Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 38:

Paul’s POV

By the following evening, I was a complete mess. I had not seen my wife all day since she was seeing patients at the Wanagi Nation’s clinic together with Roy. Meanwhile, I had to undergo various medical tests performed by Carlisle Cullen and by the Wanagi physicians, Dr. Kiowa and Dr. Otoe.

I ran several times on a medical treadmill where I was given a stress test, and then outside with the vampires running alongside me while timing me. We ran for over three hours straight and stopped only now when we arrived in South Dakota.

“Well, Paul, it looks like you run at a pace of three hundred miles per hour,” Dr. Kiowa said, putting information into an app on his iPhone.

“I’ve always known that. It’s normal for me.”

“Yes, but you probably ran at a pace of three hundred miles per hour while in wolf form, but you just did it while in human form,” Carlisle noted.

Okay, that was a good point.

“Please don’t tell me I’m a vampire. No offense, but I don’t want to be like you. I like the way I am, and I love my wife’s cooking.”

“I highly doubt you are like us, Paul. Your heart is still beating, and you’ve been eating like you normally do.” He looked at the time on his Rolex watch. “We should probably get back. Shall we start making our way back to Oklahoma?”

“Now?” My stomach started growling, and I realized I was thirsty, too. “No, I’m hungry, thirsty, and have zero energy. I need food, or at least a protein shake, and one of you will have to spot me because my wallet is in my wife’s handbag. Where are we anyway?”

It certainly wasn’t a nice area. It was barren, desolate, and impoverished. Were we in some sort of trailer park? No, it didn’t look like it. The place was a disaster. A little Native American girl walked by clutching an old Barbie doll. She looked like she was five, maybe six years old-certainly too young to be out herself. Her sneakers were worn with visible holes and her dress, although clean, looked threadbare. Where the hell were her parents? We decided to follow her to make sure she knew where she was going.

“We’re in Pine Ridge, Paul,” Dr. Otoe informed me.

“Pine Ridge as in Pine Ridge, South Dakota?” He nodded in the affirmative.

Of course, we were in Pine Ridge, home of the Oglala Lakota, and by far one of America’s most impoverished Indian reservations. Looking around, the unrestrained poverty shocked even me, who was raised in extremely reduced circumstances. Carlisle stuck out like a sore thumb being as white as he was. Hell, we all did. In our name-brand sweats and sneakers, we were too well-dressed to be from this area.

Memories of my impoverished childhood came to the surface upon seeing the destruction on the reservation as we walked through in search of food for me. The reservation was disorganized, and evidence of poverty was apparent everywhere we went. The homes were dilapidated and crumbling, the trailer homes were rusty, we spotted several pregnant teens, and the widespread use of alcohol and drug addiction was visible throughout the reservation.

As we followed the little girl, a woman approached us, offering herself to us in exchange for money. The stench of alcohol permeated from her. I could tell she was once a beautiful woman, but years of abuse had taken a toll on her-much like it did with my mother.

We walked away from the woman and continued to follow the little girl. She finally approached a small, rundown makeshift playground to sit down and play. I have no idea what happened to me at that moment, but something about this little girl, so small and so alone in the world, broke my heart. Drops of tears dripped from my eyes, dampening my face. I was surprised when Carlisle Cullen reached up to swipe one of my tears, sniffing it and tasting it, before handing a handkerchief to me.

“He’s definitely not a vampire. I did not taste any venom in his tears.”

I stood and stared, stunned at the three vampire physicians. The other two mirrored Carlisle’s actions and swiped a sample of my tears, and tasted it. They nodded, agreeing with him.

“What do my tears have to do with venom?”

“Ah, well, if you were a vampire, you’d be unable to shed tears. For example, take a look at Carlisle. Do you see how his eyes are glossed over with a shiny film?”

I approached him to take a closer look. “I do.”

“That’s venom. As vampires, we are unable to shed tears even when we cry. Instead, the venom pools in our eyes.”

“So, I’m assuming you thought I was turning into a vampire.”

“No, but some sort of hybrid. Bella and Roy should have the test results by now. One thing is clear, the venom your body took in through Bella’s scar has changed some of your characteristics, like your base body temperature and your increase in speed while in human form,” Dr. Kiowa explained. “This is uncharted territory for us, too.”

We went back to watching the little girl, who sat in the playground, talking to her Barbie doll-clearly, her only friend in this harsh world. I shook my head. “When is this crap ever going to end?” I asked out loud, addressing no one in particular.

