Fic: Loving Leah
Chapter 4: A Bad "B" movie
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Twilight characters. Everyone else portrayed in this fic is mine.
I froze. All my muscles locked in place and then collapsed underneath the weight of my Alpha's command.
Jake.
I whimpered. Shit! If he's here that means-! The leech I had knocked down looked over at me with wide eyes. Then pulled herself up and dusted off her designer clothes. Copper colored hair spilled down her back in perfect ringlets and brown eyes looked at me with a smile. "It's ok Leah. It's just me."
Jake was in front of her in an instant. He was shaking in a way that I recognized as contained fury. "What the hell were you thinking?" He demanded.
I phased back. I didn't care at this point that I was naked. I was furious.
"What was I thinking?" I snarled. "You brought your fucking leech to my school and near my imprint and you want to know what the hell I was thinking!" I demanded. Jake started at the mention of Ben and looked behind me at the man standing dumbfounded in the stairwell. "Imprint?" he said quietly.
I growled, fists clenched in impotent rage. "What're you doing here Jake?"
Renesmee quickly took off her peacoat and handed it to me. It was several inches too short and was just shy of obscene. Still, better than standing naked outside my apartment complex where any one of my classmates could wander by.
"We're here to find you Leah," he said. "You don't call. You don't write. You never phase to check in. You're still my responsibility and a member of my pack. I wanted to see how you were."
"He was worried about you," Renesmee chimed in.
"Well look what you've done now!" I shouted. "Two years of work down the drain! I have to start all over again because of you!"
"Lookout!" Jake said and I turned to see poor Ben slump to the floor of the landing behind us, cracking his head on the cement.
"Ben!" I shouted and ran up to him. He'd passed right out. No wonder. How the hell was I going to explain this?
"I've got to get him out of here," I said. "My roommates are going to be home any minute and I can't explain this to them!" Jake and Renesmee exchanged a quick look.
"We'll take him back to our hotel," Jake said. "We can deal with it there."
O O O O O O O
Renesmee distracted the night doorman while Jake snuck through the side entrance of the hotel and carried Ben into the elevator. Renesmee then produced a key out of her purse and used it to unlock and press the button for the top floor. The elevator shot up and we exited out into a plush foyer of the hotel's top suite.
"Sheesh," I said, taking in the wall of windows in the living room and crystal chandelier in the formal dining room. "This suite must cost more than my tuition." Jake grunted and deposited Ben on the couch.
"Have you met the Cullens? " Jake asked. "They don't do Motel 6. Alice booked it for us."
I sat down in the chair across from Ben and dropped my head into my hands. "How am I going to explain this to him?" I demanded of the posh carpet.
"I don't know, but you'd better think fast," Jake said. "I think he's starting to wake up."
I moved to kneel next to him. There was a nasty lump rising on his head and a smear of blood where the skin had scrapped on the cement. "Ben, are you ok?" I asked anxiously. He opened his eyes and after taking in the three of us staring at him he stood from the couch and calmly walked to the bathroom and locked himself in. The sound of vomiting was loud in the sensitive ears of the 3 supernatural being left standing in the parlor. I winced. There was some running water and then nothing.
He finally came out and Renesmee met him at the door with some ice in a towel she had retrieved from the kitchen. He took it with a polite thank you and held it to the lump on his head.
"Ok," he said. "Somebody start explaining about what I saw and how I ended up in a suite of the Grand Riano Hotel."
"I don't suppose you'd take the explanation that my friends were visiting and decided to play a big joke on us?" I asked. I got a glare for my efforts.
"No," he said coldly.
"Right," I looked at Jake. "Care to help me out here? It's all your fault this happened anyway."
"My fault?" He said. "I wasn't the one who all but disappeared! You didn't even tell us you had imprinted and then to go and phase in the middle of a city!"
"Whoa, Whoa, whoa!" Ben yelled. "Hold up. One thing at a time. What was that thing I saw back at the apartment? That huge dog or wolf or whatever."
