Leah's Happily Ever After
CHAPTER ONE
Here we go again. I heard the howl and knew immediately what was going on. Jacob had to tell us something, all four of us. Out of the original pack, only five of them remained with Sam. Jared, Paul, Collin, and Brady. Oh, and Sam of course. Sam…
As I ran to the forest, human form and all, I knew I still missed him. No matter how much I told myself I didn't, every cell in my body still ached to be with him. I had made some improvement; the ache was more like a dull throb now. That's when I heard it.
The second howl of the second (or first, whatever way you want to look at it) Alpha.
Sam.
That's when I froze in my tracks. If both packs were meeting, something big must have happened. The last time we were all together like this was when the leeches were in town. Well… the other leeches. Back when we fought for the little half-breed… Back when seven young men, boys really, had their lives changed forever. Back when they had shifted.
This is how the story went. Sam had changed back when he was eighteen. Soon followed by Paul and Jared when they were eighteen. They're really only a few months younger than Sam. Then a while later, Embry, Jacob, and Quil changed. They were sixteen. Right before my eighteenth birthday, I changed. Followed quickly by my fifteen-and-a-half year old brother Seth. I'm pretty sure I changed so late because I'm a girl… the only girl.
Collin and Brady came after that. They were almost fifteen. Just freshman. Really young. They were the last before the huge werewolf explosion. In the course of two weeks we had seven more wolves in La Push.
First came Caleb. Age fourteen. Then followed the next day by Jeremy and Matt. Also fourteen. Then it got really out of hand. Two days later, Lucas and Nathan changed within hours of each other. Age thirteen. Kyle followed in the next twenty-four hour period. He was thirteen as well. Six new wolves in one week. But the wolf gene wasn't done yet.
Some poor little boy, Wyatt, was changed at the young age of only twelve. Not even a teenager. He was in seventh grade. The new wolves didn't even have time to adjust before they had to get ready to fight. Four years it had taken for seventeen wolves to erupt into La Push, WA.
As I got to the woods, I quickly pulled off my lightweight sun dress and bra. I rolled the bra into the dress, and tied it to my ankle with the leather cord that hung there. I phased easily, and was off. I felt the four other voices in my head immediately.
Hey Sis. Seth thought.
What's up bro? What's going on? I thought at him.
Just hold on a second. Jacob thought as I came into the woods. Only thirteen wolves were there including me.
Where are the kids? I asked with a snort.
They're coming. Jacob responded. Sam must have let him know through their Alpha speak thing. I sat down on Jacob's right side and waited for my four youngest wolf brothers. Lucas, Nathan, and Kyle came in together. Thirteen year olds tend to bond with each other. Wyatt came running in a few moments later, always trailing behind. A flood of thoughts hit me as Sam and Jacob opened their minds to each other. Since each pack hears each other's thoughts, if you can hear one person's mind, you can hear everyone's mind.
Aww man… I hate being the littlest… or youngest at least. Wyatt thought. Poor guy.
I don't want your sympathy Leah. He thought this with an edge to his voice. If forgot about those stupid teenage hormones.
Sorry. I muttered. Oops.
Stay quiet guys. Sam and Jacob thought in unison. I cringed.
You too Leah. Jacob added this as an afterthought. At least he was trying.
So as you all may have guessed, there's a new wolf in town. Jacob began. But he's not normal. He's twenty-one. I heard confused murmurs going through both packs.
Twenty-one?
Twenty-one?
Twenty-one?
No way!
As you all know, Sam thought, we are all direct descendants of the great wolf, through our fathers.
But what if one of our fathers had a brother? Jacob thought. A little brother. He added.
The story started to spill out. Jacob's dad had a little brother who had been killed at the age of twenty. Billy never told anyone about this brother of his. But his brother had a secret no one knew. He had gotten a young girl from the reservation, only nineteen, pregnant. The first time any of Jacob's family had heard of this girl was last night. She had called Jake's dad begging for help. She explained what was happening, and Billy and Jacob had driven over to their little country house outside of Port Angeles.
Jacob said the guy looked just like him, only older, with a different nose and eye color. His name was Joel Marquie. He took his mother's name. Jacob said he and Billy had explained everything to him as soon Jake could get him to calm down enough to phase back. Joel was at Jake's house right now.
Now what? Wyatt thought excitedly.
Whoa! Calm down man! Seth laughed as Wyatt started pacing around the circle. He was easily amused.
Well, Jake thought, I think that you should all go meet him. In human form. That way it'll be less traumatizing for him.
Sam agreed. Never thought of that. He thought this with surprise in his tone.
Yeah, we know. Paul snorted.
Meet here in two minutes. Jake thought. He was off. I quickly went in the other direction. Nobody followed me. I kind of needed my privacy…. I quickly dressed and sprinted back to the clearing. I was last, again.
