Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and all recognizable characters and situations contained therein. All original content in this fic is property of the author unless otherwise noted. Story is rated M and is only intended for readers aged 18 and over!

**Paul POV from last chapter**

Billy's hands clench into fists and his face goes purple with rage. He grabs onto the table and I swear if he was a wolf he woulda phased. He's takes great heaving breaths, and for a minute I think he's having a heart attack. Listening carefully I hear his heart pumping frantically in his rage but it seems as strong as ever thank God. Sarah is passing the door and seeing him, she shouts, "Oh my God! Billy!"

She rushes over to him shouting, "Billy what's the matter!"

Billy finally manages to calm down enough to point at me as he snaps out, "That, That boy."

He takes another breath and growls out the rest of the sentence, "Imprinted on our goddaughter!"

I see Sarah's lips twitch and she says, "Oh, oh my. I see why that would upset you Billy. Knowing that your goddaughter will have a man who will be absolutely devoted to her for life would upset anyone. It must be so scary to think that she'll never know the pain of being cheated on or used. How dare he be her soul mate!"

Billy snaps at her, "Sarah you don't know! The things he's done! The women he's been with!"

Sarah rolls her eyes, "Think of what he can give her though Billy!"

Billy snarls, "That's EXACTLY what I AM thinking of!"

Sam is practically rolling on the floor he's laughing so hard. Having had just about enough I snap "That's enough! Don't you think I KNOW that I'm not good enough for her? She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen Billy! She's perfect! I know that I'm just a fucked up kid from the most fucked up family on the Res, and I know perfectly well that the most I will probably ever have with her is a close friendship! Sarah may not know the things I've done, but Bella does know some of them. Two of her so called friends are girls that I've been seeing recently. She knows about them and she told one of them that she had no interest in her fucking leftovers. So don't even worry about it. I didn't tell you about the imprint because I think I'm going to marry her or anything. Trust me I know that nothing that good could EVER happen to me. Sam and I came down here to tell you that the Cullen, the 'youngest' the one who goes to the high school is STALKING her!"

Sarah gasps, "What!"

All of the anger towards me in Billy's face fades as he goes waxy and pale, "How do you know this?"

Running my hands through my hair I start at the beginning, "I heard a girl scream his name, she proceeded to ask how many ways her friend could tell Cullen she wasn't interested before he got the point. A boy with them asked a second girl who, at the time I didn't know was Bella, what the Cullen wanted at her house. Bella told him that it claimed to have shown up to give her a ride to school. She was snarky about it, saying 'As if I would get in the car with that guy!' I imprinted on her in homeroom, she's in most of my classes."

I pause and take a breath before continuing on, "I had study hall with a friend of hers first period. It's the only class I don't have with her. The guy and I were talking about the two girls who I was seeing down here. He didn't like how I didn't even know their names, told me not to play those games with Bella, said she was a goodgirl trapped in a bad girl's body."

Billy gasps, and Sarah sighs, "She's a virgin. Isn't she?"

I nod, "You know the legends. Apparently Bella is the only female virgin left in Forks High School's senior class."

Billy looks ill, and Sarah looks horrified. Sam is shaking in the corner with rage as I continue, "Right before lunch period I was touching her on her elbow and then Cullen was right in front of us, he told me to let go of her and called me a mutt. She went off on him. Called him a creeper right to his face. Told him if she wanted me to stop touching her she would be the one to tell me. As we walked away I told him to back off of her, told him that Sam would be very interested to hear about his unnatural obsession and that she was NOT for him."

Billy snorts, "I should say not! Did anything else happen?"

Nodding, I continue, "Apparently she was partnered with him in Biology. He touched her, up on her leg. She almost freaked. The teacher told her to control herself and she came up with a reason to get away from him. Said that the teacher was always saying Cullen was so far ahead he didn't need a partner and that it would take a lot of work for me to be able to catch up to where they were. Apparently she has the second highest grade in the class behind Cullen. He got really upset. He tried to dazzle the teacher right there to get him to change his mind about letting Bella switch partners. I broke his eye contact just in time though. When she walked away from him he grabbed her wrist, he didn't hurt her or anything but he freaked her out pretty bad. The teacher threatened to call his parents. Cullen looked horrified at the prospect. Which tells me that maybe Daddy Leach has no idea what his progeny is up to."

Billy smirks, "Progeny? That's a big word for you Paul."

I roll my eyes at him, "Yeah, I know. So what do we do?"

Sam speaks up, "The first thing we do is call Papa Sparkles and try to see what he knows. If that doesn't work then I really think you need to TELL Bella the truth about the imprint Paul."

I shake my head, "No. We can tell her the rest of it but I'm not putting the burden of the fucking imprint on her when she's already made it clear how she feels about me."

Sam sighs, "Paul man, you should let her choose."

