Jacob Black's Imprint

17. An Alarm Goes Off

Jacobs POV:

Katie had finished taking her shower and eating about 30 minutes ago. Our empty soup bowls sat discarded on the counter. We lounged side by side on the carpeted floor of her living room. She had her school notebooks open and two pens sitting around her. The TV droned on in the background. The steady noise of a 90s sitcom. Katie had my quilt covering her and it made me want to grin in fierce pride, that my imprint was covered in my scent. Jesus, I knew my wolf instincts were strong and that they would be stronger when I found my imprint, but this was a bit ridiculous. If I wasn't careful I was going to scare her away.

Her phone buzzed. Katie rolled over as lazily as a cat. But then her whole body tensed and she exclaimed, "Fuck yes! Come THROUGH Angela!!"

I poked her side, "What's got you so excited?"

She grinned at me and pulled open the pens to start copying something from her phone. Her head bowed over her notebook as her writing intensified.

"Angela sent me the chemistry notes I missed from class today," Katie said to me.

I tugged on the end of her hair, she was so dang cute when she was concentrating.

"Why do you even bother with homework? You've already got straight A's." I questioned her.

She looked over her shoulder at me and frowned. "Uh yeah. Ok, Mr. 'I do this weird online school that doesn't really gives me any work.' Some of us have actual school work to do on a regular basis."

I put my hand over my heart, leaning on one arm on the ground laying next to her. "You wound me," I fake pouted at her, then broke and smiled. Katie just sighed at me and turned back to her chemistry notes.

I rolled onto my back, our shoulders brushing, a shiver running down the length of my spine at the amazing contact. "Why doesn't school teach you anything important?" I questioned her.

Katie smiled, her green eyes glinting, and said, "I've wondered that everyday of my life from 7am to 2pm. But, out of a probably misplaced curiosity, what did you have in mind? What should they be teaching me?" She asked while still steadily working on her notes.

"Ohhhh I don't know." I turned my head from looking at the ceiling to look at her, "Maybe. Oh I know. Why do turtles have teeth?"

That finally got Katie to put down her homework and give me her full attention. Pieces of her still slightly damp hair, fell in front of her face and she brushed it away impatiently. Her intoxicating scent drifting over to me. "Yeah, Jake. Turtles don't have teeth." Katie responded. Her voice full of the arrogance that I loved.

Just to mess with her, knowing she was probably right because, let's face it, Katie was almost always right, I said, "Yes they do."

"No they don't." Her face was getting red as she leaned closer to me.

"Yes they do." I smirked. She glared.

Then, suddenly, she stood up and headed towards the door. Grabbing her thick coat and putting her shoes on in a couple of quick motions.

In a flash I was up and by her side. "Just where do you think you're going?"

She just smirked at me and said, "To prove you wrong." She continued out the door. I could feel the bite of cold air on my arms, but being a wolf does have its perks. I was comfortable as if it was a sunny summer day, rather than the overcast day that it was. On the steps outside her front door I grabbed her arm, sliding my hand down her arm until our hands rested together comfortably. She looked up at me under thick lashes. Something in my chest tightened at the way her eyes shone with an inner light and a half smirk twisted her rosy lips.

"And how are you planning on doing that?" I ask her, still holding onto her hand.

"Well," she begins, "I figured a simple scholarly journal found online wouldn't be enough to convince you." She gave me a hard look and I laughed. I haven't laughed this much since is shifted.

"So ," she continued, "I came to the conclusion that the only thing that would convince you would be finding and violating a poor turtle to show you."

I laughed again. My god, this girl.

I threw my arm over her shoulder and tucked her firmly against my side. Katie smiled up at me and I said, "Well, I guess we are just gonna have to find ourselves a turtle."

We headed off to the edge of the woods, the tree line behind Charlie's house. Into my home, basically. With every step Katie seemed to improve. The wind whipped color into her cheeks and even under an overcast sky, she seemed to glow. Katie took a deep breath, seeming to breathe in the scent of the woods. We were pressed so tightly together that I could feel her chest expand and contract.

Katie had her head tilted down, scanning the grass before we hit the tree line. The wind caught her hair and blew her scent up to me.

Suddenly a frantic howl sounded. Embry. He howled again. And again. I tensed and Katie tilted her head up at me. "Wow, I've never heard them this early. I thought wolves were mainly crepuscular? Like, I thought they were only active at dawn, dusk, and night?"

"We are." I said softly. My ears straining to hear the undertones of the call. What was happening? Why was he so frantic?

"What was that?" Katie asked, "I couldn't quite hear you." Another howl pierced the air. Holy shit. I could decipher the pattern now. That was our alarm call. Our alarm call for when vampires had crossed the treaty line. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. The borders had been busy with vamps, but I thought we had scared them all off. I had been running myself ragged to keep them safe, especially now that I had Katie to think about and protect. This was my first day off in almost a week and now the blood suckers decide to attack?

I turned Katie towards me, suddenly in a panic.    She was related to Bella, a notoriously famous vampire target. What if they went after her too? "You have to get back to the house." I told her.

She reached a hand up to cup my face, her green eyes soft with concern, "Jake, what's wrong? You look frantic."

I held her hand against my cheek, relishing the contact. My head titling into her hand. But then I pulled her into my arms, carrying her bridal style. She sputtered and exclaimed, "Jake! What on Earth are you doing?" I didn't respond. My heart was racing in my chest. God, if they had breached the border then Katie was in danger.

I held her tighter, "I'm sorry, I'll explain everything later, I promise." I raced back across the Swans grassy backyard with Katie in my arms. On the front porch I placed Katie down and she grabbed my arm as I opened the front door "Hey! Jake! What's going on?"

The howls sounded again. This time it was Sam. I could feel the alpha command in the call. Demanding me to shift and come help. Tremors racked my body as I fought the shift.

"I can't tell you right now. I'm so, so, sorry," I gritted out, still fighting the tremors. She looked at me, confusion and worry in her eyes. It hurt my heart to leave her right now.

"Go inside, lock the doors. Please, Katie." I grabbed her hands pulling them to my chest. I shook again. "But..." Katie tried to interrupt.

I don't know what came over me, but I lurched forward, pulled her to close to me. Katie's breath caught in her throat, a tiny gasp that got cut off as I kissed her. Hard, but brief. It barely even lasted for a heartbeat. Katie's lips were warm and soft. Everything in my absolutely sang at the contact. Before Katie even had time to kiss back, even though it killed me, I broke off the kiss. Flutters ran up and down our bond.

I pushed her into the open doorway. My heart beating so hard as I fought the tremors racking my body. Katie gaped at me, I turned before I could gauge her expression and ran into the woods, shaking and trembling all over.

"JAKE!" Katie shouted at me, "JACOB!"

I breached the wood line and as soon as I was out of sight I shifted. My clothes shredding as my body ripped out of its human cage. I raced home, running as hard as I could back to the reservation. Joining my pack along the way, receiving flashing images and thoughts of what had caused the alarm.

It was the Cullens. They had crossed the reservation line.

They broke the treaty.