Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line. SM owns the characters, I'm just having fun with them.

Chapter 26- Declare Me

Paul POV
February went out in a blur of snow and ice that had Bella cuddled up to me and our pup every minute she could. I had to admit that I was crazy about that boy, even if the rest of the pack teased me about it to no end. They just didn't get it. I'd never had a little brother, and while Jacob and Seth looked up to me to an extent, it wasn't the same level of responsibility that I had with Collin.

I kind of agreed with Billy that we had almost a parent-child imprint with the young wolf. My wolf recognized him as family, and trusted Bella with him and him with Bella. It made it easier for me to take night patrols when I knew my mate wasn't at home without a defender. That's where I was now, running in the dark, looking for trails even though we hadn't smelled even the smallest hint of leech since the attack in December. I know Sam doesn't want us to get too comfortable but–

My attention immediately shot to a tree behind me when a loud whistle sounded from about 100 feet up. What the hell? As soon as I saw the flash of a very white smile I let out a howl to call the pack to me. "Hey, man! You calling the others to come? That's good. I need to talk to you if you can spare the time." The bloodsucker was actually trying to have a conversation with me? At first I thought he was like the others from before, with the way he was dressed all in black, but as he took a few graceful leaps down to get closer to the ground, I noticed he was wearing a black trench coat and army boots, not the fuzzy cape things like the others.

I shook my head as everyone piled into the pack mind at once, but I never took my eyes off the tall skinny guy in the tree who was still grinning like crazy. Maybe he was crazy. Paul, don't attack until we get closer! Sam commanded so helpfully.

Uh, yeah, I'll just sit here instead of climbing the tree to get to the bloodsucker, ok boss? The rest of the pack found my answer a little more humorous than Sam did, but come on, what did he think I was doing?

"So, will there be someone coming who can talk to me? I don't read minds like the little Cullen did, so it might help if one of you can be human for a little while at least." Smiley vamp was still chatting casually, now sitting on a branch about 50 feet up, still well out of reach of our jumps.

What is with this guy? Jake wondered. How does he know the Cullens? Do you think he's here for revenge?

I had to roll my eyes at that one. Well, considering the fact that he could have ambushed me and he didn't, I'm kind of leaning toward 'no.'

"Yeah, so anyway, I have to tell you that you guys did the vampire world a huge favor just by offing old Eddie alone. Then when you add in Tanya, and the fucking witch twins, and Felix and Demetri! Damn, I said I had to come see these wolves and introduce myself so I don't get on their bad side!" Smiley was chuckling now, and I was really starting wonder if the dude had all his marbles.

Sam chose that moment to come racing up to his tree and barking like a damn Rottweiler. Fuck, and this is gonna be my brother-in-law? Bella, the things I put up with for you, girl. "Whoa! Down boy! Easy, I just want to talk a little. I'm not hurting anybody up here in my tree, ok?" Uh oh, Smiley is now frowning, I hope our alpha didn't just fuck everything up with his mighty dog act.

Paul, stop! I have to phase and I can't be laughing at you when I do it! Jake and Smiley should get along just fine I guess.

No, Jake! You can't phase! What if he attacks? Sam was scrambling, knowing this wasn't the best place to challenge Jacob, but he was genuinely scared of the vamp I had treed.

You gonna order me, Sam? I had to laugh with Smiley when Jake-wolf actually raised his fucking eyebrow. He had to have been practicing that shit in a mirror or something. It looked like Leah's bitch glare in wolf form.

Seth and Embry started laughing at that and Sam just prowled around in a circle before backing up to stand by me. He fixed his glare up the tree and ignored the rest of us while Jacob phased and pulled on his shorts.

"Hey! We have a volunteer! Hi, kid. My name is Garrett, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Smiley—or Garrett—did a fancy little half bow as he stood up on his branch.

Jake looked at him like he was crazy, and I was still not convinced that he wasn't, and said, "I'm Jacob Black, son of the Quileute Chief and rightful alpha to this wolf pack. Why are you here?"

"Yeah, so I was telling your friend here, your pack has been of great service to the vampire world recently. I am aware of your treaty with the Cullens, and how Edward must have broken it spectacularly in order to cause his death, but I have to say I'm impressed. You have no idea how annoying it is to be fantasizing over a beautiful woman and have her mind-reading brother rat you out to her enormous mate." Garrett was talking a mile a minute, and the rest of us were looking at each other in shock. Who was this guy?

