Things Turn on a Dime
POV: Leah

Stefan stayed at Felicia's until he was feeling better, about another week and a half. He didn't seem one hundred percent, but he did stop having the swinging body temperatures when he finally did leave. Also, his nightmares weren't quite so violent by the time he got on that plane bound for Washington.

While he was staying next door, Felicia made her way to my doorstep at least a half a dozen times, frantic for my help. Stefan's nightmares were getting to be too much for her. Even the magic ties she'd used to strap him to bed weren't working to settle him. They only caused him to thrash around and hurt himself more. His extreme temperature fluctuations were especially alarming, causing us both some sleepless nights.

We both duly noted that Stefan rested more easily and appeared truly soothed only when it was me whispering to him and laying my hands on him. He actually got some undisturbed sleep when I lay down beside him and held him through the night. She sometimes sat with me while I held him, teaching me strange, and lovely words to say to him, lulling him to sleep under some beautifully chanted spell.

Felicia thinks she knows what's happening to him, but can't for the life of her understand why. She told me he's exhibiting symptoms of a shifter absorbing the magic of another supernatural being, but she has no inkling of why Stefan would do this since he isn't trained. It would be so natural for him to just ask her to do it, since it was something she could do with ease. So, with no real answers to our questions, we both bit our nails down to the quick out of worry for him and his mysterious disease. We both were fairly resentful about this, too, since we are both vain enough to prefer our nails be perfectly manicured most of the time.

Watching his torment was all pretty frightening, though. By the third night, Felicia was taking back all the jokes she'd made about avian flu and was retracting her statement about how no little sickness would be the death of him.

Neither Felicia nor I want to think too hard about what was happening to Stefan and jointly decide to just go with what works… and what worked was having me go to him in the evenings when he'd been shouting and flailing in his bed for a prolonged period of time.

Felicia's even taken to calling me his healer, which seems to have some meaning for Stefan. He now looks at me with even more respect and tenderness than ever before. There's also a new, slightly protective, possessive thing going on with him over me, too. I've noticed he's not too happy when Embry calls and starts to attack my friendship with him. Though Stefan says nothing, his entire demeanor changes and the muscles in this jaw clench and unclench while he obviously listens to my side of the conversation. This tension wasn't there before. So, I've taken to leaving the room whenever Embry is on the cell and Stefan is within earshot.

I don't tell Embry how many times I've fallen asleep holding onto Stefan, helping to calm his tremors. I really think Embry would completely lose it if he knew. Besides, it wasn't like I was actually going to do any of the things I'd imagined doing while I stroked and held onto this gorgeous hunk of a man for most of the night.

I don't feel bad not telling him, because I know Embry will overreact. After all, what's between Stefan and me is still perfectly platonic. We're still really good friends. Both of us, though, I think, are still secretly wondering what it'll be like when we actually have to conceive this super werewolf-shifter baby.

Yes, Embry should definitely not know about how many nights I've laid, fully clothed, in Stefan's bed, gazing at him and wondering what my baby will look like.

All too soon, it's two days before graduation day.

I'm expecting Embry to fly in early this evening.

I currently feel sick to my stomach and that's why I'm hanging out in the bathroom, waiting for the next wave of nausea. I'm hope I'm not coming down with something that'll keep me from walking down the aisle for that elusive diploma. It's been four years of hard work, and I don't want it to culminate in a day spent in bed vomiting my guts out with the stomach flu, or worse, stomach poisoning! I knew I shouldn't have eaten those damn oysters with Felicia the last time we were at the wharf. Ugh!

Though I only retched once, and that was this morning, the nausea has been constant since the weekend. I'd been thinking maybe I need more air, more exercise to kick the bug. I even transformed into my shaggy wolf self, three days ago, to have a refreshing run. I'm shaggy because I don't have the heart to cut my long hair again. That transformation was really hard on me, leaving me incredibly weak when I finally returned to my human form. While laying on the forest floor, naked to the world, I decided that I wasn't going to try turning wolf again for awhile. But I did still manage to find exercise time, through yoga. I had to keep moving, after all, because I was worried about my recent weight gain. I hadn't been able to fit the dress I'd bought specifically for graduation three months ago. If I was actually menstruating, you'd think I have PMS, but I'm not, and I haven't had a period since I turned into a werewolf.

A sudden stabbing cramp has me grabbing at my abdomen. I whimper at the pain, reminiscent of those old cramps from nearly seven years ago when I was just a human girl. Except this is sharper and it comes with an agonizing twist at the end. Another stab in the gut, and I'm on my knees, falling onto the tile floor, yelping out in pain. NO, this isn't any normal PMS-y cramp. This one has me spasming, and gasping for air as the pain radiates from my front to my back, and then back again. I steady myself by holding onto the bathroom sink. Another stabbing pain and I'm doubled over, seeing stars and it releases me, allowing me a pain-free moment to fall flat on my back, trembling, and then writhing against the onslaught of sickening sensation threatening to crush me from the inside out. I look down the length of my body to take stock, making sure everything is still in working order. As I look, I am greeted with an even more sickening sight.

