Summary:While Mia’s learning to drive, she gets in a car accident resulting in damage to her sister’s car and the death of a deer in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rosalie and Mia both make some assumptions about one another in the wake of the accident before finding some common ground and understanding.
Characters:Rosalie Hale and Mia Cullen
Request: From anon - Hi I asked for Rose’s one “is that blood?” so you could change it for “You didn’t think I cared about you, did you?” :D
A/N: The day I started writing this idea, I almost hit three deer going out to do the shopping and I was put off the piece for months as a result.
Content Warnings: Angst, Grief, Guilt, Car Accident, Animal Death (mentions)
Here’s the AO3 link if you prefer to read over there.
I’ll have to look over the drafted chapters I’ve written cause there’s guaranteed tired spelling mistakes, but I like how it came out! Next is New Moon!
Images fly through Alice’s mind, things that will or may or could or won’t happen. Paths change, minds change, people change. She can’t always rely on them, except for the fact they’re always there. And they’re always pulling Alice out of her life.
Stuck in the future with a forgotten past, Alice can’t ignore the stories in her brain, the thoughts that push her away. An imperfect measure that holds up all she knows, and all she isn’t sure she can let go of.
They nearly destroyed her once, and she’s scared it’ll happen for good this time. Alice has to get better.
Stephanie meyer: I think sewers in 1600s London makes sense. I will do no reaserch and get very rich.
Fanfiction writers: if Carlisle stood in a northfacing second story window a few miles south of the thames, in what I have just learned would be Southwack, would the elevation be sufficient enough that he would be able to see the Thames river? I don’t know yet but I did find the most beautifully detailed map of 1680s London to drool over. I did also just learn that that area was marshlands in the middle ages, and all the topographical maps of the area seem pretty level so probably not, but I’m having fun so this needs at least three more hours of research tonight.
(It’s me I’m fanfiction writers)
It me.
And no but not because of the elevation, because of how the houses were built then. Most of them were four stories tall.
Summary: Sick of his life being dictated by the wolf inside, Paul Lahote is determined to keep one choice for himself and never imprint on anyone. But the wolf has different ideas
Warnings: Nothing I can think of, but let me know if there should be!
When I was a six-year-old, I was picnicking with my family and got stung on my neck, just below my ear. I reacted as any six-year-old would: a full-blown meltdown, which sparked the irritation of my parents. I sat in the car for an hour with nothing beyond my own conscience to console me.
As I stood in Sam and Emily’s kitchen, I watched the house swarm with the people of La Push, the majority of whom I’d never seen before in my life. But judging by the more than slightly hostile looks I was receiving, they knew precisely who I was.
And were preparing to sting.
If I’d been staying in a bedroom, I’d go inside and lock the door until everyone was gone, but unfortunately, the couch was the only thing I had a partial claim to, and that was currently less private than a public bathroom with no stalls.
Everyone grouped together in the living room, focusing on their conversations, and giving me a distinct impression I wasn’t welcome.
Frustration chugged through my chest like a malfunctioning train.
I searched the crowd of people, not willing to admit to myself who I was looking for.
Last night, when Paul and I finally arrived at Sam and Emily’s from Port Angeles, Paul hadn’t said anything before running into the dark woods as fast as his legs could carry him.
I tried to convince myself that I was really only irritated at the $19.99 plus tax I’d spent on a book that had yielded no answers, but if I was being honest, I was miffed that Paul didn’t give me a chance to ask if he was feeling better before deserting me completely.
No matter.
He was a grown adult who could take care of himself. He didn’t need a doctor, and he most certainly didn’t need me.
I busied myself with dragging one of the heavy dining room chairs into one corner of the living room. It was painstakingly slow work, and though the volume of conversation didn’t lower, I could feel the heavy stares of everyone watching me.
Ableist eggs.
Even the man in the wheelchair, the obvious queen bee, studied me with the air of an appraiser trying to decide if I belonged in a museum or a thrift store.
I’d finally managed to get the chair into a corner of the living room when the front door opened, and Paul walked in, dark eyes scanning the people in the room.
My hand lifted of its own accord, about to wave to get his attention, but I pulled it down again, chastising myself. He didn’t care about me and where I was sitting. Besides, he most likely knew everyone here and would rather sit with any one of them over me.
