A/N: It's heeeeeeeeere. I've spoiled you guys with 3 chapters in one week. The last one was a tiny chappy though so I guess it doesn't really count :p hope you enjoy! xx
Paul.
When Jacob springs up behind me in the woods a few days later and sucker punches me in the back of the head, I really start to wonder if Jared is a fucking psychic.
"What the fuck, Jake?" I turn on my heel and he punches me again square in the mouth. The taste of blood immediately coats my tongue and I spit it out at him, shoving him as hard as I can.
He stumbles back, my blood splattered across his face, and Jared quickly throws himself between us. "Can we not? It's kind of broad daylight here."
I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and spit out the residual blood. My split lip is already mostly healed. "That was a cheap shot, Black."
"You want to talk about cheap shots after you faked imprinting on my sister to get in her pants?"
I laugh. "Is that what she told you?"
Jacob bares his teeth. "She didn't have to tell me anything. Everyone knows the kind of guy you are."
"I guess she left out the very convenient part where it was all her fucking idea."
He tries to charge at me again, but Jared shoves him and I instinctively jump back and phase. He could kill me if he wanted to. I think he'd make it a little more theatrical than this, though. If there's one thing he's picked up from his bloodsucking family, it's how to put on a dramatic show.
He glares at me, but thankfully doesn't phase. I don't feel like fighting right now.
"Stay away from my family, Lahote. And stay away from me."
I'd salute him if I was human. He betrayed us for those fucking leeches anyways. I could care less what he decides to do with his life from here on out. He's not my brother anymore.
Jared slow claps as he walks off. "Real great, Jacob. Real great," he taunts, but Jake just ignores him and disappears without another word.
I mean, he said what we were all thinking. Malachi says, the little shit.
No one is gonna have my back that I was manipulated into it and was just trying to help her out?
Malachi and Embry laugh. I'm sure there was tons of manipulation going on while you were helping her out.
I snarl. Jared phases.
Okay, who all saw that?
They all laugh and I narrow my eyes at him. You guys are dicks.
Maybe, but at least we didn't fake our imprints.
Assholes. I said I was sorry.
Well you're not forgiven, yet. I can picture Malachi turning his nose up.
What do you care? You three were the least affected by it. If anything Beau and Henry should be the mad ones since they got the shitty patrol shifts.
Alright, alright. Jared shakes out his hide and scratches his nose with his paw. Anyone feel like a quick dip?
It's decently warm out, especially with our increased body temperatures, and I'm still hot from working on my house earlier. Jared and I were heading back to Emily's so I could shower when Jacob so graciously showed up to punch me.
Last one to the jump site buys the Everclear for tonight!
Oh yeah, the party at Sam and Em's.
Jared suddenly breezes by me, dirt flying in his path. It gets in my eyes and I snarl before taking off after him. He's quick, and has the best eyesight out of all of us, which he uses to his advantage by taking routes where I can't see the upturned roots hidden in the brush.
I lose track of him and we all go quiet with competition.
Somehow, and suspiciously, I make it to the cliffs before anyone else. I phase back and glance over the edge to see if anyone jumped, but there's no one in the water.
Ten minutes pass before I realize these assholes planned this shit and aren't even coming. When I phase back in, no one's there and it's dead silent.
Should've seen that one coming.
They've been pranking me endlessly since I came forward – well, since they inadvertently found out – about the Rachel thing.
Dicks.
I take my time walking back to Sam and Emily's. It's not often that you're phased and no one else is in and listening. It sounds stupid, but it's nice to not worry about being so human sometimes. I like the feeling of the dirt giving way under my claws and the wind in my fur. I like being able to smell what someone is eating, or a girl's perfume, or the bubbles in a bath from miles away.
My ears can pick up on the scurrying footsteps of a squirrel, or the fluttering wings of a hummingbird.
As I near Em's, I can hear every word from the show she's watching upstairs crystal-clear, and I can hear Sam digging through the silverware drawer in the kitchen, probably searching for a spoon.
He'd be lost without Emily. He's lucky to have her.
I phase back and change into a t-shirt, basketball shorts, and a pair of Nikes and walk into the kitchen.
Sam nods his head at me and shovels some cereal into his mouth. "You meeting us at the beach for football?"
I take a water from the fridge and twist it open. "I didn't know there was a game."
He looks confused. "Malachi said you guys were eating at River's and would meet up."
Of-fucking-course.
I chug the water and toss the bottle into the recycling, heading for the back door. "Yeah, we'll meet up if they're not dead by the time I'm done with them!" He knows I'm kidding, even though the idea does sound pretty tempting.
