A/N: This chapter took thirty million years to come out of my brain, and I'm so very sorry about that. I've been working 50+ hour weeks for a while now, and whatever free time I manage to find is usually spent sleeping, bathing, and occasionally stuffing food into my face. I had a bit of free time this morning to edit and post this, though, so here it is! Be warned, this chapter is full of emotions. Review! ~skydancer-earthwalker

"Favorite movie?"

Dakota hummed under her breath for a moment before responding, "Natural Born Killers. Reservoir Dogs. Pulp Fiction. From Dusk Till Dawn. Anything Tarantino, really."

Paul raised his eyebrows at the blonde girl in his passenger seat, smirking. "Really? I assumed you were more of a Nicholas Sparks-type."

They'd finished their dinner over an hour beforehand, but had continued driving around talking until they ended up in the parking lot at First Beach. He still hadn't gotten around to telling her about the imprint, but he figured it would be better to do so in private rather than in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Dakota's face had lit up the second they'd pulled in, and she'd been taking photos of the water through the windshield as they talked. She finally lowered it when she spoke again, smirking right back at him.

"Although I am impressed you know the man's name, I can't say I'm a fan of his stuff. His stories are all too easy."

"What do you mean, 'easy'? Didn't a girl die of cancer in one of them?"

"Well yeah, they always have to throw in something to make you cry or else it's not a proper chick flick. I just can't stand how simple he writes his relationships—it's all a bunch of 'love at first sight' bullshit, as if looking at someone is enough to decide you want to be with them."

Paul choked on whatever he was planning to retort with, taken aback by what she'd said. She looked at him curiously, tilting her head slightly to the right. He tried again to speak, but still no words came out. His heart was beginning to pound furiously, and although he'd thought his body had lost the ability to sweat, his hands felt clammy.

"Are you okay?"

"Do you wanna walk? Get some air? I've got another jacket in the back you can wear so you don't get cold," he babbled, already opening his door and grabbing the massive coat. "It's really pretty out here, too, don't you think?"

Her confusion was still obvious in the set of her eyebrows, but she nodded anyway. He jogged around the bed of the truck, mentally cursing himself as he went. What the fuck? Stop being weird, you're gonna freak her out, he chastised. When he opened her door for her, he pulled the biggest smile he could manage and hoped she would return it.

"C'mere, Little Bit," he said, already swinging the coat around her shoulders. "Can't have you getting sick on our date, can we?"

"Honestly, I'm more worried about you being sick—are you alright?" She stuffed her arms into the ridiculously large jacket, which dwarfed her to the point that she looked like the world's biggest burnt marshmallow.

Here goes nothing. "Walk with me. I'll explain."

Although she continued to shoot him wary looks, she willingly slipped her hand into his and allowed him to lead her down to the water. They walked like that for a while, Paul trying to think around the thundering of his heart and Dakota watching him in anticipation. The moonlight glimmered across the water as it rolled into shore, everything was peaceful, and he realized there would be no better time to tell her than right then. There would never be an easy time to explain that he was eternally bound to the pink-nosed girl in step beside him, no simple way to tell her she could make or break his future with a few simple words. He had to get it over with, and hope to the spirits that brought them together that she would take it in stride as she had everything else.

"You remember the legends, right? The ones I told you on Leah's back porch that day?" Paul broke the silence, slowing to a stop and reaching for her other hand.

"Yeah," she drawled, furrowing her brows even deeper. "They're kind of hard to forget, considering everything that's happened."

"Well, I skipped over one because, at the time, I didn't think it was a good idea to tell you yet. It's been bothering me since. Have you ever heard the story of the Third Wife?"

Dakota nodded briskly. "I can't remember all of the details, but I've got the gist of it. She sacrificed herself to save Taha Aki and the tribe."

"Do you remember what happened to Taha Aki afterwards?" Paul urged, his eyes searching hers for any sign of recognition.

"No, I don't. What happened to him?"

"He couldn't return to his human body; his grief was too strong. He spent the rest of his life as a wolf protecting her body and then her burial place. The legends say that her death destroyed him so because she was his imprint, his soulmate."

"How did he know?" She asked. He could hear the quickening of her heartbeat beginning to match his own.

"When a wolf imprints, it's almost like seeing the sun for the first time—everything is different, brighter, more alive. Nothing matters to him like it did before, everything comes after her happiness and safety. Being away from her for too long is painful, but when he finally gets to see her it makes every second away worth it. He's bound to her forever, and will be absolutely anything she needs him to be as long it makes her happy."

