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

AN: Sorry, it's short but more to come.


Chapter 54

Save Me From Myself

Carlisle determined Leah would have a heat cycle due to the wolf gene. Her body would never regain its natural fertility mechanisms because her wolf would need to ensure their offspring could be born healthy and danger wasn't present. He was unsure of how often a cycle would occur but he guessed it would be at least once if not more times each year. Of course, it would be dependent on many factors.

After the initial shock, Leah took the news in stride. She wasn't a genetic dead-end as she'd previously thought. The fact she'd be able to have the choice to have children helped to settle those final few insecurities she had inside. It further cemented what Jasper had told her all along, there was a reason for her phasing and imprint.

In true Carlisle fashion, he quickly researched several things about wolf fertility on his computer. He determined, she was most likely in the beginning stages and her scan showed similar evidence. Based on his research, Jake would become more protective of her and he surmised her brothers may, too. There would be a change to her scent and behavior as she neared closer to the time when she her heat arrived. The other wolves would recognize this and if Carlisle could have blushed during this conversation he most likely would have.

"I believe, the combination of changes will make you not only more attractive to the members of your pack you're not related to but you may find yourself choosing to do things that may be out of character for you. I don't know whether your imprint or even the wolves that have been imprinted will detract from you feeling the desire to…mate for a lack of a better word."

Leah groaned, "So, basically I get to look forward to being a horny bitch in heat that really won't care who or where I'm getting it from. Can't you do something to stop it?"

Carlisle shook his head sadly, "I don't think so. Even birth control doesn't suppress a women's natural cycle it simply prevents contraception by making it so either an egg is unable to attach or the hormones aren't in the right amounts to support the development."

"How long will this last?"

"Up to a month," he replied.

"A month," she cried out. "I don't know I can handle another day like this, much less a month of what's to come."


After some discussion, Carlisle and Leah decided the best course of action was to try birth control in the hopes it would not only prevent conception as Leah wasn't ready to start a family but that it may be able to shorten the cycle. They argued over doses as for once Carlisle was worried about using too much medication as there were side effects to it. Leah wore him down though and she received a double-dose of a contraceptive shot. He wrote a script for her and promised he would ensure she had the medication available for as long as she needed it. He gave her the initial doses and approved her mom to give her the shots again in three months.

Now that she was aware of what was going on, she took interest in how her own actions and those of the pack. At first, she didn't notice any changes in the pack only those in her. When she started caring about what she wore and fought an internal battle with herself over styling her hair or putting on makeup; she knew it wouldn't be much longer. She'd read somewhere about how strippers made more money when they were ovulating simply because of the pheromones they produced and how they dressed and worked harder to be appealing to the opposite sex.

When Seth and Embry started crowding her and once again suffocating her, she noticed how annoyed she felt. Once again, they even Jake was the enemy. She'd had to practically order her brothers to let her do her patrols alone and tell them they were not to interfere when she passed patrol to Jake or vice versa.

Even Jake's behavior changed. She noticed he was more attentive to her and seemed to be trying to take care of her. Often if he was patrolling after her, he'd bring along some lunch for her. When they'd study together, he would make sure she was comfortable and he'd hover in such a way, if she blinked, he'd ask her if she needed something. And lately the bond had required some physical contact, not that they'd done anything more than sit next to each other or hold hands but even these small touches were different.

When the rest of the pack started to try and do things for her and assure her safety and comfort; she knew it was it time to barricade herself in her room. Not that, Seth or Embry would let anyone come near her. Nor would Jake but there was a flicker of violence that hung in the air and tempers flared over the smallest things. Even Leah could tell the minute difference in her scent and she saw how more than once, someone's nostrils would flare and a soft, rumbling growl could be heard. Even Brady and Collin were not immune. It was time to call a pack meeting and for her to take some time off.


