New moon
Chapter two, muffins

The wolves were impatiently waiting for Paul to stop rambling about his awful luck. This had been going on for months, and they were starting to get sick of it. Even now, in Billy Black's house, he didn't stop.

"It's not fair, I still think the ancestors made a mistake or are just playing some sick joke on me." Paul groans but before he can continue his rambling, Sue Clearwaters smacks him over the head with her kitchen towel causing the others to laugh while Paul complains.

"Dude stop complaining, I think I speak for everyone when I say this. Shut up." Embry grins, as everyone chuckles once again. Looking at Paul for his dramatic reaction.

"Easy for you to say, you're not glued to a bloodsucking monster for the rest of your life," Paul says annoyed crossing his arms like a child who didn't get his way. Even if in a way, he wasn't glued to her since it had been months since he last saw her.

"At least she's hot," Embry says under his breath, but everyone still hears. Paul, not liking or appreciating the comment, throws a piece of toast at Embry's head. "What it's true! At least for a vampire, I wouldn't blame any of her victims who probably followed her blindly." He jokes, causing Sam to flick his forehead since Emily rolled her eyes.

"Don't talk about her like that! I'm sure she doesn't have any victims, right?" Emily says unsure looking around the group who shrugged their shoulders. Knowing nothing about the girl, and the little that Jacob did know from Bella, he wasn't going to share. Not wanting to talk about her at all.

"Doesn't matter, whether you like it or not she's your imprint and you will protect her," Sue says, putting another plate on the table. Staying loyal to the tribe and ancestors who chose the cold one. If they chose her for Paul, that had to mean something.

"Don't you mean, protect everyone from her," Jacob adds with a smirk but Paul doesn't like that comment so he kicks Jake under the table, making sure to use all his strength.

"OW!" Jacob yells in pain, pulling out his chair and glares at Paul with hatred. Not expecting such a reaction. "I thought you didn't like her."

"Only I'm allowed to bad mouth her." Paul shrugs as if he didn't do anything wrong, "I don't like it when you do it."

Jared rolls his eyes at the comment, "That doesn't seem like a healthy relationship."

The others nodded with teasing smiles on their face when Paul's face drained.

"Gross! Don't say things like that-" Paul started to say but stopped when Billy and Charlie stepped into the kitchen. The chief of Forks holding a basket of chocolate muffins. Even since Sam rescued Bella, Charlie has been very grateful and has ignored the awful rumors about Sam's cult. Especially since Billy trusts him and they seem like a nice group of guys.

"Was about to head to work but wanted to drop these off," Charlie says holding the neat basket up filled with delicious-looking muffins. This quickly gained the attention of the boys who looked at the muffins hungrily. Not caring where they came from at the moment since they smelled good.

"Muffins! Would you believe me if I told you, I was just thinking about some. It's like you read my mind." Jared says giddy standing up and wanting to be the first to grab one.

"Obviously. Man, you're always thinking about food." Embry chuckles but leads forward to grab one. "Have no idea how Kim puts up with your appetite," Jared glares but doesn't say anything since Charlie was present.

Charlie chuckled handing the basket over and watched as the guys quickly leaned forward to grab one. Sam grabbed three, one for Emily and another for Sue, seeing as the guys left a room for them to grab some.

"Bella's friend loves to bake but always makes too much and I can't have these in my house. They're addicting and I can't get fat." He says, smiling but knows Gwen loved to bake so he'll have more soon. It wasn't possible for Charlie to reject her baked goodies, he didn't want to hurt her feelings and they were amazing.

Billy chuckles at his words and as true best friends teases, "Can't have that happening, who will catch the bad guys."

Charlie rolls his eyes and is about to leave when Embry yells eagerly.

"Stop please!" He begs, "You have to tell me who made these so I can marry her because if her muffins are this good imagine her other stuff."

Jared goes to grab his second and groans in pleasure as he bites into it. "This is the best muffin I've ever had!"

"Hey." Emily and Sue say causing Jared to smile innocently and take another bite of it to avoid saying anything else.