Dakota was silent for a long time, turning to stare out at the water. "Sam imprinted on Emily, didn't he? That's why he left Leah."

"Yeah," Paul murmured. "He's not the only one, but his was the most dramatic."

"So there's no real choice in it, then? Just poof, you're soulmates with someone you've never met before?"

He couldn't do much but nod at that. It was a huge simplification of things, but it was the way he'd first thought of imprinting, too. He couldn't fault her for thinking of it the same way.

She pulled her hands from his and stuffed them in the pockets of the huge coat, although Paul knew for certain his hands were warmer. "Who else?"

"Jared and Kim, Quil and Claire—"

"Wait, what the fuck? That's awful!"

"Right now, he's her big brother. He'll be nothing but her big brother and best friend for a very long time, and if she decides that's all the wants him to be later, then it'll stay that way. But fighting an imprint is almost impossible, like with Sam and Leah. It's never been done."

"I guess that's not so gross, then. You guys don't start aging until you stop phasing, right? So he'll just phase until she's old enough?"

"That's pretty much the game plan."

"Alright," she hummed. "Not too awful. Has anyone else imprinted, or is that all?"

Here goes nothing. "I have."

She kept looking out at the waves tumbling in, but Paul heard her sharp intake of breath at his words. "What's she like?"

"Beautiful. She kind of reminds me of a doe—big dark eyes, cute little mouth, freckles—but she's much braver than one. I don't think I've ever met anyone as loyal as she is. She makes me happier than I ever thought I could be."

"She sounds great," she muttered, pulling the jacket tighter around herself. "I have another question."

"Yes?"

Dakota turned to face him, her eyes full of nothing but hurt. "Why would you spend all of this time trying to get me to like you if you knew that there was a chance it could all go to shit the second you looked at this girl? Why convince me to go on this date with you when you've got your soulmate somewhere? What the fuck, Paul?"

He blinked at her for what felt like an eternity. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious," she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in anger. "It figures, though! I should've known better than to make Leah's mistakes all over again. I knew this was gonna end badly, but shit, I figured you'd at least try to sleep with me first—fuckin', Jesus Christ, I'm going home. This was a shitty idea. Goodbye, Paul."

With that, she ripped off his coat and dropped it at his feet, barreling past him as she marched back to the truck. Paul couldn't help but stare for a moment, shock freezing him in his place. By the time he'd gathered himself and chased after her, she was slamming the passenger door behind her as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"Wait, Kota, where are you going?" He called out, running up behind her.

"The fuck away from here," she snapped, her voice thick with tears. The sound made his heart ache. "And the fuck away from you."

"Wait, hear me out! You've got this all messed up, Kota!"

At that, she did a complete 180° and came charging right towards him. She did her best to shove him back against the truck, which he allowed to happen. She kept her finger squarely in his face as she glowered at him, her face flushed and eyes rimmed in red.

"No, Paul, you've got me messed up! I'm not some bimbo you can toy with while you wait for your soulmate to warm up to you, I'm not going to be your practice dummy while you figure out how to make her fall for you like I screwed up and did. Fuck that, and fuck yo—"

Paul couldn't stop himself this time. He'd held it back for far too long. With a single swift movement he slipped her bag off of her shoulder and pulled her towards him, closing the distance between their lips somewhat clumsily. The jolt of energy that flowed between them made Dakota gasp, which caused a low growl to reverberate through his chest.

Kissing his imprint was even better than he imagined it would be. After her initial hesitation, she'd fallen right into step with him, her arms reaching up to latch around his neck and pull herself closer. His hands found their way to her waist and lifted her easily, spinning them around so instead she was against the vehicle.

Paul tried to convey every emotion she'd ever made him feel in that kiss: curiosity, adoration, anger, pure joy, the list was endless. It was the only way to make her understand. She bit somewhat roughly onto his bottom lip, making him growl once again. Every nerve in his body was firing wildly, and he decided he could spend the rest of his life kissing her like this if only she'd let him.

Far too soon for his liking, Dakota pulled away gasping for breath, her eyes mirroring the wild look in his own. There were dried tears on her face, but she was still the most stunning creature he'd ever been lucky enough to lay eyes on. I love her, his mind bellowed repeatedly, I love her, I love her, I love her.

"It's you, Dakota," he murmured, his eyes roaming all over her flushed face. "I imprinted on you."

