Chapter 3

Paul's POV

The boys loaded a shitload of wood into a pile and dozed it with petrol. We all scrambled to get matches and light it up. It was always a competition to see who could get it first. I won and it felt fucking good.

The boys still had been giving me weird looks because of Alice. I couldn't give less of a fuck, some of the smell had dissipated and left me thinking that she was even more perfect than she had been before.

Just thinking about her, she came into view with Seth. That slacker was supposed to be helping us set up, not make my imprint laugh. As soon as I heard that, it made me shiver involuntarily at that sound that reached my ears. I turned and glared at Seth for what was like the fourth time that day.

He saw me and immediately excused himself. My pretty imprint looked standing very awkward in the corner. She sat herself on the other side of Kim that stood as soon as she sat. Kim was always a stuck up girl. I found an opportunity opening.

"Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself properly, I'm Paul" I sat down next to her, trying my best award winning smile. And also because of the short log, I ended up brushing against her exposed thigh. I took a look and it looked absolutely edible in that soft dress she wore.

"Alice" she said moving her knee brushing against my clothed leg. I had never felt such a pull to a person before. Just being beside her sated my wolf. It wanted to rip her clothes off and take her right there, of course, but my wolf wasn't raging anymore.

"So how're you finding La Push?" I asked, just to hear her beautiful voice again.

"It's great. It's great to finally settle somewhere, where the people are so nice and welcoming" she said and even I could see she was lying through her teeth. No one knew anything about the Cullen sisters and if there was nothing known about them, they were assumed trouble.

"So, Paul, you're a senior, right?"

I nodded, signalling Jared to pass me two drinks. "Yeah, I can't wait to graduate"

"Do you have anything planned for after you graduate?" she asked. I couldn't help but notice that she didn't smile that much. She seemed like the smiley type.

I knew it would make me look like a village bum if I said "Nothing", then again I didn't want to lie and say I was thinking about going to college. I knew that I was going to spend my entire life with her, but I couldn't very well tell her that, now could I?

"You don't have to answer that" she quickly said after some time.

"So Alice, why'd you move to La Push?" I steered the conversation back to what I wanted to find out about her.

Hurt flickered over her face first, then something like concentration and then finally the calm face she had before came back on.

"Alright, so Rose puts up a map of North America, blind folds me and gives me a dart to throw. After a few hits in the North Atlantic Ocean, I finally hit some land, although I was cutting it pretty close there, the place didn't have a name. So Rose drove up here, expecting some forest where we'd live in and instead she found La Push reservation that had a few houses on the market" Alice said and it sounded just a bit too perfect for the truth. But it was all she was giving me, I would take it.

"So it was pure chance that you ended up here?" I said blatantly.

"Yep" she said popping the 'p'. Jared finally threw over some drinks, but my imprint refused politely.

I got pretty angry when I heard Leah mumble that she probably only drank blood or vampire jizz. I wanted to maul that bitch again. She never fucking learns. I was then furiously shaking to control from phasing as I stared that literal bitch in the face. She looked back at me defiantly. Why was I always so angry around my imprint?

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, when I turned I could see Rachel's confused face. "Stop glaring at Leah, fuckwit"

"Hey, could you move over one?" she said to the centre of my universe. Alice looked from her to me and I snapped my eyes back to Rachel. "Get your own fucking seat"

"No, no. Sit here" Alice said standing quickly and shooting Rachel a smile. Before I could say anything, she was already off and sitting next to Seth, who had been talking to Jared and Embry.

I turned to my ex who never got the message. "What the fuck did you have to go do that for?"

"She's too young for you anyway. What is she, like 12?" Rachel drawled. I wanted to rip her throat out for saying that. Sam caught my eye and said 'Calm the fuck down' in a low alpha growl. I felt my shaking stop and I looked over to Alice, who looked at us like she heard, but just huffed in annoyance.

"And besides, you can't expect to keep this tantrum up any more. It's been three weeks, Paul" she said, trying to stroke my back. It used to make me go crawling back to her, but now it felt like man hands. Just wrong in every way.

