Jackson

Maysun spun around and pressed her back against Embry. A growl exploded from her chest and her red eyes were focused on her brother.

"Nahuel, it's alright," Alice tried to sooth the hybrid, "Embry just imprinted, he won't hurt her."

Nahuel fell silent. His eyes shifted from the shifter to his sister and back again.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

Maysun let her growl fade away, "Forgiven. Embry, this is my brother Nahuel. He can be a jerk sometimes but I know he doesn't mean it."

"Um, hi," Embry mumbled. He had trouble tearing his eyes away from Maysun.

Maysun caught his hand in her own, "Why don't we take a walk and get to know each other better?"

Considering the lust I could see around both of them I doubted they would be talking for too long.

"Maysun!" Nahuel argued, "You have just met him; you shouldn't -"

"Nahuel," she snarled back, "I am nearly two hundred years old. If you try to tell me what to do simply because you have testicles I can rip them off for you."

Jennifer giggled, which broke some of the tension.

"I worry for you," Nahuel replied, "How will Joham react when he finds out about this?"

"You are the one who had been telling me to think for myself and build a life away from Father; this is the first step."

"Nice to meet you," Embry said happily before Maysun led the way into the forest.

"I'm glad I can't see Embry," Alice announced suddenly, "Though even without the visions I am sure they are going to need new clothes."

"I'm proud of you Nahuel," Jennifer complemented, "I don't think anyone else could tell you were acting."

Nahuel grinned at her, "You know me too well little sister."

"Your emotions gave it away," Jasper added, "You were pretending to be angry though you were actually quite relieved."

"Joham has controlled my sisters for long enough," Nahuel said flatly, "Serena may be beyond hope but Maysun and Jennifer deserve to live their own lives."

"Seth, I hope you imprint on me," Jennifer said to the shifter, "I love how warm you are."

Seth froze in place, staring at her in silence. He enjoyed his life and had not pined for a mate the way Embry and Leah had.

"Seth is only twenty-five," Edward explained as the uncertainty grew within Jennifer, "He has never seriously considered imprinting until today."

Jennifer frowned at the shifter, "Well think about it," she suggested pointedly. She leaned forward and kissed his nose.

"I know what this is all about," Nahuel said as Jennifer skipped over to him, "You always wanted a puppy but they were all scared of you."

"Can we keep him?" she asked him sweetly.

"Only if he imprints," Nahuel replied.

Bella and Renesmee were giggling at the exchange. Alice was not amused, which could have been due to her lack of visions.

Seth ran toward the forest with his tail wagging.

"This should be interesting," Edward mused as he watched the shifter disappear from sight.

"You don't have to do this now," I whispered to Leah.

"Everyone is distracted by Seth and Jennifer," Edward countered, "It might be the perfect time."

Leah stood up straight, her features set in a determined expression, "Let's get this over with."

Nahuel walked toward Leah with graceful purpose; obviously he had heard our soft conversation. Leah kept her eyes on her feet as she approached him.

"Even if you do not imprint, I would love to get to know you better," Nahuel said softly. There was definite interest from him, beyond curiosity of meeting someone new.

"Thanks," Leah mumbled.

"How is a beautiful woman like you still single?" he asked.

Leah looked up finally. While most of the attention was centred on Seth emerging shirtless from the woods I waited nervously for Leah to react.

Her emotions froze; for a full second I could not sense a single thing from her. I teetered on the brink of hope.

Disappointment and anger blossomed around Leah in an explosive, tumultuous cloud.

Jennifer squealed with happiness when Seth stared at her in adoration. Leah took advantage of the distraction to explode out of her clothes and run into the forest.

Her pain hit me like a tsunami. I staggered sideways until I was able to catch myself on the tree. Jasper dropped to his knees with his hands pressed to his head.

Nahuel stared at the forest, watching the last place where he had seen Leah. He was disappointed too.

I pushed myself to my feet and followed her with gritted teeth. The long, miserable howl of a lone wolf echoed through the forest.

Alice caught up with me easily and shoved some clothing into my hands. I grunted a thank-you and continued my march into the forest.

"Good luck," Alice said sadly.

Her visions were blank so I couldn't even ask her advice on how to approach Leah.

The path was easy to follow; broken branches, torn shrubbery and a wide path in the remaining snow led me to the heart-broken wolf.

She lay on the wet dirt in a messy pile of grey fur, the epicentre of a circle of destruction. The trees all bore claw marks and two of the smaller ones had been snapped completely.

I saturated her with calm and tried to dissolve the edge of the misery she was caught in. She did not react.

I approached her carefully, noting that neither her ears nor her eyes flicked in my direction. She truly did not care that her natural enemy was drawing closer and that worried me immensely.

I sat down next to her and reached out to stroke her neck. A small, sad whine echoed through her chest.

"I'm sorry Leah," I commiserated softly, "I know how much of a relief it would have been to finally imprint."

I placed the clothing next to her head where she could clearly see it. She blinked at me slowly.

Even if she did imprint, I doubted the pain within her would disappear as she hoped. After ten years of refusing to deal with the emotional trauma of her first love I suspected the hardened, bitter edge to her personality was permanent.

I hoped I was wrong, for her sake.

