A/N: I could swear that my vocabulary is slowly dwindling, like I keep repeating adjectives because I can't think of synonyms. So frustrating..
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters and all credit goes to Stephenie Meyer.
Jacob Black
The polished wood door swung open slowly to reveal the hallway of the Clearwaters', a modern and stylishly decorated house that retained the warm and homely feel you'd expect from a cottage. The heated air would've been a relief if I still felt the cold.
Oh yeah, that's right, I was now a werewolf (a shape-shifter technically) and I now ran at a toasty one-oh-eight point nine degrees as a result. That being the reason I was able to wear shorts in March. That also being the reason I couldn't touch anyone who wasn't in on La Push's biggest secret. And there was no one I wanted to touch more right now than the boy in front of me.
There he stood, tears staining his beautiful face, looking so weak and fragile that I felt the overwhelming urge to comfort him, to protect him from anything, even with my life. From that moment on, I knew that nothing else would ever matter apart from him. I had been seeing the universe wrong – it was no longer gravity holding me down, it was him; we did not orbit the sun, everything revolved around him – he was the center of the universe.
Each exquisitely formed part of his body was perfect: his sooty hair that swept across his gorgeous face and down to his broad but boyish shoulders; his warm, chocolate eyes that overflowed with innocence and optimism even in the clearly distressed state he was in; his long, wet lashes that painted a dark barrier around those orbs; his small, angular nose, scarlet from weeping; his full, well-shaped lips that invited me in; his soft jawline and prominent cheekbones; the expanse of skin on his slender neck that begged to be kissed before disappearing underneath the sweater that was far too big – it concealed everything that I longed to see. The rest of him was covered by those darned clothes, but I had a pretty good guess that it would be just as perfect as the rest of him.
I realized what had happened. I felt the millions of steel cables that bound me to him. Nothing else mattered, only Seth.
Seth – my imprint.
I needed to put my arms around him, to hold him to me and never let him go, to shield him from all that life could throw at him.
So I ran. I hurtled away from the center of the universe with all my might, knowing that I would ruin this poor, innocent boy's life if I stayed there.
Seth Clearwater
I slammed the door. What the fuck was his problem? Twice in a row he had now unexpectedly run away from me, this time without even talking to me! I guessed it was evidently alright now to show up at someone's door then disappear without uttering a word to them. Not to mention the fact that he looked at me with the most adoration I had ever seen from another living creature before. Oh, and did I mention, there was also two wolves in the back yard and my dead father in the living room? This was so unfair!
"Argh!" I screamed, with a blind fury that felt like fire burning through my system. I attempted to hold my head in my hands, but couldn't – I didn't have hands. I had paws!
Seth? two voices said in unison before shock came crashing down on me and darkness swallowed me up.
"Seth?" It was a deep male voice that I recognized.
"Huh?" I mumbled, struggling to push open my heavy lids.
"Sue, he's waking up," Sam said. Of course, Sam was the voice I heard. That was confirmed when I finally managed to open my eyes.
"Seth!" I heard my mom cry just before I saw her face join Sam's above me. "Honey, what do you remember?"
"Um…" What did I remember? It was coming back to me, but painfully slowly. "I think I fainted."
"Yes." She looked worried. "And before that?"
Before that…
"Oh!" I sat up abruptly and looked down to check whether I had fur or skin. Definitely skin, so that was one thing at least.
"It's okay, Sam will explain everything," she promised with a hand on my shoulder. "But first, who was at the door?"
"Jacob," I said quietly, trying not to specify in my head the glorious face, the inviting body, the wonderful person behind that name.
"And where is he now?" she questioned as if she didn't quite believe me. "And more importantly, how could he leave you alone like this?"
"He didn't," I defended him. "He left without saying anything. Before I, er, became a wolf."
"How did that make you feel?" Sam asked in a soft tone. He sounded so ridiculously much like a social worker it was almost funny.
"Pretty mad," I confessed.
"And then you phased."
"I what?"
"Exploded into a giant wolf," he explained with a smirk.
"Yeah. How did you guess?"
"Well, that's likely the reason why you phased. Especially with all the stress you've been through this evening. With all that, it's really not that surprising you shifted so early. It's much more remarkable that Leah phased."
"Sue Uley:" my mom mused, "proud mother of two werewolves."
"You're changing your name back?" I was slightly disappointed; it was as if she were already trying to forget dad.
"So Jacob just left?" She was obviously avoiding my question. I sighed.
But Sam interrupted. "He shouldn't even be seeing humans yet."
"Oh, come on Sam! It's been a whole month!" mom snapped at him. "Really, isn't that long enough?"
Sam scowled at her, but not in a particularly vicious way.
"Where's Leah?" I suddenly asked, remembering the huge gray wolf in the backyard.
"Here." I followed the direction her voice came from to see her sitting on the couch, no longer an animal. Weird, I half expected to see a mound of fur instead of my very human sister. Also weird was that I would've expected to be freaking out right about now. But instead I seemed to be taking it all in my stride and staying calm – aside from the fainting.
"Leah!" I jumped up and ran over to her. "You're human!" I exclaimed as I pulled her into a hug.
