At the pack meet on Friday, Sam wanted to keep the patrol schedule just as full as it always was. Thankfully, he was alone.
I told him, "You can fill in all the gaps if you want, but the rest of us just need to run the border once a day."
We all had slightly different specialties. Jared had the best sense of sight, Jake the best sense of smell. Paul was the strategist. I had an ability to predict the movements of an opponent during sparring.
We weren't sure what Sam's specialty was but we figured it would come up when we needed it. So everyone had to run the border once a day and report their findings to the group chat. That left a lot of free time.
"Embry! Embry!" A voice was calling from outside my bedroom window at 11 pm on Saturday night.
"What's up, Jake?" I opened my window so he'd stop shouting.
"I imprinted! On Bella!"
"Oh, that's lucky. Did you tell her about the wolves?"
"Not yet. I'm kind of nervous."
"She knows about the cold ones and she's your imprint. Tell her. She'll be fine."
"What do I need to know about imprinting?"
"I don't know." I said honestly.
"Can you come with me to visit Old Quil tomorrow?" Jake suggested. 'We'll ask him. Ten, ok? I don't really want to talk to my dad about it."
"Yeah, see you there."
Quil answered the door. "Jake's already with my Gramps. Come on."
Quil led me to Old Quil's study.
"What did I miss?" I asked.
"We were just talking about the hokwat." Old Quil said.
Jake's face flashed with fury at hearing Bella called that, but he quickly calmed.
"What do we need to know about imprinting?" I asked, redirecting the conversation.
"When did you imprint, Embry?"
"A few weeks ago."
"And have you told her?"
"No, I'm still trying to get to know her. It's Leah Clearwater. She's out of my league."
"Embry, she will be drawn to you in the same way that you are drawn to her."
I thought about the times that her heart rate picked up and when her breath hitched. "I've got plans set up with her, to see her again. I'll tell her. Her dad knows about the imprint so I know I have to tell her soon."
"Good, and have you decided on a beta?"
"A beta?"
"The backup, who will be in charge of the pack if you are not available or injured."
"Paul." Jake and I said together.
Jake continued. "He already leaves Paul in charge when he goes to school."
"He has a lot more experience than me, and he is wise, but his position is different. Do I need to do anything to make him officially beta?"
"Tell him. Then he will know that he has the authority."
"Ok, any advice on how to tell Leah about the imprint?"
"She already knows the legends. She won't take much convincing about the wolves."
"I'm not worried about telling her about the wolves." I said. "I'm worried she won't like the imprinting business."
Jake snorted. "She might not."
"So how do I tell her?"
"You'll have to trust the spirits with it. You need to trust that the imprint is strong. What you feel for her, she is feeling similarly for you."
"That makes no sense. She barely talks to me."
"Hmmm. That does not mean she doesn't feel for you."
"Ok, I've got plans lined up, as I said, and it is my goal to tell her but the timing needs to be right. I can't mess this up. It's too important."
"But you can't hold off forever either."
"Of course not. That's why I'm working towards it. What did you tell Jake before I got here? Did I miss any important wisdom?"
"No, he was just telling me the story of his imprinting. As far as important wisdom goes, all I can say is cherish her. Some wolves take their imprints for granted, since it is supposed to be a sure thing. Cherish her and show her that you do. Don't rely on the imprint bond. Develop a real relationship. The imprint tells you who the relationship should be with. It is not a relationship."
I nodded. That all made sense. Jake had a few more questions, then we left. He went to see Bella. I went to tell Paul about his new role as beta.
On Monday, Quil sat with me and Seth at lunch. Quil and Seth seemed comfortable with each other. Seth was quick to poke fun at Quil's dumb comments but not in a hurtful way.
"So what's the plan today, Embry?" Quil asked.
"Uh, Jake is sick and he doesn't want to get Billy sick so he's been spending time at my place. I think he's going to be there this afternoon. I'd invite you guys over but I don't want anyone else to get sick too."
It was a terrible lie but Jake needed to have self control, especially around Quil who would sometimes say the dumbest shit and piss Jake off. He just wasn't ready.
"Do you guys want to come to my house?" Seth offered. My face lit up so he added, "Leah's working."
I tried not to show my let down. "That sounds like an awesome plan. Quil?"
"Yeah, what do you have for games? Embry has a Wii."
"We just have the N64 but we have a ton of games."
"And it doesn't matter that I have a Wii, dumbass." I added, "We can't go to my house because people are sick there."
"Oh, yeah." Quil said. "So we can go to Seth's."
