PREVIOUSLY-
I sat and thought about it for a second. If an imprint was basically the same as a true mate, why would I want anything different from them? Sure, it was odd that there was two of them. Something I'd never considered in the past, but I'd always been open minded (and I blamed Renee for that). My comfort level around them, my need to be close to them, how I felt with them… none of it registered on a purely 'friendly' level.
"What if—" I stopped, looking over to where Paul was standing, not sure if I wanted to start that conversation with him right there.
"Leave, Paul." Sam told him immediately as if sensing that I was uncomfortable with him listening in at that point in time.
"But—"
"He said go, dumbass. The three of us need to talk." Jared reiterated.
Paul grabbed another sandwich and walked out the door with a huff. In an instant, both of their eyes were back on me with rapt attention.
"What did you want to say, Bella?" Sam asked me, his voice nearly shaky in impatience.
I took a deep breath before looking back and forth between the two of them. "What if I think it should be how it's supposed to be?"
Both of their eyes widened and I could feel their emotions go haywire. I bit my lip, waiting in anticipation as I tried to decipher what their reactions were.
"We're going to need some more clarification, Bella." Jared spoke, now bouncing his knee up and down, both of them waiting with bated breath.
"Well, if an imprint is essentially a mate…"
My anxiety was beginning to peak. What if they didn't agree?
"Bella, are you saying that you want to be with us? With both of us?" Sam asked me seriously. I began to run my fingers up my other arm in nervousness.
"Would that be too weird for you guys? I mean, if it is then it doesn't have to be that way. I know I probably sound like a crazy person." I muttered, looking down in embarrassment.
"No." They both replied at the exact same time. My gaze snapped up between them in confusion.
"No?" I questioned in confusion, wondering what exactly they were answering.
"No, it wouldn't be too weird for us, and no, you definitely aren't a crazy person." Sam replied to me with a fond smile. "Jared and I talked about it last night. If that's what you want from us, then we're both on board 100 percent. If it's too soon then we'll wait however long you need. Everything is up to you."
"How would it be too soon when all three of us know without a doubt that this is how it's supposed to be? I mean, it's not like following a blind path just because we think it's right. This is tangible. I can literally feel the connection you both have with me. You're supernatural and this is a supernatural bond. You've even said it was the strongest bond possible. Why put it off or try to fight it?" And that's exactly how I felt about the situation.
Sam looked back at Jared with his eyebrows raised in clear surprise. "She is remarkably good with weird."
"No kidding." Jared told him before looking back at me. "So we're really doing this?"
I smiled up at him. "Yeah, I think we are."
I could feel both of their excitement and happiness over my statement in an instant. It flooded through me like a giant wave and the feeling was so incredible I didn't even have words for it.
I giggled. "I guess Paul technically wasn't wrong…" They both looked at me, clearly wanting an explanation. "I guess I'm essentially into poly now considering I want to be with you both…"
I bit my lip.
It felt as if something suddenly shifted between the three of us as it clicked into place, although I didn't quite have a word to describe it. The shift had felt monumental, almost as strong as when the imprints themselves had taken place.
"Did you guys just feel that?" I asked them both as my gaze shifted from one to the other, gauging their reactions.
"Our imprints just shifted," Sam replied. I looked at him for more explanation. "You decided for sure that you wanted to be with both of us. That's what we both wanted to happen, but your decision solidified it in our bond. Our imprints are as good as a marriage now, albeit a supernatural one that's about 100 times stronger. At least that's how it feels in my mind and I'm sure Jared's too." Jared nodded alongside him.
"So you're saying that I'm technically married to both of you now in the supernatural world?" I already knew the answer to that question, I could feel it myself, but I wanted their full confirmation.
"Yes, Bella. Any other supernatural being that comes in contact with us or you should know that almost immediately. At least that's what the elders said. We can test it out with Paul later if you want." Sam responded, confirming my thoughts. I smiled and nodded.
"Yo Sam, what time is it?" Jared asked him after a few moments.
"Noon. Do you want to take your patrol or would you rather take the day off?" Sam asked him.
"I'm itchin' to make sure those bloodsuckers are still out of of our territory so I'll go ahead and take it." Jared replied and I could feel his anxiety over the situation.
"Alright. You can come back at 2 today as long as it's all clear." Sam told him, which seemed to excite him. Were their patrols normally longer?
"Will do, boss."
Jared stood up and walked over to me before leaning down and gently placing a kiss on the top of my head, making me smile.
"Be careful," I said to him as he walked away toward the door.
"Always am." He winked.
He took off out the door and my attention turned back to Sam, who was now taking the ice pack off my ankle.
"The swelling looks like it's gone down quite a bit." He told me as he rebandaged it, the heat from his hands feeling amazing after the ice pack.
"That's good, but now I'm freezing cold again," I responded, biting my lip. "And you need to rest."
"Giving the alpha orders already?" He laughed, looking up at me.
