Okay dear readers I'm TERRIBLY sorry this update took so long I feel horrible but as most of you know I've been without computer so yea. Thank you to absolutely everyone who took the time to read and review, its greatly appreciated. My foot is a little better but still hurts like hell. Anyway enough of about my life here's chapter seven!
Disclaimer: If it changes I'll let you know
LEAH'S POV
I couldn't believe this; I knew it was always inevitable but as each year went by and it didn't happen I'd started to hope it never would. Yet here stood my daughter, my beautiful little Ellie, as a wolf. She was now a perfect smaller image of her father: a midnight black wolf. She was happy; she'd been praying to phase for as long as I could remember, but I'd always dreaded it.
Now even though Chrissy had passed out and was lying on the Cullen couch and we all knew we would have a lot of explaining to do when she woke up, my daughter, this giant black wolf, was running around the backyard play wrestling with Will. They were like two oversized puppies. I considered phasing but decided not to; it had been a few months since I had. I rarely phased anymore, only when necessary although pretty regularly. As I sat on the Cullen's back porch watching my daughter play, I thought back to all the times I'd phased since coming to Canada that had been because of her.
When she was eleven months, she used my tail to learn to walk. I went around the apartment as a wolf for about a week until she was steady enough not to need to hang onto me. And when she was three and terrified of thunder storms she liked it best when I was phased so she could curl up against me and bury her face in my fur until she fell asleep or the storm ended. My rare phasing still slowed down my ageing in between my long boughts of not phasing. Instead of looking fourteen years older like I should, I looked about eight.
Ellie bounded up to me, her tongue hanging out and sat back on her haunches. I smiled weakly and raised a hand to scratch behind her ear. She closed her eyes and leaned into my hand. I would have traded this, my little girl all grown up and phased, if I could go back to the little three year old who snuggled at my side. Anything to hold off her phasing.
"So you finally got your wish, huh?" I whispered and she opened her eyes and pulled back. She sensed my slight disappointment, not in her, but her phasing and nosed me gently with a low whine. I sighed. "Don't worry, I always knew it had to happen, honey." Behind her Will yipped and she nuzzled me one last time before running off to play with him again. Someone came down the stairs and sat beside me. It was Jacob. He didn't say anything for a while; we just sat and watched our children play.
"You know what this means, right?" he said and somehow his voice rang this point home. Yes, I knew, I knew what Ellie's phasing meant. "You have to go back, Leah, you have to talk to the Elders about this. It's a miracle it took her this long to phase; she's around the Cullen's often enough for this to have affected her before now. And no one knows if her having two shape-shifting parents made her phasing different as a wolf."
Even though I knew all this, I still let a tear slip. When I'd left La Push I'd had no thoughts of ever returning; it was goodbye forever. When I got pregnant with Ellie, a part of me had always known this meant going back, but watching my little girl growing up made it easy to forget that and push it to the back of my mind, but now it was glaring me in the face. Jacob saw my tears as I reached up a hand to brush them away.
"Leah, it'll be fine I swear. I'll be with you every step of the way, you won't have to go back and face it alone," he murmured, wrapping a hand around my shoulder and pulling me closer to him. I cried into his shoulder, letting him comfort me, it seemed fate always had a low blow for me. "Leah, if you want I'll tell them she's mine, no one has to know, I swear." His offer was so tempting but I couldn't.
"Jake, I can't, I can't let you do that to Nessie," I whispered.
"It's okay Leah, I understand. Please tell them that if it makes it easier for you," Nessie said, her voice as soft and bell-like as ever. I looked up at her in the frame of the back door; she was smiling at me.
"You really wouldn't mind?" I asked. She shrugged her petite shoulders.
"How could I if she even really was his, how could I take offence? I was a kid when it happened," she said, now grinning impishly. I couldn't hold back the watery laugh that escaped me. What would I have done without them? The Cullen's in general, really; they had my back the whole way.
"Thank you," I said and she nodded as if it was nothing and then skipped off. Nessie was still a little girl inside and it showed sometimes. A good thing probably since Jake showed no signs of growing up any time soon. Jasper came and replaced her spot.
"Leah," he said and his tone caught me attention. "She's awake." Well, Emmett was right. I had some explaining to do.
I stepped into the living room to find Chrissy sitting on the couch staring at the giant glass window showing the front yard. She looked at me when I entered.
"Leah, I just had the strangest dream." She gave me a slightly creepy smile. I was guessing she was still in shock; she turned back to the window just in time to see Will run by with Ellie hot on his heels, both still in wolf form. Chrissy groaned and closed her eyes. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" I bit my lip to hold back a smile and shook my head before I remembered that she couldn't see me.
"No," I said.
