Two

Kennedy

I tried to stay in the bedroom and hide out but that got boring very quickly. I had played every game on my phone and finished up the book that I took on the plane. Naomi still wasn't back and I really didn't want to deal with her family without her. But she had been gone for a minute. I looked at my phone; it had been 30 minutes actually. I tried calling her phone but it went straight to voicemail. I took a deep breath and slowly pulled the door open. I could hear music playing and Rachel singing along in the kitchen. Slowly I walked out, praying I wouldn't run into Billy. I made my way down the hall, taking steps very slowly.

"My dad isn't in here," Rachel said from the kitchen. I stopped walking, not sure how she heard me. As if she knew what I was thinking, she started laughing.

"The house is small and with Jake as a brother, I've kind of trained my ears. I can hear all the doors opening and closing. Naomi still isn't back and my dad is outside. That only leaves you. Are you hungry?" she asked me. The small table in the dining room was covered with food. I wanted to say no but the growling of my stomach sold me out. Rachel passed me a plate. I helped myself to a few dishes before walking back into the kitchen. I leaned against the counter as Rachel finished washing the pots and pans. We both stood, me eating her washing, neither one of us saying anything. After a few minutes I had to start some kind of conversation.

"You cooked all of this for your dad and Jake?"

"All of Jake's friends come over and eat dinner here once a week; today just happened to be the day."

"You cook like this once a week? Oh my goodness," I said before putting a forkful of spaghetti in my mouth. She finished the dishes and turned to look at me.

"So how long have you and Naomi been friends?" she asked leaning up against the island. I made sure there was no food in my mouth before I answered.

"We met in second grade and have been friends ever since. We're roommates at Danford College to." Rachel smiled and walked over to the window. I finished my food and sat the plate in the sink. "Speaking of Naomi have you seen her? It's been a while and she isn't answering my calls."

"She's probably down at the beach. We can go look," Rachel said. I smiled and nodded my head yes. Suddenly there was a wolf howl. Rachel's eyes got big and she ran in the living room. Rachel ran to the front window and pulled the curtain back. I walked behind her and stood confused by what was going on. Another howl was let out and this time it seemed closer, way to close for my comfort. I walked over to the window and pulled the curtain away so I can see out. Suddenly I saw Jake and two other guys running up towards the house. Jake had something in his arms.

"Rachel…Dad!" Jake yelled as he got closer to the house. Rachel ran to the door and yanked it open. I almost screamed when I saw he had Naomi in his arms. I went up to him but he pushed me to the side as he rushed over to the couch. He put her down and I couldn't tell if she was breathing. I leaned down and put my ear to her nose. I could feel her breath on my cheek. She was still alive which made me relax just a little.

"What happened?" Rachel asked. I turned around and looked at Jake, waiting for him to answer. Jake leaned over and whispered in her ear. Her eyes grew big and she shook her head no. "Oh My God!" Rachel said. She pushed me out the way and started running her hands over Naomi's body. She turned her head side to side.

"What did you say to her?" I asked Jake. Nobody turned around to me. He was focused on Naomi and Rachel. Rachel grabbed Naomi's wrist and she started screaming. I tried getting over there but Jake stepped in front of me. His arms went out as I tried to get away from him. I couldn't move him and Naomi kept groaning. I started pounding on his back, screaming for him to move. Jake turned around and jerked his head. Suddenly two arms wrapped my waist and pulled me back.

"She's hurting her! Let me go!" I yelled at him as I started hitting the arm. Jake jerked his head towards the front door. With that my feet left the floor. Before I knew it, we were walking out the front door. Naomi screamed again and I kicked at the air. I kicked and clawed at him, trying to get him to put me down but nothing worked. I needed to get out of his arms but the harder I tried the less of an effect it seemed to have on him. He walked past the car and the driveway. Suddenly I got scared. I had no idea where he was taking me.

"Put me down now!" I yelled.

"Not till we get there," he said right behind my ear. I felt my breath catch a little. Even though he was clearly bigger than me I wasn't in pain from him holding me. He was being gentle. A few minutes later I could see some boulders up ahead. And I could smell the water. When we were right in front of them, he gently lowered me back to the ground. As soon as my feet touched the ground I turned around and tried to push him away. He didn't move.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Picking me up like I'm some rag doll! Asshole!" I yelled at him. He laughed and stepped back in front of me. He had stopped laughing and started to chuckle when he turned his full attention to me. I crossed my arms over my chest and stood staring at him. He looked at me and suddenly I felt like all the breath had been sucked out of me. His eyes were staring into mine and his mouth fell open. He stood staring at me before his eyes started to roam all over my body.

As he looked me up and down, I did the same thing. He was tall, like really tall. His smooth skin was the color of brandy liquor. His eyes were chocolate brown and he lips were plump and pink. His brown hair was cut kind of close to his head. When he looked at me in my eyes again, my breathing went shallow. I had never felt this way before. I wanted to love him, care for him, be there for him. I wanted to be with him in ways that I had never wanted to be with any other man before. Yes, I said man, he wasn't a boy. My brain was screaming for me to breathe. I finally sucked in a breath and shook my head from side to side. I didn't know him and I had a boyfriend back home.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked him. He finally snapped out of whatever daze he was in and cleared his throat.

