At the club…
The running joke in both packs was the fact that as long as they went somewhere people didn't know them personally, they almost never got carded anymore. Leah was the only exception of the wolves and since she was actually already over 21, it didn't matter. The others imprints below 21, waltzed in, thanks to the expertise of J. Jenks, which had been Edward and Bella's engagement present to Emily, for how understanding she had been to Bella when she had first found out about the packs.
As they went in, Seth clearly saw Paul smirk at the bouncer as he looked Rachel up and down, and her reaction was to wave her fingers in his face and then point to her ID that he was holding, and then her other hand ensconced in Paul's much larger one. When the bouncer turned slightly to take a look at Paul who towered over the bouncer's paltry 6 feet, he gasped as he realized that Paul was pretty average sized compared to the rest of the group. Jacob took greater pleasure than usual as he leaned forward a little while crossing his arms over his chest emphasizing his bulging muscles.
Amid the girl's laughter, the bouncer just gulped and waved them through.
Once they walked through the doors, the crowd seemed to just part to let them through. They headed straight for the tables next to the dance floor that Emily had called ahead and booked. Once jackets came off, Seth and Brady groaned, knowing with how hot the imprints looked tonight, they were going to have to keep an eye out for anyone trying to cop a feel of them on the dance floor, because an angry wolf in the middle of a crowded dance floor was not something they wanted to deal with. Collin just looked at the both of them with an amused expression, and before anyone had a chance to say or do anything, he hopped up on the table and shouted out "Alright people! The partaay has arrived"
This got the entire group laughing and broke the slight awkwardness that had formed between them and the tables next to them. While Brady was getting slightly hysterical at the way his twin managed to act a clown every single time they went anywhere, his hysterics reached an abrupt end when a miniskirt and midriff baring top walked past him and beckoned Collin off the table.
"Hey funny-man, wanna go dance or are you gonna stay up there all night?" Collin winked at a gobsmacked Seth, Brady and Ryan as he followed the girl with sky high heels, and legs that looked miles long, back to the dance floor. "Damned if he doesn't get the girls. Every. Single. Time" muttered Ryan. "Dude, that is my TWIN. If anything I feel worse" grumbled Brady.
"You know the worst part though?" Embry asked while looking at the younger wolves, "The little shit can Dance, like really dance, not fake it like we do" and just then, as if to illustrate his point, the music changed and Collin dropped to his knees in the middle of the dance floor, spun around and before anyone could figure it out, he had ended up on his head, spun around twice and then launched himself back onto his feet; and he did it all by making it look as easy as a kid playing patty-cake.
Brady replied, "Did you know that he was actually considering going professional? Before the whole supernatural thing caught up?" "Damn! No, I had no idea, haven't even seen anything like it in his head." Embry was stunned. "Yeah, he's good at hiding it. That's what everyone loves about Collin though, the boy learns to look on the bright side. He was down about missing out on that chance for a day maybe, two tops. Then he told me he was over it, because he figures he got a better deal out of it."
"Hey Seth… Seth !" Embry and Brady were shaken out of their previous conversation by Ryan gripping Seth's arm and looking slightly panicked.
"Seth, snap out of it bro" Embry thumped him across the back and Seth finally blinked. He had been staring across the floor towards the bar with such intensity, Ryan had begun to think he had frozen. "Seth, you ok bro?" questioned Embry. "I'm not sure" mumbled Seth, "I just felt really weird there for a minute… like I should be over there, but what the hell would that be about." He shook it off, and then turned to the other table.
"Hey, anyone up for shots?" "Watch yourself Clearwater, you are still driving some of us back" came the rejoinder from Jake. "Sure O Mighty Alpha, but have you forgotten Alcohol burns off much faster at a higher temperature, and ours would be… er… what do you think Brady?" grinned Seth. "Sure sure, you guys, just make sure it's not too bad ok" Jake reminded.
With that, the younger, and more importantly, un-imprinted wolves headed straight over to the bar, where they were instantaneously joined by Collin, downed a round of Kamikazes, and made their way to the dance floor. One of the perks of being a wolf came to light the second they got there. While not one of them had complained about the physicality of being a shape-shifter, this was one of those times they were thankful. Women swarmed them like bees to honey, and they were all careful about potential relationships, knowing like they did, that their imprint was probably out there somewhere, and could show up at any time.
While Seth could normally be counted on to be, if not the life of the party, which was usually Collin, then at least the soul of it; Brady noticed that he seemed a little off-color tonight. He said he kept feeling this urge to go to the other side of the bar, and he couldn't explain it, even to himself. So he did the one thing most stubborn, male, shape-shifters always do.
He ignored the feeling.
Embry had noticed Seth was not his usual self when they had headed to the bar, but wrote it off to something upsetting him earlier. But he still resolved to keep an eye on him, just in case. He turned to the girl he was dancing with and was about to excuse himself, when he suddenly felt something collide with his back. Going with instinct, he turned and grabbed the human canon ball, before anyone got hurt.