Snorting derisively I ask, "What kind of choice is that! How do you tell her all about the imprint and what happens to us if anything happens to them, and then tell her she has a choice. There is NO choice! That whole friendship thing that they claim we could have with the imprint, it's a crock of shit Sam. Unless the imprintee doesn't know about the imprint!"

Sam sighs again, "You are truly an asshole man. Don't you think that when it eventually comes out that she'll be madder that you didn't tell her?"

I shrug, "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

Billy breaks in, "Paul, as much as I really don't like the fact that you imprinted on my goddaughter, the fact is that you did. Whether you deserve her or not is yet to be seen. I support you for not wanting to tell her about the imprint and force her to be in a relationship with you. However I think you should tell her the rest. Charlie Swan has been my best friend for over 30 years. The Swan's were family to this tribe before the imprint ever took place. Even if you hadn't imprinted I would be telling you to tell her what's going on. For her own safety. You don't have to tell her about the imprint. Just be her friend, if she decides on her own that she wants more from you then fine."

Sarah frowns, "I don't agree with that at all Billy! Bella has the right to know about the imprint. She should make her decision with all the facts in front of her! I understand that you guys think that she can't choose for herself with the imprint hanging over her but I've known Bella her whole life. I was one of the first ones to hold her after she was born. Her own mother is a selfish woman who ran off looking for her wasted youth the minute she could and I've pretty much been the one to fill that void for her. I know my goddaughter, she would WANT to know. All of Paul's family issues aside Billy, he's a good kid, he's stepped up to his responsibilities to the tribe, and now that he's found Bella he'll be able to control his temper and his fighting days will pass."

Sam pulls out his cell, "Well, lets get this over with."

He hits the number in for Forks General where Dr. Cullen works and asks the switchboard to be connected. Two minutes later I hear the velvet tones of the good Dr pick up, "Hello this is Carlisle Cullen."

Sam looks nervous as he says, "Dr. Cullen, it's Sam Uley here."

Dr. Cullen sounds surprised as he asks, "Sam? What can I do for you?"

Sam takes a breath, "I have to speak to you about Edward."

Dr. Cullen takes a sharp breath, "Edward? What about him?"

Sam runs his hands through his hair, "Well as you know one of my boys started at Forks High today. It came to his attention that Edward has been stalking one of his female classmates."

Dr. Cullen sounds extremely upset, confused, and most of all surprised, "Stalking? What do you mean stalking? Why would he do that? Who's the girl?"

Sam clears his throat, "Well. Her name is Bella Swan. According to her friends she has been having a problem with Edward since you guys moved here at the end of the last school year. That he asks her out repeatedly, makes unwanted overtures, he apparently showed up at her house this morning and dazzled her father into thinking that he, Edward, was supposed to be there to give the girl a ride to school. I want to be perfectly clear when I tell you that Bella has been very frank in expressing her dislike for Edward. She has absolutely no feelings for him whatsoever. Something which he is having a very hard time understanding. It gets worse Carlisle."

Dr. Cullen hmphs into the phone, "Just how could it be worse, Sam?"

Sam takes a deep breath and closes his eyes as he spits it out, "We think that he is targeting her because she is the only virgin left in the senior class. We think he wants to hurt her. I must tell you that if he attacks her in any way the treaty will be null and void, and there will be a war. This girl, my boy who started at the school today imprinted on her. You know the rules about Imprints, Dr."

Dr Cullen sounds ill as he replies, "Yes. I do. Look I'll talk to Edward, I promise you he will not bother Miss Swan again. In fact as a show of good faith why don't we include the Swan house in your side of the treaty."

Sam looks at me and I nod. He replies, "That's acceptable, thank you. Just one more thing. He has been dazzling humans into doing his bidding. My boy said he dazzled a teacher in the middle of the classroom trying to get him to not let Miss Swan switch partners to be away from him. It was her request to switch, Paul had nothing to do with it. If I have reason to believe that he is dazzling Chief Swan again in the future I will have no choice but to tell the Chief everything. I don't know if you know this but the Swan family has been very good friends with the Black family for close to 30 years. They were family to our tribe even before the imprint. I really can't impress upon you enough just how serious this situation is. If there are further problems I will have to insist upon you pulling Edward from the school at the very least."

Dr. Cullen sighs, "That seems fair. I really can't even tell you how sorry I am for this Sam. Edward, I really think he's just extremely lonely. The others in our family have all moved to remote areas to spend quality time with their own mates, Edward has been alone for 100 years. Now with just my mate and I, maybe it's just too much solitude for him. I think I will send him on a trip to visit some family friends of ours. I'll drive him up there tonight, and he'll come back after thanksgiving. Maybe a months with the Denali will improve his mental state."

I breath a sigh of relief as Sam hangs up the phone. Smirking at him I say, "See, now we don't even have to worry Bella."

Billy shakes his head, "You still need to tell her the legends. I still want her to be aware of what he is. She needs to know not to ever be alone with him."

