Paul woke up with a start. He felt his heart racing and his arms start to shake. A howl cut through the quiet night air. It was Sam. It was his alpha call. Paul knew that meant only one thing: vampires. He scrambled out of bed and ran out of the house. Covered by the darkness of the night, Paul phased before he even reached the coverage of the trees.

'What's going on?' he asked.

Answers of 'A leech!' and 'Fucking vampire!' overlapped.

Paul continued running. He eventually ran past Jared.

'She's not there!' Jared informed him. Paul quickly turned around, falling in sync with Jared. 'It's that redhead from before.'

'What redhead?' Paul sensed Jared's hesitation.

'Her mate was James, the leech who tried to go after Bella,' Jacob informed him. He growled when Paul started complaining about another Bella mess they had to clean up.

'It's our mess, too,' Jacob said.

'She's not one of us and she isn't your imprint,' Paul reminded him.

'Now's not the time!' Sam's voice boomed. 'Focus on tracking her down then we can all regroup.'

The pack spent another two hours going back a forth around the res. So long as they could get her scent from their borders, they knew she was far enough away.

Paul tried his best to phase back quickly. Once back in human form, he quickly got dressed and headed to Emily's house. Sam, Jared, Embry, and Leah were all present.

"Last one again," Leah scoffed.

"Shut up, Leah! I recall we have a few more members that aren't present."

"They're patrolling," Sam and Leah said at the same time. Leah glare at him and took a seat on the steps.

Sam cleared his throat.

"Look, this Victoria vampire is seeking revenge for her mate's death."

"Why-"

"As long as she's around, trying to get back at the Cullens, that means she'll be too close to the res. Because of the treaty, the Cullens can't cross over to go after her."

Paul cursed under his breath. He despised the Cullens, not because he was supposed to, but because they were the reason he was one of the pack members. It was an ongoing conflict Paul had: he didn't really like that he was able to phase into a big wolf, but at the same time, he was thankful for his new pack family.

"Did you hear me Paul?" Sam asked when the anticipated reaction he had didn't come.

"What?" This caused Sam to sigh.

"We're going to double up on patrols." Paul grumbled. "Paul, that means you're going to have to miss prom tomorrow?"

"What?!" Paul exclaimed. There was the reaction that Sam expected. "Are you fucking serious?"

Sam gave Paul a look.

"Sam, come on! Can't I take on patrol now and take off just before prom starts?"

"And what if we need you while you're at prom?" Sam asked.

"Then I'll leave and back you guys up ASAP! Sam, Kourtney's really looking forward to this-"

"We were all looking forward to a lot of things," Leah said. "You're not the only one getting screwed over by this damn spirit warrior, vampire killing bullshit."

"Leah, shut up!" Paul shouted for the second time.

"Paul! Enough!" Sam bellowed. "You will not go to prom unless we catch Victoria. Everyone will stay here until we get the damn leech. Understood?"

All of the members nodded their heads. Paul felt his head nod even though every inch of him wanted to disagree.

"Can I at least go see Kourtney and tell her?" Paul asked. Sam nodded his head. Paul began to turn.

"You can wait until tomorrow," Sam said. "I'm sure she's asleep right now."

Paul sighed.

"Everyone go home for now, but come back first thing in the morning," Sam told his members.

.-~*~-. -~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.

Kourtney woke up to her cell phone buzzing on her nightstand. She groaned. Her mood got a little better when she saw that it was Paul.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Good morning, sunshine," came Paul's voice.

"Good early morning." Paul chuckled. "What's up?"

She heard Paul sigh on the other end.

"What's wrong?" Kourtney asked, sitting up.

"I'm sorry, babe. I can't make it to prom tonight."

Kourtney took a second to digest what she was just told.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Warrior business," Paul said.

"Warrior-wait, are you joking? Paul if you're trying to-"

"I'm serious," Paul told her. "We have something we need to take care of and Sam thinks it's best if we all are readily available in case... I'm sorry."

Kourtney took a breath before answering.

"It's okay, I understand," she said, trying her best to hide her disappointment. Kourtney eyed the dress bag that hung on her closet door. It was where her prom dress was safely kept. She sighed absentmindedly.

"Babe, I'm so sorry," Paul said again.

