Request: “My god, I had this idea and now I’m hoping I can live it though your amazing writing! So Bella’s sister tries to talk Bella out of going to Italy to save Edward, when she failed she stayed with Jake so she wouldn’t have to be alone till Charlie came home from work. Jake took her to hang out at Sam’s and Emily’s with the pack, trying to comfort her about losing her sister. When they get there Paul imprints on her and it’s like supper cute and stuff ? This was super long but feel free to ignore!🥰” by @sweetkiitty
A/n: As promised! Sorry again that I took a while. I really do appreciate your guys’ requests so much I’m just hyper fixiated on something else right now. Thanks also for your patience, and the love that last Embry request got! Love you guys :)
Word Count: 2500+
MASTERLIST
“BELLA DON’T!” The panicked, desperate words came not from the best friend that had fallen in love with her, but the sister who had cared about Bella far longer on a far deeper level. When Jacob had failed to convince her even after he pulled each and every string he knew, Y/n stepped in to give it a shot.
Paul struggled with a lot of things growing up, and from all of it came the anger. When he started shifting, it was very difficult for him. Burt now that he has you, he finds it easier to control his temper.
He avoided sleeping at his place since then when his father was there, because he couldn’t handle his old man attitude when he was drunk, that was a ticking bomb when mixed with Paul’s temper. He would sometimes crash at Sam’s, or sleep outside as a wolf. Once it becomes known, the Tribal Council gives him a cabin and justifies it as a necessity to have well-rested protectors to ensure they can properly protect the land. He saw right through them but still let the pack help in moving in that cabin.
It’s a nice cabin, that also happens to be the perfect size for two people. Did the council take into account an imprint?
Paul loves to have you over, whether you are dating or not, he doesn’t care. He has made his cabin a safe place, and not a lot of people are allowed in. But when it comes to you? You could redecorate the whole thing with glitter, and he’d let you (but he really appreciates that you don’t). However, he loves to have little pieces of you scattered around. A little clay figure you made him, a knitted blanket, a seashell windchime? He treasures it all. And what he likes even more is sharing his space with you. Shifters have a more sensitive sense of smell than regular humans, so Paul loves when his home smells like you, it grounds him. Before the two of you are dating, he will let you take the bed if you sleep over, and his favorite thing is how his pillow will smell like you for a week. He sleeps better when it does.
Once you’re dating, he loves to hold you. He’s like a furnace, your very own personal heater and loves it. You both will have the best sleep like that.
It’s not a secret that Paul likes to have you close. If you are in the same room as him, he’s either hovering or having some kind of physical contact with you. It’s something you get used to early in the relationship, and that quickly becomes a habit. It’s almost like he needs the physical reminder that you are here for him, that you’re real and not going anywhere. He needs to be sure you’re not gonna leave.
This leads to something else: jealousy. When it comes to Paul, you can expect protectiveness, but it will definitely turn into possessiveness if he feels threatened. And often, it’s not especially hard to trigger that side of him. A man being touchy at a bonfire, a patron being too friendly at the library… Paul can’t help it, you’re his imprint and no man should look at you this way, think of you this way. He’s gotten better at controlling his anger, he’s not shifting at any threat to your relationship anymore, but you still notice the way his jaw tightens, his fists clenching, and the subtle tremor of his silhouette. If you’re at work, he will do his best to control it, but anywhere else… it’s fair game, especially showing to that unwanted suitor how unavailable you are. He is slowly getting better at it, but his issues run deep and he needs to work on them.
꒰🐺 ꒱ 𝒸w: paul being intense, temper mentions, imprinting, soft possessiveness
𝒫aul 𝓛ahote is not the soft, sweet, whispering-poetry type of boyfriend. He is warm hands, sharp jaw, bad temper, and standing a little too close because he genuinely cannot help himself.
He loves hard. Like embarrassingly hard. Like if he imprints on you, everybody knows within two days because Paul is suddenly hovering like a guard dog with a personal grudge against the entire planet.
୨୧ He acts like he is not clingy, but he absolutely is.
Not in a “baby please text me back” way. More like he just appears wherever you are. Sitting beside you at Emily’s. Leaning against your truck. Walking you home even if you told him you were fine.
He will say something like, “I was going this way anyway,” and everyone knows he was not.
୨୧ Paul’s love language is physical touch, but he would rather die than say that out loud.
His hand on your lower back when you walk through a crowd. Fingers brushing your hair or your sleeve. His knee pressed against yours under the table. His arm thrown over the back of your chair, like he is trying to look casual but also making it very clear you are with him.
He is not delicate with affection at first. He has to learn how to be gentle. But once he does? It ruins him a little.
୨୧ He gets jealous fast, but he tries to play it off.
Paul is not subtle. If some guy looks at you too long, his whole face changes. Jaw tight. Eyes narrowed. Shoulders stiff.
And if you ask him what is wrong, he will definitely say, “Nothing.”
Which means everything is wrong and he is currently fighting demons in silence.
୨୧ He is protective in a very Paul way.
He does not fuss over you sweetly. He checks your tires. Walks on the road side of the sidewalk. Stares down anyone who makes you uncomfortable. Tells you to call him when you get home, then pretends he was not waiting with his phone in his hand.
If you get hurt, even a little, he gets quiet. That is how you know he is really scared.
୨୧ He has a temper, but he would try so hard not to scare you.
Paul is canonically hotheaded. That does not just disappear because he loves someone. But with you, he learns restraint and control
Sometimes he has to walk away. Sometimes he has to phase and run until the anger burns off. Sometimes he comes back looking ashamed, like he hates that part of himself more than anyone else ever could.
He would not want you afraid of him. That would destroy him.
୨୧ He is secretly proud when you wear his clothes.
He acts smug, obviously. That is Paul. But deep down, seeing you in his hoodie or shirt makes his chest feel too full.
He likes that you smell like him. He likes that everybody can see it. He likes that you look comfortable in something that belongs to him.
He will tease you for stealing it, then never ask for it back.
୨୧ At Emily’s house, he is always watching you.
Not in a creepy way. More like he is constantly aware of you. Where you are sitting. If you ate enough. If you are cold. If someone made you laugh.
He pretends he is listening to Jared or Embry, but his eyes keep sliding back to you anyway.
And if you catch him staring, he does not even look embarrassed. He just lifts his eyebrows like, what about it?
୨୧ Paul would be awful at apologizing at first.
Not because he does not care. Because caring makes him feel exposed.
His first apologies are probably stiff and awkward. “I shouldn’t have said that.” “I was being stupid.” “I didn’t mean it like that.”
But later, once he trusts you more, he gets better. Quieter. More honest.
“I got mad because I was scared. That’s not an excuse.”
୨୧ He is not the type to say “I love you” every five seconds.
But when he says it, it hits.
Paul’s “I love you” would come out low, serious, maybe when you are half asleep or after an argument or when he thinks you are not really listening. Or when you’re asleep, dead to the world.
And if you say it back, he goes still for half a second before pulling you closer.
୨୧ He likes when you mess with him.
Paul needs someone who can push back a little. Someone who rolls their eyes when he is being dramatic. Someone who can call him out without making him feel small.
If you tease him, he acts annoyed, but he loves it.
Especially if you make him laugh when he is trying very hard to stay mad.
୨୧ He is warmer than a blanket, no blankets needed when you’re around Paul.
Literally. Being around him is dangerous because once he holds you, you are not getting up. He runs hot from the shifting, so cuddling him feels unfairly good.
He would definitely complain if you put your cold hands on him, but he would still let you.
He would grumble, “You’re freezing,” while pulling your hands under his shirt to warm them up.
୨୧ He would struggle with the imprint at first.
Not because he does not want you. Because wanting you that much scares him.
Paul is used to reacting first and thinking later. The imprint would force him to feel everything at once. Need, fear, love, loyalty, panic.
He would hate how obvious it makes him. Hate that everyone can see exactly where his heart went.
But once he accepts it, that is it. He is yours.
୨୧ He loves in a way that feels almost too intense sometimes.
Paul is not casual. He does not know how to be casual with someone he loves.
He memorizes your moods. Your voice. The way you go quiet when something is wrong. The little things you do when you are nervous.
He notices more than people think he does.
୨୧ He would absolutely get softer when nobody is looking.
Around the pack, Paul is all attitude. Loud mouth, sharp grin, quick temper.
But alone with you? He gets quieter. He lets his guard drop. He presses his face into your neck and just breathes for a second, like being near you resets something in him.
