Phases
Chapter Seventeen

You'd think leaving your Imprint would become somewhat easier after the first few times, but every single moment that I spent with Kimberly felt like I was becoming more wired and addicted to her presence. Especially since we were still lingering in the "honeymoon" stage of our relationship… it was sheer determination and will that allowed me to leave her life in the hands of two new pack members.

Sheer - fucking - will.

If it had been my decision, I would have stayed and guarded them myself.

Despite Leah and Seth having been introduced to the pack mind, I doubt that they could even come close to understanding the bond between Shape-shifter and Imprint.

The lengths I would go to if anything were to happen to her...

'We've reached the starting point,' Sam said, signaling us to slowly come to a stop. 'Everyone know what to do?'

We all grunted in agreement.

'From this point forward, keep an eye out for anyone and anything.'

'And stop thinking about your damn Imprint! You're making me sick.'

That one was directed at me, of course.

'Shut the fuck up, Paul.'

'Alright guys, let's go. And Paul? Concentrate!'

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Since there were four of us patrolling, Sam thought it would be a good idea to spread out individually in order to cover more ground. We were far enough from each other to keep a watchful eye on any type of suspicious activity, yet close enough to offer help should the situation call for it.

We were more than ready.

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I didn't want Kimberly to worry more than she should have, so I left out the tidbit of information regarding the red-headed leech and her possible partners. It wasn't a threat to us in the least since we weren't outnumbered, but I needed her utmost faith in me in order for me to leave her behind with some confidence. I'm absolutely positive that if Kimberly had known that there was more than one leech roaming around the area, Quil would have been the one out here… and with him, things wouldn't have been going as smoothly as they were now.

(No offense to Quil, of course.)

But it sure would have been fucking nice with Jake here as some sort of back-up.

I try not to let that bother me when I think of a worried Kimberly being protected inside Emily's home.

It had been well over half an hour before there was some kind of movement.

But it was the smell that pushed me into action.

I was already running before I heard Jake's warning in my head, my nose burning as the leech sprinted past me; seeing an opportunity, my teeth quickly clamped down - grabbing nothing. I barely missed the thread of loose crimson hair that flew in my line of vision, signaling that it was the redhead that made it onto our turf.

And to think that I missed that fucker by an inch.

'Paul!' I yelled, knowing fully well that the leech was headed into his terrain.

Despite his horrible attitude and smartass comments, Paul was fucking reliable.

And there was nothing but pure adrenaline in my veins after hearing the leech's ear-splitting scream as her left arm was torn from her body. Knowing that we now had the upperhand, my legs only seemed to move faster as I came closer to reaching the clearing where Paul had her.

'There's another leech heading south towards the treaty line,' Embry growled as a brief image of Sam right beside him flashed in my mind. 'We'll go and take care of this one.'

Sounds good to me.

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As I broke past the last remaining trees at the edge of the woods, I felt myself readying into a crouch for our final move. It was the same technique we used on one of the leeches that was with the red-head before the Cullens supposedly moved to Alaska or wherever-shit they went.

Paul growled, beginning the count.

'One.'

My body tensed in anticipation, knowing that once Paul loosened his jaw, the leech would make a run for it.

I was all too willing to decapitate her.

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'Two.'

My nose twitched, momentarily distracting me.

I thought nothing of it until—

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"Crap," a voice to my far left muttered - successfully catching me off-guard.

And then I smelled the blood.

This was not happening.

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'Three—'

'PAUL! WAIT—'

Everything seemed to happen so quickly that my mind couldn't process what was going on until my body was throwing itself in between the leech and the kid. I could hear Paul cursing in my head as he struggled to tear her off of me, but all I could feel was her cold and hard fingers wrapping around me from the back as I struggled to breathe. My lungs felt like they were slowly being punctured as my ribs squeezed inward with the force of her strength… the thought of phasing back to loosen her grip was the furthest thing on my mind at that point.

"It would be such a shame for you to die here," the leech hissed into my ear.

If I had been able to speak, I would have kindly told her to "fuck off."

But I could hear myself snarling as I tried to slam my back into the ground; the pain, which was absolutely unbearable, weakened my efforts.

'I can't get her the hell off of me!'

'Fuck man, I'm trying!'

Paul howled into the sky.

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'SAM! EMBRY!'

'What the fuck happened?'

I was on the verge of losing consciousness - their voices becoming more muffled as the seconds ticked by.

'Stay where... Quil! I'm—Embry.'

'... coming—… Jared'

'Hang…buddy.'

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I can't die yet… Kimberly needs me.

I can't die yet.

I can't—

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The last thing I saw before feeling that sharp crack in my bones was the look of horror on Kenny Das's face as he cowered beneath the tree.

Author's Note: Sorry, sorry! Personally, I felt that the events occurring after this would be better suited in Kim's perspective. It's been a while since I've written anything other than academic papers, so I apologize for any... awkwardness. And for the short chapter.