At First Glance

Sweet Little Mary Sue

Synopsis: Delilah Quinn has come to the Quileute reservation to stay with her grandmother's best friend, a woman intent on acting as a matchmaker. She thinks that Lilah would be the perfect woman for her nephew, who lacks the social graces to attract any eligible females on his own, but what she didn't count on was an ill-mannered wolf taking an interest in Lilah himself...an interest that cannot, and will not, be denied. But will he be able to persuade Lilah to feel the same for him, when she is determined that there isn't a man in existence who she would ever permit to own any part of her?

Disclaimer: I'm sure that everyone is already aware of the fact that Stephenie Meyer wrote the Twilight series, just as you're aware of the fact that I'm hijacking her characters for my own nefarious purposes...but for all those who have been living under a rock, or for those who aren't all that bright...and for legal purposes...I own nothing, aside from my OC and those she brings into the story with her.

Author's Note: The imprint storyline is far from original, but I wanted to give it a try for myself. There's not a lot that's known about Paul, aside from his temperament, so I'll be making him my own. I'll do my best to keep him as much in character as I know how to, with what I have to work with. *Also, I know that in the novels it is specified that the wolves can only hear one another's thoughts while they are in their wolf form, but I have made it where they can at all times, if they choose to do so.*

Warnings: This story is rated M for violent outbursts, swearing of one type or another, sexual innuendo and eventual lemony smut.

Chapter One

Just What I Needed

Lilah's POV

The kitchen in my honorary Auntie Mary's home was bustling with activity and filled with the spicy scent of the chili bubbling on the stovetop. It was customary for the guest of honor, that was me, to sit back and relax while others prepared a welcoming meal, but I had been encouraged to cook for everyone, no doubt to display my culinary talents to the eligible men in the area, and had reluctantly agreed, assembling a massive pot of chili, which was the star attraction, along with a huge pan of cornbread and a peach cobbler for dessert.

It hadn't occurred to me that there would be so many guests in attendance, people I didn't know, had never seen before, but even when Mary had told me the number I'd felt confident that if I doubled my basic recipes I would have enough, but Mary had insisted that I quadruple the number, making me wonder if the guests had bottomless pits instead of ordinary stomachs resting within their bodies.

Mary and a nice lady named Sue Clearwater hurried through the cramped space, joking and laughing while they readied plates and bowls for the crowd that seemed too large for Mary's tiny house, owing more than likely to the monstrous sized men who each took the time to pass by the kitchen, sniffing the air and doling out compliments and jokes in equal ratios. Good grief...did their parents give them fertilizer along with their formula when they were infants or what?

The one downer on what would otherwise have been a fun evening was Mary's nephew Sonny, a short, roly-poly weirdo amongst those who were quite possibly the most virile men I'd ever seen. I don't know why he was convinced that I was interested in him, or that my supposed infatuation with him was the reason that I was staying with his Aunt Mary, rather than her recent health problems, and a request from my own grandmother, who had been the best of friends with Mary for over twenty years, but he seemed to be suffering from an overabundance of self-confidence.

Even worse were the glances that Mary kept sending my way, the ones that said that she thought it was absolutely wonderful that her creepy nephew was standing in the corner of the kitchen, staring at me, with his eyes glazed over and his mouth hanging open a half inch or so. It was so bad that I fully expected drool to drop out at any moment and I resolutely kept my eyes on the stove, hoping both Sonny and Mary would take the hint and leave me alone.

"I've never seen anything more mouthwatering," the leering weirdo in the corner said, in what he probably considered a come-hither tone of voice, but was actually just a disgusting attempt at a clever double-entendre. "I can hardly wait to taste it."

Oh, gag...It took every ounce of self-control that I possessed to stifle the urge to upchuck into my chili, but I managed. Did he really think that I was going to be flattered by his idea of flirting? And if that wasn't bad enough, it was obvious that Mary thought that he was doing well, and that if I didn't feel complimented by her nephew's creepiness yet, that I would be soon, if the satisfied smile on her face was any indication.

