AN: A big thank you to my new beta Aretee!

Chapter 13: Imprint

Jacob POV

I was scheduled to patrol all night.

To my relief I found out that, for the first part, Sam would join me. Out of all the wolves, Sam was the least likely to pester me about Bella, and to pry in my brain, asking me questions that would recall memories I actually wasn't willing to share. He had grown out of that childish behavior, so he would be easier to be around.

The second part however, he would be replaced by Leah, who wasn't easy to be around at all. Not that she would pry into my mind, quite the opposite. She would be upset about thoughts I couldn't control. I had promised myself I'd try to comfort her after her father died, but it turned out to be harder than I imagined. She was now more hostile than she's ever been before. So I didn't look forward the switch around 3am.

The evening went by easily; Sam and I cleared our minds and just ran in wide circles around the territory, looking for fresh tracks.

There were none. We didn't expect to find anything, not so soon after her last visit, but we'd be stupid if we let our guard down.

I told Sam I'd like to check up on Bella around ten, and he agreed as long as I didn't stay human too long and I kept my focus in case he'd howl.

I didn't have to sneak through her window, since Charlie trusts me; I just went upstairs to kiss her goodnight. She was already in her pj's but I didn't let my gaze linger.

"Jacob, you came," she said all breathy and totally unaware of what that did to me.

"Well, not yet, but give me a chance." I waggled my eyebrows at her.

She hit my chest in mock outrage, but I barely felt it. "But I do have to go back to Sam, so it's probably better if I don't dwell on that."

I knew if I let things get heated up now, Sam would definitely enjoy the memory of it later.

She nodded understandingly and gave me a sweet but short kiss.

"When can I see you?" she asked.

"I'll be home tomorrow, but I'll probably sleep for most of the day."

"I don't mind," she answered, "I have an English assignment to finish, so maybe I could do that in your room? I promise I'll be quiet. I just want to be with you."

"I'd like that," I smiled back, and after another peck, I left her house again.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to sleep with her nearby, but it was so sweet that she just wanted to be near me, so I didn't object.

When I phased back I only pictured Bella's face, lighting up completely when she saw me enter the room, and my thoughts stayed clear from more private topics.

I heard Sam speak in my mind.

"How is she doing these days?"

"She's fine," I thought back, "she's not easily scared by monsters. I know Victoria frightens her, but she trusts us, so she just carries on."

"Strong one," he said, but his mind gave me another image. I saw his memory of Bella lying on the forest floor after Edward had left her that he found hard to let go. .

"How is she dealing with his return?"

Sam had been the one to find her that day, and ever since then, his disgust with the Cullen family had grown deeper than before.

I tried to gather my thoughts so I could give a clear answer instead of an answer mixed with all my personal opinions.

"She's… good, she's trying to convince herself she can be friends with him."

"Huh," Sam huffed, and I knew exactly what he meant. "Can't you stop her?"

"No," I replied without hesitance. "First, I don't want to stop her. She's not my property; she's free to do as she pleases."

"But they're dangerous," he interjected.

"So are we." I thought but as soon as the idea appeared I tried to push it away again, because I knew this was a touchy subject for Sam, with the whole Emily thing.

I continued, "Secondly, even if I did try to stop her, I know her, she'd be even more determined to make her point. She's the most stubborn person I know."

"Aren't you worried, about her feelings? She was…" he didn't finish that line, but I saw an image of Bella being completely in love with Edward.

Just a few weeks ago, this would have made me insecure, but I was dealing better with that now. I know all too well how much she had loved him-I didn't need his memory for that.

But I was learning to have faith in her. Whenever she came from his place, she reeked, but she wasn't distant. So maybe she was right. Maybe her feelings were turning into friendship.

These thoughts weren't spoken to Sam, but he responded to them anyway.

"But his feelings won't."

"I know. But I also know that he's been the perfect gentleman, only thinking about Bella's best interest. He wouldn't do anything to make her uncomfortable and he knows that she wants me now."

"In the past, I've seen him do things that made her very uncomfortable, when he believed it was in her benefit."

He had a good point there. If he really was convinced that Bella would be better off with him instead of me, he might not give up that easily.

"I don't want to make you doubt her, not at all," Sam interrupted my thoughts again, "but I'm just afraid this won't end well. I think he's only waiting for her to trust him again, before he makes his move, and nobody can predict how she'll react to that."

