rebel | leah clearwater

06

"Pink is definitely your color." Leah says lightly as they walk along the beach, half a dozen or so feet between them. She wants nothing more than for him to talk. Arlo shrugs, not saying much else. He stares ahead at the point the shoreline meets the grey sky.

Leah sighs and stops walking. "I thought we were going to talk!"

Arlo laughs. "Yeah, well I thought I'd come here to get on with a normal life."

"I'm sorry this happened! I'm sorry you're mixed up in all of this, all you have to do is say the words and I promise I'll leave you alone!" Leah cries, throwing her hands up in frustration. "I kinda want that, it means you'll be talking to me and you'll be safe away from me!"

"I can't tell you that!" Arlo yells "Because for some reason, I don't want to be away from you. Despite all of this and everything that has happened I can't bring myself to run or scream or tell you I don't want to see you! Why! Why is that! What's wrong with me!?" He pleads, wanting an answer.

Leah takes a few steps closer, taking his good hand. "Absolutely nothing... I feel all that too." She says gently, swallowing hard. This is a side of herself she hates - the caring, calm side. Every since her dad passed and this shit happened to her, she's been known as a horrible person. That's what she likes; no one expects anything more of her and she's left alone. Right now? She doesn't want to be alone.

Arlo resists the urge to pull his hand away; he doesn't want to but he feels he should. "Why is this happenin." He whispers.

"Because..." Leah takes a deep breath, looking into his eyes. "Your culture refers to the companion of a wolf as their mate. Their soulmate, their other half, the person they're destined to be with. We call it-"

"An imprint." Arlo says gently, remembering the word she used earlier. He tries to ignore how much he likes the way she plays with his fingers nervously. "So what, I have no choice now? No free will?" He asks.

Leah frowns deeply. "No!" She says shaking her head. "No, you have every say. Like I said, you say the words and I'll leave. An imprint is here to be whatever you need or want. A friend, a brother or sister, a lover, a protector - or even nothing at all." She says softly, looking down at his big hand in hers.

"And if I say no?"

Leah instantly looks up at him; her wolf cries out inside her as he says those words. "I..." She whispers, swallowing hard. "I'd let you go." She says in barely more than a whisper. This is it. This is what I knew would happen. It's one thing for me to exist as a female shifter but to have an imprint like the others? I'd be so lucky.

"You're sad... I don't like that." He whispers, pulling his hand away and stroking her cheek.

Leah holds it to her face and bursts into tears. "Arlo please... I don't want you to leave me. I don't want you to hurt yourself that way." She cries, closing her eyes. "I want you to be happy. I wanna be happy too. When I phased I didn't think I'd ever get an imprint or someone who'd love me the way I deserve to be... Please."

"I'm not leaving." He sighs, pulling her into a hug. Her warm body pushes more against him as she wraps both her arms around him and holds him tightly. "I just... This is mad. You realise that right?"

Leah laughs through the tears and nods against his chest as he laughs a little too. "Yeah... God, its mad." She whispers, pulling away a little to look at him. "I'll give you as much space as you want... But I wanna hang out with you still. If you want." She says as she pulls her arms away.

Arlo nods small. "Okay, that's a start. I can handle that. But..." He puts one of her arms around him as he keeps one around her. "This is okay too."