AN: Hey Guys, first I want to say thank you. Y'all are so amazing. I got so many reviews. I appreciate every single one of them. They really helped to ease my writers block of chapter 7. So thank you!
Second: I swear on Hosie that this chapter has been completed for weeks and was in no way affected by episode 14.
Chapter 5: The Truth
The first thing that registered in Hope's mind the next morning was how happy she felt. It was weird at first. It felt as though her heart was expanding trough her whole chest, making every cell in her body explode with happiness.
The second thing that registered was how warm her belly was, but how cold her backside was. She must have kicked the blankets off. She snuggled into the warmth, not registering the person beneath her at first.
It wasn't until she heard Lizzie's shrill voice yelling that it registered what had happened the night before. Her eyes flew open in shock. Yep, she was in Josie and Lizzie's room alright, which meant if she looked up, she was going to find Josie, and that meant she was most definitely laying in Josie's bed, on top of her butt ass naked.
She closed her eyes again, then peeked up to find herself looking into Josie's amused eyes. "Fuck," she said, then rolled off the bed, taking the blankets with her.
Josie rolled over and peered down at her. "Ya know. You were fine where you were."
"Speak for yourself," Lizzie said. "Some of us don't want to see Hope naked at seven o'clock in the morning."
"You could have just put a blanket over her," Josie said.
"And have one of my blankets smell like wolf for the rest of my life. No thank you," Lizzie grunted.
Hope stood up, wrapping the blanket firmly around her as she did. "I wasn't dreaming," she mumbled.
"You mean the fact that you barged into our room in the middle of the night to terrorize us, then no. You weren't dreaming," Lizzie huffed.
"Lizzie. She was hardly terrorizing us," Josie chided.
"Seeing her naked butt at seven is absolutely terrifying. I'm going to have to clean eyes out with bleach to get the visual out of my mind."
"Must you be so dramatic?" Josie asked. "She has a very cute behind."
Hope blushed. She could feel her skin literally burning. She wanted to say thank you, but the words got all jumbled in her mouth, which made her blush even more. She looked back and forth between the twins, then ran for the door.
She could hear Lizzie yelling for her to bring the blankets back clean but didn't care. She also didn't care that there were already students mingling in the halls on their way to the dining hall for breakfast, looking at her strangely. She ran as fast as her supernatural feet could take her.
She practically fell through her door, slamming it shut loudly behind her. Both her aunts woke with a start, groggily looking at her in surprise. She growled, and dropped the blankets, then threw herself into her bed, leaving no inch of skin revealed.
"Why did you leave me there?" she yelled.
She felt one of her aunts sit on the bed. Freya answered, "Because that's where you wanted to be. If we had taken you away, you would have just found a way to get back to her."
Hope pulled the blanket down over her face, revealing the tears she was crying. "Why?"
"We don't know," Freya said. "We think we have an idea, but we're not one hundred percent yet. Your friend Penelope is though."
"Why does this have to happen? Why can't I just be a normal witch-wolf, instead of a tribrid freak?"
Freya smiled at her weakly. "Everything happens for a reason sweetie. I know it's hard to hear, but there is a reason why you were born. A reason why you, and not someone else, is the tribrid. We may never know the reason, but I am glad that you are here."
Hope felt a little better, for a moment, then she remembered why she was so upset. She pulled the blanket back over her head and groaned. "I'm really tired of waking up naked in a strange places."
"I think after last night, you aren't going to have to worry about that," Freya said. "Now get up and get dressed. Alaric and Caroline want us in their office right after breakfast."
"I am not going to breakfast," Hope growled.
"You're going to have to face everybody at some point," Freya told her. When Hope didn't come out, Freya stood up and yanked the covers off her niece. "Up and get dressed, before I decide to use a spell to dress you, then it'll be whatever comes out of your draws and closet first."
That got Hope moving.
She was up and to her dresser before Freya realized she wasn't in the bed anymore. Freya went back to her wife, who had watched the pair with amusement. She gave her peck on the lips, and quietly said, "I love you."
They too got up and began dressing for the day. Freya hadn't been able to convince Hope to get something to eat, so they headed down to Alaric's office. No one had arrived yet, which wasn't surprising. So, Freya dipped out to get some food for Hope to eat.