_
I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED THIS!! I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS!! AND IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND TO LEAVE A COMMENT 🦌
when paul first realizes just how clingy you are, he thinks it's temporary.
maybe you're having a rough week.
maybe you're tired.
maybe you're just in an unusually affectionate mood.
except it never stops.
you reach for his hand without thinking. lean against his shoulder whenever he's nearby. curl up beside him on couches, on logs during pack gatherings, in the passenger seat of his truck. if paul is within arm's reach, somehow you always end up touching him in some way.
at first, he acts annoyed about it.
not actually annoyed, but paul is paul.
he'll grumble when you drape yourself across him while he's trying to watch something. he'll complain when you're practically attached to his side while he's talking to someone else.
all while making absolutely no effort whatsoever to move away.
because the truth is, paul gets used to it embarrassingly fast.
faster than he wants to admit.
eventually it becomes so normal that the absence of it feels strange.
if you're sitting across the room instead of next to him, paul notices.
if you don't immediately reach for his hand while walking somewhere, paul notices.
if you're having a bad day and become quieter, less affectionate, less likely to seek him out, paul notices that too.
and suddenly he's the one looking for you.
he'll drop onto the couch beside you instead of taking the empty chair. he'll pull your legs into his lap without a word. he'll casually hook an arm around your waist when you're standing nearby as if it's the most natural thing in the world.
which is honestly hilarious considering how much he pretended to complain in the beginning.
the thing about paul is that he runs hot—literally and emotionally.
his body temperature is always warmer than normal, making him the perfect person to cuddle with whether he'd admit it or not. over time, you start seeking him out automatically whenever you're cold, and paul secretly loves it.
there's something deeply satisfying to him about being the person you instinctively look for.
the person you want close.
the person you trust enough to relax around completely.
he won't say that out loud, obviously.
instead he'll roll his eyes when you crawl into his lap.
then immediately tighten his arms around you before anyone else can see.
and while he acts like you're the clingy one, the pack starts noticing something interesting.
paul is rarely the one initiating affection in public.
but he's always the one keeping it going.
you'll rest your head against his shoulder for a few minutes, and somehow an hour later he's still holding you there.
you'll reach for his hand, and suddenly he's the one refusing to let go.
you'll lean against him during a bonfire, and before long paul has an arm wrapped around your shoulders like he forgot there was ever another way to sit.
eventually, everyone realizes the truth before paul does.
he likes your clinginess because it gives him an excuse to be just as affectionate back.
because beneath all the sharp edges, quick tempers, and sarcastic remarks is someone who loves feeling wanted.
someone who loves knowing you're choosing him.
and on the nights when it's just the two of you, curled up together in the quiet, paul's favorite moments are the ones where you're practically wrapped around him.
your head tucked beneath his chin.
your arms around his middle.
your legs tangled together.
safe.
close.
his.
he'll never admit how much those moments mean to him.
but the way his arms automatically tighten around you whenever you settle against him says more than words ever could.
Paul Lahote had been your friend since childhood, he was your rock as you faced the trials of high-school together. And now - well now, he was ignoring your calls and texts.
It left you feeling heartbroken and angry. How could he do this to you? You called his parents, they said he wasn't feeling well. Even trying to go check up on him, and today was the final straw. Paul was out with his new friends - Sam Uleys Gang of troublemakers who never really caused trouble but people didn't like it either way.
They were cutting their hate, getting tattoos and ditching school. That was enough for people to talk.
Quickly before he could take off, you approached the group and began to yell at Paul for leaving you alone.
Paul stood still as you berated him infront of the others, it made you stop almost immediately - feeling foolish. "-Just, uh, don't-" You began to stutter and trailed off, Paul looked completely enamored by you. His eyes literally could have been heart shaped. "What the fuck is going on?"
"Stop looking at me like that!" You demanded - completely exasperated from the whole ordeal.
"I can't help it," Paul admitted with a charming smile. "-you are very beautiful when you are putting me in my place."
That left you stunned. "What?"
He chuckled softly. "You heard me."
"Gross."
He threw his head back, laughing. "God, I am so going to enjoy the rest of my life with you."
"You're delusional." You stated the obvious with a roll of your eyes.
"Oh, am I?" He dared.
"Very much so."
"I bet you - we get married and have children."
Crossing your arms over your chest, you responded. "How much do you want to bet?"
"A kiss."
"God, you are truly pathetic," You groaned, but smiled nonetheless. "-you're on."
Years Later
"I do believe you have a debt to pay." Paul came up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you closer to his warm body.
"Do I?" You mused as you stirred the pot of food that was to be dinner for the night.
"Mmhm," He grinned into your hair, sniffing it in the process. "-one that I want to be paid right now."
"I do hope you mean a kiss and nothing else."
"Did I only ask for a kiss back then?" He nearly giggled as he recalled the encounter from long ago.
"I won't pay a cent more, Mr. Lahote."
He whined. "I suppose I'll take what is owed then." Paul pulling your chin to the side as he began kissing you from behind, your lips moving in sync. "I love you."
divider by: @cafekitsune & @thecutestgrotto
word count: 7.6k
synopsis: Paul Lahote was born to hate vampires. Unfortunately for him, the universe had other plans.
a/n: I have finally wrote something after over a month! A little different from my usual fandoms but I've been feeling nostalgic lately.
You always found the steady drizzle of the Pacific Northwest to be comforting. But after three centuries of wandering the earth as a nomad, a quiet exhaustion had settled deep into your cold bones. Lately, life had become entirely lacklustre. Staring out at the monotonous, heavy grey skies and the permanently drenched terrain, the magic of the endless forest had faded. Everything mostly just felt damp and dreary.
As a nomadic vampire, you didn't belong to a coven. You preferred the absolute freedom of the open road, answering to no one but yourself, though you shared the strict "vegetarian" lifestyle of your "cousins," the Cullens and the Denalis. Because you chose to abstain from human blood, you occasionally dropped by the rainy town of Forks to hunt the abundant wildlife and exchange pleasantries with Carlisle and Esme, who always welcomed you with open arms.
But even a welcome guest had to respect the rules. Because of the ancient treaty established between the Cullens and the local shape-shifters, you knew the exact layout of the boundary lines down to the millimetre. You stayed strictly on the Cullen side of the Hoh River whenever you came to visit, and you never tried to push your luck. You had lived for three hundred years by being smart, and poking a pack of giant wolves was never on your itinerary.
Until this particular grey afternoon.
You had been tracking a particularly meaty mountain lion for miles, the thrill of the chase briefly cutting through your dark, existential boredom. The large cat was fast, and the adrenaline of the hunt sent you tearing through the brush, matching its speed stride for stride. But your excitement had made you careless. The chase pushed you entirely too close to the treaty line, and just as you braced your legs to spring and make the kill, the mountain lion panicked. It bolted straight across the invisible border line, disappearing into the forbidden Quileute territory.
You skidded to a sudden halt right at the edge of the tree line, the damp earth groaning under the sudden force of your boots. Your bright topaz eyes, glowing with the hunger of a vegetarian vampire who hadn't fed in days, tracked your escaped meal as it vanished completely into the dense, foggy thicket of the reservation.
You let out a long, irritated sigh, crossing your arms tightly over your chest. As hungry as you were, you weren't about to instigate a problem over a snack. Carlisle would be disappointed, and honestly, you just didn't want to deal with the headache of fighting off a pack of wolves.
But just as you turned on your heel, preparing to leap back into the mossy canopy and find another trail, the heavy air shifted.
The wind blew from the west, and a sudden, overwhelming scent hit you like a physical blow. It was thick, intoxicating blend of woodsmoke, crushed cedar, and the distinct, muskiness of a wet dog. It was a smell so strong, it was nearly overwhelming, making your long dead heart give a strange, phantom twitch.
Before your brain could even fully process the frantic, heavy snapping of thick branches, the underbrush exploded.
A massive, silver-grey wolf burst from the thicket, its colossal paws tearing up the damp earth as it skidded to a violent halt just feet away from you, right at the precipice of the treaty line. The beast was easily the size of a horse, its powerful muscles bunching beneath a thick coat of silver fur. Its dark lips were pulled back in a vicious, terrifying snarl, exposing a row of razor-sharp, dagger-like teeth. A lethal, vibrating growl rumbled deep within its chest, a sound so low and resonant that it caused the small pebbles by your boots to tremble against the dirt.
You didn't flinch or stumble back, like most would when faced with such a creature. You were a three-hundred-year-old vampire; fear wasn't really a concept that existed in your emotional vocabulary anymore. Instead of fleeing, you merely tilted your head to the side, your bright topaz eyes sweeping over the creature with genuine, unbothered fascination.
So, the shape-shifter legends Carlisle mentioned are actually real, you thought to yourself, a spark of true interest finally breaking through the dull boredom that had plagued you for years.
You knew, conceptually, that beneath the wild, predatory exterior of the animal laid a human man. But looking at the wolf before you, you couldn't deny that he was truly majestic, a perfect specimen of raw nature and power. As your awe-struck, curious gaze lifted to meet his, you watched a sudden, inexplicable shift overtake the beast.
The wolf froze instantly, locking up as if he had been turned to solid stone.
The low, menacing growl died abruptly in his throat, cutting off into a sudden silence. The fierce, dark eyes dilated so completely that the irises nearly swallowed the whites. The massive beast stumbled backward a step, his front legs buckling slightly beneath his weight as if he had just taken a physical, crushing blow directly to the center of his chest. He stared at you, his chest heaving with shallow, ragged breaths. Even trapped in a wolf's form, he was particularly expressive, and you watched in utter fascination as the blinding, lethal hostility completely melted away, replaced by a look of profound, paralyzed shock.
You raised a single, perfect eyebrow, entirely unaware of the ancient, cosmic magic taking place right in front of you. You had no idea that the universe had just snapped its fingers, or that this boy’s entire world had just re-centered itself around the very breath in your lungs. You just thought he looked incredibly confused.
