Chapter Forty-One: Today, I'm No Longer Breathing
Angela (POV)
Rebekah yawned, that's how I knew it was morning. Not the morning birds chirping outside, or the subtle changes to the dark indigo sky. It was my daughter, who I could not stop staring at. She was perfect, or at least I couldn't find anything else that came close, except for her sister. Her eyes opened slowly, and a soft smile curled at her tiny mouth as she realized I was holding her.
"Mama." I felt my breath halt in my chest, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was four days old; how could she possibly speak? Then I absorbed her voice, and I felt my heart weep. I had never heard anything so beautiful.
"Carlisle?" I said before thinking. I could hear him move into the room and come up beside me.
"Could you say that again for mommy?" I said with a bright smile.
"Carlisle." Rebekah said looking over at my adoptive father, causing my jaw drop.
"I have nothing." He said, and as I looked over at him, I could see his shock.
"Mama!" Jezebel said from Rosalie's arms. She was sitting a few feet away in a chair facing out onto the back lawn. I looked over and found Jez staring at Rebekah, who had already turned to stare back at her sister. The two of them locked eyes for several seconds, and then fell back asleep almost in unison.
"Did I just hear…?" Bella said as she entered the room, followed by Alice, Esme and Charlie.
"Yes." I said excitedly, my children were amazing. "They can talk!"
"I'll take her." Esme said, and I nodded easily. Esme held them nearly as much as Rosalie and Bella. Then Rebekah passed between us in a movement that felt as natural as breathing, not that I had to breathe anymore. It was one of a thousand things that I found were different about my new body. "You said you wanted to get there before dawn."
"I'm not sure I'm ready." I looked down and shook my head slightly.
"I haven't even seen mine." Bella said off hand, and then frowned at her own joke.
"Bella." Esme said with a slightly disappointed tone to her voice.
"Sorry, that was in bad taste." Bella said with a wince and an apologetic look my way.
"Don't worry about it. At some point all our names end up etched in stone. I knew I would outlive them, I just never expected I would have to bear that loss so soon." My voice was soft, and I had trouble getting out the words. If I had still been human, tears would've been streaming down my face.
"There is no hurry, we're not leaving for a while now. Jacob made sure of that." Carlisle said as two wolves lopped by the back window. Bella waved, and the large brown wolf nodded once in response.
"I'm not that thrilled. Until last night those two were chomping at the bit to kill us." Rosalie interjected, her voice not loud enough to rouse either of the sleeping girls.
"Actions speak, and they have aligned with us." Carlisle countered.
"For now, what happens when the other pack does decide to make good on their threat?" Rosalie worried, standing and handing Jezebel off to Bella who rolled her eyes at Rosalie's argument.
"Does it matter? The wolves or Victoria or the Volturi. Something, possibly everything is coming for us and I don't know how we're going to fight even with our ridiculous gifts… or we'll wipe the floor with them." Bella said, then looked down as Jez started to wiggle awake, so she quickly kissed her on the forehead. My tiny girl grinned and settled back down to sleep.
"I still haven't had another vision, although so far they have been unusually on point, just lacking context. Yet, I don't need much context for how that fight went. Maybe Mason is changing things, or maybe Edward and Emmett will make a difference. Hell, we haven't even been able to reach Jasper." Alice looked so tired and overwhelmed, and I just wanted to reach out and comfort her, but Charlie beat me to the punch, and pulled her against him. She almost immediately rested her head against his chest, and it made me a little jealous to see such a connection.
"I found him." Esme said quietly, very aware of the child in her arms.
"Pardon?" Alice said lifting her head up and glaring at her mother.
"He's with the Denali… more specifically he's with Tanya. I'm sorry Alice, I just found out yesterday before the confrontation with the wolves. She called to see if there would be hostility between us if she took him as her mate." Esme looked sympathetic, but Alice just started to chuckle.
"That's fine. I'm very over him now, and I wish Tanya all the best." Alice said through her laughter which was soft and affected her voice slightly. Then she looked back and pulled Charlie's head down to kiss him. I tried not to react, but thankfully no one was really paying attention to me.
"There's more. Apparently, there are five new members to their family. Turns out Jasper's time with Peter and Charlotte has proven to be quite a revelation, and they are going to try and live our lifestyle. Irina is mated with a vampire named Laurent, and our old friend Garrett tagged along with Jasper and met Kate. They have been crazy in love basically from the minute they met." Esme said, almost like she was gossiping, but still considerate of the baby in her arms.
