Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the things you don't recognize! Song credit to Boys Like Girls

I knew when I posted the previous chapter that I would get mixed reactions. I'm aware that some of you did not like what happened at all, but the majority seemed to be okay with it and only a little distressed about what would happen next. I just wanted to say that I didn't want to write another typical imprint story; I wanted to challenge myself and I knew that not all of you would be happy with that. All I can ask is that you guys wait and see what I do with this story before you abandon it. But if you want a cookie cutter imprint story…this isn't it.

Anyway, this is the last chapter for a little while since I'm leaving tomorrow for Spring Break, but I might write during the drive and maybe I'll be able to upload at the hotel if I feel like it.

"Get up and go

Take a chance and be strong

Or you could spend your whole life holding on."

Go

I didn't freak out until I was on my way up the stairs to Grace's room. A werewolf?! What the hell? Those things were not supposed to exist and neither were vampires! Especially not blood sucking vampires! And if mythological beasts wasn't enough for me to deal with, I also had to process the fact that these wolves imprinted on women much like baby ducks imprint on their mother.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts for a second as I leaned down and picked Grace up out of her crib. It only took me a second to determine what was wrong with her when a waft of nastiness met my nose. I was in the middle of changing her diaper when I heard someone enter the room.

"Hey, are you okay?" Hunter asked.

"No! He's a wolf! Seth is a wolf! Hell, everyone's a wolf!" I hissed, not wanting to frighten Grace with yelling or alert Paul of what was being discussed up here. "It's not normal…it's not human!"

"I'm not a wolf."

"And this imprinting stuff," I continued as I finished up Grace's diaper, "I've watched how much Seth adores my sister and if that's what will happen when Paul imprints I don't want any part of it. I will not set myself up to be abandoned."

"I understand." Hunter nodded and took Grace from my arms.

He then placed her back in her crib and walked back over to me and grabbed my shoulders in his large hands. I forced my gaze up to his and waited for his soothing therapist voice to wash over me. Right now Hunter felt like my only grip on reality, especially when there was the issue of wolves and vampires at hand.

"As your therapist I'd advise just staying friends with Paul. Not only are you leaving at the end of the summer but if your romantic relationship was to develop more and he imprinted, it would only set you back in your recovery. Even if Paul didn't imprint, that fear would always be there."

"So what advice do you give me as my friend?" I asked quietly.

"The same; I don't want to see you hurt again, Sadie. You've come too far to let something stop you now."

I nodded and let myself be pulled into his comforting arms. We stood there for a little while until I finally spoke up.

"Remember how you said I need to confront my Father?" I asked against his chest.

"Yeah."

"I want to do that. I want to go back home with a clean slate."

And I did. I had been thinking about it and I had determined that Hunter was right, as he usually was. Confronting my Father was the only way to finally get past everything I had been dealing with for years and it needed to be done now. That way when I went back home to Michigan I could start over with a new state of mind.

"I'll arrange it." Hunter replied. "Now, do you want me to talk to Paul or do you want to?"

"I'll do it, but will you be there when I do it?"

He nodded, "Of course I will. And as for the wolf stuff…how do you feel? Do you need a demonstration?"

"Flabbergasted, and scared that vampires exist. And no, I'd rather not see him turn into a wolf; at least if I don't see it it'll be easier to pretend it isn't real when I'm back home."

"I don't think Michigan really has a problem with vampires, so don't worry about that. Just don't tell anyone what you've learned here today."

I scoffed, "As if I would; they'd probably lock me up."

Hunter chuckled before he disengaged his arms from around me. After we both checked on Grace again, who happened to be sleeping peacefully, we walked back downstairs where Paul was sitting on the couch. He looked up as the two of us walked in and sent me a hesitant smile. I responded with one of my own and sat down next to him on the couch. Hunter then sat beside me, providing me comfort with his proximity.

I decided to just get it out there, "I'm sorry Paul; I can't set myself up for that kind of abandonment."

"But there's something between us-"

"It will have to be ignored. I'll still be your friend, but obviously if you didn't imprint on me I'm not meant for you that way. It's better this way; I'm leaving in a few weeks."

"Did Hunter tell you to do this?" Paul asked angrily, his eyes flashing towards Hunter.

"No, I made my own decision. He did offer his advice both professionally and as my friend and I decided to take it."

"Bullshit! I knew you had something for her Richards!" Paul hissed and stood up from the couch.

"Paul, come on you know it's not like that." Hunter inserted.

"Do I?" And with that he stormed out of the house, the door slamming shut behind him.

I sighed, "Well, that went great."

"He'll understand; I'll make him understand." Hunter promised.

* * *

Sadly, Paul obviously did not want to take me up on my offer to be friends. I still took care of Grace, but he made sure he was always gone before I arrived, leaving Hunter to greet me both in the mornings and the afternoons.

Hunter had told me that he tried to talk to him, but Paul was stubborn (as we all knew) and it was going to take some time before he finally came around. But my time in La Push was already close to an end. It was already only a week until the wedding and when I wasn't watching Grace I was frantically helping my Mom and sister put last minute touches on everything.

Cady had been just as shocked as Hunter was to hear that Paul had not imprinted on me and even more surprised that he had been deliberately avoiding me. In fact, she was angry at him but after Seth talked to her she had calmed down and stopped threatening to go over and kick his ass. Most of all I was thankful that she understood why I couldn't put myself in that position; she knew what it was like to be abandoned too.

