Imprinting

"It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like... gravity moves.... suddenly. It's not the earth holding you here anymore, she does.... You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend."

Imprinting is the involuntary phenomenon by which shapeshifters find their soul-mate.

Description
Shapeshifter imprint on the person he's bound to the moment he sees her. It is described as being pulled toward that person, while a glowing heat fills him; the connection with everything else is severed, and only the imprintee is left to matter, leaving the shapeshifter with a deep need to provide the imprintee anything she needs or wants.

Imprinting can't be forced on anyone, no matter how much the shapeshifter may want it, as shown by Jacob Black trying numerous times to either imprint on Bella or get over her. The same goes also for Leah Clearwater, who didn't go looking around the way Jacob did, but admitted to either wanting to imprint or be imprinted on. How imprinting will be for her is currently unknown.

If an imprintee is killed, the imprinter will never be able to forget or forgive. If the killer happens to be another pack member, there would be no other choice than to fight to the death. Therefore, the most important law among the La Push shapeshifters is that no wolf may kill a fellow wolf imprintee.

It is unknown whether the shapeshifter could go one day without being in contact with his imprintee, the separation involved potentially causing both of them pain. What would happen if a wolf was rejected by his imprintee is also unknown, though this is assumed to be almost impossible; the imprinter is deemed to be the "perfect match" to the imprintee - he will be anything she may want or need, making rejection extremely unlikely. Should it happen, the imprinter may feel unspeakable pain.

It is implied that once a shapeshifter imprints he'll be able spend the rest of his life aging alongside his imprintee once he's able to quit phasing. It's also implied that should the imprintee be long-living or immortal, the imprinter may live alongside her as long as he can phase every so often. It is unknown whether shapeshifters need to stop phasing and for how long before breeding.

Stages of Imprinting
There are stages to imprinting, especially if the shapeshifter imprints on a child, or otherwise the imprintee is very young.

If the person is young, the shapeshifter will act as an older sibling.
 * First Stage


 * Second Stage

As the person gets older, the shapeshifter will also come to be their best friend. They become intimate friends. Meaning, their feelings for each other are changing into romantic feelings. (Remember, this stage may or may not happen.) When the person is old enough, the shapeshifter's feelings grow into romantic/sexual love.
 * Third Stage
 * Fourth Stage

The shapeshifter will be at all times very protective and loving to the imprintee.

Reason for imprinting
The reason for imprinting is unknown. Sam Uley believes that a shapeshifter imprints on the person with whom he has the best chance to reproduce. How this applies to Jacob Black and Renesmee is debatable. Billy Black, however, thinks that imprinting is designed to make the werewolves stronger. While never stated directly, Billy's theory may explain Jacob's imprinting on Renesmee; she may provide him with greater support, or if they can reproduce, some vampiric traits (such as hardened skin, perfect memory, or a supernatural gifts) may be transferred to werewolves, reducing their weaknesses in human form.

Known Shapeshifters who Imprinted

 * Sam Uley with Emily Young
 * Jared with Kim Connweller
 * Quil Ateara with Claire
 * Paul with Rachel Black
 * Jacob Black with Renesmee Cullen

Imprintee
Thus far, only male shapeshifters have imprinted, invariably on a woman, regardless of her age: while Sam Uley, Paul and Jared have imrpinted on adult or late adolescent women, Quil Ateara and Jacob Black have imprinted on child girls. Unlike her imprinter, the imprintee can choose whether she'll accept him as her 'soulmate' or not. It is however implied that a rejection is highly unlikely, since it would be very hard to resist the levels of commitment, compatibility and adoration, having been visited everyday or even lived with, being stared at adoringly, protected by and having no secrets from the imprinter, and to have him wait patiently for her to grow older without worrying him leaving her or dating someone else; knowing that they'd be there and do anything for her, giving her all her needs and wants. Not to mention the 'complete' feeling the imprintee feels with the shapeshifter. The imprinting shapeshifter will be her best match in life.

Just like their imprinter, the imprintee may have a hard time keeping their eyes off their loved one for any length of time. The imprintee loves their shapeshifter very much, and is her shapeshifter's one and only.

After-effects of Imprinting
Even though the shapeshifter has imprinted, it doesn't necessarily mean he won't suffer a little if it can't be helped, though he would instantly break the heart of his loved one before this imprinting. In Sam Uley's case, he felt horrible on Leah's heartbreak after imprinting on her cousin Emily, giving him reason to hate the vampires for his phasing.

The shapeshifter has to be very careful around his imprintee, as anger could cause him to phase, and, if too near, he could accidentily kill or scar her for life.

If the imprintee is too young to date, and may understand when she gets old enough, the imprinter would still not date, since he does not 'see' any other face to do so.

It is unknown what effects the imprintee's rejection would have on the imprinter, but it's implied that he would enter an irrational rampage and badly hurt her.

In addition to imprinting, the shapeshifters' sense of duty toward the pack and the tribe is probably the only other important element in their lives, leading to some hardships in their life, among which having to balance their duty toward pack and tribe against time spent with the imprintee, and their aging on two different tempos due to the shifter phasing while the imprintee does not.

If something horribly drastic were to happen so that the imprintee sacrifices herself for her family/tribe, then the same consequences of the third wife's sacrifice are bound to occur, bringing much pain to all involved.

Apparently, even after the shapeshifter has stopped phasing and lived a so called 'normal' life with his soulmate, he could still phase back into a wolf if he's angry enough, most notably, if his imprintee has come to any harm.