15. Clean Break

Leah quietly soared from a nearby tree into my open window. She made an impossible feat

look so graceful. The cool night air seemed to disappear with her appearance. She plopped down

on the bed beside me before I even fully sat up. Warmth radiated off of her body as she sat next to

me. A thought hit me that this was the first time I've had a girl in my room. I wonder if it really

counts since this girl has no feelings for me at all. Another thought hit me as well. My sister would

freak out if she knew Leah was in here. "Don't worry, you won't get in trouble. I'll be able to hear your

sister coming long before she gets to your room. I'll be out the window before she ever hits the

stairs." Leah said with a confident grin. She must've seen the worry on my face.

"So, you've been guarding my house for a while...I guess that's why you've been hanging out with me so

much."

"That's part of the reason. To be truthful, I could've had someone else swap patrols with me. I could've

let Seth hang out with you. According to his thoughts, he would've loved to see your sister again. I've

actually kind of enjoyed hanging out with you. It definitely beats having to hang out with the twelve

other members of the pack. Those guys drive me insane!" She exclaimed in a loud whisper.

"So, all of the other members of the pack are guys? You are the only girl?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I'm the first female to ever phase. It's not even supposed to happen. That's why I'm an anomaly,

a freak."

"I don't think your a freak. I think you're perfectly unique." I stuttered out as my cheeks began to burn.

"Yeah, I'm so unique that I caused my dad to have a heart attack when I phased." She said

sarcastically.

"I'm sorry Leah, I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it." She interrupted. "I promised that I would tell you about imprinting, so I guess I

better get to it before it's past your bedtime." She joked.

"I can stay up as late as I want, thank you very much."

She gave me a skeptical look before she began speaking.

"I've never experienced imprinting myself. I don't think it's even possible for me to imprint, but I have

heard the thoughts of the ones who have. They say it's like gravity moves. When they see their imprint,

suddenly the earth is not holding you their anymore. The imprint does. Nothing matters more than that

person. You would do anything and be anything for that person. You would be whatever they wanted

you to be, whether that's a protector, a lover, or a friend, or a sibling. If the imprint doesn't want you,

then you will leave them be, although that's never happened. It supposedly matches you with your

soulmate. Everything changes when you make eye contact with that person. That's when they become

your world. Our tribe has a few theories about imprinting. They think that a shapeshifter may imprint on

someone because they provide the best chance to carry on the wolf gene, although I think that one is

flawed. Some think that it's to create stronger wolves. One thing that has shown true is that it provides

a pack member with their perfect match. That one has yet to be unproven. I personally think that it's

sad. The ones that imprint, don't even belong to themselves." She said with a disgusted look on her

face.

"There was one guy that you said imprinted. His name was Sam. I can see the hurt in your eyes when

he's mentioned. Is he the guy that hurt you? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, and you can

punch me for asking if you want." I shuddered at the thought of Leah punching me. She would put

me through the wall.

"No, it's OK. I might as well tell you and get it over with...Sam and I were dating in high school. We were

madly in love. I had envisioned spending the rest of my life with him. We were so happy. One day he

disappeared for weeks. No one knew where he was. I was worried sick until he finally returned. I didn't

know it at the time, but he had phased and it took him a while to calm down enough to change back.

He was the first to phase in a long time. A tribal elder eventually figured out what was going on and

explained everything to Sam. He continued to try to make it work with us, but I could tell something

wasn't right. One day my cousin Emily came down from the Makah Reservation and Sam imprinted on

her. All I knew at the time was that he eventually broke up with me and was all about Emily. It hurt me

so bad. I didn't know what to do with myself. I was so angry at everyone and everything. I guess that

anger still hasn't completely gone away. Once I phased, I could hear Sam's thoughts. I knew that he

didn't want to hurt me, but nothing was keeping him and Emily from being together. That still didn't

keep me from being bitter. I knew it wasn't either one of their faults, and who am I to stand in the way

of true love? It's okay though, I'm over it now. I even agreed to be a bridesmaid at their wedding." She

tried to sound convincing, but her face said otherwise.

"That's awful. I wish that you wouldn't of had to go through that."

"I'm alright, really. It almost seems like a lifetime ago now. I'm glad that they're both happy with their

own little family." She halfheartedly assured me.

"Have you had any other boyfriends since then?"

"No, like I said the guys around the reservation are annoying and I don't leave the area enough to

meet anyone that might not be so annoying." The fact that she didn't even mention that I was a

potential candidate stung. I know now that there is no point in telling her my feelings. She doesn't

even put me into consideration.

"Maybe if you didn't spend so much time guarding me, then you could find someone that might can

handle the tall task of putting up with you." I teased.

"Actually, I'm just going to guard your house until you start school. We figure that you're no longer in

danger. I'm just going to keep watch for a little while to be sure. After that, we'll go back to our normal

patrols."

"We can still hang out though right?" I questioned.

"You'll be busy with school and I'll have my patrols, so we'll probably be too busy to see each other."

"You just don't want to hang out with me!" I snapped as anger and disappointment flowed through

me.

"Look, you're a nice guy, but I can't put you in any unnecessary danger. I hunt vampires. You've seen

what they can do. I don't want you to be exposed to that again. You've already faced more vampires

than you should have. You've been exposed to a world that normal humans should be oblivious

to." She said with a solemn expression.

"Don't lie to me! You're perfectly capable of protecting me! You've already proven that!" I exclaimed in a

whisper.

"I'm sorry, I'm not going to put you in harm's way. We can't be friends. I would be devastated if

something happened to you because of me."

"Don't spout that crap to me. You're just too good for me, that's all it is."

"Wilder, it's not like that. I just..."

"Just go! I don't want to hear anymore. I hope you have a nice life."

Leah, carefully walked to the window and gave me one last apologetic look before jumping out. I

slammed the window shut, trying to hold it together. As soon as I knew it was safe, I broke down

and buried my head into the pillow.