"You what?" Paul said visually tensing at my words. I blinked at him, not sure how to answer.
"I dated Jake. Up until a few months ago…" I scooted closer to the edge of the couch in case Paul got angry and I needed to get away. The fresh wound on my arm was an unpleasant reminder of what could happen if I got too close to a shifting wolf.
"Why the hell would you do that?" He raised his body over mine casting a shadow over me. The look on his face was one I couldn't quite place; somewhere between shock, anger, and sadness.
"We liked each other so we dated...what's the big deal? Jared dated Rae last year." I squeezed past him and walked away. He came up behind me and grabbed my arm. I yanked my arm away from him. "Don't you touch me. If you're angry with me do not touch me." Sam and the others had all been watching us. I Rae and Jake were still out squabbling, but as soon as I yanked away from Paul Jared had come to stand behind me as well as Embry. Sam was watching silently from the kitchen his arms crossed. Paul looked back and forth from Jared to Embry. They were there to protect me if Paul lost his temper.
"I-I-...I just never thought you would have dated someone...sorry. And Jared why didn't we know about this thing with Rae? Surely you should have told Embry." Paul backed up a few steps from us trying to calm himself down.
"I knew she had dated two other guys before me. I had my suspicions about Jared...but figured that Rae was the 'Baby Girl' he thought about for six months of last year. I don't care. That was in the past and we all know they don't have romantic feelings for each other. My brothers thoughts are clear. And I must admit I knew about her and Jake since before I phased I was a part of a tight knit group of friends. Jake hasn't thought about Hath romantically since they broke up. Though you may not believe me since Jake hasn't been a part of the pack long enough for you to hear his thoughts on her, but as his friend I know how he feels." Embry was coming to my defense, which hadn't happened in awhile. Me, Jake, Quil, and Rae had been hurt at our friends absence in our lives, but now of course understood clearly; as Quil would soon. I looked to Embry and smiled thanking him silently. He nodded his head and smiled back. Jared crossed his arms and glared and Paul.
"You know just cuz you imprinted on her doesn't erase her past. She could have had a few boyfriends in her past and it wouldn't matter. She could have a boyfriend now and it wouldn't matter. Just cuz you feel a certain way for her, doesn't mean she has to automatically feel the same for you. We can't all be as blessed as Sam and Emily. My own imprint still keeps me at a distance." I winced in sympathy for Jared. He had imprinted on a girl on the rez school, so Rae had told me, and she wasn't quite warming up to him just yet.
"Hey guys whats going on? Everything ok?" Jake and Rae had returned. Rae immediately stood right next to me giving me her strength and comfort. Jake came up to my other side and held my hand. "You ok?" I looked up into his eyes and smiled.
"Yea Jakey I am ok. Just...a misunderstanding." My eyes shifted to Paul. The look he was giving me and Jake's joined hands could have killed someone; the look Rae was glaring at Paul should have killed him. Paul growled and ran out the door. Rae blinked and looked over to me.
"I take it hot-head found out about you two?" Rae asked. I sighed and nodded. Rae looked like she wanted to say something else, but didn't. It was her and Embry's turn for patrol. They kissed and walked out of the house. Once the mood in the house changed I noticed Jake was still holding my hand and looking at me. Searching my face for something. I gently pulled my hand out of his and went to the table and sat down in front of Jared grabbing a muffin. I was no longer in the mood to read. Jake came over and sat down next to me. Sam came out from the kitchen and patted Jared on the back.
"Good job Jared." Sam sat and looked to me and Jake. "Why did you two break up?" I was mid-bite with my mouth wide open in shock at his question.
"We broke up because my sister wasn't ok with out relationship. Rae fought us tooth and nail the entire time we were together. It made us pretty miserable…" His voice trailed off.