Sarah nods, "Paul, you know Bella is going to be here tonight to baby-sit for Jacob. I wouldn't mind if you came and kept her company. You probably really will need her help to catch up on your classwork, from what Principal Diaz tells me you weren't doing much work even before they kicked you out."

Billy scowls at her and she dares him with her eyes to challenge her. Smirking I reply, "That would be great, and yeah I could use the tutoring."

**Bella POV**

I hang up the phone with my Dad and go sit on the couch with Leah and smoke the joint that Sam and Paul left, I had called him to let him know I was down on the Res and that I'd go straight to Uncle Billy's from Leah's. He was happy to know that I was spending time with her again, he knew I had missed her. I didn't mention Paul, I figured that should be a face to face discussion.

Exhaling the smoke I turn to Leah, "So, when are you due? You can't be very far along yet, you still look fantastic."

It's true too, Leah's stomach is still flat, she looks a little sick right now but other than that she looks amazing. She gets up and opens the kitchen door to let the smoke out, and pours herself a glass of water, "I'm not due till June, we're still in the first stages which is why we aren't making any big announcements yet. We'll tell everyone in about a month, providing Paul can keep his yap shut till then."

I laugh, "So what's Paul like, on a regular basis I mean?"

Leah laughs, "Oh girl you got your work cut out for you! Paul is the bad boy of their little clique. His temper is legendary, and he's known to be an asshole."

Rolling my eyes I exhale the hit that I took while she was talking, "Yeah I got that, he must have been going 100 miles per hour on that bike on our way down! I almost pissed myself I was so scared! You have our relationship wrong though. We're just friends."

She smirks her patented Leah Clearwater smirk, "Yeah, sure baby girl, that's why even just us talking about him has your face all flushed. You LIKE him! Admit it!"

Laughing I roll my eyes, "He's definitely not a chore to look at… but no, he had a threesome with two girls I really fucking can't stand who I know have both been with half the boys at my school. Totally not interested in catching something my first time at bat."

Leah's eyes bug out, and she gasps, "Holy shit, Bella! Still? That's just fucking ridiculous, look at you, you hot bitch! How can you still be…"

Snorting laughter I take the last hit off the joint and stub it out in the ashtray on the table, "Many have tried, but no one ever made me WANT it you know? There was never that feeling that if I didn't get it I was going to explode. As to the how can I still be? Well these steel toes aren't just for show you know."

She waggles her eyebrows at me, "What about Paaaauly?"

I can feel the blood rush to my face, and she does a little dance as she points at me, "I KNEW IT! He makes your panties wet doesn't he? Don't be shy girl you know you can tell me!"

Covering my face with my hands I nod, and she whoops in triumph. Laughing like a lunatic I somehow manage to choke out, "God, Leah! He's the sexiest man I've ever SEEN! I would jump him in a minute if I didn't know where his dick's been!"

She scoffs, "Girl why does it matter to you what bitches are in his past? I can tell you for sure that one thing Paul Dixon is not, is fucking stupid! You can bet your ass that he's wrapped it with all the strange he's been with."

I sigh, "I guess you're right, but that's another problem isn't it. I don't want to just be another notch on his fucking bedpost Lee. I know that it's corny and it totally doesn't seem like I'm this kind of girl but I want my first time to be with someone I love, and who loves me!"

Leah laughs, "Awww, you want him to make love to you, Bella?"

I turn away and fake a gag, "Ugh! Please don't ever use that phrase again! No, I don't want him to make love to me, but I want him to love me when he fucks me, does that make more sense to you?"

She shrugs, "Honestly, yeah, it does. Girl you need to let this thing with you and him develop! Don't shy away from it because you're thinking of all those other bitches. Trust me, Paul has never led any girl on. He has NEVER told any girl pretty stories about relationships and being together forever. He tells it like it is. If all he wants from you is a hit it and quit it he'll tell you before he ever touches you sexually. I won't lie, I know some girls who he's tagged, they all tell the same story; he was completely up front about wanting just a no strings one night thing, and that he was the best fuck they've ever had. If those girls at your school are telling you he promised them something I can tell you for sure that they are lying girl. You know that you can trust me honey, I wouldn't lie to you."

She's right, I know it's true. After my mom walked out I spent a LOT of time down here with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Billy or Uncle Harry and Aunt Sue, they switched off keeping me on weekends whenever my dad had to do overnight shifts. Even though Leah, Rachel, and Rebecca were two years older than me, they were all some of my closest friends growing up.

Rebecca ran off to university of Hawaii after she graduated and 6 months later she got married after finding out she was pregnant, she had a scholarship though so she was still attending and her husband's family took care of the baby when she had classes.

Rachel on the other hand was down at Washington University in Seattle, and though she called and e-mailed she hadn't been home since summer break the year before this past summer. Suddenly something clicks, "Hold up, how long have you and Sam been married Leah?"

