The entire car ride to Emily's place was filled with confusion while also trying to remain focused on the road, and the guys rambling on about video game nonsense. Did I just imprint? On the new girl?I noticed her right away as she walked up to the school this morning, but she only looked down, and I followed suit by staring at my phone.

Her aroma became stronger as she got closer, and she smelled of rose and lavender. I fought the urge to stare as she walked by, but my attention was stolen away once Chelsea wrapped her arms around my neck and brought me in for a hug and a kiss.

I like Chelsea. She's popular around school with lots of friends, and she was always up for going to the beach. But now what? What do I do?I couldn't just break up with Chelsea over an imprint, right? And, I never really wanted an imprint. I enjoy being a self proclaimed ladies man and playing the field.

I saw Y/N at lunch too. She was beautiful, honestly. Her face was kind, and her smile, contagious. I found myself thinking of an excuse to walk up to her and say hello while she was in the lunch line, but of course, Chaz beat me to the punch. Man, I really disliked that guy. He was always stirring up drama, and I knew he was probably telling Y/N awful things about me. But why did I care?

My thoughts were haulted once I realized we were at Emily's. I wasn't sure how I managed to make it here in one piece with all of the thoughts swirling around in my head, but I brushed aside that thought and made my way inside Emily's house.

"Paul?" I heard Sam question. Sam was the pack Alpha, and I knew he could sense something was wrong. "Everything okay?" He questioned again.

"I think….I just… imprinted…on the new girl at school" I said, with a flushed look on my face.

I could feel the rest of the packs eyes suddenly turn and land on me with a look of surprise on each of their faces.

"Ahh man! Ladies man, Paul, is hooked!" Jared yelled while grabbing a huge muffin from the plate Emily sat down on the table. "Welcome to the club my man!"

"I don't want to be part of a 'club'. I have Chelsea. I don't want an imprint," I felt myself starting to get angry and starting to shake.

"Well, I guess now is a bad time to tell you that I invited Y/N to the bonfire tonight?" Kim nervously hid behind Jared, afraid for what was to come next after her admission.

"YOU WHA-"

"I didn't know you imprinted! I was just trying to be nice! Besides, Chelsea will be there, so you'll probably be too distracted by her to notice Y/N anyway. No big deal." Kim stayed behind Jared, and I could see him begin to tense up, ready to launch if he needed to protect his imprint.

I huffed a sigh of frustration and stormed into the living room and sat down on a couch for a moment to control my anger. I was well known for my hot headedness, but had been working hard to control my anger, especially in public as to not reveal our pack secrets and expose what we really were—werewolves or as I like to say—shapeshifters.

Sam casually strolled into the living room and stood infront of me, and looked me dead in the eyes before saying," You know you're going to have to tell her, right? And, even if you don't choose to pursue the imprint romantically, it would be good for you to have her around to help control your sudden outbursts. Imprints are usually the ones to help calm us down when we need it most."

I didn't give Sam a response, but although I was frustrated, I knew he might be right.

The rest of the pack funneled into the living room, ready for our meeting, while Kim and Emily worked in the kitchen putting together some snacks for the bonfire.

This should be interesting, I thought.

READER POV

I had surprisingly managed to get all of my homework done within a matter of 2 hours once I got home from school. Even though Kim assured me that my teachers might give me the first day of school slack, I didn't want to fall behind.

"How was school, Y/N?" My grandma asked from the kitchen as she started pulling out ingredients for dinner.

I looked up from my homework that sat infront of me with a slight smile, "It was fine. Nothing too interesting." But I was lying.

I couldn't get what happened between me and Paul after school. I remembered the way he looked sitting in his car gripping his steering wheel and breathing heavily. It kind of freaked me out, and I wanted to ask him later tonight if he felt what I felt. If he was okay. I didn't even know the kid by the way, and I knew his girlfriend, Chelsea, would be there, which would make things even more awkward, but I was determined to find out some sort of answers.

I began to pack up my school supplies from the kitchen table to start getting ready for the bonfire.

"Oh, by the way, Grams, I finished my homework and was wondering if I could go hangout with a couple of friends at the beach for a while tonight?"

"That's wonderful Y/N! Of course you can! Just don't be out too late, and wear something warm!" Her smile was genuine happiness, and I nodded before heading upstairs to my room. I wasn't use to not being questioned about who I'd be hanging with, and no curfew given. I was in my senior year of high school, so I figured my grandparents just wanted to treat me like an adult, and I didn't mind.

I grabbed a pair of jeans from my dresser, and a white long sleeve shirt with "TEXAS" written across the front in red block letters. I grabbed a pair of white shoes from my closet, and a black windbreaker. I figured the heat of the bonfire would help keep this Texas girl warm if my clothing options failed.

I gave a final look to myself in the mirror before heading down the stairs and saying a quick 'goodbye, be home later'to my grandma. I jumped in my car and headed to the beach, in complete silence as I contemplated how to get Paul alone to talk to him without his girlfriend or anyone else snooping.

I pulled up to a parking spot at the beach and immediately saw Kim with another woman pulling out a basket of food and some blankets and other supplies from the back of a car. I quickly jumped out of my car to offer my assistance.

"Hey Y/N!" Kim waved, "Glad you could make it!" Kim seemed so friendly, and I couldn't help but give a mini wave back to her.

