Title: Beauty or Beast

Author: ondragonflywing

Verse: Twilight

Claim: General

Characters: Paul/Rachel, The Pack

Rating: M

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Warnings: Minor Spoilers for Eclipse (about imprinting). And for Breaking Dawn (about Paul's imprint). Language.

Summary: When a wolf insists that his imprint would love him no matter what, he is challenged to prove it.

Prompt/Table: Inspired By Fairy Tales-Beauty and the Beast

Paul couldn't help the goofy broad grin that spread across his face as Rachel talked to him about work. It was mostly a bunch of stuff he didn't understand, having to do with chemistry and chemicals. But he didn't mind, he'd listen gladly to her talk about anything. She was the most important person to him, and that would never change. She was his imprint. He could only hope that she felt a fraction of what he did in their relationship.

He watched everything about her as she raised her arm from the table, tilting it slightly towards her body. And her eyes broke from his, glancing down at an angle, to see her watch. She sighed, like she was upset about something and his hand instinctively moved to hers, squeezing it, giving her what comfort he could. Her eyes flashed back to his face and she smiled broadly, flipping her hand over to hold mine. Then she leaned across the table and kissed him. "I have to go. Lunch break's over."

Paul knew his smile fell at the idea of her parting ways from him, even if for a little while because she laughed. "You're such a baby. I'll be off in a few more hours." He nodded mutely before kissing her again.

"See you then." He rose to his feet as she exited the café, and he again watched every move her body made as she left.

Things with Rachel had been tenuous at best so far, but he was trying his best to be the man that she deserved, instead of the selfish child that he was, at still seventeen. Which had been another problem for her. He was only months away from eighteen, but she still felt awkward dating a seventeen year old high school student at her present age of twenty-three. And she was a little bit more than shocked that Billy was okay with the arrangement. It was the only thing Paul had going in his favor. That and the fact that she couldn't stay away no matter how hard she tried.

She didn't yet know about the imprint. Or the fact that Paul was a wolf. He was too scared to tell her. If she had so many doubts now, he didn't feel that this new information would clear any of those up. In fact it would probably just cement for her how wrong this all was. Or scare her. Or both.

Paul had been so caught up in paying attention to Rachel that he didn't notice the stranger that had sat down at the table next to his.

"You two make a cute couple," came the withered voice from the neighboring table.

Paul's eyes cut up to take in the form of an elderly woman, probably in her sixties, her hair gray and pulled back into a bun. Her face wrinkled. What he figured were probably once bright blue eyes, now a dull blue-grey. He saw no harm in the woman so he grinned at her and said, "Thanks." He could dispute how perfect they were for each other. They were magically destined to be together.

"She seems older than you," the elderly woman continued.

Paul growled, deep in his chest, "She is. But we love each other…"

The old woman's eyes seemed to glaze over as if she were remembering something. "Sometimes love isn't enough." Her eyes seemed to mist as she said it, "Sometimes nothing is enough in the face of such challenges. Sometimes you show your true self and love can't save you." If Paul didn't know better he'd say there was a glint in the old woman's eyes like she knew more than she spoke of.

He shook his head, gripping the table tightly as his body began to tremble. This old woman didn't know what the hell she was talking about. Love would always be enough for him and Rachel. "Mind your own business," he bit out at the woman, his words growled, "Rachel would always love me, no matter what."

And then the old woman smiled. "You think so?" she asked, her eyebrow rose. And then with a whoosh, like all the air was being knocked from his lungs, he found himself outside, standing across from a woman who was not the same old woman from the diner. The woman who stood in front of him now was young and vibrant. And there would have been a time when he would have found her to be gorgeous. But those days were gone. He had Rachel now. He breathed in deeply. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. This wasn't right. How could this happen.

"Magic," the woman answered the thought in his head. She smirked slightly as his disbelieving expression, "You can be a werewolf. But magic can't exist?" She made a valid point. Paul had to accept it. He had been magically transported to the middle of the forest. But why?

"Because you don't trust Rachel," the woman spoke. His hands shook with fury. "Don't do that. Not yet." She gestured to the phase that was beginning. And then it felt to Paul like someone else was in control of his body. His trembling ceased and he was helpless to do anything but listen. "You don't trust that you're good enough."

"Rachel loves me," Paul said again, forcing the words out through bared teeth. And then it happened, completely against his will, without the trembling. He began to phase, become a wolf.

"We'll see who loves who," the woman said, her tone cold.

All he could think to keep him from killing this woman was that no matter what Rachel loved him. Nothing could change that. And as soon as Paul was a wolf, he tried to phase back. To be human again.

