( outfit for
chapter above )

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chapter four
imprint.

      "Are you still friends with Leah Clearwater?"

Christina turned her head curiously towards her younger sister; lightly placing her coffee down on the table. "I haven't talked to her since you left for Italy. Why?"

Bella leaned up against the threshold to the kitchen, crossing her arms against her chest. "Did you know that she's a werewolf now?"

Christina's eyes widened. "What?"

Bella nodded her head. "Her and her younger brother Seth." Bella cleared her throat lightly. "Jacob said that hearing about Sam and Emily's engagement set her off. No one was expecting it because she's the first female to shift."

"And Seth's only fourteen." Christina bit her lip in guilt. She hadn't even thought to call the Clearwater's, or go over to the house. Between working, taking care of Annie, and hiding from Victoria— her mind's been preoccupied lately.

"Poor Leah," Christina muttered. "I know how hurt she was when Sam left her for Emily."

"Jacob mentioned something about that," the younger Swan said as she sat down in front of Christina. "The pack calls it imprinting, I guess."

"Like ducks?"

"That's what I thought," Bella exclaimed. "But, the way that Jacob was describing it was, it's involuntary. It's this otherworldly connection, where nothing else matters for the wolf; just their imprint."

"So, it's like their way of finding a soulmate," Christina concluded.

Bella shrugged. "Something stronger than that, I guess— but yeah."

"So, Sam imprinted on Emily. He couldn't fight it?"

"It's not something they can fight," Bella muttered. "If either person tried to fight the connection they'd both be hurting."

Christina leaned back in her seat with a sigh. "I'm glad I'm not a wolf."

"I think we can agree with that."

Both Swan sisters jump at the sudden intrusion. Christina looked over her shoulder with narrowed eyes as she stared at Edward; a smirk lingering in his face.

"You're early," Bella stated as she got up from the table to greet Edward. "Jacob's not here yet."

"I better not be in the middle of a testosterone fight," Christina muttered, grabbing a hold of her coffee again.

"Jacob's just coming over to get the scent that's lingering from the intruder," Bella explained. "See if it's familiar to him."

Christina hummed under her breath as she gripped tighter onto her coffee. "Let me know how it goes."

Without another word, the mother left the room; leaving the couple concerned.

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        "Whoever it was, he left his stench behind," Jacob stated as he walked down the stairs and into the living room, joining Edward and Christina as they waited for him to finish.

Bella gripped onto Edward's hand as everyone stood up to face the young wolf.

"It'll be hard to miss when we cross it again. We'll handle it from here," Jacob muttered, crossing his arms.

Edward growled. "We don't need you to handle anything. Or anyone."

Jacob stepped closer, matching his glare. "I could care less what you need."

Edward pulled Bella behind him. "Alright, we're done here—"

"No, you're done here—"

"Enough!" Christina snapped. Both men continued to glare at each other but stopped fighting.

Bella pulled Edward back enough to get in between them.

"I told you I wasn't standing around for another testosterone fight," Christina snapped looking at Edward. "And you," she turned her glare to Jacob. "Enough with the top dog shit. Learn how to control yourself."

"Christina's right," Bella continued, she held a hand on each of the boys chest. "I'm tired of this— we all are. From now on I'm Switzerland, okay?"

Christina looked at the clock on the wall, before grabbing her keys on the coffee table. "We don't expect you guys to be best friends— or even friends in general. But you both need to learn how to work together. If not for the sake of the town, then do it for us."

Both men nodded their heads slowly as they stepped away from each other.

"I'm late to pick up my daughter," Christina muttered lowly before leaving the house; slamming the door behind her in annoyance.

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"Are you ready?" The young mother asked as she glanced in the rear view mirror at her six year old.

Annie grinned brightly as she stared at the growing fire in the middle of the beach. She excitedly nodded her head, "yes!"

Christina grinned back before opening her door and stepping out. The soft sand immediately stuck between her toes as she moved towards the back to unbuckle Annie. The young mother grabbed onto Annie's hand as they both walked towards Bella and Jacob talking a little a ways from the fire.

"Auntie!" Annie let go out her mother's hand as she ran towards Bella; who turned right in time to scoop Annie up into her arms as the little girl jumped. "Hi!"

"How was school?" Bella asked as Christina met up.

Annie jumped back down onto the sand. Her bare toes spread once they hit the cooling sand. She grinned up at her Auntie. "Great! I colored you a picture."

"I can't wait to see it," Bella grinned back.

"Auntie Emily!" Annie's attention escaped her as she saw Emily cleaning up the food from the table. The native woman looked up with a bright smile as Annie bounded up to her.

"You sure this is okay?" Bella asked as the trio started walking closer to the fire. "I hate being a party crasher."

Christina pulled her sweat shirt sleeves over her hands as she winced at Bella's words, thinking about the last party they went to together.

Jacob chuckled. "Technically, you're a Council Meeting crasher. See." He pointed ahead of them towards the older men sitting at the fire. "The Council leaders... Dad, Quil's grandpa, and Sue and Harry Clearwater."

"Okay." Bella paused with her hands up, making the other two stop and look back at her. "We should not be here."

Christina chuckled as she placed her arm over Bella's shoulder, pulling her forward again. "Bella, we're fine. Stop bugging."

"I thought..." Jacob cleared his throat as he corrected himself. "We thought it'd be good for you to hear our histories."

"The histories?" Bella gasped, making Christina chuckle again.

"Good luck," Christina said with a wink towards Jacob as she dropped her arm again. "I'm going to go see if Emily needs help." She waved over her shoulder as she walked towards the designated pack mother.

"Hey, Seth," Christina called with a wave as the excited fourteen year old passed her. He grinned with a wave back before stopping in front of Jacob and Bella.

