Stephenie Meyer owns everything. I own nothing except this made up story with characters I don't own.
Once they got home after leaving Sam's house, Paul pulled his wife to the sofa for a quick nap. He begged for 20 minutes of relaxation after the stressful morning. Rachel argued that the she had shit to do, like email some friends from college, fold the last two loads of laundry, finish up work on that freelance research for that client in Oregon and all the other crap that kept their house humming along. Then Paul pulled that pitiful puppy look. She didn't know whether to coo at her husband or hit him with a rolled up newspaper. Rachel leaned into Paul's side and closed her eyes thinking that 20 minutes to recharge wouldn't be a bad thing
Waking up after a couple of hours and stretching, Rachel yawned and tried to shake her hair out of her eyes without too much movement. She was laying stomach to stomach with a very warm wolf on their sofa. Paul was a surprisingly cuddly man who loved having his mate draped over him when he napped. Looking around Rachel was shocked to see that it was already mid-afternoon judging from the slant of the sunlight coming into the front window. Paul rubbed his hands over her back and murmured little snuggly nonsense sounds.
Leaving Sam's had been both a relief and nerve-wracking. A relief to get the information out to the Alpha after it had felt like it was strangling her a little more every day as she watched Leah fold into herself. Nerve wracking because the entire group dynamic could change with the release of the information, leaving both wolves and imprints irrevocably changed. Smiling to herself, Rachel considered how the information would open up a world of possibilities to the unattached pack members. Rachel was all for freedom of choice and that is what she tried to concentrate on. The younger wolves deserved to decide who to love. After giving their lives up to the responsibilities of phasing and protecting their people, these young wolves shouldn't be told to blindly accept the magical illusion that's imprinting.
Billy Black's daughter was not blinded by the traditions that the council clung to so desperately. She hated to include her father in the council category but Billy had been less than enthusiastic when she first discussed her research with him. He did everything but stick his fingers in his ears and hum loudly so that he couldn't hear his daughter. She followed the old man around his house as he tried to roll away from her. A couple of times she was sure that rolling over her feet when he took a sharp turn wasn't as accidental as he tried to make out. She eventually wore his ass down by following him around the house practically shouting her findings.
Rachel hadn't yet decided if the council really believed the shit they threw out at the pack when they "examined" the legends and histories or if the council was trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit for their daughter and sons. How can it be in anyone's best interest to tie themselves to someone who will always love them no matter what? Never having to mature emotionally or strive to be a better person because both parties are bound to love without question or having to work at the little things that make up daily life sounded like prison and not love. When she and Paul first moved in together the little compromises that they made to accommodate each other showed their concern for their chosen partner. Such as Paul vowing to never order anchovies if he hoped to get anywhere near Rachel for the next 48 hours. Or Rachel promising to wear the naughty Wonder Woman outfit, that she thought was too tight but Paul loved, at least once a month so that she could tie the big bad wolf up with her golden lasso and tame him. Rachel quietly snorted at the laziness of imprinting.
Easing herself up from the solid mass of her husband, Rachel walked into the kitchen while trying to decide what to cook for dinner. She kept a stocked upright freezer in their laundry room and another one in the shed outback for wolf caught game. With Paul's unbelievable appetite and the constant dropping in of random wolves she always doubled recipes and kept easy dishes like beef stew, pot roast, various casseroles and such in the indoor freezer. Staring with glazed eyes into the open fridge . . . dinner . . . what to have for dinner . . . There was some fresh salmon in the fridge that Paul caught after patrol the other day that needed to be used before it went bad. Hunting as a wolf for his family was one of Paul's favorite things. Paul the man liked to take care of his mate and his wolf was constantly wanting to take down large animals. There was an added benefit to catching fish as a wolf; he liked to take the pups fishing in wolf form to help them develop better eye-to-muzzle coordination. Not having opposable thumbs could be a bitch.
After preparing the fish and sliding it into the oven along with a couple of thrown together side dishes, Rachel walked into the laundry room to get rolls out of the freezer. Figuring she'd put in some laundry while she was there, Rachel dumped in a load of towels with plenty of detergent and bleach into the washing machine. Wolves shower a lot and need about four times the towels per day as your average human. A wolf missing a shower smelled manly. A wolf missing more than two showers began to get a little ripe.
