I have written two out of four exams, so here's my new chapter. Sorry for keeping you waiting!

I don't own Twilight.

Finally Summer

Prom had given me the shock of my life. I still hadn't processed what had happened – I still couldn't believe that the myths were true stories. Yes, I had suspected that, but still – I had never imagined that these stories could still be true. That there still were spirit wolves. And that my ex-boyfriend was one of them!

I hadn't told Jacob. Nor would I – he would never believe me, and I was not risking a major fight over myth and truth.

I hadn't told Dad, either. I was sure he was in on that, but I was also convinced that I was not supposed to know about it. Sounded a lot like tribal secret; after all, no one should know that we had spirit wolves – or men that could turn into wolves.

Like werewolves. Were they like werewolves? Who bit someone and then he could turn into a monstrous and blood-thirsty beast? But then Paul hadn't eaten the man. He hadn't looked like your classic werewolf, too. More like a normal wolf, only in huge.

The legends were true. This sentence kept spinning around my head. There was no way around it. No arguments to prove me wrong. I had seen a myth come true, I had seen a myth actually happen. Paul had turned into a humongous wolf. He had ripped from his body and his suit had exploded. I was too confused.

And there was no way I could tell anyone! I was alone with my secret, that was actually my tribe's secret, that I most certainly shouldn't know.

And to be honest, the thing that bothered me most was that I couldn't think much about the kiss because I thought too much about the stupid secret.

I wanted to think about the kiss. I mean, we actually had kissed! Jacob and I had kissed! I wanted to think about that every minute, every second. But every time I did, Wolf-Paul kept appearing in my mind.

Were Sam and Jared wolves, too? They had to be – I mean, first of all, they looked very much the same. Short hair, they always wore short clothes and they had tattoos. And then, second, they always spent their time together. Sure, Sam wasn't going to school anymore, but after school, the three of them met. They were inseparable. And in school, it was always Paul and Jared – well, and Kim. Kim was stuck to Jared exactly the same way that Emily was stuck to Sam – like a stamp. They were like a gang, like a wolf-family... Like a... Like a...

Like a pack.

A pack. Oh my god. A pack. An actual wolf pack. A pack of Quileute wolf-men and their females. My life was craaaaaaaaaaaazy!

I couldn't believe it. There was a pack. Could the women turn into wolves, too? But they looked different than the three men. So, were they just partners?

And why couldn't I stop thinking about that? Why did I always see Paul as a wolf? In school, I couldn't even look at him properly. I couldn't look at Jared, too. Problem was that Jared was my classmate, and I sat next to him in English, so I was bound to speak with him. It felt very awkward.

I wanted everything to be different – to be the way it had been before prom. I'd even trade the kiss! Just to make this awkward feeling go away.

Why did we have these wolves? Why were they here? What was the trigger for that?

Arrrgh, I needed to get that stuff of my mind! School was almost over – I should concentrate on waiting for summer break instead trying to NOT concentrate on my tribe's biggest secret.

It seemed like my teachers felt a sudden need to give us even more homework than usual. I almost drowned in work. I had to do essays, hundreds of them, and my English teacher had decided that we should read a random book and write a reader's diary about it. In a month! I didn't even know what book to read. There were so many things on my mind, so many more important things than school.

The legends were true. Taha Aki had made the step from man to wolf to man. And now there still were wolves. There still was a wolf pack. And it seemed like they were still protecting our tribe.

That scared me.

If I didn't do homework or thought about tribal myths, I worked at the Lonesome Creek Store. Logan was a funny employer. The only thing that really bothered me was that he always made me sorting out the mouldy vegetables, and that was extremely disgusting. It wasn't that Logan handed me all the dirty work, it was just that he didn't think of it. And because I was a control freak, I checked the shelves every Friday.

That was why Logan had started to call me his 'Angel'. It was tidy when I had worked my magic.

"Leah, my angel", Logan called. I looked above the vegetable shelves. "Yes?" "Come to the cashier, please! I have to go home for about half an hour." "Sure!", I called back and threw away five old apples. I walked up to the cashier and waited for customers.

First customer, as usual on Fridays, was Emily. It felt more and more awkward to meet her. First, she was my ex-boyfriend's girlfriend, and second, she probably was in on the big tribal secret.

Emily smiled at me; the scars on her face made it look like a strange grimace. What had happened to her again? Oh right – a bear attack. On Halloween. Where Jacob and I had sat on the beach and had almost (!) kissed.

Wait.

