Chapter 2 – Struck by lightning

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I felt my jaw drop open slightly, and my breath began to quicken. It felt like my heart had increased ten sizes in a split second, just to be able to encase the feelings I now had for her. There she was…my imprint.

Wait…my imprint?

I tried to focus, but it was like my brain couldn't work right. It was slow and fuzzy, and the only part that was in focus was her. An imaginary beacon of light shone from behind her head, casting a warm glow on my body as I took her in. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my entire life. It was like taking every happy moment, every pretty picture, and every warm tingle I had ever felt and rolling it into a ball. When I laid eyes on her, that ball exploded around my heart, tying iron cables to her. No, it was more like they were being welded. But I didn't care...she was the most important thing now.

She was leaning against the counter of the kitchen where I now stood, taking in the sight of my brothers with large eyes. Oh my god, her eyes. They were the largest orbs of the most beautiful sea green I had ever seen. No, they were also tinged with blue. They were…aqua? I wasn't sure what to call them other than beautiful. Call me crazy, but I hadn't really spent that much time thinking about girls and their colors of their eyes.

But hers…hers I would stare at forever.

I tried to focus enough to actually look at her, and not just stare into her eyes. Not that that was hard; every other part of her was more beautiful than the next.

She had the longest legs I had ever seen, even if they were shrouded in the ugliest jeans ever. I was almost mad at the jeans themselves for being so ugly and having the audacity to adorn her perfect body. She was like a model; tall, slender, and unearthly gorgeous. She had tan skin that shimmered slightly under my sensitive eyes, but it wasn't like the sheen from a normal vampire.

Wait…vampire. The word rang in my head, breaking through the clouds she had put there. The drunk feeling shrunk away, and suddenly I was aware that she was definitely not human. My imprint was not a human.

Oh. My. God.

My heart felt like it had stalled in my chest. Holy shit. I tried to concentrate on the things around me, but I could still only stare at her in wonder and shock. The panic swirled inside my chest, making it hard to breathe.

She wasn't human…but she wasn't a vampire. No, I could smell her and vampires certainly did not smell like that.

I watched as her ocean colored eyes shifted from mine to dart around the hot kitchen where everyone was standing. Suddenly, she had noticed that we were now the center of attention, and I could tell…no…feel that she didn't care for it. The urge to sweep her up and take her away from all the prying eyes was overwhelming. I just wanted to do something for her.

Slowly, my eyes shifted to the other new woman in the room. She was wild looking; her curly hair stood up and away from her head, finally falling around her shoulders in blonde curls. Her stance was defensive, as if she was afraid that I was going to attack her. Were these two related? The smelled similar, and their faces looked almost…sisterly. Carmen, the Spanish vampire that I almost trusted, watched the scene with amused eyes as she stirred our food on the stove.

One by one, I became vaguely aware that my pack mates were figuring out what had just happened to me. Shit. I had imprinted, and they all knew it. My eyes shifted back to the girl that had somehow become the center of my universe as a chorus of chuckles and whispers rose up between the other wolves.

"Oh shit," I heard Embry say.

"Oh…my…god…" Brady laughed. Seth just looked between the two of them, a look of shock on his face, and Jacob just smiled.

"Did I miss something?" Renesmee asked suddenly, and every eye in the room shot to meet hers. .

"Collin, you alright man?" Jacob asked cautiously, and I felt him put his hand on my shoulder. I felt like everyone else was suddenly a million miles away. I jumped at the feeling of his skin on mine, yanking my head over to look at him.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" Jacob repeated, and I followed his eyes as he looked at my imprint. Why was he looking at her? How dare he look at her!

The human in me was still horrified at what the messed up Quileute magic had done to me. My wolf side, however, wanted to rip Jacob's throat out for simply looking at her. She was mine.

Wait….stop thinking such insane things. I don't want to kill Jake. He…he didn't do anything to me. He just looked at her, my sane side rationalized with me.

I watched the long legged beauty as her eyes scanned the crowd that now watched us. I felt myself inhale slightly as she took a tentative step forward, her eyes questioning. I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest it was beating so hard. When she finally stopped in front of me, I realized that she was even more beautiful up close. I could see the flawlessness of her skin; the smoothness of her plump lips; how her long eyelashes brushed her cheeks when she blinked….

She was beautiful.

I knew I was staring, but the rest of the world was still a million miles away as I stood there, frozen, arguing with my rational and irrational sides. Instinct told me to go to her; rationality told me to run as far away as I could.

She blinked a few times as she stared back at me, seeming equally entranced by me as I was with her. Did she know? Could she possibly feel it too?

I watched as she slowly smiled, a tiny breeze of breath escaping her lips. It washed over me and put me even further under her enchanting spell. Her expression changed, almost to one that was expectant. I fought to make my mind work correctly and do something or say something but I just couldn't. She turned her head, looking at the two she had come with.

Then she opened her mouth and I heard the most horrible word come from the most perfect mouth.

"Blood?"

Time stood still as I realized what she had said. She was thirsty. A chill of disgust raced through my body as I realized what she wanted. My imprint wanted blood, because my imprint was thirsty. Because she was a vampire.

Realization set in as I watched her pout her pink lips and jut out her chin. I jerked back to attention when I heard the half breed man shift from the other side of the kitchen.

"She wants to hunt," Nahuel said slowly. "I should probably take her. She's gotten used to feeding now, and doesn't care as much for human food," he explained slowly, his eyes darting to me.

"Come, Estrella," Nahuel urged her gently. "We'll go find some squirrels for you," he added. She looked like she recognized the word, and left eagerly with him, casing one last questioning glance in my direction.

