Post by swivelteeth on May 4, 2008 10:07:54 GMT -5
In the house of Emily Young no one fought. Or, at least, Emily tried to keep the peace. It was truly a challenge, with all the hormonal, over-dramatic werewolf teenagers constantly inside of it, but when Emily set her mind to something, it usually came out her way.
Instead of the bickering that had ended as soon as she had taken out the wooden spoon it was now quiet and tense. She knew Leah and Embry weren’t the best of friends but this was ridiculous. Letting a loud and obvious sigh, she glanced at the two of them, only to find there was no progress. Taking out her frustration on the eggs she was beating, she mashed the spoon into the bowl, tongue sticking out from between her teeth slightly in concentration. If she couldn’t get them to get along, the least she could do was give them something to eat.
“Leah, dear, could you grab the flour from the pantry please?” she asked while she took out a pan and started washing it in the sink, preparing it for the cookie doe batter she had concocted. Everyone seemed to enjoy her sugar cookies best but she secretly preferred the oatmeal raisin. Since everyone was busy that day she had decided to bake her secret pleasure but then Embry and Leah had shown up. Now she’d have to make double. Not that she minded; cooking was therapeutic for her, not to mention how happy it made her small family.
The door slammed open.
Now, along with the few rules Emily kept in her house, slamming the door was one of the things you were not supposed to do. She knew (hoped) that the pack members were smart enough to avoid doing such a thing, so either it was Collin or Brady, or something was wrong. She would have originally guessed Paul but lately he had seemed strangely at ease. Content, even. Maybe something had caused him to lose his temper (again)?
When she leaned back to look into the hallway she dropped the pan she held in her hands in surprise. It was Sam, but it didn’t look like Sam. The serene, loving face she had come to find familiar on her fiancé’s face was replaced with a look of barely controlled fury. His hands were shaking, causing tiny droplets of rainwater to fall across the carpet. A small gasp escaped her mouth and her hand flew to her chest. Underneath it she could feel her heartbeat pick up in alarm. Like a jack rabbit’s. She hadn’t seen him look like that since that day on the beach…instinctively, her fingers traced over the scars on her face. Something was wrong, something was very wrong.
Instantly rushing to his side she looked up (way up, he was so much taller than she was) into his face helplessly. “Sam, sam,” she called to him, hoping to bring him back from wherever his dark thoughts were.
”What’s wrong? What happened?” She could hear in her voice that she was close to tears. Great, just what he needed, a crying Emily. She brushed away any oncoming tears and took his trembling hands in hers. “Sam?”
For a moment he didn’t even acknowledge the fact that she was there. Then, as if waking from a spell, he looked down into her sweet face and sighed, kissing the top of her head and holding her close (not too close or too hard, he didn’t want to hurt her). Releasing her, he said, “Go upstairs and get a few changes of clothes from my dresser. And your purse. We’re going over to Kate’s house.”
She nodded and darted up the stairs, sensing the urgency in his strained voice. It left Sam alone in the front room, dripping wet and trying to control his fury. If Emily thought keeping Embry and Leah from fighting was hard, she’d never know what it felt like to do this. He wanted to explode. He felt like he was going to explode. That leech. That damn leech.
Walking briskly into the kitchen his eyes went straight to the beautiful but often scowling Native American currently occupying one of the chairs at the table. “Leah,” he said, his voice sharp. “You’re on patrol early. Go find Jared and Quil and secure the borders. One of the vampires crossed the line. Be careful.” His eyes bored into hers, trying to make her understand that he didn’t have time for any of her usual objections to such orders. “Be quick about it. I’ll join you once I get Emily to the Crow’s.”
Finally noticing the other person in the room, he frowned. Jake would be with Paul and that would be enough to look after Emily but there was always Kate, and he wasn’t even sure if Annie was over there…it would be helpful to have Embry there, too. Not to mention he had no idea how Jake was going to explain this to Kate. He’d probably need help, and Paul, with his broken everything would be able to offer little. Hell, he might phase in her house. That would be disastrous.
