Jake's POV:

I wanted to pounce on her.

So I fled.

I don't remember pulling out my cell phone. Everything around me looked hazy, out-of-focus. Seth's voice was in my ear, asking me what was wrong, if I needed him. I sank to my knees in the empty hallway, pressed my head to the concrete wall. There were tears in my eyes. From joy or despair, I couldn't tell you.

"I imprinted."

Silence then Seth's delighted cheers filled my rattled brain. "Finally! Congrats, buddy, that's awesome!"

"She's a student."

More silence. "Shit, okay, that's not ideal but…"

"I have a girlfriend."

Seth hissed. "Again, not ideal but…"

"She looks just like her."

"Your girlfriend?"

"Bella." Her name was barely a sound from my lips but somehow Seth heard me.

"Well, that's not totally strange."

"It's fucking weird!"

"No, it's…" He took a deep breath. Whatever he was about to say, I wouldn't like. "You have a type. Bella was your type so now this new girl, your freaking soul mate, looks like Bella, which means she's your type…too. It's almost scientific."

"They both have brown eyes."

"Lots of people have brown eyes, Jake."

"But hers have gold…and they're deep. I never got how eyes could be deep before but I get it now."

"Dude, where are you?"

"Her voice."

"You're…in her voice?"

"Sounded like angels…bells."

"Are you going to speak in broken prose all the time now?"

I stood up. Yanked at my hair. "What do I do?"

"Just get a grip. Get some water and try to calm down."

"She's in my class right now!"

"Okay, good. You know what to expect. Just get through the next hour and then when you come home tonight, we'll figure something out."

I was nodding as he spoke.

"Jake?"

"I'm nodding." I went over to the vending machine while Seth babbled in my ear about keeping cool and how I deserved to be happy after so long and how everything would work out as long as I didn't pounce on her. I bought a bottle of water and held the cool plastic against my cheek.

"Jake?"

"What?"

"What's her name?"

"Nessie." I said it like a prayer.

"Really?"

"Yeah." I said, defensively.

"Pretty." He was a bad liar.

"I'll see you tonight." I hung up and stalked back into the classroom. My eyes strained to search the faces of those sitting in the lecture hall but I kept focusing on my feet. Embry came up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"I need you to teach the class." I was becoming dizzy and hot again. She was close and something inside of me clawed against my skin, trying to get to her.

"You imprinted on that girl?"

"Yes which is why I need you to teach the class." I was hunched over, holding onto him for support.

"Are you sure, because I've been bullshitting them for the last twenty minutes."

"Embry, doesn't she look like Bella…but beautifuller?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm teaching the class," he said.

"You're teaching the class," I agreed.

He nodded and turned back to the chalkboard. His words were lost to me as I scanned the students for her face. When our eyes met once again, hers were a tad frightened. I tried to look away but, I swear, I couldn't. It was as if some monumental cosmic force had positioned my face so that I could look at hers. She stared back and I knew that she couldn't move either. The force of the imprint surged between us. If you have ever lain on hot concrete, you might understand how I felt at the moment, like I was being scorched from the inside out.

Eventually, she turned away to stare at her laptop. I saw her whisper something to Caitlin but even with my advanced hearing, I couldn't make it out.

I should've felt ecstatic but I was closer to puking. I had honestly thought I'd imprinted on Bella, which is why I'd run from Forks, before her wedding. Seeing this girl, that resembled Bella in so many ways, unnerved me. Why now? Why here? My pack, our lives were finally settled and I was happy. I'd had a girlfriend for a few months. I knew she wasn't my imprint but she was a comfort that I felt like I deserved. No one likes to be alone.

But now…here she was. Unwelcome into my life in the most awkward way possible. My imprint. I knew nothing about her except for her name and that made me resent imprinting all over again. Stupid fucking wolf magic. I didn't want to be hopelessly in love with someone I didn't know, someone I had just met. I wanted some self-control over my own life.

I didn't move when the end of class bell rang. I watched her pack up and walk down the steps with Caitlin. The air smelled sweeter as she passed.

Embry clasped me on the shoulder. "Why don't you go home? I can cover your classes for the rest of the day."

"I will as soon as I regain the ability to walk."

He chuckled as he slid a chair over and sat down in front of me. "You're worse than Quil was and his imprint was three years old."

I glared at him. "I have a real ethical dilemma to deal with here. She's my student. What the hell am I going to do about that? And what about Jess? My girlfriend, the one you all encouraged me to get."

"Calm down, man. These things will work out. It's all part of the-"

"Magic. Yeah, I know." I bowed my head. "I was really starting to like my life."