"Sorry. I wear more clothes." I told the guys.
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Kyle laughed. He was so young. I mean… He shouldn't even know about bras. What has the world come to today?
"I'll go in and talk to him first. You guys stay out back." Jacob instructed. We all nodded. We set off at a fast pace towards Jake's house. As we neared, I heard a slightly raspy, but deep voice asking Billy a question.
"That must be Joel?" I questioned Jake. He nodded.
"Why did I change so much later than the rest? " Joel was asking.
"Well," we heard old Billy sigh. "It must be because I'm older than your father. The wolf gene must be stronger in me."
Hm. Good enough explanation for me. We walked to Jacob's backyard, and automatically lined up in the order in which we had changed. I was only four places from Sam, since Jacob was inside. I could see Wyatt rocking back and forth on his toes. And once again, Seth was laughing and telling him to chill. Wyatt and Seth were much alike.
"Here's the pack. " Jacob said. Joel was exactly as Jacob had described. Except he didn't just have a different eye color, he had a beautifuleye color. They were a brilliant electric blue. They contrasted wildly with his dark skin.
He looked much like Jacob, but you could see his age by the look in his eyes. He had seen much in the last twelve hours of his life. His jaw was more defined than Jake's, even with all the physical changes they had both undergone in becoming a wolf.
"Wyatt, Kyle, Nathan, Lucas, Matt, Jeremy, Caleb, Brady, Collin, Seth, Leah, Quil, Embry, Jared, Paul, and Sam." Jacob pointed us out in turn as he spoke our names. "This is Joel."
"Hi Joel!" Wyatt said.
"Once again Wyatt," Seth said with a sigh, "Chill."
Joel hadn't met anyone's eyes yet except Jacob's. "Leah?" He whispered to Jake. "There are chicks in this too?"
I cleared my throat. "Actually, it's singular. There's just me." I gave him a grim smile. "Believe me, I'm just as thrilled as you are." I let the sarcasm drip. He looked up at me, and his blue eyes met my brown. In that instant, the world went away. The only people in Jacob's backyard were Joel and I.
Newton's law didn't apply to me anymore; it was only Joel holding me to this earth. I took one step toward him, and felt an ache rip through my body. My body met the ground, and I heard gasps. The last thing I remember was Sam telling Seth to get his mom. There were seventeen faces crowded around me. Only one face mattered. Then all went black.
I was first aware of the smell. That awful smell that only vampires can make. Then I heard voices. First Jacob's, then Sam's, and then Carlisle Cullen's. I groaned and tried to cover my nose. "Leah? Are you okay?" Jacob was asking me a question, but I couldn't focus. I blinked my eyes a few times, and I realized I was still in Jacob's backyard. I felt my mother's hand on my forehead, and I opened my eyes completely. All seventeen of them were still huddled around me. I took in the faces around me, and my eyes met Joel's again.
"Well," I muttered, "this is just a tad bit awkward." I smiled.
"What happened?" Brady asked.
"Um…" How did I do this? I knew what had happened of course. I had imprinted. On Joel. Go figure. I imprint on another wolf. I sat up, and looked at Jacob. If anyone understood the position I was in, he did.
"I…I think I imprinted." I told him. I looked at Joel again. "On Joel." I met Sam's eyes, and he nodded.
"You did what on Joel?" Joel asked. He sounded confused, but not angry. "Cause something weird happened back there. It was like… I don't know how to describe it." He sounded even more confused, but his eyes never left mine.
"OH MY GOSH!" Matt screamed. "Did you imprint on her too?" He asked Joel.
"What?" Joel asked. "I don't know, what is that? All I know is that it kind of feels a little like she's the center of the world."
"Yeah, you imprinted on her." Seth said matter-of-factly.
"Somebody," Joel said desperately, "tell me what's going on." He said this in a calm voice, but I could tell he was confused, scared, and a little frustrated.
"It's okay." I comforted. I tore my eyes off of his and looked to Sam again. "Could you explain please?" I asked him. "I don't really know how."
He gave me a sad smile, filled with memories, and nodded his head. And so Sam told the story. He told Joel exactly what had happened. "Quil, Paul, Jared, Jacob, and I have all imprinted." He finished.
Joel looked slightly dazed. "So… why did Leah pass out?" He seemed to want me to answer.
"I'm not really sure." I told him. I turned to the vampire doctor extraordinaire, and he stepped up. He had been quiet this whole time.
"I'm not quite sure either. " He told me. "I think that it is very possible that you were just overwhelmed. Your mind needed to protect itself. Did you feel anything weird?"
"Well, my whole body kind of ached a little right before I hit the ground." I told him.
He closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "Well," he began, "emotions can sometimes run so high that it's slightly painful. That is especially common in women." He smiled at me.
I gave him a knowing smile back. "Alright." I said and I started to get up. I only got about half-way there. The world had started to spin again when I moved. Jacob caught my arm before I could hit the ground. He sat me down gently. I met his eyes again. I could see the hidden ecstasy that he had for me. His eyes were dancing.
"Well, since I can't really get up," I said, "I need to talk to Joel." I didn't even have to ask Jacob. He knew that I meant alone. Without either of us realizing it, we had become friends.
"Come on guys," Jake said, "I want to show you something that I learned how to do yesterday." He started to walk into the house. Most of the guys caught on right away, they followed Jake's lead. Except for Wyatt. Yeah, we needed to work on him.
"What?" Wyatt asked, confused, "I don't want to go inside."
"C'mon, Wyatt!" Jake said, grabbing his arm. I heard Jake thank the doc, and mom telling Seth she would see him at home. I looked toward Joel, and he looked as confused as ever. But his confusion was not what made me want to cry. It was his look of happiness when I smiled at him.
Joel and I sat in Jacob's backyard for hours. I told him all about imprinting, and all the other legends of our tribe. Every time I spoke he looked at me like he was a deaf man hearing music for the first time. Although, I assume I was looking at him like that too, because that's exactly how it felt.
I explained to him about how we were different. No two wolves had ever imprinted on each other before. He laughed when I said "This could be interesting…" I told him about my past, about what had happened with Sam. He told me how he had always felt lost without a dad, even though his mom treated him well. We talked about the other wolves, and who and imprinted on whom. He was a little freaked out by the fact that vampires are real. We laughed at how badly they stink.
Then we got to the most important question; what pack would he join? He already knew about the two packs, and I had told him about the pros and cons of each of them.
"Sam seems like a great guy… but… I want to be where you are. Especially since Jacob is my cousin." He told me this with a small smile.
I smiled back. "That is exactly the answer I wanted to hear." I leaned over and gave him a hug. He hugged back, and I liked the way it felt to be in his arms. By this time, it was getting dark, so we went into Jacob's house. The older guys were making a poor attempt at showing the younger ones how to play poker. It was quite a sight.
I smiled at everyone as I walked in. Some smiled back, others just stared. "There's a bonfire tomorrow night. " Jacob told me.
"I'll be there." I replied. "Do you need me to get anything?"
"Um… can you pick up the sodas?" He asked.
"Sure." Even though I had imprinted now, Jake and I were still just Jake and Leah. He would stay the friend I needed. I could tell by the conversation that we had just had that nothing would change between us.
"Oh crap!" Jake practically yelled. "I was supposed to go pick up Nessie five minutes ago, I'm babysitting tonight!"
"Well get going Jake!" I practically yelled back. "Her father – or possibly mother- is going to kill you!"
"Oh boy… gotta go!" He yelled as he ran out the door.
I went home a few hours later. Jake and Billy were putting Joel up until they could get him a house on the reservation. It felt strange to be away from Joel. Like part of my body was missing. When I got home, my mom gave me a huge hug. She didn't make a big production out of it, she just acknowledged the fact that something big had happened. I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.
Joel and I had arranged to meet at the beach the next morning. Jacob had told me that he and Sam were going to have a timed race to our meeting place. He told me not to worry about anything; it was just a drill to show Joel what it was like.
Jake told me that after he got back from babysitting, he and Joel had worked a little on intentional phasing. Jake had given him a leather cord to go around his ankle, and he understood the whole "explode out of your clothes" thing.
My job was simple. Make sure Joel got to the circle. And make him get there fast. We had only been at the beach for a few minutes when we heard the two consecutive howls. First came Jacob's, then Sam's.
"What does that mean?" Joel asked in alarm.
"That means that we need to get to the meeting place, and we need to get there fast. Otherwise, we get our butts kicked." I grabbed his hand. "Follow me."
We took off at a run, just slow enough not to attract nearby tourists. As soon as we got deep enough into the woods, I stopped and put some bushes between us. "You know what to do right?" I asked him.
"Yeah." He replied. Without waiting a second longer, I stripped down and phased. He was about twenty seconds behind me. We got to the circle about ten seconds after Wyatt. Jacob hadn't opened his mind to Sam yet, so as not to overwhelm Joel.
It was really weird being inside Joel's head. I could feel what he felt for me, and I knew the same feelings were in my head. It was not an unpleasant feeling.
Focus guys. Jake thought at us.
Right. I thought.
Jacob opened his mind to Sam, and Sam did the same to Jacob. Once again, all the thoughts hit me like a flood.
Whoa! Cool! Joel thought. Wyatt was already hopping around excitedly.
Good job guys. Sam thought. I cringed.
And girl. Jacob thought.
You all got here in about one minute and fifty-two seconds. That's great. Sam announced.
Are you serious? Caleb asked Sam. That was a drill? I was booking it! He let out a low whine.
I'm confused. Joel thought. He looked at me to explain. Aw, he looked at me…
Leah! Seth barked.
Oh right. You can read my thoughts. Sorry. I was getting some pretty scary glares.
Oh wow, this is the beginning of a really long forever with you guys, isn't it? Matt asked with a snort.
You bet it is! I growled.
Alright guys, Jake thought. I'm going to show Joel all of the places that we run patrol on. Who's coming?
Me! I mentally yelled.
Besides Leah, he added as an afterthought.
A chorus of "me's!" came from the rest of the wolves. Most of them were just excited that we were going to be running really fast. I was included in that. Speed came naturally to me. I was going to kick Jake's butt!
In your dreams girly! Jake thought at me.
Then we were off. We ran so fast. We ran Joel all over the edges of La Push, and then we ventured into Forks. We could only stick to the woods, but they got us far enough. We were nearing the Cullen's house, and a mental moan came from all of Sam's pack. The smell didn't really bother me anymore, unless they were like extremely close.
What is that smell? Joel asked with a gag.
Remember when I told you about vampires, and how bad they smell? I asked him. Yeah, I wasn't kidding.
Wow! I didn't think they could smell much worse than that doctor guy. He gagged again.
Yeah, but together they smell like- Nathan didn't get to finish his sentence.
Nathan! You don't talk like that! Brady scolded.
Whoops. Nathan added.
As we neared the Cullen's house, the trees thinned into their backyard. Edward was lying outside in the cloudy, but warm day. He was stretched out on a hammock next to Bella. Nessie lay on his chest. We came to a halt at the very edge of the forest. In the silence after running, I could hear Nessie breathing, slow and even. Even from the distance we were at, I could hear Edward humming to her. He was meditatively stroking her back as she slept.
Without any further acknowledgment of us, Bella slid off the hammock and ran to the trees. She paused for only a moment to count our numbers. When she got eighteen, her eyes searched until she found Joel in our pack. When her eyes zeroed in on him, he flinched.
The red eyes are creeping me out! He thought.
Her eyes weren't nearly as bad as they had been a few months ago. Edward came running up behind her. He had laid Nessie down on the hammock. "Who wants to explain what's going on?" He asked. We all started to tell him the story, except Joel.
Wait… you can read minds? Joel asked Edward tentatively.
"Yep, and I would really like to know who you are and why you're a wolf. So don't all think at once." He said with a smile.
Jacob stepped up and began telling Edward the whole story. It didn't take more than forty-five seconds or so. When Jacob got done, Edward translated the story back to Bella. "Wow…" Bella said when Edward got done telling her everything. "So… Leah and Joel imprinted on each other?" She asked. I nodded my head at her. "Oh! That could get uncomfortable." She laughed. "I mean with being in each other's head's and all." She laughed.
"Yeah but the thing is," Edward said, "I don't get to leave their heads… ever." He smiled.
So… where is the rest of your…family? Sam asked.
"Carlisle is working, Emmett, Rose, and Jasper are hunting, and Alice and Esme are shopping." Edward answered without missing a beat. Edward rarely heard mental questions from Sam, because Sam rarely asked.
We're having a bonfire tonight. Jacob told Edward. Can Nessie come? He sounded hopeful.
"Um…" Edward translated for Bella. Bella walked over to Jacob, and stood back so she could look him in the eyes.
"You will never lose track of her." She warned Jacob in a stern voice. "Promise?" Jacob nodded his head seriously. "Then I guess she can go…. what time do you want to pick her up?" She asked in a more casual voice.
We all heard him think, As soon as possible. Edward narrowed his eyes at him, and he grimly changed it to, 6:30…
"6:30." Edward reported back to Bella. At that moment, fifty yards away, Nessie sat up sleepily. She looked around in alarm.
"Daddy?" She called, her eyes searching.
"Right here baby." He called. "Go back to sleep." She looked to where his voice came from. She looked confused, but she did as he told her.
Aw, Jake thought. She's cute.
"Of course she's cute, she's her daughter." Edward said while jerking a thumb at Bella. Bella chuckled. Edward smiled at her. Nobody could deny that they were clearly in love with each other.
"So… you crashing on our couch tonight Jake?" Edward asked with another smirk.
Ha ha. Jake thought. We caught a quick glimpse of the prank they had pulled on him a few nights ago. I didn't get all of the details, but it looked funny. Not after what happened last time… he trailed off.
"Alright then," Edward said, "See you at 6:30." He grabbed Bella's hand and they started to walk back over to the hammock.
"Oh!" Bella said, stopping and turning around. "It was nice to… meet you Joel. I'll see you around. Or…will I?" She turned to Jacob. He nodded his big head. She smiled at him, then joined Edward on the way to the hammock.
