Disclaimer: ALL known characters belong to the VERY talented SM. The plot is mine.
A/N: This story was written for a challenge. Nicia had challenged me and another writer, for fun of course. The challenge was to create a story using 5-8 words out of the list that she had provided and this was what came of it hope you all like it.
I would like to thank a few people who made this story possible:
Betas: Stephanie Rodriquez, Loopy Lou, Leigh Warner, and It's This Guilty Blood.
Banner Artist: Bexie Twenty-Five Fanfiction
Manip Artist: Chandrakanta Fanfiction
I also want to thank my sisters missclearwater80 and Jessica Shand for helping me with some ideas! Love you girls!
I want to thank Lil_Kimi124 for reading through this fic to make sure it's all legible.
Thanks Nicia for the challenge it was a blast and really got my mind going!
Now, without further adue….
LPOV
Jared and I had been together for two years now. We met through a mutual friend back in high school, Jacob Black who on most days, had picked me up from 'Wild At Heart', the place where I worked. My best friend Angela and I were Marine Biologists. Jared and my younger brother, Seth were working there as well, but as security guards.
I was one of those kids who wasn't sure what I wanted to do after I finished high school. I knew that College was a must, but what I was going to study, no idea. Until I was given my work placement. Angela and I had been assigned to 'Wild at Heart', an animal sanctuary. I spent one day in several different areas, until I discovered the marine area. I fell in love.
Before long I was obsessed with all things marine, I changed my subjects, and devoted myself to my future career. At the end of my work placement, the owner had been so impressed with my dedication, that I was offered a volunteer position. It took less than a heartbeat for me to say yes. The best bit was, that Angela had been given a position there, too.
Ange and I had gotten a small apartment in Seattle, close to where 'Wild At Heart' was located, so we didn't have to travel far and I could get away from the Rez. My mom never did get used to the idea of me living alone in the city, even with Ang in the apartment she worried so much that it eventually forced me to move back to the Rez.
I didn't have a car so Jake offered to be my "taxi", as he liked to call it. I accepted because I knew he traveled to the city a few times a week and I wouldn't be inconveniencing him. The rest of the time I would go with Jared and Seth in Jared's midnight blue Mustang, even though my mom didn't like Jared and I being together. Her excuse was he was too old for me and in her words "a real bad boy."
On our one-year anniversary, things started changing between us and I didn't understand it at first. Jared all but disappeared for a good few weeks, the only time I saw him was when he popped up somewhere with his friend Paul. I was consumed with jealousy, thinking he was cheating on me, until he finally shed some light on the situation.
He was a wolf and I was his imprint. I didn't quite understand the whole Imprint thing, but the best way Jared had explained was pretty simple. He was my soul-mate, and I was his. We belonged to each other.
o0O0o
So here we were, two years later, still together, and I was still working at 'Wild at Heart'. Jared was promoted to head of security, and gets a respectable salary. My mom, finally after four years, had warmed up to Jared and I dating, meaning I could ride with him and Seth to work. I felt better knowing that Jacob didn't have to waste his time driving me to work, and that he could spend more time with Bella.
Over the four years of being with Jared; Bella and I got to know each other. I considered her a close friend, more so than Jake. Even if he could be quite clueless, I knew he loved Bella.
Our jobs were going well, and we were pretty happy there. However, one shift at work, unusual things started happening. The department of conservation contacted Angela and I to run some tests on some wildlife that had been found dead with very little, to no blood left in their bodies.
This carried on for the next few weeks and then, out of the blue, it stopped. We never found out what happened to those animals but eventually things returned to normal.
One weekend, the four of us decided to get away from work, the rez, and our troubles. Ange and I wanted to go to the beach so we could lay out under the sun and get a tan, and the guys just wanted to get away from everything. While we were enjoying the sun, the guys sat under the shade of the umbrella we brought, drinking and bullshitting. Ange and I were discussing relationships and how our lives had changed, when I had overheard something I probably shouldn't have.
"When are you going to ask her?" That was Jared's cheerful voice.
"I haven't decided yet, but I want to ask her parents and my sister first," Seth replied nervously. "I know that is old fashioned but my dad raised me to be a gentlemen."
Jared chuckled and then responded, "I admire you for that, bro. You're a great guy." he paused and smiled nervously. "I wanna ask..." he looked at me and then stopped, having caught me staring at him.
"What?" Seth asked.
"We'll talk about this later," Jared said, looking at me.
Seth looked at me and smiled. "Um, yeah, let's talk later."
I turned back to Ange with a smile on my face, wondering what those two were up to, but keeping quiet even when she asked me about it. As the sun was setting, we headed for our motel rooms to change into evening wear for dinner. We spent the next couple of days exploring the beach and the water. When Sunday night arrived, we headed home to rest, because sadly, we had work the next morning.
About a week later, we found ourselves back in the lab after hours, waiting for a delivery from McCarty's Palace. I should have checked the delivery before I signed for it. I should have watched them unload it. If I had, I might have had a chance at muffling the scream that slipped from my mouth at the gruesome sight before me. Instead of animals, we'd been delivered a truckload of bodies... human bodies.
I had to assume that the driver hadn't realized he'd given us the wrong delivery, either that or he didn't care. Either way, this was beyond sickening! I was stunned. Who would be sick enough to send a truck full of dead bodies to an animal sanctuary?
I went to the linen cupboard and grabbed as many sheets as I could, wanting to cover up the bodies. When I was done, I leaned up against the wall, my emotions running all over the place. Who, or for that matter, what killed these people? Flashes of images of the bodies moved through my mind specifically snapshots of the puncture wounds on their necks. I then remembered Jared telling me his secret, that he and my brother were wolves. Sure, they called themselves protectors, but from what? I just couldn't remember...