Chapter Two:

Bella's POV:

I leant my head against the passenger seat window of my truck and closed my eyes, letting the cool glass soothe my aching head. Embry and Jared were bickering about something or other in the cramped seats next to me, but I couldn't be bothered to follow their topic of conversation. Sam had ordered both Jacob and Paul to stay behind, and after a while of protesting they finally agreed that some discussion was needed. I would have preferred to stay as well, so someone could tell me what the hell was going on. Four giant men phasing into four giant werewolves was definitely enough weirdness for one day, but my reaction to Paul was a whole other thing.

Now that I was no longer in such close proximity to him, my mind had cleared slightly. One minute I was slapping him, the next I was fawning over how gorgeous he was. My first thought was that he was a complete ass, laughing at me when I confronted them about Jake- he had been so patronising, and even now that my hand was still stinging I didn't regret slapping him. But then something changed, something clicked into place. And for the life of me, I still couldn't figure out what. I contemplated asking Embry or Jared, but then thought better of it. I hardly wanted to admit that I was still thinking about the tall, muscled, brooding wolf.

My truck came to a sudden stop and I jolted forwards, banging my arm against the glove compartment.

"You good?" Asked Embry with raised brows. I nodded my head mutely, although I'm sure I looked a complete state. We had pulled into a small driveway that lead to a pretty little cottage decorated with vines, roses and bluebells. The garden both smelt and looked beautiful, and I wondered how the owner kept the plants in such good condition with such awful weather.

"Where are we?" I asked, my voice sounding small and apprehensive.

"Emily's house- she's Sam's fiancé."

Jared opened the door without knocking, and the two boys strolled indoors causally, shouting out a few words of greeting. I followed them, unsure of what else to do.

"Hey boys. Where are the others?" Asked a soft female voice.

"There were a few complications." Jared said, his mouth full with some sort of food. "Long story short: Bella over there" he gestured towards me, and I tried not to shrink into my shoulders. "knows that we're wolves. Paul got mad and phased, then he and Jake started fighting, Sam got involved and kept them behind, blah blah blah."

"I see." Emily looked over to me, and I made the mistake of staring for a little too long. Three thick scars ran from her forehead all the way down to her collarbone, marring the whole left side of her face. The right side was so beautiful and kind, a complete contrast. She gave a small, knowing smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh, and also, Paul imprinted on Bella."

Emily's eyes widened at this, and my head snapped to look at Jared. "Excuse me?"

"What, you couldn't tell? I thought the 'You're mine' speech would've given it away."

"Slow the hell down. What's imprinting?"

Both boys looked at each other, then back at me. "Jake didn't tell you about that part? I guess it makes sense, seeing that he was kind of bummed about not imprinting on you."

"Jacob didn't tell me anything." I said defensively, folding my arms across my chest. "I figured it out."

"Clever girl." Commented Emily, put I was too worked up to blush at the praise.

"We should probably let Paul tell her. It is kind of his right." Embry interrupted.

"No." I said automatically, in the same adamant tone I had used with Paul. I was not going to sit in the dark any longer.

He raised one eyebrow. "Favourite word of yours?"

I threw my head back in frustration, but refrained from stomping my foot against the ground like a stroppy teen. "Just tell me."

Jared sighed and clicked his tongue, then looked over to Emily with trusting eyes. "What do you think?"

She tucked a strand of thick, dark hair behind her ear and drummed her fingers against the kitchen counter. "As long as you aren't afraid of Sam and Paul giving you grief, I think it's only fair that you tell Bella now that she knows you're hiding something from her."

I sighed in relief, my head throbbing in anticipation.

"Okay. You might wanna sit down- this gets slightly weird." Jared warned, and this time it was my turn to raise my brows.

"Any weirder than what I've already seen?"

His hesitation was the only answer I needed, so I pulled out a chair and sat down silently.

