A couple of feet after we started to walk off, she started to weave and swerve. I stopped and dropped to me knees to gently pick her up and draw her onto my shoulder, snuggling her close. She closed her eyes and put her thumb in her mouth. She was exhausted. I stood back up and walked as smoothly as possible. She was so small, so fragile, so light in my arms. The heat she radiated as she fell asleep astounded me. She was probably sick, and that worried me. I was so scared.
I just found her. What would I do if I lost her?
I know what happened. I’ve seen it happen to the others in my pack; I had imprinted. Not only did I imprint, I imprinted with a little girl that may or may not be in terrible danger. Even in human form, I felt my hackles rise at the thought of someone trying to do harm to her. She is mine, and no one will ever do her any harm.
Eventually we got to my house. It was dark and quiet; both my mom and my sis Leah were out. Mom was probably at the store and Leah was probably running patrol with the pack. Oh well, better for us. The less people around, the fewer questions asked. The less my little one may get panicked or frightened. I took her into my bedroom and stripped off her thin little flip-flops and shed her baby side-satchel. I tucked her into my huge, warm bed, with all its blankets and pillows. Then I tip-toed out of the room and into the kitchen.
I searched and rooted through all the cabinets and the pantry to find some soup. I found a small tin can of chicken noodle; it was a year old, but the expiration date was still good. IT was nowhere near the date that the can told me to be used by. I’d learned that lesson years ago. I emptied it out into a bowl and placed it in the microwave. I let it heat up for a while and then I took it out. I tested to make sure it was cool enough and then brought it back into my room.
My little one was starting to wake up; she was getting antsy. She had the biggest, cutest bewildered frown on her face as she was trying to kick the blankets of her feet. She stopped as she looked up at me and her face lit up with a huge, warm smile. She reached up out at me with her arms and opened and closed her hands, an obvious sign to be picked up. I strolled over to the nightstand next to my bed and placed the soup down on it. I picked my little one up and sat down on my bed with her on my lap, my back against my bed’s wooden head for support. She wrapped her small arms around as much of my neck as possible and then leaned back to look at me. I smiled down at her with all the love for her in my body. I tenderly pushed all her dirty little strands of hair and whispered to her. I was regretful to break our understood silence.
“Will you eat?” I whispered. She cocked her head with a quizzical look in her eyes.
“The soup,” I tried again. A small frown puckered between her thin little eyebrows.
I picked up the bowl of soup and gestured towards it, and comprehension dawned in her eyes. She made a little appreciative sound and opened her mouth, obviously expecting to be fed like the baby bird that she is. I laughed, and my heart feels lighter than it’s been in a while, so I laugh again. She rolled her eyes as she made an impatient sound with her mouth still open and waiting. I picked up the spoon and started feeding her. As she ate, her hands were so animated that she didn’t need to talk. She was pointing at things, waving her hands or shaking them out, grabbing out and touching the shirt that I’d actually worn for once. She’d touch my face and laugh with delight, and I would have to laugh with her. She would grab for the spoon and feed herself every once in a while and then make a face, and put the spoon back in my hands.
After all the soup was gone, and my little bird was a little bit heavier, she cuddled up into my shoulder as I picked her up and headed into the bathroom. I set her down for a second so that I could draw the water for a bath and she pouted and stomped her foot, wanting attention. I peeked about in the bathroom cabinets and found a bottle of my sister’s favorite bubble bath suds. I figured she wouldn’t mind too much. And if she did, I would just take the beating and pay her back the money for a new one later. I poured a generous amount of bubble suds into bath ‘cuz I didn’t know how much I was supposed to put in.
As the warm water was filling up the tub, I helped her take off her dirty clothes and get her situated inside the tub. I stood up to get her a towel for the top shelf and some shampoo, but she whined and started to hyperventilate as I drew farther away. I almost ran back, shutting the door to keep the room dry and dropped to my knees near the edge of the tub. She whined again and held out her arms to indicate that she wanted “up”.
“No, sweetie,” I told her. “You need to take a bath.”
She pouted and shook her head. She crossed her arms over her chest as a slew of bubbles began to fill the bathtub. There were almost more bubbles than water! I rushed in, almost ready to nab her outta there if she didn’t like it, when she started to giggle. It was loud and startlingly clear. It sounded like someone had hit these piercing bells, or chimes, and let the sound flow over my ears for me to savor. I had to hear it again.
