Call of the Heart // Paul Lahote

VII

     Elizabeth tried to keep her thoughts to herself while she was on patrol with Sam. Every once in a while she would let her mind wonder and hear Sam chuckling at her. She'd growl at him playfully and the pair would continue their patrol.

    "Who'd have thought that the douchebag high school dropout would be imprinting on you? Even better, you imprinting on him?" Sam joked and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

    "What am I supposed to do now? I don't know anything about this guy." Elizabeth asked Sam, who stopped for a second to look at the silver wolf beside him.

    "Why don't you just start by getting to know him?" Sam suggested, an amused hint in his voice.

    "Great advice, dad." Elizabeth rolled her eyes and the two of them laughed, starting to make their way towards Emily's house again. It was the middle of the night and there was no threat in the area, Sam figured it would be best if Elizabeth got at least some sleep before having to go to school.

     They shifted back with their backs turned to each other, having already given up hiding behind trees every time they had to shift.

     "Jared has patrol in the morning so Embry will pick you up to go to school." Sam announced and Elizabeth raised her eyebrow at Sam.

     "Why can't I just drive by myself?" She questioned and Sam shrugged.

     "I just thought it would be easier this way." Elizabeth knew he wasn't saying something and eyed him suspiciously, but quickly realized he wasn't going to let her in on whatever it was.

     She huffed, grabbing some leftovers from dinner before going up to her room, waving Sam goodnight.

***

     Elizabeth was up earlier than usual and once dressed, she followed the delicious smell of waffles towards the kitchen downstairs, finding Emily behind the stove.

     "Sam is so lucky to have you, he gets this wonderful human being who is lovely and a great cook and what do I get? A player who's also a high school drop out." Elizabeth mused and Emily laughed at her in amusement as she watched Elizabeth sit down at the table and let out an exasperated sigh.

     "Good morning to you too, Ellie." Sam chuckled when he came downstairs, kissing the top of Emily's head before grabbing himself some water.

     "I think there's a reason the two of you imprinted on each other." Emily spoke up and Sam and Elizabeth both looked at her in confusion.

     "Please, enlighten me." Elizabeth said, straightening up in excitement when Emily placed a plate full of waffles in front of her.

     "Well, Paul has his fair share of flaws, including being a player and not to mention his anger issues, but you're not perfect either. Recently you've become more confident, but you've always been very quiet and kept to yourself. Never wanting to offend anybody with your words." Emily started explaining and Elizabeth listened intently over the sound of her chewing. "Maybe the reason that you imprinted on each other is because you can help each other grow to be better people, Paul to be in more control of his emotions and you to be more assertive and confident. You'll see." Emily winked at Elizabeth.

     "You're going to be one hell of a mom one day Em." Elizabeth got up and hugged Emily, surprising both her and Sam with her words.

     "What about me, am I not going to be a great dad?" Sam huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

      "You'll be alright." Elizabeth joked and her and Emily laughed as Sam glared at her.

     Someone honking outside caught their attention and Emily handed Elizabeth a lunchbag, Sam already pushing her out of the house, making her laugh.