Hello err'body!

Now, this has been a long time coming, but it's also the longest chapter this story has got :) I'm quite proud of it, as it helps in wrapping up the story (yes, it is going to end very soon) and it has gotten quite a big weight off of my chest. I am on a roll right now, so I think Chapter 30 will be churned out pretty quickly *fingers crossed* BUT I am not making any promises :/ Enjoy the chapter, and to those who will review: A HUGE THANKS, and lots of cookies :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing mentioned here... Sad, inn't? It all belongs to Mrs. Stephanie Meyer :)


Chapter 29

Leah Clearwater

The Denalis stood before us, silent, with mocking looks upon their faces. They had enough reason to be mocking, sure, but it still pissed me off, especially with Bella's lifeless remains burning in the distance.

A dark purple plume of smoke rose up in the distance, casting terrible shadows across the vampires' faces. All the wolves around me were tense, waiting upon any decision Jacob was bound to make. The Denalis had insisted upon burning Bella's remains—they stated simply that Edward would have enough to deal with her death, let alone with watching her decapitated body burn in a fit of flames.

We were waiting for the Cullens to return—they were out hunting, it seemed, for the house had been empty. Paul and Jared had been sent to call them back home, and they had been explicitly warned to guard their thoughts.

Jacob phased and pulled on a pair of sweats, to be able to further communicate with them.

"Edward will be very grieved," one of them stated. They all looked horribly alike to me, but I guess, we did look this way to them, too.

"Yes, he will," Jacob said sadly. There was something dead in his eyes. Bella, despite having broken his heart years back, had always held an important place in Jacob's heart—I could never dispute that. To watch someone die so horribly, and due to such a sad cause, was heart breaking.

I'd always thought that, on some levels, they'd all gotten over Nessie's death. Bella had always been a wild card. My stomach churned when my brain remembered that Bella had killed herself for her daughter. I closed my eyes to hold the tears away, as I realised that I had been held witness to the disintegration of a family. Of three perfect members, only one remained, and I was highly doubtful of how long Edward would hold on.

A rumbling in the distance announced their arrival. Paul and Jared's heavy footfalls made me even sadder—as if that were possible. I slowly collapsed to the forest floor, nesting my head on my paws and observing the scene around me as it unfolded. The sadness flowed through me like a river—thick and heavy. It was weighing me down, tiring my mind.

Paul and Jared trotted over to us and fell in line with the rest. Their sad eyes watched as the Cullens ran into the clearing and paused to observe the purple plume of rising smoke. I watched as their eyes grazed over the Denalis, registering which one of them had been killed, then to us, counting our numbers. I guarded my thoughts as I locked eyes with Edward, who seemed to pale significantly, as if it were possible.

His golden eyes darkened and he reached out and gripped Carlisle's shoulder until his marble knuckles glistened in the light.

"No," Alice whispered, her hand coming up to cover her mouth, and that was when Edward lost it.

He fell to the ground, his hands clawing at the dirt and grass, his eyes boring into the fire that had consumed his wife... he crawled, like some scum of the Earth, towards the fire, dragging his body with him as he sobbed and cried out in pain. His family all tried to hide their pain, masking it behind impassive facades, but Esme quickly broke down, sobbing tearlessly at the loss of her daughter.

Carlisle comforted her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. As if it were possible, my heart continued to break. Edward had stopped screaming and was now sitting silently by the fire. His back was to us, hunched and stooped, his face almost in the flames. I thought he was going to fling himself into them, but my thoughts were cut short when Edward's head snapped up to look at me and he hissed in my direction.

"Carlisle, if there is anything we can do to help..." Jacob hinted, and Carlisle cut him off with a curt nod.

"Leave, please," Edward whispered, wrapping his arms around his mid-section and rocking slowly back and forth.

It took a moment for his request to sink in, but when it did, everyone slowly filed away. The Denalis shared a brief moment of sorrow with the Cullens before they left off. One of them, a cherry blonde, let her gaze linger on Edward for a while before she jetted off after her family.

Who knows... maybe Edward could have a semblance of a decent future somehow.

