The Indian Bride
Chapter 1:
"Stop with the pining man. It's getting old.'' Jared loved his best pal but the constant pining was getting on his nerves.
Paul had imprinted after a long time and after most of the pack had. It was no secret that he had wanted to find his mate. As most of the pack imprinted somewhere Paul lost hopes that he would imprint. He was after all the hot head and manwhore as the pack and most of his acquaintances knew him. He thought the spirits didn't think him worthy of an imprint since most pack mates and elders thought of imprints as a gift to the wolves.
He had watched for a long time from the sidelines as his brothers met their better halves and wooed them, spend time with them and ultimately settled down with them. He watched as the pack tried to unsuccessfully wait for all the pack mates to be imprinted before they started their families but it didn't happen. Although they did delay for the longest period possible. Sam and Emily being the first to get pregnant and now they had a chubby 2 year old boy Levi and by the way they were going at it, it won't be long before they had another cub.
Paul had ached for this for a long time and now when it had happened...well let's just say it wasn't exactly how he had imagined it. Sam, Emily, Jared, Kim were going for a double date when they decided to invite Paul along. They were always doing that because they didn't want their brother to feel left out and since Paul had secluded himself a little and wasn't exactly going out too much they convinced him that staying indoors was definitely the wrong way to hope for an imprint.
What they didn't realize was that these outings had the opposite effect on him. Instead of perking up he felt even more desperate as he watched Sam and Jared interact with their wives and each time he still sat alone or staring discretely at the women around him in hopes of imprinting. But then one day his imprint, his future literally landed in his lap!
They were all at a fancy restaurant, eating, talking and generally having a nice time when Paul had just finished his meal and was relaxing back in his chair when a petite short haired brunette landed in his lap. She had been shoved playfully by the girl accompanying her and had landed sideways in his lap.
The moment her dark brown eyes met his own, he was lost. The description that he had seen in his brothers minds didn't do justice to the feeling of utter bliss that he felt. The fireworks, the feeling of losing connection to everything he held dear, of being shattered completely only to be put together by strong, magical bond that he now shared with the small, slender brown eyed girl in his arms. He was so lost that he could only stare as she appeared to be flustered and apologized before being dragged by the same girl who had pushed her, in the other direction. Only when he realized that she was walking away from him that he reacted by growling and trying to move towards her but Sam and Jared anticipating this move quickly got a strong hold on him and dragged him outside leaving Kim and Emily to quickly settle the bill before following them.
He growled and pushed, pulled and punched but his brothers knew better than to let him go. Sam ultimately had to alpha order him to calm down and he forcibly did. And then he ran off into the woods shredding his clothes. Sam wanted to go after him but Jared decided that Paul may not appreciate any more orders and they may not be effective either since an imprint was involved, Paul's no less.
Everybody knew Paul was more in touch with his wolf than any of the others and over time he had allowed his wolf to take over him at times when the loneliness got too much for him. That made the wolf even stronger and Paul too had gotten bigger and more muscled after one such escapade where he had gone wolf for a whole month living in the wild and not really communicating with the pack wanting, needing the isolation and not having to hear happy and sappy thoughts about others lives.
And so Jared took off after his best friend while Sam took the ladies back to the truck and drove home.
Jared wolfed out too and located Paul soon enough. Paul had just lashed out at Colin and Brady asking them to phase out and leave him alone when they had tried to congratulate him on the imprint. Jared caught upto him and playfully nudged his head onto Paul's. Although angsty and upset Paul could not find it in himself to get mad at Jared after all he was the only one who completely understood his friend and even vowed not to have kids until Paul did so their kids could grow up together like they had.
Paul's thoughts were jumbled. He didn't really know what to think. Yes he had finally imprinted but he didn't even talk to her. How was he going to last when he had nothing to latch onto. Jared nudged him again and tried to communicate his feelings of joy and celebration and how Paul should just celebrate today and they would sort out things soon. They always did. Jared played in his mind how they could go back to Seattle over the weekend and try to locate her. They would cover all of Seattle and look in every nook and corner until they found her he promised.
Paul felt a little better seeing how Jared was willing to do this for him but he could already feel the pull of the imprint and it was begging him to return to her. To feel her in his arms again, to smell her , to keep her close and never let go. He couldn't understand how the alpha command worked on him at that time. He gathered that his wolf would have sensed that he was not really in a condition to actually have a decent conversation with her at that point of time. And the last thing he wanted was to scare her away. He had waited too long for this he was not going to screw this up. No. He would be the perfect gentleman. He would be what she needed him to be, Wasn't that the whole point of having an imprint? Being what they needed you to be not what they wanted but what they needed.
But who was he kidding. The feel of her skin against his however brief had enchanted him, addicted him. The briefness only heightening his desire to feel her against him again. Her eyes... the brown orbs entranced him. The laughter, mirth he saw in them called out to him. The more he thought about his imprint and their short meeting, if you could even call it that, had him on the edge and throughout the week he kept repeating their encounter endless times in his mind. His wolf anxious to meet their mate again. To see that she was safe after all she was tiny, so vulnerable to the harsh world. His wolf seethed at the thought of harm coming her way. No. He would keep her safe always and forever. NO harm would come to her.
And with these thoughts he was left alone to patrol or rather to run off his frustrations. No other pack member was ready to face the wrath of Paul when they so much as thought about his girl. His girl. Nobody elses. Only his to love and protect.
Now he was left once again in the company of his bestie who was probably the only one who was willing to share mind space with him. He got Paul's attention saying that they should turn in for the night cause tomorrow was Friday and at night they would be heading off to Seattle once again to search for is girl. Jared would rather wait till Saturday morning but he knew that was not going to happen what with Paul already clawing his fur out. And so they parted for the night.