(A/N): Just to let you guys know that this is the last chapter before the epilogue. I know, I'm sad too that it's coming to end, but I want to thank all of you who have taken time out of your lives to read my writing and enjoy it just as much as I have. Truly, I appreciate each and every one of you.

I do want to ask your opinions though, on whether I should write another Paul/Bella story or would you guys like to see a Jasper/Bella story I have in the works? Let me know! And once again, thank you for your patience, time, and kind words.

BPOV

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I stared up at the face of my former boyfriend. He still looked the same (obviously), but there was something different about him. I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was but he seemed…lighter? Not so serious and morose as he was before.

"Jasper and Emmett told me you were here and that Jasper apologized to you. I feel like I should do the same." He told me smoothly as he kept his hands in the pockets of his pea coat. Apologize? For dumping me? That seems quite unnecessary at this point.

"If you're here to apologize about dumping me, Edward, I'm fine. I've moved on." I told him and he smiled that same crooked smile that used to make my heart melt, but now, nothing.

"I know. Emmett was all but happy to tell the family about you dating one of the wolves." He said and I had to fight to roll my eyes at Emmett's big mouth. "I'm just here to give you an explanation and apologize." He repeated.

"Edward, if you think that apologizing will make me come running back into your arms—"

"No, no, no Bella. I don't expect us to get back together." He quickly interrupted me. "I actually have a mate." He said as his face broke out into an easy smile. That's what it is! He finally found his mate. That's why he seems so happy. "She's the one who actually convinced me to come here to apologize to you." He told me. At least this girl's smart.

"All right, what do you have to say?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest. "And make it quick before my friends come back." I told him and he just laughed.

"Don't worry, Liz has them preoccupied." Edward told me and I instantly became afraid of their safety. "With comic books, Bella. Don't worry, they're safe." He quickly reassured me.

"Is Liz your mate?" I asked.

"Yeah, Elizabeth Charleston, I met her in Chicago when I was visiting the city. She's wonderful." He told me and I smiled up at him. I was happy he found someone and wasn't on some weird hell bent mission to win me back. "You can meet her if you would like." He offered and I simply shrugged. I was indifferent to the idea. I don't think Paul would like the idea of me spending the afternoon with my ex-boyfriend despite his new girlfriend being with us.

"But Bella, I should tell you that the things I said to you that day were a lie." Edward finally said. I looked at him confused as he sighed. "I did still love you at that point and I only convinced the family and I to leave because I thought you'd be safer that way. I realize now that it was very misguided and I'm sorry for being so blunt and rude to you. You didn't deserve that." He explained.

I felt like I should be angry with him. His abandonment caused me so many feelings of insecurity for years that I feel like I should be furious with him. But I wasn't. I understood his reasoning, I didn't like it, but I got it. Besides, it was in the past and I'm over him. We didn't have a good relationship, Edward and I, we both had some growing up to do. I can see now that Edward wasn't the same—listening to his mate should be a sign of his growth, and I no longer felt the need to be defined by my relationships. I was my own person and he shouldn't be the judge of that.

"I understand," I told him and he looked at me completely perplexed. "I don't agree with your reasoning nor like it, but I understand. I don't hate you, Edward. I don't love you either and I'm not completely sure if I even like you at this point," He chuckled and I feel like he understood where I was coming from. Liz must be doing some good because I know the old Edward would sulk in the corner or try to kill himself. How ridiculous. "I've moved on and I don't feel the need to hold onto these feelings of resentment towards you. You were my past and I've made my own life with new people and I'm happy now." I told him and he smiled down at me.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy then, Bella." He said and I could feel the honesty in his voice.

"I am too." I told him. His eyes flickered beyond me and I turned around to see a woman who was obviously a vampire. She had dark red hair that fell slightly past her thin shoulders and she was a little taller than me. She was obviously unnaturally beautiful and she started at me with those signature gold eyes.

