Janie ran through the forest, tears streaming from her eyes. She was dressed only in a thin nightgown, which snagged on the tree branches that whipped against her. Blinded by her tears and jumble of emotions, she didn't care that she was bleeding from her bare feet and the multiple cuts across her exposed skin. All she cared about was running. Running and hiding.
"Ow," Janie said softly, tripping over a root and landing hard on the ground. Her palms were now cut up and bleeding with the rest of her. She tried to stand, but collapsed in a heap, losing the will to move any longer. She felt her tears dripping onto the leaves under her head. The sound was surprisingly soothing. She closed her eyes, curling up in a ball, before falling into a troubled sleep.
Waking up the next morning, Janie felt stiff and cold. However, her mind was surprisingly calm. For the first time in her seventeen years, she did not have that terrible weight on her shoulders.
Her eyes remained closed for a long time. She did not want to wake up, just incase her escape had been only a dream. But she could feel the earth under her thin body and the light breeze against her skin. She sat up slowly, her eyes resolutely shut. Moaning, she stretched to relieve the tension in her muscles. Gradually, she opened her eyes to the sunlight filtering through the green leaves above her. She smiled, feeling the warmth of the summer sun on her face. It felt so good. Until she caught sight of what was sitting in front of her.
"Oh my!" she said breathlessly, backing up rapidly until she was against the nearest tree. Less than ten feet from her sat an enormous brown wolf. She had never seen a wild animal before, apart from the occasional squirrel. She had lived in the heart of Seattle, and had never ventured away from her house except to go to school. To see one so close, especially one so incredibly enormous, was almost more than she could handle.
She sat still, eyes wide with fear, for what seemed like an age. The wolf just laid still, paws folded in front of it, big brown eyes watching Janie curiously. She dare not move or take her eyes off the creature. She had read of people being ripped apart by wild animals, and she was determined not to let that happen to her hours after gaining her freedom.
But as she sat there, petrified, she began to cramp up. She couldn't sit still for much longer, especially with the pain now shooting through her right leg. It was curled up under her at an odd angle, holding nearly all her weight. She started trembling violently as her leg began to give. With a soft squeal of pain, she fell forward, landing in a heap.
Quivering, she looked up slowly, blue eyes wide as they fell upon the wolf in front of her, half hidden by her dirty-blonde hair covering her face. It was now less than three feet from her. Not wanting to startle it any more than she already undoubtedly had, she pushed herself up carefully onto her knees, brushing her hair out of her face so she could see the enormous beast better.
As she sat on her knees, her eyes met the wolf's eyes. They were a dark brown, almost black. After looking into those eyes, Janie found she couldn't escape its, or his, gaze. She didn't know how, but she knew instinctively that it was a male, and that he wasn't going to hurt her.
While they sat staring at each other, Janie heard a soft whine come from the wolf's throat. She turned her head to the side, curious. For a wild animal, he was surprisingly calm in her presence. In fact, he looked kind of sad. His ears were back and he held his head lower than hers. He seemed rather submissive, not threatening in any sense, despite his size and the fact that he could kill her in seconds if he chose to. He whined again, and Janie blinked in dawning comprehension.
"Are you worried about me?" she asked quietly, not quite believing she was talking to an animal. As soon as she said it, she felt incredibly stupid. However, the wolf's ears perked up, and he whined again. She took that as a yes.
"I'm alright, though I must have hit my head when I fell last night. I can't believe I'm talking to a wolf," she said with a smile. The wolf bent down, leaning his head on his front paws. Before she could think better of it, Janie found herself reaching toward him slowly, bending closer. The wolf sat perfectly still, his eyes watching her hand as it moved closer to his head.
When she was within an inch of his muzzle, he let out a low growl. Janie quickly pulled her hand back, fearing she had upset him someway. But as soon as she did, the wolf put his ears back again, whining as if to apologize. She hesitated, her brain screaming at her that this was a wild animal and would think nothing of ripping off her outstretched arm. But she started reaching for him again, some strange force urging her to touch him.
As soon as her finger touched him, the biggest grin that had ever graced her features spread across her face. She moved closer so she sat right in front of him, running her thin fingers through his russet coat. He was so soft and warm, she wanted to bury her face in his fur and go back to sleep. She refrained from doing so, however, and contented herself with running her fingers the fur around his neck.
"This is so strange," Janie said softly as she pet the wolf. "I have never trusted a human in my entire life. But within minutes of meeting you, I trust you completely." She smiled as the wolf made a soft rumbling sound. It wasn't a growl, or a whine. If Janie didn't know better, she would have called it a purr.
Jacob watched as the girl tilted her head, watching him with her large blue eyes. He whined again, sad that he couldn't communicate with her the way he wanted to. Against all odds, he had found the girl lying in the middle of the woods. Granted, she was a little worse for wear, covered in cuts and bruises, but still whole. He could hardly believe it. But as soon as she had woken up and looked into his eyes, he had felt like he had run into a brick wall. He had heard the other pack members talk about it, but he had never really considered how much of an impact imprinting really had.
"Are you worried about me?" she asked quietly. Jacob's ears shot up in excitement. Could she understand him? All he wanted to do was to run into the forest and phase, so he could talk to her face to face. But he was afraid to leave, unrealistically fearing she would disappear. He whined again, willing her to understand him.
