Paul

I groaned quietly as my gaze flickered from one of my brothers to the next, each of them as confused and annoyed as I was feeling right now. Today was supposed to be my day off; instead I'm sitting here in Emily and Sam's little house for a "Pack" meeting even though one of our pack members is missing.

I can't help but roll my eyes; Jacob was being such a little brat. Who the fuck cares if his leech-lover was marrying someone else. Get the fuck over it. Why was this MY problem anyway.

"I know you're all annoyed at being called here today. I promise to make this quick."

Sam's voice booms; despite that we all had supersonic hearing; he still felt the need to raise his voice at us.

Seth, Brady and Colin were quick to settle down and Leah looked as annoyed as me.

"I went by Billy's place last night. I'm sure you all remember Rachel Black? Well it seems like Charlie called her and told her that Jake is missing so she's back to help find him. I don't need to remind all of you to keep your mouths shut. Despite who she is, she should be considered part of La Push like everyone else's families. No one can say a single word to her.

If she asks about Jake. All we know is that he is okay .. Don't force me to put gag orders on you fools."

Scoffing at the mention of Rachel, I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not intrigued. She was a few years older. I remember her and Rebecca around the Rez. There were even a few times that I can recall Rachel babysitting me. I was a dumb kid with my first crush. I used to annoy her more than any of the other babysitters I had.

"Is she hot?"

I couldn't help myself. This earned a glare from Sam but had Jared and Embry howling in laughter.

"Don't even go there, Paul. I have enough of my hands full with everything else going on."

Sam's voice was stern .. He was Alpha Sam now; not the fun big brother Sam.

Suddenly my day seemed more interesting.

"Fine .. If that is all, can we go now?"

I called already; standing up and stretching my arms above my head; making no point in hiding the loud yawn that fell from my lips.

"Yes, you can go. But first. Emily wanted to throw a welcome home party for Rachel, so everyone needs to be at Billy's house at 7 sharp."

Flashing a sly grin over at Emily; before giving Sam a mockery salute. Jared was already out of the house and racing to see Kim. It caused me to roll my eyes at the thought.

"One day, Paul. You'll understand"

Glaring at Sam, who had a smirk plastered across his stupid face, I scoffed.

"Fuck that shit. Imprint or not .. Why would I ever settle down with one chick when every chick wants this?"

Flexing my abs; My reflexes are quick to work when Emily throws something at me.

"Just wait .. Paul."

She's laughing now too as I stride over to give her a hug. She was like our Wolf Mom / big sister. And all of us adored her. Even Leah; though she would never have admitted that. Emily even took in Kim and Claire like they were her own.

XxXx

I had spent most of the day just lazing around my house. Unable to get my thoughts off of the fact that Miss Rachel Black was actually back in town. I wondered what she looked like now, how she would react to seeing me. Becoming a Wolf had a lot of downfalls and some days I really hated it, but one of the perks was; it had never been easier getting girls than it was now.

I actually felt sorry for my brothers who had imprinted. I couldn't imagine a worse fate than being stuck to one person and feeling like I was excited about it.

But maybe that was just because I had never experienced that kind of love before.

I mean, growing up knowing that your mom didn't even love you enough to stick around is kind of harsh and makes you wonder if love even exists. I look at Sam and Emily or even Jared and Kim and they seem happy, but is it real? If the imprint didn't exist, neither of them would even have looked at each other let alone actually got together. Except for Kim that is, she'd had a major crush on Jared her entire life and he hadn't even noticed her – until the imprint.

Kicking my legs over the side of the sofa, I had a few hours before I was supposed to put on a "Happy face" and meet the rest of the pack at Billy's house. That gave me a little time to spend at the beach before coming home and taking a shower.

I didn't bother putting on a shirt; what is the point when you're constantly running at 108 degrees. Clothes are a major waste of time especially when you have anger running through your veins the way I did.

I was relieved to see practically no one on the beach; the weather was a little on the cool side today and most people were bundled up at home. Except for one girl.

From the distance I could see her walking along the beach; I paused for just a moment. Not sure why; there was something about her. Even from as far as I was; she looked sad. She started to rub her eyes but I couldn't tell if she was crying or sand had just flown into her face. It was fairly windy so either was possible. She carried something in her hands, it looked like fliers of some kind.

