Chapter 38: Present Sacrifice
Embry POV
I'd never thought I'd find myself here, in the world, exactly how I was right now. On a mountain ledge in the Olympic Peninsula, meditating to cleanse my soul and mind from negatives I had now left behind me. How could I have believed that I would be here with my brother? My blood brother, someone I always thought were there, somewhere, but never knew existed. How did that work exactly? It never occurred to me that in this point in my life, at 17 years of age, I'd be happy with myself.
Paul and I hadn't spoken since this morning and our exchange was only brief. We woke up before the sun rose to prepare our only meal for the day and then once the first warm colours of orange started to touch the peaks of the mountains in front of us, we ate in silence.
Now we meditated. Time was irrelevant to us now. The only thing that was most important was how clean our souls and minds would be after the sun went down and we rested for the night. We led on our backs, our heads just touching, arms by ours sides, breathing shallow. I had sent myself on my very own journey in my mind. I had just reached the ledge of another mountain, the location unknown. I thought about phasing into my wolf, but something was here with me, and it wasn't Paul. An unknown shadow stood in front of me, shimmering in the mountain air. Whilst the shadow was pitch black, like the darkest night, I wasn't afraid. I only felt comfortable and friendly as I stood opposite this shadow. I neither knew nor heard what its name was, only one word that it spoke, sounding as if it were being spoken miles and miles below the rich, brown earth underneath my feet.
CLARITY
Did I not already have clarity? When I finally realised the identity of my real father? When I realised I had a true blood brother in Paul? What else was there for clarity?
But over and over, the shadow repeated the word, as if it were a prayer on this tip of its tongue. I wasn't sure what kind of experience Paul was having beside me, but he was nowhere here on this mountain with me now. I was completely alone. A twig snapped from the forest behind me, and whether it was in my reality or in my mind, I spun around to face whatever came from the deep shadows of the trees. But I was not expecting Leah to walk out of the forest, completely calm and at ease with her current location. She approached me then. Her long, black hair swaying gentle with the wind and the white sun dress that clung to her figure ruffled with her every movement. She stopped dead in front of me, just gazing into my eyes, not talking. Not saying a word.
"Leah" I whispered her name like I worshipped it. She still said nothing so I stared at the beauty that clung to her face. Her full lips, her strong jawline, her full, arched brows. My eyes settled on her own, before I found that the deep brown depths of her irises transported me to another location. I was on First Beach, the time or date unknown. I stood near the water, looking out at the giant swells that roared in the distance. The sun sat low in the sky, making everything around its immediate light look as if it was on fire.
I heard a child's laughter. I whipped around to see a small girl, no older than four, run past me. Her long black hair sweeping behind her like a veil, her perfectly smooth russet skin rippled in the sun light, creating the most unique colour. Then I saw Leah, walking towards me, holding onto the little girl's hand. She walked slowly, never taking her eyes off of mine. I'd never seen anything so beautiful in all my life. She was almost near me. I reached my hand out to take hers, already outstretched and waiting for mine to fill the space. Just as our fingers touched, she whispered my name "Embry". I was immediately brought back to the mountain ledge where I lay on the cold earth, now conscious and aware of my state of awake. I sat upright, looking around for Leah, for any sign that she'd been here. I sniffed the air, hoping I'd catch her scent in the wind, but there was nothing.
Had that all been inside my mind? Leah's image, the image of our child?
I heard the crackling of the fire before I felt the heat of it. I swivelled so I was facing it, rubbing my face with my hands, trying to gain some sense of reality again. Paul was already up, sitting cross legged, poking the fire with a stick.
"How long have you been awake?" I asked him.
"Not long. I woke up just before it started to get dark"
I scooted myself closer to the fire, closer to the thing I knew was real.
We didn't talk anymore, just listened to the absolute silence that was broken by the fire crackles and the roar of the flames. It was a strange experience for me now, being awake. I was so sure that the image of Leah was real. I almost missed it. I wanted to go back there. I wanted to touch her and hear her whisper my name. I wanted to look into the eyes of the child that didn't exist and know that she shared both mine and Leah's blood.
