Disclaimer: here we go, here we go, here we go again, my name is SAV. Not Stephenie Meyer. All these characters are hers, except Malia was my own! All rights to the Twilight Saga are hers, and hers only (unless she had partners that I know nothing about.) ENJOY! (:

Chapter 26: Imprint

The ride back to Emily's house was even colder. The wind was blowing North while we were running down South. I held my body closer to Jacob, holding onto him as tight as I could to feel any warmth from him. It worked for the most part for the front side of my body, but my back felt cold as ice. When we finally got there, everyone was already inside for lunch. I hopped off of Jacob, and then with the sound of the low growl and ripping, he morphed himself back into his human form and put his shorts back on. He turned towards me hugging me, kissing me on the top of my head. The warmth. How I needed it wrapped around my body at this moment. If I was drenched wet, I would've sworn you could see steam emitting off my body.

"See? It wasn't so bad. I think you even enjoyed it," he gestured at me. I returned a shy smile at him. I did have fun, other than it being cold, but it was thrilling and a much different experience.

Jacob let go of me, gesturing for me to follow him inside. He swiftly made his way through the door and stood next to the stairwell near the kitchen table. I followed him to the house, and when I got inside the door, everyone, including Emily, turned around and stared at me. I froze for a second, not sure what was wrong, or what I did wrong. The silence in the room grew, and I glanced my eyes towards Jacob staring at him for his reaction. He had his arms crossed and was chuckling underneath his breath trying to hide his laugh. All of a sudden, a giant roar of cheers broke loose inside of the house, all of them clapping and cheering for some sort of reason.

Emily was the first to speak but continued to join in while the crowd was continuing to clap.

"Congratulations, you're officially now a wolf girl." She said trying to fight the smile on her face to make me feel less embarrassed by the attention. I smiled back at her and nodded my head at everyone, chuckling with my head facing to the ground to hide the crimson on my cheeks. I made my way over towards Jake who was holding out one of his arms for me. I quickly shuffled my way into his arm where he swung it around my back and held onto me, swaying me back and forth and planting a kiss on the top of my head, again.

"Too bad about last night, man. I thought we actually had something," Jared said, bringing up the complication that Jacob alerted.

"Must've been an old scent. It was very brief, but it didn't leave a trail behind it." Sam added.

"So, how was your night Jake? She didn't call, huh?" Quil joked aloud. Jacob shook his head again and continued rocking us side to side holding on to me.

"It's cool, we didn't like her anyways," Jared added.

"Yeah, yeah okay, guys." Jacob said with his mouth wide, laughing at Embry's and Jared's comment.

"Yeah, way too polite and bubbly, bro. And a major clinger," Seth added. The rest of the pack, excluding Sam, all synchronized in a, "Yupp."

"Hey, hey. Her dad was a good friend of your father, kid," Jacob said to Seth in defense to Malia. The rest of them laughed along teasing Jacob some more. It was actually kind of nice to hear them preferring me over someone else. I don't really get that a lot, being preferred to be in the company of someone.

"I almost thought you imprinted on her when you first brought her over to the reservation." Leah said allowed, in a monotone voice. Paul nudged her arm for some reason, that I didn't know what for. I also didn't understand what she was directly talking about.

"Yeah that would've been a bummer, dude. Unlike if it was Bella though." Embry added. I pushed my face into Jacob's side to hide my blush from the compliment from Embry. He always was kind to me, especially on the day that Paul got upset when Jacob brought me to meet the rest of the pack during one of their meetings. But what were they talking about? Jacob nodded at them, and his mouth fell into a tight line.

"Imprint? I'm sorry, am I missing something?" I asked. The room felt silent at my question. Did I trigger something again?

"Thanks, guys. I think we will be leaving now." Jacob said, reaching down at a muffin, breaking it in half and tossing a chunk each at Leah and Embry. He started guiding me out the door and I turned around to smile at Emily.

