A/N: Thanks to my beta, ShadowPast620. Wolfy hugs and kisses to my reviewers. Every time I feel like walking away from this fic, your replies make me smile and remind me what makes posting worth it. :)
This chapter is almost twice as long as my norm. *whispers* Don't expect it to happen often. It's my B-day weekend and I plan to spend it in a happy, alcohol induced coma, so next update might take longer. LOL, anyone want to volunteer as my DD? ;D
Wiping his feet methodically against the door mat, Embry quietly entered his house, his senses assaulted by the tantalizing promise of another home-cooked meal from his imprint, Emily.
"Em, I'm home," he called out in greeting, his nose and wolf senses directing him to the kitchen where his imprint was stirring something in a crock pot.
"Hi," Emily returned excitedly when her husband stepped up behind her to place a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. "Dinner is almost ready, how does this taste?" Using the spoon she had been stirring with, Emily scooped up some of the concoction, turning around to hand feed her wolf.
"Oh my god," Embry exclaimed, his eyes almost rolling into the back of his head as the salty sweet substance coated his taste buds. "That is fantastic. Is this a new recipe?"
"Uh huh. I wanted to try it at home first before making it for the next wolf gathering." Giggling, Emily leaned forward to deliver a kiss Embry's clothed chest as he relished in the taste of her and her food.
Licking his lips, Embry leaned down to return a proper kiss to his mate's lips before ushering her to the closest chair.
"Honey, we talked about this. You are five months pregnant and shouldn't be experimenting in the kitchen; especially when it means you have to stand on your feet for extended amounts of time."
"Hush, Embry," she chastised her husband, the man carefully pulling another chair closer to prop her legs on. "This one isn't that big of a strain on me. I sat on a stool when I poured all of the ingredients inside of the crock pots and then returned to the couch to rest, knowing you would fret and worry."
"I can't help it," he explained as he slipped off her socks—safety grip lined, he noted approvingly—before rubbing the slightly swollen ankles. "There are so many things that could happen when I'm not here and I worry."
"Embry, the doctor said everything is perfect; he's never seen a healthier pregnancy. Stop worrying before your hair turns grey." Playfully she ran her hands through his hair, the silky black locks very similar to her own.
"Right," He sighed in happiness, letting his girl soothe all of his inner turmoil away with simple touches.
"Don't fall asleep on me," Emily teased a few minutes later when Embry's head leaned gently against her shoulder, his foot rubbing stopping completely. "Dinner's almost ready."
As expected, the announcement of food caused the wolf to immediately sit up in rapt attention. "You stay here; I'll get it," he offered, standing up to unplug the crock pot and bring it to the table before grabbing everything else to accompany dinner.
Once dinner was over—homemade barbeque shredded chicken—Embry didn't complain when his wife wrapped up the leftovers while he loaded the dishwasher, knowing he couldn't let her feel completely helpless just because she was pregnant. When the kitchen was cleaned to his imprint's approval, they went to watch some TV and relax; Embry holding her tightly on his lap in the large recliner.
"Damn it," he muttered softly when the phone rang twenty minutes later.
"I can answer the phone, honey," Emily called out petulantly when Embry sat her in the chair alone to get the call.
"Hush, Em; I need the exercise," he joked as he picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Embry, it's Sam," the Alpha's voice flowed calmly through the receiver. "Are you busy?"
Embry's eyes sought out his girl trying to get comfortable in the recliner. "Um, not terribly busy; Emily and I were just watching some TV."
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I'd like to ask a favor," Sam requested a bit tensely, his calmness a thing of the past.
"Of course," Embry agreed without hesitation.
"I'd like it if you could go over to Paul's and check on him and his imprint. Leah is tearing me a new one about wanting to visit and I don't want to say no, but I promised Paul I wouldn't crowd in on him. I just want to make sure there aren't any obvious problems before I agree to let my girl head that way."
Suddenly Embry wished he hadn't readily agreed to helping out Sam without asking questions first. "What kind of problems?" He asked his Alpha with equal tension, but way more hesitation. Paul problems always started in disaster and usually ended the same way. Or with someone dead.
"Nothing serious," came the obviously lying nonchalance of the Alpha. "If they've finally connected, or are on a quick path in doing so, I don't want Leah to go barging in there."
"Yeah, but if I go, won't it be the same thing?" Embry asked bluntly, not buying Sam's explanation at all.
"No. If you go, you'll be able to assess the vibes in less than a minute and know if you should leave or not."
Catching sight of his imprint finally comfortable and laughing softly to whatever was on the TV, Embry didn't want to go anywhere at the moment.
"Why me and not Jared?" He tried to cajole Sam in a last ditch effort. "He's Paul's closest friend."
"Because Paul's imprint tried to rob Jared and if he suddenly shows up, any progress being made could back track. Besides, out of all of us, you're probably the least intimidating."
"Gee, thanks, Alpha. Glad to know I'm the pansy one of the ferocious."
"I didn't mean it that way and you know it, Call. Brady, Collin and Seth are also less intimidating, but Leah would torture her brother for information if she even thought I had sent him over and Brady and Collin are extremely talkative. It's just easier if you could this for me."
