A/N: Beta'd by ShadowPast620.
Paul was a single strand of a troll's ass hair away from being late for work the next morning. That alone said a whole hell of a lot considering he didn't believe in things such as rural stop signs, right of ways, or speed limits. Neither he nor his wolf could convince him to wake the fuck up and crawl out of bed. Away from his perfectly sleeping urchin.
Last night had been smooth. No shitty phone calls, no Urchin panic attacks and the best part -aside from the massive amounts of cuddle time they spent on the couch- had been that Paul hadn't shoved his size 13 foot in his mouth at all by saying or doing something to upset Urchin. Top it all off with the fact that he hadn't had to kick anyone's sorry ass or kill anything, it had been a damn good night.
His sleep-in this morning wasn't all due to his incredible stress free night with Urchin. Claudia's day didn't start at the ass crack of dawn, and she wasn't an imprint dependent on her wolf's vehicle or time schedule. She had told Paul over the weekend that she would pick up Urchin on her way to class and not to bother dropping the girl off before Claudia herself was barely awake.
As much as Paul had wanted to call and confirm the plans –a pussy move if he had ever heard of one—he knew Claudia was meticulous with her schedules and wouldn't forget. It also helped his inner whiny wolf to know that should Claudia forget by some weird chance, then Leah would be able to swing by and pick up Urchin for the day. Plus, sure as fuck, if he did call, his ass would get stuck talking to Seth. That bitch had to secretly have a vagina somewhere for as much as he liked to gab.
The day got even better when Paul realized that his boss was late and not available to see him barrel into the dirt lot where the guys parked for the day. Jumping out of his Jeep, Paul was ready to whistle Yankee fucking Doodle Dumbshit, or whatever the hell the themed tune was called. Truth be told, he was giddy enough to lip sync a Bitchy Spears song…if he knew any. It was times like these he was grateful for a man's ability to be oblivious to catchy tunes or he'd be a sorry ass mofo at the moment.
It was going to be a good day and Paul was relieved to know things were looking up for him and Urchin.
The Claudia woman did not look happy to see Bella. Unlike the others, she hadn't even come to the door. Instead she sat in her car, honking the horn until Bella realized she was to go outside. Her Paul hadn't said anything about that, but there could be no other explanation for the constant horn blaring.
Walking up to the side of the car Claudia was sitting in, Bella flinched when the woman rolled her window down.
"I am not a chauffeur. Get in on the other side and hurry up; we're late."
If Bella felt like she had any other option she would have taken it at that moment. Getting in the car already felt wrong, but getting in the car with someone who was glaring like this Claudia woman grated on Bella's nerves like the monsters had.
It was pure fear of the unknown that allowed Bella to go against her instincts and meekly get in on her own accord. There were no exchanges or words from the Claudia, not that Bella could start a conversation or anything. The silence was tense and uncomfortable and it wasn't until they had reached their destination before the Claudia did speak.
"My one short day of classes and I have to be an escort," she huffed under her breath as the car zoomed into a crowded parking lot. Forgetting that she had volunteered for this in order to make herself and her wolf Seth look good in the eyes of the others, Claudia muttered and ranted under her breath. She could have been by herself for as much noise as her passenger made. The skinny girl didn't even try to turn on the stereo or rummage through her purse, although Claudia did notice the girl didn't have any type of bag with her to begin with. Such a weirdo.
Bella trailed after her as Claudia walked quickly through the parking lot, into a building, and down a hallway. She had to jog to catch up when the woman opened a door and disappeared inside midway through the corridor; Bella hadn't been expecting that.
She also wasn't expecting for her shoulder to be grabbed when she went through the door Claudia had disappeared in. Her eep wasn't overly loud but maybe it had been. Claudia frowned all the same as she tugged Bella to follow her past rows and rows of books.
"This is the library. You're going to have to stay here while I got to class. You can look at any of the books that you want to, but do not leave, okay?" Digging in her satchel Claudia pulled out a notebook, opening it wide enough to tear off a scrap of paper that she scribbled on before thrusting it towards Bella.
