Undisclosed Desires

***Paul’s POV***

Paul surged forward, slamming his huge paws against the ground, desperate to reach Alex’s window before the other wolf did. With Paul’s extra burst of speed, he had managed to pull to an even race with the wolf in front of him. They both skid to a stop right underneath the open living room window. The wolf took a step forward, testing his limits. Paul snarled fiercely, taking a step forward as well.

Easy, Paul… Jacob thought.

We’re right behind you Jared informed him.

Shush. I need to concentrate on ripping his throat out. Paul thought quickly, focusing his attention back on the other wolf.

He was a deep black with russet and white streaks in his fur. His eyes gleamed a mysterious reddish brown. Paul’s silver-grey fur rose up, and his liquid brown eyes bore into his enemies. The black wolf glanced up at the window as a rustling noise from inside caught his attention. Paul took the chance to ram his head into the other wolf, which drove him back a good ten feet. But the wolf quickly regained composure, and let out a fierce snarl as he lunged for Paul’s neck.

DUCK! Seth shouted in Paul’s head. Paul dropped to the ground, just in time for the sandy brown form of Seth to hurl himself at the wolf. He was bowled over to the ground just as Paul leapt up to help. He pinned the other wolf with a paw across his neck just as the rest of the pack came hurtling down the hill in formation. The other wolf began to squirm, but Paul held him tight.

The wolf pack began closing in on the other wolf, when Paul noted that Jacob wasn’t with them.

He’s coming Jared assured, keeping a fierce gaze locked on the wolf. A moment later, a tall russet colored teenager stepped out of the woods, and jogged down the hill to join his pack. Jacob glared at the wolf and said quietly,

“This is Quileute territory. We run the lands here, and I need to ask you to keep out of our area from now on.” Paul stepped back and let the wolf stand up. He turned around, and Paul readied himself for a chase. But the wolf let out a low howl, not as loud as last time but loud enough to carry through the woods. A moment later, three more wolves, accompanied by a tall tanned man came down the hill. Paul felt the tension double as they approached, but Jacob made no move to leave. The man walked up and stood beside his wolf as he said,

“As far as we knew, this was free land. We’re from the Makah reservation and we’ve been doing runs for a while now.”

“We haven’t run into any signs of that.” Jacob said coolly. Paul couldn’t recall coming across any new scents until tonight, and he narrowed his eyes.

You think he’s lying? Leah asked, baring her teeth at one of the other wolves.

We keep a tight patrol around the lands. Even before Alex, we patrolled up here, and we didn’t come across anything. I don’t see how they’ve been wandering here unless they’re
lying.

I see what you mean… she thought carefully. The others voiced their agreements. The man noted Paul’s unease and said,

“We merely came for a midnight snack,” to which Paul growled more fiercly than before.

“But I see this girl is…”

“She is Paul’s mate.” Jacob said, glancing down at Paul, who nodded.

“I see…” The man said, a gleam in his eye. He straightened up and said quickly,

“I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Saul. This is Trevor, Warren, Kale and Owen.” The wolf
who had been intent on attacking Alex flashed his teeth when Saul had said Kale.

Hmm… Kale… Doesn’t sound familiar. No bad bells ringing here Embry shrugged slightly.

“Well, Saul, I’m Jacob, and my pack Leah, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil and Seth.” The wolves Jacob introduced nodded stiffly at him, and Saul said,

“We… apologize for intruding on your lands.”

“We’d appreciate it if you stayed away from Forks and La Push,” Jacob said coolly. Saul gave a tight nod, and whistled twice for his pack to retreat into the woods. Kale glanced back at Paul as he was leaving, and bared his teeth. Paul snarled and took a step forward, but Jared knocked him back.

Not tonight, bro he said carefully, not wanting to upset Paul. Paul simply nodded and thought,

Fine. But if I see him around here again, I’m not holding back.

Neither are we, so don’t worry Seth assured him, bumping his head into Paul’s shoulder. Paul shook his head and turned back to the window. He was tall enough to just see inside.

Alex was curled up on one end of the couch, her arms crossed over her lap gently. Her silky dirty-blonde hair draped across her shoulders and chest, and a small smile was on
her face.

She looked beautiful.

