A/N: WARNING: some shameless smut up ahead, but this chapter does have some plot to it, lol. Again, please ignore any typos because I DON'T HAVE A BETA I'M ALL ON MY OWN OK lmao. Enjoy
Paul.
"She what?"
I chuckle and crack open another beer, my feet hanging over the edge of the roof. "She fucking threw sand at me," I laugh.
Jesse and I are sitting on top of our finished work – aka my house – enjoying a few well-deserved beers after a long night and an even longer morning. I had to tell him everything. Well, at least the stuff that Leah left out.
I kept things secret from Indie for weeks and Leah spilled everything in a single night.
I think she was trying to scare him off, because Leah is nothing if not self-sabotaging and destructive, but Jesse wasn't fazed.
You don't know true friendship until your childhood best friend punches you in the mouth even though he knows you could literally kill him with little effort. He was pissed I never said anything, but understood why I didn't.
"And here I was thinking you were the one with the anger problem," he adds with a laugh. "Actually, it was your fault, though. She's right. You could've avoided all that if you just told her like Leah told me."
I roll my eyes at him. "Your circumstances are different."
"How so?"
"I don't know, they just are."
He gives me a knowing smirk and takes a drink of his beer. "Cause she didn't bite me first?"
It takes all my strength not to punch him. I shove him instead and stand up to stretch.
There are no words to describe my relief that Indie wasn't upset about the mark, and that she accepted the whole imprinting thing so easily. I don't think there's ever been an instance where an imprint had denied it, but part of me thought for sure if anyone would, it would've been her.
The girls decided after everything to have a girl's night last night. With Leah imprinting, Indie's and my fight leading to my imprinting confession, and everyone being forced to get Jesse up to speed on the pack, they needed a break from us and had a lot to talk about.
It was good though, I guess, 'cause Jesse and I were able to talk and then started working on my house first thing this morning, which paid off. It's finally done.
"Wanna come to Em's with me and help move my shit?" I ask, chugging the rest of my beer and shooting it down into the trashcan on the porch. Now that I can show off, I refuse to miss an opportunity.
He rolls his eyes at me and hops up to his feet, downing his beer. "Get your superhuman buddies to help you. I'm still a mere mortal."
Laughing, we both push each other playfully and then scale down the ladder to my bedroom balcony. I flip the light switch a couple times, just because I can, and then we go downstairs and hop in the 4Runner.
I don't really have shit – just my bed, my TV, a dresser, and a couple nightstands – so I'm gonna have to hit a furniture store in the near future to start filling up the place.
When we get to Em's, the first thing I hear is Indie talking with Emily in the kitchen. She texted me a few times last night before falling asleep, but I haven't spoken to her today yet.
We walk in through the front door and trail down the hallway to the kitchen where Indie is sitting at the table with a cup of coffee – always coffee, even though it's almost 5:00 PM – and Emily is starting dinner. Indie smiles at me and Emily sets her cooking utensils down to give Jesse a hug.
"Jesse, how nice to see you."
Funny that the last time Jesse came to La Push, everyone but Leah met him. I wonder how things would've turned out had she met him then, and where we'd all be at now.
I drape my arms around Indie's shoulders and press a kiss into her temple. "Morning," I mumble against her skin.
She laughs quietly. "It's five PM."
"Evening, then," I correct myself with a smirk. "Why are you having coffee at five in the evening?"
"Probably needs the extra caffeine to deal with your bullshit," Jesse jokes, sitting across from her.
Emily has since gone back to cooking and giggles from the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I grumble. "Hey, my place is all done, Em. We came to clear out the room so you can finally get the nursery ready."
She turns around and it's hard for me to pinpoint her exact expression – some cross between relief and unhappiness. "I'm going to miss having you around for breakfast," she tells me.
I have to admit, I'd gotten pretty used to not having to fend for myself when it comes to meals. After my runs in the morning, Em was always up and cooking breakfast, and we'd talk and eat with everyone and then I'd do the dishes. It was pretty much the same with lunch and dinner. Always good food on the table and always with good company.
Being in my place is gonna be pretty lonely.
Indie leans her head back against me. "It's all done?"
I smile a little. "Yeah. Empty, but done. Wanna see it after dinner?"
She nods and I place another kiss on her forehead before rounding Jesse up to get my stuff.
