Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Let us all recoil with shock.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has come back for the sequel- and welcome to any newcomers. Your support is much appreciated and I hope you enjoy this one! :)
Note: I don't like OCs, as a rule, so they won't be playing a massive role from here on out, but they do serve a purpose, so if they're annoying you, they're going to be background at best, I swear.
Night had already fallen when Daniel drove up to the house and Jake realized he should have paid more attention when Diana had been talking. There were three teenagers alright- but why, exactly, had he convinced himself that they were all boys? Leah would smack him if he admitted it but somehow, he still thought of the shape shifters as predominately male- despite many, many hours of listening to Diana and Marianne lecture him on whatever their topic-of-the-month happened to be. As a result, the tiny girl in the backseat of Daniel's car was a surprise, but he was careful not to let it show on his face- no way, no how would Leah ever find out. She'd have to sleep on the couch in the living room- there was nowhere else. He certainly wasn't going to bunk with Seth so the girl could sleep in with Leah. No way. But… the boys had a tendency to wander into the house half-dressed (or not dressed at all) and she was tiny- out of the car, she wasn't even up to Daniel's shoulder and Daniel was short. Well, normal height for a normal person, but tiny for a shape-shifter. So maybe the kid was regular-kid sized, but she certainly wasn't regular-shifter sized. Maybe he could pawn her off on Becca? That'd be punishment, right?
The three teenagers didn't say a word, just followed Daniel as meekly as ducklings, up the path to the porch where Jacob waited. The rain had lessened to a light drizzle so Jake felt no guilt in leaving them standing in it. This was La Push- they'd have to get used to getting rained on all the time.
"Daniel- good to see you again. Come on in." He stepped back into the house, projecting calm but inwardly freaking-the-fuck-out. The Crows followed him, Daniel commenting quietly that it was good to see Jake too and asking if he'd grown even taller since his last visit.
Jake had, but he didn't admit to it. He was only twenty, yet- Leah was pretty sure he'd top another inch before the end of the year. Seeing as he already had trouble finding clothes to fit him, he really hoped she was wrong. There's only so tall a guy can be before joining a freak show. Or the NBA.
He led the foursome inside, directing them to drop their bags inside the door, and motioning for the teenagers to take a seat in the living room. They sat stiffly, perched on the edge of the sofa. He couldn't help but wonder if the Pack lounged the way they did because they were wolves on the inside, same as these kids were Crow.
"You staying tonight, Dan?" Sam's guest room was ready, if he wanted it.
"If you have the room then that'd be great. The drive between here and home was long and unpleasant." Fifteen hours driving with three teenagers in your car? Sounded like hell to Jake.
"Sam and Emily will be happy to take you in tonight. She kept dinner for you, too, I think. You remember how to get over there?" Daniel nodded once and glanced over to the seated teenagers. He could hear the dismissal in Jake's tone, though the other man almost certainly didn't realize he was doing it. "You can leave these here with me; I've spoken to Diana." He was proud of the lack of annoyance in his tone and Daniel grinned accordingly. He was well aware of just how irksome the wolf found his mother. He said his goodbyes and issued a final reminder to the kids to behave themselves for Mr. Black. Mr. Black. He was six years older than them, for fuck's sake. Leah was almost that much older than him. Well. Not really. But he did like to tease her for cradle snatching regardless.
"You kids tired?" As one, they nodded. "Hungry?" They nodded again. "Probably need a shower after being in the car all day, yeah?" Another nod. If any of his Pack had been there, they'd have been curled on the floor in a submissive position, knowing that something shit was coming- Jake was predictable like that; a cool mask of calm hiding what was bound to be a creative and unpleasant punishment for stupidity. "Too bad." He grinned, wolfish. "On your feet- my patrol is about to start and you three had better keep up. If you get lost, I'm not coming to find you." He stalked to the rear of the house and out the back door, stripping and phasing before they'd even left the couch.
They had to run to catch him up; jumping off the porch and into the skies in their Crow forms without question. They could listen, anyway- that was a definite plus.
Of course, it was late and dark and raining and they were Crows and not wolves- their night vision was poor, at best, and their stamina was not in-exhaustible.
The Pack was waiting for Jake when he phased and there was a warm current of amusement running through them at Crow's expense. Seth had been waiting for Jake to phase so he could go home.
