Paul stuffed his math book in his locker, sifting through his things to try and find the novel they were reading in English, his next class. A loud crash brought his attention down the hall; well, it was loud to him.
Several yards down the hall, five girls in either miniskirts or short shorts were surrounding another girl in jeans and a hoodie. The only reason the five girls were taller than the other girl, was because they were all wearing six-inch heels. Paul also noticed that there were notebooks and other things sprawled around the girl's feet on the floor. He also recognized the five girls surrounding her. Three of them were seniors like him; Bridgette, Diana, and Julie, while the other two were juniors who had recently joined their ranks, Leanne and Morgan. Bridgette was the leader of their little 'slut crew', and Paul would admit he was one of the many, many, many guys who'd spent a night with her; a few times, actually. Diana and Morgan were two of his other conquests.
Due to his heightened hearing, he could clearly make out what was being said.
"I said, do you have anything you'd like to say, Mute?" Bridgette asked in a snobby, degrading voice. Clearly this was just a game to them.
"It's rude to bump into people and not apologize." Leanne pointed out snidely. That's when Paul realized who they were surrounding. Lilly Fuller.
He rolled his eyes and went back to searching for his book, thinking to himself, 'I rest my case. The mute has no friends'.
Hearing some scuffling, Paul looked back over at the group of girls. The hallway was mostly empty, with a few stragglers trying to get to class on time. He saw the mute stumble backwards a bit before straightening herself, she'd obviously just been pushed. She was still for a moment while the sluts were snickering to themselves, then she knelt down, appearing to try picking her things up. That's when Bridgette made another move. She shoved her hands against the mute's shoulders, causing her to lose her balance and fall back on her butt.
A tremor rocked Paul's spine, making him clench his fist around his locker door. He almost had to restrain himself from phasing and attacking those girls. It wasn't his wolf who brought that feeling out; though he was pissed, too. Someone had dared to put their hands on a pack imprint in a harmful manner, and the Rightful Alpha's imprint at that. No wolf tolerated that no matter what. But no, it wasn't his wolf who wanted to attack those girls.
That was Paul Lahote, the human. The guy that treated girls like crap and used them for sex; but even he drew a line at physically harming a girl. In a fair fight, sure. He'd been tempted to rip Leah a new one on several occasions, but in wolf form only. Two normal guys fighting, that was fine. Two girls in a cat fight, that was entertaining. But five to one where the one refused to fight back? That's what pissed him off.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Mute!" Bridgette shouted, her hands on her hips as she glared down at Lilly, who was gathering her things in her arms while she sat on her knees. Paul stood up, slamming his locker door and heading down the hallway. He was almost halfway to them when he saw Bridgette raise her hand like she was planning on backhanding Lilly.
"Bridgette!" Paul's booming voice echoed through the hall as he approached them. The group froze and looked over at him, Lilly peaking timidly at him over her shoulder.
Bridgette's shocked expression quickly turned into a seductive grin at the sight of the huge mass of muscle heading their way. Though, her eyes were focused on his chest flexing under his tight shirt as he approached. If she'd been focused on his facial expression, she wouldn't be smiling.
"Oh, hey Paul. I didn't see you there. Once I'm finished here why don't we head out to my car? I'm sure we can find something to do that's much better than sitting through an hour history lecture." Bridgette suggested in what was supposed to be a seductive voice, batting her eyelashes as she trailed her nails down Paul's chest.
As gently as he could, Paul gripped her wrist in his hand and pushed it away. "Nice try, but that's not why I came over here. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Bridgette smirked over her shoulder at the younger girl still on the ground. Lilly met her eyes from over her own shoulder before she hastily turned back around and continued picking up her things. Bridgette turned back around to speak to Paul, her smirk still in place.
"Just dealing with a little pest control." she answered simply, causing all her friends to snicker and cackle to themselves like it was the funniest thing in the world.
"You think ganging up on her and shoving her to the ground was 'pest control'?" Paul asked lowly, his voice dangerous, like a predator, and Bridgette caught that.
"Why do you care?" she asked haughtily, her hands on her hips. "It's not like she's anything to you. She's just the lonely, pathetic mute who tries to make friends by making people feel sorry for her." Paul tried not to wince at the fact that she just voiced his same opinion of the 'mute', "Do you really think someone can mourn their parents' death for two years? I mean, come on you get over it eventually!"
"And how many parents have you lost, Bridgette?" Paul asked smoothly, his voice like honey. Venomous honey that you could drown in if you weren't careful.
