"Wouldn't it be crazy if he felt how I felt, Overwhelmed and terrified, but he took my hand and he took his chance? Can I have this dance? If only we were in a Cinderella story."

Elle Varner, Not Tonight

Fear

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For most of her life, Tiffany Call had owned close to nothing.

Her son Embry, a sweet boy with kindly ways and intelligent eyes, had cultivated resourcefulness and politeness in equal measures, as though an infusion of reputation and strong character was the cleanest way to make up for the lack of a father. He'd grown as bright and beautiful as his mother, a woman who'd planted herself securely in academia despite the tremendous difficulty of youthful age and single parenthood, and together they'd transformed a desolate, downtrodden scrap of land into an enchanting cottage like those from childhood fairy tales.

Strolling through Tiffany's bountiful library, with tomes all but stuffed into already bursting shelves and relics littered across tiny tables, Leah wondered what it must have been like to grow up in such a home. She imagined stories exploding from each well-worn couch; a teenage Tiffany laughing as a lank-haired boy took his first steps, a young Em and Jake wrestling on the rug while Tiff yelled at them to stop. Had a man ever lurked silently in the shadows, secretly protective? Had Embry ever seen his face? And Tiffany, so warm and loving and encouraging…. If Leah had ever been able to bear a child, would Embry's mother extend the same affection and kinship?

Tiffany seemed to open her arms in answer to the unspoken question, "Leah? You came!" she beamed, rising from her worktable.

"Yes," Embry replied dryly, "Now you can stop nagging me to bring her by."

"Oh, hush. Mothers don't nag, we-"

"Meddle."

Embry yelped as his mother's hand made contact with his bicep. He rubbed it, pouting, as Tiffany drew closer to hug his first love.

Leah, suddenly uncharacteristically shy, seemed utterly overwhelmed by his mother's easily demonstrative nature and he watched her stiffen at his mother's hug before awkwardly patting the other woman.

Drawing back, his mother lifted Leah's face to the light and took her in with appraising eyes, "Now isn't that a gorgeous cut? I must say you seem to be doing much better."

"Thank you, Ms. Call. I'm glad to see you are well too."

Embry narrowed his eyes at her innocent timber, and Leah shot him a smug smile. With a playful roll of his eyes, he made his way to the door. "That's my cue. I'll be upstairs if either of you needs me. Clearly, you two need space to…" he gestured between them, grimacing. "bond."

Shaking her head at her son, Tiffany made her way back to the table and Leah followed. "I heard you and your brother have been away visiting family at the Makah residence."

Leah frowned momentarily before she realized it was the cover story the Council had fed those in the dark while Jake's pack 'plotted rebellion' with the Cullens. "Oh yes, we were visiting our grandma Sam. We don't get to see her very often." She promised she'd make more of an effort to see her grandparents. Her family had been keeping to themselves since she and Seth had phased, for their own safety. But surely now they had more control it wouldn't be so much of a problem.

"Sue missed you terribly."

"She did?"

"Oh yes, of course." Tiffany frowned, "She's your mother."

Leah shook her head, blushing. "I simply meant… I didn't know you two were…friends."

"We're friendly, she used to babysit Embry." Tiffany said nonchalantly. Leah barely had time to register her surprise before the other woman waved her closer to her workbench, pulling a smoothly polished box towards them. Leah felt a sudden thrum deep in her bones at the sudden proximity, as though its contents were alive and ready to spring forth from inside. "If memory serves me correctly, the last we spoke you mentioned an interest in the Old Makah stories, the ones about the mistress Sakari married off to one of the earlier Quileute Chiefs."

"Yes," Leah stepped forward. "I have a… small obsession with their story."

Tiffany seemed to shine in joy like the sun at her statement, "Well of course! It's a fascinating exemplar of how folklore changes through the ages and a stellar view on how culture affects archetypes." In Makah culture, Sakari is a hero, but to the Quileute-"

"she's a temptress. A villain."

"And a feared omen of trying times." Tiffany opened the box, and Leah gasped when she saw what lay inside; two relics, hand-carved and polished in perfect preservation.

"Is that what I think it is?" She breathed, barely able to believe what was right in front of her eyes. She'd seen them countless times in her visions, strung over Chenita's back and wrapped around her arm. Kaheleha had told her Sakari had made them as protective gifts. Talismans to protect her warrior sister in her battles. Powerful magics.

