CHAPTER TWELVE

Paul's POV

As I plummeted towards the water below, I had brief seconds to realise that I wasn't going to be in much of a position to save Embry in wolf form; I could hardly grab hold of him with my teeth to haul him out of the water. I was filled with emotion and I doubted my ability to phase back, but miraculously as I hit the water it happened. I plunged into the waves as a wolf and surfaced human. I couldn't see Embry anywhere and I immediately dived and began searching until I was forced up again to breathe. I could barely see a thing in the water with it now almost dark and as I looked up briefly I noticed the silhouette of Jared at the top of the cliff, human and getting ready to jump. I ignored him, turned in the water and kicked downwards again. Where the hell was Embry? If I didn't find him in the next few seconds he would dead before we made the beach.

My outstretched hand touched something as I dived and for a moment I thought it was weed, but then I realised my fingers were brushing through Embry's hair. I grabbed a handful before the current pulled him away from me, then reached down and caught hold of his arm. I kicked for the surface and as our heads broke out of the water, Jared appeared right beside me.

"Got him!" I gasped, flipping onto my back and supporting Embry's head against my shoulder. He was unconscious, his eyes closed.

"Give him to me, you're out of breath!" Without waiting for me to reply, Jared drew Embry away from me and began to swim towards the beach with strong kicks of his legs, propelling them both through the waves quickly. I swam alongside, my heart hammering, spitting out salt water and trying to convince myself Embry would be fine if we could just get him out of the sea. I couldn't let myself imagine what would happen if he didn't make it; I may as well die with him.

By the time we reached the sand, Sam was running down the path towards us, wearing his shorts and carrying ours which he dropped on the sand as he got to us. I barely looked at him as I kneeled beside Embry's inert body, not having a clue what to do for the best. CPR...why the hell didn't I pay attention when we had first aid training at school?

"Back off, Paul," Sam said now. He was on his knees too and I watched as he began heart massage, obviously knowing exactly what he was doing. I just sat there shivering, feeling sick and shocked, having no idea what to do for the best.

"God, Sam, do something!" I shouted at him at one point.

"What the hell does it look like he's doing? Paul, come away, give him some room," Jared said, grabbing my arm. "And get dressed, will you?"

"Fuck off, Jared!" I snarled over my shoulder at him. Damnit, I was burning up again in my panic and I tried to force my emotions down far enough for them not to affect me. I had to stay with Embry.

"Come away now," Jared persisted, gripping my arm. "Man, you're on fire!"

"I need to be with him!" I yelled. "He's my Imprint!"

"We know, Paul, but you're in danger of hurting him, you have to back off," said Jared calmly.

"Em!" I cried, hoping that somehow he would hear me. "Don't leave me! Sam, do something, for fuck's sake!"

Jared thrust both hands under my arms and dragged me backwards across the sand away from Embry.

"Get the hell off of me!" I screamed at him, fighting him off and scrambling to my feet.

I was furious, but not really with Jared. I felt helpless. Embry could already be dead; I had no way of knowing and Jared was only trying to keep me from hurting him if I phased, which I was already struggling to prevent. Somehow I had to calm myself down and I turned away from Jared, breathing deep, telling myself that Embry needed me. I snatched up the spare pair of shorts from the sand and pulled them on, then turned back to watch, grabbing at Jared's shoulder to support myself as I sagged with relief when suddenly water spurted out of Embry's mouth and he began to move.

"Oh, God, he's alive," I choked.

"Yeah, he'll be ok now, Sam's got him. Stay back, Paul," Jared said quietly. I guess he knew that my emotions were still running high and I was having to force the wolf in my to stay down.

I stood still and watched as Embry gasped and coughed. He looked deathly pale and he was visibly shaking, but he was alive. After a few more minutes, Sam gathered him up and began to head up the beach without a word, leaving Jared and me to follow him slowly back to the house.

They wouldn't let me see him for over an hour. Jared kept me in the lounge while Sam and Emily looked after him, making him take a bath and finding some of my clothes for him to wear before he went to bed in the guest room next to mine. I paced around the room constantly, my heart thumping unevenly, relief that he was ok now mingling with worry that he still wouldn't want anything to do with me. Every part of me hurt and I had to constantly restrain myself from forcing my way past the others to get to him. Eventually Emily came into the room and I looked at her expectantly.

