Chapter 1- The new beginnings

"A date!" he sputtered out, spitting out the water that had been in his mouth, his eyes wide as he stared at me, shock and disbelief prevalent on his face.

I gave him a look of sheer disgust. Seriously, he was disgusting, and yes, he was cleaning that mess on the living room floor that he had just created in the need for his over-dramatics!

I wasn't his maid, mother or future girlfriend….

Oh. No. That honor had gone to that creepy half-breed who looked five, behaved fifteen and was actually five months old… not horrifying or disgusting in the least.

As if we needed another member in the pedophilic gang!

What's next?

Embry imprinting on a fetus?

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. After all, the three musketeers did do everything together…. so, what if this new fanatic of theirs was hell of a creepy and questionable one?

The leaders of our tribe did approve of it, though.

Or at least most of them did- Billy excluded, who was confused at the moment of whether he should cheer out in joy or weep out in horror. Yes, finally, his son was no longer obsessed with the dead woman walking- oh, no, I am not talking about that latest development in someone's life. Mrs. I am so glad to be dead- has been a dead woman walking since the past…. um…. eighteen years, her facial expressions (lack of it) and the sheer enthusiasm in her tone (again lack of it) a proof of that.

I mean, come on, I am no bundle of joy of anything, but at least, I don't have the same facial expressions for everything ranging from happiness to hatred to lust to pride to…. well, everything.

At least I have that going for me….

So, yeah!

Anyhow, like I was saying, so finally, baby alpha was no longer pining for that desperate to suck blood- being, but now, instead, he was pining for…her daughter!

Let's get the drum rolls out, people!

It was almost laugh worthy- more like falling down the couch while you held to your stomach- hilarious, but of course, who was I to comment?

At least, he had some hope for the future…. even if it was of the kind that made you wish to jump off the closest cliff without a second's delay….

I mean, seriously, who wants to be stuck with some weirdo that drinks blood and faces bodily developments at the speed of lightning for the rest of eternity?

Quil had it better, if only by a slight. At least his imprint was a human- baby indeed, but yet a human, and would remain so…. with some luck.

Who knew?

Quil and Jake were pretty determined to make their imprints the best of friends…. babysitting together- with their imprints playing with some stupid toy that held their miniscule attention- as they shared tales of how their imprints were the cutest toddlers on the face of this earth never to be seen again, no matter how many millennia went by….

So Adorable. Not.

It was sickening. That was what it was!

Imagine a seventeen-year-old creepily staring at a kid of three, his eyes never once moving away from her, the adoration and love in his eyes clear for all to see….

Yeah, you would be placing a call to the cops before one could mumble the 'C' that comes in cops.

I was tempted, too…. heavily, heavily so….

"Leah, are you even listening to me?"

I turned to look at him, his eyes wide in disbelief as he demanded an answer from me- my answer being a mere shrug filled with nonchalance.

"Not really, no."

At least I was honest!

That was something…. right?

Jake sighed, melodramatically, shaking his head to himself as his hands came to run over his face and hair, almost as if to prove that all the burdens of this massive world rested on his extremely fragile shoulders, pulling him down relentlessly, no matter how much he tried to resist the burden and the stress…

One drama queen he is, I am telling you!

Why was he still here, in my house, though?

Who the hell is lame enough to invite him over?

Wait. Don't answer that.

For I know the answer to that one.

Stupid Seth and his constant need to make everyone around him happy!

I swear that boy was on some weird happy drugs. He was always happy and always smiling, never a bad hair day in his life. In fact, even while he slept, a wide smile covered every inch of his face, his blanket wrapped around him tight as he pulled the pillow close to his torso like a little baby needing the cuddle.

It was adorable, I agree.

I sometimes wondered of what his dreams were, for how could someone be blessed with such amazing dreams that they were perpetually happy and smiling, but then again, it was Seth.

Unhappiness was not a word in his dictionary…. never had been….and hopefully, would never be…..

At least one of us was meant to live with that shining bucket of everything good.

God knows it wasn't meant to be me!

Now, now, I was no believer in throwing a pity-party for one, but let's be realistic here. My life sucked to the core; no easier words available to depict this horrid tale.

It would suffice to say that I had been someone creepily and sadistically nasty in my past birth…. the likes of whom nobody could even think of thinking good of…. like Hitler!

Why else would I be stuck here in this living hell otherwise?

