Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 09:

Paul’s POV

Boy, am I exhausted! I forgot how hard my pack brothers partied. I rolled over so I could hold my wife, but she wasn’t there. I heard some rustling over by the walk-in closet so I slowly opened one eye, and then the second. Wrapped in a towel on her hands and knees, there was my freshly showered imprint trying to… What the hell is she trying to do? I think she’s trying to repair something on the floor.

I watched her curiously from bed when her towel flapped up placing her pretty pussy directly in my line of sight, beckoning me to come and have a taste. Well, damn, my morning wood just turned into steel. I silently got up out of bed, went to my wife, and buried my tongue into her folds. She gasped at the sudden invasion and tried to get up, but I had a hand placed firmly onto her back planting her in place. Her body soon relaxed into my tongue, and she immersed herself in the feelings of pleasure I was giving her. I was enjoying the taste of her sweet honey, lapping up every drop of heaven she was giving me. After a while, I flipped her over onto her back and entered her in one fell swoop, my cock breathing a sigh of relief to be back in it’s familiar home.

“Taste yourself, Bella.” I kissed her on the lips deeply, our tongues meeting together in a passionate dance. She devoured my lips and kissed me passionately, desperately as I made love to her sweet body right there on our bedroom floor until we both erupted into an erotic frenzy, and I marked her as mine for all the world to see.

We laid on the floor holding each other until my wife got back onto her hands and knees to get back to work.

“What in God’s name are you trying to do, woman?” I asked.

“Oh, this stick thing came loose so I’m gluing it on,” she said, pointing to the carpet joiner.

“With Elmer’s Glue?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Bells! That’s a carpet joiner, you don’t glue that on!”

“ Haha, she’s just like Charlie. She doesn’t know jack shit about home repairs. He has the gutters on his house held together with duct tape,” I heard Jared commenting from his room.

Damn, that amplified wolf hearing! I forgot about that. Wait a minute? Did he just say that Dad has his gutters held together with duct tape? Aw, man, I’m going to have to hire Brady to do home repairs for him. It rains almost everyday in Washington.

“Mind your own business, fucker!” I yelled. “Bella, please stop before we have to replace all of the carpeting. I’ll fix it later, I swear.”

“Oh, alright, but are you sure this glue won’t work? It says ‘Elmer’s Glue-All’ on the label. Doesn’t that mean it glues everything together?”

“ For chrissakes, Bella, put the fucking school glue down, and step away from the carpet joiner!” Sam hollered to her from his room.

“Oh, fine,” she said.

“ Bella, did you have a nice morning?” Leah yelled for everyone to hear.

My imprint turned as red as a lobster. She gulped and looked into my eyes with a mortified expression on her face. “Ahem, um, yes, thank you,” she shouted in response.

“ I’m ready for my Caramel Macchiato now,” Jared said.

“ Me too,” Sam piped in. Suddenly, I was inundated with coffee orders from everyone.

“Hold your damn horses. Let me take a shower first.”

Two hours later, we had driven to the Wa-Ya Reserve where I was meeting Crispy and his pack. I hadn’t told them about the fact they were coyotes yet. He and I decided the best way to tell our guys was for us to all phase together.

When we arrived in the covered area where Crispy and I first phased, I told the pack to strip and phase. After we were all set to go, Bella instructed the women and Eric that we had to go on wolfback the rest of the way. The pack followed me without question and we soon arrived at the secluded spot by the Gila River where Crispy and his pack were waiting with their mates, phased as giant coyotes.

“ What the fuck?” Seth blurted out in shock.

“ Stay calm guys, put your mates down and phase back to human form,” I instructed.

They did as I instructed and the coyotes returned to their human forms, too. My pack and I threw our clothes on immediately.

“Hi guys,” I greeted.

“How are ya, boss?” Manny asked.

“Good, good.” I introduced everyone to each other. Crispy’s pack was at ease while my guys were completely on edge. Our imprints, though… Well, that was another story. The women were ogling Crispy’s guys up and down their naked ass bodies.

“Holy, sweet Jesus, thank you,” Emily expressed her gratitude to the heavens as she eyed each and every member of Crispy’s pack.

“Crispy, man, why the heck is your pack naked? You’re making our women flustered.”

“Speak for yourself, Lahote! I’m kind of enjoying the view myself,” Rachel snapped.

“Uh-huh, coming here was most definitely a good idea,” a pregnant Kim gushed.

“That’s it! Would you explain to us why these guys were gigantic coyotes one moment and the next moment they were human?” Jared asked. “And stop eye-fucking them, Kim!”

“I can’t help it, they’re… they’re naked and they’re… big!” she tried to explain.

