Rayonnante - Paul Lahote

Chapter 6

Lena couldn't help but smile when she saw Paul waiting for her outside of her last class of the day. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, he'd been glaring at everyone that was staring at him and whispering. It wasn't exactly surprising how fast gossip travelled in their small high school. There wasn't really anything better to do so students tended to latch on to anything even remotely interesting and milk it for all it was worth. Paul had always been seen as one of the most attractive guy on the reservation. That status had just elevated sky high after his transformation. Almost every girl in La Push had tried to seduce him. And yet he'd remained completely indifferent to their advances, the story of Sam, Emily and Leah reminding him that he didn't want to get involved with just anyone. That had drove everyone crazy trying to figure out what was going on with him. It's not like he'd been a man whore before turning into a wolf, or anything like that. But still, he'd been a teenager with raging hormones and had dabbled quite a few times into the dating world. Rumors had spread about his newfound celibacy. Maybe their cult didn't allow them to date? That didn't make much sense since his friends were both in committed relationships. So maybe a serious partner was imposed to them and they had no choice but to agree? Was he gay? Or better yet, did the steroids make him impotent? He'd almost lost it when he heard that one. Jared had dragged him out of the cafeteria before he could pummel the little rat who'd spread that theory. And so, obviously, when people started school this Monday morning and realized that Paul was suddenly attached at the hip with Lena Blanchard, they had questions. They'd never seen the two so much as look at each other and yet he'd almost killed Ian for putting her in harms way. Everyone could see their clear attraction for each other. That much was made obvious by the way they both smiled like fools when they were together. Everyone was trying to figure out what could possibly have brought the unlikely pair together. Lena was the definition of sweetness, always happy and helpful. Paul, on the other hand, was straight up terrifying. One glare from him could cause nightmares. So why was it that he basically turned into a soft puppy when he heard her laugh? He couldn't help but grin when he heard two freshmen admit to each other that Paul and Lena looked really good together. They were saying that, while they would've never predicted that this would happen, now that they were seeing it this pairing just made sense.

"I was in English with them this afternoon and they were so cute! They kept looking at each other and blushing. I ship it!", he heard a girl whisper to her friend.

Before he could start to ponder on the meaning of "shipping", however, his eyes found who he was looking for. Grinning, he walked towards her. Already he felt much better. He didn't know how Sam and Jared could handle letting their imprints out of their sight. He'd spent the day freaking out at the possibility that a vampire could get to her too quickly for him to intervene. And as if the thought of bloodsuckers harming her wasn't enough, he also had to deal with a surprisingly big amount of jealousy. Everyone that Lena talked to became somewhat threatening to him. As selfish as it was, he wanted all of her attention. Sure, he knew that this shit wasn't healthy and he'd never dare to actually cut her off from the world like he found himself wanting to, but that didn't stop him from feeling possessive.

"Hey, how was your class?", he asked her.

"It was okay! What about you?"

It took him a few seconds to even remember what class he'd just come from. Obviously, his thoughts hadn't been too focussed on school today. His throat got dry as she brushed her air off her shoulder, revealing more of the skin that her shirt didn't cover. He noticed that she had a few freckles near her collarbone, matching the ones splattered across her nose and her cheeks. Paul wondered if she even realized how tempting she was, with her long legs he just couldn't stop picturing wrapped around his waist and perfect curves he wanted to explore for hours. She was a walking contradiction, innocent and adorable yet so incredibly desirable.