it is here, in the cradle of all i hold dear
(i guard every memory of you)
SUMMARY: When Leah Clearwater finally returns to her home for the first time in three years for Sue and Charlie's wedding, she gets more than she bargains for when she searches for more about her heritage and the wolf running underneath her skin. Meanwhile in Seattle, Riley and Bree are on the run as Nomads, struggling to adjust to their lives as vampires after their creator's death by Edward Cullen while thousands of miles across the sea in the city of Volterra, tracker Demetri considers leaving the Guard and questioning his loyalty to the Volturi.
or
The one where Riley doesn't believe Victoria's lies; Bree struggles to control her bloodlust; Leah tries to find her purpose in life; and Demetri considers leaving Volterra and the Volturi once and for all.
This is my first fanfiction for the Twilight Saga. I felt like Riley, Bree and Leah were underrated or unappreciated characters and wanted to divulge more into the mind of Demetri as well. I thought of how everything would affect everyone if it was done in a realistic(ish) take. Alternative-version of Twilight which I hope you enjoy!
Diverges from canon right after Breaking Dawn and during the Victoria/Edward fight. This story pulls from all five movies and all four books of canon (including The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner and The Illustrated Guide), incorporating things in different but familiar ways. Inspired by fic Be Careful What You Wish For written by The_Necroposter. Go read it! It's incredibly written and amazing!
Enjoy! Please review and feel free to leave any criticism!
CHAPTER ONE
RILEY
Once, he was human.
He remembers the tell-tale of his beating heart and the blood pumping through his veins pouring life into him.
Now, he's made of stone and there's an cannibalistic urge inside him crying out to be satiated.
Satiated with blood.
Riley lingers in the darkness, hiding in the shadows as he chooses his next feed, the next human that will soothe and calm his thirst. He waits patiently as he can, biding his time as his target makes her way carefully down the university steps, finally drifting away from her talkative friend. He follows her, the girl's blood calling out to him.
He's tempted. And so, so thirsty.
Finally, the girl steps into a darkened alley away from any witnesses, away from anyone else that could hear her screams. He takes that chance and runs, using his vampire speed to grab her, dragging her back into the dark, muffling the sounds of her frightened screams with one hand. She struggles and thrashes wildly and he grips her tighter, tilting her neck to the side.
"Please!" she cries out over and over. He just wants her to be quiet so he can feed in peace and he whispers an apologetic and sincere "I'm sorry" before he sinks his teeth into her neck. Blood fills his throat and he doesn't think; he drinks her blood greedily like the monster he is. He can feel the pulse of it on his teeth, in his mouth, in every part of him and then — yes, the sweetness, slick and hot and pumping and pulsing, filling his mouth, his throat, and his stomach, limning his veins with fire, roaring through his body, and his nerves are singing, this is what he'd wanted, what he'd needed, yes, yes, yes, oh, it is glorious.
He drinks and drinks until he can't drink anymore and OH GOD —
The night is alive and he's alive, full to the brim with heat and life and his skin feels hot and flushed and . . . he feels alive.
And then he remembers he isn't anymore.
He breathes heavily and forcibly tears himself away, licking her blood from his lips, letting go if the girl as her breathing turns ragged, her bones losing the fight. The girl falls to the ground, unmoving but still alive. She's still alive.
His stomach knots and writhes in his middle and he can feel it full of blood, of human blood, her blood and he doubles over and heaves — but nothing comes up, no, his body holds fast and refuses to give up its meal, and he crams his fist helplessly in his mouth, wiping furiously at the blood on his lips with his sleeve.
Repulsion and shame floods through him as he stares down at the girl he's almost murdered. Her eyes will be forever branded into his soul, just like the others. His hands curl into fists at his sides and with guilt rushing through him and an weary choking gasp exhaling from his lips, he leans down, scooping the girl in his arms carefully and begins his course to the hospital.
He makes sure they will find her in an area where she can be seen. This girl, whom he hadn't taken the time to learn her name or whether she had a life outside of Seattle. He whispers another apology and makes sure her wallet is in place for identification and medical insurance. Then he turns and speeds away toward the nearest neighborhood. God, he hates this. He wishes that he could return desperately to life he had before he was turned by Victoria, before he learned anything about the world of vampires and werewolves.
