Please note this is a work of Twilight FanFiction. All recognizable characters and situations belong to Stephanie Meyer.

This story is intended for a mature audience, please do not read if underage. It is a bit of a darker tale but ultimately a story of triumph with a happy ending. There will be mature lemons, ménage, foul language and some heavy subject matter. Not all of my shape-shifters will be loveable boy-scout types. Sometimes power corrupts and jealousy & obsessive love poison. My characters will be human (albeit superhuman as well) and fallible.

If you are offended, please refrain from reading. Thank you. "Chapter" updates will vary in length.

He looked angry. My heart leapt into my throat as I descended the steep escalator bank leading to Sea-Tac's baggage claim, my eyes catching sight of his stern profile sipping coffee. I knew it would be black, with a drop of cream, no sugar. My lips broke into a wide, irrepressible grin. He had come!

He'd driven over 4 hours in what could only be rainy, miserable conditions to pick me up at the airport from my flight that had arrived at 10:35pm. He might be mad, but he still loved me.

I mumbled "sorry" and "excuse me" as I attempted to squeeze past weary travelers parked on the sides of the escalator with their luggage. Geez, how hard was it to walk down friggin stairs that were already doing half the work for you, people?

He stood at least a foot taller than everyone else amid the small crowd in the receiving area near the baggage claim. He appeared taller than I remembered, perhaps a bit thicker too. But he'd always been tall. And the physical labor his construction job required kept him muscled and strong.

His head turned at my approach, his dark eyes scanning easily over the other travelers to lock with mine as I broke into a jog. I giggled with unbridled excitement as I raced towards him. He stood ramrod stiff, looking confused as I tossed my small duffel bag to the floor and flung myself against him, wrapping my arms around him and reaching up on tiptoe to press kisses anywhere I could possibly reach. He felt so warm. I briefly wondered if he'd been sick.

"Whoa, easy there," he finally chuckled feebly, holding his hot coffee away from his body in one hand while wrapping the other tentatively around my waist. "Let me put this down." I released him and waited as he bent to set his hot coffee down on the floor a few feet away from us.

As he stood back up to his full height and his eyes canvassed my face they looked… scared? Nervous?

Then the worst of what if's occurred to me. What if he'd come all this way because he felt guilty? What if he was breaking up with me? What if he'd decided he didn't love me during those three weeks I'd been away? What if he'd finally grown tired of me holding out on him? What if he'd concluded he didn't want to wait anymore for me to make up my mind?

Oh, God, what if he'd met someone? Women were always eyeing him. He'd been the consummate ladies' man prior to our steady relationship.

"You're crying," he pointed out blankly. I swiped shaky fingers across my damp cheeks and realized he was right.

I nodded. "I missed you so much, Sam," I sobbed brokenly. His brow furrowed, his hard brown eyes seemed to search mine as if trying to gauge the truth of my words. Why would he doubt them?

He sucked in a breath, biting the insides of his cheeks as he shifted back and forth awkwardly on his feet. He wasn't touching me. He hadn't hugged me back. And now I was forced to acknowledge he was practically scowling down at me. Oh, God… he really was breaking up with me?

He folded his arms across his chest. "Are you staying?" His deep voice sounded so distant and cold, not like the Sam I knew.

"W-what do you mean?" I squeaked in confusion.

"Are you staying?" he repeated. "Or did you sign that contract when you were in Miami?"

My stomach lurched as realization dawned. He wasn't actually breaking up with me. He was scared I was leaving him. I shook my head. "No, I didn't sign it."

Hope seemed to wash over his features and his lips quirked at the corners, but then he reset them into a grim line. "Are you going to?" he asked stoically.

Truthfully, I hadn't decided. I had told Bobby and Ash I needed to talk it over with my mom and dad first, although I knew the decision was ultimately entirely mine to make. My mother had already said she'd support me in whatever I chose to do. And that she'd get dad to come around if he was obstinate with his blessing. I'd spent the whole long plane ride weighing my options, considering everything I might be giving up if I stayed in La Push and didn't take this opportunity, as well as everything I knew I could be losing if I left. Bobby had taken it upon himself to dish out every last morsel of life advice I'd been willing to half listen to. And I'd heard him. At least I'd thought I had. I'd promised him I would make a rational decision. That I'd give it his 48-hour rule before saying either yes or no. And I'd fully meant to do that. That is… until I saw Sam.

Until I looked into his hard eyes and knew, he wouldn't wait for me forever. If I left, he wouldn't come after me. Despite all of his years of chasing me, he would let me go this time. He would cut me loose and never take me back. I knew it from the way he was warily regarding me now. From his posture and body language. He was already prepared to cut his losses, to carve my memory from his heart.

I couldn't give it Bobby's 48 hours. I still didn't know if I was prepared to give up what everyone kept telling me was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I would be able to look back on my life one day as Bobby had pointed out and not be sorry I'd passed up on venturing down the curious path life had offered me at seventeen. I only knew in the present, in this very moment, I wasn't prepared to give up Sam.

"No," I stated quietly, firmly.

"No?" he echoed anxiously.

"No." I swallowed uneasily as a strange sense of foreboding settled in the pit of my stomach. "I want to stay here with you."

His eyes softened. His jaw relaxed. He looked more like my Sam already as he released a breath and stepped forward to embrace me. He lifted me up off the ground and kissed me until I was dizzy. He slanted his mouth over mine until my stomach formed knots of excitement and my sex pulsed and throbbed with a need I'd never before felt. I pressed myself up against him. He was so warm, so hard. He had gained muscle during the time I'd been gone. I was certain of it. I could feel the steel hardness of his abdominal muscles tensing and flexing beneath my hands as he set me back on my feet, still holding me crushed up against him.

He captured my chin between his strong fingers and tilted my face up to his. "You'll marry me then?" he sought confirmation, his eyes searching mine nervously. I felt myself nod. He wiped more tears from my eyes and cheeks I'd not realized I'd shed. He beamed down at me. His whole face lit up with joy as the fear vanished, casting a glow of renewed hope and confidence over his features I'd not seen since he was in high school. I decided anything I might be giving up was worth it to see him so elated.

"You sure?" he asked laughingly. I nodded again. "Because I'll never let you go once I have you, Lee-Lee," he teased in a mock warning tone. I giggled and nodded as more tears escaped me.

The smile slid from his face. "You're all mine then," he whispered in wonderment as his thumb traced over my swollen lips, his long fingers reverently caressing my jawline.

I nodded again. I was too tired and overcome with emotion to do much else. So I snuggled closer, wrapping my arms securely around his midsection.

There was a sense of relief at having finally made a choice after so much internal debate and contemplation. But there was also that sinking feeling deep within my gut again. Every girl was anxious who made such a decision. It was only natural. In the whole history of the world, was anyone ever one hundred percent certain who took such a step? Love itself was a leap of faith, I reasoned.

"There's a storm rolling in," Sam murmured, brushing his lips back and forth across my hairline while his hands caressed up and down my spine, warming me all over. "Why don't you call your mom and let her know I'll bring you home in the morning, hmm?" he suggested casually. But when I tipped my head back to gaze up at him, I found his eyes had darkened to expose a passionate and surprisingly predatory hunger that was anything but casual as he purred, "I think we need to spend the night, Lee-Lee."