Paul Lahote - Imprinted

*Chapter 23*

The wolf lay down on the ground, its head lowering in submission. "You named a wolf after Jacob? No wonder he punched you" Rowan then paced back and forth, creeped out because the wolf's eyes seemed to follow her every move. It did not snarl or bark anymore , just waiting on them like a dog, its ear moving back and forth.

"This is Jacob Black, your uncle" Paul said, looking back at her, frowning when she seemed unconvinced. "Okay, so this is my real uncle, and there is a human out there impersonating him? Oh, how am I going to break the news to my grandpa?"she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Turning to her, Paul smirked. "Do you want proof?" He walked closer , looking down at her as he was much taller. "I can prove it" Rowan gulped and stepped back.

"How are you going to do just that Paul? Make him speak?"How did he change from protective to cocky? He was so serious and now it looked like he was playing some practical joke on her. Rowan detested his arrogance and smugness. It's a good thing that he has redeeming qualities, or else he would find himself quickly at the top of her least favourite people on earth.

'"Well I would tell you how I would do it , but I think it's better just to show" he said, watching Rowan blinked numerous times. Her lips tightened at the challenge, mustering some fake courage, she met his eyes in determination. "Unless he change into his human form, then I wouldn't believe you" It's not like she wanted to remember but she did, Jacob's and her grandpa's stories about the whole descendant of shapeshifters,it's all connected.

"Jacob can't phase into his human form right now" he said backing away from her. "It would take days before he learned how to"

There were some rustling sounds around her and she turned to see the rest of Paul's goons, all of them looked serious, except for that Jared guy who seemed to be always in a funny mood. "Oh, he's going to show her, this is going to be fun" he said.

Embry looked at her and smiled faintly. "Just stand back Rowan"

Paul backed away further and crouched down.He growled like a dog and she watched as his skin was torn into pieces revealing the familiar dark silver fur. There is not trace left behind to indicate that he was ever human, and she wondered if the transformation was painful.

" So you're the wolf that I saw in the forest..." There was no use in denying what she witnessed, taking a deep breath, she felt her heart start to beat frantically. Jacob is a wolf! Paul is also a wolf! Is everyone in the tribe a wolf? Paul walked towards her and nuzzled her leg, giving her a wolfish smile. "What the h---!" she exclaimed, everything hitting her at once. Rowan felt lightheaded, the noises around her feeling distant.

"Let's get back to Billy's, he would want to know that Jacob phased now"Sam said, ordering with such authority that told Rowan that he was the alpha. "Let's get you back" he said, seeing that her legs was shaking slightly. Paul growled at him as he helped her walk straight, Sam looked back at the angry wolf. "It's your fault, you wanted to show off. If you stayed in your human form, you would be the one helping her"

"Oh but he can't go back to his human form now right?" Jared said, laughing loudly. "You want to know why Rowan?" his eyebrows wiggling at her.

Sam gave him a look of disapproval, feeling annoyed by his childishness. "Jared, stop"

"Well, when we turn into our wolf form, our clothes gets ripped off completely" he explained, motioning to his body. Rowan grimaced, not wanting to hear more. "So..if he comes back, he will be naked. You wouldn't want that. Well, you're his imprintee so maybe you would want that, not now, but someday"

Sam smacked him in the head, and after the initial assault, Paul in his wolf form jumped on him. Snarling and growling angrily. ''Stop it , you two!" Somehow Sam's voice went deeper, and instantly they stopped what they were doing, though it didn't seem voluntarily. Jared dusted off the soil from his shirt, frowning. "Kim just got me this shirt last week, you ruined it Paul!" he complained.

"Do I need to know what imprintee means?" she asked, feeling disoriented still. Paul growled, warning the others..The group remained quiet then, not willing to disclose what the word meant. They did not want some form of retribution from Paul , it's not that they were fearful of him, but an angry Paul is something hard to deal with.

They walked in silence until they arrived at the chief's house, when they did, Billy was already waiting at the door. His eyes set on the brown wolf, his heart swelling in pride. He wondered if he would rise up and become the alpha of the pack, it is his birthright after all.

"Thank you Sam" he said as he let them all inside. Billy held Rowan's clammy hands, concerned that she is not taking it well. They all sat on the couch, their curious gaze concentrated mostly on the shocked girl.Jacob was on the ground in the living room, the only place he could move freely without bumping into everything "Are you alright Row?"Billy asked.

She nodded slowly. "Am I going to turn into one too?"

"No" Sam answered "So far, it's only males that phase"

Billy patted her knee and then ruffled her hair "Row, you can go up now and rest. We will talk about this in the morning" As she walked up the stairs, Paul rose from where he was laying. He wanted to bid her goodnight, but still in his wolf form, all he could do was howl. The noise made her walk faster up the stairs, in a hurry to just sleep.Maybe if she was lucky, she would wake up and find that everything was just a dream.

The next morning, she came down fast. "Jake?" she called from the bottom of the stairs.

"We're at the dining room!" Billy said. Walking slowly, she took a quick peek, and pouted when she saw a giant wolf scarfing down a plate full of eggs. "I'll just go back and wake up again"

"No, you can't do that, you will be late for school"

She was about to protest when her phone rang, the screen showed an all familiar name. "Hi Bella"

I'll go a little bit earlier to your house today Rowan, I want to speak to Jake. He hasn't been answering my calls, I just want to make sure he is alright

Jake stopped eating, overhearing the conversation. "Uh..yeah, no you can't. He's really sick right now, and actually you don't have to drop me off because I'm going to stay in today" when the call ended, Rowan faced her grandfather's gaze.

"You're going to school young lady, and that is final"He leaned over and put a toast on the plate, along with some bacon. "Eat now before this animal eats it all" Jake whined but continued to eat again, Bella in his mind.

Sitting down, she grabbed a fork. "I'll ask Paul to drop you off"

"Don't look at me like that, he's not that bad" Billy said, looking down at his morning papers. "Now that I think about it, it's better that it was Paul who imprinted on you, Jared is too childish" Since Paul proved that he was capable of holding himself back when he didn't return Jacob's punch, the chief feel more than assured that he would behave around his grandchild. Now, it's important that they spend as much as time together so Rowan would feel comfortable with him close by.

"I don't know what that means, do I need to know?" The chief frowned, unaware that Rowan didn't know anything about it yet. "Good luck Paul" he murmured under his breath. It's hard enough for the tutor to teach Rowan about algebra, he pursed his lips, pitying the boy already.