Paul

I stood there for a moment after Sam hit me, not knowing what to say. I didn't think he'd listen to me anyway. I knew he still loved Leah, and so did Emily. I hadn't seen her since just after he imprinted. He didn't understand how hard it was for me to give up the Clearwater family because of something that had nothing to do with me, but I did it for him. I did it for my pack. I didn't know if he was angry with me for sleeping with Leah, or for hurting Rosalie. Either way though, I deserved every bit of his anger. If only he had given me a chance to explain that Leah and I hadn't slept together and that it was a misunderstanding.

"Sam, listen." I tried to back away from him as I talked. "About Leah, it's really just-" He grabbed me and punched my face again.

"DON'T SAY HER NAME." He was screaming at me. "You have an imprint that wants you so badly, and you're busy sleeping with Leah? MY Leah? What about your imprint? What about ROSALIE?" He shoved me.

I couldn't listen to this shit. "Leah is not YOUR anything, Sam. " I told him. "Besides, Rosalie looked awfully cozy with Embry last night."

He started shaking and he hit me again. Jared got up and pulled him away from me and out the door. I knew I had to follow him, but I looked back toward Rosalie. She had her head on Embry's shoulder and she was looking down. Our eyes didn't even meet. That was the reason I went back to Leah last night- Rosalie had been with Embry. I didn't know if they had slept together and I didn't care to find out. She seemed pretty comfortable with him now. Jacob was sitting on the other side of her and he didn't look too happy either.

Sam and Jared were both phased in the tree line. I phased in as soon as I got back there, ready to get this over with and show Sam what had really happened. As soon as I phased, I started replaying the last few days for them. I started with the leech tormenting me about Rosalie's marriage. They saw me almost sleep with Lauren, the way I felt seeing Rosalie show up to the Cullen's with Embry, and they saw me seeing her show him around her house last night. Then I got to the part with Leah in it.

"Paul, if you're about to replay you fucking Leah last night I will actually kill you. Jared won't be able to stop me." Sam told me.

I scoffed at him. "I didn't have sex with her, Sam. I was trying to tell you that inside."

I showed him everything. From her approaching me drunk on the cliffs until the moment Rosalie left. He heard what Harry said about his own daughter. He saw all of the liquor bottles scattered in her car and her bedroom. He saw the way Seth reacted seeing me again after such a long time. Sam had loved Seth like his own brother too, and it hurt him to see that losing both of us had hurt the kid so much. He saw the way that Leah and I had slept together, and that it hadn't been sexual at all. He actually laughed when he saw her waking me up this morning. When he saw the way that Leah talked to Rosalie, he spoke up.

"I know exactly what Leah was doing when she talked to Rosalie." He told me.

"Please enlighten me, because I don't know what the hell her problem was this morning." I was still angry with her.

Jared chuckled. "You're an idiot, Paul. She wanted Sam and Emily to think you two slept together, Rose was just collateral damage."

I thought about this for a minute before Sam spoke. "She wanted to hurt me Paul, not Rosalie. She wasn't going to say the two of you spent the night together until Rose mentioned me. I should have known, but the way Rosalie said everything it just made me so angry. I doubt Leah slept in your clothes often when you two were friends before."

"Leah slept in my clothes all the time when we were kids, but I've never fucked her. I need to know what happened when Rosalie came to your house this morning." I told him.

Sam was sitting at his kitchen table while Emily was cooking. Jacob was sitting in the living room playing a video game.

"Sam, have you heard from Embry? Surely he will be back from the bloodsucker's place soon." Jacob said.

Sam sighed. "Jacob, stop calling Rosalie that. I think she's coming by with Embry."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emily asked as she sat down a plate in front of Sam. "Come get your breakfast, Jacob. I will save some for your brothers. I don't know where Paul is."

Jared strolled down the hallway and took Jacob's plate from the counter, sitting down next to Sam. "Sorry kid, you can make another one. I saw Paul last night, he went to his house."

"That's odd." Emily said. "He's been here every night since he phased. He must be taking everything with Rosalie harder than we thought. Maybe she'll be gone by the time he gets back."