I picked a handful of suds and threw it at her. It landed with a plop on her chest and she laughed and laughed. Getting bolder, she lifted a little handful of bubbles herself at threw them at me. I dodged and laughed.
“Oh, now you’re gonna get it,” I told her with a mischievous smile—not that she’d know what mischievous meant. I dropped a large handful onto the top of her head and rubbed it all into her hair, shaking her as I did it. She giggled and splashed a whole bunch of water and bubbles over the edge of the tub straight onto me. We fought for a couple more minutes until she had exhausted herself. I supported her and held her up by putting a held on her lower back. I took a small cup and slowly poured water over her hair to wet her hair and then gently rubbed a little bit of shampoo in. I covered her eyes and dribbled more on her to get those out, too. I rubbed in some of my mom’s body soap and got her super squeaky clean.
Her eyelids were beginning to drop, so I stood her up and draped a warm, fuzzy towel over her and carried her to my room. I gently rubbed her down and put a huge shirt of mine on her. It engulfed her and she giggled drowsily about it. I tucked her into the bed and lied down next to her on top of the sheets. I stroked her hair and watched her droop down and then snap back up to look at me and make sure I’m still there. As her eyes drifted down again for eight hundredth time, I asked her, “What’s your name?”
She looked at me and blinked. She said something in a groggy voice that I missed entirely. I asked her to repeat it and I realized she was speaking in an entirely different language!! How would I understand her?! Despair griped my soul; I felt so, so, so… God, just not good. I can’t even describe the pain I feel, the desperation, the anxiety. The uncertainty. And everything else.
She looked back up at me and smiled a secret smile. She sat up to lean into my ear and said, “Clari-anna,” and pointed at herself.
“Clarianna,” I whispered back, amazed she understood. I looked at her and pointed at me and said, “Seth.” She smiled another drowsy smile and whispered, “Se-the.” And she slowly drifted back off to sleep. I sat there and watched her sleep, breathing in time with her, hearing her accelerated heartbeat. The soothingness of it all was slowly lolling me to sleep.
I heard the front door open and suddenly I felt very awake--nervous. What if my family didn’t accept her? She was just a little girl. She needed me; I need her. We can’t be separated because we are one. That thought steadied me and help me think rationally. My family will love her simply because I adore her.
I walked out into the hallway and saw Leah standing at the door, shaking her head at the summer heat. She was in her traditional werewolf-shape shifter attire: a sports bra and shorts. We of the pack travel with little clothes on because it’s easier to transform without worrying about destroying too much of our wardrobe. Not to mention that our body heat is so high that wearing too many layers makes us feel all stuffy and uncomfortable. She noticed me and gave me a little nod and then did a double take when she saw that my shirt was soaked.
“Hey,” I said to her.
“Hey,” she responded. She cocked her head and listened intently with a raised eyebrow. I know she could hear the quick, bird-like fluttering that was actually the sound of my little one’s heart. She looked back at me and said, “We have company.”
“I know,” I told her. I pride myself on being honest. I hate lying or evading a subject, partially because I’m no good at it, but also because that I just feel that it is plain wrong, especially since, when in wolf formation, every single brother, or sister, of my wolf pack is telepathically linked to each other’s minds. We always know what each other’s are thinking, whether we want to or not. Also, our pack and I hang around a little coven of vampires—backwards, huh?—called the Cullens’. They’re vampires that only drink the blood of animals, not humans, and ever since our buddy Jake went and imprinted with Edward and Bella Cullen’s half-vampire-half-human daughter, Renesme, or ‘Nessie’, and the Volturi came down to try and mess us all up, we’ve all been hanging a lot. Edward can read peoples’ minds. Bella is like an anti-everything-that-is-mentally-forced-upon-you shield; she rejects all mental and telepathic abilities that she doesn’t consent. For example, Edward can only read her mind when she wants him to. Renesme can, through touching, show you images within her mind right into yours. The ‘parents’ of the family are Carlisle and Esme. Carlisle is a doctor of Forks and Esme is the motherly caretaker of everyone. Then comes Edward and Bella, who married after they met in highschool and Edward turned Bella into a vamp not too long ago. Emmett and Rosalie are another couple. Rosalie was the second “kid” that came into the Cullen’s family and then Rosalie found Emmett and yada yada yada. Alice and Jasper just kinda walked right in on the family. Of course, Carlisle and Esme welcomed then with open arms. How could they refuse Alice? No one can. Alice can also see the future and Jasper can change peoples’ emotion however he wants.