She blushes, "It's been about 2 years now. Mom and Dad both gave their permission and we had the tribal ceremony and the next day went down to the county clerk and my dad signed the forms for us to have the civil ceremony. I'm sure people thought we HAD to get married, but fuck em. I know that Sam and I got married because we love each other, I could give a shit what the rest of the Res thinks."

Laughing I nod, "That's my girl. Fuck em if they don't like it."

She laughs, "Exactly, and fuck those two slores at your school if they don't like you being with Paul! I say go for it B."

Whatever I would have said next dies in my throat as the guys come in the back door. Paul is pulling his shirt on and my breath catches in my throat as I take in his sculpted chest and 8 pack abs, that's right, I said fucking 8 pack! Jesus Christ, how many hours a day do you have to work out to get abs like that? His jeans are hanging low on his hips and I can see his fucking happy trail…Shit… Is it hot in here? Nope, I think it's just him.

He finally gets the shirt pulled down and I snap my eyes up to his. He's smirking at me again and my heart rate speeds up as I clear my throat.

**Meanwhile Paul POV**

Sam and I get back into his yard and I hear Leah mockingly ask Bella, "What about Paaaauly?"

Sam starts to go in and I pull him back by his shirt, "Don't even fucking think about it man! I want to hear what she says!"

He rolls his eyes at me and sits down in one of their lawn chairs. I have no idea what Bella said but Leah shouts, "I KNEW IT! He makes your panties wet doesn't he? Don't be shy girl you know you can tell me!"

Oh shit…I know I make her panties wet, but I want to hear her confirm it. Listening intently all I hear is Leah whooping and Bella laughing like a crazy person, finally I hear her sweet voice, "God, Leah! He's the sexiest man I've ever SEEN! I would jump him in a minute if I didn't know where his dick's been!"

My heart swells, and breaks in the time it takes that sentence to leave her mouth. Sam looks at me with pity, and I hear Leah scoff, "Girl why does it matter to you what bitches are in his past? I can tell you for sure that one thing Paul Dixon is not, is fucking stupid! You can bet your ass that he's wrapped it with all the strange he's been with."

Oh Leah! I knew you liked me under your mean bitch exterior! If you weren't pregnant with my Alpha's pup and I didn't think he'd kill me for it I would go in there and kiss you for this!

I hear Bella sigh, and answer, "I guess you're right, but that's another problem isn't it. I don't want to just be another notch on his fucking bedpost Lee. I know that it's corny and it totally doesn't seem like I'm this kind of girl but I want my first time to be with someone I love, and who loves me!"

Shit. Baby you'd be the ONLY notch on my bedpost! You'd be the only one I would ever take to my room, and don't worry about that love stuff, I was born to love you!

Leah teases her, "Awww, you want him to make love to you, Bella?"

Bella gags, and for a second I want to cry like a little bitch, but she continues, "Ugh! Please don't ever use that phrase again! No, I don't want him to make love to me, but I want him to love me when he fucks me, does that make more sense to you?"

Damn! My dick twitches in my pants, and I have that roller coaster falling feeling in my stomach. Shit, this girl really is my perfect fucking match! I hate all that lovey dovey emotional crap that most girls spew, it has to be tender and sweet, ugh. Of course for Bella I woulda done it with absolutely no complaint but damn it's nice to know that she doesn't want that shit.

I've always been able to visualize things from memory and right now I'm visualizing Bella's body in her short tight dress, I want to unbutton it and see what she's wearing underneath it besides the pink fishnets. From the feel of them pressed against my back on the bike I know her breasts are about a c cup and I can picture how she looks with no bra and that dress open around her wearing just those fishnets, maybe a tiny thong, and those fucking boots.

Sam is laughing at me, "Dude, you've got to get your situation under control before we go back in there."

I take deep breaths and struggle to get control over myself, I totally missed Leah's answer to Bella's earlier statement. I take my shirt off trying to cool down and now they're talking about how long Leah and Sam have been married, and how people down here thought they HAD to get married.

Bella tells her to fuck em if they don't like it and Leah responds, "Exactly, and fuck those two slores at your school if they don't like you being with Paul! I say go for it B"

I finally get my situation under control and Sam and I walk into the house. My jeans are hanging low and I take my time pulling my shirt back on as we walk into the living room. I can hear Bella's heart speed up and her breath catch and I can't even help the smirk on my face as I finish putting my shirt back on.

Of course Sam has to fucking ruin my buzz. He clears his throat, "Hey, uh, Bella. We were just talking to Billy, and there's something that we have to talk about."

She looks at him confused, "What's wrong?"

He sits down next to Leah on the couch, and turns to her, "Well, it's about Cullen."

Bella looks even more confused, "Ugh, do we really have to talk about that ginger fucking creeper?"

Sam shrugs, "yeah, we do. Look. Do you know anything about the Quileute legends?"

She bites her lip thinking about it, "umm. Not really, nothing more than old campfire stories about Cold One's. Oh, and how the guys turn into wolves to fight them!"

