After about a half hour of stroking Seth's sandy coloured fur and him humming and purring away happily, I told him it was probably best if he changed back so we could talk. I hated myself for it. It was so relaxing, just sitting there with him. I'm also pretty sure he dozed of for about ten minutes as well.
Seth slowly stood up onto all fours and I stared up at him in slight amazement. He really was huge. And I mean huge. I stood up, running my hand up one of his legs and then stroking his chest. He was taller than me! He nudged me in the face with his nose, which was wet. I would have swatted at him, had he not looked so damn adorable. His eyes are always so brilliant, but when he's a wolf they're just that much cuter.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm staying right here," I said, still stroking him. I'm addicted to it. He's so soft. "I'm not gonna sneak a look at the goods when you're putting your clothes on."
He let out a soft bark and then licked the side of my face.
I stared at him, wide eyed. "No way did you just fucking lick me!" I laughed and he bounced around me, hyper and happy.
I smiled and slapped my hand over my eyes. "Go change," I said and he nudged my stomach with his head as he walked past and I stuck my spare hand out and ran it across his side as he walked.
I love Seth.
After a moment I could feel from the tugging in my stomach that he was getting closer and eventually I felt his warm arms wrap around me, turning me in the process before he pulled my snug against his chest.
"You weren't scared," he whispered almost disbelievingly, his arms so tight around me I could never get out. But I liked it. I felt safe and secure and it took my mind off of everything.
"This is a prime example of when the phrase 'I told you so' is appropriate. But considering I'm now the most understanding person ever, I won't say it."
He laughed and rolled his eyes at my sarcasm. "Yeah, yeah. You're perfect; I know. Can I kiss you now?"
I pretended to think about it. "Mmm, I don't know…"
He smirked, pulling me up even closer, his eyes flickering to my lips. "Pretty please?" he asked, moving his face closer to mine.
I bit my lip, leaning my head away from him. "But I don't know where that mouth has been now, do I?"
He kissed up my neck. "Nowhere apart from on you," he murmured and I smiled, rolling my eyes as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and neck.
"If you must, then…" I said, smiling as he brought his lips to mine.
"This other thing you have to tell me," I said and he nodded, sighing. "Is it more or less serious?"
"Erm," he rested his head on the top of mine. "This involves you the most."
"Oh," I replied. "Now I'm all intrigued."
He sighed again and then sat down, pulling me with him and wrapping my legs around him. He sat with me in his lap, my legs around his hips.
"Okay… can you please not freak out again?" he asked and I stared back at him, nodding.
He let out a loud breath nervously. "Okay. Okay. I'm ready," he said and I smiled.
"Cool. Me too."
He smiled and kissed my forehead. "Okay. So, you remember the legends? And we mentioned imprinting?" I nodded. "Where your whole gravity shifts and the woman becomes your whole reason for existence… your reason for being alive, to keep living, to die... She's your sun and she's the only thing you can think about. You live to keep her happy and when she's not, when she's in pain… it's the most horrific thing a wolf can go through. I wouldn't wish that pain on anyone. You look into her eyes and imprinting gives you a kind of heads up that she's your soul mate. It makes you super infatuated with her and your main goal in life is to make sure she's okay. It's not necessarily romantic; the wolf can be like a brother, a friend – whatever the imprintee wants."
He looked deep into my eyes, begging me to understand, begging me to be okay. "It was supposed to be rare, but when my pack first phased, well, it wasn't."
I stared at him, unblinkingly. "You…" I trailed off, not wanting to say what I suspected.
"Yes?" he prompted eagerly.
"You've imprinted?"
He nodded, "On you."
"On me?"
He cupped my cheek, catching my gaze with his strong one. "Yes. You."
"I –" I suddenly felt awkward, sitting on his lap like that. I blushed, looking down. "That's why?"
"Why what?"
"Why you're with me?" I asked, looking down, embarrassed.
Of course there had to be some mythical, magic stuff making him like me. There's no other reason, really, is there?
I'm his student, he wouldn't risk being with me, would he?
Now I felt even guiltier. He wouldn't be risking his job if it wasn't for this imprinting thing, would he? There's no way he would. He's only with me because that's what I want and –
Oh my god! That's why he didn't want to have sex with me! OH MY GOD! He wasn't being chivalrous; he just doesn't want to be with me! He's only with me because I want him to be and because of this imprinting stuff he has to do what I want.
Oh my god.
This is mortifying.
"No, no, of course not. What's the matter, Frankie? Your heartbeat is going berserk?"
I looked back up at his worried face. "My heartbeat?"