“I believe the word is hung,” Missy corrected. “They also stay in shape. I mean look at them, they’re ripped!”

“Pack requirement,” Jeff explained. “Crispy makes us all hit the gym and workout.” Hmm… maybe I should do that with my pack. Aside from Brady and me, everyone else looks… well… lumpy.

“Can’t you guys cover yourselves up?” I asked.

“Ooh, yeah, maybe you can throw some fig leaves over your privates and dance around for us,” Bella suggested.

Fig leaves? I growled at my naughty wife.

“Yeah, like in the Olympics in Ancient Greece,” Babs agreed. The women in Crispy’s pack all took it in stride and giggled along.

“You know, I always tell Randy that if he loses his job as a physician, he could always become a male stripper,” Mina said.

“Uh-huh, I’d pay to see him strip,” Jessica added. “You wouldn’t happen to be a gynecologist, would you?”

“I’m a family practitioner so I do routine gynecological exams as well,” Randall winked.

“That’s okay, man, she’ll go to Bella,” Embry stated quickly.

“Do you do house calls? I live in Washington,” Seth’s wife, Kyla asked coyly.

“Paul, you were the one who was supposed to teach us how to carry our clothes, remember?” Jeff reminded me.

“Oops, my bad.”

“Whateverou! You guys are way hotter than my pack. Paul! I can’t believe you had sex with Bella on your dining table and it crashed to the ground,” Leah commented.

I put my face in my hands. I forgot about that “one pack, one mind” thing and was thinking about claiming Bella while we were phased a few moments ago.

“Yeah, that was some pretty intense sex you two had,” Jared agreed.

“Hey, I thought you said that something heavy crashed on it and the dining table tanked,” Crispy said.

“Pfft. Yeah, it was Paul crashing on top of Bella that tanked it. I saw the memory running through his mind while we were phased. Now can we get into the explanations because I’m gonna have to hit the breast pump in an hour.”

Everyone turned to stare at Leah’s engorged tits, which were straining against her tank top.

“Crispy, man, you’d better hurry up with the explanations. She-wolf’s titties look like they’re going to erupt soon,” Manny commented. Leah’s breasts were straining against her tank top looking like boulders. “Look at how engorged they are.”

His wife Penny smacked him on the back of the head, calling him an insensitive prick.

Crispy delved into the history of his pack and explained everything to my guys including the story of the tribe of vampires in Oklahoma. To say everyone was shocked was an understatement. Our pack was created to destroy vampires, but then again, Ephraim Black understood there could be such a thing as peaceful vampires when he met the Cullens. All I knew was that we were made the way we were for a bigger purpose, not just to kill vampires. What it was, I had no idea.

After Crispy’s explanation, we headed to his place for a cookout. Manny and Embry manned the grill while Sam and I assisted. We all got to know each other pretty well.

The guys in Crispy’s pack and their mates were all pretty successful compared to my guys. Crispy, of course, was a lawyer for the Department of Education and Jeff was also a lawyer except he worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services. Now that was a handy connection considering my current predicament with the tribal council. Barry was a lieutenant at the Paradise Valley Police Department, while Randall was a doctor in Scottsdale. He kept begging Bella to come and work for him. And, of course, Manny worked for me in construction.

Among their mates, Babs was a nurse practitioner like Bella, Lisa worked in marketing, Cheyenne was a college professor at the University of Arizona, and Mina and Penny owned their own successful catering business, which I planned on using for the next employee Christmas party.

Their personal achievements were proof of how successful the Wa-Ya Indian Nation was. It was a shame that my tribe couldn’t be the same way. Somehow, my people needed to get out of the rut they were in before we ceased to exist.

Two days later…

After a weekend of insane partying, my pack brothers, sister, and their mates returned to Washington. Embry and Quil stayed put in Arizona so they could attend the team meeting for the highway reconstruction project with me. As I suspected, they both contributed a lot of good ideas and I was able to get a good feel for how the two of them worked. Frankly, I was impressed right out of my socks. Right now, the three of us were holed up in my office going over plans.

“Alright, here’s the deal. You two are no longer foremen on the electrical team,” I said.

“Dude, did we suck that much?” Embry asked.

“Nope, I’m making you both the project managers on the electrical team. I’m also bumping up your salaries to eighty-five thousand dollars a year a piece.”

Thump! I peered over my desk while Quil looked down on the floor over by where Embry was sitting. The guy actually fainted.

“You think it was too much?” I asked Quil.

“Yeah, maybe for him. I think he’s in shock. Maybe we should feed him.”

“I’m getting hungry myself. I’ll have Lorna order lunch in from Morton’s for us. Just don’t tell Bella. She’s been hounding me about my cholesterol again.”