Embry could run over, sit and chat for two minutes—assuming there was no screaming or grunting coming from the house—and then be comfortably back with Emily before the next show came on.
"Okay, Sam, I'll go run by now. If you don't hear back from me, just send Leah over. It'll be fine." Saying a quick goodbye, Embry hung the phone back up.
"What's going on?" Emily asked when her wolf finally came back into the living room with a funny look on his face.
"That was Sam. He needs me to run by Paul's house and do a check in."
"That's perfect!" Emily exclaimed in delight, clapping her hands excitedly and making Embry worry.
Suddenly, Embry was just as leery of his imprint as he had been of Sam. "Why?"
"Because, I made two crock pots of that barbecued chicken. I was going to ask if you'd mind running it over there later for Paul." Scooting forward, Emily tried to get out of the chair, causing Embry to rush to her side in assistance.
"Honey, that's sweet and all," Embry half-heartedly agreed, pulling his imprint out of the chair to stand, "but I don't think it's a good idea."
Walking back to the kitchen, Emily dropped her hands to her lower back, signaling for Embry to do the same so he could massage. "Of course it is. It's had enough time to cool off and I can pour it into a Tupperware container for you to take it with you."
"How could you have possibly even known about Paul's…uhh…imprint troubles?" Embry asked, stepping forward to tilt the crock pot so Emily could spoon the cooled chicken into a dish she had pulled off a shelf.
"Naddy called me after her trip to the grocery store yesterday. Originally I was going to make the second batch for her and Jake, but she said they were going out on some type of nature date and that she wouldn't need it. It was late anyways so I didn't make it yesterday but today I just knew I had to make it and that you'd be more than happy to take it over, maybe even let me tag along…"
Trailing off at Embry's look of disbelief she decided she didn't really need to tag along with her man. "Plus, it's a nice gift; it'll show Paul's girl how welcoming we are and accepting of her life with us," Emily explained happily, giving her wolf a kiss when he put the dirty dish in the sink and grudgingly accepted the dish to take with him.
"I'm going to run this over, do Sam his favor and then when I get back, we need to talk about your attempts at manipulation," he scolded gently, leaning over to give his laughing girl a kiss goodbye.
Embry tried not to grumble to himself as he climbed the steps to the front door of Paul's house. He, like the rest of the pack, felt bad that his imprint hadn't had the greatest life. She would still probably have trouble living being Paul's imprint and while they all realized she'd need as much help and support as she could get from the rest of them, she had to connect with Paul first.
"What are you doing?" Embry asked in surprise when he heard the sound of a drill on the door. The door knob promptly fell off and hit the ground, the front door swinging open to reveal an equally surprised Paul.
"I'm building a skyscraper," came Paul's smart ass answer once he recognized Embry. Without saying another word to his company, he produced a new door knob and locking mechanism to replace the fallen one and started drilling again.
"Yeah, it shows," Embry said once the door had opened again to allow him entrance. "Here." Thrusting the plastic container at Paul, he waited for the wolf to take it.
"What the fuck is that?"
"A damn elevator for your skyscraper," Embry mocked, rolling his eyes. "Emily made it as a welcoming gesture for your girl; it's free grub and damn good."
"You know where the fucking kitchen is, put it away. I'm kinda busy," Paul snapped in his usual manner. He knew loud noises bothered his urchin and he wanted to get this shit done so he could go back to being in her presence.
Sighing, Embry stepped around Paul to go in the house and put the food away. He was pleasantly surprised to see the kitchen actually clean and dish free, making him wonder if it was the imprint's doing. He still wasn't sure how those two were progressing, and tried not to frown at the thought of maybe having to stay for longer than two minutes. Opening the fridge, he shoved the container on the first available shelf before shutting the door and heading to the living room where a lingering odor made him grimace.
"Damn Paul, she kinda stinks," Embry greeted Paul when he came back from his lock changing task.
Glaring at the wolf making snide comments about his girl, Paul plopped down onto the couch, wondering if she'd stay hidden long enough for him to just throw Embry's unwelcomed ass outside. While not happy to hear someone else comment about his imprint, he sort of agreed. Still, she wasn't gag worthy offensive and if Embry wasn't such a goddamn oversensitive pansy wolf, it wouldn't be a comment worthy issue.
"I know," Paul finally answered testily. "I told her she could take a shower, or bath, or something, but she hasn't bothered. Shit, what's the point, though? I wouldn't want to get all nice and clean and then have to put dirty clothes back on."
"You guys washed her pants and then put them back on her; what's the difference?"
"I really don't know…" Paul shot out sarcastically, his ire growing. "What the fuck do you care anyway? You don't like the smell; get the hell out of here. Why are you here anyways?"
"Sam called and asked me to check on you guys," Embry answered slightly embarrassed and watching as Paul flared his nostrils in quickly growing anger. Scratch that, Paul was always pissed off, he was just deciding who the unfortunate target was going to be, Embry thought, slouching down further.
"And….what? Running by furry wouldn't have accomplished the same goal?" Leaning forward, Paul felt his muscles begin to tense.
Embry knew the signs and if he didn't give Paul a more acceptable reason for being here, his ass was about to be physically ejected from the house.
