A/N: Aurora Australis is the scientific term for the Southern Lights. It's most visible south of the 50° S latitude but can be seen from the mountains of southern Argentina and Chile on very clear nights. It is best viewed from Antarctica, and the southern parts of Australia and New Zealand.

I'm very happy that everyone likes the new title. Only one person was expressly against a switch so I went for it. I hope everyone found it okay, a couple of my regulars didn't review and I worry that it's because of the change.

Also, GIG has added this story to her fabulous archive. XD If you enjoy Imprint stories I highly recommend you check it out (I'm a big Jared/Kim fan and I'm starting to get into Quil/Claire too). You can find a link to the C2 in my profile.

Jacob

Friday

I slept but not well. I sleepwalked through my day and almost dropped an engine block on my head. Twice. It probably wouldn't have done much to me but I don't know how I would have explained it to Mark when it cracked in half and I was fine. I probably wouldn't have bothered, if he had said anything at all to me about it I would have popped him in the mouth and gone home.

I guess we're both lucky that it didn't come to that.

Mark's a good guy, he helped me get my certification and gave me whatever hours I wanted. I would have felt bad if I hurt him. Eventually. All this responsibility stuff was really starting to wear on me.

Last week it didn't, it gave me something to do to keep my mind off of Nessie hating me. But now it was like I have all these leashes tying me to a fence post, holding me back from her. It makes me think of my time in Canada, the freedom of not having to think like a human, not having to worry about human things like work or money or time.

I haven't thought of it like that in years. Haven't thought of it at all in six years. I don't like all this damn thinking. Makes my head hurt.

I wish I didn't have to drive to work either, that I could just run there and back. Being human for such long periods of time is starting to make me uncomfortable. Being the wolf is so much simpler, it makes everything so much clearer.

The wolf never doubted her, never believed Edward. But he didn't want to hold back either, wanted to claim her for good that night. Would have too. As much as I don't want to be, I am grateful that Leechy stopped us.

Quil would have never let himself carried away like that. And, technically speaking, my imprint is younger than his. Nessie just felt so good, so right, that I don't think I would have been able to resist even if I had been stone cold sober. It had been like trying to stop a hurricane with my hands, it went right through me no matter how much I tried to hold back.

After I got home and took a long cold shower I found Leah waiting for me downstairs, talking with Billy. I really hope she didn't say anything to him, I know he'd push me to tell Sam, might even do it himself.

And I really don't want to hear it right now. I don't want to see Leah either. I want to pass right by them, out the door, go eat somewhere else. But she had brought a peace offering, two buckets of fried chicken.

I grab one from her without saying anything and settle myself in front of the TV. The Huskies are playing the Cougars at seven and it's only a matter of time before Charlie comes and gets Billy. I don't want to be around for that either, the past couple times I've seen him he's asked me about Nessie and if I hear him say her name right now I just might lose it.

Luckily he just honks and Billy meets him outside. Unluckily now I'm alone with Leah. I've been avoiding her as much as possible, keeping conversations to a minimum, passing messages through Quil. I wish we were phased so I could just order her away.

I know I'll forgive her eventually because she's pack but seeing her right now reminds me how very far away Nessie is, how long it's been since I've heard her gentle voice. How every time I go along with what Leech Boy says it turns around and bites me. How trusting Leah had turned out much the same way.

For a minute there I was even mad at Emily for being so damn fertile. If she hadn't gotten knocked up again then Leah would have just finished her damn patrol quietly and gone home. And I would have been alone when Nessie showed up. We could have left together.

And right now that was the thing I wanted most in the whole world. I'd also rather be degreasing an engine with nothing but my spit and a toothbrush then sitting here with Leah waiting for kickoff.

I reach for another drumstick and get a handful of bones. I hadn't tasted a thing but I had already eaten it all. I'm still hungry but I don't want to go to the kitchen to get the other bucket from her. I don't even want to look over there. I'd just up and leave if I wasn't so sure she'd follow me.

