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Part IV- Imprint

Chapter 16- Open your eyes and see the world

"Paul, Bella has opened her eyes"

My eyes lay fluttered open, the bright light in the room forcing them to squint in discomfort. After being a witness to only darkness that had lay behind the safety of my shut lids for the past unknown amount of time, this bright light I now felt was terribly uncomfortable, and I quickly shut my eyes back once again, in a futile escape to get rid of this brightness.

My head throbbed from a massive headache, almost as if I was heavily hung-over, despite the fact that I had not a sip of alcohol in my body, and I could feel a painful gash that was yet to heal, somewhere close to my shoulder, burning me with its harsh coldness, almost as if a million small ice cubes had been placed on my shoulder, and there was no way to throw them away from me, or even lift them to give me a mild, short term reprieve. I slowly tried to lift my right hand that lay close to my torso, at perfect attention, in an attempt to touch the wound, but quickly dissuaded myself, throwing the idea away, when even lifting my hand, or a finger for that matter, an inch from over where it lay, motionless and still, made me wince and curse aloud in my head.

'So, staying still was it' I quickly figured, in no mood to treat myself with more pain than I already was in.

"Bella, can you hear me?" said a familiar voice, softly, full of concern and worry, probably on seeing me in my current predicament.

'Whose voice was this?' I rattled my brain for an answer, trying to get my throbbing exhausted head to cooperate, and was not disappointed when quickly the answer came to me, as if I could ever forget the person and the memories associated with this voice.

"Paul" I whispered. My dry throat hurting from the lack of use these past few days, making me crave for an urgent glass of water. "Water" I murmured, as loud as I could manage which too be honest wasn't much, hoping that somehow someone would get the hint that I needed that sip of water on my dry throat, before I could even think of functioning back normally.

I could hear rustling from behind my closed eyelids, almost as if someone was running in haste around the room, before a glass was brought to my closed chapped lips, lowering the glass down and turning it slightly, in position for me to sip.

"Open up" said the voice, as I complied, forcing my lips to part, so that the cool liquid could reach my throat. Paul, slowly and with such softness that I never knew he possessed, lifted my head up, supporting it with one hand, and using the other to hold the glass, helped push the liquid down my throat. I quickly gulped a few sips in, relishing in the relief it provided, before detaching my lips from the glass, silently telling him that I was done drinking the water that had felt like a life saver at this point of time.

He helped lay my head back on the mattress beneath me, the familiar scent of freesias informing me that I was on my bed, before taking a sigh in, a sigh of relief.

"Can you try to open your eyes for me?" he pleaded, again with a softness I had never known he possessed within him.

I wanted to refuse. I wanted to lie still for a few more minutes, trying to bask in this calmness that I felt spreading through my body, but something in his voice, the urgency that I could hear, made me reluctantly yet worriedly open my eyes, and glance at him.

He was standing close to my bed, upright, worry lines had replaced the cocky smirk that generally rested on his face, and he had a hand running through his short black hair, as if to calm himself of the nervousness and worry he was currently experiencing.

My eyes took in his worried still slightly relieved face, before moving past, to see the only other person in the room. Allison lay standing still, clearly letting Paul take the lead, probably knowing how him being close to me, with him being my imprint would be relaxing for me in this state, and also the fact that the worry lines and the tension clearly evident on Paul's face were now starting to make even me anxious, and I was sure that even Allison could figure out his current mood. Something was wrong with him, I was sure of that.

What was he worried about? What had him so troubled?

I instantly wanted to run my hands through his face, ushering his features back to how they had been before, lifting the grimace he had on, and making it into a smirk, or rather a smile.

He looked beautiful when he smiled. His face would light up, making him look more like the ten or eleven year old carefree Paul who would run beside me on the beach, having absolutely no worries in life, only happiness to spread and feel within.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked, taking a step ahead in my direction, slowly, almost as if it was a thought for a while about decision. He then slowly took another step ahead, nervousness once again creeping onto his features, surprising me. He was unsure about something, and that was not a side I had seen often about him.

I tried my best to shrug, which didn't come out as well as I expected it to "I have been better."