Blood, bright red, all over the cold tile floor beneath me.

I have the wherewithal to scream for Bella. I hear her running and see her worried face hovering as I blink in and out of consciousness. She calls my name, asking me what's wrong. I know I'm crying because she's a watery blur. The pain centering around my middle won't stop in its steady breath stealing contractions . I feel like I'm being ripped apart. I gasp, asking her with the little strength I have between the peaks of pain, to get Felicia and Stefan. I tell her I need to go to the hospital. To please call Embry, and to grab Seth if he's around… Then I black out from the pain that is ransacking my body.

At The Hospital
POV: Stefan

I'm pacing in the hospital waiting room with Bella, Felicia and Seth. We're on edge, waiting for someone to come tell us news of Leah. I can't stop moving and I can't erase the image in my head of Leah lying unconscious on the bathroom floor.

When Bella slammed into Felicia's place in a complete frenzy about something that had happened to her roommate, I instantly tried searching out Leah's brain waves. When I couldn't detect her uniquely strong thought patterns, I panicked and rushed into the adjoining apartment. I stopped cold in my tracks when I saw her laying there in a pool of red. She'd lost so much blood. I did not think twice about bringing her to a regular hospital. I was scared out of my wits that this precious girl, supernatural or not, would die if I didn't get her somewhere safe, and in this case, that was a place full of learned people who had medical degrees and could save her life.

So, while in her apartment, surrounded by three people pinging around like pinballs in one of those infernal arcade machines, I resisted the urge to get sucked into their manic vortex. I threw a cloak of calm around us, and then went about shouting orders because someone needed to be clear -headed while everyone else was losing their mind.

I commanded Felica to grab the car. I ordered Bella to write Embry a note and tape it to the door because he was still on an airplane without cell coverage. I don't know how I managed to remember that she should also leave a voicemail so he'd get it once he landed. I grabbed Bella's shoulders, looked her in the eye and used extra mood enhancing powers to force her to settle down. She'd calmed enough to do as I'd explicitly asked: do not sound hysterical when leaving the message! I had a niggling concern that Embry would be so worried on his way to the hospital that he'd get into a car wreck and kill himself on the way to see Leah.

I had Seth pack Leah a bag with all of her favorite things in it so she wouldn't wake up to a stark white hospital room. Then I gave myself the job of carrying Leah to the car from the bathroom. She lay so limply in my arms, like a life-sized rag doll. I nearly whimpered at the feeling of her near lifeless form against me. I searched for her pulse, weak, but thankfully, still there. As I cradled her in my arms on the way to the emergency room, my heart squeezed. I never thought I'd care for a woman like this again, especially since most of my life had been spent waiting for, and relishing the demise of evil personified in the women who'd in the past held me in their thrall. Before Leah, I couldn't wait to have my sister get her hands on these female monsters. Never did I think I'd be the one demanding to act as savior for one of these women, particularly this one, my one greatest thrall since Elisheva left me to rot.

I would let no one touch Leah as I moved her from the car to the emergency room bed that was ready for her upon my arrival. Sometimes it helps to look as I do, and have a voice that sounds as commanding as mine does. It especially helps to have the slight accent and manner of speech. It helps to look like a man in charge, a man worried for a woman he simply cannot live without. It also helps to have an inordinate amount of cash on hand to speed things along at this private hospital.

The door from the emergency room swings open and a young doctor with a paper mask on his face beckons me to him. I guess he figures I'm the most important of us four since my shirtsleeves are still covered in Leah's blood.

"Mr. -"

"Falconer," I smoothly fill in for him. He nods.

"Your -"

"fiancèe. Her name is Leah," I supply, not knowing why I'm speaking such untruths about our status.

It seems exactly the right thing to say, though, since the doctor pulls me aside into the hallway, away from the others. I know it is more Seth's right to hear this since he is Leah's next of kin, but he's still shaking from the ordeal, and it strikes me that he is a mere boy. He looks nearly as weak as she does. I have an inkling that perhaps he might not be in the right frame of mind to hear what ails his sister.

The doctor's blue eyes sadden for a moment, and then he quickly pulls on the mask of professionalism. I resist the opportunity to peer into this man's mind. I have learned not to do so with medical workers. The things they see are often too much for me to handle.

"Your Leah will be fine, Mr. Falconer, but your baby…" I stand stoically, my hands clench in my pocket, and my jaw tenses, as the doctor fumbles for words.

"A baby?" I finally breathe.

"Yes, your fiancèe, Mr. Falconer, she's miscarried. The fetus was about two months old. I'm sorry, sir. Leah's conscious now. She is still, however, quite weak. You can go in to see her, but please tell the others in there, only one at a time, please. We've moved her to a semi-private room."

I thank him for this, suddenly realizing how much being monied can grease the wheel in such a place.

The doctor quietly says to me, "Mr. Falconer, we want to keep your fiancèe overnight for observation, just to make sure that she recovers from the emergency d&c without any complications. She does look fine, and there isn't any indication that she can't have anymore children. I hope this is some good news that can be taken away from this…tragedy," he says, having the grace to duck his head while he says it. "We can have a cot set up for you, Mr. Falconer, if you'd like."