"That's my name and cell number. If, god forbid, you get into trouble, hand that to someone so they can call me." She pushed the notebook back into her bag, securing the latch before turning to leave, whispering over shoulder, "and don't get in trouble. I can't just leave class because you happen to get lost or something."
Wide eyed, Bella watched as Claudia left her alone in an unfamiliar room. Her Paul hadn't said she'd be left alone like this, either. The whole purpose was so that she could be close to familiar faced people who could help her if need be. Not that she needed help, but…
A book hit a table somewhere and Bella jumped, turning to see what had happened. She watched as two women threw backpacks on a table and sat down, talking quietly. More people were scattered about, either reading or writing, some even typing on computers they had with them.
Bella stood for a long time exactly where Claudia had left her. She had no idea if she was allowed to sit anywhere she wanted or if the people were assigned certain seats. Homeless people didn't talk about libraries, although Sooty often spoke to Tinman Tom about seating at a place called Century Link and how they could kick you out if you tried to take someone's seat. And, if Bella thought really hard about it, she had seen restaurant workers kick people out of seats sometimes. Obviously that didn't happen when she had gone with her Paul, but Bella still didn't know how all of these were supposed to work except that Claudia had already told her how angry she'd be if Bella did something stupid.
When the first person had stared at her and then looked away, Bella brushed it off. But the longer she stood where she was, the stranger the looks she received from the others in the library. Studying the other occupants, it took her awhile to realize that everyone here had at least one book, usually more.
Bella decided to move. She couldn't read and had no idea what to do, trailing in between the numerous rows of books. Occasionally she'd pull one out, looking about cautiously in case Claudia had been mistaken and people weren't supposed to touch the books. No one said anything to her. Most of the books were the same; pages and pages of words she didn't understand.
Eventually Bella found a section where newspapers and magazines were housed and slunk over to a section of ones she had seen before in trash cans or left in the parks. The first one she grabbed had pictures of Halloween decorations and cakes.
Looking around the library, she wondered again if people had assigned seats or could sit where ever they wanted to. Her anxiety began to spike and she was starting to get scared. She didn't have any supplies with her, like food or a blanket, and while she sure as heck didn't want to leave her Paul man, she had no idea what she was supposed to do if the Claudia meanie left her here. Or worse, if someone else came up and told Bella she had to leave immediately.
Another person coughed, reminding Bella that she had looked weird just standing around, so she slowly followed a row of books, thankful when a small table appeared at the end and was vacant. She slid into the uncomfortable wooden chair and pulled the magazine she had chosen close to her body, still darting her eyes around to see if someone was about to tell her to move.
When no one came forward, she opened the magazine, spending many minutes on each to page to observe the pretty pictures. One after another, she'd get up to exchange the magazine for a new one, always returning to her secluded table to study it in somewhat private leisure.
About two thirds of the way through her current reading material and a sharp slap on the table in front of her caused a visible jerking motion down her spine.
"Hi," the person, a young man, whispered to her as he sat down across and started to open the book bag he had smashed down onto the table. "Mind if I sit here?"
He was big. He was scary. And Bella had no idea if she was allowed to tell him no, it wasn't okay for him to sit here. Apparently answers weren't needed as he emptied his bag of text books and notebooks before slinging it to the ground.
"My name's John," he announced between grabbing a pen and throwing a calculator onto the table. "I don't think I've seen you on campus before. Are you new?"
Frozen to her seat, Bella was without thought. Her hands felt like stone, cold and unmoving, and she couldn't even blink for fear of what might happen in those brief milliseconds when her eyes closed to block out this unknown person.
"You must be new," he answered, his eyes going straight to her breasts. "I'd have remembered if I'd seen you before. Were you doing study abroad or something? It's rather late to be enrolling now."
Bella had no idea what study abroad was, but if he was giving her an excuse for her sudden appearance, she'd take it and hope for the best. With a strained smile of politeness, she nodded.
"Yeah?" he asked somewhat surprised. "That's great. Where were you?"
