Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight characters.
The Tree of Knowledge
(Eve's POV)
Eve was across the neighbor's lawn once she saw Raziel throw a sharp, pointy stick at a very muscular man.
"Raziel Napoleon Felonious Octavius McFadden, apologize! Right now!" she yelled, finally reaching her son and the group of people.
She grabbed him by his arm as he tried to run and hide behind a pregnant woman. Her cheeks burned as she wrestled with Raziel in the snow as he tried to wiggle free. He was very strong for a boy his age and it took her by surprise when he picked up some snow and threw it at her. Eve fell back on her butt and her back hit a boulder, or at least what felt like a boulder.
She looked up and up into dark brown eyes that knocked her for a loop, but only for a second. She shakily got to her feet and took a step back, somewhat frightened by the man that was standing in front of her.
"I'm terribly sorry about that. Raz is usually not so rude to strangers." Eve apologized rapidly, not liking how he kept on staring at her.
The man blinked several times and his eyes seemed to come back into focus.
"Oh, that's okay. Kids his age get into all sorts of trouble. I'm Paul, Paul Warner," he greeted, holding out his large hand to her.
"Eve, Eve McFadden. You have kids?" she inquired, arching a suspicious eyebrow at him.
He immediately shoved his hand in his jean pocket. "Uh, ." He stuttered.
There came a small laugh from the pregnant woman that Raziel tried to hide behind. She was perched on the lap of another muscular man with cropped raven black hair. The woman gave Eve a small wave.
"Hi, I'm Emily Uley," she greeted cheerfully, "This is my husband Sam. He's nicer than he looks."
Eve nodded a hello but looked down at Raziel, who had decided to come out of hiding.
"Look, she gots a pwesent fwom te gween man too!" he said excitedly, pointing at Emily's stomach.
She watched, in amazement, as her son walked over to Emily and gently put a hand to her belly. Raziel had never been this outspoken in a crowd before. Usually he would just hide behind her the whole time, afraid to make new friends. Raz let out a playful giggle and ran back to her and she picked him up and threw him over her shoulders, like a sack of potatoes.
Eve looked at Emily and smiled. "Sorry, he's not usually this talkative." She confessed.
Emily waved her off. "Don't worry about it. Your brother is too cute for words."
Eve grimaced and shifted Raziel in her arms. Emily wasn't the first person to not make the connection between Raziel and her.
"Son," she muttered. "Raziel is my son. Most people mistake him for my brother because he looks more like his father."
There came a sharp intake of breath that sounded almost like a growl next to Eve and she turned to see Paul shaking. His eyes were closed tightly and his fists were clenched to his side. His god-like features looked angry, like he was about ready to explode and hurt someone. Eve immediately clutched Raziel protectively to her body and began backing away from him, which with every step seemed to increase his shaking.
Emily's husband, Sam, was up and out of his chair and dragging Paul to the woods. Paul fought against him and tried to look at Eve but two more men stood from their seats and helped Sam haul Paul into the forest.
She had never seen someone get so violent over something so little before and it most definitely scared her. The group was quiet and casting worried glances between Eve and the forest, like they expected Paul to come darting out raving like a mad man.
Eve began to get a weird vibe coming from everyone and she looked over at Emily. "I think I'd better get going," she said nervously. "It was nice meeting you all."
Emily's face looked apologetic. "Same here just don't be a stranger and come by anytime. My niece comes over from time to time and I'm sure she'd love to play with Raziel."
Raz seemed to perk up at the sound of possibly having a new friend to play with. Eve nodded a thank you and began to walk back towards the house. She started humming a lullaby softly in her son's ear but her mind began to wonder back to Paul and his reaction when she told Emily that Raz was her son. What was he upset about? Maybe he has no father and feels somehow reminded of that.
Eve's heart slightly ached as she pictured a small child version of Paul, clutching onto his mother. She climbed up the porch steps and managed to open the front door with a good hard shove. It creaked open and she set Raz down on the linoleum floor.
"Care to do some exploring, Button?" Eve asked, taking hold of his tiny hand.
He gave a quick nod and stuck his thumb in his mouth. They walked all through the one-story house. There were two bedrooms and one bathroom, a living room and a tiny kitchen. They went outside and walked around the house. The backyard was fairly big but the grass was awful to look at and the flowerbeds were overgrown with weeds. Eve had made a mental note in her head to go out and by some roses and honeysuckle. As a little girl she had always loved to suck the sweet nectar out of the honeysuckles.
She unloaded the rest of the boxes from the car and with Raziel's help, Eve managed to unpack all of their stuff before nightfall. Dinner that night was small only because she hadn't gone out to by any groceries plus she didn't have any money. So, they had a can of peas that Eve had managed to salvage on the trip to LaPush.
Raziel looked up from his plate of peas and asked, "Ma, how comes you don't gots a husband like Emily?"
Eve nearly choked on her spoonful of peas and looked over at her son from across the tiny table. Where the heck did that come from? She cleared her throat, "Well, Mommy did have a special someone at one point but he didn't stay for too long." More like I didn't stay for too long.
