Paul.
A month and a half ago, one of our worst nightmares came true.
Jared's sister – and Embry's imprint – Josephine Cameron went missing.
Gone.
Without a trace.
No phone call, no evidence of what happened, no scent, and her last known location leaving us drawing blanks.
Her sightseeing trip along the east coast became the worst days of our lives.
We've all been a fucking mess.
Nothing has ever happened to an imprint before, and I don't think we realized we would all feel the same pain. For the last month and a half straight we grieved, we fought, we moped. We drove ourselves mad with what ifs and what happened.
Jared didn't eat for almost two weeks. Embry stayed in he and Josie's room, staring at a framed picture they took together. He said she didn't feel dead. He was holding on. He had hope. There was a tug at his heart – that familiar pull – that lead him to believe she was still alive.
We thought it was denial, the first of the five stages of grief, but suddenly she called and said she's coming home. They're coming home. That she was kidnapped and held hostage with another girl by some leech but they managed to escape.
I can still hear the replay of her shaky voice in my head.
Everyone is waiting at Embry's for them. They should be here any minute. Quil and I are running patrols with Collin and Brady all night to make sure nothing, or no one, follows them.
We've all been running doubles since Josie went missing. She wasn't taken from the rez, but we've been extra cautious and extra protective of the imprints since her disappearance. Double patrols, extra guys posted by their houses, not letting them go anywhere alone – I don't think any of us have slept more than three hours a day since she went missing.
Sam's been the worst besides Jared and Embry. With Emily being pregnant and all, and his overwhelming guilt of not forcing Josie to allow one of the pack members to go with her, he's been overbearing.
The sound of a car nearing the border makes our ears perk.
We all run to meet it on either side of the road, hidden in the dark of the trees, and see an unfamiliar Honda with a very familiar driver.
It's Josie!
Brady's tail starts wagging and Quil issues a low howl to alert the guys back at the house that we have them in sight. Brady and I follow on the left side of the road, Collin and Quil on the right, as she takes the gravel turn off to Embry's.
She's flooring it, but we keep up with ease.
Where'd they get the car?
Jared said they stole it.
Impressive.
She breaks in the driveway, throws the car in park, and bolts from the driver's seat. Collin and Quil cross around the back of the house and meet us on the other side. The four of us brush against each other, muzzles pressed into fur, and watch as the rest of the guys surround Josie.
She's finally safe.
Almost in unison, everyone seems to release the same, tense breath we've all been holding for weeks. Everything feels right again. She's back. She's safe under our protection. She's ours.
The engine cuts and shoes fall lightly onto the gravel, a sound so soft I barely caught it, as the other girl exits the car and joins the group. Jared immediately pulls her into a hug. She's so thin it looks like his arms could wrap around her twice. I don't catch her face, but pin-straight blonde hair cascades down her back in long layers.
Another pale face.
She'll stick out on the rez, just like Malachi's imprint.
A good and bad thing.
We don't usually let outsiders pick up permanent residence, but the second we got the call from Josie we immediately ran it by Chief and got the okay. She can stay as long as she needs. As long as she wants. We are forever in her debt for helping Josie back to us.
Malachi makes fun of her name.
Indiana. Indie for short.
Embry hugs her next. I hear him thank her.
Josie introduces her to everyone else and Emily ushers them inside. The four of us are left outside after a curt nod from Sam in our direction.
She's hot. Collin – ever the ladies' man. He and Brady are the thirstiest of all the pack members.
Brady blows air through his snout and shakes his fur. We can still hear you, dick. And some of us aren't fortunate enough to have imprints yet.
We play fight for a second before Sam peers out the window as us and we can see in his eyes that we better get back to patrol. Splitting down the middle, we resume our routes and have a conversation about possible scenarios of what happened to Josie.
She didn't say much or give many details over the phone, and our minds have been racing for so long over it that it's hard to just accept that and move on. We want revenge. We want vengeance. We want to kill the motherfucker that took her and thought she was free to take.
But there will be opportunity for that.
Jared and Embry won't let this go lightly.
Not after the pain we experience.
He's as good as dead.
