Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

33 • Loud Noises

QUIL'S POV

I caught Claire just as she fainted. It had begun to rain and I heard thunder in the distance.

"How's Claire?" Nate asked, walking quickly over to me to check on his cousin.

"She fainted, but otherwise she's okay," I responded. "Listen, I'm going to take her back to my house. She obviously saw what happened. I need to talk to her about everything when she comes to."

"All right," Nate agreed, looking at me for a moment before chuckling. "Good luck. Cause if Claire's like Gracie, you're gonna need it."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically before turning and leaving the area.

I headed back to my house as quickly as I could, silently cursing myself as I went. If I had told Claire the truth earlier, she would never have left the house, exposing herself to danger. If I had only made her aware of what was really going on.

I didn't think I'd ever forget the fear I felt when Ryan told me that Claire wasn't at Sam's house anymore. And then I suddenly had a terrible feeling...it was the same feeling I had when Claire had been attacked in her apartment. I knew in that moment that the vampire had gotten to her.

As soon as I realized that Claire was in danger, I followed the pull to my imprint. The others wolves had been thrown off by the leech's scent which was all over the place, but I knew exactly where Claire was. As we ran, we began to pick up her scent on the tree leaves and bushes we passed.

We had almost gotten there too late though. The bloodsucker had been so close to killing her. If it hadn't been for a last minute kick of adrenaline on my part, he would have succeeded in ending Claire's life.

Going through the backyard, I opened the slider and entered the living room. I carried Claire into my bedroom and gently placed her on the bed. I didn't want to let her go, but I didn't want her to wake up and find me looming over her buck naked either. I turned and grabbed some boxers from my top dresser drawer. The phone started ringing in the kitchen. I quickly pulled on my underwear and went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Quil! I've been trying to get a hold of you," Jake's frantic voice came on the line. "Alice had a vision that a vampire had gotten Claire and then Claire's future went blank. I figured you must have gotten her, but I wanted to make sure. I've been trying to get a hold of you and Sam but haven't been able to get through to either one of you."

"Yeah, we got to her just in time," I replied.

"Alice has been trying to track the vamp since you told us about him," Jake said sorrowfully. "She's been having problems seeing him clearly."

"I think he had some kind of gift with evasiveness," I told him. "We always seemed to miss him when he came near the rez before. And then today, his scent was all over the place so we couldn't track him. Thankfully, we're having a storm right now, so it'll wash away his stench. I think he probably could have escaped us this afternoon if he hadn't been so determined to kill Claire."

"I'm just grateful that she's okay," Jake said in relief.

We talked for a few more minutes, before I told him I had to get back to Claire. After hanging up the phone, I headed towards the bathroom to get a cold washcloth for her head. While I was wetting it down, the lights flickered for a moment before going out.

Swearing under my breath, I put the washcloth on the bathroom counter and made my way to the kitchen where I stored extra candles. Grabbing them, I went into my bedroom and lit a couple on my dresser. I didn't need the light as I could see in the darkness clearly, but I didn't want Claire to freak out when she woke up. Going back to the bathroom, I grabbed the washcloth and went back to the bed and sat down next to Claire, placing the damp cloth against her head.