Howl

Chapter Twenty-Three — Hunting for Wolves


From inside the silver Toyota Tacoma Artemis gets a moment of peace before the chaos starts. Right outside the car there is a buzz of movement. The local park rangers, the police department, and local hunters move about the dirt parking lot outside the hiking trails between Forks and La Push. It felt like the whole town of Forks is here. Most are armed with hunting rifles, expect the one man who is strapped with two rifles, a pistol at his hip, and a hunting knife.

On her lap is her own rifle. Registered under Winston but gifted to her for her sixteenth birthday. Her finger tips gloss over the wooden components. The gun feels surprisingly heavier than usual but she knows it's due to nerves.

As a hunter you know they are killing machines. Majority of hunters whether it be recreational or necessary know they aren't something to play with. Knowing that those in the parking lot around her are skilled enough at using one does not ease her mind. Sure the boys are Supernatural creatures with supernatural skills but they're not invincible. All it takes is a good enough shot.

The sound of knuckles rapping against the window brings her attention back. Harry smiles at her from the other side. His graying hair sticking out from under his camouflage cap. He waves for her to come out.

She opens the door. Nearly hitting him with it but he steps out of the way. She makes no move to exit, instead she hands him her gun.

"I can't do it."

"Do what?" He asks stepping closer.

"This," she gestures to the people around them. "Hunt the boys like they're animals."

His laugh causes her to pout.

"You know what I mean, Harry. I thought last night that I can — I don't know, maybe stop everyone? But look at the guy over there. He's strapped."

He shrugs.

"You can't stop people from being afraid of what they don't know. Everyone here but you and I know it's not wolves. What we can do is cover anything that gives the boys away."

"Are they watching?" She asks.

Her eyes scan the dense woods around them. Its hard to see between all the cider trees coated in moss, but from last night's drizzle and the softness of the ground their paw prints will be visible. Any amateur hunter will be able to track them.

"Paul's probably somewhere close by, Jared and Embry took to the perimeter," Harry says confidently. She doesn't doubt that he knows their plan. Harry might not be privy to their minds, but he is aware of their patterns.

Dropping her chin to her chest she lets out a sigh. Gripping the gun tight, she says in a soft tone, "I really wish my mom was here right now."

He slings her gun over his shoulder then drops a hand on top of her head to gently lift it. Her eyes meet Harry's own soft ones.

"Jennie — I love her like she's my own sister, but she never listened to your grandpa William when he tried to talk to her about these things. Her head was always focused on life away from the reservation."

That's news to Artemis.

"So why did mom stay?"

Harry nods towards her approaching father. "Your dad thought it was better to raise you and Jesse with the tribe."

There was no time to digest this new information as Winston gestures for her to get out of the car. Harry steps away giving her the space to hop out. She shuts the door behind her and gives her dad a bright smile.

Winston places a hand on her shoulder, "you can go home if you want."

Shaking her head no she grabs his hand. "I'm okay, Dad. I got this," she reassures him.

"You got nothing to worry about, Winnie," Harry grins.

"How many times I gotta tell you to stop callin' me that?" Winston says before giving Harry's arm a light punch.

"What happened to do no harm, Doc?" Harry says gently rubbing the sore spot.

"I doubt he took the oath," Charlie's voice comes from behind Winston before he's visible to Artemis. "Last week I saw him for some blood work and I swear he was purposely jabbing me with the largest needle he had. My arm was bruised for days."

Winston rolled his eyes, "what a baby."

Giggling Artemis calls Charlie weak. He frowns and points a finger at her. "You're lucky you're not my Bella, I would ground you for years."

"How's Bella doing?" Artemis asks genuinely curious. From last night's theatrics between Charlie and Winston it would be assumed that Bella was still stewing in her anger.

Charlie shrugs, "Confusing. She was trying to head to Billy's to see Jake."

Harry and Artemis share a look. From the corner of her eye she can see Winston's jaw tense. His eyebrows pull down as he scowls. His thoughts were the same as her own. Bella's anger last night and Charlie's blow up were for nothing. If the girl was constantly going to chase after Jacob they'd be having the same conversations over and over again.

