READER POV
I woke up the next morning actually feeling like I got a decent sleep the night before, despite drifting off after midnight.
I pulled up to the school, but didn't rush to get out of the car. I had managed to get through the first day of school just fine, and was feeling more confident today. After mustering up enough courage and strength to fight the cold, I exited from my car and began walking to the front doors.
I saw Kim huddled up with Jared in their same spot I had seen them in on the first day of school, and standing next to them were Quill and Embry. I unintentionally began walking toward the group before noticing a member was missing. Paul.
Where was he? Maybe he was cuddling up with Chelsea somewhere?
"Hey Y/N!" Kim waved.
"Hey!" I waved back and moved a bit faster toward the group.
"Did you have fun last night, Y/N?" Embry asked.
"Besides freezing my butt off, yeah. And, Paul was being a bit weird. He told me to stop by Emily's today after school. Do you guys know anything about that? I mean, it's not a gang initiation, right?" I asked, kind of joking.
Embry gave Jared and Quill a side glance, which I took notice of, but Kim was the one to speak up-
"Something like that." Jared gave her a nudge as if to stop her from talking. "I mean, Paul's a strange guy. Don't worry though. Sam and Emily would never let him lose control around y-"
"Alright Kim, I think you've said enough. Time for class. We'll see you later Y/N." Jared pulled Kim to the front doors and I could hear their slight bickering as they disappeared into the crowd of students.
"Yeah, we should get going too, right Em?" Quill turned on his heels and began walking a few paces behind Jared and Kim before Embry could answer.
"See ya, Y/N." Embry was gone before you could stop him. If they weren't already high before, your suspicions were soaring at this point in anticipation of what was waiting for you after school.
The school day went by painfully slow. I didn't see Paul at lunch, and even though Kim invited me to sit with her and the rest of the guys during lunch, seeing Chelsea sitting in her usually spot absent from Paul was an easy decline, especially after the night before and trailing off with her boyfriend into the darkness. I ultimately decided to sit with Chaz and his friends again, but decided not to mention my exclusive invite to the bonfire the night before. Instead, I listened to their continued debate over the lack of trash cans in the lunch room.
The final bell rang for the day, and my nerves were out of control. I pulled out the torn piece of paper that Paul had given me the night before, and typed in the address into my maps app, and scurried over to my car. The drive was fairly quick, and wasn't too far from where my grandparents home was. I didn't tell them I wouldn't be home immediately after school, but I was interested in whatever Paul had to say to me, and didn't want anyone stopping me or asking too many questions to which I had no answers.
I pulled up to the small and quaint home tucked away down a small gravel driveway, and hidden amongst a few trees. The little house felt like home to me although I had never been here before. But, after spending the evening talking with Emily at the bonfire, I felt a sense of assured comfort even before entering into the unknown.
Sam stepped out onto the porch of the home and waited for me to walk up before greeting me. Sam was tall with the same russet skin color as all of the other boys I had met. He was muscular and definitely gave off a father figure vibe that was equal amounts of comforting as intimidating.
"Hey, Y/N. Thanks for coming by. Paul's inside with Emily."
He gestured for me to walk inside before walking in behind me and closing the screen door.
The home was warm, and the fresh smell of chocolate chip cookies filled the air. I let out a sigh of relief, and felt my body warm up from the cold I just left.
"Y/N!" I turned to my left to see Emily head toward me with open arms. I hugged her back just as tight as she hugged me and smiled widely to myself. "I'm sure you're wondering why you're here…" as though she had read my mind.
I gave off a tiny shrug with my right shoulder as I followed Emily's gaze to a shirtless Paul sitting at the kitchen table. How did I not see him there when I walked in? Wow, he's it together Y/N.
Sam was standing over to the right of Paul and motioned for me to have a seat at the available chair right across from Paul. I set my bag down next to the chair before taking a seat and crossed my hands over one another before looking at Paul.
Paul looked down at the table, not meeting my gaze. He looked stressed? No. Sick? Maybe that was why he didn't come to school today.
"Err, Paul? Why am I here? And, why did you tell me to 'Come Alone'?" I questioned, not taking my eyes off of him. He didn't answer right away, just continued looking down at the table. I was starting to get frustrated. Emily cleared her throat, still in the kitchen, as if to signal for Paul to speak. Still no answer.
"Fine." I stood up and grabbed my bag. "If you're not going to answer me, then I'm going to lea-"
"Maybe it would be easier for him to show you rather than tell. It's hard to explain." Sam suggested, almost pleading. Paul nodded and stood up, heading for the back door. I looked at Emily with a puzzled look on my face, but set my bag down again to follow after Paul. Sam was right behind me as we headed for the woods.
My frustration took over my fear of following two grown men into a wooded area after walking for what felt like at least a mile.
"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" I pleaded, a little winded from the strenuous walk.
"Right here is good, Paul." I looked at Sam with the same puzzled look I had given to Emily. I turned back to Paul who had rotated himself to face Sam and I.
"Paul..hello?" I pressed, still annoyed by the lack of answers I was receiving.
"Stand back, Y/N, and don't run." Sam gave me a serious look, and at this point, I was finally beginning to realize the horror movie scene I had just inserted myself into.
Suddenly, Paul began breathing harshly, his body shaking rapidly and steaming. I couldn't help my body moving backwards towards the way we came, but Sam steadied me with his left arm to keep me from stumbling and falling. The sound of bones cracking nearly made me gag, and close my eyes. A loud thud to the ground made me open them once more to no longer see Paul, but instead, a large, dark silver and brown WOLF in his place. I couldn't scream or yell. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? This couldn't be real life.
