Chapter 26: Relief

Before Leah could bang on the bloodsuckers' door again it swung open revealing Jacob. She glared at him as he gave her a once over, taking in her dirty, disheveled and soaked appearance. Leah almost felt ashamed of how she looked, but she kept her arms against her side, refusing to cover herself. She refused to show any weakness in front the bloodsuckers that were placed around the living room watching her in the doorway.

Jacob sighed and stepped aside giving Leah room to enter the house. The stench was even more overwhelming once she no longer had the wind to sweep the smell away from her. Leah had to wonder how Jacob had been able to stand being in the confined space for so long. She could already feel herself growing nauseous and the beginning of a headache taking hold.

"Here."

Leah looked away from Jacob to Edward who was standing before her holding a towel. She'd never spoken to the bloodsucker personally, but she knew enough about him from Jacob and Seth's memories and interactions. And even though she knew that most of Jacob's were biased she couldn't help but distrust the perfect front Edward presented to the world but shed when talking to Jacob.

"Just take the towel, Leah. You're dripping all over the floor," Jacob told her. He took the cloth from Edward, who quickly retreated once the towel was no longer in his hand, and tossed it over Leah's shoulder.

She glared at him again, but grudgingly began to dry herself. Even though the towel had been washed recently she could still smell the leeches' stench all over it.

Once she finished she held the towel awkwardly in both her hands, not knowing what to do with it. Normally, she would have just thrown it on the floor, but she couldn't risk being thrown out. She was tired of being wet, and sick of being alone. But most importantly she couldn't take Jacob, her alpha, being among the bloodsuckers without backup any longer.

"I'll take that, dear," the mother leech said as she slowly approached Leah with a warm smile on her face. Leah held the towel out for her to take, and tried not to phase as she drew closer. Edward's approach had been quick, but now that Leah had time to take in the fact that a bloodsucker was actually getting closer to her, Leah was finding it difficult to contain her instinct to phase and rip it a part.

Jacob casually stepped forward and stood between the two of them. He took the towel from Leah and handed it to bloodsucker. "Thank you, Esme," he said softly with a small smile of his own.

It was unnerving to watch him be polite when less than four months ago Jacob had barely been able to tolerate them while they worked together to defeat the newborns. So much had changed.

Like the way Leah knew that she could trust Jacob's judgment on the situation. She could trust him to protect her if something should go wrong. Leah had never felt that way with Sam as her alpha; mostly because Sam had been the one to hurt her, however unintentional as it might have been. But there had always been some hesitance in following his lead and trusting him to make the right decisions.

That wasn't the case with Jacob. Her trust in him was inherent and absolute. It was instinctual. Which was shocking, because before Jacob had become her alpha Leah wouldn't have thought that she could have ever trusted his judgment. Bella had always been his first concern and central focus. Sure, he thought of the packs safety, but Bella had also been in front of everyone else.

"Everyone, this is Leah," Jacob said, addressing the now standing bloodsuckers. "Leah, the Cullens." Leah opened her mouth to tell him that she knew who they were, but he turned back towards her and gave her a look that told her to watch herself. She huffed and turned her attention back to the leeches, offering them a nod in greeting.

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need," the doctor leech told her.

"Thank you," she ground out between clenched teeth. She took some satisfaction in noticing that not everyone in the room was as happy to have her there as the doctor and the mother seemed to be.

The blonde leech was downright glaring at Leah, as if her look alone could cause Leah to spontaneously combust. The dark, curly leech had one arm behind her shoulders, and the other arm was crossed in front of her so he could hold her wrist. He didn't look too disturbed to have another werewolf in the house; if his grin was anything to go by.

The southern leech that had the most experience fighting newborns was frowning, and he kept looking at her as if he were trying to read her. Leah remembered that he was the leech that could feel other's emotions so she tried to amplify her hatred for being there just so he could feel just how much she despised all of them. Their very existence had caused her to lose so much: Sam, her father, her womanhood.

She didn't want to think about those things, though. So she turned her attention to the only human in the room. Leah took the most pleasure in how uncomfortable her presence was making Bella. The leech-lover was fidgeting in her seat and twisting her hands. She kept looking between Edward and Jacob as if to tell the bloodsucker to do something. But the vampire just stood there with the same brooding expression on his face with his gaze locked on Jacob.