"You need to stop falling asleep without phasing back."

"You need to bring me that chicken and stop telling me what to do with my life."

She handed me the bucket and I growled at her when she reached for the remote. Then I put my legs up on the sofa so she couldn't sit next to me. Without reacting at all she went and got her chair from the kitchen, setting it next to the couch and keeping her eyes on the television.

We sat there in silence for so long that I didn't realize I was sleeping until she spoke and woke me up.

"There's something I need to tell you."

No. I don't want to hear anything that starts off like that. I can't take anything else going wrong this week, I'll go effing postal.

"When you left to get my clothes she hugged me."

That's not at all what I was expecting. It sounds more like the beginnings of a letter to Penthouse.

"I think she thinks we slept together."

"Because you hugged?"

"Not me and her. 'We' as in you and me."

"And why, Leah, would she think that?" If this is a confession, it'll be her last one.

"Because we were naked maybe. That's what it sounded like."

"What did she say?! Why the hell didn't you tell her it was because we had just phased?" Not in the house, there'll be blood everywhere. My head snaps to the window and I feel a sadistic grin twist my face. Outside.

"She didn't actually say anything," Leah pleaded, "Not out loud. I didn't realize what it was until I saw her do it in your dream this morning."

She looks scared as hell. Something wet hits my arm. I'm drooling, my mouth is half-changed and leaking.

I center myself and shift back.

"So you 'heard' her when you were hugging?"

She nods at me, her eyes huge.

"And you didn't show me that part because…?"

"Because of what just happened to your face?" It was more of a question than an answer.

I nod once. "You should leave. Now."

She was up and out of the chair before I finished talking but something occurred to me before she made it out the door. "You were phased this morning?"

Turning slowly, she gives me a guilty look, "I thought you'd be up. I was checking to see how mad you still were."

"Extremely," I growl, "Get out of my sight."

I don't have to say it twice, she's gone. But it doesn't make me feel any better.

Nessie left because of me. She thought I was messing around on her. And with Leah of all people. It feels like my intestines have tied themselves around my stomach and are choking it out. The chicken tries to turn on me too but I manage to hold it down.

I can't stop cussing under my breath, the same words over and over in different orders like a trance. I've failed her. The one thing in the world I should have made her sure of was what had driven her away. She didn't trust me.

This wasn't the leeches' fault, it was mine. And I'm sitting here trying not to lose it while I wait for them to fix this? Eff that.

I grab my shoes, the keys to the bike, and the leather jacket Alice gave me last Christmas. She made a big deal about how she had to get it at a specialty shop because of the size issue. I'd just as soon wander around topless but I know how much Nessie likes it on me. I haven't worn it for her for awhile, I'd been saving it. But I need to feel close to her right now so I dig it out. It reminds me much more of Ness, what she thought the first time I wore it for her. Everything reminds me of her, especially these days.

I didn't notice I was speeding until I cut off a pick-up when I merged onto the one-oh-one and he laid on the horn at me. So I throttled it. But then he sped up too. When he started tailgating me, I had to pull over. I really don't have time for this BS.

He was cursing before he was out of the cab, a big guy in dirty overalls. I felt the metal of the handlebars creak in my hands as he got closer. Then he got in my face and called me something that he really shouldn't have.

The only reason I loaded my bike in the truck bed and drove him to hospital was because I was already heading there anyway.

"Would you mind telling me what happened to your friend, Jacob?"

"Why don't you ask him?" I hope it's because his jaw was broken and had to be wired shut.

"I did," he said eyeing me, "There's no way a 'fall' could have that angle of impact unless it was from a window."

I shrug and glare at him, "I don't know anything."

He gets the message and his face drops another inch. "You think coming here with some man that you assaulted is going to convince me of your good intentions? That lying about it is going to inspire my trust?"

