Chapter 1: Sweet dreams – Eurythmics

Embry POV

I slowly pried my window open. I had left it unlocked in order to sneak in after patrol so my mom wouldn't hear me coming through the front door. If I was lucky, she wouldn't have checked up on me during the night, but that was most likely just wishful thinking. She didn't know about the wolves and the pack, and I wanted it to stay that way even if it meant having my own mom yell at me every single morning. I saw no reason to let her in on the secret other than making things easier on myself, and that to me wasn't a good enough excuse. She could not only be in danger by knowing, but I was afraid of how she would react. What if she would fear me if she found out her only son could turn into a giant, vampire-killing wolf. And even if she somehow accepted that part of me, there was no telling if she would be ok with what I did. She could forbid me going on patrols for the sake of my education or safety – the last one would be ridiculous, but she was my mother after all. It was her job to worry, which led us back to the yelling and scolding every morning. She thought I had been going through some sort of rebellious stage or something ever since high school when I first started turning. Little did she know it was so much more than just a stage. Most people in the rez didn't know about the pack and therefore thought Sam was the leader of some sort of gang, and many looked down at us. I couldn't really blame them. I wouldn't be that fond of the thought of a growing local gang either, especially not if I had kids of my own to worry about.

I silently slid through my now open window and carefully closed it after me. My room was a mess with all the junk laying around. If it hadn't been for mom, my room would look even worse, but she came in here daily to clean up my dirty clothes even if I were 19 and could easily deal with that myself. She just never gave me the chance to clean up and wash my own clothes as "I was too slow" – her words not mine. Yeah, she would be slow too if she had to patrol every other night and day, and on top of that had work.

I didn't bother taking off my cut-off shorts as I let myself fall heavenly onto my bed that complained under my weigh with creaking noises. I stiffened at the sound and listened to the silent house around me. I could hear mom's heavy breathing coming from her bedroom and instantly relaxed. Good. I didn't wake her.

I tried finding a more comfortable position as silently as possible. I was exhausted and it was going to be yet another long day tomorrow. My eyes drifted towards my digital alarm on my bedside table and groaned. I had to wake up in four hours!

Well, better get the best of it.

.:-:.

"Can't you at least tell me what time I can expect you to be home?! I have completely given up on cooking for you! I do hope you eat with those friends of yours" mom was in the middle of her daily yelling-at-her-son-time while I played my part and listened silently until she was done. She had a few regular phrases she yelled at me. Some mornings she focused more on how I was wasting my life by fooling around and not applying to any colleges – as if I could leave La Push with the whole pack-thing. Other mornings she focused more on how I was doing what I did to punish her for not having a father. This morning she went on about how much of a burden I was and how she worried for my health. I wasn't sure which reprimand was the worse, thinking about it. It was hurtful that she thought of me like that, but that still didn't make me want to tell her about the wolves. That would be to ask too much of her – not even to mention I wasn't allowed to tell, but I couldn't blame Sam. The less who knew, the better.

When I felt she neared an end to her reprimanding profanities, I thought it best to get out of there. I kissed her cheek before she was able to turn away and told her I would be home late tonight as if she hadn't just yelled at me.

I let out a deep breath as I jogged down the street towards the forest. I had to be at Sam and Emily's an hour ago. Luckily, Sam never gave me hell about being late. He knew my home life wasn't as peachy as one could hope for.

I didn't bother phasing as it wasn't that far and I wouldn't save any time considering I had to change out and in to my clothes. When I reached Sam and Emily's the rest of the pack was already there. Most of the imprints were absent due to the fact that Kim and Ann had work while Claire was at school. Jacob and Nessie weren't there as they were still with the Cullens, but I knew Jacob had talked about coming home soon to stay here with Nessie when she was old enough – her aging still confused the shit out of me, but whatever floats his boat, right?

"About time, Em, what took you so long?" Quil grinned at me even though he knew the exact reason to my delay. I smiled widely at him.

"Oh, you know, the same old. I'm still working on a way to try and take over the world" I joked.

"Yeah, how is that going?" Jared smiled as he looked at me over his shoulder from where he sat at the kitchen table. I found a chair and took place beside Paul and Quil before I grabbed a muffin from the plate in the middle of the table.

"It's a work in progress" I took a bite of the muffin with a grin as the others chuckled – well, Leah snickered, but what did you expect?

