A/N: WOW! So most of you recognized what the last chapter was about and stepped up *nods in thanks*. There were a couple of you who were highly offended and left such a hissy of a reply, I couldn't help but giggle. ;D
Hugs and kisses to my beta, Shadowpast620 for beta'ing.
Okay, we now return to regularly scheduled update. Enjoy!
"Jacob?" Nadine called to her husband as she heard him enter the house from out back, mumbling under his breath.
Clicking on the small fragile bud in the photo, she cropped out the other blooms to highlight the beauty of this lone flower. She had promised the groundskeeper she wouldn't disrupt the shallow lighting these flowers needed, and she hadn't. The bud, however, was too shaded, though, to appear as more than an unnoticeable weed.
"Naddy, honey, I have to run to the store as a favor," Jacob called, searching for his keys. "I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" he asked, ducking his head into the den his wife was currently occupying. Seeing that she was utterly engrossed in a project, he continued on down the hall.
The keys just didn't magically disappear, Jacob thought completely disgruntled. Where the hell had he placed them?
"Tank called from the shop about half an hour ago looking for you," his wife said, her husky voice always an instant turn on to Jake. He paused in his search just to absorb the feeling her voice always evoked. "Something about socking a wrench at the nuttless luggers," Nadine replied absentmindedly, as she enlarged the bud before opening the paint pallet.
In small, neat handwriting, she had written down the hue spectrums of what the bud would look like in full light and with a surgeon's precision used her mouse to add delicate strips of lavender, periwinkle and mauve.
Stopping mid-hunt thoughts for his mechanized keys—the damn things had to be able to walk, he could never find them- Jacob returned to the den to stare blankly at his wife, trying to process what she had just said.
"The socket wrenches won't fit the new lug nuts?" Jacob translated, his anger quickly rising when he realized what he had just said. "I told him to recheck the damn invoices and make sure they were of the right size before signing off. Those were imported and cost a damn fortune!"
"I know," Nadine replied sadly, still manipulating the shot. "I told him that, too, but he said you needed to give him a call."
"Did you really, honey?" Jacob asked, grinning despite his ire. Damn, his wife was awesome.
Hitting save, she swiveled away from her laptop giving Jake a bright smile in return. "Of course not. I have no idea what he was so upset about, other than he mentioned socking it to a nut."
Jacob leaned over to give her a passionate kiss, pulling back and still smiling. "Sooner or later, honey, I'll make you into a mechanic girl. You had all the words right at least; just not in the right order."
Nadine laughed just as happily as Jake. He was such a guy, wanting his girl to be some type of biker babe in the making. "I'm sure you'll keep trying" she acquiesced, "but I'm telling you, I'm strictly a photo girl."
Yes she was, Jacob thought appreciatively. He was one of the few wolves who could actually accompany his girl to work most of the time since a lot of Nadine's shots were of nature. It wasn't uncommon for them to meet up at a planned location, Jacob slightly furry and hidden nearby while his wife talked softly waiting for when he deemed it safe enough to show himself and not be accidently seen by people who were also in the area.
"And as soon as I get back, we'll practice some photography," Jacob agreed all too willing. "You; me; no clothes; and a camera to record all of our luscious activities."
Nadine couldn't stop smiling. She loved her horny man. "You mean lascivious?"
"Oh, yes, those, too," Jacob agreed, semi seriously. Spotting his keys on the floor next to his shoes, he gave triumphant 'ah ha', snagging them up and checking to make sure he had his wallet.
Nadine's smile faltered as she watched her man get ready to leave, remembering he had said he was going shopping. "Jacob we just went to the store. What could you possibly have forgotten?"
"I told you, Naddy, I'm doing a favor," Jacob explained, adding quickly, "It's not for us," when his imprint continued to frown.
"A favor?" Nadine asked her husband, causing him to slouch a bit. Ruh-roh! She doesn't sound happy. "For who?"
