Paul
I was fuming as we drove away from the Cullen home and I wasn't the only one. Leah smacked Emmett's arm in the front seat.
"Why the fuck didn't you tell me you were married to her?" She growled.
"I only met you yesterday, Leah. I don't owe you my entire life story on day one."
I laughed. "She wouldn't have done anything different if she knew how you feel about Rosalie, Em. How the hell did Rose know we were together last night? What did you do, Lee?"
She looked down at her hands. "I answered your phone earlier." She mumbled.
"You did WHAT? Why would you do that? You know Rosalie hates you." I couldn't blame Rose for being mad. The separation had been painful for me, and she had made it clear before she left that she wasn't comfortable with me being around Leah.
"I knew she was with Emily and-"
"I don't give a shit about Emily, Rosalie is my imprint and you keep starting shit with her!"
She turned around. "Oh, get over it Paul. I didn't see you phasing to stop me."
"I expected Embry to be the one to protect her." Seth added.
"Why would you say that, Seth?" I asked him.
He looked uncomfortable answering. "Do you think the spirits got it wrong? I mean, you haven't defended her once with Leah. Embry seems to really love her."
"Paul is perfect for Rosalie, Seth." Emmett told him. "Your sister just has to stop meddling in their relationship."
"Did the imprint not help you get over Sam?" Seth asked her.
She nodded. "The situation with Sam doesn't hurt anymore, but I still won't ever forgive Emily."
"So what's your problem with Rosalie, LeeLee?"
Emmett chuckled. "Do you guys not see how similar they are? Leah has started all of the shit, sure, but Rosalie made sure to throw our marriage in her face. She's no angel either." I growled at him, but he kept talking. "I actually think the two of you would be best friends if you'd stop acting like you're fucking Paul, Leah."
That would be the dream, for Rosalie and Leah to get along. How could she still not trust me? I told her about my relationship with Leah before they left. Something more had to have happened for her to doubt me the way she was.
We pulled up at the Clearwater house and went inside to see Leah's parents and Billy Black. They had invited us for dinner so they could meet Emmett. I wanted to stay at the Cullens place with Rosalie, but I promised Emmett I'd be there for him. Sue was certainly the most intimidating of the Clearwater clan. She wasn't in on our secret either, so she expected Emmett to eat.
Dinner passed by painfully slow. All I could think about was running back to Rosalie's house to talk to her. It took a lot of fighting with Sam to convince him to let Leah and Seth come see their parents for dinner. Billy had agreed that having her imprint nearby would help Leah to maintain her composure, and Seth had never had an issue with his anger anyway.
Emmett was easily able to charm both of Leah's parents, not that I had ever doubted him. Sue was hesitant of anyone that was interested in Leah after what happened with Sam, but she seemed to trust Emmett. When dinner was over, the four of us went next door to my house to spend the night. I was trying not to be angry with Leah, but being here with her when Rosalie was at home and hurting felt wrong.
Seth fell asleep on my couch while Emmett and Leah had went to the guest bedroom. I could hear their moans from down the hall and knew I had to get out of there. I ran out to the woods, phased, and headed to the Cullens home. The rest of the pack had agreed to stay there since we were outgrowing Sam's place. It was easier for us to all be together in case Victoria came back. I was almost there when I saw a figure standing in my path.
"What the hell did I tell you about hurting my sister, mutt?" Jasper yelled at me.
I may have been the most skilled fighter in the pack, but I knew better than to take Jasper on. I phased so we could talk.
"Jasper, it was really just a misunderstanding." I pleaded. "I wouldn't hurt Rosalie for the world, and I did not sleep with Leah."
He scoffed. "There seems to be a lot of misunderstandings where you're concerned. Rosalie would be better off with Embry."
Hearing another person tell me that filled me with an absolute rage. "She is mine, Jasper." I growled through clenched teeth.
"Not for long if you don't get your shit together." He told me. "Embry is with her now."
I was hurt, but not surprised. "I thought she wanted to be alone."
"She just didn't want to be around you, Paul." He told me.
We walked down to stand between the trees overlooking Rosalie's house. I could see Embry holding her in her bed while she wept. He has to be involved in this. She had trusted me when she left, and when she came back she didn't. I had grown tired of the game we were playing and decided to break up their party. My howl pierced the night and I saw Embry sit up, away from her.
I ran closer to La Push as everyone started to phase in. I could feel Sam, Embry, Jacob, Jared, and Quil now. I howled again when I was closer to my house so Leah and Seth would hear me and come out. A pack meeting was long overdue.
