Plunge
La Push: July
I lay down to sleep with Paul on the soft bed. The double mattress was sagging under the weight of us both and creaking. Playfully, I continued to knock my cold toes against Paul's face, making him grumble.
Paul had left me with Emily while he collected his truck and grabbed some fresh clothes and a shower. Then he'd driven me home, made me shower, and cranked the heater up to try and help my shaking limbs.
"So," Paul began.
"So," I repeated back to him, and he nudged me in the side. His touch was a delicious fire that stoked every nerve in my body.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Meh," I stated, examining the ceiling.
"That's not the answer I was hoping for," he complained, pushing at my foot.
"Sorry, I am so thoroughly captivated by your presence and bathing in every second spent in your glory that I have lost the ability to speak," I teased, and he jabbed at me again.
"Why did you dye your hair?" he asked, turning suddenly serious, his wild eyes settling.
"I thought; I decided," I stuttered. "I thought that I needed to try and put you off me; it was my last bid attempt to get you to stop liking me. So I dyed it.".
Slowly, I ran my hand through the damp lilac locks from the shower.
Paul sat upright; his chest was bare, and his shorts sat low. He gazed at me with an intensity that I didn't know was possible.
"You did it to put me off?" he asked with a slight laugh, his smirk playful.
"I know." I groan in disgust, flopping my hands over my face.
"I kind of like it," he admits coyly, and I groan again.
"That's not what you are meant to say," I drivelled.
"Well, you always look beautiful to me," he stated, lying back on the quilt.
I nudged his eyebrow with my toes to shut him up. I'd painted them to match my hair, a final sign of acceptance.
"I'll bite you," he warned, moving his head to the side.
"You wouldn't dare!" I screeched, withdrawing my foot.
He moved quickly, scrambling onto his front. He grabbed my leg, tugging it towards his face. I screeched childishly, trying to pull away. Teasingly, he racked his teeth across my foot, placing a delicate kiss on the inside of my ankle. I screeched in protest. He began to laugh and jerked my foot away, rolling back onto his side. The wolf is being playful.
"Paul," I complained, wiping my foot against the bed quilt.
"Serves you right," he countered.
"Meany," I moaned.
Paul sat up and gave me a pointed look, playing at being offended.
I giggle as he drags me onto his lap. His hand skims the thin materials covering my ribs.
"Say that again," he winks.
"I love you," I say instead.
The words didn't weigh heavy on my tongue because they felt true. I had fallen in love with Paul. I had fallen so quickly that I hadn't even realised it was happening at first.
"I love you too, Imogen. I loved you from the first moment I set eyes upon you," he said back, stroking my check.
I shifted under his gaze, no longer feeling uncomfortable with it. It was something I was slowly learning to accept.
"You make me want to be a better man, Imogen," he confessed.
"I don't know any better," I assured him.
"Paul, I love you, but I don't know what this means for us. I can't separate my feelings from the imprint." I sigh, shifting closer to him. The pull is impossible to resist.
"Then don't try," he husks, draping his body half over mine, crushing me in the most pleasant of ways under his weight, and I tangle my legs around his waist, dragging him closer to me. "We belong together, Imogen, just..." he didn't manage to finish as I closed the gap between our faces.
OooO
The rain was back again. La Push was clouded in thick storm clouds that had swept in through the night and were battering us with rain that made my bones ache.
I had slept fitfully when Paul had left for patrol, and Embry had woken me in the early hours of the morning, soaked to the bone and desperate for sleep. We had acknowledged each other silently, and I hadn't been able to sleep since then.
Embry hadn't stirred for school this morning, and I was leaving him to sleep. I, on the other hand, had a significant amount of painting to continue with. The drama group was beginning rehearsals, and the sets needed to progress more quickly.
I was getting so caught up in the trials and tribulations of the wolves and the vampires that I was losing sight of what was important.
A car horn is bleeping loudly from the driveway, and I jump up at the arrival of my lift. Jennifer had offered to take me to the high school. Car-pooling with Jennifer was far less taxing than it was with my brother or Paul.
