My Saving Grace

A/N: Right so, I know, I suck at updating and pretty much fail at life, but I promise, now that the summer is here, I will try to update more frequently. Huge huge thank yous to Bubble. Gum. Green, Little Emily, brankell, dbgothicprincess, MintCcIceCream. A special mention to WriterFreak132 who read Leah's Story and now added this to her alerts as well. Thank you! So now this is Karson's point of view. And because I don't want you guys to be super confused, it overlaps a little from the last chapter. Like the actual imprinting itself, in Karson's POV, and then we can go from there. I hope you guys like it! : ]


I finally phased back. It took lots of will power, and a little prodding on my mother's part, but I finally managed to phase back. Uncle Jake had said he hadn't seen anyone as fast as me since my mother, and jokingly mentioned that I had the potential to be the permanent Beta. Now that would be legit. I had no idea that phasing would bring such a change in my attitude. I was finally proud of my heritage and I realized what an ass I had been. I was about to go upstairs, when I heard the front door open, I turned around to see her. Nafia. I mean, I had known the girl all my life, and I had always found her attractive, but today, she was breathtaking. No, even that was an understatement. I felt every single string on my heart attach to her, as if she was the only thing in the world, and nothing else existed. And at this point, it didn't. Nafia Umaang Black had become my world. She apparently realized what was going on too, because she started screaming at me, shaking her head, but I was so mesmerized by her beauty, I didn't even listen to what she was saying. Suddenly, she looked like she was about to faint, and I rushed over to her, catching her just in time. I inhaled her scent, and fog immediately filled my mind. Vanilla mixed with a hint of…mere freshness.

"Karson! Good to see you finally phased back, son!...and what are you doing with my daughter in your arms like that?"

And then Jake began shaking his head, just like Nafia had shaken hers. And he mumbled,

"Manwhore! With my baby?...imprint?" And then he fainted too…I was confused what to do and I was really glad to see Nessie come down.

"Karson! What's going on? Why did Jacob and Nafia faint? What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything! Well, all I did was imprint on Nafia, and then…well, you can see the results." I said sheepishly. I felt horrible. Nafia was the very definition of a Daddy's Girl, and while Jake did like me as a wolf, I didn't think he exactly approved of the imprinting. Nessie knelt down and whispered something in Jake's ear, which immediately caused him to shoot up and sit straight.

"Really, Nessie? We can…you know?" He suggested…rather suggestively…and that was an excellent showcase of my redundancy.

She blushed and nodded. And then he proceeded to pick up Nafia, and I tried to help him, but one glare was enough to tell me to back off. As much as I wanted to make sure she was okay, I knew that if I disobeyed Jake, visitation rights wouldn't exist. Not that Nafia would probably want to see me anyway, as horrible as I had been to her in the past.

Nessie got some water, and splashed it on Nafia's face. Her eyes shuttered, and she groggily became aware of her surroundings.

"Mom, I had like the WORST dream ever…Karson, idiotic, moronic, imbecilic, rude, tenacious, heartless Karson imprinted on me. I just couldn't fathom something like that. I don't even know why it felt like it was so real."

Jake and Nessie were silent, and I took it as my turn to speak.

"That's because, it wasn't a dream, Nafia. I really did imprint on you. We're meant to be together. I know you don't like me, in any sense of the term. Pleas-"

"That was the understatement of the year. Karson, do you honestly think I could fall in love with a person like you?"

"Nafia, I know I've been a manwhore in the past, but I'll give it all up for you, if you would just give me one chance to prove myself."

She laughed in disbelief and shook her head.

"It's not about that, Karson. It never was. You can sleep around with whoever the hell you want, for all I care. It's about you as a person. Have you ever realized how much your actions hurt Aunt Leah and Uncle John? You're always up for having a good time with Dakota and Aaron, and the rest of the boys, but when they give you advice, do you listen? Have you ever seen how much Dee loves you and that you're Tuck's idol? No, because you don't give a damn about your family, Winters. You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself. That's why I could never learn to love you. If this was anyone else, I would even learn to compromise with myself, but you, you're incapable of love. I regret living now because I'm apparently your soulmate." She said, tears filling her eyes, and I felt my own cheeks wet. She immediately shot up the stairs, and I dashed behind her, but Jake held me back.

"I can see that you care for her, obviously because of the imprinting, but that doesn't change how I feel about this whole situation. It's not that I don't approve, because, personally, I think every soul in La Push was waiting for this. I think it's more of the fact that you prove that you do deserve her. Which you do, or else this wouldn't have happened. The Alpha in me is proud of you, because you're like a son to me, but the father in me can't help but be scared. I would never want any of your mistakes in the past to affect the future you have with my daughter. And it will take going through hell and back for her to even consider her being your friend. It's not going to be easy…and I will have my eyes on you every damn second. But I do believe in you, and I do believe that one day, it will all work out for the best."

"Thank you so much, Uncle Jake…or should I say, Dad?" I said, nudging him, laughing, and once again, a look from Jake shut me up.

"Now remember kid, you hurt my daughter even the tiniest bit, I will not care that you're Leah's son…actually, she won't even care that you're her son. She'll help me pulverize you if anything. Just keep that in mind, will you?"

"Yes sir." I nodded. I gulped. This wasn't exactly the giving of his blessing, but it was better than a flat out 'I hate you, kid. Don't touch my daughter'. I guess, it was because Jake understood the grounding an imprinting gave to a wolf better than no one I knew. The only other person who truly understood that would be my mom. I was lost, and now I'm found. Nafia, I realized, become my saving grace. It was time that I, the real Karson who had been hidden under that arrogant boy for the past few years, came home.

