The Unwanted Imprint

Chapter 31

Jared was thrown back, revealing the intruder to be Emmett.

"Stop!" Nichole shouted, jumping in between the two boys and forcing them to separate. "Emmett, what the hell are you even doing here?"

"I wasn't going to leave your protection to a bunch of mutts. And besides that, one of the mutts came to me asking for my help."

"I told you that if you called me that again, I would punch your teeth in," Jacob muttered as he shoved past Emmett into the house, glancing at Nichole before he quickly looked away from her. Maybe Jared had a point after all.

"Their numbers have grown," Jacob said. "There's no longer half a dozen vampires around the border anymore, now I would say that there's at least a dozen. Whoever wants Nichole wants her really badly."

"Carlisle thinks that it's Aro and the Volturi," Emmett added. "And it kind of makes sense. Aro has had it out for Carlisle ever since Carlisle left the Volturi. You're human, which means that you're weaker. Aro was probably thinking that he could kidnap you and use you against Carlisle."

"Well, that isn't going to happen." Nichole's voice was a determined one. "Aro wasn't expecting a fight, but a fight is exactly what he's going to get. Now, hopefully, he doesn't know about my recently discovered powers-"

"Woah, hold up." Jacob looked at Nichole, and this time, his gaze lingered on her for longer than just a few seconds. "You're human...right?"

"Relax Jacob, I haven't been turned." Nichole had a deadpan expression on her face. "I can kill any vampire that bites me because my blood is poisonous to them."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "You and I are going to have a long talk when this is all over with."

"Well, like I said, if it's a fight that Aro wants, then he's going to get one. He's going to learn what happens when you mess with a Cullen."

"Hell yeah," Emmett said with a grin. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

"I'm assuming that you have a plan?" Jared asked, and Nichole nodded her head. "I do. But I'm gonna need a knife, and I need it to be a sharp one."

When Nichole walked out of the house, she could see some of the vampires that Jacob had been talking about.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" Jacob asked as he stood beside Nichole.

"No, but what other choice do we have? Besides, it's not like it would affect you if I did die, you hate me, remember?"

"Look, Nichole-"

"You hate everything about me. You hate who I am, you hate who my family is, what they are."

"You want to play that game? Fine." Jacob grabbed her hand in a tight grip. "You're right, I hate everything about you. I hate how I notice that your eyes sparkle like stars when you get excited about something. I hate how much I love your hair when the sun hits it in a certain way. I hate your perfect lips, your perfect face. I hate that you don't seem to care what strangers think about the way you look or dress."

"Jacob-"

"And you wanna know the thing that I hate the most about you? I hate how the only things that I can think about is kissing you and thinking about a life with you."

Nichole didn't say anything for the longest time, staring up at him with wide eyes.

"The truth of things is that I'm in love with you, Nichole. And I don't know if it's the whole imprint thing, or if it's something that I've felt from the start. But what I do know is that I can't keep you off of my mind, and the idea that you would so willingly and so recklessly put yourself into harm's way makes me so damn angry, and what makes me even angrier is the fact that i know I can't do anything to change your mind about it."

"Jacob, this is something that I have to do."

"No, it's not. It's not something that you have to do, it's something that you want to do, and you won't listen to any other plans because you think that you know best."

"Jacob, I'm not doing this because I think that I know best, I'm doing this because I don't want anyone else to be hurt or killed in the process of trying to protect me."

"And people will still be hurt if you die!"

"My family will mourn me, but they would eventually move on."

Jacob shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about. Do you know what happens to a wolf when their imprint dies, Nichole? They become shattered, broken. Their whole world has been taken away from them. The wolf will wither away and will eventually die. So whether you fight or not, there's still the chance of someone dying."

"Then what the hell do you suggest that I do, Jacob?"

"You let Sam and the rest of the pack do their job. They know what they're doing, you just need to let them handle things, okay?"

"But Jacob-"

"Please, Nichole. If you're not going to do it for me, then do it for your family."

Nichole sighed, her head lowering in defeat. "Okay." The knife fell from her hand, and Jacob picked it up. "Now please, go back inside."

A few moments after Nichole had walked back into the house, Emmett came out.

"I suppose that you're going to punch me or something." Jacob said, and Emmett shook his head. "I actually came out here to thank you. I know that I seemed excited about getting into a fight, but I don't know what any of us would do if something were to happen to Nichole. You're not so bad for a mutt."

Emmett walked back inside, and Jacob smiled the tiniest bit. "You're not so bad yourself, bloodsucker." He looked out towards the border. "You better know what you're doing, Sam." He muttered before walking back towards the house.