Sam was the only one in the pack that knew how close Embry and Paul had gotten and he was hoping that the younger werewolf would be able to keep his friend in check. Hoping rather desperately, in fact.
Instead of the bickering that had ended as soon as she had taken out the wooden spoon it was now quiet and tense. She knew Leah and Embry weren’t the best of friends but this was ridiculous. Letting a loud and obvious sigh, she glanced at the two of them, only to find there was no progress. Taking out her frustration on the eggs she was beating, she mashed the spoon into the bowl, tongue sticking out from between her teeth slightly in concentration. If she couldn’t get them to get along, the least she could do was give them something to eat.
“Leah, dear, could you grab the flour from the pantry please?” she asked while she took out a pan and started washing it in the sink, preparing it for the cookie doe batter she had concocted. Everyone seemed to enjoy her sugar cookies best but she secretly preferred the oatmeal raisin. Since everyone was busy that day she had decided to bake her secret pleasure but then Embry and Leah had shown up. Now she’d have to make double. Not that she minded; cooking was therapeutic for her, not to mention how happy it made her small family.
The door slammed open.
Now, along with the few rules Emily kept in her house, slamming the door was one of the things you were not supposed to do. She knew (hoped) that the pack members were smart enough to avoid doing such a thing, so either it was Collin or Brady, or something was wrong. She would have originally guessed Paul but lately he had seemed strangely at ease. Content, even. Maybe something had caused him to lose his temper (again)?
When she leaned back to look into the hallway she dropped the pan she held in her hands in surprise. It was Sam, but it didn’t look like Sam. The serene, loving face she had come to find familiar on her fiancé’s face was replaced with a look of barely controlled fury. His hands were shaking, causing tiny droplets of rainwater to fall across the carpet. A small gasp escaped her mouth and her hand flew to her chest. Underneath it she could feel her heartbeat pick up in alarm. Like a jack rabbit’s. She hadn’t seen him look like that since that day on the beach…instinctively, her fingers traced over the scars on her face. Something was wrong, something was very wrong.
Instantly rushing to his side she looked up (way up, he was so much taller than she was) into his face helplessly. “Sam, sam,” she called to him, hoping to bring him back from wherever his dark thoughts were.
”What’s wrong? What happened?” She could hear in her voice that she was close to tears. Great, just what he needed, a crying Emily. She brushed away any oncoming tears and took his trembling hands in hers. “Sam?”
For a moment he didn’t even acknowledge the fact that she was there. Then, as if waking from a spell, he looked down into her sweet face and sighed, kissing the top of her head and holding her close (not too close or too hard, he didn’t want to hurt her). Releasing her, he said, “Go upstairs and get a few changes of clothes from my dresser. And your purse. We’re going over to Kate’s house.”
She nodded and darted up the stairs, sensing the urgency in his strained voice. It left Sam alone in the front room, dripping wet and trying to control his fury. If Emily thought keeping Embry and Leah from fighting was hard, she’d never know what it felt like to do this. He wanted to explode. He felt like he was going to explode. That leech. That damn leech.
Walking briskly into the kitchen his eyes went straight to the beautiful but often scowling Native American currently occupying one of the chairs at the table. “Leah,” he said, his voice sharp. “You’re on patrol early. Go find Jared and Quil and secure the borders. One of the vampires crossed the line. Be careful.” His eyes bored into hers, trying to make her understand that he didn’t have time for any of her usual objections to such orders. “Be quick about it. I’ll join you once I get Emily to the Crow’s.”
Finally noticing the other person in the room, he frowned. Jake would be with Paul and that would be enough to look after Emily but there was always Kate, and he wasn’t even sure if Annie was over there…it would be helpful to have Embry there, too. Not to mention he had no idea how Jake was going to explain this to Kate. He’d probably need help, and Paul, with his broken everything would be able to offer little. Hell, he might phase in her house. That would be disastrous.
Sam was the only one in the pack that knew how close Embry and Paul had gotten and he was hoping that the younger werewolf would be able to keep his friend in check. Hoping rather desperately, in fact.