I never had no one that I could count on

I've been let down so many times

I was tired of hurtin', so tired of searchin'

'Til you walked into my life

Chapter 2

I breathed in deeply; smelling the scent of recently fallen rain; the leaves, grass, flowers, and all of nature were so relaxing. Living in the middle of no-where had its perks. There was no one, but the wolves and deer to bother you. PonyBoy was around here somewhere, sniffing out his next meal while I made up my mind to never go back to school. My 18th birthday was only in a week; I could deal with hiding out until then when I could legally not go back and then get a full-time job.

Sighing, I leaned back into the wet grass and stared up into the tree tops. The sun was finally starting to poke through the clouds and I could feel the warm straining through; hoping to give me some comfort and release from this loneliness. I closed my eyes and smiled a little when I felt the sudden warmth. I knew a simple kind of life would never hurt and I yearned for nothing but a laid back, solitary life.

I could imagine myself with two possible lives. One had me living happily, yet lonely, on my own with PonyBoy and nature. But what I knew I really wanted was a life with a wife, a dozen kids running around, and enough money to keep off all the stress of college, mortgage, etc. My mom had come from a well off family and even though she never associated me with them, they took pity on her early pregnancy and me. They had left me a decent amount of money in a savings account that I would be able to reach at 18. I knew that money was a lot (probably about half a million), but I would only touch that money in an emergency because to me, it was dirty. That family had abandoned my mom and me when we really needed someone, so to me, it was a pity throw.

And of course I couldn't be left alone for long. The clouds started their bullying fest with the sun again and shoved my slight comfort away. The skies opened up and I was left soaking wet. Not a second later PonyBoy came bounding, asking for a refugee from the down-pour. Sighing again, I got up and let PonyBoy lead me back to the cabin. I darted into the house before him and grabbed a towel before rubbing him off on the porch. Then, before entering, I pulled off my soaking shirt and kicked off my shoes.

I always tried to keep the house as clean as possible to keep the need for me to clean-up at a minimum. I never had guests (besides a few girls), but it made me more comfortable to keep a clean house.

"PonyBoy! Come here," he trotted into the kitchen with me as I set down his food and water bowls. Before I was finished pouring he had already started gobbling up as much food as possible without chewing. Laughing, I walked into the living-room and closed my eyes.

Flashback

"Paul! Paul Meraz! Hey, man, wait up!" I kept walking at the same speed. I knew he would catch up, but I didn't want to look like I was running away. Sam caught up a few seconds later, "Hey, what's up?" I just gave him a blank look. Since when were we friends? He definitely knew what I was thinking, "I know we were never friends, but I thought you might want some company."

I shook my head and muttered, "I like being alone. I can actually think without morons and chicks pissing me off." Sam looked a little shocked, but covered it up.

"Well," he said, "Am I bothering? Or pissing you off?" Reluctantly, I shook my head. He smiled a little and jerked his head to acknowledge my want for silence and kept pace with me as I slowly wandered down First Beach. Sam Uley had changed so much. A few months ago he was that man that could be seen on the beach with Leah Clearwater, playing with random kids that lived here while their parents looked on fondly. He was a good kid, about to leave for college in Seattle, but then he disappeared. I have no idea for how long; I was too wrapped up in my own life to pay attention to his.

I sighed; tilted my head up toward the non-existent sun, as I thought about why I wasn't paying attention. It was at the same time that my mom left, sending my mind reeling with her at the awareness that I would actually have to take care of myself now.

"Paul? Are you okay? You're shaking, man," I snapped my head in his direction and realized that I was really shaking. I saw something in Sam's eyes that made it seem like he knew exactly why I was so mad. Then again, everybody around here knew what my dad did and how my mom died and how he left a few months ago. He probably understood, too. I knew he never met his dad and his mom was flighty.

I shrugged off his concern and gave him a small smile, "I'm fine, but I'll be heading home now. Thanks for the company." I knew not to be disrespectful to Sam Uley, he was in high favor with the tribal council and I at least knew not to piss them off.

I hiked up to the cabin, but passed by the Black's house on the way and saw Jacob Black hanging out with Quil Ateara, Embry Call, and some white girl from Forks. I felt a small pull toward her and got a glance of her face as she looked up at the racket I was making, walking through the woods. She was beautiful, but looked upset. I realized that she was Bella Swan, the Chief's daughter. I knew she had had her heart broken recently and I snorted: looked like she was just fine now with 3 guys practically panting over her.

End of Flashback

I threw myself onto my huge bed later that night, kicking off my shorts because of the sudden heat that consumed me. I was shaking again, but this time it felt like it was because of a fever.

