Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 07:

Paul’s POV

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep! Shut up! I hate the sound of my alarm clock. I hit the snooze button, threw the pillow over my head, and tried to go back to sleep. I was exhausted. After Kim and Jared went home, it had been two weeks of non-stop meetings at work. I have another one this morning with my team of engineers, and then an informal one on Monday morning with a senator from New Mexico and the head of their transportation board over a round of golf. All I want to do is relax.

The alarm went off again and this time I shut it off. Screw the meeting. I must have fallen back asleep again because when I woke up next, it was to a feeling of complete euphoria. I peeked underneath the comforter and my wife had my cock fully sheathed in her mouth. Her tongue was swirling along its length, from bottom to top, and was now concentrating on working the tip. She slid my cock up and down in her mouth a few times and was now sucking on my balls. A few seconds later, the tip of my cock was touching the back of her throat. Oh, yeah, this is damn… aah… holy… oh… that’s it, all the way down… good girl… fuck… aaah… “Bellaaaa!” I moaned as I shot my load into her mouth.

She popped her head out from underneath the covers and looked into my eyes with a grin on her face. “You rang?”

“Get the hell up here, bad girl.” I held her for a little while, and then climbed into the shower with her to get ready. I looked at the time and we were both running about five minutes behind. No coffee or breakfast this morning, but it was the best wake up call I’ve had in ages. I’ll have to make it up to her later tonight.

Bella’s alert on her cell phone went off then. She called the answering service to see what was going on. “Damn it! Dr. Blanchard is out with the flu so it’s just me today. My patient load just doubled. I won’t be done until eight, at the very least.”

“Don’t worry about dinner, I’ll have Madge rustle up a burger for me at the Bikini Lounge. I’m assuming you’re just going to order in at your office?”

“Yeah, I’ll have to. At least today is Friday so I have the weekend off. I have absolutely nothing planned except for rest and relaxation.”

“Good idea. We won’t make plans with anyone over the weekend. Do you have any patients in danger of going into labor?”

“I did, but I had to transfer her care over to an OB/GYN because she had way too many complications. I suspect she’s going to need a c-section.”

We kissed each other goodbye and went our separate ways to work. I hated being away from her. I missed her so much during the day.

Around seven-thirty, I headed over to the Bikini Lounge for dinner and drinks.

“Where’s Blondie tonight?” Frank asked.

“She’s still at work. Dr. Blanchard called out sick so it’s just her all day. Can Madge do up a couple of her blue cheese burgers and some fries for me?”

“You heard him, didn’t ya, Madge?” Frank asked, before turning his attention back to me. “Did you know I’ve known Blondie since she was eight years old?”

“Really? I had no idea.” I truly didn’t. I just thought Bella knew Frank and Madge from coming here as an adult.

“Yeah, her mother would bring her in here for a quick bite to eat every Saturday. Sometimes, when Renee had a date and couldn’t get a sitter, she would have Blondie hide out at the corner side of the bar with her nose buried in a book. I caught her sneaking into the kitchen to watch Madge cook a few times. After awhile, Madge just invited her into the kitchen and would have her help with little chores in the kitchen. It made the little sprite happy. When she was in high school, we hired her to cook alongside Madge on the weekends.”

“No kidding? I had no idea.”

“You know, it’s a wonder Bella turned out the way she did with a flake like Renee for a mother. It wasn’t until she met Phil that she straightened out. I remember Bella had saved up her money working here to buy a car, and then Renee got her lights shut off for non-payment. Bella paid it herself and gave up on her car. After that, Renee met Phil. He’s a good guy, but Renee ignored Bella after meeting him and eventually sent her away to live with her dad in Washington.”

That plain pissed me off about Renee. I knew she cared about Bella, but she always put herself first instead of her kids. Frank cracked open a fresh bottle of Smithwicks for me and poured himself a shot of whiskey.

“To Blondie,” he said, holding his shot glass up. I clinked my beer bottle with his glass and the two of us drank to my wife.

