Fates Second Chance

Prologue

Imprinting on someone is like drowning. She becomes everything to you at the moment you see her. Suddenly, it is not gravity holding you to the world it is her, nothing else on this Earth matters. He would do anything for her, become anything for her.

No one knew what would happen if she refused you. After all, it has never happened before until now. Now they knew, the pack now, he knew what refusal and denial for the world would mean… A slow and painful death.

It means losing yourself to the darkness, both physically and metaphorically. For him it meant sitting unmoving surrounded by beer cans, drowning himself in the alcoholic beverage instead of in his memories of her. He did not care that he was slumped against the wall with a growing ache burning his lower back as it protested at the position.

The pain meant nothing to him now. The alcohol not affecting him as it used to mean that the pain in his back was nothing more than a blip on his radar compared to the tsunami of pain in his heart.

However, that was not the worst of it. No. The worst part was being trapped in the dark recesses of his mind, pushed back so far that only a think string tethered him to the physical world. It was a small slither of awareness that reminded him of the constant pain he was in, but even that was getting smaller and smaller, day by day. He knew that one day it would vanish completely and then it would only be him and the ever-consuming darkness. He did not know whether to dread that day or welcome it.

The pain of losing someone you love is unbearable, only those who have suffered a similar fate would understand the profuse amount of pain that was tormenting the man. It was torture. Timeless torture that will blacken his heart for eternity. It was the pain of having your heart ripped out and smashed to the ground as if it was worth nothing more than the dirt beneath somebody's shoes. The agony of rejection will stay with him forever. The sorrow of seeing your reason for living with another man.

He did not know which famous person first said this line but it was only now that he realised he needed something to fight for. Someone to protect. To know that you would never be good enough for that someone… Now that was a real pain. Forget getting bitten by a vampire, if you want to truly destroy someone all you would need to do is have their soul mate reject them.

Why did the fates have to be so cruel? Why did he have a mate that would never love him? Why was he not supposed to have the love that Sam and Emily has?

Was he really that bad a person that the fates had destined him to be forever miserable? Probably. After all, he has made many mistakes in his life, but when he met her he repented them. He apologises and expressed his regrets for the mistakes of his past. Isn't that what they are? 'Past mistakes'. Sure he was… well, he was an ass. A player. He messed with a girls heart and then when he got bored he left her out to dry. But didn't everyone deserve happiness? He guessed not.

Now, he spent most of his human and wolf days in hell. There he allowed himself to drown in the flames of agony and self-pity, knowing that the only person who is to blame was himself. After all, Paul Lahote was rejected by his imprint. His soul mate. His other half. Something that has never happened before in the history of his tribe.

It hurt. It hurt so much that he wished he could die from the pain of it… and that was what he was waiting for. To die. To end this miserable existence of his. He had heard that it is possible to die of a broken heart. 'Brocken Heart Syndrome', the medical professionals called it. Apparently, it is a slow and painful way to die.

Oh, how he wanted to close his eyes and never open them again. How he wished to leave this life and never come back.

That is until she came.

There was just something about her chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes that drew him in. Without even trying to she wormed her way into his soul and picked up the pieced of his broken heart. After that, she became her reason for living.

She stubbornly kept him tethered to the Earth, a force that small, thin string to grow thicker and thicker until he was bathed in light. She became the glue that kept his heart together. The silver lining in his stormy life. She became his second and final chance and he was not going to screw it up this time.

His second imprint.

Chapter 1 - Home

On Isabella (Bella) Swans eighteenth birthday, after she had graduated from school, she had decided that she would go to College in Washington, Seattle. There were many reasons for this choice but the main reason for this bright and intelligent girl to do this was because of the family. Specifically, her father, Charlie Swan.

Isabella had not seen her dad in years, not since she was a little girl who still liked pink, purple and glittery things. The sad thing was that she would not be doing this right now if it was not for Natalie.

You see, Natalie was Bella's best friend and had been in similar circumstances where she had been separated from her father. In fact, it was only a few months ago that her best friends would bitterly say that she had not seen her dad in exactly nine years, five months and twelve days (not like she was counting or anything). However, despite the two girl's similarities, there was one big difference, Natalie's father was now dead.

Bella had been there when the blonde-haired girl had been notified and the look of heartbreak and regret had been burned into her memory ever since. Sure, Natalie's dad had been the one to leave her, but that did not mean the girl could not reach out later in life. So, now, while her best friend was flying to England to see her father for the last time, Bella was flying to hers for the first time in forever.

The truth is you never truly miss someone until you find out that you are never going to see them again. Natalie now has to live with the 'what ifs'. What if she had sought out her father earlier? What if she had truly tried to make an effort in keeping him in her life? And so, on and so forth. However, Bella did not want to live with them.

So that was why she decided to leave sunny Arizona to study in Seattle. She was going to take every chance she could to see him, even if it was just the two of them sat on the sofa and watching TV in silence. She would love to spend that time with him. He was, after all, her father.

No matter how much Bella loved Phil and how much Renee told her otherwise, he could not fill the gap of being her biological father. The bit that tells you that he should be the one to threaten any boyfriends his daughter brings home. Or the part that whispers, he should be the one to embarrass you and treat you like a princess.

Yeah, that's the one.

Renee, Bella's mother, did not seem happy with the idea though. The brunette did not know why she was so against her seeing Charlie, but the girl was eighteen now. Renee could not tell her what to do, where to go or when to be back by. No, she was an adult now. Free to make her own decisions in life.