Seth? Would you mind giving up your room so this kid doesn't get traumatized by the half-naked weirdos who wander through our house at all hours? It might have sounded like a request, but Seth heard the order echoing. Jake was his best friend, no question there, but sometimes it was really clear that he was the Alpha, too. Tim and Michael laughed at his expense and, a thousand miles away, Jared echoed the sentiment. He'd heard all about the little brats and he was the reason they'd been sent to La Push at all. Currently, Jake was feeling no love for Jared- but that thought only left Jared laughing harder, racing through the forests of the Crow reservation with his tongue lolling out like a common Labrador.
Jake ran the borders, drinking in the thoughts of the Pack. Embry joined them after a time- it was difficult for him to find outside space to phase, but he was able to join them at night, just before he fell asleep. More than once, he'd fallen asleep in wolf form and they'd all been treated to the oddity that was wolf-dreams. Running with the Pack was comfortable; safe. It was like coming home again at the end of a long day, or something equally poetic and girly. Whatever- it was nice. He just ran.
Leah was home late, not surprisingly. She'd been working at the store long enough now that she closed up most evenings, now. It didn't mean she got paid more, but it did mean she could bring home the leftover muffins. And if she hid some of them in the morning specifically so there would be leftovers… well. No-one had to know and the Pack benefited. The house was empty- not a surprise. That there was a pot of something bubbling on the cooker was surprising, but it smelled pretty damn good, too. Jake must have cooked before he went out- clearly taking their teenage prisoners with him, and likely on a patrol based on the shirt and jeans she could see on the back porch. Interestingly, one of the unfamiliar scents was a girl. Jake hadn't mentioned that. Or if he had, she'd been too busy stealing pastries to notice. She decided to just not comment on it and hope that he was assuming that she'd known all along because God forbid she admit to not knowing something. Like that would ever happen.
The pot on the cooker was some kind of pasta concoction that Jake was fond of- minced beef; sauce from a jar, pasta shapes and whatever else was in the fridge when he opened the door. Seriously. She'd come home from work once to find Jake and Seth making a casserole with a 'secret ingredient'. That ingredient had been oatmeal and raisin cookies. It had been… interesting. Secretly, she suspected that half of Jake's experiments were an attempt to get her to cook more. That might have been plausible, but it wasn't going to work. She wasn't his mother. She stashed her hard-earned muffins in the bread-box and glanced at the clock- just after eight. They should be home from patrol soon-ish and she'd have to head out, then. She ate quickly, barely even tasting her food and burning her mouth as she inhaled it- luckily, she healed quickly or she'd have killed off her taste buds years ago.
She checked the guest room- her old bedroom- and, to her slight amazement, Jake had actually changed the sheets on the twin beds. They kept the room for whichever of the boys needed somewhere to stay overnight- impromptu guests were not unexpected, most nights. She grabbed fresh linens and changed the sheets on Seth's bed quickly, resolving to kick her little brother out onto the couch and sacrifice his room to the teenage girl they'd been saddled with. There was a quick flash of resentment but she stomped it down- Diana had done a lot for them; they owed her. She repeated the mantra several times, even as she shifted luggage around the room and made up a bed on the sofa. Seth would hate it, she knew. Maybe he could stay with Rachel and Paul for a few days- there was a bed in Will's room. Hard to know if sharing with a one year old would be better or worse than sleeping on a sofa? Leah couldn't tell.
By the time Jake and Seth trudged back in the door at nine, Leah was antsy; ready to run. She only had the barest glance of the kids- the two boys looking sullen and tired but the girl was smirking, just a little. Leah watched the girl retreat, something in her smirk niggling at the recesses of her brain. She looked almost familiar- and if Leah found out that this kid was related to Marianne and Daniel, she'd go apeshit. Those two were the most annoying people she'd ever met. She didn't need another one hanging around. Her brother showed the newcomers to the bathroom and their bedrooms before retreating to the master bath himself. Leah had been going to follow and introduce herself but found herself pulled back, one of Jake's strong arms wrapped around her middle. His chest was firm at her back and she closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. He smelled of salt and earth.
"Sorry about this, Lee." He kept his voice low, hoping the kids couldn't hear him. Their hearing was pretty sensitive, he knew, but he couldn't tell just how good it was. Better than the wolves, maybe, but not by much. He could hear them talking quietly in the spare room, but he couldn't make out the words so he hoped it went both ways. Leah shrugged, twisting a little in his arms and planting a kiss on his lips.
