Chapter 12

AN: I know we've been over this before and it's not likely to change anytime soon, but I'm still obligated to give a disclaimer so here it is: I don't own Twilight. Now on with the show.

I woke up with the biggest smile in the world on my face as I glanced down at Veronica snuggled into my side.

Waking up next to my imprint was AMAZING!

I gently stroked her porcelain skin and grinned as she buried her face in my chest. I relaxed into the pillows and closed my eyes, relishing in the fact that everything smelled like Veronica – minty and fresh.

The shrill ring of my phone pulled me out of my imprint induced haze and I shot up trying to find it before it woke her up.

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, relieved that the noise didn't wake her. I glared at the screen before pushing the green button.

"What?" I said in irritation.

"Well, good morning to you too," Kim said sarcastically.

"Sorry, Kim," I said abashedly. "I thought it was Jared."

"It's good to know you treat each other with so much respect."

I rolled my eyes at the sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Anyway," she continued. "I just wanted to know if you were bringing someone to the wedding."

"Wedding?" I asked astonished. "Who's wedding?"

There was a brief moment of utter silence before Kim spoke.

"You're kidding, right?" she asked, the annoyance crystal clear in her tone.

"Uhm…no," I said slowly, trying not to piss her off more.

Kim might be small and soft spoken, but she can be a real spitfire when you get her angry enough.

"I am going to kill them!" she yelled before her voice faded as she turned to speak to Jared – or maybe yell at him would be more accurate.

After a few minutes of muted yelling Kim's ragged breath made the speaker crackle in my ear.

"Sorry about that," she said softly.

"No problem, Kimmy," I said with a chuckle. "So, what wedding are you talking about?"

"Jake was supposed to tell you that Jared and I are getting married," she said, pausing for the congratulations that usually follow that statement.

"Congrats," I said quickly, wanting her to get to the point so I could go back to bed.

"Thanks," she mumbled. "The wedding's going to be on Thanksgiving so…"

"Wow, any specific reason you're getting married so quickly, Kimmy?" I teased, knowing she hated any reference to her private life and she absolutely despised being called 'Kimmy'.

"Ugh, don't call me that," she groaned. "And no, I'm not pregnant, if that's what you're suggesting."

She sounded a little sour on the last part so I decided to drop it.

"I'll ask my imp-girlfriend if she can make it," I said, mentally face palming myself for being so close to saying it out loud without telling Veronica first.

"That's great. Wait, did you just say imprint?" Kim asked. "When did it happen? Why didn't anyone tell me? What's her name? What's she like? She has to come if she's you're imprint."

I laughed at the sound of Kim inhaling a deep breath at the end of her long sentence.

"Calm down, Speedy. I don't know if she'll be able to make it, but I'll ask." I told her, chuckling through my words.

"But she has to come," she said with a hint of finality in her tone.

"Why does she have to come?"

"Because it's my wedding and I said so," Kim said firmly.

"Okay, I'll ask her really nicely," I promised.

"Great! Jared will call you later with more details."

"Okay, bye Kimmy."

I laughed as she grumbled before disconnecting the call. Shaking my head I made my way back to bed and the beautiful redhead in it.

I climbed into bed and wrapped my arms around Veronica, pulling her tightly into my chest. She sighed softly before making herself more comfortable, resting her chin on my chest.

"Hi," I murmured, looking at her smiling face.

"Hey," she mumbled, stretching her neck to place a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth.

"Who was on the phone?" she asked curiously as she rested her chin on the hand splayed open over my chest.

"Oh, that was my friend, Kim," I told her, chuckling as her face scrunched up.

I leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Not that kind of friend," I reassured her.

Pleased by my answer the wrinkles in her forehead smoothed out and she smiled at me.

"She was calling to tell me about her wedding," I said before she could ask.

"Oh," she said surprised. "That's nice. When's her wedding?"

"Thanksgiving," I told her, running my hand up and down her back soothingly.

