Defining Normal | EMBRY CALL

Envoy

That's the goal, he taunts, nipping at her heels.

Well, Call's passing on those tacos. You coming?

Bet.

There's a six-pack on Embry's doorstep later that evening with a crumpled blue sticky-note attached. There's only one word scrawled across the paper - sorry - but he doesn't need any clues to identify the sender. Embry likes to consider himself as observant, the kind of person to pick up the little things that others miss. He'll kick himself later, looking back, for not thinking twice about the way Quil beams at the gift, but in the moment, it's totally innocuous.

Embry had mentally pencilled in a full evening of wallowing in his misery, but there's someone hovering over him every freaking second, lingering like an unpleasant smell. It's Jake's last night in La Push and, truth be told, he feels beyond guilty that they've barely spent any time together. Jake's easy-going, the kind of understanding that puts everyone else to shame, but, nonetheless, Embry wishes the circumstances would have been different. Working on Lex's Mazda with him is like jumping into a time-machine, warping themselves back into the Black garage, fifteen and carefree. Their past is so far removed from their present-day reality, almost like an alternate timeline, one where everything was still normal.

It hurts to wonder what life would have been like if shifting wasn't a thing.

Embry jerks his head upright suddenly, cracking his skull against the underside of the engine bay. The bump will be gone in ten minutes, tops. The pain is a welcome sensation, and he's sure that his pain's only a fraction of hers -

"Embry. Turn that brain off," Jared groans, slapping Call's outstretched leg.

He sighs, rubbing a grease-stained hand across his face. "You say that like it's easy."

Jacob lifts his head from the toolbox, shooting him a sympathetic look. "Messing up is natural. Look on the bright side - everyone's limbs are still attached," he says, grinning.

Quil snorts, shaking his head. "That's what I said! See, I was right!"

"What if you weren't phased, Jared? What if it was just me and her? Fuck, I could have done so much worse," Embry moans, dropping his swollen head into his hands.

Jared slugs him on the shoulder, hard and fast. "Don't give me that. You'd self-combust before you'd ever hurt her."

Embry opens his mouth to disagree, but Jake's quick to silence him with a single raised finger.

"As your oldest friend - don't even try, Quil - I can tell you right now that you wouldn't hurt her. You aren't like that. None of us are. Besides, the imprint's basically a failsafe. I couldn't even take Ness out, and she's meant to be an enemy."

Jared nods. "He's right, Em. Plus, I've seen inside your head practically every day since high school. You can't even hunt as a wolf."

"Ugh, just because I don't like raw meat like some people," he says, shooting Jacob a pointed look. Jacob only grins.

"Okay, we've established Em's a teddy bear. Can we go back to the car now?" Quil asks, taking a sip of his beer.

He only chokes a little when Jake pitches a spanner in his direction. Embry almost wishes it would have finished him off.

"I'm not getting up."

"Well, I'm not going to argue with you. But I can bring them here if you won't move your ass."

Lex lowers the covers slightly to glare in Kim's direction. "You wouldn't."

"I'm straight up telling you I will. Move ."