Twilight's Burning Light

Jacob's POV

The Earth spun off axis; stars fell in a brilliant symphony of light and colors. I was caught in a spinning vortex of radiance and passion. The ground moved, heaving under me. Shuddering, I took a full step back as I was hit with a multitude of sensations. I felt like I was flying, even with my feet digging into the soft forest floor, I was soaring. I felt like I was falling, the air whooshing by me with deafening consistency. I felt like I was caught in a storm, with the rain pounding down on my sensitive skin, the thunder and lightning crashing above me in a dark sonata, deafening and beautiful. Deadly and majestic, light and weightless, emotions churned around me in a magnitude I’ve never experienced before. Gravity seemed to be pulling me in every direction, I was disoriented, stunned, and with a final thud, my heart dropped.
Oh, God. I clenched my eyes shut. I couldn’t have. It’s impossible. I beat the truth down with vicious denial. It couldn’t be true. It had to be something else. I couldn’t have imprinted.
I don’t want her. I couldn’t want her. I am in love with Bella. And yet… Even as my mind rebelled, my heart accepted, it welcomed. And I felt this inner calm that I hadn’t felt since I met Bella. I closed my eyes. It was almost humorous, in a sadistic, completely un-funny way, how that I had prayed, begged, pleaded to imprint. I tried to make myself imprint on Bella so many times, I've lost count.
But it never happened. And now I've gone and imprinted on the wrong girl.
But she isn't the wrong girl, is she? A voice whispered in my head.
Time was elastic, stretching on, way beyond any recognition. What seemed like forever and eternity was actually just a few seconds.
A few seconds was all it took for me to fall in love with this girl. With a freaking stranger. Two diminutive units of Time it took for my entire being, my soul, and my life to change forever. I thought I had already found the love of my life. Bella’s face was already fading, a distant memory. Her beautiful brown eyes, sparkling with unshed tears turned to magnificent mosaic eyes wide with fear. Her pale, heart shaped face melted into a sharper, more oval one. Her long, softly curling chestnut hair shortened into inky black silk, falling to the chin.
I was mesmerized. I was captivated. I was terrified.
The wind picked up, blowing the trees around. Leaves flew around me, branches moved violently above me as if in response to the danger below. Birds called to each other, deer and elk moved around the forest, keeping a safe distance away from the double threat they could sense.
The grizzly bellowed his anger again, and the girl fell back against a tree, fiercely dragging breaths in. Her eyes darted wildly about, as if despite death staring her straight in the face, she was trying to find a way out. Fighting almost. I felt a deep, profound swell of unnamed emotions as she tried to run away, and my heart jumped to my throat when she stumbled and went down. Quickly, she flipped onto her back, and tried to scramble back. And backed into a fallen tree. With nowhere to go, she pressed her back hard against the bark, and started to cry.
My gut was twisting at the sight of those streaks of silver, and I had to fight a growl down.
She closed her eyes, and clutched at something around her neck. She was still, frozen. Unmoving. The grizzly knew he was winning, that he could easily defeat his weak prey. It growled this time, its voice hoarse and thick in its throat.
She took off again. And the grizzly followed. Running after her, growling his impatience.
He was hungry.
I kept a safe distance, but close enough to keep them in sight, knowing that if the grizzly caught my scent, he would charge her. I saw her slip again and slam into a tree. Her head cracked against the trunk with a loud thump and she stood there dazed, swaying.
“Well, crap.” She said, and fell to the ground. I was stunned. Her voice, God, it was like music, like a symphony of magic and dreams flowing out in a hauntingly beautiful song. I gritted my teeth as the grizzly roared in triumph and moved closer to her unmoving body. Great time to imprint, Jacob, I told myself. Of course it had to happen when I was trying to save the girl. I had heard that imprinting was pretty intense, but it really could have happened at a better time.
She was about to get maimed and torn apart by a grizzly and I was practically reciting poetry.
She groaned, and even that painful sound of awakening was beautiful, enchanting to me. This imprinting business is brutal. Jesus, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out, and then put a big, swirling whir pool in its place.
And then three things happened at once. The wind blew, wafting my fur gently. The grizzly stiffened and bellowed when he had sensed an enemy.
And he charged her. It wasn’t in slow motion as one would think, no it was as if someone had pressed fast-forward, images flew by me, startlingly clear.
I heard every noise of the forest, the gentle patter of rain, the rustle of leaves, the conversations of the birds, over the frenetic beating of my heart.
I sprang into motion. My feet kicked up tufts of dirt and leaves.
One hundred yards from her.
She had taken off again, but the grizzly had swiped her with his paw, and sent her flying into a tree. She cried out, the sound pierced through the static of my brain, and pushed me faster. On the ground now, holding her shoulder, she got to her knees, just as the grizzly approached her.
It stopped.
Fifty yards.
And sniffed her. She held still, tears mixing with the dirt tracts on her face. Her eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes tightly.
Thirty yards.
He roared. She jumped, and I ran faster.
Twenty yards.
He raised his paw, and brought it crashing down.
I slammed into him.