GODS AND MONSTERS ↝ P. LAHOTE

[17]

Even in the dark of night, only illuminated by street lamps already half burnt out from use, Lark managed to find her way onto the gravel streets of La Push. She drove through town, praying she remembered the way to Paul's house from the one time she had been in the car for Leo to drop him off on the way back from playing soccer on the beach. She took a left past the general store, letting out a relieved sigh when the small white house came into view at the end of the lane.

Stepping out of the car, Lark attempted to shut the door as quietly as she could, not wanting to wake Paul's dad in case he was inside, asleep. She slowly walked around the house, searching for any sign that one of the window's led into Paul's bedroom. When she found one with a rock from La Push beach sitting on the small ledge she began to knock on the window, praying she had the right room.

Lark continued to knock until a light came on inside the window, illuminating the room beyond. Paul's face appeared in the window a moment later, his confused expression softening as he noticed Lark waiting on the other side, still dressed in her attire from the wedding.

"Hey," Paul said, sliding the window open and crawling through, dropping onto the ground next to Lark. "What are you doing here?"

"You left me." Lark stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm so sorry." Paul apologized. "I wanted to come back, really I did. But Jacob needed us and by the time I left I figured you had already gone home."

"I get it." she said finally. "You needed to help your pack."

"I needed to what?" he asked, looking at her sharply.

"You're a werewolf." she said accusingly. "And you needed to help your pack. Your leader, probably Sam, I'd say, told you you needed to go back with them and that's why you didn't come back."

"That's ridiculous." Paul scoffed, avoiding eye contact and shaking his head. "I told you, Lark, they're just legends."

"I've been putting the stuff together with Alicia for weeks." Lark said, reaching out and grabbing his hand. "See?" she asked, pulling his hand up to eye level. "Paul, you always feel like you have some sort of fever. You all do, Embry, Jared, everyone. Quileute wolves and the Cold Ones are sworn enemies. Jacob's family having some blood feud with the Cullen family, who are just as cold to the touch as you guys are warm? That's no coincidence, Paul."

"You're looking too far into this." he assured her, reaching back to scratch the back of his neck nonchalantly. "Why can't some old family feud be just that? Why does it have to be something more?"

"It's something more because you're all hiding this from me!" she seethed impatiently. "It's been months, Paul, that everyone's been hiding this all from me, making me feel stupid every time I bring it all up. All of you, even Leo and Alicia. I'm tired of the excuses, I'm tired of all the lies."

Paul looked on at Lark, at a loss for words. She watched him expectantly, arms crossed over her chest.

"You're a werewolf." she repeated. "And the matching tattoos? It's pretty convenient that Sue Clearwater let Seth and Leah get matching tattoos, but not Leo, right?"

"Leo's afraid of needles." Paul dismissed the thought.

"And Jacob's accident?" Lark asked. "Taking a fall so bad you all had to go help him but he's up and playing soccer a week later? That's not human, Paul. And the fact that none of you look sixteen, and you're way taller than any other La Push resident I've ever come in contact with."

The boy stayed silent, arms crossed over his chest as he continued to avoid her gaze.

"The only thing I can't seem to figure out is the full moon." she said, pacing back and forth. "Typically, legends state werewolves change during a full moon, but we've been together during full moons before. But Quileute legends don't state anything about full moons."

"Actually, they state that a wolf can shift at any time, not just during the full moon." Paul pointed out, causing Lark's eyebrows to raise as his eyes widened, realizing his words. "Shit." he muttered, defeated.

"You know, for someone who claims legends are full of shit, you sure seem to know a lot about them." Lark said inquisitively, and Paul let out a deep breath.

"So you figured it out." he said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Are you happy?"

Lark's breath caught in her throat as she looked back at the boy, who watched her intently, waiting for her next move. For the first time, the cocky, arrogant front that Paul always seemed to wear had faded away, revealing the scared, vulnerable teenager beneath.

"I..." Lark trailed off. "I need to go."

"Lark, come on." Paul said, crossing to her and trying to reach for the girl's hands, but she pulled away. "Come on inside, and let's talk about all this. I'll explain everything, I promise."

"I just need some time to process all this." she said, staring down at the ground before her gaze rose to look at him. "Okay?"

Lark didn't wait for his response before she crossed back over to her car, getting in and locking the doors behind her. Paul still stood in the yard, watching her with a hurt expression as she drove away, her heart racing on the drive home.

Ever since her move to Forks, and her encounters with the Quileute pack, everything had led up to this final moment. The truth was finally out, and Lark had gotten the confirmation she'd always needed, what she had spent nearly her entire life trying to achieve.

The legends were true.

Lark parked her car in the driveway, making her way into the darkened house, all lights off save for a lamp in the entryway. She turned it off as she passed, quietly walking up the stairs to avoid waking her parents, and made her way into her room, shutting the door behind her. She quickly changed out of her black dress, pulling on an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts before grabbing a blanket and leaving her bedroom.

Lark crossed the hallway to her father's office and turned on the light, seeing his desk cluttered with open books and crumpled up pages of notes to be thrown away. She sat down in the desk chair, pulling her knees up to her chest and picking up an old book that lay in the center of the mess. She eyed the cover, noticing the faded image of a large wolf printed across the front, under the title reading Legends of the Wolf.

She opened it up to the first page, telling a story not unlike the ones detailed in her Quileute Legends book from Port Angeles. Lark leaned back in her chair, propping the book up on her legs and proceeded to read, a small smile crossing her face at the old tale with her newfound discoveries.

The legends were true.