Discover Twilight

chapter xxxii

The only bad thing about graduating when you have an obligation to protect and uphold the safety of the defenseless human is the fleeting opportunities you have available to you. Before I Phased, I could go to college out of state and go to school for medicine but now, I'm tied to the Rez and that dream is dead. And on top of that, I don't have a place of my own and I can't live with Charlie forever and my brother is bound to be sick of me sometime in the near future. The attic is peaceful for the most part except for the human garbage disposals that are asleep in my bed.

Embry and Jared didn't want to crash on the sofa and didn't want to sleep on the ground so they asked if we could share the bed. Those two can sleep through the apocalypse, I started playing the violin Paul gave me because I was bored and they weren't even bothered by it.

Outside the door, quiet shuffling becomes louder and more frequent. A gentle rapping on the door lures me off the comfy bed beside Embry. Slowly turning the knob, the creaking door reveals Paul. His smile quickly disappears when he looks past me and sees our Pack members asleep on my bed. I quickly escape the room, slowly closing the door trying not to wake them and scurry down the stairs.

"Why the Hell are those two in your bed?" Paul asks angrily, following me down the stairs and into the kitchen.

I roll my eyes scoffing at him, "Why? Are you jealous that they slept in my room? They didn't want to sleep on the couch, so I let them stay in my room with me, get over it."

His cheeks turn red at the mention of his jealousy. He nods mumbling, "Yeah, I'm jealous but I get it. Sorry."

I laugh at him finding his jealousy adorable but my attention is quickly stolen by the knocking at the front door. Paul goes to the door and opens to reveal Billy Black with a stack of papers on his lap. "Hello Billy. What can I do for you this fine morning?" I ask gesturing for him to enter the room.

He rolls into the room, stopping at the kitchen table where I am sitting and hands me the stack of papers. I wondered how he got here, him needing help to get in and out of the truck and to get around a lot of La Push reservation's uneven terrain. Before I could ask my question the title of the top page caught my attention. It read: Permanent Residence Forms. I tilt my head, confused by the randomness of this application, continuing to flip through the stack to find a paper that implies that I now have full claim to my mom's old home. "What's this?" I ask, handing the papers to Paul so he would stop leaning over my shoulder to read it.

Billy smiles at me and takes my hand, "This is the Elder's official petition for you to permanently be apart of the tribe. And the other papers are from me, lets say your graduation gift from me and your mom. When she left the Rez and met your father, she gave me her place and now it's yours. Happy Birthday, kiddo."

My jaw drops and tears well up in puddles, trying to escape my eyes. Paul puts the papers in front of me, handing me a pen as well and faster than I could breathe, I began signing the papers. "Thank you so much Billy. This is more than I could have ever asked for," I whisper in his ear after pulling him into a hug.

He hands me the keys and the instructions to get to the house, leaving me to sit there smiling like an idiot. The boys descend the stairs, seeing me bouncing in my chair from excitement. "What's with you? Since when are you a morning person?" Embry laughs.

"Or happy?" Jared adds, earning the finger from me.

"Billy was just here giving her her mom's old house," Paul informs them as Sam and Emily come into the room.

"Really? That's great. You know that's down the road from here right?" Sam laughs, squeezing my shoulders.

***

Moving in was easy. All I had a Charlie's was some clothes and small items that mean something to me and at Sam's I had my instruments and clothes. Mom's house was fully furnished, had 3 bedrooms and was right in the woods. Everything about it is perfect. Yesterday I bought some paint, a little blue color, and today I've roped Embry and Quil into helping. The boys moved all the furniture and pictures to the center of the room so I could lay the tarps down and tape the walls. "Kota, could you pour me some more paint?" Quil asked, after we finished the hall and the living room.

I nod, shaking some curls out of my bandana. Pouring some paint into his pan, some splashed up and splattered his face and Embry's legs, "Oh my... I am so sorry." I manage in between laughs but they didn't find it as funny as I did, both taking their brushes and Embry's basically empty pan and chase me outside to fling paint at me.

"Wait! Mine was an accident and now you are attacking me! Not fair," I squeal, running past Paul and Jared, who just pulled up in Paul's Jeep.

"Too bad," the paint covered boys yell together, proceeding in their chase into the woods surrounding my new house.

They finally catch up to me, covered in the paint they intended to throw at me, tired and collapsing on the ground next to the tree I was sitting in. "You alright down there?" I call looking down at my blue brothers.

Quil nods and leaves in the direction he came, but Embry stays there watching me move from branch to branch. My foot slipped from where I was jumping from one branch to another. "Kota, get down from there. You're going to hurt yourself," Embry yells, scrambling to his feet.

I wave my hand dismissively down at him as I climb up a few more branches, "Let me live my life, Embry. I'm fine."

He crosses his arms, looking up at me anxiously, "No, because if you get hurt Paul will have my ass."

I jump down from my branch, landing next to him then throwing my arm across his shoulders, "You're scared of Paul? He's not in charge of me and if I get hurt, oh well he'll have to get over it because I'm always doing something stupid that could get me hurt."

"Hell yeah I'm scared of Paul. We all know how he is and how he gets when it's about you-" Embry admits throwing me for a loop.

"Wait, what do you mean when it's about me?"

He rolls his eyes and starts walking back in the direction of the house, "You really are oblivious. When the leeches came back in town, he almost broke the Treaty to make sure you were okay. He didn't want you even living there after that but Alpha overruled him. Any time someone other than Sam touches you, he goes into a frenzy wanting to attack them, especially me. The whole thing with you and your music."

Now that he's pointed it out a flood of memories rush into my mind ranging from the day I Phased to how jealous he was that Embry and Jared spent the night in my room. I really am oblivious. "I'm not scared of Paul, there isn't any reason to. He's just being an ass."

He shrugs off my arm, taking my freckled hand in his blue one, "Of course you aren't afraid of him that's because you're his Imprint. You have started to see who he is without his walls and bullshit. He is an ass but he's yours whether you want him or not. From where I'm standing, it seems as though you're fighting it. Stop fighting."