READER POV
The chirping of the crickets woke me up, and my eyes slowly opened, fighting through the dizzy fog I was in. Had it not been for the light coming off of the moon, I would have been in complete darkness, only feeling the prickling of twigs and grass beneath me. Why am I outside?I thought. But it all came back to me within an instant.
Paul left early this morning to head to the battle against the newborns, and I thankfully slept through the awkward encounter of him having to leave Chaz to watch over myself, Emily, and Kim. I knew Sam and Jared were nervous too, but it was for the best. Or so I thought. I could hear Emily in the kitchen getting some things together as Chaz sat at the kitchen table scanning through the morning newspaper. Kim was still asleep on the couch to the left of where I slept, and I moved silently on my tip toes toward the kitchen to keep from waking her.
"Well, well, well. Look who's finally awake." Chaz grinned as I made my way next to Emily. She kept her eyes low and continued making her tea. I could tell that Chaz was making her uncomfortable, and I agreed. I had only started feeling this way since finding out that he was a vampire. He still looked the same with his dark brown hair and dark eyes, but his presence now suddenly made the hairs on my arm stand up, and without the pack around, the feeling was surely intensified.
"Has the battle started yet?" I asked, now making eye contact with Chaz.
"Should be starting now. You slept for quite a while, Y/N." He responded. I looked back over to the living room and could see Kim slowly shifting awake from her sleep. I looked over to the clock hanging on the wall of the kitchen which read '2:00 PM'. Kim and I had stayed up practically all night worrying about the battle, so I wasn't too surprised at how long we slept, but I did feel guilty leaving Emily alone with Chaz for so long.
Kim and I decided to help Emily prepare dinner for the boys once they returned home, and Chaz stayed at the kitchen table fiddling with a book he pulled from his bag that was draped across the back of his chair.
We had almost finished with the dinner preparations as the clock hit 5:00 PM. The three of us had practically forgotten about Chaz sitting silently at the table and were feeling relieved that our boys would soon be back as we talked amongst ourselves. I don't know why Paul was so worried. Chaz was harmless and was owed an apology and a thank you for his help. Chaz paid us no mind while we cooked, but he excused himself for a moment to run to his car to retrieve something he had forgotten.
Once Chaz stepped onto the front porch, I suddenly began to hear a familiar tune playing in my ears, trapped within the kitchen space we were in. I snapped my head up from the vegetables I was helping Emily chop after finally recognizing the sound of my grandpa's ringtone on my phone.
"Hey! That's my phone! My grandpa's calling me. Help me look!" Emily and Kim wasted no time jumping to help me follow where the sound was coming from. As I approached the kitchen table, the noise became clearer. It was coming from Chaz's bag. But, why would Chaz have my phone? Why wouldn't he tell me he had it? I turned my head to the right to look outside the front window to where Chaz had drifted off toward his car a few moments ago, but saw no sign of him now.
"Where did Chaz go?" I frantically asked aloud to Kim and Emily. The two of them pivoted their heads back and forth between the living room, to the kitchen, to the windows, and toward the stairs before shrugging. Where could he have gone. The ringtone stopped, catching my attention to his bag once gain.
"Em, can you call my phone?" She nodded and rushed over to the wall phone hanging in her kitchen and dialed my phone number. She turned to watch the bag just as Kim and I were. Not even a moment went by before a new ringtone sound came from his bag. It was Emily's ringtone this time. I looked back at Kim and Emily who were now frozen in place where they stood. I crouched down, and looked at the bag, cautiously opening it before reaching my hand inside. I could feel the vibration of the ringing coming from on top of a few more books Chaz had stuffed in his bag. I curled my fingers around the phone, ready to pull it out before a sharp cold feeling around my wrist released the phone from my grip.
Chaz's eyes looked down on me from up above in my crouched down state, but those weren't his normal eyes. What were once a deep dark brown, similar to Paul's, were now a deep, dark, blood red. I remembered what Paul had told me about vampires and what their eyes colors represented. Golden eyes were vegetarian, like the Cullen's, and brought no harm to humans. But the red. The red eyes were dangerous. They weren't thirsty for animal blood. No. They wanted one thing, and one thing only. Human blood. My body broke into a cold sweat.
"Tisk, tisk, tisk, Y/N. Didn't your mother and father teach you to never go through people's personal belongings?" I tried to pull back from his grip around my wrist to no avail.
"Why do you have my phone, Chaz? "I questioned angrily. He didn't answer, but instead, turned his gaze to Kim and Emily who were still in shock from his sudden appearance.
"Ladies. When Paul returns back home, be sure to let him know that I have something he'll be wanting and that if he wants it back, he'll need to come and find me." My breathing picked up as I turned to Emily and Kim, realizing they felt the same fear as me.
"No!" Emily cried, as she attempted leaping to my rescue. I felt a sudden whiplash to my neck, as I was thrown onto Chaz's back, and saw the silhouettes of the landscape move quickly through the woods as Chaz used his vampire speed to get away.
—And now, I'm here.Was I alone? Where was Paul?
A rustling of the tree leaves above me was all I heard before a loud thud landed in front of me, revealing Chaz, who I assumed was watching me from the treetop.
I steadied my vision to Chaz and slowly sat up, leaning against the tree trunk behind me.
"Where am I?" I asked. "Why are you doing this?" I placed one hand on my forehead while the other steadied myself upright.
"All very good questions, Y/N. All will be answered in due time once our guest of honor has arrived." He paced back and forth in front of me with his hands behind his back.
"Are you going to hurt me? How long have I been out here?" I needed answers.
