Chapter Seven

Jacob held my hand tight as we walked up to the house I had seen many times in my childhood years. I still couldn't get it through my head that this house and this town was something I had dreamt about when I was a little girl.

"Kaylin?" Jake caught my attention. "Are you okay?"

I smiled at him. "I'm better than okay." I stood on my tippy-toes and kissed him gently on the lips. "I'm perfect." I whispered.

"Woah! Look, Embry! Jake's gettin' lucky in the driveway!" Quil shouted.

I could have sworn Jacob blushed, but I couldn't tell because of the gigantic smile on his face that went from ear to ear.

Jacob led me up to the house that was all too familiar. When we walked in, it was like a breath of fresh air. I immediately felt welcome as soon as I stepped through the door.

"Kaylin," a beautiful woman embraced me in a warm hug. When she pulled away, I saw a horrible memory spread across her face. "I'm Emily, Sam's fiancée."

"It's very nice to meet you, Emily. You have such a beautiful home." I greeted her.

"Thank you!" she replied. "I hope you're hungry, there's lots of food!"

I looked around her kitchen and saw all the plates of food set out on the table and on the counter.

"I can see that. The pot roast smells great – did you need help with anything?"

"I never said we were having pot roast?" Jake questioned himself.

"You can't smell it?" I asked him. He shook his head. "I'm surprised, Jacob Black. You're a wolf and you can't even guess the smell of dinner."

He gave me a playful nudge. "Smart-ass."

Emily put her arm through mine and looked up at Jacob. "I'm going to steal her away from you now! You're the only person I've met that can get the smell of my dinner right without having to look in my oven!"

I winked at Jake and walked over to the stove with Emily while the big 'russet-furred' wolf-man went into the living room and sat on the couch with Quil and Embry.

"So how did you and Jacob meet?" Emily started the conversation while cutting a tomato.

"Well, the first time we saw each other was at First Beach. We didn't actually meet until a couple days after that when my van broke down. He jumped me to help me out and then I took him out for a burger at the diner by the beach." I replied, cutting lettuce. Emily had a look of horror on her face. "What is it?"

"He jumped you?"

I clued in to what she was getting at. "Oh, my! No, no! Not like that! He jump-started my van! You know, like, he gave me a boost!"

The horror look faded quickly and she started laughing. "I'm so sorry, Kaylin! I didn't mean to get it confused like that."

"No worries."

I glanced over my shoulder in the living room at Jake. He was staring me, and had a strange look on his face. I nudged Emily.

"Is he okay?" I whispered.

A smile spread across Emily's face. "Sam!"

Sam walked through the front door and stood at Emily's side. "Yes, beautiful?" he replied.

Emily smiled at me. "I just need to talk to Sam for a second, Kaylin. I'll be right back."

I nodded. "No problem. Take your time."

Sam and Emily walked into a room that was down the hall and closed the door. When they came back out, Sam walked over to Jake and snapped him out of his trance.

"Want to go for a walk?" Emily asked me.

I looked around the kitchen. "Won't the boys eat the food if we leave?"

She laughed. "Nah, I think that the food should be safe."

I smiled at her and we headed for the front door. I wasn't sure what was wrong with Jake, but I was going to try and find out. When we got far enough away from house and into the woods on a trail, I started to ask questions.

"So… Is staring off into space a 'wolf' thing?" This was the first of many questions to come.

Emily nodded. "Some times. It usually only happens once."

Once, I thought. Well that's good.

"What's it like being with a werewolf?"

Emily smiled and looked at me. "It's amazing. I have felt things for Sam that I never felt with anyone else. That man is my everything…" Her smile started to fade a little bit. "And it has its good days and its bad…"

Great, now look what you've done, I thought to myself.

"Bad days?" I questioned. "Do they eat your fridge clean of food or something?"

"Or something – "

A twig snapped behind us and I spun around to see who had been following us. I smiled when I saw Jake walking up to me with Sam.

"Hey." Sam said as he picked Emily up in her arms and spun her around. "You should get back to the house before those teenage boys eat dinner before it's ready." He hinted.

"I will beat them with my wooden spoon…" Her voice faded as she jogged back to the house.

"Dinner should be ready soon. Don't be out here too long, guys." Sam said as he started to follow Emily back to the house.

"Thanks, Sam. We won't miss dinner for the world. I can smell it all the way out here." I replied.

I looked up at Jacob. He had a different look in his eyes – a deeper look.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Do you believe in fate?" Jake asked me.

I nodded. "Of course I do. You know that." I paused and put my forehead against hot chest. I grabbed the sides of shirt. "What happened to you back there?" I whispered.

I felt his hands grab my shoulders. "Something incredible…" He whispered back.

I pulled my head away and looked up at him. "Tell me."

"I don't want to scare you, or put any pressure on you – " He trailed off.

"Jake, don't worry about that. I just want to know what's going on with you."

"You might want to sit down, then." He pointed to a log just off the trail.

I walked over to the log and plopped my butt down onto it. "Now tell me. You're making me nervous…"

Jake sat down beside me. "There's this thing… It happens to a wolf when he sees his true love. It's called imprinting."

"Imprinting…"

"You're going to think I'm crazy…" He trailed off.

A look of surprise spread across his face when I took his hand in mine and laced my fingers through his.

"Tell me more." I requested.

"What you saw happen at the house – when I was staring at you – that's what happened."

I closed my eyes and could feel all the blood in my body rush to my face. My face probably looked like a tomato.

"So what you're saying is…"

I could feel Jake's warm hand burn through the heat that my face was already giving off. His thumb traced my jawline and my whole body went numb.

"I'm saying that I imprinted… On you."

A single tear rolled down my face as I looked up at the beautiful man that stood before me.

"No joke?" I asked him.

He smiled and put his forehead to mine. "No joke." He whispered. "You're my true love, the one I'm supposed to spend forever with."

I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled his lips to mine. I wanted this moment to last forever. His lips burned on mine. The passion in our kiss was deeper than any other kiss than we've ever shared.

I slowly pulled away and looked into his eyes. "You have no idea how happy that makes me…" I stood up.

Jake jumped up off of the log and pulled me into his arms.

I returned the embrace. "I love you." I pulled away from him and touched his cheek.

"I love you, too."

I kissed him again and then froze. "Oh my God…"

"What is it? What's wrong?" Jake asked. He looked worried.

"If we don't get back to the house, Em is going to cook us for dinner tomorrow night."

Jake laughed and put his arm around me as we walked back to the house.

I was his true love, his other half. I knew there was a reason I dreamt of this place. I was meant to be here. I was meant to be a part of this family. This was my destiny.

Author's Note: Hey everyone. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but I'm not really pleased about the number of reviews I have compared to the number of readers. The less number of reviews I have, the longer it takes for me to post because I just don't feel inspired to write. The only way I got through writing this chapter was to watch New Moon while I was doing it! Sorry that this chapter is so short, but I'll write more when I get a couple reviews, which I hope is soon! Happy March to everyone!