CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
THE ONE
EMBRY CALL:
I carried my Mom through the front door, into the living room and laid her down on our old threadbare sofa. Sue Clearwater got a glass of water from the kitchen tap to gently splash her face with. Seems like my Mom and I reacted the same way to earth shattering events; we checked out for awhile as our minds couldn't cope with the situation. Seeing your long lost daughter for the first time since you gave birth to her definitely fell into the earth shattering category. So did imprinting and then meeting your half sister for the first time! I had spent the morning getting to know them both. It had been fascinating and interesting. Now it was time for my Mom to be introduced to both girls. I knew my Mom would freak, even if she had been trying to find Rebecca. The PI had found her, but my half sister wanted to break the news in person and come meet my Mom and me. Rebecca was such a character; she was feisty and sarcastic, and she was a shape shifter. Yes, Leah wasn't the only one after all. Sam Uley's genes had produced a female shape shifter, just as my Father, Harry Clearwater had created Leah, along with me and Seth. I hoped my Mom was proud of this girl. She was a marine biologist in Seattle, very clever and very pretty too, like Mom. But before my Mom wakes up, let me tell you what happened outside the Pacific Inn Motel in Forks, earlier today.
I imprinted, I fainted, what a jerk! When I came to only a few minutes later, I was lying on the wooden bench with the two beautiful strangers gazing down at me worriedly. The tall dark haired one was offering me a drink of water whilst my imprintee was fanning my face with a book. I noticed the book was Wuthering Heights and I smiled to myself. Not only was she beautiful and kind, she also had great taste in literature. I didn't even know her name yet. She spoke to her dark haired friend, her voice so soft and beguiling, "I think he is waking up Rebecca! What do you think?" she asked. Rebecca promptly threw some of the water in my face! I jumped up with a start, "Hey! " I exclaimed in angry protest. "Well what do you expect? You fainted in front of us you wuss! A little water won't hurt you, man up!" the dark haired girl Rebecca snorted indignantly. Her friend, the beautiful blonde turned to me with a smile so dazzling it rivalled the summer sun, "Are you okay now? Don't mind Rebecca, it's just her way!" she smiled up at me. I grinned down at her, I loved how she was much smaller than me. It just made me want to protect her more. Rebecca on the other hand was tall, fierce and beautiful like a warrior princess. " I'm Rebecca" she said with a cheeky grin, "Sorry about the water!" she smirked. "No worries!" I smiled back. Her friend put out a hand to me, a small soft hand for me to take. I gulped as I felt her smooth silky skin. I tried not to shake, but I could feel tremors of electricity between us. Oh my! Imprinting certainly was a strange process. I'd die for this girl and I still didn't know her name or anything about her. "I'm Katherine, pleased to meet you. Rebecca is my sister.", she announced in her sing song voice which thrilled me to my core. I still held onto Katherine's hand, I didn't want to let go not ever. How delicious and completely captivating that her name was Katherine, just like my favourite heroine in Wuthering Heights, Catherine Earnshaw. Spelled with a K it was even prettier. "I'm Embry Call. It's a pleasure to meet you both, even if it was highly embarrassing" I stated with a self deprecatory laugh.
Rebecca's face suddenly went through a thousand different emotions. "As in Tiffany Call's son?" she asked. I nodded with a smile wondering how she knew that. It was like the penny had dropped for both of us at once, as we both stared at each other in amazement. "I'm your half sister Embry!" she grinned suddenly shy. "Oh wow!" I stuttered. Katherine looked from one to the other, a beautiful happy smile on her face. "We've found you!" she exclaimed clapping her small hands. "I have so many questions Embry! Will you come for a coffee with us, so we can talk. I'm so nervous about meeting your Mom, our Mom, that I need to compose myself first!" Rebecca gushed nervously. I didn't need asked twice so I nodded and smiled with a happy grin. It would be great to get to know my half sister and it also meant I got to spend time with her sister too. They couldn't be real sister's as Rebecca was adopted. Katherine must have read my mind as she suddenly answered my question. "Rebecca was adopted by my parents four years before I was born. I'm eighteen, she's twenty two. My parents thought they couldn't have children, but then I came along! Their little miracle!" she laughed. You can say that again I thought to myself. Rebecca gestured for me to follow them to the small café just a few buildings south of the motel. We ordered coffees as I sat opposite the two very different girls. Rebecca looked a lot like Sam I observed. I didn't want to mention her real father, I didn't know what she knew. This was the strangest new years I'd ever spent.
