Chapter 36. Thanks for all the suggestions. Here`s a bit more about imprinting. Another chapter will be up today. Sorry it`s a bit short. Happy reading.

"Why do you ask where she is? Don`t you trust her enough to come home?" Esther asked. She sat cross legged on a blanket in the front room of her little house. She motioned for Jared to sit and he did. He contemplated her words. Honesty was best here.

"No, I don`t trust that she will come home, if I`m being honest." Jared hung his head. Esther didn`t speak for a long time.

"Why do you think she will stay away?" She pressed.

"Because I hurt her..horribly." Jared replied.

"She is not made of glass Jared. She is flesh and blood. With feelings. Scars heal. Some take more time than others."

"Some scars don`t fade though! There are still there." Jared countered. To his surprise Esther roared with laughter.

"You are not as stupid as you look boy. Tell me something. What were you told about imprinting?"

"I was told that when you see her for the first time she becomes your world. Like gravity shifts. Everything you do is for her. She is the perfect mate for you to carry on the wolf gene. You have found your second half and become hole and.."

"Yes yes I know the fairy-tales that the elders tell you. But there is more to it. Imprinting, true, is finding your spirit wife. Your perfect other as you said. But love is a complicated thing Jared. Tell me, what did you feel when you imprinted on Kimimela? When you looked into the eyes of your one true love."

Jared could remember it perfectly.

"It was in school. In history class. The first day I came back after I phased. I was so pissed. Everybody was talking about me. I didn`t want to be there. When I got to class, Kimi was sitting beside me, like she always had for the past year. I asked her to tell me what page the class had stopped at. She didn`t want to look me in the eye. But when she did it was like...love at first sight but more...I knew I loved her, that I always had loved her, that she was mine and I was hers. The most beautiful and precious gift in the world." Words couldn`t do any justice to the way he had felt when he had first looked into her beautiful eyes. Esther seemed satisfied with that answer.

" Some imprinted couples have to go through a challenge to make the bond absolute. The pain of knowing what life is like without your imprint is that. Take Sam and Emily. He hurt her. Scarred her. Almost killed her. You felt his pain. You still do. You see the guilt whenever he looks at her. That was their challenge."

"And mine and Kim`s challenge?" Esther smiled at him kindly. She looked saddened.

"Kimimela has taken the hard road, so to speak. You know what she has done. Given you your freedom. But you can never be free of her. You have already chosen to love her freely."

"I love her with every fibre of my being." Jared said forcefully.

"Kimimela needs to learn how to let herself be loved by you. For her the truth came early. She was in love with you since the moment she saw you. Imagine Jared. Loving a person from afar. Wishing and hoping that he or she will take notice of you. Love you in return. And one day boom. He suddenly returns the feeling. She still has a hard time excepting it."

"She knows I love her!"

"And then.." Esther continued, ignoring Jared`s angry outburst. "someone else appears when you finally have the one person who can make you truly happy. A person who could have been your soulmates love. You see the growing attraction between him and her. You know something is wrong and you can do nothing to stop it. No amount of tears or pleading will make him listen. He hurts you but you still love him. And because your love for him is and always has been pure, despite being riddled with insecurities, you set him free. Because, if this other woman makes him happy, you want him to be happy."

Jared wanted to crawl away in a corner and die somewhere. What a mess. His poor Kimi.

"So Kimimela, being a selfless girl, gives you up. Her imprint. Her world. So you can be happy. She feels double the pain you know. It will only get worse with time."

"She can`t die, I won`t let that happen." Jared whispered. Esther took one of his hands in her own.

"She won`t die Jared. She will come home. She has everything to live for now. But understand. She was destined to leave here. The Great Spirit has chosen her for something big. We all have a purpose in life. Remember, imprints give strength to the tribe, not just to their imprinters."

"So you basically telling me that I am powerless to bring her home?" Jared said bitterly.

"No, you are not powerless to bring her home. She will come home because of you." She got up off the floor with surprising agility for someone so old. Jared knew the conversation was at an end.

"How long does she have?" Esther stiffened with the question. She looked Jared in the eye.

"Less than eight months." A searing pain ran through his body. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

He fled from the house and phased. He let out a deafening roar of anger into the air.

Remember. Review and ask questions if you feel the need. Besos.