There had been a wolf howl. Right after Sam had turned up. Could it be that- no way. That was impossible. But – Could it be that it had not been a bear? That it had been a wolf? That would explain the constant feeling of guilt Sam was emanating when being around Emily. But why would he hurt Emily? That just couldn't have happened. I didn't even want to imagine how it must have hurt to have big claws in one's face. How it must have bled. I had only seen her from further away.

"Hello, Leah", Emily smiled. Our relationship had cooled down a lot. "Hey. What do you need?" "Flour, sugar and apples. And chocolate chips, do you have them?" I smiled a very fake smile. "I'll take a look, please be patient." I knew I sounded mechanically, but I just couldn't talk to her properly. It was like she had left me, too. In just a few weeks, I had lost my boyfriend and my best friend.

Oh hell, whatever. I walked to a shelf and looked for chocolate chips. Unfortunately, we had one package left. I took it and gave it to Emily. "Here you go." Cool voice. No friendly tone. I was trying to make clear that she had hurt me very much. But, unfortunately for me, she always tried to communicate with me in a friendly way. I always blocked that.

"Thank you, Leah", she said after she had collected said flour, sugar and apples, "That's all." I smiled another fake smile. "You are very welcome." Oh, come on, she must have noticed that I didn't want to talk with her! Ah, she hadn't. "The weather is great today, isn't it?" I glanced outside. It was gray, but it didn't rain. I wouldn't count that as great. Looked more like usual. "Yeah, whatever." What a nice answer. I was too friendly sometimes. Could she just leave now?

Irony aside. She was my cousin, and I should at least try to be nice.

She paid for everything and smiled at me again. Her scars really looked awful. "Goodbye, Leah. I'll see you around. If you see Sam, can you tell him that I'm making muffins tonight?" I nodded mechanically. Only after she had left the store, I realized what I had agreed to. I had to talk to Sam.

I wouldn't see him today. Of that I was sure. He almost never came by, only sometimes to get something for Emily.

But today was my lucky day. Just twenty minutes later my stupid big musculous ex-boyfriend entered the store, and Logan hadn't returned yet.

Sam nodded at me and I smiled a huge fake smile back. Deep inside me, something hurt. Damn. And here I had thought I wasn't so much in love with him anymore.

Suddenly Sam stood in front of me. "Hey Leah, how are you? How was your prom?" Horrible! Weird! Confusing! Annoying! Question-raising! I mean, what did he think? That it was great to go with your best friend instead of a real boyfriend, of a real date, like last year to Sam's senior prom?

He had looked awesome in his suit, and he had gone home with me after the party. It had felt really nice to have him sleeping next to me. And now, when I was looking at him, it just felt awful. Why did he have to smile at me with that very same pained expression he'd had when he'd broken up with me?

The memory of the worst day of my life came back. I had tried hard to surpress it, but sometimes it just resurfaced. The memory of the day where the man I had loved the most had broken every promise he'd ever given me.

He had promised to stay with me. Whatever would happen.

Broken.

He had promised to love me forever.

Broken.

He had promised to marry me.

Broken.

He had promised to protect me from every harm.

Broken, too.

And everytime I looked at Sam, I remembered the pain I had felt when he had told me we couldn't be together anymore.

"Hey. I'm okay! Prom was great", well, it had been great until I had seen Paul changing into a beastly... well, beast. "That's great. Jared told me you looked stunning." Was he trying to flirt with me? I smiled. "Don't I always?" He grinned. He probably was happy that I talked to him. That made me roll my eyes. Did he really think I could forgive him for leaving me? That was impossible.

"Yes, you do. Now, do you have chocolate chips? Emily needs them." I smiled again. "Oh, you don't have to get them. She's already been here. I'm supposed to tell you that she's going to make muffins for tonight's dinner." "Oh!" He looked pleased. "Thanks. Can I get you anything?" Yeah, he could leave right now. "No, thank you, Sam, I'm good. Anything else you want?" He looked around. "Do you have beer?" I raised my eyebrows. "Sorry, Sammy, you're not twenty-one yet." He winked at me. "Come on, Leah. Logan's not here." I grinned evilly. "And I don't care. You have to wait a few more years, babe." Sam looked at me, and a crooked smile appeared on his face. "Are you trying to flirt with me?" I snorted. "I gave that up some time ago. Now, if you could mind your own business?" I blinked a few times, as if I hoped that he would disappear in between.

He sighed. "You're still mad at me, aren't you?" Oh, great! It was time for an irony attack. It is your turn, irony!

"No! Why would you think that, Samuel Uley? Why should I be mad? I am totally fine with you breaking my heart every time I see you. Honestly, I feel awesome!" Why did irony have to sound so pathetic after a while? He probably thought I was a hysterical ex-girlfriend that couldn't let him go.

