Chloe's POV:
It feels like everything I've ever known has been washed away and now I'm living in some supernatural world. I'm living with two werewolves that are descendants from a tribe I grew up hearing stories about. Even worse than all that, Quil think he's imprinted on me. I think the werewolf stuff was enough to stomach for one night, but this? I'm apparently permanently attached to Quil Ateara. He's supposed to be my soulmate.
This has to be a joke.
Maybe seventh or eighth grade Chloe would be excited about this news but nineteen year old Chloe? She's freaking the fuck out.
Quil Ateara is a girl chasing manwhore that's never formed a real connection to a woman before. He's never longed for one singular girl before. He's never been in a stable relationship. He just chases and chases until he gets what he wants and moves on. Guys like that repulse me and this one in particular turned me down after chasing our entire class. He still decided I wasn't enough.
Well I'm deciding now that he's not enough for me either.
After all the news was laid on me I basically excused myself and laid in my room all night, struggling to sleep. I didn't bother to discuss the "big news" with Quil, I'm sure he's just as disappointed as I am. I have questions, more than I can count, but I don't even want to talk to anyone. They haven't wanted to talk to me in months, why would I confide in them? I'll just get through this on my own, like everything else I've dealt with this year.
Of course it's the weekend so I'm stuck in the house with Embry and Quil. They both work at the local mechanic shop a couple roads away but they have off on weekends just like me. Normally Embry takes on extra shifts to avoid us, but I saw his car outside so I know he's here.
I guess I should have known something was up, but I wasn't going to start thinking all my friends were wolves. All the boys started bulking up lately, even though I hardly hear of them working out. In high school they all used to be a normal weight and height, but now they're all over six feet tall and muscular. Even Quil, who just phased now, is bulky. I didn't notice the tribal tattoos until last night because I haven't really seen the guys or Leah. Embry must have been hiding it from us with his shirts.
I keep locked up in my room until I literally can't take it anymore. Alone time is something I used to desire because I was always so busy, and now? I despise alone time. I want to be social and going out with my friends, not cooped up for months at a time.
At first when Kim started to ditch me I really tried the whole "better on my own" thing. I started shopping alone, going to the beach alone, and even eating at restaurants alone. While it was nice to be a little more independent and focus on myself, I've been so lonely.
The dating scene is La Push is as shitty as anyone would expect it to be. All the guys I graduated with are either in a relationship, not my type, or they left for college. The guys in Forks are all stuck up jerks too. Casual hookups were my thing for maybe a couple months in high school, but I've always known I wasn't the type to do that. It makes me feel used and discarded. I also get attached easily.
I get dressed in warm sweats and then reluctantly walk to the kitchen to make myself something to eat. Luckily neither of them are out here infesting the space. I quickly and quietly make a big bowl of cereal, hoping to eat it before I'm found. I take a seat at the kitchen table and quietly eat when I hear a door creak open.
I try to keep my face unbothered but all I want to do is run. I have no idea how to handle this situation. How do I go about breaking off an imprint? I'm sure they'll say it's impossible, but this just cannot be my fate.
I want someone who's going to actually love me and only have eyes for me. I want to be special to someone, not the 20th body under Quil's belt.
I spot Quil out of the corner of my eye and I hold back a groan. I munch faster on my food but when he approaches me my heart rate goes crazy. "Hey." He mumbles. I glance up at him, he's still in the same lazily put on sweats from yesterday. His shirt has been forgotten and his hair is messily in his face. I've gotten real used to the shirtless boy thing with the guys, but still their bodies amaze me. Even before they were changing into wolves their bodies were nice.
I've always been a little thicker, there's more weight on me than Kim or Leah. I'm a tall girl, but I don't compare to the guys of course. I think my weight makes me a little different then some of the girls in La Push. A lot of them are very thin and short, which I was jealous of for a long time. It took a while, but I'm more confident in who I am and how I look.
"Hey." I mutter, dropping his gaze.
A weird tension swarms in the air around us as he shifts through the kitchen, making himself a bowl too. Great.
"I'm sorry about yesterday if I scared you." He continues the conversation.
It's probably the first apology I've ever heard from Quil that felt genuine. "It's not your fault." And it's not. I don't blame him for that, I can tell he was freaked out and he clearly did not want to hurt me. He didn't show teeth or growl at me, he just sort of hovered and stared. I can assume that's when the imprinting happened. I can honestly say I don't feel anything different now that I'm imprinted on, just a little freaked out to say the least. My stance on Quil remains the same, I don't want him or this.