Jacob finally interrupted him. "Yeah, so um, why did you come out here again?"

"Oh! Yes! Well, see, after Eddie-boy was barbecued, the Cullens moved up to Alaska to visit their 'cousins,' the Denalis. Bunch of vamp sluts and an ex-Volturi guard member. Anyway, one of the girls, Tanya, fancied herself in love with Edward, even though he never gave her the time of day, so to speak. Well, she wanted the Cullens to complain to old Aro, and get your little wolf pack destroyed. But the rest of the family was smart enough to know they didn't need to bring attention to themselves, especially with the seer's new mate, a hell of a tracker I've heard, and Irina's little man-whore that joined them. Their numbers together were too high, and bringing attention to themselves would only get them destroyed.

"So, little miss Tanya decided to take herself out of the equation, and I'm pretty sure she probably made it easy for you to kill her—she was quite suicidal at the time. Unfortunately, the Volturi tracker, Demetri had a bit of a crush on Tanya, so when she disappeared from his radar, he asked for permission to seek justice. After scouting the area, he brought the big guy, Felix, and the witch twins, Jane and Alec, and somehow, someway they all were destroyed right here in this rainy little forest. Your little group of teenage werewolves managed something the entire vampire race has been unable to do in the past millennia—you have the Volturi running scared." Garrett wrapped up his story looking quite pleased with himself, and I realized we had all relaxed while listening to him. He was quite a talker.

Jake shook himself and started to question the vampire, who still hadn't moved from his tree. "So how do you know all this? Do you work for these Volturi guys?"

Garrett looked angry for the first time since I spotted him, and we all took a step back and growled involuntarily. "No! I would never serve those pompous jackasses! I'm a Patriot, through and through. However, I have found it advantageous to keep myself well informed on my travels, and I have noticed that people, well vampires, just naturally like to tell me things."

Sam finally calmed himself enough to phase back as well and he jumped into the conversation, "So, are we going to be attacked again? Are these Volturi coming here?"

With his smile back in place, Garrett shook his head. "Nope. They are in the process of being overthrown. Word around the vamp world is that you have the protection of the Southern Major, and your actions already speak for themselves. No vampire in their right mind would challenge an unknown opponent who managed to take out the Volturi's top guards. No, I would say you won't see any hostile vamps here anytime soon."

Sam and Jake exchanged a look before phasing back into the pack mind. What do you think about what he said? Jacob asked the group.

I don't think we can trust him, Sam contributed.

Why would he lie? He knew who all we killed and apparently it's a big deal, just like we thought. I think we should tell him to warn others away from here. I know I could use a break. I put in my two cents.

Everyone debated back and forth while Garrett paced on his branch and whistled something… was that Yankee Doodle? Weird guy. Finally, Sam agreed to let Jake come to some kind of understanding with the guy, but we wouldn't be easing off patrols for at least another month.

"Ok, so if what you're saying is true, then you can spread the word for us that we won't take lightly anyone coming into our territory. And if they aren't sure what our territory is, just tell them the Pacific Northwest is off limits to vampires. Can you do that?" Jacob looked serious as he bargained with the strange vamp.

Garrett was smiling again as he leaned against the trunk and crossed his ankles. "Yep! Will do! Like I said, Jasper is already offering his protection–of course he won't come up here personally to do it. But I'll pass the word that you will defend your territory with tooth and claw, how does that sound?"

Jake still looked skeptical as he nodded, and we all watched as the vampire melted into the trees with nothing but his whistling letting us know where he was.

Ok, everybody, let's do some wide sweeps to check for extra scents. I think he was alone, but we can't be too careful, Sam said, taking off in the direction the vamp left.

Everyone else split off and I checked in with Collin, seeing him just inside the treeline with his eyes on Bella, standing on the back porch. Yeah, I tried to tell Mama B to stay inside, but you know how she is. The rest of the pack chimed in with laughter and good-natures jabs at my mate's expense. Anyway, I haven't smelled anything out of the ordinary.

Trusting in my pup to keep my girl safe, I circled out toward the cliffs searching for anything that even hinted of bloodsucker. I kept my eyes trained on the trees as well, since I never even smelled the other guy until I was past him. He was a sneaky bastard, and I hoped he stayed away, even if he wasn't out to hurt us.

