petrichor [rosalie hale]

xxi. bonfires

"I don't want you to do this," Sam finally declared, causing Emily and Paul to look at him in surprise. Kiara had been snuggled into the couch with Emily ever since they had gotten back, having filled her in on her meeting with Rosalie in the woods outside Forks High hours before. Sam and Paul hadn't listened in, knowing that they'd no doubt catch glimpses of the conversation later when it was their turn to patrol together.

Kiara looked up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. She was also surprised by the man's announcement. She thought that he would be the first person calling for her to try and reject the imprint - especially since he had spent so long arguing with the elders over what her imprint meant for the future of the pack. She knew if she didn't reject it, then it was going to make things awful for the rest of the pack. She didn't even think to consider how painful it was going to be for them to see their pack mate go through the rejection process.

"It might kill you, Kie," Sam told her, speaking the words that everyone else had been saying. They didn't know it for sure since it had never been done before, but the elders had warned Sam of the unbearable pain that Kiara was going to go through. It might literally break her heart to a point where she wouldn't be able to survive. "And I don't think any of us want to be at your funeral."

"I don't care," Kiara replied, the throb in her chest that she had been feeling since the night before back as her wolf called out for her imprint. "I don't want this."

They all knew that was a lie - one that Kiara was telling everyone including herself. Sam rubbed his face, trying to get through to the stubborn girl. He knew that she was hurting - especially since her own father wasn't speaking to her and had left on a fishing trip with some of the others that morning instead of having to face his own daughter. Even if that had ended up being wise since who knows what the vampire that had entered the Black residence would do, it still stung Kiara deeply.

They were all also aware that Jacob's internalised hatred towards Edward Cullen and his constant, somewhat one sided love triangle with Bella Swan was causing her to also want to reject the imprint bond. It was no secret that Jacob hadn't taken a minute to even ask Kiara if she was okay and it seemed that the imprint had only made him more agitated when it came to the Cullens. She'd already lost her mother, and now it felt like she was losing her brother and father too. Sure, Rachel and Rebecca were still there but they weren't really there for her - not since their mother had died.

Now, the idea that Kiara might lose the pack and their friendship because of this imprint? It was too much for her. She wanted Rosalie before, and she guessed that she still did now, but she couldn't have her. Kiara Black was willing to die before causing pain to everyone else around her.

"Kiara, stop it," Paul replied, his voice no longer soft. He'd given her time to come to her senses but it seemed that she wasn't going to. Even Leah had asked Sam to tell Kiara to cut it out - she hated the Cullens and she hated the idea of this imprint, but she refused to lose another family member because of a vampire. Kiara was the sister she never had. "That's enough."

"You don't understand," Kiara replied, her voice strained as she stood up and began to pace. Emily cast Sam a worried look but he shook his head, knowing that she wasn't going to phase. Kiara had only been a wolf for three weeks, but she had her tell-tale signs of when she was going to phase uncontrollably - the main one being her violent shake. He'd only ever seen Paul shake as violently as Kiara did when they got angry, and while their short tempers were a nightmare to control, he was always relieved that there was a sign when they were going to lose it. "You haven't imprinted, you don't know what I'm feeling."

"Well I have," Sam told Kiara, his voice firmer too. "You know I tried to break it and the pain was like nothing else. I asked Em to tell me to die, Kie. You don't need to do this."