**** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ****
The wolves were all groaning as they came to- their bodies scattered across Sam's porch and yard. Emily was standing stock still in the kitchen of the house; she had been pacing back and forth after making herself tea, that she hadn't touched, but stopped moving when she heard the movement from outside. Her eyes were scanning her Pack as she did a mental inventory of everyone as they seemed to come groggily back to consciousness.
It was obvious to the native woman that the two who were being hit hardest by whatever Bella had done to them was Leah and Seth- the youngest male of the pack instantly crawling a few feet and emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground near him. Leah looked like she wanted to do the same as her brother but managed to keep composure.
Her pack was alright, though Bella and Paul were the last to come to. She nearly ran to Sam when her fiancé rose from the dirt but held herself back, admittedly barely. Emily would get her chance to check on Sam in private, away from the eyes of those who may not need to see the two of them together in such a way.
Deciding to busy herself with drinks and food for the Pack she turned away from the window. Her curiosity could have had her plastered to that window until they came inside the cabin- but she also trusted Sam to let her know what Bella had done, whether it was a good thing or bad.
"Can we notdo that again any time soon?" Seth groaned as he lay on the porch with his head pressed to the cool wood of the flooring. Leah moved to gently rub his back as she looked her brother over, her natural mothering instincts coming out as she made sure it was just the 'trip' that was affecting him.
"I kind of have to agree," Jared was on his back looking up at the sky. "Not that the whole 'soul leaving body' thing wasn't cool and all, but I think I prefer solid ground to that any day."
"I wasn't trying to bring all of you- just the two idiots who were trying to tear each other apart." Bella grumbled as she took a census of her own body, there wasn't anything other than a little fatigue but she expected that. She had tried to do something she wasn't even sure she could do in the first place. And overdid it to boot.
"I resemble that remark," Jake was laughing as he shook his head attempting to clear it. "Same time, I agree. If we decide to do that again can we actually know what we're doing?"
The Pack laughed at Jake's little joke, Seth being the last to get the word play. Sam looked from his Pack to his relatively new Beta. Jake could have attempted to take Alpha from him- but he hadn't. And what had the Keeper called them? The obligated and the bloodline? Sam didn't have to think too long to know which one he was, but that also meant that Jake would be able, and have the right, to claim the Alpha of the Pack at any time.
Sam glanced at his fiancé in the window, she had been standing there and staring for a few moments before she went to get what smelled like food and drinks around. Was losing Alpha, someday, that bad?
Maybe not.
"Sorry, Jake," Sam held his hand outward to the younger man. "I acted out of line when I attacked you."
"No problem, Brother." Jake gave a wide grin as he accepted Sam's hand with a shake. "I may have said some shit that didn't need to be said, so we're even."
"Look at that," Bella seemed to be talking to nothing in a sarcastic voice. "they're playing nice. What good puppies."
With that, and before anything else could be said or done, Bella hopped off the ground and walked to the porch. She gently walked up to Leah and Seth, the siblings were lost in their own little world as Seth was still trying to collect himself. She knelt in front of the young man, still seeing the innocent kid in the lanky youth in front of her.
Seth was breathing shakily as he tilted his head up to meet Bella's eyes. The air seemed to nearly glow as she looked at him and him at her, Leah's breath caught in her throat as she watched. Her mind swimming as she thought about it, this was imprinting. It made the woman think about what her imprint, if she got one beyond Bella, would be like.
"Wow." Seth reached up, his hands sturdy and no longer shaking, and he gently ran his fingers through the front of Bella's hair. Paul growled lowly in the background, having not said anything yet, but Bella waved her hand to hush him for the moment. "Why do you look like an angel?"
Bella laughed and shook her head. "Because you're a goofball, but still- that was cute."
Leah was staring directly at her friend's head hoping that Bella would turn to her, she wanted to experience whatever her brother had just went through. Seth felt more powerful suddenly, as if he was radiating it, though it was a minor change compared to what Leah could feel coming from the rest of her Pack where Bella was concerned.
"You okay, Leah?" Bella asked while looking up to meet the native girl's eyes. Glowing didn't seem to happen this time, but the female wolf could definitely feel a rush of power that had not been there even before.