"But still it was a close call. Emily has a scar on her face from Sam yanno, it was an accident of course.." Poor Emily.
"Well you were careful."
He makes his way to the little wooden table, sitting across from me. I can feel his stare but I don't feel comfortable enough to meet it. I want to run off to my room and hide again, but that would look weak. Quil probably would love that, me admitting to feeling nervous about him.
"So." He mumbles before clearing his throat. "I know this is sort of awkward."
I chuckle a little. "Sort of?"
I look up at him and see the corner of his lips turning up. "A lot awkward." He lets out a breathless laugh. "Sorry to just kind of dumped it on you last night. I think I was still in shock, I should have told you in a better way." He runs a hand through his hair. He's learned after all these years how to actually work with his curly head of hair. In the past it was long and unmanageable. It would cover his eyes and would easily get knotted up. Old Quil loved teasing him about it, back when we were kids. Back when I thought Quil was a sweet, innocent boy.
A manly scent washes over me when he moves around. It smells like cologne, his musk, and fresh mint. My skin prickles with goosebumps and the hair on my body stands at attention. At the same time my nipples harden a little bit and a little throb send through my center.
I freeze for a second but Quil seems not to notice.
What the hell was that, Chloe? Is my body going to start betraying me now?
"Anyways, I'm sorry about that too." He stuffs a mouthful of cereal in his mouth, munching down on it. Milk drips down his chin and a flood of thoughts come rushing to me picturing it going all the way down..
Knock that off right now Chloe.
I'm not so sure what to say. "It's..okay?" It comes out more of a question. "What's it like?"
"What?"
I shrug, feeling stupid for asking. I can't help but want to know more. I don't experience imprinting like he does. How does he even know we imprinted at all? Maybe he was just confused in the moment and saw me and thought there was some bond between us. "Well how are you so sure you imprinted on me?"
He scratches his head, looking shy. "It's a um, like a flash of memories that haven't happened yet. I sort of get a glimpse into what life could be or will be? I'm not so sure how to explain it, but I see us together in the future. Like we're yanno..in love." He says it like it's the most embarrassing this to say. Any fleeting moment of consideration for him washes away and is replaced with disgust yet again.
"So it can't be a mix up?" I ask, feeling my last touch of hope dying.
He shakes his head. "It's not a mix up, it's real. You're my imprint."
When I imagined finding the love of my life I didn't expect them to express our relationship in such a casual way. Quil's talking like I just asked what he wanted for breakfast. He's not enthused and neither am I. I guess it's selfish to be disappointed that he did not overload me with excitement and passion. It's Quil after all, why would I think that would happen? I guess that's just one of those dumb things I fall for after growing up thinking guys are romantic and thoughtful.
"Oh." Is all I can say. I'm not about to accept that. I'm not about to let myself be trapped to someone who doesn't even want this. I can imagine accepting and then finding out a month later he's been cheating on me with some girls from Forks, no way. Nope.
We finish our breakfast in silence before I collect my bowl and put it in the sink. As I turn Quil stands in front of me, just maybe a foot away. "Jeez you're sneaky." I mutter, taking a side step to get out of his way but he follows me. I watch in confusion as he closes the distance between us inch by inch. He's looking at me like I'm a mouse and he's a cat, slowly hunting down his prey. It's primal almost the way his pupils blow out.
"So.." He mumbles, his eyes flicking from my eyes to my lips. My eyebrows pull together and I frown up at him. His warm hand clamps on my hip, his finger dragging up and down under my shirt, just hardly touching my skin.
A shiver threatens to chase up my spine and my center tingles. Staying strong I slap his hand away.
"The fuck?"
It's his turn to frown at me. "What?" It annoys me even more than he's acting so confused, as if that touch is normal and to be expected.
"Why are you so close to me?" I place a hand on his chest, trying to push him away but his stance is firm. He's like a brick wall and I'm trapped in between him and the sink. My skin is scolding hot and I feel like I can't get a clear thought going in my mind. The pads of my fingers feel an exciting zap when my hand touches his bare skin and I flinch, dropping my hand.
He's silent as he stares down at me, his gaze is so gentle yet infuriating. His hand lifts up and his fingers graze over the skin of my cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. For a moment I get stuck in some trance, finding that single moment to be the most affection I've ever gotten before. My brain starts working and I quickly move away from him again, taking a much needed step back.