Charlie wanted to laugh at the boy's eagerness, but couldn't exactly blame him. Gwen's baked goods were addicting and everything she made was delicious. The blonde has never made him a bad plate. Sometimes during family meals, Charlie insists on her joining and she agrees only if she cooks. So Charlie can confidently say Gwen's food was the best. However, the chief of forks couldn't help but be hesitant to give an answer.

For a moment Charlie considered lying, but knew it wasn't right. He had to give the girl credit where it was due. She deserved it.

But the chief knew full well the hatred and dislike the Quileute people had for the Cullen family. It was crazy to him that Billy refused to go to Forks Hospital after Carlisle Cullen started working there. But still, Charlie couldn't lie.

Like a proud father, Charlie says, "Gwen Cullen, a very talented and bright girl she is. I don't think there is anything she can't do. Everything she makes is delicious."

As soon as the truth was revealed, every single shapeshifter dropped the muffin in disgust and disbelief. Except for Emily and Sue who rolled their eyes at the boy's childish behavior. In their mind, it was a waste of food and it wasn't like the girl had poisoned them.

Charlie sighed, expecting this reaction and just shook his head. He quickly said goodbye to Billy, promising to be back later to watch the game. He wasn't about to stick around to possibly hear them bad mouth her.

Paul looked down at the table where his muffin stood and was conflicted. It was hard to believe that his imprint made these delicious muffins when she couldn't eat anything solid.

"I can't believe we just ate those," Jacob says in disgust, throwing his half-eaten muffin in the trash. "I'm surprised he would ever accept something from a bloodsucking leach like her." He continues reaching for the basket to throw away. Not wanting anything from a vampire in his precious house.

However, Jared and Embry's eyes go wide and both reach to grab it. "No way! You can't just throw them away. It's wasting food," Jared concluded dramatically, as Embry nodded in agreement. Both looking at Sue and Emily for backup.

Jacob meets Paul's intense gaze and scoffs when he realizes Paul isn't going to agree with him. Like he normally does about cold ones. "Let go, Embry. You can't eat these, they're probably poisoned. Aimed to get rid of us,"

As if Gwan somehow knew Charlie was going to donate her muffins to them. At least that was going through Jacob's mind.

"You're being ridiculous, Bro. They're tasty and I'm hungry, it would be a waste to just toss them." Embry rolls his eyes, ignoring Jacob's glare. Not caring about his ridiculous beliefs when it came to food.

"Yeah, Jake. You're being stupid." Jared said with a mouth food causing Sam to give him a look.

"I wouldn't put it past someone like it." At the comment from Jacob, Paul stood up and walked over to him annoyed. Sam sighs, probably feeling stressed at their childish banter. It was like the fifth time, just in one day. And the night was just starting.

"Don't call her it." Paul snaps coming face to face with Jacob who pushes him away.

"Oh cut it out Paul, you couldn't shut up about how much you hated her like 5 minutes ago." Jacob snaps back, causing Billy to walk by in and roll up in the middle of both of them.

"Not in the house," Billy says but knew it wasn't going to do much. Sam grabs Paul's shoulder knowing his anger is still a work in progress. The imprint also didn't help the issue, just made it worse.

"You're just bitter since Bella isn't your imprint." Paul snaps back, knowing exactly what to say to hurt him. Bella was a touchy subject at the moment, everyone knew that.

"Ohh." Embry and Jared say quietly, happy that the attention is off them and their muffins. Sue rolls her eyes once again and grabs a muffin from the basket before they all disappear. "Saving one for Seth, chocolate ones are his favorite." She says before walking out to the living room causing Billy to sigh and follow after her, not wanting to get involved.

"I don't know that yet." Jacob growls, not liking Paul's words at all, "She could be."

"But she won't and we all know it," Paul growls back causing Sam to step in the middle and push both away.

"Clam down, both of you. I don't think Billy will appreciate his kitchen ripped to shreds." He says in an authoritative tone, "Besides, I think you're forgetting about the muffins." Looking at the two shoving their faces.

The two boys eating the muffins groan, not liking the attention back on them.

