6
I watched the wolves eat, my eyes moving to the direction my mother had left in from time to time. I was waiting for her to return and my appetite was slowly fading with my growing anxiety.
"So do you guys like imprint?" Seth suddenly asked and now all the felines looked at him and he shrank a bit beneath our stares since his pack looked at him as well. Jacob raised his hand at us.
"He didn't mean to offend." he said quickly and my father shook his head.
"It is alright. It's never a bad thing to get to know your neighbors. But know we do not imprint. As humans we males can have one or multiple spouses to ensure our blood lines continue in our prides." he explained. Now they looked worried.
"So this pride will get bigger?" Jared asked a bit worried and father shook his head.
"No. The males will leave the pride and start their own lives either with a pride or a human family of their own." he explained.
"Because young males could over power you." Embry assumed. My brothers and father laughed.
"Something like that. Soon the twins will be on their own to find mates and form prides of their own." he said.
"But you don't?" Quil asked. I could see Jake was tense and cautious as they continued to ask what seemed like personal questions to us. Father nodded.
"No. I am a one lioness, male. Besides in our system, the women are the matriarch. If anyone wants to challenge us for the power, they'll have to fight my wife." he said before eyeing everyone.
"She seems tough." Leah said as if impressed. I nodded.
"She is." I answered.
"When Vitanja is old enough, aka turning eighteen, it'll be time for her to find her mate and either absorb him into our pack or she will leave to form a pride of her own." Father added. Paul's head snapped up as he heard this and he looked at me.
"What?" he asked almost completely shocked. Now my brothers shot him a mild glare before Jake hit his arm and Paul just looked down.
"Sorry. He's just overwhelmed by all of this information." Jake said. My father nodded.
"It's a lot to take in. I can't help notice you are will high school age. Do you attend the local school?"
"Yeah. Everyone here does except for Leah." Jake replied. Father nodded with an impressed look.
"Well that's good. Some of our girls will be attending La Push next week. It'll be nice to know a few people." he said. Paul's eyes brightened some and he looked at me.
"You're going to La Push?" he asked. I nodded nonchalantly.
"Yes. My senior year." I replied. He smiled wide.
"Yeah me too." he said. I gave a polite smile and just nodded.
"I head vampires reside in Forks. Are they gonna be a problem?" Micah asked. Now Jacob's eyes darted toward him.
"No. The Cullens are actually one of the good vampires." he said. Micah snorted with disbelief.
"Vampires, good?" he asked.
"That's doubtful." Leonardo commented.
"Silence." Father demanded with a hiss and the twins bowed their heads in silence. Father looked at the wolves. "If you all vouch for them then I am sure my wife will be willing to speak with them as well so we are all allies." he said. Jared chuckled.
"Yeah, Jake only speaks highly of them because his imprint is one of them." he said. Jacob shot him a glare. Now we all seemed to tense a bit at the wolf's words and father looked at Jacob looked at him.
"Is this true?" he asked curiously and Jacob cleared his throat some.
"It's complicated. Her mom was a human when she was born. So she's half human and half vampire." he explained. The four of us were quiet for a moment finally looking at each other for a second. To meet a wolf who imprinted on someone who was not his kind was truly fascinating.
"Well… guess we could say you imprinted on the human side." Father said. I tilted my head some.
"A real Maverick and Andromache." I replied as if stunned. Now all the wolves were confused.
"Who?" Seth asked and I smiled as the twins began to pick up our dishes and carry them inside. They've heard the story numerous times and were a bit tired of it. But I wasn't. I loved telling it too.
"It's a story some of the royal families tell their cubs. Andromache is a feline shifter who we are descendants from. She was also a princess of Egypt and she fell in love with a man called Maverick… who was a wolf shifter. Come to find out, Maverick had imprinted on Andromache." I said. Paul's eyes flexed in shock as he leaned over some.
"He did?" he asked and my father nodded.
"Oh yes. The second he saw her in his human form, his wolf claimed her. The two were madly in love." he announced. Paul shook his head some.
"So what happened between them?" he asked. Father sighed heavily.
"Well as times were very different then and relationships were formed only to strengthen countries, their love could not be. Andromache married a strong lion male and they had cubs and started their new blood line." he said. Paul looked almost saddened by the story, more saddened then his pack mates.
"And Maverick?" he asked. I shook my head.
"From what Father told me, he died from the pain of not be able to be with her." I said. Paul slowly looked down some as if some sudden realization hit him. He slowly stood up and everyone watched him. He looked at my father with respect.
"Excuse me. I have to go. I have to prepare my books and buy things on my school list." he said. Father nodded.
"Of course. Education is key and you must be ready for it." he said. Paul shot me a saddened glance before moving and taking off into the forest. His packmates seemed worried for him and now I wondered if something had happened. But I could not dwell on the thought as I suddenly saw my mother coming out of the trees. I stood up immediately as Sam was coming out behind her. He didn't look upset or angry. If anything, they both seemed content. Mother looked at Sam and bowed her head at him. Jacob and the others moved over to Sam who looked at them all.