"Oh, bye guys! And thanks Emily for… getting me to do that." She returned the smile and waved at me goodbye. They all assumed their positions scarfing down food while Emily cleaned up the stove in the kitchen.

"Oh, and Jacob. Be ready at 6 for your shift. I gave you and everyone a break today, but the regular schedule starts back this evening." Sam mentioned as we were half-way out the door.

Jacob lifted me into the passenger side of my truck and got in on the driver's side and cranked the Truck on. It took about 3 turns, but it finally came to life.

"You know, I can drive my own truck." I nudged at him.

"You can also walk on two feet, but you seem to prefer riding me instead." Jacob said with a coy smile, chuckling after he thought about it again.

"Yeah, well you won't be able to carry me when I break your legs." I held my chin close to my chest, blushing at his crude comment. Jacob broke into a long snort.

"That would be funny to watch," he kept laughing a bit and I joined in with him. He looked over at me with one hand on the steering wheel, "I'm glad you had a good time today. It was, uh, kind of a big deal for me." He turned his glance back to the road with the corners of his mouth turned up.

"Big deal, huh?" I unbuckled my seat belt and skootched over to the middle seat to be closer to him. I held my head on his shoulder and my arm wrapped under his arm with my hand clutching onto his shoulder.

"Yeah um, it's a thing. Well, it's usually for a wolf thing." He said. His smile and chuckles turned into a more awkward look and sound.

"Wolf thing?" I asked him, pondering what he said, "Jacob, what's an imprint?"

"Oh, you caught that, huh?" His smile turned into that hard line again as it did before.

"What is it?" I asked again, urging him to tell me.

"Well, have you noticed Leah being a bit broody?" He asked.

"I guess so, what was that about?"

"Well, it's something that Emily and Sam share. It's what makes them so bonded together… Anyway, Leah used to date Sam."

"Oh, so it's a jealousy thing over an ex-boyfriend."

"Yeah, something like that, but Emily is Leah's cousin."

"Wait, what?" I shifted out of my spot against him, turning towards him to get a better look at his facial expressions, "Sam left Leah for her cousin? That's horrible"

"Chill out, Bella. Not all of us can be saints and martyrs. It was out of his control."

"What do you mean out of his control? That was her cousin, how did that even happen? He just met her one day and just left Leah?" My voice started reaching a higher pitch out of frustration.

"No, it was nothing like that. He's met her before."

"So, he spent some time thinking about her for a while, and strung Leah along? That's even worse! I can't believe Sam would do something like that. I mean I can, but what the actual fuck?"

"Would you listen, please instead of interrupting to yell at me?" I slouched down and crossed my arms and nodded looking back up at him.

"Go on," I said softly.

"Good, thank you. Sam was with Leah before his transformation, and after he did transform, he couldn't tell Leah. We aren't supposed to tell anyone who doesn't have to know, and it really wasn't safe for him to be near her… but he cheated and found a loophole with the secret, just like I did with you. Leah was furious that he wouldn't tell her what was going on, like where he'd been, where he went at night, why he was always so exhausted; but they were working it out. They were trying. They really loved each other."

"So, she found out, right? That's what happened?"

Jacob shook his head, "No, that wasn't the problem. Leah had a cousin, who like I said was Emily. Well, second cousin. They were really close. Like sisters. Emily is from the Makah reservation, and she came down to visit her one weekend."

"Oh no…" I added on to his story.

"Don't judge just yet, but this is where imprinting comes from. It's one of those bizarre things we have to deal with, and it doesn't happen to everyone. In fact, it's the rare exception, not the rule. Sam heard of all the legends and the stories that were passed down, but he never dreamed…"

"What is it?"

"Sam did love Leah. But when he saw Emily, it didn't matter anymore how he felt about Leah. We… don't exactly know why it happens… or why we find our mates that way," his eyes flashed back to me and his cheeks began to blush, "I mean… our soulmates."

