𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙧'𝙨 𝙀𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 

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𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫

╰┈˚ · ° .   THE GREEN AND YELLOW SPOTS THAT COVERED THE AREA of my forearm were now fading more and more as the days passed— and I couldn't be more than grateful to have the last physical remainder of that night away from my sights.

The few cuts on my hand from the shattered glass had quickly healed, just like the one on my cheek.

There were only the memories.

Emily and Kim were a deadly duo this time of the year. I had never felt as much Christmas atmosphere until now, with the two of them hellbent on decorating the entire house and making the perfect tree.

With just a few days from the 25th of December, Sam had called a free day for both the pack and the coven from patrols so we could spend the evening all with each other— and to make his imprint happy, decorate the house and christmas tree together.

"Is it done?" Emily, with her hands around a steaming mug of hot chocolate, asked, as Sam, Jared and Paul entered back inside the house that smelled like pine, chocolate and marshmallows. The question wasn't aimed at any of the three though, but at the smaller girl that trailed after them with the most excited grin on her lips.

"Yes!" Kim beamed with an eager and cheerful nod. "Oh!" Her eyes were literally sparkling as she spoke, "It looks so good."

"I would have expected it to be since we have been trying to hang those lights for the past three hours." I turned my head then after hearing his voice. Paul let out a scoff, throwing himself on the couch directing a pointed look at the earth witch. "I am never going anywhere near you during christmas."

"Don't be so grumpy, you little grinch." The girl rolled her eyes, before another grin lit up her face, "It's christmas!"

"Nothing is little about me."

"Your ego included, Paul." Amelia snarked back.

"Give me that." I turned to look at the second-in-command of the pack. Jared held his hands in front of him, stalking through the room with eyes focused on the hot chocolate in my hands.

"No." I replied, scowling at him, "It's mine."

"I have been ordered around for three hours straight. In the snow, might I add."

"She is your imprint, not my problem." I scoffed, before motioning for the entire room with my hand, "And what do you think we did, relax? Took a nap? Sergeant Emily was up to our asses too, you know. Commanding us left and right."

Once again Jared tried to pry off my hands the mug not even listening to what I had said—unsuccessful, might I add.

"I need it more than you, I was out in the cold and snow."

"You can't even feel cold, Jared. You are just in wearing your shorts, for fuck sakes! Get off of me!"

"Can you two stop?"

"He started it!" I replied to my brother who had just spoken without moving my glare away from Jared. "Keep the leash on your dog tighter."

"Hey!"

"What?"

Amelia snorted amusedly at my comment, "That was a good one."

"Thank you."

"Alright!" Emily clapped her hands, her voice overpowering the chaos that had quickly formed as we all talked above each other. "Time to decorate the tree!"

"Yes!"

"Oh fuck no."

But even if no one was as enthusiastic as the two girls, I could count that day as one of my favorite memories in all my life. I could see it, the bond that had been created in the last year... we were a family.

══════ 🜂🜁🜃🜄 ══════

╰┈˚ · ° .  New Year's Eve. The afternoon turned to night, and soon, we were only an hour off from the end of the year.

I could hear inside the house the laughs and shouts. We were a bunch of loud people, that's for sure.

The door closed behind me as I took the time to take a breath of fresh air. My eyes had betrayed my still fragile heart all evening, searching Paul at every corner. When he smiled, my eyes were drawn to him, when I heard his laugh, my ears rang and my lips tilted upwards as well. My heart had been beating in my chest a bit too quickly for the entirety of the night with want and yearn.

He was not good for me nor for my heart.

And still, he made me happy. Now, it just hurts as millions of questions bloom in my mind.

Was it even real?

And I voiced just that when I heard the door open at my back. I knew he would have followed me outside. I knew it was him without even needing to look. At least now I knew why I had been so hyper aware of him. The bond might not be the same in the slightest for me, but it helped in some ways.

"Was it real?" I asked, already dreading his answer.

"What do you mean?" Paul said, caught off guard by my sudden question. He had not even had the time to fully close the door behind him.

