Defining Normal | EMBRY CALL

Tethered

Embry was quite used to being a wolf. Phasing from man to beast was now as fluid as water, and patrolling the dark forests of La Push was just another day's work. That was normal enough. What wasn't normal, however, was the constant barrage of everyone else's inane thoughts, irrespective of if he actually wanted to listen. As much as he tried, Embry still wasn't quite comfortable with the whole pack mind thing - hello, privacy, where are you - and he especially disliked patrolling with the imprinted wolves.

When Embry first joined the pack, patrolling with Sam was constant Leah Emily Emily Emily oh god Leah madness, and it only got worse when Leah and Seth phased. It was weird, seeing the constant mental battle between Human-Sam and Wolf-Sam, between fighting the imprint and indulging his animalistic desires. In the end, he submitted to his lupine side, to the imprint, and committed to Emily. Sam maintained it was worth it, and he truly did love Emily. That was clear for anyone dipping in and out of the pack mind, picking up thoughts and memories of Emily amidst the general chaos. Embry even found himself thinking of Emily sometimes, even having a seriously weird dream once that the guys never let him forget. How was he supposed to help it, having to constantly see Emily like that? It was weird.

Jared's thoughts were a touch better, though Embry had to admit the raunchiness of his memories were both titillating and mortifying. And that was the thing about the pack mind - you saw everything, regardless of if it was intended to be shared. They'd agreed pretty early on that what was seen was not to be discussed outside of the mental link, bar the occasional highly embarrassing moment. That was always fair game. Fuck Paul and his constant torment. He was by far the worst offender, scanning thoughts for any kind of uncomfortable tone and saving ammo to use later. Embry'd get Paul back though, and there was nothing more therapeutic than a good sparring session, even if he routinely got his ass kicked. That was just par for the course.

Dynamic changes were also par for the course when it came to the pack. The leech drama a few years back - when Jacob finally got his ass into gear and started a new pack - meant that for a while the guys were separated. That well and truly sucked, and even though he had Quil and Jacob close by - the original trio! - he still missed the other guys. Time passed, shit happened, and eventually, the dust settled. He was still technically under Jacob's leadership, but since Jacob and Sam had worked out a truce they all patrolled together again. Back to the old shared mind, just with a little extra touch of supernatural politics to add some spice. When it came to Jacob's pack, Embry was comfortably his third-in-command, with Leah as beta. Quil and Seth were content, and their dynamics were pretty peaceful.

And then there was Sam's pack - absolute fucking chaos. Jared and Paul seemed to be constantly tussling for beta (Jared won, usually), with Leah sometimes jumping in to start shit. Every now and then one of the younger kids would try and pull rank on Embry - sometimes Collin, sometimes even the even younger newbies who were fucking fifteen, for Christ's sake. Embry'd get in the fray to shut that bullshit down, and he was a decent enough fighter to pin the offender down and nip them into submission. Otherwise, Embry tried to keep his ass out of trouble, preferring to spectate. That was where the real entertainment was.

Generally, pack life was pretty peaceful, especially in comparison to the drama a few years back. Most of the Cullens had moved on in the past few years, with only Edward, Bella and Ness remaining for Jacob's sake. Jacob couldn't be separated from his pack for too long, and they'd experimented enough to test the limits of the mental link. Jacob could communicate pretty easily at a distance - probably an alpha perk, though nobody was really sure - but eventually, the thoughts would fizzle out, like a radio tuned to the wrong frequency. Consequently, the Cullens settled a few hours out of Forks, heading West towards Seattle. The compromise was enough to keep Jacob around here and there in the pack mind without having to sacrifice too much for his imprint. Embry couldn't imagine being that far from his home, but Jacob didn't seem to mind too much. Maybe that was just the imprint talking, though. He couldn't really tell either way. Jake seemed happy enough though.