Chapter 15: Confessions of a Shape shifting Asshole

Brady

I knew I had messed up. I was an asshole, remember?

I shook my head as Lexi climbed into my truck and crossed her arms in an angry huff. I knew she didn't mean any of what she said; I could feel it. Instead of talking more, I simply started my truck and pulled out onto the road towards home. She stared out the window with her arms still crossed most of the way back to Forks in silence. I had crossed a line at the mall and acted like I was some crazy, possessive jerk, but I couldn't help it. It was as if my animalistic side had come raging out without my consent, and I felt the strong need to act on the compulsion to claim what was mine. That kid should just be happy I hadn't decided to rearrange his face.

I grinned to myself. She would have really loved that.

Her burst of sassy anger in the parking garage reminded me once again why she was destined to be mine.

Her fiery, hot little temper had sprung out of nowhere, enticing me even further. I was more convinced that she could handle my wolf side - she was made for me, after all. I had wondered more than once if she would be able to handle my temper; I now knew that whatever I dished out, she could give right back to me. I could never get mad enough to hurt her, so I wasn't worried about that. I might be an asshole, but I had control over it. I was more excited than anything. The girl of my dreams was beautiful, smart, and could fire right back at me with attitude of her own.

I liked it.

There was no question if she really belonged with me or not.

I knew she did - now I just had to convince her of it.

Lexi huffed beside me, taping her sneaker on the floor impatiently. Damn, she was hot when she was mad. Words like fireball and pistol came to mind as I remembered how beautifully agitated she had been in the parking garage while yelling at me. Wide blue eyes, blonde hair frizzed out with the moisture in the air, her tan cheeks red and hot...

One thing was for sure – we would fight, and I knew it. But I also knew we would have what would undoubtedly be the hottest makeup sex known to man. I just needed to get to a place where I could explain all of it. But how? The sooner I did this, the sooner we could get to fully know each other. I know I had been speaking in riddles and saying confusing things to her, but she would understand soon enough.

I was growing tired of the friends routine, even though I had agreed to respect it.

But in all honesty, we had one hell of a hot make out session last night and how could she even begin to deny that? Her 'friends only' façade was crumbling, and I knew it was unnerving her. This is all new to her, I reminded myself mentally. I knew we had to take it slow and also that she was afraid of her own feelings for me. Imprint feelings were intense, even for the imprint herself. Lexi had no clue why she was feeling the way she was towards me, and I knew I needed to tell her.

Maybe it would help her sort things out.

My mind made up, I drove the back way home. I needed to tell her the truth so that this could all stop; the confusion, the blurred lines, everything. I was going to come clean and let the truth be known. No more games.

My thoughts flashed back to Lexi yelling in my face, cussing and verbally handing me my ass like I deserved. Fuck, she was hot! I chuckled under my breath as I drove, earning me another dirty look from my imprint. She didn't get it, but she soon would.

I pulled off the winding, deserted road onto an old logging path. Lexi sat up with alarm. "Where are we going?"

"Out into the woods. I'm an axe murderer. Sorry I forgot to tell you," I deadpanned.

She sat back in her seat and blew out a breath. "Great. Icing on the shit cake that was today. Just make it quick, please," she spat. I burst out laughing as I put my truck into park.

Fuck, I loved this girl.

I put the truck in park once we were far enough away from the road and climbed out. "Want to get some air with me?"

She looked at me like I was crazy, but I could only chuckle. This was only the tip of the iceberg we were about to steer our sinking ship into. My feet crunched against the dewy undergrowth of the woods as I walked in front of the truck and sat down on a fallen tree. Lexi paused about ten feet in front of me, her arms crossed in that cute little defiant way I had grown to love.

She raised her eyebrows. "Well?" she demanded.

"I'm an ass. And I'm sorry."

She raised an eyebrow even further up her head but said nothing.

"There's a reason that I am like I am, Lexi."

She snorted. "There's a reason you're a self-absorbed, obnoxious, moody asshole?" she quipped.

I grinned. "Well, there's a reason I'm moody. I can blame moody on that reason, but the rest is just me."

"Don't forget to add possessive onto that list," she snapped, "thanks to your little outburst in the mall."

"Will you just let me explain? Damn, woman."

"Fine."

