If you're still reading this; THANK YOU SO MUCH. I really appreciate that you guys are still following the story even though I'm horrible at keeping up with it. Like I said in the previous chapter: I WILL finish this story. It's a personal challenge, and honestly I myself would love to see where this story is going to end. For now, I'm kind of winging it until I get used to the new characters and plotline that I've created.
I'm keeping the new character who you all knew as Connor, but his new name is Daniel and he is not British. I just go through crazy fangirl phases and get the ache to fit all my fandoms into this story, but thanks to Sese [a.k.a-My real life Gabi Davis] I've learned to control it a bit. Though I do have to inform you guys that Gabi is actually a crossover character from the RENT Musical verse. She is not cannon, but Sese made her sister of Roger Davis, hence the last name and the Roger references. It was all set in roleplay. If I explained the whole thing here I'd need another chapter. Though I do think I might do a one-shot of when they first met…if she hasn't written it yet. I call shots on that one-shot Ses!
Enjoy! And don't forget to review!
"Lee—"
"Leah!" Jacob's voice cut Sam's words as I saw him push his way towards me. "What's going on? What happened?"
"Seth. It's uh—he..." I stuttered.
"Spit it out!"
"He imprinted." I looked up at him.
"Oh who?" he asked as a deep crease formed between his brows.
"My friend, Gabi. I asked her to come with me and—"
"Where is she?"
"Over there." I pointed Gabi out.
"Shit, Ness!" he called out to her and she came immediately.
"What is it?" she asked concerned, noticing the hard set of his jaw.
"Seth's imprinted. Take Ellie, ask Kim and Emily to go with you. Explain this to her." He told her kissing her forehead before letting her go. Nessie looked back at me, sympathy in her eyes. She understood, and she knew that my brother doing what happened to me, to someone else hurt. Like a bitch.
"What are you going to do Jacob?" Of course Sam couldn't make decisions. Seth wasn't part of his pack. He wasn't our Alpha.
"Leah, ask your friend to leave. I'm Sorry, but we have to keep Seth under control. Come." He took my wrist and led me towards the entrance, pushing oblivious guests aside. When we finally reached Seth, Jake took him tightly by the arm, preventing him from getting too close to Gabi. I quickly walked to her and placed my hands at her wrists.
"Gabi, listen to me. You have to leave."
"What? Why? I thought you wanted me to be here, you said you couldn't—"
"I know what I said, but you have to get out of here."
"Let go of me! You can't do this!" Seth yelled as Paul helped Jake restrain him. Everyone suddenly quieted and stared.
"Gabi, you can't be here ok? Please listen to me." I pleased with furrowed eyebrows.
"What's going on Leah? You're really starting to freak me out." She asked, her eyes widened by evident fear.
"I know Gabi, I'm really sorry. But please, go back to your mother's house. I'll call you later and explain everything. I promise." I said lightly pushing her out of the backyard.
"Fine. I'll go." She said looking over my shoulder at Seth "Leah…please be careful."
"I will. Now go. Hurry." I urged. I watched as she got in the car and took off before turning back to Seth. The members of both packs were standing around Seth Jacob, and Paul. They went into the house, and out to the front yard to where I followed.
"Calm down Seth!" Jacob ordered sternly.
"How can I be calm when you're keeping me here like a fucking animal? Nobody denied you the right to be with Nessie!" he yelled thrashing around in Jacob and Paul's grip. "Just let me go man! Let go of me!"
"Seth!" I yelled catching his attention. He was fuming, his tanned face red and twisted in anger. I didn't even recognize him. He was always so chipper and charismatic, now…now he was a completely different person…a stranger. "What about Ellie huh?" I asked "She's your fiancée Seth." I sighed heavily and looked down shaking my head trying to keep calm. "You can't do this to her." I shook my head again as I looked at him "You remember how I felt when I was in Ellie's place all those years ago. You heard me cry myself to sleep every single night. You saw how I locked myself in my room for days until dad dragged my ass out." He hung his head
"Leah…you don't under—"
"I do understand! That's why I am asking you to calm down and come to reason!"
"Come to reason? Leah, you can't tell me who I can or cannot be with! You know I can't help this! Besides, why do you suddenly care about me now?"
"Please Seth, you're my little brother. I've always cared about you and what you do."