Too shocked to say anything else.

I nod.

"She's in room 203."

I quietly thank him again and I turn to open the waiting room door to provide information to the others waiting inside.

"She's going to be alright," I announce. They all smile in relief and come to standing, ready to trek out to the elevators to visit Leah.

All the while, I keep my eyes open for any sign of Embry.

Hearing What We Want to Hear
POV: Embry

I careen into the hospital parking lot and dash into the lobby. I halt at the receptionist's desk. She's sitting, chatting with someone on her headset. I motion at her impatiently, trying to get her attention. She puts up an index finger to stop me for a moment, places the call she has on hold, and pleasantly asks me if she can help me.

It's all I can do not to scream in her face, and ask for Leah Clearwater's room number.

Armed now with the information, I bolt to the stairwell headed for Room 203. I push at the double doors, which are actually meant to open on their own. I notice that to my immediate right is the floor's waiting room. I see Felicia and Bella against the far wall, they are facing me, but do not see me since their eyes are cast down. I also see the back of someone's head. From the looks of him, it's Seth.

"… a baby?" I hear Seth mutter, his face cradled in his hands. "Jesus, you guys. How's she going to handle this?"

I steel myself and stride into the room. The girls look up at me. Seth still doesn't know I'm in the room, since I'm standing behind him.

"Two months," Seth continues. "Pregnant for two months and she didn't know it. Christ!"

Two months! I do a mental calculation, a smile starts to make its way from my heart to my lips.

Mine. My baby!

I see Felicia share a look with Bella. Those two hate each other, why are they sitting so close, and sending each other super secret silent messages?

Embry continues on his rant, "…and did either of you know she was engaged to him? What the fuck? Why didn't she tell me? I'm her brother!"

Something is very wrong.

I clear my throat. Seth turns to me and I am shocked to see the tears streaming down his face.

It's a baby, for chrissakes, why is he crying and sounding like someone just up and died?! Hey, maybe it's Stefan who's finally dead! I heard he was sick…

I quickly put an end to my own hysterics.

"What's going on?" I demand, suddenly overcome with a sickening feeling that I haven't got the full picture.

"Leah's had a miscarriage," Felicia explains somberly, since the other two have suddenly gone mute.

My heart sinks to my stomach. I can't seem to catch my breath, having been on this never-ending roller coaster ride of emotions since receiving Bella's voicemail upon landing and reading the note on their door.

Felicia's staring at me.

No baby, then.

"Who's with Leah?" I ask roughly, realizing that everyone I know who's supposed to be in town for her graduation is sitting in this stark little room.

Bella and Seth slide their eyes away from me as Felicia answers.

"Stefan is."

And, so, the bastard isn't dead after all. Damn.

Now thousands of alarm bells are going off in my head as I start to slowly string things together.

Two months.

Engaged?

But not to me...

I suddenly recall a whispered phone conversation I'd shared with Leah about two months ago. I was not happy then, and I have a dreadfully strong feeling I'm not going to be very happy now.

"Whose baby, Felicia?" I ask through gritted teeth.

I'm met with a deafening silence. I take a moment to stare into each of their faces. The only one who meets my fierce glare is Felicia.

"The baby was Leah's," she replies sharply, eyes shining, fists clenched, and mouth set. "The baby, Embry, was Leah's."

Ferocious anger bubbles up inside of me and I am filled with an intense need to see her, to find out the truth. I turn on my heel and make my way to Room 203.

Inside Room 203
POV: Stefan

Leah opens her arms to me as soon as she sees me entering the room. I pull the hospital's curtain partition around us to give her a smaller cocoon and a semblance of privacy even though there's no one in the other bed. The nurses have decided it's a slow night and there's no reason I shouldn't use it. I'm planning on offering the bed to Embry as soon as he gets here, anyway.

While I hold her, I am left to wonder at the many benefits good-looking people have in this world. While I don't often use such things to my advantage, it never ceases to amaze me how shallow humans can be, leaving most things unexamined because of what they see in front of them. In this case, because of my abnormal masculine beauty, I receive top-notch medical service and hospitality that rivals a 5-star hotel.

I shake off my musings, and turn to focus on Leah.

I recognize the power she's using to pull me to her. It's not passion she wants tonight. I see that she craves solace, and I am more than willing to offer this to her. So, I go to sit on her hospital bed and I wrap my arms around her, gathering her up into a tight hug. I hold onto her as she sobs. She grasps onto me, pressing down onto my arms that surround her, a motion that has me thinking I am wringing out a sponge with my entire body.

I hold her together as she threatens to to fall apart.

I listen to her recount how it almost killed her to phase a few days ago and how she thinks she killed the baby then. Or maybe it was the raw oysters. I whisper reassurances that it is not her fault. She curses her vanity, having stupidly worried about the extra few pounds she'd gained, how this made her think she needed to start running in her wolf-form again. And then, she cries some more.

And, still, I hold her tightly, to help her keep from shattering.

