Thank you for all your very nice reviews, I'm so pleased you're enjoying this story.

Here is the new chapter. Be ready, because from this chapter the fun will begin.

Thank you arienna89 for helping me with this chapter.

CHAPTER 3

Saturday had arrived and Bella was a wreck of nerves. A few times, she had debated the idea of pretending to be sick, but that was something only a pathetic person would do and she didn't want to be pathetic. She wanted to be strong. She could spend a day with them. After all, she knew before coming back that she would have to face them again. She just didn't know how they were going to react once they were all face to face. Would they have ignored her or kept acting the same way they had done for the past weeks.

Luckily, Charlie had promised never to leave her side for too long, even if he had to spend the entire day stuck with only her to talk to. He was being extremely protective over her. Bella wouldn't have been surprised if he had brought a gun with him to the lunch.

That was one thing she had never understood, why the people in la Push couldn't just have a normal birthday party lasting only a couple of hours instead of having a long lunch that was going to force her to stay with the very last people she wanted to see.

She groaned annoyed when another lock of hair fell on her face. Of course, the only day she actually wanted to look pretty, even if she didn't know why, her hair had decided to be uncooperative. People thought that short hair is easier to control, but that was complete bullshit in Bella's case. Today, especially, her short hair was a complete mess.

Sighting after the last failed attempt to straight it, she gave up and passed on to the next critical subjects, what to wear.

If the Bella of two weeks prior was there, she would have laughed at her. However, the new Bella wanted to look good and not like a wreck for once in her life.

Edward had always made her feel not good enough, especially when it came to physical beauty. She wanted to prove to him and the others that she could look like a girl when she wanted to. During her stay in Florida, her mom had constantly tried to make her understand that she had a nice body and it was about time she showed it. Her mom's words not hers.

However, her mom was right. After eighteen years of dressing like a tomboy, she could start showing some skin.

Putting on what she thought was a cute, yet comfortable outfit, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had picked a black sweater drees with a form-fitting belt and over the knee boots. The belt accentuated her thin waist, without making her look anorexic, and made her bust appear curvier. The dress in short, enhance her curves without being vulgar.

Ignoring her mother's advice on make-up, she put on only a bit of mascara and a pink lip-gloss that she thought looked cute.

Checking the time, she notices that it was time to leave if they didn't want to be late, and she had no intention of being the last one to arrive.

Bella quickly put a grey cardigan on and run downstairs. She almost tripped on the stairs, but, luckily, her dad caught her before she could get hurt.

"I swear Bella, this is the fifth time that you almost fell down he stairs since you came to live here."

"The fifth time that you've seen me." She corrected him, smiling when he rolled his eyes.

"Lets go clumsy."

When they reached his car, Charlie finally took a look at his daughter. She looked different from usual. She actually looked like a girl. He was not sure that he liked it. He didn't want his daughter being ogled by boys. She had always been beautiful, but he preferred when he was one of the few to notice it.

"You look very pretty."

Bella blushed under his compliment, noticing that he had got red as well and quickly thanked him.

"New haircut, new clothes."

"New Bella." Charlie added.

She just smile at him. "Not new, just better."

Charlie was surprised yet proud at her new show of confidence. His daughter had become a woman, a very beautiful woman, with too short a dress for his liking.

Maybe she didn't need his assistance after all.

They heard her, before they saw her. The pack was already reunited. They were all sat in the living room, each of them pretending not to be waiting for the pale girl to arrive.

"Dad, just because you're the chief it doesn't mean that you can ignore the fast limits." She reprimanded her father.

"I can when nobody is looking."

"That's abuse of power!" Bella half yelled.

The werewolves laughed at the father-daughter bickering. Even Sam cracked a smile when he heard the indignation in the girls voice.

Jacob was already at the door when they knocked. Jacob opened it eagerly and his mouth fell at the sight in front of him.

Bella looked stunning. She had always been beautiful in his eyes, but now everyone could see it. Why couldn't he just imprint on her and spend the rest of life with the woman he had been in love with since he was six? Or not imprint at all and still be with her for the rest of his life.

Bella flushed and looked down under his stare. Jacob knew he was making her feel uncomfortable, but he just couldn't stop. She was there, in front of him and he felt like he hadn't seen her in years.

He only looked away when Charlie chuckled at his ridiculous expression.

"Close your mouth kid and let us in."

Jacob moved to the side to allow them access, lucky that his tanned skin was hiding his fuming cheeks. Being caught by the town Chief while ogling his daughter was not a pleasant experience. However, Embry and Seth were thinking it differently, since they were laughing aloud.

Once everyone had a look at Bella, they understood Jacobs reaction. They had never seen her in a dress or anything remotely feminine. There was a lot of skin showing and they were males after all.

Bella felt self-conscious under their scrutinising stares so she quickly walked towards Sue to hand her the two pies she had made for Billy.

Sue smiled kindly at her and took them to the kitchen, leaving Bella alone in the wolf lair.

Bella took a deep breath and turned around to face them. She sadly noticed that almost everyone was already there. Embry, Seth, Sam, Leah and Quil. The only ones missing were Paul and Jared who she was sure would have come once their patrol was over.