Well not when you put it like that. "I don't like being kept in the dark, Carlisle. It's not fair."

"It's a not an English speaking country." When I don't react he continues slower, "Its detective work, not fighting. If you can't understand, you can't help."

"I could help interrogate."

"That's already covered in a preferably more discreet way."

My bones crack because Snake in the Grass gets to ride the white horse to the rescue. Again. It really isn't fair. My joints click and pop and Doc gets scared.

He takes a nervous sweep of the hallway and pulls me into a supply closet barely big enough for the two of us.

"I understand how hard this must be on you but losing control will only make things worse, I promise you."

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" I whisper furiously, "I'm lost without her."

"I wish I knew," he sighed, "we're already doing everything we can think of. Unless you want a sedative, I can't help you."

I glare at him and he looks even sorrier.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to go tend to your friend's orbital blowout fracture." He looked at me like I should feel bad about it.

Even if I knew what that was, he'd still be wasting his time waiting for me to care. But then I remember that it would upset Nessie if she found out and I do feel bad. "You won't tell her, right?"

He shakes his head in a broken kind of way and slips out.

I'm glad that at least there's kickboxing class tonight. I could use some guilt-free venting. Especially now that Dr. Ugdealer had ruined the brief satisfaction I got from clocking the big mouth redneck.

I make eye contact with said Bubba as I pass his room on the way out. He looked away almost immediately and thanked me for the ride all soft like it was a date or something. It made me want to hit him again. But I couldn't because I shouldn't because I love Nessie and she wouldn't like it, because she'd be disappointed with me.

I'd never beat up a human before and, no matter how deserving this guy was, I shouldn't have. And I know it's only going to get worse the longer this goes on, the longer she's gone.

That guy could press charges, if they try to lock me up right now I will kill somebody, as many as I have to. No more prisons, never again.

Quil didn't show up. I vaguely remember him mentioning something about switching patrols with Leah but it was good class anyway. I got to fight the black belts. All of them, all at once.

It wore me out though. I went home and crashed, that good completely-passed-out, dead-to-the-world kind of sleep. The first night in I don't know how long.

So of course Billy wakes me up shouting in the early yellow-grey light of a rainy dawn, "Dr. Cullen's on the phone, he says it's important."

I'm almost to the bedroom door when he adds, "He wouldn't say what he wants but he didn't sound so good."

Endnote: :O

ChampS, it's part of learning to control her power. :)

Summer, I wish you'd let my Capstone adviser know that, lol. XD

megs, I like how you phrased that, addiction is one of the underlying metaphors I've tried to include in this piece, hence some of the song selections, this chapter included. ;)

Lalage, one thing is going to be cleared up soon. ;)

Jutey, "But maybe the wait isn't really to blame, so I'll remove the cause but not the symptoms." ;)

Jenna, that is exactly what I want to hear. :D

Lil, muchas gracias :) The problem is I often don't know when I've made a mistake. Though I do know that the accents are one of my weak points, tricky little buggers.

Medicat, I love that you found that funny. XD

razzle, :D yeah, Ms. Nessie is more than a little confused, it's one of my ways of emphasizing her humanity. I know that I can empathize with her plights much more than I'd like to.

WaK, in Constant Craving when Nessie's sucking on Maya's finger she's thinking about drinking from Jake. That's why Maya mistakes the behavior for a come on. ;)

OAT, and you rock for reviewing. :)

Mindy, I'd comment but I don't want to give anything away. ;)

Bellita, I concur, an Illusion turn would be way out of her league, even given the liberties I've taken with her vampire physiology (she wouldn't have been able to climb mountains weighted down and without her hands in one day if she were purely human.) The proper term for the 'kick' is 'Meia Lua de Compasso' (sometimes called 'Rabo de Arraia'.) If you're interested, check the link in my profile under the Cavy pic. :)

Silence, I guess you'll just have to keep reading. ;)

lily, glad you liked it :D