Chapter 10

"Hey Carlisle, do you have a moment? We need to talk about Edward," Rosalie said, peeking into the study where the head of the family was sitting by his desk reading. As he always was.

"Please come in, Rosalie," Carlisle motioned her to come in, closing his book.

"I feel Edward is starting to lose his marbles," Rosalie said.

"And that means exactly what?" Carlisle asked.

"He's stalking that Swan girl. I caught him jerking off in a tree close to her apartment."

"You did what?!"

"Just what I said. Edward was watching her having sex with her boyfriend and palming himself. He's been sitting up in a tree listening to her play for days now."

Carlisle looked sickened as he should.

"He has a sick obsession over that girl and has set his mind to think that she's meant to be with him. Alice has been feeding him her visions of him and Bella together after she's turned! If that son of a bitch is thinking about turning that innocent girl into one of like us, I'll burn him." Rosalie was seething, and she crushed Carlisle's marble statue on his bookshelf.

"Rosalie, that was priceless antic," Carlisle said and looked at her with a tired expression in his eyes. He was tired of her and Edward being on each other's necks all the time; she knew that. But this time, he had to admit that she had a valid reason to complain about Edward.

"I tell you, Carlisle, it was a huge mistake to come back here no matter how much we like to be here. Edward should have stayed in Italy with the Volturi."

"Edward would have come here no matter what. The way I see it, it is better that we're all here to keep an eye on him. We had a deal with the Volturi that Edward would stay there for two months to help them with the hearing of the Mexican coven. After that, he was free to go."

Rosalie huffed. Edward should have stayed with the ancient freaks. He is more suited to be with them locked in that dungeon than to roam freely. His mental state was starting to worry her.

Edward had tried to attack her last night after they'd left Port Angeles. But they are too evenly matched in speed and strength for him to be able to hurt her. After a few attempts, he had run away, which was the last she'd seen him. It wasn't anything new that they were fighting, and sometimes it did get physical, but last night he'd been acting like a raving lunatic. That made her worry about the Swan girl.

"He has never been like this before. That Isabella Swan has really got into him," Carlisle said.

"He's denied his basic needs too long. It's not healthy to exist over 100 years waiting for the one true love to come around and never get laid."

Carlisle just sighed.

"Now that he finally thinks he has found her, he's blinded by the lust, and it doesn't help that she is his singer."

"It's not just that; surely you've seen how good they are together for their shared passion for music. Edward is captivated by her talent as much as by her beauty. And she is exceptionally talented, most of her talent still being dormant. Edward sees that in her, and he could help her gain her full potential. They could truly be remarkable together."

"Listen to yourself, Carlisle! Are you telling me that it is okay that Edward pursues to destroy human life?"

"No, but part of me wishes that she was meant to be with him. Edward has been alone for so long that he deserves some happiness."

"Maybe, but not with HER. The whole Denali coven would be more than happy to take him and satisfy all his needs. I'm sure Garret would be ready to give him a go too. He needs to leave Bella Swan ALONE. She's in love, and she doesn't want to have anything to do with Edward."

"It wasn't exactly what she said to him. But I understand your concern, and I talk to him," Carlisle said and got up. It was a sign for Rosalie that their little chat was over.

"You better! You can also tell him that I will keep him away from Bella if he tries anything with her."

Rosalie left Carlisle. She was worried about what he had said. He wasn't shocked enough about Edward's behavior, for starters. She knew that talking to Esme wouldn't help either. She was pro-Edward and set to make her precious beloved "son" happy. If it meant ending some poor human girl's life, be it. She was so angry with her so-called parents. She could not trust them anymore. There was only one person in this family she could trust: her husband.

Rosalie was going to make sure that Edward could not hurt that girl. She would tell Emmett about this, and they would keep the Swan girl safe together. She knew her man couldn't be there for her all the time since she was in Seattle so often. They would be there when he couldn't.

"Why would you want to use your time babysitting that little girl?" Emmett asked her after she told him about her plans.

"You know why. And besides, what else is there for me to do here? You want us to stay since it is your favorite place, but I find very little that interests me here, so at least I have something to occupy myself with," Rosalie told him.