Alex’s sister was also on the couch, stretched out across the other half with her head resting peacefully on Alex’s leg. A movie was playing on the TV, outlining Alex in a soft white glow. Paul’s heart twisted in regret when he thought about how badly things had gone earlier.

Want some time alone? Jared came up beside him, brushing comfortingly against Paul. Paul sighed and rested his muzzle on the window sill.

Yeah. That’d be nice.

I promise we’ll think of something. We’ll make this better bro.

Thanks Jared Paul said gratefully.

Without another word, Jared turned and bound up the hill, with Jacob and the rest of the pack following.

We’ll be close by in case the Makah’s make another appearance Jacob thought as soon as he phased again.

And then it was silent in Paul’s head, so he let his thoughts roam and he returned his attention to the living room.

Alex had woken up while he’d been talking with Jared. She gingerly moved her sister’s head from her lap, and stood up. The oversized t-shirt somehow made her look even better. Her long, tanned legs made their way across to the TV, and she shut it off. She stretched for a moment, and then turned back and went to wake her sister. She woke her gently, shaking her arm and whispering,
“Nikki, time to get up.” Her sister sat up slowly, still groggy from sleep. Alex slid her arm around her sisters’ shoulder and lifted her to her feet. They both made their way slowly to the stairs. As Alex made Nichole go ahead of her, she turned back and looked over her shoulder out the window.

Right at Paul.

His fur stood on end, and he made himself hold perfectly still. She stared at him a moment longer, and then turned and followed her sister upstairs.

Paul turned away from the window as well, and dropped down onto the grass. His head fell to his paws, and a tear rolled down from his eye. His heart hurt so bad, he couldn’t bear it. He’d only known her two days, but she was his other half. He needed her just as badly as Jacob needed Renesmee, as Jared needed Kim, as Quil needed Claire, as Sam needed Emily. And he couldn’t have her.

So silently he almost didn’t notice it, Jared appeared from the woods. He made his way down to Paul, taking his time in case Paul wanted to leave and continue to be alone. But Paul stayed where he was. Jared came up to his side and lay down as well. He pressed up against Paul, and Paul was glad he had a best friend as understanding as Jared. A few moments later, Seth appeared from the trees as well, followed by Quil and Embry. They huddled around Paul and Jared, squeezing in as tight as they could. Leah and Jacob came down last, dropping in on the outside.

Though Paul’s heart still ached, he felt better than he had all day. Surrounded by his friends, his brothers (and sister), his family, he felt as good as he could.

***Normal POV***

“If you can wake up early for your friends, you can wake up early for chores!”

The nails-on-chalkboard voice of Trisha jarred you from your comfortable sleep, and you sat up groggily. You squinted at her moodily, and mumbled,

“Friend’s are more appealing than a seventy-year-old hooker.”

She stormed forward and yanked the blankets off of you.

“Up now Alexis.” Her voice was cold and malicious, and you decided it would just be easier to wake up and get her torture over with.

You climbed up out of bed and pulled on a pair of old, worn jeans and a ratty t-shirt. You pulled your hair back into a messy bun, and headed downstairs. Nichole was still asleep,
and you figured she’d be left out of your punishment.

Your dad was waiting for you at the table as Trisha angrily slammed down a plate in front of him. You grabbed your own food and sat across from him.

“Alexis-“

“Alex,” you corrected again, glancing up at him.

“Alexis Michelle, you’re recent behavior has been unacceptable.” You rolled your eyes, and his voice became even sterner. “You’ll spend the day making up your behavior by helping your mother-“

“She is NOT my mother!” You said, much louder than you were expecting. You slammed your fork into the table, and it bent from the force.

“Alexis, control your temper. You’ll spend the day helping your stepmother with the chores, and you’ll do them respectfully and helpfully, or else you’ll be stuck here another week.”

You groaned inside, but figured Hey, what the hell. A day of chores is pretty decent for everything that happened. Might as well deal with it.

You finished breakfast quickly; the second you were done, Trisha grabbed your bowl and said,

“First things first, we need to get the outside looking nice. It’s gone to such a waste!”

She sent you outside with a bucket of tools and told you to make the back garden look presentable. You dropped down into the shade, and began hacking away at the flowers. You weren’t much of a gardener, so the whole concept really went over your head. After a few minutes of “fixing” the garden, the back door open, and Nichole came to sit beside you.