Hope sat quietly outside Alaric's office door, nervously waiting for someone, anyone to show. She wasn't going to enjoy this at all. Her night was jumbled in her mind. A mixture of feelings and images flooded mixing together in a dream like state. She tried to piece everything together, but it was like she needed a cryptograph to make sense of it all.
Caroline was the first to arrive. She was nice, as she usually was to Hope. She smiled, asked her how she was, and didn't say a word about what had happened. They followed her in and went to the couch. Caroline moved all the chairs in the room into a circle around the coffee table.
Freya returned with Alaric by her side. She silently handed her a smoothie and an egg wrap, then handed her wife the same.
Hope took a sip of the smoothie but couldn't bring herself to eat any of the wrap. She was feeling incredibly nervous. She felt like she was in trouble, what with her aunts sitting on either side on her and both the school's headmasters sitting across from them. Not to mention the silence was deafening.
She was almost relieved when Penelope walked through the doors. That relief was short lived, because she was pulling Josie along with her. "I figured Josie should be here for this, since it involves her too," Penelope said.
Josie smiled at Hope as she sat in the chair closest to Freya. Penelope took the last empty seat across from Hope. She looked into Hope's eyes and gave her a weak smile.
"I wasn't sure until last night," Penelope began. She opened the book she held to a page that had been marked. She handed it to Hope and waited for her to read the page over.
Hope looked up from the book. "It's in French. I'm not fluent."
Freya took the book from Hope and looked it over.
While Freya looked it over, Penelope began to explain what she knew. "It's a book of legends from the Chitimacha Indigenous tribe, written in the late eighteen hundreds. The author tells tales passed down through the generations, one of which is about beasts who are forced to change on the full moon. He called it loup-garou, or Rougarou as it's more commonly known as."
"I know that story," Hope said. "It's told to children in the city to scare them away from the bayou."
"Every legend has it's origin story. I think this one is that. I think that man was a descendant of the original tribe cursed by the Hollow. There are three stories he tells. The first is how the werewolves came to be, which is eerily similar to what we know about the creation of the wolves. The second is about the different bloodlines and the special powers each line possess, and the third is about…"
She pauses and looks to Josie sadly.
"What is the third one about?" Hope asked. When she didn't get a response right away, she looked to Freya. "Auntie Freya. What does it say?"
Freya looked up, but not at Hope. She looked to Caroline and Alaric. She passed the book to them. Caroline took it and held it out so both her and Alaric could read it.
Hope suddenly grew very irritated. "Will somebody please tell me what the damn book says?"
"It says…" Penelope said, then briefly looked to Josie again. "It says that alphas, incredibly powerful alphas, during their primal state, had the ability to find their true mate. A single touch is enough to tether them to the wolf or person, creating a bond between them."
Everyone in the room looked over, not to Hope, but to Josie, including Hope.
"What?" Josie sputtered.
Hope on the other hand stood up and took the book from Caroline, her mind was reeling, all the pieces of the night before falling into place. She could only make out a few words her and there, not enough to actually understand what she was reading. She thrust the book back at Caroline, who took it carefully, then walked over to Alaric's desk.
Hope thought over each time she had changed since the night she found Josie in the cemetery. She understood it all now. Everything she had felt and thought. She had the cryptograph now, and it was unlocking the secrets her wolf held.
From the second she had seen her, she felt the over whelming urge to comfort Josie and to protect her. Unlike Landon who she had wanted to eat. She remembered how intoxicating Josie's scent was. How the simple smell had overrode everything in her mind.
The first night she ran off, she remembered the feeling of being lost and sad, and how she wanted to make that go away. She remembered being pulled in one direction, because she was sure that direction would lead her to where she could fix it.
The second night was different. She wasn't only worried about Josie, but she wanted to be comforted by her. She had been so upset because she allowed the Necromancer the chance to get the knife and escape, that she needed to be with Josie.
It was same the third time. The first night she had shifted in her sleep. She had been dreaming of about Josie. She could feel how sad she was and wanted nothing more than to comfort her, to the point that her worry led her to change in her sleep.
She had been fine for the next few nights because she knew Josie was doing okay. Yes, Josie was still having nightmares, but Josie had read her to sleep, which calmed her wolf.
When Josie returned to school, things changed. She could feel Josie was having a nightmare. It called out through the school like a beacon. She had to check on Penelope first though. She had to show Penelope what Hope hadn't yet realized. She had to make sure her friend was okay with it. She had to help her move on, so she too could find happiness. Then she had to be there with Josie.