"Need any help?" Christina asked as she stopped on the other side of the table in front of Emily.

The pack mother grinned before shaking her head. "I'm just finishing up. Are you hungry? We were able to save some hot dogs before the boys ate them all."

Christina chuckled. "I'm alright."

Green eyes shifted towards the fire as she watched Annie playing with Sue; the elder woman sitting next to her husband as he talked with the other Council members.

"Are ready to hear the legends?" Emily asked as she wiped her hands on a napkin.

"Are they as cool as everyone says they are?" Christina asked with a short laugh.

Emily giggled back as she threw the dirty napkin in the trash can next to the table. "The first couple times you hear them." She winked. "Billy Black is the best at telling stories," she promised.

"I can imagine," Christina muttered back under her breath.

"Come on. Let's find a good seat before they're all taken." Emily gripped onto the older woman's hand as she pulled her towards the fire. They split up as Emily walked towards Sam and Christina sat next to Leah; who was next to Sue.

"Hey," they both greeted at the same time, both not being able to converse since Billy cleared his throat for attention.

Billy met eyes with everyone around the fire, making sure he had everyone's undivided attention before starting, "the Quileutes have been a small tribe from the beginning."

As soon as the first words exited the Council Leader's mouth, the flames danced in the middle of the fire, capturing Christina's attention.

"But we've always had magic in our blood," he continued. "We were great spirit warriors... Shape shifters that transform into the powerful wolf. This enables us to scare off our enemies."

Christina blinked as she almost started seeing faces in the dancing fire, but as she cleared her eye sight, she noticed it was just the shifters sitting across the fire from her. She sighed under her breath before turning her eyes towards Billy.

"One day, our warriors came across a creature."

Goose bumps appeared on Christina's skin as red eyes appeared in her mind.

"It looked like a man, but it was hard like stone and cold as ice," he continued, lowing his voice as slight growls were heard around the fire. "Our warrior's sharp teeth finally tore it apart... but only fire would completely destroy it.

"They lived in fear that the Cold Man wasn't alone, and they were right. She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe, after his son was killed."

Christina could almost imagine the first between wolves and white flesh, pictures flashing quickly in her mind, making her want to shake her head to get rid of the images. She almost jumped once Annie jumped into her lap, also getting goose bumps from the story being told. Christina was quick to wrap her in her arms, and rock her back and forth, calming her mind down slowly.

No one noticed as a pair of brown eyes locked on the six year old with baited breath.

"Taha Aki's wife could see that he would lose," Billy continued on, staring deeply into the fire. "The Third Wife was no magical being, no special powers, except one... Courage."

Christina cringed as she almost saw a vision of a native woman stab herself in the stomach. She gasped lowly, too low for anyone to hear except Leah. The younger girl gave the mother a quick look, but Christina just shook her head in response.

"The Third Wife's sacrifice distracted the Cold Woman, long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the village.

"Over time, our enemies have disappeared, but one remains... The Cold Ones," Billy paused as he first glanced at the young mother and daughter, before moving his sight over to the younger Swan.

Christina turned her eyes away from Billy's and met Bella's eye contact instead— goosebumps still resting on her arms from the story.

"Our magic awakens when they are near... And we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming. And we must be ready." He paused as he glanced one last time around the fire. "All of us."

A low growl sounded through the fire, making all surprised eyes turn towards the youngest pack member; but he wasn't paying attention to any of them. He was staring deeply into the fire, with narrowed brows.

The Council paid no mind to the pack's reaction to Billy's warning as they started their talk up again; along with the rest of the pack after the story settled within everyone's mind.

Christina sighed deeply as she glanced at her watch. It was past Annie's bedtime, and she could start to feel Annie's body give onto sleep. The young mother stood up with her daughter in her arms; making the younger pack member also stand up.

Christina glanced towards Bella as the youngest Swan was talking quietly with Jacob.

"Hey, Nina," Seth greeted, his eyes flickering towards the sleeping child in Christina's arms before settling back on the mother's face. "How's everything after..."

He left the question open but Christina knew he was talking about the night Annie got kidnapped. The corner of her mouth turned up at the young wolves concern before resting her right hand on his shoulder. "Everything's been okay, thanks Seth."

"Do..." He cleared his throat as he shifted slightly. "Do you want me to watch her while you hang out?"

"That's okay." Christina dropped her hand on his shoulder before turning to look at Bella, who was getting up from the log her and Jacob were sitting on. "I think we're gonna head out. Annie's tired, and I have work early in the morning. I just really came to stop Edward's insistent badgering about Bella's safety."

"Thanks, Nina," Bella grumbled as she stood next to her older sister. "Ready to go?"

Christina nodded her head before calling out to the rest of the pack. "See you all later!"

The pack all gave their own goodbyes as the Swan sisters and Annie started making their way up the beach; not aware of the stares from Jacob and Seth as they watched the girls disappear into the young mother's Range Rover.

Jacob slapped his hand on Seth's back. "What's up, Seth?"

The young wolf continued to watch the Range Rover disappear down the road before looking over at Jacob with an anxious frown. "I think I imprinted," he muttered, making each of the wolves head pop up from their conversation.

Jacob's hand slacked on Seth's shoulder as Paul groaned from the food stand. "Oh, don't tell me you imprinted on the doctor's girl," Paul said around a hot dog he was previously shoving in his mouth.

Seth gulped as he shook his head. "Worse," he whispered, refusing to make eye contact with anyone who was staring openly at him. "I imprinted on her daughter."

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I am so sorry for the long wait but I had a slight writer's block on how I wanted to go about Seth's imprinting and where to put it in the story... but here it is! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and i'll see you all in the next one ;)

Happy Reading ~