So I had found my imprint. I was happy but I didn't know how he would feel being an instant father of two at the age of 19. As theta in the pack he may as well be a dad already for all the help he gives the younger pack members but that is irrelevant when before this he could just go home at the end of patrol or after pack functions. Now either we move into his house and just renovate or he moves into the apartment with us and we demo his place and rebuild. The plans wouldn't change on the build. .. well maybe a few tweaks to the amenities for him and I to share but that's all really.
As nice as it was to imprint at dinner now it was time to clinch the deal so to speak. I didn't want the twins privy to our actions should my mate want to claim me immediately but I couldn't leave them home alone either.
Seeing my internal dilemma Sam approached. "Hey
Little sister. Emily and I can keep the pups while you and your mate go talk and whatnot." Sam actually seemed to cough at the idea of Paul and I doing anything more than talk.
"I appreciate that Sam. I can't have them home alone at the apartment and I certainly don't want them to hear anything they shouldn't. Then again they patrol with him so it's moot." I laughed.
"Nah he reigns that shit in when they are all phased together. He may be dirty minded but he chooses not to corrupt their minds. Besides I get the idea about not wanting them to hear it. You're their mom and not who they should see, hear or think about in that manner." Sam tells me.
I nod. "Collin, Brady, are you willing to spend the night here with Sam and Emily?"
"Yeah Mama." Brady answers.
"Of course. You just imprinted and need to communicate and 'connect'." Collin replies after his brother even using air quotes.
"Okay boys, I will have your Mom back here for breakfast. At least that's the plan." Paul tells them with a smile.
"You may be her imprint but she is our mom. Treat her with respect and care, so don't you mess up. Imprint or not, you upset her or hurt her being nice to you goes out the window." Brady warns my mate. He and his brother go all stoic with arms flexed and crossed over their chests.
"Boys. You know I am a grown woman. I was raised by a cop and held my own against cold ones. I think I can handle things pretty well. But I love the support and back up if I ever need it. Behave and I love you." I called to them, blowing a kiss as I pushed my mate out the door.
With that Paul and I took a stroll and ended up at the beach.
"So why didn't that happen before, like when you slapped me?" Paul asked.
"You know how the cold ones have powers? Like the tiny annoying one could see future events? I have what they call a physical and mental shield. I have three separate layers actually. A mental layer that covers my brain, a physical layer that is inactive unless I am in dire need of it and another mental layer I can stretch to cover others. The physical one can stretch to cover other people besides myself too. What happened tonight was that I shut them all off and looked at everyone. Billy had the notion that my ability was hindering an imprint. I hoped he was right and it is you." I babbled nervously.
"Hey don't worry about being nervous. It's just me. I felt something change when we met but everyone in the pack couldn't figure out what because the usual signs of an imprint were not there. So I just bided my time and may have been a grumpy ass idiot. But eventually I got to know you. The real you. Not the detoxing she'll those two tortured or the hopped up on cold one scents but you. The warm, caring, tough as nails when need be woman you are. You take care of people and show that you love them. Not many people do that for others who aren't blood but you do. You see people for themselves not what they are. Like the Whitlock coven that was just here when we had your father's celebration of life. They are your family as much as the pack is because you see past the vampire and see the person. I admit I was scared they would just take you away, the pups and pack be damned. But they made the effort to get along with the pack for your sake and vice versa. And you were right they didn't choose the existence they have. But they chose to live a better way than most." Paul was so sincere when he told me all of this.
"I hoped you wouldn't think I'm too weird or something. Most powers don't work in humans. They manifest as humans but aren't active. I've met a few cold ones that were aware of and could use theirs when they were human but it was all screwy." I confessed.
"You are unique, babe. It's a good thing to be different. Take me and the pack for instance. I'm the best fighter, Seth has the best hearing, Embry is unbelievable as a tracker, Jacob is agile, Leah is the fastest, we all have roles in the pack to make the pack as a whole better. Emily is the alpha's mate and Kim is the Betas. You are mine and the three of you balance us out. We are closer to our wolf sides then the others because we had to patrol more often and for longer when it was just the three of us. Sam most of all because of his first phase and then the year he had to wait for Jar and I to join him. We need you to help us be human. Now about how life is gonna be with us… what do you think would be best living arrangement wise?" Paul asked.
