Chapter 29

Sam POV

Bella and I had been up all night. She was amazing with my wolf, which had taken me over completely. I had struggled to contain him as soon as I'd smelled that crazy fucking leech from outside her house, but an instinct in me flipped like a light switch when I read the letter he'd left for my Bella.

I felt challenged and threatened in a way that my alpha self had never felt before. I felt possessive of Bella in a way that I had never felt for anyone else before. Something had definitely begun to shift in the last few weeks, between us. She was mine to love, mine to protect, and mine to claim. As I was hers. She seemed to know exactly what I had needed and she'd submitted to me beautifully all night, soothing my wolf's weakness, which just so happened to be her.

Bella's naked body was currently cradled against my chest and I was just listening to the steady beat of her heart and her even breathing. She was exhausted. I moved some of her long hair out of her face and was mesmerized by the silky strands for a moment, lost in thought.

Last night, before she had called me over, it was all I could do to act even normal around my pack, much less excited for Paul and Emily, when all I could think about was how Bella was going to leave me. It was a physical pain to watch her walk away from me. There was still a lot for us to discuss, but after everything that had happened throughout the night, I knew that we would figure things out together. She was my mate. I smiled at the thought and kissed her forehead. I hadn;t meant for this to wake her up, but ever the light sleeper, it did.

"G'morning" she mumbled, stretching her body against me, making me instantly hard for her. She smiled when she noticed. I knew that she was too sore for us to do anything now, but that didn't mean I couldn't smell the honey and peach scent of her arousal.

"You smell so good baby. So tempting." I told her, ducking my head into the crook of her neck and sucking on her skin there. She let out a little moan-sigh, and reached her hand up to twist her fingers into my hair, pulling me just a little bit closer.

"Thank you for calming my wolf last night instead of running away, scared. I wouldn't have blamed you." Hell I know my eyes had been glowing and I was growling at her, biting her all over, and calling her 'mate' non-stop. It was damn good that she already knew I was a wolf, or she would have thought I was possessed. I guess I kind of was.

"I love your wolf." She said by way of explanation. My heart sped up when I saw the look in her eyes. She was dead serious, there was a spark in her eyes that let me know she wanted to say more, but wasn't going to.

"I love you, my mate." I replied, unable to help myself. I didn't even sound like myself but now that my wolf had called her 'mate' who was I not to do the same? "I mean my wolf loves you of course. But also I, Samuel Uley, the man, love you Isabella Marie Swan."

"I-I.. um." Bella stuttered for a second. "Wait. What's your middle name?" She asked randomly, cracking me up.

"I don't have one." She looked like she didn't believe me.

"Fine. Well, I, Isabella Marie Swan, love you too, Samuel no-middle-name Uley." She giggled. I kissed her hard, then soft, then everything in between, I was so damn happy.

"That said, I want to make sure we talk out all the stuff that went down last night at my place." I told her. I would rather spend the day making out with her naked, honestly, but I needed to know what she was thinking, because I couldn't handle losing her over this imprinting crap. Since I didn't imprint on her, I wasn't going to imprint period, end of story, and she needed to know that.

"You imprinting just isn't something I want to think about, much less talk about." She admitted, seeming defeated.

"I'm not going to imprint." I told her with a final tone to it. I meant it.

"I thought you said it was a compulsive thing, something that you can't control." I nodded. "Then how can you be so sure that you're not going to imprint? That someday, down the road, way down the road, I'm knocked up, but you go out on a job and meet your imprint and suddenly our kid and I just don't matter to you anymore. How can you promise that won't happen, Sam?" She asked. She had silent tears falling now and I hated that she felt that way.

I growled at the idea. That would never happen. First of all, I wasn't going to leave her at all. Second of all, I would never leave my kid behind. I'm not my own parents, I'm nothing like them.

"That won't happen, Bella. I know that because I've never felt this way about anyone before. My wolf has never acted this way before. My wolf calls you mate, and wolves mate for life. Since I didn't imprint on you, I'm not going to imprint at all. I've never been so sure of anything in my life." I could see the wheels turning in her eyes. She sniffled, and I knew that she was going to argue with me. I kept going instead, willing her to believe me. "Even without the magic of wolves and imprinting and mates and all of that. Baby, if I am lucky enough that you and I have a child together, I will love that kid with my whole fucking heart. I am not like my own parents. Even if I were to imprint on someone else, which won't happen, but for arguments sake, if I did, there still would be no one more important to me than our child."

"Do you mean that?" She looked up at me all vulnerability and trust.

"Every damn word." I promised.

She stretched up to kiss me, and the length of her deliciously naked body was pressed against my own naked self. My hand dropped to rest on her hip and I pushed her down into the mattress that was saturated in our scents already.

She was sore, so I wouldn't be able to be inside her, which is where I always wanted to be. I was going to make this about her though, and I made sure she knew it. I pulled the blankets completely off of us and I leaned over her small form.

My hands trailed up to her tender nipples and ghosted across them as gently as possible. They hardened immediately and she arched her back just a little, trying to find more pressure.

From there I ran my hands down along her sides just taking in the softness of her skin. She giggled because it tickled and it just made me smile right back. Who even was I anymore? She made me better.

"You make me a better man, Bella. I want to be better for you. Let me take care of you baby." I admitted aloud exactly what I had already been thinking.