"I know this seems like the worse thing in the world right now but just wait."

"Wait? For what?"

"For…her."

"What would you know about it?"

He sat back and pretended to be offended. "I'm a romantic. I believe in the wonders of true love."

"Such a pussy."

"You're about to become the biggest pussy-whipped bastard in the world. I'd cool it on the snarky comments." He grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "Run home. Burn off some steam."

"Alright. Thanks, man."

I walked to the edge of campus and into the woods. I stripped down and changed into my wolf form. As I started to run toward home, the voices of my pack flooded my brain with questions, Leah the loudest of them all. Her joy was contagious. The rest of the pack was glowing with happiness for me, their Alpha, and for the first time since I'd seen Nessie, I started to feel a wave of relief.

She was real.

After dinner, Seth, Leah, Embry and I had a strategy session. I sent the younger wolves out to check the perimeter around the school. This was a discussion for my main guys and girl. They all had a plan for my love life. Embry wanted me to tell Nessie the next day in class. Seth advised me to get to know her so that I could earn her trust before springing the soul-mate revelation on her.

Leah's was the best and least desirable option: to wait until she was out of my class and then get to know her and earn her trust.

"I don't think I can wait a year." My stomach turned to lead at the thought. As it was, I was itching to race back to campus and sleep outside her dorm.

"If you don't and you get caught, you'll lose your job."

"There are other jobs." Seth said.

"Yes, but if Jacob got fired for having an inappropriate relationship with a student, no other school would hire him. The community would turn on him. We'd have to leave town."

"Where do you come up with this shit?" Embry asked her.

"I watch a lot of Lifetime movies."

I shook my head. "I can't do it. I can't not be with her. I already feel like I'm going crazy." I couldn't stop shaking, my legs, my head, my hands. I had that terrible creepy crawly feeling that you get when you foot is asleep all over my body.

"Jake, you have to." She gripped my hand, pleading. "If this goes bad, it won't affect just you."

"I know that."

"This is our home now. It would be like having to leave La Push again."

"You're right." I squeezed her hand. "I despise how you're always right."

"You should be used to it by now." She smirked. "You have one more problem to think about."

A knock sounded at the door. I could smell Jess, my girlfriend of three months, waiting for me outside. I'd forgotten that we had plans. I checked my watch and saw that I was over an hour late to meet her.

"Speak of the devil," Seth whispered.

"Be nice." I went to get the door while Seth grumbled behind me. While everyone else was pretty supportive of me having a relationship with Jess, he openly despised it. I met her at a wild party off-campus. She was young and crazy but fun. Seth couldn't understand why I'd want to spend time with someone who wasn't my imprint. He was still a kid and a virgin. He'd get it some day but I damn sure wasn't going to try and explain it to him.

I opened the door to a very angry girl. "Hey babe."

She glared at me and shoved her watch under my nose. "Did you forget about me?"

Completely. "Of course not!" I walked out and shut the door behind me. "I got sick earlier and had to leave school. I just passed out when I got home and forgot to call you."

"You got sick? You're never sick."

"Yeah, I think it was the eggs from breakfast."

"Well, it looks like you're feeling better now." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. It took all my strength not to turn away. "If we hurry, we could still grab a bite to eat before the movie."

"Uh, well…I don't know it that's the best idea."

That was the wrong thing to say. She launched into a spiel about how I didn't appreciate her (definitely true), how she would get any guy she wanted (probably true) and how I better shape up if I expected her to stick around (actually…).

"Actually, since you brought it up."

"What?"

"I've been thinking that maybe we should see other people."

Her mouth dropped open. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I've been thinking about it for a while and I just don't see this lasting long term."

"How long have you felt this way?"

Since the start. "About a week."

"And you kept me around for what? Because I'm a good fuck?"

"Damn!" Leah said from inside the house. I could just picture them all, pressed up against the door, eavesdropping.

"No, that's not it at all." I assured her.

"Are you saying I'm bad in bed?"

"No, of course not. I'm trying to say that I wasn't just using you for sex."

"Well, then you need to work on your communication skills."

I immediately thought of Nessie and the awkward silence. "You're right about that." I reached for her hand but she snatched it away and crossed her arms. "I really am sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"I can't believe this."

"I don't know what else I can say."

"No, I mean, I really don't understand." Her eyes narrowed as she scrutinized me closely. "There's someone else."

I just started laughing. Hysterically. "That's preposterous."

"Wow, you are such a dick." She turned on her heel and started stalking away.

"Jess, I'm sorry!" I called after her.

She flipped me off over her shoulder then disappeared between the trees.