My stomach growls the entire way to the restaurant and I can hear the guys talking shit and laughing through the walls before I even walk in. They better have left some food for me since they fucking ditched me.
The bell rings when I walk in and Josie points at a window booth as she passes by. Embry is posted at the end in a chair and waves me over.
"There better still be food," I threaten, adjusting the shorts on my hips as I walk up to them.
Embry, Jared, Malachi, and—
Flawless, sun kissed olive skin.
Our eyes meet and I hear her delicate heart skip a beat.
Embry moves to the spot next to her and pushes two full plates of food to the end of the table. "Only cuz for some unknown reason Josie likes your lying dumbass," he jokes. "Indie, Paul. Paul, Indie."
Malachi sighs. "Indiana. Aaand I don't think he's lying this time."
My brain processes everything they're saying, but I'm so absorbed in the sage color of her eyes it's like I didn't even hear it. My ears are humming. I reach out to her with an open palm – that's what you normally do, right?
"Hey."
Her dainty hand slides into my grasp with nimble fingers softer than satin and cool to the touch, like flower petals in the morning.
"Hi."
Her soft, breathy voice is the most angelic thing I've ever heard – like music to my ears.
Jared ruins the moment with an "ohhh, fuck," and she takes her hand back, raising an eyebrow at him. I could reach across the table and happily end his life right now, and as Malachi elbows him in the side, I wish it was his face instead.
"Uh, I forgot to call Kim?"
Weak response.
He knows what's happening.
I slide into the empty chair.
My eyes are fixed on her, watching the way her lips curve around the rim of her mug, and she glances back at me out of the corner of her eye. They said it was like gravity, and it is, but it's even more than that. It's like my soul recognizes her. She feels familiar.
"Anyways," Malachi mutters. Her eyes move across the table to him. "We're playing football on the beach today. Wanna come?"
"What he means," Embry cuts in with a smirk, "is that his team is going to get destroyed at football on the beach today, and you are more than welcome to witness it."
Her mouth curves into a beautiful smile and she laughs. "Okay, sure. Just in case I need to testify in court." Not only is she gorgeous, but she has a sense of humor too.
Josie walks up and unloads a tray of drinks onto the table before resting her hands on my shoulders. "Indie, this is Paul."
My eyes flick in her direction again. She's looking at me and I almost instinctively shrug Josie's hands off my shoulders.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Malachi waves his hand and grabs a glass of orange juice.
"Perfect, that's the one I poisoned," Josie says, and I can tell by her voice she's rolling her eyes. She squeezes into the booth next to Embry and grabs Indie's empty coffee mug. "You gonna be okay by yourself today?"
My ears suddenly start burning and my wolf is rams against my chest like a caged animal. How could I forget about the fucking leech hunting her?
I picture that pretty face with a tube down her nose, cuffed to a chair, humiliated and forcefully controlled to—
Embry's raging anger and impulse to kill suddenly makes perfect sense to me. There's nothing I want more than to find that piece of shit leech and tear it into pieces right now. The guys can sense my anger. Both Embry and Jared pick up on it and I feel their energies shift with mine. Malachi can sense it too, but he has a better hold on his emotions than the rest of us. I do envy the kid for that.
Indie looks at all of us with furrowed brows for a second but then releases the tension from her face and smiles. "Actually, I'm going with them." That voice immediately softens my clenched jaw and gritting teeth.
"Oh, good! I'll just see you back at home before the party, then." Josie kisses Embry and then groans as the bell chimes again and a group of noisy seniors shuffle in. "I'll bring you another coffee in a minute."
Malachi picks an orange slice off his plate and hands it out to Indie. "Here, since you're apparently a fruit-only kind of girl."
The beaming smile on her face for Malachi makes my wolf sulk anxiously. I swallow a growl and start eating before I make a scene by threatening his life. The rational portion of my brain – which I'll admit is very small – knows he means nothing by it. He has his own imprint, but my wolf still wants to assert dominance over what's mine.
Mine.
The thought of anything or anyone harming or scaring her makes my throat feel like fire. I get so sucked into it my hands start to shake.
Fuck. Cool it, Paul.
"I'll be right back." I push away from the table and head straight for the bathrooms.
The door nearly splinters when I shoulder it open. My tense hands wrap around the edge of the sink and I hang my head, trying to calm myself down by counting my breaths.
I want to know, need to know, what all happened to her.
Did he hurt her?
Did he touch her?
I want to fucking kill him.
