My first week in La Push and working at the agency had been incredible. I had managed to bring in two new clients and was working on extensive campaigns with them which was impressing my superiors a lot. This is the exact kind of edge I promised myself I would prove, knowing that setting myself apart like this would help me secure a position later on.
I had also been spending some time with Paul, seeing him after work twice. He took me out for coffee one day and we talked for hours about our lives growing up, the differences in the way we were raised, comparing knowledge on each parent. We also spoke about our goals, current situation, and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know each other on such a personal level.
I learned he was funny, and this often hid how smart he actually was. It was easy to talk to him but I felt comfortable sharing silences as well, signalling an ease around him. He described his friends as his family, and told me they all worked together at Sam's workshop, taking shifts.
It was Friday afternoon, and thankfully for me, the office allowed you to leave early on Friday's if you had completed your work and didn't feel like staying - therefore everyone left except those who had heaps to do.
I liked the laid back and trusting nature of this environment. Every person's work was their own responsibility and as long as they got it done, no one could judge how, making it easy to step out for lunch, arrive late or leave early where needed.
Emily and Paul had made me promise to be over there for the afternoon, insisting I have dinner with them and finally meet the rest of the group. According to Paul, Jared and Embry had spent a lot of time hyping me up and spreading rumours to the rest of their group that I was 'quite easy on the eye', which made me blush at the thought but laugh it away.
I was on my way out of the office, inspecting my outfit in the mirror nervously before I left to head to Emily and Sam's house. It would pass, I looked fine, but I had noticed that my usual getup seemed significantly overdressed around the boys and Emily, who usually wore very little. I had dressed in a white off the shoulder long sleeve, paired with a blue denim skirt that had overall straps over my shoulders and a large split up the side revealing my olive legs. I paired it with a red lip, heels and bag.
On my way out, my phone rang.
"Hey brother," I greeted. "I still love saying that, I don't think I'll ever get used to it." I giggled.
He laughed on the other end musically. "Hey sis, don't worry I love it too." he admitted. "Just checking you're still good to come over today? We're all here now so whenever you get off work."
"Oh well I'm literally walking out of the office right now. I can be there in five minutes." I confirmed, knowing how close everything was in this town.
I heard Paul hushing people in the background, clearly they were listening to the conversation. "Everything okay?" I questioned.
"Yeah just trying to shut my dumbass friends up. They're really excited to meet you, Oak."
I smiled at that. "Well they won't have to wait long. Should I bring anything?"
"Nope, just yourself."
"Alright, be there in five."
We hung up and I gained an excited skip in my step knowing I would be seeing my brother again and meeting more of his family.
In no time at all, I had reached the cottage in the woods and was exiting the car. Even from outside the group home, I could hear boisterous laughter, thumping and life erupting in the house, signalling I was definitely in the right place. My mind ran back to Emily and her referring to the overload of testosterone as "a mess, but her mess", and smiled fondly at it.
I skipped over the stairs and knocked on the door, instantly being pulled inside by Paul who had wrapped me in his hug immediately, causing me to let out a breathless squeal of shock. "My sister's here!" he chanted over and over as he spun me around, lifting my much smaller frame off the floor and spinning me around.
"Holy SHIT!" I heard behind us as Paul's friends watched the interaction.
"You said she was hot but you didn't say she was...WOAH" another voice added.
"Guys be respectful," one of the guys scolded, clearly the more gentle one of the group. Paul had already shot them a look and growled slightly at their observations. Yes, growled. I was confused too.
Paul finally set me down. "How was your day, squirt." I flicked my hair over my shoulder and accepted Emily in a warm hug, even in my stilettos I had to stretch to hug her properly.
"It was good! I brought in two new clients this week alone, I've been working on their campaigns since about 6am so I'm really happy to be out of there." I admitted, also greeting Jared and Sam who I recognised with hugs of their own.
"That's my successful little sis," Paul said, playfully pushing my arm. "She's bite sized but she'll show you up."
I liked that summary of me.
"Dude are you gonna introduce us to your bombshell of a hot sister or just leave us to question if you're actually related?" one of the boys interrupted.
Paul turned around grumpily and claimed me with an arm around my shoulders to signal there was to be no flirting with his sister.
"Behave," he warned lowly, glaring at his friends before introducing us. "Guys this is my sister, Oakley. Oak, this is Jacob, Leah, Quil, Collin, Brady and Seth." he explained.
I made my way around the circle to hug them all and greet them, realising now I didn't get the chance to do this when I met the other three because we were so distracted by the family reunion happening.
They all hugged me back politely. "It's so nice to meet you, Paul hasn't shut up about you since you arrived!" Jacob commented.
"Yeah seriously, he hasn't been this tolerable...well ever!" Leah laughed, causing me to giggle at his expense.
