Author's Note: I know things are moving a little slow here, so I'm going to try and make this a really long chapter and start getting to the good stuff.
Thanks for reading :)
What was that? Hours after it happened, I still couldn't understand the sensation I felt when Jacob and I touched. I even called Bella when she got off her shift at Newton's Store and talked to her about it, but she was as clueless as I was.
I was bugged. Jacob, obviously, was a very gorgeous guy and from what Bella told me about him very caring about his family and friends. But none of that explains the warmth I felt when our hands touched, or the way I couldn't get my mind off him. No matter how hard I tried to think of something else, Jacob would always pop back into my thoughts. Not that I minded very much. Remembering the way his smile lit up his face, or the way his muscles would flex with every movement he made…
I don't know if it's possible to really like someone after only meeting them and talking to them for a short time, but I had it bad.
It was night now, but my mind was plagued with so many thoughts there was no possible way I could sleep. Frustrated with myself, I got out of bed and made my way over to my bay window and looked out. It was a clear night. The moon was out in full and hiding slightly behind some trees was a russet wolf.
Russet wolf? "The wolf!"
Not caring about how much pain I'd be in, I ran out of my room and out the front door in only my black sweatpants and my gray t-shirt.
It was freezing out, but I didn't want to miss the chance of seeing the wolf again. I began rubbing my arms to stay warm and made my way to the last spot he was, but when I got there he was gone.
Feeling my hair stand on end, like I was being watched, I knew he was still out there. I could feel it deep down, and I wasn't going to leave without seeing him again. Walking over to the forest's edge I pleaded, "Please…don't hide. I promise I won't hurt you." Straining my eyes for any sign of movement, I waited, but he didn't come.
Huffing, I laid down on the grass. The night was clear and all the stars were out. Raising my hand and tracing the big dipper, I felt warmth flood my body and fur tickle my arm. Slowly moving my hand, I placed it in his fur and began petting him.
A low guttural sound, almost like a moan, reached my ears and I chuckled.
It was strange to be cuddled next to a wolf in the middle of the night, but it also felt so oddly right. Like we were old friends and have been doing this sort of thing forever.
Not wanting to forget this moment, I sat up and said, "Wait here," and ran inside as fast as I could, praying the wolf listened. Taking the stairs two at a time, I burst through my bedroom and grabbed my sketchpad. I didn't know if I'd ever see the wolf after tonight and I never wanted to forget him.
When I got back outside he was gone.
Crestfallen, I sat down on my porch steps and put my head on my arms. I blew it. The wolf came to my house, lain down with me, and I drove him off.
An empty feeling started to grow in my chest. An aching pain that knocked the wind out of me and made my heart hurt. Placing my hand over my heart, I took short shallow breaths. I felt like I was at the beginning of a panic attack.
A nudge on my leg made me look up. The wolf was back and he had yellow daises in his mouth, but dropped them at my feet when he saw me in my state. Making a whining sound he nudged me again, giving me a look as if to say 'what's wrong'. Patting him on the muzzle I replied, "I'm fine." Disagreeing with me, he shook his head left to right a few times.
Keeping my hand on my heart, I shrugged my shoulders. Wanting to get back on good footing I asked, "So where did you go?" while I scratched him behind the ears. Lowering his head, he picked up the forgotten flowers and dropped them in my lap.
"Daises are my favorite," I said sniffing them, "they remind me a lot of my mom." Getting a confused look, I explained, "My mom would always keep daises in the house for me, because they always made me smile, and cheered me up when I had a bad day. She died two months ago though."
Moving in as close as possible, the wolf surrounded me as if to give me a hug and take all my pain away. Feeling comforted, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him back. The warmth I felt anytime I was close to him was amazing. It traveled through my whole body and warmed me to my core, making me feel as if everything was going to be okay.
Suddenly a car screeched to a halt in front of my house, with Edward behind the wheel and Bella in the passenger seat.
Growling the wolf stepped away from me and started advancing on the car. Once he was a foot away from the door, Bella got out and whispered something into his ear. Barking once, he trotted over to me, licked my face, and then dashed into the forest.
"What the hell was the about," I yelled with my arms wide open, as Bella walked over to me.
Holding up her hands in surrender she replied, "I'm sorry Caid. I should've told you from the beginning. That wolf is kind of like a pet, well not really a pet, but you get what I mean. Anyways, when Edward and I drove by, we saw him and I had to tell him something very important."
"Which was?" I asked annoyed.
"Not to hurt you."
Throwing my hands up in frustration, I said, "We've already been over this. I told you, I can feel that he's not going to hurt me."
"I know, but that's not the way I meant." Giving her a confused look, she continued, "I can't really say anything, but I do promise you'll soon enough you understand everything." Smiling sadly at me, she said goodnight and then left.
"But I do promise you soon enough you'll understand everything." Wrong!
It's been three days, and I knew as little as I did three days ago. When I got to school the next day, I tried asking Bella what she was talking about, but she kept telling me the same stuff like 'It's not my place to tell" or "You'll know soon enough'. It aggravated me to no end. But what made it worse, was the fact that everyone knew! Alice, Edward, Angela, they all knew what was going on. It made me feel completely left out and totally unwanted. So I shut myself off.