He hissed again, and I turned my tail to follow the rest.

"Can you stay, Leah, please?" he said softly, and I froze, and Jacob turned to face me. He reached a hand out, and ruffled the fur behind my ear.

"Go, Lee, I'll see you later."

With a brief nod, I darted behind a tree and phased quickly, pulling on my clothes then sprinting towards Edward's huddled form. The Cullens had left, too, leaving us alone in the clearing, the silence between us thick. I sat down, Indian-style, beside him, and stared at the fire with him. Bella's remains were only minutely visible. I watched as the flames lapped at her marble skin, eating away at her, killing her slowly.

"I'm sorry, Edward..."

"No," he cut me off, waving his hand at me dismissively in a limp manner. "It's my fault. I should have never left her alone. Bella had always remained unstable after Reneesme's death. I should have considered the pain that she was going through... helped her through it, not forced her through it."

I was silent for a few seconds. "I understand loss, Edward. I lost my dad like you lost your wife and daughter. Life doesn't end after them. It may feel that way, but it doesn't end, I promise. You're strong, you can get through it, I swear. The loss of your daughter was a low-blow, as Reneesme was the picture of innocence... but Bella should have understood that taking her own life was not the solution to her pain. I admit, I had considered suicide after my dad died. It wasn't easy to grieve and mourn him when I had the potential to phase into a huge dog, and I had my own duties to fulfil. Killing myself, at that time, seemed like a very plausible way out. It was easy. I thought it would make everything simple. But it wouldn't. Suicide leaves more turmoil behind than any other thing—because whoever gets left behind feels that it's their fault, true or not.

"Edward, I may not like you very much, but I do care about you, I swear. It scares me to think that Bella may bring you to this—I don't want you contemplating suicide. Please. You have so many people who love and respect you. Your parents, and brothers and sisters... This is a difficult time for you, I understand, but it's not the end, for sure. You can use this is a new beginning, you can start over. It's better to have loved and lost..."

"...than to never have loved at all," he finished for me, and turned his head to smile at me. "Every word you said was true, Leah. That is why I wanted you to stay with me. We may not get along much, but you're the most honest person I know... I knew you wouldn't try to pity me. I don't need pity. Pity will only send me down further in this abyss of misery. I must learn to get back on my feet again, be myself. I must learn to move on. Bella has given me things I'd never thought I'd have—a daughter, a wife, a marriage... Now I must learn to appreciate what I had, and seek out better things."

Involuntarily, my hand rose up to stroke his hard shoulder, trying to channel strength into his weak and feeble form. Edward needed to be strong right now. He needed it desperately.

"You'll be okay, Edward," I assured him, as I continued to stroke his shoulder.


I watched as Jacob brought the lighter to the pile of twigs we'd set up in his back yard. The tiny flame slowly grew and encompassed all the twigs and sticks until it engulfed it all, and blew up into a cloud of red and orange and yellow. Tiny sparks flew around us, and I extended my hands to feel the warmth rolling in waves off of the flames.

"You okay?" Jacob asked, tucking the lighter into his pocket and settling down opposite me, crossing his legs and grinning brightly.

"I am," I said with a curt nod. "Still a bit overwhelmed with... the whole Edward- Bella thing. But I'm adjusting. I'm just worried about Edward."

"I am, too. Good thing the treaty was abolished... I don't think I could have lived with Mason getting into that kind of trouble. He's in a bad enough state as it is. Sam is watching him on the clock, to make sure he doesn't do something stupid or irrational, as I fear he is bound to do."

I shook my head. "You underestimate the pups too much, Jake. They're not half as bad, believe me. We have to consider that they're still pretty young. Quite mature for that age, and also putting in the phasing and wolf factors into the equation."

He shrugged and continued to smile. "I love how you stand up for them... for the little kids. I think it's instinctual," he explained and I blushed at his words.

"I don't know... it just happens."

"You're going to make a great mom someday, Lee. Our kids will adore and love every pore of your body. I promise," he said with conviction, and I watched as he slinked his way towards me until he pulled me into his lap and nestled his face in my neck. "As will I."

