Imprint:

verb(usedwithobject)

-to fix firmly on the mind, memory, etc.

verb(usedwithoutobject)

-to make an impression; have an effect.

Chapter Two:

Leah's imprinting on Garrett still remained a mystery, to her, to him and to all their closest friends and family. There were no explanations or answers, only questions and more questions. Leah and Garrett had accepted the imprinting process in stride. There was no point in resisting it, they were attracted to each other for reasons they both couldn't comprehend. They were two different beings with different views on their purpose and existence. Could they make it work? That was the million dollar question.

How can two opposite poles attract? This had been one of the most documented questions out there. The usual answer that was readily offered was Magnet. Like poles repel and unlike poles attracts, so this was where Leah and Garrett found themselves.

Their magnetic reaction towards each other couldn't be ignored or denied and they would only be foolish to do so.

Their physical attraction was even much more unbearable to neglect. Their desire bordered the limitless, quenched and satisfied in each other's arms.

They faced countless boundaries that had to be crossed, barriers that needed to be addressed and differences to breach. Garrett's nomadic lifestyle was the only existence he knew. He had been a solitary vampire moving from one place to another. His ties with Leah brought a rude awakening that he had to plant his feet somewhere, anywhere his mate would be. Garrett's lust for human blood had waned, he found himself under a strict pressure of not even thinking of it, that he wanted it. His adjustment fared well so far and that pleased Leah immensely.

Jacob, being her pack's alpha, had reluctantly accepted Garrett as Seth welcomed him with open arms, thinking that Leah would finally lay off his back. Jacob, having imprinted on Renesmee, could not argue Leah's imprinting on Garrett, as they were in the same boat. Imprinting on other species other than their kind put a great deal of rift, if not, a big strain on their little tribe.

They were all but a slave, a puppet to the imprinting phenomenon and they would have to live and embrace their sealed fate.

The main thing was the end of the feud with Sam's pack- which was why the others felt safe to come and go as they pleased again. The truce was between Jacob and Sam's pack was stronger than ever. Or more binding, depending on one's viewpoint.

Binding, because the most absolute of all the pack's laws was that no wolf ever to kill the object of another wolf's imprinting. The pain of such a thing would be so intolerable for the whole pack. The fault, whether intended or accidental, could not be forgiven; the wolves involved would fight to the death- there was no other option. It happened a long time ago according to Seth.

So Renesmee and Garrett were protected by that binding law. That did not mean that the pack liked them, or that Garrett was welcome to step onto their lands. He was merely accepted because of Leah's imprinting. Jacob, as the rightful alpha, had urged everyone for tolerance and Sam had accepted this with a heavy heart. They wouldn't dare touch Renesmee but it seemed like Garrett came out a bit different because of the fact that he was a male vampire.

He shrugged it off thinking he could take care of himself. What was more important to him was his relationship with Leah. That would be the scope of his well-meaning intention.

Garrett's POV:

One look at Leah gave me all the pleasure I have never known existed. She remained my reluctant mate, but the undeniable attraction and bond that we had seemed to grow more as each day and night passed by. I could still feel her shudder every time we touched. I tried not to see it in a negative light, as we were natural enemies. I was fully aware that it would take a tremendous amount of effort to put that fact behind us, and an even greater amount of time before we could get past all the hindrances that blocked our way.

I drew her sleeping form closer to me, her wolf stink still made me cringe but I tried not to show it. I snorted at the silent thought of her wolf stench lingering in our room. Leah stirred in my arms and she snuggled closer as she wrinkled her nose. Leah, on the other hand, had a bit of trouble hiding her emotions and reactions from me. She often would voice her thoughts out loud when she should have held her tongue in check in the first place. That's my Leah, she's one tough cookie no one would want to mess with. The thought of how odd our relationship was brought a big smile to my face.

Who would have imagined that a vampire and a shape shifter could be together? It was one of the oddest mysteries yet to be unraveled. My beautiful Leah sleeping right next to me with her slender body, long black hair and captivating brown skin was a sight to behold. I could never drink enough of her.

I have nothing much to offer Leah but myself. With no penny under my name, I could not even provide her a home. A place we could call our own. For now, we had to be grateful recipients of Carlisle kindness. Carlisle and his family extended their gracious invitation for us to live with them which was ,of course, for the time being, until I was up on my feet after taking on a mate. This arrangement of course, was a constant struggle between Leah and me.

Carlisle was as understanding with Leah's slow acceptance of their kind, he showed no ill-feelings for her. The same couldn't be said as far as Rosalie was concerned, she and Leah continued to butt heads, bickering and constantly insulting each other. The rest of the Cullens had accepted her with indifference, they continued with their lives as if we weren't there, only acknowledging us if the situation called for it, which made it much more bearable for Leah and me.