“What the hell is it with women? Rachel is the same way. Do you realize she’s been packing a chicken salad for me for lunch everyday for the last month now?”

“That sucks the big one. Alright, let’s get our boy up.”

We got Embry up and gave him a bottle of water. “Eighty-five thousand dollars? Are you for real?” he asked.

“Yeah, here’s the thing, you two have to hire your own crew including qualified foremen. Another thing, how soon can you two close up shop in Forks and move here?”

“Rachel and Jess were planning on moving here as soon as the school year ends in June. They wanted to hit the pavement in Arizona so they could have jobs in place when the school year starts in September. Embry and I have one last big project rewiring the tribal school on the Makah reservation before we can close up shop. We’ll be done by the end of May.”

“How about a July 1st start date for you both? If you can get here sooner, I’ll start you sooner. I need you both here as soon as possible.”

“That’s fine by me,” Quil said.

“Same here,” Embry agreed.

“Do you guys think that you might be able to fly out here next month for another team meeting and to meet with the human resources department to get everything in place? I’ll pay for the flight, and you can stay at my place.”

“Absolutely, and if you give us a copy of the plans we’ll work on them some more at home.”

“Excellent. Oh, and now that you’re project managers, you’ll need to pick up a few suits and ties. Also, you’ll each have an expense account and you’ll be traveling a lot. I’m not going to lie to you, it’s not a nine to five, Monday thru Friday job.”

I just wanted to be upfront with them about the amount of responsibility that they were taking on, now that they were project managers.

“Quil and I own a business, Paul. Do you seriously think we work nine to five, Monday thru Friday?”

“No, I guess not.” I chuckled.

“Mr. Lahote, your lunch has arrived,” Lorna’s voice came ringing in through the intercom.

“Have them bring it in. Did you order something for yourself?”

“Yes, and thank you. You’re always so generous.”

“Not a problem,” I replied.

Lunch was set up for us. I scanned the meal on the table and called Lorna on the intercom.

“Lorna, I didn’t order any salads.”

“ Yes, I know sir. Mrs. Lahote asked me to order a salad along with your entree whenever you ordered lunch in because she’s worried about your cholesterol level and fiber intake. Frankly, I agree with her.”

“Okay… Thanks, Lorna.”

“ You’re welcome, sir.”

“Guess we have to have salads guys,” I told Quil and Embry, both of whom were smirking at me.

“Man and I thought Rachel was bad,” Quil said. “I feel bad for you. Bella has your secretary doing her dirty work for her.” The three of us dug into our salads first before digging into our steaks.

After lunch, we went back to work until it was time for me to drop Quil and Embry off at the airport. I headed home excited to finally be alone with my beautiful wife after a long weekend and a house full of guests.

One month later…

Crispy’s POV

It was around nine pm on a Monday night, Babs and I were relaxing in front of the TV after a long day at work when, suddenly, a car screeched to a halt in our driveway. Moments later, there was frantic pounding on our door. I answered it to find a distraught Bella who immediately bolted into my arms.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Two officers from La Push came and arrested Paul. They had a court order and an arrest warrant charging him with assault and battery. Here, this is it. Apparently, they’re extraditing him to La Push.”

“Calm down, sweetie. Let me take a look at this.”

I looked over the arrest warrant and the charges were flimsy at best. Furthermore, they were illegal because Fuller and Ateara were presiding over the case in which one was a plaintiff and the other a witness. I’d have Paul out of there in no time.

“Bella, did Barry take a report from you when he came to your house to escort the three men from your house?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to take a ride to the Paradise Valley Police Department and see if I can obtain the official report. You stay here with Babs. In fact, I’d feel safer if you stayed here overnight with us while Paul is gone.”

She nodded in agreement and settled herself on the sofa next to Babs. I called Barry who was still on duty but out on patrol. He agreed to meet me at the station in fifteen minutes and get me a copy of the report.

Two days later…

I found out from Rachel Ateara that Paul was due to face charges in front of the tribal elders at noon today. She also informed me that the man he was charged with assaulting, Tony Fuller, was also one of the tribal elders overseeing the case. Two of the men on the council forced entry into Bella and Paul’s home and, Tony Fuller, was the one who laid his hands on her. She also said Seth and Leah Clearwater’s mother, her father, and Joshua Uley, Sam’s father, were also part of the council. They were on Paul’s side in this mess.

I arrived at the Quileute Nation tribal headquarters in time for the tribal hearing. I had my buddy and fellow pack member Jeff Redbird-who was a lawyer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as Barry and Bella with me. We had a double-pronged assault planned. I just hoped it would work.

