Sam's POV

Being Alfa was never really on my to-do list. The responsibility could be a bit overwhelming, but it was something I had come to accept after Jacob turned it down. The hardest part of my job was keeping each wolf in line which could be difficult with guys like Paul and Jacob.

Lately, I had not been doing my job that well. Not when taking into account the fact that my Beta was lying in a vampire's house, fighting for his life after imprinting on one of them and then keeping it a secret. Now I was going to have to go over there among the bloodsuckers to check on him.

I had not yet been there, but in the week since Cullen had brought him back, Billy had been to see him three times. The first time he went with Quil and Embry who were 'chomping at the bit' to go check on their best friend and get a feel for his situation. The second time Billy went with Seth who practically had to sneak away from Leah to get there. The third time he had gone with Sue, with no wolf for protection. I had only allowed that because we were informed that only Edward would be in the house at the time because the others were going hunting. But I made sure no one went over there by themselves. My trust for the Cullens had grown a little and I doubted they would hurt any of us, but the desires of vampires and the anger of wolves could be difficult to control.

Today I was going with him because I had to make sure Jake was doing well. In all actuality, I was beginning to get used to Edward. His family still set me on edge, but there was something about him that made me a little more trusting. It might have been because of the imprint. I was a firm believer that imprinting was a kind of gift from the spirits and that they had some plan we may not yet understand. Trusting him a little more could also be contributed to the fact that every time I had ever conversed with him, he was civil and un-vampire-like. The last time I had spoken with him was the day I told him about Jacob's running away and the imprint.

o0o0o0o

I had just come from a long night of patrol. Jacob had run off yesterday afternoon and someone had to cover his shift. My paws hit the ground with a thud as I made my way home, when I felt someone phase in. It was Embry.

Sam we gotta talk man. Quil and I found something. He said.

Can't it wait till tomorrow? I'm tired. I responded. I knew what his answer would be. He would not have bothered me until day time unless it was important.

Its about Jacob. I was sure then that it was important and I made my way to Quil and Embry who were out on First Beach.

I phased and got dressed. When I got to where the guys were, they had extremely serious looks on their faces and I was starting to feel worried. "What is guys?"

"We went to Jacob's house to get a video game of mine he had borrowed." Answered Quil. "And in his room we found this." He handed me a crumpled looking piece of paper that I had not noticed he was holding.

"You were rifling through crumpled up papers of Jacob's? Jeez, guys.."

"No," Embry interrupted. "We found this sitting out on his dresser. He had un-wrinkled it. Anyway, just read it." I looked at the paper. It was definitely covered in Jacob's handwriting. What caught my eye first and sent a wave of shock through me was who the letter was addressed to;

Edward,

I know you hate me and I don't blame you. We are enemies after all.

But I know that you and Bella are going to be happy together and that's all

I've ever wanted. I don't hate you anymore. I have to tell you that I imprinted

on you. I realize you may not know what that means, but you'll figure it out. It

won't cause you any problems, I promise. Just know that I'm sorry.

Jacob

I was aware that my mouth was hanging open and the guys were staring at me. I had to sit down. What did this letter just say? Jacob and Edward? Then, Jacob's strange behavior started to make sense. He had been hiding his thoughts from us and he had been spending a lot of his time alone. I had figured it was because he was upset over the whole Bella thing. Now I was finding out it was actually an Edward thing.

"What are we going to do?" Quil asked.

"Yeah. We gotta find Jacob. He was sick Sam. We know why now. He's only going to get worse." stated Embry. The guys were right. Jacob was in trouble and we had to do something.

"We would never find him. He probably doesn't want to be found." Jacob had had time to get almost anywhere. We could travel very fast and very far in our wolf forms. "But I know someone who might be able to help."

"Edward." stated Embry. As he and Quil stood to leave.

When we got to my house, I sent them home to get some sleep. Although I doubted they would. I planned to see Edward alone. That way he would not be intimidated and I might be able to explain things better without a crowd. Walking into the house, and turning on the living room light, I went straight to the drawer with the address book. In there I had placed a card with Edward's number on it. He had given it to me back before the newborn battle in case of emergency. Taking the phone out to the garage, so as not to wake Emily, I dialed the number on the card. It rang three times before it was answered.

"Hello?" Came the elegant, calm voice.

"Edward. This is Sam Uley." I replied.

"Sam? What's wrong?" His voice now sounded alert and attentive.

"I need to talk to you. Can we meet alone at the treaty line in fifteen minutes?" There was no way I was going to have this conversation over the phone although it did sound slightly more appealing than meeting the vampire face to face. There was silence on the other end for a few seconds while he deliberated. I thought he might say no so I added, "It's about Jacob."

"I'll be there." he replied. I hung up the phone, walked out into the dark night and removed my shorts. Taking a deep breath I thought about the coming future and the ways I could try to make it work out for the better. I phased and started making my way to the treaty line.

