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FIVE; KRULL

PAUL GRUMBLED to himself as Embry laid down beside him. He had to remind himself that despite Vitani being his imprint and the love of his life, he still had not won the bet yet and patrol was a regular thing.

"Yeah, keep reminding yourself of your future loss, Lahote," Jared laughed, approaching the two.

"Thank God you're finally here. I can take a break and try to concentrate since the woman is driving me crazy."

Embry and Jared raised their wolf eyebrows. "Which woman," Embry smirked. "Vitani or Princess Sophia?"

Paul cursed their mental telepathy, accidentally letting it slip about Vitani's nickname for his special body part.

Jared snickered and Paul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"Don't you remember him saying after the Seahawks game that him and Vitani were meant to be?" Jared asked Embry in a cruel tone.

"We are," Paul glared at the both of them. "But that was when Vitani was the good different — she was this amazing, fun, cool, and sexy woman. Now, it's like I'm interacting with a very different but similar Vitani. It's like she's on crack, and she seriously needs to check her dosage."

"She's probably bipolar," Embry suggested.

"Well, her south pole's definitely prevailing."

"Who's south pole?" Quil asked, approaching the conversation.

"The love of Paul's life," Jared responded teasingly. It earned him another menacing glare.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out. She's your imprint, after all," Embry assured.

"Boys!" Sam's voice approached, staring heatedly at all of them. "I send you on patrol to ensure our town is safe, not to gossip. Jared and Quil, take your shifts. Paul, Vitani's at the house to see you. She said she has a surprise."

Paul's eyes widened, but began his trek back to Emily's house, nonetheless. He phased back before he entered, pulling up his jean shorts. Vitani was sitting with Emily inside the house, conversing quietly.

Once she caught sight of him, the biggest grin spread on her face, going from ear to ear. "Muffin!"

"Vitani!" He replied with just as much enthusiasm.

"My little muffin," she giggled, standing up to greet him. He pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Hi, there. Me and the guys were just talking about you."

"Hi," Vitani waved at Embry and Sam, who were watching from the door with curiosity in their eyes.

"How are you? You look gorgeous," he complimented.

"Thank you," she blushed.

"This is Embry and Sam," he introduced.

She nodded and shook their hands. "Oh, yes. Pauly-Wauly has told me so much about you two."

Embry smirked. "Well, Pauly-Wauly said wonderful things about you too."

"Oh, they don't look so simple-minded," Vitani giggled at Paul. Embry and Sam gave Paul questioning looks. "Honey, look what I got for us."

Vitani revealed her surprise, bringing a dog out of her purse and showing him to Paul. He almost passed out from sheer surprise. "Look at him! Isn't he just so cute?"

"Wow, he's just so adorable," Paul feigned excitement. "What is it?"

"A Chinese crested, of course," she spoke, acting as if everyone knew the breed. Vitani was surely lucky that Valentina had so many dogs that she was willing to just give one away. Her best friend was making her job so much easier.

"No kidding. A Chinese crested." He took a closer look at the animal. "So, it's like a dog, right?"

The dog barked at him and Paul took that as a sign of confirmation. "Paul, you're hurting Krull's feelings."

Sam decided to weigh in. "Krull, is it?"

"Krull. Krull, the Warrior King!" Vitani confirmed.

"Oh, sure, because that's clearly what-" Embry began, staring at the tiny dog.

"Oh, wait, there's more!" Vitani interrupted him, pulling something else out of her bag. She set the dog on the floor. "There's something else I got for you."

"What do you got there?" Paul asked, staring at the plaid tee shirt. "Oh, this is for me?"

Vitani nodded in excitement and handed it over to him. Embry leaned over to whisper to Sam. "It looks like the inside of a raincoat."

"Yeah, this will fit nicely, sweetheart," he smiled and kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

"Try it on! Paul, you should try it!"

Embry smiled, his day was just getting better and better. "You should try it on, Paul. You don't know if it's gonna fit."

"Yeah," Sam joined in on the fun. Emily rolled her eyes at the two boys. "It's never hurt anybody."

