Paul
I woke up in the Black's house for the second morning in a row with no idea how I'd gotten there. I vaguely could remember Emmett and Leah's wedding. I hadn't been in the wedding party as we planned, but I did see the ceremony. I remembered talking to Embry before we went. The reception was where I lost it; I didn't remember anything after taking pictures with the pack.
Today I was in Jacob's bedroom. Bella was sleeping next to me and Jacob was on the other side of her. She was cuddled up to Jacob but had one hand resting on my leg. I couldn't thank the spirits enough for her and Jake. These last few days would have been unbearable for me without her. Surprisingly, I wasn't in much pain today. I got up without waking Bella and walked across the hall to the bathroom. I was washing my face when I heard yelling coming from the kitchen. I opened the door slightly so I could hear more clearly.
"Damn it, Billy!" Harry Clearwater yelled. "Tell me what's going on! I know that you and Quil know more than you're letting on."
"Be quiet, the kids are sleeping." Billy said in a hushed tone. "Have you been talking to Embry?"
"No, I spoke to Seth and Sam. Embry is gone. Listen, you know I love Paul like my own. I need to know Billy, is Rosalie really dead? Please just tell me. I want to help my boy." Harry pleaded.
Billy took a moment to respond. "I don't know."
"What the hell does that mean?" Harry demanded. "You both sat here yesterday and told Embry he'd seen the fire and you knew she was dead. Even tried to tell him that it takes a few days for the imprint to break, which sounds like a load of shit to me."
"Quil does have a journal that says that, and we told Paul the same thing. I don't know all of the answers, Harry. What do you want me to say? That we know something's off with the situation but we don't know what it is? It could make sense for her to be alive, but you were there that night too. If Rosalie made it out of that fire alive she would be here, and she never would have left her engagement ring behind." Billy explained.
What did he mean it would make sense for her to be alive? I didn't feel her anymore. All I felt was pain. I didn't feel the gentle pull of our imprint anymore, just pain and emptiness. I was broken because the imprint was broken. It didn't make sense to me that she could be alive.
"My boy is suffering, Billy. You'd be just as angry if this was Jake. I want some answers soon. We have to help Paul." Harry told him.
I couldn't listen to this anymore. I had to confront them. When I walked in the kitchen the color left Billy's face. "Good morning, Paul." He greeted me. "I'm sorry if we woke you." Harry didn't speak to me. His face was red from yelling at Billy.
I scowled at him. "Will you all stop arguing about Rosalie? I lost my imprint and I am sick of everyone insisting that she's somehow still alive. Every time I listen to it and nothing comes from it, it's like you're killing her all over again. If any of you care about me, you'd just shut the fuck up and accept that Rosalie is dead."
I ran from the house and phased. I needed to run. Jared was phased too and I was glad it was the two of us and I didn't have to deal with the rest of the pack. We were supposed to patrol together but he had been patrolling alone the last few days. I wanted to lose myself in something and get my mind off of Rosalie for a minute. I challenged Jared to a race and we took off toward the Cullen's house.
I expected running with an imprinted wolf to be better for me since their thoughts would be consumed with their own imprint; I was wrong. Jared did think of Kim, but his thoughts kept drifting back to Rosalie. Since she died I'd learned about so many friendships I didn't know she had. I knew she'd patrolled with Sam, but I had no idea how close they were. She seemed to have gotten really close to Jared too. I watched his memories of her play in his thoughts, not wanting to ask him to stop.
"Jared! Are you here?" Rosalie called as she walked in Sam's house. "It's Rose!"
Jared stood from the couch chuckling as he walked to meet her. "I know your voice, loser. What do you need?"
She slapped his arm at his insult. "I need your help. I'm going to remodel Paul's bedroom and I just realized I have no idea what colors he'd like."
"That's easy." Jared replied to her. "He loves dark colors. Green is his favorite. Do you need some help?"
"If you're not busy. I could do it all myself, but I get weird looks when I do heavy lifting myself." She replied.
The two of them took off in Emmett's jeep. They went to Newton's in Forks for the green paint. Jared recommended a few different shades and the two bickered for awhile about which shade to buy. They finally settled on the deep shade of green that was displayed in my bedroom now. When they went to check out, Mike Newton had been cold toward Jared.
