LPOV

I was running the perimeter of the treaty line when I could feel Paul join us through the pack mind. He kept thinking about drumming. Just drumming. "Jesus Paul, shut up."

"I'm taking over for you Leah." He said through the pack mind, the drumming still going on in his thoughts. "Go to Sam's." When he thought Sam's name, a quick image of Sam hunched over on Billy's porch flashed through his thoughts."

"Paul, what's wrong? What happened?"

Drumming, lots of drumming. "Just go. Now!"

I ran. If something was wrong with Sam I wanted to be there. I may hate everything that's happened but I still love the guy and I don't want anything to be wrong. When I arrived at the treeline near Sam's, a car I didn't recognize was parked in the driveway. Emily was in the back seat and Sam was shaking hands with an older man. I phased back and tossed my clothes on as the man, Chief Greene came into view. He hopped into the driver's seat and drove off. Maybe something happened to one of her parents and she had to go and he was torn between leaving his pack and tribe when it needed defending and going with his imprint who also needed defending and a support person.

I ran. I ran straight to him, seeing the pain on his face. "Is everything ok? Is Emily ok?"

He refused to make eye contact with me. This couldn't be good. "Before I look at you, I need you to understand what happened." He held his hand out and opened it up.

"My… where did you find it? I thought I lost it. Bella was asking about it. I don't understand." My heart felt like it could shatter. Sam handing me this token of his love after everything we'd been through and now finally knowing it was never a choice that he made, felt surreal.

"Bella found it. In a locked cabinet that only Emily had access to. She saw it when she asked Emily for a tampon earlier. Bella broke into the cabinet and stole it while Emily and I were at the Spring Break Moviethon. She also found out that Emily has been using forbidden magic. Her grandfather just took her home to be punished for her crimes. She won't ever be allowed on our land again." Sam said without feeling, he must be numb from having his imprint taken away. That has to be against tribal rules or something.

"Oh God, Sam. I'm so sorry. We can get her back. We can. There must be something we can do."

"Wow. You, after everything, you want to just help me be with her? How did I fall in love with someone with such a big heart?" That very heart ached when he said that. He didn't say that he was still in love, but it still felt good to hear. "That's not it though. The spell, it was a binding spell. She bound me to her. She stole… she used your necklace to… Chief Greene broke the spell."

Bound him to her? What they hell does that mean? Whoa, wait a minute. "Are you saying…" My heart was pounding in my chest and my breathing was coming out fast and hard. For someone as fit as I was, I sure did feel like my heart was about to explode, like a heart attack or something. If he didn't say something soon, I was afraid it would actually explode from the pressure. He didn't answer me though. He took my hand, looked up and this time it was me who couldn't look at him. I looked at my bare feet. What if… what if it didn't happen? What if we just weren't meant to be? I couldn't ponder those thoughts though as Sam tilted my head up to look into his beautiful chocolate eyes and…I closed my eyes fast. I couldn't. I was so scared.

"Leelee, please." He was begging, and it was so hard not to give in. Damn near impossible even, especially when he called me that. It took everything in me to keep them shut. "I need you to open your eyes. What are you afraid of?"

"What if we aren't meant to be? What if I have to feel the pain of losing you all over again?" I couldn't handle it, not again.

"If it meant never looking at another woman ever again, I would shut my eyes on the world to be with you. I won't ever let it happen again. Please Leelee. I believe in us, open your eyes. Let's finally be what we were always meant to be." I could tell that Sam knew in his heart he would imprint on me. What if I didn't imprint on him? Is that possible? There's never been a wolf couple before. This is all new but I couldn't hide forever. I NEEDED him.

I took a deep breath in and held it for a moment. I slowly let it out and when there was no air left, I took the leap. I opened my eyes and met his. I gasped, sucking air into my empty lungs as tears streaked my face and I sobbed. I cried for every moment I had missed out on, for every single kiss that he gave her that should have been mine. I cried for the life I had been deprived of for more than a year. I looked into my imprints eyes, or would I be the imprint?

I laughed, the tears still falling down my cheeks and Sam just stood there, staring at me with a crooked grin on his face, amused at my erratic behaviour and happy at what had happened. I sobbed again, and this time because it hit me just how much Emily had deceived us both. She was never my friend.

"Sam. What she did…" My breathing was jagged, and I broke. Sam pulled me tight into his chest.

"Shhhh, no Leelee, don't cry. We can be together now. That's all that matters." Sam held me tight and his arms were like heaven. He picked me up, with ease in a bridal position and carried me to the couch. I couldn't help but wonder if he'd been with her intimately on this couch and I felt like I could puke.

As if he could read my mind, he spoke, "I will tear down this entire house, sell everything in it and build a new one somewhere else. Baby I just want you to be happy. I need you to be comfortable and honestly I'm not sure I'm even comfortable here. After everything that's happened, everything she's done and taken away from me, I feel like this house isn't home anymore. It never truly was to be honest. Not without you. Come on, let's go to your house. I'm sure Sue would love to hear about this."

"She's in Forks, her and Seth are visiting my dad."

"Ok, well we can still go there. It would be a lot more comfortable than staying here." Sam cringed. I guess living with the memories of them together is worse than me wondering about them. What she did was absolutely disgusting and I'm glad I'll never see her again. "Plus, Sue'll be home eventually."

"I agree. Let's go." Sam took my hand and it was like life was right again. We walked to my home like we had a thousand times before, except this time was different. After a few minutes, Sam stopped. "What's wrong?"