"P..pa…ppp..Paul?" I managed to let escape from my mouth. I started feeling dizzy as I watched the creature that stood before me snarling and pacing back and forth. This couldn't be Paul, but, it is? I felt a cold sweat take over my body, and my heart pounding almost louder than the snarling from the beast. My vision suddenly began to blur.
'I don't feel so good'was the last thing I remember thinking before my surroundings disappeared into turned black.
TIME SKIP
It felt like hours had passed by when I finally opened my eyes. I felt groggy, but not in the sleepy way. My eyes slowly eased open as the sound of clattering dishes rattled in my ears, and the focus of the unfamiliar space became more and more clear. I was back at Emily's and not dead, or kidnapped.
I lifted myself slightly from the couch to get a better view of everything around me. I could see Emily in the kitchen fixing a cup of tea, and Sam standing next to her. They were whispering to one another – "Well, did he tell her yet?" Emily pressed. "No, she fainted. When he shifted back, we brought her back here. Once she wakes up, he will."
Tell me what?
Sam turned to see me now fully sitting up on the couch –"She's up." He walked over to the front screen door and poked his head out before shutting it again. I saw Paul slowly open the screen door once more as Sam came and sat at a nearby chair close by the couch I sat on. Emily came from the kitchen with the cup of tea in her left hand, and a plate of 2 cookies in her right. She gave a soft smile before handing me the tea and cookies, and made her way back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up.
Paul shuffled into the living room and sat on the available couch next to the one I was on, and looked at me for the first time since I had arrived.
"How are you feeling?" He seemed to genuinely care.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? I know I wasn't dreaming…I saw you change into a wolf. Did it hurt?" Now it was my turn to be genuinely concerned. The vision of cracking bones and steam radiating from Paul's skin danced in my mind. Paul let out a small laugh, and Sam mimicked a deeper laugh as my lack of wolf transforming knowledge seemed to amuse them.
"Now that's out of the way," Paul began, ignoring my previous question "time for the hard part."
"Oh, there's more? Great." I sarcastically stated. Paul ignored me once more and continued-
"Y/N. before we go any further, you can't tell anyone about this. If our secret gets revealed…no one would believe you I'm sure, but you can't tell anyone. Not even Chaz." He rolled his eyes at the mention of Chaz's name.
I didn't respond, but Paul pressed on.
"Aside from being able to shapeshift, members of the pack-"
"Members? There are more of you?" I cut him off a little surprised at the mention of multiple people being involved.
"Yes," he went on, "Quill, Embry, Jacob, Jared, Leah, Seth, and even Sam, are all shifters. When we officially shift, there's a chance of us imprinting on our soulmates. Not guaranteed, but, usually happens, if you're one of the 'lucky' ones." He did finger quotes as he said the word 'lucky' which gave the impression that he didn't believe imprinting to be a lucky thing.
"What's an imprint?" I asked. A thousand questions were running through my mind, but I started with the most obvious, I felt.
"Imprinting is when you become whatever your person needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend. It's involuntary, but the ancestors are never wrong, apparently." He rolled his eyes again, keeping his gaze focused to the ground.
"So, why are you telling me this then, Paul?" I knew the answer that was coming. Paul had imprinted on me, and he didn't sound too thrilled. I mean, who could blame him? I was the new girl, average looking, and he had Chelsea. She was popular, pretty, and seemed to be nice from what I could tell.
Why would he need me as his soulmate?
The look Paul gave me said it all. He didn't even need to speak. I knew.
I huffed out a sigh that I felt like I had held in for the longest time. I couldn't get my mind to slow down. I didn't even know what else to say. Sam interrupted my plaguing thoughts-
"Now, imprinting doesn't have to be romantic, Y/N. I'm not sure if you knew or not, but Paul is kind of the hot head to our group, and he may need you at some point to help calm him down if he's about to phase. But, maybe you both can start off as friends and see where that takes you. Who knows, you might end up liki-"
"NO!" the force of Paul's voice made me jump halfway out of my seat. "I didn't want an imprint. Dammit, Sam! I already have Chelsea. The ancestors aren't always right, so back off!" Paul turned abruptly toward the front screen door and slamming it open before plopping down on the front step, placing his head in his hands, propped up on his knees.
After a few moments of silence, and regaining my composure after being scared half to death by Paul's hot headedness, I looked up at Sam- "Maybe I should go talk to him." I said, in a slight whisper.
Sam nodded and I slowly stood up and made my way to the front porch and sat down next to Paul, leaving a large enough space between us.
"Look Paul. I know this shape shifting is a lot for you to handle, and I would never want to make it harder than it needs to be," he let off a side huff, clearly indicating that I really didn't understand what was going on, and on that, I couldn't disagree.
I turned toward him and continued," All I know is that I'm going to be the best imprint ever. I want to help you, Paul. And, your secret is safe with me. I'll hang around to help if things ever get out of hand, but mostly to be a friend. Only if you'll let me, of course."
Paul seemed to soften his hardened face that he once held and took a moment to think about my offer. He set his gaze straight ahead before looking me in the eyes once more.
"Thank you, Y/N."
I meant everything I said to Paul. I really did want to help keep the packs secret safe and help Paul with his temper, and now I had dedicated my time to doing just that.
I gave Paul a light nudge. "Alright, Mr. Lahote. Now, tell me all about shape shifting."