only being a year older than me."
Her gaze turned thoughtful for a moment, which snapped him out of his haze. He shook his head and stood straighter, but still leaned back against the wall for support.
"Your daddy never paid me though, despite his promises to," he explained with a weak smile. His voice was louder this time, but it wasn't strong, as it usually was. Her father had died only months after the two of them had kissed, and her mother left town shortly after.
Lysandra snorted, her nose scrunching as she did. "Then you got the short end of the stick, pretty boy. I was nothing but trouble."
"Something tells me you still are," Paul said under his breath so she couldn't hear. But the wolves could, and Embry's brothers laughed at him. And of course, they would laugh; they'd been waiting for far too long for Embry, and any of the others, to imprint, despite Billy's insistence that it was a "rare occurrence."
Obviously fucking not.
Embry watched her carefully as her phone began to ring, the loud electric guitar noises echoing in the alleyway.
The grin on her face grew, and her eyes widened as she answered it.
"Hey hot-shot," she drawled. "What are you wearing."
Embry observed her carefully alongside his brothers as she spoke into the phone, and the masculine voice on end ripped his soul apart with jealousy, making Sam take a step toward him, almost between him and his imprint.
"You, nasty, bitch," the voice said. "Where are you? I have to tell you about this chick I met earlier."
"At that stupid club outside La Push I told you about, you'll never guess who I'm talking to," she watched Embry with teasing eyes as she spoke.
"An Elvis impersonator?" the voice asked lightly.
"Embry Call," she said simply.
The voice on the other end of the line snorted in a similar fashion that Lysandra had only moments ago, though much broader and mixed with a sort of growl that reminded Embry far too much of his brothers. He narrowed his eyes.
"Did you ask that dickhead why the hell he hasn't called you back yet?" the voice asked.
Embry sucked in a breath as Sam put his hand on his upper arm in attempt to calm him.
Lysandra moved her hand up to cover the bottom of her phone and tilted it to the side. "Baby brother wants to know why you haven't called me back?"
Embry leaned his head back and Sam's hand disappeared. Her baby brother; Laurence. The kid was only a few years younger than them, and by now had to be; sixteen?
"Because I'm an idiot?" he said lightly.
Lysandra seemed to like that answer because her eyebrows raised before she turned to the phone again. "He said he's an idiot."
"Damn fucking right he is. Tell him he can make it up to me if he babysits you again," Laurence joked suggestively. "Pops said he's nice and bulky nowadays, like he does cross-fit, like me!"
Lysandra rolled her eyes, as questioning why Embry would ever need to make something up to her brother, rather than her. It was clear that the two siblings were just as close as they were as children, if not closer.
"Not going to tell him that. Plus, he says dad never paid him," Lysandra mused, looking to the ground.
"I don't plan on paying him either," Laurence explained, his voice turning suggestive once again. "You'd be the one paying him if you catch my drift."
Lysandra nodded knowingly, "ah." She covered the phone again and looked back to Embry. "Laurence wants to know if you've ever dabbled in prostitution? He's asking for a friend."
A roar of laughter came from the other line and Lysandra laughed with him to herself.
"No, but let's just be serious for just a second, mkay pretty-lady?" Laurence spoke again a few seconds later, his voice turning rough. "Don't give that asshole any more of your time Lys. You heard Pops when he also said that kid and his little buddies think their shit doesn't smell? He's only talking to you because he realized that puberty was unbelievably good to you and probably wants a taste of the very thing he's been denied being stuck in fucking bum-fuck La Push his entire god-dammed life."
Embry continued to watch her carefully, ignoring the three men around him tensing. The comment was too personal, and they definitely wouldn't take well to some stupid kid talking about their brothers or their town like that. He took note of the way that her eyes glistened sadly for a split second as she turned away to see her friends waiving her back inside.
"I'm serious Lys," Laurence said, his voice distant as if he'd put her on speaker. "Don't waste your time. You're better than that, haven't you learned that by now? Promise me"
Lysandra nodded, not realizing that Embry and his brothers could hear every word he was saying.
"I won't," she nodded again.
Laurence grunted on the phone.
"I promise, now I have to go," she told her brother. "I'll call you when I get home and check on Pops."
"I MISS YOU!" Laurence yelled into the phone.
Lysandra chuckled, "I miss you too baby-boo."
"Awweee," Laurence hummed. "By big-boo!"
When she hung up the phone, she slipped it back into her boot and called back to her friends, who were done smoking. "I'm coming with you."
The two walked into the club slowly, the man holding the door for her and waiting.
She turned back to Embry and nodded to him with the mischievous grin back on her face. "I'll see you around pretty-boy," she said walking backward, hands in the pocket of her leather jacket.
"Embry's-Cross-Fit-Buddies, it was very, nice to meet you," she said sarcastically and nodded to each of them before turning on her heel and disappearing behind the door of the club.
"Who was that?" the guy asked her.
Embry watched the empty space where she'd just been as she spoke, hoping for anything but the answer he had a feeling she was going to give him.
"No one," Lysandra explained. "At least no one important."
All three of the men beside him sucked in a breath and tensed once again.
"No one. No one important."
Embry's imprint had just said that he wasn't important. The girl that just became the center of his entire existence, just as he had always feared, thought that he was no one.
"No one. No one important."
"No one."