A/N:

Hello Twilight FanFic world! Sorry for the little bit of lag time here in posting. I stopped and started this chapter a lot, trying to get it down just right.

To those of you sticking with me, I truly appreciate your readership!! This chapter is a bit of an experiment for me. The first part was inspired by a book I recently finished that had about 9 billion character POVs and various tenses. I am honestly not a huge fan of the 9 billion POVs, but I did think it might be worthwhile to hear from one more here. Part of this chapter is from Paul and is in second person. Feel free to analyze that (or don't). Know it was intentional. I always liked Paul (wrote three other FFs about him, this is my first FF with him not being the male MC) but in this story he is very different and more complex than any other Paul I've written. It was interesting to get into his head, literally here. Maybe I shouldn't give too much away in these author notes, but one theme that has been kicking around my head a lot is this idea of who is worthy of a voice. That's for sure Kim's arch as this forgotten, left field character into something more, but thought it made sense for Paul too, thus welcome to his POV.

Paul POVYou are sitting in a dinky, match box of a cottage eating chicken thighs and soggy green beans. At the hint of outside sound you painstakingly try to focus on anything else but said sound. You instruct your eyes to inspect every minute detail of the wood beams around you, notice every growth-ring and grain. Focusing on what you see doesn't distract you, so instead you stuff your mouth and hyper fixate on the soggy texture and taste of your mediocre food. All this so you don't focus on your other super-sense. So you don't obsess over the crystal clear voices ruminating outside. On the clear, ever presence of panting and kissing.

"Holy shit, you can hear everything!" comes from the stupid mouth of a new idiot denounced to this life that you lead.

You want to hit him. Smash your balled fist into his face and make a dent. You want to scream at him and tell him to shut the fuck up. Unfortunately, these delightful actions never come to fruition. The Alpha gives you a warning to back off in the form a firm facial expression and then turns to the newb.

"Embry, try and give them some privacy. I know it's difficult."

Your jaw tightens more. You wonder how that is even possible as it has been tight, so tight, for days now. Since she showed up in the god damn woods and you couldn't do a fucking thing about it. Because she isn't for you. Doesn't want you. Rejected you. Wants your god damned brother who probably doesn't give a shit about you either.

You angrily push your green beans around on the small blue plate. As if that will do something.

The cabin in drenched in silence as they all look at you. Waiting for you to do something. Waiting for you to explode.

"Hey, it'll work out," says a small voice. It's your Alpha's imprint, the scar on her face ever prominent.

She made this meal for you. This is her house you are in, a place you spend more and more of your time. But, really, you don't give a shit. Nice is for suckers.

"Sure, but at what cost," you say as you stare at her fucked up face. And then, so does everyone else. And then they all look at you, because you really are the grade A asshole everyone thinks you are.

"Paul. Enough." That's Alpha. And is it enough? You still hear them, you can't shut it off. And It's too much and not enough at all, like it always is.

But you have had enough. That much is clear, so you stand and the chair scrapes loudly on the wood floor — screaming your impending departure from the table. You make your way to the screen door and see them. And even though you heard them, even though you knew in class what it was, seeing them hand in hand is like a million needles being driven into your skull. Like a knife to the heart, over and over again.

You can't even look at her. You don't even know her anymore. You look at him.

"Jared, a word?"

Neither of them say anything to you. It's like you're a ghost, only vaguely sensed because you are haunting them. They can feel your presence, but they don't see you. No one ever sees you.

"Paul…" her voice is soft, but harrowing

You don't look away from him. You are not exactly sure why you said you wanted a word with him, anyway. You don't want to say any words at all. You just want to hit him. Hard.

"Paul." Your eyes flick over to hers as you notice her independently for the first time since they both appeared.

"So this is official now?" It comes out harsh. She was always small, diminutive. But somehow her whole body seems to shrink. "You said he was no one to you. That all the rumors where just that." You wanted to add that she said her heart was yours, but those words don't matriculate.

They both startle a bit at the uptick and urgency in your tone. You realize make them uncomfortable. Good, you think.

But as you study them you realize that she doesn't look ashamed. And he doesn't seem jealous. And you want to make him jealous. You desperately want to be the one who is envied.

"Paul… whatever it was. Whatever we had, it ended. You said you'd stand down."

Your nostrils flair. She doesn't even smell the same. You've noticed this. Not like she did before. Something has been off. You have known it for days, but don't quite understand it. She clings to his hand, and it induces waves of rage that roll through your body.

"I said I can't just turn this shit off and you both said you didn't imprint."

"Yeah, we'll we did, dude."

So much nonchalance. Fucking asshole.

"Meet me in the woods now, Jared."

Your brother ushers her inside the cottage. Your alpha hastily comes out, but you are already making your way to the woods, trying to stay human for as long as you possibly can.

"What the fuck, dude?" He said from behind you. "Are we really doing this love triangle shit?" You keep walking but he catches up and pushed your shoulder. You turn to face him right by the crest of the woods. "Just let it go… whatever you had…that was before…she's… Kim's different now."

The audacity of this statement makes you laugh. A bellowing, maniacal one that sounds like a cartoon supervillain. And maybe that is who you are, you think. Who fucking knows? You are no hero. Not in this tale.

Still, small, nearly minuscule amounts of yourself try and calm you down. She is different now. You don't know why or how, but you feel this in its entirety.

But it doesn't matter. You are primal and reactionary now. In a last ditch effort to calm yourself small recesses of your mind remind you of things you've found peaceful: Walking across Tacoma Narrows Bridge with your friends as a kid, Mount Reiner looming in the distance. Sitting on a bench and watching beluga whales with your mother at the aquarium. Staring into the doe eyes of the girl you love as you fucked her in your dad's truck last summer.

