Stormy Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek of the next chapter. I should hopefully have the full chapter posted sometime this week. Sorry for any errors in this peek. It hasn't been beta'ed yet and I'm posting it late.

Chapter 23 - Clash of the Alphas

Nate's POV

I forced my mouth onto hers. I could taste blood in my mouth, but I didn’t know if it was mine or hers. If it was mine, then I’d most likely get another sample of Meena’s venom. At this point, I was all for it. I even hoped it would kill me. What was the point of living if I couldn’t be with this beautiful, amazing, incredibly infuriating woman?

Meena pushed against me and kept her body stiff. It only made me more determined. I flicked my tongue across her bottom lip. I could taste a cut on her flesh and I whimpered in remorse. Hearing the noise, Meena slowly began to soften, moving her arms towards my neck. My heart leapt victoriously.

But before we could go any further, I was forcibly pushed away from her. I went sailing through the air and hit the ground hard. The rain blinded me for a moment. Wiping at my face, I saw Gabe standing over me, his arms trembling.

“I think it’s time you left,” he said in a cold voice.

I looked over at my imprint. Meena was standing with her hand over her mouth, her face pale. A woman with long strawberry blond hair was standing next to her. She was beautiful, even as her golden eyes stared at me in disgust. She wrapped an arm around Meena’s waist, and I went on instant alert. This person—this vampire—wasn’t familiar to me. I knew she wasn’t a Cullen, and illogical fear ripped through me.

“Meena,” I said in a panicked voice. I got up quickly from the ground and took a hurried step towards her, but Gabe was in my way again.

“Don’t go near them,” he yelled and all sane thought left me as my human side evaporated and the Alpha took over.

I looked at Gabe and let the hatred course through me. This man almost killed my sister and now he was letting my imprint near some leech I didn’t know. Before I could even guess my own intentions, I lunged for him.

Fandom Fights Tsunami

Please support the Fandom Fights Tsunami.

(I was going to try to do this, but I'm dealing with some real life stuff right now, and I don't think I'll be able to commit to it.)

New Story Sneak Peek

Okay, I still have a ways to go before I can post this, but I've been working on some ideas for Seth's story. I'll start posting it after I'm done with Stormy and Absent. Here's a sneak peek, and you can let me know what you think. (This is still tentative...I might go in a different direction before the story actually gets posted.) And just in case you're wondering, yes, I'm starting to work on the next chapter of Stormy. ;)

Seth's POV

I stared up at the church doors. How did I get here? Eight months ago, my life had been perfect. Since then, I felt as though I'd stepped onto an emotional roller coaster that didn’t seem to want to end. I ruined the life of a girl that I loved with everything I had in me by doing something unforgivable. I pulled a Sam, imprinting on one girl while still involved with another.

Coincidentally, I was pretty sure I had the strangest imprint on record. Who the fuck imprints on their brother’s sister? But that’s what happened to me.

I should probably point out that my imprint and I aren’t related. We share two separate sets of parents. We just happen to have the same half-brother. 

Somewhere inside, the wedding march began to play. My bleeding heart shattered, falling into broken pieces around my feet. Because that march wasn’t meant for me. Somewhere inside...my imprint was marrying another man.

Ignoring the pull that was screaming at me to claim what was mine, I turned away from the church doors and slowly walked away…

Update

I just wanted to let everyone know where I'm at with my stories. If you've been following my blog about my original story then you know I'm in the middle of editing it. I'm editing a full length book so it's taking me awhile to do. I've been really working hard on it this week, and I only have about thirty more pages to go. Once I finish it, I'm going to print it off and give it to some relatives to read. While they are doing that, I'm going to update my fan fics. I want to get at least two new chapters of Stormy out within the next few weeks, and I still have to write Leah's wedding for Absent. I've started the new chapters for both stories...I just need to complete them.

So hopefully I'll have a new chapter of Stormy done in the next couple of weeks. I'll keep everyone updated on Twitter. Thanks again for your patience!

Fan Fic Recommendation

I was recently asked to participate in a segment for The Twilight Awards site called "What The Writers Are Reading." I reviewed a fantastic story called The First Time by todream. It's a wonderful AU story about Jacob and Renesmee.

Please go check out my review and support this amazing story: My Review.

What's That Smell?

