Disclaimer: The Twilight series and all the characters belong only to Stephanie Mayer. I do not profit anyway off this story.
Unwanted
Leah sat on a chair in front of a fancy mirror, staring into the reflective glass, but not really seeing herself. Her face, as always, was brooding. Even though she was brooding, her face was still beautiful. Her tan-brown skin was clean and clear of all blemishes. Her hair, while still cut short, framed her face perfectly.
Leah's eyes seemed to focus once again when she heard the sound of someone entering the borrowed room. She looked at the refection in the mirror, and saw that it was Renesmee.
Renesmee had grown in the past two years since the Volturi's departure. Her face, if possible, was more beautiful than the little girl she once was. Her beautiful brown hair was styled with curling waves that bounced when she gracefully walked. She had the body of a thirteen year old; trim and waiting to develop into a full grown woman.
It would probably take one more year, in what takes most girls five more years.
Renesmee smiled at Leah, her teeth so white and aligned so perfectly.
"It's almost time." Renesmee informed, her voice high and beautiful.
Leah looked at herself in the mirror; her makeup was perfect, her hair, while too short to do anything with it, was adorned with a red rose pined to the side of her head, above her ear. Her lips were painted a ruby red color, a perfect complement to her skin and auburn hair.
She did not feel beautiful.
"Don't worry," Renesmee said with her perfect, brilliant smile. "You look beautiful."
Leah looked at the reflection of Renesmee, wondering if she could read minds like her father. Leah sighed, and once again wondered how she got talked into being the maid of honor for this wedding, much less ending up in the Cullens' residence.
It was to make her mother happy. Her mother, Susan "Sue" Clearwater (soon to be Susan Swan in ten minutes), was so much in love with Charlie Swan that it was no surprise that they announced they were getting married.
How Chief Swan managed to let himself be talked into an elaborate wedding by that psychic bloodsucker was beyond her. She knew her soon-to-be stepfather as well as his own daughter, Bella, and they both knew that Charlie was one to never go to parties.
Yet Alice insisted on playing the wedding planner once again, and Charlie adored the little psychic so much that he allowed her to handle everything.
The wedding was at the Cullen residence, and Alice spared no expense for this wedding. Everyone the Cullens knew was invited…well, the ones that were safe.
How her mother allowed herself to go along with the charade while keeping her soon-to-be husband ignorant was beyond her.
Leah felt so uncomfortable being in the den of bloodsuckers; the same bloodsuckers that were responsible for her fate.
It would make her mother happy. Leah sighed. Was it always her fate to put herself aside for other's happiness?
"Are you alright?" Renesmee asked.
Leah looked at the girl's refection once again, wondering why she was still there. The half vampire girl's dress was custom made, of course, and it fit her perfectly. The red silk material hung delicately, and innocently, to her developing body.
Leah's dress was off the rack, but it clung to her curves with ease. The red material was the length of her body, and the sleeves looked like she was a model for the ancient Greeks.
"I'm fine." Leah replied, trying to keep her tone less sharp. It was only natural that Renesmee was a bridesmaid. After all, she was the granddaughter of Charlie.
"Are you upset?" Renesmee inquired.
Renesmee used to be a quiet girl. What happened?
"Why would you think I'm upset?"
"Well, you are about to be stepsisters to a vampire." Renesmee giggled.
"That's the least of my troubles right now." Leah said. "I'm also about to become the step aunt to a half vampire."
"That's true." Renesmee agreed with another giggle. "I hope you don't mind being related to a Nephilim."
"Why do you keep calling yourself that? Ever since you read the Bible, it's like you call all the half vampire ones that. I never thought you to be religious."
"I'm not." Renesmee explained. "I just like to have a word that identifies us as something. Some ancient cultures use to call us 'demigods.' I think that makes us sound egotistical."
"So you just took the word from Genesis for all the half vampires."
"Because we are not just half vampire; we are also half human. One word for what we are: Nephilim."
"You do realize that the Nephilim were violent men, despite having been fathered by angels, right?"
"Yea," Renesmee started with slight embarrassment. "My dad said not to take the Bible too seriously, but I told him maybe our reason for existing can be found, not only in the Bible, but in ancient cultures as well. Many of them have stories about beautiful gods. Maybe those 'beautiful gods' people believed in were vampires."
"Vampires who like people to believe them to be gods?" Leah asked skeptically.
"I'm just making a thesis, like when I read the Bible. No, I'm not religious; I'm just curious to find answers to why and how… and fate."
"Maybe the Bible would explain my fate." Leah murmured, but Renesmee heard it.
Leah paused to gather her thoughts to explain to Renesmee.
"I think my mother cursed me when she named me Leah." She said as she grabbed the small bouquet of red and white roses and held them in her hands. "The Leah of the Bible was married to Jacob first, but Jacob loved her sister, Rachael, more. Leah's sister had not borne any children to Jacob, but Leah kept giving him son after son. And each time she gave her husband another son, she thought, 'Now my husband will love me more.' but he never did."