Sam sighs, and I move to stand by the chair. He looks at me, and I shake my head. He frowns and turns back to Bella, "Well, the thing is. Those stories. They're actually kind of…well…true."

Bella is looking back and forth between us like we've grown an extra head apiece. She frowns, and her eyes narrow, "Okay… I think you guys have been watching too many horror flicks. Oh wait, no, I mean I think you've been watching too many gay teen vampire love stories! This is the one with the totally pathetic pussy bitch who lets her dick vamp boyfriend control her life when she could have gotten with the hot werewolf best friend who was in love with her and just wanted her to be happy, right?"

Shit, come to think of it that story was pretty similar to some of our legends…I wonder if we can get royalties out of that bitch who wrote them? Wishful thinking, we'd never be able to claim them!

Sam sighs, "No, Bella, don't be stupid, no girl in her right mind would choose a vamp when she could have one of us. I mean look at you. You find Cullen repulsive don't you?"

She nods, "Umm, yeah, what does that have to do with anything?"

He rolls his eyes, and turns to me, "I thought you said she was SMART Paul!"

I growl at him low in my throat, "Watch yourself Sam. She IS smart! You can't blame her for being skeptical can you? I think we're going to have to prove it."

He sighs, "Fine. C'mon girl."

She gets up and we all follow him outside. Leah and Bella stand by the door as Sam goes into the yard. I put my hands on Bella's shoulders, "Watch him, then you'll see."

Sam takes his shirt off and tosses it to Leah cursing, "Another wasted pair of fucking jeans. It would serve her right if I just took them off since she's making me prove it!"

I control my anger as I yell down to him, "Shut your mouth, Sam! Get on with it!"

Leah takes her turn too, "Don't even think about scaring her for life with that sight Samuel Uley!"

He shakes his head and feigns hurt, "Did it scar you for life, Lee Lee?"

She laughs, "Oh you bet it did big boy, but I'm used to it now. Let someone else scar this one."

He laughs and in the blink of an eye he explodes into a giant mass of pitch black fur. Bella gulps, and then promptly passes out. I catch her under her arms and keep her on her feet until I can get one arm behind her knees and lift her up into my arms.

I call out to Sam, "Good one man, she passed out!"

He barks, and Leah says, "Bring her in to the couch. I'll get the smelling salts."

Typical Leah, I guess she got them from Sue when Sam told her Bella was coming and might need to be informed about the wolf.

I lay Bella out on the couch and smooth her dress down carefully. Sam and Leah or whoever, no one's seeing my girls goods before I get to.

Leah comes out of the bathroom with the vial, as well as a pair of jeans to bring out to Sam. She opens the vial holding it under Bella's nose. Bella inhales and comes to with a gasp, "Holy shit!"

She looks at me, "So you are?"

I nod, and she takes a deep breath, "And that means Cullen really is a?"

I nod again and she looks at her wrist and her thigh, her face a mask of repulsion, she shakes her head and gets up and runs into the kitchen. I hear her puking in the garbage and I run after her and hold her hair back so she won't get vomit in it.

Gently rubbing her back as she pukes I really hope it's not me that she's disgusted by.

Finally she stands up straight, reaches out to grab a paper towel and wipes her mouth. She turns to me, "Thanks. For holding my hair back. Just the thought of him touching me, knowing what he is, god, he's a walking fucking corpse Paul! And he had his fucking corpse hand on my leg!"

I do the only thing I can think of to do and I pull her to me, holding her tight and stroking her hair, while I soothe, "Shh, it's okay. I promise you Bella, he will never touch you again. Sam and I called Dr. Cullen, he had no idea that Edwards extracurricular's included stalking you. He's sending him up to stay with friends of theirs until after Thanksgiving. He thinks that Edward is just lonely, and he thinks that spending some time with his own kind will help him get over his obsession with you."

She sniffles, "God, I can't even thank you guys enough! Thank you for calling his d…Shit, that guy isn't his dad, he's another vampire isn't he?"

I nod and she takes a deep breath, "Why are they here Paul? What happens if they hurt someone!"

I guide her back into the living room and sit her down on the couch, "The reason we allow them to live here is that the pack before us made a treaty with Dr. Cullen, they don't feed on people, they only drink animal blood. So we made a treaty with them that if they kept off our lands and didn't hurt anyone or bite anyone we wouldn't tell anyone their secret. Their used to be more of them. 2 more couples, but apparently the others wanted more privacy with their partners and they separated from the family. That's why our pack is so small this time around. There are 3 of them, and 4 of us. I'm actually surprised we haven't heard from Jared or Embry yet."

Sam comes in from the yard followed by Leah who goes back to sit down in the living room, "I was just talking to them, I had them run up to Bella's house. Bella, was Edward ever in your house?"

She answers, "He was this morning. My dad was grinning like a fool, it was surreal, he said he had come to take me to school. I ride with my girlfriend Angela every day so I don't know why my dad thought it was normal that this guy would show up to give me a ride."

