AN: Hi there! If any of you guys follow my other stories then you know, this one is getting updated more than the others. Since it is a baby and still getting developed I'm giving it more attention then the others, but with the next chapter or so the updates will slow down. I know, it sucks, but I have to be fair! Thank you all for the reviews, I love them all and you are all so wonderful! Enjoy!

Chapter Three

It Doesn't Help

The high I had been riding quickly plateaued when I realized I still hadn't told my mother a very important fact. Mom knew all about imprinting and couldn't wait for the day it happened to me. Mostly because she really didn't like the girls I brought to the house. It didn't matter much because none of them stayed for more than a night. With a huff I finally got out of my truck and trudged into the house.

"Is that my son I hear?" I heard my mom say sarcastically from the kitchen. I shuffled into the large room and plopped down into one of the chairs in the breakfast nook.

"Funny Ma," I mumbled, folding my arms on the table then resting my head on them. I was tired now that I was finally able to spend time with Anna and not stalk her.

"You look hungry, do you want anything special?" She asked as she started digging through the fridge.

I looked up at my mom as she stepped away from the fridge to look at me. She's in her early forties but doesn't look it. She's also shorter than Anna, athletic build and cropped black hair. To my chagrin my mom still gets a lot of guys, she is my beautiful mother after all. And no man is good enough for her. "Whatever is fine with me." I answered with a shrug.

"So, Sam dropped by a few hours ago." She said offhand while she chopped up carrots.

Shit. I tensed and glanced at my mother back. "What did he want?" I asked calmly.

"Nothing much, find out where you were." She said casually. She was torturing me and she knew it. "He did let something slip about a girl named Anna." She said twirling the knife she had like it was a finger and not a deadly weapon.

I mumbled a slur of curses at my Alpha under my breath.

"I tried to see if there was something special about her, but he would answer and left in a hurry." She was dragging it out, trying to get me to crack early, but I stood – slumped – strong. "Would you like to tell me what's going on?" She finally asked when I didn't blurt out the truth.

I sighed. "I imprinted." I told her tiringly.

She perked up instantly. "Really?" She asked smiling.

I almost rolled my eyes but resisted. "Yes," I breathed.

She crossed the kitchen quickly and smacked me up-side the head. "And why am I the last to know?" She asked frustrated.

"We haven't really crossed paths." I grumbled, rubbing my head where she hit me.

"I'm your mother, I should have a path of my own." She told me sternly, pointing the knife at me to solidify her point. I nodded apologetically and she went back to chopping vegetables. "So, when do I get to meet her?" She asked excitedly.

"Sunday, she's helping me with Algebra." I answered, laying my head completely on the table.

"I think I'm going to like her." I heard my mother say happily before I slipped into a quick nap.

Mom asked me the simple questions about Anna which were easy enough to answer even half asleep, but I had to remind her that I didn't know what her favorite color was, or when her birthday was because we only talked for a grand total of five minutes. She also made plans to have Sunday off just so she could clean and make a big lunch for the both of us after I told her Anna was on the thin side. Mom is one of those people that will feed you as soon as you come in the door if she thinks you're too thin.

After our pseudo meal I told Mom I was most likely not sleeping in my room and she just nodded before settling in her room with a book and I went to the backyard and phased to meet up with Sam for a scheduled patrol. I didn't feel him phase with me until the very last minute.

Thanks for ratting me out. We were both running the same direction, toward the center of the Rez.

Sam felt entirely apologetic. The same thing happened when he imprinted on Emily. I thought you told her.

When have I seen her?! He should know better, seriously.

Well, she knows now.

I growled. I'm going to need Sunday, Monday and Tuesday's off. I made sure he could feel my deep desire to kick his ass at the moment if he tried to refuse me.

Anna's days off, huh? I didn't say anything, but I knew he could feel my annoyance at the fact that he was just snooping around my thoughts. We can work something out.

I'll talk to Embry and Seth, they still haven't imprinted yet.

I could feel Sam laugh. Take the south boarder, I'll go north.

We separated and went to our boarders. I felt Quil join us sometime later and he was exhausted from playing with Claire all day and didn't say anything. After Jake imprinted on Nessie, Sam and Jake made a sort of pact and now we can all hear each other again. It was nice having five voices absent, but they are still part of the pack and though I'll never say it or think it. I might have missed them.

We didn't say anything to each other at all. We barely thought anything toward each other. Sam was occupied with something about Emily, I didn't notice I was blocking it out. Quil was thinking about Claire, no surprise, I blocked that out as much as I could as well. Leah would be joining us in a few hours and I basked in the silence of my brothers thinking only of their imprints.

Since I was running south, I ran right passed Forks and my imprint. It was hard trying to stop myself from splitting off my path and taking my old spot behind Anna's shed. Sam caught what I was thinking about doing.

Two sweeps and you can go where ever you want. He was trying to motivate me, but I didn't need it.

