𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒

"𝘐 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 "

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╰┈˚ · ° .  HOURS PASSED, THE DAY FADED INTO NIGHT. The pack had left as the sun started to set, there was no need for them to wait alongside me for my brother that could easily not come back until morning or even in days.

The cloak ticked, the numbers showed 2 AM. The tv was playing some random cooking show, in my hands there was an almost finished sketchbook as I randomly drew shapes and turned them into art.

Another hour passed, and the front door opened. "Sam?!"

"No, mom." The woman stood frozen on her spot, hand still on the door handle. I could see that she was drunk from the way she slightly slurred the words . "Sam is not back yet?" She asked, finally moving away from the entrance. She threw the keys in the ceramic bowl that was on a small drawer near the front door, the sound echoing through the house as the same time she took a moment to leave her high heeled boots on the lower compartment.

"No, he needed some time to clear his head. He had... a fight with Leah." I replied trying not to stumble too much on my words and lie that fell from my lips.

My mother let out a sigh, massaging the temples with her fingers. "Again?" She scoffed under her breath, shaking her head slightly in what was perceived as disappointment.

"It's-"

"I don't want to hear it, Beatrice." She said suddenly, cutting me off abruptly and without an ounce of guilt. "I'm going to sleep." And with that she left, climbing up the stairs and disappearing behind her door without even caring that her daughter was still awake deep into the night or that her son was not home yet.

Disappointment bloomed in my chest. She didn't even stop to ask if he was okay. If I was okay. It had begun again a few weeks prior, the drinking. Both Sam and I knew that her stopping wouldn't have lasted, but still, it always managed to hurt me. Because wanting or not, a slight kindle of hope always bloomed at her sobriety.

The door opened again breaking my train of thoughts, and this time, it was Sam.

He was clenching and unclenching his fists, eyes red and swollen, filled with tears that had left streaks down his tanned cheeks.

His gaze met mine and heartache spread through my body at the visible pain that crossed all over his face. "Tris." My name passed though his lips filled with an undertone of agony that made me sprint towards him in heartbeat.

"I'm here." I said, half relieved that he was finally home, half in agonizing pain that I empathized with him "I'm here."

We together fell down onto the floor as his legs gave out from underneath him. I had just the time to wrap my arms around him before our knees harshley hit the wooden boards of the pavement.

Violent sobs rocked his body as he cried on my shoulder, holding tightly my shirt hands as if to have an anchor that would not let him go.

"I imprinted." He said through the tears, speaking the words for what was the first time, "I imprinted on Emily."

Emily, Leah's cousin. He had imprinted on his girlfriend's cousin.

I could do nothing but be there for him at that moment. He was crying so loudly that even if I tried to speak, I was sure that my voice could not even be heard. I passed my fingers through his short hair, humming under my breath a soft melody that I could vaguely remember our mother doing the same to us as we were young.

I don't know how much time we spent there, on the floor in front of the door, sobs echoing around the home. But after what felt like an eternity to my heart, Sam finally calmed down enough to only have silent tears streaming down his eyes.

"You will be okay, Sammy."

"Why? I-" His voice was raspy from the crying, hopeless in some way.

"We don't know why our ancestors sent you this challenge, but have faith. The same way you understood that shifting was not that much of a curse but a responsibility. Protecting our land, our people... There is a reason. It hurts, I know it does. You are heartbroken, and it's normal. You love Leah, she was your first love after all, but you were not meant to be forever."

In a whisper he then confessed, "I broke up with her. She was pleading with me to not do it but I had to. I broke her heart, she was devastated and still... she said that she would wait for me. That she was sure that we had a future together."

"And what did you tell her?"

"I couldn't lie, Tris. I couldn't give her false hope" He said with a less shaky tone even if another tear fell from his eyes that he was quicke to brush away with the back of his hand. "I know that she is wrong. There is no future together for us."

"And Emily?" I asked hesitantly. I did not want to anger him. He was already sad. But his eyes, at the mention of the girl, lit up. Almost unnoticeable, but there was a little difference. It quickly faded, though, as a frown formed on his features.

"She was there, she was in another room but I know she could hear me breaking her cousin's heart." He said with a sad scoff. "How– how can I ever do it, Tris. I know that Emily would not even want to look at me after what I did to Leah. For them, it was even without any reason."

"She is your imprint. The pull will be there from her side too. Of course, not as yours but... it will be there. I'm not going to lie to you, it will be hard. Very hard. But I know that it will be worth it in the end." I gave him a grin, one that reached my eyes, "She won't be able to resist your inexistent charms."

"Shut up." The first real smile curled his lips in his amusement at my teasing. "You are not funny."

