Tides Changing

Chapter 12

Alice gasped and grabbed Jasper's arm in shock. The rest of the Cullens looked at her, knowing she would explain. Edward, who had recently rejoined the family, banged the lid to his piano closed.

"Lily's a future just disappeared. I can't see her anymore."

"I thought we left her behind?" Rosalie groused.

"She can't be dead, Alice."

"I don't know, Edward. You wouldn't let me look for her to see if she was sick or in danger. All I know is that her entire future just went black."

"Well then I guess we're all going to Forks. If my daughter is dead, I want to know." Esme told them and Carlisle nodded in agreement.

Lily groaned and rolled over, bumping her sore wrist on Paul's arm, causing her to whimper in pain and him to wake up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed and tried not to rub her wrist. "My wrist is sore."

Paul gently grabbed her arm, "You know I can heal that."

"How?"

"My saliva has healing properties. Well, my wolf's does. He can lick the wound and it'll be better in minutes."

"And I could meet your wolf?"

He looked at her, stunned. None of the other imprints wanted to meet their wolves, they were afraid of them. He thought Lily would have been too after what happened with Jake.

"You really want to?"

Lily placed her hand on his cheek, "Paul, he's part of you."

Paul smiled and leaned in to kiss her lips softly. When he pulled back, he sat up and pulled her with him. Once they were outside he made her stand back. Lily watched as his body started shaking, almost vibrating, as he shifted into a silver wolf.

"Wow," she whispered.

Paul lay down on his belly so as not to frighten her. He whined when she made to move closer to him.

"Please," Lily reached her hand out. "Paul, I know you won't hurt me."

Golden eyes watched her every movement. When her hand gently landed on his head, his eyes closed. Lily ran her fingers through his fur, gliding her hand along his body. Paul lay there and almost purred at her soft touch.

Once Lily was done with her inspection, she moved back in front of him and sat down. Meeting his eyes, she began unwrapping the bandage from around her wrist.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered. Paul gave a yip and she looked at him. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get it over with, I would like to cuddle with my human mate. Although, you aren't nearly as scary as I was led to believe. More like an overgrown dog."

Paul growled, causing Lily to giggle. Inching forward, Paul opened his mouth and allowed his tongue to run across Lily's wounded wrist several times. The tingling on her skin was instant and when she looked down, she saw a small scar, though the stitches were still there.

"That's amazing."

"I told you." Paul picked her up in his arms and carried her into the house. "We'll have Emily cut the stitches out in the morning."

Looking into his eyes, she smiled. "Thank you." She kissed his jaw and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you."

Paul lay her on the bed and wrapped himself around her, "I love you, too."

"I don't understand why we're driving? We could have run there faster than this." Edward whined from the backseat of Carlisle's car.

Carlisle sighed, "Because, Edward. If Lily has indeed passed, we don't need to make a spectacle of ourselves. We will be there for Charlie and her mother."

Edward ignored him and closed his eyes, concentrating on Lily. He hadn't told his family, but he had left his venom as a tracker under James's bite. He sat silently and tried to find her. After ten minutes, his eyes flashed open as he realized he couldn't sense her.

"Hurry up, Carlisle."

Lily rolled over and felt the cold side of the bed where Paul had lay before he left on patrol. Lifting her arm, she traced the barely there scar and smiled, wondering how Edward would feel when he found out he couldn't track her. She felt nothing but relief.

The sun slanting across her face from the window, caused her to turn her head. Sitting up, she threw off the covers, suddenly wanting to be on the beach. After showering and dressing, she slipped out of Sam and Emily's house, walking to First Beach.

Once she reached a quiet spot, Lily sank down onto the sand and stared out over the waves. She realized that when she was feeling contemplative she always ended up looking at the water. Even when she was in Phoenix, she sat on the bank of a creek which ran near her house.

The wind blew her hair around, but she made no move to push it back or pull it up. She sat there thinking about how her life had changed since she drank that potion of Sam's. She couldn't imagine anymore a world or life without Paul. He had become the center of her universe in the short time they had been together. And Sam and Jared meant more to her than she imagined they could; they were the brother's she always wanted. Emily and Leah were her sisters in ways that Alice never could have been. Kim was even someone she looked forward to seeing, although they weren't as close due to her fear of the wolves.

She wasn't sure how long she sat staring at the water, but she smiled when she felt his heat wrap around her.

"What're you doing out here all alone, baby?"

Leaning back into his chest, she rested her head against his shoulder. "Thinking about how different my life is without the Cullens."

"All in good ways, I hope." Paul tightens his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"In the best ways." She ran her fingers up his arms, smiling when she felt him shudder. "When I was with Edward, he controlled everything I did. What I ate, wore, even my friends. I was suffocating and I didn't even know it, Paul."

She sighed and snuggled further into him as the sun began setting against the horizon. "With Edward I never truly belonged. It was like when I was with him I was trying to swim against the ever changing tides, never quite reaching the shore.

"With the pack, I just fit. Like the ebb and flow of the river, I'm just cruising along. I'm not fighting the current or trying to keep myself afloat. I don't need to. Your love, and the love of the pack, is the raft which is gonna get me to safety."

Turning in the sand and getting on her knees she put her hands on his cheeks. "I love you, more than I ever thought possible. I can't wait to..."

"Paul!"

The pair of them turned to see who had yelled and watched as Jacob ran in human form as fast as possible toward where they sat. Paul picked Lily up and stood them up, placing himself slightly in front of her, protecting her even from his pack brother.

"What is it?"

Jacob held his hand up as he caught his breath. "Embry and I were on patrol. We had just run the treaty line by the Cullen place when we smelled them."

Lily gasped and covered her mouth. "They're back."