Chapter 16

Paul was waiting for Bella in the parking lot next to her apartment building. She had called half an hour ago and told him she would be home in 40 minutes.

He was almost trembling with anticipation. After the bitch had accepted the imprint, his need to be close to Bella multiplied. He graved to touch her, kiss her, just hold her and never let go. He leaned against his truck and closed his eyes for a moment. He pictured Bella, her big deep brown eyes and pink lips curved into that mischievous smile he loved. His heart ached for her, along with other parts of his body.

And then he heard her car, his eyes popped opened. There she came. Bella had hardly stopped the car when he had already opened the door, and just as Bella unbuckled her seat belt, he grabbed her into his arms and inhaled her scent deeply before crashing his mouth against hers. The pressure on his chest disappeared, it was like a tight rubber band had snapped, and he could breathe properly again. Paul hadn't realized how suffocated he had felt. He hated that it was this way, that he was physically dependent on her. It was so wrong. It shouldn't be like that. But fuck that, it felt good to have her in his arms again.

"Baby... I've missed you so fucking much," he murmured when he moved to kiss her face, her jaw her neck.

"Paul. Oh God, I've missed you too. So much."

Paul had Bella pressed against her car, and he was already so hard it hurt.

"Baby, I love you, I love you," he chanted, and they kissed again.

"I love you more," Bella said when they finally needed air.

"Ahem!"

WTF … Suddenly Paul was snapped out of his lustful haze. Leeches! Paul's senses sharpened as he turned around, shielding Bella behind his back. How the fuck he hadn't noticed them before they were less than 10 feet way. Cold sweat rushed through his body when he thought about what might have happened to Bella if they had been here to hurt her.

"Step back!" he shouted at the two leeches standing in front of them.

"Rosalie? Emmett? What are you doing here?" Bella asked behind his back.

"You know them?"

"Yes, they are Edward's family members."

"Cullens."

"No, I'm a Hale. He's a Cullen," the blond leech said. The giant bear-like leech grinned.

"What do you want? Surely you saw, we were kinda busy here," Paul lashed at them. He was fucking mad at himself that he hadn't noticed the bloodsuckers before; it had been too late if they wanted to attack them. He shuddered at the thought.

"We need to talk to you both, and since you are both here right now, it seemed like a good idea," the Barbie lookalike said.

"How come you knew we were here?" Paul asked, still irritated.

"We followed Bella from Seattle."

WTF

"You did WHAT?" Paul shouted.

"Yes. It sounds bad, we know. But we really must talk to you," the blond said.

"What about?" Paul insisted on knowing.

"About my so-called brother who has a sick obsession about Bella thinking she is his mate."

"WHAT?! Both Paul and Bella shouted at the same time. He grabbed Bella under his arm and pressed her tightly against his chest. He felt how her body relaxed against his. His body reacted the same way. But his lupine side was all alert and all too ready to phase. His mate was in danger, in his opinion.

"Yes, is there any place we could go and have a talk," the giant asked?

"I think this is a good place as any," Paul said. He didn't want to go anywhere closed space with two bloodsuckers.

"Okay, this might take a while."

"Better start then."

"Edward has been stalking Bella for some time now," the blond told them.

"I fucking knew it!" Paul cried. "That fucking bastard!"

"Yes, and I've been watching him when I realized what he's been doing. I once caught him on a tree over there. He'd been watching her play all day," the blond told them and pointed at the trees on the forest's edge behind Bella's apartment.

"Oh my God!" Bella gasped.

"What a fuck! I'm fucking going to kill him! Where is the fucker?" Paul was furious; how hadn't he noticed any trace of leech around the area. Not once.

"Paul, please let's listen what they came to tell us," Bella said rubbing his chest with her hand. He calmed down a bit.

"Right, so after I caught him stalking Bella, I've let him know that I will be watching him. And as far as I know he hadn't been near Bella in last four weeks not since I caught him in Seattle..."

"He's been in Seattle?" Bella asked.

"Yes, he's been following you to Seattle as well, and we've been following him. We don't trust Edward anymore. He's gone overboard with his obsession with you. And since your wolf cannot be there with you, we have been making sure he can't come close to you."

"Oh. That's... wow," Bella mumbled.