I wanted to let him know exactly what I thought of his comments, but at the same time I didn't want to cause a scene and decided that it would be best if I just kept my thoughts to myself. The scents of the cornbread and the cobbler joined the chili and consciously keeping the fact in mind that I had a pervert eyeballing me I bent to open the oven door, doing my best not to display my backside or my cleavage to him. The cornbread was a golden brown all over and the cobbler was bubbling and I removed them one after another from the oven, placing them on the wood topped island in the center of the kitchen, sidestepping one of the gigantic guys who'd filled the house as I did so, my face flushing red as I stepped on his foot.

"I'm sorry," I said, though he was the one who'd been in the way. In my haste to remove my weight from his foot I nearly lost my balance and I felt my blush deepen as his huge...and strangely hot...hands grabbed hold of my shoulders, righting me before I ended up sprawled in the floor of the kitchen.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?"

His voice was almost a growl in my ear, an angry growl that raised my hackles, making me experience a painfully acute awareness of his masculinity and indignation from his rudeness, along with the teensiest bit of fear, the latter being the one emotion that made me see red.

I was tempted to jerk away from him, an action that would have no doubt caused me even more embarrassment, considering the fact that in doing so I would more than likely fall down, besides which, I found that I couldn't make him budge, no matter how much I struggled against him.

"I was doing just fine until you got under my feet," I hissed, the trepidation that had made me so angry growing stronger, making me even more furious. "Maybe you're the one who should watch where you're going."

I bristled when I heard his snort of laughter, trying once more, unsuccessfully of course, to pull away from him, but he held me still against his body, freeing one of his hands from my shoulder to cup my chin, raising my face so that I was looking into his eyes. I had seen my fair share of good-looking men throughout my life, quite a few of them I'd just met this night, as a matter of fact, but none had been quite as striking as the one staring down into my eyes.

His eyes had been dancing mirthfully and he'd been on the verge of answering me, a retort that would no doubt cause my temper to flare out of control, but whatever he'd wanted to say seemed to flee his mind as he looked at me. His eyes seemed to change in that instant, widening with disbelief and then the moment changed from him looking at me into one where he was looking in me, baring all my hopes and dreams, catching a glimpse at each beat of my heart...seeing me in a way that no one ever had before and I didn't like it...not one damn bit.

"Well, shit," he muttered and a reverie, a magic that had rooted us to that spot took hold, and he slowly removed his hand from my shoulder, but the hand that was still beneath my chin stayed where it was for a moment longer as he ran the pad of his thumb over my lips. He seemed torn between the desire to flee and the need to stay right where he was; a conflict that I could understand because I was feeling a bit mystified as well.

"Can't you see that you scared the poor girl half to death?"

Mary's voice broke through the trance holding us captive and he swiftly removed his hand from my chin, backing away from me, his eyes never leaving mine as he did so. I was aware of the fact that the kitchen, which had been alive with the hustle and bustle of a large get-together had grown quiet, deathly so, and everyone was transfixed on the drama playing out before them.

"Paul, I'm glad that you're here with the others to welcome Delilah, but if you can't find the ability to behave yourself then I'm afraid that I'll have to ask you to leave."

I winced at the use of my hated name, Delilah, but the grimace was quickly trumped by a smile because I found it hilarious that Mary was scolding this man who dwarfed her as though he was a small child. The situation was made even more humorous by the look that came over his face, one that spoke volumes about the fact that he was behaving himself, which was the only reason that he hadn't told her to go to hell.

"I didn't mean..." he whispered, completely ignoring Mary and everyone else in the room. "What I mean to say is that I never...I hadn't expected...dammit...I'm sorry, okay?"

He turned and hurried from the room, leaving me, along with everyone else, completely bewildered. I wasn't sure whether I should chase after him or leave him be until I saw Sam Uley, who'd been chatting with Sue, start after him. I got the feeling that they were friends and that Sam would help to straighten this whole mess out...he had that air about him, the calm and collected demeanor of someone in charge.

