A/N So, here comes the next chapter. I cannot stop thanking you guys for reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me that you find time to write a few lines for me to know what you think! Also, thanks to those who just read without reviewing, it also means a lot to me that you care for the story! :)

Chapter Eleven: Paul

Fuck!

I was lucky I healed fast. When I left her at the car and phased to let Jacob express his frustration, I didn't expect him to be this furious. I touched my neck, it had almost healed, but I could still feel a fleshy scar where his teeth had sunk into my skin. After an hour of him growling and trying to kill me and me resisting lightly, our little Alpha had expressed all of his irritation. He phased back, gave me a deathly look and left. Sam and I phased shortly after him.

Sam gave me a reassuring look and rushed after Jake. As I went looking for my shorts I heard Jacob tell Sam to fuck off. I put my shorts on and didn't know what to do next. Deciding, that I didn't want to go home, I started walking and let my mind wonder.

The last few days without seeing her were harder than I expected. I tried to keep to my usual lifestyle; I went on patrols, went home, slept, ate, helped Sam with Seth and Leah when they phased. Leah.. I've never felt sorry for guys who phased, they were men after all, and it was their job to be the protectors. But Leah.. She was the first female to phase, ever. And she was not happy. She reminded me of myself when I phased, the same amount of anger and hate. But her situation was even worse, she was forced to see Sam's mind, his feelings for Emily weren't and couldn't be hidden, and she had to see them every fucking day. It made me doubt the meaning of imprint, it ruined lives, leaving people without a choice, forcing them into being with someone. Sam loved Emily, but there was always pain when he thought of Leah. And she hated pity.

I had thought a lot about my imprint as well. Did it make me happy? I wouldn't say so, it just gave me a few more problems to deal with. I knew I needed to be around her, I just didn't know how. During the night I was always in woods behind her house, feeling her scent, hearing her heartbeat felt relaxing. Sometimes even the smell of the bloodsucker didn't bother me.

I wondered if she knew I was there. She had to feel it somehow. At that point I managed to feel good enough by just being able to hear her heartbeat once in a while, but I knew that in the future it would get harder and harder. Sam was surprised, that I was able to hold myself together, that I was able to control the imprint and not allow it to get in control of me. I knew that made him feel weak because when he imprinted, he gave up immediately. I was still fighting.

I did good without seeing her, and I was afraid that just by looking at her all my efforts would be wasted. That's why I panicked when Saturday came closer and closer.

The whole evening now seemed like a dream, nothing went as planned. The first point of the plan was not to go to the bonfire. But as my fucking imprint arrived, the wolf had to be there. He kept ringing the alarm in my head until I gave up. As good as I can be at keeping myself away from her, when she was this close and without a leech around her, I couldn't resist.

We were the only two people not listening to the stupid stories. I didn't hear a word the Elders said, as I tried to keep my eyes off of her. I looked at everyone else but her. She did the same. I kept staring at Sam and Emily for a while. They were happy. They had each other. Even if the imprint made Sam feel miserable about dumping Leah like this, Emily's love made up for it. He never felt regret.

It had been even easier for Jared and Kim. They were both single, plus, she had been in love with him for years, so she took the information about imprinting with great joy and gratitude. I wondered how my imprint would react? Would she faint, scream or throw her arms around my neck. Yeah, right, dream on.

Before the imprint, I had hated her. Strongly. With passion. If leeches were the first ones on my list, she was second. But now I couldn't even hate her. Shit, sometimes it felt like I wanted to, but I couldn't. At these moments I started hating myself. Maybe someone or something above was trying to punish me with this imprint?

I mean, not only have I gotten an imprint that was totally in love with a leech, I'd probably never get to reproduce. Fuck, I couldn't even use the term 'fucking' when thinking of her. Probably that wouldn't even be sex, that would be love-making.

Damn it! I have never ever felt so miserable in my entire life. I was in love with a girl that would never be with me. I didn't love her, but I was definitely in love with her. And now that she was sitting just a few feet away, it was physically hard to keep myself away from her. I wanted to howl when she had curled up at Jacob's side. From a brother he had become a fucking competition for me. Even though I knew that if she got over her leech, she would definitely pick me over Jacob, the wolf couldn't hold in a growl when he tightened his grip around her. I felt her staring and it was twice as hard to keep my eyes off her when she was looking at me.

I had ran off as soon as the stories were over. When she wasn't near me it was easier to concentrate. At least here I would be able to relax myself and get a moment to think. Little did I know!

I heard Jacob walking not far from where I was standing. I was in the trees, but could still hear their conversation. I heard them talk, but didn't understand the words. My mind was too busy trying to calm down my instincts to go and beat the fuck out of Jacob. What the hell was he thinking, taking my imprint on a walk. Alone. I knew his thoughts of her, I knew his plans, and hell, if he even attempts to realize any of them, he will be fucking collecting his limbs off the ground!

