Chapter Info

Title: To write a new chapter.

Number: 17/?

Warnings: Language, mentions of violence, and my usual doses of angst here and there.

Author's Note: Found at the end!

- ʚɞ -

- La Push, Washington -

- Skylar -

- October -

One thing Skylar hated more than being bored, was waiting for an answer to something. She hated the drawn-out silence that would simmer between the words and allow a mind to cook up different scenarios. All of them grow worse with each passing moment. The images grow and cause a heart to beat erratically within your chest till the point you feel as though you're going to pass out before even getting your answer.

Which right now, amusingly enough, was how she was feeling. Her hands gripping the counter in front of her so tight she could feel the marble bow under her strength. Her fingers leaving perfect mirror grooves within the stone, her eyes staring out the window as she watches the scenery but barely pays attention to it. Instead, she counts each beat of Paul's heart, the cadence rattling inside of her and stringing along each of her breathes.

She was waiting, waiting for him to finish his sentence and even free her or condemn her heart. With Paul, the pendulum could swing one way or the other and given she had technically taken away his free will. She was almost positive it would swing towards condemn. Given they'd fought since she'd gotten back, given she had hurt him for ten years and now she'd forever bound them together.

" Trouble – " he sighs softly. " Why did you mark me ? "

God, he was going to fucking kill her with these questions. It was as though he was prolonging the torture, enjoying what this moment did to her. And yet no matter how she tries, she couldn't hold back anymore. She was done dragging it all out, she was done lying.

" In all honesty, at the time I don't know. " her words escaping on a deep exhale. " My wolf took over, and it was only after that I knew the true weight of what I'd done. Of how I'd taken your freewill and forever bound you to me in a way that can't be broken. "

Outside she watches as a bird swoops lazily through the trees, not a care in the world. Yet in that room, as her daughter happily chirped away in the background, her whole world was falling apart. The bottom of her perfectly constructed lie falling away and leaving her free-falling through uncertainty.

" But for the marking to take successfully, the human has to be in agreement. And, as much as I wish I could deny it. I am, I think, no I know that the marking would have happened either way the dice rolled. Because I am yours, I have been yours since we were teenagers. "

Take a chance, take a chance. The words repeat inside of her mind like a mantra as she fights through each word. Wanting him to know, to lay all her cards on the table so that if he walked out the door, there was no way he could say she hadn't tried. Or told him the truth for the first time in a decade.

" I fucked our imprint bond ten fucking ways till Sunday. " she spits, slipping and letting out a curse. Thankful her words were uttered quiet enough her daughter didn't hear. Well, she prayed she didn't. " And I guess the marking is my way to show you, that I am yours, I am yours in every way and I am done fighting that. I am done lying to myself and you that this isn't where I belong. Here with you, you and Emmie-Jo. "

A lone tear treks its way down her cheek but she ignores it, allowing the burn behind her eyes to remind her that this was her taking a chance. That as much as she was scared, scared she had lost him forever. She had to take this chance.

" I can only mark someone once, and without a flicker of doubt. The person my future rests with is you. "

There were many words she couldn't speak, the syllables of them catching in her throat and constricting her breathing. But the truth was there, clear as day for anyone to see. She had handed over her heart, her soul, and her body to him to do what he pleased. Her submission in all forms.

The decision was now his alone.

Silence engulfs them once more and her fingers tighten against the weight of it, her chest constricting as she fights to breathe in the suffocating atmosphere. Heated hands settle on her shoulders, her frame jumping at the closeness, her breath stuttering in her chest as she waits. His fingers dancing down her arm cause butterflies to run riot inside of her mind and electricity to simmer over her skin. Everywhere he touched feeling as though it was burning in the most delicious of fires.

His fingers enclose over her own and gently pry them from the stone and the damage she was causing by her tightening grip. She was putty in his hands, her mind betraying her and telling her this was it. One last touch and he would be gone, she would never see him again. Or he'd enact the same thing her grandparents lived with - friendship - forever closing her heart off to love.

It was strange really, how unsure she was that she even deserved it. Especially from him. From the man, she had caused so much pain towards in her stubbornness. The man who had only ever loved her unconditionally and she left him behind like a bittersweet memory without a single thought.

" Trouble – " he sighs, the air of his exhale washing over her face. " Look at me. Please. "

A single word and her well-maintained control breaks in half, her body moving of its own regard as she turns in his arms. Her eyes level on his chest as she drags in a much-needed gasp of air. Slowly - far too slowly - she treks her eyes upwards. Exhaling softly she locks her eyes with his, his obsidian gaze drowning her as it always did, but where she'd previously drowned in his anger, and in his desire. This time she drowns in love.

For there, in his eyes was a lock she hadn't seen since she was a teenager. The weight of it makes her heart skip a beat as her hand shakily comes to cover her mouth, caging a wracked sob that wanted to break free.