"It's okay," Kourtney repeated, making sure to sound more cheerful.

"You should still go."

"Paul-"

"Kourt, I know how much you want to go. It's your last prom-"

"Our last prom," Kourtney said. Paul sighed and she realized that her comment didn't help with his guilt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean- This sucks."

"I know. But just because I'm not going doesn't mean you shouldn't go. Go and have fun with your friends! Kim is gonna be there despite Jared not going either."

"It won't be the same, but… I guess I'll go."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good," Paul replied, although he still felt guilty and upset for not being able to go.

Kourtney sighed.

"It's just too bad that you won't get to see my dress," she teased.

Paul groaned, making Kourtney laugh.

"You're not making this easier."

"Good. Now you can suffer the whole day wondering what I'm wearing to prom, all while fulfilling your warrior duties."

Another groan.

"I gotta go, babe. Sam's here," he added quietly, even though he knew Sam was still able to hear. In fact, with the way the guys were looking at him, he knew that they all heard his conversation.

After hanging up, Kourtney tossed her phone to the side. She was no longer sleepy. It was 12 hours until prom and Kourtney wasn't as excited anymore, but she did promise to still go. Yet now, she didn't feel the pressure to look extra nice. She wasn't trying to impress anybody else besides Paul. She sighed and snuggled back in bed. At least now that she didn't have to deal with all the fuss of getting her hair and make-up done, she had extra time to just sleep.

.-~*~-. ~*~-.~*~-.~*~-.~*~-.

Paul ended his call with Kourtney and set his phone back down. From the corner of his eye, he knew that Sam was looking at him. Paul continued to stare straight at the TV, not wanting to meet his alpha's gaze. He saw Sam sigh then shake his head before walking into the kitchen.

"What the-" Paul started as a throw pillow smacked him on the face.

"Too bad you're missing out on Kourtney's dress," Embry said.

"Shut up."

"Lighten up, Embry," Jared told him. "Kim's pretty upset that I'm missing out on prom tonight. I'm sure Kourtney feels the same."

"I just don't get why we can't even go for half an hour," Paul cried.

"I know why," Seth said, excited that he had something to contribute to the conversation. "Sam said because he doesn't like the fact that prom is being held at the hotel."

"Where else does he expect it to be held at? The school gym?" Paul asked.

"I think the point was that, well, I mean I'm sure all of us know what favorite teenage past time happens after prom," Embry said with a laugh. His laugh was cut short when both Jared and Paul threw a punch at him.

.~*~-.~*~-.~*~-.~*~-.~*~-.

Kourtney made her way to the refreshment table. Another slow song was playing, and being that she, Christy, and Kim were without dates, Kourtney offered to get drinks. She focused on pouring the drinks, not wanting to think about the fact that Paul wasn't there. Although she was trying her best to have fun with her friends, she still wished Paul was there. Kourtney picked up the drinks and started back for their table.

"Thanks," Christy yelled over the music.

"What time is it?" Kourtney asked.

"Almost eleven" Kim said. She sighed and gave Kourtney a small smile which was returned. Both girls were disappointed that their boyfriends weren't there for their last prom.

"You guys wanna go?" Kourtney asked. "I'm pretty sure it'll be all slow songs until they shut this prom down."

Kim and Christy nodded just as Marianne and Nate approached their table.

"Picture?" she asked.

"Sure!" Christy answered. All four girls huddled together as Nate took a couple of pictures.

"Looking good ladies!" Nate told them as he looked over the pictures.

"Let me see!" Christy said. She and Kim made their way over to Nate.

"Hey, Kourt," Marianne said, tapping Kourtney's shoulder. "Look who's here."

Kourtney turned to where Marianne was looking. Her heart skipped a beat and a big smile spread on her face. She watched as Paul scanned the room until his eyes met hers. He gave her a smile as he made his way towards her. Kourtney continued to smile as she moved to close the distance, too. She jumped to put her arms around his neck as his arms found their away around her waist.

"What are you doing here?" Kourtney asked.

"I was a little curious about this dress you kept teasing me about," he told her.

Kourtney laughed and unwrapped herself from him. Taking a step back she did a little spin. Paul looked her up and down. The navy blue dress fit around Kourtney's curves perfectly. Now that he was up close, he realized that the top portion of the dress was sheer with silver lace detail placed strategically to cover her breasts. The back of the dress was open and ended near the small of her back.