More than I already did. I want to rip his arms off and shove them so fucking far up his—
Embry walks in a second later. "Dude, breath," he whacks me on the back and I almost take a swing at him, but manage to restrain myself.
"I feel like I'm going to fucking lose it, man." My voice is strained. "How did you finally calm down?"
He nods and leans against the bathroom door. "You just gotta work through it and know we're all gonna protect her," he replies. It's not much of a consolation, but it helps a little bit. "Sometimes, I want that fucking leech to come after them. To try us."
My wolf does, too. "Did Josie ever tell her? About us?"
He shakes his head. "We're gonna have to tell her now, though," he says with a knowing grin.
"Don't tell her," I reply, shaking my head.
"You can't keep it a secret forever."
He's right – I know that – but I can stall it for as long as possible.
How are you supposed to tell a girl you barely know that she's your whole reason for living? That you breathe for her and exist because of her?
I didn't really get it before.
When someone imprints, the rest of us naturally have an instinct to protect her, but when she's yours… I can't describe it. She's everything. She's everything and she doesn't even know it, and I can't even fucking tell her.
"Nothing's going to touch them," he says in a low voice.
I grit my teeth and nod. "Agreed."
Embry stays with me until I'm sure I won't phase and then we join the table again. The food's mostly gone, but the guys were smart and didn't touch my plates. I eat quickly and we wave to Josie as we file out to head for the beach.
The weather's perfect, now.
It's heating up and the clouds look like they might actually clear up completely in an hour or two. We gotta walk down the beach a ways to meet the other guys, and once we hit the sand Indie kicks her flip-flops off and hooks her pinky through the straps.
She's so small walking between the four of us. I mean, she's kinda tall for a girl – maybe five-foot-seven or eight – but she's skinny as hell and we still tower over her. The top of her head just barely reaches my shoulders, and when we make it to the rest of the guys and she steps out of her sweats, all of her height is in a pair of long, slender but toned legs.
Thank god for hot weather and little bikinis.
The football abruptly hits me in the side of the face so hard my jaw pops. My head whips around and I see Sam smirking at me. "Funny!" I shout sarcastically, picking up the ball. I hurdle it back at him as hard as I possibly can and watch as Indie slinks off to the water, light as air on her feet, barely disturbing the sand.
"Earth to quarterback!" Sam jogs over and shoves the ball into my chest. "You okay? Still mad at these pricks?"
"He imprinted!" Jared swipes the ball and wiggles his eyebrows at me. "For real this time."
Sam rests his hand on my shoulder. "Really?"
I mutely nod my head.
"Congratulations, Paul. That's awesome."
Congratulations for what? What's awesome? Tangling a girl up in an even bigger mess than the one she just escaped from? "Thanks."
"Now comes the fun part of constant blue balls." Jared passes me the ball, which I jump in the air to catch.
"Yeah, well we all know you had no issues with that." I toss it back and we start to group up for the game.
Kim had already been pining after Jared for years when he imprinted on her. Girl didn't even bat an eye when he told her about phasing and the pack.
I glance back out at Indie and wonder what she would think. Would she be afraid of us? Think it's interesting? After what she's been through, would she turn the other way and run? I frown at that thought as I watch her. I already can't stand the thought of losing her, and I've barely spoken to her.
She's kicking her feet through the shallow waves and staring out at the horizon, her messy blonde hair gathered up in a high bun.
"We playing or we staring at the new girl?"
I growl low in my throat at Malachi. He's just fucking with me, I know that, but he's picking the wrong fucking way to do it. "We are not staring at the new girl," I hiss. My hands are itching to wrap around his throat and stuff his head into the sand.
Sam picks up on it. "Calm down," he mutters, eyes burning into the side of my face. "The last thing we need is you two starting a fight in the middle of the day.
This sounds oddly familiar.
I mean, he's right, but that doesn't make me wanna hurt the cheeky little fucker any less.
"Fine."
As much as I love to completely annihilate the opposing team in any kind of situation, I'm so distracted by the girl in the water that I can't focus worth shit. I even let Malachi – Malachi – throw the ball right past me just so it'll land somewhere near her and I'll have an excuse to go talk to her. Sam just smirks at me as I jog over and launch the football back to the guys.
"Sorry about that," I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck. "Did it splash you?
"It's okay," she smiles and shakes the droplets from her arm.
I've never had troubles talking to people before, but right now I'm at a complete loss for words. There's so much I want to know about her and I don't even know where to start, or how.
"Your friends talk about you a lot." She drags a silky leg through the shallow water and smiles up at me again.
"That could be a good or bad thing," I reply, chuckling. "They talk about you a lot, too. Good things."
