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THE GHOSTS OF MY LIFE

Chapter 5: Instinctual.

Sam said his goodbyes and promised to call me after he's done with patrolling, which, he explained is what they do to make sure everything is as it's supposed to be. I had still one lingering thought and called Seth, the responsible one for that lingering thought.

We met up at my place.

"I have a question for you."

"Shoot." He said.

"You warned me the other day to keep my distance from any of the guys you hang out with. Why is this situation any different?"

He smiled and stood up, getting closer to me. He grabbed my face in his big hands. "Because men are stupid. We don't think. I didn't want you to get your heart broken if you dated one of the guys and then he imprinted on someone else."

"You were protecting my feelings?" I didn't know why it surprised me. We have always been close. God! I even lost my virtue with him.

He stared at me as if I were crazy for doubting him "Of course I was. I told Leah the same. You are my sisters, I don't want you hurting" He was so cute. I hugged him tightly.

Harry, whom I haven't noticed until now, smiled proudly. "We raised him yet. Sue turned him into a gentleman". I smiled back.

"So...Are you coming to the bonfire tomorrow night?" He asked.

"What bonfire?"

He looked mortified as he broke the embrace."Ups. I guess Sam hasn't asked you yet. He was going to, by the way." He said rushly.

I shook my head and laughed. "Have you eaten yet?" He nodded.

"Where is the beast?" He asked referring to Vivi.

"Sleeping" He nodded.

We spent the afternoon talking, joking and bonding. Sam joined us when he finished, we ordered some pizzas and the day flew away.

The following night, Sam called me to ask if it was ok with me if he picked me up. I immediately agreed, we haven't gone in our date yet, and I was looking forward to it each day that passed.

He was a really nice guy, he loved his family and talked very highly of his niece. I could see that he was completely smitten by the little girl. I was a little nervous because he told me I was going to meet his sister Emily. I have been to countless of bonfires since Charlie and Sue married, but this one felt different somehow. There were still so many people to meet.

…

…

…

"Em, this is Bella. Bella this Emily, my sister" Emily was very much like Sam, black hair, tanned skin, and a pleasant smile.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you" She cast a glance at Sam and he seemed embarrassed. I smiled.

"Likewise Emily. Chelsea talks non-stop about mommy and daddy. She is a doll" Sam excused himself for a few minutes leaving me talking with Emily. She was really nice. I have met her husband, John, a few times when he drops Chelsea at kindergarten.

When the stories were about to begin, Emily found her way to her husband and I found my way to Sam. He smiled at me and I smiled back sitting next to him.

At some point of the stories, Sam had put his arm around my shoulders and I leaned to him, feeling like I was home.

It didn't escape my notice that Jacob sat next to Leah and he kept talking to her in a low voice, sometimes making her giggle and sometimes forcing her to put a hand on her mouth to keep from laughing too loudly.

"Twenty five years old and one would think he would have grown up by now." Harry murmured looking at Jacob disappointedly. Oh Oh! someone was in trouble with the In-law. I had to keep from laughing at my own silly thoughts. Now it was me who was being stared at with disapproving eyes.

"Are you all right?" Sam asked me in a whisper.

"Yes. yes" He nodded and returned his attention to Billy Black.

Much too soon for my liking the stories ended and the party began. There was a lot of food and beverages. I always loved coming to the Rez because, in reality, everyone was like a big family.

…

…

I excused myself from the conversation Sam, Emily and I were having and went over to Jacob, who was talking to a few guys.

"Jacob?" He looked at me and excused himself from his conversation.

"Bella Swan" he greeted.

"This may seem rude seeing as we don't know each other very well yet. But you surely know that Leah is not only my best friend, but she is also my sister. I have to ask you, what are your intentions with her?"

He eyed me for a few minutes, a look of anger, surprise and another emotion I couldn't identify crossed his face. "I know you're the Alpha's imprint, but you don't have the right to question me, Bella Swan".

"I am not questioning you like that. I'm concerned for Leah" I whispered angrily trying not to speak too loudly.

"I imprinted on her, alright?" He said through gritted teeth.

I stood there in surprise. Then slowly I smiled widely. Jacob shook his head and laughed. He promised he didn't mean any harm to Leah, and that he genuinely liked her. He has liked her for a long time but didn't want to risk hurting her. I decided that I liked him.

"I like you, Jacob Black. You seem like a good guy. And if not I trust Seth to take care of you. Or Charlie. He can make it look like an accident" He laughed again. I smiled amused.

Sam joined us, putting his arm around me. I liked that. "What is so funny over here?" He asked looking at me and then at Jake, as Leah often called him.

"She's a fierce one." Jake pointed at me still laughing.

"Don't I know it" I smiled smugly at Sam's remark.