"I think they need to sit down and talk about this. I'm going to call Embry, they can stop at Paul's and pick him up on their way over here." Jared suggested. He grabbed the phone in the kitchen and stated to make a phone call.

"Why did you do that?" I asked him. "You knew I was with Leah."

Sam growled. "You knew?"

"Sam, I'm his best friend. If you actually thought I didn't know you're dumber than you look." Jared laughed again. "I knew you were with Leah last night, I didn't know that she didn't have her own clothes or that you were going to be with her this morning."

Jared, Sam, and Jacob ate together with Emily. "So, Jake, when you gonna look at Bella?" Jared asked.

"Not now, Jared." Sam warned him.

"What? He needs to get it over with." He retorted.

Emily looked over at Sam. "I actually agree with Jared, he does need to know if she's his imprint. She's suffering, the imprint bond could really help her."

Jacob glared at them. "I'm not ready. If I look at her and I don't imprint, I'm going to lose her forever. I can't take that chance yet."

"That's never going to change though, Jake." Jared told him. "You're just delaying the inevitable. I think you should get it over with soon so we can celebrate or move on."

Rosalie walked in the door with Embry on her heels. She looked directly at Sam. "Who the hell is Leah?"

Emily glared at both of them, a look I had never seen on her before. "Why are you asking him that Rosalie?"

Rose matched her glare, which was even more frightening. "She had sex with Paul last night."

"That can't be true. They've been best friends for years, he wouldn't ever do that." Jared told her.

"Like hell he wouldn't." Rosalie told him. "She answered his door in nothing but his shirt and she told me they slept together."

Everyone looked toward Embry who nodded, confirming her version of events.

"I could kill Embry, acting like he's her protector or something. He knows I wouldn't sleep with Leah, they're all friends with Seth." I told them.

"Rosalie, I really don't think Paul would sleep with her. They've been friends since they were kids." Jared told her.

"I've been friends with Jasper's brother Peter for fifty years. I've never been at his house wearing only his shirt before." She told him.

"Would Leah really do that? Sleep with Paul?" Emily asked Sam.

Sam looked at her with a pained expression. "I don't know, Emily. The Leah I knew wouldn't, but I don't know her anymore. I didn't think Paul would either."

"They were drunk." Rosalie told them. "The house reeked of booze."

"I have heard that Clearwater has been drinking heavily since.." Jacob stopped as everyone turned to glare at him. "What? I'm friends with Seth."

"If they were both drunk, who knows what they'd do." Emily said. "I'm so sorry, Rosalie. Sit down and join us. We will have a good morning together without Paul. You're still part of this family."

She sat down next to Jacob and Embry followed her. He had her hand in his.

"So Paul was there and he didn't say anything?" Jared asked. "He heard her tell you they slept together?"

Rosalie nodded. "I can feel him. He could probably see me the whole time, even though I couldn't see him. She asked me if I was one of his conquests and called Emily a whore and he didn't say a word."

Tears started to flow down Emily's face. "I'm sorry about her, Rosalie. She wasn't always this terrible." Emily told her.

"Paul's behavior is out of hand." Sam said. "I will address it Rosalie, I promise."

It was only seconds later that I walked in.

We all phased out, not needing to share thoughts anymore. We were all calm now that Sam knew I didn't sleep with Leah.

"You should have known I wouldn't do that, Sam." I told him.

He nodded. "I'm sorry, Paul. I should have. But you also didn't defend Emily, and you should have."

I knew I had to talk to Rosalie. We walked in the back door to Sam's house and I looked for Rosalie at the table, but she wasn't there. Embry, Jacob, and Emily were all gone too. I walked back outside through the front and saw the jeep she had come over in was gone too. I decided to sit on the porch alone for a few minutes before going back inside to the guys. A lot had happened and I needed some time to think.

I couldn't help but worry about Leah. I knew that she had taken the situation with Sam and Emily hard, but I didn't know she had been drinking that much and I had no idea how to help. If I was able to fix things with Rosalie, I was certain she wouldn't want me and Leah to be close again. Seth seemed close to phasing, so she would lose him too. He would still be around for her sometimes but not the way he is now. Maybe I could convince Bella to seek her out and be friends with her. The two of them could bond over their heartbreak, if Leah could stay sober and play nice. They actually had a lot in common, and their fathers were best friends. Bella had always been around when we were younger but she stuck with Jacob and his friends.

