AN: Hi! I know, it's been forever. I'm really sorry. I have been dealing with a lot of personal stuff, including a sick hubby for the past two and half months. Good news- he seems to be on the mend, I hope. Bad news- with this ridiculous monsoon season we're having here in Texas, my roof started leaking this week.
Anyway, with that said, thank you for your patience, and I hope to get the next chapter out sooner. I did finish outlining this story so I do know where it's going and I hopefully won't forget anything.

One last thing- go check out the "Maybe an HEA contest" under my favorite authors. Voting is supposed to begin tomorrow I think (May 16) unless they change it. Lots of great stories, and I can't wait until I can post mine here. I really love it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but some shirtless pics of Alex Meraz that clog up the memory on my phone. SM owns all.

Chapter 24

Previously:
Paul. That was what I was trying to remember earlier. I still couldn't figure out why my head felt so foggy then. "Wasn't he up here when I first came? I could have sworn I saw him…"

Bella's eyes widened almost comically as she shook her head. "Uh, no! He wasn't here. Why would he be here? How could he have possibly gotten here so fast? I mean, uh… no. You must have been mistaken."

Paul POV
Listening to her scramble, I hoped she would be able to keep the pack secret—my girl couldn't lie for shit. At least not when she was asked a direct question. Luckily I had plenty of experience lying to Charlie.

I stepped around the curtain and tried to look as frantic as possible. "Bella? Baby, are you okay?"

She looked at me like I was crazy, so I pulled her into my arms and lowered my head to whisper, "Play along. Your dad doesn't know I was here, remember?"

I held her there until Charlie cleared his throat, but I kept my arms around my girl even when I looked up at him. "Thanks for coming so fast, Paul. I hope you didn't bring your motorcycle though."

"No, Sam dropped me off and is checking out Bella's truck. We should be able to drive it home if it's not messed up too bad."

Bella still looked confused, and my wolf was getting antsy. He was really looking forward to the next part of my plan.

Turning to Embry, I held out my hand was glad when he took mine. "Thanks for getting Bella out of the way," I told him, speaking the absolute truth. "I don't know what I would have done if something happened to her."

He stared at me with open hostility, still suspicious of me even after Carlisle explained that there were parts of his Quileute heritage that he simply did not understand yet. I had a feeling he may give Sam hell once he finally phased.

"I would do anything for Bella," he vowed, squeezing my hand hard enough to break mine if I were simply human. "I won't let anything, or anyone hurt her."

We didn't break out staring contest until Bella slipped between us to hug her brother, then her dad and Tiffany. "We'll see you at home!"

I didn't say a word as I led Bella through the hospital, trying to ignore the overwhelming scent of the leech doctor. He'd clearly marked this building as his territory, something that would probably do more to draw in other vampires rather than warn them away. What kind of bloodsucker worked with blood all day?

"Paul? Where is Sam? I thought he was giving us a ride?" Bella looked up at me as we stepped away from the hospital and into the woods. I couldn't hold back a laugh as I leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, just to the side of her cut.

"Babe, you have to learn that with secrecy comes lying. I ran here from school earlier when I felt your panic. We are going to look at your truck, but we're going through the woods." I lowered my voice and pulled her closer to my chest as I breathed the next words against her beautiful, soft lips. "You up for a wolf ride?"

~oOo~oOo~oOo~oOo~oOo~oOo~

Bella POV
I melted into the kiss, thinking that I could happily spend hours connected to Paul's mouth. Of course, I might not mind doing other things connected to Paul, but…. Did he say wolf ride?

He let out a huge belly laugh when I pulled away with a surprised squeak. I didn't even have the heart to get mad at him, because he looked so open, so relaxed, with that gorgeous smile on his face. His cocky smirk was about as sexy as they came, but nothing could hold a candle to Paul's smile.

Shaking off that thought, I looked to the trees around us in apprehension. "A wolf ride? Like a ride on your wolf? Wolfback?"

Paul's expression changed abruptly, and I was pulled tightly back against his body before I could blink. "We'll talk about wolfback—and doggy style—a little later," he said lowly just before his tongue plunged back into my mouth. I could feel how excited he was, and I couldn't hold back a shiver as he rolled his hips against me.

We finally broke apart with a loud gasp, and Paul took a deliberate step back away from me as he shoved his hands into his pockets. I blushed as I realized he was probably trying to hide his not-so-small problem that had arisen.

"Okay, now, my wolf wants to meet you before I end up fucking you right here on the ground. Are you going to be scared?"

It took my mind a minute to realize he was asking if I would be afraid of his wolf, and not of his other declaration. Images of him "fucking me on the ground" filled my head, and based on that aforementioned smirk, he must have realized that.

Irritation filled me, and I fisted my hands at my sides feeling an irrational need to slap him for his impudent comments. That thought was followed by a rush of sadness. I couldn't bear the thought of Paul being hurt physically—especially by me. Shame washed over me at my traitorous thoughts.

