That was it. I had to have imprinted; that was the only answer. Why else was I suddenly drooling over him like some vapid teenage girl? My heart dropped to my stomach, and suddenly my happiness was replaced with a mix between shock, joy, and pure horror. My hand was shaking as I turned on the car.
I didn't understand. Imprinting had ruined my life once already - I tried to block out the memories of Sam as soon as I remembered them - so what was I supposed to feel now?
Happy, a little voice in the back of my mind, sounding suspiciously like Jacob's, said. You don't have to worry about no one wanting to deal with your bitchy attitude anymore. You're set. I snorted; even in my own subconscious the meat-head couldn't help but insult me.
"Set," I muttered, glancing at a passing sign and letting up on the gas pedal a little when I realized I was at least ten over. "Bullshit." Suddenly behind me, there was a flashing blue and red light. I groaned and pulled off to the shoulder, tapping on the steering wheel impatiently and rolling down my window. A ticket was really the last thing I needed.
"Ma'am, do you realize how fast you were goin'?" a male voice asked me, a hint of a southern drawl coating his words.
"No sir," I said, my voice quieter and slightly more high-pitched. I looked up at him through the window, not surprised to see he had the stereotypical look of a cop; thick, black mustache, pale, grayish skin, hair black as night and gelled so that not a hair was out of place, and big, dark sunglasses covering his eyes. I breathed in deeply and was surprised by the sharp scent that came along with the air; it was intoxicating, in neither a bad nor good way. I decided to ignore it.
"You were clocked at about a hundred," he said, pulling out a pad and pencil. My eyebrows raised, and my head jerked to the direction of the speedometer. I had thought I was just barely over, and the speed limit was only seventy.
"But I-" I stopped myself, realizing it would be better to just take the ticket and go, maybe take it court or something, than to sit and argue with a cop. I was getting tired anyway. He finished scribbling something down and handed me a paper. He stood there for a moment, looking over the car, before tipping his sunglasses down and looking at me over the brim.
"You have a safe drive, alright?" I nodded, tensing up at the way he said it, the creep overtones suddenly coming up to surface. I rolled up my window as soon as he left it, shoved the ticket into the glove box, and waited for him to leave first. I really needed to get home.
Back at my apartment, I collapsed on my bed and reached over to the phone on my nightstand, hoping someone had called while I was gone, to get my mind off of the creepy cop and, of course, Chris. There were several missed calls from Seth and Sue, and only one message. I didn't bother with it, knowing it would be the same old thing: "We miss you, we want you home, think of the pack, blah blah blah..."
Don't get me wrong. I missed my family and - if you could even call them that - friends, too, it's just, I needed to break free from the old me that was still hanging around there, find myself and all that other stuff. I couldn't do that with Jacob and Seth constantly invading my every thought. So I decided to move here, Warren, Michigan, where I could be far away from everything that bothered me. Or so I thought, since now apparently I've been damned with my 'pack-mates' to submit to the imprinting curse.
I turned on the TV, hoping to drown out my own thoughts, and just laid there, waiting for who knows what to happen. It wasn't long before I fell asleep, curled up on my bed, a night of dreaming waiting for me. Unsurprisingly, the main event in every dream was Chris.
"Would you put that goddamn lighter away?" Cure growled, shying away from the heat as Coal once again lit the flame. The silent boy clicked it off immediately, stowing it away and casting a glare at his twitchy friend. The two sat in the dark for a few moments, listening as Chris and Kenny were discussing something in the back room. Cure let out an irritated groan, and a second later the two were out of the room.
"Got a plan, mister hotshot?" Cure asked, leaning back against the couch. "C'mon, we've been waitin' for hours. Chris and Kenny exchanged a look.
"We're not sure if you're going to like it..." Kenny started off.
"We're going to need Eris' help." Chris said bluntly. Cure nearly fell out of his chair, and Coal just stared at them as if they had grown two heads. "Hey! It either that or ask for Aerid to help. Do you really want that?"
"Of course not, but, why Eris? That crazy bitch wants to kill me!" Cure shuddered, crossing his arms.
"Face it, she's the strongest of all four of us, and we're going to need it,"
"But, why?"
"We think she's got a pack she can call on if she needs help." Chris raised one eyebrow. "You feel lucky enough to take on an entire pack of three our four of them with just us?" Cure stayed silent, seeming to have realized that Chris was right. Nodding, Chris turned, heading down the hallway. "I expect you all up right at sundown," he said, his eyes drawn to the light coming from the windows. "That's when I'll give our little pup a call. And I expect Eris to have been alerted by then. Or else." With that, he entered the first room on the right and slammed the door shut. A moment of silence passed before a grumble was heard from Cure.
"Who the hell put him in charge?"
Darn, I just lost fifty bucks because of this update xP Oh well, new chapter! Um... everything will make sense soon? I hope? I also hope you enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are love ;3
Disclaimer: I don't own Leah or Twilight. I own almost everything else, though.