"Well, I was going to save it for a special occasion, but-" Paul started, tugging the shirt over his head. He hated the scratchy fabric, but said nothing and smiled at his imprint.

"Oh yeah, that looks really nice on you," she complimented. She stared up at him as a wistful smile painted her lips. "It's gonna be a happy little family, just the three of us." She stared down at the dog who was licking her feet. "We are, aren't we? That's our boy, Paul."

"See, that's sweet," Embry commented, wanting to frame a picture of Paul in that horrendous shirt.

Vitani began tackling Paul in a large amount of kisses and he laughed. "Hey, hey, hey! Vitani, it's good to see you too."

"Woah," Sam clicked his tongue in disapproval as Krull began peeing on the kitchen floor.

"Oh," Vitani spoke once she noticed. "He's just not potty trained yet. Come here, my little Tinkle King!"

She scooped up the dog in her arms. "He's the Tinkle King, isn't he?"

"Listen, Vitani, Paul has a lot of work to do, but we'll be at his house later to play cards."

"Oh, of course," she grinned at Sam. "Boys night!" She handed the dog to Paul and kissed him. "I'll talk to you later. Bye, boys!"

When Vitani grabbed her bag and left the house, Paul sighed and stared down at his new furry friend.

Embry nearly fell over in a heap of laughter. "Boy, your imprint is really something else."

"She sure is."

♡♡♡♡♡

Paul blinked to ensure he was seeing correctly. There were seventeen new voicemails on his phone, and he could not believe the sight before him. During his patrol shift, Vitani had left him messages with two minute intervals between them, questioning his whereabouts and rambling about how much she missed him.

There was a sudden knock on his front door, and he assumed it was one of the guys showing up for game night. He swung open the door only to be greeted by his imprint.

"Pauly!" She shrieked, jumping into his arms and pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Vitani!" He spoke, a little shocked. She giggled and unwrapped her arms around him, walking into the house. "What a surprise."

"I've been trying to get a hold of you," she reasoned. She walked to the kitchen, and Paul quickly scurried after her. "I did something kind of wacky."

"Yeah?" He questioned, eyeing her purse.

She pulled a scrapbook out of her bag. "Yes. I used photoshop at school today to composite our faces together to see what our kids would look like." She showed him the scrapbook, which had three words embedded on the cover. "Our. Family. Album!"

She giggled, and Paul's eyebrows raised slightly. He obviously understood that him and Vitani would have children eventually, but he had not expected her to be so direct about the subject.

Vitani read his pause of silence as a bad sign. "You don't want to see our children?" She asked, bottom lip quivering.

"No, of course I do!" Paul assured, resting his hands on her shoulders. She stared up at him with puppy dog eyes. "But, Vitani, we don't have children yet."

Vitani pretended the words stung her. She turned her back to him, collapsing in a heap of sobs. "I hate you!"

"No, no," he immediately panicked, coming by her side to see her and the scrapbook. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Show me, please show me."

"We don't have children!" She mocked him in a deep tone, tears still streaming down her face. She should win an Oscar after this performance.

"No, I thought you meant Krull," he said, pointing at the dog who was sitting by their feet. "Will you show them to me?"

"You don't want to see them," she frowned, wiping her tears away.

"I do, please," he begged, wishing for her forgiveness. "Please show them to me. I really do want to see them."

"Really?" She asked in a hopeful tone.

He nodded. "Yeah."

She suddenly smiled, all misgivings forgotten. "Okay."

She opened up the first page of the scrapbook, revealing a photoshopped page of Vitani and Paul's faces attached to a bride and groom.

"Oh, that's our wedding," she said happily, giggling. She flipped to the next page. "And this is our first child, Paul Jr.."

She continued to flip page-after-page, each one showing a different stage in their lives. Paul was slightly frightened, to be honest. He had never moved so fast or been so serious with a girl before.

The house phone suddenly began to ring. Paul stood up to answer it.

"Yeah?"

"Paul!"

Paul had not heard his mother's voice in quite a while. She rarely called, only to greet him on his birthdays or question how well his father was taking care of him. He never held a respective relationship with the woman.

"Mom?"