And she was pretty damn powerful as a wolf, in all reality. Leah's breathing seemed to stop the moment Bella had looked at her as her world seemed to invariably shift the slightest bit. Bella wasn't necessarily the center of Leah's being- she was close. Not a lover or anything like that; more like an extension of her own being. An addition to the wolf that was already in residence.
Leah just hoped that she wouldn't end up being able to turn into Bella too, that would be weird as fuck.
"If I didn't know for sure that I'm not a lesbian I would be questioning that so hard right now." Leah whispered as Bella leaned forward to hug her with a laugh. The guys all laughed as well, Leah flipped them off behind Bella's back with a growl.
"Well…" Bella trailed off as she stood, a knowing smile widening on her lips as she let silence overtake the moment. "I don't think Paul would mind if you decided to be a lesbian for a minute or two."
Before anyone could react, Bella ran inside and slid the door shut on them again. She didn't lock it- since that would just have been silly and not have helped one damn bit against the strength of a werewolf, but she did hide in the kitchen on the opposite side of Emily.
"Dude…" Quil started, breaking the shocked silence. "Is it sad that the idea of Leah and Bella is actually kinda hot?"
"Quil!" Embry yelled as he covered his ears and ducked into a bit of a circle. "Believe it or not there are those of us here who think of them as sisters!"
"Still hot…" Quil muttered again before Leah walked up and not too lightly clocked him in the jaw. The younger male wolf didn't do much more than snap his head back from the impact- though he did at least have the decency to look like he was in a nice amount of pain.
"Not a lesbian, and certainly not for you to fantasize about." Leah growled before walking through the rest of the Pack and picking her brother up from the ground. They walked inside, Leah throwing another scorching glance over her shoulder at Quil before she did so.
"Well…" Jared's voice changed in inflection as he stood from the ground, dusting the dirt from his back he continued. "What a refreshing change of pace."
"No kidding." Quil was rubbing his jaw. Embry came to him and clapped him around the shoulders with a smile. "What? That really did hurt…"
Embry and Quil walked towards the house as well, stopping long enough to grab Jake as they did so. The Beta looked to his Alpha to see if he was still needed outside, it was obvious Paul had something to say that he was waiting for, and Sam waved him on silently but not angrily.
"Go on, we'll be in momentarily." Jake nodded to Sam with a blank face. He reached up to grab Embry's arm, and his shorts, before walking inside.
Sam looked up at Jared and Paul, the three original wolves sat in silence for a moment before Paul slid his shorts down- the nakedness was something completely normal to them at this point. Jared began to strip as well, Sam already being naked just decided to phase immediately.
Sam: What did the Keeper say, Paul?
Paul: I must renew the bond, the mark, and I have to do it exactly like last time. The only difference, but she mentioned this before, is that this time… This time Bella has to accept me too.
Jared: Are you afraid she won't?
Paul: No, I know she will. I'm just wondering how to do this. I don't know how she's going to react if she's conscious for this, and the Keeper mentioned that it can be 'pleasurable.' I don't want to embarrass her in front of everyone.
Sam: I promise not to laugh if she gets aroused. Hell, Emily was nearly dripping with want when she found out that you had marked Bella, especially after she saw the mark itself.
Jared: Not a mental image I needed. Thanks. Jared groaned in his mind, a keening whine coming out his lupine mouth. He looked back to the house, their Pack was trying to subtly look out the sliding door and window- they were failing spectacularly. Bella, however, was calmly sitting at the table nursing a cup of what was most likely tea.
Paul: The only other thing she said was that I could renew the entire mark, our blood included, and it would strengthen the bond to new depths.
Sam: I think that may be the reason why Seth and Leah had issues with going to that dark place Bella took us…
Paul: It was an in between. Our wolves go there often, apparently. The Keeper showed it to me once before, I can tell you it was much more pleasant this time.
Sam: That is something new… We need to look into this more, and without the council interfering into our research.
Jared: We need to go to the Keeper. She only answers one question at a time, sure, but if we all go then we can get three answers in a single go.