"Where did you find them? How are they still intact? What-"

"Slow down, those are too many questions to answer in one go," Tiffany laughed, seeming exceedingly pleased with her reaction. "You know, you have no idea how wonderful it is to meet someone who values the old ways as I do." she said proudly, "Embry has chosen well." Leah simply blushed at the praise. After all the gossip from the res had destroyed her reputation, Leah had never imagined another woman would welcome her so easily, as though she was already part of the family. Tiffany's easy acceptance was the greatest gift Embry's mother could have given her.

.

.

"You're up to something." Leah suddenly declared, breaking a night's worth of silence. Her bedroom had become their usual castle, but recently she'd been considering renting their own place. One not tainted with memory. It was a logical step; it felt set. They were both committed to seeing their relationship through to the end anyway, and yet it all felt slightly terrifying. Like the final wax on a seal, the beginning of forever. How could she be sure she was ready?

Embry turned his body to her, his hazel eyes searching hers even in the dark. How was it that he still made her feel so breathless? Lifting a delicate hand to her face, he brushed away a stray lock and drew her lips to his in a slow, chaste kiss. "I thought you were asleep."

"You thought no such thing." She grinned. Lifting her head to her upturned fist, she peered questioningly at him. "So? Out with it. What's got your mind so deep in space?"

"What do you think's going to happen now, with the pack?"

"Whatever Jake and the Council decide, I guess."

"And since when do you trust them?"

"I've learned that some things are out of my control, Embry. What does it matter what I think anyway? They never listen." She sighed, weary. "Seth is safe. You're safe. I'm done fighting."

A sharp intensity filled his eyes, startling her, and for a moment, she could have sworn they'd glowed green. "Did you hear what Alice said to Jake? If the Cullens are to be believed – and they usually are – then our Alpha's Imprint is about to start a war. One with casualties."

He was shaking now, and Leah placed her hands on his chest, astonished by his passion. His sullen mood had descended earlier in the evening, and only gotten worse. She hadn't known his thoughts were headed in so dark a direction. "Embry."

"You're not fighting"

She stopped, "What?"

"You are not fighting." He repeated sternly. "Promise me that if this turns into a war, you're not fighting."

She searched his face, surprised he could ever ask that of her. "And leave Seth out there to fend for himself? No Em, I will protect my brother and serve my tribe."

"Don't you think you've served enough? Don't you think you've lost enough? What about Sue? What-"

"Everyone in this has lost something they can't get back. We all know what we've signed up for. This is what we do. We protect, and we survive"

"Well, I won't!" he exploded, rising to face her. "I won't survive if something happens to you!"

Leah was so shocked by his outburst that for a moment she didn't know what to say. "You won't."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that's a promise."

She'd seen Embry angry a handful of times in the fifteen years she'd known him, but she had never been on the receiving end of his ire. My, he could be terrifying. He looked like a dragon breathing fire. Was he expecting her to cower?

She opened her mouth with a retort on her lips and stopped when she saw that flash of green in his eyes again. Something was wrong with him. Something was wrong and she didn't know how to fix it. She touched his face. "Embry… where is this coming from?"

Ignoring her, he pressed his lips to hers, filled with need. "Do you have any idea what this feels like to me? Do you think I've ever felt or will ever feel anything like it again? For anybody?" Suddenly, his hands were in her hair, his teeth on her skin. Claim. Own. Protect. She felt and knew every thought in his head as though she'd planted them there herself. It was love; she didn't doubt that. But it was something else too, something terrified and selfish.

He was asking her for the impossible, and he knew seducing her was the only way to win.

Even though she knew what he was doing, Leah found that her own response was out of her control. Demanding and instinctive. She hated how easily she gave in, how much she wanted to please him. Mine, he'd said, and she was. She drew her hands to his face, wrapped her legs around his waist, but her heart was breaking. A tear streaked down her face.

It was as though she'd torn herself in half when she pulled away. "Don't ask me to betray everything I am for you, Em, because I love you more than I love anything, but I won't."

Without another word, Embry left her bed and slammed the door on his way out the house. That was the last time she spoke to him.

.

.

Leah jumped out of bed with fright, half expecting warm arms to envelop her and shield her from the terror of her nightmares.