Sensing the topic had to be changed, Harry clapped his hands together grabbing everyone's attention. "Lets get going. I promised Sue i'd be home for dinner and I plan on keeping that promise."

The group of four make their way on their own path. While Charlie and Winston lead the charge bickering like brothers the whole way, Harry and Artemis took the rear. With the two men distracted the pair covered the very few paw prints and directed them in different directions away from unreachable evidence.

It was a miracle they hadn't been caught when Winston had turned around to say something to them and spotted Artemis hunched over a pile of leaves. At his insistence of getting a closer look he finds a fresh black bear paw print.

After a series of denials, her flashing her bear paw tattoo to Charlie and getting scolded the group was on their way again. This time Charlie and Winston have her walk between the two of them with Harry leading. They're nearing the hot springs.

"We going for a dip?" Artemis teases spotting the sign pointing towards the springs.

"The most recent attack was by the springs," Charlie explains. "The victim's wife saw a gray wolf minutes after he disappeared."

Gray wolf means Paul. At least that's how Artemis remembers it. Jared had given her a detailed description of each of their wolves. Told her that if ever needed she'd know which ones were which.

Looking over her shoulder towards Harry for some sort of answer. The older man mouths 'later' to her while cupping his ear. She understood. Better to speak about things when alone. No one will overhear private matters.

"You okay, kiddo?" Winston asks.

Artemis looks at her father. Her smile, though fake, is bright. She gives him a thumbs up. Inside she feels a sort of sickness. Hoping that Paul isn't dumb enough to stick around any longer than need be.

"Honestly if you guys keep asking I'll feel unwanted," she jokes.

A chorus of denials rings between the trio. But Charlie eventually gets them back into a funky mood when he brings up the pack unprompted just as they reach another fork in the road. And they had been doing so well avoiding the topic.

"I'm worried about Bella," Charlie says.

Winston visibly twitches and Artemis has to bite back a laugh.

"What for? She's gone to see Jake," Winston says not bothering to look away from the dense trees.

Charlie huffs, visibly frustrated that his friend isn't taking him serious. "Bella's been through a lot. I can't have her go back to how she was. If Jake is — "

This does get Winston to look at him now.

Everyone stops walking.

"If Jake is nothing. Those boys are not part of some cult. I don't know what the hell Bella and Jake talked about — if he tried to be funny and it backfired on him. Whatever the case is, Jake and the rest of those boys are nothing but good kids. They're working their hardest to make the reservation a better place while being great friends."

Harry smiles. He won't ever say it out loud in fear of inflating Winston's ego, but he had always known there was something special about him.

"But how do you know for sure?" Charlie asked.

Winston placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder and pushed her forward. His version of explaining things. She gave Charlie a small wave. Who better to tell him than someone directly involved.

"Look, Uncle Charlie, there are rumors around the reservation because to an outsider looking in, the boys don't seem to make sense — that's wrong. We've all known each other for years. You know them for years, too. Sam's a great guy. He's like the older brother. Always there to push us to do better and be better. You've met him before and after Bella came back. He hasn't changed. Mentally older than he actually is. Jared's a dick — I'll agree to that. He needs a massive reality check for that big head of his. But — but! Even when we fight, Jared will make sure I'm okay. He's super perceptive on emotions though he does need to work on his trig scores. His girlfriend Kim has been super helpful — he lucked out with that one. I'd cocoon Embry and never let him out into the world. He's so precious. When he met Bella he was so nervous. It was so adorable!" Artemis sucks in a deep breath. The men stare at her with unblinking eyes. All listening in on her passionate speech. "You know Jacob. He can be a real dick, but he's not some stupid naïve teenage boy. And okay — i get it. Paul would totally be a criminal in the making. I can see anger management in his future. But you also know I've spent almost every waking moment with the guy. He cant stand the thought of drinking. Drugs and cults and whatever stupid thing people have said about him couldn't be any further from the truth. He's a great human being. He's got a hard exterior because of the cards he was dealt with in life, but i know he would always be there for me and our friends if we need him."

