Chapter III: Sultry

Sultry definition: (of a person, especially a woman) attractive in a way that suggests a passionate nature

Paul's 2nd shift.

Almost two weeks later…

Bella can no longer deny the obvious anymore: she's lonely. What was worse, even being around with a pack member still left her feeling isolated most of the time. However, that wasn't their fault; each member of the pack had their own way of dealing with things while she had hers. She would never expect them to adhere to her more than they already had. But the loneliness was a concern.

It gave her more than a hollow feeling now. It actually hurt almost as much as to not be next to someone anymore. What could she do though? The pack was all she had.

Charlie was away almost every day, always working overnight, and still looking for bears. She had tried to tell him (without actually blurting it out) that it couldn't be bears, but Charlie had just stared back at her and not in the damning way Paul Lahote had thrown her way, but with a kind of sad, understanding patience. Her own father thought she was losing it. Well, of course she was losing it; her ex-boyfriend had been a vampire. Her best friend turned into a shapeshifting wolf. Phil, Renee's husband, was going to be signing another semi-pro contract. Stuff in her life was just going haywire and she was powerless to stop it.

Bella had lost touch with most of her school friends, but that wasn't really what hurt anyway. It was Jake. Jake, who had lately been almost always too busy with patrols, his own schoolwork, and taking care of Billy. He didn't have much time for her. Even on the three times he had come over to perform 'Bella duty' he had stayed diligent and focused, not really at all like the fun and sunny disposition she had come to know him as. Sure, he followed her around, but that could be defined as any loyal pooch. He was quiet. So quiet that for several minutes at a time during his stay, she had forgotten that he was there. His wolf had not only made him a protector, but also into more of an elusive guard and even less as a friend with each passing time she saw him. So much so that she felt as if she didn't know him as well anymore. He was changing right before her eyes. And she could swear that he was getting more and more massive. Soon it was doubtful he'd be able to fit in either of Charlie's house doors unless he turned sideways. But Bella would not have traded any of the wolf pack for anything. Again, they were all she had.

She loved when any member of the pack came over to watch her. Well, almost any member that actually came over. Bella had noticed that Paul hadn't been back while each of the other had been over at least twice. She tried not to let the realization that even with her subpar math skills that she had noticed that Paul Lahote was avoiding having anything to do with her, especially when it came to watching her for the night. Plus, the rest of the pack had noticed it, as well. With the exception of Sam, the entire pack had been pretty vocal about it. They loved her with all their wolfy paws and hearts, but some days when they would have to trade shifts with each other at the last minute because Paul hadn't shown up, it made the nights slightly uneasy. But through every night shift, whether Paul was there or not, Bella persevered through it all and it made her realize what everyone else in her life already knew all along: that she could and would be ok.

There was life after Edward Anthony Cullen.

As a result of this constant belief, Bella found herself actually combing her hair and showering more frequently now on her own, while at the same time mentally insisting that it had nothing to do with a certain buff and angry Quileute teen. Okay, maybe he wasn't the only reason. She almost never knew which teen was coming over to guard her during the night and none of their wolf counterparts appreciated her lingering leech smell even though she herself couldn't smell anything; however, it was a concession that she didn't mind adhering to for them. Now she always made sure to shower before any pack member came over though in her silent fantasies it would always be Paul that she was doing this for. She hadn't wanted anyone to be offended by her smell nor did she want them to feel the need to bring it up. Each pack member had subtle, but nice ways of telling her that she still smelled of the Cold Ones, but no one had been as clear or brash about it as Paul had been that first night. Maybe the rest of the pack was just more respectful or polite toward her, but Paul hadn't been, and honestly after Jacob, she wanted to piss off Paul the least amount as possible.

She had hated the things he had said and the scornful way he had said it to her once she replayed his last shift over and over in her mind, but he had had a valid point: she needed to get her shit together.

Edward wasn't coming back. She was fairly certain of this. Her vampire (or her newly extended, adopted) family wasn't coming back either. They had sided with their 'son' the moment Edward had led her into the forest to break her heart and then they had left the very same day. Whoosh. Packed up and was gone. They had left her here in Forks to rot like wet, discarded trash.