At his wife's narrowed gaze, Jacob felt like he had been caught red-handed with his hand in the cookie jar; an actual fairly common occurrence in the Black's house. "A favor for Paul," Jake finally said, not making eye contact.
"Paul Lahote doesn't ask for favors, Jacob," Nadine reminded her wolf. "What bet did you lose that would require you to have to do anything for him?"
Jacob sighed. He was in for it either way. Paul was just as much of an ass to the guys as he was the imprints and Nadine had actually said he was no longer allowed over. Not since last year when there had been a party at the Black's house to celebrate their engagement and Paul had brought a date with him; a date she later walked in on him fucking against one of her prized photos of a rare bird.
The total awkwardness didn't happen until later when Paul asked Nadine if his date, Deidre, had made the same type of cawing the bird in the picture did when he made her come.
"Paul imprinted," Jacob offered, hoping it would work to appease some of Nadine's hostility towards his pack brother.
Jake watched as his wife stared blankly at him. She looked like she had never heard of the word 'imprinting' before. Her mind must have finally kicked itself into gear when she started to smile.
"Wow," Nadine said hesitantly, wondering what poor unfortunate soul had gotten saddled with a jerk like Paul. "That's…great. What's the problem?"
Shit! How to explain…
"He forgot to buy food." Jacob shrugged with indifference. Clipped honesty was just as good as detailed honesty.
"Aaannnndd….what; they're too sore to leave the house? That figures," Nadine commented, smirking over the memories of her and Jake's first couple of weeks together. Food had certainly been the last thing on their minds but they had managed; very creatively, too, considering they had used each other's body as plates.
"Actually he hasn't told her yet," Jake admitted.
"Right, right, we have to wait for the ceremonial bonfire," Nadine agreed before abruptly switching subject. "Speaking of which, did he get it? What does it look like?"
"I…what?" Jacob asked in confusion. Was she asking him what Paul's imprint looked like?
"The ring," Nadine clarified, exited for her friend Kim's expected proposal. "Isn't that what this is all about? The planning of the bonfire so Paul can tell his girlfriend she's the proud owner of a wolf and Jared can propose to Kim? What kind of ring did he buy? You guys were out last night I figured he would've been thinking about it nonstop. I talked to Kim earlier and she said Jared was acting weird last night, really quiet and stuff. Is he flipping out over what Kim will think?"
Jacob really didn't want to worry his imprint about the messed up details of Jared and Paul's trip yesterday. Nadine had been asleep by the time he had come home last night and now was not the time to share the many details of what had happened. "I don't think Jared's worried about what Kim will think when he does finally buy the ring. Yesterday something unexpected happened and he's a bit rankled by it."
"Why?" She asked, concerned for the concern she heard in Jake's voice.
"I told you, Paul imprinted. He and Jared were walking around downtown and she just kind of appeared out of nowhere. They had to chase her and she got hurt; Paul brought her home last night."
"Is she okay? How did she get hurt?" Nadine questioned sharply any previous joy for Paul imprinting disappearing. Leave it to Lahote to hurt the woman designated to be his kindred spirit
Looking at his watch again, Jacob frowned, he wanted to be able to run to the shop first and then get the stuff for Paul. "If you have the time and want to, I'll tell you on the way."
Slipping on her moccasins, Nadine stood up, not surprised to find Jake had grabbed a jacket for her. "Let's go."
On the way to the shop, Jacob told his wife a brief version of what had happened yesterday. He stopped by the shop for ten minutes to give Tank a talk about his 'nuttless luggers' and then the two went to the grocery store in the nearby town of Forks.
Jacob grabbed a cart and hurried to catch up with his wife who was talking a mile a minute. "What exactly did Paul say to buy? Did he tell you what she likes or did he even ask?"
"Paul told Sam who told us this morning that the girl hasn't even talked yet. She's in bad shape, though," Jake said softly, unable to ignore the vision of a brutally treated girl, now imprint.
