Author's Note: First and foremost I want to thank my first two reviewers. DeEperR than FaThOmLeSs and wolflover101canadiaian, it made my day when I saw your reviews. I have more people will review my story. I am excited about the upcoming chapter which will be Paul's POV what happened when Jennifer showed up and how he felt when he imprinted on her.
Disclaimer: ME: Paul can I own you for a little while. I promise to be nice!
Paul: Nope Stephanie Meyer owns me and my entire world.
ME: *pouts* Not fair!
Paul's POV
I was sitting at the bonfire working on my fourth plate of food. I really love these bonfires because those women sure can cook. There were hotdogs, burgers, chicken, steak and ribs. Not to mention pasta salad and Emily's yummy brownies.
I heard something coming from the woods at the other end of the beach. I looked up at the same time as Sam. He went to investigate and the next thing I knew he had phased and was howling in alarm. I wasted no time in phasing and then Jacob and I joined him. I could smell the leeches as I neared his position. It was faint, but unmistakable.
"That don't smell like any of the Cullens" I heard Jacob say through our wonderful Wolf telepathy. Sam agreed and we slowly approached what appeared to be a young girl. Despite the ball cap she was wearing on her head I could tell she had red hair and I could smell the fear pouring off her. She backed up towards a tree as she tried to appear small. Sam approached her and within seconds had realized she was human. While he and Jacob questioned her the rest of us phased and returned to the bonfire.
A few minutes later Sam brought the girl, Jennifer we found out was her name, to the bonfire. He gave her some food and walked away to talk to Emily. From what Jacob was telling us some vampires had killed her family and kidnapped her. She had been held for many months until she decided to escape while they were out hunting. While he began introducing her to everyone around the bonfire I went back to eating my food.
"And lastly this is Paul" Jacob said as he finished the introductions. When I looked up to acknowledge her my heart stopped beating in my chest. I dropped my plate on the ground as I realized who I was looking at. She was my world, my reason for living, my everything. She had taken her hat off and they way the fire lit her hair up were amazing. She was perfect in every way and she was mine. Then I remembered how she came to be on the beach. Some bloodsucker had kidnapped her and killed her family. I started to shake out of anger at what had happened to her.
"Paul, come with me" Sam said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I followed him into the woods and he confirmed what I already knew. I had imprinted on Jennifer. He told me that she was going to be staying with him and Emily until she was ready to move on. He urged me to take things slow as I tried to get to know her.
"How can I keep from hurting her" I asked as we headed back towards the fire. I knew he understood what I was feeling. He had almost killed Emily once when he anger got the better of him. I knew that every time he looked at the scars on his face he wanted to hurt himself for hurting her. At that moment I vowed I would never allow myself to hurt Jennifer in any way. I decided that I would spend some time getting to know her, but I would never allow myself to be alone with her. I could not risk hurting her.
When I we got back to the beach I realized Jennifer was nowhere to be seen.
"Congrats man" Seth said as he clapped my back. Out of the younger pups Seth was the only one I really got along with. He and I spent a great deal of time together apart from pack duties. He told me that his sister, Leah had taken Jennifer to Sam and Emily's house. I thanked him and the two of us worked in comfortable silence as we put the bonfire out. I followed Sam and Emily to their home excited about the prospect of getting to know my imprint.
"She is sleeping on the couch" Leah said as she came from the woods. I looked her in the eyes as I thanked her for taking care of Jennifer. She gave me a slight smile and turned and headed back into the woods. I turned to head into the house and saw that both Emily and Sam were staring at me with open mouths. It took me a second to realize what they were amazed about. I had told Leah thank you. I never told anyone thank you so I guess my imprint was already changing me. As I followed Sam into his home I smiled as I thought about what other things would change about my life because of Jennifer.
She was sleeping on the couch snuggled into her blankets and there was a bit of hair falling into her face. She looked like an angel as she lay there murmuring in her sleep. I heard her whisper the word mom and I realized she was having a bad dream. I walked over and pushed the hair from her face and gently kissed her on the forehead.
"Everything will be okay" I whispered and I promised her that nothing would ever hurt her again. As they headed down the hall Emily gestured to the couch indicating I could stay the night if I wanted. I walked over to the couch, took my shoes off and stretched out onto the couch.
I laid there thinking for a while before I feel asleep. I thought about what my life had been like up to now. My father had run off when I was about ten. My mothers had taken a second job in order to make enough money to support the two of us. Billy, Jacob's dad, had taken me under his wing. He taught Jacob and I about cars and woman and life. When I turned 16 I took a job at a garage in Forks. Mostly I just cleaned up after the mechanics had left each day, but eventually they would let me do little things to help with the cars. I learned a lot in the two years I had worked there and I had even managed to save a little bit of money. It was not much, but it was enough to make my dream a reality. My goal was to buy this old garage on the reservation. I had talked to Jacob about my idea and he thought it was great. Somehow Sam found out about it and decided that it was indeed a great idea. You see because of the threat from the leeches it was an unspoken fact that none of the pack would be able to leave the reservation for college. Sam had spoken to the Elders on our behalf and they had agreed that once Jacob and I had graduated from school they would buy that garage for us. They would give us the money we needed to get started. This was the tribe's way of thanking us for our sacrifice and protection of the tribe.
I looked again at Jennifer's sleeping form and I wondered what I could do to protect her. Not just from the leeches, but also from myself. I knew that with my temper I could easily snap and she would end up hurt. I could not let that happen. I swore then and there that I would do whatever I needed to keep her safe, even if it meant staying away from her. Just that thought was heart breaking and I worried if I would be able to stay away. I wondered if I would have the strength to do what was necessary. My last thought as I feel asleep was if I could just control my temper I would not be as much of a danger to her. I decided that the next day I was talk to the one person I knew who had infinite amounts of patience. Well to be honest it was not really a person, but I was going to contact Carsilye just the same.
Author's note: I hope everyone liked that glimpse into some of Paul's hopes and dreams. I thought it would be nice to make Paul seem more vulnerable. I even threw in my own version of plot twist. Who would have thought that Paul would consider going to Carlisle for advice on patience and controlling ones temper. Please read and review. In the next chapter we will get Jennifer's POV as she wakes up and sees Paul on the couch. She will also reveal a bit more about what she went through and how she is dealing with her family's death.