"Either way," I said, wanting to end this conversation that was making me feel uneasy, "there is nothing I can do now. I can't keep her away from him. I can only hope that by the time she forgives him, she'll no longer have feelings left for him."

Sam understood that the topic was closed now, and he moved on to safer subjects, like the younger wolves. After a while, we fell back into simple running mode, without thoughts or conversations.

It really was easy to be around him and I could hardly remember a time when I disliked my alpha.

"I remember that time," he thought with a chuckle.

I forgot that he was in my mind and I tried to shut the thoughts off again.

"You hated me because I used the alpha order on you a lot. You were one wild and out of control wolf. You were quite a hand full."

"I suppose I was," I admitted, remember the stupid fights I got in, and the endless discussions I had about not wanting to be a wolf and trying to blame others.

"You're doing better now," he continued, "I can feel that you have alpha blood in your veins. I guess that is why we get along better now. You've grown older and wiser."

"Shut up," I laughed, but I knew he was right. I did feel more responsible about the pack, who I considered my younger brothers now, even though Paul, Jared, and Embry were older than me.

"Nice to know you consider me a younger brother," an angry female voice thought.

I flinched, I had no idea it was 3am already and a curse escaped my mind.

"Awesome," she thought sarcastically, "always nice to feel welcome."

"See ya," Sam threw in, and then I felt him leave my mind, phasing back to human and going home.

"To Emily," Leah thought sadly.

I wanted to add something comforting, remember the pain she was in after both losses, but she almost spat "leave it," so I dropped the whole idea.

We kept running in silence, both having our own thoughts but neither responding to what we saw in the other's mind.

She was thinking mostly about Seth. Since her mother Sue was still overcome with grief, Leah had taken the mother role in the house, taking care of her little brother. We still saw him as little Seth, even though he was already 14 now.

She was worried about his grades, and apparently also worried about him turning into a wolf soon. I thought he was way too young for that, but she saw his temper rising and wondered if that was just because he was angry for missing his dad.

I didn't respond to any of her thoughts, I was minding my own business. I recalled the talk I just had with Sam, about Bella and Edward being friends, and about Edward waiting to make his move on her.

I wondered if he were to do it right now, would she be able to deny him? I didn't think so. She was still too much affected by him, she told me that herself.

"If he does, let her go," Leah suddenly spoke to me.

"Huh?" I thought surprised.

"If Edward makes his move on her, let her go back to him."

The idea alone was hurtful to me; there was no way on earth that I was going to give her up without a fight.

"Since when are you such a leech fan?" I thought with anger.

"Don't you see what you're doing to her? The risk you're putting her in?"

"What risk? I'm perfectly in control of myself. They are more dangerous," I defended myself.

"I'm not talking about your temper."

"What risk then?" I asked impatiently.

I heard her sigh and then she said, "what if you imprint?"

"What do you mean? I'm not gonna imprint, I'm with her, I love… Oh…"

I suddenly remembered how Sam had been with Leah, loving her like crazy, when he imprinted with Emily. We all thought he was such a dickhead, for dropping Leah like that.

Only after finding out about imprinting, we knew it was all out of his power.

"That's my point. You think you're safe from your genes and you make her love you," she started ranting. "Haven't you seen the state she was in when she lost her bloodsucker? Do you honestly think she'll survive another loss like that? If you imprint, you'll be too far gone to even care she's hurting. You will drop her like used trash."

I flinched at her words and pictured Bella, devastated and me ignoring her because I was with my new love, whoever that might be.

"I won't meet new girls anymore, that way I can't imprint."

"Don't be ridiculous, Jacob, you can't lock yourself away. She'll want to go to college, she'll invite friends over, she'll want to go on holidays… Just yesterday you met hundreds of girls in the airport. Even if you didn't notice them, you could have imprinted right then and there."

"Well I'm not gonna break up with her just because there is a tiny chance that this might happen to me. It's supposed to be a rare thing."

"I'm not saying you should break up, that would kill her too," she added at a softer tone, "I'm just saying, if Edward wants her back and she's considering it, let her go."

I knew she had a point, but I simply couldn't wrap my head around the idea of letting her go because at some point in our future, I might end up hurting her.

He might hurt her too, so was it really the safer choice? Sure he was a vampire, and they are pretty stable in their feelings, but still…

"Think about it," she said, and I knew I was going to have a hard time not to think about it.

AN: This may be a little unexpected. What do you think he should do? And do you agree with Sam about Edward waiting for his chance?