A/N: Kudos to my beta, ShadowPast620. Wolfy hugs and kisses to those who have reviewed. :)
Reaching next to her to get Seth's attention, Claudia whispered, "I'll be right back. Excuse me."
Her hand hadn't even left Seth's thigh before his own clamped it in place.
"I'm sorry, Dia. Could you maybe wait a little bit? I'm sure Paul will be out shortly and then you can go inside. Are you cold? I can grab a blanket out of our trunk or if you really want, I can run back home and grab you a jacket?"
Internally recoiling, Claudia tried not to scream in frustration. This was just crazy, one girl needing so much care and space. Being an imprint meant there was no solitude or secrets and Arial needed to learn that fact quickly.
Shifting her features, she tried to smile like she meant it. "No, that's okay, Seth. I'm not cold."
"How's the grill going, baby?" Nadine called out from down the table to where several of the wolves were standing and conversing.
Most of the imprints chuckled in amusement, Claire in particular cracking up when Quil turned to give her hand motions that either meant the guys needed some more time or everyone was probably going to die of food poisoning.
"Thank goodness I made several casseroles," Emily offered, before turning to address Claudia directly. "I also found a new recipe for a tofu salad that I made."
"Thanks, Emily," Claudia said sincerely. "I also made some animal product-free cookies that I think you'll like. All of that processed crap found in most foods can't be good for the baby."
Both Seth and Embry tried not to blanch at that statement. Embry was forever trying to make sure Emily stayed as healthy as an Olympian and Seth knew that while Claudia meant well, a vegan lifestyle was not for everyone.
"Her baby will be just fine," Kim piped up, absently leaning past Embry to rub Emily's protruding stomach. It was a handsy fight as her smaller one tried to battle over the space Embry's larger one occupied and both chuckled in amusement while Emily rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"What did Paul bring this time?" Denise asked unexpectedly, curious to know just how much of an affect the imprint had on him.
"Paul didn't bring any dishes with him," Nadine volunteered. "He's all thumbs in the kitchen."
Most of the pack knew this and that instead, it was Paul who usually gave the party giver enough cash to cover for the meat used. It was just about as fair as one could get, considering otherwise not only would each couple have to bring a few side dishes but also contribute to the day's grocery bill.
"What, is Arial too good to cook?" Claudia leaned over to whisper at Regina.
"Let it go, Dia," she answered back, trying not to laugh at the silent charades Claire was playing with Quil. "Paul's always done that and I'm pretty sure our stomachs are grateful for that fact."
Leah watched the grill as Brady talked animatedly about fires and Jake argued with Jared about temperature. Her own wolf, Sam, stood off to the side as if lost in thought.
"Hey," Leah said, interrupting Sam's trance as she walked over to where he was. "I'd like to make a suggestion, if it's okay?"
Chuckling lightly, Sam looked at his girl. "Hopefully not about future feminine products?"
"No, actually it's about Arial." As Sam's look started to worry, Leah hastened to clarify, "Not about earlier. About when Paul goes back to work."
"Shoot," Sam replied, still not fully relaxing as he snapped his fingers at Jared, then pointed first to the plate of burger patties and then the grill.
"Well, I think Arial would benefit by spending the day with us girls. Not as a group, but individually. Otherwise she's going to be stuck at a house all day by herself and I'd be willing to bet that even if she had a vehicle, she can't drive."
Turning away from the grill, Sam stared dumbfounded at Leah. He had privately been wondering how and when he could approach Paul about having the guys randomly check on Arial throughout the day and here was his girl, dropping the perfect plan into his lap.
"Certainly not all the imprints have to agree to do this, just the ones who want to and only on the days they can. I know Nadine has meetings and only a few days where Arial could be with her and Embry might not want her around Emily, but this way she can learn to be more comfortable around us."
