Lemon Water // Paul Lahote

seventy four

Serena

Luke shoved me into the wall again, throwing his fist into my face. "You know they're going to realize what's going on, right?" I spat blood at him and he inhaled sharply, leaning in and licking the blood off my face.

"I can't wait until I'm allowed to finally bite you. Then we can be together forever, no wolves standing between us" I willed for Lukes presence to trigger the gene, begging my ancestors for the process to speed up, but it never came. "Right now; however, we're going to go on a little trip. To visit some old relatives of yours"

"Leave me the hell alone" I growled, "You don't know what you're getting yourself into"

"Really?" he asked, dragging me out of the locker room. "And what would that be? You turning into a wolf like your monster brother?"

"He is no monster. You're the only monster here"

Luke dragged me out the back exit of the school and into the woods, but we were stopped by Sam, Leah, and Jared's wolves approaching us, snarls emitting from them. "You weren't invited. Leave before I cause more damage to your precious little cargo"

The three of them only stepped closer, causing Luke to laugh. He grabbed me tighter and threw me into the trees to the right of us, but the hit never came. I opened my eyes to see someones arms around me, stopping me from getting hurt anymore. "I thought I told you to wait in the locker room, not get kidnapped by some idiot leech" Embry said from behind me.

Sam, Leah, and Jared all chased after Luke when he fled, and Embry Brough me back into the school. "You're bleeding" Embry said

"Yeah, he got a few hits in. It doesn't hurt though"

"It's bruised" he said, wiping my face with a wet cloth he got from the bathroom.

"I tried to get my wolf to come out. I was basically begging the ancestors to trigger the phase but nothing happened. I played it off like I wasn't scared of him, but in reality I was terrified. I swear I though I was going to pee my pants when he showed up"

"Lets get you home so you can eat, practice was rough today" I followed Embry out to his truck that was still in the parking lot, whipping my head around to check my surroundings as we walked.

"You're going to be ok, they're chasing him out of territory" Embry said, tossing my stuff in the bed of the truck. It was still pouring, but he had a tarp so he claimed my stuff would stay dry.

"Are we going to Sam's?" I asked, eager to check up on Paul

"I think we should let your face heal before Paul sees you"

"Won't he see it through the link?" I asked

"Yes, but not until he phases again and that's not for another week at least."

"What will mom say?"

"We'll just tell her you got hit at practice"

"I'm sick of lying to her, Embry, and besides, it looks like a hand print"

"We can't tell her that a leech is after you! She already knows too much!"

"You're right, then we'll just have to go to Sam's until its gone"

Embry groaned, then shook his head, "you got me there. I guess we can go to Sam's, but if Paul tries to kill me it's on you"

Paul was asleep when we got there, so I just crawled in bed next to him, deciding to take a quick nap until he woke up.

Paul

I woke up next to Serena. I don't know when or how she got here, but she was dead asleep. My leg still hurt, but not as bad as it did when it first got crushed. I was hoping it would heal a lot quicker so I could take Serena to the dance, but at this rate I wouldn't even be able to get out of bed and move around until Wednesday.

Serena shifted in her sleep and her hair moved from her face, uncovering a hand shaped bruise on her cheek. My body tensed immediately, and I could make out the faint smell of leech on her. A deep growl emitted from me, startling her awake, "What the hell happened to your face?" I growled.

"Paul, it's ok. It's going to heal" She mumbled, snuggling into my side again.

"Serena, who put their hands on you. What leech was it?" I growled again. My body began to shake, but I couldn't phase. I couldn't risk getting hurt again.

"Luke attacked my while they were busy with some leech named Riley in the woods. I'm ok though, I handled it until they could help me"

"Where the hell was Embry!"

"I told him to go help the others since you couldn't go"

"He left you alone? Are you kidding! He had one job!"

"I'm ok, Paul, if it was anyones fault it was mine. Now let's go back to bed."

"I should have been there with you" I said

"You couldn't have prevented anything, Paul. If there's a will there's a way" She was cut off by her stomach rumbling, and her face flooded with color.

"Did you eat dinner?" I asked her, sitting up slightly so I could see if she was lying.

"No," she mumbled, "but I'm too tired to eat. Practice was hell"

"You need to eat, Re. Embry!" A few seconds later, Embry came stumbling into the room.

"What's the matter? What's going on?" He exclaimed.

"You didn't feed her?" I asked. Serena was snuggled back into me again, her heart rate hinting that she was asleep again.

"She came straight up here when we got here. We couldn't go home because of the bruise"

"Does your mom know where you are?"

"I told here that Sam and Emily invited us over for dinner and that we would be back around eleven"

"It's almost ten, you need to feed her and get her home"

Embry sighed and then woke her up, with a struggle, but he still managed. "There's leftovers in the fridge. You need to eat so we can get home before eleven"

"I don't need to eat, just let me sleep a little longer, then we can go" she said, trying to bury herself in the covers

"Serena if you don't eat were not going to go on a date when I'm better" I threatened.

"Alright fine. But So do you" She countered

"I can't get out of bed, Emily brings me food at meal times" I replied

"Embry will bring it to us, right Embry?" She asked and Embry sighed.

"Yeah, fine" He said, dragging his feet as he left the room.