My mind caught one word from their conversation, though. Imprinting. The little punk was telling her another tribal legend. But at this point I didn't think it was a bad thing. The more he told her, the easier it would be for me. Even though I wanted to ignore this imprinting non-sense, I knew at some point I would have to tell her. Then I heard my name. Oh, great, that little fucker made it sound like a think of my imprint as of a baby machine. He did say the truth, those were my words, but back then I didn't know shit about imprinting, now the picture was so damn different.

I heard her heartbeat fasten, so I looked up and the sight almost made me howl. He was about to kiss her. She just looked back at him, not trying to move away or anything. Jacob was about to lean in, as I hear Sam call him. Thank heaven, for the first time I was actually glad about Sam meddling in.

Suddenly I realized how panicked I actually was about Jacob trying to kiss my girl. Girl? Since when did I consider her a girl? I had no time to think about it, as I felt her move closer. Not knowing what I'm doing, I leaped forward and grabbed her hand.

I could feel fear radiating off her as she realized that I was dragging her into the woods. But she didn't struggle, didn't scream, didn't try to escape.

Now remembering our little intercourse at the clearing, I still couldn't sort out my emotions. Finally talking to her, being so close to her was such a party to the wolf, he felt so damn happy every time my name had left her lips. I had never liked the sound of my name this much.

I noticed that my feet had taken me back to the clearing. She sat right there. I could still feel a faint trail of her scent here. I lied down on the forest floor taking in her scent mixed with the scent of the forest. It was the best place for me to think. During the last week this has been a place I came to think. I was surprised to realize that her scent fit in here perfectly. She fit in here. With me.

Frustrated with myself I jumped to my feet. It is only getting worse. At first I thought I was doing good, my pull to her wasn't that bad, I could stand it. Having had her here, with me, I couldn't keep away from thinking about bringing her back.

I started pacing around. So, to sum up. I'm in love with the girl. I need to be nearby. The little physical contact we had was amazing, but it left me wanting for more. I wanted to feel her skin against mine, I wanted to feel her touch on my hand again. Damn, I wanted to hug her. I growled. I have never been such a pansy. Me, Paul, the ultimate asshole, crying over a girl. A girl, that according to my own standards wasn't even worth my attention. And yet she had all of my attention.

There was no getting out of this. After being so close to her, feeling her presence, I realized that it's what I need, it's what I want. I want Bella Swan, the leech lover. This was the first time I have ever said her name in my head. I was trying not to get too attached, but apparently imprinting did everything for me. I already was tied to her, now I finally understood what Sam and Jared meant when they said how everything concentrated around their imprints. I finally understood that the gravity wasn't holding me on the ground, she was. Standing in the clearing I realized, that I had to be with her.

I had to be at her side, even if she's still in love with her bloodsucker. He's not here, while I am. I knew she had a pull, even if she denied it. Maybe it wouldn't be that hard for her to fall for me. The imprint didn't hold her as tight as it held me, but she was still influenced by it. So it means I have a chance.

She couldn't be that bad. Jacob's not a total idiot, he must love her for a reason. I tried to remember everything I've seen in his mind. She had beautiful eyes, that I knew myself. According to Jake's memories, she was nice and had a sense of humor. The wolf liked her blush. She could actually pass for beautiful.

I have never listened when Jacob thought of her, so now I didn't have much information. Why would I have no listen, anyway? It's not like I expected to imprint on her.

All together, she could be good enough for me. She would make the wolf's life nicer, and my life would be better as well. I still blamed everything on the wolf, even though I knew that I felt everything myself. I was the one that wanted to be with her, and I was the one who would be with her.

Determined to see her, I took off my shorts and phased. I would go see her, even if the leech is there.

So Forks it is.

As I ran I remembered her saying that she would be avoiding me. Well, I didn't give a fuck about that. She can be avoiding me all she wants, but whenever I had to see her, I would.

Way to go, Paul! Ugh, I forgot that Embry was patrolling tonight. Damn it!

Oh come on, would you want Jared or Quil? He was right, he was the less annoying one. I never cared that someone was in my head, I was sharing my thoughts, good and nasty ones, without any regrets, but now that she was in my head, there were things I wanted to keep with me.

Luckily, Embry understood everything, he went quiet and I thanked him in my mind.

Few minutes later I was in Forks. Few more minutes, and I was in her back yard. It felt somehow different, the smell of the leech wasn't as strong as I was used to. Had the bloodsucker left?

I moved closer to her window trying to understand the strange sounds coming from here. At first I couldn't get what that was, but then it hit me.

She was crying.

And I felt like I could explode. I needed to know who did that to her, if it was the leech, I swear, I would rip her apart, fuck the treaty, no one would be harming my girl.

Knowing that there was nothing I could do being a wolf, I phased.

'Bella?' I whispered, my voice sounding softer than ever. I have never called her by her name, it surprised me that I did now.

I heard her stop crying and get off her bed. After a moment she reached the window and now was looking at me with those beautiful eyes. She looked awful, her hair in a mess, her eyes red from crying. But the wolf still found it adorable.

As I kept looking in her eyes, she never looked away, and I felt that I was home.