Author's Note: I first want to thank every single one of you for your reviews, favorites, and follows. This story has surpassed the three hundred review mark and I am absolutely humbled and amazed by it. I do so much appreciate your support and continued interest!
I've also made a few corrections to my Embry/OC one-shot, "Enough," so head on over to my profile and check it out if you haven't already!
As always, please read and review. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated! Enjoy!
A/N 2 (PLEASE READ!): Please bear in mind as you read that I have taken some liberties with the legends, customs, and history of the Quileute Tribe and this story is in NO WAY affiliated with the Quileute tribe or Council, and by no means is it factual. I incorporated some of the tribe's legends in order to remain in canon with the Twilight Saga. I have not done this with any malicious intent or for the purpose of disrespecting such an important part of the tribe's culture and history. I took creative license and liberty in order to give Kim Connweller her backstory. Please feel free to message me with any questions or problems. Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Franchise or any of its affiliates.
He grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing my palm and the pads of my fingers. "Do you think I'd be here if I was afraid of you? If I thought that you would hurt me? Actually, I probably would be, but that doesn't matter because I'm not. I've thought a lot about what you said to me the night I left, Kim. It's weighed heavy on my head and my heart. You trusted me. You put your faith in me. It's time for me to buck up and do the same for you. No matter what happens, you can consider me your ride or die bitch."
I burst out laughing and he did the same, resting his forehead against mine as I relished in his ability to lighten the mood, no matter how stupid he made himself look in the process.
Once we'd both quieted, he took my hand in his again. "Love you, Kimbo."
"Love you too, Jare-Bear."
After one last kiss to my nose, he helped get me readjusted in my seat and turned to put the key in the ignition.
With that, he pulled the truck back onto the road and steered us towards the Council meeting, my fate, and our future. And just like that, with Jared by my side, I knew with all my heart that everything would be okay one way or another.
I felt a heavy weight settle in the pit of my stomach as we pulled into the gravel parking lot of the tribal recreation center. Judging by the raucous noise coming from the inside of the half-dilapidated building, we were the last ones to arrive. My parents' SUV and my brother's old Mustang were intermingled with the vehicles of the Pack and Council, along with an expensive-looking car I didn't recognized that I assumed belonged to one of the Cullens. Jared squeezed me into his side as he leered at the front entrance.
"You look like you're about to face a firing squad," I mumbled, nudging him in the ribs and scrunching my nose up at him.
The look he gave me was definitely not one of amusement.
"Not funny, Kim. My nerves are shot to hell and now the one place I should be able to have confidence in the knowledge of your safety has just given me another reason to worry about you."
Squeezing his hand gently, I leaned over as best I could and placed my cheek on his shoulder, my free hand fiddling with a frayed line in my jeans. "It'll be okay, Jared. I just…I just hope you don't change your mind about what you said after hearing what I have to say. That's mostly what I'm worried about. None of them can hurt me, at least not really. Not in a way that I won't be able to get over eventually. Only you really have the ability to do that." His mouth opened in rebuttal, but I placed my right index finger over his mouth to continue. "I know what you said back there. I don't doubt that you think I can't scare you away now. I'm not arguing with that. But you haven't heard the first thing about, well, anything, and while I know it's my fault entirely, I just don't want you to make any declarations that are unfounded and uneducated. I want you to go into it with totally open eyes when there are no more secrets. That's what I want for us."
I lowered my hand back to my knee as he stared at me, momentarily lost in thought.
"Okay," he sighed, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over us. I can understand that. I appreciate that that's what you want for us. I want it to. But just know that I really do love you unconditionally. That used to be just another part of the imprint, I guess, but now it's me, just Jared that really unconditionally loves you, quirks and all."
He smiled his lopsided smile at me and, opting not to speak because of the lump forming in my throat and the warm tears threatening to leak out of my eyes, I just nodded and embraced him.
A soft knock at the passenger side window interrupted us and I reluctantly pulled away from Jared, turning slowly to see Paul more serious than I'd ever seen him and staring at me like I had the answers to the universe's most baffling questions.
"They're ready for you, Kim. Emily and Rachel just finished speaking to the Council. The pack and Council are waiting."