Carlisle Cullen lifted his eyes to me. “I was wondering the same thing myself. The conditions are almost as bad as they were in seventeenth-century London when I was human. I wish there was a way I could help.”

“The only thing you can do is contribute donations to community service programs, which directly service the population,” Dr. Otoe stated. “You can also speak out and spread the word about poverty on reservations.”

“The only way people can dig themselves out of this is through diligence and hard work. If I was able to do it, they can. They need to empower themselves.” Seeing all the hopelessness in front of me, I wasn’t sure if these people could get out of their situation.

“The Wanagi believe charity begins at home,” Dr. Kiowa wisely reflected. “Our tribe became vampires because we prayed to the god of the underworld for salvation. In exchange for our lives, we have devoted our lives to helping those around us who need our assistance. It doesn’t matter what color their skin is; if they need help, we give it.”

“You’re correct, of course. My reservation is one step away from becoming like this one. I must begin at home.”

“You’re very wise for one so young.”

We kept an eye on the little girl until a truck pulled up to the makeshift playground. A man who looked to be in his early twenties stepped out, put a hand over his chest, and sighed in relief. He didn’t smell like alcohol or drugs; his blood smelled clean, which was a relief.

“Isabelle, you mustn’t leave the house on your own. It’s not safe.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” the girl apologized.

“What would I do if I ever lost you?” the father cried, holding his daughter in his arms. “You’re all I’ve got in the world!”

“At least she is well-loved,” I noted.

He pushed her for a little while on the makeshift tire swing. Seeing that she was safe, we walked past the man’s truck. Carlisle Cullen reached for his wallet, grabbed a wad of bills, and placed it on the driver’s seat of the man’s truck. “Perhaps he can purchase some groceries with this,” he whispered.

I saw Dr. Kiowa and Dr. Otoe adding to the pile. I would have done the same, but my wallet was in Oklahoma-in my wife’s purse. We eventually arrived at a general store where Carlisle purchased two hot dogs, a pack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and a bottle of water for me. We sat on the sidewalk so I could eat before we took off, once again, for Oklahoma.

One thing was for sure, witnessing the poverty on this reservation left me with a great deal to think about. Tony Fuller was doing his best to run La Push into the ground, but I wasn’t having it. I recalled the Cullen house was sold to La Push, NPO, which meant the good doctor knew who handled the transaction. I had no doubt it was Fuller, but I wanted verbal confirmation. Carlisle also knew about the prophecy. Where he learned of it, I had no idea, but the blonde vampire running next to me was going to tell me. He didn’t know it yet, but I was going to make damn well sure he assisted because it dawned on me that he had a hell of a lot more information on my tribe than he let on, and I wanted to know it all. Besides, I had to admit, I really enjoyed his company.

---

Friday evening…

Josh, Roy, Bella, and I had just finished our dinners when Carlisle Cullen stopped by for a visit bringing along the empath and another guy. I had forgotten his name, but my wife soon reminded me when she greeted, “Jasper! It’s so nice to see you!” She gave him a big hug.

“Bella,” he drawled in a southern accent, returning the hug. “It’s always good to see you. Carlisle wanted me to stop by and meet your husband. Alice wanted to come, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many of us at once. She sends her love, by the way.”

“Tell her I said, ‘Hello,’” Bella replied, simply. I knew she wasn’t too crazy about Alice, so she probably didn’t elaborate on her answer.

“So, why did you want Jasper to meet me?”

“Actually, Jasper wasn’t the only person I wanted you to meet. Mainly, I wanted you to meet this man. This is my friend Eleazar Denali from Alaska. Eleazar, this is Paul Lahote, his mate and wife Isabella, Dr. Roy Redbird, and Mr. Josh Uley.”

Bella’s eyes widened upon recognizing the name. “You’re the guy who lives with the three succubi.”

“Succubi?” I asked. “You mean like the female demons in Greek mythology who sleep with human men? They’re real?” I shook my head. “What in the hell is this world coming to?”

“Actually, they’re vampires. Kate and Tanya both have mates, so they are very content now. It took them over a thousand years to find their other halves.”

“It’s good, they’re mated.” I nodded. “Some of my pack members have young teenaged sons. I wouldn’t want them to be set upon by succubi.”

“They might enjoy it,” Roy pointed out with a wink. “In my experience, teenaged boys are all horny. I’ve read in your mind how you were, boy! You were the worst.”

“Yeah, I was,” I admitted.

“Wasn’t there a third succubus?” Bella asked.

“Sadly, she is no longer with us. Her mate was killed, and she no longer had the will to survive.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Yes.” Eleazar nodded and then turned to Carlisle. “You were correct in inviting me. It appears Mr. Lahote is a tracker.”

