10 - Party
"Leah can you watch the store while I run home to make us some lunch?" My mother asked as she was putting on her jacket, it had gotten chilly outside in the past couple of days. The cloud cover had gotten thicker and thicker, it might have been nice if it would have let to snow but that was not to be. The temperature was cool enough to make most humans uncomfortable but not cold enough to allow for snow - we only got that cold bone chilling drizzle. It was a good think I was a wolf and did not need feel cold, but my poor mother kept complaining about her old joints.
"If you don't want to get out in this weather I can go get something, I have been practicing." I had gotten better in the kitchen, Phil insistent that I was going to learn how to feed myself. He had even gotten me a cookbook, it was one of those that only had microwave recipes, but I guess you had to start somewhere.
"Ah, that is all right, I have to go pick up some paperwork at the house anyway." My mother did not quite meet my eye as she made a big project out of searching her pockets. She was not ready to test out my culinary skills.
"What are you looking for mom?" I asked, not making it easy for her, I felt slightly insulted - my cooking had been horrible but I was trying. How would she see the improvements I had made if she never gave me a chance? Be honest with yourself Leah, your mother has had years of experience watching your cooking failure. Plus you don't have Phil here to guide you through every step.
"My keys," she said still not making eye contact, she patted down her pockets yet another time.
"The keys on the counter?" I asked her pointing to them sitting right in front of her. "Don't worry mom, I know you are not ready to accept the fact that I might now be able to boil water without setting the house on fire."
"I have something I wanted to pick up at the house." She repeated in a determined voice, I could tell my mother did not want to hurt my feelings. The blush on her cheeks was a bit of a clue.
"Don't worry there is nothing you can say that Phil has not already said, he made some very scathing remarks about my inability to even considering to learn how to cook." How was I going to be an independent woman if I could not take care of myself, he had scolded. It was quite a long tirade, only by calling him daddy had I finally succeeded in stoping the lecture.
My mother had not been gone five minutes when I heard the front door open. For a minute I thought she had forgotten something.
It was not my mother returning but Sam at the door. He gave me a short greeting, seeming nervous. Of course I got suspicious, Sam was never nervous - because he always knew best and would use his alpha voice to make you if you were resistant.
"What do you want?" I asked him not bothering to say hello back at him. Somehow I doubted he was a potential customer so there was no reason to be polite.
"Well we are having a small party at the house this Saturday, I was wondering if you and your boyfriend would want to come." He seemed a little hesitant.
I did not have to ask who he thought my boyfriend was and I sure as hell was not going to explain that Phil and I did not have that sort of relationship. At one point in the past it might have been important for Sam to know those sort of things but that time has passed - now he was on a need to know basis, and there was nothing about me he needed to know. "Why, so you can spy on us?"
"Hey I have not done that in over a month, and it was only to make sure you were not hurt. You don't have any common sense." He got all defensive on me. To be honest I have not noticed him or any of his pack members following us after that one night when I had it out with Sam. He had given me my space just like I had asked him to; oh shit the world was coming to an end, Sam had actually listened to another person.
"Can't I ask as a friend?" Sam spoke, interrupting my thoughts - it was easy to see he was getting frustrated at my refusal to immediately comply.
"Friends? Why in the hell do you think I want to be your friend?" I asked him angrily. I would rather face another newborn army of vampires.
"We used to be friends." He said quietly, I was not certain why he was so insistent on me coming over for dinner on Saturday; but I was willing to bet it was not for a reason I would approve.
"No Sam we used to be a couple, but now you are fucking my former best friend." He flinched at my words, the truth was not something he wanted to hear? Well to freaking bad, he was the one who had come here today and decided to start trying to be best buds or some crap like that. "Why don't you go be friends with Emily?" I could feel the bitterness welling up inside of me and I had to take a moment to push it back down. There was something about this man that brought out the worst in me - could be because he is a conniving piece of shit. "Sam, quite frankly I just don't want to be around you." I can't believe that lie came out of my mouth, we both knew it was only partially true. I wanted his friendship and a whole lot more, but I was not going to get that from him so I might as well cut my loses.
