Hi! This is not my first fanfic, but I stopped writing my old one cuz Breaking Dawn came out and it was eerily similar to what I was going to write. Like, the whole honeymoon at the island and everything. So yeah.
Please read and review! Tell me if you like it! If you do, I'll write more, like when Clair gets older, up until she's Quil's age and the truth comes out. If you think it should be a one-shot, say so.
Disclaimer: All these characters and the setting and everything belong to Stephanie Meyer. I own nothing, just made up some names.
Today, I raced Leah home.
With bounding steps, I ran at breathtaking speed through the woods, neck and neck with her.
You can't beat me, she thought.
I can try, I retorted, though both of us knew she was faster.
She burst out of the woods a few yards ahead of me, skidding to a halt as she remembered that Emily's sister was visiting with her family, her husband Matt and her young toddler Claire. I emerged a few seconds later, having already phased back and changed into shorts.
"Hah," I said. "Guess I'll make it into the house first this time."
Leah growled at me and retreated back into the woods.
Sam and Emily's house was quite simple, with white walls with a touch of pink. I remember how annoyed Sam was when he learned about the pink, but what could he do? He never could bring himself to yell at Emily, his beloved Imprint. A wooden porch decorated with wooden carved figurines of wolves added a rustic touch. As did the flowers that covered the yard.
Lately I had taken to trying to meet the eyes of every teenage girl I met, just trying to find my own special Imprint. Sam said it was a curse. As a matter of fact, Leah did too, but she was biased because of her past. I thought that to find that one person who completed you wholly was just about the best blessing that could ever happen to anyone. The others begged to differ.
Bounding up the steps, I wrenched open the door, yet again almost ripping it from its hinges. It was already the second door this month; the disadvantage of having werewolves over for dinner each night meant that a lot of things got broken. But we all would have to be more careful now that there were visitors.
"Hey, guys!" I shouted.
"Hi, Quil!" replied many voices. I counted all of the members of the pack. Well, guess I was the last one. Leah had still managed to beat me in. I took a seat on an already sagging couch. Yep, a lot of things get broken with ten rowdy, tall werewolves around.
Just then, Emily brushed into the room, wearing a plain white v-neck t-shirt and a knee length frothy blue skirt. I saw Sam's eyes light up and rolled my eyes. Two people followed. One was carrying a small toddler.
"Hi guys," said Emily. I saw Leah stiffen at the indirect reference. "And girl." Leah relaxed. "Let me introduce you to my sister, Lisa, my brother in law, Matt, and of course, Claire. Claire, say hi to everyone."
Claire turned to face all of us, smiling, her eyes sweeping over each and every member of the pack before coming to rest on mine.
And at that moment, everything for me disappeared. My half-crush on a girl at school, my pack brothers, even myself. All these ties disappeared. All that mattered now was this little toddler, with precious, bright blue eyes and a gorgeous smile that I couldn't stop staring at. I felt connected to her, drawn to her by every power that I had ever dreamed possible.
I gasped loudly, and everyone turned to look at me.
I realized I had imprinted. But then the full consequences of all this came to face me. I was in love with a two-year-old. I could ruin her life. Emily was proof of that. I would take all chance for her to have a normal existence away, and I could never, ever hurt her that way.
This realization dawned on me at the exact moment that realization dawned on most of the packs faces.
I couldn't stay there any longer. I tore out of the room, phasing into wolf form in the hallway; my clothes shredded into pieces in the hallway, and I didn't stop to pick them up, barreling through the door, ripping it off of its hinges and making it fly into the forest. I ran as hard and as fast as I could, never stopping, never wanting to think about what had just happened. Maybe I could forget about Claire, live alone, solitary, never going back.
But as I thought about Claire I was drawn back. As much as I desperately wanted to get away, I realized that I couldn't. It was not physically possible to be apart from her. I needed her. And so I slowed down and turned back.
As I returned, I began desperately to think about my future with Claire. Obviously, she couldn't know about the werewolves. I would have to shield her from any danger, yet never get mad around her, if that was possible. I would first be the most adoring older brother a young girl could ever have, then a best friend, and finally fulfill myself as her second half. It would work. It had to work.
I had calmed down to realize that I couldn't hear anyone. Sam must have instructed everyone to stay put. The rashness of my previous actions came to haunt me. I sent a door flying. I phased inside the house. I could have exposed the pack. I could have hurt Claire. Much as the other outcomes were dire, unsurprisingly the last seemed the worst. I will never, ever hurt Claire.
I had made it back. But then I realized that I had left my clothes in the hallway. Luckily, Emily had hidden "emergency" clothes in a tree in the forest in case something like this happened. Silently thanking her foresight, I slipped on a pair of shorts and crept up to the house. Maybe I could find out what the pack was talking about.
"Poor Quil…" That was Embry, ever the sympathetic one.
"How could he! Imprint on my helpless daughter! Emily, is there anything that can be done?" Of course Lisa was upset. Matt had apparently taken Claire upstairs.
"No," said Sam with finality. "What's done is done. Claire will just have to live with the consequences. It may be a curse, it may be a blessing."
"A blessing…" Emily whispered.
So they knew. Gathering my courage, I swept into the house and sat down among the pack, never making eye contact with any of them. A blessing. Emily's words still echoed in my head. If Claire could be happy, then so could I. Looking up at the pack, I found all of the looking at me, some smiling, others indifferent.
"This could work, right? Sam?" I asked.
"Yep, kid. I could definitely work." He replied.