"Jesus, Kid," Charlie lets out a soft chuckle. "I got it. And I agree your boyfriend would have been a criminal if he didn't have you."

"B-boyfriend?" Artemis stutters, her cheeks burning. She waves her hands around, "no, no. We're just best friends!"

Winston snorts, "yeah, Kiddo, we believe you."

She whips around to look at him in horror. Her whole body feels hot and heart beat elevated.

"It's alright, Arty, you can admit it. We've all already figured out the two of you are in love," Harry teases.

"In love?" Her voice raises in pitch. "Oh my God! How did this go from hunting to bothering Artemis? Can we go back to hunting? I — I — We're best friends!" She shouts.

Winston enjoying his daughter's embarrassment can't help but get the final word in, "well I've already been calling him my son-in-law since forever. Just waiting on you two to make it official."

"Dad!"

After a mostly uneventful hunting trip Artemis found herself at home with Paul. Both exhausted from the events of the day. He'd made it home just as Winston was out the door. How her father had the energy she couldn't tell. She'd been too exhausted to ask him where he was going.

Paul found her under one of the spare blankets. Only her eyes and nose peeking out as she stared at some DC comics cartoon about the Justice League on the tv. On the coffee table is a bowl of half eaten mac 'n' cheese. Paul served himself two large bowls, lifted her feet and sat at the end of the couch. Her blanket covered legs rested in his lap warming her from the bottom up.

Neither of them spoke as they mindlessly watched the remainder of the cartoon play out. Paul had cleaned out both his bowls and is working on finishing hers when the show comes to an end.

"What did you do today?" Artemis asks still in her blanket cocoon with no plans of leaving it. The warmth Paul's natural body temperature provides heat relaxing her muscles.

He scoops the last spoon full of macaroni bringing it to his mouth and practically inhaling it.

"Bella's in on the secret now," he says almost too casually.

She throws the blanket from her face and turns so that she can sit up. Her feet still remain on his lap as she uses her arms as support to hold her upper body up. The look of bewilderment evident in her gaping mouth and wide eyes.

"What?"

"That little bitch Jake got around the gag order Sam had. Bella figured it out because Jacob doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."

Laughing she adjusts herself so now her legs are off his lap and tucks them beneath her, blanket falling to the floor. "Is it so bad that Bella knows? She's pretty loyal to Jake if she's trying this hard to keep him in her life even after he shut her out for this long."

Paul groans throwing his head back against the top of the couch. His hands rub the exhaustion from his eyes. Its another problem Bella brings. Hoping never to bring up those stupid bloodsuckers is proving to be a lot more difficult than he anticipated.

"Its about the dangers to the pack it can bring. Bella's not one of us. She was suppose to never know. Jake fucked it up," he drops his hands to his lap but the wicked grin that replaces his exhausted look worries her. Even if all she can see is its side profile. "I got a few good bites into him."

She gasps, her hand already moving to slap his shoulder before she can fully comprehend what she's doing. He laughs at her feeble attempt. Launching herself forward she grabs him around the neck into and almost hug but really a failed attempt at a chokehold. He twists his body in an attempt to get out of the hold and grabs her at the waist. In one quick motion he has her straddling his lap, arms still looped around his shoulders now face to face.

"Oh!"

Grip on his neck tightening as she tries not to think about it. They're sitting so intimately and if anyone walked in on them they looked nothing like best friends. She lifts her hips only to gently place them down and quickly raise them. How does anyone make this comfortable and less awkward. Her blood is ignited with heat. Oh God she repeats over and over as she once again lowers herself fully on his lap.

Paul thinks his brain has short circuited.

Awkwardly, Artemis squeezes his neck tight and pretends to twist it.

"You're dead," she says shakily before hoping off his lap getting to her feet.

Thankful for the out from his very embarrassing thoughts he dramatically plays dead. Head flop and rolling his tongue out.

"Does this mean Bella got to see your wolf form?" She asks still standing in front of him, his long legs between her own.