Putting the rolls into the fridge to defrost for tomorrow, she meandered back to Paul in the living room. She looked at him sleeping and smiled. Leaning over the back of the sofa she admired his russet skin, dark brown hair verging on black and chiseled features. Every time she looked at him her heart fluttered in anticipation of his gaze, smile or touch. She loved him so much that sometimes it felt like she would burst into flame from one of his smiles.
"I love you more than you can even begin to imagine." He kept his eyes closed as he blew her a kiss and then smirked up at her.
Since the marking they could sense each other and their moods. They discovered the mood thing the unfortunate day that she had a fight with her twin Rebecca over the phone about visiting Billy, her car battery died and she almost broke her leg falling off a stool while changing a light bulb. She was curled up on the kitchen floor having a mini-breakdown out of frustration and Paul burst through the door yelling about killing the fucker who made her cry. As Rachel was tearfully trying to tell him that it wasn't a person but just bad luck, he was racing around convinced that the perpetrator of her unhappiness was in the house and that the SOB had to die by wolf smack down. After searching the house about three times he finally sat down with her on the floor and they figured out that his stress went up steadily throughout the day as her luck went further down the crapper. There was an upside, they could prepare themselves for both the good and bad moods of their mate and it was a really interesting phenomenon during sex. It seemed to enhance all those tingly feelings.
After giving him a quick kiss on the cheek Rachel walked across the room to the stairs leading up to the guest room. She needed to check Leah. The door to the guest room was open and the scene she saw inside the darkening room made her eyes tear. The small room was filled with a king sized bed pushed into the far corner, a beside table littered with water bottles and tissues and a dresser to the left of the doorway. On the side of the bed against the wall was Jake with Leah's face cradled into his chest. Her little brother must have come in when Rachel was napping as Set was curled around his sister's back.
The look of desperation on the true Alpha's face made Rachel's heart break. It took all of her considerable self-control to prevent a broken sob from escaping her lips when she saw the tears running down Jake's face. Her poor little brother was being ripped apart by the hurt of his Beta. Jake kept trying to sooth Leah by rubbing circles on her back and crooning softly in her ear. Seth was on Leah's other side and he was gently kneading Leah's neck and shoulders. Rachel heard Paul reach the top of the stairs and pad softly to where she stood outside the room. Paul's arms reached around his wife and she looked at him nodding towards Leah. Reluctantly releasing Rachel he stepped into the room.
Leah didn't move except for her shallow breathing that barely moved her shoulders. The she-wolf was gaunt and her closed eyelids looked bruised and thin.
In his normal voice he looked at Leah and asked, "Any more room here for another wolf? The hottest beast in the pack is waiting right here to provide his services."
Jake closed his eyes trying to pull himself together and Seth pointed to the foot of the bed. Paul reached under the blanket covering Leah's legs and feet. Her toes were ice-cold. Stepping back, Paul took off his shorts and phased. He nosed his large silver muzzle under the blanket and placed the soft warm fur of his chin and neck on her lower legs and feet. Within minutes her toes had warmed up. Over the past day she had been getting colder and colder. Instead of running at a 108.9 degrees Leah's temp had lowered to about 105 degrees.
Looking at the most important men in her life falling apart Rachel made a decision. She was not going to stand by while her best friend lost herself. Time to marshal the troops.
"I''m calling the pack and asking them to come over here now. Seth, please push the furniture in the living room against the walls. Paul, move the mattresses from all three beds in the house to the middle of the floor downstairs and put clean fitted sheets on them. Jacob you stay with Leah and carry her down and lay her in the middle of the mattresses when Paul's done."
Paul phased back, threw his shorts back on and went to push the chest of drawers and side table out of the way so that the mattress could be moved without destroying the meager furnishings in the room.
Running downstairs to rummage around the large tote she used as a purse, and only semi-jokingly referred to as the Black Hole of Calcutta, finally locating her elusive cell and made her call.
"Code red Embry. Get hold of the rest of the pack and tell them to clear their calendars and get over here ready to phase. It's time to activate the puppy pile. Leah needs to have her pack around her in all their furry glory."
Snapping the phone shut she began putting dinner, plates and silverware on the table for the guys to get food when they came down stairs. Looking at the table, she also pulled out cold cuts, bread, chips and condiments for the wolves coming over. Salmon and salami. She wrinkled her nose in disgust at that unholy combination but she knew the wolves would each crap on a cracker if hungry enough. Everyone had been informed of the time Jared snacked on a crow when desperately hungry in wolf form. He said it was a git gamey.