Leah slowly opened her eyes with a smirk on her face. I knew her too well, my vampire cologne as she called it, still drove her nuts. She adjusted her warm gray eyes to mine as she nuzzled her mouth in my throat, kissing my neck.

This was one of my cherished moments, when we are together and nothing mattered. Just the two of us, co-existing and enjoying each other as if nothing could tear us apart.

"Good morning, gorgeous," I greeted her, kissing her hair as she squirmed playfully.

"Hi G," she whispered as she cupped her morning breath with her hand, trying to keep her mouth away from me.

"Hey honey, nothing would please me more right now than a kiss," I teased her, knowing too well that she would want to get her human needs met first before I could get what I wanted.

She took off from the bed so fast, her slender body dashing to the adjoining bathroom in a blur. I could hear the sound of the running water, the brushing and the combing. I readied myself for our little morning interlude with a crazy grin on my face.

She emerged from the bathroom looking fresh with her face scrubbed clean and her silky black hair cascading behind her shoulders beautifully. My eyes could never get enough of her.

Her lithe figure was clad in the usual cutoff denim shorts and little tank top that clung to her body like a second skin. I could feel a physical reaction run through my body just by looking at her.

She jumped on the bed next to me. "Now where were we?" she asked playfully tugging on my shirt to get closer to her.

"You were going to give me a kiss…."I stressed the word as her mouth found mine for a long and sensual morning greeting. I could just bathe in this moment forever.

"Hmmmm…what's on tap today? She asked as she licked her mouth after our kiss, looking at me intently.

"I would be working online all day, watching the markets progress…"Leah rolled her eyes when she heard my answer, she was never interested in my newfound interest with the stock market. She felt that were riding the coattails of the Cullen's with their "criminal acts" as she called them. My long talks with Carlisle brought about my rootless situation, which I wanted to remedy. I wanted to establish my roots here in Forks, since it would be closer to Leah's family.

Carlisle offered to lend me some starting money, to build it up with Alice's help predicting the rise and fall of the daily numbers. Whatever I make would be ours or mine, for Leah didn't want any part of the "dirty money" as she branded my current undertaking. And I could just return the earnest money Carlisle lent me without interest as soon as I could repay him.

My only goal was to buy a piece of his land and build a modest house for me and Leah. We couldn't move farther away from her family and Forks was conveniently located as far as distance to La Push and it was a vampire territory which suited me well. The treaty with the Quileute's forbid me to cross their lands, so I couldn't set foot past the treaty line. Leah had to make a tough decision of leaving her family behind to be with me as we temporarily held quarters at the Cullen's house.

Esme offered Edwards' room to us since he had moved with his family to a cottage not too far away, a gift from his parents on their wedding day.

"Okay, so I guess I would be out patrolling in a few minutes, I have to get in touch with Jacob and Seth to see what's going on." She turned her back on me as she said this.

I could understand the turmoil running through her mind, she had to give up some of the only comfort she had ever known and having to live with vampires because of me. Not to mention that she had to patrol their land with the threat on Renesmee from Sam's pack could still be brewing.

"Would you want me to cook you some breakfast before you go?" I asked and she shook her head.

"G, you know as well as I do that you have very limited knowledge of food," she said referring to the extent of my kitchen expertise. The eggs, grilled sausages and hamburgers that I had repeatedly cooked for her, based on my vague memory while I was still human.

"I know huh? But you know I'd be happy to whip up a fluffy scrambled egg for you, if you want it again." I smirked at her.

"Nah, that's okay, I'll just have some cereal before I head out." She exhaled as she gave me yet another long kiss in the mouth.

"Here, let me keep you company while you eat," I got up and draped my arm around her waist. "And don't forget your cell phone," I reminded her.

She and I had argued about the little device that she hated carrying with her in her wolf form, but had reluctantly agreed when I voiced my concern about not knowing what's going on with her when were apart.

I don't have the gift of mind reading as Edward, or the gift of seeing the future as Alice and I felt disconnected to her when we are not together. Leah argued that carrying that added little weight on her hind leg whilst in her wolf form was annoying enough. I won that argument even with all reasoning she came up with.

"Fine," she said in an exasperated tone as she grabbed the little cell phone on the nightstand with a grimace on her lovely face.

I smiled at her belligerence, her trademark and a remarkable quality that endeared her to me even more.