“Excuse me this is a closed hearing,” a man informed us as I entered the tribal courtroom with Bella and Barry.

“My name is Crispin Hodges, I’m the attorney representing Mr. Lahote.”

“Oh, well, you can stay.” The idiot didn’t even ask for ID or credentials from me.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” the woman who I assumed was Bella’s stepmother called. Jeff entered the room. “May I help you?”

“My name is Jeff Redbird from the Office of Justice Services with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I’m here to observe the proceedings to make sure they’re conducted fairly.” He flashed his badge and ID at them.

“Oh, of course Mr. Redbird. I’m Tony Fuller, one of the tribal elders. This is Quil Ateara the Third, Susan Clearwater-Swan, William Black, and Joshua Uley. We make up the Quileute Tribal Council. This young man here is Jacob Black, he is one of the witnesses.”

Fucking brown nosing piece of dung. I’m sure Jeff could see right through him.

Fuller continued speaking, “Unfortunately, those two people will have to go since this is a closed hearing, after all.”

“Ah, but this is where you’re wrong. Mrs. Lahote and Officer Blackfoot were both witnesses to the alleged assault. Now if they have to leave, then so should Mr. Black and Mr. Ateara,” I argued.

“Yes, well, I suppose they can stay,” Fuller conceded.

After the charges were read, the witnesses were called to the stand. I argued that Paul was defending his home and his wife and, therefore, was justified in his actions. I also pointed out that they were the ones who forced entry into the Lahote’s home and assaulted Bella.

Two hours later, Tony Fuller stood up to ask each tribal elder his or her verdict. That’s when Jeff stepped in and addressed the tribal council, “Before you go to the trouble of passing judgement on Mr. Lahote, let me intervene. I’m using my power with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to invalidate this proceeding and the charges brought against Mr. Lahote. First of all, Mr. Fuller is the one bringing forth the assault and battery charge to Mr. Lahote, yet he is sitting on the tribal council presiding over the case. On top of that Mr. Ateara, you, yourself, bore witness to the alleged assault, yet here you sit overseeing the case as well. This, of course is illegal in any court of law. A plaintiff may not preside over his own case, nor can any witnesses. Furthermore, you blatantly attempted to exclude two witnesses for the defense to further your position. After witnessing the miscarriage of justice that occurred in this courtroom today, I hereby suspend the tribal council of all powers until further notice. Furthermore, the Office of Justice Services will handle any tribal matters while an investigation into your affairs is conducted. A formal letter will be sent out to all members of your nation from my office pertaining to this matter.

“B… b… but sir. We have pictures clearly showing that Mr. Lahote assaulted me,” Tony Fuller blathered.

“Maybe so, but bear in mind that you forcefully entered his home and assaulted his wife while she was alone. Any man is within his rights to defend his home and family. I certainly would. If I were you, Mr. Fuller, I would forget about these charges and worry more about our investigation. Mr. and Mrs. Lahote, you’re free to go now,” Jeff stated.

The three of us, and Barry, left the courtroom while Jeff stayed behind. He was going to meet us in Seattle later while he gathered evidence of corruption within the tribe and sealed off all court documents. He had a team from his regional office in Phoenix en route to assist him. The Pacific Northwest was generally handled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ regional office in Portland, Oregon. When Jeff called them regarding the case, through sheer luck, they had asked him and his office to handle the case. Their office was currently overloaded with a huge territorial case, which usurped much of their manpower. Jeff was happy to handle it. He genuinely liked Paul and, being a shape-shifter himself, he understood that there were deeper issues in the case than the standard, run of the mill tribal corruption case.

Two months later…

Bella’s POV

Paul was safe and back at work for now. Crispy and Jeff had effectively dismissed the assault and battery charges against my husband and all was quiet for now. Jeff had also temporarily shut down the tribal council in La Push while he looked for evidence of corruption. Paul took the opportunity to move everyone over to Arizona last month while the tribal council was lying low.

Embry and Jessica had no problems moving since they lived in Forks. Jessica was able to sell her house right away. Seth purchased it from her so she didn’t even have to put it on the market. He, too, took the opportunity to move off the reservation so he could take his kids out of the tribal school. Jess and Embry purchased a house in Scottsdale, which was about ten miles away from us.

Sam and Emily didn’t have any problems moving either. Sam had married Emily on the Makah reservation so he was technically a member of their tribe. The council had no say over them whatsoever, especially now that they couldn’t hold the wolf issue over them. Apparently, the reservation had three officers from Jeff’s office who had taken up temporary residence there so Fuller was treading lightly. They were able to move into an apartment in Camelback East while they built up some savings to purchase a house.