She avoided direct eye contact with anyone and looked around for Charlie, noticing with disappointment that he wasn't there. There went his promise to never leave her alone.

"You cut your hair."

Leah stated, being the first to break the silence. Their hair was now the same length, but while hers where straight, Bella's was messy, but in a good way.

"Yes, I cut it two weeks ago." Bella explained, trying to stay polite even if the only thing she wanted to do was to shout at them to stop looking at her as if they were in a zoo and she was the brand new attraction.

"I didn't know you had any dresses in your wardrobe." Jacob commented in a light tone. "Not that you don't look great, cause you do. You look beautiful." He quickly added and Bella swore she heard Quil coughing "pussy" at his friends. She probably heard correct since the others were trying, and failing, to hide their amused smiles.

Jacob glared at Quil and Bella took advantage of his distraction to ask were Billy was.

"He's out there with the adults. They are turning on the grill." Seth told her, looking excitedly at the thoughts of food.

Bella cracked a smile and turned to leave, but a warm hand stopped her.

She turned her head to the side and saw Jakes hand around her forearm.

"I'm happy that you're here. Can we talk later?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm here for Billy, nothing has changed." She stated, proud of herself for keeping a strong tone.

She hated seeing the pain in his eyes caused by her words, but, honestly, she was glad that she wasn't the only one suffering for once. They had made her suffer first, they had no right to make her feel guilty.

"I'll go greet Billy."

She freed her arm and disappeared under the packs eyes.

.

"Don't worry Jake, we have the entire day to make her change her mind." Quil tried to reassure him.

"It's not like she has a choice, we're her only friends." Leah joked, but the others didn't find her statement funny, especially Jake who glared at her before leaving the room.

"Really Leah?" Quil glared at her. "She left us because we've been cruel and you make fun of her lack of friends?"

Leah rolled her eyes. "She's manipulating you. She just wants to be at the centre of attention all the time. Trust me, ignore her and she will come back crawling like a little bitch.."

"Enough!" Sam shouted and Leah found herself unable to speak.

"You will not say another mean thing about that girl, am I clear?" Sam yelled and she nodded scared. Sam had never looked so angry. The look in his eyes actually made her believe that he could kill her if she didn't shut up.

"Good. Paul and Jared will be here soon. Leah, you have the next shift. Just check around here, I don't want you to miss the party too much. If you find anything, do not engage before calling us, okay."
She nodded one more time and Sams eyes lost a bit of their anger, even if she knew that one wrong comment would have made him explode. Why was he being so caring towards the leech lover? He had never cared about the way they talked to her before, so why now.

"Happy birthday, Billy!" Bella yelled happily, hugging the older man.

"Thank you Bells. You have no idea of how much happy it makes me to see you here." Billy whispered in her ear.

"I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world." Bella released him and the two smiled at each other.

"You look beautiful, Bells." Billy stated and Bella laughed.

"You too, new hair tie?" she joked and all the people present laughed.

When Billy focused her attention back on the roasting meat, Bella sat on one of the chair predisposed on the grass and looked around.

Quil and Embry were trying to make a moping Jake laugh, Seth and Leah were talking with their mother and it looked like the older woman was reprimanding her daughter for something she had said. She ignored them and looked for the other wolf that was already there.

She spotted him immediately. The alpha. He radiated power even from where he was standing leaning on a tree a few metres away from them. Bella had noticed that he liked watching everything from afar. Almost as if he could control the situation better from there.

Taking all the courage she had in her, she started walking towards him, not caring about the boys that were watching her carefully.

Sam saw her approaching and couldn't stop himself from appreciating her new love for fashion. He had always been a fan of a good pair of legs. And hers looked particularly appealing thanks to the short dress. She must have felt his eyes on her, because she lowered her head when she reached him.

"Sam, I wanted to talk to you." She looked at his face briefly and then focused her attention back on the grass.

Sam looked at her curiously. "I thought you didn't want to talk to us." He reminded her of her previous words.

"What I'm about to say has nothing to do with what Jacob wants me to talk about."

And that caught his complete attention.

He waited for her to speak, enjoying the way she played with the hem of the dress, clearly embarrassed for what she was about to say. Her innocent gesture made her look more appealing to both Sam and the wolf.

"I'm sorry for attacking you that day, I was angry and said things that weren't true." She blurted out quickly. Sam knew she was referring to the day she had discovered their secret. He wanted to say that it was okay, but she hadn't finished.

"I also realised that I never thanked you for finding me that day. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't found me and taken me home. And I'm sorry that it took me so long to thank you."

Finding her courage Bella raised her head and their eyes met.

As soon as those brown eyes were on his, Sams world changed. Everything that was holding him on earth, his duty, the pack, gravity itself, vanished and was replaced by the stunning angel in front of him. His angel, his world. His imprint. Sam never imagined that he would have imprinted, but he had and she was standing in front of him like a vision. The most beautiful girl in the world and he had let his pack hurt her. The adoration for her was soon joined by pain. He had let his brothers treat her horribly and had never done anything to stop them.

She was the most precious thing in his life and she was suffering because of him.

