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With his head bowed, Paul came back to me as a human again. He stopped about a meter in front of me and nervously scratched the back of his neck. He was visibly uncomfortable with this situation. It was no different for me. Somehow I had a hard time finding the right words."We should go back," he suddenly burst out. Carefully and slowly he took my hand in his, making sure not to scare me any further. I allowed myself to be close and even felt a little relieved. I don't know why, but I didn't want to lose him as a friend, even if he turned into a giant dog.

"Explain it to me!" I demanded, but he remained silent. Paul just continued to drag me through the forest, not even looking at me.

"Paul!" I pressed on. There was an almost desperate tone in my voice.

"It would be better if Sam explained it to you," he finally said, but I didn't want to settle for that. I wanted to hear it from him and immediately.

"No, you will do that." I stopped abruptly and took my hand away from him. I knew that I acted like a spoiled little child, but I didn't really care. The main thing is that I get him to talk to me properly.

"Rory please," he pleaded in a quiet voice. He turned to me and tried to grab my hand again. But I didn't feel like holding hands at the moment, so I cleverly avoided him.

"No! I want you to tell me what's going on here!" I slowly got angry. My impatience and curiosity didn't make it any better.

"You'll find out at the campfire tonight," a third person's voice suddenly sounded. I hadn't even noticed that we were almost at the house. And I also missed the fact that Sam was approaching us.

“Why over a campfire?” I asked skeptically. You might as well tell me now. I hated it when people didn't speak up straight away. When an unpleasant conversation arose, people always tried to delay it. I, on the other hand, liked the method short and painless, like pulling off a plaster.

However, when I looked at Sam, I knew he wouldn't tolerate any argument. So I gave in and let out a slightly aggressive growl. I just left them both standing there and stomped angrily towards the house.

Emily was already waiting for me. The other boys also sat at the table and looked at me expectantly. They seemed to be waiting for a comment or some kind of reaction from me, but I just went up the stairs to my room, huffing angrily. I slammed my door with full force and threw myself onto my bed. I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it as loud as I could. I didn't know where to put my anger.

Later in the evening there was a knock on the door. Sam told me to get ready and be down in ten minutes.

I had been sitting on the windowsill reading a book all day. It had calmed me down a bit, but it still annoyed me that they just didn't want to tell me the truth.

I quickly put on a thick sweater and long skinny jeans, tied my hair in a loose bun and grabbed a thick jacket. It would definitely be cold, so I had to take precautions.

When we got downstairs, Sam pushed me to the car where Emily was waiting. She had a large basket full of food, probably for the boys. I don't know of any other gang that could swallow so much."Let's go then," said Sam, more to himself. I leaned back on the back seat and looked out the window. It was already pretty dark outside and so the forest seemed somehow dangerous and a little scary.

I listened to the radio, which Emily had just turned up a little louder. I really liked the song that was playing. Without realizing it, I first started humming and then even singing. It was only very quiet, but the two people sitting in the front of the car heard it. Emily turned the radio up a little more and smiled enthusiastically. My voice also became a little louder, but I was always careful not to drown out the music on the radio. I actually hated singing in front of others, it was kind of embarrassing. But they would both find out at some point anyway, since I lived with them.

"You have a beautiful voice," Emily said after the car stopped and we got out. Sam had reached for the basket and was already walking a little ahead while I followed him with Emily. I could see the campfire from far away. However, I didn't know where we were. As always, there were trees around us and I could still see a small house. There was still a flat surface behind it.

“Thank you,” I said to Emily, but continued to look straight ahead. Emily put her arm under me and pulled me with her. She quickened her pace a little, but I kept up with her easily.

When we arrived at the campfire site, the crowd greeted us. The boys were all already there, plus two girls around my age that I didn't know yet, and a few older people. Emily sat down on one of the tree trunks next to Sam and snuggled up to him. The two of them seemed really happy together, it almost made me jealous. Who doesn't want a man who would look at you like you were the most valuable and beautiful thing in the world? A man who wanted to protect you and truly love you.

"Hey," Paul greeted me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I sat down next to him, but still kept my distance. I would only allow him to be close again when I finally knew the truth, not before.

Paul seemed to notice the distance I was creating. At first he looked a little disappointed, but I couldn't pay attention to it for long as the two strange girls were introduced to me. Seth told me his sister's name, Leah. She seemed quiet and somehow withdrawn.

Jared almost proudly announced that the girl in his arms was his girlfriend, Kim. She was constantly radiating even more happiness than I could bear. But she seemed, like Emily, to be an open-hearted and kind person. However, I couldn't resist making a small comment.