"Leah, please," Baby alpha pleaded to me, a look of sheer desperation on his face. "I can't deal with any more problems. I am really not cut out for this shit…"

"Fuck you, Jake." I showed him the finger, my hands coming to run across my shoulder length hair in annoyance- I was due for a haircut- if there was something worse than being a human that could shape-shift into a wolf, it was being a human that shape-shifted into a shaggy wolf. Nobody likes to trip on their own fur- and that is a fact!

"Why are you even here?" I demanded from him, the Television playing in the background- some ridiculous daily soap that my mother liked to watch on. Okay, so even I watched it- at times, but that was not to be disclosed out in public. "Seth is in his room, go bother him." I waved a hand in the air, shooing the annoying fly away, my eyes once again going back to the TV as I munched on the bowl filled with popcorn lying on the center table in front of me. I did not have to work today, and so I was going to waste the entire day doing absolutely nothing- that being every adult's ultimate wet dream.

And I definitely did not need something or someone trying to ruin my plans for me.

Not even Jake, who himself had decided the patrol schedule for this week, with today being Seth and Embry's turn to border our lands, giving me the day off.

"I am here because of you." he glared at me, forcefully grabbing a few popcorns from the bowl and dumping them in his wide-open mouth, disgustingly, I must mention. "I could have been with Nessie at the moment, reading to her- her favorite story, but no, you needed the attention more. Seth called me up, and do you know what he told me?" he growled out in disbelief.

I rolled my eyes at him. Seriously, when was this going to end? I was bored already. "Will you shut up if I say that I don't want to know?"

I had to try.

I just had to.

Who knows when which miracle may occur?

He sighed, even his sigh an exaggerated version of itself. "He told me that you… have a date tonight?"

Okay.

And?

I gave him a shrug, letting out an audible sigh. "Thanks for the unasked-for information, but I am already aware of this fact. I did say yes to go out tonight, you know?"

Wasn't it obvious that I- of all- would know of 'my' plans for the day?

It wasn't exactly a surprise for me, contrary to what our great Alpha believed.

Or maybe, he was just spending too much time with the half breed and her over the top parents- you really can't deny that claim- and so now had the habit of overreacting to everything one said or did.

What's next?

Jake going around La Push, knocking on each and every door and pridefully declaring that the Earth is round?

Like thanks, Jake, but everybody already knew this!

I chuckled to myself, just imagining this scene in my head.

I would be willing to pay to see this sight, especially when someone laughed on Jake's face for just being plain stupid.

"Leah," Jake growled out. "Please tell me you are canceling your date."

I raised an eyebrow in question, disbelief thick in my tone. "And why the hell would I do that?"

Someone decent was showing interest in me, and I liked him- sort of- so why on Earth would I bail out on him?

It just made no sense to me.

And more importantly, from when did Jake get to decide of who I 'could' go out with?

I was finally beginning to move on from that cheater Sam and his infamous bullshit, and now here comes Jake with his basket of bullshit.

Seriously, I deserved a break.

Okay, so maybe Austin Marks wasn't exactly 'it' for me. But he was a decent enough guy, easy on the eyes and sweet to talk to. Also, we worked together at the local grocery store in Forks- had been working together since the past six months with every break spent in the other's company- and so I could guarantee that if nothing more, I would have a good evening…a well needed change from this world of supernatural where everyone was aware of the monsters that survived in the dark.

I did not have many friends outside the pack…er…. more like one or two people that I could consider a friend, but I was determined to change that.

I wasn't going to remain a wolf my entire life- that was a laugh worthy thought- and so I needed to start somewhere, and maybe getting back to normalcy was my way of taking that scary first step….

"Leah," Jake sighed. "You have not imprinted on him. Do you understand what risk this could turn out to be if your imprint…."

"Damn, Jake," I scowled at him. Seriously, this was all about imprinting?

Jeez, why was I even still surprised?

The entire pack- both of them- swore by imprinting, it being their Holy book, not a word in wrong to be spoken about it, for the fear that the ground would open up and suck us in.

"No, Leah," he protested. "You know the rules. We can't date someone who is not our imprint. What if you fall for him hard, with your imprint suddenly appearing out of the blue? We can't deal with such a situation again. I refuse to let my pack go through that."

"Jeez, Jake," I rolled my eyes at him. "It is just one date; can we cut the melodrama? And, secondly, I am never going to imprint." I folded my arms across my torso, shrugging my point away.