Brady and Missy’s move was extremely interesting. Missy’s father, Thomas Uley, called Paul begging for a job. Apparently, he worked in construction as well and the last job he had was a year ago in Los Angeles. Paul called Sam, Jared, and my dad for a character reference. They each confirmed that he was a really good guy and, in fact, was the guy who got Sam and Jared initially started in the construction business. He was forty-six years old and had roughly twenty plus years of construction experience under his belt. Paul had Tom email his resume over and all of his references checked out with stellar recommendations. He even had an associate’s degree in construction management. Paul flew him in for an interview, liked him, and hired him as a foreman. Thomas Uley moved his entire family over to Arizona and between him, Brady, and Missy they were able to purchase a two-family home in the Alhambra district. Missy, like Emily, was a medical assistant at the clinic in La Push-only she had only been getting paid minimum wage. I was livid! I put her in contact with Children’s Hospital and she was working there three days after she arrived in Phoenix.

Missy’s parents moving to Arizona worked out well for everyone. Missy’s mother, Trina offered to babysit both Emily and Kim’s little ones, as well as Missy’s, while everyone worked. She truly had a good heart and wanted everyone to have a chance to get on his or her feet.

Quil and Rachel moved with Billy Black’s blessing. He was proud of the two of them and didn’t want to see his grandkids being held back. The family had a seamless move. They had already purchased a home in Scottsdale on a previous visit so all they had to do was move in. They even had a handicap accessible in-law apartment for Billy so he could visit.

The only family that had issues with moving was Jared and Kim. Jacob and Collin had cornered them and started lecturing them on maintaining tradition, tribal protection, and a host of other issues. Jacob even offered Jared a job at his auto repair shop in order to try to get him to stay at a whopping nine bucks an hour. What a freaking cheapskate. Jacob charges eighty-five bucks an hour for labor at his shop so he could certainly afford to pay more. Jared, of course, refused the offer, at which time Jacob tried to alpha order him to stay. Naturally, the order had absolutely no effect on him. After that, Angela stepped in and tried to give Kim an alpha’s imprint’s order, which has only ever existed in Angela’s mind because there was no such thing. When Kim refused to comply, Angela went ape shit. Jared asked Jacob to leave because they were stressing out a pregnant Kim. Jacob refused and then it spiraled into a huge fistfight between Jared and Jake and Collin. The Forks Police were called because the Tribal Police was temporarily shut down. Jake and Collin were arrested for assault and thrown in jail for the weekend. By the time, the two of them were bailed out of jail, the Camerons were well on their way to Arizona.

Kim passed her GED exam with flying colors. She was looking forward to looking for a job after the baby was born. Meanwhile, Jared was still puttering away with his studying under the watchful eyes of Rachel and Jessica. They were confident he would earn his GED by the end of August. He was temporarily working the overnight shift at a 7-11 until he earned his GED, at which time he would go to work for Paul.

Paul and I had an insane two weeks. My two little ten-year old half-brothers stayed with us so my mother and Phil could go on vacation. We had enrolled them in a summer day camp, which ran from nine to four. At that point, one of us would scramble to leave work early so we could pick them up and take over their care for the rest of the day. They were always hungry, too. I mean always. I thought my husband was always hungry, but they took the cake. Take yesterday, for example, I packed two sandwiches each, grapes, pretzels, and water for them for lunch. When Paul picked them up, they were screaming that they were starving so he bought them each a Happy Meal. By the time I got home at five pm, which was only ten minutes after they arrived home, the two boys had their heads in the fridge looking for food. I got started on dinner right away, which they ate, and then an hour later they were claiming starvation again. This time, Paul heated up some Spaghetti-O’s, which I always thought was unhealthy, but now had the utmost respect for.

By nine pm, we would start rustling the two boys off to bed, but generally it would take them until eleven to fall asleep. By then, Paul and I were running on fumes, but then it was time for laundry. Laundry! How can two little boys produce so much laundry? Both Paul and I agreed that our respect for his pack brothers and their imprints increased a hundred fold. How the heck they managed so many kids was beyond us; and they couldn’t return the kids at the end of two weeks either. Right now, we were in Florida dropping the two rugrats off. I had given both boys their physical exams for the school year and purchased new wardrobes for each so Phil and my mom didn’t have to worry about it. It wasn’t that they didn’t have the money; it was just that they were my kid brothers and I wanted to do it. Besides, I had way better taste in clothes than my mom!

Phil started a new job coaching a college baseball team this past spring. It actually paid more and it gave him the summers off so he could spend time with the boys. Phil and Paul were off in Tampa Bay with the two boys taking in a baseball game today. It was just my mom and me.

“So, Bella, when are you and Paul going to give me a grandbaby?”