I smiled and stroked his cheek, holding him close. "Things are finally calming down, Jake. The Denali thing is over. The Cullens will probably move soon. We can stop phasing. Our lives will go back to normal. We will be able to grow old... together."

"It's kind of hard to believe, huh?"

"It is."

He stuttered for a second, then launched a question in my direction. "Would you be able to leave your wolf?" I turned around to glare at him but my frown softened when I saw the genuine concern and curiosity in his eyes.

"Well, she's been with me for years now. It's like asking me to leave my sister. I know she hasn't been with me from the start, and it has been difficult adjusting to her, but now, it's as if she's fused to me. She's a part of me that is intricately woven to my spirit, so I don't think just letting her go would be so easy. It would be like I'm trying to detach myself from my arm, or my leg. What about you?"

Jacob wove his fingers into my hair before he sighed and began to talk. "Well, my wolf brought me to you, Lee. It's like I owe him something... for giving me you. And it would suck to not be able to eat a buffet without getting fat... and walk around half naked in the middle of winter..."

"Yeah, it would suck. I've lived these past few years always trying to find the negative in my wolf, when in reality, she gave me quite a lot of things to begin with. I met you, yes, and I'm a lot closer to Seth now. The whole pack is like one big family... imprints included," I added with a small wince. "I think, the first ones to stop phasing would have to be the pups. It would be cruel to prolong their wolf development... make them mature into full-grown wolves. It would be best to stop their phasing immediately. Do you think... we should stop it now?"

Jacob's even breathing was soothing. "We'll have to start telling them soon. Time to say goodbye to our generation of wolves."


Edward meticulously picked up each stick and twig upon which Bella had been burned, and placed them, with immense care, into a transparent plastic bag which he wanted to take home, place in a vase and bury with Reneesme. He'd appeared on my doorstep early in the morning and requested my company to what he wanted to do. Despite my tiredness, after a night of intense love-making with Jacob, I couldn't bear to neglect Edward in any way.

The way in which his stricken face grazed upon every object in his way, the way in which his posture seemed deflated, lifeless, dead.

"I spent some time thinking yesterday, Leah, and I would like to request a pleasure of you," he said suddenly, having stopped from whatever it was he was doing to look at me with his piercing, sad honey eyes.

"Of course, Edward, anything."

He nodded and slowly sealed the bag, sealing off Bella's remains. "My family has decided to leave Forks. It is of great importance for us to move on, so as not to raise suspicion in any way. Esme and Carlisle wish to try the Scandinavian parts of the world, whilst my brothers and sisters wish to travel northern Europe and Russia... then settle down in someplace quiet and dark. I, however, wish to remain with my wife and daughter, here, in Forks. The house is much too big for me, and I wouldn't be able to live in it, what with constantly being reminded of memories of Bella and Ness. If it is not too much to ask, I saw a view of the La Push cliffs in your head, and I have been entranced ever since, and I would like to build myself a cottage on the cliffs, and live the rest of my existence there, undisturbed, and not disturbing any one myself. If it is not too much to ask."

I stood, staring at Edward, as my brain tried to comprehend what he'd just asked of me.

"I'll talk to the Council."

"Thank you," he said softly, before he slowly walked away, cradling Bella's ashes to his chest.

I remained rooted to my spot for a few more seconds, my brain reeling from the news. This would not go down well with the Council. Logically, and realistically, they would pluck the seeds before they have time to be sown. It did not make sense for our tribe to welcome a vampire onto our lands to live there for the rest of his existence, but then again, Edward was not your average vampire.

I did not see any harm to having Edward live in La Push. This would, of course, mean that some one of us would have to keep on phasing regularly so as to ensure that no more kids phased themselves. Who that would be... would be decided only should the Council accept Edward's request, which in itself, was highly unlikely.

Reluctantly, I walked back to the rez, going straight to my house, where Jacob was still waiting for me to return.