Sam nods, "Okay, what about your yard? Was he ever in your backyard?"

She shakes her head, "Not that I know of. I caught him trying to get in there one night when my dad was at work. I was on the phone with my dad when I confronted him. He claimed that he had lost his pet cat, that it jumped out of the car and into my yard as he drove past."

She stops short, "Oh shit! He ate that cat didn't he! Or drank it's blood or whatever!"

She looks like she's going to be sick again and Sam cuts her off, "There probably never WAS a cat Bella! I think their diet is based more on big game animals, deer, moose, that type of thing. Things they can find in the forest. I highly doubt they'd be consuming house pets. The thing that worries me is his scent was pretty strong not just on the front porch but in the back of the house too. Embry said it went right up a tree in front of a second floor bedroom."

Bella gasps and her eyes go wide, "The Cottonwood tree on the side of the house?"

Sam nods and what minimal color she has to begin with completely drains from her face. Shit, she's going to faint again.

Surprisingly she stays on her feet and takes a couple of deep breaths, "That's my bedroom."

Feeling the fury roll through me I run out of the house and into the woods. Tearing my shirt off and tossing it on the forest floor, I just manage to drop my pants and kick them away from me when I burst into fur.

**Bella POV**

Sam looks out the door behind Paul with something like pity, "I hope he gets his clothes off in time. Otherwise he's going to have to run home to get some and then run back."

Taking another deep breath I ask him, "So you think he went out there to uh, wolf out?"

He nods, "Yeah, when we get too angry we phase, and then we have to calm down so we can phase back. The idea of that thing looking in your window would make any of us mad, but Paul, well uh, he really likes you, so it really piss-es him off."

I can tell that there's something he isn't saying but I don't press it. I look at the time, "Shit, I have to go in about an hour and a half. Will he be back by then?"

Sam shrugs, "Probably, he just has to let off some steam, he'll probably tear into a few trees, and then he'll come back. Your Aunt Sarah said that Paul could come with you to babysit tonight. So you can help him with his schoolwork."

Well that's cool, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Billy generally have a no boys, no friends policy when I'm babysitting. I guess they like Paul, well that's good, something tells me that he's going to need all the help he can get with Charlie.

Sam looks at me, "So, uh, look, we think that Edward dazzled your father into accepting his story this morning."

Narrowing my eyes, I ask, "What do you mean dazzled?"

He sighs, "It's how they get mere mortals to do their bidding. It's basically like they're hypnotized. They have no memory of even being against the choice in the first place."

I realize then, "Wait, he tried to do that to our bio teacher this afternoon! Shit! He tried to do that to ME yesterday at the end of LUNCH!"

Sam's eyes go wide, "So who broke his eye contact with you?"

I look at him confused, "Umm, no one. He asked me to walk to class with him, and then he was just staring into my eyes, shit I even said it, I asked him 'Are you trying to hypnotize me or something? Because if you are I think you need to practice more.' That fucking GINGER CREEPER SON OF A BITCH BLOODSUCKER!"

Sam looks extremely confused, "So, it just, didn't affect you?"

I shrug, "I guess not, I had absolutely no desire to do what he asked."

Now he looks impressed. "Good to know."

**Time skip Paul POV**

After shredding a good dozen trees down to pulp with my claws I finally calm down enough to phase back. Going back to where I dumped my clothes I take calming breaths, and think about Bella. Bella with her shiny lip balm lips, I know what I want to do with those lips. Bella on the back of my bike pressed against my back. The sweet curves of her body. Imagining her pressed against the front of me, on top of me, under me, and now I'm human again with the added problem of a huge throbbing hard on.

Okay, Dad drunk off his ass and puking, leech stink, baseball, Grandma Dixon that one time I walked in on her in the bathroom. Okay, back in control. I shake my jeans out in case any nice bugs decided to make a home in them, and pull them back on before doing the same with my shirt.

Walking back into Sam's I see Bella laughing with Leah. Sam catches my eye and comes into the kitchen, "Hey, you feel better?"

I nod, and he sighs, "I have to tell you something but you need to stay calm."

Oh this can't be good. I raise my eyebrows and take a breath, "Okay. What?"

He clears his throat, "Edward has tried to dazzle Bella before."

I start to get angry and he finishes in a hurry, "He TRIED Paul! For some reason it doesn't affect her! She says he looked right into her eyes for like 3 minutes, and nothing. She actually ASKED him if he was trying to hypnotize her! It doesn't work on her!"

I can't even help the relieved laughter that flows out of my mouth, "Oh man, seriously? Dude! That's fucking great man! He can't manipulate her! That's just fucking AWESOME!"

He nods, "It really is. She's something else Paul, I'm glad that she's yours. I had forgotten all about her honestly, her and Lee grew up together. Are you going to tell her about the imprint?"

Sighing I shake my head, "No. Not yet."

