I'll leave the A/N until the end, but I will say this, thanks for reading! (:
Eight
The ride to the hospital took a lot less than it should have, but I wasn't complaining. The closer we go to the hospital, the stronger the overwhelming urge to puke my guts out got. I wasn't sure if it was because of the nerves tightening my stomach or actual nausea that was messing with me or maybe it was Olivia calling to me through our bond. I clutched my middle, opening the door of Esme's car and headed straight to the main entrance.
The receptionist that was there looked at me with interested eyes. Her smile seemed a little too friendly for my taste as I neared her desk.
"I'm Shelby, how may I help you today?" she asked cheerily. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes but felt an insult on the tip of my tongue.
"Hello, Shelby, we're here to see my husband and a good friend that was recently checked into room 214." Esme's smooth voice glided across the reception area and saved me from making an ass out of myself. God knew I couldn't afford being escorted off the premises by security.
"Of course, Mrs. Cullen, your husband has been keeping a constant eye on that one." Shelby's smile turned brittle as she shook her head. "Girls in gangs these days, what a shame."
"Her name is Olivia and who said anything about a fucking gang? Like what the fuck? Where'd that even come from?" My tone came out vicious and I probably took a little too much pleasure when her heart rate sped up and fear crept into her scent. Again, Esme stepped forward and stopped me before I could do something as ridiculous as beating the shit out of a slutty looking, bottle blonde receptionist.
"Sometimes I forget just how much of a temper you have, Leah." She clucked her tongue disapprovingly once we moved away from the desk. I ducked my head, looking down at my feet as we made our way to Olivia's room.
"She assumed something ridiculous about her, and that's not fair."
"I understand that, but you need to recapture your control. You haven't really had a single outburst with anyone outside of the family in over two years. Don't go back to that short fuse, Leah," Esme advised. I nodded, knowing better than to argue with her when she was in momma mode.
"I know it's just that…" I trailed off, flaring my nose with a soft sigh. I caught a whiff of my girl's scent and immediately felt my shoulders relaxing. Following my nose and invisible pull, I forgot about Esme, about my father, about everything and everyone except Olivia. She was close and she needed me as much as I needed her.
"You bitch!" someone shrieked from what I assumed was Olivia's room. My temper flared. No one, absolutely no one said anything like that to my imprint and got away with it.
"You cunt!" Olivia shot back.
I burst through the door, a sneer on my lips as I scanned the room. Olivia gaped at me, her mouth hanging open in an "o" shape.
"Are you okay?" I asked with a growl in my voice. The girl that sat on the other side of the room let out a surprised squeak when I narrowed my gaze at her. Her green eyes raked over my body, a smug smile tugging at her lips as her initial shock faded away.
"She's perfectly fine… Leah?" The way her voice seemed to trail off left no doubt of the question behind my name.
"She's in a hospital bed while someone is calling her a bitch, that doesn't count as okay to me." I felt a small shift in the atmosphere around me but didn't completely understand it. The girl's smile grew as I furrowed my brow and frowned.
"I always call her bitch, right bitch?" she grinned, casting a glance at my still silent imprint. "And hello, she called me a… a cunt and that's so much grosser."
"Who the fuck do you think you are? What gives you the fucking right to call her that in the first place?" I interrupted, stepping further into the room.
"Miranda, how nice to see you again," Esme said as she entered the room.
"Nice to see you too, Ma'am," she replied easily. Her green eyes never strayed from me.
"I see you've met Leah." My cheeks flamed. The embarrassment and disappointment in Esme's voice was not pleasant and neither was the disbelieving look in Olivia's eyes.
"The girl that my cousin deems one of her best friends," Miranda chuckled. "And I can see why."
"You're cousin Miranda?" I asked pathetically.
"Yeah, she's Miranda," Olivia answered for her. I gulped, recalling the close bond Olivia always described the two cousins shared. "She's been here for a while."
Esme must've sensed the piling embarrassment filling the room so she did the smart thing and left. I stood there by myself for a moment before realizing they were probably waiting for some sort of response on my behalf.
"Oh," was all that came from me. I slunk back toward the door, feeling incredibly mortified. "I'm sorry I didn't know I just…" My voice trailed off as my mind failed to come up with a single word more.
"You were sticking up for my cuz and I respect that. But let's get something straight, next time you say something like that to me again, I'll rip your throat out." Her lips were curled in a playful smile and voice remained light but I saw the serious glint in her eyes. For a human, she was pretty intimidating.
"Don't kid yourself, Randy," Olivia said. Surprise, much like I felt, was reflected in Miranda's face as she looked back at her cousin. "Remember what I told you? Leah was the one that beat that one MMA fighter to win the tick…" Her voice trailed off.
