The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter LXIV: Jacob's Point of View

I was pretty sure that Annie was going to kill me pretty soon. She was so wound up about losing herself in this supernatural stuff. I knew that I wasn't really helping her any, either. Now that I knew what was coming after her, now that I knew that the Pack could stop this, I was running myself ragged. I had Annie on a lockdown that was stricter than anything that her father couldn't even dream of. She wasn't allowed to be without two of the Pack by her side for any reason. And if there was some reason as to why she was alone, she was not to leave the house.

It was all there, crystal clear. And yeah, I was being a jackass. I was being an overprotective, controlling asshole. And I justified it all by telling myself that I was doing it all for her protection. And I was. Some of it could be scaled back a little, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

Jake, is there any way that we can just be done for tonight? Embry grumbled in my head. We were back to multiple patrol shifts a day, worse than anything that we had ever had before. And, once again, it was me that was begging for them; not Sam.

Unfortunately, I was working with two wolves. I had Seth, who was young and inexperienced, and Embry. Everyone else had their own imprint that they were worried about.

Any time now, man.

Yeah, yeah; get out of here. Stop by the house and make sure that Annie's there please, I asked.

She's not going anywhere dude, Embry said. She likes me too much. I snorted and rolled my eyes. I'll run by and let you know if there's any problems.

I focused on the trees around me and the smells of the forests, searching for anything that was off. I felt Paul phase in, sprinting and screaming in his head. I sighed and rolled my eyes. I didn't want to play therapist for everyone. But, unlike everyone else in the family, I was the only one who had a normal imprint.

Wasn't that ironic? Because I had to think of it this way: Sam had left Leah for Emily, making their imprint a little abnormal because it tore a family apart; Leah didn't want her imprint because of the shit that Sam had put her through; Paul had a deaf imprint that he had never met; and Quil had imprinted on an infant.

I mean, I guess the guys could always ask Jared. But they didn't. Ever. They always waited until I was walking around in the forest, focused on my patrol to corner me and ask me questions.

What's wrong? I asked, finally giving in.

Her name's Charlotte and I don't know a God damn thing about her, he growled. And whenever I get close to learning about her, someone manages to tell her about my past.

Paul, you only imprinted on the girl a week ago. That's not exactly your past. Why do you even care? Last time we talked about her, you didn't want this.

Jared thinks that I should be happy about our imprint. I have nothing but shit and Ari in my life; I should be happy that I have something good in my life that isn't in a hospital, Paul said. But no bitch wants to be involved with this, Jake. I'm a fuck it and chuck it guy. That's what I'm known for.

Maybe you're thinking about this in the wrong way, I suggested. His ears swiveled towards me. You keep thinking about all of this in how it's good for you, but you can't be selfish about this Paul. We do what we can to protect them and make them happy. So tell her; be honest with her. Let her decide what she wants this to be. At the end of the day, we're what they need, not what they want. So you be whatever she wants you to be, Paul and then figure out how to become what she needs.

Paul was silent for a little while, all but chewing on the words that I had said. See, I knew how this imprint shit worked.

Jake, I think you got a problem going on back home, Embry said.