Oh, hi guys.

Reckless did not even begin to cover the situation I had put myself in. As I was lying there in the grass, Leah's cinnamon scent swirling in the wind as she laid against me, I concluded that I needed to get myself away from her as soon as possible. I needed to clear my head. It was stupid of me to get so drawn into her like that. Immature. I was in a position to get myself killed by everyone she knew, and I had completely lost control of myself.

But she felt so good. Her skin was so soft, and her hair... Leah felt the reaction that thought elicited in me. She kissed my chest and pushed herself up onto her elbow. The spot her lips touched burned, and my stomach clenched. She was grinning, but her smile vanished when she took in my expression.

I took a deep breath. This was a delicate situation. I had been intoxicated with the heat of the kill, with her scent. I had acted impulsively. It was physical, that was it. But Leah was not in a place now to hear any of that. One of the things keeping me from being killed by wolves and vampires at this very moment was my attempt to keep Leah from hurting herself. Rejection at this point might be too much for her to handle.

She watched me silently as I worked through these thoughts in my mind. Her entire body was tense, and I felt her tremor slightly against me. She was nervous.

I pushed myself into a sitting position. She was still wearing my shirt, and she pulled it more securely around herself as she sat up. It still left her exposed, and I resisted the urge to touch her again.

I opened my mouth to start telling her what I was thinking, but she held up a shaking hand to stop me. There was a moment of silence before she spoke. I tried to read her expression, but for the first time, I could not read her feelings on her face.

"I am not going to like what you are going to say. I know that much. So let's just address what you said to me before this," she said, gesturing to the space between us. "First of all, I am not using you. I don't give a shit about the Volturi. I don't have some plan to get to know all of their secrets, because I honestly wish I didn't even know they existed in the first place. I wish I could be rid of every fucking monster on this planet. But I am one, and I imprinted on one, so that's just how it has to be now."

I started to respond, but she interrupted me again. "Secondly, I know why you came here. Your people sent you here to study us. The wolves. And I know I should probably kill," she choked on the word and stopped for a second. "I know I should be so angry with you about that. Logically, I know that we cannot let you give your friends any information. But I can't keep myself from you, and I know you are not attached to me, so you have me here as your own little wealth of information."

She paused then and looked at me. I kept my face as impassive as I could manage. She was absolutely right, of course. She had fallen into my lap at the exact time I had needed her. It would have been foolish to ignore the opportunity. She must have gotten all the information she needed from my impassivity.

"And I will not stop you. I can't stop you. But, Demetri, I can't stop the others either. My pack will not hurt you, I know that much. But we are not tied to Sam's pack anymore. I don't know if his rules still apply to us." She brought her hand up to my face and brushed the hair out of my eyes. She rested her palm on my cheek, and the warmth seemed to scorch me. She sighed, and I was starting to feel that intoxicating feeling once again.

I stood up abruptly. "I cannot think like this. This is madness. I try to think logically, and then your scent. Your skin..." I trailed off. I didn't look down at her, sitting there in only my shirt. I looked out into the trees, suddenly absolutely aware that someone, vampire or werewolf, had heard what we had done. Soon they would all know.

"I have gone years without feeling the things I have felt in the last 24 hours, Leah. I feel as though I am going insane. Honestly. It's as though I could dream, and at any moment I will wake up home in Italy."

She was taking slow, deep breaths. I couldn't concentrate. I needed to think of what to do next. She had a point. I would not be able to get the information to Aro without repercussions. But that in itself would cause problems for everyone here. If I didn't report back, the Volturi would investigate. Surely the wolves and the Cullens knew that much.

And what would happen to the wolves if I did tell Aro about them. Would he want one for himself? I was sure of it. He would try and get me to lure Leah to Italy. It would have been the perfect plan. But he was insane. He would try to test her limits, see how far he could push her before... before what? I shuddered.

But why did I shudder? I had been with Aro for an eternity. I knew what he was. I had done his bidding for centuries. What was the problem now?

The wind stirred and I was brought back to the present. Leah was still sitting on the ground, her eyes closed. She kept breathing deeply, but I could see her shoulders shaking. I knelt down beside her. She didn't open her eyes, but the shaking stopped.

"Leah," I breathed. Her eyes fluttered open. "I need to run. I need to get away from you right now." Her composure was quickly breaking, and her brow wrinkled in concentration. The shaking returned, stronger than before. "I will be back, I promise. I just can't think with you so near. You cloud my mind, drown everything else out."

"I know the feeling," she muttered bitterly.

"Here are the keys. I know someone will be following me tonight, and that's okay. I just need to clear my head. Please, know that I will be back. Don't do anything..."

"Yeah, I got it. Don't do anything stupid. No driving into trees, no driving into cars, no driving into buildings." She snatched the keys from my hand and stood up. She looked down at her new outfit and cursed under her breath. "Alice is going to kill me for ruining that dress," she said before loping off into the trees towards the car. The view of her leaving sent a thrill through me. What was happening to me?

As soon as she was gone, I ran in the other direction. I may not have been at one hundred percent, but I felt much better after feeding. I felt my strength returning with every second.

I didn't even have to actively listen to hear Emmett following close behind me. His mind was a deep bass, strong and determined. There was also a hint of playfulness in his mind, and I realized then how he must play with his prey before he kills. Not cruelly, but for sport, for the challenge.

His mind was drowned out only by Leah's now familiar tone. Was I playing with her? Was she my prey? As the cool evening air drove her scent from me, I began to think more clearly. Did I really intend to use her as she had said? Maybe I was playing with her, and cruelly too.

The image of Aro, definitely playful and definitely cruel, flashed into my mind. He would torture a werewolf if he ever got his hands on one. Would I be able to lead one of these wolves to that fate... well, maybe that Sam.