"You can't do that," her voice said, sounding louder to my wolf ears, "You can't become human again until you know Rachel loves you. Accepts you. As you are. Every part of you."

He was stuck a wolf until Rachel accepted him! But how would she ever even know that it was him? Fuck!

The woman laughed softly. "I took care of arranging a meeting," she said softly, before she disappeared. Just like that. Poof. Gone. How could he even trust that she was coming back for him?

Before he could ponder on it too long, he heard footsteps against the soft forest floor, coming his way. And then he heard her voice.

"Paul!" she called. She held her cell phone tighter. Rachel was almost ready to call him and demand to know where he was. This wasn't very funny. Some wild goose chase into the forest. At first she had thought that maybe he had something romantic planned when she received the text message to meet him at the meadow near their spot. But now she was just frustrated. Where was he hiding? "Paul!" she called out again, her tone taking on an irritated edge.

"Where the hell are you?" She stopped short when she heard a wolf howl from the distance. She wanted to walk in the opposite direction, but pressed forward, towards the meadow. What if Paul was hurt? What if the wolf had gotten to him? It didn't make any sense to be so worried about him when she was in just as much trouble, but she couldn't help it.

She was hoping that Paul would step out of the brush and wrap her in his arms, telling her what he had had in mind, but that they should go because of the wolf. He would hold her close, giving her the comfort she needed to keep her hands from shaking, and they would leave the woods, and the wolf, and go somewhere else together. He would protect her, keep her safe. Instead she found herself moving forward, pressing deeper into the woods.

She came through the clearing, to not find Paul, but to be closer than she cared to ever be to a wolf. A giant wolf. A wolf bigger than a bear. Her eyes grew wide as the wolf moved closer to her. She was frozen to the spot. And then the wolf showed all of his teeth. And her senses kicked back in. Rachel gave out a loud scream. Not taking time to notice that the wolf whimpered in response. And she didn't notice how it's tail came to rest between it's legs as she spun on her foot and ran. Ran away from the thing.

She did however hear it growl as it gave chase.

Paul had been surprised when Rachel had stood frozen in the clearing. He had hoped against hope that she had recognized something in him. Had known it was him. Had not been afraid. He began to move closer, hoping to get close enough to touch her, feeling the pull of the imprint. And when she still didn't run, he had given her a toothy grin, sure she had figured it out. Or had simply felt something inside that had mad her feel like she could trust the beast that he was. And it was then that she screamed. And he realized his error. She had been too scared to move before. Paul gave a whimper and lowered his ears, his tail moving between his legs. He hoped the gesture would entreat her to pause. But it didn't have the desired effect. Instead she spun on her heel and began to run away from him.

Damn it! He cursed to himself. He had scared her away. And she apparently couldn't see him inside this monster. Not that she had taken the time to look. Typical Rachel. Over react now, ask questions later. If she just looked at him. Really looked. Looked into his eyes. He just knew that she would see it. She would see him in his eyes, his soul resting inside this monstrous body. And then she would begin to trust. She would begin to see. She would accept. If she'd only look.

He growled in frustration as he ran after her, his barks ringing through the air and his teeth gnashing, as he demanded her attention.

Rachel glanced over her shoulder as she ran, seeing the wolf still there. It was gaining on her. And that caused her to panic, her breath to come erratically. If she could just find the edge of the forest, she would be safe. She would be almost home. And once inside, the monster couldn't get to her. "Leave me alone," she pleaded, even though she knew it would do no good, she was after all, talking to an animal. A beast. She felt tears in her eyes. What if this was it? What if this was how she died?

She burst through the forest, into her back yard and as she turned around, she realized that the wolf was no longer following, almost as if maybe it had listened. She continued to run anyway, not wanting to take her chances. As soon as she was safely inside, she couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the idea that she had thought for even a minute that a wolf had listened to her.

"Woah, Rach, what happened?" she heard her brother say. She stepped away from the door to look in the hall mirror. Not only had she sounded like a heard of cattle when she ran through the doorway, she looked a mess. Tears were streaking down her face, which had some cuts from stray branches in the forest. And her hair was a mess.

"Did Paul do something stupid again?" he continued before she had a chance to speak.

She shook her head, as she tried to catch her breath. Then she nodded her head. Then she shrugged her shoulders. Her brother just looked confused. "He asked me to meet him near our spot," she began to explain, her sentences short as she still tried to catch her breath, "And I went. But there was something in the woods. An animal. It chased me. I ran home." Then my eyes widened, "Oh God, what if it got Paul? What if he's still out there? What if he's not okay?" The very idea felt like a weight on her chest, like something was crushing her. She began to panic. As much as she denied it, she loved Paul. She didn't want something to happen to him. She wasn't eve sure if she could live with it. What would she do if Paul was dead in the forest? She fell back against the wall, sliding down it.