“I’m sorry for you Kim. Having such a complete idiot as a boyfriend is certainly tiring," I said, trying to make my voice sound serious. I tried with all my might not to burst out laughing, but instead to look pityful. But with the others it was different. Some rolled on the floor, others were coughing wildly because they had choked on their drinks. Jared's indignant look showed me that, contrary to my expectations, Kim also giggled quietly to herself.

Jared was about to say something when the older people began to talk about the legends of the Quileute. They were about a tribal chief who...turned into a wolf to protect his village from the 'cold beings'. I listened intently to the man's words. It seemed so alive, like I could just jump into this legend and continue my life there. Well, I could probably do that too. After all, I already knew they were true.

The narrator finished the story and there was a brief silence. But the boys didn't stay on the tree trunks for long, they almost ran towards the food. The first ones immediately started arguing. Only Paul remained sitting next to me and looked stubbornly at the floor.

It took me a while to sort out my thoughts. I just stared into the flames of the campfire and didn't move an inch.

"So you're all..." I asked in a weak voice. Neither of us looked at each other, we just staredcontinue the fire.

"No not all. But the boys, Leah and I are wolves," he explained calmly.

“And this imprinting? What's it all about?"

“When a wolf finds its soulmate, it imprints itself on them. It becomes the center of the world for you. She is all that matters and you can't live without her anymore. You want her to be happy. In addition, the wolf cannot bear to be separated from his imprint for long; he prefers to have it close to him at all times."

"Have you imprinted on someone?" I asked hesitantly. I turned my head slightly in his direction and looked him straight in the eyes. His seemed almost pleading and a little afraid.

I knew the answer without him having to say anything, but I could still be wrong. But the probability of this was extremely low.

"You still have to ask that?" he asked with a slight smile on his lips. Nevertheless, I didn't miss his loving look. "I imprinted on you the first time I met you in the forest," he said and reached for my hand. He slowly stroked the back of my hand. Suddenly my stomach started to tingle like crazy, it felt like fireworks. However, I didn't really know why.

“What does this mean for me now? What difference does that make for us?", now I was the one who sounded desperate. It was all just getting too much for me, but Paul radiated a certain warmth and security, which had a calming effect on me.

“It doesn’t change anything. What we both had so far was all real. Only now you know how strong my feelings for you really are."“But is that even enough for you? I mean, the imprint sounded like more, a lot more. And we're just friends," I pointed out to him. The corners of his mouth twitched up a little.

“As long as you are happy, I am too. Plus, we've only known each other for a few days and we've already become so close. So how do you know there won't be more developments?"

"And what if not? What happens when you realize you don't love me at all? You don't even really know me. You have no idea how broken I am inside! The wounds on my back aren't the only scars from my past!" I told myself in a rage, but still made sure to keep my voice quiet so that the others didn't notice. They were now far away from us because they gave us some time alone wanted to give, but I still preferred to go Play it safe.

“Aurora, my feelings for you will never change. They will only get stronger," he said and scooted a little closer to me. He took off his jacket and put it around my shoulders. I hadn't even noticed how much I was shivering from the cold. But as always, Paul didn't miss anything.

"But what if I can't return your feelings?"

"I think you can and will do that," came Emily, who had approached us quietly. Paul didn't seem at all surprised, but I flinched enormously.

"Emily what do you mean?," I whispered and looked at her questioningly. Her gaze was warm as always and her face was graced with a gentle smile. She crossed the last few meters and then crouched down next to me.

“You already have the same look at Paul as Kim and I do with Jared and Sam. You naturally seek his closeness and always shine in his presence. "You trust him even more than Sam and me," she explained her point of view. Paul and I were taken aback by her last sentence. We didn't know what she was talking about.

“When Carlisle wanted to examine you, you were afraid of him, you didn't want him to get too close to you. But instead of turning to Sam or me, you woke up Paul and sought protection from him," her smile grew wider and wider. Now it clicked for me too, as well as for Paul.

“Emily, can you help us?” someone called over to us. Emily got up again and went back to Sam and the others. And again Paul and I were alone. For a while there was silence between us, the two of us hanging according to our thoughts.

Emily was right, as always. I felt comfortable and protected with Paul, but that was it already love? I didn't know anything about it. These feelings were completely new territory for me. But I couldn't deny that I was attracted to him. Not just because of his appearance, but above all because of his manner and his effect on me. This imprint was actually my assurance that he would never leave me. He would stay with me and his love would be sincere. With him, I knew he would never lie to me about this.

“You don’t have to put pressure on yourself. Give yourself as much time as you need," Paul said in his deep and rough voice. I lifted my head and nodded briefly in relief. He smiled slightly and finally stood up. Like a gentleman, he held out his hand to me so that I could do the same could get up.

"We'd better go get something to eat, otherwise there won't be anything left afterwards," Paul laughed and pulled me with him. He held my hand tightly as if he was afraid I might run away.

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