Eleven

Behind Enemy Lines

There were very few things Paul was passionate about. He was passionate about the Patriots. He was passionate about his pack. Most of all, Paul was passionate about the little family that had fallen into his lap. He knew with all his heart that he would do anything to protect them – anything to ensure that they were never put in harm's way. The problem with Bella Swan, was that harm always seemed to be in her way. The Cullen's had laid low since Bella had told them off, for which Paul was thankful, but when they pulled up to Charlie and Sue's he could smell the foul, overly sweet stench of leech on every blade of grass. He supposed that he should have been thankful – the enemy that you know and all that, but he didn't like the idea that they were stalking out her father's place. Had they been waiting for her? Waiting to use Charlie as bait to get to her? It made what should have been a pleasant visit a tense one. Sure, Charlie knew about the pack now thanks to marrying Sue, but Paul didn't want to just offer the information up. Needless worry would only cause Bella to worry, and when Bella worried, so did Paul. He watched with a tight jaw as Wyatt played, the adults ignoring his foul mood. Bella had shot him a questioning look a few times, but he would just give her a tight smile and shake his head. He would have to tell her – he knew he would, but that could wait until they were alone and the problem had been handled. Saying goodbye, Paul paused by the car to hand Bella the keys.

"You head on home, babe. I've got something I've got to take care of." She frowned as she strapped Wyatt in his car seat, only turning around when he was secure and distracted by Mr. Alligator.

"What's wrong, Paul? You've been weird all day." She sounded almost angry, like she didn't know what she did wrong.

Sighing, Paul hooked an arm around her neck, pulling her towards him until his lips met her pale brow. "I'll explain when I get home. Everything's fine right now."

She looked skeptical, but agreed with the promise of talking later on. Once the car was out of site, Paul made his way to the woods, tying his cutoffs around his leg before phasing. He debated talking to the mind-reader in this form, but for what he had to say, Paul wanted to make sure he was heard loud and clear by every leech in the state. He ran the forgotten path through the woods, waring with himself as Embry and Quil chatted mindlessly in his head. They caught on to what he was doing, offering to break patrol to help, but this was something Paul had to do alone. Wyatt was his son, and Bella was his mate. Even if she wanted the leech, it wasn't something Paul thought he could handle. He broke the tree line, not surprised to see the entirety of the Cullen clan in front of their house, each face more twisted and angry than the last. Good. He wanted them to hate him. He wanted to ruin their fucking day by showing up. The mind reader sneered at Paul's thoughts as he shifted back, quickly pulling on his cutoffs.

"You need to stay the fuck away from my imprint." He growled out, looking at each of them before turning back to the mind reader.

"She was our family first." The tiny one piped up. "Long before you even knew her name. You don't get to decide who Bella is friends with."

"That one sure as hell tried." He jutted his chin toward Edward with a sneer. All those times the leeches had kept Bella off the rez just because they didn't like them was exactly the kind of manipulation they were accusing him of. "And it wasn't me that told her not to be friends with a bunch of bloodsuckers. My girl's smart enough to decide that on her own."

"I assure you, we meant no harm." The doctor offered in his perpetually calm voice. "We all just miss Bella. She was a big part of our existence for a while."

"A few years isn't a while to a creature that lives forever." Paul sneered. "And like I said, leech, she decided that on her own."

"I don't believe you." Edward finally spoke. "You used that magic of yours – that imprinting to manipulate poor Bella."

Paul growled deep in his throat, his chest vibrating with the force to remain in his human form. It was almost worth starting a war to knock the leech's smug head from his scrawny body. "You really don't know Bella at all. She's not poor Bella. She's strong, and capable, and smart enough to know to stay away from someone that wants to eat her for dinner."

"We haven't gone near Bella." The large one bowed up. "She's on the reservation. We haven't broken the treaty."

"No, but this one's scent is all over the chief's yard." He looked back to Edward. "In case you forgot, Sparkles, the treaty includes imprints. Bella is protected by tribe law, and so is Sue. Charlie married Sue, which means he's off limits too."

"I did nothing to harm either Bella or Charlie." Edward spoke calmly, but Paul could see the hatred just under the surface. "What is it you fear, dog? That Bella will realize that she still has feelings for me? That she will choose my family over yours?"

"I worry that you're a blood-sucking monster that has a hard-on for my mate." Paul growled, letting the images from the night they camped out play through his mind. A small smirk pulled at his full lips as Edward physically recoiled.

"You violated her." He hissed, crouching slightly.

"That's kind of how babies are made. I know you're a virgin, but you've spent decades in high school. Didn't any of them offer sex ed?"

"Enough of this." Carlisle sighed with a shake of his head. "Edward, you should have respected Bella when she told you to stay away." He scolded his pseudo son before looking to Paul. "We will not risk the treaty. I was under the impression that Bella wanted us here. We will have to talk and reconsider our moving back permanently." He frowned, looking again to Edward.

"Yeah, you do that." Paul spat before turning his back on the group and disappearing into the woods.

His wolf paced like a caged animal in his mind, their mate too far at a time like this. The bloodsuckers couldn't have her – he would die before he let that happen. Even if she tried to go willingly, he would rip them all to shreds, treaty be damned. It was bad enough his pack brother and true alpha was waiting in the shadows to pounce, he didn't need to worry about them too. He ripped through the words as thunder clashed threateningly overhead, promising another rainstorm that would be more like ice shards during this time of year. The rain didn't worry Paul, but the distance did. For all the advances he and Bella had made, things were still so unsure. Would she fully accept the imprint? He didn't bother to throw on his shorts as he phased and nearly tore through the backdoor just as the rain began to beat against the house's old roof.

