Brave This Storm

“Hey Em! Donovan’s at his friend from pre-K’s house for the day so I thought I’d pop over for a cup of tea. You’re not busy, are you?” Mariana said with a wide smile, leaning against the open door frame.

“Uh, no I’m not. Paul’s here talking to Sam though,” Emily said with a weak smile.

“Oh,” Mariana sighed, “maybe I should come back another time,”

“Please don’t be like this,” Emily said sadly.

“Mariana?”

Mariana froze slightly at the sound of Paul’s voice and looked over Emily’s shoulder, seeing him standing there.

“I’ll see you later, Em,” Mariana said.

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere. Why the fuck are you avoiding me?!” Paul hissed.

He launched forward and grabbed Mariana by the arm, pulling her inside the house. Mariana scowled and wrenched her arm out of his grip, narrowing her eyes at him. Paul swallowed heavily, realising he probably shouldn’t have pulled her inside like that, but he was running out of ideas. He honestly didn’t understand what he’d done wrong.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“It’s not something I want to talk about,” Mariana said simply.

“Stop hiding shit from me,” Paul growled.

“Stop telling me what to do,” Mariana retorted.

“Guys, please don’t fight,” Emily begged.

“Em, Mariana and Paul need to talk, whether that involved fighting it out or not,” Sam said firmly, walking into the hallway.

Emily sighed but nodded, walking over to Sam’s side, leaving Mariana only to stare at Paul.

“All I want is the simple truth from you, Ana. Why is that so hard for you to comprehend?” Paul sighed.

“Because you wouldn’t like the truth if you heard it,” Mariana said.

“Try me,” Paul retorted, folding his arms over his chest.

“Fine. It’s your fault if you don’t like it then. At the beach last week I was confronted by a group of girls who said that not only was I not your type, but that you were only with me for sex because you would never want a girl with a kid otherwise,” Mariana spat.

Emily winced and Sam groaned. Paul just clenched his fists, trying desperately to control his anger.

“Are you fucking with me?” Paul managed to say through gritted teeth.

“Fuck off, no I’m not. Are they right?” Mariana asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“The fuck they aren’t! How stupid are you if you think they’re telling the truth?!” Paul exasperated.

“Oh, so I’m stupid now too? Thanks for confirming I really was stupid to trust you,” Mariana sneered.

“Stop fucking twisting my words! I have never given you a reason not to trust me, so why the fuck are you starting to not trust me because of some random jealous-ass girls?” Paul said angrily.

“Maybe because what they said actually made sense?” Mariana spat back.

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE! What is wrong with you?! I can’t believe you believe those tramps over me!” Paul shouted.

“Why are you yelling at me?! I haven’t done a fucking thing wrong! You wanted the truth, I told you the fucking truth! Do you really blame me for thinking about how you treated all those girls in the past? I’m surprised I haven’t thought about it earlier! All I’ve ever heard about you is how much of a player you are, so why wouldn’t I think you only wanted sex from me?!” Mariana shrieked.

It all happened so fast.

One second Paul was shaking uncontrollably, the next he exploded into his wolf form. But Mariana was standing too close. His enlarged head knocked her flying across the room, so far that she crashed into the stair banisters, hitting her head hard. Emily screamed, her hands flying to her mouth, before she snapped to her senses and ran to Mariana’s side. Emily dropped to her knees and pressed two fingers to Mariana’s neck, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt a pulse and when Mariana opened her eyes wearily.

“Is Ana okay?” Sam called desperately.

“Yeah, I think so!” Emily said shrilly.

Sam sighed in relief too and ran in front of Mariana and Emily, his back to them with his arms out wide, ready to launch at Paul if he came any closer. Mariana just groaned and rubbed her head where it had hit the stair banister, closing her eyes briefly again, trying to dull the throbbing pain. She didn’t want to look at Paul. She didn’t want to look at the large grey wolf the other side of Sam, and she didn’t know how that made her feel. Paul really could have injured her then, just like Sam did to Emily. He really could have.

“Mariana, can you walk?” Sam asked, not taking his eyes off of Paul.

“With help, yeah,” she mumbled.

“Good. Emily, can you take Mariana into the kitchen and look after her there while I get Paul outside? And call a doctor to come and check Mariana over,” Sam asked.

