[ XXV ]
Rachel goes through the motions as she checks on Seth once she wakes.
She tries her best to clean the wound that is still somehow oozing thin silver lines of venom, then moves to clean the rest of him. She wipes a cool cloth over every inch of his skin, an act which should not shake her as it does. She is a doctor, she's seen people in worse conditions than the younger Clearwater but still, emotions tug inside her chest as she follows each curve of his neck and shoulders, each dip lined in his torso.
She tries to be strong, tries to cling to hope. She remembers when she had treated Leah, which seems almost like a life time ago. She had not known what she was doing then, still doesn't know what she is doing now to fight the effects of a supernatural world. Had it not been from Edward Cullen showing up not merely moments after Seth had collapsed at the door, she wouldn't have been able to save the she-wolf.
In the end, she sits back in the chair and continues to read both the book from her father, and the book she had ordered her brother to give her.
[ ... Whispers on the four winds will shake the lands, as the world re-aligns, merging the two entities.
The chaos inside both will silence, as the recognition of one soul grows between the pair, blooming as chalice of true love.
Even the stars will shake, as the two forces fight against the tide of doubt.
Before they both surrender... ]
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"Do not be startled. Let me help you," a smooth voice rings as Rachel slides off the chains. She looks into the golden hue eyes of the man in front of her, her eyes narrowing as the dim luminescent nature of his skin catches her attention.
"Sam! I need you here!" she calls urgently, needing the wolf for back up.
Sam jerks up and joins Rachel by the door. He sneers as he sees Edward Cullen, but the scent of blood assaulting his nostrils causes him to look down. He pulls at the chains instantly, yanking open the heavy iron doors. He wonders how Quil, who is running the grounds, has missed one of the Cullen's strolling on to their lands.
"What did you do!" He roars at the bronze haired vampire in front of them, his dark skin trembling in anger.
"This was not of my doing, Sam. This was the Volturi. I came as fast as I could. Please, they need our help."
Edward bends to hover over the two fallen wolves. Leah is clearly the more urgent wolf in need of medical attention. He can barely hear the thrum in her chest.
"I don't think so." Sam sneers.
"I'm the Chiefs daughter, my permission is just as good as yours," Rachel says, shoving Sam out of the way to push back the blood soaked hair from Leah's face. "She's breathing but we don't have much time. Sam! Distract Sue and Charlie. They are not going to want to see Leah like this, or Seth for that matter."
"She's been bitten multiple times," Edward tells the dark haired woman who shares the same blood as his adversary, Jacob Black. "So has, Seth. I can try to extract the venom by drawing it from their blood stream but it is not an exact science, but I fear it is our only chance."
"How can I trust you?" Rachel asks hurriedly, checking both wolves vital signs. It's not looking good and a lump catches in her throat looking over Leah and her younger brother.
"We are on the same side, Ms Black. I am trained in medicine as are you. I am only here to help." He tells her sincerely. He is somewhat grateful to find that Bella is not in the area, and hasn't been for months it seems. It was the only reason he had run all the way from Alaska.
Rachel snaps out of her haze when she feels Leah's fingers twitch inside her palm. "Okay. Let's get them inside."
.
Edward sits on the edge of the concrete pond in front of his home, waiting for his guests. He feels nervous as he tugs at his dress shirt which hasn't been ironed. It seems like an eternity since he's seen her, and now the thought of her was worrying his insides. It's a strange feeling but he allows it to engulf him.
Within moments they emerge from the dense trees, tall and regal, walking towards him.
His son has a goofy grin on his face, much like the one Seth Clearwater once use to wear when he was young and naïve, unscorned by life. He's talking fast, telling his mother how he almost caught her in their foot race and it would only take him another month or so and he would be the fastest wolf of the tribe. He's black hair is growing already and his green eyes sparkle with mirth.
Leah on the other hand is relaxed, her lips gracing a smile, watching intently as August explains his newest revelations. Edward cannot help but stare at the female as she moves with precision in her limbs but still moves as if she is the most gracious creature on the planet. Her hair is braided into two parts, both starting at her temple and wrapping around her ears, before they tumble down her back. He's almost taken back. She's never intentionally let anyone see her scars and now she was wearing them as if they were badges of honour. He couldn't falter her, he had always told her that scars told a story. Her scars in particular told how she had overcome one of the greatest hurdles she had ever faced. He wonders what her fur would look like with the braided hair and it almost makes him chuckle.
When her eyes cut to him, his lips press in a line, stopping himself from being so amused.
He stands as August limbers over and gives him a half hug. He doesn't quite expect the reception but he is grateful and hugs his son back. His eyes meet Leah's over Augusts shoulder and he can see the way her eyes look fondly over them. Her eyes are calm and soft and he doesn't know what's changed in the last week. He certainly doesn't expect her to be visiting with August, not when she had kept her visits with him hidden in the darkness and away from the pack.
