Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: sorry about the ridiculous delay, life has been hectic. I can't promise updates any faster because school must come first but hopefully more will spill out soon. This is just a little bit to keep y'all going. :)

Thanks for all the wonderful awesome reviews! I'm so sorry i haven't had a chance to reply to them, but I've read them all and they definitely motivated me to write more. I figure that y'all prefer an update to my replies though, but anyway, thank you so much!

Let me know what you think of the next bit.

Enjoy!

-Savanasi

Miss Imprint

Chapter 9: The Wood Between

"Seth?"

"Uh huh?"

I smacked the book down in front of him, the word imprinting glaring out from the page.

"What is this?"

He tensed in front of me, his long legs unwinding from their position on the chair across from him.

He sat up straighter.

"If I have to answer that, Cass, we may need to talk about you repeating a grade."

"Seth."

"I don't know, it's a story."

I felt my shoulders drop in relief.

"It is?" He looked at me suddenly, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. And then he nodded.

"What else would it be?"

"I don't know." I sunk down into the chair next to him, letting my shoulders drop down.

I wasn't sure what I was feeling just now.

I mean, it wasn't like I wanted it to be true, the idea of Seth imprinting on me, the thought that he could eve do that kind of freaked me out. I mean I totally dug the idea of him being crazy about me, but the whole divine inspiration-love at first sight angle to it was a little intimidating.

I mean I was just a senior in high school. It was a bit early for that kind of thing.

"Hey, you okay?" A hand on my arm brought me back to the present and I looked up at him in surprise. He was closer than I would have imagined.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I stood up, then, shoving my chair back carelessly. I needed to be away from him for a little bit, I felt weird.

Like I was disappointed.

But I couldn't understand it, this whole imprinting thing, it wasn't for me, right? I mean I hadn't really wanted it to be true. Honest, I hadn't.

"Where're you going?" Seth's voice deepened lightly and he got up, his arms dropping back and he leaned back against the table.

I let my eyes catch the tantalizing form of his biceps as they tensed under the new strain.

"Cassie?"

"Oh-yeah uh I've gotta go home, dad wants something." He gave me that look again, like he was trying to see right through me. An odd urge came over me and I barely stopped myself from wrapping my arms across my chest.

"Okay." He stood up straighter.

"Where are you going?" I had to look up to him to meet his eye line now.

"I'm going with you."

"Oh." My stomach flipped at the ease with which he made that admission.

"Is that okay?" He sounded hesitant suddenly and I felt my insides turning to goo; this boy was never careful, but he cared what I thought.

"Um-yeah?" I snapped back, hoping my lack of hesitation would convey my excitement. He seemed to get the message. That delighted twinkle was back in his eye and before I could even start to move, his had was back against my waist, pushing me forward.

"Well hurry up, I don't have all freaking day."

And with that we were off.


Home came quicker than I would have imagined, even though we were walking and it was a decent fifteen minutes from school.

Seth had been remarkably talkative and his arm had brushed my own on more than one occasion. For the past ten minutes, I'd been trying to angle my palm so that it would collide head on with his, but so far I'd been unsuccessful. One time I'd gotten really close but he'd pulled his arm up to scratch his chin just as I had almost made contact.

It had been quite a setback.

We turned up the path to my door and I paused in front of it, reaching into my messenger bag to pull out my key.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I nudged his shoulder with my own and he nodded.

His hands shoved themselves into his pockets and I barely held back the disappointed whine that threatened to expel itself at the sight.

Those gorgeous, unbelievably big hands were out of reach permanently. There was no way I could make it look like an accident now.

He rocked back on his heels and I leaned against the door, watching him.

"So…you going to invite me in?" He winked at me and I smirked gleefully. I was hoping he would say something like this. After the torture he'd put me through on the walk home, it was his turn to suffer a little.

"Nope." I cheekily darted up and kissed him on the cheek before dashing inside and shutting the door.

I locked it just to be safe and then dropped down to the floor.

I hadn't heard footsteps so I knew he was still there.

I slid down further and peaked under the door, and there they were. His converse: in perfect condition, as always.

Denim filled my vision and I barely stopped myself from clapping as I realized he was mirroring my position.

I sat back against the door and pictured for a moment that the wood between us was just air.

And my back was against his, the width overwhelming my own diminutive stature. I would lean my head into the valley in the middle of his back and he would stretch his arms back, tugging me into him. And we'd sit there, just quietly, basking in the moment. And eventually he'd turn around and take me in his arms, the warmth from his frame enveloping me and cocooning me in its warmth.

But the wood between us was real. And all too soon I heard him sit up and walk away.

I ran to the kitchen window and watched him walk, his hands jammed into his pockets, face turned to the ground.

I couldn't tell if he was happy, or frustrated, or upset, or disgruntled. But he was walking purposefully to the forest.

Doubt started to prickle at the corner of my mind but I shrugged it back.

They were just stories.

There was no way.

And then I saw him walk to the edge of the forest, and his arms reached up, tugging the bottom of his shirt to the heavens.

The flimsy cotton under shirt was shoved aside and he was topless and magnificent and I felt my breath catch.

And then he ran into the woods, his shoes kicking off behind him as he went.

And then it hit me.

His sudden growth spurt, the heat I'd felt from him that night, the mysterious wolf that was far too large to be normal, the flimsy excuses, the constant disappearances-he was hiding something. It probably wasn't what was in those books, I mean that, that had to be coincidence.

I ran back to the door and sprinted towards the woods, my eyes aligned with the point I had seen him disappear through.

I felt my breath speed up and my chest heave as I pushed myself further, past the grassy meadow in my backyard, and into the trees below.

And I promised myself, I would find him; find out what he wasn't telling me.

No matter what.