He grimaced once again, an expression of pain and anger masking on his face "Why would you do that? Why would you risk your life like that? Don't you care about anyone else?" he shouted in anger, the vulnerability he was experiencing visible on his face "your family, your friends…. me…" he trailed off, once again running a hand through his hair, this time out of stress. I wanted him to continue. I wanted to hear the end of that sentence. What had he meant when he had referred to himself, and more importantly, what all did he know to be able to make a statement as such?

"What… what all do you know?" I stuttered, his tone had told me that he knew something, but what exactly, I was still unsure of.

"Everything" he said without missing a beat "Sam told me everything. More like I forced him to, but still"

I slowly nodded my head. My eyes closing without much will of mine trying to contemplate and understand the meaning and implication of that one word – Everything. Did he know about shape shifters? Did he know about me being one? Did he…. did he know about the imprint?

The last question kept swirling through my mind, like a storm in the ocean making its first appearance known.

Did he know that I was tied to him…. for life? Was he angry about it? Or worse, was he indifferent? Did he hate me for it?

No…. that could not be true. If he hated me, he would not have been here, or maybe he was waiting for me to wake up so that he could tell me this on my face. I would not be able to bear it if it were so.

My eyes shut tighter, as my body straightened in trepidation, waiting for him to say it out loud, waiting for him to say how he hated me and could not bear to even see my face any longer.

"Hey, you are okay" his calming voice soothe through my nerves "She is dead. She cannot harm you again. I will not let anyone harm you again." the anger and firm determination in his voice spread through the room.

Wait, what?

I slowly opened my eyes; half dreading this to be a trick to get me to open my eyes, before paying attention to the words that he had just spoken.

'She was dead', who was dead? Who was he talking about?

Realization suddenly struck me like a bolt of light, as the answer appeared in front of my eyes.

"The female vampire" I whispered, looking at him.

He nodded his head, his face depicting how livid he was "She is dead. The pack tore her to shreds. After what she did to you, she deserved it."

I once again rattled my brain, trying to remember what exactly had happened to cause me to be here in this state, and the answer was once again not hard to find. Memories of my fight with Jared, following which Levi had informed us of the threat, passed through my mind. I remembered the fight with that red haired vampire, attacking her, ripping her body parts apart…. the last thing I remembered though was….. was her biting me, telling me that if she were to die, so would I.

I quickly lifted my hand, ignoring the pain that coursed through my body on this action, and rubbed a finger at the spot where I had been bitten, making me realize that the ice burn that I had been feeling had been coming from here. I moved my head, trying to take a look at the bite that was now in the form of a healing crescent shaped moon. My eyes then fell on my arms that were littered with small scratches, battle scratches.

I don't think they were going anytime soon…..

"Hey, the leech doctor has said that your wounds will heal. They just need time, and you will be as good as new soon enough. You have healed internally, as you have opened your eyes." Paul reassured, with his eyes warm and kind.

I nodded my head, hesitantly. I was not worried about a few battle scars. I was well aware that when you fought, there was always the risk that you would get hurt. My childish playful fights with Embry had been enough of a proof of this. We did not fight to hurt the other, but sometimes accidents happened, and when you took the decision to fight, you had to be prepared for stuff like that. I knew that a childish banter and fighting a dangerous powerful vampire out to kill me were two completely different things, but still somewhere deep down they followed the same logic. You take the decision to attack another, no matter the who and how, and you had to be prepared for the chance of injuries.

Paul and I kept looking at one another for the next few minutes, not knowing what to say and how to start, before I saw Allison walk up to my bed, a tear rolling down her eyes.

"You scared me." she whispered, running a hand through my hair that was frankly an unwashed, uncombed mess at the moment "Don't you ever do that to me again." she threatened, kissing my forehead lightly.

"I am sorry" I mumbled, only being able to guess how difficult it must have been to see your child lay motionless and on the verge of dying in front of you. It was not an experience I ever wanted to experience, or make my mother experience again.

She nodded her head once again, sighing, before looking at me once again "I should go downstairs and call the council members. A lot of people were waiting for you to wake up." she took a step away, before turning back and looking at me "You must be hungry. I will make you some soup."