Bridgette opened her mouth, but was silent for a few seconds. Finally, she responded, "That's besides the point. Death happens everyday. You have to move on eventually."
Paul knew that eventually, yes, it was necessary to go on with your life. However, he also knew, not from personal experience but because of Jake and the Clearwaters, that losing a parent was hard and took a long time to get over. Jake still sometimes had moments where he missed his mom. But he was also much younger when Sarah Black died. Lilly was only about fourteen when her parents died, and from what he heard, she'd witnessed their death! That alone would traumatize a kid.
Paul stepped forward so he was chest to chest with Bridgette, though not in the way she wanted. He glared down at her, his eyes ablaze with fury.
"You don't know anything about her, and you have no clue what she's going through. So back the hell off, Bridgette." he snarled. He stood there for a moment as she gaped at him before he stepped around her and knelt in front of Lilly to help her pick up her things.
Lilly paused in surprise for a moment when a pair of large, tan, calloused hands joined hers in collecting the scattered folders and notebooks. She glanced nervously at the girls standing over them before she continued collecting her things.
"Oh, I get it." Bridgette stated after a moment, like she just solved some difficult math problem. "You want in her pants."
Paul froze, his muscles going stiff in shock and barely-contained rage before he looked up at her incredulously. "Excuse me?"
Bridgette rolled her eyes and flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Oh come on! Like the Great Paul Lahote would help a girl out of the goodness of his heart? Obviously she's just your next conquest! Though why you'd resort to doing that I'll never know." she finished eyeing Lilly in disgust.
Paul took a deep breath to try and calm down as he handed the notebooks he'd picked up to Lilly. Then, he stood up and glared down at Bridgette once again.
"For the last time, Bridgette. Back the hell off." he snarled. They kept eye contact, and Lilly was mildly surprised Paul didn't burn a hole in her head with his glare. After what felt like forever, Bridgette was the one to break their stare, taking a step away from Paul.
"Say what you want, Paul. But I doubt many people will believe that line of bull." she said snobbishly before she walked past him, leading her group down the hall.
Paul huffed in annoyance before turning to look down at Lilly, who'd just finished picking up all of her things. He hesitated for a moment before he walked around to stand in front of her, and held out his hand.
Lilly blinked in shock when the hand appeared in front of her face. She looked up at Paul, and was even more surprised to see that his face wasn't a cold mask, a smug smirk, or a glare. She wouldn't call it blank, but it was gentle with a small friendly smile. She didn't even know Paul Lahote could do gentle or friendly.
After a second of hesitation, she took his hand with her free one and let him pull her to her feet.
"Sooo, uh,…in case you didn't figure it out, I'm Paul Lahote." he gave her a small smirk and offered his hand again. Lilly shook it almost hesitantly before she took out her phone and typed out, 'I'm Lilly. You were at Sam's yesterday.'
Paul chuckled. "Yeah, that tends to be our hangout spot after school." he admitted. "What class are you heading to?"
Lilly quickly typed up a response, a small smirk on her face that Paul didn't understand, until he read the text. 'English with Alexander'.
Paul blinked before his brows scrunched up in confusion, his head snapping up to look at her in surprise. "You're in my English class?" he asked.
Lilly nodded as she typed again, 'Yeah. You're usually asleep in the back and I'm way in the front.'
Paul smirked and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Oh. You noticed that, huh?"
Lilly giggled as she nodded.
The tardy bell chose that moment to ring, telling the two they needed to get to class.
Paul glanced at her before nodding in the direction of their class. The two walked down the hall in a comfortable silence before they entered the class, their teacher talking in the front.
The 5' tall woman with sun-kissed skin and short, light brown hair turned and sighed in exasperation upon seeing Paul enter her room.
"Ah, Mr. Lahote. Can't you come to my class on time for once?" she asked before noticing Lilly standing beside him. "Lilly?" she asked in confusion.
"Sorry Mrs. A. I was helping Lilly with something in the hall." Paul admitted quietly, not lying but not telling the whole story.
"I see." the teacher murmured in response. "Well, since you were helping out another student, I'll let it slide this time. Take your seats please, we're starting speeches."
Paul nodded before heading towards the back of the room while Lilly took her seat in the desk closest to the door in the front row.
Most of the class was spent with Mrs. Alexander calling names by random draw and students talking for about two minutes about something they would change in the school system.
Lilly didn't really pay much attention to any of them. Except Paul's speech. His was just too funny not to pay attention to. Typically, he did his speech on why they shouldn't be allowed to give students homework. Even though she listened to Paul's speech, during the others she sketched a new picture of something from her most recent dream from the night before.