"Yeah? Super wolf hearing," he said, tightening his arms around me because I'd been trying to move away. "What's the matter? Come on, Fran, talk to me."
"You can hear my heartbeat?" I asked. Yeah, because that's the weirdest thing out of all of this, isn't it? God, I'm such an idiot.
"Yes. I told you we had great hearing. Why is that freaking you out?" he asked, confused. His panicky eyes flittered between mine.
"I –" I didn't know. I couldn't speak. I wasn't freaked out; that much I did know. I just felt like a loser.
No wonder he's always so reluctant about everything! Argh. Why does everything have to be so shit? Why couldn't he just tell me?
I mentally slapped myself to try and start talking.
He kissed my forehead. "Please, honey, please tell me why you're upset."
"That explains it all… doesn't it?" I said, my voice croaky because my mouth had become so dry and he frowned still, pushing my hair off my face. I looked down at my hands in my lap. Argh. I really have got to grow some balls.
Metaphorically speaking, of course. I don't actually want testicles; that would probably disgust Seth more than I obviously already do.
"Why everything is so easy between us? Why I can't go a day without seeing you because it feels like someone's killing me? Why you're so over protective? Why you even looked twice at me?"
He grabbed my neck gently with one hand, tilting my head up so I'd meet his questioning eyes. "Look twice at you?" he said, confused. "Frankie, what the hell? I love you, you know that! Have you not seen yourself lately? Why ever would I not look twice at you?"
"Do you really love me, though? Is it not just the imprinting that makes you think that? You just think you do because that's what I want?"
"Imprinting doesn't equal love!" he said, almost insulted by what I'd muttered. "I didn't fall in love with you the moment I looked into your eyes! I fell in love with you because I found out who you are! I had the strong urge to make sure that you were okay as soon as I saw you, but I didn't want to be with you in the way that I do now."
I looked over his shoulder, focusing on a tree to try and calm myself. I literally felt like crying my face off. This was so shit.
"Can you look me in the eye and tell me truthfully that you'd even bother with me if you hadn't of imprinted?" I looked at him in enough time to see him falter.
I stood up, letting out a chocked breath, trying to be angry instead of upset.
"No! Please! Please just listen to me," he begged and I turned to him, crossing my arms over my chest as he stood, trying not to start crying.
I can't even explain to you how much it hurts. To think of having to be without him, that he doesn't love me, that if it wasn't of imprinting I'd still be a random student in his class with a pathetic little schoolgirl crush that he didn't even like… it hurt.
"You don't get it," he said softly, looking at me with hurt eyes.
I stared at him and he ran his hand through his hair.
"You always wondered why I was single? It's because of this. I'm the oldest wolf who hasn't imprinted – but I knew it was coming. Most of the others have imprinted and stopped phasing by now, but I could just tell that it was coming. I was going to wait to imprint until I stopped phasing."
"Frankie," he put his hand on my cheek but I turned my head to the side, looking down at the floor. "There isn't any way that I could not imprint on you. So yeah, you could say that I wouldn't be with you if I hadn't imprinted, because that's why I was staying single, but I imprinted because you're my soul mate. You're perfect for me which is why I imprinted on you. And I would only not imprint if I wasn't a shape shifter, and if I wasn't a shape shifter I probably would never have been so intrigued with the legends and history and, thus, I would never have gone into being a history teacher so I wouldn't have been in the predicament where I was your teacher and you're my student, so there would be no reason for me to not want to be with you," he said hurriedly, his eyes petrified. He sucked in a breath and stared at me hopelessly for a couple minutes. "Right?"
"You stayed single to wait to imprint?" I asked and he nodded, still breathing heavily, his eyes pleading me to understand. "Not even just one girl?"
He shook his head. "No. You're my first girlfriend. I –" he looked away from me, blushing hard. "I've done things but I couldn't ever go the whole way, knowing they weren't my soul mate and that I would meet my soul mate knowing that I'd done it with another person. I've never been with a woman."
"Wha-" I cut myself off when I realised what he meant. "You're a virgin?" his copper skin burned a deeper red and he nodded.
I let out a deep breath, my hand over my heart. "Oh, thank god."
He looked up at me, a perplexed but still very embarrassed look on his face. "You don't know how much it hurts to think of you with someone else," I said and he sent me a small, sad smile.
As soon as I said what I had, guilt crashed down on me. I'm starting to really fucking hate guilt.
"You – you waited for me."
He smiled, stroking my cheek as he stepped closer. "You're worth the long, lonely wait. Trust me."
I let out a dry sob. "You were lonely because of me?!"
His happy face fell once again and he shook his head. "No!"
"You waited so long to get some perfect little imprint and you got me!"