0o0

Five days had passed, and Dakota was still avoiding Paul. Her head had been spinning since he'd brought her home that night, and no matter how much medication she took, nothing could stop it. Her mind was being split in two, warring against itself in a way it hadn't in a very long time. Everything felt off.

"Imprint," she said aloud to herself, the word feeling heavy on her tongue. "Imprint. Soulmate. Imprint."

She curled her blankets tighter around herself, lying in her dark and empty room with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company. Her mom had tried to get her to come out to no avail, and although Paul must've called her a thousand times since that night, she'd eventually taken the battery out to avoid talking to him. She needed time to think, and she found that it was much harder to do that with him around.

Part of her was thrilled to know that she even had a soulmate in the first place. It took away a huge chunk of the nerves she'd always felt whenever she thought of the failed loves of those she surrounded herself with. No matter what, she would have Paul because the spirits had bound them together for life. There was no need to worry about him abandoning her.

But that made up a majority of her pessimistic thoughts, as well. If the spirits hadn't intervened as they had, would Paul have ever even noticed her? No, she thought bitterly. He would've kept chasing skirts until he died. Dakota couldn't help but feel like he'd been given the short end of the stick. She'd gotten a beautiful, magical man who was devoted to her with ever fiber of his being, and he'd gotten stuck with a scrawny, shit-talking bundle of nerves with a mental condition that caused her to freak out at the most minor of provocations. It wasn't fair to him.

Then again, she found herself wondering if imprinting itself was fair at all. Leah and Sam had been so incredibly happy before he'd first phased and laid eyes on Emily. The two were talking about marriage, kids, buying a house together to raise their family in, and suddenly all of that meant nothing because of an imprint. Imprinting had been the 'it' that Leah had thrown all of her anger at, the first of many earthquakes in her life that had shaken her to the core. Dakota found it hard to find imprinting as beautiful as she would have otherwise, simply because she had seen its ugly side, too.

She missed Leah severely, but knew that this was one issue she couldn't go to her best friend about. Talking about imprinting to someone who'd been spited by it would do nothing but hurt the older girl, and that wasn't something Dakota wanted to do anymore than she already had. She wasn't angry with her for leaving anymore—she was jealous that she couldn't run from it for a while, too.

Her skin was crawling as she pulled herself out of bed and dragged her feet all the way to the bathroom. Her heart felt like it was going to erupt at any minute, and the vague sense of nausea that had recently come over her was beginning to gain strength. As she ran the bath water as hot as she could stand it, she wondered if it was the bond of the imprint that was causing her to feel so miserable.

While she soaked, she wondered who she could go to with her troubles. Her mom was working, and she'd skipped the past few days of school, so vaguely talking to Marnie was out of the question seeing as she wasn't allowed into work. Leah was an obvious no-go, and it wasn't like she could just blabber about mythical match-making to Dr. Gwen without finding herself locked back up in Port Angeles for however long they decided to keep her.

After she'd finished her bath, Dakota decided she didn't have much other option than to bite the damn bullet and reach back out to him. There was no point in sitting around letting her thoughts suffocate her when he'd been trying so hard to make things easier. He might've gotten stuck with a shitty soulmate, but she didn't need to try and make it any worse for him. If she felt as sick as she did, there was no telling how awful he felt.

Once she'd dried off and pulled on some jeans and a sweatshirt, she popped her battery back into her phone and dialed his number, hoping to whoever or whatever was listening that he would answer.

0o0

"How'd she take it?" Leah asked from her side of the ravine, resting her elbows on her knees as her legs dangled over it.

"First, she assumed I'd imprinted on some other girl. She tried to walk home, and when I stopped her she started screaming at me until I finally just kissed her. After that, she did that thing where she just…" Paul searched for a proper way to describe it, rubbing his temples in frustration.

"Just drew back into herself? Quit talking, looked at you but wasn't actually looking at you?" Nate emerged from the Cullen side of the treaty line, mouth in a tight line. "It feels like she's a million miles away even though she's sitting right beside you."

Paul hated Nathan. He'd known that from the very beginning, but he was so desperate for help that he sunk to a level he didn't even know he was capable of. He asked a vampire for advice. "What do I do? How do I get her to talk to me?"

Leah cut her eyes at him. "Don't ask the enemy for help, Paul. That's an open opportunity for sabotage."

"You're protecting the enemy!" Paul exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I'll take whatever help I can get right now, no matter who it comes from. I'm going insane. It's been five days, Leah. Five days!"

