"Cause peace and love ain't so far if we nurse our wounds before they scar."

-Alicia Keys, Holy War

Wars, Wolves and Cherry Blossoms

There were no stray thoughts this time. No power struggles. Only a single-minded determination to annihilate and to destroy, rip apart the monsters from Seattle threatening the ones they loved. For Sue Clearwater pacing in her living room, for the Kim and Emily waiting at Neah Bay headquarters. For Claire Young and Billy Black, Chief Swan and Tiffany Young – the wolves howled, paws beating against the ground, the silence of Sunday morning broken with threats of low, reverberating growls. Like a hundred fraught muscles with one head calling the shots, they pounced. All thinking and breathing as one.

The sickly-sweet fragrance of burnt honey and rotting flesh filled the clearing as ten – no, eleven leeches sprinted towards the wolves, bloody eyed and teeth-bared as they charged. The pack met them head on, obliterating each leech with the unforgiving retribution of jury and judge. There would be no survivors tonight. Not one.

The Alpha and his Third took the brunt of the oncoming attack. Quil Ateara kept the new recruits in check. Leah, fastest and most cunning of the wolves, snaked ahead as a distraction while Embry and Jared obliterated those she left behind. This was what they were made for. Pack.

It was easier to focus with Seth away, hidden deep in the icy mountains with Isabella Swan and her bloodsucker Cullen. For the first time since her first phase, Leah was working with her brothers, and not against them. With a flip in the air the she-wolf took a blood-crazed leech down on her own, her teeth ripping through the demon with a crunching sound. It was the first kill of the day.

'Nice move Leah!' Bella's leech said to Seth through the mind link. The she-wolf couldn't help but smirk.

smells horrible like-

Quil, three 'o clock.

Embry, behind you-

Got it.

Kill. Every. Single. One. Jacob's entry into the battle was seamless, his kills ruthless and swift. Baby Chief might have rejected the Alpha title, but his precision and skill remained undisputed. No doubt he was the strongest wolf in the pack. Even Paul and Embry, fearsome warriors in their own right, were startled by his power and strength as he ripped through two bloodsuckers in one breath. His heart was roaring like a lion, and his blood boiled as his head swirled with images of Isabella Swan.

Isabella fucking Swan.

Suddenly, Isabella's freezing fingers were curling into Leah Clearwater's short hair. Her wrists wrapped around Paul's neck while Quil's burning hands dug into her waist. Jared's heart sped as Embry's tongue swirled across Isabella's lips, kissing her.

Bells, they all sighed in unison. I love you.

Ew, Leah grimaced. I'm gonna relive that kiss in my nightmares for days.

Hot. Paul said.

That girl will be the death of us, Sam whispered.

No one disagreed. Jacob had been so blinded by his love that he refused to see what was right in front of him. Isabella had agreed to marrying that thing. That thing! Isabella's inevitable death was going to crush him.

Paul flew into a tree just as Embry yanked a leech off of Quil and Leah turned just in the nick of time to catch the parasite taunting Jared. Her mouth gripped at its neck, and Jared snapped off its legs as it hissed. The cubs were stayed out of most of the action, tossing the leeches' shredded limbs into the fire burning in the center of the clearing while dozens of severed body parts crawled in all directions across the field.

When what was left of the enemy's army realized they were outmatched, they scattered.

Don't let a single one escape! Sam ordered, his vision blurred red with hatred.

And that was when it happened.

Leah gasped when Seth heard it, and her blood went cold.

'Seth go!' Isabella's bloodsucker ordered, and the she-wolf could do nothing but watch as her brother ran into the forest to battle a leech. Alone.

Seth no! She thundered, sprinting in his direction.

Leah stay. The Alpha ordered, while Leah's woman fell apart.

Sam please, please!

Do your duty. We will help him.