I felt like I'd imprinted all over again.
It had been almost a week since I'd last phased, and so far, I had stopped myself from thinking about my imprint on Leah. She had also been in control of her thoughts, though she only phased in when absolute necessary. I missed her. I wanted to turn around and go home right now. I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her I would never leave her again. But she knew why I left. She understood why I had to do this and she didn't hold me back. The pain that had been tight in my chest for the past few days was beginning to dwindle down in intensity. Would she feel the same too? I blamed the surreal mediation state I experienced to my lack of pull to my imprint, but at the same time, I felt lighter. Surely, this was what love is supposed to feel like? Make you feel so light and airy you could just float up into the sky. Did she feel this too?
We slept peacefully that night, both of us content with our first day of mediation. I felt as though my mind and soul, not yet cleansed and healed from everything that had broken them in my past, was finally starting to piece back together. It was like my soul had been split into three and now the pieces were starting to find their places again. The first piece was filled with the pack, finally finding my brothers and a family in them. First piece mended. The second piece was filled when I imprinted on Leah, the piece that had longed a lifelong love. Second piece mended. The third piece was filled when I found my blood brother. My real brother, Paul. At least our father did something good. He made us want to be different. I guessed that was the only good thing he ever did. Soul complete.
The image of the shadow crept into my dreams, though like before, I wasn't afraid of it. It kept whispering the same word over and over again. On and on in the background of my dreams of Leah and I. What else did I need clarity for?
I woke before the sun had begun to rise and so did Paul. We got started on preparing our meal for the day and had our first conversation since the previous morning.
"How are you finding this Em?" he asked, handing me a stick with a sausage skewered onto the end.
I took it and held it in the flames "I'm not sure completely. But something about it is making me feel like I didn't even know myself before coming here. When I was meditating yesterday, there was this shadow hovering in front of me, it kept repeating something over and over again-"
"-clarity" he interrupted.
I looked at him in shock "You too?"
"Yeah. I thought I saw Bella, but I woke up disappointed" he chuckled quietly.
So Paul saw Bella too? Did he have the same experience that I had?
"Did you see anything else?" I asked, focusing my gaze on the orange flames.
He sighed "Mostly Bella, until… well, I looked into her eyes and I was taken somewhere else other than here-" he gestured to the vast nothingness around us "-I don't think it was anywhere I recognised, but I didn't care, because Bella was the only person I saw" he smiled.
"Can I tell you something? Something I haven't told anyone about yet"
"Sure"
I took a deep breath "Leah and I imprinted on each other"
He surprised me by chuckling deeply "It was kinda obvious Em. I don't know if the guys noticed, but I have. The way you two have been looking at each other lately, well, I knew something was up"
I laughed now "Why didn't you say anything?"
"It's not my place to ask you about your own imprint. I knew you'd both tell us when you were ready. Did you see Leah yesterday?"
"Yeah. It was the same thing that happened to you but I was taken to First Beach. I was just by the water and then I saw this little girl run past me. Then Leah was walking towards me, so slowly you know, almost like she were walking on the clouds. She reached over to touch me and then I was brought back here and I guess I woke up"
He blew out a rough breath "Man, that's intense. Old Quil told me before we left that this mediation would cleanse our minds and our souls, but I think it's something more than that. We both experienced seeing our imprints, parts of our futures with them. Don't you think that shadow we both saw is maybe something more?-"
"-what, like a spirit?"
"Well, it's weird. When I was in their world, I never saw any spirits look like that. But the shadow I saw yesterday didn't make me feel frightened-"
"-yeah, me either. I felt like it was an old friend or something-"
"-exactly. I don't know, maybe there are spirits showing us what our futures could look like, but all I know is I want my future to be with Bella. I don't see anyone else"
I smiled to myself "Me too. I've always seen Leah. Before she was part of the pack, after she became part of the pack and then I really saw her when I imprinted on her. But if the shadow was a spirit coming through to both of us, what was with the repeated clarity? What was that about?"
He was quiet for a moment, probably trying to think of an answer, like I was. Clarity. Clarity. What else did we need clarity on?