"Oh, poor puppy," Nate drawled, rolling his eyes. "If you can't handle her hurricanes, what makes you think you deserve the better parts of her?"

"I'm in love with her, that's what."

"Join the club, puppy. I've only got one t-shirt, though, so you might have to figure that one out on your own."

"Fuck you," he muttered back, too worn out to even muster up the energy to growl. "You have a schoolboy crush on my imprint, nothing more. It's time you got over it."

"Tell yourself what you want, mutt," Nate leaned his back against a tree, running a hand through his long hair. "I know you're panicking that she'll come to her senses and realize you never would've looked at her twice if you hadn't been some giant, magic dog."

"That's not true."

"Oh, it's definitely true, but tell yourself whatever makes you feel better. Leah, Esme sent me out here to let you know there's food ready if you're hungry."

"Why didn't she just call for me herself?" Leah asked with an accusatory tone in her voice, cocking her eyebrow at the newborn. Nate shrugged with faux innocence.

"Ask her yourself. I'm heading on back, might give Kota a call," he smirked at Paul across the ravine, waving. "See you around, sport."

"Burn in hell," came Paul's dry response. He then turned to Leah. "Is he always like this?"

"He's only this unbearable when Kota is brought up. He really doesn't understand how imprinting works at all. He thinks he can break it, and he's pretty cocky about it. It's annoying."

"And I'm too drained to rip him apart, so the whole situation is screwed. I thought telling her was supposed to make everything easier. It just made everything a million times worse."

"My best advice would be to keep letting her know you're there. There's really not much else you can do," Leah said, rising to her feet. "I'm gonna go get food, and I suggest you go home and do the same. Shower, too—I can smell you from here."

"Thanks," he deadpanned, getting up as well. "I won't tell Sam I talked to you, okay?"

"Thank you. Good luck, yeah?"

"You too."

Although their words sounded a bit callous, they had both come to care for each other in a strange sort of way. Of course they'd always worried for each other's safety when they shared a pack mind, but when Dakota was added to the equation, things became a bit different. They didn't see eye to eye on practically anything but the girl's happiness and safety. It was somewhat weird, but they'd come to terms with it.

Not bothering with phasing to make his trip faster, Paul began to walk back towards the reservation, dragging his feet as he went. His head was throbbing, his throat was dry, and he hadn't slept more than six total hours since he'd last seen his imprint. His mind kept torturing him with the memory of their kiss, full of so much passion and care, then slapping him in the face with images of her tears. He knew telling her would be hard, but he never imagined it'd be anything like this.

Dakota had a tendency to be melodramatic, at least through any eyes that weren't hers. Paul knew it was probably just her illness causing her to act the way she was, but the thought didn't comfort him at all. If anything, it just made him feel worse. He could save her from anything else in the world, but he couldn't save her from herself. It wasn't like he could just reach in her brain and rewire it so it functioned the way it would without her issues; he had to wait until she came around on her own, no matter how much pain it caused him.

As he shambled his way through the woods, he felt the faint vibrations of his phone in his pocket. With a heavy sigh, he pulled it out and answered without even bothering to check the caller ID. "Yes, Sam?"

"It's me," murmured the one voice he'd been so desperate to hear. "How are you holding up?"

He froze in his tracks, his shoulders straightening as the invisible weight on them was lessened at the sound of her voice. "I'm… I'm not good, but that's not important. Are you okay, Kota?"

"You are important, Paul. And I'm, well, I'm not dead yet, so there's that."

"What do you mean 'yet'?" He was already turning in the direction of her home and running.

"Nothing like that," she reassured him, sighing. "I just feel like shit. I think it's the… imprint."

"You're probably right. Can I come see you? It'll help, I promise."

"I was calling to see if you would want to, but—"

"I'll be there in five minutes."

Paul was anxious to end the phone call so he could strip down and phase so he could run faster. His human legs felt like lead and he needed to move as quickly as possible. She needs me, she needs me, she needs me, his mind repeated like a mantra. She needs me, she needs me, she needs me.

Whoa, Paul, breathe, Jared's voice rang through the pack mind as he sprinted through the woods. She's not going anywhere. Everything's gonna be okay.

Ignoring his brother, Paul skidded to a halt in her backyard, having reached her house much quicker than he'd anticipated. After he phased out, he yanked on his clothes and tried to push Leah's teasing insults to the back of his mind as he jogged to the front door. There wasn't any time for him to fuss over his dirty hair or even knock, however, for the second he cleared the top step Dakota swung open the door to greet him.

