Chapter 26: A 2 Week Business Trip

I reached over Paul to answer it, and I accidently placed my hand on top of his manhood, and it twitched from the sensation. That got Paul excited again as his eyes darken with lust again with his wolf back in control. He started fondling my breasts as I answered the phone. I answered the phone with a muffled squeal. Paul laughed quietly in the background.

I heard a young man speaking on the other side of the phone, "Hello, my name is Jason. May I talk to Mr. Lahote?"

I said, "Sure."

I got off from Paul and left him to speak to the guy as I got ready in the bathroom. I saw myself in the mirror, and there were marks of fingerprints on my thigh. Thankfully, I didn't feel any soreness around my lower parts, so I guess my body got used to it There was love bits on chest, and I blushed from the sight of that. I showered since I was covered in musk and sweat from the lovemaking earlier.

By the time I got out of the shower, Paul still naked was sitting down in the chair at the table, deep in thought. I called to Paul, "What's wrong?"

He said without glancing at me, "I got a really nice job deal, but I don't know how you would feel about it."

I tilted my head, "Oh yeah? Well, tell me about it."

He said, "Sam and I struck a deal with a real state relator in Seattle. Because we found out at the Makah Reservation thanks to Emily promoting us up there, Jasonheard about us. Certain group of contractors didn't show up to work, and he is desperate to get the houses built to be shown to the public on the date that he originally promised. The flyers, and appointments to see the houses have already been set, so he must finish them. He is willing to give us upfront $5,000 to me, Jared and Sam if we stay in Seattle for 2 weeks and finish it. Then, He'll give us another $5,000 if we finish certain amount by the end of the week, and if we finish the work on time, he'll give us $8,000. Sam'll would check in with Embry at night to watch over the Rez since there hasn't been much vampire activity lately, so it is safe for us to leave. There are enough wolves watching over the Rez. We don't all need to be taking patrols all the time. Jared will be taking the night shifts in our work as we take the morning shifts so that we can finish in time without superstition of our strength and speed. I would be gone for 2 weeks, would you be, okay?"

Oh wow! Is this what the spirits were saying that there would be fruitful blessings for mated claimed couple? Seeing that this is one of a lifetime opportunity for Paul and Sam's business to flourish, I said reassuringly, "Yeah, I'll be fine. If anything, I'll call you. Don't worry about me." as I caressed his hands. He grinned, spin me around as he kissed me passionately on the lips.

He said, "Thanks love. I'll have to go now so that I can buy the supplies that we need to build the houses, so we'll be leaving tonight with the truck to keep up appearances. When I finish, I can pick up few things at Seattle."

I smiled at him, and said, "Sure. I would like that a lot."

He ran off, putting shorts on with a white crew t-shirt, shoving a luggage worth of clothes, and took off with giving me a long smooch on the lips. He yelled out as he drove us in his truck, "If you need to go somewhere, take my old man's car, the keys are by the door. I will be checking on you, so have your phone with you at all times!"

I yelled out, "Okay!" as I waved him goodbye.

I went back inside and made myself a huge lunch. I ate more than I usually was, and I have no regrets. Sometimes it is nice to be left alone at home, doing as you please without anyone to judge. I took my bra off and walked around in shorts and Paul's t-shirt. I was eating a tub of ice cream, watching Star Wars when I heard someone at the door.

Curious, I went up to see who it was. When I opened the door, it was Leah with a big grin, beaming at me.

I said, "Hey?"

She said, "Hey, Sam, Paul, and Jared are gone. You know what that means?"

I said, "Uh, a girl's night out?"

She said, "Yup" as she stepped in the house. When she saw what I was doing, she arched her eyebrow at me with her arms crossed across her chest, tsking at me, "That's how you party with Paul gone?"

I huffed, "What. I am a simple girl, and I like doing simple things."

She said smirking with her nose crinkling, "Sure you do. From what I'm smelling, you are definitely not simple."

My face blushed, and she laughed at my reaction. She went to grab herself Soju, and she sat down. Took a huge gulp of it.

I said teasingly, "Ah so it was the Soju that you came for huh?"

She said teasingly back, "You got me, you got me hook these babies!" as she was chugging them down.

We both laughed, and she said, ".so what did you say to Sam?"

I looked at her confusingly, "What do you mean?"

She said, "Sam phased out of nowhere, and before I got the chance to read his mind, he alpha ordered me and Seth to phase back. I heard that whatever happened between you and Sam, it pissed Paul off and Paul attacked him, and it took Quil and Jared to pull him off. It was a scary sight. Part of the forest was torn down with all of the fighting among all four of them."

I said hesitantly, "Sam got pissed off because I told him off of how he and Emily have been treating you..It started from what happened at the party.. Now, I think about it. How come you weren't around with the girls?"