"What's wrong, Mike?" Rosalie teased him. "Are you mad that Jared arrested your girlfriend?"
Mike's face got red and Jared laughed. "Don't tease the poor guy, Rosalie. I'd be embarrassed if my girl's mugshot looked like that too."
Mike didn't respond to either of them and handed Rosalie's card back to her. Jared carried the paint out to the car and the two of them burst in to laughter as soon as they were outside the store. They left Forks and went to Port Angeles to pick up the TV and the supplies they used to mount it. Jared picked out all of the games they stocked the entertainment with. We'd played enough as kids that he knew all of my favorites. All of the big furniture they'd ordered from a local woodworking business on the reservation.
"She was really excited for you to see it." Jared told me. "I'm sorry, that's my favorite memory with her."
He showed me glimpses of the rest of their day. He had slung paint all over her, and I wasn't sure how she'd gotten it out of her hair without me noticing. "I didn't realize how close the two of you were." I told him.
"Rose was my sister. I'd have to be close to your wife, you're my best friend." He replied solemnly.
We approached the Cullen's house when we caught a new scent; there was a leech here. I howled loudly and we took off toward the scent. The army wasn't supposed to be here for a few more days. Jared was usually softer than most of us, but all he could think was that he wanted to sink his teeth in to a filthy bloodsucker after they killed his sister. I felt my brothers phasing in; Sam, Jake, Quil, and Seth all joined us. Leah was the last one and we moved as a pack to take down our enemy together.
We found the bloodsucker about five miles from the Cullen's house. She was a young girl with long black hair and crimson eyes. As soon as she saw us she sank to her knees and put her hands in the air. She was holding a note, and it smelled like Rosalie and Embry.
"What is this bitch doing?" Leah wondered.
"Who cares, let's tear her apart." Quil replied.
"No!" Sam ordered us. "She is on her hands and knees and she smells like our brother. We will hear what she has to say." Sam ran from us and came back on two legs. "Who are you and what the hell do you want?"
The girl looked terrified. She couldn't have been very old. I would have almost felt bad for her if not for her red eyes revealing she'd fed from a human recently.
"I need to see Jasper. They told me to ask for Jasper." She said. Her voice cracked as she spoke.
Sam glared at her, not satisfied with her answer. "Who is they? Edward? Victoria?"
"No!" She yelled. "God no, not them! The blonde girl and the boy that looks like you. They were looking for Angela and Rosalie. They said to tell Jasper that Katherine Lillian McCarty sent me."
Leah phased out and stomped toward the girl, picking her up by her shirt. "I don't know who you are or how you got those names, but you better talk."
"I swear, they told me Jasper would help me. Please! I don't want to be part of the army! I don't want to die!" I hated leeches but I was starting to feel sympathetic toward the girl.
"Lillian is my dead sister's middle name and McCarty is my husband's last name. If Edward sent you, I swear I'll tear you limb from limb." Leah growled. I felt a pang in my chest. Leah knew Rosalie's middle name and I didn't.
"Enough, Leah!" Sam yelled. Leah released her grip on the girl and she fell to the ground. "I'm calling Jasper."
Sam wouldn't let us fight the girl but we all circled around her as we waited on Jasper to arrive. I hoped Emmett would come with him. He had changed since Rosalie's death, and I was convinced that he was the most ruthless of us all. Every few seconds one of the pack would jump toward the girl and snarl at her and we'd all laugh at her reactions. I wasn't usually this cruel, but I suppose losing Rosalie had brought this out in me.
Jasper arrived and questioned the girl at length. He asked her more questions than I ever could have thought of. Who was she? When was she turned? Who turned her? Where was she turned? Did she feed from humans? Did she have a mate? Who did she confide in? Who was leading the army? How many newborns were moving against us? What did Katherine (Kate) look like? What did Embry look like? What were their scents like?