How would I even begin to explain all of this to Rosalie? She didn't know Leah or our history, and if I had caught her in the same situation I would have thought she slept with someone else too. With the way I had talked to her yesterday and my reputation, it would make sense for me to have slept with her. She didn't understand that the Clearwater family was my family too. She didn't know anything about my shitty childhood or my fucked up parents. We needed to sit down and talk, and I hoped that we would have time soon. I just had to get her to willingly come with me and I had no idea how hard that would be. I hoped that Embry wouldn't cause any more trouble in the meantime.

I walked back in the house to Sam and Jared sitting on the couch while Emily was in the kitchen baking. I walked up and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Em." I told her. "I didn't sleep with Leah and I should have defended you when she said that about you. I'm just really worried about her, but I promise I told her about it after Rosalie left."

Emily hugged me back. "It's okay, Paul. I'm not mad at you. I just feel so badly about what we did to Leah. Rosalie said she was drunk?" I sighed.

"She was completely wasted, even this morning. When I drove us back to her house there were at least a dozen liquor bottles in her car, and probably close to forty in her room. Harry even called her a drunk last night, said she goes out and bitches about the three of us to anyone that will listen. Seth is really scared." Tears started flowing down her face and I wiped them away and pulled her back in to a hug. "It's going to be okay. We will find a way to help her."

I walked back to join Jared on the couch as Sam was coming to comfort Emily. Jared turned on a video game and we played for while Emily and Sam made lunch. I hadn't asked where everyone had went earlier, but I assumed Sam and Jared knew. They would have told me if I needed to be worried about anything. For now, it was nice to have a minute to relax with the pack I had known just a few days ago before meeting Rosalie. Just thinking about all of the change that had happened so quickly made my head spin. The phone started ringing and Sam came to sit next to me as he answered.

"Uley" he answered. It was the cell phone he got from the council to discuss pack business. His expression hardened quickly. "Are you sure? They saw both of them jump?" Jump? What the hell was he talking about?

"What about Jacob? And Embry?" If Jacob and Embry weren't accounted for, who had jumped? And what did they jump off of? Rosalie must be one of the people involved since she was with them and he hadn't asked about her.

"Jared will be there in just a minute to help. Paul and I will stay here in case you need us." Like hell I will. "Thank you, Harry." He hung up the phone.

He looked toward Jared. "You need to go to the beach. It seems Bella decided to go cliff diving and Rosalie jumped in after her. It's been fifteen minutes and neither of them have been seen. Jacob and Embry are both unaccounted for too." He turned to me. "We are going to go visit your future in laws and find out if they've seen or heard anything about the redhead. Keep us updated, and howl if you need us Jared."

Rosalie couldn't be missing. Leeches didn't need to breathe, so surely she was still there somewhere, unless she had been killed in the water. I had to go to the beach. "No, Sam. Rose is my imprint and I'm going to the beach to look for her."

"That's exactly why you're not going, Paul. You are too close and they can use her to control you. Don't you trust your brother?" Sam asked me.

Jared put his hand on my shoulder. "I'll find her, and I will make sure she's safe. Bella too."

"That's not the damn point. I would die for Rosalie, I can't ask either of you to put your lives on the line for her." I knew they would anyway, but I should be the one to save her this time.

"Embry surely isn't too far away." Sam told me. "I'm sure Jacob is with them too."

Somehow that wasn't reassuring at all. I wanted to be the one to save her this time. I needed her to be okay. She couldn't die not knowing how I feel. She couldn't die thinking that I had slept with Leah, and probably Lauren too. I certainly wasn't fond of Embry, but I hoped he was with her right now and that she was safe. Maybe this was just a misunderstanding. I wanted to keep arguing, but there was no time. Jared ran off toward the beach while Sam and I ran out and toward the Cullen's home. Bella was supposed to have been with them today, but I wasn't surprised to know that she wasn't. Nobody else was phased, so Jacob and Embry were both running around as humans wherever they were.

