Chapter Six
Peace. It's a strange word with so many different definitions. Well, it has the same definition, just different subjects. It's a time of calm, working together, and quiet. It's like a lake in Maine, tranquil and flat. A light breeze ruffles the leaves of the trees, causing a swooshing sound. Slowly, a leaf drifts down from a tree and lands in the water. Small ripples grow into larger ones until they disappear. The leaf sinks, settling at the bottom. All is quiet.
However, there is also chaos, mayhem, disasters, and war. It frightens people. They run, hide, or call for help. They do anything to save themselves or the loved ones around them. It is caused by greed, desire, hatred, and revenge. But chaos can also be the result of peace. A government may want peace to be universal, so she tries to implement it by force. It's like how the United States is trying to help other countries implement democracy, but her solution is war. Peace is a result of chaos. The two go hand in hand.
"Oh, please. She had every right to hit you Paul! You practically assaulted her! One look, and all of a sudden your lips are on hers and your hands are all over her! What was she supposed to do? Contine to make out with you infront of everyone? I would have flipped out to!" Leah yells out, interrupting my little writing session.
The pack walks in with groceries in each hand from the Forks grocery store. The one in La Push is closed due to some reconstruction that was needed years ago; the latest rainstorm did them in. Anyways, the pack came in with a lot of groceries. They ate the house out, and Sue said she couldn't go to the store again. So the pack took responsibility and matters into their own hands, they went to the store.
"My wolf took over! She's my imprint and he just lost it! I couldn't reel him back in," Paul defends himself, setting the groceries on the counter. Huh, so I guess Paul finally imprinted. About damn time too. Now her can worry about someone else constantly instead of me.
"You're lucky she agreed to leave her job early and come here with us. She's willing to listen, so don't screw it up," Jacob laughs out. "Hey Bells, what you doing? Wait, are you here alone? Where did Embry go," he ends in a growl. Rolling my eyes, I neatly stack my papers ad put them in my binder. I answer only after the binder is safely in my bag.
"He had patrol. All of you were at the store, so none of you could watch me. He wanted to stay, but I told him to go. Said that he would not only be protecting the tribe but me as well by going on watch. When he still refused, I threatened to not see him for a week. That caused him to hightail it out of here. Honestly, I am quite please with myself," I giggle out.
The pack just stares at me, looking scared.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"Paul, are you going to explain why I followed you here?" A girl asks. Straining my neck, I see dark black hair and a hint of purple glasses. I would recognize those glasses anywhere.
"Angela?"
"Angela," Paul whispers, her name sounding like a caress.
The shifters move out of her way as Angela walks toward me. We haven't seen each other since our senior year of high school. We were thick as thieves, practically attached at the hip. When we were little, we would get in all kinds of trouble. When it was time to go our separate ways, well, let's just say a new ocean was created. We went off to different colleges, me to UCLA and her to Boulder with her boyfriend, Ben. She looks good. She's filled out, grew a couple inches, and even cut her hair. It's the same style as Taylor Swift's hair, and it suits her.
"Bella? Oh my gosh! I'm so happy to see you! I just got back home when I heard you were back! I ran into you mom, but she wouldn't tell me how you were. You're dad didn't say much either when he stopped by the house," Angela squeals, rushing over to me and giving me a hug. I wince slightly at her strong grip, and she lets go instantly. She studies me with her keen eyes. I can practically hear the click of the wheels turning in her head.
"You're not okay, are you?" She asks, her bottom lip quivering slightly. I give her a sad smile.
"No, I'm not okay," I whisper, opening my arms. She flings herself at me, crying into my shoulder. I rub her back and whisper soothing words to her. Paul looks frantic, clearly not understanding what is going on. I nod my head to the open section of the couch and Paul sits down. I gently nudge Angela in Paul's direction, and she willingly goes to him. He seems to panic, not knowing what to do. I make soothing hand motions, which he copies. Angela is just starting to calm down when Embry walks in the door.
"What's going on in here?" He asks, smiling at me.
