The Banshee -Paul Lahote-

Chapter 42

The next morning Mavis felt better. She needed to get her frustrations and fear out of her system. Everyone had been sitting in the living room waiting for her to wake up. Alice made good on her word and had fresh pancakes waiting for her.

It was clear Alice had voiced the issues of last night to everyone. Mavis felt guilty for that but tried to focus on the positives. The Cullen's loved her. She knew that. All that mattered was their love. Anything else didn't need to matter, at least right now. Things had been calm since the newborns: no issues, no fighting. It was peaceful.

"What are you thinking about," Alice whispered in her ear.

"Nothing," Mavis lied. "What about you?"

"Just you," she grinned.

Mavis rolled her eyes, "creepy."

Alice huffed and jumped on the couch beside her. Before she could say anything, Mavis's phone began ringing. It was the third call in ten minutes. She hadn't answered because her phone was on the other side of the room. "Are you going to get that?"

"It's too far." In a flash, Alice was back beside her with the phone. "Wow, thanks." Mavis smiled and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Mavis, thank god," Seth spoke into the phone. "You need to come to the Rez right now."

Mavis glanced at her mother before pushing off the couch. There was rustling on the other end of the line. "Seth, I don't think I should come to the Rez right now." She didn't want to see Jacob. Not after what he said.

"It's Paul," Seth breathed. "We need your help."

That was all it took for Mavis to slip on her shoes. "What happened? Is Paul okay?" That was all she cared about. The idea of something happening to Paul terrified her.

Alice listened to the conversation, walking closer to make sure nothing serious had happened. "He's fine, sort of. After you disappeared last night, he sort of lost it on Jacob. They got into a huge fight. Man, you should have seen it. Paul kicked his ass-"

"Seth," Mavis cut him off. "Is Paul okay?"

"Right, Paul," he had to remind himself. "No, he can't shift back. We need your help."

"What do you mean he can't shift back?" She did not realize that was possible.

"It's exactly as it sounds. Look, we need your help."

She glanced at her mother, who nodded at her. "I'm on my way."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mavis stopped the car outside of Emily's house. Most of the pack was sitting outside, waiting for her. "Mavis," Jared approached her. "Thank you for coming."

"Yeah," she glanced at Jacob. He had his head down. Eyes locked on the ground. "Where is he?"

"Woods," Quil pointed behind him. "He's somewhere over there."

Mavis sighed, realizing that none of them wanted to be overinvolved in the situation. She started walking towards the woods, the branches beneath her feet began to crunch.

"Paul," the girl called out as she ventured into the woods. "Paul?" It was entirely silent—no sign of her shapeshifting boyfriend anywhere. "Paul!" Mavis couldn't help but feel guilty. This was another example of how she messed things up. Paul was angry with Jacob because of her, and now he couldn't shift back. "Paul?" There was no response. Nothing to indicate if her boyfriend was anywhere near. "Great, just great. Way to screw up again, Mavis." The blonde girl rubbed her head, feeling a headache approaching. "Paul! Are you out here?" A tree branch broke beside her, and Mavis spun around. Walking down the path was her shapeshifter boyfriend. She smiled at the sight of him, sticking her hand out. "Hey, Paul."