Chapter Text
Eliza Ateara, better known as Ella (though she’s also known to be called El, Liz, Lizzy, Liza, and Ellie among other things), and her three friends, Lucy, Sarah, and Marissa, were walking along La Push beach one Saturday afternoon.
They were enjoying the day off from school and spending time together outside while keeping an eye on the sky that was filled with clouds that looked like they were about to release their flood gates.
The girls were laughing at a story one of them told when one of the girls, Lucy, changed the topic.
“It looks like those guys didn’t get the memo that summer’s over,” Lucy laughed, gesturing towards a small group of guys just down the beach. It was the beginning of October and fall was fully in swing in the Pacific Northwest, yet there were three shirtless guys on the beach wearing cutoff jeans pushing each other around and goofing off.
As the girls got closer to the group of guys, Ella realized that she knew who they were. The group consisted of Jared Cameron and Paul Lahote who were both in Ella’s grade, and Sam Uley who was a few years older than them.
Ella was surprised to see Paul with them, let alone for him to be walking around a cold beach wearing only shorts and looking taller and significantly more muscular than he had a few weeks ago. From what she knew, Paul had never been close with either of the guys. He was also in nearly all of Ella’s classes but he hadn’t been at school for two weeks. She, along with many of her classmates figured he was sick but that didn’t seem to be the case by the looks of him, or he was at least feeling a lot better.
“Hey boys!” Lucy called out to the group of guys once they got closer.
“Hey,” Jared and Sam greeted them. Before launching into small talk with her and the rest of the group. Ella, however, missed all of it.
As soon as her eyes met Paul’s, it was as if the entire world melted away. She noticed that his entire body froze and his eyes widened when he looked at her.
Of course she had seen Paul before. She’d been going to school with him since they were 8 when Paul and his father moved to La Push. So there was no reason for her to be so enthralled by his presence suddenly.
He was taller and more muscular now, which many would say made him look more attractive, but Paul had always been attractive, and he knew it too. He was known as a ladies man at school, outshined only by a guy who was also in their grade named Jason. Ella had a crush on Paul when high school first started but she never did anything about it because she never felt confident enough to say anything. And the fact that he was always chasing after other girls helped end that crush relatively quickly.
Neither of them said anything, or even moved for that matter, until Jared elbowed Paul in the ribs causing him to break eye contact with Ella.
“You look like you’re feeling better,” Ella finally spoke, addressing Paul.
“What?” Paul asked, a confused expression flashing across his face.
Ella’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a moment. “Weren’t you sick? You’ve been out of school for weeks, everyone’s been saying you had mono or something.”
Paul continued to stare at Ella without responding. Ella wasn’t sure what to make of his odd behavior.
“Paul? Are you okay?” Ella questioned.
This seemed to stir Paul again and he began to nod his head. “Y-yeah I’m f-fine,” he stuttered, looking almost nervous.
Sam and Jared swooped in to help their friend.
“He had mono but he’s all better now,” Jared said quickly before sharing a look with Sam.
Sam put his arm around Paul’s shoulders. “We should really get going. It was nice seeing you,” he said as a began steering Paul away from them to face the forest.
The trio quickly disappeared amongst the trees leaving behind a very confused group of girls.
“That was weird,” Ella said, looking at the trees with a bit of a far off look on her face. Ella wasn’t sure what to make of what had just happened. Paul was a hot head, always running his mouth, getting into arguments with people, and over all being a loud and extroverted person, yet during their entire interaction he barely spoke and looked nervous which was something Ella didn’t recall ever seeing before.
“What was up with Paul?” Marissa asked once the guys had disappeared into the forest, startling Ella out of her stupor.
“Did you see how he wouldn’t take his eyes off Ella? It’s like he’s never seen her before or something,” Sarah added.
“Maybe he’s finally realized how gorgeous El is,” Lucy teased causing Ella to blush.
Ella knocked her shoulder into Lucy’s with an embarrassed laugh. “Shut up.”
The following Monday, Ella was surprised to see Paul sit down right next to her in their first period class.
“Hey, Ella. I wanted to apologize for acting so weird on Saturday,” Paul said to her when he sat down.
To say Ella was surprised was an understatement. She wasn’t surprised that Paul was talking to her, because they could somewhat be considered friends and had spoken many times in the past, no, she was surprised that he was apologizing. Ella had never heard him apologize to anyone unless he was forced to by the principal after he got into a fight.