"So what's the plan for today?" Seth asked with his mouth full of muffin. Sam began a long and tedious explanation of who was going to patrol where and when. Seriously, nothing ever happened - not since Ann came and that was like a year ago or something. Sure, Paul and she went to Italy to the wedding of Ann's brother a few months back, which had caused quite the uproar among the pack members. Paul had been torn about going to protect and support Ann or staying, as he hadn't been that hooked on visiting the vampire capital, not that I could blame him. I wouldn't want to visit the Volturi either. It was enough to meet the Volturi with the Nessie-drama a few years back. However, Ann had to go to her own brother's wedding of course. It was understandable that she wanted to go, but it had still been a high risk. Luckily, they had both returned safely a few days later. Paul didn't talk much about the event for more than one reason whereas the greatest was that he was a dude and really didn't get as excited about someone else's wedding like girls did. In addition, because it had apparently been uncomfortable being the only not-vampire to that wedding and it had made it rather tense. However, Ann hadn't seemed to noticed or she simply ignored it because when she told us about the wedding, she made it seem as every other wedding – not that I had been to that many – except for the fact that there hadn't been any food. Oh, and I believe she mentioned something about making a few friends there as well, which Paul had smirked at as if they had some sort of inside joke. Still, I pitied Paul for having been stuck at Dracula's wedding, but I guess it couldn't be avoided when he imprinted on a vampire.

It seemed all the drama and action that made this place go from dull to exciting and sometimes a little too exciting was always connected to vampires in some way or the other. First, there was Bella who attracted vampires like a magnet, then Nessie who caused trouble before she was even born and then Ann. What would be the next? Maybe it wasn't just vampires. Maybe it was women in general. It wouldn't surprise me. Everything always seemed to lead back to women anyways. Don't get me wrong! I'm not some masochistic jerk, but really, when you think about, didn't all conflicts include a woman in some way or the other. Well, when I thought about it, we men weren't historically that smooth either with all the acquisition of other countries and shit, but what did I know. I flunked High School and wasn't going to college all because I could turn into a giant wolf in my spare time.

No matter how much trouble women seemed to be, I couldn't help but envy those of my friends who had already found their imprint. I mean, seriously, it was supposed to be super rare, but almost half the pack was with their significant other by now. Paul didn't even want to imprint and now he was happier than he had ever been. It was actually a little bit scary how Paul had changed. He was still temperamental, but not as freakishly annoying as before. Moreover, it worked both ways. I remembered how Ann, hell, how all of the imprints were – maybe except for Claire and Nessie as they were so young when Jake and Quil imprinted – and they all seemed so happy all the freaking time! Who wouldn't envy that?! I wasn't even really worried about the chance of me imprinting on a vampire – sounds crazy, I know. I mean, Ann was pretty cool and most of the Cullens was decent enough. It had merely freaked me out a little when Paul imprinted on Ann – actually, it had freaked all of us out. We never thought it could be possible, especially not because our sole purpose was to bring down vampires! Besides, the theory about imprinting being a result of the best possible way to carry on our genes and whatnot kind of flunked after that. Not as if that had ever been a priority, it had merely been a theory as to why imprinting happened.

Anyways, it would be nice to have that unconditional happiness with someone you were destined to be with. The thought of my own imprint being out there somewhere was unnerving and almost painful seeing as the chance of us meeting were slim to none. Yes, I know, I'm a very optimistic dude. I had my moments. Get over it.

"Jared, Cody, Leah, Seth and I are going to take the first patrol. Brady, Paul, Quil and Embry take the next one in a few hours" Sam said as he rose from his chair and went to kiss Emily on her scarred cheek. I leaned back in the chair trying to get comfortable.

I didn't really want to bother going home. Mom would still be there, and I knew she wouldn't have cooled down just yet, so might as well chill here until my patrol started. Brady and Paul went into the living room to see if there was anything in the TV, while Emily was cleaning up after the muffins and otherwise rustling around in the kitchen. Quil kept me company by the table and quickly started talking about various engines and what not. I didn't have to tribute much to the conversation as he just kept going.

Sam and Emily's had always been a sort of safe-place ever since I started phasing. Before that, I hadn't needed a safe place. Back when my wolf-gene hadn't been triggered yet and I was just a regular human being, I had a good relationship with my mom. Back when she only scolded me for not getting my hair cut or not cleaning up after myself. Back when we still did stuff together like watch football or actually talk. Neither of us had ever been very talkative, but the only time we communicated now was when she yelled at me and I offered some halfhearted and dismissive comments. I missed her asking how my day had been. I remember how she used to go on and on about how Mrs. Locklear down at the grocery store talked her ears off and mom feared she would be invited home for coffee and pie.

I guess being a shape shifter changed things. Or maybe it was just secrets in general that fucked up relationships. Yeah, that sounded about right, but what could I do. Some secrets were just too big to share even with those you cared about the most. Mom was better off not knowing and being a part of this freaky world I lived in. Maybe I was beginning to be a bit melodramatic.