I stifle a giggle as Jennifer struggles to roll the window down on the aged Yugo. The car was likely once gold, but after years of being bleached by the sun, it is now more of a mouldy white speckled shade. Everything about the car looks like it's ready to fall apart. It's strikingly out of place against Jennifer's put-together persona.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Jennifer demands from me hotly, shoving her round face through the car window to gape at me.
Jennifer clearly wasn't flattered by my paint-flecked clothes.
I frowned at her for pulling the bag that contained my best brushes higher onto my shoulder.
"I am set painting today," I accused back with an eye roll. Stepping towards the car, I appraised it with concern.
"What is this piece of scrap anyway?" I warn her, kicking at a balding tyre.
"You are more than welcome to walk!" She seethed, flicking her head back into the car with annoyance and making tightly curled hair bounce about.
Jennifer immediately commenced her attempts to roll the car window back up. She moved it with such force that the plastic handle came off her hand. Her potty-mouth rant filled the clearing, and she pushed the handle onto the back seat.
Not wishing to cross Jennifer any further out of fear she may decide to run me over in her anger, I walk towards the passenger side. I instinctively reach to pull for a handle that is missing. Meaning Jennifer must lean across to open the door from the inside, which pains her from the huffs of frustration she produces.
"This is Delilah, and she may not be the most reliable car in the world. But at least she's a car, and it means you don't have to cycle." Jennifer defends, going to turn the key to the ignition.
We sit in silence as she tries and fails three times to get the engine to start. On the fourth, we are lurching forward up the driveway.
"What's wrong with my outfit anyhow?" I ask as I scan the scarlet floral dress that grazes her mid-thighs. With Jennifer's long, tanned legs, the dress looks ravishing on her.
"It's just, you know, not very feminine, Imogen," she sighs, puffing air in frustration. "I mean, I know you're trying to put Paul off you, but really?" She turns to look me up and down.
With a screech, Jennifer hits the breaks as the traffic lights for the crossroad turn red, sending me reeling into the dashboard. I take it; seat-belts don't work on this thing either, then.
"This has nothing to do with Paul." I frown, shoving my feet onto her dash to annoy her.
Jennifer stalls the car, coming off the lights, and the driver behind us blares his horn with such rage that it makes me flinch. Being unable to fit her head out of the window to curse the driver, despite being persistent in her efforts to try, Jennifer is reduced to making vulgar hand gestures to defend her scorned dignity.
We can't get to school quick enough, and I almost want to kiss the tarmac when she pulls into a space. We parted shortly after, and I reached the theatre in a few minutes, relieved to escape the bustle of the corridors.
The stage is vast, and the boards for painting are erected. Some of the set work I've already completed stands proud, looking whimsical and magical and every bit as Shakespearean fantasy as I'd hoped for.
For a moment, I am relieved to be the painter rather than the performer. I couldn't think of anything more daunting than performing on that stage for so many people. I suppose actors performed for the thrill of it, but still.
Life has become a big thrill recently. There are too many thrills. I swear it was taking days off my life.
I climbed onto the stage and strapped my hands before I attempted to hold the fine brushes between my aching fingers. The fabric stretched tautly between my fingers, easing some of the tension with the compression they applied.
The doctor had told me that it would be difficult to pursue a career in the arts with an autoimmune condition that pained my body as mine did. I had gone for a long time without even picking up a stick of charcoal. But now that I had started to explore my medium again, I couldn't bear the thought of it being taken away from me.
I watched as the colours began to bleed into one another as I painted beautiful floral images across the canvas.
The door slammed into the room, and I looked behind me towards Jacob, who was swaggering between the chairs in the theatre with a playful smirk.
I flicked the paintbrush in my hand, looking at him with concern.
"Alpha's order to watch me," I questioned, frowning.
Jacob came closer before speaking, ambling onto the stage and looking in puzzlement over my shoulder at the piece I was working on.
"Something like that," he said, shrugging, and I winced.
"I'm teasing," he added, barking a laugh, his eyes scanning me, hovering over my torso for a moment, then moving back up to my face. "I actually just really like your company," he added to soften the blow.