"I don't think it's anything we've experienced in the past. There's no changing the past, no matter how much we want to. Maybe it's helping us find clarity for our futures. Maybe the spirit was trying to show us what our futures could look like if we found clarity-"
"-but what do we need clarity for? I've accepted my past, I've let it go-"
"-maybe it's not about the past. Maybe it's about the present. Have you ever thought about it that way? What if the spirit was trying to tell us that we have to see what we need to see, not what we want to see?"
I stared at him "What, so we're missing something important in the present that we haven't seen yet?"
He stared into the fire "It's not about when we see it. We'll know when we've seen what we have to see. But obviously, the spirit came to us both because we both needed clarity in our present? It's possible we're ignoring something important, but not because we can't see it-"
"-but because we don't want to see it?"
"Exactly. Only now we have to figure out what we're missing. If that's the case, and we need to see something we haven't seen yet, then we won't be able to chase it. It'll come to us. I think the spirit was there with both of us to help us find our paths"
"The path we need to take to get our clarity?"
He chuckled "Yeah. Oh my God, I never thought I'd talk like that"
"I always knew you were a big softie" I teased.
We ate our breakfast, lunch and dinner all in one meal and then the day started again, just as it had yesterday. We led down on our backs, kept our arms by our sides and let our minds transport us to the path we needed to take to find the clarity we needed to see.
Because the future I saw with Leah wouldn't happen without it.
Leah POV
"Leah honey? I've made you pancakes! Come and get them before Seth does!"
My mom's voice sounded so far away. Ugh, why did she have to pull me out of my dream? Was it a dream? It felt so real. Of course, it had to be a dream. I didn't have any children yet, and Embry wasn't even here. Oh man, it was the best dream I'd ever had. I didn't think I'd be able to go to First Beach and look at it the same way. Not without seeing Embry, standing by the water and our child running towards me, holding onto my hand as we walked towards our sun. Embry.
Why had I never seen him before the imprint? I'd seen him plenty of times, of course, but I'd never realised just how special he was. It was clear though that the spirits had destined us to be together. Why else would we be the first double imprint in our history? Not only in our history, but in the history of the whole world.
"Leah!"
"Okay mom, I'm up!"
I dragged myself out of bed and threw my robe on. The house was quiet, but ever since dad had died, it had always been quiet. It was still hard, waking up in the morning and not seeing his face. I'd never hear him say "Miss Clearwater! Get your butt out of bed before I come up there and do it for you!" again. I'd never sleep again if it meant having him back.
I sat with Seth at the table, mom was getting ready to go to the hospital for her shift. I loaded my plate with about ten pancakes and poured nearly the whole bottle of maple syrup over them.
"Okay my sweethearts, I have to go now. Be good and behave yourselves. I don't want to come back to this house burnt to the ground, okay?" she kissed us both.
"We'll be fine mom. Have a good shift, see you later" I mumbled. Once she left and the sound of her car hit the main road, Seth stood up and started pulling his sneakers on.
"Where are you going?"
"Quil asked if we'd all meet him in 15 to talk about something. You want to come along too?" he smiled and I couldn't resist. He knew that smile would win me over.
"Okay, let me just throw some clothes on. Wait for me outside" I scarfed the rest of my pancakes down and ran back upstairs, still chewing. I pulled on my denim shorts, that were now short shorts because of the phase and a purple pull over vest. I figured I'd be phasing at some point today so the less clothes, the better. I met Seth outside and we walked over to Quil's house, where most of the pack were already gathered.
Quil waved to us "Hey guys! Thanks for coming! I think everyone's here now so I'm gonna get straight into it-" he stood at the front of his house. The only members of the pack here were Sam, Jared, Jacob, Quil himself, Colin, Seth and me. It looked a little lonely without Paul and Embry here.
