SM owns the characters.
I am so sorry for the long delay in updating this story, the last few weeks of my pregnancy were hard.
My beautiful daughter Eryn was born on the 22nd of March, so my time is limited until i get her into a routine. I will still be updating as often as possible, please don't give up on this story i will complete it.
Introductions
Bella didn't come back down to the Reservation before the weekend; I went back to sleeping near her house. Sam was constantly reassuring me that Bella was fine, and that she had even spoken to Billy about the bonfire on Saturday.
Saturday could not come quick enough; I offered to run patrol all day. I knew that with my temper and nerves I would struggle to stay human all day. I constantly ran a loop around the Reservation and then to Forks, I would watch from a distance as Bella went about her day. Doing the mundane tasks of homework, cleaning and doing laundry, I watched as she left the house and got into her truck, I thought that she was maybe coming to La Push early but was disappointed when she drove to the Thriftway and walked in.
"Paul you are supposed to be patrolling the Reservation too." Sam said as he phased in.
"Sorry I got carried away, I will leave now."
"Don't worry, stay with your imprint, I will run patrol around the Reservation."
"Thank you Sam." I thought before started running my loop of the Reservation.
I spent the rest of the day following Bella, as she finished her shopping before going home. I could see from the windows that she was a natural caregiver, she seemed almost happy doing the chores she was doing. But I was saddened when every now and again she would stop and stare into the forest, wiping her face of tears as they fell down her face.
I knew what she was thinking about, and I wished that there was not a treaty so I could go after the dirty leech scum who hurt my mate and left her so sad.
"That is enough Paul; control your thoughts and temper. If there was any way we could get revenge I would be by your side supporting you." Sam thought, reminding me that I was not alone.
"Sorry, I just hate seeing her so sad and not being able to do anything about."
"You will in time Paul, once Bella understands the way the imprint works, you will help heal her heart." Sam tried to reassure me.
"We will see." I replied back taking my usual spot outside the Swans house.
"Be at the beach by six, so you can help Jared set the fire up." Sam ordered before he blocked his thoughts.
I left Forks as close to six as possible, knowing that I would see Bella an hour later. I ran to the beach, phasing at the edge of the forest to find Jared already at the beach piling on the wood and pulling logs together.
"Did you have fun today Paul?" Jared asked when I was within hearing distance.
"Fuck off" I told him before picking up a few of the piles of wood and placing them on top of Jared's, we continued working in silence until Jared sat down and gulped down a bottle of water.
"It will get easier brother; it is the weirdest thing to have all these feelings for an almost stranger. But then you look at your imprint and you want to thank the spirits for giving you this person who is your everything." Jared explained with a dreamy look in his eyes.
I couldn't stop the laugh that escaped when looking at my whipped brother; I will never look like that. My man card is safely in my back pocket where it will remain.
"Is Jared thinking of Kim again?" Sam suddenly spoke up making his appearance known as he walked out of the forest.
"Yes, when does he ever stop." I answered him while smirking at Jared's face.
"You will be just like him soon." Sam teased while grinning, causing Jared to come out of his day dream.
"I will never act like you two loons." I replied before, ducking just in time as they both tried to smack the back of my head at the same time.
Conversation stopped when we noticed too pale faced girls were heading towards us, wearing the most disgusting outfits, painted faces and smelling like garbage. I knew who they were as soon as I looked at their painted faces, none other than my mate's bullies.
I felt Sam put a hand on my shoulder not realising that I was shaking, how much I wanted to phase and rip the girls to pieces was taking over.
"Paul calm down, you can't phase here. Leave if you can't control your temper, we can deal with them." Sam ordered in a low voice so the girls wouldn't hear us.
"Well hello there." The blond girl spoke causing us all to cringe at her high pitched voice, as they stopped in front of us.
"What do you want? This beach is private and you are not invited here." Sam spoke with a growl in his voice.
"We were just walking along the beach and saw you three, and thought we would say hello." The blonde girl replied, as she slid her hand down Sam's arm causing him to step back.
"Well you have said hello, now leave" I growled out.
"Don't be like that, we are nice single girls maybe looking for a good time." The brown haired girl spoke as she tried to step closer to Jared.
"You are not nice girls, and I don't give a fuck if you are single." I told them both.
"How do you know we are not nice girls?" the blonde one asked.
"Because I know who you are Lauren Mallory and Jessica Stanley, and nice girls don't pick on and spread false rumours about a heartbroken girl."
"Isabella Swan" Lauren spat out.
"Bella Swan is a good friend, and a sister of ours." Jared spoke surprising me when I could hear the growl in his voice.
"But she is white?" Jessica asked, clearly confused by Jared's statement.
"We see passed skin colour here, and only see the person that she is." Sam replied.
"So are you single then?" Lauren asked, causing each of us to growl loud enough for them to hear us.
