I.

Imprint

The roots of old trees stuck out from the ground but I gracefully avoided them. I know these forests like the back of my own hand. The wind brushed through my fur and I shivered as the cold air touched the skin below. I stopped to sniff the air. There was something wrong but I could not point it out. I alertly looked around to make sure I was alone. I don't want anyone, especially Jacob or Seth, to follow me when I am running by myself. I don't want to be disturbed.

I ran again, automatically dodging obstacles of tangled leaves, branches, and roots. But I wasn't thinking of these things. My body was on autopilot while my mind raced back through the memories. It has been four years since that day when the whole world seemed upside down.

We were on the brink of a war consisting of the mythical. Vampires all over the world came to our place, the small town of Forks and our reservation. Their sickly sweet smell seem to hover the land and until this day I could smell traces of it in the air. But maybe it could be connected to the Cullens who still lives here in Forks but rarely go out in public now that the "youngest" Cullens were already graduates and were supposedly going to college in Alaska. Only Carlisle and Esme were seen in public driving little Renesmee for school. I hope that grade school is enough of a torture for her. She was the reason why the Volturi, nomads, other vampire clans, and our pack were involved in a possible war. She was a hybrid- half human, half vampire and the Volturi "made sure" that she was harmless.

It has been four years since that day today and almost nothing changed. Our area is still covered in constant rain and clouds, forest still surrounded our reservation, and we were all still here in this place, none of us ever left. Of course people change but not us. I'm already twenty four years old but I'm still stuck in this nineteen-year-old body. I could still shape shift though it is the last thing that I want to be. But it's not only me. Seth hasn't aged a bit since that day four years ago. He still looks like a fifteen-year-old kid though he's almost twenty now. Poor kid, he still hasn't imprinted yet and he's getting worried that there must be something wrong with him. Well, his problem is nothing compared to mine. At least he's not the only known male shape shifter in history. It is so hard being the only one of my kind. It made me feel like I was some kind of freak.

It is not only us that remained unchanged. The Cullens of course still stayed the same. They're still cold, hard, "vegetarian", beautiful vampires whose skins shine like diamonds under the sunlight. I still can't believe that they are not our enemies anymore but key allies we need just as much as they need us. After that confrontation, other vampires decided to stay in our place and threatened to kill great numbers of humans when they feed. It has been hard work but we made sure that none of those sick things existed anymore.

Besides Jacob, Seth, Quil, and me, everyone in our pack decided to stop shape shifting to a wolf and age. Sam even got married to my cousin, Emily, last year. They decided that I should be the maid of honor. Who am I to object right? I mean, being the maid of honor in my ex-boyfriend's wedding is such a privilege, isn't it?

The only reason Jacob and Quil would not age because of their imprint mates. Jacob imprinted on Renesmee and of course she wouldn't age while Quil would not age because his imprint mate was still four years old.

I stopped again as I approached a large boulder sitting in the middle of the forest. I smelled a scent, too sweet to be coming from a human, even before I saw the small figure sitting on the top of the boulder as if it is the most comfortable place to rest. The wind was gently blowing the brown ringlets of hair as she turned and looked at me. Quickly I hid behind a tree and returned back to my human form. I quickly got dressed and stepped out.

"Jacob know you're hanging around here?" I asked. Renesmee smiled. We both know that he doesn't. No one really knew where she goes when we meet. Well of course her father knew a bit about it but she learned how to avoid thinking about our meetings whenever she's at home.

A day after the Volturi encounter, Nessie approached me on the woods. At first I did not want to talk to her at all. I mean the girl is the reason why the Volturi came down but I guess she really won me over. Ever since then, she became my closest friend.

She did not answer but hopped off the large boulder with such grace it was unbelievable. She touched my arm and suddenly the forest around us was fading and I was thrown to a strange frenzy of hazy, swirling colors. The only thing that I could see clearly was her smiling face. Our surroundings slowly became clearer and we were standing in the middle of their home.

Nessie was still smaller than everyone else and since I could only see through her eyes, everyone were a bit bigger than I am. She really perfected her ability. Before, she could only show what she saw but now it was different. Every sensation and feeling that she had with that memory will be felt by the person who she was showing it to.

I could feel the cold emitting from the vampires and their sick sweetly smell. But of course to her, it was the most perfect smell in the world. But then there was the normal smell and I saw Jacob staring intently at me. I could feel my heart race. He smiled at me. His eyes were shining with love. Of course Jake was not really seeing me but Nessie but it was still the most disgusting thing I have ever seen.