Paul was taken aback by their confession. They've been protecting Bella from their family member.

"So, what are we dealing with here exactly?"

"He's gone missing from the family. None of us haven't seen him since the last time we saw him in Seattle. And we are afraid that he won't respect the treaty anymore but is ready to break it to get Bella. We don't want to cause unnecessary fear to you, Bella, but it is better to be cautious and know what he might be planning."

"And what that might be?" Paul asked, having a pretty good idea what it might be.

"To change her and have her as his mate," the blond said.

Bella gasped and Paul started to growl.

"Easy there," the giant said, "we are here to help you protect your mate, not harm her."

"What 'change' me means?" Bella asked with a small voice.

The leeches looked at him, and he nodded. It was better Bella knew what these dead corpses were capable of.

"To change a human to a vampire means that you are bitten, and the venom that gets into your bloodstream changes you. It is excruciating, and it takes around three days to be changed. And after that, you are a newborn vampire. Extremely strong and driven by bloodlust..."

"Okay, I think I got a general idea," Bella said, looking nauseous. Paul squeezed her closer.

Paul didn't know what to think. It went against all his instincts to trust these two. But on the other hand, why would they tell them all this if it wasn't the truth.

"Why are you doing this?" Paul asked. "I mean, why do you care?"

"Well, we don't want him to break the treaty. Emmett likes it here so does Carlisle and Esme. But mostly, I don't want Edward to ruin your life, Bella. No human life should be turned into something like ours, especially one as beautiful, full of love and possibilities as yours," the blond said.

"And even though there is no love lost between Edward and me, I want him to be happy and find someone for himself, but that someone isn't you. If he does something to you, he will ruin himself and this family by association," she continued.

"You said you don't know where he is?" That worried him beyond anything. If the Cullens had him under control, he would be easily destroyed.

"No, we haven't seen him for many weeks now. He has never done anything like this before, and we are worried about what he might do," the giant said.

What the fuck should they do now? His instincts told him to take Bella to the Res. There she would be safe. Fuck this shit. They just didn't get a break did they, like the fucking imprint fuckery wasn't enough, no there was a psycho leech after Bella.

"Thank you for looking after me," Bella said. Paul tightened his grip on her. He hated that it wasn't him who had been keeping her safe. It should've been him. He was a Protector, goddammit.

"We will continue to do that as long as we get Edward to see reason."

"The way I see it, he has already broken the treaty by thinking about to change a human," Paul said, "and as such, we are no longer bound by the treaty when it concerns him. If I ever see him again, I'll kill him. I'll rip him into pieces and burn him."

Two leeches looked stoic and didn't say anything.

Bella whimpered and started to shake.

"Paul please don't. I'm feeling sick. Can we go, please?"

"Yes, baby," he said to her and turned to look at the two leeches, "one more thing, can I have your mobile numbers so we can talk more later. This is much to chew over. I talk to our Alpha. It might be a good idea to meet up with your leader and discuss what this all means. You probably understand that this goes against my better judgment, but I, we, really appreciate this."

"Of course. We stay in the area for a while to see if Edward is here," the bold said. The giant nodded.

"This is so creepy. I wish he would stop. I never encouraged him to think I wanted him for anything more than a friend," Bella said, sighing.

"Yes, I'm sure you haven't," the blond said, "and it wouldn't make any difference anyway, he is mesmerized by you and your talent. He has never met anybody like you, and he's been a vampire over 100 years. It has nothing to do what you've done you cannot help what you are. To put it bluntly, he's lost his mind and can't be trusted anymore."

Fucking great.

"Okay, thanks Rosalie and ... Emmett?" leeches nodded. "I'll be in touch with you soon," Paul said

"We'll be waiting, and we'll let you know if we see or hear anything."

The leeches walked to the car parked to the other side of the parking lot and drove away.

What a fucking turn of events. What the fuck they should do now? The idea that leeches were watching them repulsed him; even they seemed alright.

"Do you think we should go to your place?" Bella asked voicing his thoughts.

"I don't know. I was really looking forward to spending some time off the Res, but now I feel it is the safest place. That psycho can't be mad enough to cross the treaty line," Paul answered.

"And I need to talk to Sam. We need to set a meeting with the leeches and get things straight. That parasite is no longer part of the treaty."

