The Twilight Series belongs to S. Meyer, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.

AN: I'm sorry, I thought we'd be at Jake/Leah time by now but it wouldn't have made sense to combine the last two chaps (too long and the flow wouldn't have been great) and I didn't want this chap to be a book all on its own but I'm pretty sure there will be some excitement soon. ;)


Chapter 53

More Brain Bleach, Please

Leah ran home assured Jake and Seth would be more than able to take care of Brady and Collin. Seth had mentioned to her Embry's talk and he'd agreed to try and be nicer to Jake so Leah figured this was as good of time as any for them to work together. She also figured it was time to try passing some responsibility to Jake. And now that Seth and she weren't the youngest wolves, Seth would appreciate the opportunity to teach the newbies.

Arriving at her house, she realized her mom no longer had the bin outside and she wasn't up to running to find some of the clothes she'd tucked around the forest. She spied some towels drying on the clothesline. Phasing back, she ran over to the clothesline and grabbed a towel off to wrap around her body. Of course, it was her luck they were all smaller bath towels so it barely covered her.

She ran to the patio door and slide the screen door open. Entering the living room, her eyes attempted to adjust from the differences in light. She should have known this day was going to continue to throw her curve balls.

"Mom," she cried out watching in horror as her mom and Charlie broke apart and jumped away from each other. Charlie's face turned bright red.

"Leah, I thought you were at the beach? And what happened to your clothes?"

It was Leah's turn to blush and she didn't think it was possible but Charlie turned even redder. She griped the ends of the towel tighter to her body. "Umm, would you believe me if I told you I accepted a dare?"

"No, not really but I'm sure this isn't the time either."

"No, it's not. It's nice to see you, Charlie," Leah said and then nearly ran out of the room. She reached her room in record time. Grabbing a tee-short and shorts, she pulled them on. Throwing herself on her bed, she groaned. The world was going insane, that was the only answer.


School resumed and the pack was finally able to settle into a routine. Having two additional members was helpful except due to their age and relative lack of focus, they generally either patrolled with someone else or had shorter two hour patrols.

Sue had finally been able to convince Billy and Old Quil to allow pack members to decide if they wanted to tell their parents. Overall, most of the pack declined but Leah insisted Brady and Collin's parents be told simply to ensure they didn't run into the same issues Embry had to deal with. Both the Fullers and Littleseas took the news well and the Littleseas guessed the reason why the elders were visiting long before Billy could finish explaining.

Brady and Collin tended to follow Seth around and looked up to him. The rest of the wolves they felt were too old to be cool. This worked out in Leah's favor because not only did they both apologize to her; they didn't project the image Quil had shared.

Brady and Collin's hero worship also helped keep Seth distracted from the fact their mom was dating Charlie. Leah still wasn't sure how she felt about it. It hadn't been quite six months since her dad had passed but she supposed the fact they'd both lost people close to them had forged a deeper relationship. Though it still was weird to her to think about what they may be doing.


Leah had also figured she needed to call Rebecca to apologize for sharing the secret. It had been nearly a year since they'd talked last and Leah knew Rebecca was going to be pissed. It had been impulsive on Leah's part but she was just trying to get the boys to understand there was nothing wrong with it. Maybe her way wasn't the best way to go about it but it was too late to change what had been said. She'd needed to Alpha order Paul not to say anything to Rachel; coming up with how to word the order had been nearly enough to give her a stroke. Whoever thought you shouldn't be able to keep anything from your imprint was not thinking about situations like this.

Dialing Rebecca's number she waited for her to answer. Just when she thought the call would go to voicemail, she heard Rebecca say, "Hello."

"Hey, Becca. It's Leah."

"Leah?"

"Yeah, I know it's been a while but I thought we should get caught up," Leah lied through her teeth. She was a really shitty friend and she'd been lucky if Rebecca didn't just fly back home to kick her ass.

"Alright, so what's new with you," Rebecca asked.

"Not much, just going to school, hanging around La Push, and doing some work for the council. Have you talked to Rachel lately?"

"No, we don't really talk all that much. Why?"

"Oh, just curious. Did you know she's back in La Push? She's…umm…dating Paul."

"Paul? Why would she want to do that for? Doesn't she realize where he's been?"

Leah blushed and was grateful this conversation wasn't happening in person. "Yeah, they've been seeing each since the beginning of summer. They're like soul-mates. It's pretty serious. I think she's going to move in with him soon."

