Imprinting

Imprinting is behavioral phenomenon among shapeshifters where a shapeshifter finds his or her soul mate. ""It's not like love at first sight, really. Its 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."

- Jacob Black to Bella Swan on imprinting.

Description
Imprinting occurs when a shapeshifter finds their soul mate. The moment the shapeshifter sees the one they are destined to be with, they imprint. It is described as if you are being pulled toward that person, and that when you see them a glowing heat fills you; having every connection with everything else severed and instead being only connected to this earth for the other person. After that, nobody else matters because you are only there for your other half, your soul mate.

The actual imprinting itself is an involuntary reaction of course, considering how Sam imprinted on Emily while he was with Leah, Quil imprinted on Emily's niece Claire when she was two, Jared imprinted on Kim, his classmate in whom he never looked at twice before his first phase, Paul imprinted on Jacob's older sister, Rachel, so they're now future in-laws, and Jacob imprinted on the half human/vampire baby Renesmee just minutes after her birth. But by imprinting, none of the involuntary reasons matter anymore and the imprint makes the shape-shifter happy to be with their soul mate.

Imprinting can't be forced on no matter how much the shapeshifter may want it. As Jacob had tried it numerous of times before to either imprint upon Bella or to get over her. The same goes for Leah too, who didn't go looking around as Jacob did, but admitted to either wanting to imprint or to be imprinted on.

The shapeshifter always stares at their imprintee and their own reactions are made secondary, as their first reflex is to give their soulmate anything they need/want.

If an imprinted person is killed by someone, the wolf who imprinted on them can never forgive the killer. If the killer happens to be another wolf from the pack, the wolves would have no choice but to fight to the death. For this reason, the most important law among the La Push shape-shifter pack is that no wolf may kill the object of a fellow wolf's imprinting.

It is unknown what would happen if a wolf was rejected by their imprinted one, though this is declared as almost impossible as the imprinter is the "perfect match" to the imprintee - they will be anything the imprintee ever wanted or needed, making rejection extremely unlikely. It maybe possible to be rejected but if it does happen, the imprinter will be caused unspeakable pain.

It is also unknown if the shapeshifter could go one day without seeing their imprintee. The separation involved may cause both of them pain.

It is implied that once a shapeshifter does imprint they'll one day be able spend the rest of their lives aging alongside their imprintee once they are able to quit phasing thus being able to have children who carry on the wolf gene.

It's also implied that under such circumstances that if the imprintee happens to be immortal, say a half human/vampire hybrid, they would both spend their lives of immortality together as long as the shapeshifter phases every so often, and if possible, having children that become stronger wolves and so on.

Stages of Imprinting
There are stages to imprinting, especially if the person on whom the shape-shifter has imprinted is young.

If the person is young, the shape-shifter will act as an older sibling.Albet,avery unusually intimate one.
 * First Stage

As the person gets older, the shape-shifter will also come to be their intimate friend/lover.
 * Second Stage

When the person is old enough, the shape-shifter's feelings grow into romantic/sexual love.
 * Third Stage

During all these times the werewolf will be very protective and loving to the imprintee.

Reason for imprinting
The reason for imprinting is unknown. Sam Uley believes that the person on whom the shape-shifter imprints is the person with whom the shape-shifter has the best chance to reproduce (this is debatable since Jacob Black imprinted on Renesmee, the half-vampire half-human child of Edward and Bella). 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; if they are able to reproduce, acquiring some vampire-like traits (such as hardened skin, perfect memory, or supernatural gifts) would possibly make the werewolves stronger or eliminate more of their weaknesses while in human form. Bella hates when Jacob spends all the time with whom he calls "Nessie" but soon she learns that the imprint on her brings them closer then ever.

Reasons for not having imprinted
The reasons for some shape-shifters having not imprinted could be based on one of three facts:

1. Their yet-to-be imprintee is somewhere else in the world.

Sam's theory of the shape-shifters best choice of imprinting on their Quileute reservation in La Push has proven to be wrong. This is so because when Jacob had imprinted on Renesmee, he was on Cullen turf, and no where near the reservation. And if Jacob's older sister, Rachel, hadn't had come from Washington State to La Push to visit her family, Paul might never have seen her and imprinted. This would mean after seeing everyone on the reservation, the better choice would be going away from La Push to other parts of the world to find their soulmate.

