.25.
"What the fuck Monica ?" Paul shoves the girl away from him and her and her friends giggle. The guys slap paul on the back like he'd won something but Paul shoves them away too, a furious look on his face. The girl turns and smirks at my shellshocked expression.
"Moth." Paul says turning towards me. I don't look at him, my eyes were glued to the smug looking girl as she wriggles her fingers at me. Paul crowds me, placing his body in front of mine blocking my view of the group. "Babe, look at me." My eyes snap up to his and he curses at my expression. I know my pupils were blown, my muscles rigid and I felt the trembling in my limbs. My chest heaved as I tried to get under control but the giggling of the girls grated at my nerves.
"Who's that ? Aren't you going to introduce us ?" The girl smirks, sidling up and clutching Paul's tense arms, placing herself only a hairsbreadth away from my growing claws.
"Back off, Monica." He yanks his arm from her grasp then using his body to block her from my darkening gaze again.
"Moth, focus on me baby."
"Get her away from me." I grit out, holding on to my shift with the skin of my teeth.
"What's the matter with her, she looks like she's gonna cry. Doesn't she know she's just a quick fuck ?" Laughs one of the other girls.
"Shut the fuck up, you don't know what you're talking about." Paul snarls, the girls eyes widen and they step back. The boys look nervously at an increasingly enraged Paul.
The trembling in my limbs increases and I feel the stretch of muscle as my wolf pushes to show herself. "Paul." I whisper shakily, "I'm going to shift." My voice rasps with my fear of my imminent shift and my need to do it and put the bitch in her place.
"Shh baby." He presses his forehead against mine. "Everything's going to be okay." He turns suddenly, snapping another curse when he hears the girls start their malicious giggling again. I feel a growl rumble in my chest.
"Easy man. They're just joking around." The guy Paul had first greeted, said cautiously.
Ignoring him Paul focuses solely on me. His hands smooths up my neck to cup my face, " look at me Moth." Hearing the tone in his voice I drag my eyes off the scowling brunette and force myself to focus on Paul. "We're going to get Caspar and our stuff and leave. No ones going to get in our way and nothing is going to happen. Okay ?" Gathering myself as best I could I nod my head stiffly and abruptly turn and start packing everything up. Carefully lifting Caspar into my arms I turn and wait for Paul who is talking quietly to the group of guys and girls, I could see the tension in the muscles in his back.
Monica makes an affronted noise at whatever Paul said to her, the noise so shrill it jars Caspar awake in my arms, and snaps her head towards me. Caspar blinks his eyes around, shocked tears pooling in his eyes, I hold him close soothing him as Monica slips past Paul and starts running over to me, my hackles immediately rise. Placing Caspar down behind me where her clings to the back of my leg, I shift my stance, right leg slightly forward, feet planted in front of my child. I see Paul hurrying to catch up to her, her lithe form faster than his bulk.
"You fucking bitch !" She shrieks, Caspar flinches at the sharpness of it. "You think you're special but lets me tell you, once he's bored of you he'll come back to me. He always does."
"Back off. " I growl the stench of Caspar's fear cranking my anger up.
"Or what ?" She sneers, stepping closer, trying to use her size to intimidate me. She hears Caspar whimper and laughs when she sees my child clinging to me, "No wonder he's all over you. You probably spread your legs for anyone, bet you don't even know who the kids dad is." She focuses in on Caspar. "Do you know who daddy is or does she let you call anyone she fucks for more than a quicky that ?"
The crack of her nose under my fist wasn't as satisfying as it should of been.
"Woah, moth your eyes !" Seth exclaims as I march through the house.
Ignoring his words I walk over to him and hold Caspar towards him, "can you take him please ?"
"Sure." He says, taking hold of my blotchy eyed toddler. "Hey, what's the matter Caspar ? Have you been crying ? What going on Paul ?" He looks between me, as I make my way out the back of the house, and Paul as he puts the baskets down on the table. I hear him mutter something and tell the guys to help themselves to leftovers before I march right out the back of the house.
I stand a few steps away from the back porch, watching the breeze sway the trees the edge the clearing, trying to time my breathing and get my temper under control, but I felt restless.
