Familiar (Seth Clearwater FanFic)

Five

Seth lies awake a few nights later. He hasn't slept much, most nights he stares at his ceiling or out the window towards the woods. He's happy he's back, he's with his friends and family. But he imprinted on Kai, and it changes everything for him. He has a chance of getting the girl, he's so close and he's letting her slip through his fingers.

He wants to see her again, he needs to. Sam had pulled him aside after he came back. He asked Seth how he felt about Kai and was sympathetic at Seth's response. Both he and Seth knew the elders' rules. The rules their elders followed and the elders before them. A descendant of the wolf can not take a mate of any other supernatural background. They had to be a wolf's decedent or a human. The original shifters of the pack did not want to dilute their blood, they wanted to preserve their gift. By pack law, even though Seth imprinted, he wasn't allowed to take Kai as his mate.

Seth is at an impasse. He can either leave Kai or he can leave the pack. Seth is miserable.

~

Jacob looks over at Seth's sleeping form. The kid's a wreck. He must have passed out on the couch sometime late at night because the tv is still on. "What do we do? Kid's moping around the place like he watched a puppy get shot."

"Considering he fell in love and was forced to leave her, I'd say he's handling this pretty normally." Paul offers, it isn't like everyone doesn't know. They can feel the distress radiating off the kid in waves, they would see the girl, Kai, laughing or doing domestic things in their heads. Seth's memories he's replaying in his head. The pack is trying their best to rally behind him, a support system for him to fall back on while he tries to recover from his heartbreak. They feel for the him, he chose the pack over the girl he loves.

"What do we do though?" Jake rubs his hands over his face, defeated.

"We keep doing what we've been doing and hope for the best. No one can help him as much as he can help himself. We have to be there for him." Leah walks in the room and covers Seth with a blanket. She should know. She went through this when Sam broke up with her for Emily. No one would know better than her. Jake and Paul look at her sadly, the pack knows all too well what Leah means.

~

Seth looks at the clock and groans. 2:19. He can feel the pull into the woods, the trees calling his name. His wolf is restless. Looking out the window, all Seth can see the moon. Seth glances around his room one last time before rising out of bed. He grabs his bag he used for school and empties the contents onto his bed. He begins shoving clothes and his most prized possessions into the bag. He throws his toothbrush on top of the bag before heading to the kitchen.

I'm sorry but I have to go. I love you. -Seth

He leaves the note for his parents on the kitchen counter, telling himself it's the right thing to do. He'd already put them through enough when he disappeared the first time. Shifting into his wolf form once he's outside, Seth picks the bag up with his snout and begins to run. He isn't thinking too much where he's going, he's following the pull through the woods. His wolf is taking over and leading him through the woods.

When Seth finally stops running, he's in the clearing looking at Kai's home. The windows are dark, he can hear her steady heartbeat from inside. Seth trots up to the bungalow, and shifts into human form. He pulls a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt on, which in retrospect he probably should have done after he knew if the door was locked or not. It is unlocked. He'd have to tell Kai it's not safe leaving it unlocked while she's alone in the middle of the forest.

It's still early in the morning and Seth doesn't really know what to do. Should he wake up Kai? No, probably not. He just showed up in the middle of the night unannounced, so he probably shouldn't push his luck. So, he lies down on the couch, because he might as well try and get some sleep. Sleep comes soon enough, but he spends time to think. He thinks about a lot of things. His future, what he wants for himself, what coming back means and what it means for the pack.