"He's asleep," she said. "He'll be fine. Sam will talk to him some more tomorrow. Go and sit with him if you want, Paul, just be quiet."

"Ok. Thanks." I hurried to the guest room, suddenly nervous, dreading Embry waking up and repeating his request that I stay away from him.

He was curled up on one side, sleeping peacefully, covered to the waist by the quilt and wearing one of my t-shirts. I closed the door quietly and leaned against it, then just stood there for some time watching him sleep. I probably would have stood there all night except for the fact that I was completely exhausted.

Eventually I went over to the bed and sat down carefully on the edge of it. Embry didn't stir and after a while just sitting there, I stretched out behind him. I was dying to touch him, but for some time I didn't dare. While he was still sleeping I could convince myself he would be happy I was there, but if I disturbed him he could still tell me to go to hell. However after a few more minutes I slid my arm around him, edging closer until my chest rested against his back and I could smell the fresh tropical scent of shampoo in his still damp hair. He stirred slightly and I held my breath, wondering if he would wake.

"Paul?" he murmured.

"Yeah, I'm here," I said softly. Please don't tell me to go away, I thought.

"Don't go."

I heaved a sigh of relief. He was happy to have me there and at last I could relax and let my heavy eyelids droop.

"I'm not going anywhere," I said and almost immediately I fell asleep.

Embry's POV

I was barely aware of anything that happened after I slipped off of the edge of the cliff. I had been filled with panic and horror as I raced through the woods and being faced with Paul and Jared hadn't helped things. I knew they'd heard my thoughts because I could hear theirs and all I'd wanted to do was get as far away from them as possible. As I backed away from them I'd forced myself not to look at Paul properly, convinced that somehow he would be able to make me stand there and listen to him try to tell me everything would be alright. How the hell could it be alright when I was a halfbreed wolf?

Then suddenly I was falling and the next thing I knew I was coughing up water and Sam was kneeling over me. I was mortified to find that I was naked and closed my eyes again, hoping Paul wasn't standing there gawking at me. My only saving grace was that it was dark and then Sam suddenly scooped me up and began to carry me somewhere.

Maybe an hour later I was cleaned up and in bed wearing some of Paul's clothes and it was only exhaustion that let me sleep. I could hear footsteps constantly pacing up and down in one of the other rooms and guessed it was him; I could feel his presence and wondered how I could possibly hear the sound of bare feet on carpet, but all of my senses seemed curiously enhanced.

When I stirred some time later it was because of the slight movement of the bed as someone sat down on the edge of it and I knew immediately it was Paul even though the room was dark and my eyes were closed. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I could smell the musky scent of him mixed with salt from the sea. I concentrated on every breath, keeping them slow and steady so that he wouldn't realise I was awake, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he could hear my heart beating; it seemed deafening to my own ears.

I went over and over everything that had happened in my head and I began to realise that what he had said before I told him to leave me alone had been true. He had tried to talk to me in the Christmas holidays and I wouldn't listen. I'd been too hurt to give him another chance, but if he felt nothing for me, he wouldn't have even bothered to try. What did it matter if he Imprinted, really? It only made what he felt stronger. There was no one else involved like there had been with Sam; Paul only wanted me and in pushing him away I was only hurting myself. I almost died last night and it brought everything else into perspective. I lay there willing him to get closer or reach out and touch me, but for a long time he didn't. He probably thought he would disturb me and I'd tell him to drop dead.

Eventually he stretched out carefully on the bed behind me and rested against me, one arm curling around me and it was all I could do not to let out a sigh of relief. It was going to be ok, I knew it was. Once I could get my head around what I was. I couldn't keep quiet any longer and I whispered his name.

"Yeah, I'm here," he said softly. I felt warm breath ruffle my hair as he spoke and I smiled in the darkness.

"Don't go," I told him.

His arm tightened around me and I closed my eyes again. Despite everything that had happened, he made me feel safe and I relaxed at once and let myself drift back into sleep. I heard his voice murmur something else, but I didn't catch what it was as I slipped away.