I cry with her, in fact, as she pushes all of her overpowering emotions unto, and into, me. Along with sharing her anguish I absorb the despaired wracking of her body against mine. Alone, this would be unbearable for her. Shared this way, I know I can help her through this anguish. Even so, I realize that this is not my place, not really. I know that another should be holding her this way right now.

Embry.

But he is still not here.

And I'm the only one who can fulfill this need in his absence.

And so, I continue to hold her, waiting for the man who will help her bind it all back together.

I lay her down as her sobs settle into quiet weeping. I try to pull away to sit in the armchair beside the bed, but Leah grabs onto my wrists, wrapping her hands around my forearms, forcing me to cradle her against me, and finally she pulls me down to lie beside her. This has become a familiar position for us since my last visit. It starts with her spooning me into her, quieting the frenzied movements of my nightmares, and usually ends with me holding onto her by the time we wake.

Tonight, it's me who smoothes down her hair, rubs her back, and whispers the little Nordic enchantment she so often soothed me with on those awful, tormented nights. When she finally quiets, I let her lay against me, teaching her to breathe again by letting her listen to and feel my consistent breath. She fits herself into my now familiar grooves, and I listen to the restoration of her regular rhythm of breathing, and feel her heartbeat steadying under my hand.

I know she is too tired too speak, but I also know she is too disturbed to sleep.

"A penny for your thoughts. Leah," I whisper against her ear, hoping I can help her sort through it all without the need to speak the words aloud.

I wait for either of her expected responses.

The first part of her rejoinder sticks in her throat and all I hear of her sad reply is, "…tell me that you love me."

"Okay, Leah" I say quietly, "Okay."

…and I leave her alone in her thoughts.

She gives me her gratitude by squeezing my forearms. I pull her close and place a soft kiss on the back of her head. I find myself surprisingly satisfied that she's found at least some comfort in my arms.

Seeing What We Want to See
POV:Embry

I've been standing in front of the closed door for a few minutes, now, trying to calm myself before walking in. It occurs to me that I could be wrong in my assumption, and I do desperately want to give Leah the benefit of the doubt. When I find myself able to breathe normally again, I slowly pull open the door to Room 203. Given its height and weight I am surprised that it noiselessly swings open.

I can see the bulky silhouette of her lying figure projected onto the curtained wall in front of me.

"…tell me that you love me," Leah's unmistakable, tearstained voice pleads.

I feel a torrent of relief, believing she is speaking to me. She must have heard the door open and somehow recognized me, somehow she knows that I'm here for her at last.

But then I hear a deeper, raspy reply, "Okay, Leah. Okay."

My heart thuds in my chest, not believing my ears. I move to touch the curtain to make certain it's her in the room. I peer around the material and see a familiar mop of blond hair. His muscular body is curled around her smaller one, their legs are entangled, her long black hair is splayed over his shoulder as he places a kiss on the top of her head. I watch the muscles in his back move, indicating that he's pulling her closer to him.

It would have been an endearing sight..… if I wasn't her boyfriend… and if I didn't already despise the sight of the man holding her in his arms, wrapping himself around her with a familiarity that makes me want to tear him limb from limb.

NO FUCKING WAY! I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU! THE BOTH OF YOU!

My mind screams this as I feel the pulsating anger begin at the base of my spine. I know I am on the verge of losing it completely. I can feel the shimmering start at my fingers and toes, the fury spreads now up through my spinal column and into my skull.

STOP!

The single word explodes in my head, pushing back all signs of phasing. A cascade of cool calm washes over me. Even though his back is to me, I know Stefan's taken my initial rage away. I open my mouth to shout my accusations anyway, regardless the lack of heated emotion behind them. I might not feel them, but I know they're there.

DON'T, EMBRY!

Stefan delivers his command and it is like having his large hand slap over my mouth. Thoroughly silencing me.

Though he hasn't moved from his prone position beside her, Stefan yells the warning in my head. I can't make myself feel the violent blast of enraged adrenaline that enveloped me at my first sight of them together. I'm trying to fight the fuzzy sedation that's he's put inside me, the infuriatingly placid sensation taking the place of all that glorious fury.

LISTEN. FEEL, he commands.

I shake my head.

NO! I manage.

But he comes at me again anyway, and I am suddenly overwhelmed with an unfathomable anguish that has a death grip on my heart. Along with it, is an all-encompassing guilt that surrounds this unrelenting clenched fist of despair. I can only wonder at its source.

DO YOU FEEL THAT? His silent mental cry shakes me, tries to make me focus on the question. I silently send a yes, back at him, biting back a sob at the unexpected bleakness swirling inside of me.

THAT'S LEAH, RIGHT NOW, EMBRY. This is how she feels right this minute. So, DON'T, Embry. Calm yourself. Please!

He turns his head to look toward me, where I'm still half hidden by the curtained partition. The second viewing of him holding my girlfriend in such an intimate way, once again sends a violent rage pulsing through me. He partially lets up the artificial calm, allowing me to have a little more clarity of mind, allowing me to speak my peace, even if it's only to him, in this weird psychic mind meld sort of way.

