Authors Note: Sorry this upload took so long. School began and I've been getting into the swing of things. At least this chapter is all Leah/Malakai action.
As for all the readers that continue to pursue this story; Thank you. Your reviews are what make me want to continue writing this. Keep them coming.
Thanks again,
Meech
Morning came all too quickly. The only signs of time's perpetual advances were the light that shone in through the transparent window-wall, and the digital dispay of the clock that read nine twenty-seven. Yes, I was awake, but I did not move from my rather...Favorable position here in bed.
From what I could tell, Leah wasn't asleep either. Her breathing was too controlled. We both lay still, enjoying one another's company. Leah's smooth, satin sleepwear caressed the bare skin of my face.
Heavenly.
Sometime during my slumber, I wrapped my arms around her as well, returning her warming embrace. That made the situation that much sweeter.
"So, when are you getting up?" Leah asked.
"When you get tired of me." I said.
"Then you should have been gone yesterday," She shot back.
"Ouch," I said. I knew she was kidding. I sat upright, breaking the long unbroken physical bond. "Thanks." I told her.
"For?" Leah sat up too, and let her back rest on the headboard.
"Last night." I scratched my head, searching for the right words. "It was cold, and..."
"It's whatever." Leah interrupted conveniently for my sake. She pulled her arms out from under the sheets and sat them on top of the comforter.
"What's going on today?" I hoped Leah wasn't completely adverse to going out somewhere. "I have about a week before winter break is over. Carlisle and Esme put me into Forks High Scho-"
The sheets that, up until now, Leah had drawn close to her slid down, revealing her appealing choice of clothing. The black, lace nightgown was held in place by two thin spaghetti straps the hung on her shoulders. Her bronze skin was visible through it. Her bra and panties left something to the imagination. And trust, mine was working in overdrive.
I stared at Leah wide-mouthed. My eyes wandered every inch of her exposed frame.
I guessed that she didn't realize that she was; A. Hotter than the Sahara; B. Had no idea what just happened; or C. She just didn't give a shit.
I'd put my money on C. Leah didn't seem like the type of girl to do this purposely. However, she did have me going for a minute last night.
"We can go to a movie or something." Leah answered the question before my full time distraction had occurred. The she tracked my puppy-dog gaze back to herself, catching on quickly. "Fucking perv!" She shouted. It was only an accusation proven to be true. She wasn't angry. Or so I thought. She pushed me hard enough to send me hurtling off of the bed, onto my face. Then pulled back the blanket with the other hand.
I poked my head up over the ridge of the bed. "Um...My bad?" I wasn't sure exactly what to say. Leah was still smiling, but that wasn't the lightest shove ever.
"It's alright" She said. "Don't let it happen again."
After the risque mood had passed, I hear ed the jostling of my door nob. I looked over as it turned. The small golden orb completed it's revolution and the door creaked open.
A man stood in the door frame. His eyes darted from me, to Leah, to her scattered undergarments that sat at the foot of the bed. He probably pieced together the most logical reason Leah was scantily clad in my bed. The wrong reason.
There was an unmistakable look in the brown-skinned man's eyes.
Fury.
Fury that I would not have the pleasure of manipulating. It was uncontrollable. I could tell from first glance that it flowed through him like a waterfall.
Upon the realization, I raised my hands to say the most cliched line for moments like these. "It's not what it looks like."
Leah looked at the muscular man as he stepped in. "Seth," I heard her mumble.
I foresaw what happened next. I still was powerless to change it.
The mountain of a man lunged at me. His body mas was completely misleading. I didn't think he would be able to close the twenty feet that separated us in only three steps. The next second, I was in agonizing pain. The punch he delivered to my torso felt like he had drilled a hole straight through me.
"Shit," I heard Leah mutter. It was followed by the crumpling of sheets as she threw them to the floor. "Seth, relax. Nothing happened."
I doubled over in pain. My eyes were still wide, but rather than it being from Leah's attire, it was from the shock and awe I was in. It took every grain of self-control I could muster, not to let any sound escape my clenched teeth.
When I managed to raise my head to look at my assailant, Leah had a firm grip on the arm that was poised for attack. Thank the heavens.
"Seth, calm down," Leah continued to soothe the beast. "Don't phase this close to him. Nothing happened." She said again.
"Then why are you here?" Seth asked. "Dressed like that." He used his free hand to sweep at her nightgown.
"He was just cold so I stayed the night. Like what Jake did for Bella that one time." Leah shook her head. Then expelled a sigh. "About the clothes...Alice bought them yesterday. This is what covered the most of me, so I wore it to sleep in." She rubbed Seth's back.