Sam: Good idea. After tonight we will get together- we need a schedule and written down questions. I don't want to waste any chances when it comes to all of this.
Paul: Honestly, I want to get this marking done with. Whether or not she has a 'pleasurable' reaction in front of everyone… I want to complete the mating mark, and for that I need some serious privacy.
Jared: Again, not a mental image I needed. You two are amazing at oversharing tonight.
Sam: I have seen enough women in your mind to know that you aren't an innocent, don't even go there with me tonight. Sam looked at Paul and regarded his Pack Brother. Though he didn't like the idea of Bella going through pain, even the pain of a loss of virginity- and even though Paul was a Brother… Sam weighed his mind a little to see if he would be able to stomach the idea of what Paul was planning. No forcing her, if she isn't one hundred percent with you- do not go through with it. I will tear you to pieces.
Jared: That I can agree too, just saying.
Paul: She'll be one hundred percent, I promise.
With that the wolves all shifted back into their human forms and collected themselves. Entering the house Sam called everyone to the table, he sat at the head with his back to the rest of his house, Paul took a place next to Bella, and Jared sat with his back to the door. Emily took her usual place in the kitchen, away from the politics and procedures of Pack business.
Not that she wasn't welcome- she honestly preferred it this way.
Sam began in the simplest of ways, at the literal beginning of what he had to tell the two newest members of the Pack. This would become tradition, he realized, as more wolves were added to their number. If there were any more, which he halfway hoped there weren't going to be.
"In September of last year, I received a call from Billy Black." Sam started calmly, looking directly at Leah and Seth. "It was about Charlie Swan- his daughter was missing and there had been no sign of her for hours. Billy had promised Charlie help, so he called us…"
The story continued for nearly an hour, the rest of the Pack- even Emily- gave information in pieces and parts when they could. Bella remained silent, hearing a lot of this for what felt like the first time. She knew what the wolves had done for her, they had told her this story before, but now that she had spent time with the Keeper… it was all different.
The Pack, her Pack- they had gone through so much with her… Because of her. And now they would have to go through even more, as Sam began to bring their tale to a close.
"The Keeper has told Paul that he must renew the mark on Bella with each new member to the Pack- with their blood to seal the bond to her." Sam's voice was grave and almost used up as he spoke. The story, though something all Pack members would need to hear, was a hard one to tell.
"So, what? We have to bleed on Bella? That's some weird shit…" Seth's innocent naivety was a welcome change to the usual somber tones of the rest of his Pack- though at the current moment it merely made his Brothers and Sister smack their faces with their hands. "What? It is!"
"What Sam is saying, Seth, is that Paul has to bite Bella again- the marking- and then introduce our blood to her through that mark. We don't have to do anything except bleed." Leah was stifling a laugh as she spoke, her eyes still on Bella. "Except, from the sounds of it there is a big problem here. The Keeper told Paul that he had to choose Bella, fully and completely right? That this would cement them together and no one else would work for the other. Right?"
"That's right, Leah." Jared nodded, neither Paul nor Bella had attempted to speak. Paul because he was worried about what Leah was hinting at, Bella because she honestly didn't know what was going on. Lack of memories tended to do that to her.
"Well, there's nothing in there about Bella choosing Paul. Doesn't she have to for this whole thing to work?" Leah's eyebrow cocked as she looked between her friend and the hotheaded lethal killing machine that was apparently Bella's wolf.
"She has to, this time." Sam was nodding as he spoke. "Bella was unconscious at the last marking, so it was more Paul who had to choose. This time, however, with her being awake and coherent they will both have to choose each other for this to work- just as they will have to if any more wolves join our number."
"That sounds really… intimate. Do we have to be around for this?" Seth shuddered, his mind obviously going to a thought about Bella and Paul having sex.
"Mating isn't required for this type of marking, Seth." Paul quickly cut into the conversation before Embry, Jake, or Quil could talk and make the situation even worse. As it was, Bella had turned a bright red and her heart was racing. He reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before continuing. "Think of it this way; you know how some married couples have their vows renewed? A sort of solidifying of their marriage and shit… Well, this is kind of our vow renewal. The mark is a vow in a way. And yes the words spoken between us are intimate but the moment- the marking itself- is meant to be witnessed by the Pack. It is a bond, a gift, to all of us."