He punches me in the arm, hard, "Why the fuck not man? You heard what she told Lee Lee before! She wants you, what's the problem?"

Running my hands through my close cropped hair I sigh, "What about my parents man? You know how they are! How am I supposed to bring her home to meet them? And what about her dad! Chief Swan fucking hates me man! Can you fucking imagine what would happen if she brings me home to meet HIM? Christ I'd be lucky if all he did was shoot me! So for now we'll just take it really ball breakingly slow. Shit, I guess it's good that I've been running around the way I have been the last couple of years, because I'm looking at one hell of a dry spell!"

Sam laughs, "Yeah right man, I got 100 bucks that says you tell her before Halloween."

I snort derisively, "Shit man, you really think I can't last 25 days?"

He snorts "Shit man, I don't think you can last 5 but I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here!"

**Time skip BPOV**

Paul pulls the bike up in front of the Black's house just before 6. I hop off and hand him back the helmet. He cuts the engine and follows me to the door. Letting myself in I call out, "Aunt Sarah! Uncle Billy! Jacob, I'm here!"

Aunt Sarah comes out of their bedroom looking amazing. She's wearing a short fancy green dress that flows over her body with darker green shoes and carrying a matching purse. It's their anniversary and I'm sure Uncle Billy is taking her someplace fancy. She comes over and gives me a hug, "Bella! I see you brought your friend."

I nod, "Sam said that you and Uncle Billy said it was okay. If it's not I'll see him on Monday."

She waves me off, "No, it's fine. Jake is in the kitchen working on his homework, he had dinner already, I just need you to make sure he goes in for a shower around 7, after he's in his pjs he can watch tv until 8 and then it's in to bed with the lights out. Make sure he's not playing with his handheld Nintendo thing after you put him to bed. We won't be home till well after midnight. I talked to Charlie and he said you can stay over here and he'll pick you up tomorrow after he gets back from fishing if you'd like. Otherwise I guess Paul can give you a ride home if you want."

Uncle Billy comes out looking extremely handsome in his dark grey suit. He scowls at Paul as he comes over and gives me a hug, "Bella Girl! How are you doing sweetheart? Is this mutt behaving himself?"

I laugh, "He's been nothing but super nice to me Uncle Billy! You be nice to him! He's my new friend."

Paul's cell phone rings and he says, "It's my dad, I'll be outside."

Uncle Billy laughs at me, "Sure, sure, friends, you make sure it stays that way."

I groan in embarrassment, and Aunt Sarah chimes in, "Don't you listen to him Bella! You do what your heart tells you to do! As long as you do it safe, and you're doing it because YOU want to do it!"

I know my face is red, and I thank God that Paul's outside on the phone with his dad. Uncle Billy twirls me around dancing with me until Aunt Sarah hands him his jacket, "We have to go, we'll be late! If you have any problems call us on the cell phones."

She hugs me again and follows Uncle Billy out the door. I go into the kitchen and find Jake at the table frowning over his math book. He's a cute kid, a little tall for his age, thin with dark hair that he wears in a shaggy cut, big brown eyes, and the cutest grin.

Yeah, little Jakie is going to be some heartbreaker when he gets to high school. Already all the little girls in his grade want to be his partner when they line up to go to classes. Aunt Sarah told me that when she chaperoned his field trip all the girls wanted to be in their group.

Jake looks up from his book, "Bella! You get to stay with me all night Bella! Isn't that great?"

I nod, "Yeah Jake, it's awesome! Do you need some help with that?"

He looks back down at the book, and nods up at me. I sit down next to him, and take the book from him, "Lets see what we've got."

He's working on multiplication problems. All simple stuff in hindsight, but I remember how hard it seemed when I was just learning it. He's about 10 questions in and I work with him on the other 10 until Paul comes into the kitchen. Looking up I smile at him, "Hey, everything okay? Do you have to go?"

He shakes his head, "Nah, I just had to run to the store for my dad, he needed another sixer and was too tanked to drive."

Jake looks up, and scowls when he sees Paul, "Who are you?"

Paul smiles at him, and I can tell he's trying to be friendly, "My names Paul. I'm a friend of your girl Bella there."

Jake scowls harder at him, I don't get it, I've never seen him be like this with anyone. He puts his arm around my shoulder and tells Paul, "That's right, she's MY girl."

I gently take his arm off of me and say in a firm voice, "Jacob! I know that your mommy and daddy taught you how to behave with grown ups. What do you say?"

He pouts and I almost can't stand it as he looks down sadly and says, "I'm sorry. But you are my girl Bella! You're my best girl!"

Laughing I ask him, "Oh, I'm your best girl? How many girls do you have Jakie?"

He smiles, and his grin lights his whole face up as he answers, "7! There's Katie, and Claudia, and Meggin C, and Meggin H, and Carly, and mommy, and you! You're my best girl though Bella, when I grow up I'm going to marry you!"

