A Different Wind

I know what you’re thinking. ‘I thought you said you wouldn’t imprint, that it just wasn’t going to happen to you!’ Well, I thought wrong, okay?1

It wasn’t like I knew it was going to happen. Just because I can read the minds of the other guys in the pack (regardless of whether or not I want to) doesn’t mean I can see into the future.2

It hit me like a ton of bricks, like a bolt of lightning straight out of the cloudy Washington sky. It was just like Sam described it to me: “It’s like your life’s purpose suddenly becomes clear, out of nowhere. You realize that you weren’t built to just run around and kill vampires, no, you were built in every way for this girl, this one, special, amazing girl. No one else can compare to her, in your mind. You quickly find that she is absolutely everything you wanted, and that all you want to do is please her, make her love you like you love her. But she can never love you like you love her, because imprinting is different than Human-type love. This love never-ending, it really does last in life and in death, and your sole purpose is to love her and cherish her and be everything she could ever want until you breathe your final breath.”3

To be honest, when he first told it to me, I thought he was full of bologna. I mean, love? I had loved, deeply, so deeply that when she left had thought I was going to die.4

But two months after she was gone, I saw a new light: beautiful, stunning, vibrant.5

Her name was Kate.6

Kate Millings had been in three of my classes in elementary school, five in junior high, and four in the past two years of high school. She had been quite the shy one in her younger years, hardly saying a word to anyone, but as soon as high school started she was friendly and vibrant. I had talked to her during many days of our World History class, asked her how to do many math equations in Algebra, and borrowed tons of Biology notes from her. She was always laughing or making people laugh, and her smile really could light up a room.7

She was washing a large black Ford F150 truck when I imprinted on her. Two days before, I had returned from my ‘trip to California’ (only a cover up, since I had really just been running aimlessly as a werewolf since Bella left) I’d been checking the mail, and I saw her washing the truck in her driveway across the street, wearing denim shorts and a blue tank top, her long black hair pulled up into a messy bun. Her tanned skin was made even more beautiful by the blue of her clothing, and her gray blue eyes sparkled with excitement when she saw me.8

“Jake!” she said happily, dropping the hose on the ground and running barefoot over to me, throwing her arms around me. “It’s been so long! I heard about your trip to California! Please tell me you saw the Golden Gate Bridge.”9

I had been struck with something far more powerful than lightning, and I loved her with fire, with passion. I stared down at her as it sunk in, my mind blank. I couldn’t get my voice to work, my body to respond to the commands I was trying to give it, so I stood there looking like a moron.10

“Wow, Jake, you’re really warm.” She put the back of her hand on my forehead, having some trouble reaching so high. “And you’re really tall. You’re just a freak of nature!”11

I smiled at this, and she hugged me again. She smelled like flowers. “So, you have to tell me all about it.”12

“Would you come over for dinner?” I croaked.13

Wow, real subtle Jake. Good move.14

She was a little surprised by the question, I could see it in her eyes, but she looked at me sideways. “What are you having?” she asked with mock suspicion.15

“Uh, hot dogs and baked beans, I think.”16

She smiled warmly. Beautiful. “I’d love to! Just let me finish up the truck and I’ll come over.”17

“Can I help you?” I asked eagerly, regaining my normal tone. Finally, Jesus.18

“If you want. It would be a great help. It’s a big truck and I can never reach the top.” She looked me over, leaning back so I looked even taller. “But I’m sure reaching is no problem for you!”19

I laughed, and it was a weird sound, considering I hadn’t laughed in over two months. “Not very often.”20

We walked over to her driveway and I helped her dry off the truck, starting with the top, then working my way to the side. She was humming to herself, probably unconsciously, since she didn’t seem to notice.21

“What song is that?” I asked, my curiosity overwhelming me, for some odd reason.22

She smiled at me from over the truck bed, her expression saying something like ‘you caught me!’23

“It’s a Bobby Darin song. ‘Somewhere Beyond the Sea.’”24

“I’ve heard that.”25

“Yeah. I’m a sucker for old music. It’s my favorite. Music now… it’s just noise. To me, anyway,” she added, not wanting to seem too opinionated.26

“You’ll have to educate me on that.” I wanted her to. I wanted to know everything she liked.27

“I guess I will,” she said, and her smile nearly melted my heart. Holy crow, how weird.28

We finished up the truck, so I carried the bucket and towels into the garage for her while she told her parents where she’d be.29

As I emptied the bucket full of suds, I looked around me. Thanks to my newfound desire, the whole world was a completely different place now. Every color was more vibrant, every smell more recognizable. There was the night blooming jasmine all along the side of her house, the silver of the clouds in the sky, the scent of the oil and coolant for their automobiles on a shelf in the corner, the yellow of the garage walls, the generic soap smell of the suds in the sink. This… this was a different kind of feeling. And it was all because of her.30

When she bounded back out to the garage to meet me, she had taken her hair down, letting it fall perfectly straight to her waist. She looked absolutely stunning.31

“You look absolutely stunning,” I blurted. Idiot, idiot, idiot.32

“Thank you dear, and you look absolutely stunned. Something’s different about you, Jake.” She looked at me, eyes narrowed, a mischievous smirk on her face.33

“What?” I played dumb, amused by the funny look she was giving me.34

“I don’t know… I can’t quite put my finger on it.”35

“Maybe it’s just that I finally found the meaning of my life.”36

She looked at me sideways again. “Wow Jake, that’s pretty deep for a giant who’s about to eat hot dogs and baked beans.”37

I laughed at this, and she smiled, and I couldn’t help put my arm around her as we walked. She quickly put her arm around me too.38

“You know, something else is different about you.” She said, looking up at me.39

I smiled down at her. “Have you ever had one of those moments when everything just becomes perfectly clear?”40

“Yeah. When I watch the ocean. Why, did you have a random epiphany?” Her voice was like music to my ears.41

“Yep. Sure did.”42

“About what?” she asked, very interested.43

“Dinner. It’s suddenly very clear that we are indeed eating hot dogs and baked beans. I can smell them cooking. Elementary, my dear Watson.” Where had that come from? Instinct, maybe?44

“Brilliant deduction, Sherlock!” she said, and laughed her beautiful laugh at me, leaning against my side. My arm automatically tightened around her.45

This was most definitely the beginning of a beautiful relationship.