"Paul?" Sam asked. "What's wrong? Is there a leech?"
"I'm tired of the bullshit, Sam. Leah and Embry have both interfered in my relationship with Rosalie and I want something to be done about it."
Sam growled at me. "It's the middle of the damn night, Paul. You couldn't have waited until morning?"
"NO!" I snapped at him. "I've waited and waited for things to work out with me and Rosalie and suddenly she thinks I'm fucking Leah again but she's awfully comfy with Embry. What did you say to her, Call?"
"Nothing that wasn't true, Lahote. Emily told her about how promiscuous you always were and that Leah can't be trusted and she connected the dots herself." He showed us his conversation with Rose about Emily had said to her.
"Leave Emily out of this." Sam growled.
"Sam, Paul is right." Jacob spoke up. "Leah, Embry, and Emily have all been fucking with his imprint and it's not right. It's the one thing we're supposed to hold sacred and respect and they've shit all over it."
"Agreed." Quil said. "I'm new to this, but I can see how much Paul loves Rosalie. Em, what are you doing man? You know you can't be with her, you're just torturing yourself. She's going to end up with Paul, just back off."
"Oh, and just leave Rosalie alone while Paul is off trying to fuck Lauren Mallory?" Embry scoffed.
That must be what had changed. Embry had told her about Lauren.
"I didn't tell her shit, Paul. You can thank Emily for that one." I had forgotten that he could hear me for a second.
Jared growled and moved to stand in front of Embry. "If you know what's fucking good for you, you'll stay away from Rosalie, Embry."
Embry growled back at him and Sam cut him off. "ENOUGH." We all felt the weight of the alpha timbre in his voice.
"Embry, you will stay away from Rosalie. Leah, you will apologize to her and set the record straight about you and Paul. No one in this pack will meddle in Paul's relationship with his imprint anymore, is that understood?" We all nodded. "I will talk to Emily and find out what was said. I'm sorry, Paul."
"This is bullshit!" Embry yelled. "Rosalie doesn't have anyone, and you're taking me away from her?"
"He wouldn't have to if you hadn't kept trying to sleep with her." Jared commented.
"Fuck you guys. I'm going home." Embry took off toward La Push.
"Are you going to my house?" Sam asked.
"No, my house. Just leave me alone, Sam." He replied. Embry phased out and we couldn't hear or see him anymore.
"Come on, Jake." Quil said. "We need to be there for him." Jacob nodded and they both phased out.
"Paul, why don't we go see Rosalie?" Jared suggested. "I'll go with you, and Leah can come to apologize."
"That's a great idea." Sam agreed. "Go home, Seth. Let Emmett know that Leah will be back soon."
We all phased out and trotted toward Rosalie's house. She was sitting on the porch when I walked up with Jared and Leah. She was not happy to see us.
"What the hell are you three doing here? Where is Embry?" She asked.
Jared laughed. "Embry isn't coming back. Alpha's orders."
"Fuck Sam and his orders. Embry is the only one that's been honest with me." She turned toward Leah. "What the fuck are you doing here? Tired of fucking Paul?"
Leah looked at me and I nodded at her. "Rosalie, I never slept with Paul. I just wanted to get to Emily. I'm sorry."
Rosalie looked sympathetic toward her. "Paul, can you and Jared leave? I'd like to talk to Leah alone. Esme is cooking, go get something to eat."
I was surprised that she wanted to talk to Leah without me, but I didn't argue. I hadn't spent much time with Jared in the last few days and it was nice to catch up with him. Esme was growing close to all of us, and we all felt at home with their family.
I wanted to talk to Emily about what Embry told me, but I knew Sam would never let me get close to her while I'm angry. Embry back with Jacob and Quil after a few hours, but none of them said anything to me. Emmett and Seth showed up too, concerned about what was taking Leah so long.
I moved to the living room, away from everyone as they ate and talked in the kitchen. I was angry. Rosalie constantly doubted me, and I wondered if we would ever have a normal relationship. Did she not want this to work? I hadn't expected loyalty from Embry, but I also hadn't expected him to go out of his way to cause problems the way he was. I could tell he was in love with her, but she's my imprint.
I was angry with Leah, but also with Emily, for more of the same. They let their personal issues with each other come between me and Rosalie. None of them had thought about me in all of the bullshit they were causing and it was infuriating. I had fought for Leah and now it was like she was fighting against me. Jasper must have felt my anger, he came to sit next to me on the couch.