Rachel called out, "Paul, I'm going to the shed to get some venison." She heard his grunt in response. After the first couple of times of having him panic when he didn't immediately notice that she'd left the house she'd learned to just give him a heads up. A panicked Paul is a primal Paul and a primal Paul was a growling Paul.
Walking across the back yard, Rachel noticed that the clouds were rolling in and that the wind was up. A storm was coming. Usually Rachel loved wild weather. She remembered when she and Leah would dance outside in the rain while everyone else called them idiots. They both felt the energy from storms and liked to feel that power unleashed. Sighing, Rachel found herself in front of the freezer. Pulling out two large packages of ground venison and a couple of smaller packages of venison Italian sausage, she staggered back to the house with the awkward load. Just before reaching the porch she saw Jared and the Beta rush over to grab the packages of meat from her arms. Jared looked at his old friend, taking in the tightness around her eyes and mouth. Rachel looked drained.
"Hey Rach. Embry called. What's up? Is Leah worse?"
As Sam's Beta, Jared had a tendency to speak in shorthand. Always trying to get the most information with the least amount of words. Rachel considered Jared's verbal shorthand kind of a good trait considering that Kim used more words than any three people combined. She loved Kim. But damn, the girl could talk the stink off a skunk.
Jared had been more than a little unhappy with Sam holding on to Leah emotionally despite imprinting on Emily. OK. Unhappy didn't really cover it. More like ready to disembowel his Alpha. He knew Sam did it unconsciously but that didn't really make it any better. If anything it made it worse for Leah, the pack and Emily. Jared was an observer and he could see that Sam's continued attachment to Leah had been eating at the she-wolf from the inside out. The pack got the joy of dealing with Sam's thoughts and Leah's raging responses. While Emily was human and not in the pack mind, Jared had seen her watch Sam with a sad expression while Sam concentrated more on Leah that the other wolves. He had seen Emily quickly look down and walk into another room when she caught Sam's eyes following Leah with a soft gaze. It was just a totally fucked up situation.
"I honestly don't know what's happening to Leah. She only stares or has her eyes closed without ever responding to anyone. She only eats and drinks enough to hang on and I feel like we're losing her . . . " Rachel heard her voice tremble.
Trying to get a grip on herself before falling apart, Rachel squared her shoulders and followed Jared through the front door. She found Paul loading up a plate. Jake took a loaded plate to Seth who was sitting on the mattresses next to Leah. The unresponsive girl laid on her side with her eyes closed. Rachel watched her baby brother as he sat down and tried to tempt his Beta with tiny bites of salmon and nibbles of potatoes from his fingers. Leah would eat the tidbits put to her lips but it was like watching a zombie.
"Jared please put the meat on the kitchen counter and grab the two giant pots from the laundry room."
"Sure thing Rach. What are you making?"
"Chili and baked ziti with sausage. I figured we would need some 'big pot' meals since the rest of the pack is on their way and I'll need to keep you guys fed for the foreseeable future. Is Kim is coming over?"
"Yeah. She said she'd be here in an hour or two, she was visiting her folks."
"Do you mind calling her and asking her to hit the store on her way and grab a couple of gallons of milk?"
Jared nodded, flipping his phone open as he walked to the other side of the room to call his imprint.
Embry and Quil were the next wolves to arrive. Pulling Embry to the side Rachel asked where Sam was. Embry looked down at the floor and then back at her face. He pulled her to the kitchen and leaned over to whisper, hoping that Jake, Paul, Jared and Seth wouldn't hear him.
"He may not be able to get away. Emily's not happy about him coming here without her to look after his ex-fiance. She's jealous of Leah."
"What the fuck is she jealous of?" Rachel hissed. "The fact that she has Sam in her bed every night or that Leah is practically a vegetable?"
Leaning into her ear Embry quietly reported, "Emily has decided that this is just Leah trying to get attention. She wants Sam to stay with her tonight."
