AN: Yeah, so that whole schedule thing, totally hasn't been as easy as I thought, but I'm working! I'm still going to try and keep up with it, but who knows how that's going to turn out. Thank you for all the support, I really love it! I hope you enjoy this new chapter and remember, I have pictures on my profile! :D

Chapter Nine

Doing What I Can

I almost killed Embry. Sure, imprinting isn't a choice but god dammit he doesn't have to fuck things up for the rest of us! The fresh pull of imprinting kept guiding Embry to a very populated part of Forks. A giant wolf walking down Main Street is not something we need so Sam ordered me Jared to hold him in the woods as close to his imprint as we could safely be while he went and contacted Jake.

If I have to cancel tomorrow with Anna, Embry I will shred you. Jared and I were practically standing on Embry to keep him where he was, which was still dangerously close to the freeway.

Just let me go! The little shit was struggling under our paws, but I wasn't letting him move.

I growled and dug my paw deeper into his gut. You dumb dog, stay put.

What if she's in trouble? Embry was trying to guilt trip us into letting him go, but I sure as hell wasn't going to.

We'd hear it and we wouldn't stop you. Jared was trying to rationalize with our little freak.

Embry's flighty mind didn't stay long on trying to escape even though his limbs hadn't stopped moving. You think she saw me?

Yeah, I'm sure she noticed the huge, Native gaping at her. Yes, I was being painfully sarcastic, but it was either that or I was going to de-bone Embry.

Everyone, including Sam who popped up with Jake, heard that. Paul!

Glad to hear you're still an ass even with an imprint. Ah, yes, Jake hasn't changed a bit even with his infant imprint.

He's yours. I was ready to leave and check on Anna again.

Paul! Stay with him until we get there. Sam ordered in his Alpha voice and I was forced to keep my spot over Embry.

Fine. I growled and kept pushing my weight into Embry's furry body.

Jake was his normal smug self, but at least they were running toward us. And taking they're precious fucking time.

So, how's Anna doing? Does he really think talking about the one person I want to get to is going to calm me down at all?!

Jared, shut up. I was continually growling now.

Before Jared could come up with another stupid idea police sirens came out of no where and pulled in front of the building. Something's wrong! Embry started to struggle like he hadn't before and neither me nor Jared would be able to keep him back any longer.

The three cops rushed up to the third floor, where I could smell an old lady and numerous cats. They aren't even going to her floor! There was no point in rationalizing with Embry, but it couldn't hurt.

One of Embry's back legs got loose and kicked Jared a few feet back. I have to get to her! He ran right for the road before I could breath but I started running for him as soon as my legs could manage.

Paul keep him back! Sam and Jake were speeding up now. Bastards.

We're trying!!! Jared tried to catch up to him, but I was three strides ahead of him.

I leapt ahead of Embry and kept my back to him. I lifted my back legs up and kicked his ass back into the woods. I heard him connect with a tree and then the tree fell. Loudly. But no one in town noticed. Embry was knocked out cold and I felt nothing but relief. It's for his own good anyway.

There. Jared was gaping at me in his wolf form and it was pretty amusing to see.

Did you have to put him through a tree? Sam asked exhaustedly.

Yes. I stopped him, didn't I?

Jake, being faster, ran up to Embry and snapped at me angrily. I'd probably be a little angry if someone threw one of my best friends clear threw a tree to, but I doubt Jake would have wanted Embry running into the street either, so he can suck it up. Sam ran up a few seconds later and started to survey the damage. You can go. Sam nodded in the exact direction I was planning on going.

I ran so fast I was sure I had flown back to Anna's for one last peek at my sleeping imprint. She was still snuggled safely in my hoodie, she hadn't even moved from the last time I saw her. There wasn't a nightmare in sight and I was comfortable with leaving her to sleep. I ran back home just before the sun started to lighten the sky. I could hear Mom awake and moving around when I got to my backyard and phased back.

I pulled my shorts on and went into the house, almost splitting the door in half when I shut it. I was still a little aggravated. Mom walked into the kitchen just as I did.

"What crawled up your ass?" She asked as she pointed to the door.

"Embry imprinted." I grumbled, going to the sink for a glass of water.

"And how is that bad?" Mom asked confused.

I drank a full cup of water then re-filled it. "I had to stop him from running to said imprint, who was sleeping on the second story of an apartment." I answered flatly.