I wasn't sure if that was fully true, but perhaps that was me being a little pessimistic. Perhaps I did make for nice company.
"This is actually really good," Jacob admitted, surveying the set.
"You sound surprised?" I questioned with a suppressed laugh.
"There's a reason I managed to get into university to study art, Jacob," I teased, pushing his shoulder in jest.
Jacob looked sheepishly back with a smile, and his eyes strayed again.
"Stop it," I snap, catching his eyes on my chest.
"Stop what?" he asks dumbly.
"Stop staring at my chest!" I snap feverishly.
"Not my fault. Paul can't stop fantasising about your body. It's on loop in his head every time he shifts into a goddamn wolf. I am more familiar than I ever thought possible with multiple areas of your anatomy, Imogen," Jacob flirted.
I baulked in horror.
"It okay. It will stop soon. Once Paul gets better control of himself, Or satisfies himself of his need for you. He's mad with desire. It's putting him in an extra-bad mood. Be a friend and help us all out," he teases, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.
"I'll tell Paul you keep ogling me," I threaten.
"You wouldn't dare," he counters, crossing his broad arms and shoulder-tensing under his shirt. How could Bella not fall in love with this creature? I don't know how Edward could compare.
"Your right, I wouldn't," I nodded. "Your face is far too pretty to get smashed in by Paul's fists," I wink, turning from him.
Jacob laughs throatily, and I stick my tongue out at him over my shoulder.
"That's it. I'm off to get us donuts from the canteen," he announces, and I wonder how many donuts will make it back to the theatre.
He jumps from the stage and lands the jump like a gymnast. A jump like that should have broken both his ankles.
I shake my head and allowed myself to be consumed by my art. I padded my bare feet over dust sheets that covered the stage, sketching, painting, and shading in different mediums.
Jacob returned with donuts, and I allowed myself a break. I was flexing out stiff fingers that were starting to seize and licking powdered sugar from my lips.
Today was going to be a good day. I was staying over at Jennifer's this evening and we'd planned a movie night to celebrate our hard work today. Jennifer constituted turning up to class as hard work, and I wasn't going to deny her of her victory.
OooO
A foot collided with my head, bumping against it and making me flinch from the pain. I jerked away as the manicured size nine came close to my nose once more.
I am more fully awake now and look around me.
I am asleep on Jennifer's bed; the room is littered with mounds of clothes, make-up, and odd footwear. I sleep on top of the covers, draped in a shirt of Paul's I'd stolen from his room. The thoughts of Paul make my skin blister with longing.
"Jennifer," I groan, shoving her foot away from me in frustration.
"What?" asks a groggy Jennifer, her head popping out from the other end of the matter, her body buried under mounds of quilt.
"You just kicked me in the face," I accuse hotly, jabbing a finger towards her.
"Sorry," she groans, her face pushing back into the pillow once more. "I was sleeping," she defends weakly.
"Good job one of us was; you snore like a pig." I sigh, rubbing my face.
"At least I don't starfish and take up the entire bed," she says back.
I hear a satisfying thump as she hits the floor. I'd just pushed her out of bed.
"Uncalled for!" She cried, her head springing up before me.
"Do you want ice cream?" she asks, standing to her full height and flicking on her bedside lamp, pulling the room into a warm blush of light.
"Do I want ice cream?" I laugh incredulously. "Jennifer, it's the middle of the night; just go back to bed," I insist. Now it's my turn to bury my head into a pillow.
"Come on, live a little!" She counters, her belly flopping onto the bed, making the springs groan. "Do something adventurous."
"Ouch!" I groan, trying to push her weight from my body.
"I'm not moving until you think of something exciting for us to do," she says, shifting her weight.
I rack my fuzzy brain, still heady with the lulls of sleep, as I try to think of how I can entertain this girl. Or at least appease her to shift her dead weight off my body.
Adventure?
"Move!" I command excitedly, the smile creeping up my face and dancing about my eyes.
"Why, you haven't come up with anything yet?" She accused me but moved to sit beside me.
"Oh, but I have," I corrected excitedly.
"What?" she squeals in high-pitched surprise.
