Chapter Twenty Six: Time with Leah
Embry escorted me home from Sam's, neither of us comfortable with the thought of me home along while Bella's revenge driven would-be killer was running around. Sam had agreed that it was a good idea and had Jared running Embry's patrol till Embry could get back.
Embry had me stay in the car as he quickly checked the surrounding area and the house. I hated the nervousness I felt just being home. Wasn't it enough that Bella had taken away the peace of being home when she moved in? Now she had managed to strip the home of the safe feeling every home was supposed to have. I had never felt scared when I had been in this house, not when I was little and not when gran died, but now the thought of being home alone was enough to settle a boulder in my stomach.
Even with Embry here I was looking or my shoulder and second guessing every noise. Uncle Charlie's home might as well have been a haunted house for the feeling of dread that I felt thinking that Uncle Charlie would unknowingly be putting himself in danger every time her stepped foot into his own home because of some blood drinking leech with an agenda. Would she just go after Bella because she thought it would make the Cullen's hurt or would she try to torment Bella too by going after Uncle Charlie or myself? There were too many possibilities and all of them were insane and logically at the same time because nothing about this situation was sane.
Embry peeked his head out the front door and gave me a thumbs up before slipping back into the woods to keep watch while I packed a few things to go to Leah's. The first thing I needed was a shower I realized as I ran my hand through my hair. I raced through the shower like I was being timed and was still damp as I jumped into a clean set of clothes. Pulling out my duffel bag I quickly threw in a change of clothes and a set of pajamas. Usually I would take my time to pack because I hated realizing I had forgot something once I needed it, but I figured that anything I forgot Leah would have or I could go without given the circumstances.
Quickly grabbing my toiletries off the bathroom counter I stuffed them into the duffel and headed back down the stairs. Slipping back into my shoes I headed out the door, making sure it was locked before getting back in the car. Looking at the clock as I turned the engine, I was surprised to see it had only been forty minutes since we had left Emily's. Looking back out the window I could see Embry running back across the lawn, pulling his shirt back on as he ran. I glance around and was glad to see that none of the neighbors seemed to be out. I'm sure if anyone had seen Embry putting his shirt back on they would jump to one conclusion and I didn't want something like that getting back to Uncle Charlie, especially when it wasn't true.
"No new scents around the house." Embry assured as he slipped into the passenger seat and I put the car in reverse.
"Jared and Paul were starting the new patrol route when we left so they'll be coming through in a little bit." I nodded, but didn't say anything, something Embry must have misconstrued as fear as he grabbed my hand.
"We're gonna get her, Anna. Don't worry." He reassured and I did my best to give him a smile as I squeezed his hand.
"I have faith in you guys, don't think other wise." I said and Embry smiled, though I could see that despite his words he was worried about this just as much as every one else.
Embry relaxed once we crossed the boarder into La Push. Both of us feeling more secure now that we were away from the most likely target. I pulled into Embry's driveway to drop him off, he was expected on patrol at any moment and there was no sense in taking him all the way back to Sam and Emily's across the rez and then driving back to Leah's. Embry landed a sure kiss to my lips before climbing out.
"Love you, we'll talk later." I nodded and smiled before leaving again.
I wasn't surprised to see Leah come rushing out of the house when I pulled in. I was barely out of the car when she pulled me into a crushing hug. I heard the air leaving my lungs she was squeezing so hard.
"You crazy little, bitch!" She exclaimed and I wrapped my arms back around her.
"What were you thinking going hiking? Didn't Charlie tell you about those crazy bears that are killing people?" She demanded and I couldn't defend myself since she was forcing all the air out of my lungs.
"Leah.. can't.. breathe..." I wheezed out and she finally let go, allowing me to take a deep breath and cough.
"Jeez Leah." I said once I got my breath back.
"I would have called last night, but mom said it was too late to call and that I should give you some time to breathe before asking you a million questions." Leah explained and I smiled.
"I'm glad you didn't. I was really shaken after it happened." Leah nodded and looked me over.
"Well you seem to be better now, so you're not getting out of all those questions now." She said and I nodded before grabbing my duffel bag out of the back seat and following her inside.
"Hey, Anna." Seth said from the couch as we walked in.
"Hey, Seth. What are you watching?" I asked, glancing at the TV his eyes were practically glued to.
"Some cop show." Seth said with a shrug. I looked to Leah with a quirked brow but she just rolled her eyes.
"His latest obsession." She explained and I nodded as she led the way to her bedroom. My bag had no more than hit the floor and Leah was rattling off questions.