"Now you're catching on. Seth, I can bring snacks."
"You don't have to. We have plenty right now. My mom went shopping yesterday."
"I'm not going to eat all your snacks. And Quil will definitely eat everything if you let him."
"I can bring drinks." Quil said.
"Soda?" I asked. Quil had somehow brought beer to several casual get-togethers so I needed to check.
"Of course. I finished the beer over the weekend."
"Perfect." I was relieved. I did not want to explain any of Quil's nonsense to Harry.
I picked out chips and crackers and two boxes of Little Debbie's. I went to Leah's line.
"Another party, Embry?" She asked as she scanned the items.
"No, there won't be any girls this time. When do you have another day off?"
"Not until Saturday. That'll be $17.44."
"I guess that will be the next party, huh?" I handed her $20.
"I guess." She rolled her eyes then looked down to make me change. She dropped the coins into my hand, then the bills and receipt. We made eye contact as she let her fingers drag along mine while she pulled away. The touch was nothing short of electric. "Maybe I'll see you Saturday," she said.
"Maybe I won't be able to stay away until then." I said and pocketed my change. I smiled at her one last time, turned and walked away. I think that was flirting. It felt nice. I felt almost dizzy with excitement.
I got to the Clearwater's before Quil. Harry greeted me with a warm handshake. "Leah's not home today, but Seth is."
"Yeah, I'm here to hang out with Seth." He came into the living room then. "Hey Seth!"
"Embry, you brought snacks. I told you that we had plenty." Seth complained.
"I wouldn't feel right about eating all of your food, or letting Quil eat it all. But once we get through what I brought, we can break into your snacks if it makes you feel better."
There was a pounding at the door then. Harry answered it. "Quil! You're a giant!"
Quil had a huge box of Mountain Dew in his hand. "Hey Harry! You seem like you've shrunk."
"Ha! I have not. Boys, I need to head out. Be good, ok. Don't make a mess." Harry walked out the door.
I started unloading the snacks. "Seth, I got swiss cake rolls for Leah. Can I leave them in her room?"
"She'd kick my ass if I let you in her room."
"Is her door locked?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Ok, is your mom home?"
"No, she's working until six."
"Great, I'll find her room on my own." I opened the doors off the hallway until I got to one that was obviously a girl's room. It wasn't girly or pink or anything. Everything was just nicely organized and arranged. The colors coordinated well but it wasn't a parents room. There was too much stuff on the wall. I put the swiss cake rolls on her dresser.
"Did you leave a note?" Seth asked.
"No, I'm thinking she'll know it's from me. You have plausible deniability now. You didn't let me in."
"Good thinking." Seth agreed.
"Why does Leah get the swiss cake rolls?" Quil asked. "I wanted some."
"Because she's working so she can't have any of the other snacks."
"Smart thinking, Embry. We don't want her mad at us for eating all the snacks."
"That's right, Quil, so what do you want to play?"
"Mario Kart!" He said excitedly. "I'm the best at N64 Mario Kart!" He was too.
On Tuesday afternoon, I had to help Paul set up a bank account. He needed Billy's help, since he was technically a ward of the tribe, but he needed other paperwork too and he wanted me to help him find it.
We went to his house, which wasn't in great shape. It wasn't cluttered or too messy. It was just dirty, like no one had mopped or cleaned anything in ages.
"The power and water were off for a while." Paul explained. "I just got them back on with the back pay."
"Shit, Paul, that sucks. I'm glad they're on now. But you'll still stay with us, right?"
"As long as your mom will have me. Now, where do moms keep things like birth certificates and social security numbers?"
"Oooh. It could be a couple of places. Is this a two bedroom?"
"Yep, and I've searched my parents' bedroom top to bottom."
"Good. Bathroom is a bad hiding spot because of water damage. So that just leaves your room, the living room and the kitchen. Is it possible that it's in your room?"
"Definitely not. That would be a stupid place to put it, worse than the bathroom."
"Ok, I'll look in the kitchen, I have some hunches. You look in the living room." He wasn't moving. "What's up?"
"I've already looked."
"Ok. Let me look into my hunches, and then I'll see what I can find in the living room."
I opened all the empty kitchen cupboards to get a visual of how everything was laid out. I looked on top of the fridge. There was a piece of paper between the fridge and the cabinet above it. I pulled it out and it was a tax form, a w-2. "Jackpot." I whispered under my breath.
"What is it?"
Of course Paul heard me. "Let's pull out the fridge." I could have pulled it out on my own but it was crazy fast between the two of us, like sliding a chair out from a table. There was a mess of papers behind the fridge.