I could suddenly smell their fear, and I felt happy that they were scared. They both took a step back as we took a step closer, I looked at my brothers as we took another step closer together as one. I knew that no matter how the imprint works out they both saw Bella as a sister already.
"You stay away from Bella Swan; you stop spreading rumours about her. The next time you see her you apologise and then never look or speak to her again." I told them, leaning over them hoping to scare them a bit more.
"What will happen if we don't? You can't tell us what to do. She deserves everything we say about her, she moved here and chased away the best good looking guys in our school." Lauren replied puffing her chest out and straightening her shoulders, we knew she was trying to look brave but we could smell the fear coming off her.
"You will have us to deal with; I was brought up to never raise my hand to a woman. But there can always be a first, but my first will also be the last time you breathe. I will then take your bodies and hide them so nobody will ever find you. Leave Bella alone, this is not just a threat, this is a promise." I growled out, allowing Sam to pull me back when I took another step closer to them.
"Take this as a warning, we will be watching you and listening. If we hear anymore rumours, I know where you both live and we will be paying you each a visit." Sam warned them, stepping closer to them and standing fully in front of me.
"We will go to the police, tell them you threatened us." Jessica suddenly spoke in a quivering voice.
"Have you forgotten who the chief of police is?" I asked.
"Now leave" Sam shouted at them causing them both to jump.
We all stood back in silence as we watched both girls turn and almost run off the beach, the wind blew and we could all smell their tears.
"Bella is going to kill me, she asked me not to say anything to them." I spoke once the girls were out of sight.
"Tell her we did it for you, those idiots don't know who we are by name." Jared said tapping me on my back.
Sam and Jared soon left to help their imprints bring the food down to the beach, while I finished getting the bonfire ready. Sometime later Quil SR and Harry arrived shortly followed by the rest of the pack, usually Billy Black would come with the other Elders and one of the wolves would carry him and his chair down to the beach. But he was not there, neither was Bella, I was sure that I felt Bella enter the Reservation earlier but now I was not so sure, all these new feelings were still strange.
"Paul, Bella is bringing Billy in a bit." Sam said coming to a stop in front of me, where I was not aware that I was pacing.
"Why is she coming with Billy?" I asked confused that she didn't come straight to the beach.
"She has known Billy since she was little; I guess she would be more comfortable not turning up alone."
As soon as Sam answered my question, I could hear Bella's truck pull into the small car park next to the beach. Billy shouted out for somebody to help him, so I automatically took a step forward.
"Stay, I will help Billy, Sit down near Harry but leave enough space for Bella to sit. She will probably be more comfortable sat near the Elders." Sam said, stopping me from taking another step forward.
I followed Sam's orders and sat on the log closet to Harry, listening as the sand started to shift as Bella and the others approached.
"Hello" I heard Bella whisper shyly as she sat down on the log next to me.
"Hi, I need to apologise about what happened earlier in the week."
"Don't, Sam explained why you lost your temper. I won't say I understand fully but thank you for feeling so protective of me." Bella spoke just above a whisper.
"Ok, I'm trying to apologise and you are here thanking me?" I asked confused how the conversation had switched around so fast.
Before Bella could reply, Billy shouted out to get our attention.
"Evening everyone, the reason for this meeting is to formally welcome Bella Swan to the pack. She is Paul's imprint and therefore should be protected and respected like the other imprints. Bella, on my right is Quil SR; he is an Elder on the tribal council along with Harry Clearwater who is sat on my left and your right."
"Hi" Bella spoke and I could see the blush appear on her face at being the centre of attention.
"Next to Quil Sr is Sam Uley, he is also an Elder and Alpha of the pack. Next to him is his imprint, Emily Young. Sat on the log next to them is Jared Cameron with his imprint Kim Mooney. There will be time to formally speak to Bella in a few minutes while we are eating." Billy finished before he turned and started to look at the coolers which had the food and drink in.
"I think it is time to eat, then, we will hear the legends." Billy spoke before Emily stood up and took the lids off the coolers and started to make her way over towards where I was sat with Bella.
"I will just grab us some food, is there anything you don't like?" I asked Bella as I stood up.
"Nope, I don't think so." She whispered back before I walked off towards the food.
I was stood waiting behind the Elders when Sam and Jared joined me; I looked over my shoulder to see Emily and Kim talking quietly to Bella. I could see that Bella was beginning to look uncomfortable and had started to blush. I couldn't stop the growl; this caused Sam and Jared to look over to where I was staring.
"Paul calm down, they are only talking to Bella." Sam ordered.
"She looks so uncomfortable, it is too soon."
"Maybe this is what she needs?" Jared asked.
"Maybe, but I don't think she is ready. I don't know what those leeches done to her but it is clear that she has trust issues. Please, just ask the girls to back off for a while, give her time to get to know me first and trust me." I begged.