Well, she wasn't trash.

If someone like Edward had seen someone so ordinary and had dated her anyway, and Jacob Black was crazy about her, then she'd find another guy that would find her irresistible too. Well, maybe not irresistible. She'd settle for someone just liking her back like she liked them. Someone who wasn't Jake, of course. She didn't want another one-sided relationship again. She had been in one with Edward, though it hadn't seemed like it at first, and she refused to lead Jacob on. So, Bella settled within herself that the next guy she fell for and liked would have to at least like her back in the same way. That was the only way a relationship would work.

The life she thought she'd have as a vampire (or even the paramour love of a vampire) was over. That much was certain. And Bella discovered over the last few days, with pack members coming in and out of the house while Charlie was working, that she was kind of ok with it.

At least she convinced herself that she was ok with it. Hey, she still had work to do within.

Even so, she had to admit to herself that each day it hurt a little less to get out of bed. Bella still cried herself to sleep at night, but she breathed easier upon waking up. It also helped that Embry always left chilled cucumber slices on her night stand whenever he had a shift, likely learning the trick from his mom who watched nothing but soap operas all the time. Embry was so sweet, right under Jacob that is.

Bella contemplated getting rid of all the clothes that Alice had bought for her since they weren't even her clothing style to begin with, but she still found herself wanting to retain some of her memories of the Cullens as a whole a little longer. Everyone in the pack seemed to understand that part of her reasoning, at least.

Again, except for one wolf, that is. Bella didn't even know why she cared so much. He hadn't been around anyway.

Too soon it's Paul's supposed turn at the pack rotation, again. Or so that's what Quil had told her when he had left her this morning, anyway. She had jitters for the entire day, dropping more things than usual even for her. At least she had stayed upright in the shower.

By the late afternoon, Bella had taken a personal vow to try to be nicer to him the very next time he came over, if he ever did come over again. It hadn't seemed often that Paul didn't get his way within the pack even if he wasn't technically top dog. When a knock sounded at the kitchen door, she felt a large lump move in her throat. Relax, she chastised herself. You'll feel pretty stupid if it's just any other pack member besides him. Bella took a deep breath and when she opened the door, she saw both Jared, who greeted her with a pensive smile, and Paul with a menacing grimace as the former gently pulled him into view from his right. Jared was fully clothed, but Paul had on a pair of snug shorts and one sock.

Nothing else.

Bella felt her brows dip, but she shook off the feeling. Who was she to judge fashion? Maybe Paul lacked style, but he definitely had pose and presence in his simple outfit.

"Hi, Bella," Jared said brightly.

"Hey, Jared. 'Lo, Paul." She gave the second teen an uneasy wave, but kept a small smile on her face. Baby steps. "Guess I know who's on Bella's duty tonight," she tried to say in a joking tone.

Paul grumbled something intelligible that Bella didn't quite catch, but whatever it was, it made Jared cringe. "Jeez, Paul, come on. Not tonight," he whined. "You've weaseled your way out of three other guard duty shifts already and it's definitely your turn. I'm not on patrol tonight and I really wanna see Kimmy. Please?" he asked, full out begging this time.

Paul stalked past Bella and went into the living room, not saying another word. Not even an 'excuse me.'

"He's just a little grumpy," Jared said, sighing apologetically right after. "Went by his house to pick him up for his shift and he had some company over. A girl. They were in the midst of…ah," he cut himself off with a knowing smirk. "Well, ya know." Then Jared shrugged and hid his face like it wasn't a big deal. Bella's mouth dropped open a little. Oh…oohhh…. "Just be give him a little food in a bowl and leave him outside. He'll be cool," he joked.

"Fuck you, Cameron!" a voice hollered back from the next room.

"Paul, seriously, you've—" he began.

"And these borrowed shorts bind in the crotch, fucker," Paul's voice cut in as stalked into view. He stood in the living room's doorway, huge, imposing, and very red. His glare was pure rage. "Tell your girl she has my sympathies for dealing with someone so fucking inadequate!" he retorted maliciously.

