Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

22 • Letting Go

PREFACE

No one ever said imprinting was easy. You imprint on someone and your whole world changes. The world that you knew ceases to exist, and you realize that you're only put on this planet for one single purpose. To love, cherish, and protect that particular person no matter what the cost. And you know you'd do anything for her. Including letting her go.

QUIL'S POV

"Claire, I have something to tell you, and please don't say anything until I'm done speaking. You see, we have some Quileute legends that you might have heard of. It's said that we descend from wolves. Well, it true. Claire, I can phase into a wolf. A lot of people that you know can do the same thing: your Uncle Sam, Collin, Seth, Ryan...a lot of the guys you've seen hang around the house. We're all in a pack. And there's something else I have to tell you. I imprinted on you when you were two. I know...what's imprinting, right? Imprinting is our way of finding our other half. What's that? You want me to call the guys in the white coats to take me away? Sure thing."

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and sighed. I reached out with my towel and wiped away the condensation that my shower had left on the mirror. I had decided after last night's prom, that I'd tell Claire the truth and damn the consequences. Maybe I'd even be able to figure out if I was in love with Claire, and if she felt anything for me in return. Hell, even if she wasn't in love with me, I felt pretty confident that she was at least attracted to me.

Normally I didn't give a damn about how I looked, but I made sure to fix my hair today, and then I put on my best gray t-shirt and khaki pants. After all, today was a special occasion. It was time to tell Claire everything.

I was more nervous than I would have thought possible. I didn't know how Claire would react. I didn't even know if it was completely fair for me to tell her. I wanted to tell her everything for purely selfish reasons.

The truth was that I wanted Claire, even if it was in the most basic way. After last night, there was no turning back in our relationship. She knew that I wanted her; she had felt my desire for her. I couldn't put us back in the "friends" category, and honestly I didn't even want to.

But I still didn't know how I was going to tell her everything. Did I just say it bluntly, "Hey Claire, guess what...we're destined to be together, and I've known it since you were two?" I could just hear her saying, "Get away from me you freaking pervert."

Still, I knew that Claire was aware that something was different about me, Ryan and Sam. Since she had moved here, she had witnessed all of us acting suspiciously. She had even commented to Emily about it a couple of Christmas's ago. Hopefully it would be enough to convince her that what I had to say was true.

I decided to walk to Sam's house, hoping to come up with a good explanation for everything by the time I got there. When I arrived at the house, I had a rough idea of what I was going to say to Claire. I knocked on the front door once and walked in, nervously wiping my hands on my pants. I walked into the kitchen and saw Sam there reading the newspaper.

"Hey," I said, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table with Sam.

"Hey Quil, how'd it go last night with the prom?"

"Good, we had fun," I replied, feeling my cheeks start to burn slightly. Fun was an understatement.

Sam eyed me suspiciously. "Am I going to want to patrol with you anytime soon? Cause I have to be honest with you Quil, I don't really want any intimate details of you and my niece running through my head."

"Umm, you probably don't want to patrol with me anytime soon," I admitted sheepishly. I watched as Sam's eyebrows snapped together and a frown appeared on his face. "Don't worry, all we did was kiss."