So, here she was. On a plane to Seattle, where her dad would be waiting to pick her up. Bella did not know if she was excited or terrified – maybe it was both. However, what she did know was that this slightly nauseating, bubbling feeling in her stomach was far better than what Natalie was probably feeling right now.

Therefore, the brunette ignored her stomach and turned to stare out of the window. It was in the small, slightly reflective glass that Bella took note of her tanned skin that paled in her nervousness. She also took note of her other habits such as the fact that she could not stop her knee from bouncing up and down.

Every time the flight attendant passed by her would ask if she was okay and in return, Bella would just smile and nod her head. Even though she felt that she was far from okay.

As the plane landed, she quickly tried to get out of the stuffy metal container but, of course, everyone else had the same idea. As soon as the pilot indicated that people could release their seatbelts, they immediately stood up from the uncomfortable seats, grabbing their carry-ons and swarmed the doors like a group of flies. They managed to do all that before Bella had slung her bag over her shoulder. Suffice to say it took a while to get off.

When she finally got off the plane her eyes searched through the crowds as the rain hammered down on her. Bella was trying to find the familiar face amongst the mass of strangers. However, it was much more difficult than it looked to find someone you have only seen in eight-year-old memories and even older photographs that Renee had. For a second the brunette felt a spike of fear. What if he had changed his mind and did not want her to stay anymore?

However, her fear was idiotic. In her panic, her eyes had brushed over the crowd too fast to process the information. So, forcing herself to calm down, she searched the crowd again and thankfully saw him standing beside his police cruiser. That was him, she thought as a thrill shot through her and a smile spread across Bellas' face.

"Dad!" Bella shouted over the chattering and screaming of people who were also rejoicing in their own reunions. Mothers pulled their son's into tight hugs. Girls were wrapped in each other's arms squealing, jumping up and down with joy. People looked in her direction, however, she just ignored them.

Then Bella took off running disastrously towards him. He was older than she remembered, she thought as guilt swelled in her chest. His hair was peppered grey with age and his face had far more than wrinkle lines.

"Bella, good to see you kid," he said, pulling his daughter into an awkward one armed hug.

"I am not a kid anymore," she snorted in weak protest.

"Bella, you are my daughter. You will be a kid in my eyes until the day I die," he smiled, not noticing Bella cringe at his choice of words.

The brunette felt her heart jump slightly at the statement, but she forced herself to return his smile warily, before muttering, "Fine. Just do not do that anytime soon."

"What did you say?" Charlie asked as he loaded her things into the police cruiser, grunting as he felt the weight of her suitcases. "What have you got in here?"

"Just some stuff," Bella called out and hopped into the passenger side seat.

On the ride to Charlie's home, Bella was determined to make up for lost time. This meant asking a lot of questions. She asked him everything from his favourite colour to food to hobbies, but it was obvious that Charlie was not much of a conversationalist because it was not too long before the questions dried out from lack of informative answers. When she thought back to it, she used to be a lot like her dad. Only answering the bare minimum, however, Renee soon got her out of those 'bad habits and manners', as she called it.

It did not take her long to get settles down into the house, it was just as she remembered it. In fact, Bella was pretty sure that the only thing that has changed about her old childhood home was her bedroom, which had a new bed, desk and laptop.

It had been a while since Bella had been in a small town like Forks, so it came as a shock when she was walking to the grocery store people would walk up to her and say something like, "Hi you are Isabella Swan right? The Chief's daughter?" It appears that news travels extremely fast in small towns.

Today was hot and dry, which Bella heard was a rarity in this place. The sunlight streaked through the sky, making the clouds non-existent. You would not believe that the day before the rain had fallen from the sky like bullets, drenching everyone in their path. So, deciding to make the best of the weather whilst they had it, she made her way to the beach on the Reservation. Bellas body practically ached at the thought of laying in the sun, bathing in its head, and then when she got too hot she would envelope herself in the cool, blue ocean. At least that was the plan.

However, as Bella drove leisurely to the beach a loud masculine shout ripped through her peace.

"Paul, get your ass out of that house. Now! You can't do this anymore, you are driving us all crazy! "Deep down, the voice rang with some hint of familiarity. She knew him. She knew she knew him, but she could not quite remember.

Bella stopped her car and jumped out, making sure to turn off the engine and that the vehicle was locked (a habit that Charlie scoffs at but one that she gained from the city), and followed the shouting.

"Paul, you cannot let my bitch of a sister destroy you! What happened to 'falling in love was for pussies'? the voice continued to shout.

"Don't call her that. Shut up!" another voice growled and Bellas' heart sank in her stomach as the raw pain that was evident in those husky syllables. Bella felt the sudden need to see both their faces. She wanted to know the familiar stranger and the heartbroken man.

As she got to the house the shooting had most definitely come from Bella gasped finally recognising the stranger for how he really was. "Jacob. Jacob Black," she called out.

The tall muscular man turned in the doorway to fully face the person who had called out his name. Jacob had certainly grown. Bella looked at his tanned, toned chest that rippled in awareness, causing her to blush. She had been caught 'checking out' a younger man.

At first, Jacob did not recognise the woman in front of him, but as he took in her chocolate brown hair pain skin and hazel eyes, a lightbulb turned on in his head. "Bella!" he shouted with a huge, childlike smile on his face.

Updated: 17/07/2019