Teaching two practically grown men to bake is easier than I thought, not easy by any means, just easier than expected. Keeping their fingers out of the batter is a different story. It doesn't help that every time Paul comes in to check on us entire bowls of batter go missing. I started seeing a different side to them than I saw most of the time. Jake is a complete goof. Quil I already knew was the class clown but Jake surprised me.
As I watch them with brownie batter on their faces and flour all over the place, dancing around the kitchen to the music on the radio, I decide to join in with my own spatula performance. Opening my eyes after finishing the chorus of Call Me Maybe, I see the guys standing absolutely still with 'we've just been caught' looks on their faces. Both of them trying not to laugh, I think back over how I was dancing. Oh God, I have just been caught shaking my ass, singing into a spatula, and dancing around Sam's kitchen. Please let it not be Sam, please let it not be Sam.
I don't know which is worse, seeing that it isn't Sam, or seeing that it is Paul. He has the biggest grin on his face. Grrr he pisses me off. The guys could have at least warned me. "Ah man, Sam is gonna love this."
"Paul…" I say his name, backing up slowly as he walks further into the kitchen. He keeps looking around when finally his eyes land of the prize. He's was looking for batter. I take off for the brownie batter next to the sink. Making it to the batter first I slowly inch around the back side of the island. Now that it's fully between us I can use it to keep him away. All I have to do is keep it away long enough for Sam to get here and rescue me.
I look to both Quil and Jake and tell them to stay out of it. This is between me and Paul. He is such batter thief. As he inches one way, I inch the other, only to inch back again when he changes directions. I put my hand on the counter behind me feeling for a spoon. Landing on the spatula I pick it up and begin pretending to stir. I just have to distract him long enough to get to Sam's room. There I can lock myself inside.
Stirring the batter slowly, making sure I coat the spatula good, I start to taunt him.
"So how will you let me out of here Paul?"
"Bella, hand over the batter. I'll let you leave without the mess."
"Paul, there isn't a mess."
"Yet…" He suddenly jumps around the side almost before I can make a getaway.
"You're right, yet…" I say as I sling the batter off the spatula at him and take off running and screaming for my life. I know he's coming after me. I just need to find something to hide behind.
Almost out the back door I see Sam, in wolf form, charging and snarling at the house. Oh man, this is gonna be bad. I keep running out the door, down the steps, skipping the bottom two, across the yard, and behind Sam. I cower down so hopefully Paul can't see me. That is when I notice; Sam is no longer growling or snarling. Sam has his head down in his massive paws barking out in what can only be wolf style laughter. I slowly peek around Sam and look toward the last place I knew Paul had been.
There on the porch, hands raised to the air in surrender, I see Paul. I have seriously good aim. The entire left side of his face is covered in batter along with drops down his shoulder and chest. Behind him I see Quil and Jake in the same position with the exception of brownie batter but adding aprons with ruffles.
"DO YOU GUYS SURRENDER?" I yell from behind my bunker of Sam.
Hearing Sam whine I get the perfect idea. Slowly I lean over, pressing a kiss on the side of his snout, and place the giant bowl of brownie batter on the ground. He looks at me with a great big wolf grin and shining eyes as he bends his head down to lick the bowl. Ha! The perfect fix.
The moment is ruined as I hear a line of cuss words coming from the porch followed by a slamming door. I lean in to my wolf and sigh. Once Sam is finished I pick up the bowl and tell him lets go inside. When he turns back to the woods to phase I stop him. "You can come inside as your wolf ya know. We can go to your room and hang out. If you want to phase back I understand but if you want to come in just like that you are more than welcome." It crosses my mind that I'm telling him how he can enter his own house but I push that thought aside as his head nudges my lower back. Looking back at him with a great big grin I turn and lead the way inside.
A soft snore breaks into my afternoon nap. As I open my eyes I see Sam still in wolf form asleep underneath me. Who knew I would be comfortable with both Sam and the wolf this much. I lay there thinking about how much my life has changed in the past couple weeks. Sitting in my bare room in Arizona, I would have never imagined laying here with a giant wolfman who would love me forever.
When I realize the snoring has stopped I sit up and look over to him. Boy are we a pretty picture. Sam is laying spread out on his side. I had to have been asleep on his ribs. We are still on the floor and I can see the sun is setting. This is the perfect ending to the day. Waking up with Sam and then spending the better part of an afternoon with my wolf, my day could only get better if you added a steak dinner.
Oh shit! Dinner! I sat all the way up and Sam's head popped up next to me, ears alert. "It's okay. Not a big deal, but do you think the guys burned dinner?" I heard Sam's belly growl and I busted out laughing. "Ok, why don't you go phase back and wash up while I go make sure the kitchen is still there." Sam leaned over and licked up the side of my face. The only downfall to the wolf is definitely the wolf slobber. Gross! While finishing drying my face with a towel, Sam phased back to my Sam.
