More Than This

“Out of my house!” he screamed. I’d never heard my dad yell so loud before. Jacob scurried out of his seat quickly and made his way toward the front door, my father followed shortly behind. I ran down the hall and into the family room. Giselle looked up from the television like nothing had happened.

“Stay in here, Elle, I’ll be right back okay?” I asked. She nodded her head and then went back to her movie. I ran out the open door and then closed it behind me.

“Calm down John,” Jacob was saying to my dad as I approached.

“Calm down? Calm down?!” he questioned incredulously. “You imprinted on my daughter. My little girl and you ask me to calm down?”

“Daddy what’s going on?” I questioned, frightened with what was going on before me. I wasn’t good at all with confrontation.

“Peanut, just go back inside and let me deal with this,” he said to me, obviously trying to restrain his anger while he was speaking to me.

“No,” I replied shakily. He looked at me astounded. “I’m not about to walk away from something, when it involves me.” I never, ever argued with my father, I always just agreed. So this came as a huge shock.

“John, just hear me out. I had no control over this, but now that it’s happened, I would never take it back,” Jacob pleaded.

My dad breathed in through his nose, one of his techniques to calm himself down and turned back toward Jacob. “She’s been hurt too much in the past. I’m not about to let some temperamental, teenage werewolf have a relationship with my daughter.”

“What is going on?!” I asked again, but this time I shouted it. I never raised my voice, not since the incident, but that’s a story for another time.

My dad stared at me once again, like I’d gone crazy. That was two outbursts in one day, this never happened.

“Rosalie, I imprinted on you. Now you probably don’t know what that means...,” Jake began, but was soon cut off by my father.

“Rosie, do you remember the stories your mom used to tell you when you were little?” he asked me.

“The Quileute ones?” I questioned. He nodded in reply. “Yeah, I do, vaguely.”

“Well, do you remember the ones about the wolves?” he asked.

Quileute's descending from wolves....the cold ones...

“They’re true,” my whispered question turned into a statement. “What’s, um, I think you called it ‘imprint’?” I asked Jacob, after a brief pause to gather myself.

“It’s when a werewolf, well actually we’re shape shifters that have taken only the wolf form, but anyway, it’s when we find our soulmate,” he said it all so simply, but his words had such a great impact. I decided now was a good time to sit on the ground because my head had gotten slightly dizzy.

“I don’t believe in soulmates,” I whispered while looking at the grass under my hands.

“What was that Rosie?” my dad asked, but I just shook my head. However, to my disappointment, it seemed like Jacob had heard. He walked over to where I sat and crouched down so his face would be level with my own.

“Do you still trust me?” Jacob asked. His eyes were smoldering. They were such a dark brown that they almost seemed black. It was absolutely breathtaking.

“I don’t know,” I breathed. He raised his hand slightly and brushed his blazing fingers across my lips. It sent a shiver down my spine, but in a good way.

“Hands,” my dad grunted. Jacob stood back up and looked at my dad sheepishily. My father sighed and then ran his hands over his face. He looked worn out. “I want you to know something young man,” my father said sternly.

Jacob turned toward him and nodded, indicating that my father could go on. “You hurt her, I kill you,” he stated calmly with malice dripping from every word. “And don’t worry about you being a werewolf; there are ways to do everything.”

After he said that the front door swung open and out bounded Giselle. “Mommy the movie’s over!” she shouted, gliding toward me.

“Giselle I told you to stay inside,” I reprimanded. She placed herself in my lap and then looked up toward Jacob. She waved at him and that brought an immensely bright smile to his face. He waved back. “I’d never even think of it,” he replied to my father’s earlier statement.

I looked at them both and then sighed. I fell back on the ground, pulling Giselle down with me. I looked up toward the sky and then heaved another sigh.

“So, what now?” I questioned loud enough for all to hear.

“What do you think of moving back to La Push?” my father questioned. Jacob smiled brightly and I kept still, watching the clouds and humming the tune of an unrecognizable song.