"Maybe…? But Sam wanted me to actually see that you hadn't fucked up again since his girl is really taken with yours. How did that happen? Leah's usually a bitch to the new ones."
That probably wasn't the best reminder he should've shared with Paul. Slamming his eyes shut at what was sure to be an altercation, Embry was surprised to hear Paul laugh.
"Fuck if I know. I think Leah is starting to feel like she wants to be a mom and has somehow decided that if she can help Urchin, she'll be ready. I have no fucking clue, though, as to what goes on in her head."
Nodding in agreement, Embry spoke again without censoring his words. A habit that Paul would probably kill him for one day. "Yeah, well, Sam said she's insisting on coming over here tonight to bring some stuff, so maybe you want to clean up your girl so Sam doesn't shit all over us when Leah tells him the girl still looks rotten."
"Damn it! Sam said he'd back off; what the fuck am I supposed to; demand that my urchin take a bath right now?"
"Maybe you have to show her?"Embry rushed to explain in an attempt to placate the snarling wolf. "I mean how long has she been living on the streets anyways? What if she doesn't know what's expected of her?"
"You think?" Paul asked, suddenly curious to the idea. Was it that simple?
Embry laughed nervously. "I don't know, Paul. I mean, she was smart enough to break out of your house. There really isn't a reason as to why she doesn't want to be clean unless she doesn't know how to be."
"Yeah," Paul agreed thoughtfully, thinking back to the kitchen sink. He had seen the noodles in the water and wondered why she had known they were food, but not how to cook them. Maybe she didn't know how to operate the tub or shower? It sounded really fucking stupid and he didn't think she was stupid. Maybe naïve? There was an untouchable quality of innocence that radiated off of his little urchin and Embry's words started to make sense.
The last thing Paul wanted was for their Alpha's…mate—Paul had to remember the respectfulness required for that title—to suddenly show up and report to Sam that Paul wasn't doing all that he should. The more he thought about it, the more the wolf really liked the idea. He could climb in with her and wash her hair and back, slowly peeling off those rags to reveal the soft contours of her body…
Paul was so fucking hard, he thought he'd bust right there in his pants. Even if a bath didn't lead to sex, it would certainly be erotic…
… Bubbles trailing down her flesh in temptation as he ran a soft cloth over her…
… The arch of her back as he carefully washed her hair and then tugged her back into the water to rinse the lather out…
Paul was up and out of his seat before Embry could even breathe. "I'll be right back," Paul said, not caring about anything except cleaning his urchin.
Bella could hear them talk about her and her unpleasant odor as she hid in the Paul man's room. She still wasn't entirely sure why she had run to this room when he started his scary tool, but she had; waiting for him to either stop or…she didn't want to think about that. It wasn't that she didn't want to bathe; she didn't trust that someone wouldn't walk in on her, even when she was fairly certain the Paul man wasn't home.
The voices outside of the room lowered and she could no longer make out what they were saying. When the door slowly opened, she crouched down on the other side of the bed, knowing it was a fruitless attempt. She didn't look to see who it was, but heard the person go into the bathroom to turn on the water.
Bella thought about her bear, Moonbeam, in an attempt not to cry over the fact that she had been right. The Paul man had lied to her about not wanting to hurt her and now she was really going to get it. He had a friend with him and this new person wanted her clean. She would have been better off to get in the shower earlier when it was just the Paul man by himself. Instead, she had panicked over the idea of him hinting about her getting in the water with him. Any relief she had felt before was gone.
"Urchin? Hey, how are you?" Paul asked, walking slowly towards her, halting when she seemed to cower. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay, but you really smell bad and need to take a bath."
If anything, she looked like she was trying to disappear into the floor and Paul cursed Leah's insistence on wanting to come over NOW.
"Look, Urchin, I get it, okay? You're embarrassed because you probably don't know how to work the taps. It's not a problem, though. I'm running a bath for you and all you have to do is go in there and get in. Take as much time as you want and shit! If the water gets cold and you want to stay in longer, I can show you how to add more hot water or you can even wrap up in a towel and come get me to do it for you," Paul offered waiting for some sign of acknowledgment from her and when none came he sighed deeply.
If he left his girl in the bathroom alone, it was going to be just like before. She'd probably stick a hand in, maybe a toe and then call it quits. It was possible Embry had been closer to the truth than Paul realized. She hadn't bothered to use silverware and while Paul could let that slide, she needed to get thoroughly cleaned to help stay healthy.
"I'm really sorry," Paul mumbled, "but this is kind of a need to do now type of thing. Leah will probably be here any damn minute and she's gonna flip. We're going to have to do this a bit backwards."
Bella never saw him coming, didn't even know he had moved until she felt herself being picked up. By the time she registered the action, they were already in the bathroom where the tub was filled quite full.
Suddenly she wrapped herself around Paul, clinging for dear life with her fingers laced together around his neck and knees digging into his sides. That much water was never needed to get clean which meant she had been wrong. He had grown tired of her and was going to kill her and Bella had failed to show him she would do whatever he wanted.