But now, Victoria is gone and he is free.
I am free. I am free.
He'd escaped the day the Cullen boy — Edward — told him to think about it: how Victoria had chosen him because he knew the area well. The red-headed vampiress had pleaded to him to not let him tear them apart, but the truth was, they were never really together in the first place. She'd been manipulating him, stringing him along and he'd played into her hands like a fool. But then he'd began to have his suspicions: why was she really doing this? There had to be something more. When Riley's transition to a newborn vampire had been completed, he didn't remember anything. Victoria had told him she was his lover and that she'd turned him so that they could be together forever and he'd believed it. Little fragmented memories returned slowly and he put the pieces together.
The case file Sheriff Swan had when he broke into the human's house. He was missing. He was presumed dead.
I am dead. I am dead.
He was dead, a vampire. She'd bitten him on his way home from a stop at the Oregon University Café and the pain from her venom had been excruciating. He'd laid there screaming as he died on the docks, rain drenching him as he tried to fight and survive and remain human. He'd failed.
You're a failure.
Victoria had tried to attack him when he revealed that he knew that she was lying to him all along, leaping on top of him screaming about Edward, Bella, and somebody named James. Edward had pulled her off of him and then, they were fighting and he turned to leave, only to be yanked back with the force of a wolf's teeth. He howled in agony as his arm was ripped off, grabbing the piece before they could burn it and fled. But not before he took Bree with him, saving her from the destruction of the rest of the newborns he's so unwillingly created.
Riley's grown fond of Bree since the day they left. She's the first person he turned and he loves her like his human little sister who he's left behind in Forks. He feels awful everyday that he'd brought her into this life and wishes that he could take it back, wishing that he could go back in time and just not choose her. Bree is frozen forever at the age of sixteen, thanks to him. She will never become an adult and will never be able to have children . . .
My fault. All your fault!
Bree's sitting in the corner of the dark living room when he walks in the house. All the lights are off, save for the old television acting as background noise and light with the volume turned low. Bree has her arms wrapped around her knees, mumbling softly to herself as she rocks back and forth. He kneels down in front of her and she looks up wildly, snapping her head up in fear. Bree relaxes when she sees that it's just him and gives him a saddened expression. Riley doesn't say anything because the color of her eyes speaks the truth. When he had left this morning to get more blood bags, they'd been black.
Red. Red. So much red. Blood —!
"I tried, Riley," she whispers. Her crimson eyes bear into his before they flick away. "I tried to wait as long as you . . . wait until you came back but I just — I was just so hungry . . ."
Riley pulls the girl into his arms, embracing her carefully, unsure of how to comfort her. "What'd you do, Bree?" he asks softly after a moment.
Bree trembles, a strange moan coming from her throat. She seems to be trying to cry and Riley strokes her hair gently and waits as Bree struggles to find the right words. "I . . . They came home early."
Riley stiffens, lifting his head and turns to look behind him. Sure enough, lying near the kitchen, there's a man and a woman, their faces forever petrified in terror, their eyes seeing nothing but eternal darkness, their throats slashed, blood pooling out underneath them. How had he not smelled this before? He supposes that it's because he's been so preoccupied with getting the blood bags for Bree and to making sure she is safe and okay that —
"I'm so sorry, Riley," Bree sniffs, her hands holding onto his arm for support.
He wants to tell her that it's okay, but he knows that it isn't. She's not gaining control like she should. He'd thought that Bree was fine ever since the day on the mountain, that she'd gotten her urges under control like he had. He's been proven wrong. Obviously. He'd been so busy with pleasing Victoria and doing what she wanted that he'd never taken into accountability about how Bree was doing.
"You're still learning. You've only been a vampire for two years, at most. It takes time," Riley assures her. She pushes herself up, moving to sit across from him, her hands in her lap and shakes her head.
"That still doesn't make any excuses," she says firmly. "Look at me, Riley. I'm not doing any better than the first night you turned me."
