The Edge

xv.

Emma had met up with the pack the next weekend and joined them on one of their beach days. Emma was playing soccer with Sam, Paul, and Jared while Jacob sulked, complaining to Quil, Embry, Seth, and Leah. Emma sent the ball flying toward the goal line and Sam ran over to intervene, but stopped at something Jacob must have said. "No you won't, the Cullens are not a danger to the town or the tribe." Sam scolded Jacob and Emma's mood fell at the mention of her family. "Well, he's either going to kill her or change her. And the treaty says-" Jacob began to argue with his alpha. "I say, Jacob. I say." Sam cut Jacob off as Paul snaked an arm around Emma's waist a few feet away. The game had stopped until Sam returned from scolding the shifter for whatever it was that he let slip in the mind link. Emma glanced back at Paul as he placed his head on her shoulder. "Don't worry about him, let's play the game." Paul tried to comfort the blonde as Sam walked back with the ball, tossing it to Jared. Emma gave a small nod and Paul gave her more space, the two returning to the game. "Would you just get over it, it's not like you imprinted on her." Emma stayed tuned into the conversation between the other pack members as she tried to also play the game.

"At least they seem happy." Seth tried to lighten the mood as Kim arrived and Jared ditched the game to attack his imprint. "Yeah, some people are just lucky, I guess." Embry spoke up as he watched Paul make a move back to Emma. The blonde bit her lip as she stared out into the ocean so that they didn't know she was listening. "Lucky? None of them belong to themselves anymore, and the sickest part is their genes tell them they're happy about it." Emma heard Jacob scoff as Paul stood next to her. "You're listening to him, aren't you?" Paul could hear the conversation too and as it pissed him off, Jacob would know nothing about imprinting until he did it. "It's kind of hard not to." Emma glanced over at the shifter beside her. "Jacob is just pissed he didn't imprint on Bella, mad that the ancestor's don't agree with his feelings." Paul kicked the sand in front of him. "Nothing he says is true." Paul tried to reassure the blonde, hoping Jacob's words wouldn't sway her from their growing bond. "I mean being any kind of happy is better than being miserable about someone you can't have." Emma could feel Leah's gaze and looked up to see the female shifter change her glance to Sam and Emily.

"What's the story behind Leah?" Emma finally stopped listening to Jake and turned her full attention to Paul. "Leah and Sam used to date, before Sam shifted." Paul let out a deep sigh as he answered the question. "Emily came to visit for a weekend and was staying with the Clearwater's, Sam was over with Leah when he imprinted. It broke Sam's heart when he broke up with Leah, but she wasn't the one. Sam and Emily waited a couple months before they told anyone they started dating, but Leah never got over it." Paul tried to sound sympathetic, but he had been around the situation long enough for it to annoy him. "That's awful." Emma breathed out as she looked over at Leah. "It's not something we can really control." Paul just shrugged it off. "Do you agree with the ancestors about us?" Emma looked away from Leah and back to Paul, thinking of Jacob's words again. "I agree that the ancestors know what they're doing and that you're the best choice for me." Paul was hesitant to answer the blonde's question.

If he was honest, when he first imprinted, he was just as angry as Jacob, cursing the ancestors for pairing him with his enemy. But then he heard all the stories from Quil and Embry, he learned to look at the human side of his imprint, not the vampire part. Paul wasn't sure he would ever be okay with what Emma was, but his feeling for the blonde grew every day he was with her, and he hoped that one day it wouldn't matter to him anymore. Paul could tell Emma was in her head now and sent a glare in Jacob's direction. "Come on." Paul guided gently grabbed Emma's hand, guiding her closer to the water. The haze in Emma's eyes disappeared as she focused on her footsteps, following Paul to the edge of the water. "Do you trust me?" Paul kept a hold of Emma's hand as he turned so that she was still on the edge, but he was in the water. "That's a loaded question." Emma looked at the shifter suspiciously. Paul ignored her response and gently moved them further in the water, stopping when the water hit his knees. "Stop thinking so much, enjoy the weather, the beach." Paul moved so that Emma was now in front of him, his arms around her waist. Emma gave a small noise of acknowledgement to Paul's words and tried to relax as she closed her eyes.