Around ten pm, I decided to head home. I had just gotten into my truck when my cell phone buzzed.

“ Paul?” she sounded desperate. “I can’t find my car! It’s not in my parking spot. I’ve been walking around looking all over the place and I can’t find it anywhere! “

Oh shit. This is all we needed. Car theft was a problem in Phoenix with its proximity to Mexico-the thieves generally just drove the cars over the border where it became untraceable. Bella’s Volkswagen Beetle didn’t have LoJack either.

“Baby, where are you now?” It sounded like she was outside walking.

“I’m a couple of blocks away from the office.”

“I’m hanging up. Call 911, and tell them what happened. Go back to your office. I don’t want you walking around there by yourself at this time of night. I’ll be right there. I’m only a few blocks away from you.”

I turned the truck around and shot straight over to my wife. I scanned the parking lot behind the building, but there were no cars parked there. The police arrived a minute after I did and took down a report. Bella explained that she parked her car around eight twenty this morning and left it there until she was ready to leave work at around nine thirty this evening. When she didn’t see her car, she walked around the neighborhood for a few minutes, searching for it. She called me first, and then 911 after I told her to do so.

The police took her report and told us to report the vehicle as stolen to our insurance company. They put out an APB for the car and left us standing in the parking lot by my truck.

“I’m sorry, babe.”

“It’s not your fault. This kind of thing happens a lot in Phoenix.” She walked into my arms so I could hold her. “Let me lock the office up, and then we can go home.”

Hmm? The office is still open and it’s just the two of us? We can play doctor. “Bella… !”

Three hours later…

“That was amazing, baby,” I cooed in my wife’s ear. We had finally locked the office up and were heading home.

“Mmm… yes, we’ll have to do it again the next time Dr. Blanchard is out with the flu.”

“Can’t you just inject him with the flu virus once a month or something?”

“I’ll think about it. Now, what are we going to do about my car situation?”

“Well, if the cops don’t find it over the weekend, you can either rent a car for a couple of weeks or buy a new one. Whatever you want to do.”

“Okay, we’ll start with a rental then purchase one if it doesn’t turn up.”

The next morning…

“ Mr. Lahote? This is Detective Standish of the Phoenix Police Department, we’ve located your wife’s car.”

“Oh, good, good. Where can we pick it up?”

“ Unfortunately, it was involved in a motor vehicle accident in Palo Verde-the car was totaled, sir.”

“Excuse me, where is Palo Verde?”

“ It’s in California, just over the Arizona border. It’s about two and a half hours away from Phoenix. The police there removed what they believed to be Mrs. Lahote’s belongings from the vehicle including a cell phone charger, an iPod, a commuter coffee mug, a pair of sunglasses, a hooded sweatshirt, a gym bag, and any and all documents from the dashboard.”

“Wait, they didn’t take the iPod?”

“ No, sir, it was loaded with country music. I guess even car thieves have their limits. Ahem, sorry, back to the topic. The car is being held at the police impound lot until you contact your insurance company after which time they would like permission to send the car to a salvage lot for destruction.”

“Uh, sure. Do they need us to drive down there?”

“ No, sir, we’ll be sending two uniformed officers to take a look at the wreckage on Monday-we’ll bring Mrs. Lahote’s belongings back with us at that time. Where should we deliver them?”

“You can just bring them to my office.” I gave the detective my company address and went to break the news to Bella. She didn’t take the news very well. I think she was holding out hope that the car would be found. It was the very first new car she purchased on her own, and it held a lot of memories for her. She had just finished paying it off last year, too.

“I guess we’re going car shopping today, then,” Bella said, glumly.

“Yeah, we’re not financing it, though, and we’re registering it under both our names. That way you can put it under my insurance and we’ll get a multi-car discount. I’m throwing your name on the Escalade, too. Now, what kind of car do you want?”

