Her name was Molly. Jacob didn't remember ever having met her when he attended the school on the reservation, since it had been deemed prudent that he go to school as Alec for at least a few months before he could drop out. She was pretty, and from what Jacob could tell she was a smart girl. She had been in Jack's year in school.

None of the wolves attended school after they had turned. Being in a classroom was dangerous when they still had no idea how to control their emotions, so they left the class and would return once the threat was gone. Jack hadn't been upset about leaving school. None of them had really, even Harley and Sam, who had seen the change as a chance to explore a new faucet of information, as long as the old one would still be available at a later date.

So Jack hadn't imprinted in a classroom. He'd been walking thought town, on his way home. Then his life made a detour. Jacob only knew what it was like from other's experience, but from what he could tell through the jumble of thoughts that had hit him when he had let his guard down, it seemed to be a textbook imprint. Jack's entire world had been rewritten around this girl.

Everything would have been okay, if that had've been the end of it. Molly was just as utterly and instantly taken with Jack as he was with her. It didn't matter that they'd seen each other a thousand times before without a second thought. Jacob would welcome a female presence into their world of the supernatural.

But that wasn't what had caused the world to shatter around them, and the torrent of information shrapnel that had hit Jacob when he had realigned himself with the mental frequency of the boys.

He glared at the occupants of the lawn chairs on the grass in front of them.

Jack looked all too smug and pleased with himself, so much so that Jacob desperately wanted to wipe the smile off his face His days of vengeful spite weren't far enough behind him to preclude the possibility. Molly was sitting close to him, looking horribly uncomfortable and deeply remorseful. Jacob liked her even more when he saw the pain that this had caused her. At least she had the decency to care about what was happening.

A little way off, sitting apart from them, was Pond. He was almost as white as a sheet, staring at his hands but, Jacob was sure, not seeing them. Despite the shocked expression, Jacob saw Pond glance up at the couple every now and then, as if to reassure himself that he was not alone.

…Chances are they already know…

It seemed like Edward was wrong, because everything about Pond's attitude was screaming that he had had no idea. Jacob thought that he understood Pond's reaction, but he couldn't stand the pleased feeling that rose in Pond every time his gaze fell on the pair, who were almost always in contact. It was small things, like brushing fingertips against the back of the other's hand, reassuring gestures that left no doubt of their affection for one another.

..I think he knows, but he doesn't want to hear it, so he just ignores it…

Sam's words echoed back to Jacob, and suddenly Jacob understood with perfect clarity. Pond had known, but he hadn't wanted to accept it, like Jack himself.

This was all just a great big mess.

Kallem and Harley were absent from the yard. Jacob could still hear their thoughts as they raced through the dense forest, trying to find Sam.

Sam's voice was absent from Jacob's mind, and he guessed that Sam had finally been able to establish the limiting distance. He'd run far enough. Jacob knew that he would need to go and find Sam, soon, before something even more horrible happened. He also knew that the other boys would have no luck in locating the runaway wolf.

Jacob didn't know where to start. He wanted to know why the world had been turned upside down, before he went after Sam, but the flurry of gibberish characterising the collective wolf mind was not helping. Nothing was clear. And Jacob could only pick up bits and pieces of what had happened. The parts that he could make out, however, made him surer that the best course of action was to hit Jack, hard and multiple times.

Now that he had imprinted, whatever qualms he had had about recognising what had been between him and Sam were gone. He didn't care what people knew anymore. So he had dragged everything out into the open.

Jacob remembered what it had been like, all that time ago, to watch Leah, Sam and Emily. It had been horrible and heartbreaking. This was a hundred times worse. Because what Jack had done was the worse betrayal that Jacob could think of.

Jacob felt his own guilt welling up. This had all happened when he had been busy worrying about himself, and his own situation. Jacob couldn't have stopped the truth form coming out, not if Jack was intent on sharing it with everyone, but maybe he could have softened the blow.

His own confrontation with Edward seemed very tame. Civilised.

