The Phantom Wolf

Chapter 105 (Temporary Home)

*3rd Person POV*

Pearl spent the next 3 hours at the police station in Forks. A lot of paperwork needed to be filed regarding the missing persons case, Sue's report of kidnapping and Pearl's own claim of wanting to get legally emancipated.

By the time all of the legal paperwork was sorted out, the subject of where Pearl would reside until a court date could be determined, came up.

Given Chief Swan's involvement with the case, he couldn't be the one to house her, and in the eyes of the law, Pearl couldn't reside with a family who had housed a run away without reporting it. So the hybrid was not allowed to return home to the Cullens, despite her wishes to. And given that Pearl had filed a case of child negligence and emotional abuse against Sue Clearwater, she was not permitted to return to her biological mother either.

With very limited options, it was eventually decided by the chief, that Pearl would live with Billy Black for the time being.

Harry Clearwater's will, stated that if anything were to happen to him and his wife, his children were to be looked after by Billy Black.

Since this arrangement meant that Pearl could at least stay nearby to her coven and imprint, she begrudgingly agreed to the arrangement. Meaning that she would move in with Billy and Jacob for the foreseeable future.

When Charlie dropped Pearl off at his friends house, Billy had already made Jacob set up one of his sisters old rooms so that Pearl could stay in there. As soon as Billy had heard about the situation from the chief, he had immediately agreed to house Pearl until everything was sorted out. He was rather relieved to see her after almost a year of Pearl being 'missing'. And despite her circumstances, Billy was very welcoming to the hybrid.

Jacob however, had a slightly different reaction to the news. He certainly didn't want to admit to his father that Pearl could be quite scary at times, but he would be lying if he said that Pearl moving in with him and his dad didn't make him nervous.

"Jacob, why don't the two of you go and catch up, whilst I give Leah a call? I think it's best that she is alerted to what is going on." Billy suggested calmly, as he wheeled himself into his bedroom and ignored the pleading look on Jacob's face as he left.

Jacob nervously turned to Pearl, who was still standing in the doorway looking down at her feet. Hesitating a little, he eventually broke the silence, "I'll show you your room." He said, then he turned on his heels and hurried down the hallway to Racheal's old room.

Pearl slowly followed him down the hallway without saying a word.

"Umm, since Paul imprinted on Racheal and all, she decided to move in with him. So her room is actually fairly empty. I did set up a bed for you, since I'm not sure how often you actually sleep. But dad said that you could end up being here for a few weeks, so I figured that it would be a good idea to have one set up." Jacob explained cautiously, as he showed Pearl Racheal's old room.

Nodding wordlessly, Pearl entered the mostly bare room and sat down on the floor with her back to the wall. Setting down her back pack next to her, she hugged her knees to her chest.

Jacob spent a few minutes debating if he should stay or not. Eventually, he decided that he should, so he entered the room as well and sat down on the bed nearby.

The two remained silent for a while. All they could hear was Billy talking on the phone to Leah, and letting her know of the situation.

Jacob did end up breaking the silence, although it took him a while to gather up the courage to do so. "Are you okay?" He quietly asked.

Pearl lifted her head from her knees and turned to him in disbelief, then scowled at him.

"Okay! I guess that was a pretty stupid question." Jacob quickly rushed out a response after receiving the scowl.