A/N: A quick thank you to everyone who added this story in their alerts and/or added it to their favorite list. It truly means a lot to me.

Chapter 10-

Bella's POV- An introduction to the world of wolves and imprints

I felt myself slowly regaining consciousness, my eyes fluttering open softly- quick to shut themselves at the sudden intrusion of the white light, a groan leaving my parched mouth, as I turned slightly to escape the horror of reality.

I wish I could claim to have an unexpected memory loss, or to have forgotten these past few minutes of my life.

That would have been… a blessing, truly.

But unfortunately, I could not claim so.

For, I remembered everything, exactly how it had happened….

I remembered it all.

I remembered storming out of the house, the others trailing behind me, pleading me to listen. I remembered seeing a horse-sized wolf in the middle of the road, and I did remember observing said wolf morph into a human teenager, paws and fur paving way for hands and legs.

I remembered it all.

Unfortunately…..sadly….I have no fucking idea why….

Bottom line, Jake was a…wolf.

He was an animal.

Literally, not just metaphorically, or in that playful sense that people often utter these specific words in.

No. He was literally an animal, a wolf to be more precise.

I don't know how I was supposed to react to this news.

Was there some manual I could refer to?

Had anyone ever written a novel on this subject?

They should!

It is important.

Maybe, I can be the lucky one to earn gold from this idea, 'How to deal with your ex-best friend who is an animal in his part time', being the title of my book.

It would earn millions; I am telling you!

And I did have the idea ready- which is the most important part of any book, anyway.

The specifics could be dealt with.

They were not as important.

Yeah! I smiled to myself in agreement.

"Bella," I looked up with a jerk, a tiny girl with shoulder length black hair and an uncomfortable smile staring back at me, fidgeting at her place, making it evident that she would rather be anywhere but here, the feeling being absolutely mutual.

"How are you feeling now?" she patted my hand like I was a fucking two-year-old who needed the consoling after getting a boo-boo, her eyes repeatedly seeking the door of this room?

Why was I in someone's bedroom?

Whose house was this?

Who brought me here?

I went to sit up, a loud 'don't' resounding through the room, filled with absolute horror as her hands outstretched in my direction, needing to stop me from doing said action. I looked up at her in question, my eyebrows raised.

What the fuck was that?

She rolled her eyes in response, a sigh leaving her lips. "You are hurt."

"Okay," I let out a huff, not really impressed by the over-reaction. "I do agree it is a serious blow to my mental health what just happened out there today. Physically though, I could not have been any better."

She smiled, not stopping me in my second attempt to sit up straight on the bed.

"Safe to say you remember everything?"

"Yup." I stated with a sigh. "You are all wolves."

It wasn't a question.

I shuddered slightly at that thought though, attempting to create reasonable distance between the two of us. Of course, I was aware that it was a futile effort. She was a wolf; if she wanted, she could kill me in the blink of an eye, acting before I even realized what was happening to me.

What had I done in my previous life to deserve this in this one?

I mean, whose cute little puppy had I killed?

Why was all of this happening to me?

Someone sitting up there definitely hated me, or at least, derived exceptional enjoyment from my miseries.

The latter seemingly more probable.

"Not all of us," she loudly laughed. "I am human, well, as much as you are."

I frowned at her, still confused of whether she could be trusted or not.

"I am Kim." She took that choice out of my hands, a genuine smile spreading through her face. "I am generally one of those awkward people who hate to see the face of another, but my fiancé expects me to do this and so I am here."

"Well, at least you are honest!" I shrugged in response to her words.

"Why, thank you!" she grinned at me. "I am glad someone appreciates that fact. Generally, I am avoided like the plague within the pack, being termed rude more often than one would be comfortable hearing. Seriously, had I any self-esteem issues, I would be a crying mess right now!"

I laughed; her honesty quite refreshing.

"I am Bella, but you already know that."

"Yeah," she nodded her head in agreement. "As you must have realized by now, I am generally not a part of the welcoming committee, having no filter and all of that, but exceptions were to be made this time around."

"Why so?" I curiously narrowed my eyes at her.