Bella had no idea she was scared of water until Paul managed to untangle her and set her inside of the tub, the level of fluid almost to her shoulders.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The first scream was of primal terror; Paul nearly hit his head in shock against the tiled wall surrounding the tub when the first one left her throat. Like a rabid cat, she howled, scratched, bit and fought to get out, waves of water drenching Paul and collecting on the floor.
Using one hand to cuff her wrists and the other to hold her legs, Paul wondered for the first time if he really could be fast enough to grab some soap before his urchin ended up hurting herself or partially launching out of the water.
"Shit, Paul, what the hell are you doing to her?" Embry asked from the door way, startling Paul. He had completely fucking forgotten another wolf was in the house.
"I'm teaching her how to dance, you dick! Obviously I'm giving her a bath," Paul snarled in frustration. He had thought he might be able to at least get her a little bit cleaner than before, even if she was still wearing the same clothes.
"Get in here and give me a hand," Paul barked to the wide-eyed Embry when her head struck his chest repetitively.
Snapping out of his stupor, he came forward to take place of holding down her legs so Paul could have a free hand for soap. He didn't care what he used, reaching for the first available bottle, shampoo.
"Come on, Urchin, please relax and be good," Paul pleaded in desperation, pretty fucking sure she couldn't hear his softened words over her terrified screaming.
Without the use of her appendages his urchin still bucked wildly, attempting to dislodge both him and Embry. Even if one of them released her, she wouldn't be strong enough to get away and Paul started to feel ill at the pain of desperation his girl was emitting in force.
"Paul," Embry hissed as he watched and listened to the girl scream as if her flesh was being ripped off of her body. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea. I'm pretty sure you're scaring the crap out of her."
"No shit, Sherlock! Once we're done, she'll realize that she feels better and we aren't going to hurt her," Paul answered, grimacing when his mate bucked hard enough for her butt to hit the bottom of the tub before arching again.
"Use one hand to hold her wrists," Paul instructed, waiting until Embry's hand could replace his own. "And don't squeeze too hard," he added as an afterthought, already suspecting she might be bruised from her own thrashing and adding to his guilt.
He was going to fucking lay into Leah and Sam whenever the fucktards showed up! This was all of their fault.
With Embry holding down her legs and clamped hands around her wrists, Paul used one hand to grip her hip to hold still in the water while his other rubbed in liberal amounts of shampoo to any available surface, realizing too late that he probably shouldn't have filled the fucking tub so high.
"What the fuck are you guys doing to her? Jesus, I could hear her screaming from a mile aw-" Having stormed into Paul's house, Leah entered the bathroom ready to kick some wolf ass. With a curse, she vaulted over a kneeling Embry to grab the drain plug.
"Leah, stop! I need the fucking water to rinse this shit off," Paul hollered out, his urchin's back doused in streaks of soap. There may have been some bubbles, but these weren't the type Paul had fantasized about when this brilliant idea had appeared.
"You're torturing her, you ass!" Leah screamed right back unapologetically. "This isn't working; I think it's time for plan B."
Stepping on the back of Embry's calves to get to the other side of Paul, Leah smirked when the first wolf grunted from her too hard step. Waiting until most of the water was gone she climbed in behind the thrashing girl and with most of the help coming from the wolves, lifted the hysterical girl up so she could slide under her, not caring about getting wet herself.
"Calm down, Arial. No one is hurting you," Leah coached calmly amidst the shrieks and getting head butted in the nose for her efforts.
"Shit, that hurt," Leah grumbled, deciding maybe being totally calm wasn't a good idea.
She wasn't holding the girl like the wolves had. Instead her arms were loose and relaxed, allowing the terrified girl room to move if she chose. Leah didn't want to add another feeling of restraint to Arial, but she did perform a few dodge and weave motions to avoid her face from being busted. Sam was going to shit as it was.
Bella continued to buck and try to move away, the slow realization that her body was moving more freely as the water drained. It helped some to curb her distress, her howls slowing from the rapidly growing soreness in her throat.
Embry released his grips first, backing away from the tub slowly and in shock. Her screaming faded at the same pace, nothing more than hopeless whimpers by the time Embry had made it to the farthest side of the bathroom. Paul, too, followed the other male's lead, backing away in emotional pain.
Through a stream of murmurings and well placed curses at the men from Leah, Bella finally wore herself out, turning around to cling to the woman who apparently didn't mean to harm her at all and was making the men move away.
Hiccupping and sniffling, Bella caught sight of the Paul man. He didn't look mad, not yet, but he looked like he was in pain. She ducked her head in shame. People who hurt other people were bad and Bella didn't want to be one of those.
The woman she was clinging to slowly brought her hands up to give Bella a hug, suddenly making her feel kind of silly. No one was out to kill her at the moment; they just wanted her to be clean, judging by the large amount of soap still smeared across her. Now, she had to take care of the mess of her clothing. She didn't know what she was going to do, though. Aside from her socks, the rest had ripped and torn in her struggle and she'd have to find some more pins to fix it.
Maybe she could look for a needle and thread? Far from knowing how to sew, she could at least knot enough of the string to hold the torn pieces together. She'd still have to wear her clothes wet until they dried and that could take all night; the Paul man would never let her sleep on the new bed wet.
"Arial, are you okay?" the woman finally asked her, the water gargling as the last of it flowed through the drain.