Jared bristles but doesn't insult him back. He gives Bella a tired grin, determined to make it out of there in one piece and back to Kim. "Whatever, Paul," he says, trying to laugh it off. "Just wash my shorts before you return them."

Paul was unwilling to give up pushing his packmate just yet. His mouth tuned into a lewd smirk. "Think the store will let me exchange these shorts for some Men's next time, eh?"

"See," Jared continued with his stiff smile toward Bella, more resolute than ever to get the hell out of there before he had a row with the pack's best fighter. "He's fine," he insisted. "Same ol' Paul. Gotta go. Later, Bella." He left, pulling the door shut behind him. He had practically run away from the sure to be impending bout; however, he had left Bella alone with him. Great.

Bella sighed. Well at least her shower should be well received, she hoped. She proceeded to walk into the living room, expecting Paul to follow behind and either sit and watch some tv, or…well, do something. Nope, he was standing in the middle of the doorway, staring at her as she walked to the other side of the room. She saw his nose twitch and she visibly tensed. He noticed. Of course, he had noticed. His eyes had been on her the moment Jared had left. "Smells marginally better in here," he commented. "New air freshener or did you actually wash your ass?" he then asked nastily.

Okay, he was really in a mood. Didn't mean she had to give in to it. "Why do you assume I've done anything different?" she questioned.

"Cause I'm not ready to puke in your damn living room," he said back angrily. "Figured you probably put in some effort to clean yourself up for me. Didn't exactly keep my feelings on the subject to myself last time, now did I?"

She was taken aback. She had, in fact, showered before he came over and had even made sure that she had had enough time to do it despite her all-day butterflies, but he didn't need to know that. And he didn't have to make her feel bad about what had once been crummy hygiene a couple of weeks ago, but has since ceased to be a concern. "You don't know everything," Bella said forcefully with much more courage than she felt.

His hard lined face jerked and she thought she almost saw a hint of a grin, but just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. "Well, did you?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"Did I, what?"

"Fuckin' walk to the moon and back?! What the hell do you think?! DID YOU FUCKING TAKE A SHOWER FOR ME?!" he yelled.

Bella huffed out a breath. She really wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. She hated when people assumed something about her just because of one thing that they had seen her do. Yes, she hadn't showered in a while last time he was here. Yes, she was a klutz. Yes, she had gone out with a vampire. Yes, her best friend was a shapeshifter, but still, Paul knowing that he may have possibly been the reason for her renewed interest in being hygienic, that was too much for her to deal with. "Listen, Paul," she started with a groan, "I—"

Suddenly the house phone rang. Paul growled at the intrusive noise very loudly. She attempted to give him a stern look, but he looked away from her. And quickly. She had to admit, she felt the bite of that. Jeez and ouch. "Hello?" she said wearily, picking up the phone.

"Bella? It's Mike," a male voice said on the other line.

FFFFUUUUUUCCCKKKKKK…So much for losing touch with her school 'friends.' Bella tried to keep in a groan." Mike," she answered back instead with a fake, cheery voice. "Hi. What do you need?" She did not need him to call. She kind of knew what this phone call was about. For the last couple of days during her short shifts at Newton's, Mike had been hinting that he really wanted to hang out with her again, this time without the pretense of a group of friends to surround themselves with. No, he wanted one-on-one, and likely with tongue. Eww, she thought as the horrible rhyme went through her head.

"I'm cool, Bella," he said back, cockily. "Just wanted to see if you were free to go out with me this Friday? Mom didn't put you on this weekend's afternoon shift cause I told her that you and I were going to go out. Isn't that great, Bella?"

Bella gripped the phone handle and heard the plastic make a small noise. How presumptuous of the little turd, she thought angrily. Why did Mike have to put her in this position? Again? She wasn't interested in him and she never would be. Why didn't he get it? This was another one-sided relationship she didn't want to be a part of either. "Mike, no," she started, "Really, I couldn't."

