SM owns Twilight. We just want to live in her world a bit longer.
A/N Finally the chapter I'm sure some of you have been waiting for. Some answers. Hopefully, it isn't information overload...
Chapter 33
Seth walked into the clinic holding Eva's hand. Behind them came a petite older lady with grey hair. Presumably, this was Eva's grandmother. Everyone else was sitting around the clinic, waiting on news of Rachel. It was officially getting crowded.
There were a few gasps around the room as Sybil walked in. Not many people had seen her recently.
"What are you doing here?" Old Quil rudely asked her.
Bella was watching Sybil when their eyes met; Sybil smiled. She walked straight up to Bella, still sitting in a chair and reaching out for her hands. Bella stood and tentatively took them.
"It's you," Sybil said quietly. "I never thought I'd live to see the day."
Jacob was shifting uncomfortably next to Bella and stood as well.
"What are you talking about?" Bella asked.
"You are the one we have been waiting for."
"What?" Bella blushed. "I'm nothing special. "I'm not even a real imprint."
Sybil turned to face the elders who had seemly congregated together.
"You ignorant fools," she snarled at them. "You have no idea what you have here. You are supposed to be the keepers of the legends and prophecies, and yet you've let fear cloud your judgement and missed it."
Old Quil bustles. "What are you talking about?"
"She is the alpha female of the pack, your luna wolf, and the fulfilment of the Sel-ene prophecy*. Have you completely forgotten about it?"
Old Quil looked extremely uncomfortable standing off to one side of the clinic. He started to get angry. "Don't you dare bring that up in here. That prophecy was complete bullshit. It's the reason your family was cursed. It caused so much pain and suffering for this tribe."
"Sel-ene?" Sue asked. "What is that? A prophecy?"
"It is nothing," Old Quil said. "A fairytale, a wish that went bad."
"Harry," Sue said. She paused and swallowed hard, "Harry told me about it. I tried to do some research on it. I checked the tribal records. Nothing."
"Dad? What's this got to do with Dad?" Seth asked.
Sue frowned, "last week I was talking to him," she shifted uncomfortably. Charlie walked up to her and rubbed her arm gently. "I heard one word. Sel-ene. I didn't know what it meant. I tried to find out. So it does mean something?" she asked Old Quil. He seemed to refuse to say anything.
"Why have I never heard about it?" Billy asked. "Why is it not in the tribal records?"
Jacob tapped Sybil on the arm. She was trying to follow the conversation around the room, but it would have been hard for her to catch every word.
"Sybil, can you please tell us the story since Old Quil won't?" he asked politely. "Bella did some extraordinary things today, and we desperately need some answer."
Sybil turned back to face Jacob and Bella. She took one of each of their hands. "A long time ago, my family foretold that one day there would be an imprint like no other. This imprint would unlock the supernatural blessings given to the wolves to be shared with their imprints and families."
Old Quil spoke up, "It's impossible, Jacob. Don't listen to her."
"Shut. up." Jacob barked at him with his alpha timbre. Old Quil's mouth slammed shut; it was almost comical.
"When you are out there, fighting the vampires. You are split in two, are you not?" Sybil questioned.
"I don't understand," Jacob said.
"You are designed to protect the tribe from Cold Ones. The spirits gave you imprints to tie you to the tribe, to give you something to fight for. But it backfired. You would fight to protect your imprint over everyone else in this room. Wouldn't you?"
Jacob and a few of the other wolves shifted uncomfortably, glancing at each other.
"We fight to protect everyone," he said diplomatically.
"Yes, but if you had the choice between saving a stranger and saving your imprint from certain death, you could only save one; what would you do?" Sybil asked.
"I don't know," Jacob said quietly.
"Yes, you do. You would save your girl. She is your whole world. Without her, you would die."
Bella squeezed Jacob's hand, the hand that Sybil wasn't holding. He let it go and put it around her shoulder. He pulled her in tighter and kissed the top of her head. Just the thought of losing his imprint was too much to bear.
Jacob nodded, knowing it to be true. "Even tonight, as we fought the group of vampires in the forest. We knew that there something was wrong with the girls. We could all feel it, and we were feeding off each other's emotions. It was a nightmare. It was extremely hard to stay on task. The pull to come back to protect them, to save them was incredible." Jacob took a deep breath as if admitting a hard truth. "If the threat to our own lives were not so great at that point, we probably would have bailed."
"I had to order some of them to stay and keep fighting," Sam admitted, not telling who. "We all wanted to run back to Bella's house."
"We knew Seth was with them. But he hadn't phased. It was pure chaos and utter terror. We made mistakes," Jacob said, looking at the two unconscious boys lying on the beds.
"So, if you knew that your family could protect itself, would you act differently?"
"Yes, of course."
"The spirits wanted to find a way to share the power the wolves had with their imprints, but the bond was so tight… so specific to that one person's soul, it can't be shared, even with the imprint's own body.
"This foretold imprint would be backwards, or so to speak. In doing so, the gifts of supernatural strength and healing would be shared with the imprints and then their families."
"Wait a second," Charlie interrupted. "What is an imprint?" Everyone paused and looked over towards him.
