We don't have to figure out
What hasn't happened yet
Through whatever whirls around us
I won't let you forget
You're my lover
- My Lover, Birdtalker

Paul

"Which is why it is going to be so difficult to leave here tomorrow."

It was getting more and more difficult for me to control the plethora of emotions surging through my body.

I gently, but deliberately, detangled myself from Emma and paced away from her. I had been able to keep myself together all afternoon when my inner wolf was telling me something was wrong. I remained calm through the anxiousness I saw in my mom's eyes when I arrived at her home that night, stayed in one piece through seeing the evidence in Emma's face of dried tears and turmoil. I made it to the beach still in check, and it took all of my strength to remain together throughout Emma's story. Though everything in my body was aching to cry out, to find release, I knew I needed to stay calm for her.

The absolute ache in my chest at the realization of what she went through, how defensive-less and lonely she must have felt. To see the scars so deliberately placed, so cleverly hidden. The thought of the pain that I went through for the months we were apart was paltry to the physical and emotional abuse she went through. To think that in some small way I could have some part in making it worse for her. I was an idiot for not going after her immediately, for not leaving La Push and finding her. I would never be able to forgive myself.

Hearing her say she was going to leave though. That had my muscles twitching, my jaw clenched, and I had to focus on each breath to remain human.

"Please Emma, please don't leave."

She could not leave me, not after I just got her back. With her I felt whole again - no, I felt more myself than I had felt even before I had met her. She could not leave after she had told me about her past, after she had bared her scars to me. If she was not here, I could not protect her. I could not stop him from hurting her again. The thought made my wolf angry and the shaking intensified.

I heard the faintest of gasps and looked over to see Emma, my sweet and beautiful and strong imprint, watching intently with a wariness in her eyes. I was scaring her. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over my head. In two strides I was over to her, crushing her into my chest, my hands rubbing soothing circles on her back.

Breathing in her familiar scent as I slowly reigned in myself and my wolf. Feeling her warmth against my body, hearing her quick heartbeat. I placed a tender kiss into her hair and leaned back to look into her eyes.

"I promise you I can keep you safe here, you don't have to leave," I begged at her.

She leaned back into my chest and talked into my shirt, "You don't understand him Paul, he would hurt anyone and everyone to get to me. He promised me that there was no where I could run to and be safe, I can't take that risk with Diana, with Al, with you. I can't take the risk of him coming here and finding me and hurting the people I care about."

I laughed a dry and humorless laugh as I fantasied of my wolf's teeth cutting into the flesh of the faceless bastard, bitterly I spit out "I wish he would try." And oh, how I wished I could have five minutes with him. How I wished that I could make him feel the pain that he put her through, that I could gloat over him how she was stronger than him, how she had found a way away from him and how he would never have the opportunity to hurt her again. How I wish I could be the one to watch the light die from his eyes, knowing that Emma would never again be his.

Emma pushed her two little hands into my chest breaking free from our embrace, her storm blue eyes flashed with anger, "It is not a joke Paul, you don't know him." Her hands came around herself, as if holding herself together. "Even if he doesn't hurt any of you, he will not stop until he has me. He promised me," she stressed, "over and over again Paul, he promised me that there was no leaving him. He made sure that I knew my options were him or death. He won't just forget about me because you tell him too, he is crazy Paul and I can't go back to him. I won't go back to him." Tears started streaming down her cheeks anew, her voice cracking with pain, I felt guilty immediately.

Gathering her back in my arms, "I am sorry, I am so sorry Emma, I did not mean it like that." I felt her relax in my arms. "I swear to you Emma there is no safer place in the world that right here."

She sighed deeply, "I can't stay here, Paul. Someone recognized me today in Port Angeles, it was the wife of one of his co-workers. She knew who I was and she will tell him. It won't be a matter of if he comes here, but when. I can't be here when he comes."

"We will be ready and we will face that when it happens, but Emma," I took her head in my hands and tilted her eyes up to mine, "I promise you that he will never touch you again."

She searched my eyes and I tried to convey the seriousness of my statement. She looked at me desperately, as if searching for a life line.

"I can't risk it, you all mean so much to me. I would never be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to one of you. I know what he is capable of," she said, I could see the resolve in her features. The sureness in her voice, she was not just trying to convince me that leaving was the only option, she was trying to convince herself.

"What if I could prove to you, without a shadow of a doubt, that you would be safe here? That no matter what, no one would be able to hurt you here. Would you stay here, with me?" Now did not feel like the right time, but my window was closing. This was my last chance and I hoped beyond belief that she would trust me after this.

Her brow furrowed, "There is no way to prove that there is not danger, Paul. You cannot underestimate him."