His wife came to a complete standstill to stare at her husband. Jake hadn't said anything to indicate the imprint was still suffering.
"Bad shape how?" Nadine asked shrewdly, wondering if she should call Leah and have the two of them go over to Lahote's house and give him a beat down.
Jake knew that look and hastened to clarify. "Sue was over there last night and said she should probably spend a couple of days in the hospital for observation. Paul freaked and Sue eventually relented."
"Okay," Nadine nodded affirmatively, heading off with Jacob tagging behind her with the cart again.
He didn't say anything as she chose different soups, puddings, Jell-o's, and fruits all prepackaged. She also loaded up on some dairy products and lunchmeats and fresh bread.
Jacob loved his wife and her willingness to help a girl she didn't even know considering said girl was now Paul's; the same wolf Nadine had betted on with the other imprints as to when he'd be the first wolf to get crabs or syphilis. Word within the imprint circle was that wolf immunity or not, Paul would probably fuck himself into the grave, not including the romp he had bragged about concerning the twenty year old widow at her deceased husband's funeral.
"Do you even know what you're doing?" he finally asked gently, watching as she read the labels on the back of two different types of crackers, throwing one into the cart and the other back on the shelf and then walking over to the next aisle to add juice and Gatorade.
"Jake, if she's underfed then stuffing her with junk food and the crap you guys usually eat could kill her. Not literally," she added watching Jake face blanch, "but she should probably start with lighter, less flavorful things and work her way up."
"Shit! Seriously?" Jake questioned, wondering why he hadn't thought to ask Nadine earlier when he had been making an impromptu lunch for Ariel. He didn't know if he should be relieved or worried when he saw that in the cart, there was sandwich stuff and cheese.
"Yes, seriously," Nadine said walking down the aisle to a section of cookies and then chose a box of oatmeal designed for toddlers before looking to see that Jake hadn't followed. "Why," she asked suddenly suspicious.
"I…well…now probably isn't the best time to tell you, but I made her a lunch and gave her a sandwich, orange and some chips. I didn't know she would require a special diet," Jake finished mournfully, really hoping he hadn't hurt the poor girl further in his attempt to help.
Nadine walked back up the aisle, adding the cookies into the growing pile before cupping both of Jake's checks. "Honey, I'm sure it'll be fine. She's an adult and will know what her system can and can't handle; I just want to make sure she has a large enough variety to choose from."
Placing his own hands over the smaller ones still cupping his, Jake leaned forward to kiss his wife. "Okay, honey, thanks."
"Besides," Nadine continued, taking a step back "I'm pretty sure Paul can't cook. With most of this stuff, they should be able to manage to eat without burning the house down and later, when she's feeling better, he can take her to the store and they can plan meals together."
"I love you," Jake sighed watching as she headed towards the last area of fresh produce.
"I know you do," Nadine smiled back grabbing various fruits and vegetables, the finally object being two clusters of bananas. As she put both into the cart and started to walk towards the checkout, Jake gave her a funny look.
"One of the clusters is for later at our photo shoot," Nadine promised with a twinkle in her eye.
"God, have I told you how happy you make me?" Jake said, adding a cartoon of strawberries before hustling after his waiting imprint.
Shit! How the fuck could I have been so goddamn stupid to forget about the simple necessity of food?
Paul bereted himself as he sped home, only slightly thankful he had put gas in the jeep this morning or else he would've ditched the vehicle to run to La Push.
God, had she cried? Was she terrified that he was going to starve her?
Paul couldn't handle any more of the fucking guilt! He knew he was guilty, but shit. Somewhere in his fucked up mind, he had decided it would be a grand damn scheme to let her stay home and relax, maybe watch some TV or…
Double shit! What the hell had she thought after reading his note? He hadn't mentioned the TV and she probably wouldn't even know how to turn the foreign piece of shit on. Hell, it had taken him and two other wolves to figure out how to wire the shit correctly in the first place and then another two hours to determine that "power" on the remote control sure as fuck didn't mean the same thing as "on".
