When Gravity Moves
Chapter 4- imprint
A million thoughts and voices bombard my mind from all sides, excitement, worry, and anger, pressing in on my own feelings and clouding them with someone else's.
I shake my head furiously, trying to sort through thoughts that aren't my own, as a sickly sweet smell burns my nose like bleach. It's so strong and fresh that my eyes water, but underneath it, I can smell something alive and so very familiar.
The entire pack had been dispersed into the woods not long ago with the raging news that a leech was on our land, hunting on our land, and had taken a boy, my brother, and disappeared into the woods.
We were given orders to kill the leech and bring the Seth home, alive, at all costs. The sent had been lost early on, so my pack spread out throughout the woods to search for any sign of them.
Seth, you idiot!
Pushing my legs faster, I tilt my head back, and howl as loud as I can to gain their attention.
Immediately, everyone's mind shifts to finding me.
I've got his sent and he's coming up fast!
Wait for us! Leah says and I can tell that she is closest.
Don't engage without backup. Sam confirms in his Alfa voice, making me huff in annoyance and push my legs even harder than before.
A coppery sent adds to the burning one, making my nose flare and anger to explode in my veins.
Blood!
I burst through some particularly thick underbrush, catching sight of a pale being, but my legs lock stubbornly as the Alfa's command echoes through my head, keeping me from attacking.
Then my anger and frustration disappear into confusion as my brain finally catches up to what I'm seeing.
A vampire, a small pixie of a vampire, stands with a snarl on her pouty lips, and in her hands is the head of another bloodsucker, a man with longish blond hair pulled into a ponytail and blood red eyes staring unseeingly.
I barely notice my brother, perfectly fine, though terrified, a few yards away, because all I can think as she bares her teeth at the now headless kidnaper is, beautiful.
She turns her golden, honey eyes to me, and they widen in shock and horror as she drops the head she was holding.
I can understand why she would fear me- she's on Quileute land and I am a giant beast coming out of the trees, a predator made to destroy beings like herself.
But I have no urge to lunge and kill her, like the voices in my head hiss at me to do. The very thought, at harming such a memorizing creature, makes cold wash down my spine as the world shifts out from under me and everything I thought meant something, is meaningless.
Staring at her, this girl, this vampire, I don't know anything at all except that I would do anything for her, be anything for her, and I would surly die if she continued to look at me with such dread and fear in her eyes.
Curses sound in my head, and the pounding of paws on the ground snap me out of whatever it was that I was in, and I glance back down at the other body.
Had she crossed the border, risking the treaty, just to save a human boy?
I look back to the pixie-like creature, where she is still frozen in place, and jerk my head at the treaty line a few yards away.
Relief floods her face and she turns, darting back to the safety on the other side of the border.
An ache spreads in my chest, a longing to run after her, but I still have duty to my pack and my brother, so I force my muscles to relax and shift to human.
I dig through the pocket in my shorts, attached to my leg by a leather cord, and fish out a lighter. My hands are trembling so horribly that, by the time a small flame sparks, Leah finally bursts out of the trees as a wolf, throws a glance at the now burning vampire, and rushes to our wide eyed brother.
I tug on the sports bra strapped to my leg, and then the shorts before jogging over and kneeling next to my siblings.
Seth's heart is beating way too fast to be healthy, so I reach out, brushing his hair out of his sweating face.
"Calm down, Seth, you're safe now. You're safe."
More wolves charge onto site and quickly shift, pulling on shorts as they draw closer.
The mortification of being naked or in front of naked men had worn off, simply because it happens so often and they find it hilarious to run something through their heads over and over if it makes me the slightest bit uncomfortable. Nudity is featured heavily in their teasing and taunting, so much so, that I had lost all embarrassment.
Sam strides forward, giving me a thoughtful and searching look, before checking to make sure Seth is okay. Though he's not a wolf, everyone thinks of him as much as part of the pack as Emily and Kim.
He's an honorary member, really.
"Can you tell us what happened, Seth?" He asks when my brother's heart finally goes down to a healthy pace, in that calm deep voice he always uses.
Seth swallows.
"I saw someone in the tree line; they looked like they were hurt so I went to see if I could help. I knew too late that he was a leech and he grabbed me, running deeper. He heard someone coming so he was going to bite me right there, but then another leech came running at us and ripped his head right off! That's when Bella showed up."
My lips pull back on their own accord, snarling softly at him. "She's not a leech!" I hiss defensively.
His eyes widen slightly and mouth drops open.
"Yes," Sam says, once again studying me. "It seems that we have a lot to figure out. For now, let's get back to the house so Emily can bandage any scrapes Seth had received."
The rest of the pack move back into the foliage, striping as they go as I boost my brother up onto Leah's grey furred back.
She quickly races after them, and Seth's crow of glee sends birds taking off into the air.
I shift after tying my clothes back to its cord, and look longingly back towards the border where the amazing creature had run off.
What was her name? By her eyes, she must be a Cullen, but what is her first name?
I ache to tattoo it under my pack tattoo, to show the entire world that she's my imprint, so no one can hurt her.
I ache to know her, see her smile, to protect her and be at her side.
I suck in a deep breath, tasting a bit of floral and rain underneath the smoke of the burning leech and musk of my pack.
I want to burry my nose in that sent and never have to smell anything else.
Instead, I turn away and sprint after my family and pack, preparing myself for a hard, long, talk.
A/N: Well, I'm glad you guys like it so far; I can only hope that it meets your expectations. So what do we think of the short meeting Bella and Alice had? Was it good? To your liking? A disappointment? Review!
~Silver~
