My first day in the office had gone amazing. I felt on top of the work the whole day, courtesy of my previous hard work through college and being completely focused on getting to exactly this place.
I had attempted to mirror the on-trend professional fashion that I witnessed in the office the day before, which was perfect as it was my personal style exactly, wearing my hair in a braid crown across the front and donning a cute boyfriend jean outfit, styled up to be professional and chic.
Naturally, the second I was released from work and finished my daily tasks having gotten a great head start on some campaigns for a new client, I headed to the beach. I hadn't gone for a walk this morning, opting to stay in and get a few hours extra sleep, so I felt overjoyed being able to leave my bag in the car, kick off my heels, and carry them as I let my toes sink into the sand.
I walked for about twenty minutes before I decided to let my ankles feel the freezing water around them, stepping in to the sea slightly to release the tension of the day.
Once again, breathing in the salt water grounded me, making me feel like I was meant to be here in some kind of way.
"Yo, Oakley!" I heard being called behind me as I closed my eyes. Whipping my head to turn, I was met with the man from yesterday, Embry, as he jogged over to me with a smile.
"Hey! Do you ever wear clothes?" I questioned teasingly as I turned to face him, noticing how he looked me up and down subtly approving what he saw.
He laughed at my comment. "Not when I think there's a chance I'll run into you," he quipped, winking at me in the process. I just rolled my eyes at his comment, readjusting my heels in my hand awkwardly.
"How was your first day?" he asked in a friendly tone.
"I'm surprised you remembered, it was really good thanks. I feel good there."
He smiled down at me from his giraffe height as we walked slowly along the shore. "Can I ask you something?"
That caught my curiosity, and I nodded. "Of course."
"How do you know Paul Lahote?"
The question made my blood stop flowing for a second, and I attempted to mask my nervousness by shifting my shoes in my hand once more, and playing with my hair. Clearing my throat, I looked away.
Thank god he couldn't hear or sense how fast my heart was beating.
"I uh...well I've never met him, I don't really know him," I attempted to cover, terrified he may have mentioned me to his supposed 'brother' seeing as they were apparently so close.
He didn't seem satisfied, potentially noticing my discomfort. Maybe I was just a bad liar.
"Well then I'll rephrase if we're going to be that technical. How do you know OF Paul Lahote?"
Dammit. He was onto me.
I stopped walking and allowed my nervousness to show, hoping maybe Embry would excuse me of explaining our relationship if he saw how uncomfortable I was. He stopped walking too, looking down at me with a concerned face.
"Hey, I don't mean to pressure you, sorry. I just know Paul really well, and I care for him a lot, so I'm curious."
Embry's words made sense, and for a moment I considered confiding in him.
"Can you keep a secret from him?" I tested, observing his response to determine my next move.
He smirked slightly. "More or less."
I wasn't confident, but something inside me stirred to know my brother. To test the waters. And maybe easing into it through his close friend was a better way to do so and protect myself from possible rejection.
I'd rather never meet him and be told early than seek him out and be turned away first hand.
I sighed once more, deciding to go for it.
"Okay, I only found out a week ago he existed. I was coming here for work, and my mother seemed really uncomfortable about it, and I ended up overhearing that..." I stopped and backtracked slightly to fill in the blanks. "I thought she was worried I'd find my dad. But it turns out she was worried I would find Paul."
He nodded along but didn't quite understand yet. "Okay, why would she be worried about Paul, does she know him?" he inquired, determined to understand.
"She does..." I shifted and took a step closer to Embry as if I was about to let him in on a secret, aware of how small this community was and cautious to not let my information spread because I was too loud.
"My full name is Oakley Lahote."
Embry's eyes widened at my statement, clearly as shocked as I was.
"Wait...so your mother is Paul's mother, you have his last name...he's your brother?!" he confirmed, putting the pieces together.
I nodded and shushed him. "Yeah. I never knew my father. Mom took off while she was pregnant with me. We moved to Minnesota for a while but then I'm pretty sure he came looking for us, which is when we ended up in Michigan. All I know about him is that his name is Terrance and supposedly he has major anger issues and lived here in La Push."
Embry's eyes flashed with familiarity, putting his own information with mine to add up to a picture. "Terrance is Paul's dad...he left when Paul was 9. He never really knew his mom, she left when he was three or something. It all makes sense now! She left with you!" he concluded out loud, allowing excitement to peak through in his tone.
