A/N: Before you bring the guns out and shoot me, I've been meaning to post since the start of the month but neither me nor my computer NOR my wifi are perfect. So there. (I have an inconsistent schedule, sorreh)

In addition to asking for what you think of the story as usual in the reviews, what do you guys think of the cover? I wanna know if you think it's too simple, but I think it also contributes drama in a special sort of way — special meaning booboo stewart being hella cute in that side glance mmmhmmmmmm. (Damn.)

Thanks to 14 for adding this story to her community! (Link: community/Aphrodite-Approved-imprint-stories/123531/)

ALSO, is anyone here familiar with the app "Episode"? If so, I was thinking of possibly turning this into one so you, my dear readers, could get a little more immersed into the story. I don't know how to use it yet, but I think I'd be willing if you guys wanted it enough to. If you got no clue what I'm talking about, try downloading it on the app store and trying out the featured stuff on there. It's hella fun and a great way to pass the time haha!

Please check out the poll on my profile for this story!

Chapter 9

Difficult Directions

I dismounted Seth once more as we neared the border. The air seemed to warm up a bit thanks to the sun, and I took a refreshing breath of the dewy air.

"Hold on. I'm just going to phase, in case." He said, and hid behind a tree.

I heard his pants unzip, and I blushed. He came out from behind the tree in wolf form. I placed a hand on his head, and he sniffed my face.

I laughed.

I decided to scratch behind his ear, to see what effect it would have. He sat and leaned his head into my hand, and his foot started to thump. I giggled at how adorable he was. He was no different from an oversized puppy!

Enough, Callie, cut it out! He pleaded amusingly.

"But you're so cute!" I replied, scratching harder.

Suddenly, wolf Jared appeared and I jumped in surprise.

Cut it out, you two. He thought.

I stopped, my smile fading. Seth stood up on all fours again.

Why are you here? Seth asked.

Because I'm part of the pack, and currently, we have a situation. The Cullens are coming. Jared responded telepathically.

Yeah, I know. That's why we came. Seth replied.

Then get your head in the game. Wolf Paul appeared, and we walked together to the border.

Good. You're here. Sam said, as we reached the small cliff.

"Callie! Carlisle, she's safe." Esme called frantically from the other side.

"Please return Callie to us." Carlisle said, stepping forward.

"I came here by my own will." I shouted in reply.

Seth looked at me.

"Honey, you know we can't cross the border. Please just come home." Esme implored desperately, stepping closer and closer to the edge.

"No way! What home are you talking about? It's just a house full of hypocrites." I replied vehemently, my knuckles turning white with rage.

"Callie, love, we were wrong. I'm sorry that I hesitated but I should have sided with you. I realize that now. Your happiness counts, too."

"Callie, I'm sorry, too." Rosalie added.

"So am I." Emmett called out.

"And us." Alice said, referring to her and Jasper.

"Especially me." Edward said.

I narrowed my eyes at them. "I'm happy here."

"You can't stay there, sweetheart, that's not your home." Esme reasoned with a look full of remorse.

I'll be her home. Seth thought, and he started to growl.

I felt my heart skip a beat when his sincere thoughts crossed my mind. I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

It's her choice if she wants to stay. Sam thought.

I looked at him in surprise.

Edward translated.

"Please come back, Callie!" Esme pleaded.

My stomach grumbled. I realized I hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday.

Everyone heard.

Rosalie was the first to speak. "I can make you your favorites! The mutt- I mean, Seth can come too!"

"I can't trust any of you." I replied stonily with a slight shrug of my shoulders. As sincere as they sounded, it just didn't seem like they knew how much of a low I was in with them. It was so bad that my heart hurt, and that's not something one can easily recover from, especially overnight.

"Please, Callie." Alice begged.

I shook my head and turned away. I didn't want to hear any more.

I slowly walked back into the forest, and Seth followed, somewhat shielding me from them. I just walked into the forest in a trance without a set destination, Seth beside me every misdirected step.

After a while, he walked ahead and stopped me.

Are you alright? He asked with sad-looking eyes.

I shook my head. "Tired, I guess."

He nodded, and settled next to a tree.

Sleep for a while. He thought. I'll be like your own personal bed in the woods.

I gave him a tired smile, but leaned against him anyway. His fur was just the perfect thing I needed — warm and soft, with the perfect, delectable scent of him on each strand of it.

I'll keep you safe.

And my eyes fluttered shut, and I was consumed by tiredness.

Good morning, sunshine. Were the first words in my head, and I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the softest fur of a wolf.

He looked at me, panting like a dog.

I hugged him tight and shielded my face from the bright sun. "Hmmph."

Nice try. Come on, Emily made you breakfast. It's going to get cold soon, so we have to go now.