My imprint's saddened gaze fell on me and I immediately understood. "It's in a week, I'm sure you'll be able to go."Doubt clouded her beautiful eyes as she looked down at herself then back up at me. I didn't even realize that I'd moved to stand beside her until I felt my hand brushing hers.
"I don't know if I can make it, Leah," she admitted softly.
"God, please don't phrase it like that," Miranda chided. I nodded in agreement, hating the way it sounded so much like… like death.
"It doesn't sound so great," I concurred. Olivia rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, looking from Miranda to me.
"You guys are alike in quite a few ways," she laughed. My heart nearly burst with joy from the sweet tinkling of her angelic laughter, it was such an incredible relief to hear.
"There's someone else like Leah? That sucks," a familiar voice teased. I looked back toward the door of the room and saw none other than prim and proper Rosalie.
"Hey Ice Queen, why not leave us alone, yeah? I don't want your germs to contaminate my imp-friend."
The blonde raised a perfectly manicured brow my way, curling her lips into a smirk so slight that only someone with supernatural eyesight could see. I was tempted to smack the smug look right off her porcelain face but that might have led to some awkwardness between Liv and I.
"You're such a flatterer, Leah," she said, her voice filled with so much sarcasm I thought I'd drown in it. Someone, who I assumed was cousin Miranda, snickered and attempted to cover it with a horribly fake cough. "How is the patient doing?" Blondie walked further into the room, closing the door behind her as she stepped up beside me.
"Better, a lot better," Olivia smiled. "In fact…" She sat up in her bed, stretching her arms above her and letting out certain noises that made my cheeks flush. "It doesn't really hurt at all now."
"Really? Just a little while ago you were bitching and moaning about the unbearable pain," Miranda teased. I chuckled when Olivia crossed her arms and pouted; she was just too fucking cute for her own good.
"I was not," she grumbled. "You're being a jerk and I'm in a hospital bed, which makes you a super jerk."
"How much painkillers are they pumping in you, kid?" We all laughed, even Olivia giggled as she covered her face.
Just as my girl opened her mouth to, no doubt, say something funny and clever in return, an unwanted scent filled my nose and in strut her loser face boyfriend.
"Olivia, baby," he murmured, rushing to her side and pushing me out of the way. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there."
He got down onto a knee, clutching one of her hands between both of his as he spoke, and even though I couldn't see his face, I knew he was using his stupid puppy eyes on her. I couldn't look at him so I decided to see what cousin Miranda thought of him and smiled when my eyes landed on her. Her lips were pursed in a frown and her eyes were narrowed in an intense glare. I could feel the anger radiating off her as she shot daggers at his back. Cousin Miranda was not a fan of Nathan, awesome.
"You could've come earlier," Miranda growled. I looked at her in mild shock before returning my gaze to the ass face and Liv.
"Miranda," my imprint sighed. Her eyes were a murky hazel, which meant that she was upset, but I supposed it was more of the disappointed kind of upset.
"No, he needs to get that he should have and could have come earlier." Miranda got to her feet and stood beside Olivia on the other side of her bed, glaring at Nathan. "We know classes and all related school stuff, including sports, was cancelled immediately after Livy was rushed off. You should have come right then and there." She looked away from him to look at me, her eyes so much softer than before. "Leah passed out and came here as soon as she could. She came charging in when she thought someone was harassing my cousin. She shouldn't have been the one doing that, it should've been you."
"What?" He turned around, his eyes landing immediately on me. "What the fuck are you doing here? I thought only family was allowed in." His voice was as sharp as Miranda's was when she was chewing him out and that pissed me off in ways he should never want. "And why the fuck is the blonde here?" Beside me, Rosalie tensed.
"What the hell are you doing here then?" Miranda shot back. I didn't doubt that Rosalie could hear both of their heartbeats as their faces turned red with rage.
"Guys, please," Olivia whispered, looking from her cousin to the shit head.
Apparently they couldn't hear over their anger so I stepped up.
"Let's let Olivia rest, shall we?" I didn't raise my voice so much but filled my words with as much of a wolf emphasis as I could without actually growling. It was good enough to get their attention and shut them up.
"Yes please," Carlisle said softly, entering the room.
"Who're you?" Nathan asked rudely, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I'm her doctor and I know you weren't cleared to enter the room, so if you could please leave…" Carlisle sounded every bit the authority figure he was as he stared down the loser. After a moment, Nathan relented and left the room in a huff, brushing past the vamp doctor.
"I'll go too, just came to briefly check on the patient," Rosalie said gently, waving to everyone as she followed Nathan.
"Well, now that that's taken care of, nice to see you all again." He smiled politely at everyone, stepping forward and placing a hand on my forehead. "I see the fever broke completely and you're better. You gave us a bit of a scare, Leah."
"Yeah well, you know how it is, doc," I mumbled, feeling the tips of my ears heat up knowing that my imprint was watching me. Carlisle understood and grinned at me before turning to smile at Olivia.
