I don't own any of the characters; they all belong to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement intended.

Thanks to my beta Cedward!

Thanks to Bforqueen for prereading!

I hope you like it!

Leah POV

I ran as fast as I could to get away. I phased as soon as I could and took off as fast as my four paws would take me. I thought to myself, how many times am I going to take a hit like this? Why do I have to be so different? Why must I be the one that has to make sacrifices? I stopped mid–stride, thinking about the conversation I had with my father while I was unconscious. He said I needed to be a role model. If any other girl in the tribe phased, they also wouldn't be able to have children. I wouldn't be the only one. I needed to stop pitying myself. I needed to stop running from Nahuel. I needed to stop running from my destiny, and I thought I was finally ready for that.

I paced along the forest. I was farther than I'd ever been; I was probably in Canada at this point. I now felt horribly guilt for running from Nahuel. He'd seemed so worried about me. How was I going to explain to him that I wasn't running from him but from myself? If he stayed with me, he would never have children. Which, since he was a half breed, I wasn't even sure he could, but shouldn't he be given the chance?

I suddenly heard someone approaching and instantly recognized the beautiful scent of the rainforest. My heart started to race, knowing he was so close. I approached him in wolf form because I had no clothes nearby. He wouldn't be able to understand me, but I'd be able to hear him.

"Leah, we need to talk," he pleaded.

I wanted to respond to him, I wanted to tell him what I had realized, but I couldn't because I was in wolf form. I hated that he saw me like this.

He walked closer to me and extended his beautiful hand to touch me. I didn't move. He humanely grabbed me by the muzzle and leaned in closer. He placed a soft, gentle kiss on the top of my nose, just like an owner would do to one of their pets. I pulled backed and shook my head; I hated that he saw me in wolf form, and I hated even more that I couldn't phase because I had no clothes nearby. I hoped he wouldn't get the wrong impression about me shaking my head after he kissed me. I loved that he felt comfortable enough around me in wolf form to come that close to me, even though I didn't want him to see me like this.

We did need to talk. We needed to talk about everything that had happened… what this meant for us.

"Leah, please don't run from me. I'm not sure why you won't phase back, but please at least listen to me," Nahuel begged.

I nodded my head so he would know that I was listening. I backed up a few feet and sat down.

"I'm sorry that I just kissed you like that. I'm not sure what came over me," he said, blushing.

I loved the color of his cheeks when he blushed. But he did get the wrong impression when I shook my head. I didn't want him to think I didn't want him to kiss me; I just hated him seeing me as a wolf. He needed to be with a girl that didn't phase into an animal. He needed to be with a girl that could eventually give him children, or, at least, and I couldn't believe I was even thinking it, but he should be with another vampire like him.

"Leah, when I gave you mouth to mouth, some of my venom got in your system. It should have hurt, or even worse, killed you. I wish there had been another way, but if I didn't try, you would have died regardless. I know it was a huge risk to take, but I couldn't lose you. Do you understand?" He paced back and forth.

I didn't move my head this time; I just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I love you, Leah. Imprint or not, I love you. I don't know exactly how this will work, but I think we should try. We need to try. You have feelings for me; at least, I think you do. I know that it's taking everything in me to stay away from you. All I want is some sort of contact from you. You're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen; even in wolf form, you're glorious." He walked forward and stared right through my eyes into my soul.

I wanted him to know how much I felt for him to; I wanted him to know that I had the same feelings, but I had no way to communicate these feelings while I was in this form. How was I supposed to tell him that I loved him too?

"Leah, please say something, do something, to tell me what you're thinking."

One thing came to mind; I leaned forward and rubbed my muzzle against his hand, and then I took off running. I wasn't running away this time, though; I ran to a tree I remembered seeing Jake's shorts by and phased. I quickly put on the shorts that were way to big for me. Man, Jake needed to go on a diet because these shorts were falling off of me.

As soon as I knew I was in eyesight of Nahuel, I placed one of my arms over my bare chest, trying to cover myself. My other hand was holding up the way-too-big shorts.