This was shaping up to be one hell of a night...I could hardly wait to see what would happen next.

Paul's POV

I'd never placed much stock in the whole imprint thing, but it was becoming vividly clear that it wasn't the bullshit I'd always taken it for. Part of me had always thought that it was the tribal version of that paleface mumbo jumbo about love at first sight...sheesh...what a load of sentimental tripe. Of course, I'd also considered it a crappy notion because of the fact that it was something that couldn't be controlled, that you'd look at someone and be under their spell for the rest of your life. What if you were to look at some ugly chick and bam...it was all over? How embarrassing would that be?

Of course, this Delilah wasn't ugly at all; as a matter of fact she was quite the little hottie, in a fresh faced and pure kind of way, the exact type of woman that would normally never appeal to me. I was more of a loner, but when I did look for a woman, I searched for the one who had that gleam in her eyes, the gleam that said that she could turn me inside out and have me begging for more, but that she didn't expect anything more than a good time. This woman from the kitchen, the one responsible for the delectable food whose scent had drawn me into the kitchen in the first place, the one that I'd just imprinted on for chrissakes, had that white picket fence look about her...damn...what a mess.

I stopped by the little creek that ran by Mary Dodson's house and stared at the water, stewing and cursing beneath my breath, when a horrifying thought seized hold of me. What if she wasn't a little hottie? What if the fresh faced and pure thing was just the tip of the iceberg? Jeez...I knew that it was awfully conceited of me to even be worrying about something so shallow, but I was in this now, whether I wanted to be or not and I didn't want to be leg shackled to some dog-faced woman for the rest of my life.

"What in hell is your deal Paul?"

I may as well have known that Sam would go all Alpha on me, seeking me out to offer his counsel and all that jive, but I didn't really want to hear about our tribe and the legends and the tradition and how it was the most amazing thing in the world, to find the other half of your soul.

"Is that why you lit out of the house like that? I knew that it had to be something major to chase you away from primo food like that...the primo grub that will be all eaten up by the time we get back if we don't hurry up."

It was really irritating at times, the fact that my mind wasn't my own, and this was the perfect example of that irritation. Hell, I didn't want anybody to know about my ill-timed imprint. I didn't even want to know about it, but I didn't have much choice, did I?

"I might have known you'd be worried about the food Sam. I didn't ask you to come out here, so why don't you just piss off?"

He stopped beside me at the creek's edge and chuckled, bending to pick up a handful of rocks, which he started plunking, one after another, into the water, grating on my nerves, which didn't need to be frazzled any more than they already were.

"Well...considering the fact that you'd normally plow through everyone else to get to food like what's waiting inside, I'm afraid you've lost the argument with that point, but that's not what I'm worried about."

He was right about the food...I was starving and everything had smelled downright heavenly, but there was no way that I could go back inside. Sam could have brought me a plate outside, but he hadn't come out to wait on me. He was here to do the whole "leader of the pack" routine...to "counsel" me in my time of need...what a load of horseshit.

"Come on Paul...it's not like you're special or anything, you know? You're not the first one to imprint after all, and at least you weren't with anyone else when it happened, like I was."

I might have known that he'd use the moment to point out my supposed narcissism, to remind me that I wasn't special, and always, forever, 'til the end of freakin' time, the fact that he'd had it so much worse than the rest of us. He was always harping about how he'd phased first, without anyone being there to commiserate with him, and how he'd dropped Leah for Emily, because of the imprinting crap and on and on...yadda, yadda, yadda. To hear him talk you'd think no one else had ever suffered in their life...but if you asked me I'd say that Quil had it worse than anyone else...imprinting on a two year old for chrissakes...talk about an ill-timed imprint.

"There's nothing 'supposed' about your self-absorption Paul...ask anyone and they'll tell you the same thing. And as for me going on and on about how hard I've had it...imagine if you'd phased and had no idea what had happened or why it had happened. And imagine if you had a girl right now...someone you thought you loved...that was, you thought that until you laid eyes on Delilah. Or even worse...imagine if she had another guy in her life...how would you feel? Wouldn't that be hell...wouldn't that tear you up? I will admit though...Quil's situation takes the cake as the ultimate ill-timed imprint."

