Fixed
12. Introspect
Introspect - the examine or observe one's own mental and emotional processes.
Time has a funny way of sometimes flying by and then at others seeming to drag painfully slowly. Kim couldn't believe it when she came home from work one Friday night in mid-late November to find that she and Jared had been going out for three weeks already. She was just out of the shower and dressing in some comfy sweats when her phone buzzed and she saw a message from said boyfriend.
Jared: Hey Em wants to know if you want to pop over for a movie night?
Kim: Why didn't she text me?
Jared: You're too scary?
Kim: Okay, not coming now.
Jared: Come on Kim! You know she'll kill me!
Kim: Well it is your fault ..?
A pause of five minutes then occurred before she got a text from Emily this time.
Emily: Hi Kim, your coward of a boyfriend is scared that you're mad at him. Are you free to come over? I really want to watch the Notebook and I don't think Sam loves me that much!
Kim: Ryan Reynolds? Here I come! But I demand payment in brownies!
Emily: Already made!
Kim laughed, changing quickly and jumping down the stairs in her eagerness. She got about half way there before deciding that she needed some candy and popped to the tiny Rez store which closed at 6. She grinned at Mrs Clearwater as she thrust several bags of skittles on to the counter.
The older woman smiled knowingly, "Careful or you won't sleep at all!" she exclaimed.
The girl laughed, "I doubt I'll get to eat many of these with my boy friend present …"
Mrs Clearwater laughed, "Well, you make sure to hide a packet in your purse."
When she eventually pulled up in the driveway of Little House, Kim made sure to hide a packet in her glove box before heading in. She found Emily up to her elbows in cake batter and received a one arm hug (that wasn't deep in the bowl).
"The boys are out back throwing around a football," Emily explained. Kim nodded and seated herself comfortably on one of the bar stools.
"I have skittles," she confessed, "I just fancied candy."
"Well hide them from Paul," Emily whispered, "That boy has a ridiculously sweet tooth for skittles and mine always disappear straight away!"
Kim took this advice to heart, "More brownies?" she queried as she took in the baking. Emily turned a little pink.
"Embry may has polished off an entire plate before I told him to stop …" she admitted.
Kim merely rolled her eyes, "Don't worry Em. Remember I've been having lunch with them every day for weeks. I don't know where they put it all!"
Emily laughed, "Isn't that the truth? Well, let's give these fifteen minutes and we can settle to watch the movie." She grinned, "I've been wanting to see Ryan Reynolds for weeks!"
Kim chuckled, "I dunno, I always found it rather depressing, but I'm happy to watch it with you."
"But Ally and Noah are so cute!" Emily looked heart broken that Kim didn't agree.
"Yeah, but then she gets dementia in the end … it's depressing! Give me Pretty Woman any day!"
"Okay, but can you at least agree that Ryan Reynolds is hot?"
"Heck yeah!"
The girls had just got into a deep discussion of Ryan Reynolds vs Zac Efron when their attention was diverted by a loud argument in the garden. Going to the window, they watched Embry and Paul having a loud argument over something in the football game.
Kim rolled her eyes, "Why do guys get so obsessive over football?"
Emily smiled, but she seemed a little distracted by how heated the argument was getting.
Kim paused, "Em, you okay?"
"Erm yeah … Kim, would you go and get something for me?"
The shouting had now grown to full on yelling and Paul was gesticulating wildly. Emily touched Kim's arm urgently, "Kim would you go and get my phone, I think it's upstairs …"
Kim watched the argument, growing anxious and missed Emily's request. "Paul's really yelling now, I wonder if Sam could …"
No-one ever knew what Kim was going to suggest that Sam could do because the next moment, Paul had exploded into a large, snarling wolf that jumped at Embry. The other boy also was suddenly gone and Kim was shrieking. In that moment she didn't hear Emily, or see anything other than the two wolves fighting, it seemed, to the death. She also didn't see Jared's and Sam's heads spinning to stare at her in horror.
Without thinking, Kim dropping what she was holding and sprinted to her car. She could hear several people yelling her name, but found that she didn't care. In those few moments, so many things suddenly made a great deal of sense and she knew that she wanted to be as far away from these people and this situation as possible. She actually made it as far as her driver's side door before a pair of very warm arms latched tightly around her waist and bodily lifted her off the ground. Kim screamed again, struggling as hard as she could.