"Centered around Bella…" Jake rolled his eyes. He was still just a little, only a little, sensitive to the fact that Bella had been gifted not only to the Pack but to Paul specifically. He was still getting used to seeing her as a sister even after the time he had spent with the idea. "Why am I not surprised she managed to attract this kind of trouble?"
"Thanks, Jake." Bella's reply was sarcastic and biting. "As if I wanted to be a danger magnet!"
Bella moved to get up only to be stopped by Paul. She whipped her head around at the native man and narrowed her anger-darkened eyes at him. Paul matched her look for look before pulling his love closer to him, he brought her face close- Bella's heart rate jumped again, and her body responded in the usual arousal he caused. He didn't kiss her, however, instead he brought his mouth close to her ear.
"Relax, little Swan." Bella relaxed and coiled at the same time, a fire heating up between her legs and her lower abdomen. "Why don't you go outside, Emily can go with you. We'll do our part in here and then come outside. We can do this underneath the moon- wouldn't that help?"
Bella nodded, her mouth dry as she swallowed repeatedly to be able to say anything. "I think it might."
"Good girl," Paul smiled against the side of Bella's neck. She felt the change in his mouth and her knees nearly buckled, he gripped her tightly but not uncomfortably. "Go outside, little Swan, I promise I won't be long."
Paul placed a kiss below Bella's ear, her shuddering breath catching tight in her throat. He would have smirked but the eyes of his Pack mates, and their expressions, brought him back to the moment. This wasn't the place for that, but he needed Bella to relax for this- or it would hurt.
Bella stood, though slightly wobbly, and moved towards the door. Emily spared a single look at Sam before he motioned for her to follow Bella out. Sam knew that Emily was fine with blood but he wasn't sure how she would handle the sight of the Pack being ceremoniously cut open in her kitchen.
Jake retrieved the bowl and knife from where he had stashed it, bringing it to Sam. The Alpha looked at Paul, his soldier, his fighter, and gave a questioning glance. Paul merely shook his head in response. This time it was Sam who would lead this- as was his duty as Alpha. This was his Pack and just like a ship captain sometimes the duty of marrying its members fell to his shoulders.
Sam stood, the rest of the Pack following suit. Leah walked forward to her Alpha and held her wrist out above the bowl, she waited patiently. Something in Leah told her that this wouldn't be a simple slash and run.
"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to the power within, to solidify and create a permanent bond with your imprint, Bella Swan?" Sam's voice was clipped- he was obviously not looking forward to having to cut Leah.
"I do." Leah's voice was strong, she didn't flinch as Sam brought the razor sharp knife across her skin. After a few moments of blood, she gripped the wound to stop it and walked to the side.
"It is done."
Seth stepped up next, his face blank as he tried to show no fear at the twisting confusion that his life had become in the span of a day.
"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to the power within, to solidify and create a permanent bond with your imprint, Bella Swan?" Sam was searching the young wolf's eyes as he spoke. The words, the acceptance, this entire moment had to be done with complete conviction- there was no room for doubt.
"Yes, I do." Seth replied after a moment's hesitation. Sam searched for another moment longer but seemed to fight what he was looking for in the young man's eyes. He sliced the knife along the inner part of Seth's wrist, the younger man wincing just a little at the action.
Seth moved away, his hand putting pressure on a wound he could literally feel closing beneath his fingers. He blanched a little but settled down as he stood next to Leah.
Quil stepped up and answered Sam's question- he had not been around for the original marking, though Jared noticed that he hadn't had the same reaction as Seth and Leah to the otherworldly transportation… had time around Bella done that? He was cut and bled just like the two before him, stepping back after a moment. Jared was next, his strides forward confident and unrelenting. He placed his arm above the bowl and looked into his Alpha's eyes calmly.
"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to the power within, to solidify and renew a permanent bond with your imprint, Bella Swan?" Sam changed his wording this time, Leah was quick to catch it. Not that she was surprised, but the idea that this had already happened once was still new to her.
