PREVIOUSLY-

"Bella can stay the night here, Charlie. I could use the company." I heard a voice say from behind me, turning around to notice it was Leah. After our introduction earlier, I was wondering why she was doing this.

"Alright then, Bella, Billy and I are going to head out. You and Leah have a nice girl's night." Charlie said before heading out the door.

I looked at Leah, who motioned for me to follow her up to her room. Once inside, I turned to her for an explanation.

"So, I thought you didn't like me, considering our introduction…" I mentioned nervously.

"I'm definitely not a fan of your past choices in men, Swan." She mumbled back to me, looking out the window.

"Then why'd you tell Charlie I was staying?" I questioned, wanting to get the real reason behind it.

"My baby brother imprinted on you, which makes you pack. Even though I'm new at it, and I'm not overly excited to turn into a giant wolf, or having to share my head with people I really don't want to, but I do know that as a pack, we protect our own. It's instinctual or some shit. Jared and Embry caught the scent of a leech near your place. Seth nearly freaked when he thought you'd be going home, unprotected. So, as always, in comes big sister to save the day." She explained. I panicked for a split second about what she said. There had been a leech scent near my house? Could it have been Victoria?

"Uh- thanks, I guess." I muttered as my mind still reeled with the new information.

"You'll be safe here. I'm going to go back out and help the guys. By the way, I'd steer clear of Jacob for a few days. He's not exactly excited about the imprint, and Seth isn't exactly happy with him." She told me. I was just about to ask her why when I noticed she was gone, and her window was wide open.

I sat there, staring around her room for a long while before I heard a soft knock at the door. I hesitantly went to go open it, only to find Seth on the other side, this time wearing a zipped hoodie with cutoff sleeves.

"Hey," he said almost nervously. I motioned for him to come in.

"Leah said the guys picked up a- um- scent?" I asked, wanting to know. He scratched the back of his head and looked down to me. "Was it Victoria? The red head?"

"What? No, it wasn't her. I mean, I haven't seen her up close and personal yet, only in the guy's minds, but it definitely wasn't her. Sam told me to come back here and that they'd take care of it." Seth told me.

I felt myself relax that it wasn't Victoria, but I worried about who it could possibly be. My mind drifted briefly to the Cullen's, but I somehow found myself not longing to see them or him nearly as much as I had, even as soon as this afternoon. The thought confused me, and I wondered if it were the imprint at work?

"Your sister said something about you and Jake having a… disagreement?" I asked, and his eyes darkened almost immediately.

"Something like that…" he muttered under his breath.

"Are you going to tell me why?" I questioned, not really demanding an answer, but wanting one, and he looked at me before running his hands through his shortened hair and sat in Leah's desk chair.

"When I phased in, Jake saw that I imprinted on you and he flipped. He tried to attack at first, but Sam stopped him." He began. I looked at him, completely shocked. "He kept going on about how you were his, that you belonged to him, no one else, and that I was trying to steal you out from under him. How obviously the imprint had to be wrong because I'm only 15 and you're 18. He- uh- he replayed a memory he had of you saying you weren't really into the whole 'cougar' thing…"

My cheeks reddened as he said the last part. I'd forgotten I said that, to be honest. "I can't believe Jake tried to attack you! You didn't do anything wrong! Not only that, but I'm not a possession. I don't belong to anyone, and that includes him. And about the whole 'cougar' comment, I told him that because I was trying to make it clear to him that I only ever wanted to be friends. I never had any romantic feelings toward him." I explained, angry that Jake had done any of it. It made me want to march over to his house and give him a piece of my mind.

"I know you're not a possession. Even though I imprinted on you, if anything, it makes me more yours than you are mine." He stated quietly, making me blush. I knew it was time to change the conversation.

"Is everyone gone from downstairs?" I asked him curiously.

"Yeah, it's just mom, and I think she's gone to bed. It's weird hearing all these noises all of a sudden. I can hear my mom breathing from two rooms away." He replied, "smells, too. I can smell everything."

