A.N. hey guys, sorry I too so long to upload this one. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter
The wolf's eyes snapped open, it was disorientated for a second; he wondered where he was.
Oh right, he was outside his mate's house.
The absence of the usual fluttering in his chest told him that she had already left for school this morning.
The wolf gazed up into the sky.
Judging by where the sun was, it was only past eight; she probably hadn't left long ago.
You okay, man?- Embry
Paul growled in response, he couldn't help it; Embry was still the other male.
The one that his Bella was with before; just the thought of their relationship disgusted him.
Yeah, I'm not too fond of you either- Embry replied; reminding him of the fact that they were in the exact same position… except Paul had gone so much further with Angela than Embry and Bella had ever gone.
Don't fucking remind us-Embry and his wolf growled in response
Paul stood and stretched out his tired back before phasing back to human.
He didn't want to risk showing Embry where Bella lived; that was her secret so it would be her choice as to whether or not anyone found out.
He ran back through the forest towards La Push, it would take him awhile on two legs but it was still better than hearing Embry's thoughts.
Paul planned to get home, take a shower, eat everything he could find and hightail it to school to see Bella.
Just like that, his mind was cast back to the night before and a small frown formed on his face.
He had kissed her, and she slapped him.
Then he had hurt her, bruised up her arms like an animal.
Paul would have given anything to bounce back in time to stop himself from doing both of those things; he just never got it right with Bella.
He didn't know Bella.
He needed the time to get to know her, but it was difficult.
Sam hadn't allowed him to attend school over the past few weeks in fear that he might fursplode in front of the entire student body.
But from today, he could go back; he could be with her.
He could talk to her, get to know her, let her get to know him. All of the good stuff.
Although he had never handled a girl like Bella, he was sure that he could learn.
He had to.
Then suddenly, pain rose in his chest; it consumed his very being.
So much so that all of his movement stopped and he came crashing down to the forest floor, clutching to the source of his pain.
The feeling was gone as soon as it came yet he somehow knew exactly what it was.
Something was wrong with her.
Something was wrong with Bella.
-BP-AP-EB-EA-
The news had fully circulated now.
Yet it had only been an hour.
Everyone stared at her, even the teachers as if they couldn't help themselves.
She saw pity and even fear in their eyes.
Mike, who usually flirted with her during English, ignored her, like she wasn't even there.
He was almost falling out of the window in his quest to be as far away from her as possible.
Everyone else in the classroom kept throwing dirty looks her way.
It wasn't long before she couldn't take it anymore.
Bella excused herself and went to the bathroom.
She almost ended up knocking over a bucket of dirty mop water as she entered.
She couldn't concentrate on anything.
She was numb, empty.
Bella did her business and left her stall, only to see two people blocking the way.
The looks from these two girls, Jessica and Lauren, were different to everyone else's.
They held no pity in their eyes, just anger and disgust.
Bella dashed back into the stall as fast as she could.
Then she heard whispering.
She waited, knowing that they were plotting something.
Bella was right.
The bucket of dirty mop water was dumped over her head from above.
She screamed and shivered underneath it.
She looked up and saw the two girls' faces smiling down at her.
"That's what dirty bitches like you deserve!"
"And I even heard she was kissing her best friend's boyfriend in Forks yesterday."
Ah, so that was why Angela was doing this.
"I know, I heard that too. What a slut." They spoke about her like she wasn't even there.
Bell flopped down on the toilet seat in silence, staring at the graffiti ridden bathroom stall door in front of her and allowed them to continue to insult her until they were done.
"We're talking to you, bitch!" Lauren screeched; that got Bella's attention.
Lauren stared back at her blank expression with complete and utter loathing.
Why was she so calm?
Couldn't she hear what they were saying about her?
It was like she wasn't affected by them at all and that, to Lauren, was unacceptable.
"We did it, you know. We're the ones who printed the posters and stuck them all over the walls."
She said it nice and slowly so that Bella could hear every word.
"Yeah, that's right." Jessica's nasally voice rang. "We exposed you for the fake that you are."
Bella's body made a small squelching sound as she slumped back against the toilet.
So Angela had roped these two into her plans, huh?
Somehow, this made the betrayal much worse.
-BP-AP-EB-EA-
Paul arrived at La Push high in a rush; she wasn't here. He knew it.
But something told him that if he entered, he would find out what the hell was making her so miserable right now.
He jogged through the double-door entrance and paused abruptly; he saw a couple of teachers along with a few students in the drenched hallway cleaning up pieces of soggy paper from the floors and lockers.
"Paul!" A voice that he definitely recognised called out.
It was Kim, Jared's imprint.
He moved to her swiftly, snatching one of the wet papers from her hand and reading it.
"What the fuck is this?!" He boomed, the students in the hallway ducked a little in both shock and fear.
Paul looked Kim in the eye and tried to control his ever-growing anger as he spoke,
"Who did this?" she shook her head in response.