"No, hurting you would be too easy. Well, too easy without your precious Paul here to watch me do it. I find it to be more thrilling that way. But don't worry. If my calculations are correct, he should be here any minute now." His grin was evil, and it made me sick. I should've trusted Paul's judgement on Chaz, and I wish Sam and the rest of the pack did too.
"How do you know he's coming? What happened to your eyes?"
"Just as the Cullen's, I have a special power as well. Now, I may not be able to read minds or tell the future, but I can see things from far away, and watching from the treetops while you slept allowed me to see that he's a little less than 2 miles out. Didn't take him long which just proves how much he loves you. But it sucks that by the end of all this, he'll no longer have the love of his life. Serves him right after all these years of hating one another and him taking you away from me." He continued pacing. "And, the contacts helped cover up my true intentions. No one ever suspects a brown-eyed boy to be a human bloodsucker."
So, that was it. Chaz was in love with me, and having to witness me become Paul's imprint was enough to drive him to kill us both. I should have known.
The sound of a twig snapped behind me, and Chaz's grin grew wider- "Right on time."
A gust of wind blew past me as the frame of Paul in his wolf form jumped from behind the tree line and toward Chaz. Paul was caught mid-air and thrown forcefully to the side with ease.
"PAUL!" I screamed. Paul regained his stance, and his eyes looked over to me before letting out a small whimper.
"How rude. Not even a 'hello', Paul?" Chaz sarcastically stated as he moved in closer to Paul. "Where are the rest of your mut friends?" He sneered.
Paul growled at the insult and attempted another leap toward Chaz, but the vampire speed allowed Chaz to move out of the way just in time.
"Come on now Paul. I know you can do better than that." Paul lunged again, this time, being caught mid-air and thrown toward a tree across the open space. I heard his whimpers and tried to move myself up the tree to stand to my feet. I needed to help him before he got hurt. As much as I tried, the weakness in my knees kept me from fully standing, and I fell back down in defeat. I tossed my head back and felt the tears stream down my face. My eyes darted around the space as I watched Chaz taunt Paul and throw him around like a rag doll. I closed my eyes to keep myself from watching Chaz hurt the love of my life.
A warm, wet nuzzle tapped my left arm from behind and made me jump. I turned and saw Seth in his wolf form, crouching down low to the ground.
"Seth?" I was overly relieved. I checked to make sure Chaz wasn't watching me as I used my legs and arms to scoot back behind the tree to where Seth met me. He laid down low for me to adjust myself securely on his back. I looked around the tree again out toward Chaz and Paul to make sure the coast was clear.
"Going somewhere?" Chaz appeared almost out of thin air behind Seth as his arms gripped around Paul's neck. "Let her go now, or wolf boy dies. Don't test me, Seth." I knew that the pack had telepathy amongst themselves, and my heart began to hurt as I listened to Seth's whimpers. I could only imagine that Paul was telling Seth to run and to leave hm behind, but I knew Seth wouldn't do it, and I wouldn't let him.
"DON'T MAKE ME ASK AGA- "Chaz began to shout. His efforts were cut short as a mass of wind and force from the rest of the pack knocked him down and released his grip from Paul. Seth used this opportunity to turn and sprint back through the woods to Emily's as I screamed and pleaded for him to turn back around so I could make sure Paul and the pack were okay. Seth continued to run, and I buried my face into his fur and couldn't help the constant tears spilling from my eyes.
Seth didn't stop running until we arrived back to Emily's driveway. He lowered himself again to the ground, and I stumbled onto the gravel as Emily and Kim rushed toward me from the front porch, helping me up and into the house while Seth stayed, looking out to the forest, waiting for the pack to return.
"Paul…" I cried.
"He'll be okay, Y/N. But we need to make sure you're okay. You're covered in scratches, and your clothes are torn. Sit here." Emily instructed, helping me sit on the kitchen chair closest to me. She grabbed her first aid kit and tended to the scrapes that draped my knees and my palms. I kept my head down as the anxious feeling bubbled in my stomach. Kim and Emily kept silent as well, and I could tell they feared the worst.
Seth's howl from the driveway broke the silence, and the three of us rushed to the front porch, looking out into the darkness, awaiting the pack. Seth took off into the small gathering of bushes to the side of the house as he shifted back into his human form, and rushed back out just as Sam, then Jared, Leah, then Quill and Embry turned the corner into the driveway, also in their human forms, indicating that the threat was gone. Chaz was dead.
Kim and Emily rushed off the porch and over to the boys, but I kept my eyes on the corner of the driveway, waiting for the last pack member to show. The burning tears in my eyes came back as my brain was starting to piece together the no one else was coming. This time, I didn't fight the tears away. I wish this was a nightmare I could wake up from. This can't be happening.
"You didn't think I was going to leave you here all alone with these goofs, did ya?" My whole body turned back to the screen door leading into Emily's kitchen as I catapulted myself into Paul's arms, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.
"Paul, you idiot. Don't ever scare me like that again." I grabbed his face and pulled him into a deep kiss. "Thank you for coming to save me. I'm so happy you're okay."
"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Y/N. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to protect you and keep you safe for as long as I can, and today really made me realize that I don't know what I would do if I were to lose you. So, I wanted to ask you…. will you make me the happiest man in the entire world and marry me?" I was in shock and couldn't help the large smile that adorned my face.
"Paul, you just almost got killed by a vampire, and now you're asking me to marry you? Are you insane?"
"Nothing like a near death experience to make you realize that life's too short to wait for the perfect moment." I pulled his face back to mine for another embrace as I ran my fingers through his thick dark hair.
"Of course, I'll marry you." I finally responded.
He smiled and looked deep into my eyes- "And to think—-I didn't want an imprint."