"I think I would feel safer if we were at your place. Just to think that Edward has been stalking me, watching me when I've been in my own home..." Bella said closing her eyes and trembling.

"I know, baby, it's fucking sick. You are right. We'll go to my place. Do you need get something from your place?"

"Yeah, and I need to water the plants too."

They went inside.

"Can you do the watering and I'll pack my bag?" Bella asked. She looked so tired and fragile.

"Come here, baby." Paul went to her and hugged her tightly against him. She melted against him, and he had to press down the need to take her to bed. It would have to wait until they were back at the Res.

"We'll sort this thing out."

"I don't think I can go back to Seattle after this," Bella said quietly. "It freaks me out to think that there is a fucking vampire after me. Rosalie and Emmett can't be around me all the time, and I hate the mere idea of being watched by anybody, even if it is to protect me. How could he be so delusional. I never gave him any idea to think I wanted him..."

Bella burst into tears.

"Hush, baby, don't dare go blaming yourself about this. He's fucked up psycho. You've done nothing wrong."

Paul lifted her into his arms and walked them to the couch. He sat down and pulled Bella on his lap.

"I've been thinking a lot about things, and I hate being away from you when we don't know what is going to happen," Bella said sniffing.

"Baby..." Paul started but Bella pressed her finger against his lips.

"Let me say this. We don't know how this imprinting is going to affect you in a long run now that Rachel knows and wants you. You feel better when I'm around you, and I feel miserable knowing you need me to be there with you. I can't concentrate on anything, I don't have any appetite and I can't sleep. I missed you so bad these two weeks. I need to be with you too, and not just because I know you need me. It hasn't been this hard before," Bella sobbed. Her big eyes were full of tears. Even looking tired and paler than usual, she was so fucking beautiful that it took his breath away.

He kissed her.

Shit this was so fucked up. Paul wanted nothing more than to have Bella with him all the time, but he wouldn't have allowed Bella to stay, not before today. But the stalking fucker had changed everything. He couldn't lie, he would feel so much better to have her with him so he could protect her.

He pressed his forehead against hers and asked, "what would it mean if you didn't go back before we get the psycho out of the picture?"

Bella took his hand and started to fiddle with his fingers. He had to smile; she always did this when they needed to talk about something important.

"Since there is no way of knowing when that might be I would have to resign. And I could live with that, truly. It has been great, and I've enjoyed it until these last two weeks. But now, above all things, I would be afraid of my own shadow being there alone. I don't know what it would mean to the offer I got from New York. They called me this week and gave me more time to think about it. Patrick is angry at me. He cannot understand how I haven't already accepted the position. And I can understand that. It is crazy stupid not to."

Paul sighed, so damn fucked up. Bella shouldn't sacrifice her career and passion over this shit. It would be fucking hard to be without her, but he would do that for her. They would manage.

There really wasn't any good solution to this mess.

"We can think about this over the next few days. We have seven days before you need to be back if we think you should go back, okay."

Bella nodded and then she kissed his neck making him shiver.

"I need you," she whispered and captured his lips, straddling him. She wound her fingers into his hair, tugging him closer and biting his bottom lip. He groaned.

He needed her too. So bad it hurt.

Paul got up and carried her to the bedroom closing the door behind them. He laid Bella down on the bed and kissed her before he went to close the curtains. Who knew what that fucker had seen if he's been watching her. The thought made him sick.

Bella had gotten up to stand on her knees and was pulling off her sweater. Paul followed suit, threw his t-shirt on the floor, and unbuttoned his jeans.

"Oh my God Paul you are so beautiful," Bella said looking at him. "It's still sometimes hard to believe that you are mine."

"I'm all yours, baby, you know that right. Don't ever doubt it," he said, unsure what she was thinking.

Bella reached out her arms, and he walked to her.

She skimmed her hands over his chest and shoulders down on his biceps and arms. Her touch left goose bumps on their wake.

"So beautiful," she mumbled and kissed his chest.

"Baby what are you thinking about?"

"It's all pretty crazy now, isn't it."

"Yes, but the most important thing is that we have each other, hmm?" he said and lifted her chin up, so she had to look at him.

She nodded and cupped his face with her hands to kiss him as she pulled him with her down to the bed.