"We need to call for a visit then, to meet them all and introduce our new members as well. It'll be difficult with your children Angela; they will need to be convinced these are not immortal children." Carlisle warned, sighing slightly.
"What would happen if they reacted poorly?" Charlie asked, glancing over at me and then back to Carlisle.
"Well normally in a case where a coven creates and immortal child, the Volturi come down like a hammer and cull them. In some cases, only the maker is killed. Occasionally, the entire coven is eliminated." Carlisle didn't seem happy to be relaying the information, but that hardly mattered.
"Why the Denali in particular?" Charlie asked interrupting my own indignant reaction.
"Tanya, Kate and Irina's mother created an immortal child and was executed for it." Carlisle said somberly and then looked at me realizing what he had just said.
"So, I still have the threat of death from them hanging over my head. Lovely. I think I am going to go visit my family now." I couldn't handle so many things all at once. Rosalie's compulsion was strong, but I could still feel my newborn instincts raging underneath the control she had given me. So, I turned without another word and started to leave.
"Angela, before you go, your phone is on my desk." Carlisle said, and I nodded as I walked away, making a detour through his office to pick it up. I shoved it in my pocket without looking at it and was out the door heading towards Forks in a heartbeat.
The run was good for my troubled mind, and the cold air blowing against my skin felt glorious. I had to admit, this new existence had some perks. The sun had just started to crest over the horizon, throwing deep purple and orange hues against the sky. The cemetery was empty as I hoped it would be, and I quickly made my way to my family plot. The dirt was fresh, and the grass nearby was trampled. Under the names of my grandparents on my father's side were five new names. Each harder to read than the last. Franklin, Jezebel, Joshua, Isaac… Angela. I fell to my knees and started to trace the lines of their names. I couldn't quite believe they were gone.
"Mom, dad. I should be with you. I shouldn't have survived. If my life were normal, I wouldn't have. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you everything, and that you wouldn't have ever met your grandchildren. That's right, you have grandchildren. Mom, I named one of the twins after you and the other after Gran. It seemed right. So, you were right, Mason is too old for me, by a few thousand years. I don't know where he is, and it... It hurts so much. My new family is amazing, and I will be happy with them. My daughters fill me with such love, and I can stand as a living memorial to your memory for possibly thousands of years. Thousands. I promise, I will never forget any of you as long as I live. Josh, Isaac I hope you're having a ball up there as the men you would've become. I hope you're happy. I'll be back when I can, but for now goodbye."
I sat and wept for a while, until the sun had started to lighten the world. My body shaking with tearless sobs. Eventually I stopped and gathered myself together. The movement caused my phone to vibrate, and I pulled it out wondering what was important enough to bother me. The voicemail was from an unknown and foreign number. I frowned and started to play it.
"Angela, I hope you're safe." Mason's voice almost jump started my heart. "I'm alive and free again. I'll be coming home soon, but there is something I have to do first. If you get this message, you can call this number. Tell the man who answers that you wish to speak to me. I love you and I hope I'll hear from you soon." The message end clicked with finality and I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it. My hand trembling. I hit send on a return call and held my breath as it started to ring.
"I really hope yer Mason's lass. I huvnae seen him like this before, I think he's about to lose his mind." The voice answering was deep and had a light Scottish accent.
"Yeah. Is he there?" I said almost at a whisper.
"Just a sec." There was a rustling and I could swear the tapping of a foot.
"Angela?" Mason said with far more desperation than he had in his message.
"Yes." The one word wasn't enough, I wanted to say so much more. "It's me."
"They turned you." His response was not unexpected, but I had hoped he wouldn't hear changes in my voice.
"There wasn't any choice. I was in an accident with my human family." I said in explanation, not wanting to say the truth out loud.
"The ventilator, I wasn't there for you." He said, referring to Alice's vision. The guilt and tension in his voice was palpable.
"No, but I think it might have happened anyway, whether you were here or not, Bella was watching us and there was nothing she could do." I was still dancing around what happened, almost hoping he wouldn't ask.
"Still. Were you hurt, is everyone alright?" The worry in his voice broke me a little, and it took me almost a full minute before I could respond. "Angela?"
"No, all four of them are gone." I looked back down at their grave marker as I said the words. They felt strange and heavy on my tongue as I spoke. "I'm actually standing at their grave right now."
"Angela." He gasped, and I could hear the emotion in his voice, the shock and more than a little pain. "Is there anything… Can I… No. I'm so sorry. I know they loved you, I could see it in the way the were desperate to protect you from me. Maybe they were right."