As I approached the treaty line, I caught a whiff of something particularly unpleasant. Turning and following its direction, my nose began to sting increasingly. It led me straight to the vampire who was standing patiently with his hands in his pockets and an unreadable expression on his face. I slipped behind a tree, phased and dressed. Stepping out I stood in front of the young bloodsucker.

We were about the same height, but his build was leaner than mine. His skin of course was pale and even more so in the glow of the moonlight. His bronze colored hair looked a little winded from running, but would still impress any hair stylist. And his golden eyes looked straight into mine with intensity, curiosity, and what I thought might be a touch of worry all mixed in together.

"Thank you for coming." I greeted. Make sure to stay civil, I told myself. A small smile graced his face as he nodded.

"What happened?"

"Jacob ran off yesterday after he got your wedding invitation in the mail." I thought starting at the beginning was better than just jumping into it. "Now we don't know where he is and we need to find him." He looked at me, his face still expressionless. He was waiting for more of an explanation.

"I called you because there is something you need to know." I pulled out the letter and handed it to him. He took it and opened it. There was silence for a few minutes. Considering his heightened senses and speed I figured he had probably read the letter more than once by the time he spoke.

"What exactly is an imprint?" was his first question. I expected that, but I still had no idea how best to explain it.

"Imprinting is kind of like love at first sight, for lack of a better explanation. It's a connection that's made. Most Quileute believe that an imprint is a finding of your soul mate." I stopped here to let my words sink in and hopefully he would have some questions I could answer to better explain the situation.

Seeming to read my mind, which I know he did, he asked, "How does this happen?"

I shook my head, "We don't know for sure. It just happens when the wolf looks at his imprint for the first time."

"That would have been just after we got back from Volterra. He kept this a secret for that long? That must have been why he was working so hard to hide his thoughts from me." Edward was really thinking now, I could tell. He was probably going back through all of his encounters with Jacob checking to see if there were any sign he should have noticed. After a short time, he looked at me and asked, "Why did you come to me with this?"

"Because, despite what Jacob may think, and how I feel about what you are, you are affected by this too and you deserve to know. But that wasn't the only reason." I swallowed, "I'm sure you noticed how sick Jacob was getting?" He nodded. "I think it was because he was fighting the imprint. You see, the pull of the imprint on a wolf is very strong. It's kind of like blood for a vampire. Without your imprint in your life, you feel like…like….well, like you're dying. Most of us would never fight against it. It's so important and meaningful to us. But I think, considering who Jacob imprinted on," I gestured my hand toward Edward. "Or what, rather, he didn't feel that way. So he fought against it and it made him sick. I believe it's going to get a lot worse."

"You mean if he isn't with me, he is going to keep getting sick, and you think it will kill him?" He was catching on quickly.

"Yes."

"But you haven't gone out looking for him." He stated.

"We would never find him. In the time he's had since yesterday afternoon, he could have gotten anywhere by now."

"I get that I'm somehow important in finding him, but I don't exactly understand how." said Edward.

"I said before that an imprint is a connection. Well, Jacob isn't just connected to you. You're connected to him, too. You may not feel it but that's only because you just found out and he isn't around. This connection is so strong. It can lead you to him. I used it once to find Emily." He looked at me skeptically. "I didn't come here expecting you to run after him. It was a tiny hope I was hanging on to." I had never really expected him to agree to go find Jacob.

"Why?" he asked.

"What?"

"Why did you not expect me to go after Jacob?" I kind of figured he knew the answer to that question but I answered him in my own words anyway.

"Because you're a vampire. Because he tried to take Bella away from you. Because he was an ass to you." Even if you did deserve it, I thought. "Because he is a wolf and your life is probably a little easier with one less running around here."

"Stop." He interrupted me. "You may be right about a lot of it, but I would never be glad that someone was dead just to make my life easier. I'm not as cold-hearted and evil as you think I am. I'll go find Jacob and bring him back."

I admit, I was stunned. I did not expect him to agree to this. "You have to understand, first, that if Jacob is really sick, of he's dying, you're bringing him home is not going to fix that. He ran away for a reason and unless you plan on making him a part of your life in some way, may be it would be best to leave him alone." I did not want Edward to bring Jacob back, make him better, just to turn around and leave him.

Edward nodded. He was silent for a minute, then he asked, "How does it work?"

I knew he was asking about using the connection to find Jacob. "You just kind of feel it." I answered. "Right now, if you pay real close attention, you might feel like something is missing. Almost like you forgot something before you walked out the door." he nodded. He felt it. "Hold on to that feeling. Dwell on it, make it stronger." I waited. I was not entirely sure anything was going to happen.

He was staring at the ground focusing on something I could not see. "I feel it. It's kind of like a tugging now."

"Yeah," I smiled a little. "That's it. Now you just gotta hold on to that and follow it. If you go the wrong direction, the feeling will change, but as you get closer it gets stronger."