"Hey, doll," he greeted as I walked in, but his face fell quickly when he saw the sad, worried expression marring my features. I did not feel so well. A part of me—a large part of me—desperately wanted to please Edward. I couldn't bear to break his heart again. He'd suffered enough. I wanted to give him this one little thing that could possibly keep him happy for the rest of his life. "What's wrong?" he asked, getting off of his chair and reaching over to hug me to him.

"I, ugh... Edward asked me a favour. He... he wants to build a cottage on the cliffs, and live there... well, I guess, forever."

Jacob rubbed soothing circles into my back. "You want it to happen, huh?"

I nodded. "I know I never really liked them, Jake, but I can't bear to tell him no. He won't be doing anything wrong by living up there. I'll keep on facing, it doesn't matter. He won't harm any one... he'll just be the mad man living up on the cliffs that no one knows. If we keep him here, we could use him as a bridge between us and any potential vampire nomads who are bound to end up here. We can ease his way into the Council, right?"

"I don't know, Lee. I'll talk to them myself, but please don't get your hopes up. You know how difficult they can be. They won't cater nicely to having a vampire living so close by. It doesn't bother me. I like Edward... on some levels. He's a good guy."

"He wants to stay in La Push with his wife and his daughter. It's only fair."

"I'll do my best, Lee. Now, come on, I called a pack meeting."

He led me out of the house, down towards First Beach where the whole pack was gathered, imprints and all. Once they saw us approaching, they all turned their bodies to face us, smiles gracing their beautiful faces.

"Hey everyone," Jacob greeted, sitting down on the sand next to Seth and pulling me down next to him. A chorus of 'hey's' and 'hi's' echoed around us, and Jacob quickly scanned the whole group to make sure that everyone was here. "Great, everyone's here. Now, guys, this is important. With the Denali issue out of the way, it is safe to say that we no longer have any more potential threats that may be of an issue to the tribe. I have given it a lot of thought, and I have come to the conclusion that it's time for us to stop phasing. I have decided that the younger wolves will stop phasing first. That is, Mason, Ethan and Tom, you guys will stop phasing first. After them, will be Seth, Collin and Brady. Then the rest of us will ease ourselves out of it. Of course, I'm going to give you the option to keep on phasing—for example, Quil, if you want to, you can keep on phasing in order to wait up for Claire. I suggest that those of you, who have imprinted, should stop phasing in order to catch up to your imprints. I'm going to leave it open for you guys. I would like to know who will continue to phase as soon as possible, though. There are some things that we have to settle."

"Which are...?" Sam asked as he held Emily to his side.

"First off, Edward has asked a favour of us." A chorus of groans ensued and Jacob rolled his eyes at their antics. "He wants to build a cottage up there," he explained, pointing up to the prominent cliffs overlooking the bay. "He wants to stay on La Push. I want to let him stay. Leah does too."

Sam glared at Jacob and shook his head slowly. "The Council won't allow it. It goes against our very existence, Jacob."

Emily whimpered softly against his side. "That would be cruel of them."

"It would," Kim chirped in, her eyes wide and scared. "He deserves to remain here, with his wife and daughter."

"Yeah, but what the hell does La Push have to do with anything? They lived in Forks. Their mansion, Bella's house, the school... everything was in Forks. This sudden need to move to La Push is all bullshit," Sam explained and I watched as all the other wolves slowly nodded in agreement.

In part, Sam's argument was extremely valid: Edward's affiliation with La Push was strictly through us, his natural enemies. Besides us, there was nothing else tying him to it—the reservation. I'd overlooked this little detail, because of my sudden need to please him and make someone happy.

Was it because I so desperately wanted to change everyone's impression of myself? It seemed silly and childish of me to blame everything I did on this one fact. And most times, it wasn't even true.

Jacob sighed beside me. "Listen guys, I haven't talked to Edward myself. He talked to Leah—" At this, everyone turned to look in my direction, and I steeled my jaw against their heavy gazes. Jacob cleared his throat to regain their attention. "I'm right over here, you guys. As I was saying, what went on between Edward and Leah is their own business. What I'm proposing is that we allow Edward to talk to the Council himself, without any interference from our part. Then, we go on from there."

