Disclaimer: I only own Gemma and my other OC's.
Chapter 28
"Leah...she phased."
I freeze in my tracks. "She...she phased?" I stammer. He nods, "Luckily Seth wasn't home but Harry and Sue were frantic. No one thought that a girl would phase, it's never happened before. But that's not the big issue right now. She's completely freaking out and we can't calm her down enough to get her to shift back. Paul is with her right now but it's not helping. You are the only one she will listen to."
I nod understanding what he's saying. He hands me a pair of Leah's clothes as he leads me to a small clearing where I see Paul's wolf form and another wolf...Leah. She's smaller than the others and has really long fur. She's a lighter shade of gray compared to Paul.
I couldn't believe this was happening to her. Hopefully I could get her to calm down enough to have her shift back.
"Lele," I call to her getting her attention. I watch as her eyes go wide. We stare at each other for a few moments before she lays down whining. I run my hand through Paul's fur as I walk by him to get to her. I get on my knees and wrap my arms around her neck. She leans into me still whining.
"Shh, it's ok Lele. I know you're freaking out right now but you need to calm down. If you don't you can't shift back." I pull back to look her in the eyes, "I promise everything will be fine. Take some deep calming breaths."
She closes her eyes and deep huffs of air exit her snout. I feel the familiar shimmer in the air as she starts to shift back. I watch as the boys leave to give us some privacy.
Once Leah is back to normal, she takes the clothes I have for her and slips them on quickly before she starts pacing in front of me.
"What the hell is going on?" She doesn't look at me as she pulls her hair.
"Leah, I want to know what all happened before I got here."
She takes a deep breath, "I was in my room when I heard banging on the door, I don't pay much mind to it but when I heard Jared's voice I listen in. He says that Emily and Sam got into a fight about me and Sam got so angry that he couldn't control himself and phased. He said Emily was too close and he accidentally scratched her face up when he phased. I had no idea what they were taking about, all I knew that Sam hurt Emily. I don't know what came over me but my blood started to boil and everything started shaking and before I know it, I see my parents looking at me with such fear in their eyes. I catch my reflection in the TV and freak out."
She pauses her pacing, "I ran towards the woods and next thing I know I hear a voice in my head and I realized it was Paul soon followed by Jared. They were trying to tell me to calm down and tried to explain to me what was going on but I was out of control. Paul yelled at Jared to get his phone and call you. I didn't understand why you had to be contacted but I didn't care at the time. I was a fucking wolf!"
I stand up and put my hands on her shoulders, "Le, I know this is going to be hard to swallow but you have to listen to me with a completely open mind ok? You know I would never lie to you." She hesitated before nodding.
"Alright, first off, you know all about the legends?" She nods, "Ok, well everything about the spirit warriors and cold ones...well they're true. We aren't sure how since you're the first girl but you are in fact a spirit warrior, a protector of the tribe against cold ones also known as vampires." She just looked at me with wide eyes, "I know you think I'm crazy but you were just a wolf and you saw Paul and Jared as one too. Sam also is one."
She pulls away from me and starts to pace again, "This can't be happening." I sigh, "I know it's hard to believe but it is. The security job that the guys work at that is secret is this. It can't be more secretive than that."
"You got that fucking right!" She yells. "How is it that I couldn't know about this with Sam but you are able to with Paul?"
I rub the back of my neck, I was not looking forward to telling her about this but who better to tell her than me. "Le, this is going to be tough but you need to know so you completely understand everything that happened."
She looks at me to continue, "Something that we didn't learn about with the legends is that for a gift of gratitude for their service as spirit warriors, the ancestors bestowed them the gift of imprinting. It's like love at first sight. It happens when they make eye contact for the first time. They are destined to be together forever. Soul mates."
Leah seemed interested so far but I know her views will change soon. "When Paul phased and found out about this, he was ordered by Sam who is alpha, to stay away from me because he didn't want to risk him hurting me incase I wasn't his imprint. During my performance when I met Paul's eyes, I felt the pull as much as he did and he realized he imprinted on me. He told me everything because since I'm his imprint I was aloud to know. We were always destined to be together."
She takes my hand giving it a light squeeze and I notice that she now has the feverish skin temperature. "That's amazing. I'm so happy for you two." I give her a smile. Then I see her face change, "But why did Sam order Paul to stay away?"
I bite my lip and squeeze her hand, "Because he didn't want the same thing to happen to me like it did to you."
It took her a minute before she realized it, "You mean that when Sam met Emily at the party...he imprinted on her?" Her tone was empty of emotion as I nod. "He tried to fight the pull because he didn't want to hurt you but it was to hard. The pull made it almost impossible. They hate themselves for hurting you but you have to understand...it was out of their control."
She pulls her hand away from me and glowers down, "Understand? You want me to understand that our almighty ancestors said that Sam and I were never meant to be together and that he was meant to be with my cousin? And now I have to be a fucking wolf with a shared mind with them where they can hear my every thought and have to see images of them two together all the time? How the hell can I understand that!"
She was in pain, angry, and furious. I expected her to phase again but she surprisingly didn't. She collapses onto the ground crying into her hands. I immediately go to her pulling her into my arms. We don't say anything for a while. We just stayed like that, me rocking her in my arms as she cried into my chest. I felt like my heart was breaking all over again for her. It was exactly like when Sam broke up with her all over again and now she can't get away from them.