Paul was at Rachel's elbow in the next second. The anger rolling off of her was palpable to his wolf. Pulling Rachel into his broad chest she felt him send off calming energy to her. With her head pressed into his chest she told him what Embry had reported and Paul guided her back into the living room. Turning his head to Leah's prone figure as she listlessly sipped water from a bottle held by Seth, Paul's expression became more feral. There was enough real life drama right here in his fucking living room. His sister was probably dying and he was in no mood to put up with Emily's made up shit. He gently pushed Rachel away from his chest and began taking off his shorts.
"Jake, call Sam and tell him to phase. Right. Fucking. Now."
Jake pulled out his cell phone and made the call. Hanging up, Jake nodded to Paul. After quickly stripping out of his shorts Paul exploded into silver fur. Paul's wolf was staring intently at Leah and Seth in the middle of the room. A mournful howl went up from the direction of Sam's house. He was on his way. Wolf 911.
Paul kept his wolf form and crawled onto the mattresses and laid across Leah's legs and feet.
"Rachel, is it OK if I phase and Leah can use me as a pillow?" Quil asked.
"Of course you can phase, sweetie. Why are you even asking?" Rachel answered with a puzzled tone.
"Well, you know . . . it just seems kind of polite to ask the lady of the house if you can get naked in her living room and turn into a giant dog. I mean, both me and my wolf have some serious junk . . . "
"Fuck Quil, really? You had to talk about your dick in front of Rachel?" Embry couldn't help commenting.
Leave it to Quil to diffuse the tension for a minute. Jake's shoulders and arms relaxed for a moment as he grinned at his friend. Laughing, Rachel walked into the kitchen to give Quil and his junk some privacy as he wolfed out.
When she heard Quil's wolf nails clicking on the hard wood floor in the living room, Rachel came back with liter bottles of soda that she put near the food laden table. She noticed that Quil had indeed become Leah's pillow. She was curled on her side gently clutching a handful of Quil's fur. He was practically purring in contentment at being close to his pack sister. Leah's form looked a little more relaxed buffeted by the two wolves at her head and feet.
Minutes later Sam burst through the front door, naked and dripping wet from the rain that had started without Rachel even noticing. Paul jumped up with a growl, herding his mate to the other side of the room while making sure to keep his wolf between Rachel and the Alpha. Quil instinctively curled his body protectively around Leah and reached his huge paw around her to keep her close.
Sam scanned the room with wild eyes, almost inhuman eyes, until he spotted Leah. Striding towards the she-wolf Sam came to an abrupt halt when wolf Paul, wolf Quil, human Jake and human Seth growled at him in warning. Sam's advance towards Leah slowed and he put his hands up in as submissive of a pose as an Alpha can show without being challenged for dominance. The guard dogs let him through. Crawling to the edge of the mattresses he snaked his hand out towards Leah's ankle and held it like a life line.
Rachel ran to the laundry room, grabbed a towel and went to put it over Sam's shoulders. Paul tried to block her out of fear that the Alpha would snap at Rachel for interrupting his contact with the girl he couldn't help but love. Rachel scratched around her husband's furry ears. His really cute furry ears.
"Paul, it's OK. I'm a female without paws. He won't hurt me."
Gritting his fangs, while acknowledging the truth of her words with a shake of his massive head, Paul kept contact with Rachel's side in case he had to move her out of danger. Gently laying the towel on Sam's shoulder's she stepped back. As she was moving back with Paul practically glued to her side, everyone heard Leah groan. She sounded like she was in agony and started to barely whisper what sounded like nonsense to Rachel. But the reaction of the wolves proved that Leah's words made sense in a way that caused all of them pain. Growling, Paul moved to Leah and curled himself around her wherever Quil wasn't touching their sister. He put his massive paw across her body near Quil's paw and enveloped her is silver fur while continuing a low growl.
Jared was crossing the room when he heard Leah. He immediately sank to his knees and moaned in agony. Sam's hand tightened on Leah's leg, like he was trying to keep her grounded to the pack while maintaining his weak defenses against soul crushing despair. Quil let out a heartbreaking whine and tears began falling down his muzzle. Seth put his head down with shaking shoulders and began to sob. Jake looked at Rachel in horror. He couldn't begin to wrap his mind and emotions around the possibility of losing his Beta. Embry's shoulders and head fell forward as he fought to stay standing.
"What is she saying?" Rachel braced for the answer.
Only Embry was willing to answer her and he whispered, "She's asking Sam to let her go. That she's ready to leave this life."