"No, I was a part of this life before you came into it. You've made it better; can you trust that?" I countered, hoping I wouldn't have to explain why yet. I just couldn't tell him about his daughters when he was half a world away, it felt wrong on too many levels.
"Yes, I trust you. I want to be there so much; you've never left my mind." He said and I felt my chest almost burn from the passion it stirred in me.
"That's why I was there, I wanted to see them one last time. Now, at least I have good memories of them." I had to focus on that, the good memories.
"I know a way of clarifying those memories, kind of like art restoration. I can teach you when I come home." He said, doing the thing he always did offer a lovely answer to a problem.
"I'd like that. When are you coming home?" I found myself pleading, realizing I had no idea why he hadn't come home as soon as he escaped.
"Soon, but not quite yet. Aro is dead set on attacking our family. I don't really understand why, he seems to want Alice. Jane doesn't know much more." The way he said her name drew attention to the connection. From what Carlisle told me of Jane, I couldn't imagine why he would trust her word on anything.
"Jane, isn't she one of their enforcers? The one that can cause pain?" I said trying to sound vague, despite remembering Carlisle's firsthand account of her vicious and vindictive nature. It was one of the main reasons he had left the Volturi to forge his own path in the world.
"Not anymore. We developed a friendship while I was in captivity and escaped together." The news was startling, but I didn't make a sound in reaction. Instead I tried to force myself to sound positive.
"Wow, maybe that's what Alice felt when she said there was more." It was a stretch, how could one enforcer do anything against the might of the entire Volturi?
"Well, maybe. But there's more. It's hard to explain, but I have to do one more thing here and then we're all headed home." He sounded worried, and I couldn't imagine what would be worth spending another second in Italy risking a confrontation with the Volturi again. Yet once again I had to play nice, I couldn't beg him to come home when I could hear in his voice a determination to do whatever it was he needed to do there.
"Okay. When you get here, there are some things we need to discuss, I just don't know if they can be said over the phone." I had to say something, without actually saying something. Yet the long pause after I spoke made me rethink how I said it.
"Are you breaking up with me?" He asked, his voice almost painfully neutral.
"No, never. Be safe and let me know when you're coming back." I hoped that would be enough.
"I will. I love you." He clearly didn't want to end the call, but it was time. We had said what we needed to say. Or at least as much as we could thousands of miles apart.
"I love you too." The call ended just as the light of day threatened to reveal my skin. I dashed into the nearby woods and then started to cut across the wilderness towards home but stopped in mid step and turned towards Forks. It was a risk, but one I felt I had to make. My old house looked hollow, and it took more conscious effort to cross the lawn and up to the second floor into my room than I expected. Everything was still, the dust settled, and the atmosphere practically dead. I could almost feel the spirit of the house had gone silent; the absence of my family was worse than seeing their names on that stone.
I moved through the house like a ghost, touching things and conjuring memories I had long forgotten. A joke, an argument, the first time I held baby Joshua, the triumph of watching little Isaac pull himself up to stand for the first time. My dad practicing his sermons in the living room. My mother singing to herself in the kitchen. I felt my mouth quiver with emotion, and my eyes stung despite the lack of tears. I knew exactly what I wanted, but it took a while to get there as I touched everything I could along the way. The picture was exactly where it had been for almost two years, taken when mom was eight months pregnant. It was the last time she went out before giving birth, and it was a purely happy memory. I picked it up and felt the memory wash over me.
"Frank. Put that down and get over here." Mom said with a mildly playful yet scolding tone of voice. The sounds of the carnival behind us was such a joyful sound, it set the mood completely.
"Jez, I don't know how the timer works, the camera is new." Dad said with a small wince followed by a goofy smile as he held out the camera helplessly towards her.
"Let me have it." I said holding my hand out. He handed me the camera and I fiddled with the settings for a minute, eventually setting the timer for ten seconds. He set it up and we posed.
"How much longer?" Dad said through his wide smile.
"A few more seconds." I hadn't been counting, but I knew it would go off relatively soon. Dad shook his head and started towards the camera, just as the flash went off.
"Frank!" Mom said with a laugh.
"Sorry. One more time." He went to the camera and pressed the button and dashed back to the same position as before, putting on the same smile as before. This time I was counting.
"Seven, six, five, four, three…" I stopped and smiled and almost in the same instant the flash went off.
"So, what's next?" Dad said retrieving the camera and checked it quickly to make sure it looked good.