"Did I break a rule just by looking across the river, puppy?" you asked, breaking the heavy silence. Your voice came out as a smooth, melodic, if not slightly taunting purr, that rang clearly through the damp forest air.
The sound of your voice seemed to snap the wolf out of his trance instantly. A violent, chaotic shudder ripped through his massive frame from head to tail, his fur bristling in a sudden panic. He gave you one final, deeply conflicted glare before he whirled around with a desperate burst of speed, tearing back into the deep woods and vanishing into the fog as quickly as he had arrived.
You stood alone at the riverbank for a moment, listening to the distant, frantic thudding of his heavy paws fading into the distance.
"Well," you muttered softly to yourself, a slow, entertained smirk finally tugging at the corners of your cold lips as you looked back toward the empty tree line. "That was interesting."
The moment Paul’s paws hit the damp earth in a frantic, desperate sprint, his mind exploded.
He was running blind, tearing through the thick underbrush of the Quileute forest, his powerful chest heaving as he tried to put as much distance as humanly possible between himself and the treaty line. Between himself and you.
But he couldn't run from his own head. The second his focus cracked, the pack telepathy slammed back into his consciousness, loud and overwhelming and too chaotic for Sam and Jared to make of.
“Paul?! What the hell is going on? Paul, answer me!” Jared’s voice echoed in his mind, sharp with sudden panic.
Paul didn't answer. He couldn't. His thoughts were a chaotic, swirling vortex of images he couldn't control, and because of the pack bond, Sam and Jared were seeing every single one of them.
Through Paul’s eyes, they saw the flash of flawless skin. They saw the curtain of hair catching the dim forest light, the impossibly graceful tilt of a head, and worst of all, the striking, brilliant glow of topaz eyes.
“Is that... a leech?!” Jared shouted mentally, his thoughts recoiling in disgust. “Paul, did a bloodsucker cross the line? Did you fight—?”
“No!” Paul roared back in his mind, a deafening, mental snarl that made Jared wince within the bond.
“Then why does your head feel like it’s imploding? Let me see, Paul,” Sam commanded, pushing past Paul’s chaotic mental walls.
Sam didn't just see the memory; he felt the echo of what had happened to Paul the exact millisecond his eyes had locked onto the vampire. The sudden shift of Paul's universe. The way the gravity of the earth had suddenly detached from the center of the world and re-anchored itself entirely to a beautiful, cold monster standing across the river.
The telepathic link went dead silent.
“Oh shit,” Jared breathed, his voice dropping into a shocked, hushed whisper. “Oh, man. No way. Paul…”
“It’s not happening!” Paul screamed internally, his paws digging viciously into the mud as he pushed himself to run faster, trying to outrun the literal laws of physics. “It’s a mistake! She’s a parasite! She’s dead! I don't—I don't feel anything!”
But he was lying, and the pack knew it. They could feel the terrifying, absolute devotion that had just taken root in Paul's soul. They could hear the echo of her voice ringing in his head like a beautiful chime, “Did I break a rule just by looking across the river, puppy?” and they could feel the agonizing, furious heat of Paul’s humiliation and desire.
“Paul, calm down. Come to the clearing by the old mill,” Sam ordered, his mental voice surprisingly gentle now, filled with a heavy sympathy that only made Paul angrier. “We need to talk about this.”
“Get out of my head!” Paul snarled mentally, severing his conscious thoughts from them as best as he could, locking himself behind a wall of pure, unadulterated rage.
He didn't go to the mill. Instead, he tore toward a secluded, deeply wooded ravine near his house where he knew he’d be alone. His silver-grey form was a blur of frantic motion until he finally collapsed into a dense thicket of ferns, his massive body trembling violently.
A choked, human sound forced its way out of the wolf’s throat. With a horrific, echoing crack of shifting bones, Paul forced himself to change back—a feat that nearly surprised him considering how volatile his emotions currently were. His body convulsed, muscles snapping and reshaping, fur retreating into skin until he was lying face-down in the wet dirt, entirely human, gasping for air as if he had been drowning.
He dragged himself up against the trunk of a massive cedar tree, still shivering—not from the cold, but from the raw, terrifying power of the imprint. He reached into a hollow in the tree roots, pulling out a pair of beaten-up denim shorts he kept cached there, shaking as he pulled them on.
His skin was burning hot, a fever pitching through his blood. He buried his face in his hands, his fingers gripping his short, dark hair so tightly his scalp ached.
He could still smell you. Even miles away, the scent of the forest seemed completely devoid of meaning compared to the memory of her. He could still see her perfect, mocking smile, could still hear that slightly taunting purr that had completely dismantled his entire existence in a matter of seconds.
"Damn it," Paul choked out into the empty forest, his voice shaking with a mix of fury and absolute helplessness. He slammed his fist into the dirt, leaving a deep crater. "Damn it, no."
He was a protector of his tribe. He was meant to hunt the cold ones, to rip them to shreds and burn the pieces. He was Paul Lahote, the pack's muscle, the one who hated them most.
And now, by some sick, cosmic joke, his soul belonged to a leech.
Two days later, you found yourself lounging on a thick, mossy branch near the treaty line, idly tossing a pinecone up and down in your pale hand. Ever since you had encountered the massive silver wolf, you had been dying to see him again. The lingering curiosity had been humming beneath your skin for forty-eight hours, until finally, the temptation was simply too much to resist.
You had only been waiting for about ten minutes when the sharp sound of approaching footsteps reached your ears. They were human steps, not the heavy, padded thuds of a four-legged beast, but the scent cutting through the rain was unmistakably the same—that scorching, intoxicating blend of woodsmoke, cedar and wet dog.
A few moments later, a tall, powerfully muscular boy stormed through the trees. He was wearing nothing but a pair of torn denim shorts despite the chilly Pacific Northwest rain, his bronze skin radiating a visible steam, due to his abnormally high internal temperature. His chest was heaving with erratic breaths, and his jaw was clenched so tight you could literally hear the bone grinding from twenty yards away.
Your head tilted much like it had the first time you saw him, but this time, you were studying his human form. He was remarkably handsome—not like vampires, who possessed a flawless, frozen perfection, but in a way that was entirely wild and rugged.
He stopped dead at the edge of the treaty line, glaring up at you in your tree with dark eyes full of fire.
"You," he spat, his voice dropping an octave into a gravelly, dangerous threat. "Leech."
The corners of your lips twitched into the ghost of a smirk, instantly amused by his explosive temper. "You must be the dramatic puppy from Tuesday," you said, your voice a smooth, melodic purr that drifted down from the canopy. "Are we jumping straight to pet names, or shall we make a proper introduction?"
He looked like he wanted to rip your head off right then and there, but beneath the mask of his fury, there was a bizarre, frantic desperation bleeding into his eyes that completely contradicted his aggressive posture.
"You need to leave," he commanded, his voice shaking with a strange, ragged intensity. "Leave Forks, leave Washington. Get out."
You leaned forward and leapt down from the branch, dropping through the damp air with absolute weightlessness. You landed soundlessly on your feet just inches away from him, separated only by the invisible boundary of the treaty line. Cocking your head, you met his blazing stare with an unbothered, glittering gaze.
"Why?" you asked, your tone light and conversational. "As far as I can see, I'm breaking no laws. I haven't hunted on your side, and Carlisle says I'm perfectly within my rights to be here."
"I don't care what Carlisle says!" he growled, the words tearing out of his throat.
A sudden tremor ran through his broad shoulders, and you felt the temperature in the small clearing instantly spike. The air around him grew incredibly hot, heavy with the suffocating warmth of a furnace as his body vibrated on the verge of a physical shift.
"You're a monster," he hissed, his chest heaving as he fought a losing battle against his own skin. "A parasite. You shouldn't exist, and you damn sure shouldn't be... shouldn't be doing this to me!"
Your brows furrowed slightly as you tried to piece together exactly what you could have done to him. Yet, absolutely nothing came to the forefront of your mind. He was the one who had hunted you down, after all. But naturally, seeing how easily he was unraveling, you decided to push his buttons.
“Well, that’s a little rude," you murmured, adjusting your stance and letting your lips form a perfect, exaggerated pout. "And here I thought this modern age was all about acceptance and inclusivity. Where are the manners, puppy?"
"Shut up!" he barked, the sound echoing like a gunshot through the quiet woods. His hands curled into tight, white-knuckled fists at his sides.
A dangerous, rhythmic ripple passed directly under his skin—the telltale sign of a shape-shifter on the precipice of exploding into a giant beast. The sheer heat radiating off him was making the damp mist around his bare chest evaporate into wisps of steam.
"Don't tempt me, leech," he threatened, his jaw locking so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek. "I'll tear you to pieces, treaty or no treaty."
"I'd love to see you try," you dared softly, stepping a fraction of an inch closer to the invisible boundary line.
You flashed him a dazzling, flawless vampire smile, your perfect teeth glinting like polished porcelain in the dim, grey light of the forest canopy. You let your eyes trail slowly down his trembling, muscular frame before bringing your gaze back up to lock with his burning stare.
"I haven’t had a good tussle in a while," you purred, a wicked, teasing spark igniting in your topaz eyes. "And you know, they say hate sex is particularly appealing after a brawl. I’d be more than interested to try it if you are. Being mortal, biological enemies would certainly make it an interesting night to remember, don't you think?"