When I opened my eyes again it was daylight and I hadn't moved an inch in my sleep. Paul's arm was still curled around me and I could feel the heat of his upper body resting against my back. The quilt covering part of me separated our lower halves, but I still felt the warmth of him through the fabric, even with my own high temperature. I turned my head slightly, wanting to look over my shoulder and see him, but he was lying on my hair and I was trapped. My slight movement apparently disturbed him and his hand moved where it rested on my chest.

"Em? You awake?"

"Yeah."

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, but can you get off of my hair?" I said softly.

"Sorry." He withdrew his arm from me and propped himself up and I pulled my hair free and turned over. I was still nervous, not sure what would happen and I kept my eyes lowered, waiting for him to do or say something.

"I'm sorry about everything," he said, lowering his head back onto the pillow and resting his hand on my waist.

"It doesn't matter. You couldn't have known what would happen to me."

"But I could have let you know how I felt before all of this ruined it."

"Like you said, you tried to talk to me and I wouldn't listen," I said.

"So what do you want now? You still want me to stay away from you?" he asked. He sounded so unhappy and I knew I'd made him suffer by rejecting him.

"No. The opposite," I said. I rested my hand on his chest and immediately felt the rapid thudding of his heart. I stroked my fingertips lightly over his pecs and he breathed in quickly, making me smile. His hand slid from my waist around to my back and pulled me closer against him. His lips touched my forehead and he ran his hand through my hair.

"I love you so much," he said. "I hope eventually you can believe that it's not just because I Imprinted."

"I know it's not." I brushed my lips against his throat and pressed my face into his neck for a moment. I loved him too, I knew I did, but I had never really thought I would be able to say it, or even get the opportunity to say it. Everything had been so fraught up to now that it was difficult to believe we could really be together; be happy.

"Em?" Paul murmured.

"I love you," I whispered.

What was the point in me holding it back? Even though we had only had a couple of dates, spent one week really together, so much had happened that it felt right to just tell him I felt the same. His arm tightened around me at once and he slid the other under my neck, crushing me against him for a moment before he pushed me away slightly and made me look at him.

It was the first time our eyes met since I had told him to keep away from me and that seemed like an awful long time ago. Was it really only two days? His dark brown eyes were warm and soft and the love in them was clear to see and I could almost hear the seconds ticking by as I looked into them. One...two...three. I felt like I was falling and I couldn't look away. I completely forgot where I was; forgot about everything that had happened to us; lost any awareness I had of my world and what surrounded me. The only thing left was Paul and it felt as if he had hold of a cord attached to my heart and my soul and was steadily pulling me to him; into him. Nothing else seemed to matter to me except that he was mine.

I blinked rapidly and gradually the room around us came back into focus.

"What the hell was that?" I whispered. Paul was grinning at me like a kid in a candy store and I realised immediately without him having to tell me what happened.

"Shit," I breathed and then giggled. "Is that supposed to happen?"

"Sam said if a wolf Imprints on another wolf, they can re-Imprint, but he only knows of it happening once before. It's supposed to make the couple pretty much invincible. Maybe not a good idea to do anything to actually test that theory."

I grinned. "So what now?"

"What now? This."

He leaned closer and his lips met mine, a light caressing which teased me and had me longing for more in an instant. I closed my eyes and nibbled gently on his lower lip, making him groan softly before he deepened the kiss, his lips pressing onto mine more firmly and his tongue slipping between them to touch mine, his arms tightening around my body. We had kissed before, many times during the week we spent so much time together, but this was so much more intense.

I was aware of every little detail – the rapid thud of his heart, the increased heat on the parts of my body where his hands and arms touched me, the moist heat of his mouth and the pulse in his neck under my fingers, my blood pumping through my veins, making my heartbeat keep time with his as it rushed to my groin and made me stiffen quickly. I could feel the veins in my dick pulsing as the organ strained upwards inside the pair of Paul's boxers I was wearing and I wished the quilt separating us would disappear so I could feel him against me. I wondered with amusement if he had read my mind when he suddenly grasped it and pulled it out from between is, throwing it towards the bottom of the bed before he placed his hand on my back again, then slid it lower to my butt and pulled me tight against his body. I immediately felt he was as excited as I was, the hardness of him inside the loose cut-off cargo pants thrusting against me.