She had been so happy to be there with Josie. Just lying there with her. Content with simple contact.
Hope saw everything clearly now, as though her wolf has given her all the answers to the mystery they had been trying to solve.
Tears welled in her eyes as she realized the conversation she had with Penelope the night before. Her friend had known what her wolf had been trying to say. She had known the impact of her unspoken words.
She turned, her eyes connecting with Penelope's, who's also had unshed tears.
"I wasn't sure," Penelope said. A tear escaped down her cheek. "When I found the book, I suspected this is what was happening. The first time it happened was right after you saw her in the cemetery. Right after Josie travel to London, which is north-east of here. It was too coincidental, but I didn't want to tell you until I was positive." She paused and turned to look at Josie, then looked back. "It wasn't until last night that I was sure. You came to me to show me. You woke her from her nightmare like it was nothing, and when she saw you, she smiled at you, like she once smiled at me. That's when I knew. That's when I was sure."
She looked to Josie. "The book says a human mate won't feel the bond at first, but it will rapidly increase over time. Especially the more time you spend around Hope. I saw the smile you gave Hope. I think the bond is already there."
"I… Uh… Um…" Josie stuttered, then she got up, and fled from the room.
At the same time, fear and sadness flooded Hope's chest, and she knew right away, these were Josie's feelings, not hers.
Caroline got up to follow her, but Hope stopped her. "Wait. Give her a few minutes alone. She just needs time to process this."
"How do you…" Caroline started. "Never mind. We already know that answer." She dropped back into her chair with a heavy sigh. "What does this mean? For Josie I mean. Did my daughter go and get hitched and didn't even know it?"
"Sort of," Penelope said. "Hope created the bond, but only Josie can complete the bond."
"Yeah," Alaric said, then pointed to something in the book. "See. While the Alpha creates the bond between them, the perspective mate can break the bond if she chooses by formally rejecting the alpha, but if she wants to complete the bond, she must mark the alpha as hers. Then it gives the ritual to break the bond and a ritual to complete the bond. Oh…"
He closed the book and handed it back to Caroline. She opened it back up and read over what made Alaric blush. "Oh," she mimicked, then cleared her throat as she sat the book on the coffee table.
"Oh what?" Hope asked as she came back to the group. When neither answered her, she looked at Penelope and asked, "Oh what?"
"In order to complete the bond, she has to bite you while you have sex," Penelope said, a small smirk on her lips.
"Oh…" Hope mumbled embarrised. She cleared her throat awkwardly and asked, "Is there a time frame on when either has to happen?"
"It doesn't say, so I'm going to guess no on that," Penelope said.
Hope went to sit in between her aunts again. Both of whom wrapped an arm around her, Freya around her shoulders and Keelin around her waist. She leaned into Freya and put her hand on Keelin's thigh, soaking up as much comfort as they had to give.
A deep crushing feeling suddenly came over her. She looked to Caroline and said, "She's needs you."
Caroline didn't question what Hope had told her, she just stood and left the room without a word.
"She has a choice, right? I'm not forcing her into anything, right?" Hope begged.
Penelope smiled softly at her friend. "No forcing. All free will. She can even choose to break the bond after you've completed it. Divorce in a ritual."
"And what if I don't want any of this?" Hope asked.
"A part of you does, or you wouldn't have created the bond in the first place," Penelope answered.
"I didn't know I was creating a bond," Hope growled.
"I think you did," Penelope countered. "On some level, I think you knew that you wanted Josie to be yours. Maybe not consciously, but maybe, just maybe you've had feelings growing for Josie that you haven't wanted to acknowledge."
"I've barely spoken to Josie," Hope argued.
Penelope leaned forward and pointed out, "And yet you gave her a talisman, that makes quiet things heard, for her birthday."
Hope went to argue, but she had nothing. She had no reason to give her that talisman, other than the deep desire too. Maybe Penelope was right. Maybe she did develop feelings for Josie and she just hadn't noticed. Perhaps she didn't want to see, or perhaps it's because she had also developed feeling for Landon. Or maybe it was just another way for her subconscious to protect her. Josie was here, which made the potential for heartache real, while Landon had left, leaving her to pine over someone she probably would never see again.
"Shit," she blurted, realizing Penelope was right.
"Language," Freya and Alaric said together.
"Why me though?" she asked, angrily, despite already knowing the answer. "Why not Mom or Dad? They were both powerful alphas. Neither of them bonded to anyone."