Paul choked on his own breath, the dark bronze of his skin rapidly darkening into a furious, deep crimson at your shameless offer but unlike him you were centuries old, shame was also another thing no longer in your emotional vocabulary.
"You—you fucking psycho," Paul stammered, his gravelly voice cracking under the sheer weight of his humiliation. He stared at you, his eyes wide and completely unhinged by your shameless teasing. "You think this is a joke?"
"Oh, come now," you laughed, the sound a bright, chiming cadence that mocked the heavy gloom of the forest. You shifted your weight, leaning hip-first against a massive, moss-covered boulder right at the water's edge, entirely comfortable in your own skin. "Don't tell me a big, bad wolf is afraid of a little experimentation. I'm just offering a creative solution to all that pent-up aggression you're carrying around. If you’re gonna hate me, we might as well make it fun with some benefits.”
"Get bent," he spat, though his eyes involuntarily flicked down to your lips before snapping back up to your eyes with a look of pure self-loathing. He took a sharp step backward, away from the tempting, intoxicating scent of your proximity. "I'd rather eat glass, leech. Keep your disgusting, cold mouth away from me."
"Your loss, puppy," you chirped, giving him a little wave of your fingers. "But if you change your mind, you know exactly where to find me. Clearly."
Paul let out a final, furious yell of pure frustration, turned on his heel, and stormed back into the dense foliage. He kicked a rotting fir log so hard the damp wood exploded into a shower of splinters and moss, his heavy, angry stomps echoing through the valley until he finally phased somewhere deep in the reservation.
You leaned your back against a cedar tree, a breathless, musical laugh escaping your chest. He was a puzzle, an explosive, dangerously hot puzzle, and for the first time in three centuries, you found yourself entirely cured of your boredom.
Oh, yes. Poking the wolf was going to be an exceptional way to pass the time.
Over the next three weeks, your little routine escalated into what could be considered an art form.
You quickly learned that Paul Lahote—the name belonging to your delightfully angry wolf—possessed the shortest fuse of anyone you had ever encountered in your three hundred years of existence, with the singular, spine-chilling exception of Caius Volturi himself. But unlike the ancient, genocidal Italian ruler, Paul’s wrath was loud, expressive, and incredibly fun to provoke. You made it your personal mission to light that fuse as often as humanly possible, finding a wicked thrill in watching how quickly his composure could disintegrate under the weight of a single, well-placed taunt.
As the days blurred together, you weren't the only ones attending these strange, borderline theatrical standoffs. The other wolves—the stoic, deeply burdened Alpha, Sam Uley, and the taller, lankier one you’d come to know as Jared—started showing up in the brush occasionally. They never crossed the line, and they never spoke a single word to you, keeping their distance. Instead, they would stand just inside the Quileute tree line, watching Paul's explosive, vein-popping tantrums with expressions of deep, utterly exhausted sympathy. They looked at Paul the exact way a tired parent looks at a toddler having a meltdown in the middle of a crowded grocery store. More than once, as Paul's body would begin to violently blur on the precipice of an involuntary phase, Sam would step forward, placing a heavy, grounding hand on Paul's shaking shoulder. You could practically feel the invisible weight of the Alpha's command cutting through the air, forcing the younger boy to forcibly calm his racing blood before he caused a catastrophic, treaty-breaking international incident.
And then, of course, there was Paul himself.
Despite his endless growling for you to leave, his colourful vocabulary, and his daily, incredibly detailed promises to rip you to shreds and burn the pieces, he never missed a single day. Not once. You started testing him, purposely showing up ten or fifteen minutes late to your usual spot on the riverbank just to see what would happen. Without fail, every single time you delayed, you would find him already there, pacing the muddy bank of the opposite side like a caged wolf. His dark, wild eyes would be scanning the high mossy canopy with a frantic, almost desperate urgency, his chest heaving as if he were physically suffocating.
But the exact millisecond your feet touched the branch, the very moment his eyes locked onto yours, the change was staggering. The borderline manic panic tightly gripping his chest would visibly ease, his shoulders dropping a fraction of an inch as a heavy wave of relief washed over his features. A beat later, he would remember himself, instantly settling back into his usual, comfortable mask of defensive rage and snap an insult across the water to cover up his slip.
You weren't stupid. You were an old, highly perceptive predator who had survived three centuries by reading the hidden motives of both humans and monsters alike. You knew with absolute certainty that whatever was truly happening between the two of you, it wasn't just simple, straightforward hatred. There was a tether. A thick, invisible cord pulled completely taut across the rushing waters of the Hoh River, binding your cold, unmoving, timeless existence directly to his scorching, vibrant, and fiercely chaotic life force. You weren’t entirely sure of the exact terminology or the ancient magic behind it, but you knew with a supernatural certainty that it had everything to do with the nature of the wolf beneath his skin.
You probably could’ve asked Carlisle for some clarity, but Edward was currently throwing a massive fit because some human girl in town happened to be his bloodsinger. The whole ordeal was causing an absurd amount of tension throughout the entire Cullen house, so you had been giving them a wide berth while they sorted out their dramatic coven issues.
"You know, for someone who hates me, you sure spend a lot of time staring at my mouth," you teased one evening, sitting gracefully on a moss-covered boulder right at the edge of the river.
Paul, who had been pacing like a caged animal on the opposite bank, froze dead in his tracks. In the dimming twilight, you watched the dark bronze of his face flush a deep, dark red. "I'm watching your fangs, monster," he snapped, his voice rough and defensive. "Making sure you don't try anything."
"Mhm. Sure," you murmured, a playful hum vibrating in your throat. "But there's just one little problem with that, puppy. We don’t actually have fangs. As someone who hunts vampires, shouldn’t that be a fairly crucial detail for you to know?"
You teased him ruthlessly, shifting your weight to slide down from the boulder and move even closer toward the invisible boundary line. Your eyes locked onto the rhythmic trembling of his broad shoulders. "You're shivering, Paul. And definitely not from the cold."
"I don't get cold," he growled, though his chest gave a heavy heave as his breathing suddenly became shallow and restricted.
You tilted your head, looking at him properly this time. Really looking at him. Beneath the layers of explosive anger, the harsh, venomous words, and the desperate masculine bravado, you could see the sheer, crushing exhaustion etched into every line of his face.
The relentless desire to poke the wolf suddenly evaporated, completely replaced by a strange, foreign pang of genuine concern deep inside your cold, unbeating heart.
“Are you alright?” you asked softly.
Paul blinked, completely caught off guard by your sudden, drastic change in tone. The venom vanished from his eyes for a split second, and he looked down at the rushing water separating the two of you, his rigid shoulders sagging just a fraction before he caught himself. His jaw tensed immediately. “I’m fine.”
“I’m over three hundred years old, darling. I’m filled with life experiences," you scoffed playfully, trying to ease the heavy, suffocating tension that had settled over him. "I’m practically offering you free therapy right now."
Paul let out a sharp, bitter breath that wasn't quite a laugh, but it lacked his usual venom. He didn't look back up at you, keeping his eyes firmly glued to the swirling eddies of the river.
"I don't think you have a license for that," he muttered, his voice barely carrying over the sound of the water.
You watched him silently, your supernatural vision effortlessly picking up the subtle, persistent tremor in his hands and the way the muscles in his neck were strained to the point of snapping. The teasing, lighthearted facade you usually wore around him began to feel inappropriate, slipping away to reveal the ancient, deeply observant creature beneath. You stepped right up to the very edge of the riverbank, the damp earth shifting slightly under your weight, your perfect posture loosening into something genuinely receptive.
"No license, but I have an infinite amount of time on my hands," you said softly, your voice cutting through the damp forest air like a soothing melody. "Come on, Lahote. What's eating you? Besides me, obviously."
Paul's jaw worked. For a tense second, you thought he was going to turn on his heel, shatter another log, and storm away into the fog like he usually did when his emotions overwhelmed him.
"I don't need therapy from a leech," he grumbled, though the insult felt half-hearted, lacking any real sting. It was an instinctual shield, a habit he was clinging to because he didn't know what else to do.
"Suit yourself," you said, crossing your arms and leaning your hip against a sturdy birch tree. "But 'fine' doesn't usually involve looking like you haven't slept since the turn of the century."
He lifted his head, his dark eyes burning into yours with a sudden intensity that made your playful banter die instantly on your tongue. The defensive anger was still there, but it was incredibly thin, cracking open right before your eyes to reveal the staggering weight he was carrying underneath.
The truth was, Paul’s life was a chaotic storm, and he was completely drowning in it.
When the shape-shifter gene had finally activated in his blood a few months ago, it had felt like an explosion. Out of the three shifters currently running the forests of La Push, Paul had supposedly taken to the wolf the easiest. Where Sam and Jared had deeply struggled with having to abruptly cut off and ignore the people in their lives to keep the tribal secret, Paul didn’t have that struggle. Phasing into a massive, silver-grey beast felt almost natural to him because he had spent his entire life carrying a baseline of nuclear-level rage. To Sam and Jared, he appeared to effortlessly embrace the unbridled, primal power of the spirit-warrior.