Sam took a deep breath like he was going to call me out on my lie, but then he seemed to change his mind. "Think about it, Saturday afternoon around five. Some of the guys will be there too, so it will not only be us. Emily kind of misses her friend, she has some things to talk to you about."
I encouraged Sam to leave soon after that unless he wanted to explain to my mother why the store was trashed. He was making me so angry my hands were starting to shake, I had figured out why he wanted me to attend. His Emily wanted me to be there so he was willing to go the distance.
Just what I wanted to do on a Saturday night, go see them being domestic, living my dreams. They were living with his mother, Emily was busy planning for a wedding, as a bridesmaid I guess I should have known a little more about her plans but I could not handle that yet. I know Sam had been picking up odd jobs, it was hard for him to stay with a steady job since his wolf duties might take him away. I had not payed too much attention to the details of their lives, the little green monster was very much alive inside of me and would probably eat me up if I learned too much about them.
I was still in a bad mood that night while Phil was finishing up dinner; when bragging about my newfound cooking skills I may have left out the part where Phil cooked all the food we ate - the stuff I made usually ended up in the trash. There is just something unappetizing about microwave baked chocolate cake when you have a seven layer white and dark chocolate cake with strawberries sitting on the counter.
My grouchiness did not seem to bother Phil, I had learned early on that picking a fight with him was a futile effort - he was oblivious to the fact that I really needed a good shouting contest to relive some of my stress. Sometimes I wished he would be a little less happy, but then I would miss the dimples.
"How was your day?" He asked as he was layering some pasta and cheese into a casserole dish.
"Sam decided to invite me for dinner. Can you believe the guy?" I certainly could still not believe his audacity. "The worst part is he did not do it because he wants my company, he did it because Emily wants me to be there." I could feel myself getting truly angry at this point.
"Ex boyfriend?" Phil asked as he adjusted the oven.
I did not answer, I just gave him a look that I hope conveyed "mind your own business". A little voice in the back of my mind pointed out that it was I who had brought up the subject of Sam, but that voice was quickly drowned out by my anger.
I was not aware of how much Phil knew about my situation with Sam, this was the one place I did not talk about Sam. But Phil is not stupid, so I guess he figured it out a while back why I was so angry with Sam. It was not that big of a deal if Phil figured it out, the thought of seeing the look of pity in Phil's eyes is what made my stomach clench in fear. Would he see that I still loved Sam? would he think I was weak because of it?
"You know what the greatest form of revenge is?" Phil asked after a few minutes of silence.
"No, but I am sure you will tell me, o wise one." Sometimes I felt like he was a walking fortune cookie, he seemed to have advice for any situation. There were times when the though of the confused look on his face almost made me want to betray my tribe's secrets. It would have been amusing to see what advice he had for the only female werewolf in the tribe.
"To be happy." He wagged his eyebrows up and down while I gave him a confused look, "think about it, Princess. Generally speaking if someone treated you like crap they expect you to feel bad. So the best way to piss them off is to be happy despite of what they did."
"Some people make you feel bad without trying." I clarified, Sam had no control about imprinting on Emily.
"The being happy plan works out great for both situations. They will either be happy for you and be glad that you have moved on, or they will be upset knowing they matter so little to you that you can live without them. Trust me nothing bothers people more than you forgetting them." He gave me a wink as he wiped down the counters and put the dirty bowl and spoon he had used into the sink.
His convoluted words were almost starting to make sense, though I think the best revenge would have been ripping Sam's balls off and feeding it to a vampire. A distraction from the topic of Sam and my thoughts of revenge was necessary, so I threw myself across the couch and turned on the TV.
Phil joined me after cleaning the kitchen and balanced on the arm of the couch, I could tell that he was looking at me but I was determined not to make eye contact - putting all my focus into channel surfing. Unfortunately for me Phil was a stubborn bastard and could play the silent waiting game far longer than I. "What?" I finally asked looking away from the television.
"You should accept the invitation," his eyes were filled with far too much mischief for me to completely trust him.
"Not you too. What is this, a conspiracy?" I grumbled with a little less vigor than before.
"Come on, what do you have to lose?" he continued his argument probably feeling my resistance weakening.
"Honestly only my dignity, but that was lost a while back," I cringed at the memories of begging Sam to take me back. The worst part about it was that the only thing keeping me from doing it again was the knowledge that nothing would bring Sam back to me. If only my heart would get the memo everything would be a lot better.
