Chapter Seven

Paul

I wasn't handling this well.

At some place between knowing that her mother rejected her father at the worst possible time—after they had gotten married and had children, and realizing that Aria could hardly stand to be around me after I'd given her a ride to work, I decided that I was going to take matters into my own hands. Call it a fear of rejection or whatever but, I was more willing to decide that I didn't need her than to open myself up to her and let it destroy me.

So I kept my distance as best as I could, which was harder than it I thought it would be.

For about the first day or so I was able to distract myself and even then, I would use that term loosely. For the most part I was able to stay focused on not thinking of Aria while I was handling pack business, I owed that all to Seth Clearwater who shifted for the first time, drawing in a lot of concern from Sam and his older sister, Leah. I knew that he was kind of young to take on responsibility in the pack but I was less concerned about that and just grateful for the distraction.

When I wasn't with the pack, my thoughts betrayed me. Even when I went to work at the mechanic shop, I found myself thinking about those hazel eyes and once I finally had my time to myself, she still invaded my thoughts just before I tried to fall asleep at night.

At some point I'd given up on trying to pretend like she didn't exist and I gave in, just a little, for my own sanity. That was when the watching started. After a patrol shift, I often found myself at her home while still in my wolf form and I watched at her window shamelessly from the protection of the trees that shielded me. Sometimes, if I was lucky, she would pass by the window a few times before going to bed and almost always she slept with the curtains pulled back from the window. Of course, at that point there was nothing to see but I couldn't explain how good it felt to simply know that she was okay.

I could admit that I was actually kind of glad that she had developed some sort of friendship with Emily. I felt that maybe it would help her adapt to all of us or more specifically me, but I searched her expression every time I stepped foot in the bakery and never did she seem pleased to see me. When I realized that bothered me, I reminded myself that this—us, we weren't going to work anyway.

The universe had gotten this wrong.

"Are you thinking about a certain someone right now?" Jared teased as he sat across the table from me watching me over the rim of his glass of rum and coke.

Sitting at the only bar in La Push—a family run bar that's customers typically consisted solely of middle aged men, felt strange. As a pack, we rarely went out for drinks together and I was fairly certain that Sam hardly drank at all. He always said that it was because he didn't like feeling drunk but I've always imagined that it had more to do with all of the pressure that he put on himself to seem as responsible as possible to the elders. We were only here tonight because Emily had insisted on shooing Sam out of the house until the girls fell asleep, I couldn't help but to notice that he was more than willing to do so, likely because Leah was there.

"Jared, give him a break. Didn't we come here to have a night off from the shifter stuff?" Sam said, but he had already given away his slight amusement as he tried to hide his grin behind a sip of his own liquor.

"I'm glad that you guys find my misery so amusing," I muttered under my breath, lifting my glass of whiskey to my lips. "You only think that it's funny because you don't have to be the one to deal with it." I said curtly. I hated that I was so easy to upset, it was actually something that I'd been working on for the past year and just when I was starting to feel like things were changing for me, I imprinted and found myself increasingly agitated by the smallest things once again.

"I think that you're forgetting about the fact that Emily refused to be with me for months after I had imprinted on her because of the entire situation with Leah." Sam debated, setting his glass down as he shook his head. "Those were arguably the worst few months of my life and look how things turned out."

"But you don't know how things will turn out when it comes to this." I countered, my gaze shifting from the man that was now engaged to his imprintee and the man who got lucky and imprinted on a woman that he already liked, who already liked him in return.

"Well, you've already decided that it won't work out without even trying." Jared commented, finally sounding serious now.

"How would it work, Jared? She's already decided what she thinks of me and her father doesn't want for her or her siblings to know about wolves, we've already seen how that plays out." I argued, trying my best to not let my agitation get the better of me.

"Well, that's not really his decision to make anymore." Sam offered. "Her brother, Benjamin, is about phase soon, I've been keeping an eye on the situation and all of the signs are there. It isn't my place to decide if Aria should be made aware of it but considering that she's been imprinted on, she's eligible to learn about us."

This news came a surprise to me. I was aware of the fact that she had two brothers but that was just about all that I knew about them considering that I'd only caught glimpses of them leaving the home in the mornings for school with their father or through opened windows as they roamed the home.

