A/N: A little shorter than usual, yes, but we're setting ourselves up for some plot and conflict, and me basically writing an essay about imprinting and the rampant nonsense that goes on in smeyer's brain.
If Jared could, he'd scream from the rooftops about how cool his girlfriend is. They're sitting at Emily's table, waiting for Sam to start explaining. Emily stands at the counter, plating some cookies.
Kim holds one of his hands, playing with his fingers, brow furrowed. He's so blissed out right now.
"Okay, so, Paul's busy, which is code for asleep," Sam says, sitting to join them. "I'm just going to start." He takes a deep breath and Kim's hand stills, fingers lacing with his.
"All those legends you learned about in school are all true," Sam starts, scrubbing a hand over his face. Emily joins them, setting the plate down and settling in Sam's lap. "The whole spirit realm and warriors turning into wolves thing, I mean. It's a… genetic thing, passed down from father to son, with all the original members of our tribe. There are twenty different lines, but right now, it's just me, Jared, and Paul."
Kim's got this adorable look of concentration on her face, so Jared wouldn't be all that surprised if she pulled out a notebook to take notes in. Her grip tightens slightly, nails pressing gently against his knuckles.
"You remember the bad guys in the stories?" Sam asks. Kim nods at once.
"Cold ones," she answers. "I never got what that was exactly. Was it some kind of euphemism?"
"Nope," Emily says tartly. "All literal." Kim laughs just once, a short hysterical sound. Jared's smile drops in an instant. She must be freaking out on the inside.
"What," she questions, dropping her voice. "Vampires?" Sam nods somberly.
"You're telling me vampires are real and they live in La Push?" she asks, her voice a little weaker.
"Vampires are real," Sam affirms. Jared remembers how he felt that first day when Sam explained everything to him, shocked and waiting for the punchline. "But they don't live in La Push. That's the point of having wolves, to protect our people."
"Well, where do they live?" Kim's free hand moves up to her hair, patting down her already immaculate ponytail.
"Forks," Jared supplies. He moves a little closer, pulling Kim close. She melts against his side and instantly the wolf is awake, vigilant for what's putting his imprint at unease.
"What really?" she asks, surprised. "Real, live vampires?"
"Well, 'live vampires' is sort of an oxymoron," Sam jokes, but it's halfhearted. "Look, nothing's going to come into these lands, alright? We're all perfectly safe."
"But you guys aren't," Kim protests. Emily beams at her, proud. "Who's protecting the three of you?"
Jared presses a kiss to Kim's temple, snickering quietly.
"We don't need protection, we're pretty badass," he tells her proudly. Still, the wolf preens at the idea that his mate is ready to fight for him, that she's so concerned for his safety.
"We're faster than they are, we're stronger than they are, and we travel in packs," Sam lists. "We're pretty safe."
"Doesn't stop me from worrying every time you go on patrol," Emily says, draining her coffee. "But hey, now I have someone to wait up with."
"Patrol? How do you get time with your jo—oh!" His girl's so smart, Jared thinks with pride.
"Yeah, we get paid in muffins," he jokes. That pulls a little smile onto Kim's face.
"It'd be nice to have someone to wait with," Kim says. "But I can't leave my brother alone for that long. He'd burn the house down or something."
Emily laughs, getting up put her coffee cup in the dishwasher. Before she can answer though, the door bangs open, Paul bursting through.
"Did I miss it? Did she run screaming?" He asks, looking far too excited. Kim pokes her head over Jared's arm to frown at Paul.
"Nope," she says, popping the p. "Still here." Paul appraises her for a moment and grins.
"Knew you were a badass," he says, dropping into the empty seat and promptly stuffing his face with cookies. Kim leans her head against Jared's shoulder and smiles.
"I'm part of the club now," she says.
"They tell you about the leeches?" Paul asks once he swallows.
"The vampires in Forks? Yeah. What are they even doing there anyways?" she asks. Jared shrugs, turning to Sam.
"Yeah, I wondered the same thing. We're always out there watching for them but we don't ever see them," he says.
"I think they're enrolled in Forks High School, apart from Dr. Leech," Sam explains. "Besides, they're supposed to be pretty good about respecting the treaty."
"What treaty?" Kim asks, taking a cookie to nibble on. Jared gets momentarily distracted by how cute she looks.
"The Cullen's have been living here on and off for a while. Last time, sometime in the 60's or something, they signed a treaty with my grandfather and some other members of the pack. They're allowed in Forks as long as no harm comes to the humans and they don't pass the borders."
"The 60's! How old are they?" Kim exclaims. Jared laughs for real.
"Like, a bajillion," he answers. Sam chuckles under his breath.
"Not that old, but old enough to be unnatural," he answers. "They stay on their side of the border and don't feed from the humans." Kim asks a few more questions after that, about the more logistic side of being a wolf. Jared still can't believe how cool his girlfriend is.
A warm sense of contentment fills him, deep and all the way over his body, from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. Kim fits in effortlessly into his life, like she was made to be there. Jared can only hope she feels even a fraction of what he feels in that moment.
It occurs to him later, when he's dropping Kim off, they never even told her about the imprinting stuff.
A/N: Next week's chapter will make things better, content-wise, I think, but fair warning, those author's notes are going to be long, so feel free to skip them. Let me know what you thought!