"So what the hell happened yesterday? Why were you and Bella hiking of all things?" Leah asked plopping down her bed without taking her eyes off me.
"Well Jake's been sick and Bella's been spending a lot of time at home. She asked me to go hiking with her and I thought it'd be nice to get out of the house for a little while. What I didn't realize was that she didn't want to take the trail. Turns out she and Jake have been going hiking a lot lately and were making their own trail or something. She even had a map that Jake had been drawing for it." I said and Leah was looking at me strangely.
"So Bella's into hiking now?" Leah asked and I shrugged my shoulder.
"Not so sure about it anymore. Not after getting scared shitless." I said.
"I didn't really want to go off trail, but I also didn't want to wait in the truck and risk her getting hurt and having no idea where to find her." I explained and Leah nodded.
"So we start out into the trees and I didn't realize that this hike was going to go so far into the woods. It was almost two hours before we reached the clearing that we ended up seeing the wolves in. So we get to the clearing and Bella seems to have some sort of panic attack, freaks me out, she's starting to get herself together and we hear growling in the trees. This massive black wolf stalks into the clearing and we both start to panic. There ended up being five of these massive wolves and lucky for us they seemed to be hunting something else. They barely gave us a glance before they were running out of the clearing." I said and Leah looked amazed.
"Wondering what they were hunting?" She pondered and I shrugged.
"I don't know, I'm just glad it wasn't me." I said.
"You must not have smelled good enough." Leah teased and I rolled my eyes.
"Well then amen to perspiration." I fake cheered and Leah laughed.
"So once the wolves were out of sight we didn't waste time sticking around, Bella and I ran all the way back to the truck and went straight home where we found Charlie and your dad. You know the rest from there. I mean other than some small cuts from the tree branches that hit us on the way out and the bruise I left on Bella's arm, we're both completely fine."
"Okay, so that was yesterday. What happened today?" Leah asked.
"Honestly I'm not completely sure what happened this morning. I was with Embry and Jake called wanting everyone to meet up. Didn't give a reason, just said to meet up, so I went with Embry and we met up with Jake. Well Jake forgot to mention that he was bringing Bella." I rolled my eyes.
"Paul hates Bella with a passion, so he was pissed when he found out she was there, He made some comments to piss off Jake and Jake returned the favor and pissed Paul off more to the point that Paul started a fight with Jake. Sam broke it up, but Bella freaked out and we had to cater to her for a minute to get her to chill out." I explained and Leah looked confused.
"That's it?" Leah asked and I nodded.
"That's Bella drama for you, it doesn't really make sense, but it gets dramatic." I shrugged and Leah rolled her eyes before laying back on her bed.
"Well I'm just glad she'd your cousin and not mine. I couldn't handle that level of bullshit." Leah sighed and I laughed.
"Careful what you say. Seth could always end up with a woman like Bella." I teased and Leah groaned.
"He better not." Leah growled and I laughed.
"Girls! Dinner's ready!" Sue called and we headed out to the kitchen. It was strange to have a completely normal evening. There was no tension and awkward silence before everyone diverted to do their own thing and no talk about wolves, vampires or patrols. For the first time in almost a year a pang of loss hit me. I hadn't had a night of complete normality like this since gran was alive and in that moment I missed her more than ever. I loved the pack and I loved Uncle Charlie, but this was something that neither of them could offer, something I hadn't even realized that I had wanted.
When dinner was over I thanked Sue as I helped her gather all the dishes. Leah and I washed while Seth dried before we went back to Leah's room and shamelessly gossiped about the completely mundane lives of the people we knew. If I closed my eyes I could almost pretend that my life was just as mundane as the people's we were talking about, that I wouldn't go home to a house with supernatural red target on it, that my boyfriend wasn't a giant wolf and that I was just a normal teenage girl just trying to survive high school.
The bubble of tranquility was effectively popped by a lone howl that woke me not long after Leah and I had turned in for the night. The howl reminded me exactly what was waiting once I was done pretending. The howl wasn't like the one's I had heard from the pack before, it wasn't the usual short, startling howl of warning that went out when one of the pack found a scent, this howl almost sounded frightened, confused.
I felt a pang in my chest as I subconsciously knew what that howl meant. It wasn't a call to the others to join the chase and it wasn't Sam's call for a meeting. It sounded like someone who didn't know what was happening and was following instincts they didn't know they had. I silently closed my eyes and hoped against hope that it wasn't Quil.