Nodding, it was then Bella realized that the woman had gotten wet in her attempt to save her from the water, making her feel even worse. Her eyes searched the room for the men and when she didn't see them, she gave the nice woman a questioning look.
"Paul is such an ass," She answered as if she could read the thought. "Don't pay him any attention. The moron should've known better than to throw you in a tub without letting you do it on your own. I kicked his ass outside, so you could be alone, the pervert. I don't know what Embry was thinking either, he damn well knows better than that. Wait until I tell Emily."
"Ah, Leah, come on. I was trying to help," Embry's voice yelled across the house, causing Bella to stiffen again. Wide eyed she looked at this Leah woman.
"He might have been trying to help; Embry's not usually such a douche," Leah attempted to reassure Bella. "But they're guys and are really stupid; the lot of them probably don't have enough common sense to keep a rock alive."
Not entirely sure what this Leah woman meant, Bella just nodded in agreement. The woman had gotten the Paul man and that Embry person to leave and she didn't even have a bruise.
Unaware of what the girl was thinking, Leah changed the topic to the subject at hand. "If the bath tub scares you, you can always take a shower instead," she said pointing to the separate unit. "Would that make you feel better?"
No, it really wouldn't but Bella knew she had to wash the soap of her clothes. If she didn't it would dry and leave her sticky and itchy. Releasing the woman, Bella sniffled again and then nodded once more, slowly standing up to climb out of the tub, slipping in the process and barely catching herself in time before face planting onto the floor. The woman had an easier time moving, probably because she was a lot taller than Bella. She led her over to the separate shower, turning it on and then stepping away from the frosted doors.
"Do you want me to stay?" she asked, watching as Bella anxiously looked at the door where that Paul man and Embry person had left.
"Trust me," Leah assured her confidently, "those two bastards won't come in here again. Do you want me to help you wash your hair? Since we're already wet, it won't matter and then I can leave so you can finish everything else privately."
Without a word, Bella clung to Leah's hand when they entered the large shower, doing as instructed when told to step under the spray to get her hair wet.
"You really have a lot of hair," Leah commented, wishing she had thought to grab a comb. The girl's hair was long, dark and completely nasty in its current condition. It took Leah awhile to separate the strands and knots enough to use shampoo and even then she had to do a second washing.
"Paul better buy some fucking conditioner the next time he goes shopping," Leah grumbled noticing how dehydrated the locks felt once all of the crap was out of it. When she was satisfied the hair was clean, she tapped Arial on her shoulder, waiting until she turned around to stare.
'I'm done now, sweetie. I'm gonna jump out to dry off and then I'll leave, okay? Just toss your clothes on the floor; I brought you some new things to wear and I'll set them inside by the door. They're probably too big, but you're really small and I didn't have time to look for something else. We'll make sure Paul buys you properly fitting things soon, okay?"
Once Leah was gone, Bella stayed under the spray a few more minutes, thinking over her options. Women weren't always nice but usually more often than men. The Leah woman seemed to be genuinely upset at what the Paul man had done and it comforted Bella, knowing she was probably safe to strip and wash herself all at once.
Stripping her garments slowly, Bella cautiously opened the shower door to drop the sodden garments aside, the clothes making a funny squishy sound when they hit the floor. She tried not to cry when the water hit her stomach directly, cringing and quickly turning her back to the spray. Her earlier struggles had caused part of the sore to open and Bella really hoped the Paul man would forget to put medicine on it; he would be really mad if he saw the blood.
When she was done, she turned off the water, making several attempts to push the lever all the way into the off position. Peeking around the glass door, Bella made sure she was alone before stepping out; even waiting a few minutes just to make sure no one came barging in. Just as promised there was clothing by the door; something black and light grey.
The one thing Bella didn't see as she fumbled for a towel to wrap around her body and walk over to the clothing were the puddles of water that dripped from her earlier struggles and then Leah's departure. There was nothing to grab a hold of when she went down, having enough sense to protect her head and turn to her side, landing directly on her bony hip.
Embry left once the men heard the water running again, presumably to go change while Paul sat outside of the bathroom, trying not to bang his head against the wall in defeat. When Leah came back out thirty minutes later, the shower still running, Paul scrambled to his feet.
"Did she say anything? Is she okay? What the hell happened?" He asked rapidly, trying to peer around the door as Leah exited and then firmly shut it.
"Of course she didn't say anything; she was too goddamn worried about drowning," Leah huffed with a look of disgust.
Paul stared at the woman as if she had just announced she was a singing Tulip. "How could you possibly know that?"
Flinging open every drawer Paul had, Leah searched for something dry to put on. "Because she took a shower just fine. As we speak she's washing the rest of herself privately." Finding something semi-worthy, she threw her towel on the bedroom floor and started to strip knowing Paul would turn around.
"Shit, this is still my fucking house," Paul grumbled as he spun around to stare at the bathroom door while Sam's imprint peeled off clothing. The Alpha was going to shit a troll when his girl came home smelling like another wolf.
Even with the shower still running, Paul heard his urchin make a sound of pain. He placed his hand against the wood barrier, hoping he could reign in his wolf enough to stay on this side until his girl was done. Paul needed a fucking distraction.