“Oh,” Ella started, uncertain what to say.
“I was having an off day,” Paul continued, though that still didn’t explain why he acted the way he did. “I was wondering, since we have most of the same classes, do you think you could help me catch up on what I missed?”
“Yeah of course!” Ella said with a smile. “We can meet at the library after school today if you want.”
“Yes, that would be perfect,” he said, a genuine smile spreading across his face instead of his usual smirk which once again surprised Ella. Butterflies suddenly erupted in her stomach, instantly reigniting the crush she had on Paul a few years ago. Ella was very happy when the teacher started class that moment because she wasn’t sure she’d be able to say anything to Paul that moment after seeing him smile so brightly at her.
And so, the two met after school in the library and Ella helped Paul catch up on a few assignments. They met up again the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. By the end of the week Paul was completely caught up and for a moment Ella was worried they wouldn’t spend any more time together. She found herself genuinely enjoying spending time with him and getting to know him better than she already did. It seemed that Paul felt the same way because they continued hanging out even after he was caught up with school.
“Ella!” A voice called from down the hall, however Ella didn’t hear at first. The voice called her by another nickname “Liza” and this time she heard, turning around.
“Hey Paul!” Ella greeted, smiling brightly.
“Hey,” Paul said when he reached her. He fell into step as Ella walked out of the school. “I was wondering, are you going to the council meeting tonight? I heard Sam mention you were going to be there.”
Ella nodded. “Yeah I’ll be there. My grandpa finally said I’m old enough to join.”
Paul opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by someone calling Ella’s name. Ella looked over to the doors of the school and saw her three closest friends leaving the building.
“I’ll meet you guys in a second!” She yelled over to them before turning back to Paul. “What were you going to say?”
He shook his head, “nothing, just that I’ll be at the meeting too.”
A bright smile spread over Ella’s face again, excitement brewing within her at the thought of seeing Paul again so soon. “That’s great! I’ll see you later then. I’ve gotta go, I promised my friends I’d go shopping with them after school today.”
“See you later, Ella,” Paul said with a smile as she walked away from him.
Her friends were all whispering excitedly when Ella approached them.
“Did he finally ask you out on a date?” One of her friends, Sarah asked when she joined them.
Ella laughed at them. “No he didn’t.”
“If he doesn’t ask you soon, you have to ask him. You two would be so cute together!” Her other friend Marissa exclaimed.
Ella shook her head. “I don’t even know if he likes me like that.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Lucy said. “Have you seen the way he looks at you recently? He looks at you as if you’d personally put all the stars in the sky.”
“Since when did you become a poet, Lucy?” Ella teased.
“Oh shut up!” Lucy said, smacking Ella on the arm.
“Lucy’s not wrong. You guys have been hanging out nearly every day since that day on the beach. He’s clearly into you, El,” said Sarah.
“Maybe. If he ever asks me out, I’ll say yes, but until then I’m just gonna leave things as they are,” Ella said as the group piled into her car.
Ella was thankful that all talk about her and Paul stopped once they began the drive to Port Angeles. Though the talk may have stopped, that didn’t stop Ella from thinking about him. While she may not want to make the first move, she was really hoping Paul would, and soon.
Later that night, Ella couldn’t help the giddy feeling that washed over her. Sure she was excited to finally be going to a council meeting with her grandfather, but she had to admit that she was even more excited to see Paul again.
When she and her grandfather got to the beach where the council meeting was to take place, she helped him and some other council members start the bonfire. Others started showing up not long after the flames were lit.
When Paul and his friends, Sam and Jared, along with Sam’s girlfriend Emily and Jared’s new girlfriend Kim got there, Ella went to say hello. They exchanged some small talk for a few minutes before Old Quil announced that they would be starting.
Ella ended up sitting next to Paul which she had absolutely no complaints about.
The council members brought up a few things that were happening around the reservation before Old Quil and Billy Black launched into the legends of their tribe.
Ella was enthralled the entire time. Sure she had heard the stories countless times while growing up, but that didn’t make this any less special or interesting. And there was something about hearing these stories during an official council meeting while on the La Push beach that made the experience even more wonderful.
Once her grandfather finished telling the stories, everyone split off into smaller groups, talking about the stories or other things and overall enjoying being around the bonfire together. It was at this time that Paul asked Ella if she would like to go for a walk with him. She immediately agreed so Paul helped her up to her feet and they began walking down the beach.