You fucking, bastard! I bellow into his head. She told me nothing was going on, but clearly…

I watch him shake his head impatiently.

Stop being stupid, Embry! She's feeling so terribly already. Please stop with your unfounded accusations!

This silent battle infuriates me. I want to yell out loud, but he's somehow taken control of my vocal cords by continuing to shoot Leah's paralyzing emotions into me. As much as I hate her right now, I can't add to her misery.

This is not what it looks like, I hear him say in my head.

I let out an incredulous laugh. At the sound of my own throaty voice, I feel a new wave of guilt hit me and wonder if this feeling is still Leah's.

Save it, I manage to voicelessly roar at him. People always say that! Judging from what's right in front of me, it's pretty clear to me what's been going on. So don't even start...

I see the muscles at his shoulders tighten, I can see I'm getting to him, and that he's trying, apparently, not to upset Leah by letting her know we're having this silent sparring match.

I'm so sorry, Embry, he says, as if this is enough to placate me.

"Keep your platitudes, Stefan!" I heave my angry thoughts out at him. "You know what? I'm GLAD this happened to her! To BOTH of you. This is what you both deserve! I told her to stay away from you! I'm glad she knows that there is no such thing as happily ever after with an imprint… especially with the likes of you."

I watch him slowly turn to face me. The look on his face is clearly not contrite, but deadly. I wonder at his nerve, looking like he's the one who wants to throttle me!

"She lost a baby, for chrissakes, Embry! Where's your heart?"

"My heart?! It's dead, along with YOUR goddamn baby!"

He freezes, no motion whatsoever. It's frightening, actually. I stare at his impervious expression.

How long have you two been going at it, huh? Been having a good laugh at my expense as you pound in and out of her?! I heedlessly continue on, obviously in possession of some sort of death wish. Lying bitch! She deserves the guilt of this baby's death! She knew her body isn't equipped to have kids. Now, she'll have to live with THIS, along with knowing that she's abused my trust. And now she'll forever know that all she's amounted to is becoming your goddamn whor-"

GET OUT! Stefan roars into my mind, cutting off my malicious thought pattern. He lashes into me so ferociously that it makes my head whip back around. I feel sick to my stomach at the anger he's unleashed on my insides.

"Gladly," I hiss, out loud, stepping away from the curtain and out of Room 203.

Let Him Think What He Wants to Think.
POV: Leah

"Leah," I say carefully, after finally managing to reign in my anger and disgust at that hotheaded, foolish boy. "That was Embry. He was in the room and misinterpreted our words."

She seems to take a moment to replay the conversations we'd been having before we'd both heard the door swing open.

"Oh," she says quietly, breathing out a short gasp of air. "He's assumed the worst, I guess?"

"Yes," I reply.

To say the least.

"Do you want me to go and get him, Leah? To tell him the truth about your baby?"

She waits a heartbeat before answering.

"What for, Stefan?" she replies wearily. "So we can tell him there's nothing between us? So we can get him to believe today's truth only to put him through all of this… again? So he can feel betrayed one more? So… he can think the very worst of me… again? No, Stefan. It's better this way. Let him have his anger. It's better for him... for us... this way."

Two Years Later… Whereupon it is Jake's and Embry's graduation weekend
POV: Leah

a bonfire to welcome folks back to LaPush… and to celebrate old legends.

Considering everything, I am surprised at the relative peace we are experiencing around tonight's bonfire.

Bella is beside Jake, and Emily is at Sam's side. Embry even has a girl sitting next to him. I try to push away the overwhelming jealousy that's eating away at me as I sneak peeks at them. Is she AP Calculus girl, I wonder? Or did he make up with Aylen after he left me alone two years ago?

I've been sitting beside Stefan, I've come to jokingly think of us as the Still-Curiously-Celibate-Couple. We've been enjoying each other's company on and off... but I really don't feel like getting involved sexually, especially after the miscarriage. I know he's disappointed, but he doesn't seem to be in a huge rush. So, I figure he's waiting for me and I'm not in a rush either. I figure when the time comes to fulfill this prophecy, I'll know.

So, here I am, patiently explaining to him all that is happening during this bonfire. I'm not completely ignorant of Embry and the stink eye he continues to give Stefan and me. I hear a growl emanate from Embry's general vicinity, aimed specifically in my direction. The sound prompts me to purposely reach out to hold Stefan's hand and narrow my gaze, sending Embry the clear message to knock it off. I see Stefan give me a small smile, but otherwise, he seems careful to keep any emotion off of his face.

I try to ignore Embry's blatant rudeness. Even Paul is deliberately trying to stay out of it, which is certainly laudable. Stefan continues to murmur questions in my ear, trying to make sense of the Third Wife legend. Any action that Stefan makes to move closer to me seems to further incense Embry, who, to everyone's surprised dismay, suddenly rises to his feet. His blazing gaze does not waver from Stefan's cool stare.

"Why are you here, shifter?" Embry's infuriated question shocks the entire pack into silence, and his date looks utterly confused. His complete neglect of her almost has me feeling sorry for the girl.

Almost.