"Yep. Better get used to it. I won't let my wolves go without sleep. Got it?" I replied proudly.
"Yes ma'am. Kill two birds with one stone? You get warm and I get rest?" He suggested with a hopeful glance.
"That was the plan. I don't think the couch will fit us both though." I responded to him, looking around.
He stood up and reached down, lifting me easily and carrying me up the stairs to a bedroom that I assumed was his.
"Does this work?" He asked, laying me down on his bed (which was incredibly comfortable). I sunk in immediately and relished in the feeling as well as the incredible scent I was now drowning in that just felt so right.
"Definitely." I told him as he walked over to the other side. "How am I going to go back to my own bed when this one is like a million times more comfortable?"
"You don't have to." He smirked over at me, scooting over until we met in the middle. I rested my head on his chest, just like I had with Jared earlier and it felt just as good. Just as right. The fact that I'd known both of them for less than a day making absolutely no impact in my mind. It meant nothing. Not when I felt like I'd known them my entire life already. Not when I trusted them completely.
"Somehow I don't think absconding to the res and not leaving would fly with Charlie… I might be 18 but I do still have to at least graduate first."
"I know. Jared and I will just have to find a way around the distance issue. Maybe we can trade off night patrols in Forks that way one of us is close by." He mentioned.
I bit my lip and looked up at him. "I might have an idea… if you guys are okay with it and if you can be extremely quiet."
He was clearly very intrigued. "Go on…"
"Maybe you guys can, I don't know, stay with me on school nights? I mean, I only have enough room for one of you in my bed so you'd have to take turns, and Charlie is a really heavy sleeper but you'd still need to be quiet—"
"You'd let us do that?" He asked me in clear surprise.
"Well I can't go back to sleeping without my personal space heaters now can I?" I joked. "But really, I didn't feel right all night without you there and I wasn't really okay until Jared came this morning. I know Charlie wouldn't really approve if I stayed here on school nights, so that's really the best I can come up with right now."
"I think it's the perfect plan - until you graduate, of course. But what about weekends?" He questioned almost worriedly.
"I'll find an excuse to stay down here Friday and Saturday nights. As long as I don't get behind on homework. Unless we find another solution to all of this." He smiled so brightly that it filled me up with happiness.
"I think between the three of us you won't get behind on homework. Neither of us actually did our senior year, well I did part of mine before I phased for the first time and was a wolf for two months, but we can definitely help." He suggested.
I looked up at him with curiosity about what he'd said.
"You were a wolf for two months? Why?" I asked him with my eyebrows furrowed together, wanting to know the story behind it.
He sighed. "I phased for the first time right after my mom died. Since I was the first, I had no idea what was happening. I completely freaked out and ran up to northern Canada. I couldn't figure out how to phase back and I worried that I was going to be like that forever. I finally ran back here and completely just gave up, wanting nothing more than to be human again, then all of a sudden I was finally a human. It had been two months and I didn't even know. Old Quil approached me the next day and said he knew what had happened, what I was and that he could help me. I had only just gotten the hang of it when Jared phased."
My heart hurt for him, that he had to go through all of that alone. I wrapped my arms tighter around him and buried my head into his chest. I couldn't begin to imagine how horrifying that would've been for him. Turning into a giant wolf out of nowhere and not being able to transition back with no one to help...
"I'm sorry that you had to go through that alone." I muttered to him with sadness seeping into my voice.
"It was a year and a half ago, Bella. I like to think that it made me a better alpha." He replied, leaning down to kiss the top of my head.
We both drifted off to sleep after that and to my disappointment, I woke to a cold bed.
I sat up looking around before saying, "Sam?"
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and watched as Jared came in instead of Sam.
"Good afternoon, sleeping beauty." He said to me as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to me.
"Where did Sam go?" I asked him curiously, looking around.
"He woke up about 30 minutes ago and wanted to go see Billy to ask about you graduating early. You've been asleep for three and a half hours, Bella. He didn't want to wake you up because you were sleeping so well." Jared replied as I rubbed my eyes.
"I didn't realize I was so tired. Two naps in one day…" I yawned.
"You had a long night. Speaking of, Sam told me your suggestion about our sleeping arrangements. I definitely love that idea if we can't somehow manage to keep you down here permanantly." He told me with a sly grin, leaning over to brush a stray piece of hair out of my face that had fallen out of my braid.
"If you do come to my house, do you think you'll be able to keep quiet?" I asked him, biting my lip.
"Do you?" He came back with, winking at me as I blushed deeply.
"I guess we'll have to see, won't we?" I decided to be bold and he loved that.
"Yes. Yes we will." He murmured, picking me up out of the bed to carry me back down the stairs. "I am so showing Sam that memory later."
"You know, it's nice to finally be with someone, or two, who are actually caught up with the times and not stuck with old fashioned ways. I always thought waiting until marriage was completely overrated." I mentioned to him as he sat down on the couch with me in his lap.