"Like, love at first sight?" I snickered. It was noticeable that the topic was a bit strange for him to be telling me about, he sucked more air into his lungs and continued. He wasn't smiling anymore. His dark eyes became more critical of my reactions to the topic.

"It's a bit more powerful than that. More absolute."

"You're… being serious, right?"

"Yeah, Bells. I am actually"

"So, love at first sight but… more powerful."

"It's not easy to explain… but, it's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like… gravity moves… suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here anymore, she does… You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend" (Meyer, Stephenie).

"Well, how did Emily… deal with this if she was so close to Leah?" I asked, I mean, don't get me wrong. Emily and Sam seem so right together. They seem so in sync, like they were made for each other.

"She wasn't too happy about it. She was angry actually, but it's hard to resist and ignore that level of admiration and persistence." Jacob sighed, "and that was it, there's no rules that can bind you when you met your other half. And when she got hurt, that was weirdly how they resolved things. Sam was so horrified by himself, beating himself up and probably would have ended up throwing himself under a bus. He was shattered... but she ended up being the one comforting him…"

"Poor Leah"

"Yeah, Leah got the worst end of it, but she puts on a brave face most of the time. She's going to be the bridesmaid for their wedding."

I gasped with my hands clasped to my face, "Noooo…"

Jacob chuckled at my reaction to that, "Yeah…"

"Have you, Jacob? … Have you imprinted on someone?" I asked, looking down and gripping on his chest more out of nervous habit.

"No, not yet, Sam and Jared are the only ones. But Jared is a topic for another day…" Jacob said with his voice trailing off at the end.

"Hmm," I said, sighing in relief. In a way, I was glad that he didn't claim to have this attraction for me based on this weird, wolf connection between the two of us. Our relationship is good where it's at right now, and I would've hated for it to only be based on a wolf claim. I already had enough supernatural things in my life and adding that to the list wasn't something I cared to have.

He fell silent too, and the ride home started to gradually grow more awkward. I wish I knew what was going on in his head, or maybe I didn't, but I also didn't know what this meant for our relationship in the future. I wanted to ease his mind, as he did seem a bit glum at the topic. I ended up shifting my head back onto his shoulder, with my arm cupped under his, and my hand clung around his shoulder.

"So, you said it's rare?" I looked up at him, he never took his eyes off the road.

"Yeah, rare."

I nodded at his comment looking back down at the speedometer, tightening my grip as the silence grew on.

"Rare enough that... it possibly might not happen to you? I mean… the way it happened to Sam and Leah?" I was mostly poking this question at us, if maybe this would be our fate in the future. Him leaving me for a girl that he so quickly imprinted on. His eyebrow lowered and became closer together forming a strong V-shape on his forehead. I could see the muscles in his jaw clench and his chin pushing out forward.

We finally made it down my road, and he veered my truck in behind Charlie's cruiser. He clicked the ignition off, and we continued to sit there in silence.

"Bella, I-" I stopped him from completing his sentence. I climb over on top of him into his lap in front of the steering wheel, grabbing his face. I looked straight into it, marveling at his dark brown eyes. So dark you could barely even tell where the irises met the pupils, I ran my fingers through his hair, noticing it was getting a bit longer.

"That's not how it works, Bells. It's not-"

"Shhhhh," I interrupted him again, and leaned in, pressing my lips firmly against his steaming ones. I felt a rush of air exhale from his mouth as he moaned a little bit. I then felt his hands and fingers climbing up my back, putting pressure against each individual rib. I clutched harder on the fist full of hair, pulling his head back some more so I could lean in further. I saw his eyes tighten a little bit, but then they untightened.

He let his hand roam further down my back getting closer to the trim of my pants, and then I broke the kiss, painting. I leaned back away from him, and he slowly opened his eyes, and we both seemed to be catching our breaths.

