All recognizable names are the property of Stephenie Meyer. We just like playing dress up in her shoes.

This story is not suitable for those under the age of 18. It is rated M, so if you're not old enough to buy a pack of smokes… we don't wanna know!

Chapter 6 - Paul

Yes it's true – Loneliness took me for a ride
Without your love – I'm nothing but a beggar
Without your love – A dog without a bone
Angel by Aerosmith

My body tensed before my shoulders rolled and shook as my body fought to shift. This human form felt too confining, like I was trying to squeeze into a form far too small. The wolf snapped and snarled in the recesses of my mind as he struggled to get out. The smell of leech on my mate was almost too much for him to take.

"What?" Her eyes darted between Charlie and me. Her brow was furrowed in fear and concern for me.

"Who?" I stood from my place on the couch and took measured steps toward her. My words came out through tightly clenched teeth. "Who have you been with?"

"Kim and Melissa." She raised her eyebrows in a silent question; probably wondering what the fuck was wrong with me.

"No, Bella," I wet my lips with my tongue hoping to regain the moisture they had lost when his scent hit my nose. "Who else?"

"Easy, Paul," Charlie stood from his recliner, warning me to calm myself. But the anger I felt would not be denied. For his scent to linger that strongly on her he had to have touched her. And Bella… she was keeping it from me. She lied to me. She was with him. As if she could feel the anger pouring from my body she took a step back on shaky legs.

"Some guy stopped me from face-planting into the sidewalk. I met him in the bookstore earlier." That was what she was going with? She had seen him in the fucking woods! The wolf had growled at him... But I remembered that she had no idea that the wolf was anything other than some giant, mutant animal. My mind raced so fast that I wasn't even sure my thoughts were making sense.

"Son of a bitch," I growled. Proof that he fucking touched her. It was no fucking coincidence. There were no fucking coincidences when it came to fucking leeches.

All I could think was that I wanted to get to him and rip off his arms for even daring to touch her. She was mine! My Bella! My mate! And he dared to put his filthy hands on her!

"What? Where are you going? Paul, wait!" I could hear Bella calling me, and as much as I wanted to run as fast as possible to the fucker's house, she came first. Always.

I stopped dead in my tracks and heard the thump of her bag hitting the floor; the rain beating down on my back barely even registered. Her little feet moved faster than the rest of her body was prepared for and she stumbled. The anger faded slightly as I caught her small frame in my arms. Despite our difference in size, she seemed to fit perfectly in my arms and I took the time to let my forehead rest against hers. I fought hard to ignore the stench of leech that rolled off her body. It overpowered her fresh clean scent and I blew out a harsh breath through my nostrils.

"His scent is all over you, I can't stand it." I held back the tremors that ran through my body.

"What are you talking about?" Her sweet voice broke through my turmoil and she ever so gently stroked my cheek. "Tell me what you mean."

But every time I took another breath I could smell him and it caused my wolf to become increasingly more violent, fighting even harder than before to get out. If I didn't get away from Bella she would end up scarred like Emily, or worse.

"I have to go," I ground out as I was at war with my body.

"Talk to me, Paul." My angel's voice was full of worry for me, but I couldn't tell her. She would run, and I couldn't lose her.

"I can't, not about this." I shook my head rapidly.

"Why?" The tone in her voice made me look into her eyes and what I found there almost made me drop to my knees. There were so many emotions swirling in those eyes and the weight of them almost made me drop to my knees. She was perfect. Too perfect for me. Why did it have to be her that was stuck with me?

"Why you?" I whispered before I could stop myself. "You're so perfect."

Before I could do anything else, her soft lips were pressed against mine and I was in heaven. I fought back the sob that threatened to leave me at the emotion I felt pouring out of her in that kiss. Her arms shook as she struggled to hold herself to my height. Instinctively I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her into my arms. I poured every emotion I had for her into that one kiss. Our tongues tangled together in an almost desperate way. I felt the way she gently caressed me with her mouth and her hands, making me feel like something other than the monster that I was.

As loving as the moment was, I couldn't control the urges that she brought out in me. My dick strained against the khaki material of my shorts and I moaned loudly in her mouth. She was making the sexiest little sounds making it even more difficult to do what I knew I needed to, which was to pull away and handle the leech so I could get back to her.