"Just tell me who to take down and I will. I can do it verbally or I got a nice baseball bat I can bring to the party." He gave me his full smile, dimples and all. But for some reason I did not think he was joking, my knight in shinning armor was willing to defend me. Too bad he did not stand a chance against them, though a bat to Sam's knees might be amusing to see. It is not like it would do any permanent damage.
Did I really want to go to this party? Hell no. But that did not mean I wanted to be seen as a coward, and pitied some more.
For a moment concern for Phil's safety popped up, so far he had been kept away from the pack but that would change if Phil went to this party. Sam did not hang out with anyone else these days but the pack members and the elders - I would be willing to be a great deal of money that there would be at least one other wolf in attendance.
Phil might not be able to take Sam on physically but there was a very low chance that Sam could be provoked into a fight. Now in a verbal competition Sam did not stand a chance against Phil. That might be interesting to see but not worth having to watch Sam and Emily make eyes at each other. But if it was a big enough party I could avoid the two of them and still save face. Because you can bet that my absence would be glaringly obvious as well as my reason for avoiding it. As for the other wolves that would probably be in attendance, the need to keep the secret should keep Phil safe enough; but just in case I would be sure to stay close to him.
"But what if I am not happy?" I finally asked Phil, wanting him to come up with a solution for me but at the same time regretting how much I had revealed in that simple question. Fortunately the timer on the oven went off, my depression was not something I wanted to talk about - especially here, in the sanctuary of the cabin.
It was not until he dropped me off later that night that he finally answered my question, it took me a while after he had driven off to understand what he was referring to. "You are just going to have to learn to fake it."
When Jake and I finished with the patrol on early Saturday morning the ever present clouds were missing from the sky, we had even been able to see some stars. It looked like the clouds would stay away, at least until the afternoon; this was one thing that put me in a good mood - the only thing that put me in a good mood.
It was a little past lunch when I approached my mother to ask her if I could get off a bit early today. I had put in extra hours last night finishing an elaborate necklace, so I did not feel as guilty leaving so early. Not that I had been doing much; the boats were clean, nothing needed painting, and it was late enough in the year that few customers showed up. I had been sitting around all morning making doodles thinking about possibly starting a new style of bracelets; they were a little more complex than I had ever attempted before, I was still just playing with around with the possibilities. My mother did not make too much fuss over me leaving, I guess she saw how distracted I had gotten as the day went on.
After a quick shower I spent twenty minutes standing in front of my nearly empty closet trying to figure out what to wear. I had added some clothes in the past month, but it was nothing compared to what I used to have. All of my dressy clothes had been given away, and the only new additions to my wardrobe usually were for work not a party.
I don't know why I hesitated, I pretty much had one nice shirt, a shinny green satin that went really well with my skin. I paired it with a pair of black jeans. Maybe I was hoping that a sexy little black number had magically appeared in my closet. With a grunt of disgust I pulled on my jeans, and moved to my dresser. Maybe a few accessories would make my outfit less plain.
Since becoming a werewolf my pierced ears had healed, I could not wear earrings anymore. I had not gotten rid of them yet, hoping that in the future if I got calm enough and stopped phasing I could have my ears pierced again.
The item I was searching for was in the bottom of the little box that housed my jewelry. My grandmother's necklace, it was somewhat simple with four rows of thick beads and a small wooden carved wolf as a pendant; it had been a wedding gift to my grandmother from my great-grandmother. I often wondered if my grandmother had actually understood the significance of the wolf, her father had been a shifter but maybe she had never been told the truth about tribal legends. My father had given the necklace to me for my eighteenth birthday, I had not been impressed with the present at the time. I appreciated it a lot more now, considering he was gone.
I did not put on too much makeup, I did not need it; the wolf healing abilities were good for some things, they kept my skin miraculously clear. So I stuck to lip gloss and a small amount of eye shadow. I had to give up on any form of perfume, it smelled wrong to my wolf senses. I hoped that Phil did not feel the need to put on some sort of cologne, he usually smelled of soap and deodorant but maybe he might get more dressy - I had told him jeans were fine when he had asked.