"Hi, you must be Bella. I would shake your hand, but Edward told me you were dating a werewolf and that he would smell me on you and wouldn't like it." She quickly explained and I laughed.

"Yeah, not a smart choice. You must be Liz." I said and she nodded and smiled at me. "Thank you for making your stupid mate apologize to me. I appreciate it." I told her and I looked at Edward to see him frown. Liz and I laughed and I could see Edward's eyes light up as he watched Liz. Yeah, this guy has it bad.

"Anytime, feel free to call us. I would love to get to know you!" Liz said as she carefully handed me a slip of paper with a number on it. I pocketed it and nodded. She seemed like a nice girl and maybe I would like to see her again and the rest of the Cullens. I said my goodbyes to Edward and Liz before meeting back up with Josh and Jill who were still standing back a row of comic books.

"No books?" Jill asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I ran into Edward." I told them and they both whipped their heads at me. Josh even dropped the book he was reading.

"Is he still here?" Josh asked slowly. I don't know if he was scared or if he wanted to threaten Edward. He couldn't actually hurt Edward, but I know he'd try.

"No, he left with his mate. That girl with the red hair that was talking to you, that was his mate." I told them and Josh gasped.

"Lizzy? She was so nice! She knew all about the Bat Family and we bonded over our mutual love of Barbara Gordon." Josh whined sadly. "She's dating that asshole?" He asked.

"Edward has changed since dating me," I laughed. "I don't really know that much of it, but she seems to be really good for him." I told him.

"What did he say to you?" Jill asked.

"He apologized for the way he dumped me. Apparently he didn't mean all the things he said to me. He thought he was protecting me by leaving me." I shrugged and Jill rolled her eyes. "I'm over it. I told him that. I told him that I moved on and am happy now. It was a pretty mature conversation." I explained.

"Aw, so there's not going to be a supernatural battle between him and Paul? I would pay money to see that." Josh said and I laughed.

"Edward's not even allowed on the Rez so no. He and Liz are probably long gone by now." I told Josh and he pouted.

"Are you going to tell Paul?" Jill asked.

"Of course, I have nothing to hide. I doubt Paul will be happy about it, but that's my wolf I have to deal with it. Hiding the fact that I saw Edward is not going to make our relationship better." I told Jill and Josh sniffled and wiped his eye.

"Look at my baby, all mature and what not." He pretended to cry. I rolled my eyes and Jill just laughed before we all agreed to grab some food before we headed back to Forks.

DAY 40: September 22, 2013

I have not seen Paul since I've ran into Edward. Every time I was free, he had patrol or work and every time he had free time, I'm was at work. Things have been extra busy with the pack since Leah had gotten pregnant. Talks about all the possibilities and what should be done since they had a member down. It had been discovered that Leah could no longer phase and now everyone was trying to figure out if this was permanent or not. Even talks about Jake taking over the Alpha position had been happening. So, Paul was in and out of pack meetings all the time.

I was starting to get antsy about the talk. Only Jill and Josh know that I've ran into Edward and I made Jill swear that she wouldn't tell Seth because I wanted this news to be heard from me and not in the pack mind. I already knew that Paul wasn't going to react well to what I had to say and I already had a strategy in mind for keeping him somewhat rational. I don't know how he's going to react, especially with his previous streak of jealously. If running into Tyler sent him off for days, what would happen when he finds out I ran into Edward?

I was sitting in his house waiting for him to come back. In a couple of days was the bonfire to celebrate Leah and Marc's engagement and I wanted to put this conversation on hold till after the bonfire, but it's already been long enough. Josh told me I should just barge my way into one of the pack meetings demanding to talk to him. He believed I had some amazing hold over the pack because I was an imprint, but I told him that I didn't have that much which disappointed him. He was hoping I could convince one of them to go gay which quickly earned him a slap to the back of the head.

"Hey baby," Paul said as he walked into the house looking relieved to finally see me after a couple of days. I jumped into his arms and kissed him soundly on the lips. I missed him too.

