The Grey Wolf [TWILIGHT/LEGACIES]

12

A QUICK AUTHOR'S NOTE:

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A month had passed since Renesmee had quit school. Her family was still having a hard time forgiving her for her decision. Especially her father. But Bella knew Edward would come around. After all, Renesmee was their only child. Life was right in front of her. Bella, Alice and Esme seemed to be the only ones who had faith that Renesmee would go back to school soon and finish her education.

But the hybrid had no such plans. Sure, she spent her days wandering through the woods with Hope, or so everyone thought. She would always bring a book with her. Just because the public school had attempted to strip her of her love for learning new things, that didn't mean she didn't want to continue educating herself. Who needed to sit down in a classroom and cram facts that no one would really need after high school?

When Hope and Renesmee sat down under the tree they had deemed to be theirs (just like her parents had their own meadow), the hybrid opened the encyclopaedia she was planning on finishing today. She was excited to learn in her own way, something she couldn't do when she was taught by her family or by the pathetic excuses of teachers in her old school.

But just as she was about to begin reading her self-made lessons for the day, she heard someone screaming her name. Hope quickly sat up, alert. The animal hated it whenever someone felt like a threat for it and for Renesmee.

The dark-haired figure approached them, panting. It was Quil Ateara, one of the pack. He had been instructed to look for Renesmee and Hope everywhere and for a reason. "Renesmee! Oh, there you are!"

He rest his hands on his knees when he stopped in front of them, "Everyone's been looking for you!", he managed to say between normalizing his breathing.

"Why?", Renesmee demanded to know. What was going on? Hope could sense something was not right.

Quil slowly straightened his back before telling her that the elders had a message for her.

"Why couldn't they come and tell me then?", the hybrid was still confused.

In the front yard, the elders of the Quileute tribe and the pack had gathered. When they heard footsteps, they raised their heads in sync. Some of them glared at Renesmee, who resisted the urge to glare back at them. Why were they even giving her such looks?

The eyes darted from the hybrid to the wolf. What had Hope done? She, of all creatures, was innocent!

Quil's grandfather, the Old Quil, began speaking about how things were changing too quickly on the reservation and how no one from the elders approved any of it.

"We've received complaints about this wolf right here. I understand that you want a pet, but-"

Before he could continue, Renesmee had to intervene. "Hope. Is. Not. A. Pet!", she gritted through her teeth.

Old Quil said nothing, instead, he continued, pretending not to have heard the hybrid: "And there is another problem too. We understand you're Jacob's imprint, but unless you get married to him, you cannot stay here, on the reservation, for too long."

Renesmee couldn't move from her place. He had imprinted on her? What?

Suddenly, it made sense. It could explain why she had never seen Jacob being romantically involved with anybody else. It could explain why he had been so devoted to her over the years and why he had forcefully had her move in with him as soon as she had been deemed mature enough.

She now understood her feelings of hatred even better.

Imprint or not one, she refused to marry him. She harboured no romantic feelings for him - so why marry him? Simpy to bring powerful wolves on this planet and to be dumped like a piece of trash later on? Or to have a person be overly devoted to her with no genuine feelings, controlled by magic instead?

"Did you hear what we said?", Billy Black, Jacob's father, asked her, trying to attract her attention back to the elders and the tribe.

Renesmee's heart sank.

If she married Jacob, she would allow him to win. And she was beginning to see through his supposed acts of kindness. Besides, having heard rumours about him was making her feel even more uneasy when she was close to him.

Renesmee knew she had disappointed her parents enough by quitting school and if she moved out, they would probably disown her, especially her mother, who secretly dreamed of marrying her daughter off her best friend to cover up their failed romance in the past.

In the end, she made up her mind.

"Come on, Hope," she gestured to the wolf to join her. She had luggage to pack for two.