Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

18 • School Group

QUIL'S POV

I made my way up Sam's driveway glancing around for Claire's car. She wasn't home. Ever since school started up again, I hadn't seen as much of her. She had gotten involved with some school group that focused on environmental causes. I think this week's fight was a campaign to "Save the Wolves."

Things had been...normal since the summer. Nothing had changed between us. She had spent the rest of her summer hanging out with me. She never mentioned that Sully kid to me, and I knew after carefully probing Emily for information, that Claire wasn't dating him.

I chuckled to myself as I thought about Claire's 16th birthday party. Her Makah friends Ashley, Amber, and of course Lindsey, had come down for the big day along with Claire's parents, sister, and brother. Best yet, Sully and his entourage had not been invited. Most of the wolf pack had been there too.

Collin had never left Lindsey's side. I knew from the worried glances exchanged between Stacy and Ronnie that they had been concerned about an older guy obviously hitting on their teenage daughter's best friend. Stacy had even made a comment to me about it, and I had had to reassure her that Collin was harmless.

It had been a simple party. Just some birthday cake and ice cream. But it had been a lot of fun and I knew that Claire had enjoyed it as well.

Claire's parents, Sam and Emily, and I had all chipped in to get Claire a car. It was actually something that the guys and I had fixed up in the garage, so it hadn't been that expensive. It wasn't that pretty to look at, but it ran, and it had one of the safest road records on the market.

Claire had loved it. As soon as she had seen it, she had thrown her arms around my neck and had given me a great big hug. She, Ashley, Amber, and Lindsey had promptly gotten into the car and had spent the rest of her birthday joyriding around the reservation.

Still smiling at the memory, I knocked on Sam's front door and let myself in. I walked into the living room. I could see Ryan, Gracie, and Nate in the backyard. It looked like Nate and Ryan were trying to build some type of birdhouse. Ryan wasn't getting much done because Gracie kept hanging on his back. I heard a groan and looked over.

Sam and Emily were on the couch making out. She was sitting on his lap. Oh shit! I quickly turned to leave, but the wood floor underneath my feet groaned loudly.

"Oh, hey Quil," Emily said, sliding quickly off Sam's lap. She had an embarrassed expression on her face. Sam looked like he was going to kill me.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt...uh...well, interrupt whatever. I was just hoping you'd know when Claire would be home."

"She had a meeting for that school group she's in. She should be home around 5 pm." Emily told me. "You want to stay and wait for her. Dinner should be ready soon."

"Sure," I replied, sitting down in the chair. I made sure to stay away from the couch where Sam was sitting. He had a disgruntled look on his face. Emily got up and went into the kitchen.

Running a hand through his hair, Sam glanced over and me and chuckled. "Relax Quil."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt--"

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Sam reassured me, though he still had a slightly frustrated look on his face.

"Did you hear about Collin." I asked, still not making eye contact.

"No, what now?" Sam said.

"Apparently Lindsey told him she liked him. They're emailing each other now everyday." I told him, rolling my eyes. Collin had been so ecstatic, he had stopped by the shop today to gush about it. He had acted like a little girl with a schoolgirl crush on someone.