I was meant to have this up yesterday, but I fell ill.
"Where's she going?" Jared asked but obviously, nobody was able to answer him. Paul rolled his eyes at his friend but calmed himself enough to phase back into his human form. "Oh. Hey, Paul."
"Hey, Jared," he responded.
"We want you guys to come home, man. We'll even accept the pup and help him phase back."
Hermione made to growl but Jacob squashed that thought before she could act on it.
"No, Hermione. This is good. If they think you're a guy, they know you aren't you and then they will suspect even less about any fail-safes we've got. I want you to pretend you've imprinted on Leah."
"What?" Hermione gasped, echoed by Leah's own exclaimation and Seth's chuckles. "Why?"
"Because Jared will return all information to Sam and it'll piss him off. Despite the fact he's imprinted, he still holds a soft spot for her and always will. If he thinks Leah's imprinted on you, it'll be-"
"-Perfect," Leah interjected. "'Mione, please, do it."
"Okay, fine," Hermione huffed.
"I don't know if it's that easy, man," Paul replied to Jared, bringing the wolves back to the conversation. Hermione had her ears and mind focused on the chat but her head was turned to where Leah had disappeared and she made herself look incredibly sad and dejected. She even let out a little whine.
"You're really acting like a five year old who lost their favourite toy," Leah teased.
"Maybe I have," Hermione replied. "Oh, Leah, my love! Return to me!"
"Come home," Jared pleaded. "You guys don't belong here." He turned to Jacob. "Let Paul, Leah and Seth come home. As I said before, the Pup is welcome, too." Jacob snorted and Paul chuckled.
"He's saying that he's been trying to get us to do that from the beginning."
"What about your Father? What about 'Mione?"
"What about them?"
"Your Dad is home. He's like Sue and Billy; he understands why you left and that you got your mind in what you think is the best place but you can come home and see him. Don't you want to tell him about Hermione?"
"He knows I've imprinted," Paul growled. "He also shouldn't be home until next week."
"We called him," Jared shrugged. "He was at a port when we got through to him and he got on the quickest flight he could. He's worried about you."
"You shouldn't have cut his trip short. Not for this."
"So, I suppose you're telling us that we shouldn't tell Hermione?" Jared asked, eyebrow raised. "She deserves to know that her cousin is carrying some monstrocity."
"She believes that her cousin is in the process of changing into a vampire whilst she deals with post-war shit in England. Disturb her, and I'll kill you." The gleam in Paul's eyes was enough to make him back off. He was serious.
"Fine," Jared huffed. "Good thing we couldn't get a hold of her anyway. We both know she'd be here. Hell, she deserves to be here!"
"She's lost enough family," Paul snarled. "I won't have her sit here and watch as she loses another."
"Shit," Hermione murmured. "Do you think that's how he really feels?"
Jacob snorted softly. "Of course it is," he replied. "He has no need to lie."
"So, what? You're just going to hang out with the parasites for as long as this takes?"
"Hell no, Jared," Paul replied. "I think I might take an extended vacation and live here with them permanently." He rolled his eyes. "I'll stay here until you can see that you're going down the wrong route."
"Hermione will be pissed that you didn't tell her."
"Do not presume to know my imprint better than me," Paul growled, taking a step closer and being awfully close to the border. "She'd know that I did, what I did, to keep her safe."
Jared stared at him for a few more moments before stepping back. "You guys need to come home."
"No can do," Paul replied, taking his own steps back. "Jake especially. Can't have two Alphas in one Pack. I don't know, it's just an idea, why doesn't Sam stand down like he was supposed to, and give Jake the position that is rightfully his?"
"Jake's being blinded by his love for Bella."
"Jake's acting like an Alpha. He's listened to people's opinions and he hasn't dove head first into a war. I'd die for this Alpha."
"And you wouldn't die for Sam?"
"Not anymore."
Jared inhaled in shock, looking at his friend. "You've changed. Paul wouldn't want to side with the leeches. He wouldn't want this at all."