"Really? Well if you care so much, why weren't you here when mom died?"
I opened my mouth to retort, but no words came out. I had no words to tell him
"You left me here…alone. You left me when I needed you the most. How dare you come back here and pretend like everything's fine and dandy?" he asked angrily, his nostrils flared.
"You're the one that called me! If you didn't want to deal with me then you shouldn't have called in the first place."
"Then I don't want you here. Leave! I called because Jake really wanted you here. But no one else wants you here. People are whispering behind your back, giving you angry glares, saying to each other: The Harpy bitch of La Push is back." I clenched my jaw. I knew he was angry, that's why he kept talking, throwing insults at anyone he came across. Of course I had to be the idiot to step in front of him, and I couldn't help but believe the words that were coming out of his mouth, after all they did hold some truth to them.
"Go to hell." I said between clenched teeth before stepping out of my heels and reaching to grab them.
"What are you doing Leah?" I heard Jacob ask.
"You must be crazy if you think I'm going to stand here taking shit from my little brother, all because stupid fate has turned his brain to mush." I said glaring at Seth, and then finally looked at Jacob "I don't think this was the best of ideas." I grabbed my heels. "Tell Ness I'm sorry for ruining her wedding." and for the first time in a very long time, I ran away barefooted.
\\\\\\\\\\\
"Leah?" I faintly smiled as I stood on Gabi's porch, my forehead covered in sweat "Come in!" she said shaking herself out of her stunned state. She took my hand and quickly guided me to her room
"Hi Mrs. Davis, nice to see you again." I told her mother, who was sitting in the living room watching some sappy film on Lifetime, before Gabi practically shoved me into her room "You know, you've got quite a grip Gabs." The girl had left my wrist red. I had to rub it to ease some of the burning.
"What happened back there Leah?" she asked.
"Seth just…had a little temper tantrum that's all."
"That's all? Leah you looked—"
"It was nothing Gabi, really." I sat on her bed "I just didn't want you to get hurt. I mean look what Sam did to Emily." She came to stand in front of me and crossed her arms. Uh Oh.
"I'm your best friend. You honestly think I can't tell when you're lying?"
"I'm telling you the truth. It wasn't a big deal."
"Leah!"
"Fine! Seth Imprinted." I looked at her with my jaw clenched
"What?
"You wanted to know. Now you do."
"Who did he imprint on?" I looked away from her and chewed nervously on my bottom lip. "That's why you wanted me to leave." She realized "He imprinted on…"she sat down beside me. "Shit." She said barely above a whisper. "What are we going to do Leah?" she asked concerned.
"You're going to stay here. I'll get us some plane tickets; we'll be back in New York tomorrow night. Until then, you can't leave this house."
"What? You can't have me under house arrest. My mother will drive me crazy! Even though it's only a few hours you know h—"
"Well figure something to occupy your time!" I snapped "But there's no way in hell you're leaving this house." I stood up and grabbed my shoes off the floor "Seth's engaged to his girlfriend from middle school Gabi." I said looking at her "I'm not letting this happen again," I stood up "So please, stay here, pack what you've unpacked. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning." I opened the door and left without even closing the door.
\\\\\\\\\\\
Nothing had changed Everything still looked the same, right down to dad's keys hanging on a hook beside the front door, his work boots on the floor directly underneath them. Only the thick layer of dust indicated the time's passing. Guess Seth hadn't paid a visit to home sweet home ever since he moved in with Jake and Billy.
Not even my room had changed. Everything was kept exactly the way I had left it; the lavender walls, the twinkle light that ran along the edges of the walls, the collage of photos on my headboard, the photo of dad and I taped onto my vanity mirror, I ran my fingers over the old photo, wiping the layer of dust that made the colors dull. I smiled softly. How did my life turn to shit?
I did my best to have a normal life these past six years. But deep down I always knew my past would catch up to me. I would never be able to get away from it, never be able to lead a normal life, to meet a nice guy, marry him, and have kids, a house, and a white picket fence. Who would want someone who was damaged? Someone who was broken beyond repair?
