𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 was once the best friend of one Jared Cameron. That is until he joined Sam's group of 'steroid jocks' and left her to fend for herself. Sure she made new friends eventually but they weren't her best friend. Suddenly...
It's been a few weeks since I first shifted. Jared and I have grown close again but the tension between Lukas and I hasn't changed. Paul told me of the imprint but nothing more has come of it.
"So you're on speaking terms with Jared now?" Beau asks as we sit around my room. Blythe and Cash just got here but Mya and Beau have been here for awhile.
"Yeah. But that's all." I say. I hate lying to them but I can't tell them.
"What about Lukas?" Blythe asks from across me. We've all been missing him when we all hangout.
"Nothing." I sigh but Seth walks in with a grin.
"Addie, you're boyfriend's here." Seth says teasingly. I sigh as my friends all send me questioning looks.
"He's not my boyfriend, Seth." I say with a slight glare at the younger boy, though I wasn't truly mad at him. "Let him in." I tell him and he runs off to let Paul inside. Once Paul walks into the room, Cash stands up in front of me. It almost makes me laugh at my friend's need to protect me from the hothead.
"She isn't interested in steroids, man." Cash sputters defensively. Paul looks to me and laughs.
"What's up, Lahote?" I ask, moving away from the bed.
"Emily sent me to come get you for lunch." Paul tells me and I know there's more to it than that. I look back at my friends apologeticly.
"Go, Emily is family." Mya smiles over at me before giving me a hug. Blythe follows her actions as well.
"Remember our plans for tomorrow night." Beau says pointedly before pulling me into his infamous bear hug. I hear a low growl come from Paul but the others can't hear it.
"Be safe and cautious around him, Dett." Cash tells me lowly before placing a soft and friendly kiss on top of my head. Another growl escapes from Paul.
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"I will. I can handle this dork." I grin as all of us walk out.
𖣊𖣊𖣊𖣊𖣊
I happily get out of the truck to greet Jared and Emily. Paul does the same as I before we all go inside.
"Adette, glad you could make it." Sam smiles from the couch. I smile back and take a seat next to Embry and Jared on the floor.
"Hey Flash." Embry chuckles, nudging me lightly.
"Hey Wolfy." I laugh and give him a fist bump. Jared messes my hair up but stays focused on their game.
"Hey Adette." Jared mumbles as I groan in annoyance at his antics. Paul growls at the interaction from the background. "You should probably go deal with that." Jared mumbles to me. I get up and pull Paul outside into the woods. Once I know we're far enough that the guys won't hear us, I turn to Paul.
"I understand that we're imprints but you don't need to growl at every interaction I have with a guy that isn't you. The only thing you do as my imprint, is bringing me to the pack meetings. You never speak to me outside of those times." I tell the boy, frustration oozing from my every word. I don't look at him after speaking.
"You think I can help it, Adette? Well, I fucking can't! I didn't ask to imprint on you!" Paul growls at me but I notice the lack of shaking that usually happens when he gets like this. "And you think I don't want to speak to you more? I want to talk to you all the time, Adette. All I know about you, is what I've heard from the guys." Paul rants, pulling at his hair. I walk up to him and take his hands from his hair. He sends me a confused look as I intertwine our hands and glide my thumbs over his knuckles soothingly.
"Then you have to talk to me, Paul. We're not getting anywhere with the 'only talking when needed' thing." I speak softly to him, willing him to calm down. "This will never work if we don't communicate."
"I'm not much of a talker, Adette." Paul sighs.
"We can work on it. You just have to work with me on this. Think that's manageable?" I ask with a small smile towards the taller boy.
"Yeah, yeah that's manageable." Paul stammers slightly, calming down slightly.
"How about when we go back, you sit on the couch behind me so I can sit next to Embry and Jared. That way you'll be next to me." I suggest, looking for a solution.
"That would work." He nods with a small grin pulling at his lips. I smile and lead him back to Emily's with our hands still intertwined. Though the action was small, it clearly made him happy and calmed him down completely. Emily is the first to welcome us back. She smiles and sends me a teasing wink. I can feel my face flush pink. We join the rest of the pack back in the living room.
"Look who decided to finally join us again." Embry taunts, earning a smack in the back of the head from Jared. I laugh and take a seat between the two while Paul sits on the couch behind me like we decided on. "Ow, that hurt." Embry whines, sending a glare at Jared.
"Oh, you poor baby." I say mockingly with a grin. Embry pouts like a baby in response to my comment.
"Stop ganging up on the kid." Paul chuckles as I lean back against his legs.
"Awe but it's so fun." I whine with a playful hint in my voice. A slam of the door stops our playful banter. Lukas stands before us looking grief stricken. I stand up quickly sensing it had to do with someone important to him.
"She's gone. She's really gone, Benny." Lukas whimpers, his eyes cloud over with tears. I rush to wrap the boy in my arms, figuring out who 'she' is.
"I'm so sorry, Lou." I whisper even though they could all hear me except for Emily. When the nickname leaves my mouth, he broke down in my arms. I carefully pull him down to the floor and rock him back and forth in my arms. I turn my head to Emily.
"Em, I need you to call Seth and tell him to bring the gang here." I tell her and she nods before running off to the phone. I feel Paul's presence behind me and turn to look at him.
"What can I do?" He questions softly, brows knitted together.
"Can you go to his house and pack him a bag of clothes? Take Embry with you." I say to my imprint. He nods though he hesitates for a split second. He and Embry leave quickly. Sam comes over and lifts Lukas from my embrace gently, nodding towards the room I was brought to when I first shifted. I follow him along with Jared into the room. Sam seemed to realize what I had earlier and we made a silent agreement that Lukas cannot be alone right now.
"You'll stay with Emily and I for now, Lukas." Sam says sternly but not commanding. Emily joins us shortly after.
"They're on their way." She mutters before taking a seat beside the crying broken boy. "Everything will be alright. She'll always be with you even if it doesn't feel like it." Emily soothes like she did with me when my parents passed. She has always been good with calming people down. After awhile, Lukas stops crying. Emily and Sam leave the room to wait outside for my friends.
"B-benny?" Lukas whimpers and I move to sit next to him on the bed. "I went to see Blythe yesterday. I t-think I impr- printed on her." Lukas tells me, looking up at me with a scared look.
"I don't want to hurt her." He whispers.
"You won't hurt her. You'll need to tell her soon though. You'll both be in physical pain if you try to ignore it." I tell him, tracing the tribal tattoo that the pack all brandish. The action causes the tension in his body to lessen but only slightly seeing as I'm not his imprint.
"Just be careful if you shift around her." Jared speaks up, cautious of his words knowing Sam could her us.
