Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. I do not own Twilight.
Chapter Two
Bella's POV
Paul carried the plate of ham into Sam and Emily's house, grumbling at me for trying to carry the twenty pound plate of ham on my own under his breath. I simply smiled, knowing he wasn't actually angry with me. The way his hand tightened around my waist just before we walked in attested to that.
The rest of the pack was spread out around the living room, cheering and yelling at the TV. A quick glance let me know we would be watching baseball and I groaned internally. It truly was the most boring sport to watch on TV, but for some reason men seemed to flock to the screen whenever it came on.
Sam looked up when we walked in, smiling instantly when he saw it was us.
"About time you two showed up. Em was starting to get anxious, worried something had happened," Sam scolded us lightly, coming over to give me a swift kiss on the cheek.
"We, um, got a little distracted," I mumbled, blushing as Sam chuckled and Paul smirked.
"I figured. Em and Kim are in the kitchen, getting things ready if you wanna head in there," Sam offered, nodding towards the open doorway.
"Sure. Thanks," I smiled, heading that way.
"I'll be right back. Need to take this in," Paul muttered to his Alpha.
Sam nodded, though I noticed he frowned when he looked down and noticed my newly bandaged hand. Thankfully, he didn't say anything, but Paul shifted slightly beside me when Sam had been staring a little too long. No longer uneasy about the overly protective way Sam and Emily treated me, I knew Sam and his wolf were making sure the wound wasn't too bad. To reassure him further, I held up the hand in question.
"Paul's told me a hundred times to be careful with knives, but I guess I'm just too stubborn to listen. It's not deep, but it stings like crazy," I told him.
Sam grunted, but didn't comment as Paul urged me towards the kitchen, his hand pressed gently to the small of my back. Emily was darting around the kitchen, checking pot and pans to make sure nothing burned. Kim sat on the counter, watching with an amused expression. As soon as Paul and I walked in, Emily gave a happy cry and rushed to us.
"Oh, thank goodness! I was starting to worry something had happened. Now, Paul, set the ham on the table next to the deviled eggs and shoo! Bella, you sit down. You look exhausted. Clearly your wolf has been working you too hard," Emily mothered, urging me to sit in at the table.
"I think that's actually the other way around, Em," Paul smirked as he leaned down to kiss me sweetly before going to join the pack.
Emily and Kim giggled as I blushed, but didn't tease me about Paul's comment after he'd left.
"So what did take you so long getting here?" Kim asked curiously.
"Well, I found Quil's boxers in our laundry and Paul decided to… assert his dominance. Apparently, his wolf wasn't too fond of my being in possession of another wolf's clothing," I informed them slyly.
"I swear, those boys are getting worse and worse. Just yesterday, Sam found them roughhousing on the beach in wolf form," Emily told us emphatically.
"Oh my gosh! Were they seen?" Kim gasped, leaning forward eagerly.
"No, thank God, but can you imagine what would've happened if someone not from the Reservation saw them? We would've had a disaster on our hands," Emily sighed dejectedly.
"Honestly, what were they thinking?" I questioned, shaking my head.
"I have no idea but the two of them and Jacob have been acting out ever since they phased. Sam's worried Jacob might try to fight him for Alpha position. If that happens, the pack would really go to the dogs," Emily insisted, making Kim and I giggle despite the seriousness of the situation.
"They're young. Maybe it's the whole rebellious teenage thing," I shrugged.
"Well, for the sake of the pack, I hope it doesn't last long," Emily frowned, turning back to the stove.
Dinner didn't take that much longer to fix and soon enough the pack was filing in to fill their plates. Paul walked over and sat down beside me, leaning in close to nuzzle my neck.
"What did the three of you talk about in here?" Paul asked, nipping my ear.
I shivered at the gentle scrape of his teeth across my skin, blushing when he chuckled lightly.
"Girl stuff," I answered, not wanting Jacob, Embry, and Quil to overhear what us girls had been talking about.
"Mm-hm," Paul hummed, knowing I wasn't being completely honest with him.
Turning to kiss his cheek, I moved my lips next to his ear.
"I'll tell you later," I promised softly, not wanting to start something in Emily's kitchen.
"You better," Paul growled, biting gently at my jaw.
Paul was always using his teeth on my skin to show his dominance. It was something I had thought to be a part of him being a wolf shifter, but he had later told me that neither Sam nor Jared dominated their imprints. Honestly, I felt a little bad for Kim and Emily. There was nothing better than giving over control to Paul, letting him handle any and all problems that arose. Not to mention, whenever I submitted to him, his wolf went crazy.
In a good way.
And, God, the sex was always amazing.
A soft growl coming from my wolf brought me back to the present. I bit my lip nervously, looking around to make sure no one else had noticed what was going on. Thankfully, the pack was too busy loading their plates to notice mine and Paul's quiet conversation.
"Come on, Swan. Let's get you something to eat," Paul insisted, rising from his seat beside me.
I placed my hand in his and allowed him to pull me to my feet. His arm went around my shoulders as soon as I was standing, allowing me to lean into his side as we walked over to get our dinner.
"So tell me what you girls were talking about earlier," Paul said as we drove the short distance from Sam and Emily's to our house.
"Emily was telling Kim and I about the problems Sam has been having with Jacob, Quil, and Embry. Did you know Sam caught Quil and Embry roughhousing in wolf form on First Beach?" I asked.
"Yeah. Sam has talked to Jared and I about what would happen if Jacob tried to take over the pack. We're all hoping it doesn't happen. Sam isn't supposed to be Alpha, but I'd damn sure rather follow him than Black," Paul grumbled.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, feeling slightly hurt that he'd kept something from me.
"Cause, Swan, I know you. If I'd told you, you would've nit-picked the situation to death worrying over it. And you know that if you start worrying, it gets the wolf going and that goes back to Sam, which would've resulted in a hyped up Alpha," Paul explained, reaching over to squeeze my hand.
"Oh," I replied smartly, not really having anything to say in response to that.
He was right, after all. I was a worrier. It was one of my best and worst qualities, according to Paul. He loved it when I worried over him, loved the way my entire focus centered around him, but hated it when I worried about anything else. It probably was a good thing he didn't tell me about the Jacob-Sam issue.
"Hey," Paul murmured, pulling my attention back to him.
"Mmm?" I hummed as he slowed to a stop in our driveway.
He turned his body towards me, his hands coming up to frame my face.
"I love you," Paul breathed, rubbing our noses together.
One of his hands drifted down to rest over my stomach and I smiled as he kissed the tip of my nose.
"Both of you."
Ta-da! So, yes, Bella is pregnant! No, the pack does not know yet, though Emily and Sam know something is going on. They just haven't figured out what yet, they just know their instincts are screaming at them to protect Bella. I'll go into more detail about all that in the next chapter.
For those of you wondering "What? How the hell did she get pregnant already?"… Well, remember the last chapter of HIS? She was still feeling kinda sick and having trouble keeping food down? Yeah, she was pregnant. I just didn't address it then because I didn't want to entice those who didn't want to read about the Cullens with the whole baby idea. So, I saved it for this story.
Question for you guys: Do you want to hear from other points of view or just Paul and Bella? The only other people I would probably do would be Sam and Emily. Unless there's something major that needs to be told from someone else's POV. I could go either way and reserve the right to make the final decision, but I want to know your opinion so I can take it into account.
Alright. I'm done for this chapter. See you guys next time!