“Anything with four wheels and an engine that runs.” This is going to be tougher than I thought. The last time I went car shopping with a woman, it was fairly easy. It was with my ex-Tina and all she wanted was a BMW. She asked for a seven series, I bought her a three. I had a feeling then that we weren’t going to last after she started bitching about how I only purchased a three series BMW for her.

“Okay, do you want another Volkswagen Beetle?”

“No, I’ll keep thinking about my stolen one.”

“Alright, let’s do it this way. Do you want a car, truck, or SUV?”

“A car. We already have a truck.” That’s my girl, she’s thinking practically.

“What color do you want?”

“Red.”

“Is there any possibility that you know what make and model you want?” I asked, hopefully.

“No, anything is fine. You pick. I won’t complain, I promise. Just don’t get a standard shift-I can’t drive those.”

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“No, surprise me.”

“Bella, you have to come with me. This is your car. You have to test drive it.”

“Paul, please don’t make me go. I hate car dealerships-the salespeople are all pushy and sleazy. I had a horrific experience buying the Beetle. Not only was the guy a hard seller-he grabbed my ass and tried to pick me up afterwards.”

Oh, hell no! Now I was seething. I didn’t like the idea of anyone grabbing my imprint’s ass. I calmed myself down because Bella didn’t need me to flip my lid and go wolf on her right now.

“I have an idea. Let me just make a call.” I decided to contact one of my business associates. He owned a chain of car dealerships throughout Phoenix and Scottsdale, and my company was contracted to construct his corporate headquarters. Later, I entered into a deal with him where I lease all of my company work trucks from him. He owed me a favor. I explained what happened to my wife’s car and told him about her unease with salespeople.

“ Don’t worry about it, Paul-I’ll take care of you guys personally. Would you happen to know if she purchased her Beetle from one of my dealerships?”

“Hang on. Honey, which dealership did you purchase your bug from?”

“Hatfield, where else is there?” Bella replied with distaste.

“Sorry, Scott, she bought it from one of yours,” I chuckled.

“ Well, I appreciate the feedback. Tell your wife we’ll be retraining our salespeople so they aren’t so pushy, or sleazy and so they don’t try to fondle or pick up our customers. I’ll also be having a few words with the salesperson she dealt with if he’s still employed with us. I can guarantee that if he is, he won’t be employed with us after today. Do you know what she wants?”

“A red car, automatic, not stick-that’s what she’s narrowed it down to. Oh, and no Volvos,” I added at the end.

“ Why don’t you bring her to my headquarters in two hours and I’ll have some red cars brought over for her to test drive.”

“Alright, I appreciate it, Scott. See you then.”

“No Volvos, Paul?” Bella asked after I ended the call, arching a curious eyebrow at me.

“Um, yeah, I don’t like them.” The truth was, I remembered that her bloodsucker ex used to drive one and there was no way in hell that my wife was going to drive one of those cars.

“I don’t like Volvos either,” Bella said. “It’s a pussy car.”

“Damn straight!” I said and kissed her on the lips. “Come on, let’s get going, baby.”

After six hours, eighteen test-driven cars, lunch catered in by Scott to his office, plus one tee time next weekend at the club with Scott and his wife-Bella ended up choosing a red, convertible Lexus IS 350C equipped with LoJack to be delivered tomorrow to our house. Scott sold it to us at dealer cost so he made absolutely no profit from the sale, but it was not done out of the kindness of his heart-it was a well-calculated business deal. My company leases and maintains our corporate work trucks at his Ford dealership, by doing this small thing for us-which was really no skin off of his back, it guaranteed that I would re-enter into another contract with him. He, in turn, would give my company a good deal on the leases, and whenever Bella or I needed a vehicle-we’d get it at cost. It was a ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ kind of thing.