"Please Emma, please let me at least try. If you still don't feel like I could protect you here, we can leave together. We can go anywhere you want, you name the city and I will take us there. We can start a life there, but please let me at least try and show you that you would be safe here." I desperately wanted her to trust me, but if she was firm in her decision to leave, then I would figure out a way to go with her.

"No matter where I go, I can never guarantee that you will be safe Paul. I can't put your life at risk, I can't-"

"Please Emma, let me try to show you. Trust me," I begged again.

She stared at me hard for a moment, "Okay."

My heart soared, she would consider staying, I grabbed her hand and started towing her deeper into the woods, my words coming out fast, "Remember the night at the bonfire, the legends that Billy Black told you about the tribe?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything."

I stopped abruptly turning to look at her, "What if I told you they were not legends, but history." I stressed the last word, trying to convey the seriousness of the conversation.

The wheels in her mind were spinning, I started walking again, taking us deeper and deeper into the forest. Explaining as we went, "Everyone in the tribe had treated our legends as just that, stories from our ancestors. The elders left in our tribe had not been around last time, it was quite shocking for everyone the first time it happened. About ten years ago they returned and that started everything."

Emma pulled hard on my hand, stopping me short, "Who returned?"

"The cold ones."

Emma

"Paul you want me to believe that vampires are real," this was quite literally the last thing I expected to hear today. I was focusing on keeping one foot in front of the other, Paul was moving very fast and my feet were having a hard time keeping up. Barefoot as I was, I was dodging sharp branches and bushes and attempting to keep pace with the frenzied man who seemed to have no difficulty with the terrain.

He spoke to me over his should as we move, "They are very much real, the ones that came here were the same ones that had come decades earlier, they looked and talked the same, and they remembered us."

"There is no way, they must have been hundreds of years old."

"Some of them were, some of them were new to the clan and were not with their leader last time they inhabited this region."

I remembered the stories from the bonfire well, the stories of the cold one and its mate that tried to kill the entire village, the sacrifice of the third wife, and the great spirit warriors who were able to turn into-

"Paul, if what you are saying is true and the 'cold ones' are real, does that mean…" I let my sentence trail off unable to put words to my question.

It was impossible.

We came to a small clearing, ten yards at most, but Paul abruptly stopped here and turned to me. "You have to trust me Emma, everything is true. When the cold ones returned ten years ago it set off a chain reaction of events. Sam was the first to turn. He was terrified, we had heard the legends but never believed them to be true. Then slowly more joined."

Paul then started removing his shirt, followed by the belt on his shorts. I quickly turned around to give him privacy, "This is insane Paul, put you clothes back on and let's go back to Diana's."

I heard the zip of his pants and my breathing started to come in short gasps. "Please Paul, let us go back."

I then felt the warmth of his body behind me, felt his hand push back the hair off my shoulder, his breath tickle the hairs on my neck.

"This is not how I wanted to tell you Emma, I wish I had more time to explain everything, but you have to know, we are this way to protect our family, this tribe, the people we love."

I felt the air from my chest rush out, leaving me light headed and feeling faint. I felt his body heat step away from me and I softly heard, "Trust me," then nothing.

Woozy feeling, my head was spinning and my stomach was twisting. I do not know if I stood there for seconds, minutes, or hours. I searched the shrubs at my feet, contemplating if I was going to throw up or pass out.

I knew Paul would wait for me to make the first move, that is how he has always been. He has always waited until I was comfortable to touch me, to hug me, to kiss me. This would be no different.

Collecting myself I forced my eyes to focus on one tree in front of me, I focused on the different shades of green in the leaves, the distinct pattern of the bark, I counted the branches from bottom to top. After I had counted up and down at least three times I gathered my courage.

Slowly, I allowed my feet to turn, my hips to follow, and then my shoulders and head. At the last possible second I screwed my eyes closed. Worried and terrified about what I would see. My hands were clenched so tight I could feel my nails cutting half crescents into the skin of my palms.

I felt crazy, there was no such thing as vampires and werewolves, they were children's stories meant to scare kids to stay inside late at night and not talk to strangers. They were not real.

They were not real, I repeated to myself.

Convinced I would open my eyes to see a partially naked Paul standing in front of me, I slowly relaxed my face and allowed the lids of my eyes to peel back.

I blinked once. Then several more times as I tried to take in the scene before me.

He was massive, easily the size of a full grown grizzly bear. His fur was such a dark silver I almost believed it to be black, except for the steel glint to it. His body towered over me, there was no wolf in existence that was this size. His paws were the size of frying pans with claws large enough to kill any animal that dared cross his path.

I should be terrified, I should be running for the hills or preparing for a useless fight. But the wolf had his head bent to bring his eyes level with mine, and looking into his eyes I could recognize them. I knew those eyes, I knew them to be kind, to be patient, they were eyes that laughed and loved.