All the ladies in my fics have a certain scent that drives the guys wild. Here's a list of the floral scent each girl smells like:

Meena - Wildflowers

Rebecca Black-Call - Lavender & Vanilla

Emily - Honeysuckle

Leah - Lily

Gracie - Wild Roses

Renesmee - Juniper

Maggie Call - Peonies

Explaining Rebecca

This was something that was in my forum on FFN. LOL, I wrote it back in November 2009 (I can't believe it's been that long...sheesh). If you haven't read Forbidden Imprint this contains MAJOR SPOILERS. If you're in the process of reading it, read this after chapter 14...

I know people are cursing Rebecca right now. They don’t understand how she could treat Embry like she did after everything they’ve been through. After all, they grew up together and he was always there for her when she needed him. So I decided to write this to try to give you a little more insight to this character.

To start off with, I need to discuss Rebecca’s relationship with Ian. Although they have issues, Rebecca does love him. Just because Embry imprinted on her doesn’t mean she’s going to drop Ian or stop caring about him. It would be unrealistic if she did. She and Ian have been through a lot and they’ve been together for 15 years. Yes they have martial problems…who doesn’t? And to be fair to Ian, I’ve only shown you his ugly side; you don’t get a lot of glimpses of his positive qualities. For example, you don’t see how well he and Rebecca get along. They aren’t just husband and wife, they’re best friends. (And yes, I know she cheated on him and you’re probably saying, what kind of friend is that, but I’ll get into that.) Ian’s not perfect, in fact he’s pretty selfish and self-involved at times, but Ian helped Rebecca through the very worst time of her life, being when she lost her mom.

Now, does that mean Rebecca doesn’t care deeply for Embry? Of course not. But the whole point of this story is that she’s forbidden to him. He fell in love with someone who is married and unavailable. Yes, Embry was hurt horribly by the whole experience. That’s what happens in affairs. As one of my reviewers said, “Marital affairs get romanticized.” There is nothing romantic about them.

Now, while I love Embry, he’s not exactly prince charming in this story. He pushed for a relationship even after Jacob warned him to back off. People were so mad at Jacob when I wrote his fight with Embry, and I kept saying Jacob’s a lot smarter than you think. Rebecca was overly emotional the day she slept with Embry. She had just gotten into a horrible fight with Ian. Imprinting can only excuse his actions so much. Whether he was conscious of it or not, Embry took advantage of her emotional state.

Rebecca had told Embry more than once that all she wanted to be was friends with him. Embry always believed they were meant to be more. He’s had tunnel vision and only saw what he wanted to see. She offered friendship again on the beach in Hawaii and he laughed at the idea. What else could she do but tell him to leave her alone? And let’s not forget about Embry’s past. Rebecca knows that Embry’s spent the majority of his 20s as an alcoholic womanizer. Why would she leave Ian, who is selfish but stable, for someone with Embry’s history?

Rebecca’s a scared first time mother who saw Embry's reckless womanizing with her own eyes. So what it all boils down to is what’s best for her baby. Who's better…Embry with his questionable past…or Ian with his constant stability?

While the sex with Embry was mind-blowing for her, Rebecca wasn’t and isn’t ready to throw away her marriage. Aside from the history Rebecca has with Ian, she’s waited a very long time to be a mother. The baby is her number one priority now. She’s going to do what she thinks is best and fair for the baby, which is to stay with the father. Add on the massive pile of guilt she feels for committing adultery and she had to let Embry go. Now was she overly harsh doing it? Yes…Rebecca’s not stupid. I think she began to take Embry’s declaration of love seriously when Embry said he would be willing to raise Ian’s baby.

There’s the expression, you have to be cruel to be kind. While I’m sure a lot will argue with me on this, I think the most selfless Rebecca has been in this story so far has been when she told Embry to leave her alone and that there was nothing between them. Even if she was developing feelings for Embry, she needed to let him go for the baby’s sake and and he needed to do the same. While babies don’t fix a marriage, she owed it to her baby and Ian to at least try. She couldn’t and wouldn’t abandon the father of her child. But she didn’t enjoy hurting Embry here.

As one of my reviewers wrote: “Poor Rebecca. I feel her pain. You can tell from the pauses and sighs that she doesn't want to hurt Embry. I have to admire her, because from what I can see, she's cutting him loose so he'll be able to move on.”

Rebecca told Embry what he needed to hear so he could move forward with his life. She let him go, but she also made sure he let her go. And he does at the end. He says, “I was nothing to her…and she was now nothing to me.” Now that he is “free” he’ll be able to find some peace in his life…for now anyway.