"I think I am hilarious, actually. Thank you very much, big brother." Continuing to grin, I said while I stood up. I offered him my hand that he took, helping himself to go back to his feet. "Now, I didn't have any dinner and I'm starving. I'm not going to ask you if you are hungry. Come on, you can tell me what you already know about Emily while we eat something."

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╰┈˚ · ° .  "We should go back."

"No." I said, gazing at my brother from the corner of my eyes, keeping my concentration on driving.

"But-"

"No but." I cut him off. "You said that you want to wait for Emily to go back home before you go and try to talk with her. So now, you need to not be in La Push and take your head off from everything. Paul and Jared can handle patrolling for today alone. And if they need anything, Kim and Amelia are at the cliff, even Maddison is at the Rez. And if it's serious, they will call us. Now stop worrying."

We were heading towards Port Angels, the further away from the Rez that we could go without actually being too far. My plan was to distract him as much as I could today, lifting up his somber mood too if possible.

With another glance towards him I could see the way he continued to look back.

"Music time." I declared, switching on the radio. It accompanied us until we passed the sign for Port Angels, when I decided to turn it off when I couldn't help but voice out the question that had been haunting my head since we had got in the car. "Is it hard to- uh..."

"Hard what?" He asked, confused, frows appearing in the middle of his eyebrows.

I let out a sigh. I didn't know if it was a good thing to ask him this-– probably not— but I couldn't help but wonder. My curiosity got the best of me, in the end, it was almost like I was compelled to ask. "Being away from her. Paul said that it can be even painful to be apart from your imprint. Do you feel like that?"

Sam snapped his head towards me so fast that I was almost sure that he had broken his entire spine. "Paul said?" He asked, making sure to pronounce the boy's name clearly.

"Yeah?" I was not understand his sudden weird behavior.

"And how would Paul know?" He questioned sharply, eyes narrowed into slits, adding venom to the boy's name as he said it.

"Why are the fuck you saying his name like that?" I asked in confusion. "And from Jared, I guess."

"From Jared?"

"Yeah, I asked him some questions yesterday and he told me a bit of how it was supposed to feel. It was pretty intense. Your pack bond it's strong. Or probably Jared monologue those words once when he was shifted. I don't know." I shrugged. The way Paul had talked about imprinting as if he had felt it on his own skin. Deep rooted emotions shining through the words like they belonged entirely to him. It was heartwarming. The question was spontaneous— Did he imprint? But then, I would know if he had done so, wouldn't I?

"Though Jared, yeah, yeah." Sam coughed a couple of times, shoulder relaxing slightly as he sat correctly back into his seat, eyes locked with the road ahead not moving from it.

Okay, weird.

"And to answer your first question," My brother began slightly hesitating, "Yes, what he said is true. I think that not seeing her for more than a week would actually make me hurt physically. Even now, all I want to do is go to her." The soft smile that had formed on his face faded away as he started to frown once again at his reality. "But I can't. Not yet. I don't know if I'll ever be able to. The last thing that I want to do is hurt Leah more than I have already done. She does not deserve it."

"She doesn't." I agree, "But you did not choose this. It's not your fault. Emily is your imprint, you can't deny yourself that part of you. It will kill you Sam."

"I know."

It was only when dusk fell that we hopped into the car to go back to La Push. We had spent the day at the movie theater before going to an old diner that our parents would bring us when we were little. To this day, it still makes the best burgers and milkshakes that I had ever tasted— The Moonlight Diner-cafe a close second.

It was a much needed time away from everything— one that we both were in need of.

And as we passed the La Push sign, two howls welcoming back the alpha into the pack territory echoed through the forest, before a dark silver wolf and a brown one appeared on the edge of the forest, running alongside the truck.

I stopped the car, "Go." I told my brother with a chuckle as I noticed the sparks behind his dark eyes.

Grinning back at me, excitement builded in his body. As much as he had hated being a shifter at first, now he completely accepted it, finding freedom in his other form.

"Thank you. For everything." He kissed my forehead, "I love you, little sister."

"I love you too, big brother."

Sam phased with all his clothes on, joining his pack with a loud howl. The last thing that I saw before they all disappeared, was a flash of mahogany eyes as the dark silver wolf lingered for a second more before running away with the others.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

Sam and Beatrice's chapter! I know that some of you wanted to see more of them, so I decided to dedicate an entire chapter.

Trixy and Sam have a very close relationship. No father or very present mother, they were alone (Mostly in their teenage years) Sam felt very responsible for his sister, he took the role of a parent growing up.

I love them. They are so cute. (And traumatized)

Anything that you would like to see in this fic? Let me know!

Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter, I'll see you on Tuesday!

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