Temper, Temper: Chapter Nine: Cougars Indeed
"Does La Push not have a lot of weddings?" Alex asked the boys she was patrolling with, Jared was sat at her side scratching his ear while Paul lolled on the grass leaning back on Alex's front paws. One of the local girls was getting married today and their after party was in one of the quaint pubs that was known for holding the reception to most La Push weddings.
For some reason, the boys were excited about the event and Alex couldn't work out why.
'Plus the owner is a little lax with the legal drinking age, if you know what I mean' Jared commented before shaking his head as he sneezed loudly.
Ah, so that was the reason. Of course, the legal age for drinking in America was twenty one, greater than Great Britain's legal age of eighteen.
Alex laughed happily, the thought of the boys drunk really would be a funny sight. Paul rolled over even more, Alex put a paw on his chest to steady him, seeing that her own front legs were the barrier stopping him from fully turning over.
'So are you two planning on breaking your own country's strict rules and regulations' Alex sarcastically asked them, smiling as Paul's inner laugh came out as a wolfy snigger, his belly making Alex's paw rise and fall choppily.
'Of course, I wouldn't dream of Jared not reliving his last drunken night out' Paul's comments made Jared groan deeply at the memory and dramatically fall to the floor, clutching his nose in both paws.
'He spent the last two hours of the night, using his own shoe as a phone to call Kim and ask her over and over again if she would marry him, then crying when she didn't answer and then listing a very long list of everything he loved about her' Paul told the story well, captivating Alex with the rising and falling pitch of his voice, for extra emphasis Paul mentally relived the moment.
In her head, through the telepath connection Alex saw Jared, the same Jared she saw most days since living in La Push, huddled over on a chair with a converse to his ear speaking into it with an emotion thick voice,
"Kim…Kim, I…I think we should get married. Are you listening?" Jared's voice suddenly crack and tears made his voice undistinguishable, and the laughter around the boy made it even more unintelligible, "Why'wu'yo'answer'm" he had sobbed.
Alex cracked up at the image, Jared was always the most composed out of the group and it was hysterical to see him behaving so oddly under the influence of alcohol.
Jared stood up suddenly, attempting to change the subject and stop the two wolves from splitting their sides altogether at his embarrassing memory.
'You're coming right? Gonna be drinking then Socks? I bet you're a hoot intoxicated'
All of them were stood up now, lazily walking back home under the evening red sky. Alex shook off Jared's sarcasm easily,
'Um, yeah I may go and I'm always a hoot, but yes if alcohol is available I shall be consuming it…I'm quite a lovable drunk now you mention it'
Jared found his moment of revenge, 'Well we all know one person who'll like that?' he looked at Paul sarcastically before getting a head start on the large silver wolf who chased after him, his temper alight under Jared's provocation.
Alex pondered the comment, it wasn't the first time people had made a connection between her and Paul and she was starting to wonder why. Mind you, 'He has seen me half naked' Alex thought to herself, remembering her exhibition on her one day off.
The memory had been relived by others as well, mainly the younger wolves Embry, Quil and Jacob had their thoughts on it, but that was obviously to be expected, they were teenagers. Only once had Paul lost guard on his thoughts for a moment, his mind visualising her in the black underwear she had on that day.
'Meh boys' Alex shook the thoughts off and raced ahead with a burst of energy; eager to catch up to the boys whom she assumed were busy settling their differences with a fight. It's just how the wolves behaved.
Alex didn't really want to dress up, but she could hardly show up in grey joggers and a black vest to a wedding reception could she.
Evidently, everyone in La Push was invited to celebrate with the bride and groom, any other way and Alex would have denied the offer. Obviously this couple wanted a big celebration, and with the prospect of alcohol, Alex would happily make up the numbers.
A dress was too much, so her outfit consisted of emerald green jean shorts with a black top that made the outfit a little more appropriate for the occasion; the sleeves were sheer, thin, black netting that ended in jewelled cuffs.
Apparently the vampire shopping guru had foreseen a random event like this popping up and even slipped plain back platform heels in her purchases.
Paul wasn't the only Quileute wolf captivated by Alex that night. As she walked from the Uley's house to a car that belonged to someone – though she had never seen the SUV before – Jacob, Quil, Seth, Embry and Paul himself dropped their gazes to the floor and slowly up again.
Appreciating her figure in perfect unison.
"Come on boys, your puddle of drool is a safety hazard" She stated when none of them made to get in the vehicle, Paul was the first though; he sat by Alex's side, ensuring no one else had the privilege.
Apparently they were early; they entered the pub to an empty dance floor and only one punter drinking a small glass of frothy beer in the corner.
The group got a table, and their booze before awkwardly sitting there taking simultaneous gulps of the liquor served to them. They continued this until more people arrived and by this time, they had consumed enough booze to become relaxed, and tipsy.
Despite there being a now full room, the bride and groom had already had their first dance and the dance floor was empty.
"Why is the dance floor empty Jacob? The dance floor shouldn't be empty Quil" Alex, quickly gulped the rest of her glass contents and put the empty space down to the low tempo music and pudgy 'Dj' in the corner.
"What is she doing?" Jared questioned, making the rest of the group watch her every move intently, wondering what could happen next.
"Hello? Hello" Alex tapped the microphone harshly and pointed out to the crowd using the microphone as an extension of her arm. "Hey, now we are about to kick this wedding party up to an eleven!"
Seth had covered his eyes with a hand but opened a space between his fingers so he was able to peak at the scene perfectly sober, he couldn't get served.
"Can I get an amen?" Seth and the other all laughed, was she really pretending to be a pastor from the Southern states? Judging by her flailing arms and dramatic change in her voice, apparently so.
It was amazing how much Alex could affect a group of people with her attitude. It only took two songs on the karaoke to get the majority of the guests up, pirouetting around the room, which was the case with one of the more elderly guests.
"Ooh Baby do you know what that's worth! Ooh Heaven is a place on Earth, they say in Heaven, love comes first! We'll make Heaven a place on Earth!"
That was the current song Alex was belting down the microphone, but to a lot of people's surprise she was actually really good and the singing had sobered her for the most part. Like she had said before, Alex was an exhibitionist and didn't care what people thought of her.
When she took a small break from entertaining the vast crowd Alex had left he little stage to a round of applause which she humbly took before heading back over to her table. There were only two people left at the table, a reasonable sober Paul and Seth. Jacob was fist pumping in the face of a granny at the end of the bar, Jared was 'phoning' Kim again and Quil alongside Embry were trying to convince a waiter to make them a saucepan full of some random liqueur concoction.
"And what are you two doing? Spectating?" Alex questioned them, placing her hands on her hips and raising an inquiring eyebrow.
"I don't do dancing" Seth announced.
Alex frowned at that, "Oh don't you?" Her hand found the youngsters and she pulled him from the seat, "Come on handsome"
Seth was thankful to the luminous light which hid his blush well as she led him away. Alex turned back and nodded her head forward, "You too" she gestured at Paul who didn't even put up a fight. He raised his hands in surrender after drinking a final mouthful of beer and walked in front of her, being led into the sea of people with her hand on his back guiding him.
Alex laughed after dancing with them for several moments another lady 'cut in', her mature face grinning while she stole a dance with Alex's 'hidden treasure of a man', at least while her porky husband was fingering the mini pizzas at the buffet.
She laughed even harder when Seth shouted in her ear over the music,
"Paul always attracts the wannabe cougars"
'Good luck Paul' was Alex thought as she dramatically twirled Seth around before he did the same to her.