"Leah, how do you know she was scared of being drowned?" He asked cautiously, wondering how he could've missed the fucking signs himself. He didn't even know what the hell the signs were, but apparently Leah had.
Redressed, Leah walked over to the distressed wolf, ready to sock him in the nuts. "How could you not know, Paul? That poor girl was in such shock she wasn't even thinking rationally while trying to buck off you two shits." Her face softened slightly at Paul's look of horror. "I don't know that she was scared of being drowned, but people don't react like that when introduced to a bath. Once most of the water was gone, she seemed okay and even let me wash her hair; which, by the way, was completely fucking nasty."
Paul wanted to be angry at the woman who had—in less than an hour—not only convinced his girl to shower, but had been able to assist her. His urchin didn't know Leah, hadn't even met her until the Alpha's girl had come charging in the bathroom, hollering at the top of her lungs.
Unexpectedly, Paul suddenly didn't feel like he was the 'everything' he needed to be for his urchin and it burned a trench in his heart.
"Shit, Leah, maybe Sam was right. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. Hell, I couldn't even remember to stock the fucking house with food for her to eat."
"Don't," Leah said warningly, not liking his look of defeat.
"Don't what? Don't admit that I just keep fucking up right and left? She panicked when we woke up this morning and then again when I asked what she wanted for breakfast. I thought she'd give herself a fucking heart attack when we went over to Billy Black's but figured I had earned some redemption points when I showed her the room she could use and placed a bed in it. Instead, she fucking cried because I asked her if the blanket she was using was warm enough. Lunch and dinner went fairly unscathed unless you count the part where she filled her pockets with some crackers and then later with meatballs from dinner. As soon as I told her I was changing the door lock and brought out the drill, she took off to cower in a corner, scared shitless like I was going to kill her! Then Embry came hopping over here with the brilliant idea of me showing her how to bathe and you walked in. A fucking bath should not end with a rescue." Paul was panting and damn near foaming at the mouth by the end of his rant. He wasn't in danger of Phasing and sure as hell wasn't about to admit that he was in danger of crying.
Leah waited until he collected himself before speaking.
"Are you finished yet? I'd really like the Paul Lahote I know to return the pussy he's borrowed to become some hysterical girl and reattach his balls to be a man," Leah demanded sarcastically, earning a glare from Paul that she ignored.
"True, the bath thing was beyond messed up and lucky for you I stepped in. Don't expect for me to be here all the time to save your ass." Grinning evilly, Leah gave Paul a wink before turning serious.
"I think once she talks, it'll be easier for both of you. But you can't expect fucking miracles overnight." Patting his cheek affectionately, Leah went to step away, surprised when his hand caught hers.
"You're such a bitch," Paul said, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"I know and neither you, nor Sam, would have it any other way."
"Thanks, Leah," Paul said sincerely, dropping her hand.
"No need to thank me. Your girl smelled something awful. I was going to go home and get some girl stuff and then planned on coming over here to drag her into the ocean if you hadn't beaten me to the bath idea."
"Still…I'm happy you came over to bail my ass out before it turned fucking tragic somehow," Paul said. Laughing, Leah pranced out of his room, returning a few minutes later with a plastic bag she used to place her wet clothes in
"Okay, I've thought of how you can make it up to me," Leah blurted out unexpectedly, returning to the wall Paul was stationed against. Dropping gracefully to the floor, she waited for him to inquire.
Groaning, Paul did allow his head to bang softly against the plaster behind him this time. "Shit. Do I even want to guess?"
"Relax," Leah offered in a tone that usually caused her own wolf to cower in regret. "Tomorrow, since Sam told me you took off from work, I get to go with you and Arial to help her buy some new clothes."
"And that's it?" Paul asked, allowing one eye to pop open in surprise. "You just want to tag along for a small shopping trip?"
Yep, I just want-"
Whatever Leah wanted was cut off by the loud thump that echoed from the closed bathroom door. Paul nearly barreled through the thing in his haste to get inside.
The door crashed open before the first tear could slip down Bella's cheek, someone holding her again.
"Shit, Urchin, are you okay?" Paul demanded, fucking angry beyond belief that he hadn't thought to put towels down for her to walk on.
"What happened?" Leah demanded, struggling against Embry when he held her back from entering the bathroom.
When Embry and Leah stood in the doorway, Bella wanted to crawl away and tried to struggle out of Paul's grasp, embarrassed that these strangers could see her without clothes even though the towel hid most of her.
"Close the fucking door, you twats," Paul yelled out, watching as Embry gently pulled a cursing Leah from the door before shutting it.
"Oh my god, Urchin, I am so fucking sorry. Let me see how bad you're hurt?" Paul requested, moving to open the towel.
His imprint would have none of that. When his grip around her torso loosened, she slid off of his lap, trying to crawl away and managing to slip on the puddles, her hands sliding across the slick tile floor.
"Stop before you fucking kill yourself," Paul yelled, grabbing his urchin again.
What the fuck was wrong with her? Obviously she was hurt, her movements causing every muscle in her slender frame to tighten. With one arm around her, Paul stood and quickly threw more towels down, sitting in the middle of them so she wouldn't slip anymore.