Leah almost smirked as she moved closer to Jacob, almost touching him, and watched the blood rush to Bella's face and her eyes widen. At least she had something to look forward to being stuck in a house full of filthy bloodsuckers and their leech-lover.

Jacob cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "I'm going to get Leah settled."

"Is she staying in the sick room?" Bella asked, hope lining her voice.

"The basement," Jacob corrected her. Leah looked at him with a mixture of confusion and anger. There was no way that she was going to be shut away in someone's basement.

"But you're in the basement." Oh, well that was different. Again, Leah plastered a grin on her face and made sure to follow very closely behind Jacob, leaving barely any space between them.

"Yes."

"I don't want her in the basement." Frankly, Leah didn't give a damn what Bella wanted. The girl had had far too much control over Jacob in the past, and Leah was just sick of it.

She stopped just short of running into Jacob. He had his eyes closed and head down. He took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled before turning his attention to the doctor leech. "Do you have any objections to Leah staying in the basement?"

The doctor held Jacob gaze and shook his head. "There should be plenty of room for the both of you." Leah would gladly take the floor if there wasn't. It would be worth it just to keep that disbelieving, upset look on Bella's face.

"Jake," Bella protested.

"I think it's a good thing that we contain the stench to one area," the blonde leech sneered.

Leah couldn't hold back the growl that escaped her throat. Jacob placed a calming hand on her arm, though, and Leah let her anger flow away. She settled for glaring at the blonde leech; which just caused the vampire to scoff.

"Would you like me to restart the stew, Jacob dear," the mother leech asked as Jacob and Leah passed her.

"Yes, please. I'll be back up in a few minutes."

Leah followed Jacob as he wove his way through the living room to a hallway. The bloodsuckers made sure to give them room to pass. As they cleared the room, Leah could have sworn that Edward had made to follow them, but had stopped himself at the last second. Interesting, she thought to herself.

Leah shut the door behind her as she followed Jacob down the flight of stairs. She doubted it would prevent the bloodsuckers from eavesdropping, but the closed door gave her some semblance of privacy. Plus she hoped it would keep the dead smell to a minimum.

Jacob walked over to what Leah could only assume was a closet, if not a small bedroom, and pulled clothes from several hangers. Leah had to hold her amusement in as she noticed the pricey garments and Jacob's lack of care with them. Those clothes weren't Jacob at all.

"Just wait until Alice buys you your own wardrobe," he told her as he handed her the clothes.

"I'm not going to be here long enough," Leah firmly informed him. Jacob looked worried, but he quickly neutralized his features. He knew more than he was telling her.

"Just be polite, Leah. I know it's hard for you-"

"Why should I be nice to a bunch of filthy bloodsuckers? I don't owe them anything."

Jacob looked at her with pity in his eyes. She growled at him as she pulled up the borrowed pants. They were too big for her. Jacob went back into his closet and returned with a belt.

"I didn't mean it that way," he paused, looking away from her. "…I can hear you."

"What?" Leah demanded as she jerked the belt through the loop holes. "You can hear what?"

"I know what phasing cost you. What you've tried to hide from everyone." Jacob looked back at her with sympathy and understanding in his eyes; neither of which Leah wanted to admit she wanted. She'd spent so long pushing those thoughts and feelings away. It wasn't fair of Jacob to bring them up.

She scoffed at him and turned her back on him. "You don't know anything."

She felt Jacob come up behind her. His arms hesitantly wrapped around her waist and his forehead rested against the back of hers. She wanted to punch him for daring to comfort her, yet at the same time found herself leaning into the embrace. Tears filled her eyes.

"Harry's death wasn't your fault. No one blames you. You know he wasn't in the best of health to begin with."

"I scared him to death," she protested, holding the tears at bay. "I pushed him over the edge."

"No," Jacob whispered, nuzzling her. "These things happen, Leah. It's life. No one's to blame."

"If those leeches weren't here none of this would have happened!" she said with conviction.

"They didn't know, Leah. And I'm beginning to believe that if they had known just being here would have set off the phasing they wouldn't have returned." Jacob turned her around and pulled her against him.

She didn't know why she was allowing him to hold her so intimately. Before she would have protested and chewed him another asshole. But he was her alpha now; not just some tribe leader's kid who didn't want special treatment or the responsibility of taking over the tribe or pack. The guy who was so crazy in love and blinded by a leech-lover to the point of disregarding all common sense.

