.
Chapter Seven
Nicky woke up the next day feeling so refreshed. Nicky looked at the clock, it read eleven fifty-six in the morning. She had slept for more than twelve hours. She sat right up in bed, shocked at how long she'd been asleep.
She quickly pulled on biker shorts and a baggy t-shirt and bounded into the hallway and down the stairs to the kitchen. Nicky was starving.
Paul was sitting at the table on his laptop, with his cell phone placed beside him. He didn't even look up before speaking.
"I called the chief. If you can convince your mom to let you stay here without her calling the cops, you're enrolled at the rez school for your senior year. You excited?" Asked Paul.
"Fuck yeah!" Said Nicky, smiling.
"I slept in for the first time in forever, do you mind if I make some breakfast?" Asked Nicky.
"Our kitchen is now your kitchen too kid. You don't have to ask. But–" Paul paused.
"Today we've been invited to the– uh, a group lunch with my friends. Suppose you're hungry and up for it. My uh–friend Emily makes really good food. It'd be at her house." Paul said, stuttering around any wolf terms he couldn't say.
"Fuck yeah, I'd love to go." Nicky drawled.
"Okay, it's in about five minutes. I was about to wake you if you didn't wake up soon. So get anything you need and we can head out." Paul said.
"Nah, I'm ready." Nicky assured Paul.
"Okay." He said.
Nicky and Paul walked towards the front door and Embry who was sitting in the living room, trying to empty his mind waiting for Nicky to wake up by watching mindless TV, got up from the couch and sauntered over to the foyer.
"Good morning chica. Slept like a rock huh?" Embry addressed Nicky.
Fuck yeah, I did. Best sleep of my life." She enunciated the last word, and it made Embry chuckle.
Paul gave Embry a quizical look. Embry hadn't laughed in what felt like months.
"You have a dirty mouth." Paul grinned as he opened the door, trying not to think about how weird Embry was acting.
They all walked out and towards their cars, Embry and Paul keeping a human pace for Nicky.
"We'll drive ahead if you want to follow us in your car?" Asked Paul.
"Sure." Nicky responded.
Nicky hopped into her car and followed closely behind Paul and Embry's truck as they led her to their friend's house for lunch. They drove for just a couple of minutes and then arrived at a small bungalow near the beach.
Nicky parked behind Embry and Paul's truck on the gravel road. She got out of her car and walked toward them.
They walked together up the porch and Paul opened the door to Sam and Emily's.
The two men walked in and then Nicky followed them inside, closing the door behind her. Inside 'Emily's' house was chaotic. There had to be around twenty people inside her house. Most of the people were sitting at a very large table.
The whole room went quiet when the three of them entered the house.
Then it exploded with greetings.
Apparently it had been a while since Paul and Embry had been to one of these group lunches.
Nicky was immediately greeted by a young woman with long black hair and scars down her face. Nicky was pulled into her hug as she introduced herself as Emily.
Nicky felt so much happiness and joy from being in this big group of people. Her quick wit and dirty mouth got her a couple of stern looks from some adults but besides that she felt right at home. She had noticed that almost every girl and guy were coupled up, who sat at the large table.
Nicky was used to hanging out in small groups. Her friend group back in Toronto consisted of three girls, and they only hung out at school and when Nicky had the day off work. As far as family gatherings went, Nicky had never had any. She'd never experienced the feeling of twenty people gorging on Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner and making jokes.
Her mom had been high for the past approximately ten holidays and when she went to Darens, the holidays were a small, conservative event.
But here, Nicky had a lot of attention and was constantly being brought into conversations. Paul and Embry looked a little out of place at times throughout the meal. She assumed it was because they were two of the only guys without a girl on their arms. Nicky got a million questions about how she became Pauls sister. It was a little overwhelming.
By the end of lunch, she was stuffed. Absolutely satiated.
After they said their last goodbyes, they headed out to their cars and headed home. Nicky was so surfeited that as soon as she got home, she went into her room to take a nap.
...
Embry had seen Nicky effortlessly fit herself into the pack lunch's conversations. She told funny stories and some that made Embry frown like when she told a story about her being high. She was captivating and could hold her own, in a room full of supernatural shifters. She was unbelievably intriguing. He was lusting after her every word.
For the first time in years, Embry enjoyed himself at a pack lunch. Nicky was clearly in the spotlight, for being the newest girl and Embry loved that she was getting so much attention. She deserved it after being ignored by her mom for so long.
Paul was another matter. He had been eyeing Embry for the entirety of the meal. Staying relatively quiet, like Embry but he wouldn't stop watching him. Paul was inquisitively staring at Embry non-stop throughout the meal.
At the end of the lunch, Jacob came up to Embry and clapped his hand on his shoulder.
"She's good for you." Jacob said to Embry.
"I think Paul knows, though." He said to him.
Embry thought that Paul might've guessed that he had imprinted on Nicky. He had a lot to discuss with Paul. He had to pull him aside and talk to him. He couldn't be brief. He'd have to be honest. He'd have to admit that he'd never hurt Nicky, that he'd work towards building a friendship with her, care for her, and make sure she'd always be safe.