My legs finally gave out, and I fell to my knees with a thud on the wood. "Remind me to thank Alice." I huffed out in coughs.
"Just sit down over here." Leah led dragged Seth over to the two chairs that lined one of the walls of my room. I heared murmurs coming from the direction, but they were so quiet I couldn't make out what they were saying.
I almost hit my face on the floor when I fell forward. I braced my self with my arms, breaking my fall and dodging that bullet.
"Fuck!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I had to prepare myself to say that one-syllable word. Had I not, the only sound I would have made, would be shriek of agony.
"Damnit," Leah rushed over to me. She wiggled her arms under me. She was careful not to touch my blunt impact wound courtesy of that muscle head sitting in my chair.
Leah lifted me up and carried me down the stairs, through the hallway, and into the kitchen. She let me down onto my feet. I almost fell again, but she caught my arm.
I looked up, and there stood Carlisle. I shuddered with the pain that had intensified in our little stroll downstairs.
"Fix him," Leah pleaded. She sounded desparate. Over me? Strange. Yes. But the last few days haven't been exactly normal. "Please."
"What happened?" Carlisle knelt down to meet my gaze.
I attempted to answer him, but all I could beckon were jagged, short gasps.
"My idiot brother came to wake me up," Leah began. She sounded frantic. Frantic and angry. "He saw me in his bed," Leah gestured to me. "and started jumping to conclusions. Then this."
Brother. So that was Leah's brother. Great. I think I made a pretty good impression. I really should stop being so sarcastic with myself. I'm annoying me.
"I see." Carlisle slung my other arm over his shoulder. "We should get him down into the basement. I can take an X-ray down there. See if anything is broken."
I heard the front door open. I made a sideways glance out the corner of my eye to see who it was; Alice and Jasper. They simultaneously nodded their heads in greeting.
"Um Leah," Alice had a troublesome expression on her face. "When I bought that it wasn't really for everyone in the house to enjoy."Alice tugged at one of the thin straps of Leah's gown. "It was more for Malakai, to tell the truth."
"Lucky kid," Jaspers eyes quickly flitted to Leah in more that aknowledgement. If I hadn't been so dead right now I'd say something to him.
"He doesn't look so lucky now," How observant of Alice. "What happened this time?"
Leah only said one word. "Seth."
"I was wondering how that introduction would go." Alice said.
"You two can finish this later. Right now, I need to take a look at Malakai." Carlisle led me through the door in the back of the kitchen, and down a flight of mahogany stairs.
There wasn't much in the basement. A table, chair, and a rack that held vests in various sizes were the only decoration in this room. I guess this is where the work gets done.
Carlisle carried me to the chair and set me down. After that, he disappeared and reappeared with one of the vests from the rack across the room.
"This will protect your organs from the radiation." He said, and layed the full weight of the vest on me.
The vest was heavier than it looked, and it sat directly on top of my sore spot. It hurt like hell, but I managed to hold my composure.
"Please stay still and I'll be back in a moment." Carlisle said that like he had rehearsed it a thousand times.
"You don't really have to leave do you?" I asked. He is a vampire for Pete's sake.
"I'm sorry," Carlisle flashed his gleaming white teeth. "Old habits die hard, as they say."
Carlisle flipped a switch on the wall, and a low buzzing sound filled the room. After about two minutes it ended. Carlisle removed the vest and I could breathe freely, and a little less burdened. He sauntered over to the wall behind me and pressed a small button and a cleverly concealed monitor on the ceiling illuminated, showing the pictures of my virtually undamaged rib cage.
"Nothing is broken." Carlisle scrutinized the photos rubbing his chin. Then tugged at my shirt a little to get my attention. "Do you mind?"
I shook my head.
Carlisle lifted my shirt from the bottom, and pulled it up, careful not to hurt me. By the way he looked at me, I could tell it wasn't pretty.
"Wow." Carlisle ran his pale fingers though his hair. "That's a serious bruise." He turned to Leah, who leaned on the wall on the wall furthest away from us. "He'll be alright. There's no sign of internal bleeding."
Leah sighed in relief.
Carlisle patted my knee and walked up the flight of stairs that led back to the kitchen. He rested his hand on the doorknob, then faced Leah again. "Would you mind if I asked you to phase? My other sons are here and I'd prefer to prevent and ogling."
"Sure." Leah answered.
"Thank you," Carlisle opened the door and stepped out.
Leah pulled her black nightgown over her head, removing it.
