"How to Put an Ex-Leech Lover to Bed in Five Shifts"
"Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us, but we can't strike them all by ourselves." - Laura Esquivel.
Synopsis: Can't beat the heat? Do you really want to? Good. Then learn how to warm up a former leech lover in five easy lessons from the very best. Features Paul Lahote as your main man-I mean wolf- and expert tour guide. In this short story, Paul is under strict orders to participate in Bella guard duty, and the pack doesn't care whether he likes it or not. Join La Push's residential hothead and vampire-hater as he navigates through Bella duty in five "easy nights" of seduction. Successful completion guaranteed or your money back. No Cullens, a little Victoria, no imprinting, and not much of an obsessive of Jacob. Mostly just fluff with B/P. B is slight OOC but not unrecognizable. New Moon, AU. Some language, sexual situations, blah, blah, blah. Short Story – 7-8 chapters.
Note: Paul does start off a little rough, but there is a HE to the story, I promise. If his words, mannerisms, or actions are triggers for you, then definitely stop.
Note #2: Also, only the original six wolves—that would be Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry, Jacob, and Quilt IV have phased so no Clearwaters or other pups. I think the Clearwaters suffered enough in the saga.
It's been a while since I even wrote or read anything Twilight except for FanFic, but let's see if the saddle still fits on this one.
Introduction: Cold
Cold definition: 1. of or at a low or relatively low temperature, especially when compared with the human body 2. lacking affection or warmth of feeling; unemotional.
Bella shivers as she sits on the cold floor of her bedroom. For too long she has felt the ache of lonely, her numbness blooming in her chest and traveling an unwinding path down her fingertips. She was so cold. And so tired. She always felt this way now, but her throat was hurting; raw and jagged from little use in the past month. The only use it had been to her was to wail and sob loudly from her bed. Or on her floor if she couldn't make it over fast enough. Cramped legs and the sound of her own chattering teeth kept her awake.
That and her broken heart.
She didn't know why it still hurt. She didn't understand why he too had left her. The pain of not being able to see her ex at school or watch him sneak into her window to stay the night with her left her so damn hollowed out that there was nothing for her here now. At least that's what she had thought. She didn't think she had enough feeling in her body left but somehow he had found a way in. She was already so pale that she was near translucent. Bella hadn't showered in days and she definitely couldn't remember the last time she had eaten a full meal. Just a nibble here and there had sufficed. She couldn't help it. In just as long as it took her to try and get over Edward, she had found Jacob. But now he too seemed to have abandoned her, as well.
What was wrong with her? She didn't know.
Jacob Black was supposed to be her sun. Her rock. He was supposed to protect her from her own self-doubt over Edward. He was supposed to BE SAFE! Bella knew she had been using Jake to make herself feel better. To make herself feel wanted. All that changed when he got sick with mono, which she later found out wasn't mono, AT ALL.
He had avoided her. Hadn't been by to see her or had even called her back when she took the initiative to call. It was exactly like being dumped and tossed aside all over again. Well, Bella wasn't having it; she had driven to La Push and to Jake's house, demanding to know where the hell he was and why hadn't he been by to see her.
And to ask about the dreams; the dreams about the wolves. She had already dealt with losing a Cullen. She wasn't going to lose Jake too.
Then she saw for herself that Jacob, her Jacob, was a shape-shifting wolf. A beautiful, shape-shifting wolf, but still, a wolf. He had saved her from what was sure to be her death from another pack member and then, once she was safe, had begun to explain where he had been the last couple weeks: hunting Victoria.
Hunting Victoria had taken him away from her.
Bella wailed loudly again into her hands, that crippling ache of isolation coming in as waves. Sometimes she could knuckle down and keep her bawling low, but other nights like tonight, it consumed her like nothing had ever done before. She tried to keep her small body still so that she wouldn't make so much noise as to wake Charlie up, but she was slowly losing the strength to hold herself upright, much less stop herself from crying.
What does it matter now, anyway? she thought mournfully.
Once Jacob had found out that Victoria was after her, his whole face had changed. He immediately declared his intent to talk to Sam Uley, the current alpha of the pack, to figure out what to do. And that was it. That was the last she heard from him. A week ago. At first Bella had waited patiently by the phone, but then by day #4, that plan had gone out the window. Much like the first time he supposedly had mono, Jacob had disappeared again. He wasn't returning her phone messages, but he wasn't at his house either. He wasn't anywhere in Forks or La Push. If Bella hadn't seen him change into his russet wolf that day, she would have thought he had taken a cue from the Cullens' and their version of Houdini by disappearing out of her life.