Though Leah could barely make out left from right anymore, she could tell that Sam had told her the truth. Her brothers were guiding Seth, telling him what to do, sending him their strength through the psychic link. But it wasn't the same as being there with him, fighting with him, shielding him from the worst of it. She had promised on her father's memory that she would protect him. Her baby brother was only fifteen years old for crying out loud! He was just a kid. Why was he being expected to kill?

She would never forgive Sam for this.

She lunged for the first leech she saw, furious. It was one of the small ones, it had barely been older than fourteen when it had been turned. Forgetting everything she had been told, forgetting all of soldier leech's warnings about going for the easy kill, she lunged.

'Leah, no!' She heard Edward Cullen yell.

Leah! Jacob roared.

She felt cold arms wrap right right around her body and knew instantly that she would be killed.

Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting crunch, and a deafening cream of agony rang loud throughout the field. Every wolf winced at the sound, staring in horror as Leah Clearwater flew across ground. She didn't understand what was happening, one moment she was sure she was dead and the next her body was tumbling, twisting painfully twisting across the clearing. Someone was yelling. Leah could smell the blood. But it was not her own.

The grey wolf jumped onto its legs, her blue eyes trailing across the clearing to where her body should have been.

Help him! Sam do something!

Jacob?

Jake! JAKE!

Curled up on the floor, coughing up blood and writhing in excruciating pain, was Jacob Black. Embry and Quil were already there, muttering words of comfort to the boy while Sam yelled orders at the other wolves to stay focused, a vain effort at keeping the others calm. Jared and Paul were still tearing up the leeches left, but Brady and Colin had frozen in shock just like Leah.

Leah Clearwater couldn't move.

The elders of the Tribal council spoke often about the honour and pride of being a Protector. To them, being a shapeshifter was a gift from the Creator. According to them, these boys ( and girl) had been privileged in a way that others had not been. They had been chosen. They had been blessed. They were not simple teenagers who would live an ordinary and forgettable life. They soared like the gods.

Leah knew better than that bullshit.

Leah knew that while cuffed by blood and duty to the protection of their small tribe, the monstrously sized pack members of Sam Uley's pack were terrified, insecure adolescents who would have much preferred simpler life. This world, this world of demons and leeches and wolves was frightening. It was heartbreak and death and never-ending drama. It was slavery and rage and losing everything that made you who you were. The sunny boy before her in particular, had lost almost as much as she had.

She didn't know why she had snuck into his bedroom. If Jacob opened his eyes and saw her there she knew he would not even let her utter the words she wanted to say. Jacob was too pure, too self-sacrificing and honest, for his own good. But even so, she knew he had always disliked her. Despised her. They fought more than anyone else in Sam's cult did.

So why had he done it?

If she was being honest with herself, Leah would admit that she wanted to hate Jacob Black. She wanted to hate him almost as much as she hated Bella, and she hated Bella about as much as she hated Sam. Jacob knew this. And maybe, maybe Jacob hated her too. Maybe he hated her because she was a constant reminder of what was going to happen to him. Isabella fucking Swan had already come to finish him off. The wolves had all heard what the girl had had to say to him when she'd come into this very room to finish off his heart. He'd loved her. He'd been willing to die for her. To save her life. And she'd played with him before leaving him for out for dead in the worst possible way. She had betrayed him for the one person that would hurt him most. And she didn't even have an Imprint to blame.

Bella was worse than Sam.

Leah watched the boy as though seeing him for the first time. He looked so peaceful as he slept, happy. But that was probably the morphine. Running her fingers into Jacob's too-long hair, she felt her face give way to a softness she hadn't felt in far too long. A foreign sense of gratitude and care. Something she didn't feel unless she was looking at Seth.

'No more growing out your hair for leech lovers kid.' she said. 'They don't deserve it.'

No that wasn't right. That wasn't what she'd come here to say. Had her heart hardened so much?

Leah sighed as she listened to the only sounds most human's would not hear. Jacob's heart, clear and strong. Billy Black's light breathing, all the way in the other room. Even the sounds of the crashing waves from the ocean. There was a burn building in her throat. One she'd learned a long time ago to ignore.