My assumption was confirmed as Paul immediately walked over to a group of chatting men, an easygoing smile on his face as they instantly included him in the conversation with claps on his shoulder. One of the men reached out to touch Paul’s stubby braid, and the shining beacon of pride in Paul’s face made me look away.
Everyone here had connections, and then there was me.
If I didn’t already want to break the bond and have no responsibility to these people, I would’ve after today.
“Anybody need anything to eat?”
I glanced over to see Emily in the kitchen, holding a platter of sandwiches up. It seemed she defaulted to making food in stressful situations. Clearly no one was complaining, judging by the way they swarmed her. Was it Emily’s status in the community that made her a more acceptable imprint? Or maybe it was the fact that she was a housewife?
Just then, the front door opened, and Jacob stepped into the house, holding hands with Renesmee.
I sucked in a breath. What on Earth was his thought process in bringing her, a half-vampire, to a house full of werewolves?
As I watched, Renesmee crossed the room, walking towards the man in the wheelchair. Then, she reached out her hand to touch the man’s shoulder.
Not only did he let her, but he covered her hand with his, smiling up at her. “Good to see you, Nessie.”
“You too, Billy.” And with that, she walked back to Jacob, and the two of them joined Paul’s conversation.
A half-vampire was more accepted here than I was.
I looked down at my brace. How was it possible to hate an inanimate object this much? But I was willing to bet anything that however much they hated it, I hated it more.
“Alright, if everyone can start to gather in the living room, we can get started!” Sam said.
I couldn’t keep myself from glancing at Paul.
He was already looking at me, a sight that sent off odd sparks in my chest. Before I could look away, he lumbered towards me, easily grabbing one of the other wooden chairs and lifting it with one hand.
“Y/N,” he said, neither antagonistic nor cordial, as he set the chair a good foot away from mine and sat.
“Paul,” I replied in the same indifferent tone.
Silence.
Awkward silence.
Awkward silence more painful to listen to than a hundred nails scratching an old chalkboard.
“Are you feeling better?” I finally asked. “After last night?”
Paul nodded, but didn’t say anything, refusing to throw me a proverbial bone.
I continued studying the people around us, pretending I didn’t see how rigidly set Paul’s arms and shoulders were. “Do you know what this meeting is for?”
Paul glanced around us before lowering his voice. “They don’t know about the vampire.”
Oh great.
If they didn’t know and they were all looking at me with judgment, how much worse would it get when they all found out that I was the vampire’s target? They might band together and run me out of the state.
“I feel so out of place,” I said quietly, surprising even myself at my volunteered vulnerability.
Paul smirked, and I chided myself for saying anything at all. He probably reveled in the knowledge I felt off-balance and couldn’t wait to crow about it.
“You’re my imprint,” he said, still looking amused. “Ironically, right here, beside me, with these people? It’s exactly where you belong.”
I glanced at the group of people nearest us who didn’t even bother to pretend they weren’t watching Paul and I. “Then why do I get the feeling like no one wants me here?”
Paul sighed, but with much less aggression than I’d come to expect from him. “You don’t live on the rez. They’re bound to be wary at first.”
I hadn’t thought about that.
With Paul imprinting on me, we were essentially an interracial couple, and I knew next to nothing about the cultural heritage of the Quileute tribe, even after having read about it in the book. It was one thing to read about a culture, a whole history in a book, and quite another to be thrown into the deep end of said culture.
I shook my head. I needed to get my head back in the game and my eye on the prize. “I wonder if any of these people have answers on how to break the bond.”
Paul scratched his neck, looking uncomfortable. “Well, even if the elders knew anything, they wouldn’t tell us.” He glanced off to the side towards the man in the wheelchair. “They’re already giving me the silent treatment since Sam told them what we’re doing.”
Oh. So my limp wasn’t the only reason I was getting the stares and silent treatment.
Somehow, that didn’t make me feel much better.
I straightened in my chair. “Well, this is where my charm comes in handy.”
Paul snickered, his body relaxing a bit. “Sure, you just ooze charm.”