"Skinny dipping," I blurted, shifting to sit on my feet on the bed
"Are you being serious?" she asks, her mouth dropping open and her eyes wild like mine as she processes.
"You told me to be adventurous." I laugh. "Are you a chicken?" I lured her, knowing she wouldn't be able to resist the dare.
"Of course not," she dismisses, scooping up the car keys from the side table.
I smiled in delight. My heart races as I realise what we are about to go and do. I wish Bella was here; this would be an amazing adventure on her bucket list.
"You do realise this is probably highly illegal or something," she says, and she launches a coat in my direction.
"Does that bother you?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.
"No," she laughs giddily.
"Well, then let's do this." I cry in excitement, shoving my arms through her coat that drowns me.
I can't tell who is more eager.
Jennifer rushes ahead of me, scooping up extra clothes from the piles that litter the room. More awake and agile, she takes the stairs two at a time as she descends with ease, spinning around the room in delight.
We pull shoes onto our bare feet and move quickly to the front door.
The noises of the house haven't woken anyone, so Paul must still be out on patrol. We have the perfect opportunity. The perfect opportunity to do what exactly? To be reckless, be childish, or do something stupid.
Maybe that is exactly what I need. To let it all go.
"I can't believe we are doing this," Jennifer laughs like a child as we climb into her car, and I hardly have time to buckle up before Jennifer starts the engine and pulls off.
I have to stop myself from asking Jennifer to drive to Forks. I want nothing more than to haul Bella out of bed and make her join us. To feel the thrill that can come with such spontaneity. The thrill of being human.
But I doubt she'd agree. Edward definitely wouldn't let her go with us, not skinny-dipping.
"Where too?" Jennifer demands crunching gears along the main road.
I scrunch my nose in thought. Locations were fuzzy to me, but I remember Bella talking about the wolves cliff diving before in the summer.
"You fancy diving?" I ask, and Jennifer's laugh of acceptance borders on hysterical. Maybe I had finally lost the plot; perhaps my medication had thrown my brain chemicals out of whack.
"Follow this road, and we can get to the cliff above First Beach," I direct, the moonlight filling the sky. Dawn was starting to break, giving an ethereal glow to the sky.
The formalities of the task at hand slowed us down, and we dumped the car by the beach, loading spare clothes in the sand a good distance from the shore, and the plan was rolling forward. We were on top of the cliffs shortly after, and the sun was fully starting to break on the horizon.
The wind was gentle, thankfully, even from this height, and the water looked deep and alluring.
"Are you ready for this?" I asked Jennifer again as she shifted from one foot to the other. I wondered whether this could be considered leading her astray. I knew Paul would surely kill me if he found out. What with endangering my own life being bad enough, but that of his sisters?
But the wolves could be reckless. Bella could turn into a vampire. I could jump off a cliff into the sea.
"Did I ever tell you I don't like height?" Jennifer laughed giddily from beside me, looking cautiously at the cliff edge. "But YOLO," she adds, shrugging and hiking off her shirt.
"What?" I laugh at the question.
"YOLO, you only live once," she shrugs nonplussed, like it's a term I should be using on an almost daily basis.
"That's new," I mumble, joining her in stripping off my layers.
Jumpers, t-shirts, jeans, and socks are begging to pile up on the grassy bank. My slender limps prickle with goosebumps from the cool air, and I cross my arms over my bare chest.
"So, we just jump, just like we are at the swimming pool," she explains calmly. I nod in silent agreement. People do this all the time. Particularly from here.
"Should we do a countdown?" she asked, curling her toes into the dewy grass.
"Guess so," I agree as we edge to the cliff's end.
"Three, two, one," we counted down in unison, our voices not betraying our nerves. We clasped hands in decided agreement, both pulsing with adrenaline.
We squealed as we ran to the edge, our feet not stopping as the grass beneath our feet was replaced by air.
The decent was fast. Invigorating. I felt alive. The feeling reminded me of the way Paul's kisses set my soul on fire.
