Early Imprint [Book 3] ✔️

35 • Emily's Advice

CLAIRE'S POV

I left Quil's house in a daze and ran through the rain back to my aunt and uncle's home. I opened the front door quietly and snuck in the house. I didn't want to see any of them. Every single person in La Push I had grown up loving had lied to me.

I felt hurt, but I was also pissed. I was pissed at myself. I knew that there was something different with Quil and my uncle. The lack of aging...the hot skin. Why didn't I question it more? The signs were always right there in front of me. Why did I just accept everything? I had grown up thinking Quil and Uncle Sam were normal, that that was just the way they were. If I had only questioned it more, then I would have realized that there was an unnatural bond between me and Quil. I could have spared him years ago!

I pushed that painful thought aside as I walked swiftly into the house and headed towards the hallway table where my car keys were sitting.

"Claire, is that you?" My Uncle Sam called out. I froze as he came into the hallway. He took one look at my face and stopped walking.

"So Quil told you everything?" Sam asked. I nodded.

I saw Nate walk out behind him with a look of caution on his face. I eyed them both warily. A part of me still couldn't believe it. My uncle and my cousin, who I'd known almost all my life, could turn into gigantic wolves. I felt a swell of hysteria begin to rise inside of me. How could any of this be real?

"Are you okay?" My uncle asked with concern in his voice.

"I need to leave...think things through..." I finally spoke.

The expression on both of their faces upon hearing my words tore at my heart. They both looked like I had kicked them in their stomachs. It wasn't compared to how Quil had looked though.

Oh god...Quil! I started to feel claustrophobic. I grabbed my keys off the table and ran back out the door before they could say anything else.

I ran to my car, the same vehicle Quil had given me for my 16th birthday, and hopped in. I started it and threw the car into drive, flying down the driveway. As I left the reservation boundaries, I heard a wolf cry out painfully. I knew it was Quil watching me leave.

It just made me more determined to get away. I hit the gas even harder and continued to drive. I drove through Forks and kept on going. I drove for an hour until I reached Port Angeles.

I found a parking spot and started to walk around. I tried to block Quil from my mind, but even in this town, memories flooded me. I passed the roller skating rink where Quil had chaperoned my 5th grade roller skating party. The memory of my teacher flirting with Quil still annoyed me.

I forced myself to continue walking, even though all I wanted to do was turn around and go back to La Push. Back to Quil. I kept going though until I found myself standing in front of a jewelry store staring blankly at their display of rings through the window. I looked up and realized it was the same store Quil had taken me to get my ears pierced when I was 13. I laughed a little as I remembered how petrified he had been during the whole procedure. He was always trying to protect me from getting hurt. Sadness began to overwhelm me.

I knew in that moment I was about to lose it. I ran back to my car and sat in it, locking the door once I was settled. I placed my head against the steering wheel and started to cry. I cried so hard that my body shook. I cried for so many things...for being attacked months ago, for being almost killed yesterday, and most of all, for Quil.

I wasn't upset that Quil was a shape-shifter. I could even handle him not telling me about that fact all my life. What I couldn't wrap my mind around was the whole "imprinting" thing. I thought Quil loved me for me. Then I find out that he never had a choice but to love me. He had admitted that he hadn't been with anyone since he imprinted. It was because he was forced to wait until I grew up. He'd been with me every step of my life because he was duty-bound to.