"S'okay. Not like having a houseful is anything new." No, it wasn't new- it was just who the houseful was that was new. These kids weren't Pack- she couldn't smack them over the head and tell them to move or kick their feet off the furniture. Well, she could. But maybe she shouldn't. He grinned a little and twirled her 'round to face him.
"Have I told you lately how awesome you are?" He had, in fact, just the day before. But she shook her head, no.
"Tell me again?" Instead of saying it, he kissed her smirk, running the tip of his tongue over her lips even as her hands crept under his shirt, her nails scratching against his skin in a way that made him shiver.
They broke apart reluctantly, both breathing a little heavily, and Leah sighed and rested her forehead against his.
"I've gotta go patrol. I'll be home at midnight…" She let the suggestion trail off and watched the grin creep across his face.
"Wake me?" She nodded once and with a final soft press of lips, pushed herself away from him.
He watched from the door as she stripped on the porch, joking that if he caught either of the new boys so much as looking at her, he'd castrate them both. They didn't need to look behind them to hear the tactical retreat of teenaged feet. Clever boys. She dropped her clothing where she stood and phased, darting off into the woods and into the Pack mind. Jake watched until he couldn't see her anymore and then, finally, turned to his teenage prisoners.
"You guys hungry?" He asked, checking the pot- there was plenty of food, even for four teenage shape shifters and himself. They appeared almost instantly and for just a moment, he felt bad about having dragged them on patrol on their first night in La Push. All three were pale and looked exhausted and they were damp, too. He told them to sit and they practically collapsed at the table. He got their names as he handed out food- almost dropping the plates when he realized that the two boys were Diana's nephews Sebastian and Henry. They were twins, though they didn't look much alike. The girl was Jo and she was the only child of Diana's second in command.
They hadn't sent just anyone to stay in La Push- these three would be Flock leaders, someday. Jacob felt sick.
"So. Tell me what you did to get sent here." He fought to keep that sudden revelation out of his voice; nonchalant as if he'd known all along that he was entertaining the leaders of tomorrow. The boys shared a glance that he recognized from watching Seth and Leah communicate- secret messages encoded in raised eyebrows and facial twitches that marked the two as siblings the way their scent should have. The feather-y scent could be distracting.
"We disrupted a Council meeting by crashing through the skylight." Jo offered, suppressing a smile that told Jake that the action had not been unintentional.
"Why?" He should have offered to take Leah's patrol- she'd have been better at this shit. The three of them tried to hide their tiny smiles.
"It was an accident! We were practicing in the air and Seb started a fight and you'd be surprised at how difficult it is to control a free-fall. We're Crows, not hawks." She said Hawk as if it was a dirty word- the same way Jared spat Dog, in fact. All the same, she was lying. But did he care enough to question her on it? No. No, he did not. The invaders could keep their stupid secrets- as long as they were still alive when Daniel came back for them, Jake would be happy.
"Do I need to warn you that accidents like that won't be tolerated here?" Jesus, he sounded like his dad. Worse- he sounded like Leah's dad. Harry Clearwater had always been a badass. They shook their heads in unison and Jake would have almost believed they were triplets, at that moment. It was weird. "Good. Leah and I are in charge around here but if any of my boys tell you to do something, you assume that the order has come from me, got it?" He'd been very careful to specify to the boys that orders did not include anything stupid; dangerous or for any action which would land them in a bucket of trouble later. If he'd aimed those thoughts at Colin and Brady in particular, he wasn't showing bias- he was learning from years of experience. "If you have trouble with one of them, you come straight to me or Leah. And don't start fights you can't win." Jake, who'd been inhaling his food even as he spoke, pushed away from the table with a sigh and stood up. "When you're finished here, you shower and sleep. While you're here, you're on Seth's schedule- that means sleeping early and up at five for a two-hour run before coming back here for breakfast and then heading to school. Homework gets done here before patrol again in the evening. If you have questions, ask Seth. I'm in work for six but I'll be here in the morning. Any questions?" Three heads shaking indicated no. "Good."
Normally on a Monday evening, Seth and Jake settled in for some quality bonding time with Call of Duty- it was the only evening in the week where their schedules overlapped for longer than an hour. Tonight, though… Jake was exhausted. He collapsed onto his bed, listening carefully to the Crow teenagers as they fought over the other bathroom. Seth finished up in the second shower a minute or two after Jake had face-planted on the bed. The boy laughed when he saw him, boneless on the bed.