But the reality was a living nightmare. He was a teenage boy who had been abruptly stripped of his normalcy, forced into a supernatural pack bond that offered absolutely zero privacy. Every dark thought, every flash of insecurity, and every bitter memory of his failures was broadcast directly into the minds of his pack mates whenever they were in wolf form.
In truth, inheriting a sacred tribal legacy didn't magically erase the wreckage of his human life. It only magnified it.
His home life was its own quiet, miserable war zone. His father was a deeply bitter, abusive drunk—a man who spent his days drowning his own failures in cheap whiskey and his nights taking his frustrations out on whatever, or whoever, was within arm's reach. Before Paul phased, he had spent years taking those hits, absorbing the venom and building up a dark reservoir of hatred that threatened to swallow him whole. Now that he was a protector, now that he possessed the supernatural strength to tear a car in half with his bare hands, the dynamic at home had become a precarious tightrope. Every time his father stumbled home, slurring and swinging, Paul had to physically lock his entire body down. He would grip the edges of the kitchen counter until the wood threatened to snap beneath his fingers, utterly terrified that if he lost his temper for even a fraction of a second, he would accidentally murder his own father.
Because of that suffocating terror, he barely spent any time at home anymore. He practically lived on the run from his own house, taking refuge at Sam and Emily's place just to have a safe haven. On the nights when the shame and embarrassment of overstaying his welcome grew too heavy, he wouldn't even stay in a house at all; he would sleep out in the dirt and the damp woods as a wolf, letting the wild weather numb him.
He was entirely, utterly exhausted. He was so tired of the total lack of privacy between him and the pack, so tired of the lingering trauma of his childhood, and deeply weary of carrying the thankless burden of protecting a tribe that ultimately viewed him and the other boys as nothing but delinquent, good-for-nothings. He was a walking powder keg, and his hair-trigger temper felt like a bomb ticking away in his chest, waiting for the spark that would blow his entire world to pieces.
And then, to make a total mockery of his entire existence... there was you.
Paul ran a rough hand over his face, pushing his damp, dark hair away from his forehead. He looked at you—at your perfect face, the gentle curve of your mouth, and the bright gold of your eyes. He stared at how you seemed to stand so peacefully across the river, utterly unaffected by the biting rain, the freezing cold, or the crushing misery of the modern world. You were a creature of frozen grace, a timeless masterpiece carving a quiet space into his chaotic nightmare.
He hated how much he needed to be near you. He loathed the primal desperation that gripped his throat every single hour he spent away from this riverbank. But more than anything, he hated the terrifying truth that the endless, agonizing thoughts in his head—the fury at his father, the pack's telepathic intrusion, the burden of the tribal legacy— completely stopped the moment he was right here, standing across a river from a creature he had been born to kill. Your presence was an oasis of escape in his loud, violent world.
"You don't get it," he muttered, his jaw tightening so hard the bone beneath his bronze skin looked sharp enough to cut. He looked down at his own trembling hands, watching them clench and unclench into tight fists as if he were trying to physically hold his sanity together.
"I'm supposed to hate you," he whispered, his voice cracking violently under the staggering weight of the confession. He didn't look up, his gaze glued to his hands. "I try so hard to hate you. I can't sleep. I can't think. Every time I close my eyes, my head is full of your voice, your face, your stupid, mocking smile. I’m supposed to want to rip you to pieces. I’m supposed to want to kill you. Instead, I’m spending every single second of my day fighting my own body, making sure I don't cross this goddamn river just to be near you. It's making me lose my mind."
You stared at him, your ancient mind rapidly recontextualizing every single interaction you’d had over the last three weeks. The pacing, the panic when you were late, the heavy, sympathetic looks from Sam and Jared. You knew there was some kind of bond, but you didn’t realize how hard it had been on him. You didn’t know it was an all consuming need that his biology had forced upon him, and he was tearing himself apart trying to fight it.
A heavy, suffocating silence descended on the riverbank, save for the wild, rushing water churning over the jagged rocks below. For the first time in three hundred years of wandering the earth, through every empire you had seen fall and every coven you had seen break, you felt completely, utterly speechless. The wit that usually defined you, the clever, taunting armour you wore to keep the lacklustre world at bay, dissolved into nothingness.
"Paul..." you started, your voice barely louder than a whisper, stripped entirely of its usual taunting edge.
"Don't," he choked out, his fists clenching tight at his sides. He looked at you one last time, a look of profound defeat and agonizing longing warring on his rugged features, before he turned sharply and vanished back into the shadows of the Quileute woods.
You stood entirely frozen, staring at the empty tree line as the first heavy droplets of a gathering storm began to fall through the canopy, the cold rain washing over you as the echo of his confession rang in your ears.
"Paul..." you started, your voice barely louder than a whisper, carrying a soft, aching weight you hadn't felt in centuries.
"Don't," he choked out, his fists clenching so tight that his entire body began to tremble with that dangerous, pre-shifting heat. He lifted his head and looked at you one last time—a look of profound defeat, raw exposure, and agonizing, heartbreaking longing warring on his rugged features—before he turned sharply on his heel. With a desperate burst of speed, he vanished back into the deep, unforgiving shadows of the Quileute woods.
You stood entirely frozen, your immortal body locking into the stillness of stone as you stared at the empty tree line. The silence of the forest rushed back to fill the void he left behind, and the first heavy, freezing droplets of a gathering storm began to pierce through the high canopy, splashing unnoticed against your cold skin.
The turning point came on a night when the storm was loud enough to drown out the very sound of the forest. Thunder clapped in deafening, rolling waves, and the rain fell in thick sheets, blurring the world into a chaotic haze of grey and green. You were hunting a few miles out, tracking a deer, when the air suddenly carried something that made your entire body lock up—blood. Intoxicating, heavy, human blood, followed instantly by the sweet scent of a rogue vampire having moved through the area.
Your predatory instincts flared, but it wasn't hunger that seized you despite how tempting the human blood smelled. It was a cold, paralyzing jolt of panic. As you tore through the woods, tracking the fast-moving scent trail, you realized with growing horror that the vampire had already went straight across the Hoh River. The nomad had most likely attacked the hiker directly onto Quileute land.
And your very first, consuming thought went to Paul.
You crossed the river without a second thought, your feet barely skimming the rushing water as you launched yourself deep into the forbidden territory, driven by a desperate, frantic need to ensure he was safe.
By the time you burst into the hidden clearing, the brutal reality of the hunt was already unfolding. The human hiker was gone, likely fled or worse, but the clearing was a battleground. A massive, silver-grey wolf was locked in a horrific, snarling grapple with the red-eyed nomad. They were a blur of teeth and claws, tearing up the mud, but the rogue had gained the upper hand, pinning the giant wolf beneath his weight. In his pale, stone-like hand, the nomad gripped a heavy, jagged rock, raising it high and aiming it straight for the wolf's eye with lethal force.
A primal, deafening screech tore from your throat. You didn't think. You just launched your body across the clearing, tackling the rogue vampire off of Paul a split second before the rock could descend. The blinding velocity of your collision threw the nomad violently through the air, sending him crashing into a massive, ancient cedar tree with a force that cracked the thick trunk right down the middle.
Before the nomad could even hit the ground, you dropped into a low, lethal crouch directly in front of Paul. Your clothes were soaked, your posture was entirely feral, and your topaz eyes seemed to shine in the darkness as you shielded the silver wolf with your own body.
"Don't touch him," you hissed, the words vibrating with a venomous, unyielding threat that rang clearer than the storm.
The nomad scrambled to his feet, rubbing his chest where you had struck him. He straightened up to his full height, his dark crimson eyes darting from your protective stance to the panting, bleeding wolf behind you. A look of profound, sickening disgust contorted his pale features.
“You’re defending a mutt from your own kind?” he spat, his voice laced with utter disbelief.
Behind you, Paul let out a low, ragged rumble. He was struggling to push himself up, his heavy paws slipping in the slick, blood-stained grass. You could feel the intense, furnace-like heat radiating from his massive body, practically baking the skin of your back. Even injured, his instinct was to push past you, to put himself between the danger and his imprint. But you didn't give him an inch. You stood like a wall of solid marble, unyielding and fierce.
The rogue nomad narrowed his red eyes, assessing the situation. He looked at the cracked cedar tree, then at your lethal posture, and finally at the massive silver-grey beast snarling behind you. He was fast, but he wasn't stupid. He was outnumbered, outmatched, and facing a vampire who looked entirely ready to tear him limb from limb.
“Disgusting parasite,” the nomad hissed, backing up a step into the shadows of the ferns. “You’re a disgrace to our kind.”
With a sudden, fluid movement, the rogue whirled around and launched himself high into the canopy, vanishing into the blinding sheets of rain as he fled, tearing away from the reservation.
You pulled your phone out of your pocket, your cold fingers moving with supernatural speed to send a quick text to Jasper. You gave him a brief heads-up on the runner's description and where he seemed to be headed, knowing with absolute certainty that the Cullens would handle the rest. They wouldn’t want dangerous rogues hunting anywhere near their territory and drawing unnecessary human attention.
Silence descended on the woods, save for the heavy, laboured panting of the giant wolf behind you.
You turned around slowly, your vampire grace suddenly feeling incredibly clumsy. Paul was already shifting back, the gruesome, rapid sound of cracking bones echoing in the quiet night. He quickly pulled a pair of shorts from a hidden cache in a hollow tree and stepped into them.
