A Bottle of Wine

Lady Adrienne Wolfe Gentry


A bottle of wine sat on the table.

I stared at it.

And stared at it.

And stared some more.

I wanted to open it, pour it into a glass, drain that glass, and pour another. I wanted to drink and drink and drink more until I couldn't remember. I wanted to forget it, forget everything.

Forget I had fallen for the wrong guy again.

You think I would have learned by now NOT to fall for another wolf. The whole imprinting thing would just ruin any chance I had. Maybe guys from the tribe were a bad idea all together, it was in their blood. Maybe no guys at all, no dating. I don't think I could bear to be hurt again.

I used to think after Sam was the worst. I had thought it was the love of my life. I had hated me when he disappeared and couldn't tell me where he was. It just about killed me when he imprinted on Emily. She was my own cousin for Pete's sake! It nearly shattered me when I phased and had to spend months inside his head all day, hearing his thoughts about the whole thing. I had just wanted to get away, forget him, do anything to not remember his name. But instead I was stuck there every day, seeing the same memory-haunted places, going through the motions of living. I tried to make everyone else as miserable as I was during that time.

But it was nothing compared to what is happening now.

The highest point in my life was when I joined Jake's pack. That freedom from Sam was amazing, so was not being the lowest member of a pack. Heck, I was second-in-command, the Beta. Sure, Jake and I would pick at each other a bit, but it was all okay. We understood each other in ways we couldn't say aloud, it was just felt. I think that is why I fell for him.

I fell for someone already imprinted.

I tried to hide it from my thoughts, disguised it from my brother and my Alpha by thinking how much the bloodsuckers annoyed me, how I hated them. I couldn't hide it forever though, Jake eventually caught on. He tried to talk about it one day, being a confrontational person and all. It was awkward and ended with a kiss stolen by me in the last moment.

Then I phased and I took off, running as fast as the fastest wolf can run.

Once I was far enough away, I phased back. I stayed in my human form as much as I could, a few hundred miles wouldn't affect the mind connection our pack had. I wouldn't think about where I was when I did have to phase, so Seth and Jake, and Embry and Quil once they joined the pack, couldn't find me. I blocked out Seth's pleas to come home ignored Jake's almost-orders.

It has been a year. A year alone, in the middle of Canada. A small house, bought using the contents of my emptied collage fund. Working nights as a waitress in a tiny diner for the money to eat with. Sleeping days away because I couldn't still hope with harsh light showing how empty it all was.

And here I am, justifying my way of forgetting.

I kept staring at the bottle, not taking notice of a soft click from the front room. I wanted to just to not have to deal, just stay in a fuzzy, not real world. Just forget for a while. At the same time, I wanted nothing more than to remember, relish in every detail of his lips on mine for that instant in time. Fall into my little dream of a life with Jacob Black.

I didn't realize I wasn't alone.

Suddenly he appeared in front of me, looking like something straight out of my mind. He was looking at me, oddly hesitant for once in his life. His eyes were dark, something I didn't recognize swirling in them, his skin still looking like coppery silk over the steel of his muscles. He apparently still didn't carry a shirt in wolf form. While I was busy noticing minute changes, he moved. He slid his hand under my chin, tilting my face upward towards his.

His lips brushed against mine.

Once. Twice. Three times. My eyes fluttered closed as he pressed his lips to mine, a longer lingering kiss I happily gave in to. It was the sweetest kiss I had ever gotten, more filled with emotion in those few moments than anything else I've ever experienced. It was over all too soon though. I forced my eyes to open as he moved away, and looking into his eyes with the same intensity I had been staring at that bottle with. I almost missed the soft word that fell from his lips.

"Leah."

Just hearing him say my name was amazing, considering he was here. I was still mildly in shock from the kisses, so it took a while until I could converse with him. We talked about the past year, the pack, the Cullens, everything. Eventually we got on to the topics I was waiting for and dreading just slightly at the same time, his imprint and us. Nessie was apparently physically close to Jake's age, but had no interest in him romantically, just as he had none in her. She needed something like a friend and brother, but not something romantic. She had taken a shine to Nahuel it seemed. Talking about us was the most awkward thing in the world, trying to put into words how I felt about him, even now. It helped he seemed as nervous as I was when he started telling me how long he had been attracted to me, how he felt about me, and what he would like to have happen between us in the future. It was sweet, shocking, and all together wonderful considering the past year.

"So how about coming home, Leah?"

At my nod and untypically shy smile, which he matched with a brilliant grin of his own, he picked me up easily from my chair and carried me outside so we could phase without destroying anything. In a few minutes, we were off back to La Push.

Looks like I wouldn't need that bottle of wine, still full on the table miles behind me, anymore.