○○○ Prologue ○○○

"Jake! Jake, hurry up!"

The light and airy voice of a young girl echoed across the reserve. The wide eyed eight year old let out a blithe laugh as she turned her head, brown hair whipping around her face, to catch a glimpse of her best friend running behind her.

The russet skinned boy laughed as he pushed himself harder, trying to catch up to the little girl, so that he could win their race. A big white smile that was missing a tooth on the bottom, split across his face as he noticed the little girl veer right. Her dirty brown shoes kicking up dirt as she abandoned the dirt path and started to sprint towards a distant house by cutting through the grass.

"That's the wrong way, Leah! I'm gunna win!"

"No! It's a shortcut!"

Her tinkling laughter and the sound of her running shoes beating against the hard earth were the only things that she could hear as the little brown shack neared her. Her laughter and heavy breaths, as well as her goal to make it to the house before Jacob, captured her attention in a manner that was so strong that she did not notice that the little boy has not followed her.

As Leah reached a door to the house, she threw it open recklessly. With a shout of victory she turned to taunt Jacob, only to see that he was no longer there. With a light shrug of her shoulders, and a wide smile, Leah turned back to the room to go eat dinner. Her actions, however, were halted as she realized that she had entered Sarah's private studio, instead of the living area of the house.

Sarah Black was a beautiful woman, and to Leah, was the most amazing woman in the world. Sitting mere feet from the doe eyed brunette, Sarah Black was turned. Her long black hair cascaded down her back in loose waves, that had Leah fingering her hair in longing. However, her hand quickly fell as Sarah turned towards the little girl, with a perfectly white smile on her pink lips. The older woman gave the little girl a small wink as she turned back to her painting, and lifted the green brush against the canvas.

Leah found her little feet guiding her forward, curious as to what was being painted, and stood in awe next to the Black mother. Her brown eyes flickered back and forth over the detailed watercolor painting that was being worked on by Sarah. The deep forest green colors formed smoky looking trees, that were accented by little stokes of lighter greens that captured the young girl's attention. The details were so perfect that Leah could almost recall exactly where on the Reservation that the picture was supposed to be set. However, the forest was nothing compared to the wonder that the wolf in the center of the picture brought to the little girl. Her little russet colored hand rose to stroke the gray and black wolf that stood on a rock. It's head tilted up towards the sky, as it appeared to be howling into the night. Leah was captured by its' sinister looking beauty and found herself haunted and amazed by the realistic looking art.

Sarah looked down at the little girl with a smile as the young child continued to observe the painting. Her gentle eyes crinkled in a smile, as the little Marson child observed her afternoon artwork. The little girl was constantly coming into the studio, whether intentionally or not, and observed her as she worked. The bashful little girl, however, was skilled. For as much as she simply liked to watch, her hands were better at creating an image and realistic picture than Rachel's or Rebecca's ever were at her age.

"How are you today, my little Leah?"

The voice of Sarah broke Leah out of her daze. Her gaze, falling towards her toes, as her hair curtained her red cheeks. As much as Leah entered the studio, and Sarah didn't mind, her parents still had told her to never enter. So, as she stood before Sarah without her parent's permission, she felt ashamed and embarrassed.

"Fine."

Sarah lightly laughed at the normally rambunctious little girl, as she nodded her head with a small smile at Leah's hushed answer.

"Well, what do you think of this one my little Leah?"

Leah's eyes met her, alight with joy and enthusiasm, as she began to tell Sarah about the beautiful painting in front of her.

"It's so pretty Annie Sarah! The trees look so real, like the part of the Rez right near the creek!"

The little girl continued to titter off her various praises, causing Sarah to smile, but she could tell the little girl was holding back by the way her eyes kept wandering to the wolf in the center.

"Butttt…?"

The two sat in silence for a second, as Leah looked like she struggled with what she had to tell Sarah, afraid that she would hurt her feelings.

"The wolf should be brown."

The words quickly fell from Leah's lips, before she looked down, embarrassed. Sarah gave her a confused look, as she nodded at the little girl.

