Isabelle hated nothing more than imprinting. It was the reason she grew up without a father. Every year on her birthday she asked her mother why she wasn't good enough, why he had abandoned them and every year her tired looking mother said the same thing.
"He had no choice, honey. Your father is a good man. We just weren't meant to be."
When she turned sixteen, she received her first letter from him. It explained that he did not know she even existed until then, that her mother had kept it a secret. At first she had been furious with her mother. Isabelle had screamed and thrown things, demanding that her mother tell her what gave her the right to keep her from her father.
It was then that her mother explained everything.
Her father was a werewolf who protected his tribe from vampires. He told her mother how he and a few others could transform into wolves and he told her of imprinting, and the strength of its power. He explained that imprinting was very rare though, and put her worries to rest. Normally only the wolves and their imprints were let in on the tribe's secrets but Isabelle's mother was an exception. Everyone truly believed imprinting was rare and they would be together forever. It was only a few short months later that they were proved wrong. He met Anna at the supermarket when he was picking up some groceries for her mother. He had bumped into a short woman and she dropped the bananas she was carrying. He apologized profusely and picked them up before turning to face her and that was that. He had imprinted. His loyalty to Isabelle's mother was forgotten and their marriage was finished.
Isabelle's mother told her he had tried to resist the imprint but only a few short weeks after meeting Anna, he sat her down and told her what had happened. Imprinting was rare, he had explained, he did not think it would happen for him, or he would have never started anything with her mother. She was devastated and not able to bear seeing him everyday in such a small town, she moved across the country, far away from her past life.
It wasn't until after she had moved that she discovered she was pregnant. Confused and heartbroken, she did not tell Isabelle's father. She knew he would want to be a part of the child's life, but she also knew that if she let him in Anna would be there constantly as well, a reminder of how she wasn't good enough.
Isabelle found it impossible to be mad at her mother for keeping her father in the dark after she heard her story. As much as she tried, she couldn't find it in her heart to hold on to her anger. She did, however, find herself increasingly angry with her father. She also developed a deep hatred for imprinting. Those were two things she knew would never change.
Isabelle turned and looked out the small window of the plane. Letting out a long sigh she leaned back and squeezed her eyes shut. Her mother had finally had enough of the constant letters and phone calls from her father and bought Isabelle a one-way ticket to Seattle.
"It's time you met your father, Izzy. I made a mistake keeping you from him all these years and I can't take that back, but I will make this right," her mother had told her.
That was all well and good, but Isabelle had no interest in meeting her father. She also did not understand why she had to stay for an entire summer. It was her summer before senior year, and she did not want to spend it in La Push with a group of people she hated.
The plane landed without incident and Isabelle found herself in the cramped airport with her oversized suitcase. She looked around, not entirely sure what she was looking for. Her mother had never showed her a picture of her father; all she knew was that he was Native American.
Pushing her way through a crowd of overexcited teenage girls, she spotted an anxious looking man holding a sign. In messy handwriting she made out her name "Isabelle" scrawled across it's front.
Taking her time to observe the man, she started in disbelief. He was tall, definitely much taller than six feet and he was fit, more than fit, his arms were probably the size of her head. He also looked younger than she imagined. Hesitantly, she approached him slowly.
When his eyes landed on her, he jumped and dropped the sign. Hastily, he picked it up and smiled at her sheepishly.
"Isabelle?" he asked, as his voice cracked, due to nervousness she could only assume.
She nodded slowly, not sure her voice would work at the moment.
He leaned forward and pulled her into an awkward hug. Unsure what to do with her arms, she simply let them hang at her sides.
"Um, well, it's great to see you. I'm Paul, which you already know. But you can call me that or whatever. Or dad if you want too," he stuttered.
Isabelle found herself no longer uncomfortable and suddenly extremely angry, "I'll stick with Paul, thanks."
Paul flinched at her harsh tone and bowed his head, "Right, well come on. The car's this way. Everyone's really excited to meet you."
Isabelle wondered who everyone entailed but she knew Anna would be there, and she knew Anna would not be excited to meet her at all.
The drive was agonizingly long. Isabelle kept her eyes focused on the scenery as they sped by. Soon the drab grays of the city morphed into the startling green of lush forests. The light patter of rain soothed her as she deliberately avoided Paul's gaze.
They pulled up in front of a small cottage. It was small and plain except for the front door, which was bright red and stood out in complete contrast. Hesitantly, Isabelle stepped out of the car and grabbed her suitcase from the trunk. When she turned back to face the house, a woman with short black hair stood on the front steps.
Isabelle fought back her immediate dislike for the woman, who she could only assume was Anna. She was thrown off by the welcoming smile on her face though.
Paul gestured towards the woman, with a sickening smile on his face.
"Isabelle, this is Anna. Anna, meet Isabelle."
Anna needed no further encouragement. She rushed forward and threw her arms around Isabelle.
"It is so good to finally meet you. I cannot tell you how happy we are to have you staying with us."
Isabelle was confused. Anna was supposed to hate her. She was, after all, Paul's child with another woman. Why was she being so nice? It was making it hard to be completely unfriendly to her.
"Hi," she mumbled, unsure what to say in such a situation.
"Well, come along, you must be tired after your flight. I'll show you your room," Anna told her, grabbing her suitcase right out of her hand and heading towards the house.
Isabelle followed automatically, her mind frozen in confusion. They climbed the stairs of the house and Isabelle took in her surroundings. It was nicely decorated, from the little she had seen; the house had a real "homey" feel. It was the complete opposite of what she was used to. Her mother had always liked modern things. She had never had the heart to tell her mother that she found their home cold and uninviting.
Kicking herself for her lack of loyalty to her mother, she turned her focus back to following Anna up the stairs. When they reached the landing, Anna indicated the three doors.
"The middle one is the bathroom and your room is here on the right. Will's room is on the left. I would avoid going in there at all costs. It's quite disgusting. Paul and I are on the first floor if you need us."
Isabelle was distracted by the unfamiliar name.
"Who's Will?" she found herself asking without thinking.
Anna looked surprised, "Oh, he's our son. Your half-brother."
Isabelle felt like throwing up. It was bad enough that she had to be here the entire summer. Living across the hall from her half-brother added yet another uncomfortable situation to her list.
"Great," she muttered before turning to her room and opening the door, "I'll just unpack and be down later."
Realizing she was being dismissed, Anna smiled and retreated down the stairs.
Throwing her suitcase in the corner, Isabelle took in her room. It was small, but nicely decorated. She turned to the window and smiled at the view of the backyard. It backed right onto the forest and she pondered exploring the woods the next day.
Her train of thought was brought to an abrupt halt when she saw a tan boy with short black hair come out of the woods. He was pulling on a pair of sweatpants and even from a distance, Isabelle could see the definition of his muscles. She turned from the window quickly and let out a shuddered breath. That must have been Will, and with disgust she realized he must be just like their father, a werewolf.
She felt dislike pour through her body. She wondered if he had imprinted too or if he was dating some other girl he was planning on dumping when the time was right. She unzipped her suitcase unthinkingly and began to unpack, anything to distract herself from her realization that she was living among wolves, the very thing she despised most in the world.