"Kim! It's me!" she recognised Jared's voice, but for once it didn't calm her. It just made her panic and struggle all the more. "Kim, please!" he exclaimed, refusing to put her down. "You have to listen to me! I'm so sorry that this is how you found out. I wanted to tell you after the bonfire that would have retold the old legends. Please, I never wanted to lie to you …"
"Let me go!" she shouted, "You're a liar, you're all liars!"
"Kim, calm down!" Sam had come out of the house and was regarding her anxiously. Emily looked upset.
"We never meant to lie Kim," Emily stated, "But we couldn't tell you …"
"We're so sorry," Jared said, "I hated lying to you …"
Kim spun as realisation hit her. "So, you're all spirit wolves like in the Taha Aki story?" Sam and Jared nodded. Kim pointed at Emily, "Are you ..?"
Emily shook her head, "No, I'm Sam's imprint …"
Kim blinked, "What ..?"
"His imprint. Do you remember the third wife? That Taha Aki found his true soul mate?"
Kim stared, "So you think Sam is your soul mate?"
"We don't think, we know," Sam stated, wrapping his arm around his girl friend.
Kim gawped at them. "You're all mad …"
"You just saw two boys burst into wolves and you think we're mad?" Sam queried.
"Well if not mad then you're liars!" she yelled, "You lied to me!" She felt Jared's arms tighten around her and spun, hitting his chest. "You're a liar Jared Cameron!"
"I did it to protect you!" he exclaimed, "Kim, you could have been seriously hurt and why would you have believed me?"
"So all the boys who've been away – you, Paul, Embry, now Jake … were you wolves before?"
Jared shook his head, "No, we turned when there's a threat to the reservation."
Kim stopped to take that in, "A threat? Like what?"
"Vampires," Sam stated. "Look Kim, there's no easy way to say this, but there have been vampire attacks in the area and something in our blood ignites this ancient magic that causes boys of our heritage to become wolves."
"So you can become a wolf?" Kim asked, looked at Jared.
He nodded. "I'm so sorry Kim."
Kim nodded, though she did not look happy she had at least stopped screaming. She looked from him to Sam and Emily and another thought struck her.
"Oh my word … you imprinted on me didn't you? That's why you suddenly liked me!" All three suddenly looked so uncomfortable that Kim had her answer. "I'm leaving," she stated, heading to her car.
"Kim, wait!" Jared begged, "Please don't leave!"
"Why would I stay with a guy who's forced to care about me because of some twisted genetical thing?" she stated, "I knew this was too good to be true!" She made to open her car door again but found her wrist grasped by a scorching hot hand. "Jared, let me go!"
"Please Kim, let me explain this. Please don't walk away."
"What's to explain? You'd still be flirting with Safiya if you hadn't become a werewolf and become stuck with humdrum little old me," Kim stated, "Let me go home Jared."
"Not until I can explain!" he exclaimed.
"Why should I?"
"Because I love you!" This time it was Jared who almost shouted.
Kim felt as though all the wind had been knocked out of her, "What?" she whispered.
"I love you, Kim," Jared stated, his hands circling her waist. "I hate myself for not noticing you before but please believe me. The imprint just helped me to finally see things clearly. You are the perfect partner for me Kim, we were meant to be."
"But you were forced to choose me Jared …"
He vehemently shook his head, "No, Kim. The imprint helped me notice you, it's true. But I fell in love with you because of you. The way you passionately love your family and friends. Your kindness to animals. The awesome way you stand up to Paul when most of LaPush High are scared shitless of him. The way you make me laugh. I love you Kim Agatha Cornweller because you're beautiful, caring and amazing."
He didn't allow her to speak. He simply kissed her soundly on the mouth.
Kim herself was powerless to push him away when he kissed her like that. She loved him too deeply not to be moved by his words but was also utterly confused. Instead of trying to figure out what she was feeling, she simply went with it. Kissing Jared had always been so … effortless. They just fit together so easily and one kiss turned into many as they went from that simple kiss to properly making out against the car.
Eventually, common sense reasserted itself and Kim forced herself to pull away. As they both regained their breath, Kim gently pushed him, silently asking for space which he reluctantly gave. When he had stepped back, she regarded him silently, taking in everything that had changed over the past, crazy half hour.
Finally, she forced herself to speak and made herself speak. "Look Jared, when you first noticed me, I couldn't believe it because you never had. Ruth didn't believe me, Lucy didn't …" she laughed, "Heck, I didn't believe me! But then you persisted and we got closer … and then before I knew it we were actually friends …" Kim started pacing and found that this helped to calm her thoughts. Jared for his part was calm and just leant against his truck, allowing her to process her thoughts.