I narrowed my eyes before softening my whole face. “Oh, I don’t know,” I said in an innocent voice, reaching out so my fingers brushed the outside of his forearm. Paul’s eyes snapped to my hand with a sharp inhale, and I waited for him to pull away, the same way he had when I’d touched his hand outside my apartment.
But he didn’t.
Not looking at his face and trying very hard not to think about how warm his skin was, I dragged my fingertips up towards his elbow. “Most people think me charming.”
Much to my delight, goosebumps erupted on Paul’s arm.
“I mean,” I said lightly as my fingers continued their path up to his bicep, “why else do you think I’m a successful doctor?”
Paul sucked in a shuddering breath, still not looking away from my hand.
“People just seem to find me very,” I leaned in close to him, lowering my voice, “agreeable.”
I’d only meant to tease him, to get him back for his comment, but the look on Paul’s face when I pulled away from him was like he’d never seen me before. Like I was an angel, a ray of light in a world of darkness. I meant to make him pay for his comment by laughing and turning away, but that look suddenly made me feel–
I withdrew my hand, letting out an awkward cough.
Lucky for me, before Paul could say or do anything, Sam walked in front of the group, drawing everyone’s attention. “Hello, thank you all for coming,” he said in his deep, authoritative voice. “Let’s not waste time. There’s a vampire in town.”
-
‘Impossible’ was never a word Paul liked to use.
Thankfully, since he’d become a werewolf, the word had grown much smaller.
But the moment he’d smelled her for the first time, the word had reared its ugly head alongside the wolf and multiplied faster than he was able to keep track of.
She was impossibly independent, and it was impossible to keep her from pursuing something she wanted. She was impossible to be rid of, impossible to pull away from, and impossible to think straight around.
When she’d leaned in, her breath tickling his ear, his heartbeat had skyrocketed, causing all sorts of feelings.
And yet he hadn’t been able to pull away.
Even now, as she sat beside him, all he wanted was to sit comfortably and maybe even pretend she wasn’t there.
But that was impossible.
-
“We think we know who the vampire is targeting, but this vampire has proven it will attack anyone, so you all should take precautions.” As Sam continued listing off ways to stay safe (buddy system, curfew, etc), the man in the wheelchair on the other side of the busy room looked directly at me, eyes narrowed. Refusing to back down, I held his gaze without breaking, not even when his eyes flickered to the brace on my knee.
Finally, the man lifted his chin slightly and returned his undivided attention to Sam.
“Who’s that?” I asked, leaning into Paul to point out the man.
Paul looked nervous. “Billy Black. Jacob’s father.”
“Is he one of the elders?”
His nervous look quickly turned suspicious. “Why do you want to know?”
“Is he?” I pressed.
“Yes, why?”
“Oh, gee, you don’t think that your best friend’s dad, a freaking elder, is the next resource we should utilize?”
“What happened to the book?”
“I read it and found nothing.”
Paul squinted. “You read the whole book in one night? Like, cover to cover?”
“I didn’t have anything else to do.” I expected Paul to make fun, but he merely faced Sam again with a carefully neutral expression. I elbowed him in the ribs. “The book was a dead end, so our next stop is Billy Black.”
“You are not going anywhere near him,” Paul said out of the side of his mouth.
“Is that for his good or my safety?”
“For my sanity,” he grumbled. “I can barely handle either of you on your own. The two of you in the same conversation? There’d be no survivors. The pair of you’d decimate the whole block.”
I couldn’t figure out how to answer that, so I focused on Sam just as Sam finished up the meeting. “Stay on your guard,” he said as his parting words.
The crowd stood up again, migrating towards the door. Emily stood in the kitchen, moving more platters of baked goods and sandwiches onto the table for people to grab as they walked past. Paul followed the people outside, slowing down his normally brisk pace so I could walk beside him.
I didn’t know a wheelchair could be carried as respectfully as a throne, but Paul and I watched two werewolves carry Billy Black’s wheelchair down the stairs with reverence beyond anything I’d ever seen.
Standing on the porch and lightly tapping my cane against the wood, I tried to keep my mouth shut as boys settled the wheelchair on the ground.