Both times that I had been to the Cullen's home I had been too angry to really notice how nice it was. I wondered if their homes in other places were as nice as this one, or nicer even. Would Rosalie ever be happy living on the res with me when this is what she's used to? I would never be able to give her the things her family does. We phased in the woods and walked up together. We didn't have to announce our arrival, before we got to the porch steps they all filed out onto the porch. Carlisle, Jasper, and Emmett came to approach us while Alice and Esme stood by the doors. When we stopped in front of them, Alice ran toward me faster than I had ever seen anyone move, it was like she was a blur. She slapped me hard across the face.

"That was for Rosalie." She told me, and walked back to stand by Esme.

Emmett glared at me. "Do I want to know what that was about?"

"We really don't have time for that right now." Sam told them. "Bella and Rosalie were both seen jumping off a cliff at the beach today and nobody saw them come out of the water. Jacob and Embry are also unaccounted for."

"Give us access to the reservation and we can help." Jasper said. "Rosalie doesn't need to breathe underwater, but Bella does. Let us go help you find them." Alice ran off toward Rosalie's house.

Sam shook his head. "I can't do that without permission from the council. The treaty-"

"Fuck the treaty, my imprint is in danger." I cut him off.

Jasper agreed. "I will not let you stand between me and helping my sister. There are two of you and five of us, and Paul seems to be siding with us. You aren't going to stop me."

"Enough, Jasper." Carlisle spoke. "We won't start a war with the wolves. Sam, call Chief Black and see if we can come to an understanding. We want to respect the treaty, but two of our own are in danger." Sam pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed Billy's number.

Alice ran back as we were waiting. "Rosalie needs us, it's Victoria. She must be far away from Jacob and Embry. I can't see them, but Rosalie has Bella and they are going to be ambushed any minute."

"There's no time, Sam. We have to go, NOW." Jasper told him.

Sam nodded and the five of us took off toward La Push. We howled to let Jared, and the other wolves if they could hear us, know to phase. Alice stopped in front of us.

"Wait." She told us. "Rosalie and Bella are fine now. They're with Emily." How could that have happened? What about the leech?

"What about Victoria?" Emmett asked.

"Gone. Jacob and Embry must have caught up because I can't see anyone now."

Jasper looked toward us. "We'd like to follow you to your house anyway, Sam. Just to make sure."

He nodded and we kept running. What a damn whirlwind today had been. Why did Bella and Rosalie jump off the cliff? I wondered if she would even talk to me when we got there. I couldn't blame her if she didn't. Between Emmett, Jasper, and Embry all being there I knew I'd have to watch what I said to her today. Even if I was trying to apologize, I was afraid everyone's patience with me had run out. I deserved their anger, but I wished I could explain. Most of this had just been a misunderstanding, after all.

The future seeing leech had been right, we got to Sam's to see Emily, Embry, Bella, Jacob, and Rosalie sitting at the table. Bella was cuddled up to Jacob and Embry was holding Rosalie's hand on top of the table. When we walked in, Rosalie ran to Jasper and hugged him. Alice and Emmett went to Bella and Jacob growled at them. He must have imprinted on her. Everyone filed in and sat at the table. I sat by Jared, with Embry glaring at me the whole time.

"Rosalie?" I asked. "Would it be okay if we go outside to talk?"

Embry growled and Jasper moved behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. "I don't think that's the best idea, Paul."

She separated her hand from Embry's and pushed Jasper away. "I can speak for myself, I don't need the two of you to talk for me." She told them. "I don't think it's a bad idea, I know that we need to talk. But right now, I'm not interested in anything you have to say. Maybe you should try Leah, though. I bet she cares a lot more than I do." She got up and walked out the door.

Embry got up to follow her, but Sam stopped him. "Not right now, kid. I know you care about her, but she needs to work things out with Paul. We need to give her some space." Sam told him.

"Would it be okay if I go, Sam?" Bella asked.

"I will go with her. Maybe the three of us can go back to the Cullen's place." Emily suggested.

Jacob growled. "The three of you do not need to be alone right now."

"I'll go with them." Alice said. "Nothing will happen to us, I can see it. We will be fine until you're done talking."

Sam nodded. "Go ahead. I think the rest of us need to stay here and talk."

Esme rose to follow them and they all started to walk out the door.

