Her Probation / Paul Lahote

THIRTY

                 

Laughter and loud chatter surrounded the packs as they interacted and ate around the long dining tables. Two were set up parallel to one another, as one table wouldn't be able to fit everyone, and some food bowls were placed along the middle of the table while others were sitting on the kitchen counter. Fern noticed the men around her go through at least three servings, while she was proud to finish two plates full of food. Paul sat along side her and made her feel comfortable around the people whom she still considered strangers.

"Did you want more chicken? I'm getting up now to get more" Paul offered Fern, turning to her quietly. She glanced at him and nodded. He sent her a grin and stood up from the table, taking his plate with him. He returned moments later and plonked back into the seat beside her and pushed his plate closer to hers so she could take her piece.

"Thanks, grasshopper" She mumbled and hacked into the piece of chicken. She didn't know what Emily put into her food, but everything tasted like heaven. Fern lifted her head to take a break from eating only to feel Paul's eyes on her. She turned her head to meet his gaze and cocked her head to the side. "Who you checking out there, buddy?" The corners of his lips lifted into a smile and he shook his head with amusement.

"How's your food?" He asked.

"Perfect. I'd ask you but I figured you didn't like it, since you only had five servings" Fern grinned. Paul mirrored her expression and lifted his arm to rest over the back of her chair.

"Damn, I was trying to be subtle as well" Paul retorted. Fern scoffed.

"You failed miserably then" She chuckled and lifted her glass of water to her lips to take a sip of. Paul mimicked her actions and turned his attention to Embry, who struck up conversation with him from across the table.

Soon the boys got full and all the food was gone, much to Fern's surprise. Sam and Emily stood up and begun clearing plates around them to take to the kitchen. At this action, everybody was standing to help take an item from the table to the kitchen to clean. To see everyone standing to help Emily clear up simply added to the warmth of family that the home held; something that Fern had witnessed since she was too young to remember. Fern happily picked up the empty dish in front of her to take to the kitchen counter. Emily and some of the other girls were sorting out the empty dishes to start cleaning and organised themselves around the kitchen.

While everyone became preoccupied cleaning up, there was a knock at the front door. Sam moved through the crowd to the front room, where the front door was, to answer it. He opened the door to be met with an unfamiliar male, who looked at him with concerned eyes.

"Is Sue Clearwater here, or Fern?" The male asked, his tone urgent. Sam suddenly recognised the male as the same guy who Paul had thought kissed Fern in that rental car only a matter of weeks ago. Upon that thought Paul stood beside him. The second the door was opened, Paul smelled Nate's familiar scent waft through the air and approached the front entrance in curiosity.

"What are you doing here?" Paul asked, tone stern. He didn't like Nate attempting to interact with Fern since he knew that Nate held strong feelings for his imprint and preferred when they weren't together. However, there was a sense of refuge that she found in Nate that Paul couldn't deny. He hoped that one day she'd trust him in the same way as she did Nate.

"I need to see Fern. Is she in there?" Nate asked, attempting to look over Paul's broad shoulders. When he didn't receive an immediate response his cold glare turned back to Paul's hard stare. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."