Chapter 11 Grandma meets the big bad wolf

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute and the Makah that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing.

AN: thanks to eskimogirl58 for sending me the details on how to update while fanfic was crashing - you owe her -

Raven was waiting for Embry when he got home from the garage. She was staying with them in the apartment they had built behind the ABC garage. Rachel was in the kitchen cooking dinner. It was her turn tonight; they took turns cooking. Embry had discovered that the second best thing to eating all that food was cooking it. He was actually pretty good at it too and getting better all the time. Rachel was hugely impressed by his growing culinary skills. He laughed that all his fights with Quil over the Iron Chef had proved useful after all.

No doubt, that extraordinary sense of smell and taste helped too.

Raven was too quiet; it worried him.

"You okay Gran?" he asked her solicitously. "Stressful day at the hospital?" He perched on the edge of the lounge opposite her.

She put down her needlework in her lap. "I spoke to Billy Black today."

"And?" said Embry.

Rachel had come into the room at the mention of her father's name. She was watching them both.

"And he told me the truth." She shrugged. "I made it impossible for him not to," she admitted.

"I thought you might," said Embry. He had suspected she was going to upbraid Billy about something. She was no fool.

"The truth about what?" he checked.

"About you… and the other boys…"

Embry said nothing just in case she was fishing for the right response.

"About your… dual nature," she finished. She seemed satisfied with that as an answer.

"What is going on?" interrupted Rachel.

Raven looked at her. She didn't think Rachel was ignorant of what Embry was; there must be another issue she was unaware of.

"Can I see you, boy?" she asked him. "Can I see your wolf?"

Rachel rushed over and pushed between the two of them, as if she was physically protecting Embry. "Oh no," she said, "No, no, no… we are NOT doing this again."

"It's Gran," Embry argued from behind her back, "she'll be okay with it.

"NO Embry… it took me hours to put you back together again after the last time…"

Raven looked confused. Rachel looked a combination of worried to death and enraged.

"Rachel do you really think Raven is going to react like my mother?"

"Fuck's sake Embry," she swore. "You just keep hurting yourself… don't you?"

"Oh dear god," said Raven. "What happened?"

Rachel was now livid. "The fucking tribal council made him phase in front of his … mother." She sounded like she wanted to call her something else. "To bring her into the big secret. It would be polite to say that she did not react well… she left her son a sobbing heap on the floor… while she ran… she ran away from him and left him there…" [Who's your daddy? Chapter 24]

Embry looked embarrassed. Raven looked furious. She rose to her feet, tossing down her needlework onto the vacated chair.

"Rachel, am I anything like my daughter?"

Rachel didn't reply; she was still barricading Embry behind her.

"I listed to Billy all the things that make these boys so different from normal boys; so special… things my own daughter can't even see because she is so busy not being able to see past the nose on her face and clearly doesn't want to see when it happens right in front of her."

Rachel still looked like she was going to fight about it. Embry smiled at Raven over Rachel's head.

"I am an old woman Rachel and I would like to see just how special my extraordinary grandson is. Please give me that," Raven pleaded.

Rachel stood there for a beat and then she stepped forward and hugged her. Embry heaved a sigh of relief.

"Will you hold my hand, in case I get a shock?" Raven asked Rachel.

Embry grinned. He knew damn well Raven would be completely fine; she just wanted Rachel with her. It was more for Rachel's benefit than for Ravens.

They trooped out the back door and into the forest. They found a clear spot inside the tree line and Embry started taking his clothes off.

"Do you want to cover your eyes Gran?" he asked mischievously.

"I had five children you know," she reminded him. "Nothing I haven't seen before."

He turned his back in any case.

"Good lord, girl," said Raven to Rachel. "That is all yours?"

"Oh yes," she agreed, "for ever … didn't they tell you about that?" Raven shook her head.

"They mate for life… one look and they are done..." She grinned at Embry.

"Yeah, yeah… stick a fork in me…," he agreed.

"I wonder…," said Raven. Clearly, she had just thought of something. "So has Seth … what did you call it? Mated for life… with the Hoburn Girl?"

"He says 'no' and he knows what all the other guys experienced, so I have to assume he knows what he is talking about," Embry answered.

She chuckled. "So does that mean that sexy Paul is just all talk?"

"He is now, but he was quite the ladies man before he imprinted on Bella," said Embry. "It's habit nowadays. Bella seems to understand that and she trusts him."

"It's a wonder; he slept with half of Forks and Port Angeles from what I hear," added Rachel. "The female halves," she added.

"Wow," said Raven, "that is quite an effort. But from the look of him, I would guess that if he offered, not too many women would say 'no'."

"Hey, can we get on with this, I'm naked here," Embry reminded them. He had his hands tucked over his package now.

Raven chortled. "As if you'd get cold, with that ridiculous body temperature..."

Rachel laughed.

"Are you ladies ready?" he asked.

Raven reached for Rachel's hand.

Embry phased.

Raven was speechless.

Rachel watched her, she had seen Embry phase before and she was more interested in Raven's reaction. She stood there with her mouth open. She took a tentative step towards him. Rachel went with her.

"He's beautiful," she said. "And sobig." His head came up almost to her shoulder. She reached out a hand to his head. "His eyes are still his eyes … does that make sense?"

"I know what you mean," said Rachel. "I'll tell you something else; he's the skinny one of the pack."

"Good lord," said Raven.

Wolf Embry tilted his head at his imprint.

"Sorry Honey," Rachel apologised, "Sleek; Embry is sleek."

Wolf Embry nodded his head.

"Jake is massive," she added. She sounded just the littlest bit proud.

Embry rolled his wolf eyes.

"How do they communicate?" asked Raven.

Embry yipped.

"Other than that… they have some pack mind thing; shared thoughts." Rachel explained.

Raven walked all around him, touching and rubbing him as she went. She chuckled again. "I know better than to pull his tail, but it's tempting," she said.

Wolf Embry growled.

She put her hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, no tail pulling."

She stood in front of him now. "You are spectacular Embry Call," she told him and kissed him on the end of his wolf nose. He licked her face.

Embry sniffed at the air and barked at Rachel.

"Oh fuck me," swore Rachel, "I forgot dinner." She ran back towards the house.

Raven watched Embry phase back and put his pants on.

She was beaming at him.

"I can die happy now," she said.

"Hey, no talk of dying," Embry chastised her as he hugged her. "I love you Gran."

They went back inside together.

They ate around the ruined parts of dinner. Embry told the story about imprinting on Rachel. How he had kissed her, torn all his clothes off and then turned into a wolf right in front of her on the beach. Raven laughed so hard at the image of Rachel checking out her brother's wolf balls, she cried.

She begged them to stop before she wet herself.

FF_2154210_ - 19/03/2011 02:17:00 PM

FF_2154210_ - 31/08/2011 12:20:00 AM