What he ended up with, was an armful of gorgeous brunette, complete with green eyes that looked like she was torn between screaming in anger or tearing someone's head off. "Sorry" she mumbled, before attempting to dart away "Hey, are you ok?" asked a concerned Embry, grabbing her arm. "Not really," she winced, "I've been trying to get away from El Creepo over there for ages, the asshole won't take no for an answer." For the life of him, Embry had no idea why the thought that some nameless, faceless idiot was bothering this girl, got to him so much. His face set and he stepped in front of her as a blond college kid appeared. One look at the girl's face marked the blonde for 'El Creepo' and Embry could barely suppress the rage that was shaking him. While one side of his brain was wondering why the hell he felt this protective about a girl he didn't even know, another side was figuring out how to hit the blond, smirking, fool, without spattering blood everywhere.
This decision was taken out of his hands when Blondie stepped forward and attempted to grab Green Eye's arm while slurring "Come on babe, let's go dance." Embry simply snatched his hand away from the girl and crushed his fist between his fingers while maintaining eye contact with the now-cringing collegiate. "Yeah, you know, I forgot my brother was here too" sneered the brunette while she watched him openly gape at Embry's size, only to have Paul suddenly loom over his shoulder as well. "Do we have a problem dipshit?" he asked as Embry simply stayed silent and kept looking him in the eye. "Oh hey, naah bro, he was just leaving, weren't ya shitbrick?" asked the brunette, linking arms with Embry and glaring at the blond.
He just winced in pain as Embry tightened his grip and then gasped as he suddenly let go. Just then the brunette stepped forward, leaned forward and whispered "When a girl says no, she usually means it" and then to Embry's confusion, she put both hands on the blond's shoulders and leaned forward a little more. To him, it looked like she was about to kiss him, when she suddenly raised her right knee, right into his crotch.
Embry burst out laughing, as she watched in satisfaction while Blondie crumpled to the floor. "And that's for grabbing my ass" she turned to walk away as his friends cleared him away, when Embry stopped her and stopped laughing long enough to extend his hand and say "Brother to Strangers" with a big smile. She smiled mischievously, and held out her hand as well, "Green Eyes McSquizzy" Paul burst out laughing behind them and added "Yeah sure, and I'm Boog." All three of them laughed, and she looked up at the easy-going boys, no, men, in front of her and wondered at the change in them. A minute ago, they were ready to kill someone, someone they didn't even know, because they wanted to help her. Someone they had never met before. "Thanks you guys, he was being a SERIOUS pain in the ass, and I was looking for my friends when he started annoying me." "No worries McSquiz" teased Embry, "You need help finding your friends?"
Just then a ball of fire, with bright red hair barreled into the still nameless brunette "Kiki-meister… baby girl… I saw blondell being an ass and I tried to get to you, but well, I'm size challenged… which you both are definitely NOT" she continued while inspecting Paul and Embry. Paul chuckled, and left them to get sorted out. Embry smiled at the younger girls and the brunette thanked him once more, before walking away with the red head.
Since Embry's dance partner had long since disappeared, he made his way back to the table only to find a worried Brady shaking Seth, who was sitting on a stool with his head facedown on the table. "Dude, what the fuck is wrong with you tonight" a worried Embry asked, as Seth got off the stool and began to weave through the crowd towards the exit. Before Embry could follow him, Brady stopped him and pointed out Collin, who had already caught up with Seth and followed him outside.
Once there, Collin watched worriedly as Seth looked up into the darkness and took a deep breath.
"Dude, I have no idea what the hell is making me feel this way" he finally muttered. "I mean, we run at a temperature that would mean death for a normal human being, so we don't even get sick, so why the hell does it feel like my gut stepped out for a walk and is currently running through broken glass." Collin winced at that particularly detailed description and was about to say something to make his pack-mate feel better, when he was interrupted by the door behind them opening and a figure slipping through it before it shut again.
Whoever it was, hadn't noticed them yet, until "Whew, good idea to party away your last night of freedom with a hyper best friend K… Sheesh, when are you ever going to learn girl?" Collin looked around and belatedly realized that the girl was talking to herself. He grinned and was about to interrupt her to let her know that there were other people out here when he caught the look on Seth's face. He looked like he was being suffocated with an oxygen pipe; like the reason he was struggling was right in front of him and he could do nothing about it.
As he turned to face the girl again, he saw her stiffen and realized that she had spotted them. "Oops, sorry guys, I didn't know anyone else was out here. I'm just hiding from my bestie, so if you see an energy ball with red hair, just say that you haven't seen me ok" she grinned. "Sure sure" Collin replied automatically. Before he could say anything else, the door opened behind them and the light fell across her face.
Seth gasped.
This was it. This was her. His everything. Nothing mattered anymore. Not his tribe, not school, not the packs, not Collin who was shaking him and asking what was wrong. It wasn't until the green eyes in front of him narrowed in concern did he realize that he had gasped out loud and then gone dead still. Before Collin, or the vision in front of him had a chance to say anything, Seth blurted out words he had never before uttered to a girl. Ever.
"Dance with me?"
A/N - Hi guys, I hope you like this story so far, and if you have been reading it, could you possibly let me know? Then at least I will know whether to keep writing it, or that its not good enough to keep going. I would love to hear from you.
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