Call of the Heart // Paul Lahote

XXI

     "Ellie, I want you to go with Jacob to Bella's. Try and keep the peace." Sam ordered and Elizabeth chuckled.

     "Let's go, Jake."

     Elizabeth and Jake took off running to Bella Swan's residence. She'd called Jake the night before to tell him about an intruder in her house and to ask the pack for help. Since the intruder was a vampire, the pack gladly took the opportunity to rip another one of their enemies apart.

     Jake and Ellie greeted Bella shortly and went through her house, the scent of the new vampire immediately hitting them and they shared a look before going out front again.

     "Whoever it was left their stank behind." Jake commented, a scowl still visible on his forehead.

     "It won't be hard to miss when we come across it again." Elizabeth smiled.

     "We'll handle it from here." Jake spoke up again.

     "We don't need you to handle it or anyone." Edward gritted through his teeth.

     "I could care less about what you need." Jake snapped back.

     "Easy, both of you." Elizabeth stepped between them, noticing the look on Bella's face. "We're all doing this for the same reason, so why don't you both back up." She lightly pushed against the boys' chests and they both took a step back, still glaring at one another.

     It wasn't easy, having the pack work together with the Cullens, but they were all doing it to protect Bella and Charlie. When the Cullens needed to hunt, the wolves would guard Bella's house in their presence. Either way, Bella was always protected and so was Charlie.

     "Ready for your first council meeting tonight?" Elizabeth grinned at Seth when he got to Sam's.

     "I'm done reading about all this stuff, I want to be part of the action." Seth complained, wrapping his arms around Elizabeth's waist as she continued cooking their lunch and she chuckled, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

     "Still trying to steal my girlfriend, little Clearwater?" Paul joked, handing Elizabeth a bag of bread rolls she'd asked for and quickly sneaking a kiss.

     "She was mine before you even came into her life." Seth stuck his tongue out at Paul and the two of them started play fighting, making Elizabeth shake her head in amusement.

     "Where is everyone?" Seth asked her when she put the food on the table.

     "Jake's with Bella, Sam and the others are doing a quick perimeter run and I think Em's visiting some family." Elizabeth told him and the three of them started eating.

     They cleaned the dishes and Seth started playing videogames in the living room. Elizabeth grabbed Paul's hand and dragged him outside.

     "Walk with me?" She asked him and he smiled, the two of them strolling around close to the house.

     "I wanted to ask you something, and it's completely fine if you don't want to or don't feel like it-" Elizabeth started rambling and Paul made her stop and look up at him.

     "What's up?" He asked her softly.

     "I want to move back into my house after graduation and I was wondering if you, maybe, wanted to move in with me?" She asked, smiling up at him sheepishly.

     "Just you and me?" Paul asked her and she nodded.

     "Just you and me."

     "That sounds like a dream come true, of course I want to move in with you." Paul smiled at her and she grinned at him.

     "Really?"

     "Of course, Elle, I love you." Paul chuckled and Elizabeth grinned even wider.

     Paul pulled her closer to him and kissed her passionately. Elizabeth smiled and melted into the kiss, feeling nothing but extreme happiness.

     "Alright you two, that's enough." Sam scolded them and they chuckled, following him back to the house.

     When the sun started setting, the pack started making their way over to Billy's. Usually, council meetings would be held on the beach, but it was decided to hold it closer to home this once.

     They got a fire going and grabbed some logs to sit on. Sue and Leah brought over the food Sue had been preparing and while they were waiting for Bella and Jake, the pack was laughing and joking around. Elizabeth was sitting down next to Paul, his arm wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him and her head resting on his shoulder.

     The pack got quiet when Bella and Jake joined them. Their alpha's eyes warning them that this was a serious meeting and they should all listen very carefully. Of course, most of them had all heard the stories many times before, but that didn't mean they were allowed to be disrespectful towards their elders.

     "The Quileutes have been a small tribe from the beginning, but we have always had magic in our blood. We were great spirit warriors. Shapeshifters that transformed to the power of the wolves. This enables us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe. One day, our warriors came across a creature. It looked like a man, but it was hard like stone and cold as ice. Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire could completely destroy it. They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone and they were right. She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed. Taha Aki's third wife could see that he would lose. The third wife was no magical being, no special powers but one. Courage. The third wife's sacrifice distracted the cold woman long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared, but one remains. The cold ones. Our magic awakens when they're near and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming, and we must all be ready. All of us."

Everyone's eyes glanced over to where Bella was seated, next to Jake. They'd hoped to see some kind of recognition or realization that even though the Cullens weren't bad, they certainly weren't good. All she showed was fear of what was coming, her faith in the cold bloodsuckers still strong. Elizabeth didn't feel disappointed though, she'd expected Bella to remain faithful to her vampire family. If anything, Elizabeth respected the unwavering loyalty Bella showed them, even if it might one day cost her her life.

The council was dismissed and the pack hung around, eating what was left of the food and simply enjoying each other's company on a beautiful night like this one.

Even with the threat hanging in the air, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel this overwhelming feeling of happiness and home when her eyes met Paul's. He was joking around with Jared, Embry, Quil and Seth while Elizabeth had been caught up in conversation about graduation with Leah.

Realization hit her that no matter what happened, no matter what was coming next in this life filled with uncertainty and adventure, Paul was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. The one she wanted to wake up next to every day for the rest of her life and grow old with, to tell the younger generations about their legends and guide them through life.

There was only one thing that crossed her mind that made her frown and look away from the person that provided her with all this love and happiness. She could never have children with him. In the time that she had been able to turn into a wolf, her period had stopped coming and Leah had confirmed that the same thing had happened to her. They concluded only one thing, female werewolves, no matter how rare, were sterile.

With everything that had been going on, she hadn't brought this up in conversation with Paul yet. They'd had a conversation where Paul had told her about how he's always wanted kids and to see them grow up. It's something that she had always wanted as well. She had no idea how she would ever be able to start that conversation and break the news to Paul that having kids would never be an option for them and it broke her heart even thinking about it. That was a worry for a different day and she tried to shrug it off for now, her eyes glancing back up to where Paul was and her smile returning when she heard his carefree laughter ringing in her ears.

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