"Bree —"
"Please don't," Bree interrupts. "I know what I did was wrong." She's silent for a moment, her eyes drifting to the man and woman in the kitchen. "I'm already beating myself over it," she continues softly, meeting Riley's eyes. She exhales deeply, her shoulders slumping with sadness and disappointment.
He knows that they can't stay shut in this town forever. Sooner or later, there will be more bodies arriving at the hospital and he can't have the authorities asking questions. Human teeth are distinctive; they never changed shape before or after he'd changed. If he keeps it up, the police will be wondering how a dead man's teeth got on their victim.
"I'll tell you what. How about . . . you pick the next place this time?" Riley offers after a beat. "There must be some place you've been dy — wanting to go. Somewhere other than Seattle."
Bree stares in confusion at this turn of events, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Well . . ." Bree smiles wistfully after considering her options. "How about Nevada?"
He remembers the words that shriek for answers during their time in Seattle. He's seen the posters plastered and stapled around various lampposts and stores in the surrounding area, the ones that still demand answers; smelling his parents' desperation crying across the empty streets, their loss and surges of fear, hoping they'd find him and bring him home — alive. Hoping that their baby boy was still safe and well.
He supposes that he could return home to Forks. He's thought about it a lot.
Victoria had told him they could wear disguises, wear makeup and foundation to cover the glittering of their unnatural marble skins, wear contacts to conceal the unnatural burgundy (yellow, yellow, yellow!) of their eyes. But eventually he knows that it wouldn't last forever. He would have to stock endless supplies and buy specific brands for him and Bree if they had chosen to stay. His parents would've asked questions if they found out what they were and he didn't want to hurt them. Authorities would be called and possibly the government and everything would be turned into a clusterfuck and then they'd be poked and prodded like lab experiments. No way in fucking hell.
They didn't deserve to have a son who was a monster. Who could rip their throats out without a second thought, if he got mad at them, if they pissed him off.
If.
God fucking damn it.
No. He wouldn't do that. He would try but the monster inside would succumb anyway.
No.
He can't put his family and friends through that.
He stares at the poster with his Other face is inked on. A forever reminder of how he's been human once, tracing his fingers softly on the paper in front of him, reading the words at the bottom of the page, echoing over and over in his mind: Riley, if you are reading this, please call home and let us know you are safe.
His smiling face stares back at him. Who is he now compared to the boy in the photograph? Carefully he takes the poster down, folding it neatly between his fingers and tucks it in the inside pocket of his jacket. Bree says nothing and gives him a small smile of comfort as he glances toward her, sunglasses shielding their eyes. But he knows she understands. He adjusts the backpack on his shoulder, taking her hand in his as they walk toward the waiting passengers in line for the bus. They board and head toward the last two seats in the back to where Riley keeps his bag between his feet and Bree closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder, draping his jacket over herself like a blanket. He has a metal thermos that conceals the blood inside and thirty blood bags in a resealable lunch bag that doubles as a cooler. That'll last them for a while. When they run out and the bus lets the passengers out for breaks, they pretend to eat as to not draw attention to themselves, vomiting the food in the toilets and drink more blood, not taking a lot, but not enough to satisfy their urges that long.
One day and six hours, they finally arrive in Las Vegas, Nevada.
How foolish he is to think that peace could ever last.
LEAH
When she was a child, her life didn't revolve around the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales. Instead, they were surrounded by the legends and history of her tribe: The Quileutes. Everyone's heard the origin story of Qwati, who turned a pair of nearby kwolis or wolves into humans on First Beach — the same beach where the Quileutes made a pact with the Cullen clan.
The same clan that brought that red-headed bitch and her army into her home, their territory and kickstarted her and Seth's and Embry's shapeshifting abilities. She's never forgiven them since. Death always followed wherever they went.
But now, she's returned home.
Thou shalt not kill our brothers and sisters, she thinks as she glances forlorning at a nearby wolf. She watches as the wolf darts into the woods, the car idling as she stares up at the Swan house in front of her. Leah sighs, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear as she gets out of the car, taking the key out of the ignition as she heads to get her bag from the back seat.
She could practically hear Jacob's orders ringing in the back of her mind and she never wanted anything more than to punch him in the face. But still, since he was now her and Seth's Alpha, she had to obey as much as she didn't want to. After all, she is his beta, the second in command.
