Delicate (Jasper Whitlock Hale)

Chapter 4

We all phased back at the edge of the forest before walking out and most of us going separate ways. I stayed behind Sam and followed him back to the house, only speaking once we were through the door.

"What the hell is imprinting?" I asked, slightly annoyed that none of them had told me yet. He turned to face me,

"It's a normal thing that happens with us shapeshifters. The easiest way I can think of explaining it, is it tells you who your soulmate is. Suddenly they're all that matters. It's not always a romantic thing, like Quil's imprint is a two-year-old. He doesn't think of her in any kind of way besides her protector. You can't stop yourself from wanting to be their happiness, their protector, and if they ever need it, their lover. Imprinting is an extremely special thing, so special that whoever a werewolf imprints on cannot be harmed, it's our most sacred law." He explained.

"Are you and Emily...?" I trailed off and he smiled widely and nodded,

"Yes, I imprinted." He said, just as she walked through the door. 

"Why are you guys talking about imprinting?" Emily asked, hanging her jacket over the back of a chair. "Which member of the pack imprinted?" She asked, Sam walked over to her, an arm around her waist, unable to answer before she started guessing. "Was it Seth? Or Leah?" 

"No." Sam said, stopping her before she started naming everyone on the reservation, "It seems we found what was pulling Laela to Forks though." Emily let out a little gasp and hugged me.

"Who was it?" She asked me, and I was suddenly nervous to tell her. Her smile faltered and she looked between Sam and I, "What? It can't be that bad if it's your imprint. Clearly they're meant for you and nothing can cha-"

"It's Jasper." I suddenly blurted out. "One of the Cullens..." I trailed off.

"Oh." She said, not sure of how to continue. You could tell she was choosing her words carefully as she spoke, "Well, it's important to remember that this vampire is clearly meant to be in your life. With the imprinting he'll be more than willing to do anything to make you happy even if that means you having to learn to trust him." Jared had told me about how Sam was the one to scar Emily, and I knew she was speaking from experience about learning to trust your own imprint.

"Emily's right." Sam backed her up. "It is something both of you need to talk about soon, or else you'll both end up hurting yourselves emotionally, but it doesn't mean you two have to be an item right away." I nodded,

"It just doesn't feel morally right. Their kind are the reason I lost my family. Even if it wasn't the Cullens, I feel like I just imprinted on my family's murderers." I explained.

"I'd suggest telling him that, but know that no one on this reservation or your family would judge you for imprinting. It's out of your control and not your fault. And don't blame yourself either, you didn't have a choice in choosing your imprint." Sam said. I knew why he hadn't lost his temper, he hadn't chosen to imprint on Emily and hurt Leah, and he knew a portion of what I was feeling. All I could do was nod,

"I think I'm going to go for a run." I said, not giving them a chance to respond before I pushed out the door and jumped off the porch, shifting before my feet hit the ground and taking off towards the private area of the beach. It was too dark for anyone to see me, none of us realizing how late we had trained until we had come back and seen the sun setting. I walked down to the water, going deep enough that the cold water came up to my stomach and ribs before dipping my head under the water and coming back up a second later, the water running down my neck. I stepped out of the water a minute later, completely drenched but the freezing water having cleared my head some. I continued walking down the shore line, trying to sort through my thoughts but there was no luck. I knew what I'd have to do in order to truly clear my head and I dreaded the next day when I'd have to do it.

Suddenly, I wasn't alone in my thoughts,

Want to talk about it? Jacob asked. I was definitely surprised, he and I weren't enemies, but we had never really had a true conversation before besides when the rest of the pack was also there. Don't be so surprised, we haven't talked a lot, but it hasn't been because I don't like you. You just seemed to go with Seth and Leah more. He wasn't wrong.

Sorry, it's been a long day.

Imprinting on a blood sucker can do that for you. He said. I'd lost count of how many times Leah and I had questioned how Bella was able to fall for a vampire (irony at its best), and had thrown around the term blood sucker before, but this time it set something off in me and I let out a deep growl.

Do not call him that. I snapped at him.

Fine, fine, I'll keep it to a minimum around you. He replied, chuckling at my reaction, not at all truly nervous. Seriously though, we all know what happened and how this can't be easy for you. Do you need to talk about it?

My response was letting the conversation Sam, Emily, and I had early reply through my mind.

They're right, y'know. You can keep beating yourself up over this, or you accept that it's happened and figure out how you want to deal with it.

Being able to ignore it would be the best thing.

You'll only hurt yourself doing that. He said without a second thought. I knew he was right, and him saying that Sam and Emily were right only helped because I knew he wasn't just trying to save my feelings.

How do the rest of them feel about it? I asked.

Leah's not exactly happy her vampire trash talk buddy won't be more willing to trash talk anymore, and she's scared you're going to change on her all of the sudden, but she also understands we don't have a choice in the matter.

I'll be sure to talk to her. I don't want to lose her.

Good. You should probably head back to Sam and Emily's. We've got a big day tomorrow, especially you. He said, and you could practically hear the smirk in his voice which only caused me to roll my eyes.

Yeah, yeah, I'm going back now. I said, starting tojog back to the house. I didn't get a reply before I was back on the stairs andshifting back. I walked upstairs, took a quick shower to wash the salt waterand dirt off of me before heading to bed. This time I wasn't awoken bynightmares and slept peacefully through the night, blaming it on being so tiredfrom all that had happened that day.