Tempted Imprint [Book 4] ONESHOT

Shall We Dance?

COLLIN'S POV

There are some wolves that imprint and then slowly fall in love with their mates. It's not instant love as some might believe. It's a bond you feel. You're whole world suddenly revolves around that person. But she doesn't necessarily fall in love with you, and you don't always fall in love immediately right back. I mean if we did, Quil would have fallen in love with a kid. Same with Ryan and Jacob. That's just sick. But no, the "in love" part develops over time. Because we're meant to be with our imprints. They're our soul mates. Or as Sam once put it, they're a gift we're given.

I personally always thought that imprinting was a bunch of bullshit. I had seen too many wolves get torqued up over it. To have your entire mood decided for you based on whether your imprint smiled at you or not...it was just too weird. And if an outsider looked at imprinting, I'm sure they would think we were all fucked up.

I mean, take Sam's situation for example. Sam and his girlfriend Leah were going strong. He was even going to propose to her, and then bam...her cousin Emily comes to town, and Sam dumps Leah to pursue his true mate. He basically had to stalk Emily because she wanted nothing to do with him. And then one day while Leah was out of town, Sam begged and pleaded with Emily to go for a walk with him. He confessed his feelings, Emily rejected him, and Sam lost control scarring his woman for life. The craziest part is that they still ended up together. Sam was ready to kill himself over what he did, but Em saved him.

I loved both of them, but even I had to admit their imprint was ugly. I know outsiders who didn't understand the situation thought Emily was a boyfriend stealing bitch who got what she deserved when she was "mauled by a bear." They didn't get how absolutely lost Sam was without his Emily. Then again, the same people who questioned Sam and Emily, also thought it was weird that so many of the tribe's "protectors" hung out with little kids, specifically little kids named Claire, Gracie, and Renesmee.

I thought the whole thing was weird myself. I even mocked the guys for their behavior around their imprints. I thought I'd never be one of "those guys." You know...completely whipped. And then one day I decided to do Quil a favor. His imprint Claire had gotten into trouble and her parents decided to have her move in with her Uncle Sam and Aunt Emily. Quil, of course, had been ecstatic that his imprint was moving to the Rez.

Quil wasn't in love with her at the time. She was only 15 and he insisted to anyone who'd listen that he only saw her as a friend. Denial is such a bitch sometimes.

Anyone could see that Quil was falling in love with his young Claire (of course, he didn't admit it until years later). But it was obvious to the rest of us what his feelings were. You could see it on the day we moved Claire to La Push. His eyes always lingered on her, which wasn't unusual. He'd done that since she was little. What was new was the way he kept checking out her curves when he didn't think anyone else was watching. As we loaded up the car full of boxes and Claire said goodbye to her family, I lost count how many times Quil would glance at Claire's chest. He was more than aware of her. I had planned on using my observations as weapons against him the next time we patrolled together. I loved giving the guys crap...it's always been my thing. I had all these jokes lined up in my head when I heard the single sweetest sound I had ever heard.

It was the voice of my own imprint...my Lindsey. She was Claire's best friend and had been since they were kids. She was only 15 at the time too, but that didn't matter to me. Yeah, yeah...I know. I was as big a perv as the rest of them...and I didn't care.

Now as I said before, wolves don't always fall in love at first sight. They feel that instant, gravity moving thing, but love develops over time. Not so for me. I took one look at Lindsey and fell completely, hopelessly in love with her. And what was the best thing about it was that she felt the exact same way, though she didn't tell me until years later.