The sound of glass breaking brought me out of my thoughts. I quickly turned my head to the door and frowned. I poked my head out into the hallway, but there was no one there. I slowly walked down the hall and down the stairs, staying close to the edge to keep the floorboards from creaking. I looked into the living room, the moonlight illuminating it. One of the curtains was moving, but then I realized that what was moving it was the cool air blowing through the window. So it had been broken. I looked around quickly, looking for any sign of a rock, or maybe even a person being inside. My clutch rang, making me jump. I quickly walked to the coffee table where I had placed it and picked it up quickly, the zipper getting caught in the lining. I felt someone move behind me, but when I turned…there was no one there. I pulled at the zipper harder, not caring if it broke, before feeling someone's breath blow the hair behind my ear. The phone stopped ringing. A chill ran down my spine. I swallowed hard and slowly turned.
"Need a little help sweetheart?" the man who stood before me asked.
I ran.
The front door was still unlocked. I quickly ran out, not even bothering to look back and see if the man was following me. Where could I go? Everyone in the reservation was at the Cullen's celebrating Jake's wedding.
Run. Run. Think. FAST!
I wasn't like before. I wasn't a wolf. I could still run fast, that's the way I'd kept in shape. Gabi and I had our daily run through central park. But the speed I ran at now didn't compare to the supernatural speed of I had before.
"Gotcha!" he yelled behind me as he gave me a shove. I fell, hard. I put my hands out to keep myself from impacting face-first on the gravel. I scrambled to my hands and knees crawling to get away before getting up to run, but suddenly I was on my back. My hands were held by someone who was at the same time straddling my waist. "You're quite the runner there. Not nearly as fast as I thought you'd bee, but good enough. I looked around wildly seeing two men stand on either side of him; the one on the left had his arms crossed over his chest, a smirk slapped onto his face. The one on the right had his hands formed tightly into fists that hung on either side, his jaw tight and his face set in a frown.
"No! Stop, let me go!" I yelled wriggling around underneath him.
"That's enough Carl." The man with a set jaw spoke up.
"Aww, you going soft on us Daniel?" the man holding me down, which I now knew as Carl replied.
"Let me go you son of a bitch." I said through clenched teeth.
"Feisty little bitch aren't ya?"
"I said enough Carl!" the one called Daniel said louder.
"Relax Dan, I just want to have some fun with her before we turn her in to the boss. You wanna have some fun, don't ya baby?" he looked down at me. I clenched my jaw and turned my head she brought his face closer to me mine. He ran his nose over my cheek taking my scent in, and next thing I knew…
Daniel lunged at him, knocking him off me. I quickly turned on my stomach and got up. I looked at Daniel and frowned. He was fighting the other two off. He was…helping me. I looked around for anything useful. The least I could do was help, it wasn't a fair fight if it was two against one. I turned to see if I could gather any big rocks, only finding a few nearby. I gathered them in my arms, and when I turned around Daniel and the others weren't there anymore. Well at least not their human selves. In their place I saw three large wolves fighting, throwing bites at each other, snarling as they attacked.
"Oh no." I whispered as I let the rocks fall to the floor. I turned and ran immediately into the forest. Maybe by some miraculous chance Quil and Embry were out there, or Collin, Jared, hell even Paul. Did they even know there were other wolves in the reservation? They certainly weren't part of either pack, I had never before seen them in my entire life!
"Get back here!" I heard Carl scream, but only a few seconds after I heard growls coming after me. I turned seeing Carl coming at me in his wolf form, the other two right on his tail. I was human now. I didn't think I would ever be clumsy running through the forest. But I was, especially when the only source of light was the moon filtering through the trees. And I fell, I didn't know what I fell on by I'd fallen on something hard. I felt the hot liquid running down the side of my head. I didn't bother getting up, I couldn't my whole body ached and I was exhausted. I looked up seeing the stars above the tall trees, shining brighter and brighter as each second passed. But as quickly as they went bright, they turned dark and that's when I heard him.
"Leah." My father called out. And suddenly, the universe faded around me, leaving me in the dark, cold…
Alone.
\\\\\\\\\\\
"Dad!" I bolted upright immediately wishing I hadn't.
"Hey relax, lay back." It was him. Daniel. The wolf that had tried to stop Carl. He was sitting in front of me. I gasped scooting backwards as far as I could.
"What do you want from me?" I asked holding my hand up to my head.