"Are you hungry?" he asks as August pulls away.
His son smirks. "When am I not hungry?"
"Leah?"
She looks at him again. Her hazel eyes deep in contemplation.
"I could eat," the she-wolf nods.
.
The people inside huddle back while Edward carries Leah first to the small room inside the barn. The tiny space is set up as a makeshift medial station. They had anticipated injuries and three cots lay out, medical supplies tucked into the corner from the Reservation clinic. It's the only thing Rachel was able to grab before Paul tossed her unwillingly into the cab of his truck.
Rachel can hear Sue wanting to join them but Sam keeps them away, which she is thankful for. Not even strong Sue Clearwater would be able to keep it together after seeing the injuries of her children. Rachel herself was barely coping.
She works on Leah while the Cullen boy leaves to tend to Seth and carry him to the room also.
Rachel slips an oxygen mask over Leah's face, tightening it before switching on the portable machine. The lights come to life, as does the mask, its hum of oxygen slowly forcing it's way into Leah lungs.
The woman squeaks when she finds Seth laid out on a cot and Edward Cullen by her side, surveying the damage of the she-wolf. His pale hands palm and press against her friend's dirty blood soaked skin.
"The blood doesn't worry you?" Rachel can't help but ask. She's never met one of the Cullen's but she was well aware of their presence in Forks.
He shakes his head, tousling his sunburnt hair. "No. I've spent decades without human blood."
Edward hears Leah's groan through the mask as he presses down on her hip. Surprisingly, most of her thoughts are her own, and he can't hear any clear ribbons through the fluid writher of pain in her mind. "Look away if you must. I need to draw the venom out, now."
He leans down, brushing dust from her hip, before his teeth pierce her skin, pooping through the flesh like a samurai sword cutting silk. Her blood tastes unappetising and he has to close his eyes to concentrate on draining the venom from the wound. He's only ever done it once before with Bella, and he prays he will not have a reaction to the wolfs blood and - overindulge. His fears are put to rest when the taint of her essence touches his tongue. It is metallic and heavy, nothing like the sweetness he had garnered from the small human girl who was once his. His discreetly spits out the blood and venom into a large gore.
Once he is finished, he moves to another wound and goes through the same motions. He bites her a dozen times, each time enticing a pitched gasp of air from her lips or a twitch of her muscles in the effected area. If it wasn't a case of life and death, Edward sees how it could almost be erotic in a sense. Bloodlust was a given to vampires, blood and sex hovering always in his kinds mind.
"She's going to need blood, lots of it. Call Sam. We need to bleed both him and the wolf running the perimeter." He instructs Jacob Black's sister.
"Her mother is here. And half a dozen humans who could possibly be a match." Rachel argues as she wraps each of the wounds once Edward is finished.
"Human blood is no good for her. If there is still venom in her blood stream it will destroy the human blood instantly. She needs her pack."
When the human doctor is finished she washes her hands and runs to speak to the Alpha.
Edward crouches down, adjusting the mask over the wolf-girls face. He remembers her being a part of Jacob's pack before he left Forks. He can't recall seeing her in her human form though. She looks much different than the male wolves of her tribe in her human form, but figures it's because of the difference in her wolf. He remembers her as a sleek grey wolf, a tiny thing compared to both her brother Seth and Jacob Black's intimidating sizes.
As a human now in front of him he sees attraction in the girl. She's soft and womanly, even though sweat prickles on her forehead, dampening her inky black hair. He pushes back a few strands, focusing on the heaviness of her half breaths. She's in such pain and he wonders what her voice would sound like to his ears.
Pulling back, Edward glances at her one last time before focussing on the younger Clearwater.
.
"Edward?" Leah says softly, touching his elbow as he chops some vegetables, ready to add them to the pot on the stove. He stills under her touch, glancing over his shoulder in question. "Can I talk to you for a moment, alone?"
His eyes roam to the living room where their son is nosily playing some of the video games Emmett had left behind.
He rubs his hands on the kitchen towel after he carefully places the zucchini and carrots inside the stainless steel pot and turns it to simmer. "Of course. Would you like to take a walk in the garden?"
She nods her head and he follows her lead. They step silently out onto the grass. The sun has long since disappeared along the horizon and the cold nips at them both, but they rarely feel it anymore. His eyes regard her carefully, watching as her legs move the sundress she wears. She looks like heaven in the form of a female and he does his best to quell the romantic notions that bubble in his chest.
She is the reason he wishes for a human life, the second reason sitting on the couch within the living room. He once deduced that had Bella's blood not called to him the day they first met, he and Leah may have had a chance. Even with the social constructs around them, and him not being of Native blood, he knows he would have had a chance, they would have had a chance.