He shook his head more frantically. "I wasn't waiting for a 'perfect little imprint' I was waiting for somebody who would actually care for me the way I would them. I didn't want some relationship where I didn't know what would come with it – I wanted something to be sure of… I wanted you."
"You would have said that to any random girl you imprinted on! It wasn't me you waned,it's the imprint!"
Seth huffed, clearly unhappy. "No, because it would never be 'any random girl'. Because she wouldn't ever be my soul mate," he said, taking my arms and trying to get me to look into his eyes. "I imprinted on you because you're perfect for me! I don't just think that you're perfect for me because I imprinted. Why else would I fall in love with you? I knew that the right person would come along, so yeah, I waited. Just like plenty of people wait for 'the one'. Imprinting doesn't make this different; you're still 'the one'. How many woman say they wait for 'Mr. Right'! How is this different?"
He pulled me against him roughly and my arms instinctively unfolded, my hands on his chest. He paused for a moment before he kissed me, long, hard and passionately.
"I love you because you're funny, you're sarcastic, you're a little bit strange, you're the most goddamn beautiful person I've ever seen in my life, you actually listen to me and talk to me about things that noone else does, you have practically the exact same music taste as I do, and even though you put up this tough little act you've got to be the most caring and sweet person I've ever met. You stand up for people that you've never even talked to before when you know you'll get in trouble just because they won't stand up for themselves. There are many people who would just walk past, not caring."
"Most people just think I'm an interfering cow who just wants an excuse to argue…" I said, not really seeing how me having a hate for bullying makes me 'caring' and 'sweet'.
He grinned at me. "Oh, yeah, you're that too."
I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.
"I'm fed up of feeling guilty about everything, Seth," I murmured. Why is it I can shout as much as I want but when it comes down to actually saying something with an emotion other than anger my voice goes all croaky like I'm about to cry?
"Oh, baby," he said, hugging me tightly. "What do you have to be guilty for? You haven't done anything."
I scoffed, pushing my face against him. "There's so much. You can't even begin to understand."
"Why don't you tell me about it, then?" he asked softly, stroking my hair. I just shook my head.
He pushed his face against the top of my head. "You don't feel guilty about the whole me waiting for you, do you?"
"Yes," I grumbled and he groaned before picking me up, throwing me over his shoulder.
"Seth!" I shouted at him as he started walking through the woods. "Put me the fuck down right now!"
"Sorry, honey, but I just can't do that," he said 'regretfully'.
"You're going to kill me, aren't you? And then bury me in the middle of the woods."
"Frankie!" he shouted and I laughed.
"So… what other super werewolf abilities do you have?"
"Well, the super hearing, great eyesight, we heal super quick and it's like really hard to hurt us and we have a killer immune system. We're really strong, really quick and we can read the rest of the packs' mind if they're phased. Oh, and we have really high heat so we don't ever get cold."
"That's why? Well, at makes sense now."
He laughed and then I grinned. "How fast exactly are you?" I asked and he groaned. "Go on! Just run us back to your house? Please!"
Seth let out a sigh as I let out a cheer of triumph. "Okay, go for it. Show off your fastness."
"What if you get head rush?"
"Ooh, that quick, eh? Now I'm excited."
He was still unsure, though. "What if something really bad happens, though," I said. "And you had to whisk me away running super quickly? Surely it's better for me to get head rush now and be used to it than in an emergency?"
"Argh," he groaned before hiking me, holding onto my legs tightly.
"Thank you! I love you!"
"You better," he mumbled as he slowly picked up his pace until… woosh.
Bless. My little wolfy's got speed!
He just kept getting quicker! The trees around me just kept flashing past me until it was all just a blur of browns and greens.
"Fuck me!" I said as he slowed down, stopping in front of his house. "You weren't kidding!"
"Are you okay? Oh god. It was too fast wasn't it? I knew it was. Urgh. Why am I so stupid?"
"That was fucking awesome! Can we do it again?"
He let out a long breath of relief and then started walking us towards his backdoor. "No."
"Oh my god, Seth!" Brady said when we walked through the door.
"'Be right back' he says!" Quil said. "Be right back! You've been gone hours!"
Seth just ignores them as he puts me back on my feet. "You okay?" he asks, his hands on my shoulders. I nodded and he smiled. "Good." He spun me around to face them all.
"Right. Do you guys think that since I've met Frankie I've become happier? A lot happier?"
They all nodded, some enthusiastically, some sadly. Some just shouted out, "Fuck yeah! He was a right miserable bastard!" but that was Collin and I'm pretty sure he was exaggerating.
