Hello! This first part is a remake of a fic I had written some time ago called "An eventual imprint." But it had so many mistakes that I felt ashamed and had to take it down to fix it! And as it was so short, I thought to post it here.

So, here goes the first part.

Give it some love!

PACK SOULS

Chapter 18: An eventual imprint. Part 1.

Bella despises having been left behind like some piece of furniture. She is mad, sad, angry, and all synonyms. She can't believe that the man who saved her from death, the guy who told her he loved her, the chivalrous one, the one who was always looking out for her, that guy left her, in the woods, with a broken heart, broken dreams, and a broken future.

For several months, it felt like her life was taken from her. But then, one guy in the periphery of her life since she was a kid became a man, and that man took it upon himself to make her whole again. He worked slowly, befriending her again, talking about mud pies and annoying fish trips with his sisters. Slowly Bella smiled again, laughed again, and slowly she realized that she was making amends with her past. She fell in love with that guy. But she still needed closure from her past. She didn't know how to get it or who to ask for it. But she needed it.

She kept Jake at arms' length until she could trust herself enough with her feelings. Until she knew she wouldn't hurt him by rushing into anything so soon. Her wolf, her protector, her crazy best friend.

They spent most of their time together whenever their schedules allowed it. Between school, her job, his patrols, and the pack, they barely had a few hours a week to catch up. She treasured every moment they spent together, whether it was walking on the beach or just spending time at his garage.

And so, the months passed, and she grew up emotionally. She came to terms with her separation from the Cullens, as unwilling as that had been. She grew comfortable in her relationship with the pack. The never-ending teasing, the catcalls she received whenever she arrived with Jake. The good and the bad. Because she knew they were flawed, but she loved each one because of their flaws. She had observed them silently many times, and an unwilling comparison came to her mind. She had loved the Cullens, ignoring any possible flaw. To her, Edward was marvelous, a fallen angel, a tortured soul, a mysterious vampire who found her attractive enough. And he was all that, but he was also short-sighted, stubborn, and selfish.

It wasn't as if she was the picture of perfection. She was also stubborn as hell and could be short-sighted sometimes. But she knew she loved with the fire of a thousand suns. Sometimes to her own detriment. She had thought that her capacity for love had been the catalyst of her relationship with Edward. But as the months passed and her feelings for Jacob became clearer, she understood that she and Edward had been too emotionally immature to develop a healthy and long-lasting relationship.

Granted, she had grown up in the past months, and there was still some more growing to do, but she liked where she was right now. She liked the relationship she had developed with Jake, and finally, after a long year and a half of keeping him in the friend zone, she accepted that she was ready to take the next step. She was ready to admit to her best friend that she was in love with him.

So, when they were returning from an expedition to the beach, she grabbed his hand and held it in place the whole way back to her truck. He had looked down and then to her, but too afraid to break the magic; he had kept quiet. But in that instant, when he looked her in the eye, his world shifted utterly, never to be the same again.

There it was, the thing he had been expecting since he was first told about imprints. Bella Swan, the girl he was so madly in love with, his best friend, was now his imprint. He was puzzled at the timing. He had thought it wouldn't happen for him and her. He was ecstatic that it had happened. He just simply didn't know why now and not the other times he had looked at her in the eye.

Bella felt something changed, but as she was unfamiliar with the feeling of imprinting beyond the theories that Kim and Emily had shared, she decided to stay ignorant and simply go on with her plans of declaring her feelings.

…

…

…

"Jake." She made a full stop when they reached her truck.

He stopped in front of her, giving her his attention.

"I love you." She groaned internally. That was pathetic, she thought. She had a whole speech prepared.

Jake smiled. "I know." He said, opening the driver's door and making Bella frown.

"That's what you say when I tell you I love you?" She had expected an 'I love you too, honey.'

Jacob shrugged. "I know you love me, Bella. I know I'm your best friend and always will be your best friend. What do you want from me?"

Bella pushed him hard, making him stumble backwards into the truck. "What the hell?" He asked.

"You are an egotistical, stupid, idiotic bastard!" She screamed.

Jacob knew she didn't mean any of that. Mainly because there was no fire in her eyes as she spat those words. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Stop that!"

"Stop what? I'm agreeing with you. Don't you like it when I agree with you?" He was teasing her now.

"I don't like that you're putting on that mask again. Take it off and say you love me too."

Jacob smiled as if he had just won the lottery.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because it's what you say when someone tells you they love you." Her voice went back to normal. She was breathing heavily, but at least she wasn't yelling anymore.