"As far as we're aware. Your dad never chose to stay in wolf form long enough to pick a mate, and I don't know about you mother," Freya said. "Perhaps it's happening to you because you were born a powerful alpha. While both you parents were born alphas, they were equals to every other alpha. Their enhanced powers came from their vampire side. You were born a powerful wolf alpha, not created."
"Great. As if being the tribrid didn't cause enough problems in my life," she grumbled.
Freya pulled Hope closer and kissed the top of her head. "We're here for you, no matter what chaos your tribrid nature causes."
Silence lapsed over them, making Hope uncomfortable. She felt off, like she had done something wrong, and now they were forced to deal with the consequences. Which in a way it was, even though she didn't realize she was doing it.
"I feel like I just told you I got Josie pregnant and we have to get married because of it," Hope said sheepishly.
A look of horror crossed Alaric's face, as well as Freya's.
Penelope snorted, which turned into a chuckle when she saw the adult's faces. Then just as suddenly, she stopped and looked at Hope. "Wait. Do you think that's possible? I mean, you are an anomaly. What if your weird tribrid DNA gave you the ability to impregnant girls? That's like every lesbian's wildest fantasy. Damn. I kinda hope you can. That would be cool as shit."
Hope's eye's widened comically and her mouth dropped open. She turned to Freya, who groaned loudly and flopped backwards and brought her right hand up to rub her temple. She could already feel the headache brewing.
"Auntie Freya," Hope squeaked. "What if she's right?"
Freya looked at her niece, unsure of what to say, other then, "I don't know."
"Wait," Keelin interrupted. "You can't possibly think this is possible?"
Freya shrugged her shoulders. "A week ago, I would have said it was impossible, but we've spent days researching a hell dimension that has absorbed every magical creature from our daughter's bedtime stories, and she's magically linked herself to another person through ancient werewolf magic because she's a tribrid. I can't say that for sure, anymore."
"Well… How do we check?" Hope shrieked.
"Relax honey," Freya said comfortingly. She rubbed Hope's back soothingly. "There's a fertility spell I can alter to check for sure. Just don't go having sex until we are positive. Okay? I'm too young to be a great auntie, and I think you might break Alaric if you do get his daughter pregnant."
Hope looked at Alaric, who was sitting on the edge of his chair with his head in his hands. She could see how red his face was growing through his fingers, and she was pretty sure he had stopped breathing.
Penelope must have seen the same thing she did, because she yelled, "Dr. Saltzman. Breath!"
He sat back up and let out a long, shaky breath of air. "I need a drink," he mumbled. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself. "I can't believe this is a real conversation. I can't believe I am having a conversation like this when there is a very real possibility it is possible."
Caroline stepped through the doors looking a little worn. She stepped up behind her vacant chair and asked, "What are you talking about."
Penelope grinned devilishly and answered, "The possibility that Hope will impregnant your daughter when they have sex."
Caroline's face dropped. "Oh…" she said stunned. "And is this an actual possibility?"
"We're not ruling it out," Freya groaned.
"Oh," she repeated distantly. "I need a drink," she declared after a few moments, then made her way to Alaric's desk, where she knew he kept his alcohol. She opened the draw and found nothing. "Ric, where'd you move it?" she pleaded.
He groaned. "To the trash. Somebody insinuated that I wasn't grieving in a healthy way, so I got rid of it all."
"Well who the hell would do a thing like that?"
Hope hesitantly raised her hand. "That would be me. Though in my defense, we were arguing, and he was acting all fatherly again. I didn't think he'd actually listen to me."
Caroline came back to her chair and sat with a huff. "Well then… Josie is in her room. She's okay, but I suppose I don't have to tell you that."
Hope shook her head no. She could feel that Josie was okay. It was weird. Now that she understood what was happening, she could separate what he was feeling from what Josie was feeling. She wondered if the connection worked the same way for Josie.
"She wanted me to tell you that she will come to you when she's ready, and to please give her space," Caroline said.
"I can do that," Hope assured her.
Alaric clapped his hands together lightly. "I guess you girls can go about your day. Now that the mystery of Hope's wolf has been solved. You can go be actually teens for a while."
"We want to help with Malivore," Penelope said.
"You can, just not today," Alaric said. "Go. Fill MG in on what you learned. Finish the rest your classes. Hang out like normal kids. For one day. That's all I'm asking."