"It is the way a shape-shifting wolf finds their soul mate. The first time they look in their eyes, their whole world shifts, and they become the centre of their universe," Billy explained. He looked pleased that he could finally tell Charlie some truths.
"So, Jacob imprinted on Bella?" Charlie asked.
"Kind of, but not really," Jacob admitted dejectedly.
"Imprints are backwards to any normal love story," Sybil continued to explain. "It works by a soul connection first. The wolf picks the girl, and when their eyes meet, their souls are connected forever. After that first meeting, they get to know each other. They are bound to fall in love, even if it isn't straight away; this is the heart connection. Next is the body connection, when they are intimate for the first time. Soul, heart, body.
"The Sel-ene prophecy stated that the imprint would be made in a different order, creating a new covenant between the wolves and the imprints. First, would be the heart, then their bodies, before their souls would finally merge." She then turned to Old Quil. "And, what is the last ingredient in any covenant?"
Old Quil looked annoyed for being asked a question like a school student, "blood."
"Yes, blood," Sybil said with a grin. She looked at Bella questioningly. Bella was suddenly very nervous; she knew what the next question would be. "Were you a virgin when you were intimate with Jacob?"
Bella blushed as she nodded, making sure not to make eye contact with anyone, especially her dad.
"Do not be ashamed of that, my dear. It is a special gift that you can only ever give to one person. Your hearts were connected already; you loved him, didn't you?" Sybil asked.
"Yes, it took me almost too long to work that one out," Bella shyly admitted. Jacob tucked her in tighter to his side and kissed her head again. "Just before a battle, a few months ago, we shared our first proper kiss. I saw a glimpse of our future together. I didn't know what it meant. After that time, we were apart for three months. We were both a mess. When Jacob imprinted on me a month ago, I saw the same vision, but in more detail."
"You had a partial imprint. A heart connection only. Your souls did not connect when you first saw each other after he phased like they should have," Sybil explained. "As your bodies become one, blood was present; then your souls were connected. All four ingredients were required, in that order, for it to work."
"So, Bella has super wolf powers like us, but she doesn't have to change into a wolf to do it?" Quil asked eagerly.
"The wolf will share his strength, healing and additional senses to aid the imprint to protect herself and family from supernatural attacks. Once she is marked, that power will be transferred to the rest of the pack's imprints."
"Marked?" Charlie asked.
Everyone looked a bit uncomfortable answering his question. "I'll discuss it will you a bit later," Billy replied.
"Humph," Charlie grumbled, clearly not happy.
"So, you think that Bella and my imprint is the fulfilment of this prophecy?" Jacob asked. "We were told that we have a Namaak imprint."
Bella wanted to believe that what Jacob and her had was real. She knew in her heart that he was it for her, but she couldn't deny the constant fear she lived with, that one day he would find his true soul mate.
Sybil just shook her head. "After the prophecy was spoken, men went out searching for this special imprint to make it come true. They ended up forcing imprints, and this is how the Namaak imprint started. Men were choosing imprints, not the wolf. What does your wolf think of Bella?"
"Red loves her," Jacob stated. Bella smiled up at him.
"Red?" Sybil questioned.
"Bella named him. He likes it."
"Oh. Well, I believe Red tried to imprint on her but couldn't for some reason. So the human you fell in love with her first…"
"I've always loved Bella. Ever since we were kids."
"Her shield," Seth said excitedly. "Edward could read her mind. It is closed off from the supernatural. Maybe that is why the imprint didn't work at first."
"Yes, that sounds possible," Sybil answered.
"Many peoples lives were ruined by the Namaak imprints, including Silas Fox. He was set to be the next Chief of our tribe, six generations ago. Instead, he forced an imprint, marked her and became infertile.
"When it became apparent that he could not produce an heir, his sister, Alice Fox's husband, became Chief. His name was also Jacob Black. This is how your bloodline stepped into the Chiefdom of our tribe.
"This is also why my family was cursed. Silas's father was furious at us for our role in causing this to happen. So he called on another tribe to curse our family line, we were removed as the shaman's of the tribe, and we have been shunned from the community ever since."
"Why have I never heard this story before?" Billy asked, looking at a nervous Old Quill.
"I can only assume that as time went on, the legend of the prophecy was deliberately forgotten to stop these fake imprints being created."
"Is this true? Have you heard all this before?" Billy asked Old Quill again.
Old Quil refused to answer and looked away from Billy.
"Answer him," Jacob commanded.
"Yes. I have heard it before, but it was removed from all written records. We couldn't afford to have this silly story spread, and more Namaak imprints created, so it was kept a secret," Old Quil finally admitted. "How do you know this imprint is the one you've been looking for?" he asked Sybil.
Bella needed to be sure herself, before she could believe. Hope can be such a dangerous thing. She had believed he had imprinted on her once before, only to have something that was supposed to permanent, ripped out from under her. She did not have the strength to have faith again and have it proved wrong.
"A human girl took down a vampire tonight. That should be proof enough. But also, my granddaughter's hearing is coming back. I believe the new covenant has broken the curse."
Everyone looked at Eva, tucked into Seth's side. "It started coming back a few days ago. It is slowly getting clearer and clearer."