"Stay the fuck away from me, Rachel" I said, very calmly before going to sit next to Emily on the other side.

The roaring fire illuminated everyone around the fire clearly, the only one that stood out was Alice. Her beautiful clear skin was far brighter than anyone else. I couldn't help but stare for a few seconds before dragging my eyes away and taking a swig of my drink. She was way too good for me.

Old Quill finally started the bonfire with the stories. I could almost feel everyone stop and look at Alice when he mentioned the 'cold ones'. Everyone, of course, other than Bella, Rachel and Kim. They were the only ones that didn't know we were wolves.

Alice didn't seem to find anything out of the ordinary with the tales being said. If anything it made her smile a bit. That was confusing to me, I could tell that went for the entire pack as well.

After the story telling was the best part: the huge eat up. We all breathed in our food and once again Alice was the only one that didn't eat. After a little chat with Bella, which was boring as Bella mostly talked about her boyfriend Edward, Alice moved to Billie.

Now everyone's ears seemed to hang onto Alice's every word. She was still a curious case because of her smell.

"Hi there, Mr. Black" she greeted politely. "How's your evening going?"

"Good. Thank you for asking, is there anything I can do for you?" it definitely sounded like a parent- child conversation.

"I was wondering if you remembered a woman named 'Esme Everson'" she sat down beside him.

The look on Billie's face changed to one of shock. He shook his head "Yes. Yes, of course I remember her. She was the nurse they assigned to me after my accident. How do you know her?"

"She was my mother" then one of the rarest smiles, like the one that happened in the clearing, graced her face. I knew then that I'd want her smiling like that at me all the time. I hated that the smile was directed at someone other than me.

Billie shook his head in disbelief before returning to a sympathetic face when he remembered that her parents were dead. "I am so very sorry for your loss. I hope you don't mind me asking what happened after she left Port Angeles"

The smile dropped from her face for a fraction before lighting back up. "Well, she was already married to my dad Dr. Cullen for starters. I think then Rose was already about 4"

"Yes, I do recall she had a daughter then. But I don't remember Esme's last name being Cullen though" he shook his head with even more disbelief that the little girl he met was the Rosalie was living in La Push.

"Mum kept her maiden name for work purposes" she explained and he nodded for her to continue.

"They went everywhere here in America but they were planning to go to Africa. Then mum got pregnant with me and decided to stay" Alice finished.

"Unbelievable. Now that you do mention it, I can't believe I didn't see it before. You are the spitting image of her" Billie said, still in disbelief that he knew these girls mother. It had actually been Billie that suggested we keep patrol on their house even after Alice's smell started to get better.

"Thank you, Mr. Black"

"Oh please. Billie" he said, changing his entire demeanour completely.

After the fire was simmering down to a close, Billie still had Alice captured in his tales of her mother. She looked practically angelic in the way she hung off his every word. She looked too beautiful to be true.

I saw Rachel steering my way and I took to helping Emily pack up the food. Rachel didn't get the message and still came at me.

"When the fuck are you going to stop this childish behaviour?" she said trying to catch my eye. I rolled them looking away. Sam still alpha eyed me so I couldn't give her a piece of my mind. Lucky for her Jacob rolled up.

"Rach, why don't we head on home? It's getting a bit late don't you think?" he said trying to tug on her arm. She glared at me before stalking off with her brother.

I turned to see that Alice was gone. "Where.." I started but was cut off by Billie.

"She needed to get home. I offered her a ride, but she said she didn't need it". Sam looked at me and nodded me off to go find her. I didn't need to be told twice.

I looked to the road and took off behind her, feeling for where she was and that was nowhere near her house. It was actually in the opposite direction. I jogged up to her, seeing her moving toward the forest. I followed behind closely.

She headed deeper into the woods and I felt the need to pick her up and carry her back home. It was not safe around here, even with a pack of 8 wolves guarding the rez.

