'Let's get screwed. I don't care. You fucked the world up now, we'll fuck it all back down.'

-Janelle Monáe and Zöe Kravitz, Screwed

Hunt

Curls in the hair, black leather dress, red heels, bare back. Full lips a deep ruby red. Leah hadn't done this sort of thing in… well, ever. But that was fine. Maybe it was time for her to try something different. Throw yourself out there! That's what Julie had said. So for once she was going to try and enjoy herself.

She marveled at the young woman in the mirror. Nope. That was not Harry Clearwater's sweet little girl staring back at her. It wasn't quite Seth and Sue's Lee either, or Sam's pathetic little Leelee. The grown woman staring back at her was an absolute powerhouse, a badass. An Alpha wolf bitch.

'Holy shit!' Julie gasped after storming into Leah's bedroom like she owned the place. 'What the fuck Lee?'

The she-wolf smiled naughtily as she dropped a single lash in an alluring wink. 'Not so bad yourself sweetness.'

Julie grinned. Costumed in a tailored black suit and embellished with silver trimmings to compliment the piercings, Julie looked absolutely ravishing. Hearts were going to break tonight. Badly.

Leah turned back to the dark, sexy woman in the mirror. 'I. Am wearing. The dress.'

'Yes you are bitch.' Julie agreed. 'I am going to destroy every plaid shirt in your closet Leah.' Julie said sternly. 'I can't believe you've been hiding all of this.' Her hands gestured over her friend.

Leah wasn't exactly sure why the breathtaking view in the mirror was making her feel so nervous. Sure it wasn't like her to wear dresses, but there wasn't supposed to be anything strange about dressing up for a night out on the town with her best friends. But something about looking this way made her feel like she was going down the rabbit hole and into a whole other universe. She realized with a frown that this was her first time dressing up for someone who wasn't her ex.

'Nope.' Julie said, anticipated her best friend's trepidation. 'None of that! One thing we are not going to do tonight is doubt ourselves, or think about sad things. And we are definitely not going to spend the rest of our lives fearing change either, are we ladybird?'

Leah sighed. How did her friend always manage to see through her so easily?

Julie was right. It was time for new experiences, no matter how different they were from what she had always imagined for herself. Leah was finally ready to embrace joyful moments again, moments that didn't include her Imprinted, unavailable, marrying-her-sister ex-boyfriend. Long gone were the days the she-wolf had dressed up for dates with Sam. These days, she was dressing up for herself. She realized that after a year of feeling cheated, rejected and unwanted she was ready to reclaim herself and take a chance on living life bravely again. She was not going to be the pathetic little Lee-lee Sam and his dim-witted lackeys were always expecting her to be, not anymore. She was ready to become the young hurricane Kaheleha was always talking about in her dreams. She was a wolf now, a Protector. The only wolf besides Seth with three royal lineages in her blood. It was time she started acting like it.

Leah turned to her best friend, her heart beating fiercely. 'Let's do this, yeah?'

It wasn't really a question.

Ring!

Both women ignored the telephone while Leah devoured two giant beef Burgers like the starving beast of the wild that she was.

Julie shook her head in astonishment. How her friend managed to eat that way and still look chiseled and toned like a Greek goddess statue, she had no idea. She nodded towards the noisy telephone. 'You gonna get that? Or are you just gonna munch it down too while we miss Kings of Leon?'

Leah walked across the room and lifted the receiver before slamming it back down again. Unanswered. Blocked. Forever if possible. She eagerly returned to the kitchen so she could munch whatever remained of her meal, not looking very lady-like at all as she searched for stray pickles. When she caught Julie's face she blushed in embarrassment. 'Just don't wanna get to the concert hungry and then spend my entire paycheck on overpriced food, you know what I mean?'

Julie didn't. But she said nothing in response.

Ring! Ring!

The rainbow-colored woman narrowed her eyes. 'Remind me again why the engaged ex keeps blowing up your telephone if he's so madly in love with your cousin.'

Leah growled in response, only half-caring that the inhuman sound unnerved her nosey friend.

It really was pure luck that she hadn't phased much in the last two days, because her temper was at its worst. A painful truth had become glaringly obvious when Jacob had left Forks and Sam had done nothing but offer the boy his encouragement. Little Jakey could run away to Canada and spit on his Alpha birthright all he liked and no one would bat an eyelash but she couldn't take some time off to grieve the death of her father and the loss of her first love to an Imprint without everyone on the Tribal Council having something to say about it. And all because the Alpha and The Tribal Council were misogynists. Sam, Old Quil and Billy Black were all the same. They all condemned her for shirking her supposed responsibilities but none of them were willing to address the issue of Embry's parentage. They made her sick.