"I couldn't be more willing." Jared replied calmly, Sam drew the knife along his tanned skin.
This would continue until all of the wolves, Paul asking and cutting Sam (a tradition neither of them knew existed yet they followed it anyway). The bowl was nearly full of blood before the Pack made their way to the door and outside. Sam carried the bowl this time, taking on his role as Alpha completely. He wasn't sure what he was doing but his instincts seemed to guide him and he wasn't going to ignore them.
Bella was sitting on the ground under the moon, she was in the churned area of dirt where Sam and Jake had fought not too long ago. She was smoothing out the marred and broken earth into a smooth surface while Emily carefully braided her hair. Sam didn't know why, but the image of Bella in such braids seemed so right. It was a hairstyle many native women wore on special occasions, and perhaps Emily had thought this to be special enough.
Paul could not take his eyes off his mate in the light of the moon, though she was breathtaking to him anywhere. The braids Emily was carefully setting looked made Bella look so complete in the darkness. The native woman had carefully parted Bella's hair perfectly down the middle and then braided along the upper line of her forehead, following the braid down past the back of her ears. There was a spattering of red/orange in the soft brown hair, and it took Paul only a second to realize that Emily had woven in some Paintbrush into the braids.
Bella was a sight to behold, even from behind. Though her turning to look at Paul, a gaze she had sensed from the tingling down her spine, caused the wolf within him to nearly howl in need. He couldn't help taking a step forward, Jared pulled him back gently. Paul was fighting the man's need to mark his mate properly, in front of his Pack, and the wolf's need to take. Primal, instinctive, lustful and beneath the surface.
Bella looked like heaven to the man, and almost a meal to the wolf. It was a conflicting set of emotions.
"Bella, will you stand please?" Sam asked to the girl, but Paul started talking before she could.
"No, she can kneel." Paul started, continuing through the growls of a few of his Pack mates. "It's not a submissive thing, fuck guys. I'll be kneeling too, but I think this would be a thing best down in the most comfortable way."
"Good point." Sam nodded and walked with Paul to where Bella was. Emily stood back behind her own mate, Sam grasping her close for a moment attempting to stop her from leaving him. Paul knelt facing Bella, he took her hands before Sam started talking again. "Bella Swan, Paul Lahote; you are already married under Tribal law, connected to Pack, People, and Land. Tonight, beneath the moon, with your Pack as witnesses, the Spirits must ask you to renew your imprint bond and solidify the Pack's bond to Bella. And through this bond the Pack shall be strengthened and renewed. You must first choose each other, wholly and completely- beyond all doubt and through the worst transgressions."
Paul swallowed. He had already told Bella all the terrible things he had done, and Spirits was he hoping he didn't have to resay it all in front of the Pack. He was sure Leah would kill him if he did.
"Paul," Bella whispered, to get his attention with a soft smile.
He hadn't realized that Sam had stopped speaking and the Pack was looking at the couple in expectation. He took a deep breath and focused only on Bella's eyes for support and comfort. Paul had never been one for emotions, or emotional moments, but this was most definitely an exception to his usual rules.
"Bella Swan," Paul began in the softest voice he could manage- he didn't trust talking too much to do so loudly. "I know that I have made many mistakes- I denied you, weakened us both, and put my entire Pack in danger unknowingly through my actions. I fought an imprint that truly was, is, a gift from the Spirits. Through all of this, I have found my way back to you and ask you to accept me as I am- all I have to offer- and to accept our marriage and life together for now until our spirits join those of our ancestors."
Bella's eyes were shining; tears had formed on her lower lid line. She looked the image of ethereal innocent in beauty in the muted moonlight, and Paul held his breath in the silence after he spoke his words.
"Paul Lahote," Bella's voice was shaky, her breathing stuttered and heart pounding like drums. "I accept your love, your life, and your apologies. I cannot say that your choices did not hurt, because they hurt many innocents in their path of destruction. I accept you completely, as a man and as a wolf- and as in return that you accept me as I am; a simple girl with simple dreams. There is no wolf sharing my skin, I am not immortal, I will age and die- I am just me… Can you accept me as I am?"