"Alice" I called out to her when I couldn't hold back anymore.

She looked shaken out of the trance she'd been in. She turned back to me. "Paul what are you doing here?"

"Why are you wondering off? You should be heading home now, Alice" I said, still a bit concerned. She was walking backwards still into the woods.

"I'm not 12, Paul" she said annoyed.

"I know you aren't, Rachel is a bitch" I said, walking a bit faster to get closer to her.

"If she's such a bitch, then why is she your girlfriend?" she asked, still walking at the same speed. I rushed toward her and grabbed her hand before she fell over and hurt herself.

"She's not my girlfriend anymore. Could I please walk you home?" I pleaded.

"She obviously doesn't think that. And no, you can't. Thank you Paul, but I can make my way from here" she turned around and kept walking. I felt fear coil in my stomach.

"I'm just going to follow you, you know" I said from behind her.

"I'm not going to go drink some human blood if that's what you're after" I froze and she stopped to look at me with a furious expression on her.

"What?" was the coherent thing that left my mouth.

"Oh, don't play dumb, I saw how your pack mates looked at me when Old Quill mentioned the cold ones". When I didn't reply she continued "If that story and the fact your pack mates hate me is anything to go by, you should have ripped my head off when you met me at the clearing"

The thought of me killing her coming out of her mouth made me feel guilty, weirdly hurt and angry. I would never kill her. Fucking never.

"I would never harm you, in any way Alice" I said the most sincere in my life.

"So you just wanted to scare me into leaving is that right? Just kill me now or leave me alone Paul"

My chest tightened at her request. I could never, would never follow out her first request. I could never refuse my imprint but when it was putting her in danger, I quickly threw obedience out the window.

"Why do you smell like a vampire Alice? You obviously aren't one" I asked still following her.

"Like I said, kill me or leave me alone mutt"

Listening to her refer to me as a 'mutt' filled my heart with a sadness I didn't know I could feel. It felt like absolute disappointment for me in the person I truly cared about. It didn't feel good. My chest literally hurt and she had said just one word. She had no idea what sort of power she had over me.

I still followed her silently until we came to the same clearing that we had met in. She found her spot in the middle of it like before and lay back. In the dead of the night, with almost no source of light I could still see her form curled onto her side. I sat a few metres off and just watched.

I couldn't get angry at her. I know if Leah or Rachel had called me that I would have given them hell. But with Alice, I felt nothing but complete devotion. The thing I hated most abut it was that I didn't feel angry with it, with my love for Alice.

I listened for her heartbeat to tell me she was alright. It beat at a steady rate. I didn't know how long we sat there, but I was glad to just be beside her. I felt the sadness in me but I somehow knew it would be ten times as bad if she weren't here.

"Paul?" she called out in a small voice.

"Yeah"

It was quiet for a bit before she turned to look at me in the eye. She had tears welling up in those beautiful eyes of hers.

"I'm sorry for calling you a mutt"

I rushed forward to kneel before her, not caring that my arse hurt from sitting in one position too long. I ran my fingers across her beautiful face. "Don't worry about it" I said softly caressing her perfect face. The tears fell and my heart broke a bit. I forgave her in an instant.

We were quiet for a long time and my hands still were on her face. I reluctantly pulled my hands away as she had travelled to another universe. Her eyes glazed over and she looked so fucking child like. I felt like a paedophile to ever think of jacking off to her. Then she turned to me and my eyes went straight to her lips. They looked puckered and ready for me. Just as I was about to lower my face to capture those lips, she moved away.

"You can walk me home now" she said standing up.

I sighed at her moving away from me but stood up anyway.

We walked in silence toward her house. I was itching to touch her again but I didn't dare to. She obviously didn't want to kiss me. That still hurt. I didn't think she'd want me touching her.

We reached her front door way sooner than I was prepared for. She turned to me and I expected a cool almost embarrassed goodbye. I could see she didn't like that she cried in front of me.