Oh, wait! I was a hysterical ex-girlfriend that couldn't let him go.

I really was pathetic.

Sam wore a pained expression. "Leah, I am... please, you don't understand. I want to explain, but I can't. It's... I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't want to hurt you. Can you believe me?" I shook my head, trying to hold back any stupid comment. I didn't want to piss off the Alpha male. How had he become a wolf? When? Had he been my boyfriend back then? Questions and questions, I would have to ask Dad at some time.

Alpha male. I was pretty sure that Sam was the Alpha male. The way he had spoken to Paul, the way Jared and Paul always followed him...

Sam nodded. "Alright then. I can't be more than sorry, Lee-Lee", that stupid nickname again, couldn't he just shut up, "If you can't forgive me, I can understand that. But I am sorry. There was never a person I wanted to hurt less than you." I grinned, but I knew that it looked like a grimace. "Well, there's one now", I said bitterly. Sam's eyes flashed at me. "What do you mean?" "Just that now, you have Emily?" He looked very much in pain now. "Leah, please! That wasn't my decision! If I had been able to decide, I would have chosen you! I hace always believed that you were the perfect fit for me, but I couldn't help it!" I remembered what Dad had told me about my ancestor and her husband from the Black family. "You have fullen in love with Emily in a way that is not reversible."

Right conclusion. Sam looked at me in shock. "Yeah – but how do you – do you understand what that means?" "I understand that it means you can't love me anymore", I said. I had enough of that. "And now, if you have something more to say, talk to the hand", I declared, raised my hand in his direction and walked away. I heard Sam sigh, and then the door as he was leaving the store. "Yeah, go right back to your Alpha female!", I shouted. The door was shut, and then Sam stood in front of me again. "What did you say?" He sounded confused. "Oh, nothing", I smiled with a sheepish expression, and bewildered, Sam walked away.

I still grinned when I took out my cell phone and dialed Jasper's number.

Why Jasper?

Because I didn't want to give Jacob the impression that Sam still bothered me. Jacob was my new person of interest, and it would only be contraproductive to tell him about my problem with Sam.

Besides, Jasper had a secret, and the whole We-have-a-pack-of-wolf-men-thing was kind of a secret, too, so we both were a little secretive and I could get a little revenge.

"Yes?", the melodic voice said. Now that I had gotten to know him, I could hear his accent in every small word. "Hey, Jasper, it's me, Leah. Do you have a moment?" "I have two moments for you, if you need them, my dear. What is on your mind?" I told him about Sam's and my conversation. I left out most of my thoughts, though. They would have given away my secret. But I told him everything else, and what was great was that he listened to me without interrupting even once.

Unbelievable that our friendship had gotten so far.

"So, my dear, and what exactly bothered you so much? I mean, you keep telling me that you do not love this man anymore, and here you call me to tell me how horrible it is to speak to him?" It wasn't that Jasper was insensitive. Not a bit. He just knew exactly what to say to make me realize things. Although it was sometimes difficult to cope with his statements, he almost always made me see things from a different and often clearer perspective.

"Well, it's just – I think I'm still in love with him, at least partially! And it just hurts to see him, and even more to talk to him!" Jasper chuckled. "I know, my dear." This was leading nowhere. "Come on, tell me what I can do to get this feeling away! It's not like I want to be still in love with him." Now he snorted. "You ask me to do what? My dear, I may have studied psychology-"

And there it was again. Jasper's mysterious comments. Everytime I talked to him, he added some new information. That had been our deal. He didn't lie to me and didn't filter his statements, and I tried to find out what his secret was without him telling me. I added the new statement to my list of Jasper's Mysterious Secret Revealers:

1. His name was Whitlock, not Hale or Cullen

2. Rosalie was not his real sister

3. He was raised as a Confederate

4. He knew that I had always been a special woman

5. Alice was his fiancée

6. He didn't feel any hunger

7. I smelled weird to him

8. He had studied psychology

And that were only the most striking ones. In fact, I was very sure now that he could only be a lot older than eighteen or nineteen or whatever he said he was. I just hadn't dared to ask him yet. I needed more proof.

"- but your case is far too complicated to be discussed on the phone." "Bullshit", I said. He chuckled. "Okay, I hope this helps you: You and Sam, you had been very far with your relationship for your age. He proposed to you, sort of, and that is not something people nowadays do so early. You had pictured yourself with an adult Sam in a pretty house not far away from your family, with two or more children calling you 'Mom' and him 'Daddy'. You had pictured yourself in a beautiful wedding dress, walking on your father's hand towards a beaming Sam, who would be happy to give his name, his love and his life to you.