"Home sweet home," she mutters aloud to herself.
She remembers the text she received earlier from her mom and lets herself in as quietly as she can, locking the door behind her. There's a pillow and a blanket ready for her on the couch and a note from her mom and Charlie lying on top.
There's a plate in the fridge if you're hungry. You can sleep in Bella's old room for the rest of the weekend. Seth's at Embry's and misses you a lot even though he won't admit it (ha ha). We'll see you in the morning!
:)
— Love, Mom and Charlie (and Seth!)
She can't help but smile and sets her bag down gently, heading toward the kitchen, heating up one of Charlie's infamous spaghetti meals along with her mom's homemade potato salad she knows Leah loves.
It's been so long since she's had a decent home cooked meal and she savors every bite of it.
She had left Forks immediately after the non-battle with the Volturi that never happened. She had wanted to get out once and for all and live life the way she wanted to. A normal human life. Fuck the whole destiny talk everyone seemed to sprout. But the supernatural seemed to follow her everywhere and she couldn't seem to escape it. She hunted down the leeches that shed innocent blood and wreaked havoc. And she's damn good at it. Probably the only thing she'll ever be good at in her life, so everyone says. Killing leeches, saving people. The typical Quileute business, Leah thinks as she finishes her meal.
Leah slings her bag over her shoulder as she gathers the pillow and blanket in her arms and heads upstairs. She can smell her mother and Charlie's scent in the master bedroom, hearing Charlie's soft snoring and her mother's gentle thrumming heartbeat in near synchronization with Charlie's. Together, the two seemed to create a calming melody to Leah's ears and she couldn't help but a genuine smile as she pauses to look at the closed door before she makes her way into Bella's room. The door closes with a soft click.
Immediately, Leah collapses into the bed, wrinkling her nose in slight disgust. Bella's scent still lingers but it's not as strong, which she can manage. Leah can tell she hasn't been here for months or years at the latest. She can smell Charlie's recent scent from earlier and the practical taste of air freshener on her tongue. But sleep drags her down and she's sinking into the fluffy blankets, her head lolling back with heaviness and —
Screaming. There's so much screaming.
The shrieks of two young dying girls linger heavily in the air and they pierce through Leah's heart and ears. She runs.
She can smell the sickly sweet scent all leeches seem have and the fresh scent of spilled blood and death.
She's too late to save them and in the distance, sirens begin to wail.
She's chasing a black-haired Cold One, his age impossible to decipher. But if she had to guess, he'd be at least seventeen. Blood stains his lips and his teeth and down the front of his jacket and shirt. His scent reveals something particular and Leah can tell he's been recently turned. The way his body moves, jagged like a puppet, eyes flickering to every sound he hears, thirsting wildly for blood that will never seem to satisfy him.
When he sees her, he cocks his head and lunges, a roar ripping ferociously through his teeth, red eyes crazed with bloodlust.
She manages to avoid him in time and grabs him by his head with both hands, her knee rising up and connecting to his nose.
She feels nothing but anger boiling in her lungs, snaking down into her core, taking over her. The black-haired boy lets out a pained yelp — the unmistakable sound of a frightened teenage boy whose now been turned into a monster. A growl seeps through Leah's teeth and she knows the Shift is coming. Her body begins to shake uncontrollably.
The boy looks confused but decides to take that chance to to slam his foot against her leg, snapping her bone and she screams in agony.
She explodes. She's lifted up into the air for a brief moment before landing gracefully as a wolf. Fear spreads across the Cold One's face as he turns to run, obviously regretting his decision but she's too fast and it's too late now. The werewolf side of her takes over. Her paws pin his body to the ground as he wiggles frantically to get free and her jaws clamp around his head and she hates hates hates that sweet sickly taste in her throat (oh God oh God oh God OH GOD!) She sinks her teeth in down, down, down until she hears the crunching of ice and his high-pitched keening and then he's gone.
She throws the head to the side immediately in disgust, wanting the taste washed out of her mouth and drops to the ground, exhaustion overtaking her, the grey fur slipping off of her until she's completely and entirely nude.