"Come on, Bella," he insisted, a little whine in his voice. "I mean, you know, you got dumped. It happens to everybody. I dumped Jessica and she's okay with it now. It happens," Mike stated. "Girls get dumped." Now Bella could hear her own teeth grinding. "I'll take you out Friday. We'll go to a movie -just the two of us, "he emphasized. "You'll feel better and you'll make me feel better—"

Suddenly Paul appeared behind her and yanked the phone out of her hand. She had never even heard him come up behind her, at all.

"Hey, blondie," Paul barked into the receiver in a very deep, bass-y gruff of a voice. "I like movies too. How about I come too and I make you feel better?" he asked as he grinned. A series of surprised, babbled chatter started on the other line as Paul laughed cruelly and then replaced the receiver back onto the cradle. "Fucking pussy," he said, glancing at the phone as if waiting for it to ring again.

Bella's mouth went agape. She may have to put up with pack mentality and territorial pissing matches, but Paul had no right to be that vulgar or rude. Especially when it was her own phone. "What the heck was that?" she chirped out.

Paul's eyes set on her as they formed angry, honeyish slits. "That asshole had it coming," he muttered.

"You're one to talk," she snapped, surprising herself.

"You're right; I am," he replied back crossly. He wasn't going to take her irritated little bird noises seriously. "Telling off the marshmallow was the most fun I've had over here. It's not like you've been a barrel of laughs."

Bella's face fell. Maybe that's what the problem is. The pack had been coming over and had found ways to amuse themselves while she took care of housework. Quil had video games, Embry had TV, Sam had brought a book, Jared used his phone to talk to Kim through most of the night, and Jake…well, Jake had always seemed fine with just following her around, but Paul wasn't like that. She didn't know him very well, but had automatically assumed that he was going to act just like the other guys when he wasn't like them at all. She had put a label on him and had immediately tried to lump him in. That was the same thing he had done to her. She was such a hypocrite.

Well, she knew she couldn't replace the "fun" he had been about to get earlier before Jared had picked him up, but she had heard once that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. She knew it hadn't been Renee who told her; her mom couldn't cook.

"I have a solution," she said softly, "if you're willing."

Paul's eyebrow quirks a bit. There was something he could've added to her suggestion, but he kept his mouth shut.

"How about in exchange for some food – all you can eat and whatever you want to eat from now on—and you just behave? Will that work? For a plate of spaghetti and meatballs tonight and whatever you like from here on and out, just be civil. You don't even have to be nice. Just be civil," she repeated.

Humph…maybe the paleface was on to something. Wasn't what he had in mind to do, but Paul could adapt. Plus, if he had to admit it, his wolf was pretty hungry. If he couldn't fuck it or fight it, then eating food would keep him occupied.

For now, anyway.

Paul still hadn't answered her, but continued on with his hard, brownish-gold stare. Bella gave up, turning around and making her way back into the kitchen. She figured he would act accordingly once she started reheating food. She had made meatballs and spaghetti for Charlie's dinner and only had to reheat it. It had been enough to feed eight people (or one hungry werewolf) and she just started to put a plate together. She used what was technically called a serving plate, piling the pasta into a small mountain and arranged the meatballs while drizzling tomato sauce down the sides. Her kitchen was her own element. She was just finishing her own small bowl, pushing it aside with her other hand when she turned and almost dropped the serving plate of food; Paul was sitting in the kitchen, quietly watching her expectantly, but the hard blaze of hate was much softer this time when she looked into his eyes. She regripped the large serving plate and placed it in front of him. Paul looked down at the plate once, then twice, then picked up his dinner fork and started to eat without uttering another word.

She tried not to grin too much as she sat down across from him. She had finally figured a way to keep Paul quiet. "I'm glad you're here," she said sweetly, and she meant it. Within the pack, she knew the least about him. Of course, it burned her pride (or what was left of it) that earlier Jared had revealed that Paul had successfully avoided her and had even tried to get out of watching her tonight, but she just assumed it was because the last time he was here, she had really annoyed him with her not-washing. Now that he seemed to notice that she had showered and that he was eating her food, maybe this would bring the start of something akin to understanding one another. For instance, why did he insist on being so hostile to the Cullens—and to her-when they hadn't done anything to him? Especially since they were no longer around. He still seemed so angry at the world.