She uses her hand to block the sun from her eyes for a second before looking back out at the water. "How long have you known Josie and Embry?"
"I moved here when I was eight." I fidget with the waistband of my shorts and glance over my shoulder. The guys are staring at me with stupid looks on their faces. "My parents divorced. We all sort of grew up together on the rez, but I didn't really start hanging out with Embry until a few years ago."
She frowns. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok, I think I'm finally getting used to him."
I know she meant about my parents, but the joke brings that pretty smile back to her face. She tucks a loose strand of hair back into her bun and laughs.
"What about you?" I ask. "How long have you known Josie?" The playing dumb thing isn't really my forte, but I can't exactly tell her that I already know everything.
"Not very—" mid-sentence, a huge wave crashes around us hard enough that it even knocks my balance off. I instinctively reach out for her and wrap my arm around her waist to keep her from falling over. If it almost knocked me down, it'll definitely pull her back out with it.
Fuck, she's tiny.
I take a few steps back towards the shore and as the wave starts receding, Indie looks up at me, soaking wet, and bursts into laughter. Beautiful, genuine, tinkling laughter. I'm stuck in her eyes and the way they crease in the corners and almost disappear with how intense her laughter is. I can't help but laugh too, even though now I feel a little bad she's drenched.
She steps away from me and reaches down for the hem of her shirt, then pulls it over her head and exposes her torso and shoulders and I think I might fucking lose my mind. I have to physically force myself to look away from her so I don't get caught staring.
She is literal perfection.
Long, toned legs. Perfect ass accentuated by the little black bikini bottoms clinging to her skin. Curve to her waist. Small but round, perky breasts. Sharp collarbones and a long, slender neck I'd love to cover in marks and—
Shit, stop, Paul.
I can feel my dick starting to get hard and my basketball shorts aren't gonna hide shit if that happens.
Think about vampires. Bella. Alice. Edward.
Okay, that did it.
"Thank you for that." Indie says, still laughing. She throws her shirt onto the sand with a plop and fixes her bun. "I'm usually much more graceful than that."
I believe it.
"I tend to have that effect on people," I joke, grinning. "Kidding. Sorry I wasn't paying closer attention. I could've prevented that."
She smirks and shrugs her shoulders. "I tend to have that effect on people."
My words leave me. I think she might actually be an angel. I died and went to heaven – I must have.
"Lahote!"
Or not.
My heaven would definitely not include the she-wolf.
I turn my head and see Leah and Seth walking over to us. Indie turns too and laughs again when she sees them, immediately skipping over. I try not to stare at the way her ass bounces with each step as I follow her, but of course my eyes are glued.
Leah scoffs at me. "Didn't I tell you not to scare off my new employee?" she scolds, hands on her hips and shaking her head.
"Oh, you're the new employee?" I ask Indie. "Sorry you have to work with this Debbie Downer all day." I thumb at Leah and chuckle.
Indie smiles. "Actually if anything you should feel bad for her," she replies.
Leah sighs dramatically and nods her head in agreement. "Yeah, all this girl does is dance around the shop all day. Way too optimistic for my taste."
"Any optimism is too much optimism for you, Leah," Seth adds.
She rolls her eyes. "Shut up, Seth."
Indie laughs again and I absorb every detail of it – the way her plump lips thin out with her smile, her high cheekbones, and the way her tongue pokes out between her teeth. This girl I barely know – this girl I just met an hour ago – has my entire body wanting to fall to my knees in submission. I feel the smile slip from my face.
She deserves more than me. I'm a fireball of madness and uncontrollable anger and rage. I've been working on it, but I hoped by the time I imprinted I would have it all figured out and under control. Now I have no idea how I'm going to protect her without being the one to destroy her.
"Are you guys going tonight?" Indie asks, looking back and forth between them and then at me.
My body weakens. That simple glance can hypnotize me.
"Josie would kill me if I didn't. But…" Leah trails off and her eyes ghost past me to where Sam and the guys are playing.
Indie looks, too, and touches Leah's elbow. "I tried to get out of it, too," she admits with another tinkling laugh.
I wonder why she doesn't want to go.
"Everyone's gonna be there," Seth says. "Full house."
Great.
Em's house full of shapeshifters and kids that can't keep their fucking mouths shut. It's a recipe for disaster.
"Lee, can I talk to you for a sec?" I lean my head in the direction of the water. The waves will hopefully drown our voices out for the most part – at least enough to where Indie can't hear us.
We walk out to the wet sand and face the ocean. "What?" she asks me, folding her arms across her chest.