When the three of the bronze skinned half breeds had disappeared, I looked at Jacob for help. They all looked as shocked as I felt. I could hear my heartbeat ringing in my ears. I felt myself start to sweat. I had to get out of there.

"I gotta….I…I'll…be…somewhere else," he muttered, bolting from the room.

I don't even remember how I got outside. One minute, I was in the kitchen, surrounded by her intoxicating coconut and citrus scent, and the next I was out on the snow covered lawn. I tried to get my hands to stop shaking, but they wouldn't cooperate.

I sighed as I realized in defeat that I was going to phase against my will for the first time since I was fifteen. My limbs seared with heat as I crouched over, letting the change take over. The familiar tingling sensation ripped through my spine, contorting my body for a split second. I hit the ground on four paws.

The change always make me feel better; when I was a wolf, I was more sure of myself. I could handle things better. But today, nothing seemed to help. I turned my head to look back at the house as an unfamiliar tightening began to rise in my chest.

What the hell was this? My chest felt like screws being drilled into dry wood; it was too tight and just felt wrong. I felt myself shudder as I tried to calm down. I didn't need to be freaking out on the back lawn of the Denali home. I glanced back at the large, three story log cabin mansion and tried to ignore the feeling that was already pulling me back to the house.

Where she was.

I took off, my paws digging into the snow. I could feel chunks of ice fly up with every movement of my powerful legs as I tore away from the house. The feeling in my chest gnawed at my resolve; every cell in my body was telling me to go back to that house and be near my imprint.

I shuddered. Imprint.

However, my mind was busy torturing me with an instant replay of the vampire attack that had almost taken my life…

Scraping, biting, fighting for my life….watching out of the corner of my eye as my own fur fluttered to the ground. Screaming endlessly for help in my head, or praying that my attacker would soon be done with me…

No. I would not imprint on her. They were all wrong – they had to be when it came to situations like these. I didn't care if Jake had done it; I didn't' want to imprint on that freak and I refused to let myself. My mind brought a picture of her razor sharp teeth as she smiled at me to the front of my mind. A horrified shudder rippled through my body at the thought of the monster back at the house.

She's only beautiful to attract prey. That's what they do…they use it to lure people in. Without being so pretty, vampires would never be able to attract people. It's what makes them so awful…I thought.

I thought of my imprint's face. Her flushed, bronze cheeks and pink lips…and those eyes…

Each time I slipped and called her that in my mind, my feet would stumble as if to punish me for thinking about her. I didn't' want to think about her – I didn't' want to love her, be with her, or have anything to do with her.

I cringed as I felt a shimmer in the air. Jacob.

Wait up! He called out, his own set of paws hitting the ground. I kept running.

My mind froze for a second as I began to panic. How did I explain this to him? I knew he wouldn't want to listen. I tried as hard as I could to block my thoughts from him. The less people knew, the better. No, I…I can't Jake…I don't want to talk about it.

Collin, stop running. I need to talk to you.

Jake… I said in a pleading tone. I showed him my desire to be as far away from the house as possible.

STOP! Jacob boomed in his head, the double timbre of the Alpha male ringing in his voice. I felt him cringe internally, and I had to remember that I respected Jake, as much as I didn't want to talk to him at the moment. He always hated giving orders, and he rarely did it. I knew that he meant it, and I could feel my legs obeying to his command.

I stopped, swishing my tail nervously. I did not want to talk about this now, and especially not with him. He was having his own mess of trouble with his imprint; that was specifically why we were here. We were on the hunt for the vampire that had become his competition for his mate. Jacob and Renesmee had a messy relationship right now, and it was all because of imprinting. I wanted no part of that.

You don't have a choice, Collin, I heard Jacob say.

I didn't imprint on that freak. It didn't happen. Jake…no, I said, my mind struggling to work properly. I felt Jacob wince and shudder internally as I refused to come to grips with what had happened.

Collin…you imprinted. There's no getting around it. You can't deny what just happened back there. Believe me…I've tried. Just…try to be happy man. This is a good thing.

No, it's no Jake. Did you forget that I was almost killed by a vampire? How can you expect me to imprint on one?

Yes Collin, I know. But I also know that you imprinted, and there's nothing you can do to break that bond.

Bullshit Jake. I want nothing to do with her.

He sensed my stubbornness and determination. With a grunt, he stood up and shook his head at me.

You're not going to talk to me yet. You need to go cool down.

I want to be left alone, and I want to stay away from her. I don't want this Jake. I don't' like it one bit, and….I'm not going to ever accept it. So you can just take whatever pre-planned imprint speech you have and shove it.

A low growl rumbled in his chest as he registered my words of defiance. I knew that I deserved to have my ass handed to me for speaking to the Alpha like that, but I knew Jake would let it slide this time. He knew how shaken I was; I could sense it.

You're right. I'll let it slide for now. But you're going to have to deal with this eventually. It won't go away no matter how you try to think of it. Deny it all you want…but you saw what that did to my relationship with Ness. Trying to live without my imprint when I went away to college…or tried to…it was hell. It was pure hell, Collin. And I wish you all the best in trying to live without her, because..it almost killed me.

Whatever, I snarled, turning around. I wanted to get away from him, from the monster, and from that tomb of dead things they called a house.

How was it possible that I was pre-destined to be with someone when she stood for everything I hated?

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Well, what did you think? This isn't the normal story where the wolf just 'hates' imprinting and thinks it's stupid - Collin was okay with the idea of imprinting. I think he was even waiting for it to happen in the back of his mind. But what happens when he's actually afraid of what he had imprinted on? Part of him tells him she's beautiful and made just for him, yet the other part warns him that vampires are nothing but trouble. What do you think? Can you see why this would be hard for him?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!