'Thank you Jacob.' Leah said softly. She would never say it again.

Blame it on Jacob Black. Leah would. She told herself that her recent softening was all Baby Chief's fault. Because of Jacob Black her infamous nerves of steel were fraying as she walked towards the pretty white house at the end of the road. Because of him she was noticing the simple beauty of the many pink cherry blossoms gracing the path towards her destination. Because of Baby Chief she was out to make amends she wouldn't usually care to make, with someone who hated her about as much as everyone else did.

Leah lifted her hand to the blue door and took a deep breath. But before she could knock she was interrupted by the sound of Tiffany Call's voice.

'Motorcycling accident my ass! Where were you Sunday morning?'

'I already told you-'

'You already lied.' Tiffany yelled. 'Do you really think I don't know that he's a part of this too? You were with Jake Embry, admit it! Just admit that you're selling drugs.'

'Jacob and I aren't selling drugs! We were -'

'I know, I know. You were out playing video games with Quil. Like you have been for the last six months. That's how you suddenly bulked up like the hulk. Playing video games. The only problem with that statement is that I called his house Embry. I called and no one answered! Just admit it. Admit that you're selling drugs with Joshua Uley's son. Admit that you and Jacob-'

A sudden bang. 'I'm not doing fucking drugs!'

A loud slap. 'Don't you ever talk to me that way. Is that what Sam's been teaching you? Is that what you're off doing every night, threatening-'

Quick footsteps headed down the stairs, and Leah panicked when she realized she'd be caught eavesdropping on the very juicy but also heartbreaking argument. 'I can't do this right now,' Embry said as he flung the door open.

'When can you?' Tiffany followed. 'Seeing as I have to schedule conversations with my own son these days!'

The 6''5 boy all but flew out of the house, stumbling into the she-wolf.

With a yelp the young woman felt herself fall, only to be caught just in the nick of time by the younger boy. Or was it man? Embry wasn't much younger than she was. He didn't look it either. His eyes, deep hazel with flecks of forest in them, darkened as they held hers. Shuffling out of his grasp, Leah's hands brushed the skin of his arm.

He burned to the touch.

'Leah?'

She knew what she was supposed to say. Like some kind of idiot she had rehearsed for this scripted scene in front of her mirror. Only now, faced with Embry Call's hard face and his intimidatingly tall form, she could not will her mouth and tongue to form the sentences.

'What are you doing here?' he asked, the words swift and cold as ice. Nervously, Leah took in his clenched fists and the black Led Zeppelin T-shirt he was wearing before she braved another glance at the hazel eyes staring intently into hers. He was watching her too, his eyes full of wariness and confusion. She bit her lower lip in panic.

'You're still here?' Tiffany shouted. 'I would have thought you'd be halfway to the mafia's regular meeting spot by-' The older woman stopped suddenly, her face flushing. 'Oh – Leah… I didn't see you.'

'Hello, Ms. Call.' The she-wolf said absently, intensely aware that Embry was still staring at her. Ignoring the furious pounding in her chest, she lifted her chin and faced the man without fear. 'I wanted to say thank you. For the other day. Sunday. Thank you for helping out with Seth. It hasn't been easy for him with everything that's happened since… dad, and I just wanted to say that you being around him so much these last few months has really helped… So thank you.' She breathed deeply, calming her heart so she could say the next words as sincerely as possible. 'And for everything I've said… I'm sorry.'

Leah broke away from his burning eyes, forcing herself to glance casually to where his mother was watching the exchange curiously. 'Mom will be expecting me anytime now so I should probably be getting back. Goodbye Embry. Goodbye Ms. Call.'

'Goodbye.' The older woman said, not even attempting to hide her shock. With a small nod Leah turned away from the Call residence. But It was a long time before she felt the full force of Embry's darkened eyes turn away from her.