“Come on, I need to show you something,” Paul said once the pair was a ways down the beach. He gently took Ella’s small hand in his large warm one and turned, guiding her into the forest.
“I hope you’re not planning to kill me,” Ella joked. “Everyone saw us walk off together so you’d be the prime suspect.”
Paul chuckled at her comment before looking back at her, suddenly looking more serious. “I’d never hurt you, Liza.”
After a few more minutes of walking through the forest (which Ella had no idea how Paul had any idea where they were going considering how dark the dense the forest was at night) they entered a small clearing in the trees. The moon was shining down illuminating the entire clearing in a gentle white light.
When they got to the center of it, Paul stopped and moved to face Ella, still holding onto her hand.
“I’m about to show you something that might shock you a bit but I need you to understand that I’m still me and that I’ll never ever hurt you,” Paul explained seriously.
“What are you talking about?” Ella questioned, feeling incredibly confused. She had no idea what Paul was talking about.
Paul let go of her hand and moved away from her. Once he was about ten feet away from her he turned to her again. “You need to stay there for a second. Remember, I won’t hurt you.”
Suddenly Paul’s body started contorting and growing in size, fur sprouting all over his body. There was a crunching sound before everything went still, a gigantic silver wolf standing in the place that Paul was just a moment ago.
Ella gasped and stumbled back as the wolf took a step toward her. Her movements halted the wolf in its tracks.
Ella’s mind was whirling. The stories she had been hearing from her grandfather since she was a child, the very stories she heard again that evening were true, and Paul was living proof of it.
Remembering what Paul said before, that he wouldn’t hurt her, Ella slowly moved toward the wolf.
“So the legends are true?” Ella asked.
The wolf nodded its head, slowly beginning to move towards Ella as well.
“And you’re a shape-shifter?” Ella asked, even though she already knew the answer.
The wolf nodded again.
By this point they were an arms length away from each other. Paul stopped moving towards her, waiting for her to make the next move.
The wolf was a lot taller than she was, taller even than Paul was in his human form so Ella had to look up to look into the wolf’s eyes, which to her surprise were Paul’s eyes. They were the one part of the wolf that showed the human within. Ella reached out her hand to touch him and Paul took this as an invitation to move closer. He leaned his head down and pressed his snout into her hand, allowing her to feel his soft fur. Paul’s eyes closed in contentment when Ella gently ran her hands through his fur.
After some time, the wolf pulled away from Ella and disappeared behind some trees. A few moments later Paul reappeared wearing a pair of cutoff shorts that must have been hidden behind one of the trees. He moved to sit down on a fallen log next to Ella.
“You’re taking this a lot better than I was expecting,” said Paul, turning his body slightly to face her.
“My grandfather is a part of the Quileute tribe council so I grew up hearing these stories,” Ella pointed out. “Never in a million years did I think they were actually true, but I guess that knowing the stories makes it all a little easier to process. Who else is a shape-shifter?”
“Right now it’s just me, Jared, and Sam, but we think more will start shifting soon. There’s a coven of leeches, vampires,” Paul corrected himself, presumably so Ella would know what he’s talking about, “living in Forks and they’ve been causing some problems which is probably why we started phasing.”
Ella’s eyes widened. “There’s vampires in Forks?”
Paul nodded. “You may have heard of them, it’s the Cullen’s.”
Ella recognized the name, though she’d never met any of them personally. “Doesn’t one of them work at the hospital? Isn’t that dangerous.”
“It is dangerous, but they’re apparently not as dangerous as others. They only drink animal blood, not human. Their coven signed a treaty with our tribe over half a century ago so as long as they don’t drink human blood and they don’t come onto our land then there can be peace between us. They haven’t broken it yet but something must be happening if tribe members started phasing again,” Paul explained.
Ella asked a few more questions, mostly about what it was like to phase and when all this started. Paul was incredibly patient and answered all her questions as best he could. Once she somewhat had a grasp of the situation, Ella had one more question she wanted to ask.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way,” Ella said, turning to face Paul even more, “because I’m really grateful that you told me all of this, but, why did you? I’d assume you guys want to keep all this a secret.”
“We do want to keep this secret. No one outside our pack, the council, and a select few people can know about this. Since you’ve heard all these stories, you must have heard about imprinting too,” Paul said.