"The Paul you are thinking of is an angry shifter who cares about nobody but the Pack and himself. The Paul that I am is an imprinted wolf who has only one person he wants to live and he happens to be in a relationship with her and goddamn if that means siding with the parasites so she won't hate me when she returns, then that's what I'll do. You'd do the same for Kim and you know it."
Jared stared at his friend for a moment longer and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's true."
Leah burst through the trees at the second, and Hermione rushed to her, nuzzling her where she could to check she was safe.
"I feel dirty," Hermione confessed. "My wolf hates the idea of being this close to you and not Paul."
"Don't worry about it," Leah replied. "It feels weird for me too."
"Leah," Jared called, bringing attention from the two wolves to him. "You know you don't want to be here." Leah met his gaze, her muzzle pulling back a little over her teeth. Hermione copied her. They both growled at him.
"Sorry," Jared apologised. "Guess I shouldn't assume, but you don't have any ties to the bloodsuckers." Leah looked at Hermione, then Jacob and Paul before turning her head away to indicate Seth. "So you want to watch out for Seth, I get that."
"Jared," Paul warned.
"Please, Leah. We want you back. Sam wants you back."
Hermione tensed and growled lowly. Leah's tail twitched.
"Sam told me to beg. He told me to literally get down on my knees and beg if I have to. He wants you home, Lee-Lee, where you belong."
Leah flinched and Hermione snapped, barking and growling at Jared as if she was going to attack. She probably would've too, if it wasn't for Leah dragging her back by the tail and nuzzling her until she calmed down some.
"That's an interesting development," Jared murmured to himself.
"You should go," Paul snapped. "You're a bastard and so is Sam, playing with her emotions so that we have one less member in our Pack. Get out of our sight."
Jared looked apologetically at Paul before nodding and turning his back on them, walking away into the trees. Quil looked at Jacob and whined, but started to turn back, even if it was reluctantly.
"Hey, Jared," Paul called before his friend disappeared completely. "Is Embry okay?"
"Embry? Sure, he's fine. Why?"
"Just wandered why Sam sent Brady and Collin instead of Embry."
"That's not really your business now, is it, Paul?"
"I suppose not," Paul agreed, watching his old Pack brothers leave.
Once they had left, Paul shifted back and they started running back to the Cullen's house for food.
"Was that okay?" Paul asked. "I should have let you deal with it, Jake. Did I do everything okay?"
"You could've hit Jared for us," Hermione piped up. "Other than that, it was great. Well done, Beta."
"It's strange," Jared concluded. "The pup can't be any older than seven with his size and he's already imprinted on Leah and ranks higher than her and Seth."
"That is strange," Sam agreed, pacing the clearing that their small Pack had met in. "Could we take them?"
"Take on our brothers?" Quil asked, shock and fury lacing his statement. "We've already caused a rift between us, now you want us to hurt them?"
"They're defending a monster."
"Jake's right!" Embry argued. "We don't know if it'll hurt anyone and with that many wolves and leeches there for when it's born, they'll have it destroyed before it can pose too much of a threat."
"I don't know if we could take them and the leeches," Jared mused. "I don't know if I'd want to."
"Paul made his bed," Sam growled. "Let him lay in it and regret his decisions."
"He's my best friend and he looked at me like I was the enemy," Jared continued, ignoring his Alpha. "I don't want to be the enemy. Not anymore."
"This is completely unreasonable," Hermione huffed, pulling on her clothes once she'd shifted back. "It's more of a hindrance than anything else."
"You get used to it," Leah offered. Hermione gave her a dirty look.
"That's what's so bad about it. The fact you're used to ripping your clothes are having to get dressed each time."
"There's no other way to live this life," Leah told her. "We were dealt our hand, now we play with it."
"Animagus never have this problem," she muttered and then froze, halfway to buttoning up her shirt. "What if-? I could, and then-?"
"What?" Leah asked.
"I need books," she blurted, before rushing into the house, buttoning up her shirt again.
So, making plans for other stories that I have in my head. What Twilight/Hermione pairings do you guys want to read? What other Hermione/xovers would you be interested in, too? I've got a Merlin/Hermione one in my mind.