2. Their imprintee hasn't been born yet.

Whenever Jacob would come to the Cullen's house to check on Bella, despite being disgusted with the unborn child for what it was doing to Bella's condition, Jacob was somehow drawn towards Bella as she was to him. But really it was through Bella that Jacob and Renesmee felt the mystical imprinting pull towards each other, such as Bella's irrational actions and feelings coming from Renesmee whenever Jacob stated he had to leave, and the unexplainable complete feeling she felt around him. Jacob himself found it hard to leave her.

3. Their imprintee has died before they've been imprinted upon; alternatively has become a vampire.

Such things haven't been confirmed, but most likely one would say that if their imprintee has died before the imprinting takes place, the shape-shifter may never find a soulmate to imprint on. It seems unlikely that a shape-shifter would be able to imprint on an actual vampire, though it is possible that the vampire in question could have been a shape-shifter's imprintee when they were formerly human. It is unknown what the shape-shifter would do if their imprintee were to ever be turned into a vampire, whether the imprinting itself could still last remains unseen.

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
Unlike their imprinter, the imprintee has a choice of whether they'll choose their shape-shifter as their 'soulmate' or not. Though it's implied as highly unlikely. Because no matter the excuse, be it greivances, age differences, or species, no one would be able to resist the levels of commitment and adoration. Having been visited everyday, being stared at adoringly, protected by and having no secrets between their other half, and to have for them to wait patiently for the imprintee to grow older without the worries over their imprinter leaving them for or dating someone else; knowing that they'd be and do anything for them, giving them all their needs and wants. Not to mention the 'complete' feeling the imprintee feels with their shapeshifter. The imprinting shape-shifter will be their most perfect match for 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 their shapeshifter's one and only.

So far only females have been imprinted upon, since it is unknown if Leah Clearwater will ever imprint.

After Effects Of Imprinting
Even though the shapeshifter has imprinted doesn't necessarily mean they won't suffer a little if it can't be helped. They would instantly break the heart of the one they loved before this imprinting. In Sam's case, he felt horrible when he broke Leah's heart after imprinting on her cousin Emily, giving him reason to hate the vampires for making him phase.

The shapeshifter has to be very careful around their imprinted one, as any bit of anger could cause him to phase and if not far away enough, could accidentily kill or scar them for life.

If the imprintee is younger than the imprinter, and would probably understand when they got older, the imprinter would still not even go around looking to date anyone because they don't 'see' their faces.

There soon may come a day when the young imprintee is old enough to date and even though their imprinter is their 'soulmate' and has always been there, the imprintee has the choice of whether they would commit to their relationship or not.

It is unknown what would happen if the imprintee were to reject their shape-shifter, but it's implied that the shape-shifter could go into an irrational rage and hurt and scar their imprintee very badly, as it seemed to have happened to Emily with Sam.

The sense of duty seems of the only other importance besides being with their imprinted one, so even if the imprintee asked their shapeshifter to stay with them then most likely the answer may most likely be no but the shape shifter will eventually give in.

Besides the call of duty as a shapeshifter, being with their imprintee is of more importance and could come with consequences, if the imprinter didn't see their imprinted one all day, they may sneak out at night to be with them, leaving punishment for when they come back home later. And having to not phase for a solid length of time may be very hard, especially due to their bad temper and vampires roaming about, so they can't age normally with their aging imprintee.

If something horribly drastic were to happen where the imprintee sacrifices themselves for their family/tribe, then the same events that happened from the 'third wife's' sacrifice are sure to occur. Bringing much pain to all involved.

Apparently, even after the shape-shifter has stopped phasing and lived a so called 'normal' life with their soulmate, they could still phase back into a wolf if they're angry enough, most notably, if their imprintee has come to any harm.