He peaks through one shut eye. His tongue comes back to its rightful place as he sits up straighter, his thigh knocking hers in the process and practically has her sitting on his knees now.

"Yeah? I kind of exploded in front of her."

With a huff Artemis grabs the collar of his shirt that he surprisingly has on. Shaking him or at least attempting to before pulling it up. He gets the hint and stands causing her to step back. They're head to chest level now so she lets go.

"Get outside. I need to see this. I can't be the last one to know how you look. Even a freaking stranger saw wolf you before I did."

Paul grins, "A little bossy of you."

"Paul Gene Lahote, I will call Jared over and force you to show it to me."

His eyebrows quirk up, "Is this sexual harassment?"

Still embarrassed from earlier she shoves at him and marches towards the kitchen to the backdoor. He follows after her cackling the whole way. Getting on her nerves is his favorite pastime.

The chilly March weather should have her already shivering but her determination to see his other form blocks any other feeling. The sun is setting but it's hardly visible through the clouds. There is a thin fog layer on the grass. It looks like a set up for a horror movie. Maybe it is if this goes wrong.

Brushing past her and down onto the wet grass. He stops, turns and lifts his shirt over his head. "Here, close your eyes and take my clothes," he says handing her his shirt.

Her eyebrows raise ready to argue but then she shuts her eyes and holds out her hands. She feels the weight of his shorts as he tells her to count to fifteen.

One.

Two.

Three.

She can hear him exhale loudly from a further distance.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

"You can do this," he says to himself.

Eight.

Nine.

Ten.

There's a shift in the wind.

Eleven.

Twelve.

The huff of a animal stops her count. Her eyes fly open and sure enough a yard away from her on all four paws is a massive silver wolf. Compared to Jared's wolf, this one is larger and maybe a few inches taller. Its muscles are more defined yet not as scary as Jared's had been. Maybe she was used to the idea of them now or maybe the coat coloring made a difference. Whatever the case she wasn't afraid.

Her eyes locked with the all too familiar eyes of her best friend. An excited thrill runs through her causing her body to shiver involuntary. Paul seems to take this as a negative reaction and he lets out a whine as he lowers his massive frame to the ground. He looks like a sad puppy causing her to laugh.

His head perks up and he cocks it to the side.

"No! This is good! You look so beautiful!" She shouts.

Tucking his clothing under her arm she walks onto the grass. He watches her patiently as she approaches. Once in front of him she still feels no fear so she reaches out a hand and runs it over his head like she's petting a dog.

That thought causes another laugh to escape her.

Seemingly fed up with being laughed at but silently pleased with her reaction Paul instinctually phases back to his human form. The hand that was on his head now rests on the pec of his bare chest. The transition from wolf to human amazes her as she feels the soft fur turn to smooth flesh.

"Are you okay?" Paul asks.

She smiles, "yeah. You're very beautiful y'know."

At his smirk she feels heart creep up her neck and to her cheeks.

"Thank you," he grins.

Her eyes flick down in embarrassment only for her to gasp, looked up towards the sky and shut her eyes tight. "You're naked!" She screams. Now her whole body feels hot. Holy shit!

The clothes she has tucked under her arm is pulled from her while he laughs. "Well yeah, its a side affect of the phasing. Either our clothes get ripped to shreds or we get naked, either way we'll be naked when we phase back into ourselves."

"Paul!" She keeps her eyes shut as she turns away and tries to walk back into the house. Stumbling as she goes on shaky legs. She just saw her best friend naked! Internally freaking out and unable to get the brief glance she got out of her head she stumbles up the steps.

His laugh behind her does not ease her embarrassment. But its cut short when a loud howl cuts through the night air. She turns to see him looking out towards the woods. Still just as naked as he had been.

"I'll be back, stay inside," he promises her and then as if he hadn't been human the whole time the silver wolf she saw a moment ago is racing into the woods.

The sound of Jared's backdoor slamming shut grabs her attention. She watches as he strips off his shorts and underwear, strapping them to his leg and then just like Paul his brown wolf takes his place running after Paul.


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