"You are my world, Bella Swan. I would gladly die with you, if it means to be near you until the end of time itself." Quil made a small gagging noise in the background, Paul did his best to ignore it but noted it for later- he was going to beat that kid into the ground. "I accept you, and will never leave you- you are my life, my world, and I will protect you with my own life."
"I love you, Paul." Bella whispered, catching Paul off guard. Bella had never outright told him she loved him. He felt that she did, in the little things she did for him, the way she cared. Yet she had never said it.
The words, the meaning behind them, were too much for Paul to bear and he moved on instinct. Pulling Bella nearly into his laps, her legs barely straddling his own, he kissed her as gently as he could in his nearly starving state. Bella responded in kind, her body moving against his in a delicious way- but Paul managed to wrestle control of their embrace back even through his lustful haze. He moved his mouth across Bella's jaw, under her ear, and down her neck.
"I love you too, little Swan." Was the last words he muttered against her pale white skin, his lips brushing the mark as he spoke.
Her gasp gave him the push he needed to bite down, Bella's hands flying up to grasp at the short hair on the back of his head and his shoulder. She could feel the muscles moving in tension as he bit hard enough to break skin, though there was very little pain in the biting. Her mind was on fire, her body even hotter, and very little mattered to her in this moment other than the man in her arms.
Once Bella's mark was bleeding, Paul removed his mouth without licking the wound and reached for the bowl Sam was holding down to him. He noticed that his Pack, though watching, were trying to do so in a way that gave them a modicum of privacy in such a moment. Their eyes were averted to an extent; it was comforting to know that his Pack knew that this was something that really was between just them.
Paul poured the blood into his mouth, its coppery taste something that almost burned against his tongue. He'd had blood in his mouth, every wolf had hunted at least once in their early days of the phase, and this was almost an invasion compared to that.
Silently, and quickly, Paul latched onto the bleeding mark once again. The feeling had not changed, the surge of power that seemed to fill his body as Bella's body took in the blood- it was an odd sensation to feel the liquid literally being sucked into her body like a siphon. The air grew thick with the same power that the wolves had felt before, at the Keeper's cabin, and seemed to almost writhe and glow with the intensity of the bond.
Bella groaned lightly, almost a breathy moan, as Paul licked the wound to help it heal. Her heart was racing, breath coming in short gasps, and she was flushed from head to toe. Paul pulled her even closer as he brought his mouth away from the mark. There was blood on his chin from spillage, something that happened regardless of his care, and he rest his cheek against Bella's chest, on her collarbone above where her heart would be.
"It is done." Sam's voice with thick, almost deeper in a way. Paul almost laughed- he could literally smell Emily's arousal and was sure Sam was getting it worse. Their Alpha was getting laid tonight for sure, and Paul hoped it would be soon or Sam was going to explode from the sounds of it.
"Great." Leah's voice was sarcastic and slightly uncomfortable. "Can I go home now? I feel the sudden need to shower…"
"Home isn't safe for you and Seth- you're too young yet to be around other people…" Sam trailed off, trying to think about where they could go.
"They can go to my house, Sam." Paul said as he moved back to look Bella in her eyes. He had a plan, and it did not involve going home tonight. "We won't be there anyway…"
"Why won't you… oh…" Seth started only to be hushed by a rib shot by his sister.
"Thanks, Paul. Is it locked?"
"Nope. There's two showers, the one upstairs is nicer." Paul replied with a smile and a pop to the 'p.' Bella looked at Paul with confusion but he merely shook his head to her with a smile, she let it go and decided not to question what his plans were. She knew that Paul wouldn't hurt her, and even in not knowing she still felt safe.
That was enough for her.
The Pack began to mumble their own needs to leave, walking away in their own small groups. Jake with Embry and Quil, the siblings together; it left Jared with Paul and Sam- and he seemed to be waiting to know what to do.
"Run a patrol, please." Sam said quietly. "Let the others refresh themselves, then have Jake and Embry relieve you. We'll put Seth and Leah into the rotation tomorrow."