We end up having to tie the bed on top, but the dresser manages to fit in the 4Runner on its side with the seats down, and the nightstands just barely fit in the floor space behind the front seats. I'll get the TV later, because I'm not risking it potentially breaking if I try and take it now.
Jesse helps me get everything to the master bedroom upstairs and then we drive back to Emily's good and hungry.
Indie has taken over cooking and Emily is sitting in one of the chairs at the table, rubbing her stomach and taking slow, even breaths.
"Shit, are you in labor?" I ask loudly, rushing over to her side.
She just laughs and shakes her head. "No, they're false contractions," she replies.
"How can they be false contractions? Either they're real ones or they nothing."
"You worry too much, Paul."
So maybe I'm a little protective when it comes to Emily's baby. Fucking sue me.
"Can you go get Leah and Sam? They're talking on the back porch," Em says, touching my forearm and then putting her hand back to her belly again.
My eyes flick to the back door, then to Jesse who is also staring at the back door. "Yeah, sure," I mumble, standing up and walking over. I pull the back door open and see Sam and Leah sitting in the grass, watching the water.
They're in deep conversation and don't even hear me open the door. I'm about to yell at them when I catch a piece of their conversation.
"I understand now, Sam, and I'm not angry anymore. It wasn't either of our choices, but it was the right one."
"Leah—"
"We'll always love each other, but we both have someone we love more now, and that's okay."
"I'm glad you found him…"
I smile to myself, pulling the door shut and opening it again much louder this time. "Food's done!" I shout to them. Both their heads turn and Sam nods before standing up and offering Leah his hand, pulling her up as well.
There's a sizeable dish of lasagna in the middle of the table, a big bowl of green beans, a large salad, and bag of grapes. Emily is still rubbing her stomach when Sam joins her, his hand resting over hers.
I glance at Indie. Not that I think I'm in any way, shape, or form ready to be having a kid, but I briefly wonder what she would look like growing with my child. Does she even want kids?
"Romeo, you gonna sit or what?" Jesse asks, Leah smirking from where she's sitting on his lap.
Those two moved right into it.
Kinda reminds me of Kim. Jesse didn't bat a fucking eye or question any of it, now that I think about it. We all just came clean and confessed because we felt like we had to, not because he asked. Same thing with Leah – she just put it all out on the table and let him make the next move.
I take a seat next to Indie and chew on my lip, watching Jesse. I don't know why I'm suddenly so suspicious, but something seems weird. I'll have to ask him later if one of the guys let it slip the last time he was here or something.
"Are you okay?" Indie asks, picking up my plate to pile some food on it.
It's cute. I could've done it myself, but I think it's sweet she did it. "Yeah, just starving," I lie. Well, half lie.
It's one of the most relaxed dinners I think I've ever had when it comes to Sam, Em, and Leah being involved. Zero tension. Zero arguments. Zero passive aggressiveness. Just… kinda nice. Everyone joked around and laughed and had a good time, then we cleaned up and hugged it out before leaving.
My TV is wrapped in a spare comforter in the back of my car, Indie's curled up in the passenger seat with her hair tied up in a messy bun, and Jesse went back with Leah to hang out for a while.
The automatic porch light comes on when we pull up to my place. Indie smiles at me from the passenger seat and climbs out, making a beeline for the deck.
"You have lights!" she laughs, looking over at me.
I hop out of the car as well and jump up with her. "Yeah, finally."
She gives me that look and I have to grab her wrist and pull her into me, cupping the back of her neck and drawing her lips to mine. She hums against my mouth and her hands slide up my chest and link together at the back of my neck.
It's never enough. I'm always diving deeper for more of her.
I part her lips with my tongue for a taste of her honey breath while my hands slide down to grip her waist and draw her body closer.
She carefully breaks the kiss and looks around at the darkening forest surrounding us. "Can we go inside?" she asks softly, breath barely above a whisper.
I nod and link my fingers with hers, leading her to the front door and inside.
The house is so empty it echoes as we walk through it. Doesn't look much different from the last time she was in here, only it's got light now and some paint on the walls. The master is haphazardly put together – the bed shoved against the wall with a nightstand placed unevenly on each side, and the dresser up against a side wall. It's empty, but it's a room.
And at least I put clean sheets on the bed and washed the bedding last night.
Indie looks around the room and runs her hand over the edge of the bed, giving me an amused look.
"Oh, fuck, I'm not insinuating anything, it's just the only room with furniture," I say lamely, rubbing the back of my neck.