But he couldn't be too honest. He couldn't admit that he found Nicky absolutely sexy and beautiful. He wanted to ravish her, eat her, and warm up her body in its entirety. He had to be candid, but not too candid about the feelings that he felt towards Paul's sister.
Embry pulled Paul aside before they got into their car.
"We need to talk alone, man." Said Embry as he swallowed.
"Yeah man, we do." Responded Paul.
Embry pulled his hair by the roots in a nervous fashion.
"Let's tell Nicky we'll get to the house late. Let's drive a mile out, and then get out and talk where there are no ears." Embry gestured to Emily's referring to all the shifters with supernatural hearing inside.
"Alright, alright." Agreed Paul.
They caught up to Nicky who was just reaching her car. Paul and Embry gently let Nicky know that they would arrive at the house a bit late. They explained to her that they had something small to take care of before getting to the house.
Nicky shyly nodded, understanding that there was clearly something she wasn't being let in on, some secret or information she wasn't being privy to, but too worn out and absolutely stuffed to start to fully analyze the dishonesty in front of her. So, she just warily nodded and then trudged to her car, where she slid in the driver's seat and started to drive to the house.
Embry and Paul got into their truck immediately after Nicky's departure and took off, driving slowly up the dirt road.
Paul was driving the truck and Embry was in the passenger seat. The silence was loud as Paul drove the two of them away from Emily's and up the dirt road.
Up the dirt road, at about the distance that would be halfway between their house and Emily's, Paul pulled the truck over to the side of the road, parking in the underbrush of the forest.
He pulled so far off the road, they were practically parking in the forest. They were right beneath the first trees where the forest began. They both sat stoically in the car, unmoving, barely visibly breathing.
"I imprinted on Nicky when I first saw her." Embry breathed his confession out so quietly it could've been a noise in the wind instead of a sentence.
Paul felt that this information should've left him reeling, hostile, and vindictive. But Paul didn't feel bitter or virulent.
Paul had stayed quiet throughout the lunch at Emily's. Nicky was enjoying herself and Paul felt no need to buddy up with his packmates. Nicky was happy. That was all that mattered. She was enjoying herself, and around people that cared about her for the first time in a long time. The whole pack would be the family she needs for the rest of her future. Nicky was finally around people who would be there for her no matter what, protect her and be there for her. She was around family. And Nicky needed to be allowed to be immersed in her family for the moment, sans any conflict.
Because Paul noticed that Embry was paying way too much attention to Nicky. Paul noticed that Embry was engrossed in Nicky. Embry was fixated on Nicky's every word, every move and every breath. Embry looked fucking hypnotized. Embry looked like he would eat from Nicky's fucking feet if she asked. He looked like he'd do anything she ever asked him to do.
While looking at Nicky and Embry interact, and the way that Embry looked at Nicky, was engrossed by her, Paul came to understand the truth. The truth was basically transparent in the in the room. Embry had imprinted on Nicky. Nicky was Embry's imprint.
At the table where all of Paul's packmates and imprints were sitting, and Paul's sister, Nicky was perched at the table eating alongside all the people that cared about Paul, and the new family that Nicky was being introduced to, Paul couldn't cause a scene. His face remained stoic as he internally fought through the rush of vicious colourful emotions.
In that moment he hated Embry. He wanted to kill him. But he had to think of Nicky, who was finally with family that cared about her wellbeing, despite not knowing it, Nicky who was smiling at the table, the imprints, who were just human and vulnerable if he snapped and phased in that moment and his pack that would chastise him if he blew up around their imprints.
In the moment that it all became clear to Paul that the stupid fucking imprint curse fucking got everyone in his life. It cut through his family tree and bound the whole damn lot into a fucking irreversible spell. The damn imprint was everywhere and it bound so many innocent humans, young naive girls into this life filled with shifters and vampires.
But, maybe it was fate that Paul realized the nature of Embry's intentions as they all were sat at the table together. Because Paul was able to look around and mellow out as he looked around himself and saw Emily and Sam, and all the other imprints getting along with each other.
As the rage, fever and fury fought to overtake him, he looked around for a distraction from the ball of fire that was making its way up his throat and he didn't find a distraction, he found love. Paul looked around the table as he wrestled with his inner wolf that was trying to break free in the middle of a fucking lunch, where his fucking best friend, roommate, and brother imprinted on his own sister and instead of setting his wolf free he found infinite love around him.
Love that is true, pure, sure and absolute surrounded Paul at the table. The imprints and their mates, the pack and their imprints surrounded him on all fronts. He pushed down his rage, and the red, the vermilion colour that rolled off his vision in waves slowly ceased as the adoration, love, acceptance, and unwavering love in the room engulfed him.
