⌜ chapter ten ⌟

Jay chuckles to herself as she rolls over on Paul's bed. "How do you sleep on this?" She asks, and he smirks as he looks over from where he's playing video games on his Xbox.

"With my arms and legs hanging off." He tells her, which then prompts the little brunette to roll onto her stomach and try to have her own arms and legs hang off his bed. "You're a comedian."

"It's how I entertain myself in a house full of crazy."

A few minutes of silence pass, and Paul looks over again to see Jay watching him as she lays on her side. She's clutching his pillow as she stares at the side of his face, and she smiles when his dark eyes meet hers.

"Can I help you?" He asks.

"It's funny watching you get mad, but try not to yell at the tv." She tells him, and he smirks. "I was never good at controlling my anger when Jeremy would beat me in a game."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

"What time are we leaving?" She asks, and he shrugs.

"Whenever it's dark enough to light a bonfire, I guess."

"And Bella, Marie, and Kim are gonna be there?"

"All the imprints are invited to anything we're at." He tells her. "And Jake still seems obsessed with Bella, so she's invited too."

"She wouldn't be invited just because she was always with me and Kim?" She asks, and he shrugs.

"I don't know. It's not my call." He says as he sets his controller down. "He asked Billy, and the council decided that her being there tonight would be a good idea."

Her eyebrows furrow as she sits up, giving him room to sit with her. "And why's that?"

"Billy's gonna be telling stories about our tribe tonight. It...pertains to recent events."

"Recent events?" She echoes, and he looks down at his hands in his lap. "The Cullens moving back to Forks."

"And the other two showing up in the area — the one with the dreads and the woman with the red hair."

"But not because I brought Stefan and Damon to town?" She asks, and he shakes his head.

"Sam's talked to the elders about there being two different kinds of vampire; they didn't know either." Paul tells her. "Our stories are only about the vampires that we call the Cold Ones — ones like Edward and the others."

"Weren't Emmett and Rosalie with the Cullens the last time they lived in Forks?" She asks, and he shrugs.

"Maybe, I don't really know. Either way, you don't have a scent like Edward does — it's different with you. But I can smell their scent on you when you come here after you've been at school with them, or at their house." He explains. "So, the scent of Edward's kind was probably on the other two. My ancestors wouldn't have thought there was a difference."

"Isn't it possible that your ancestors came across the same thing before and just didn't realize?"

"Possible, yes." Paul nods. "But it's not likely. You'll understand better when Billy tells the story tonight. I can't tell them like he can."

"You're not much of a storyteller?" She teases, and he's glad that she doesn't seem offended by anything he's said. "Can we go now, pleeeeeease? I wanna see Kim."

"Yeah." He nods, a smile tugging at his lips as he looks at her. "Let's go."

"Good." The little brunette then grabs his hand and pulls him out of his room. "Because if you had said no, I would've just left without you." She tells him, and he chuckles as he follows after her.

—

They're now all sat around the bonfire, waiting for the last to arrive. Billy has Sue and Old Quil sat on either side of him, and Quil is sitting to the left of his grandfather. Sam's on the log next to his with Emily curled into his side, and Paul's laying on a blanket on the ground, his back propped up on a log. Jay's leaning into his chest for warmth, and he has his arm across her lap as her legs sprawl out in front of her on the blanket. Jared and Kim are in a similar position on the other side of the blanket, and Stefan and Damon are sitting on a log a few feet away from them.

"You're full of it." Marie chuckles from her place between Stefan and Embry, looking at her best friend as she shakes her head.

"No, I'm not— Damn it. Kim, tell her." Jay leans to her left, her arm reaching over Paul's legs to smack her arm.

"I mean... He did practically barrel through the front door." Kim agrees. "He had to be going pretty fast if he couldn't slow down in time."

"You had our resident Marine worried that he would lose that race?" Seth asks from the other side of Embry, his eyes wide. "I wanna hear his side of the story."