"Hi, Mom." I said as I walked in. I saw Aylen and Aaron sitting on the couch, holding hands, and clearly, my mother was pleased with their whole ordeal.

"Hey, Karson. I'm sure you've heard, but I can't help but be so damn happy about Aaron and Aylen's imprint. I'm so happy for the both of you!" She said, turning to them.

"Umm, Mom. Aaron's not the only one who imprinted." I said, not really knowing where to begin. But I guess that was a good place to start, right?

My mom gasped.

"Oh my gosh! I want the whole family here for this. John! Dakota! Get in the living room! Karson imprinted!"

Thanks, Mom. You're making me even more nervous than I already was. I wanted to talk to her alone, but clearly that wasn't happening.

"Okay, now that everyone's here, you wanna tell us, kiddo?" My mom, said grinning, hands on her hips. My little brother and sister had woken up; looking at me with the big brown eyes they shared with my father. "Well, who's the lucky girl?"

"Erm…I…um…you know, I imprinted…so I imprinted…on a girl. Because…I'm a guy…and I like girls…but I never thought…I'd."

"Dude, hurry up and get on with it. We wanna know she is!" Dakota said…again, NOT HELPING!

"Nafia." I said, hoping my parents wouldn't have a reaction like hers. My mom's jaw literally dropped open, and my dad said,

"Are you sure? I mean, you know, sometimes you can't always tell, and you might just be confused. I mean, it's Nafia…you didn't' really like her much…are you sure you weren't drunk when all of this happened?"

"Yes, Dad. I'm sure. I think I would know when I impri-" I was cut off my mother almost choking me with a hug.

"Oh, Kar! I'm so happy. This is possibly been the best day of life…well, no, I guess that was probably the day your father and I first had sex…or well…yeah, whatever. Anyway, this is so damn exciting! You know, Jake and I have been trying to get the two of you to like each other, not like THAT but just in general, and who knew we wouldn't even have to try!" My mom finally let go, and I could feel my eyes bulging.

"You outside, now!" Aylen said, glaring at me. Oh boy. Here was another 'Don't hurt her' speech.

"All right, so first things first, you WILL not hurt my best friend. Or else, I will personally make sure you're never able to reproduce again. Second, I'm kinda happy. At least now she won't be able to deny what you two have been denying this whole time. Good luck, my friend." Aylen said, skipping off, back into my house.

I took a deep breath. All of this was so surreal. And then after getting another talk about imprinting and its responsibilities from my parents, I decided to go up to my room. I needed to think. About all of this, about how to prove myself to Nafia, and realize that we were meant for each other. I lay down on my bed, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Nafia and I were meant for each other. No one, in all of La Push, or anyone else I could even fathom. She was the only one who could stand up to me. And then there were our 'hate kisses'. It was obvious to everyone but her, that they were a sign of attraction between us. I closed my eyes, it had been a long day, and now it was time to dream about my sweet, beautiful imprint.

Nafia Umaang Black.


I was going to school, finally, after such a long time. Mom had forbidden us to go to school lest we randomly phase. But we exhibited extreme self control over our phasing…okay, Aaron more so than me. I saw Nafia standing by her locker, throwing her head back and laughing at something Luke was telling her. She ruffled his hair, and waved as he walked in the other direction. She was looking over something, probably her notes for the quiz we had in government today. Not that she needed to, she was ranked number one in our class, and I had always admired…okay, not admired exactly, more like envied, but let's get over that, shall we? Please and thank you! Haha, Nafia always said that. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling more confident than I had. I had had a lot of time to think, but so had she. And she was a sensible girl, so I knew she would relent eventually. What she said to me the last time I had seen her was probably in shock and anger.

"Hi, Nafia." I said, smiling at her. She sighed and just looked at me.

"Hello, Karson."

"Are you going to government?" I asked her, immediately feeling like an idiot. I knew next would come some sarcastic comment.

"No, Karson. I enjoy skipping class…oh wait, no that would be you!" She said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I'm going to government."

"Me too." I said, and I couldn't help the grin that formed on my face, just seeing her there…just staring at me, with her eyebrow arched in attitude.

"Do you mind moving, I have to get to class?" she said.

"I'll walk with you!" I said, and she just gave me a weird look.

"Can you please stop being so chipper? It's not really you…and I find it slightly disturbing that you're using such a tone with me."

"Seeing your beautiful face makes me all chippery." I retorted back.

"Can we please just go to class?" She sighed, and I immediately felt the extra spring in my step. She tried walking fast, but hey, she wasn't the only one here with superhuman powers. Not that we used them in a public setting such as school, but you get the idea. We walked into government together, and conveniently, there were only two seats left in the back, side by side. I grinned, and seeing the exasperated look on Nafia's face just made me want to cringe on the inside. But I knew it wouldn't be easy. Mom had given me a huge talk about this, and while I might have not appreciated this in the past, I was so grateful. Nafia wasn't the type to just trust anyone right off the bat, and especially me, since I had been horrible to her our whole lives. Until now. Now it would all change. I would become the man she'd always dreamed of. It also helped that she talked about stuff like that with my mom. As we took our seats, I just looked at her, amazed, by her simple beauty. This would take a while, but in the end, I know it will be worth it all.


A/N: All right, so I know, you all hate me for not updating like I should be. And I'm extremely sorry, but yay for summer! Hopefully, I will get to write more now, and update sooner =]. I love you guys! Please leave reviews! They do encourage me to update sooner =]