"I'm hungry." Mom said with a chuckle, her cravings had been legendary throughout the entire eight months.
"Funnel cake or caramel corn?" I offered, but she shook her head.
"Ice cream." Her words echoed through time, and suddenly the memory shifted and I was sitting in our SUV staring at that truck as it was bearing down on us. It happened over a matter of seconds, yet my new mind remembered it with startling clarity. Dad picking up the milkshake, my scream, the impact crushing the door into my father… my eyes flew open and I was still standing in my living room. I set down the picture, realizing I didn't need it.
I looked around and noticed the papers still sitting on the table next to my father's chair. I sat down and picked up the pieces of the sermon he had been working on that night. Five tiny loose scraps of paper, his bizarre method of writing on whatever was close when he had a thought. I shivered as I realized they were the last words he would ever write. My hands were shaking as I started to read.
'I've been pondering the nature of fate the last few weeks. God's plan is sometimes baffling. Enough for us to question the reasons and the methods of that plan. Why would a benevolent god take away a child or a spouse? It is question posed by many throughout history, and the simplest answer is circular; 'God has a plan'. So why do those words always feel so hollow? A lovely platitude that should be comforting for those of us with faith. Our dearly departed are now at rest, happy and at peace in heaven. So why do we feel the pain of grief and loss? Why are we made to suffer? Is it a test, a divine request made to us as a matter of faith? Or is it something more? Please excuse the personal aside, but the last few weeks I have watched my daughter suffer with grief. Tragedy is never easy to handle, especially when it takes someone as young as Isabella Swan. Parents bear the brunt of that loss, but close friends go through a completely different kind of struggle. To lose a peer, someone at the same stage of life as them. It must be a shock that would be nearly impossible to recover from without it changing you. So maybe, that is the point. Maybe the purpose of death, and grief is that it changes you. A crucible that you must struggle through, that helps to forge the person you will become…'
The text ended unfinished, and after a moment I gently folded the papers and put them back on the table where they were sitting. I thought about his words for a long time, sitting in a chair that smelled like him. It was not quite accurate; I wasn't dealing with grief. I was dealing with my world shifting underneath me. Yet he was right about one thing, I did have to go through a crucible, the fire of transformation had made me into something else, and I still didn't know quite who that person was going to be. Who I was going to be?
I knew this house was mine to do with as I pleased. Carlisle had purchased it for me, and it would be cleaned and maintained indefinitely. I stared at the folded papers realizing it was just as much a memorial of my family and their lives as their gravestone. I took a deep breath and rocked in his chair for several more minutes before finally getting up.
The trip home was slow, as I walked at a human pace through the woods. My sense of direction led me towards my new home as though I had traveled that unbroken path a hundred times. It was turning into a beautiful day, nearly cloudless with a limitless blue sky that hurt your eyes just looking at it. The animals were out, and even the small wildlife risked running by me, despite the danger I posed to them. As I walked I closed my eyes and tapped into my gift, and found that I could follow the threads of life surrounding me just as easily as I could trust my eyes to tell me were I was in the world.
About a half mile out I started to feel almost normal, still destroyed by the loss of my family, but able to push that aside so I could focus on the here and now. On my family and my children. They had to be my priority, no matter what. I found a strange contentment as I communed with nature and thought about my future. Until I felt a large presence moving through the forest. I directed my gift towards it and realized it was one of the wolves, moving directly towards the Cullen house. I searched for anyone else accompanying it, but quickly realized whatever their intentions they were acting alone. I moved quickly and intercepted the creature. It stopped and growled in recognition, its hackles raising as it backed up into a defensive posture.
"I know you're alone, if you come in peace, I have no reason to harm you." I said holding up a hand. It glared at me for several seconds, before nodding and ducking around a tree. A few seconds later a woman came around and exhaled sharply.
"Where's Jacob?" She said with a touch of dismissive anger.
"Patrolling last I saw." I answered simply, having no reason to lie or obfuscate the truth.
"I need to see him; I joined his pack and he doesn't know it yet." She said quickly and brusquely, clearly annoyed to have to explain herself to me.
"That's good to hear, but I wonder what your motivations are?" I said narrowing my eyes at her. I was pleased more had broken off from the other pack, I had no idea if this was a ploy to bring Jacob and Seth back into the fold.
"Their mine, and none of your business." She said angrily, her head shaking almost imperceptibly.