" Say it. "

Her eyebrows clinched in confusion at what he was saying, till one look in his eyes and she knew what he meant.

" I love you, Paul Lahote. "

Before she has time to react, his hand comes to frame her face. His thumb swiping up to wipe away the tears still tracking their way down her cheek. A soft smile dancing across his lips that she had forgotten. Her memory would never do Paul justice, or what he looked like at this moment.

" We don't do things the normal way, do we ? "

A watery chuckle falls free as she shakes her head. " We never have. "

Though anything they'd done in the past really didn't hold a candle to what they'd done now. They took the book of normal and threw it out the window, rewriting every chapter as they went.

" Sonny reminded me that to everyone else. We don't make a lick of sense. But together we always have. "

" He's right. " he sniffs a chuckle as his hand curls underneath her jaw. " Baby I told you, a long time ago, I would be your guide through the crazy. Who knew the crazy was us. "

A small burst of laughter falls free as she leans her head backwards, drinking in his features that were now free and open. His emotions shine across every line and she swallows them whole. Cataloguing the way his eyes shone with happiness, his smile wasn't sarcastic or angry, it was true. And all of it was aimed at her.

" Where do we go from here ? "

She hadn't wanted to ask, but she had to hear it. She had to hear him lay it all out. Her heart was still vulnerable from everything she had divulged since waking up. The bleeding cuts prolonging her torture that he was still going to walk out on her, leave her as she left him.

" We have a long fucking road ahead of us. " He breathes, his voice dropping as if to protect Emmie-Jo's ears. " We have suffered at the hands of each other, and that pain isn't going to go away in an instant. No matter how much we both would love to blink and it is gone. "

Here we go.

" Don't do that – " He growls. " Don't shut down on me again. I'm not saying no, I'm not turning away from any of this. So don't you dare shut down on me again. "

She nods weakly as she sees the vehement truth in his words.

" Just because we have shit we've got to repair baby. Doesn't mean this isn't real. You and I are the only two that can get through this and we'll do it together. We will turn the page, write a new chapter. "

" How ? "

Gods, now she sounded like him.

" We take it a day at a time. We're not the same people we were when we were teenagers and we need to relearn everything about each other and who we are together. So we go back to the start, we build a stronger foundation. And with the mating mark, I already know my future is with you. You and Emmie-Jo are my world, we just have some hurdles to get over first. "

Her head leans against his chest, her arms securely around his waist as she lets it all out. Her tears stained both her face and his shirt but yet they weren't out of pain. They were the promise of a new beginning, she was letting go of everything that stood between them on the promise that from here on out, they'd fight together, they'd fight to make it work. Their love story wasn't over.

It was just a new chapter.

" We're still going to piss each other off and fight, as we're dominant wolves. But we can fight this Trouble, I know we can. "

" Means we can't sleep together. " she teases

Though she could feel her wolf revolt at that. The animal inside not liking the fact she couldn't be near her mate in that sense. But right now she would take anything, even the smallest crumb of Paul's attention would show her that they could survive.

" Good thing I won't forget two nights ago then isn't it – "

She rears back and punches him in the ribs, laughing at his exclamation of pain as she slowly pulls away. Her tears slowly dried against her skin as she breathed deeply. The weight on her chest slowly dripped away as she reminded herself that they were going to make it. Her stubbornness already taking a seat in her veins and will, she would fight for him.

He was hers.

" Why did you tell me to stop loving you ? "

His head tilts as he regards her for a moment before sighing. " I wanted you to fight. I knew you could be stubborn when you wanted to be. And I... I figured telling you to do that, that my heart was closed off to you would make you fight. Make you fight for what we are, and prove to me, that it was real. That we were real. "

She really had done some fucking damage to him, every small insight into his pain reminding her of such. She was the one who left, she never returned. And whilst he didn't reach out either, she was the one that could have. She could have used Sonny or anyone to send a message.

But that time was passed, now it was time for them to repair what they'd damaged. What she'd damaged.

" Fight huh, Nah I just bite you instead – "

She's saved from whatever response was forming in his throat by Emmie-Jo making her presence known. The toddler pulled on their legs as she looked between them, curiosity brimming in her jade eyes. Smiling, she leans down picking up the toddler and watching as Emmie-Jo throws an arm over Paul's neck before doing the same to hers. Chuckling, Paul adapts to the weird hug as he leans his head against the two of them.

She's hit once more with her dream, the dream of how her future could play out and despite Paul's words confirming it, it's in that moment that she truly sees it. That the two of them were her future, and any other kids they had, but this was what she had been running from. Though if she truly thought about it, she hadn't been running away, she'd been running towards.

She'd taken the long path but her life would have always brought her back here, back to Paul. She could only shove the emptiness away for long before it would have swallowed her whole and brought her back. Or maybe it was hopeful thinking that in some way she would have found her way back.