"-okay. It's gonna sound kinda crazy, but I think if we all worked together, we could pull it off. That's if you all agree to help"
I rolled my eyes "Just tell us what it is before you wet yourself"
He laughed nervously "Right, sorry. Okay, well my grandpa's new girlfriend-" he was interrupted by Jared wolf whistling and Sam and Jacob fist bumping. Stupid boys "-yeah, well his fiancé now. But anyway, she's called Ayita and she's actually pretty awesome. She gifted Angela and I something and I'm gonna need your help fixing it up"
He paused and I huffed "Well come on then! Tell us what it is!"
"Uh, probably best I show you. Just follow me" he said and then led us all through the forest, until the trees started to thin and a small clearing on the edge came into our view. A rotten pile of wood stood there.
"So, what needs fixing?" Jacob asked.
Quil looked at us incredulously and then back to the pile of wood "Well, that"
"What, this?" Jacob stifled a snigger, approaching the house closer "-dude it looks like it's about to fall down! What's left of it anyway-"
"-we can try our best Quil. We'll have to look at the damages and write a list of supplies we'll need to fix it, but I think we could pull it off" Sam said, inspecting the rest of it. None of us went in, on Quil's warning that the inside was worse.
"Thank you so much guys! Angela is gonna go crazy!"
Sam chuckled "If you're hoping to surprise her, I wouldn't. Surprises don't exactly go that well-"
Jacob scoffed "-here here"
"Where the hell do we even start?" I said. I mean, I guess some of it looked salvageable, but I had no idea how to do stuff with tools. I'd probably just sit and watch, that's all I was good for when vampires weren't around to be destroyed.
Quil was ecstatic about the rebuild and grouped together with Jacob, Sam, Jared and Colin about the things they'll need to start. I rolled my eyes and walked over to Seth, who was busy staring at the house, like it was something tender that needed love and care.
"What do you think?"
He smiled "I think it's gonna look really good when we've finished with it."
I raised my eyebrow "Really? It's going to take a long time to get it done. I am pretty surprised about their idea of moving in together so fast. Didn't they only start dating a few months ago?"
"Yeah, but if you know you're with the one, then what's the point in waiting for the right time? I'm happy for them, aren't you?"
Ugh! I hated when he did that whole 'true love is the best thing in the world'thing! Whenever the time came and Seth imprinted, that girl would be the luckiest in the world. The whole definition of romance would be re-written for her with just one date with Seth. He was a good guy.
"I am happy for them, of course I am. It's just, I don't know, this all seems a little rushed"
"Only in your eyes Leah. Look at the guys-" he turned to gesture to the rest of them, huddled around, being all excited "-they're happy for them. They don't think it's rushed-"
"-you know you're really good at making me feel bad" I mumbled. It was true, I had come away from my bitchy personality a tonne since I had phased, but I guess she was still there somewhere, underneath the surface, waiting for the first moment to pounce.
"Aw I'm sorry Lee. You know I don't mean it like that. I'm just saying, when you imprint, you might be like Quil too-"
"-yeah" I whispered quietly. Every time I thought of him, it just made my gut wrench. Like someone was literally punching me in the stomach. I always thought missing someone was painful, and heck was I right. I missed my dad. I missed Sam, of course I did. I miss our past and the memories we share together, even if he tries to forget about them as much as possible. Now, I missed Embry. But this kind of pain was different to what I had felt for Sam or even my dad. When I thought of Embry, I thought of the future we could have together. I realised that I wanted to talk to him, tell him how much our imprint meant to me.
But I felt silly for thinking like that. Because let's be honest, Embry and I have always known each other, but we've never looked twice. Here I was talking about Quil and Angela rushing into things and I was already planning my future with Embry! I had to be the biggest hypocrite I knew!
"Leah? What do you think?"
My head snapped up at Seth's voice "About what?"
He laughed "About patrolling tonight with me. The guys are gonna get started on the build so I said we'd take tonight's patrol. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, fine whatever. What time are we starting?"
"6, hey where are you going?" he called after me. If I had a few hours to kill until then, I wasn't going to stand around here watching them re-build Quil's new home. I had my own stuff to deal with.
I needed to tell someone about the imprint. Emily was a no go, I could already hear her voice inside my head.
"Oh my God! You and Embry! Oh Leah!"