What he was faced with now, was different. It was cruelty, pure and simple. Jack had outed his friend, simply because now he himself no longer had to worry about the implications. He was free, so he had sent a fellow pack member to the stocks. It was selfish and brutal. Jack was still sitting in front of Jacob, with that insidious smile that make Jacob even angrier.

But Jacob was lost. He didn't know what to do in this situation. He didn't know if the best thing to do was to get the pack together and try to talk through this. He didn't know if he should go and try to calm Sam down alone. He didn't know what he could do to make this better, but his blood was almost at boiling point staring down at that smile.

Jacob realised that Molly was looking at him, aware of his internal struggle just from the look on his face. He was grateful that she, at least, understood what Jack had done. Jacob knew that their relationship would be strained, but that it would, like any imprint bond, eventually outlast all of this. He cursed the situation. Even though he had known that it was coming, it had hit like a blow. Everything was suddenly wrong, suddenly broken.

He'd gone to pick up his car first. He'd probably told himself that he needed time to come up with a strategy or something, but in reality, nothing about his mind was working. He'd gone to Edward's house running mostly on instinct. It was the one place where he felt that he could escape some of the chaos that Jack had unleashed.

It was a cowardly thing to do, and he wondered if it hadn't made things worse, but he'd done it nonetheless. And he hadn't wanted to leave. Even with things as uncomfortable as they were around Edward, he'd take that over this in a heartbeat.

But he had had to go. Seeing Edward, just seeing him, someone unaltered by the events that had yet again sent Jacob to the edge of insanity and rage, was calming. He had meant it when he had said that he would return.

Jack shot him a challenging look, and Jacob's anger almost broke through his body. He could feel a shudder run through him and a guttural growl escaped his lips. He knew that he would have changed if Pond hadn't jumped up and come over to him, placing a hand on Jacob's shoulder to steady him. Pond was bigger than him, but Jacob would have taken him to, if it weren't for the words that Pond half-whispered into Jacob's ear.

"Not while she's here."

For a horrible moment, Jacob's mind filled with images of Emily, the scars that marred her beautiful face. He didn't want to change with Molly there, put her in so much danger. Jack would fight to protect her, but none of them had enough control in that moment to ensure that she would be safe.

So Jacob backed down, straightening up. He needed to find Sam. That should be his first priority, rather than standing here trying to get the whole story out of Jack.

In his alpha voice, Jacob barked at Jack to take Molly home, and then come back and wait for him to return. He told Pond to go with him.

The boys had no choice but to obey.

As soon as they were out of the yard, Jacob got in his car. Kallem and Harley were still out searching for Sam, but he called them back, telling them that it was pointless, and that he knew where Sam would be. Harley wanted to keep searching, but now was no time for a discussion. They retreated from their chase, and were heading back to the yard when Jacob redirected them.

No. Go home. Rest. Try not to listen in. I've got to deal with this. We'll get together tomorrow.

The boys said that they would do as he asked.

Jacob had no idea where Sam would have gone, but he'd spent the last few weeks paying particular attention to Sam's thoughts. Even across the distance, Jacob had no doubt that if he listened closely enough, he would be able to find the boy. Until then, all he had to do was drive, and try to figure out how to deal with this.

(...)

Sam paced around the clearing. It was late, darkness was steadily falling, but Jacob barely noticed and Sam hardly cared. The alpha approached slowly. Nothing that he had been able to come up with in the last few hours, in the car, had helped him understand what he should do any better.

The boy looked small amongst the trunks of towering pines, but Jacob could see the anger flowing from him. It was impossible that Sam would not know that he was there, so he sat down, waiting for the boy to acknowledge him. He had recently learned that the best way to get information was to wait for it to be given freely.

Sam continued to wear tracks into the leaf litter for about an hour. While Jacob was conscious of the time passing, he concealed from Sam a viscously pleased thought for Jack, who would be waiting in his garden for longer than he had expected, or his limited patience would like.