"Then we did that awful acting assignment and it actually went well and you asked me out …" She sighed and looked at him for a moment. "Embry turned that weekend didn't he?"
Jared simply nodded, "It's tough when you turn … the anger overwhelms you and you can't control your emotions. Luckily for Embry he was out in his back yard being made to cut wood and he just exploded into the woods. I nearly ripped my dad's arm off and Sam …" he closed his eyes in regret, knowing he'd said too much.
Kim flinched, "Oh my word … Emily?" Jared merely nodded and Kim suddenly felt awful. "Poor Sam … poor Em … man it's such a mess isn't it?"
"He'll never forgive himself," Jared agreed, "But Emily loves him and they got through it, you know? That's why imprinting's so amazing …" he stopped, nervous as to how she would react. But Kim wasn't mad … she found that she was more curious …
"Can I see your wolf?"
Jared's expression grew hopeful, "Do you really want to?" She nodded. "Okay, but let's get into the woods and turn around, I have to take my clothes off when I change."
Kim's eyes widened, "Is that why you're always underdressed?"
Jared nodded, "It's a pain in the ass to carry clothes around."
She followed him into the woods and waited until she heard what sounded like a crack. She stayed where she was until she felt a nudge on her shoulder. Spinning round, Kim found herself face to face with a huge wolf. She instinctively flinched, but then took out her phone and shone the flashlight on him.
"Wow," she whispered. She walked all around, taking in his dark, tawny fur and huge paws. "You're massive Jared." The wolf regarded her patiently, kneeling down so that they were eye-to-eye. "Can I … touch you?" Kim asked. She received a very enthusiastic nod and wagging tail in response which made her laugh. She reached a hand to stroke his shoulder fur. It was coarse but very warm. "Wow, you're like a space heater," she joked, earning a wolfie chuckle from her boyfriend.
She became so focussed upon stroking him that she didn't notice another creature approaching her. She spun when she felt another presence and saw another large wolf that was a lighter brown in her cell's torch. It knelt down in front of her, whining and looking apologetic. Another came up behind it, this one was slightly bigger and a more chocolaty brown.
"That's Embry and that's Paul," Sam stated, coming through the trees, "Embry's worried that you'll never forgive him."
Kim looked at the sad wolf and felt her heart melt a little. She reached a tentative hand to stroke his nose, "I forgive you Embry," she said gently, "It's just a little much to take in, you know?" The Embry wolf wagged his tail and gave her a little yip that reminded her of a puppy.
Kim smiled before turning to Sam, "I'm sorry for yelling at you, I get it now."
Sam actually smiled at her, "I know it's overwhelming, but we're a family, you know? We look after each other."
Kim nodded, "I promise I'll never tell a soul."
Sam also nodded, "Thank you."
When they'd returned to the house, Kim did settle down to watch the Notebook with a very apologetic Emily and they were even joined by Jared who seemed especially clingy that night. It was only once they'd left Little House and were standing by her car that Jared pulled her tightly into his arms.
"Did you mean it?" Kim asked, hugging him back.
"What?" Jared muttered, his face buried in her hair.
"Do you really love me?" Kim queried.
Her boyfriend held her face tenderly in his hands, his eyes warm with sincerity as he stated, "With all my heart."
Kim felt her heart sing, "I … I love you too Jared …"
It would have been difficult to choose which teenager was happier at that exact moment as Jared took Kim in his arms and swung her round until she squealed, giggling at him to stop. But a reality that could not be denied when he put her gently down and kissed her soundly, was that both were utterly oblivious to the smiling girl who watched them from the window.
Amused, Sam joined his imprint at the window. "Em, don't you know it's rude to stare?" he mocked, drawing her away.
Emily was unrepentant, "Maybe … but that doesn't mean that I can't be happy for them."
Sam laughed, "That's certainly true … I'm glad it was so much simpler for Jared."
Emily laughed, "Aside from her shrieking and telling him she hated him ..?"
Sam shrugged, "Yeah, despite that!"
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Author's note:
Wow … I can't believe we're nearly done with this little novella! I'll be posting a prologue of sorts in a couple of days. It was never going to be a full length novel, but I'm glad it got finished!
Thanks for all the reads and to the Guest on here who consistently reviewed and enjoyed my take on this little teenage romance!
If you liked Bridgerton then you might enjoy the next one I'm writing, but I won't be releasing it until after Nanowrimo is done, so if you enjoy regency romance then maybe check out my fic Kairos because it'll be set in that world.
Anyway, as always, please let me know what you thought and thanks for reading!
Breeze.