"Oh," he mumbled, dropping his gaze to the green peas.
Her heart caved in two as she watched her son pitifully move his food around on his plate. If only he knew I did it for him. He wouldn't have wanted Raziel. If only Raz knew I'm protecting him from the world. Eve scooped up her last bit of peas and stood from her chair, bringing her plate to the sink. When she turned off the water, she heard crying behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Raz with his blond head in his arms.
She rushed over to him and picked him up in a hug. It scared her when she saw him crying and thought it to be the worst thing in the world to witness.
"Why don't I gots a daddy, Mommy?" Raziel blubbered, crying into her neck.
What to do? What to do? She couldn't just tell her four year old son the truth behind the matter of him being born. He wouldn't understand. She sighed, "I don't know, Button. I really don't know." Tears began to threaten an appearance at the tips of her eyelids and she rubbed his back soothingly.
Eve carried him over to the couch and laid him down; she didn't have any beds yet, so they had to make do with what was already in the house. She turned off all the lights and slowly crept back over to the couch. Raz was fast asleep but he still had tears running down the sides of his cheeks. She fitted herself comfortably against him and drew him close to her with a blanket covering both of them.
When she thought he was fast asleep she leaned into his ear and whispered, "The reason you don't have one Raz is because you don't need one, especially one that never really wanted us."
Eve kissed his temple and began to hum again an old Irish tune that her grandmother used to sing to her when she couldn't sleep. Soon, she drifted off to sleep too, the last thing on her mind just so happened to be the one person she least expected to pop up.
Paul.
(Paul's POV)
Anger and pain were the only things Paul could feel right now as he phased. He had imprinted on a beautiful woman but she was married and had a kid. Did the Spirits hate him so much to through this huge curve ball straight at his face?
'No one hates you Paul.' Sam insisted.
Leah snorted, 'Speak for yourself.'
'Shut up, Leah!' Paul growled, snapping a wimpy tree in half with his paw.
He hated this, whatever this was. He had never been so angry at anything in his entire life and now, meeting his imprint and finding out she has a life that doesn't include him just makes him want to rip a leech's head clean off. Paul took another swiped at a log, launching it against a larger tree causing it to smash into bite-sized pieces.
'Paul, control yourself, damn it!' Sam scolded, ducking as a piece of the log went flying over his head.
Paul snarled and snapped, pacing back and forth. He was pretty sure he was foaming at the mouth, looking like a complete psycho. Then he caught a glimpse of Eve's beautiful face plastered with fear and he immediately deflated like a lead balloon. I scared her! I fucking scared the living shit out of my imprint!
'And the winner for the biggest douche-bag on the planet is . . . drum roll please?' Quil asked. Embry began to beat his paws against the ground. 'Paul! Woohoo, let's give it up for Paul, lady and gentlemen!'
Sam cast the two of them disapproving looks which caused them to shut up at once. 'Don't listen to those two numb-nuts over there. One hasn't even told his imprint he can change into a huge wolf and the other hasn't even imprinted himself.'
Embry let out a low growl at the last part of Sam's comment. The pack knew Embry's take on imprinting and how he loathed it, but then again, Embry loathed a lot of things. If I'm the psychotic anger issued werewolf, then Embry is most definitely the resentful one.
'Hey! I am not resentful!' Embry snapped.
'Hm, what would I be?' Quil mused.
'That's easy,' Leah interjected, 'Quil, you'd be the softy. Sam would be the hardass. Jake would be the emotional one. Seth would be the smiley one. Brady and Collin would be the idiotic no-brain-cells-left-to-form-proper-sentences duo and I would be the crazy harpy bitch.'
Paul raised his eyebrow at her. 'And you say it like it's a good thing.'
'At least she got it right.' muttered Quil.
Embry, Leah, and Sam snarled at Quil. It was actually pretty interesting to hear because Sam did it to keep the peace, Embry did it to defend her, and Leah did because … well she's Leah Clearwater.
Paul shook his head and headed back to a couple of bushes. He titled his nose to the wind and smelled a distinct smell that called to every fiber of his being. It was a mix of orange slices and mint leaves. Without even thinking, Paul left his friends and followed the scent. It led him across the street to a tiny one-story house.
He walked around the back and picked in through a tiny window and the sight before him, made his heart ache. Eve was curled up on the couch with her son; they were underneath a small wool blanket that looked like it had seen better days. She gave an involuntary shiver and he whined. Paul wanted to be there, holding her and protecting her from the harsh cold. He sniffed the air for any other scents of a male living there but he got nothing.
Odd? The scumbag isn't home. He must not have moved with them. Probably wrapping things up at work. A growl escaped Paul's muzzle that fogged up the window pane immensely. Damn the cold!
Quil chuckled, 'Stalking your imprint Paul will get you nowhere.'
'Button it, Ateara!' he barked.
