petrichor [rosalie hale] ✔

xxvii. training

Kiara slunked behind Paul as Sam nipped at Jacob's ankles, telepathically telling him to keep his thoughts about Edward to himself during their pack meeting with the Cullens. She huffed a little, causing Sam to let out  a warning growl in her direction as he tried to hold off the twins from bickering mentally or fighting physically in front of the vampires.

He knew that Kiara had gotten incredibly comfortable around the coven, and while he had began to come to terms with her imprint, he wasn't prepared to show a weakened front in front of them. The elders had warned him about getting too friendly with the Cullens and he couldn't help but head their warning. He might not see eye to eye on how they were treating Kiara because of things outwith her control but he certainly understood their volatile ways when it came to the leeches.

"I don't like this," Leah stated as they sulked towards the treeline where they knew the Cullen family would be waiting on the other side. Kiara ignored her as she moved forward, almost glued to Paul's flank as he flanked Sam.

It was no surprise to Paul that the smallest wolf was latching on to him, since it seemed like some of the others had been a lot less... friendly... about Kiara deciding to embrace the imprint connection rather than reject it. Surprisingly, Leah was the least of Kiara's concerns. Quil, Embry and Jared had been the nippiest with her - and while Jacob was trying to be nicer about it, he had still continued to make his quips about the leeches and wishing he could rip them all apart.

While Kiara had no concerns about Rosalie's safety (since the wolves had an unspoken law that no-one could hurt any of the imprints), she couldn't lie and say that their behaviour wasn't making her uncomfortable around her own pack brothers. She didn't care much for Embry and Jacob's bitterness, but it hurt more coming from Quil and Jared. They knew the feeling of an imprint and how it wasn't something that could be controlled - especially as Quil had just imprinted on a literal toddler.

Somehow, Kiara imprinting on a vampire was worse than a toddler to some of the men of the reservation. She didn't know what that said for them and their traditions, but her and Leah had both agreed that that was on their own level of fucked up.

"You don't need to like it," Sam replied to Leah, snapping Kiara out of her silent thoughts. She'd gotten quite good at pushing her internal monologue to the back of her head, drowning it out with other thoughts. Paul had been teaching her, as it was something he had figured out very early into his wolf life. "You just need to tolerate it."

Leah flickered her tail in annoyance, but she didn't say anything else. The grey wolf slunked into a spot beside Kiara, an unspoken bond between the two wolves. Leah might have hated the Cullens just as much as the rest of them, but she would never turn her back on Kiara. Not now, not ever. She was the only one who really accepted Leah and let her be around her without complaints, and Leah was glad to have a friend that did more than just tolerate her.

Across the wooded clearing, Beverly was standing next to Rosalie as the Cullens finished warming up as they awaited the arrival of the wolves. They all had moved to stand beside each other as they heard the thuds of their paws approaching, Edward placing an arm protectively around Bella as he heard Jacob's vicious thoughts about his existence getting closer. He caught the tail end of Leah and Sam's nipping before his eyes shifted down the line of wolves.

"Which one is Kiara?" Beverly lowly muttered to Rosalie, so low that the wolves weren't able to catch it. Carlisle had moved towards Edward and was assessing the situation with the man.

"The small one," Rosalie replied, motioning to the smallest wolf that was standing beside one of the larger grey ones. Emmett's eyes glinted a little as he noticed the two wolves, knowing now that the one he had almost punched was Paul and the other that he had hit was Kiara. He sheepishly smiled at the wolf, chuckling loudly as it poked a tongue out in retaliation.