AN: It's early! Yes, it really is. I even had time to proof-read it this time...haven't done that for a while :) Be proud.

So I've just got back from a few days away – Prague is amazing – where I had every intention of spending my spare time (flights, evenings etc) writing this fic. No internet or homework, right? Well...turns out I'm quite capable of getting distracted by, say, South Park. In German. -facepalm- No, I have no idea what was going on. But it still, somehow, stopped me from writing. On the bright side, I have finished this chapter! Obviously.

Thank you again for all of the reviews you gave me for the last chapter! I love reading them and hearing from you all – you're all incredible, and I'm really grateful to you for sticking with me and Paul (and Rachel, I guess) XD

So here's chapter 21 – wow, this keeps getting longer! We're adding some elements you might not expect now, because they're not necessarily in BD...hope you enjoy! Please review to let me know what you think xxx :)


"What aren't you telling us, Sam?" he demanded. "If it's something to do with the thing..."

"God, you're not gonna tell us the spawn's alive?" Quil blurted. "Because that's just too far, man. There's no way that thing's safe this close to the rez."

"It's alive," Sam confirmed shortly. "Apparently it's no threat. But whatever it is, it's off limits." He glanced around the room, at the faces which Paul was sure held the same bewilderment as his own.

"What the hell, Sam?" Jared growled. "We already know the thing drinks blood, and it's not going to have any control or –"

"It was killing Bella!" Embry, too, looked outraged. "We can't have that loose, Sam. We can't."

"Shut up, all of you!" Sam ordered angrily. "I don't like this any more than you do, okay? But we have to leave it this time. Jacob went and imprinted on the damn thing."

If they'd been shocked before, it was nothing compared to the stunned silence now.

"Oh, fuck no," Paul breathed.

"Fucking yes," Sam replied grimly.


Chapter Twenty-one

"How is that even possible?" Brady demanded. "I mean...seriously, do we even know what the thing is?"

"Jacob wasn't totally clear on that," Sam replied with what Paul considered to be admirable calm. "It's human-shaped, certainly. Like a real baby. I didn't get much beyond that – he didn't share everything." The last came out almost reluctantly, and the pack gaped at him.

"What, like you can't hear everything?" Embry sounded incredulous.

"He's not part of our pack, so it's not like the pack mind, idiot," Quil told him impatiently. "But screw that, Sam, is the thing going to drink blood?"

"Jacob wouldn't say."

Paul's eyebrows shot up. "That's probably a yes, then."

"Serves him damn well right, if you ask me," Jared growled. "All that cosying up the the leeches, now he's stuck with one."

"I'm no sure I like the implication of the word 'stuck', Jared," Emily chided primly. "And I'm fairly certain Kim wouldn't like to know you think of imprinting like that either. Right, Rachel?"

Rachel's only reply was a sort of choked cough, and Paul remembered – a little too late, because he still wasn't all that great at being an understanding boyfriend – that they were discussing herbrother. "You all right, babe?" he asked with concern.

"Come on, you've got to admit he deserves it a little, even if you are his sister," Brady insisted.

Collin shot his friend an exasperated glare. "Be serious, dude. I'm pretty sure Rachel actually likes Jake."

"Shut up, both of you. Jesus, I was never thirteen."

Paul burst out laughing as Sam's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "You were, Quil, and you were a total pain." He rolled his eyes. "Talk to me, Rach. Are you okay?"

Miraculously, none of the pack interrupted in the time it took her to swallow – twice. Rachel nodded slowly, but it changed halfway through so that she was shaking her head instead. "Jake's imprinted on Bella's baby?"

Paul exchanged a worried glance with Sam, and then Emily. "Uh...yes?"

"My brother's imprinted on his ex-girlfriend's newborn vampire child?"

Put like that, it was wrong on way too many levels. "Yes. Rachel, do you want to sit down? I know it's a shock –"

"What the hell, Paul? A fucking baby? That's...that's just...Jesus Christ."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Quil interrupted hotly. "It's...it's different to your imprint."