"I guess that would explain why she was so nervous for me to come here. My family is here, and I never even knew it."
We were in silence for a minute, sharing a shocked and understanding look.
Embry took a step forward and laid a hand on my shoulder, bursting into a grin. "You have to let me introduce you to him." he demanded.
My eyes widened again. "What!? No, I don't know if I'm ready, he probably wants nothing to do with me Embry! I've never met him, I can't just show up and introduce myself, he may not want a sister, I can't handle more rejection, I can't handle him pushing me away if he doesn't want me," I rambled on.
Embry attempted to hush me as I spoke, but was unsuccessful until I finished.
"Oakley, listen to me. I've known Paul for a long time, and I know the inner workings of his mind more than you realise. He's been without a family since he was 9, he's basically raised himself. I cannot explain to you how much that man has craved a family since he was abandoned."
I hadn't even stopped to think about Paul's situation and how the whole ordeal would have affected him.
"He's held out hope for years that his mother or an aunt or any form of relative would come home to him one day, and they never have. I need you to trust me when I say that you being here, him knowing you exist, it'll heal him. It will complete him."
Embry's words were heavy with sincerity, his eyes begging me to understand and give in. He clearly held a lot of care for the boy, both of us wanting him to be spared pain in this situation.
"So you don't think he'd push me away if I met him?" I questioned, wanting to be 100% sure before I made any irrational decisions to walk into someone's life.
Embry shocked me slightly by pulling me in by the shoulders into a tight, warm and reassuring hug. But the second I was locked into his frame, I felt comforted and protected, all my previous anxiety washing away as I allowed myself to hug my new friend back.
"I promise you, Paul will want to know you. It may be the best thing that could happen to you." he insisted, rubbing my back comfortingly to soothe me of my obvious anxiety and past trauma. I appreciated Embry's movements more than I realised I would.
Nodding into his chest, I gave in. "Ok. Take me to him." I accepted, looking up at Embry who smiled down at me protectively.
"Follow me."
---
Embry led me with a large and warm hand around mine the entire way, clearly noticing my shivering and how terrified I was. We eventually approached a cottage which was just off the beach and hidden by the tree line to the entry of the forest. It was quaint, emitting a warm and welcoming energy. Anyone who walked past could have easily missed it due to its seclusion, and I liked that.
"This is where we all hang out most of the time, us and our mates. We consider ourselves a big family." Embry explained as we approached the door.
I stopped in my tracks. "Are you sure I'm allowed here? No one will be mad?"
He laughed and brought an arm around my shoulders.
"Oakley, breathe. I'll be there with you, okay? A few seconds and the hardest bit will be over."
I took a deep breath and nodded, signalling I was ready for him to lead me to the door.
He slid open the glass and stepped inside, still gripping me around the shoulders. It was as if he knew my anxiety would run me straight back down the beach if he didn't hold onto me in this moment.
"Dickwad, you're back! I missed you cupcake!" a booming voice yelled from the house at his friend entering. "Woah! Who is this!" the same voice called as I stepped inside.
The house was made of wood, somewhat reminding me of a cabin, and it was bursting with life. The dining table in the centre housed three overly large, most of them shirtless men except one, lounging about and clearly extremely comfortable around one another.
There was also a woman standing behind one of the men. She was tiny in her frame, dark hair shadowing her face but still allowing three pink scars to be shown on her skin. She was beautiful.
I also noticed all three of them had russet skin like mine, and the same tattoo that Embry sported on their bicep. They really were like a family.
"Jared stop ogling. Guys, you remember I mentioned Oakley from the beach. She's just moved to town." he explained slowly, clearly attempting to signal their attention and calm their boisterous energy.
He pulled me into a more central position in the room and squeezed my shoulder to support me.
"Oakley, this is Emily, Sam, Jared, and Paul."
His introductions were short and sweet, but I obviously held the gaze of the final boy the second Embry had introduced him.
I could see our resemblance already. His features were strong, much more masculine than my own. But his eyes were my mothers, and jawline was similar to my own, painting a picture of relation.
My words wouldn't come out, and I could see the room growing concerned and curious at the stranger in their home who was seemingly mute.
"Is she okay?" the woman asked as I stared at Paul, him staring back just as intensely, trying to figure me out.
