Hey! It's been a while and I'd like to apologize for that, I've started to get swamped with a lot of work and then I sort of just lost sight with this story. But then I remembered the few people who actually really did like my story, and how they had asked me to update soon. So here it is! Thank you for helping me get encouraged to keep going : ) I'm going to put my best effort into finishing this story and doing my best with it.

"Sandra, do you have any idea how confused I am? You say you want to stay home and then you show up with the person who you wanted to avoid!" CJ's scowled at her as he paced in front of her bed. Kandice came in and sat down next to her, her hand reaching out for her own.

"Can you please try to explain to us?" Her soft voice made me uncomfortable as I fidgeted with my other hand.

"Yeah…" I sighed and then took in a deep breath to calm myself down. I hated being lectured. "Well Paul is a really big jerk, and an even bigger idiot. But we've come to sort of understand each other. While you guys went to the party, he showed up at the house to apologize for being rude. And then he took me to the party were you guys were." The lies and semi-truths poured easily enough out of her as she kept her eyes cast down on her floor. She felt slightly guilty about the lying part, but it wasn't as if she could explain to them the truth. It was easier this way, and it made sense.

"Come to understand each other?" The voice of her brother in law had her head turning up in his direction. His eyes narrowed in confusion and a little disbelief. "You and Paul?"

Her head titled up a little and she felt herself getting defensive. "Paul's not as bad as people make him seem. As he makes himself seem…"She felt her gaze lowering to the ground as she remembered his gentle, sweet moments. "He really is stupid…I won't deny that…But his positives largely out way his negatives. And he's getting better." As her mind traveled again by itself she saw him holding her before she went to class, calming her nerves. His defensive stance as he put himself between her and the wild cat. The way his eyes lovingly watched her when he thought she wasn't looking. There really wasn't a lot she knew about Paul. One of the main reasons they were so attracted to each other was the pull from the imprint. She knew that. But there was something about the way his hand touched hers, the way his voice would soften for her, that told her it wasn't just fate that put them together. If she had known him without the imprint…She would still love him. But without the imprint, she never would have talked to him-she counted her blessings that she had, a smile tugging at her lips.

"…S…San..Sandra?" Her sister's soft voice beckoned her back from her wayward thoughts, and she tilted her head up again, a blush spilling across her cheeks.

"Sorry what?" She found that both CJ and her sister had a dumbfounded expression on their faces, but they both blinked and then looked at each other. Smiles danced across their faces as they broke eye contact, her sister getting up after slapping her thigh-the sensation making Sandra jump a little.

"Well we think we get it now." Her sister chuckled as she headed out her door, her laughter floating down the hallway as she walked down the stairs.

CJ followed after, but before closing her door he turned to her once more, "Likewise, I think we get it now, but if anything happens or you need help-don't hesitate to call us. We love you." Sandra only nodded her head in confusion, and with a smile and an uncharacteristic wink, CJ left too. The door closed behind him with a soft click. Staring at the door with shock, she found herself unable to understand what had just happened.

"What on earth?" She shook her head and stood up with a laugh. Whatever had happened was alright she guessed, she wasn't in trouble and they weren't peppering her with any questions.

The soft glow of night outside her window made her cross over to it, her hand pushing back a curtain. The dulled light of the moon cast the woods outside into a romantic darkness, touching certain leaves and branches with light while casting others into a deep shadow. Her eyes looked for any sign of movement, and she sighed in disappointment when none appeared. She closed the curtains and walked back to her bed, flopping down on it and tossing off her socks. The only a dull light remained for her lamp as she closed her tired eyes. It had been an interesting day to say the least.

As she slipped into sleep, all she saw were glowing eyes, the amber in them calling to her.

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Warmth seeped through Sandra as she turned into her bed, the sheets she had crawled under entangling her and restricting her movement. Wait sheets? She didn't remember getting into the covers. Lazily blinking open her eyes, she felt a wave of panic flow through her at the sight of a man's naked chest in front of her. Moving quickly, she sat up as best she could and opened her mouth to let out a scream-Only to pause as she saw his face. Her whole body deflated as the sheer terror that had gripped her evaporated as she gazed at Paul's sleeping face.

This idiot. She looked down to see that his arms were what had been restraining her usual tossing and turning. She blushed at his hot-in both senses of the word-arms that wrapped around her waist and his legs that had tangled with hers. All of him was lean muscle, the skin flexing as he moved her slightly closer. His skin felt smooth pressed against hers, but his hands that lightly grazed her waist were a bite rougher in nature. Tingles raced along her spine and her breath grew slightly heavier as she stared at his abs and trailing V line that ascended into his low riding shorts. Her eyes then raised up to stare in awe at his face, sleep softening his usual hard expression.