You waited for him to yell at you. Your cold muscles tensed as you stood your ground, bracing for the inevitable explosion. You had broken the treaty. You had crossed the river. By all rights and laws of his tribe, he could try to kill you right now.
Instead, Paul walked right up to you. The anger that usually defined him was completely gone, replaced by a fierce, burning intensity. He stopped inches from you, his body heat radiating off him like a furnace, pushing away the damp chill of the night.
"You crossed the line," he whispered.
"He was going to take your eye out, Paul," you said defensively, crossing your arms over your chest as your chin tilted up to meet his gaze. "I couldn't just stand across the river and watch."
You looked at him, truly looked at him, and for the first time in three centuries, you felt a lump form in your throat. You swallowed hard, a purely human reflex that you hadn't needed in a regular conversation for a very long time, and shifted your gaze away from his. You couldn't bear the raw, bleeding exposure in his eyes. There was something about this shape-shifter, something about the searing warmth of his presence and the terrifying depth of his devotion, that made you feel human again. It was a feeling you had thought lost to time, a dangerous, beautiful spark breaking through the timeless numbness of your nomadic life.
“I broke your law," you murmured quietly, the words feeling heavy and hollow on your tongue. "If you want me to leave Forks and never come back… I will.”
It was all he’d been yelling at you to do since the exact moment you two had met. For three weeks, he had growled, demanded, and threatened you to disappear, and you were finally offering him exactly what he wanted on a silver platter. You figured that maybe with you gone, he might finally get some peace of mind.
The silence that followed your offer was deafening, stretching out between you even as the thunder rumbled overhead and the heavy rain continued to batter the ancient canopy. You kept your eyes trained on the muddy ground, watching the steam rise off his bare feet where they sank into the earth. You were bracing for the relief you expected to feel from him, the agreement that he wanted you gone.
But the relief never came. Instead, the air between you grew impossibly hotter, thick with a sudden, sharp spike of panic that was so potent you could practically taste it.
Paul felt his chest gave a sharp, violent heave, a ragged breath tearing out of his throat as if your words had physically struck him.
Instead, what you expected never came, he reached out. His large hand was trembling slightly, as he slowly, hesitatingly, rested his warm, calloused palm directly against your cold, wet cheek.
You gasped, a phantom shudder ripping through your unmoving veins. Your eyes snapped back up to his, wide and startled. His skin felt like liquid fire against your ice, a contrast so sharp, it nearly felt as if you were being burned, but it didn't hurt. In fact, it made you feel undeniably, beautifully alive. For three hundred years, you had walked the earth feeling nothing but the same boring cycle of a world that couldn't touch you. But right now, under the pressure of his hand, your entire universe shrank down to the singular point of his warmth.
“No. I’ve been an asshole to you," Paul muttered, his voice cracking as he forced the words past the tight knot in his throat. His dark eyes searched yours with an open, bleeding sincerity that laid him entirely bare. His thumb moved slowly, gently tracing the smooth, porcelain line of your cheekbone, wiping away the cold raindrops. "Every single day since I met you, I've done nothing but scream at you. I called you a monster. I called you a leech. And you just crossed the treaty line and risked your life to save mine."
Looking up at him now—completely exposed, completely stripped of the defensive, hot-headed bravado he used to shield himself from the wreckage of his life—the familiar, playful spark finally flickered back into your topaz eyes. You couldn't help it. The wit was your defence mechanism, your own way of handling the terrifying weight of what seemed to be blooming between you two.
"I told you before, Lahote," you whispered, your voice a soft, melodic purr that leaned into his warm touch just a fraction of an inch. "I like poking the wolf. I can't exactly let a rogue nomad break my favourite toy."
A breathless, genuine laugh broke from Paul's lips—the first real, untainted sound of amusement you had ever heard from him. It made his eyes crinkle at the corners, the harsh, severe lines of his face softening into something so breathtakingly handsome it made your dead heart ache.
"You are infuriating, you know that?" he murmured, the corners of his mouth lifting into a small, wry smile as he leaned his head down, resting his forehead gently against yours. Ice met fire in the middle of the dark, rain-slicked forest, and for the first time, there was no war.
"I've been told I have a certain charm," you replied softly, your pale, slender hands tentatively rising to rest against his bare, broad chest. Beneath your palms, you could feel the frantic, heavy thumping of his heart, a rapid, fiercely alive rhythm that seemed to echo in the empty space of your own chest.
"Yeah," Paul sighed, closing his eyes as he finally let go of the anger, the guilt, and the fear that had been tearing him apart for weeks. He wrapped his strong, trembling arms securely around your waist, pulling your cold body flush against his furnace-warm chest and you couldn’t help but relax into him. He held you like you were the only solid thing left in a world that was constantly shifting beneath his feet. "Maybe you do."
The storm raged on around you, the thunder shaking the earth and the rain washing the blood from the clearing, but as you stood there in the forbidden territory, wrapped in the arms of the boy who had been born to kill you, the dull grey of the world finally began to fade away.
summary: intense jealousy pushes paul’s fierce imprint instincts to the breaking point, driving him to lock the bedroom door and claim what is entirely his.
𝒯he absolute gravity of the imprint doesn’t just make paul a dedicated partner; it turns him into a man permanently operating on a razor’s edge. from the moment his eyes locked onto yours, his entire universe violently re-centered, and with that came a terrifying, intoxicating level of obsession. he doesn’t just love you; he yearns for you with a visceral, physical ache that never truly fades, even when you’re sitting right next to him. every breath he takes is filtered through the constant need to ensure your safety, your comfort, and above all, your absolute belonging to him.
his possessiveness is loud, heavy, and impossible to ignore. when you walk into a room together, his arm isn't just draped casually over your shoulders, his large hand is securely anchored to the nape of your neck or firmly gripping your waist, physically pulling your frame against his side. he marks his territory without saying a word, casting dark, warning glares at anyone who dares to look at you for a second too long. his inner wolf is constantly pacing the perimeter of your space, viewing the rest of the world as a collective threat trying to steal glimpses of what is entirely his.
the trigger for his snap builds up over a suffocatingly tense afternoon. maybe it’s a casual interaction, a male coworker lingering a bit too long at your desk, a guy at a coffee shop offering a polite but warm smile, or a male friend laughing just a little too easily at a joke you made. to anyone else, it’s completely harmless, but to paul, whose instincts amplify every micro-expression, it’s an unbearable provocation.
watching another man look at you makes his blood literally boil under his skin. you can feel the intense, vibrating heat radiating off him as his jaw tightens so hard the muscles twitch. he stands completely rigid, his dark eyes locked onto the offender, blackening with a mix of pure feral jealousy and an agonizing, possessive hunger. he doesn't cause a scene in public, only because he refuses to distress you, but the moment he gets you away from the crowd, his restraint completely shatters.
the shift the moment you’re behind closed doors is instantaneous and breathless. the door barely clicks shut before paul pins you against it, the sheer mass of his body crowding you into the wood, completely cutting off the rest of the world. he doesn’t speak at first; his breathing is heavy, ragged, and hot against your skin as he buries his face into the crook of your neck, inhaling your scent like a dying man finally reaching oxygen. his hands are frantic but unyielding, framing your face, mapping the curves of your hips, needing to physically reconfirm that you are here, you are safe, and you are his.
the words are thick with raw, desperate vulnerability masked by his usual rough demeanor. his voice drops into a gravelly, low growl that vibrates against your collarbone as he confesses just how much it tortures him to see anyone else even breathe your air. "you have no idea what it does to me," he’ll mutter, his lips brushing harshly against your skin as he kisses his way up to your jaw. "watching them look at you like they have a right to. like you could ever belong to anyone but me. you’re mine. tell me you’re mine. c’mon." he needs to hear the verbal submission, needs your reassurance to quiet the roaring wolf inside his chest.
the sex is a masterclass in desperate, consuming passion. paul is usually careful with his supernatural strength, but when his instincts take over like this, he handles you with a firm, unyielding grip that leaves no room for doubt about who commands your body. every touch is heavy and deliberate; he holds your wrists pinned above your head or locks his fingers tightly with yours, pressing your palms flat against the mattress so he can look down into your eyes, ensuring you are completely focused on him and only him.
he claims every inch of your skin with a feverish intensity, leaving a trail of dark, burning bruises and love bites along your collarbone, the curve of your shoulder, and the inner warmth of your thighs. it’s an act of pure, instinctual marking. he wants you to wear the physical proof of his possession long after the night ends. when he finally sinks into you, it’s deep, slow, and overwhelming. a rhythmic, bruising pressure that drives away any lingering trace of the outside world until your thoughts, your gasps, and your entire existence are completely consumed by his heat.
the aftermath is deeply protective and tenderly suffocating. once the fever breaks and his instincts are finally quieted, he doesn't let you move an inch away from him. paul wraps his massive, heavy limbs around you, pulling your back flush against his chest in a tight, inescapable hold. he buries his face back into your hair, his heartbeat still thumping like a war drum against your shoulder blades, slowly lulling you both to sleep while his arms remain locked around you like a human fortress.
writer’s note : okay soooo . . i don’t even know what came over me but i wanted to try and write something more mature. as terrified as i was, i believe it turned out pretty decent. i’m even thinking of writing a longer, more detailed version of the bedroom scene but for now this is my first +18 writing. yayyyyy ゛⸝⸝ ⋆
it is not lost on me and it should not be lost on you either that it was a wealthy, seemingly normal man who likes to go golfing with his buddies that assaulted emma when digby, an unhoused man who society often views as inherently inhumane, has treated everyone (including emma) with kindness.
summary: it's been one week since paul lahote imprinted on you, and tensions are rising between the two of you. the thread breaks completely at the boundary lines and you both finally give in.
word count: 3,9k
warnings: nsfw, enemies to lovers, public sex (?) (it's deep in the forest), biting, hair tugging, clothes ripped off, scratching, possessiveness, not proof read
a/n: okay this is way longer than I expected but the idea was in my head for too long for it to be short im so sorry y'all :/
It’s been one week, one week since being plagued with the nightmare that didn’t vanish in sleep of that silver wolf locking eyes with yours and having the whole world reshifted to just the two of you. The restless energy demanded an outlet the moment a ray hit your face in the early morning, you wasted no time dawning the proper clothes and shoes to go for a run in the cool damp forest.
