Anastasia's P.O.V.-
"After the initial act of imprinting, the male will secrete pheromones designed to attract the imprintee to them. Only the imprintee will be able to subconsciously detect these pheromones which are tailored to her specific senses….." "Whatcha reading, Ana?" Paul hollered over to me. "Nothing!" I called back, quickly shutting off my phone. Of course it wasn't "nothing"; ever since Christian and I officially became friends, I'd been so curious about wolves and their instincts. So different than us sheep….. I found it fascinating. I found him fascinating….
"Ana, did you hear me?" "Huh?" My shoulders perked up as Paul leaned over to me; we were sitting at a joint desk in the library. I was supposed to be working on that article for coach Lederhosen, but…. I took the opportunity to sneak in some online research on wolves. To be honest, I didn't know anything about wolves; I'd never heard of imprinting before. Well, I knew that alphas were a thing, but that's not exclusive to wolves. I looked to Paul and blinked, breaking my train of thought.
"S-sorry, what was that?" My voice was more than a little startled. He watched me for a moment before continuing. "I just said it's Environmental Day and we should head to our habitats soon." "Oh… oh, right! Yes, sorry; I forgot!" Paul chuckled at this and shut his textbook. I followed suit and he helped me put my backpack on. We went to the Unity Centre together, where we parted ways in the herbivore lobby. Paul had to go to the savanna plains while I went to the green meadow. "I'll walk you to the clubroom after we're done here," he told me before he left. I don't care how boring it is to write; I had to get coach Lederhosen's article done today before we started getting ready for the spring festival. The last thing I ever wanted was Christian to get yelled at on my account.
Christian…. I couldn't stop thinking about him while I laid there on that itchy, fake grass. My arms were spread out at my sides with my hair all around me behind. These were some of my favourite hours of any week. It was so peaceful laying under the bright- albeit false- light blue sky. There was minor chatter among some of the other lambs- like all two of us- but I liked to simply lay back and relax. Ample time for thinking too, which I enjoyed. All thoughts kept reverting back to Christian. I tried to imagine what kind of animal he was like; what he did for fun, aside from football; what it was like being an alpha male; and so on. The atmosphere was so calm and peaceful that I could just relish all these ideas and questions without shame. There was no shame in it- not in here, where I could be alone with my thoughts. In here, I could think about him all I want without having to worry….
But of course, the good times couldn't last forever and what felt like much too soon, the two hours were already over. I groaned as I sat up; nugh, time to get back to reality, I guess. Boo! Still, it wasn't too bad, I suppose. Paul was leaning up against the wall outside with his arms folded when I came out; he was waiting for me. We grinned at each other. "Ready?" "Ready," I nodded, and we were off.
We didn't really talk about much the whole way to the clubroom; needless to say, my mind was on other things. But Paul didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't show it. He escorted me all the way to the clubroom with a fairly cheerful manner. Once there, I invited him inside for a cup of tea; anything to stall writing that dull piece. He happily accepted and shut the door behind us.
The tv- our room was one of the only rooms to have a tv in it- was left on by another journalism club member; I'm guessing Jose. It was on the local news station, with a report discussing something which sounded serious. Paul watched with a mild interest while I got the kettle ready at the side of the room. Both our ears perked up however, when the reporter announced that there was another attack downtown this morning. This one was a duck near central station; they're guessing it was the same group of carnivores that attacked that other guy earlier this week.
"Police are still on the lookout for any suspects in the area. So far, no one has been identified but they have reason to believe that the leader of this carnivore gang is a male grey wolf…" Wolf? My finger twitched on the kettle, my lips flattened into a solid line. I remember…. that night I was attacked, I can't be positive but I think it was a canine, and definitely a male… the same man who killed Tom. So I was right- he wasn't a student here, which means…. whoever's behind these attacks has trespassed onto school property twice, at least. He's killed one student already, and almost killed me… Should I tell someone about this? But then, what would I tell them? I didn't see who my attacker was; there's zero detail I could give the police about him. What could I say that the cops don't already know, aside from the fact that he tried to kill another student here on campus?
"Ana? Ana." The sound of Paul made me flinch again. "H-huh?!" That's when I noticed that I'd over-filled the teapot with water. I immediately shuffled to clean up the access water. Paul observed this with concern. "S-sorry! I-I guess I wasn't paying attention!" My hands kept scrambling. After a tense minute of this, Paul shut off the tv; I think he believed the news is what made me nervous. I guess it was, in a sense… Just to know that he's still out there, and he's not the only one… and he knew where I went to school. I should remind you that the mind does strange things when it's scared, so you'll have to forgive my flawed logic.
"Are you ok, Ana?" Paul got up, still facing me. I, however, was facing the blank wall in front of me. My hands trembled a bit. "Uh, y-yeah; I-I'm fine." Yeah right, like he's going to believe that. "Ana?" I didn't respond this time, too lost in my own thoughts again. I didn't know what to do… I didn't know…. Paul must have sensed something was still wrong, otherwise he probably wouldn't have done what he did next.
I heard him step towards me and I suddenly found myself being wrapped in two big, strong arms from behind. This made me come to a complete halt as I gradually grasped that I was being hugged; embraced by Paul. Paul…. He's…. he's hugging me. My eyes began to widen in surprise and bewilderment. This was so weird; I mean, we've hugged before obviously, but this… something about this felt different- new. I felt his breath on the back of my neck while his arms pressed me into his front. Man, sometimes I forget how strong he actually is…
"Don't worry, Ana." "Huh?" "Don't worry; I will protect you. I won't let anything happen to you; no one's gonna touch you, not while I'm around." "P-Paul!" I gasped. He's always been protective- over-protective recently- of me, but he's never outright said anything like this to me before. I felt his grip on me tighten. "Don't let what you hear on the news worry you. You'll never be a victim of a carnivore attack like that. I'll protect you with everything I've got, Anastasia." Paul….
I had to gasp again; he was embracing me so tight, almost like he was afraid to let me go. He just said I'll never have to worry about a carnivore attack, but the great irony is…. And more than that. "W-why are you doing this…. for me, Paul?" I finally managed to spit out. "Why?" He repeated, clinging to me tighter- if that were possible. A moment of silence fell over us and I felt Paul's forehead rest on the back of my head. He was breathing heavily now… "Why? Because I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you. It's easier to protect you, than live with the alternative." "Paul….." My eyes lowered. Yeah, I think Kate might be right; Paul might have a thing for me. It's too bad I…. Well I…. I…..
"You don't have to do that, Paul. I will alright," my body ultimately surrendered and leaned willing into him. It's then that he gently pulled back, still not removing his arms from around my waist. I spun around so to face him, and we stared at one another for a second. Then, I made myself grin up at him. "You put yourself in harm's way… for my sake, please. I don't want anything to happen to you either, Paul. You are a dear friend to me."
Paul merely watched me for a moment longer before me in for another deep hug again; this time my head rested on his shoulder. "I've said it once and I'll say it again: just shut up and let me do this. Let me protect you; don't try and hold me back for my sake. And in return, I will make you happy, I promise."