Jacob was at his sister's side in an instant. He was trying to make this make sense. "I'm sure he's fine, Rach. Paul knows how to take care of himself." He tried to comfort. There hadn't been animal sightings, since all the wolves had come around. Basically there wasn't anymore because we'd gotten better at hiding ourselves, and more than that, we stayed deeper in the woods than most people would dare go. But maybe it really was just an animal. It wouldn't be unheard of. Or maybe this was boy genius's way of sharing his secret with his sister. "Shit," he muttered under his breath and stood up as his sister continued to be distraught over the fact that she had left Paul behind.

"What? You don't think he's in trouble do you?" she demanded, her face crumpling at the thought.

Jacob shook his head. If he was right about his assumption, Paul would be at Sam's by now, getting a lecture from Emily about scaring Rachel and reliving how horribly it had all gone. "I'm gonna go talk to Sam about this. Maybe we'll get some people together to go into the woods and take care of this animal." He added for her comfort, "Check on Paul." His sister nodded at him as he stepped out of the house.

"Paul, you are so dead," Jake muttered as he ran for the tree line, bursting into a wolf as soon as it was safe, and running to Sam's house. He turned back into a man and pulled his shorts on, in the fringe of the woods near the Uley house. He began to walk through the back yard.

"Hey Jake," Emily said with a wave, "Want some muffins? I just finished making them for Sam and the others."

Jacob smiled at Emily. She never seemed to mind that all of his took over her house on a regular basis. Nor that she had to feed his. And I guess her mothering nature was kind of perfect, since she was paired with our alpha, kind of like our father. He was however a little surprised that the house seemed so quiet. He figured someone would be mad at how Paul handled things with Rachel. He accepted a muffin and then said, "Just looking for Paul."

Emily raised an eyebrow at him, "Why?"

So he hadn't come here yet. Maybe that meant it wasn't him. Maybe it meant there really was an animal out there. Maybe Paul really was in trouble. "Thought he was trying to play a kind of cruel joke on my sister. But if he's not here. And she saw what she saw. I need to talk to Sam." Emily nodded and gestured towards the living room, and he headed in that direction to have a chat with his alpha.

Paul had stopped in his tracks when he heard Rachel's tearful plea for the monster behind her, chasing her to leave her alone. He could never deny her anything she wanted. Especially if she wanted it as desperately as she had seemed to want the chase to be over. He tried to tell himself that it wasn't personal. She was running from a monstrous wolf. Not from him. Not from Paul. But it didn't really work. He still felt rejected. Rejected by his true love. And it cut deeply. It left him whimpering and howling in pure pain at the darkening sky. He couldn't even stop his howling if he wanted to. His heart was breaking to pieces. If only she could look at him while he was like this. But she couldn't. She couldn't even bring herself to do that. To see that he was the one inside. He couldn't stand the thought that she couldn't stand to look at him in this form. This form instilled such fear in her that she couldn't even pause for a moment. All she could do is scream and run.

He howled at the sky again.

He repulsed her.

He didn't even know what to do. How could he get her to accept. She couldn't look at him. She was afraid of him. How would he ever get near enough to show that he was safe. That he was okay.

It was impossible. He'd never be human again. He'd spend forever as a wolf. And without her.

He howled again.

And then he went the only place that he could think of. To consult the only person that he thougt might have any suggestions, any answers. To Sam's.

Paul ran as fast as he had ever run. He saw Sam as his hero, his complete salvation. He would fix things. He made it to the Uley's in no time and howled his arrival. He could hear them inside, talking about his safety from the animal in the woods. He let out a throaty laugh. He was the animal in the woods that Rachel had seen. He howled again, hoping to get their attention, going stir crazy back here.

The conversation seemed to stop as Sam rose to his feet, heading to the backyard. I recognized Jacob's footsteps behind him. And my best friend Jared behind him. I howled again impatiently, entreating them to join me, first in the back yard ad then in wolf form so we could talk.

"Paul," Sam spoke first as they made it to the back porch. I rolled my eyes. Who else would it be? Do we know of any other werewolves that look like me, running around these parts.

"You did it," jake said accusatorily.

"Did what?" Jared asked calmly, always the perfection of calm, against anything, unless Kim was in trouble. Probably why he was Sam's second.