"Yea. We were happy while we were together, but Rae being against us kinda ruined the relationship. And now of course Jakey likes Bella. Honestly Sam I can't see myself being with Paul at this point. He has a bit of a temper and seems to assume that I am going to feel the same way about him that he feels about me now. Like you and Emily or like Emmy and Rae...I am sorry." I bowed my head a bit. I wanted to feel the same way, I didn't like having people I knew in pain; but I just couldn't do it. I also viewed Sam as sort of my Alpha and Jared as my Beta even though I wasn't a wolf. I gave them bother respect and tried to be honest with them. I felt like I should be seeing as I was a part of the family now. I sighed again and looked up at Sam. He was nodding his head.
"If you two still had such feelings for each other, I hate to say it but I would recommend not doing anything. If you both could refrain from causing Paul undue harm that would be good. As you say you both do not have such feelings to each other, I will try and drill that into Paul's head so he doesn't over react with blind jealousy again. It's getting pretty late now, Hathor maybe you should head home. Jake would you please drive her home?" Another thing I liked about Sam was that he took being Alpha very seriously.
"You know Sam You can call me Hath or Soto. I know Hathor is a very uncommon name and we all seem to use nick names around here. I consider you all family and would be more comfortable if you would call me a nickname. Jakey calls me Hath or Hathy. Rae calls me Hath. Emmy calls me Swan." It was true. Hathor was an odd name, though dad says he didn't pick out my name. That my name, 'Hathor DiSoto' came on a tag on my baby blanket when I was found.
Sam nodded. "I will Call you Soto. I consider you family as well."
Jake was driving my car, I was sitting in the passenger seat fiddling with the radio. "I don't care what Paul thinks or not. If he gets jealous or not. You're my friend and I am going to hang around you if I damn well please...I have to stay away from Bella now, but I still have you and Rae and Embry. Soon we'll probably have Quil too. It'll be just like old times." He glanced over at me and smiled.
"He has no reason to be jealous. On the subject of Bella I am sure you'll find someway around Sam's gag order, but I am also glad you didn't imprint on her. I don't know how I would feel about that…" I knew I didn't like Jake having a crush on her and hanging around with her so much, but was it because she was using him or because I was jealous? Who knew. My feelings often bled into each other. I myself wasn't sure if I was completely over Jake, even though I had developed a crush on Jasper. The only reason me and Jake had ended it wasn't because we stopped liking each other; it was because of Rae, that had been true. I cast a sideways look to Jake. Did he still have feelings for me? I didn't think it was possible with his strong crush on Bella, but it could be.
"Are you coming over again tomorrow?" I jumped a bit at his voice, I was so deep in thought the sudden sound scared me. I blinked and nodded my head. "How is Bella?" I winced.
"As to be expected. She doesn't have any clue I am hanging out with you stil as she still thinks you're sick. Of course as you continue to not get better she will probably start asking me questions. I will tell her I don't know anything and also haven't heard from you. Seeing as me and Rae don't often hang out with you any more it'll be believable. I am just worried she's going to start having nightmares again."
Jake sighed but didn't say anything more on the subject. He parked my car a little bit away from home, so Bella wouldn't see him. He scooched closer to me and wrapped an arm around me. "You're shivering." He said casually. I smiled at him and leaned into him.
"Ok Jakey. I'll see you tomorrow. And I know mums the word about seeing you and stuff. Got to keep it from Bella and dad. Night. Love you." The last two words slipped out before I could stop myself. It's not that I didn't love Jake; it just felt weird with everything between us now.
Jake blinked and looked down to me. He leaned down and I held my breath. "Love you too." He kissed my cheek softly. I gasped and got out of my car as quick as possible, forgetting that it was MY car. I ran up the block and into the house. It was Bella's night to cook, but I had already eaten at Sam's. I said hi to dad and Bella and then went straight to the one bathroom and took a shower. Not only did I have to deal with Paul, but did Jake still have feelings for me while also having feelings for my sister? I knew it was possible to love romantically more than one person, but did Jake? I didn't think it was possible till I saw the look in his eyes as I scampered out of my car. It was a deep longing look. Much like the look he gave me right before we first kissed. I didn't know what to do anymore. Our lives were really all changing.