It was time for me to go in and take care of Grace. By the time I got there, just Hunter's car was parked in the driveway and he was the one to greet me at the door.

"Sadie, I've called in at the office today and we're going to have our session right here and now."

My brow wrinkled, "Why?"

"Come on inside."

I was confused but I followed him inside anyway, noticing that the baby monitor was in his back pocket instead of Grace in his arms like usual. But when I followed him into the living room everything became clear.

There on the couch sat an older version of Adam Harrison. I recognized him immediately even though I hadn't seen him since I was seven; not even a picture had remained of him after his disappearance. That had been part of Mom's coping mechanism, wipe every reminder of Adam Harrison from her life, except for the two things she could never get rid of: Cady and I.

His hair was gray more than dark brown now, down to the goatee on his chin. His brown eyes were surrounded by a pair of bifocals and I could see what looked like a little belly under his dark blue polo shirt.

Just as I had been checking him over his eyes were taking me in, a small smile on his face.

"You're beautiful." He whispered.

I just stood there unsure of what to do or say. I know that I had told Hunter I was ready to face him, but I didn't think I would face him face to face; I thought maybe we'd call him or something. I didn't think I could do this and already I could feel tears pricking at the back of my eyes. Hunter must have sensed my distress because he immediately came up behind me and wrapped a comforting arm around my middle and whispered in my ear,

"You can do this, Sadie. Sit down in the easy chair and I'll begin."

I nodded and finally forced myself to move from the spot I had been frozen in. Once I was seated in the easy chair Hunter took a seat on the couch where my Father sat.

"Adam, I've asked you here as part of Sadie's treatment. I'll let her explain to you why she needed to have treatment, but I brought you here because I feel that this meeting with you will well and truly put her on the path to a normal, happy life."

My Father nodded in understanding before he turned questioning eyes on me. I sucked in a breath, trying to gather all of my scrambling thoughts. My heart was racing and my face felt hot; and I knew there was no way I could get through this without tears.

"How have you been, Sadie?" He asked gently.

My eyes snapped up to meet his from where I had been staring at my hands trying to formulate what to say.

"Is that all you can ask me after sixteen years?" I snapped. "Do you want to know how I've been? I'll tell you, I'll tell you about Cady and Mom too. She's getting married you know, in about a week and guess what? She has no Father to walk her down the aisle."

"I could-"

"No, what bride wants to be given away by a man who didn't even see her grow up? In fact she doesn't even need any man to walk her down the aisle; if anyone should do it, it should be me. After you left we practically had to raise each other, because Mom was so emotionally unavailable. But that's not even the worst of it. I don't know if you know this but the day you decided to leave and left the two of us waiting for you to pick us up from school I fell and cracked my head open. I was in a coma for a couple of days and when I woke up I wondered where you were. I wondered why you hadn't come to see me when I could have died. And then finally Mom told me you were gone and yet I still couldn't understand why you would leave us at all."

I took a steadying breath and looked at Hunter. Hunter sent me an encouraging look as if to say I had every right to be angry and I turned back to my Father again. I knew I probably sounded harsh, but I couldn't help it.

"Ever since that day I've lived with the memory of that day and now I know that I suffered with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from it. Even when Cady and I found your letters when we were sixteen we couldn't forgive you. Who leaves their children just because they don't like the life their spouse makes them lead? It's called a divorce, not abandonment."

"I was wrong-"

"I'm not finished." I snapped. "And then you had the nerve to tell Mom that you remarried and had a son. A son that 'reminded' you of Cady and I and made you 'miss' us. Well if you truly missed us you would have sought us out. So don't think that now that Hunter has invited you here you can work your way back into our lives. You lost that privilege years ago."

Surprisingly I wasn't crying, but I was shaking; shaking with anger. Anger I had kept hidden for years, never having an outlet for it. And now it was alright because that anger was being directed at the right person; the person that had caused that anger in the first place.

"Your Mother never told me you were in a coma."

"You had just left us! How would she have found you? You can't even comprehend what you did to our lives while you met some new woman and made a new family for yourself."

My Father looked towards Hunter, "Shouldn't she give me a chance to explain?"

"As Sadie's friend I don't see what there is for you to explain, jack ass. But as her therapist I think it is up to her to decide if she needs an explanation or not."

"I think I already got all the explanation I'm gonna get out of you in that letter we found." I stated. "Sorry Mom wanted things to be too perfect for you. And you know what's funny about that? That all changed once you left."

"I was wrong, but by the time I realized that it was too late."

"Yup, it's too late. We managed this long without you and I'm sure we can continue on for even longer. Go back to your new family and try not to mess it up this time." And with that I was done.

I didn't even give him a chance to reply; I got up off of the easy chair and walked up the stairs to get Grace ready for the day. By the time I came back downstairs my Father was gone and Hunter was smiling at me proudly. And that's when the dam broke.

With Grace in my arms I threw myself at Hunter and sobbed at his shoulder. Hunter held me as tightly as he could with the baby in between the two of us and let me get it all out; even though I was sure he would probably have a huge wet spot on his shirt.

"I'm very proud of you, Sadie."