"Thought it would be funny to change and invite my sister to where you were and scare the daylights out of her without any explanation." He was angry. Paul could tell eh was close to turning and starting a fight with him. Paul didn't need a fight. He need help. For the first time ever, he was willing to back down, and not let the wolf win. He pinned his ears to his head and lay down on his side, showing complete submission, stealing the fun of a fight from Jacob.

At this, Sam reached out to Jacob. His alpha timbre coming out as he said, "Let him change back and explain."

Paul rose back to his feet and tried to phase back, tried to be human again, knowing it wouldn't work. And it didn't. He shook his huge wolf head at the growing crowd on the porch.

"Phase now," Sam said in his alpha timbre.

Paul felt the weight of a command. And this time he felt the change being forced and stopped over and over again. It was a ripping and tearing sensation. It was absolute agony. He let out an anguished cry as he coward away from Sam, pressing himself against the ground, making himself as small as he possibly could, praying for Sam's relent.

Sam realized then and there that something wasn't right. "Jared, Jacob," he said, "Phase with me." He wanted to see what was going on, why Paul wasn't cooperating. How it was he was able to ignore a direct command.

Sam, Jared and Jacob moved into the middle of the yard, phasing with Sam, all of Jacob's anger now replaced by worry for Paul. He wasn't at all acting like himself. And he was doing things that were impossible. Turning down a fight, defying a command.

Paul sighed, feeling the pain fade as Sam's order was rescinded. He looked up at the men becoming wolves before his eyes, his eyes begging them for help, for salvation.

Paul, what happened? Jared practically screamed into Paul's head, wanting to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. But all they were greeted with was silence. And Paul staring at them in askance, almost like he was entreating them to speak. He couldn't hear their thoughts. He couldn't hear anything, but what was already dancing through his head.

And then he saw them turn human again and he couldn't stop the growl that slipped through his teeth. If he were human he would have demanded an answer with "What the fuck?"

"We can't hear you," Sam informed him as they were done getting dressed. Now he seemed more worried than before. "We'll have to talk to the elders in the morning. There's nothing we can do tonight. Go keep an eye on your sister. Make sure she doesn't see anymore wolves…" he said to Jacob with a look at Paul.

He sighed inwardly to himself. Until they got answers he'd have to stay away from Rachel. Absolute torture. Not that he was even sure if he should be near Rachel anymore anyway, if she felt that way about his wolf form.

Weeks passed and there were still no answers. The council still had no ideas. They'd never heard of a wolf, that knew how to control their phases, unable to phase. They had never heard of an alpha's command being ignored. They had never heard of the pack not being able to hear a pack member's thoughts. They were blind in this.

Paul wasn't. Paul knew that it was magic. Paul knew what needed to be done to end it. Paul knew that it was impossible. Paul knew what the others didn't. That the spell would never end. That he'd have to hide in the woods away from Rachel forever. He'd have to watch her grow and live her life with another lover, another family. He was stuck. There was nothing he could do. She couldn't accept him. And he couldn't change.

And that made him howl in pain almost constantly. Jacob had yelled at him more than once for doing it near his house. Paul knew he could never have Rachel again, but he couldn't stay away. He couldn't keep his distance. The more time that passed, the more he wanted to feel her skin against his. Jacob told him regularly that Rachel was still afraid of the animal she had encountered in the woods. And that she was inconsolable because she had incorrectly put two and two together, with the animal's presence and Paul's sudden disappearance. It gave Paul some hope when Jacob told him that. She still loved Paul. Now Paul just had to come up with a way to get her to see him in the beast. And he had to hope that she could love all of him.

Rachel looked out the window for the millionth time, just praying that Paul would walk out f the damned forest and into her backyard, bruised and battered, but alive. That he'd have a story to tell about scars left behind by the animal, but that he'd be home, safe, and alive. She closed her eyes. "Please, please, please," she pleaded in a whisper, "Be there. Just be there." When she opened her eyes however all she saw was the monster. She yelped. It was like it was mocking her. It gave her what looked like a lopsided smile. It was openly mocking her. An animal that had killed the only man she was sure she would ever love was standing in her back yard, openly mocking her.

She shook her head. The loss of Paul was getting to her. She was going crazy. She thought animals that operated on the simplest of principles and basest of instincts were mocking her. She felt tears escape her eyes before she looked back out the window at the creature that had killed Paul. She hated it. She hated it with everything she had. She hated it more that she felt any single emotion for anyone or anything else. This stupid, smiling, mocking animal had made her world fall apart. Had crushed her spirit. She looked back out at it, still standing peacefully in her yard, like it owned the place. She pounded on the window. "Get the hell out of here," she yelled at it.