I should not worry though, Phil was not the type of guy that seemed to trouble himself with his appearance. My hair did not take much fixing, it was short so I just ran a quick comb through it and called it done.
I was finished with my preparation far too early, so I stood there in the living room waiting for Phil; we were going to go together, he had promised to pick me up. As I was pacing back and forth I noticed the time, it was only a quarter past four, I had another forty five minutes to go before he was supposed to be here.
I did not want to see Sam and Emily playing house together, but Phil was right - this was a small tribe and eventually we would have to spend time together. My only comfort was that I knew Phil would not ask question if all of a sudden I wanted to leave.
I heard Phil's truck coming down the road before I saw it. I quickly ran to my room and got a jacket. I was not cold but Phil would insist, he was constantly trying to get me to on another layer.
Phil was pulling his truck into the driveway when I got outside, I don't know why but I was getting really nervous.
I had just opened the passenger door when I noticed the boxes in the bed of the truck. "What are those?"
"What?" Phil seemed distracted, he looked behind him. "Oh that is just some food."
I counted eight boxes filled with foil covered trays, I laughed, "how much food did you bring?" Only Phil would think that was just 'some food'.
"I called and asked your mother about it, she told me that I could not bring too much food." He shrugged like it was common for him to call my mother up and chat with her.
"Wait? You talked to my mother about it, why did you not just ask me?" I don't know how happy I felt about him consulting my mother.
"Why not? I talk to her all the time." Phil said as he pulled out of the driveway. I waited for him to ask me for directions, but maybe he had already talked to my mother about that as well.
"What exactly do you mean when you say you talk to her all the time?" I asked quietly, I could feel myself getting annoyed. It was preferable to being nervous.
"How did you think you have gotten away with practically living at my place? I call her and tell her of our plans, we exchange recipe ideas. You know the boring stuff people over thirty talk about." He gave me the dimpled smile before turning back to the watch the road.
"What do you mean over thirty? You are over thirty?" I got distracted as he actually shared something with me about himself. My anger at him talking to my mother forgotten.
"Yup, over thirty and I have to admit I am closer to forty than thirty at this point." There was far to much amusement in his voice, there was a joke I was missing. Most people were not this happy to admit they were getting old.
Closer to forty? I would have given him the over thirty, he seemed too worldly to be as young as he looked, but he was in too good shape to be that old. I smiled a little, what did I know about being forty?
"Oh you got me distracted, I forgot." I watched as he pulled a small box out of his pocket. It was very nicely wrapped with a big pink ribbon on top of it. I freaked out as he used his knees to hold the steering wheel as he fluffed up the ribbon that had gotten squished in his jacket pocket.
"What is this?" I asked him as he handed it over to me. I noticed he was driving more slowly today, but that could have been just because he did not know exactly where he was going.
"A gift obviously." He said as he put his hand back on the steering wheel, "well open it." He seemed eager for me to see it, I was still wondering why he was getting me a gift.
"Thanks," I said pulling off the bow. Inside in cotton swabbing was a bracelet with silver beads and little silver and enamel trinkets hanging from it. It looked like he had gone with a flower theme.
"I did not know your wrist size, so I got you an elastic one. It should be stretchy enough to fit most wrists but if it is too big you can pull off some of the beads to make it smaller if necessary. I even picked out the flowers." I looked up at him as he talked, he seemed somewhat expectant and I would say unsure of himself. But that was ridiculous, as I had noticed very early on that Phil's ego was huge - his self confidence iron clad.
I tried it on just to be polite, he should not have worried about the fit - it was the perfect size. This was kind of nice, the string holding the beads together was stretchy enough that I could probably shift into wolf form without destroying it. Not that I had any plans to phase tonight, but you never knew.
I played with the three flowers, they did not really match. The shapes and the colors were too different, he should have kept either the colors or the shapes of the flowers the same. It would have looked better that way, but it would have only hurt his feelings to tell Phil that so I kept my opinion to myself.
"What are they?" I asked being nice.
"Umm the sales lady told me what they were, the blue one is forget-me-not, the white one is a gardenia, and the purple one is hyacinth." I watched as he shrugged his shoulders. "I thought they were pretty, just like you." The last part was delivered with happy wink.
