Until Death- Paul Lahote

8

"You don't seem happy" he states and I shake my head with a sad smile forming.
"Not really. He's going to get himself in danger when he shifts" I say and Sam chuckles before leaning onto my car as I sit down onto the seat with my feet still on the ground.
"You and Jared do that all the time. Paul's tough. He'll get through" Sam says and I shake my head.
"It's not that, Sam. I don't know if I want that. Of course we'd see eachother all the time and be able to spend a lot of time together but at what price? He'll have to abandon all of his friends like we had to and he'll get himself in danger too. I don't mind myself being in danger but it's a whole another level if I think about Paul fighting a leech. It'll kill me to not be around him all the time when I know he's on patrol"
"You'll have to manage, A. It won't be easy but you'll pull through. The love between the two of you was already there before you shifted and the imprint only made it stronger. Paul's going to be even stronger than ur's"
I look at him unsure. "You sure?"
He smiles at me. "Absolutely. Now let's go. Emily's made lunch"
I chuckle as we both get into my car and drive over to Emily's. The ride there is silent but comfortable.

I'm not essentially holding a grudge against Sam. Not at all. Surely, I'm mad at him for what he's doing to me but I know he has his reasons.
"Have you thought about the Alpha position again?" he asks me.
I shrug. "Haven't really given it much thought right now. The only thing on my mind at all times is Paul"
Sam chuckles. "I know what you mean. It was horrible for me and Emily at first, especially for me. She didn't want to see me and I tried to follow her wishes. I really tried but it didn't work. It was horrible for me" he says, making me look at him a bit confusedly.
"If you know how it feels, why are you doing it to me then?" I ask him and he sighs.
"I think it's for the best. I don't want him to freak out and wait until it happens. I want him to enjoy every last bit of his normal life before he shifts. I hope you understand that"
I weakly smile at him. "I do. It just hurts not even being able to look at him"
"I know. You'll soon be able to do more than just look at him, Alia. Soon"
"I hope not" I say as we drive into the driveway. He smiles at me sadly before we both get out of the car and walk towards the hut.

"Hey!" Emily says happily before hugging me tightly.
"Hey, Em. What are you cooking?" I ask her and she chuckles.
"Spaghetti, if you'd like of course" she says, making me look at her excitedly.
"Please, your spaghetti is awesome. Actually everything you cook is awesome" I say and she laughs before kissing her fiancé with a passionate kiss. A wave of sadness washes over me as I think of Paul again and how I've been ordered to ignore him as if I didn't care about him.
"What's wrong?" Emily asks me and I frown before sitting down in one of the chairs at the table, putting my head into my hands.
"I miss Paul" I state and she looks at me confusedly.
"Why would you miss him?" she asks and I sigh.
"I'm not allowed to talk to or look at him" I say quietly and her eyes widen.
"What? Sam, is this your fault?" she asks angrily, making me stare at them shocked.
"It's better that way, Em. You know it" he says and she glares at him with so much hatred right now that would make me melt and bury myself in the ground if she had stared at me like that.
"Doesn't that pain her? Sam, you can see how much it's hurting her and you're still going through with this?" she asks, shouting now. I feel like a child, watching it's parents fight over something and not knowing what to do.
"I have to. Okay?" he shouts back at her, getting angry now.

I watch the scene envolve infront of me quickly, only realizing that it's to late for me to step inbetween. I manage to jump into it halfway as Sam shifts but Emily still falls back. I groan at the pain that's starting to form in my whole upper body. I shove the feeling aside though as I notice how bad Emily is. She has three huge marks across her left cheek that are bleeding heavily.
"Shit" I mumble before quickly getting up and picking her up into my arms. I watch as Sam's wolf wimpers, staring at me sadly.
"Get dressed. Now!" I say loudly before jogging out to the car with her. I quickly lay her into the back, sitting down next to her before Sam comes running out with clothes on now. He jumps into the car and doesn't waste a second before driving off.
I quickly dial Jared's number. "Jere" I breathe out before Sam takes off his shirt, handing it to me and I hold it to Emily's wound that's bleeding heavily.
"What's wrong?" he asks worriedly.
"Sam shifted infront of Emily and hurt her. I managed to jump inbetween and got most of it but she has three huge claw marks on her cheek and is unconcious. Me and Sam are on our way to the hospital because she's bleeding pretty bad"
"See you there" Jared says before hanging up.
"Are you okay?" Sam asks me with a shaking voice and only with a view at him through the mirror I notice that he's crying. I'm a bit startled to see Sam crying. After all he had hurt his imprint. I don't think I'd ever forgive myself for hurting Paul.
I take a glance down at my belly and sigh. The wounds on my belly are bleeding heavily. After all it was Sam who hurt me. Another wolf of my pack.
"Not really" I say, realizing how dizzy I've been feeling. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to get a grip on myself for Emily. She needs me now.

