Panic Room... (Paul x OC x Jacob)

Imprinting Pt. 2

Present Day- Forks, Washington

"So, he just disappeared, no calls, or texts, or anything?" Someone interrupts me for the eighth time in three minutes, I've been trying to explain the situation with Riley to the pack. Quite a daunting task and I am running out of patience.

"I've said that three times, dude—" I'm about to continue when I'm interrupted by Paul, he and I still aren't on great terms.

"How is some guy who's ghosting you worth our time?" He says with an air of arrogance that makes me want to knock his teeth out. I clench my fists to fight the urge.

"I've been trying to get to that. Now, will all of you kindly save your question until after I'm done." I look around at everyone, seeing the slight nods I received. I continued to explain the situation with Riley, from his parents to the change in the smell. They seemed receptive to the story afterward, a few of them even had relevant questions.

"So, in summary, something is going on, I don't know if it had anything to do with me. I really only told you guys so you would know to be as vigilant as possible. If you see anything odd, let me know right away." They nod, Paul doing so begrudgingly. I thank them and head out to my car to go home, tired after a long day of talking to people.

When I got home, I said hi to Luna and Stella and then crashed on my bed, falling asleep with my clothes on.

I'm in the kitchen making a sandwich about three days later when the front door slams, hard, causing me to jump in alarm. "MOM!" I hear Stella yell frantically from the entryway, I put down my knife and meet her in the doorway to the kitchen. She looks like a mix of excitement and nervousness.

"What, what happened?" I ask, confused as to what happened. She jumps up and down a couple of times in excitement.

"Three things," she begins, holding up three fingers. "One, Jacob shifted this morning. Two, Bella knows about the pack. Three, I think I met my mate this morning!" She says, making the second one really quick as if she hopes I won't register it. My jaw drops at that last one and I feel a bomb of excitement go off inside my stomach.

"Oh my God? What's his name, is he a shifter? Has he shifted yet?" I rapid-fire questions at her, knowing she will probably answer them with bullet points.

"His name is Seth, he might be a shifter, he hasn't shifted yet." She tells me, I smile at her, excited.

"Have you talked to him at all?" I ask, her face shifting slightly to a more disappointed look.

"A little, only long enough to get his name, then his sister broke in and whisked him away. I think her name is Leah." My jaw dropped for the second time in this conversation. Leah's little brother was my daughter's mate? Damn, talk about a plot twist.

"Wow," Is all I say, Stella gives me a confused look, urging me to explain. "Leah is Sam's ex-girlfriend, she isn't exactly fond of me because of our relationship after he broke up with her... so she might not be very fond of you guys dating," I say, hoping I don't burst her bubble.

"Well, she's just going to have to get over it." Is her reply, she turns and skips up the stairs, her happiness clearly showing through. I shake my head, smiling at her antics before throwing some shoes on and running as fast as I could to Sam and Emily's. It's been a little odd around the rez since Harry died last week and Leah shifted. A quiet and subdued energy surrounded quite a few of the places that were usually lively and crowded.

But not Sam and Emily's, the pack house was still as noisy as ever. As I walked in, a few pack members were sitting at the dining table, eating muffins. I could still smell Bella's stench hanging in the air so I must've just missed her and Jacob. I swipe a muffin from Quill's heaping plate of them and ruffle his hair as I walk past, opting to ignore Paul's existence. I hear the annoyed grumblings of Quill as I make my way into the kitchen, where Emily is quickly whipping up more mix for the delicious muffins.

"I don't know how you do it Em—" I say through a mouthful of muffin, "Feeding these rabid pack animals all day. Must be exhausting." She rolls her eyes at me as she throws a pan of muffins into the oven and slams it closed, setting a timer for twenty minutes.

"Don't act like you're not one of the pack, Gin." She tells me, ruffling my hair before shoving me out of the kitchen and back into the dining room, "Don't you have a mate to introduce yourself to?" I choke on my muffin and Paul glances back at me. I flip him off as I walk out of the house, coughing from the chunk of muffin that had been lodged in my throat.

I decided to walk at a generally slow pace, and by that, I mean I ran at an incalculable speed, to where Jacob's scent was the strongest, and Bella's stench was also the most prominent. I ended up outside of a garage that had it's large door open, I could hear both Jacob and Bella's voices floating out to me as I approached, making sure I couldn't be heard. I could hear them talking about imprinting and I stood outside, waiting for the right time to head in.

This opportunity presented itself when Bella asked if Jacob had ever imprinted on someone, I could tell what she wanted to answer to be. She wanted it to be no, not because she wanted to date him, but because she liked the attention he gave her and didn't want it to be taken away.

"You'd know if I had." I hear Jacob reply and I decide to head on in at that moment, not wanting to hear this rather awkward conversation continue any further.

"Oh, hey Bella, fancy seeing you here," I say as I enter the garage, I see Jacob spin around to see who had just cut their conversation short. When our eyes met, I could feel a second cord wrap itself around my heart, this one felt as if it had been made of spun gold, strong, tightening around my heart, nearly to the point of pain. Whereas Paul's and my bond seemed to be made out of a bungee cord, loose fitting but tight beyond belief when tension was applied and willing to stretch across distance.

"Hey Jake," I say, slightly breathless from the sudden wave of different emotions that crashes into you in the wake of a newly formed mate bond. I see Bella step closer from the corner of my eye, obviously wondering what was going on.

"Hi, Ginny,"