He was aware that she was waiting for him to say something, but he couldn't find the words. Besides, if he told her that everything was fine, she would have left and he didn't want her to leave him. Ever.

However, she was starting to get uncomfortable under his stare and the wolf in him wanted to make her feel better.

"I'm happy I found you." He said in a soft tone, words never being more appropriate. She couldn't even imagine how lucky and blessed he had been to find her. If only he had looked into her eyes sooner, he would have saved her a lot of pain. However, he was going to make her feel better, he would make sure that she would never be sad again.

When she smiled softly at him, happy for what he had said, he almost purred. Purred? What the fuck? How had he passed from feared alpha to pussy little dog? How could looking into someone eyes completely change a person and his life?

However, one look at her smiling face and all the anger disappeared.

When she started walking away from him, he found his feet moving on their own, following her. It was as if his body knew that his place was at her side. She turned her head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"Food is ready." He said and she nodded, knowing how much they loved their food.

When he finally moved his eyes away from hers to check on his pack, he saw Quil smiling happily at him. He raised his thumb in a congratulatory manner and Sam found himself smiling.

It hadn't even been five minutes since he imprinted and she was already making him smile.

Paul spotted her immediately. How could he not, she was fucking hot. When did she became that hot? When Jared elbowed him, knowing what he was thinking, he closed his mouth.

"Don't do anything stupid, Paul. She has been through enough." Jared warned him.

"I was just making sure that it was her, since she looks different from the Bella we know."

Jared raised his eyebrow, clearly seeing through his lie.

"Whatever Paul. Go talk to her now and remember to say what we have prepared."

Paul nodded and reached the girl in a few big steps. She had her back to him and he noticed that she was really tiny compared to him. Her head barely reached his shoulder. He admired her ass for a second, before a cough from Jared made him regain his focus.

"Bella." She shivered, recognising his voice, but still gave him her back.

"Bella, I want to apologise to you."

He heard her sigh, but, surprisingly, she turned, raising her head to look into his eyes.

The second he looked at her, really looked at her, all the anger inside of him faded. He had never felt more at peace in his entire life. When he saw Bellas eyes, he saw how his whole life was now all about her, keeping her happy and protected. No words could escape his mouth, because every neurone in his brain was synchronising on Bellas channel. His Bella.

His imprint.

Paul was looking at her the same way Sam had done not even few minutes prior. In a mix of shock and wonder, as if he was seeing her for the first time. Did she really look that different? She had just cut her hair and worn a dress, how much different could she be?

Bella raised an eyebrow, gluing her hand to her hips as she tried not to look too intimidated by his huge form.

"So?" she snapped, waving her hand in front of his face, which was still frozen in the same expression of amazement.

"Paul?"

He shivered when she said his name and Bella wondered worriedly if he was starting to get angry. What could he possibly be angry for? He had just arrived. Maybe he didn't want her there.

"Okay, I'll leave."

And with those parting words, Bella stomped away from the man, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. She didn't look back, didn't see how he was staring at her. It was only then that Paul let a small smile spread across his face.

"Bella Swan." He whispered so lowly that no one heard him. The name sounded foreign, frightening, but wonderful.

He recovered from his shock, when Jared slapped his arm. Paul growled at him, angry to have been disturbed from looking at his mate.

When he looked at his friend, Jared was smirking at him.

"You have no idea how much fun I'm going to have with you." Jared exclaimed with a devious smile on his face.

"After the shit that you gave me about being with Kim, I can't wait to see you act like a lovesick puppy around Bella."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Paul muttered, but that only made Jared laugh.

"Here, I saved you some food. I'll go talk with the others, don't do.."

When Jared turned towards his friend, Paul had already left with the plate he had prepared for him and was sitting a few chairs away on Bella's left. Jared laughed like a maniac when Paul took a bite from his burger without removing his eyes from Bella.

Oh, karma was such a bitch.

Jared reached his friends with a huge smile on his face.

"Guys, you may not believe what has just happened."

"Is this about someone imprinting on Bella?" Quil asked and Jared nodded with a confused expression.

"You saw him?" he asked confused. He remembered seeing Quil fighting with Jake for some sausages. How could he have seen them?

"Of course I did." Quil scoffed indignantly.

From behind them, someone groaned.

"Who the fuck imprinted on Bella?" Jacob roared in anger. How could someone have imprinted on her, they had all already met her.

Jared and Quil gulped, knowing that their next words would change the dynamic of the pack for good.

"Paul."
"Sam."

Quil and Jared looked at each other confused. The others mirrored their expression.

Simultaneously, five heads turned towards the girl, who was eating her burger next to her dad, completely unaware of the two werewolves that were staring at her as if she was the most fascinating thing in the world.

The pack looked between Paul and Sam a couple of times. Sam was on her right and Paul on her left. They saw them look at the oblivious girl in the same way. Both with love, wonder and completely unaware about each other.

"Holy shit!" Embry broke the silence, saying aloud what everyone was thinking. Everyone was too shocked at the sight in front of them to say anything. Everyone except one sore werewolf, who was about to explode in anger.

"WHAT?!"

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I hope you enjoyed!