Petrichor ~ P.L.

Chapter Twenty-Two

"But Pauuuull, you have to let us see her!" A male voice whined from outside of Paul's house, where I sat freshly showered and almost fully healed.  It had been a bit of an awkward night.  I knew Paul was listening to make sure that I was alright, and he knew I knew he was listening to him listening to me. Turns out, sleeping in a house full of thick tension doesn't amount to the most restful sleep.  Who knew.   

I stretched my arms out and yawned as another voice began to whine. 

"We haven't seen her in so long!  You got to spend all night with her!  Sharing is caring!" This voice, I could tell was Quill. 

The first voice, which I now recognized as Embrys, hummed his agreement. 

"Adair isn't a thing I can just share, Quill," Paul scolded him, who huffed, "She just barely healed and probably isn't the happiest with everyone right now.  You really want her to be angry at you, angrier than she would be before I can explain everything?" 

"You still haven't explained everything?!" Embry groaned, "Man, for a shifter you really are a pus-" 

"Little ears man!" Quil cut him off.  

"I'm not little!  It's not like I haven't heard you all say pus-" Seth scoffed. 

"Shut up, all of you," Paul let out an aggravated sigh, "I'm going to talk to her, just, give me some more time.  Then, she'll see you whenever she's ready." 

I chuckled at their conversation, and about their lack of awareness that I could fully hear them.

Paul shooed them away, and they grumbled as their footsteps faded from two feet into four.  

Shifting in my barstool chair by the counter, I sipped my tea as I heard the front door creak open. My heart skipped slightly as Paul rounded the corner, running a hand through his dark hair.  I inwardly scoffed at my heart skipping, traitor.  

"Wolfy hearings quite a thing, isn't it?" I spoke, grabbing his attention from across from me as I sipped my tea again.  

He winced, dropping down into a dining room chair, "You heard all of that?" 

I nodded, focusing my attention on stirring the stubborn bits of honey into my tea, "Don't feel so stressed about explaining everything to me." 

Paul settled his gaze on me, "It's a lot."

I scoffed, "I can take it." Looking up, I met his gaze challengingly. 

After a few moments, Paul sighed and settled into his chair, "Alright, feel free to stop me if you have any questions." 

Nodding, I set my tea down and placed my elbows on the counter, setting my head on my hands and listening intently to his deep voice. 

"Okay well, first off, you have already heard the legends, right?" I nodded, still keeping my attention on him, "Right so, basically we are the shifters and the Cullens are the cold ones.  Only, they are one of the two vampire families that are basically um..."He sighed, struggling to find the word, "Vegetarian? I guess? They don't drink human blood.  Anyways, we have a treaty with them where we do not cross onto each other's lands.  There's a line, which I'll show you later." He relaxed, placing his feet on the table and putting his arms behind his head, "In the pack when we're shifted we can read all of each other's thoughts unless you get really good at hiding them.  Which basically means we can hear each other telepathically.  I'm not sure why you didn't automatically join the pack, but we'll figure it out.  Maybe it's a good thing we cant hear your thoughts yet..." He winced, and I smirked, taking a sip of tea again, "Have you already figured out the heightened senses, shifting when angry, and healing?" I nodded, "Great," He took his feet off the table and slapped his hands to his thighs, and stood up, "Then we're done here!" He turned around, heading for the door.