SM owns Twilight. We just want to live in her world a bit longer.

Chapter 6

The car was quiet, and Seth could see that Bella was still deep in thought. Imprinting was a complicated and very personal topic for each of the wolves. The guys who had imprinted loved it. They seemed completely happy and content, even Quil. However, most of the wolves, who hadn't imprinted, especially Jacob and Leah, hated it. They thought it took away your options, forming "unnatural" bonds.

Seth was not opposed to the idea. He grew up in a happy household. His parents loved each other and their kids very much. He always thought that if his dad had ever phased, he would have imprinted on his mom. They were soul mates without an imprint. His dad loved his mom until the day he died.

Seth hoped that one day he could have that too. However, he was still relatively young, so he wasn't looking for a serious relationship. He still had two years left of high school. Plus, he was happy to wait for his imprint.

"Bella?" he asked, after about fifteen minutes of silence, "are you okay?"

He heard her sniff a little, "yeah, I'm okay." She didn't elaborate, and he didn't question her further.

"It's only about half an hour before we should find a quiet place to pull over. There is plenty of forest around, so it should take us too long to find somewhere."

Bella just sat quietly as she looked out the window.

After about twenty-five minutes, they took an exit off the highway and found a side road that ran near the forest edge. They decided it was safer to stick together, so they walked through the undergrowth for about a mile before they were far enough from the road.

Seth excused himself, went behind a tree, and removed his shoes, shirt and pants before phasing.

Immediately Seth could tell something was off. He could sense Quil and Paul.

Oh geez, here we go, thought Quil.

Great, how did you know to phase now while Sam was busy? Paul asked.

Seth took a deep breath, trying to ignore Paul's question. Hey guys, how's it going? He asked cheerfully.

You're in deep shit, Paul shot back.

Oh, come on, it's not that bad. Seth thought.

Not that bad? Not that bad? Are you kidding me? You ran off with the fucking leech's fiancé on the day of her wedding. What did you think was going to happen? Paul was pissed.

Um….

The Cullen's are mad at us, threatening to cross the borders, onto OUR LAND, near OUR FAMILIES. He was screaming at Seth now.

She spoke to Edward, he calmed down. We thought everything was fine.

Everything. Is. Not. Fine. Seth. He said, punctuating each word. And now Jacob's gone!

What do you mean he's gone?

Quil finally spoke up. Sam tried to order him home after blaming him for 'conspiring' with you. Jake was so angry he said no.

There was silence for a few seconds. What do you mean he said no?

Jake blatantly refused to follow Sam's order, and ever since then, he's been gone. Paul was seething.

Seth's stomach dropped. The whole point of this conversation was to find out where Jacob was.

It didn't feel like he just phased out, either. Quil added.

What are you talking about?

He just disappeared. Like the connection was cut.

What do you think happened to him? Seth asked, horrified.

We don't know. Sam is meeting with the council to discuss Jake and the Cullens now.

Shit.

Not exactly what you had hoped for, hey? Paul mocked Seth. So what's the plan now, idiot?

Seth had no idea. This whole situation was spiralling out of control. He had no other choice but to phase out. He was struggling to think straight.

He took a few minutes to think through their options before getting redressed. He found Bella sitting on the ground, next to a log. "Hey, so how did you go? Did you speak to Jake?" She asked with a smile.

"Um…" Seth still didn't know what to say.

"What? What's going on, Seth? Is everyone alright?" Bella was starting to get anxious now. He could hear her heart rate pick up.

"No, I didn't speak to Jake. He's… he's gone?"

Bella looked horrified. She jumped to her feet, "what do you mean gone?"

"The guys said he didn't phase-out, but mid-conversation, he just disappeared."

"W-what does that mean?"

"I don't know," Seth said honestly.

"You don't think he's de…" she choked on the last word, unable to get it out.

Seth closed the gap between them and grabbed the tops of her arms, so stop her pacing. "No, I'm sure he's fine. He wasn't in any danger at the time. Sam ordered him to come home, but just he refused." Refusing an order from their alpha was impossible, or so everyone thought.

When Seth had first started phasing, he wanted to do his part with patrols. So Sam had put him on only a couple of hours in the afternoons. However, Seth wanted to prove that he was more than capable and did extra hours. Sam was irritated because he wanted Seth to concentrate on his school work, so he ordered Seth to only do two hours.

One time when he was out patrolling, he literally phased mid-step, spot on the two-hour mark. He phased so fast it took the wind out of him. After he recovered from the phase, he discovered he was five miles from home and had to run back human.

"I thought you had to do what Sam told you to do?" Bella asked.

"We do… but Jake doesn't like following orders. He's really stubborn. Really gets under Sam's nerves."

"So he learned how to block Sam?"

"Maybe," Seth sighed. "Look, Bella, I think we need to go home." This was the only option that made sense to him.

"What? No, no, I can't go home without him," Bella was starting to shake again.

Seth knew that she wouldn't like this plan. "We tried our best, but this mission was a big ask, to begin with. But, now, it's just impossible. We can't talk to him. We can't find him. It'll be like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"If we go home now, I'll fall apart again," she said quietly, almost to herself. "I am only just starting to feel better again. The closer I get to him, the less it hurts," Bella had subconsciously put her hand over her heart again.

Bella looked up at Seth, with tears in her eyes, "please," she begged. "Just one more day? Maybe he will be back? You can try and talk to him again or call Leah and see if he's made contact with the pack. Please, Seth?"

Seth could feel his resolve crumbling. How could he say no? They had already come this far. One more day couldn't hurt. "Fine, just one more day."

Bella threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said quickly.

"But, if no one has heard from him tomorrow afternoon, we are heading home."

"O-okay," she conceded. Seth pulled her back to look her in the eyes. She was refusing to make eye contact.

He grabbed her chin softly, "together, I'm not leaving you behind."

Seth could see that she didn't want to leave without Jake, but there was no way he would leave her without protection.

"Agreed?" He asked, refusing to let her go.

"Yes, agreed," she finally conceded.

"Good, now, we can probably drive for a couple more hours, but we are going to need somewhere to stay overnight."

Seth didn't like the idea of trying to sleep in the car again. Plus, he was starting to smell himself, and it wasn't pleasant.

"I really need to take a shower," he laughed.

Bella laughed as she pulled away from him, wrinkling her nose. "Sure, that's probably a good idea."