"And I've seen the madness in Edward's eyes. He isn't going to let that poor girl live, and I won't let him hurt her and ruin her life. No one should be forced to become one of us."

"You made me," Emmett said, grabbing her into his massive arms.

"Yes, but you were dying and too young to die. Do you ever wish I hadn't changed you?"

"Hell no, you gave me a wonderful life, and you gave me you. And we know what to do if we don't want to exist anymore, don't we."

"Yes, baby, we do."

"Okay, let's kick some ass and save the girl."

"Benjamin has been asking you to go to play with the Legos again. His latest obsession is Harry Potter versus La push wolves going on Star Wars," Bella told Paul, giggling while breaking an egg into a bowl, and it broke in her hands. "Shit," she mumbled. Paul sucked his laughter just before it escaped his lips. She was absolutely hopeless in the kitchen.

"Stop it. I can feel that you are laughing at me," Bella said, sounding offended but failing. She moved to the sink and washed her hands.

"No, baby, I could never laugh at you. We could go tonight?" Paul suggested as he walked to stand behind her. He caged her between his arms and kissed her shoulder; it was the spot that both he and his wolf loved. He wanted her to have a permanent bruise on it, but Bella didn't let him. She refused to go in front of the orchestra, having a massive hickey on her neck. He could understand that, but he didn't have to like it.

Bella leaned against him, and she shivered when he kissed and licked the sport gently.

"Maybe not tonight; I need to be here in the morning. I have a meeting. But on the weekend perhaps? Mum would be home too. Hannah is looking after Ben today and tomorrow."

"Hmm. Let's go on Saturday around midday. I must work the night shift at Sues. She's so great giving me more free time while you are here, but she needs me on Saturday."

"That sounds good. I'll stay for the night. Ben has been asking me for a sleepover for weeks now."

She moved to sit on the island and took on an apple. She took a bite and offered the apple to Paul. He grabbed her hand and took a bite.

"That kid is so cool. I'm sure he senses that there is something odd about me. It creeps me out a bit."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. He watches you with that knowing look on his face and mumbles himself. I can't hear what he is saying. Have you listened?"

"I have, but it is total mumble jumble, not any language I know anyway. Something he's made up."

Bella hummed, mouth full of apple. She munched and swallowed. "But tomorrow night, we could go on a date," she said. "Not that I don't love spending time with you indoors, but I just realized the other day that we have never been on an actual date."

Damn, that was true. They've been together for about five months now, and all the time they spent together has been indoors, in the bedroom to be more specific, or doing some grocery shopping and occasional running sprees at the woods him in his wolf form. That shit was fun.

"What would you like to do?" he asked.

"Well, as much as I would love your wolf to take me up to the mountain again, I was thinking of something as mundane as seeing a movie. They are showing one of my favorite movies at the international movie festival here in Port Angeles, so we could go and see it."

Paul mock groaned, "No foreign chick movies. "

"Oh, yes, chick movie, and besides, it's not that much of a chick movie. It tells a story about the red violin made in 1681 in Cremona, Italy, and how it gets its color. Can you guess from what, hmm?"

"Now, what would it possibly be?"

"Well, you have to come and see. I think that you will like it too. No, I know you will like it."

"Violin, eh? I've grown to love violins," He walked to stand between Bella's legs, tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear, and kissed her.

"So, it's a date? I can show you off a bit. What use it is to have a gorgeous boyfriend but never been seen out with him," Bella said with a mischievous smile.

"You think I'm gorgeous? Hmm?"

"Uh-uh."

"How gorgeous?"

"Oh, very."

"Care to show me?"

"What about the quiche we were supposed to make together?"

"I would like to do you instead."

"Oh no, you're not. You promised to teach me, so we're making it. Can you grab my phone? I look what time the shows are tomorrow."

Paul took the phone from the breakfast table and gave it to Bella. He went back to slicing the ham and the capsicum for the Quiche.

Bella browsed the screening times. "There's one at 5 pm and the other one at 7.30. Are you able to make it by 7.30?"