So now you know what was going through Rebecca’s head.

Beautiful Deceiver Alternative Ending

A while back, I wrote a one shot called, Beautiful Deceiver, for a slash contest. I'm a fan of reading slash. The stories have a tendency to be about star-crossed lovers, which I've always been interested in, but I never thought about writing one. Then one day I was updating my extended version of First Imprint: Sam's Story on Twilighted. There was a moment between Seth and Sam in the chapter I'd been working on where Sam tries to comfort Seth after Harry died. It was completely innocent and platonic, but it made me start wondering, what if...

I checked around and saw that there were very few stories out there about this pair. So I decided to write a one shot about them and enter it into the contest. What I'm about to share is the original ending. I was never really happy with it because it was too neat and clean. At the very last minute, I changed it to the version that's actually posted. So here you go, the original ending of Beautiful Deceiver...

Excerpt

Five years after the night on the beach, I received news that Seth was returning home. Apparently, he and his girlfriend had split up and he had taken full custody of their child, a daughter. I didn't even react when I heard the news. Like Seth, I hadn't waited. I finally went out with a guy named Eric that Leah had wanted to set me up with.

Did I love him? No. But the relationship at least gave me some sexual release.

I knew the day Seth actually came back to town. I felt the pull of my imprint strengthen for the first time in years. As much as I wanted to, I didn't go looking for him. There was a part of me that was hopeful that he'd seek me out. I figured if he found me, I could take it as a sign that he was ready to finally be with me.

And when it was all said and done, that was all I really wanted. The harsh words we'd exchanged, the emptiness and worry he had caused me…none of that mattered. Just seeing Seth's smile could fill me with more contentment than anything else the world had to offer me. I knew that I'd never be complete without my imprint by my side. I had already waited nine years for him. I knew I'd continue to wait an eternity more if I had to.

But as day drifted into day without a sign of him, the hope I'd been holding onto that he'd come to me shriveled up and died. Seth obviously didn't want me and I just needed to accept that. I came to that realization two weeks after Seth returned to the rez.

Instead of moping about it, I decided to tune up my motorcycle then drive to Forks to see Eric. With my day planned, I went into my garage and opened up the large garage door so that I could let in some natural light and fresh air.

I flipped on the radio and for the first time in a very long time, I felt my spirits truly begin to rise. I was humming and working on the bike when I heard footsteps. Looking up, I was actually startled to see who it was.

He had aged since I last saw him. He now had the promised maturity he didn't have before. He also looked tired and strained. I figured that had to do with his small child and nothing to do with me.

"Hello Sam," he said softly, an unsure smile tugging on his lips.

And then he gave me a look that made my heart melt and an answering smile appear on my face. I knew in that moment that he was here for one reason and one reason only. He had finally come to me.

"Hello Seth."

The End

(This was too neat of an ending which is why I axed it.)

Stormy Imprint Random Facts

The kids' middle names:

Meena Isabelle Black

Gabriel Jacob Black

Gracie Emeline Uley

Nathaniel Harrison Uley

Story Q&A

Reader Question: What exactly were Sam and Jacob arguing over that caused them both to phase? (In chapter 3 of Stormy, Sam comes to visit the Cullens in Vermont and begs Jake to move his family back to La Push for Nate's sake. They end up getting into a fight.)

Answer: Jacob and Sam have always had that tension between them, but it was something along the lines of...

Sam: You're being selfish.

Jacob: I'm doing what's best for my children.

Sam: No, you're putting your own needs before everyone elses. The pack needs my son and he's useless without Meena. If you can't think of him, can you think of the pack for once?

Jacob: If I did put the pack ahead of what I felt is right, you would have killed my wife.

Sam: Oh, like you didn't want to kill her once yourself.

And bam...phasing.

Meena Q&A

These questions are from my old FFN forum.

Reader Question: How is Meena venomous when Ness is not?

Answer: Meena is venomous and Gabe isn't. The twins don't follow the SM rules (of only males being venomous), because they are truly the first of their kind. They have both vampire blood and shape-shifter blood. Now, what's interesting about them is that they separately inherited certain traits from their family. Think of it this way. When they were in the womb, the supernatural genes were split between them. Meena inherited the vampire traits, including being venomous and constantly needing blood. Gabe inherited the wolf traits which include phasing and being Alpha. Being venomous was something Meena inherited from Edward. Sometimes things in the family line skip generations. While Ness isn't venomous, her daughter is.