Oh boy. Paul laughs as he sits down at the table, and he jokes with Jake, "Hey Jake, it's going to be a long time until you're old enough to marry her, can I keep her company until then? This way you can devote your time to Katie, and Claudia, the Meggin's, and Carly."

Jake thinks about it really hard for about 4 minutes. He looks up at Paul skeptically, "Do you promise to go away when I get old enough?"

Paul shrugs, "Sure little dude. Promise, when you get old enough to take care of her I'll hit the bricks."

I laugh harder as Jake takes in Paul's earnest face, and says, "Ummm, NO! She's my girl, and if I let you keep her company then you'll marry her before I get old enough and you WONT go away like you say."

Paul scowls at him a little, "Well I got news for you little dude, I'm still not going away. So I guess we'll see who gets the girl in the end."

Jake looks so angry I almost think he's going to pitch a fit. Gearing up for the tantrum I'm shocked when he flings himself at me wraps his arms around my neck and gives me a big sloppy kiss on the cheek.

He jumps down from his chair laughing hysterically and yells in his sing song voice, "haha I got her first! I got her first!"

Rolling my eyes I say, "Jake. What did your mommy tell you about touching girls without asking first?"

He looks down guiltily, "That I'm not supposed to. I'm sorry Bella. Can I give you a kiss?"

I chuckle, "I think you already did kiddo. Is this the last of your homework?"

He nods, and I say, "Okay, well why don't you go get your shower early, and then you can watch TV while Paul and I do homework in here."

Jake shouts "okay" and runs off to get his shower. Paul goes out to the bike and comes back with my backpack and his own notebook. He sits down next to me and says, "So that's your boyfriend huh? What's he got that I don't?"

I laugh, and shove him lightly, "Well he doesn't burst into fur as far as I know."

He pouts, "Does that really bother you?"

Taking a breath I look up into his eyes, "Surprisingly, no. It's just part of who you are I guess. So your rare genetic condition?"

He nods, and I laugh, "Good cover."

I take my bio notebook out and pass it to him, "That's all the notes from the last month and a half, Mr. B. tests directly from the notes so if you take good ones you'll do fine. You can take the weekend to copy them, that'll be enough time right?"

He nods, "Yeah I transcribe pretty fast."

He puts the book aside, "Well if it's all just notes I guess we really don't have anything to do here until the kid gets out of the tub huh?"

Shrugging, I answer, "I guess not. So uh, what's it like? Being a wolf?"

Paul laughs, "It's pretty cool most of the time. Not to mention I got seriously jacked without having to do all the heavy lifting in the gym. Other than that it's the usual super powers, super strength, hearing, vision, sense of smell."

He breaks off like he's said too much and it hits me, "ohmygod! Oh. My. God! You totally smelled me today when I bumped into you and fell before math! You inhaled, and you closed your eyes! Did you? I mean, Could you? Really?"

Paul's eyes bug out, "What? I smelled your perfume, what else could I have smelled, Bella?"

I search his face looking for any sign that he's lying. Either he's very convincing or he's telling the truth. I'm leaning towards very convincing, but I let it go, and abruptly change the subject, "So uh, I haven't told my dad that I've been spending time with you yet. Is there anything you want to tell me before I do?"

He turns red, and looks really nervous, "Well, uh…Your dad, he uh, he doesn't like me very much."

I arch an eyebrow at him, "Oh? Why not?"

Paul gulps, "Well, uh. He's kind of had to arrest me before. Uh, a handful of times, well two handfuls, it was about 10 times."

I know that my eyebrows are probably at my hairline as I ask, "Do I want to know what for?"

He shakes his head, "No, probably not."

Frowning I decide to be straight with him, "Look, Paul, this is all new territory for me. I've dated here and there but nothing serious. I uh, I like you a lot, and I'm really attracted to you, but if you want to be with me you need to put your player ways behind you okay?"

He nods, "Bella the minute I met you that life was dead for me. I don't want you to rush into anything with me. Give me time to prove to you that the old Paul is dead. We can talk, and hang out, if you want to kiss me I'd be okay with that. Nothing serious just good friends who happen to be extremely attracted to one another."

Thinking about it I lean over and give him a quick peck on the cheek, I so don't trust myself to kiss his full sculpted lips while I'm supposed to be watching Jake. Pulling back, I smile, "I think I can handle that."

He gives me his phone and I program my cell number into it as Jake runs out of the bathroom in his pajamas into the living room. I hand Paul his phone back and we go in to watch tv with Jake before I have to put him to bed.

Damn, so this is what it's like to find the guy who makes me want it. Of course things can't even be easy for us though! Fucking vampires, werewolves, if I tell my dad I'm talking with Paul Dixon he's liable to threaten to shoot him, Paul wants to take things slow, I just want to jump on him, and actually if Dad's had to arrest Paul as many times as he says I think that Paul will be LUCKY if all my dad does is threaten to shoot him. Shit, what a mess!