"Leah didn't have a choice." Renesemee said. "She didn't have other options. Maybe if she did, then she would have found someone else."
"You mean imprint on someone else?" Leah muttered with disgust.
"Well, that particular Leah didn't have the ability to imprint, like you do." Renesemee said, before she concluded, "Or at least, maybe you do."
"No, I have the ability to imprint." Leah sighed in defeat. "I just didn't think it was possible for me, a female. Then again, we didn't know so many Quileutes would become giant wolves."
"Well that's not so bad." Renesemee stated with a brilliant smile. "Jake is the best friend I could ask for. We always go hunting together, play in the snow, run in the rain. Sometimes we have running contests to see who is the fastest."
The way the girl talked was like a girl with a crush. Did the imprintee always fall in love with the imprinter? Was that why her cousin, Emily, allowed herself to be in a relationship with Sam even though they knew they both would deeply hurt her?
Even though she gave Sam a hard time, when she was still a member of his pack, she never once was happy that Sam lost control with Emily, and her cousin forever bore the scars on her face because of it.
"Wait…" Renesemee began. "How do you know you have the ability to imprint, unless…"
And the last rabbit finally crossed the finish line.
"Yes," Leah started, looking down at her dress. "I imprinted."
"Oh, that's so wonderful!" Renesemee genuinely gushed. "Now you have someone to complete you! Who's the lucky guy?"
"I'm not happy about it." Leah growled.
"Erm, the lucky girl?"
"I don't swing that way."
"Well, there's nothing wrong with it. I mean, look at our Amazon vampire friends. Sometimes the mate we need is not the one we expect."
Leah flinched at Renesemee's wise words. Indeed, the one she imprinted on was not the one she expected at all. It was almost like a curse. She wanted to hate him, to believe that he is evil.
Except the stupid imprinting thing would not allow her to think such away about him. She needed to be near him, always; even if she had to stay with the Cullens, whatever it takes, just to have him by her side.
What if he rejected her?
"I don't think I could take it again." Leah whispered, and tried not to allow the tears building up in her eyes to smudge her makeup.
"Take what again?"
There was a knock on the door before it opened, and an uncomfortable Jacob stood in the doorway with a nice tux on.
"Five minutes." He warned the duo.
"Jacob," Leah started, not bothering to acknowledge the time. "Do you mind if I talk to you alone for just a few minutes?"
"Sure, sure." Jacob said, and smiled beamingly at Renesemee. "Do you mind?"
"Not at all." Renesemee agreed, also smiling at Jacob.
There it was. That special bond that Leah had seen countless times between some former pack members and their imprintees. The unbreakable bond, the strength shared between each other… the love and adoration between Sam and Emily.
Renesemee left and Jacob waited for Leah to start the conversation. How did she begin? Tell Jacob who she imprinted on? Hell no!
"Jacob," Leah started carefully. "What if Renesemee fell in love with someone else? What would you do?"
Jacob blinked at the question, but unquestionably answered, "Fight to win her back."
"What if she didn't want you?" Leah pressed. "What would you do?"
"I would stand aside, and allow her to be happy."
"So noble." Leah tried to sound sarcastic, but it came out a broken whisper.
"What wrong?"
"Nothing." Leah tried to sound confident, but her voice hitched. She inhaled deeply and finally started again. "I was just trying to figure out what this imprinting thing requires."
Jacob almost stumbled from standing position.
"Did you imprint?!"
Leah simply nodded, but did not volunteer any more details.
"I just don't know what to do!" Leah cried, finally allowing the walls she had built up around herself to come down; to show how vulnerable she was. How hurt she had been. "I don't think I could take another rejection!"
For once, jesting Jacob was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth, but it took a few seconds before he could speak.
"You're not the first one who's been rejected." Jacob gently reminded his pack member. "When you imprint, you don't care—"
"We don't care about the love we had in the past, about the love we lost." Leah continued. "We only care about the one we imprinted on." She sniffed and shook her head in disgust. "Is this some sick game? Is there some creator up there, making the rules as they go along, and laughing at us as they pick out who is right for us, like some twisted match maker?"
Leah gripped the red and white roses in her hands like she was throttling them.
"Is this how we, the unwanted, are to be? Torn apart, discarded, and then some imprintee shows their face to us, and we're supposed to be whole again?" Leah laughed bitterly. "You know, when I think of Sam, that song 'Someone Like You' keeps playing in my head; but the one I imprinted on is nothing like Sam."
"I was thinking your song would be more like 'Rolling In The Deep.'" Jacob said, trying to lighten up the angst filtering in the room.
"I cried about it." Leah continued, ignoring Jacob's comment. "I cried about Sam and Emily so many nights. I know that Sam had no choice, because he wanted no one but Emily. It ate away at me, how he could love her far more than he could ever love me. I hated him, and everyone in the pack. I thought, if Sam wanted to be Alpha, then he would have to work his damn hardest to be in command. That's why I fought him so hard."