I huffed a burst of air through gritted teeth and let go of Jared as Paul opened my door for me. Before I could even fully move myself from the middle of the truck cab, Jared had come around the front of the vehicle and shoved Paul out of the way.
"Hey man, I didn't agree with this either. She saved Rach and nothing means more than that to me. Don't do that." Paul grabbed Jared's shoulder as he spoke, turning his beta and friend to face him. When Jared took up a defensive stance in front of me, struggling to control the vibration that had begun to rack his body, Paul threw his hands up and backed away, tilting his head up to bare his throat and show deference to his higher ranking pack mate. "Woah, woah, woah. Sorry Jared. Sorry. But seriously, you're going to have to calm yourself down and control your wolf. Sam barely got you in there after your little threat last week. Besides, the elders are scared shitless as it is since Billy insisted Edward Cullen be here to back Kim's story up."
That last bit didn't help the situation at all. I cringed as Jared rocketed himself toward Paul, throwing a hand around his neck and throttling him backwards as Paul struggled to contain his volatile wolf.
"You mean they're choosing a fucking LEECH over my IMPRINT?!" Jared roared, shaking almost uncontrollably as he threw Paul against the back fender.
I had to brace myself against the impact of Paul's massive body colliding with sturdy metal, sending the truck—with me in it—flying towards the front of the parking lot. Thankful for being blessed with a quick reaction time, I pushed out an ass-load of energy from my diaphragm, forcing every bit of strength I had into grabbing at Sam's truck to stop it just short of Seth's rusty Blazer and avoid another injury I certainly didn't need. With yet another catastrophe side-stepped, I reached out to place a hold on Jared, whose tremors had become so forceful that his skin was blurring with fur and his face was trying to morph into a muzzle.
"JARED." The wolf was straining against my hold as the man stared at me with skittish eyes, trying to fight against me and the phase at the same time. "CALM DOWN." I bellowed out the command to him in the strongest voice I could muster and, as a sign of good faith when he finally nodded at me, I released the grip I had on him, placing a barrier between him, a groaning Paul, and myself just to be safe.
As soon as my hold on him was gone, Jared's form stilled and he slumped to the ground as his middles fingers massaged his temples, trying to work out the ache that straining so hard had caused.
I sat as motionless as I could, still perched sideways on the truck seat but breathing heavily and fighting the exhaustion that pulsated through my overexerted, bruised body. Paul followed my cue and remained on the ground a few feet from me, making no move until Jared indicated that he was in control of himself again, though Paul did shift himself toward me slightly as if he would be able to protect me in case Jared lost his shit again.
Jared finally lifted himself from his knees and rolled back onto the balls of his feet, looking up at me with both concern and fear shining in his eyes. When he made no move to say anything or get up, I took it upon myself to get out of the truck. Neither wolf made a move to help me and I didn't have to wonder what that meant.
Despite what he'd believed so strongly, Jared was afraid of me.
That thought alone made me want to turn tail and run as far away from this place as I could get as bile rose up in my throat, but I forced both back down to where they came from and trudged slowly toward the building, favoring my left side as the stitches pulled at me from where they were sewn into the skin on my hip. Each step I took forced a grimace across my face as I tried to forget my anger towards Carlisle Cullen for blackmailing me into promising I wouldn't try to heal the wound myself. Bracing myself against the pain, I moved to open the door to the building, glancing behind me to see Jared and Paul finally begin to stir from where they had previously been motionless in the gravel.
With one last look at my imprint, I took the final steps towards whatever lay waiting for me at the end of this meeting.
No one seemed to notice my entrance at first, so I took the moment to run an inventory of the room. Numerous folding chairs were interspersed in rows along the wooden floor facing a slightly raised platform that held six chairs situated in a semi-circle. A flimsy podium stood on the floor directly in front of the platform, facing the elders who occupied the five seats. Billy Black was positioned where the chief traditionally sat—in the middle sans his wheelchair—dressed in traditional tribal attire. Old Quil sat to his left and Sue Clearwater on his right with John Littlesea, Collin's great uncle on his father's side, next to her, all clothed in a similar fashion. My brother and Sam Uley occupied the final chairs on each end, the former with a formidable scowl across his face as he glared at something Old Quil was saying to my mother and the latter staring at his imprint apologetically and sporting a defeated posture.
