Siren's Call

The Cut of One's Jib

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked as Embry walked into the garage next to his house.

Embry stopped, his eyes widening as he took in Quil and Jacob sitting on a beaten up couch, both with beers in hand and staring at him with surprised looks on their faces.

"Quil said you guys were hanging out earlier. What am I not allowed in anymore?" he asked, his voice strained.

He didn't wait for an answer, instead going over to the cooler and grabbing a beer before settling in a lawn chair and opening it, then taking a long drink.

"Just thought you'd be with Freja," Quil said cautiously. Embry shot him a sharp look.

"Wait, the merdude is still here?" Jacob asked, sitting up and starting to grin. Embry rolled his eyes. "Thought it was just going to be a couple days."

"Please, don't. This is all I hear about at work and I thought I'd get a break," Quil moaned. Embry shot him another dark look.

"He still says there's more to learn," Embry grumbled as he sat back in his chair. "Puts on this whole, 'Oh, what's this? So fascinating!' act. I call bullshit." Jacob started chuckling. "It's not funny! I don't know how Freja stands it... and he's staying with them, so she gets it non-stop. Five minutes and I'm done."

"You sure this isn't just jealousy talking?" Jacob asked.

"No," Embry retorted. "Well... not like that. I trust Freja and all. I just don't trust him."

"Dude, she's your imprint," Quil said, as though he had already said this a million times before. And he likely had. It was the one phrase he repeated more than any other when Sven came up.

"I know," Embry said. "I mean, you really should have seen her grandparents when he showed up."

"We know, you told us," Quil said tiredly.

"They don't trust him either," Embry continued, ignoring Quil's tone.

"We know. Again. You told us," Jacob said. Embry just stared at them a few moments before he sighed haggardly.

"I honestly can't take much more of this dude. I mean, when he's not demanding that Freja explain everything to him, he's bringing up stories from when she was with the clan and... he's always touching her," he said.

He began to seethe slightly as his eyes narrowed and he thought about how Sven would play with her hair, or touch her arm. It was all slight, but whenever Embry was around it was all he could see.

"Didn't Freja say that they were more touchy-feely," Quil pointed out.

"Yea, but this is different," Embry said. "Whenever Freja's not looking, I swear he winks at me. It's like he knows exactly what he's doing."

"I'm sure he just doesn't understand how things work up here," Jacob said reasonably. Embry glared at him. "Or not."

"Regardless, I'm pretty sure that it's a universal rule that you don't flirt with another guy's girlfriend right in front of him," Embry replied.

"Again... maybe he doesn't think he's flirting," Quil suggested, earning yet another sharp look from Embry.

"Is this when you both tell me to grin and bear it?" he asked harshly.

Jacob and Quil looked at each other, clearly neither wanting to be the one to say it. But at the same time, after a week of constant complaining, it was starting to get old. Jacob sighed and looked over at Embry.

"I get it. Your protective instincts are in overdrive, but... just don't do anything to upset Freja. You said yourself that this guy is around her non-stop. Chances are she's just as frustrated with him hanging around," he said, keeping his voice calm. "Imagine what it's like for her."