I smiled even though I was highly tempted to explain to him about what went well together, but it was nice of him to get me a gift. It was the thought that counted right. Then a funny thing occurred to me, if he ever got married I hoped he let the girl pick out the ring. She might be stuck with some awful looking engagement ring for the rest of her life.
As we pulled up in front of Sam's mother's house I noticed that there were a lot more people than I had anticipated. From the noise and the bits and pieces I saw, it looked live every member wolf was here, both from Sam's and Jakes pack.
This was more than just a cute dinner between friends, I had been lied to. When we got out I could smell the lighter fluid and the burning hot dogs; it was a true party, Rez style. There were tables set up in the side yard with folding chairs, some people were already sitting around them eating the food.
"A small dinner my ass." I muttered under my breath before slamming the door shut with more force than necessary.
"What was that?" Phil asked, as he too go out.
"Nothing," I said on a sigh. This was going to be worse than I had thought. "On a happy note I don't think you brought enough food."
I started heading to the back to help Phil get the boxes. It was not until he was bending over to rearrange the boxes that I noticed what he was wearing; actually all I noticed was the pants covering his rear. He had a nice ass, especially for a thirty something year old; but I had noticed that before. That did not mean I could not appreciate the view yet again.
I went to stand next to him, subjecting him to a quick inspection.
He was dressed in khaki pants with a nice belt as well as a light blue button up shirt that looked freshly ironed - the top few buttons were undone giving a nice glimpse of his light coffee colored skin. He had exchanged his usual boots for a pair of loafers that were black just like his leather jacket. Moving to reach for a box to carry I noticed he smelled really good, better than usual, something citrusy with maybe a hint of sage. Taking a deep breath I tried not to be too obvious in trying to identify the smells: there was the usual soap and Phil, but now he had added an extra layer of tastiness. Pulling my mind out of the gutter and pushing away thoughts of licking that patch of skin that had been revealed by the unbuttoned shirt to see if he tasted as good as he smelled I turned abruptly only to be met by several pack members. By the serious look on all their faces I knew this was going to be the initial attempts to scare Phil, I would have been more angry at them had it not been the fact that I was worried they had seen me ogling Phil. Everyone already thinks he is your boyfriend so why not "pretend" a little bit tonight.
While I was occupied with glaring back at the boys Phil had grabbed his box and turned around only to meet up with a very serious looking Jared.
I stepped a little closer to Phil, not questioning the sudden need to protect him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a mischievous look come on Phil's face and then it cleared to make room for a huge smile. He had really big white teeth and he was determined to show them off to everyone in sight. I watched as Phil shoved the box in his hand at Jared; Jared had the choice to either uncross his arms or let the box drop on the ground.
Jared was not stupid, like me he could smell the wonderful aroma coming out of the box. Given a choice between threatening an outsider and food, Jared picked the food.
"Great you can help me carry stuff." Phil said dismissing Jared and his attempts at intimidation by turning around and reaching for another box. This one got showed at Paul.
"Nice of you boys to all come out and help." Phil said to the surprised group. I watched as Phil handed out boxes to all the guys. He even handed my box off, after giving my arm a quick reassuring squeeze.
I hid my laugh as I watched Phil maneuver the boys with the boxes to the serving tables. Phil was lecturing them on how to properly unpack and place the items on the table.
Phil one point, wolves zero. Suddenly feeling much more optimistic about the evening I left Phil to his own devices as I walked around to see who else was here. Like I noted earlier, most of the wolves were in attendance. I saw Jake's sister and Kim, so I guess the mates were here as well. I did not see Sam or Emily, but that could be either a good or a bad thing. What could they be doing that would make them miss the arrival of new guests? Emily tended to try to channel Martha Stewart, and was always cooking and feeding the pack.
I found my brother and Jake manning the two of the grills. Seth waved at me before turning back to his job. Standing next to him was a small girl, I recognized her from school, Jill Maples. She was tiny next to my brother, her thin brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, then held back with a headband just to make sure nothing got away. She was wearing jeans, a t-shirt coupled with what looked like a poorly knit homemade sweater. Rumor had it her parents were really strict, I wondered how she had managed to get permission to come to this party. Why my brother was dating her was a mystery to me, but I guess she looked like a nice enough girl - if you like the uptight, never is willing to do anything fun types.