There's a cut in her forehead and her arm that's already begun to heal (when did she get those?), her shirt and jeans lying destroyed on the ground all around her. She ignores the pain on her broken leg, knowing her healing is kicking in, mending the bone. She grabs the nearest thing she can find, covering up her body and attempts to make her way down towards the hotel she's staying at as fast as she can — but not before burning the pieces of the boy and her remainder of her clothes in the nearest lit trash can.
She turns.
Harry is there in front of her. "Dad?" What is he doing here? He shouldn't be here. She reaches toward him and then his face goes slack before she realizes he has a hand sticking out of his chest. Harry falls and she screams. Behind him stands the red-headed vampiress. She remembers her from the time her old Pack chased her through La Push.
The red hair was one of her most famous distinguishing features they know all too well.
Victoria, Bella had called her.
A devilish smirk crosses Victoria's face, her hand still slick and dripping with her father's blood. But when she speaks, it's not her voice but Leah's voice instead. "Look what you did." Victoria's lips curl and her red eyes drop down and Leah follows her gaze.
Her own hands are covered with blood as she raises them toward her face. Below her, lie the bodies of Charlie, her mother and Seth. All life. All gone gone gone.
Because of you, a nasty voice whispers. Look in the mirror. This is who you really are.
"No. No. No. No. No." She chants quickly in disbelief. She drops to her knees, closing her eyes. It's not real, she tells herself.
It's not real.
You're dreaming.
Leah, wake up!
Wak —
Leah jolts up, her body tangled in Bella's blankets, a gasping scream cut off before she realizes where she is, cramming her fist in her mouth. Another fucking nightmare.
She's safe. Leah lets her eyes wander around, taking in Bella's room. She's safe. She's alive. There are no leeches to hunt tonight.
Her skin glistens with sweat as she wraps an arm around herself. "You're okay, Leah," she whispers to herself, taking her fist out of her mouth, letting it rest against her lips. "It's just a nightmare. Just a stupid fucking nightmare."
They're alive, they're alive, they're alive. She repeats it to herself as a mantra as she lies back down. Above her, gently sways an old dreamcatcher on top of the headboard.
So much for catching her nightmares then. She lightly traces the feathers with her fingertips and quietly tries to practice some words in her native language that she can remember until she falls asleep.
She's the Third Wife plunging her knife into her own flesh, defiance spreading inside her, like a candle being lit from its wick, courage flooding her. The beautiful Cold Woman made of stone turns to snaps her head to look; her untimely decision leads to her death as Taha Aki's jaws clamp around her, tearing her body apart.
The Third Wife survives her wound and so will she.
"I swear I'll never forgive you for leaving me and Claire with Sam and Quil," Seth tells her as they hug for the first time in almost three years. She playfully ruffles his hair in response and he ducks under her arms to avoid it, laughing. He grabs and chows down one of their mom's cheeseburgers in less than a minute. His hair's longer than the last time she's seen him, just reaching to his shoulders just like hers and his smile's just as cheerful as ever to brighten up her day.
She still feels bad knowing that she willingly left her baby brother with his jerk of an Alpha but Seth had told her he understood. Her mom and Charlie had promised to look after him after Sue decided to bring Charlie into the know. Although Sue had told Charlie only about the werewolves, Charlie had correctly guessed that there were vampires roaming around his hometown because they couldn't "have werewolves without vampires."
It's been three years since Sam and Emily's wedding which she remembers as an absolute hell-fest; Renesmee looking like a barely-legal adult playing dress up and Charlie looking uncomfortable of the idea of Jacob imprinting on her and even looking at her in the first place and Bella looking like she didn't want to be there, sticking to her friend, Angela Weber and her ex-boyfriend's side the whole time. Why those two were invited, no one knew. But never did Leah think in a million years she could ever relate to Bella Swan.
Bella's changed since Leah's last seen her. Charlie explained that she was now pursuing college in Alaska, something that she had thrown away in her human lifetime. She had been naive, selfish and incredibly shallow and admitted that she wanted to become a vampire because of the whole Young and Beautiful Forever package.
Fuck that.