Yeah, not happening. I don't want people to gush. I just want them to be like Yeah, that's cool and get over it quickly. I didn't want to turn into a Kim, constantly talking with Emily about how awesome Jared was, squealing like a mouse whenever his name was mentioned.
No, I didn't need to tell anyone. They'd figure it out on their own anyway. I just wanted Embry and I to explore what our double imprint meant. Hey, maybe I could go see Billy or something? He'd have some idea about it, wouldn't he?
I shrugged my shoulders and headed over to Jacob's. Billy was home so I went straight in.
"Leah! What are you doing here? You not helping the boys with the re-build?"
I shook my head and sat at the table with him "Nah, I'm not into DIY and I figured I'd just get in the way"
He chuckled "Well luckily my Jacob knows what he's doing, he just called to tell me about it. Now, why don't you tell me why you're here? I'm guessing this isn't a social visit" he raised his eyebrow.
I started grinding my teeth together with anxiety "I need to talk to someone about something, but I'm not sure where to start-"
"-why don't you start from the beginning. Am I Billy Black right now or Tribal Elder?" he asked.
"Tribal Elder. I imprinted"
His eyes widened "You imprinted? On who?"
"Embry"
His eyes widened even more "Our Embry?"
"There's only one Embry that we both know of Billy!"
He chuckled "I'm sorry, it's just, you imprinted on Embry Call?"
I groaned "Yes, and he imprinted on me!"
"Wait-" he suddenly became serious "-you imprinted on each other?" I nodded.
Billy relaxed back in his wheelchair, looking bewildered "I've never heard of anything like this. But of course, you're the first female shape shifter we've had, so your double imprint with Embry will be the first our history has ever seen-"
"-yeah, got that part Billy. Look, I knew imprinting was intense. I can see it in Jacob, Sam and Jared, even Quil now! But mine feels different. I don't know, I just feel like I've lost a part of myself now Embry is away on that journey with Paul"
"Leah, this is a historical moment for our people! For our tribe! All of the things you're feeling with your imprint in particular will be different to what your brothers experience"
I scoffed "No kidding! I haven't told them, I haven't told anyone except for you. But I guess I just wanted to know why it happened"
He sighed loudly and held his hands up in defeat "Why does imprinting happen in the first place? There are theories of course that link the imprint to balancing the man and the wolf. Then we have another theory that the imprint is put in place to ensure the next generation of protectors and of course, let's not forget the theory that the imprint helps a shapeshifter stay in touch with his or her human self. There have been stories in our history of shape shifters failing to imprint that lost themselves completely to their wolves"
I squeezed my eyes shut in embarrassment and what I'd have to admit "Ugh, I don't want to have to tell you this Billy, but I think it's kind of relevant here-" oh man, here goes "-I haven't had a period since I phased and nothing since. I can hardly help create the next generation when I can't even do my part in the making of these kids!"
He chuckled "Don't be embarrassed Leah, I raised two daughters and had a wife. I know almost too much about the workings of a woman. Now, we're still learning a few things and for you to imprint on Embry doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to have children. Though of course, if I evaluated my own theory on that, I'd assume that once you stopped phasing, your cycle would return to normal-"
"-Billy I'm not going to stop phasing anytime soon!-"
"-that doesn't matter dear. Whilst you phase, you don't age. It wouldn't matter if you kept phasing for another 50 years, your body would stay that of a 19 year old woman. When you eventually do stop phasing, you'll be able to carry children, I'm sure of it"
Was that true? Sure, I knew about the whole never aging thing whilst still phasing into a wolf. But when I do stop phasing, I'd be able to have kids!
"Do you really think that's true Billy?"