Oh god…she had no idea. She didn't even really know where she was now, say nothing of making up another location.
"A secret, huh? That's okay. I'm good at keeping secrets," this John person whispered as he leaned across the table, his supplies apparently forgotten. "How about you tell me your name instead?"
Bella felt sick. Briefly she wondered who she could show the piece of paper to that Claudia have given her. She didn't care, she'd take all of meanie Claudia's words and stares in exchange for this guy's. The feel of his hand on her knee caused her already stiff muscles to freeze even more.
This was it, shortly she was going to be told by him to stand up and follow him someplace else so that he could hurt her. Bella felt like she couldn't breathe, her lungs refusing to suck in the required air as she thought she this John man's hand moved steadily up her leg to a place she didn't want to be touched. She knew that the easiest thing to do would be to lead him, let him think he was in control and then try to run away. It didn't always work, but even 50/50 were better odds than none.
Her body wouldn't move, but her mind was working just fine. It didn't escape Bella's attention that she had been taught her place by the monsters. Underground people were good for only being used and she had accepted that lot a long time ago.
Why she was still fighting these feelings, she didn't know. If this had happened before living with her Paul, there would be no thoughts of refusing. Actually, this was very close to the type of person the monsters liked. He wasn't sick or scruffy and they always complimented her on the people who were in shape.
"Are you going to tell me your name or do I have to guess that, too?" The John person said, a calculating smile filling his eyes.
It was the subtle expectation to the question he asked that sealed her decision. Bella knew that look, could detail to the second each action and sub-action he would do and expect. When he started to pile up the books he had just laid out, Bella no longer relied on what she had been taught. Instead she did what her body wanted: she got ready to run.
"There you are," Claudia hissed. Completely ignoring the man as if he wasn't even there, she pulled on Bella's shoulder to hurry her up. Bella's hand was still clutching the magazine she had been admiring and the tearing sound was loud as she looked up in shock and relief when Claudia appeared.
Loudly sighing in renewed anger, Claudia rolled her eyes. "Just leave it and come on before we really get in trouble."
Bella couldn't move quickly enough, scrambling up out of the chair, happy to get away from the John person. John wasn't as lenient as she had hoped.
"Hey, do you mind?" He said angrily, glaring at Claudia. "She's not one of yours and we were talking."
That evil smile that Bella feared of Claudia's was just as scary when it was meant for John.
"I don't have to mind, paleface. She's my neighbor's and we are leaving." With another sharp shoulder tug, Claudia tried to lead Bella back to her car.
"What do you want?" She demanded sharply once they were in the parking lot. John had followed and Bella was beginning to think maybe they should have tried to hide, or they could run if Claudia was fast enough. Bella wasn't too sure; Claudia didn't strike her as being overly athletic.
"I'm trying to figure out why a nice white girl like her," John said, thumbing towards Bella, "Is hanging around a skin like you."
"I don't know. Maybe my neighbor is racist and likes the lily skins. It's not my business." Unlocking the car door she had approached, Claudia waved for Bella to get in, and then shutting the door on the still talking John person to drive away.
"God, can you believe some people?" She asked aloud as if they hadn't just escaped from a harmer.
Bella wasn't entirely sure if she was supposed to answer, but she shook her head just in case while also hunching her shoulders inwards. It wasn't a conscious move. More of an involuntary response people used to appear less noticeable.
Not like it mattered. Claudia continued to rant as she sped, took curves sharply and kept throwing glares at Bella like every problem in the world was her fault. The words ran all together and Bella allowed them to flow around her unnoticed, thinking back to how comfortable she had felt sleeping in her Paul man's bed. Not when he awoke, obviously. But the assurance of knowing there was someone nearby who might actually, dare she think it, care about her?
It was a question Bella felt needed more time to think about despite the thrill and comfort she felt in suspecting it could be true.
"Hello! I'm talking to you!" Claudia snapped, clicking her fingers in front of Bella's face. "Paul said you liked normal fast food. Are you going to be an embarrassment if we go inside of McDonalds? Cause I can just as easily go through the drive thru, but if you spill anything you'll have to clean it up."