"Do you want to go with me?" I asked as she mumbled 'Mhmm, that's nice'.

I chuckled and halted the movement of my hand, much to her chagrin, and pulled her up to look into my eyes.

"V?" I stared into her eyes to keep her attention focused on me.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to go to the wedding with me?" I asked again, making sure that she heard every word clearly.

She frowned again and I bit the inside of my cheek as I waited for her to turn me down.

"I would love to, but are you sure your friend won't mind?" she asked anxiously.

I sighed in relief and peck her lips, lingering longer than I wanted to.

"She won't mind," I said seriously. "In fact, she'll be ecstatic that you're going to be there."

"Really?" she asked uncertainly.

"Really," I reassured her.

She nodded her head once and I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers, loving the way her body relaxes into mine every time I kiss her.

I resumed running my hand up and down her back as I pulled her bottom lip into my mouth, sucking on it before releasing it to focus on her tongue.

She whimpered softly into my mouth as my hand kneaded the muscles in her back under her shirt. Her hand trailed over my chest, sending shivers through my body as she gently caressed my skin. I groaned and pulled her closer, smiling against her lips as she draped her leg over my waist.

The annoying beeping of my phone echoed through her room and I pulled away from her sweet lips reluctantly. I placed a tender kiss on her lips before grabbing my phone, seriously considering hurdling it across the room.

I looked at the screen and saw that I had a message from Jake.

Did you tell her yet?

Tell her what? I thought as I glared at my phone, grimacing slightly as it all came back to me. Right, phasing, wolf, imprinting. I should probably tell her.

"Paul?" Veronica's melodious voice broke me out of my inner musings. "You know that glaring at your phone isn't going to make whatever the problem is, go away."

I chortled and sat down next to her as she wrapped her arm around my waist and lightly scratched my back.

"Is there a problem?" she asked, leaning her head on my shoulder.

"No, there's no problem," I reassured her. "I just…have to tell you something…"

"Is it a bad something?" she questioned. "Something about one of your exes?"

"No. no, it's nothing like that," I said quickly. "It's…something weird…about me…and I'm not sure how you'll take it…"

"Oh, come on, Paul. It can't be that bad."

Let's hope not.

"I'm a werewolf," I blurted out, my eyes pinched shut in fear of seeing her reaction.

"That's very funny, Paul," she said with a giggle.

"I'm not joking," I said seriously. "Though I'm not an actual howl-at-the-moon werewolf, it's more of an I-can-transform-at-will kind of thing."

Veronica stopped giggling and scanned my face for any signs of joking, frowning when she saw none.

"You're really serious, aren't you?" she said softly.

I nodded and proceeded to tell her about the history of the tribe, phasing and…imprinting.

"Wait," she said after I finished the last – and most crucial – piece of information. "So you're saying that I'm your soul mate, right?"

I nodded in confirmation and waited for her to continue.

"That we're meant to be together forever?"

"Yes."

"Well, I…uhm…wow," she stammered, obviously baffled by what I had just told her. "It's really a lot to take in."

"I know and I'll understand if you don't believe me," I told her solemnly.

"I believe you," she said softly. "It's just going to take some time to get used to it."

I looked at her with my jaw hanging open in shock.

"You believe me?" I asked incredulously, unable to contain my grin as she nodded her head.

I pulled her into my lap and pressed my lips to hers in a smacking kiss.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," I whispered over and over into her hair.

I felt like I was on cloud nine. She believed me and she still liked me. And most importantly…she didn't run off screaming.

AN: There you go. This is probably going to be the last chapter for a while because my classes are starting again on Monday (Boo!), but I'll see if I can set up a regular schedule or something.

Anyway, the wedding will be next and maybe some other…stuff ;)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and/or favourite story/authored me.

I'm already working on follow stories for different characters in this series and I have a basic timeline for what happens and who imprints and so on, so if you have any specific characters you want to see then let me know.