"I need to talk to you." I told him and he looked at me confused. "And I need you to be phased." He looked at me even more confused. I told Jill about my idea and she said I was stupid. Having known what happened to Emily, she was convinced that he might attack me out of anger, but I told her it wouldn't happen. I just needed Paul phased so he had a method to cope with the anger. Him being human would only cause him to shake and probably end up phasing without any sense of control. Him being already phased would hopefully negate his lack of control.

"What's going on?" He asked as I pulled him outside to his backyard.

"Just phase." I told him. He did so and I stared back at his steel grey wolf soon enough. He maybe a wolf now, but I could clearly see his eyes staring back at me. I exhaled heavily and crossed my arms. Here goes nothing.

PPOV

Bella was seriously freaking me the fuck out. Was she pregnant now? She told me she was on the pill before we had sex, but did she forget or something? Was she breaking up at me? My wolf whined at the thought. I don't think I could handle her leaving me especially before I got the chance to tell her I loved her. She looked back up at me at the sound of my whining and smiled sadly.

"When Josh, Jill, and I were in Port Angeles, I ran into Edward." I growled immediately. Who the fuck does that leech think he is coming around my girl? I bet his sparkly ass waited until she was off the Rez to fucking stalk her, that cock-sucking son of a bitch. I'll fucking rip his limbs from his body if he did anything to her. Wasn't it bad enough that his stupid friends came around, but I bet he just had to see her himself because that selfish prick knew she was with me. What? Don't think a wolf is good enough for Bella, think again asshole!

I began to pace back and forth in front of Bella and she sat down on the ground with a patient look on her face. Was this why she wanted me to phase? Because she knew I'd get pissed? Shit, my girl is smart. I paced around a little more thinking about the different ways I could kill Cullen before I plopped down in front of Bella. She smirked at me as I put my head into her lap. Okay, maybe it was just my snout, but you get the picture.

"You done now?" She asked. I huffed and growled softly. I was still pissed and I wanted an explanation before I phased back. I may have to travel to whatever the fuck that prick was to still rip him to shreds. "You wanna know what happened?" She asked and I nodded.

"So, he approached me when I was in the bookstore and his mate was talking to Jill and Josh to keep them preoccupied." So the motherfucker got a mate? I huffed, so why the fuck was he bugging mine? "He apologized for breaking up with me in the way he did because apparently the only reason he dumped me was because he believed that was the best way to protect me." She explained and I rolled my eyes. Dumbass. Leaving her alone was definitely the best way to protect. She just had two leeches after her, but whatever leaving her was the way to go. Fucking idiot.

"I told him that I didn't really care anymore. I moved on and was happy now and I think he was happy to see that I was happy now. Vice versa. His mate, who's name is Liz, totally made him a better person. He's actually a decent person now and not the controlling asshole that I was with. Liz was actually the person to convince him to apologize me." So, the leech managed to be with a decent person. I would have felt better if he was with some evil bitch that made his life miserable. He doesn't deserve happiness after what he did to Bella.

"That's about it. Liz gave me her number in case I ever wanted to call her and get to know her. But yeah, they left after that. Pretty similar to how Jasper and Emmett came and went." Bella said and I stewed on her words for a bit. I still wanted to rip Cullen into fucking pieces, but I've wanted to do that for a while now. Bella is still here with me though and I guess I don't have anything to really be pissed about. It's not like he was trying to win her back and she definitely didn't want to be with him.

I phased back and quickly put my shorts on. Bella looked at me anxiously and I simply fell back onto the ground and pulled her into my lap. I kissed the side of her temple and buried my face into her neck. God, she still smells fucking amazing. I felt her wrap her arms around my neck and I smiled into her neck. "I'm not happy that you saw him, but I'm glad that you're still here." I told her.

"I would never leave you, Paul. Especially for Edward." She told me earnestly.

"Yeah, I know, it's just nice to actually know for sure though." I told her and she laughed lightly.

"Maturity looks good on you, Lahote." She told me and I chuckled.