Rebecca laughed, "Oh, I get it. You're trying to pull my leg. For a second I almost believed you, Leah. Thank goodness, I certainly don't want to be related to him at all. How have you been doing since your dad? My dad mentioned he passed away last spring."

Leah bit her lip, "Alright, I guess. There's been so much recent drama around here so I've been busy. How's Taylor?"

"She's good. We're thinking about adoption. She's opening a surfing school for tourists and now that she's not competing it might be the right time. So what's all the drama?"

It was now or never, so Leah thought it would be best to blurt out every piece of drama she could think of. "Well, for starters, Embry's related to me and Seth, Rachel's really dating Paul, umm…your brother and I may possibly be soul-mates, and I may have accidently let your secret out of the closet. Oh, and I almost forgot my mom's dating Charlie Swan."

Rebecca didn't say anything for several long moments after Leah's speech. "Umm, Becca, you still there," she asked hesitantly.

"Why, Leah? I can't believe you'd do this," she said furiously.

"I'm sorry, it just came out. I didn't mean to, not at all. And I can't exactly explain the circumstances around it. I mean, I could but not over the phone. You wouldn't believe me."

"Who knows?"

"Fuck," Leah whispered.

"Leah, who all knows?"

"Well, your dad and Rach don't know yet. But I don't know how long Paul will be able to keep from saying something to her. And I don't think Jake's going to say anything to your dad but he's upset that you haven't said anything."

"So, basically what you're saying is I can expect a call from Rachel anytime now. Demanding to know why I didn't say anything. And you know she'll say something to dad, too. Then he'll be on my case, too."

"Becca, honestly out of all the things going on around here, I personally think your dad and Rach will be just fine with it. Believe me, I've seen some pretty messed up things lately and out of all of us, you're pretty normal. Would you just think about coming home for a visit? I know you're pissed at me but I promise I can explain everything to you."

"Fine, I'll think about," Rebecca paused for a moment before asking, "Everything else you said about Embry, Jake, and your mom…that's all true."

"Yeah, I caught my mom and Charlie making out on the couch last week. I think I'm scarred for life."

"And Embry? I thought both his parents were from the Makah rez."

"That's what we all thought but...well there was some evidence suggesting it wasn't true. After dad died, my mom was going through his things and she found a book with pictures and stuff of Embry's."

"Wow, I can't imagine. That must have been hard for all of you."

"It was but once we got over the shock of it all, the three of us are pretty close. I guess that's part of the reason why I think you should at least come for a visit. Getting to know Embry has been great but there's sometimes I think about how we all missed out. Dad got updates and whatever from Tiffany but he never got an opportunity to be part of Embry's life. And well, Seth and I didn't get an opportunity to know him until recently. Family's important, Becca. Things happen that are unexpected."

Rebecca sighed, "I know. I'll think about it. You're not really dating Jake, are you? He's a kid."

"Not anymore," Leah replied thinking about how un-kid like Jake was. Lately, she'd been thinking about him all the time. Along with the erotic dreams she'd been having, she was driving herself crazy.

"Leah! I can't believe you. I don't even want to know. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, just think about what I said, Becca. There are a lot of people who miss you."


Unknown to either Leah or Jake, the pack had begun to notice how they seemed drawn to each other. They had all seen how Leah had allowed Jake to work with Brady and Collin that first day. Even the fact both of them had noticed Brady and Collin's imminent change before anyone else. And Leah's Alpha order didn't affect Jake.

Even Brady and Collin had initially nearly ended up on Seth's wrong side when after Jake explained imprinting; they determined Leah was Jake's girlfriend. Seth may have decided to give a Jake a chance but it didn't mean he was ready for them to have that type of relationship. Though Seth had come to realize perhaps there was some truth to Brady and Collin's observations. Now they always sat together at pack meetings. Once again patrols had been modified so they patrolled one after the other. And they had one day off together during each rotation.

Depending on the day of the week, sometimes they'd do nothing other than study; Leah for the courses she was taking at the Peninsula's Forks campus and Jake for his high school courses. Everyone was careful not to say anything because the one-time Paul had been stupid enough to make a sly comment; Leah had punished him with double patrols. The wrath of Leah was not worth pointing out to her how wrong she was about imprinting being able to be fought.


It had been three weeks since Bella's memorial when Leah started not feeling well. There were just odd symptoms and as a wolf she knew they weren't supposed to get ill. She struggled to figure out what was going on. She would have hot flashes which she didn't quite understand. They already ran at a toasty 108 degrees and half the time she was either in wolf form or wearing minimal clothing, so she didn't have a reason to get overheated.