I let out a whimper at the sudden pain that entered my abdomen causing my stomach to cramp. It felt like there was a fire, slowly building, inside all my organs and bones. I screamed, the pain searing up my body. All my muscles felt like they were pulling, stretching, and shrinking all at the same time. Eventually I passed out, but not before hearing and feeling Sam Uley drag me out of my own home.

I was shaken awake out in the middle of the woods with Sam kneeling in front of me. He looked really worried, but kind of happy too. He sighed with relief when I looked up at him, but it quickly turned to determination as I screamed again. The pain was quickly consuming my every thought and part of my body.

"I'm sorry, Paul," Sam muttered, "But forgive me for what I'm about to do." Then he stood up. I thought he was leaving at first, but then he started yelling at me, throwing insults, "You're weak Paul! You can't stand this responsibility. I don't know why our ancestors thought you worthy of such an honor. You are a disappointment to our entire tribe," My shaking was growing along with my anger. I let out a snarl and was shocked at my response. But Sam looked pleased, "You are a disappointment to everybody who you meet. Including your own failure parents. That's why they left you. They hated you and the fact you were a failure too." That was far enough!

I jumped up and lunged at Sam, but suddenly I had paws and I heard a shredding sound as Sam turned into a wolf. But I was too mad at the bastard to register this as abnormal. I was furious, hurt, and full of pure pain. I lunged at Sam again, trying my best to hurt him.

Stop! –Sam

Why the hell are you in my head? And why are we both fucking wolves? I was panicking. What was going on?

If you'd shut up I'd explain it all to you, but first we have to try and get you to phase back. Think of something calming and human-Sam

I was thinking about my mom first, but that only pissed me off further. It took me hours to think of something worthy of calming down. Then I heard PonyBoy barking in the house and remembered the day before when we were in the woods, just relaxing. I felt my bones shift and realized I was lying on the ground. Completely naked.

Sam was already human again and handed me a pair of shorts while he turned his head away to give me some privacy. Blushing, I grabbed the shorts and slipped them on before sitting in the grass, waiting for an explanation. I was trying to be calm on the outsight so I didn't go all wolf-y again, but my insides were reeling at this impossibility.

Sam sat down across from me, but just stared for a little while. I growled and snapped him out of his thoughts. Smiling sheepishly he cleared his throat before re-telling me all the legends and then explaining that they were, in fact, completely true. Even the part about imprinting. That pissed me off a little, before I realized that I could fall in love and have the dream I always wanted: somebody to love me, and to have a family.

After Sam was done we phased again and he taught me about patrols.

Jared should be phasing soon so we'll be keeping an eye on him, too. There haven't been any leeches recently. Not since the Cullens left.-Sam

Wait. That family that Bella Swan was so close to? Didn't she date one of them?-Paul

Yeah, Sam sighed. That was a disaster. I'll explain what I know later. But he showed me anyway. I saw what she looked like when Sam found the girl in the woods. Once again, I felt drawn to the poor, idiot girl.

You might imprint on her. If you felt drawn to her before you even changed and even no through my memories.-Sam

God I hope so. I want to imprint so bad.-Paul. Sam laughed, but I knew he understood completely. He wanted someone to love all of him; including the monster.

Well, you would have your hands full with Bella. That girl is a danger magnet, but also has quite a lot of sass in her. You would be a good pair, now that I think about it-Sam.

He laughed again before phasing back and telling me to do so.

"With no vamps running around lately I'm being a little more lenient on patrols. There are only two of us so until more people phase (Quil, Emby, and Jacob were all expected to change within the next few weeks, along with Jared, because of growth spurts and being overly emotional) the patrols won't be so tight. Go home and get some sleep. I'm heading home too. You'll have patrol tomorrow at 10 and I'll take over at 3. Okay?" I agreed and ran home before passing out on my bed, glad I suddenly had something to live for. And maybe even somebody to love soon.

And she's everything I ever wanted

And everything I need

I talk about her, I go on and on and on

'Cause she's everything to me

As I woke up on Monday morning I realized a throng of things at once. The immediate realization was that today was my birthday and I was now legally an adult which meant more than anything. I was now able to access the money I was to inherit from my grandparents, I never had to go back to school, and Sam had decided I was stable enough for public. All of these ideas brought an uncontrollable amount of joy to me and for the first time in a long time I felt completely free. PonyBoy, sensing my overwhelming joy, trotted to my side as I practically skipped to the bathroom to do my morning ritual. He gave my hand a gentle nudge in greeting before leaving to eat his breakfast with a smooth wag of his tail.

Sam barged through the back door seconds after I placed my mixing bowl of cereal on the table. My appetite simply had no boundaries and Sam understood completely. But this morning something was different. It wasn't unusual in the last week for my Alpha to come banging at all hours looking for free food, but today, Sam had an air about him. There was a sort of pained joy in his eyes. Tilting my head inquisitively at Sam, I greeted him with a grunt and small smile. But Sam didn't respond to any of it. With a longing sigh he sat at the kitchen table, placing his elbows on his knees before rubbing his faced tiredly.

