Hey, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I only own the rights to my OCs and plot supplements. Stephanie Meyer owns everything else.

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Call of the Forest 25 Love is a Cruel Beast (LPOV)

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I don't know how Jake does it. He's so close to Bella, but he still knows that the entire love that they share could be torn from them with a single look at the wrong person-he knows the dangerous reality of imprinting.

Bella will fall apart if Jake imprints.

It's as simple as that, just like I crumbled when Sam imprinted.

Bella shouldn't go through what I've gone through-no one should.

It wasn't Sam's fault at all, I know that now. It's not like he had a choice who he imprinted on-he's happy with Emily, happier than he was with me… I can see in his head that he still loves me, and that he regrets hurting me, but I just can't believe him when he's always thinking about having his tongue down my former favorite cousin's throat.

"I really am sorry Leah, I…"

I didn't hear the rest of Sam's sentence as I phased out of the pack mind. I haven't been phased at the same time as Sam since I phased back for the first time. I can't stand it!

"I hate this!" I screamed. A rustle sounded in the bushes to my right "Who's there?"

"It's just me Leah!" Nix cried, shooting up from behind the foliage, his hands held up in mock surrender, though from the expression he wore on his face, he appeared scared for his life.

"What do you want Nix?"

"Um… Er… Uh…"

"Just spit it out already!" I snapped.

Nix jumped in surprise "Well, uh… I probably should just ask Sam…"

"Then why are you talking to me?"

"Um, well my cousins are spending the Summer with us, and I can't exactly avoid them for three months, so I was wondering how you felt when Sam phased for the first time so I could make sure my cousins don't feel the same way?"

I think it's sweet how he doesn't want his cousins to go through what I went through, but… I bristled at the memory of those first few weeks after Sam 'disappeared', followed by him imprinting on Emily the first time he came back to me…

"Leah?" Nix's voice cut through my reverie.

"I thought I did something to chase Sam away-that it was my fault. But as time went on, I started to think he hiding something from me. When he finally came back to me, I was overjoyed, but he was always so reserved around me-like he was hiding something from me. You can probably guess what happened next…"

"Yeah… I'm so sorry for you Leah-I know how hard it must be for you to have to share a mind with Sam…"

"Thanks Nix."

"So I should tell them?"

"NO! Bad idea Nix, if Sam found out you would be on midnight patrol for the rest of your life!"

"Then what should I do?"

"Don't avoid them-then they'll get suspicious, since you're already so close they will know that something's up with you right away. Just be sure to spend time with them, that's what I wish Sam would've done."

"Thanks Leah. You're really nice, when you aren't bitchy."

My mouth dropped as Nix retreated into the forest.

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I laughed as I ran away from Leah.

I wonder what Leah's face looked like after I left? It must've been priceless.

My mind wandered to my cousins as I ran through the forest, back towards my house. After all, I have appearances to start to put up with my mother!

I remember how Danny and I would always spend every waking moment together, so much so that people thought we were brothers separated at birth. At first we brushed it off, but as we grew older we started to see the similarities in our physical features, the most obvious being our identical eye and hair colors, height, and facial build. In fact, we were so sure that we were more closely related than cousins that we were going to have our DNA compared to confirm our suspicions. Of course the day before we were going to have it done I figured out that my dad was forging my signature behind my back, so I had to vent to Cymi. I always felt a pull towards her; I can't explain the connection we had. The conversation flowed so smoothly, so naturally-as easy as breathing. That person just had to be driving drunk that early in the evening… I started to shake. NO! I need to calm down. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

I slowed down to a trot from my full-on sprint. It's so nice being able to run for hours and never get tired… Granted being a bottomless pit every minute of every waking hour gets old very quickly.

I paused for a second and looked at the break in the canopy, seeing at the gray sky above. I wonder if Danny and Liza will wonder how I grew so much in a few months, not to mention the muscle that I put on. I tore my gaze from the sky to look in front of me again. I wonder how Dustin's doing? Before he left for boot camp he was my best friend when I wasn't with Danny. I sure hope my older brother hasn't gotten himself killed wherever he is…

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I can't thank Sergeant Skaflestad enough for getting me dismissed early-she's the only one who knows about everything my little brother is going through at home and how I feel about it all…

I can't wait to see the look on his face when I show up for the Summer festival-I'm sure he'll be overjoyed to see me… But what if he sees this as my giving up ma career-my dream, to be with him…

I sure hope he'll be glad that I'm home, I mean I was only on my way to being court marshaled with that last outburst I had… All of the guys know that I've been having mood swings lately-they know that I didn't mean for it to happen, but it's just been so easy for me to get angry lately… Maybe I need to see a psychiatrist when I get back to our new home…

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