Defining Normal | EMBRY CALL

Timing

If Quil was to write the guide to handling questionable imprinting, Jacob would be the author of its ill-fated sequel: So Your Soulmate Has Dumped You. Jake doesn't say the words outright, but the message is crystal clear after his fifth Alpha order of the week.

Are you seriously forcing me to go to college? Embry whines, wincing under the weight of the edict.

I wouldn't have to order it if you actually went. What sort of friend would I be if I let you skip? Jake points out, undeterred by his complaints.

I don't think you went to school once in your senior year, Seth adds, playfully winking at Embry.

He could seriously kiss that kid right now.

See! Jake, give me a break. Don't make me go.

You're going, Em. Also, Seth, you better be going to school. The budget's tight enough as it is. We can't afford another bribe.

Seth sniffs. Mom could probably swing it. She knows everyone.

I think I have my first grey hair, Jake thinks, bending to peer at his paw. I blame it on you two.

Fine, fine, I'll go, Embry grumbles, dipping out of the pack mind after a hasty goodbye.

His relationship with phasing has grown a little frayed after the whole debacle. Sure, he's never been one of the more talented guys in the pack, but he hasn't had a single unintentional phase since his first year as a wolf. The last time was entirely different, too, the result of an extended argument with Paul over the last muffin.

He hadn't lost control since.

Looking back, he cringes at all of the little tells that pointed to his increasingly tenuous grip on his humanity, like the red mist that had consumed him when Lex called him crying from the gas station months before. Worse was the way he'd destroyed that chair at the police station in seconds, or the way he can barely recall a single conscious thought from the day it all went wrong. He was prepared for the imprint to rob him of his agency, but he hadn't expected the sudden intensification of his emotions. A single look had reverted him to the angsty, uncontrolled boy that had been subdued years prior, suppressed by heroic notions of tribal duty and self-sacrifice. With Lex, he feels everything - the passion, the joy, the terror. He was perfectly content to float through life unthinking and uncaring, simply dedicating his life to pack service without a second thought. She's changed all of that, opening his eyes up to an unfamiliar world of choice, and it's terrifying .

In a way, being a mindless sentry was preferable.

Embry floats through the week according to Jake's orders - actually attending college (his professors barely recognise him), working extra shifts for his mom, and running extended patrols. The days pass by similarly, unceremonious and increasingly boring. On the bright side, when Lex inevitably decides to never speak to him again, at least he'll have properly caught up on all of his overdue assignments. His latest English Fundamentals assignment is returned on Thursday, adorned with a large B+ in thick red ink-strokes. Quil cranes his neck to see the mark, frowning at his own C-.

"Dude, seriously? Where can I find a girl to tutor me?" he groans, immediately wincing at his words.

Embry waves off his hurried apologies with a shrug. "It's fine. You're right, anyway. It's all her."

Everything seems to be coming back to her, as if that's any surprise. Hell, he'd cried a little in his kitchen this morning when the creamer had lightened his coffee to the exact shade of her eyes. He's caught little flashes of her here and there around campus, but nothing substantial, nothing to wet his appetite and calm the beast. The worst part by far was sensing her nearby, knowing that holding her was simply a matter of moving a couple of yards (and winning her over, but it hurts to think about that).