"It's so nice to meet you too! Thank you for letting me crash the party" I responded.
Almost to the end of the line of greetings, I hugged Brady next. "Hey Brady, nice to meet you," I mumbled yet again, finally reaching the final person.
"Hey Oakley, I'm Seth, Leah's brother. It's really nice to-" he paused mid sentence when I looked up at him. Seth stood more than a head taller than me, his face youthful and innocent, yet his bone structure and masculinity suggesting he was much older than his innocent smile portrayed.
His deep chocolate eyes bore into my steel blue ones, softening and widening at the contact we made, as the cheeky smile on his face disappeared into a look of awe, shock and admiration.
"You too!" I responded politely, still smiling at him and getting the sense he was too out of it to want a hug. He just continued staring, completely focused and entranced on my face. "Uhh...is he okay?" I questioned, turning to Brady beside him and also directing the question to his sister, Leah.
The whole room seemingly watched the interaction take place, all of them standing with shock, smiles, knowing looks on their faces, hands over their hearts as if they were admiring something.
Except Paul.
His face was stone hard, cold, stern and unforgiving, attacking Seth with his glare, and pairing it with a deep growl. "You've got to be fucking kidding." he grumbled, admittedly scaring me slightly.
Seth finally snapped out of his daze and let his wide, overjoyed smile return, his eyes illuminated with genuine happiness as he did, and he brought me into a soft, warm hug. He was so gentle, as if he was afraid he would break me, terrified of making me feel uncomfortable under his touch.
But I didn't. His touch felt sweet, careful, warming. And the way his hands wrapped around my back made me want him closer. I tried to ignore the butterflies pooling in my tummy at the interaction, noticing the feeling of sparks where his skin made contact with mine, making my breath hitch in my throat slightly.
Woah...I'd never felt anything like that before.
"Run." Paul groaned again, causing me to step back from Seth and look up to see an absolute look of terror on his soft face, staring at my brother like Paul was about to rip him into pieces.
Before I could even process either of them moving, Seth was using Brady as a human shield and Paul was taking impatient strides over to him, audibly huffing in anger.
"Hey!" I scolded, yanking Paul's tree trunk of an arm backward to grab his attention. "What is your problem exactly?" I questioned, not appreciating the way he was treating his clearly younger friend.
Paul begrudgingly ripped his eyes away from Seth and looked down at me. "Nothing." he spat.
"Then get over yourself, no fighting in Emily's house, have some respect. God you really are a brute, aren't you?" I demanded, giving Emily a look of understanding as I put him in his place.
He nodded. "Sorry. I'm just...yeah okay," he trailed off, choosing to not say too much. I noticed him look back sternly at Seth and jut his jaw out in an attempt to be subtly intimidating, causing me to smack his gigantic bicep. It probably hurt me more than it hurt him but it made a good noise.
The boys seemed to be communicating with their eyes for second before the remainder of the room erupted into a roar of laughter.
"Oh my GOD! Someone tell me you videoed that, that was the best moment of my life," Collin cheered, high fiving Embry who was laughing hysterically.
"Paul you just got put in your place by your sister and she barely reaches your ribs," Leah commented.
In front of me, Quil got down on one knee on the floor and grabbed my hand. "Marry me?" he begged while the others laughed and I ruffled his hair playfully. This seemed to lighten Paul's mood, but this time it was Seth who growled lowly at the gesture, displeased with the display of humour.
Everyone seemed surprised that Seth was the one to verbalise distaste, including me, as a second ago he had been so soft and gentle, so encapsulated by his boyish and innocent grin.
"Who wants sandwiches?" Emily voiced, me sending her a look of thanks for breaking the tension. This whole past five minutes have been weird.
The boys rushed to the table as if the floor was on fire and attacked the spread that Emily had provided, all claiming a seat around the table just as quickly.
I took a seat beside Paul and grabbed a knife and some bread, spreading peanut butter over the bread and handing it to Paul, before grabbing the turkey off him and layering it on top.
After perfecting my sandwich and licking the drop off my thumb, I noticed the room had fallen silent yet again. Looking up from my place to see them all dumbfounded, Paul and I both asked in unison, "What?"
Leah laughed from her belly and let her head fall back freely, clearly amused at whatever I had missed.
"Dude...that was freaky." Quil pointed out.
"You guys both just moved at the exact same time, literally perfectly in sync for that whole time, it was the weirdest thing..." Jared added, explaining the phenomenon and why they were all staring.
It caused Paul and I to inspect each other curiously and notice we were both still sucking the peanut butter off our thumbs.
"You eat peanut butter and turkey too?" he asked excitedly.
"Yes! Every day oh my god!"