"How do I know that what you said is what you meant to say?" It was a fair question. She had said those words before, always making it clear that she meant as a friend.

Bella stepped into his personal space, grabbed his hair roughly, and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Does that answer your question?" She asked breathlessly against his forehead.

"I think I need to hear it again. Just to make sure."

"I love you, Jake."

…

…

…

Before breaking the news to his girlfriend, Jacob needed some advice. So, he went to one of the only people who would tell him the truth, even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

Billy's answer helped just a little. "I think it just means that your wolf wasn't ready to imprint on someone who might have eventually left." He shrugged. It was only a guess. So many things weren't passed through the stories or the oral history of the families.

As a dad, it was hard enough taking care of three kids. Add to it that he was in a wheelchair, and one of his kids was also a werewolf. He tried his best to answer his questions. But there were many things that his grandfather had never shared with his sons or daughters. Some things he just figured out on the way.

"Is it true that Bella has the option to reject the imprint?" Billy nodded. Everything comes with a price. Unfortunately.

"Have you told her yet?" Jake shook his head.

"I wanted to see if you knew why it had happened now and not before."

Billy nodded, understanding. He could see so much of himself in his son. If he had been in his place when he met Sarah, he would have also sought all the answers before speaking with her.

"My advice as an elder is you must tell her. She already knows some of the stuff because she's been to almost every bonfire. My advice as a father is to take it slow, baby steps. She is not from the Rez; no matter much time she has spent down here, you have to tell her and let her know she has the option to reject it. It has to be her choice to take you." Jake took all in but wondered, slightly amused, how much of that fatherly advice was from him and how many were from his mother when they first met or even Sue Clearwater, the matchmaker of the Rez.

"Thanks, Dad." Billy smiled.

"For the record. I'm glad you imprinted on her. When she accepts you, because I know she will, Charlie will have a field day." Jake relaxed and laughed. They sure will make their parents' lives.

…

…

…

Jake kept the imprint a secret for a few weeks, despite Sam telling him how urgent it was, despite his father's elder order, and despite all the rules, he just couldn't. Whenever he opened his mouth to tell her, something different would come out.

In the following weeks, he felt their relationship changing, evolving maybe. Since she said I love you, their relationship obviously changed. They were still finding their footing, but it was great to kiss her and hold her without worrying if he crossed a line.

Five weeks later, he decided he was ready to spill the beans. He had offered to go with her to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for their date night. Charlie told them they could have the house as long as they behaved. He asked Bella to one side and secretly handed her a box of condoms. "I'm not going to pretend that you won't do it anywhere else. I know forbidding you will probably not work, but at least I can ensure you are safe." He'd said. She had never seen Charlie so red. She had never been so red! When Charlie left the house, Jacob let out his mirth.

"God, you two kill me!"

So, now he was walking to the door with the bags in one hand and Bella's hand in his other. She smiled at him, and he bent to kiss her softly on the lips.

The kiss started softly but quickly changed. They both felt something urging them, she didn't know what it was, but he did. And despite all efforts to do the right thing, or more accurately, do it slowly, to give her time to take it all in, he pressed her closer to his body, feeling every curve against his front. It was an awkward kiss because they were very aware of their surroundings. Neither wanted a call from Charlie for public indecency. So she broke the kiss.

"Let's go inside." He nodded in agreement.

Bella managed to open the door, and they stumbled in drunkenly. Bella jumped and tangled her legs around Jake's hips, supporting herself on his shoulders. He smiled amusedly and grabbed her thighs for further support.

"Hi." She whispered.

Jacob chuckled. "Hi."

She leaned down and kissed him slowly. There was some urgency in the kiss, but it wasn't the animalistic necessity of the previous one. She enjoyed the sweetness of his arms and the warmth of his body. It was her home.

A howl tore them apart. They were panting and smiling. He kissed her chastely this time and put her down. "Something's up. I gotta run." She nodded.

"I'll see you later."

"Count on it. We have things to talk about." Bella nodded. She suspected there was something Jake wasn't telling her.

…

…

…

Bella was lying on her bed, processing all that Jake had told her that day. She already knew about the wolves, so there was nothing to process there. She also knew most of their stories, including the ones about imprinting. She always had mixed feelings about that one. On the one hand, she felt as if the choice was ripped from the people involved. But on the other hand, her romantic heart swooned at the idea of predestined eternal love.