Then there was the thing with her getting outside to find the food she had so desperately needed. He wasn't mad she had figured out a way, but it rankled the shit out of Paul as to how she had. He had thought to immediately replace the lock this evening with a more traditional one, but what if he needed to up the security instead? Jake hadn't said a goddamn thing about vamps which meant some loose psychopath must have a key to his house. Either that or some perverted locksmith just happened to break into his house today.
There was no question as to if, but when, he would erupt into his wolf and hunt down the fucktard who had dared to mess with not only his house, but his mate! The fucker better start enjoying the last hour or so of life he had 'cause Paul Lahote was going to eat the bitch and then fart his remains in the wind.
Once Paul drove past the 'Welcome to La Push' sign, he nearly ate the dashboard as he braked hard.
What if his urchin still hadn't made it back to the house and he accidentally ran her over while trying to get home?
The thought almost made Paul slam on the emergency break and dive out of the window to turn furrylicious and find his urchin that much quicker.
Creeping into his driveway like a blue hair driving a Caddy, Paul felt a nauseating sense of déjà vu once he spotted his impatiently waiting Alpha.
"Paul," Sam, began before he could even leave his jeep. "Do you know I had to argue with my girl last night because of you?"
Pulling his keys out of the ignition and hoping out of his vehicle, Paul slammed the jeep door, strolling quickly towards his house with a foaming Alpha at his heels.
"Not really my fault, now is it, Uley?" Paul answered, nodding to a sheepish looking Jacob who had several grocery bags at his feet.
Paul made it as far as the steps before being physically stopped.
"Would you like to know what we were discussing at three a.m. before I called you?" Sam demanded, grabbing his errant wolf.
'Actually, no, I don't really care," Paul shot back, wanting nothing more than to get inside and check on his urchin. He pushed Sam's hand off of him. "Feel free to tell me if you did what I suggested and shoved Leah's concern up her ass, though.
"Paul, you left her locked inside of your house for nearly ten hours with no way to ask for help or even leave if she really wanted to. Did we or did we not discuss the kidnapping issue?"
"Fuck off, Sam. I haven't fucking kidnapped anyone, including my urchin, or Arial as I've been informed your imprint has decided to call her."
Sam shook Paul's arm roughly only to be shrugged off again. "Damn it, Paul, Leah is really concerned that you're going to mess this up and after today, I agree with my girl. You promised to look after her and instead, she's out digging around in people's trash because you didn't feed her."
The reminder was not needed and Paul all but exploded in furriness with his anger.
"Well, which the fuck is it? Am I a kidnapper because I locked her in my house, or am I an abuser because I forgot to make sure there was food. Christ, I didn't do that shit on purpose and I made sure to take care of it as soon as I realized my fuckup and had Jake do some shopping for me."
Another nod to the now frowning mentioned wolf.
"As for kidnapping," Paul continued to spew, hating every last fucking word that had left his Alpha's mouth, "she managed to get out of the house anyway and since the front door is still hinged and not blown to shit, I'd guess she wasn't quite the hostage you're making her out to be."
Out of all the wolves, Sam hadn't expected Paul to change from imprinting, but the seriousness of the situation made the Alpha's hackles rise.
"Do you even know what the hell you're doing, Paul?" He yelled, hurrying after the wolf trying to disappear inside of his house. "You can't leave her here alone while going off to work every day."
Paul shoved his door key roughly into the lock, trying to twist it and get inside away from his furry furor. "She's not an idiot, you fuckwit. I don't need to assign her a goddamn babysitter when I go to work."
Slamming his hand across the door frame, Sam prevented Paul from moving inside of the house. "She is a scared, abused and mistreated person, Paul. Imprint or not, you cannot do this. If I have to, I will remove her from your house and Leah can care for her until she understands what we are, and if she wants to stay, or not."