"I think that sounds like a good opportunity to try and get on Aria's good side." Jared commented, finishing off his glass of liquor and setting it down on the table then pushing it away from himself. We had no intentions of getting much further than a light buzz tonight.

"Get on her good side by telling her about her brother?" I asked sarcastically just so that Jared could hear how ridiculous he sounded.

"I'm sure that he means by helping her brother through all of this." Sam clarified then after a second, he sat back in his chair as he watching me. "I think Jared's right actually. I've been trying to keep an eye on him and based on your scent that I always seem to find around their property you've been trying to keep an eye on Aria. You're going to be the one responsible for mentoring Benjamin and helping him with shifting. That's an order."

I dropped my eyes to my glass and glared for a moment as I thought. I didn't have a choice now but maybe the two of them were right. Now I had more of a reason to be around Aria and it meant that I could also watch her like I'd been doing anyway. "Fine."

"And that means actually keeping an eye on him Paul, I can't have you getting too distracted by her." Sam urged.

"I've got it." I insisted.

It wasn't all that long after we had all finished our drinks that Emily had texted him that the girls had fallen asleep during a movie and that she was going to be going to sleep as well and since Sam was now free to go back home, so were we.

Apparently, something that Sam did every night before returning home now was check by Lark residence to make sure that nothing had gone awry with Benjamin. Now that I was the one responsible for the kid, I was the one that had to do tonights round and thank God I did.

I'd decided to come on foot to the home, uncertain of whether or not I would decide to shift afterward and stay near Sam's house for the night to be nearer to Aria and as I made my way through the same route that I always took to get here, through the trees rather than the road, I could already hear the sounds of hyperventilating coming from someone else in the woods close by the house.

Uncertain of whether or not I needed to phase, I slowed my pace as my eyes raced over the wide range of trees and I moved slowly toward a clearing where I found a boy, pacing back and fourth furiously picking at his clothes as if they physically disturbed him to have them on as he desperately panted for breath. It didn't take much to gather that this was Benjamin, with his dark hair just like Tobias' and his hazel eyes just like Aria's, I could assume based on the feature alone that it was one that their mother had.

At the sight of this boy being so panicked, my own heart began to race a little as my mind suddenly caught up the realization that I had never been around when another wolf was phasing for the first time. For brief moment panic ran through me that Sam had left me with such a big role in this. What if something went wrong?

Despite all of this, I stepped forward cautiously, accidentally stepping on a branch that snapped and instantly gained the attention of the boy who looked at me with large, panicked eyes. It was only then that I realized that the boy was drenched in sweat, a thin layer of it on his forehead and his shirt completely drenched. Whatever fear I had a moment ago was completely washed away by my recollection of how afraid I felt when it was my first time shifting.

"Get away from me!" The boy snapped at me loudly, stumbling away from me and into a tree that stopped him from scurrying much further.

"Listen, Benjamin? That's your name right? You need to try and calm down, take deep breaths." I urged as I stepped forward again.

"Ben!" He snapped again and I wasn't sure if he was doing so because he was in pain or if he had become so agitated by something that he couldn't figure out how to come down from it. "I-I can't! Something is wrong with me! You need to get away from me!" He shouted but his voice broke and gave away that he was beginning to cry.

The boy suddenly hunched forward, falling to his hands and knees on the ground and let out a horrible groan of pain.

"Nothing's wrong with you." I corrected as I stood across from the boy, still keeping a somewhat safe distance as I watched him heave for breath on the ground. "You're.. about to change and it's gonna hurt like hell but you're gonna make it."

"Change?" Was the question that he asked the second before a horrible shout left him.

The sight that came next was one that left me at a loss for words. Ben's fingers clutched into the wet ground, gripping dirt that crumpled in his hands as the sound of bones crunching broke out between his cries. It started in his shoulders as they expanded while he desperately pleaded, pulling at his shirt until the fabric eventually gave way and fell beneath him. His arms had lengthened unnaturally beneath his skin, followed by his legs. At this point his cries were beginning to turn into loud guttural growls that were beyond any sound that a human could make.

In the same moment that his jaw elongated with a snap, it was almost as if his skin had flipped, taking on a new appearance of dark fur giving away to a massive wolf where a boy had crouched seconds before. With the night air being so cold, steam seemed to appear from the beast's nose as he breathed out and as expected, he growled at me crouching down as if he was going to pounce on me then suddenly became distracted and afraid by the realization that the growl had come from himself. That sent the wolf's body into a fearful fit of trembling that gave way to whimpering.