As her body trembled against me I tasted the salt of a tear that she didn't even realize she shed. And in that very moment I knew that I couldn't fight what I felt for her. Sam used the word love, but there was no way that word encompassed what I felt for the beautiful creature that I held in my arms. I would give anything… be anything for her. Without her my life meant nothing and I was done wasting time. I would handle the leech and she would be right back in my arms. I allowed myself a few more seconds tasting her before I knew it was time to go.

When I pulled away I was panting with desire as well as the restraint it took to tear myself away from her.

"Paul." There was nothing more beautiful than her voice saying my name.

"I have to go," I told her, though everything in me rebelled against the very idea of being away from her.

"I will be back." I wanted her to know that I wasn't going anywhere. I wanted to convey to her exactly what I meant, but me and vocally expressing emotions didn't really go together. I would just have to show her when I was done dealing with the fucker who thought it was okay to put his hands on her.

With that determination in mind I gave her one last look and took off in the direction of the Cullen's home. I didn't even bother with the pretense of taking my bike because as soon as I hit the woods I stripped and shifted and was on my way. He must have been hunting because I ran into him about a mile from his house as he was burying the carcass of a deer.

"Edward!" A tinny voice screeched through the dark and a pixie-like leech appeared at his side, followed by the scarred bloodsucker. I didn't care about Ginger, but I respected the fuck out of the warrior that calmly walked to his side.

"You respect him?" Ginger barked out a laugh and looked between us as if he was trying to solve a riddle.

"We understand one another," Scarface answered him with a nod in my direction, causing his petite mate to glare up at him with her hands on her hips.

Then I realized that I was in wolf form and there was no way I could have spoken out loud.

"I read minds, mutt, and yours is an especially foul place to be." I smirked internally and replayed my most recent moments with Bella in my head for him to see. Fucker wanted to read my mind? I'd give him something to look at.

Apparently it worked because he lowered himself into a crouch and bared his teeth in a feral growl.

"Edward," Scarface warned.

"His name is Jasper, not Scarface," Ginger said before growling again.

"Scarface, huh? Good one!" Jasper teased as if his coven member wasn't in attack mode. His mate, however was not nearly as amused and appeared right in front of me. I snorted to get her scent out of my nose and showered her with the cold spray.

She wiped it a way with a flourish and I inwardly chuckled at the look on her face.

"Now you listen here, mutt, my husband is Major Jasper Whitlock, and you don't deserve to lick the soles of his boots, but he seems to like you for some ungodly reason. But if you ever call him that again I will shock your balls with a cattle prod! You got me?" To be a dick, and at my own expense, I licked her on the cheek causing her mate to laugh loudly and myself to vomit.

"Ew! These are Monolo's! Jas, he got dog barf on my Monolo's!" Her little feet stomped and her mate laughed even harder.

Ginger decided he had enough of being ignored and warned the little pixie to move.

" You wanna' do this, Ginger? Let's do it," I growled in my mind.

"Make the first move, pup." Ah, so he wanted me to be the one to break the treaty. Fucker.

"Look, if it weren't for the fucking treaty you would be nothing more that ash right now, but I am warning you. If you ever lay a finger on my mate again I will fucking rip you apart. Damn the fucking treaty."

"What's wrong? Worried that she might prefer someone with some morals? Don't like the competition?" His smirk was almost enough to push me over the edge, and I probably would have attacked had Sam not phased and seen what was happening, giving me an order to leave the leech alone.

I tried to rebel. I wanted to taste his granite flesh between my teeth as I ripped off the arms that had been around my angel.

"Touch her again and not even an alpha order will stop me!" Sam again ordered me to get off the leech land and I turned and ran in the direction of my angel.

The adrenaline was still pumping through my body and I almost forgot to put the clothes back on that I had left near her house. Luckily I remembered because had I gone to her naked I probably couldn't have controlled myself.

As I dressed I thought about all the things I wanted to say to Bella. Of course, I knew I wouldn't be able to actually say them, but I wanted to let her know that I wanted to try with her. I wanted to let her know that I was hers and that I would do whatever I could to make her happy.