"Oh," She said with an apologetic look. I chugged the glass of water I had in my hand and then filled it again then flopped into my chair at the breakfast table. "Do you want me to call you in again?" Mom asked as she walked up to me.

I propped my head up to look at her and tried not to look tired. "I'll go and then catch a few hours of sleep until I have to pick her up." I told her.

"Promise?" She asked worryingly, acting all motherly.

"Yeah, promise." I said trying to be a little reassuring, even if I was too tired to focus on her.

"You'll be sleeping in your truck in parking lot, won't you?" She asked tiringly.

Wow, my mom knows me better than I thought. I nodded.

"I'd be worried if she didn't calm you down so much." She sighed rolling her eyes. She fixed her morning cup of coffee and I watched her since I was too tired to do anything else. After she had her coffee she started walking back toward the bathroom. "Eat while I shower and then you can have it, don't forget to wash behind your ears." She said with a grin.

I grumbled and got up to grab as much as I could from the fridge and ate to my hearts desire. After I wasn't starving anymore I cleaned up the mess I made and settled at the table and waited for my mother to come out of the only bathroom. I've been stuck in a house with the only bathroom occupied by damn near every woman I know, ironically the only one I haven't been in that situation with is my imprint, but of all the females the one who takes the longest is my mother. Its worse when she's on a date.

She finally came out of the bathroom, dressed and ready for work, over an hour later. "I'm not going to be home until later, so you'll have Anna to yourself again." She told me standing in the walkway of the kitchen.

"She's coming on Tuesday." I said sitting up a little straighter, hoping she'd say the same thing for Tuesday.

"Oh really," She said smirking devilishly. I'm not getting Tuesday alone with Anna.

"Don't you have lots of work to do?" I asked, grasping for anything to get my mother out of the house.

She shook her head happily. "Nope, I'll be home by six and I can make a big dinner for you two." She said enthusiastically.

I groaned. "Fine," I mumbled.

"Bye Sweetie." She said sweetly.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Bye Mom." I said blankly. She laughed and left after gathering her purse and keys.

I went to school half awake after that. I barely made it through the day with my eyes half open, let alone all the way. My teachers were unreasonably cranky and wanted to get on my bad side. If I had the energy I would have torn the school to shreds, but I was tired. After a quick lunch I drove to Anna's high school and parked in perfect view of where Anna normally came from.

I laid down, after rolling down the driver's side window so my feet could hang out enough for me to get semi-comfortable and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the seat.

It didn't feel like I slept for very long but apparently I had because I woke up to Anna leaning over me. Her eyebrows were pulled together tightly, and she looked so goddamn beautiful.

"You almost gave the teachers a heart attack." She said with pursed lips. I had the feeling that she was trying to stop herself from laughing, more than chiding.

I sat up and tried to bring my legs back into the truck. "Why?" I grumbled, trying to wake up.

"They thought you were dead." She answered with a grin coming to her face.

I stared into her laughing eyes and just wished she always looked this comfortable. "Eh," I shrugged.

"Then you snored obnoxiously loud and they seemed more annoyed than anything." She added sniggering a little.

"They'll get over it." I said shrugging again. Like I cared what these people thought of me. The only person that mattered was leaning into my truck, looking happier than I've ever seen her. "Come on," I said with a nod. She climbed into the seat and took up her normal position with her leg under her.

"So, why were you sleeping in the parking lot?" She asked confused, shuffling a little so she faced me more.

I knew the truth was out of the question so I shrugged once more and said the first normal thing that came to mind. "I got bored." I said simply.

"I believe that." She said shaking her head with a quiet chuckle.

I watched her laugh feeling calm and more rested than I had all day. After a few minutes I finally stopped watching Anna and started to pull out of the parking lot when I noticed all of the students in the parking lot staring at us. "How loud was I snoring?" I asked tensely, glaring at the idiots that gaped at Anna and me.

"Not that loud." She mumbled. I looked to her confused and she looked down at her lap. "The guys that pulled me off my bike are back in school." She said quietly.

I could feel my body start to shake, but I stopped myself before she noticed. I wanted to go find the little bastards and make them pay but my imprint was sitting next to me, looking insecure and I had a stronger urge to make her comfortable than to kill them.

I drove out of the parking lot without another word and started for my house. I tried to just focus on the road and driving like a responsible person but all I could think about was the fact that the assholes that tried to literally beat up my tiny imprint and they were now back at school with her.

"They didn't do anything, did they?" I asked suddenly as I drove into La Push.