I watched of course. I'm fifteen years old, and a guy. What man in his sane mind wouldn't watch his girlfriend disrobe?
Leah's matching black bra and panties were so much more enticing when they were unobscured.
As I stared for far too long, I made a mental note to thank Alice very much for our shopping trip and its...Benefits.
Leah cleared her throat. "What are you looking at?" She twirled her index finger in a circle. "Turn around."
"Oh um. Yeah." I stood slowly and turned my back to her. I counted the tiles on the floor to distract myself from what exactly we going on behind me. When I made it to seventeen I felt a soft impact on the top of my head. I grabbed it and held it in front of me for a better view. "Aaaah!" I yelled and dropped the bra.
I turned to see what was taking Leah so long. In her place was a huge black wolf. It – She was as tall as me – a little taller, not that thats saying much. Her black fur was deeper around the chest and tail, and more shallow everywhere else.
Leah barked what sounded like a laugh. She nudged me with her muzzle and nodded her head to the door. Then cantered around the room, grabbing her undergarments with her mouth, and completed the loop by heading up the stairs.
I followed her up and through the kitchen. To get back to my room, it was inevitable that we pass the archway that was a clear view into the living room, and vice-versa. Sure enough, where the family was.
"Oh my gawd!" Emmett shouted. "What were you doing in the basement with her?"
"Probably sex. He smells like pheromones." Jasper said coolly.
"Doggystyle?" Emmett asked.
"Literally." Edward answered. I really don't like him. Why? I don't know.
Leah scoffed at the whole conversation and continued to ascend the staircase. I wish I could have handled it like her.
"What?!" I squealed in a high pitch as blood rushed to my face. "Nothing happened!" I yelled behind me. I could hear the laughter behind me as I rushed the sanctity of my room.
I went to the closet and opened the door. There was nothing there of course, I didn't put anything in there when we returned from shopping. All of my clothes were still in that bag on the dresser. I turned to said dresser, and Leah was back in human form. She winked as she pulled on a pair of worn looking blue jeans.
"You should go take a shower and get dressed." Leah pulled a black tee shirt over her head. She freed her hair and it sat on her back in the long waves that came with an Indian ancestry.
"What about you?" I asked, finding my clothes for the day.
"I showered after my patrol this morning." She said evenly. "Don't tell me you think I wake up this sexy." She blew me a kiss.
"That depends. Would you laugh if I did?" I did. She's been absolutely stunning, even in the simplest of attire.
Leah laughed. "Seriously?"
I nodded. "Then why did you shimmy back into that little number?" I pointed at the nightgown on the bed.
"Alice said you would like it." Leah admitted with a sheepish look on her face.
"Really now? Thank. You. Alice." I said quietly.
"No prob little bro!" I heard Alice shout from her room down the hall.
"Where are we going anyway?" I sauntered to the door walking backward, awaiting Leah's answer.
"It's a surprise. Now hurry up." Leah said urgently. Like I was making her late for something. Hell, for all I knew, I was.
I opened the door and skipped merrily to the bathroom. My head filled with all these ideas for the surprise.
"Here," Bella said, walking over to a wall-mounted key rack. "You can drive my car if you want." She yanked a key ring off the rack and tossed it to Leah.
Leah snatched it from the air and thrust it into her jean pocket. "Thanks." She said reluctantly.
"See you later?" Alice appeared next to me.
"I think so. I don't plan on dying today." I answered sarcastically.
"That works I guess." Alice said. "Around here you never know." She trotted back upstairs from whence she came.
"Ready?" Leah asked as we both passed through the garage door. She extracted Bella's keys from her front pocket and pressed the unlock button on the remote.
A shiny, hi-gloss red Ferrari F430 flashed its lights three cars down.
I looked over at Leah. "WTF?" I used the acronym because I always have this edge in my voice when dropping the F-bomb.
Leah smiled and pressed another button on the remote. The Ferrari's Italian engine revved loudly, then settled into a comfortable purr.
I returned the smile twofold. We opened our doors and got into the car. Sure, it was low to the ground. However, I did not mind it at all.
Leah inserted the keys into the ignition, twisted them, tapped the gas pedal, and we were speeding along the road. Trees blurred by, outside the window.
I watched them absentmindedly. The various shades of green all combined into one earthy color. And that color normalized the entire forest.
"Answer this," Leah said as she navigated the city's sidestreets. "What do you like most about me?" She deliberately avoided eye contact with me, feigning like she actually needed to give the road her complete, undivided attention.
I did know how to respond to that. It would just feel awkward since I'm not a romantic type of guy. I'm not particularly awesome at expressing myself. So, as an attempt to dodge the question, I reiterated it to her. "What do you like most about me?"