Whatever Sam was currently feeling towards the other boy, his original feelings were still there.

Eventually Sam turned towards Jacob. He still didn't speak and Jacob spared him the courtesy of not listening in on his thoughts. One of the benefits of his mind training was that it worked both ways. While he had still been with his old pack, he had been able to escape the drama that always seemed to follow the group around. It seemed that the drama was back though, with a vengeance.

Jacob jumped when Sam spoke. His voice was loud in the silence of the clearing, startlingly so after the time spent without a word spoken.

"If you had've been there, could you have-?" Even though he didn't complete the sentence, Jacob knew what Sam was talking about. There was no accusation in Sam's voice, but it was so devoid of life that Jacob didn't know what Sam was hoping to hear. Jacob knew that the truth was the best thing for Sam now, so he shook his head.

Sam sighed in relief. Jacob was shocked by the action, it was certainly one that he hadn't been expecting. Then he understood. If Jacob had've been able to stop it, then Sam would know that this might not have happened. It was the terrifying possibility that things could have been different that had been haunting Sam. It was easier to accept the situation if there was never a chance that it could have been avoided.

"There's nothing I could have done, not with him thinking so openly about it."

Sam nodded, and went back to his pacing. They fell into the silence again. Jacob listened to the heavy stirring of leaves and knew that a storm was on its way.

It was only five or so minutes before Sam spoke again. His voice was softer this time, but still just as unexpected.

"It's not a complete imprint you know." Jacob's heart broke at the pain that he heard in Sam's voice. There was desperation there too.

"I don't understand."

"It's not a proper imprint."

Jacob still didn't get it. Either you imprint or you don't. Black or white, there is no grey. He stayed quiet though.

Sam saw his confusion and stopped pacing. He sat down on the fallen log besides Jacob.

"Do you remember all of the old stories?"

Jacob nodded.

"Even the lesser told ones?"

Jacob frowned. He'd forgotten that there were stories that weren't told as often. He'd always just stuck to the main ones. There was a reason the others were rarely spoken of. They spoke of rare occasions and long dead traditions. Sam glanced at him and saw the frown. The younger boy sighed.

"I'm guessing that's a no. Some of the older stories are barely ever told anymore. I didn't know about it myself, but someone left a book of the old legend in my school bag one day and-did you know that they have books about our legends? Pretty cool, huh. Anyway, someone left it in my bag. I think it might have been Harley. I didn't understand why until I had read them all. Then I understood perfectly. I guess I wasn't as good at hiding as I could have been."

Chances are they already know. Jacob thought, Edward's words echoing back to him. It seemed that they were playing on repeat, but perhaps Edward hadn't been completely wrong after all.

Jacob's curiosity was piqued. He couldn't remember a story that would fit what Sam was describing.

"When I read it, I remembered the story being told at a bonfire once. I remember most of the boys laughing at it, but then ignoring it all together. Harley must have remembered it though.

"It's about two-spirit wolves. Gay werewolves. It sounds so tacky when you say it like that. Imprinting is always between a man and a woman, that's just the way it is. But when a two-spirit wolf imprints on a girl, it's not a complete imprint. It's a half-imprint. It feels just like a complete imprint, but it can be broken. There is a choice."

Jacob did recall the story. He'd just turned sixteen when he'd heard it, and just like the boys that Sam had described, he'd ignored it and then forgotten it. Looking back though, and with the illuminating quality of some recent revelations of his own, Jacob wondered if there wasn't something subconsciously intentional about the lapse in memory.

"I remember. But are you sure? About Jack?" Jacob hated to have to say to words, but he had felt the imprint through the bond they all shared. It felt real and complete enough. "Why do you think it's a half-imprint?"

Sam stayed quiet for a minute, and Jacob wondered if he had heard. Sam looked like he was consumed by thoughts.