The younger wolves had, as always, lumped together away from the front of the room. Only Tala was missing from the cluster of pups, having chosen to remain one seat away from Embry so the pair would still be able to gawk at each other while maintaining the façade that they were still only friends.
Emily and Rachel sat straight-backed in the front row of the section to my right, a position of honor meant for the ranking imprints of the alpha, beta, and third. They'd left an empty seat between them—my seat—and the sign of loyalty brought an emotion-fueled burn to the back of my throat. I had never been more thankful to have such good friends. My parents were to their immediate right, while Jacob sat in the front row of the left section next to Edward Cullen, holding a pre-pubescent looking Renesmee in his lap. Claire was noticeably absent, as Quil was the lone occupant of the row behind the two imprints and my parents. The rest of the older wolves had filed in behind Jacob, still feeling the pull of his inherited rank despite his recusal of the role.
Jared and Paul came barreling through the door behind me. As the door slammed shut, the arguments and shouting quieted immediately. Every pair of eyes in the building landed on me, and I was unnerved to say the least. It felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of the room and replaced with a rigid anxiety that was suffocating everyone present. The first person I made eye contact with was my mother. As we locked eyes, I saw resolve settle across her features and a protective glint flicker in her eyes as she broke from her momentary paralysis and walked purposefully toward me. I was ashamed to acknowledge that I had spent very little time with her the past few months and had failed to confide in her like I should have. My mother had never let me down when I needed someone to lean on and to impart advice, but I had been too consumed within myself to seek her out. I made a silent promise to myself and to her that this would be one of many things to change when this was all over.
"My baby," she whispered, giving me a once over before she enveloped me into a hug, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and trying to avoid any visible injuries. My father was the next one to move, following his wife as he had for more than two decades and pulling both of us into him, smoothing his hand over my limp, unwashed hair that I'd pulled into a shoddy ponytail before leaving the hospital. He shot me that comforting smile of his that had never been spared when I needed cheering up. God, I had an awesome family. It was high time that I started appreciating them more.
I glanced between my parents to seek out my brother, who obviously wanted to join in on the little family reunion but was bound by sacred Council laws to remain where he was seated among the other Elders. I bet the smart-ass was regretting being the youngest treasurer ever recorded for the tribe now, but I knew he would be a necessary ally when it came down to determining what orders, if any, that the Council would impose upon me. I just smiled and stuck out my tongue at him, earning the deep baritone chuckle of his that I loved even though it was probably inappropriate for the setting and his position.
My dad stepped back from my mom and I but kept a hand gripped around my shoulder, giving me an encouraging squeeze as my mother pulled away slightly to run her hands over my face.
"Kimberly, these old bastards will get what's coming to them if they so much as offend you in any way. I swear on my mother's grave—"
"Amy," my dad tried to cut into her diatribe, knowing how disrespected most of the elders were likely to feel at her words but she, as always, was undeterred.
"No, Eli. This is ridiculous. This girl is a hero and these hypocrites are trying to drag her through the mud because they won't be able to have total control over her like they want over every fucking thing else and—"
"AMELIA." My father rarely ever raised his voice like that, and I jumped along with my mom at his urgent tone. "Honey, stop. If you don't, they're not going to let us stay."
She closed her mouth at that but the ferocity never left her eyes as she cut a glare at my father and turned to face me again. "We love you. We're on your side. We'll do whatever we have to help you to get through this."
I gave her a toothless smile, nodding as I bent down slightly to kiss her on the cheek. We let each other go and my dad led her back to where they had been seated in the front of the room.
As I watched them walk away from me and noticed Paul sneaking around the edge of the room to be near his imprint out of my peripherals, I felt a hand nudging itself into mine. Startled, I looked down to see Jared twirling the promise ring that sat on my left finger. With his other hand he tilted my chin up and, with a smoldering look that turned my insides mushy and sent them quivering straight down to the junction of my legs, he molded himself to me, parting my lips with a forcefulness that rivaled the one he displayed almost two weeks ago when we were in the midst of our own personal hell. Right there, with my family, the entire pack, and the Council of Elders looking on, he ravaged my mouth, warring against my tongue with his own as he tried to pour the words he couldn't say— his apology, his desperation, the imprint, and most importantly his love— into me. I understood right then that he might be more afraid than he'd ever admit to himself, but I was worth more than that to him, just as he was worth more than any trouble his job, his pack, the Council, or anything else could hurl my way.