“Sure thing,” Emily nodded.

Slowly, Emily helped Mariana stand up, throwing one of Mariana’s arms around Emily’s shoulder, and the two of them walked slowly into the kitchen, Mariana sitting down on a stool.

“I can’t believe he did that,” Mariana said softly.

“Yeah, me neither,” Emily sighed.

“I thought he’d at least have the control to run outside,” Mariana muttered.

“Sometimes even the most controlled lose it,” Emily said with a weak smile.

Mariana just smiled weakly back, accepting the ice pack Emily handed her.

“Is this going to change things?” Mariana asked.

Emily took a while to answer.

“Not if you don’t let it,” Emily said.

Mariana just nodded, letting Emily call for a doctor. When the phone call was finished, the two of them fell silent as Mariana fell into her thoughts, her mind rolling with what had just happened. The way Paul had reacted…truth be told, it did frighten her a little. What if next time he hurt her properly? What if next time it was Donovan in his path? She couldn’t handle that. No, she couldn’t handle that at all. It took half an hour for Paul to stumble back into the house. With a nod from Sam, Emily left Paul and Mariana in the kitchen alone, Paul’s eyes filled with tears and Mariana chewing her bottom lip.

“Baby, I am so sorry. Did I hurt you? Please tell me I didn’t hurt you. Please forgive me, I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry,” Paul whimpered.

“I hit my head and it’s throbbing pretty bad, but there’s no blood. I might not be so lucky next time though. Or Donovan,” Mariana said softly.

“There won’t be a next time,” Paul blurted.

Mariana smiled weakly. “Can you really say that you’re not going to lose your temper ever again?”

Paul’s cheeks flushed as he rubbed the back of his neck, not sure how to answer. Of course he couldn’t guarantee that. In silence he walked over to her and replaced her hand with his on the ice pack, his other hand cupping Mariana’s face.

“Do you hate me?” Paul murmured.

Mariana shook her head.

“I could never hate you. I’ll admit I’m a little freaked out though,” Mariana said.

“That’s worse,” Paul groaned, tilting his head back slightly.

“Can you really blame me?” Mariana pointed out.

Paul sighed but shook his head. Never had he felt worse about being a shapeshifter. Hurting the person that he loved so much? That hurt more than anything he’d ever felt before. So no, he couldn’t blame her.

“Where do we go from here?” Paul asked, not sure what her answer would be.

Mariana took a few seconds to answer.

“I’m not sure. I know you can’t control your wolf instincts, but at the same time I have to consider the safety of my son if this was to happen again. I honestly don’t know, Paul,”

“I can’t lose you, Ana. Without you, I’m nothing. And you know this. Those girls were talking shit. I was with them for sex. I’m with you because you complete me. You are my other half, my soulmate, and you make me a better person. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side, not anywhere near them. You’ve got to believe me. I know I can’t control my wolf instincts, but I do try. I’m so much less of an angry person when I’m around you. Everyone’s noticed, even my mom. I can’t lose you, please,” Paul said sadly.

Mariana chewed her bottom lip, not saying anything even when Paul’s hands took her own.

“I’m in love with you, Ana,” Paul whispered.

Paul didn’t know what to think when Mariana’s breath hitched in her throat.

“Y-You love me?” Mariana whispered.

“No, I’m in love with you,” Paul smiled.

Mariana couldn’t help but let a smile spread across her own lips. It had been so long since she’d last heard someone say that to her, and when Paul said it with such conviction, it warmed her soul. And she knew what she had to do.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said firmly, “because I love you too,”

Paul’s smile turned into a full-on grin.

“You do?” Paul asked.

Mariana nodded, smiling shyly up at him. Paul just whooped and captured her lips in a deep kiss, not even breaking away when Sam and Emily came back into the house.

“Alright, alright, let Mariana breathe,” Sam chuckled.

Mariana blushed as Paul broke the kiss, but the smile didn’t leave her lips.

“The doctor just turned up, by the way. We’ll tell him that you fell down the stairs,” Emily announced.

“Yeah, alright. That could actually have happened,” Mariana nodded.

Paul nodded too, tightening his hold on Mariana as Sam went to open the front door. He wasn’t going to let anything like this ever happened again. Today had been far too close for his liking, and there was no way he was going to put Mariana at risk. No way.