Chapter Eleven

Surprise

"So are you doing anything this weekend?" Wes asked from his seat next to me. I was staring at the clock. Time couldn't go fast enough.

Time. Time is a funny thing. One moment it goes too slow, the next too fast. Before Paul entered my life, I was content with the slow and steady pace my life was currently going, but now without the excitement and heated passion I had so recently been introduced to, I wasn't sure I would be able to stand another slow and steady day.

"Camryn?" Wes interrupted my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked, turning towards him to show that I was at least making an attempt to pay attention to what he had to say.

"I asked if you had any plans for this weekend?" He repeated. He looked at me oddly.

"Oh, nothing in particular." I answered, turning my eyes back to the clock, hoping that the last fifteen minutes had miraculously diminished to just mere seconds.

Paul was picking me up today. I had been taken out of school for the week following the phone call, as a precaution. Without school to keep us apart and Paul's assignment as my body guard we were hardly ever apart. But due to the lack of any action, or any hint of it, Sam decided that I would be put back in school. Needless to say, the past week had been torture.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked, again breaking through my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I questioned.

"You looked kind of flushed and you haven't stopped tapping that pencil since class started." He answered. I looked down at my hand and realized that I did indeed have a pencil in my hand, and indeed I was tapping it.

"I'm just tired of sitting in classes all day." I replied, attempting to stop the involuntary tapping.

Paul promised to meet me right after school. He said he had a surprise for me. I didn't care as much about the surprise as much as I cared about just getting back into his arms. I stared at the clock again.

I think Wes might have asked me another question but when I turned to see what he wanted he was turned the other way, talking to someone else. Apparently he had given up. I felt bad for Wes and Claire, who were the only two that really attached themselves to me.

Claire completely understood what I was going through, although she kept her relationship a secret, as I was advised to do. But poor Wes didn't know what to do with me. I was surprised he was even still sticking around.

I jumped up the moment the bell rang. I was ahead of the crowd, thank god. I went through the front doors, and there he was in all his rugged perfection. His normally slightly angry looking face was softened as his mouth turned up in a large smile. I returned it, and quickened my pace.

"Hey, Camryn! Wait up!" I heard Wes call behind me. I slowed down, gave Paul an apologetic look, and turned to see Wes jogging towards me.

"Since you aren't doing anything this weekend, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the bonfire they're having on first beach tomorrow night?" He asked, pausing for a second before adding, "With me."

"Oh, ummm, I don't know." I hesitated, not really understanding the meaning of his last words. I was about to turn him down nicely but I was not-so-nicely interrupted.

"She's busy." Paul spoke from behind me. I jumped in surprise. I hadn't heard him come up. His voice was slightly possessive.

I looked up at him, confused. "What exactly am I doing tomorrow night?" I asked him.

Paul shrugged his shoulders. "Claire needs help babysitting, remember?"

"No, she doesn't." I replied. I didn't like the way he was acting.

He glanced at me in a slightly aggravated way, before turning to glare at Wes threateningly. "She can't make it."

I gawked at him. When did he turn into such a control freak?

"I asked Camryn, not you." Wes replied, attempting to stand taller. I looked nervously between the two. Paul was just barely shaking, but still it was shaking. Not a good sign. Not that I had ever experienced an actual change, I just knew it was bad.

A small crowd had formed around us, although they stood farther off than they would have if the opponent was anyone other than a thirty-one year old man with a reputation for his temper.

Surprisingly, Paul turned to me. "Well?" he asked, pausing as if waiting for my response. I was at a loss at what to do at the moment, but Paul quickly made the choice easy for me. "Tell him you can't go."

I gave Paul a sarcastic smile, before turning to Wes, who was waiting uneasily. "What time?" I asked. Paul started to shake a little bit more. Wes smiled triumphantly, although still looking nervous with Paul still towering over him.

"Seven o'clock. I can pick you up if you want." He answered, eyeing Paul's hulking figure. I shook my head in reply.

"That won't be necessary. I'll meet you there." I replied. Paul stalked off in the direction of the car, slamming the door shut behind him. I winced.

"I better get going." I said, beginning to head for the car. I liked to have some control of my life...but I knew that all Paul wanted to do was take care of me. So I knew my limits of my stubborn teenage-angst like actions.

"Are you sure you don't want to get a ride home from somebody else?" Wes asked. I didn't even bother replying. The moment I closed the door, Paul sped out of the parking lot, jerking around the corners. He drove past the road we needed to turn on in order to get to the Uley's house. I started to protest, but he silenced me with a growl.

I stayed silent and crossed my arms. Finally he turned off on a long gravel driveway, surrounded only by trees. The line of houses had stopped about a half-mile back. A two-story brick house came into view. It had a dark red door and matching shutters. It looked rather new. I wondered where he had taken me, but I was too worried that he would burst into a werewolf the moment I opened my mouth. He stopped a little ways from the house, turning off the car.

"Go inside and wait for me." He ordered in a strained voice. I thought it best to obey him this time, even though I made it clear that I was mad at him. I slid out of the car without a word, slammed the door shut to the best of my ability and walked up to the door.

I turned the knob, praying that it wasn't locked. It clicked open and I walked inside, I turned to see what Paul was going to do. But he had disappeared. The car was empty.

"Great!" I exclaimed to myself. "Nice job leaving me all alone in the middle of nowhere!" I yelled at the trees. I heard a howl nearby. Good. He had heard me.

