Chapter 16: three in one

Happy saturday my friends! dont forget to review review review! thans for everyone that has favored and followed this story. Chapter 17 will come out tonight or tommorw

love you all!

A/N: Wolf in bold. Tiger in italics

"Well, it's about time!" a voice growled.

Paul and Bella turned. Sitting on their haunches were Wolf and Tiger.

Wolf was still the same color he always was. Grey paws, a black snout along with a black grey. He had grey tips on his ears and paws.

Tiger on the other hand was white with black stipes and bright blue eyes.

"Well, this is quite a predicament," Tiger spoke.

Bella and Paul blinked. Not knowing what to say about the spirit animals in front of them.

"Well? Are you two going to sit there and stare? Or is someone going to tell us what's going on?"

"Stop being rude" Tiger snapped. He then made his way over to Bella.

"My mate.." he purred as he nuzzled into Bella's neck.

Bella allowed herself to relax as tiger purred.

However, tiger was shoved aside as wolf butted in.

"Our mate." He snapped.

Tiger growled as he looked at wolf. "Oh, now you want to claim her? You didn't want her just a few seconds ago. You were all over your imprint."

The way Tiger said the word imprint, the word was held with distaste

Wolf growled and snapped his jaws at Tiger. The latter backed up and crouched ready to attack.

"I didn't mean it like that."

He then turned to Bella a soft look in his eyes.

"i...I didn't mean it like that. I have always wanted you…but…I can't ignore my pack. They need us too. And Rachel is lonely. She needs a friend. I am not saying this because of the imprint. I couldn't care less about it. I hate it. but I can't stand by while our pack needs help. Our pack brothers and sisters need help. And you." Wolf turned to tiger. " your stopping us from helping our pack. Paul is a great leader. He cares for others but you... your selfish."

"Why should we help a pack that doesn't care about us? They never helped us! They rejected us and made us an outcast. Why should we help people who don't want us."

"We never gave them the chance! They were broken themselves."

"Enough."

Tiger and wolf stopped their argument to acknowledge Paul.

"I have no clue how you two are manifested into your physical body but we have to figure this out. It's obvious the three of us need to figure this out. We all want different things. We were once united and now we are not. We can't keep going like this."

"You mean the four of us." Tiger corrected as he nodded toward Bella.

"huh? What do you mean? i...I don't have any input on this." She asked.

Wolf rolled his eyes.

"Of course you do mate. You have always had a say. "

He then turned to Paul.

"We are battling with ourselves."

"And we need a solution," Tiger said as he sat beside Wolf. A look shared between them.

Paul and Bella sat across from them as the four of them thought.

It was then Paul spoke.

"Well, I for one have to apologize. I haven't been treating either one of you fairly. I understand both of your desires but I haven't been fulfilling them. Not consistently anyway."

"And we owe you an apology young one. We have been pushing our desires upon you and not thinking about what you wanted." Tiger told him

"I guess I've been a jerk too," Wolf admitted as he pawed the ground. He, however, turned his attention to Bella. When he caught her looking, he looked away.

Bella tilted her head to the side.

"Wolf?" she questioned. "What is it?"

Wolf huffed in annoyance before he turned to her.

"Well since we're being honest… I…I was very angry at you. It's one of the reasons why I kept thinking about Rachel. Not because I wanted her or even liked her. but… because I wanted to hurt you."

"Why?" Bella asked quietly.

Wolf lay on his stomach, his head on his paws as spoke.

"you…our mate….our wife….our friend. The only one I trusted not to hurt me. not to hurt us. you..you left us. You left us without care or thought and you expected us..expected me to just accept you with open arms. But you left me…you left me alone… Tiger and Paul may have forgiven you but how do I know that when I wake up you, our chosen mate won't be gone…"

Wolf's confession ended with a mournful whine.

Bella felt her heartbreak. She never realized what her leaving would do to not only Paul but his spirit animals as well.

She threw her arms around wolf's neck and buried her face in his fur.

"Oh wolf… im so sorry. I am. I didn't know how you felt. I would have come back but I didn't have a choice. But im here now and I won't ever leave you. I promise. I'm here, and im not going anywhere."

"You can't leave me anymore. It will kill me.." wolf whined,

"im here to stay." She told him. Wolf put his head in her lap. His eyes closed.

She then turned to Tiger. He was looking at her with wide wise eyes. He stood and stalked toward her. slow and steady as if looking at his prey.

Tiger then lowered his head to Bella's their foreheads touching.

"You still don't realize just how important to us. You are our grounding force. You help us see reason and calm the beast. Our mate, our chosen. Please don't leave us again.."

Before Bella could reply.

Paul made a gasping sound. She looked over to see him with his hand on his chest.

"Paul? What's wrong? What is it?" she asked in worry.

Paul shook his head as he held up his hand for her to calm down.

"im ok. It just feels as if someone is stitching my heart back together. Oh, honey. I understand now. I can see why wolf, tiger, and myself have been so disagreeable."

"Why?" she asked quietly

"It was you. I was able to have my reconciliation with you. I understood why you were gone. But wolf and tiger…they never got to reconcile with you. One day you were gone and then you were home. They never received a resolution to their grief."

Bella's eyes widened. She then turned to wolf and tiger.

"you... You all grieved for me?"

"Yes," Wolf answered with his eyes still closed.

"But why? I wasn't dead."

"You might as well have been babe," Paul explained. "You were taken from us by our enemy and then held against your will and there was nothing any of us could do. I the man could cope with talking to you on the phone…but…tiger and wolf…they need your touch and your scent. We all do. You are our partner and we practically lost you."

"We did lose you." Tiger corrected.

Bella once again brought tiger and wolf close to her.

"I'm not going anywhere ever again."

Both animals released sounds of content.

"Now that we are all on the same page. Can this internal feuding stop?" Paul asked

Tiger and wolf nodded.

"As long as we get time with our pack." Wolf said

"and time for solitude." Tiger agreed.

"What about my eyes? Why are they like this? Will they change back?" Bella questioned.

"They are like that because we have given you a portion of our spirit. You won't be able to shift but you be able to tap into our strength and talk to us directly." Tiger explained.

"That way we can have a connection with you outside the kid." Wolf jumped in.

"Kid?" Paul snorted.

Wolf went over and shoulder-bumped him.

"We are eons older than you, child." Wolf smiled warmly.

"and we are grateful to be partnered with you." Tiger hummed.

Paul was overwhelmed by the acceptance he was feeling from them. Often, the pack viewed their wolves as just wolves. They shared a body and emotions but that was about it. however, looking at them now, he realized they shared more than just a body. They shared a soul.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. They were separate and yet one.

His heart and mind were filled with acceptance. The three of them could co-exist. Especially with their mate by their side.

The next time Paul opened his eyes, wolf and tiger were gone. His mate, however, was fast asleep.

Had it been a dream? An out-of-body experience? Or was it just the exhaustion of the whole experience?

It was a real kid, our mate is exhausted. Take her home. Wolf told him.

Paul nodded. It was time to go home. but this time things had changed.