"Lilly." Lilly's head snapped up upon hearing her name, and she looked around to see everyone looking at her expectantly. A little too expectantly. "Are you ready to give your speech?" Mrs. Alexander asked gently, already knowing the answer. Lilly shook her head silently in response, staring down at her drawing. Her teacher sighed patiently. "Okay, just remember you only have two days to give it, or it goes in the grade book as a zero." Lilly nodded silently, not really caring as she continued working on her picture, trying to get the eyes right.
After what only seemed like a minute, Mrs. Alexander was standing in the front of the room, addressing the class. "Alright, that's it for this speech. Now, you can have the last fifteen minutes of class to yourselves while I call you to my desk in alphabetical order to look at your grade for the class. Obviously, this speech won't be in there yet, but just so you guys know where you are."
As she went to her desk at the front, everyone began moving around the room to sit with their friends, while Lilly continued with her picture.
Someone tapped her shoulder, making her look back. Paul smiled at her with a small wave.
"I think I figured out how I didn't know you were in this class." he announced, "You've never given a speech."
Lilly shrugged with a smile as she closed her sketch pad and turned to sit sideways in her desk so she could see him better. Before he could say anything else, Lilly's name was called by the teacher.
Lilly sighed, rolling her eyes at Paul before heading towards the teacher's desk. Paul laughed at her response. When she was standing beside the teacher's desk, the older woman motioned for her to sit in the chair that was placed before her desk. Lilly sat in the empty chair, waiting patiently for what was coming while her teacher read over something on the computer, probably her grades.
Finally, Mrs. Alexander turned to look at her.
"Well, what can I say that I haven't said before, Lilly?" she asked rhetorically, leaning her elbows on her desktop. "You have a borderline 'A' in this class. However, once this speech goes in as a zero, like all the other ones, it'll drop you to a 'B'. A high 'B', but a 'B' nonetheless. I have no doubt in my mind you'll be able to raise it back up to an 'A', given we have five more quizzes and two more essays before the end of the year, as well as the final test and final essay. I know you'll probably get a perfect score on every single one of those. However, there's also the final speech at the end of the year. If you get a zero on that one, that's it. Your final grade won't be anything greater than a high 'B'. Which is a good grade…but I know you can do better than that."
Lilly nodded slowly, looking down at her lap.
Mrs. Alexander sighed patiently. "Lilly, I know you went through something traumatic. Something no child should ever have to go through. But I also know that your mother wouldn't want you to only exceed half your potential because of it. Neither of your parents would."
Lilly subtly shook her head to make her hair fall in front of her face, not wanting Mrs. Alexander to see her face. This conversation was different compared to yesterday with the Principal. It pissed her off that he thought he knew her and was trying to tell her she needed counseling and whatnot. But Mrs. Alexander was different. She had been close friends with Lilly's mom until she died. And she knew for a fact that Lilly's mom would, indeed, want her to live her life to the fullest, she wasn't just spouting crap to make Lilly feel better.
Finally, Lilly nodded silently, hoping there wasn't anything else that needed to be said. She heard her favorite teacher sigh quietly.
"Well, I guess that's all that needs to be said at the moment. You can go back to your desk."
Lilly nodded again before she headed back to sit sideways in her desk, so she could still face Paul, who was still sitting in the desk behind her.
The two talked for the rest of class, well Paul talked and Lilly would respond with her phone, and they both ignored the looks the other students were giving them. Paul could hear what they were whispering, though. A lot of them thought she was his next 'conquest', like Bridgette thought. But that actually wasn't the case at all. He wasn't sure if it was the wolf in him or not; but he just wanted to look out for her. The thought of having sex with her actually disgusted him. Not that she wasn't pretty, cause she was, but because she seemed more like a sister to him; like Kim and Emily. Funny how his opinion of her did a total 180 in only a couple hours. For someone who didn't talk, she actually had a bit of an attitude. And she was funny.
When the bell rang Paul, who already had his things, got up to leave the room while Lilly gathered up her books.
"Paul, a word please?" Mrs. Alexander called as she stood up from her desk, straightening some papers.
Paul turned and shoved past the students heading toward the door, stopping beside the teacher's desk.
"What's up Mrs. A?" he asked curiously.
The teacher glanced at Lilly before turning to look up at Paul. "I've noticed today that you've been acting rather…friendly towards Lilly." she whispered, not wanting Lilly to hear as she left the room.
"Um, is that a bad thing?" Paul asked in confusion.
