Jacob Black's Imprint

21. Comfort

Jacobs POV:
After Paul's revelation, Sam and I shared a look and phased. We ran into the woods, silently running and jumping over the underbrush, our long legs eating up the distance easily. The pack was abuzz with the news of a new shifter, especially a female shifter. We could feel Katie's confusion and pain. Her thoughts were disjointed, as if coming through a layer of static.

This was the way it always was with new pack members. The pain was so intense that even if they did realize what was happening they couldn't communicate it. Which meant that we had to locate them the old fashion way.

Not that it was that difficult when it came to tracking Katie's scent. It was so strong now I could've tracked her without trying. Sam ran next to me, trying to keep me calm. My heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to throw up. With every step closer to her, her scent in my nose, all I could think was Katie is my mate. My mate. My mate.

Calm down, Jacob. Sam ordered me, You're going to freak her out even more. Give her time to adjust to this first.

In my heart I knew he was right. The first change was a horrifying experience and it would take Katie a couple of weeks to adjust. But all I wanted to do was hold her and bury my face in her neck, breathing her in, and tell her how proud it made me to see her defending our pack. I wanted to tell her how I loved how fearless she was. How I loved that she had seen the worst in people and was still kind. How I loved her smile, her laugh, her snarl. How even if she wasn't my imprint, I know I would still love her.

Jared howled.

Yo, I found her. I haven't engaged yet, I figured you would want to make first contact. He said, dropping his inherent sarcasm when it came to imprints. Jared had Kim, so he knew firsthand how strongly I was feeling.

I put on a burst of speed, hurtling to where Katie's scent had coagulated.

I broke through the trees and found a tiny clearing with a wolf laying in the middle of it, softly wimpering.

I took a moment to take in her form. She really was a beautiful creature. Lithe and strong and gracefully proportioned, much like Katie herself. Larger than a regular wolf, but smaller than most of the males in our pack. She was a little bit bigger than Leah, but definitely much smaller than Sam and me. She was a russet colored wolf, like myself, but less brown and more dark red. The coloring was lighter on her underbelly and the markings around her face. While the very tips of her ears and tail were tinged with darker coloring, brown so dark it was almost black.

Damn that's a good lookin wolf. Quil said with appreciation in his voice as he arrived in the clearing. I lifted my head to bare my teeth at him.

Sorry, sorry. I meant: that is a completely average looking wolf that holds none of my interest at all. Quil amended.

I rolled my eyes at him. And lightly stepped forward, approaching Katie. Her eyes were closed in pain, and she had curled in on herself, trying to get as small as possible.

Katie? Katie can you hear me? I tried to get her attention. She didn't respond, which was expected, but she did shift on the ground, a bit of the tension going out of her body at the sound of my voice.

I nuzzled into her gently, pressing my snout to her neck. That got her attention, Katie cracked an open an eye. That vibrant green staring up at me. She slowly picked her head up, some of the pain clearing in her eyes. Her thoughts were still jumbled enough to be completely incoherent, but I felt her excitement at my arrival over our bond.

I licked her chin, watching her ears prick up, as she gradually became more alert. I lowered myself to the ground next to her. When Katie pushed her nose into my cheek, my heart expanded so much it thought it would burst. I bumped my nose to hers and she responded by huffing a breath in my face, I could practically feel her smile. I breathed it in deep, holding onto her scent. A low groan slipped out of me as she pushed her nose more incessantly into my cheek. But it was okay, more than okay actually, it was perfect, wolf attraction required touching and jostling. My heart continued to expand at her blatant show of affection.