"Maybe you can give up your place to Jared and Kim since they don't have a place yet and Bith still live with their parents and you can move in with the boys and I I'm the apartment until the house gets built?" I offered.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll take the couch until we get close enough to take that step if that's alright with you." Paul agreed.
I blushed. "You're probably right about that but I have a feeling it won't be long at all honestly. The pull is there to not wait. We have known each other for so long and now I'm yours and you are mine. But I gotta tell you. Besides the penny head abuser I've never…" I trailed off turning bright red.
"Seriously?" Paul sounded surprised.
"I was a single person in a school of over 3,000 and was too busy working and taking care of Renée to date not that anyone noticed me. I was a loner with no friends. Then I came here. A few guys were nuisances wanting my attention and then I met Him. You know the rest." I explained.
"I know I have a reputation. Some of it is earned but quite a bit of it is just girls wanting to brag. I have never actually dated anyone because of how I grew up. I couldn't bring anyone to meet the folks." Paul seemed nervous that I would be hurt that he had a past.
"Hey, the past is just that, the past. Though I would hope that you didn't catch anything. Besides, some experience is better than none. But please tell me you never touched the two biggest skanks at Forks high." I told him.
"Ugh you mean the Bike of the peninsula and her Chatty Cathy gossipmongering bosom buddy? Not with a million condoms and a mile long pole." Paul exclaimed in disgust.
"Phew that's a relief. They lusted after Dickward and all my admirers. Made them catty and ugly to me. Well Lauren was okay at grad. She saved me from spewton. I wish she would go claim her baby. The poor thing has been fighting to live since prom. Poor thing was premature and tiny. I get why she is scared to step forward but it's still not right." I felt sorry for the situation.
"Whoa she's the prom baby mama? Who's the dad?" Paul asked.
"Her dad's business partner. Like clockwork every few days he goes over for dinner with the family and he slips into her room. She gives in to keep her baby sister safe. It's horrible." Noble but fucked up.
"Damn that's bad. Why didn't she report it?" Paul was truly concerned.
"It's been happening for years and she has the reputation of an easy lay. Figured no one would believe her. She was ashamed, plus he was threatening her with hurting her dad in the business as well as moving onto her sister. Her family would be ruined and her baby sister would be hurt. So she just sucked it up and went along with it. Never fought never actively participated either. Just took the abuse." My voice was hushed because it was too horrible to think about.
"Can she get away?" Paul prodded.
"Probably not for her sister's sake. If she isn't there then he might move on." I speculate.
"The jerk tell you all of this?" Paul asked.
"Yeah and a lot more. Like he wanted me to have ammo to fight back at them or he was gauging my moral character or something. Honestly it just helped me understand them better and not react when they got bitchy."
Paul looked at me in awe. "You know, you are truly something else. Anyone else would use the info to hit them where it hurts or something. But you didn't. Though I think you need to find a way to get her to step up about the abuse and the baby."
"I think she's probably scared the baby will just make her think about him and what he has done to her. Not the baby as just a baby. A reminder of horrible things rather than an innocent being that hasn't done anything but exist." The idea of the unclaimed baby made me sad.
"Lots of kids these days know how that feels. Usually because their parents are ugly to their partners or to the kids even." Paul stated quietly.
"Definitely. My mom is a flighty nitwit and spent any cent she could get a hold of. My dad was practically a stick in the mud but growing up fast and caring for his parents as they died did that to him. I mean yeah he went hunting or fishing with his buds but if he wasn't working he was eating at the diner or parked in his recliner watching sports on the boob tube. I like to think I'm a bit in the middle but I'm pretty sure I'm more like he was." I laugh dryly at my own family dynamic.
"Mom left and Pop and I moved back here when I was nine. She wasn't ready or willing to do the mommy/housewife thing. Dad was bitter and I took the brunt of it especially when he had been drinking. Then it was everyday after a while. He was working me over when I phased for the first time. Harry Clearwater got to our place first. He talked me out of bolting and he gathered some of my fur and staged it to look like a 'bear attack'. Your dad didn't question it he just took the report and helped me be on my own." Paul whispered staring at the beach at our feet.