"Says the guy who imprinted on a two year-old," Embry added wryly.

"She's three now." The defence was automatic, but really did nothing to improve his argument in Rachel's eyes. She did sit down now – abruptly – in the seat which Brady vacated for her, all colour flooding out of her previously flushed cheeks.

"Jesus Christ," she moaned again. "My brother's in love with a day-old baby."

There was a short silence.

"A day-old vampire baby," Embry muttered.

"A day-old vampire baby who's the kid of his ex," Jared added.

Emily cupped a hand over her mouth to cut off the sudden laughter. "I'm sorry," she gasped as they all turned to stare at her accusingly. "But it's just too ridiculous."

"How does that make it funny?" Quil grumbled. "It's not –"

"Give up, Quil," Sam ordered. "Rachel, the thing with imprinting is that it's different for everyone. Jacob will be whatever the baby needs – friend, brother –"

"Babysitter," Brady snickered.

"– until she's old enough to decide for herself. He's not going to feel about her how Paul does for you." Sam shot his own mate an adoring look, obviously in the same feeling category as Paul. "This doesn't make him a paedoplile."

"Paedowolf," Jared added, smiling beatifically across the table at Quil.

"It's still pretty creepy, though." Collin dodged Quil's fist just in time before it made contact with his head.

"Boys! Mind the table," Emily chided. "If you're going to fight, please take it outside."

"Sorry, Emily." Collin grinned sheepishly and she laughed at him, reaching out to ruffle his hair. If Emily had a favourite – after Sam, of course – it was the youngest member of the pack. Paul was sure it had something to do with Collin's weirdly long eyelashes, but couldn't quite work out how it worked.

Rachel chose that moment to speak up. She'd been sitting very quietly with a pale face and troubled eyes, and Paul had kept a concerned eye on her as she obviously tried to understand the situation. "So what does all of this mean?" she asked now. "I mean, I know the...the baby's off limits, because Jake's imprinted on her. But it's a vampire. A vampire newborn."

Paul huffed out a breath in the thoughtful quiet which followed. She'd just managed to lay out the entire dilemma, the question which they'd been trying to avoid, because none of the answers were ones which they liked.

"We're going to have to wait and see," Sam replied quietly after a moment. "There shouldn't be too much of a problem, for now at least."

"Not for several years," Quil clarified. "It's a baby, right? So there's not a whole lot of trouble it can cause at the moment."

"And with any hope, the leeches will have moved away from here long before it becomes a real issue." Embry shrugged carelessly. "We'll have to trust them, and Jake, to keep the thing in line."

"Trust the leeches," Jared snorted humourlessly. "Hey, I bet Leah's loving this."

All of the boys laughed at that, and Paul was grateful that they were moving the topic along before Rachel could ask about the other options for dealing with the demon spawn. Without discussing it, all of the wolves were aware that should they decide action against the newborn was necessary, it would be at the cost of Jacob's life too.

"Today, then," Sam interrupted the general babble, "Jared and Quil on patrol this morning. Bella shouldn't be waking until tomorrow, but we're not risking anything."

"Sure." Jared stood, stretching so that he towered over everyone. "We'll make sure the leeches stay on their side of the line, even if we can't touch the spawn. Right, Quil?"

"Yeah. That everything, Sam?"

"For now." The Alpha hesitated, glanced quickly towards Paul. "Just...all of you keep an eye out for any kid who looks like they might be heading towards the change. It's possible there could be some..." His voice trailed off, leaving the pack and the girls – but not Paul – staring at him incredulously.

"You have to be kidding," Embry whined. "You think we might get more of them?" He jerked his head towards Collin and Brady.

"Increased leech presence," Jared nodded in understanding, looking as dismayed as Embry. "Well, crap."

"More of us, though, if it comes down to –" Brady shot a quick glance at Rachel, cutting off his words abruptly, but his meaning was clear and the girl's face suddenly paled again. Paul's mate turned huge eyes up to him.

"You're saying it still might come to a fight?" she asked with horror. "Paul..."

