Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on the Leah section from Outtakes - made it to canon!

Epilogue

Two weeks after discussing the threats facing the family, Carys returned to her house following a long weekend in California. The first of three trips already scheduled, it had given her a chance to talk to her mum in more detail about her engagement and upcoming wedding. Carlisle and Carys had decided to put all the humans involved on alert the week before that they would be married either in June or July, and would be sorting out a date within the next few weeks.

Having heard so much about him, and subsequently having spoken to him over the phone or online following their announcement, there were few who were shocked that they were keen to marry so quickly following his return. That being said, Carys thought those who had seen him before or during the announcement were far quicker to understand their wishes than some of those who hadn't.

It was as Carys' godmother pointed out, "When you have the means, these things can be arranged so quickly, can't they?" and, in regards to Carlisle's suitability as a spouse, "He does seem like a good man - taking in those children, doing what he did for his poor great aunt... Such a shame she couldn't be here to see it".

It was more due to Carlisle's quick thinking than Carys' keeping track of her original lies about his whereabouts that kept either of them in her godmother's good graces.

Unfortunately, as there was hardly enough information or notice to go on for many of her friends and family back home (and, for more of them, too much expense involved - with the exception of a few, who would be willing to take Carlisle's offer of paying their fare so long as they had time to sort out holiday dates), not very many of them would be able to attend. As such, Carys and Carlisle were going to visit London either before or after the wedding to see as many of them as they could.

Carys felt as if the only person she hadn't spoken to in the past couple of weeks was Leah. Neither she nor Seth were answering her sporadic calls, and Carys couldn't blame them. If she'd been right about Seth, he was now not simply the younger brother of her friend, but a wolf and, therefore, as unwilling to speak to her as Jacob Black was to Bella.

As for Leah, Seth and Sue as a group, they were dealing with so much already. Giving a friend a call back was probably the last thing on anyone's minds, and Carys didn't want to bother them more than she should. She was keeping a little up to date about them via Charlie and Monica, at least.

Carys closed the front door behind her, her shoulders drooping with the weight of her carry on and handbag. She was in a good mood after her time with her parents, though as most of it had been spent in full cahoots with her baby sister, she'd spent far less time with their parents than planned. Carys instead spent their time together facilitating each and every wish to play, watch children's television, sneak treats, and steal cuddles.

Their mum had complained about this when she left, threatening to let Shauna's grandparents take her for the weekend next time if Carys didn't promise to spend at least a day concentrating on the adults.

Carys had predictably blamed their mum completely for her behaviour.

Thanks to Amy and Findlay's nightly routine of singing the goodnight song with Shauna - in which Carys and her picture featured prominently - Shauna was now able to say Carys' name. It had had her wrapped around the eleven month old's finger. Well... She could say part of her name... Well... As she wasn't able to pronounce her Rs just yet, they were almost sure her new tendency to squeal "Wee Wee!" whenever she saw or lost sight of her older sister was her name, anyway.

Carys grinned at the thought of how exasperated Findlay had become when they'd realised - after one day and countless dry nappy checks - what Shauna meant.

Leaving her coat and bags by the door, Carys was halfway to the kitchen to grab a drink when someone began to knock, heavily and persistently, on the front door. She turned on her heel, crossed to the door, opened it, then drew it wider to allow in her guest.

Only, Leah didn't move. Standing in the doorway with a fierce look of determination on her face, she glowered, simmering with rage, tense and shivering. Carys could see why she was shivering, at least. Where Carys wore a long sleeved t-shirt, jeans, and a cardigan, Leah wore a sports bra and shorts.

"Leah?" Carys began, taking a step back and to the side, indicating she should come in. "What's-?"

"How long have you known?" Leah growled, the tremors having left her in the time it took Carys to speak. "How long?"

Carys gaped. "Um... About-?"

"You know what about. I know what about. Now tell me," she whispered through gritted teeth, eyes glittering. "How. Long. Have. You. Known?"

Taking a stab in the not so dark, Carys gulped. "About the treaty... Since Christmas, but it was the day before the funeral that I found out it-"

"Had happened again?"

"Yes."

"And that's why you were talking to Sam?"

"Yes, but if you kn-"

"Oh, I know all about it. I just wanted to see if you had the fucking balls to tell me to my face that you know what your boyfriend and his family did to me."

The look on her face; her anger; the shaking...

"You're... Oh my god... Leah..." Carys pressed the fingers of one hand to her mouth.

"What, you didn't think I could be one because I'm a woman? Join the fucking club."

"I-I was gonna say because the rest of them're so much taller. And dicks-"

Leah's glare intensified.

"I mean, they all seem to be dicks from what you've said, not that they all have dicks."

Leah eyed her in silence, then, just when Carys wondered if she was waiting for her to say something more, she took the invitation and stalked - prowled - into the house.

Leah sniffed the air. "Cullen's not been here for a while then?"

"No," Carys said, closing the door and leaning back against it.

She and Carlisle spent much of their time at the Cullen house, save when she took advantage of her own house for a night or two a week when he had night shifts, unless she was planning on going away for a few days. It made the transition into her new role, the transition back into the family, the constant attempts by each member to reconcile with her, easier to handle.

Even now, she wasn't planning to stay at her house for long. She had simply called for a pizza on her drive back from Port Angeles airport and doubted the delivery boy, Harry, would be able to find the Cullens' drive.

"But we're-"

Leah whirled. "Still together? Yeah, figured as much." She marched back towards Carys, stopping a couple of inches away, giving off the same heat Sam had the day of the funeral. "No wonder they hate you. Bella Swan's a kid; she doesn't know better. You? Hah! You sure fooled me. Here I was thinking you were my friend. What was it? A joke?"