There was a bit of commotion by the time we came downstairs. Jacob was in deep argument with Bella, obviously, he couldn't accept the possibility of the Cullens departure from Forks in the near future. He couldn't stand the prospect of being away from Renesmee but couldn't abandon his post as the reluctant alpha.

Jacob took it in his own hands to contact Charlie and exposed himself as a wolf while trying to explain that there are things in this world that couldn't be explained but just had to be accepted as they were. This was pertaining to Bella and their newly adopted daughter, lying to Charlie about Renesmee's true identity. Charlie, according to Jacob took it rather easily and asked that he be told on a need to know only basis.

Bella was huffing by the time we got there, Edward and the rest of the Cullen's were on alert, just in case Bella tried to jump him, yet again.

I felt Leah stiffen behind me, her eyes attentive and her stance ready should anything came up; she was, after all, running on instinct now. I tried holding her back but she shot me a look that said one thing: The "don't mess with me" look.

I let her go. Judging by the way she looked that I should stay away from any wolf business, so I took my hand off her arm and gave her a silent reassurance that I had her back.

Not that I would go up against the Cullens, I would take the middle man position and just make sure that Leah didn't hurt anyone and not getting hurt herself in the process.

Edward gave me a look of that said he understood my predicament, he nodded his head in acknowledgement before stepping in to restrain Bella from attacking Jacob.

"He is on his way?" Bella hissed at Jacob as she handed Renesmee to the waiting Rosalie, she wouldn't want her child hurt if there would be a scuffle. "Don't you understand that you are putting Charlie at risk by having him come here?" Bella asked.

Jacob advanced slowly to Bella, but waved Leah and Seth off when they started to follow him. I could clearly see that Leah was grinding her teeth hard to keep from phasing. She got agitated easily and that was not a good thing. Jacob shot her a look to calm down and Leah ignored him but kept her composure in check.

"I am sorry about it hurting you. I didn't know that it was like that. Bella, things are different with us now, but you'd always be my best friend and I'd always love you. But I'd love you the right way now. There's finally a balance. We both have people we couldn't live without," Jacob said apologetically.

Leah retreated when she felt Jacob was not in any danger, she looked at me and we proceeded to the kitchen and let the Cullens and Jacob straighten things out. Seth did the same and went out to the porch to just wait it out.

We could hear the rest of the Cullen's teaching Bella how to act natural in Charlie's presence, they had her wear some contacts to conceal the crimson color of her eyes. I could hear Edwards gentle reassurance that he would be there for her, that he would watch her every move while her father was there.

Leah was listening too, I could see her face lose its defiant look, she was softening a bit where Bella was concerned. She had been hard on Bella for the choices she had made and for breaking Jacob's heart. But new wisdom showed Leah that people couldn't help who they loved and would stop at nothing to be with the people they love.

I was silently hoping that this would also be the case for us. Although we are tied together by the imprinting process, we still hadn't uttered the L word. Neither one of us ever said that we love each other. It seemed like we were both holding back, uncertain about our future together.

Hell, I knew for sure that I couldn't live without her but I was not one hundred percent sure that I loved her yet. I would kill for her, yes, but love? I didn't know the feeling of being in love. I was turned before I discovered what love was. As a member of the continental army during the revolutionary war, I was out on the field during a moonlit night when my fate was handed to me. My transformation was swift and easy, it all went by in a haze.

Next thing I knew, I was the being that I am now. I had always enjoyed my solitary walks so that was how I became who I am now. I didn't see any reason to join a coven or be with other vampires. I fed only when necessary. I didn't find satisfaction in playing with my food.

I moved from one place to another, wherever my feet would take me. I could never stay in one place for a long period of time. I met Carlisle in Chicago about a hundred years ago and we became friends, one of the few that I still kept contact with. He had invited me repeatedly to join his coven but I enjoyed my solitary existence too much to get tied down in one place.

Who would have thought that I would end up in his house with a mate, a female shape shifter? Life had a way of handing people what they least expected. I didn't regret being imprinted on at all. I did not resent Leah for what she did, she was a victim to her destiny too.

"G, why were you suddenly quiet?" She asked as she ate her cereal. Her eyes were observant, she had been watching me as I absentmindedly held her hand, gazing at nothing in particular. There weren't many times when a vampire could be caught in this mundane act, but ever since Leah and I got together, I dared to dream that maybe, I finally found my place and my home with her.

Could we keep this working? Did we have it in ourselves to endure and make it through? Would imprinting survive any obstacle that would come our way?

Maybe, was the best answer I could come up with, as I told her that everything was just alright.

A/N: So, what do you guys think? Please leave me your comment and reviews. Thanks!