She turned back to him and smiled. Paul pulled her back to him.

"You look beautiful," Paul told her before placing a kiss on her lips. His hands slowly moved down her bareback as he deepened their kiss.

"Simmer down, lover boy," Jared's voice came. Paul pulled away just as Jared purposely bumped him. "Hey, Kourt!"

The two watched as Jared wrapped his arms around a surprised Kim. He pulled her out on the dancefloor as the DJ announced that the dance would be ending soon. Another slow song began to play. Kourtney looked back to Paul.

"Well, at least you made the last ten minutes," Kourtney joked. She began to pull him towards the dancefloor, but he shook his head.

"I have something else in mind," he told her. Kourtney looked at him questioningly. He only smiled and tugged her hand to follow. The couple started for the exit, but was stopped by Marianne and Nate.

"Wait, before you two run off, how about a picture of La Push High's favorite couple?" Marianne asked with a genuine smile.

Paul immediately pulled Kourtney close to him, his hand resting at her waist. The two smiled as Nate clicked away.

"I'll send you two lovebirds a copy," Nate teased. "Maybe you could use one of them for the montage at your wedding."

They laughed.

"Thanks, man," Paul said. He took hold of Kourtney's hand and continued towards the doors.

"Where are we going?" Kourtney asked once they were out of the hotel's ballroom. Paul only continued to walk towards the lobby. Kourtney's heart hammered in her chest as a thought crossed her mind. She wondered if Paul somehow made a reservation for a room at the hotel. She had wondered it before when she overheard Leslie and the other girls teasing Kayla about prom being the night for her and her new boyfriend. After the events of the previous weeks and the talk that they had, Kourtney wondered if that was on Paul's mind. Kourtney reminded herself that Paul said he would wait until she was ready. Then she questioned if she was ready. A part of her said yes. 'Why else did you choose this dress?'

Kourtney was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize where they were going until the cold night air hit her skin. Paul had led her through the lobby and outside of the hotel.

"Where are we going?" she asked again.

"To the beach," he told her."

"To the what? Paul! Isn't it a little late to go to the beach, not to mention cold?"

"No," he answered with a smile. He headed towards the sand. Kourtney had to stop and take off her heels, but Paul picked her up and carried her instead. Kourtney finally saw where they were headed. It wasn't hard to miss. A small section of the beach was roped off with Christmas lights. Tiki torches stood at the corners of the area. Rose petals were scattered all around the sand. A picnic blanket was laid down in one corner.

Kourtney squirmed to be put down as they neared the area. Music was softly playing

"Paul, you did this?" Kourtney asked.

"I did owe you a grand gesture of some sorts," Paul said.

"A little for a grand gesture of asking me to prom, isn't it?"

Paul laughed.

"I had something else in mind."

"Oh?" Kourtney asked, waiting for him to explain. Instead, Paul held out his hand. Once her hand was in his, he led her over to the blanket.

"Courtesy of Emily," he said as he began to pull out an assortment of food.

"How long have you been planning this?" she asked. "Did you really have business to tend to?"

Paul nodded.

"I was planning this for tomorrow as a way to make up for missing prom, but since we got our business finished earlier than expect and prom was already half way done, I decided to just do it tonight."

"So you did this all within the last two hours?" Kourtney asked.

"Yeah," Paul said sheepishly. "I guess I could've just gone to prom then, huh?"

"No, babe, this is perfect," Kourtney said leaning in for a kiss. "Thank you."

Paul smiled and leaned in for another kiss. He heard a faint howl, making him pull away. He stood up and offered Kourtney his hand. He helped her up.

"Now, we dance," he said as he pulled her onto their makeshift dancefloor.

"Are you sure? I've seen you dance," Kourtney teased.

"Hey, I'm a damn good dancer," Paul said as he dipped her down. Kourtney giggled as he gave her a kiss before bringing her upright again.

"Eh." This time Paul had her spin around before bringing her back to him. Their bodies were close and Kourtney's arms found their way around his neck. She rested her head on his chest, enjoying the warm feeling of his arms wrapped around her. Kourtney closed her eyes as she listened to his heart beat. She let out a giggle then looked up at him.