Then he moved on to juicer questions. Had she known Alice? What did she know about the Cullens? What did they know about the pack? When had she last seen Angela? The girl answered each question carefully. Sometimes he'd ask the same question twice to make sure she gave us the same answer. Her name was Bree, she was turned by Riley. Riley was a kid from Forks that had gone missing, and he was Victoria's right hand man. He knew the area well and planned to break off from the rest of the group to search for Bella on the day of the battle. Angela was her confidant. She said that Angela and Alice had been working on a covert operation behind Edward's back, but I didn't believe that. How many covert operations could Alice have been in? She was going behind our backs and scheming with Edward and behind Edward's to scheme with Angela? The girl said that Angela just came to talk to Rosalie when she couldn't reach Alice, but we all knew how that had ended.
Jasper finally determined she was safe and would be granted asylum with us. "Kate Denali sent her. I asked her to check up on Embry." He explained. "The name she gave the girl is a combination of her name, Rosalie's, and Emmett's. It's a trick Peter came up with when we were newborns so we'd know who was safe without contacting each other. It was a little tough to reach people back in those days." He chuckled lightly. "I'll stay with the girl until the fight. She won't be alone." He assured us.
We followed Jasper and the girl back to the Cullen house. The pack planned to monitor her as closely as Jasper said he would. I didn't trust her and I questioned Jasper's motives. He asked her a lot of questions about Alice. I went in the house and went straight up the stairs to Emmett's room. He was sitting in the corner staring out the window at the forest. It was odd to see Emmett sad. His bubbly personality had left him when Rosalie died. He didn't even seem to notice that I'd entered the room. I put my hand on his shoulder and he didn't acknowledge me.
"Can you do something for me, Emmett?" I asked him. He nodded his head but didn't turn to look at me. I handed him my cell phone. "I need you to call Kate Denali."
Emmett handed my phone back to me and pulled his out. I suppose it would have been weird for me to call someone I'd never spoken to. He gave me his phone back to me ringing. It rang for so long I didn't think she'd answer. Finally, the person I wanted to talk to picked up.
"Hi Paul." Embry answered.
"Did you send a bloodsucker here?" I demanded. "Why are you even doing this, Em? Rosalie is DEAD."
He sighed. "I don't believe that and I know in your heart that you don't either. I didn't want to send Bree there, Kate did."
"Oh, so you're on a first name basis with the red eyed bloodsucker? And when did we start letting leeches call the shots?" I asked. "Kate is a friend of the Cullens, but she isn't part of this pack.
He growled. "Like hell she's not. If your imprint was part of the pack, mine is too."
Another leech imprint was exactly what we needed right now. I had to admit that part of my felt relieved that he would be over his feelings for Rosalie. At least one of us could escape this emotional turmoil. "Great, you imprinted. Worry about your imprint and stop chasing the ghost of mine. Get back to La Push and help us train to fight this damn army that's coming to kill us all."
I knew better than to push a newly imprinted wolf, but I needed my brother here. I hadn't known much about Rosalie's relationships with Jared and Sam, but I knew how much she loved Embry. It took me a long time to stop seeing him as my competition and finally see him as my brother and her best friend. Now that she was gone we should be helping each other through this, but he was in denial.
"Embry, you can feel Kate, right? There's a pull to her. Almost like a tether. You feel that, don't you?" I questioned.
"Yes, Paul. I get it now. What are you trying to say?"
I sighed. "I can't feel Rosalie anymore. Ever since the fire. All I feel is pain and emptiness. If she was alive, I'd feel the pull. I wish she had survived, but I know in my heart that she died. Please come home."
He started sobbing softly. "There has to be some other reason.."
"There isn't." I cut him off.
"I can't give up on her, Paul." He told me.
"We aren't giving up on her, Embry. We're accepting what happened and moving on with our lives. That is what she would want us to do." I told him. "Please, come home. Let's get through this together."
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." He agreed and disconnected the call.
I handed the phone to Emmett. "That goes for you too, you know. Rosalie wouldn't want you to sulk like this. We all need to be focused on this fight or none of us will make it."
He took the phone from me but didn't say anything. I stood there for a moment, waiting to see if he'd respond. It was when I finally gave up and started to leave that he spoke.