"Yeah. I have to patrol for a few hours tomorrow, so either is good."

"I need to practice tomorrow, so maybe 7.30 is better. I'll get the tickets, and you buy the popcorn."

"So, what was the meeting tomorrow about?" Paul asked. Bella hadn't mentioned anything about any meeting.

"Oh, haven't I told you? Patrick got a call from the personnel manager of the New York Philharmonic orchestra earlier this week. He's in Seattle, and he saw me play and now wants to have a chat with me."

Paul felt a cold electric current going through him. "New York? Wow. Are you considering moving to New York?"

"No, not anytime soon anyway. But the manager was persistent in meeting me, and it is always interesting to hear what they have to say."

Bella saw the look on his face and gasped, "Hey baby, I'm not going anywhere without you," she said.

"But that's the thing; if you wait for me to be able to come with you, you won't be going. We are protectors of the tribe; it's a fucking lifelong duty."

Paul said with the familiar anguish about the whole fucked up situation tying his insides up in knots.

"The elders and the alpha of the pack are the ones who can release the protectors from their duty. But as long as there are those fuckers running around too close to the Res, we're stuck."

His hands started to shake. Fuck he hated this shit. It was so fucking unfair. He refused to be the reason Bella wouldn't pursue her dreams but fuck, he would die if she moved to New York. Seattle was bad enough.

"How can they really assume that you just drop everything you have ever hoped for and dreamed about? What about your dreams of becoming a famous chef?" Bella asked. She was so fucking adorable in her frustration that Paul had to go to her and hug her.

"Well, there isn't anything any of us can do about the situation. As long as there is a threat, we continue to phase, and we cannot go too far from the reservation either. We become physically sick if we are too far away and stay longer than a few days. Some voodoo shit."

"Has anybody ever tested it?"

"I guess not. At least we know that Port Angeles isn't too far since I can stay with you. But the fact remains that as long those fucking corpses keep coming, Sam and the tribe need us all there. Elders say that it's an honor to be a protector and the gift of being one is that you stay young and never get sick or ill as long as you phase. Only when we stop phasing, we start to age normally again."

"So, if you continue phasing, you stay young, whereas I'm growing old," Bella said.

"I'm not phasing any longer than it's necessary. It is possible to stop phasing after the threat is gone, or it's very minimal."

"But will it ever, though?"

Paul sighed. "No one knows."

Paul pressed Bella against his truck and kissed her, molding every inch of his body against her. She moaned, deepening the kiss. He didn't want to let her go. He hoped they could both hop on his truck and drive away, never looking back and thinking about the shit going on here.

"I love you, baby," he murmured into Bella's neck.

"I know," Bella sighed and captured his lips into a searing kiss that made his knees soft. Her hands skimmed his ass and slid into his back pockets, pulling him closer. "I love you too. But I really, really must be going. I'm going to be late."

Paul sighed and moved to let her step away from him. Feeling the loss of her warm body and already missing her, Paul took her hand and kept them connected as long as their fingertips couldn't touch each other anymore. Then he let his arm fall to his side. He'd become one of those sappy romance movie characters with floppy hair, but he didn't give a damn; he was a man I love. He watched Bella walk around the corner. She glanced at him once more and blew a kiss before vanishing from his view.

Paul had a shit-eating grin on his face, and he had to make himself stay put and not run after her for one last kiss. He sighed and turned to open his car's door.

"Well, well, well, Paul "fucks anything than moves" Lahote has suddenly gotten serious with a girl and with mousy Bella Swan of all women. What the hell is that all about?" asked nasal noise behind him.

Paul turned around, feeling annoyed, and saw the biggest bitch of the Pacific Coast, Rachel Black.

"What the fuck..." His sneer comment froze when he looked into her eyes.

"Fuck NO!" he gasped.

AN:

I know – you ALL hate me now – And I deserve it. I hate myself. But the way I see it, this was going to happen sooner or later. In the world where imprinting exists where it can tamper people's lives it's bound to happen. I hope you want to wait and see where all this is going. Story is far from finished.

And as always: Thank you for you reviews. I love them! Let me know what you think.