"Given your tone of voice and posture, you are deeply uncomfortable just standing in my presence. You expect me to entrust you the security of my children's lives? To someone less than committed to our safety?" I kept myself between her and the house even though she had started to try and move past me. That stopped her completely, and she stared at me incredulously.
"Children?" She sounded deeply confused. "You said that before, none of us could figure out what you meant."
"I have two infant daughters." I explained with a somewhat neutral expression, I didn't want to stoke any additional hostilities. If the wolves reacted like the Volturi would, I couldn't take any chances.
"I… I get it now. Why you attacked us. You were defending your kids." She shook her head as realization crossed her eyes, and then she actually gave me a somewhat sympathetic look. I sighed.
"Partially, but there's more. If you commit to our cause, you are joining up to fight a potentially unwinnable battle coming our way." I couldn't hold back, if she was about to join Jacob's pack, she had to know the dangers. Jacob and Seth had been somewhat cool when we told them, I doubted either fully understood what was coming for us.
"What?" She shook her head in confusion again, taking a step back defensively.
"Sorry. But I just have to make sure you join us knowing the full picture. It's a long story, but one I would be happy to share if you can get past any preconceptions and prejudices." I laid my basic issue out on the metaphorical table. Jacob had been gracious but clearly uncomfortable around us, and Seth while sweet had some obvious reservations as well. It was easy to extrapolate, especially given what I knew about the treaty from Carlisle, that all the wolves thought of vampires as natural enemies.
"I don't have any…" She started but I shook my head.
"Your kind kills mine; it is in your nature to distrust a vampire." I countered before she could get her protest out.
"Point… so what do you want from me?" She cocked her head, and it seemed I had gotten through to her.
"Whatever your reasons for coming here, I need to understand before I can accept your help and presence." I said hoping she would understand. Whatever her reasons, they were paramount to motivation. Motivation was important to know how committed she would be to us, and more importantly to my children.
"Okay, where do we start?" She offered, and I relaxed a little because she had taken the first step towards something new.
"Your name would be nice. I am Angela Weber… No, I'm Angela Cullen now." I corrected myself, I had to get used to a new name. Although I wasn't sure what last name I would eventually use when my new identification came through, which made me realize I had no idea what Mason's last name was.
"I know, I'm sorry about your family." She said with genuine sympathy, and it made me nod
"Thank you." I said feeling a strange sense of gratitude. After thinking about it for a moment, the idea of an enemy expressing sadness over my personal tragedy was almost more touching than the sentiments of people who already loved me.
"You're welcome. Um. I'm Leah Clearwater." She fidgeted a little, her defenses down enough that she let a small smile cross her expression for a second.
"Can I call you Leah?" She nodded once. "Wonderful, lets start with why you're here."
She looked down at her shoes and sighed heavily. "I can't stay in Sam's pack another minute."
"I assume there is a reason, but we'll table that. Is that your only purpose?" I said quickly, hoping to move past basic motivations and get to the core of what she wanted.
"Well, yeah. I don't care about vampires really, and honestly this is the longest I've ever talked to anyone like you." She looked at me, and it seemed like was really looking at me. I pursed my lips slightly, trying to frame what I wanted to say to her in the right way.
"Vampires are people, some are monstrous, some are very humane. Carlisle has been a surgeon for decades. Esme has trouble killing animals for food. Rosalie is the most compassionate person you'll ever meet if you get through her armor. Bella is a goofball, and her father has been a cop his entire adult life. So, if you are willing, I would love to spend the time getting to know you. Perhaps we are more alike than you realize." I was looking at her with the same intensity she was examining me. We were clearly deciding something big, and I felt like this one conversation could be deeply important for reasons I couldn't quite wrap my head around.
"Yesterday you threatened to kill me, and now you want to be friends?" She shook her head, but she sounded unsure not incredulous.
"Yes, I think I do." I nodded as I spoke, trying to impart my feelings as genuinely as I could.
"Huh." She stared at me for several seconds before shrugging. "Why the hell not, I haven't had a friend in a while." I almost let out a big blast of air in relief as we turned and walked together towards home. It felt awkward, but at least she wasn't glaring at me anymore. After a few minutes she cleared her throat and opened her mouth a few times to ask a question.
"Ask, I don't mind." I finally said and she nodded.
"What happened to your family?" She sounded genuinely sympathetic and curious.
"I was spending my last night with them as a human when a truck plowed into us. I survived, they didn't." The facts hurt, but saying it wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be.
"I thought you said you had kids." She looked confused again.