I would've been embarrassed at our display if I hadn't been so damn pleased with myself. Jared pulled away slightly, once again smiling my thousand watt smile. He nodded sharply once, obviously pleased with himself too, and laced his fingers with mine as he helped me to the front of the room. He didn't let go as Emily stood from her seat, ignoring Old Quil's reprimand to walk over to me and envelop me into a hug. I used my free arm to pat her back and squeeze her forearm as she mouthed a silent thank you to me. Upon hearing a loud huff, we both looked at an unusually teary-eyed Rachel who was chair-bound thanks to the full leg cast she was forced to wear after a couple of kicks from one of the Volturi guard had shattered her femur and tibia. In true Rachel fashion, her rebellious and defiant nature was on full display as she stared me straight in the eye. "Kim, if they do anything to you, I'm leaving too. We'll stage a mutiny. It will be awesome."
"Rachel," Billy's bass timbre rang out through the meeting hall. Before he could properly rebuke her, she turned her head and might has well have snarled at him from the look that crossed his face when she shot him her infamous glare that could wither the stone from a vampire.
They proceeded to stare each other down and another tense moment played itself out until finally Rachel acquiesced, glancing back at me. I smiled at her and went to say something, but was cut off by the Chief.
"Kimberly, we will first give you the opportunity to speak on your own behalf, as is the right of each member of our tribe."
GOD, how I hated to be called Kimberly…
"Bear in mind that what you say, along with the previous testimony of various pack members and your fellow imprints, will have a heavy impact on how this tribunal will treat your extraordinary case."
Old Quil interrupted Billy, and while I didn't know him very well, his grumpy attitude was quickly elevating him to the top of my list I liked to call People Not to Invite to Anything or Speak to Ever, right up there with my academic nemesis Gerald Atner. It was obvious he was still bitter over getting the boot when Billy finally decided to assume his position as Chief, as was his blood right. "In an unprecedented occurrence, at the behest of one of our own," he started, cutting Billy a glance, "we have invited one of the gifted Cold Ones of the Cullen clan here to verify that the witness you bear is truthful."
Though I could tell Billy was trying his hardest to stick to the formalities, I could tell by his posture and the feel of his aura that his heart wasn't much in it and suspected that the influence of the two other older men had been most responsible for bringing this onto me. I tried to remain respectful despite the slap in the face that this tribunal was, and also the added insult of them asking a vampire, our mortal enemy, to come verify my story.
"If you have no questions, please take your place in front of the Council. Jared, have a seat." Neither of those statements were suggestions, but Jared defied the command by clasping my hand even tighter in his and leading me up to the podium.
"Jared Talon," Old Quil piped up, "you are the beta of the wolf pack under the charge of this Council. Take a seat as your Chief has commanded." Once again, Jared ignored the request, keeping his chin straight and his eyes on the Council instead of bowing his head in deference as he should have. "Don't make me order your alpha to—"
"This is my imprint. We are equals in our shared, sanctified bond. I am bound to her more tightly than I'm bound to my pack and my alpha, certainly more tightly than I'm bound to the orders of this Council, and I assure you that I will choose her even over my own life. I'm going to share the burden of whatever sentence you place on her, and I'm going to stand up with her in front of you in case there comes a point in this blatantly disrespectful interrogation that I have to remind this Council of the laws surrounding the protection and rights of an imprint that are considered our most sacred."
My eyes were wide as I looked up at this boy in disbelief. His jaw was set and his gaze was steadied on Old Quil as if he hadn't just displayed the most insubordinate behavior for a wolf that he possibly could have shy of ripping their throats out like he'd wanted to in the first place.
The only mouths in the room that hadn't gone slackjawed were my mother, my openly grinning brother, and Billy Black himself whose eyes fully embodied his usual dry sarcasm despite not having said a word.
I was perfectly capable of handling these old geezers and doing so in a respectable way that would reflect my standing as the mate of the pack's beta. But the pack's beta had just gone full throttle, balls to the wall caveman and, while I generally didn't appreciate such behavior from him, I think my underwear had literally melted at his little speech.