Not gonna lie, though, all I can think about right now is throwing her tiny body on my bed and having my way with her.
"It looks cozy," she says. "Where's the rest of your furniture?"
"I don't have any."
She gives me another look. "None?"
I shake my head. "I probably should've thought about that, huh?"
"Yeah, probably," she plays along, head nodding slowly. "But at least you have a bed."
"Mhm…"
I watch her stalk around the bed, delicate fingers trailing over the comforter. When she reaches the other side, she glances at me and starts walking back again, holding my gaze.
The hunted hunting the hunter.
She walks over to me and places her hands against my chest, looking up at me from under those pretty eyelashes. "Beds are good for a lot of things," she murmurs.
"Yeah?"
Her eyes look at my lips and I can feel my resolve breaking.
I told myself after the other night that I wouldn't treat her that way again. I told myself to be careful with her, be gentle with her. I told myself to let her take the lead and follow without challenging her.
But here we are: that look in her eyes and my wolf growling in my chest.
God damn it.
Indiana.
I can tell he's holding back – trying his hardest to keep control over what he wants. I can feel it. Feel it through the tense muscles of his chest. Feel it through his darkening, heavily lidded eyes. Feel it in the air.
For once, the stalker is enjoying being the prey.
"I know you think you're the big bad wolf, but you're really just a puppy," I say quietly, fingers crawling to tangle in his hair and tugging at it for emphasis. "Unsure and worried you'll break me."
He falls victim to the challenge, eyes boring down at me in silence, jaw set in a hard line.
My teeth trap my bottom lip. "I survived you once. I can survive you again."
He growls and crushes his lips against mine, the fever from the other night returning. Excitement rushes through my body and he lifts my legs around his waist with ease, never letting our kiss break until he tosses me onto the bed. He stands there, chest heaving and eyes dark, planning his next move.
I don't wait for him. I sit up and drag my shirt over my head, tossing it to the side without a second glance. I wore a bra and panties today – something for him to take off this time, something for him to unwrap.
He still doesn't say a word, just stares at my newly exposed skin, swaying slightly on his feet.
The hunter is back.
Something about the chase is exciting, even for me. I want to taunt him, egg him on, but there's already so much electricity in the room it might become hazardous if I do.
I lay back down, submissive, and carefully undo the button of my jeans. He's still fully clothed and I'm here stripping for him without as much as a blush on my cheeks. Being under his gaze is where I belong – where I feel alive.
My hands push my jeans just past my hips before he suddenly grabs at the legs and tugs them the rest of the way off. A small squeak slips past my lips and he eases himself on top of me, his legs on either side of my thighs, trapping me.
"Are you sure…" he trails off, pressing his hand firmly against my stomach, his fingers splaying at full capacity. His hands are so large his fingers graze the curves of my waist.
There's something thrilling about being held so intimately by the hands of someone that could easily kill you, but never would. His strength is masked behind calloused hands and that tantalizing gaze.
All I can do is nod. My words are gone. There's nothing but electricity and anticipation left in my body.
He shifts one of his legs between mine, forcing them apart with his knee. His faded jeans are barely enough to keep what I know is behind them contained. I can see the bulging outline against the zipper of his jeans and a shudder runs through me when I think about how heavy he felt in my hand the other night.
Josie wasn't lying – he is huge, not that I have anything really to compare him to.
His tongue slides out to wet his lips, eyes fixed on mine as his hand slowly twists and his fingers start to dip beneath the pale lace of my underwear. When they reach my aching core, he leans down and catches my mouth as he presses two fingers into me.
My hands move to his shoulders, nails pressing in slightly and mouth parting to let his eager tongue slide in. His fingers get right to work, curling in and out of me and pressing as deep as my body will allow them to.
My breath leaves me in a gasp.
His lips move along my jaw down to my neck. When they reach the tender bite mark on my shoulder, his tongue presses against it and I wasn't even close to coming yet but now my body is suddenly tightening around his fingers and my toes are curling from the white-hot pleasure of my release.
"This mark has more than one use," he mumbles against my skin, and searing heat spreads through my entire body.
His lips move up to my earlobe and my desperate hands try to push him back to my neck, try to convince him to tease that mark again, but he refuses. I feel him smirk against my skin and his fingers slide deeper. They keep moving at a perfect pace, curling against that spot, drawing out my weak moans and coaxing the wetness from inside of me.