"Right, so out of the five of us, only Sam and I have imprinted. Sam on Emily, and me on a girl called Kim. You'll love her- she's so kind and pretty and amazing." Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Embry roll his eyes, and Emily let out a giggle. "As soon as you look into their eyes, it's like your soul is tied to theirs. They instantly become the most important person in your life, like it's not gravity that pulls you down to the earth, but them."

It took me a few moments to force any words out. "And Paul… did that… to me?"

Jared scratched the back of his neck. "Well, he didn't really have a choice."

"Then who choses?"

He shrugged. "The gods, I guess."
I wasn't satisfied with that answer, but kept my mouth shut. "But I don't feel that way towards Paul. Not that intense at all. So you're probably wrong- maybe he didn't imprint on me." My tone was filled with relief, though it wasn't wholly genuine. To some extent, I was slightly disappointed with my conclusion, although I'd never admit it.

It was Emily who spoke this time. "The imprintee feels a very dulled down version of what the wolf feels. That is, until he or she is marked." She pulled down the arm of lavender her shirt and revealed more of her copper-coloured skin. On the space between her neck and shoulder was a huge bite mark. Two deep punctures that had now formed scars.

"As soon as I was marked, my connection to Sam was a million times stronger. The wolf marks his mate to tie her down, although Sam consulted me before doing it, of course. I could never leave him, lie to him, hurt him or love another man. I'm his eternally." She said with a love-sick smile on her face, and I secretly agreed with Embry's gagging gestures.

"Jesus. I could never imagine Paul being tied down to anyone, especially-" Jared looked over to me and trailed off his sentence.

"The leech-lover?" I finished for him, and he gave an apologetic smile. I rubbed my chest instinctively, although the pain still hadn't fully returned. Not knowing how to process this new information, I sat there in silence and fiddled with my thumbs. What now? I thought to myself, stomach churning and thoughts running wild.

"Why did he call me his? Y'know, when he started saying 'mine'." I blurted out.

Jared gave an amused smile and shrugged. "I guess that's just how he feels. After imprinting on Kim, I read some old legends about this shit. Some wolves were so possessive over their mates that they would keep them in cages."

I felt the blood drain out of my face.

"Jared!" Emily scolded.

"What?" He asked innocently. "All I'm saying is that some wolves chose to be less… gentle with their mates than others do. They enjoy punishment." He gave a menacing smirk and I dropped my head to the table, covering my ears before Jared could make me feel even more sick. I heard muffled laughter and hissed in annoyance.

"I can hear them now. They're walking back in human form." Embry stated, and I raised my head from the table slowly.

"Any more questions before your one and only returns, Bells?" Jared asked teasingly, already picking up on my nickname.

I thought about it, and then nodded. "I slapped Paul, and he got angry, but didn't explode until a few minutes after. I don't understand."

"You slapped Paul?" Emily all but gasped, her hand flying to her chest.

"Yeah," Embry snorted. "She's a badass."

I blushed and rolled my eyes. "Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Sure." Jared said, speaking with his mouth full again. "So basically, you slapped him and he growled at you in warning. He had just imprinted on you at that point, so was probably having mixed emotions about phasing on the spot and freaking you out. From how I saw it, he was giving you the chance to back down and show your submission- in human talk, he was waiting for you to say sorry. So he was staring you down, waiting, but you just glared back. He growled again and you still didn't move, so I guess that's what pushed him over the edge and made him phase."

"Huh." I said, finding this unbelievably weird but so intriguing at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, eyes wide and full of concern.

I nodded. "Sam pushed me out of the way in time."

"Shhh." Embry hushed me, and I gave him an offended glare. He shrugged and spoke in a low voice. "If they- well, Paul- hears that we've been talking about them, he won't be happy. He won't be happy that you're talking to any other male but him, if I'm honest."

I cringed and took in a deep breath. "Well he's going to have to get over it. I have friendships to uphold."

Emily and Jared shared a worried glance. Embry just laughed, leaning back in his chair carelessly. "Boy, this is gonna be fun to watch."