She stiffened once I brought up Sam, and she said, "I'm not an imprint, so..yeah and I went off to study for the entrance exam to get into nursing school..but, what happened at the party?"

I said, "Well..after the guys and girls separated, Emily immediately asked me why I 'convinced' you to not be her bridesmaid, and I told her gently that it was your decision to make, and I also told her how she have been treating you and Sam wasn't right. But, I guess she didn't like hearing that since Sam came to me yesterday morning, and I didn't like that, so I gave him a piece of my mind and he didn't like how he has been handling you and Emily."

Leah snorted, "The nerve of them! God, how did you put up with their bullshit so calmly? Damn, I knew Emily was a little snake, but no one believed me! They thought I was just being a typical bitter Leah."

I said astonishly, "Wow, no one believed you?Wow…I mean. Even if you were being bitter, but someone gotta be suspecting unless they were to scared to piss of their alpha."

She said, "Yup. It's about time someone tells him off. Everyone knew, but no one wouldn't dare to bring it up because they knew through his memories, how bad it was for him."

I said frowning, "Just because he had a rough time, it doesn't justify his actions. I understand him more, but it doesn't mean it was okay. It wasn't okay for Sam to dump you like that, and it wasn't okay for Emily to take Sam away from you, Leah. But at the same time, how he has been treating you, it was probably better that you didn't became his imprint."

She said casually, " Yeah.."

I froze. Should I have said that? Hopefully, I didn't rub more salt in her wound. Damn, I gotta be more careful with what I say. She became silent for awhile, and she said, "Thanks..you got more spunk in you that I thought.

I said teasingly, "Well I gotta or else, who would I be able to put with temperamental shapeshifters and be a peacemaker around here?"

She scoffed, "You got that right."

We spent the rest of the day, watching movies, eating a lot. She eventually left when it got almost midnight, and when she walked out the door, she said, "I'll be gone for awhile because I have an exam to study for, but if you need anything. You can call me" and she gave me a piece of paper with her phone number to it.

I smiled warmly, "Thanks Leah..I'm here if you need anything. I..may not know much, but you can come over whenever, and if Paul gets pissed about that, then he gotta take it up with me."

She nodded without saying and word and ran off to the night. Before I went to bed that night, I added Leah's phone number to my phone. I texted Paul good night as I fell asleep.

A week and half have passed by, and nothing much has happened. I haven't heard neither from Emily nor Kim since that day. It wasn't like I was actively ignoring them, but they haven't reached out, so I felt there was no point of reaching out to them. I have a feeling that I am being misunderstood, but I didn't care.

Because I haven't done much, I have been lounging around and being really sedentary. Paul would call every night to update me and check on me. Because he was so tired from his shifts, our conversations were short. Even though it was short, I appreciated a lot that Paul was willing to make some spare time to talk to me despite of how tired he has gotten. I would remind him of that, giving him words of affirmations since there wasn't much, I can do for him to show how much I care and love him.

There was one day that it got really hard to get out of bed. I just wanted to sleep and sleep to the rest of the night. I heard the phone ringing in the distant, and I didn't have the strength..or like the will to answer it. It just felt something heavy came to me and no matter how much I beat myself internally to take the phone call, I just couldn't it. It was like part of me didn't care that Paul would get upset with me later on, I just felt indifferent to everything.

Then, I heard a loud banging by the front door, and the bedroom room was slammed open. I jumped when I felt someone ripping the blanket off of me. I stirred and looked to see Leah looking at me. Her eyes were blazing silver at me, and she was sniffing around, looking at me with a confused expression.

She said demanding, "Why haven't you been picking up the phone? Paul was almost on his way back down here to check on you because he has been feeling from the connection, that you haven't been doing well the whole day."

I didn't respond, and she saw that I was still in my pajamas, so she said with more concern in her tone, "have you been sleeping the whole day?"

Looking away, I shrugged.

There was a pause, and she said with a softer expression, "What's wrong?"

I stiffened and croaked, "I don't wanna talk about it."

She sat in the bed next to me, looking away as she was clearly uncomfortable with comforting someone but at the same time, it was endearing to see. She said, "Why?"

I said trying to speak, "I..I" until I started weeping. Leah awkwardly pat me in the back, unsure what to handle an emotional me. Once I finished crying, she said, "Okay, you're coming with me to eat dinner at my place, you're not getting out of this dinner with my family."

I said, "Huh?" and she threw clothes at me. I catch it, and I quickly put on my bra and a blouse. When I put on my jeans, I noticed that it was getting tighter around my waist. I frowned and sighed internally. I really need to stop eating emotionally. I need to go back to working out again. I used to work out at a gym three times a week to manage my depression, but I haven't gone to the gym since I have been here, and with eating, being sedentary and not seeing anyone for days, most likely it had brought me to relapsing a bit. Sigh, I need to take a better care of mental health even in this world.