When Sam came out of the bathroom he came straight toward me. Shocking the crap out of me, he picked me up and I was spinning. My feet hit the ground at the same time Sam's lips met mine softly, then my cheek, then my ear. "Thank you Bella." Thank you Bella, Thank you Bella, played over and over again. He knew I had accepted all of him and he was thankful. I knew right then I would have fell in love with Sam no matter what. The imprint may enhance those feelings but I loved him. I loved him, holy shit. I was in love with Sam. As Sam pulled back to look at my eyes I reached for his hand. Picking it up I kissed the back of it, then lacing my fingers through his I led him out to check on dinner.
The first person I see as we come into the kitchen is Emily. Emily has taken over while Sam and I were napping. She really is a genuinely caring and an all-around nice person. Sam headed out to check on the guys while I start to help Emily.
"What can I help with Emily? Sorry I slept so long. I didn't mean to leave you in here to fend for yourself with Quil and Jake."
"Bella, don't worry. It isn't a problem at all. I love to help."
"Sorry, I guess I'm just use to getting by on my own a lot. I guess that's one more thing I need to work on."
"Stop, don't beat yourself up about anything. You are adjusting to everything really amazingly. I don't know all the details, but I know how upset Paul was. When he got home I asked what made him so mad. He told me you had a childhood worse than his, and Bella, that is saying something. Paul feels almost like a brother to you. He never had a family, and seeing you take all this in so well is really making him question himself. You were meant for this pack Bella. A lot of us are broken in a lot of ways, and seeing you walk around not dwelling on every little thing really gives me hope for Paul. If he could let go of all the anger and pain everyone may see what I see. After the accident, if being around you takes away some of his guilt and anger, I'll be happy."
"The accident Emily, can I ask what happened? If it is overstepping or an invasion of privacy then I understand."
"Of course Bella, I'm actually surprised Sam didn't tell you. Three years ago, before Harry Clearwater passed away, there were only Sam, Paul, and Jared in the pack. None of the wolves knew about imprinting yet, apparently the elders didn't think it was that important. Paul and Kim had been together almost two years when the elders decided to throw Paul and Jared a graduation party. Sam graduated so young and Paul and Jared were just lucky to graduate. Of course Paul invited Kim and Kim asked if she could bring me. We are cousins but I grew up on the Makah reservation about two hours from here. Paul and Kim were always off and on, it was ridiculous. Anyway, it was the first outing since Jared had phased. When Kim showed up and Jared saw her he imprinted. No one knew what was going on. Sam saw Jared fixing to phase and pushed Kim out of the way. Paul let his temper loose because Jared was about to phase too close to his girlfriend. I was standing to close to Paul when he phased. When he fell down to his front paws, I was walking in the door and his paw barely grazed my face.
"I woke up in the hospital almost a week later. Paul was sitting in the chair next to my hospital bed. When I looked at him with only one eye, since the other was still bandaged, he imprinted. It was like an electric current went through me. Feeling Paul's emotions were horrible. He blamed himself. Paul is probably the most connected with his wolf. Once he knew I was going to be okay, he tried to separate himself from me. We overcame it all though. After I showed up beating down his door, he finally accepted I wasn't going to go away. He explained the imprint and tried to say that was why I was there, because the imprint told me to. No one tells me what to do, especially not some stupid imprint.
"He basically told me I could end the imprint by telling him I didn't want it at all and it would just stop. He said to think hard because I couldn't go back once I said it. He was mean and said hurtful things but I just stood my ground. I asked if when the imprint went away did that mean he would hate me or not want to be around me, he told me the connections were separate. His wolf had imprinted but him as a person knew there was a stronger connection that he would ever have with anyone else. We ended up dating for a little while and I felt like the imprint made him stay with me. I thought he could do better than the scarred girl that was a constant reminder of his guilt. I was so in love with him and hadn't told him yet. I decided to end the imprint. He was heart broken, but I let him free of the imprint. I still loved him, even more without the imprint. I told him so. I needed him and no imprint was going to tell me how to feel. He wanted me without the imprint. I honestly feel more connected to him than before.
"Bella, I'm not telling you this so you can do the same thing. Sam needs the imprint as alpha. You help the wolf. That is just what I needed so that I knew he still wanted the part of me that disgusted everyone else. If I could go back and get the imprint back now that I know, I would."
"Emily, you are not disgusting to me. You are gorgeous. The love that you and Paul have is amazing to witness. I hope that one day Sam loves me as much as Paul loves you or looks at me the way Paul looks at you. It is so beautiful to witness."