"Okay, okay, deep breaths, Chrissy, deep breaths," she whispered to herself and then she turned to me. "Okay, here's the thing: you're my best friend and I trust you. Ellie could practically be my child the way I love her so I'm going to be rational here and listen to what you have to say. I'm sure there's some kind of believable reason behind this." This was why I loved Chrissy: she wasn't weak and afraid of everything.
"Okay, here's the story," I said and launched into the Quileute legends, which weren't so fake. She listened and didn't interrupt except for when I got to the cold ones.
"Wait, so the Cullen's are…" She didn't finish the sentence but raised her eyes to the ceiling, where I knew all the Cullen's had to be listening.
"Yes, but they're different. They don't drink human blood, only animals."
"Oh, God." Chrissy swallowed and shifted on the couch.
"Okay, seriously think about it Chrissy: You've been down here a million times so don't you think if they wanted to hurt you they would have already?" She nodded weakly and let me get back to the story. I sped through my phasing and the death of my dad; she looked at me but seemed to understand I didn't want to talk about it. It was still a touchy subject knowing I was the reason he had died.
"…And that is why my daughter is running around the yard as a giant wolf with Will…who's also a giant wolf."
"So Jacob is like you, and there's more like you and him where you come from?" I nodded. "And," she hesitated, "they're built like him?" I laughed; I could see where this was heading.
"Yes, Chrissy, just like him."
"And you never took me there!" She was staring at me accusingly and I couldn't help bursting into laughter. I'd just told her she'd been hanging out with vampires and shape-shifting wolves and she was mad that I hadn't taken her to meet others like us.
"You have serious issues, have I told you that?" I said once my laughing fit was over. She shrugged and smiled at me. "So you're not freaked out?"
"Well…like you said, I don't think I have anything to be afraid of. If you guys had any plans of hurting me you had plenty of chances to do it, yet here I sit" she made a sweeping gesture with her arms. "You have to take me there though; I need to find me a wolf if they're anything like Jacob." At her words the sick feeling in my stomach returned.
"I don't have a choice, I have to go back." I knew I sounded defeated and she turned to me.
"You don't want to?"
"You know how I never mention Ellie's father?" I said and she nodded. "Well, it's because he doesn't know about her…and he lives there."
"Leah, you've kept her secret from her father for fourteen years!" Her eyes were wide with shock.
"Yes, and I plan on keeping it that way. She's been fine without him for fourteen years and she'll continue to be fine without him." I didn't plan on staying in La Push long, just long enough to see the Elders and then leave; I was praying it would be that fast.
"Well what are you going to do if he sees her?"
"As far as he'll know, she's Jacob's."
"And Nessie is…"
"Nessie is perfectly fine with it," I said and she sat thoughtfully for a minute.
"I still can't believe Nessie is Bella's daughter," she said, referring to everything I had said earlier. I snorted and then drew her into a hug.
"You're absolutely ridiculous," I murmured as she hugged me back.
"What, I think it would be nice to never age," she said. I rolled my eyes and stood up dragging her with me.
"You want to go say hi to Ellie and Will while they're giant furry creatures?"
"Err…I think I'll pass for now," she said glancing back out the window. Ellie and Will weren't there now; I figured they were probably in the back again. I heard the phone ring and then someone answering it before I had a chance to react.
"She's right here," a musical voice I recognized as Rosalie's said, and then her light footsteps were in the hallway. She poked her head around the corner and glanced between Chrissy and I before offering me the phone. "For you," she murmured. I took the phone from her and she glanced one more time at Chrissy before disappearing back upstairs. I guessed she was sizing up Chrissy to see if she was frightened. I had to give Chrissy credit for managing a timid smile in Rose's direction.
"Hello?" I said, pressing the receiver to my ear.
"Leah! Oh Leah, Jacob called and he told me everything that's happened."
"Mom-"
"I was just about to leave and head down there for her party but I guess you'll have to come up in a few days."
"Mom-"
"Oh I can't believe I missed her phasing, and on her birthday too. I knew I should have come down yesterday. What are you going to tell everyone when they se-"
"Mom!" I yelled and she finally quieted down. Neither of us said anything for a while and then she whispered.
"Leah, what are we going to do?"
"Nothing. I'll come up there, see the Elders and leave right after. She shouldn't have to stay long, she's not that different than me when I phased and nobody treated me special. They just have to see her and that's it." At least I hoped that was it.
"Leah, you know it probably won't be that simple. They'll want know things: who's she is, why you felt the need to hide her for fourteen years? Things that once they know, he'll have to know too. He's still the Alpha of his own pack here." I didn't need her to say his name to know who she was talking about. I sighed.
"That's where Jacob comes in… He offered me a…favor," I hesitated to say but she caught on quickly.