She sighed. "You needed to see someone without the scars, to call a spade a spade. I was the only one available in that category. Paula does not count. She is a pack mother and not an imprint." She was quick to add.

"Oh." I whispered in hesitance. "I did not mean to offend her…"

Now when I looked back at it, my reaction had been so rude, offensive and immature.

Poor Emily.

It must be so hard to live with those scars!

I had just rubbed salt to her wounds!

Maybe unknowingly, but I had done so…

Intentional or not.

"Emily is quick to forgive," Kim smiled, shaking her head slightly, "She is not one of those to keep a grudge. I am pretty sure she has already forgiven you."

"But…But I was so rude." I protested. "I did not mean to, you know? I was just scared and….I am normally a pretty considerate person."

She laughed at that. "I can understand. Had I not lived my entire life with someone not as society accepted normal, I would have been in the same situation."

"I don't mean to pry…" But of course, I was curious. You don't say something like that and then refuse to continue!

That should be counted as a sin!

She giggled, finding the entire situation hilarious, a sigh leaving her lips as soon as her giggles lessened. "My brother has vitiligo. I can…understand the stares he gets. Sure, that makes me angry at times. We have no right to make a person feel insecure in their own skin, but you can't really go around teaching that to everybody. It is just not possible. Believe me, I tried."

"I am sorry." I hesitantly mumbled. "Not because your brother has vitiligo, but because…"

She waved me off, "He loves his life. My parents have always taught us to be thankful for what we have, instead of focusing on the not so positives."

I smiled at her; the burden of offending Emily slightly lessened.

Of course, I would be apologizing to her, though.

"So, Paul and you?" she smirked at me, coming to sit beside me on the chair placed in a hurry, or so it seemed to be.

I scoffed at her words. "I don't even know how to react to that!"

She smiled, shaking her head in amusement. "He imprinted on you. Isn't that a sure short thing?"

"I have no idea what you mean by that word 'imprint'. Any conversation with just that mere word in it, bounces right over my head."

And there, I said it.

I could no longer keep it a secret.

I had no fucking idea what this was all about, and it was high time I revealed this to someone.

I needed to, desperately.

That someone obviously not being Sam Uley.

I would any day take Kim over that Jerk.

She laughed, loudly and nearly scarily. "I knew it! I so predicted that you zoned out on Sam! I told Jared this, but he refused to believe me. He so owes me a new dress!" she cheered to herself.

"How?" I coughed in disbelief, slightly taken aback. "How did you know?"

Sure, I wasn't that great an actor, but I wasn't this bad.

Or at least, I hoped so…

She waved me off. "Eh. I zone out on the man all the time. He is literally the most boring professor to ever exist on the planet, without having the tag of a professor, that is. If you can't sleep some night, give the man a call. I can assure you; you will be snoring by the time he finishes his first sentence."

I hid my laugh. "You speaking from experience?"

She winked at me. "That is for me to know, and for you to guess."

"I like you." I stated, a small smile on my face.

I hadn't ever met anyone like her.

Alice had been bubbly and all alright, but she drew the line at being horrifyingly honest.

As I said, it was pretty refreshing to find such honesty.

"Well, apart from the fact that Jared would not be this appreciative of you declaring your deep-buried feelings for me," she winked at me to let me know that she was just kidding, "I have no problem with us running away together. You are pretty good looking, and I don't mind appreciating beauty."

"You are crazy!"

"And that is a bad thing, how?"

I could not control my laughter then, holding my stomach and just laughing for the next few minutes, finally straightening in my place when my jaw began to ache from all the laughing.

"Gosh. I haven't laughed like this in ages."

She frowned at me. "Yeah, I know. The past months have been tough on you."

"You know about…." I trailed off, waving a hand in air, confused and slightly wary of her answer.

How much did she know?

She sighed. "I don't live under a rock, you know? And anyhow, what you do in your personal life is none of my business. But enough with that, now that you are a wolf girl, it is time for your induction to begin!"

"Wolf girl?" I gave her a confused stare.

"Oh, Bella, we are going to have so much fun together!" she gave me an excited- partly evil- smirk, words flowing out of her mouth as I stared at her, attempting to make sense in all of that seemingly nonsense.