Almost on cue my stomach growled, and I gave her a sheepish smile as she chuckled, mumbling "Got the message."

She soon walked out of the room, leaving me and Paul alone. I had a million questions to ask him at the moment, some harder to ask than the others, and rolled out my first question, deciding to start with the easiest and then go my way up.

"Who brought me here? The last thing I remember is losing consciousness."

He sighed, running a hand through his face "Sam brought you here and Levi Uley immediately called the leech doctor who pulled the venom out of your body."

"How long has it been since the fight?"

"Three days"

"Three days!" I repeated his words, with a shout- whisper, trying to get up from my bed, only to result in pain spreading through my bones, making me roughly fall back on the bed.

I had been lying here, unconscious, for three days now? What all had happened in these three days? How had I taken so much time to heal? We healed pretty fast, our extreme healing powers made sure of that.

"Don't" Paul scolded "Your injuries are still healing. Don't make any sudden movements."

"What all happened in these three days?" I questioned, ignoring everything else that was happening around.

"It does not matter." he said sternly "You need rest. We will talk about all of this later."

"But" I protested weakly, my energy already drained out. I had so many questions to ask him about. Did he know about the imprint? How had he reacted to it? Was he angry? Did he hate me? How had the pack reacted to my getting bitten? How were they coping to my absence? Was Jared still fighting Sam?

Paul sighed; bringing me back to the present and making me look at him "I will answer all the questions that are roaming around in your head, but for now rest. I will be here when you wake up."

I did not want to sleep. I wanted to tell him that I was not tired, even though I knew that my face was betraying me at the moment. I wanted to talk to him, wanted to see what he thought of all of this, but as soon as his soft yet strong hands touched my eyelids, slowly shutting them, I knew that I would have to wait to ask him all what I had on mind, and I felt myself lose the battle to exhaustion.

X-X-X-X-X-X

The next time my eyes opened though, much to my disappointment and surprise, instead of Paul, sitting next to my bed checking her phone, was Leah Clearwater.

"Hey" I mumbled, trying to get up once again from the lying down posture I had been in, before deciding that the pain was really not worth it. "What are you doing here?" I asked, instantly adding "Of course, not like I am not happy to see you here."

She huffed, her face clearly portraying that she was not happy about something, before she put her phone down, quickly dumping it into her purse, and looked back at me "How could you not tell me something this important?"

I gave her a confused stare, quite unable to understand what she was talking about, as she continued talking, her tone more accusatory than normal "I thought I was like an older sister to you. An older sister you shared stuff with and came to with your problems, and similarly heard me out when I needed someone to listen. I thought you cared about me and my happiness…"

"Leah" I cut her off, confused and developing a mild headache from the riddle she had been throwing at me "I really have no idea what you are talking about."

"Really Bella?" she accused me "I could never have expected this from you, though why only blame you when my own father and the person I thought I was spending my life with, are equally to blame. No one thought about me in all of this mess. No one bothered to care." she said bitterly, I had always known that Leah was the kind who forgave but did not forget easily, but this amount of hostility was even new for her.

I frowned, parts of the puzzle forming in my mind. I had a suspicion of what she was talking about, but how could that be possible? No, it was close to impossible.

"I know the timing is terrible" she said, her face a bit apologetic "But I had to get this out of me, and who better to talk to than the alpha of the pack my fiancé belongs to."

My eyes widened in shock, the suspicion that had rose in my mind now lay confirmed. She knew!

"Who" I whispered, not needing to complete my sentence, and her face too gave away that she knew exactly of what I was asking "Shit" I cursed aloud "It was Seth, wasn't it?"

The kid had probably not been able to keep it in, and had told Leah everything, but I was once again surprised when Leah shook her head "No, he would not betray his tribe, contrary to what anyone thinks." she gave me a pointed glance, making me shift a bit at my place.

"Then who" I mumbled, confused and curious to know the answer.

"My dad" she said simply, as if stating something that should have been obvious. "He could not see me crying and wasting my life away in my sorrows any longer, and decided to instead bear the punishment the council would put on him for going against their decision of not letting me know."