I thought about what he said about Jasper's protection, and wondered if he really meant it. I knew the guy was a soldier from the way he held himself and the scars I could see, but he hadn't done what he said when it came to keeping Edward away from my girl, either.

The elder Quil startled all of us when he spoke up—we never realized he was phased in with us. I think this is different. Your pack has shown itself to be a mighty force, and vampires should take care to keep away from our lands. I will have my son confer with the spirits on this matter. With that, he phased out, leaving the rest of us to our thoughts.

With dawn approaching, I ran home to my family, and pulled Bella in for a hug. "Happy birthday, baby," she whispered in my ear, as she pressed her body tightly against mine.

"Eww, gross. I do NOT need to see that," Collin said as he stepped around us to go inside. He grabbed a sandwich on the way to his room, where I assumed he would sleep the rest of the day.

Bella just giggled and pulled me into the bathroom for a much-needed shower, then we crashed on the bed for a few hours of sleep. She was up before I was, fixing her hair and dressing for our meeting with the tribal council, and it was easy to see how nervous she was.

"Baby girl, we've been expecting this for over a year now. You know it doesn't change how I feel about you, it's just a formality. We'll still have our wedding whenever you get ready, and then you will be Isabella Lahote." Just saying that gave me the chills. My wolf didn't really understand what the big deal was, he had marked our mate and it was clear to him that she was ours.

Nodding her acceptance, she took my hand and we walked out to the truck to head to the tribal center. When I helped her into the cab, I noticed she was wearing a tight black skirt that stopped just below her knees. I was sure I had never seen her in it before, because I would have definitely remembered how nice her ass looked, and the light blue button-down shirt she was wearing with her hair in a loose bun gave her a naughty secretary look that had my jeans feeling tight.

I ran my hand up her thigh, underneath the skirt, and raised my eyebrow. "This new, baby?"

She blushed and batted my hand away, "No, I borrowed it from Leah. I know this isn't supposed to be a huge deal, I just felt like I should try to look old enough to be married to you at least."

I leaned over and gave her a soft kiss before I whispered, "I like it. We can have some fun with that when we get home."

She was still laughing when I climbed behind the wheel, and we snuggled together for the short drive to community center at the edge of the beach. I wondered if we would have our real wedding here, maybe on the beach, with our reception inside afterwards. That was the most popular choice for tribal weddings, but a lot of the younger people had moved their weddings into town in recent years.

Bella and I walked into the meeting, a bit surprised to find only the tribal elders up on the podium. We found our seats in front of the pack, with Bella's parents off to the side in support.

"I welcome you all to this special meeting of the tribal elders," Billy spoke up in introduction. "Due to the nature of this business, we felt that a closed session would be in everyone's best interest. Today we seek to verify the marking of Isabella Uley, daughter of council member Joshua Uley, by tribal Protector Paul Lahote. Paul, Bella, will you please approach the elders?"

We rose out of our seats and walked to the stage, stepping up to the table in front of Billy, Harry, and Old Quil. They maintained their stoic expressions, but I caught Old Quil shooting Bella a wink out of the corner of my eye.

"Paul, you have stated previously that your wolf marked Isabella at the consummation of your mating, is that correct?" Harry asked. Damn it's hard not to blush when the most revered members of your tribe are asking about your sex life. Suck it up, Lahote. You can do this.

"Yes, sir. The first time I marked her was the first time we were intimate. I have marked her several times since then, including a separate mark on her collarbone," I said, feeling Bella's small hand squeezing mine as she fought her embarrassment.

Old Quil spoke up next, "And what were the circumstances that led to the second mark in a different location?"

Ducking my head for a moment, I mentally braced myself to relive one of the scariest times of my life. I could feel the pack behind me offering unspoken support, and Bella raised her other hand to grasp my arm as she laid her head against my bicep. "My mate had been injured by a vampire, and I needed to reaffirm our bond, and assure my wolf that she was still his. It also seemed to aid in healing her injuries."

Billy looked proud of me as I gave them the answers they needed, and I knew there was only one part left to do. I tamped down on my wolf as I waited for the request. Billy turned to my mate and asked, "Bella, will you show the elders your marks so that we may verify them?"

Glancing at me for permission, Bella stepped forward slightly and pulled her top over to the side, clearly showing the healed bite mark on her collarbone, just above her heart. She then turned and raised her hair up, pulling the collar of her shirt down enough to expose the other mark on the back of her neck. My wolf was preening inside at the witness of his claim, and I was twitching to give her one more visual reminder.