After a few awkward glares and muted mumblings, they all slowly nodded in agreement. There was nothing wrong in allowing Edward to talk to the Council. In doing so, we would be swiftly avoiding an argument with the Elders. Kudos to us.

"So, everyone agrees?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"Sure."

"Yes."

"Fine."

Jacob grinned and rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Okay then, meeting dismissed. Go have yourselves a good time, you freaks."

I watched as the pack slowly shuffled away from us, silent conversation reaching our ears as they walked away. Only Sam and Emily remained, eyeing us eagerly.

"Sam?"

As soon as Jacob's acknowledgement reached them, they walked over to us, Sam pinning Emily to his side, as if she had suddenly become one of his limbs, and therefore, couldn't possibly live without.

"Need anything?" Jacob asked as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders and buried his face in my hair. As I waited for them to explain themselves, my keen observation senses spurned me once again.

I noticed the too-gentle manner with which Sam handled Emily; even more gentle than before.

The way in which he squared his shoulders with pride.

The way in which Emily rubbed her stomach almost instinctually.

Something inside me broke. I don't know why, and I don't know what it was, but it broke any way.

"We're having a child," Sam stated, pride dripping into every syllable. Emily's scarred face broke out into a happy grin, and she leaned into Sam further, allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist.

Jacob smiled against my scalp. "That's awesome, you guys. Congrats. Did you tell the Elders?"

"No, we told you first, since you're the Alpha pair and all..."

Jacob nodded in understanding. "Sure, thanks. Ems, be careful, okay? Good night you guys."

Both of them smiled at us then turned and walked away, to their house, leaving Jacob and I alone on First Beach.

"They were waiting for you to say something, Lee. I wanted you to say something... take away a bit of the awkwardness, maybe."

I shrugged, letting my indifference show it's true, bright colours. I did not give a shit about Sam and Emily, especially now that they were having this kid. Another way to rub it in my face that they were better than I could ever possibly dream to be.

Despite my relationship with Jacob, a part of me would never be completely content with the situation. A part of me would always resent my cousin and Sam for all that they'd done. A part of me would always hate them. A part of me, albeit a small part, would still want them dead.

I shuddered at the depth of my thoughts. I scared myself, too.

"The pack's growing, huh?" I said finally, leaning back into his chest.

He started to ramble on, and I let his deep voice lull me into a peaceful state. Why should I still be so caught up in Sam and Emily now that I had Jake? It was foolish of me to try and hold onto that stupid part of me that was too hateful to see past her own nose. I had Jake now, I didn't need anything else. I could have a child if I wanted one, I had someone who loved me beyond compare, and I loved that same someone enough to hurt.

"As it should," he breathed. "We can help it ourselves, if you want to..." he said suggestively, and I playfully rammed my elbow into his stomach.

"You're not even close to being mature enough to have a kid, Jacob. Instead of having just one child to take care of, I'd have two little babies of my own."

He snorted and threw me onto the ground, then flipped himself onto me, placing his thigh between my own. "Do you really want me to show how much of a man I really am?"

I giggled, and pulled him down to me.


"How you guys doing?"

Tom glared at me, and I was about to slap that frown off of his face, but I managed to restrain myself, when I remembered that they were all probably going through hell now.

"Horrible," Mason mumbled, and Ethan nodded in agreement. Tom continued to glare at me, as if my very presence was repulsing him. I scowled at the kid, throwing him one of my signature death glares for good measure.

"Come on, guys, you can do it."

"Yeah, right," Tom said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Why don't you try it?"

"Hey, smart ass. Control your sass. I'm being patient with you here, but I don't plan on staying so for long, got it? Don't push me, Tom," I snarled and he seemed to melt into Ethan's side, trying to shield his body from my penetrating gaze.

I was standing outside with the pups as Edward talked to the Elders, because Jacob was afraid that something during the talk would anger the pups and make them change, basically screwing their scot- free record of not phasing for the past week. And so, he put me in charge of three unstable kids. Me, the walking, talking, erupting volcano of disaster.

I sat down beside Mason, the most stable of them all, and started drumming my fingers against the log we were sitting on.