Sam phases in an hour later and calls a meeting for tomorrow morning. He's going to get more information from Embry after he and Josie have had a chance to reunite and talk. Until then, the four of us are on patrol all night while Sam, Malachi, and the twins guard the house.
So far, there's been nothing. No leech scent, nothing along the borders, nothing in town – just a quiet, peaceful night. The first we've had in weeks now that the tension has lifted from all of our shoulders.
Can I phase out and eat? I've been on patrol all day. I was on patrol when we got the call from Josie, and I've been on patrol since then. As third in command, I don't mind it, but I'm fucking starving.
The guys laugh. Starving for pussy!
I roll my eyes and Sam agrees to cover for an hour. The other three crack jokes at me the entire time it takes me to cross the rez to the Black's house.
It's too late to ask Emily to cook, but Rachel will feed me.
Phasing back, I snap the basketball shorts in Jake's garage and put them on.
Finally, my head belongs to myself for a few minutes. I'm going on almost twenty-four hours of sharing my thoughts and I've caught myself almost slipping a few times.
I rub at my temples and sigh. Part of me doesn't even want to go inside.
I'm still not sure why I'm doing this, but a few months ago I agreed to fake an imprint for Rachel Black's sake. It's been the hardest secret I've ever had to keep – even harder than the wolf thing because my head isn't safe when I'm phased. They hear everything. I've had to make up thoughts and keep fake events straight for weeks and its fucking exhausting.
Rachel's actually become a pretty good friend to me though. She's been helping out with my old man and never hesitates to feed me. The other benefit to the whole thing is at some point she suggested we take advantage of the situation we're in and we started fucking.
I was opposed to it at first and denied her – though not without great difficulty – for weeks before I finally caved. I can't stop myself from smirking when I think about that night. I went over for a haircut but ended up fucking her into the shower wall until she was a shaky pile of satisfaction.
For the most part it's worked out fine. It's been a good way to blow off steam for the both of us. My only rule was that absolutely, under no circumstance, can we fall for each other. The second either of us have any romantic feelings arise, we have to end it. I don't want to end up like Sam and Leah.
If we lived in a different world, I might've been interested in actually dating Rachel, but we don't. She's a nice girl, but she's not the girl. There's always a chance I could imprint on someone and it would obviously ruin whatever relationship I built with her.
After seeing the pain and heartbreak it caused Sam, Leah, and Emily, I promised myself I'd never let that happen.
My rule was supposed to prevent that, but lately I worry Rachel is about to break it. There's been a shift in her energy. Her touches linger. Her heart rate increases when she sees me, and it's not lust-driven. She calls me more often and texts me immediately after I leave.
She says it's good for the façade, but I don't think that's what it is anymore.
The last couple of times I've seen her have left a bad taste in my mouth, yet here I am.
I toy with the idea of just getting something fast to eat in Forks, but her bedroom light is on now, so she must've heard me open up the garage. Messing with the waistband of my shorts, I head inside through the side door and into the kitchen.
Rachel's already there, fridge open and sandwich materials spread along the counter. Chief is passed out in the armchair in front of the TV, snoring, and she smiles when she sees me walk in.
"Hey," she says, slathering a thick layer of mustard on a piece of bread. "What's up?"
I grab a can of soda from the fridge door and hop onto the counter. "Josie's back."
Rachel drops the knife and it clatters on the floor. "Really?!"
"Shh!"
They were never really friends, but everyone on the rez knows Josie was missing. It's going to be a big deal for a while.
"Is she okay?"
"I think so. I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet." My stomach suddenly growls and Rachel gives me a sheepish look before picking up the knife.
She washes it off and resumes making the sandwich. My stomach automatically growls again in anticipation. I chug half the soda while she finishes up and passes over the thickest sandwich I think I've ever seen.
I'm so hungry I practically inhale it in just a few bites.
"Hungry?" she asks, amused.
I groan. "Starving. I've been on patrol for almost twenty-four hours." I wipe the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand and chug the rest of the soda. "Gotta go back soon."
Rubbing her lips together, she checks over her shoulder and casually sets her hands on my knees, fingers creeping slowly up my thighs to the waistband of my shorts. "How soon?" She tugs down gently and smirks at me.