"What kind of favor, Leah?" she asked. I could hear the suspicion in her voice.
"He…said that…he'll tell them Ellie is his," I whispered. The line was silent.
"They won't buy that; she looks too much like him: her eyes, Leah, and her personality. I've never seen someone shut down and put up a mask to hide their emotions quite like that since him. They'll know in a heartbeat," she said finally.
"No, they won't," I growled. "I don't even plan on him seeing her or me, mom. I'm in and I'm out, that's the deal." She huffed on the other end.
"Have it your way, Leah, but when he finds out you were pregnant and that you've been hiding his own daughter from him for fourteen yea-" she cut off mid sentence. "Wait, Seth, come back! Let me explain!" I heard a door slamming and then silence.
"Mom! Mom, are you there? Mom!" I was yelling frantically into the phone now to no answer. The Cullen's had all gathered around me, but I hadn't even noticed or heard their descent to the living room.
"Mom? Mom what happened? Are you the-" I cut off as she came back on the line.
"Leah! Seth heard and I think he's going to Sam's!" My heart froze at her words. Shit.
SETH'S POV
I cut across my front yard and around to the back door of my house. I was exhausted from patrolling all of last night and could think of nothing but my bed. I walked into the kitchen and spotted the covered plate of eggs and bacon on the counter. I smiled – first breakfast, and then sleep. I stood right by the counter and ate, too tired to make it to the table to sit down, a little ironic considering I was almost too tired to even stand here.
I wolfed down my breakfast and rinsed the plate. I could hear the muffled sound of my mother on the phone in the living room as I dried it and set it on the drainer. I headed to the stairs and had my hand on the railing when I paused. She was facing away from me, her back to the door as she spoke in a hurried voice. It was the tone of her voice that caught me. She sounded slightly distraught and even though I knew it was wrong, I found myself pressing my back to the wall and listening to her conversation.
"...Shut down and put up a mask to hide their emotions quite like that since him. They'll know in a heartbeat." What was she talking about? Then the person answered.
"No they won't. I don't even plan on him seeing her or me, mom. I'm in and I'm out, that's the deal." She sounded angry and I'd know that voice anywhere. Leah and I had spoken occasionally since she left but not often enough in my opinion. She was my sister and I ached when I realized how much I really missed her. We were closer than anyone really realized. She was my rock and vice versa. I didn't know what they were talking about but at this point I didn't care. I headed into the room fully intending to ask my mother for a chance to talk to Leah but her next words stopped me in my tracks.
"Have it your way, Leah, but when he finds out you were pregnant and that you've been hiding his own daughter from him for fourteen yea-" I took an involuntary step back bumping into the small side table. My mother spun and stared at me, horrified, as I processed the information. Leah had been pregnant, and then had gone out of her way to hide the child for fourteen years. Whose baby was it? How was Leah even able to have children?
My mother took another step toward me raising her hand to stop me and I immediately bolted for the door.
"Wait, Seth, come back! Let me explain!" I could hear her shouting behind me but I slammed the door and sprinted back across the lawn. It seemed almost laughable that not an hour before I'd been walking across this same lawn, exhausted, and now my body didn't know the meaning of exhausted. I had no clue where I was headed so when I found myself standing outside Sam's door it came as a surprise. I pushed the door open without hesitation and walked in. Sat in front of the TV were Sam and Emily's two kids, Simone and Justin. Simone ignored me but her brother, Justin, smiled widely at me.
"Hi Seth!"
"Hey kiddo, you know where your dad is?" Justin shrugged. Simone sighed and rolled her eyes.
"He's in the kitchen with mom." I followed her directions and my nose. Emily was baking cookies; I could see her checking the timer and Sam sat at the table with the book.
"Hello, Seth," Emily said, a smile stretching her scarred face. I returned her smile and then turned to Sam. He seemed to sense I had news and put down the book.
"What is it, Seth?" His voice was gruff and serious.
"Leah. I think she's coming back...and she has a kid," I murmured. Sam sat staring wide eyed at me as the tray of cookies Emily had just slid from the oven clattered to the floor.
PREVIEW:
Cars flipped and skidded, a few falling over the edge of the bridge into the water below. Two caught fire and we all stared in disbelief, because the longest, thickest log fell with a sharp thud and cracked just where we would have been moments before.
Yay! I'm glad this chapter is finished cause its really next chapter I can't wait for you to read. It has Sam's pov of things and a little steamy scene between our favorite female wolf and a certain sexy human. And what could possibly be wrong with Ellie? Yes my dears chapter eight outshines all other chapters so far. Sooo review and I promise I shall try my hardest to get it up faster than this one. REVIEW!