The teacher sighed. "It is when I'm well aware of your reputation, Mr. Lahote. I know what you do with girls, and if you even think about-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa let me stop you right there." Paul put his free hand up as a sign to stop. "That's not what this is about. I'm not trying to…do that to Lilly. Okay, she's different. I don't even see her that way. She's more like…a friend/little sister."
Mrs. Alexander looked up at him doubtfully for a moment before she responded. "Just don't hurt her, Paul. She's been though enough in her life without people like you trying to break her even more."
Paul nodded, for once his face a little solemn. "I won't. If I have anything to say about it, she won't get hurt at all, ever again."
Mrs. Alexander did a good job hiding her surprise on the outside, before she nodded, silently dismissing him to go to lunch.
As he went into the hallway he saw Lilly at her locker, switching most of her things out for a brown paper bag that smelled of turkey and potato chips. He also noticed she still kept her notepad she'd been drawing in under her arm.
"Hey, Lilly." Paul called as he approached. Lilly stood up with her lunch bag and pad, closing her locker as he came up to her.
"You want to eat lunch with me and my friends?" he asked curiously, "Kim and Embry will probably be there."
Lilly barely stopped her jaw from dropping in surprise. He was inviting her to sit with him and his friends? His friends as in the really tall, buff guys that everyone called 'Sam's Gang'? They didn't scare her, well most of them, and she was a little tempted to accept. But she really wanted to work on her sketch, she was almost done with it.
Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she typed up her response before showing him, 'I think I'm going to eat outside, I have some stuff I need to work on.'
Paul nodded after reading it. "Alright, well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us. Just look for the table of really tall, loud guys with trays of food two feet high." he answered jokingly, making Lilly giggle in response as she nodded.
Turning to go their separate ways, Paul headed for the lunch room. After standing in line and getting about three times the amount a normal person got, he headed toward the lunch table the pack usually sat at. Since he was a little later then normal, all the seats except one had been taken, so he sat there, in between Jared and Quil. Around the table clockwise, it was Paul, Quil, Embry, Jacob, Kim, and Jared.
Seth and Leah were still working on controlling themselves enough to come back to school. Well, Seth probably could handle it, being the laidback kid that he is, but he wanted to help his mom and sister as much as he could before going back to school, so he was waiting until Leah was ready.
A couple seconds after Paul sat down, Jacob's head snapped up, his sharp eyes staring a hole through Paul's head, though the other wolf didn't notice because he was too busy eating.
"Why do you smell like that?" Jake growled, his voice rumbling from deep in his chest. All conversation stopped as everyone at the table looked between the two wolves. Paul looked mildly confused.
"Smell like what?" he mumbled around a mouthful of cheeseburger.
"Cinnamon and green apples." Jake snarled, his eyes darkening in anger, "You smell like her."
Everyone was still a little confused, before Embry sniffed the air and his eyes widened. Paul, too, realized what Jake was referring to, but his face easily relaxed into a smirk.
"What's the matter, Baby Alpha? Not liking the fact that your mate's scent is all over me?" he asked smugly, goading Jake on. Jared pulled Kim closer to him, keeping his eye on Jake, who snarled.
"She's not my mate. I'm just wondering why you smell like her when you supposedly hate her."
Paul leaned back in his chair, his whole being radiating relaxation and arrogance. "Maybe, like every other girl around here, she can't get enough of me." he bragged again. He didn't really think of her that way, he just enjoyed getting Jake all riled up. It was humorous to Paul, that Black claimed he wanted nothing to do with the girl, but his wolf, like every other newly imprinted wolf, was extremely territorial.
"Paul." Jared warned under his breath, not wanting to have to drag Jake out of the school, should he lose control.
"Dude, knock it off." Embry rolled his eyes. "Seriously, why is Lil's scent all over you?"
Jake's eyes snapped to Embry, but he managed to keep his thoughts to himself. 'First Paul's saturated in her scent, and now Embry has a little nickname for her?'
Paul rolled his eyes. "You guys are no fun. Alright, fine. She was being pushed around by Bridgette and her little slut crew in the hall before our last class, and I got pissed and stepped in. Turns out Lilly's in my English class. Go figure."
"Well, she's pretty smart, and you aren't, so it makes sense that you guys are in the same class." Quil joked, earning a punch to the shoulder from Paul.
"Oh, I also invited her to sit with us at lunch, and-"
"WHAT?!" Jake snapped, "Are you crazy? She's not a member of the pack!"