There was no doubt in Bella's mind that she probably would spill something; Claudia drove a little crazy.
"Uggh, what does that even mean?" she huffed in annoyance to Bella's head shaking. "We're just going to go inside. Try not to take too long."
Once inside, Claudia said nothing further to Bella, stepping forward in line to order her meal and then telling the cashier that was it. Bella, who had no money, nor could she request anything to begin with, stepped away and hovered until Claudia picked up her tray and walked over to a table to sit down and eat.
Bella's tummy felt a little empty, but she had eaten a cold bagel for breakfast and would make do until dinner when her Paul came home. A few hours was nothing to her. At least that's what she tried to tell her continuously growling stomach.
Once they left and were back in the car, Claudia's phone rang. She almost drove off the road when trying to answer, jerking the wheel suddenly once she had the phone in her hand, causing Bella to clutch tightly to her seat.
"Hello?... Oh, hi, Paul….Yes, she's fine. We just finished eating and are headed back to the Rez."
Bella couldn't help but feel slightly hopeful when she heard the Claudia woman say her Paul's name. There was no reason to feel anything since she couldn't talk. Somehow, though, Bella wished he would tell the Claudia woman to be nicer.
"…you want me to tell her you're going to be late?...No, I think Seth told me we were having a Clearwater family dinner tonight, but I can ask him…"
Seth would be a man's name, Bella was sure of it. Her head began shaking as soon as the Claudia woman said it and while not in answer to any question she had been asked directly, the Claudia person took it anyways.
"….Oh, hold on, Paul. Arial is shaking her head. I think she wants to wait until you get home…"
Wait for her Paul? Yes! For whatever it was, Bella would wait especially if others were involved. She was beginning to get used to the idea of strangers being around her, more specifically strange men, but it seemed like a good idea for these encounters to take place when her Paul was nearby. Just in case.
"I mean, if you want me to, I can just go there first and not even stop at your house so you know where she's at…yes, I'll tell her…okay, bye." The car swerved dangerously while Claudia fumbled to return the device. A few choice phrases and Claudia finally decided it was as good as it was going to get inside of her purse. She pulled her car back into the center of the lane before addressing the cowering girl beside her.
"That was your wolf, Arial. He says he'll be late getting home and since you don't want to spend the rest of the day with me, I'll be dropping you off at his place."
Bella didn't know what Claudia was talking about when she said "your wolf", but she recognized the malice coating the woman's words. She'd happily wait a few days until Paul came home before eating rather than spend more time in the presence of this mean person.
"God, you must be able to screw Paul stupid in order for him to put up with this act," Claudia spat out when the girl still didn't talk. "I mean, Paul is one egocentric bastard. It must drive him insane, having to fuck someone who can't tell him how amazing he is. Are you really a mute or does he overlook it because you can't keep his dick out of your mouth?"
By the time they returned to the Paul's house, Bella was almost in tears from the comments Claudia had made during the entire trip. The car started to roll in reverse before she could even stand up and attempt to close the door causing her to stumble and for Claudia to yell out more mean things.
Wiping away the mud on her pants, Bella limped to the front and let herself in, happy when the car engine sounds faded away. Knowing the house was empty, Bella stripped her pants in the entryway, frowning at the splotches of dirt she left. She used the already soiled pants to clean up the floor, balling them tightly to sit in the corner before limping further into the house and to the bathroom where she could shower and get cleaned up.
She was really hungry again by the time she got out. That was not good. There was no reason to be this hungry since she had already eaten earlier in the day. Even once a day eating was a luxury for people like her. She was starting to get mad at her tummy's demand for more. Nevertheless, carefully she pulled open the fridge door, wondering if it would be okay to make a sandwich. There wasn't much bread left and Bella knew Paul might have other plans for it.
Shrugging to herself, she took out a single piece of lunch meat and one slice of cheese, rolling it together to eat without any type of bread. Her tummy stopped making noises, but it still felt empty as she patted it experimentally. Water could help with that, though, and she went to get a cup, refilling it several times from the tap until she finally felt full.