Bella's never thought of the consequences and Leah still resents her for that.
Sue asks her if she's okay and Leah lies through her teeth, promising that she's all right. Will she be all right? She doesn't know but she hopes.
"Maybe you can talk to Jacob," Sue is saying as she washes a pan in the sink and Leah realizes she's waiting for an answer, "about the, you know? Surely —"
"It's not going to happen, Mom," Leah replies, though she knows her mom is trying to comfort her. And that's it. Why why why why?
Leah helps herself to one of her mom's famous cheeseburgers and notices that Seth is being usually quiet, looking out the window as they eat. Leah watches him curiously. This is not like her brother.
She hears footsteps coming down the stairs and sees Charlie. He gives her a grin when he sees her and gives her a hug. "Hey, Leah! Didn't hear you come in last night."
"Yeah, I got here around midnight," Leah replies. "Didn't want to disturb you guys."
Charlie nods and pulls Sue into his lap, both smiling happily at each other before Charlie turns his attention back to Leah. "Where were you this time?"
"Boston," Leah says, remembering the boy with the black hair from her dream. "I stepped in and took care of it. It was a teenage boy that was doing it. He couldn't have been more than sixteen. Newly turned."
"You a police detective now?" Charlie teases.
Leah scoffs slightly. "I wish," she tells him sarcastically. Her eyes flick to Seth's who meets her own and he gives an imperceptible shake of his head before she can ask, with him mouthing the word, later.
What the hell? What the hell is going on, Seth?
Seth opens his mouth and smiles instead. "Glad you're back, Lee."
"Me too," she says. It's sincere and she realizes just how much she's missed her family since she's left. A lot.
Even though Charlie can't replace Harry, she does consider Charlie family. He's taken care of Seth and their mom since their dad's heart attack. He's made Sue happier and they'd gotten engaged while she'd been away. She'll always miss her father terribly and knows that there will be some part that would always miss him. Leah knows that Charlie isn't trying to replace Harry Clearwater, but sometimes she feels he would've made a better father than him. Harry had been strict and at first, had not accepted her being a shapeshifter. Resentment had resided inside the Clearwater household for several days before Leah had proved to Harry that she was worthy of having the ability to shapeshift into a wolf.
I am worthy. I am worthy.
But sometimes she thinks she isn't. Why her, out of everyone here in Forks? Does the universe hold the answers she's been looking for? She doesn't know and has given up a long time ago.
"I'm gonna take a walk," she blurts out suddenly. Leah stands, her hands on the table and gives Seth a look. Come with me. "Just to clear my head," she continues and raises an eyebrow, "Seth, you wanna come?"
"Yeah!" he says in a chipper voice. A little too chipper but Sue and Charlie don't notice it despite his quick darting look towards them. "I wanna catch you up on everything. Okay, so there's like this whole new trick Jasper's been teaching me —"
Her brother begins his babbling for good measure and she can't help but roll her eyes (just like old times, she thinks) and then they both walk outside, promising to be back soon. That is, until duty calls. It's strange, not needing to have a jacket this time of year but they're both used to it now. The first months, she knows, have been the hardest.
Her bones break.
She screams.
She explodes.
They decide to walk down the road from the house, twelve miles away from La Push but Leah's a bit tense and braces herself for the moment until Jacob calls. She'll need to obey and follow his orders.
She supposes it's better than having Sam in her head, mental images of Emily flashing through her mind and she wants to scratch her eyes out.
"So, spill," Leah says, even they're both out of earshot and Seth finally stops talking. It's just a precaution; even though she knows that Charlie and Sue can't hear them, but better it's safe than sorry, she thinks. When confident that neither will stumble onto their argument or whatever it is, Leah turns her attention back to her brother.
Seth sighs and looks down at his feet, shuffling from one foot from the other before meeting her eyes. "Promise me you won't get mad, Leah."
Why would I be mad? She forces herself to ask that question aloud, a million possibilities running through her mind and brings a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, why would I be mad?" Her brows pinch together in confusion as she waits for his response. "Are you . . . gay?