The group laughed as we celebrated our mutual sandwich taste, still watching us curiously as we moved apparently completely as one as if it was choreographed and rehearsed.
"Ok yeah I think it's safe to say they're definitely related," Jacob commented after Paul and I cut our crusts off and ate them separately.
---
We found ourselves sitting outside on the patio as the sun began to set, and I had been getting to know the group individually for a while, currently chatting to Collin and Brady who were in their senior year of high school now.
"Well don't get too caught up in the whole SAT side of it if you don't want to go to college then, just enjoy every second. You'll miss it when it's over," I advised, sympathetic to the fact they were the last ones in school in their age diverse group.
"Thanks Oakley, that's actually really nice." Brady affirmed, both of them smiling gratefully.
I had bonded with Leah over books and our childhoods, and I felt connected to her in a way I could trust her deeply.
I had spent time taking to Quil Jake and Embry altogether talking about their high school friendship and how Jacob ended up dating someone related to his old crush. Weird, but he seemed infatuated with her so who was I to judge.
I got to speak to Jared and Sam as well, who were complete polar opposites, making me laugh frequently. Sam was very paternal and fatherly over the group, that much was clear, which contrasted beautifully with Jared's idiocy. Jared clearly got way too much joy out of annoying Sam and while he wouldn't admit it, Sam loved it.
As I sat across from the two of them, Jared was earning himself a deadly stare down from Sam who wasn't pleased that Jared had just filled me in on the whole cousin swap situation.
"You're doing the dishes for that one," Sam commanded, Jared's face falling and mumbling under his breath making me laugh.
"You're certainly the alpha, aren't you Sam," I observed.
My comment seemingly struck a nerve in the group, because they all stopped their individual conversations and looked my way, Sam and Jared included, with wide eyes.
"What did I say?"
Paul cleared his throat. "No nothing, that's just...we say that all the time too..." Paul stuttered.
"Well yeah it's an obvious dynamic, he's like your dad of the group," I elaborated, attempting to justify my words and get everyone's eyes off me. Why would they react so weirdly to something so innocent?
Right then, my phone began to buzz in my pocket. "Oops sorry guys, I should make sure this isn't my boss," I raised my hands apologetically and walked away to take the call.
(Seth POV)
I watched her walk away to take her phone call, not even realising how beautiful she looked doing something so simple.
"Hey dick stain, stop checking out my sister," Paul warned, punching me yet again in the bicep.
"Oh get over yourself, you've barely known her for longer than he has," Leah defended, winking at me from the side.
Paul didn't like that. "Time aside, she's my family, and you better think again if you reckon I'm gonna let you swoop in and put your grubby paws all over her."
"Paul, you know he had no control over it." Sam warned, defending me.
"Yeah dude, you literally imprinted on my sister so I just consider this as karma," Jake added, making me smirk.
I was slightly upset that Paul even considered me to be a threat. He knew I hadn't even gone near a girl since I turned, purely for the purpose of waiting for her. Surely I had proven I was a good guy, with zero intentions of hurting anyone at this point. But more to the point, I had literally been waiting for Oakley.
My imprint.
It still felt so weird to think that I had found her, that she was real, it wasn't a made up concept, I was feeling it right now. Experiencing the most incredible feeling. I would literally do anything in the world to keep this girl safe, happy, healthy, make sure she was always thriving and in the absolute best place she could be at all times. Surely Paul knew that was all I wanted for her.
And now she was here, by pure fate, by some incredible miracle display of fortuity, my Oakley had found me.
And there was no way in hell I'd be letting her slip through my fingers.
"Look at you awwww, Seth's smitten already!" Embry teased, bringing the pack's attention to the smile that hadn't left my face and my eyes that hadn't left Oakley Lahote once since she walked through the door.
I whispered under my breath, "God she's so beautiful..."
"That's true, she's gorgeous." Emily agreed, all of us subtly stealing glances at the bombshell on the phone in the driveway. "Aww Seth you're going to be such an amazing imprint for her, you're both so cute!"
"Paul why can't you look like that? I'd like you a lot more if you could be her." Jared piped up, earning his turn to be beaten up by Oakley's brother.
I had seriously never expected an imprint to feel like this. You're told in the legends how strong it is, how much it changes everything, and how powerful it pulls you. But holy frickety frack nothing could prepare me for this in a million years.
Here was this woman I hardly knew for a matter of hours and I was readily waiting to jump in front of a bullet for her at any given moment, on edge when she walked away in case she fell over or got hurt.
I found myself analysing her skin to check for goosebumps and check if she was cold and needed a coat. I caught myself thinking about kissing her, holding her close to me, replaying the images that shot through my mind at the moment I had imprinted on her a few hours ago.