"He's her imprint, pup," Sam bellows. "Leave it alone already!"

Embry growls, really growls, at Sam. Jake rises, then, and places a staying hand on Embry's shoulder.

I watch another expression cross Stefan's handsome features and I suddenly realize there's something else going on under the surface. I pinch Stefan's side and he winces.

"Knock it off, Stefan. Whatever you're saying to him, just stop!" I hiss quietly. I wait for his nod, and Embry sits down, still locking eyes with Stefan.

An audible sigh of relief comes from the group once he's seated.

But just as I settle back into my place, bumping Stefan's shoulder companionably, I feel his muscles instantly tauten next to mine, and I hear an angry snarl rip out of Stefan's throat.

"You dare refer to her by that vulgar word… again?" he growls at Embry. Stefan's fierce look has the girl beside Embry scampering behind Jake, who's the only other guy in the circle as big as Stefan.

The guys all stare wide-eyed at Embry who nonchalantly places a piece of food in his mouth with a shrug. We can all only guess at the offensive word he's formed in his head to describe me. Judging from Stefan's reaction, I have a good idea it starts with "w" and rhymes with "more". I shoot Embry my own look of absolute disgust.

"You do not deserve her after all," Stefan spits out.

"Who says I still want her," Embry says, roughly pulling his date out of Jake's shadow and giving her an angry kiss, as if showing me - all of us - just how over me he is. Bastard. As an unwilling witness, I feel a sharp sting, as though Embry had just slapped me with his rough handling of the girl. I try not to think of the words he'd managed to spit out against me in his fury.

If I'd been her, I'd have kicked him halfway to Sunday and stomped away by now. I can't believe she's still standing there, but as I examine her pathetic figure, I quickly forgive her after realizing he's got a death grip on her arm.

"Stop it!" I shout at him. "It's been TWO YEARS. You've clearly made your decision, Embry!" I motion over to the poor girl, with her bruised lips, at his side. She seems on the verge of tears. "Just stop it, Embry! Leave if you can't behave yourself."

Even as I move to sit, there still appears to be a tense, silent conversation going on between him and Stefan. And, then, out of no where, Embry phases and bum rushes Stefan from across the circle. I watch the attack in slow motion. Embry jumps on Stefan who seems out of practice in participating in your basic, manly, pissing-match, brawl.

Miraculously, I keep from phasing. A wave of calm enfolds me just as Stefan lands backwards on the ground, pinned under Embry's hulking, furry form. I know my placid state of mind is Stefan's doing again. I'm thankful, mostly, since I'm vain enough to consider the fact that I'd rather not rip apart my favorite pair of jeans to keep these idiots from killing each other. I am glad to see Stefan take the animal form of a werewolf that looks a whole hell of a lot like Jake's werewolf form, except bigger. I didn't know Stefan could do that! I look at my pack mates who seem equally stunned at the sight of Stefan turning into a wolf - just like us.

Looks like Embry's going to be well-matched, I think smugly. I am surprised, a little, by my unobtrusive, quiet observations. I realize it's good not to be caught up in the emotion of this. It's like seeing the fight through a safe, comfortable bubble, like watching it all on t.v.

Unfortunately, the bubble I'm in doesn't surround anyone else. The frightening, animalistic growls coming from both werewolves has the girl Embry brought screaming like a fricken' banshee.

Shit, didn't he even tell her?

Watching her face contort in horror, I am again grateful to be able to keep my head as I watch them tear into each other. I wince as Embry rips into Stefan's shoulder. I recognize Stefan's defensive movements. It's clear that he's not the one who's on the attack.

I didn't realize how impulsive Embry really is. There were some clues, but really, this is uncalled for! What the hell were they saying to each other to make Embry want to kill Stefan like this?

I look to both Jake and Sam to break it up, but the stupid blood-thirsty men that they are, they shake their heads, no. They both seem willing to wait it out now, since it's clear that Stefan isn't out to murder one of their own.

I look at Bella and in our silent girl way, I tell her to pull Embry's screaming date aside. Lord, but she was giving me a headache! Thankful that Bella's not as dense as she sometimes seems, she leads the girl out into the edge of the trees to calm her down. I find my way to them and start to strip, still listening to the fighting down at the beach. The commotion is not abating, if anything, the sounds are getting worse. There's a tight circle of shouting guys around the werewolves now. I can only imagine the mayhem in the middle.

Stupid Embry!

Stupid Stefan!

"Leah, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like Bella?" I say annoyed. "Those idiots are going to let them slaughter each other. I have to go and break it up. Turn away now if you don't want to see my naughty bits." I hear a watery, hysterical giggle come from the slight form next to Bella. I stop mid-way though my strip show. The girl's eyes had widened at the sound of my name, as if she recognized me or something.

"Hey, screamer, what's you're name?" I ask.

"Aylen," she says.

I sigh, and shake my head. Well, that explains her familiarity with me. We were great chat room friends. Now I know why she dropped out of the How to get over Embry Call discussion Board around two months ago.