The cold air hit like a sharp distraction smelling of dew and decaying leaves. You started off slow, breath puffing small clouds but quickly picked up the pace. You weren’t running toward anything, it was to burn something off, the lingering irritation from last week. Paul Lahaote. Aggravating, stubborn, annoying, and tempting. This entire stupid, claustrophobic feeling of the imprint. Every push of your feet was harder and harder, the trees blurring into a green-brown streak, a clean sweat beginning to beam on your neck. There was no direction in mind, just instinct in your legs following the paths that outran the thoughts chasing you.
Feet moving on autopilot, the slopping trail you were going down was filled with the sound of rushing water. The air grew cooler, damper and familiar. The familiarity forced you to a sudden skidding stop, dirt thrashing beneath your feet. You were at the creek. The exact spot where the water rushed over as quickly as the look of horror Paul’s face turned during the argument. The one where you two finally locked eyes and everything clicked with infuriating focus.
A twig snapped in the trees on the other side of the water.
There was no need to look up who it was. The pull was instant, a magnetic tug deep in your stomach answering a call you hadn’t made. Heat filled the air like a warm blanket that you knew you should take off but definitely wouldn’t. Paul stood at the tree line, not advancing, not phasing back, just watching…guarding.
You didn’t acknowledge him, speak, or even look at him. You couldn’t, the distance between you two was nothing yet everything all at the same time. Pulsing like the churning water that narrowed into an uncrossable stream that was only a few feet away. Instead you just stood there staring at the water as though you could burn a hole through it, a thick stare for the morning mist.
“What Paul?” The words hung in the damp air, A challenge, an invitation, a demand, another for him to break the silent vigil and say something. For a long moment, there was nothing but the sound of splashes against wet stones. Then came the soft, heavy sounds of paws on wet earth. Rustling from the other side of the creek came Paul, shirtless with only a pair of dark athletic shorts that must have been stashed behind a tree. His chest and arms gleamed too well in the morning light, his hair dark and messy. You finally took a deep breath, this moment felt safe and you hated it.
His dark eyes were fixed on you, taking in your state. A slow, familiar smirk tugged at his lips, "I thought kittens didn’t like the water?” You rolled your eyes immediately. You hated the way his words felt more like a tease than an insult in this moment. Even with a voice rough and low there was a dangerous warmth that spread though your chest.
Still you couldn’t turn to him fully, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing the slight heat that creeped up your neck. Words left your mouth before you could really think of them but a slow provocative smile curved your lips. “I’m not scared to get wet, puppy.” Your voice was a lazy drawl.
The silence from the other side of the creek was loud as the rushing water seemed to be stronger than ever. You could practically feel the shockwave that hit him. The words themselves weren’t necessarily provocative but the tone was, and so was the messenger. The familiar smirk was gone from his face, his dark eyes were wide and his expression was utterly shocked. The flush that had been on your neck was now mirrored on his tanned chest, crawling upward.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then managed a strangled sound. “What?” It came out as a rough croak. You let the smile widen, feeling a surge of power knowing exactly what he was thinking of. You’d knock him off balance. Good.
“Cat got your tongue?” you taunted, taking a deliberate step closer to the water’s edge. You tilted your head, eyes now wide and mocking. “Or did I finally find something that shuts you up?” Paul was still staring, his chest rising and falling faster than before. However, the shock was fading and was being replaced by a slow-burning, dark intensity. His own body betrayed him as he took a step closer on his side of the creek, shortening the distance between you two by just shy of 3 feet of water. His gaze dropped from your face, sweeping over you in your running clothes, a quick assessing look that felt like a physical touch, before snapping back to your eyes.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Kitten.” His voice was laced with a rough warning. “You don’t know what you’re messing with.”
“Oh, I think I do,” You shot back, your confidence a shield. “I’m messing with the big bad wolf who gets all flustered when I mention getting wet. It’s cute, really. Almost makes you seem like a real boy.” You saw the way Paul’s jaw tightened quickly.
The air between you crackled, no longer with simple hatred or weary frustration, but with something hotter, more volatile, and personal. Paul didn’t move for a long second, then a slow dangerous smile spread across his face. It wasn’t his usual old smirk, it was darker. Shock left his body, it was burned away by the challenge your voice suggested. His dark eyes held yours, unwavering. “You think this is a game? You think you can poke the wolf and just walk away? The imprint isn’t a suggestion. It’s a fact. And the fact says your happiness is my problem. And right now, you being a brat makes you happy. So be a brat, see how far it gets you.”
He was turning your own teasing against you, framing it as a service he was providing. Tension was thick and radiating between you two, you could taste it. He hadn’t crossed the line, but he was right on the edge. The look in his eyes promised he wouldn’t stay there forever. For a heartbeat there was only the sound of the water and the pounding of your heart in your ears. Then, you moved.
Taking a deliberate step forward, off the bank and into the creek the icy water hit your ankles that it almost stole your breath. However, you didn’t flinch, you held Paul’s dark, burning gaze.
“Prove it,” you said, voice clear and challenging over the roar of the current.
His eyes widened a fraction, but his smile froze and slowly melted into something more intense, more focused. He looked from your face to the water swirling around your legs, then back up. The pull between you wasn’t a quiet hum anymore, it was a screaming siren, tugging at your chests, demanding, pleading for the distance to be closed.
“You’re going to catch a cold, kitten.” he said finally, his voice was softer than before, but still charged with that intense energy. “Is the little doggy afraid of water?” you taunted, turning to move away from him. It was a dismissive gesture, the final shot before you retreated to your side of the boundary.
You didn’t make it a full step.
His hand shot out, crossing the water’s surface in a blur. His fingers closed around your bare forearm, his grip firm and warm. It wasn’t rough but it was unbreakable, making your breath catch in your throat. When you met his eyes they were blazing into you. Shock gone, replaced by something raw and possessive.
“I can swim just fine,” he said in a low growl. “But you’re the one standing in my creek,” Paul said your name softly at the end, forcing you to go utterly still, the cold water forgotten. The heat of his grip was the only thing you could feel. Slowly, deliberately, you leaned closer to him, closing the small distance between your faces over the rushing water. Your voice dropped to a whisper that was almost lost in the creek’s roar, but of course he heard it.
“What,” you breathed, lips barely moving, “are you going to do about it?”
Paul’s fingers tightened on your arm, eyes dropping to your mouth, then back up. The raw possessiveness in his gaze was terrifying and exhilarating. With a sudden, rough motion, he yanked you forward.
You stumbled through the water and crashed against the bank on his side. He caught you, his other arm wrapping around your waist to steady you. You were on his side of the creek, held against his bare chest. Faces so close that you could feel his warm and quick breath against your cold skin.
“Anything,” he growled, the word low and vibrating a promise against your lips. “Anything I have to do.” As you spoke your breath mingled with his in the cold morning air, “like what, I don’t play very nice.” Your eyes held his, the challenge in the air thick.
His arm around your waist tightened pulling you even closer, the only bit of space left was found between your lips. You could feel every hard plane of him, the rapid, heavy beat of his heart thudding against your sternum.
“You think I do?” he mummered intimately. His free hand came up ,fingers brushing a free strand of hair from your cheek. His touch was startlingly gentle, at odds with the fierce possessiveness in his grip. “Nice is boring kitten, and you…you’re the furthest thing from boring I’ve ever seen.”
His thumb traced the line of your jaw, his dark eyes following the path of his touch. The imprint was a live wire, humming with a current that felt less like a chain and more like a lightning strike. You were in his arms, heat radiating from where your skin met his.
“So show me,” you breathed, voice barely audible. “Show me how not-nice you can be.”
“I’m not sure you can handle it, kitten.” Paul muttered the last part out, the challenge between you thick and sweet as honey. His thumb was still tracing your jaw, a slow deliberate calmness that sent shivers down your spine. And his eyes, they were holding yours. Waiting, daring you to make the next move. To prove you were just as tough as you acted.
You let your hands finally came up to rest lightly on his bare waist, just above the waistband of his shorts. You felt the muscles there jump under your touch. A slow, wicked smile spread across your own face, mirroring his.
