The Edge

xvi.

Another day passed and Carlisle almost completely depleted his supply of Bella's blood as the family tried to return the human back to her original health. The human was still too skinny to be even close to healthy, but she had a better chance at making it to delivery. Carlisle had predicted that she could deliver as soon as the next day, but the family needed to feed first, at least Carlisle did. Emma stood outside the family home, looking off into the woods as the sun began to set. "You ready for this?" Jacob looked over at Emma, who let out a large sigh. "I feel awful." Emma admitted as she got ready to face Paul for the first time since Bella returned home. "Just be honest, he's your imprint after all. I'm the one that has to do most of the stalling." Jacob scoffed at Emma's worrying but understood her concern deep down. "Let's do this." Emma took a step closer to the darkening woods, Jacob following. The pair walked through the woods until they neared the boundary. "Jake! They're coming." Seth and Leah ran to alert their alpha of unexpected visitors but were confused when they saw the two already waiting. "I know." Jacob dismissed the pair's warning. "We should phase Jacob; we can't protect ourselves like this." Leah worried about the safety of the newly formed pack. "They'll see it as a threat." Jacob dismissed, glancing back at Leah and then back into the woods.

"We want to talk! Would be easier if I could hear you too." Jacob called out into the darkness, urging the wolves forward. It took a few seconds for the wolves to appear, but Paul and Jared were the first. "This isn't your territory anymore. How's the new family working out?" Paul glanced from Jacob to Emma but avoided his imprint's eyes. "You done?" Jacob looked at Paul annoyed while Emma took in his appearance, he seemed tense but that wasn't something new. Emma wasn't sure what she was looking for, maybe part of her hoped she could tell how their sudden separation affected him. Embry and Quil appeared to the left of Paul and Jared. "Coming home, Jake?" Embry questioned the shifter, glancing over at Emma. "Not until we finish this." Jacob shook his head, keeping his facial expressions neutral. "What do you mean?" Jared questioned the shifter. "I'll get there. Paul, Emma wants to talk to you." Jacob glanced at the blonde by his side, who looked at her imprint. Paul finally looked the girl in her eyes and the tension in his body visibly decreased, but his jaw was still locked. Paul gave the pair a small nod, glancing at Jared before jumping off the hill and on the same level as Emma. "Come on." Paul urged the blonde away from the two packs. was

"You didn't answer my calls." Paul started their conversation once they were far out enough. "I wanted to; I just didn't really know what to say." Emma spoke softly, trying to calm her nerves. "Are you really okay with this...thing killing Bella?" Paul got straight to the point with his imprint. "It's a baby." Emma started by correcting Paul, who let out a small scoff. "And we, well Jacob, found a way to keep her healthy until the baby can be born." Emma informed the shifter. "So, what, Jacob's just apart of the family now? That easy, huh?" Paul grew angry at how close the other shifter was to his imprint, while Sam kept him away. "None of this is easy, Paul. The supernatural world has never been black and white, you have to know that by now." Emma shook her head at the shifter, looking up at him. "How do you know that this...baby won't be a danger to the town, to you?" Paul took a step closer to his imprint, craving the comfort it gave him. "How do you know it will be?" Emma questioned Paul back, genuinely wanting to show him her side. "We can't know anything until Bella has the baby, how do we know that it won't be just like me?" Emma believed that she may finally have someone to understand her if this baby survived.

"It will be nothing like you." Paul shook his head at the idea, continuing to look down at his imprint. "How do you know?" Emma wasn't taking only half of Paul's answer. "Because I know you, at least I was beginning to." Paul swallowed the lump in his throat as he moved even closer to his imprint, setting his hand on her cheek. Emma digested his words as she looked into his dark brown hues, almost getting lost in them. The imprints stared into each other's eyes for a few moments until loud howls echoed through the forest, snapping them out of their gaze. Hurt and anger rushed to Paul's eyes as he looked at the blonde with betrayal. "You played me." Paul looked at his imprint in shock, his hand falling from her face. "No, I didn't. I told you the truth. I wanted to talk to you, explain my side." Emma grabbed Paul's wrist when she saw him make a motion to leave. "Even if that's true, I can't leave my brothers." Paul looked down at where her hand held his wrist. "I'm not asking you to, I am asking you to understand and talk to Sam." Emma begged the shifter, not wanting to lose what they had just started, but also not wanting to see Bella's child killed.