She had asked Jake for a few days alone to think about the meaning of being his imprint. She knew they were in love. But in her mind, they were this kind of 'teenager love that overcomes all adversities.' Now they were predestined soulmates. It was overwhelming and beautiful.

One thing was clear, though. No matter how overwhelming the situation got, she would never reject the imprint. She wanted it. There was no confusion about that. It was just the size of everything that kept stealing her breath.

…

…

…

After the weekend passed, and Bella put her thoughts in order, she asked Jake to come to her house so they could talk about everything.

"I understand that it can be overwhelming. But the thing is, that's the biggest thing about us. Kind of." Jake said after hearing her. "Yes, I imprinted on you, but we're still us. You're still incredibly clumsy and beautiful, and I'm still me. Same old, boring Bella and Jacob. Nothing has to change about that." He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.

Bella grabbed his hand and held it in place, kissing it. "I do love you." She said in agreement with his words.

He leaned forward and pecked her lips. "Me too, honey."

After that, they put the heavy topic to rest and put in a movie. They were behaving exceptionally. He was sprawled on the couch, with his legs up the coffee table, while she lay on her side, with her head on his lap and a blanket thrown lazily over her body.

Her eyes felt heavy with sleep, but someone clearing their throat scared her into alertness, making her jump off the sofa as if she were a cat.

The thing she noticed first was that Jake was tense and growling. What she noticed later was at whom he was growling.

Alice Cullen, in all her glory, was standing in her living room with a frown on her face. Bella's heart started beating erratically, she started hyperventilating, and her vision became splotchy. She couldn't control what happened next. The lack of oxygen, the stress, fear, memories...everything came all at once, and she fell to the floor.

…

When she came to herself, she felt Jacob kneeling next to her with a wet, cold rag held against her forehead. It didn't escape Bella the irony of Jake holding a cold rag when there was a cold one in the room. But Jake didn't trust them.

Alice looked confused, and Bella realized she had never seen Alice confused. She put a hand on Jake's bicep, leveraging herself into a sitting position on the couch.

Jacob had stopped shaking but didn't resign his defensive position. Bella kept an arm around Jake and stood up with his help. Her legs shook a little, but she still wanted to face Alice on her feet.

Alice smiled weekly and was about to speak when a howl sounded from a distance. Jacob cursed and began shaking again. He had to go; it was one of Sam's unbreakable rules. Bella stood in front of her boyfriend and took his head in her hands, he was still shaking, but he would never phase with his imprint so close. "You have to go. I will be safe. Just don't take too long." She said with a smile.

"If you hurt her, there will be hell to pay, Cold one." With the threat issued, Jacob left.

"What are you doing here, Alice?" Bella asked, leaning against the kitchen counter for support.

"I couldn't see you anymore and was worried about you. So I stopped by."

Bella nodded. "Well, I'm good, as you can see. Now you can leave." Bella saw a flash of hurt on her face but didn't back down. Even though she was grateful about their leaving, it didn't mean she was ok with that.

"Bella, we never meant to hurt you..." Bella held a hand up, stopping whatever she would say next.

"Alice, please, I don't care if you meant it or not. I was hurt not just by the man I loved and thought he loved me back but by all of you. If you had to leave, a proper goodbye would have been ok."

"You're right. I'm so sorry, Bella."

But Bella didn't listen; she shook her head. "That's the thing, Alice. I'm still angry at you. A 'check-up' visit is not enough. I deserved closure. Edward broke my heart, but at least he gave me closure. You simply abandoned me." She cleaned the tears and silently thanked whoever had howled because she didn't want Jacob to think she hadn't gotten over the Cullens leaving. "You dismissed me and denied me the simple and stupid choice of closure. So, excuse me if I don't want to hear about your apologies because I don't want them. I am happy now, and I want you to leave." Alice was shocked; Bella never spoke like that.

"You are right. I just thought you wanted to know..." She sighed, shook her head, and spoke again. "Never mind."

"I appreciate what you're doing, but I don't care. You can send your family my regards and best wishes. I don't hold it against any of you, I just moved on, and you can tell your brother dear that his wishes came true, I did move on." She felt a cruel thrill at the thought of Edward knowing that she was with Jacob now.

"That's not fair!" She said defensively.

"Oh, but taking away my choice is..." She laughed humorlessly. "Good-bye Alice. Have a nice life." Have a nice life with your conscience.

Alice left Bella's house with a stunned expression. Bella suGoodbyethis wasn't the last she'd see of Alice, but she genuinely didn't care anymore. This meeting had been cathartic enough.