I stopped stuffing my face long enough to ask thickly, "Sam? Man? What's wrong?" I tried not to be an insensitive prick, but really, this wasn't my favorite thing in the world. Sam didn't seem to mind though. I had a feeling he really just needed someone to talk to and I was his only option at this point. Sighing sadly, Sam finally lifted his head and I held in a gasp at that look. His eyes were bloodshot from crying, and a look of utter confusion was plastered across his face, combined with pure pain, it was a look that told of a conflicted man.

My Alpha sighed again before sitting up slightly and putting his arms on the table. He began speaking in a quiet voice, "I-I don't know exactly what's happening." A bewildered expression filled his face with his eyebrows scrunching together and teeth clenched, "You know Emily Young, right? Le-Leah's cousin?" I nodded, completely confused now, "Well, I ran into her about an hour ago and…" He trailed off. I let him think for a while before clearing my throat, reminding him exactly what he was doing here.

"I don't know what's going on, Paul. I have to talk to the elders. But I practically had to pry myself away from her! What the hell is this?" Quite as suddenly as he had burst in, Sam was gone. I sighed, sitting down. Sam really needed to pay more attention to the legends. He had told me them himself, yet he couldn't make the connection between the term imprinting and his current situation. Oh well. The elders would soon straighten him out and anyway, he was probably just too befuddled right now to be thinking clearly.

I was thriving in my new freedom to be out in public without getting in trouble for not being in school or having the immediate threat of going wolf-y on any that angered me. I wandered down the beach in happy oblivion when I heard loud, obnoxious laughing coming from down the path I was currently on. I sighed while frowning, thinking my peace was going to be broken by some drunk and/or horny teenagers. But as I continued down the same path, I saw in the distance four figures, and three of them were very familiar.

Jacob, Quil, and Embry were lounging around a more secluded section of First Beach with what looked like a teenage girl. There was a brief moment of recognition, but I couldn't place a name or face from the distance I was standing from the group. As I got closer, it looked like the guys were teasing the fourth party and I rolled my eyes. That group never grew up. I knew Jacob and Quil would be joining the pack soon enough, but with the continuous mystery of Embry's missing father, there was no telling whether he was one of the chosen for the sacred pack.

My enhanced hearing brought their conversation closer to me before they were aware of my presence, but my steady pace would alert them soon enough.

"You wanna swim, Bella? The water's pretty cold, but we'll keep you moving for warmth," Quil suggested in a cheeky tone. That's when I realized that they were talking to Bella Swan, the daughter of the Chief of Police in Forks. With Forks and La Push so close, the gossip was shared between the small town and tribal lands. One of the latest chunks of news had been a new Chief of Police about 8 months ago, bringing his 17 year old daughter along. As a werewolf, I knew she had ended up dating one of the 'vegetarian' vamps about 3 months after she got to Forks, and they dated for about 2 months before his entire family up and left. Apparently, even in the beginning, she wasn't very heart broken, and now just lives her life as if they never existed.

Rumor had it she was even interested in Jacob Black, future Alpha and Chief of the Quileute tribe. But that was only talked about in La Push, of course. Forks didn't give a shit about our crappy town.

"Shut up, Quil! You're such a fucking perv. Jake, I gotta go. Charlie told me to be home by 2:30 and it's already 2. I'll catch you later." She jumped up, kissed Jacob on the cheek, slapped Quil on the back of the head, patted Embry's back, and started walking towards me down the path. I kept walking, but slower, because I knew any second now she would notice me.

"Oh!" Bella quietly exclaimed when she finally noticed my rather impressive size on the path just inside the woods off the beach. She glanced behind her, as if checking to see if the guys had heard her. I cleared my throat and watched, amused, as her head whipped around to face me again. But I was quickly serious again.

For the first time I noticed what she really looked like. Bella Swan was pretty tiny for someone with the strength she was rumored to hold. Standing at about 5'3" next to my 6'6" it was even more apparent. But that's not the first thing to catch my attention. What I really noticed was her face. It was smooth, not too rounded, but matured. Her cheek bones were well defined and it looked like she had a permanent pink hue to her cheeks. She had average brown eyes, but what wasn't striking in the color, was in the expression. Bella wasn't difficult to read, perhaps, but I was simply horrible at reading others.

As I brought myself out of some sort of daze her presence had put me in, I noticed that Bella was looking over me, too. I smiled slightly, because unlike Sam, I knew exactly what had just happened. I had imprinted on Bella Swan. My smile grew a little more when I saw that Bella had caught both of us staring and the blush grew in her cheeks. It was absolutely adorable.