After Paul’s comment about being suspicious of people who didn’t live on the rez, I was starting to wonder about the culture I’d stumbled into. As much as I loathed the situation, I did not want to cross lines into disrespect.
But the bookstore had been a dead end. Paul himself said the werewolf gene ran in families, and Native American cultures had a custom of passing on knowledge and history orally. Logically, talking to an elder was the next step, and I was watching the best source of information wheel itself towards the van.
I couldn’t just do nothing. “Mr. Black!” I called, walking down the steps.
“What are you doing?!” Paul hissed, following me and reaching out a hand as if to grab my arm. “Are you out of your mind?!”
I silenced him with a sharp look, limping over to where Billy Black turned his chair around. “Do you mind if I ask you a couple of questions about–”
“I know what you want, child.” Billy crossed his arms. “I know what the two of you are trying to do.”
Beside me, Paul lowered his head, looking very ashamed.
I squared my shoulders, only more determined. “Mr. Black, I recognize that this is not traditional, and I am sincerely sorry if I’m coming off as disrespectful, but we want to break the imprint bond, and if anyone knows anything, it’ll be you.”
“Are you so ungrateful that you will reject life’s most important gift?”
I sunk my teeth into my tongue to keep myself from biting back. “Mr. Black–”
Billy scowled a way that implied he knew every thought in my mind and despised me for them. “The bond knows best. It put you together for a reason, even if that reason is not apparent to either of us.”
“And maybe that’s what we’ll discover,” I said as soothingly as I could manage. “But we still have to find that out for ourselves, right?”
Billy just glared at me.
I nearly lost my nerve, but when Paul shifted his weight between his feet, I was reminded again of our goal. “Sir, we are going to pursue this, with or without your blessing. Hunting for this kind of information could be very dangerous, and we could end up in serious trouble chasing after lunatic theories. But you can point us in a safe direction. Wouldn’t you rather we do this safely?”
Billy surveyed me with skepticism. I held my breath, waiting for him to shut me down, to deliver some powerful verbal blow and wheel himself away, believing himself superior.
“Kids these days,” he finally said under his breath, but with less malice than he’d said anything else. “I have a friend who knows more about the Quileute legends than anyone else. He lives by the Canadian border. Sam will know who I’m talking about. He has the address.”
I shot a victorious smile at Paul, who looked like he was questioning his own eyes and ears. “Know this,” Billy Black said harshly. “I do not approve of what you two are trying to do, and my friend will not either.”
And with that, he wheeled away.
Once the other elders had helped Billy into the car and the car pulled away, I turned to Paul. “We should–”
“No,” Paul said, more firmly than anything else I’d heard him say yet.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say!” I protested.
“You want us to go to the border to meet this guy, and we’re not going that far when there is still a vampire on the loose.”
“Well, it looks like you have your work cut out for you,” I shot back. “So hurry up and catch the vampire.”
Paul huffed. “You know, vampire hunting isn’t like catching butterflies.”
“I never said it was!”
“You are infuriating!” Paul marched away, talking darkly underneath his breath.
I watched him go, wishing no one else was around so I could shoot him a rude gesture while his back was turned. But Emily and Sam were standing on the porch with smirks on their faces as I limped up to the house.
“Lover’s spat?” Sam asked.
“Shut up,” I growled at him.
“Ah, don’t think we didn’t see the two of you whispering sweet nothings to each other the whole meeting,” Emily said slyly.
“Sweet nothings?” I spluttered, and the couple cracked up.
I debated setting the record straight, but they wouldn’t believe me anyways. And what if they also started treating Paul poorly because of their imprint bias? So I just rolled my eyes and went into the house, straight towards the bathroom.
I needed to splash some cold water on my face.
-
What had Paul done to deserve such torment?
Clearly he had done some great wrong for the universe to send him an imprint straight from hell. A vegetarian know-it-all with no patience or good sense. He gnashed his sharp teeth as he ran through the forest on his normal route, trying not to think about how she was irritating and nonsensical and nearly a thousand other horrid things.
Sam’s voice broke through his tirade of thoughts. Are you nearly done with your patrol?
Paul shook his head to bring his focus back to the present. With a start, he realized he was only halfway through his lap, when normally he would’ve been finished by now. No, I’m halfway.
