A/N: Ok, so I'm trying out another idea that popped into my head. I know I should be working on my other stories, but I really wanted to get this out there. For some reason, I'm more excited about this one than the other two. This takes place well after the wedding, but there is no Renesmee and the honeymoon was, well, a dud. The only pack members to have imprinted are Sam, Jared, and Quill. We'll see where it goes. Before I forget, I don't own Twilight or any of it's characters. Well.... on with the show
Wasted
Chapter 1
PPOV
I had been running patrol for about an hour when I decided to circle through Forks to see if I could find anything. With the Cullens gone, the town was no longer off limits. I knew that Jake and Billy had always been close to Charlie, so we all tried to make sure that nothing was coming through town that would harm him. The red-headed bitch was long gone, and other than a few stragglers here and there, the pack hadn't seen much action since the big showdown with the newborns.
I stepped up my pace. As much as this whole wolf gig sucked, the speed was amazing. The wind rushing through my hair, well, fur, was a great feeling. As I started to reach the border I slowed down a bit so I could take in the scents and sounds around me. I began to make my way toward the center of town, staying in the shadows of the forest. I wanted to take a quick look for anything out of the ordinary and then get back to La Push.
When I got closer, I noticed the Greyhound bus had just pulled in to the station. It still kills me that little old Forks was a stop on the bus line. There wasn't much to this town besides the locals and a few hikers that trickled in here and there. I watched, with little interest, the few people getting off. I was about to turn around and keep going when a familiar scent found it's way to my nose on the wind.
It couldn't be. Strawberries, vanilla, and some floral shit that I had no idea what it was. I could never forget that scent. With all the time she had spent with the pack once upon a time, and the constant replaying through Jacob's memories, I knew that scent only meant one thing. Bella Swan had come back to town.
I tried to get as close as I could without being spotted. Her scent still held it's familiar components, but there was something off about it. It wasn't the sickly sweet burning bleach smell that I knew well from my experience with vampires. But, there was an undertone of something sick about it, alright. There was something bitter and almost rotten about the way she smelled now and I just couldn't place it. I went a little further back into the trees and phased back so I could get a better look at her.
I was now across the street from the bus station. She was just standing there looking around, almost as if she was lost. This was definitely not the Bella Swan that had left four years ago. If I'm being honest, she looked like hell. Her face was gaunt and shadowed more than a 22 year old's should be. Her long brown hair was stringy and dull, nowhere near the shining mahogany from Jake's imagination, er, I meant memory. And she was thin, I mean, sickly thin. She had none of the perfect, flawless features that her bloodsucker family had. Sure, she was pale, but it wasn't anywhere near beautiful alabaster complexion that vampires had. There was also a minuscule shaking coming from that tiny body. Bella Swan looked like death warmed over.
I watched as she took a deep breath and heaved the duffel bag that had lain at her feet, onto her shoulder. The protector ingrained in my wolf side wanted to run over and help her because it looked like that bag would make her topple over. To my surprise, she did get it onto her shoulder, only swaying just a little bit. When she took off walking down the street I was confused. I thought for sure she would start out towards the police station to see Charlie or towards Charlie's house, both of which were in the opposite direction from where she was headed. Hell, even the leech palace was in the other direction.
I continued following her, walking on the opposite side of the street, being careful not to draw her attention. When she reached the pool hall, she spun around. I wasn't sure if she could feel that she was being watched, or if she was just making sure nobody she knew could see her. I figured it was the latter when she walked through the door. Oh shit.
The pool hall in Forks was where the more unsavory characters in town hung out. We even suspected that from time to time, a vampire or two would hit the place, but we could never prove it. I couldn't imagine for the life of me why Bella would be going in there. Unless, she had developed a liking for pool during her time with the bloodsuckers? Oh well, who cares. I had pretty much determined that, in spite of her grisly change in appearance, she was still human and that was good enough for me. But I did need to warn the pack about her being back in town. There was no doubt, where Bella Swan went, trouble and bloodsuckers were sure to follow.
I went back into the woods, tied my shorts around my leg, and phased. Immediately, my head was bombarded with Sam's voice.
"Paul, where the hell have you been? You're supposed to be on patrol but I phased in a half hour ago and you were nowhere to be found! What the fuck were you doing?"
I held back the growl that was building in my throat at being yelled at by Sam. I mean, he wasn't Alpha anymore. That ship had sailed when Emily got pregnant and Sam handed alpha over to Jacob. I got my temper in check and replied, "Dude, you have got to see this!" I replayed in my head what had gone on in the last half hour. Sam was beside himself at Bella's new appearance.
"My god, she looks worse than when Cullen left her. Are you sure she went into that pool hall?" Sam's doubt was getting on my nerves. I mean, seriously, did I not just give him the whole play by play of the half hour I was supposedly AWOL?
Sam continued, "Well, we will have to let Jacob know what's going on. I'm not really sure how he's going to take it, but we can't avoid this. She's obviously still human and obviously back here for a reason. Did you find anything else?"
I replied, "Nope, all's quiet on the home front."
"Alright then, we should get back and figure out how to break the news to Jacob," Sam said. With that, we both took off running towards La Push. This was not going to be good.