Swaying of Interest Chapter 1: A Male Model Stares Me Down
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
A/N: For a first chapter, this is extremely short. As the chapters increase, so will the length. This was a little under 3,000 words. My average is somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000 words. I hope you like this! It's definitely a bit different than the average. There is much in store to this :)
Blake's POV
"LaPush? Forks? I've never heard of these names," I scoffed.
"These people," Director Jones spat, "have evaded every other detective we've sent there. It's your job as an FBI agent to uncover their secrets. There have been many wild reports and rumors. In the name of the United States of America, we cannot have something going on that we don't know of." I blinked blankly, looking over our futile pieces of evidence.
"It's what I do," I smirked cockily. I hadn't been assigned a case that was unsolvable.
"It better be. No more of your incidents," he snorted my way, sipping on his black coffee. He referred to my last two cases where uncovering it cost millions to the government. In all actuality, I did keep a terrorist group from forming. "This is it, Blake Raine. You killed a man. If you don't do well for this, you are going to jail." My breath fizzled out of my throat. I saw this coming; I had for months. On my last assignment, a person raised his gun during a huge town gathering. I thought he was going to blow up a bomb so I shot him. In truth, he was only starting the track competition, though he was still part of the speculated group under investigation.
Now I was sent on a hopeless mission.
"Why can't I take him? Why can't any of us?" Paul slammed his hand on the desk, causing the social worked to nearly jump out of her skin. Theo sat quietly off to the side staring at his hands.
"You are unfit with built up anger. Sam and Emily have too many negative influences running around. Kim and Jared only graduated from high school last year. Sue, Charlie, and anyone else are too old to be caring for such a 'on the move' teenager," she grumbled awkwardly. Paul wanted to punch her. She wanted to take Theo away from the only place he stayed out of trouble.
Theo had been moved around from New York all the way to Seattle, with many different stops in between moving him closer and closer each time back to his hometown. He was put in a boarding school with a sister he never met when he was barely born, meant for kids like them, in New York. She got them kicked out and separated forever. Theo had just arrived in LaPush two months ago where he finally found out where his anger came from. He phased into the Uley Pack where Paul took him under his wing. Nobody knew Paul had a soft side until he arrived and nobody felt compelled to mention it to Paul. Everyone saw how well the two affected each other, everyone except the social worker.
"Now," she sighed, sifting through papers, "since his latest foster parents refuse to house him, he will be moved into a group home in Bellingham, Washington, which is a ways north of Seattle. We pick Theo up in two days." Theo looked frantically to Paul. He was the only person who had ever seen him actually wear the look of fear, normally because Paul could help. Not this time.
Sam gathered all the wolves together the next day. Paul hadn't had any sleep, trying to find a solution to Theo's situation. Everyone else had accepted it and Theo decided he just had to stop phasing. Only Paul knew he wasn't strong enough emotionally no matter how determined he was. Now they had another situation. Emily nudged Sam to get the ball rolling. "Look, there's an investigator trying to prod her way into LaPush. She interested in us, particularly our secrets," Sam paced the floor. "We have to be very guarded. Don't, under any circumstances, come close to the tree line until you back to human. Go to school regularly for the ones who do and, dammit, don't get into any fights."
"She wants to live here?" Kim voiced uncertainly. "Isn't this only for Quileute's?"
"If we give her permission she can, but otherwise she can't. Though she claims to have Quileute blood in her family line, it will take months for her to prove it since she doesn't know her birth parents," Sam nodded. He didn't sound very hopeful. Paul hadn't been listening until then. An idea sparked in his mind.
"Wait, what if-?" Paul spoke but Jared cut him off.
"Paul, can we focus on this?" he complained, elbowing his friend and glancing towards Theo. He stood looking out the window with a sullen face. "Bringing it up doesn't help."
"No," Paul shoved his way to the front of the living room. "We can't solve this. One way or the other, the bitch is going to live here. Why don't we gain something from it?" A grin spread across his lips. Theo turned around when he heard the hopeful expression. Paul nodded. "She works for the FBI so any social worker has to approve of her."
"I don't see where this is going, Paul," Sam questioned. Theo grew an angry glare. They did anything they could to get him to stay, but what good would it do if he hated his foster parents again?
"We let her live here as long as she fosters Theo." All heads snapped to him. Nobody breathed. Could they do that? Would it be ethical? They sure as hell would find out.
