AN: Hey guys! I'm back with my second story. This story popped in my head all of a sudden and I figured…why not write it? It's going to be a short story so I hope you guys enjoy it. Enjoy the first chapter for this one. The mystery man will not be revealed until the end. I challenge you to wait until you reach the end in your reading to find out who.

7:00 p.m. Leah's Apartment - La Push

They were lying down in bed, wrapped in each other's arms, breathing and panting from just making passionate love. Leah knew he would have to leave in a few hours, but that did not mean she wanted him to. She knew he himself did not want to leave, but he had to. He had someone at home waiting for him. Oh how she wished things were back to how they were before. They were so happy before they got into this mess. She did not want things to be like this, but she took it nonetheless. It's been a while and she wondered how this went on for so long. She wished she could take back her agreement, but the cards have already been dealt. She was just wondering what drove her to it. Her mind drifted back to where it all started:

Leah was by her favorite place where she would always go to hang out, meditate, and just be by herself which was a cave right near the cliffs. Being in that place gave her a peace of mind and for once she felt like she could forget all the problems, issues, and heartache that happened only weeks before. She was sitting down quietly with her eyes closed, when she caught a scent. A scent she loved…Still loves up to this day…The smell of pine and earth and rain. It crept into her nostrils catching her off guard, causing her to open her eyes and lose her concentration. She stood up, but kept her back to him.

"What are you doing here?" Leah asked.

"I was looking for you; I had to find you." He replied. Her voice was just like he remembered. He wished she would turn around and face him, but he knew it was hard. From what they've been through, he would not be surprised if she ran him out of there and told him she never wanted to see him again. He knew her though and he could tell that she still loved him and always would. He loved her and always would too and that was why he was there. He could never stay far from her for too long. Even though he imprinted, Leah was always his number one priority. He might not show it, however, he made it his duty to look for her later in the day or evening. At night, he could not sleep without seeing her face one last time before he closed his eyes. As he stood there watching her, her hair hanged in waves over her back, touching the top of her medium-sized backside, her arms were wrapped around her middle, and her body had this sexy curve in her waist, and he knew he would never get tired of looking at her. He snapped out of his trance and walked up to her slowly. When he was two inches to the back of her, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him, securing her in his arms. He wished she could stay there forever and never leave.

"Leah…I know you don't want to hear this, but I am very sorry. It was out of my control." His voice broke when he spoke. This was the hardest thing he ever had to do. When he imprinted, he was so scared and he wondered how in the world he would be able to leave her. He wondered how he could ever love a stranger. "Despite what has happened, I love you. I love you with everything I have. This imprint…It's a curse upon me…Upon my wolf. I can't control these feelings I have for her and I don't know what to do. Every time I am away from her for too long, I can't breathe, I can't eat, I can't drink. I feel so much pain and anguish and sometimes it feels like my life is draining away from me. I want to fight it, but I don't know how."

She stayed as still as a statue with her back turned to him, listening to his words. She wanted to believe him so much and she wanted to just melt in his arms, but she couldn't. Losing him meant losing her world, her dreams, her plans, her promises, and her love. She started to tremble and even though she knew she shouldn't, she couldn't help it, and she turned around in his arms to face him. She looked at him with all the love she had to offer. Her hazel-colored eyes were glistening in the moonlight of the cave, giving it a beautiful glow. "I love you so much…And I want to believe in you…Believe in us. But I don't think I will be able to be with you, knowing at the end of the day, you'll be returning to her bed…To her arms. I can't do it…I can't!" Her voice was broken too and she turned her head away from him, looking at the rocky wall of the cave behind him.

He took a finger, placed it under her chin, and turned her face back to his. "Leah…I promise you…I will fight for this…for us. I love you and I want to be with you. I want to fulfill all the promises I made with you. I've been with you for too long to just let you go. I can't…I won't!" He said forcefully. "Just give me time…Please. I promise I will be yours and only yours. There must be something I can do. Just don't do anything hasty…Don't leave…Don't run. I'll find a way…I promise." He pulled her body flushed against his and spoke directly against her lips. "I love you."

Leah closed her eyes as she memorized his words and face. Her head was warring with her heart. She knew she should push him away, but for the life of her, she can't. She refused to do that. They had too much history and she felt he deserved a little time to fight. She convinced herself she'll give it to him and if he did not do what he said he would, she would move on and leave him. "I love you too…And I will wait. I won't wait too long, but I will…For now. I don't think I can bear to suffer much longer."