Jared’s POV

La Push, Washington

I had been home for two weeks now and it was time to gather up the pack. I needed to tell them about my discovery about Paul and it needed to be done while Jake and Collin were away. Today was perfect. I had been observing them both and found out that Jake, Angela, Collin, and Linda were going to Seattle for the weekend. I waited until they left, then I phased and trailed their vehicle to make sure they were really heading there. I had just returned to La Push now and had sent text messages to everyone to meet me in our secret spot, as wolves. I, then, phased back into a wolf again and waited. Sam was the first to arrive, then Brady, followed by Embry, and Quil. Seth arrived about twenty minutes after everyone because he had been in the middle of interrogating a suspect. Leah arrived even later than Seth did.

“ You’d better have a good reason why I suddenly had to come out here looking all furry. I had to pump enough breast milk for the baby to last twenty-four hours just in case. You know I haven’t phased in seven years, don’t you?” Leah complained.

“ Aw, hell, Leah. Was it really necessary to show us the image of you pumping breast milk?” Sam asked.

“ Yes! I don’t like to be disturbed when I’m pumping milk. It’s a tranquil and intimate time between the baby and me.”

“ Does the milk really spray out like that?” Embry asked, alarmed. He and Paul were the only two wolves without kids. “Why are you massaging your tits?”

“ It helps to let down the milk,” Brady answered.

“ What the hell is that shit you’re rubbing on your nipples? Why are your nipples so huge?”

“ It’s probably lanolin so her nipples don’t crack. Are you using Lansinoh Cream?” Quil surmised. “They get big during pregnancy in preparation for breastfeeding.”

“ Yeah, it really helps. Izzy’s a biter,” Leah said.

“ Alright, can we get down to business instead of discussing my sister’s tits? I really don’t feel comfortable talking about her breastfeeding.” Seth then turned to me, “Why are we here?”

“ I have news and this was the best way to get it to you. You know how the reservation isn’t safe anymore with Fuller and crew fucking around with our lives. Sorry, Brady.”

“ That’s okay-I know my dad is the scum of the earth. I try to avoid talking to him, besides-I have news too.”

“ Alright, you start,” I urged.

“ Jake, Old Man Quil, and he are going to press charges against Paul for bodily injury because of some shit that went down when they went to Phoenix. I heard them talking the other day. They’re going to do it on a tribal level because the Forks Police Department refuses to get involved. Basically, Charlie told them to shove it up their asses.”

“ Why? What did Paul do?” Seth asked.

“ I couldn’t see what went down, but I heard the whole thing. Jess was on the phone with Bella when they forced their way into their house while Paul was at work.” Embry replayed his memory of what he heard and the rest of us were pissed off. Bella had repeatedly asked them to call when Paul got back home, but apparently one of them shoved Bella to the side and the three of them invited themselves in like a bunch of thugs. It was at that point that Embry called Paul and he rushed home. The rest of the memory matched the one that Paul had told me about. I showed them the memory that Paul showed me.

Everyone was pissed off. Seth told me they broke a multitude of federal and tribal laws. Jake’s role in this was the worst because as a wolf, his number one priority should have been to protect a pack brother’s imprint, not move to manhandle her on Fuller’s orders.

“ Let me show you what I discovered when I was going through the tribal archives and you tell me what you think as it relates to Paul and Bella.” I went through what I read, and I just re-read it recently when I got back too so it was fresh. Then, I told them about how Paul marked Bella the first time they were together.

All of us, put our stock into the tribal archives because, so far, every snippet of information that we’ve run across has come true. For example, Leah being the lone female wolf in our pack was predicted. From the archives, we knew that she would be the only she-wolf ever, and that any of our future female children would not have the ability to phase. We also knew we were considered the great coming of wolves and we were waiting for the Great Protector-who we all now believed to be Paul. Everything I’ve read in the legends have come to fruition so far. I knew the Cullens wouldn’t be returning to the area either, therefore limiting the traffic of vampires in the area to next to nothing. We were most likely going to be the last of the Quileutes to phase. A few years ago, the Cullens sold their house in Forks to a development company, which tore it down, ripped up the forest surrounding it, and was in the process of building a string of townhouses. The area was no longer vampire friendly-so to speak. The female Cullens returned to town just to empty the house of their belongings, and it was only for a day. I saw them approach Charlie Swan’s house and take a look into Bella’s room from a tree limb, but there was no evidence of her left. In fact, by then, Charlie had married Sue and had moved to La Push. Leah and Eric were living in the house. The mother vampire asked the short one with the visions if Bella was happy. She replied by saying that she didn’t know because she no longer got visions of Bella. The last thing she saw was Edward breaking up with her in the most hurtful way in the forest, and Bella taking it so badly that she became catatonic. The three of them left, disheartened-never to return.