She gave me a slight nod in permission and I lowered myself so that I was face to face with her pink folds. I spread her legs open and let them dangle over my shoulder. I took a deep inhale and couldn't control myself any longer. I gently licked her from bottom to top, savoring her flavor.

"Oh, Sam." She sighed, her hands coming to grip my short hair.

I continued that way for awhile, just enjoying her taste and the little sighs and mewls she let slip. I was taking it slowly, wanting it to last for as long as possible for her.

When her sighs started to become gasps and her mewls became moans, I slid my hand under her ass to tilt her up towards me and used the other hand to slip one finger into her wet heat. I kept up a slow, steady pace while I used my tongue to gently circle her little clit.

"More baby…please." She whined, stroking my ego. Instead of picking up the pace or biting down on her, I curved my finger up in a come-hither motion, tapping her g-spot.

"Fuck. Yes, Sam, yes." She panted, eyes rolling back closed.

"Cum for me, baby." I said, face still buried between her legs. Then she did, and her perfect lips parted in a moan and her legs shook with the force of her orgasm.

I pulled myself up to her and kissed her, I loved knowing she could taste herself on my lips. She hummed into the kiss and pulled me closer to her. I had to put a stop to this because my restraint was not this good.

"Let's take a shower." I pulled away from her and helped her up. I walked away, into the bathroom, to start the water. We'd have to wait a moment for it to heat up.

When I made my way back out to the bedroom, Bella gave me an intense look. Her eyes drifted across my body, up and down. Her eyes stopped and she focused on my dick and she licked her lips. Her scent wafted over to me again and I growled, which only caused her to get even more wet. My heart was pounding in my chest, I had to get her away from me or I was going to fuck her until she couldn't walk at all.

"Get in the shower, Bella." I commanded her. My voice dropped low and dripped with authority. Her eyes grew wide, but she did as she was told. She waddled her way into the bathroom. "Make sure it isn't too hot babe!" I added, returning my voice to normal as my heartbeat returned to normal too.

Once we'd washed each other and were just standing in the comforting warmth of the shower I suddenly caught the scent of Bella's tears.

"Bella, tell me what's wrong?" I moved her hair out of her face and lifted her chin to make her look at me. She sniffled a little and just leaned back into me, burrowing into my chest.

"Shh.. baby, just tell me what's wrong?" I said as I rubbed up and down her shoulders and left a kiss on the top of her head. Her hands wrapped around me and she pulled me closer to her. I waited patiently for her to calm down enough to tell me what was wrong.

"I love you." Bella practically whispered. She sniffled again as she pulled back just a little, never losing her grip on me. I must have looked as confused as I felt because then she elaborated. "I love you Sam, and… and not just love you, like I know you're it for me, if that makes sense. It's crazy, absolutely crazy, but it's also true." She turned and twisted the knob to turn the water off, then made her way out to dry off.

"I know that you believe that you won't imprint." She stated, handed me a fresh towel, then continued. "But there will always be a possibility. Three wolves already have imprints, that's more than 'rare.' I'm scared, Sam. I couldn't stand to lose you."

Bella was crying again and the wheels in my head started turning, I needed to figure out how to express to her that she was it for me too, with or without the imprint. She started to get dressed but I was too distracted to do so as well. My wolf was pacing and whining inside me, upset that our mate was hurting because of something that we couldn't do for her. I had an idea.

"Come out with me." I told her quietly and grabbed her hand to pull her along with me out to the front lawn.

"Sam! You're still naked!" She laughed a little, wiping at her tears.

"You complaining?" She just smiled and shook her head no, then allowed herself to be pulled the rest of the way outside, where we were thankfully surrounded by dense forest.

"I want you to meet my wolf again. Don't get scared, we won't hurt you." I told her, hoping that she wouldn't think I was nuts talking about my wolf and I as separate entities. I took a few steps back and felt my skin burn as I let my wolf take over and transformed into my other self. My skin turned into black fur and I laid down, proving to her that I wouldn't hurt her.

I already knew that she was just as much my soulmate as an imprint, but she just proved it more by simply walking up to me without the slightest hint of fear or hesitation. Bella reached up and pet behind my ear like she would a dog, but damn it felt good. I licked the side of her face with my tail practically wagging.

"Hi Sam." Bella said softly. I responded by dragging my nose along her neck and behind her ear where I gave her another little lick, just to make sure she was wearing my scent. She hugged me close to her and I sat down, just taking her in.

After awhile of her just holding me close, I pulled back just enough to nuzzle her hand to get her to move it to rest above my heart. She looked at me in question, but held onto the fur in that spot anyway.

"Can you change back now?" She asked after placing a sweet kiss on my head. I mimicked a nod in my wolf form, then stepped back again so that I could shift.

"You are my wolf's mate." I told her. "He adores you. I adore you. I don't know why I didn't imprint on you, and I wish that I did because that connection would let me know what you're feeling and if you are ever in any danger. That said, how I feel about you, and how my wolf feels about you, is exactly the same as an imprint." I lifted her hand in mine and placed it on my bare human chest above my heart. "As cheesy as it is, it beats the same Bella, and it beats for you."

Author's Note

Lots of fluff, lots of feelings! I had planned out so much more for this chapter, but I think that they deserve a little bit of alone time and some time to figure out where they are at with each other before more drama unfolds. Poor Bella and Sam are really going through it with this story.

Anyways, I really hope that ya'll enjoyed the chapter! As always, please feel free to leave criticism, I'm forever trying to improve!

Happy Reading!

-Dahlia-