Edward's POV
"Dogs are here." Rosalie said from the kitchen. I heard her in my bedroom and came out just as everyone was gathering at the backdoor. Now that I actually listened, I could hear Seth, Jacob, and Sam's thoughts.
I heard Seth's the most, since they were in hyper mode, speeding through so many at once that I got dizzy. He was excited over something. Freaking out, really. Blathering.
I can't believe she's back. I can't wait to see mom's face. She'll be so mad. God...Leah. I love her so much. Leah...I was surprised that I remembered her so well. Seth's big sister. I'd only seen her a couple times actually. She was one of the more allusive werewolves because she hated being around us. But she'd been pretty enough. In an exotic, guess-where-I'm-from, ambiguous kind of way.
If she hadn't been a wolf I would've pinned her as brazilian or something.
I can't believe she's back. And she's bigger. I heard this from Sam. What will Emily think?
I can't wait. This is going to be so hilarious. She's probably like two hundred pounds now. What the hell were they all thinking about? Leah's heavy? I couldn't imagine it.
We stepped outside looking like a vampire parade and formed a line in front of the porch. Sort of looked like an attack. But then I caught her scent. Leah. And I looked up, seeing a small, shaggy gray wolf. How was I not hearing her thoughts?
She wasn't like Bella. I'd heard her thinking before. Before she'd ran off for a year to God knows where. What kind of magic was she doing?
The four wolves: Sam big and black, Jacob a rusty red, Seth a sandy color, and Leah being gray, walked toward us. Seth was practically bouncing off the walls. Jacob was walking leisurely. Sam was walking stiffly, still not completely trusting us. But Leah looked downright ready to attack, slinking forward with an intent glare on Carlisle, standing in the center of our group.
I concentrated on her harder, trying to hear anything. And it felt like I was so close to hearing her but I couldn't break through. It wasn't completely silent like with Bella but more like Charlie, only picking up random words or syllables that I couldn't possibly put together. He... ...what...ba...assh...
I straightened as they finally approached. We're gonna phase. Be right back, Jacob told me. The three men-er, wolves ran around the side of the house and Leah watched us carefully as she went around the other side. What? Did she think we were gonna follow her or something?
The men came back within seconds, all wearing their stupid little cut off shorts. Leah came from the opposite side.
She was wearing jean shorts too, but not cutoffs. They were dark, almost black, tight, and only a few inches past being underwear. Her shirt was a tight black tanktop and she wasn't wearing a bra. I assumed that she had no underwear on either and I instantly felt a twitch in my penis as I stared at her incredibly toned, go-on-for-days legs.
There was a moment of complete silence as everyone took her in. And then my mind was bombarded with thoughts.
WOW, Carlisle thought before immediately going into his doctor state of mind, completely objective.
She's beautiful, Esme was thinking. Alice's thoughts were mirrors of Esme's but with a little self-consciousness thrown in.
Lucky bitch, Rosalie was thinking, admiring Leah's beautifully tanned skin.
Holy hell, Emmett practically growled.
Oh my God, whispered Jaspers thoughts as he turned his head back toward the men, refusing to look at Leah with Alice present.
uhhhhhhhhh...Sam's mind was mostly just a moan but behind that, his mind was whirling, trying to connect this gorgeous creature with the Leah he remembered. She is the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen...
Jesus Christ. She's fucking hot, Jacob's thoughts were more like shouts.
Seth's thoughts were the only ones that weren't looking at her like a girl. He wasn't threatened like Rosalie and Alice, nor was he ogling her like all the men couldn't help but do. The only thoughts I heard from him was a scoffed, she's not fat! Like he couldn't believe he'd thought she would be.
Leah really was gorgeous. Her skin was still that shimmery copper color and her hair was black and shiny, a little past her shoulder blades. She was soft but you could tell she was fit and her breasts were perky even without a bra, just big enough to draw the eye without being difficult to deal with. Her stomach was flat and her hips were shapely.
She was just thin enough to be called slim without looking fragile. In a word...perfect.
Finally, Seth voiced his thoughts. "You liar! You're not fat."