Without her permission, she felt her hand reach up to stroke his cheek, the pad of her thumb moving back and forth. His eyes fluttering slightly at her touch and a small smile spread across his lips. "Hmm…Sandra..." Her face now aflame, she lowered her body back down and lay her head next to his. She felt completely safe and happy, and she cuddled further into his chest. One of his legs twitched and she moved hers against his.

"Sandra?" His voice sounded rough and husky from sleep, the sound sending barely controlled shivers through her.

"Yes?" She tilted her head up to stare at his blinking eyes, laughing a little at his expression.

"Sorry did I wake you up?" He smiled at her laugh and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead.

"You did, when did you even get here? No, how did you even get in here? And I didn't even know you'd be coming here. And who just gets into someone's bed without asking their permission first?" Her barrage of questions simply made his grin widen as his now fully awake eyes stared down into hers.

"I was here the whole time. I have to watch over you, remember? We don't know what that shifter wants yet. And you seem pretty happy about me being in bed with you. Who was it that was nestling into me a moment ago? You'll have to remind me, I forgot." His chest vibrated softly with his laughter.

"Shut up!" She covered her face to hide her mortification while he continued to laugh at her.

"Oh and, about how I got in here…" She lifted her hands to look at his amused expression, "You really should lock your window." Gasping at him, she felt herself blink in shock.

"You came in through the window?! How?! This is the second floor!"

He only continued to smile, completely amused with her reaction, "I'm a werewolf love. I tend to have an above excellent physical condition. Jumping up that high was not even remotely a challenge for me." She stared at him with complete fascination, although a small part of her was rejoicing that he had called her love. Okay a bit more than a small part of her.

"What would be a challenge for you then?" Was he completely invincible? She watched him as he silently pondered his question.

"Well jumping onto an airplane would be impossible, it's not like I have rockets for feet. I would say that jumping on top of this house would be the most I could do. I've never really tested it out though."

"I want to see you do it." His eyes shot down to hers in surprise, probably not expecting her request.

"You want to see me jump on top of your house?" Amusement was laced in with his words but she didn't care.

"That's right. Until I see it, I won't believe you." Teasing him felt easy, and she watched as his grin turned into a smirk.

"I would love to show you, but if I were to jump onto of your house, there might not be much left of your roof. I'm heavy you know?" He flexed his bicep at me as he laughed and lifted his eyebrows up and down.

Her own laughter made her slightly breathless, "You would destroy my house?"

"Probably, werewolves are know to cause some pretty large messes, I wouldn't put it past me." She clutched her sides as she continued to laugh at him.

Suddenly though his laughter stopped as he titled his head to the side, his eyes glazing over a bit. Her own laughter died as well, and she watched him as he righted his head and looked at her. "We'll have to be quite, it seems like we woke your relatives up." After noting her worried expression he smiled and stroked her cheek, "Don't worry, they're only awake. Our noise woke them up, but they didn't hear what it was. They seem to be trying to sleep again."

Relief poured into her for the second time since she had woken up. "Oh, that's good." She smiled up at him and him down at her. A brief moment of comfortable silence passed. Something nagged at her brain again though, and she asked him a question as she looked down to traced the muscles of his chest, her comfortableness with him surprising her, "So have they found the shifter?"

He had let out a sigh from her touch, but his muscles had tensed at her question. "No, they haven't. It's almost as if he disappeared into thin air. I'm to go tomorrow to speak with a friend of the pack about it."

"A friend of the pack?" She briefly remembered someone being mentioned yesterday by Sam. Was that who he was talking about? Mr. Connor or something she thought it was.

"His name's Mr. Conrad" close enough she thought, "he's a human and his family has been researching our kind for decades, if not longer. They find us fascinating for some reason. We've had a long reliance together for some time now. They've lived in a quiet place not too far from our lands under our protection. They're friends but they also have helped us keep track of our history. History after a while helps to show secrets. Sam probably is wondering if he knows anything about other shifters. Maybe his family discovered something that we didn't know."

She slowly processed his words as she laid in this arms, his hands rubbing her back. "I know you probably won't want to, but you'll have to come with me tomorrow when we go. I need you by my side until we catch that thing, or figure out what's happening."

She was used to the dreaded feeling of being forced to go somewhere, but to her surprise it never came. In fact, she found herself slightly excited to be going somewhere with Paul. And this Conrad guy sounded interesting.

"I don't mind. He sound's funny, is his family like the official werewolf fan club?" That's what he sounded like to her at least.

A short quite bark of laughter erupted from Paul's chest," I guess you could see it like that." She grinned up at him, but a yawn soon interrupted the grin. He noticed her yawn, and snuggled her closer to his body, his hand stroking the back of her head now.

"We'll have plenty of time tomorrow again, use this time to rest."

"Hmm…"Was all she could reply, her sleepiness suddenly wearing her out. She felt his head lower next to hers and his breathing slow along with her own.

That night's sleep was the best she'd ever gotten.