Chapter 17
The trek to Sue's house was filled with curses as Jake tried to move as quickly as his wounded body allowed. Next to him, Emily repeated 'oh my god' like it was a mantra, as Jake explained what Sam told him about the Council ostracizing Jake from the tribe.
It made sense. No one took imprinting lightly and to steal another wolf's soul mate had to have consequences.
As they approached the two story house, angry voices could be heard inside. Sam's and his father's were the only two Jake could distinguish, but a third fought for attention. On the wide-open front porch stood Paul and Jared. The glare on Paul's face was nothing new, the one of Jared's indicated it was personal. As the only other imprinted wolf, the thought of not being picked could rattle him to the core.
The tape across Jake's ribs pulled against his skin with each step. Pausing to catch his breath, he allowed some of his weight to rest against Emily, who kept her arm around his waist.
"I need to go inside," Jake said.
"It's a closed meeting." Paul didn't budge.
"Then why are you here?" Jake asked.
"To make sure it stays that way," Jared answered.
Arms crossed over their chests and their feet remained clamped in place. Healthy Jake could have fought his way in, but one poke to the chest was all it would take to send him to his knees. He didn't know what to do.
"Move!" Emily demanded. "My fate was already decided once by a pack of old men, it will not be done again. Either get out of the way, or I'll scream from the rooftops until every neighbor is awake." She planted her hand on her hip, her other arm still around Jake's waist.
Paul and Jared glanced at each other with indecision. Emily was the wild card no one knew what to do with. If the imprintee really did dictate the relationship, then she should be present while her fate was decided.
"You may go. But Jake stays," Jared said.
"No! He's with me."
Without another word, Emily and Jake marched inside. It took everything the injured man had to not grimace as the weight of each step vibrated throughout his body. Once inside, he leaned his palm against entry table.
"Give me a sec," he said through clinched teeth.
"Just stay here," she whispered and leaned up on her toes to kiss his cheek.
"Where are you going?"
"To make my choice known." Emily hugged him.
"You're not alone. I made this bed too, and now we are both going to lie in it."
Emily's scared lips were met with Jake's as he kissed her. The voices in the nearby room drowned out as faith, hope, and greatest of all love came together.
Jake loved Emily, not because fate told him who to love, but with all his heart and soul. He had a choice, and he chose her and believed Emily loved him the same.
Her chest heaved against his when their lips finally broke apart.
"I need you to keep me close and don't let go. No matter what," Emily whispered.
"I promise," Jake said
With his arm around her waist, he took another step forward. The hallway curved to the right and then quickly opened into the living room. Old Quil, Sue, and Billy huddled close together with Sam seated across from them on the couch.
If Emily felt nervous, she didn't show it.
Jake regretted the frown on his father's face. No man should have to decide the fate of his only son. Sam glared at the floor until he heard Jacob and Emily approach. If it was possible to smile and sneer at the same time, Sam had mastered the ability.
Emily leaned closer to Jake. What did she feel when she looked into the face of her imprinter? Did the invisible cable which bound them together also pull her physically towards him?
"We have reached a decision," Sue said, her voice trembled. She looked at Sam and noticed his attention on Jake and Emily.
A gasp escaped Sue's lips as several tears sprung from her eyes. Moments later Old Quil and Billy's eyes also found the accused couple.
"Let me speak," Jake said.
"There is nothing for you to say!" Sam taunted. "You sealed your fate and there's nothing you can do about it now."
"What about mine?" Emily challenged. "Fate didn't ask me if I wanted to lose my best friend and cousin! Fate didn't ask before it turned me into this monster." Her scarred hand tucked her hair behind her ear. "Fate didn't ask me if I wanted Sam! None of you did either. You just assumed that since it was what fate decided then of course we should all go along with it."
"You deserve to have your say." Sue smiled at her niece.
"Jacob," Billy said, his eye narrowed and lips remained in a frown. It didn't take a genius to assume he had tried to defend his son. Through the wolf connection Sam could easily have refutable evidence, but he could also be lying. Jake and Emily together caused the uncertainty in his father's eyes to dissolve into unwavering belief. "Why, son?"
"Sometimes why isn't the right question," Jake replied. "I have fallen in love with my former alpha's imprint—"
"That is all we need to know." Old Quil slapped his hand on the wooden coffee table. "That cannot be accepted. He must go!"
Billy opened his mouth and then clamped it shut. His hands shook on the armrest of his chair.
"This is not his fault!" Emily interjected.
"Bullshit!" Sam argued. "He only pursued you because he was angry at me because I kept him from Bella. You were nothing to him before that." His angry eyes bore into his imprint.
Emily's mouth gaped open.
"That explains a lot…" Billy mumbled under his breath.
Emily's eyes silently pleaded with Jake for it to not be true.
His tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth. It took several breaths and a sneer from Sam for the true alpha to find his voice.
"It's not true, now."
Emily covered her face with her hands and her shoulders shook. Jake hated he had made her cry and wished he could have had a different start to their story, but he couldn't change the past. He kept his arm around her waist.
"Yes, I wanted to hurt Sam," Jake said. "There is a small part of me that feels bad for him, because Emily is the most amazing person I've ever met. My motive then and now are completely different. A stupid immature decision, turned out to be the best thing I've ever done."
With his hand on her hip, Jake carefully knelt in front of her. Pain shot up his torso and he grimaced. He took several labored breaths.
"Em, look at me."
She shook her head.