"Sam's right. Stop eating them, I bet they have blood in them. Or poison." Jacob says looking at them with a pointed look.

"I agree with these two, these are good. Better than mine even. Which is shocking since she can't exactly eat them." Emily comments pointing at Jared and Embry since she enjoyed the baked goods. Emily was even trying to put her finger on the ingredients.

Sam shakes his head as Embry shoves a huge piece inside his mouth when Jacob tries to take it. "Enough about the muffins. I'm sure the Cullen wouldn't try to poison or feed blood to the chief of police."

Paul without even realizing nods in agreement, but stops once he does. Mentally groaning and upset with his action.

"Maybe if we're lucky, she'll step on our land and we'll make her our slave cook. Or I'm sure Paul can flirt his way into her dead heart and she'll make us more." Embry says another ridiculous thought.

"I say we kidnap her and force her to make us more." Jared nods in agreement, both boys were crazy at this point. Both are in their own delusional world.

"I would never flirt with her! She's dead!" Paul replies, and stutters at the thought. Starting at them in disbelief, not believing that his own friends would think of him in such a way.

"While at least let us get the recipe. I'm sure Emily can copy it." Jared nods taking another bite from a new one.

"Jake, maybe you can get it from Bella. You know casually, so the Cullen doesn't find out." Embry shares another idea hopefully. Causing Jared to eagerly nod in agreement.

"No way, he'll obviously fail and we'll be punished by having to listen to him complain about it." Paul jokes, loving it when he gets under Jacob's skin. It was also so easy nowadays, Paul couldn't help himself.

Jacob's jaws tighten in anger, but before he can snap back. Embry laughs and says something before thinking, "Will there really be a difference to his whining now."

"I don't whine! I simply share my valuable opinion-"

"And we seriously don't care," Paul says back with a smirk but Sam once again sighs. Jacob looks like he's about to shift.

"Enough, Jacob. Besides it's almost your turn for patrol." The older guy says trying to change the subject and distract him. But Jared just leads back in the chair and takes a deep breath, enjoying his last baked good.

"I can't believe you two finished them all," Emily says in disbelief before shaking her head as the two looked at her innocently.

"I want another one," Embry says to himself and looks casually at the wall just thinking. Jared agreed and did the same. Both thinking of the previous idea and turn to look at each other with a smile. Then looked at Jacob.

But it seems like Sam thought of that previous idea, and shook his head, "You two aren't allowed to ask Bella or Charlie for the recipe. You're cut off,"

Both their mouths drop in disbelief, Embry says sadly, "You literally just read our minds."

Jacob groans, before nudging the guy next to him "Not fair." But another idea pops into his head, "Wait! What if Embry falls in love with her, and does marry her. That changes things right?"

Paul growls and shakes his head, glaring at them, "Stay away from Gwen Cullen. I'm serious,"

Both Embry and Jared ignore him and share a look, which only pissed off Paul more.

"All is fair in love and food war," Embry says before running out with Jared right behind him before Paul can grab him.

Sam chuckles but looks at Paul seriously. "Paul you're allowed to be close to her or for heaven's sake talk to her. It's been months, this isn't good for you or her. We don't know what will happen if you continue to avoid her."

Paul thought of his words, the elders haven't exactly been pleased to find out that one of their own imprinted on a cold one. Their natural-born enemy but knew nothing could be changed. So even if the blonde didn't know it, she was technically allowed to be on their land and the wolves couldn't do anything about it.

Gwen was an imprint, no matter her species, she would be as protected as Emily and Kim. It was their most important and sacred law. Paul knew, that hurting her would be like hurting himself. It was strange that they hadn't experienced any type of pain since the imprint is something that refuses to be ignored.

However, the elders believe that since Gwan is a vampire, it changes things. Sue says, their separation is a way for them to come to terms with each other. Or more like, to allow Paul to come to terms with her. But strongly believes that once they meet, they won't be able to stay away from each other. If only Paul knew, how true that statement would become.

