The Outcast She Wolves by Maddyson Ruby
Characters: Leah and OC
Rating: T (Language warning)
Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit. All recognisable characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.
What do you think? If you like it, say so please. Thanks to all those who have read, review, favourited and followed this story - your support is really appreciated.
AN: Sorry that this one has taken so long, I had to come up with new she wolves and life caught up and writers block happened but to be fair, it is longer than normal.
Chapter 3
Ashlynn's POV
By the time we got to Portland we were all dog tired, no pun intended. We had had such a long day, both physically and emotionally. Anna, it seemed, had join Leah and I's makeshift pack and she was fun to hang out with.
Her wolf form was something else to look at. If it were possible I would have said she was blue, but, I suppose, silver blue is a more accurate description. She wasn't the silver colour of Paul Lahote or the blue of the sky, she was a strange hybrid mix of the two. Pretty, in a weird kind of way. Our mental conversation was light, no heavy topics. It was nice to share some light hearted fun with Anna, she was such a good kid at heart. Even, Leah liked her. Now, Leah came off as cold or rude but she was just trying to protect herself from the hurt. That was a lesson the Sam and Emily fiasco taught her, and no matter how hard I try she won't accept that not everybody is like that.
Though, who am I to talk? I have trust issues too but I trust some people, woman mostly. That was why the boys had such a problem with me - I didn't trust them and would share things about myself. Leah defended me but an Alpha's power is pretty much limitless if you think about it. Wrong, too. He could have order me to kill someone in any way he deemed fit - outside a police station? In a public place? That is another reason I rebelled against him. It was like being stuck under a dictator only, I couldn't walk away.
I was pulled from my thoughts by Leah's nudge on my shoulder. It jerked me from my musings sufficiently enough that I actually became aware of where we were. Miss Maci's apparently. The house was a large farm house, complete with baby blue wooden panelling and window shutters. It was cute and surprisingly welcoming - I suppose it had to be considering its purpose as a safe house of sorts.
The land surrounding the main house was open and rolling, fields stretching as far as my eyes could see - and that was pretty damn far. It was so tranquil that I couldn't help but immediatly relax even though I logically knew that I should be on my guard in such a foreign place.
As soon as we approached the door it was thrown open to reveal a woman of average height with long blond hair that curled into tight, bouncy ringlets.
"Hi." the woman called, easing out of the front door. It was then that we noticed her pregnant belly. It looked like she'd swallowed a beach ball, to be blunt.
"Hi, is.. uh, this Miss Maci's?" Leah asked nervously. Shifting from foot to foot in anxiety at our situation.
"It is, hun. What are your names?" the woman asked again in a distinctly British accent.
"I'm Anna, that's Leah and she's Ashlynn." Anna introduced looking a lot more calm than Leah.
"Those are lovely names." the woman answered with a far off look on her face as she caressed her mountainous stomach. She snapped back to us after a few moments, "My name's Skye, it's great to meet you. Do you want to come in?" she offered, gesturing to the doorway.
"Who is it, Skye?" called a loud voice from inside the farm house.
"New girls." Skye replied with a roll of her aqua coloured eyes. She smiled serenely at us before facing the door. A bubbly yet irate looking girl came to the door, her brown eyes were full of fury. Before a word could be said the brunette was storming down the porch steps to face the four of them. "Sky! What do you think you were doing answering the door all-" she cut of talking with a wild arm gesture at Sky's preganant body.
To this Sky rolled her eyes once more before answering, "Imogen," she began slowly in a calm tone. "I am pregnant! Not handicapped! I am actually capable of answering the door, you know." Sky carried on in a calm voice that her annoyance seeped thorough almost tangibly.
Imongen just looked at her with a content smile on her face, "You've already got that 'Mom Voice' down to pat!" she said in a proud tone. This illicited a scoff from the door way.
"Ya know, Imogen, sometimes I have trouble followin' your train of thought." came a slow Texas drawl. A woman slinked down the stairs confidently. She had black hair and stared at you with piercing blue eyes. She then turned her sights onto us all where we had silently been observing - rather shocked that this place even existed, to be honest.
"I'm Lily, who're ya'll?" the Texan asked curiously. I repeated the introductions once more as they watched on curiously but warily.
"Lily! Lily!" cried a redheaded girl as she came barrelling around the side of the farm house. She launched herself at Lily within seconds of seeing her. The girl was younger than everyone we'd met here so far but she was lean and strong, I could also smell the wolf in her. When the girl turned to face us I realised just how similar she looked to Lily. It was obvious right then that they were sisters.
"This is my lil' sister, Rose." Lily introduced with a fond smile at Rose. When Leah looked like she was about to comment on the sisters' flower themed names Lily cut her off, "Yeah, I know, I know. We both have flower names - how funny?" she asked sarcastically.
Sky just rolled her eyes and walked in front of us to more thoroughly gain our attention. "Shall we be heading inside now? I'm sure you're all very tired from your travels. I'll take you to see Miss Maci." she said with a smile. When did this girl ever not smile?
"She's real?" Leah blurted out before comically slapping her hands over her mouth as if to take the words back.