"What, no!" Seth quickly says incredulously, and then quickly corrects himself, "Well, bi." And then it's Leah's turn to blink incredulously. She didn't see that coming but she's fine with it. She doesn't care who her brother dates. "But that's not the point."
"You have five seconds or I'm going back to the house. Spill."
"Okay! Okay! Just . . . Give me a second, Leah," Seth rushes on, his words coming faster out of his mouth as Leah raises her eyebrows, on the verge of leaving the road. "Okay, you remember that day on the mountain? When we were fighting Victoria?"
"You mean when Wardo was fighting that red-headed leech?" Leah reminds him, crossing her arms over her chest.
Seth waves a hand dismissively. "Same thing. Sort of," he counters. He takes a deep breath. "The other one got away but —"
"WHAT?!" Leah nearly screeches. She tones her voice down when a nearby neighbor checking the mail gives them a look and she pulls on Seth's arm, dragging them farther away. She hisses, "You let the other bloodsucker get away?!"
"It wasn't like that," he quickly protests. "Edward told me after the battle that right before I attacked the other vampire, that he had turned against Victoria and he was leaving. I tore off his arm but I think he got it back. But that's not the point. I think I . . . I think I imprinted that day."
Imprinted that day. Imprinted. That damned word. That fucking word. Leah has seen what imprinting does. What it's done to her.
It takes Leah a second to process the last sentence he's said to her, forgetting momentarily about the other information he's dropped on her, about the other bloodsucker. "You think you imprinted that day?" she repeats, enunciating every word slowly.
He nods with uncertainty.
A heartbeat goes by. Truth is, she's never been a great comforter but she tries. "Oh, Seth." Leah reaches out and hugs him. "Why wouldn't you tell me? I'm happy for you —"
"I know how you feel about it," Seth tells her, his voice muffled by her hair as they release each other. "You know, the whole thing about you not knowing if you can imprint —"
"I don't care about that right now," she says. But she does. It still bothers her not knowing. But this is Seth's burden and she wants to be there to listen. She slings an arm around his shoulder as they begin to walk back to the house. "So, what are they like? Boy or girl?"
Seth gives a small chuckle. "Well, um. I don't know." He scratches his head. "I think it was one of the newborns that got away."
"Wait, a leech?" She can't help but pause in her steps in disbelief. "Is that possible?"
Seth shrugs his shoulders. "Do I look like I know?" And Seth's contagious laugh and smile brings out a genuine laugh out of Leah for the first time in three years.
"But I think . . . someone besides the other vampire escaped. The one Victoria was with. I think he took someone with him when he left."
"What do you mean?"
"This scent. The same scent. I - I came across it again. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out who it belongs to. I followed it through Seattle but sometime after that . . ."
The scent disappeared. Whoever Seth imprinted on is long gone.
She sees Sam and Emily. Sam kissing Emily. Sam thinking about Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily. Emily. It's all about Emily now. It's like she never existed in the first place. Like they never mattered. Like they never happened and fell in love. But they did. She remembers. He might have forgotten but Leah can't forget the heartbreak and pain Sam caused her.
And now it's happening again. With her brother. My brother imprinted on a vampire and I'm the only female werewolf who hasn't AMA, the next top Reddit post reads. It doesn't seem right, knowing that your other significant half could never leave your side, no matter what. She wonders if the imprinted or the imprintee could feel the other dying and whether the bond would break and sever once they did die. What happens then?
Leah realizes she's been thinking for far too long and decides her next few words carefully. "I think . . . whoever it is, they're going to come back. They have to, I mean. People who've been imprinted on can't stay away from each other long."
"Right," Seth says. His face falls and he looks a little crestfallen. For a moment, she wonders if she's said the wrong thing. "You're okay though, right?"
"I'm fine," Leah groans dramatically, grinning. "I'm happy for you. Really. Come on. Let's get some more cheeseburgers. You can tell me what you and Embry have been up to when I was gone."
And she lets Seth talk and finds herself soaking in the happy memory as she watches her new family because she fears it won't last. When's the last time the world let her settle down and let her breathe? (And of course, she has to laugh because, of course, it doesn't. It never does.)
UP NEXT: Demetri reflects on his life in Volterra. Bree comes to an heartbreaking realization.