“A tracker? What’s that?” I asked, completely distressed. “Have I evolved into a different supernatural creature? Why is it always me?”

Roy turned to me with a grave face. He nodded, sighed, and informed me with a solemn face, “You are what is called a Puer Clamare .”

“Oh…” I dragged my fingers through my hair. “That sounds cursed.”

Concerned, Josh put a supportive hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. He looked as grave as I felt.

And then Carlisle Cullen burst out laughing. Eleazar Denali soon followed, and even Bella giggled. Great! What a supportive imprint I have?

“Roy, you got him good with that one! Did you see his face?” Carlisle cackled, sitting down and letting out a full belly laugh.

“Oh, yeah, he looked like the end of the world had hit him.”

Incensed at them making a joke at my expense, I asked, “Alright! Alright! What the hell is a Poor Clamory?”

Roy looked into my eyes. “A Puer Clamare is a cry-baby in Latin.”

“A cry-baby? I’m not a cry-baby!”

“You’re whining right now! Listen to you! I’m 92 years old, Carlisle is over 300 years old. In our day, we didn’t whine about small changes in our lives. ‘Oh, why me?’ Why you? Why you? Think about it, boy! It’s you because whatever magical spirits are in our world decided it was you, so you have no choice but to deal with it. You are the Great Protector, and it’s high time you acted like you were.” And then the old coyote turned to Bella. “That goes for you, too, young lady. You are a healer! Carlisle and I both noticed how in your element you were while nursing over at the clinic. Once we return, you will be coming to work with me.”

“I was going to work for Randy.”

“For that profit-making, namby-pamby little twit? He’s as bad as your mate! No, you’re coming to work with me, not for me, at the reservation because it is where you belong. You have a heart of gold, and there are people who need your goodness.”

“I’ll think about it,” Bella informed him.

“Carlisle will be working with me, too.”

“Why, Carlisle?”

“Because he needs a place to hunker down for a few years. Why not our reservation? He’s been my friend for over seventy years, so there’s no reason for him not to live with us.”

“It’s sunny in Arizona.”

“It also gets dark at night, and our clinic is open twenty-four hours in case of emergencies.”

“I’ll think about it,” Bella reiterated.

“There is no more thinking, Isabella! You are coming to work with me, and that’s final! You are done dilly-dallying around, and you do not have to wait until the damned trial is over. They haven’t even set a court date yet. Stop putting your life on hold for Vandenberger. Start living your life again for you. You’ll work two eight-hour days weekly. How does that sound?”

“That… That actually sounds perfect,” Bella replied. “Besides, maybe I like Carlisle… and you, too, Roy.”

I really liked the schedule, too. It would give my wife time to work with me on our charities and give her enough downtime to relax and do her own thing. We didn’t need the money, and we could deduct her hours volunteering on our tax return, which would benefit us more than her working for pay. It was a win-win situation.

“I thought you’d say that. Welcome aboard. You’ll be reporting to me,” Roy turned to Carlisle. “Let’s get back to business.”

The vampire doctor turned to him. “Paul, you have what we vampires call a gift. A gift is a talent, which only a few vampires have. Roy and I believe you inherited this gift after taking in the venom that was lodged in Bella’s wrist. The vampire who bit Bella was named James. He was a very talented tracker.”

“And what exactly does a tracker do?”

“A tracker can locate almost anyone, at any time, just by remembering his or her essence. It can come in very handy.”

“For example, do you think you can help us locate Jasper? He seems to have disappeared from the lodge.”

“Wait a minute? This is a test, isn’t it?”

“Are you sure you’re president and CEO of your own company?”

“I’m not falling for another one of your jokes again. I’m just going to get up and look for Jasper,” I declared, opening the door to the lodge. I knew instantly where he was without even looking around. “He’s on the roof of the medical clinic.”

Sure enough, Jasper hopped down from the clinic’s roof and returned to the doorway of the lodge.

“That was pretty quick,” he commented. “We’ll test your tracking skills a bit more later.”

“More testing? When do I get to go home? I’ve already missed a week of work.”

“We’re going home this weekend, and Crispy has been holding down the fort,” Bella assured.

“Anyway, Carlisle has the results of all your testing.”

“Before we turn our attention to Carlisle, Paul has one more gift,” Eleazar stated his focus on me.

“Another gift?” Carlisle questioned.

“Yes, and this one is rare and prized amongst our kind.” He nodded his head and smiled at me. “Paul, you are also a mental shield, possibly a physical shield.”