I heard Edward Cullen give an uncomfortable cough at that last bit.
I smiled to myself and stayed silent, allowing Jared's words to sink in for dramatic effect and desperately hoping that someone would start clapping to interrupt the hostility brewing between Old Quil and Jared at the moment.
Emily, bless her heart, finally stood up to take control of the situation. Sam perked up and turned his body towards hers, looking like he was about to jump out of his own skin. The Council's control over him the past couple of weeks must really have had him on edge. "Billy, this is unprecedented. There's nothing in the books, and believe me, I've read just about all of them, that's says a wolf can't stand up with his imprint."
Sam was quick to agree with her, and the look of malice on Old Quil's face when Billy told Jared that he could stay put was priceless.
"Kimberly, Jared, please come forward. Kim, feel free to begin when you're ready."
I cast an uneasy glance at my mother as Jared and I made our way to the front of the room. Her hands were folded above her heart as if she too was trying to hold it together. She nodded reassuringly at me, but the dip of her brows and her pursed lips told me that she was just as nervous as I was.
Deciding that the words of my grandmother would be far more convincing than anything I could ever come up with on my own, I decided that I would relay the legends she'd told me as a child; the history of my ancestors. I looked up to Jared one last time, who still stared down the Council as if daring them to even look at me funny, and I realized that finally I was no longer alone. Perhaps I hadn't been alone this whole time as I'd so melodramatically convinced myself. I had a soul mate, family, and friends who were willing to accept me without explanation, and that was all I'd ever really wanted, wasn't it?
I let out a breathy laugh and Jared finally trained a questioning gaze on me.
"Love you, Talon," I said, tightening my grip on his hand.
"Ditto, Connweller."
With that, I faced the Council.
"This tale is one of not just a lifetime, but of a legacy that is far more than just this day, far more than the consequences of this one moment in time. A legacy forged by the sacrifices my ancestors made to fulfill a solemn promise made long ago and forged through the bloodlines of my grandmother's family.
"I am molded from the same spirit world as Taha Aki. I am the granddaughter of a Guardian, and so I am a Guardian. Running through my veins is the blood of unsung female Quileute warriors, heroes whose deeds and sacrifices have gone unrecognized and undocumented by the tribe they protected so fiercely. One of my grandmothers, long long ago, was an ordinary medicine woman able to communicate with the spiritual world like so many tribal elders did in those days. She served the tribe during the first days of Taha Aki. After Utlapa the trickster stole Taha Aki's body, she saw the good in him as he wandered aimlessly without a form. She saw the strength of his soul and the courage in his heart, and she pleaded with the spirits to help him find a new body and save our tribe from the tyranny of Utlapa.
"Knowing she might never get an answer, she concocted an herbal pyre to burn as she chanted her own soul into the divine world to help him in his quest. Before she could reach Taha Aki, the spirits answered her pleas and guided him to the form of the wolf, the ancestor of our tribe. But the spirits also admired my grandmother's courage, and they saw something in her soul that they knew to be special, something they knew to be worthy of the gifts of a spirit warrior.
"Since her time on earth was waning and she was incapable of the punishing physical demands that being a spirit warrior entailed, she was bestowed with divine wisdom, an ability which would prove essential to leading the tribe through the uncertainties of its future, and the spirits also promised that her legacy would live on through her ancestors to serve alongside the next generations of spirit warriors. Because her daughter had died, they granted a divine gift to her granddaughter who would take her place as medicine woman upon her death. This continued with every granddaughter of the previous Guardian, each one receiving a gift that's nature would depend on how the tribe needed to be served during her time on earth, as dictated by the spirits. The tradition continued with my grandmother, also granted a kind of divine wisdom, and as it continues with me it will continue with my oldest granddaughter.
"During the early days, we were open with the tribe about who we were, just as the spirit warriors were, but as time wore on and we were joined in the supernatural realm by Cold Ones, it became less safe to advertise the various talents we had been gifted with. The greater the influence on our tribe from outsiders, the more it also became necessary to hide what we were from the tribe itself. Since the destruction of all evidence of our existence over three centuries ago, our history has been kept within the families of the Guardians, passed down orally in secret only to those who would be impacted directly. And after that, no shifter imprinted on a Guardian in order to protect our secret and ensure that we remained a hidden weapon from our enemies, be they neighboring tribes or invading outsiders.
