Hey guys,

Sorry for the late update. Just finished up college so I was beyond busy. But hey... my schedule cleared up. By like a lot.

Enjoy! Please review/fav if you like :)

Tender. Everything felt so tender. My skin burned as a hand glided from down my stomach and pressed down on my hip when I tried to squirm away. Squirm away from the lips on my throat and warm skin pressed against my own. I was burning up and losing my way. Breathing was getting difficult, let alone thinking.

"Shhhh," a deep voice reprimanded me, "you're going to have to quiet down if you don't want everyone hearing us, baby."

It was only then I realized that whimpers were pouring out of my mouth and that I was naked. My bare chest crushed against his.

His hand slipped between my thighs and cupped me, giving me some resistance to work against. My hips moved on their own accord. A moan built in my throat.

A dark chuckle "Seems like you want them to know. What a bad little girl you are, Bella."

Paul slipped a thick finger inside of me. I screamed.

I woke up shaking, my body overcoming so much sensation that it felt almost like shock. Sheets were tangled up around me as if I'd been fighting them while my bare stomach was exposed from my shirt riding up. Far up. My chest heaved as gasps escaped my mouth.

And I was in an unfamiliar bed in a sunlit room. Alone.

Chagrin washed over me as last night's events came back to me. The Clearwaters were going through hell while I was fantasizing about Paul like some finicky harlot. No one had ever made me feel that way before, but it seemed like sleeping near him had unlocked a part of me who only had him on the brain. So much for new independent Bella.

A distinct sizzle and aroma distracted from my self-induced bashing time. And I realized the position I was in. Half-naked and post-orgasm in a werewolf'sbed. If Paul's senses were half as sharp as the Cullen's, then he had heard everything.

Throwing in the towel wasn't an option, so I threw myself into getting rid of the evidence. Fixing the sheets, running into the bathroom and changing into my old clothes were all that could be done in the time allotted. It most likely wasn't enough, but I was owed some luck. Maybe later I could set the bed on fire?

Finding Paul's kitchen in the light of day was easy because all I had to do was follow the irresistible scent of bacon. Which was funny since it was a Saturday and Harry was most likely still in the hospital. The thought wiped the blush from my cheeks.

"It's 'bout time you got up." The man of my dreams looked his usual - cranky. His hair was messy and he was leaning against the counter shirtless. With the skillet sizzling right next to him.

It was distracting. "How is the bacon not burning you?" Before Charlie died, cooking was a part of my daily routine. It always had been because the Lord knew that Renee could hardly feed herself, let alone me. So seeing someone cooking bacon damn near naked was almost traumatizing.

His lips curved. "The interrogation begins." He sauntered over to me, and my eyes couldn't help dipping to where his jeans sat precariously low on his hips which made my mouth dry. "My patrol starts in a bit so I have to actually tell you since Sam alpha-ordered me. Swan, my eyes are up here."

Feeling caught out, I tried my best to focus on his face. He looked amused at my antics. "Alpha-ordered? What does that mean?"

"That you and I have to discuss this. Ignoring it isn't an option anymore."

Heat rushed over me. "Ignoring what?" Part of me prayed for him to drop it so that I could find the closest black hole and hide. Forever.

His eyes darkened. "For the love of God, please stop acting shy. I swear I won't hurt you."

Any brain cells left in my skull perished as Paul's words bounced from neuron to neuron and fried the circuitry. Did I have a diary that I had forgotten about? How in the hell did Paul get his hands on it? Was I that obvious? Maybe—

My brain truly skittered to a stop. Maybe he could read minds.

It would be just my luck. Another man to confuse and manipulate me and take everything that made me me away. A lovely sequel to my already fucked life.

Arms enveloped around me into the warmest hug of my life, interrupting the ensuing panic attack. "Calm down, nothing's happening. I'm not going to declare my undying love for you or kidnap you or do anything you're not comfortable with. There's just some supernatural bullshit that you need to know."

"Need to know?" Tears were beginning to escape my eyes and my voice was muffled by his bare chest. He smelled so good.

A few seconds passed. "I'm going to rip this off like a bandaid." He warned. He sounded nervous.

"That would be nice."

"I have to obey you. Like a slave."

The sizzling of bacon turned into white noise against my senses as I blinked. This had to be a joke. But he looked so earnest and concerned — as if I were about to collapse onto the floor from shock. He was my slave? In what universe?

"Like you have to do what I say?" I asked, unable to keep the incredulous tone out of my voice. His arms were still around me, stopping me from distancing myself.

His lips thinned. "Essentially."

Holy shit. He was telling the truth. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This huge, intimidating guy was at my mercy? What the hell?

The irony was so great that it was impossible to stop myself. Laughter tumbled out of me and my knees buckled to the floor. I leaned against his legs while my body shook in giggles. I, Bella Swan, somehow had power over this behemoth of a man?

It took awhile to regain control of myself. "How," I gasped, "is that possible?"