Seth stroked my hair and I turned to him, looking up to him sadly. If I were older, then he wouldn't have been lonely, would he? If I wasn't his soul mate then he could be settled down with kids by now, like his friends.
"How is that meant to make me feel better?" I asked him quietly and he smiled, the back of his finger brushing across my cheekbone.
"It's not," he said. "It's meant to guilt you into staying with me."
I let out a small laugh against my will and then rolled my eyes and slapped his stomach lightly as he grinned happily, letting out his lovely deep chuckle.
I looked up at his beautiful face. I don't even know what to think. On one hand imprinting means that Seth is my 'soul mate' and we are going to be together forever, which is great because I never have to lose him, but on the other hand it means that Seth's wasted a part of his life being alone waiting for me.
And I know what it's like to be alone… I don't like that I've put him through that. I don't like it at all.
I don't care what he says, I'm not worth the wait.
I dropped my eyes to the middle of his chest, just staring at his skin t-shirt. I didn't want to say anything considering we were in a room full of his friends who were now talking amongst themselves. And we were in a room with Paul. Which was weird. I turned to look at him. He's a werewolf too, right? If it weren't for him, I wouldn't of come to La Push; I wouldn't of ever met Seth.
Well, if it weren't for Paul I wouldn't even be alive.
Argh. This is one crazy fucking day. I think I'm just going to explode. Or collapse.
Mmm. I'm really liking the idea of collapsing. That would mean I get to sleep. Mmm, sleep.
Emily then announced that everyone were to go to her house for tea and I almost sighed of relief.
"Hold on," Seth said, kissing my forehead. "I'll go get my keys."
"Oh, nah, I'm fine. I'll just walk home."
He paused, halfway from turning away, his hand barely on my waist anymore, a slightly sad and confused look on his face; his eyebrows were pulled together but his eyes were wide.
I fucking love Seth so much.
"What?" he asked, his fingers curling slightly around my top. I liked the feel of his warm touch, even if through my clothes. It just brings such comfort… even when I'm in such a terrible mood.
"Oh, no, Frankie; you're not getting out that quickly. Now that you know that we know, you're coming round for a meal!" Emily said, smiling warmly at me.
"Oh. Really, it's okay. I don't want to impose…"
Seth stepped towards me, pulling my top towards him slightly as well. "Sorry, baby, but you're coming with us."
"But –"
"I'll carry you," he warned and I looked at him. He whacked on that huge smile because he knows I can't deny him when he looks that happy. I groaned and Emily smiled softly at me before Sam took hold of her hand and pulled her away, smiling at her lovingly, kissing the side of her face.
"Come on, Frankie," Paul said to me when Seth jogged off to get his keys. "I'll give you a lift there."
Seth was by my side in a flash. "No, no. It's okay, Paul. I'll take her."
"No, Seth," Paul said, gritting his teeth. "I'll take her."
"Don't you go have to pick Louise up? And Daniel and Stewart?"
"Lou; yes. But Dan and Stew are at a friends tonight."
"Sorry, boys," a woman said, flinging her arm around my shoulders. I looked up at her awkwardly.
Again with the touching!
Her names Maya. Yes, that's it.
"Yep," Collin said. "Me and Mel are taking her."
Damn it! So close! Mel, Maya. They're similar. Well, they both begin with 'm', at least. I really have shit memory.
Seth's head snapped to me just as Mel and Collin grabbed an arm each, dragging me outside.
"Don't forget to share lifts!" Collin shouted over his shoulder.
"Cut down those carbon emissions!" Mel added and they both laughed, smirking at each other.
Seth's POV
"We'll take my car," Paul said stiffly before turning, marching out the door towards his car. I followed him quickly, getting out the door in time to see Frankie look back and smile slightly.
We got in his car and he drove off wordlessly to his house.
"You won't get anywhere forcing yourself on her," I said and his head snapped to me. His nostrils flared and he returned his head to the front, the car speeding up.
"Don't tell me how to deal with my own child, Clearwater."
"Sorry. But the whole 'I'm your dad, lets spend time getting to know each other' thing probably won't work with her. She won't welcome you with open arms."
He let out a small growl. "Yes. I know that now."
It was silent for a moment as he glared at the road ahead. Paul and I haven't ever not got on. He's a little… volatile but we've never really clashed. But I can understand why he'd be angry at me. He, like all of my other friends, were as ecstatic as hell when they found out about my imprinting. I even remember him making comments with the others, saying it was about time I 'got some' – said comment having made me very angry. Which was weird, because I haven't ever been angry at my pack brothers before.
Paul doesn't phase anymore. Well, he's been slowly stopping for about six years now but with his anger issues he still phases every so often. I think most of the guys miss it. They always feel a little nostalgic whenever any of us remaining wolves are talking. And if there's a big fight going on they're all very willing to help out if they're 'needed'.