"Let's go." he said to them and I watched as they began to take off into the trees.
"See ya, V!" Seth called and waved. Leah hit him lightly over the head and the wolves disappeared.
Normal POV
Sam led the pack home after finding out that Paul had left without permission.
"So what happens now?" Jake thought as they ran deep into the forest. Sam let out a growl.
"Zena explained her pride's way of life and since it's similar to ours, we won't have issues with them trying to hurt any of the humans. She admitted they won't try and take over our land since they'll migrate to another state in a few years." he thought to them.
"Paul will not like that." Embry thought.
"Will they help us kill any of the leeches?" Leah thought.
"We agreed that they will not go on patrols or look for trouble with them. If anyone is attacked, be it us, them or a human, or we give them information on a threatening vampire then they will assist. And we will come to their aid if they ever need it" Sam thought.
"And what about the Cullens?" Jacob asked.
"They have had negative run ins with vampires and do not trust them. They've taken on our treaty with them. Renesmee is the only one allowed on the land. This of course is void if there is a threat bigger than all of us. Zena has agreed to meet with Carlisle." Sam added.
"It's good to know we won't have issues with them." Seth thought happily.
"There's one more thing," Sam thought slowing his run to a soft trot as they got to Emily's home. They all shifted and Sam looked at his pack. "Most of the females are still young enough to go into heat." Everyone tensed some.
"They actually do that?" Embry asked and Sam nodded.
"Yes. Zena has let me know that other males will come but only during times of mating. Since they marked their territory when they moved in, no other should come and if they do try, Zena has agreed to do what is necessary to run them off the land to protect all of us. She and her husband leave town during mating season as well as her two sons. This means, her daughter Vitanja will be alone with some of the younger females and their cubs. We will all watch out for them when needed. I'm sure Paul will agree because he imprinted on her. If anyone else wants to help out by patrolling around their homes, this could help strengthen our bond and cut down on any future problems we may have."
The pack looked at each other before Jared and Embry raised their hands.
"We'll help Paul." Jared said. Sam nodded.
"Thanks guys. I'm going to head over to Paul's you all get ready for your patrols." he said and the pack separated.
In hour later, Sam was knocking on the front door of the Lahote house. Paul opened it. He was in a black sleeveless shirt and jeans. Sam frowned some.
"You left your packmates without permission during an important meeting." he said. Paul's jaw clenched and he nodded looking down some.
"Yeah. And I'm sorry." he said. Sam's nodded.
"I heard from the others what happened. The story the cat's told of their people." he said. Paul nodded turning and just walking into his living room leaving the door open for Sam to walk through. He followed his third in command.
"So then you know, that this is already a lost cause." Paul said. Sam shook his head.
"You don't know that. Times have changed now. And the fact that a wolf can imprint on a cat means it's possible, rare, but possible." he said. Paul scoffed.
"Oh yeah, you think those high and mighty cats are gonna let me, a mutt to them, date their daughter?" he asked. "What did Zena even say when you told her about me?" Sam shook his head.
"I didn't mention it." he said and Paul frowned heavily.
"What? Why not?" he boomed and Sam crossed his arms.
"Because it was not the time. Besides it's up to you to talk to your imprintee. Maybe, this is your chance to get to know her and maybe something can grow between you too. If we can all come to trust each other, then who knows we may become genuine allies- friends. So when that time comes that you tell Vitanja that you've imprinted on her, then maybe it won't even matter to the lions." he said. Paul's anger brought on from stress was clouding his judgement but as he listened to his alpha, his stress began to deplete. Vitanja was going to be starting school with them next week. It'd be the perfect place to start something, to get her to like him. He finally sighed.
"Okay." he said. Sam nodded.
"Good. Don't go running off anymore. Can't have you guys running off every time you get emotional." he teased and Paul scoffed.
"I won't do it again." he said and Sam nodded before heading out the door.
Vitanja's POV
That night we all met at the beach, a large fire was in front of us and we just huddled together as Mother spoke.
"We have found a good home, my lovelies. The wolves will not be a problem for us, we will help when needed as they will help us. They are aware of our mating times and will do what is necessary to help keep our cubs safe when needed. We will not hurt any of the humans here no matter how annoying they can be. We forever have the upper hand when faced with human dangers, so think before you act. Next week some of our older cubs start school. They will watch out for each other. Soon new cubs will be born and our blood line can continue!" she announced and we all hissed and gave low growls. She informed us more about boundaries and the vampires she will meet to make sure they are trustworthy. She bowed her head and we bowed back in reply. I was excited, not about the wolves, but about starting school. I loved the new environment feel I got from being in a new place. I wondered what type of adventures awaited me at La Push High.