The only good thing I had going for me right now, was that the wolf came to visit me nightly.
Every night we would sit outside and I would talk to him about my life; what it was like growing up, some of my dreams, and about my friends. I know it sounds really weird making a friend out of something that couldn't talk back, but he was like no ordinary wolf. For starters his facially expressions said it all. Like the other day when I was telling him about my friends keeping something from me and how it hurt me, he got a sad look in his eye and licked my hand. Or the way he would bring me yellow daises every time he came to visit, just knowing it would make me smile. But the thing that made him really special was the way he made me feel. Every time I saw him, I felt happy, safe, and complete.
Sometimes I wish he was a real person. I think he'd be my perfect guy.
But none of that mattered right now. What really mattered was that my friends were hiding something from me, and I didn't like that feeling. I didn't know if it was because they considered me untrustworthy, or maybe because I wasn't part of their exclusive club, but they refused to tell me anything.
Which brings me to where I am now, sitting in my Art class with my headphones on, ignoring every look I get from Alice and Bella. If they didn't want to tell me what was going on, then I wasn't going to talk either. Childish I know, but I'm okay with that.
He had more red in his fur.
I've been trying to sketch the wolf for a while now. I have him imprinted in my memory, but every time I try to sketch him, it never comes out right. Either his fur isn't the right color, or I didn't capture the depths of his eyes, but I wasn't going to give up.
Throwing my pencil down in frustration, I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair, trying to picture the way he looked last night under the porch light.
Feeling someone rub my back, I jerked out of my reverie.
"Sorry," Alice said, "you just looked really upset."
"Like you care," I mumbled.
"I do care Caiden. We do care," she said gesturing between herself and Bella, "We were telling you the truth when we said this isn't something we can tell you ourselves. But…"
"I know," I said cutting her off, "I'll know soon enough."
"Sooner than you think, I promise."
Sighing, I went back to my sketch and added more colors into the fur: red, gold, brown, and black. He had them all.
"That looks really good by the way. You definitely got his color right," Bella said smiling.
I answered her with a smile of my own.
Maybe I shouldn't be such a jerk and ignore them. They didn't tell me it's not their place and everything.
Getting ready to apologize, I opened my mouth to speak, but Alice beat me to it, "It's okay. If I were in your position I would be pretty mad too."
Smiling, the bell rang and we made our way out into the parking lot. Seeing as my car was being repaired, Alice and Bella were my ride home. Being deep in discussion about Jessica's horrible new haircut with Alice, I was startled when Bella squealed and launched herself in Jacob's arms. I'm surprised I hadn't noticed him in the parking lot, seeing as he towered over Bella's truck. He parked his motorcycle next to her truck and was leaning against it, in a leather jack, white t-shirt, jeans, and boots. He looked hot. Really hot.
"What are you doing here?" Bella asked giving him another squeeze.
"I came to get Caiden," he said smiling at me.
"Me?"
"Yeah. I finished up your car today," he explained.
"Oh. That's great. I guess I'll meet you guys later?"
The chorus of 'yes' was drowned out when Jacob started his bike.
Never being on a bike before, I was really nervous when he helped me get on. I was even more nervous when he told me to wrap his arms around him so I wouldn't fall off.
Hugging myself to him as tightly as I could without being labeled a 'freak', Jacob drove me to the shop. Normally on drives, I like to look at the scenery and get a feel for the place around me, but right now the only thing I could get a feel for were Jacob's abs.
"This many abs should be illegal," I mumbled
"What?" he laughed.
"Oh! Nothing, just talking to myself."
I was beyond blushing right now. I'm pretty sure Jacob heard what I said, but being the nice guy that he is he pretended like he didn't hear me, which I was very thankful for.
Soon than I would've liked, we were at the shop.
Grabbing my hand, Jacob helped me off the bike. I felt a shock of electricity course through me, but the minute he let go it was gone.
"Why does that keep happening?" I asked.
"What?"
"Its- Its- Nothing," I said shaking my head.
I can't believe I almost told him
"Caid," he said sounding husky.
Turning around I expected him to tell me he felt it too, what I didn't expect was for his lips to come crashing down on mine.
The minute our lips touched, I felt like fire was running through my veins, warming me to him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I deepened the kiss, causing him to moan. Slowly backing up until my body was pressed against the shop, we continued our kiss. Running his tongue along my bottom lip, he asked for permission which I quickly gave him. I didn't want this kiss to end. It was so amazing, so spectacular, so mind blowingly hot, I wanted to continue forever.
Feeling his arms circle tightly around my waist, I felt like this was where I belong, in his arms. It felt perfect. It felt right.
Our kissing slowed until it was little pecks here and there, then Jacob kissed my forehead and said, "There's something I have to tell you."
Author's Note: I know I kind of rushed the chapter, but like I said earlier I really wanted to start getting to the good stuff so I added some in. The next chapter should explain everything about the imprinting, and then there can be lots of fluff!