"Nobody can understand how guilty I feel." He told me. "Rosalie saved me and I didn't save her. When I was human and I was mauled by that bear, she showed up and carried me for miles back to Carlisle. She stayed by my side through my entire transformation and we were inseparable until we came to Forks and met Bella. I know we weren't meant to be a couple- but she was so important to me. I didn't think I'd ever lose her." He kept staring out the window. "I'll be at training tonight. Tell Leah to come up here when you see her."
I patted his shoulder and left. I knew he needed time alone, I just hoped he'd be in better spirits tonight. The pack was supposed to be having dinner tonight, but nobody wanted to leave Bree alone with the Cullens. I didn't expect any of the guys to agree for their imprints to be around her, but surprisingly they did. Jared and I helped Esme in the kitchen while we waited for the girls to arrive. I knew I didn't have anyone to be anxious to see, but I still enjoyed everyone's company. The girls took long enough that the three of us finished preparing dinner and set the table before they arrived. Esme made everyone wait for them before we could start eating. Bree sat uncomfortably at Jasper's side when we moved to the dining room and took our seats at the table. She made a few remarks about the smell of human food bothering her, and none of the pack's responses were to Jasper's liking.
"When I rip your head off your shoulders you won't be able to smell it." Leah had told her.
"I bet there wasn't human food to torture you with your bloodsucking army." Quil added.
"Yeah, maybe you should go back and leave us alone." Jared agreed.
"Enough." Sam ordered. "I know that you aren't pleased with Bree's presence but Jasper has made a decision and we will treat her with respect."
I scoffed. "I don't give a shit what Jasper decided, I'm not respecting a red-eyed bloodsucker. We will treat her with indifference, nothing more." Jasper glared at me, but he hadn't challenged me the way he used to since Rosalie's death. I was honestly becoming annoyed that everyone was walking on eggshells around me, but it saved me an argument with the family for now.
I heard the sound of the door opening and in walked Emily, Bella, Kim, and Rachel. We'd already made plates for them and left seats empty for them to fill next to their partners. Bella would be sitting between me and Jacob, he knew that I needed her close to me. She sat down and laced her fingers with Jake while resting her other hand on my leg. She gave me a soft smile and squeezed me gently. Kim and Emily both greeted their partners with kisses as they took their seats. Rachel stood across the room with her arms crossed in front of her, glaring at Bree.
"Rachel," Esme called. "Come join us, dear. Jacob told me this is your favorite meal."
The one thing that none of us would tolerate was disrespect toward Esme. She had become a motherly figure for all of the pack. "Why is there a leech hanging off of my mate?" Rachel asked nobody in particular.
Bree shifted away from Jasper uncomfortably, as if she were afraid of Rachel. If only the girl knew that Rachel was merely human. I hated to admit, but I found her fear incredibly funny. She shouldn't be here in the first place. Emmett sighed loudly, dreading this entire encounter. Leah whispered something in his ear, too low for the rest of us to hear. Jasper stood from the table and ran to Rachel's side.
"Darlin', she's here to help us. I'm just keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't do anything out of line." He explained.
"What is wrong with you, Jas? She shouldn't be here at all. She needs to just leave!" Rachel started shaking. Could she be phasing? She had the gene just like her brother did, but the only girl to ever phase had been Leah.
"Rach, it's okay. She's not going to hurt us." Jasper told her. "Please calm down." How has this man lived since the civil war and not learned never to tell a woman to calm down?
"CALM DOWN?" She roared. Her face was starting to get red. "Don't tell me to calm down, Jasper! You brought a human killing bloodsucker home to our family!"
"Leah, Jake, go." Sam ordered them. They were the two she was closest to and probably had the best chance of actually calming her down.
They both ran to Rachel and tried to pull her outside. I stood in front of Bella protectively and noticed Jared and Sam had done the same with their imprints. Jasper had stepped back from her, knowing what was about to happen.
"Get your hands off me, Leah!" Rachel yelled and she grabbed Leah's hair.
Leah was pretty even tempered lately, but this set her off. The Cullens home had large windows that went almost from the floor to the ceiling and Leah threw Rachel out of the one that was closest to them and jumped out behind her. They had both phased before they reached the ground. Jake followed them and phased too, trying but failing to stop their fight.
"Well, at least there's another wolf to protect the imprints now." Jared joked.