Her hair was still soaking wet, and she was wearing a ratty grey sweatshirt and a pair of old blue jeans. Those pitch black eyes he adored so much were puffy and pink, and her skin was practically translucent as it clung to her hollowed cheeks.

The last time he'd gone more than a day without seeing her, it had been for much longer than this. He had looked rough, he knew, but she'd seemed fine. This time was different, though. The imprint had gotten so much stronger since then, and it was written across her gaunt face. She looked absolutely miserable, and his throat tightened as he realized it was his fault she was suffering like she was.

"Hey," she breathed heavily, a tiny smile upturning the corners of her lips. "Do you want to come in?"

Paul didn't bother responding. Instead, he took her in his arms again, cradling her gently against his chest and burying his nose in her hair. He didn't think it was possible to miss someone so much over such a short period of time, but there he was, clinging to her like he hadn't seen her in years.

Much to his relief, Dakota wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, burying her face deeper into his chest. Her back rose and fell with a grand sigh before she spoke, her words muffled.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I don't know what I'm doing, or what I'm supposed to do or say, but I don't want to hurt you like this."

"Shh," he urged, reluctantly pulling her away from him and looking down at her face solemnly. "I'm not upset with you. You have nothing to apologize for."

Dakota sighed again, shaking her head. "Yes, I do. I pushed you away when you didn't deserve it and I can see what it's done to you and that's not fair, and I'm so fucking sorry I can't even begin to explain it."

"Stop apologizing. C'mon, let's go inside before you get sick," Paul said, taking her hand and pulling her back into the empty house. "Have you been eating enough?"

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Paul," she blurted as he closed the door behind them. "I don't know if what I feel for you is just a product of imprinting or if it's my own doing, and I don't think you know the difference, either. You got stuck with me because of this whole thing and I'm not exactly the best person to be around and it's completely unfair to you—you should be able to choose—but instead you got tied to me and all of my problems and I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about all of it."

When she was done, she sucked in a deep, shuddery breath as if she were about to cry. Her eyes watered slightly, but she kept her steely gaze trained on Paul's, waiting for his response.

"When I first saw you at that wedding, do you remember what you felt when I looked at you the way I did?"

She shrugged. "Mostly confused, a little curious, I don't know."

"Did you instantly fall in love with me?"

"Well, no."

Paul gave a weak smile. "That's the thing about imprinting. It doesn't force the feelings at all—it just points us in the right direction. It's like this big ass neon sign pointing at you, blaring an alarm and screaming 'It's her, you idiot!'. I didn't instantly fall in love with you, either. I just knew that, eventually, I would. Imprinting just makes it easier to see."

Dakota studied him for a moment before sighing for a third time, running her hands through her dripping hair. "Are you saying you're in love with me?"

"Beyond a shadow of a doubt," he responded with sincerity. "But if you're not in love with me, too, I'll live with that. I wasn't exaggerating when I said your feelings come first, Kota."

"How did you know?"

"Know what? That I imprinted on you?"

"No. How did you know you were in love with me? What was the tipping point?"

He pondered it for a moment, trying to pinpoint one specific instance that made him realize what should've been blatantly obvious. "I think I knew for a while, but I didn't admit it to myself until the other night when you kissed me back."

Dakota gave a thoughtful nod, watching him as he fidgeted beneath her gaze. He envied the youngest Cullen and his ability to read minds, if only for a second. Paul desperately wanted to know what she was thinking as she chewed on her bottom lip so hard she threatened to break skin.

"What are you thinking?" He finally asked, unable to stand her silence any longer.

"I don't know if I love you," she said quietly, dropping her eyes to the floor. "It sounds so awful when I say it out loud."

He tried desperately to quell the tremors that rolled through his body, not wanting to scare her. "It's not something you can help. Sometimes it's just not there."

Immediately, her eyes shot back up to his. "That's not what I meant. I don't know what love even is,Paul; I've never seen it. I don't know if I love you, but I know I could. I just have to figure out what that means first."

It wasn't exactly the scenario he'd been hoping for, but it was such a grand relief to know that she returned at least a portion of what he felt for her that Paul's face split in a huge grin. The entire time he was there, regardless of what they were doing, his smile didn't fade. Progress was progress, and they'd just taken their biggest step towards what he so desperately needed.