"You dying already, Jake?" His Alpha just grunted and Seth took it as a yes. "I'll see you in the morning. Try and get some sleep in before Leah comes home?" Seth may not have been happy with the fact, but he was used to it by now- Jake and Leah were not quiet; never had been quiet. He had no expectations that they would ever be quiet. Jake just laughed but the sound was muffled by a pillow so Seth decided to pretend he hadn't heard it. If he admitted to hearing it, he'd be starting another bitch-fight and he had yet to win one of those. Jake wasn't the Alpha for nothing- he was bigger, faster and stronger and he fought dirty.
The boy retreated to the living room and collapsed onto the sofa. He hated sleeping on the sofa, but he couldn't begrudge the girl his bedroom. When he'd been fourteen, he'd woken up more than once to find his sister half-naked in front of him and that had been disturbing enough. The idea of waking up with very large, strange naked men watching him sleep was just wrong on so many levels. He was one of them and he wouldn't like it. And it was likely to happen, too, if the kid wasn't sequestered somewhere safe- the house was already a half-way home for the rest of the Pack and it had been since Leah had become Alpha female. It got worse when Will was born and Paul kicked them all out of the Black house because they kept waking the baby (by staring at him in amazement, amongst other things.). Seth didn't begrudge his mother her escape to Forks, either. She wasn't Pack- mother to part of it, yeah, but not Pack- and she wasn't Quileute, either. With his dad dead and Leah ready and willing to take his place on the council, Sue could move on with her life. She'd asked him to come with her in the move and he'd considered it pretty seriously.
And then he'd come home from school one afternoon to find Leah lying in the middle of the floor in the living room, staring at the ceiling. She hadn't even glanced at him, just pointed to the kitchen and grunted that "There's food in there if you want it, runt" and then she'd proceeded to ask him why he thought it was that people didn't paint ceilings interesting colours and shit and Seth had known he couldn't leave. She wasn't his mother, far from it. But he wasn't the same kid he'd been when he'd phased first and Leah was doing her best to find some semblance of normal in the middle of all the Pack chaos- how could he do any different? She'd stuck with him when he moved to Jake's Pack, way back when- how could he even consider leaving her now?
He was trying to ignore the footsteps approaching the couch and fade into sleep instead, but the owner of said footsteps finally spoke up.
"You're Seth, right?" He nodded, eyes closed. Whatever they wanted could surely wait till morning.
"I'm Seb. Your, uh, Alpha told us to come to you if we had any questions?" He'd changed his mind- he was moving out in the morning. And Jake was a douche.
"What is it, kid?" He didn't know what age the boy was, but anyone who was trying to keep him awake was going to be called kid until future notice. Plus, what the hell kind of pussy name was Sebastian? Had his parents taken one look at him and thought 'Yeah, this'll be the one we don't like. Let's fuck him up.'
"Your Alpha said-"
"His name is Jake." God, if they went around referring to him as Alpha all the time, Jake might expect them to call him sir. Hah.
"Uh, okay. Mr. Jake said that we're to follow your schedule tomorrow but none of us have an alarm. Will you make sure we wake up in the morning? Please?" Mr. Jake? That had to be worse than sir. He almost couldn't wait to tell the others. Mr. Jake himself was already snoring the sleep of the terminally-exhausted, so it wasn't worth wasting right then.
"Sure kid. I'll wake y'all." He peered up at the boy. "But I don't think you'll have any issues." The five am alarm call wasn't just for this house. Seb looked confused but Seth didn't bother to say any more. He really, truly, didn't care. "Go to sleep kid. If you thought patrol this evening was long and tiring, you have no idea what you're in for."
That was true. But then, if the kid thought the next day was any great challenge, they'd really be in trouble at the weekend. The footsteps retreated, followed by the soft murmur of whispered conversation- but the conversation didn't last long. The light in the kitchen burned on into the night, but the inhabitants were all asleep before ten o'clock.