When it proceeded to simply sit on its haunches and stare at her, she groaned frustrated. She wanted it gone. She wanted it to leave. She wanted t gone. She never wanted to see the silver grey beast again. She just wanted it to leave her alone. She wanted to kill it. Fueled by her grief and her anger, she charged to the door, having no further plan than to confront the monstrosity.

She found herself in her back yard, yelling at it. "Just go away," she yelled, swinging a wooden board she'd found near Jacob's garage at it. "Leave me alone. Leave us alone," she yelled at the beast that she was sure had eaten Paul. The wooden board connected with its head and it let out a pained whimper. She couldn't stop the crazy smile that spread over her lips. She laughed at its reaction to the pain. "Did that hurt?" she demanded, connecting with it again. She hoped so. She hoped it hurt a lot. "Not as much as you hurt me," she screamed at the wolf.

Paul whimpered when the board connected with his head. Did it hurt? Hell, yeah, crazy bitch. Stop hitting me. And look. Just one look at my eyes. You'll know. But she wouldn't. And he wasn't sure why. He wasn't sure what was fueling her fury. But he knew he had to stay and take whatever she would ole out. He had to wait her out. If he could manage to be what she needed him to be, even in this state, if he was patient enough. She'd see things his way. He was sure of it.

She spoke again and that was when he understood all her anguish and anger. She was hurting the wolf for killing him. Not realizing they were one in the same. He simply laid down in the grass and let her hit him. Proud in that moment of the fire in her. And touched by how deeply she felt his "loss."

She dropped the board then and cried. "Why'd you have to take him? Maybe things weren't perfect…but I loved him…" She was baring her soul to him and he was unable to hold her and share his feelings back. He whimpered again and inched closer to her shaking form. She didn't notice his approach, so he was able tog et what he'd craved for weeks. Her touch. He brushed his cheek against hers and then nuzzled her neck in comfort, trying to wrap his furry body around her in comfort.

That's when she noticed what was happening. She straightened up. She went stiff. It was as if she thought she was in trouble. And then all the fight left her body.

Rachel was in the beasts clutches and she couldn't even take the time to care. She realized he was advancing too late. And while at first the contact had provided much needed comfort, she realized now, too late, the danger that was present. This wasn't a cuddly dog. This thing would kill her. Just like it had Paul. She stiffened as the thought sunk in. And then her body went limp. Paul was dead. How bad could dying too be?

"Do your worst," she muttered to the beast, looking into its face for the fist time. Something about it was familiar. Not that she could understand that feeling. It was then that she was licked on the neck. Licked. Not bitten. "Gross," she muttered. "Is that really all you got?" she questioned the animal.

It seemed to smile again. And then she knew she really was loosing it, as she could have sworn that she saw its head move up and down in a nod. She shook her head in astonishment, as she continued to look at the animal. It almost seemed to laugh as it let out a throaty bark at her disbelief. How was she holding conversation with an animal? She looked at it again. She looked into its familiar face. She looked into its eyes and was stunned by what she found there. It looked so familiar. They looked just like Paul's eyes when they would shine with amusement at something he couldn't believe she'd done. She slowly raised her hand, as if she didn't have control over it any longer. And she slowly inched it closer to him. "You look like him you know," she told the giant wolf as she reached closer. The wolf seemed to lean towards her. The way Paul always did when she moved to put her hand on his cheek before a kiss. She jerked her hand back little and look into the eyes to see hurt there. She closed her eyes and laughed at herself. Was she that desperate for Paul that she could find him in the face of the wolf that had killed him? She knew the answer was yes. And if she was going to be lunch anyway, why not die, pretending you were with your lover that you saw in your killer's eyes. She again allowed her hand to move towards his cheek very slowly, never breaking contact with his eyes. Her hand touched his surprisingly soft fur and she closed her eyes for a moment, pretending it was his hair as she leaned in and placed a kiss on the brute's nose. "I love you," she whispered, her eyes still closed as she waited for the death blow.

Those were the words that broke the spell and slowly Paul began to turn into a human again. He watched Rachel poised in wait for something horrible and painful that would never come. Not from his hands anyway. Even if he was a wolf. When he was fully human, he nuzzled her hand with his cheek and whispered, "Rachel…" He just wanted her to open her eyes. To see. And he had a lot of explaining to do. "I love you too."

Rachel's eyes sprung open as she heard Paul's voice and saw the naked form of her boyfriend in front of her. "Paul?" she questioned, all of her unvoiced questions shining in her eyes as she blushed slightly at his unclothed state.

"I have something I need to tell you," came Paul's reply. And he kissed her one more time before beginning to explain.