"I was only helping" he replied bringing his arms up in defense "See?" he said showing me the rag soaked in blood. "When you fell you hit your head pretty bad. I fought off Carl and Alex and brought you here." My eyes moved around the dark cave. We were still in the forest, that much was visible through the cave opening. But…where in the forest were we? How long had I been out? The sun was shining brightly though the tress. Must be morning.
"You're taking me back to your boss or whatever. Your Alpha right?" I asked with a frown.
"Well yes but, things got out of hand and I d—"
"Leah!" I head the familiar voice scream out.
"Crap. Your scent is so overwhelming…I didn't smell 'em coming."
"Leah!" the voice screamed again full of desperation and concern.
"Call out to them. I won't keep you here." I looked at Daniel. He didn't seem like a bad guy at all. Carl, he's the who's face was filled with pure perversion and evil.
"I'm right here!" I called out, my eyes never leaving Daniel's.
\\\\\\\\\\\
"Which pack do you belong to? What do you want with Leah?" I flinched as Papa Leech finished suturing my head wound.
"You should be fine. Just a minor concussion, nothing a little aspirin can't take care of." Carlisle told me as he proceeded to clean up the bloody gauzes up.
"Thanks lee—Carlisle." I quickly corrected.
"No problem." He assured with a slight smile. Don't hesitate to call if you don't feel better." I nodded and watched as he took his medical bag, walking to Billy and speaking to him in a low voice.
"How are you feeling?" Paul asked as he walked into the kitchen.
"A little dizzy." I answered "How did you guys find me?" I asked as he hopped onto the kitchen counter sitting next to me.
"Jacob came looking for you early morning after receiving a call from Gabi. She told him you were supposed to pick her up and hadn't heard from you. The only place he thought you'd be was your house, so he came here looking for you. The combination of the broken window, wide open door, huge paw prints and the scent of unknown wolves set him off, so he immediately called Sam to tell him about it. We all went into the forest looking for you. Thanks to the blood your scent was stronger, so we followed it and…we found you." He said.
"Crap, Gabi!"
"Relax, Jacob called to tell her what'd happened. She said she'd be here soon."
"No, I specifically told her to stay home unless I told her otherwise."
"Why? Because of Seth?"
"How many times is this going to happen, Paul? Look what I became, heartless, bitter, scared. I can't let this happen now or ever again."
"It's not your duty to stop all of this you know."
"Well someone has to do something."
"Leah," he wrapped his arm around my shoulder."I think if anyone can do something about this whole imprint thing, it's you. You're stubborn enough to find a way. But you're not doing this to get Sam back are you?" he asked in a low voice.
"What! You must be out of your fucking mind." I said shrugging his arm off.
"Come on Leah. You can't tell me you're not in love with Sam anymore."
"As a matter a fact I can: I Do Not Love Sam."
"Lee, we were best friends when you and Sam started going out. I listened to you blabble on about how great Sam was every single day. That kind of devotion, of love, doesn't just go away." He said shaking his head.
"It does after six years."
"He's good." Embry said as he came into the kitchen. I looked away from Paul. "Nessie covered all of his history, Edward double checked. Daniel's a good guy."
"Can I go in and see him?" I asked.
"He's not a prisoner Leah. Go." Paul said hopping off the kitchen counter and headed towards the front door.
\\\\\\\\\\\
"I just—uh. I wanted to…What I meant to say,"
"Come on say it." He said with a small smile. I glared at him.
"Thanks. You know for saving me back there." I said looking down at my hands.
"Now that wasn't so hard to say now was it."
"If you really knew me you'd know exactly how hard it was for me to say that to you." I looked up at him. He was staring me. There was so much intensity in his gaze that it honestly freaked me out. Not it the 'Oh I'm going to stalk and kill you.' But in this other way that I had seen before, but didn't really recognize. I could help but stare back, and that's when I really saw him. The green tint in his hazel eyes, the strong jaw covered in scruff, the perfectly shaped cupid's bow.
"Hope we're not interrupting." I heard Sam say as he walked into the room. I quickly looked away and cleared my throat.
"No, just, we were just talking." I said looking up seeing Sam and Jake standing side by side. Paul was behind them leaning against the doorframe along with Jared, the rest of both packs were crammed in my narrow hallway outside the guest room "Where's Seth?" I asked. Jake let out a heavy breath and looked at me.
"I…Alpha ordered him to stay with Dad at his house."