"Could you put Vitani on the phone for me?"

He didn't really register her question, still taking in the fact that she was calling in the first place. "Yeah, here she is."

He handed the phone off to Vitani, who seemed to be expecting the call. "Oh, great! Hi!" She spoke cheerfully to Paul's mom. "Yeah, I just showed him. He thinks our children will be very attractive."

Paul suddenly came to his senses and wondered how Vitani got ahold of his mom. She began laughing, and he was curious about what the two were speaking about.

"Alright, you go back to cooking," she said a few moments later. "Call me later. Yeah, tomorrow is perfect. Love you too. Bye."

She handed the phone back to Paul with a smile.

"So you and my mom talk, huh?"

"Yeah!" She agreed with a happy grin. "I called her to get some baby pictures of you for our book. Hey, you never told me that you wore diapers until you were five."

Paul choked on his own saliva at the mention. He became overwhelmed by everything Vitani was bringing to him. "You know what, honey? The boys are going to get here soon."

She frowned. "Are you asking me to leave?"

"No, sweetheart!" He exclaimed, hating the fact that she was upset over his words. "I want you here always. I'm just not sure if you'll want to be around the guys all night, that's all. We'll be watching the football game and doing gross guy stuff and everything."

"That's too bad! I had tickets for tonight."

Paul's mind suddenly jolted awake. "Tickets?"

"Yeah! Front row seats, right in the action!"

"Well, I guess we can postpone game night to tomorrow, can't we?" He suddenly said, changing his plans for the night. There was absolutely no way he was going to pass up Seattle Seahawks tickets.

Vitani squealed in happiness.

Turns out, when Vitani said she had tickets, she was definitely not talking about the Seattle Seahawks. She was referring to her Rihanna tickets she scored last minute in Seattle.

The pair walked out of the concert in matching Rihanna shirts, and Vitani was over the moon.

"She was amazing, Paul!"

He grumbled under his breath, eyeing the television in the corner of the room that was currently celebrating the Seahawks's win.

"Yeah, amazing."

♡♡♡♡♡

"Feeling lucky tonight?" Jared inquired, moving his bag of chips into the middle of the poker table to signal he was raising the bet.

"Not as lucky as Paul," Embry teased. "Must be nice to watch Rihanna while the rest of us get to watch the Seahawks game at Emily's."

Paul glared at him from across the table. "That's what true love is all about, you ignorant asshole."

"So she's in love with you?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding me?" Paul scoffed at the question. "She's planning the wedding."

Paul smiled in victory, showing his hand to the group of boys. They all grumbled in defeat, watching as Paul took in all of the snacks on the table.

The front door suddenly burst open, and Vitani was lucky it was her, or else the startled wolves would have assumed it was an intruder.

"Paulykins! I'm home!" She surveyed the scene before closing the door. "Hi, honey."

"Oh, hey, Vitani," he greeted with surprise.

"She has a key?" Quil asked.

"Is that legal?" Embry added.

"I wasn't expecting you," Paul shouted as Vitani made her way into the kitchen. "How did you get a key?"

"Oh, honey, I saw your dad when I dropped by before school today!" She hollered from the kitchen. "He made me a copy!"

"My dad, huh?"

She frowned at the tone in Paul's voice, walking out of the kitchen and back into the living room, where the pack was playing. She was carrying Krull in her arms, who was attentive to her every word.

"You're not mad, are you, Pauly-Wauly?" She asked, coming over to his side.

"No, no," he immediately disagreed. Jared and Embry raised their eyebrows, clearly making bets from across the table.

"You're not mad?" She clarified.

"No, no, I'm not mad," he said. He motioned around the table. "You remember the boys, right?"

"Oh, yes!" She said, setting down the dog on the table. He immediately began stepping in their pizza, and the boys were quick to voice their disagreement. Vitani re-introduced herself throughout the commotion. "I didn't mean to interrupt your little game. I brought some yummy snacks!"

"Snacks?" Quil asked, the word capturing his attention.

They began the second round while Vitani came around with a plate full of sandwiches. She came over to Embry and scolded him for eating pizza, ripping the food from his mouth.