So they’re a talented family. Being around so many people that will simply not be deceived kinda makes you not even try.
Leah looked at me. “The heartbeat, Seth. We’ve heard it before.”
“Yeah…” I said really softly. “After she’s rested up a bit I’m planning to take her to the Cullens’. They’ll know a bit more than me on what to do.”
Leah looked me dead in the eye. “We can’t keep her, Seth.”
My anger soared. It just raged. I tried to keep it under control. Leah doesn’t mean to be a terrible bitch, but sometimes she just can’t help it. She’d gotten her heart broken—no, shattered and then scattered across the world—when she was in her teens. And now she’s super bitter. Understandable, really. But right now, it isn’t.
“She’s not a dog, damn it! I don’t care what she is, she’s—“
“What? Important to you? She’s just a little girl. And even worse, she’s a half-vampire just like that Nessie—“
“I imprinted with her.”
The silence after my remark showed me how truly astounded she was at that. Leah can usually draw blood with her remarks and she can wield’em at just about any time.
“Her name is Clarianna, she can’t speak English, and I need you to watch her long enough for me to get to a store to buy her some clean clothes.” Remember what I said about the whole lack of the ability to lie or evade the subject? I’m not really good at plans or subtleness either. “Honest. Just long enough to run to the store. She’ll stay asleep the entire time.”
Leah just kinda looked at me. Not just looking, though. She looked at me. With that gaze she saves especially for stupid, obnoxious people that get on her nerves. I licked my lips nervously.
“I promise.”
She stayed silent for a long time just debating while staring at me. Finally, after forever, she sighed. “Fine,” she drew out. “So long as I don’t have to do much.”
I sighed in relief and I turned to leave the house when I heard a small footstep behind me. I looked back and I saw Clarianna’s face partially hidden behind the door to my bedroom. I bent down and held out my arms and she came darting over to me. She threw herself at me and landed squarely in the center of my chest. The weight of her didn’t even cause my breath to waver. She wriggled a little bit and settled into the niche of my shoulder, snuggling her head into the side of my neck. I have to admit it, I was a little surprised about her still being up and awake. Leah must’ve seen the look on my face.
“Looks like she knew. You two really did imprint. What a smart move to make,” she said scornfully, but she wasn’t able to hide the yearning in her eyes. Leah really just wanted to have someone in her life that could help heal the gaping hole in her heart. Unfortunately, when you’re a werewolf, not many people can do that. That’s why imprinting with someone is so… so… time-stopping, life changing, just so everything. You know, the whole I can see clearly now that the rain is gone… thing. “Look, just manage to convince her that you’re not going to leave her forever, because she can’t go with you and she probably can’t go in her old clothes either. I’ll take care of her till you come back.” She stepped away from us a step and scowled. “But you’d better hurry.”
I looked back down at my little bird. Her eyes were half-lidded and she was sucking on her thumb again. Even though it lowers my Overall Amount of Manliness Points, I can’t use any other word to describe her but adorable. Just so completely adorable. I tapped her on her chin to get her attention. Her eyes slowly opened.
“I’m going to leave for just a little bit, but I’ll be back later, I promise, okay?”
She looked at me with those big, blue eyes of hers. I now know the true picture of puppy-dog eyes. We couldn’t even speak the same languages but, apparently, puppy-dog eyes are universal.
“Okay?” I asked gently. Her little mouth dropped into an ‘O’ and her eyes widened farther than they were supposed to. He breathing grew faster and harsher, and I could hear her tiny, hummingbird of a heart drum as fast as it could, so fast that it had to hurt. Her hands tightened on my shirt and started to shake.
I dropped to the floor, instantly terrified. I grabbed her chin and forced her to look into my eyes. “Clarianna, I swear I will come back. I promise to never leave you alone. Never,” I told her, my heart breaking with each ragged breath her lungs pulled in. She kept going for a couple more seconds and then a strange light came into her eyes. Her face became blank for a brief second of an eternity and then she relaxed in my arms. She looked up at me and reluctantly nodded before hugging me as tightly as her little arms could. I set her down gently and she slowly let go. She stood in the same place as I turned my back to leave house. I felt her eyes on me the entire way to the store.