This was the proof that Bella was looking for. She walked towards Eva, and pulled her into a hug. A few people were murmuring around the clinic now. She smiled at Eva, with happy tears now in her eyes. "I'm so happy for you," Bella said quietly.
Bella turned around to face Jacob. Her face lit up at the sight of her destiny. She ran towards him and caught her as she threw herself at him. He pulled in for one of his rib crushing hugs and spun her around.
They pulled back and gazed into each other's eyes. Jacob was tentative at first; he kissed her lightly once, twice, a third time, then pulled her closer to his body and deepened the kiss. They didn't care that everyone was watching them. She didn't care that Jacob was only wearing shorts, and Bella was inappropriately wrapped around his semi-naked body. They finally had each other, and no one could separate them. The fear that they both held broke down, replaced with love, peace and joy.
Typical for Bella; the emotions got the better of her. She was so overwhelmed by everything that had happened that she started sobbing. Jacob walked over to a wall, put his back to it and slid down onto the floor. He continued to hug Bella, crying his tears own into her hair.
"I'm so confused," Charlie said.
"We told them that what they had wasn't real and that Jacob would one day imprint again," Sue said through her own silent tears.
"An imprint is a very intense and usual permanent bond. We tried to separate them," Billy admitted with his head hanging low.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you all," Doctor Witt said. "But with all this new information, I need to know. Does this new covenant cover Rachel?" He didn't seem to know who to ask in particular.
"Rachel and Paul are in my pack," Sam spoke up. He looked towards Jacob.
Jake lifted his head and looked at Sam. He knew that he had to take the whole pack now. He was just so exhausted tonight. They didn't know exactly what was required; did they have to fight? Plus, he didn't want to leave Bella right now. Sam seemed to understand.
"Take Paul tonight. We do a full pack transfer tomorrow."
They nodded, and Jacob took Paul into his pack.
"Embry, can you go talk to Paul? Get him to come back?" Sam asked him. Embry and Leah both left the clinic together.
Emily walked over to Rachel and held her hand, "so she should recover faster now?"
"I guess we will just have to see what happens overnight. Even the wolves don't recover instantly," Doctor Witt said. "The rest of you can probably head home now. I will continue to monitor Rachel and let you know if anything changes."
People started filling out, but Billy stopped Sybil. "I am truly sorry for what our tribe had done to you and your family. We need an official meeting tomorrow to discuss this further. We would be honored to have you join us."
Sybil stood silently for a few moments before nodding and walking out of the clinic with Eva and Seth.
"Come on, kiddo," Charlie said, standing in front of Jacob and Bella, who were still huddled together on the floor. "We should get going home."
"I don't want to go home," Bella whispered to Jake. He seemed to understand.
"Why don't we go back to my place? Still close to Rachel. We will clean up your house soon," Jacob suggested.
Bella nodded.
"Charlie, why don't you stay at my place tonight? It sounds like your house is not suitable for tonight anyway," Sue said to him.
"Sure, sure. Is that's ok with you, Bella?"
Bella turned and looked up at her dad. She slowly stood up and hugged him. Three hugs in one night. That's got to be a record. "I'm so glad that you know now. I'm sorry for all the secrets."
"I get it," Charlie replied. "I don't like it, but I get it. It's a lot to take in."
Bella chuckled. "Yeah, it is a lot for one night. You are doing well, though."
"You Swans are good with weird," Jacob joked.
They said goodbye to each other and slowly exited the clinic. Only Billy and the younger boys parents stayed at the clinic. Hopefully, Leah and Embry could get Paul back into his skin soon.
Jacob pulled an exhausted Bella into the cab of her truck and turned on the ignition. She leaned her head on his chest, and he kept his arm around her shoulders. They drove silently back to the little red house they had not seen in a couple of weeks.
When they arrived, Jake carried her into the house and straight into the bathroom. He helped her undress, and they both stepped into the shower. Their movements increased to an almost frenzy as they washed each other quickly. The constant fear of losing each was now gone and replaced with a desperate desire to be reunited.
They had been told that their love was wrong, that it wasn't enough, but it was; it was everything.
There was no need for talking, only touching and feeling each other's skin on the other. They never broke the kiss as Jacob carried her body to his childhood bedroom. They clung to each other in desperation, and in no time at all, they were one. Their hearts, their bodies, their souls were once again connected.
A/N Hopefully, you could follow my logic here. I have thought for a while that they could/should have imprinted in that kiss in the Eclipse. I mean, she had a vision and everything.
A luna Wolf is the alpha female of the pack. Selene is Moon in Greek mythology. I know Bella isn't a wolf, but she is the alpha male's mate.
My favorite song at the moment is "If our love is wrong" by Callum Scott. If I'd do it again, I'd change the title of this story to that. Yes, the song is talking about his coming out, but the lyrics still fit this story. haha
If it's me
and if it's you
and if our love is wrong
Then I don't ever wanna be right
I don't ever wanna be right
If it's real
And if it's true
And if our love is wrong
Then I don't ever wanna be right
I don't ever wanna be right
…
I just wanted you to be mine
…
'Cause I'm nobody's but yours