Leah POV

I loved running. There was something about the speed that always got me. It was like I was really going somewhere. Somewhere only I could see or go. I always picture Alice running off to wonderland. Only this was my wonderland.

La Push may seem dull and small to others, but to me it was magic. I was one of the few people who saw it that way after living here my whole life. But I found it mysterious and comforting at the same time. It was my home, and I'd do anything for it.

Of course things change. Most of those changes occurred the summer after I graduated from high school. I wasn't going to college full time; instead I was going to take business classes so I could someday run my parent's business. They owned a bookstore/bakery in town called Clear Waters. Not too original seeing as it was our last name, but it was a catchy saying. I loved working in the bookstore section and already knew a lot about the business, but I still wanted to learn more.

My family was important to me. My parents had been together for twenty years and I knew no two people who treated their kids better than my parents. My brother Seth was eleven and even though he was a pain in the ass sometimes, overall he was a good and sweet kid.

Another importance in my life was my boyfriend Sam. We'd been together since my sophomore year of high school, and had known each other for years before then. He was a year older than me and lived on his own. His mother had died two years before, and his father was never in his life. He lived with me and my family for a year after his mom died, until he was eighteen and could afford his own place. After that my parents gave us new rules, thinking it would stop us from having sex now that Sam lived alone.

They were wrong. Sam and I lost our virginity to each other a few months into my senior year. We didn't do it just to do it, like everyone else was; or to rebel. We did it because it was right. It was one of those moments that I knew it was time, no other day would be more right than that one. This was it for us. We were it for us.

Since then our relationship got better and better. That is until two days after my graduation. That's when the changes started.

Sam somehow got taller, even though he was far too old for a growth spurt. He seemed more muscular, which of course I enjoyed, and also more short tempered. Then the first week of July, Sam went missing. I had never been more terrified in my life. After two weeks I wondered if he was dead. I was a shell of myself, and would even go out looking for him myself. My father kept telling me he'd be ok, almost like he knew where he was which confused me.

My cousin Emily who I was best friends with, came to stay with us that summer, and tried to comfort me while Sam was missing. I had no idea at that time that her comfort would be something that I'd resent.

Two and a half weeks after he'd gone missing, I went to answer a knock at the door to find Sam standing there. I screamed and threw myself at him, and my parents, brother, and cousin came to see what the commotion was. And that was when I received my first heart break.

Sam wasn't looking at me while I begged him to explain where he'd gone. Instead he was starring at Emily like she was his lifeline. I'd never seen such a look of love on his face. I looked from one to the other and suddenly my Dad led Sam out of the room.

I didn't understand what was happening and why I couldn't see Sam. Why hadn't he looked at me that way? My mother started dragging me out of the room and into my own bedroom, sitting me down on the bed. The conversation we had is etched into my memory forever.

"Leah we need to talk about what just happened." She said in a sad voice.

"What's wrong with Sam?" I asked, choking back the tears.

"You know the tribal legends?"

"Mom now isn't the time…" I started to try and get up but she pushed me down, her hands in mine, tears in her eyes. I got scared. "I remember them yes."

"The ones about the protectors?"

I racked my memory for a second, and then nodded. "Yes."

"They are true. All of them."

"Mom.." I trailed off and wondered if she went crazy. I had always been a believer in magical things, but I drew a line somewhere.

"I'm serious Leah. Sam is proof of it."

I looked her in the eye, knowing I'd find the truth there. "Sam's a werewolf?"

"Yes."

I wanted to scream. Not out of fear, if anything just out of frustration. What the hell was happening? "Why are you telling me?"

"Because things will be different now. And I know you; I know you'll never let him go unless you know everything."

"Why do I have to let him go?" I said, raising my voice.

"Because the other part of the legends that is true is imprinting." Mom stopped and stroked my hair, the tears breaking free, terrifying me since she never cried. "Baby, he imprinted on Emily."

"What?" I whispered, and felt myself sag off the bed and onto the floor.

And that's all I remember of that day. Some might say I had a dramatic reaction. But you try going your whole life knowing someone, and going three years loving them with everything you had, and then try being told they are something different, and now they love someone else. Then try having that someone be your cousin and best friend. See what reactions you have.

Apart from my night of hell, I tried to hold it together. Emily was still unaware of everything and trying to comfort me. That made me want to smack her. I'd never been a violent person before, and I knew deep down she didn't control this, but that didn't mean I had to be rational.

A few days later, Sam tapped on my window while everyone else was sleeping. It wasn't unusual before, but now, I hesitated. I looked at his face through the glass, knowing he'd never look at me the same. I'd never be able to call him mine. Fate had him choose someone else, and that left me feeling, cold.

I still opened my window. Habit had me doing so, but I had to stop it from having me push his hair out of his face like I always had. Instead I looked at him, biting my lip so I wouldn't cry. "What." I said simply.

"Can you come outside?" He said in a grief stricken voice.

I looked towards my door, but knew no one would hear. Everyone else's bedroom was upstairs, and this was another habit we'd practiced many times over the years. This brought tears threatening again. My lip would bleed before long.

I nodded and climbed out the window, onto the side porch. Sam didn't touch me; I think he sensed that would make things much worse. Instead he gestured for me to follow him, and we started running towards the beach.

I noticed he looked as though he wasn't even running, but walking. His breathing didn't change, yet he was moving as fast as I was, and I had always been the fastest runner in track. I realized he was holding back and it was probably a werewolf thing. I tried not to snarl.

Once we reached the beach, I sat right in the sand and caught my breath. It was hitching, mostly from wanting to cry, but I held it back.

Sam sat down next to me, but still kept a distance. "There's so much I want to say."

I nodded.

"But I realize nothing is good enough. I could tell you I wish none of this ever happened and I want to go back to the way things were with us, but what good will that do?" I noticed him beat a fist into the sand. "I love you Leah. You know that, I've known you all my life. I know how much this is hurting you and that's killing me. I wish I could take it away. I'd give anything to make you not hurt.

I asked the only question that's answer had the power to be the wakeup call I needed from my zombie life. "Do you love Emily?"

When he didn't answer right away I glanced over at him and noticed tears run down his face. I still held mine.

"Yes." He said, breaking my heart again. "I don't want to. I wish it was different. I don't even know how it will work, its Em she's never even looked at me in that way. She's your cousin." He stopped and shook his head. "You can't blame her for this."

I laughed, surprising him. "I don't, of course not. I can't really look at her right now, but I know she doesn't know about it, and even once she finds out, it's not like she deliberately did anything to make this happen. But Samuel I swear to God if you tell me I can't do something, I don't care if you're a werewolf, I will find some way to hurt you." I looked him in the eye. "I understand you didn't ask for this. But if you ask me your getting the far better end of the deal. You get a guaranteed soul mate and new magic powers. I get nothing. So don't you dare tell me what I can and can't do."

He didn't answer in anything but a miserable nod. "I love you Leah." He said again. "I'll always love you. I'll understand if you never want to speak to me again, but I don't want you to think that I'm not hurt by this either. I feel like a chunk of my life was ripped out, and I know I'll never have it back."

"I know. And I know it's not easy for you. But you're in love. You have a future you're certain of, because fate made it that way. Because of course Emily will eventually say yes. And she'll love you too. But unlike you I can't fall out of love that easily. So no I don't want to see you. If this is what our lives will be than no. This is it for us."

With that I got up, leaving him there on the beach. There was nothing more to say, and goodbye was a word I couldn't force out. So I left, and in doing so, left a part of my life behind.