"Wait." I said. They all turned around. "Can you guys please try to talk to Rosalie for me? I know I've screwed up, but I just want a chance to explain."

Alice looked back toward me. "You don't want me to talk to her. If she listened to me, the two of you would never talk again."

They all walked out the door. I didn't know if we'd ever talk at this point. My heart ached. Her entire family hated me, and even Emily hadn't fought for me. I didn't say anything for the rest of our meeting. Jacob told us what had happened on the beach. He had been with Rosalie and Embry when they saw Bella jump off the cliff and into the water. We don't do well in the water, so Rosalie ran after her and they followed until they reached the cliff. Rose jumped in after her, but then Jacob saw Victoria in the water. He assumed Rosalie saw her too, because the two never came back up. While Jacob was trying to decide what the best action plan was, Embry jumped in after them. He could see that Rosalie was walking under the water with Bella in her arms to confuse Victoria but he knew she'd need to come up for air soon. Jacob dove off the cliff and phased in the water and Victoria fled. Once they came out of the water, Jacob had imprinted on Bella.

We discussed our strategy moving forward with the redhead. Jasper told us that she may have a gift for evasion. They explained all of the other gifts they'd known of to us, and I could see Sam's face falling. We could take down any regular leech that was thrown at us, but when you add in some of the gifts they were telling us about we wouldn't stand a chance. We decided that for now we would allow the Cullen family access to the reservation. They offered to start patrolling with us to ease our burden. Sam agreed that one wolf would be on patrol at all times with each Cullen. Rosalie would be left off the schedule for now, since having an imprint around was so distracting to our wolves. Jasper offered to start training us and we set up a schedule for that, too.

After we talked for a few hours, Emily called and told Sam she was making dinner at the Cullen's house for the pack. Carlisle suggested that we all head over, but I was hesitant. I told them to go on and I would catch up, and I stayed behind. I wasn't ready to see Rosalie again. Having her so close but not being able to talk to her was painful for me. I went back to Sam's bathroom and decided to take a shower. We were constantly hot, and I wanted to cool off and gather my thoughts. I turned the cold water on and sat on the floor of his shower. The cool water felt soothing against my warm skin. I sat there for about half an hour before turning off the water and walking back out into the kitchen. I went to the fridge to get a bottle of water, and when I turned around I saw Emmett sitting at the table.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. "I'm really not in the mood for a fight right now."

He stood up and walked over to me, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I've seen the way you wolves eat. You wouldn't skip a meal for no reason. What happened with Rosalie? I might be able to help."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "You want to help me? You wanted to kill me a few days ago for 'stealing your wife'."

"Rosalie and I knew for years we weren't each other's mates. I loved her, but I knew the day would come that she'd find the one, I just wasn't ready for it and I didn't expect it to be a mutt." I growled. "Tell me what you did and I can try to help."

"I had Emily throw her out of the house, I was mad that she didn't tell me she was married and I didn't give her a chance to explain. This morning when she came to try to talk to me, there was a girl at my house and she didn't let me explain. Leah told her that we slept together but we didn't have sex, we just slept in the same bed. Leah has been my friend since we were kids and I know that she spent the night with Embry anyway, it's not like I did anything she didn't do." He looked at me like I had two heads.

He laughed. "Your friend is lucky that Rose didn't rip her head off. She seems to have lost her nerve when it comes to you. She didn't sleep with Embry, she let him sleep at her house because he said all of our scents were overwhelming for him. She went for a drive after he was settled in and then came back to our place to talk to Jasper. Nothing happened between them."

I was so relieved, but I felt so stupid. "You're sure nothing happened?" I asked.

"Positive." He told me. "There's a lot you don't know about Rosalie, but she doesn't sleep around. She's very cautious when it comes to physical contact." Why would she be cautious?

"Did something happen to her?" I felt my blood boiling at the thought.

He shook his head. "It's not my story to tell. Rosalie usually takes awhile to open up to people. She seemed to want you easily and you hurt her, so getting back in her good graces won't be easy. But hiding out here isn't going to help anything." He was right.

"Is she still there now? Should we go back?

He laughed again. "Well she does live there. Come on, we can run over together. I'll even race you."