"Do you know who it is?" I heard Bella asked and I turned to look at her. Being a vampire truly suites her well. Her long brown hair poured down to the small of her back and is so vivid against her marble skin. Her slender body was covered with the most stylish outfit I have ever seen. She looks so different from when she was a human and the most different of all were her amber eyes. When she was a human, those eyes were the most beautiful brown that I have ever seen. I have always been jealous of her beauty even before she turned to a vampire and seeing her as one of them makes me hate myself even more. But at that moment I was not feeling any hatred towards myself but only love for her since I was still looking through her daughter's eyes.

"We do not know yet but we do know is that he is not one of the Voltuti. But he might have a connection since he was a witness for them," Edward replied. I turned to look at him. It was obvious that Nessie loved her father but not as much as she loved her mother. Maybe just as much as Jake.

"What does he want?" Bella asked once again looking automatically at Nessie. Of course the vampire may be a spy for the Volturi and were planning another confrontation that would probably lead to a war- the last thing that we need and want now.

"I can't tell. He knows about our abilities and keeps on changing his decisions. I can't be sure," Alice replied.

"Well, where is he now?"

"Bella, it's okay. As long as he does not go anywhere near us, there is no harm," Edward assured gently brushing a strand of hair from his wife's eyes.

"Just answer me," Bella insisted coldly.

"We know that he is near the reservation," Edward whispered so softly that normal humans would not have heard it but all of us did. Everyone turned to Jacob who immediately got to his feet and headed for the door.

"I'll tell them to be on the look out," he said as he rushed out the door. Of course I already know that and I have finished patrolling the area and now Seth was keeping a watchful eye. I wondered why she was showing me this when Jacob already told us about the problem.

But just after Jacob stepped out and transformed into that huge sand-colored wolf, everyone turned to Alice and Edward and knew that Alice was seeing a vision in the future. Everyone waited in silence and in suspense.

"He disappeared," she said in shock and panic. "I can't see him anymore!"

"What do you mean?"

"He must have met one of the pack and... I don't know!"

Alice could not see the future of anyone from our pack and also Nessie's which frustrates her greatly. If the unknown vampire associated with us, Alice could not see him any longer.

At this point the Cullens' shocked faces faded and the forest was starting to solidify once again. We were still standing at the patch of land near the rock. I looked at Nessie as she stepped away from me. I was guessing that she wants me to deliver the message to Jacob if he still does not know it already but I doubted it. I was sure that she already shown the same thing to him before she headed here to see me.

"What do you want me to do with that?" I asked indifferently.

"I haven't told Jacob yet," she answered.

"So in short, you want me to be your messenger? If you haven't noticed yet, I'm a dog not some dove," I retorted back cooly as I started making my way back. I was guessing that the conversation was over and that I have nothing else to do but to relate the message to my Alpha.

"Wait," she said softly and I stopped and turned to her.

"What now?"

"I have a... theory why Alice could not see the vampire," she hesitated. I waited impatiently but I did not gave her any chance to say what she was thinking before I turned to leave once again.

"I- I think you imprinted on the unknown vampire," she whispered softly. I stopped dead; shocked at what she have said. It can't be. I am a dead-end and imprinting only happens to make a "stronger" wolf.

"That's impossible," I said, hiding the shock and making the words sound cold. I did not want to hope for anything. My heart has already been broken and I don't want it to be destroyed any further.

I could not stand to be there any longer. I wanted to escape. I wanted to escape from who and what I truly am. I wanted to be free from this curse that my father passed to me. I ran as fast as I could without looking back at Nessie. I ran until my human legs could not take it any longer. Without stopping, I turned to the monster that I will always hate. Fortunately, no one at that time was in the wolf form either. I wanted the haven of my own mind not to be invaded by anyone. I started to convince myself that what she said was impossible. It was just a theory and there's no reason why I should start to freak out. She was a smart girl but I am sure that she was wrong- dead wrong. I can't imprint and I won't certainly imprint on a blood-sucker.

Then I felt Jacob inside my head and I was thrown on his also. I knew that he turned to a wolf. I immediately thought of nothing but the message that Nessie showed me and nothing else. It was very hard to keep secrets from someone who has the ability to enter your head but I have trained very well. I am the only one who could keep things from my pack but that was mostly just about personal things. I also kept the meetings between Nessie and me hidden. Now I included her stupid theory. As long as I do not think of them, no one would know about it.

Why are you being so distant? Jacob asked inside my head. I thought of nothing but the message and what must be done.

He was silent for a minute as he looked at Nessie's message on my head. I know that already. Is there something wrong?

Nothing.