"I'm 26, I figured I should grow up at some point." I pulled away from her neck to look at her. She put her hand on the side of my face and smiled at me.

"You know what this made me all realize?" She said and I raised my eyebrow. "I want you to mark me." She whispered into my ear. Oh shit.

"You serious?" I asked looking straight into her eyes.

"Absolutely." She told me.

"I won't be gentle, Bella." I warned.

"Who says I wanted you to be?" She quipped. Oh my fucking God, was this girl trying to kill me? I felt a growl deep in my chest and her smirk widened. I stood up with her still wrapped around me and ran back into the house. I threw Bella down on my bed and quickly jumped on top of her. I kissed her roughly and she moaned into my mouth. I ripped her shirt off her body and moved my lips to her neck. My wolf was howling in the back of my mind, excited that we'd soon be marking our mate.

"Paul," Bella moaned as I kissed the top of her breasts. I used my teeth to pull down the straps of her bra. She unhooked it and threw it across the room. Her fingers latched onto my hair as I took one of her nipples in between my teeth. She arched her back and her body was pushed closer against mine. I growled when the scent of her arousal hit my nostrils. I pulled her torso up with me and had her in my lap. I brought her mouth back to mine and she ground her hips against my cock. I growled and nipped her lip as she laughed breathlessly. I got her jeans open and unzipped in record time before pushing her back on the bed.

I pulled her pants down her legs and my eyes quickly zeroed in on the purple panties she was wearing. I groaned when I noticed the wet spot between her legs and I grabbed the sides of her thong and snapped them. Bella gasped and I chuckled at the flushed and shocked look on her face. I pulled the scrap of fabric between her legs away and tossed her legs over my shoulder. I nuzzled my nose between her pussy, inhaling her delicious scent, before running my tongue along her slit. I quickly threw my arm over her hips when she bucked off the bed. I sucked her clit into my mouth and she moaned loudly with her head tossed back. Bella's fingers quickly gripped the strands of my hair again and she pushed me to where she wanted me to be. I took the direction and soon she was coming undone from just my tongue.

I let her legs fall from my shoulders and pulled my cutoffs off. I hovered over her and let my cock graze her pussy. She moaned and traced her hands up my chest to the sides of my face. I looked down at her and she looked at me with those chocolaty colored eyes. She smiled up at me breathless and I leaned down and kissed her softly. "Are you ready?" I asked her softly.

BPOV

Paul stared down at me and I couldn't tear my eyes off his. His eyes were now completely taken over by that haunting yellow color that I have grown to love. His question lingered in the air and I simply kissed him again. "Yes," I whispered. He pushed into me with one, long, unforgiving stroke and I moaned at the feeling of fullness inside me.

Paul's head fell between my neck and shoulder and I could hear him growl into my ear. He began a fast pace that was rough, aggressive, and all too pleasurable. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as he pounded into me. He lifted me off the bed and quickly flipped me onto my stomach. He pushed his weight onto me and quickly plunged his cock back into me. He gripped my hips and pulled my ass off the bed, but my face still remained pushed against the bed. I was moaning like a bitch in heat and maybe I was by the way Paul was growling like the wolf he was.

"You're mine." He growled as he pulled my hair to the side roughly.

"Yes, yes, yours," I moaned as the noise of our skin slapping together echoed around the room.

"You like getting fucked, baby? Huh? No one can fuck you like I can." He murmured as his hips snapped against me quicker.

"Paul…no one…yours." I moaned incoherently. I'm not sure if he was even coherent at this point. I sure know I wasn't. He pulled my top half up and leaned over me kissing my neck.

"Love you so fucking much." He groaned before rubbing circles into my clit. I hit my point and went falling over the edge in mere seconds. Paul roared before he came inside me. His teeth buried themselves into the side of my neck and miraculously I came again as he growled around my neck. I collapsed onto the bed and he fell on top of me.