"You're on." I told him.

We ran out behind Sam's house and I phased. I was grateful to Emmett for coming to talk to me. I would have expected him to be angry with me about Leah, but he seemed to understand. He had to love her nearly as much as I did to be able to put her happiness above his own the way that he was. He looked much stronger than me, but he wasn't faster. I beat him to their house and had time to phase and get dressed before he got back to me.

"She's still not going to forgive you easily, Paul. But I'm on your side here, I want this to work." He patted me on the back. "I owe my life to Rosalie, but that's a story for another time."

When we walked in she was cuddled up to Embry on the couch while he played a video game with Jared and Jacob. Jasper sat in the dining room with Sam, Emily, and the rest of his family, glaring at us as we walked in. Emmett walked toward the dining room and I followed him and took the seat next to him. Sam raised his eyebrows at me, and I knew he'd have questions later. Emily rose from her spot and came back with a huge plate of food for me. I thanked her, and she went back to sit by Sam again.

"I got a call from Billy while you were gone, Paul. The council wants to interview each of the Cullens tomorrow before allowing them to come on the reservation freely. The whole pack will need to be there, including the imprints." Sam told me.

I nodded. "Do you know what kind of questions they plan to ask?"

"I'm really not sure. I assume the questions will be about their diet, and if they've ever killed a human before." He told me.

Carlisle looked toward Sam. "Sam.. that question will be a problem for a few of us."

"I thought you only fed from animals? Don't your eyes turn red if you've had human blood?" I asked. I didn't think any of them had ever killed a human. This could change everything.

"We do only feed from animals. But, I don't condone lying in this family and we all have a past. Many of us have never harmed a human, but a few of us have earlier in this life. I don't want to put the treaty in jeopardy." Carlisle's voice was so cool and smooth, it was hard not to trust him. I couldn't imagine him ever killing anyone.

Sam simply nodded. "Let's work it out with the council tomorrow. I also value honesty, and I don't recommend lying to them. I don't know how they will view your past indiscretions, but I do have a vote and so does Paul."

"Me?" I asked. I had never voted on the council before.

"Your line was not represented on the council previously because you didn't have a wolf in the last pack. Since you've phased, it should be your father or grandfather that represents you, but neither of them are available. You will vote on behalf of the Lahote line." He told me. This would be different.

I left the two of them to talk among themselves and went to check on Rosalie. Alice was sitting on one side of her and Bella on the other. Embry had moved to the floor next to Jared. I stood by Jared's side for a moment before turning to look at her. She made it a point to avoid eye contact with me. They were looking at a magazine together and mumbling to each other.

"Rosalie? Do you think maybe now we could go talk for a moment?" I asked.

She didn't even raise her head to look in my direction and sighed before speaking. "Why don't we see how you feel about me tomorrow? If you still want to talk after this council meeting, we will. But I expect you won't be having sex with Leah again between now and then."

"I didn't have sex with Leah yesterday, but I won't be seeing her tonight. I'll be at Sam's after we leave here."

She nodded again and went back to her conversation with Alice. I stood there for a few more minutes watching Jared kick Embry's ass at the game they were playing before I rejoined everyone at the dining room table. Emily and Esme were bonding over the design of her kitchen and everyone else had fallen in to easy conversations. Emmett and Jasper told us about hunting. Emmett liked to hunt bears because he was killed by one as a human. Carlisle only turned people who were already dying, which surprised me. I thought they had all chosen this life, but it seemed that none of them had.

After another hour of talking, Sam drove us back to his house. Jacob and Embry decided to stay at Rosalie's house with her and Bella tonight. I asked Jared if he wanted to run and we did for awhile. Emmett and Jasper had agreed to patrol tonight so we wouldn't have to, and to stay on the perimeter of the res until we met with the council. We knew we didn't need to patrol with them out there, but it was nice to run together again. Jared knew that I needed him to be there, but not to give me advice. We finally phased and wanted to cliff dive so we jumped a few times. The water was freezing but it felt freeing. I knew that everything would be okay no matter what happened with the council, but I hoped that Rosalie wasn't one of the few that had killed people. I didn't know which ones I thought were murderers, but it couldn't be my imprint.