"It's beautiful out here at night," she muses as she gently runs her fingertips over budding flowers.
"I know," he replies, watching as she swivels around a small shrub and leans down to pick at it's deep maroon leaves.
"How are you, Edward?" she asks, catching him off guard. Normally their conversations centred around more immediate needs.
He tugs at a button on his dress shirt. "I'm as well as can be expected."
"Hmm," she hums as she turns to look at him. "Nothing new in your life?"
He swallows. "Not that I recollect."
"Huh, that's strange. I could swear I picked up a dull scent in the house. Warm apples." she murmurs.
Edward frowns at the notion. He doesn't understand why Bella smells like apples to the wolves, yet when he scents her soft cologne, it smells distinctly of strawberries.
"You know, Cullen, you've never been good at lying. Especially not to me. I know Bella's been here. If not for the scent, August's memories and Charlotte telling me a little something. Seems like you were both having a wonderful conversation the other day." she tells him, void of sarcasm.
"She - she only wanted to talk to me. She had been missing Jacob."
"Right," Leah comments as she smells another flower before plucking the bud from the stem. "That's strange that she would come here instead of to the Reservation to see Jake."
She peels back the closed flower bud and smells it, drawing its fresh sweet scent into her senses.
"How is Jacob?" Edward asks as he crosses his arms over his chest. Something akin to jealousy rolls through him.
"He's - as well as can be expected," she replies coolly, using his own words against him. "But I'm not here to talk about Jacob Black. I'm here to talk about our son."
Edward waits on her next words.
"I know you love him. And I want to say thank you for what you said. He seems to understand the reasons why, a little better than he had before."
He nods at her words.
"But I'm going to ask you something and you need to answer me truthfully, Edward. I don't want you to lie nor spare my feelings. I need to know, should anything happen to me, you would protect our son; take him far away from here if need be. I want to know if, should it come down to a choice, you would choose August. Over me, over Bella, over your family, and over yourself."
Edward feels his chest bloom in fear as he attempts to read her, even though she's been blocking him ever since they'd arrived. "What is happening? Why would I need to make such a choice?"
Leah shakes her head. "It's a hypothetical question, for now."
He steps forward, taking her warm hand in his. "Leah, I promise you. August will always come first. I have stayed in this lonely house for years, just to be close enough, should he ever need me. Should a time ever come, I will protect our son, with my last ounce of strength."
She smiles sadly at him, her hand reaching up to touch his face. "Thank you. That's all I needed to know." She takes a small breath before she leans forward and brushes her mouth over his. It's sweet, and binds his words to his existence in silent understanding. "This is the last time I will come to you, Edward. You will be free to move through LaPush, for our son's sake and we will continue to converse as parents. But from this night forward, I'm letting you go."
"Wait!" Edward exclaims desperately, grasping her elbows so she can't turn away from him. "Is this what you really want?"
She nods.
"Does this have anything to do with Jacob Black's return?"
Or Bella's? he silently thinks.
Leah touches his chest this time, ignoring the comment. "Thank you for everything, Cullen. For being with me when the whole world seemed to turn it's back. I will be grateful to you for as long as I live. August will always be our son. No matter what happens. But it's time to say goodbye to the part of us that continues to pretend, that we are more, than what we are."
She moves from his embrace, her hazel eyes cloudy and unclear.
He wants to stop her, wants to run after her, tell her that their fates weren't yet written in stone. Because how could her let her go? After all this time? How would he cope without her warm skin, her visits to him in the dead of the night? How could he resist touching her? Using her to fill the void inside his chest.
"Goodbye, for now, Edward."
And like they say; you never know what you've got, until it's gone.
.
Edward sits on the floor next to her cot, his legs drawn up and his forearms resting on his knees. The crisp light blue dress shirt he wears is rolled up to his elbows, his hands still stained with wolf blood.
The female is covered in bandages, and is still not breathing completely on her own. Her chest rises and falls shallowly so he sits in wait, gauging her condition while Rachel Black lays sleeping near Seth, her hands tucked under her head, exhausted from the day gone.
Because they are alone, he can't help but stare at the wolf-girl as she lays unmoving. Her eyelashes brush against her cheek bones, fluttering slightly as her eyes unconsciously move under her lids.
Letting his head drop, he tries to block out the barraging string of thoughts that the thrones of humans just outside the internal door throw out. Their thoughts pulsate through him, accusations and fear all ringing true. They are frightened to have him so close, to allow him to stay and help, even though he has offered nothing to have them doubt his intentions.
Like a knife through butter, a single thought rings out, drowning the mangled chatter of the humans. It's a single ribbon, but it's so clear he swears he could almost hear her raspy voice. It whispers only two words, words he would never expect from a mortal enemy.
'Thank you.'