By the time we arrive at the hospital, I'm feeling very weak, pressing onto Emily's face with all my strength. When we arrive there, Sam's quick to exit before taking Emily from my hands and jogging inside with her. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to get rid of the pain and the dizzyness when I hear Sam say something.
"Alia's still in the car. Get her inside" Sam says.
"What about her healing?" Jared asks.
"You know she won't heal as fast as normally. She'll take a few days and according to the depth of her wounds I'd say she needs stitches" Sam says frantiqually. I then hear footsteps coming closer before Jared stands at my side. He looks at me in shock.
"You jumped inbetween?" he asks with wide eyes and a shocked expression.
"I had to Jared" I say as he helps me out of the car before putting my arm around his shoulder and helping me inside.

Safe to say, I needed a hundred and twelve stitches. Fantastic. The wounds weren't too deep but they had to be stitched.
I wince as I get tackled into a hug by my brother as I enter the waiting area.
"You're so stupid. Jumping infront of a bear" he says, his head in the crook of my neck.
"How's Emily doing?" I ask and everyone looks at me sadly.
"They've stitched her up. She has a bad concussion and will probably be scarred for life" my dad says and I look at him sadly before my eyes shift towards Sam. His gaze is glued to the ground, silent tears streaming down his face, no emotion visible on his face.
"Sam" I breathe out sadly and he looks up at me.
"Alia" he says, his voice breaking. I frown before I sit down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders.
"She's going to be fine" I say.
"I hurt her" he breathes out quietly, only for me to hear.
I sigh. "I know. Don't be too hard on yourself" I say but he doesn't respond. Instead he shakes my arm off while not breaking the eyecontact with the floor once. I sigh before getting up and walking over to our other friends. My eyes immediately fall on Paul and without even thinking twice I sling my arms around his waist, pulling me closely as I hide my face in his chest. Immediately his arms move around me carefull not to hurt me.
"Are you okay?" he asks me quietly, his hot breath tingling on the top of my head. I slightely shake my head.
"What even happened?" Embry asks worriedly.
"Uh, there was a bear near the forest of Emily's house. It tried to attack her but Alia jumped infront and got most of it while Emily got hurt in her face" Jared says, jumping to my rescue.
"Who jumps infront of a bear?" Quil asks confusedly, earning himself multiple glares and even a smack to the back of his head by Embry and Jake.
They wouldn't understand. None of them would, only Jared. The imprints are our most whorshipped rule. No imprint is to be harmed.
I had to jump infront of her. Sam would've never forgiven himself if she'd died in that house and neither would I. After all, it's my fault they were fighting with eachother to begin with.
I would give my life for Emily. No second thoughts.
Paul's arms tighten around me a bit, causing me to feel a rush of pain in my body. It soon washes away though as the familiar warmth and comfort of being near Paul forms in my chest.

It's been a few days and it's been torture on all of us. Jared having to do all the patrols since I wasn't able to shift and Sam had to stay at the hospital. The guilt that was eating me and Sam up for hurting Emily.
I've been on bedduty the past few days and safe to say, the wounds have healed at least a bit. I've taken out the stitches yesterday by myself because they were annoying me and the wound has almost closed on itsself now. I'm pretty sure it's going to leave a huge mark but I guess that's what you get for starting such a fight. I shouldn't have told Emily about it and just lied. Maybe all of this wouldn't have happened.

Maybe everything would be fine right now.