But anyway, he's not phasing but he's still a pack brother. But at least he won't be able to know the thoughts that go through my head about her… that would be bad. Very, very, very bad.
"I can't believe you…" he muttered to himself. "My daughter!"
"Sorry," I said again.
"Good luck," he said randomly when he pulled up to his house and I turned to him, seriously confused. "What with her being in the car with Collin… Collin who knows quite a lot about you and loves to humiliate every person he knows…"
Paul cackled an evil laugh as he got out and I groaned, hitting my head against the window.
"And get out of the car. Louise rides shotgun," he said before walking towards his house.
I easily climbed into the back, contemplating about my upcoming death. Because I will die the moment Collin opens his mouth. Which should be right about now.
I'm really quite close to Collin. We lived together before he moved in with Mel and I'm going to be his best man at his wedding, which is in, like, five months. So, naturally, he knows some embarrassing stuff. Some embarrassing stuff that I do not want Frankie to know about.
Eventually Paul and Louise emerged from their house, Louise greeted me happily and we made our way to Emily and Sam's house. She seems to be fine with the whole 'Paul having a kid with another woman' thing. Well, she's fine with it now.
I literally sprinted into the house, using my heightened senses to locate her. When my eyes finally reached her, I sighed contently as she grinned up at me.
"And he wouldn't let us talk about it ever again!" Mel said through a hysterical laughter and Frankie let out a loud laugh, the two of them looking up at me with amusement in their eyes.
Aw, hell. They're so laughing at me.
"What have they told you?" I asked, not even really wanting to know, as I slipped into the empty space on the sofa next to Frankie.
She turned her head, looking up at me with this adorable smile and suddenly I didn't care if Col and Mel had just told her something that will embarrass me to no end, because if it made her this happy then I didn't mind what they told her.
Her teeth gently tugged on her lower lip and I tried hard not to look down at her mouth. "You probably wouldn't want to know," she said, grinning still.
I rolled my eyes but let a smile spread across my face as I pulled her further against myself, my arm around her waist. Paul walked in and saw us and proceeded to gag. Louise rubbed his arm comfortingly and he just sat down, his nose turned up in disgust.
Frankie seemed to stiffen when they came through and she looked down nervously when Louise made eye contact with her.
"Hello, Frankie," she said and Frankie smiled stiffly and said hello back.
"Do you still love me, though?" I asked and she laughed, smiling at me again.
"Maybe a little bit less," she teased. "But still enough to keep you around."
I nodded. "Thanks, babe," I said and she laughed as I kissed her.
"Seriously!" Paul shouted. "We're going to set rules. And number one is no PDA when I'm in the room!"
Frankie just rolled her eyes, the happiness in them gone. I nodded to him and, with great difficulty, moved back slightly. But Frankie slid her hand into mine discretely, out of Paul's sight, so it wasn't too bad.
We stayed and chatted with the others for a good hour or so, half of the group in the kitchen preparing the food. Slowly, Frankie unconsciously leaned into me. From her speech and the way she responded to questions now and just generally how she acted and breathed I could tell that she was getting very tired. It was very difficult not to pull her against my chest and just let her sleep. But Paul's her father and I don't want to make him uncomfortable. Because already they have quite a lot of issues that they need to resolve, I don't want to add anymore because Frankie deserves to have a good relationship with her biological father.
But my body is always in tune with hers, I always seem to be facing and leaning in to her so after quite a while of slowly moving towards me, she was leaning against me and then after that, I don't know if it's my warmth or what, she fell asleep quite quickly.
My friends had all asked her questions about herself and she answered them and did fairly well at getting the attention off of her every time. And when I say every time, I mean it. I realised then that my Frankie really doesn't like attention. Even at school she's not very loud or attention seeking. I've just gotten so used to how she's so open with me, that I didn't notice that she's not really like that with anyone. And that sort of warms my heart, even though it shouldn't.
I shifted so that she was in a more comfortable position and Paul glared at me.
"I like her," Collin commented and Mel nodded her agreement.
I just smiled down at her.
"She's not what I expected…" Claire said and Soph nodded her agreement.
I frowned up at them.
"Yeah, I always expected Seth to have some cute little soft quiet girl," Soph said and Quil and Brady cringed.
I pulled Frankie closer, wrapping my arms tightly around her, trying to ward off their mean words.
"Guys, she's right here," I said, my heart feeling like they'd put it through a blender. Why am I such a pushover? Anyone else would be cussing them out for badmouthing their woman. But oh no, I can't even tell them to shut up properly. I'm so not worth Frankie – she'd stick up for me in front of anyone.
