Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

21 • Prom Date

QUIL'S POV

"I told Lindsey the truth." Collin said.

"What?" I responded, stunned. Collin had just walked into my office at the garage.

"Lindsey...she knows everything."

I sat back in my chair. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

"I went up to see Lindsey after she got out of school today. I told her about our legends and then I phased in front of her."

"What'd she say?"

"Well, after she regained consciousness, she asked me to go to her prom with her. It's in a couple of weeks."

Collin had a somewhat confused expression on his face. I almost chuckled. Almost.

"Does she know that she's not supposed to tell anyone?" I asked.

"Yeah, I told her and had Sam talk to her too. She knows not to tell Claire...though why you don't want Claire to know is beyond us."

Us? He had said "beyond us." Which meant he must have told Lindsey about my imprinting on Claire. I didn't know how I felt about that.

Somewhat angrily, I said, "Claire is perfectly happy with her boyfriend. I'm not going to interfere with that. If S-Sully is what she wants, then that's that. She's allowed to have a choice. My only concern is Claire's happiness. That comes first."

Collin rolled his eyes and went out to the garage to tell Seth, Ryan, and Azra his great news. Shortly after Collin's visit, Claire came into my office. She told me that her stupid boyfriend was sick and tomorrow was her prom. I offered to take her to prom if Sully was too sick, but she said no. Her rejection hurt...painfully. I knew she meant it too. I heard the absolute sincerity in her voice. If I didn't feel like shit enough, she then told me she wanted to go away to school.

The idea of Claire going away cut me deep in my heart. I didn't want her to leave. I needed her near me. And if she went away to school, especially in Seattle, I'd never get to see her. It wasn't like she was going back to Makah where I could see her from a hiding spot in the woods. I wouldn't be able to check on her in Seattle. But if it was what Claire really wished to do, then I'd have to go along with it.

I felt a sudden urge to tell her the truth right then and there, but then I glanced at the application in her hand and realized I couldn't. Whether it killed me or not, I knew that I'd have to let Claire go if school was what she wanted. I could only hope that Claire chose to stay in La Push instead of going away to college. But with her idiot boyfriend and all her friends leaving, what would be her motivation to stay?

The only thing that gave me comfort in my conversation with Claire was that she smelled like Claire today. I could pick out her floral scent in a room full of 100 people, but ever since she started dating Sully, I could sometimes smell the stench of his cologne on her. I hated that smell. I especially hated thinking how she got that smell on her. We finished our discussion and Claire soon left.

Around 5 pm, I decided to call it a day. I went through my typical evening routine when I got home. I walked into my house, stripped out of my clothes, and went out to my backyard and phased. And then I just ran. I had started these evening runs around the same time that Claire and her moronic boyfriend became a "couple." Running helped me work out my frustrations.

It was getting harder and harder for me to deny my attraction to Claire. Did that mean I was in love with her? Possibly. Did my attraction mean that I was in lust with her? Definitely.

There were times when I wanted nothing more then to drag Claire from whichever room she was in and take her somewhere where I could have my wicked way with her. It was getting ridiculous how much I wanted her. Sometimes when I watched her, my body would react, and I'd have to leave the room before anyone noticed. It took all my willpower to not just bury myself in her in those moments. As it was, I was finding it difficult to keep my hands off her. If I could find any excuse to touch her then I did. And even though she had been dating that jackass for over a year now, she never once acted repulsed by my touch.