"And you, Miss Bellamy, look great, considering. In fact, I can see you have much more color in your cheeks now. How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, Dr. Cullen, thanks." She smiled and glanced at me. I returned the smile and grinned when she bashfully looked away.
I tilted my head to the side and studied her for the first time since I arrived and focused on the bond between us. By simply looking at her it seemed as if everything was fine and for the most part it probably was. Through the bond I could feel a bit of annoyance and worry and sensed that she was in pain but couldn't figure out if it was only physical or not. I was also pleasantly surprised to know she was a bit happy and chose to believe it was because of me, and maybe her cousin but definitely not Nathan.
Anyway, I was about to press for more detail about how she felt but a faintly familiar scent caught my nose and confusion filled me. That was when I noticed the familiar heavy footfalls of two approaching men. Shit. I stepped back only half a second before two men burst in, breathing heavily and scrambling to a stop.
"Livy, how are you, baby?" Jonathan Samon asked breathlessly. Beside him, Kurt took Olivia's hand in both of his and pulled it close to his chest.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Without any explanation, I rushed out of the room before the pair could spot me.
Of all the people in the world how the fuck did I end up saving the two that could potentially out me to my imprint before the time was right. The universe had such a cruel sense of humor. I began pacing back and forth in the hallway, muttering to myself as maintained an ear out for Jonathan and Kurt.
I turned around when I heard and felt Carlisle approach.
"How is she really, doc?" Again every thought that wasn't Olivia flew from my mind and all I could focus on was my imprint.
"She's fine, really. Leah, I actually want to ask you about how you're feeling."
"I'm good, no worries. As long as she's okay."
He looked extremely concerned, looking at me with his unnerving and intense gaze. "Leah, what happened was-"
"Mystery?" Kurt Samon asked as he walked out of Olivia's room and saw me. His eyes bore into me, shock clear in his bright irises.
Well shit.
…
Seth
"Edward, Alice... can we talk about something for a little bit?" I shifted my weight from foot to foot, unable to look them in the eye. We were back in their house in Forks, on our way back to the Rez.
"What's on your mind?" Edward asked with a small chuckle, making Alice roll her eyes.
"I'm worried about Leah. I don't know if this is a good idea." The mind reader opened his mouth to say something but Alice lifted her hand and shook her head, urging me to continue. "I mean, the only person here that knows about Lee imprinting is our mom."
"We get that, Seth, really," the psychic vampire said gently. "The thing is, I know we need to do this. Something's coming and we need to be united to face it. I don't know how Sam will react about Leah, I'm sorry about that, but I know we need the pack. Whatever happened with your sister and her imprint triggered something and we have to be prepared."
"I know, I know. You mentioned it already but Sam's an ass and I can't help it. Plus, she's gonna be pissed when she finds out we outed her to the entire council."
"Remember when Rose teased her about it? Scary stuff," Edward chuckled. "But Seth, you know we're a team, a family. If anything happens, we'll take care of it together."
I nodded, running a hand through my somewhat shaggy hair. As soon as Leah passed out, Alice flipped and had a vision, one that left her shaky and on edge for a few hours. She demanded an immediate trip to La Push and said I had to accompany her and her brother. I threw a fit and tried to get out of it but the vamps stayed firm so I found myself on a three hour flight then an hour long run.
During that time all I could think about was the way Leah's aura exploded. I couldn't handle seeing all the colors so I turned off the Sight and have yet to turn it back on.
"It'll be okay, trust me," Alice reassured me, smiling that smile that always got us to agree to whatever she suggested. "Now let's go and reacquaint ourselves with your mom."
I didn't need any more prompting as we made our way out and ran toward the treaty line through the forest. I decided not to shift in order to talk to the others without sending the wrong message. It took a little longer to get there but not by much. I wasn't surprised to see two wolves awaiting us when we arrived.
"Is that you, Embry?" I questioned, sending him a small wave and smile. He barked in return.
"Yes, it's him," Edward announced, greeting the two with a nod.
The wolf accompanying him stayed there, his gaze never leaving my two partners as my old packmate ran off to shift. Not long later he returned in cut off shorts donning a smile that reminded me of old times of camaraderie before we left.
"Hey guys!" he greeted with an exaggerated wave. "Is Jake here too?"
"Nope, he's back with Ness and the others." He furrowed his brows, glancing around before looking at me once more, this time with more concerned eyes.
"Is everything okay? Why isn't Leah here either? Is she okay?"
I resisted the urge to growl, ignoring the threat that rested on the tip of my tongue. It was no secret that he had certain feelings for my sister that weren't exactly platonic.
"We came to talk to Sam about certain things. Will you please get him?" Alice asked, stepping forward. The unnamed wolf growled, raising to his feet and baring his teeth.
