Chapter 4: Paul

Bella dry heaved and collapsed to the cave floor. It had now been forty days since the newborn war and she didn't know if she would make it.

Paul was unconscious but at least he was breathing. She still couldn't believe he was there. She had never met the man but the pack had plenty to warn her about.

Flashback

Bella laughed as Quil and Embry threw popcorn at each other and mimicked the poorly made zombie movie on the projector screen in Sam and Emily's backyard.

"B!" a young voice called.

She turned to see Collin and Brady bounding toward her.

"Colin! Brady! There you guys are! Did you finish all your homework?"

"yes Mom!" the boys responded as they sat on either side of her.

So far, the movie night was going well. She, Leah, Emily, and Kim had all worked side by side in the kitchen baking deserts while Sam and the guys grilled the burgers and hotdogs.

And although everything seemed fine, Bella could feel the tension in the air. Like the look of pain that would cross over Leah's face whenever she looked at Sam and Emily. She wondered what that was about. But then the tension got worse when a howl was heard and Jacob stomped out of the tree line.

"Sam I swear I am never working with that freak of nature again," he growled.

"Woah there Jacob. What happened?"

"that dumb boulder of a freak Paul! Why did you pair me up with him?! I thought he was supposed to do patrols alone?" Jacob accused.

"whose Paul?" Bella asked Brady.

Brady shivered and said "he's the third in the command. He phased right after Jared but… he's more of a lone wolf.."

"lone wolf? Yeah right, that dudes are total boulder just like Jake said.." Embry commented as he moved closer to them.

"ok, how about we lay off the name-calling and give me some facts guys? I mean he is pack right?" Bella asked not liking the name-calling the guys were using for this man she had never met. But if the man was a part of the pack, why wasn't he around? And how was it fair that his packmates talked about him like dirt?

"no" multiple voices echoed across the yard.

"yes." their Alpha's voice disagreed. "but…he's not someone you should mess with precious one. You steer clear of him."

And then everyone went back to the movie as if nothing happened.

However, Bella was a curious person and sought out her Alpha female.

"Emily?" she called out in the dimly lit kitchen.

"over here, Bella."

Bella found Emily watching the movie from a small window.

"you're here to ask me about Paul aren't you."

"you know I can't help myself." Bella shrugged.

"yeah, I know. Now pop a squat and I'll tell you."

Bella did as told and waited.

"Paul was the third to phase. Therefore he is the third in command of the pack. So there's a sense of power in that area. Anyway, while Paul is part of the pack, that doesn't mean he is pack. The pack doesn't see him as a part of the group because…Paul is dangerous. He's been in and out of jail, and he's killed people before. Nothing they could ever prove but we know he did it. Another problem is that the very first day he phased, he rejected the pack dynamic. I cooked for him to welcome him to the pack and he rejected my offering twice. Not to mention, he snaps at anyone who tries to touch him. and you know the pack is big on touch, it's a part of our language. But even worse he has a bad rap with the tribe as well. You know the Ateara general store, he's banned from there because he caused thousands of dollars in damage for nothing. He's supposed to patrol alone and he doesn't attend pack meetings unless it's an emergency. He makes us look bad. Gives us a bad name. As if the pack isn't already struggling against the rumors that float about. Now we have Paul making it worse. So like Sam said precious sister, stay away from Paul."

Bella looked at Emily in shock. She had ever her the women talk with so much…dislike toward a person. Leah she could see but not Emily, and yet something in Bella didn't sit right. The way they talked about their pack brother as if he was a bug under their shoe. It twisted Bella's insides and didn't make her feel good. It didn't fit with the loving pack she had come to know.

Something wasn't right.

End of flashback

….

"Argh!" Bella groaned in frustration. Here she was covered in mud and up to her waist in river water and not a fish in sight.

To make matters worse, her wounds were getting bad, she was feverish and dehydrated and she swore she might just have dysentery.

Exhaustion was hitting her like a train but she had to try to again. She needed to get food, for her and Paul.

Who knows how long it took him to get from Forks to the Amazon jungle? The poor man had to be starving.

"Maybe I can catch a bird instead?" she questioned

After another exhausting hour, Bella was able to hunt down a medium-sized bird.

"It's not much but at least It's Something." she sighed.

Bella groaned as she made it back to the cave. Her feet were bruised and blistered plus she still had to pluck the feathers off the bird.

She practically collapsed unto the pile of leaves she called a bed and turned on her side.

And that's when brown eyes met electric blue ones.