As if she could sense my presence she bolted out the front door and into my arms. Her fresh clothes were getting wet so I lifted her into my arms and carried her to the porch where I wrapped her legs around my waist and pressed my lips against hers and immediately she opened her mouth for me. I took full advantage and thrust my tongue into her mouth. My kiss was desperate and rough making my teeth clank with hers, but she showed no signs of minding it.

Bella's thighs clenched tightly around my waist and in the process brushed against the head of my dick.

"Fuck," I cursed into her mouth and I could feel the corners of her lips turn up as she made the same movement only more exaggerated.

"You're playing with fucking fire, angel," I growled at her making her giggle.

"But seriously, I want to talk to you about something." She noticed the change in my demeanor and indicated that we go into the house.

Before we could do any talking she insisted that I change into something dry of Charlie's. He laughed when he saw me in a pair of his sweats so tight on me that you could see every "muscle" in my body if you know what I mean. He was still chuckling as he threw a pillow at my lap and announced that he was going to bed. Although I didn't miss the loaded look that he shot me telling me it was time to tell her about why I was… well, the way that I was.

When Bella came back into the living room I was leaned forward with my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands.

"What's going on, Paul?" Her hands traced the scars on my back reverently.

"I want to be with you, Bella." Her sharp intake of breath and the pause in the movement of her hands told me I had her full attention.

"But?" She asked cautiously.

"But before that can happen I need you to know why you shouldn't be with me. I need to tell you about," I indicated to my scarred body.

Bella swallowed thickly and nodded for me to go ahead.

"The bastard beat me for years. It was always worse on the anniversary of my mother's death, but the night this happened…"

I was ten and had been taking his abuse for four years. One beating was the same as the other, and I learned to make myself numb. I would go to a place deep in my mind where my mom was still alive and my father wasn't an abusive asshole.

He loved my mother more than anything and her death killed everything about him that was human. When she died, so did his love for me. He always said I looked just like her and he hated me for it. People had always told me what a great man my dad had been before my mother died. He was kind and generous and they said he was amazing with me. I don't remember that, all I remember is the way he would come home drunk with some random woman and after he fucked her he beat me. It was like he blamed me.

So, it was the sixth anniversary of my mom's accident and he came home more plastered than usual.

"Come here you stupid little fucker!" His voice slurred and he stumbled, falling over the back of the couch. I was a kid, so of course it was funny. I tried to hide the giggle but he heard me.

"Think that's funny you little shit?" I shook my head but the back of his hand meeting my cheek showed me that nothing I said would matter. He usually stayed away from my face, but something about that night was different. His eyes were wild as he pounded on my frail body.

I tried to retreat into my mind, but the pain was too bad. He threw me around like a ragdoll. He had broken my wrist the year before from shoving me of the front porch. Lucky for him it was during the summer and there was no one to see me and report him. This time, however, I couldn't hold in my screams. Not when he broke out his old whip. My mother had gotten it for him when they went on vacation to some cheesy dude ranch. I tried to make myself as small as possible, but the whip seemed to reach places I thought were hidden. When my back was split open in several places, I tried to run. He snatched me back and went to work on my chest.

"Your dad responded to the call from the neighbors and when he got there I was unconscious and the fucker was still beating me with that fucking whip. Your dad kicked his drunk ass after he made his deputy load him up in the car he rode with me in the ambulance to the hospital."

I didn't dare look at Bella's face for fear of what I might see. I couldn't keep going if I looked into those eyes.

"I remember waking up a few times a few days after and Charlie was always there. He used to tell me about you, you know." I wanted her to know that she was always on his mind, even when he was caring for me.

I paused and picked at the dirt under my fingernails then got the courage to look her in the eye.

"Bella, I have grown up to believe that falling in love made you a monster and I swore that I would never let anyone into my heart because of it. I've used girls for sex and thrown them away without a second thought. You have no idea of the repulsive things I've said and done… but I've been going to therapy because I want to be better… for you."

Bella said nothing for a few moments, but I could hear her heart thumping wildly in her chest. I knew that she was repulsed and feeling defeated, I stood to leave. It seemed to wake her up from whatever she was thinking and her arms wrapped tightly around me.

