My vision was returning, though everything was fuzzy. I was on the bed in my grandfather's house.
"Welcome to the Quileute protectors, Daniel," said a voice from across the room.
"What?" I croaked.
"That was about the weirdest transformation I've ever seen, kid," Seth laughed.
I opened my eyes. Light was pouring in from the huge window. The morning sun shone from the east side of the valley. Seth was lounging on the cushioned seat looking like he owned the world, or at least my bedroom.
"Do transformations into monsters happen often around here?" I asked, letting a little sarcasm drift into my voice. I sat up, wincing.
My muscles still contained some heat from the fever.
Wait.
I yelped and jumped up out of bed. I was six inches taller than I was before and looked like I'd been lifting weights for months! Seth just gave a big grin.
"Heck of a growth spurt, huh?" he said.
"I'll say." I flexed my arm experimentally. I'd never been very athletic except for hikes in the forest. I usually stuck to art and literature. Guess that was about to change.
"How long was I out?" I questioned. I wondered how Grandfather reacted to all this.
"About two weeks or so."
"What?!"
"Don't worry, your grandpa knows everything. In fact, he already knew about us before you came along. He and Billy Black were best friends as kids and they stumbled on Ephraim phasing by accident." Seth studied my expression.
I didn't know how to react to that news. It made things easier I supposed.
"And as for you and Skye," Seth continued.
Oh crap.
"We'll just have to see how things work out, won't we?" He smiled the biggest smile I'd ever seen. "Got ya scared for a second, didn't I?"
"Uh," I mumbled. At least he was an easy-going guy. "So how does this wolf thing work?" When in doubt, change the subject.
"Well, for starters you'll have to keep your temper in check. You phase uncontrollably when you're really mad. If you phase when you're around another human, someone could get hurt."
"Let me guess," I said. "Easier said than done."
"Yep. You can get all the other stuff you need to know from the pack. Oh yeah, we can also mentally communicate when we're in wolf form. No big deal, right?"
I rubbed my head in confusion. I'd gathered as much during my first change, but it still sounded just as weird.
A beautiful voice sounded just outside my door.
"Dad, is he awake yet?" Skye wanted to see me! I bounded over to the door and was about to open it when Seth stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
"How'd you get over here so fast?" I asked in amazement.
"Same as you. Werewolf speed." His tone was rough and there was a hard glint in his steel-gray eyes. "Put your shirt on."
Oh, right.
I ran over and grabbed a shirt from the dresser. I guess Grandfather had unpacked for me.
"She's just fifteen," Seth said warningly. "I don't have time to explain, but I will know everything that ever goes on between you two."
This stopped me dead in my tracks. Stupid pack mind.
"You can trust me, Seth," I insisted.
"Dad! I can hear you guys talking." Skye yelled impatiently.
I looked towards the door and then back at Seth. He grinned and nodded. "Go on."
I ran to the door as fast as I possibly could, yanking it off its hinges. Yikes.
Skye jumped back, startled. I felt the blood rush to my face.
"I-I didn't mean to-," I stammered, still holding the dislocated door in one hand. She burst out laughing, her airy voice melting every bone in my body.
"You should see your face!" she said between giggles. "It's as red as a tomato!"
I leaned the door against the wall, racing for words. Seth was on the floor behind me, rolling with laughter. This was way out of my league.
Skye walked past, smiling at me and rolling her eyes. I cleared my throat and Seth jumped up.
"Okay, okay. I'm leaving," he said with a wink at Skye. It was her turn to blush.
After he'd gone, Skye glanced up at me shyly.
"Um, sorry about what happened when you last came over," I started. "I didn't mean to collapse like that, it's not something I normally do…"
"It's okay, Daniel. I know all about the pack," she interrupted. Her face was glowing in the early morning light. She stared into my eyes and made me feel as if my entire soul was laid out on my face. I could feel the electricity between us.
"Oh, okay. Your dad never said if you did…."
Skye walked over to the desk where all my drawings lay scattered. She picked up the one of the valley that I'd done two weeks earlier when she stopped by.
"These are all really good. I found your stuff on the seat while I was here and looked at them. I hope that's okay."
"Oh, yeah. You're welcome to anything."
"Good. I was afraid you wouldn't like me going through it. Are you going to give this one any color?" she asked.
"It's a charcoal sketch, so probably not. Unless you want me to, that is." The words were out of my mouth before I knew it. I sounded like some desperate fool.
"Hmm, Dad was right." Skye smiled and sat on my bed.
"About what?" I asked, curling my new huge figure up on the window seat.
"Did he explain what's going on between us, Daniel?"
"No," I said slowly. "I got some stuff from the pack when I phased, but just a couple impressions. The word imprint, mostly." I definitely knew something was different about the way I felt towards Skye.
"I never believed in love at first sight," she said. "But when I found out about werewolves and imprints, I had to. See, a werewolf imprints when he or she finds their soul mate. You already know what it feels like, so I don't have to describe it. My father told me what it's like. He's seen it from the others' points of view. Dad didn't imprint on my mother. Apparently our ancestors could live entire lifetimes without meeting their imprint. They took other wives."
I couldn't imagine myself with anyone other than Skye, but then again that was after I'd imprinted.
"I found out about Dad being a wolf when I was seven years old. My parents didn't know if I'd phase or not, and they wanted me to be ready if I did."
That would've been nice, I thought.
"But since I'm Quileute," Skye continued. "there was also the chance that I'd be imprinted on." She smiled at me. "And now I have been."
"What?" I said, grinning back at her. "Who? I'll have to find this guy."
Skye laughed. "You, silly."
"I knew you'd imprinted the minute we looked at each other." She laughed again. Her laugh felt better than air after being underwater for too long. "You just kept staring at me without a word."
"Sorry." I gave her a sheepish grin.
"Don't be. I felt the same way," she replied.
"Well, except for the whole skin-feeling-like-it-was-catching-on-fire thing."
"Uh, yeah." She giggled.
I became serious again. "What did Seth say about imprinting?"
"He said for anyone who imprinted, it was complete adoration. You feel as if all the troubles in the world just fade away when you're together. You'd do anything for each other."
"Yeah, exactly," I breathed. The way Skye was looking at me right now put me in total awe. I didn't deserve this perfect creature.
"After you phased back, Jacob carried you in here. I stayed beside you every day for as long as I could. That peaceful feeling was with me, even when you were asleep. The first day, I was terrified to leave you. You might be gone the next day."
The look on her face hurt me so much. It felt like my heart was twisting up into knots. I walked over and took her slender hands in mine.
"Skye, I could never leave you. Not unless you want me to." I stared straight into her endless green eyes and tried to convey every feeling to her.
"I'll never want you to," she whispered.
A howl outside my window made us both jump.
"Dad!!" Skye shrieked with disbelief.
I just grinned at her.
"Stupid werewolf super hearing," she muttered darkly.
I started laughing.
"What's so funny?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We know practically nothing about each other. We've pretty much just met, and I'm already promising to stay forever."
"Welcome to my world," Skye said, taking my hand.
So, did you like it? Hate it? Leave a review if you want. They're very welcome as with any other story on here. I am so sorry that I didn't update sooner. I'm lazy when it comes to actually getting the darn thing written out. Also, check out my website at .