"Quil!" I snap, turning to him now that I'm at a safe distance from his warm body. "We're not together, don't do that." I cross my arms over my chest, hugging myself. I'm freaked out and a little turned on, against my own will.
He gives me what looks like a sympathetic look. "I know this is new, but we're imprints, we're soulmates. Don't you feel it?" He presses, about to take a step forward but pauses.
I give him a bewildered look. "What? No! I don't feel anything."
He raises his eyebrows as if to call me out on some sort of lie. It's all the truth, I don't. "You don't?"
"No." I nod my head once. "I don't. I don't want this, I want a say in who I'm with for the rest of my life like a normal person. And I say that person is not going to be you, Quil. I'm sorry." I motion between us. This is exactly how I expected him to react. He wants to claim me like it's no big deal because that's just it, it's no big deal to him. He's so "go with the flow" that he hasn't stopped to consider how insane it would be with we did this. We can't stand each other. One little thing happens and he wants us to be fucking in the kitchen? Absolutely not.
"If you need time to work through your thoughts I get it." He shrugs his shoulders. "We should talk about it though."
"Talk about what?" I'm getting frustrated quickly, Quil always finds a way to work me up. Normally I'd like to think I'm easy going, but not around him. Around him I'm uptight and snap easily when provoked just the tiniest bit. He gets under my skin.
"Like if you're going to move into my room or if I'm going to move into yours..or if we should even look into getting a place to ourselves soon." He looks thoughtful, like he's scheming up some big ridiculous life for us to have when I don't even like having him as a mutual friend.
I snort. "Quil, none of that is going to happen. I'm not your soulmate, this is a mistake."
"Oh quit it." He chuckles a little, shaking his head. His hands stuff into his sweats, tugging them just slightly lower. "Give it up."
"Excuse me?" My eyebrows lift.
He shrugs, giving me a boyish grin. "You always do this back and forth with me Chloe, I know you like me. You're always flirting with me and messing around. You just couldn't admit it, huh? I like to play this game too, it's hot, but it's different now that you're my imprint. We have to take us seriously. You don't have to be nervous, we can take things slow." He takes a step closer to me and I lose it.
My hands ball up into fists, wanting to aim at his face. "Are you fucking joking?" I laugh out, anger spewing from me. "We don't do a back and forth Quil. I actually can't stand you. You're annoying and a manwhore. Why would I want to be with you? You treat girls like shit and you can't even take this seriously! I will never be serious with you." I shout, my hands trembling because I'm so worked up. I turn on my heel and stomp back to my room, slamming the door for dramatic effect.
I groan, dropping down on my bed. I let out a heavy sigh, trying to calm myself down. My bedroom door opens a second later and I sit up my eyes bulging from my head. Did he just fucking walk into my room?
"You're just mad that the truth is finally out. You've liked me for year and you've never been able to just say it so you pretend to hate me. Don't take your anger out on me when you're just mad at yourself for wanting me so badly." He stands just in front of me, his chest heaving. His cheeks are flushed red and his hands are balled at his waist.
My mouth drops open before I let out a sarcastic laugh. I rise to my feet, standing up straight in front of him. "That's fucking comical Quil, it really is. I haven't liked you a day in my life." I shake my head. "I don't want you or your tiny dick anywhere near me."
His eyes turn to slits and his jaw locks in place. "When why did I smell you at breakfast?"
"Huh?"
His face turns from angry to smirking and his eyes roam over my fully covered body like I'm butt naked. "Wolves have a keen sense of smell you know." He sucks his lip in between his teeth and looks at me like he wants to eat me.
I have no idea what he's on about until the tingling sensation in between my legs gives me a hint. I feel my whole body flame with embarrassment. Do I smell bad? Can he actually smell me or is he just trying to get a rise out of me?
My lips curl into a smirk to match his. "Oh you thought that was for you?" I laugh, shaking my head. "That's real embarrassing for you, isn't it? No that wasn't because of you at all."
His smirk drops and his face is in disbelief. "What?"
Feeling my own confidence come back I push him back so I can stand on my own two feet in front of him. "I said that's embarrassing for you that you thought I was horny for you. That's not the case at all." I cross my arms over my chest, feeling powerful.
"You want me to believe there's someone else?" He asks, still looking dumbfounded at my rejection. I'm not going to let Quil embarrass me like that. He can be the one feeling foolish and stupid.
I shrug my shoulders. "I actually don't care what you believe. Now get out." I point to the door, motioning him to leave.
He stares at me for another moment before storming away, marching out of the room and into his own. His door slams shut and pride fills in my chest.