It was a given.

I was never going to imprint, and so I was a free bird to do as I pleased- a fact that suited me just fine!

He sighed, shaking his head in disagreement. "You don't know that."

I scoffed in response. "Why, haven't you spoken to the Great Sam Uley on this? Imprinting is for the purpose of making babies, as Sam preaches to everyone with two functional ears, and I am no longer fertile. I have not got a period since I phased for the first time, and so, point proven, I can't imprint." I finished with a wide smile.

Also, imprinting was for those losers who could get never get laid without the magic of imprinting involved- have you ever looked at Jake? Did he get the girl he wanted?

No… he got her daughter!

I am going to probably still laugh at this massive fuck you by destiny to Jake when I am frail and old….

"Leah," he shied away briefly at the mention of a period…. as most men tend to do for some reason. Seriously, what's the big deal? We, woman, don't shy away at the mention of a dick…or masturbation…or whatever men do.

"You don't know that." Jake repeated, sighing.

I rolled my eyes at him. "If I ever do have the misfortune of imprinting, I will deal with it, but for now, I am a free bird and am going out with whomsoever I want to go."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Will you stop if I gave you an alpha order?"

"No." I shrugged in response. "I will just punch you in the face and do what I want to do."

He let out a breath, nodding his head in response, figuring out the truth in my words.

I really would punch him in the face if he tried to control my personal life, and he knew this well enough.

"But just be careful. Don't get too attached…"

I rolled my eyes at his concern. "Not like I am going to fall in love with him on our very first date, but even if I do, don't worry, for I am never going to imprint."

I was a hundred percent confident of that.

I could not imprint. I was the local anomaly, doing things the 'usual' way around was not on the cards for me.

He sighed. "Fine then; not like I can stop you from falling and hitting your head on the ground…"

And, we are back to the dramatics!

He let out a breath, continuing, "anyhow, you can go out tonight, but from tomorrow we will be running double patrols…"

As if I had asked for his permission in the first place!

Wait. What.

"Why are we running double patrols?" I raised an eyebrow at him in suspicion and doubt. We had not run double patrols in months now, not since the supposed battle with those creepy bloodsucker leaders.

Jake refused to meet my eyes; the carpet way too fascinating for his liking. "The Cullen's are having guests over." He mumbled lowly.

"Great!" I sighed. "Why don't they just make an amusement park of their house? The way leeches come to visit them…."

"He is not a leech." Jake cut me off.

"Then?" I glared at him, waiting to hear his answer.

Had Bella revealed their secret to one more unsuspecting human? Wait. Had she dragged her mother in the knowing? I wouldn't get it past her. She was an immature being that did not understand the consequences of her taken decision. If left to her, she would probably print their- and our- secret in the local newspaper and roam around as if nothing had changed in her life.

Jake frowned, shaking his head at me. "Nahuel is coming for a visit."

"And who the fuck is Nahuel?" I questioned. Was I supposed to recognize the name?

For I really, really did not.

He sighed. "The one like Nessie; you remember Alice and Jasper had brought him along during the battle?"

Right. That guy with the long hair in the braid and the weird ass skirt- made from the skin of an animal. I remembered seeing him, vaguely. I had not paid much- or any- attention to him, too concerned with saving our lives at that moment, and by the time I had visited the Cullen mansion again, three weeks post the fight, he and his aunt had already left for whichever hole they rested in.

"Why is he coming for a visit?" I raised an eyebrow. "Any sign of approaching trouble?"

It was just perfect!

Finally, life was about to settle, and here come the Cullens with another problem that they needed help in solving.

Boom!

And, of course, once again we would be forced to help them.

Stupid Jake and his ridiculous obsession with necrophilia!

"No." Jake sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Nothing of that sort. Nahuel is actually… he is trying to adapt to human society, wanting to learn of how to live amidst humans. The Cullens are pretty much the face for that in their specie."

"Right." I rolled my eyes at his words.

So, great, the leeches were having guests over, and once again my life would be put on a hold as I ran around on four legs to make sure that their stupidity did not cause any damage in the area.

It sucked, totally did.

"You know what," I got up from my seat, smiling as I turned to look at Jake. "I am going to go. I have plans for tonight, and I refuse to let anything or anyone ruin them for me."

I was finally moving on in life, and nothing would pull me down this time around.

I refused to let it.