I turned and my lips were yanked down to her inviting mouth. Her lips tasted exactly like I thought they would. I snaked my hands around her waist and pulled her into me. Excitement ran through me so fast. Her lips moulded perfectly around mine and the taste of her drove me crazy. I never wanted this to end. It was smouldering and very intense. The heat of the kiss increased our movements toward each other even more.

Absolute fucking perfection had to end when I felt a bit light headed from not breathing. She pulled back from the kiss and chuckled a bit.

"Mmmm. I never thought Pork chops would taste that hot"

I was still light headed from that kiss but that made absolutely no sense. "Huh?"

"You taste like Pork chops, wolf. I like it" she said before smirking and walking inside.

I walked back home with the biggest fucking grin on my face.

Sam's POV

"So how well did you know this Esme?" I asked the old man.

"Well enough to know that she was a good woman. Now call off patrols at her house" Billie said again.

"I hear you"

I turned and exited his house. I needed to get to work, but before that I called the patrol off. I had done so last night after hearing about Alice. Her smell had gotten less like a vampire but it was still there. So at least Paul wasn't exaggerating.

I got to work and waiting for me at the shop was Rosalie. I knew what it felt like, the pull to be with Emily. I felt the pain of rejection from Emily and it didn't feel very great. I knew Jacob was still conflicted over his feelings with Bella and Rosalie. When I tried to council him he didn't want advice.

"Good morning" I called out, she nodded at me before continuing to work.

"So we saw Alice last night at the bonfire"

"Yeah and tell that Paul to keep his hands off my sister. Did I hear right, he's a senior?" Rosalie asked turning to me.

"I'll be sure to tell him that. Yes, he is a senior" I chuckled while replying.

"It's not funny, Sam. Let's see what you say when you see your baby sister's mouth being raped by a six foot tall giant"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I laughed aloud, especially after seeing her dead serious face.

"But I know my sister, as soon as I tell her he's too old for her then I might as well have signed their marriage certificate" she dropped her screw driver on the bench.

I could tell she was really worried about this. "I know boys like Paul and they only want one thing"

"Look Rose, I'll tell you now that Paul is a good person. His age shows that yes, he will want sex, but he won't force your sister into anything she doesn't want to be in" I said trying to calm her. I could tell she had thought a fair deal about this.

She looked pained before turning back to her work.

I chose to bring up her imprinter. "I know another good guy, Jacob. And if I heard right, you've met his father Billie"

Rosalie turned back and shot me a confused look. "As in Billie Black"

"Yeah, I heard you were four when you met him" I said, a bit shocked that she'd remember him so young.

"My mother's mentioned Billie a few times in her diaries but I don't remember him" Rosalie picked up her tool and moved over to the car she was working on. "He lives here?"

"Yes, he does. And he raised Jacob right, you should give him a chance"

She didn't answer me but I knew she had heard me out.

Jacobs POV

Feeling the hot water pelt my back was relaxing at the very least. The stress was finally taking its toll on my body. I had finally imprinted, what I've always wanted. To deal with the pain of Bella leaving me, I thought it would solve all my problems.

Little did I know that it would open a whole lot of raw emotions I had never experienced before. My imprint caused me to feel love deeper than I could have ever felt before. It made losing Bella feel like a school yard crush. This meaning that I was hurt like never before. It was like she had my heart in the palm of her hand and squeezed it, leaving me with a terrible pain in my chest. This was the feel of rejection from my imprint.

She'd been here over a month. While I was grateful she was living here in La Push, she wasn't in my arms. Nor was she wanting to be anywhere near me. The one true meaning of my life didn't want to be around me. Rational thought told me she'd come around, she said she didn't like me because I was a minor, but I couldn't help but feel that time wasn't an option. I craved to be close to her, to tell her I loved her and somehow deserve her love. I needed to do this soon because I couldn't take the distance. Every night she filled my dreams and plagued my thoughts.

I'd make her mine even if it killed me.

-8-

Review... Pweety please?