I tried not to growl. I wasn't angry, I was just impatient. I wanted to be back with her. Around her. Hearing her breathe. Anything. I just needed to see her and know she was okay. Even if I saw her not two hours ago. I had just imprinted on her, it was all too fresh for me not to want to be around her constantly.

Quil asked about Anna while we ran, nothing probing or rude. Just simple questions. He was trying to fill the silence and not think about the fact that Claire was going to the Makah Rez for the whole weekend. I felt bad for him so I kept a sort of conversation going with him and Sam. I didn't mind talking about Anna and he needed it, so I'm just being a good friend, not obsessing.

We finished our patrol and Leah, Embry and Seth phased just before I was at Anna's. There was no way I was going home unless ordered. I didn't hear anything from them because the minute I caught a whiff of Anna's scent, I phased back. I jumped into my shorts and ran for her backyard.

As a precaution, whenever we sleep close to human's we phase out of wolf. It's easier to explain if we get caught and we don't run the risk of viciously attacking anyone. I climbed up the tree that hung over Anna's shed and looked in through the window.

It was dark inside, but I could still see. Anna was buried under her blankets and was in a peaceful sleep. I felt a little more at ease. I'd prefer to be a substitute for the blankets, but this'll do. For now. Her parents were back, and in the house. Her father was snoring like a drunken sailor. Then again the smell of cheap whiskey was pouring off the house, so he was most likely drunk.

I couldn't hear her mother and truthfully, I didn't care. They weren't anywhere near Anna and that's all I cared about. I went back to watching Anna as she slept. Most of her face was covered with the blankets but I could still see her eyes tensed and her eyebrows knitted. I almost hated seeing her looking so inviting. It's hard trying to stop myself from going to her.

Finally being able to see her calmed my over protective instincts and let my exhausted mind slow down. I thought about falling asleep on the tree branch because of the view it gave me into Anna's shed. It was only a five foot fall. Nothing would happen that wouldn't heal in a few hours, if not instantly. I was weighing the pro's and con's of sleeping on a tree when I heard Anna let out a sound that damn near crushed my heart.

It was a mix between a whimper and a flat out cry. I had to grip the tree so tightly I heard it snap, in order to stop myself from bolting out of the tree, taking off the back wall of the shed and taking my tiny imprint into my arms. She let out another cry and I dropped down from the tree, fully prepared to fight off whatever was going on in her dreams. I'm not entirely sure how to do it, but I'll figure it out.

Three minutes felt like years as I waited for her to do anything but cry. She was getting louder as the seconds trickled on and she had started to thrash in her sleep. I started to shake worse then I ever have, even when the teenagers had tripped her, I still wasn't this bad. There was no one I could scowl at to leave her alone. There was nothing I could do on my end to stop her nightmare.

I bit my tongue so hard it bled and my palms were already bleeding from my finger nails, which were half claws now. Just when I thought I was going to snap, she woke up. Crying. Hell, I was crying with her. She snapped up her bed and looked around frantically. When she saw she was alone she relaxed just a little. I tensed up a little more when she pulled her blankets tighter around her and tried to disappear in them, crying silently as she did.

Every single ounce of me, told me to rip off that flimsy fucking door and just take her away. Into the woods away from her parents and stupid teenagers to make sure no one ever made her cry again. But I couldn't move. If I did, I would phase. I could feel the wolf in me clawing inside me, dying to get out and kill everyone that ever did the girl in front of me wrong.

Five minutes of excruciating physical and emotional pain later, Anna wiped the tears from her face and crawled out of bed. She ran her hands over her face then started digging through her dresser like nothing had happened. I stared at the back of her head intently, waiting for any sign that she really wasn't okay. The only hint I had that anything was even wrong in the first place was her blood shot eyes.

She pulled on a pair of dingy sweat pants and grabbed a duffle bag on her floor, her keys and stepped into boots that looked a size too big for her then walked out of her shed. I heard her lock the door behind her and I prayed she would get on her bike. She didn't.

She walked straight for her house and slipped in the back door that was almost off its hinges. I strained my ears to listen for her asshole parents but I couldn't hear anything. They must have been still asleep because the only thing I could hear was Anna's foot steps before the shower turned on.

I waited for ten minutes, pacing wildly as I did, keeping my ears open for any sound of her parents. I could tell they didn't like her if they made her, or let her, sleep out in a shed and after everything that happened tonight, I wouldn't be able to stop myself if they tried anything with her. They could say one word to her in the wrong tone and I swear on my mother's life, I will tear through that house and kill them both. Within thirty seconds.

When the shower cut off and her parents were still asleep I wasn't as tense, but she was still in the bathroom. I waited for five more minutes until she came out of the bathroom and then out the back door. I had to dash behind a tree because my pacing had brought me closer to the tree line. Even if it was still dark out, she still might be able to see a half naked Quileute stalking her.

When she got back to her shed she was still in her baggy shirt and sweat pants and I could finally breathe a little lighter. Anna looked wide awake and it wasn't even dawn yet. There were dark circles under her eyes and they were puffy and red. She started turning on her lights and I had a much clearer view of her.