"Leah, you remember Jill," Seth said waving with his barbecue fork, though on closer inspection it looked more like a stick that had been split in two. Yeah, this was a really high class sort of party.
I nodded in her general direction but noticed she took a little step back, fear in her eyes. What the fuck? I knew I had a reputation as a bitch but I did not pick on pathetic little things like her. Not even bothering to speak to her I turned to my pack leader, "hey Jake."
Jake acknowledged me with a nod. I considered calling him lord and master but there were too many humans around. It was kind of a joke now, sort of showing my appreciation for the fact that he did not throw alpha commands out left and right like Sam had.
"I am surprised you are not protecting your boyfriend from the welcoming committee." So Jake had known about it but had not deemed it worthy to warn me - the jerk. I resisted the urge to glare at him, that would only encourage him in the future.
"He is a big boy and can take care of himself." Ignoring the boyfriend comment, I looked around at the people around us. Someone had brought out a radio and was blasting some gangster music across the yard. "Thanks for warning me about the little party," I continued, my voice thick with sarcasm.
"How was I supposed to warn you? I never see you anymore." Jake gave his happy laugh. It still amazed me how much different he had become since imprinting. Too bad it could not happen to me, though I would rather it not be to a bloodsucker.
I felt something large move behind me, he smelt like citrus and sage. "I keep thinking I should just give her a key to the place." He said in is deep rumbly voice, the man could still make me shiver just with that voice.
"Why bother since you never lock it?" I retorted looking over my shoulder with a quick smile for him.
I made quick introductions, I was somewhat surprised that Phil had never met Jake before - well there was that one time but Phil was too busy throwing up to notice. I had been trying extra hard to try to separate my wolf life from my time with Phil.
The strangest thing happened when I introduced Phil and Jill Maples, my normally happy and friendly Phil gave her a cool and quick nod. Not that she seemed to be keen on furthering their acquaintance.
Paul interrupted the awkward moment, he started to talk to Jake about some tribal matters. Like Jake actually cared about that crap, I could tell he was as confused as I was by Paul's behavior.
"Hey you want to help me serve the food I brought?" Phil put a hand on my elbow as he gave me the dimple smile, the one I had a hard time resisting.
"Sure why not? Maybe we can find something to eat in the meantime." I told him, leaving Paul and Jake to their conversation.
"All right Princess, let the games begin." Phil's comment was the barest of whispers in my ear, looking over to see what he had meant I was greeted with a small smile. I was starting to get worried, what was Phil up to?
The foil covered trays contained pulled pork that could be made into sandwiches, he had baked fresh rolls and had even brought some of his homemade barbecue sauce. I loved the stuff, even if it was a little spicy.
For dessert he had brought some apple crisp. "Screw the hotdogs, I am eating this."
I had better be quick about it too. The wolves had scented meat and were circling.
Phil noticed they were coming too. I watched as Paul having finished with his important discussion with Jake started heading our way.
"Here use this one instead" Phil said switching the jar of sauce in my hand. I did not understand what he was doing but I did not care, all of Phil's cooking was good. I was in the middle of dousing my meat with the sauce when Paul finally stopped in front of us.
"Is that for me? How nice Leah." he said as he grabbed the plate of food out of my hand.
"Careful the sauce can be a little spicy." Phil warned. He turned away from Paul to look down at me, and gave me a wink. I was so busy wondering what Phil was up to that I did not have time to be annoyed with Paul.
Paul seemed a little disappointed with my reaction, or lack of it, so he gave me a smirk and shoved half of the sandwich into his mouth. I watched as a few seconds later his eyes got huge and he started choking.
Sam, our host, finally decided to grace us with his presence and he had stopped by us to see what the problem was.
"I told you it could get a little spicy, maybe I should go get some ketchup for you." Phil said in a concerned voice. I tried really really hard not to laugh, but I could not help myself. Paul's face was a bright red, if it was not for the fact that he was a wolf it might have concerned me.
The combination of Phil's comment and me laughing is all it took to push Paul over the edge.