I clicked the door shut behind me. I was in what looked to be the living room. It was scantily furnished with only a rough looking easy chair, a wooden crate that was being employed as a coffee table, and a small television propped up on an identical crate.

I really wanted to snoop, but I restrained myself, still not sure whose house I was in. I sat down on the easy chair.

A whole hour and a completed math assignment later I finally heard the door open. Paul came through the door. I jumped up to meet him, my anger forgotten. An hour was long enough for me to cool down, and enough to bring on the return of my need to see him. I flung my arms around his shoulders, the best I could anyway, and kissed him. He laughed as he swept me off my feet.

"I take it you've come to your senses?" He asked, carrying me over to the chair and sitting, with me in his lap. I scowled at him.

"No, I'm still mad at you." I replied.

"Then what's with the welcome?" He questioned.

"I missed you and I don't feel like having you run off on me again." I answered. He smiled his beautiful smile. "But don't think you're off the hook." I added sternly.

"Let me guess, we'll discuss it later?" He responded.

I nodded, tracing my finger over his raven black brows. He brought my face down in order to kiss me. The way we were sitting made me slightly taller than him, a fact I put to good use. I kissed him back obviously, loving every minute.

"So…where are we…exactly?" I asked between kisses.

"You mean you haven't figured that out yet?" He asked, smiling against my lips.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked, pulling away to get a good look at him.

"Guess." He ordered, but this time in a playful way. I wrinkled my nose.

"Ummm...Is this...ummmm...," I began, hoping that he would give me something more to go on. "Does it belong to someone in the pack?"

"Yes." He answered in a low voice, moving my hair out of the way and kissing my neck.

"I can't think straight when you do that." I laughed, leaning away. He appeared to pout for a moment, but I successfully ignored his silent pleas. "Does it belong to Embry?" I asked. He shook his head no. And continued to do so as I listed all the other bachelors, since I knew for a fact that this wasn't a family home. I even went as far as to guess Leah, who was just recently engaged to Brad, some distant relative of Collin's.

"Then I give up! Who does it belong to?" I finally surrendered.

"It's mine." He answered. I scolded myself for not guessing that the first time. Still, this was a shock. I had never imagined Paul as a house kind of man, while he was single anyway. He was more of a living-with-his-friends type. As much as he came across as a temperamental loner, he desperately needed loved ones around him.

I stared at him. "Yours?"

"Yes, mine. I started building it after Seth got married. This land belonged to my Dad, and when he died I inherited it." He explained. "Haven't done much to the place after I got all the construction done. I didn't ever need much since I only stayed here once a week."

I looked around the room and nodded. "Yes, it does seem to give off the abandoned bachelor pad kind of vibe. So," I continued, hopping up, "are you going to give me the grand tour?"

He shook his head, smiling, as I danced off towards the right side of the living room, past the staircase, to the far wall, which consisted of two doors. He got up and in about four of his strides was standing directly before me.

"Through here is a bathroom." I peered inside, giving it my approval. He moved to the next door. "Through here is a bedroom or an office space or a bonus room...whatever it needs to be, really."

We looked into the kitchen next, which only had a refrigerator and a microwave for appliances. Paul led me upstairs next. There were two empty bedrooms, a bathroom, and a closet.

"Where do you sleep?" I asked.

"Through here." He said, leading me to the last, and third bedroom. A large king sized mattress lay on the floor. Another of the wooden crates served as the bed side table. A chest of drawers was to the left. The door to the bathroom was next to it, with the closet door next to that.

A mirror was attached to the chest of drawers. Photos were stuck around the edges. I walked over to them. One was of a group of young boys on a beach. It took me a moment to realize that most of the boys were the pack members.

I found Paul towards the back. One of the other boys, who I recognized as Quil, was leaning over, preparing to whack him in the back of the head. He didn't notice because he was busy trying to look serious. I laughed out loud.

I looked over on the other side of the mirror, thinking I would find more pictures of him with the pack or his family. Instead I saw a girl with red hair and green eyes staring back at me. I peered closer, to see that it had been taken outside, when the wind had been blowing.

"Where did you get this?" I asked. Paul was leaning in the doorway, watching me. He came over a stood by me now.

"I took it a few days after you arrived, when I was banned from seeing you. You were outside with Bethany and the kids. I was hiding behind the trees." He paused as I gave him a skeptical look. "Wow. I'm a creep." He realized. I laughed.

"That's okay. I forgive you." I replied.

"Do want to go get something to eat?" He asked, his stomach rumbling. Mine rumbled my reply.

"What are we going to eat?" I remembered that his kitchen was slightly lacking.

"I'll see what I can scrounge up." He answered. I took that as a microwavable TV dinner, which was fine by me.

"Was this the surprise?" I asked.

"Part of it, I guess." He shrugged.

"What else?" I asked as we descended the stairs.

"You're spending the night too, if that's okay with you. I brought some of your things over." He said. I smiled, delighted at the idea of never having to say goodbye, but then eyed him warily, wondering how far he thought he could go. He seemed to read my thoughts. "We can't actually do anything unfortunately. Sam forbade any of us from doing anything with our imprints until after marriage."

"Unfortunately for you, you mean. You've been waiting for a lot longer than I have and I have morals of my own, you know." I teased.

"Do you now?" He asked teasingly back.

"The result of being raised by people hundreds of years old." I laughed. The laugh was half-hearted, as I soon realized that once I was even more permanently attached to Paul, the farther away I drew from my family.

I pushed those unhappy thoughts from my head as Paul lifted me from the ground and carried me over the kitchen threshold.