They met at Sam and Emily's house. Leah could feel her wolf trying to get her to take advantage of all of the available male specimens. Her wolf didn't understand why human Leah wasn't going to at least explore the various options. In fact, Leah hadn't phased for two days simply because she couldn't trust her wolf. The last day, she'd phased she been on patrol with Brady. Her wolf didn't care she was patrolling with a thirteen-year old and had conspired to try and convince Leah to be playful with him. Of course, her wolf assured her they would never consent to such an immature specimen but she wanted Leah to understand how much fun the case could be. That day Leah and her wolf had fought an internal battle over who was in control. When Brady phased out after two hours, she'd breathed a sigh of relief.

The pack gathered in the back yard and Leah called the meeting to order. She willed herself not to blush but she knew what had to be done. She only hoped none of them would question her actions. "Thanks everyone for coming. I'll keep this short," she started. "I need to take a few weeks off from phasing and patrolling. In the meantime, I'd like for Jared to run the pack as he's done in the past with Jake helping."

"Why? What's going on," Seth asked.

"Nothing's going on. I just need a few weeks off is all. I need a break to take care of some things and then I'll be back."

Leah glanced at the pack, trying to determine if they were buying what she was trying to sell them. As she glanced at their faces, she realized it may have been too late to have a meeting about this. Several of them appeared flushed, their eyes' blackened with lust, and their gazes heated. She'd never felt so naked despite the fact, she'd made sure to put on three times as much as she normally wore. The tension in the air peaked and for once she was grateful she'd imprinted. Jake strode over to her before growling at the others, "No, you will all leave Leah alone."

Jake grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the group. Together they walked to her car and he wrenched the door open on the passenger's side while gesturing to her for her to get in. Once she was in the car, he walked over to the driver's side and got in. Starting the car, he drove towards her house. Neither of them said anything but she'd never been so aware of his presence.

Her stomach twisted in knots and she wasn't sure this was what she wanted. Just because her body or hormones wanted this and was causing him to feel this way, she didn't want their relationship to begin based on something neither of them could control. She'd decided that was her problem with imprinting. It wasn't about her not wanting to find her soul-mate. It was about choice, she wanted to choose him and for him to choose her.

When they finally pulled into her driveway, she turned to look at him. The look of desire, want, and need on his face pulled at her and she felt an answering throb inside. She wanted him, too but not like this. She couldn't spend the rest of her life wondering whether they would have ever come together because they wanted to be together or if it was because of some freaky wolf-shit. She knew what she had to do.

Leah glanced into his eyes and felt the pull between them throb. Taking a deep breath in and then out, she told him, "Jake, I'm sorry but I need you to leave." Without another word, she opened the car door and jumped out. She ran inside the house all the way upstairs to her room, slamming the door shut. Once in the sanctity of her room, she slid down the closed door and sat on the floor. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. The bond between them throbbed painfully and she could feel his confusion, pain, and sadness.

Her body trembled wanting her to run back down the stairs and take whatever he was willing to offer. Her wolf growled and bared its teeth at her, pissed that Leah had denied their mate his rights. Even Leah was having second thoughts. Did it really matter if he chose her? They were imprinted and eventually they'd be together. Why was she fighting this, too? It was what her body and her wolf wanted.


Leah heard when Seth arrived home later that evening. His heavy footsteps sounding on the stairs and she heard when he stopped outside her door. Leah had moved from the floor to her bed but she couldn't get comfortable, she was in agony.

"Leah, you okay," he asked with concern.

Leah gritted her teeth before replying, "I'm fine, Seth. Just leave me alone, okay. I don't want to talk right now."

"If you're sure."

"Yes," she replied angrily. "Just go, now!"


Jake had sat outside in Leah's car trying to figure out why she'd rejected him. He didn't understand why he'd felt the need to stake his claim. He wanted to tear the pack apart for even looking at her. She was his. Theirs, his wolf growled reminding him. From the beginning he'd been attracted to her but this was different. He wanted to show everyone how she was his and he was hers.

Finally, deciding he didn't understand what was happening, he got out of her car. Phasing into his wolf he ran for home. Suddenly, when it had seemed things were finally moving towards her accepting the imprint, it seemed there was a new obstacle in their way.