Bella, who had been standing in the kitchen jumped about ten feet as her wide brown eyes moved to Paul. She opened her mouth to speak – probably to scold him for scaring her yet again, but he was quicker. His strides were long and sure as he reached his imprint, his mouth swallowing any words that made their way from her throat. Bella's body seemed to melt at his touch, her hands cupping his angular face as he lifted her easily with one arm. Instinctively, her legs wrapped around his waist as he moved towards the bedroom. "Wyatt?" Paul breathed between rough kisses, his hand kneading the firm curve of her backside.

"Nap… Paul are you-" He cut her off again. He didn't want to talk – didn't want to think. Fate had thrown he and Bella together, and now it seemed like every other force in the universe was trying to tear them apart. He wouldn't give her up. Not to a Cullen. Not to Jacob. Not to anyone. He would fight through hell itself if it meant that his mate was safe by his side. He moved them to his bedroom, dropping her on the soft mattress before covering her tiny body with his own. If it were up to Paul, he would keep her there. He knew it wasn't fair – that Bella wasn't some helpless princess that he should lock away in a tower, but she was so very human. "Paul." Bella gasped.

"Don't." His top lip curled as she grabbed either side of his face, halting his movements so that he was forced to look into her bright eyes. "Don't…" Paul sighed again, his face twisting in agony as she ran her thumbs over his cheekbones, her gaze soft and weighty at the same time.

"Paul… did something happen? What's wrong?" She tried, her voice soft as she searched his features. Opening up wasn't something Paul was good about. Even before shifting for the first time, he didn't do talking and feelings well. Those sort of things made you vulnerable, and Paul hated being vulnerable, even with Bella. "Talk to me…" She slowly sat up so that he was forced back. "Paul, if we're going to be in a relationship, you need to be able to talk to me."

He wanted to lash out – to throw it in her face that she hadn't talked to him when she found out she was pregnant, but that would hurt Bella, and Paul couldn't stand the thought of hurting her. Besides, she had said they were in a relationship, and that was enough to appease his wolf back to some semblance of sanity. Sighing again, he pulled her into his bare lap, his nose burying itself in her neck to take in her ever-changing scent. Mountain snow and wildflowers today… "The leeches." He spoke simply into her skin. "Your ex has been hanging around your dad's place…"

She stiffened for a moment before her tiny hand moved to his hair. "Do you think they'd hurt him?" She asked in a low voice as her fingers moved gently over his scalp. It amazed him that even though he could smell the fear on her skin, she was worried about him.

"I don't know." He breathed honestly. "But I'll protect you, baby. I promise. I won't let them hurt you, and I won't let them…" He cut off as he pulled back to meet her questioning gaze.

Her features softened as a small sigh escaped her pouty lips. "You won't let them take me from you?" She offered in a near whisper. Paul didn't answer, choosing instead to press his lips into a hard line. "They won't, Paul." She offered after a moment, her tone sure and her eyes shining with something Paul dared not hope for. "I'm not going anywhere."

AN: I'm so sorry this update took forever, guys! I work in customer service, and as I'm sure you know, October – December is brutal in the CS industry. I'm going to try and get back on a steady posting schedule again. Thank you to all of those that reviewed and hung in there. As a bonus, I'm including a bonus scene from chapter ten below. Thanks again! You guys rock!

Chapter 10 – Bonus Scene

Paul knew that he should have been asleep. They had to get up in a few hours, and the sun was already starting to rise, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was small and pale and… perfect. It was an odd thought, after all, no one was perfect, but she was perfect for him. He had been so dead-set against the imprint from the moment he learned what it was. He thought that the other guys were whipped, and that the imprint would just make him weak, but… he didn't feel weak. He felt stronger than he had in years. Since he was a teenager, he had fought against everything. The whole world was his enemy and he a soldier without a cause. But he had one now – the tiny human in his arms that had him completely wrapped around her finger.

Reaching up, he trailed a finger down her arm, listening as her heart beat steadily in her chest. It was such a simple sound – one he tuned out most of the time. It got tiresome to hear the constant thump thump thump associated with people, but Bella wasn't people. She was his, and every hollow thump was just proof that she was alive and with him. It was like his own personal drum that beat away every time he got near enough. Sometimes he would get her angry just to listen to it speed up or he would tune out a movie so he could hear it react to a love scene or a jump scare. It had somehow become his favorite sound next to their son's laughter.

His finger stilled as she stirred in her sleep, mumbling something that wasn't quite a sentence. He learned the first night that she talked in her sleep – usually something random that he could hardly make out from the other room, but it was amusing nonetheless. "Gorillas…" Her porcelain brow furrowed, and he fought off a laugh.

"Oh yeah?" He asked in a whisper, wondering if she would respond. "What about the gorillas?"

"Gotta kill… they stole all the bananas…" He bit his lip as her full ones pulled into a frown. If possible, he found that he loved her more when she was asleep. At the very least, it was amusing.

"Don't you worry, babe." He breathed with a small laugh. "I'll get the bananas back." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she settled.

"…love…" He stilled. Love? He didn't know if Bella could love someone like him, but her heart was so big he was sure she could love anyone. "Love bananas…" She stirred as he barked out a laugh, only to cut it short at the risk of waking her up.

"Yeah…" Paul shook his head and smiled fondly down at her. "Me too…"