Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

eighty one

Paul

I carried Serena back to the Cullen's quickly. Despite my excess body heat and hers from her pre-phase, she was still freezing, pushing me to move that much quicker. I continuously slipped and slid through the woods because of the buckets of rain being dumped, and even managed to fall on my butt once.

I quickly made it to the Cullens house, Esme meeting me at the door with a giant blanket. "Sam is fetching Emily, I assume?" she asked and I nodded, taking the blanket and wrapping it around Serena.

Serena continued to be overcome by intense shivers, the blanket obviously not doing much for her. "I'll phase, she'll be warmer that way" Embry said, leaving the house before returning as his wolf.

He laid on the floor on top of another blanked that Esme had laid out, and I set Serena next to him, watching as he curled around her. I quickly joined them on the ground, sitting against the gap that Embry couldn't reach. We sat around Serena like this for fifteen minutes before Emily and Sam came running into the house.

Noticing us on the ground, Sam nodded at us in thanks. "Is the water ready?" Emily asked Esme who nodded, ushering her upstairs. I stood and picked Serena up, following the pair to the bathroom. "I need help getting her shirt and shorts off so I can get her in the tub. Paul?"

"I'm not really comfortable doing that. I'm sure Serena would feel the same" I told the two of them.

"It's ok, Paul, I'll help her" Esme told me but I was skeptical. "I won't hurt her, I promise. You can stand right out the door"

I nodded and handed Serena over to the vampire, exiting the room but standing right outside the door. "Will you help me dress her as well? I'm not confident in my ability to get her out, dry, and dressed by myself" Emily asked quietly

"Of course, I'll always help my allies" I heard Esme respond, sounding like a mother, making me smile, "here, you wash her hair while I scrub the mud off her skin. It'll be quicker this way and we'll get all the cold stuff off of her"

Fifteen minutes later the bathroom door opened and I was allowed entry. Serena, who was free of mud, was bundled up in a clean blanket in Esme arms. After Esme passed my imprint over to me, I followed both women downstairs where Carlisle and Edward were waiting.

Like the last time Serena was in 'the well,' Carlisle hooked her up to an IV and heart monitor while Edward stayed close, narrating everything that Serena was experiencing. "He wants to turn her" Edward said and I tensed, squeezing her closer to me.

"We knew that, its been his plan since the beginning" Sam stated. Jasper was jotting down notes  and Alice was attempting to get another vision. 

"He's going to try and force her to phase" Alice exclaimed and I looked over to her frantically, she was having another vision. "It's connecting to the one I had of her in the woods by the cliff. She's falling. That's where it stops"

"What is his obsession with her phasing?" Embry wondered

"He wants the pack to feel the pain of losing a member" Edward informed us, "there must be some trauma behind his obsession with Serena"

"She said that they were best friends until he had to suddenly move away, maybe he didn't want to leave her with those monsters?" I asked

"One of his moms had a secret kid" Alice said, deep into another vision, "they didn't meet until a few months ago. He was killed in an accident. Luke feels like Embry and Sam should have to feel the same pain he did"

"This is going to be extremely dangerous for not only Serena but also the pack. He's going to make her phase prematurely, which will cause unknown physical or psychological damages to her. He's then going to force her to become a vampire, which will not only cause extreme physical strain on her newly shifted body, but also sever the ties with the pack, causing unknown damages to her and all of you" Carlisle explained

"So we keep her away from the woods. Alice's vision can't come true if he doesn't have the opportunity to strike?" Embry asked

"It'll work, but that doesn't mean he's not going to try and pull her back into 'the well' to isolate her" Edward said

"Yeah but he also goes in 'the well' when Serena goes in, so he can't get to her. All we have to figure out is where he's hiding while he's inside so we can get him first" Sam said, "That and keep his little buddy away which the guys are doing a good job at"

"That doesn't stop him from using his other power on her" I realized, "If he touches her in the real world then he's basically won"

"Then we up the protection on her. She doesn't leave our sight and there will always be at least two of us with her" Sam stated

"If you'll allow it, I think that one of our family should be watching over her as well, for extra defense. We'd rotate shifts, she can come here sometimes and when she's not one of us can be in the trees near her to try and stop him before he gets too close" Emmet offered and I cringed, but it was a good idea.

"Thank you" Sam said, "What's going on in 'the well' right now?"

"Nothing," Edward told the group, "He's trying to kill time. He didn't tell her what for"

"Her vitals are all ok?" Embry asked Carlisle

"Everything has been normal since he left her. She's getting cold though. What she feels inside occurs outside" Carlisle informed

"He left her on the ground, sitting in a puddle. The weather is the same as it is now" Edward continued to observe 

"I wonder if someone can go into 'the well with her?" Jasper said, breaking his silent streak, "maybe he wouldn't have as strong of a hold on them if there's more than one inside"

"He wouldn't fall for a wolf trying to go in" Sam said

"And he can't know that we're working together" Rosalie appeared out of nowhere, "I have an idea, but Edward won't like it"