"Here lies Leah Clearwater. She died of a broken heart."
That would fix him! Leah wasn't actually contemplating suicide, but it would serve Sam right! She still couldn't believe he'd dumped her for her cousin. Emily was pretty, she was smart - they'd always been close. But seriously! Leah and Sam had history. He'd told her he loved her. Looking back, Leah supposed he could have said it just to get into her pants, but she didn't really believe that - even now. And she'd wanted him as much as he'd wanted her. That thought prompted another outbreak of sobbing. Their sex life, after an inauspicious fumbling inception in the front seat of his truck, had become increasingly hot, slick, consuming...ugh. She missed him with her mind, her aching body, and her very soul.
Leah dragged herself out of bed and risked a peek in the mirror. She immediately wished she hadn't. Seth poked his head in the door and caught her contemplating her image. "Ugh! You smell even worse than you look!" He chuckled and deftly dodged the shoe she flung at him as he disappeared down the hall. "Looks like Leah's finally up, Mom!" he chortled as he bounced down the stairs to the Clearwaters' warm, fragrant kitchen. Leah wondered idly if her happy, upbeat kid brother ever got depressed.
Okay, maybe a shower would help. And a shampoo. Her hair stuck out at crazy angles from her pale face. Now that's something nobody had ever called her before! She almost smiled.
Leah shaved her legs, took a long, hot shower, shampooed her hair, and brushed her teeth. Twice. It didn't eliminate the dark circles under her eyes, but it did improve her state of mind. Sue looked up as Leah slouched into the kitchen. "Morning, Honey," she said kindly, though it was well after noon. "You hungry?"
"I guess, Mom. Thanks." Leah poured herself a mug of coffee and sat at the table, wolfing down a fresh blueberry muffin and reaching for a second one.
"I'm glad to see your appetite's back," Sue observed. She thought it best to avoid the subject of Sam Uley for a while, unless Leah chose to bring it up. "You and your brother are eating me out of house and home these days - and that's the way I like it," she added quickly. "You feeling okay, Leah?" Sue touched her daughter's forehead and frowned. Still abnormally hot. She stubbornly continued to foster the hope, in spite of Billy's warnings, that Leah and Seth weren't on the verge of shifting into giant, vampire killing wolves. It was getting harder to ignore the signs, however.
After three more muffins, Leah rinsed her coffee cup and stuck it in the dishwasher. Intent upon her fresh resolve to rejoin the world, she started out the back door. "Going for a walk, Mom," she tossed over her shoulder. She reached the top step and froze.
Sam looked worse than Leah did around the eyes, but his body seemed to be making some kind of transformation. He'd always been well built; Leah tried not to undress him with her eyes. It was a hopeless cause, though, since he was pretty much naked except for a pair of cut off cargo shorts. Muscles bulged on his arms, his calves, his thighs….shit. And where the hell did he get those shoulders? Great. So apparently he'd joined some gym to impress his new girlfriend. Leah seethed. "What are you doing here?" she spat bitterly, concentrating her gaze on his bare feet.
His voice was soft, barely audible. "Please, Leah. I just want to explain...or try to." Her glance shifted to his eyes, which were dark and pleading. She still loved those eyes, and her betraying body's natural reaction to him made her even more furious.
"Get. Away. From. Me." Each word was barked separately, enunciated clearly. "I mean it, Sam. No more."
He opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of it. What, after all, could he really say? There was simply no explanation that was acceptable, and certainly none that he could offer an outsider. He turned and trotted back toward the woods.
The screen door banged against the house, and Seth walked toward his sister. His frown deepened. "Leah, you're shaking. Maybe you should sit down…"
She shrank away from his touch. "I...I don't know, Seth. Something's wrong…"
Then all hell broke loose.