Satisfied with what they saw, Billy nodded in my direction. "The tribal elders agree with and approve of your claim. In the eyes of the tribe, you are no longer two people, but one. You will walk together all of your days, and pass to the spirit world together at the end of your life. Paul, do you have the symbol of your union?"

Bella looked at me in confusion. I had purposely kept this part a secret from her, and I hoped she would be pleased with my work. I pulled the bracelet from my pocket, the intricately braided ropes of leather forming a patterned band that represented our tribe, the pack, and our family lines. Pulling her wrist to me, I tied the bracelet on her arm and said the traditional words, "I am yours, and you are mine. I give you my life, my love, my honor, and my home."

Leaning closer, I smiled and whispered in her ear, "And I love you so fuckin much it hurts."

She had tears in her eyes as she looked between me and the bracelet, finally leaning up to kiss me softly. "I love you too, Paul. With all my heart."

The pack let out howls and whistles until Billy clapped his hands for attention, "On behalf of the Quileute people, we declare these two married. This meeting is now over."

We shook hands with elders, and they all kissed Bella's cheek, knowing I couldn't growl at the leaders of our tribe. My wolf did have that much respect at least. The pack and our family surrounded us for hugs and congratulations. Bella was smiling in relief that the meeting we had waited so long for was finally passed.

After a huge dinner at her parents' house, we returned home alone for once, as Collin was staying over with Brady for the night. Bella was fingering the bracelet on her arm as we drove home and I finally worked up the nerve to ask her, "Do you like it?"

Her answering smile was huge and honest, filling me with relief. "I love it, Paul! Did you really make it yourself? It must have taken ages!"

I nodded and asked her softly, "Do you know what it means?"

It was her turn to nod and she laid her head against my shoulder. "I do, Paul. Miss Lucy has shown me hers; she has worn it all these years. She said it binds us together and has been used for as long as the Quileutes have been wolves, maybe longer. I will treasure this always, Paul. Thank you."

With one last kiss, I carried my bride outside where I stripped down and handed her my clothes in a canvas bag I had waiting. She was staring at me in appreciation when I cleared my throat to bring her eyes up to mine. "Ok, you ready for a wolf ride?" I asked her, knowing she had no idea what I had planned.

"Uh, I guess so? I thought we were staying in tonight?"

I just smiled at her and shifted to my wolf, waiting for her to hop on. She shook her head and climbed on, holding tight to my fur and rubbing my ears like she knows I like. I carried her through the woods a different way, not wanting her to recognize the path to the cabin I had carried her to many times over the past year.

Quil and Miss Lucy let me borrow their traditional teepee and I had it set up close to their house. We didn't want to go too far in case we had more vampires show up, but we were far enough from most of the pack to have relative privacy.

"Oh, Paul," she breathed out in surprise when she slid to the ground in front of the deerskin structure. I lined the inside with traditional Quileute woven mats and soft wool rugs. We had a basket of food for later, but my mate was the first thing on the menu tonight.

I didn't bother dressing, just scooped her into my arms and placed her gently on the soft pile of bedding. Pulling the door flap down, it felt like we were transported to another time, a time we shared with wolves and imprints from the past.

I could feel my wolf at the surface more than usual—he was pleased with the public declarations today. Surrounded by nature, I leaned down and captured her lips with mine, before I moved slowly down her body to the promised land. I worshipped her thoroughly with my tongue until she pulled up on my hair begging me to take her.

I didn't have to say a word—she instantly knew what we needed. She rolled over onto her hands and knees, calling to the wolf with her body language and irresistible scent. I curled over her back, plunging into her with one long stroke, as we both moaned in relief.

The wolf was in charge tonight, but he was more gentle than I expected him to be. Pulling Bella up against my chest, I kissed her deeply as my hands roamed her body. As we moved together, she reached up and pulled her hair aside, baring my mark as she dropped her head submissively. With a loud growl, I pumped into her twice more and bit as I released deep into her body. She clenched tightly around me with a scream of her own, and we collapsed in a heap on the soft rugs.

"I love you, Paul, all of you. I'm really glad you found me and bit me, I don't want to imagine what my life would have been like without you and my family," she whispered against my skin.

"I love you too, babe. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I will never let you go."