Reader Question: How strong is she? I know being a hybrid and all that she is unnaturally strong, but for example if she and Gabe got into a physical fight (or even her and Nate) who would win? I really just want to know that if she had to show off how strong she is what could she do.

Answer: Meena is extremely strong because of her combined vampire and wolf heritage (so she would be able to lift a car). She and Gabe are on equal footing in strength. LOL, if they got in a fight, I don't know who would win. They both have powers but they are immune to the other's. If Meena went invisible, Gabe could find her, and he can't get into her head. As for Nate, he should be the weaker of the three, but because he's Meena's imprint, he was designed to be equally strong.

Reader Question: So how would Meena be able to get pregnant if she's immortal?

Answer: Meena and Gabe aren't frozen. They haven't fully matured yet (Ness reached full maturity when she was 7). The twins grow slower than Ness did because they don't have as much vampire blood in them. And don't forget, Meena's body is different than Ness's. While Ness is half human/half vampire, Meena is part human/vampire/shapeshifter. Although Meena isn't a werewolf, her body might react differently than Ness's. However, she does have a limited window.

If you have any other questions about this character, leave them in the comment section. :)

Imprint Couples

I've included the stories where the imprint first happens in my saga.

Sam Uley - Emily Young
Story: First Imprint (Sam's Story)

Jacob Black - Renesmee Cullen
Story: First Imprint (Sam's Story)

Jared Becknell - Kim Denning
Story: First Story (Sam's Story)

Quil Ateara - Claire Young
Story: Early Imprint (Quil's Story)

Nate Uley - Meena Black
Story: Early Imprint (Quil's Story), further details in Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Nate Uley (Sam's son) imprinted on Jacob's daughter Meena at Quil & Claire Ateara's wedding reception. This caused immediate turmoil for the Black/Uley families because Nate is an Alpha as is Meena's twin brother Gabriel (Gabe). Two Alphas can't be around each other without wanting to kill each other. Nate is one of the most powerful Alphas in tribal history. Gabe is part vampire and has special powers. When Gabe saw Nate dancing with his sister, a fight immediately broke out between the two men.

Gracie Uley - Ryan Spencer
Story: Early Imprint (Quil's Story), further details in Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Ryan Spencer was one of seven wolves to change during the great "Volturi Visit" when Renesmee was a baby. Along with Ryan, the pack also gained Rafe, Will, Mac, Azra, Ethan, and Tristen...out of those seven wolves, Ryan and Azra Langely are the only remaining "active" wolves, the rest have retired. Ryan was the youngest wolf to ever change, only 11 at the time. During the Volturi visit, Sam had worried about Ryan because of his age. As soon as the Volturi left the area, Ryan threw up behind a tree (source: First Imprint (Sam's Story)). When Ryan was 15, his father got a government job in WashingtonD.C. and the family left La Push. During that time, Ryan still phased and kept in touch with Sam. While Ryan was away from La Push, Sam and Emily welcomed into the world their daughter Gracie. Ryan came back to the area when he was 18, saw Gracie at Jacob Black's wedding, and promptly imprinted on her.

Brady Yarnell - Kayley Ateara
Story: Early Imprint (Quil's Story)

Brady is a SM character. He was first mentioned in Eclipse. In EI (Early Imprint) Brady lost his job and was promptly hired by Quil to work in the garage that Quil owns with Seth. Brady is not a mechanic and had to be shown the ropes by Azra Langley and Ryan Spencer (also two people who work at the garage). Claire and Quil Ateara had their first child, a daughter named Kayley, a year after they were married. When Brady went to visit the family in the hospital, he saw Kayley when she was only a few hours old and imprinted on her. (FYI - Seth was originally going to imprint on Kayley, but I remembered at the last minute that he and Claire are cousins.)

Collin Paden - Lindsey Chester
Story: Early Imprint (Quil's Story)

Collin is a SM character. He phased for the first time around the same time Brady did. Lindsey and Claire Young-Ateara grew up together and have been best friends since the girls were five. When Claire was 15, she ran away from home prompting her parents to send her to live with her Aunt Emily and Uncle Sam (Uley) in La Push. They had wanted to get her away from the bad influences she was hanging around. On moving day, Quil and Collin drove to Makah to help Claire move. Lindsey showed up just as they were leaving so that she could say goodbye to Claire. As soon as Collin saw her, he imprinted on her. When Lindsey was a senior in high school, Collin told her about the wolf pack and imprinting. Lindsey, in turn, asked Collin to go to the prom with her. Collin and Lindsey have been very happy together, to the point where they embarrass the other wolves with their love for one another. They even have pet names for each other such as "turtledove." And while Collin adores his wife, he is intrigued by his wife's friend Amber. All women are blurry to imprinted wolves unless the woman is in danger, and yet, Collin has always been able to see Amber clearly. Their strange connection has yet to be explained.