You leaned in, until your lips were teasing the shell of his ear. “What if I decide to scream?” you whispered, voice a silken thread. “Right now? What if I tell Sam you dragged me over here and manhandled me?” You pulled back just enough to see his reaction. A new calculating glint entered his gaze. He knew you were bluffing, you wouldn’t scream. This was a game between you and him.
“You won’t,” he said, certainting ringing in his low voice. He pulled your hips flush against his, giving you a better feel of him than before. “You like this too much.”
A hand of yours shot up, fingers tangling in the dark, messy strands of his hair from the back of his head. You gave a sharp, deliberate tug, pulling his head down so his face was level with yours, your noses almost touching. His eyes widened a fraction in surprise, then narrowed with deep, intense focus.
“I like marking my territory, Paul.” Your voice was a low, possessive purr that was all feline confidence. “And I’m not sure if you can handle it, puppy.” You taunted, using his own words from earlier but with his demeaning nickname.
A low, rough sound escaped him, the hand on your waist slid lower, splaying possessively over the curve of your hip, his fingers digging in just enough to make you gasp. The other came up to cup the back of your head, his thumb stroking the sensitive skin behind your ear.
“You have no idea,” his lips brushing against yours as he spoke, the heat of his breath intoxicating. He then shifted his grip, turning you and pinning you so that your back was against the rough bark of a pine tree. He crowded into your space, caging you in with all heat and hard muscle. “The imprint marked me the second I saw you. You’re in my blood. In my head. Everywhere….So go ahead. Mark me, see if you can make a dent.”
You didn’t hesitate. You closed the final inch of space and kissed him, claiming what you said you wanted.
It wasn’t soft or sweet, it was a clash. Lips, teeth and the sharp intake of breath. Your fingers were still tangled in his hair holding him close to you. His mouth was hot and demanding against yours, and you met every demand with one of your own. The hand Paul had on your hip tightened and pulled you closer to him than ever before. You could feel the evidence of his arousal pressing against your stomach.
The imprint, that hated bond, sang in your veins like a song bird finding its perfect melody, amplifying every sensation until you were dizzy with it.
You bit his lower lip, enough to make him growl into your mouth and slide his tongue past your lips. Deepening the kiss until you were breathless, and no longer caring for the roughness of the tree bark on your back.
The kiss broke, and you were both panting in the air catching your breaths staring in one another’s eyes, realizing the line that was crossed today. The air was thick with sensations of each other, Paul closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of your arousal that, when he opened his eyes, they went completely black for a second.
You weren’t done. The need to mark him, claim him in a way that he couldn’t ignore, was a fever in your blood. Your hands slid from the softness of his hair down to his back. Nails digging into the hot, smooth skin of his shoulders, dragging them down leaving four sharp trails in their wake.
He hissed, body jerking against yours, but it made him bury himself closer in the curve of your neck. His breath was hot and ragged against your skin, Paul growled your name. Half warning, half plea.
You tilted your head, giving him better access. “Marked,” you whisper in a husky tone. Then you turned your head and sank your teeth into the muscle of his shoulder, just enough to leave the imprint of a love bite that made his hand on your hip tighten to the point of almost bruising.
Paul lifted his head from your neck, his eyes wild. “You want to play that game?” His words rough with desire and something feral. He didn’t even give you the chance to think of answering before his lips met yours again, fiercer than before. One hand came to cradle your jaw, holding you still for his kiss while the other slid from your hip to the back of your thigh, hiking your leg up around his waist. The new position pressed him even more intimately against you, making you gasp into his mouth, fingers scrambling for steadiness on his back, finding the fresh scratches you’d made.
You didn’t pull back, you tugged him harder into you, Paul responded by hiking your other leg up around your waist, lifting you fully off the ground. His hands slid down, roughly grabbing you by your ass, holding you up, pressing you against the hard ridge of his arousal with a deliberate, grinding motion that made pleasured moans escape your mouth.
The scent of your own arousal was overwhelming now, a sweet, musky cloud that seemed to drive him wild. His mouth left yours, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down your jaw to your neck. Paul didn’t bite, not yet, but his teeth scraped against your pulse point, a promise of what was to come.
“Paul,” you breathed, head falling back against the tree with fluttering eyes. This was no longer a protest, but a surrender to the sensation.
He lifted his head slightly from your neck, lips now pressed against your ear. His breathing was harsh, lips swollen and wet from your kisses. “Tell me to stop,” he growled, voice thick with need. “Say the word, and I’ll put you down, we’ll walk away. Right now.”
“Say I’m yours,” you whispered, words slipping out before you could stop them. The plea hung in the air between you, a raw, sensitive beg that held so much insecurity and hopefulness in one breath. Paul went still, the hand holding your jaw went soft. Not a lack of force, but a deliberate gentleness now. You could feel his lips almost twitch into a smile against your neck. He moved to look at you now, thumb brushing your bottom lip and your cheek.
“You’re mine,” he breathed out, “now make me yours.” His thumb a possessive caress on your skin. Your eyes held one another before you broke eye contact to focus on the strong column of his neck. You leaned in, biting hard on the curve where his neck met his shoulder. Claiming him in every way but words with your teeth and tongue. He groaned, then started moving his hips again. Grinding into you as you pulled away from his neck finally. He was quick to make your lips meet each other and this kiss was deeper and slower than the earlier ones.
As it deepened, you both began fighting for dominance, trying to make the other open their mouth to accept the other dancing tongue. The hand that was cradling your face came to the back of your head, a harsher grip in your hair, the other clinging onto every curve of your ass that he could find. “You smell like mine,” he said slowly between kisses. “Taste like mine.” His teeth grazed on the sensitive skin of your bottom lip. “Let me make you mine.”
“Make me yours,” you whispered against his lips, the words a breathy, dangerous invitation. “All the way.” Paul’s growl was pure and undiluted wolf. The last thread of his restraint snapped. He didn’t need to be told twice.
His lips met yours again, hurried and frantic kisses being shared. His hands were everywhere at once, pushing your top up, rough palms skimming over the bare skin of your stomach making you arch into him. Your own hands were going from their new position of being tangled in his hair to flimsy pushing down his shorts.
His head dipped down to kiss and suck on your breasts, teeth grazing over your exposed chest, but he hands were getting impatient at the fabric still coating your legs. Paul couldn’t try to shift your bottoms down anymore, instead the air was filled with the sound of them ripping. You gasped and looked up at his face, his usual cocky smirk in place.
“Sorry,” his grin was too proud that you knew not to take him seriously. A small growl tore from your throat as you reached to pull his lips back onto the bare skin of your chest, your once frantic hands tore down his shorts in a swift motion making Paul hiss at the sudden cold air touching him. But he moved just as quickly, he removed his head from your breast and angled you against him so his hardness was pressing against your now exposed core, a gentle tease that had a raging fire behind it.
“Please,” you moaned out, Paul’s eyes went wild at the plea, “I didn’t take you one for begging,” his voice slightly condescending. Your hands reached up tracing along the scratch marks from just a few minutes ago, reapplying the burn that came from them originally, you muttered his name like a warning, and he took it gladly.
It wasn’t gentle and slow, no, he finally entered you with a quick, deep thrust. It made you cry out loudly and throw your head back against the tree, his hands were surely leaving scars on your cheeks now with how hard he gripped them the moment he felt you. As Paul gave you a moment to adjust to him, you could hear his heavy breathing and deep grunts in your ear, a melody to the corresponding feel of his thickness finding its place in you.
When he began to move it was a surreal experience, every thrust, every tug of hair, it was like your minds were catching up to what your bodies already knew.
“Fuck-” Paul was beginning to shutter as he said your name like a prayer. He moved his hands from your cheeks, one came up besides your head on the bark steadying himself, the other wrapped around your waist to keep you as close as possible to him. You could feel the end coming, for both of you. Your walls were shrinking and legs began to coil with tension, his thrusts growing frantic desperately searching for its exit.
Your legs were still tightly wrapped around his waist encamping him as close as he could be, your back arched like a cat to take him deeper. Your hands that were leaving endless lines against his back moved, one gripping his hair, the other clinging onto his shoulder. “Look at me,” you huskily breathed out, shrieks of moans interrupting you here and there. Paul let out a groan and forced his head up to meet your eyes.
He pushed into you again, your mouth an o-shape, tears of pleasure brimming your eyes. Paul's eyes narrowed at the sight, the hand gripping the bark was surely in pain now but that didn’t matter. Only you in this moment mattered. Making you finish, and looking into your eyes as you did. Claiming you. Your moans and his grunts were the only thing heard now until you interrupted your melodies once again. “I’m going to-” you couldn’t even finish your sentence. It was pathetically good.
Paul couldn’t open his mouth to reply to you, instead his lips found yours once again, teeth clashing and messily he kissed you. The coil in your stomach came undone all over his thickness and he couldn’t hold it anymore. He bit down on your bottom lip, when he finally let go you could feel his warmth seeping inside of you and the whimpers that tore from his throat fanning your lips.
The damage was done, you claimed each other in your own ways, and now you were both catching your breath against the pine tree. Heads resting against each other, arms not giving a slight glimpse of letting the other go soon.
turnnoffyourmind
yousharknotpass
theartofmadeline
stormborns