I saw our future together in her piercing blue eyes, flashes of our life and what it would be like to love this girl if I was lucky enough to make it happen, and I refused to forget those images, sitting here going over and over them in my mind as if they would save me.
I truly believed they would.
She approached the group again, hanging up the phone and smiling. "Sorry about that," she apologised when she reached us, so sweet and aware of other people's feelings.
"No don't be!" Emily insisted.
"Was it your boss?" Paul inquired.
She shook her head. "No, that was my boyfriend, Christian."
The pack's eyes flew to me to gauge my reaction, and I knew they saw my heart drop. I felt it falter and slow down in melancholy.
She had a boyfriend already...
I refused to be the kind of guy to 'steal her away' and make her my own or claim her to be my own when I had just met her. It was wrong, she needed to make this decision on her own, I would never force anything.
Despite the imprint, I would never be that person. I would respect her and her wishes.
But geez...hearing that she had a boyfriend really hurt like a bitch. I felt the imprint physically tug on my heart, pulling toward her and making me feel physical pain. I held my chest and attempted to mask the reaction I had to my imprint being in a relationship.
"Oh you have a boyfriend? You never mentioned," Paul pressed, attempting to get more information, probably to send me a message to stay away because she was taken. He had made it clear he wasn't letting me through that easy.
She nodded again. "Yeah we've been together for about two years, his name's Christian." she filled us in.
Christian. Good for you, man. You scored the most beautiful, sweet, warm and kind woman in the world.
Just kidding, fuck off Christian, you imprint stealing fungus.
Woah, Seth calm down dude, you're not an aggressive person.
I realised it was my wolf and the tether of the imprint that was riling me up, forcing me to be territorial over my girl and protect her. It wanted me to be hers, not this stupid milksop she called Christian.
I agreed with it.
But the fact that my emotions and the effects of the imprint were already so profound and making me feel so possessive scared me. It could only get stronger from here, and I was already falling for this girl.
Fuck man Paul was gonna skin me alive.
(Oakley POV)
I felt a weird shift in the air after I had told the group about my boyfriend. Paul seemed displeased knowing I was in a relationship, which was sweet to know he was protective, but I'd literally known Christian longer than him so I was hoping he wouldn't make it a problem.
Just as I was about to make my way over to Seth to talk to him individually like I had with everyone else, Paul stood up abruptly. If I hadn't have been so tired from my day at work I could have sworn it looked like he was sniffing the air, the weirdo.
"Hey," Seth smiled at me sweetly, not fully allowing it to meet his eyes.
"Hey Seth." I responded, making myself comfortable and readying myself to ask him about himself. I knew about everyone but him now.
Before I could open my mouth to initiate a conversation, Sam stood up also. "Move out boys." he spoke quickly and deep, and I could have missed it if I wasn't listening close enough.
Everyone except Seth and Emily rose from their seats and stumbled off the patio and into the night, running down the driveway and disappearing in the darkness.
"Woah what the...what happened? Is everything okay?" I asked extremely confused and panicked. What on earth had I missed? Where were they all going?
Seth stood in front of me and found my eyes. "I'm sorry, we'll explain later," he said before turning on his heel and sparing me an apologetic glance, skipping off to join the rest of the group.
I turned to Emily confused and concerned. "Should I be worried?" I questioned.
She shook her head. "No not at all. They all work together and have a lot of commitments that they have to run off to sometimes. They probably got a group text or something." she explained.
Whilst the concept made sense, I didn't remember seeing anyone with their phones out. Still, I decided to take her word for it.
"Okay...well look I should get going, get home before it gets too late. But I'll see you tomorrow anyway. Moving day!" I promised, helping her pack up from the crowd before I left.
She walked me to the car insisting she would see me off and stopped to hug me before I left. "It's so nice having you here, Oakley. I can see you're going to become apart of this family really seamlessly."
Her words were genuine and full of emotion, causing me to smile sincerely in thanks and appreciate the sentiment.
Family. It was a tricky word. And yet I understood what she meant by it, because in the short week I had been situated in La Push, I felt more at home with this group of people than I did ever before at home with my mom. I felt hope, contentment, peace, all things I'd never been able to experience before.
I was genuinely excited to see where this all took me.
AN // Awwww poor Seth! She has a boyfriend :( The poor guy doesn't even understand how or why he's so aggressive about it and so upset, he's never been an angry guy, so this imprint business will be especially confusing and overwhelming for him.
As for Paul, we love a protective brother. It's sweet that he's had this territorial energy for so long and finally has somewhere to channel it and protect his family. But will it get in the way of Seth winning her over? Or will Seth choose to not impose on Christian's relationship?
Seth and Edward's relationship is the most pure thing in this world besides Seth himself.
Libby xx