Paul hugged me! "I knew you were the right person to help me."
"Glad I could help, brother." I said as I spread the papers on the kitchen table. "So birth certificate and social security card?"
"Yeah, one of them is blue."
"Here you go," I handed him the social security card. There were five papers that looked like birth certificates. I snatched them all. A marriage certificate, a death certificate and three birth certificates. One was Paul's. I handed it to him. "Let's put everything back in this folder and put it in the cabinet above the fridge so this doesn't happen again."
We went to Billy's with the paperwork in hand.
"I was wondering when you'd show up." Billy greeted us.
"We had to find his birth certificate and social security card." I explained.
"Oh, I have copies. I didn't even know you had those, Paul."
We exchanged a look. "Sorry." He whispered.
"It's fine. It was fun playing detective." I whispered back.
I drove them to the bank in Billy's car and waited for them in the lobby. It took longer than I expected. I remembered opening up an account with my mom and it was a breeze, but a lot of things were more difficult for Paul since he had no parents.
On Wednesday, Jake and Paul were at school. Paul felt that Jake was finally ready. I realized I had never seen Seth and Jake together, so I introduced them at lunch.
"Uh, thanks Embry, but Jake and I grew up like brothers." Seth said.
"How do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, Harry and Billy and Charlie Swan are all best friends so we all hung out together all the time." Seth explained
"Why didn't I know that?" I asked.
Jake answered, "because I didn't want to make you feel bad. You just had your mom and me and Quil. I had this huge extended family. So I just never talked about it. Quil knew because his dad was in the dad friend group before he died, but I didn't like rubbing it in his face either."
"So Leah's like your sister?" I asked Jake.
"Like my super bitchy sister, yes."
Seth looked at me. I think he was wondering how I'd react to that.
I sighed. "You could have told me. Or helped me out. You knew I liked her."
Jake just shrugged.
After school, we had a pack meet. I had told everyone to bring their bank deposit info for me to help set up the automatic payments. To my surprise, everyone had them and they all looked complete. The task was done.
"Ok, how have patrols been? This is a different schedule. What do you feel its weaknesses are? What should we be doing differently?"
"We need full coverage." Sam insisted. "We need 24/7, round the clock coverage."
"Why's that, Sam?" I decided now would be a good time to hash this out.
"In case there's a vampire."
"But if you're patrolling on the southern border and a vampire comes from the east, it could be an hour or more before you pick up their trail. By the time you get to their trail, they'll be in the village doing god knows what. How does it help the tribe for you to be so far away?"
Sam said nothing.
"Sam, I appreciate your input. You are welcome to patrol as often as you want, all night long. I'm just not having the whole pack do it unless I have a good reason to. Any other ideas? Did anyone see anything of note on patrol?"
No one said anything.
"Ok guys, please send an update to the group text even if you see nothing so that I know you patrolled and that you're ok, understand? We're having this meeting because not all of you are sending the text. Send the text and we won't have to have as many meetings."
I got affirmative murmurs.
"Ok, you guys can go."
I went home with Paul and put the bank deposit numbers in a safe place for Saturday. Then we played Mario Kart.
On Thursday after school, Paul and I did a shopping run. Leah wasn't at a register when we entered the store. Maybe she was on break. I took my time reading labels, hoping to stall enough to see her come back from break but no luck. Maybe she was on her meal break.
I felt a little dejected. I had told her I wouldn't be able to stay away until Saturday. I felt like I was going back on my word somehow. Maybe I could swing by tomorrow too, just to pick up something small, just to see her before Saturday…
Paul and I hosted Seth and Quil for games after school on Friday. I stopped by the store to see Leah on the way home. If she was at the register, I'd buy a bag of chips for the guys. If I didn't see her, I wouldn't bother.
She wasn't there. Maybe they changed her break schedule. Maybe I should come back in an hour. She definitely won't still be on break then.
Paul had made everyone comfortable and had a game set up when I got home.
I was all nerves. I didn't even take a controller. My knees were bouncing and I was watching the clock. When exactly one hour had passed, I shot out of my seat.
"I feel like getting some munchies. I'll be right back." I darted out the door like the road runner.
I ran to the store and my heart sank. She wasn't here. But I still had to get munchies for the guys so that I wouldn't look like a crazy person. I walked up to the chip aisle and bought a jumbo bag of store brand potato chips. I don't even know what flavor I grabbed.
I went to the shortest line. The cashier was around my age. I didn't know her so she was probably from Forks.
"Is Leah working today?" I asked, attempting to look nonchalant but probably failing.