Though I couldn't yet live in LaPush, I could reside in Forks. There was another family under investigation, but they weren't the big culprits. They were the Cullen Family. One meeting with Dr. Cullen and I knew I'd have to save them for later. He was too kind to pry into their family just yet. Instead, I journeyed onto First Beach. I worked five out of the seven days of the week. The weekends were my days off, but I never took them. It was better to get it done and over with so I caused the community as little pain as possible. It was always during these times that the dirty secrets unusual to me yet life-threatening to others came out. Normally it was the cheaters who were founded out.
My phone buzzed as I strolled along the beach, forming whom to talk to first and last. "Hello, Chief Swan," I chuckled. We had met before when he welcomed me into town. "How are you today?"
"What? Oh, I'm fine," he grumbled. I could image working beside that guy. Though he was awkward, he always brought a smile to my lips every sentence. He constantly talked about Bella and her family and how they could never hide anything. Every time he sweated right through his shirt. That confirmed the suspicions that something odd was going on in that family, though they couldn't be terrible. Charlie cleared his throat. "You may want to take a hold on your lawyer."
"Why?" I asked, shoving my toes into the grainy sand. It was chilly around this time but I loved it. The air briskly whipped across my face smelling of woods. It was familiar, but finally it didn't bring back a bad memory of my childhood. If I could keep this happy, content feeling within me, it would be a good move. The best way to do that was to have my adopted mother, also my lawyer, not come across country to stay for a few months by my side while we got the court settled.
"The elders of LaPush have a compromise. If you do something for them, they may grant your permission to stay there," he paused for a moment before adding in emphasis. "Away from the Cullen's." I chuckled. That Charlie.
"Yes Charlie, I'm sure we'd all like that very much. Thank you," I hung up after getting their number. Oddly enough, I was texted to meet them. In my business, you could get anything. I wasn't exactly scared to meet these Elders, but I knew they had close connections to those under analysis. If this group was in any way dangerous, it may have not been smart to join them for a lunch, but of the rumors I heard, none had said they were in the least bit dangerous.
As I pulled up in my jeep to the quaint house, I got another call. This one I dreaded. If I walked in first, I had an excuse to hang up. "Mother, I'm doing business," I growled. I loved my mother. She was the best woman I've ever met. She adopted me after only living with me for two weeks. She saved me, but she is also very nosey, something I took from her. That being said, I was professionally pushy. Mom just liked to her about everyone's personal relationships and whatnot. Still, she was the best lawyer I knew.
"Yes, yes, now what is the meaning of this message? I shouldn't fly down and settle my baby in?" she gasped in offense.
"Give me five minutes and I may have it settled," I knocked cautiously at the door. She began on a ramble. My heart thudded louder every second I waited for the door to open. When it did, I wasn't met with whom I expected. "I've got to go. Cancel the flight!" A young man smirked my way before opening the door fully. "I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be meeting someone by the name of Old Quil?" Odd names they had.
"He's an old bat," the man of about nineteen snorted. "I'm young Quil, but people just call me Quil." I knew I remembered that baby face from somewhere. Recognition flashed upon my face and I smiled slightly.
"Yes, that's right! Quil Ateara. Grandson of the tribal elder, Old Quil," I automatically rambled off. The flight was long. I read files, a lot. "I'm Andromeda Raine, but please, call me Blake."
"Okay…" he trailed off. Yes, I probably freaked him out. Not many people knew your life story before even meeting you. "Guys, the freak's here!" Yep, he just confirmed my assumption. When I walked further into the living room, I saw many of familiar faces from my files. Actually, there was only two missing. Collin and Brady weren't there, but everyone else seemed to be. I only took a quick glimpse though.
"Mrs. Freaky at your service," I blushed. Heck, if I kept arranging meetings like this, I wouldn't even need to live in LaPush. My job could be over with quickly and I'd have my comfy, secure position back. "I'm not seeing an Old Quil, Sue Clearwater, or Billy Black here."
"How would you know?" a person I believed to be Leah snorted. She was the only female under intense investigation.
"Leah, I know everyone," I beamed brightly. Normally, I'd go undercover for jobs like this, but this one was special. I was the only other person who had been sent on a mission like this. It worked not unlike the way cops can search a business. I would question them here and there, get associated in the town, snoop around a lot, and talk to neighbors. Most of the time, people of the community loved gossiping the rumors. "It seems like you want to get things started head on. I'd be happy to…"
A big bulky man cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Nobody appreciates your arrival," he grumbled. He radiated power that would normally scare people in my position. I was used to people like him though. "But we have decided that you can help us out as well."