Unfortunately, Paul had forgotten to be quiet and his bark had caused Eve to wake with a start. Their eyes connected and Paul felt like he had dissolved into a puddle of mush and fur. She's so beautiful! Before he could register what he was doing, Paul put a paw up against the window and let out a whine.
'Damn it Paul, get the hell out of there!' Sam ordered.
Paul felt the Alpha command set in and his feet began to drag him away from his beloved back to the woods. 'She's so beautiful, Sam' he grinned. 'Did you see her emerald green eyes? They remind me of gems and her hair . . . . Dear Spirits her hair is gorgeous! It reminds me of the bonfires at the beach.'
'I wonder if she has a fire-crotch?' Embry thought mindlessly.
Paul howled with rage at the dimwit's rude question. Then, his mind began to wander down that path as well. Does she? He'd never really had sex with a redhead before and a picture of Eve naked flashed through his mind. What I would give to see that … bent over … screaming my name … giving me the world's greatest blow—
'EXCUSE ME!' Leah yelled, 'Some of us, meaning me, really don't want to picture that in our minds. I mean I don't oppose of gays and lesbians but having the thought of some girl giving me a blowjob on my imaginary dick isn't really appealing to me!'
There was a long silence that followed Leah's short rant until of course Embry had to say something.
'1, 2, 3/Leah, Paul and Eve-e/Gettin' down with 3P!' he sang in his best Britney Spears voice.
Leah let out a giant huff and muttered a curse word then phased back. It was easy to see that Embry had upset her and Sam was getting a little peeved himself. Paul rolled his eyes and phased as well. When he pulled on his shorts, his sensitive ears picked up the sound of a door opening and closing and Eve's scent began to overpower his senses.
(Eve's POV)
Eve awoke with a start. She heard a loud bark outside and looked over at the window. There stood a large silver wolf with big brown eyes, familiar big brown eyes. The large wolf put a giant paw against the window and let out a small whine.
Eve felt her heart jump against her ribcage she had never seen a wolf before, let alone a large one. There came a distant howl and the silver wolf disappeared. Eve carefully got up from the couch and crept over to the kitchen, grabbing a skillet. She slipped on her boots and coat and crept out the front door.
The snow crunched underneath her boots and her breath came out in shallow puffs. She held the skillet over her head, the way a baseball player would hold a bat.
"Okay Eve, if there's more than one then get back inside." She muttered to herself.
Eve peered around the corner of the house and let out a sigh of relief. The wolf was really gone, all that was left was over-sized paw prints.
"Hello there!" a male voice greeted from behind her.
Eve screamed and swung the skillet at the stranger's face. There came a muttered flow of curse words and the stranger stumbled out in the moonlight.
"Paul?"
He winced and was holding his hand to his mouth. "God damn woman, did you play baseball or something?"
"What are you doing here?" she shrieked. "I have every right to be outside my own house." Paul looked sheepishly at the ground and she noticed there was blood coming from his mouth. "Oh my God, I hurt you!" Eve muttered, suddenly moving closer to him.
She noticed that he was shirtless, clad only in shorts. A heat wave whooshed up her face.
Paul shook his head. "No I deserve it. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that."
Without even thinking, Eve grabbed hold of his hand and led him inside the house. She noted his eyes dart around the kitchen.
She cleared her throat, "Sorry, I didn't really expect any visitors." Eve snatched up Raziel's plate and set in the sink, where she took a towel and ran it under some cold water. "We don't have any ice because the freezer isn't working at the moment."
She turned to find Paul still standing straight as a rail in the middle of the tiny kitchen. He completely dwarfed the whole kitchen with his massive height. Eve ushered him over to the table where he sat down, the old chair groaned in protest.
"Okay, this might hurt just a little and there's probably going to be a nasty bruise." Eve confessed.
Her breathing had quickened as she took in Paul's handsome face and body. It was no secret that this man cared for his body and he kept it in good shape. Eve's hand began to shake as she moved closer to his lip. His brown eyes never lost contact with hers and she felt them to be very eerie yet comforting.
She pressed the towel to his lip. "Keep it still, so that way you won't reopen it."
He only nodded his head but before she could pull away Paul's large hand quickly clamped over hers so he kept her hand against his mouth. Eve's eye widened as her head tilted to the side and her lips parted. His other hand snaked around her waist and brought her down to straddle his left leg. Her mind was cloudy, she couldn't think as his face drew nearer and his lips brushed her lips.
He tasted like maples and cinnamon sticks as she drank him in. There was something . . . something in the back of her mind that she had to remember. Then a pair of piercing blue eyes flashed across her mind. Adam! Eve pulled back from Paul and stumbled off his lap, landing on the floor.
"Crap!" he hissed. "Eve, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to—"
"P-please, leave." She stuttered, not wanting to look up into his eyes again though her heart was compelling her to.
There was silence then she heard the front door slam shut. She let out a strangled sigh and wiped her forehead with her shaking hand. It had been a long time since she had kissed someone before and it shook her to the very core.
Tell me what you think!