"It's always going to be a possibility, Rach," he replied quietly, fingers gently squeezing her small hand in his. "We'd generally rather it didn't – especially not like this – but we can't always stop it."

Rachel shook her head quickly. "Paul, I can't lose - " Jake, he thought she was about to say, but Jared cleared his throat loudly before she could finish the sentence. Paul tore his gaze away from his mate's.

"Well, we'd better be going. Who's taking over after us, Sam?"

The Alpha glanced quickly around the room, his gaze calculating as he noted who had run most recently. "Paul and Collin."

"Oh, come on!" they both objected at once. "You put me with him?" Paul was grateful for the change in mood, but he still couldn't forget the horrible vulnerability in her eyes as she realised that it was still very possible that they might have to fight her brother.

"See you guys later," Quil called back over his shoulder, escaping the (almost inevitable) argument about Sam's choice of patrol partners. "Don't forget Embry volunteered to do the dishes!"

"Thanks a bunch, moron!" Embry yelled back. He turned to glare at the others still in the kitchen. "You're helping too."

"Team effort," Sam agreed with obvious relief at the averted crisis. "Collin and Brady can clear, Paul's washing, and Embry can dry. I'm supervising."

"And we'll stay well out of the way next door," Emily finished. Rachel stood mutely to follow her, and Paul watched her go with frozen concern until the Alpha's mate shot a reassuring smile back over her shoulder at him. Emily would look after her; of them all, she was the one Paul trusted most with Rachel.

"Great day to bring Jake's sister along, Paul," Embry muttered once the girls had gone, jerking Paul out of his reverie enough to smack the other boy over the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You're an idiot," Paul told him, making Brady roll his eyes as he set a stack of dirty plated by the sink.

"Like we didn't know already. It's Embry."

Embry snatched up a handful of bubbles and flung them at the younger boy, but Brady just laughed and dodged out of the way as they wafted to the floor. "I though we agreed you weren't supposed to insult your elders, kid," he grumbled.

Paul flicked his own handful of soapsuds at Embry, with considerably more success. "Glad you didn't try to pass yourself off as his better," he mocked.

"Hey, no throwing soap all over the kitchen!" Sam cut in. "We – man, you did not." He stood glowering, bubbles dripping down his face from the attack as Embry and Paul whooped gleefully.

"Nice shot, kid!" Paul held up his hand to high-five Collin. "Now run."

"The table's all cleared!" Collin yelled back over his shoulder as he sprinted for the door, Brady right on his heels as Sam lunged for them. Paul had no doubt that if the Alpha really wanted to catch them, he'd have been able to do so without much trouble at all, but instead Sam just slammed the door behind the two boys and turned back to face Embry and Paul with a wide grin. Paul almost dropped a plate in shock – he hadn't seen the older boy smile like that in...he couldn't even remember. Certainly not since Jacob had come back, maybe even before Jake had left.

"Idiots," Sam grinned fondly. The smile slipped from his face as he saw the way Paul and Embry were watching him, mouths half open in shock, and a flicker of a frown passed across his face instead. "What?"

"Who are you, and what have you done with Sam?" Embry asked. "You just smiled."

"I smile," Sam replied defensively, and the other two exchanged a quick glance before bursting into laughter. "I do. Jeez."

Paul shoved the last washed dish onto the draining board, wiped his hands roughly over his shorts to dry them. "Sure you do, Sam. Your face didn't crack or anything – maybe you should try it more often." He hesitated. "You're only twenty, man."

"Wow." Embry set some dried cutlery down onto the counter with a clatter. "Paul's being all insightful. I'm not sure whether to thank Rachel, or ask her what the hell she did to him."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Paul shot back automatically, and Embry reached out to pat him lightly on the cheek.

"Dude, you forget. We do."

"Fuck you," Paul growled. "I hope you imprint on a five year-old."

They all stared at one another for a moment before Embry groaned. "Thanks, Paul. How the hell did you get Rachel? Because your karma definitely didn't deserve that."

