Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

16 • A Promise

QUIL'S POV

I was pretty sure we were going to get snow for Christmas Eve.

It felt like snow and it was certainly cold enough—not that I could tell. But enough people who didn't run at a natural 108 degrees body temperature complained that it was freezing outside.

But their moodiness couldn't affect my holiday spirit. I waved off my last customer cheerfully and closed up the garage. Seth had already left for the day. He, Sue, and Charlie were traveling together to Seattle. They were going to spend Christmas Eve with Leah, her husband Dylan, and their daughter and son.

Our full time mechanic, Mike, had asked for the day off. So the only ones currently at the shop were my two pack brothers, Ryan and Azra, and me. Seth and I had decided to hire Azra because he was naturally good with cars. And Ryan had been certified as a mechanic through school.

"All right, I'm out. Have a good Christmas," Azra said before taking off on his motorcycle without a coat.

A motorcycle was impractical to drive in this kind of weather, but Azra didn't care. What was the worse that could happen? Azra was an active wolf. He could slip on some wet pavement, break some bones, and be healed within hours.

"I'm heading out too," Ryan said.

I nodded and he left. I would be seeing him again shortly. We were both going over to Sam's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with our imprints. I was anxious to give Claire her Christmas present.

Much to my sadness, Claire was going to be spending Christmas Day through New Year's Day up in Makah. Emily and Sam were taking her to Ronnie's house the next morning so Emily and Claire could spend the holiday with the Young family. I had gotten so used to seeing my imprint everyday, it was going to be hard to be away from her again.

Claire had adjusted better to life in La Push than anyone could have hoped. She made a couple of friends at school within her first week. She also stopped wearing black clothes and the black hair dye was slowly coming out. Emily had taken Claire shopping the day after she moved to La Push, which happened to be Thanksgiving weekend. Claire had excitedly shown me all the new clothes she'd gotten at bargain prices. She also stopped skipping school and was so far averaging all A's and B's in her classes.

Best yet, she was spending her afternoons with me. When she first moved to the area, I would pick her up from school every few days and then would take her to the garage. She'd help in the office area, answering phones and booking appointments. She was good at the job and customers really enjoyed talking to her.

Originally, she was only supposed to help out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on the days I didn't pick her up, she'd ride her bicycle down to the garage and would hang out with me anyway. Sometimes she'd just sit back and watch me work. It always made me feel relaxed and happy to have her nearby.

I finally started to just pick her up after school every day. I always knew when it was time to go get her. I'd start to get this antsy, anxious feeling and would always leave early enough to get to her school on time.

I went home and showered quickly, making sure to scrub off the grease that always accompanied me after a long day of oil changes and car maintenance. After I was done, I went to my closet and debated what to where. I finally chose a burgundy colored button up shirt and some khaki pants. Claire once said she thought burgundy was a nice color on me. I put some gel in my hair and tried to make it look like I had actually made an effort with it. Though why I was trying so hard was beyond me.

Finally satisfied with my appearance, I went into the kitchen and grabbed a small box off the counter. I looked down at the Christmas paper and chuckled. It had Care Bears all over it. I couldn't wait to see Claire's reaction.