"I haven't seen her, not for a few days."
"Ok, thanks." I paid for the chips and ran home.
Everyone was staring at me when I opened the door. Paul was giving me a warning look.
"Sorry guys, I had a craving. You know how it can be. I'm just so hungry sometimes."
Seth's face split into a grin. "Yeah, I feel like that a lot!"
"Me too." Quil said, "but my mom's such a good cook. It makes me really happy.
Paul gave a slight nod of approval. I grabbed a controller and played until Seth and Quil had to go.
"Embry, what the hell happened today?"
"It's Leah, she wasn't at work yesterday or today. I wanted to ask Seth about it but I didn't want to come off as a stalker."
"Maybe you just went during her break."
"That's why I went back and got the chips."
"Embry, that is stalker behavior."
"I know! I'm a mess. And I don't know where she is or if she's ok."
"Have you patrolled today?"
"No, not yet."
"I recommend you do that. It will help you calm down."
"Ok."
I ran like the wind around the border. Then, when I was almost home, I smelled a new smell. It wasn't a wolf and it wasn't a vampire. It was a human. It was Leah!
I phased to human, pulled up my shorts and followed the freshest part of her trail in a jog. It wasn't long before I saw her.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" I asked when I was still several yards away.
She turned and saw me. "Did you follow me?"
I laughed. "No, I'm out on a run." I stopped running to stand a few feet in front of her. "What are you doing out here?"
"Just walking and exploring."
"Can I walk you home?"
"No. I'm not done with my walk yet."
"Ok. Can I join you for your walk?"
"Uh… it's public land. I can't control where you go."
"Leah, I'm a little torn. On one hand, there's rumors of wolves, so I don't want to leave you alone for your safety. On the other hand, I don't want to follow a girl around the forest like a creep. On the other other hand, I'd like to walk with you, at least until we're closer to the village."
"That's a conundrum for you." She continued walking.
I walked beside her, matching my stride to hers. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes.
"The village is that way." I said, pointing over my shoulder.
"I'm not going to the village. I said I'm not done with my walk yet."
"Ah."
There was silence for a bit. We listened to the sounds of the forest, sounds I was so familiar with.
"I went to the store for munchies earlier." I said.
"I switched shifts."
"I went yesterday for my weekly shop, too."
"I was sick."
"I see. I, uh.. I like seeing you when I shop. I was disappointed."
"Did you go into my bedroom?"
"Shit, yes. You think I'm a creep, huh?" I squeezed my eyes shut but kept walking. I am a creep.
She didn't say anything. Her footsteps stopped so I stopped too. I opened my eyes and she was looking up at my face. I couldn't read the emotions on her face but her heart rate went up when our eyes met. Mine did too. She was so fucking beautiful.
"No, I thought the swiss cake rolls were thoughtful and sweet, and I thought it was charming and a little cocky that you didn't leave a note. You just knew that I would know that they were from you."
"Ok."
"And shopping isn't creepy, Embry."
"Ok."
"But I'm a little bit confused about your date tomorrow."
"My date?" I was confused too.
"Yeah, my dad has been giddy about it all week."
"What date?" I knew I didn't have a date with her because I never asked her, unless her dad was trying to set us up, but I didn't see her liking that at all.
"Your date with my dad."
I laughed. "Oh that date! Yeah. He invited me over for lunch and to help with some stuff for the council."
"Why does my dad need your help with stuff for the council? He's been on the council for decades."
"Ouch, you wound my pride. Maybe you should come along on the date, be a third wheel and find out."
"Ew. I'm not dating my dad."
"Fine, then I'm not either. I'll tell him we have to be just friends."
She smiled. It was exquisite. "You don't have to do that for me."
The sun was setting fast and it made me nervous for her. "Leah, I want to walk you back to the village. It's going to get dark soon."
"I know how to get there. I'm not afraid of the dark."
"Maybe I am."
She smiled again! "Ok. You can walk me to the woods behind my house if you want."
"Thank you. Can I hold your hand?"
"No." She said quickly and stomped off ahead.
I easily matched her pace but now we were walking faster. We were approaching the woods behind her house too rapidly for my taste.
"Bye, Embry. See you tomorrow," she said curtly when her house was in view.
I wanted to kiss her cheek again or something. I wanted some way to tell her this was the best walk I ever had and I want to do it again but I was coming up short. I was standing there, awkwardly, trying to think of what to do.
"Go home, Embry." She ordered.
"Yeah, ok, goodnight!" I swiftly retreated into the dark forest.
