Chapter 26 - Jared
A/N: Okay so just wanted to take a minute and give you guys a list of the imprinted couples:
Sam/Emily
Jared/Bella
Paul/Rachel
Embry/Kim
Who should imprint next? And with who? I have an idea but I wanna hear your thoughts.
The day after the revelation with the Council, I was having a girl's days with the rest of the imprints (including Kim). Emily said that she had something that she wanted to discuss with us. I made some brownies and cookies knowing how much Emily and Rachel loved them. I wanted to give Kim the benefit of the doubt because she was an imprint, but part of me couldn't look past what she'd done. I was hoping that with time that the feeling would go away.
Jared was off helping Sam and Paul clean up the beach for Kim's 'welcome to the pack' bonfire tomorrow night, so I loaded up the few containers I had and headed out to my truck. Pulling out of the driveway I made the short drive over to Emily's. When I walked into Emily's she was sitting on the sofa. "Am I the first one here?" I asked.
She looked up at me and smiled. "Yeah. Are you gonna be okay with Kim here today?" Emily asked me.
I walked over sitting the containers on the coffee table and sitting beside her on the sofa. I sighed. "Em, I wanna be able to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it's hard considering everything that she's done. I mean, I'm not gonna cause problems for her and I'm not gonna be a bitch to her…" I said trailing off.
"But it's hard to forgive her." Emily said.
I nodded. "Yeah." I said.
"I get it. You know, since your bonfire when you talked to Leah, she's actually been nicer to me and Sam. I mean, I know that she's not totally over everything but, it's better." Emily said.
About thirty minutes later, Rachel and Kim showed up. I told the girls that I brought brownies and cookies. As we split up the snacks, Emily got everyone attention. "Okay, so Sam and I were talking and I wanna start a business. With the four of us and any other imprint that comes along." Emily said.
I smiled at her. I thought that it was a great idea. Not only would it give us something to do but it would give us a way to bond with each other. "I think it sounds great. What were you thinking?" I asked.
"A catering company. I figured since you and I do most of the cooking, that we'd handle the food. Then I was thinking that Rach and Kim could handle set up." Emily said.
"Sounds perfect. I mean, granted after Mom died…Becca and I could cook enough that none of us ever starved but it's definitely not my strength." Rachel said.
"True that. I think I remember Jake and Billy getting food poisoning a time or two." I added, biting into my brownie.
Rachel glared at me. She held up a finger. "It was one time. Becca didn't cook the chicken long enough before she mixed up the casserole." Rachel said.
Emily and I started laughing. "Are you sure you want me to be apart of this?" Kim asked causing all of us to look at her.
"Why wouldn't we? You're an imprint now. Your our sister. You belong here just as much as the rest of us." Emily told her.
Kim gave us a weak smile. "I'm not gonna lie. Your past actions have made it a little hard to trust you. But one thing that we can all agree on is that the Spirits obviously know what they're doing. We have to trust that." Rachel said.
"I mean, sure, we've all had our moments where we've questioned what the spirits were doing. I mean, look at me and Jared. We had known each other for months before the spirits decided that it was time for Jared to imprint on me. Look at Sam and Emily…Sam was practically engaged to Leah when he imprinted on Emily. Then there's Rachel and Paul. Paul was sure that he was going to be a bachelor for the rest of his life when Rachel decides to come home for a visit after graduating college and BAM! Instant imprint. None of us asked for the imprint, just like the guys didn't ask to become wolves…but never-the-less, we've all accepted it. Don't get me wrong, I love Jared and neither of us probably would have realized or acted on our feeling had it not been for the imprint; but the imprint speeds things up immensely." I said.
"She's right. And it's not always perfect. The imprint just shows the wolves who their destined to be with; but it doesn't create feelings and it doesn't create an instant relationship. You still have to build the relationship with your wolf yourself." Rachel added.
Kim nodded. "I know that. I guess I just figured that you guys hated me after everything that I put Bella and Jared through." She said.
"We weren't happy. And quite a few times we had to stop Leah from coming to kick your ass. Just like Jared, Leah is very protective of Bella. Don't be surprised if she's a bitch for a while." Emily told her.
"Thanks." Kim said.
We spent the next couple of hours working out a rough business plan to take to the Council, in hopes of getting a business loan. If they denied it, then we'd have to branch out. We made a starter menu in addition to all the services that we'd provide. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten until we saw Sam and Embry walk through the front door. I offered to drop Rachel at home on my way and she told me to take her to Paul's that she was staying there for the night. On our way out, I told Emily that I'd be back early in the morning to help her cook for the bonfire. She smiled her appreciation.
After dropping Rachel off at Paul's I headed home. I was exhausted. I'd been feeling more tired here lately, but I was hoping that it was because of everything that I had been doing. I was working for Uncle Quil. Took care of mine and Jared's house. Helped with Billy. Had dinner twice a week with Charlie. And now I'd be starting a business with the imprints. Life just got crazier.
Walking into the house, I plopped down on the couch next to Jared. "How was your day?" He asked me, wrapping an arm around me and kissing the side of my head.
"Exhausting and tomorrow isn't gonna be much better." I told him.
"Babe, you can't keep going like this. Your gonna burn yourself out." Jared said.
"I know but what else can I do?" I asked him. Too many people were counting on me.
"I was thinking that maybe we should get outta here for a bit. A weekend, maybe a couple extra days." Jared said.
"Where would we go?" I asked, curious. It sounded great, but I didn't wanna get my hopes up.
"There's a cabin on the north side of the Rez. The council owns it and I'm sure that if Sam doesn't have an issue with me taking a few days that I can probably get the keys from Billy." Jared said.
I leaned over and laid my head on his shoulder. "It sounds perfect. Some time away might be just what I need." I told him.
"I'll talk to Sam in the morning. Your helping Emily cook right?" He asked me. I nodded. "Good. I'll drive you over in the morning. And I'll talk to him then." He said.
"Sounds good. Can we go to bed?" I asked.
"Absolutely." He said, picking me up from my spot on the couch and carrying me up to our bedroom.
