The Alpha Female

JacobxBella

Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers

The Alpha Female

Chapter 21

Bella stared at Leah in disbelief at what she had just said. Pregnant? She was pregnant? Pregnant?! That couldn't possibly be true. No, the female Shifter had to be lying; she had to be. Shaking her head Bella said, "That's not funny, Leah."

Leah quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Do you think I'm joking?"

"You have to be putting one on me or something. I'm not pregnant, nor have ever been."

"Bella, I'm not lying, and I'd never joke about someone being pregnant. Besides…it's something that I wish could happen to me."

The brunette stared at the taller girl as Leah looked off to the side, a melancholy expression on her face. Frowning Bella asked, "Can't you get pregnant?"

Leah gave a sad smile and shook her head. "No, I can't. Before phasing, my periods had always been a little off and severely painful. My mom thought I might have a bad case of endometriosis, and that in itself can make fertility hard. I thought that was hard enough to deal with, and then the Sam and Emily thing happened. And then after that dad died and I turn into a giant ass wolf, the first female to ever do so in our tribe's history. Mom and Old Quil spent more than enough time with me in figuring out my case, but Old Quil made one thing certain: I'd never be able to bear children of my own and am thus barren so long as I have the wolf genes flowing through my veins."

"What if you stopped phasing and gave it up altogether?"

"It wouldn't matter."

Tears filled Leah's eyes and she quickly wiped them away, but Bella had seen them. Without a moment's hesitation, Bella wrapped Leah in a comforting hug, rubbing the she-wolf's back soothingly as Leah struggled to keep from sobbing, her tears still forming and running down her cheeks. Bella couldn't help but feel so bad for Leah. Of all the shit dumped on her in her life, learning she couldn't have children had to be a horrible blow to her. Of course, she wouldn't joke about Bella being pregnant when it was such a touchy subject for herself. However, it made Bella realize that perhaps Leah was right in calling her supposed pregnancy. Was she really pregnant with Jacob's baby?

Pulling away from Leah and allowing her to compose herself, she asked, "Do you really think I'm pregnant?"

Nodding Leah answered, "Without a doubt. But if it makes you feel better, we can get a second opinion from my mom just to be sure since she is a nurse."

Bella nodded and followed Leah out of the bathroom, joining everyone else back in the living room. Music was blaring loudly, so luckily their conversation in the bathroom hadn't been heard. Moving through the crowd, she followed her towards the front door, but was stopped momentarily by Jacob. Wrapping his arm around her waist, Jacob asked, "Where are you going, honey?"

"We're leaving for a bit of girl time," Leah told him.

"What kind of girl time?"

"If you want to buy the tampons, then you can come with us."

Jacob's face turned pink slightly and he quickly gave Bella a kiss on her forehead before saying, "I'll see you when you get back, Bells."

Bella bit her lip to keep from laughing before telling him she'd see him later. Jacob loved Bella and everything about her, but that didn't mean talking about periods was something he wanted to be a part of. He had told her once he found it weird, scary and unfair that women had to bleed once a month because they were designed to, and upon finding out what a tampon was properly used for, he wanted nothing more to do with the knowledge. It had actually been very funny to Bella and she teased him about it for an entire four days before leaving him alone. Luckily though, Jacob bought Leah's explanation for why they were leaving because of that.

Once they were outside Leah asked, "Can you keep up with my stride?"

"We're running?" Bella asked. At the other girl's nod, Bella answered, "Yeah, I can keep up."

Leah nodded and took off, Bella not far behind her. The run to the Clearwater's didn't take long and soon they were entering the home, Leah calling out for her mom. Sue exited the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel in response to her daughter's call, her eyes widening a bit at seeing Bella present with her. She knew Leah didn't think too highly of the brunette, so she was surprised to see her with her, and in their house no less. With a kind smile Sue said, "Welcome Bella."

The brunette smiled and nodded, softly saying, "Hi."

"Mom, we need you to do something, please," Leah said, cutting to the chase.

Sue blinked in confusion. "Oh? And what is that?"

"Confirm whether Bella is pregnant or not?"

