╭ ⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸ ╮

𝑮 𝑳 𝑰 𝑻 𝑪 𝑯
❝  𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚏  ❞

╰ ⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸⊸ ╯

ㅤ𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 of hesitation on her part, Maria couldn't help but come to the rescue of anyone who needed her help; even if it's Bella Swan. No matter how much she tried to ignore it, something in her gut told her that she had to come with Bella to confront the suddenly AWOL Jacob Black.

For this sudden confrontation, she decided to wear a Sherpa jacket on top of a white sweater, along with a pair of black ripped jeans, as well as chunky running shoes. Despite Forks' constant gloomy and somewhat depressing atmosphere, Maria never hesitates to wear light colored clothing.

(ignore the bag)

She groaned at the sight of Bella's beat-up truck arrive at her driveway. The two had decided to carpool on the way to the reservation, with Bella insisting on using her truck. How she could even stand that truck, Maria will never know. But considering her choices in men, the Stark heir wasn't really surprised at all of the pale girl's decisions in life.

"So..." Maria trailed off, breaking the awkward silence that immediately enveloped the two after she hopped in the truck. "What exactly is the plan here? Are we beating up someone?"

Despite herself, Bella let out a chuckle. "We're going to the Blacks, and I'm gonna try and find out if Sam Uley and his gang are...well, werewolves."

"Excuse me, what?!" Maria explained, her head turning to face Bella so quick she almost got a whiplash. "Are you serious right now?!"

"I-I...w-well, when I first found out about Edward, it was Jacob who gave me the idea to look into Quileute legends," Bella started, "of course, the story of the Cold Ones was the one I focused on, but then Jacob suddenly jumped through my window--"

"Jesus Christ."

"--and reminded me that it wasn't the only story he told me," the pale girl sighed. "And I suddenly remembered the time I got...lost...i-in the woods. I saw a wolf, Mia. I think Sam Uley and his disciples are wolves, and that they killed all those missing hikers. And now they got to Jacob too."

Maria's mind was running a million miles per second with this new information. "Well, if they're werewolves then they're a pack. And if Jacob's been hanging out with them, don't you think he's—I don't know—a new member?"

Bella took a sharp intake of breath. "But Jacob isn't like that! He's not a killer!"

"I'm not saying he is," Maria shook her head. "Don't forget that in every other legend or story about werewolves, they have one thing in common: their supposed mortal enemies are vampires. What if they were only there because of the Cullens?"

It was silent after that. Bella had decided not to reply, not knowing what to say despite understanding Maria's point. But Maria knew that Bella's view on certain things were tainted because of her affiliation with Edward, and bias towards Jacob; the Swan girl was stubborn and always assumed herself right. It was one of the many things that Maria dislikes about her.

"We're here," Bella quickly jumped out of the vehicle, quickly knocking on the door with Maria trailing behind her hesitantly.

"Bella?" Billy answered the door with an emotionless expression, and his tone barely hid his slight distaste. He took a quick glance at Maria who stood behind Bella.

"I need to see him," Bella didn't hesitate, which made Maria cringe and give Billy an apologetic smile; she couldn't believe how disrespectful her friend was being.

"He's not in."

"I'm sorry, I really need to see him," Bella decided right there that it was a good idea to barge into someone's home without the permission of the owner.

"Bella!" Billy called, but he didn't run after her like Maria expected. He instead turned his attention to her. "You here with her?"

"Yeah," Maria cringed. "She dragged me into this. I'm really sorry for imposing. I'm Maria, by the way."

"Billy," the old man introduced. "Charlie's talked about you a lot, says you're a saint."

Maria couldn't help but blush; Charlie was such a good father figure, and it's sad how Bella seems to forget that. "Oh, Charlie's...exaggerating," she chuckled, "I just came over a lot when—Bella!" She noticed how the girl was suddenly rushing towards the back of the house. "I'm so sorry, Billy." She then dashed after friend. "Bella, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

But the girl didn't acknowledge her, marching towards the intimidating group of guys with anger growing in every step. "What did you do?! What did you do?!" She then decided that pushing back Sam with all her might was a good idea.

"Hey!" One of the guys exclaimed.

"Easy," Sam warned, eyes shifting to Maria who was also making her way closer.

"Bella, stop!" Maria tried to calm her down. "Just calm down!"

"He didn't want this!" Apparently, Bella was becoming deaf.