Rebecca told me about her life, her job, and her friends. Then she had got around to the subject of shape shifting. I think she was scared to ask in case I didn't know what she was talking about. We both confessed how scared we'd been the first time it happened and how it made us feel so different from everyone else. I was lucky though I had the Pack to help me, poor Rebecca had no one. She believed she was a freak for many years, until she started proper researching it with the help of her sister. She had been trying to find her real family but had drawn blanks. My Mom had made sure she remained anonymous. If it hadn't been for her change of heart we might never have met today!
All the while she spoke Katherine was listening and watching. I tried not to stare. There were a few times I couldn't help it though, when I thought she wasn't looking. Often she would catch me out and we would smile shyly at each other. My eyes were drawn to her like magnets. She was the most impossibly lovely creature I had ever seen. I wanted to wrap her up in my arms, protect her, care for her forever more. I tried not to blush when I thought about kissing those full pouting lips. It was torture being so close. Now I had met her, I couldn't let her go, but how did I tell her I'd imprinted on her? At least she knew about shape shifters; that was a bonus. Maybe explaining imprinting wouldn't be too difficult. What if she didn't like me? Although all my Pack brothers who had imprinted didn't ever seem to encounter that problem. I hoped I could get to know her and tell her how I feel. She caught me staring at her again and gave that shy sweet smile that melted my heart.
A few minutes later Katherine left the table to visit the ladies room and I was alone with Rebecca. I couldn't help myself, I blurted out my secret to my new sister. "I imprinted on Katherine! I couldn't help it, it just happened. Just like everyone always said. Boom! And I was hers forever." I confessed. Rebecca smiled, "Yeah I kinda guessed! You passed out, you can't keep your eyes off her and you've got a goofy look on your face!" she counted off on her fingers. I blushed, embarrassed that I was so obvious. "Okay you got me! So obviously you know about imprinting already. Did Katherine also read up on it whilst you were doing your research on the Quilettes? " I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. Rebecca nodded, "Yes we both know everything there is to know. I will be honest with you Embry. I think my sister knows how you feel, but I am sorry to tell you she has a boyfriend." My face fell and I put my head in my hands with a long sigh. " Thanks for the heads up Rebecca. I will just have to work extra hard to convince her then won't I?" I said with a cheeky smile, determined to remain upbeat and confident even though inside I was a melting mess of awkward shyness! Katherine was making her way back to our table, her hips swaying conspicuously in the tight dark blue skinny jeans she wore with cowboy boots. She had on a turquoise blue chambray vest top which matched the colour of her eyes. Her long blonde hair swung as she walked. She was a vision and my eyes were glued to her. I couldn't prise them away, until Rebecca kicked me under the table. You'd think we'd been siblings for years.
So we'd finished our coffees, we'd learned a lot about each other and we'd decided it was time for Rebecca to be reunited with her real Mom. I felt nervous for her and I felt sick wondering how my Mom would react to this. I had explained to Rebecca that she suffered from bi-polar disorder and had done all her life. Luckily Rebecca had told me she wanted to ask Mom herself about her life and how she had found herself pregnant at seventeen. I was glad about that because I didn't want to explain her conception to her. This was going to be hard for Mom too, but she knew all this when she'd decided to find her daughter. Rebecca knew from a very young age that she was adopted, but she'd put off delving into her family history mainly because she was really happy with her life and was basically scared of what she might find. I had told Rebecca briefly about my Father. She was neither up nor down about it, I guessed it was her personality. She must have got that from her Father, as she was very confident and not prone to worrying about things. This was just my first impressions, I'm sure there were many more layers to her. I was excited to learn more as time went by. I had went from only child to having three half siblings in just a couple of months! Amazing how life turned out. And now I had imprinted too after believing it would never happen to me!
As we made for my small home on the reservation I felt both full of hope and trepidation. I gazed over at Katherine as she walked along between me and her sister. Perfection. I was scared of telling her my feelings but I was scared if I didn't I would never see her again. This day was really intense as days went. I still hadn't heard anything about Leah either so that was also on my mind as we approached my front door.
The butterflies in my stomach were dancing for all they were worth.