"Whatever." Paul scowled, but there wasn't a whole lot he could say in reply because he knew it was true. "I'm going to go spend time with my incredibly hot, super-smart girlfriend now, while you finish doing the dishes and then go hang out with the thirteen year-olds. Thanks for that, by the way, Sam," he added as he turned to his Alpha. "You couldn't have paired me with anyone else for patrol?"

One corner of Sam's lips curved upward, almost as if he was trying to smile. "No problem."

"Oh, God." Embry gave a mock groan. "Sam's smiling again. Does it once, and now you can't stop him."

"Yeah, I'm going to go." Shaking his head in a mixture of exasperation and amusement, Paul left them to it and headed for the low murmur of voices where Rachel and Emily sat in the next room. They seemed to be getting along surprisingly well, Paul noted as he stuck his head around the door, and Rachel had regained some colour in her cheeks and was looking a little less miserably confused. That had to be a good sign, right?

"Hey, Rachel," he called softly, and they both looked up. Paul liked to think that the light which leapt instantly into Rachel's eyes was something to do with how pleased she was to see him, but if he was entirely honest with himself it could also just be her relief at possibly escaping from Emily. God, girls' loyalties were strange if Rachel would like Leah better than Emily. "You want to head out?"

"If you're done..." She glanced towards Emily, gave a smile which could have even been genuine. "And if that's all right?"

"Sure." Emily stood, smoothing away some invisible creases in her shirt. "I know what it's like, and your guy's doing patrol this afternoon." Paul's chest puffed out infinitesimally at being labelled Rachel's guy, but he'd deny it. "I'll always be around if you want to talk, okay?"

"Thank you." Paul's confusion as Rachel leaned over to hug Emily fled quickly into resignation. All right, so girls' loyalties were a little more fickle than he'd thought. He would never understand them.

Rachel's hand slipped into his as they made their way out to the driveway in front of the house, neither of them saying anything until they stopped beside the car. Paul was still lost in thought about whether Emily and Rachel would actually manage to get along, maybe, and the whole situation with Jacob was still circling around in his mind as he glanced down at his mate.

"Hey, how are you doing?" he asked gently. Rachel didn't reply for a moment, simply turning to slip her arms around his waist and rest her cheek on his chest.

"I'm okay," she said at last. "I mean...Jesus, it's totally screwed up and I have no clue what's going on. And I'm scared as hell for Jake, and for you –" She swallowed. "But seeing all you guys together..."

"I know," Paul chuckled. "It's not exactly confidence inspiring. "They're all idiots, and Embry has a crappy sense of humour and Brady – God, I'm sorry about Brady."

Rachel laughed then, which was kind of the point. "No, it's not that. I mean, yes, that's all true, ridiculously so," and she rolled her eyes, "but no. Seeing all you guys together like that, I think I understand a little now how you work. And I think that despite everything, you'll work something out."

"Really?" Paul asked without thinking. "Wow. I mean...thanks. I have no idea where you got that from, but – yeah. We generally do okay."

"Thank God." Rachel lifted one hand to his face, laid it against his cheek. "I couldn't bear to lose you."

There wasn't much he could say in reply, so Paul simply turned his head to kiss her palm, hoping that she understood. "I love you," he finally settled for saying, and then found himself blushing as a loud catcall sounded from inside. He spun around, only to catch a glimpse of Embry grinning at him through the window. "Jesus Christ!" he swore, but Rachel only laughed.

"Is he – is that really a thumbs up?" she asked incredulously. "He really needs to get out more, doesn't he?"

Paul let out a short, sharp bark of laughter. "You really have no idea."

"Well." Rachel shrugged. "I guess it's just unfortunate he can't get a girlfriend." She raised her voice a little for the last bit. "I mean, seriously? It's Embry, Paul."

Paul's ears, far more sensitive than his girlfriend's, could pick up Embry's low curse, Sam's chuckle, and he drew her back against him to plant a kiss on her forehead. "I really, really do love you," he told her again. "And I feel so sorry for whatever poor girl Embry imprints on one day."