"Embry! Yucky, yucky, yucky pizza! Here," she said, stuffing a sandwich into his mouth to replace the pizza. "Yummy, yummy, yummy cucumber sandwich!"

She set the plate in the middle of the table, and paused while she waited for someone to grab one. Paul read her silent message and reached for one, while the boys followed his actions.

The pack delved back into the game and Vitani retreated back into the kitchen. She ran her hands through her hair, frustrated. What else could she possibly do?

It was like Paul wouldn't break up with her, no matter what. She tapped her fingers on the counter, trying to think of new ideas. She eyed the box of tissues near the sink, and grabbed one, heading back outside.

She came over to Paul's side, holding the tissue up to his nose. "Blow." The game paused, and all of the guys looked at him with amused faces. "Blow! Nobody likes a Mr. Sniffles."

"I hate Mr. Sniffles," Embry agreed, holding back his laughter. Jared was cackling into his hand.

"Come on, stuffy head," Vitani encouraged, holding the tissue higher.

Paul gazed around the room at his friends's snickering faces, and blew his nose into the tissue. Vitani clapped her hands and smiled.

"Good! Such a healthy boy," she giggled. Her eye suddenly caught the fern she bought him in the corner of the room, dying because of his lack of care. "Oh, no!"

She gasped, heading over to it and picking it up. "Our love fern! It's dead!"

Every eye turned to Paul, wondering how he was going to fix this mess. Vitani looked like she was on the verge of crying.

"No, honey," he soothed. "It's just sleeping."

"You let it die!" She yelled, turning to him with anger painted on her face. "Are you gonna let us die? Hm? You should think about that."

She choked up, walking away from the group, carrying the dead fern in her hands.

Sam leaned over to speak to Jared. "What the hell's a love fern?"

Vitani returned back to the kitchen, trying to contain her laughter. She didn't understand how she was pulling this off. She heard Embry's voice drift from the living room.

"Is she on something?"

"I hope so," Paul replied, twirling his finger around his temple to signal she was going crazy, just as Vitani walked back out, carrying a plate of veggies in her hand.

Quil cleared his throat, subtly pointing at Vitani standing behind Paul. He jumped and stuttered. "Oh, hi, sweetheart."

She leaned down to face him. "Are you saying I'm some kind of mental person?" She shouted, throwing the veggies in the air and landing them all over the table.

"No, he wasn't-" Embry jumped in to defend his pack mate.

"Oh, Embry!" She hissed, brushing him off. She stormed to the kitchen. "That's it! That is it!"

Paul stood up to go comfort her. She walked out with the fern in her hands. "I'm taking this love fern with me!"

She left the house with Krull barking for her to return. Paul quickly followed her out.

"Hey, hey, hey, what just happened in there?" He questioned once they were on his front lawn.

Inside, Embry looked at the group. "I'm going to go listen."

"Me too!" Quil exclaimed.

The whole pack surrounded themselves near the window, watching the scene unfold.

"Look, Vitani, this is getting really creepy, alright? You're acting a little crazy," he said in a calm tone.

"So you did call me crazy," she scoffed.

"No, I said you're acting crazy," he corrected. The dog was still barking through the front door, and Paul turned around to yell at him. "Shut up, Krull!"

Vitani gasped. "He's an innocent animal!"

"And he'll live, okay? I'm talking to you."

She turned around and began walking away. "I don't know if I can be with somebody who doesn't like animals and thinks I'm a mental person."

"That's what I'm talking about," he countered. "Where's the sexy, cool, fun, smart, beautiful Vitani that I knew? The one who wanted to be a serious journalist? You're up, you're down, you're here, you're there. You're like a freakin' one-woman circus, Vitani."

She tried to hide the smile creeping on her lips as she turned back around to face him. "So I guess this means we're over?"

He sighed, frustrated. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Fine," she shrugged.

"Fine!" He exclaimed, going back to his house.

She exhaled a sigh of relief. "Oh, finally."

However, deep down, she felt some part of her tug at her heartstrings, longing to return back into his arms.

i can't believe my professor assigned this movie to watch for homework lmao