I hear foot steps approach and give a sad smile when I see that it's Paul and frown when I notice Sam not far behind him with guilt and pain all over his face. I can't and don't even want to imagine the position he's in right now with Emily and now with Leah.
Sam steps in front of Paul to get closer to us. "Leah," he says in a broke voice that he tries to sound strong in. She lifts her head up and fire is burning in her eyes. "Paul, take Gemma home," he says not braking eye contact with Leah. I give her a hug before leaving with Paul, I wasn't going to argue, I know that they need to talk.
When we get out of hearing distance I look up at him, "How's Emily?" He shrugs, "She's doing ok considering half her face will be scarred for life. How's Leah?" I sigh, "Could be better. I can't believe this is happening to her."
"I know we can't either. Billy, Harry, Old Quil, and our dad's are in shock. Your uncle wants you to do some research to see if you can find anything about this happening before." I nod knowing that he's talking about the book. "Was she mad at you at all? You know, from keeping this from her."
I shake my head, "Surprisingly no. I thought she would but she's more upset about being a wolf and having to relive everything all over again and always have Sam in her head with thoughts of him and Emily." He nods understanding. "But she was very happy for us." That got him to smile.
"Well look on the bright side, you don't have to worry about keeping this a secret from her anymore," He says smiling making me roll my eyes.
...
The next morning, I woke up early so I could get to the halls of records when Marsha unlocked the doors. I had to get to that book.
When I got to the preservation room, I made a bee line to the case that had me curious about the past couple of months. I pull the key out from under my shirt and with shaky hands, I unlock it. I take out the book and hold it close to my chest holding onto it for dear life. I was afraid it would break if I dropped it.
Going to a private room that I didn't ever notice before, I sit down and open the book being extremely careful of the frail pages.
I skimmed the pages looking for anything about any other female spirit warriors while also taking the amazement of the history of all the warriors in the past. When I got to the more recent entries, I sigh dropping my head to the table.
There was nothing.
This could only mean that this is happening for a reason that only our ancestors know.
Lifting my head back up, I look at the recent entries that I noticed was in Uncle Billy's hand writing. Sam, Jared, and Paul each had their own individual page that had the date that they phased, references to different page numbers for family trees which also had blank ones under their names to add their growing families. Jared only had his name unlike Sam and Paul's that had Emily and myself added to theirs as their imprints.
I grab a pen and go to the next blank page to add Leah's information and flip to find the Clearwater family tree to know what page I had to put in reference on hers.
I noticed that there hasn't been any entries for cold ones since the four of them phased and I was relieved but who knows how long it would be until I had to record one.
I wanted to read more about the past specifically about dad's generation but I know that the council was waiting for me to report to them about anything I found.
Locking the book back in its secure place, I tuck the key back into my shirt and head out. But before I walk out the door, Marsha stops me. "Here's a key to the building," She says smiling as she hands me a key, "With your new responsibility, you get full access at anytime." I give her a smile of gratitude and thank her before leaving.
...
The council which consisted of Uncle Billy, Harry, Old Quil, Jason and my dad were waiting anxiously at my house along with Sam since he's alpha.
"Did you find out anything?" Uncle Billy asks in his authority like voice which I could sense the worry hidden behind his words.
I shake my head sadly, "I went through every single page twice and there is no record of there ever being another female to phase." I see the worry in Harry's eyes for his daughter. I could tell that none of them especially Sam want this for Leah.
"Maybe we can prevent her from phasing so she doesn't have to live with this," Harry suggested and they all thought about it.
"If I may," I say getting their attention, "None of us want this for Leah and I know that she definitely does not but from what I've read so far, it will be to difficult this early for her to stop phasing completely. Everything intensifies ten fold when they phase, which means Leah's emotions are going to be out of control. She could try but it will be useless until she can learn to control it." They all nod as I continue.
"I don't know about everyone else, but I believe things happen for a reason. I for one do not want this for Leah but I have always had faith in our tribe, the legends, and our ancestors; whose to say that they haven't bestowed her with this without a reason." That had them all looking between each other.
"Gemma is right," Old Quil says, "We have never doubted them before and why should we try to stop something that they have given to Leah no matter how much it displeases us?" They all nod. He looks towards Sam. "Sam, I know the history between you and Leah and for the sake of the girl, do not be phased at the same time unless needed, then you will control your thoughts. It will only make things that much harder for her."
Sam nods, "Yes sir, I understand."
Uncle Billy then looks to me, "Thank you Gemma for looking into this matter for us and your words of wisdom." I smile, "Of course, anything I could do to do my part for the tribe."
Everyone besides Sam gives me some kind of smile.
When the meeting was over, dad and Uncle Billy approach me, "You did wonderful today Gem," dad says placing his hand on my shoulder. "Yes, you did great. You will make a wonderful addition to the council in time." I smile at Uncle Billy's words. "Thank you."
It was an amazing feeling to be doing something for the tribe, the council, and the pack. I just hope I don't let any of them down.
My new task now was to be there for my sister as she takes this new step and learns to accept this new phase in her life. No pun intended. I know she's definitely going to need me now more than ever.
I don't feel like this is one of the best chapters I done but hopefully you still like it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think and some ideas of what you would like to see. As I said before though, Gemma will NOT phase. I plan to have Paul's temper show up in the next chapter so there is something to look forward to. (:
