A/N: I seem to have forgotten the disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or the characters therein. However, I do claim my ongoing project called, The Game, and any original characters that pertain to The Game as my own.

Chapter 1

Sanctuary

I wish I could feel the cold, thought Leah Clearwater as she weaved a fast pace through the wilderness.

It was early February, and she was patrolling the edge of the pack's boundary. The pack, that she is a part of, a pack of shape-shifters, the Quileute shape-shifters, and all of them are wolves. She didn't like it. Before she became part of the pack, she was dating the pack's alpha, Sam Uley. That ended when Sam met her cousin Emily. He left her for her cousin.

Bullshit, rang through her head, having fur beats all. It came from Jared Cameron, another member of the pack.

One thing about the pack was the pack mind. It's very useful. When pack members have shifted to their wolf forms, their minds become interconnected and they can hear each others' thoughts and see each others' memories no matter how far away. It also has a downside. Each member can hear each others' thoughts. Anger boiled up in Leah. For ten years she has had to endure Sam's unending thoughts about her cousin Emily. She trembled in rage just thinking about it. She wanted to bite something.

The thunderous crash of a tree falling brought Leah out of her haze of rage. She blinked at the ragged stump in front of her, and to her left at the fallen pine. Noting an odd taste in her mouth, Leah spat out wooden chips and splinters and tree bark. She did bite something, apparently.

Off in the distance came the faint crash of another falling tree. Ah, damn, came Jared's thought, I chewed through a tree.

That was another thing about the pack mind share. Every pack member could feel each others' emotions.

Sorry, Leah responded sheepishly. Noticing that she wasn't moving, Leah took off, returning to her patrol.

I know it still hurts, Jared empathized, but please try to keep it in check for the rest of our patrol. You can let loose the next time you're on patrol with Sam.

Ha! that cheered Leah. She had been terribly bitter and angry about Sam imprinting on her cousin, she was sure that the other members of the pack didn't like her.

Hey! That's not fair to Seth, Jared responded to what was going through her head. That was right, her younger brother Seth was part of the pack. Yeah, he was probably the only one that liked her. Hey! That's not fair to me.

Leah had to stop running, she was laughing to hard. Though it could hardly be called laughing, more like growling and wheezing, she was patrolling as a wolf, after all. Sorry, sorry, she apologized, but you're just as bad, always thinking about Kim.

It's the only way I can counter Sam, Paul and Quil, Jared thought unrepentantly. He had imprinted on Kim around ten years back and they've been a couple ever since. Leah was happy for them. Thanks, he replied happily.

Sam and Jared weren't the only ones to imprint. Paul Lahote and Quil Ateara V also imprinted. Paul imprinted on Rachel Black, the older sister of Jacob Black, another pack member, around the time Jared imprinted. Before he imprinted, Paul was the biggest hothead of the pack. Since then, he has cooled off greatly. Much to everyone's amusement.

And Quil. Around the time Jared and Paul imprinted, Quil imprinted on Claire Young, Leah's second niece once removed. Claire was two years old then. The two of them are inseparable now. It has been interesting for Leah to watch her niece grow up through Quil's eyes. The little prankster.

Jared's laughter about Leah's thoughts cut short, and she felt a chill run down her spine.

Jared? What's wrong? Leah asked, her question laced with concern. Then she felt rage. There weren't many things that could make a wolf shifter angry while on an uneventful patrol. Whatever Jared felt wasn't good.

Vampire, he hissed, confirming Leah's suspicion. She changed direction, racing toward him.

I'm coming to you, Leah growled, let's take it together, safer that way. While it was possible for one of the pack to kill a vampire, it was always easier when there were two or more shifters.

I'll wait, get here quickly, Jared urged. Leah would have smiled, but as a wolf, she could never tell.

Feh, yeah, she responded lightly. Everyone knew she was the fastest wolf in the pack. She bolted through the trees, eking out even more speed as she raced to her pack mate.

As far as vampire intrusions went, they were uncommon. Maybe one or two vampires every two or three months on average. The pack seldom caught an intruder, but the pack can proudly state that there have not been any deaths via vampire within their territory for the past decade. There once was a coven of 'vegetarian' vampires that lived on the outskirts of Forks, a town close to the La Push reservation. But they left ten years ago. 'Everything was ten years ago,' Leah thought to herself.

This leech is strange, Jared sounded confused. That piqued Leah's interest.

Strange? How? she asked. Every piece of information about this vampire could make it easier to kill.

She's standing at the boundary line, Jared responded, just standing there doing nothing. I feel like I know her.

Deja vu? Leah asked. The mahogany waves of hair, pale skin, and soft features of the leech's face seen through Jared's eyes definitely seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't think of how or why.

Yeah, came the answer, but she definitely knows I'm out here.

Oh, really? Leah returned. I'm almost there.

She heard his answering chuckle in her head, Her ears and nose twitched, so yeah, she can hear me and smell me.

Well, Leah chuckled, it's no fun if we don't disturb their sensibilities.

Hah, deadpanned Jared.

A second later, Leah stopped next to Jared, although it could be described more like skidding than stopping, and she froze as if she hit a wall. In a way she did. The scent this vampire was giving off was so sweet and cloying that it might as well have been a wall. But it confused her, Leah wasn't repulsed by it. She turned to Jared.

Are you sure she's a vampire? Leah asked. He turned to her, an incredulous expression on his furry mug.

She has red eyes and smells like candy on fire, Jared answered as if she didn't have a clue, so yes, I'm sure.

She smells like a field of wildflowers to me, Leah returned to him. Jared looked at her as if she were a space alien. She wasn't sure she liked that look.

Are you sure that tree didn't hit you? he asked.

The tree didn't hit me, she growled, I hit the tree. Jared backed away a step. Oh, come on!

"Excuse me."

The melodic voice pulled Jared and Leah out of their conversation and they turned to the vampire they had momentarily forgotten. The moment Leah's brown eyes met the vampire's crimson ones, something happened.

Leah couldn't look away. She didn't want to. It was like this vampire was pulling her in, and she couldn't get away. There was nothing else, just those brilliant crimson eyes. Like they were her center, her everything. And there was warmth. It started in her chest, and spread, to her paws and to her nose and to her tail. And it was getting hotter, like she would burst into flames. Nothing mattered to Leah other than the pleasant heat and the crimson eyes that she couldn't escape.

Aw, shit, Jared's words intruded on her reverie, but didn't completely pull her from it.

What? Leah distractedly asked. It was those eyes, she couldn't remember seeing anything so beautiful.

You imprinted, he answered, on the leech.

That stopped Leah cold. What? she started to tremble. WHAT?! Leah started to emit a loud, threatening growl, and her trembling became more pronounced and erratic. How? How the hell could this happen? How in the name of all that stank like three day old burning shit could she have imprinted on a vampire? And not just any vampire, but a woman on top of that! Leah stopped. A woman? Her shocked mind stopped working.

Jared was making a real effort not to laugh, but there was a part of him that was horrified and concerned at the same time. He had wanted Leah to imprint on someone so that she could let go of that part of her that was still holding on to Sam. And now it happened. He knew he should feel happy, but Leah's imprint is a vampire, one that has red eyes. A vampire with red eyes meant that it drank human blood. The vampire coven that lived in Forks ten years ago had golden eyes because they drank the blood of animals. Jared didn't mind that Leah's imprint was a woman, but this woman definitely didn't have golden eyes.

This would cause trouble with the pack. He was starting to get a headache.

The vampire groaned, which pulled Jared's attention away from his musings. The leech didn't appear to be in pain, just exasperated. "This could be going better," she mumbled to herself, "but it's not as bad as I expected." Jared couldn't figure if she was talking about the imprint or her possibly impending doom. She probably didn't know about the imprint. The vampire raised her arms slowly, arms out, bent upwards at the elbow; a universal sign for surrender. The vampire started speaking again, "Pardon me, but I would like to speak to you."

The weirdness just kept piling up. Jared was having trouble with this. Leah was unresponsive, and it looked like the bloodsucker was surrendering, but that could be a trap. Jared slowly stepped out of the cover of the trees and into the clearing. The vampire stood dead still. Her eyebrows raised when her eyes fell upon Jared's wolf form.

"You aren't a normal wolf, are you?" she asked. Jared shook his large head as a negative. "But this is your territory," she stated. Jared nodded affirmative. "Do you follow a basic pack structure?" she asked and he nodded. "Are you the alpha?" she asked. He shook his head. The vampire, without looking away from him, slowly lowered her right arm, pulled an object from the pocket of her pants, and raised her arm again. Jared could clearly see that it was a cellphone. "Are you human?" she asked. Jared tilted his head, then nodded. "May I speak to your alpha? You can use this if you don't want to leave," and with that her hand twitched and the phone sailed through the air towards him. It landed and skidded to a stop at his feet.

Jared gingerly nabbed the small object with his maw, not wanting to crush it between his teeth, and slowly backed into the trees. He phased back to his human form, but he was still wary. He looked to Leah, still unresponsive. If it wasn't for her heart beat, he would have been convinced that she was a statue. Jared donned a pair of shorts from a pouch tied to his ankle and walked out of the trees. His eyes settled on the vampire and was surprised to find that her expression almost looked pleading. Using the given cellphone, Jared dialed a familiar number. After a series of rings, the line was answered.

"Do you have any idea what time it is right now?" came Sam's sleepy growl. He was not happy.

"Sam, it's Jared," he started, "Leah and I found something that you really need to come see for yourself."

A few seconds passed. "It's almost three in the morning," Sam growled as if he were talking to a child, "I'm sure you can show me later in the day, after we all get some sleep." Jared instantly didn't like where this was going. The leech could surely hear Sam's responses, and Sam really wasn't helping. Jared swore right there that he would never volunteer for patrol ever again.

"Not something as in a cool looking rock," Jared clarified, "something as in a leech requesting to talk to you." There was silence to that. It was deafening.

"Jared," Sam started lowly, "where are you?"

"Boundary line," he answered clearly, "with Leah."

"There are no phones out there," Sam pointed out. Jared would have laughed if he felt his balls weren't on the line.

"The leech gave me her cellphone," he hesitated. Sam's angry growl could be heard clearly over the line.

"And it's not dead?" Jared wasn't sure if he should answer that.

"Nothing about this is normal," he told Sam, "It feels like I know her, but I can't remember where from. She's asking for you, I can't handle this. This whole thing isn't normal."

From the silence on the other side of the line, Jared assumed Sam was trying his hardest not to crush the phone in his hand. "I'll be there," was the simple reply. He ended the call. Jared felt as if he should hand his balls over now. Maybe he could bargain his spleen.

"If I make it out of this alive," the vampire pulled his attention, "may I have my phone back?"

Jared chuckled. With all the weirdness going on, there was no reason for him not to. "Sure," and he chucked the cellphone to her. It landed and bounced only a few feet away from her, but she didn't pick it up.

They waited. Jared took in what the leech was wearing. White t-shirt, khaki cargo pants and black boots. She apparently had a cellphone.

Rustling behind him signaled Sam's arrival. Jared turned and saw two figures walk out of the trees. One of them was Sam Uley, the pack alpha. The other was Jacob Black, the pack beta. Jacob's eyes took in the vampire and he froze.

Sam stalked up to Jared. "What the hell is wrong with Leah?" there was no denying the fury in his tone.

Jared started, "Uh, well-"

"Bella?" Jacob interrupted in a soft tone. Jared and Sam turned to him not sure of what they heard, then they turned to the vampire.

She had a small smile on her face, despite the fact that she still held her hands up. "Long time no see, Jake," she answered in a bemused tone.

Aw, this shit just grew hair.

Wait, Bella? Leah's mind restarted. As in Bella Swan? As in Bella Swan the daughter of Forks Police Chief Charlie Swan that disappeared ten years ago? As in Bella Swan the leech lover? As in the Bella Swan that dated leech Perfect-Hair? That Bella Swan?

She wanted answers. Leah phased to her human self, and pulled a t-shirt and shorts from the pouch on her ankle. Dressed, she stalked out of the woods determined to get her answers from the human leech lover turned leech turned lesbian, apparently.

"You mean-" Leah started, Bella and Jared turned to her, but she was interrupted.

"Nice of you to finally join us," sneered Sam. The venom in his tone stopped her. When did he get there?

"Where the hell have you been?" demanded Jacob to Bella. Leah's head snapped in his direction. Where the hell did he come from?

"Around," Bella answered calmly, "The Aleutian Islands, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, Baja California, Hawaii, Japan, other places; nowhere long enough to call home, Jacob." Her answer surprised all there, because of the trace of longing in her voice.

"You were here?" the pain in Jacob's voice was evident. "What were you doing? Why didn't you contact us? Why didn't you let us know what happened to you? Why didn't you talk to Charlie!" Jacob's voice rose with his anger, and Leah wanted to hear the answers.

"I didn't have time, Jacob," Bella answered, her voice filled with regret, "and I can't tell you what I've been doing, it's safer if you don't know." To Leah, that sounded like a cop out.

"Bullshit!" apparently it sounded the same to Jacob. He opened his mouth to shout another question, or stick his foot in it, when Bella cut him off by turning to Sam.

"Sam," she spoke his name in greeting.

"Your eyes are red," Sam returned, so much for pleasantries. Yeah, that was an instant sore spot for Leah, her imprint was a bloodsucking murderer.

"Yes," Bella confirmed.

Sam started shaking in rage. He couldn't believe a murdering bloodsucking leech was standing here asking to talk to him, even if it was an old friend of Jacob's. "You've fed on innocent people," his accusing tone was laced with venomous hate.

"If you're asking if I've fed on humans," Bella returned calmly, Leah didn't like how calm she was, it was like she didn't care for her own safety, "then my answer is no. I swear to you Sam, I have never killed a human for food." For some reason, Leah knew she was telling the truth.

"She's not lying, Sam," she spoke quietly. Jared turned to her, his face concerned.

"I don't believe you," Sam spat at Bella coldly. "Your eyes are red." He had a point, it wasn't adding up.

"My," Bella hesitated, "employer, supplied me with blood bags from a blood bank, I think." Wait, what?

"You think?" Jared asked, everyone turned to him, they had forgotten he was there. Bella chuckled, the sound was musical to Leah. Wait, no. She shouldn't be thinking about that.

"You learn to not ask questions with her," Bella supplied. "My worst nightmares would be scared of her. And that's all I'll say about it." Again, Leah knew she was telling the truth, and it sent a chill down her spine.

Sam was getting impatient, killing the leech was taking too long, and he wanted to back to sleep. "What do you want?" he asked Bella. She sighed, as if to build her confidence.

"I surrender myself to you, Sam Uley," Bella started in a clear and confident voice, "and I request sanctuary in the La Push reservation." There was silence, absolute silence. Bella stood still, dead still, waiting for a reaction.

Jared's eye started to twitch. The hairy shit just started singin'.

Sam and Jacob gaped at Bella. What she was asking for was incomprehensible. Why the hell would they shelter a leech?

Leah spoke into the silence, "Sanctuary?"

Bella nodded. "I can't go back to Charlie, I've been gone ten years and I haven't aged a day. But I want a place to call home," she said wistfully, "I want a place where I can belong."

'You can belong to me,' Leah thought. She blinked, 'Wait, no, dammit, dammit, stop!'

Sam was shaking again, but a thought struck him, "You surrender, why?"

Bella nodded again, "I've seen bad things, and I've done bad things, Sam. I've killed. I promise you, Sam, I've never killed an innocent, but I have killed."

"You say you want protection yet you say you have murdered people!" Sam shouted, accused. "No! No sanctuary! I sentence you to death." His decision pronounced, he crouched down, ready to launch himself, shift, and make a killing blow before the doomed bloodsucker could react.

"WAIT!" shouted Jared, he needed to tell them before anything bad happened, like the leech getting ripped to pieces.

"WHAT!" raged Sam, turning to the interloper. What the hell was so important that he needed to get off his chest before the leech got ripped to pieces?

Jared pointed to Leah, "Leah imprinted," he pointed to Bella, "on the leech."

There was silence. Not even crickets were making a sound. Jared looked like a weight was removed from his shoulders, as if his balls were no longer in danger. Leah was unaware that she stared longingly at Bella, the bond already having a firm hold on her. Bella wore an expression of confusion as she looked back at Leah, having no idea what imprinting was. Jacob was staring bloody murder at Leah, the whole pack knew of his feelings concerning Bella. Sam's wild eyes were doing their absolute best to escape their sockets.

Aw, hell. The singin' hairy shit just hit the fan.

"WHAT!" Sam repeated, there was no possible way he heard that right.

Jacob was on the same track, "That's not possible!"

Bella was confused, she was ready to be torn to pieces, but now this thing, "Imprinted? What's that?"

Jared shook his head, trying to make his point, "I felt it. It was so intense, if I hadn't already imprinted on Kim, I swear I would have been convinced that I imprinted with her."

"That's not possible!" Jacob's mind had, evidently, broke.

The rage flowing through Sam dissipated and left him exhausted. He sat his butt on the ground and wiped his face with his hand, and sighed, "What the hell?"

"It's not like I wanted it to happen," Leah whined, she was torn between feeling like she was in trouble with Sam for imprinting on Bella and feeling like she should protect Bella from Sam. He raised his head and looked to her.

"I know, don't worry about it for now," he tried to smile at Leah, but he couldn't.

"That's not possible!" conclusive proof that Jacob's mind had stuck.

Jared was the one who got things back on track, "What do we do now?"

Sam looked at him. He was right when he called. Nothing about this is normal. "This is what we will do," he started, standing up and dusting his shorts off, he turned to Leah, "Leah will take Bella home with her and keep an eye on her," Leah nodded to that, then he turned to Jared, "you will resume your patrol," Jared nodded to that, then Sam turned to Jacob and smacked him on the side of his head, "and you will take over Leah's patrol for the rest of the night," Jacob scowled, but nodded, his mind apparently unstuck. "Okay, Leah, Bella and I will take this to the elders after lunch and let them deal with it." Everyone nodded to that, even Bella. "Right, let's go."

All four of the shifters removed their clothes while Bella retrieved her cellphone, then they shifted. Jared and Jacob took off on patrol. Sam turned toward La Push, Leah hesitated. She looked at Bella, an almost pleading expression on her furry muzzle. The two wolves started off, and Bella, still confused, followed after them.

Jacob fumed for a minute before something popped up. He was curious, You chewed through a tree?

Leah and Jared groaned.

It was a relatively easy pace Sam and Leah set, one that Bella was able to easily keep up with. It didn't take long to reach the Clearwater's house.

Bella looked at the large black wolf, "Jared mentioned Leah imprinted on me, what does that mean?" Leah took the opportunity to phase and put her t-shirt and shorts back on, and blushed as Bella mentioned her imprinting.

Sam phased back and stood proud, not embarrassed about his nudity, though Leah did start growling. It was a deep, rumbling growl emanating from her chest in warning. Sam didn't even flinch, he wasn't interested in the leech. "It's too late in the night and I'm too tired to get into a conversation that deep with a leech." And with that, he phased, turned, and was gone.

Bella turned to Leah, and her low, threatening growl abruptly cut off. She stared at Bella and had this feeling as if she were wagging her tail in anticipation. Like a puppy. 'What the hell?' she thought to herself.

"You were growling, Leah," Bella pointed out, her mouth pressed into a line yet her eyes spoke of confusion, "why?" Leah blushed again. Did she really want to explain that she felt protective and possessive of Bella because Sam was standing there naked? No. No, she really didn't.

"Uh- Well- I-" she stuttered to the beautiful vampire before her, then evaded, "come on, we can't be standing out here."

She heard Bella sigh as she turned to the back door of the house, the sound almost broke her heart, but explanations will have to wait until later.

She opened the door and turned to Bella, "Everyone's asleep, so we need to be quiet. Let's not wake them up, I don't want to deal with them yet."

Bella nodded, and whispered, "Okay." That whispered word sent a shiver through Leah, she tried to ignore it.

Leah moved quietly through the house, she had to turn to check if Bella was following her a couple of times, the vampire made absolutely no sound at all, but she followed her. She led Bella to her room and closed the door after her. Bella sat on the chair at her desk.

"No," Leah told her as she sat on her bed, "you're getting in bed with me."

Bella smirked as she took off her boots, "Oh, really?"

The words Leah spoke took a second for them to register, then she started to sputter, "I-I mean, um, I have to keep an eye on you and, uh, I can't, do that when you're over there, while I'm sleeping."

Bella giggled slightly, the musical sound sending shivers through Leah, as she stood and dropped her khaki cargo pants, "Whatever you say." She sauntered slowly over to Leah's bed, swaying her hips with every step.

Leah was completely enraptured by the alluring vision of sin in front of her. Her legs, oh God, her legs. She was sure she was drooling over Bella's perfectly shaped, perfectly sexy legs. Oh, what she wouldn't give to-

She mentally slapped herself.

Leah slipped under the blankets as she watched Bella walk to the other side. Her eyes never leaving Bella's perfectly round, mouth watering, panty clad ass. Those panties really have to-

'What the hell is wrong with me?!' Leah shook herself and looked away. She felt the bed lurch slightly as Bella slipped under the covers.

She turned and slid her arms around Bella's waist. Her eyes closed and she sighed as the feeling of Bella's cool body against her own overheated body was just perfect. She felt content. She didn't even notice herself say, "There, better." She didn't hear Bella laugh lightly. She didn't notice that she slipped her leg over Bella's, and she didn't notice the low rumbling coming from her chest. She was just lost in how content she felt with Bella in her arms as she slipped into blissful dreams.

For Bella, feeling Leah wrapped around her, feeling her warmth, and listening to Leah's contented rumble, she finally felt at home.