Not that it was any of her business what went on with Embry Call at all, Leah reminded herself.

For far too long the she-wolf had consoled herself with the idea that Sam kept her close because he still loved her. And maybe that was partly true, but that wasn't all of it, and now that Sam had proved that he was capable of understanding human pain, of understanding why a wolf might need some time away to stitch themselves back together after heartache, she hated Sam for refusing to give her her freedom. Losing Isabella was destroying Jacob, much like being forced to hang around Sam all the time was destroying her. And yet the Alpha couldn't get it through his thick skull that she needed some time alone to heal. She hadn't enjoyed a day of her self-imposed holiday without a headache. And deep down inside she knew it was because he still thought she belonged with him. That she was his wolf. His Leelee.

As if.

Ring!

'You should probably get that.' Seth jumped down the last three stairs with fluid grace, wearing a plain white T-shirt for once as well as some faded jeans. He took one look at Leah and Julie before whistling. 'Huba huba!'

Leah noticed the easy confidence that had found a home in his body since he'd defeated the leech on his own. Making his way to her side, Seth snatched a pickle from her plate and tossed it into his mouth. 'Where are you two off to?'

'Girl's night!' Julie grinned. 'Kings of Leon are having a concert in Seattle.'

Ring! Ring! Ring!

All three heads turned sharply to the phone and Seth grimaced. 'You really should get that. Sam's been really mad.'

'Why?' Leah and Julie snapped at the same time.

'Eh…' The boy turned a bright shade of pink. 'Embry's doesn't exactly have the cleanest mind.'

While Julie looked absolutely thrown by his answer, Leah only frowned, wondering what on earth Embry's thoughts had to do with anything. 'I've said everything I have to say to Sam. He should respect my wishes.'

Ring!

'Okay, enough!' Julie crossed the room and picked up the telephone, spitting. 'If she wanted to talk to you she'd be talking to you Uley.' Julie paused as she listened to whatever he had to say, but she cut him off after just a few words. 'First of all Leah doesn't owe anyone, least of all you, shit. Secondly you've got some nerve you plebe. I'm sure your ex-girlfriend understands her own responsibilities just fine, so maybe you should mind your damn business and go find Emily. Your fiancé, remember her? You cheating dick. Now stop blowing up Leah's telephone like a damn sixteen year old! She's not interested in anything you or anything your damn cult has to offer her!'

Julie slammed the phone down vehemently, her chest heaving with the strength of her anger. 'What a jerk!'

Leah and Seth watched her for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Leah was rude and bitchy, but Julie was the real firework.

Seth turned to Leah slowly, hesitantly. 'You... you really should get back to it at some point though Lee. I miss you. Sometime soon, please?'

In spite her brothers playful exterior, Leah could see how difficult it was for him to ask her for this. Even though his body was worn down with the effort of keeping it together she knew he was exhausted. And Seth barely asked her for anything, it only made it harder to say no to him. She sighed. 'Give me tonight first okay?'

Nodding, Seth shot her a brilliant smile before heading towards the front door. 'Have fun!'

'Yeah yeah,' Leah grinned, before turning back to find Julie watching her carefully. Her best friend's eyes were dark and wary. It made Leah think of Embry. 'What?'

'What aren't you telling me Leah?'

Leah shook her head. She didn't want to think about Sam and his wolf and his Imprint and her pain. She yelled over her shoulder as she headed for the door after Seth. 'Come on Jules! I won't forgive you if we miss Sex on Fire.'

Grumbling, Julie grabbed her bag before following her friend.

Julie and her younger sister Sarah were still drunkenly belting Consumed with what's to transpire when Leah dragged them both into the bar. Really was too bad that she couldn't get wasted, but that didn't seem to matter so much. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun, even if she was staving off the most vengeful phase Sam had ever tried to force on her. Even if her blood was boiling and her head throbbing with pain.

It seemed the girls had brought the party back with them. Leah settled in with the strongest whiskey she could find while strangers stopped at their table to offer them drinks, names, attention and other less innocent things. Things Leah hadn't thought about in… had it really been eleven months?