"Um, apparentely Paul's imprint knows Bella," Jake says, giving us a weird look.
"Paul imprinted?" Embry asks, closing the door behind him. I shiver against the cold air that sneaks into the room before the door closes. Embry walks over to me, attempting to embrace me to give me warmth.
"Nope! No you don't! You stink! Go take a shower," I say, shoving his arms away from me. He looks like he's about to protest, but I just shake my head. He looks defeated, and seems to be at a lost.
"I'll sit with her," Seth pipes in, jumping over the back of the couch and landing next to me. He drapes an arm around my shoulders and I snuggle deeper into his warm. One of the major benefits of being surrounded by wolves, they are constantly warm.
Embry nods, whispering a small thanks to Seth before he disappears down the hall. He uses one of the two showers that Sam and Emily have in their house.
I've been spending the days at Emily and Sam's place. The pack is always here, so I just thought it would be easier. Now a days, wherever I am, the pack is there. Emily is used to handling feeding so many, so I just thought to make it easier and convert my days to here. Of course, I spend my nights at my own place. Either my dad or Sue is always there, taking care of me. Embry is within the same vicinity. He still refuses to sleep inside the house, saying that he wants to be respectful of my privacy and get my parent's wishes. He sleeps underneath my window. Sometimes, I fall asleep talking to him about random things, or about how I don't know how I'm going to beat the cancer.
He always responds in some way or another. Most of the time it's grunting or whining, occasionally he pokes his head through the window. One time, he tried to climb through the window when I was having a bad night, but my dad got there first. He was angry that Embry tried to come in, but was thankful that he cared. When my dad couldn't get me to calm down after I woke up, he let Embry come in, through the front door in his human form. That was the first night that Embry and I had spent together in our bed. Wait, my bed. Not our, mine.
"Have you eaten today?" Seth asks me.
"Yep," I say with a pop.
"Liar," Seth accuses, pointing to something in front of us.
"What?" I ask, hesitating to break eye contact. When I finally do, I follow his arm to see a full plate of food on the coffee table. "Oh," I sigh out.
"Oh, is right. You haven't eaten all day! You have to keep your strength. Sheesh, what is the matter with you? You know what, I'm going to go and make you a salad. With chicken. And I will force feed you if I have to," Leah scolds, walking into the kitchen. Everyone stays quiet before I break the silence.
"Someone should go stop her. She almost burned down the house last time she was in a kitchen. Emily, you go cook me something," I say, nudging her. Emily had just sat down next to me, so I felt bad, but I really don't trust Leah in a kitchen. Even Sue kicks her out when it's cooking time.
"Oh, I remember. I believe I was there that day," Emily laughs out. She goes to help her cousin in the kitchen, and Leah protests greatly.
Sam walks in the door with his construction bag in hand. He looks tired, and a frown mars his face. His shoulders sag under a great deal of stress that he must be under, and, well, he looks completely exhausted. Slowly, he closes the door behind him and puts his bag in the closet that's next to the front door. Taking his jacket off like a snail, he hisses out in pain. All of the wolves' eyes shift to Sam.
"You okay, man?" Seth asks, rubbing my arm to try and warm me up.
"Yup," Sam groans out, the sarcasm heavy in his voice.
"Okay," Seth answers awkwardly. No one knows what else to say when Sam doesn't elaborate. I'm about to get up when Leah plops onto the couch beside me, shoving the plate of salad into my hands; the chicken is still sizzling. I'm about to protest when my stomach growls loudly and the pack chuckles.
"Sam, honey, you okay?" Emily asks worriedly. She's drying her hands on a dish towel as she walks over to her husband. Tossing the towel on her shoulder, Emily puts her hands on Sam's face. "Sam?"
"I love you!" Sam yells out, picking Emily up. She screeches in surprise and then dissolves into a fit of giggles. Sam spins her around before setting her down and kissing her. I smile at them.
"Hey, beautiful," Embry whispers in my ear, laying his hands on my shoulders.
"Hi," I laugh out as Embry places a kiss on my forehead.