Forbidden Imprint [Book 5] ✔️

25 • Birthday Wishes

EMBRY'S POV

My son hated me. Yep, there was no doubt in my mind. Luke hated me with all the fiery passion his little six-year-old body could muster.

We started off okay while he was in the hospital. When I wasn't doing rounds or covering my shift in the ER, I was visiting Luke and Rebecca in his hospital room. At first, things had been fine between us, when he thought I was just a doctor checking on his progress. He was open and friendly with a touch of shyness.

When he caught me staring at his mom one too many times though, his happy expression transformed into a permanent scowl. He started responding to my questions regarding his well-being with short monosyllable answers. And he always felt a constant urge to tell me the wondrous achievements of his "father" Ian...surfer boy extraordinaire. I didn't know a child of his age could be so in touch with his sarcastic side. I would have patted him on the back and congratulated him for taking a leaf out of his old man's notebook if I wasn't so damned frustrated.

Rebecca saw all of this happening. She became very good at pacing in an effort to keep herself calm anytime Luke started to act up. She never let Luke get rude and he never crossed that line. If there seemed to be one thing he did respect in my presence, it was his mother. He obviously adored her, which made him seem to hate me even worse. Rebecca told me she wanted to tell Luke the truth...more than once in fact, but I asked her to wait until I got on his good side a little more. At the rate we were going though it didn't seem like that was ever going to happen.

Luke was out of the hospital within a week of his surgery. After he was fully vaccinated, he was released. Rebecca left with her purse filled with pre-cautionary antibiotics and multi-vitamins to help Luke's immune system, which was now more vulnerable without his spleen. I went to see him off as they left that day. He probably would have ignored me if Rebecca hadn't told him to thank me for all my care. He muttered a "thanks," holding his mother's hand and staring at the ground the entire time.

Things did not improve over the next few weeks. Rebecca was always trying to throw us together. She'd invite me over to dinner with her, Luke, and Billy as she and Luke were living at Billy's house. Or she'd come up with excuses for me to come over. Once was because she needed "help" hanging up a shelf. Another time she asked me to take a look at her perfectly tuned car engine. I knew what she was doing and I didn't complain. But Luke still went out of his way to pretend I either didn't exist, or he continued with his sarcastic remarks.

When I wasn't at the hospital or at Billy's house for some trumped up reason from

Rebecca, I resorted to stationing myself outside of their house at night. I'd get done with my shift, phase, and high-tail it to La Push. Nate Uley and his pack usually left me alone whenever I was in wolf form, though I did have to help them once when a nomad vampire came to the area and attacked someone near Port Angeles. I was pissed that my nightly stalking had been interrupted, but my anger helped spur a quick end to the bloodsucker.

A month after Luke's accident, I was invited to Nate's 18th birthday party. A lot of the old pack was going to be there. The retired wolves, Paul, Jared, Quil, Collin, Rafe, and Mac were all going to be there along with their families. The active wolves, Brady, Azra, Seth, and Devlin were also all coming.

Jacob and his family were not planning on attending. Things were still tense between Sam and Jacob after the fight they'd had during the summer. Plus, their sons, Gabe and Nate, couldn't stand each other and had already gotten into trouble at school because of their mutual animosity. Some of the other pack members weren't able to make it either. Leah and her family had moved to Oregon and couldn't make it. Neither could Ethan, Will, or Tristen.