Bella wished with all that was left of her heart that Jake would tell her what was going on. Again, just what the hell was wrong with her? Why did every one leave her? Was Jake lying when he had told her that he needed to talk to Sam to figure out what to do about her? Hadn't he missed her at all? Even just a little?
She certainly missed him.
Victoria had a gift of escaping really bad situations while Bella had the natural talent of chasing people away from her. That's if she didn't warn them off by just walking around them; she was klutzy, living, breathing, calamity. She wished that she could find a way to escape too, but just like she was with walking, she'd probably find a way to mess that up too.
She wiped at her red, sore eyes once more. Now her vision felt scratchy. I'm so tired. Bella climbed back into bed, her eyes closed, and finding herself definitely too exhausted to keep her body upright.
Tomorrow would be day #8. At least she was relatively sure it would be day #8. So confused.
She'd call Jacob again tomorrow. What else did she have to do? That was the last thought she had until she drifted off into an uncomfortable slumber.
Chapter I: Raw
Raw definition: (of a part of the body) red and painful, especially as the result of an abrasion (like skin).
Jacob Black and Sam Uley appeared at the doorway of Chief Charlie Swan's kitchen door the very next afternoon just before his late shift at the station was due to start. Charlie had just finished grabbing a full thermos of the coffee that Bella had put on when the loud, but decisive knock sounded, jolting them both out of their routine but for much different reasons.
Charlie gave a small chuckle, but it dropped when he saw the still pained expression that his daughter's face wore. Christ, she looks like hell, he thought. Maybe I shouldn't start these overnight shifts. Then he shook his head. No, I have to do these shifts. The other officers have no idea what's causing all those missing hikers in the woods. Damn bears are at it, again. Once I have things a little bit more under control, he continued, I'll take some days off and spend some time with her. It's too much like when that Cullen kid left; it isn't natural to still be this upset over a boy.
He went to open the door. When Charlie saw the two serious faces that both Jacob and Sam wore, he had almost dropped his coffee. "Aye, Jake," Charlie greeted amicably. "Sam. And?..." He noticed there was a somber looking teen that stood behind them, head mostly down. Never a good sign when a teen came to your home that way. At least Charlie thinks it's a teen. He didn't know this boy. Had seen him around La Push, he thinks, but that was well over a year ago. Now look at him. Good hell, look at them all, he realized. His eyes widened when he noted how huge all three were, especially Jacob. What are you eating, Jake? This kid must've grown another five more inches since he saw him last. Just two weeks ago. He'd have to ask Billy what he was feeding his kid; that couldn't have possibly been all Bella's cooking.
"Charlie," Jacob said brusquely as he glanced anxiously behind him. "Is Bella around? I've got some news…" he trailed off as his eyes settled on Bella's tiny frame.
Charlie stepped aside as Jacob half trotted in past him. If Jacob and Sam had the young, unknown's man's company, then Charlie would trust them all around his daughter. For now anyway. He really needed to get to the station.
Bella turned at the sound of her best friend's deep voice filling the kitchen and all at once she felt gladness and joy again when her eyes fell on him.
"Jake," she whispered happily.
Jacob blinked and gave her a sad smile. She looked emaciated. Even more so than she had when that damn glitter-tick broke her heart a couple months ago. What was she doing to herself? "Bells," he croaked out, a grin still on his face. He would not make her feel bad about herself. He hugged her, careful not to squeeze too tightly. "Bells, honey, I…I've got something to tell you. It's real important."
As Bella nodded eagerly, Charlie cleared his throat. "Gotta go, kiddo, ok?" he said roughly. He wanted to give the two kids their privacy even though the cop in him was dying to figure out why the kids on the La Push reservation seemed so much bigger than the Forks football team. Quite honestly, as long as Bella wasn't crying, screaming, or in a stupor over that Cullen kid or Jake not hanging out with her anymore, then he was a happy parent. And he was glad that she was at least talking. "Don't forget to lock up," he warned thoughtfully. "Bears and all."
Bella gave him a smile. Now that was better. "It's not bears, Dad," she said. "And besides," she stated as she gave a quick glance at Jacob, "…bears don't know how to open doors," she finished lamely.
Charlie was in too good of a mood to notice the shift of her eyes. "Not if the doors are locked, they don't," he quipped. "Just don't forget, please, Bella. Night, all," he finished as he walked out the door.
Bella shook her head as soon as he left, giving her best friend a sad look. "Sorry, Jake," she began. "I almost blew the secret."
Jacob grinned brightly anyway. He could never stay mad at her. "Forget it," he insisted.