"And," Paul continued in annoyance, "she said she couldn't, cause she wanted to work on something. I think she was drawing something during English class, so maybe that's what it was."
"Is she eating by herself?" Kim's soft voice was laced with concern. Paul simply shrugged, not really knowing.
"So what if she is?" Jake asked, his tone defensive, "She's survived this long without any friends, she'll be fine."
Quil shook his head. "Dude, when Abby finds out you imprinted on her granddaughter, she's gonna shoot you in between the eyes." he knew better than the rest of the pack what good a shot Abby was, hell she used to go on hunting trips with her husband, Old Quil, and some of the other guys; and she could hold her own with all the men.
Jake glared at his best friend. "Yeah, well she won't find out, cause I'm not gonna accept it, so there's really no point in telling her, or any of the Elders."
"Why are you so against her, Jake?" Kim asked quietly, her sad eyes boring into him as she tried to figure him out.
"It's not her I'm against. I'm against the imprint. If I weren't being forced into being with her, I wouldn't mind maybe being her friend. But the Spirits are trying to push me into being with her because she probably couldn't get a guy on her own."
Kim's eyes hardened, her body trembling. Jared tightened his grip around her waist, unsure what she was feeling.
"And here I thought the pack mind could come in handy. That maybe you could see through Jared and Sam's heads what a great thing imprinting is. Guess I was wrong. And I'm glad I finally know what you really think of me, too, Jake. Apparently the only reason Jared imprinted on me is because I couldn't 'get a guy on my own', huh?" her response was met with silence, a few of the guys looking down awkwardly at the table while Jared looked at her face, looking like he was in physical agony. Jake had the decency to look ashamed, not able to meet Kim's eyes.
"Look, Kim, I-"
"I don't want to hear it." she interrupted him, standing up from the table, "I think I'm going to go find Lilly and eat with her. This table suddenly seems too…negative." with that she picked up her tray and turned to leave.
Jared quickly stood up, glaring at Jake as he followed her. "You guys can stay here, I'm going with her." he murmured quietly to the others. They knew it was more a request than a suggestion. He wanted to be alone with Kim for a few moments to make sure she was okay.
Once they were out of earshot, everyone at the table turned and glared at Jake, who was staring at his tray silently.
Jared glanced worriedly at his imprint as they walked through the halls, holding their lunch trays. After a moment Kim looked over at him and asked, "Do you know where she is?"
Jared sniffed the air until he picked up her scent. "Yeah, she went this way." after a moment of silence, he asked gently, "Are you okay?"
Kim looked at the ground as she answered, "Yeah I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Kim," Jared breathed her name, gently grabbing her elbow so they would stop walking. "I know what Jake said hurt you. Talk to me." he pleaded.
Kim looked up at him, her eyes searching his. After a quiet moment, she spoke, "Is what he said true?" she asked quietly. "Is that all imprinting is?"
"No." Jared barely forced the snarl out of his voice, trying not to scare her. When he saw Jake again, he was going to kill him. "No, he was wrong, Kim. I already explained what imprinting is to you. Don't you remember what I said to you, that day in your backyard?" he urged gently.
'How could I forget?' she thought to herself, her mind filling with the memory. They had been sitting in her backyard because he said he needed to tell her something. He had told her how the legends were true, and explained what imprinting was. She'd been so excited that Jared would be hers and only hers, that she'd never given imprinting a second thought. She just felt blessed that someone as amazing as him was meant for her. After that they'd shared their first kiss, right there in her backyard. It was, quite literally for Kim, a dream come true.
But Jared's question brought his whole explanation back to the front of Kim's mind. "You said, 'Imprinting shows us our perfect match. The one person who completes us in every possible way. The wolf will be anything, and do anything, for his imprint.' Of course I remember that, Jared."
"Then why are you questioning it now?" he asked sadly.
Kim looked down and shrugged. "Well, obviously you could do better-"
"Stop." Jared's hand lifted her chin up until they were looking into each other's eyes, "You're it for me, Kim. You're all I'll ever want. I promise."
Kim smiled, relieved that he truly felt that way and wasn't being forced. She took his hand from her chin and started pulling him.
"Come on, we've gotta find Lilly before lunch is over." she urged him until he took the lead.
Lilly's scent lead them out the front doors of the school, to find her eating a sack lunch at a picnic table by herself. She had her sketchbook in front of her, a box of coloring pencils to one side, with an open paper bag on its side next to it. Two turkey sandwiches sat on a paper towel, with a small bag of chips and a can of Sprite next to it. Lilly was coloring in her pad with a red coloring pencil, the sharpened tip barely touching the paper, and she'd occasionally stop to take a bite of her lunch. She had a gentle, content smile on her face as she worked.