“Mom, I’m still young. Besides, we just got married on New Year’s Eve.”

“Bella, by the time you and Paul have kids, I’m going to be dead.”

“Mom, you had Tyler and Tucker when you were thirty-nine.”

“Yes, but Phil is still young. Paul and you are going to have your kids, I’ll be dead, Phil will be dead by then, and so will Charlie and Sue. Then, if you both die, your kids will be orphans and have to be taken in by the state. And then what?”

“Mom, you’re being ridiculous!”

“I am not! What happens if you both have heart attacks because you’re so old and Phil and I have to take your kids in?”

Hmm… This is deja vu. I recall having a similar conversation with Charlie and Sue around Thanksgiving last year.

“Mom, you just said you’d be dead by the time Paul and I had kids.”

“Yes, and if I’m not, I’ll be old and in a wheelchair.”

I slapped my palm to my forehead and rolled my eyes at my mother. I changed the subject, then because there was something else that I wanted to bring up to my mom.

“Hey, Mom, you know how I gave the boys their physicals?”

“Yes, thank you. We have insurance, you know. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to, Mom. It’ll save you some time and you always wait until the last minute and end up becoming frazzled. Anyway, that’s not what I want to talk to you about. Paul and I were both observing Tucker and he really becomes short of breath quickly compared to Tyler. I had Dr. Blanchard double check my suspicions, but he has exercise induced asthma and some severe seasonal allergies.”

“Oh my God! Oh my God! How did this happen? What can I do? Maybe I should have some reiki done on him, or acupuncture.”

“Mom, this is exercise induced asthma. Reiki is not going to help him, neither is acupuncture. You can help him learn to live with it. It’s easily treatable.”

“How?”

“Mom, this orange inhaler is a corticosteroid. Give him two puffs in the morning when he wakes up and two puffs before he goes to sleep at night. Now, this blue inhaler is only for when he’s having an asthma attack. Now, I’ve given you enough to get you through the summer, but you need to contact his regular physician and have him prescribe more. The school nurse is going to need one of the blue inhalers in her office at all times in case of an emergency.”

“Oh my God! How am I supposed to remember all of that? Can you call his doctor, Bella?”

This was my mother’s problem. She was just downright irresponsible and became frazzled when she was stressed. She also had a habit of thinking that reiki and other alternate therapies would solve the problem. When I was growing up, whenever I got sick, she would take me in for reiki. I, eventually, figured out that it didn’t work in curing the flu and I would end up having to treat myself. Of course, this is what got me into the field of nursing, too. I did my job telling her, and Paul was going through the whole spiel with Phil. He would make sure Tucker got his medicine. As it was, Paul had an inhaler in his pocket with him in case Tucker has an asthma attack during the day today.

I think the amount of responsibility involved with raising kids hit Paul and I like a ton of bricks these past two weeks, especially when we both nearly had heart attacks when we saw how out of breath Tucker was becoming compared to his brother and Jared’s kids when they were running around the playground together. It dawned on me then that my mother should have noticed this years ago, but she was always off in her own world, so it was up to Paul and me to take care of it as best as we could.

“Mom, it’s already seven pm, shouldn’t you get started on dinner. The guys will be home soon.”

“Oh, is it? I got so involved in this book that I lost track of time. Hmm… What should we have?”

“You know something? Why don’t I just whip up some spaghetti and salad. Nice and easy for tonight.”

“Thanks, sweetie, you always take such good care of me.”

It was the story of my life. I loved my mom, I really did, but she was so absent-minded it drove me nuts. She did get my shit together, and between Phil, my dad, and her, they made sure that I didn’t fall into abject depression and made something of myself after Edward and Jacob both dumped me like a ton of bricks. See, no matter how ditzy my mother is, she cared deeply for her kids and would do anything to make sure that emotionally they were happy, at least.

A half an hour later, the guys walked in looking like they raided the gift shop at the stadium, which I’m sure Paul did. Phil walked up to me and kissed the top of my head.

“Thanks for caring so much about the boys, sweet pea. Paul told me about Tucker’s asthma. I’ll make sure he gets his medication. I promise.”

I had no doubt that he would. “Just make sure you carry an inhaler for him and that mom does, too-the blue one, not the orange one. It might help if you just tucked it into her handbag. I’ll put a call into his doctor on Monday morning and fax a copy of his physical over so he’s made aware. You know how mom is.”

“That’s why I’m glad we have you. By the way, we ran into Gary at the game. I thought Paul was going to tackle him to the ground when he came up to us and asked how you were doing.” He chuckled and winked at me, pointing to my husband.