When she started craving sweets, particularly chocolate she wasn't quite sure what to say. Maybe it was a phase. She'd read somewhere cravings were your body telling you were deficient in certain vitamins or minerals. So, when the cravings switched to potato chips and pickles she assumed she just needed more salt in her diet.

Then she started being more bitchy than usual. The littlest things would set her off and she felt as though everyone was purposely trying to get on her nerves. She snapped at anyone and everyone for any and all reasons. When her breasts swelled and became tender, she decided it was time to make an appointment. She made an appointment to see Carlisle.

Arriving at her appointment she discussed her symptoms and also mentioned the work-up she'd had done in Seattle. Carlisle looked at her records and asked her a few other questions. Then, he'd called in a tech to draw some blood; once the blood was drawn, another tech brought in an ultrasound machine.

"I've already had an ultrasound done, Carlisle. I don't see why another one would show anything different."

"It's just a theory I have. It will take a bit for the lab tests to come back so rather than waiting for them, I'd like to do a scan. I think the lab tests and scan will confirm my theory."

"Whatever," she huffed and lay back down on the exam table. Carlisle squirted some ultrasound gel on the lower part of her abdomen. Taking the wand, he pressed into her abdomen and Leah watched the screen. The black and white fuzzy images weren't meaningful to her but Carlisle appeared to be intrigued by them.

"Hmm, I wonder," he muttered. He removed the wand from her abdomen and wiped the excess gel off before glancing over at Leah and asking, "So, what you remember is an increase in vampire activity sometime before Christmas when you were in Seattle?"

"I guess. I didn't know that's what it was but I had been running to help with my temper and I couldn't run outside anymore cause the smell would give me headaches."

"And your last cycle would have been near the end of October or beginning of November?"

"I think so. I just remember I felt odd. I'd get angry about the smallest things. In fact, that was the reason why I took several online classes. It was in February when I realized I hadn't had a period for a while, so I went in. That's when they did the testing."

"You phased for the first time in March?"

"Yeah, I was home for spring break. I didn't realize it was going to happen. I went for a run the first day I'd come home and I had to turn around because I came across the same smell that had been in Seattle. After I got home, I fell asleep. I felt over-heated and tired."

The intercom in the room crackled to life, "Dr. Cullen, Ms. Clearwater's lab results are in." Carlisle opened Leah's chart on the computer and reviewed the results. He studied them for a few minutes and then turned to Leah. When he turned to her, she sat up and looked at him anxiously waiting to hear what he had to say.

"Well, Leah, I think my theory may be correct. I think when you initially moved to Seattle and came across the vampire activity, it activated your gene. The gene that's responsible for you phasing into a wolf. Your case would be different from the boys simply because of your gender. If you look at imprinting as fate, you would have imprinted on Jake no matter what. So, regardless of whether you lived in Seattle or La Push, I think you would have phased. You were meant to be the part of the Alpha pair."

"Okay, so what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, in terms of reproduction a man's job is quite simple but for a woman it requires you to be able to carry the fetus for nine months and then be able to nurture the infant for a period of time. Granted, an infant can survive without their mother in today's world as breastfeeding is not the only choice for infant nutrition. But no matter what it requires nine months to have a healthy baby. So, whether it is because the numbers in your pack are adequate, the decrease of vampire activity, the fact our covens numbers are less, Jake slowly stepping up to his share of the responsibilities, or a combination of all the factors; I think the previous doctor's diagnosis was wrong."

Leah stared at him trying to decipher what he was saying. Seeing her confusion, he attempted to explain it better, "Your previous ultrasound shows your ovaries to have multiple cysts on them. Looking at the cysts, I think the gene caused you to have a common condition caused polycystic ovary syndrome. Your ovaries still matured an egg within follicle each month but instead of them being released they became stuck and created a cyst. Your blood work from then shows what I'd expect with that diagnosis. This is what is interesting," he started and he pointed to the images he'd collected during the ultrasound.

"When I look at your scan today, it's as if I'm looking at a completely different person," he pointed to several structures. "None of the previous cysts are showing up. While it's normal for them to be reabsorbed it doesnt generally happen all at once. The changes aren't subtle like I'd expect. And your blood work is what I'd expect for a normally fertile young woman."

"So, what exactly are you trying to tell me, Carlisle?"

"It's one of two things, either you are gaining back your normal ability to have a menstrual cycle or…well, it could be more of a wolf characteristic."

Leah's eyes widened and she growled, "Are you trying to tell me I'm going into heat?"