Then why are you being so distant?

Nothing.

I know you Leah. There's something wrong. Just think of it.

Look, just because we could get inside each other's heads does not mean that I will share everyone of my thoughts with you. I still want my own privacy.

That is just unfair. I have no choice but to let you know everything I think but you could hide things from me. I have no privacy.

Do I look like I care?

He then showed me an image of him ripping my head off. That made me laugh so hard.

Are you sure that you can do that? Jacob, after all these years you still can't catch me.

Someday I will beat you.

Yeah, right.

So will you tell me now what's bothering you?

No, I won't.

Well would you at the very least tell me how you know about what Nessie wanted me to know?

She told me.

I did not know that you guys are close.

I... just came across her and since you weren't close by, she just said that I needed to relate the message to you.

Sure, sure. I knew that he did not believe me. I suck at lying and that's why I never really tried.

Do you want me to tell Seth about it? With that I headed for Forks. My mom decided to move to Charlie's house now that they decided to get married. According to my mother he was too alone and he did not know what to do around the house. It was supposed to be a huge step towards their relationship. Seth and I did not like it but if our mom was happy, we can't really object.

Yeah. I think it's a good idea if he knew about this as well so that he could also be alert.

Okay. Where do you want to meet?

I'll just tell you when you transform back where I am.

I jumped to the window at the second story. Of course this was Bella's old room. It was weird and I thought that I was invading her privacy. But it really did not matter any longer because she was living at that small cottage on the woods.

I turned back to my human form. I was filthy. Leaves and branches were tangled to my now waist length hair. Dry mud caked my body. I decided to take a quick shower just to stay sanitary. After a few minutes I stepped out of the shower and got dressed.

"Hey sweetie," my mom said as she entered my room. It still knocked me off guard on how big her belly was getting. She was pregnant with Charlie's kid. She knew I totally disagreed because I have always felt that through her relationship with Charlie, we were creating stronger bonds with the Cullens. Seth, on the other hand, was a bit warmer with the idea.

"Hey," I said simply. She was looking at me with such fascination. Then she saw my fingers and gasped.

"Red nail polish?" she asked amazed, grabbing my hands.

"What?" I said innocently.

"What's gotten into you?"

"I can't paint my fingernails red?"

"No. But that's just not you."

"Well, maybe I am just exploring. I still can do that right?"

Before she could answer, we heard a firm thud on the other room which meant that Seth just arrived. I walked past my mom and stood at Seth's door. I gave him a few seconds to get dressed before I barged in.

"Seriously Leah, do you know how to knock?" he asked incredulously. Thank goodness he had his shorts on already.

"We need to go search for the vampire. We don't know what this thing wants from all of us and we need to find out now," I said ignoring his comment. I turned around and jumped off the window as I transformed. I forgot about my clothes and I was kind of irritated with myself as I realized that I ripped my favorite shirt.

I landed softly on the ground and I heard Seth land softly beside me. The road in front of the house was empty and we quickly dodged to the nearest clump of trees. We ran towards the direction of the reservation.

Race yah, kid. I thought as I sent a huge ball of dirt towards his way.

Real mature, Leah. I laughed as Seth tried to catch up with me. I quickened my pace and he fell behind.

Now we're getting somewhere. I teased. He tried to catch up once again but I was still too fast for him.

I slowed to a stop as I felt Jacob inside my head. I still did not thought of my meetings with Nessie and her stupid theory. I could feel that he was trying to search my head for the reason why I was being distant to him.

Stop it Jake. It's irritating. I growled.

If Seth and me can't have privacy, I don't really see why you should.

Hey, what's going on?

Why don't you ask Leah, Seth. She has been keeping things from us.

You are? Seth sounded hurt. At that moment I wanted to find Jacob and hurt him as bad as I could. I let him see that and he laughed.

Stop being such a baby, Seth. You're already twenty and you still act as if you're fifteen. My patience was running low. Jacob showed a place where we could meet and I growled. I knew that they weren't going to give up. I led the way to the place even though Seth also knew the way.

But I don't keep anything from you. That's so unfair.

How about we meet and we could discuss about it?

Newsflash idiots, we are trying to catch an unknown vampire. If we talk about something as irrelevant as whatever is in my head, we're not really doing our jobs here?

Why are you trying to avoid it, Leah?

First, I just don't want anyone in my head. If you think about it, I have endured for years having you inside my head and it is getting really annoying. Second, as I have said, whatever is inside my head is irrelevant and there are things much more important than whatever Leah Clearwater is thinking.

Then why don't you want to share it if it is so irrelevant?

