Chapter 11

"Daddy, daddy... please... please don't do this," Angela sobbed as she stumbled after her father. He was shouting at Paul, who was sitting by the driftwood on the beach. People at the beach were turning to look at them. Luckily where Paul was, there weren't any other people, only one person further away by the water's edge.

Nonetheless, she was going to be humiliated, and she didn't know what her father was about to do. He had gone to his office before they left to look for Paul, and she was terrified he'd taken his gun with him. He was mad with fury. Angela had never seen her father so angry. He was beyond any reason. Oh, why had she lied to him? She'd been a coward, and now she was in this mess, dragging Paul into it too.

"Paul Lahote!" her father shouted.

"Please, daddy..." Angela tried to grab his father's arm, but he pulled it angrily away.

They'd gone to his house first but then heard there were a lot of people at the beach, and her father wanted to check the beach. Unfortunately, he'd found him after asking someone if they'd seen Paul.

"Daddy... What are you going to do?!" she cried, trying again to stop his father by pulling his arm, but he tugged it away from her grasp. "Please, daddy. Don't do this here."

"I make him pay, and I make him marry you," her father leered. "Paul Lahote!" he bellowed again.

Angela saw Paul getting up from the ground and starting to walk toward them. Angela's heart jumped an extra beat. He was so brave and so handsome. He was facing her furious father, his back straight, and did not try to hide; he was amazing. Oh, maybe if Paul listened to her father, they could really get married. They could be a real family. She loved him so much.

Paul had moved closer to the forest edge and stood there waiting for them to reach him. Angela saw no fear on his face, no remorse, nothing. He just watched her father with a stony expression, and when he glanced at her, his eyes flared with anger and hate. Angela's heart sank. No. He wasn't going to marry her. Her father would never be able to make him marry her.

"Paul Lahote!" her father roared once more. They reached Paul.

"Yes, sir?" Paul said with an even, steady voice. His deep voice made her shiver even in a situation like this.

"Angela is pregnant. And it's because of you. I came here to demand you to do the only right thing, to marry my daughter."

Not a muscle moved on Paul's face. Angela was in awe of him.

Paul glanced at her and saw right through her that she hadn't told her father what had happened. What she'd done.

"With due respect, sir, I'm not going to marry your daughter. And as for her being pregnant, I'm pretty sure she hadn't told you why she is pregnant."

"You took my daughter's innocence, made her pregnant, and now you are going to marry her," her father continued with fury.

"I don't know what she's told you. But I'm not responsible for her stopping taking her pill and puncturing the condoms we used. She tricked me and got herself pregnant."

Angela winced. She wanted the ground to swallow her whole. She felt like vomiting.

"You are a liar!" Her father boomed.

"I'm many things, sir," Paul sneered, "but I'm not a liar."

Her father started to tremble. Angela was starting to panic. She needed to get her father away from all these people. She could see they were starting to gain interest from other people on the beach.

"Dad...please...we need to leave," Angela pleaded with her father, but he didn't listen.

"I treated you like a son! I let you date my daughter, and this is how you pay it?!" her father shouted, his voice cracking.

Paul shrugged. "I won't abandon my kid, but Angela made this mess, and she's the one who's going to suffer the consequences." And that was the last drop for her father, and he pulled out the gun from his pocket.

Paul didn't even wince, but his face hardened, and he glanced at the beach. Angela followed Paul's gaze and saw... Bella? Why was Bella here? Bella was walking toward them.

"Bella, stay there!" Paul shouted.

Angela's breathing got heavier, and she saw red. Was Bella here with Paul? Had she taken the first opportunity to snatch him away from her?

"You are going to marry my daughter!" her father boomed.

"No, I'm not."

And then, to Angela's utter horror, her father aimed the gun at Paul. "No, dad!" Angela shouted and grabbed his arm.

"Bella, don't move!" Paul shouted at the same time Angela's father pulled the trigger, and before Angela realized what had happened, she saw Bella falling to the ground. Her father had shot at Bella.

"Bella!" Paul shouted in horror and ran to her. "Bella! Oh my God, Bella?" Bella was moaning in pain, holding her neck. Angela could see her blood rushing through her fingers. There was so much blood. She felt sick.

"Someone, call the ambulance!" Paul roared as he pulled his t-shirt off and pressed it against Bella's neck.

"Daddy..." Angela whimpered. Her father had gone pale, his eyes showing the horror of his actions. He dropped the gun to the ground, it thudded when it landed on the sand.

Someone ran at them and wrestled her father to the ground pinning his arms around his back.

"You shot Bella!" the man roared. "Call the ambulance! There is a shot wound!" He shouted.

It was Jacob.

"Bella! Bella! Oh my God, Bella. Please." Paul was pressing his t-shirt against the wound, the shirt turning red.

"What is going on here!?" someone shouted, and Angela saw Bella's father running toward them, followed by many other people.

"What!?... Bella? Bella! Oh my God, Bella." Charlie ran to Bella, but Paul didn't let him touch her. It sounded like he was growling, and Charlie stopped like he'd been run into a wall.

"Charlie!" Jacob, who was still holding her father, shouted, "let Paul keep her steady. It's better that way, trust me."

"I've called the ambulance," a small woman said as she kneeled beside Bella and Paul. She said something to Charlie, who was watching Bella and Paul.

Charlie Swan came to them and picked up the gun from the sand. He put it in his pocket.

"Jacob, pick Reverend Weber up from the ground," he grunted.