I had not spoken to him since that night, the night where I found out that he had imprinted on me. We hadn't talked once since that day, I had tried to be as far away as possible, and even in the same room, I would try— most of the time fail— to not look at him at all.

"You hated me, Paul. Before you phased, you hated me." I let out a scoff of disbelief as I turned to look at him with a month worth of hurt— or maybe it was years because I couldn't say that I had totally forgiven him for everything that had happened before. "You glared at me whenever you saw me— I didn't even talk or look at you and were glaring at me from across the room. You tried everything to make me angry and snap and whatever the hell you were trying to do. You were always—"

"You definitely loved— love doing that to me more than I have ever done." His smile made my heart clench. "Don't lie and say that you didn't get a kick at making me angry, Beatrice."

"Don't cut me off." I glared, ignoring how he could make me feel so much, with such a simple action. And the fact that he was right

"Sorry." He replied, hands thrown up in the air with a smirk that I knew he was trying to conceal.

Well, he did a very bad job at it.

I might have loved getting on his nerves– still do— but Paul loved every second of me fighting him, that much I knew for certain. He hated when I gave him no reaction, but he loved that I didn't bend to his anger and tauntings. A part of me knew that that was the reason why he came back to me again and again before.

I took a breath, my chest heaving with that single movement, "Was it real?"

Paul scrunched his eyebrows at my question, not understanding it once again "What, Beatrice? What was real?"

"Us!" I had lost my patience at that second, the pain almost overwhelming me. Because I cared, I fucking cared about him more then I have ever thought it was possible to care about someone— "Were we real or was it just the imprinting?"

I had not expected him to laugh, but he had done just that. Paul laughed until he was bent over clutching his belly.

"What the fuck! You think that's funny?" I snapped, turning around to leave, but I had not even made a step before I was tugged back to look at him.

"You think that I want you just because of the imprint?" Paul let out a chuckle, but it was then that I noticed how there wasn't much amusement behind it— it was almost one of self-deprecation. "You think that what I feel for you is just because of it?" A second and he had pressed me against the wall, staying only inches away, close enough to feel his firm chest against mine. "You can't blame the imprint Beatrice. I would love to say that it's true, it might be more dignified. But no, it's not. Because you, Beatrice Uley, have been stuck in my head for years. And I fucking hated it. I hated that I wanted you, I hated that I couldn't have you. So no, I'm sorry to say that it was not the imprinting. Is that enough of an explanation?"

I was speechless, struck frozen in place by his words and the raw truth of them. I could only look at him with parted lips and not knowing what to say. But the revelations were not over.

"I love you." Paul said, whispering the words and keeping his gaze locked with mine. "I love you. My wolf might have chosen you but I did too, and I did it way before I ever phased."

Love. Such a simple word that held so much meaning.

"You love me?" I asked to find my voice again. It was frail and quivering, I was afraid that in some way I had misheard him. I wish I had heard him right, because I wanted him. I wanted his love more than my next breath.

"I do." not an ounce of hesitation, "I love you."

He loves me.

"I love you." He repeated again, this time with his lips close enough to brush against mine. "I love you."

We crushed like a brewing storm. Our lips melted against the oher, tongues tied, bodies pushed together as if we couldn't bear the thought of having a single whisper of space between us. A hand traveled to the back of my head, making it tilt backwards, enough for Paul to have more access and deepen the kiss. I was not expecting it, the ferocity with how he kissed. Like he couldn't breathe without my lips on his.

And the words that I had never thought I would utter to him finally left me the instant we pulled apart for the lack of oxygen in our lungs, "I love you too."

✎˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

THE L WORD!!! They said the L word, omg, i'm gonna cry.

We came so far with this fic, and I know it was a long wait but I hope it was worth it! We finally have our pair.Wasn't it totally obvious that Paul liked Beatrice from before he even phased into a wolf? It was, it really was. Paul was not subtle. He was obsessed with her, let's be honest. Now, we can continue with the plot of New moon!

Little appreciation for Jared and Trixy's siblings moment pls.The Christmas moment together with all the pack and coven was so cute, istg. I love them all so much!

Thank you for reading this chapter, I'll see you on Thursday!

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