This was the first time in a while since Bella had been left alone to do as she pleased. She should probably go outside and see if she could find a new hiding spot for food, but Paul had said that made him really sad. He didn't understand that it made her sad, too, when she didn't have supplies stored away.
Brightening considerably, Bella decided to go out anyways. Not far, but maybe the bear was out there and would sit with her. She put her boots back on and zipped her jacket before exiting out the front door.
Knowing she needed another tree, Bella walked around several before deciding on one. It wasn't visible from any of the house windows. However, it was within quick darting distance, so if her luck held, it would allow Bella the opportunity to make quick future storing trips. Plus she had to take a running start to jump up and grasp the first branch. No way would anyone else try to climb it. Not when there were other, more climbable trees-
"I'm telling you, the stories are legendary. This Lahote guy always has super models and shit just lying around his house naked."
The voice snapped Bella into action, her tree scaling a time record. She was only a few tree lines away from the house, enough to hide the structure but not deep enough to become threatening. The close location was exactly why she shouldn't be hearing any voice other than her Paul's. And he wasn't home to make noise.
"Yeah, you think?" said another hopeful male voice. "Man, that'd be sweet if we saw some. What if he's home?"
"He's not. He works off the Rez. I heard Jenny's sister talking about her boyfriend's sister who's dating one of his close friends. He has a new one this month and the girl said she was really pretty and he was keeping her at all times."
Bella had no idea who these people were or what they were talking about. They sounded intent on making trouble and she didn't want to be caught. They were really close to the house, too, and she had no way to call for help, just like her Paul had said. She could probably hide, but his house didn't have good hiding places. She would be better off staying here in the tree, out of sight. Readjusting her body, her foot slipped unexpectedly, the sound echoing loudly in the area as the hard rubber sole scrapped against bark.
"Shh, did you hear something?" One of the boys asked the other, stopping almost directly under the tree Bella was hiding in. She could almost see them clearly and hoped they didn't try to look up. She had no idea what to do if they saw her.
"It was probably just a bird or something. There's nothing out here but us. Come on, we're almost there."
Bella could hear twigs cracking before the two boys walking away did. It wasn't from them and worriedly she searched her tree, hoping the branch wasn't going to break. That would be just her luck, the branch giving away, Bella tumbling to the ground, two strange men finding her hurt and defenseless.
When a low, menacing growl issued through the tree line, Bella did lose her balance and slipped forward, her belly lying lengthwise on the branch with her chin scraping against the rough bark. She didn't fall to the ground, but her arm was hurting from the effort of keeping still, plus the earlier bump when she fell from Claudia's car.
The Paul was really going to be mad at her, assuming that the growl was from her bear friend and not some new beast that might eat her.
The boys took off running in fear with the animal giving mock chase through the forest, heard but not seen. Or so Bella assumed from her safety perch. Animals and humans were both a threat and despite any currently experienced pain, she was fine to wait.
It was a lot colder than Bella remembered the outside being. She waited a long time before risking a downward climb, falling the last few feet when her arm gave out on her. By the time she made it back into the house, she had tears in her eyes and wiped them away, mad that she was crying over something as silly as a hurt arm.
It never occurred to Bella to be upset over the actual events of the day.
She took off her boots and coat again before going back to the bathroom to look at her wounds, gasping loudly when the mirror revealed a large purplish black mark starting at her shoulder and traveling down to her elbow. She had a few smaller bruises on her ankle as well and cringed at the thought of what he would say when he saw them. The arm one she could probably keep hidden, but the ankle one would be more difficult since he held her feet a lot. Bella hoped she could distract her Paul with other things so he wouldn't notice.
The entire drive home, Paul cursed the goddamn halfwit who had blown the circuitry in the office complex. It was an old building to begin with, but someone had failed to install a new, main power grid, only replacing the smaller one that was used separately for exterior lot fixtures. They had to wait three fucking hours for the county inspector to show up and approve the use of the new one they had installed after realizing the error.