"Of course I do. I know the pain you're thinking of Leah, even if I am a man myself. When Sarah and I married, we tried for children but she suffered two miscarriages before the twins were born. I saw the pain she went through, thinking she wouldn't be able to have children. Just keep the hope dear"
I sighed "I had a dream last night, but it didn't feel like just a dream, it looked like a vision of the future. I saw myself on First beach, walking towards Embry, he stood by the water and there was a little girl there as well. I wanted to stay in the dream. I know the guys haven't seen anything like that in their dreams, I would have seen during patrol"
He chuckled "I know they're not very good at keeping their thoughts to themselves. But like I said, your imprint is different to your brothers'. Let me talk to Old Quil, see what his thoughts are on this. Don't worry dear, I won't tell your secret. But you can come to me whenever you want too, to talk I mean. I know Harry isn't around anymore but if you ever needed a father figure to talk too, well, I'm your man" he patted my hand.
I smiled "Thanks Billy, I'll keep that in mind. I'm gonna go find Seth, see what I can do to help"
I went back to Quil's new house to see that the guys had completely trashed the place! There was no house, only a foundation.
"What the hell? I leave you guys for 5 minutes and you've completely destroyed the place!"
Jared laughed "Blame your brother! He was the one that had to bring the whole downstairs down!"
"I said I'm sorry!" Seth whined. I went over to him and slung my shoulder over his arm.
"Alright, enough picking on my brother! Just get started on whatever it is you were doing!" No one picked on my brother but me.
"Thanks Lee, it was an accident"
I poked him in his side "You don't have to explain yourself to me. Come on, let's see if we can get this crap pile to look somewhat decent"
By the time Seth and I left for patrol, the guys had completely stripped the house of anything rotten and put an order in for a tonne of bricks. Quil was adamant he wanted bricks instead of dry wall, though he wouldn't explain why.
I phased in with Seth at my side for 6 and we started the usual route around the reservation.
Hey Leah? -Seth
Yes little brother? – Leah
Do you ever think about where dad is? -Seth
How do you mean? -Leah
I mean, like, do you ever wonder if he's watching over us? Or do you think he's moved on? -Seth
I don't know Seth. If I were dad, I'd stay and watch over us, but something in me tells me he isn't anywhere here anymore -Leah
So you think he's moved on? -Seth
Yeah, it's the best thing for him if he has. I don't want him to suffer -Leah
Yeah, I guess you're right -Seth
Come on, let's circle round to the East and then head back down -Leah
It was a quiet patrol, but they'd been that way since Gyda and Edward had come back saying they'd taken care of the danger. I was grateful for the lack of drama but honestly, so bored! I mean, just imagine walking around and around the entire reservation, under cover of the forest, for the whole entire night? I didn't mind but I wish a vampire crossed our path once in a while just so we had something to do.
But then I thought, if I were on patrol with Embry, walking around in circles all night would have been the best night of my life.
What the hell was that Lee? -Seth
Oh crap. I forgot I was a wolf! Dammit!
What was what? -Leah
Patrolling with Embry would be the best night of your life? What's that about? -Seth
Uh, it's nothing, just something stupid -Leah
I couldn't help it. I pictured his face, that stupid smile he did that melted me into a pool of goo and I –
Ew Lee! I don't wanna see that! -Seth
Dammit! I keep forgetting you can see my thoughts! -Leah
Is there something you wanna tell me? -Seth
What was the point in keeping this from my little bro?
What have you been keeping from me? -Seth
Ugh fine! You're gonna find out eventually. I imprinted on Embry and he, well, he imprinted on me -Leah
What! Are you serious? When did this happen? -Seth
A few weeks ago. But don't tell anyone okay? And definitely do not think about it whilst you're phased in with the guys! I will tell them, I just wanna have some more time -Leah
Leah, this is the first double imprint in our history and you don't wanna tell anyone? -Seth
No! Because your reaction is what everyone else will be like and I just don't want to be seen like that! I'm more than a part in a double imprint! I'm more than the first female shape shifter, I'm more than those things! -Leah
Seth went quiet. I didn't mean to lose it like that but I hated it! That was all anyone saw me as. Embry was the only one that saw me for what I was, just Leah Clearwater. Even my own brother was more fascinated about what this imprint did in our history more than how it affected me or made me feel.