Leah's patrol was uneventful. Sometimes, there were hunters in the woods, or hikers, and very occasionally there was Vampire scent… but excitement was rare. It had been months since they'd seen sight or scent of a Vamp. They'd talked about cutting back on the patrols, especially with Jared and Embry away from the Rez but whatever reasons they had for cutting back always seemed to pale in the face of the memory of what had happened the last time their guard was down. Of course with the Cullens more or less gone Vampire interest in the area was bound to drop but… that knowledge wasn't enough to let them slack off. Not really. Not yet, anyway. She handed off to Paul at midnight and retreated back to her house, using the shadows to hide the gleam from her grey fur. She phased back to human on the back porch and pulled on her underwear and the tee she had discarded earlier. Seth was sleeping soundly on the couch and the three strangers seemed to be sleeping too. Jake, like always, woke the second she opened the outside door. He appeared in the kitchen doorway moments later, hair tousled and eyes bleary but wearing a grin. He was always happy to see her- and she him, she had to admit. That little fission of energy she felt every time she saw him had only grown stronger over time. He watched her eat without saying a word, just sitting on the counter-top with his eyes trained on her.
She only spoke to tell him that there was nothing to tell from the patrol. He'd only nodded in reply and she appreciated the silence- there was so much talking during the day; so many thoughts when she ran with the Pack that the silence was a welcome relief.
She left her dirty dishes in the sink before turning to him where he sat, propped up on the counter-top. He was so tall that even seated, his feet were almost touching the floor. She stepped between his legs and tugged on the wife-beater tee with one hand. He didn't normally wear shirts to sleep in- they got too hot. Hell, he never normally wore any clothes to bed. He pulled her close to him, sliding down her body into standing and pressed his mouth to the scar on her neck. It was faded now but every touch sent tingles up her spine and he knew it.
"Impressionable minds- No walking around naked." He muttered the words into her skin and she smiled in response, tugging the shirt over his head with one hand.
"Don't care." Her words were almost a growl, but quiet. "It's bed-time. The rule for bed-time is that you're naked." She could almost feel him roll his eyes from where his lips were attached to her neck. He hated it when she threw his rules back at him- and that had been one of the first they'd made when he moved in.
Seth hated that rule. Seth hated that he knew the rule existed. And thoughts of Seth were enough to make Jake spin and drag her back to their bedroom. His friend had seen (and heard) enough already- he didn't need to wake up in the morning to find out that Jake had pounded his sister on the kitchen floor. Of course, he also didn't need to know that it had happened more than once before, either.
Leah closed the door carefully after them and threw Jake's shirt onto the pile of laundry by the foot of the bed. He returned the favour, peeling her tight tee shirt off with a hum of appreciation.
The days belonged to the Pack; to words and talking and making sure that everyone else was okay. At night, things were different. At night, they belonged to one another and everyone else faded away. They were Jake and Lee- not the Alphas of a Pack of shape shifters; not responsible for the financial woes of two households or the continued happiness of the entire reservation. At night, when they were alone, Jake was just Jake- her mate, her boyfriend, whatever. And she was just another girl.
Morning came too quickly, as usual. When she woke, Jake had left already gone to the garage early so he could leave early that afternoon and be back at the house in time to take Will from Paul before Paul left to man the radio at the ranger's station on a twelve hour overnight shift. She stumbled out of her bed and pulled on whatever clothes were closest to hand- a clean pair of Jake's boxers and the wife-beater tee she'd pulled off him the night before. She'd gotten better at ripping them off him without actually doing any damage- well, they do say that practice makes perfect, and she had certainly practiced. She didn't even look in the mirror- just ran her fingers through her hair twice and sauntered out into the living room. The Pack had seen her at her worst and while she might not be particularly clean, she certainly wasn't looking her worst. She'd forgotten about the three kids until she walked into the kitchen and found them sitting at the table, silent and nervous. What the hell were they nervous about?
"Have you guys eaten?" There was plenty of time for breakfast, yet. Still half-asleep, Leah started throwing ingredients into the pan and bread into the toaster. She was making enough to feed an army- or, at least, enough to feed herself and Seth and any of the rest of the Pack that might show up before seven am. Her money was on Tim and Mike, that morning. Tim had been on the early patrol with Seth and Michael had in-built radar for food that was almost as impressive as Jake's.
When Seth emerged from the shower, smelling like her body wash so she knew they must be out of the other, breakfast was just landing on the table. She didn't serve the three kids, but she made sure they knew they should help themselves. If they didn't learn that gem quickly, they'd starve by the end of their first week.
"You need any money?" She was clearly talking to Seth. He shook his head; no. Seth earned his own cash- he tutored the dumbasses in Forks High- but he never had very much and he ate a lot. She didn't ask the other three. "Lunch is provided by the school. It's generally disgusting, but it's what you're getting." They just nodded, meekly. All three of them looked exhausted, already. "Did you guys sleep well?"