"But then, incomprehensible for you because he never explained, he suddenly broke every promise he had given you. And instead of marrying you, of having children with you, he suddenly goes out with someone you have introduced to him, to someone you have grown up with, someone you have loved like a sister, and he promises the same things to her. Darlin', you have lost your boyfriend to your best friend and your best friend to your boyfriend. Two very important people in just one day! You feel alone, and especially betrayed. This is not something you can solve with a single recipe and in just one day. This is a long and hard process that hurts once in a while.

"But you're on the wight way, Leah. I can feel it, I can feel that you get better. I remember when we met for the very first time, in that jewellery store in Seattle. It felt different with you. So much pain – which you hid, and you are great at hiding – but I still could feel that something had torn you apart, something had moved your little world to another place.

"And now, everytime I meet you, I can sense that you are healing. Your world does not move back, but it feels okay where it is. What I am trying to tell you, my little Indian princess, is that you do not need my help to find the right way to get over Sam. You are doing fine on your own. You are going the right way. And don't worry, my dear, some day, you will wake up and not waste one thought on your lost love. I have that trust in you."

I sighed. It was a little disturbing, but also encouraging. Amazingly, his words were comforting. "Thanks, Jasper. You're a great friend. I don't know what I would do – and here comes Jacob, I need to hang up. Talk to you later!" And I put my cell phone back into my pocket.

I beamed. I felt so light right now. Surely Jasper was right.

I beamed at Jacob, who was standing in front of me with a chocolate bar in his hands. "I need sugar!", he moaned. "That's a dollar", I said, grabbing the bar. "A dollar? Are you kidding me? Since when has chocolate gotten so expensive?" I shrugged. "Since Logan makes the prices." Jake sighed heavily. "Oh well, whatever. I need the sugar right now." He handed me a dollar, and I gave him the chocolate bar. "Thanks", he groaned hungrily. I laughed. "Jeez! Haven't you had any lunch?" "'Course I had, but Dad forgot the dessert, and I need my daily amount of sugar." I thought about my problems. I'd rather have a sugar shortage than thinking about a stupid kiss or giant wolves.

My life was way too complicated.

"When's your shift over?", Jacob asked. I looked at my watch. "In thirty minutes. Why?" "Do you mind if I wait for you? We could do something fun. Watch Ghostbusters. It's on TV tonight." Actually, that sounded like a pretty good idea. Ghostbusters was a great movie. "Okay! Your place or mine?" Jake thought. Then he said: "Better your place, Dad has Charlie over for some game. They're gonna occupy the living room." "Well, that means Dad wants to watch it as well. But we could probably just-" "-take him to my house so the three of them can watch the game together, which would leave your living room unoccupied", Jacob finished my sentence. Amazing how close we had gotten. Close enough for him knowing exactly what was on my mind.

Maybe my life wasn't complicated at all. Maybe my life was just awesome. And maybe Jacob and I could finally talk about prom night.

It was already late when the movie ended, and I walked Jacob to the door. "So...", he looked on the ground. I felt a little strange, too. "See you, Jake." He nodded. "Yeah, wish you a good night." We hugged, and he kissed my cheek. Having my cheek kissed was getting on my nerves!

He had only walked two meters when I called him back. "Jacob!" He turned round. "About prom..." He walked back to me. "Yes?"

But before I could say anything, a loud howl pierced through the darkness. I jumped. Jacob looked frightened. I looked pissed. Jake shook his head, as if he wanted to shake off that howl, and looked at me again. "What did you want to say?" I took a deep breath. "Nothing, Jake. Nothing. See you tomorrow, wish you a good night." He smiled, and this time, I watched him disappear into the misty darkness.

As soon as I was convinced he was far away, I stormed into our backyard that bordered the woods.

"Thanks a lot, Sam!", I shouted, "I wanted to talk to Jacob about prom, but you just have to interrupt that, don't you?" I really hoped Wolf-Sam would hear me. If it was Sam, of course. Could have been Paul or Jared, too.

Another howl pierced through the night, and I realized that it had started to rain again. "I HATE YOU!", I screamed, "I FUCKING HATE YOU! YOU ALWAYS DESTROY EVERYTHING!"

"Leah, are you okay?", somebody asked from behind. I shrieked. It was Dad. I snorted. "Yeah, I'm totally fine. Just that my ex-boyfriend turns into a giant wolf, but apart from that, everything's awesome!" Dad looked shocked, and then sad. He put my hands in his. "Since when have you known about that?" "Prom", I hissed, "I saw Paul turning." Dad nodded. "I am so sorry, Leah. You weren't supposed to know about that, of course. But I can't help it now. Do you want to talk about it?"

