All is Fair in Love and War

Introduction:

No one ever seems to care about the female wolf. Stereotypically, all great werewolves, or shape shifters, as the bloodsuckers call us, are male. Females tend to ruin their vibe, not to mention almost everything else, according to their thoughts. No one realizes that if it weren't for me, the only female of the pack, that Jacob probably would have run off by himself before his precious Renesmee was born. Maybe he wouldn't have decided to step up as a true Alpha. And yet, still, the boys only taunt me. In our wolf forms, I can hear their piggish thoughts, how lucky they think they are to get brief looks at my naked body. Their smart remarks are enough to make me puke. They think they're better than me, just because I'm a mere girl, though I'm technically over eighteen. Well, damn them all. Damn them all to the pits of Hades, where they belong. I'm going to prove to them that I, Leah Madelyn Clearwater, am more than just their own personal rag doll. I'm going to prove them all wrong. And you can bet every penny in your piggy bank that they won't get off easily. I'm going to make them suffer, just you wait and see.

Chapter One: Sorry

Leah, come on. Sam's waiting for us, my younger brother complained in my head. He's pissed that we haven't come to meet the rest of the pack yet. You just had to do your hair, and for what reason? To make yourself look pretty for him?

I growled a warning from deep in my chest at the same time that Sam snarled angrily at him. Shut up, Seth. I don't love him anymore. I thought the last sentence to them both. I hoped Sam wouldn't take it personally. After all, he's the one who'd imprinted on my cousin Emily. I hadn't imprinted...yet. I knew that I would. I just had to be patient and wait for the right guy to come along. I shook my head to clear my thoughts and muttered, And for your information, I had to brush the snarls out before I go on patrol again tonight. It gets annoying when you have to stop along the way to pick bristles out of your fur. If it's smooth, you don't have to stop as often. Of course, you wouldn't know that, you short-haired freak. I'm jealous, really I am. But mom wouldn't like it much if I went bald just to have shorter fur.

I could hear the chuckles from each one of the wolves, who were already assembled just north of where Seth and I were running. Seth snorted. I'm sure being a girl is the worst thing in the world. Come on, sis, you've got it easy. Sam and Jacob aren't as hard on you as they are on the rest of us. I could hear both Sam and Jacob snicker at this, and I growled again, warning them not to push me over the edge.

Yeah, well, try having a female reproductive system and being a wolf at the same time. It's not all fun and games, I snapped. It's bad enough that I have to go au natural in front of you guys most of the time, and having my period on top of it's just the icing on the cake. My tone was sarcastic and smug; I enjoyed grossing them out with all the female talk. Of course, it had only recently become a topic of discussion among us, as my body had had to take a short break from being a woman while my wolf side was maturing. I'd thought all along that not having to deal with my womanly problems was one advantage of becoming a werewolf, but I guess I'd gotten my hopes up too high. Mother Nature just had to butt in somehow, and the return of my monthly cycle had forced me to become more reserved and naturally a little bitchier than usual. For a while the guys had donned me unapproachable and uncompanionable, but eventually they'd come around and accepted the fact that there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. I mean, they couldn't just kick me out of their 'group' or anything, so they had to learn to live with it, whether they liked it or not, and this satisfied me beyond belief.

I heard their groans and laughed to myself. But I stopped as suddenly as I'd begun, because Seth and I had reached the circle of wolves standing in the clearing that our 'heroes'- Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry and Jacob, the first wolves in our pack- had killed the sadistic vampire named Laurent when he'd tried to kill Bella. I bowed my head close to the ground as eight pairs of dark, weary eyes looked meaningfully at me. I'd wasted meeting time, therefore reducing the amount of sleeping time for the rest of them. They were angry, I could tell from their expressions. Even if I hadn't been able to hear their accusing thoughts, I would have been able to see it on their faces. Sorry, I thought quietly, whimpering.

Sam quieted the crowd, so to speak, and began thinking orders to us for the day. As on any other day, those of us who'd run patrol the night before were to stay with him and discuss their findings. Those of us who were to run patrol tonight were supposed to go rest up and be ready to run before twilight. I was scheduled to run tonight, so I prepared myself to be told to go rest under my favorite shady tree until the sun began to shift to the far west, at which time I would go round up the rest of the pack and run with them. But to my surprise, Sam looked at me with an unfriendly expression, making me cringe. Leah, do you remember what you were supposed to have done last night?