I sat down heavily on the couch and dropped my head into my hands. "That was me."
"What do you mean that was you? What are you, some kind of werewolf or something?" He glanced out the window at the sickle moon rising over the cityscape.
I laughed without humor. "Not quite. It's a genetic thing. Something that was passed down from my ancestors. We're shape shifters. We carry the spirit of the wolf within us to protect our people. I wasn't bitten by a werewolf and I don't go mad and change at the full moon. I haven't phased in two years and had plans to not change ever again until these two came into town. I wouldn't have done it then, but I was trying to keep you safe."
"I'm sorry Leah," Renesmee said, shamefaced. "I shouldn't have insisted on coming with Jacob. I didn't realize. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault Nessi." Jacob soothed her.
"It's OK Renesmee," I gave her the best smile I could. She was still a kid and really hadn't thought about it beforehand. And I couldn't really blame Jake either. He never could say no to her. "I can't keep running from who I am."
The sound of the hotel phone being dialed behind us had me panicked. Was Ben calling the police? The looney bin?
"Hey," he said to someone on the other line. "This is Benjamin Lincoln, let me talk to Manuel please." Here he paused. "Hey Manuel! Como esta? Eh bien, bien. I'm sorry to bother you. I know you're probably swamped down in the kitchen, but some friends of mine are staying in the presidential suite and we're starved. When you get a chance can you send us up some grub? Gracias!"
"What?" He said as we all stared. "My parents own this hotel and I'm hungry."
O O O O O O O
Two hours, eight cheeseburgers, a mountain of fries and four milkshakes later, Jake was eyeing the dark chocolate cake that had been sent up and Renesmee was calling her parents to check in. Man, this was a fancy hotel. Jake and I had been able to order lactose free milkshakes. Ben rubbed his head and reached for his milkshake before realizing his glass was empty. He frowned at it and glanced at the phone, seemingly contemplating ordering another before shaking his head and putting the glass down.
"So let me get this straight," he said. "You two," indicating Jake and I, "are shape shifting wolf guardians of your Indian tribe." I nodded. "And she," a thumb pointed at Renesmee, who had rejoined us in the living room. "Is your vampire soul mate?" Jake grinned. "Yep."
"Half-vampire," Renesmee corrected, sitting down next to Jake. "My mother was human."
"You realize this is ridiculous and has all the making of a really bad B movie don't you?"
"We didn't ask for this!" I started, but Jake interrupted me.
"Easy Leah," Jacob said. "It's a lot to take in and really, he's handling it better than some have." Actually, Ben looked amazingly calm and contemplative as he doled out cake to himself and Jake. Ness politely refused.
"So if he's the alpha male of your pack, and you're the beta female, does that mean you guys-"
"No!" all three of us all but shouted, startling poor Ben.
"It doesn't work like that," Jake said. "We have one specific mate and we're loyal for the rest of our lives."
"Yeah, the imprinting you told me about," Ben said. "It's like love at first sight I guess. So you imprinted on Renesmee and now she's your what? Wife? Mate? Isn't she a little young for you?" Renesmee giggled.
"Boy, if you knew," She laughed.
Jacob scowled at his imprint and grudgingly admitted Renesmee's advanced aging to Ben. "She's four," He said. "She grows fast."
"Almost five!" She argued. Ben rubbed his aching head. He'd taken some aspirin, but I'm sure he was going to be sore for several days.
"Man, you guys hurt my head."
"Don't worry, it's not like that, " I reassured him. "She's his imprint. He would never do anything to harm her. He'll be her best friend their whole lives. In a few years he'll be her husband and no one will ever be more important to him, ever."
"Oh," He said. "Wow. That's just wild. Do you have an imprint too, Leah?"
"Yeah, " I closed my eyes. Might as well get it out. "Don't freak OK? You're my imprint Ben."
