Chapter 25
I stand on the side of the house watching Luis work under his car. He been working on his car for almost two hours. I think he was doing an oil change. "Must be nice to know about cars." I say. "It has its perks. You can fix your own car." I bet. Jacob knows about cars.
I look around his neighborhood. Some of the houses have Halloween decorations on it. We have none. "I can't wait to drive myself. Maybe I can take my kid over to my mom's house or stuff like that." I say placing my hands on my hips.
"Or his dad's house. The pack has been talking amongst themselves." He say rolling from under his car. "What's being talked about?" I'm guessing they have been talking behind my back.
"A lot of changes are going to happen." "Concerning me and River?" I ask. I want to know. I know the beach day was almost two weeks ago but this is shouldn't still be a discussion.
"What you think about Tristan?" He ask sitting up. "I think Tristan is great. He's just a misunderstood ball of anger on the top." "You are Tristan's imprint." He say standing up straight.
"Okay. What do you want me to do?" "I want you to get to know him. Ease his mind." "Let him end this?" He walks over to me. "I know how it feels to have an imprint. I know the pain of losing one. I know he is struggling. Can you talk to him?"
"What we have sex? The imprinting is too powerful for us." "Then you have sex. I wi-" "Just admit that you don't want me around." "I want you around. I want River around. I want my pack member to be okay."
He is such a liar. You can hear the lies in his voice. He don't want me around and I bet this is Marcus's doing. "So when should I go see him?" "You can go now. He takes the morning shift."
"Okay. Let me grab my coat." I say walking around him. I'll go visit him and go about my life. Luis is another donkey like Paul and Jacob. Soon as I grab my light blue jacket out of my bedroom, I head into the forest.
As I'm walking, I'm just thinking about so much. River is on my mind. My little healthy baby boy. I just can't understand how you can love someone this much especially when the baby is growing inside of you.
A sandy colored medium size wolf run pass me and turn around. "Hi, Ben!" I shout waving my hand. Ain't nothing like a sandy wolf to give you a smile in the morning. He waits for me. I grab his fur. "Get down." He shakes his head. "Fine. I guess you won't giving me a ride. Let's head to Tristan's house." That's where I am going.
He takes the walk with me all of the way to Tristan's house. I walk into his backyard and the kitchen door opens up to Tristan who's wearing red basketball shorts. Okay. Okay. He looking good.
I walk across his backyard. He opens the kitchen door and I walk in. I've never been in Tristan's house. I make sure to compliment his home. I grab the fridge handle and open it up. His fridge is a little bit full. It seems he has fried chicken as leftovers. I close the fridge. Tristan walk pass me. I grab the waistband of his shorts.
He stops walking. I walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist. It feels like pudding. It feels right. It feels perfect. He grabs my arms and unwrap them. He walks out of the kitchen. "Luis told me that you've been off lately." I'm guessing since he seen me at the beach.
He ignores me and take a seat on his couch. Of course. I take off my jacket walking out of the kitchen. I place it on the arm of the couch and stand behind Tristan. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss his cheek. "You smells good, Tristan."
I rub my fingers through his hair when the back door opens up to Marcus. "Mia, what you think you're doing?" He ask rushing in with Lincoln and Shawn behind him. "I'm talking with Tristan. Why?"
"Cause Tristan has a girlfriend." He say catching me off guard. "Okay. This is my imprint. I am his. Don't continue doing this." I snidely say. "Doing what?" Lincoln ask looking at his friend. "Butting in. You got your imprint. You got your girlfriend. Stop interfering."
"His girlfriend is Josh's sis-" "That's not my Beta. That is not my problem. I am going to deal with Tristan cause this is my imprint. I am his." Shawn looks at Marcus. "Okay. You can deal with Arnold."
"She's my imprint." Tristan say. "Arnold does not want you and Mia together cause Alicia." He say. "Who is Arnold?" "Our Alpha." "Without an imprint. He's like Sam. Speaks so heavily on an imprint then want to twist words to his favor when it comes to his Third."
"Just like him." Lincoln say looking at Marcus. "It's not even your business." Shawn say. "It's really not." "It won't his business when he interfered with Luis but here he is again. He likes ruining relationships to his own favor."
Marcus just stares at Tristan. "Let's go." "Okay. Fine." "Bye." I say waiting on him to leave. He needs to leave. He looks around the living room before going into the kitchen. The others follow. I wait till they're into the forest before closing and locking the back door.
I walk back to Tristan and sit directly on his lap facing forward. His brown eyes stare into mine. "Luis had let me know that you were feeling horrible due to being from me. I wanna apologize. I didn't know it was hurting you. I'm sorry." I say looking down at his neckbone. My heart is racing.
I wonder if this is the imprinting in effect. If it is, I like it. I love it. "I didn't want you." He say. "That is okay. I am alright with us being friends if you want to keep your relationship with Alicia going. Just let me know." I say tracing my fingers down his chest bone. He is so sexy.
"Unsure." "That is okay." I say climbing off him. We're all unsure of things till we take action. "Let's go upstairs." I say grabbing both of his hands. "For what?" "To cuddle and think things over. Come on." I say begging him. He gets up from the couch. I lead him right up the stairs and down the hall into his bedroom. He slams the door shut behind us.
I'm seated on the couch dressed in only one of Tristan's shirt while eating a bag of chips. I found it in the top cabinet. The date was still good on it. I chuckle. We had sex almost twenty minutes ago. He went to patrol.
