Leah's shoulder woke her. It was still smarting from the afternoon before, in Port Angeles. If she had slept the night before it, she never would have gotten to sleep that night.
If everything else heals in a second, why does this still hurt?
Angrily, she pulled the blanket off of herself and stripped off her underwear. Stark naked, she crawled out her window and phased on the front porch.
The sky was still dark, and the moon still smiled down at her.
The relief of the run came from the necessity of concentration. She had to think three steps ahead of herself in order to avoid taking out a tree in every stride.
The restlessness slowly sapped out of her as she put mile after mile away behind her, pushing herself faster and faster.
Darkness slipped ever into nothingness, as she slipped ever farther into it.
She knew she was not truly tireless, but was not ready yet to idly sit.
On the run her trite world grew large once more, and she could lose herself within its scope.
Flight feet through forest flying as before, she felt no remorse, nor treacherous hope.
Great burst and burst of speed her thighs supplied, fleeing the world of convention in lies, until at last to rest her legs contrived, and she could stop beneath the graying skies.
The sun and the world had been made anew, as over all her troubles Leah Flew.
When her breath was even and her lungs no longer ached, she turned around, and headed home. The journey back was less enjoyable, for no rest lay at its end, but it was still better than sleeping, or worse yet being unable to sleep.
As she came to Forks, Leah slowed, and made to skirt it. She would not walk through it naked, nor could she show her wolf form to the population.
As she passed the Swan residence, she growled. Then she stopped and put her nose to the ground. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she recognized the smell Jacob had described to her. The vampire, Victoria, had been there recently.
'Chief' she thought, and ran toward the house. She had no idea if she would be a match for the blood-sucker on her own, and she didn't care. All she could think was that she couldn't lose both her father and his friend within days of each-other. She couldn't take it.
Just inside the trees' fringe, she stopped and eyed the house. To her relief, she could hear Chief Swan talking to someone. The feeling was completed when she realized that the person he was talking to was Jacob Black.
"...got a call from her last night" the police chief was saying. "She explained as well as she could; said that Edward is fine. Alice called ahead of them and got the embassy to detain him until she could talk to him herself. Fortunately no one's position was neutralized."
"Well I guess there's something to be grateful for then" said Jacob. Leah could hear the lie in his voice.
"Yeah. Apparently there's a mess of paperwork for her to go through though, because...of things. But it should all be fine in the end. Alice is footing the bill for the plane-tickets, and everyone survived."
"Sounds like a good dream on a bad night. Well, I just came by to see how you were doing. Before she left, Bella asked me to check in on you."
"I appreciate it Jacob."
Leah heard the door close, and the rabbit start. She barked once, not loudly enough to raise suspicion in the neighborhood, but quite loud enough for Jacob to hear.
The car slowed to a stop in a parking space some distance down the street, then idled, then died.
In moments, Jacob was crashing through the brush, kicking off his shoes as he went. When he stood before her, he did so on all fours.
'What?' he asked.
'That vampire you've been tracking, I smelled her.'
'When?'
'Just now, back there.'
Jacob looked out at the forest. 'I think I've got a whiff of her too, now that you mention it. Maybe she was right here and I scared her off.'
'Or maybe she's not interested in Chief, just Bella.'
'Could be.' He looked at her strangely. 'Leah, if she had been here, were you going to fight her alone?' he asked.
'Well you're here alone too, right? What about it?'
'I've been a wolf longer, I'm more experienced, I might be able to handle her alone. Even so, it is best to hunt in a pack.'
'Then it's a good thing you showed up, isn't it?'
'I guess it is.'
'Besides, if I needed help, then I wouldn't deserve it.'
Jacob growled. 'So if I was dying, you wouldn't trouble yourself to save me?' he asked.
Leah glared at him. 'I didn't say that.'
'Leah, I need to know you've got my back if we're going after this blood-sucker together.'
'Absolutely, let's do this. Never mind whether you deserve it or not, if you need help I've got you.'
'Good.' Jacob's mental voice was calm again. 'Please try to understand if the feeling is mutual. I could never face Seth if something happened to you on my watch. Fair?'
Leah grimaced. 'Fair enough, I guess.'
'Good. Now lets go get that bitch.'