The light was fading from the sky by the time Leah hauled her furry grey body to her feet and trudged out of sight to shift. I tossed the clothing after her when she left it behind. Seeing her naked would be a glorious sight but she would kick my butt later when she wasn't weighted down by the latest blow life had delivered her.

She was wearing the blue dress Alice had chosen when she re-emerged. Without a word she dropped into my lap and buried her face into my neck. I enveloped her with as much soothing emotions as I could yet still felt completely inadequate.

Bella

According to my mate Jackson was cursing himself for his inability to help Leah. I wanted to grab him by the ear and drill into his head how much he was already able to ease her pain.

Leah had never been so happy; she actually smiled now which was amazing in itself. She joked with Emmett, hugged Seth and I had even seen her talking with Rosalie.

Jackson did not know how withdrawn Leah had been over the past ten years. I had watched her deterioration myself, yet only when she came back to life did I realize how far she had fallen under the sway of depression.

Nothing I could say or do could clear his misconceptions so I did not try. Instead I promised myself that when he found his mate I would do everything in my power to assist their courtship. He was such a private person that breaking through those walls would be a mammoth task.

Jackson walked out of the forest with the military bearing which I also saw daily in Jasper. He carried Leah bridal-style without effort. His honey-coloured hair curled around his forehead boyishly, in contrast to his impassive expression and intimidating scar. Leah had her head tucked under his chin; once again I reflected how unfair it was that they were not destined for each other.

Neither of them knew what a poetic image they created.

"Can I please make a 'Cowboys and Indians' joke?" Emmett whined.

A soft growl from Rosalie saved the rest of us from answering. They were sitting together near Edward and I on the front veranda of the house.

The emotional environment had driven Jasper to seek refuge away from the house, taking Alice with him.

Nahuel had made a rather odd request of Carlisle, and they were upstairs discussing why the hybrid wanted to know if he was capable of siring children.

The boots Alice had made Jackson wear crunched over the driveway as he approached. Usually the wolves stayed away from the main house in favour of their cabin, but Seth and Jennifer were getting to know each other in there. I was once again grateful that the cabins on the property were all spaced far enough apart that sounds could not be picked up by even Vampire ears.

"I don't want to stink up the house," I heard Leah say.

Jackson paused and his eyes roamed over the four of us. Rosalie stood up; pulling Emmett with her. They resettled on the steps.

Jackson nodded his thanks to the couple as he passed. He sat down on the small lounge they had vacated. Leah made no move to extricate herself from his embrace.

They made an interesting picture; even though I knew there was nothing romantic brewing between then I could easily imagine them as a couple. Jackson kept himself aloof and intimidating, his emotions rarely cracking the surface of the persona he presented.

Leah was a smouldering cauldron of emotions, each of which were clearly recognisable on her face and in her actions. She was incapable of subterfuge and had no patience for manipulations.

I heard Carlisle tell Nahuel that he was sterile. My hand tightened on Edward's as I waited for a reaction from the hybrid.

"I suspected as much," Nahuel revealed, "My sisters are barren too; they have ovaries but the eggs are missing. My sire wanted to subject me to tests too but I avoid him wherever possible. Thank-you for confirming my suspicions."

My first thoughts were of my daughter. Renesmee had never expressed a desire to have children, though hints had been dropped by half of the family. I hoped she wouldn't be disappointed if it turned out she was not able to conceive.

Nahuel and Carlisle moved through the house at a leisurely pace, discussing the purpose of imprinting if not to produce offspring. I listened with interest and realized that Nahuel had been pondering the idea for quite some time.

"I can understand that some imprinting served the purpose of continuing the bloodlines," Nahuel was saying as they exited the house, "Yet with the threat of Vampires a permanent fixture it does make sense that an eternal Pack needed to be formed."

So why hadn't Leah imprinted on him? I glanced at the sad wolf still curled up on Jackson's lap. Nahuel noticed the direction of my glance and considered Leah thoughtfully.

"Leah, I would have been honoured to be your imprint," Nahuel said softly.

Leah sighed, "Fate likes to bitch-slap me," she declared, "Why give me a happy ending when I can watch my Packmates be happy while I sit alone and miserable."

Nahuel knelt down in front of her. Jackson appeared distinctly uncomfortable, yet there was no way to extricate himself from under Leah without interrupting the conversation. He was an eternal soldier and gentleman.

"Leah, what if female wolves are not capable of imprinting? Perhaps Nature has deemed you intelligent enough to make intelligent decisions while the males have the choices made for them?" Nahuel reasoned.

"That would suck," Leah replied with her typical tact, "I want this ache to go away; I want to be able to hear the name 'Sam' without cringing. I want to feel something other than anger and misery!"

"Leah, may I have your permission to court you?"

Leah stared at him in shock, and she was not the only one.

"Why?" she managed.

Nahuel laughed, "You are frighteningly honest and I love your sense of humour. If you imprint one day I will withdraw to allow you to be happy, but in the meantime I want to enjoy your company."

Behind Leah I could see Jackson smile. I wondered what Leah and Nahuel were feeling to amuse the Empath during an apparently serious conversation.

"And if it doesn't work out?" Leah asked cautiously.

"I would love to be your friend."