"Can you stop that, Leah?" Ethan mumbled softly, a hint of irritation making its way into his voice. I stopped immediately: I was really going to snap at him for stopping me, but just before I did so, I remembered that I was supposed to keep them calm, so like a little lamb, I shut up.

From inside, I could hear as Edward was advocating his wishes to the Elders, and they listened to him in silence. Jacob, Sam and Jared were inside. Seth, Paul, Collin and Brady were loitering about somewhere, catering to the Elders' every whim and need.

I tried not to pay attention to what he was saying, tried to get my mind off of what was going on inside. I watched the woods around us move in silence, watched the leaves float about around us... anything to get my mind off of the meeting.

It pained me to think Edward would get his heart broken again. Paul had crudely pointed out my strange attachment to the vampire, but I'd simply shrugged it off and told him to mind his own damn business. Sure, it was weird for me to want to do so much for this weird, vampire dude, but I couldn't help it; I knew, from personal experience, that there's only so much heart break one little person can take. It seemed to me the spirits sent as much turmoil and disaster as they could upon one man or woman, they simply told them to adjust to the changes, and go with the flow.

My anger towards the spirits was silly, I knew it, but it wasn't without cause, surely.

Silence engulfed us from inside the house and Seth turned from whatever it was he was doing and raised his brows at me in speculation. Edward suddenly walked out of Billy's house, a small, sad smile long lingering on his lips.

"So?"

"They said no," he breathed, and then he stalked away from the house, into the woods, towards his home. I stared after him, a frown settling on my features.

"Knew they would do it," Seth grumbled, kicking at rock in his path.

"I didn't think they would. I mean, there's Sue there. She's supposed to be more compassionate and open to understanding people than most, no?" Collin asked, and Paul just shrugged him off.

"Elders will be Elders, I suppose," Paul shrugged, his nonchalance and indifference to the situation apparent in the look on his features.

"They're disgusting," I muttered and got off the log I was sitting on. I started to pace Billy's backyard until Jacob emerged and called me in.

"How couldyou?" I screeched as I entered the house and found the Elders sitting on Billy's tattered, old sofa.

"Know your place, Ms. Clearwater," Old Quil's voice boomed, cutting off my anger.

My mom eyed me disdainfully, warning me to stop whatever it was that I was doing. I ignored her and turned back to face Billy and Old Quil fully.

"You know what he's going through, and you continue to break him, regardless of what he is feeling."

"You have let him get the best of you, Leah," Billy said with a sigh. "Just like little Bella Swan, you seem to be enchanted by his predatory skills. That's exactly what he wants to think: that he is a vulnerable, hurting vampire. But you youngsters seem to have forgotten that Mr. Cullen is dead. He cannot feel any sort of emotion, he is dead.As dead as that carpet you are standing on, as dead as my wife."

I glared at him as he concluded his rant. Bringing up his wife, Billy knew that it would be hard for me to argue against that. But I wasn't ready to let him guilt me into it.

"He just wants a cottage on the cliffs. Technically, he isn't going to be on the reservation. He's going to be away from the res, away from the people, away from us."

"You do realise that should Mr. Cullen remain, we would need some of you to keep on phasing, right? He cannot remain here without any consequences."

I nodded. "I am willing to keep on phasing, if that is what it takes."

"I would keep on phasing, too," Jacob added, stepping up to stand beside me.

Seeing us standing beside each other, so determined and ready to follow through with our decisions, made Billy smile. His soft, brown eyes crinkled as he did so, increasing his wrinkles tenfold. Old Quil, on the other hand, simply glared at the both of us. I knew Old Quil would be the most difficult of them to please, and even convince.

"Your determination humours me, Ms. Clearwater. And the fact that you have managed to fool Jacob into believing your lies about Mr. Cullen. Almost like Adam and Eve all over again."

"I am not lying!" I yelled suddenly, pitching forward as the rage boiled in my veins. Jacob held me back, wrapping his fingers around my arms and pinning me to his chest. "I am not lying. I have never lied before, and I do not plan on starting now, especially on something so not worth my time. Here, I am trying to do a good deed— I am trying to be nice to someone, to help someone get through the pain of losing everything they ever stood for. He just lost his wife and his daughter... He deserves this one little thing. We killed his wife. They had right to attack us, and slaughter us to avenge her, but instead, he chose to stay quiet, and ask a small favour of us: to let him live the rest of his days on the cliffs, alone.