"Your heart is going crazy," she told him. Paul chuckled. "Or is that a shapeshifter thing?"

Paul shook his head. He took that moment to cup her cheek and place another kiss on her lips. As they parted, Kourtney gave him a smile and he felt his heart beat faster. Still looking into her eyes, he finally said the words he'd always wanted to say.

"Kourtney," he said softly. "I love you."

Kourtney's brown eyes lit up.

"I love you, too, Paul Lahote."

.-~*~-. -~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.

Thunk!

Kourtney looked up from her textbook. She was studying for her last final. She couldn't believe that she had a little less than two weeks left of school. After that it was graduation, then onto college! Anxiety set in whenever she thought about college. She already decided on University of Washington despite her mother constantly trying to change her mind. She was nervous about being away from home and from Paul. The only good thing was that she was able to be dorm mates with Christy. Plus, Leslie was also going to attend UW so her friend count in college was automatically a solid number two.

Thunk!

Kourtney hopped out of her bed, realizing what the sound was. She neared her window just as another object hit it. Thunk! Kourtney opened her window.

"Finally!" Quil cried.

"You have a phone, don't you?" Kourtney asked, amused.

"Yeah, but this is more fun. You busy?"

"Well," Kourtney began. She looked back at her bed that was covered with her textbook and her multiple pages of notes. "I could use a break."

"Great! Can you drive me to Jake's?"

"Can't you like…run there?"

"I could," Quil said. "But that means I'll have to phase and that means I'll have to hear all of Leah's thoughts and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Kourtney said. "You guys should be nicer to her."

Quil scoffed.

"Do you want a ride or not?"

"You're blackmailing me?! You know, I'm the nicest one to Leah. Well, besides her own brother and Sam. Then again, Sam avoids being phased while Leah is and he doesn't really say much-"

"Quil!" Kourtney said impatiently.

"My point is, Paul is the worst at being nice to Leah. You should blackmail him. But instead, you should tell him you won't kiss him anymore or something like that."

Kourtney laughed.

"Okay, I'm heading down now. Meet me at my car or you'll have to walk." Quil opened his mouth to reply, but Kourtney already shut her window. When Kourtney got down to her car, she saw that Quil was already sitting inside.

"Hurry up," Quil cried as Kourtney got in the driver's seat. She hit his arm. "Why do all the girls do that?"

"Bella's here?" Kourtney asked as they approached the Black's house. As if to answer her question, Bella suddenly appeared with Jacob.

"Hey guys!" Quil cried to them. Not wanting to be rude, Kourtney hopped out of her car to say hi.

"Hi," Bella replied, shyly.

"Kourt, can you keep Bella company? I just need Quil to help me move something in the garage."

Kourtney nodded. The girls stood in awkward silence as the two boys headed in the garage.

"So, are you ready for graduation?" Kourtney asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

"What college are you going to?"

"Uh, Dartmouth," Bella answered in a low voice.

"What? Dartmouth?! Wow! That's amazing!"

"What about you?" Bella asked, clearly uncomfortable with the talk about her.

"University of Washington," Kourtney said. "Which is nowhere as impressive as Dartmouth!"

"Can I ask a question?" Bella suddenly asked.

"Sure!"

"What does Paul think about you going to college four hours away?"

"He's not against it, if that's what you're getting at," Kourtney replied. "I'd still come home for the weekend. Paul even said that he'd be able to visit me, too. We'll make it work."

"Do you think you'll be able to handle being away from him?"

Kourtney nodded.

"It's only four hours away." Kourtney found her questions to be a bit odd. She wondered if Bella saw her as one of those girls who needed to be with their boyfriend all the time. While she didn't, Kourtney realized that she was in fact always with Paul. When she wasn't, she missed him so much it made her heart ache. "I'm sure we'll make it through."

"I hope so," Bella told her with a smile. "Jacob makes it seem as though the impri-"

"Hey!" Jacob cried as he ran out of the garage. "Uh, Kourtney shouldn't you go home and study?"

Kourtney gave Jacob a look.

"We're taking off here soon-"

"I just got here," Bella told him.