"Oh, Paul," she cried and began placing feather light kisses on every scar on my chest that she could reach. "Love doesn't make you a monster. Your father was just a sick, demented man who lived in a bottle and took out his anger on a little boy. That could never be you, Paul."

I closed my eyes tightly to hold back the tears I felt gathering.

"Men don't cry, son," My bastard of a father had always said after he beat me.

"Do you want to know how I know, Paul?" I nodded, still too choked up to speak.

"I see you, Paul. Not who you think you are, and not the Paul you show to everyone else. And you know what else?" She didn't wait for me to answer. "If you were a monster you wouldn't have tried to protect me from you. You would have taken what you wanted from me. You wouldn't have gone to therapy, and you wouldn't try so damn hard to be good for me."

Finally I looked into her eyes and there was no pity or repulsion. There was only an emotion that I was too terrified to put a name to, but it was enough for me. In a second I had her underneath me on the couch as I kissed her with every ounce of passion I could muster.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

It was the mantra in my head that I wouldn't say out loud, but I tried to make her feel it. Before long I my whole body was trembling with need. Bella seemed to know exactly what I needed without me saying a word as she began to move underneath me. My heightened senses allowed me to smell her arousal as well as feel it through her thin flannel pajama pants.

"Oh… shit… I need…" I was panting and not making a lick of sense but my talking was cut off when I realized that she wasn't wearing a fucking bra underneath her t-shirt. She moaned into my mouth when my hand grazed the side of her breast and I took it as a sign to go ahead. They were small and perky with the tiniest little nubs of nipples I had ever felt. She picked up the pace of her hip movements and I had never wanted to touch someone so badly in my entire life.

"Paul," my name came out sounding like a plea and I wanted so badly to make her come. But the sound of Charlie's cell phone ringing and his muffled hello snapped me out of it pretty quickly. He liked me and all, but I had a feeling he would shoot me if he caught me with my hand down his daughter's pants.

"Angel, we have to stop," the words burned my tongue and she looked up at me, rejection swimming in her eyes.

"Charlie's awake and uh…" She seemed to snap out of her desire filled haze and turned a beautiful shade of red.

"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are? How much I want to touch you… taste you… mark you as mine." Her pupils dilated and she looked ready for round two but then Charlie's mumbled voice said my name from his room and I knew it was a warning. Sam couldn't get me or Bella and had called him.

Cock-blocking mother fucker.

Charlie stomped loudly as he came down the stairs while Bella and I straightened ourselves up. Charlie's eyes darted between us and if such a thing was possible he was blushing more than Bella. I couldn't help it and burst into laughter. Bella elbowed me in the ribs as her face turned almost purple.

Charlie cleared his throat.

"Sam needs you, son. And, uh, remember what I said when I told you Bella was coming?" I nodded and swallowed hard.

"Well, that still stands." I would have been more afraid had I not seen the smirk underneath his mustache when he turned to walk back up the stairs.

Sabi'sSookie: So, was it what you guys were waiting for? Was Paul's story what you expected? He believes that his father's love for his mother then her loss is what turned him into a monster and he was afraid it would mean the same thing for him. Poor Paul. I want to thank you all for all the love by way of alerts, favorites, and reviews! Sorry I haven't had time to respond, but being on vacation keeps me busy! But I do read and appreciate every review! You guys ROCK! And Weezy… forst of all, yesterday was her birthday! So give her some love people! Now, to my bestie, you know I love you to pieces and as much fun as I am having, I am missing our usual constant chatter! You are amazing and wonderful and a whole bunch of other things that I won't make our readers read… because the list is long! I love you bestie!

Nostalgicmiss: Poor Paul, he hates himself so much because of what happened to him as a child. It's so sad that he looks at love as though it is something that will ruin him rather than set him free. His father was a terrible example for him to look to. You know poor Bella's heart is bleeding for him right now, but at the same time she can see how strong he is through it all. I want to thank all of you for reading, alerting, adding us to your favorites and for the amazing reviews. You're all amazing and I appreciate all the love you send our way! To my best friend and twinnifer, I miss the snot out of you! But I am so glad you're having fun! I love you loads and loads! You're an amazing, intelligent, funny, kind . . . I can go on and on ;) . . . I love you bestie! And I miss you loads!