AN: Hi! Did you miss me? Yeah, I know I suck. I'm sorry! Hopefully next chapter will come a little faster than this one. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it. And a special Merry Christmas to my favorite Paul addict who has been patiently encouraging me through this dry spell- AnneValkyria ;)

Chapter 13

Paul POV
I came off patrol and headed to my house to shower before Christmas dinner at Sam's. I'd thought about skipping it, but I knew then Emily would make one of my brothers come out to my house to bring me some food. They'd never let me hear the end of it. Going along with her invitation was just easier.

As I paused at the main road, checking to see if I could cross undetected, I heard the unmistakable sound of Charlie's police cruiser. I knew that he and Billy had started to mend their friendship, and it looked like the Swan family was going to be spending Christmas with the chief.

I should have turned the other direction and ran, but my fucking wolf had more power in this form and I found myself inching closer to the road. My heart nearly stopped when the car crested the hill and all I could see was my imprint's face through the car window.

She looked happy enough, but her eyes searched the trees until I could have sworn she saw me. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath until I copied her deep exhale just before the car passed out of my sight.

I didn't even think about going to Sam's house—he would figure out where I was if he saw Charlie's car down the street at Billy's. I ran through the woods, finding a good place to sit and wait out of sight before the Swans reached the house.

I bit back a growl when Jacob and Quil came running out to meet them, but my wolf wasn't bothered when Quil scooped up my mate for a tight hug. Bella's smile was bigger than I'd ever seen it as he twirled her around, but she got tears in her eyes when she lowered her head and whispered something to him that even I couldn't hear over the noise of the others moving around.

My wolf might not have had a problem with Quil, but we were both on the same page when Jacob Black put his arms around our mate. I was ready to rip his fucking hands off, future alpha or not. I realized I must have growled too loud when I saw Charlie reach down where he normally kept his gun at his hip. Not that a bullet could hurt me too bad.

Billy glanced my way with a stern look as he waved my imprint up to him. I had sucked up my pride and approached him, asking if there was any way to keep Bella out of that school in Forks. I couldn't keep myself from practically begging him when he said his hands were tied.

He finally agreed to talk to Charlie about moving out here, but I didn't think he would get very far without telling him the truth. Charlie loved his job, and living in Forks was a part of his job requirement.

I growled again when Jake followed Embry and Bella inside, while Quil jogged off down the road to his own house. My ears perked up when he said he would bring Bella down to see Old Quil after lunch, and I wondered if I could manage to "accidentally" run into her over there… Fuck, no Paul. We're avoiding her, not looking for her.

While Bella and Tiffany started cooking, I took the chance to run over to Sam's. He frowned when he saw that I wasn't dressed, and his frown got deeper when I told him I wasn't staying. I stepped back from the door when he opened it to move out onto the porch, and held his eye as he tried to stare me down.

"So, how's it working out for you? Staying away from your imprint, I mean."

I couldn't stop my head from turning back toward the next street, where I knew Bella was safely tucked inside the chief's house. With the chief's handsy son… Fuck, I wanted to rip those hands right off him. If he–

"Paul!" Sam's voice broke through and I whipped my head back around to see his knowing smirk as he leaned against his porch rail all nonchalant. Fucker.

"What?" I asked him, trying not to sound like a belligerent child.

He smiled wider at my tone and nodded his head toward the Black house. "So, Bella's here…"

I looked away and locked my jaw, refusing to answer him. He chuckled and I saw him shake his head out of the corner of my eye. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you. I just hope you don't end up hurting her worse than you already are. You know she'll feel the effects of the imprint, even if you don't pursue her."

With that broken record playing, I hopped off the porch and left my alpha with a one-finger salute. He was still laughing when I hit the treeline and phased for the run back. "Merry Christmas!" he called out, his words following me as I let my wolf lead me back to our ma– imprint.

I tried not to think about the fact that I couldn't seem to stay away from her, telling myself it was just because she caught me off guard, coming here to my land. Of course the wolf was going to be more protective here. It didn't mean anything.

I drifted in and out of sleep as the families ate their Christmas meal and exchanged gifts. I was grateful that Rachel hadn't come home for the holiday—I was not in any hurry for her and Bella to cross paths anytime soon.