"If he ever shows up." Jay says. "I thought I was bad about seeing everyone. Where is he?"

"The hospital." Kim tells her. "I think he tries to stay busy ever since..." She clears her throat, looking down after her gaze briefly met Leah's, who's sitting between her brother and mother.

"Sorry I'm late." A woman leans down next to Billy and kisses his cheek. "We got in very early this morning, and I slept longer than I meant to."

"That's okay." The older man says as she squeezes in between him and Old Quil. "This is my sister, Nora. Nora, this is Jay and Marie — Paul's and Embry's imprints."

"And the mystery men?" She questions, eyeing the Salvatore brothers.

"Stefan and Damon — Jay's guardians."

"Why is she looking at us like that?" Damon asks as he leans toward the younger boy.

"Something about you seems familiar." Nora says. "Though I can't quite place it."

"That's probably a good thing." Jay interjects. "Can we please move on?"

"Are you ashamed of me?" The blue-eyed vampire asks as he looks at her, and she nods.

"Kinda. Most days."

"Rude." He glares at her, and she smiles sarcastically at him.

"Hey!" A male voice gets their attention, and they all look over to see Henry jogging toward them. "Sorry I'm late."

"That's alright." Billy says. "We're still waiting for Jacob and—"

"Bella!" Jay smiles when she sees her friend walking over to their group with Jake.

"Hey." She waves, and Seth rushes over to greet the older boy. He seems to look up to Jake quite a bit.

Seth and Jake start wrestling, and Jay quickly points at them. "See? I'm not the only one who starts fights." She says, and Paul nods as he grabs her hand.

"Yes, but Seth is more evenly matched than the fights you like to start." Her imprinter argues.

"I can take him." She narrows her eyes at Damon, and he chuckles as he looks at the younger girl.

Billy whistles, gaining everyone's attention, and Seth then walks back over with Jake and Bella following close behind him. Everyone settles, and Jay sinks closer to the ground, resting her head on Paul's chest as she looks over at the elders.

"The Quileutes have been a small tribe from the beginning, but we have always had magic in our blood." Billy begins. "We were great spirit warriors, shapeshifters that transformed into the powerful wolf. This enabled 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."

Damon looks over at Jay as they listen to Billy tell the story of how Quileute shapeshifters came across a red-eyed vampire that had killed some of their villagers. There were women laying dead at his feet, and two of the wolves attacked.

"Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire would 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."

The red-eyed woman tore the village apart, and there were people screaming and crying, fleeing for their lives. The chief found his wife sobbing in the dirt with their son in her arms, and he charged at the vampire. But it had been many years since he had last phased, and he was old at the time of the attack.

"Taha Aki's third wife could see that he would lose. The third wife was no magic being, with no special powers, but one... Courage."

She took her son's hunting knife from his hand and got to her feet. She held it up in front of her, preparing herself for the pain that would follow her next action, and then she plunged the knife into her stomach. The smell of the blood pulled the red-eyed vampire's attention away from the wolf, and she released Taha Aki in order to go after her.

"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 big bad vampires." Damon glares at Billy, but the older man's expression remains unfazed and emotionless as he looks back at the vampire across the fire.

"The old ones." Billy corrects, then his attention returns to his tribe. "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."

"Yeah, but no hero acts. You hear me?" Damon looks at Jay as he gets to his feet. "I don't need you dying to save your wolf. Especially in some...stupid way."

"Stupid?" Leah questions. "She saved our tribe."

"She didn't have to die." He says as he looks at her. "If the idea was to use blood to distract the creature, all she had to do was cut her palm."

"The third wife wasn't stupid when she made that sacrifice." Jay argues, and he then turns his attention to her. "In hindsight — sure, she could've acted in a way that wouldn't end with her dead as well, but she wasn't thinking rationally. She was grieving and she was scared. She was holding her dead son in her arms, and she was about to watch her husband die too. She made a split second decision in a moment of grief and...desperation. She died a hero, Damon."