"Me?" He laughed. "That doesn't make any sense. You hated me Leah. The first time I met you, you punched me in the face. And then when I tried to apologize you all but threw me out of the library!"
"Leave it to Leah to show love through bruises," Jake mumbled. I chucked a decorative glass paperweight at him. "Ow!" He yelled when it hit him in the chest, then bounced harmlessly onto the thick carpet.
"I'll show YOU bruises!" I said and got up to break a few of his bones, Alpha or no Alpha. I was stopped by the sound of the elevator dinging in the lobby. A second later a key was inserted into the suite door.
"It's my parents," said Renesmee and she got up to meet the beautiful vampiric couple at the door. The smell wafted in with them and I wrinkled my nose against it. Gah, I thought Renesmee smelled bad. She's nothing compared to the full blooded thing. I glanced over at Jake, but didn't see a reaction. He must be used to it.
Renesmee walked up to her parents, placing one hand on each of their faces. I'd forgotten she could do that. She must be showing them everything that had happened today. Edward growled softly and I winced. Damn, she must have been showing him where I attacked her.
"Sorry," I said immediately. "They didn't give me any warning. I was working on instinct."
"It's ok Leah," Bella said. "Everyone is safe. And it appears we're going to be adding a member to our strange little circle."
"Oh no," I said. "Leave him out of it." But Edward had already started the introductions.
"Edward Cullen," he said. "This is my wife Bella and I see you've already met our daughter Renesmee."
"Thank you," Edward said to Ben.
"Huh?" The other man said, rubbing at his sore head.
"You were thinking Nessie had gotten her beautiful hair color from me," Edward said. "I took it as a compliment." Ben stared at him, bug-eyed.
"Yes," Edward continued. "I can read minds, but don't worry, it's only me. None of the others can hear you. "
"Um, hello!" I said, waving my hands in the air between the two. "It's rude to have one sided conversations! Quit freaking him out further."
"Oh," Edward looked abashed. "Sorry Leah. I forget sometimes."
"I'm Benjamin Lincoln," Ben said, making a visible effort to pull a business-like air around him.
"The third?" Edward asked. "Angelina Gebranzia is your mother?" Ben looked startled.
"Yes," he said. "How did you know that?"
"One of our companies does business with your companies. Your family always does honorable dealings. I had heard the oldest son was in college. We're investing in your housing development in North Atlanta."
"The Marietta development? My father designed that. What do you think about the smart expansion plans they're implementing?" And just like that Ben blended right in with the Cullen family. Bella rolled her eyes and came over to sit with Renesmee and me, calmly asking if Renesmee had hunted in the last few days. She placed a large shopping bag in front of me.
"Renesmee said you might need these," Bella said. I looked in the bag to see it was full of clothes. "I took a guess from what I remembered your size to be. I made sure not to touch any of them though. I remember you're very sensitive to the smell."
I took them into the bathroom and changed into a pair of gray pinstriped pants and a fitted white shirt. There was a soft black sweater in there as well but I didn't need it. The box at the bottom had a pair of black leather loafers that had to be the most comfortable things I'd ever worn. I refused to even look at any of the price tags and dumped them into the trash without a glance. At least I was dressed. It was hard to retain your dignity when you're one wrong move away from flashing everyone in the room. I stopped in the doorway to the bathroom and took in, what to anyone else would look like an everyday gathering of friends and family.
I watched Ben as he spoke of various prospectus and building designs with the glittering cityscape visible behind him through the glass walls. Ben wasn't just "Ben." A guy who liked the Muppets and ate his burgers with extra pickles. He was Benjamin Lincoln the third; A man who had been raised to take over his parents' empire. His parents owned this whole fucking hotel and I had been trying to find a way into his heart with spaghetti and a new hairstyle. Edward must have picked up on my despairing thoughts because his concerned eyes moved to meet mine.
Don't you dare say anything! I shouted at him with my thoughts. It's my decision. Ben deserved and needed someone better than me. He needed a queen. In the end, I was nothing but a dog.