She started undressing and I didn't look away, I couldn't. I didn't care what Sam would do to me right now, I had to keep my eyes on her. I'll take the beating later. With her back turned to me I saw her naked body. Damn near all of my tension and rage flowed out of me when I saw her. Her arms and shoulders were thin and so was her waist, her hips curved out more than I would have expected for a girl so thin. Her bottom had more meat than her entire backside, and it showed painfully in her torso because I could count her ribs easily.

Her skin was so pale I swear I could see the blood moving through her veins. I've seen skinnier girls but there was something unhealthy about how small she was. She still looked fucking amazing and if I didn't have the urge to phase at the tip of my fingers I would be in that shed grabbing her and doing things that I can't dwell on because I will end up doing them any way. Her legs had little muscle to them and she looked like her legs shouldn't be able to hold up the rest of her body, but they did just fine.

She never turned around as she dressed but all too soon she was in jeans and a worse-for-wear t-shirt. She sat back down at her desk and I had to climb back up the tree to hide in the shadows so she wouldn't see me while I continued to watch her. Her eyes had lost some of their redness and puffiness and it made me a little calmer but she had a blank look in her eyes, big hazel empty eyes.

I could feel my stomach lurch and my heart scream. I did not want her to look like this. I wanted her to have life in her. I wanted her to be happy about something. I didn't want to see her dragging herself along while dealing with the assholes in her life. She was my imprint dammit! I needed to fix this. I had to make her see that there was something to be happy for. I don't care what it was, but I needed to see her smile. I need to see her eyes light up in happiness, not dulled with emptiness.

I still couldn't phase, even as the urge became stronger I couldn't. If I did I would run on pure instinct and that is bad. I'd do a lot of things that I'd never be able to take back, even if I didn't want to they still might potentially hurt Anna and I couldn't risk that. I couldn't think about hurting her when she was already hurting so much. I'd ritually sacrifice myself if I ever did something like that to her.

Sitting at the desk, she went back to her homework. I almost scoffed. Most people get into trouble to get away from their problems, but my imprint sticks her perfect nose into her textbooks and works her ass off. As much as I hate seeing her like this, I'd rather have her how she is then a pile of trouble. Then I'd have heart attacks daily, rather than going to stalking extremes. Meh, I'd still probably still stalk her, no matter what she was like.

The sun just barely started to light up the sky when she packed away her books and put on a big sweatshirt and started turning off all of her lights. I caught a glance of the clock and saw that it was almost six in the morning. It didn't even phase me that I had gotten no sleep even though I'd have to be back in school in two hours. I watched her unlock her bike after she locked up her shed, then she hopped on the bike and pedaled down the road, toward the high school.

I had to follow her to school, just to make sure she got there okay and that she wasn't upset. Well, visibly at least. I knew she was still upset, I could feel it in my bones. I phased as I ran ahead of her, barely getting my shorts off in time because now I had a mission that didn't involve standing still and I could phase without painful consequences. I had to watch her get to school. No detours. No killing. No nothing.

Out front of the high school she chained her bike to the bike rack and rushed into the school. It had been something like an hour and there was hardly anyone there so there were no fuck-faces to tease her and piss me off more. I watched her until I saw her disappear into a building but it didn't calm me at all. If anything it only made me more nervous. Now I couldn't see her and she was in a school full of idiots.

Its gonna be a very bad day.

I had to force myself away from the school and ran back home. Sam was waiting in the woods and phased and changed into my shorts before I walked up to him, preparing myself for anything fight I might have to start with my Alpha.

"Nightmares are the worst." Sam said solemnly. His hands were stuffed in his pocket and he was hunched over, it was the tell tale imprint stance. This whole situation had something to do with Emily and the next time I see her I might have to kiss her feet.

I eyed him cautiously, hoping that he wasn't going to kill me in the next few seconds. I couldn't let anyone kill me until I was sure Anna was set for life and there was no way that was happening anytime soon.

"I'm not going to yell at you, not after that." He said seriously. Seeing that my hide was safe I relaxed a little.

"Thanks," I muttered, my throat still tight with emotion. Imprints do it all the time without even trying.

"Patrol schedule is fixed, but you're gonna have to run Quil's today." He told me, sympathy still lacing his voice heavily.

I just nodded. I really didn't want to talk much right now.

"I'm not going to pretend like I know what to do, but please no killing anything that isn't a leech or belong in the wild." He was pleading, not sympathetic. I didn't like either attitude from Sam, it was a little strange.

"I can do that." I told him somewhat serious. Some of those teenagers belonged in the wild…

"Seriously?" He asked surprised.

I nodded again.

"Alright, Em wants everyone over for dinner, you coming?" He asked. I could hear in his voice that he totally expected a no. I almost gave to him immediately.

I thought about it for a second. I didn't want to leave Anna alone too much but since Emily is probably the sole reason Sam isn't kicking my ass, I'm gonna appease her for the day. "Sure," I answered with a nod.

AN: Review! :D