"Quil's gonna need a ride home," Jacob said, not acknowledging what Bella said. "Quil!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm ready to go home," Quil said, looking over at Jacob.

"Okay, I'm not even going to ask what's going on between you two," Kourtney said, throwing her hands. "Come on young Ateara."

"Wait, Kourtney!" Bella cried.

Kourtney already opened her car door, but she stopped and looked to Bella.

"Your dad says hi. And that he misses you," Bella quickly said before looking away.

"Oh," was all Kourtney said. She hadn't spoken to her dad in weeks and what Bella told her threw her for a loop. "Uh, thanks."

Not knowing what else to say, Kourtney gave a wave before getting in her car. Quil followed suit. Once she was on her way down the road, Bella turned to Jacob.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything," Bella said.

"It's okay," Jacob told her. "We know that he misses her, but I don't think she's ready to talk to him yet."

"And what was that about?"

"Oh, I should've told you, but Paul hasn't exactly told Kourtney about the whole imprinting thing."

"Wait, so she doesn't know that she's his imprint?"

"She doesn't know anything about it."

"So she doesn't know that she is his soulmate?"

"No." Then Jacob smiled. "But I'm pretty sure she won't be too surprise when she finally does know."

"What do you mean?"

"If you think imprinting is romantic, then wait until you hear Paul and Kourtney's story," Jacob said.

. -~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.-~*~-.

A little over a week later, Bella found herself sitting around a bonfire with members of the Uley pack. The Council members were also presents as well as the imprints of the pack members. After hearing about Paul and Kourtney's love story, Bella couldn't help but continually glance at them. The temperamental Paul had his arm around Kourtney's shoulders. He smiled as Kourtney said something to him. Kourtney leaned into Paul as Paul placed a kiss on her head.

Bella couldn't believe that Paul actually had a soft side to him. Jacob commented that Paul was whipped all due to the imprinting. While Jacob didn't seem to be a fan of imprinting, Bella thought it was somewhat romantic.

Billy Black, Jacob's dad called for everyone's attention. It was time for the legends to be told. Bella looked around, aware that certain members of the pack were looking her way. She knew that a few of them were against having her there, but since she knew their secret the Council agreed she should hear them.

Once the legends were told, Jacob excused himself. He made eye contact with Sam and nodded him over.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"We may have a problem," Jacob said. Sam nodded. He looked around, discreetly signaling the other pack members to join the conversation. Once everyone was present they moved away from any prying ears.

"What mess do we have to clean up now?" Paul asked. Jacob glared at him, but he knew that Paul was right and he wasn't going to like it.

"A leech was in Bella's room," Jacob told them.

"Let me guess, he was pale, messy hair, gold eyes," Paul said.

"Wait, that must be her leech boyfriend, Edward Cullen!" Jared cried. Paul, along with Embry and Quil chuckled. It soon stopped when Sam and Jacobs shot them a look.

"They don't know who it is," Jacob said. "But apparently he took a few of Bella's things."

"She has a leech stalker, how is that our problem?"

Jacob sighed in frustration.

"Edward thinks it's connected to that red head. I think we need to be extra vigilant when we patrol now."

"Jacob's right," Sam said before Jared or Paul could comment. "I know Forks isn't our territory; the Cullens can take care of the leech themselves. But we do need to watch out for our people. We cannot allow for any leeches to get close. If a leech is on the loose in Forks, we need to make sure that they at least stay off our land and away from our tribe."

"Sam, Edward thinks there's more to it. Something big might be happening," Jacob shared.

"Either way, we need to be prepared and like Jacob said, vigilant. If something big is happening, we all need to start taking our duties even more seriously!"

The pack members were all silent, taking in what their alpha just said. A feeling of uneasiness settled in all the members. While they had a dislike for the Cullens, they knew that they had a vampire with psychic-like abilities. If Edward Cullen suspected that something big was about to go down, they knew that there was a chance it was true.

AN: Hello, readers! I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. *Sigh* I feel myself getting lazy with this one. It's a shame, I know a lot of people enjoy this FF. I need to do better on my chapters! I will! I promise! I've been juggling between this and two other FF, which was probably my downfall. However, I have decided to prioritize this FF since my other two haven't been generating as much interest as this one. Hope you somewhat enjoyed this chapter! Review please and let me know what you think!