I grabbed a few supplies from Kim's hand as we headed to where the rest of the group was setting up on the beach. I made an effort to look around the parking lot, but didn't see Paul's jeep anywhere in sight.

"Oh, so you're the infamous Y/N," a warm and pleasant voice interrupted my thoughts as the three of us walked down the beach, "Nice to meet you, I'm Emily." Emily was beautiful, and I immediately felt comforted by her presence. I did notice the scars on her face, but, they didn't take away from her beauty, and I figured something traumatic must've happened for her to get them, but didn't dare to ask.

"Nice to meet you, Emily. And, infamous? Not me. Just the new girl." I jokingly replied. What did she mean by infamous? Had Paul said something about me?Butterflies gathered in my stomach at the thought, but I regained my focus as we finally approached the rest of the group.

"Hey guys, this is Y/N, our guest of the evening, so don't be weird, okay?" Kim begged as she set down the items she was carrying.

Introductions were short, and I even met four newer faces, Sam, who I connected as Emily's boyfriend or husband, Jacob, Seth and Leah. I took my place on a log next to Kim, and took the offered blanket Emily handed over to me and tucked it around my legs to keep warm. I couldn't help but think how crazy these people must be to only have on t-shirts and cut off jeans during this kind of weather. The only suitably dressed ones were me, Emily and Kim, and even still, I was the only one with a blanket tightly wrapped around me for dear life.

The bonfire was finally lit after the boys gathered some wood, and Emily passed out snacks as everyone began talking amongst themselves about an array of topics.

"Look who finally showed up! Paul! Chelsea! What took you so long?" Embry called out.

I turned toward the parking lot and saw the two figures making their way toward the fire. My plan to talk to Paul alone didn't seem like it would be successful by the way Chelsea was latched on his arm. Paul looked a lot more lively than he did earlier today, and for that, I was thankful.

"Oh, please, spare us the details. We don't WANT or NEED to know what took you so long." Jared made a fake throwing up noise, and the pack laughed in unison.

"It was nothing like that, we just took a more scenic route heading back. Get your mind out of the gutter, Cameron. Hit him for me Kim." Kim happily followed that order with a slap to the back of Jared's head. I let out a small snicker, and was met with Paul's fierce eyes.

The rest of the night went smoothly, and Paul and I managed to keep our gazes away from each other. I had a chance to talk to all of the boys, Kim and Leah, and found them all to be very close, like brothers and sisters. They all made me laugh, and they made me feel welcomed. I couldn't help but think that Chaz's warning of the gang might have been wrong. In fact, I was sure of it. These boys didn't even seem like they would hurt a fly.

I felt my eyelids getting heavy as I glanced at the time on my phone to see 11:00PM. But surprisingly, no missed calls or texts from my grandparents. I'm sure they were worried about me, and I began to stand up to say my final goodbyes.

"Leaving already?" Quill asked.

"Yeah, kind of got a thing tomorrow called school. And I'm sure my grandparents are worried sick about me." I could see Paul staring at me from the corner of my eye, but ignored his burning gaze.

"I can walk you to your car, Y/N." Jacob offered. Such a gentleman, I thought. This is the friendliest gang I've ever met.

"I can walk her-" I knew that booming voice from anywhere. Paul stood up from his spot next to Chelsea and walked around the bonfire over to where I was standing.

Jacob sat back down with his arms up in surrender. I looked at Jacob with widened eyes as a call for help,but he shrugged and set his gaze to the sand bunder his feet.

"See ya later Y/N." Seth smiled at me and I smiled back. Paul and I began heading toward my car with Paul dangerously close beside me. I didn't dare to look back at Chelsea, afraid that I might be stabbed to death by the suspected daggers in her eyes.

The walk up to the parking lot was short and silent.

"I think I'm safe now. You can head back to the bonfire." I stated without looking Paul in the eye.

"I'm Paul." He held out his hand in my direction, and I firmly shook it, feeling a rush of warmth in my palm. Woah, this guy can retain heat, and I'm over here freezing. Lucky.

I quickly pulled away and gave a half hearted smile.

"I'm -"

"Y/N. Yeah, I know." You could feel yourself blushing, and were 100% glad that it was dark and he couldn't see.

There was an awkward silence, and you so desperately wanted to leave before anymore awkwardness could ensue.

"Well, Paul, it was nice to meet you, but I've-"

"Look, Y/N, I don't know how to say this, but I need you to come over to Emily's house tomorrow, okay?" He sounded exhausted and a bit defeated.

"Umm, would be kind of weird if I didn't ask, but why?" I questioned.

"Are you going to come or not?" He asked annoyed.

I was taken back by his sudden rudeness, but then again, should I be surprised? He seemed to be more of the hard-ass of the group, but we had literally just met, and he was already being a jack ass.

"Since you asked so nicely, I guess so." I said sarcastically, and a little unconvincing.

"Great. Here's the address. See you tomorrow." He handed me a small folded piece of paper that looked like it came off a corner of his math homework, and turned to head back to the bonfire.

I opened my car door and sat in the drivers seat. I opened up the folded paper Paul gave to me to see Emily's address and another written note scribbled underneath —Come alone.

How was I expected to sleep now? All night I tossed and turned thinking of every possible scenario that could happen tomorrow with Paul. Was he trying to murder me? Kidnap me? Was it a gang initiation? Come alone? How creepy.

I looked at my bedside clock that read 12:00AM. I took one final deep breath to calm my overthinking before slowly drifting off into a deep sleep.