"My grandmother had the gift of foresight, similar to the ability of the first Guardian. She was much more accurate than what I've heard of Alice Cullen's talent and, aside from many things surrounding my future, had more control over what she saw as well. From things she told me and my mom, she was shocked when she saw my future relationship with Jared, when she learned that he would shift and imprint on me, but soon saw that my placement as an imprint would prove to be essential to the existence of the pack and our tribe. She saw the Volturi's descent upon our lands and their plan to kill all the imprints to cripple the pack, not only eliminating the shifters as an enemy in themselves, but also getting rid of them as an ally of the Cullens to increase the likelihood of killing the coven that they viewed as a threat to their reign over the supernatural world. In their minds, there would be no better way to reestablish their authority after being embarrassed last winter over Renesmee.
"I don't know what to call my gift, exactly. Perhaps you could say it's telekinesis, I don't know. I can make my mind, body, and spirit work in harmony to move the things around me, to create a shield similar to the ability of Bella Cullen, to block out smell and sound if need be. I'm going to be honest with you and tell you that this—sixth sense, if you will— makes me incredibly powerful, and it requires a great deal of mental and physical will, but I am in complete and total control over it. My grandmother said mine was one of the strongest gifts any Guardian has ever been granted, but she trusted the spirits and she encouraged me to do the same. The spirits wouldn't have given me this gift if they didn't think I had the fortitude to handle it, especially in a moral capacity.
"I think it's also important for me to mention that if I wasn't able to do all these things, I would be dead. Every single imprint might also be dead and the pack would be at the mercy of the tyrants you wouldn't have been able to depose of with such little bloodshed if I hadn't been who I was or capable of doing what I did.
"I know that what I am is frightening to you. I was frightened of it at first, afraid that I wouldn't be able to control this behemoth of an extrasensory skill. I am capable of doing powerful things, things that only I have control over. There is no way that anyone or anything could physically stop me if I took the notion to do something. But I was put here by our ancestors for a reason. I was given these gifts and made an imprint for a reason. I was meant to reveal the secrets of my ancestors to you for a reason.
"My grandmother died before she saw an outcome or a purpose to many things, so I've been flying blind in all this for some time and honestly didn't have much confidence that I would survive the ordeal that we've all just been through. I don't know your thoughts or what your decision will be, what you'll expect from me, but all I ask is that you take into account the honor and legacy of not only my ancestors, but also my own honor and legacy, which have always been and will continue to be beneficial to this tribe. I just want the chance to live my life and to help in the reestablishment of balance and fairness in this supernatural world we live in. Trust in me—as an imprint, as a member of this pack— to do right by my wolf, my family, and my tribe. Trust me like I trust Jared, like I trust the rest of the pack. Trust that the spirits know what they're doing by putting me here amongst you."
After I'd finished speaking, you could've heard a pin drop. Every single Council member aside from my brother was staring at me incredulously. There was apprehension, yes, possibly fear, but also curiosity. Interest in unknown tribal histories and cultural preservation.
And I could see in Billy Black's eyes the niggling thought in the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe Kim Connweller would be a valuable asset to this pack.
I could feel the gaze of each person in the room boring holes into my back, could sense their heightened awareness through the way their spirits felt against the invisible cloud that my gift constantly held around me.
The only one that mattered was right next to me, though. And he felt…amazing.
I had been so worried that, despite what my grandmother had reassured me of, Jared would be horrified and force me away from him.
But I would never, not in my whole life, forget the look of awe, respect, and—thank God— love that this man was leveling toward me in that moment.
Nothing else mattered. The Council's decision was as good as moot in my opinion with the way Jared Dakota Talon was looking at me.
And right there, just after I'd confessed the life-long secret that had weighed me down and silently shaped my entire world, as a testament to both his unwavering confidence in himself and his love for me, he asked me what I'd refused to answer eleven days ago and what I was scared shitless he'd never ask me again.
Jared Talon asked me to marry him.
And true to my word, I said yes.