Sam's arms wrapped around his girl tightly as he drew her close and picked her up to hug. "That is a very good idea. I'll talk to the others about it first if you'll talk to the girls and then if some or all are in agreement, I'll approach Paul."
"Great!" Leah said happily, hugging back and then trying to untangle herself from Sam. "Now get your shit together and cook us food."
Booming laughter filled the yard as he set Leah down, lightly smacking her rump as she turned to saunter back to the picnic tables.
"Quil!" Sam snapped while still laughing. "Stop making bunny eared sex positions with Claire and go lug over the cooler from on the back porch."
This, Sam thought as he joined in to continue the grill temperature argument with Jake and Jared, was one of the best perks of being a wolf. Family and friends coming together to laugh, share and have fun.
If only our brother Paul and his girl can join in this experience.
The wolves were the first to hear when Sam's back door opened and the remaining two people came outside. Paul was extremely grateful that Leah had saved a spot on the very end of a table and without a word to anyone he steered Urchin towards it.
Nadine and Kim wisely kept the chatter going and attentions diverted so that Paul could casually grab some grub and pretend like nothing had happened while he ate three plates of food and Urchin barely touched her one and only.
When the last rays of sunlight vanished below the horizon, the wolves ushered their imprints back into the house. The weather wasn't abnormally cold, but that was the excuse given for the girls to roll their eyes and leave them alone for a little bit.
"Sam," Paul growled lowly, hating what was expected of him. "Is this really fucking necessary? Have Leah stand in for me or just assume I'm last and leave it at that."
"Arial will be fine for ten minutes with the girls, Paul," Sam replied authoritatively. "Get your ass in gear and get ready."
"Come on, Urchin, let me take you inside, okay?" He whispered as most of the other imprints headed inside, Embry being the only other wolf to physically walk his girl in.
Silently they walked past the group loitering in the kitchen/dining room area and went to the dimly lit living room where Urchin dutifully sat down and looked up as Paul handed her back the plate of uneaten food.
"I know you haven't eaten much and if you're full, that's fine, but I also know you probably wouldn't ask even if you did want more."
Urchin's hesitancy made Paul's skin crawl in a real bad shitty way. Ever since she had woken up after the fainting, her emotions had been all over the grid, keeping Paul and his wolf on their toes and he still wasn't sure if he should just yank her back up, leave and take her back home to their couch.
"Come on, Paul," Embry called from the back of the house. "Sam's about three seconds away from sending out a Quil search party for us. The sooner we get out there, the sooner we get to come back."
"I gotta go, Urchin, but I'm right fucking outside if you need me, okay?" Paul pleaded uncharacteristically. "Or Leah's just down the hall. Do you want me to ask her to come in here with you?"
As Urchin shook her head no, Paul wondered what the flash of sadness on her face was about. He didn't have time to play twenty questions with her and now wasn't exactly the right fucking place to do so. Before he could turn all emo whiney in public, he gave her a quick kiss to the temple and strode outside to join his brothers.
"Alright, guys, settle down," Sam's voice boomed across the backyard, addressing his brothers as the back door firmly shut in place to indicate the boys were left alone.
"Remind me again why we do this?" Embry asked slightly bored.
"Because it's tradition, you pansy," Quil offered helpfully, most of the wolves chuckling in agreement.
"Some tradition," Paul remarked snidely, hoping to avoid it all together. "Can't I get a pass, Alpha obi wan? I need to be there for my girl, she doesn't like you hulking losers very well."
Collin spoke up. "How the hell would any of us know? You go feral when we get near her and are snarky as fuck to the girls who have tried to do the same."
"You want to make something of it, Collin?" Paul snapped, striding forward to put the asshole in his place.
"No. I want you to stop being a dick and hiding behind her skirt just cause you fucking don't like something."
Everyone went silent. Collin wasn't normally like this, although Brady was thinking that he had probably had a conversation with Denise similar to his with Regina. The girls thought Paul was too protective of Arial and that she was milking her nervous behavior for all it was worth.