That's not true Lee. I was just shocked, that's all. I know you're the first female shapeshifter and that makes you pretty awesome in my book. But you're more than part of a double imprint, you're more than the first female shape shifter in our history. You're my big sister. I loved you before you phased and I love you now, just how you are -Seth
Thanks little bro. You always have my back -Leah
And you always have mine! Though if I imprint, please don't spy on my first date. I'd really hate to cut it short because she found my big sister watching us from behind a plant or something -Seth
My wolf laughed, well, barked I promise I won't do that. Though I won't hesitate to tell you if she isn't right for you, but then I guess it sucks to be you if you're stuck with her for life -Leah
Haha yeah! But don't worry about the whole Embry thing, I won't say anything or show the guys anything. I'm pretty good at controlling my thoughts – Seth
I know you are, thank you Seth -Leah
Well, I suppose I should tell you- wait! Do you smell that? -Seth
I did smell it. I was almost distracted from it, but I could smell it. The scent was still strong and it was heading towards the cliffs.
Follow it! -Leah
We ran towards the cliffs, following the stench of leech. It wasn't the Cullen's, we knew what their scents were. It wasn't Gyda either.
Seth, stay by my side! Don't jump ahead -Leah
Leah, I can see it! Go around to my left, I'll go right and we'll both go for it -Seth
My little brother wasn't much of a fighter, but he knew just how to handle vamps that came onto our land without permission. But now I picked up two scents and one I was familiar with.
Seth stop! - Leah
There, at the vampires feet, was a body. I recognised the grey hair from this distance, I could even smell her. Her scent mixed with the smell of her blood.
Leah, that's Grandma Inola! -Seth
You're closer than me, go for it! Kill it Seth! -Leah
As I raced towards Seth's position on the cliff edge, I saw him take down the leech from behind. It didn't even have a clue that Seth was sneaking up behind him, probably didn't recognise our scent. I saw Seth plunge his teeth into the shoulder, but the vamp wasn't giving up without a fight. It threw Seth into the air and into a tree, where the sickening crunch of broken bones hit my ears. I heard his yelp of pain from here. My wolf whined as I pushed my legs to go faster, I had to save my brother.
Seth! You still with me? Come on! -Leah
I'm still here Leah, he's strong! -Seth
It drinks human blood Seth! Come on, get up! I'm almost there! -Leah
I watched as my trooper of a brother, ignoring his broken ribs, stood back up and launched himself at the leech, who was now standing ready for the second attack.
Go for the head Seth! Rip it off!- Leah
The trees were starting to thin, I was just there now. I broke through the trees and threw myself in between the vamp and Seth. I went straight for the head, snapping my jaw shut on it just as the taste and smell of the venom seeped into my mouth. It clearly wasn't expecting a second wolf to appear.
Leah, keep going! I'm gonna phase back -Seth
The vamp was still trying to crush me with it's arms, though it was now blind, with only the inside of my mouth for a view. With a loud roar, I ripped the head clean off, throwing it into the ocean below. The body fell limp to the ground.
"Leah, we need to burn it!" Seth said from behind me.
I phased back and threw on the sundress I had wrapped around my ankle "Seth, call for the others! We need their help!"
I bent over Grandma Inola, taking her head in my arms.
"Oh no, no, no-"
She was pale. So pale. Her eyes were closed, eyelids now lavender in colour, as opposed to the healthy russet colour they usually were. I checked over her for the site I knew the leech had drank her dry, and there I saw it. On her wrist. I held it up, examined it, there was still blood oozing from the crescent shapes indented into her skin. I used one hand to rip the end of my dress off and tied it around the bite tightly.
"Seth!" I called, but he didn't answer. He'd probably gone to get everyone else.
I tried to get my breathing under control so I could focus on lifting Grandma Inola as gently as I could. Her weight was nothing to me, now I was part wolf, so I carried her carefully through the forest.
"Come on Grandma Inola! You've had worse than this! You almost lost Paul once, don't let him lose you this time!" I hissed at her, desperate for her to make a sound, a movement, anything!
But I knew it was impossible. That she had fought hard enough this time. For I couldn't hear the gentle hum of her heartbeat, nor the sound of the blood rushing through her veins.
I knew then that the tribe had lost the greatest thing to ever happen to it, since the Third Wife herself.