"I took care of it, okay, Alpha?" Paul scathed, releasing his hand from the key jammed into the door to shove against Sam. "I had to finish my project so the next crew could come in and do theirs. Dan agreed to let me have a few weeks off so I can be here night and day to make sure my imprint is taken care of."
"You aren't listening to me, Paul," Sam whispered sharply, keenly aware of an increasingly rapid heartbeat from inside. "You promised to look after her and give her a better life and instead she is no better off than she was, still scrounging for a way to survive. I made Quil stay phased so I could view his memories. Did you know she is still wearing the same crusty clothes as she was yesterday? And it doesn't even look like she cleaned up. Her hair is still a greasy mess and doesn't look like it was combed out or brushed."
Paul's eyes grew wide in disbelief. "When the fuck was I supposed to that, Sam? Should I have woken her up in the middle of the night after your nosey bitch made you call me?"
Sam's hand shot out quickly to encircle Paul's neck, his anger causing his fingers to shake. "Do not refer to my mate as a bitch. I am Alpha and as such, you will respect me and my imprint, no matter what she says or does to twist your nuts in a vice."
With a tug, he pulled Paul away from the door and down the steps, careful to avoid any windows where the girl might see. Once in the forest, Sam continued to drag a struggling Paul over to the tree the girl who climbed up in barely an hour ago.
"What do you see, Paul? What the fuck does that look like to you?" Sam demanded, pushing Paul into the tree and stepping back, huffing in anger.
The urge to fight drained from Paul as he smelled his urchin, the metallic scent of blood causing him to…well, not whine. Paul wasn't that much of a bitch, but the sound was pretty fucking pathetic. His eyes lurched upwards to spot the object in question and grabbing the closest limb, he swung his body up to snag the bag, landing silently on his feet.
Seeing the untouched sandwich, chips and fruit, Paul looked up quickly to Sam's face. "She still hasn't eaten?" he whispered, panic like a sheet of ice water washing over him.
"No, she ate," Sam placated, just as confused as Paul. "Although, I'm not sure how much. Jake said he put two sandwiches in there and one is clearly missing. The question is, why did she leave the rest out here, hidden?"
Paul tried not to let his mind speculate on the possibilities; what the fuck did he know of how women's thoughts processes worked? He tried, he really did, but the only conclusion he could come up with hurt worse than the thought of chewing his hand off right then and there.
"She's afraid that I mean to starve her," he finally whispered, feeling as though he had just admitted to slaying a room full of puppies.
Or little urchins, his subconscious supplied none too helpfully.
Paul's fingers clenched around the bag, the contents bursting to coat his hands in a mess of destroyed food.
His mate feared for her well being from her wolf…
The mental declaration felt like Paul had injected battery acid into his veins, his entire system shaking, burning and…fucking dying! In less than one day he had probably single handedly destroyed the greatest gift he could have ever been given, the only gift all of his pack brothers had received and he thought he never would: A mate.
Sam stepped forward to grab the man's shoulders, feeling the pain as if it were his own. This girl meant the world to Paul and his wolf felt ashamed.
"Paul, listen to me…Paul!" Sam spoke up when the man failed to acknowledge him. "I just need you to understand where we are all coming from. Even a normal imprinting is rough, but this…this is something that will take time and patience; from all of us. And even then, we might not be enough to help her."
Paul really started to gasp and fucking choke with that declaration. How the hell could he not be enough for her? She was meant to be with him; the completion pieces to his fucked up puzzled soul and Sam had the nerve to say it might not be enough?
Paul's form began to shimmer, a blurring of movement between human and wolf. The wolf was pissed and hurt, it needed to be released, grab its mate by the scruff of her neck, find a soft corner and lick her senseless until they were both calm and happy.
The Alpha in Sam reacted just as quickly. His arms dropped to Paul's side, wrapping the shaking form in a tight hug with an audible litany of 'we are pack; we are one; we are strong' falling from Sam's lips.
The shaking subsided as the words and actions penetrated Paul's mind. He was not alone in this world; he had a mate to take care of and a pack to help him through the rough patches.