"I'll make sure the only thing you need to wear is a fucking skirt, you bastard," Paul growled as he lunged for Collin.
"Enough!" Sam bellowed, stepping in to push the two guys away from each other. "No one is getting out of anything, Paul included," Sam stated to the group before swinging around to face Collin directly.
"Collin, I get that you're upset, but we need to move carefully concerning Paul's imprint. Eventually she'll come around and be more accepting of us. For now, though, we don't need to inundate her with a bunch of strangers. Even most of our own imprints were leery in the beginning."
"That's right, Littlesea. Keep your shit to yourself unless you want me to physically remove it from you," Paul snarled, still ready to make good on his threat.
Even if he wanted to, their Alpha stepped in to give Paul his fair share of advice as well.
"Paul, you need to stop taking offense to every little thing said. Collin wasn't trying to insult your girl; our wolves are pulling for a fully united pack and that includes the imprints. Things will even out once we tell her."
"It's barely been a week!" Paul argued in shock
"A week is a long time to hold back the type of relationship you two will hopefully share in the future," Sam explained, raising his hand for Paul to shut up when his mouth widened to yell. "Yes, her circumstances are different than most and everyone is being as patient as possible. You have to agree, though, she is starting to feel the pull as well and it serves all interests to explain the why."
Sam's eyes held more than a command as Paul glared into them. He wasn't being forced to share the furry details of his life just yet, but Urchin needed a fair shot at the exposure to the life she could have if she was willing to accept it.
Paul didn't want to let the subject drop and his fingers flexed, itching to just tear the shit out of Littlesea…probably Fuller as well, considering those two were eyeing each other like long lost fuck buddies.
"Whatever," Paul huffed, pushing Sam away and taking a few steps away from the group before he had second thoughts and went at it.
Sam waited a few more minutes before continuing. "Now that that is out of the way…Jared do you have the bag?"
Stepping forward, Jared handed a large cloth bag to his Alpha, stepping back to allow room for the rest of the men to huddle closer.
"Okay, you know the drill. There are nine jelly beans in here. First wolf to draw the red one gets the honors." Sticking his hand inside the bag, Sam smirked when a shiny black jelly bean appeared. Wordlessly he passed it to Embry.
Another black bean was pulled out and the bag continued to make the round between shifters, each one sighing happily when a black jelly bean appeared. Paul, Brady and Seth were left as the last three, Seth stepping forward to take his turn.
"Oh thank god," he breathed when he, too, brought forth a black one. "Claudia will be happy about this."
Brady laughed as he took the bag from Seth's hand. "I bet she will. Regina wouldn't talk to me for a week the last time I was honored. She said the next time I got stuck…oh shit. I got the red one again?"
"Tough luck, pup," Paul smirked as he grabbed the bag to show his brothers the last black jelly bean. Popping it in his mouth, he didn't even bother to chew the candy.
"I am so sorry, Brady," Sam spoke gravely, stepping up to clasp his brother on the shoulder. "The good news is, Paul will probably be too busy with his girl to over torture the shit out of you this year."
The pack erupted in boisterous laughter. Even imprinted, the wolf was still Paul. He might show a different side to his imprint, but the guys weren't as fortunate.
"Okay, guys, six o'clock, two Saturdays from today, here at my house."
Most of the guys went back into the house to break the news to the girls, Brady still standing in a remorseful stance with a comforting Seth at his side, offering to act as a mediator when Regina was told. There wasn't any point to it when the imprint in question came out the back door, running towards her wolf with a look of feigned meanness.
"How could you lose again, Brady?" she yelled, Claudia and Denise laughing quietly from the porch as Paul let them pass before making his way through the door.
In the house, he wondered what his urchin would make of the next group Saturday activities. She hadn't done too well today. Hopefully the others would keep it down a bit. If push came to shove, Paul would happily take her home. He enjoyed these gatherings, but her happiness was more important than that.