A tap to her hand has her releasing Emmie-Jo to Paul's arms and she leans against the damaged counter as she watches the way he moves with her daughter. Each step so natural as though he'd been doing it since she was a child, yet she could see the apprehension burning within each of his actions, as though he was scared he was going to hurt her. Scared that he was going to blink and she'd be gone.

Skylar knew the action, she'd been doing the same ever since Emmie-Jo had been born, scared that her ray of light would be extinguished if she moved wrong. It was something she'd carried for days and it had been Bella that pulled her out of the bottomless pit she found herself in.

" What are you thinking so hard about mama ? "

Blinking, she looks at Paul and shrugs. " Just how scared I was to be a mom. Still am if I'm honest – "

His scoff has her raising an eyebrow in his direction. " Baby, you're already doing a better job than both of our parents. Trust me okay, you're doing fantastic. "

Her eyes roll playfully at his words as she pushes off the counter and heads towards the living room. Lowering her tall frame to the floor beside Emmie-Jo, she lets the contentedness of being with her daughter and her mate settle the rest of her worries. They had a long way to go, god she wasn't blind to that, but this moment here as the two of them entertained Emmie-Jo was enough to help her breathe.

This was her family.

Soon laughter begins to bleed through the large room as they help Emmie-Jo read her book, Paul making fun of some of the characters and giving them their own voices, leading to the toddler hitting him with the book more than once. It was the most absurd sight she had ever seen, and yet it was also the best. Something she wished would last forever and thankfully would inside of her mind.

A soft growl builds in her chest as the obnoxious ring of her cell phone rings out, the high pitched tone hurting her ears for a moment as she grabs it. An eyebrow quirking as she sees her pack mate's number flashing on the screen.

" Ryker – " she growls the moment the call connects. " I don't have patrol till this afternoon and no I am not covering one of your shifts again. "

A strained chuckle meets her ears. " Trust me, boss, I wish that was why I was ringing. Look something has happened and we need 'ya. As fast as you can run would be preferable. "

" What's happened ? "

Immediately she's on alert, her whole body growing rigid from the tone of her packmates voice. The bone-deep tiredness that was leaking out the small speaker and into her senses was calling forth every side of herself and merging them into one. The fighter. She knew Ryker, he was normally so jovial that he could give Seth and Sonny a run for their money. But right now, he had her worried.

" Fuck – " he sighs. " Look it's hard 'ta explain okay. Just get 'ya pretty little ass here boss. We need 'ya. "

Wide eyes flick over to Paul knowing he could hear every word that echoed through the small device, his face impassive as he looks back at her. She could see something like resignation burn behind the dark pools of his gaze. The resignation that this moment of bliss was coming to an end, and that no matter what the two would always have other obligations.

Of a furry kind.

" Go Sky – " Paul comments, reaching out a large hand to wrap it around her free one. " I'll stay with Emmie-Jo till Sonny or Bella come back. Your pack needs you, go. "

She utters to Ryker that she'd be there as soon as possible and throws the phone on the chair. Leaning over her sleeping daughter she presses a small kiss to the crown of her head, dragging in lungfuls of her sweet scent as her wolf begins pacing in its cage, begging to be released.

Turning to Paul she finds herself in his arms, his lips pressing against her hairline as he does the same thing she'd just done to her daughter. His arms speaking words in huge volumes as they soak into her skin, reminding her that the conversation earlier had happened and he was truly on her side once more.

" I'll be here when you get back – " he murmurs, his voice wrapping around her like the softest cocoon. " Just come back to me. "

" Always – "

Leaning up she presses her lips to the curve of his jaw, lingering as she devours the taste and scent of him before she moves. Congealing to her full height she allows the energy of her wolf to ripple over her skin, so close to being released. Her mindset changed to the one she needed. And with a straight, one laned focus she stalks out the door, shifting the moment her feet hit the last step.

Shaking out her pelt, his hisses out a deep growl, saliva dripping off the sharp curve of her canines. With a moment to sort her mind, she pushes off her back legs, using every ounce of her power to move and find out what the hell was happening with her pack. Trepidation of a different kind begins to settle in as the silence of the connection wraps around her, once more she mentally curses the distance limitations.

It meant she was running blind, she was a soldier without all the facts.

- ʚɞ -

A / N : Reviews are love and highly appreciated- So I hope this chapter is what you all wanted. I know I got quite a lot of feedback begging me that Paul took it well and they started to move forward. So I hope this is what you all were hoping for. I'd truly appreciate your feedback on this chapter. I know it's short but I really didn't want to drag anything out.

In other news, the Sam/Bella story is now live - Twin Hearts - so if you want to read their wild ride, and the deviations from this story to spin the new one. Then please go check it out.