“ Okay, so what did the archives say we needed to do?” Brady asked.

“ Isn’t it obvious? We have to pledge our loyalty to the Great Protector in his presence. Jake will no longer have the ability to give us an alpha order,” Quil said. “What time is it? We need to run to Phoenix, make Paul phase, and then pledge our allegiance to him.”

“ Stop running through the Pledge of Allegiance, Sam!” Leah chastised.

“ I can’t help it! Quil said ‘pledge’ and ‘allegiance’ in one line and now it keeps running through my brain.”

Great, now the rest of us were saying the Pledge of Allegiance. “I pledge allegiance, to the flag of the United States of America…”

“ It was a little after two in the afternoon when I left the station. I think if we start now, we can get to Phoenix in a little over five hours. I’m pretty sure we run at a speed of about three hundred miles per hour because we can get to Seattle in a half an hour,” Seth informed us. “Sam, Jared-you know how to get to their house once we get to Phoenix, right?”

“ Yeah, I can’t wait to have more of that Caramel Macchiato,” Sam mused.

“ Why the hell are you talking Starbucks, asshole? This is business,” Embry stated. Sam and I both showed him an image of Paul, in a green apron, working at Starbucks. We all started laughing.

“ Screw calling him the Great Protector, we should call him the Great Barista instead. Does he really have a commercial coffee machine in his kitchen?” Quil asked.

“ Are you kidding, he has the entire Starbuck’s coffee bar set up in one corner of his kitchen. To be honest, I think the guy has a tendency to go a little overboard. You’ll see what I mean when we get to his house. I mean, for fuck’s sake, he has a jacuzzi and a spa shower installed in every bathroom.” I looked around to make sure that everyone had their clothes attached to their hind paw. Our cell phones and our wallets were secured inside a zipped pocket in our shorts so we would have a means of getting around when we phased back to human form. “Alright, let’s roll.”

We started running at what we thought was top speed and arrived in Paul’s neighborhood around nine pm. We should have gotten there over an hour ago.

“ Jeez! We’re all out of shape. This took a hell of a lot longer than it should have,” Sam panted.

“ No, shit, my gut kept getting in the way of my hind paws,” Quil said. “I think I need to work out more often.”

“ Fucker, the only workout that I’ve seen you doing lately is raising your fork to your mouth!”

“ You should talk, Sam. It’s not like you’re the workout king. When was the last time you worked out?”

Sam showed us an image of him working out with Paul. “Oh, yeah, Sam, you worked out once with Paul, three weeks ago. I hardly think one workout in five years counts.”

“ That’s more than you assholes. Besides, I’m going back to working out, just as soon as my muscles recover.”

He flashed an image of him groaning in pain and sitting in Paul’s jacuzzi, attempting to make the pain go away.

“ Did it hurt that much, man?” I asked.

“ Dude, the psychotic freak does some specialized circuit training that baseball players do. His father-in-law taught him.”

“ Who, Charlie? Um, there’s no way that he works out, unless you count picking up and putting down a beer can,” Seth stated.

“ No, Bella’s mother’s new husband. He’s a baseball coach.”

“ Oh my God! Is this really his house? It looks like a hotel,” Leah commented.

We had finally arrived just outside Paul’s backyard. We phased back to human form, threw our clothes on, and slid the sliding glass door open. Sam and I led everyone to the living room where a dumbstruck Paul and Bella were staring at us.

“Hi, we’re hungry. Got anything to eat?” Quil asked. “I could use a Cafe Mocha, oh Great Barista.”