Fuck. How am I supposed to say no to that?
I lift my hips just enough that she can get the shorts down over my now rock-hard dick. Bare ass against the counter and dick at full attention, I grip the edges of the counter in preparation as her mouth wraps around me.
She only does this for a minute, just long enough to get me riled up and to the point of no turning back, like she always does. I let my head fall back and my eyes shut. For thirty minutes, I just want to feel and not think about anything.
We end up sneaking past Chief and into her room where I bend her over the edge of the bed. If the sounds of our skin slapping together doesn't wake Chief up, her moans sure will.
She keeps trying to lock our fingers together, so eventually I trap her hands behind her back and force her chest into the mattress. Seconds later she's coming and moaning my name, begging me for more.
And I oblige.
For a solid forty minutes I fuck that girl until her eyelids are droopy and her limbs are like jello. I get my release and let out a deep breath, then pull out and toss the condom in her trash can before putting my shorts back on.
She crawls up her bed and climbs under the covers, throwing me a lazy smile. "You should stay the night."
I freeze mid-reach for the door. "I gotta get back," I reply dumbly, looking at her over my shoulder.
Her mouth curves into a frown and she nods her head. "Okay. Have a good night, Paul." Her tone implies there's more she wants to say, but I'm not going to ask. In the pit of my stomach, I already know where this is going.
"You too, Rach," I mumble, carefully opening the door and pulling it shut behind me.
As I walk by the living room, Chief, now wide awake, shoots me a glare. "Josie get back safe?"
I try not to be obvious as I wipe a drop of sweat from my temple. "Uh, yeah. Just, um, just heading back out on patrol." Fuck that. He knows.
He gives me a curt nod. "Mhm. Have a good night, Paul."
I can't get out of the house fast enough. Ditching the shorts in the garage again, I phase back in and head west to my route. Brady takes my flank a few minutes later and gives me that knowing look.
Don't even start. It's going to be a long fucking night.
By the time the meeting rolls around, I'm a fucking zombie. My arms and legs, though thoroughly relaxed from my session with Rachel, feel like a ton of bricks and I can barely keep my eyes open. But when I walk into Sam and Emily's house and see Josie on the couch, I surge with excitement.
I wrap her up in a hug so tight Embry growls at me and nearly bites my head off. Overprotective. I get that. "Are you okay?" I ask her, squeezing her shoulders.
She smiles her familiar, bright smile and nods her head. "I am now."
There's so many things I want to ask her. What happened? Who was he? Where was she? Did he hurt her? Does she know where he lives? Does he know where she lives? My head is racing with questions but I can't seem to bring myself to ask them.
Sam walks in a second later and stops in the middle of the room. "Okay, Beau is phased outside and Malachi's phased at Embry's," he says. "I want to rearrange the patrol schedule to factor in extra coverage over there."
Josie sits up straight. "I didn't tell her anything about the pack."
Well, that's probably for the better.
Sam shakes his head. "It's fine, he's hidden. We'll make sure we're all hidden."
"Can we talk about the psychopath first and figure out the schedule later?" Jared asks, exasperated. "I want to go after him."
"Quiet," Sam barks. He looks at Josie and rubs his jaw. "Is he anything like the Cullen's?" His tone is hopeful though I think he already knows the answer to that.
She shakes her head. "His eyes are bright red."
"What can you remember about where you were?"
Her eyes lose focus as she thinks, lips pressed together, head shaking almost unnoticeably. "New York… He kidnapped me in Maine. I went to see the Portland Head Lighthouse, then to a karaoke bar that night…"
Josie loves to sing – and she's really good at it. Has been for as long as I've known her.
"I just remember waking up to him and Indie yelling at each other, and her begging him not to kill me."
My brows pull together. "Why would he bother taking you to her if he just wanted to kill you?"
Her head shakes again as she searches her thoughts. "He said he brought me as a present for her. She told me he collects girls with talent," she shudders and Embry pulls her into his side. "I guess he waits until he thinks they're in their physical prime, and then she said he 'freezes' them and takes them somewhere else. I don't think she really knows what he is."
"Freezes them? Like, turns them?" I ask.