I suddenly became self-conscious, wondering if I smelled okay. I picked up a piece of my hair and sniffed it. It smelled salty from the ocean water.

"Don't worry, Bella, you smell good, like really, really good. Even though your scent is clouded in salt and Jake, it's still like the best smell ever." He told me, putting my fears at ease.

"Oh, I- uh- had to borrow Jake's old clothes after—" I stopped, not sure that I wanted him to know what I'd done.

"I know what happened. Pack mind, remember?" He said, pointing to his temple. I crawled inside myself wondering if he was going to admonish me like Jake had. "I don't know why you did it, Bella, but I know you weren't trying to hurt yourself. I'm glad Jake was there to pull you out. Just promise you won't go cliff jumping without one of us there in the future?"

"I can promise I will never ever attempt cliff jumping again." I told him honestly, having learned from my first attempt. He laughed.

"It's really fun when it's warm out in the summer, and when it's not right in the middle of a storm." He said pointedly.

"Are you hungry?" I asked him all of a sudden, knowing that even though he'd just eaten a little while ago, he was now a wolf.

"Starving." He replied. I motioned for him to follow me and we went downstairs quietly, back to the kitchen. I pulled the leftover spaghetti out of the refrigerator and started heating it up while simultaneously cleaning up the kitchen, making as little noise as possible.

He ate another huge plate while I tidied things up. "You don't have to clean up, Bella, I can get this stuff up in the morning." He said as I washed his plate off and put it into the dishwasher.

"I came to help, Seth, and it gives one less thing for you or your mom to worry about. I'm kind of a neat freak anyways, so it's really no problem." I responded to him, finishing up. "Do you have a blanket? I'm just going to sleep on the couch, I don't really want to take over your sister's room."

"You can sleep in my room!" He said a little bit too quickly before following with, "I mean, you can sleep there while I take the couch. I pass out on the couch all the time anyways, and you'd probably be more comfortable in a real bed."

"I couldn't kick you out of your own room, Seth." I told him.

"I insist. Really, it would make me feel better if you stayed in there." He really knew how to hit my weak spots already. I motioned for him to show me the way.

He led me back up the stairs to the door just before Leah's room and opened it, showing me inside. It was surprisingly clean for a teenage boy's room. I was impressed. His queen-sized bed wasn't made, but the floor and desk were nice and neat.

"So, uh, this is my room." He said, turning a bit pink.

"It's great, Seth, really. Thanks for letting me take it over for the night." I said, making him flash me a bright smile.

"I'll just be down the stairs if you need me." He told me before heading out the door. "Goodnight, Bella."

"Goodnight, Seth." I replied, sitting down in the bed. He turned off the light and closed the door and I could hear him walk down the stairs, pausing for a moment half-way down.

I hadn't noticed just how tired I actually was. I shuffled under the covers and pulled them up to my chest, laying my head down on the pillow. I had to admit his bed was really comfy, and it smelled incredible. I felt almost at peace.

I closed my eyes and thought about all that had happened over the past 24 hours. I'd jumped off the cliff, in the middle of a bad storm, just so that I could 'see' Edward. Wait, Edward. I could think his name without flinching! It didn't even hurt! I didn't know whether it was the imprint, or if I'd finally let him go as I jumped into the icy cold water, but I didn't care.

I thought about the imprint. It had definitely been a surprise, one none of us had been expecting. When Seth had explained it to me, I could feel that he wasn't lying. It was like I just knew that I could trust every word he said. The age difference threw me at first, but the more I thought about it, the less I cared. He would age. He wasn't frozen at 15 years old forever.

I knew I wasn't ready for any type of romantic relationship at the moment, and apparently Seth knew that, too, which I was grateful for.

I wondered when his birthday was. It was already mid-March and I would be graduated from high school in just a little over two months while Seth still had two full years left after this one. I honestly didn't know how school on the res worked with the wolves though, since all of the council knew about them. Jake hardly ever went to school anymore.

I finally fell asleep after letting my mind drift for a while.

A/N- I might even reward you guys by posting a THIRD chapter today!