Sunrise

16

When Kari woke, she wasn't surprised to hear Embry's snoring from the floor near the bed. She peeked over the edge and saw he was sprawled out, the pillow he'd taken with him next to his head rather than under it, and couldn't help her smile. Embry could probably sleep through anything. She studied the way he was sprawled on the floor for a minute before stepping delicately to the floor. Kari stepped over Embry's long torso and held her breath before bringing her second leg over. She made it quickly to the door before sighing in relief and closing it as quietly as possible behind her. The rest of the house was quiet and she wandered toward the kitchen before spotting the note on the refrigerator from Tiffany saying she had gone to work. It was only then that Kari realized it was just after ten. She decided to make breakfast for Embry, hoping he'd sleep at least a little longer.

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Kari knew Embry would eat a lot and made the entire dozen of eggs and the whole package of bacon. She made a mental note to buy more for Tiffany when she was at the store. The dry pancake mix filled only half the box and Kari decided to make the rest of that as well. She silently hoped she wasn't over-doing it. She'd seen Emily make food for the entire pack, but never for just one. Kari flipped a pancake as she thought of Emily and the other two imprints. Claire hadn't known what was going on, though Kari was almost certain she'd felt the tension and anxiety as well. Kim was a year older than her. Nothing had happened to their wolves and so Kari expected that they were perfectly fine now that the boys had been returned to them. 

"Smells good."

Kari jumped, almost losing a pancake in the process, and turned to glare at Embry. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Embry chuckled. It was clear in his face that he was still half asleep. "Sorry. Sometimes I forget how quiet I can be."

Kari rolled her eyes and went back to her cooking. She finished off the last pancake and placed everything on the table along with peanut butter and maple syrup. "I made you breakfast. There wasn't any juice but I think there might be some milk. Did I make enough?"

Embry ignored the table and wrapped Kari in his arms, holding her close to him. "It's perfect. If any is left over I'll eat it later."

Kari wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "You looked like you could use the sleep."

"How did you sleep?" Embry asked her. He rested his cheek on the top of her head.

Kari shrugged. "Fine. I think I just got a bit warm, even with the door open. Tiffany went to work already."

Embry nodded. "I figured."

"We owe her food," she added.

Embry laughed. He kissed her head before pulling away slightly. "She'll be fine if we just start a list for her. I was starting to eat more before joining the pack anyway."

"How did you sleep?" Kari asked as they sat at the table.

"It took a while to get to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Jake getting crushed and felt the pain," Embry answered. He started filling a plate with food and placed it in front of Kari before getting his own. "Once I fell asleep I was out. I'm pretty sure if Sam had called the pack together I wouldn't have heard it."

Kari couldn't help giggling before she sighed. "It must be horrible, being linked like that..."

Embry shrugged. "I don't mind. It doesn't bother me unless something weird happens. When Leah joined, for instance. There was a lot of confusion, especially for the first month or so. It's not a chick thing, really. It's just that she has a lot of anger and misery and tries to make everyone else just as miserable sometimes."

"It'd be hard," Kari said. She spread peanut butter on the two pancakes she had on her plate, stacking them together. "There's never been a female wolf. Nobody knows what to expect with it."

"Mostly I think she's mad," Embry said. He doused almost his entire plate in syrup. "She's convinced she can't have kids or a family, and that she'll never imprint on someone. Leah thinks she's doomed to live a miserable lonely life forever. Or at least until she can control herself enough to leave the pack."

"I can understand that," Kari told him. "You never realize how much you might want something until it's gone forever."

Embry didn't say anything to that. He'd been inside Leah's mind and seen her thought process. It was a lot to take in. The young couple sat eating in silence. Embry forked down his entire plate and stared on a second before Kari was halfway through her pancakes. She rolled her eyes at how eagerly he took the food and doused it in more syrup.

"So it's summer now," Kari said. "And the vampire problem is taken care of. Do you think we can have a chance at a normal relationship? Or as normal a relationship you can get when one of us is a werewolf..."

Embry smiled at her, swallowing whatever he had stuffed in his mouth. "I didn't see anything in Sam's thoughts that say we have to run patrols all the time still. It's supposed to be warm today. Maybe we can go cliff diving or something."

"After what happened to Bella?" Kari asked skeptically.

Embry shook his head. "She had to know it was a stupid idea to do that. The weather was bad. Plus she was alone. You'll have me there. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

Kari thought for a moment before nodding. "Okay. You convinced me." 

"Awesome," Embry said. He finished off his food and stood, taking the empty dishes to the sink. "When do you want to go?"

"Whenever, I guess. I'm not jumping from the very top, though," she warned him.

He smiled from where he'd flicked on the water. "I didn't expect you to. I think it would scare me too much to watch you."

Kari giggled. "The Big Bad Wolf scare of little ol' me?"

"Only of losing you," Embry confirmed.  He looked at her seriously. "I'd be lost if that happened."

Kari stood and moved over to him, placing her plate in the sink before turning around and leaning against the counter. Embry placed a hand on either side of her and pressed his forehead to hers with closed eyes. Kari placed both hands on his bare chest. Her voice was soft. "You're never going to lose me, Em. You're going to protect me forever and ever. Right now let's just focus on having fun. Okay? We can go cliff jumping and have a bonfire and watch movies. We have all summer to enjoy each other."

Embry nodded. "Sounds like a plan. All summer."

Kari stood on her toes and pecked at his lips quickly.