We did nothing more than kiss and rub ourselves against each other, conscious of the sound of the others getting up and talking in the kitchen, but we still managed to shoot our loads into our shorts in record time, following which we cleaned up quickly with the towel I still had in the room from drying my hair the previous night. My face was hot and I avoided looking at Paul for a minute until I caught sight of him in the mirror and noticed he was as red as I was; then I just laughed.

"Sshh," Paul hissed. "They're going to wonder what we're doing."

A moment later there was a tap on the door. "You two ok? Want some breakfast?" Jared's voice asked.

"Uh...yeah...thanks," Paul said.

"It'll be ten minutes," Jared replied and we heard him walking away.

"I'll get some more clothes." Paul slipped out of the room and in a couple of minutes he was back wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He handed me another pair of jeans to put on and I dragged my fingers through my hair in the absence of a comb before we went into the kitchen.

Emily served up stacks of bacon and cheese toasties and we sat around the table eating while Sam talked some more about my surprising addition to the pack. He seemed uneasy and I guessed it must be a shock for him to find out I could be his brother.

"I still don't understand this bloodline thing," Paul said then. "How can you know for sure Embry's related to you, Jake or Quil and not Jared or me?"

"Because you and Jared are only connected by a narrow thread through grandparents being cousins. You both could have escaped phasing altogether, it's only certain if you're a direct descendant. There was something Billy Black told me when I first phased that I read up on again, about one of his father's pack who was half Klallam and half Quileute. He surprised everybody by phasing and it turned out his father was Ephraim Black, the Alpha. I'm guessing being a direct descendent of one of the main bloodlines supercedes the gene being diluted by other tribes' blood."

"Does that mean I'm more likely to be related to you, since you're Alpha?" I asked nervously.

"No, Jacob and Quil are direct descendents too, but I'm actually only standing in as Alpha. As Ephraim's great grandson, Jacob will be the true Alpha when he joins us."

"Shit, you never told us that!" Paul exclaimed.

"He told me," put in Jared and Paul glared at him. "Why don't you just ask your Mom, Embry, then at least we'll know?" he added.

"I've asked her who my Dad is, she would never tell me," I said. "She's probably even less likely to tell me anything now; we had a huge fight right before I...phased." I got the feeling that not only was Sam uncomfortable with the situation, but that despite Jared helping me he was also beginning to feel some resentment towards me.

"Well ask again, it'll make things easier if..." he began now.

"Jared, cut it out!" Paul growled.

"Boys, come on, you're brothers," Emily said. "All of you, whether by blood or not." She looked at Sam pointedly.

"Yeah, you're right," he said.

"I'll ask her," I told them. "She can't possibly hate me any more than she already does. She's disgusted with me for being gay."

Paul frowned and reached out to take my hand. "I'll go with you," he said.

"Yeah, you'll really help, Paul," Jared scoffed, shooting Paul a condescending glance across the table.

"Back off, Jared, leave him alone!" I snapped, glaring back at him, surprising myself by the quick rush of temper and something else that I had never felt before; desire to protect somebody else even if it was only from a few stupid words.

Sam stared at me and I caught Paul's grin from the corner of my eye.

"What?" I prompted.

Sam's serious face relaxed into a smile. "You re-Imprinted?" he said.

"Woah, seriously?" Jared's eyebrows rose.

"Um...yeah." I grinned and flushed. "So that makes us extra strong, right? So let's go see my Mom."

"Now?" said Paul in surprise.

"Yeah." I jumped up from the table, feeling more confident and tough than I ever had before. Maybe what had happened to me wasn't a bad thing after all if it made me feel like this.

"You don't have to, we could probably find out the truth from Quil's Gramps," Sam said.

"I want to. Anyway, I need to talk to her about the other stuff, if she'll even listen. I wouldn't be surprised if she's thrown my things out of the house by now."

"She's got the same opinions as my Dad," Paul said.

"Embry, if it comes to it, bring your things here," said Sam. "You're welcome here as long as you want. Like Emily said, you're our brother now, whether we're directly related or not."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure." Sam grinned.

"Thanks...both of you." I looked from him to Emily and back, then headed for the door, Paul at my side holding my hand. It seemed that despite my fears, what I was had turned out to be a good thing after all.