"Ty, calm down," Embry ordered. "Two other pups are on patrol and I'm pretty sure they're getting him as we speak, if they haven't already gotten him. Now, why didn't anyone answer about Leah?"
My muscles tensed and I felt myself clenching my fists, getting ready to hurl myself at him. If there was any way to get me instantly on edge, it was involving my sister. I'd admit, I was irrationally over protective of her whenever it concerned anyone that wasn't a Cullen, part of my pack or blood. The only thing that kept me from jumping him was the strong, ice cold grip Edward had on my shoulder.
"We'll talk when Sam gets here and we're given permission to the Clearwater household," he declared. "If there's anything that concerns Leah, Sue should be present during the discussion, as her mother and a council member."
"Good thing I came as quickly as possible," Sam said, announcing his presence. I felt him before he even made a noise, sensing the wave of power that followed alphas wherever they went.
"You know, that's not something a guy should be proud of broadcasting," I quipped, facing my former leader. He stared me down, his dark eyes calculating before a grin broke out across his face.
"Getting more like your sister day after day I see," he commented.
"She's taught me well enough. She's a great leader," I smirked. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he straightened out his smile.
"What do you have to talk to Sue about? Is Leah considering coming back to the pack?" he asked. At that Embry perked up, looking at us with curious and hopeful eyes.
"I think she'd rather chew her own foot off than go back to your pack; in fact I know she would. You'll find out soon enough what's up if you let us in. We left on great terms, don't mess that up now."
"As chief-"
"You're not the chief," I snapped, cutting him off. "That title belongs to the stronger alpha, my alpha Jake."
"He isn't here, that means I'm acting chief and as such, I'll respect the agreement we had before so long as you do as well, which means including me in the discussion. This land has been given as my responsibility to protect and I won't ruin that for you... or Leah." He crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at us with a subtle smirk.
"We planned on that, wolf man, now if you'll excuse us, we have a mother to visit. Keep up if you can," Alice teased, running passed him with Edward hot on her heels.
I followed after them and immediately shifted, landing on my paws and tearing out behind them. Alice's tinkling laugh filled the woods and before any of us realized it, my childhood home came into view. Letting out a few barks, I leapt behind a tree, phased into my human skin and quickly pulled on the clothes Edward tossed my way. Somewhere behind me I heard the other wolves doing the same.
"Mom!" I called out, running up to the front door. "Mom, I'm here!" I knocked eagerly, trying my best to control my strength but it really hit me, I was going to see my mom after a year without her. "Mom!" Behind me the two vampires snickered, but I seriously couldn't care less.
"Seth?" There she stood in the open doorway, looking at me with watery and loving eyes. She opened her arms and embraced me, holding me like she used to, running her fingers through my hair. "What happened?"
"Nothing good," I murmured, slowly pulling back.
"Leah...?"
"Something happened and she's been in a coma since 7 this morning." She sucked in a startled breath and behind us I heard Sam and the other wolves gasp.
"Let's go inside, there are things we need to talk about," Alice suggested. "And hello again, Sue Clearwater." The pixie vamp gazed at my mother with respect before bowing low in her direction.
"Welcome to my home once again, Alice and Edward Cullen. Thank you for caring for my boy," my mom said, returning the bow. "Sam, this concerns my daughter, so if only you would come in I would appreciate that."
"But Sue," the alpha began only to stop at the withering look the elder woman gave him.
"I'd prefer to have my daughter's business remain private for as long as possible," she replied, tossing a glare Embry's way. He and two accompanying wolves shrunk back and retreated into the woods.
"I guess, but later on it'll be pointless." He shrugged and trudged in behind my friends, ducking through the front door as he went.
"Thank goodness Leah wasn't his imprint," my mother whispered, causing me to smile.
"The Clearwaters were never meant to follow the Uley's mom, no worries."
She smiled up at me and nodded, a faraway look to her eyes as she hugged me once more. "Your father said something similar to me when I initially found out about Sam's feelings for Emily. Of course, I didn't know about imprinting but a part of me relaxed at his words. Call it mother's intuition but I knew that Leah was meant for something better… someone better."
"We both know it, mom."
I walked in after her, closing the door behind me and taking a deep breath. I had to explain what happened with my limited knowledge of the event and then Alice would explain her vision.
From the memory of her grim face afterward, I wasn't looking forward to it but I knew what I had to do, Leah was counting on me, they all were.
A/N: So, it's been quite a long time since I last truly updated this fic, hasn't it? I'd like to apologize for that but as I said, I won't give up on it or any of my other stories (except one but only cause the coauthor of it decided to let it go.) My focus has also been shifted to different things, namely new shows in my life like Orphan Black. Either way, my stories will eventually be finished, I promise. How long that will take, I'm not sure but there'll be updates some time or another.
Also, if you like anime, Attack On Titan is awesome, just saying.
Until next time, take care!
