𝘠𝘖𝘜'𝘝𝘌 𝘈𝘓𝘞𝘈𝘠𝘚 𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌𝘋 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘚𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘌 𝘉𝘐𝘙𝘋𝘚
𝘕𝘖𝘞 𝘐 𝘞𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘛𝘖 𝘍𝘓𝘠 𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘖 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘞𝘖𝘙𝘓𝘋
𝘐 𝘞𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘛𝘖 𝘉𝘌 𝘏𝘌𝘈𝘙𝘋.
- 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐒, 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐃𝐘
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
"It's because of Sam and Emily," Seth says as we walk along the beach. He's given me a hoodie to wear because of the wind, as well as his body heat from where his arm is over my shoulders. Our sides are completely touching, from shoulder to hip. He's like a heater. It's amazing.
"Why?"
"Sam and Leah were dating right before Sam started turning. He went all nuts for a while, disappeared and everything. We were all really worried. And when he came back, he was still being weird. And then Emily came to visit. She's our cousin. Sam saw her and...boom, I guess. Imprinted on her right then and there. And there wasn't really a good explanation for Leah, who had to watch the guy she really loved fall for our cousin right in front of her eyes. Kinda sucks. She's basically been inconsolable since then. Really bitchy, all moody and never any fun to be around. The engagement made it worse."
"Oh, God. That's terrible."
"Yeah. There's always a downside to the whole imprinting thing. Not to mention the guilt from Sam and Emily both. Plus, the pack can all hear each other's thoughts when we're in wolf form. Sam's the leader. Imagine always having to hear your exes' thoughts and following his orders because you literally have to."
"That must be torture for Leah. No wonder she seems so on edge."
"Yeah, it sucks. But it also means we have to hear her thoughts all the time, which isn't exactly the most fun when she's in one of her moods."
"You can't exactly blame her, though," I say. "Imagine I just up and left for no reason, and then you always had to see me with someone else and hear my thoughts and do what I say. That would suck ass, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, but it's not like she even tries to be happy for them or positive anymore."
"It would be kinda hard."
"I guess. I dunno, I'm really only looking at it the way I am because it's annoying being in her head all the time."
"I bet. I can't even imagine that. And all teenage boys?"
"Basically. It's weird, I'll say that. But it's kinda nice sometimes. Easier to communicate and tell people to shut up."
I laugh and lean more into him. "That sounds like fun. And you all seem so close. Like brothers - and sisters, with Leah."
"We really are. And now you get to be a part of that, because all the others are ever gonna hear about from my thoughts will be you."
"Lucky them."
He squeezes my shoulder. "That was very sarcastic, but I think they are lucky."
"You sort of have to, Seth."
"I mean, yes, but not really."
"You're so confusing sometimes."
"That's bold coming from the girl who likes to make fun of everyone in the world as a joke."
"Hey!"
He chuckles and stops us walking. "Now I'm the one kidding. See? I'm picking up on it now. Gonna be Willow two-point-oh in no time."
"Again, the pack will be so lucky for that."
"Shh," he puts his free hand over my mouth again. "Stop with the self-deprecating jokes. You're perfect and great and the pack will all love you if they ever do more than just stare at you like creeps."
I roll my eyes. He just grins and takes his hand off my mouth, tucking the hair that's been blown across my face by the wind behind my ears. I do the same for him, but given how short his hair is, it takes a lot less work and time. He just grins at me. I let my hands come to rest on his chest. His eyes are locked on mine, his hands slowly moving down my back until they rest on my waist. My stomach does a couple little turns. My heart pounds again. Christ.
"I can hear your heart," he whispers. I nod and look at his lips. He leans in closer, closer, until our lips meet. The kiss is soft, gentle, sweet. A lot like him. He pulls back for a second to look at me, then goes back in. This time he puts some force behind it. His hands tighten on my waist and pull me in closer. I reach up and twine my arms around his neck. My back arches a little as he leans over me, somehow pulling me in more. We kiss a couple more times before I pull away, resting my forehead against his.
"Wow."
He smiles and kisses the top of my nose. "Yeah, agreed."
━━━━━━♡♥♡━━━━━━
We walk the rest of the way down the beach hand in hand. He takes the opportunity to tell me more about the history of the Quileute Tribe and how they became werewolves. It's a sad story, but still interesting. I find it quite beautiful and cool how the Third Wife was so willing to sacrifice herself to save her husband. Seth takes note of my interest in that part and promises to ask more about her and tell me. I thank him with a kiss and a smile. We kiss a lot more.
It's easy, being with him. Like he's been around my whole life already. I guess that's the magic of imprinting. Or not magic. I still don't fully understand the whole imprinting thing, but I guess that comes with time. Even if it doesn't, I'm fine not getting it. What I do get is that Seth is my soulmate, werewolf-weirdness aside.
It's not until Emily finds us and calls us back that we realize how long we've been out. It's nearly dark by the time we reach her house again. Seth insists on his ability to protect me and keep me safe if the need arose, but Emily has none of it and sets me a curfew. I have to be within ten feet of her house by ten every night. She would ban Seth from taking me out if the two of us broke this. She and Sam were both smart enough that to threaten a ban against us seeing each other fully, thank God. We'd figure out a way around that if it happened. She gave us an unsurprisingly motherly scolding once we were both inside and eating. I just smiled around my cup while Seth took all of it with practiced patience. Must be so much fun, having two moms.
"What do you remember about being with Victoria?" Sam asks casually. I frown a little and put down the cookie I had been eating. "What?"
"Not much. Just that I was supposed to be one of the army members' snack and she decided I would be a better friend. So she kept me around and pretended to feed on me. Riley would've killed me himself if he knew."
"Why didn't he make you a bloodsucker?"
"Because he said I wasn't good enough. Found me all weak in an alley somewhere and decided I looked more tasty than army-worthy. So he gave me to Bree as incentive not to leave. Do you know Bree? Emily said everyone was killed, but she was good. She didn't want to kill random other vampires. And it was so obvious that Victoria was just using Riley. What for, we didn't really know. We could all tell."
"It's because he was from around here," Sam explains. "She was using him as a sort of map. She needed someone who knew the area, and Riley was the first one she could find. And no, I don't know anyone named Bree. We killed everyone, and anyone we didn't get, the Cullens or the Volturi did."
"Oh shit. They did come. Victoria was worried about that."
"Was she?"
"I mean, she made an illegal army to kill a peaceful coven. I'm pretty sure that's against, like, every rule ever. It also drew a lot of attention to them because of the suspicious circumstances surrounding all these missing people from the same place."
"True. Well, everyone was taken care of. I'm sorry Bree made promises she couldn't keep. Where were you from before?"
"Seattle. Got jumped on the way home from work. They left me in an alley, so Riley smelled my blood and came to change me. Kinda sucks that I wasn't even good enough to die. Just barely enough to be kept as a morbid sort of pet."
"It's odd that he didn't change you, but be thankful for that. You'd be dead right now if he did."
Seth walks back into the room right as he says that, stopping in his tracks. "Woah. What the hell are you guys talking about?"
"How I would be dead if Riley decided I was good enough to be a vampire."
"Stop that. God. Talk about something more pleasant or something, please. This is just sad and gross and weird to talk about so late at night."
"Fine. We'll talk more in the morning. Doctor Cullen will most likely want to speak with you, too."
"Okay," I reply, smiling. "Thanks for not being mean about it."
"Yeah," he grunts in response. "I'm going to find Emily. Don't keep our guest up too late."
"Yes, sir."
He smiles at both of us and leaves. It's just Seth and I in the room now. "Well damn," he says. "Sam never smiles. Good job."
"Aw, thanks."