"This change." I said, calmly as I took in the sight of the wolf's massive hazel eyes that were now shifting in all different directions, likely taking in all of the sounds around him that he couldn't hear before or the things that he may not have been able to see in the night before he had shifted. "Our tribe legends mention warriors that were able to shift into wolves to protect everyone in the tribe. Those are real. You're one of us. I can phase too but for now we have to focus on getting you to shift back."

In response to my words, Ben's ears shifted back and he seemed to remain tense.

"This is the only time that it will hurt to shift. Eventually, you'll learn how to keep this from happening when you don't want for it to happen. It's going to be okay, I promise." I explained to him and just to prove my point, I showed him that I was unafraid of any of this by taking a seat on a massive rock. "We'll wait here until you can finally calm down."

I was almost certain that I was going to have to call Sam for help in this situation but finally after almost an hour, the massive wolf eventually settled into the frame of a very naked Ben who rested on his side, clearly very exhausted by the events of the night. His breathing had finally settled quite a bit in comparison to when I first found him and he didn't seem like he was hurt.

"Let's get you home." I said after a few moments in silence to allow him some rest. It was unsurprising to me at all that he offered little resistance on that matter, slowly managing to get off of the forest floor. The short walk back to the Lark residence was made almost in complete silence expect when he asked if I would wait for him to come back once we reached the porch. Instead of waiting on the furniture, I decided on to take a seat on one of the porch steps and when he did join me again, he was in pajama pants and a hoodie.

"What happened to me just now…that's happened to you too?" Ben asked as he sat beside me on the porch.

I took a deep breath and gave him a nod, looking from him straight ahead and down the driveway. "It's happened to me and a few of the other guys here on the reservation. Both of the clearwater kids actually."

"Clearwater? Like Seth?" He asked me curiously, gaining my attention again.

"Yeah, Seth phased a few weeks ago." I explained.

"Is that why he hasn't talked to me lately?" He asked, his brows furrowing which made me worried that he would get agitated and shift again.

"It isn't his fault. Being a shapeshifter is a huge responsibility. You are now a part of a pack and we all have to do our part—you'll meet everyone else soon. It's also very important that you uphold the secret. A lot of the people on the reservation simply believe the legends are just that—legends. That means that you can't tell anyone, friends or family." I insisted. The last thing that I needed was for him to ramble something about this to Aria and have her dislike this place any more than I already imagined that she did.

"I can keep a secret." He insisted with a nod and I wasn't sure why but he suddenly seemed less defeated by the news that he was a shape shifter.

"Who are you exactly?" He asked me suddenly.

"My name is Paul. I'm the one that's supposed to be helping you through all of this." I explained.

"Like a brother? I've always wanted an older brother." He shared.

"Like a mentor." I clarified, I hardly had any interest in babysitting this kid let alone having him think of me as a big brother.

"Is being in…" He thought of the word that I'd used to describe it before for a moment. "In a pack like being in a family?"

"I guess so." I said with a soft sigh. I was quickly coming to the realization that maybe I had gotten myself in for more than I bargained for. This kid was obviously seeking out some sort of found family situation because his own family was so fucked up. "Listen kid, I've gotta go. I'll talk to Sam tomorrow—our Alpha, about you having gone through your first shift so that he can decide what's next for you." I said as I stood up.

Immediately, Ben stood up too, digging in the pocket of his hoodie and pulling out his phone. "I should have your number." He insisted to which I shook my head.

"Not necessary, I know where to find you." I said, gesturing toward his house.

"But what if something happens and you aren't around? What if I need you?" He asked and I resisted the urge to tell him that his father would know what to do because there was a point in time where he had the exact same ability until he decided to stop using it.

I let out a heavy sigh and moved forward to take his phone with the knowledge that I was under order to be a mentor for this kid through this process and that whatever it was that Tobias was trying to keep from his kids wasn't my business. I punched my number into his phone and then handed it over to him with a nod. "There. Get some sleep Ben. You're probably going to be exhausted tomorrow."

"Okay, See you later Paul." He called out to me before he went inside of the house.

I wouldn't make it too far down the street before getting that sensation—like the hairs were standing on the back of my neck, that told me that I was near Aria.