He found her exactly where he had left her, sitting alone on the couch and watching everyone interact. She still held a plate from their earlier dinner, more than half of the food he had piled on it still untouched.
"It's getting late, Urchin. You ready to go home?" Paul asked, watching as she scrambled to her feet in eagerness. Taking the plate, she trailed behind him closely when he threw it away and then yelled out his goodbyes for the two of them.
"Is everything okay?" he asked the subdued female once they were in the jeep. Her cooler hand sought his out and rested comfortably on top, casually stroking his fingers in reassurance.
Paul didn't know which of them had taught the other the subtle gesture. When his urchin was scared or required something, she would squeeze, the pressure somehow indicating the urgency. If she was fine, she usually grazed his hand soothingly.
Back at the house, he helped her take off her coat, hanging it in the closet while she ventured to her room and closed the door. Stripping out of his boots, Paul hastened to his own, hoping she'd come back out into the living room if she heard the TV on.
The temperature had dropped significantly over the past couple of nights, giving Paul the brilliant idea to start a fire. He could make some cocoa for her and then they could sit together and hopefully he could talk to her about earlier or if nothing else, cheer her up.
In the kitchen, he listened as she made her way out of the bedroom and into his, presumably to brush her teeth. Paul felt kind of shitty for not using some of his time off to finish the guest bathroom. He still had a week, though, and he could probably haul ass to get it done.
Those feelings were easily overwhelmed by the thoughts of her sharing his. He really did feel like a retarded dork for gaining so much pleasure in seeing her toothbrush on his sink or the shampoo he had bought her next to his in the shower. Finished with the cocoa, he set the mugs down on the closest end table, tending to the fire which slowly grew and cast the room in a warm light.
Back on the couch, he checked to make sure her blanket was nearby and easily accessible for when she started to doze. The object of his affection finally made her appearance, dashing across the living room to pull at his hand in a needing fashion.
"What? What's wrong?" Paul asked, standing up and intending to take point. Anything remotely resembling comfort vanished as his urchin continued to pull at his hand, leading him out of the room and down the hall.
"Did something happen? Are you hurt?" he asked, trying to both keep a level head and also figure out where the hell her urgency was coming from.
Inhaling deeply, nothing smelled out of place to Paul. There were no scents of blood or injury and no one was here nor had been here while they were gone. She didn't take him into any of the rooms, but still held a death grip on his hand while staring back at the way they had come.
"Urchin, I don't understand. Do you need me to do something?"
For the next fifteen minutes Paul tried to ask every question he could think of, not understanding what had happened or what was going on. She didn't want to go into any of the rooms. She wasn't hurt, tired, hungry or sleepy, although, Paul could almost smell her tiredness.
In desperation, she stepped closer, her right hand tightly gripping his left and her body pressed against his. Paul nearly buckled over when she took her left arm to wrap around him in a type of hug.
"Do you want me to…can I pick you up?" Paul asked, wanting to continue to hold her. Fuck, if she wanted to fucking cuddle against him in a hallway he could work with that.
As soon as he asked, his urchin was practically climbing up his body like he was a fence. With his right arm around her back he lowered it to catch her and lift up effortlessly, her legs tightening around his waist to hold on.
"Shit, Urchin," Paul breathed out in awe of her closeness. "What has you so upset?"
It was the manly, gentlemanly thing to ask, Paul reminded himself while he internally gloated at her willingness to hug him freely. Whatever her current concern was, it wasn't like she was gonna just blurt that shit out.
Although, that'd be pretty fucking awesome, too, if she did.
"Let's go back to the living room. I made you some cocoa. You don't have to drink it, but we can be more comfortable there, okay?"
Her head shaking scared him more than he had been.