I felt my cheeks getting hot and gifted him a shy smile. He returned the same grin, buy no shyness peered across his face.

"I have to go… I'm supposed to be getting dinner ready for Charlie."

"Oh, well, alright. Yeah, I-I gotta get going too anyways. Got a girl to protect." He said, gleaming his half-lidded eyes at me and that sideways smile. Multiple chuckles escaped my throat as I ran my fingers through his hair back and forth, messing it up. He gave me a sinister glare and grabbed me once more leaning me up against the steering wheel kissing me again. The horn honked and I immediately jumped worrying about whether Charlie would come outside after hearing that.

"I gotta get out, and you need to go, go, go" I patted his chest, pushing myself off and opening the driver side door. He hopped out after me and put his finger under my chin, lifting my face up, kissing me. After the brief exchange ended, he took off in a light jog down the road. I followed my stare on him until the shade pulled him out of sight. I locked my truck door and headed inside the house.

Charlie was on the couch when I got in, watching some NFL games on the television.

"Hey, dad" I said to him. He looked behind his shoulder and waved. Pushing himself up off the couch to greet me.

"Hey, Bells. You're a little early." His eyebrow raised.

"You said be home for dinner, but I still have to prepare it and put it in the oven." He nodded at my response.

"So, you and Jacob hang out?" He asked while I was headed to the fridge pulling out some ingredients to make the lasagna.

"Yeah, he told me to tell you, 'hello,'" I pulled out some of the thawed beef from the fridge, along with the cottage cheese, mozzarella, and the basil/mushroom Prego sauce. I tried to keep busy to avoid any more of Charlie's questions about Jake.

"He didn't hang out with that new girl of his?" He pulled out the kitchen chair and sat down.

"No… uh… I don't think it was serious. They aren't talking anymore…" I skipped over to the cabinet to grab the box of a ribbon pasta. I then grabbed a long glass pan and set it on the counter. I lined the noodles up in the pan and let it sit there while I skipped to the bottom cabinets to grab out a frying pan to cook the raw meat on.

"Not serious, huh? She seemed all over that boy at the funeral." He grumbled a bit. "Not his type, I guess. Teenagers are weird. They fall in and out of love so fast." Love? No, that wasn't love. It was more of a new relationship, I think. She was young, and only a sixteen-year-old girl who was excited by the idea of love. I'm sure Jacob's attractiveness was a big help in the department, as well.

"Yepp, weird, dad." I threw the meat on the pan and began heating it up at medium temperature, tossing it around. I wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible before we got too much into detail about Jacob. "So, how was fishing with Billy and Sue?"

He grumbled at my question, and crossed his arms in the chair, "Well, Sue is apparently one hell of a fisher."

"Huh, who would've thought." I added.

"Yepp, that lady sure knows her way around a fishing pole. Really blew both Billy's and my mind."

"What did she do that was so great?"

"Well, she damn near caught every fish in that river, leaving only a few for us." He held his arms out, trying to express the size of the river and how many fish were probably in it.

"I'm sure it was just beginners' luck."

"No, beginner's luck is just catching the first fish."

"Good for her though, I'm sure she needed that boost of confidence after…." I left the end of the sentence dread out. Charlie huffed in agreement.

I kept stirring the meat on the frying pan until it was nice and brown and ready to be strained. I then proceeded to add the meat on top of the noodles, along with a line of sauce and cottage cheese with parmesan and mozzarella. I made about three layers copying the same thing and finished it by topping it off with more sauce, and more mozzarella and parmesan on top. I then added 1 cup of water around the inside edges of the pan so the noodles could boil in the oven while the rest of the lasagna was cooking.

I then went back, and cleaned the mess off, and put any leftover ingredients into the fridge, and grabbed out a head of lettuce, some tomato, onion, and mushroom. I prepared a salad into a large bowl and set it to the side.

"Do you want me to make the dinner rolls for tonight, or for tomorrow's dinner?" I asked.