Leah also no longer had to worry about Sam finding out how she felt. She didn't have to hide the true reasons behind her feelings anymore. She could be honest. For the first time since her father died of a heart attack Leah allowed herself to cry for him. To morn. She didn't make any sounds as the tears streamed down her face. Jacob pulled her closer and ran soothing hands down her back and through her hair.

There was nothing sexual about their embrace. Leah didn't delude herself. She knew Jacob had imprinted on Edward and Bella. And even though his imprint didn't seem to have the same hold over him as it had over Sam, Jared, or Quil there was one thing Leah knew better than anyone: there was no way to fight an imprint.

Sam had tried. Oh, how he'd tried. But Leah hadn't been the one meant just for him. No matter how much she wished she had been, she wasn't. Sam still loved her, for she felt it every time they phased together. But it wasn't what it used to be. He also hated her for phasing and being able to hear and feel everything he thought and felt. However, he also looked at it as his punishment for hurting her.

And that was just something Leah couldn't stand to feel. She couldn't stand that she was the reason Sam hated himself. It broke her heart all over again. She wished she had never phased. She was just a burden to Sam…But not anymore. Jacob had given her an out.

"One day, when all this is over, you're going to find someone to make you happy."

"By imprinting?" She highly doubted that. Sam kept telling them the reason behind imprinting was for them to have children. By that way of thinking there had to be something wrong with her. She and Sam had been perfect for one another, and yet Sam had imprinted on someone else. And she hadn't had a menstrual cycle since she'd phased.

"Sam's wrong, Leah. There's nothing wrong with you….Except your attitude most of the time," Jacob joked, causing her to smile. "We're all stuck in limbo right now. No aging. No moving forward. Your body is frozen in time. When this is over, and you start aging again, you'll see."

"And if you're wrong?"

"I'm not. Trust me. You're going to have so many kids that you'll be dying to get rid of a few."

Leah pulled away from him, wiped her face free of tears, and grabbed the button-up shirt off the bed to put on. Part of her wished Bella had walked in on them while Leah'd been half dressed and held tightly in Jacob's arms. If anything Leah could brag that she'd gotten into Jacob's pants before Bella had.

"It won't do you any good trying to make Bella jealous. Nothing's going to happen between us."

"With you and me? Or you and her?"

"Either."

"I thought imprinting was supposed to be all encompassing. What the hell did you do to screw that up?"

"A number of things. Feel free to take your pick." Jacob gave her a small smile, realizing she had meant it teasingly. But given that he could "hear" her, which Leah intended to learn more about at a later time, it didn't surprise her.

Though she was surprised by how easily she accepted the fact that Jacob could hear her without them even being phased. That had never happened with Sam. There were a number of things that were happening with Jacob that had never happened with Sam. But none of them made Leah uncomfortable. So far everything felt right and as it should be. Maybe this was how things were meant to be with a true alpha.

"C'mon. I still need to finish dinner."

"I thought the mother leech was cooking?"

"Esme is helping me cook my mom's deer meat stew."

"Oh."

Jacob paused on the stairs and turned back to face her. "They're nothing like the cold ones we were told about. They're not cold hearted, rabid killers. Granted Rosalie's a bitch and the pixie's crazy and I haven't really spoken with Jasper that much, but the doc and Esme are really kind and Emmett's cool." Leah noticed Jacob left Edward out. "Just be nice okay. If they provoke you then they're all yours, but please, don't start anything in their own home."

Leah didn't want to be nice to a bunch of bloodsuckers that had "unintentionally" caused her world to be turned upside down. But this wasn't about her. It was about Jacob, and him having to live with these creatures for the rest of his extended life. No matter how much she hated to admit it they were also part of Jacob's pack by extension of his imprinting on Edward which meant they were also a part of hers.

'Well, shit.'

xoxoxo

Author's Note:

Leah has done a bit of a 180, but she no longer has the pain of feeling Sam's feelings or the burden of trying to hide the true reasons behind her own. And having the true alpha is a huge part of it. Yes, we are continuing with the pack analogies. The followers naturally trust the alpha. And it helps that Jacob has matured a lot over a short period of time. He's not so blinded or driven by his need to get Bella to choose him. Just go with it, please. :)

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