"I think so. It would make sense why he takes them somewhere else – to get them through the newborn stage."
The room goes silent.
So what we know is that there's a psychopathic leech, somewhere in the state of New York, that collects girls like human artwork and turns them into vampires.
That's heavy.
"He fucking collects people? You think he's just gonna let them go that easy?" Jared snaps at Sam. His agitation has been getting the best of him lately. Even though Josie is back, he's still on edge.
Sam gives him a stern look. "We all want him dead, okay? That's a given. But we're not making a cross-country trip out of our territory to try to find and kill him," he growls.
"Would it be better if he snuck in here somehow and killed our people in the process of kidnapping my little sister and her friend again?" Jared's ears are turning red and he's shaking.
"Outside. Now!" Sam yells.
Alpha command.
The rest of us lower our eyes as he follows Jared out of the house.
It's quiet again for another minute.
Vampires are fucked up no matter what way you put it, but this is the first time we've experienced or heard of something like this.
Collecting girls.
For what? A personal showcase? Some kind of sick vampire talent show?
"Why didn't he turn her?" I wonder out loud.
Josie winces. "She was refusing to eat, so he kept hooking her up to a feeding tube, saying she was too skinny…"
Just when I thought these fucking leeches couldn't be any more disgusting, one manages to prove me wrong. "So what, he kept her like a pet?"
She shrugs. "I guess. She was there for like, three and a half years," she says. "He took her when she was seventeen. He's got a basement renovated kind of like an apartment, but the door has this big industrial lock on it, and there's no windows."
Everyone in the room exhales loudly. I get where Sam is coming from, but I kinda agree with Jared. If we wait, it could bring harm to our people. I think if we leave a few of the kids behind, maybe Jake would help cover the borders until we get back.
Embry presses a kiss into her hair and rests his cheek against her head. "We should probably get to the store and back before she wakes up," he says softly.
Josie nods and they both stand up to leave just as Sam and Jared come back inside. Jared takes his spot against the wall and sulks in complete silence. I wonder if Sam gave him a gag order.
"I'll make this quick," Sam says, nothing that they're trying to leave.
We all give him our full attention.
"Okay. Collin and Brady, ten at night to two a.m. Paul, Jared, you guys take two to seven. Malachi will take seven to ten. Quil and Embry, ten to three. I'll take three to six, and Henry, you and Beau take seven to ten." He rubs at his jaw some more. "Six to seven we'll leave open for pack dinners."
I can feel my body already shutting down at the thought of my new shift schedule, but if it means the safety of the imprints and our people, we'll all make it happen. And at least no more double patrols.
Josie and Embry leave for the grocery store after we all have the chance to hug Josie. We all needed that reaffirming touch to assure us, once again, that she's real and she's home and under our protection again. It freaked everyone out so bad Quil has even been patrolling outside of the Makah reservation to make sure Claire is accounted for. And Emily's been trying to convince Claire's mom – her sister – to move them to the Quileute rez for added protection.
The imprints are just as much a part of the pack as the guys are. We're connected to them just as intensely as we're connected to each other. When they hurt, we hurt. Whatever they need they will get from us. And when something happens to one of them, it affects us all.
Part of me thinks the guys notice something is off when it comes to Rachel. They have to. They aren't drawn to her like they are the other imprints, and honestly it's starting to make me feel a little guilty. I mean, they're my brothers. The only good family I've ever had. And they've been forcing themselves to react the same way for her that we all naturally do for the other girls, because of me. The whole thing isn't fair to them, isn't fair to Rachel, and isn't fair to me.
I drag my feet into the kitchen where Emily takes pity on my exhaustion and makes lunch for me. Her maternal instincts have kicked into overdrive with her pregnancy. I've been staying with them for the last two months while I build my house, so we've spent a lot of time together.
After I eat, I fall onto my bed, physically and mentally exhausted, and stare up at the ceiling.
What kind of fucking mess did I get myself into?
A/N: Chapt 2 from Paul. Hope you guys liked it! I plan to switch back and forth between Indie and Paul for the most part. I like the different perspectives. Anyways, let me know what you think and thanks for reading! xx