Dan was pissed and made the crew stay late to make up the missed time, threatening to make the guys work every weekend for the next six weeks. There was no leeway within the construction crew and as much as it pissed Paul off, if Dan came through on his threat, he'd be stuck working as well and forced to spend even more time away from his Urchin.
He needed a fucking beer to settle his nerves along with a nice groping –either giving or receiving—from Urchin. Damn, that wasn't going to happen. Maybe he'd need a whole case of beer.
And a few good hugs.
Pulling into his drive, Paul got out of his jeep, frowning again when he saw there was only one light on in the house and it wasn't even a main light, but the little table one. Had his urchin gone to bed already? It was only a little after eight. Nevertheless, he entered quietly just in case, immediately tuning in to the cardio system of his mate to judge if she was sleeping or not. She wasn't.
"What are you doing sitting in the dark, Urchin?" He asked flipping on the living room light, his girl curled up on the coach staring at nothing. She blinked a few times before giving him a hesitant smile and then shrugged.
For her sake and his inner furry crybaby, he really wanted to question the oddity. Tiredness and hunger won out instead. "I'm going to take a quick shower and then we'll eat, okay?" he announced, trying to unlace his boots and unbuckle his belt at the same time while walking to his room.
He failed at both and succeeded fucking brilliantly in looking like a drunk trying to dance.
The shower was snap quick, the clothes he donned latch-free, and the dinner he eventually made half-assed. However, Paul's suspicion ran high when he slowed his thoughts and they sat down to eat. He knew his girl was a righty, but she was using her left hand to pick up the tacos he had made.
It seemed absurd to notice such shit. "Are you okay?"
Paul wanted to punch himself in the mouth for his next verbal geyser even when he knew damn well Urchin had lied with her head shake. "I noticed you're using your left hand and not your right. Can I see your hand?"
He damn near shot up from the table as she flinched while extending her arm. She opened her hand willingly to show it was a little bit scratched, but nothing serious enough to cause pain. What the fuck did he know? His body would've healed any scratches in a matter of minutes.
"Did you trip?" Paul asked, inspecting the weird abrasion patterns. He caught himself pulling her arm closer to him, his tongue peeking out to take a healing lick. It was an epic battle to roll that slobbering bitch back into his mouth and keep his teeth firmly clamped. His damn tongue had grown its own mind much like his penis and inner wolf already had.
Urchin's vigorous head nod and the relief sweeping across her face confirmed to Paul that she was lying. He didn't want to stop her from eating; she seemed hungrier than she had been for past dinners. He decided to wait until they were both done before questioning her more.
If he thought his shock level had already reached its limits for the day, Paul felt sucker punched once they had finished and she had eaten a full taco, part of another one and all of the corn on her plate.
"I'm happy to see you're eating so much, Urchin. Did Claudia make you eat a crappy salad for lunch? She's big on those," Paul joked, turning around in time to see his girl blush and look at the floor.
"Urchin?" he asked wondering what had her upset. "Did you not enjoy your lunch? I told her to let you choose whatever you wanted. Did she make you eat a salad against your will?"
Urchin didn't answer at all, her blush deepening.
"Did you have a burger?"
-nothing.
"Chicken? Fish?"
She didn't respond to any of the foods he was inquiring about. Looking back at the dishes, he realized once again just how much she had eaten.
"Did you not eat anything for lunch?" he asked sadly, wondering if she had been embarrassed to do so.
She finally shook her head and Paul's heart crumbled. Neither Leah nor Emily had mentioned that his girl had trouble or was hesitant to eat with them. He wondered why she would be uncomfortable with Claudia unless it was because they were out in public, although she had eaten okay when they went out with Fuller.
"Damn, Urchin. And then I was late coming home for dinner…no wonder you were so hungry. Why didn't you eat when you came home or go with Claudia to Sue's house? She would've made something for you."
He walked over to where she was still standing motionless and bent down to hug her, stumbling back when she made a weird moan of pain.