"I'm different."

"No shit."

I had to laugh.

"No, really. I'm different. How much stuff out of fairytales do you believe?"

"Certainly not the parts about prince charming," she added pointedly.

"Fair enough. But I'm talking about the bad stuff. Scary stuff."

"Oh, so this is a horror movie then? And you are an axe murderer? Great," she sighed, throwing up her hands. "Get it over with."

I chuckled and stood up, pulling my shirt over my head. "No, I'm not. But I am something out of a fairytale. A demented one, but a fairytale no doubt."

Lexi gave me a steely glare as I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my socks. "If this is your idea of propositioning me, you had it better last night. I'm not really an outdoorsy type of girl."

I reached for the button on my jeans and she took a step back. "Are you going to kill me when you're naked, or..."

"No," I said slowly, pulling off my pants. I figured I'd just leave the underwear for now; no use traumatizing the poor girl. I could buy new boxers. "Will you just bear with me? And...know that I'd never hurt you even though I'm an asshole."

Lexi nodded, still looking around like she was on an episode of Punk'd.

"Part of what draws me to you ensures I could never hurt you...but I might scare you. Just...promise me you won't run."

At this point, she could only give me a wide eyed stare. I think she could tell that something was going to happen; she just couldn't be sure what. A seriousness had settled over the air, cloaking us in a type of tension that couldn't be explained.

"What..." she trailed off.

I leaned over and phased with the precision that only a season shape shifter could have. My bones shifted and changed as the familiar heat went rushing up and down my spine. I had leaned over with my hands. By the time they hit the ground, they were paws. I did my best to flatten my ears and cover the razor sharp teeth behind my lips as my eyes found Lexi. She was backed against a tree, her hands scraping at the bark as she gaped at me.

I wagged my tail, hoping it would help. She blinked like she was seeing double. "B-Brady? What did you do with Brady?" she asked.

I let out a loud bark and wagged my tail again. I nodded in the most human way I could and leaned down in a submissive stance. She relaxed slightly, and I could see her mind piecing this together. That's right, I pleaded silently. The wolf didn't do anything with Brady, the wolf is Brady!

Having enough of this, I phased back and covered myself with my hands. Lexi let out a confused cough and tried to close her shocked mouth as I gave her a pointed look. "Believe me now?"

She let out a noise that resembled a squeak.

"Can you turn around? I just need a second to pull on my pants."

Slowly, she turned around and allowed me to pull on my jeans. Figuring the wolf was out of the bag anyway, I skipped the shirt and walked over to her. "There."

Lexi faced me again, her wide eyes raking down my still form in front of her. "So...so you're a wolf?"

I shrugged. "I prefer shape shifter, but yeah."

She gulped. "But you're...you're...you change into a..."

I nodded. "I told you it wouldn't seem real. I wasn't lying."

Lexi was quiet for a moment, her bright eyes scanning the mossy floor blankly as she came to grips with this. "What else is real?"

"We'll get to that later, ok?"

She could only bob her head slightly. I reached out and took her hand in mine to lead her back to the fallen tree. We sat down, and I chuckled when I noticed her scoot away from me slightly, dropping my hand from hers.

"Well, now that the wolf's out of the bag, what do you think of me?" I asked.

She gave me an uncomfortable look.

"I won't hurt you, if that's what you're afraid of. It doesn't just happen; I can control it like blinking or breathing."

"Always?"

I nodded. "Been doing it since I was thirteen."

"How...how long ago was that?"

I leaned forward and put my elbows on my knees. Here it was – the age question we had been dancing around for months now. I had dodged it several times, hoping I looked young enough to be seen with her. "I was twenty four when I met you, and now I'm technically twenty five."

Lexi let out a shaky breath. I could still see her hands trembling slightly as she sat next to me. "Technically, what does that mean? You're either twenty five or you're not."

"This...thing I do. I don't age. Not until I stop doing it. But the pack still needs me, so I kept on phasing."

"The pack? There's more?"

"A lot more. It's...something in our blood. It's a secret though Lexi – you can't tell anyone. I could be in danger if you ever did."

She looked up at me, shaking her head. "I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't tell," she insisted quickly. "This is weird, but...I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Well...some people know. Claire knows, because Quil, obviously...but Regan doesn't know yet. She will soon."

