I am able to focus a little better now, which Eliza and Ben are glad about. I drive to visit him a couple times a week, stopping by the Clearwater's on the way. Leah is out of school, but she goes over to the school on the reservation and gets some of the schoolwork her brother and Jacob are missing. She rides with me to the hospital, sitting silently in the passenger seat.

After a little bit, some of his bandages are taken off. "Hey," he croaks. He's hoarse and quiet, but he can talk, which means he is getting better. The exposed skin is discolored and moist with ointment. I know he'll have scars like that all over his body. I have them too, in designs like when the ocean water evaporates and leaves blotches of salt.

Some time after that, he's able to be discharged. Most of his burns are still pretty raw, but he's coming home. Billy and I pick him up. When we get back to his house, the whole pack is in the kitchen. They shout as we come in, crowding around Jacob. Even Seth is there, at the edge of the group. He was discharged a few days ago. Leah stays near him the whole time.

"Okay, give him a break. He just got back." Billy kicks them out. I help Jacob to his room, letting him use my arm for support. He's kind of wobbly from being bedridden for so long.

"It's okay. I can walk."

"Remember when I said that?" I look up at him.

"If we're switching roles then, are you going to carry me or what?"

"We'd probably end up back in the hospital." I only smirk, but inside I am beaming. This is the Jacob I know.

I help him into bed, then sit there for a little bit, stroking his forehead where there is a patch of unburned skin. Before he can drift off to sleep, I steel myself to ask the question that's been eating away at me.

"Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What's Imprinting? Your dad and Seth and some of the others mentioned it, but they said you'd explain."

He flushes and swallows, avoiding my gaze. Is this good or bad?

"It's a... werewolf thing. Don't freak out." I nod, and he continues. "You can't control, it, but all of a sudden it hits you. It's like an instinct. You look at somebody and you just know, they are the reason you exist. After I dragged you up on that beach... it was like being hit with lightning. You would do anything for them." He looks into my eyes, taking my hand. "Protect them. Love them. Anything, until you die."

Well that's romantic, I guess. I'm not really sure what to make of all this, to be honest. Should I be freaked out? Maybe. A distant part of me is saying, yeah, that's kind of strange, but mostly I'm so used to learning crazy shit I never thought was real is that I'm not surprised. A little flattered, even. He likes me. A lot! One thing confuses me, though. "Wait, so you Imprinted after you jumped in the water?"

"Yeah. I mean, I still liked you before. I wasn't going to let you die." So he liked me before, too. I'm not sure how to respond, so I simply nod. "You're not weirded out by the whole Imprinting thing?"

"I dunno. At this point anything goes." I smile, then lean down and plant a kiss on his lips. I can feel his teeth ever so slightly behind I sit back he raises his hand to my face, brushing his thumb over my cheekbone. I close my eyes and don't open them as he pulls me down gently and we kiss. He grazes his teeth against my lip, this time on purpose. I rest my forehead on his.

"I should also tell you about Ben, since now you know about werewolves and stuff."

"So this is what that is all about?"

"Yeah. He's like the Cullens, living with humans, but he's a vampire. Werewolves and vampires, we're enemies by nature. So I kind of freaked out when I saw he was your stepdad." So a hybrid dog is in love with me and my stepdad is a vampire. My life just got a whole lot more interesting.

I sit up. "Should I be concerned? I mean, those vampires in the field..."

"I don't think so. I didn't see him there, so you should be okay."

I wonder if Ben knows the real reason for my burns. He hasn't showed any inclination that he does, though. Does he know Jacob Imprinted on me? I have so many questions, but a part of me doesn't really want the answers.

I go to Jacob's house almost every day after soccer and help him study to catch up, because even werewolves have to make a living. Which, Billy says, "means you have to get a degree." Jacob tells me he could just be a construction worker or something. Billy tells him he can do whatever the hell he wants after he gets a degree. Besides, I tell him, isn't studying the best excuse to hang out? Plus, since I actually have to study, I can kill two birds with one stone. When I tell him this he laughs and plants a peck on my lips.

"You're such a nerd," he teases.

I shove him lightly. "Well, them nerds in the hospital were pretty great, huh?

"So you want to be a doctor?" We haven't talked about the future before. I actually try not to think about it too much. Senior year ends in a few months. In August I'll be eighteen. A few weeks later I'll be at college. I'll probably stay fairly local - I'm not smart enough for the east coast - and Jacob is probably going to the public uni a few towns over, so it's not like we'll never see each other again. But then I'll have med school, and he'll be doing whatever, and then what?If he were just another idiot at school Id have no problem moving on, but this whole werewolf-Imprinting thing is messing me up. Plus, I like him too much.