It dawned on Paul that Nicky would always have a protector, a friend, a caregiver, and someone to love her. She wouldn't just have one family member, she'd have two pieces of her family here in LaPush. She'd no longer have one person backing her up in life she'd have the whole pack. She'd no longer have just one broken man for support, trying his best but just trying nonetheless, instead she'd have a whole family.
Paul realized how much family and support would unconditionally be granted to Nicky, how much love and support in her life, she would gain, and how much help in raising Nicky Paul would secure.
Paul's love for Nicky was deep, and esoteric, despite being new. But in the past, he'd been unable to show and give proper love. Love in his past had been conditional, fleeting and limited. He'd been scared about being the only family that Nicky would have after she'd come from such a dark home, he couldn't, he wouldn't let this home be dark for her as well, because he was dark, and he was scared he'd let that darkness seep into Nicky's life.
But Nicky would never see darkness in her home life again. Now she had a secure future, a caring family, unwavering support and unconditional love from Embry, forever. Sitting at that table, surrounded by his family is where Paul came to terms with the fact that Embry had imprinted on Nicky. There, Paul's rage turned stagnant. His fury rolled over his body and then slowly evaporated into thin air as the reality of the situation materialized before him.
Now as he sat in his truck with Embry beside him, and as he heard Embry's confession that Nicky was indeed Embry's imprint he didn't feel infuriated, nor did he feel overly joyous, but he felt confident that it would be the right thing.
Paul felt assured by the implicit agreement that Embry would always be there for Nicky. He felt composed and collected knowing that Nicky would unconditionally be loved by so many people.
Paul let down his stoic mask to bear the truth of the situation to Embry. Paul's face went from a restrained, composed, stone-cold veil to the worn down, exhausted, flustered and insecure expression of a man whose just facing more than he can bear alone.
"I need a drink." Paul admitted with a shaky laugh.
"I have no idea how to–to parent or how to be an older brother to this kid who just ran away from her junkie mom. I have no idea what I'm doing. All I want to do is go out, get hammered, get laid and do everything in my power to forget that I just had so many obligations dropped on me. I have responsibilities now. I'm so stressed now. I don't know how to do this." Paul admitted while running his hands through his hair.
Embry just listened to Paul rant as he sat beside him with a patient expression. This was Paul's turn to bear his feelings. Embry would undoubtedly get his chance.
"I want to get fucked up and wasted, to be honest. And I wanted to fight you when I found out at the fucking table by the stupid way your face looked as you watched Nicky– my sister, the sister I just found out I had." Paul breathed out and then brought his exhausted, baggy eyes directly up to Embry's eyesight.
"But I can't do this alone. And she needs more love than just me alone can offer her. She deserves someone who will love her unconditionally, and I accept it, man. But if you hurt her, I will fuck you up. I'll carve out your body, maul you, chew out your organs, and leave you for dead. And I'll do it so quickly, no one will have time to alpha order me to stop. I'll fucking kill you if you hurt her." Paul uttered somberly into Embry's stare.
Embry took a deep breath while holding Paul's deadly cold stare. Paul looked exhausted. The bags under his eyes were a dark shade. He had a sickly look to him. His skin seemed to have a pale tint to it, he looked like he desperately wanted to drink, and the last words he uttered sent a dark chill through the car. Paul looked tired and miserable, but the impact of his words weren't lessened by his drained appearance. This connection Embry had with Nicky now would definitely be a test of their friendship.
"I will never hurt her." Embry whispered as he caved to Paul's more dominant stare and bared his neck in submission as he spoke.
Embry surrendered any scrap of dominance and confidence he felt he had at the beginning and lowered his head even more, giving full power to Paul. He slouched a little in his car seat as he began to fight for words, any words, and none were coming to him now as he thought of how he was already hurting Nicky by having fantasies of her in his arms, with her creamy legs entangled around his.
Embry felt as though he was fighting for air, despite his supernatural reflexes. He hesitantly pulled in a breath of air. He shook his head back and forth a couple of times, rattling his brain in its skull container trying to shake out his constant sensual daydreams he'd have of Nicky that haunted his morals and ethics.
"I only want the best for her." Embry finally stuttered out, in his meek position, below Paul's raining authority.
"I know I barely know her. And I have so much to learn. But I-I, when I saw her for the first time, when I looked into her eyes, my whole world changed. Anything I ever used to care about, although it was minimal, it just disappeared. I only see her, her wants, and her needs. That's what makes me happy. Seeing her happy, makes me happy. I just know it, I feel it. I'll protect her and I'll care for her. I promise." Embry breathed out, stuttering over a couple of words, feeling absolutely beat.
"I hope so." Paul dubiously said as he turned to face the rearview mirror.
"I hope so." He breathed out once again, with a crease in his eyebrows as he began to drive slowly towards their house.
Review if you like.
Words Of The Day:
Surfeited: having one's appetite completely satisfied
Virulent: having or showing a desire to cause someone pain or suffering for the sheer enjoyment of it
Esoteric: difficult for one of ordinary knowledge or intelligence to understand
Dubiously: as in suspiciously, with distrust