He felt the alpha’s surprise through the bond.
I’m being thorough, okay?
The fact that Sam didn’t say anything told Paul he didn’t believe that.
Or I’m just having an off day, Paul tried again.
Sam still didn’t say anything.
Good riddance. Paul didn’t need anyone else’s approval of the truth to make it true.
-
“Blasted hunk of junk!”
I kicked my flat tire with my bad leg and immediately regretted it as pain shot up my knee. “Ouch!” I hissed.
I hobbled back to open my trunk, staring helplessly at the spare tire that was a third of my size and weighed 30 pounds at least. If I’d had two healthy legs, I’d easily be able to pull it out and roll it where I needed it, but I could barely stand with my cane.
Cursing so filthily my mother would’ve dropped whatever she was holding, I debated throwing my cane just to expel some anger.
All I’d been trying to do was go to work. After Paul shot down my only plan for how to break the imprint bond, the least I deserved was some time doing what I loved and what I was good at.
And another chance at trying to change Carlisle’s mind.
But in true me fashion, I’d successfully snuck away from the house only to get a flat tire halfway to the hospital.
I pulled out my phone.
No reception.
Perfect.
I stowed my phone back in my pocket, staring at the tire, wishing I could somehow fix it with my willpower.
A quiet huff among the trees behind me made me freeze.
The vampire.
After surviving my accident, after everything I’d done to make it to Forks, to seize with both hands my only chance at changing my life, here I was, about to die by the side of the road like a squirrel.
Well, I wouldn’t go down without fighting.
Moving slowly, I changed my grip on my cane, holding it like a weapon. Taking a deep breath to steady my nerves, I whirled around to face the red eyes of a vampire.
But it wasn’t a vampire.
It was a silver wolf, twice the size of my little car.
I’d never seen Paul’s wolf form, nor had he ever described it to me, so the wolf in front of me could just as easily be Jacob or Sam or any of the other werewolves. But I somehow knew with confusingly absolute certainty that it was Paul.
The wolf jutted his chin towards the car.
“I got a flat tire.”
The wolf snorted, and its eyes danced with unmistakable mirth.
I debated how he’d react if I threw my cane at him. “Don’t you dare laugh at me.”
The wolf inclined its head in a somewhat apologetic manner, but I could still see a smile tugging at its lips. Could wolves smile?
I came closer, walking around him, surveying the fur-clad body with great interest. I was beyond grateful that a wolf and his imprint didn’t have a mind reading bond the same way the pack did, because I didn’t need Paul to know that however conventionally attractive he was in person, his wolf form was even more striking.
The dark markings on his face accentuated his noble-looking eyes, his lean body practically giving off waves of assurance and power. His fur looked soft, and I barely just kept myself from reaching out to touch it.
I used to think vampires were the most powerful creatures on Earth. But looking at Paul, it was hard to imagine something my size having any sort of chance against him.
“You didn’t tell me that werewolves are much larger than normal ones,” I said, struggling to sound as sure of myself as I normally did. “Wolves are normally four feet tall? Five feet?” I completed my circle, looking him in the eyes. “You must be, what, twice that?”
Paul shifted in place, like he was uncomfortable with me observing him so closely. Or maybe just antsy.
“I bet you’re faster than a car too.”
Paul craned his neck to look at me, jutting his chin out towards the car once he got my attention. He let out an inquisitive breath, and I felt the overwhelming urge to look away, because I knew exactly what he was asking and how he’d feel about it.
“I was going to work.” His eyes turned reproachful. “I know, I know, but I’m going stir crazy at Sam and Emily’s, and Carlisle’s probably there too, so I’d be fine.” A growl came from deep in the wolf’s throat, and I rolled my eyes. “Fine, fine, I’ll go back to Sam and Emily’s, will you just shift and help me change this tire?”
Paul’s tail twitched, and he ducked his head, his ears flattening against his head.
“You’re embarrassed about shifting? Why?” Paul shifted one of his back legs, and it was then that I noticed the fabric tied to his leg with a cord. “Why do you have–” Then it dawned on me. The reason the pack walked around in human form with no shirts or shoes on all the time. “Ohhh, your clothes don’t shift with you, do they?” When Paul still didn’t meet my eye, I had to stifle a laugh.