This prompted all the girls to laugh but it was Lily who answered Leah in her drawling voice, "'Course she's real! Who else do ya think would own a big ol' place like this?"
This obviously prompted another round of laughter from all the girls out front. Hardy har har.
"Well, let's go get Miss Maci!" Imogen shrieked running into the house again. Several seconds later a crrash could be heard followed by, "Sorry! I'll fix that!".
It was so odd yet totally commonplace that I couldn't help but laugh.
When we first saw Miss Maci my first reaction was to stare at the scar marring her her cheek, it was old and long sice healed but it still brought to home for me the fact that every girl in the house had had a tough path to live that had lead them in one way or another to Miss Maci. In a way I was happy that I wasn't suffering alone, even though it was horrible to think. It also gave me hope that I, too could be that happy, all the time, one day. It was a very calming thought.
"Hey girls, as this lot have probably said, I'm Miss Maci. But you can all just call me Maci, okay?" At our nods she continued, "Just some quick questions, then we'll have some dinner. What are your names?"
"I'm Leah Clearwater, this is Ashlynn Banks and Anna."
"Anna what?" Maci asked with a soothing smile, instantly putting us at ease.
"Anna Smithson." she replied a little nervously.
"Good, good. Now, do you all wish to be staying here on a permanent basis? Or, would you prefer just a meal, a shower and a good night's sleep before heading out again.
"I would like to stay here." Anna replied shyly before adding quickly, "As long as it's not too much trouble, Miss."
Maci laughed softly before smiling at Anna, "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't serious about my offer. "So, a yes from you?" she asked again.
"Definately." said a very over eager Anna. It was kind of adorable in a way.
"What about you two?" Maci asked Leah and I.
"I can only speak for myself when I say I would love a place here," Leah answered with a rarely seen shy smile. "But if Ashlynn goes, so do I." Maci nodded in understanding before turning to me calmly, her blue eyes almost reading me.
"I would love the opportunity to stay here on a more permanent basis, if that's okay?" I replied trying to control my nervousness. It seemed like such a new emotion to me.
"Brilliant." Maci said with her twinkling blue eyes.
Dinner was a loud affair but it wasn't obnoxiously so. It was loud but full of a family atmosphere that made a grin seep onto my face that I just couldn't quell.
Afterwards it was time to meet the other girls. We all sat around in a circle in the lounge with a cup of hot chocolate each to begin. It was rather pleasant just being in their company - the knowledge that, despite your previous beliefs, you are not alone.
"Okay, as we have new girls, we're going to share some of our history with each other." Maci began, at my alarmed look she continued, "Not much, but a few little tidbits to help us along. I'll start - My name is Maci, I'm twenty nine years old and I'm from North Carolina. I got thrown out of my pack after a fight with the Alpha over some stolen property. Now, it's Danielle's turn."
As if on cue we all turned to the next in the circle, a pretty woman with black hair and warm brown eyes then she began to speak, "As Maci said, I'm Danielle and I'm from Kansas. I'm twenty six years old and I was exiled from my pack when they decided I wasn't worth the hassle." She stopped abruptly before turning to the next person in the circle.
The next girl was a brunette with bright green eyes and a soft smile on her face as she looked down at the young girl in her lap. "I'm Bianca and I'm from Alaska, this is my daughter Sasha." she said stroking the child's white blond hair. "We were thrown from the pack when the Beta found his mate and she didn't want me around as I was pregnant with his child and we had been an item all through school together." She then turned to the next girl with that ever present motherly smile.
"Me name's Vivian, I'm from Montana and my pack replaced me with someone more subserviant to their orders." She then stopped speaking with a huff, causing her black, pin straight hair to flutter.
We carried on with Lily and Rose, the Texans who had been chased from their home together. Then there was New Yorker, Imogen who had phased because of vampire activity and escaped their capture. Skye's tale was particularly different. She was from England and her pack had all been killed, including her mate, by a coordinated vampire attack - the Volturi - this left Skye as the lone survivor and she had fled to the US to escape the italian monsters and keep her unborn baby safe.
When it came time to tell our story Leah seemed to have no verbal filter and just carried on and on until she was sobbing in my arms with the other she wolves cooing at her and attempting to console her over her hardships. Once it was quiet I began my story, Leah had seen it but never, and I mean never, heard me tell it. It was hard but I managed and instantly felt a weight off my chest. I knew then that Miss Maci's would be our salvation, it would make us stronger and we would make them stronger. That was just the way it was.
We were happy at Miss Maci's. They became our family. For me it was one of the first proper families I'd ever had the fortune to be a part of. For Leah it was a family that were loyal to her and stood by her through thick and thin. We needed that solidarity and feeling of acceptance more than we had initially realised. We had craved it. Now, we had it.
It wasn't until we'd been there for a year that it happened. The single event that rocked the foundation of Leah and I's new life. This epic event came in the form of a phone call. One phone call changed my future. In actual fact it changed everyone at Miss Maci's.
"Hello?"
"Hello, I'm phoning for a Miss Maci?"
"This is she. Who's calling?"
"My name is Carlisle Cullen."
AN: I got my poll result and my next story will be a Wolf/OC story. Polls will be up soon about that so you can influence the story, keep an eye out for them.