"Are you, now?" he grumbled while chewing. "And why's that exactly? Why are you glad that I'm here?" Paul mocked.

Bella gave a little shrug. "Well, I know it's not exactly any fun over here—I mean, not like what you just left, you know?" She stuttered and then backpedaled. She had no idea why she was so nervous. Maybe it was the way he looked at her. Or wasn't looking at her. His gaze went back and forth between her face, his plate, and the door, as if he couldn't wait to walk through it and go. "I mean," she continued uncertainly in a run-on sentence, "I'm just glad you're here because you're safe and sound. Being here is safer than patrolling, right? And—and even though your evening was interrupted and I'm sure she was a nice girl and all, you're still-sorry about you having to cut your special evening short, by the way. Did I mention that?" she finished meekly.

"'Special evening'?" he quoted. "What the fuck is a 'special evening'? I was naked and getting my cock sucked," Paul admitted nastily. "There was a very warm mouth surrounding my dick and now—" he stopped short and began to shiver. Bella saw his mocha skin redden and his lips fold under themselves. His eyes sparked from hazel brown to a lightening blue-white shade in the span of a blink. Once he seemed to have control over himself, he stopped his movements completely. Just stopped. It was like the calm before the storm. "Fuck do you know about sex, anyway?" he snarled. "The only thing that you've ever had inside of you is a cold, dead piece of rod. Never met a girl that was into necrophilia, but it's not surprising, you being a paleface and all. You're a sick, fucking girl to want to have that inside you."

She regarded him with an incredulous stare and suddenly felt the need to explain to him, if for no reason than to make him understand. Or at least not have him so mad. "Well," Bella started, "Maybe I don't know a lot about sex since Ed—Ed-Edward," she grounded out, "And ma-ma-maybe it was kind of old fashioned for him to want to wait for marriage an-and-everything, but it's not like I didn't try to have sex with him." Christ, she felt so awkward. "I'm a quick learner," she continued to prattle on. "Or at least I-I think I'd be a quick learner. I mean I'm pretty smart, I think. I totally figured out Jake's secret by myself and-"

"Hold the fuck on," Paul interrupted. Had she just said what he think she said? "Did you just say that that fucking sparkle-fairy was waiting until marriage?" he scoffed incredulously. "And you think you'd be a quick learner? You a fucking virgin?!"

Bella's eyes went wide. "Um…well, I'm…" she faltered. Crap, her non-answer was all the confirmation needed.

"Fuck outta here!" he roared in laughter. "Holy shit, even a fucking corpse won't sleep with you. I thought Black was just dealing with sloppy vamp seconds, but you're a…" he started to turn his face away, but the mirth on his face was still evident. "This is fucking hilarious."

Bella's face turned pink, but at least he had changed tactics and was now laughing instead. But it wasn't funny. "It's not funny," she insisted. "Ok, so I'm a virgin. Or, you know, at least not as experienced as others, but I am admitting to it."

"The hell it ain't funny," he said back, but secretly he's intrigued. Even his wolf was listening. Just why he was, he didn't know. He's met virgins before, of course, but unless they were like 12 and under, they started becoming things associated with myths and legends. Like unicorns. Then again, he was a giant shape shifting werewolf assigned to protect a very blah-ordinary human girl that had a knack for finding supernatural creatures that wanted her dead.

"Listen," she started huffily, "I'm getting—"

"Forget it. Ain't my concern," he announced tiredly, and now bored with the subject. Fuck this, man, who the fuck cares if she's cherry fresh, he thought. Paul shifted in his seat and his eyes went back down to his plate. What the hell was the point in all of this anyway? Once he killed that roaming vampire who had this chick in her cross-hairs, he would be back to doing women that knew very well what they were doing and doing it to him. Repeatedly. That was all that mattered. "Fuck I care if you fuck an icicle or whatever you shove up there. It's your fucking vaj."