"And, why's that?"

Leah's eyes wandered to the wolf before shrugging her shoulders.

"I just always picture the biggest one, the leader, um the… the um…"

"Alpha," Sarah supplied for the little girl. With a nod of her little head, Leah continued.

"yeah, alfa. I just picture him as brown and like, um, a red color. That's the color the leader should be. This wolf isn't the alfa."

Sarah smiled down at the little girl, who was so sure of her beliefs. Having told the small child the story of the Quileute's, she knew how much the tales enthralled the Marson girl. The little girl was always the first kid to be seated by the fire for the tales, and was always asking Sarah about the tales; the little girl wanting to know all the details about her ancestors. While she believed them to just be stories, Sarah believed in the tribal magic. However the thought that her son, her precious little Jacob could be affected by the Quileute history, caused her pain. She loved her son, and didn't want him to live a life of danger and pain. As she brought her pained eyes back to the doe brown eyes before her, she smiled at the girl and nodded, before looking back at the wolf.

"Maybe you can paint a picture with a brown alpha then, and mine can just be a pack member. We can make the pictures a set."

Leah nodded her head enthusiastically at the idea, loving the attention that her favorite person was giving her.

"We should probably head to dinner, before your parents or Jake start to look for you, huh my little Leah."

Her already wide brown eyes grew to the size of mini moons as she thought about the reprimanding that her parents would give her if she was late to the weekly dinner that the Marsons had with the Blacks. However, her worry was quickly erased by light laughs as Sarah picked her up and began to tickle the small child.

Carrying her to the kitchen, Sarah placed Leah at the table next to Jacob with a little wink to the girl as she headed into the kitchen to help with setting the table.

"I won," Jacob taunted as he captured the attention of the little girl next to him.

"Nuh uh! Ask Annie Sarah, I was in the studio way before your slow but got to the yard!"

"Leah Marie Marson!"

Leah turned, wide eyed as her mother reprimanded her for her language. However, while Leah was being disciplined, she turned her eyes to Jacob, who was sticking his tongue out at her. Leah swiftly kicked Jacob under the table, causing her mother to grow even more enraged.

"Calm down, Lilah. They're just kids, and it's all playful love."

Jacob gagged at the idea of being in love with Leah, while Leah began to vehemently deny loving Jacob, claiming that boys were "yucky".

"They'll get married, one day. I'm telling you." Lilah laughed at her own statement, which Sarah was nodding her head to in agreement.

As the adults sat down to dinner, they began to converse about their plans and the local Reservation gossip.

"I heard Uley disappeared in the middle of the night."

"Sarah, you shouldn't gossip," Billy stated with a sigh as his face fell at the mention of the pack member.

"Poor little Sammy. He doesn't deserve that," Lilah stated as she reached over to put extra vegetables on Leah's plate. With a frumpy frown Leah stabbed at her peas as she continued to listen to the adults.

"At least he will stop coming in and out of their lives, he has hurt them too much," Sarah sadly stated as she added extra peas onto Jacob's plate after seeing him snickering at an upset Leah. "On a brighter note," she continued. "I'm going to Port Angeles tomorrow to pick up some painting supplies so that my little Leah and I can have an artist day."

Leah's little face light up at the idea as she eagerly nodded her head.

"Why would you want to stay inside and paint when you could be playing creek critters with me, Embry, and Quill?" Jacob asked, as if the idea of Leah painting offended him. Rather than spending the day at the creek picking up bugs and frogs, Leah was going to stay indoors and paint. "You're so girly. I bet you're scared of the toads."

Leah simply shrugged her shoulders. "I am a girl. Get used to it, Jacky."

"Yeah, well… I don't like girls."

Thinking back to their mothers' conversation earlier a wicked smile played on the little girls lips. As she turned towards the little russet skinned boy, she batted her doe eyes. "That's because you love me, Jakey."

As their mothers laughed, their fathers smiled, and Jacob's face broke into a red blush, Leah didn't know that she would one day want those words to be the truth.