Jennifer's fingers slipped from mine, and I took a large intake of air just before hitting the water. The pressure pressed tightly against my body like a cocoon. The water enveloped my body, willing me down into its depths. I kicked out strongly with my legs to bring me to the surface.
As I bob in the water, I turn until I catch sight of Jennifer swimming towards me.
I allow a wild laugh that is almost musical to fall from me.
Jennifer looks equally wild; her hair weighs down her back, and her makeup-free features make her look almost like a different person entirely. The water is lulling us towards the shore and carrying Jennifer easily towards me without her having to kick too hard.
"Your one crazy bitch!" she cried in delight, splashing water around her in excitement. From anyone else, the comment would be anything but endearing, but from Jennifer, it is a clear compliment.
I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. I rub the water from my eyes to make sure I can clearly watch her speech.
"That was just..." she broke off and began to laugh heartily.
"Mind-blowing?" I questioned her, and she managed a nod.
"Can we go again?" she said, kicking away from me and towards the shore line.
"No! We've already chanced death once," I protest, moving my chilling body towards her.
"Spoil-sport!" she cries just loudly enough for me to depict.
It was my turn to begin to laugh, this time at her childish antics.
The moon is glistening, lulling the waters, and lulling my heart. I tilt my head back, soaking up its radiance. Perhaps the waters could cleanse my tarnished soul and allow me to leave these demons behind.
I bump into Jennifer's back and revert my gaze forward. Wondering why she has stopped, I force my gaze towards the beach. It becomes quite apparent why she has stopped.
"Shit," I curse, moving myself back into the water. I need to put as much distance as I can between us and the beach.
Would it be possible to swim home? The beach no longer seemed like a viable option.
"Start swimming," I warn her as I push myself through the water.
"He'll come after us," she gasps, catching up with my strokes.
"He wouldn't dare," I retorted.
Jennifer looks back across her shoulder and urges me on. "Shit, Immie, he already has," Jennifer explains.
"Shit, shit, shit!" I seethe in frustration, smacking my palm against the water as we pause to bob.
My heart rate increases, and the imprint even dares to ping with desire as Paul pushes through the water, the gap between us closing by the second. Stupid wolf, stupid shapeshifter powers making him superhuman. Did he have a sixth sense that we would be here or something?
"Just to be clear," Jennifer says, looking directly at me. "I'm going to hold you fully accountable for this when he asks," she shrugs, and I manage a small smile but can't form a reply.
I'm too busy trying to conjure up excuses. An excuse as to why I am swimming naked in the early hours of the morning with his sister. Mental breakdown? Maybe I should just run with that line.
Paul's hair is sodden and slicked back, and his tanned limbs have pulled him easily across the distance from the shore to where we swim with little effort. He stops at a safe distance from us both, or at a distance that makes us feel comfortable.
The muscles that cover him awake something primal in me, and I ache with desire.
I'm thankful Jennifer is with me, knowing if she weren't here, he'd think nothing of closing the gap he's left if it were just the two of us.
As we tread water, only our heads and shoulders peek out from the water, and Jennifer is the same shade of red as Bella's truck, her blush feverish. I don't allow myself to back down or show any sign of weakness.
"What the fuck are you two doing?" Paul booms his lips, spitting the words.
"Swimming," I call back with a smirk.
Paul looks ready to lunge for me, and I want to swim further back but hold my stance.
"Get your arses back to shore right now, before I fucking drag them there," he warns, his eyes drifting down my face and under the water.
"Make me," I counter, calling his bluff.
"Immie," Jennifer warns, her voice low. Jennifer begins to paddle towards Paul, and I feel a stab of disappointment at her backing down from him.
I would not allow Paul to bully me.
I stick out my tongue in protest as I pad the water.
I wonder if Paul would transform into a wolf and come right after me through the water. But I shouldn't have been worrying about the wolf.
Paul didn't hesitate once Jennifer had swum past him, keeping a wide berth.
The sun made my back prickle, and I gasped aloud as I watched him duck his head under the water, submerging himself beneath a blanket of watery darkness.
I looked around, panicking as the water rippled in his absence.