"She actually threatened me" He acted wounded, putting his hand over his heart.

Sam looked at me questioningly. "I only told him that Charlie could handle him and make it look like an accident if he did something to hurt Leah" I shrugged.

Sam swallowed. Jake laughed. "Yeah. If he is that protective of Leah, imagine how is he about his baby girl" Sam actually looked a little frightened. He told me they were immune to a lot of things, but human injuries were quite weird for them. He also said they healed pretty quickly unless the injury was really hard. I imagine a bullet is not nice and doesn't fall on the "quickly healing" category.

Harry and Alison were both present during these conversations.

Alison was saying that his baby boy was too of a gentleman to be of any danger. Harry told her that she might as well be right because if she wasn't, he was going to make sure that Sam knew what it was to be really frightened.

To my amusement Harry teased his friends from the council, messing with Billy's wheelchair, or with old Quil Ateara. Alison was next to Emily stroking her hair and looking at her with longing. It was heartbreaking seeing her interact with her grandchildren without them noticing, she was more open about her real emotions than Harry. He would shrug or huff and hide what he was feeling. He was now messing with my Dad, mocking him while he talked. They were really good friends while Harry was alive, he had told me stories about himself, my dad and Billy Black fishing, drinking bears, talking about women and sports. Sue was mingling and I just kept laughing at Harry, who was now doing whatever my dad did. He was enjoying messing with one of his best friends, so I didn't intervene. When I first met him, three years ago I thought it was really awkward, but he dismissed any awkwardness stating that he was happy Sue was happy and he couldn't have chosen a better man for her to remarry.

I didn't realize that I had subconsciously followed Alison to the beach, where Emily had been standing a few minutes ago. Sam pulled me into an embrace and I leaned into him. Everything with him was instinctual like I knew exactly what to say, or what to do.

"Is this ok with you?" He asked referring to our position.

I grabbed his hands. "It's perfect."

Alison smiled at me and I almost groaned. Couldn't I have a few moments of privacy?

"Sorry to interrupt, but I thought you wanted to know your father is coming here". I nodded slightly at her and she disappeared.

"I think we have to explain something to Charlie. It never occurred to me to ask, but does he knows about werewolves being real?"

"He knows. When Harry Clearwater, Sue's first husband, and Seth's and Leah's dad, died; Sue stepped in in his place. When your dad married her he was told about everything."

"That makes sense. So it will be easier to explain to him this" I signaled us. I felt him nod.

…

Charlie eyed Sam, who had broken the embrace when we heard my dad behind us. "What is this?"

"I imprinted on your daughter, Chief Swan" Sam explained.

I assume my dad was expecting everything except what he just heard. "When?"

"On monday afternoon last week." Has it been that long? "I avoided her for a few days, but she was walking through the woods and when she saw me, I decided to tell her everything"

"Are you good with all of this, Bells?" my dad asked, turning his attention to me.

"I am, dad. I wouldn't have let him in if I wasn't" I shrugged. "It's still really weird for me sometimes, but I think I will get used to them with time."

My dad nodded. "Take care of my baby girl. If you don't, remember that I have a license to shoot, and I have excellent aim" With that threat he left us.

Sam stood there in shock. "You know he's not actually going to shoot you, right?"

"He seemed pretty serious about it"

I shook my head and laughed.

At the party, while we were mingling with everyone and getting to know the ones I didn't know from before I came to noticed that only Sam and Jacob were the ones accompanied. It made me wonder if we were the only couples.

I voiced my thoughts and Sam shook his head no "Jared was the first one to imprint. His girlfriend is Kim, but she couldn't make it today. Maybe some other time. She is pretty nice and keeps Jared on his feet." He spoke highly of his pack, as he told me they called themselves. It was evident that they cared deeply for each other. And they were all nice guys and actually quite funny too. Paul was a little hot head but he was nice nonetheless.

…

…

…

The next day, I was at my dad's place for our weekly dinner with the family.

"Bells, does Sam know about you talking to people who aren't with us?"

"Ghosts, dad. It's not a bad word" I scolded lightly. "And not yet." he looked at me disapprovingly. "What?" I asked defensively "It's not something you can sneak into a casual conversation, like 'Oh! I had a great time yesterday at the bonfire. By the way, I can speak to dead people'".

My dad shook his head. "You know there are ways to tell him. You told me, and your mom, and Sue and…"

"Yeah, Dad. I get it. But you are family. I mean, you kinda had to accept it"

He laughed. "He won't run away Bells."

"He might think I'm crazy"

"In case you haven't noticed, he turns into a wolf. He won't think you're crazy" I nodded, though I wasn't very sure about it.

I hoped you liked it!

The next chapter is mostly done so I will be posting soon hopefully.

Paty4Hale

18.09.2018