"Now you have someone else." Jacob said. "Now you have someone that you can watch out for, protect, even love if it comes to that."
"So," Leah started. "To imprint doesn't mean to be in love?"
"No," Jacob answered. "You just want that person to be happy, more than anything."
"Then why did Sam leave me for Emily?" Leah asked bitterly and threw the roses on the floor. "Couldn't he have been like a big brother to her, and still stay with me?"
"I don't know if it works that way. I mean, look at Quill. He certainly is not making passes at a toddler."
"You're not anxious for Renesemee?" Leah asked with a raise eyebrow.
"No," Jacob answered firmly as if he had been asked that question many times before. Leah suspected that vampire daddy was always watching Jacob, making sure he did pounce on his little girl if given the chance. "Right now, I'm a good friend who is sympathetic to a girl with a crush."
"So this has nothing to do with romance?"
"Not right now, and I'm not hoping for anything else. It's more like a friend, a protector, and then something later."
"But it doesn't have to be romantic?"
"Not if you don't want it to be." Jacob noted Leah relaxed a bit after his answer. "But you just feel so right about it, how can it not turn romantic later?"
Leah's mouth twitched and she picked up her bouquet of roses.
"We can start as friends, though, right?" she asked.
"If that's how you want it, yes."
Leah took a deep breath, and for the first time in a long while, she genuinely smiled. This took Jacob by surprise, as well as happy, that this bitter, old maid (he doubted that part) was finally free of her unhappiness.
Sam would always be part of Leah's life, but he was more like a chapter in her life story. The rest of her book was with the one she imprinted on.
"Just out of curiosity," Jacob started with a sly smile. "Who did you imprint on?"
Leah glared a murderous look at her Alpha, and turned her nose up to him.
"None of your business." She answered flippantly.
"I wonder why you don't want to say. Most of us are proud of the ones we imprint on. What makes him so different that you would want to hide his identity—"
Jacob stopped.
"Wait," he began with laughter. "You imprinted on a VAMPIRE, didn't you?"
Leah turned her face away, turning bright red.
"That's why you don't want to be romantically involved!"
"He's not a vampire, per se." Leah defended. "He's only…half."
"Half…?" Jacob repeated and then burst into fits of laughter. "You imprinted on the Amazon boy! Nahuel!"
"Shut up!"
"Oh, this is rich!" Jacob exclaimed, still in the mists of laughing fits, and then he stopped. "Wait; two years ago, you saw him. When did this suddenly come about?"
"I just saw his backside at that field, and then afterwards, I stayed away from all the celebrating. It was only today I really saw him. Nahuel was with his aunt, and he was helping the psychic when he asked who was in the ceremony. I guess he's helping out, but then the psychic was explaining how things were going to work. She introduced me, and I looked at him, and…that's when it happened."
"I heard something minor happened—"
"I almost fell over, but Nahuel caught me…and he smiled at me." Leah quickly explained. "Hey, that mind reader didn't say anything, right?"
"Edward?" Jacob asked confused. "No; why?"
"He better not have." Leah warned. "I caught a glimpse of his face, and his eyes were wide when he looked at me. I think he knew what happened."
"It's…not like him to go telling the world what he heard, or saw, in someone's mind."
"For someone who used to loathe him, you sure are defending him."
"That's water under the bridge now."
Leah smiled and allowed a short laugh, which made Jacob smile. He was happy for his pack member.
She cleared her throat before asking, "Do you think…I would have a chance with Nahuel?"
"I think you would have a great chance." Jacob answered with a smile. "It's funny; he was just asking about you a while ago. I asked why he was inquiring about you, and he smiled that…smile that people get when they're interested in someone."
"Did he say why he was asking about me?"
"He wanted to know if he should walk with you down the aisle so you don't fall flat on your face." Jacob laughed, and Leah hit him with her banquet of roses, causing the delicate flowers to break and fall off their stems.
Another person burst through the door without bothering to knock.
"You're late!" Alice scolded, her small hands on her tiny, dancer hips.
Leah smiled and stated, "I broke my roses."
"I'll get you another banquet; let's just get going!"
"Sure, sure." Leah said and walked out the room.
Just outside the door stood Nahuel; he was dressed in his native clothes, his chiseled muscles taunt, his long black hair pulled back, and he smiled when he saw Leah, and she smiled back, her loathing and bitterness gone.
He held out his arm for her, which she took, and with another banquet of roses in her hand, they started downstairs, smiling at each other.
The End
AN: After reading Breaking Dawn, I thought Nahuel coming into the book was perfect timing, especially after Stephanie Meyer wrote a portion where Leah was talking to Jacob. Yes, I know that Nahuel was there to correct the situation, but I also thought deeper on the two, and the possibility of Leah imprinting on Nahuel came to mind.