She shook her head. "No, everyone just thinks I'm a freak, well more than before, because I hurt them so bad." She muttered.

"They got what they deserved." I said firmly.

Her head hung and she was staring at her hands again. "Not very many people think so." She murmured sadly.

I pulled off to the side of the road quickly to fix Anna's now somber mood. "Hey," I said reaching over to take her chin and force her to look up at me. Her eyes were swimming with confusion and tears. Dammit, if she cries I'm never going to be able to let her out of my truck. "They tried to hurt you and as far as I'm concerned, they should be hurting a lot more than they are for that." I said seriously.

I probably shouldn't have sounded so angry. Or as over-protective as I was. But I don't want my imprint self-deprecating herself. Ever. Especially not now.

Her mouth was cracked open in shock but her eyes gave everything else away. The blue-brown eyes were filled with so many emotions, sadness, hope, confusion and the last thing I ever wanted to see in my imprint's eyes, pain.

One single tear formed and fell from her eye. It felt like there was a vice-grip on my heart watching that damn tear slide down her pale cheek. I didn't know why she was crying but it didn't matter. I wiped the tear away with my thumb easily and that wasn't the best idea either.

She wasn't tense or uncomfortable, but I was too comfortable. I couldn't push her boundaries, I can't even dance on that little line. But I couldn't move my hand. She looked like my hand was the only thing holding her together. I had a feeling that I should drop my hand, but I physically couldn't. She still looked so depressed and I wasn't going to rein everything back in until I knew she was at least content.

My heart was falling to pieces seeing her like this. She's normally so guarded that I could never see what she was really feeling, but I could see it all now and god, its killing me. I couldn't stop myself, I slid closer to her and wrapped my arms around her and hugged her as tightly as I could without hurting her.

I expected her to tense up, to be extremely uncomfortable in the situation and I was already preparing myself for the pain that would follow, but she just fell into my arms and I felt more tears come as they soaked my t-shirt. Jesus Christ, this girl is going to make me cry. Dammit Paul, don't cry, you're not smart enough to make up an excuse for it.

"If anyone gives you any grief, I'll take care of them." I grumbled with a tight throat and watery eyes.

"Why do you care?" I heard her little voice mumble from against my chest.

That killed me. It literally felt like there were a thousand knives just tearing through my chest. I couldn't find the function to breathe. The only thing my body would let me do was hold her tighter, which wasn't really all that surprising since that's all I wanted to do. I gripped her tight enough to make her almost mold into my own skin.

I tried to say something to make her feel better, but there weren't any words that could tell her how much I did care. I kept my mouth shut since most of the time I end up making it worse when I try to say anything and just held her. I put my nose in her hair and waited, never letting my grip on her wane.

"I'm sorry," She murmured, not moving at all.

I rubbed her back and didn't loosen my grip on her at all. "For what?" I asked.

She tuned her head so her face wasn't buried in my chest anymore, and it gave me a little more room to hug her tighter. "I'm crying on you, over something petty." She answered with a tense voice.

Of all things that came to mind, I chose the safe answer, something my mother told me when I was little. "I've found usually when women cry over something, it's never petty to them." I hoped I sounded half as wise as my mom did when she told me.

"I don't understand why you're being nice to me." She said, still sounding sad and pathetic, making my stomach toss and my heart wrench. I'm never going to survive this. I'm just locking her in a bubble with me for the rest of forever.

I could taste the word 'imprint' on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it back down and chose a different answer. "It's how I was raised, if you have any complaints, you can take it up with my mom." I sounded more frustrated then I wanted to, but she didn't move.

"People aren't nice to me." She stated sadly.

"People are assholes." I said angrily. I couldn't understand for one minute why anyone wouldn't be nice to her. She's beautiful, she's smart and she's perfect. Then again, that might just be my favoritism talking.

To make all of this worth it, she laughed. Not as enthusiastically as I would have liked but she was laughing. She wasn't crying and there was a smile on her lips and that's all I can ask for.

"Thank you," She whispered, her voice sounding lighter than it has all day.

I hugged her tighter, if it was even possible, and tried my hardest not to bury my face in her hair. "It's my thing." I said, trying to sound casual and not spew out that it was my mission in life to make sure nothing in this world hurt her or even so much as made her frown. Sure, its romantic, but at this stage in our relationship its more creepy than sweet, so I think I'll just keep that stalker instinct under wraps until she at least trusts me enough to see inside her shed…

AN: Review! You know you want to. :P