My limbs already feel like limp noodles, but I manage to get enough control of my hands to move them shakily to the button of his jeans. I yank it open and pull down the zipper, reaching inside to wrap my fingers around his length.
His lips press to mine again, body curving over me and hips pushing his length through my fingers.
"You know," he murmurs breathily against my mouth, "as much as I don't want to admit it, it turned me the fuck on when you were throwing sand at me last night."
I whimper into his mouth and tighten my grip around him. His soft skin glides easily through the tunnel of my fingers and I can feel every vein, every ridge against my hand as his hips move.
"I want you," I moan, pulling away from his mouth to lean my head back.
He – thankfully – doesn't need to be told twice. The loss of his fingers inside of me leaves me empty and cold, but they are quick to pull my panties off and slide under my back to unhook my bra.
Completely bare and exposed to him, he takes a minute and drags his eyes over my body. The lights were off the other night – nothing but pale moonlight to guide us – but this time the room is bright. Every curve, every crevice, every swell of my body is illuminated and visible to him.
He drinks it in, hands moving to the curve of my waist and the wetness on his fingers spreading over my skin. "Perfect," he mumbles, leaning down to kiss me again.
I wrap my arms around his neck and keep him close, sucking his bottom lip into my mouth to graze my teeth over it. He groans and I'm glad that I know at least one part of his body to tease that drives him crazy.
One hand holding him above me, the other moves to his jeans and gets them down just enough to free his cock before pressing the head against my entrance and sliding in.
The fullness is almost unbearable, just like the other night. I suck in a breath of air and pull my legs up against his sides. He tucks them under his arms and pushes them nearly to my chest, opening me up for him to slide deeper into. He groans and my eyes almost roll back at the feeling.
He presses deeper and deeper until our bodies kiss before drawing back out and repeating the process. My veins are humming. Heat races through my body and it's all I can do to keep myself from crying out his name.
"You're mine," he grunts, thumb pulling down my bottom lip.
I realize I've been holding my breath and exhale with a loud moan. "I'm yours."
It ignites something within him. He sits back on his heels, despite the difficulties provided by his jeans, and pulls my legs together, his hands wrapped around my ankles. I gasp and grab onto the sheets, knuckles turning white from my grip.
"Let it out," he begs in a hoarse voice, his hands sliding down my legs. He pulls them apart again and leans back between them, curling them around his waist.
I moan again, louder than before, and push his shirt up to his chest so I can feel his bare skin against mine as he presses our bodies together.
I'm already worked up from the first orgasm and steadily building toward a second. He is so thick and hot inside of me and the weight of both of our pleasure nearly crushes me.
He keeps stroking deep and hard, but slow. My body shakes with every thrust and I slide my hands to lock them behind his back, pulling him impossibly closer.
"You're mine," I whisper back into his ear.
He turns and catches my mouth, tongue pressing its way in and hand tightly holding the back of my neck. I can feel him hardening even more inside of me, swelling, pulsing. My eyes clench shut and I pull away from the kiss, turning my head and exposing my neck.
He takes the bait, of course, lips attaching to that sensitive area of my neck and worrying it with his teeth.
"Do it again," I beg, nails raking down his sides. "Bite me again."
For such a dominate personality, he submits instantly to my words, teeth pressing into my flesh and sending me over the edge as he slams into me. I whimper his name and grab the back of his neck, forcing him to remain in place as his hips stutter and press in as deep as he can go.
Heat spreads through my belly and I lock my arms around his neck as we both ride it out together until his hips gradually slow to a stop. He doesn't soften and is still hard as a rock when he pulls out of me a few minutes later.
Falling onto the bed next to me, he maneuvers out of his shirt and throws it on the floor, sweat glistening on his muscled torso.
How do they ever stop? The imprints? How do they ever get out of bed when it feels that good being together?
"You okay?" Paul asks, fingers brushing against mine.
I roll onto my side and tuck my hands under my chin. "Perfect," I breathe out.
"Wanna stay with me tonight?"
As if I would ever say no.
Paul.
I'm pulled from sleep by the constant, annoying-as-fuck buzzing of my phone somewhere in the room. I almost ignore it, but Indie shifts next to me and I realize it woke her up, too, so I better check it.
Josie's name is on the screen.
Probably worried about Indie.