"You don't probably see it, but having a resident vampire around can actually benefit the pack: any passing vampires would not have to be tackled by the wolves, but instead, Edward would handle them himself, keep our reservation and our tribe safe. Would you be selfish enough to deny the tribe that?"

Billy pursed his lips then let a small grin fall onto his features. "Ah, Leah, always the fighter. What do the other wolves say?"

Jacob shrugged. "They really couldn't care less. Do you see how much it does not affect the wolves? How could it possibly affect you guys so much? I don't see you running patrols all night, or losing sleep on how to take care of the pups— Mason especially, who is taking Bella's death upon himself. You just sit on your asses all day, then expect us to let you take all our decisions for us. Well then, you've got another thing coming. I am sick and tired of having to report back to this farce of a Council all the time. We have been managing perfectly well without you for the past years. You are only a technicality when it comes to pack decisions.

"I say, we deserve the right to take our own decisions, as a pack, because wetruly know what is best for the tribe."

Old Quil was growing even more livid with Jacob's every word. He did not like that Jacob was basically stripping him of a position he'd withheld for the bigger part of his life. Old Quil was a narrow- minded man. He did not cater nicely to change, maybe because he had never been forced to go through any type of change. His life had always been pretty much easy and simple. He'd never had to change into a horse-sized dog and fight sparkly vampires, ever.

Really, his presence in the pack was purely coincidental— surely not a result of his own work and sweat.

"Sam!" Jacob yelled and soon, he was standing beside us, hands clasped firmly behind his back. "Call the others."

Soon enough, all the wolves had filed into Billy's cramped living room, and had I not been so mad at them, I would have been suffocating. But I was too distracted to even notice the close proximity everyone was in.

"Okay, you guys. All those in favour of removing the Elders' authority over the pack say 'Aye'."

At first, everyone was quite startled and confused as to what was going on, but realisation dawned on Seth's features and he yelled, as loud as he possibly could:

"Aye!"

Then, everyone else erupted in a chorus of the word. Everyone grinned and laughed as they repeated the word over and over again. Each time they did so, the Elders' faces fell by a fraction.

"It's pretty obvious, huh?" Jacob bellowed finally with a chuckle, his voice beating every one else's into silence.

Billy smiled and cocked his head gently to the side. "We have held our position for as long as you've wanted us. You mature, responsible warriors, and the tribe will prosper under your judgement."

Old Quil was not content with Billy's words. "But, William—"

"No, Quil. We have been leading them by their noses for long enough. We cannot treat them like children any longer. It is time for us to retire, my friend."

My mom, who had been silent for the whole argument, grinned at me and nodded her head. "Harry would not have wanted them to be unhappy. Unhappy wolves means an unsafe tribe. I agree with Billy."

Old Quil looked like he wanted to bite my mom's tongue off. He clenched and unclenched his fists repeatedly, before he finally leaned back into the sofa with a resigned look on his features. "So be it. May Taha Aki guide you on, young warriors."

And with that, he dismissed us out of the house.


"Here would be perfect," he said, gesturing to a small ledge over-looking both the bay and the opposing cliffs. I nodded in agreement. I was both thankful that Edward had not chosen my favourite spot on the cliffs, and that the wolves had volunteered in helping Edward build his cottage. Of course, their volunteering eventually became a commission, after Edward insisted that he pay them.

"It would be great, Edward," I tacked on, for good measure, because it truly was great. I was already imaging Edward living up here, composing music, and sitting in a rickety arm chair staring out at the bay. Children would grow up wondering about the strange man that lived on the cliffs, all alone with no one to love him, and the huge russet people who visited him occasionally, to keep him company...

I smiled to myself and watched as Edward produced a folded paper from his coat pocket and opened it up, for me to see what it contained. It was a very detailed plan of the cottage Edward wanted, and Paul— who was the most experienced in construction of all the wolves— took it in his hands and studied it closely.