"So, you're a sucker for punishment, too, huh?" She sends me a guilty glance, but her eyes go round as saucers as she watches me make my transformation to wolfgirl. I feel like she's studying me, like she'll have a test tomorrow about how I calmly go about phasing. It's slightly creepy.

I force myself to forget about Aylen, the screamer, ex-now-current girlfriend of bastard wolf, and rush back out into the clearing, where the LaPush men are now yelling at the werewolves, bellowing advice about what their next moves should be.

I discover that I can still roll my eyes as wolfgirl. I make my presence known by breaking through the throng and shoving myself between the grappling werewolves.

OK, that was a incredibly stupid thing for me to do.

In the time I'd gone and come back, Embry had somehow managed to piss Stefan off royally and now both weren't holding back in their mode of attacks.

"Oh, shit! Leah's in there!" I hear Sam shout.

Now, I never claimed my ex- was the sharpest tool in the shed.

So yeah, not sharp, but he is still a tool.

I see a flurry of movement among the other men who are trying to decide whether to phase and come save me. While the imbeciles remain undecided, I try with my legs and snout to keep Embry and Stefan from capturing each other's jugulars in a death grip with their jaws. For this, I am rewarded with a nice rip at my left hip and another at my right waist. Both stupid wolves managed to draw blood from me.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

I yelp loudly, more for effect than out of pain.

Hey, sometimes it pays to be a drama queen.

Both werewolves go stock-still, cease their attacks, and instantly phase back. Continuing with my farce, I stay in wolfen form, whimpering, and shaking myself free of them. I shoot both of them hateful glares as I overly exaggerate a limp back to where Bella sits with Aylen. I must have been convincing because all I hear in the silence is labored breathing from the two, now naked, morons.

"What's going on?' Aylen asks me, now surprisingly composed.

"Come and see for yourself," I say, after I phase. I am quickly slipping back into my clothes, wincing a little at the pain in my side and at my hip. Both are surface wounds, though. I'm sure they will be gone within a quarter hour. Mere paper cuts, really.

Bella, Aylen, and I slowly make our way back to where the guys are. Stefan must be too distracted to keep me in my calm bubble. My former fury whips through me. I embrace it and focus it before I meet the circle of men.

I'm slightly alarmed to see that Stefan has blood all over his bare chest. The red is seeping from a jagged, ugly wound at his shoulder. He's also sporting a big bruise on his leg and another on his right cheek. One of the guys has already thrown his shirt over Stefan's … ahhh.. privates, and out of the corner of my eye, I see that Embry's grabbed the nearest towel to pull over his lap.

I stride over to the blond first.

"I can't even look at you right now. You know that this is not what I want." I glower at Stefan, disappointed that he'd sunk to Embry's juvenile level. "You promised that this would be OK!"

"Leah, are you all right? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," his sorrow is evident, his hand motioning toward my waist, where blood is starting to seep through my shirt.

Damn! I really like this shirt! Bloodstains are really hard to get out!

I have no immediate plans on forgiving Stefan so easily for his stupidity. His usually well-groomed hair is now disheveled, the tips of his blond bangs brush against his clearly pained eyes. I hate seeing him hurt, after all these nights of nightmares. Stupid shifter! Did he even fight back at all?! I sincerely hope he heals as fast as wolves do. I stare silently into deep, almost fathomless green and find myself nearly hypnotized. I shake my head, trying to remind myself what I'd been meaning to shout at him.

"Stefan, I can't think when you're around me! Especially like this when your emotions are on a high," I holler out into the sea breeze. All of my pack brothers and their dates are my undesired audience, all completely caught up in my melodrama.

I stop and take a moment before continuing, "You told me, before, that I'll know when it will be time. Is that still right?"

He nods weakly. I nod stiffly back at him, making no move to comfort him, or ease his obvious pain. I know he's worried. He should be! After this little escapade, he should be worried, because I really don't want to have a kid who is as stupid as he is at this very moment.

"Well, then, let me come to you when it's time," I say forcefully. "Go away, for now. I don't want to see you for awhile."

I can't stand to look at Stefan's dejected expression. I notice he moves gingerly as he begins to pull the shirt away from his lap. I gasp, catching sight of all of him, and I swiftly turn away, but not quickly enough because I'm still able to catch the appreciation held in the other women's eyes at how, um… well-endowed Stefan is. Bella smirks. Aylen looks ready to swoon, and Emily sends me a look that tells me that even she's just a little bit jealous.

I try to hide my own thoughts on the matter, but I think in his weakness, Stefan, reads my thoughts, registering my positive appraisal of his goods, too. Fortunately, his good manners keep him for commenting, though I do catch a pleased expression on his face before I decide that it's a good time now to shift my attention to the other dick on the beach.

"And you!" I bellow, whirling around to face Embry.

Despite being nearly as bloody and wounded as his counterpart, Embry had obviously been grinning like a complete idiot over my shoulder, giving Stefan looks of winning triumph during the scolding I was giving my imprint. As soon as Embry sees my expression, though, the grin slides off his face. He winces as I slap his shoulder.

I hope he hurts like hell!