“A shield? What’s that?”

“You have the ability to block yourself from psychic powers which act on invading the mind. Who you inherited it from is a mystery to me.”

“But not to me,” Carlisle stated. “This power came from Isabella. Edward could never read her mind, and Alice had difficulties seeing her future. The same was true with Charlie Swan, although not to the extent of Bella.”

“Fascinating,” Eleazar gushed, appraising me from head to toe. “You are, perhaps, the most powerful supernatural being in existence.”

“I believe you’re correct.” Carlisle nodded. “Perhaps we should return to sharing the results of Paul’s medical testing with him.

We all turned to the vampire doctor, who continued, “All tests show you’re still a wolf, but due to the venom, your normal temperature is now, oddly, the same as a standard human being. With your temperature at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, we figured you would lose some of your robustness. Oddly enough, your supernatural strength has become enhanced. In both wolf and human form, you are faster and stronger.”

“So, am I some sort of hybrid?”

“Not at all. If you were a hybrid, you would produce venom, which you do not. You are still a shapeshifter, but with enhanced traits, including your tracking and shielding gift.”

“I was once told that vampires are always at their physical peak so they can lure in humans, their main food source,” Bella stated. “Is it possible that some of the venom has shifted my husband’s DNA, so he is at his peak in his human condition as well as his wolf form?”

“It’s possible. At this point, it’s all magic,” Roy stated. “The Wa-Ya, unlike the Quileute’s, have always believed the supernatural world is interconnected. Perhaps Paul is that connection.”

“Perhaps, he is. You mentioned something peculiar to me the other day, honey. You said that vampires no longer smell foul to you.” She turned to the vampires. “Does my husband smell bad to you?”

All three vampires turned to Bella with amazed looks on their faces. “No, not at all. He doesn’t have that distinct ‘wet dog’ odor we usually associate with the wolves. Oddly enough, Roy has never had that pungent odor.”

Instead of making a wisecrack like he usually does, Roy stated, “Clearly there is a connection between our three worlds. Maybe it’s time we look into that.”

It gave me the opening I needed. I turned to Carlisle and asked, “What did Ephraim Black, Levi Uley, and Quil Ateara the Second tell you about our tribe when you met them?”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to bring up the topic of the Great Protector.” Carlisle smiled and nodded. “The three wolves you mentioned didn’t tell me about it. Eli and I were actually the ones to inform them about it. We’ve been safeguarding the prophecy for years.”

“And you couldn’t tell me about it?” Roy asked.

“No, of course not. You aren’t the Great Protector, but he is,” Carlisle pointed to me, “and he is the one who is going to bring peace back to all of us.”

I sat back down at the table and wearily turned to Carlisle. “How exactly am I going to restore peace?”

“I have no idea. I’m not a prophet, but I know you will.”

“Can’t you ask Alice?” Bella questioned.

The three vampires shook their heads. “No, she is a seer, but her visions are subjective. One split-second decision can change the outcome of things.”

“Alright, Carlisle. You might as well hit us with this information now. It’s not as if our lives can become more convoluted than it is already.” I raised my hands in the air in exasperation. “Not only does my wife get shot by some crazy thug because I refuse to do business with shady businessmen, but my tribe is also being run into the ground by Tony Fuller! Now you’re telling me you’ve been safeguarding a prophecy concerning me for over a century? What the hell is going on? Why me?”

“Paul, stop it!” Bella’s voice cut through the air like a knife, and then, gently, she turned my chin so I was looking into her beautiful eyes. “It is not Carlisle’s fault-none of it is. We’re all a part of this supernatural world because of fate. Do you think Carlisle, Eleazar, or Jasper wanted to become vampires? Have you heard Jasper’s story? Because I have, and it isn’t pretty-neither is Carlisle’s story.

“You were given the responsibility because you can handle it. You’ve proven time and again that you’re made of stronger stuff than everyone else. You were the only one strong enough to pull yourself out of poverty, and Paul, your situation was desperate compared to everyone else’s. If you hadn’t seized the bull by its horns and taken responsibility for your life, you would have been in jail or dead, and we would have never met.

Her voice softened as she took my hand. “Paul, I think the dreams you had while you were unconscious were reminders of how much you’ve endured compared to everyone else. You were in a situation not of your own making and were able to rise above everything thrown your way. It was to prepare you for whatever is coming your way… our way.”

“But what is coming our way?”

“We won’t know until we hear Carlisle out.”

With that statement, we all turned to the vampire and gave him the floor.