Sarah was shy but as usually Julie was basking in all the attention. Girlfriend aside, Julie flirted as easily here as she had with Billy Black back in her mother's kitchen. She must have introduced at least half a dozen guys to Leah that night, but Leah wasn't watching them. Leah was watching him.

The tall, curly-haired man shaking martini's behind the bar hadn't taken his eyes off of her all night, biting his lower lip like he had been doing it for years and tossing his ginger hair back like he knew she was watching him too. Everything about him invited her in. His face, his hands, even his intense burning eyes. As if he needed any of that. He looked like trouble, really hot trouble. He wouldn't ask her for her number and he wouldn't remember her name. Which was just what she wanted.

Leah made her way to the bar, her wolf stirring for its hunt. 'I'll have two more of these.'

The man failed to hide his surprise at her boldness. 'You sure. That's some pretty hard stuff.' He shot her a quick, dirty smile. 'It's really rough.'

When she didn't answer her he looked over her in a way that uncurled raw lust in the pit of her stomach. The bartender poured two drinks out for her, sliding them towards her across the table. She downed them one after the other, barely caring that her head was swirling. 'I can handle strong.' She said, licking her lips. 'And I prefer it a little rough, actually.'

The man leaned over the counter, until she could feel his breath on her face. 'That makes two.'

Leah dropped those feather duster lashes of hers like she knew he wanted her to. He had been such easy prey for her hunt.

Nate, Brandon or whatever-the-hell-his-name-was threw Leah against the wall as his foot kicked the door to his apartment shut. Shrugging off his leather jacket, the man's lips found the she-wolf's neck, his hands curling around her waist as he pressed himself hard against her body, trapping her. His scent was cigarette smoke and dark musk, loneliness and other women, but Leah didn't care. She only cared that those lips were hard and demanding on hers, his body hungry and hard.

Almost angrily, she ripped at his shirt, her hands moving frantically to yank it over his head, and Leah hissed as his mouth found the tip of her breast, Her hands curled into his hair as passion rippled through her, blinded her with pleasure. She tilted her head back on a moan, shuddering as the bartenders calloused hands searched under the leather dress, fingers playing over the soft lace and the heat pooling underneath that. It had been so, so long since she'd felt wanted like this. Since anyone had touched her so fervently, and she hadn't realized until then just how much she needed it.

Wolves needed touch. And she had gone without touch for far too long.

But it was more than that. She needed this, so that she could forget about that other guy.

Leah could feel the desperation in the man pressing her against the wall and pulling at her lacey underwear, and she knew it was not so different from her own. He was running too, running from a lost lover or a broken heart or from someone else, just like she was. She was using him, but he was using her too. Maybe that was what broken people did. Maybe they used strangers from strange bars to forget their heartache and loneliness. And maybe, just maybe, it could be worth it if it meant getting the past's invisible brand off of your body.

Jason's flipped her, and Leah gasped as his tongue rolled up her back. Roughly, he fisted his hands into her hair, yanking her head to the side so his teeth could claim her neck. Leah instantly felt delicious pleasure shoot through her loins and cried when his fingers eagerly reached under her dress again, this time pushing into her with angry desire.

'Come for me.' he said, his hands coaxing a soft sigh from her.

'Harder,' Leah ordered, needing more. Needing more strength, more friction, more... more something. Maybe needing the kind of strength a human didn't have. But the bartender still felt good. It wasn't hard to tell that he had far more practice under his belt at this than she did.

It should have made her more comfortable. The last thing she needed was a virgin, but all it did was remind her that he didn't belong to her. Not like someone else once had. Leah growled, more at herself than at the bartender, and she pushed him away with a loud slap.

'I said harder.' Brandon's eyes widened quickly in surprised as Leah pushed him onto a nearby chair. 'Beg.' she commanded.

'No.' He smirked, and Leah couldn't help but smile playfully as she eased herself onto him, rather enjoying the race in his heart as his human instincts finally registered the threat of her wolf. Still, Justin's hands were eager to unzip the back of her leather dress. He grabbed her ass, pressing her harder against his length. Leah slapped him again, forcing herself to ignore the tears threatening this time. She wasn't quite sure why she suddenly felt the urge to cry, but she ignore it either way. She wanted him, wanted this. And more than that, she was driven by the urge to dominate him, to break him, so that she wouldn't feel any urge to be here another time. So that she wouldn't return.

She'd never let herself feel the desire to return to another man, never again.