"You!" I repeat, pointing my finger at him, "are being an infant. You need to grow up!" I stride closer to him and place my face mere inches away from his. I thoroughly enjoy the fact that he's squirming under my stare. I move just a bit closer so only he can hear the words I hiss at him. "Two fucking years of nothing from you, and you give me this on the first night I see you again? You promised me once that you'd be the man for me. Remember that?! Or have you lost your memory along with your good sense? As far as I'm concerned… even when we were together, and after all of this time, you still haven't fulfilled any one of your promises. NOT ONE! So, buttercup, you'd better stop throwing the first punches here, because until you figure out how to be the man that you promised me you'd be, I don't want to hear from your sorry ass, either!"

POV: Embry

"Embry! What the hell were you thinking?" Jake shouts at me after Leah stomps off in a huff, grabbing Bella, Aylen, and come to think of it, all the rest of the females, along with her.

"He-" I point at Stefan with my chin because everywhere else aches to holy hell. The shifter seems oblivious to me. He's on the other side of the fallen log nursing his own wounds. I grimace at him, already healing.

Damn, he has our healing powers, too.

"Jake," I say through clenched teeth, "that bastard was taunting me with his mind."

I watch Stefan's lips form an annoyingly self-satisfied smirk. "The boy deserved it, Jacob. His mind truly belongs in the gutter. Be thankful you don't have to be subjected to his filthy, unintelligent thoughts and thoroughly debased mental images whenever you are in his presence. Frankly, it's gotten tiresome. I had a weak moment tonight and because I ruined your evening, I am sincerely sorry. For this, I humbly apologize. I, however, do not regret finally sending that young one some mental images of my own."

He looks pointedly at me when he says young one. I gnash my teeth at him.

"It's become fairly obvious, Embry isn't man enough to handle the fact that Leah's finally found a real man."

Stefan's casually tossed insult has me seeing red all over, and Paul has to tackle me to stop me from jumping the shifter again.

"Knock it off, asshole," Paul snaps in my ear as I forcefully shrug him off. "Goddamn Leah. No good hass ever come of having a girl in the pack. I don't even know why she exists… all this territorial shit over her?" Paul mutters angrily, gesturing towards both Stefan and me. "You'd think she was actually good for something besides being pretty."

This comment earns him four equally terrifying growls from myself, Stefan, Seth, and Sam. Jake has also lodges his angry protest, but he's the first to recover his calm.

"Actually," Jake shouts above the snarling and teeth snapping. "There's a reason I invited Stefan out here to be with us at the bonfire tonight. There's something all you guys in the pack need to know…"

Author's Note:

First, I just know that I am going to go to hell for writing all that stuff Embry says to Stefan in the hospital! So, please pray for me.

A huge thanks to all the regular reviewers who keep me writing despite the constant siren's call to manage my real life. I have so much work to do, it's not even funny.

A shout out to hilja, ari11990, Kei Kat Jones (my muse for this story), x Rima x, Team Jacob Always, ItsCuzOfTheFame, and Davii-Hime. I hope I answered some questions in this chapter. I want to keep it to 40 chapters, so you'll be seeing some longer chapters from here on out. Thank you, too, to all of you new reviewers who are steadily becoming regular responders. I am so thankful for your generosity in feeding the muse with your entertaining comments. I also appreciate all you silent readers who put this story on alert and are also having fun with it.

**In response to some of the earlier reviews, all the questions regarding Jacob's well-being are dealt with, to some extent, in Just One Kiss (heretofore, JOK), which I do realize was hastily finished, and I do plan on going back to rewrite it eventually, by the way.. It just got nominated for some contest, so I'm sort of embarrassed at the amount of poor grammar and punctuation in the latter chapters. I really need a beta!

Anyway, I know a lot of you HATE Bella, despise is perhaps a more apt word for some of you, and can't stomach the idea of the Jacob/Bella pairing to read the JOK story. I honestly hadn't realized the amount of vitriol against her until I wrote the wedding chapter for this story. I do now see that many of us can't get over the whiny, EMO, mary jane characterization of canon Bella. And I totally understand why some of you want to retch before reading a story from the Jacob/Bella ship.

So, if you're one of these readers, I want to ease your worry about the Jake of Choices. You should know that in JOK, I made him happy, gave him the girl he wanted (I did make her ideal), and he has a really, really good life with a wife who doesn't take him for granted. Really, he does! He has two kids, a house, a business, and a dog, the whole bit! -- well, not the dog, I was just kidding about that! LOL.

And the whole thing with Stefan and Jake last chapter, is my attempt to satisfy those readers of JOK who were like, WTF? What did evil Stefan do to Jake to make him all human???!!! I hate Stefan!

After getting to know him better, I really like Stefan, now. I don't think I liked him at first, but he's grown on me and since I've developed him and wrote him especially for Leah. I think all the readers of JOK should know that he's a really spectacular guy. I realize he's a complete fantasy, but hey, I am writing a fantasy fic.! LOL... So I make no apologies for him and his utter perfection.

So, yeah…. anyway, happy reading!

-- Worried that the Author's Note is getting to be longer than the chapter, so I'm stopping now.--