A few miles from the clearing, I skidded to a stop. The trees were thick here, and the rain filtered through them in a fine mist. Emmett stepped out from behind one a moment later.

"When I said flirt, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind," he said, grimacing slightly. He walked towards me, his confident stride relaxed. "And her poor brother. Jesus, he's going to barf when he phases next... if wolves barf?" He looked at me inquiringly, and I shrugged.

"Not one time, not once in my entire existence, have I needed to ponder the gastrointestinal functions of a wolf," I admitted.

Emmett stopped, his face blank for a moment before he burst into loud laughter. I couldn't help myself, and I began to laugh with him. The day I had, it was quickly becoming a little too much for me. Now I was guffawing in the forest with the meathead Cullen? No. Too much.

I stopped abruptly, anger bubbling to the surface. Leah had been complaining earlier of mood swings, and I was starting to recognize her frustration. I turned quickly and punched the trunk of a tree as hard as I could. There was a loud snap, and in a rustle of pine needles, the tree crashed to the ground.

I was taking heaving breaths when I turned to face Emmett. He was still smiling, and it pushed me further. Was this hysteria? Had I ever felt this way before? Definitely not. "What. The. Fuck?" I spat. "I swear to all that is holy, I am going to go crazy in this place. I knew this was a horrendous idea. Tell me, have I died? Am I in Hell now? This is what it is to be tortured; trust me, I know."

Emmett nodded sagely. "Oh yes, feelings must be pretty shitty when you first have them."

I scoffed. "I have feelings, you buffoon. Just not this many at once. My God, I cannot imagine what it would be like to feel these things all the time. Impossible. I am angry, I am intrigued, I am confused, I am annoyed that they have sent you to watch me."

"One broken vase, and Esme is all 'oh, Emmett can babysit the Italian.' Well, I guess she doesn't know that cruel and unusual punishment is wrong!" explained Emmett, throwing his hands into the air. He shook his head and spoke again. "I know this must be confusing for you. The wolves are a hard bunch to like, and that's not even considering what a mindfuck the whole imprinting thing must be. But you have one job here. Your job is to make sure Leah does not die. I told you before. If she goes, you go, and there will be no way for you to escape. I'd like to see your friends come after you, too. We all love that pain in the ass, so if you hurt her..." he smiled unpleasantly.

"I know all of this. This is all I hear from you people! And I will be honest with you, I do not want to hurt her. I should want to kill her for this, but... This is more complicated than you can imagine. I cannot disappear. They will send people to investigate, without a doubt. I belong to Aro, and he will miss me soon." I shuddered and Emmett followed suit.

"That's... creepy," said Emmett.

"That is my life," I replied simply.

"Okay," exhaled Emmett. "So what you're telling me is that you do not want to hurt Leah. Right?"

After a pause, I nodded. There were many, many reasons I should not hurt her. The memory of her perfect copper skin, the curve of her breasts passed quickly through my mind. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore her mind, which was calling out to mine every minute.

"And do you think you know exactly what this whole imprinting thing entails?" asked Emmett.

"I know the things she has told me, the things I have seen in her. But I have trouble understanding the power of her responses to me. She doesn't know me, and I know it doesn't matter, but it should matter," I replied.

Emmett shrugged. "You should have seen Jake when he imprinted on Renesmee. He was obsessed, is obsessed, with that kid. It doesn't matter what she does. One time he turned away for maybe a minute while they were outside coloring on a nice day. He turned back, and she had drawn him a nice picture. On the side of his car. In sharpie. If it were anyone else, they'd have gotten a thrashing, but Jacob loved that drawing. It's still on there, for Christ's sake. He loves her no matter what, forever."

I sighed. Then maybe there wasn't any escaping it. Especially not without hurting Leah, however indirectly. The alarming thing was how much it bothered me to think about. Again, her mind seemed to drown out the ambient sounds in the forest. She was calling out to be found.

"If they come..." I muttered, already turning towards the sound of Leah's mind.

Emmett knew who I meant. "Let's talk to Carlisle later. Maybe he has ideas on how we can work the situation with your friends."

"Later," I repeated before plunging into the trees again. She was calling me, I could feel it.

I barely heard Emmett mutter "babysitting sucks" as I raced towards Leah.

The air felt nice, but my skin tingled. The mist dampened my bare chest, and I longed for the warmth only one person could provide.

She intoxicated me. I accepted this. There was something drawing us together, and I was beginning to realize that it wasn't just Leah that was being pulled. Her mind called out to mine so clearly. It was almost hard to focus on anything else if she were too far away. I felt cold. It was a novelty. I felt my skin prickle as all the hair on my arms stood on end. I pushed myself harder, ignoring the strain I felt in my leg.

As I approached the Cullens' house, Leah's mind did not lose any clarity, but I was able to also focus on other signals. It was as though being in close proximity soothed the call. She did not need to cry out to be found, because I was near to her.

I saw her standing outside of the house, looking into the trees where I was. She knew I was coming. She had on new clothes, but they were damp from the mist outside. She had been waiting for me.

I was standing in front of her in an instant. Her face was hard. A wrinkle had formed between her eyebrows and her mouth was pressed into a tight line. I realized we were wearing identical expressions. She was ready for whatever I had to say.

I didn't say anything. I reached one hand up to cup her cheek. The line between her brows melted away, and she inhaled sharply. I slid my other arm around her waist and pulled her toward me.

"Wait," she breathed sharply. I inhaled and froze. "If you do this, you're in this. If you leave me after this, I will be broken."

And because, for so many reasons, I had no choice, I bent down and kissed her warm, soft lips.

Thanks for reading, guys. Review?