Choice

Seth tried to calm himself down. He knew in his head that she was probably still uncomfortable. But it had been weeks since he last saw her and all he wanted to do in that moment was just to see her face. Even after only seeing her for a few disastrous minutes, he memorized her. He thought about her almond-shaped hazel eyes and long straight black hair, her pale porcelain skin and her thin fragile figure. Just calm down. He told himself. It was that second that he heard the unmistakable scream. His head shot up. At first he only quickened his pace and started taking off his clothes, almost in denial of what he heard, then without thinking he tore out of his skin and bolted towards the sound.

Not her. Please don't let it be her. But he knew it was. He could see past the trees, a male vampire had his Sage pinned against a tree. Were her clothes torn? He saw her devastated face as she struggled, which only made her attacker more pleased.

Sage knew her screams and sobs would never be heard, and even made her situation worse, but she couldn't calm down. She wouldn't just let herself die this way. But she was never fast nor strong. She always needed to be protected, and she left all those who could. She prepared an internal sob for the moment she would feel his unwanted touch, when in a blink, Cain was gone. She whipped her head around to see him rolling away, then her eyes beheld the wolf who rescued her. She clutched the remains of her clothes and hid behind the tree. Cain rose, surprised by the creature, but Seth didn't wait for him to recover. He attacked again, but Cain was more prepared. He clawed his face and Seth grabbed at his legs, hurling him at a tree. Then for a second, Seth seemed to want to back down. His tail between his legs, he gave a small yelp in fear. Cain got to him.

Seth didn't know why, but he was afraid. It was against his instincts; he had fought this kind before and even enjoyed the struggle. He couldn't understand why he would react this way. He fought against the emotion, pain searing through his paws; he relied no more on his stance to intimidate his opponent. His attention wavered and he could see how sharp his teeth were and feel his cold hard blows. He would fail; he wouldn't be able to save her. He shook his head, repressing the fear to be dealt with later. He wouldn't forgive him for touching his Sage. This vampire died today. He threw his angry jaws at Cain's neck and bit with all of his strength, causing Cain to yell and fall back in pain. Immediately the fear subsided and Seth worked to finish the job.

Sage finally snapped out of it and realized that Seth was okay. She started to gather dead twigs and leaves and found two rocks. The rocks were cold and damp from being in the forest, but Sage was strong enough to still use them as flint. She lit a small fire and fed it to grow big enough to burn the demon that had killed her family. She looked up and Cain claw at Seth again. His arm is missing. She scanned the area trying to find it. She caught sight of something flipping and moving and ran to grab it. Another chunk fell near her. Seth was tearing the monster apart. She ran back and threw the pieces in the fire, hearing the hiss of them burn, the flames turning violet. Cain tried to run, but Sage knew his weakness and used his gift against him. He stared up at her, frozen. She turned her back and returned to the tree and knelt down beside it. Seth finished him off and threw the pieces in the purple fire. They stayed like that for a few minutes, absorbing what just happened. The wolf stared at his love for a moment and ran into the woods to shift back throwing only his shorts back on. He gently pulled his shirt over her head, not bothering with the sleeves and picked her up and grabbed the still-wrapped package beside the tree.

His house was empty; everyone was already at Jacob's party down at the beach. Knowing Sage wouldn't want to stay in his sister's room, he opted to put her in his room and set her upright on his bed.

"I'll be right back," he whispered. He returned a few minutes later with a very colorful dress. "Uh, I'm pretty sure you don't want to wear anything of Leah's, so this is my mom's." He placed the dress beside her. "Take all the time you need. I'll be just outside." She looked into his eyes, noticing for the first time how black they were. She nodded and he closed the door behind him as he left. She looked around his room. It was a typical guy's room. Clothes were strewn across the floor, but it was tidy besides that. She started to pull off his t-shirt, breathing in the warm comforting smell. He smelled like home, but none that she had ever known before. She looked down to see the damage done to her outfit. Cain had ripped it off like it was made of paper. When the pain of the memory tried to hit her, she suddenly very safe. It couldn't effect her the way it should have because she was indeed safe. She understood for the first time what Renesmee meant. She changed into the sundress, silently laughing at a man's choice of clothing for a such a cloudy day. She saw a grey zip up hoodie on his bed. Feeling a bit uncomfortable showing so much skin, she picked up the jacket and threw it on before stepping out into the living room.

"Hey," Seth said looking up from his hands from the couch.

"Hey," Sage meekly said. "I hope you don't mind," pulling at the jacket.

"No, not at all. It looks better on you," he replied. She gave him a smile before looking down.

"Uh, how are you feeling?" he asked standing up and walking towards the refrigerator.

"I think I'm okay. Just shaken up, but I feel... better... here." Seth paused for a second as he poured water into a glass. He turned around a gave it to her.

"I'm sorry, I should've been there sooner, somehow. I can't believe he-" Seth broke off and balled up his fists, remembering how she looked when he first saw her under the hands of that vampire.

"You feel guilty," she said calmly. Seth managed to stop shaking. "He was an incubus, you know those vampires who seduce and rape human women." Seth didn't know that, and got all the more shocked that Sage would be pursued by something like that. "He usually gets his target and he was especially fond of me, but I refused him." Seth flinched a bit. "I'm only telling you this so you know what you saved me from." Sage smiled. "You're a good fighter. I've never seen anyone fight like that, like they knew what they were doing." Seth shifted nervously at the compliment, but she continued. "It's his gift, to make people afraid. He puts that emotion in you, no matter how irrational it is." Seth remembered the feeling when he froze and hesitated and the pain to push past it. She was comforting him, getting rid of any doubt of his abilities. "It's usually really strong. I can never use it against him because it paralyzes me so much I can't think straight. I don't know how you were able to get passed it." Sage took a seat on the loveseat and sipped at her water. Seth poured himself a glass and started to down it. "Um, what is imprinting?" The water went down the wrong pipe and he started to cough some of it back up. He stood nervously and tried to clear more water out of his lungs. "I mimic other people's gifts and Edward was standing in front of me," she explained.

"So, you saw me when I was.... imprinting," he concluded slightly abashed. She answered with a nod and he came around the couch to join her. "Well, when we become werewolves, we kind of have this instant connection towards our better half when we first see them. A pull, you might say. We're made to be with that person, and that person is designed to perfectly match us. For us, there's no way out of it, nor do we usually want a way out once it happens." He grew uneasy of the conversation, afraid to scare her off.

"So what about the imprinted? Do we get to choose?" she asked staring at her empty glass.

"Yes, you always gets to choose. And for me, however hard or easy it is for me, I will become what you need me to be in order for you to be happy." Sage looked up from the glass and into Seth's eyes, then dropped her gave with an shy smile.

"What happens if you're turned down?" she asked still not looking at him.

"It would be hard," he said, realizing what she might be suggesting. "But if you need me to just be a friend, or to even stay away, that's what I'll do." Sage continued to play with her cup, lost in thought.

"I'm sorry I'm not making this very easy for you. But I'm really grateful for what you did for me." Seth just smiled.

"As long as you're safe and happy, I won't ask for more."

"You must really like me, huh," Sage half teased. He nodded.

"More than you may want me to."