"Yeah but she's the complete opposite of what suits you," Maya said.
I frowned and pulled her closer. "No. Don't, don't say that. You don't even know her."
"Well she's not!" Claire defended and I sighed. I may be related to her but she has no idea what suits me. "And Yuma said that he doesn't like her."
Yuma was Sam and Emily's son, who was in Frankie's year. Those two don't get on. He's my cousin but even I find him slightly annoying. Sam and Em are brilliant parents, but they spoilt him rotten and even I can admit he's not the nicest of kids. His name 'Yuma' is Native American, meaning 'son of a chief'.
"That's because Frankie and him argue because he's not very nice to her friend," I said and Maya huffed.
"Sounds like you're making excuses now. Face it, she's a bit of a bitch."
"Just shut the fuck up, yeah?" Paul shouted angrily and Maya glared at him. Maya is kind of outspoken and her and Paul have never got on. "You're a 'bit of a bitch' but we don't go around bitching about you like some fucking school girls behind your back, or in this case; right in front of you. She's my fucking daughter so shut you're fucking mouth, got it?"
Dale, the newest of the wolves and the second youngest was now shaking violently, glaring and snarling at Paul. Dale imprinted on Maya the day after he first phased and Paul and her hadn't gotten on since then.
Paul just sat back, glaring at Dale. Dale may still be phasing and Paul not, but Paul has got shit loads more experience and I reckon Paul could easily take Dale.
Louise put her hand on his arm, and he calmed as he looked at her.
"Come on, please just stop fighting," Mel said and Louise nodded.
"She seems like a lovely girl, even if she doesn't parade around with it. Plus, she's going through a very hard time right now. She's only a young girl, so I don't think anyone should be calling her names," Louise said and Paul kissed her gratefully.
"She seems a bit obnoxious, thought," Maya grumbled and I angrily pulled Frankie tighter against me. Frankie jolted in her sleep and smacked her head against the top of my head.
She sucked in a breath as I leapt away from her, off the seat and her hand automatically went up to her head.
"Oh god no!" I shouted, my eyes wide. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry. Oh crap."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Look," she tilted her head forward so I could see the top of her head. "It's fine."
I pouted. "I hurt you."
She rolled her eyes and held her hand out for me to take. I stayed away, my arms crossed. "Stop being such a drama queen," she said, her hand still extended. I looked at. "Seth, I'm okay."
I stayed there, squirming. I needed to take her hand, but I don't know if I could trust myself.
"Take my hand, you prat, I'm perfectly fine."
I sighed and groaned but relented and took her hand gently and she pulled me until I sat next to her.
"Do you believe me?" she asked and I frowned, shaking my head. She continued staring at me until I eventually nodded and she grinned at me and kissed my cheek.
I wrapped my arms back around her, careful not to hurt her. We turned back to the rest of the room to find them all staring at us. Talk about embarrassing.
Half of them were looking with Frankie in a way that they were thinking 'Hmm, she sure knows how to get Seth to calm down' and the other half were thinking 'I don't know what a prat is, but I don't like her'.
I wasn't happy at my so-called 'friends'. I wish they'd just be happy that I'm finally happy. I've waited so long for a woman and now I've got a perfect one and they don't even realise how lovely she is!
Frankie looked at all their faces before turning to me, a question on her face. I just shrugged and looked away from her.
I was happy then that Jared and Kim were coming in with their youngest daughter, Madison and their eldest son Aylen, who had graduated about three years ago and had been phasing for the past five years. Jared and Kim don't really want him doing much wolf business so they make him work a lot at the diner Kim co-owns with her sister.
They walked in and the tense atmosphere disappeared as Maddy walked through the door, clutching her father's hand. "Hello!" she said loudly, grinning up at everyone. Everyone loves Maddy. She's such a sweet little girl.
The rest of her family walked in, greeting everyone warmly. Aylen walked in, hands in his pockets. He nodded awkwardly to. He was always quiet short so even after all this time I think he still hasn't quite gotten used the extreme height gain and always seems to move awkwardly. Apart form when he's in wolf form – which is kind of strange. You'd of thought he'd be less comfortable as an animal. His eyebrows rose when his eyes fell on my Frankie and she smiled at him.
"Hey," he said and she nodded at him, as if this wasn't their first meeting.
I looked between the two in displeasure. I'll ask her about it later.
Maddy now seemed to see Frankie and her mouth dropped open. "Daddy!" she screamed and Jared's head snapped to her, startled and worried. "Why didn't you tell me!"
"Tell you what, sweetie?" he asked, crouching down to be at her height.