"Shit, what's wrong. Did I hurt you?" he asked frantically, already smelling the saltiness of her tears.
She continued to shake her head, Paul confused as shit as to why she was crying. He hadn't hugged her very tightly, more of a simple embrace around her…arm!
His eyes narrowed further as he studied his girl. She wasn't wearing one of her usual pull over sweaters, but a plain button up pajama top. She was also still wearing jeans which meant she hadn't changed for bed. What the fuck was going on?
"It's cold tonight. Why are you wearing the lighter pajama top instead of the heavy flannel ones you like?" The more he thought about it, the more Paul began to suspect that his urchin was hurt. An absolutely fucking ridiculous idea since she had been with people all day and if some shit had happened, someone would've told him right away.
"Can I see?" he asked, knowing she realized he had to have guessed something was wrong.
She nodded her head and then stood still waiting for him to come over and roll up her sleeve. Her arms were thin enough to do so, the material sliding easily when he pushed it up. It reminded Paul once again what a bunch of evil fucking monsters people were and that he was probably the first person to even give half a rat's ass care about her wellbeing.
The horrid sight of coloring marring the first inch past her elbow and he damn near phased on the spot, the wolf within lunging in anger at the sight. Breathing deeply and steadily he continued to push the material forward, the wolf not calming at all as the severity of the bruise grew.
He let the material drop back down before pressing his finger under her chin to look directly in her eyes. "Do you know who did this to you?"
Paul knew the answer before her head could move, her eyes widening.
"Did it happen when you were with Claudia?"
She paused before shaking her head no.
"Did it happen when you came home?"
Yes, came the sad nod.
He stepped away from her before the rage overcame his control, his hand sweeping out to overturn a table and destroying a lamp while he cursed violently. His girl tried to limp away in fear, the motion catching his eyes and reminding Paul that she had more than just a bruise on her arm.
Her eep of panic didn't stop him from dropping behind her with his arm firmly clamped around her waist while he lifted her pant leg and pushed down the sock of her right foot, more ghastly bruises appearing.
"Motherfucking, son of a bitch! What the fuck happened, Urchin? Did you fall down a flight of stairs or out of a tree?" he screamed in blind fury.
"Yeeh," she sobbed once, trying to get away from him. She was scared, hurting and wanted to hide.
Paul reeled back in shock when she spoke, still holding her around the waist least she fall again in her struggles. His lips made weird motions, opening and closing while he struggled to decide what issue to tackle first.
His girl had been fucked over by someone and Paul wanted answers yesterday.
But she had talked, sort of. His otherwise silent urchin had said something real fucking close to the word "yes" and that was a huge fucking milestone he wasn't sure how to address. Or get her to repeat. Or how to even let her know it was so goddamn awesome he'd take her out to celebrate if he wasn't currently pissed off enough to kill a few people.
The shock value alone at hearing Urchin speak damn near bowled Paul over. His breathing, too, increased drastically, his mind trying to slow the fuck down enough to remember what he had asked her. Hell, he didn't even know if the question was important. Something about…
Fuck! She was still crying, and as he looked at her ankle again, Paul realized she was still injured and someone was due an ass kicking. Probably two or three.
The knock on his door was unexpected and Paul watched as his urchin stifled her sobs, an odd choking cry still forcing its way through her lips. He couldn't let her go, not like this, and would have ignored the person if they hadn't bothered to open the door on their own.
Paul was seriously beginning to think today was National Ass Kicking Day.
"Paul? It's just me. Can I come in?" Quil asked hesitantly, his own senses telling him that he'd be much safer tying raw steaks around his neck and jumping into the ocean to swim with sharks rather than enter this wolf's den.
"It's not the best time for a visit."
"I know, but I tried calling and you didn't answer, and something happened today that I need to talk to you about."
"Fuck off, Ateara!" Paul's voice was too close to a primordial growl and his girl's fear level jacked up a million more notches. No way would Quil walk away from an imprint's fear, even if Mighty Sam hadn't decreed that the rest of the pack was on permanent Lahote-Imprint-Watch.