We were a good distance apart before; I kicked my feet, willing myself to move back. Jennifer was making quick work of eating up the distance between the water and the beach.
The water was still, and I wondered how long Paul could stay submerged for. His lung capacity must have been high—much higher than that of a normal human, even higher than that of an athlete.
But he was coming for me.
I blushed at the thought. I bobbed in the water like a sitting duck. A very naked, sitting duck. Perhaps I didn't think skinny dipping through as thoroughly as I should have.
Strong fingers caressed the arch of my calf, and I growled, kicking out in protest. For a moment, I thought he might pull me under with him.
I hoped the murky water was so dark he wouldn't be able to see everything. The thought of him doing so filled me with pleasure and horror. The imprint hummed around me, romanticising the idea of Paul's warm body pressing against mine as the sun peaked over the sky, breaking the dawn.
But I shook my head, erasing such elicit thoughts.
"Get off!" I cried, kicking at him again. The water rippled all around us, but he still hadn't emerged.
His hands slid to my thighs, moving quickly now, sweeping over the bare skin with calloused fingers. He traced the outlines of my hip bones, eliciting a groan from me as his head broke the water and he shook water from his face like a wet dog. Or rather, a wet wolf.
As Paul rose from the water, so did his hands. They sit on my waist now. Both hands were almost touching as they engulfed my frame.
I couldn't meet his eyes. I would have been lost in those black orbs. The dark moon that I was orbiting.
Instead, my eyes traced the water droplets that ran from his thick neck down his pecks and below the water.
Paul wasn't naked below his waist, not like I was.
"You shouldn't have done that." I husked, referring to the touches of his hand and the way the tide pushed our bodies together and drew them apart again in a soothing movement that elicited a devilish friction between our bodies.
"Then you should have been a good girl and swam to the shore as I told you," he noted, a hand tilting my jaw, so our eyes finally met.
His pupils were so big that it looked like he was high. Perhaps he was high on the imprint, which was getting its fill of me with every touch and stare.
"You know I'm not a good girl," I husk back as the water presses us together again.
I brace my hands against his bare chest and rake my nails down his torso, making him growl.
The water splashes around us as Paul tugs me roughly, knocking the air from my lungs, and I gasp. He whirls me in the water, his bare hands tugging across my bare skin, erupting my skin in prickles of desire. He presses my back against his chest, and his fingers skim the delicate skin beneath my breasts slowly and teasingly. I bite hard on my lip to stop the groan.
I push myself back into him, but he relents, making me hiss with need, unable to resist the strong masculine hands that fondle my body, promising so much pleasure and heightening my desire in ways I never imagined possible.
"I think I could make you a very good girl, Imogen," Paul assures as he finally allows our bodies to meet, and I close my eyes at the pressure of our bodies together. Hard against soft. My bare skin nestled against his clothes—too many clothes. I push into him, and it's his turn to moan now, his hand sliding in a caress up my neck and into my hair, tugging my head back as our bodies hum in pleasure at the simple connection of being pressed together.
It's maddening, and my nerves are stoked at the thought of what the imprint would do if our bodies connected on a deeper level. Paul was going to screw up any hope of a man ever eliciting pleasure in me again.
Paul drops his hand from my hair and pushes me gently away from him as he turns in the water and towards the beach. I follow his stare and watch as Jennifer and Embry appear in heated debate.
"I will be waiting for you in the parking lot. If you aren't there in five minutes, I will be coming back for you," Paul warns, and I wonder what would happen if I tested that theory.
Embry and Jennifer have moved out of sight, and I bobbed about as Paul swam ahead of me. I gave him a good head start before I slowly ambled after him, caught up in his riptide.
I hoped Paul hadn't brought any further reinforcements.
He stood when the water become too shallow and walked onto the beach, a wall of muscle and testosterone, and I relished the amazing view of his backside in damp shorts like the hussy I was. This man was a God, I swear.
Paul didn't hesitate to stop as he walked into the tree line and away from the water.
I followed his steps a few minutes later on the deserted beach, pulling my bare body from the beach's waves and clambering towards the piles of clothes we'd left behind on the top of the cliff.