None of it works. You are enraged. You will be in true form soon enough, but for now you finally, finally feel some tiny relief as your fist smashes into the too perfect nose of Jared.

Kim POV:

Oh fuckity, Fuck!

"They're fighting!!" I frantically squealed to Emily.

"Sam won't let them go at it for too long, and they will heal quickly….physically anyway."

Emily grabbed my hand and pulled me into a back bedroom. Probably hers, the one she shares with Sam. My eyes danced around at the sparse by feminine room. We sat on a burgundy duvet cover beside a purple plastic orchid on a small wooden table. No headboard, all white walls, no artwork. I could hear less back here and I surprisingly was grateful for that.

Emily held onto my wrist as if I was child and I was her charge. I didn't get the sense that she was patronizing me, but rather trying to protect me from something. Still, I pulled out of her grasp.

She eyed my hands move away from hers and then tiled her head up to meet my face.

"So, I am guessing you had a thing with Paul?"

She was being nosy, but I didn't blame her. I would want to know what the hell was going on too.

I nodded. I didn't have much else to offer. I couldn't say when or how long. I couldn't say if it was serious or not or if Kim loved him.

What did those journals say? I couldn't remember anymore. All I could do was think about the cover quote, "It's not what you look at, it's what you see."

"I mean do you think he's in love with you?"

Did I? He seemed pretty bent up, but what was that thing mom always said? When people were mean or acted explosive toward you; it was likely more about them then it is about you. Still I felt guilty for some how upending everyone and everything.

Should I just tell them what was happening? Anna's theories anyway? Would it make things worse. Damn it. Why couldn't I be confident about anything or any decision in my life?!

I frowned at the thought and Emily's face scrunched in confusion. Did I just awkwardly answer her question nonverbally?

A mild knock from Sam came from the open door.

"You okay, Honey?" He asked me as he walked in.

Sam seemed to be doing that a lot. Checking in with me as if he was the teacher and I was new student in the classroom. I nodded, but then stood and squared my shoulders. I wasn't okay at all, but didn't know how to go about telling him that.

He looked into my eyes. Deep into my pupils.

"All this with Paul will sort itself out, Kim. Jared's feelings are true for you, we know that,and Paul will get that… eventually." He took a deep breath and then muttered something like "bonehead" under his breath.

I pursed my lips. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would garner such attention. But here I was… and for the first time in a while, I wasn't ashamed.

"Whatever crap Paul has going on, he'll get over it, but we support you. Got it, Kim?"

Another nod. I wanted to say something. Like, "Thank you" or, "I appreciate it". Any words would have been better that my nodding like a dummy, but any semblance of articulate words were derailed by he unmistakable sound of bones cracking. And then, thick ever present growling that slowly turned into blood curdling roars. With urgency and heavy steps, Sam made his way out of the room and toward the front of the house muttering more indistinguishable words.

All color must have drained from my face as Emily reached for my wrist again. Our eyes met.

"Hey, let's get out of here."

Jared POVSuch a fucking drama queen. I slowly wiped blood from my face. I got that something happened between the other Kim and Paul and his little tiny feeling are hurt, but he has to get the fuck over it. She's not even the same girl. His wolf should tell him that, he should sense it. He probably already knows but he has to lay it on thick and let everyone know he's the big hothead and he doesn't take shit. Except he fucking will this time.

"Dude, this is bullshit. You don't have to be so butt-hurt about it .You had a thing, but it's over. You said it yourself."

Paul's eyes narrowed at me. I expected him to try and hit me again, but instead he spat on the ground.

"It doesn't make any god damn sense. Why her? Why now?"

He's really starting to piss me off. Who does he think he is with his barrage of questions and why the fuck do I owe him shit? I don't.

"None of your fucking concern, brother. All you need to know is she is mine. And she is here to stay, so you need to back off and be cool. She is nothing to you now."

Well fuck me. Paul didn't like that. His body tensed, eyes went black and was ready to bust out of his skin.

"Nothing to me? You want to see who she was to me? It'll be my pleasure to show you, jackass."

He lunges at me, but instead of another human fist to my face it's claws attached to his silver fur. Before he reached me I roll and morph into my own wolf, lowering my head and bearing my teeth at him.

"I just wanted one got damn thing!" Came out in a roar. "One fucking this for myself." Paul flashed images of he and Kim together. Laughing, him peppering kisses all over her face. He looked… actually happy. It was so bizarre. Sure he'd crack a snide comment and chuckle here and there, but this was actual joy. Mirth.

I sat there in confusion as he sprang forward at me like fucking Jack-in-the-box. His teeth nashed down on me and nipped for my front leg. I flew back, and yelped out in more of annoyance than pain.

I looked back up at him, but now instead of thoughts of Kim, Paul mind ran a reel of desolation. Instance after instance flashed before me in seconds of times he had been used, abandoned, doubted, discarded. By his family, so called friends, acquaintances, nearly everyone in his life. Paul usually kept his shit close to the chest, but here he was actively showing me.

What did I know about Paul? Not much. He moved her at some point in middle school. Had his own friends, or maybe he didn't.

He read my thoughts and it seemed to piss him off even more. His growling sounded like an earthquake. Sam made his way on to the front steps of the house and I also heard a car starting.

"Dude. Is this even about Kim? I'm mean, totally?"

Who knew the answer to that question? If Paul did, he wasn't letting on.

I thought about showing him my own thoughts of Kim telling me that she's not from this world. But before I could pull the memory he bared his teeth at me again. I thought he might lunge at me again or resign himself and go back to a naked and panting human, but instead he looked at me with disgust as he turns around and started to run up through the forest, leaving me alone.