Sam lunged for Jared, "Sam, stop," Jared said calmly. And Sam froze in his spot.
Jared has already discovered that his Alpha voice was a lot more potent than Sam's was, he didn't need to raise his voice of put a lot of force behind it. Jared only had to put his intent into the words for the pack to obey. It was a disappointment to him to realize that Sam had been leading the pack the wrong way from the start. True, Sam had done a lot of things right, but he also did a lot of things wrong; and his inability to control Paul was a big one.
"What did you do to me?!" Sam hissed as he sat there on the bed immobile.
"I commanded you to stop before you did something rash. Sam, I'm not your enemy, you have to believe that. I only want to help you."
"By taking my pack from me?"
"We're not your property, Sam. We're supposed to be a family. I think you forgot that and let this whole Alpha thing go to your head. Maybe leading was too much for you."
"I phased first!"
"That doesn't mean you should have been pack leader."
"Are you saying that Jacob should have been?"
"God, no! He's too immature and has no leadership skills whatsoever."
"And you do?"
"The Elders seem to think so, and I learned by watching you and learning from your mistakes. And you did make a lot of them, Sam, whether you want to admit it or not."
"So, now what? You expect me to fall in line with the others? Be a good dog," Sam asked sarcastically.
"I expect you to take your time and decide what you want to do. I'm not giving you an ultimatum, Sam. You can choose to continue to be part of this pack and accept me as your Alpha or-"
"Or what you're going to banish me? Go ahead; I have nothing to live for anymore."
"No, Sam, I was going to say, you can live the rest of your life as a regular person. Unlike you, who obligated us to remain here, you can do as you please. Live your life with Emily without any interference from the pack."
"EMILY IS DEAD!" Sam roared!
At that moment, the door opened, and Emily came in with a tray of food and water for Sam, "Sam, are you alright?"
"Emily," Sam whispered.
Emily set the tray down and sat down on the bed. Sam stared at his imprint in disbelief. She touched his forehead to see if the fever had finally broken, nodding to herself. Emily kissed Sam on the cheek.
"How can this be? I saw Paul tear you apart."
"It was your punishment, Sam. A punishment from the Elders and the gods, they told us. It was their way of showing you what it would have been like if the tables had been turned," Jared said.
"How do you know what I saw?"
"The Elders said that I could phase and look to see what you and Paul were seeing."
"Then who was that man?" Sam asked.
"What, man, Sam?"
"The man on the cliff with me. The one who said my punishment was for eternity."
"Sam, there was no man in your vision, just you, Emily, Selene, Paul, and the vampires," Jared tells him.
Sam's brow furrowed. He couldn't believe that Jared didn't see the man that spoke to him. Maybe, he made it up? Sam only saw the man once. *I'm very real, Samuel.* Sam heard inside his head.
Sam glanced around the room, "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what, Sammy," Emily asked.
"That voice."
"We didn't hear anything, Sam. Maybe it's the residual effect of that stuff they gave you." Jared said.
"Maybe so."
Suddenly, Sam remember about Paul, "What happened to Paul? Where is he?"
"Paul's downstairs. He has yet to awaken," Emily said.
"He should wake in a little while. I think Old Quil gave him a bigger dose than you." Jared said. Jared looked at the clock on the wall, "I should get downstairs just in case he wakes up. Why don't you eat and talk with Emily?"
Sam nodded, and Emily put the tray on his lap and sat down on the chair next to him, "Eat first, then we'll talk."
Downstairs, Paul's thrashing was becoming more frantic. He was sweating bullets and kept crying out for Selene to stop. Jared sat down on the loveseat and watched. He thought Paul's punishment was worse. Paul never got to know his imprint. He never got to experience the love of having her be with him until it was too late. And Paul had to watch the bloody carnage of her being ripped apart by the woman he was obsessed with, and in his case, it was exactly what Paul wanted to do to Emmett. He was experiencing first hand the pain he would have put Selene through had he succeeded.
Jared jumped when Paul bolted upright and screamed, "STOP!" at the top of his lungs.
Jacob and the others rushed in to see what was wrong with Paul, but Jared waved them off and asked them to go back outside, "There's nothing you can do for him, you guys. Give Paul a minute to orientate himself."
The guys silently turned and walked out of the house. Jared sighed, "She's not here, Paul."
"Who?"
"You're imprint. That is who you're looking for, right?"
"How do you know that?"
"I saw your vision. I'm sorry for what you went through, man, and having to wake up knowing you still don't know who your imprint is."
"Do you know who my imprint is," Paul asked desperately.
Jared shook his head, "No, I couldn't see her face, either."
"I have to find her. I can't take the chance of her getting killed."
"Like you wanted to kill Emmett?"
Paul's head fell forward, "Yeah."
"Now, do you understand what you would have done to Selene if you had killed Emmett?"
"Yes, Jared, I understand. It was stupid of me trying to force Selene to be with me when she's meant to be with someone else."
Jared nodded.
"Where's Sam?"
"Upstairs with Emily, recovering from his vision."
Paul looked down then looked at Jared, "Um, do you think you could call Leah so I can talk to her?"
"No, Leah left with Selene," Jared informed Paul.
"Do you know where they are?"
"Probably with Emmett and his family."
Paul grimaced, "How can Leah stand it?"
"You'd be surprised what you can put up with for your family," Jared said.
"I need to go apolgize to Selene." Paul thought out loud.
"I don't think that's a good idea right now," Jared said.
"Why is that?"
"Well, if Selene doesn't kill you, I'm sure Emmett will for wounding his mate. Let things cool down for a while."
"How did you get so smart," Paul asked.
"By watching you and doing the exact opposite," Jared said with a laugh.
Paul chuckled, then became serious, "Selene isn't going to forgive me that easily, is she."
"She may never forgive you, Paul. And you're going to have to accept that. What you did isn't done, ever. And Selene didn't like you in the first place. You never gave her reason to."
Paul wilted a little, "Yeah, you're right."
Jared sighed and patted Paul on the knee, "Come on, why don't you go upstairs and take a shower? Emily went to your house and got a new change of clothes for you. Then you can eat, she has dinner waiting for you."
Paul sighed and heaved himself off the sofa. He grabbed his clothes and went upstairs to shower and change. After that, Paul and Jared sat down in the kitchen and had a nice long talk about how to treat your imprint.