She gave a quick dip of her head as he went back to eating. Maybe she had started the conversation wrong with him. He seemed so quick to anger, laugh, and then shut it off again without stopping for breaths. Maybe she should try a different tactic to engage him in. She really needed to get a handle on her emotions. She sighed, trying to get rid of the anger still in her shoulder and shrug off his insults about her chastity. "So," Bella tried restarting. "Was the girl you were, like, doing that with your girlfriend or something? How long were you guys going out?" she inquired, honestly curious. She had been with Edward for a while and it seemed like all they had ever done was kiss and a mild sort of petting. Other couples seemed to dive right in. Angela and Ben were together less than two months and they were already having sex. Ben even came over when Angela babysat the twins simply because that's when her parents left and the twins were still young enough to not tattle on their big sister.

What the actual fuck?! Is she really trying to get personal with me? Paul refocused his attention back on her once her questions were finished. He was more than halfway done with his plate and was thinking he'd get back up for seconds. Maybe even thirds.

"Listen leech-lover," he stated irritably. "I don't know what you think this is, but it isn't, alright? I don't like you. I'll never like you. I think you're worse than a vampire; you're the very sad parasite that feeds off the leftovers from another parasite." Paul then resumed his eating, his heated glare still on her as his hand with the fork continued moving.

Bella is stunned for a second, but then shakes her head in irritation.

The confidence she was feeling may have come from the recent shower right before he came over, the fact that he had already insulted her (repeatedly), her inner-Jake taking hold of her, or simply she had picked just this particular time to put on her big girl panties, but she definitely had a little more confidence now. And she was pissed at his words. Really pissed. All she wanted to do was find out more about him so that she could make this whole inconvenience a little less unpleasant for him, but he seemed determined to be as miserable as possible. And to make her miserable about it too.

"Well," Bella said tersely. "At least this leftover, sad, parasite-lover can feed an asshat of a werewolf, right," she says bitterly and feels her cheeks glow at her usage of a curse. "I truly am sorry that your night was ruined, but this hasn't been a picnic for me either or any of your other packmates. Everyone has to make sacrifices at some point in their lives and as gorgeous as you are, you have to make sacrifices at some point too."

Huh? Paul couldn't help but think, did she just say I was gorg-?

"Charlie—the police chief—is out there hunting what is essentially your pack, your fellow wolf brothers, while you guys are hunting Victoria," Bella kept on. "Everyone is finding ways to cope without being totally mean except you!" She gave him a pointed look. "Embry can't be with his mom, Jared can't be with Kim, Jake is—"

"Yeah," Paul broke in snidely. "What's Black lost—"

"Don't interrupt me!" Bella snapped in fury, this time not allowing fear of him or doubt about her own self-worth stop her from getting out what she needed to say to him. She didn't care how pissed he got. She would not continue to let him treat her this way any longer. "The point is that you're so mean and you're pushing the wrong people away. I could've been your friend. I wanted to be your friend. I don't care that you turn into a wolf or that you're really horrible to almost everybody, but I've been nothing but nice to you and all you do is call me names, make rude comments about my smell, and my taste in men. Maybe I'm not perfect, but you're far from perfection yourself, Paul."

Paul looks taken aback for half a beat and he stifles a laugh. Well, I'll be, he thinks a little smugly. She may not be so fragile as he once thought. She even said my name. Kind of hot.

Still fuming mad and feeling herself shake as she stood up, her angry glare settled on the for once quiet, moody adolescent in the kitchen. "At least say thank you before you go back outside," she continued her rant. "Wouldn't want you to suddenly become hospitable or have any gratitude. Definitely don't say a word to the parasitic, useless girl that's feeding you. And didn't your mother ever tell you not to insult the person that's handling your freaking food?!" Bella would never even think of doing anything to anyone's food, even if it was Lauren herself, but again, Paul didn't need to know that. "And wipe your feet—including your one sock foot-next time you come in here cause this isn't a damn barn!" Bella snaps, her fury and annoyance on a role.