"You don't want to go in the living room? Are you scared of it now?" Turning around so her back was to it, Paul tried to understand why she was freaking out like this. She hadn't been afraid of it before and now…
"Did the fire scare you?" he asked, feeling like a dolt for not realizing it earlier. The tiniest motion of a nod confirmed his dumbness.
"Damn, Urchin, it wasn't supposed to scare you," Paul whispered into the crook of her neck, his voice muffled. "I thought you'd like the heat it provided."
Her already barnacle tight grip tightened even more and Paul knew that she'd already made up her mind, but that he should try anyway.
"Would you at least try? Let me carry you back in there and you can sit in my lap. I promise, you don't have to go near it or anything and if after a few minutes, you're still this upset, you can come back here while I put it out, okay?"
It felt like an hour had passed before she finally agreed and Paul was disappointed that he had managed to unintentionally scare the shit out of her. He still couldn't help but feel a little bit giddy that she had agreed to try and by doing so, sitting directly in his lap.
It was somewhat awkward at first, his urchin alternating between twisting to stare at the fire and then turning back around to huddle, Paul's arms protectively around her at all times.
"Do you want some cocoa now?" he asked after about the fiftieth time she had swung around to look at the flames before facing him again.
Slowly nodding yes, Paul reached over to grab a mug, hastily setting it down when the logs shifted and crackled loudly, his urchin almost unseating herself in twisting to see what was going on.
"Come on, Urchin, it's okay. Sometimes the logs move. It doesn't mean anything though. The fire is safely contained, I promise."
The cocoa idea turned out to be a bust. His girl couldn't calm herself down long enough to concentrate on the simple task of drinking. She was also getting really tired, but wouldn't let herself relax. Paul sure as hell didn't want to make any more unnecessary demands from her, not that he had to begin with, and decided to try his hand at bargaining.
"Urchin, I'm getting kind of sleepy. Would you mind if we went into my room to watch TV so I can lie down? That way if I fall asleep, you can just go back to your room whenever you want to. The TV doesn't bother me so no worries about leaving it on any of that shit."
The wolf within was not happy at all with the idea of Urchin leaving the bed once placed on it. However, without the verbal acknowledgement from him that he was okay with her leaving, they'd be sitting half awake all damn night on the couch! Paul knew she was too tired to fully grasp what he was saying when she jerkily agreed, her motions frenzied and uncoordinated.
"Okay, I'll take you in there and then come back out to bank the fire."
Alone in the living room, Paul debated with the idea of extinguishing the flame. It was self contained and would put itself out. If his urchin did somehow manage to get away from him, though, she might see it and panic all over again.
Sighing, he decided just to put the damn thing out, realizing as he reached the mantle that he didn't really have any way to extinguish the flames. At the beach, they used sand and sometimes water, but in a house fireplace, sudden water could crack the stones and Paul wasn't about to haul buckets of sand inside only to have to later clean the shit out.
Making sure the glass screen was firmly in place, Paul turned on the living room lights. He'd let the fire burn out naturally and if Urchin managed to sneak out of his room, she probably wouldn't even know the fire was still there, the lights camouflaging the glow from the embers.
"Okay, Urchin, I took care of it," Paul informed his girl, coming back into the room and tugging his shirt off.
Lying slightly diagonally across the mattress, Paul joined her, not even needing to prop himself up to see over his slim framed imprint. She was already dozing, her eyes closed more often than open and when the show had a sudden bang or noise she barely flinched, telling Paul she was beyond exhausted.
When she reached a deep sleep, her breaths evenly paced and shallow, he turned the TV and lights off wondering how long it would take for her to awaken and crawl out of his bed. Readjusting their positions, he straightened her out to lie beside her, her body curled next to, but not on him like he would've wished.
It was shortly after six a.m. when he woke up, feeling her stiffen and then shift away to finally leave. The soft click of her door shutting told Paul she wouldn't be back this morning and he rolled over to lie in the spot she had been occupying, her signature sweetness allowing the wolf to return to a semi-peaceful sleep.