"Oh." I said. I knew how much Jacob hated Alpha ordering us. But it had to be done. "So, why is everyone else here?"
"Well," Jacob started. "You were attacked by other shape shifters that do not belong to either pack. We need to know the reason."
"So Daniel here is going to tell us everything. Aren't you Daniel?" Sam added as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Sure." Daniel said.
"Where are you from?" Jake asked.
"Kansas, but I recently moved to Greenwich Village in New York."
"That's by Alphabet City." I spoke up.
"I know. I've been following you."
"You've been in New York all these years?" Sam asked.
"Why? What do you want from me?" I ignored Sam's question.
"My pack's been following you. Has been for the past month." He briefly looked down at his lap before looking at me. "A month ago you were in Central Park with your blonde friend and a blonde man." I frowned as I tried to remember the last time I was at Central Park with a man, because I knew the woman had to be Gabi.
"Oh, Roger." I realized "Gabi's brother."
"Yes, the brooding one with the leather jacket." He paused "Well my pack brother and I were following you. Central Park's really the only area of vegetation in the city." I nodded in agreement. There was a long pause. He looked at him lap again as if he were ashamed of something. "We were supposed to capture you, and bring you back to our Alpha."
"So you are on their side!" Sam roared as his body instinctively crouched, ready to attack. "You're not touching a single hair on her head! Do your hear me!" low growls could be heard from the rest of the guys.
"No!" Daniel stood up with his hands in front of him as if saying to stop. "I mean yes, I understand." He sighed "Look I'm new to this whole pack thing ok? I had always been on my own. Up until two months ago I didn't even know others like me existed! When I moved to New York, I found others like me. Getting her was like initiation. When I first joined I had to fight the other pack members. If you eliminate one of them, you get to take their place."
"You mean, kill one to become their replacement?" I asked.
"Yea." He nodded looking away. "I killed a member to take his place. I did. But damning a woman to a heartless man—that I couldn't do." He looked at me.
"Why does your Alpha want me?" I asked
"He caught your scent, and it was so strong. Our Alpha believes you're the perfect mate for him. That together you two can produce faster, stronger wolves. Apparently there have been other women, but none of them have survived. None of them have been able to produce the size of wolves he wanted. So…he kills them." I looked at him repulsed. "And then you came here, and we—they followed. When we got here I told them I wouldn't help, that I was going back, and well things didn't go over so well with our Alpha: Ethan." He said rubbing his neck where there were dark healing scars that clearly looked like claw marks. "So I went with Carl and that other idiot Jackson to get you. But they were wrong. They were all wrong. I didn't realize it until you bumped into me as you tried to run."
"What were they wrong about?"
"Your scent is strong, not only because you have strong reproducing genes, but because you're a wolf too." He locked his eyes with mine "We didn't know female wolves existed. That makes you twice as valuable to Ethan."
"I don't phase anymore." I shook my head "I haven't phased in over five years." I quickly said.
"Yes. But it's still in your blood Leah." Sam answered in a monotone voice.
"Exactly." Daniel agreed, his eyes never leaving mine. "He can't know you're a wolf Leah."
"So…" I finally said "There are wolves out there that are trying to capture me?" I asked dumbly.
"Yes." Daniel replied.
"How many?" Jacob asked.
"Nine." David looked at Jacob "There are more in New York. Our Beta: David is here. Ethan gave them two weeks to get Leah." He looked back at me. "If they don't succeed, the other ten wolves will come here led by Ethan. He won't stop . He'll kill everyone in your reservation if he has to, torture your family and close friends if it'll get you to surrender yourself. There's no stopping him. He'll do whatever it takes to have you Leah."
Great. I'm fucking dead.
You'd kill for answers but learn to live with,
Questions, Who what why how and if,
I'll sit back detached tear our your hair,
Oh but on the contrary...
The trick to life is not to get too attached to it,
Everyone you love turns to dust,
You'd jump off the edge but you felt pushed,
By all that's unnecessary,
You tread but you're off on the wrong foot,
The trick to life is not to get too attached to it,
Don't get attached to, attached to life,
Don't get attached to, attached to life,
The trick to life is not to get too attached to it,
The trick to life is not to get too attached to it,
Don't look your life passed you by,
Cos you're too attached to it,
Don't look your life passed you by,
Cos you're too attached to it
-ShotAcrossTheSky-