"Paul, you need to forget about who did it and you need to find Bella. She needs you right now."
"It was Angela." He concluded. He knew his ex-girlfriend.
This was definitely something that she could pull.
"Paul, listen to what I'm saying. Don't go after Angela, go after Bella. She needs you." Kim tried again.
Fuck, she was right.
"She couldn't have left long ago, go get your car and pick her up before she gets too far. I heard some people say that she was standing under the sprinklers when they came…" He was gone before she could properly finish her sentence.
-BP-AP-EB-EA
Bella didn't bother to return to her class.
Instead she trudged home dirty and wet, her clothes leaving a trail of dirty water on the dirt roads. She didn't bother to wait for the taxi this time; it would be faster to walk…
No, it wouldn't.
How could it?
She lived in Forks.
Her school was in La Push.
But at this moment she wasn't thinking about that.
Instead she was busy plotting the revenge that she would surely take.
There wasn't a doubt in hell that Angela was going to pay, one way or another.
A car pulled up alongside her as she continued to walk, she didn't bother looking at the driver.
She already knew who it was, she could already feel him.
"Bella." He called out to her; she ignored him and kept walking.
"Bella, get in the car."
She shook her head.
He exhaled tiredly.
"Bella, please."
She said nothing and continued to walk.
"Come on Bella. Please."
"I don't want you to drive me." She said finally, looking him in his gorgeous face.
His eyes narrowed at her.
"So what? You plan on walking all the way to Forks? That's ten miles away Bella. A ten mile long walk in wet clothes. You're gonna catch a cold.. or worse. Just get in the car." He reasoned with her.
She sighed tiredly and stopped, the car stopped alongside her.
"You're not gonna let me have this one thing, are you?"
"Nope. It's either you get into the car or I put you in the car. Which one's it gonna be?"
And that was how she found herself in the passenger's seat of Paul's car.
He wondered why the hell she was stinking like dirt and grime.
But he didn't say anything.
He just knew that she didn't want to talk about it.
Would he find out? Yes.
But not right now.
He reached into the back seat and pulled out something large before placing it in her lap.
She jumped a little as their skin touched.
"You can wear that. Get those wet clothes off of you." He said evenly.
Bella did as she was told; she made sure he wasn't looking before she began to pull her jumper over her head.
She was grateful that he hadn't asked about what had happened to her.
She really didn't want to talk about it.
Not now anyway.
But then again, he was sure to find out soon enough.
And then how would he look at her then?
What would he think of her?
Paul leaned forward and turned on the heating, his eyes still on the road as he drove at a reasonable speed, he was already boiling but he knew that she would be cold with just his t-shirt on.
As Bella pulled his shirt over her head, he snuck a peak, his wolf purring with pride.
She was wearing his clothes.
He leaned into her and she froze.
His nose trailing from her arm to her neck, he breathed her scent in and growled possessively.
Mine.
But then he caught another scent, one that he didn't like at all….and it was coming from her.
Paul's foot slammed down on the brake; Bella gasped and held her hands up to the dashboard to stop herself from head-butting it.
"Paul, why did y…." She trailed off as she realised that he wasn't listening, instead he was staring at the arm that was furthest away from him.
Bella's eyes widened when she realised what he had seen and tried to move her hand away from his sight.
He growled at her and grabbed her arm tightly.
His eyes were livid.
"What the fuck is this?!" He asked her, staring at the silver moon shaped bite marks.
She looked away from him and tried to think of something suitable to say.
"Don't even think of lying Bella or I swear to God I'll do something we'll both regret." Bella swallowed thickly.
"Paul, you're shaking, you need to get out of the…." The next thing she knew, she was being hauled out of the truck and into the woods.
He had only meant to let go of her but instead he ended up dumping her onto the dirty, damp forest floor with the force he had used.
He really needed to control his strength.
"Now, tell me what that thing on your arm is!" he ordered, still shaking.
"Paul, calm do…" She was cut off as his fist flew into a tree; he needed to expel his anger in some way otherwise he would phase.
He wouldn't be able to stop it.
The sound of the wood cracking startled Bella, making her shake with fear.
She covered her head and shivered on the forest floor.
He turned to her, unsure of what was happening.
And then it came, like a blow to the chest….
"Please don't hurt me again." She pleaded quietly; even he almost hadn't heard it.
She was afraid of him.
His body stilled as he looked down at the quivering slip of a girl in front of him.
He noticed the bruising on her arms where he had gripped her as he dragged her into the woods as well as the ones that he had given her last night at the convenience store.
"Fuck." He said to mostly himself before he turned and left her there on the cold forest floor.
Paul was conflicted, he wanted to be with her but he was just so unstable at the moment.
It was better to give her some space. She needed space.
Bella, oblivious to his intentions, cried into the forest floor with feelings of rejection and confusion.
Poor Bella, she just can't catch a break can she?
Am I the only one who thinks that these two need to be locked up in a room somewhere so they can just communicate for once?
Character pics on my page as usual.
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