"Oh" I whispered, surprised "In that case, you would also know that I was ordered not to tell you, and the order placed on me was not one I could easily break. And likewise Sam could not tell you too"

She frowned "I know that, but it does not make it any easier you know, that people you thought you knew for your entire life don't trust you enough to tell you about something that is directly affecting your life and your happiness."

"I am sorry" I whispered, knowing well that she would know what I am apologizing for, and her subsequent nod assured me of the same. I knew well that she had been dealt an unfair hand, probably the worst out of all of us. Losing your fiancé, or more accurately, coming so close to losing your life partner, without any explanation whatsoever had to be tough. Neither did she nor Sam deserve to be in this situation.

"Dad also told me about imprinting, and that Sam had imprinted on Emily, but he did not tell me what exactly happen after they told her about the legends being true. All I know is that she knows, and she wants Sam in a way more than any cousin should ever want her sister's fiancé."

I nodded my head, as she muttered 'bitch' under her breath.

"She made Sam kiss her, on the day of the party. She made sure that you were around to see."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, as I quickly told her about my conversation with Emily that day on the beach, and all that I had later on seen in Sam's head. I also went on to tell her about how Sam had been fighting the imprint, and how Emily had said that she would be back, this time though to make Sam hers.

"As if I am going to stand back and let that happen." Leah scowled in anger, once I was finished with my explanation. "That man- stealer, she always wanted what I had."

"So, what are you going to do now?" I whispered, hopeful yet slightly afraid of hearing the answer.

"Well, first" she stood up from the chair she had been sitting on "I am going to have a long talk with your brother, and shout at him, a lot" she emphasized on the 'a lot'. After which I will kiss the crap out of him and make love to him like never before, for all the days we missed because of this bullshit."

"Leah" I whined, trying to erase that image from my head "I don't want to hear that. He is still my brother you know." I said, though the small smile that I had on my face betrayed the fact that I was actually upset.

"Okay" she rolled her eyes "Then I will make life hell for Emily, for even thinking of taking what was mine, and then….."

I raised my eyebrow at that, interrupting her "What do you mean by that?"

She shrugged, like it was no big deal "When you grow up with someone, like how close Emily has been to my family, you know well of what things would rile her up, and make her shout and scream in annoyance." Her eyes took on an evil mischievous glint, making me worry slightly.

Uh-Oh! What exactly was she planning to do?

"Just be careful okay" I cautioned "We don't need the council on our backs."

"Fuck those old creeps" she said, unapologetically "They care so much about her, they go and take the spider out of her bathroom, that I am very well going to place there, and calm her down when she screams like a freaking baby."

"Leah" I said; half amused half terrified "How on earth are you going to get away with that?"

She shrugged "I know people 'cough her younger sister cough' who would help me out with stuff like this. That girl hates her more than I do, and would gladly do stuff like put itching powder in her clothes, slash her tires etcetera etcetera."

I rolled my eyes at her, feeling much lighter than I had before this conversation "Just be careful okay."

She shrugged nonchalantly "Always am"

"Okay, now go see him. I can see how much you want to, it is clearly written on your face" I said after a few minutes of silence.

She smiled "Thanks, and I am sorry that you got hurt, and am glad that those bloodsuckers met their end." "And Oh," she turned to look at me "Sam and I are going to be fighting this imprint together from now on. So, you need not worry."

I just smiled back, relieved that she now knew, as she left the room, skipping a step or two in her new found excitement.

I was glad that things were finally looking up for her and Sam.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Five thousand one hundred and sixty three… Five thousand one hundred and sixty four….. Five thousand one hundred and sixty five…

"Hey, you busy?" chirped a voice, standing at the door of my room.

I rolled my eyes, before answering "Yeah, if you count staring at the white ceiling of my room, that I never knew was this white, while I mentally count numbers to pass time, then yeah I am definitely very busy."

