The last chapter was just the Prologue, an introduction to Madden and such. The rest of this story will be told from Madden's POV.
Paul and I spent the rest of the day together, talking about Imprinting, his powers, my powers and whatever else came to mind. I smiled way more than I have in a very long time. By the time the sun was setting, I was on Paul's shoulders, heading for my place. Paul knocked on the door and let me down. Mom opened the door. "Hey Mom, Sam Uley is having a little hangout tonight with his friends and I got invited. Jake will be there so someone you know will watch me and we're just gonna' eat pizza and stuff so… please can I go?"
"Who's your friend?" she asked, nodding towards Paul.
"Paul Lahote." I said, as though it was obvious.
"I haven't seen you since you were in diapers, Paul." She grinned at Paul's blush. "What are you doing here with my daughter? I figured she want to hang out with the Clearwater's since they're closer to her age." She was becoming intimidating. She looked into Paul's eyes then something changed. I realized my mom knew he'd imprinted on me. Was she allowed to know that? She looked between the two of us for a few moments that felt like forever before nodding. "Be home for lunch tomorrow." She said, smiling.
I hugged her. "Thanks, Mommy." I said before turning around and walking to Sam and Emily's place with Paul. Paul slowly slipped his fingers between mine after a few moments. He was so warm and comforting. Still looking at the forest around us, I helped our fingers intertwine and squeezed his hand. A regular wolf howled, not far away, and I whimpered, turning to Paul and hiding my face in his arm. I felt like a baby but we were outside and the thought of a wolf coming after us was terrifying.
Paul stopped and looked down at me, holding me close to him. "I won't let it hurt you. Nothing will ever hurt you. I promise." He hugged me and I slowly nodded into his chest. I liked being that close to him, feeling how warm he was. It was nice.
Paul let me go and knelt in front of me so I could hop on his back. I grinned and hopped on and he walked with me there, his hands on my upper thighs, until we got to Sam's. He let me go and opened the door for her. Inside I smelled Pizza, soda, and other junk foods. "Nom." I said as I looked at the Coffee table covered in assortments of foods that would give me a heart attack. "I'm allowed to eat anything I want, right?" I was suddenly starving.
"Your part of the family now, you can do just about anything." Paul whispered in my ear. I grinned as my stomach growled and walked forward, grabbing a slice of pizza. "Where's Sicily?" he asked.
I swallowed a bite of pizza and looked at him. "She wanted to stay at home. She doesn't like dogs very much."
"How do you know?" Paul asked. I tapped the side of my head with my pointer finger.
"Cat person." was all I said. He didn't need to know yet. Jess would kill me. That's when the rest of the pack came in.
"This must be Madolyn." A feminine voice said. I turned around, mouth full of pizza. I felt a string of cheese that was still attached to the rest of the slice bob against my chin. I swallowed. The woman in front of me was very pretty with black hair and lots of scars on the right side of her face. She was about 5'10 and had a nice smile.
"Call me Madden." I said, wiping grease off my chin.
The woman smiled and hugged me. "I'm Emily." She said. She pulled away. "You look hungry; remember you're welcome to anything here. You're part of the family now." I smiled. I liked that. This was a family where there was one thing connecting you that wasn't blood, it was love. I loved my family with all my heart but still, this filled the void of what being adopted left. It was nice.
"Awesome." I said.
"I brought Mario Cart." Seth said.
"I brought Mt. Dew." said Quill. He tossed a two liter to me and I caught it and opened in, taking a large gulp from the bottle. Then two more. Then two more again and then the bottle was empty. I pulled the empty two liter from my lips and took a deep breath. Everyone stared at me.
"I-I don't get soda a lot…" Everyone laughed.
"Dude, you chugged that faster than any of us." Embry said, clapping my back.
"Yeah, well, covens eat a lot so you take fast or take nothing." Madden said.
"Covens?" I big guy with an arm around Emily asked. Emily was engaged to Sam Uley according to Paul, so that must have been Sam.
"I'm a witch."
"What?"
A flower crown quickly grew on Sam's head made of pink lilies. "An elemental to be precise." I grinned again as the rest of the pack howled with laughter.
The rest of the night was spent playing video games, getting to know each other and pigging out. By the end of the night most of us were passed out on the floor. I lay on the couch, my back to Paul's chest. He had his arms wrapped tightly around my middle with our fingers laced together. He was so warm and strong. I felt so safe with him there.
I woke up without even realizing I had been asleep. I felt hollow and unsatisfied, Paul wasn't there. I stretched out and yawned. I got up and walked to the dining room table which was only a few feet away. I wrapped my arms around Paul's neck and set my chin on top of his head. "Morning sleeping beauty." He said.
"Good morning." I said, moving so I was on his lap. There were pancakes, muffins, fruits, and waffles spread out on the table. All the guys were stuffing their faces when I suddenly felt sick. There were so many smells and not all of them were good. Jeeze, did Seth ever bathe? He smelled and then all the foods and something smelled like raw meat and the guys were burping and there was a lot of breath in a condensed space and suddenly…
I ran out onto the balcony and hurled over the railing. It just kept coming and realized this wouldn't be taking so long if I hadn't eaten so much last night. I felt a warm hand on my back, rubbing soothingly. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and slowly stood up. Then I smelled the guys and the puke and SETH because he clearly hadn't showered since he first turned. I hopped the steps off the porch instead of walking them and sprinted to the woods, puking again behind the first tree I got to.
When I was finally emptied of all contents I shakily stood. I held my breath as I past everyone and Paul followed me into the bathroom. I washed my face and sighed. "Any mouthwash?" I asked. Paul pulled out a large bottle of Listerine from the cabinet above the sink. I waterfalled a mouthful of it and sloshed it around for 30 seconds before spitting it into the sink. I turned around and leaned against the marble counter. "You probably think I'm gross now."
"Nope. You're still beautiful as ever."
I knew then that I loved Paul. There was no way around it. I was head over heels in love. "Thanks."
"Wait, what happened. You were fine then you were puking."
"I have a sensitive nose." I said. He looked at me funny. "Has Seth showered in the past 9 years because I could smell his B.O. from a mile away?"
Paul laughed. "He went out on patrol this morning."
"He still stinks." I wrinkled my nose. Paul chuckled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Yes, he does."
There's chapter two! Hope you love it!
-Gingie