"How would you feel about letting off some steam?" He asked. "We could go spar in the woods if you want. It will be good practice for you."
I was hesitant to agree to take Jasper on, but I did. Seth and Emmett decided to join us. We spent a long time working with Seth on how to take on a leech before I got to see any action. He was very trusting of the Cullens and they loved working with him. I was basically sidelined, but watching them spar provided the distraction that I needed. I phased and sat in the grass watching so Seth wouldn't be distracted by my thoughts. Emmett was holding back and being easy on him, but Jasper was not. I found myself wishing that we had all been trained by Jasper as new wolves after seeing how easily Seth was able to catch on to things.
Seth had phased out and sat down to take a break when Jasper walked up to me.
"You planning to sit there all night and let Seth show you up?" He taunted me.
I stood up and phased and his demeanor had immediately changed. Emmett went to sit by Seth, and Jasper ran at me. He raised his leg to kick me and I grabbed him with my teeth. I threw him backwards, but he landed on his feet. We danced around each other for awhile before either of us got another blow in. I went for Jasper's leg and I missed, giving him the perfect opportunity to grab me. He grabbed my front left leg (my arm) and snapped it. I heard the bones breaking and I phased back, unable to run on it.
"What the fuck? We were just supposed to be practicing!" Looking at my arm I knew that someone would have to set the bone or it wouldn't heal properly.
He chuckled darkly. "I told you not to fuck with my sister."
A moment later someone tackled Jasper, but it all looked like a blur. It took me a moment to realize it was Rosalie.
"What the hell did you do?" She yelled at Jasper, with her hand on his throat. "I told you I can take care of myself!"
He pushed her off of him, but didn't try to fight with her.
"It's okay, Rosalie. I deserved it for hurting you." I told her.
She turned to look at me and her expression softened. "You didn't deserve it, Paul. Come on, let's go have Carlisle take a look at it."
Emmett scoffed. "You've been to medical school twice, and you can't handle a broken bone?"
"It's going to hurt her too, Em. We can feel our imprint's pain. You'd feel it if someone hurt me, too." Leah told him. I hadn't even noticed she was there.
We walked back to the Cullen house and I could feel my arm starting to mend back together. Jared was standing by the door when we walked up and started laughing when he saw my arm. Rosalie glared at him but didn't say anything. Jared followed us to Carlisle's office, where he confirmed that my arm would need to be broken again in order to set properly.
"Can I do it?" Jared asked. "I've always wanted to break Paul's arm!" He was clearly having a lot of fun with this.
"Go for it." I told him. "Jasper got his crack in, you may as well do it too."
"Jasper did this?" Carlisle asked me.
I nodded. "It's okay, I deserved it."
Jared breaking my arm wasn't quite as painful as Carlisle resetting it, and both were less painful than what Jasper did. Rosalie stayed by my side and followed me back to the room I was sharing with Jared. Our room was next to Quil and Embry, with Jacob and Bella on the other side. Leah was moving in to Emmett's old room and Seth had a room to himself for now. Sam and Emily also had a room there, and seemed to prefer it over their own house on the reservation.
"Do you guys want me to stay somewhere else for the night? I could sleep in Seth's room." Jared offered.
Rosalie shook her head. "Do you want to go back to my place, Paul?"
I wanted to. I wanted Rosalie so badly, and I would have done almost anything to be with her. But she had hurt me and I couldn't forgive her that easily.
"Would you mind to give me a night alone, Rosalie? I'm okay. I promise. I just want to stay here with Jared tonight." Her face fell and my chest ached knowing I was hurting her.
She stepped away from me without a word and ran out of the house. Jasper appeared at the door and started to say something to me, but Jared growled and he walked away.
"Man, this is so fucked up. I'm sorry your imprint isn't even a positive thing for you." Jared told me.
"Rosalie is everything I ever could have wanted. I just wish I could fix this." I responded.
Leah walked in the room. "Don't worry, Pauly. She is coming around. Just stop pushing her out and be there for her. She's really going to need support when Bella tells everyone she's pregnant."
"WHAT? Bella is pregnant?"
Jared looked at me like I had two heads. "You can't smell the difference?"
"I haven't been around her since they've been back."
Leah laughed. "I just can't wait to see the look on Emily's face when she finds out. Goodnight guys. I love you, Paul."
"Love you too, LeeLee."
As I drifted off to sleep, I knew that things would be okay with me and Rosalie. I only hoped that she would handle Bella's news well, and that we could protect Bella and the first pack baby from Victoria.