“So, your big punishment is attacking flowers?” She mused, looking down at the garden. You grinned and said,

“Obviously they didn’t think this through.” She laughed with you, and then settled down to talk.

After about an hour of you working, Nichole stood up and said,

“Hey, I needa run to the store with Trisha. I’ll be back in a few, kay?”

“Yeah, sure, bring me back something cool!” She gave you a rub on the head and then disappeared into the house. Your dad had gone to work, and with Nichole and Trisha gone, you noticed just how quite it was around you. You stood up and brushed the dirt off your jeans, and then jogged off into the house. You reappeared with a radio, and quickly turned it up as you heard a good song begin to play. You grabbed the rake, and began to dance around the yard, cleaning up the leaves as you went.

As you twirled past the edge of the woods, you heard a rustling behind you. Immediately you stopped and spun around, dropping the rake and looking into the trees. The music seemed louder than it should be, and your heart was racing faster than you expected. But after a minute or so, with nothing happening, you relaxed a bit and decided to go back to working. You grabbed up the rake and began to rake again, but not as spontaneously as before. As you made it back to the porch, you set the rake down and went inside to grab a bag for the leaves. You came back out, and as you walked over and knelt next to the leaves, you heard the rustling again. You glanced up, expecting only to see the trees, and your heart stopped cold.

Your breath caught in your throat, and you tumbled back onto the grass. A huge, black, white and russet colored -was that a wolf??- stood in the tree line, his reddish brown eyes glinting maliciously at you. You began to slowly back up, but just as you moved, the wolf took a huge step forward, and began to growl.

“G-get back!” you shouted, grabbing the rake. The wolf took another step towards you; his legs were so long that now there was only a few feet between you now. You held the rake in front of you, trying to keep him back; he just stepped forward again, now looming over you. You slammed the rake forward, hitting him in the neck in an attempt to shove him back. He snarled, and bent down to bite the rake. He took it in his mouth and took a half-step back,
biting down hard and making it snap in two. You seemed to forget how to breath.

Now the wolf was standing over you again.

“Get away! Get away from me!” You cried, beginning to scramble back. The wolf leaned down and tried to grab your arm. You threw your fist across his muzzle as hard as you could. He let out an angry howl, just as you began to scramble back to the house. You were on your hands and knees, trying to get to your feet; you were shaking so bad it was hard to move at all. But before you could make it forward very far, the wolf lunged again.

This time you were caught off guard. The wolf grabbed your jeans and hauled you back to where you had just been. He dropped you back down, and before you could even think of trying to get away, he locked his jaw onto your thigh and began to drag you back to the
woods.

“NO! HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME! NIKKI! TRISHA! DAD!” You screamed as you clawed for the rake. When the wolf dragged you out of reach, you began to claw at the ground, trying to keep from going into the woods. You felt the cold trickle of blood running down your leg. You managed to grab a tree as you began to enter the woods, and you held on for dear life. But, the wolf bit down harder onto your leg. You screamed in pain, and accidently let go of the tree. He yanked you past the tree line and into the woods. The ground was hard underneath, and it hurt to be dragged across the loose branches and the rocks. You switched from trying to get away to trying to keep from being shredded on the ground.

The wolf pulled you farther and farther into the woods. You began to loose feeling in your leg, and your arms, hands and back were ripped up from the ground. As you began to worry you were never going to stop, the wolf yanked you through a group of trees, right into a little, grassy clearing (no, not the same clearing as Edwards). He pulled you to the middle. The grass was soft and springy underneath, and the cool blades felt good on your burning back and arms.

With a final harder bite, which made you scream in pain again, he let your leg drop. The impact of your leg dropping from his mouth (which was high up there) to the ground hurt incredibly bad. You whimpered softly as the wolf circled you. He was snarling softly, every now and then taking a step towards you. You tried to curl up into a ball, but your body hurt incredibly bad. You heard a twig snap in the forest, and the wolf went rigid. Your mind filled with dread; what could be worse than this huge, monster-sized wolf?

The wolf suddenly lunged at you, and bared his teeth to grab your arm viciously. You screamed, and tried to move away, but your leg hurt too bad, and you couldn’t go anywhere. You closed your eyes and braced yourself for the pain.

The pain never came.