"Yeah, I wasn't awake when I gave birth. Up until four days ago I was in a coma." I still couldn't quite believe I had missed something that important. Practically my entire pregnancy was a void in my mind.
"That's fucked. I guess vampirism is better than being a vegetable." She blurted out and winced slightly as she realized how tactless it was. I just shrugged and nodded.
"I can say from experience that it is quite a bit better, but I'm still adjusting." Answering the sentiment behind her question, rather than worrying about the lack of social etiquette.
"Sam is my ex. So being in his pack is like being a pariah, I can't stand it anymore." She finally elaborated, and it made sense.
"Wow, so I guess it wasn't a good break up than." I asked feeling her pain for the first time. I couldn't imagine being forced to live with in that kind of twisted situation. Or… I guess witnessing what happened between Edward and Bella gave me a small clue to what Leah was going through.
"You could say that. My cousin Emily came into town a year or so ago before I shifted for the first time. They met one night at a party, and the next day I was left behind without any warning or explanation. Eventually I found out he imprinted on her, which is kind of like falling in love at first sight except supernatural and permanent." She wasn't looking at me as she spoke, the emotions she felt were clearly difficult and unresolved.
"I get it. You really needed to get away from him." I nodded and she looked at me warmly, a thankful smile on her face.
"Mind if we change the subject?" She asked, and I nodded. "So, who's the father?"
"He's… complicated. His name is Mason and he's actually the first vampire." I said more bluntly than I expected, realizing I was adjusting my own reactions to suit her personality.
"Holy shit. That has to be a mind fuck. What's he like? Wait, you boinked a vamp before you were turned? That means your girls are, what, like half vampire or something?" She was almost laughing at the absurdity of it, and I had to admit the way she phrased it was a little ridiculous. Yet the basic question was about my children, and that centered me more than anything else.
"Yes, a perfect blend of both actually. Although I'm worried about their growth, they are already talking at four days old." I don't know exactly how I sounded when I spoke about them, but I could see it affected her and she just gave me a knowing smile.
"My mom still talks about Seth like he's a wonder child." She stopped and looked at me and started to chuckle. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" I said feeling a bit confused.
"I came here upset, ready to commit to something that was honestly terrifying, and here we're talking like old friends." She seemed bemused, and not upset in the slightest.
"Then I guess I made the right choice." I said with a small shrug, feeling a real friendship starting to form between us.
"Me too." She looked at me and nodded. "I guess I should probably meet everyone. I'm actually looking forward to meeting your kids, they sound interesting."
"They're newborns, so not exactly interesting. But super adorable." I said with a small chuckle.
"I'll take it." She said with a laugh, and before I knew it, we broke the tree line and crossed onto the main driveway. The house looming just ahead of us. We made it another ten feet before almost the entire household and two large wolves converged on us.
"Leah… and Angela. I… I got nothin. Seth?" Jacob looked dumbfounded as he stared back and forth between us as though our proximity was somehow a small miracle.
"She's smiling." Seth spoke through a toothy grin, his joy at seeing his sister was palpable.
"Creepy." Jacob still looked confused.
"Boys." Esme scolded and turned towards Leah. "I assume you're here to deliver a message?"
"No, I'm here…" Leah paused and looked at me. "To find a new place where I can be accepted as myself."
"Of course, you are very welcome." Carlisle said with a wide smile, walking forward and holding out a hand. Leah looked at it for several long seconds before taking it and shaking his hand meeting his eyes.
"Thank you." Leah said as a genuine smile crossed her face and she let go of the tension in her shoulders.
Author's Note: Okay, Leah. In the original novels both Rosalie and Leah were treated as simple antagonistic presences without any real growth. Leah stayed to defend despite hating the Cullens. She was hostile and rejected even Esme giving her food. I intend to focus on her as a character, in fact Chapter Two is going to be in her voice.
For anyone who was reading Part One when I was initially publishing it, you know that I had released chapters 41 and 42 before taking them down. I will need to tweak both of those chapters now, since there have been some changes created from this chapter. However, after Chapter two is written, there should be a nice release tempo until chapter five. While both chapter five and six are already in progress things might change given the size and complexity of chapter five which may end up being two, possibly three chapters. In fact, my planned seventh chapter may happen a little earlier. I'm very happy I decided to take a step back rather than force the story when I was in a bad place emotionally.
Please take a moment to review, I am looking forward to reading your thoughts on this chapter. As always I'll keep my profile updated with news about upcoming chapters.
Thank you for reading!