I slide my thumb across the screen and put it to my ear. "Yeah?"
"Emily's in labor!" she screeches into the phone, and I hear Em in the background scolding her for calling me.
"Where are you guys? Sue's?"
"Yeah! Everyone is here!"
"Kay. Be there in ten," I mumble, hanging up and dropping my phone onto the bed.
"Emily's having her baby?" Indie asks, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. She's cute when she's tired – like a little kid.
I smile and grab my jeans to pull back on. "Yeah. You wanna come with? I'm heading over there."
She nods and slides out from under the blankets, looking like a goddess in the moonlight. My breath catches in my throat for a minute watching her pull her clothes back on and tying her wavy hair back up in another bun. I wonder if she knows yet how incredible she is.
We walk to the 4Runner, hand in hand, and start the drive to Sue Clearwater's house.
Being the only nurse on the reservation, everyone always ends up there whenever there's any kind of medical care needed. And I'm pretty sure more than half the kids on the rez were born in Sue's house under the guidance of Veda.
There's a powerful, sacred ritual to bringing life into the world on our reservation.
Everyone, including Jesse and Leah, is piled and tucked into the living room at Sue's. Josie scoots over and makes room for Indie who snuggles in between her and Kim. I can hear Veda's humming in the bedroom down the hall – and Sam's pacing.
"Everything okay?" I ask the group, grabbing a kitchen chair and dragging it into the living room. "It's early, isn't it? There was supposed to be two more weeks."
Everyone's in their pajamas except Indie and me. It makes me feel bad – I should've offered her some sweats to wear or something.
"We've only been here for thirty minutes, but Sam said her water broke right after you guys left earlier," Kim says.
In other words, it could be any minute now, or any hour.
"We should go set up the nursery," I tell Jared and Embry. It would be the least we could do for Emily who has done so much for us all over the years.
They nod and I leave Indie with a kiss in the company of the other girls.
We get to Emily's in record time and barrel into my old room to start setting up the baby furniture. They've had some things piled into their room upstairs for a while now – like a rocking chair and a changing table – and the crib has been unassembled in a box since the day of her baby shower.
I rip open the cardboard and start pulling the pieces out, reviewing the assembly instructions briefly before grabbing a screwdriver to put it together. "I could build one of these things faster than it's gonna take to match the pieces up," I groan.
Jared laughs. "Too bad the hardware store's closed."
It ends up taking way longer than it needed to.
Since Jared and Embry were basically useless during the building process, I made them put the sheets on the mattress and put away all of the baby clothes in the changing table before we drive back to Sue's.
Indie is pacing in the living room, Josie and Kim's heads following her and turning back and forth, and Veda's humming in the back room is twice as loud as before.
"She getting close?" Jared asks, pulling Kim up so he can take her spot and settling her in his lap.
Josie nods. "I think so. And I think this one is turning into a zombie," she adds, pointing at Indie.
"Shut up," Indie rolls her eyes. "I'm going outside."
My brows scrunch as she brushes past me without another word and closes the door behind herself. I give Josie a look and she just shrugs in response.
When I follow after her, I find her standing out by the 4Runner chewing on her nails. "You okay?" I ask her, walking up and wrapping my arms around her shoulders.
"I just can't be in there right now," she replies. "It hurts."
I make a face and rest my chin on her head. "Why's it hurt?"
She takes a deep breath and curls her arms around my waist. "I just feel bad for her…"
I smile a little and squeeze her tighter. "It's okay," I assure her. "She's tough."
Indie nods and I feel her hands bunching my shirt up just as a baby's cry splits the silence down the middle. I try my hardest not to eavesdrop, to give Sam and Emily some privacy, but I hear Sam say with excitement that it's a boy.
"It's a boy," I mumble into Indie's hair.
She hums happily and turns her face into my chest, and it's then that I hear Veda say, "And a girl."
My head snaps in the direction of the house. Twins?
"What's wrong?" Indie asks.
"There's two," I reply. "A boy and a girl."
Sure enough, a very distinct second cry echoes from the room a moment later. And then follows Sam's very loud, "Holy shit!"
"Why the hell did Veda not give them a heads up?" I ask, laughing.
Indie laughs too. "She knows everything, but what she knows she keeps to herself."
I smirk and can't help but think how right she is.
A/N: Babies are here! Thanks everyone for reading and all of the kind reviews you guys leave me ilysm. until next time! xx