A/N: Wow, thank you for all of the love this story has gotten! I really appreciate all of the reviews, alerts and favorites! I intend to update once a week until completion. Just a note - I turned off anonymous reviews, because I like to be able to reply to people. I got a bunch of questions anonymously...but how do you expect me to answer them? LOL. Anyway, on with the saga...

Chapter 3

JakePOV

Fuck my life. How was this even possible? The whole purpose of imprinting was to ensure that the wolf bloodline would continue, right? The spirits really must hate me. Why else would they make me imprint on a fucking dude - my mortal enemy - a bloodsucker that was quite possibly deader than he already was!

My mind was reeling. No, he couldn't be dead. A vampire doesn't die like a normal person. Maybe Edward was in some kind of coma. He didn't need to breathe and he certainly didn't have a pulse, so there was no way for me to check. But instinctually, my inner wolf knew he couldn't be dead. You can't imprint on a corpse, even though, technically, that's exactly what a vampire is - a walking corpse. My brain felt like it was frying - I was so confused that this was even possible.

I wanted to run away, sort out my thoughts. But the imprint was winning over my rational brain. If I left him here like this, someone else in the pack would find him and not think twice before tearing him to pieces for being on our land. As much as I wanted to reject this new needful sensation, protectiveness for my imprint won out. I had to get him out of here. Goddamn it.

My inner wolf refused to allow my brain to consider any other options, and I felt my body transform. I braced myself for the impeding vile flavor that was about to invade my senses, cursing myself for even considering doing this. Gingerly, I took Edward's motionless form between my teeth, careful not to bite down too hard. I was shocked to find that I didn't want to immediately hurl - he kind of tasted like vanilla ice cream. His sweet scent wasn't as sickly as it had been five minutes ago either - it was surprisingly tolerable. I shuddered to think the imprint could work that quickly.

I pumped my four legs as fast as they could go, heading for the only man who might have a clue what to do - the doc. It wasn't long before I was galloping onto the Cullen estate. Not a moment too soon - I was salivating heavily around the body in my jaws, unable to swallow properly around him. He was getting too slick for me to hold onto much longer. I broke through the trees surrounding their house, only to find the doc and his two brothers outside waiting for us. Damned vampire hearing.

The brothers looked about ready to jump me as I approached with their motionless brother clamped in my mouth. I slowed down, dropping Edward gently at their feet, and sat down on my haunches, hoping that I looked submissive enough to hold off their attack. The big, hulking one made a move for me, but he was stopped by the doc laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, Emmett. Let him explain," Carlisle said, nodding towards me.

Emmett protested hotly, "Wait? I'll tear him to shreds. Look what he did to Edward!"

"I see him," Carlisle announced patiently.

The cowboy eyed me cautiously. "I don't sense any animosity from him." His brow furrowed, a confused look crossing his features. "If anything, I only sense...love?" He looked me over, trying to figure out why I would be feeling that way.

I huffed, embarrassed that he could tell the very thing I was trying to deny to myself. Time to phase and tell them what I knew before they got tired of waiting. I changed forms before them, not really caring about my nudity.

I crossed my arms across my chest and tilted my chin up in defiance. "I don't know about love," I scoffed. Cowboy quirked an eyebrow at me, but I ignored him. "I found him like that. He was on my land. He's not responding to anything. I think he's dead."

Carlisle sighed deeply, shaking his head. "That's not possible. Emmett, Jasper, take Edward up to his room. I'll be there in a minute."

The guys grimaced at the feel of my slimy drool as the carefully lifted Edward from the ground and carried him inside.

As an afterthought, Carlisle called to them, "And Emmett, please get this boy some pants." His eyes settled on me, smiling weakly. "Thank you for bringing him home. I know you had every right to kill him. I fear that that is exactly what he wanted."

My heart took a swan dive into my stomach. Edward wanted to die? The only thing that could possibly make him want to end his immortality would be...

Carlisle seemed to sense my concern. "Jacob, Bella died today," he informed me quietly.

In any normal circumstance, I wouldn't have cared. I might have even laughed. I had once loved that silly girl, but she cast me aside for the love of the undead. As soon as she became a bloodsucker, she was dead to me. I'd already mourned her. I felt little grief for her death. And yet, my heart was breaking. The imprint knew how much pain it was causing Edward, and his pain was now my pain, just as his joy would be my joy.

I felt tears well up in my eyes. Carlisle approached me slowly and pulled me in for a comforting hug. His hands were freezing on my bare back. I sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. I'm sure he thought I was sad about Bella. There was no way he would ever think I was weeping for Edward's loss. Not just Edward's loss, but also my own. I wept for the loss of who I was not half an hour ago. I felt like a completely different person, my allegiances had shifted so greatly. My body burned with the need to check up on Edward, to be close to him.

Carlisle released me from the hug as my tears dried up, holding my upper arms gently. "Would you like to come inside, Jacob?"