Ella’s heartbeat suddenly quickened and everything clicked into place. She had a very strong feeling she knew what Paul was going to say next. Because of all of this, Ella found that she couldn’t speak, not until he said the words, so she simply nodded her head.
“Eliza,” Paul said quietly, his soft voice igniting a fire in her soul. “I imprinted on you, that day on the beach.”
“So, what does that mean for us?” Ella asked just as quietly, as if speaking up would break the spell between them.
“As you know, when a shifter imprints on someone, it means they’ve found their soulmate, their reason for living, and that person becomes everything to them, but it’s up to the imprintee to decide what that relationship will be like. Whether the shifter will be their lover, friend, protector, or reject the bond completely. It’s your decision, I’ll be whatever you need me to be,” Paul explained. He sounded nervous which was something Ella wasn’t used to. In fact she’d never seen him nervous before the day on the beach a few weeks ago. It was as if he was scared she would want to deny their bond, which was the last thing she wanted to do.
However, instead of voicing these thoughts, Ella placed a hand at the back of Paul’s neck and pulled him into a kiss.
At first he was too shocked to react, but she soon felt his lips press harder against hers and his hands moved to hold her. One hand went to her waist to pull her closer, and the other tangled itself into her hair.
The kiss was electric and unlike anything Ella had ever experienced before. They fit so perfectly together. Ella was the first to pull away from the kiss, a loving smile on her face.
“Let’s start with boyfriend and we’ll see how things go from there,” she said quietly, resting her forehead against Paul’s.
As soon as she said that, Paul’s face lit up in the brightest smile she’d ever seen on him.
“Really?” He asked, sounding breathless with disbelief.
“Yes, really!”
This time Paul was the one to pull her into a kiss, though it didn’t last long because neither of them could keep the smiles off their faces.
The new couple stayed in the meadow for a little while longer. They mostly talked since neither one could keep a smile off their face for long enough to kiss properly.
After a while, the cold night air started to seep in through the jacket Ella was wearing, causing her to shiver. This got an immediate reaction from Paul.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Ella sighed contentedly when she felt his warmth spread through her and seeped deep into her bones. “You’re so warm. This relationship will work out great for me because I’m always cold, especially during the winter.”
Paul laughed, rubbing his hands up and down her back to warm her up more. “It’s a good thing I run a lot warmer than other people. Anytime you’re cold just let me know. I’ll be happy to warm you right up.”
“How kind of you,” Ella laughed. She looked up at him as he held her and she was very happy he picked up on the fact that she wanted to kiss him. He placed a warm kiss on her lips which she gladly returned.
“We should probably head back or else they really will think I murdered you or something,” Paul joked when they pulled apart.
Ella laughed with him. “That’s a good idea.”
Paul kept his arm around Ella’s shoulders as they walked back, both to guide her through the dark forest and to protect her from the chilly night air.
When they got back to the bonfire no one commented that Paul was holding Ella so closely, but it was clear in their knowing looks that everyone knew Paul told Ella about the pack and the imprint and that the two were now a couple.
Once the fire began to dwindle, people slowly started heading home.
Paul and Ella shared a goodbye kiss with the promise that they would go on a date the following day before Paul went off with the pack and Ella rejoined her grandfather to head home.
“How are you feeling?” Old Quil asked his granddaughter as the pair was walking back to the car.
“I might have a bit of a meltdown later in the privacy of my own room, but I’m good for now. I wasn’t expecting to find out that all the tribe legends are true today, but if vampires really are real then I’m glad we have protection,” Ella said truthfully.
“And what about Paul?” He asked, clearly curious to hear Ella’s thoughts.
Ella smiled when she thought about her boyfriend. Just the word boyfriend made her giddy. The knowledge of their true bond made her feel happier than she ever thought possible. “He told me everything about the imprint which makes the last few weeks make so much more sense. We’re dating now, I hope that’s okay?”
Even though Ella was sure her grandfather would be okay with their relationship given the fact that Ella was Paul’s imprint, she couldn’t help but want his approval.
Old Quil put an arm around his granddaughter, pulling her into his side for a hug. “Of course that’s okay!” He said with a laugh. “I was secretly glad that you’re an imprint. This way I know you’ll be taken care of and treated right.”
Ella smiled at this. If the last two weeks, even this night alone, were even a sliver of the happiness she’d feel while with Paul, she knew she had a bright and love filled future ahead of her.