"Well, what are you cooking tomorrow?"

"I don't know, I thought maybe some grilled chicken and mashed potatoes if you're up for that."

"No, just make the dinner rolls for tonight. They go better with red sauce anyways." I nodded and sat down. It got quiet for a bit while Charlie had his eyes glued to the game playing on the television from across the room. I tapped my finger on the counter quietly, until it started to tap a little louder.

Charlie turned his head toward me hearing my finger tapping and sighed a bit leaning back, "So Bella, something you want to talk about with me?"

"Um, yeah. I'm going to go to the Forks paper tomorrow and see if I can volunteer there."

"That's good, I remember you mentioning that a few days ago."

"Yeah, so I won't be home right after school, but I'll still be home for dinner."

"That's fine"

"Oh, and I think Angela wants to work on college applications this week. She mentioned it at lunch."

"Okay… when?"

"I don't know yet, I'll ask her tomorrow," I kept tapping my finger on the table. I wanted to blurt out what was really going through my mind at that moment.

"That sounds good, kiddo. You're graduating in a few weeks, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." I nodded at him, tapping some more.

"Did you want to do something for that? I know our place is a bit small, but if you wanted to have a few friends over to celebrate, I think we could work on something."

I looked up at him, with one of my eyebrows tilted and the other firmly pressed towards the middle of my face, my jaw dropped. "No, dad absolutely not."

"Okay, okay. Just thought maybe you'd want to invite some friends over. Big day and all."

"Well, nope. Definitely not…" I kept tapping my finger on the desk some more. I don't think Charlie was too interested in asking about what was really on my mind, and I don't think I was so sure or ready to tell him about it either. I moved my hand underneath the table and leaned back in my seat, checking the timer on the clock for when the food will be ready. Charlie got up out of the kitchen dining seat and headed over back to the couch to finish the game. The food wouldn't be ready for another 45 minutes, so I got up and went to my room.

I walked around a bit, pacing near my bed, and finally plopped down on it. I looked out my closed window and started to think about what happened the other night. The tap on my window, the weird dream I had, the shimmer in the meadow. I left my gaze from the window and looked at my dresser. I stared at the bottom drawer and began tapping my foot this time. I shook my head, and got up, opening the bottom drawer, pulling out the box of the things I had left of Edward. I opened it and ran my fingers over the pictures of him. I bowed my head down, trying to control my breathing, and to hold back the pain. I then moved my finger over to the CD he gave me, full of the songs he composed, including my lullaby he composed for me. I pulled it out of the box, and set the box back in the drawer, closing it. I walked over to the CD player next to my bed, putting it in. I sat down on my bed, hesitating at the play button as my finger was levitating over it.

I wanted to hear it again, I wanted to hear the notes, the tune. Then I clicked play. The beautiful keystrokes gracefully played throughout the speakers of the CD player. Bella's lullaby he called it. I laid down on my bed, looking at the ceiling with my arms against my side. I tried practicing controlling my breathing again and trying to push back the pain that was beating at my chest. I was taken back to the memories of the first time he played it for me, when Esme kept urging him on to do so. Back to the memories in my room when he would hum it to me in my sleep.

After a while of me playing the CD throughout, I heard the timer for the lasagna go off downstairs. I clicked pause on the CD player and headed down there to pull it out, along with adding some dinner rolls on the pan into the oven. I let the lasagna cool off while the rolls were toasting up. Charlie walked in, looking a bit impatient waiting for dinner, so I went ahead and prepared the salads in a separate bowl with ranch and Italian dressing bottles on the table, as well. I then pulled the dinner rolls out of the oven and set them onto the stove near the lasagna and served the lasagna for the both of us.

"It smells, and looks great, thanks, Bells." He started digging into his plate with his fork into the lasagna.

"Dad? I'm dating Jacob Black" I blurted out. Charlie paused the lasagna from entering his mouth, looking directly at me.