He slowly walked closer to me, I knew that logically I should be scared. A wolf this size could kill me before I could fully turn to run. His paws were massive and the claws attached just as large. This was Paul though, and any fear that I was experiencing was quickly covered up by a feeling I couldn't describe but was something akin to safe.

I slowly put my right hand out and Paul took the invitation to dunk his head and allow my hand to rest on his brow. The fur was coarse beneath my hand, "This is insane."

The wolf made a short growl that reminded me of Paul's laugh and that is what pushed me over the edge.

I promptly and unexpectedly fainted.

Paul

What the fuck was I thinking.

I really should have thought of the fact that all this information might be a bit much to process without any kind of preface. I barely had time to phase back and catch her light body before it impacted with the forest floor below.

"Hey Emma, come on sweet girl, wake back up," I murmured into her forehead that was cradled on my chest as I gently shook her.

Slowly, her eyelashes fluttered and gradually opened. She blinked a few time, then focused in on my face. "There you are," I whispered, afraid to talk too loud and spook her again.

It took her a second and then she furrowed her brow and said, "Are you naked?"

In my haste to confirm her well being I had regretfully dismissed all thoughts of modesty, but now at her mention I became all too aware of my lack of clothing and how close we were. I could now recognize the warmth of her curves pressed so tantalizingly against my bare frame. I am sure the redness I could see creeping up her face was no match to my own.

She started laughing at this point and the soft vibrations did nothing to quell the growing awareness for the position we currently found ourselves in.

"How about I just put you down here and get changed real quick?" I set her down and prayed she wouldn't peak at me as I struggled back into my clothes. After I threw my shirt back over my head I looked see that she was still standing faced away from me.

I took in the moment to appreciate that she didn't seem to be running for the fences at the recent revelation of mine. In fact she seemed okay enough to be able to joke with me.

Walking up to her, I slid my hand into hers and turned her to look at me. She had a sly smile as she turned to face me and I had to wonder just how much did she see.

"So," she started playfully, "now the wolf is out of the bag."

I laughed at her joke, "Yes it would seem to be that way. Are you okay with all of this?" There was a nervous tension between the two of us, how does one process that the supernatural is real and alive. I waited with bated breath for her response, fearful that she would want nothing to do with me now.

She was being deliberate with her words, taking her time to full answer. Finally she cleared her throat quietly and said, "Am I okay that you turn into a giant wolf? I have so many questions."

A ball of tension clenched in my stomach, she had not really answered my question and instead had a few of her own.

"Ask away."

"You don't like… hurt anyone do you?"

I laughed, a thoughtful and important question for sure. "No, just bloodsuckers and things that go bump in the night."

"Are there still any of those around?"

"No, the group that was living here moved off about 5 years ago. A pair of them still visit sporadically, but they don't stay for more than a few weeks. We haven't had any new wolves turn since they moved off."

"How many of you are there? I know obviously Sam, but is it all of you?"

"Yeah, Sam was the first to phase. Then Jared shortly after, followed by me. Of the people you have met Jacob, Embry, Quil, Seth and Leah, Brady and Collin. They're almost twenty of us total, towards the end there were so many bloodsuckers in the region anyone with the smallest amount of tribal blood was phasing."

"So that's how werewolves are made?"

"We don't really consider ourselves werewolves," I amended.

She laughed at that, "Paul, you turn into a giant wolf how could you not be a werewolf?"

"The vampires told us that there are actual werewolves out there, turn on the full moon, allergic to silver, lose complete control. What we have I guess is something more similar to a shape-shifter, it just so happens that we shape shift into wolves."

"You talked with the vampires?" She looked at me incredulously. "I thought they were the enemy."

"These vampires were… vegetarian in a sense, they only drink from animals."

"Vegetarian vampires!" she exclaimed incredulously.

"It get significantly more weird than that, but it is a really long story and I will definitely tell you all of it one day. For now just know that we made a treaty with this specific group. Not saying that we would freely invite them onto our lands and I can guarantee you they would never get remotely close to you, but they aren't so bad."

I could see each piece of information I gave her inspired a plethora of more questions, but she bit her lip as if contemplating her next words. The ball of tension in my belly clenched tighter.

After several beats quietly she said, "It's okay you know? That you're a werewolf."

"Shape-shifter," I amended jokingly.

"Shape-shifter," she teased back. "It's okay, to me that you are one. Shocking, definitely, but not a deal breaker."

A weight that had been sitting on my chest lifted and I enveloped her in my arms, "I am so relieved to hear you say that. Does this mean you'll stay?"

She leaned back so she could look into my eyes, "You promise nothing bad will happen?"

I placed a kiss into her forehead, "Promise."

It took a minute but eventually she breathed out, "Okay, I'll stay."

Author's Note: I am going to do my best to update again in the next 2-3 days. Sorry for being away for so long, life is hard sometimes.