"I didn't want you getting in the way of Rachel trying to help your friend. "

"Oh," I said quietly. I didn't think about that. I knew Naomi was in pain but I also knew I couldn't help her. Maybe he was doing the right thing brining me out here. I would have freaked out if Naomi really was hurt.

"I'm Brady," he said holding his hand out to me. "Kennedy," I said reaching to take his hand. As soon as I touched him, I sucked in another breath. His hand was hot, just like Jake's. His skin made sent a jump through my entire body. My heart started to speed up. Brady smiled and dropped my hand. We stood looking at each other not saying anything for a few seconds. I wanted to talk to him but I didn't know what to say.

"So Rachel's a nurse?" I asked him. He shook his head no and jumped onto one of the boulders. I wasn't sure how he did it. He literally took one step and was on top of the boulder. He reached his hand down to me and pulled me up.

"No but she knows a lot. Mostly stuff she learned from Sue. You know tribal secrets," he whispered to me. I sat down on the boulder and looked at the water. It was late March so it was kind of cold. Brady kneeled down next to me. I tried to move over so he could sit next to me. What should have been simple and easy ended with me almost falling off the boulder. His arms reached out and grabbed me.

"Be careful. I don't think Rachel can handle you and Naomi getting hurt in one day," he smiled as he helped me sit back on the boulder. When he smiled I couldn't help but to smile back at him. I wanted to keep him smiling forever. Whoa, where did that come from? I didn't even know this dude. There wasn't going to be a forever. I was only here for a week. We sat in silence looking at the water. I wanted to say something, anything to him but had no idea where to start. We had been sitting in silence or a few minutes before I couldn't take it anymore.

"So Brady what do you guys do for fun around here?"

"Cliff dive," he said.

"You what?" I asked him confused. He jumped off the boulder and pointed to a cliff not too far from where we sat.

"We go to the top of that cliff and jump off."

"You expect me to believe that you jump off a cliff for fun? That cliff has gotta be at least 30 feet up!" I asked him. That sounded crazy to me. Most people read, or play basketball, or even go shopping. But Brady and his friends jumped off cliffs. Brady laughed again. His eyes got really small whenever he did that. And it was loud and infectious. I couldn't help but to laugh along with him.

"Are you saying you don't think I can do it?" he asked me. I shook my head no. He held up one finger and took off running down the beach. I had no idea where he was going. Slowly I jumped off the boulder and started running behind him. I didn't consider myself slow but it was almost like he was flying. He was moving so fast. Suddenly he made hard left and disappeared. I stopped and stood confused as to where he went. A few minutes later I heard some yelling. I looked up at the cliff and saw him jumping up and down, waving his arms.

He stepped back and got a running start. His arms and legs flailed as he jumped off the cliff. He let out a loud scream and plunged into the water. I couldn't believe he had jumped. I cheered and clapped for him as he went under water. It had been a minute or two and he still hadn't surfaced. Suddenly this wasn't fun. This was terrifying. I took off running towards where I thought he landed in.

"Brady!" I yelled as I ran closer to the water. He still hadn't surfaced yet. "Brady! Brady!" I yelled again. My eyes darted left and right looking for him. But I couldn't see anything. My heart started to pound. What if he was hurt? I screamed his name again. I looked around and still didn't see him. This wasn't good at all. I kicked my shoes off and ran into the water; all the while screaming Brady's name.

The water was freezing but I kept going; even when the water hit my stomach. I didn't know how far out he jumped. Suddenly my legs were swept from under me. I tried to scream but the water filled my lungs. My arms started failing. I needed to get up from the water. This was a stupid idea, running into the water. I didn't know how to swim. I was going to die looking for Brady. I felt a hand grab my waist and my head was pushed above the water. I started chocking on the mixture of water and air. No matter how much I tried to breathe I couldn't.

"Kennedy…Kennedy are you ok?" Brady asked me. I was gasping for air and coughing. I felt like I was going to die. My chest was on fire. Brady laid me down in the sand when we reached the beach and looked at me. He looked scared.

"Kennedy, what the hell?" Brady asked me. I finally stopped coughing and managed to catch my breath.

"I was looking for you! You went in the water and never came back up."

"Kennedy I was fine. I've been cliff diving since I was a kid. You could have killed yourself!" he yelled at me. I felt really bad that he was yelling at me. But why didn't he understand I was just as scared as he was? That was the whole reason I ran out into the water. I started shivering. Brady shook his head and picked me up. I was still cold but the side of my body that was against him was warm. Brady was still hot. But that didn't make sense. He was just in the water and the water was freezing. So how was he carrying me and still so warm?

"Brady what the hell dude? What did you to her?" a deep voice asked. I felt his legs going up the porch before I was sat down on the couch. Rachel pushed her way past the group of large men who were all looking at me. She grabbed my face and made me look at her. My lips and teeth were chattering.

"You need to get out of these clothes. Jake, grab the space heater and bring it here. Brady, take Kennedy in the room and then come back and explain yourself." Rachel yelled out orders. I tried to tell her that I was ok really but I could barely talk. Brady led me into the bedroom and told me to get out of my wet clothes before shutting the door. Naomi was on the bed but jumped up when she saw me.