Embry nodded and patted me on the shoulder. "Yeah she's just nervous. Oakley you wanna tell them what you told me?" he encouraged, signalling that I had no choice but to woman up and face my fortuity.
"Are you-are you Paul Lahote?" I questioned, not removing my eyes from the man.
He nodded sternly, still hesitant to trust me. "I am. Who are you?"
Hearing him say our shared last name made it impossible to deny the fact that this was in fact my brother. Here goes nothing. I looked to Embry who nodded supportively, and took a step away to grant me the moment with my brother.
"I'm Oakley. Oakley Lahote." The room all fell silent and Paul's movements seized as he froze, locking his eyes back on mine. "I'm your sister..."
My words were quiet, trailing off in nervousness. His stare remained intense, though it softened
One of the boys at the table, Jared, seemed a lot more verbal about his surprise than the others who elected to stay silent. "Wait wait what?" he questioned, seeking for confirmation.
I just held my eye contact with Paul, attempting to assure him of my honesty via my pleading eyes.
He rose from his chair, not breaking our gaze, and began to take a step my way.
I stepped ever so slightly back as I saw his sheer size, still unsure if he was happy about this news or not. But before I could take another step, he had let out a shaky breath, grounding himself, before approaching me in one swift move and engulfing me in the biggest, tightest and most intense hug I'd ever received.
My arms instantly found their way back around him, taking in the feeling of hugging my brother for the very first time as we stood there acquainting ourselves.
He towered over me in height even in my stilettos, and his muscles made it impossible to get my little arms around him fully, but I refused to let go, both of us squeezing the life out of each other as my eyes pooled with tears and I felt my hair and neck get soaked in tears of Paul's.
He pulled back momentarily to seek my eyes again, not protesting when I used my thumbs to wipe his cheeks. "I can't believe it's really you..." I whispered in a sob.
His mouth hung open in shock, eyes swirling with hope and questions. "Oakley," he repeated, whispering to himself to make the situation seem real.
His face finally erupted in a smile, his shock melting into happiness, and his arms reclaimed my small frame, spinning me around in celebration as he laughed into my neck and I giggled along.
"I'm so sorry Paul, I only found out a few days ago, I never knew, I would have come and found you if I did. Mom never even told me about dad, she kept it so private, I really-"
"Oak, shhh," he hushed, already providing me with a sisterly nickname which made my heart throb in fullness. I had found my brother. "You found me. You came."
I nodded and smiled. "Now that I've met you and this all seems real I don't know if I can go without you anymore..." I admitted, feeling more connected to a family and more whole than I ever had before.
He laughed. "Well that's good because I'm not letting you go anywhere, squirt. I've got a baby sister, no way in hell am I giving that up."
The moment dragged out with Paul's friends and Embry watching on with smiles on their faces, tears in their eyes, and disbelief in their souls. They were so happy for the both of us, letting us piece together the family puzzle as we talked and comfort each other through the wave of emotions that we experienced at the reunion.
"So you really didn't know about me when you booked this internship?" he questioned again, still amazed at the level of coincident.
I shook my head. "No, I only found out the night before I left, and I felt so nervous but I knew I had to find you. You're the only family I've got left now. Mom's a lost cause, and I don't even know dad."
Paul nodded sadly. "Dad isn't really worth knowing anyway." he admitted, attempting to make me feel better for what I had missed. "You know it's so weird. I've known about you for less than an hour, but I feel like I've dreamt about this my whole life. Having a sister, a sibling I can protect, someone I shared this blood with and could relate to...it feels complete now."
---
Emily had insisted I stayed for dinner and I was still revelling in conversation with Paul as we got to know each other, littered with tears and hugs of disbelief.
"Are you seriously related to this oaf? You're literally half his height, you could blow over in the wind!" Jared questioned amazed at the physical difference of us both, and causing us all to laugh. Screw being five feet tall.
I pretended to be offended, playing along. "Excuse you it's only because I took my shoes off! In heels I can be about 5ft2!" I defended, always feeling underestimated because of my teacup size. "And besides he's an outlier, why are you so abnormally large!?" I questioned, poking his arm teasingly as I pointed out his gigantic frame.
"Geez you really are tiny, aren't you, squirt..." Paul noticed as he finally took in my physicality, not really being focused on such things until now.
"Not to mention a hell of a lot better looking than you - clear to see where the good genes went," Jared continued to tease, Paul growling slightly and kicking him in the shin. I loved their closeness, now understanding why Embry said they were all 'brothers'.