I could most certainly feel his excitement over the entire conversation itself.
"Definitely. Although we are technically sort of married already…" He licked his lips and smirked at me. "But I promise we'll go at your pace no matter what. You get to call all the shots."
"Well considering I'm still a virgin, we might have to lead up to things a little… besides neither of you have even kissed me yet." I fake pouted.
"Belllaaaaaaa…" He nearly growled, closing his eyes and tilting his head back before leaning down to me, pressing kisses down the side of my face as I giggled before finally landing on my lips.
His kiss was warm and supple, comforting and exciting at the same time. It was like nothing I'd ever felt before in my life. It felt like home, and I was sure that kissing Sam would too.
"Yes, I have kissed you." He murmured with a smirk as he pulled away.
"...now." I laughed.
"That's all that matters, isn't it?" He chuckled. "I just still can't believe this is all happening. It feels like I've known you my whole life."
I smiled up at him. "It does, doesn't it? Like I've never been so sure of anything in my whole life. I trust the two of you more than I've ever trusted anyone, even my own parents."
He smiled back down at me. "You know, the elders said that an imprint is considered the strongest bond on the earth. It's unbreakable, never wavering. We'll never lie to you, never cheat, never hurt you – at least not on purpose – and I promise we'd do anything we could to prevent hurting you on accident. It's an absolute trust that can't ever be broken. That's why it's so precious to us."
"I can feel that, all of it. And I've noticed that both of you are already so instinctive about taking care of me. It's not overbearing; it's exactly what I need."
"Speaking of which, Sam wanted me to see if you can stand on your ankle." He replied.
I nodded and he lifted me out of his lap and up to a standing position before letting go of me.
It still hurt, but it wasn't bad enough to keep me from standing, although I'd probably have a slight limp if I tried to walk on it.
"How does it feel?" He asked, holding his arms out just in case I needed them.
"Bearable. It doesn't really hurt too bad unless I put a lot of pressure on it, but I can stand okay." I replied honestly.
"Good. Now I can do this." He reached out and held my waist, leaning down and capturing my lips again in a slow and languid movement, almost as if he were savoring it. I certainly knew I was.
"That will never get old," I said breathlessly as I pulled away from him. He leaned in for another peck and then smiled at me.
"It only gets better from here, babe." He replied cheekily before picking me back up and sitting me back on his lap.
"How much better can it get?" I asked him curiously. It was already breathtaking as it was.
"I guess you'll just have to wait and see…" He responded with a wink, making me blush. "Sam is back."
"He's going to be jealous, isn't he?" I whispered to Jared with a giggle.
"Jealous of what?" I heard Sam ask from the doorway and I turned to look at him, biting my lip.
I motioned for him to come over to me and I lifted myself up (with a little of Jared's assistance) and stood in front of Sam.
He immediately held onto my waist so that I wouldn't fall and I took the opportunity to reach my arms around his neck, pulling him down to where I could reach his lips without stepping on my tiptoes.
I could feel his surprise when I touched my lips to his. After his shock wore off, he responded almost greedily and then pulled back, only to press chaste kisses again.
"Let me guess" *kiss* "Jared got" *kiss* "to kiss" *kiss* "you first?" *kiss*.
"Yes, I did," Jared said to him proudly. "Alpha doesn't always get first dibs."
Before I knew it, Jared had turned me around and kissed me again.
"You two are comfortable doing that with me in front of each other?" I questioned them with wide, curious eyes as I turned back around to look at Sam.
"Definitely. There's no jealousy at all, is there Sam?" Jared asked and Sam agreed. "Hell, it's even kind hot."
My eyebrow raised as I looked at Sam. "Strange to admit, but he's not wrong."
"So you guys like to watch?" I gazed between them with interest, biting down on my lip.
Jared closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "Don't start giving me ideas, babe."
I giggled as my eyes sparked with mischief. "Maybe we all have a bit of kinky in us then."
According to Sam's expression, I was right. He stood speechless while Jared chuckled from behind me.
"Alright Sam, first did you get enough sleep? And second, how did it go with Billy?" I asked him after giving him a few moments to calm down.
"I had the perfect amount of sleep and Billy is going to get together with Harry and Old Quil to come up with a reason for you needing to graduate early. He thinks it's a good idea and he said that he'd help explain it to Charlie when it comes time for you to tell him." Sam replied, immediately making me feel relieved.
"That's great. Thank you for going to talk to him, although waking up to a cold bed wasn't very fun." I fake pouted, giving him the puppy dog eyes.
"I'm sorry, honey. Should I have sent Jared in when I left?" He returned.
"Well, I wouldn't have been opposed…" I giggled.
"I'll keep that in mind. It's almost 4 o'clock now, how long can you stay?" Sam questioned as he held onto my waist.
"As long as Charlie knows where I am and that I'm not lost in the woods again, my curfew is midnight," I replied happily, watching his face light up.
A/N- What do you think the three will get up to next?
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