I watched as Paul's hands started to shake and he took a step towards Phil. "Hey Sam, you might want to put a leash on your boy there." Before I had even finished the sentence Sam had grabbed hold of Paul's upper arm and was trying to tell him to simmer down. But Paul was being uncooperative, as usual the moron could not control his temper.
Eventually Sam gave up and used an alpha command, Paul had no choice but to comply. I almost felt sorry for Paul, but not really - he is the one who had started this. Sam led Paul away but not before looking back and giving a dirty at Phil's direction.
"What did you do?" I asked Phil who was casually finishing off the sandwich Paul had abandoned.
"What do you mean?" he asked too innocently. He could not fool me, I knew that tone of voice, he knew exactly what I was talking about.
"Are you trying to get killed?" Now that Paul was gone the humor of the situation came back to me but I pushed down the laughter, trying to keep a straight face while reprimanding Phil. It took all my willpower not to laugh, Paul had been all amused that he had managed to take away the sandwich I had made but seconds later he looked like he was in pain - karma is a bitch, as the old saying went. Though in this case I was starting to think it was more Phil than karma that was dolling out the pain.
"It does not seem to be an issue, looks like Sam knows how to muzzle his party guests." Phil noted as he assembled another sandwich. I noticed he had switched sauce jars again.
"What was in that sauce?" I said reaching for the jar, he was smart enough not to stop me. I tried some of the sauce, it was a little bit too spicy for me but not that bad.
"I made it myself especially for tonight, it has a little bit more kick than usual. Made specifically for your special friends." Phil put extra emphasis on the special friends, he was not going for the frontal attack but that is what this was nonetheless - he was being my white knight and attacking my enemies. I rolled my eyes at the though, maybe Phil just liked being a prankster.
I looked up at Phil's profile, he had turned away from me and was looking towards the part of the woods where Paul and Sam had disappeared. He was concentrating a little too hard, almost like he was trying to figure something out.
"Should I be worried about a laxative in the dessert?" I asked him both worried about my apple crisp and Phil's curiosity.
He quickly looked away from the woods and his eyes swept the crowd in front of us, "looks like your brother is trying to get your attention."
"You have got to be kidding me! What did you do to the dessert?" I was not going to be distracted.
"I have to admit I thought about it, but that would ruin the dessert, and I for one am not going to waste food." He looked back at me with a smile.
"You are such a jerk, in this place that might get your ass kicked," he did not look bothered by that fact. Something clicked in my mind, Phil had known what he was doing when pushing Paul's buttons. The crazy man did not act overly concerned about the fact that Paul had tried to jump at him, it was almost like he was expecting Paul to be upset - the problem was that Phil did not know who he was dealing with.
I might have not completely approved of his methods, and maybe was a little fearful of his safety but I helped him serve up the food. The special sauce may have found it's way into the sandwiches of some of the wolves from Sam's pack that had annoyed me. It was kind of funny, especially when I made a point to eat my sandwich. I could see exactly what was going through their heads, if a girl could do it they would too.
Phil was of course very polite to everyone, even when they were deliberately being rude to him. The others did not know him well enough to notice Phil's smile did not quite reach his eyes. These people were not his friends, but then everyone especially the wolves all make tried their best to exclude him as much as possible. They kept mentioning topics and people that Phil would know nothing about. I guess they realized intimidation would not work on Phil, they were going for making him feel excluded. I was trying to make up for it by standing closer and closer to Phil; at one point I had an arm around his waist while leaning into him. This seemed to bother the wolves so I kept it up, Phil noticed too and put his arm around my shoulder. It should have felt awkward but it felt natural - I was leaning on him, but at the same time he was leaning on me.
I saw Emily walking through the crowd and talking to everyone, she was smart enough not to come to where Phil and I were standing. Jake's sister came to talk to us for a while, she was polite but a little cautious. I guess there were too many secrets to protect, I knew both Jake and Sam disapproved of me spending this much time with a human that would have been known by the mates as well. They thought the more time I spent with him the higher the chances of me letting something slip.
Jake and Seth noticed what Sam's pack was doing to Phil and much to my gratitude intervened. Most everyone had eaten and people were just sitting around talking now. So my pack challenged Phil to a game of poker. I knew they had been playing with Emmett and Jasper, in other words learning how to cheat. I should probably have warned Phil but he was smart enough to figure it out.