I looked over at Paul and he had a scowl on his face with his arms crossed over his chest. I giggled, he could be so jealous sometimes. I walked over to him and gave him a hug.

“Just how many baseball players did you date, Bella?”

“Too many, but it turned out I needed a wolf to make me happy,” I whispered.

I kissed him deeply on the lips. Tyler interrupted us by making kissing noises in front of us. Paul went chasing after him in the front yard, and the two of them started wrestling. He’d make a great dad one day, just not yet. For now, two weeks of parenting a year was definitely enough for us.

“Bella, don’t forget, you promised to take me to the bookstore later, and buy me the Harry Potter series,” Tucker reminded me. He was a total bookworm, just like me.

“I didn’t forget. Don’t worry,” I reassured and plopped next to him on the sofa so we could watch TV together.

I noticed my mom watching us both from the kitchen with a warm smile on her face. Yeah, she was ditzy, forgetful, and definitely not the most responsible woman, but she was still our mom and she loved us to pieces. That much was for sure.

One month later…

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Paul and I both jolted awake. It was three am on a Saturday morning and we had both been sound asleep after a long week at work.

Ding! Ding! Ding! The doorbell chimed continuously. We both got out of bed and ran down the stairs. Paul threw me behind him and opened it. There, lying on our front step in a puddle of water, was Kim in position to push her baby out.

Her contractions were coming one on top of the other.

“Oh my Lord! Paul! Bring her inside and put her on the dining table. Kim, where are the kids?”

“In… the… aaaagggghhhh… vannnn!” she screamed.

Paul grab my… oh, thanks.” My proactive husband had run upstairs and retrieved my medical bag. He went out to the van to get Jared and Kim’s five kids.

“Bella, the baby’s crowning,” Kim panted. I had no doubt that she was correct. This was her sixth child, and she’d know her body well by now.

“Paul! I need a ton of towels and grab a clean sheet for me. Kim, I need you to put your feet up on the table so I can examine… um… right, just like that.”

Oh my God! The baby’s head was beyond crowning, it was halfway out.

“Kim, I need you to…” Unlike Leah, Kim just grabbed behind her thighs and started pushing. She was so experienced that she didn’t even need me to count for her.

“Stop pushing for a second, Kim,” I instructed. By now, Paul had rustled the kids upstairs and was by my side assisting.

“Can I push again?” Kim moaned.

“Yep, one more big push for the shoulders, one… two… three…”

“Aaaagggghhhh!” Kim gave birth to her sixth child, a boy, with a great roar. After checking the baby out, I passed him to her and she immediately started nursing him while I delivered the placenta and finished up.

After a few minutes, I questioned Kim, “What happened?”

“Oh, I was at home when the contractions started coming. I thought I would be able to wait it out until Jared got home from work, but soon they were five minutes apart so I loaded the kids up in the van and was going to head for the hospital. By the time I got little Rina into her car seat, the contractions were two minutes apart so I had Ryan take the wheel and drive me here.”

I can’t believe she had her fourteen-year old son drive her here. “Have you called Jared yet?”

“No, and don’t bother. He’s at work and we can really use the money. Besides, he’s the only one in the store until his shift is over at six am. Oh! Paul, I forgot to tell you. He’s taking the test for his GED on Monday. Rebecca and Jessica are sure he’ll pass.”

“Finally, I’m looking forward to having him on the team,” Paul said with relief. He had started everyone else as soon as they moved here rather than in September, but apparently Jared’s skill set was something that Paul really needed quickly.

“Paul, hon, I need to send you out to the twenty-four hour Walmart for some supplies for Kim and the baby. If I give you a list, would you go for me?”

“Of course I will,” he said. I quickly jotted down a list of supplies and sent Paul off.

“Okay, Kim, since you had an attended home birth, I’m going to give you a choice. You can either go to a hospital, stay here overnight, or go home.”

“I think I’d rather stay here, if it’s okay with you. You’re my nurse practitioner anyway and, besides, we only have IHS insurance, which you don’t take, until Jared starts working for Paul.”

I felt bad for the two of them, but I understood why Paul couldn’t relax his standards regarding the GED for Jared. If he did it for him, he’d have to do it for everyone else. As it stood, I was providing health care for her family for free until their insurance was all set. Unfortunately, Dr. Blanchard didn’t take the insurance provided by Indian Health Services.

“Okay, then, let’s get you upstairs and into bed.”

“Can I take a shower?”

“If you feel up to it,” I said as I helped her up. One thing was for sure-Kim was one strong lady. After I helped her off the table, she practically sprinted up the stairs by herself. Most women would still be lying in bed exhausted this soon after giving birth.

I walked her to the shower, took the baby, and then checked on her kids for her. They were all fast asleep except for a worried Ryan.