"Um Hi," Bella said quietly. I chuckled and responded, "Hello," then, after a moment's hesitation, continued, "I'm Paul Meraz. I haven't seen you around here that often. Are you from Forks?" I, of course, already knew that answer, but really didn't want to freak my future wife out too much, because I'm sure if she heard the title I just gave her a heart attack would soon be pending.

Bella smiled slightly and answered, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Bella Swan and yes I'm from Forks, but lately it seems I've been spending more time at Black's than my own house. Something about La Push is just too welcoming." Her former fading blush came back full force as she realized she gave a little more than a proper answer, but I was thrilled. She was already feeling a pull toward La Push, and now to me. I smiled kindly at her, to make sure she knew I didn't mind her talking. Bella slowly relaxed as we stood there and eventually she bucked up the courage to talk, "How old are you?" I guess she thought it was a safe place to start 'cause she seemed to get a little more confidence after finally asking a question, but I understood. When I phased for the first time my body changed and took on the appearance of being much older than a teenager.

Not only did I stand at about 6'6" now, but my body was ripped through and through with muscles. According to Sam, even though we stopped aging, our bodies would always stay in shape (even after we stopped phasing and started aging), in case we ever needed to phase again. My face had lost all childish-ness it would have held and took on a more harsh look. My green eyes were cold, apparently. After I phased, Sam bucked up the courage to tell me that even though he was Alpha I terrified him because when I was seriously pissed my eyes looked "dead and creepy as hell" according to Sam.

I chuckled, and answered Bella's question, "I turned 18 today." Her eyes bugged and I laughed outright this time.

BPOV

I was absolutely amazed by the man in front of me. How could someone that gorgeous, and huge, and muscled, and matured be only 18 years old? He looked at least 25! There was something about him though. I couldn't put my finger on it, but even though I only knew his name and age, I felt safe. Paul could probably break me in half without a second thought, but somehow I just knew and felt that he would never do that to anyone.

Laughter from the beach pulled me out of my thoughts, "Sorry, but I have to go. My dad is probably wondering where I am." I started walking past him and it took a great amount of power to not grab onto him and never leave. But he stopped me instead, "I'll walk you back to your car. Those guys don't like me anyway." He jerked his head toward Jake, Quil, and Embry with an empty look on his face. I gave him a small smile and continued walking, but this time with him at my side. It felt so strange, but natural.

"Why don't they like you? You seem like an okay guy to me and that's just from seconds of conversation." He seemed hesitant to answer the question, but before I could reassure him, Paul started talking.

"Well, this town doesn't think I'm the nicest of people. There's some history in my family and I'm just sick of the stereotypes that seem to follow me everywhere. So when people bring up issues in taunting or unkind ways I tend to show my anger in ways that can be violent at times. I would never hurt you though!" He seemed to catch a flicker of fear or something in my face because of his quick reassurances and he suddenly started to shake. My first response was shock, but I quickly placed my hand on his forearm to reassure him that I wasn't scared he was going to hurt me or anyone else.

My touch seemed to do something to him because he as he took a deep breath the shaking stopped completely. He grabbed my hand up in both of his and gave it a gentle squeeze before letting go. I ignored the excess heat that seemed to be radiating from him. I didn't want Paul to think I was nosey, plus it felt really nice. Nothing like Edward's freezing, rock of a body. I've always loved the heat and the idea of spending an eternity cold really put me off the idea of being a vampire forever.

We continued walking for a few minutes before we broke through the trees and arrived at the end of the beach where I had parked my new truck. Paul gave a low whistle when he saw it and gave me an appreciative look. I laughed and replied, "My mom's husband is a major league baseball player so to make up for taking my mom on road trips with him he pretty much gives me anything I want. Including a shit load of money." I had always loved pick-up trucks, so instead of going of a sexy BMW like my mom had suggested, I had decided on a nice Toyota pick-up. It was sweet and smooth in dark blue. It could sit 3 in the front and 3 in the back comfortably with enough room for at least 3 more in the bed.

Paul was running his hand up and around the body work before coming out of his car-induced daze. I laughed again before jumping into the driver's seat. I quickly started my baby up, but rolled down my window instead of driving away. Paul leaned his arms on the window sill and I quietly gasped at the close proximity of his face. He placed his large, calloused hand on my cheek before asking, "You have a cell phone?" and then promptly reached for it when I nodded. He put his number in before calling his own phone and put my number in it. I was sorta dazed as he did the whole thing, but smiled when he handed my phone back. Then he leaned forward, kissed me on the cheek, and jumped away yelling bye as he went.

It took me a second before I was aware enough to actually drive away. What a day.