I poked my tongue out at him and continued eating my dinner, already feeling like we had hit a weird sibling type energy that I had craved my entire life. Was this what it was like to have someone that annoyed you but that you would die for?
I loved every ounce of the feeling.
"Wait until the rest of the guys hear that Paul has a smoking hot sister that puts him to shame," Embry commented to Jared, the boy agreeing with his statement and getting excited at the thought.
I ignored his comment, laughing it off. "There's more of you?"
Sam, the biggest and most fatherly one, nodded. "Yeah our pa-group is about double this. You still need to meet Quil, Jacob, Leah, Collin, Brady and Seth."
"Geez, quite an army you've built here! How do you deal with so much testosterone?" I laughed, directing the question to Emily who giggled musically at my comment.
"You get used to it. They're a mess but they're my mess. Plus they sometimes bring their own girlfriends, and I have Leah now." she added, seeming at peace and overly grateful for this Leah girl. There seemed to be history I didn't know about that was seemingly solved.
I smiled at her, admiring her relaxed and motherly nature. Sam, her new husband, was clearly very dominant and strong in his personality, they balanced each other out quite perfectly and it was sweet to see. In contrast, Jared seemed to be the class clown, always teasing Paul who he was extremely close with by the looks of things, and Embry often backing him up but also taking on a caring role in the group. That much was clear the way he supported me so softly and was extremely gentle around this whole ordeal.
The squad described Paul as the hothead, all of them recounting fights they had to break up with Paul in them and telling me about his feisty nature. Apparently it had cooled down significantly in the past years since he had met Rachel.
I laughed hysterically after finding out it was one of his best friend's sister who he had fallen for.
The guys ensured me it wasn't awkward and that the two were meant to be together, making me excited to meet the girl who made my brother so happy.
"Where are you staying while you're here?" Embry inquired.
"I've been staying at a motel for the first few nights until I find a good place. I don't quite know how long I'll be here though because the internship could be extended or become permanent, so it's hard to know how long to bargain for." I explained, all of them understanding my hesitance to commit to anything too long-term for this reason.
Paul's head sprung up.
"Stay with me." he said confidently.
"What?" I breathed back, looking at him in disbelief. Sure, he was my brother, but I'd known him for a matter of hours, I didn't want to impose.
He smiled and turned to face me. "Stay with me. I mean it. Dad left forever ago, and I've been living in the house alone since. You're my sister, Oak. And you don't need to find a place, there's no time limit on your stay, it makes perfect sense!" he ranted, getting increasingly excited at the thought.
"It would mean you don't have to go back and forth to motels and rentals," Emily pointed out, eager to make Paul happy and convince me.
I turned back to Paul who was waiting nervously for my answer. "Paul are you sure? I can't just impose on your life like this, you didn't even know I existed until today...I don't want to be a burden."
He moved his chair closer and grabbed my hands, seemingly upset at my words.
"You have been the biggest blessing. Never a burden. I don't think you understand how happy this has made me. Please, move your stuff into my place. I won't take no for an answer. You're my family now."
His eyes begged me to comply, his hands squeezing mine to reassure me that he meant it, and I could feel his hopes rising every second that passed.
After a brief thought, I allowed the smirk to take over my face.
"Okay."
---
"I can't believe you found him, Oak! I'm so happy for you princess." Christian babbled, just as excited as I was for my family discovery.
"Chris, you have no idea. He's so protective and brotherly already, I just wish I had known him earlier. But I'm so happy I found him. And he's making me move in on the weekend when I'm not working, so a few more days and I'll be living with my brother. How crazy is that! I didn't even have a brother last week and now I'm gonna live with him!"
Christian laughed at my excitement, clearly overjoyed for me.
"I'm happy for you baby but I gotta go, I'll talk to you later?" he questioned, seeming slightly distracted for a moment off screen.
I nodded understandingly. "Ok baby. I'll talk to you later. I love you-" I cooed, but the FaceTime had already ended.
Sighing, too happy to be disheartened by Christian's sudden departure, I laid back on the motel bed with the biggest smile on my face and my heart full of love.
I had found my brother. And everything felt right.
AN // Paul is such a good brother already, he's craved this for so long he's going to be so protective and sweet with Oakley! Team Lahote!
I actually love the wolf pack memes, get ready for these at the end of every chapter!
Libby xx