"Urchin, you are obviously in pain. I know you're freaking out and that's why you're trembling, but I also know you hit the floor hard. I could hear it out in the other room. Can you tell me what hurts?"
Her acknowledgment was slow in coming. She seemed to be fiddling with the towel, her hand grazing over her right hip in agitation and nervousness, more than he had seen her do in the past. He continued to wait for her to point at what hurt, briefly wondering if she had landed on her back and was scared to point because she was pressed against him.
Forty seconds later, when she made one of those awful squeaky moaning noises, Paul once again felt like a goddamn idiot.
"Your hip?" he asked, relieved when she stopped moving her hand and nodded once. His own hand was close to tugging open the towel to look when he heard Leah muttering in the other room.
"I'm telling you Embry. I'll have Sam flay his ass open wide if she starts screaming again. You guys might think you're big and bad, but I'd be willing to use Paul as my lab rat to test that against every poison in the world."
Tightening his fingers, Paul exhaled slowly. He did need to see if his urchin was okay, but he needed to do this less drastically than ripping open the towel. He caught sight of the clothes Leah had brought over and a plan formed.
Carefully he lifted his girl, sitting her down next to him and then rose to get the items, smirking when he caught sight of the obvious feminine panties Leah had included.
"Look," he explained, handing her the clothes while squatting down in front of the trembling girl. "I'm not going anywhere until I see how bad you hurt yourself. I'll go stand over there in the corner," he said pointing to the farthest point in the bathroom, "and keep my back turned until you're dressed. Then I want to see your hip."
Bella knew she didn't have a choice, but at least he said she could put some clothes on. Her hip hurt a lot, but she had had far worse and wondered why she couldn't stop crying. She fumbled with the clothes, her haste making her clumsy.
The sweater went on first and then the underwear, her first priorities effectively covered. She started at the bra dumbly, wondering why she needed it. That looked like it would only draw attention to a place she didn't want people staring at to begin with. Looking around, Bella decided to shove it under some of the towels; she could come back later to find a better place to stash it.
The pants were soft and fit her snugly, enough that the garment didn't require the use of a zipper, buttons or even a belt. These would be very comfortable to sleep in, Bella decided, looking up to see the Paul man turning around.
He approached her cautiously, joining her on the pile of towels next to her aching hip. He didn't say anything when he pulled at the waist band to reveal the flesh studying the area before just as carefully pulling the pants into place.
"Does it feel broken?" Paul asked, wishing to hell he could wolf lick the bruise away, or maybe just lie his tongue across it for a few hours in hopes of her skin absorbing some of his healing abilities. It didn't work like that, though, and when his urchin just shrugged and winced, he had to cut himself off from whining.
"Can you walk?" In once graceful move, he stood up, leaning over to lift her under the shoulders into a standing position.
Bella wobbled for a minute, her hands hovering around the Paul man, but not touching him. Shifting most of her weight to her left side, she dropped her arms and nodded. She could walk, probably not very fast and it hurt to move, but she didn't want him to kick her out. Not if he was still going to keep after the bath incident.
The Paul man looked like he didn't believe her, his mouth pinched closed and his eyes narrowed in concentration. Nervously Bella waited to see what he wanted her to do.
"Well, you bruised it pretty badly, Urchin. I don't think you should walk, but I don't want you to freak out anymore, okay? So we're going to go back out into the living room and I'm going to walk right next to you. I want you to hold onto my arm, that way you can squeeze if it gets too painful, or you feel like you're going to fall."
Still nervous, Bella nodded. It really didn't matter how close he walked to her now. If he was going to do anything she didn't like, there was no way of getting away from it in a hurry. At least he was nice enough not to want to see her fall.
Leaving the bathroom was painful. Her hip ached and throbbed all the way down to her toes with every step, but she didn't want the Paul man to think she was weak. When they hit the doorway from his room to the hallway, Bella stopped to breathe deeply, trying to find a safe place in her head to ignore the pain.
"Urchin, do I need to carry you?" he asked her.
Quickly she shook her head and took another step, forgetting to shift her weight and shuffle. Bella tried to relax her fingers and not dig into the flesh of the arm underneath except she couldn't do that and keep silent at the same time, her agonized moan slipping past her guard.
"Shit," the Paul man whispered, his arms moving away and repositioning to pick her up.
Bella didn't care anymore, tears threatening to overtake her façade. She didn't notice the whispered conversation around her, or when the Paul man sat down with her in his lap. She didn't know other people were still in the house, or that they were watching her with looks of sadness.
She did notice the pressure of a hard, iced hand pressing where it hurt the most.
Oh…the monsters had suddenly come for her, Bella thought, knowing nothing else would feel as cold as their touches. The room was eerily silent and she didn't want to open her eyes to see what had happened to the people who had been keeping her, the Paul man who had fed her several times and without payment.
She hoped the monsters wouldn't make him suffer. Bella didn't think she could watch these innocent people be harmed.
"Are you okay, Arial?" A woman's voice called out, breaking her painful musings.
Startled Bella jerked her head up to see the Leah woman sitting nearby, the other non-Paul man, too.