"I don't care." He shakes his head, and she sighs as she looks at Paul. "I promised my best friend that I'd make sure you were alright. So, don't die saving your boyfriend...or Bella."

"Yes, Dad." She nods as she looks back at him and his brother. "Uncle Stefan, take him home before I'm tempted to show him what the third wife felt when she died."

"That's not very nice." Damon tuts. "Didn't I teach you better manners than that?"

"You'd have to have manners first." Stefan grabs his shirt and pulls him away from the bonfire.

"I'm sorry, Billy." Jay says as she looks over at him. "I appreciate you and the elders allowing us to hear your histories. You shouldn't have to be subjected to his idiocy."

"You will always be welcome with us, Jay." The older man tells her. "We can handle a bit of closemindedness."

"Closeminded." She hums as she looks at Paul. "He's a lot more diplomatic than I'm capable of being." The brunette smirks, and he chuckles as he shakes his head at her.

The group disperses after that, but Jay quickly finds her way back to the fire — it's warm and it makes it easier to be around so many humans. She chuckles as she watches Paul fight Jake for more of the food, and then Emily sits on the log beside the teenager.

"It's been awhile since I've seen you." She says, and Jay nods.

"I know. I'm still working on it." The younger girl tells her. "But I've been doing better."

"I noticed." Emily smiles. "Paul's seemed a lot happier lately. He really likes having you around so often."

"I like having him around."

"Talking about me?" The boy in question smirks as he makes his way over to them.

"I hope I'll see you at the house sometime soon, Jay." Emily reaches over and squeezes her hand before going to find Sam.

"How are you doing?" Paul asks as he sits on the log; his legs on either side of it so that he can face his imprint while they talk.

"Can we have a bonfire every time we get together like this?" The little brunette asks as she looks at him, and he offers her a small smile.

"It is a pretty good way to block out other smells, isn't it?" He asks, and she nods.

"I've always liked bonfires anyway. It's a win-win."

"Me too." He nods, leaning toward her. "It can be the perfect setting."

"Oh, yeah?" She raises her eyebrows, a small smile tugging at her lips as she moves closer to him. "Perfect for what?"

"A lot of things." He says as his gaze falls to her lips.

"Like finally kissing your—"

Paul closes the distance between them, pressing his lips against hers. The kiss is soft and sweet, and she smiles as he rests his hand on the side of her face. After a few seconds, he pulls back, but lets his forehead rest against hers.

"Finally kissing my what?" He asks, and her smile widens.

"You tell me."

They suddenly hear the other boys yelling, and Seth doesn't sound particularly happy. There are a few chuckles from the girls, and then Kim's voice joins the mix.

"Way to go, big brother!" The Conneweller girl yells as Jay and Paul look around to see what's going on.

"That's my sister!" Seth's hands are over his face. "Is there something in the air around here or something? I'm never leaving the house again if this is gonna keep happening."

"What..." Paul shakes his head as he watches Jared double over with laughter.

"Leah and Henry." Jay points them out, and he looks over to see her staring wide-eyed at the older boy, like a deer in the headlights. "Did she just..."

"And another imprint sucker punched a wolf."

"I'll sucker punch—"

"Violence is never the answer, baby." Paul grabs her hand, and her dark eyes narrow as she looks at him.

"I'm sorry. What was that from Paul Lahote?" She questions. "The reservation's resident hothead? Don't give me your shit."

"No, no. Former hothead." He argues. "I'm a changed man because of you, Miss Sommers."

"You're so full of—"

She's cut off when his lips find hers again, and he rests his hands on either side of her face. The little brunette moves closer to him as her fingers curl around his wrists, and her lips move in sync with his. A few seconds later, she pulls back and looks into his dark brown eyes.

"If you think this is your new way to win arguments, you're sorely mistaken." Jay tells him, and he chuckles as he looks at her. "Now, take me home."

"My home?" He raises his eyebrows, and she shakes her head.

"No." She pecks his lips one more time before getting to her feet.