Shock was the main expression on the Clearwater matriarch's face as she processed what her daughter had said. Looking at Bella she looked down at her midsection for a moment before asking, "Are you sure?"

Bella bit her lip before saying, "Leah is, but I'm not. She said I smell like sweet milk and…well, she smelled around my midsection and pressed her ear against my stomach. I don't know what that is supposed to prove, but she seems pretty adamant about it."

Sue nodded before saying, "I suppose we can head to the clinic to make sure. Just let me put my shoes on and get the keys to open the building and we can head over."

Leah and Bella waited for Sue to get ready and soon they were in Sue's car and driving to the La Push clinic. The whole ride there Bella fiddled with her fingers nervously. What if she really was pregnant? Then what? She wasn't ready to be a mother, and she was positive that Jacob wasn't ready to be a father. And if she was pregnant, she couldn't believe it had happened so fast. Damn it, she and Jacob should have been more careful! Now she was in a predicament that she wasn't sure was a good or bad thing, and she was beginning to get really scared. Not too long later, they arrived at the clinic, a seemingly small building that Bella believed probably served its purpose for what it was supposed to do. If it was something serious, patients were more than likely transferred to Forks Hospital.

They got out of the car and Sue unlocked the clinic doors before turning on lights. She led them down a hallway and into an ultrasound room, instructing Bella to lie on the bed and lift her shirt. Slowly, Bella did as instructed as Sue turned on the ultrasound machine. She then placed some get on the wand of the machine and began rubbing it along Bella's lower torso, right over where her uterus was located. It was completely silent as Sue looked at the machine, Bella and Leah doing the same, though Bella wasn't sure what to even look for. After a while Sue stopped moving the wand and pointed at the screen at a little black spot with an even tinier white spot inside of it.

"There it is. There is your baby," Sue said.

Bella stared in shock and disbelief at the screen. She felt like she couldn't breathe, like her lungs were being squeezed in her chest. Turning to look at Leah, she breathed out, "Leah."

Seeing the look of panic in the girl's chocolate brown eyes, Leah turned to her mother and asked, "Mom, are you positive that is a baby?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure. But just to make sure, let's check for a heartbeat," Sue replied.

Sue pressed another button on the machine and soon a loud thumping sound filled the room. There it was, a little heartbeat coming from inside her stomach through the machine. It was true, she really was pregnant. Sitting up quickly, Bella grabbed a nearby towel and quickly wiped the gel off her midsection. Jumping off the bed Bella shook her head before saying in obvious denial, "N-No, I'm n-not pregnant! I'm not! And besides, J-Jake and I haven't had sex but two w-weeks ago."

"Sweetie, any woman can get pregnant in two weeks following sexual intercourse; you're no different. But what concerns me is that you already have a heartbeat, one that apparently Leah has already detected before bringing you to me." A contemplative expression came over Sue's face. "Maybe it is because you are the Alpha Female, Jacob is the true Alpha, and thus with you two being true mates, you are more susceptible to not only getting pregnant quickly, but your fetus growing at a faster rate that usual. Then again, that is just a theory that Old Quil and Billy might have to look into."

Bella barely heard Sue, hyperventilation setting into her. She felt lightheaded and needed to get to some fresh air. Moving towards the open door, Bella moved down the hallway towards the exit of the clinic, Leah following behind her while Sue turned off the ultrasound machine and cleaned the wand before closing the door to the room and turning off the lights. Once outside, Bella stumbled a bit before dropping to her knees, taking deep gasping breaths as she struggled to will herself calm. She couldn't believe it, she just couldn't believe it. She was pregnant. Pregnant! There was already so much going on, and now this! What was she going to do? How was she going to tell Jacob?

Jacob stood on the porch of his home, looking out towards the road for Bella and Leah. He figured it didn't take that long to stop by the convenience store for some tampons, so they should have been back by now. He couldn't imagine they went into Forks considering they left on foot, so what was taking them so long? Jacob was so caught up in his thoughts about the two girls' whereabouts, he didn't realize that Sam had joined him out on the porch as well.