She gasped. "Seth?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Seth. And...anyone else who looks like I do," I chuckled. "Big, hulking Native guys. We can all do it."

"Okay, so...you said you need to do it. What does that mean?" she prodded.

"Questions questions," I laughed. "Um, we'll get to that later, ok? But I'm twenty five. I'm frozen looking like this until I stop phasing. So...that brings me to my next...issue," I forced out. Fuck, either way I put this, this was the part where it got...creepy and awkward. I had witness almost a dozen imprint 'confessions' as we called them over the years. Guys had a way of replaying them in their minds afterwards, often obsessing if the girl took it poorly.

"What?"

"This...thing I do. Makes me...lets me...I get to imprint."

"What's that?"

I sighed, my mind remembering the night on the beach she had called me a dog and put me in my place. The silence in the damp forest seemed to loom over us like a dark cloud that was threatening to pour rain. I could explain this several ways, but each way would most likely scare her off.

I had one thing to do before I did that.

"Will you do one thing for me?"

Lexi's blue eyes flashed back to mine. "What? Why?"

I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "Just...one thing. I swear. Then if you want to run screaming through the hills, then...fine. But just do this one thing for me."

She stood and followed me, allowing me to tug her hand all the way through the woods back to my truck.

"Where are we going?"

"Just get in. If you do this for me, then I swear I'll tell you anything you want to know."

She obliged, carefully getting into the truck like it was made of dynamite. I started the engine and tossed my shirt onto the seat beside me. "I'm not going to burst into one right here. I told you; it's controlled," I promised.

She seemed to relax a little. I pulled back out onto the main road and sped off, flying down the winding roads. We drove in silence for another twenty minutes until we arrived at our destination. I glanced over at her as I pulled down the long, winding driveway of my parents' house. I knew my dad wasn't home, so I figured it was safe enough, at least for a little while.

Before Lexi ran, I wanted to introduce her to my mom, if only once. I jumped out of the truck and threw my shirt back on, hurrying around to her side. I flung open the door and practically had to peel her out of the truck, but she slowly came with me. I rang the doorbell to be polite and breathed a sigh of relief when my mother opened the door. She cried out in happiness at the sight of me and quickly pulled me inside.

"Honey," she said happily, "it's been too long. Your momma missed you," she cooed, hugging me to her like I was a little kid. I laughed against her sweet-smelling hair and hugged her back.

"Sorry ma, I got busy with pack stuff."

My mother pulled away with a worried look in her eyes. "Is everything okay? It's not like last time—"

I cut her off quickly, not wanting her to say anything I would have to explain just yet. My mother knew the legends of the Cold Ones, as did my dad. However, my mom was the only one who knew just how true they were.

"I have...someone for you to meet," I said quickly, stepping to the side. I pulled Lexi out from behind me and into the foyer where I stood. She peeked out meekly and I had to smile. So unlike the fierce creature I had witnessed in the parking deck a few hours ago.

My mom stepped back in surprise, ushering us further into the foyer. "Who is this?" she asked hopefully, her dark eyes bright. She knew about imprinting and had always hoped I would find my imprint someday; she wanted me to stop phasing and retire. I knew it was a dream of hers to someday have grandchildren.

I pulled Lexi forward, ignoring the way her palm was starting to sweat against mine. "This...is Lexi. Lexi, this is my mom," I said reverently, pushing her forward. Lexi gave my mother a crooked smile and reached her hand out. Even when pissed at me, the girl didn't forget her manners.

"Um...hi," she offered meekly. "You have a really beautiful home, I...Sorry I'm such...a mess," she said, picking up a piece of her damp, blonde hair and flicking it miserably. My mom just laughed and dropped her hand, rushing forward to hug her.

"I don't care about your hair, sweetie," she said, hugging my unexpecting imprint tightly. Lexi's panicky eyes met mine over my mom's shoulder, and I had to laugh. I knew my mom would be happy, but I couldn't have guessed she'd be quite this happy.

"Oh, um...well it's nice to meet you," Lexi offered.

My mother pulled her the rest of the way into the expansive house, grinning at me. "Can you guys stay for dinner? Your father is in Portland for the week, so it's just me," she said, her voice tinged with sadness.