"Shouldn't be hard. Any chance you dabbled in structural architecture over time?" he asked, eyeing Edward closely.

Edward smiled— the first I'd seen in ages— and nodded slowly. "As a matter of fact, I have. It's true, it shouldn't be hard."

"Sam was supposed to be corralling the pups to get the supplies we need," Jacob interjected suddenly, turning round to face us from his spot at the edge. He'd been quiet during the exchange between Edward, Paul and I.

"They should be here soon enough," I added, looking out to First Beach, where they were supposed to stop and unload the supplies.

It was a little while after sunset when the guys showed up. It made sense, really, that they come so late. The little kids on First Beach would not cater nicely to a sparkly man and a dozen other men around him building a house. Edward's sparkle would distract them too much. We all went down to help them unload quicker, and I revelled in the ease with which the wolves integrated with Edward. The awkwardness and spite I had expected were— surprisingly— non-existent.

They started construction immediately. Under Paul and Edward's guidance, and with the help of their wolf-strength, the building went on fairly easily. The house itself was not going to be large; nothing like the Cullens' mansion in the woods, and that was something about the cottage which I liked. Edward had allowed Emily, Rachel and Kim to decorate the cottage, keeping them content and away from the wolves. They'd only be distractions, really.

Despite my strength, the guys did not let me help, and Edward wasn't too keen on letting me do so either. Maybe it was because of my accident earlier on during the week;

I had been cooking dinner for my mom, Seth, Charlie, Jake and Billy, and while I had been cutting up the tomatoes to put in the side salad, I'd accidentally cut my finger. Knowing it would heal up pretty quickly, I didn't pay it much attention. However, when the knife became coated with my blood, I realized that it wasn't healing up. I hadn't meant for Jacob to find out, but he'd walked in on me and started screaming bloody murder.

In truth, I wasn't feeling one hundred per cent myself lately. I couldn't describe it, really, but I wasn't so in tune to my wolf as I was so usaually used to.

"Stop looking at her, Jake. She's not going to suddenly burst into flames," Seth mumbled as he hiked a beam onto his shoulder.

Jacob turned to face him and rolled his eyes at him. "I'm not looking at her."

"Yes, you are."

"Hey, Jacob, look man, it's okay if you're worried. Even Rach is worrying herself mad about her because its not normal for someone to, like, spontaneously lose our wolf powers, but you can't start treating her like some rag doll. It's Lee, for God's sakes. You know she doesn't like being treated like that."

"It's true," I added, as I stared indifferently at my finger nails, then glared at Jacob. "Quit fussing. Focus on what you're doing, you're going to hurt yourself."

"Go see Rachel."

"No."

"Please, Le-ah."

"Don't start with me, Jacob. I don't want to get—"

"Do you want an Alpha command? Are you seriouslygoing to push me into doing that?" he growled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I... Fine."

Jacob grinned, planted a firm kiss on my lips, then patted my butt towards First Beach. Even though reluctantly, I walked in silence to Marla's cottage, on the other side of the reservation. I could have phased and shortened the journey time by a huge margin, but since I wasn't feeling so good, I decided against it.

And a good walk would do wonders to my calves.

"Hey, doll," Rachel greeted as I stepped into Marla's living room. "Marla's sleeping," she stated uncertainly, "just so you know."

I nodded. "It's you I wanted to talk to, actually. I have been... um, experiencing some changes lately. For example, last time, I cut my finger, and it didn't heal up quickly, like it usually does... And I'm not feeling quite myself lately... I don't really know how to explain it, but it seems as if my wolf is being totally aloof."

"Really?" she asked, in surprise, walking to the new cabinet she had bought Marla. There she started sifting through the various drawers, looking for some file in particular. Once she found it, she grinned and placed it in my lap.

"What the hell is this?" I yelped as I flipped quickly through the pages.

Her smile grew, as if that were possible. "They're the mating symptoms Marla has managed to collect over the years."

"Wait—"

"Yeah, you're going into heat."