"I imprinted," I tell her. "Honestly, this time. On her."
She looks at me in surprise. "Damn, just when I thought I finally had a girlfriend that wasn't coo coo for Coco Puffs," she mumbles, looking back out at the water.
I rub my lips together and press them in a straight line. "I don't want her to know about the packs."
"Well it's not really your choice, especially now."
"Please, Lee. Just for a while. She's already been through a lot…"
She sighs and plays with the ends of her hair. "Yeah, Josie told me…"
We don't talk for a minute. I look back at Indie and Seth – they're laughing together. He's keeping her distracted. I'll have to thank him for that later.
"Well, I'll stick with her as much as I can," Leah finally says. "I'll tell Seth to watch what he says. You tell them," she nods her head at the guys.
I smile slightly. "Thanks, Lee."
She's soft for a second, but then suddenly narrows her eyes and sticks her finger in my face. "But you better totally clear that shit up with Rachel before you even think of trying to start something with her. Too many fucking relationships have been dirtied by this kind of shit."
My throat constricts as I swallow and nod. She's right. "I know."
Giving me one last look, she touches my shoulder and then turns and rejoins Indie and Seth. I linger by the water for a moment before ultimately deciding to give them some time. I should tell the guys, anyways.
I head over and intercept a pass, tucking the ball into the crook of my arm and pausing the game.
"Ready to stop acting like a little girl and play some ball?" Malachi drawls, his eyes narrowed with competition.
I just snort and laugh. "Depends, you ready to become my bitch?"
"Jesus, can't you two ever just play some fucking football?" Jared gives us both an exasperated look.
Malachi and I break our staring contest to look at him.
It's quiet for a second but then everyone laughs and the tension lifts, even though I still want to punch Malachi and his shit-eating grin.
We play ball for another two hours almost – Indiana just sunbathing and hanging out with Leah and Seth – and I ask all the guys to keep it hushed about any pack related topics tonight. Sam agrees and makes it an alpha order so no one accidentally slips up.
As we're cleaning up to go home, Indie walks over to grab her sweatpants and waves at me. "Nice meeting you," she says.
"You going with Leah and Seth?" I ask, tossing the ball between my hands.
She nods and steps into her sweatpants with freshly tanned legs. "Yeah, they're gonna walk me back to Josie's."
I smile, though I wish it was me walking her back. "See you tonight, then," I reply.
She just smiles and waves again before turning back to Seth and Leah.
I stand in the same exact position, looking like a dumbass, until they're completely out of sight before dropping the ball and ducking into the trees to phase. It's not that I don't trust Leah and Seth, I just need to see for myself that she makes it back.
I follow them carefully in the covering of the trees, but accidentally snap a twig that catches Leah's attention. She lifts her head and scans the lining of the trees and says, "Really?"
Indie, who thinks she's responding to her, says, "Yes, really," with a laugh. Her soaked shirt is clutched in her hand, flip-flops back on her feet, and her hair down and blowing in the gentle breeze.
I can't believe how perfect she is – why someone like me is supposedly destined to be a part of her life.
I'm much more careful following them the rest of the way to Embry and Josie's place. Indie fishes a key out of her pocket and waves to the other two before letting herself inside and shutting the door. I hold my breath until I hear it lock and Leah looks back out into the trees again.
"Chill out," she says, low enough that Indie won't be able to hear, but I hear it perfectly. "And you better not start hounding her at the shop all day. You hear me?"
I blow my snout loudly in response.
She laughs and rolls her eyes and Seth waves in my direction before they take off.
Part of me knows how pathetic this is, as I plop onto the ground and drop my clothes and shoes from my mouth, but I can't bring myself to leave knowing she's inside by herself. Sam and Malachi have phased and are patrolling, so I know she'd still be safe, but for some reason my wolf won't let it register. I have to make sure she's safe. She's mine to protect.
It gets easier. They both practically think in unison, but they have years of imprint under their belts. Sam and Emily are going on, what, six years now? Seven? And Malachi imprinted like, days after phasing for the first time and that was three years ago.
My imprint is fresh – hours old – and I have no idea how the fuck to control everything I'm feeling and not be a complete, neurotic mess.
So I just lay here, staring at the front door, wondering what she's doing in there.
I guess now I know why they call it puppy love.
A/N: yaaaay let me know what you guys think! Side note, of course she's not perfect without flaw, but Paul's wearing his imprint goggles 8) I hope you guys enjoyed! I'm dutifully trying to bust chapters out so I can be ahead of my updates, so be patient with me. Thank you for reading! xx