"Fine," Hope said as she stood. She grabbed Penelope's hand and pulled her up. She didn't let her go until they were down in cellar.
"Damn," Penelope whistled, as she surveyed the destruction Hope's spell had caused. "Remind me never to piss you off."
"Well, don't piss Josie off then. I'm pretty sure I got the spell from her."
Penelope stepped through the hole into Hope's cell. "Pretty sure?"
Hope was at her cot gathering all her things and hastily putting them in her backpack. She bent down and picked up her fallen tablet. Thank goodness she had a durable case on it. "I've never seen a spell like that. I only know two fire spells, and that was isn't one. Josie on the other hand knows several. I'm not sure how I know that. I just do."
She sat down on her bed and stared into the tablet's blank screen.
"It has to be the bond," Penelope said. "Can you imagine how strong the two of you will be once you complete it? I wonder what will happen? Is it just a mental connection, or will JoJo get some of your abilities?"
"It didn't say?" Hope asked.
"No. It was all technical. Didn't explain what would happen."
Hope looked back at her tablet and smiled weakly. Just last night, Josie had read her to sleep again. Now she wasn't speaking to her. It hurt. Even more so because she could feel the turmerol Josie was going through. She wondered if there was a way to shut it off.
Then there was another pain plaguing her. Her new best friend, someone who she had gotten extremely close to over the last week was in pain and it was her fault. She never meant to develop feelings for Josie, let alone create a bond with her. It hurt to know Penelope was in pain, and that some of that pain was her doing.
"I'm sorry," she said softly. Then looked up at Penelope. "I never meant for any of this to happen."
"Hey," Penelope scolded. "I told you already. We're good. I get it. She doesn't want me. I hurt her too badly, and as much as I want to be with her, I want her to be happy even more. She cares for you. I saw it last night. She instantly smiled when she saw you, and it wasn't just a 'hey, it's good to see you' smile. It was a 'you light up my world' smile. She used to smile at me like that, and now she smiles at you like that. So please don't feel bad."
"But I do," Hope said. "You're my friend and I feel like I am betraying you."
"Don't. I want you to be happy, and if that person is JoJo, then I will be happy for you," Penelope said.
"You know. You're not as evil as you let on," Hope chuckled lightly, which caused Penelope to laugh.
"Do me a favor and don't tell people," Penelope chuckled.
"Promise," she said, then stuck out her pinky. "Always and Forever."
Penelope looked at the pinky is shock. There wasn't a student in the school who didn't know about the Mikaelson's 'Always and Forever' vow. It was in the Mystic Falls Chronicles Dr. Saltzman wrote. It was in the Stefan Salvatore diary that no one was supposed to touch, but everyone had managed to read. And it was a part of the tales told to them about the family of original vampires.
She wrapped her own pinky around Hope's and repeated, "Always and Forever."
Hosie-Legacies-Hosie
Josie was sitting at her desk, staring at her diary unsure of what to write. There was so much information that she had yet to fully process. She was bonded to someone. No… Not just someone. Hope. She was bonded to Hope. Well… Not fully apparently. She had to decide if she wanted to break the bond that Hope created or complete it.
How was she supposed to choose when she wasn't even sure of how she felt? There were so many things swirling inside of her creating a mess of emotions. Did she have feelings for Hope? Did she want to pursue a relationship with her? Did she want to essentially get married to Hope? What would happen if they did complete the bond? What would happen if she broke the bond? Would things change between them? Would things go back to how they were before, with Hope barely speaking to her? She didn't want that. She wanted Hope in her life. She liked having Hope to talk to. She liked having Hope there.
She just liked Hope.
Josie growled and threw her pen on the desk. It was all too much. She was only sixteen. She shouldn't have to worry about something like this. Not yet at least.
"Josie? Josie?" she heard Lizzie calling her from the hallway, then a few seconds later, the blonde walked through the doorway. "There you are. I've been looking all over for you."
"You found me," she commented.
"Only because your emotions were screaming out for me," Lizzie said. "What's going on? Who do I have to hurt? Is it Penelope again?"
"No," Josie said with a light chuckle. She liked when Lizzie got all protective. It was this side of Lizzie she wished more people would see."