I'll admit that sex between imprints is on a very different level. It's not like he can get me pregnant. I'm already is. I giggle. I'm such a school girl. The kitchen door opens up and Josh walks in with a few others trailing behind him.
"What's going on?" I ask concerned. "Obviously, it's a major problem with you being with your imprint." Shawn say. "Benny, what you doing here?" I ask uncrossing my legs. That's a sign that it is a real problem.
"Backup." He say looking at Arnold. "Oh. Josh, how can I help you?" I ask getting up off the couch. Luis shakes his head. Arnold looks at him. "My sister and Tristan has been together for three years."
"Okay. Pack rules are pack rules." "Not when it comes to an insider." Arnold say. "Imprinting is still imprinting. I can't respect you, Arnold." I say sitting back down. I go right back into eating my bag of chips.
"Respect giving is respect earned." Scott say to Josh. "Always a right way to handle things. All you had to do was talk to her." Lincoln say to Arnold. "Someone said Tristan was in pain." I say wiping my greasy hands on the shirt. "I did." Luis say. Everybody look at him.
"You can tell in his eyes that he was pained. You nor Arnold knows what it feels like, Josh. All you care for is keeping Alicia happy." He say. "Well, it is over now. He got Mia in his system. He's gonna want his soulmate." Lincoln say.
"This is your doing." Arnold say to Marcus. "It is my doing. I felt that my sister should not be with Luis. I apologize. I can't do nothing to make it up. I'm sorry, Josh." He softly say. "Luis, how you feel?"
"Hurt. I can't believe she went ahead and slept with him." "You told me to." "Did not know you would take it serious, Mia." "Well, you ended our relationship. You made it seem like the pack did not want me and River over here. You told me to go to Tristan. I took it to heart."
"Now I'm regretting it." He say glancing at Marcus. "That's on you. Simply take it as a lesson learned and move on." "So you cost your sister and River a home and a father cause of your own selfish reasons?" Scott ask him.
"I did. I didn't want my sister to be with Luis. He's trash as a person." He say. "So she's homeless?" "Naw. I'll always have a home. People like me too much." I say eating the chips.
The front door opens up and Tristan walks in. "Where you been?" Josh ask him. "Talking to Alicia." He say walking over to the couch and sitting next to me. I rub on his face and run my thumb across his teeth. "Alright. I don't smell skin. That's good." He takes my hand out of his face and throw it down. Ouch.
"You broke up with her?" Josh ask walking over. "I broke up with her. I want my imprint." I smile. "I'm sorry." Marcus say. "No. It is okay. If I wanted Mia then I would've ignored you. I'mma go." He say leaving out of the kitchen. Lu-Lu! I sigh. Now I feel bad.
I shouldn't feel bad when I did what he told me to do. "Just like that?" Josh ask. "Just like that." Tristan say. "Maybe we can sweep this under the rug. You can go back to Alicia. Mia can go back home to Paul."
"Or!" I shout turning to face him. "Now this is a suggestion, what if I break your imprinting? Would you like that, Josh?" "Can you do it, Mia?" "Of course. Why should you all bathe in your own love, happiness, and so much more while I can't have mine?"
"Cause of Alicia." Tristan say. "And, you shouldn't scoop to their levels." Scott say. "You're right. I apologize. Just so much anger in me over the hypocrites." "You know." Arnold say to Shawn. "I don't know nothing and I don't blame her. She don't owe this pack nothing. She don't owe you nothing. She don't owe Josh nothing."
I really don't but they'll paint it as though I do. Let me calm myself down. Let me not be evil. "You shouldn't want an imprint pregnant by another wolf, Tristan." Arnold say.
"He's right. Why don't you get married, have kids, and do the most with Alicia so I can come in the future and rip it to shreds by having you leave her due to our love being so great? Distance does make the heart grow fonder. Do that." I tell Tristan.
"Whatever you decide, we will help you." Josh say. "You mean if he wants to break the imprinting?" Lincoln ask. "Yeah." "Oh. No. It is no getting out of this family, Tristan." I say making him look in my face.
"The only way that you are getting out of this family is through a spiritual trip all of the way to your grave. You pull that heavy lethal chain and you suffer the consequences of touching the inside of your soul, Shawn. I mean Tristan. Ain't no getting out of this Atkins Family."
"I'll do it." Tristan say facing forward. "You'll do it? Okay. Don't say that I did not want you but if you wanna do it for Alicia then I cannot stop you." I say getting up from the couch. "I'll shall you lead you to Spirit Cave!" I shout to the roof. "I guess you'll get your wish." Scott say. He must definitely will.
"This is the cave." I say leading the pack up to the big lion's cave. "We passed this cave hundreds of times but never knew it would help break the imprinting." Shawn say thrilled. "You're the only one. Ain't no breaking imprinting, Shawn." Scott say.
"It really is not from what I know but who knows the...wolf customs of the...pack. Who knows? I know I don't. When you do find your grave, don't look at the year. It is so creepy." I say shivering. Tristan walks into the cave and look around.
"You sure you wanna do this?" Marcus ask. "I'm sure." He say. "Very good! Just remember that the future is not written in stone. The future is your future. What will the future be?" "Him breaking the imprint." Scott say.
"Right. Ain't no breaking it but you can ease it." I say putting my hands on my hips. "Do you wanna do it?" Lincoln ask Tristan. "He's doing it for Alicia." "Good luck. When you see my future self, ask her if I'm still hot!" I lick my finger and touch my thigh. "Szzz!" Tristan phase. I scream horrified running into Shawn's arms. He laugh. He scared me. Oh, Jesus. Good luck, Tristan.