He pulled his mouth away from my neck before licking around the wound. It was tender, that was for sure, but I think I was still too over stimulated to actually feel the pain. Paul rolled off of me, but wrapped his arms around me and pulled me towards his body. We laid in silence as I watched the sun's light slowly fade from the room. I could feel Paul's steady heartbeat against my back and in that moment I felt the shift. It wasn't significantly noticeable, but I felt one with Paul. I felt attached to him now and my heartbeat matched his. I turned in his arms to face him and he looked at me with hesitant eyes.

"Did you mean it?" I asked softly. He raised his eyebrow and ran a finger over his mark that laid in the juncture between my neck and shoulder.

"Yeah," He spoke quietly.

"Not that." I said and he looked back into my eyes. "You said you loved me." I told him.

"No I didn't." He said quickly and embarrassed.

"Oh that's right, you said you, 'love me so fucking much.'" I grinned.

"Man, I even fuck up saying I love you." He groaned flopping onto his back and throwing his arm over his face. I giggled and he removed his arm off his face and glared at me.

"I love you too." I told him before leaning over and kissing him. "And for the record, I couldn't have imagined you saying it any better." Paul chuckled before pulling me into his arms and kissing me.

DAY 45: September 27, 2013

"Congratulations!" We all cheered as Leah and Marc walked onto the beach. They laughed and held hands as they walked towards us. Everyone was here. The pack, the imprints, the elders, Charlie and Sue, and even Josh. We had all gathered together to celebrate Leah and Marc's engagement and Leah's pregnancy. Leah was positively glowing and Marc couldn't look any prouder. Once all the personal congratulations were exchanged we all sat around the fire and enjoyed the food that everyone had a hand in help making.

Of course, once the guys saw me they all whooped and hollered before patting Paul on the back. I rolled my eyes at their behavior and Quil even earned a broken nose from Paul for a sleazy comment. All the girls of course welcomed me to the pack "officially" and I blushed as they all examined my mark. Leah even going so far as to comment how "clean" Paul was with it. I was embarrassed, but I was proud to finally have his mark on me. I now felt Paul wherever I went and while there were some downsides to that, I loved feeling like I was at one with him.

I couldn't have ever dreamed of this happening to me. I was a person with a few friends and living day by day, but now I have a giant family around me who'd do anything for me. I watched as my past mixed with my present. Josh had Colin and Brady in stitches and he regaled stories from his job back in LA. Even though he'd have to return to California soon, I know it wouldn't be too long before he was back here again. Charlie and Sue were huddled together and talking to Old Quil and Billy. They were all cracking jokes about something and I could Sue was clearly just happy to be there even though it was probably them just talking about fishing. It's nice to see my dad finally happy again after years of being only fine.

I turned around to see the brothers and sisters that I have grown so close to. Jake, Quil, and Embry were of course causing a ruckus and it was hard to imagine that these three might just be the new Alpha, Beta, and Gamma of the pack. Sam, Jared, and Paul have discussed it long and hard and when Sam steps down, Jared and Paul will be stepping down as well. They've ran the pack since the beginning and as they've said, "it's time for some new meat." Leah and Marc were of course happy to be surrounded by their friends and family and I would occasionally see Marc rub his hand over Leah's belly. I was so happy for them. Our first little pack baby.

Kim and Jill were talking to Angela about their new studio and I was happy to see that Jill had found something here for herself besides Seth. It was also nice to see that they got over their phase of constantly zoning out of the world and only focusing on each other. But I still would catch them glancing at each other longingly. Seth was all but happy to talk to Jared and Sam about sports or whatever it was those guys talked about.

"Hi baby," Paul said as he pulled me against his back and between his legs. I laughed as he smacked a kiss onto my cheek. Of course there was Paul. Who knew that this angry looking stranger would turn out to be the love of my life? I sure as hell didn't. This angry, jealous man that I despised soon turned into the level-headed (with some hot-headed moments) and kind man that I love. We had our ups and we had our downs, but I like to say we've come a long way in a mere 45 days.