Kaheleha rarely appeared with eerie warnings and revelations these nights, instead, she saw on repeat almost every night the face of the young man she loved, as he crossed a nefarious forest under a pale moonlight. A quick glance at the watch by her bed confirmed it was a little after midnight.

That meant it was the first of December, and Embry was on patrol with Paul Lahote.

Jacob had taken well to leading the reunited pack, and she'd managed the patrol schedule with more finesse than expected, allowing for the younger ones to go to school more often and assisting those with jobs to get a few more hours of rest. Those who'd initially had an issue with Leah as Second had slowly come to appreciate her thoughtfulness and easy-going approach to leadership, it was amazing how productive she could be when she didn't have to contend daily with her obsessive ex. The four new cubs, James, Toni, Madison, and Alex had never known her bitterness and adored her with steadfast allegiance. And to avoid any further infighting, Jacob forced Embry to make peace with Paul and never allowed Leah and Embry to patrol together.

"You're just as bad as the Imprints," Jake explained one day over a mouthful of Sue's cooking, "If one of you gets hurt the other immediately becomes a weakness."

She snickered, "Em and I aren't the problems. This is about Paul's wounded pride and you know it."

"It never hurts to be safe," Seth yelled from upstairs, no doubt getting better acquainted with hair jell for his first date with Julie's little sister.

"Exactly," Jake grinned cheekily, opening one of her cupboards. "Someone gets it. Speaking of Em, what's up with the two of you anyways?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"They're trying to outdo each other with stubbornness." Seth provided.

"We're at an impasse," Leah growled at them both, "Not that it's any of your business."

"Well fix it." Jacob said, frowning at an empty container. "I don't like how testy you both are recently. Where's the mustard?"

Rolling out of bed, Leah decided that Jacob was right; they couldn't go on like this. They hadn't spoken in over a week, and though she wouldn't admit it, she missed him terribly. She needed to find a way to make peace with him without compromising or apologizing. She donned some light tracksuits and sneakers on and flung the window open.

A sharp gust of air thrust into the room, slapping across her face with icy punishment. She suddenly felt a gnawing sense of wrongness, a cold sense that something was out of place. Shaking herself free of the sense of unease, she crawled out of the window and onto the ledge, ready to make her way down the usual track down the giant tree.

Suddenly, a blow struck her from the right with the force of a mountain. Shocked by the pain and force, Leah barely had time to reach for a branch as she slammed against bark and vine, her body crashing against each branch with a bone-crunching thump. She coughed violently as she hit the pavement, breathing in sharp short bursts that were more painful than supportive. Everything, everywhere, hurt.

She tried to call for Seth, but she couldn't seem to form the words. Someone was screaming.

A nearby crunch brought a pair of bare feet into her vision. Her eyes drifted upwards, and fear filled her as she saw the leech that had attacked Emily, pale and smiling. "Shhh." It whispered, "You wouldn't want dear mommy to come outside, would you? Then I'd have to have a late dinner."

It was then Leah realized she was the voice screaming. She tried to stop, tried to locate the source of her pain. Everything burned so badly. Burned like…

"Venom, yes." The leech supplied, as though it could read her mind. "Sorry about that. Can't have you transforming and ruining my plans, you understand? I must say it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Leah Clearwater." He hissed her name, "Original female shapeshifter and first spirit warrior in over four hundred years. Such raw, untapped power."

Leah watched helplessly as the creature crouched lowly, licking its lips. Its eyes filled with glee and grisly hunger. "My…You look exactly like her. No wonder our mother is so eager to meet you. Better not keep her waiting-"

Leah's heart caught in her throat as a russet blur flew across her vision, deep growls filling the silence. Almost immediately, two other wolves materialized, Seth and one of the new cubs Madison. No sign of Paul, who had been on patrol and would have been their first line of defence, no sign of Embry. And a grown vampire roaming freely on tribal land…

That sense of uneasiness she'd felt earlier came back with frantic vengeance.

"Seth," she croaked, "where's Embry?" But her brother was off without a word before she finished her sentence. The small cub stayed, howling at the door, obviously struggling to phase back with the scent of the vampire so rich in the air. He howled once more, and after a long time, Sue opened the back door, gasping. "Leah!" her mother screamed, and Leah heard the other woman's footsteps as she ran closer as it all faded to black.