"What did we do? What did he do?" Another one of the guys asked, and Maria desperately wanted to help him calm down despite not knowing who he was, but she pushed those thoughts away and focused on a frantic Bella. "What did he tell you?"

"Nothing!"

"Both of you calm down!" Sam intervened, but he too was ignored. Maria couldn't help but feel useless at this point.

"Jesus Christ..." she muttered under her breath. "Bella is so high maintenance."

"He tells me nothing because he's scared of you!" At Bella words, all four men let out laughs, as if that was a ridiculous accusation; and it only fueled Maria's idea that Jacob really was a new member of the pack. But then Bella stupidly decided to slap one of them.

"Too late now!"

"Bella, get back!" Sam quickly commanded, grabbing a hold of the guy's arm to somehow keep him from exploding.

"Oh my God!" Maria groaned, quickly rushing forward to pull Bella away from the man who looked like he was going to burst. "Come on, you idiot!"

"Paul, calm down, now," Sam demanded, but he was too late.

Terrified, Maria continued to pull Bella away, who was frozen on the spot. "We gotta run!"

Then Paul transformed into a gray wolf. Maria ignored the pull she felt towards the stranger and still tried to pull both her and Bella to safety. The two girls turned and began running, when Jacob suddenly climbed out of his house and started running towards the horse-sized dog.

"Run!" Bella shouted. "Jake, run!"

"Glad to know you don't care about my well-being!" Maria snapped at Bella, before gaping at the sight of Jacob jumping over the two of them, transforming into a brown wolf in midair. Both girls fell to the ground in shock. But Maria smirked, "I knew it."

The two wolves charged at each other, ferociously trying to injure one another. Maria pushed herself off the ground, deciding not to help Bella stand, and instead watch the fight with concentrated eyes. She couldn't believe that creatures like these actually exist. To be honest, she wanted to ask how exactly they transform; she wanted to know everything about them and how they work.

"Guess the wolf's out of the bag," one of the guys stated as he walked towards the two. His eyes lingered on Maria, giving her a smirk. "Haven't seen you before. I'm Embry, this is Jared." Jared gave her a nod in greeting as he helped Bella up.

"Maria," she greeted, giving them both a smile. "Maria Ayutthaya."

"Oh, I've heard of you," Embry nodded approvingly. "Jake told me you drive an Audi."

Maria scoffed, but the smile never left her face. "Why does everyone like my car more than me?"

"Well, no one else drives a car like that, plus," Embry raised a finger as if to solidify his point. "Only a few people here can actually afford that. Anyway, as per Sam's orders, we gotta take you both to Emily's."

Maria had fun while she sat in the back of the truck with Jared. The two held a conversation mostly about cars, like boys do. But he was funny, and even entertained her science-related questions about wolves, to the point where he gave up and said, "Honestly, I got a C in Biology. I have no idea."

Moments later, they arrived in front of a cute house that felt homey even from the outside. Maria thanked Jared who helped her out of the back of the truck and ignored Bella's silent pleads.

"So, uh, Sam's fiancée, Emily?" Jared said to her. "Don't stare, okay?"

"Uh, sure."

"Hey, I think we should go back and see if Jacob's okay," Bella suddenly called out, causing Maria to roll her eyes, moving closer to the two boys. How she suddenly felt so comfortable with these guys is a mystery, but the warmth they gave off—both literally and figuratively—made her feel safe, and weirdly, as if she were home. So, she decided to just ignore Bella for a while and hangout with her new friends.

"I hope Paul sinks some teeth in him," Jared commented. "Serves him right."

Sending a playful look to Maria who snorted, Embry disagreed. "No way, Jacob's a natural. You see him phase on the fly? I got five says Paul doesn't touch him."

Maria had to let out a noise of disbelief at that. These guys are insane, she thought to herself.

"Come in, Bella! We don't bite!" Embry called to the girl who wouldn't leave her truck. Maria turned to Jared who gestured her to step inside the house.

"Speak for yourself," Jared spoke, before following after the orange-haired girl.

Stepping into the threshold, Maria was met with the scent of freshly baked muffins as she leaned on the doorframe. "Wow, that smells good."

"Thank you," the woman spoke, giving her a smile, before turning back to grab the plate of muffins. It was then that Maria realized why they told her not to stare; her gaze landing on the woman's scars before she could even realize it. She was quick to avert her gaze. "You guys hungry? Like I have to ask." Emily chuckled, before facing the newcomers. "So, who are you guys?"

"Bella Swan, who else?" Jared seemed to say with a displeased tone, before pointing at Maria, who gave a polite wave. "That's Maria Ayutthaya."