"I asked first," Leah took her eyes off the road and squared her gaze on me. "I get my answer first."
"Alright." I half-suspected that Leah had found out that I cannot deny her anything. More so, I suspected that Edward had been her informant, despite their less-than-stellar relationship. "You." I said finally.
"Yeah," Leah continued to travel twice the speed limit in residential neighborhoods. "What do you like most?" She looked slightly annoyed.
Leah definitely wasn't making this easy. Maybe this was payback for the mall incident the other day. Maybe not. Regardless, I have a she-wolf to answer to right now.
"Well?" She badgered.
"You." I said. "That's my final answer Merideth." Pitiful attempt at comedy, I know. Anything to help lighten the mood.
"Couldn't think of anything else to say? Really?" Leah's shoulders slumped. She looked a little hurt at my lack of adjectives.
"Every part of you." I said slowly. "You're an amazing person. No matter how detached you try to be, everyone knows that deep down, you care." I wanted to bite my tongue and end it right here, but I kept going. "You're nurturing believe it or not." I cannot believe I'm telling her all this.
Leah sat quietly, obviously not going to interrupt until she was sure I was finished.
This time it was my turn to avoid Leah's eyes, and look over my shoulder, through the smoked glass window. "And every time I've seen you, you've been nothing short of beautiful." I looked back at her.
Leah sat in the red and gray mesh bucket seat with a triumphant look on her face. "I guess my instincts were right about you. I would've settled for a 'you're hot,' but that works too."
Now I felt like an idiot, spilling my guts to her. "Well, that and your boobs are pretty big." I said nonchalantly. I wasn't lying.
Leah laughed and smiled. "They are quite large." She said in a mock-British professor accent. Then she took her hands off the steering wheel and held it in place with her knees. Leah sat both hands on her chest and bounced her breasts up and down.
I watched for a second, the averted my attention to my now twiddling thumbs. It was too late though. My heart rate fluttered and my face was flushed with red.
Leah laughed much louder than before. It was musical. Her laugh was now officially my favorite song. And I would do whatever it took to hear it everyday.
"That's what I like most about you kid." Leah managed to properly articulate between chuckles.
"What?" I was confused. I saw nothing aside from Leah fondling herself – which I thoroughly enjoyed. But getting my heart rate under control was priority one.
"That innocence." She said, calming down. "It makes you so easy to fuck with, and your reactions are funny as hell."
"I'm not innocent." I lied. "I'm a killer." I said sarcastically.
"Lies."
"Anyway," I said changing the subject. "Next time you wanna touch yourself, I could lend a hand. Literally."
"Maybe I'll let you." Leah narrowed her eyes, rested a hand on my shoulder. When she whispered in my ear, she filled her voice with a huskiness that made my heart skip a beat. Literally.
Leah bit back another laugh, but it was apparent on her goddess-like features.
"You win." I surrendered. I glanced out the window again.
Outside was a complete change of Forks. The was a large, open, sandy beach. It was overshadowed by an immense cliff face. Surrounding it, were the large pine trees native to the area. The only feature this beach shared with Forks was the dreary, overcast sky.
"First beach." Leah turned off the car and opened her door. "C'mon."
"Okay," I opened my door, exited the car and looked for Leah.
She was already on her way down the path of jagged boulders that was the way to the softer, sandier portion of the beach.
I leaped down and followed Leah. I tried to keep up with her, but her movements were so precise. So agile. So lithe.
My mere human capabilities would never allow me to move like that. It was so obvious that we were worlds apart, yet coexisting harmoniously.
At the end of the path, we were met by, what looked to be a gang. They were all at least six feet tall. All aside from the woman sporting a nasty looking burn on her face, and a little girl that appeared to be seven.
Everyone else had the same exact skin hue. They were all insanely muscular. They waved hellos to Leah, and passed judgmental looking glances in my direction.
Maybe I was being overly self-conscious. I just didn't feel safe here.
"He smells scared boys," One said.
I froze momentarily, then steadied my breathing and forced my feet to remain in place at Leah's side.
"And listen to that heart race." Another said and smiled. "Think you can make it back to that car before we catch you?" He licked his teeth.
Just where the hell did Leah bring me? I have to make it home. I promised Alice I wouldn't die today. Hah, I say this like I have a choice. One thing is for sure, I won't die a cowards death. I'll stare them dead on and do everything in my meager strength to kill someone at least.
"Knock it off guys," Leah said as she crossed the invisible line between us and them. She punched on of them in the shoulder. "Introduce yourselves so he can calm the hell down."