I looked directly at him and could see hurt in his eyes-hurt because I ran when he asked me how I felt, not only now, but when I took off after finding out about the venom not hurting me. I didn't want him to hurt; that was never my intent.

"Nahuel, I'm so sorry that I just ran away when you tried to get me to show you how I felt; this time I honestly only left to get something to put on when I phased back. We can have this discussion now," I said, hoping that he'd understand how much I really meant it, how much I wanted him to know how I felt at this moment.

"Leah, Carlisle's pretty sure that my venom won't harm you in any way. I know that I'm still a vampire, and that everything in you still wants to kill me, but I think you imprinted on me for a reason. I also think-"

"Nahuel, stop. Let me speak for a moment; I need you to understand something. I know your venom isn't poisonous to me. I don't know why, but I don't really care either. I do have feelings for you. I also want you to know that I don't want to kill you, and the feeling of wanting to kill you left the moment I imprinted on you-vampire or not makes no difference." I paused for a moment, trying to think of the correct words to apologize to him with.

"I'm truly sorry I ran after I woke up, but you have to understand something. My kind is created to kill your kind, and your venom is supposed to be poisonous to us. Since I became part of the pack, I've always been an outsider. I'm the only female, I'm Sam's ex, and then I imprinted on a venomous vampire. I've been alone in this journey the entire time, and then you came along and refused to let me be alone. Finding out that you don't poison me shocked the hell out of me, but in a good way. I'm glad your venom doesn't hurt me. I'm glad that we can try this. I want to try this. But I don't think it'll be fair for you." I tried to read his stoic expression.

"Why would us being together be unfair for me?"

"Nahuel, if you chose to stay with me, you'd never have the chance to have children," I explained, ashamed of the pain that might cause him.

"Leah, you silly girl; do you realize how old I am? If I'd wanted to have children, I would have already done so. I have no desire to bring a child into this world, not knowing what part of me they would get. I have seen the pain a child that's born part vampire can cause. I wouldn't want to do that to any female."

He took three steps closer to me, and I suddenly realized that I still didn't have a shirt on. I felt totally naked and vulnerable standing in front of him. He finally stepped in front of me, so that he was only inches away. The look in his eye was total lust.

"Leah, can we try something?" he asked me as he gently pushed the hair that had fallen over my face behind my ear. He leaned towards me and placed a soft, cool kiss on my lips. I melted the moment our lips touched. He stepped back, and I instantly felt my whole life change in that moment. He smiled at me.

"Did you feel anything?" he asked me, and I realized he was talking about the venom, but that wasn't what I felt.

"Oh, I felt something!" I lunged back toward him, not realizing I'd dropped my hand from my chest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and placed a hungry kiss on him. He wrapped both of his arms around my lower back and pressed me closer to him. We felt perfect together, like we were made to be together.

As we stepped apart, I forgot that I didn't have a shirt on. Nahuel looked at me, smiled, and started taking his shirt off.

"If you'd like, wear my shirt."

"Thank you," I said, blushing and taking the shirt from him.

"I wouldn't want anyone to get a show when we return to the Cullen's," he laughed and winked at me.

This wonderful man grabbed my hand, and we walked together through the woods back to the house. It took us almost two hours walking at our "close to human" pace, and we barely spoke the whole time. We didn't need to speak; we knew that we were going to have a chance.

As the Cullen house came into view, we saw several people sitting on the porch. They must have heard us coming and wanted to know what happened. They saw us walking hand in hand, and I saw some of them smile.

"Looks like our two love birds got them some! Congrats," Emmett chuckled at us when he noticed I was wearing Nahuel's shirt.

I felt Nahuel squeeze my hand.

"Tu eres mi alma gemela," he leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"That's beautiful. What does it mean?" I curiously asked him.

"You're my soul mate."

We had only just met, but we both felt so strongly for each other.

"Go get a room!" I heard yelled from the porch.

"Please don't hurt Emmett, Leah," he laughed, squeezing my hand again and laughing.

He already knew me so well.