Why do you guys want to be inside my head in the first place?

Why can't you share it with your pack Leah?

Yeah, Is it too bad to share?

You guys don't just get it do you? Do you really want to be inside my head anymore? I grew tired of it and I could hide more personal things from you. Do you really want me to show you all the things that I showed everyone when we were still in Sam's pack? Then I showed them some of the examples I knew they still did not want to talk about.

So? We already know that and as far as I could tell no one really cares anymore.

We saw Jacob and we faced each other. I growled softly and he made a weird noise that sounded like he was snorting with laughter.

How about this, irritating losers, I transform back to a human and I tell you whatever has been bothering me?

But you don't have any clothes.

Well I could hide behind a tree and I could tell you, not unless you don't want to know.

I quickly dodged behind a tree and transformed back to human form. That's the bad thing about being a shape shifter. I just showered and now I am covered in dirt. I did not have any clothes on and it was extremely uncomfortable sitting naked in the forest floor. I have to bathe for a long time before I could ever feel clean again.

"Would you tell us now?" Seth's voice drifted from behind the tree and I realized that they must've transformed back to human again. They both have clothes with them so I knew they were a bit more comfortable than I was.

"C'mon Leah, we're just concerned. Besides, the information that you are hiding from us might be important," Jacob persuaded.

"If it was, don't you think that I would have already told you?" I pointed out.

"What if we thought otherwise?" Jacob said. His voice was getting severe which meant that he was thinking of using his Alpha voice. I can't oppose that if he commands with all of his authority.

I took a deep breath before answering, "For years, Nessie and I have been meeting in these woods. That's why I know about the unknown vampire disappeared. The Cullens know that he might have met someone from our pack."

"So the vampire is decided that he'll meet one of us?" Seth asked the question that I have not thought of. Of course, Alice's visions depends on the decisions of its focus.

"Well we can't really know that. I mean we are also decided to find this vampire right? So Alice might have just saw our own doing. She might be looking at the vampire's future but she must have just seen the result of out decision in finding the vampire. This is actually a good sign. This means that we could be able to know what this thing wants from us," Jacob answered.

"But that could all change, right? I mean, we could still not find this thing, right?" I asked glad with the change of subject and a bit uncomfortable at the thought of we're actually going to meet this vampire.

"No. I think we should really find him. We should all split up. Seth, go north. I could tell Quil to watch for that thing near the reservation in east. Then I could head west. Leah, stay here since you can't really go south anymore because you'll be heading to the main road and we don't want the humans to freak out," Jacob instructed.

"I don't want to stay here. Why can't I go with Seth?" I insisted.

"Leah, like what you said, I'm already twenty and I need to be independent. I don't need you to be there. I think I could do well on my own against the vampire, thank you very much" Seth replied sounding a bit shocked and indignified.

"B-but I don't want to be alone here," I can't believe I was saying this. I am not a coward and I'm the last person to be scared of that thing. But I guess I was. Not because I was scared that he could hurt me. I was scared because I was afraid of imprinting to this bloodsucker. The guys snorted with laughter that really made my blood boil but I did not say anything. I am really getting good in controlling this anger thing.

"Leah, you're like the last person to be thinking that. I mean you are pretty strong. Stop being such a baby," Jacob teased as soon as he could breath. With that they both turned to their wolf form and ran into their designated directions.

I just sat there. I was too stunned to transform to my wolf form. I can't believe that they would just leave me here. Hang on, why am I freaking out? I mean what Nessie said was just a theory? I mean, I really don't have to imprint on this thing. Besides, the vision that Alice had does not necessarily involve me. That thing might not even meet me here right?

Automatically, I stood up and looked around. I did not see anything so I relaxed a bit and leaned against the trunk of the tree. Then I sensed something and before I could comprehend what happened, I was being pushed against the trunk.

A hard, icy hand was held against my mouth, preventing me to make a sound. The other hand was placed firmly on my neck, threatening to choke me. A marble body was pressed against my naked form, preventing me transform to a wolf. The only thing that I could see was the soft yellow eyes that stood out on a pale face. The face was a bit long and thin. His brown hair was tangled and messy. He was the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen and before I knew it, I could feel my whole identity break apart. Nothing mattered any longer except those golden eyes that were staring intently at mine. The air disappeared and the only thing that I was willing to feel was the hard body pressing against mine. The only thing that mattered at that moment and every moment in the future was him. He stepped back from me and for a brief time, I was able to think. The only thought that formed in my head was Nessie was right- I imprinted on this beautiful living statue and there's nothing in the world that I could do about it.