"Her hair!" Maddy said as if it were so obvious and dropped his hand angrily.
Everyone's heads turned to Frankie and looked at her. She looked down at her hair too – which I thought was real cute. She looked back up, a little confused.
She walked over to my Fran and she smiled down at the small girl. "Hello, my name is Maddison," she said, sticking her hand.
Frankie grinned and gently shook her hand. "Frankie."
Maddy gripped Frankie's hand. "Come on, we have a lot of work to do." She just laughed and let the younger girl drag her off to another room Sam and Emily had built a while ago for the kids to play in.
I pouted and managed to place a kiss on Frankie's head before she was taken away.
Jared grinned at me. "I like her."
I smiled back at him and Maya huffed but everyone except Dale ignored her.
Anyone who gets on with Jared's 'little princess' is a friend of his.
This wasn't the first time that half of my friends had mentioned Frankie wasn't what they thought I'd imprint on, even though they knew that she'd made me ten billion times happier than I've ever been before. However, they still seemed to find her inadequate… believe me, I don't know why.
Even if I'm not the youngest of the pack by far, they all seem to want to baby me. I don't know why they always act so protective of me.
I know they mean well but they don't know how hard it is not to phase when someone badmouths my baby.
I heard her loud laughter followed by Maddy's soft giggle and I almost just ran after her. I love her laugh so much.
Everyone who wasn't here arrived after that and about an hour later it was announced the food was ready. Emily and the others like to have at least one meal a fortnight where we all get together. Emily will always be momma wolf to the pack but I think she misses everyone hanging around hers like we used to, so this is her clinging onto us all.
Frankie and Maddy came walking through hand in hand and I let out a loud snort but covered it with a very unbelievable cough.
"You look… beautiful."
Frankie gave me a look. "Thanks, baby," she said and then turned to Maddy, smiling happily and giving her a wink.
Damn her wink. I love it. She always winks. There are some people who just can't wink because it makes them look weird. Like if I were to wink I'd look like a pervert.
Maddy skipped happily back over to her mom, telling Kim about how fun it was to play with Frankie's hair.
We took a seat at the table and I admired Frankie's new hairstyle. It was up in random bunches, these little twisty things girls have that I don't know what they're called and things hanging down with some glitter in it.
Yuma came down and he smirked when he saw her sitting there. "Nice hair," he said as he sat down. I almost punched him in the face for being sarcastic.
"Thanks," she replied, unaffected by the comment but glaring at him nonetheless.
"How's Naveen?"
She clenched her jaw – that affected her. "Good. That black eye you gave him is almost gone."
It was complete silence in the room and Yuma looked down, his eyes wide, obviously not thinking she'd say that. Because of how respected Sam is because of the tribal council the school let Yum get away with pretty much everything and so his parents weren't informed of the incident. I get to physically restrain Frankie when she found out they'd hit him.
I think Frankie was a little worried at him being here. She doesn't get on with him and by the look she shot me she thinks he'd tell the school about having seen her here with me but I shook my head at her and she looked away.
He knows all about phasing and imprinting and knows he's not allowed to tell a single person. Sam thinks he's gonna phase soon anyway, considering there's some more vampire activity going on. There are a lot of vamps who've found out about us and like to come and 'check us out' and see if we're as dangerous as some vamps have said. They've also found out about the imprinting and would like to find out more about that. But some have very… unorthodox ways and like to try and kidnap the girls. It hasn't happened as we always intercept the attack, but still, it's not good.
Everyone started helping themselves to the dishes of food in front of them and Emily frowned at Frankie. "No meat?"
"Oh my god!" I shouted loudly, smacking my head down against the table.
"Seth!" Frankie shouted, pulling me up and inspecting my forehead, rubbing it. I don't know why, it didn't hurt.
"I'm so sorry," I said, looking deep into her eyes.
She rolled them and shook her head. "Stop apologising to me, you idiot."
"She's a vegetarian!" I wailed to the others who were sending us confused looks and Quil burst out laughing.
"How the hell is she Paul's kid!" he asked, laughing at. Frankie and I looked up to see Paul already chewing on a steak.
I just let out a groan again. "What's the matter?" Frankie asked, confused.
"I forgot! I didn't say and now you won't have the right supplements! Now you won't get the right nutrients and oh god! All I've done is been an idiot to you today!"
I turned to her after a couple of minutes to see her looking at me disbelievingly. "Seriously? You're getting all stressed over my nutrient intake?" she asked, trying not to show her amusement or slight annoyance. "You need to get a grip!"
I tried not to laugh at her. "Oh, shut up."