"Yes ma'am." The taller of the two boys answered- she thought his name was Henry, maybe.
"Don't call me Ma'am. My name is Leah. Patrol?" That question was aimed at Seth, but he just shrugged and said that they'd kept up.
"Good." They finished the meal in silence, clearing their own plates and then the three newcomers lingered in the living room, anxious. "Go easy on them, okay? They're just kids." Seth raised an eyebrow at her uncharacteristic sympathy and she shrugged in response. "They're the same age you were when we faced the newborns and you shouldn't have had to be there." Explanation enough, in her view. "The keys to the Rabbit are on the dresser- take it to school because those three might collapse from exhaustion if you make them walk it." Seth normally walked. The school was two miles from their house, through the forest. It was almost three if you took the road. He was nodding and agreeing when the front door opened and Mike stumbled in, tripping over his own feet. Tim followed, laughing. They stopped dead, staring at the three newcomers.
"Oohh… Fresh meat." Tim's grin was wolfish- not threatening to anyone who knew him, but scary enough to someone who had only heard stories about how vicious the La Push wolves could be when required. The stink of fear permeated the room, suddenly, and Tim was immediately abashed. "Kidding! Jeez. Can't a guy play upon someone's fear these days without getting the stink eye?" It was Leah sending the glare of death, so his repentance was understandable.
"Timmy, Michael, this is Sebastian, Henry and Jo, our… exchange students." Mike laughed and made his way into the kitchen, locating the two plates of breakfast food that Leah had set aside.
"The Crows got the crappy end of that deal- they've had to put up with Jared for months and we've needed more bodies for baseball. Daniel was always pretty fast- is that genetic?"
Leah felt some of the tension leave her shoulders as her boys engaged the kids in sports-talk and she could tune them out. The boys ate quickly, waiting for Seth to get his things together, and then the group left- Tim and Mike betting that they'd make it to the school before the Rabbit. Seth, for all his confidence in Jake's mechanical ability, refused the bet. He just how quickly they could make the school run if they had to, and the Rabbit wasn't built to survive the same leaps and jumps that the boys could manage over rough terrain. She watched them leave through the window before collapsing onto the sofa. She wasn't working, she was already on top of her college work and the house was relatively clean. What was a girl to do? Normally, her days off were filled before she could blink but this one had slipped under the radar, somehow, and left her with time to spare. Hmm… sleep sounded good. She didn't get enough of that, most days. She wandered back to her bedroom and threw herself onto the bed with a satisfied sigh. The boys were in school, she didn't have to patrol 'till noon and there was nothing to do but lay back and sleep. There was nothing wrong with this picture.
Twenty minutes later, the phone rang and broke her out of her newly achieved slumber. It was Seth and he was panicking. Well, as close as Seth ever came to panicking- but there was definitely some breathlessness and some shouting.
Tony had just imprinted on Jo. Tony, who was barely sixteen, and who Leah was willing to bet had never kissed a girl before.
Sebastian and Henry were not taking it well- apparently they'd both been carrying a torch for the Crow girl. There had been a small fight; just a little one, with no bones broken and only one bloody nose but a fight nonetheless and Tony's mom had been called. Leah, as the responsible adult in charge of the exchange students, was requested to attend the principal's office at her earliest convenience. I.e. now.
Some days, being a werewolf sucked donkey parts.
She was dialling Diana's cell when the nastiest of thoughts struck her. Jo was an only child- Jake had said as much.
Crow shifters were born in pairs- Marianne had told her that. They were always twins; it's how the Crows knew who was going to turn.
Now maybe that was a coincidence; maybe Jo had been a twin, once. Or maybe, just maybe, Jo was half Crow and half something else. Half someone else. Half someone specific? A half-memory of the girl floated through her mind and Leah growled.
There was a nasty look on her face when she pressed the call button and by the time Diana answered the call, the shifter's anger had risen to a nice, healthy boil.
"At what point, exactly, were you going to tell me that Jo is Joshua Uley's bastard daughter? Was it going to be after one of my boys imprinted on her or was sending her here a test because you weren't sure?"
For once, Diana West was speechless. Leah's triumph at being the one to do it was bittersweet.
A/N: Um. Yeah. Ta daa!