Sam was silent for a moment before saying softly, "They'll be here soon. They are probably just bonding being the only females of the Pack."

Nodding Jacob replied, "Yeah, you're probably right. Everything is fine, I'm just worrying for nothing."

The two of them stood in silence for a while before Sam suddenly said, "You're a lucky guy, Jacob."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's just that…the happy ending you were hoping for with Bella, being able to be with her no matter what…you're just lucky. You fought against Imprinting stating you only saw Bella and that she would be the only one you would choose, and in turn she turned out to be your rightful mate anyway when we were all convinced she was playing you and didn't belong with us. You proved us wrong, Jake; you proved me wrong. Like I said, you're real lucky."

Jacob frowned, not really sure he agreed with that. Yes, it may have seemed like he was lucky that he got the girl of his dreams and everything seemed to be going his way for him in his life, but there was more to that than what Sam had said. He and Bella already had a special connection, a bond that couldn't be broken no matter what anyone said or did. They were always drawn to one another, brought together by their mutual feelings and understanding of each other. And Bella being chosen to be the Alpha Female, to be his equal, was due to the gods and the spirit of Anais seeing something strong in Bella that would allow her to carry that responsibility. At least, that is what he believed from all the information given to them upon his girlfriend's transformation into the Alpha Female. But for Sam to say he was lucky made him think that perhaps he was saying so because he wasn't as lucky as he was to choose the person he was in love with.

Sam had been with Leah before he even phased, and when he did he was the first to Imprint, Imprinting on Emily and having to break up with Leah because of it. And because he firmly believed all that the Council had told him and that he had no choice but to be with his Imprint, of course it seemed unorthodox that Jacob was the one fighting what the Council said to pursue Bella, even though he hadn't at all Imprinted on her. It was the reason he wanted him to stay away from her, even though it was mostly due to her past association with the Cullens. But now Sam was seeing that because he had fought against what was said and for what he really wanted, it all ended well for him. It made him wonder if Sam was at least a little bit jealous of him. Of course, Sam seemed to be happy with Emily despite how they came together, but perhaps he wondered how things would have been had he fought him Imprint to Emily to stay with Leah, who he still loved despite what he said. Maybe Sam wished he had been free to choose like him, or at least had the strong will to fight for what he wanted then to comply with what was told and expected of him as a new Shifter. Jacob kind of felt bad for his Packmate.

Jacob was going to reply to what Sam had said, but before he could the sound of an engine and headlights caught his attention. Both he and Sam watched as Sue's car pulled up in front of the Black household before stopping. Sue climbed out of the driver's side while Leah and Bella both got out of the backseat of the car. Jacob frowned in concern seeing that Bella seemed to be slightly hunched over, her arms wrapped around her middle as she allowed Leah to gently lead her towards him. Upon closer inspection of his love, he noticed that her eyes were slightly puffy and rimmed red; Bella had been crying.

Completely concerned now, Jacob rushed off the porch to Bella and asked, "What's wrong?"

Bella looked up at Jacob and more tears filled her eyes. She leant against Jacob, burying her face in his chest as she began to cry again. Turning to look at Leah he asked, "What happened while you guys were out? Why is she upset?"

Leah opened her mouth to answer, but her mother placed a hand on her shoulder to silence her. Answering instead Sue said, "I think you should hear it from Bella rather than us, Jacob."

Jacob looked at Leah who nodded in agreement. He waited as Sue and Leah entered his home, Sam following them while asking Leah what the matter was, before turning back to Bella. Holding her close he kissed her on top of her head before saying softly, "You can tell me whatever it is, honey. I promise everything will be fine."

The brunette wanted to believe Jacob, but she couldn't bring herself to think the same. Could she really tell him what was up? It would just be something more to worry about. Even so, she knew she could tell Jacob anything and knew—or at least hoped—he wouldn't freak out about this. Taking a deep breath, she looked up into his eyes and spoke, telling him the truth without beating around the bush.

"Jake, I'm pregnant. Leah said I was, and Sue confirmed it. We're going to have a baby."