“Uh, I’m going to rustle up some food,” Bella stated, scratching her head.

“What the hell are you guys doing here? Did you run here?” Paul asked, completely aghast.

“Come with us to your backyard. We have something to discuss with you in wolf form.” I led everyone to the wide expanse of desert that led from beyond his pool area. We all took our clothes off and phased. We showed Paul our discussion from a few hours earlier.

“ There’s no way I’m the Great Protector!” Paul stated with conviction.

“ You’ve got to be man. The legends said the Great Protector would be among our pack. It has to be you-you fit the criteria.”

“ No fucking way! I don’t even live in La Push.”

“ You don’t have to live there. You’re the only one who marked your imprint on the first go and you marked her ‘at a great distance from tribal lands.’ Bella fits the mold, too-she had great knowledge of our world prior to being imprinted upon plus she’s a nurse, so she’s a healer.”

“ Screw it. Let’s just get this over with. He’s being stubborn,” Quil stated. “I, Quil Ateara the Fifth pledge my allegiance to my brother Paul Lahote-the Great Protector, true spirit warrior, and rightful Alpha of the Pack.”

We all repeated what Quil said and felt a sudden internal shift within our bodies, which gave us an overwhelming sense of peace.

“ Give us an Alpha order, man,” Quil said.

“ Quil, I give you an Alpha order to phase back to human form and do sit-ups until I tell you to stop.”

He immediately phased to human form and started doing sit-ups. “Hey, can I stop now? My abs hurt.”

Paul ordered him to stop and he phased back to wolf form. “Quil, I give you an Alpha order to do at least two hundred sit-ups a day.”

“ Are you serious, man? I’m too out of shape to do that much.”

“ It’s an alpha order. I just want to see if it holds long term. Start with fifty sit-ups, then.”

“ How about twenty-five? I mean fifty is a lot for a guy like me. I’m man enough to admit I’m a pussy.”

“ Nope, fifty, and that’s an alpha order.” Paul turned to all of us. “Why don’t we phase back and hang out in the house? We’ll figure this all out. Brady, thanks for the heads up regarding the tribe pressing charges against me. I’ll give my attorney a call. Leah? Why the hell are your tits leaking?”

“ I’m two feedings overdue. I need a breastpump. I’m telling you, my boobs are heavy dangling in front of me when I’m in wolf form. It slows down my running. I wonder if there’s some sort of supportive nursing bra that I can wear while in wolf form?”

“ I don’t know about a wolf nursing bra, but I’ll call Bella and have her bring you a breastpump.”

We phased back and went into his house. True to his word, Paul called Bella about Leah. Apparently, she had run to the supermarket. Bella came back an hour later with groceries, a breastpump, and a nursing bra for Leah.

She sent all of us men out to grab the groceries from the bed of Paul’s truck and sent Leah upstairs to pump her breasts.

She got to work in the kitchen and a few minutes later, she handed Paul and me two plates piled high with ribs and barbeque sauce and told us to get to grilling. Sam came running behind us with tongs and a grilling fork.

“How did you get them to do that?” Leah asked. “By the way, I like that electric pump so much better than my manual one at home. I ran here so I can’t bring it home though.”

“I’ll ship it to you on Monday. As for Sam and Jared cooking, I just told them when they were visiting, that if they were staying here, they shouldn’t expect me to do all of the cooking. Paul’s better than I am at grilling anyway.”

Embry surprised us by standing by us and giving us some grilling tips. In the end, we just handed the tongs off to him and let him handle it. By the time we were done, Bella and Leah had prepared the side dishes and we were chowing down on probably the juciest ribs we’ve ever tasted.

“Embry, where did you learn to grill ribs like this?” Bella asked.

“Jessica’s dad. The man should open up a restaurant. He’s like the king of grilling. He does his ribs in a smoker.”

Paul’s eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store. “No, Paul, the grill is enough. We don’t need a smoker, too,” Bella stated, firmly.