"Hey, don't rub it in too much." Rachel prodden him gently in the centre of his chest with one finger, let her hand linger there a moment longer. "You should be grateful right now that I don't want to bite you. Shut up," she added quickly, cheeks flushing with colour. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

Paul's mock-pout slid quickly into a mischievous grin. "So you're saying you do?"

"Such a guy," Rachel grumbled, stepping back. "You're as bad as Embry."

"Ouch." Paul grabbed her hand, placed it back over his heart. "That hurt, babe."

"Serves you damn well right."

"I know, I know. But Rach," and he became suddenly serious, "you made a joke about the demon spawn. You're really okay with that now?"

Rachel shrugged uncomfortably. "I'm dealing with it, Paul. I just need time to get my head around it, but hey – we've got time, right?"

"Of course." The tension which Paul hadn't been aware of lifted from his shoulders, relief that Rachel really was all right, and he found himself grinning. "So what do you say we head back home, since you're not working? We've got most of the day – we can put in a movie..."

Rachel's answering smile was radiant. "I'd like that. But we've already seen all the movies Dad and Jake own, do you want –"

"Rachel." Paul bent down to kiss her. "I didn't say we had to watch the thing."

It was the girl's turn to flush red, and she glanced guiltily towards the mercifully empty kitchen window. "How about we discuss that when we get home?" she murmured, moving closer, and if it was possible Pau's grin grew even wider. He reached out to cup her face in his hands –

– and spun around with full werewolf speed, teeth bared as he thrust Rachel to safety behind him. It was a disturbance in the bushes to the side of the driveway which had his hackles rising, had the urges to fight and protect surging evenly in his blood as he struggled with the automatic instinct to instantly change form. He couldn't, though – not with Rachel so close, so vulnerable.

"Dude! Chill, it's just me. I thought you guys had gone by now."

"Does every single one of your friends have some sort of psychic radar telling them exactly when to jump out at us?" Rachel exploded, but Paul simply held up one hand to hush her. Possibly not the best idea, but he'd have to deal with the consequences later.

"What's the deal, Quil? Why aren't you on patrol?" he snapped at the boy who was half crouched awkwardly behind some bushes.

"I was. You need to get – Sam! We've got one already, we need you." The Alpha had come striding out of the little house, Embry tight on his heels, and both their expressions were grim.

"Slow down, Quil," Sam ordered. "What's going on?"

"We've got one already," Quil repeated. "He's messed up, and Jared sent me to get you, so –"

"Got one what?" the Alpha snapped. "Leech or wolf?"

It hadn't occurred to Paul that they could be discussing anything but a bloodsucker, but it made sense. Why would Jared choose to face one alone rather than just howling for assistance?

"It's a new wolf, Sam!" Quil's voice was panicked.

"Fuck." The short expletive was enough, and Sam bent with no further ado to strip off his shorts. Paul heard Rachel's sharp intake of breath as she turned away quickly, but had no time to look at her as he took one quick step towards his Alpha. "Jeremy?" he demanded.

"How am I supposed to know?" But Sam paused, considered Paul for a short moment. "Paul, you're with me. Quil can swap shifts with you. Embry, stay here. Come on, Paul." And he exploded into a wolf right there, bounding away into the forest.

"Jeremy?" Rachel parroted with horror.

"I'm sorry, Rach." Paul leant forward to clumsily brush his lips over hers, even as he fumbled with the button on his shorts – no time for modesty. "I'll explain later. Love you, babe."

Then, abruptly, it was the familiar aching stretch of his body changing form as he leapt away from her, landing on four paws to charge away after his Alpha. He was instantly aware of the strange new presence in the pack mind, panicked and shouting.

Holyfuckingshit what the hell?


AN: Thanks for reading! Please review xxx :)

(On a side note to all SPN fans: have you seen the most recent episode?!?!? -dies- And there's going to be a sixth season!)

(On a side side note, anyone ever watched Leverage? It's awesome...)