Paul Lahote - Imprinted

*Chapter 22*

"You should have fought back Paul" Matthew said, crouching and helping him get up.

Billy crossed his arms, disagreeing with Matthew completely. "Thank you for not doing that Paul. I'll talk to Jacob when he comes back. I hope you understand, Jake has not been feeling well lately"

Rowan chimed in , remembering the events of last week "Feeling unwell? No, that's not it. He is snappy lately, even the smallest thing could make him upset. I'm telling you grandpa, I saw it in his eyes, it's entirely different. He's crazy." There was a time when she teased him and Jake looked like he was about to explode. Over a simple joke! He usually is a laid back person and could take jokes very well, but now he gets offended easily.

Walking to the kitchen and coming back with two sets of ice packs, she sat next to Paul and complained some more. Putting the ice pack directly at his skin, he winced, but she didn't notice.

"Is it puberty? It has to be right? Boys get this need to prove that they are alphas or something. He was being stupid, Paul didn't do anything wrong" Paul wanted to be happy that she was taking care of him, but he was feeling uncomfortable under the intense cold of the ice pack.

"And I thought Paul here has the lousiest temper" Paul grabbed a hold of her arm as she applied more pressure to his skin, feeling her words and her actions striking him at the same time.

"Rowan, can you remove the ice pack now?" he said groaning with pain, his cheeks reddening. Even with his regeneration, with the constant contact, he was hurting. Of course he didn't want to say that, he didn't want her to think that he was a wimp.

''Oh right, sorry" she said, smiling sheepishly at him. After removing the ice pack, Rowan's heart jumped, turning Paul's head left to right just to be sure. "Whoa, your bruise disappeared completely. Your lips looks fine now too" She leaned closer and Paul gripped the couch beneath him as her brown eyes searched his face, feeling something weird coiling in his stomach. It was the most wonderful shade of brown, earthly and warm.

"Must be the Lahote genes''Matthew said with a proud smile.

"Yeah that must be it" Billy said, his eyes darting between Matthew's and Paul's.

''Well since you're all good now," she rose from her seat , ignoring the blatant abnormality of Paul's skin. Ignorance is bliss. Forks is nothing like Toronto, it's filled with unnatural things and Rowan would do everything in her power to not get entangled in that chaos. "I will look for Jake".

Without delay, Paul stood abruptly. "I'll look for him, it's raining outside"

''I have an umbrella," Rowan laughed. "and I think you're the last person that he wants to see right now"

With steady determination, he responded "Jacob might not be himself right now, I think it's best that I will look for him"

With an equal amount of stubbornness, she declined. Billy could only watch as the two argued, feeling the headache creeping up on him. "Don't be silly Paul, Jake would never hurt me. He's all bark and no bite, trust me" Paul snickered, thinking about the double meaning of her words, earning himself a glare from his imprintee.

In the end, despite Billy's reluctance, the two went outside and braced the harsh onslaught of the rain. The umbrella they had was big, but with Paul's large frame, it seemed smaller. He held the umbrella above, urging her to come closer to him so she wouldn't get wet. The close proximity made Rowan feel queasy, though she didn't know why. They should have taken two separate umbrellas, but they were in such a hurry that the thought didn't come to mind.

"Jake!" she called out as they walked aimlessly. Paul didn't yell, using his senses instead. Even in human form, his hearing could extend to greater distance though it made it difficult as the hard rain was interfering. Using his mind link, he asked the pack if they could help, Jacob could phase anytime now and he would need help. Most of them complained, mostly Jared, not wanting to go out in the downpour.

Rowan grabbed at Paul and guided him to a specific area, remembering a certain area that Jacob often visit. It wasn't far from their house, it was in a small clearing near the forest. He built small shelter of some sort for him whenever he needed some time alone, the only reason Rowan knew about it was because she followed him.Sometimes , Jake could be so unreachable and aloof . When they were approaching however, Paul stopped her suddenly with his hands, his eyes squinting.

"I don't think Jacob is here" he said.

"We're not close enough yet, how could you tell that?

Paul pushed her away gently,handing the umbrella to her. "You should go home now , the rain is getting stronger.You might get sick. I will look for him" the rain drenched him quickly, and Rowan took notice of his sudden change in behavior. He stood stiff and alert, something tells Rowan that Jake was nearby.

Matching his gaze, she stood firm in the ground. "He's here isn't he..." Rowan's feet ran by its own accord until she was close enough to the shelter, her eyes darting all over the area. Paul ran after her, dismayed at the hardheadedness of his imprintee. Why can't she listen to him?

Looking down to see if he had left any footprints,she withdraw a loud breath as she saw big paw prints of a wolf.

"Jacob!" she called out again desperately, afraid that he's been harmed. Seconds passed and something moved inside of the shelter, but whatever it was, one thing was sure, It wasn't Jacob. Paul stood in front of her protectively, his face changing from calm to unrest.

"Stay back'' he said

There was a loud howl, and when it showed itself completely, it snarled at Paul. It was larger than the silver wolf that she was used to seeing, but it looked less aggressive. With its reddish-brown fur, and chocolate colored eyes, it gave an eerie feeling of familiarity to her .

When it moved closer, Paul pushed Rowan back further, and it growled angrily at him. ''Don't anger it'' she said, the wolf looked as though it was ready to eat Paul for dinner. She took a quick glance at Paul and was surprised by his lack of fear. Lowering herself on the ground, she took the oval shaped stones and threw it at the wolf, hoping that it would scare the animal away.

It didn't fight back, only whimpering and cowering away from them. "Stop, Rowan, you wouldn't want to do that if you know who he is''

"What do you mean Paul, you know this wolf?"

"It's Jacob"