Endlessly ▸ Jasper Hale [4]

III

THREE; STRESS

"I'm going to kill you for dragging me out here."

"No, you're not."

"And why is that?"

"You love me too much."

Cassadee gave the werewolf an annoyed glance before looking at the water at La Push beach, enjoying the fairly cool air. "Then I'll punch you in the throat. Extremely hard."

"That I would not doubt." Paul agreed after thinking about the threat for a moment.

"What's this about, Lahote? I have shows to watch and people to avoid."

Paul snorted before becoming serious, stepping in front of the Equalizer in order to stop her from moving. "What's wrong?"

Cassadee furrowed her brows, hoping her fake confusion at least looked somewhat real. "What are you talking about?"

Paul rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, Swan."

"Hale." The brunette corrected instantly, almost without thinking.

"Princess." Paul retorted before continuing. "You've been ignoring the pack ever since your sisters wedding. You didn't even do that when most of us hated you!"

Cassadee shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself to keep the blanket on her shoulders in place, trying her hardest to hide her baby bump. It was by no means small, in the last two weeks Carlisle had said the baby had grown to six months. Cassadee had avoided all contact with anyone aside from the Cullen's, aside from the night and day she spent at home with Charlie, she didn't want to risk anyone finding out. Especially since it was extremely hard to hide at this point.

"We all know something is wrong. Don't act like I haven't noticed you changing."

"Changing how?" Cassadee questioned, almost panicked. Sure, she wanted to tell the pack that she was pregnant but she had a very strong gut feeling that they would not be happy about it.

Paul shrugged. "To sum it all up, you seem more human. You've had a death grip on that blanket since I picked you up—"

"It's very special." Cassadee lied defensively, in actuality she just grabbed it off the bed as soon as she heard Paul at the door. "And it's cold."

"I've seen you make snow angels in shorts and not complain about being cold once." Paul pointed out. "And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you have put on a few pounds. Plus, you look exhausted."

"It's a real wonder why you're single, Lahote." Cassadee snapped, glaring at him as she tightened her grip on the blanket in order to keep from hitting the werewolf. She was almost tempted to say something along the lines of 'you try carrying a baby that's growing faster every second and see how you feel.' But that wouldn't end well at all.

"And don't think I haven't noticed your bloodsucker following us." Paul said, gesturing into the woods not far from the beach. Cassadee looked into the forest, instantly seeing her husband watching the pair like a hawk.

"He's an overprotective fool." Cassadee rolled her eyes. "He doesn't let me go down the street without worrying."

"The whole pack knows that something is wrong with you and we're worried, Cass."

"Don't worry about me, Paul. Just know that I'm completely fine and I'll tell you everything when it's over."

Paul stared at the brunette for a moment before realizing she was serious. "That only makes me worry more! Did the bloodsucker do something to you? Blink twice if you need to get away from him."