Bella gasped and sat up.

Paul was awake.

…

The wolf stared at her his head cocked to the side as he drank her in. With predatory movements, he stood, his whole body dwarfing hers and practically filling the cave.

"um…Hello Paul." Bella greeted the wolf. "you and I haven't officially met but I'm Bella Swan. You've been asleep for about five days. I'm sure you're exhausted. I have a bird here, I was going to cook it at some point but right now I'm exhausted. Oh and by the way, thank you ..for coming all this way. I don't know if you were coming for Victoria or me but either way. Thank you. It's nice to not be alone. So yeah."

Bella went quiet, hoping that Paul would phase back so they could talk, that's if he could phase back. She knew that sometimes the guys had a tougher time phasing when they were really upset so it took longer.

All of a sudden, Bella's eyes widened as she looked down at her body. She was completely naked, her clothes being shredded from Victoria's torment. She did her best to block out the memories, her only goal right now was to survive.

It was then a cold nose touched itself to her head.

Bella jumped as she realized Paul was standing in front of her. he let out a low growl as he sniffed her, in every crevice he could find, including the embarrassing ones.

"uh...Paul what-"

A growl shut her up, as Paul began to lick her wounds. He licked her from head to toe, his big body wrapping itself around her, filling her with warmth like never before. Tears welled in her eyes as the former loneliness went away. The fear and the pain that she had been holding in began to unravel. With every tear that fell, Paul was there to lick it away and for the first time in a long time, Bella's sleep was peaceful and safe.

…..

The next morning found Bella still curled up in Paul's fur. She stretched hearing the loud calls of the birds and nearby animals.

Feeling her move Paul unclurled from around her and stretched himself.

Standing up, she realized most of her wounds were closed and instead of dark blue and purple they were now light yellow.

"Paul? My skin?" she questioned.

Paul looked at her and grunted. He then exited the cave, motioning for her to follow.

It didn't take too long for them to reach the nearby river where Paul dived in head first, fur and all submerged.

Bella followed after curious as to what he wanted to do.

Two minutes later Paul returned with two giant fish in his mouth.

"wow! …Paul this is amazing."

Once again, he grunted at her and dived back in.

Paul had gathered at least seven fish by the time they were done. On the way back to the cave, he helped Bella collect more firewood and dug a trench around the cave to prevent the rain from coming in.

"Paul? Do you think you could phase back? I think we should talk about our predicament."

However, Paul shook his head and used a paw to write in the nearby dirt pile.

Cant phase, don't know why. Need to move on in the morning. By the way, you made it easy to find you, I could follow the strands of hair you left from the river. You're very smart. Not to mention you have a pretty strong scent.

Bella couldn't help but chuckle.

"you know I've been told that. And the hair strand trick I saw in an anime once. The girl pulled out strands of her hair so that someone could find her. I thought if anyone was going to find me with super senses, they could at least find the trail. By the way are you ok? Did the fish help?"

The fish and the leftover bird help a lot. We will have to hunt more tomorrow before we settle for the night. We need to move from here I don't know why but something is pulling me farther into the rainforest. By the way, did you drag me to this cave?

" Well after we took down Victoria you passed out. I couldn't just leave you there. You saved my life after all."

Paul grunted and scooted closer to her so that she could curl up in his fur.

"Paul." Bella said quietly as the fire began to dim. " you're a good man… and a good wolf."

Paul didn't respond.

….

It had to be around midnight when the cold and shuffling sound awakened Bella.

"Paul?" she called out.

As Bella squinted into the darkness, she could see a wolf's silhouette, but it was somehow … different.

"Paul?" she calls again.

This time the silhouette turned towards her. A painful howl emitted from it.

Bella stood coming closer and gasped at what she saw when the moonlight hit.

Instead of a silver wolf, there now was a leopard with the blackest fur she had ever seen. The only reason she didn't run away was because of its eyes.

Its eyes were electric blue.

"oh..oh Paul? What happened?" she asked in disbelief.

How had Paul managed to shapeshift into another animal?

Not being able to answer her, Paul let out a low yowl. He then squatted down, turning his back to her.

Bella paused before she realized what he wanted.

"oh! Oh, Paul… do I have to?" she questioned. " I just don't want to barf on you."

Paul however ignored her and motioned for her to get on.

Not having a choice, Bella sighed and climbed onto the jaguar. As soon as she was on, Paul spirited into the night, Bella locking her arms around his thick neck.

And off they went.