𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. sam uley

𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

Paul hasn't listened to Sam since Jacob left.

Paul's always been a hardass, someone who needed a little more reprimanding before he fell in line with the rest. He listens, sometimes, when Sam uses his Voice on him, but other times, he loves to ignore everything and dance to his own beat.

It's no surprise that Paul sees Sage and does exactly that.

They walked to the convenience store because they were bored-and Paul's mother texted him to get some stuff for dinner. They had gone on a run with the pack earlier and were lounging around Paul's house. Sam had a day off for once, and Jared complained about there being nothing to do in the reservation just as Brady and Collin left them to get into whatever it was that they got into.

Mostly, Sam wanted to go see Sage, but he knew that she was busy with Seth today and figured that he wouldn't see her for a while. While he loathed it and hadn't seen her for a couple days, he couldn't help but feel glad that she was settling in.

It was new. New and peculiar, the way that Sam felt now. Accepting the fact that he had an imprint was like taking the clog out of the sink, water flowing down the drain easily. It was a rush, like jumping off the cliffs, falling and falling until he hit the waves, crashed against them as everything went silent. Muted. Calm.

He still wasn't completely okay with the imprint, with letting himself become something else to someone else, but he thought that maybe Sage could have been okay for him. (And maybe he could be okay for her, too.)

Sam was bemoaning that when Paul got the text, and then he thought about nothing else but the fresh air until they reached their destination.

The bell jingles as they enter, and Sam shakes off a bit of rain as he saunters in. He rubes a hand through his damp hair, and Paul mentions that his mother needs him to get milk, they need to walk left. Swerving through the cramped aisles, Sam walks until they reach the aisle and then he's staring at Sage, who has bread in one arm and milk in the other. The bread is crushed. She is frowning.

"Sage," he says, surprised, and can practically feel Paul tense up behind him. Automatically, he knows that something is going to go up in flames. "What're you doing here?"

When she notices that Sam is standing in front of her, her entire body shifts, and her face morphs into a nervous expression. Her arms twitch, and Sam feels like smiling.

"Hello, Sam," she says. "Seth invited me to run errands with him."

Sam knew they had plans, but he didn't think that meant going to the store with Seth. He thinks it fits her perfectly, picking out things that she can't eat. She holds the items so tenderly even though the bread is already crushed. The milk still has a chance, it seems, as her arm barely has a grip on it.

Seth chimes in, "Yeah, we're picking up things for Mom!"

There's a moment where Sam watches Seth push Sage behind him, and he doesn't like it because it seems like Seth is trying to protect her from him. From Sam, who was rude and brash and angry with her. From Sam, who is guilty and sorry. Who wants to start over. Who wants to be kind.

Sage glances at Paul, her eyes assessing his every feature with great dedication. She looks him up and down and then frowns, like she can't quite understand what's going on.

"So, what? You're acting like a guard dog, now?" Paul asks snidely, and Sam wanted to smack a hand to his face in exasperation.

Seth glares. "No, Paul, I'm just going out with a friend. Back off."

And because Paul doesn't know when to stop, he says, "A friend who tried to kill me." Paul hates that Sage is Sam's imprint, loathes it more than anything, and while he knows Paul can't touch Sage, there's a chance that this will still end badly. "What, so you're just so far up her ass that you forgot about how she tried to murder the pack?"

"Paul--!" Sam warns as Sage says, "I didn't-"

"I apologize for trying to kill you, but I was only trying to protect myself." Sage looks down, almost like she's ashamed. Sam wants to reassure her that it's okay, she did nothing wrong, Paul's an ass, don't listen to him. "I am sorry."

Paul doesn't know when to stop, either. "I could have taken you. I didn't need the backup. I only let you apprehend me."

A stretch. Paul did need help that day, and everyone here knows it. Sam snaps, "Paul!" because he doesn't like the way Paul stares at her, like she's something evil. With horror, he realizes that he used to look at her the same way and he wants to throw up. He was the worst.

"She's better now," Seth says, tactically giving her comfort by leaning into her. "She doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"Oh, of course you would say that." Paul snorts. "If I didn't have this telepathic link, I would assume you were the one who imprinted on her rather than-"

"Shut up, Paul!"

Sam feels helpless. He doesn't know what to say. Paul has always teased Seth, but this feels different, like a different attack. Like he's not only attacking Seth but Sam, too. And he keeps going, asking Seth if he wants to be more with Sage, and Sam growls when he brings up wolf law because something is wrong here.

"I am no object," Sage snaps. "Do not treat me as such, dog."

And then Paul leans in close to Sage, bending down until he was eye level with her. "Don't call me dog, bloodsucker."

Sage says she will kill him for Seth. Her eyes are hard and angry, and Sam knows that she would do it in a second. That she will kill Paul to save Seth because she thinks he is being harmed.

"You think I couldn't have handled you on my own?" Paul asks with a snort.

"I'm aware that you were going to die had the black wolf not shown up to save your sorry self." A smirk paints itself across her lips as she stares up at Paul. Sam does not think about that right now, because he's pretty sure Sage and Paul are about to fight in the middle of the convenience store. (He does store it for later because damn.)

"I could have handled you, you filthy little leech!"

Sam takes a step forward, afraid that Sage will murder Paul. The look in her eyes. He didn't see it as clearly back then, but it was a mirror expression of how she looked when she killed Irina. Her eyes cloud over, her body going rigid, and she backs away from Paul, nostrils flared.

"Realizing that you're too weak to take me on again?"

Finally, Sam takes action. He grunts and steps forward, hand gripping Paul's shoulder tightly. "That's enough, Paul. Wait outside. Now."

"No." Sage is shaking, Sam notices with a frown. Why is shaking? She can't get cold. "No, he can-let him stay. I need to. . . I have to go anyway."

She doesn't. Sam can send Paul outside, escorting him, and he can chew him out for the awful disrespect he displayed in the convenience store. Sage doesn't have to go anywhere.

But she does. Sage drops her items into Sam's arms, cold meeting hot as her arm brushes against his, and then she's gone, ignoring Sam and Seth, the only ones calling for her.