Jennifer appeared from the tree's and was looking at me expectantly. She silently handed me clothes, and I stepped into my pants and shorts. I fix my hearing aids in place next, pushing back wet hair from my face. I reached for my bra and the hoodie when I heard a shout. My name was being called in a voice I didn't think I wanted to answer.
Jennifer looks un-bothered as she steps aside to wring her hair out onto the sand.
Things tonight just kept getting better.
Embry had clearly not expended his anger with Jennifer and was back for round two. I snatched the jumper to my chest, trying not to lose my last shred of dignity. Although at this point, with Paul's telepathy with the wolves, all hopes of that were surely lost.
However, I kept my back firmly turned on my brother as his hot words filled the air between us.
"You could have died, Imogen," he seethed. "Are you crazy?" he accused.
"Well, we didn't die," Jennifer mumbled to herself, flicking her wet hair over her shoulder and stink-eyeing my brother.
"Anyone could have seen you both; you'd have been the talk of La Push," he began, but I cut him off with my own raised voice.
"Too late for that; it seems someone did," I accuse.
"We were in the area!" he snapped, and I laughed accusingly.
"Liar!" I hiss turning to face him, and now my anger is spiked. "You've been following me! Like you always do, and I have had enough of it," I warn, and he covers his eyes, spluttering in protest.
"Jeez, Imogen, put some clothes on!" He squeals, wincing away and stumbling back into the sand.
"Embry, get a grip!" I cry back at him. "They are breasts—something close to half the population have," I yell as I continue to press the jumper to my chest.
I drop the jumper as Embry turns away and towards the trees, he is stumbling blindly and groaning as if I've caused him physical pain. I snag the sports bra over my head and meet the eyes of another wolf in the clearing as I pull it firmly over my chest.
My wolf.
Paul's stare is wild, a tremor consuming him.
I do have the modesty to at least blush.
"Could you go away too, please? Have you invited anyone else to this little pity party?" I demand.
"What is with you guys?" Jennifer sighs, her tone bored, as her eyes flick between us suspiciously. "Why are you all following Imogen?" she adds, this time looking a little suspect.
But Paul's gaze has become a blank mask, void of emotion.
"Get in the goddamn car, Jennifer," he states in a flat tone, his eyes not breaking the stare we hold.
Jennifer sighs, rolls her eyes, and plods past us both, agreeing to Paul's demand. Even she knew better than to test his current mood.
"Go with Jennifer and your brother, please, Imogen. He can run you to Sam and Emily's so you can warm up and eat some breakfast." Paul gestures to where Jennifer has set off too.
"I'll be dammed if you think I'm going over to Sam's," I challenge him, wincing at the thought of squaring up the Pack Alpha again. Not while our last argument was burned so freshly into all our minds. Nor now the whole pack will watching a run through my breasts on repeat from the moment Paul shifted into a wolf. My dignity may be a little bruised, but I wasn't going to hell with it.
"Listen to me, Imogen; I'm trying to help you!" Paul counters, pawing at his face.
"I don't need your help right now, Paul." I snap back, kicking at the sand. "Just leave me alone," I decide, turning my back on him. That's right, I'm better on my own. That way, I can't hurt people.
"Imogen" Paul tries again, but I shake my head firmly, denying any protest.
I walk to the water's edge and sink down onto the sand. The water laps at my toes, and I will use it to wash the terrifying desires I feel for Paul away with it.
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I am loving the reviews and the engagement from readers, it is so lovely to read feedback and hear your thoughts on how the story is progressing. I love hearing your takes on the characters!
I have had some really nice new reviews from guest reviewers which I am so grateful for!
FireLottis17864 thank you for the feedback on the quality of the writing, and I am looking forward to posting more updates!
To my other guest reviewer - I'm sorry I felt so torn with the last chapter, I really wasn't sure whether they could make up, but a reunion was needed to support the wider plot of the story, I agree Bella hasn't been the best friend thus far.
Thank you for the other guest review on the last chapter, love that your enjoying Imogen's character!
magicbobagirl thank you for your review on chapter 13, so appreciated!
Happy reading everyone!