During dinner, we explained to Bella about Paul and the legend of the Great Protector and that he was our new Alpha. Even she agreed that Paul had to be the one. With Bella’s support, Paul finally accepted his new role. Geez. We should have just had her tell him from the get go.

“Hey, Bella, where’s your little Beetle?” Sam asked. “I didn’t see it in the garage.”

“It was stolen yesterday and the bastards who took it totaled it in California.”

“That’s harsh, Emily really liked driving it.”

“Yeah, me too. So, are you all staying the night? Tomorrow is Sunday.”

“If it’s okay with you, we’d love to be able to rest before running back to La Push. We didn’t realize how out of shape we were. It took us a lot longer to get up here than we estimated.”

“Sure, we’d love to have you stay. I’ll get some of Paul’s clothes out so you guys can put something clean on after you bathe. Leah, you can fit into my stuff. My pants are probably too short for you, but you can definitely fit my shorts or my capris. If you bring me your clothes I’ll throw them in the washer for you. Um, I hope you all told your imprints what you were up to. They’re probably feeling the distance by now.”

“Oh shit!” we all exclaimed at once and got to calling them stating that we had secret pack business that was to remain hidden from Jake, Collin, and the elders for now. They were very receptive. None of them liked the three goons so they were more than willing to keep it from them. Jake and Collin were gone until Monday night anyway so it wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Paul then changed the subject. “Well, I’m glad you guys are here. I actually have a proposal for Brady, Embry, and Quil. Sam and Jared already know about it.” He then went on to explain to them about the highway project. I had never seen Brady look so relieved in his life when he offered him a job. He didn’t get into salaries or any details like that-he said he’d go over that later with him in private. He, did, however say it would be a permanent position.

“Now Embry and Quil, I need your help with this project, too.” He brought down the schematics for the highway and showed them how it needed a ton of wiring for the lighting on the highway and in the tunnel system. It would also need wiring for a huge ventilation system within the tunnels. “It could be a contractual job or I could hire you on permanently. I’m short on qualified electricians at the moment and I’ve been scrambling to find good ones. We can discuss the details over the phone later.”

“This is a huge job and a big move. I’d have to discuss it with Rachel,” Quil said.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t expect you to not discuss it with her. I understand that you both own a successful business in Forks, too, but I’m at the level of desperation here so I figured that it couldn’t hurt to ask. Think about it and let me know as soon as you can. I’d make you both foremen on the electrical team, of course. I don’t want to get into specifics about salary, but I’ll at least go over the benefits.”

He explained what his company had to offer and Embry stated that it would be a relief to him because Jessica would no longer have health insurance as of August 31st. Although schools are only in session from September through June-contracts lasted throughout the summer so any benefits would also extend through the end of August. I felt so stupid, everyone seemed to know what benefits were except for me. I was so used to everything being taken care of by the tribe that I had no idea what the world outside of La Push was like.

“Jared, how is that GED coming along?”

“Okay, I guess. The reading part is fine. It’s funny. I find it more interesting now than I did when I was actually in school. The math is killing me, though.”

“Eric can help you with the math. He’s a whiz at it,” Leah offered. I keep forgetting Eric is geek personified.

“Eric used to help me with my math too. I wouldn’t have gotten through calculus without him,” Bella stated as she put a huge, delicious looking strawberry dessert in the middle of the table. “It’s strawberry trifle.”

“Damn, that looks good. Paul, I could use some of that Decaf Caramel Macchiato now,” Sam ordered it like he was in a restaurant.

“Yeah, me too. You look cute in a green apron,” Seth chuckled.

Paul rolled his eyes at us and we all watched our new Alpha get to work at his coffee bar. “I just want a skinny decaf latte, honey,” Bella called after him. “I’ll tell you something, having your own personal barista at home is handy. I only have to stop in for coffee when I’m running late.”

We had coffee and desserts and hung out for a while longer. Eventually, we all hit the sack. I could hear all of the jacuzzi tubs running in the other rooms. All of us were relaxing in the closest thing to a resort we’d ever been to. I planned on taking a dip in the pool tomorrow plus Paul promised us more of that yummy double porterhouse steak for lunch.