"Hmm," Emily gave a wave back to Maria before focusing on Bella. "So, you're the vampire girl."

"So, you're...the wolf girl," Bella replied, causing Maria to cringe. But Emily took it in stride.

"Guess so," Emily chuckled. "Well, I'm engaged to one." She then transferred the plate of muffins onto the table, with Embry and Jared pretty much diving in. "Save some for your brothers, and ladies first. Muffin?" She offered the two.

"Sure, thanks," Bella awkwardly replied, moving towards the table.

Smiling, Maria walked closer as well and grabbed one of the muffins, immediately biting into it as she sat beside the chair Jared offered her. "Woah, this is incredible. You gotta give me the recipe for this!"

Emily laughed, giving her a wink. "I'll write it down for you later." She then turned to the guys, her expression resembling that of a mother's. "Leave it to Jacob to find a way around Sam's gag order."

"He didn't say anything to me," Bella denied, sharing a look with Maria.

"That's a wolf thing," Embry suddenly spoke up, looking at Bella. "Alpha's orders get obeyed whether we want them to or not. Oh, and check it out, we can hear each other's thoughts."

"Would you shut up? These are trade secrets, damn it!" Jared complained. "This chick runs with vampires!"

"You can't really run with vampires...'cause they're fast." Maria couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement at Bella's attempt at making a joke.

"Yeah, well we're faster," Jared deadpanned. "Freaked out yet?"

"You're not the first monsters Mia and I have met."

"Jake's right, you're good with weird," Sam noted as he stepped into the house. "And I would assume you are too." He pointed at Maria.

It was then that the orange-haired girl was bombarded with questions from both the wolf boys.

"You knew about the Cullens?" Embry accused.

"Well, yeah," Maria shrugged. "I figured it out. And I was friends with them too."

"Really? Why?" Jared complained, his face in a grimace.

"Why not?" Maria scoffed. "Despite them being the undead, they weren't terrible company, you know? Plus, they seemed kinda lonely because they never talked to anyone else, so I just had to!"

"Mia's a sucker for making new friends," Bella smiled, trying to ignore the sight of Emily and Sam being all lovey-dovey in front of her.

"Ooh, can I call you Mia too?" Embry asked, his attention span seemingly shorter than that of a toddler's. "Maria's like, so proper."

"Yeah, sure," Maria laughed. "Everyone calls me that anyway."

That's when Jacob and Paul returned from their little fight in the woods, and Paul and Maria met eyes for the first time.

For Paul, the second their eyes met, he was bombarded with images of the two together; going on a random, cheesy date, holding hands in a car, sitting beside each other in front of a bonfire, walking together on the beach. He's heard of how imprinting works, his mind directly linked to Sam's, but he never realized how fulfilling it felt, and how the tension in his body suddenly dissipated at the mere sight of her.

But as for Maria, the confusion was clear on her face as this handsome stranger stared at her as if she herself hung the moon and the stars. Everyone else's gaze switched between the two with interest; the attention, as well as the way Paul looked at her adoringly, made her flush in embarrassment. "Hi?"

Snapping out of his trance, Paul felt heat climb up the tip of his ears. "H-hi."

Jared and Embry guffawed, as Sam snickered. All three were too used to seeing Paul acting all macho, and now he was stuttering. Even Emily let out a giggle or two while swatting at her fiancé's chest as he shook with laughter.

"Well, Mia, this is Paul," Emily introduced the two with a grin.

Maria shared a confused glance with Bella, who stuttered out, "I-I'm just gonna go with Jacob for a bit. You're gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," Maria sighed. "It's really nice to meet all of you, by the way, despite the circumstances."

Paul gave Maria an almost shy smile, sitting down across from her. He gave a quick apology to Bella, before turning to face his imprint. He tried his hardest not to let his eyes trail all over her features. "Hey, I'm sorry for...blowing up back there."

A smirk came upon Maria's lips. "Oh no, it's fine. Nothing like seeing someone explode into a wolf; awesome introduction, by the way."

Matching her smirk, Paul asked. "Well, since you pretty much already know my furry little secret, I feel like we should even out the odds."

"How?"

"Wanna go out with me sometime?"

"Smooth," Maria commented with a raised eyebrow, resting her elbows on the table. "But I'm smoother. How about I pick you up tomorrow afternoon?"

Paul couldn't help but grin, earning himself cheers from his pack. "Deal."