"Why do you say that, Sam?" I stepped forward with a warm smile. Acting was all the part of the job. "Do you have something to hide?"
"Look here Princess," a booming voice interceded. I curled my hands into fists, nearly crushing my phone. Nicknames weren't something I was fond of, especially that one. "You are damn lucky we-," he cut off as I finally whipped my eyes to his.
There stood amongst many shirtless, fit men, a man that stood out. His tan complexion looked amazing on his bulging muscles. Thickly built, he stood 6'3" tall and had a natural sneer on his face that made my stomach flutter. Wispy hair topped him, but my favorite features, save his mouth-watering arm muscles, were his eyes. They were a deep, rich chestnut that held my gaze for way to long. His name was Paul. A previously unnoticed haze in my mind suddenly vanished. I was left with a cool, easy breeze after the storm feeling. Everything, for the moment, was at piece.
In my line of work, I need things to not be at peace. So, as usual, my entire life was never at piece, not for long at least. Still, as I tried to tear my eyes away from the rich chocolate eternities, a genuine smile tried creeping on my face. I smacked it away and came to my senses, clearing my throat. To my astonishment, Paul Lahote, playboy of the pack and a ball of anger – or that's what the papers tell me – fell to his knees in front of me with a grin as wide as it came. Somehow, I didn't find that odd at all.
"What's he doing?" My head snapped back into reality. A kid that seemed to hold as much anger as Paul did on his shoulders pushed to the front of the space. I was puzzled. Who was he? Obviously, he should be on the list to investigate, but I had never seen his face before, though a slight memory tugged in the back of my head. Surely I just misplaced my information.
"I'm sorry," I blushed and scooted around Paul, who's head seemed to follow me even as he came back to his feet. I stretched out my hand. "I believe I don't know your name, young man. Who are you?" A plastered a smile to my lips but for the first time ever meeting a suspect, it was genuine, though the boy had little to nothing to do with it.
"Theo," he grunted but didn't touch my hand. A loud splintering crash sounded behind me. Moving away from the awkward greeting, I spun around just in time to see Paul slam the door shut so hard it cracked. To the right was a hole in the wall as large as his fist. In the matter of my two-second absence, what made him so mad?
"Is that normal?" I questioned. Nobody answered as they looked between the door and me. I didn't do anything. I was supposed to be professional during my job, but hey, I was off today, right? "Dammit, would somebody tell me why I'm here? I have better things to do than witness Bigfoot get angry." Somebody laughed dryly, but at least I knew they weren't dead.
Nobody else made a noise. This was stupid. I felt like an idiot for even trying to settle this on my own. "I'll see you in court."
"How was I supposed to know you'd turn into statues?" Paul growled. "That is in no way my fucking fault! Blame my truly idiotic genes!"
"He's going to get us found out," Jake shoved Paul roughly. "We just escaped a battle and now we have to go into hiding?" Paul shoved him into a tree.
"Kill her! I don't want this," he sneered. Those words hurt his lips to say, a stinging pain forming. In truth, he wanted to kill himself. Imprinting was the absolute last thing on his bucket list.
"Don't say that," Quil argued. "This may help us."
"By getting us dissected? Great help, Quil," Jared snorted. Paul's anger grew. They were mad at him? Couldn't he be mad? He just imprinted. That word was vile. Soon his entire nature would change into a soft, lovesick fool. Instead of getting laid, he'd be satisfied with a hug. Porn was ruined for him. His life would be devoted to what she wanted. Among everything he would have to break up with his insanely hot girlfriend though half her body was either fake or cut off, and he also found her at a stripper's bar. On second thought, that didn't sound terrible anymore to him.
"He'll make her love him so much that she can't do anything to hurt him," Quil grinned at his idea. Sam's head finally snapped up from his stupor.
"That's not a bad idea," he mused. Jake still held Paul against a tree. Did everyone think it was such a good idea?
"Yes, it is!" Paul roared as his body shook. He didn't try to fight it off as he phased on top of Jake, snarling and growling, ready to tackle Jake. There was pity in Jake's eyes, maybe that was the reason he finally shifted and fought Paul. Although, it could have been that he was still angry. Either way, the two fought long and hard, eventually releasing Paul's steam, but not his hatred. His revulsion of imprinting ran as deep as it came and he planned on it staying there.
A/N: I don't normally cut the scenes so short. This was just to get it all rolling. There's not much of an exposition, but we all know basically what the pack life is so I just like jumping into it.