"Woah there, Seth," she cautioned. "It might be a while before either of us can control the whole shifting thing so, for now at least, it's best if we avoid close contact with anyone." I released her and stepped back with my hands behind my back. "And yes," she chuckled, "at this very moment I'm human."
"Leah?" Sam was suddenly beside us. "Do you think you can remember enough to explain the most important details to Seth? I would myself – it's just that I need to gather the rest of the pack and let them know about our newest arrival." He smiled down at me. He was huge – a good few inches taller than me – but I was pretty sure that Jake might just be taller.
"Sure," Leah answered. I could see and hear that it still pained her to talk to Sam. Poor Leah. Poor us. We both could not be with the ones we loved.
I sighed. I hoped that someday I could find a man just as good as Jacob.
And with that, Sam strode out the front door, leaving the three of us together as our strange new family: no father, but two werewolves instead.
Sam Uley
Sam, Jared began the second I phased, what happened? Why did you phase back to human form?
Seth has joined us, I answered bluntly.
Aw c'mon, Paul moaned internally, isn't one Clearwater enough for one night?
Shut up Paul, I said. Has anyone seen Jacob? I felt bad about lying to Seth and Leah. The real reason I left was to find Jacob – something wasn't quite right.
No, said Quil and Embry. I hadn't realized they were there.
Paul and Jared hadn't either.
So he hasn't phased to his wolf form in the last couple hours then?
Not that any of us know of, Jared spoke on behalf of all of them.
Why? thought Embry.
Because apparently he showed up on the Clearwaters' doorstep and then took off without a word as soon as Seth opened the door. I need to check in with Billy to see if Jacob's there. If he's not, there's not much we can do about it, but it would still be nice to know.
Hang on, said Quil, I'm just outside Billy's – I'll do it.
Okay, thanks, I said.
We felt Quil fade out of the pack mind.
Embry, Paul, I don't need either of you on tonight; you can go home.
You're the boss. Paul was smug that he could get some sleep. I felt him phase back.
Embry? I said after a few seconds.
I'd prefer to wait and see whether Jake's home or not, if you don't mind, he explained.
Sure, just don't blame me when your mom gets mad.
Ugh, you got a point, he said dejectedly. Let me know in the morning, okay?
See you at school, Jared said.
Embry shifted back and a few moments later Quil reentered the pack mind.
And? I said to Quil.
He's there, but he hasn't spoken to Billy since he got back, and that was around half an hour ago. He's locked himself in his room and it sounds like he's crying. Billy wanted me to ask you to talk to him as soon as possible.
That's weird, I said, I'd say he left the Clearwaters' around an hour ago. Anyway, doesn't matter, I'll go talk to him.
Jacob was in his room, as Billy said. It surprised me when as soon as I told him that it was me at the door, he flung it open and dragged me in.
"What's wrong?" I asked. What on earth could make a wolf cry?
"I think… I think I imprinted," he managed to choke out between sniffs.
"Oh come on, Jacob, imprinting's not all that bad. In fact, you should be overjoyed. And, speaking of things you should be doing, why are you here? Why aren't you with her?"
"Well, that's part of the problem, see. It's not a her."
"Oh. Well, on the bright side, your name will go in the history books. You're the first wolf ever – well, that we know of – to imprint on a male human." This sort of grossed me out a little bit but I was trying not to show it. Who would've thought that of all people Jacob Black would end up gay?
"I guess." It seemed to be working.
"So do I know him?" I asked with hesitation. I was afraid the answer might be yes.
"Yeah." He frowned down into his lap where he was nervously twiddling his thumbs. I waited for him to continue but he didn't.
"Okay… You want to tell me who he is?"
"Not really."
Well tough, pack life doesn't allow for secrets.
"Whether you like it or not, we'll find out as soon as you next phase, so it's probably easier if you just tell me now," I said, trying to use as little authority as possible in my tone. I was the alpha; it was my job to lead the pack, and that's usually easier when everyone likes you.
"Fine," he spat. "It's Seth. I imprinted on Seth Clearwater." No matter how hard he was trying to appear angry, it melted away as soon as he said the name. I knew the feeling – it was impossible not to feel blissful and content whenever you thought of your imprint.
Ugh, I bet Emily's already gone to sleep. I feel bad about that. I'll make it up to her tomorrow: I'll take her out to dinner someplace real nice.
"Well then, it now seems that nobody has imprinted on a male human," I murmured to myself. But of course, wolf hearing will pick up anything.
"What?"
"You heard that, huh? Okay Jacob, stay calm about this. After you left the Clearwaters', Seth phased for–"
"He what?" he roared. "Oh my god, I have to go find him!" He was out of the room before I could even react.
I sighed. If this weren't a situation involving an imprinter and an imprintee, I would probably have stopped Jacob, but it was.
Being an alpha was so much easier when it was just the three wolves.
A/N: Too many POV changes in this chapter, which I don't like doing. On a brighter note, I'm hoping I'll finish the next chapter within two or three days. Huzzah! Omg that's such a great word. I love anyone who's reading this, and it's great reading reviews. Especially ones that critique my writing, otherwise how am I supposed to get better? So if you're going to write a review, please please please point out any bad things instead of just saying "this is great cant wait till next chapter!" etc. And also, if you have any questions for whatever reason, feel free to message me. Not because I'm lonely or anything.. heh...