Paul was unamused. "It'd be great if you took my freedom more seriously, babe." He plopped down next to me on the floor, his arms and torso rippling in a sinuous gesture that was distracting. He then leaned over me which put who was in charge of who into serious doubt. "But yeah, my weird werewolf genetics have decided that what you need is nonnegotiable for me. It's not the worst thing in the world. In fact, so far it's been fairly inconsequential for us. For me. The pack calls it imprinting. So… I guess I'll just say it; You are my imprint, Bella Swan."

Imprint. The word spoken out loud settled between us, binding me to a man who was looking at me like I held his life in my hands.

And even though I could sense that Paul was omitting quite a bit of context on what he was telling me, calmness filled me. This was within my control. I could handle the vulnerability on his face and not break his trust.

"So… as long as I don't boss you around then you can still do whatever you want, right? You can still act like an asshole and do all the asshole things that you like to do? You'll be a free asshole?" The questions slipped out of my mouth and there was no disguising the hope in them. I didn't want to hurt him, to take his choices away.

Paul's face broke out into a cocky smile before he touched my cheek with the back of his hand. "Swan, I'll always want to take care of you, but yeah, I can still be myself." A devious glint entered his eyes. "But being an asshole, as you put it, now that doesn't sound like me."

"Please tell me you're joking. You're one of the biggest-"

The werewolf lifted me up with one arm and began tickling me with his free hand. Giggles burst out of me and I managed to snag some of his hair.

"I swear you'll be missing chunks if you don't stop!"

To my dismay, Paul wasn't tender headed. But I did manage to figure out that the inside of his knee was his weak spot. His huge body buckled from the sensation as I avenged myself. His laughter put a weird feeling in my stomach, almost like I was floating.

It was only when the smoke alarms went off that we realized the bacon was burning.

Paul dropped me off at the Clearwaters' house with explicit instructions on how to get to Emily's. And as soon as he peeled away in a cloud of dust, my mood tanked as I stared at the scene of the crime; the house which had turned into my home over the past half year was a ghosttown with all of its windows open and not a single sound leaving it. Which was rare since Sue was addicted to the radio and Harry was so often working on a project outside.

The kitchen was in shambles as I hustled through the area to retrieve my laptop since homework was the perfect busy work with all that was going on. Somehow living with the Clearwaters had revived my passion for school. Yet another gift they had given me without asking for anything in return.

On my way out of the front door, a claw mark on a cabinet caught my eye. It was huge.

And it was this slight hesitancy which ensured that I heard the house phone chime. Thinking it might've been a concerned family member asking about Harry, I picked it up after sweeping some debris off of it.

"Hello?"

"Bella!" A familiar voice shrieked. "You are so not going to believe this!"

I held the receiver a little farther from my ear, my heart sinking to the floor. "Yeah, Mom? What's going on?"

She launched into some story about a woman named Mary who had cheated on one of Phil's teammates. From the amount of detail she was giving, I could only assume that she had told me about Mary from another call. Not that I could remember because paying attention to Renee's drama wasn't something I particularly enjoyed doing.

"-and so we are moving back to Phoenix!"

"Huh?" Shit. Maybe I should've been paying more attention.

"Phil was transferred to one of the teams in Phoenix, and they're even talking about letting him coach one of the local high schools too. He only has five more years in the League tops, so we decided to move back." Renee chirped excitedly.

Spiders crawled down my back. "Are you sure? But the whole reason that you moved… Mom, it isn't a good idea."

Silence reigned through the receiver, making static dance between us. Maybe she had hoped that the gossip about Mary would've left me utterly brain dead for her confession. She was always terrible at keeping secrets.

She isn't good at much. An angry part of me whispered. Forgiving her was a challenge which I wasn't quite ready to undertake yet.

Ignoring my concerns as usual, my mother switched the topic to shopping one last time with her girlfriends in Florida.

Some time later, I at last managed to end the conversation and sling myself into my truck. Paul had been right about giving me directions since Emily was bound to know what was happening. As Sue's favorite niece, Sam's fiancée was most likely relaying any and all news about Harry to everyone else.

The quaint little house was even cuter in the daytime with a full night's sleep under my belt. Emily had decorated her door with an ornate door knocker which glittered like a disco ball in the sunshine.

White skin shining like a million diamonds. Pitch black eyes staring out of a white face, staring at me because he wanted to consume me. My bone sticking out of my leg from James' boot slamming onto it. All the work put into not entertaining him failed when the screams made my throat hoarse.

All thoughts fled and I became nothing but horror. Involuntary whimpers sang through the air, and the concrete of Emily's porch seeped coldness through my body.

"Bella, ohmygod are you okay?" A girl asked.

Warm arms picked me up. "Bella, honey, calm down." Jake urged.

Jake. My best friend. Despite not having any cognizance left in my head for anything but vampires and torture, I knew that Jake was there. Looking after me.

But I still felt so incomplete.