She then moves from the table toward the steps, her appetite forfeited, and as she huffs up the stairway, she puts her hand on the banister while sighing heavily. "Leave your dishes," she commands. "I'll clean them later, but I don't want to be around you right now." She may have been upset with Paul, but she couldn't live in a house with dirty dishes in the sink overnight. She didn't care how mad or offended she was. "Have yourself a goodnight," Bella throws out without turning back around to look at him.

Paul watched her backside as she petulantly stormed the rest of the way upstairs and heard her slam her bedroom door. Shit, she just cussed. Twice. Bad ass. Paul mused. And he kind of can see her point even through a little bit of his annoyance. So sensitive, he thinks. Oh well, at least she smells better. Wait, she actually smelled better.

Maybe he was a bit crass. Ok, more than crass; he was an asshole. He'd been called that by everyone for most of his life and he had never let it affect him, but this time, for some reason, it actually kind of bummed him out. A girl he didn't like actually had wanted to be his friend, but now didn't seem to want to be his friend anymore because he was a dick. There had been plenty of girls who liked him on sight and then still continued to pursue him regardless of what he said or did to them, but not this one. This one, a vampire loving human actually told him off. Said he was a pain to his packmates and to her. That he had to make sacrifices just like everyone else despite being a shapeshifter. Ok….

She had called him gorgeous. Sure, she was ranting, but he had her call him gorgeous and she hadn't shied away from him even when he was angrily yelling in her face. Paul didn't care what she did or didn't say—he knew that Bella had showered because of him. Because of him. Maybe he wasn't the only reason, but he knew for a fact that his other packmates had disliked the smell of her a couple of weeks ago but no one had had the courage to say something except for him. And now she had bathed. Regularly, from the new fragrance she was emitting. That thought alone gave him a bit of a glow. She had showered for him.

He shrugs his shoulders at the realization. She needed to be told the truth about herself anyway. He wasn't sorry for being the one to tell her. With that though, he eats the rest of the food silently and even eats the small amount left in her bowl. He can't help but sniff at it right before he downed it in one gulp. The sauce smelled like basil and something else spicy. Kind of like her, he realized with a start. She smelled a bit earthy. He wasn't sure why it appealed to him just then, but it was a pleasant aroma. Course her hair had smelled a lot better too. Maybe vanilla and fresh rain? Maybe she had just done her laundry or something too. Paul and his wolf always did like the smell of the forest after a fresh rain storm. You couldn't live in Forks, Washington without learning to at least tolerate the fast and brutal rain seasons that happened here. And Paul was no exception; the scent of new dew was glorious. He even liked the way the wet grass felt on his grey coat in the morning.

Paul shook the reverie from his mind as he got up and put his and her plate in the sink. He rinsed them and went outside. In spite of himself, he kind of liked the bossy side of the leech lover.

Later that night, him and his wolf hear pitiful moans coming from her bedroom. Again with this shit? he thinks. Goddamn it. His wolf buries its head under his paws to block out some of the noise. It was no good; he could still hear her crying. This time he couldn't help but feel a little bad about her tears. Wish someone would mourn me like that. He ain't even fuck her and she's crying over the leech like that? What gives? He didn't think any of the women he messed around with would actually miss him. His dick, sure, but not him. He couldn't blame them; he ran around the rez half-naked and then by the time he was in their bedroom (or wherever the hell they wanted him to be), he was pretty much an ass-while-naked. It wasn't fair that this girl still mourned over some git who had left her months ago. His wolf and him couldn't help but feel a little vexed at the irony of his very pitiful situation. And indeed, it must be a sad day in his life when he actually envies a vampire for having something that he didn't himself have.

He wished for a lot of things to be different. He even sorta wished that he could find a way to make Bella stop her crying. He'd even attempt the feat in a nonviolent way.

My name. The way she said my name. Torturous. He groaned from deep within his furry belly as he rolled over onto his side. Suddenly he craved her to say his name again. Repeatedly. Maybe he could even get her to say his name without her being so brassed off at him next time.