"Come on Phil, you up for a little game?" Jake teased pulling out a deck of cards.
"What are you playing?" Phil asked with a small smile.
"Poker." Jake quickly listed the rules. Phil agreed and they sat down at a half empty table. Quil and Embry joined us at the table. It was somewhat of a pleasant surprise how quickly my pack was ready to stand up for me and my friend.
I sat next to Phil, not wanting to join in the game, but not ready to leave Phil alone yet. I trusted my pack to watch my back, I did not trust them not to try to embarrass me in some way if I left them with Phil. It was at the third game that Jake suggested betting a little money. While Phil was distracted gathering up the cards to deal the next round, I glared at Jake but all he did was give me a big smile.
I watched Phil shuffle the cards, he really did have graceful fingers. He knew how to handle the cards, I thought about it for a moment, Jake and the pack did not stand a chance against him. Seriously they were going to be creamed by Phil, I had never met anyone who was as good at hiding his emotions. With poker it was all about keeping everything inside, the boys were screwed.
Feeling confident in Phil's abilities I wandered off to get a refill on my drink. All that was left was diet coke, which I refused to drink. I headed into the kitchen to get some water instead. I had to push my way through several people in my way, it was a good thing that I had wolf strength.
"Hey Leah nice of you to actually join us, what we are not good enough for you?" An annoying voice cut stopped me in my tracks.
"Oh hey Paul are you all right, I am sorry you could not handle a little bit of spice," I have to admit I was feeling a little smug. I had truly enjoyed the look of Paul's face when he had taken a big bite of my sandwich. I smiled at the memory, I was not going to let Paul ruin my good mood.
Paul was trying to think of a quick rejoinder but he had been the one to get burned on our last encounter. The fact that Phil's personality leaned more towards the playful had become obvious early on, but I had not realized until now that he was l was such a trickster. Maybe I should go outside after and warn the boys.
They would learn quick enough, instead after getting some water to drink I went to talk to Kim. I remember her from school, she had seemed nice enough even if she was a little quiet.
"Hi Kim, how is it going?" I said finally locating her sitting off in a quiet corner. She seemed a little shocked that I was talking to her. It might have been because I had a smile on my face.
"Oh hi Leah, I am good, how are you?" She replied in a small voice. She was looking around, my guess she wanted Jared to come protect her. I gave up on the conversation pretty quickly, she was too afraid to actually speak to me.
My bladder had other concerns as well. I tried the downstairs bathroom but of course it was occupied. I had been to Sam's house enough times to know the way to the upstairs bathroom. Fortunately for me only one person was ahead of me in line.
Even then by the time it was my turn to I had to cross my legs. I practically pushed the person in front of me out of the way as I rushed into the bathroom. I muttered an apology as I ran inside and slammed the door shut.
There was only a small amount of toilet paper left once I finished, so after washing my hands I reached under the sink to get some more.
I was just pulling out a few extra rolls that Sam's mother kept under the sink when I knocked something over. I picked up the large bottle of pills, I was about to put the bottle back inside the when I looked at the label.
At first I was confused but then I was shocked. Who the hell would take prenatal vitamins. Then I figured it out, Emily was pregnant?
I fell to my knees. I don't know how long I sat there just staring at the bottle of pills in my hand. I felt myself go under the dark wave as bitterness engulfed me, all my progress from the past month was lost in just a few seconds.
A/N: I promise to put up the next part very soon, sorry about the harsh ending it was just getting too long.
Twilighter: I am starting to feel like this is something illicit. Oh well, all fun and games until someone imprints :D. I am glad you like the new rule. It seems to be working out, except for my laundry. It apparently does not fold itself (stupid laundry). By the way I had to cut back on this chapter, I was looking at over 15,000 words. But I promise to get the next one out soon.
Toshii519: I think and this is just me that SM's Leah thought that imprinting was her way out, and unfortunately for her I am too mean to let it be that easy - it will make her a better person and have better relationships. She should have noticed about the snaps of the bra but you know how things are, the human mind is really good at denial.
Mss animegoddess: Phil would like to tell you that he is not "Philly bear", and he can be really mean when necessary. You do not want to see his game face, just kidding he really is a big teddy bear.