——

Gwen Cullen has had a very long couple of months, at first Bella was completely broken and a bit useless. The human spends all day in a constant loop, waking up after a night of terrors, going to school then comes back to sit in front of her window. Just staring outside as if Edward would magically show up. She was numb and every day that passed only seemed to be worse than the last. However, when she started hanging out with Jacob Black, it turned her world around. At least for a bit. 

But that still didn't help the nightmares, Kim felt so guilty about them. Sometimes, knowing Charlie needed a break she stayed over and helped out. The blonde had done her best to comfort her human best friend but not much seemed to work. It almost felt as if her presence only made everything worse.

However, Bella hasn't been doing good lately since Jacob was ignoring her and dodging her calls. Gwen figured his time finally came and he was now a shapeshifter but there was no way to confirm that theory. She successfully avoided them like the plague.

Her family has called but they never ask about Bella knowing she was probably doing as worse as Edward. Alice and Gwen are constantly talking about everything and miss each other terribly. But even though Rosalie encourages her to come join them. Gwen simply can't, not after promising Edward and seeing Bella so heartbroken.

Charlie Swan has been so kind to her as well, checking on her at least once a week to make sure she is safe. In his mind, the woods were no place for a young girl to live alone. If only he knew how untrue that statement truly was.

Also, another thing on her mind constantly was the fact that she haven't seen Sam nor his group around since that faithful day. Carlisle had told her they'd probably check up on her after that first meeting since Sam needed to talk to the elders but hadn't heard from him.

However, the dark silver wolf was on her mind, more specifically his reaction to her. His growl and angry look made her dead heart hurt. It was a pain she'd never felt before and that confused her very much. Especially since why would it hurt, she didn't know him.

But she wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of her happiness and pleasure so the blonde vampire was currently in Port Angeles waiting in line to meet one of her favorite authors. Suzanne Collins.

The author had just released the final book of her popular series, The Hunger Games. Gwen loved it but cried very much when her favorite character died. Although, Katniss and Peeta got the happy ending they deserved which they deserved. Gwen wanted to get her book set signed and was very excited standing in line outside.

While the blonde was looking down reading the final chapter once again, she didn't notice Paul and Jared staring at her from across the road. One was glaring and the other was amused.

"Look at her just standing there, blood-sucking-" Paul started to insult but Jared bumped his shoulder. Not wanting Paul to start his rambling once again.

"Hey, no need to be so hurtful. Her muffins were delicious-" Jared says in a defensive tone. 

"Quit talking about the muffins," Paul snaps back, annoyed with the constant babbling about them. He and Embry were seriously on his last nerve.

They watched as the blonde vampire walked inside the bookstore, hugging books to her chest with a huge smile on her face. Paul couldn't help but admire her for a moment. Embry's earlier statement wasn't a lie.

Gwen Cullen was beautiful, anyone with eyes can see that. Paul would be an idiot to deny it. But he just couldn't get over the fact that she was a vampire. His natural sworn enemy.

Jared sighed and looked forward, his voice series this time. "Do you seriously believe you could kill her? if you had the chance, I mean."

Paul clenched his jaw, not saying anything. He couldn't find the right words to say. He wanted so badly to lie but couldn't. If given the opportunity, Paul strongly believes he wouldn't be able to do it.

In a way, Gwen was his. His imprint. His person. Even if he hated the thought, it was true. He could stay away from her. Possibly never interact and stay away from her. Paul could complain about her until his voice gave out. But kill her?

No. That he couldn't do. Not mentally and especially not physically. It would kill him too.

"You have to make a decision, Paul. And if you want my advice, give her a chance. You don't have to be her lover. That's not how this works, be a friend."

——

NOTES: This chapter has been done for so long but I haven't found the right time to edit so I never posted it. Eventually, I forgot about it, I'm so sorry but here it is. So excited for the next one.

Please ignore any mistakes! ONCE AGAIN: this story started off with her name as Kimberly but halfway through this chapter, I realized Jared's imprint was named Kim. And immediately had to go back and change the name. So if you see any Kimberly, forgive me. The next chapter will 100% not have any since I haven't started it.

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Word count: 3427