That got his attention. A low rumble of displeasure came from him.
“You do realize I work in the medical field, right? That I see people naked all the time?”
Paul huffed and lumbered away into the trees, out of sight.
“Wait, where are you going?” I started to follow, but walking uphill after him was nearly impossible, especially with the wild grass and plants. “Oh, come on, you can’t just desert me for not being shy!”
A human Paul emerged from the trees. “I’m not deserting you.”
For all my teasing about seeing Paul’s body, seeing him shirtless for the first time made me a bit tongue-tied. The defined ripples of the muscles in his torso made the cool forest air suddenly a little too warm.
It must’ve been seeing him in his wolf form that had me so focused on the way his body looked. That was the only reason. If I hadn’t seen his wolf form, I would’ve been at my normal annoyance level with Paul, regardless of his lack of a shirt.
He walked tall and proud, like not a thing on the Earth could cause him to crumble. I had to keep my mouth from falling open as he easily lifted the heavy tire from my trunk with one hand. With the other, he lifted out a toolbox, which I had no idea was even in my trunk at all.
The muscles clearly weren’t just for show, even if it was a thoroughly enjoyable show.
Just like with vampires, the signs of a werewolf were clear, if one bothered to look close enough. The inhuman strength, the protective instincts, the unparalleled intensity, the persistent mystery, it all added up. But the imprint bond was supposed to bring together soulmates.
So how could someone as mythical and strong as him be paired with someone as weak and broken as me?
“You’re lucky that I found you,” Paul said, standing up and wiping his dirty hands on his shorts. “You could’ve been stuck here for hours.”
“I would nothave been stuck for hours.” The retort just slipped through my lips like butter. Why couldn’t I just say thank you and move on?
All my gratitude evaporated as Paul turned to face me, a patronizing smile tugging at his mouth. “Oh, yeah, cinnamon sugar?”
Ignoring the nickname jab, I folded my arms, my cane getting awkwardly tangled up in my hands. “Yes.”
“Oh right, I’m sure you would’ve used your famous charm to convince the vampire to change your tire and let you go instead of killing you and drinking your blood.”
I scoffed. “No, I would have eventually called for help or even changed it myself.” I was just thanking my lucky stars that Paul didn’t know there was no reception when it happened.
Paul’s eyes darted down to my knee.
I hadn’t thought about how I’d never seen him look at my brace until he looked at it with the same expression everyone did, the same judgment of what I was capable of.
“Don’t do that,” I mumbled, hating myself for sounding so vulnerable.
Paul looked confused. “Don’t do what?”
“Look at my knee.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Why do you always care so much about where I’m looking?”
“I don’t,” I replied automatically, stepping away from him to go towards my car, fighting once again to act as confident as I normally did, to remain as blasé as I wanted to.
“You’re not even going to thank me for changing your tire?” Paul called after me. “For saving you hours of stress and quite possibly getting stranded in rain?
I spun around. “Oh, please, keep enjoying my incapability and lording it over my head.”
Paul let out a strangled noise, looking like I’d just condemned his very existence. “Do I really strike you as the sort of person who gives a crap about what you can and can’t do?”
A memory came to mind: of struggling up the stairs of the apartment complex and Paul calling me a cripple in garner sympathy from the landlord. I scoffed, leaning my weight on my cane for balance. “Well, clearly you do, since you want to break this bond so badly.”
I might as well have hit him over the head with my cane with how shocked he looked. Then, surprise quickly turned to thunder. He advanced towards me, coming so close, I had to crane my neck to look into his face. “You think…” One of his hands lifted. For a moment, I thought he was going to caress my cheek, but he clenched his hand and lowered it back down to his side. “You think I want to break the bond because of your limp?”
I folded my arms, feeling exposed by his state of undress, as if I was the one half dressed. “I knowthat that’s why you want to break it.”
His eyes narrowed. “It’s not about the limp!”
“I’ve met people like you before,” I jabbed a finger into his bare chest. “I run into people like you all the time. Of course, someone ableist like you thinks it’s a curse to imprint on someone defective like me.”