She pushed his hands away, slapping him again. 'I. Said. Beg.'

The man smirked at that, 'Pretty please.' He said, peppering hungry kisses down her long neck. 'pretty, pretty please.'

The she-wolf grabbed the man's face in her hands, smothering his mouth with hers as his hands trailed frantically down her back. Her fingers dug into his skin, leaving marks, rousing him even harder -

Ring!

Jonathan pulled away, frowning. 'Everything okay?'

'Shut up and please me.' Leah breathed.

And so Nathaniel picked her up and carried her into his bedroom. His sheets were fine red silk and cold against her brown skin. Jonathan's lips found hers again before he-

'Leah? What's happeni-'

'Just fucking kiss me.' She said again, angry with both him and herself. But angriest with that damn prick called Sam. The she-wolf wrapped her legs even tighter around him, rubbing sensuously against him while her body shook hard underneath his. The bartender frowned, pulling away from her. 'Look we don't have to do this.'

'Yes we do.' She said, as her breathing got harder to do.

Ring!

The telephone wasn't helping. The shivers were so hard now, all across her spine. She'd never had to fight a phase this hard.

'See, you're saying yes but your body's saying no.' The man said, this time laying a hand on Leah's thigh to restrain her so he could look into her eyes with no distractions. 'I'm not such a piece of shit that I'll be able to do this if you're not consenting to it Leah. Really, if you've changed your mind about this, you can leave.'

'I want this-' Leah growled.

Ring!

That fucking bastard!

Leah pushed Nathan off of her so hard that he flew off the bed. She ran, dragging her dress up her body as she made off for the front door. Two doors, five steps, three streetlamps. She ran past them faster than she'd ever run in her human life.

Ohh La la. Sorry to interrupt! Leah could already hear Jared's thoughts merging with her own as she ran half-naked through the streets of Seattle. She lunged into the shadows, cursing loudly as she ripped slowly through her new black leather dress. So glad you could finally join us.

Glad? Speak for yourself. Paul sneered. Fucking patrol every fucking day because of the inconsiderate bitch.

Jacob was feeding. Raw flesh. Leah fought the urge to vomit.

Get here! NOW! Sam's order crashed loud over everyone else's voices, a furious ring in his words. His thoughts were a mess against hers.

Leah remembered the bartender's lips on hers and her stomach flipped. She couldn't fight off the images before the others saw.

Oh no, oh no. I don't want to see this. I don't want to see this. Seth cried.

You're not the only one denied special moments because of your duties. Get here now! Jared growled, missing Kim. Leah didn't care! He always had Kim. In fact, she'd suffered his horny thoughts about the teenage girl far more than any of them had suffered her thoughts about Sam. She'd asked for one night – one night! - so that she could wear a black dress and dance for once instead of worrying about the safety of their imprints. One night to finally forget the scent and feel of the only man she had ever been with. All she had to thank them for were her headaches.

You look hot Lee, Colin said before breaking out into song. Let's talk about sex baby! Let's talk about you and me.

Shut up! Seth growled. That's my sister!

Honestly I'd much rather have her moping after Sam again than to have to endure this dodgy BDSM bullshit. Paul growled. Still stuck on an image of her slapping Nathan before straddling him.

Embry was conspicuously quiet.

MINE! MINE! MINE! Sam was still roaring. The other wolves fell silent.

Get your ass back here Leah. Jared ordered. It's headed in your direction.

Colin was still singing. Seth was still fuming. Embry was still being quiet. Jacob was still feeding. Jared was bothered because Quil was too freaked to leave Claire alone after what she'd seen, and Leah felt the wave of rage from Sam at Jared's thought, his hurt crushing her.

Mine! Kill it! Kill it! Emily. Emily! EMILY! Sam was a mess, his head a whirling string of malicious syllables though he was making no sense. And then Leah saw and her blood went cold.

Bloodsucker. Pale yellow hair and eyes dark as midnight. before Sam's red vision came into focus for a split second, and she saw his memory as if it were her own:

Emily lying on her kitchen floor. That disgusting thing feeding on her cousin and Sam lunging at the sight. All the blood. So much blood. Somehow, the leech had snuck past the exhausted wolves and hunted what no other vampire would ever attempt to hunt. An Imprint. It had purposefully hunted for a wolf's Imprint. For the Alpha's Imprint. Her cousin.

KILL IT! The Alpha roared. When she saw it, Leah didn't hesitate to attack.