I hadn't even realized that my feet had begun to move and it was like there was this invisible rope that just pulled me towards her.

Before I knew it, I was standing a few feet away; suddenly almost as if out of nowhere a big gust of wind started to blow; taking both of us by surprise and sending the fliers all over the place. I didn't waste a moment before I began to gather them up, not bothering to look at the papers first. Before she could bend to pick some up, I was there .. in front of her and gathering them at her feet; taking this moment to look at the papers; I frowned, it was fliers for … Jacob.

"Oh My God, thank you so much."

Her voice carried on the wind and it was the sweetest voice I'd ever heard, Glancing up at her from where I knelt down on one knee, from passers by it would have looked like I was proposing to her.

A smile was stretched across her face but her eyes told a completely different story.

As my gaze met hers I completely froze. The world around me just stopped and I'm pretty sure in this second; I even stopped breathing. How could one person be so beautiful?

Her russet skin glowed and the hair fell so perfectly in her face, she looked like an angel. At this moment I finally understood why I was born. It wasn't to protect my tribe, it wasn't to kill vampires. It was for her.

She was my reason for everything. The only one I was sent here to protect. I wanted to erase every bit of sadness from that gorgeous face of hers.

The thought of anyone so much as upsetting her made me mad, so mad that I found myself beginning to shake. The wolf in me was clawing and growling to be set free. He wanted out of his cage and to make it known that this goddess in front of us, now belonged to him.

"Are you okay? I have a jacket if you're cold. Though I don't think it will help much"

There is a small, teasing grin that is tugging across her face, it doesn't quite go to her eyes though.

Oh, not only is she beautiful, but she's funny too.

When she takes off her jacket and tries to put it on me; the feel of her skin against mine and the scent of vanilla and strawberries from her shampoo are enough to calm my wolf and the shaking begins to subside. She looks smaller now that she is kneeling down next to me on the sand. But the sadness and fear never leaves her eyes; it takes all of my courage not to pull her into my arms and try to make everything better. After all; my only purpose in life from this moment on is to make her happy.

"I'm Rachel .. Rachel Black"

Only now do I realize I haven't said a single word to her, shock then amusement cloud my face.

"Wow .. Rachel Black in the flesh; more beautiful than you were before."

Oh yeah, the Paul Lahote charm is back. Thank you ancestors for making my imprint the most beautiful on the Reservation. She might not know it yet; but this beauty belongs to me and I'll make sure to spend the rest of her life – and mine. Proving myself and my love to her. But first, I need to tell Sam – and Billy.

As if she couldn't get any more beautiful, the way her cheeks light up at my comment as me grinning.

"I remember you, Miss Black. I bet I was your favorite to babysit"

Giving her a wink, I finished gathering the fliers before standing to my feet and handing them over to her; once I'd helped her up.

At first her face was completely confused and I can tell she had no idea who I was. But just as quickly she begins to groan and throws her head back in an overly dramatic way.

"You mean my worst. I swear I used to go home with a headache every single time I finished babysitting you, Lahote."

Smirking; I take the moment to let my eyes finally trail over every inch of her; this time though, she rolls her eyes and swats at my arm.

"I knew you still thought of me."

Laying on my charm, her nose crinkles slightly and shakes her head.

"Only because I still have nightmares from the day you tried to scare me with that snake"

She shivers as if reliving that nightmare and all I can do is stare at her, I wanted to tell her everything. But I knew I couldn't. I would scare her; before either of us can say something; she goes quiet and the sadness is back.

"I never got to tell him how much I loved him. Or how proud I am. I .. I don't understand. Why didn't he just phone me?"

My heart sinks at her words and once again I want to punch Jacob. I don't need to ask who she is talking about. We both know it's her brother. Shifting my body weight from one foot to the next, I reached over and took her tiny hands in mine; using one hand and with the other I forced her to look up at me.

"I promise Jake will be okay, I'll even help you find him. How about tomorrow morning? We'll even go as far as Forks and Port Angeles and put out fliers. We'll bring him back; Rach. I promise."

Oh .. Fuck me. Sam is going to murder me when he finds out I promised Rachel to help put out fliers.