Ember ↠ Paul Lahote ✓

13

𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄
you are worth being good for.

CLARY WALKS ALONG the beach, a soft smile on her face as her curly red hair in a ponytail flips around in the wind. She kicks at the sand, feeling sad her girls aren't here with her.

"Hey!" Someone yells from behind Clary, making her turn around quickly and raise her eyebrows at one of the boys she met a week ago. "Clary, right?" He asks with a grin once he's close enough.

"Yeah." Clary nods, staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Paul... right?"

She isn't going to lie—she feels the physical connection to him. It's as if he holds her down now, not gravity. It weirds her out since she's never felt like that about anyone before.

Paul's grin widens. "Yes." He chuckles before clearing his throat. "I know we don't know each other, but I was wondering if you'd like to come over and hang out at this thing we're having over at a friend's place."

Clary hums before nodding. She has nothing better to do than dodge Bella, who keeps asking questions about hybrids and other supernatural beings. "Will there be food?"

Paul laughs and nods his head. "Of course. Emily makes the best food around here. You will not find a person who makes better food."

"Then, yes, I'll come," Clary tells him, grinning. She eats a lot of food because of her werewolf side. "Where is it?"

"Right this way, m'lady." Paul holds out a hand, but Clary just raises an amused eyebrow. "Okay, alright. Just follow me. It'll only be a ten-minute walk from here."

"Lead the way." Clary trails after Paul as he walks into the woods. 

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WHEN SHE AND Paul arrive at Emily and Sam's house, the entire pack is there, which Clary doesn't know.

Deep down, though, she knows that, much like the Cullens, something's up with them supernaturally.

"You made it!" shouts the cute boy, Seth, who basically fell in love with Lizzie at first sight. "Where are your friends?" He asks, his smile dimming slightly at Lizzie's notable absence.

Clary frowns. "They had to go home," she says simply before sniffing the air, the smell of food making her stomach rumble. "I'm starving. I'm going to grab something to eat." She walks away, leaving the boys alone.

Music blasts from speakers around the bonfire, and people are dancing, smiling, and laughing.

Clary grows sad at the sight, missing her best friends. She knows that if they were here, Lizzie would be on the dance floor, causing mischief as usual.

After Clary grabs a place and piles two bacon burgers on it with a side of fries, she walks over to the bonfire smack-dab in the middle of all the fun.

She sits down on a log, proceeding to devour her food.

The boys and girls around her watch with wide, surprised eyes. They've never seen a girl eat that much and that fast, especially a girl they know isn't a shifter.

"Damn, I've never seen a girl eat like that," Paul says as he takes a seat beside her, a smile on his face. "Are you still hungry? I brought you a plate." He hands her a plate with only one burger and a handful of fries on it.

Clary looks at him as if she's offended. "You really don't know how to please a woman, do you?" She grabs the burger and takes a gigantic bite.

"Well..." Paul clears his throat. "If I'd known you were going to eat like me, I would've brought you two full plates," he responds, looking at her with fondness in his chocolate-brown eyes.

Clary moans, closing her eyes as she gets a particularly big tasting of bacon. "You really know how to make a sentence sound so pleasing." She opens one eye when she hears Paul choke. "You alright?" She questions, though it's mostly muffled due to the food still in her mouth. She swallows quickly, asking once more, "You alright?"

Paul nods, patting at his chest. "Yeah, I'm good." His cheeks are red, but Clary ignores it and goes back to eating her food, occasionally glancing over at him.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" He asks out of the blue, turning around fully to face her, to which Clary raises an eyebrow. "I want to talk to you, and there are too many prying ears around here."

"As long as you don't try and murder me... sure," Clary enthusiastically replies, standing and clapping her hands together to get rid of food residue.

"I would never hurt you," Paul says, very seriously. 

"Okay..." Clary trails off, pursing her lips.

She's heard many people say that, but end up doing just that. She's gotten hurt one too many times to fall for it again.

After a few minutes of walking in the woods in silence, Paul comes to a stop, his back turned to her. "I have something to tell you... Something that may shock you."

"What is it?" Clary is a rather impatient person, so she grows agitated the longer Paul says nothing and keeps his back to her. "Spit it out already," she demands.

Paul sighs and turns around, something unreadable swimming around in his eyes. "My people... we have this thing—this uncontrollable thing that we do. We can never control when it happens and who it happens to."

Clary crosses her arms. "What are you talking about, Paul?"

"It's called imprinting," Paul says, biting his lip. "It's basically soulmates... Actually, it is soulmates." He takes in a shaky breath. "It's so hard to describe. It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like... gravity moves. When you see them, suddenly it's not the Earth holding you here anymore." He makes eye contact with Clary. "She does. And nothing matters more than her. You'd do anything for her, be anything for her... You become whatever she needs you to be, whether it's a protector, a lover, a friend, or a brother."

Clary furrows her brows, trying to process what he's saying to her and why. "So... you imprinted on someone?"

Paul nods. "You."

Clary stumbles back, her eyes widening in shock, and her breath catching in her throat. "No..."

Paul goes to take a step forward, but Clary whips around, and to his surprise, turns into a brown wolf as she runs away from him.