He looked me dead in the eyes with a look of determination on his face. I began to wonder if maybe he felt more for Jacob than anyone really knew, including himself. "I will call when I find him." With that he ran off in the direction I knew his house to be in, and I did not see him again for another week.

o0o0o0o0o

Walking into the vampires' house alongside Billy, I felt a little exposed and vulnerable. Most of the Cullens were out, I had been informed, but that did not ease my nerves. The smell did not help either. Dr. Cullen helped Billy up the stairs. I was going to do it, but he insisted and seeing as how it was his house and he was stronger than me, I did not argue. He left us to make our own way to Edward's room saying he had some work to do in his office.

As we got to the bedroom door I felt as though I were in a hospital late at night. It was so very quiet. I could hear Billy's heart beat calmly unlike my own which beat rapidly in anticipation and alertness. The air smelled so clean like everything had been sanitized and the squeak of Billy's wheelchair seemed to fit in so very well. I smiled to myself thinking of how much Jacob would hate the still, quiet of this place. He was a restless kind of person, lying in bed doing nothing in a house so quiet and depressing would drive him insane. I was looking forward to the day when he woke up and brought some life into the vampires' lair. Pun intended.

Stepping into the room, I found just what I had expected. Jacob was lying in the middle of a large, comfortable looking bed while Edward sat in a chair on the other side. He looked up as we entered.

"Hello Billy, Sam." He did not look tired, or bored, or restless like I would have been sitting next to the bed of my ill imprint, but rather he looked the same as when I had seen him the last time. There was concern on his face, but mostly he was calm and collected like someone who had had a hundred years to master his emotions. I nodded my head in acknowledgement of his greeting.

Billy rolled up to the bed and took Jacob's hand. "Has anything changed?" he asked.

"No." Edward replied. He placed a book he had been holding on the night stand next to him and stood placing his hands in his pockets. My biggest concern when I learned of Jacob's imprint was how Edward was going to react. Not because I cared about his feelings, because I didn't, but because his reaction would affect Jacob. So far he had done everything to make me believe he actually cared about Jacob. That maybe he even had feelings for him.

"I do care about Jacob." He spoke quietly as if he were unsure he wanted to say anything. I was confused then I realized he had heard my thoughts and maybe he felt the future needed to be addressed like I did. "And I think I do have feelings for him."

I looked at Billy. He was still holding Jacob's hand and watching his sleeping face. I knew the man was listening intently but he made no move to comment on Edward's admission.

"But I do not see how that matters." Continued the vampire.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, maybe my feelings aren't real. Maybe they are the product of the imprint."

I knew this was going to come up eventually. Everyone I know who imprinted on someone has had to deal with this. I thought maybe Edward would wait until Jacob woke up to address this, though. But I figured with all of the alone time he has had in the past week, it was probably eating at him so badly he needed answers to his questions. I was not sure what to tell him though.

There was a good chance his and Jacob's situation was unique compared to other imprints for two important reasons. The first being that he was a vampire, someone who should be an enemy, but the second and maybe just as important was that he was a male. No wolf has ever imprinted on the same sex before, to the tribe's knowledge.

"I'm not a homosexual." Edward stated simply. I felt bad for him. There were a lot of things he was dealing with right now from his feelings toward our kind to his sexual identity. Billy shook his head and looked up at Edward. His eyes showed sympathy and understanding.

"Of course you're not. Jacob isn't either. Look, sit down and I'll explain some things to you." Edward took his seat across the bed from Billy. The older man fixed the eternally young one with a firm look to keep his attention. "Imprinting does not create love or relationships. It did not give you these feelings you are having. What it does is allow possibilities.

"The spirits, for whatever reason, Edward, chose you and Jacob as soul mates. Some think imprinting is used to bring out the best in two people. To make them better warriors, better men or women. But it never forces two people together who absolutely could never get along. Your feelings for Jacob are completely natural. They aren't imprint manufactured."

"You see," I chimed in. "We think that imprinting merely breaks down any barriers that might keep someone from their… soul mate. For me, it was my relationship with Leah. It opened your minds, made Jacob overlook the fact that you're a vampire and you overlook that he's a wolf. It doesn't matter to either of you that you're straight men because that's an issue the imprint chose to ignore. Does this make sense?"

Edward nodded. Looking down at Jacob, he sighed. I was not quite sure whether our information made him feel better or worse about his situation, but at least he understood it a little better now.

Billy and I stayed until the sun was starting to set. As we were leaving the room, I shook Edward's hand and offered him a smile. It was a small gesture with a lot of meaning. He understood and returned my smile. "Thank you." He said quietly. I nodded in acceptance and walked out the door after Billy. My hopes for Jacob's future were rising and I wondered if maybe the spirits really did have a plan after all.

o0o0o0o

Author's note: Sorry it took me so long to update. My motivation kind of went on vacation for a while. Anyway, I know this is a long one, but I had a lot of information to get to you guys.

I promise to upload the next chapter sooner. I've already written most of it. And I know you guys will be happy to see what is coming next!

Please review and let me know what you think!