"Hi Lilly." Kim greeted as they stopped by the picnic table. Lilly stopped her work as she looked up, a friendly smile greeting the two in front of her. She waved her free hand in greeting.
"Is it alright if we join you for lunch?" Jared asked politely. Lilly thought for a moment before she nodded, subtly moving her lunch bag over her pad as the other two sat across from her.
"So, are you excited for science class later?" Kim asked teasingly.
Lilly rolled her eyes with a smile before shrugging, taking a bite of her sandwich.
"What were you drawing?" Jared asked curiously as they ate, nodding toward the book under Lilly's lunch.
Lilly paused for a moment, looking hesitant. She chewed her lip as she got her phone out of her pocket to type a message.
'Nothing important.'
"Could we see it? I've seen some of your work around the school. You're really good." Jared answered. Sometimes the art teacher would hang the great projects up in her hallway for other students to see, and Jared had seen several of Lilly's pictures.
Seeing how hesitant Lilly was, Kim put in, "You don't have to show us if you really don't want to. We understand."
Lilly shrugged and typed on her phone, 'It's embarrassing,'.
"We won't laugh. Promise." Jared said, putting one hand over his heart with the other in the air like he was taking an oath. Lilly giggled silently as she thought about it. Slowly, debating if she should back out, Lilly slid her pad out from under her paper bag. She chewed her lip as she held it near her chest, still not sure she wanted to turn it around to show them. Finally, she heaved a deep sigh and turned the pad around to show them.
Jared nearly choked on the pop he'd been about to drink when she revealed the picture, and even Kim froze.
It was a wolf. A large wolf with a thick, russet-colored coat; a sandy-goldish colored underbelly and chest; and deep, dark brown eyes that were staring back into the soul of whoever was looking at him.
Kim looked over at Jared, silently wondering if it was a picture of anyone from the pack, or if it was just a coincidence. But Jared didn't look at her, his eyes fixed on the picture. He knew his pack brothers like the back of his hand, and he knew exactly who this picture was of.
Jacob.
Barely managing to swallow the lump that had grown in his throat, Jared finally spoke after Lilly awkwardly lowered her drawing back to the tabletop.
"That's, um…th-that's a really good picture. Great detail. Where, uh, where'd you get the idea to draw a wolf?" Jared asked carefully, stuttering over his words like an idiot. Silently, he was wondering if Jake had been making secret trips to Lilly's backyard without the rest of the pack knowing; and maybe Lilly saw him.
Lilly chewed her lip as she hesitantly typed something on her phone.
'You'll think I'm stupid'
That response alone was enough for Jared to tense his muscles, and Kim was right there with him, silently panicking.
Barely managing to keep his voice steady, Jared responded with, "Try me."
Lilly sighed, her cheeks darker than normal, with a red undertone that suggested she was blushing as she typed away on her phone again.
'I had a nightmare, and the wolf saved me'.
Jared's eyes widened slightly. That was not the answer he was expecting. An imprint having dreams about her wolf before she even knew about the shape-shifters? That was unheard of.
"What did the wolf save you from?" Kim asked gently, seeing that her boyfriend was temporarily shocked into silence.
Lilly looked away from them before shaking her head, showing she didn't want to talk about it.
They were quiet for a few moments, just picking at their food, before Kim spoke once again. "What do you think it means? You know, that a wolf of all creatures saved you. Do you think it means something?" she glanced between Jared and Lilly.
Lilly shrugged, not really sure.
"Have you had dreams like this in the past? Or is this the first time?" Jared asked gently, knowing they were making her a little uncomfortable.
Lilly once again started chewing her lip as she got out her phone.
'I've had the nightmare before, but last night was the first time the wolf appeared'.
Jared nodded slowly, thinking it over. "Maybe it means something," he started carefully, not wanting to give anything away to Lilly, but wanting her to feel like this was important, too. "I mean, our legends say that wolves are the Tribe's Protectors, right? Maybe this wolf is like your own personal Protector."
Lilly narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. It actually made sense, but why would the wolf suddenly appear now after so much time?
XXX
Dun dun DUUUUNN!
Just kidding. Anyway, I hope everyone liked this chapter, it was nice and long and full of all kinds of stuff. I hope Paul switching opinions so fast wasn't too corny, and I wanted to throw in Jared and Kim's talk, too.
Let me know what you thought! : )