"Jared." The guy in the back raised his hand.
"Quil," The one with the young girl at his side said. "This is Claire."
The little girl waved.
"Embry." Another nodded.
Seth was in the back. His was the most judging of all the gazes. I couldn't help but succumb to his intimidation and looked away.
"And I'm Sam." The tallest of the giants stepped forward and extended his hand.
I shook it.
He gestured at the woman with the burned face next to him. "Emily."
She stood next to Sam like I stood next to Leah. There was some emotional connection between them. I guessed it to be lovers from the shimmer in Sam's eye when he said her name.
"I'm Malakai. Nice to meet you all." That was more difficult to say than it should have been. My teeth chattered and it felt like I could have chipped a few.
"They know better than to fuck with you. Don't worry." Leah winked at me.
I set my palm on the back of my head and exhaled.
"So you're Leah's now, huh?" Embry shook his head.
"Yeah." It was always an instinct for me to answer questions truthfully. I'm an honest person. Shoot me.
Never mind. All good people die before their time, just like mom.
"Do you know what you're getting yourself into? This world isn't for the weak." It sounded like he was referring to Lead for a second. I'm sure of it. The rest of the statement was to save him from incurring the wrath of Khan.
"That's what he has me for. If anyone wants to try something. BAM!" Leah took a boxers stance and fired off three lightning quick jabs. She was actually enjoying herself. Her whole entity just seemed like it was radiating happiness.
Really, I'm glad she's on my team. That would suck ass to fight against. Not that I'd ever hit a woman.
Sam laughed to himself. "That's my Lee Le-" He stopped himself mid-sentence. His face went neutral again. His laugh lines hid themselves and he swallowed hard.
Leah stopped as well. She closed her eyes and breathed rigidly.
"I think it's too soon for your old pet name Sam." Quil shrugged and turned his body toward the ocean.
"I wasn't trying to...It's just, the only times I would call her that was when she was happy." Sam looked at Emily, then out into the forest, at something I was sure I couldn't see. "The only time she was happy was when we were dating. It was just habit to call her that. Sorry Leah."
"Um. You two dated?" I asked.
So this was the one relationship Jake was talking about. Well, Sam wasn't bad looking. His tanned skin and short hair probably had all the women around here swooning.
"Yeah." Sam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Ah." There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I kept them all on a tight leash, for the most part. I walked closer to Sam, Leah followed. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Sam hunched over so I could whisper my question into his ear.
"So," I said in a hushed tone. "Is it just me, or does Leah like'em young? You look about three years younger than her." It had been a question I'd been begging to ask, but I was afraid of what could possibly happen.
There was muffled laughter throughout the pack. Then I felt an elbow thrust itself into my bruised mid-section. I gasped and looked to my side. Evidently Leah had heard me. Leah and the pack.
"How old do you think I am?" Leah sounded irritated, but like myself, I couldn't stay angry at me for too long.
"Twenty-three?" I guessed, no one ever told me her real age.
"Damn, he just said you were older than you looked." Embry laughed.
"No no what I meant was..." Was there any use in trying to recover from the situation? Yeah. Would it be successful? No. I bit my tongue to prevent my mouth from causing anymore trouble.
"Ass munch, Sam is two years older than me." Leah turned her head violently. Her hair flew with the motion and resettled into her dark glossy curls along her back.
A loud screech filled the silent air of the beach. I looked around frantically for the source, but to no avail. Then I saw that everyone had their heads turned in the same direction in the sky. I followed the stares and I could make out a bird.
Well, it could have been a bird if they every developed steroid technology. It looked like an owl, but no owl could be that big. Not by the laws of the human world.
I stood unfaltering, watching as the owl continued on its collision course with me. I didn't realize that I was in its direct path until it was to late.
The owl crashed into me head first, knocking me from my feet. After the first point of contact, I felt. Different. It was more on a spectral level, than a biological one. I thought anyway.
"Shit, I didn't think it would keep going until it hit you." Leah looked at the bird on the ground, then came to help me up.
I stole a glance at the motionless that lay at my feet. It took me a minute to process what had just occurred. "I killed it?"
"No, vice versa." Quil said.
Leah looked at her watch then bonked herself in the forehead. "Well, if you're alright, we need to go. We're running late."
"Late for?" I asked.
"Don't question the cradle robber, just get in the car." Embry continued to chide. He was getting quite annoying, and had he not been almost a foot taller than me, I would say something about it.
"Shut it." Leah spat. She directed her attention to me. "Just get in the car."