Before the first tear fell, I was wrapped in his soothing embrace, my face resting against his heated flesh. The day's events seemed to catch up to me all at once, and I sobbed against him as he held me gently, one hand pressed firmly against my back as the other combed gently through my hair.

"What's wrong? Did I say something? I'm sorry, baby." He continued to plead with me until my tears finally slowed and I brought my arm up to wipe my nose on my sleeve. I giggled a bit at how completely unattractive that must have been, and that seemed to relax him a little.

"I'm sorry, Paul. It's just this whole thing—the car wreck, Embry, having a vampire as a doctor… It's just been a long day," I explained, looking up into his beautiful eyes. "I would love to meet your wolf."

After telling me to step back and not move until he approached me, Paul gave me another grin, then shocked the hell out of me by dropping his shorts. "Hold these for me, will ya?" he asked, tossing them my direction as he began to fall forward. Before his hands hit the ground they were paws, and I was staring straight at a beautiful silver wolf.

He lowered himself to the ground, ears pinned back as he gave me the biggest puppy dog eyes ever. I took a tentative step forward, and then another, until I was standing within arm's reach of him.

I bit my tongue before I commented on his sheer size, something I was sure he would tease me about if I had spoken the thought aloud. But he really was so much bigger than I expected! It was hard to believe that this huge wolf could be contained in even Paul's new larger body.

My hand seemed to move on its own and buried itself in the soft fur at his neck. A low growl that sounded almost like a cat's purr rose almost instantly as my fingers scratched at his silver coat.

"So… I just climb up? You do remember how clumsy I am, don't you? Paul?" His wolf huffed out a rough bark that sounded suspiciously like laughter, but he tossed his head toward his back indicating that I should indeed climb up.

Tucking his shorts into the waistband of my jeans, I lifted my right leg up to straddle him, right behind his massive shoulder blades. I had no idea what to do with my hands, but when Paul began to rise beneath me, I reached out grabbed his fur to hold on.

He took a few steps, surprising me with his level stride. My mom once got the urge to ride horses, and we visited a stable outside of Phoenix before dawn. The harsh, jerking gait of the horse was nothing like Paul's smooth, rolling movement.

He almost floated through the trees, barely skimming the ground on his large paws. Before I had time to realize just how fast we were moving, he stopped. I could see the school parking lot through a break in the trees, and I slid reluctantly from his back, turning around before he could phase back and flash me again.

His heat washed over my back as he plucked the forgotten shorts from my waistband, and I blushed as he slid them on silently. "You can turn around now, princess. I'm decent."

I couldn't hold back my laugh as I turned and took his outstretched hand. "I doubt that, Paul. When have you ever been decent?"

He retaliated by wrapping his arm around me and tickling my ribs as we walked out of the tree line, but he stopped short just as we hit the pavement of the parking lot. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest, and he pushed me slightly behind him in an overtly protective gesture.

"What do you want, leech?" He bit the words out harshly, and I followed his gaze to see the smallest Cullen standing a few feet away from my dented truck. Her boyfriend stood off to the side, appearing to lean casually against a dented Honda, but I could almost feel the power radiating from him. He was dangerous.

Paul seemed to agree as he shifted me further away from the tall blond, looking between the two vampires warily. The girl—Alice—held up my backpack with a dainty hand. "This was forgotten in all the chaos. We wanted to be sure it was returned to you."

She set the backpack down against the front wheel of my truck, then danced over to stand beside her mate. "Carlisle wanted me to ask if your pack would agree to meet with us tonight at the border. We have things to discuss that pertain to both our family and your tribe."

Paul was trembling against me, and I knew his patience was reaching its limit. I reached up and rubbed his chest softly, trying to soothe him enough to regain control. He patted my hand with his free one and nodded. "I'll talk to Sam. He'll be in touch."

Without another word, the Cullens turned and walked back to the school, not glancing back once even though I knew they had to feel the weight of Paul's glare on them—he looked like he was trying to burn them with his eyes alone.

When the vampires were out of sight, Paul ducked his head and buried his face in my hair, taking in deep, gulping breaths. I felt him slowly begin to relax as he held me, so I turned and wrapped my arms around his waist to hug him tighter.

After a few minutes, Paul pulled back enough to look at my face, and my breath caught at the raw vulnerability he was showing. I knew I didn't understand everything about the current situation, but something had my Paul scared.

His eyes searched mine before he finally dipped down and pressed a tender kiss to my forehead. Despite the passionate kiss we'd shared earlier in the forest, this kiss showed me exactly what I meant to him. I felt treasured—precious—and I knew he truly loved me.

With a sudden flurry of quick motions, Paul dumped my backpack into the truck bed, opened the passenger side door for me, and helped me up inside. He strode around to the driver's side and slid into the seat, turning the key in the ignition at the same time he pulled out my phone that he must have slipped from my bag.

"Sam?" he said, as he sped out of the parking lot. "We have a problem."