And then I got angry. Like, really angry. It was the kind of anger that I only felt sometimes, when something really disappointing had happened or if I was sad and confused. You could hide confusion perfectly with fury.

"Do I wanna talk about it? DO I WANNA TALK ABOUT IT? Well, maybe you should have talked about it a lot earlier! Sam can turn into a giant wolf! I mean, when did that happen? Had he still be mine back then? Did he leave me because of that?" Part of me hoped that he had at least broken up with me to protect me.

"Leah", Dad sighed, "It's a little more complicated. Do you want to hear it?" I nodded, with a stern look on my face.

"The wolf gene has been triggered last spring. Sam turned after Seth's thirteenth birthday. He was scared he might hurt you, but he convinced himself that he would be able to stay with you. He loved you so much, and he was bound to work it out." I had tears in my eyes. I didn't know whether the'd come from my rage. "Then why did he leave me?" Dad sighed again. "Do you remember that I told you your great-great-great-grandfather fell in love with your great-great-great-grandmother Leah in a way that was irreversible?" I nodded, new tears flooding down my cheeks. So I had been right this afternoon. "See, this irreversible love is called imprinting." The tears stopped as I got curious. "Imprinting?" Dad nodded. "Imprinting means that we find our perfect partners. Those Quileutes who can turn into a wolf imprint on the person that is their soulmate." "can you turn?" He shook his head. "S if you could, there would be a great chance of you not being with Mom." Dad had a pained look in his eyes as he nodded. "Unfortunately, yes." "So Sam left me because-" "-he found his perfect partner in Emily."

I was silent. I was done. That was it. That had been too much. I had not been the perfect one for Sam. I had not been the right fit for him.

"Leah, honey, it wasn't his decision. He would have chosen you, he came to the council to ask whether he could do anything against it. He couldn't."

Everything came crashing down on me again; the pain, the sadness, the disappointment, the anger. My thoughts spun around my head, and I felt dizzy. Dad kept me from falling.

"Sweetie, calm down. He didn't mean any harm. You will find another one; I am sure that if the wolf pack keeps growing, somebody will imprint on you." I snorted. "Maybe I don't want that, Dad! Maybe it pisses me off if a decision is made for me. Maybe I want to decide for myself who to love and who not!" Dad looked sad. "Honey, I am so sorry. Sam didn't want to leave you. He had to."

I didn't know what to say. I thought that Sam had not minded going out with Emily two weeks later. Hadn't looked so much like he had to leave me. More like he had chosen to do so.

"Leah, come back inside. You can't do anything about it, sweetie." I growled and turned back to the woods. "Cover your ears, Daddy", I said. Dad looked at me with questioning eyes. I didn't care.

"SAMUEL ULEY, YOU ARE THE BIGGEST ASSHOLE IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!"

I smiled contently and walked in front of Dad back inside.

I got ready for bed and laid down, not without saying good-night to the picture of Leah Clearwater the Older. She was a mystery that was still unsolved.

"Not for long", I yawned as I turned round to find a good position to sleep. A loud howl came from the forest.

"Jackass!", I said loudly before I fell asleep.

One and a half week later, summer break began. I had been looking forward to leeping long into the day, which I did on the first day.

I got up at around one o'clock, but left my pajamas on. I wouldn't dress up on my first day of summer break.

Not that it looked much like summer. It was raining cats and dogs outside. I smiled at the idea of the wolf pack getting wet.

I realized I didn't know why exactly the pack was here. Dad had said something about a trigger, but he hadn't elaborated that. Maybe I could ask him. Now that I was in on the secret, I was allowed to know everything, in my opinion.

I wondered if Dad was at home. He was organizing the Quileute Days that would be in three weeks. I didn't know if I was looking forward to that. The food was good, the rest kind of boring, most of the time.

I walked down into the kitchen, where Dad was cleaning the table. "Morning, Daddy!", I beamed. He turned to me. "Morning, honey. Would you like a cup of tea?" I nodded. "Dad?" "Yes, sweetie?" At the same moment I wanted to ask Dad about the trigger, the door bell rang. I stood up and opened the door.

It was Jacob. He had a huge grin on his face and two packages of chocolate-covered doughnuts in his hands. "Wanna watch Scrubs?", he asked. I beamed. "Sure!" And we went into the living room and turned on the TV.

That was where I spent the erst of my first day of summer break: in front of the TV, eating doughnuts in the arms of my best friend and watching Dr. Cox being angry at J.D. - sorry, Nancy – again.

For some reason, I was convinced that this summer would be a lot better than the last.