“Is my mom okay?” he asked.

“She’s wonderful, you did so well driving her here,” I said. “Do you want to meet your new brother?”

The kid was an old pro. He took the baby from me and cradled him in his arms. “Hi, little guy. Mom said I can name you as long as the name began with an R. Should I call you Rad? Nah, it rhymes with bad and I don’t want you to turn out bad plus all the kids at school will pick on you. I could be mean and call you Ralph, but then you’d turn out to be kind of nerdy and I want you to be a cool dude like me. How about if I call you Riley? Would you like that? You kind of look like a Riley to me. Yeah, you like that, don’t you? Well, then, Riley it is.”

“I like Riley,” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Now, why don’t you give Riley to me and get in bed. It’s late.”

“Okay,” he said, handing me his brother. “Hey, Aunty Bella?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for looking after my mom.”

“Anytime, kiddo.”

“Aunty Bella?”

“Yes, Ryan?”

“Do you wanna cuddle?”

“Goodnight, Ryan.” I rolled my eyes, and then chuckled after closing the door.

Around 6:15 am, a worried Jared came bolting into our house. Apparently, Paul had called him from Walmart to tell him he had a new son. He finished his shift, and ran straight to our house at supernatural speed. Kim and the kids were fast asleep, as was my husband. He got home from Walmart completely exhausted and told me he was hitting the sack after he made sure that I was keeping up with my birth control pills. I was awake sitting with Riley. As soon as he saw his son, Jared broke out into a huge grin, and then engulfed me in a hug. He took his son from me and beamed with pride.

“Thanks, Bella. I truly appreciate what you did for us. I wish there was something that I could do to repay you.”

“Your friendship is enough,” I said. “Paul is so happy to have you around again.”

“Yeah, well, I’m happy that he’s back in my life, too-you, as well, Bella. You have no idea how much my kids look up to you and you make Kim happy, too. Then, there’s Ryan.”

“Ah, Ryan, my not so secret admirer,” I chuckled. “You know that he drove Kim and the kids over here in the van, don’t you?”

“He did what?” Jared asked, appalled. “Just how close to giving birth was she when she got here?”

“Oh, she was already crowning.”

“Man alive! How come she waited so long?”

So I explained to him what happened and he was completely shocked. “Okay, daddy, take Riley up to Kim, he needs to nurse. Paul grabbed a whole mess of baby supplies for you guys, they’re in the bedroom with Kim. There’s a bassinet there so you can put him to bed. You’ll have to put it together, though. Paul tuckered out as soon as he picked up the supplies. I need to hit the sack. You’ve got this, right?”

“Easy,” he chuckled, then kissed the top of my head and sent me off to bed.

By the time I woke up, it was already noon. Paul was already awake. I went downstairs and it was a madhouse. All of Paul’s pack brothers and their families, plus Crispy’s pack and their families, were sitting in the living room. The women were cooking up a storm, Embry and Manny had both grills on full throttle, and there were kids splashing around in our swimming pool.

Babs ran up to me and gave me a hug. “I heard you had a long night?”

“Tell me about it. When I found Kim on our front doorstep, she was already pushing.”

“You did a great job, Bella.” Dr. Randall Kayani approached me to shake my hand. “I just checked on both the mother and the baby, they’re doing fine. I circumcised him, too. It was Jared’s request.”

“Thanks, Randy.”

“Now when are you and Babs coming to work for me. I could use a family nurse practitioner with a midwifery license and a pediatric nurse practitioner in my practice.”

“Sorry, buddy, I’m happy working with Tom. He’s expanding in September, you know.”

“Well, gee, Bella, I could expand if you’d come and work for me. I talked to Rich Greenbriar the other day, and he had nothing but good things to say about you.”

“He’s biased, I grew up with his daughter.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Bella, last night’s performance was phenomenal. You should consider going to medical school.”

“Hey, Randy, quit trying to hog my wife,” Paul approached jokingly.

“Talk to her, Paul, persuade her to come and work for me. I’ll have Mina make you more of her Coconut Cream Pie.”

“Done. You can have both Babs and her. You don’t mind, do you, Crispy?”

“For Mina’s Coconut Cream Pie? You don’t even have to pay them. Take them, they’re yours.”

“Yeah, you don’t even have to give them back, you can keep them,” Paul said in jest. “Just keep the pies coming.”

We all had a good laugh and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with our friends. It’s amazing how everyone had settled in and become friends. The commonality of the men being shape-shifters definitely bonded our families closer together, but that wasn’t all-these were all genuinely good, kind people who overlooked things like educational and class differences. To us, we were all people-equal in every way.