Lowering his eyes in deference, Paul waited until Sam let him go, the need to be the lone wolf replaced by the need to be accepted by his pack; he and his imprint.
"I'm sorry for saying what I did about Leah," Paul started brokenly, thinking about the life he wanted with his urchin. "But you have to understand that I am trying. Do you think I carelessly just left her here without a thought as to her well being? If it had even occurred to me that there wasn't any food, I would've run over to one of my pack mate's houses and grabbed some stuff for her."
Looking back up at Sam's expressive face, Paul tried to explain his reasoning for leaving his little urchin in the house by herself. "She doesn't know any of us, Sam. You saw Quil's memories; Jake told me they couldn't approach, that she was scared shitless. I appreciate your concern, but I need her to be comfortable with me before she can be comfortable with anyone else and if you take her away, that will never happen."
Taking a step back and turning away from him, Sam was ashamed of his actions. "I know you're trying, Paul. I think we all do. None of us know how to react about what we hear or see. We see a girl that has been selected to be a part of our pack through imprinting and we want her to accept you as much as the rest of us."
Closing his eyes and clenching his fists as tightly as Paul had moments earlier, Sam tried to continue without crying. "We look at her and all we see is a broken figure; a girl that life has kicked down over and over again and we want to help her, but are unable to get close enough to do so."
Thinking about the unique love he had for Leah, Sam took in a deep breath before turning back around to face Paul.
"But we are family and we take care of our own. It may be hard for all of us, but don't shut us out because you think you need to handle it on your own. If you need an imprint to come over to make the girl feel more comfortable with a female presence, call us. If you have to leave the house for whatever reason and she can't go with you, call one of the wolves. They don't have to be in the house with her, but you could give them a key and if something sounds funny, they can quietly check it out.
"That sounds fair," Paul agreed quietly, his mind racing. If need be, in the future, he could call on pack, but right now he just wanted him and urchin time. Alone.
"Good!" Looking towards the direction of Paul's house, Sam smiled. "I think your girl might have heard us yelling, I can hear her heart."
Both wolves could hear the erratic human heart beat from within the house, signally like a distress beacon to Paul. Crouching to the ground, he rubbed his soiled hands over the pine needles coating the ground, his eyes catching sight of balled fabric near the trunk of the tree his girl had climbed.
"What are those?" Sam asked as he watched Paul unroll a pair of work socks.
Numbly, Paul laid them across his thighs, unable to even guess as to how a pair of his socks had made it this far from the house. He didn't have to bring them to his nose to sniff the socks, but did so anyways, detecting his little urchin before the fabric brushed across his face.
"Shit," Sam breathed out deeply, understanding that the girl's scent was emitting directly from the cloth as well the tree where he had thought had been the sole source.
"She didn't wear them," Paul spoke robotically, his fingers trailing over the shabby looking socks and they were; horribly fucking shabby, the elastic almost shot and tiny beads of cotton bunched together from the friction of feet. He didn't know why she'd choose this pair over any of the newer and nicer ones he had, but she had.
"The weather is changing," Sam commented, inhaling deeply to allow his wolf to taste the crispness of autumn. "Living as she has been, it's possible your girl could detect the sharpness sweeping in on undercurrents. Maybe she wanted them because she was cold, or thought she'd be cold?"
"She shouldn't feel cold, Alpha. My girl should be warm and bundled and never have to feel any type of coldness: body, mind or spirit," Paul pledged to himself at the end, dropping the socks onto the ground and standing back up.
"And she won't Paul; she has you now to help her, and us," Sam offered, useless as to what else he could possibly say.
"Yes, she will," Paul agreed, striding quickly back to the front door of his house; his and his little urchin's home; Sam, trailing at a discrete pace.
With a quick nod of thanks to Jake for getting some food and another apologetic smile to Sam, Paul hurried inside of his house, anxious to see his little urchin.