"Don't move, Urchin. It's just a rag with some ice to help with the pain," The Paul man told her before addressing the other two.
"Look, I think you guys should probably go. Embry please tell Emily thanks for her thoughtfulness and Leah…maybe you could call Sam and explain before you go home and surprise the fuck out of him by wearing my clothes?"
"Are you kidding?" Leah asked, gleefully happy. "If wearing someone else's clothes is what it takes to get a surprise fuc-"
Embry jumped forward to cover Leah's mouth before she could finish her statement. "It's okay, Paul. I'll run by first and tell him. We'll see you later." With a perturbed Leah, Embry escorted her to the door, leaving Paul and his urchin in peace.
With company gone, Paul stayed on the couch, huddling his urchin close. He didn't know why she was scared of water and it was a thought that really fucking bothered him. At the first sound of water dripping from his girl's icepack, he slung it over to the table, not giving two shits about any mess it might make.
"Are you okay?" Paul whispered, leaning over the slumped figure in his lap. With one hand he brushed his hand over her wet hair, surprised at the thickness of her tresses.
"Would it be okay…can I brush your hair?" It was a few minutes before the girl nodded half heartedly, exhaustion damn near radiating off of the small figure he held snug and secure. Paul wanted to pick her up to retrieve his hairbrush, but it was back at the scene of the crime—so to speak—and Paul didn't think he could handle the sight of his hurt urchin in the bathroom again. Pressing her securely into the cushions, he made a solo trip; coming back with a plastic brush in hand and her blanket…just in case she was cold.
He didn't want to jostle his girl too much and ended up sliding on the couch behind her head and then carefully pulling her upwards into a sitting position with their legs stretched out. Starting at the ends, Paul worked slowly and meticulously to untangle her hair, partitioning one inch tresses at a time. Her hair may have been clean, but it was ungodly fucking knotted. Several times he wondered if he shouldn't grab some butter or cooking oil to help work the brush through in a smoother motion, each time deciding it wasn't worth another bathroom accident when she would have to go wash it out once he was done.
After an hour and a half he was finally done, noting that her hair was drying into adorable fucking ringlets. At first, Paul figured he'd braid it, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Her hair was long and slightly unmanageable as it was and Paul found it extremely provocative.
He ran the brush through for several minutes, watching as one area of her hair slanted weird. "You have beautiful hair, urchin. It's…fluffy and kind of thick," he commented like a moron, trying to manipulate an obnoxious clump of hair.
No matter how he moved the tress, it would not lie evenly and it wasn't due to curl. He dropped the brush to his side, picking up the errant lock and trailed his fingers to her skull, lifting the piece. An instant frown formed.
"Urchin, did cut your head on something? You have a scar line…" Paul stopped talking as he lifted a different curl, trailing it to her scalp. There was another scar line…another…and another. Dozens of tiny scars were on her head; odd, jagged little lines that scared the shit out of Paul.
"Does this hurt?" he murmured, rubbing the tip of his pointer finger over a particularly large line that felt bumpy.
Sleepily, her hand moved up to touch the spot, brushing against Paul's in the process. Once she found the spot, her finger rubbed it tenderly, her head slowly shaking to tell him it didn't hurt.
The scars weren't fresh. In fact they were probably years old judging by the fadedness. He was reasonably certain they weren't hurting his imprint, although, her hand had drooped back to her side signaling exhaustion. Like so much of her past, whatever had happened he couldn't change it and decided to focus on the now.
"I'm happy you're finally clean. You smell really nice," Paul carried on, knowing he sounded like a lame-ass dork. He couldn't help it, though. With all of the filth and grime gone, his little urchin glowed like a beacon to him; the wolf within smirking, knowing she had been this awesome even before the bath.
He could feel every muscle in her body lose any and all tension as she relaxed further towards sleep. Carefully he leaned both of them over, rolling past her so that she lay between him and the couch, her back still against his chest.
Shit! Her knife wound!
Carefully sitting back up, Paul waited until he knew she had hit a deep cycle of sleeping, rolling his urchin onto her back so he could lift her shirt. Her wound had looked better this morning but after her battle in the bathroom, it now looked irritated and had opened again. Without any hesitation, he dropped to his knees on the floor and leaned over to tend the gash, not bothering with the medicinal goo.
With her wolf treatment finished, Paul climbed back up to huddle next to his girl. Several times he thought about getting up so they could stretch out on her bed, the wolf inside all but holding up a flashing sign that showed wolves preferred to sleep in tight bundles with their mates. Paul felt his own eyes close in contentment and bliss, popping open quickly when he felt her squirm a bit before turning over, her cold hands squished between them.
Using his foot, he kicked off his boots- more of a nasty tearing when he had to involve his fingers to loosen the laces—then with a fuck awesome dexterity, used his freed foot to snag the blanket at their feet to pull up and cover her; his own form not needing any extra protecting from the cold.
They shifted several times during the night, sometimes the girl facing towards, or away from him, but always close. Sometimes she was on the outside, a set of strong arms supporting her torso hanging over the side with her rump still on the couch and planted against the wolf.
It was the first night Paul's wolf didn't nudge him awake in loneliness, despair or anxiety. Its mate was safe, warm and most importantly, in its arms.