"I'm so happy to see you," she cried happily, throwing her arms around him again. "I thought you didn't like visiting me anymore."
Jacob shook his head but didn't say anything. She really looked ill. As if she hadn't been eating enough of the food she so willingly fed Charlie, his dad, and him. It had only been a week and she just looked so sick. And her smell was…well, human mostly. He could smell traces of dead, perfumed flowers on her clothes. Likely she had been wearing either her ex's clothes or one of the leechs had handled her clothing and the smell was still stuck in the fabric. Either way, Jacob felt the need to throw up. Or bite something to keep from vomiting.
"Jacob," Sam said in a heavy voice. "We need to tell her. Outside," he ordered. All business, as usual.
They all went outside. Bella then noticed that the guy she had slapped when she had last seen Jacob at La Push was staring at her with his dark, brownish-gold eyes. She startled herself at the power of his look. Bella watched as each alert flicker of the numerous golden sparks showed themselves whenever his irises contracted. She found herself moving almost mechanically just so she could see the sparks in his eyes dance; when she went right, his gaze followed. His own body movements were quick and quiet, not one gesture wasted. It was as if he were a perfectly running, efficient, killing vampire machine. With a dour face.
She really hadn't taken that much notice of the guy when she had hit him, but now that she had she realized that he was gorgeous. Literally, gorgeous. As if he had just skipped over beautiful and just went right to the adjective.
"Paul," Sam called out to the broody looking teen. "You cool?"
Paul didn't answer, his eyes glancing quickly toward Sam and then back on her, not leaving again. Her skin prickled under his watch. Was she supposed to say something to him? She had never really apologized for slapping him. Could that be it? Was he waiting for an apology?
Jacob sucked his teeth. "Asshole," he mumbled and then put on a smile for Bella. "We came to tell you something, Bells," he said again. "The pack came up with an idea on how best to protect you," Jacob lied slightly. The idea had been all his. "We took a vote," he pressed on. "And we decided that we're gonna guard you and draw the redhead out of her hiding place. It'll be round the clock and it's sure to work, honey."
Bella bit her bottom lip. Jacob's face was so eager and it's not like he had just abandoned her after all; he was here, with a plan. Albeit not a very good one, but it was something. "So, I'm like the trap?" she asked tentatively. "She snags me and then you guys get her?"
Jacob shook his head. "What? No, Bells, no."
Sam stepped in. "We're sorry, Bella," he said gruffly, "But it seems that's the only thing we can come up with. At least one wolf is going to be assigned to you, nearly twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week until she's caught. Mostly at night since that seems to be when she moves the most. Maybe she thinks we can't see her as well, but we can. We just haven't been able to catch her yet. She never ventures onto the rez and she's too damn cunning to get stuck on flatland, like a meadow. You're the only thing we know for sure that she wants and because of that, she'll be staying close to here."
"Where the food is," Bella adds, sadly.
Jacob put his very warm hand on her cheek. Its almost enough to shock her. "Won't let that happens, Bells."
Bella tries to smile at him, but it falls flat. After the two Jacob-hugs and just standing for the day, she was already exhausted. But that wasn't the pack's fault. They were doing the best they could with what the wolf-Gods had given them. She should be willing to help. She was, after all, the reason why Victoria was still around. "Sure, sure," she forces out jovially, her voice sounding better than she felt. "I get to be bait-Bella." She wanted to focus on something—anything—other than her loneliness, and if it also kept the pack and everyone else safe, then she was all for it. No more hikers would have to die.
Just maybe her.
"No," Jacob insisted, seeming to hear her inner monologue. "You get to keep staying safe. You'll have a long, mortal life with us at La Push," he joked. He hoped she would stay in Forks even after him and the pack killed this meddlesome vampire. Jacob was more than determined to take the leech down. Then without all the mandatory patrols, he'd have more time to spend with Bella. He'd have more time to make her see that he, Jacob Black, was the one for her. The only one.
"Good," Sam agreed, breaking Jacob's reverie. "Now that that's settled—"
"It's not settled," a voice called out. "I'm not staying here with her!" it then bellowed. It was Paul.
Of course, Jacob thought as his eyes slit dangerously thin. "Lahote," he warned his packmate through gritted teeth. If he fucked this up—
Paul ignored him, his eyes staring into Bella's. He stepped right in front of her, the movement so fast that it was just a dark and massive-shaped blur to her. Bella shrank back a little when he appeared. This close to him she could actually count each marigold hue-colored speck in the coffee-colored background of his eyes. His mouth curled into a sneer as his nose flared. Paul snorted. "Hope you'll at least shower when I'm here. You stink something fierce, leech-fucker," he stated cruelly.