"John Weber, I'm arresting you..."

Angela's ears started to ring, and she fell to her knees. Oh my God, what had she done? This was her fault. But... she could not help feeling she'd been betrayed. She looked up and watched as Paul was holding Bella against his chest. Paul wanted Bella. He didn't want her.

All of Paul's big friends had gathered around Paul and Bella. It looked as if they were forming a protective shield blocking other people from getting too close. There was something formidable in them. The way they stood, their arms folded across their chest, their faces with stony expressions, eyes filled with rage. Angela gasped when she saw yellow in them. It was like they weren't fully human. Angela couldn't understand what she saw. But she felt blackness filling her. Bella had taken Paul away from her, and these people were protecting Bella. Not her. Not their baby, but that bitch.

Angela squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to unsee Paul and Bella together. She turned and got up from the ground. She saw something on the sand. It was a phone. Was it Bella's phone? She picked it up and saw Tyler's name on the screen. He was calling Bella.

She answered.

"Bella? What happened?" Angela heard Tyler's worried voice.

"Hi Tyler, it's Angela. You have to come here. Bella was shot."

"Bella, Bella, please..." Paul sobbed. How the fuck had this happened? He'd tried to take the scene away from her, and now she'd been shot, and she was bleeding badly. She was losing consciousness. Her eyes fluttered closed.

"Bella, open your eyes."

She whimpered, her pale face getting paler, lips trembling.

"Paul," a woman's voice said. He looked up and saw Sue. "Can you let me see the wound?" Sue asked.

Paul shook his head. He couldn't let anybody touch her.

"I need to see where the bullet hit," she continued, "please."

Sue moved closer to them very carefully. She knew what he was and knew he was close to phasing. "Please. You have to let people take care of her. She'll die if you don't."

That snapped him out of his haze.

Sue moved Paul's shirt from the wound but pressed it quickly back again. So much blood.

"When is the ambulance here?!" she shouted.

And it was then that Paul heard the siren.

Sue sighed in relief.

"Bella," Charlie came to them and knelt next to Sue. "What happened, Paul?"

Paul tried to get his voice even before answering. Clearing his throat, he said, "In short, Angela is pregnant, and the Reverend came here to make me marry her. I declined, and he pulled his gun. Angela tried to stop him, and John accidentally shot at Bella."

Charlie stared at him but didn't say anything. Bella moaned, and Paul's whole body trembled, feeling her pain. He could feel he was losing her. The beating of her heart slowed. He whimpered silently. He was hopeless; Bella would die.

"Bella, baby. You'll be okay. You'll be okay," Charlie said but didn't try to touch her. Paul was glad. His wolf was crawling under his skin, and Paul fought his animal instincts to run away with her. He didn't know how he would handle it when the paramedics came. But he had to. Bella needed their help more than his. There was nothing he could do for her. What a fucking protector he was. He'd failed to protect his imprint. He failed her less than an hour after she'd accepted him. He wanted to howl in agony.

And it was then when paramedics arrived, and he had to let them touch her. He watched as they lifted her to a stretcher and carried her away. Bella was barely conscious and said something, but he couldn't understand her words. Charlie followed Bella and the paramedics. He was her father; he had the right to be with her. He hadn't. Everything in him demanded him to follow her, take her, and make it all better. But he couldn't. All he could was watch when they took her away from him.

Jacob came to him, grabbing the back of Paul's head and pressing his forehead against his. Paul felt his pack member's strength flowing to him, refilling what he'd lost.

"She's in good hands," he said. "You need to trust she'll be okay. Do you hear me?"

Paul nodded, breathing deeply.

"Paul! Oh, Paul!" Paul heard Angela shouting, and when he glanced up, he saw her running toward him. Paul's whole body tensed, and his wolf snarled. He or his wolf couldn't stand to be near Angela anymore. Not now that his imprint had finally accepted him. All other females ceased to exist, and all they wanted was Bella. And he knew it was Angela's fault Bella had been shot. If she hadn't tried to stop her father, Bella would still be okay. He might have a bullet in him and there might have been a risk that he'd exposed their secret, but Bella would be safe, laughing and happy, not close to dying.

"Paul!"

Before Angela could reach him, Jacob blocked her. "Embry!" he shouted to their pack member who was standing closest to them, "take Angela the hell away from here."

Paul had never been more grateful to Jacob. He'd saved him from causing bodily harm to a woman, something he'd never done in his life.

"Paul, you need me. I need you," Angela sobbed. Paul couldn't even look at her, and he turned away. Embry came to take Angela, and she shouted his name.

"Come, I'll drive us to the hospital," Jacob said.

Paul nodded, and they left the beach.

The waiting room in the hospital was full when they arrived. But only Charlie and Sue were there for Bella.

"Any news?" Paul asked Charlie, who shook his head.

"They are operating on her now," Sue said squeezing Charlie's hand as she held it on her lap. Charlie's eyes were red, and he looked like a man who'd lost the reason to live. Paul had failed him as well.

Waiting for someone to come and tell them how Bella was fairing was hell. Paul couldn't stay still. He paced around the room and tried to keep not panicking.

"Bella!" someone shouted. It was Bella's boyfriend who ran to the waiting room.

Paul's body froze, and his wolf snarled.

AN:

I decided to try to get back to this story. I've been thinking about it quite a lot lately. It's the easiest of my unfinished stories to get back into. I miss writing. So here I am. Tell me what you think.