"Well, who then? MG?" Josie shook her head "Mom?" She shook her head again. "Dad?" Again, she shook her head no. "Hope?" Josie bit her lower lip this time. "It's Hope isn't it? What'd she do? Did she hurt you? Did she turn you down? No… Did she break up with you? I'm not stupid ya know. I know something was going on. She's the only one you talked to while we were in Europe, and then she barged in here in the middle of the night because you were having nightmare. Tell me the truth. What's going on?"
Josie stood up and placed her hands on Lizzie's shoulders to calm her. "Breath," she said. "It's nothing like that."
"Then what's going on, because I haven't felt this much conflicting emotions coming from you since the night you broke it off with Satan."
Josie pushed Lizzie backwards to her bed, then sat across from her on her own. She carefully told Lizzie about what had been going on with Hope, and all the information Penelope had discovered. When Josie finished, she quietly watched as an array of emotions crossed her sister's face.
Once she had absorbed everything her sister had told her, she looked at her and rasped, "She imprinted on you. That dirty wolf imprinted on my sister."
"I don't think it's like that, exactly," Josie demurred. "I think it's more like she's asking me to go out, in her own wolfly way."
"And what happens if you don't want to 'go out' with her?" Lizzie grunted.
"Mom says I can say no if I want, and then the bond will break, but only I can choose to complete the bond," Josie sighed.
"I'm gonna kill her," Lizzie declared. "How dare she imprint on my sister without your permission first."
"It's not like she knew what she was doing," Josie said in Hope's defense. "This isn't something that happens very often."
"Why are you defending her?" Lizzie asked.
Josie opened her mouth then shut it again. She had to think about why she was defending her. "Because I care about her."
"Well that much is obvious," Lizzie mocked, then relaxed a little. She sighed loudly, letting all her pent-up frustration leak out through it. "Are you going to complete the bond?"
"I don't know. I care about Hope. It's been nice having her to talk to, and she clearly cares about me, but it's only been a few weeks since we started talking. I mean, she ignored us for ten years. That hurt. I'm not sure if I'm ready to jump head first into something as heavy as this with her."
"You're not going to make me be nice to her, are you?" Lizzie asked.
"I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, but if I do go through with this, I would love it if my sister and my girlfriend got along. Penelope's issues with you is one of the reasons we didn't last."
"I suppose, if you allow the wolf to keep her imprint on you, then I could, maybe, be cordial, as long as she is too," Lizzie drawled.
Josie smiled. "Thanks Lizzie." She leaned across the space between their beds and wrapped her arms around Lizzie, who hugged back.
"If she hurts you, all bets are off," Lizzie declared.
Josie chuckled. "I haven't even decided what I am going to do, so you have a little time to get used to it. There is so much to think about, but it's hard because I think I might be feeling a little of Hope's feeling too."
"Say what now?" Lizzie asked horrified. That meant some of what she was sensing from Josie was also from Hope.
"It's the bond. I think it's not as strong as what Hope has been feeling, but I can sense it now. Ever since we got home yesterday. It was little at first. I didn't notice it. Then last night, she couldn't sleep. I think I sensed that. I called her and read to her because she likes that. I know that because I could feel how content she felt as I read. Then this morning, when she fled our room. I could feel how embarrised she was and how nervous. I thought it was just me, but I think it was her. It's growing stronger. I'm having a hard time sorting out what I am feeling and what she is feeling."
"Well what do you think she is feeling?"
"Right now…" Josie bit her lip and she sifted through the feeling. "Guilty. I have nothing to feel guilty for. I'm upset over the situation and worried, but I'm not guilty. She on the other hand thinks she is."
"As she should be," Lizzie proclaimed.
"None of this is her fault," Josie insisted, then bit her lip again. "Now she's feeling love. And happiness. She must be with someone. Her aunts maybe."
"That's weird," Lizzie commented.
"It is a bit strange," Josie said. "It's not a strong connection. Ours is much stronger at times, when we listen to it."
"But it's still there."
Josie nodded her head. "I can't feel her anymore," she said with relief. "Maybe there's a way to shut it off."
"Yeah, it's called deny her and her freaky wolf imprinting," Lizzie said.
"I want a little time to decide," Josie said.
"Fine," Lizzie huffed. "I'll be nice and won't say a word while you decide."
"Thank you," Josie said.
"Just remember how creepy it was when Jacob imprinted on a baby," Lizzie said and then fled the room before Josie had a chance to scold her.
She flopped back on the bed with a huff. Of all the things that could have happened in her life, this had been the strangest.