Kim rolled her eyes at my sarcasm, as she entered my bedroom and took the empty chair that was lying close to my bed "Glad to see that you are doing well"

I smiled back at her, instantly adding with a whine "Being on bed rest sucks though, especially when you don't feel like you need rest, but your body does not agree with your mind on that small tidbit."

Dr. Cullen who had been gracious enough to help his mortal enemy had just left after examining me a few minutes back, and as I was the first known shape shifter who had been bitten by a vampire, but had been saved, no one exactly knew how long it would take my body to get back to normal. Internally, according to Dr. Cullen, I had done a complete recovery, but still the pain that I was feeling was yet to lessen, and so temporarily he had put me on bed rest, just to be on the safer side, and under no condition was I to phase, as he had ordered. I had tried arguing that the way my body was hurting, it was very unlikely that I was planning to run a marathon any time soon, but he had just smiled a knowing smile while he once again enforced that under no circumstances was I to exert myself. He had added though, as an afterthought that the way our healing prowess worked, the pain should completely disappear in the next day or so, which I would be lying if I said I was not waiting desperately for.

Kim left out a giggle, before her face once again turned back to its serious self "But seriously though, how are you feeling now?"

"Okay, getting better by the minute." I said, keeping my answer simple yet vague. I did not know exactly what had been told around about my injury, and accidently contradicting what had been said would not bode well for us.

She just made an 'hmm' like sound at that "So, where is everyone else right now? I had to use the spare key to let myself in."

"Mom had some urgent work to attend to; Sam and Leah have gone back to their house to connect with one another again." I cringed, speaking the words out "And I don't know where Paul, who was supposed to be here, is right now. And oh, Dr. Cullen just left after checking my injuries, and has put me on temporary bed rest. So, other than staring at absolutely nothing, I don't have much to look forward to."

She rolled her eyes at my exaggeration, before mumbling a "Yeah, about that" below her breath.

I gave her a confused glance, silently asking her to say what she had in mind out loud, as she sighed before answering "Jared told me that you imprinted on Paul."

My eyes widened as I stared at her. Fighting me was one thing, but telling an unsuspecting person our secrets was something completely different. Jared was out of his mind, if he thought that something like this would go unnoticed and unpunished…..

"And before you jump to conclusions," she interrupted my trail of thought "He has imprinted on me, and so could not resist telling me everything, well as soon as it was possible."

What was this happening in my life? Why was I having the same freaking conversation thrice in the same day? How was it that I 'disappear' for three days and suddenly everyone in La Push knows that I am a shape shifter who has the ability to imprint, and is the alpha of a pack of wolves.

I nodded my head at the absurdity of the situation, a part of me glad that at least Kim and Jared were not going to be separated or were to face problems like Leah and Sam had. "So, how are you taking it?"

She gave out a short laugh "You know me. I love animals, be it an overgrown puppy only, but at the moment though, I have told Jared that I need time to think this through."

"Kim" I said, shocked, trying to sit up. She helped me sit on the bed, before going back and sitting on the chair once again "Why would you need to think about this? You and Jared have been seriously involved for years now. You both have also discussed marriage and kids for that matter. What would you have to think about?"

She sighed "The way he behaved with you…."

"That is between me and him." I cut her off "It should not affect your relationship. Look as much as I appreciate you taking my side in this, it is not fair to Jared that his equation with me affects you both."

She slowly nodded her head "He told me that your instincts overrule your thoughts when you phase for the first time."

I nodded my head in agreement "Yeah, it is hard to explain what goes on in the head during those few minutes, don't judge him on that"

She was silent for a few minutes "So, you and Paul huh? This changes stuff."

Her expression was confusing, it was somewhere between worry and disgust, a combination I was not very comfortable with, but I decided against picking at it at this moment.

"Yeah, but we are yet to talk about it all." I waved my hand in air, trying to convey to her the lack of surety in it all.

She nodded her head, and after a few minutes of silence added "Hey, do you mind if Jared comes to talk to you? He really wants to apologize."

I gave her a surprised nod, before whispering "Yeah okay. Anything is better than staring at the ceiling."

She gave me a smile, before picking her phone up and calling Jared, for another discussion that would no doubt be revolving around the same thing.

Damn!