"Oh my God Kennedy what happened?" she asked me. Her eyes roamed up and down my body.

"I went swimming," I told her before laughing. I couldn't swim and Naomi knew that. She stepped back so I could take my clothes off. After I was changed into a pair of sweats, a t shirt, a hoodie, and the thickest pair of camping socks that Rachel owned I sat down on Naomi's bed.

"So what really happened?" she asked me.

"I was freaking out when they brought you back. Brady took me down the beach. He went cliff diving and I freaked out when he didn't come right up. So I ran into the water."

"Kennedy you can't swim," Naomi laughed "Why would you do that?"

"I was scared something happened to him. I just wanted to make sure he was ok." I said quietly. I looked up and noticed Naomi was staring at me. "What?" I asked her. Naomi chuckled and walked out the room. I followed her out into the living room. Rachel waved me over to the love seat. A space heater on the highest setting was on a chair in front of it.

"You can sit right here. I made you some tea."

"Thank you," I said to her. It felt good to be wrapped in the blanket. I was sad that Brady wasn't still around. I didn't know why I was sad though. Rachel came back with the tea and passed it to me. I smiled and took the cup from her. I blew on it before I slowly sipped some of it.

"Is Brady alright?" I asked her. Rachel paused and looked at me. I could practically see the gears turning in her head.

"He's fine. So how exactly did you both end up in the water? Jake kicked him out before he had a chance to ask."

"Well he went cliff jumping after I told him I didn't believe that's what he did for fun. He didn't come right back up and I got scared. I ran in behind him."

"Forgetting the fact that she can't swim," Naomi said sitting on the couch next to me. She had a small cup of tea. Rachel looked at me and a smile spread across her face.

"You jumped in the water, knowing you can't swim to save Brady?"

"Crazy I know. But I just needed to get him out. I was scared something happened to him. I just wanted to make sure he was ok," I repeated what I had told Naomi in the bedroom. I looked down at my teacup and thought about how scared I was. Normally I never went close to water, but when I thought Brady was in trouble, nothing could stop me. I wasn't worried about dying or drowning. I just wanted to get him out. Suddenly Naomi let out a squeal. I turned and looked at her.

"What?" I asked her. Naomi smiled and shook her head.

"You like him!" she said happily.

"I don't like him. I don't know him Naomi. And I have James anyway."

"You don't have to know him to like him. I can tell you like him. And you know how I feel about James."

"Whatever Naomi."

"All I'm saying is when you guys get married I'm calling dibs on being the maid of honor."

Brady POV

"I just don't understand why you took her cliff diving."

I turned and looked at Collin. He hadn't shut up about Kennedy since we'd met up to walk to patrol. We were walking to relieve Seth and Embry from patrol. I wanted to smack him but I didn't.

"I told you I didn't take her cliff diving. I took her to the beach and I decided to dive."

"Dude its March. We never go cliff diving now! What were you thinking?"

"She asked what we did for fun. I couldn't tell her we hunt leeches. So I improvised."

"Improvised? That has to be the worst plan you ever came up with."

I quickly blocked him out. I didn't have anything to say with him. I couldn't tell Collin that I had imprinted on Kennedy. I didn't want to tell anyone. It was still very weird that so many of us has imprinted. I didn't think I was going to imprint. I didn't want to imprint at all. In my opinion it wasn't fair at all. How could you look at one person and then the Spirits tell you she's the one. Then no matter how much you liked somebody else, they really were the only one. Nobody else would do or be good enough. I wasn't the first to imprint on a girl who wasn't part of the tribe. It happened to Embry but his wasn't quite as bad. Kennedy didn't even live in Washington! As we got closer we phased and walked over to the guys.

How was patrol? Collin asked when we finally met up with Seth and Embry.

Quiet. The leech form earlier wasn't around. Embry said. They quickly said goodbye and we headed to our areas. Even though leeches hadn't really been a problem, Sam still insisted we do double patrols. One wolf was on the north side of the res the other wolf watched the South side. I told Collin we would meet up later and headed south. Once I was far away I phased back, slid the shorts I had tied to ankle on, and walked to my post. Sam would probably freak out but this was the only way I could think about things in peace. First off I wasn't even sure that I had really imprinted on her.

I never asked the guys how it felt when they imprinted; mainly because I didn't want to know. But I did know that every time was a different experience. Embry said it felt like the world stopped literally. Sam and Quill said they felt like they were being pulled. When I looked her in the eyes I felt a ripple go through my body, almost like a yearning. But how was I supposed to know if that was the imprint? It could have easily just been me being attracted to her body. And man did she have one hell of a body. When I looked her up and down at the beach, desire was racing through my body. And when she came out of the water, I couldn't help but notice her body even more.

But soon as I pictured her body out of the water, I got a pain in the middle of my chest. Kennedy could have been hurt or even worse killed. And it would have been my fault. Collin was right; I shouldn't have jumped off the cliffs. I never would have forgiven myself if Kennedy was hurt because of me. This wasn't good at all.