"I understand and I will indeed do what I said I will do." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her with all the love he had. He was happy that she was willing to give him a chance. He would make it his duty to be with her for the majority of his time and only be with his imprint just to satisfy the bond. Feeling pain from the imprint bond was excruciatingly devastating, but he promised himself and Leah, he would find a way. For the rest of the night, the couple stayed in each other's arms until dawn when they had to forcibly separate to go to their homes. One was going home to another and the other to an empty bed.

That was six months ago and the couple was still in the same predicament. Leah knew she could not take this anymore, but for the life of her, she loved him and she just could not let him go. To make matters worse, they were all in one pack and it was so hard to pretend that nothing was going on. He found it easy to think of his imprint and pretend like nothing was happening and when confronted by it, he would deny it and say it was to keep up their appearances. She looked over at him, took a hand, and traced the outline of his face with her fingers. She would always do that after making love to him. One thing she always did though, was made sure he took a shower first and wash off the imprint's scent before touching him in any way. She decided that she would not talk about or complain about the situation anymore. She would just let things be for now. She was just going to enjoy the little time she had and make more memories, despite the situation being fucked up. She forced a smile at him.

"That was good as usual. You haven't lost your touch at all." Leah said softly.

"Never. When it comes to you, I'll never lose my touch. Your body is engraved into my mind so that will never leave." He looked at her lovingly. He placed a hand on her cheek. He knew he needed to leave soon because he told his imprint he was working a little overtime. He did not want her to call his job looking for him only to find him not there. Truth be told, he did love his imprint. The little time he spent with her because of the imprint bond, he got to know her and he would be lying to himself if he said he did not have any feelings for her whatsoever. He did and that was what made the situation even harder. He knew he promised Leah a while back he would fix this, but he never expected to fall for his imprint like that. He felt bad and disgusted with himself for putting Leah through this. Hell…He was one selfish bastard, however, he refused to give Leah up. He couldn't and he won't. He took pride in knowing he was the only man Leah had ever been with and would continue to be with. For as long as Leah would have him, he would take her, but he knew Leah and she would not put up with this for much longer. In fact, he was surprised she even stayed in this with him for this long. She already walked away from him twice before, and he fought like hell to get her back. He knew if she walked away a third time, there was definitely no coming back. He puts his imprint out of his mind and focused on Leah.

"I'll be taking a business trip soon. You should come with me." He proposed.

Leah's eyes widened; that was unexpected. "I don't know…Won't it be suspicious if both of us left at the same time?"

"Well…You do have a point. You'll have to leave a couple days after. You can meet me at the hotel."

"But…how long is your business trip anyway?"

"Two weeks. I can't stay away too long because of the imprint." He lowered his voice when he said the last word. "My superiors wanted me to go for a month, but I had to give them a reason for just two weeks. I would really love it if you come with me. You can come the second week…That way, it won't look suspicious. We're in July so you can say you're going away for a week to look at some colleges. You always said you wanted to go back to school. You can use that excuse to leave." He said as he stroked her face with his fingers. He meant what he said; he would really love it if she came with him. It would be their first time being together away from the rez.

He loved his job as well and was happy he applied and got it. He was tired of counting on the elders to pay him for patrolling. Ever since him and the others phased, they did not have time to work. The other guys did not even have time for school, but Leah and her mom was adamant about the guys finishing their education. College degrees were optional, but a high school diploma was required and more important. Leah made sure the guys did all of their homework and despite her differences with them, they knew she meant well and listened to her. The elders were grateful for that and told her she would make an excellent alpha female one day. He remembered Leah blushing madly at that and glanced at the guys meekly. That was the first time they ever witnessed her being embarrassed, but they all laughed it off to make her comfortable again and resumed their chatter.

He worked for a construction company in Forks name 'Perennial Construction.' Some of the advantages of being a wolf were strength and speed and his boss noticed that. He was also very intelligent as well and knew wood by types and assisted his superiors many times. Seeing him in action and witnessing his excellent work, gave the superiors the go ahead to promote him to assistant manager. His salary increased and he had no problems financially anymore. Of course he made generous donations to the rez and the elders were quite happy. They were also counting on him to take his seat on the Council soon, but he did not think he wanted to do that. He told them he would think about it. Seeing his success, the elders gave the green light to his brothers to get jobs as well as long as they don't neglect their patrolling and protecting of the people. He smiled in thought of the guys all working and being happy. It was a great change for them since their first year of phasing because things were rough and hard back then. Now, he was proud of them and he always let them know it. Even though he was not alpha, he was Beta and he was grateful for the position when it was offered.