Jake continued. "It took a rebellious nudge to see this amazing woman as someone more than Sam's imprint. And while none of you, Sam included, asked her what she wanted, I did. She never chose Sam because she wanted him, but because she felt like he scarred her so badly that no one else would want her! She deserves to have options and now she does."
All eyes turned to Sam's imprint. When Jake walked over to the Council Meeting, he felt confident Emily would support him no matter what. She couldn't understand Jake's urgency until he told her Sam could get him thrown out of the tribe for his relationship with her. Emily apparently had a temper which rivaled her cousin's.
"No! She doesn't!" Old Quil yelled.
"Excuse me? Wait a minute," Sue said. "Of course she does. And technically so does Sam."
"No, he doesn't. That was our first hour of debate," Billy interjected.
"Okay, fine. But Emily does," Sue insisted.
Billy nodded in agreement.
Old Quil and Sam both sighed.
Jake shifted his weight nervously. Their relationship fell on Emily's shoulders and there wasn't anything more he could do. He needed to trust her. Keeping his hand on her hip, he leaned into her to rise to his feet.
She watched Jake. Her eyes looked confident. Whatever she had decided, it appeared that she came to the decision easily.
"Thank you, Aunt Sue." She let go of Jake. "For me, this is not Sam vs. Jake. I know it looks that way, and probably feels that way, but it isn't."
She came closer to Sam and took his hand. Jake's heart leaped in his wounded chest. Had he had the strength he would have pulled her away. She told him to not let her go no matter what, but there would be no hope for him, if in front of the Council, she chose Sam.
"Em…" Jake whispered, barely having a voice.
Billy glared at his son, giving him a look the boy had seen many times indicating he needed to shut the hell up.
"It's okay," Emily said. She gave Jake a smile and then addressed the Council. "Sam is a good man and our connection is real. But it isn't what I want. Can't you see that our imprinting wasn't for the better. He was in love with Leah before me. You know how happy they were and with Leah being a wolf there is no reason for them to not be together."
"There is a reason, it's called imprinting!" Old Quil insisted.
"Quil, you know damn well that we don't really know why a wolf imprints," Billy said. "Even if we did, if the imprintee does not accept the imprinter, then that's the end of it.
"Is that what you want?" Sue asked Emily.
"Yes, I want to be free. I want that for Sam, too. Let him be with who his heart decided on and that's not me." Emily let go of Sam's hand and stepped away from him.
"Wait!" Sam demanded. "Jacob can't just steal my imprint and get away with it! There has to be consequences." He glared.
"I agree." Old Quil nodded.
"What about trying to kill your fellow wolf?" Jake asked. "Shouldn't there be consequences for that?"
"What are you talking about?" Sue asked.
Emily looked up at Jake and everyone in the room did the same.
"You made the stupid decision to use your body as a weapon." Billy frowned.
"Yes, because he cut me off!" Jake pointed at his former alpha. "As you can imagine, Sam and I have had issues, but I thought we were united in our pursuit of the red-headed leech. Leah stayed with Seth, and Embry and I ran ahead to close in on the leech. As we approached, Sam ordered Paul and Jared to back off and cut off communication with me. She either would have escaped again, or killed me."
"You stole Leah from me!" Sam growled.
"That's your defense?" Emily lunged towards him, seconds later her palm slapped Sam across the cheek. The resounding smack was echoed by Sue's gasp. "You are not worthy of the title alpha, and you never were!"
"Woman! Don't you—" Sam roared and his shoulders shook.
Jake instantly stepped between them. "Touch her and your fate is sealed." He glared.
"What are you going to do about it?" Sam taunted. "You can hardly walk."
"And who's fault is that..." Jake reminded him.
"I agree you are no alpha," Billy said to Sam, his voice deep with authority.
Old Quil's arms crossed over his chest. Jake guessed he had been Sam's strongest supporter and indecision clearly implanted itself on the old man's face.
"We take the title, Protectors, seriously," Sue added. "Not only for the tribe, but for each other."
Emily placed her arm around Jake's waist. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth remained clamped shut, but twitched like she held back what she wanted to say. Her hand twitched. Lifting it slowly, Jake saw redness over her palm. Slapping a werewolf didn't just hurt him.
Jake brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. Emily grinned at him and touched his cheek intimately. He would never again apologize for loving her. It wasn't his job to make people understand. Closing his eyes, his forehead rested against hers.
"I love you," Emily whispered.
"Love you, too." Jake hugged her close, ignoring the pain to his torso it caused.
Sam growled.
"I believe she has made her choice," Sue said. "As the Council, we respect it and will document it for future generations. Emily, we assumed you and Sam were for the best without really asking you, and for that we apologize."
"Thank you." Emily smiled at her aunt and leaned her head on Jake's shoulder.
"As for your attempt on Jacob's life," Billy said, "that cannot be accepted."
"Don't you think you might be a little biased?" Sam glared.
"Well, I am not." Old Quil stood. "We understand the pack has divided. Embry confirmed that it was unintentional, therefore Jacob is not at fault. We will be ordering the pack to reunite. Each wolf will have the option to follow the true alpha or to resign and no longer phase."
"I will never follow him!" Sam declared.
"That is your choice, but you are no longer alpha. It will go to my son," Billy said.
Jake imagined his father experienced a whirlwind of emotions during the lengthy Council meeting, but ultimately saw honor in his father's eyes. He would make his family lineage proud.
Without another word, Sam stormed outside the house. Jake heard yelling outside and then an angry howl.