I stretched and yawned, sitting upright and giving the wolf the space to do the same. Seth phased quickly and returned to my side to help me up.

"How long was I out?" I questioned, only opening one eye as the sun was right on my face.

"Three hours." He announced, smiling. He took my face into his large hands, taking a closer look. His eyes widened in amazement as he scanned my face. "You're glowing, Callie."

"If that were not actually true, I'd take that as a compliment." I chuckled.

He smiled, and his hands dropped to hold the two of mine. He leaned in closer until our foreheads touched, then looked at me intensely.

"Time for you to meet my mom and the rest of the family." He smiled. "You ready?"

My heart fluttered, and my eyes shot open to meet his kind ones. He had a smirk on.

"What?" I asked, almost in a stutter.

"Callie, I can hear your heartbeat." Seth furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you nervous?" He smirked.

I shook my head a little. "No. No, it's just really that fast." I lied with a straight face.

"Oh. Never noticed it before." He admitted, confused.

I yawned. "Wait, did you sleep at all?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. I couldn't, especially not with having you to need to protect."

"Then how are you not sleepy?" I asked, moving closer and resting my head on his warm shoulder. My hands rested on his abs.

I sensed his surprise at the contact at first, but then he wrapped his arms around me and rested his head on top of mine.

"Let's just call it a wolf-thing." He said nonchalantly.

"Mmm." I muttered.

He chuckled. "C'mon, I'll carry you there."

He then proceeded to carrying me on his back, and again, I never felt more safe. He started to run, and my eyes kept drooping.

When he set me down, I found myself standing before a quaint cottage in the woods, which smelled way too much like dog. I scrunched my nose as I adjusted to the foul odor.

"This is Sam and Emily's house." Seth stated, and I nodded as if it explained everything. I sniffed and looked around.

The smell of pancakes then hit my nose, and my stomach grumbled much louder than I would've expected it to.

He grinned and I looked away in shame.

"Let's head in, I'm starving too." He said, and he took me excitedly by the hand and lead me inside.

"Seth's here. And so is Callie." Embry announced as we walked into the dining area — he was practically inhaling the golden-brown pancake on his plate.

"Hey!"

"Hey, sit down!"

"Grab a seat." Some voices overlapped.

I looked to Seth, and he nodded in greeting at the guys. I smiled at them.

"Callie, it's great to meet you." A beautiful woman with three long gashes across her face walked out of the kitchen. She was tanned and fit, with long dark hair and the most beautiful Quileute features. I was surprised at first but recovered quickly, and once I got past it I realized how gorgeous she was.

"Callie, this is Emily. Emily, meet Callie. She's Sam's imprint, and our 'pack mother' as we like to call her." Seth said.

I smiled and nodded, shaking her hand. "The pleasure is all mine. You have a lovely home."

She gave me a radiant smile and pulled my hand in to give me a quick hug. "Come, sit. I'll make you breakfast."

I shook my head. "No, I don't want to intrude."

Seth looked at me.

"You're not intruding at all, dear. I'm more than happy to have people over." She said, and returned to the kitchen.

"Here, sit." Seth took the last empty chair and helped me sit. I smiled at him appreciatively.

"So, Seth took you to the cliff?" Quil asked.

"Yeah." I smiled awkwardly, realizing that Seth's thoughts were now linked with everyone else's.

"All that's in my head right now is Callie, Callie, Callie." Jared stated. "Seth, spare us."

I looked up behind me and Seth turned red in the face.

"C'mon Jared, as if you weren't the same when you imprinted." Seth retaliated, leaning closer to the boy as he rested his hands on my backrest.

"Oh, Kim is so perfect, Kim is my everything, Kim is the one." Embry mocked in a high-pitched voice, making a face and flailing his arms around.

Jared glared as the rest of the pack joined in, closing in on him.

"At least Seth isn't actually speaking his mind like you did." Collin added with a mouth full of food.

"Oooooh, the little dude got you." Embry laughed with the pack, fist-bumping with Quil.

Jared rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He said, and stood to leave.

Seth took his chair and squeezed it between mine and Quil's.

"Be nice to Seth, you guys, and Callie. She's part of the pack now." Sam commanded with a sincere smile.

I looked at him and gave him a toothy smile, and he nodded kindly back at me.

"Here you go Callie, Seth." Emily set down a plate of eight-inch pancakes for each of us: four for Seth and two for me. "If you want more, just ask me."

I thanked her, as did Seth.

"At least your scent isn't as repulsive as that of your family." Paul commented snidely after taking a whiff.

Seth shot him a look, his mouth stuffed with pancakes that I laughed at his chipmunk-like face.

"I think it's because I don't have venom." I explained, chewing my food.

The Quileutes gave me a confused look.

"Vampire venom?" Brady asked. "Isn't that stuff like, deadly to us?" He turned to Sam.