She chuckled. "Thanks for noticing." she said in a musical voice before shoving her kid brother playfully.
"Then, how...why were you..." Sam couldn't seem to get the words out.
"The hair." she said with a shrug. "Makes me look a little fluffier when I'm phased."
Leah's POV
I was absolutely loving this. As soon as I'd phased back, I changed and ran a hair through my hair, picking out pine needles and such. I continued to do that as I walked from around the house, completely nonchalant and uncaring.
When I looked up, the only ones not staring with wide eyes were the ones with open mouths. After I explained about the hair, I turned to Seth, feeling a little uncomfortable.
"You've got so tall, Seth." I complimented my brother, taking attention off me. He beamed at me and nodded proudly. "So...what business do we have to handle?" I asked. I glanced over at Sam, raising a brow when he didn't answer. Finally, he seemed to snap out of his little daydream and take a deep breath.
"Oh." he shook his head again, looking toward the leeches. "Anything different going on?"
"Not really." the dad said.
I glanced around, taking inventory of the vamps. Big burly dude, blonde model bitch, tinkerbell clone, pained-looking one, , Mrs. Leech, the halfblood, and bronze boy. "Where's Bella?" I blurted. Immediately, I sighed in my head. Old habits die hard and I used to have a habit of saying anything I thought.
The bronze haired one looked to me. Sure, I knew their names but it was confusing, and naming them was the first stage to liking them. "Bella doesn't live here." he said quickly, looking a little saddened but not heartbroken like I believed he would. I mean, he tried to kill himself the last time they were apart.
"Oh." I said, not wanting to bring up painful memories. Especially in front of the kid. The kid that I knew was only one and a half, but appeared to be around five or six. I knew that she grew at like triple the speed of a human, but I was still a little taken back.
"Shortly after the battle, she grew tired of our diet and, knowing she couldn't hunt humans here, she left." I glanced down at their little girl who stared back at me with brave but saddened eyes. I felt my brows furrow of their own accord and I wanted to wrap the girl in a big hug.
The blonde took my stare the wrong way obviously, because she grabbed the child's hand as if to show me that I wouldn't hurt the girl with her around. Did I just look like a bitch or something? Sighing heavily, I turned to my brother. The only person that seemed to not hate me in this fucking state. "I haven't eaten in hours."
"Hours? Oh no." The blonde model mocked me. I rolled my head around, imagining the anger just rolling off. My nostrils flared as I spoke, but I didn't look at or adress her.
"Do you want to come home with me?" I asked Seth. My words were drawn out and slow but only because I was making sure not to get angry. He rose his brows at me like he was amused.
"Ohhh. Kayyy." he said back, drawing the words out like I had done, like I was mentally challenged or something. I had to smile. Shaking my head, I shoved his shoulder.
"Shut up." I said through my smile. I couldn't remember being so happy.
"Hey!" he shouted, pointing his finger at me. "You stop it. I'm bigger now. I can beat you down."
"What am I? A dog that just peed on the carpet?" I said, mockingly. "Don't point your finger at me."
He smiled, wagging his finger in my face. "I can still beat you down."he repeated.
So I took that challenge. Shoving his shoulder again, a little harder, I whispered, "Bring it baby brother."
"You two need to stop." Sam said. He was serious, but so was I. I shoved Seth again and he shook his head, giving me that you just messed up look. I rose my brows in challenge and he hunched over, running straight at me as if to scoop me onto his shoulders. I sidestepped and shoved on his back as he passed me. He stumbled forward and faceplanted into the grass.
I heard a little laughter from the leeches and I backed up, watching him spit out dirt as he stood. He turned toward me with a devilish grin. "Come on, Seth. Beat me down." I teased. He growled and launched himself at me.
This time I took the hit like a man with a slight, "OOOmph." as he knocked me to the ground. And then it was a frenzy of arms and legs as I rolled over to get the upper hand right before he took it from me and then I'd take it back from him.