I looked at Lexi, who could only shrug. "Um, sure."

"Great. I'll cook, you guys look hungry. Come into the kitchen and keep me company. You can tell me how you met."

I shook my head and laughed at my overzealous mother, hoping she wouldn't scare Lexi more than I already had that day.

Lexi excused herself to go to the restroom, so I took the time to talk to my mom about our situation.

"She knows the wolfy thing, not the imprint thing," I hissed quietly. "I haven't told her that yet."

My mom hugged me again, her eyes tearing up. "I'm so happy for you Brady. Good things," she said softly, holding my cheeks in her palms, "I always knew good things would come to you."

"Took long enough," I muttered, sitting down at the table. I didn't see any half-drained bottles of wine anywhere as I looked nervously around the kitchen, so that was good. Maybe my mom's drinking was getting a little better with my dad out of town.

"So how long is he gone for this time?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Til Tuesday. Some conference."

"I'll bet," I snapped.

She gave me a warning look and began chopping vegetables. "Let's not talk about your father, shall we?"

"Fine," I agreed. "Please don't scare Lexi off. I just phased in the woods and about gave her a heart attack, so I don't think she can handle much more today," I explained.

My mother nodded. "Fine, fine. So how are you two...doing?"

I shrugged. "Depends on what day you ask," I admitted wryly. "It's a bit...touch and go."

"The great romances always are," she sighed dreamily. "What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

She shrugged. "You know. I'm from Makah but I always heard the stories about...imprinting," she said softly, looking around cautiously. "What's it like to love someone like that when you just met?"

"Aggravating," I answered honestly. "Infuriating. Grating...confusing...amazing," I finally relented, cracking a bit of a smile. "She's my imprint, that's for sure. I didn't get it at first, but...now I do."

"She seems perfect, what do you mean?"

I grinned. "She fights with me. And calls me an ass. And...she sees me, mom."

"She sounds perfect."

We didn't have a chance to say much else; Lexi walked back into the kitchen, her eyes darting around my mother's pristine home. "This house is amazing. My dad would love all the lines," she smiled.

"Lexi's dad is an architect," I explained. "He's got an eye for it."

"He says you do too," Lexi admitted. "Or at least he thinks so."

"He said that?" I asked in surprise. She nodded as I stared at her. Slowly, she sat down at the kitchen counter next to me and fiddled with her fingernails.

"Can I help you cook?" she asked hopefully.

My mother nodded happily, pulling out an extra cutting board and paring knife for her. She slid over to give her room as Lexi shyly moved over to join her. I could tell my mom was nearly exploding with unasked questions, and she was barely restraining herself. I decided to intervene.

"Lexi is going to be a senior at Forks High this year. She moved with her dad and his partner from California last March," I offered.

My mom smiled. "Oh, a California girl. What do you want with rainy old Forks?"

Lexi shrugged bashfully. "Um...I guess I just needed a change. My parents got divorced and...my family went through some tough changes," she admitted. "But it's alright," she promised.

"Of course," my mom said softly. "My parents were divorced too; that can be so rough on a girl. Mine divorced my freshman year. I spent all of high school bouncing between here and Makah, the reservation where I grew up."

"Yeah, it's tough," she agreed.

I watched the two women in my life unexpectedly bond, and I felt like I was having an out of body experience. My mom and my imprint, sharing stories about life and loss and growing up...it was weird. But good weird. I had forgotten how truly wonderful and charming my mother could be when she wasn't being put down by my dad and drowning her sorrows in a bottle of wine.

As my mom went to work setting the table, I pulled Lexi aside. "Are you sure you're alright to stay?"

"I'm fine, I want to stay," she whispered, giving me an honest shrug. "But we're talking about the giant wolf in the room later, if you catch my drift," she growled fiercely. "Don't think I forgot about that for one second Brady. Ass," she added for good measure.

"Fine, fine. I'll tell you anything you want to know later. Deal?"

"I'm compiling a list of questions; you'd better believe it," she promised.

I grinned. "So are you still mad at me?"

I didn't miss the faint smile on her lips when she brushed past me to the kitchen. "Brady, I'm always mad at you."

Thank you to NinkyBaby for her beta work!

Hope you guys enjoyed this one - I loved getting to write his confession! Thanks for reading : )