Embry Call - Rebecca Black
Story: Early Imprint (Quil's Story), more details in Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Embry and Rebecca are both SM characters. Embry has been in love with Rebecca since he was 13. When Rebecca was 18, she met her husband Ian Cleary when he came to the area for a surfing competition. When Ian went back to Hawaii, Rebecca went with him. Rebecca never came back to La Push because of the painful memories it held for her regarding the lose of her mother. In fact, she avoided La Push at all costs. She eventually returned home for Jake's wedding because Ness asked her to be a bridesmaid. While at the wedding rehearsal, Embry saw Rebecca for the first time since he became a wolf and imprinted on her, even with Ian present.

Devlin Wakeh - Hanna Becknell
Story: Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Devlin is the son of Rachel Black-Wakeh and Paul Wakeh. He was a few months shy of his 12th birthday when he became a wolf. Hanna Becknell attends Interlochen in Michigan, a school for the performing arts. The first time she sees Devlin after he first phased is at Quil and Claire Ateara's wedding where she played the piano. Devlin saw her and imprinted though he wasn't sure what had happened to him and he hid it from everyone. Later that night, he tells Embry Call what happened and Embry confirms that Dev imprinted. Hanna and Devlin soon become best friends and Devlin spends a summer traveling with Hanna as she performs the piano across the country. Hanna's talent agent is Will Samson, a former member of the wolf pack.

Macaide "Mac" Pachena - Olivia "Livy" Tyler
Story: Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Rafe is one of the seven wolves to change during the great "Volturi" visit. Mac's mother abandoned the family when Mac was 8. He was raised by his father. When Mac was 17, his father remarried. Mac met his 15-yr-old step-sister, Olivia (Livy) from Hoquiam, and promptly imprinted on her. He worked hard at hiding his feelings from her as he didn't want to overwhelm or scare her. As soon as he turned 18, he moved out, retired from the pack, and joined the police academy. When Livy turned 18, Mac returned and confessed his love. The two eloped and Mac finished school. Mac recently was hired by Charlie Swan as a deputy. He, Livy, and their children: Jayden (Jay), Lucy, Joesph (Joe), and Alison (Allie) have recently moved back to La Push.

Rafe Elwah - Manda Adler
Story: Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Rafe is one of the seven wolves to change during the great "Volturi" visit. After high school, Rafe retired from pack life and left La Push. He moved to Arizona where his mother's family settled. It was there that he met his wife and imprint Manda. Manda is part Navajo, part Irish. They met in college, married, and had three children: Arabella, whom Rafe refers to as Ara, his son, Taurin, whom they call Tauri, and his youngest daughter Maya. Rafe and his family are planning on moving back to La Push where Rafe will be working as a teacher at the Rez's school.

Will Samson - Maggie Call
Story: Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Will is one of the seven wolves to change during the great "Volturi" visit. When Will first phased, he fell in love with Leah Clearwater and in a drunken moment, she slept with him. Years later, he tells her that he's still in love with her, but by then Leah has met and fallen in love with her future husband, Dylan. Heartbroken, Will goes to Hollywood and finds success as a talent agent. He has a relationship with a struggling actress who ends up getting pregnant with Will's son, Kyran (Ky). Will decides to raise his son in La Push. He comes back to the area and attends the baptism of Embry Call's daughter, Maggie. As soon as Will looks into her eyes, he imprints. The problem...Will's young son Ky is also fascinated with her.

Seth Clearwater - Kayla Marie Adams
Story: Forbidden Imprint (Embry's Story)

Seth Clearwater is a SM character known for his high spirit and happy-go-lucky mood. Seth has spent years watching others imprint, but never experienced it himself. He reasons that perhaps the Clearwaters don't imprint. Leah never did and she's happily married with children. Seth ends up falling in love with Jared and Kim's daughther Hayley, and they eventually get engaged. As he shares the news of his engagement with Embry Call, Embry's sister Kayla Marie shows up. Seth takes one look at her and imprints.