I drew a few circles on the ground with my paw as I thought. And then it came to me. I was supposed to have switched positions with Quil last night so that he could spend time with his sickly grandfather, one of our most powerful elders, conveniently also named Quil, to learn more about the Quileute legends and to take care of him. I ducked my head in embarrassment and sorrow, knowing full well that Old Quil didn't have much time left with us. I had spent the night pampering myself and getting some well-deserved beauty rest- both of which I'd desperately needed, but at what cost? The near-death of one of the elders? I whimpered again, softer this time than before. Quil...I...

Forget it, Leah, Quil thought in an annoyed tone. What's done is done. You can't take it back. Besides, it would have been too late anyway. He crossed over just before I came out to patrol. My mother tried to get me to stay home, but I found I could think better out here. Since you weren't in your wolf form, you had to wait to find out until now. I've been trying not to think of it, as have the rest of us. But now that you know...

I immediately threw my head back and howled obnoxiously as I saw the image of Quil's grandfather, lying almost lifeless on the couch of the Ateara home, draped in blankets, a sad look in his wise eyes. I went into a state of despair, and without thinking properly, I felt the transformation coming. I quickly turned from the ground and made my way into the trees just before I felt the cool breeze blow against my naked skin. Although I felt fine, due to the fact that werewolves were a bit warmer than normal, I could tell that the day was unnaturally chilly. I shivered a little. It was cool for June, more or less feeling like the middle of winter rather than late spring, I guessed. I brushed the hair away from my eyes and scanned the area for my sundress. A sudden flash of pink caught my eye, and I rushed to rescue it from a watery grave in one of the large puddles the rain had left behind. I slipped the silky material over my head quickly. I could hear the stupid snorts of the wolves I'd left in the clearing. "Ugh, those stupid pigs," I muttered softly. I peered through the trees at them. They'd been called to attention by Sam, and I waited patiently until I knew that they were finished. I heard the padding of my brother's paws against the dusty ground, and I looked up to see him hovering over me, whimpering as I had been before I'd become ashamed of myself and turned back into my human form. I ran my fingers through the warm, soft fur of his nose. "Tell Quil that I'm really sorry," I whispered to him. "Please."

Without warning, Seth picked me up, firmly grasping the material of my dress in his large, strong teeth and carried me to the clearing, where Quil sat with Embry and Jacob, all of them still in their wolf forms. They all looked over as Seth thought about what I'd told him behind the trees. He placed my feet back on the ground and nudged me toward Quil with his nose. I went to stand before the large wolf, my eyes brimming with tears. "Quil, I'm so sorry. I...I was selfish...I should've..."

Before I knew what had happened, Quil was running in the opposite direction of where I stood. Jacob looked at me sympathetically, but turned to go after his friend, with Embry right behind him. I stood motionlessly, sobbing. I fell to the ground and pulled my knees up, my head falling between them. I cried for a good ten or fifteen minutes before Seth gently picked me up again and draped me over his back, carrying me home.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, I began running with all that I had left in me. I'd cried the whole way home, and I wiped the tears from my eyes so that I could see properly as I made my way into the house. My mother tried to stop me, but I rushed past her to my room. I slammed my door shut a little harder than I should have, I suppose, and threw myself down onto the bed. I knew it was childish to act this way, but how else was I supposed to respond to the news of Old Quil's passing? Before long, my eyes closed, and I saw the faces of Old Quil, of young Quil, of Sam, of the whole pack, my mother and Billy Black included. Their faces looked down upon me disapprovingly, and I fell into a restless and guilty sleep. Tomorrow I would make it up to Quil and the rest of my family, my pack. I had to, in order to keep us together. If we were to survive, I would have to strive to be a better werewolf, an idea that I deeply despised, but also one that would please Sam and everyone else that I loved. It was going to be a long process.

Maybe a little beauty rest would actually benefit me tonight.

I'm not entirely proud of the first chapter. It's not nearly as long as I'd hoped it would be, and I'm not really feeling the plot line just yet. I changed a few of the story lines from the Saga to fit the story; i.e. the female reproductive thing. I hope it doesn't entirely throw anyone into a frenzy, and I apologize if it does. Also, I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to go with the rest of the story, so maybe some ideas would help? I'm not expecting a ton of feedback, but at least one or two ideas would be lovely. Thanks for taking the time to read, I hope it was worth it. By the way, it doesn't do anyone any good to be rude in a review, so please, no flames. If you don't care for it, you don't have to read it.