After a few minutes of wrestling and scratching, I got the upperhand again, sitting on Seth's chest. I started to slug him over and over in the same arm. Not hard enough to break bones but hard enough to give him a helluva charlie horse.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Leah! Stop!" Seth was yelling, constantly trying to squirm out from under me. Finally, he threw me off but I jumped up before he could pin me.
"Stop!" Sam commanded loudly. And suddenly. We both looked over, confused. "That is enough." he said, his voice sounding shaky.
"Sorry." Seth said immediately, stepping away from me and putting his arms down.
I rose a brow at Sam and crossed my arms over my chest. "When'd you get so old, Sam? You're no fun."
"We're here for business." he reminded me with a scowl.
I laughed. "What business?" I glanced to Seth. "Whatever...we can fight later." He nodded.
"There's a BBQ at my place tonight." Sam said sternly.
"Okay." I said, shrugging. "Oh wait, is that mandatory or something?"
"Well no, but everyone comes."
"Everyone comes when they have nothing else to do. Tonight Seth is hanging out with me." I shrugged again. "I've been gone for a year Sam. And all I wanna do is see my baby brother." I ruffled Seth's hair. He smiled and shook his head-as if I was the silly younger sibling-as he patted it back into place. I glanced back to Sam but he was just staring at me like I'd cave. And the old Leah would have. She'd been pissed, but still...she'd cave.
The new Leah stared back like I didn't understand what he was doing. "What?" I said, a little snippily.
"Calm down, Leah."
"You calm down, Samuel." I said back. "I'm calm. I think you just like telling me to calm down because it pisses me off."
"WOW!" the blonde leech said suddenly. "Trouble in paradise, I'm guessing? You guys are like a soap opera."
Sam scowled at the blonde but I answered her. "We wouldn't be if Sam wasn't always trying to control everyone...I mean, what's the big deal about me horsing around with my own brother?"
"Someone will get hurt." he said quickly.
"We're both shifters. So it's just like a normal brother and sister doing it." And it wasn't like we wouldn't be fighting again as soon as we got home. "Is my shift over yet?" I asked. But I knew it wasn't. I was just trying to piss him off.
And he knew, because he just glared back at me the whole time. I turned away, immediately catching eyes with the bronze haired vamp. When he had Bella hanging all over him, I'd never really looked at him because I was too disgusted to look at her. But now, I saw the appeal.
He was a leech, and pale as hell with freaky eyes, but he was classically handsome with ruffled bronze hair and a lean body that I knew was literally rock hard. It was wierd that he could look so young and still be a father but I definitely saw what Bella had seen in him. He was drop dead sexy.
After a long moment, I realized I was staring, and looked away, slightly embarassed. He cleared his throat. "So you just got back, huh?"
I had to smile. "Yeah. Just about an hour ago, actually."
"Well..." the mother vamp spoke up, "I could make you something to eat if you'd like..." she volunteered.
"Oh, no thank you. We know you guys don't eat, so don't go out of your way o-"
"It's really my pleasure."she said quickly. "I love to cook."
"And she's great at it." Seth commented, already starting toward the back porch.
I sighed. "Well, if he's going to force you to cook anyway, then I'd love something to eat." Esme smiled started toward the back door.
"We gotta go." Sam said suddenly as if we had all known this.
"Where?" I asked. He looked a little dumbfounded. Come on, Sam. You know I'm not going to be easy for you to control. He knew I'd question him at every corner. "See...we have nowhere to be."
"Emily's already making us lunch. We're supposed to be there at eleven."
"Well, it's already ten o'clock." Jasper said, glancing up from his watch.
"See?" Sam asked.
"See what, Sam?" I barked. I was getting tired of this calm back and forth arguement. It was getting us nowhere. "Why would I possibly want to go to your house so your wife can make me something to eat when I can get perfectly good food here? From someone I actually sorta kinda like."
"She's your cousin." Sam objected.
"She was." I corrected, still maintaining my calm demeanor. It didn't come off as resent. It looked like I'd come to terms with everything and I just didn't like Emily. Which was pretty much exactly what it was, even if I still harbored a secret hate for her. "I'm not going over there." I'd rather die, I added mentally.