"A half-imprint has a few recognisable signs, if you know what to look for. Of course, if people are just open about what they feel, you shouldn't need to look for the signs." These last words were a little bitter. Sam tuned his eyes towards Jacob, open and appealing. "You saw, didn't you? Once I had told you, you could see it? I know that you were sceptical at first, after all, he was always picking on me. He could never stand my attention being elsewhere. I could feel it. His jealousy."

Jacob nodded. He had known. He had caught and concealed almost as many unconscious thoughts from Jack as he had from Sam. While he had been surprised and disbelieving to begin with, he couldn't deny what he had seen between the boys.

"What are the signs?"

"The participants of a half-imprint will seem overly physical in their affection. The natural abilities of the wolf will diminish slightly, thought barely noticeably. And of course, there is a way to break the imprint. Anyone who tried to break a full imprint will be unable to do so, but a half-imprint is different." Sam listed.

Jacob though back to what he had seen of the new couple. Remembered the constant contact between them.

Now that he thought about it, it hadn't been the same as the other imprint couples he'd seen. The contact seemed to be continuous, with neither wanting to be physically disconnected from the other, even if it were only fingertips. Most couples he'd been around had craved each other's company, but it wasn't completely physical.

He didn't know about Jack's abilities as a wolf. He would have to wait to see if they had changed.

"It doesn't matter though." Sam's attempted nonchalance was almost completely overcome by the sound of raindrops falling through the thick canopy. The water hit the leaves of the trees as they fell, creating a cacophony of sounds, almost enough to make conversation impossible.

Jacob didn't answer. He thought back to the complacent grin on Jack's face, and knew exactly why it didn't matter that the boy had only formed a half-imprint. There was a very, very low chance of Jack ever intentionally breaking it.

There seemed to be little else to say. Sam had calmed down, no longer angry it seemed, but simply resigned. There was nothing either of them could do to make things any easier.

They continued to sit, getting completely drenched in the downpour.

"What do the others think? About me."

The boy was still worried. His secret was out now, and all he could do was try to survive the fallout. Jacob wished that he could tell Sam that everyone was okay with it, but the truth was he didn't really know.

"I think Kallem and Harley took it really well. If anything, they're shocked by what Jack did. You thought that Harley already knew anyway. I don't know about Pond. He looked pretty shaken up. I don't think that he wanted to know."

"What do you think?" Sam's voice was small. Jacob knew that his opinion was just as important to Sam as any of his friend's, probably even his family.

Tell him.

Harley had given Sam the book of old stories to tell him that he wasn't alone. To reassure him, to help him realise that there were others like him. Jacob had it in his power to do even more. Rather than the ghostly figure of longs dead stories, Jacob could show Sam that he truly understood. He knew that that could make it so much easier on the boy.

He didn't want Sam to turn out like he had.

But he choked on the words. He'd promised to do it only once, to tell only one person, and now that was over. He didn't want to have to worry about it anymore. The cop-out as it escaped his lips.

"It's who you are Sam. It's completely okay with me." Jacob hated

Sam sighed again, but it wasn't completely relief.

"I would do it. I will."

"Do what?"

"Break an imprint. It is who I am. If I ever imprint, I'm not going to let it change me. I will break it."

Jacob was stunned by the boy's strength. He spoke determinately, with admirable resolution. Jacob couldn't help but wonder if Sam's determination would win out over time.

The moment of decision had long since passed, and Jacob mourned its passing. He had expected to feel relieved that his secret was still intact, but he didn't. He envied Sam, who didn't have a choice but to accept everything. It seemed horrible, but easier.

Sam and Jacob stood up at the same time and began walking towards where Jacob had left his car. It was a walk of a couple of miles, and Sam seemed to become aware of the fact that he was naked. Jacob reassured him that he had a spare set of clothes in his car.

They got to the car and, without speaking another word, began making their way back to Forks. The darkness was complete and night had a firm hold over the world. Jacob was tired, but with Jack sitting, still waiting, in his yard, he knew that he probably wouldn't get any sleep before the sun rose again.