Two weeks later…

Paul was totally awesome. We didn’t have to run home because he hooked us all up with plane tickets and threw us on an 8pm flight, which got us into Seattle around eleven pm. From there, we just jogged to a wooded area, and ran home to La Push. It only took us twenty-five minutes after we started running.

Our impromptu trip to Phoenix turned out great. We got our new Alpha, Brady got a job, and Quil and Embry were thinking about it. Leah and Seth wanted to stay in La Push because that’s where their roots were. They were fine, though. Seth had a steady job and so did Eric. They both made enough money to support their families and they were very close to Charlie and Sue. Before we left, Paul gave me an Alpha order to stay on target with my GED-that way I couldn’t fuck around. I, actually, asked him to give me one because I get so easily distracted. I really wanted to get this job for Kim and the babies.

Jacob’s POV

Collin and I had just gotten out of a meeting with the tribal elders. The decision has been made to press charges against Paul for threatening Tony and me and for causing bodily injury to Tony. He left marks on his neck when he shoved him against the wall. Luckily, we took photos of the marks so we have proof that’ll stand up in a court of law. At the same time, Tony and Mr. Ateara are charging Paul with blatantly disobeying tribal orders. Not only did he not inform us of the fact that he imprinted, he also went off and married his imprint in some fancy wedding off of tribal land. Honestly, it was ridiculous. He should have respected tribal traditions and gotten married the Quileute way, by the elders, in front of a bonfire. They should have both been wearing traditional Quileute attire-not the tuxedo and white gown they were wearing in the wedding photo on their mantel. I had to admit, Bella looked gorgeous on her wedding day.

Honestly, I’m glad I imprinted on Angela. She respects the traditions and understands the way our tribe and the pack operate. Frankly, I’m surprised Bella was so disrespectful to the elders and me. I’m the alpha, and she should have been respectful of the fact. I claimed the position once I imprinted on Angela. She’s probably still upset about the fact that I imprinted on Angela instead of her. I can understand why, too, especially now that she’s imprinted on Paul. It must drive Bella crazy to know that she came so close to being imprinting on by the Alpha, but it’s obvious Taha Aki felt she wasn’t good enough to be the Alpha’s mate. Pfft. She wasn’t even good enough to be a Beta’s mate. That honor went to Linda, Collin’s imprint. Angela and she are best friends.

At one point, Angela and Bella were best friends, but Bella decided to be immature and she stopped talking to us after she discovered that Angela was my imprint. Angela and I were her only friends at that point and she threw our friendship in our faces by becoming jealous about us instead of celebrating our imprint. We thought she’d be happy for us. All I know is that I’m glad that I’m not saddled with her. Paul can keep her.

I had to admit, though, that Bella was still absolutely breathtaking. There was a time when I thought she would be my forever, but… Stop Jacob! Angela is your imprint. You’re happy. Besides Bella simply has no respect for the Quileutes and our traditions.

Angela and I have four kids: William, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebecca. They’re good kids. We both work, but luckily we have family members who watch the kids for us. My father often takes William fishing together with Charlie Swan and Seth. I’m glad that he has great role models to look up to. In fact, all of my pack brothers have taken him under their wing and they’ve been teaching him the ways of our world. For that I am grateful. Jared, Sam, and Quil, especially, have been very good to him. Will is a friend of their oldest sons and is often invited to one of their homes for dinner.

The tribal demand that Paul return to La Push is exactly what needs to happen. Though he’s not my favorite person and having Bella on the reservation is not an ideal situation, they need to return to La Push and face the consequences of their actions. They’ll also be ordered to annul their marriage and remarry on Quileute land. We’ll be teaching them both who runs the wolf pack. I can’t wait until Angela gives Bella an alpha’s wife’s order to obey the pack alpha and the tribal laws. She’ll soon learn the meaning of the word respect.