You opened your eyes in astonishment, only to see a confusing sight. There was another wolf, a silver-grey one this time, with his back to you. It almost seemed like the silver wolf was protecting you, but why? The black and russet wolf was standing a few feet from you and the silver wolf, his eyes locked on you. You whimpered, and began to try and back up. As you managed to squirm a few inches, the black and russet wolf lunged forward, a fierce snarl ripping from his chest. The silver wolf dove forward, and locked his teeth with the neck of the other wolf. You gasped in shock. The silver wolf really was protecting you?

“Alex! Alex, get out of there!” That voice was so familiar and unexpected, you gasped and whipped around. Sure enough, Seth, Quil and Embry were running towards you. You didn’t want them to get near! I mean, the silver wolf might not be as good as he seemed, and they could get hurt because of you.

“No, guys! Stay back! There are wolves and…” You trailed off, suddenly beginning to wonder why they were here.

“I know, Alex. It’s okay. The silver wolf wont hurt you. He’s protecting you, I promise.”

“What? How do you-“

“We’ll explain it later, I promise. But we need to get you out of here.” Was that Jared? It sounded like him, if you remembered right. He knelt down over you and slid an arm delicately under your legs and then behind your shoulders. He lifted you easily, and began to back away. The pain in your leg was becoming overwhelming, and you began to loose focus. You mind was going numb, and you were getting dizzy.

“Jar.. Wait..” You mumbled. He kept walking, but he asked,

“What’s wrong Alex?”

“Where.. Paul?” You were beginning to pass out from the pain, and it was getting harder and harder for you to make sense; you were gasping from pain, and your tongue felt so heavy.

“He’s coming right now.” You tried to turn your head to see, but you couldn’t do that very well.

“Other wolf..” You panted, blinking to try and stay conscious. “Black one… Where is he?”

“The silver wolf took care of him. You’re safe now, we promise.”

“Paul? Where..” You were nearly out. The pain was washing over you, and you were whimpering softly.

“Jared, we need to get her to a hospital.”
Who was that? Was that Leah?

“Le..”

“It’s me, Alex. It’s okay. We’re all here.”

“Leah… Where’s Paul?”
A silver head appeared at the edge of your vision. You turned your head as much as you would, and saw the silver wolf.

“Wait! Jar.. please..” Jared stopped walking for a moment, and you tried to squirm around in his arms. Your leg protested, but you wanted to thank the wolf properly. For a few moments, the looming blanket of unconsciousness lifted, and you tried to talk as best as you could. Jared shifted you gently, and you let your arm drop down next to the wolf. For some reason, even though you felt you should be afraid, being near the silver wolf made you feel better protected than you had your whole life.

The silver wolf pushed his soft head into your hand, and you concentrated on moving your hand back and forth to pet him.

“Thanks…” You mumbled. The silver wolf looked up with his beautiful liquid-brown eyes, and something like déjà vu passed over you. You recognized those eyes, without a doubt.
You needed to be closer to the wolf. Something in the back of your head was screaming at you to get closer to him, to hug him, to kneel next to him. Though you felt so out of it, you needed to be next to him.

“Down… Please…” You gasped, not wanting to faint right now.

“Alex.. We need to get you to-“

The silver wolf locked eyes on Jared, and gave a low growl.

“Oh, for the love of…” Jared muttered, lowering you to the ground gently. You sat on your good side awkwardly, trying to keep the weight from your bad leg. The wolf walked towards you, and began to whimper.

“I’m not afraid.. of you…” You whispered, feeling the unconsciousness beginning to wash over you. You laid down on your side, and reached out a weak arm for the wolf. As he took a step forward, something on his right paw caught your eye. He lowered his head into your hand again, as you tried to make sense of the thing on his leg.

It was a silver charm bracelet.

It was your silver charm bracelet.

The lovely braided chain, the six charms: ballet slippers from Nichole, a heart that said ‘love’ from your dad, a peace sign from Angela, a nautical star from Ben, angel wings from your real mom, and half of a heart, with the word ‘friend’ on it. The other half with ‘best’ was with Bella. Your heart seemed to stop beating.

The last place you had seen your bracelet was in Paul’s hands, and now it was on this wolfs leg. And this wolf was friends with Jared and the rest of them. This wolf had saved you from the angry wolf, and this wolf, with his liquid-brown eyes, sat in front of you, looking hopefully at your face.

“Hey, Paul…” You whispered just before you passed out.