"I still don't know…I mean…I don't know if I'll be able to get the time off of work. I just started four months ago and I have to work a year to get vacation time. Even if I did have vacation time, I don't think it would be a good idea if I leave. Everyone knows how I feel about you. They would probably think I left to stalk you or something. Not to mention your imprint will be the first to look for you if she heard I left." Leah informed. Her voice was not bitter when she said that. Hell…She truly was not angry at her. It was not her fault they were cursed with wolf magic. However, she still blamed the imprint because she never rejected him. She took him in with opens arms with no regard for her feelings at all. As a result, Leah could care less about having this man in her bed. She refocused on the topic at hand. His proposal sounded so tempting, but she did not want to take the risk. Besides, she had another man she was seeing, unbeknownst to this one in her bed. She would miss him terribly if she left.

"Come on Leah…At least for a weekend. You don't work weekends remember? You're lucky to get weekends off. Some people are not fortunate like you." He teased with a soft smile.

"I do have a good job if do say so myself." She smiled back in thought. She got her job by chance. One day, she made up her mind and took the initiative to search for a job even though she had no experience whatsoever. She walked into the main office and acted professionally as she asked to speak with the manager or recruiting officer. Her request was granted right away and she had a meeting and an interview on the spot with the manager. Because of her strong demeanor, positive attitude, and determined drive to do well, she was hired to work the next day.

Leah was working for an accounting company named 'The Bornn Firm.' She was the main secretary at the front desk and was interning at the same time with her boss which was the CPA. From the time she encountered accounting in high school, she made up her mind to become an accountant. Leah always loved numbers and her favorite subject was math. She was making good money as well and was helping her mom cover her dad's funeral and medical costs. Seth was working too as a night-time warehouse attendant for the 'Cost-U-Less' supermarket in Forks so they were all blessed to have jobs and make something of themselves.

"Tell you what…when you come back, I'll prepare a special night just for us. I'll be here waiting for you. Just go, have fun, and complete your business. You don't need any distractions from me so I want you to go by yourself." Deep down, she really did not want him to leave, although the offer to go with him was tempting as hell, but she had to think of herself and put herself first. She was tired of waiting so she was going to do her own thing. She smiled in thought of her other guy. She could not wait until he arrived. The two guys did now know of the other and she would like to keep it that way. Yes…she was insane for loving two men and putting her mental and emotional well-being in jeopardy, but dammit, she had needs. What better to get them from the men she knew? To her, she felt it was better to be with them than a stranger.

He sighed. "Okay…Fine. I will be calling you every single day on every hour for the whole time I am gone. I will miss you very much."

"When are you leaving?"

"Let's see…We're in the third week of July…I'm leaving the first week of August."

"Oh…well we'll be spending a lot of time together before you leave then?" Leah asked timidly. Her heart broke every time she thought about him leaving.

"Of course we will." He looked at the time and sighed. "As much as it pained me to say this, but I have to go."

Leah sighed. It always hurt to see him go. Every time he left, he took a little piece of her with him. She really did not know how much more of this she was willing to take. She smiled softly and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "I understand…Go…She's waiting for you." With that said, she got out of bed, went straight into the bathroom, closed and locked the door behind her.

He sucked in a deep breath. She always did this when he had to leave, but he did not blame her. He stood up and put on his clothes. He was grateful his imprint could not phase or had any sense of smell because he refused to wash off Leah's scent. He walked over to the bathroom door and leaned his head on it, trying to listen for any sound. All he heard was the pipe in the sink running. He pictured her washing her teary-eyed face and brushing her teeth. He felt odd at her doing that, but he figured she was just going to bed. He raised a hand to knock, but put it down. "I love you Leelee." He whispered softly, but he knew she heard him.

"I love you too Sam." She whispered back to the door. She stepped into the shower and turned it on to tune him out as he finished gathering himself to leave.

After he completely gathered his things, he looked at the door one last time, sighed and left through the front door with part of his heart feeling heavy. The imprint bond pulsed at the thought of going home to his imprint.

Leah enjoyed her shower and wash off all of Sam's scent and liquids from her body. She scrubbed herself clean and forced her tears to stop falling; she refused to cry. She knew she was being reckless with her heart and she knew she needed to let him go, but every time she tried, he kept coming back. But God…She wanted him. They had too much history for her to just give up. He was her first love, her first boyfriend, her first true friend, her first everything. How could she give that up? She slid down the wall to the floor of the shower and pulled her knees up to her chest and just sat there. Her tears finally fell after holding them in for a while. She sat there and cried until it she felt ready to get out…If she felt like it.

AN: And that's the first chapter. So what did you guys think? I woke up yesterday morning and this idea hit me out of the blue. I hope it was to your liking. The next chapter will be coming soon. Don't forget to review. To help with your review, here are two questions: What do you guys think of Leah's situation? Who do you guys think the other guy is? I would love to hear your views.