After I slammed my fist into Monica's face I watch as she dropped to the ground. I just stood there as she laid sprawled, not reacting when Paul, followed by the group of teens surrounded us and as they called me a 'psycho bitch' and 'freak' as they dragged their limp friend off the way they'd came. I couldn't allow myself to move until the group was out of sight, my body burned with the need to finish what I'd started but I couldn't allow that. I'd never allow myself to do that again.
I don't react when Paul walks to stand behind me. I feel his breath on the back of my neck.
"Are you mad." I ask, not wanting to look at him.
"What ?" He takes hold of my shoulders and turns me to face him but I keep my eyes planted on the ground. "Look at me." His hand moves under my chin to lift my gaze to his. "Why would I be mad ?"
"I punched your ex in the face. And your friends think I'm a freak."
" I told you they're not my friends, I just hung around with them at parties and stuff. And she's not my ex." He sighs when he sees my frown. "We used to mess around. It was never serious and she new that. Everyone I hooked up with new that it wasn't going to be anything more than that."
" But Monica made it sound like you were an ongoing thing."
He ran his hand through his hair frustratedly. "Fuck. It was convenient okay ? I know I'm an asshole but I'd be looking for some fun and she was always around and willing and she never asked for anything more."
"She seems pretty possessive of you for someone who doesn't want a relationship."
"I don't know where that came from, she's never acted like that before. "
"That you know of." My gaze slips from his again. "She said you'll go back to her when you're bored."
His body stiffens. " You think I'm going to get bored of you and fuck someone else ?" He says, anger in his voice.
"You know I don't like sex and you obviously do." I clench my hands, hating my show of weakness. "You said I'd like it with you and that you'd wait but I don't know if I could ever let anyone touch me like that again, and then what ? You're going to be satisfied with that kind of relationship ?" I look back at his, his searching expression. "I heard the people in the facility said Paul. Heard them talk about how important sex in a relationship is all the time."
"Fuck the people at the facility." He growls. Drawing back from him we watch each other for a long moment, his eyes roam my face taking in my tumultuous expression. "Listen Moth." He sighs. Taking my hands in his, brushing the scars over my exposed knuckles and the bandages on the other. "I never wanted to settle down and do the whole marriage and kids thing. When the guys started meeting their imprints, I hated the idea of having to be with someone. The guys told me I couldn't understand until I met my own imprint but I'd just shake them off and go have fun, hooking up with random chics. But then I walked into Sam's and there you were. You were swamped in a huge t-shirt from Emily's spare cupboard and laid sweating out your fever on Sam's secondhand couch, I'd never felt so drawn to anyone in my life but I shook it off and told myself I was only following Sam's orders to watch over you. Then you opened your eyes and I knew. Everything Sam and Jared said was true. You changed everything, every minute we spend together just confirms that and then this morning when I came to get you and saw you and Caspar waiting for me on your porch swing, for the first time in my life I imagined you holding my child while Caspar runs around the yard with his siblings. You're it for me. There's never going to be anyone else. Whatever issues we have we'll figure it out together that's it, and that includes all your worries and insecurities. You're the only one for me baby. End of."
I couldn't speak, my emotions leaving me choked as tears pooled in my eyes. Instead I step forward and shove him backwards.
He falls back onto the deck with a grunt, I quickly move until I'm hovering over him, resting on my knees on either side of his body and my hands framing him head. He lets out a low growl when he sees my eyes, hand moving to my hips. "You have her smell on you." I growl out brushing my lips over his.
"I'm yours baby, only yours." He presses his mouth to mine with a groan as I mould my body to his.
"Mine." I growl as I nip at his bottom lip, wolf pleased to hear another groan rumble from his chest.
"Fuck baby, you drive me crazy." He growls against my mouth. His hands move to side under my t-shirt to feel my bare skin.
I feel the warm heat of his hand against my back just as I hear Caspar call out for me from in the house.
"Mama Seth said he could beat you at armwestle !"
I couldn't help but laugh as Paul drew away from me with a groan, this one in defeat. "I think our biggest challenge will be me getting some alone time with you with no interruptions." He grins, eyes softening as he runs his knuckles down my cheek.
I press one last, thorough kiss against his mouth before quickly getting up and walking into the house, stopping in the doorway and looking back at his slightly dazed eyes watching me.
"We'll figure it out." I smile, sauntering into the house to prove a cocky looking Seth wrong.