"Watch it, Paul," Sam groused, not caring for Paul's blunt and animalistic nature. The kid didn't need to be his wolf; Paul was the howling, angry, majestic animal all on his own. "Remember what's at stake here."
"Yeah, her," Paul said irritably. "She's at stake. She's always at stake, isn't she, oh-great-Alpha?" He threw Jacob a wicked sneer. "And I'll bet this chick still won't let you fuck her after we kill the vampire trying to off her."
Bella gasped in horror as Jacob's cheeks actually reddened to the point where they protruded as mahogany tinged circles on his face and Sam slapped his huge palm to his forehead, at a loss for words. "It's not like that!" Jacob strangled out, but it sounded as if it pained him to say it out loud. "That's not why I'm doing this!"
Paul gave a snicker. "Oh please. You practically jumped into Sam's lap when you presented the idea of giving that one there," he said as he pointed to Bella and then continued, "round the clock wolf watch. And then you hounded Sam and the whole damn council until they agreed just so that they could shut you up! Damn, fucking hayák̩a,*" he spat scornfully, "Has you so fuckin' twisted up—"
All at once Bella was pushed back with one hand toward the house as Jacob let out a roar and shoved the other boy, hard, with the other. "Goddamn it, Lahote! That's enough!" Jacob barked at the other teen.
Paul let out an inhuman snarl and then exploded into a metallic silver ball of Lycan fury in an instant, his gleaming white chops snapping and growling toward Jacob and Bella. Sam was only able to move half a step when Paul turned on him, his entire pelt shaking under the afternoon sun. Despite having an almost seven-foot shapeshifting wolf snarling at him, both Sam and Jacob managed to look annoyed anyway.
"Don't you dare," Sam cautioned. "You bite me, Lahote, and you won't see one single muffin from Emily for at least a month and I'll put you on the roster every single day for the shittiest detail I can come up for the next two weeks," he further threatened.
The giant, dark grey wolf sniffed loudly with his long snout, and his eyes, now taking on the color of a startling Parisian blue sky behind the Eiffel Tower, resumed glaring right at Bella, not caring about the threat given by Sam or giving in to the murderous look of Jacob, whom she was still cowering behind. In spite of what she had just seen and how volatile Paul Lahote could get, she couldn't help but feel in awe of his presence; he was even more striking than he had been when he was standing outside her house with his head hanging low. She hadn't really been looking at him when he had come after her when she had slapped him. She had been too scared to fully face her attacker head-on before her Jake had leaped and bounded into him, sending themselves both into the forest in some unseen fight that she hadn't even known the outcome of until they had both shown up at Emily's not long afterward. But now she had had a chance to see Paul's wolf; she could even smell the cedar chips and the rugged, musk scent of what could only be described as all male and Bella knew immediately that it was Paul who smelled like that. That cobalt glow emitting from his eyes entranced her to the point where she was reduced to putty and single syllable words for the next few minutes of foreseeable future. Her mouth watered on instinct as her tongue formed the easiest word it could say.
"Wow," Bella uttered. Her fingers reflexively twitched as her breath held, watching the striking, beautiful mane of Paul's inky grey hair continue to sparkle even though he was no longer stalking toward them but standing very still. She felt the heat coming off his wolf's body even though Jacob tried to cover her with his shadow as much as possible. Definitely a perfect, running, efficient, killing vampire machine, she thought. He suddenly sniffed toward her again and looked at her haughtily before finally turning away from all three humans and bounded into the forest with two large, but graceful leaps. His wolf is so beast like, but not, Bella thought, still staring after him in wonder.
Jacob continued to vibrate in rage in front of her.
Sam looked immediately both relieved and weary at the new problem; however, now there was only one annoying adolescent to deal with. "Easy, Jacob," he begins simply. "You know how he gets-"
"Yeah, I know how he gets and so do you," Jacob snaps, interrupting the slightly older boy. "But this is important. Bella is important. Why'd you bring him anyway?" He fires off at him, angrily. "Why couldn't we bring Embry or someone-anyone- else?! Why him, Sam?!"
Sam swallows a retort. It's bad enough both Paul and Jacob fought each other and were territorial with one another as wolves, but now it seems to have spread to their human counterparts as well. It's not like there was a hidden army of shape-shifters on the La Push reservation as it was. Sure, there was enough in their pack of six, but sooner or later, both Paul and Jacob were going to be paired up together during patrol. He couldn't see why they both wouldn't just suck it up and come to an understanding. Oh, that's right; they were irrational damn teenagers he was in charge of. The wolf-Gods must be crazy. "Who did you think I was going to assign to take the first shift?" Sam fired back. Then he rubbed at his face, trying to calm his inner wolf down. He had to be the adult; he was Alpha. For now, anyway. He sighed. "It's been a week and we haven't been able to draw her out. No one wants to kill her more than Paul. Believe me. You know how he likes to kill things. He didn't even want to be on guard duty, much preferring to work a 15-hour shift by himself, continuing to hunt along the border for her. If he could have avoided this particular responsibility, he would have and believe me, he tried."