Esme walked to the now broken window with a worried expression. "Jasper, Emmett, please stop them. They're hurting each other."
We could see the fight clearly from the window by the table. Leah had a lot of experience on Rachel and her wolf was bigger, but Rachel was a natural just like Jake. He kept trying to get between them but both of them were faster than him. I should have been upset that Rachel was fighting my sister, but instead I felt proud that they were both so skilled. It made me feel better about their ability to protect the others.
Emmett laughed for the first time since we lost Rosalie. "I love you Esme, but I'm not getting in the middle of a chick fight."
Jared chuckled too. "Yeah, I say we let them fight it out. Jake won't let it go too far. Let's eat guys!"
We looked to Sam who shrugged his shoulders and everyone sat down to eat, ignoring the fight between the girls outside. Bree still sat at the end of the table, looking down at her feet and not speaking to anyone. Esme looked disheartened and I helped her clean up the broken glass, promising that we would fix it the next day. She hated to see our family fight with each other. Emmett took some clothes outside and sat them on the bottom step for the girls to change in to. They eventually stopped fighting and joined the rest of the pack at the table.
Jake and I walked in the dining room at the same time to see Bella sitting next to Bree. It took every ounce of my control not to phase and rip Bree to shreds. I knew that Bella was more understanding and tolerant of leeches than the rest of us, but she hadn't ever been around truly dangerous ones before. The Cullens all loved Bella, and none of them would hurt a human anyway. Jake was shaking and I knew I had to say something.
"Get the hell away from her, leech." I growled at Bree.
Bella looked at me like I'd slapped her in the face. "Excuse me, Paul, but I can speak for myself. Bree is harmless."
"Harmless?" I yelled. "Are you blind B? Her eyes are red, that means she feeds from humans. She's not like our family." How could Bella not see that?
"Was Rosalie bad for killing the men who assaulted her?" Bella asked. "Or what about Jasper, who fought with Maria? We accepted both of them into our family even though they fed from humans. Rosalie even bit Embry and we understood!"
I growled and knew I couldn't hold back my phase much longer. Bella had been so compassionate, why would she compare my Rosalie to this monster? Every time she said her name that way it felt like she was twisting a knife in my chest. "Those were different circumstances Isabella." I said curtly. I could tell she hated that I used her full name instead of calling her B as I normally did, or Bella which she preferred.
Bella stood up and glared at me. "So it's up to you to decide what circumstances justify making a mistake?" She emphasized the word you, as if to say I specifically was in no position to do that. "I love you, but you're being very judgmental. Bree never asked to be turned she was forced to be in this army and she didn't know any better than feeding from humans. She begged Embry and Kate to offer her a second chance and they agreed. You don't have to like her, but you will not tell me that I can't be nice to her."
How could she not understand where I was coming from? I'd just lost my imprint, I couldn't handle losing her too.
"I will." Jake said. "You're going to stay away from her, Bella. You're carrying my child I will not have you around a cold blooded killer like her. They killed Rosalie, there is no way she was close to Angela and not in on the plan."
It wasn't often that I agreed with Jake, but today was one of those times. Bella was pregnant and we'd just lost an imprint, we didn't need her putting herself at risk to make Bree feel welcome.
Bella started crying, a sight that broke my heart. "I can't believe you guys don't trust me." She said as she stood from the table. "I'm going to Charlie's. Don't follow me."
We watched as she left the room and went out to her truck. I didn't even know she'd drove here. Nobody said anything for a few minutes, but Sam broke the silence by telling Leah and Rachel to go check on her. Rachel seemed hesitant to leave Jasper, and I later learned that she imprinted on him in the midst of the chaos. I wanted to go myself, but I knew that Bella would be safe with the girls and I didn't trust myself not to argue with her.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. The pain came back without Bella around, but I pushed through it. Jake let me sleep at his house again; I certainly wasn't ready to stay at my house in the room Rosalie had redone for us. Training was intense but I had faith in my brothers. Peter and Charlotte had babysat red eyes while we trained so she wouldn't pick up on our strategy. I still didn't think we would make it through without casualties, but I knew we could take down Angela and avenge my mate and that was really all I cared about.