Leah's Choice
Summary: It's been almost two weeks since Renesmee Cullen was born, and everyone is living their happily ever after. Everyone except Leah Clearwater, that is. But with the help of Seth and Embry, she learns how to be happy again. CallWater. AU.
Disclaimer: Any characters, situations, etc from the Twilight saga belong to Stephanie Meyer. Not mine, so don't sue!
Chapter 1: To Move On
It has been almost two weeks since Renesmee Cullen was born and became the imprint of Jacob Black. This imprinting forced Sam Uley, the other alpha, to accept a truce with the Cullens and draft a new treaty. Because of this new peace, Sam had allowed Embry Call and Quil Ateara to join their best friend's pack.
Everything was peaceful and wonderful for all, except for Leah Clearwater. Once again, she felt like she had been betrayed by a man through imprinting. Unlike with Sam, however, there was nothing romantic in Leah's and Jacob's relationship. But Jacob was the only person who had truly understood Leah's pain. But his pain disappeared the moment he imprinted. And Leah was once again alone, drowning in the self-pity induced from being an un-imprintable genetic dead end.
She didn't stay down, however. Help came in the form of two other pack members—Embry and her younger brother Seth. They pulled her up before she completely suffocated in despair. With Jacob and Quil always fixated on their respective imprints, she found herself spending most of her time with Seth and Embry. Over time, they have become her best friends and the people she could always count on.
With their constant support, she had begun to feel happy again. And with their incessant pleading, she had begun to accept the Cullens as friends and even family. In fact, Rosalie had become her best female friend once they realized they shared the same pain of being unable to bear a child. She had even allowed Alice to make her over—something that was painful and embarrassing and was so worth it when she saw how awesome she looked in the end. She would often help Bella and Esme in the kitchen as they cooked for the pack. Bella had become like a sister to her (which thrilled her mother since Sue and Charlie had started to become involved romantically), and Esme had become like a second mother (which didn't thrill Sue at all). On some nights, the last thing Nessie would hear before falling asleep was Leah's voice singing the lullaby her father used to sing to her as a child. And with the guys—well, she suddenly found herself a little sister to three vampire brothers who loved to tease her, yet were extremely protective of her.
Furthermore, she slowly began to fall for Embry Call. With his reassuring smiles, comforting arms, and caring words; how could she not fall for him? But she did not act on her feelings. Somehow, she just knew that the pain she'll feel when Embry imprints (not if, because she was certain he will) would break her even more than the pain she felt when Sam imprinted on her second-cousin, Emily Young.
Seth, being quite perceptive when it came to his sister, already suspected her feelings for Embry and had taken it upon himself to play matchmaker. Unfortunately, that role ended quickly and disastrously. His first mission—telling Leah that Embry liked her back—didn't go as planned and even put an end to all subsequent plans. They were alone at home one morning about to have breakfast (Sue had already left for work), and he just blurted it out as she was about to cut into her pancakes. Silence enveloped the siblings for a few long seconds, and Seth was horrified when tears ran slowly down her cheeks. "I had suspected it," she said with an eerie calm. "But you forget: He's an un-imprinted werewolf. Even if he did love me, he can't. Because he'll meet her someday." Seth didn't need to ask who this her was. "One look, and he'll stop loving me. He'll break me, Seth. I think he knows that, too. I guess he really does love me since he's not willing to risk my heart." She then excused herself and left for her room. Later that day, Seth stood before Leah's door and quietly said an apology and a promise to never interfere again. And Leah and Embry continued to pretend that they were just best friends, not wanting more and not wanting less.
But then Alice saw the Volturi coming for the Cullens. There was no way Leah and her pack brothers were going to let them fight the infamous Volturi alone. When Alice and Jasper disappeared, the dread she was initially feeling grew a thousand-fold.
With death seeming inevitable, Leah made the decision to confess to Embry. She wanted to tell him that night, but she had patrol with Seth. Despite trying to not think about it, Seth saw her longing to speak with Embry as soon as she shifted. After a bit of urging, Seth was able to convince Leah that he could handle patrol by himself for the night.
Leah ran as fast as she could towards La Push and didn't shift back to human until she reached the border, where she quickly put on her khaki Bermuda shorts and black camisole. And she continued running until she was in front of Embry's house. With inhuman grace, she jumped through the window of his room and landed without a sound. Looking towards his bed, she found him already awake, having sensed her since she entered La Push. (He had memorized the sounds of her footsteps—human and wolf—long ago.) "I…" She falters, not knowing how to voice out her feelings. But she didn't need to continue. "I know," he replied as he got out of his bed. She smiled shyly at him as he made his way towards her. He grabbed her hand, and then led her to his bed. She stayed there all night, and left with Embry when he made his way back towards the Cullen's to run his patrol with Quil just before sunrise.
They had decided to keep their relationship a secret from everyone else. They didn't want outside pressures and expectations to ruin what they had. And it wasn't hard to keep their secret with Jacob's and Quil's constant concern about their respective imprints. (Mention their imprints' names and they'd get so caught up in thinking about their imprints that they wouldn't be looking into Embry's and Leah's thoughts that deeply.) Also, Edward was too worried about his family and what his wife was up to that she was not telling him to focus on the secret lovers' thoughts. The other non-mind-reading Cullens didn't suspect anything. Outside the two of them, only Seth knew, and he was so happy for them that he went out of his way to make sure that they had as much time together as possible if these were their final days.
The night before the Volturi came, Seth offered to run his and Leah's nighttime patrol alone so she and Embry could be together on what could possibly be their last night alive. Leah and Embry made love under the stars that night. It was hot and desperate and urgent. They wanted to fill their need for one another in case the worst happened the next day. After a few hours, the desperation was abated and a great serenity overcame them as they held one another; Leah's head resting on Embry's chest.
"I love you, you know," she stated above the soft chirps of a lone cricket.
"I know….I love you, too. So much," was his reply. And they were quiet again. For a few minutes they just enjoyed the other's presence until Embry disturbed the silence. "I wish I'd imprint on you….I wish you'd imprint on me…." Leah lifted her head so her eyes met his. There was sadness in her eyes but an amused smirk formed from her lips.
"Maybe I should just mark you as mine," she said. He asked how. And she showed him by unlocking their gaze, slowly lowering her head to his shoulder, and biting him unexpectedly. She bit harder until she broke skin. The pain caused Embry to become aroused once again, and he lowered his head and bit her shoulder to mark her as his. He withdrew when she did, and they both watched as the bite marks they made on their lover's shoulder healed. But something was odd with the way it healed—a scar was left behind. Werewolves usually healed cleanly; no scars. They looked at each other in confusion. And when their eyes locked, their worlds realigned; the sole purpose of their being had dramatically been redefined. They had imprinted on one another.
TBC