Being caught between a rock and a hard place was fucking easily done blindfolded compared to being caught between two wolves. It didn't matter that both were gunning for Urchin's wellbeing, her eyes took in Paul's look, Quil's sudden appearance and she literally began to shake.
Quil's appearance was a huge fucking no-no and rather than argue verbally with the moron, Paul decided it would be easier to let the twat think he had the upper hand. Once Paul stepped outside and Quil became distracted with the sound of his own voice, Paul could just knock the shit out of him, leave him out on the lawn like a demented gnome –the imagination stretch between the two wasn't that far—and then get back to his girl.
Quil cleared his throat awkwardly, reminding Paul that he was still fucking there and not likely to leave any time this century. And if Quil did leave, it would probably be to get more wolves and that would just fuck this situation even more than it already was.
"Yeah, okay!" Paul shouted before being reminded that the shaking wasn't him but his girl. "Give me a minute, will you? I'll be right out." Picking up his imprint in one fluid motion, Paul carried her to the couch, sitting her down and covering her with the blanket she had been using from earlier.
Urchin didn't fight Paul at all which told him her mind was just as clusterfucked as his own at the moment. With any luck, he'd be able to get her to talk. Fuck it, one word answers worked just fine. In fact, Paul kinda preferred those to begin with.
Exiting the house, Paul pushed up his sleeves, reinforcing that ass kicking number one was definitely going to be quick, fast, and well inflicted.
"What?" He demanded, growling none too lightly when Quil tried to look over and around his frame in order to peek inside of the house. It was a good thing Quil's wolf listened better than him. The pack member recognized the difference between a typical asshole response and one that would end with loss of limb.
"A couple of teens were out on the Rez today causing trouble," Quil said quickly. "I was scouting an area to the far east and didn't pick up their trail until they were practically in your backyard. I could hear Arial out here, too, but I didn't want to scare her and those boys were going to break in to your place. I chased them off and then came back here to make sure Arial was okay, but by then she had already gone inside."
"I want names and I want to know how they managed to beat her without you being able to hear it!"
"They didn't touch her; they couldn't have." Paul's look clearly said he thought Quil was lying and he was willing to extract the man's tongue to prove it. "Do you honestly think I'd let some hoodlums beat the crap out of your imprint, not do anything about it and then leave her alone, not even bothering to check on her?"
"That's the problem, Quil. No one checked on her. You guys nagged the shit out of me about making sure the pack could help because I was doing a shitty job of it and you know what? Without my fucking assistance, in one day, part of our pack let her go hungry and then left her alone. My fucking girl is bawling her eyes out cause she got hurt and I can't do a fucking thing about it!"
Quil thought Paul could stop yelling and scaring the shit out of everything within a mile radius, but knew better than to offer that suggestion. "I still don't understand how she got hurt. If you're telling me someone hit her, I believe you, but I'd be doubtful that it was the two teens and I didn't smell anyone else in the area."
That was the problem. In a perfectly rational world, Quil would have protected Urchin, she'd be able to talk and there wouldn't be any incident of some Rez rat hoodlums. But ever since the evil Imprint fairy had shot Paul in the ass with its love arrows, everything was fucked up.
"Well it sure as hell wasn't Claudia that hurt her," Paul said. "I talked to her around two o'clock and apparently my girl was able to convince her she ate her goddamn lunch."
"Paul, I don't know what to say." Quil had no idea what food had to do with any of this. He knew better than to ask, though, otherwise he'd look like the dumb one and Paul was already vibrating on the wrong side of a wolf explosion. "Arial can't tell us who hurt her unless you want to parade her up and down the entire town to point them out."
It was sound, reasonable advice to Quil's ears. Paul stripping in front of him said otherwise.
"No, I don't need to do a fucking lineup," Paul ranted. "We already know who hurt her." Fully nude now, his voice dropped into a guttural tone that was barely distinguishable as words. "And you're going to show me." His form shifted and contorted, the wolf within finally free.
It lunged.