They both nodded in agreement as we rushed to fill our plates, Sam and Jared left before I did and when I looked back over my shoulder I could see them ushering Emily and Kim back to their seats. I looked at Bella and could see her relax; she turned to look at me and watched as I walked back towards her.
"Sorry about the other imprints, they just wanted to make you feel more welcome." I apologised when I sat down.
"That's ok; it is still a lot to take in." Bella replied, as I passed her the plate so I could bend the metal hangers and start cooking the sausages.
We made small talk while we ate, but I could not hide the grin when I watched her face as I ate my tenth and last sausage after she claimed she was full after only eating two and some salad.
"Where does all that food go?" she asked when I rubbed my stomach once I had finished the last sausage.
"We need to eat a lot, phasing into a wolf uses lot energy. We burn off food a lot quicker, and need to consume enough food so that we have the stamina to phase and protect the Reservation."
Before Bella could comment Billy interrupted us by coughing and clapping his hands indicating that it was time to start telling the legends.
We all sat in silence as Billy began to tell the legends, stopping to give Quil Sr and Harry the chance to also tell parts of the legends. I listened to the Elders and also watched Bella as she listened to each of the Elders. I saw her stiffen when the Cullen's were mentioned and I wrapped my arm across her shoulders, I was relieved when she relaxed and lent into me. But it didn't stop her tears silently slipping down her face, I didn't want to embarrass her so I squeezed her closer to me and watched as the tears stopped and dried on her face.
As Billy finished telling the legends, Bella was staring into the fire.
"Wow" she whispered, when Billy stopped talking and we were all sat in silence.
"It is, especially when you realise that they are all true." I whispered into her ear.
"So before you phased, you thought the legends were boring?" Bella asked raising her eyebrows.
"Not exactly boring, we all grew up hearing the stories. I suppose we took the legends for granted, something we would act out when we were kids. Once we grew up, I thought it was a load of bullshit to make us be respectful."
"Bella are you ready to leave in five minutes?" Billy suddenly shouted causing Bella to jump.
"Sure Billy" Bella called backed.
"Can I see you tomorrow? " I asked, hoping to spend some time with her alone.
"I am going out with my dad for the day tomorrow day time, but we are at the Blacks for dinner in the evening. I'm sure Billy wouldn't mind you come for dinner, and then maybe we can go to the beach."
"Can't do dinner, I have to patrol. What if I meet you on first beach, at about seven?" I suggested.
"Ok, I need to go now. Can you help me with Billy?" Bella asked as she stood up and looked towards Billy.
I nodded and stood up, before following Bella over to Billy.
"Paul, can you come with us to help me out the truck when I get home?" Billy asked once we were next to him. I nodded in agreement then stood behind his chair and started to push him off the sand. I listened quietly as Bella and Billy made small talk about the legends as we walked across the beach to the car park.
When we reached the truck Bella opened the door as I lifted Billy up and into the truck, when I shut the door I caught Bella leaning against the side of the truck yawning and blinking her eyes constantly.
"Bella let me drive you and Billy back." I demanded, scared that she could fall asleep and crash her truck.
"I'm fine Paul." Bella tried to reply before yawning again.
I walked passed her and put Billy's chair in the back of the truck, Bella then pulled out her keys and handed them straight to me before getting in the driver's side and climbing into the seat next to Billy. I got in the truck and started it up, hiding my cringe when the noise of the engine ran through my ears.
It was not until I pulled up outside Billy's that I realised that Bella had fallen asleep with her head rested on my arm. I looked to Billy and then back to Bella, not sure if I would be taking Bella back to her home in Forks.
"Paul put Bella in the twin's old room and then come back out to help me; Charlie didn't want her driving back alone late so it was planned for Bella to stay at mine tonight." Billy explained.
I got out the truck pulling Bella across the seat and into my arms, I opened Billy's front door and then went to the spare room. I softly put Bella down before removing her shoes and pulling a blanket off the other spare bed and placing it over the top of her. I left the room in a rush, every part of me wanted to stay with Bella but I knew that I had to help Billy before going back to my empty house.
I returned to the truck and helped Billy back into his chair before pushing him up the ramp and into the house; I turned to leave already planning to spend the night in the forest at the back of the Blacks house before Billy stopped me.
"Paul you can stay in Jake's room tonight, if you want? He is staying at Quil's tonight."
"Thanks Billy."
"That's ok; I understand that it is hard being away from your imprint. But Paul I don't want to hear you going into the spare room where Bella is. Imprint or not she still needs her privacy." Billy replied before he pushed his chair passed me and headed towards his room.
I followed a few seconds later and letting myself into Jacob's room and getting into his bed, I felt at peace knowing that my imprint, Bella was so close even though I had to respect Billy's wishes and leave her alone.
