When Leah was finally capable of speech, she lay with her head on Jake's outstretched arm. "I guess I ruined your timetable, huh?"
He moved his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his body, kissing her hair. "Is that an apology?"
She chuckled. "Nope."
He grinned. "Good. Because that was incredible. Only one problem - how can I possibly live without you now? That's really why I wanted to wait - I knew sex with you would be amazing and I'd want to keep you beside me every day."
Leah propped herself up on an elbow and pulled up a long blade of grass, tickling his nose. He swatted at it, smiling. "We have to finish school, Jake. I'm done in June, but you have another year. What are we gonna do?"
"I'll be 18 in less than three months. I think my dad will let me quit school…" He placed his finger across her lips to stifle the protest he anticipated, then continued uninterrupted "...if I promise to get my GED. I'm going to open an auto shop in my garage anyway. There's a real need for it on the rez. And there are a couple of small rooms and a bath above the garage. We could fix it up and live there until we can afford something bigger."
Leah stretched luxuriously. "Right now, I'm willing to live in a cave with you if we can make love every day." She kissed him softly. "Oh, and for the record - the elders don't think a female wolf can get pregnant, considering all that 'frozen in time' stuff. Let's hope they're right. Still, we probably should be more careful in the future."
Jake grinned at her. "Well, that gives me three months to save up for some condoms." He chuckled at her horror-stricken expression. "What?"
Leah stared at him. "You wouldn't!" Then she grinned. "I have a feeling I could change your mind." She kissed him roughly, her fingers tangling in his hair.
"Okay, okay - you win! Oh, wait - that means I win too!" He gathered her close again and whispered against her hair, "Couldn't we just stay here?"
Leah reached up and wiped a raindrop off her forehead. "Uhhh...I don't think so." They scrambled to their feet. "Might as well go wolf - at least they're waterproof! And we'll have to figure out some way to get clothes when we get back." They both shifted back to wolf form and ran together - nipping, tumbling, and playing in the rain like wolf pups - back to Leah's house.
Seth was sitting on the back porch as the pair of wolves came trotting slowly out of the woods. They looked around, making sure no one was watching, before they walked across the yard. Leah looked up at Seth and whined softly.
He pretended not to understand. "You need something, Leah? Bark once for yes and twice for no."
She growled.
Seth laughed and pointed to a pile of clothes on the porch swing. "Where the heck have you two been?" His eyes lit up. "Ohhhhh, wait a minute. You DID it, didn't you? I knew it! And all that howling! Wait till Mom and Dad hear about this!" he chortled.
Leah advanced on him, shoving him toward the door with her nose. He turned his back but refused to go inside. "I won't look, Leah. God knows I don't want to see you two naked!"
Jacob and Leah phased and dressed quickly. Leah grabbed Seth by the shoulders and hissed, "You don't know anything, Seth. You're just guessing. And you can't say anything to Mom and Dad - they'll kill me!"
Seth shook his head, his grin widening. "Information like that - it's gonna cost you, Leah. I haven't decided how or when, but it's gonna cost you."
She knew he had her. They hadn't realized that the whole reservation heard the howling. It would be bad enough with the pack - everybody could see whatever you were thinking, and now they all knew. Crap. Even Sam. "Okay, you little snitch - but not a word! And thanks for the clothes. Did Mom save us any food? I'm starving!"
Seth rolled his eyes. "For the great vampire hunters? Are you kidding? There's a feast laid out for you guys in there." He finally opened the screen door and let it slam behind him.
The next day at school was rough. Leah had no sooner taken her seat in homeroom when Jared howled. He just grinned when the teacher scowled at him, and Leah turned crimson. Jake didn't have it any easier with Quil and Embry. The halls reverberated with wolf howls all morning. The other kids, though they were clueless as to the reason, saw how uncomfortable it made Leah and took up the cry until she threatened to kick their skinny butts. They backed off, knowing she could - and most likely would, without a moment's hesitation. There were not many students in the reservation school, male or female, who would stand up to Leah Clearwater.
Jared was an exception. He and Leah had been rough-and-tumble friends all their lives. And she was pissed. She tripped him as he exited the back door of the school, and he chipped a tooth on the steps. He came up swinging. Soon there was a circle of Quileute teens around them, chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
They soon found that shifter fighting was a little more extreme than the normal school yard scuffle, and therefore more satisfying. A lucky right hook from Jared cracked one of Leah's ribs, and she darted under Jared's leg and grabbed a handful of very tender flesh. He stopped still and whispered, "Leah, you have to take it easy. I'm not a hundred percent sure they'd grow back."
She squeezed a little harder, watching the sweat pop out on his forehead. The kids had stopped chanting, and there was not a sound. "Then you remember that next time you consider making a fool of me in class, okay Jar?" He nodded slowly, and she released him just before the principal stalked out the open door, demanding to know what was going on. There were murmurs of "Nothing, it was nothing" as the crowd dispersed.
Leah threw an arm around Jared shoulders, wincing slightly as her rib continued to heal itself. "We okay?"
He hesitated, then grinned at her. "Sure. Let's go find Jake."
After school, Jake showed Leah the apartment. It was unfinished and dusty, but she could see the possibilities. And they would be together. She smuggled an old sleeping bag up, but it proved to be unsatisfactory for a bed. For one thing, it was too small. Splinters were a constant problem.