Carys bristled. "How dare you," she growled right back. "I didn't know it was still happening, so don't you dare suggest our friendship was based on some ulterior motive! I don't love you because I was pretending to - you're one of my best friends, for god's sake."

Leah stared at her, looked her up and down, searched for any sign she was lying. Carys lifted her chin and pushed up onto her toes a little, just enough to put her slightly higher than eye level. She knew Leah wouldn't be able to find fault with a word of it.

Growling deep in her chest, Leah stormed across to the sofa, picked up a cushion, and, thrusting it to her face, muffled a scream of anger.

Carys jumped, her breath catching in her throat, heart thudding against her ribcage.

"I hate you," Leah announced when she was done, dropping the pillow. "I hate you. I hate Carlisle Cullen. I hate his family. I hate you! You ruined my life, and you don't even know much! We have to share a fucking mind when we're-we're-" She huffed, trying again as if something was stopping her from saying the word.

"Wolves?" Carys asked.

Leah clicked her fingers and nodded. "The tip of the fucking iceberg of humiliation. As if being naked in front of that bunch of-!"

"Naked!?" Carys cut in before she could stop herself, eyes wide.

Leah spared the wall a glance, and nodded. "Clothes don't exactly stretch that much, and it's not like it's easy to control myself when I'm around those assholes all the time."

"You mean...?"

"Oh, it's fine," said Leah, sarcasm dripping from every pore as she dismissed Carys with a wave of her arm, "Sam's had a word, and none of them looked at me like that anyway. Why would they? I'm just the hateful ex - so angry, I did the impossible. If I've ruined most of my stuff, it's because I can't control myself."

"You're the first woman to become a wolf?"

"That they know of, yeah."

"So... Wow..."

Striding across the room, Carys took Leah by the hand despite her protests, leading her upstairs. They both knew Leah could have stopped her at any point. They reached the bedroom, and she released her, ignoring her muttering - even when the parts she heard involved how she could kill her, snap her like a twig, with little to no effort - in favour of pulling the second drawer of her dresser open.

Carys hadn't been running since Carlisle had returned, so she grabbed those clothes first. He'd spent time in her bedroom, but he'd never rifled through her drawers before, so she doubted he'd suddenly made a habit of it.

"What're you doing?" Leah demanded from the doorway when Carys began checking items and stuffing them into the rucksack she sourced from beneath her bed, opening and closing other drawers. She realised. "I don't want your charity!"

"This isn't charity." Carys thrust a small pile of old t-shirts at Leah. "Vampire?"

Leah shook her head.

"It isn't charity," she went on, shoving the mass down to make space. "Say you wouldn't do the same for me if I'd said what you just did, and I'll stop."

Silence.

"Good. Now. We're not going near underwear 'cause that'd be weird for everyone involved, but socks?"

"Why? Fine. Yes. Now, why?"

"You can hate me all you want, but bugger it if I'm going to hear you're out there ripping your clothes off every five minutes and not giving you spares."

Leah hissed. "You think I can't afford clothes?"

Placing a hand on her hip, Carys straightened, still kneeling, turning away from the bottom drawer. "We're the same size, and if you're gonna shift and destroy them, d'you really care where they came from if it means you don't get caught out by those dicks?"

Floundering, Leah waited until she was done, taking the rucksack when it was dropped in her arms. "I'm not wearing these."

"Then keep them in case you change your mind."

"Do you even have anything left!?" snarled Leah.

"Do you?" countered Carys.

Leah glared, shouldering the bag, turning to storm, heavy footed, back downstairs. Another knock at the door stopped her in her tracks, and she waited for Carys to answer it.

Grabbing her purse, Carys paid for the pizza, closed the door, threw her purse onto her bag, and lifted the box in Leah's direction.

She passed her, grabbing the box on the way out the door, with a, "Our friendship is over."

"See you soon!" Carys called after her. "Love you."

Leah didn't so much as turn her head. "No you won't!" she yelled back, flipping Carys her middle finger over her retreating shoulder.

Carys closed the door, leaned against it again, and slid to the floor with a huff, dropping her head, gripping her ponytail. She sat there for a while - thinking about how she'd only meant for her to take a couple of slices - then sighed, fished her phone from her pocket, and called for a replacement pizza.

Hanging up after placing her order, she grimaced and dialled again.

Esme answered after the second ring. "Carys?"

"So... You know you wanted a shopping trip...? Well, I may be in need of pretty much all the basics..." Adopting a coaxing tone, she added, "We could even look at wedding dresses before Alice tries to get her claws in me again?"

A/N: Bye bye New Moon! I wish I could say it's been fun, but I'd be lying! I've just realised the prologue and epilogue for this one are kind of echoes of the book ones? Started with running and ended with a wolf? Anyway...

I reckon I'm only going to take a couple of days to work out the next book this time. I already know a lot of what's going to happen to Carys - good and bad. P.s. this chapter was set before Jacob went to remind Edward about the treaty.

Thanks to - nazarova. sofka, chibi- no- baka, BMBMDooDoo- Doo- Doo- Doo (it's coming up in Eclipse!), Ella (Carlisle really said: psychological warfare! Bella's ultimatum is another part of canon that I got so annoyed with I had to add haha! Really looking forward to you reading what I've got in store for Eclipse and beyond! So much is going to happen if all goes well!), Sting3, derniermom, famawoo, Lovelykiller45, souverian, Your Fan (oh my goodness, thank you! Also, please tell me all went well with the chemistry test?), and Love. Fiction. 2020 for your reviews!