"Oh honey. That's terrible. As glad as I am that the abuse stopped it should not be on your conscience that he was in reach when you phased. You had know inclination that you were going to phase at all. You might have shown signs and I'm sure Sam was watching from afar but it's not right that any generation be left in the dark. If you had known then maybe you could have gotten away before it happened. It was an accident. Phasing on the fly or instantly to defend yourself isn't a bad thing. Come on, let's go back to the apartment and cuddle. It's chilly out here and I would rather be inside." I urged my mate taking his hand. We made our way back to the apartment and did indeed snuggle up together on the couch simply sharing and enjoying stories of life before we met.
Two years later…..
Paul moved in with us after we imprinted and he became the missing puzzle piece to our little family. He stepped in as the pups dad like he had been born to it. The fillers tried to put up a fight even went so far as to attempt to take us to court. They never got far.
A few weeks after the imprint the pack cleared the land needed for the house our family needed.
It was a bit grandiose if you ask me but the pack made it homey and warm. Small carvings made it into the detail work that made up the house. Wolves and trees and even red and yellow eyed beings were hidden in the scenes depicted.
There were rooms for the wolves and their mates should they stay over and even rooms for the cold ones too. Collin and Brady chose to have their own rooms and that was just fine. There were a couple extra rooms that no one claimed but I had a feeling they would have use soon.
Today is our wedding day and the pack had Paul at Sam and Emily's place getti ready. I was in a white buckskin dress embroidered with beads and shells. My headband was adorned with traditional pieces to bless our marriage and was actually the one Joy and Molly had worn when they married into the Ateara family, what an honor to wear the same piece. We had opted out of all pageantry and it was mainly just the pack. Angela Weber had become part of the pack when she came down for a day at the beach since Ben had left her. She met Embry and that was it. Quil was waiting for his four year old imprint to grow up. Her name was Claire and she was Emily's niece. Jake was still single and waiting for his imprint to come along. Seth had found his in a ray of sunshine who he had known since kindergarten but she had moved away. She just moved back and he adored her.
My boys haven't met their hearts yet but I know it will be soon.
I decided to forgo moccasins since the ceremony was literally in our back yard. My hair was down in waves down my back and I was ready to start the next chapter of my life with my mate my sons and the child I have yet to tell others about. It's easy to hide so far because Emily and Sam were pregnant with their second and Kim has one on the way too with Jared. Too many tiny hummingbird heartbeats to distinguish. The future was bright and I knew I had done right by Choosing Life.
I heard voices approaching and after a soft knock I was joined in the room I had used to get ready. It was Rose and Char.
"Oh my word girl you look very beautiful. Very close to nature." Chat gushed at the sight of me.
"You do make a gorgeous bride Bella. Though I never thought I would say that to someone wearing my foods skin." Rose laughed.
"Thanks. It's tradition and I wanted to do this right…. or as right as I can." I blushed.
"Oh spill!" Chat demanded excitedly.
"We are already a bit backwards as a family since I had the twins before Paul and I even got together. But well I haven't told anyone yet but we have another on the way. The pups and Paul know but we haven't shared it with anyone. Any other wolf I have been around has been in the presence of Emily and Kim. They are expecting too so it has been easy to hide. Too many fast heartbeats to differentiate." I confessed.
"Congratulations Bella. It's a crazy thing to know that if you hadn't fought for yourself almost three years ago that today wouldn't be possible." Rose said proudly.
"She's right sugar. You did good. Now let's go get you hitched." Chat agreed.
I followed the girls out to the living room where the sliding glass doors were open but covered by blankets to block sight of me if I moved around the house. Kim and Emily smiled to us before walking through the blankets gap. We followed with me at the back.
Eventually the way was cleared for me to join my mate by the fire. As I met his eyes the world stopped and became just the two of us. Life was good.
A/N: that's it people. I hope you enjoyed theirs journey with Bella and finding the life she deserves. Thank you for coming along the way with me.