She said, "You heard me."

I got ready, and she took the keys that Paul said I could use to take us to her house.

I walked into their house, and the one who opened the door was Sue. She looked at me with a surprised expression, and she looked at Leah questioningly.

Leah said, "She is staying with us for the night."

Sue, not even bothered said warmingly, "Of course. Come in, Come in! Make yourself a home. Seth is in the back, playing videogames. Dinner is almost ready, so you two can.. hang while I finish. Okay?"

I said tiredly, "Thank you Miss. Clearwater. I appreciate it."

She waved her hand, "Call me Sue."

I nodded mutely, and we all walked inside.

Their house was a house built from the 70s. The walls were wooden, and there was a sliding door from the small kitchen to the wide living room with a dining room attached to it. By the kitchen, there was a hallway that led to four bedrooms and a shared bathroom. Most likely the parent's room, Seth's room, Leah's room, and a guest room that I will be in.

Seth came out of his bedroom, and he asked cheerfully, "Hi Ale! Wanna play video games with me?"

I declined, "No..its okay," seeing that his expression was falling, I continued, " but is it okay if I watch?"

He smiled brightly, "sure, sure! Follow me."

Leah and I went inside to his room. There was a pile of clothes at the corner of his room, a desk covered with snacks, a TV screen and game consoles. He had a unmade twin bed, and when he saw me looking, he said sheepishly, "haha..sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone coming in."

I said, "Don't worry about it."

I sat down on his bed as I watched him play Mario Super Smash Bros. No one can't help but interact with Seth and his bubbly personality. Little by little, I was starting to open up, and when I was about to ask if I could play with him, Sue called all of us to dinner.

I was incredibly shy, and I didn't know where to sit until Leah pulled a chair back and head motioned me to sit next to her. Sue had the plates laid out for us, and it was a huge feast. I looked at it with wide eyes.

Sue said bashfully, "It is to feed two growing shapeshifters, but it is not a problem at all! I love feeding my kids and the pack at time. Don't be shy, dig in!"

Both Leah and Seth ate as if they were famished, and we ate our meal silently which I am very grateful for. Even though I feel a little better, but my chest still feel heavy in a way. Once we finished eating, I went to help Sue to put up the plates, and when I was about to wash the dishes, she exclaimed, "No, no! Guests do not wash their own plates. Let me do that."

I stood there froze, and I said, "Oh..okay."

She shooed me away as she got started on the dishes, and Leah was waiting for me down the hall. She had a clean pair of clothes and toiletries in her hand. She shoved it in my arms, and she said smirking, "Go shower. Spirit knows you haven't showered today."

I laughed awkwardly, "Yeah…"

She also said, "Not saying you stink, but you smell..different. I don't know what it is, but not only you smell like someone who haven't showered in a day, but also sweeter too?.."

We stared at each other in confusion and we both brushed it off. I went inside the bathroom, and showered. Once I got out of the shower, Sue had the guest room prepared for me, and for someone who slept most of the day, I felt like I really need a good nap. I got into the bed, and I saw Leah leaning against the door.

Leah asked right before she closed the door with her head looking down, "..What happened?"

I sighed and turned over. I said, "..I just relapsed into one of my depressive episodes. I haven't had it in a while.. and I haven't been taking care of myself like I should lately..…so yeah"

I heard her say, "It's okay. .You got all of us now..Well most of us, ….so you don't have to go through it anymore" as she closed the door.

I whispered, fully knowing that she will hear me across the door, "Thanks, Leah."

I am glad that she didn't cuddle me up, but she wasn't brutal with me either. It just a right amount of push that I needed, and it was very Leah-like too. It wasn't too forced either, so I knew that I was seeing the real Leah little by little. Maybe I am seeing a potential Alpha female. Before I went to bed, I checked through my phone and Yup, there was 5 missed calls from Paul, and one missed call from Leah.

I didn't feel like talking to Paul, but I didn't want to leave him worrying so I texted him,

Sorry, rough day… Leah came, and I am at her place for the night. I tell you tomorrow.

I saw that I got a text from Rosalie, and it said, "Are you going to come to the wedding? It's tomorrow.

Oh..

Author's Note:

We going to finally see Edward and Bella's wedding. Is Jacob gonna show up there? Let see in the next chapter!

I am going to take the second vaccine for the COVID this Friday, so I don't know how impacted I am going to be afterward. I will try to send out another chapter by Thursday night, but if not, depending on how I am feeling after the shot, I will try to send one latest by Saturday night.

As always, reviews are very much appreciated.