I don't know why I didn't protest spending the night here with Aria.

She was under the assumption that I had a few drinks with the boys tonight and that I was somehow too impaired to walk home and I was willing to let her think that even though it would take me much more than a glass to get drunk. I guess that after seeing her nearly have a break down tonight, I wanted to simply be near her and she had offered me the opportunity.

"Lets go to my room, I don't want to wake anyone. I also don't really want for anyone to wake up in the middle of the night or something to find you in the living room." She recommended in a soft tone and I nodded in agreement, allowing for her to lead the way up the stairs to her bedroom.

I had the opportunity to hold her tonight and that now haunted me as she led me into her bedroom. I knew that it wouldn't happen and I wouldn't allow it to happen but I wanted nothing more than to have her in my arms again and in the moment, I didn't care if that happened in the bed or outside of it.

"Wait here," She told me once she came into the space and turned on the lamp beside her bed she then left me alone in her private space to go back into the hall. I took the opportunity to move around the space, looking but not touching the few things that she had in her space such as a row of photos from a photo booth tucked into the vanity mirror attached to her dresser of her with her brothers or the journal that was at her bedside table. Other than that, I would have believed that this room was a guest bedroom.

When she came back, I turned to face her as she carried and extra blanket to her bed which I assumed was for me. "You can take the bed." She offered, causing my brows to raise in surprise.

With a shake of the head, I let out a light chuckle as if she had told a joke. "I'm not taking your bed." I countered, stepping toward her to relieve her of having to carry the blanket. "The floor is fine." I said.

"Are you sure?" She asked me, moving to her bed to grab a spare pillow for me to rest my head on. It was a strange thing, with any other woman I probably would have found something clever to say to suggest that she let me sleep in her bed but I cared too much to do anything like that with Aria. Even when I wanted nothing more than to not care.

"What was up with all of the tears earlier? The panic?" I asked, retrieving the pillow from her and tossing it on the ground beside her bed then laying down with the blanket, covering myself with it to prove just how sure I was.

The beautiful woman seemed to hesitate as she watched me with those hazel eyes but eventually, she moved to crawl into her bed, laying closer to the side so that she could look down at me. She took a deep breath then before she spoke up. "If I'm being honest, I think that I was already feeling a little on edge about the idea of going to Emily's and not being near my brothers." She admitted and she seemed somewhat reluctant to hold her eye contact with me. She was ashamed of this. "Then Ben sent me that text and that scared me more than anything."

"He sent you a text?" I asked, trying to mask my concern that Ben may have already fucked up his part of keeping the wolf thing under wraps.

She nodded sadly at me and tucked a loose strand of hair that had escaped her braid behind her ear. "He called me like a million times and then sent me a text saying that he was scared and that he wanted for me to come home but I didn't even see it until hours later. Considering he was asleep when we got here, I'm assuming that everything is okay or he was just feeling weird about me not being home but it just makes me feel so guilty. I shouldn't have gone tonight."

"You can't just put your own life on hold because your brothers are having to adapt to new experiences, Aria. It's not fair to you. Besides, don't you trust your dad to take care of his own children?" I questioned.

"I mean, I guess that I do? He's done fine ever since I've been here. Honestly, I half expected to move here and have a father that was completely incapable of taking care of himself based on the way that my mother talked about him. She was always talking about how he was hardly home and always off with his friends. I was kind of expecting to move in with some kind of bachelor if I'm being honest." She said, causing for me to laugh a little which seemed to also make her laugh.

"From the way that I've always known of him, I'd say he's kind of the opposite. A lone wolf kind of guy." I explained. "I mean every once in a while I'll see him go on fishing trips with other men here but he's honestly only recently started even coming to the bonfires here. I think Sue Clearwater has been trying to show interest in him recently but I don't even think he notices."

"Can I tell you something?" She asked me and in response, I hummed. "I feel like I'm afraid to get to know him. Like I'm going to get to know him and then realize that everything that I've ever thought was a lie."

I didn't know what to say to that because truthfully there was a lot that she didn't know. All that I could hope was that she didn't come to find out that everyone around her kept the truth from her.

A/n: Hello! Thank you so much for reading! I have been living for the lovely reviews so thank you for that as well! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, I personally am not a fan of chapters being retold from a differing point of view so if you were confused about the little time jump that was the reason.