Sam reached for my other hand, still tightly holding onto my stolen necklace. He took the necklace and clasped it around my neck then smiled. "Nothing, anymore. I'm so sorry for everything Leelee. I wish I could have figured it out myself. I always felt different than Jared and now Jake and I never put two and two together. Bella… she saved our lives with this. How long can you go without your soul mate before you just can't go on any longer?"

"I know what you mean. I felt like I was crumbling and there weren't very many pieces still attached. Now I'm whole again. It's amazing and I feel so at peace. I didn't think it was possible to feel this way again, especially not as a wolf."

Sam took my cheeks between his hands and he smiled, for the first time in as long as I can remember, with his whole heart. His eyes just lit up like fireworks, there was so much happiness. Then he kissed me. HE KISSED ME! It was sweet and not over the top. Perfect for our first kiss back together. His lips fit perfectly against mine. He pulled away and I whimpered in displeasure which just made him laugh.

"I love you, with everything I have Leah. I need you to know that."

"I do. Of course I do. I guess some part of me always knew but there was that 'Imprint' making you not come back to me. That was probably the hardest part of all of this. You might think having you leave me for my cousin who I thought was my best friend would be the worst but at least I just thought you didn't love me anymore. But phasing and learning you did still love me but some mystical garbage was keeping you away? Hell on Earth. How could I move on when you still loved me? My thoughts, I kept them hidden but I've had some very dark thoughts this past week." I paused, unsure that I truly wanted to speak them out loud but it was Sam. I could tell Sam anything. "I wondered if… if something happened to her. If she died… would I then have a chance? How could I even think like that. It's horrible."

I put my head in my hands, hiding my face from him. He took them gently and made me look back. "You aren't the only one who had those thoughts, Leelee. I hated myself for it, for a very long time. Eventually I just realised I was in denial of the imprint and my future but I guess it was just my mind telling me something wasn't right. Don't let those thoughts affect you now. She's gone, we're together and we don't have to think of her again." I nodded and Sam dropped one of my hands and started walking, pulling me beside him.

While we walked to my house we talked about our relationship. We wouldn't pick up where we left it, we would start slow. Our relationship wasn't new but we were still young when it had ended, and even younger when it had begun. I was still a virgin even, I told Sam long ago that I wanted to wait until marriage and I was shocked when he agreed. I doubted that Sam still was though. Emily Fucking Young. I think Paul's bad language was rubbing off on me.

"Can I ask you a question?" I asked as we got to my front door.

"You can ask me anything, and I will answer." Sam seemed like he would give me the world if I wanted it, he felt so guilty. I could tell, just by looking at his eyes but he had no reason to. This was all on Emily.

"When you thought you imprinted on her, what went through your head?" I knew his answer could hurt me but I wanted a better understanding of Sam's life this past year. I unlocked the door and walked inside, waiting for his response.

Sam sighed a few times before finally answering. "I've been running this through my head so many times now. You sent me that text, asking me to come over for dinner and Emily was here. I saw her through the window. She…"

"Woah! Hold up! I never texted you when she was around. I hated her being around you because I could see she liked you. There was no way I would have sent that message. I… oh my God, the last time she was over, she asked me for my phone. Said she wanted to download a song for me to listen to. That bitch!" I couldn't believe she went as far as to try and get him to imprint right there in front of me. Was she trying to see the pain on my face?

"I… oh. When I got there she looked straight at me and smiled. I couldn't believe… I ran. I remembered the stories and I knew what happened. It was hard coming back from that. Knowing if I confronted her that things would change so I made an effort to avoid her. I went home and I slept and I made a mental note to apologize for not showing up. When I woke up the next morning, I opened my door and there she was, staring me in the face. 'Sam Uley' she said and it twisted my stomach when her voice made me happy, but not happy like you made me. Happy like a dog that just got told he was a good boy. It made my skin crawl. 'Leaving without desert is very rude' and she handed me a pie. Of course I was starving and she was my 'Imprint'. I couldn't say no and trust me I tried. The words refused to leave my thoughts. Next thing I knew she was cooking me breakfast and talking about her family. She said, 'Tell me all your secrets Sam.' And she knew everything about me starting the pack and 'Imprinting' on her. Her eyes lit up and she squealed like an annoying spoiled child at an amusement park. I was stuck. Anything I tried to say or do to push her away got stuck in my throat, except… I was her puppet."

"Except what, Sam?" My heart was pounding from learning what happened. My heart needed a break.

"I thought about you. All the time, and my mind wouldn't give you up. I remembered our promise to each other. I told her I was waiting for marriage and if I gave in, I would hate myself. She thought that meant we were getting married and of course that's when she started telling everyone we were engaged. I never agreed to that though but when trying to say that out loud…"

"It refused to come out." I finished for him. I was elated. Did this truly mean what I thought it meant? Was Sam still mine, wholly? "So you never…?"

"Not even close. No intimacy. Just kissing and even that made me feel like puking because all I could think about was how I betrayed you. The guys made fun of me for it but I used my alpha voice and they weren't allowed to think of it again in the pack mind and never allowed to talk about it. I especially made it clear that they keep all thoughts of me and Emily away while you and Seth were phased. It's made this past week almost bearable since Seth was phased the entire time. I should have realised it was more than guilt that was making me feel that way."

"There was no way you could have known. I mean, magic? Real magic." I shook my head in disbelief.

We decided to sit down and watch a movie together, something a normal couple would do to try to ease back into a state of comfort around each other. We may be imprinted but the last year's worth of pain and frustration was still there. Only time would tell how our relationship would progress.