“Someone like me?” Paul scowled, pushing my hand away. “Well, what about someone like you? Someone who refuses help, who acts as judge, jury, and executioner? You judge everyone and push them away before they can even have a chance at showing you who they really are.”
“Says the man who wanted to be free of me the moment he laid eyes on me.”
Paul threw his hands in the air. “Even if I’d tried to be close to you, you never would’ve let me!”
“Of course I wouldn’t have let you!” I snapped, hating the tears that welled up in my eyes. “I didn’t ask to get claimed in some antiquated, creepy werewolf ritual!”
Paul made a hissing noise. “Do you delight in making everythingimpossible?!”
“Me, making things impossible? You’re the one who keeps avoiding me like lava and delaying our mission to break the bond! If you really want to be rid of having a soulmate who limps, the next step is clear!”
“Wanting to be rid of you has nothing to do with that, and everything to do with you!”
If he’d have thrown the flat tire at me with all his might causing me to fall on the road and get hit by a car, it would’ve hurt less than that comment did.
He clearly realized he’d gone too far, his face immediately apologetic. “Okay, listen–”
I stormed back towards my car.
“That’s not what I meant!” he called after me.
I didn’t acknowledge him as I flung my car door open.
“Y/N!”
The desperation in his voice tugged at my chest, and I almost looked back at him. But then his comment sunk in, and I angrily shook my head. I slid inside my car before driving away in the direction of the hospital, leaving him to grow smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror.
-
Paul flung open the door to his house.
Jacob was standing in the entryway, arms crossed. “Where the hell have you been?” he demanded. “And why are you all wet?”
Paul grabbed the dish towel on the counter and started wiping himself down with it. “I got caught in the rain.”
“Well, why didn’t you shift?”
“Sue me for wanting some privacy,” Paul snapped, glaring at Jacob, unwilling to admit that he hadn’t wanted the pack to find out about his fight with Y/N.
“Geez, what’s wrong with you?”
Paul whirled around, throwing the towel down and getting in Jacob’s face. “I’m not in the mood, Jake! Just leave me alone!” He shoved past him, walking towards the bathroom for a shower.
“The full moon’s coming up.”
Paul froze.
A full moon.
Paul slowly spun to face Jacob, struggling to breathe. “When?”
“Two days from now.”
Paul stretched out a hand to lean against the wall, trying to get his thoughts in order.
A full moon.
A time when his inhibitions were lowered, and the wolf was in control. He wouldn’t be able to stop it, and he knew exactly what was the center of the wolf’s desires.
Or, rather, who.
“I can’t even imagine how much you’ve been suppressing the wolf, so for a full moon to be around the corner…” Jacob slid his hands into his pockets. “You need to have a plan in place.”
Paul covered his face with his hands, trying to remain calm.
A wolf wanted to serve, protect and love it’s imprint, but Paul had been vehemently mashing down all the wolf’s desires and suggestions when it came to Y/N. Come the full moon, the wolf could very well be in such a frenzy to get close to her, to prove itself to her, that it didn’t care about what she wanted at all.
“Paul, if we don’t figure something out, I can’t imagine what the wolf will do with Y/N.”
Paul looked at his friend, narrowing his eyes. “I thought you wanted us together.”
“I do.” Jacob sighed and leaned against the counter. “But with how much you’ve been suppressing the wolf’s urges? You might have no control over the wolf, and there is no telling what the wolf will do as soon as you have no control.”
Paul swallowed hard, trying to push against the images that rose up in his head.
Images of being close to her, holding her, even…even kissing her.
Images that most certainly didn’t come from him.
The image that did come from him was Emily’s face, the scars that ripped through her features. Thanks to the pack telepathy, Paul knew exactly how much agony Sam was still in, thanks to losing control of the wolf around his wife. Sam was the reason Emily had to deal with the same type of stares that Y/N was so sensitive to.
He couldn’t be responsible for causing Y/N harm like that, not with the trauma she already carried.
Jacob was right.
He had to come up with a plan, or he could very well be responsible for something he couldn’t come back from.
“What do you suggest, since you’ve given this some thought?” Paul asked.
Jacob shifted his weight between his feet. “You’re not going to like it.”
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