Sam cocked an eyebrow as well. "Yeah. How is it that you don't have any?" He asked, arms crossed as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

I shrugged, taking a slice of my pancake. "Carlisle just tested my blood when I was born and found none. So, I can't turn anyone, and it's unexplainable as to how that's possible and how I have the vampiric abilities."

"What is your special power?" Paul asked. "Or is it that you don't have one."

"Paul." Sam warned.

"She can inherit the special abilities of others." Seth said proudly. "Which is pretty wicked awesome."

I chuckled. "Yeah. What he said. I just touch someone and I inherit their powers for life, albeit not as well-developed as the original, or maybe a little differently."

"What? How does that work?" Sam asked, genuinely curious.

I thought about it as I chewed. "Carlisle used a photocopier metaphor. It's like, I photocopied their powers but then you know how when you photocopy something, it's never as exact as the original? Like that."

He nodded, impressed.

"So, what do you have?" Collin asked.

"I can read minds like Edward, as you know. Just not from miles away like he can." I gave an example. "I can control and feel emotions, like Jasper can, but only fewer people at a time. I can see the future like Alice, but not farther than a year. I can control my vampiric desire to thirst for human blood like Carlisle... I can protect my thoughts from mind readers like Edward, which I believe I got from Bella Swan, though I'm not entirely sure."

"Woah, humans have special abilities?" Paul clarified.

I nodded. "There's this thing, that if when you're a human you have this ability, it gets amplified when you're turned. Like, Alice used to have premonitions when she was a human, and when she turned, she was given the supernatural gift of precognition."

Sam nodded with furrowed eyebrows, processing the information.

I continued to eat, and Brady and Collin asked all the questions they could possibly think of. Seth managed to answer some, which I smiled at.

"These were delicious, thank you Emily." I thanked, bringing mine and Seth's dishes to the kitchen. He was busy wrestling with the others in the TV room.

She looked up from the sink surprised and smiled. "Thanks, just leave them here." She said, gesturing to the pile of plates.

"I'll help. That looks like a lot." I chuckled, placing the two plates on top of the pile.

"You really don't have to, Callie, I'm used to this." She laughed.

"I want to. You've been such a gracious host."

She looked at me and side-smiled. "Okay. You can wipe. There's a dish towel over there."

I nodded and took the towel from the hook. I began to wipe the plates.

"Why aren't Jacob and Leah here?" I asked after a while.

She froze for a second before resuming with the dishes. "Well, she doesn't really like to come by… I mean, she's welcome, but she just chooses not to sometimes… most times…"

"Nevermind. Forgive me asking." I said, looking at her apologetically. "None of my business."

She nodded. "Maybe some other time."

I pursed my lips, nodding as well.

"Sam told me about your situation with your family." She said, now making me freeze momentarily.

"Yeah? What did he say?" I asked, not looking up from the plate I was holding.

"He told me everything." She smiled. "You're more than welcome to stay on the reservation, Callie." She said, offering me reassurance.

"Thanks." I said quietly.

"But, Callie, you should know that family will only do what they think is best for you, regardless if you agree or not." She started. "If I were your mother, I think I'd feel the same way, given the circumstance."

I sighed to calm myself down. "It just really felt like all of them were turning against me." I admitted, setting the plate down gently.

"That may be true, but there's always a logical reason behind it. Take it from me. I had no clue why this huge, muscly guy started chasing after me while he was seeing someone else. Later on, I found there was — well, as logical as possible of an explanation I could find." She said.

I considered this as I continued wiping down plates.

"And look, you already have Seth to support you. And trust me, he's a good kid; one of the best. Kind heart, sincere, genuine, caring, everything. If you need anyone apart from family, you have your imprinter. Your family is going out to battle tomorrow, and they'll need a clear head to fight off those newborns."

I sighed. "Are you guilt-tripping me?" I asked amusedly.

She laughed. "Not at all. Just saying, I wish my family were as close-knit as yours. They managed to apologize, didn't they? It was also difficult for my family to accept me being imprinted, but I couldn't have made it through the guilt I felt without their support."

I nodded and gave it some thought. "You convinced me." I admitted after a while.

She gave me a genuine smile. "Good."

Responses to reviews: pls read the authors notes at ze top bc im terribly dependent on what people think

"Guest" - that's so sweet! haha! thanks for reviewing!

14 - i'm really just so flattered that you added my story to you community. Subscribed now fo sho!

gabschenck - absolutely love you for reviewing!

jeasterl - touché, haha! thanks for pointing that out. I try to do my best to come up with accurate details but I guess the idea of romanticizing it just kinda blinded me!

"Guest" 2 - gosh, I hope you see this chapter

thoreau - woooo! that means so much to hear people say that. thank you, truly! go ireland yaaaas