I nodded and followed him inside. On the foot of the stairs lay the pair of pants Emmett had left for me. I quickly pulled them on and followed Carlisle up to Edward's room. Edward was laying, still as a stone, on the giant bed he'd bought for Bella when she was still human. Somehow, I suppose with their impossible strength, his brothers were able to pry his limbs out of the fetal position, so that he was lying straight. He looked like he could have been asleep, if not for his staring eyes, blankly boring holes in the ceiling.

Carlisle was at his side in an instant, looking him over, peering into those vacant orbs. The pull in the center of my chest drew me to Edward's opposite side, and I found myself taking hold of his rigid, frozen hand. I felt his brothers glaring daggers at me - they must think I'm crazy. But Carlisle's kind gaze found mine.

His voice was soft and gentle when he questioned me. "You've imprinted, haven't you?"

"I- uh - I don't -" I sputtered, stunned that he could guess that that was what was affecting me. Stunned that he even knew of the phenomenon. I wanted to deny it, but I felt too compelled to confess. "Yes," I whispered, hanging my head, my rational mind shaming the wolf inside.

"What the fuck is that?" Emmett raged. "What did you do to my brother?" His hands rose like he wanted to strangle me, but before he could step towards me, Carlisle came to my rescue.

"Emmett, it has nothing to do with Edward's condition. I'll explain later - now is not the time." He turned his face back to me. "He'll need someone who cares after he comes out of this. I'm very glad you'll be here to help him."

"That makes one of us," I mumbled, dejected.

Carlisle smiled wanly before rising and addressing us all. "It seems to me that Edward has fallen into a form of stasis. It's like a suspended animation. I haven't seen it before myself, but I have heard of a few cases where vampires are so incapacitated by strong negative emotion, that their minds shut down to protect themselves. And since the mind controls the body, well -" He gestured to Edward. "You can see the result."

Jasper interjected, "When will he come out of it?" His voice was heavy with worry.

Carlisle sighed deeply. "I don't know. It could be days, months, years. It could be decades. As I said, I haven't encountered this before personally. I've only heard stories."

Decades? No, I couldn't wait that long for him to come back! Every fiber of my being was screaming at me to help him and make him happy, but I didn't know what to do. I felt like crying. My voice was strained when I asked, "Is there anything that can be done? I only just found him. I can't -" My voice broke off then, a lump forming in my throat. I fought it with everything I had. I was not going to cry in front of these other leeches.

Carlisle laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I'll do everything in my power to help him, Jacob. We love him too." He walked towards the door, ushering the others out ahead of him. "Come on, boys. I have a lot of research to do. And I'm sure you want to know about this imprinting business." They grudgingly exited the room towards Carlisle's study. As he closed the door behind him, Carlisle said warmly, "Stay as long as you like, Jacob." And I was left alone with the new focal point of all of my attention.

I sat down on the bed next to Edward's empty shell, wondering what was going to become of me. I was supposed to hate vampires. I was designed to kill them. I wanted to wipe them off the face of the Earth. Especially this one - the one that had caused me so much unbearable pain for years of my young life! All those feelings, all those predetermined paths I should have taken, changed the instant I looked into his eyes, down to his soul. I wondered to myself, why now? It's not as though I'd never made eye contact with him before, however unwilling I may have been. Could it be because Bella was dead, and the universe had freed his soul from her clutches for me to take? Or was it me who'd changed somehow, unconsciously? I'd probably never know. The imprint wants what it wants - there must be some greater reason for this. It certainly wasn't procreation. Could his soul be the yin to my yang?

And what would the pack do? How was Sam going to take this? Surely I would be cast out of the pack. The moment I phased, any other wolf would easily know that I had imprinted on a vampire. The others who had already imprinted - it was all they ever thought about. And I knew I'd be the same. Even now I had to struggle to think of anything besides Edward's well-being. Shit, I was really fucked. There was no way Edward was going to accept this. Would he, being undead, even feel the connection that all of the other imprintees felt? Only time would tell, and I knew I would give him as much time as he needed.

All of this contemplation was making my head spin. Exhaustion was taking hold, and I laid down, snuggling close to his side, draping an arm across his chest. His freezing skin was like a soothing ice pack against my own too-hot body. I only wished he was able to hold me as I held him. My eyes grew heavy as I drank in the very scent that had so repulsed me only hours before. Sleep enveloped me, and my dreams were filled with what the future might hold for us - no fear or hurt, only love.

A/N: Poor Jacob. Will Carlisle find a way to bring Edward out of suspended animation? Dun-dun-dun! I hope you enjoyed it - leave me a review if you did! It's very encouraging! At this point, I expect to update every Sunday, so - more next week! I'm going to focus a few more chapters on the imprint before the adventure really gets going.

Recommendation time! Wanna know what I'm reading right now? Breaking Points, by sugarbucket. It's a really well-written fic about Edward and Rosalie's relationship Pre-Twilight. It's extremely angsty - it almost hurts to read it - so if you can't stomach that, don't read it. But if you can, I highly recommend it - I can't stop!