"That's obvious," Jacob scoffed. "Asshole can't stand being told what to do."
"He follows my orders better than you do," Sam smarted right back, this time unable to help himself. "Don't know if you've noticed what's going on, but this redhead is giving the six of us a run for our money and she's not slowing down. This is the best idea we've got and it was your idea anyway. We need Paul or that's a sixth of our team. He will come back. He always does, especially when I order him to."
Jacob blinks and Bella looks bewildered. Good grief, these two are naïve. They might very well be perfect for each other. Sam really felt the strain of responsibility, especially now. He was too young for this much teenage angst. He thought his ex, Leah, was a handful; Paul was ten times worse and easily the best fighter in the pack. At least until Jacob assumed his rightful place as Alpha. Even then, Sam knew deep down that Jacob would still have a hard time leashing Paul. He was too untamed. But he was also Bella's best chance to survive if that redhead leech showed up at her house. Paul Lahote was a lot of things, but he loved to fight and win. And he almost always won.
Surely that was what the pack needed: a win. Bella, a nice girl, albeit a supernatural magnet, klutz, and damn near honorary member of the La Push tribe due to Charlie and Billy Black. And her life was in danger. The pack had to do something drastic and soon. Jacob needed to realize that fact and grow the hell up. Sam knew that it would crush the future Alpha of the pack if something had happened to his best friend. Or if Bella herself decided to be more to Jacob, well, then that was on her.
"Apparently he's not following your orders right now," Jacob snidely replied once a few moments passed. "Better get someone else tonight," he added, breaking up Sam's furrowed brow. "I don't want him near Bella with that attitude, anyway."
Sam narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to repeat myself to you, Jacob. Bella is under the protection of the entire pack and whether you like it or not, that pack includes Paul. Deal with it. Just like he has to."
Jacob said nothing to this as he rolled his eyes, but he hugged Bella closer to him. Sam shook his head and proceeded to make a few phone calls to find a replacement while Bella tried not to cry inside of Jake's embrace.
"I can watch her tonight, Sam," Jake insisted after a few unsuccessful phone calls later. He was still clutching Bella. Sam shook his head as his phone continued to ring, this time making a call to Jared.
"No, Jacob," he replied sternly. "If it comes to that, I'll watch her myself tonight. You're already on the roster for patrol."
"Make that hothead be on patrol when he finally phases back to human," Jacob whined and made an offhanded gesture toward the direction Paul had taken into the trees. His shredded clothes were still littered on the ground. "He's probably halfway to Port Angeles by now anyway," he scoffed.
Sam nodded in agreement, showing his phone with a little more anger than the poor old, cell could take. "Fuck," he swore. "I'm staying tonight," he said, feeling more annoyed that Jacob actually looked pissed as if he were the one who took off. "Look, don't argue with me right now, Jacob. These are the kind of decisions you're going to have to make one day in my place, as Alpha."
"As Alpha, I would've thrown Lahote out of the pack," he said nastily.
"I'll deal with him later," Sam stated, a bit of Alpha-tone laced in the sentence. Then he sighed. He had known all along what Paul would likely be like when they got here to Bella's and Charlie's house and yet he had made the teen come with them anyway. "Don't think he'll be back this way until he either calms himself down by finding a fight or getting laid," he reasoned. "Either way, maybe it's not the best idea for him to watch her tonight after-all."
Jacob considered Sam's words. That likely would be the case. Either way, Bella was safe from Paul for tonight. Excellent. He wasn't keen on Paul staying with his Bella anyway. Sam was right; he had been hoping to get assigned all the Bella-duty guard shifts by himself. "Good point," he agreed even if that had been exactly what he himself had said about the situation. "She'll be safe," he vowed. "You'll be safe, Bells," he then spoke into the side of her head. "It'll all be OK."
Bella stayed quiet, trying not to cry again. Why was there always someone either mad with her or just plain leaving her for "her own best interest" option? Was she so pathetic that even a supposedly horny teenager didn't want to be around her either?
A/N: Thanks for reading the intro/chapter I
A/N #2: Hayák̩a* means "weak" in Quileute.