"Seth, nobody has ever become any less healthy by not having Quorn for one meal. You can calm down."
"I can't believe I forgot," I muttered and she snorted.
"I can't believe I forgot till just now. I've been a vegetarian for, like, ten years. It's slightly worse that I forgot than you did."
I sighed and stared at her. She smiled at me. "Cheer up."
"I better take you back," Paul said to Frankie, standing up. We'd been sitting around for a couple hours since we'd finished eating. And guess what! I haven't managed to mess anything else up yet!
Maddy raced over, stumbling slightly because she'd been slowly falling asleep. "Come back soon?" she mumbled and Frankie smiled, stroking her hair.
"Sure thing."
"Paul, please," I said and he glared at me.
As Frankie was thanking Emily for the food and everything and was saying bye to everyone, me and Paul were arguing over who would drive her… again. When she walked back to us Paul grinned and clapped my back abruptly. "Of course I'll take her home, see you."
I groaned and Frankie looked up at me. "I need to say goodbye," I told him, grabbing Frankie's hand and dragging her outside.
I pushed her against the wall and kissed her deeply.
She let out a soft moan and pulled me closer, our bodies flush against the others.
"I love you," I said, kissing her mouth over and over again.
"I love you too," she said when I leaned my forehead against hers.
She rubbed her nose against mine lightly. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"
I frowned. "You could always come back to mine?" I suggested hopefully.
"No she can't!" Paul shouted from inside the house and Frankie clenched her jaw. I just smiled and kissed her jaw.
"Call me tonight?" I asked and she bit her lip.
"Maybe. I'll try. But if I don't, don't panic."
I pouted. "Please?"
"I'll try!" she said and kissed me.
"I hate being away from you," I mumbled and she hugged me.
"I know how you feel."
"I don't want to go back to not being with you every night."
"I'm sorry," she whispered as I stroked her face. "I will call you," she said and I smiled triumphantly. "But it will probably be just before I go to bed so I won't be with it too much."
"I don't care," I said, kissing along her face where my fingers had been. "I just want to hear your voice."
She leaned up slightly and kissed me. "I don't want to be without you, either."
"Move in with me," I said, again.
"Sorry," she said, patting my shoulder before running her hands over my chest. "But you know I won't."
I groaned and pouted. "You're so mean."
"And you're a baby."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm a baby?"
She let out a loud groan and poked my eyebrow. "How the fuck do you do that?" she asked. "I can't do it! It's physically impossible."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Raise an eyebrow."
"You can't raise one eyebrow?" she shook her head and I laughed. "Aww, bless you."
She nudged my head with hers, wrapping her arms around my neck. "Shut up," she mumbled and I kissed her. I wrapped my arms more tightly around her waist, pulling her up off the floor in a tight hug, spinning her around.
"I love you more than anything, okay?"
She smiled and kissed me. "Okay," she laughed and I put her back down, staring at her beauty. How did I get a girl like her?
I sighed and leaned my head on top of hers.
"What's the matter?" she asked, kissing my neck. "You've been a little bit weird all day."
I hesitated. "There's something else I didn't tell you…"
She pulled away, groaning. "Tomorrow. Please, tomorrow. I can't deal with anything else."
I nodded and she smiled and kissed me. "Thank you."
"Thank you, Frankie."
"Come on, hurry up!" Paul shouted and she kissed me again and started walking back.
Okay this chapters a tad bit long. Please tell me what you thought of it in a review!
I've read in a few wolfpack stories when they're talking about the wolves imprinting on other girls and there is always one that they rest of the girls don't really like as much and don't think deserves the wolf and I wanted to write a story from the girls POV who isn't liked. I don't know whether you guys will understand why they don't like her or not but that will probably be more explained later on.
Next chapter will be the unveiling of Seth's age! I can't believe I'm so far in and yet something which is usually one of the first pieces of personal information exchanged between people hasn't been discussed. Oh well.
Hopefully you guys found her reaction in this chapter realistic and believable? She's still taking everything quite well in my opinion, even with her doubts. She's had a lot of people asking stuff from her and battling over her that I'm not sure whether I should make her have a little bit of a freak out in a couple chapters. What with her adoptive parents and biological parents, and then Seth and Paul, as well as her having to deal with Naveen and Yuma. What do you guys think? Is a freak out in order? There is some information about Frankie that I need Seth to find out about (it's really kinda big) and I was thinking about her going swimming again, Seth coming to find her and tell her off because it's silly and then it ends with her spilling the beans?
Anyway, thanks everyone for the wonderful reviews, keep them coming :) Five more to go till I reach the 100 mark! I'm sooo happy.
Also a big thank you to everyone reading this!