"Can do, Sam." Jared nodded and ran off into the woods. Sam turned to Bella and Paul, still kneeling at his feet.
"Emily," Paul started as sweetly as he could. "Is there any way I can borrow a few things?"
"Sure, Paul. Let me take you inside and we can get what you need." Emily led Paul, who set Bella safely down onto the ground, into the house to collect whatever the things he needed were. Bella's curiosity peaked even higher, but she said nothing.
Sam knelt down next to Bella, he needed to know something before he would let her go with Paul. Husband or not, imprint or not, Sam was not going to just let Bella go.
"Are you alright, Bella?" Sam asked quietly, looking into her chocolate brown eyes. "Are you ready for what Paul is going to ask of you tonight?"
Bella looked at Sam with confusion, her head tilting. "What are you talking about?"
"Think about it, Bella. I know you're still new to all of this but you can't really think that after the marking, after everything, Paul wasn't going to want sex too? His wolf is probably screaming for it, to seal the bond between mates." Sam was blunt about it "I know I was. My wolf went nuts in my brain, the want to claim Emily for my own eating at me- and we only waited a week, I think."
Bella's eyes had gone wide, her face paling even further than it was normally in the moonlight. She hadn't thought about that. Was she ready for sex with Paul? Was she ready for sex at all? Her body screamed yes at her, a million times and again yes she was ready for sex… But was her mind? Bella thought about this for a few moments, going over everything in her mind.
Yes, she was ready.
"I'm not afraid, Sam. And I don't feel forced." Bella replied softly, a smile lighting her features. "I'm nervous, but not afraid."
"Alright, Bella." Sam rest his hand on her shoulder for a moment before standing and reaching for her hand. As Bella took it he gave her one last once over, making sure the marking had no negative effects. "Remember, you can always say no."
"I know, Sam." Bella's voice was soft as the door slid open to reveal Emily and a blank faced Paul. He walked forward towards Bella as Sam walked to Emily. As the men passed each other they stopped, Sam leaning to Paul's ear and whispering something low enough that neither woman could hear the words. From Paul's reaction, or lack of negative one, Bella assumed that it wasn't anything bad.
Paul reached for her hand, his other occupied by a basket filled with quite a lot. Bella couldn't tell in the darkened light what everything was but she certainly hoped a blanket or two was stuffed in the overly large carrier. She intertwined their fingers as they walked into the woods. She wasn't sure where they were going, but she knew that if Paul was there, she was okay.
"Can I ask where we are going?" Bella's voice was quiet because she didn't want to disturb the night- the spring bugs and animals scuffling was a calming thing.
"Our place, Bella." Paul whispered back as he went back to concentrating. The Spirits had given them a special place once, separated in a way like the Keeper's home, and he just knew in his gut that they could find themselves there once more.
Paul was proved right as he pushed through a small opening in a few trees to find that he and Bella had once again been transported to that calming place by the stream. He smiled widely as his mind began to work, pulling his long thought out plan together finally.
"Trust me, Bella?" Paul whispered in her ear, causing shivers down her spine in the most deliciously tingling way.
"Trust you." She breathed out, unable to make more of a noise than that.
Paul turned Bella to face him, setting the basket on the ground as he did so, he pulled her close and held her tight for a moment before whispering against her lips. A single word, and somehow the most arousing word Bella had ever heard in her life.
"Good."
A/N: Yes, I know I promised my first LEMON scene in this chapter but my beta and I decided against it- opting for a more "family friendly" version of this chapter. However! This does not mean the lemon isn't coming. What it means is that it gets its own chapter! That's right, lovely readers, my next chapter will be completely dedicated to the scene at hand (and maybe some Sam/Emily lovin, not sure yet).
We decided this since the lemon isn't a plot chapter (i.e this particular sex scene doesn't advance the plot at all, more of an extra) and I can easily pick up after in chapter 47 no problem. It does make the story a little longer, sure, but it also allows for people who don't want to read the LEMON to skip right over the next chapter and miss nothing to the plot!
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this long, and I hope to see you through to the end!