I'd never had a serious girlfriend in my entire life, so the idea of breaking a girl's heart was a foreign concept to me. I only mixed with the ones whose hearts were atrophied from disuse, so there was no risk of them taking offense when I moved on, but the idea of some faceless bastard running his hands all over Delilah made my blood boil. It was even worse to imagine her enjoying the hands running up and down her body. I growled deep in my throat and kicked at the rocks at the creek's edge, wanting to hurt someone...anyone...but the only one available was Sam, and attacking the Alpha was out of the question.

"This is absolute bullshit, you know?" I snarled, curling my hands into fists at my sides. "I knew I should have stayed home tonight...then I'd never have bumped into her, I'd never have grabbed her to keep her from falling down, and then I'd never have looked into her eyes and ended up ass deep in trouble."

Sam chuckled and threw an arm around my shoulders, ruffling my hair, something he knew I hated, but did anyway.

"There's no blocking fate Paul," he answered, chuckling once more as I pulled away from him and punched him in the arm. "She was made for you, and you for her, and the best advice that I can give you is to appreciate that fact and do your damnedest to make her see past your obvious imperfections and love you anyway."

Freakin' smartass...he was always the comedian, wasn't he? I wasn't sure where I stood on the whole "destiny" concept, but I knew enough to know that there was no getting around the need that I had for her, the one that would grow stronger and stronger until it consumed me.

"Now then, since you know there's no avoiding this...or her...what do you say that we get back inside before all the food's gone?"

My stomach growled loudly in response and I followed him to the house, and then stopped right outside of the door.

"I have to know one thing before I go in there. You have to tell me Sam and be completely honest, because you know that I'll know if you're lying...she's not ugly is she?"

He stared at me for a moment or two, as though he was in shock, then he started laughing hysterically, leaning against the house, his hands on his knees as he all but howled. I waited patiently for him to finish, until he showed no signs of letting up anytime soon and then I slugged him in the shoulder...again.

"Would you put a lid on it? The whole damn house is liable to hear you. Besides which...it's a perfectly logical question, you know? I'm the one blinded by her...she could be Medusa's twin sister and I wouldn't know it."

He finally stopped laughing and straightened, turning to stare at me, and I saw her through his eyes, my Delilah, beautiful, sexy, her lips, her hair, and her eyes...all perfection.

"If I were a single man, you can bet that you'd have some serious competition," he answered, snorting with renewed laughter as he ducked into the house, leaving me outside, stewing, knowing that he'd even considered her in that way.

Oh damn...this was even worse than I thought it would be. What was I going to do? I didn't know how to do the whole courting routine...hell, just thinking about it made me sick to my stomach. I knew how to find a girl, get her hot and screw her senseless...all in an hour...after which I put on my clothes and went home. This whole love and commitment stuff scared me half to death...but what choice did I have?

"Are you hungry?"

As though on cue a sweet, slightly husky voice broke through my thoughts...her voice...and I groaned, steeling my resolve as I turned to find her standing in the door that Sam had left open. I took a deep breath and looked into her eyes and felt the impact of her gaze all over, the world shifting once more as our eyes connected. It was even worse this time, because my mind leapt to at least twenty different responses to what she'd just said; responses that I stifled with some difficulty when I saw a nervous smile flitting around her lips and a bowl and plate loaded down with enough food to feed three people...or one wolf.

I couldn't trust myself to say anything that made sense at that moment, so I did my best to smile my answer, following her inside the house and making my way to the corner of the living room where there was space for both of us to have a seat. Every single member of the pack was in attendance and they all smiled at me knowingly, one or two whistling beneath their breath and winking, but I ignored them as best as I could. This night was going to be hard enough as it was without me phasing in front of all these people and destroying the house. I could do this, I could control myself.

And then she brushed my hand as she passed me a spoon, blushing prettily as her skin caressed mine...

Dammit...I was screwed.