"I'm alright," she said, smiling softly. Jacob's heart sped up, the thrill of hearing her talk and seeing her smile almost too much for him to handle. "Though I must have hit my head when I fell last night," she continued. "I can't believe I'm talking to a wolf." Jacob honestly could barely believe she was either, but he was far from complaining about it. He bent down, leaning his head on his paws, never taking his eyes off her. She remained still for a moment, before, much to Jacob's pleasure, she started reaching forward towards him.
As she moved closer to him, he remained completely still, not wanting to scare her off. But at the same time, he started hearing another voice in his head.
Whoa Jake, I think you imprinted on a wood nymph, Embry's voice said humorously. And keep those inappropriate thoughts to yourself. Jake had at that moment been thinking about the girl's small hands against his human skin. He growled, sending back some profanity-filled thoughts to Embry.
To his dismay, the growl hadn't been confined to his head, and the girl had pulled her hand away quickly, afraid he was growling at her. He immediately whined, putting his ears back again, begging her to reach out for him again. She hesitated, but extended her hand once more. Jacob ignored the laughter in his head, focusing on the girl in front of him.
As soon as her small, cold hand touched him, he saw her face light up with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. His eyes closed as she moved closer to him, stroking his fur happily. He would have gone and phased right then and there, but that would have meant not having her hands running through his hair anymore, and he didn't have the willpower to let that happen at the moment.
"This is so strange," she said softly. Jacob opened his eyes, looking up into hers as she spoke, wanting her to know he was listening. Embry must have phased back to tell Sam and the others, because his thoughts were no longer in Jacob's head. He could focus fully on the gorgeous person in front of him. "I have never trusted a human in my entire life. But within minutes of meeting you, I trust you completely." Her words produced a conflict in Jacob that he never could have predicted. He was ecstatic that she trusted him completely, but was devastated by the rest of what she'd said. She had never trusted a human in her life. He couldn't phase now and come to her as he wanted to. He would surely loser her then. How was he going to make this work?
Janie sat there stroking the wolf's fur, deep in thought. She felt so safe, so content. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. The feeling itself was so new; she didn't know how to react to it. But as she sat there, the wolf looked up suddenly, nose in the air. Janie looked up, sniffing the air. She smelled it too. It smelled vaguely metallic. Then she realized why.
"Oh no," she said, taking her hand off the wolf suddenly. This seemed to upset it more than the smell had; it looked around at her abruptly, as if asking why she would dare remove her hand. But Janie was preoccupied. It seemed one of her larger cuts had opened again, and her thigh was covered in blood.
"No, no, no," she said, wiping the blood off her leg with the already frayed and dirty hem of her nightgown. With enough of the blood removed, she could see the wound, a large gash just above her knee. It was oozing slowly, not enough to be fatal if not stitched, but enough to worry her, considering she knew no healing, apart from bruises. She had plenty of those over the years to have made her an expert.
As she was trying to stop the bleeding, she had not noticed the wolf stand up, coming around to her other side. When she realized he had moved, she looked up, and comprehended for the first time just how enormous he really was. If she had thought him big lying down, it was nothing to how large he was at full height.
"What are you doing?" she asked nervously as he lay down next to her once more, looking at her bleeding leg. She gasped as he bent his head toward the wound, and began licking away the blood. She sat there rigid waiting for him to take a liking the taste and to take a bite out of her. But he never did. He just sat lay there, cleaning her wound. After he stopped, she noticed that the bleeding had subsided. It hit her suddenly that she had read once that saliva helped blood clot. Smart wolf.
"Well thank you," she said, crossing her legs and looking him in the eyes once again. He inched forward carefully, nudging her hand with his muzzle, asking to be pet again. She smiled, and did not disappoint him.
Jacob stayed with his imprint until she fell asleep around noon. He desperately wanted to stay and watch over her. But he knew if she was awake and running her fingers through his fur, he would never be able to leave. And he really needed to go talk to Sam. With one last look at her, he ran off toward the Uley home.
"Jake, Embry told us what happened," Sam said as soon as the younger man entered the house. He was sitting in the living room with his fiancée Emily. The only other person in the house was Seth, Emily's cousin and another member of the pack, who quickly got up and left, giving Jacob a smile before shutting the door behind him.
"Well," Sam said, watching Jacob as he sat in a chair across from the other two. "Embry said you imprinted. But he was a little fuzzy on the details."
"I found her when I was returning home after patrolling last night. She was just lying in the forest in a nightgown, covered in cuts and bruises," Jacob said slowly. "I was curious as to why she was just sleeping in the mild of nowhere, but when she awoke this morning, I looked at her, and I suddenly couldn't control myself. I had to be there with her. I couldn't leave or move or anything. But, there is something odd, and I can't just ask her about it."
"What is it?" Emily asked, concerned. Jacob sat there looking at his hands for a moment, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say.
"Well, she said that she has never trusted a human in her life. So, I don't know what to do. I want to go to her as me, but I think she'd run. Something happened to her, which is why she was in the forest. But, I just am at a loss as to what to do now."
"I don't know what to tell you Jake," Sam said after a moment. He said it hesitantly, as though he wasn't sure of himself, which was unusual for the pack's leader. "My suggestion is just to stay with her as a wolf right now. Embry said she was talking to you, maybe she will tell you what happened and you can think of a solution from there. This is a very unusual case, and you'll have to be careful how you handle it. She doesn't know anything about us, as far as we know, and you don't want to do anything to drive her away."
Jacob nodded sadly. He had hoped that Sam would have some brilliant plan for getting her to come to him—human him—but apparently it wasn't going to be that easy. He took a deep breath. If Quil could wait years for a toddler to grow up, he could wait however long it took for his imprint to be with him.