My name being spoken caught my attention, and I realized that Embry and Bella were sitting in Jake's room, and their conversation carried clearly through the half-open window.

"Yeah, Bells, he's cleaned up a little since he started hanging around with Sam and Jared, but he's still not a good guy." Embry sounded like he was sorry for his words, no matter how true they were. I cringed at the pain in Bella's eyes, though.

"Come on guys, you know I never let you bad mouth him when we were little. Nothing has changed there, okay?" My mouth stretched into a wide wolfy grin as my imprint defended me. Of course, her words didn't stop the boys.

"Just be careful, Bells. Seriously—the guy is a walking STD. I'm pretty sure he's fucked every willing female in the Pacific Northwest," Jacob snickered, nudging Embry's arm as they jostled each other on the bed.

Embry laughed harder then. "Not just locally, either. The dude has international conquests. He even fucked that foreign exchange student from Sweden last year—remember that?"

At his words, I couldn't help but pull up the image of the feisty girl with the sexy accent and killer rack. Anne really was a lot of fun. Of course, as soon as I thought of our numerous trysts, my wolf was clawing and snarling at me in anger. He considered even remembering past conquests to be some kind of betrayal. Fuck that.

Bella stood and stormed out of the room, making good on her earlier words, but I was pretty sure I was the only one who saw the tears she tried to hold back as she left. This was exactly why I had to break this fucking imprint. All I would do was hurt her.

~oOo~

I dozed off again late that afternoon, not strong enough to pull my wolf away from where Bella was. The front door of the Black house slamming closed woke me up, startled. Bella and Embry were on the porch talking to Jacob, while the adults were still inside.

"I just don't see why I can't come with you, Bells! You just got here!" Damn, he was whiny.

Bella sighed, and it sounded like she was answering him for the fiftieth time or so. "Look, Jake, you just can't. There are things you don't know and things I don't need you to know right now. Just trust me that it has absolutely nothing to do with you, okay?"

Embry had a strange smirk on his face, something I wasn't used to seeing with him. He was clearly in on whatever Bella was talking about, as he stood there just behind her right shoulder with his arms crossed defiantly. I had no idea what they were talking about, or what kind of secrets my girl was hiding.

Billy must have been watching them through the window because he called Jacob in, and I had to stifle a laugh as I watched the future leader of our tribe turn away pouting. The door slammed again with his retreat, and Bella shook her head, with a look that was a strange mix of irritated and sad.

I decided to shift and follow from a distance as Bella and Embry started walking down the road. By their direction, I could tell they were headed to see Old Quil, and I was more than a little curious what their little meeting was going to be about. Their quiet conversation didn't give me many clues either.

"What are you going to say to him?" Embry asked, nudging Bella with his elbow just hard enough to make her stumble a bit on the gravel road.

She smiled and pushed him back, then sighed as she put her hands into her coat pockets. "I don't know, Em. You know how it is—it's been so many years. What am I supposed to say?"

"You're mad." It was a statement, not a question, and I couldn't figure out what secret Embry and Bella seemed to share that somehow involved Old Quil.

She snorted a little sarcastic laugh that made me smile even thought I could feel the pain she was hiding. "Yeah, I'm mad. He's lied to me my entire life! He lied to my dad! I just want to know why." Bella kicked the ground as she walked, sending a rock skittering toward the house they were approaching.

Quil and his grandpa were sitting on the porch, and I could hear Joy moving around inside, washing dishes it sounded like. Quil stood up and waved when he saw his friends, bouncing down the steps with more energy than any one boy needed. "Hey Bells! Hey Embry!" he called, looking back to his grandpa. "See, I told you they were coming."

He didn't say anything else as he noticed the tense way Embry and Bella were standing side-by-side at the bottom of the porch steps. Old Quil had risen and was looking down at them, and his expression was completely unreadable, though I could smell the fact that he was nervous.

Embry took a deep breath and reached for Bella's hand when it looked like she wasn't going to go any further. "Hello, Grandfather," he said quietly, sounding just a little snide at the title. "Merry Christmas."

Bella seemed to find her voice then and she raised her head to face down the tribal elder. "Yes, hello Grandfather," she echoed Embry's words with so much venom that I stopped dead in my tracks.

Grandfather? What the hell was going on?