"Let's count the ways we could make this last forever."

-Janelle Monae

Chief

"So…you believe in an afterlife?"

Rather than answer, Leah shot the young man a long look. "Don't you?"

Embry considered her question for a moment, and she watched as his eyes grew cloudy. "No, I don't think so. I'm guessing you do though."

She paused, absently curling a stray hair into submission before tucking it behind her ear. When she lifted her right foot to her and started stretching out the calf muscles tense from their three-hour hike, he took some time to admire the sight. "Why so?"

"Well," he pushed her lightly, grinning as she stumbled out of balance and glared at him. "If the fact that you see our most handsome, virile and celebrated warriors in your dreams every night is any indication…"

"-I wouldn't phrase it quite like that-"

"I'd say you've had a personal encounter with it."

She regarded him for a moment, her eyes growing dangerously dark as they raked over the creamy skin of his chest not covered by his green tank top. His breathing hitched, a faint blush working its way up his neck at her evaluation, and Leah's hand lifted to his chest, her skin grazing softly against his as she set him aflame. "Sounds like you've spent a lot of time wondering about how much I think about handsome, virile, celebrated warriors…"

But before her hand dipped into his shirt, he grabbed her wrist. "Nope."

"You're such a tease," Leah teased, and he smirked. As though to show her just how much of a tease he could be, he traced soft, languid kisses across her collarbone, but pulled away when he felt her melt and shudder against him. When her eyes searched his, he found so much hope and possibility there it took his breath away. He could have an eternity with her, love and learn her for an age, and it still wouldn't be enough for him.

"You'll be the death of me, Leah Clearwater." His voice sounding wistful and foreign to him. He forced himself to step away from her. Forced himself to breath. "Jake won't let us patrol together if we keep forgetting ourselves in the forest like this."

"Jake trusts us implicitly. He's not the problem."

"No, he's not." He thought about Sue. About Billy and Quil and the packs and how it seemed everyone except Seth and Tiffany had already set themselves against the idea of them together. No one said it outright, but he could see it in the way Sam's pack looked at them, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Lying in wait for the day the seemingly inevitable imprint came, and he broke her heart. But that day would never come, he and Leah knew it in their hearts. "Though you mother would probably get an earful and then publicly grill my balls if Jared, or god-forbid Paul, ever came across our scent in the forest."

Leah looked at him, "did anyone say something to you? About us?"

Embry snickered, "Oh please, only every Imprinted wolf who ever lived. And how about you? No, no, let me guess…" he paused. "Sue."

"My mother is nothing if not predictable." On impulse, she stood onto her toes, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. "Not that it matters." She finally said with a gracious sense of acceptance. "Embry, we don't need anyone's permission. It's none of their business how or who we love. But for what it's worth, I really do think my mother likes you. It's just… weird for her. I've changed so much and so quickly that she doesn't really know how to make sense of me anymore. Or how to make sense of any of this at all. Everything that used to make me me is gone and in its place is a loud, angry werewolf that she must accept. And now I have an even weirder werewolf boyfriend with a temper problem."

Embry stopped. "I do not have a temper problem."

"I heard about what you did to Old Quil's television set and stereo. Really, Call?"

"Hey, Paul was asking for it! And anyways, I'm working it off."

"I heard," she laughed.

"I'll be mowing his lawn and cleaning his shed every damn Saturday for the rest of the year."

"Could have been worse." She smirked. "I'd have made it two years."

"Oh is that so?"

Leah nodded emphatically, "That is most certainly so."

"Okay," Embry said darkly, and then he closed the distance between them, dipping to let his hands find the back of her thigh. Leah's scream pierced the darkness, horror and mirth both pouring out of her mouth. The sounds of her indignation reverberated across the forest. "Embry, you put me down!"

"Oh, shut it Clearwater!" He laughed.

"Well?" Dark, wavy tendrils of smoke seemed coiled out over the surface of the water, and the smell of rich, lurid smoke polluted the air.

It was… uncomfortable. Not the sort of thing Old Ones like him liked to endure. The scent of his kind, torn apart by beasts and left to char, filled this place of dead lilies, and his instincts screamed at him to flee.

Only she was here. This was the meeting place between her world and his.

How many foolish men had died here? He wondered. How many Old Ones? Surely not too many had been foolish enough to become so deeply indebted to a powerful witch. But then again, who knew, power could be so irresistible. Like blood. Once you had a taste for it, the need for more consumed.

"Old One… you've finally returned. How much time you have had to keep your end of our bargain… now what have you for me in return?"

"All the blood and revenge you could ever want."

She laughed at him, truly laughed and he gazed up at the ghost of a wicked woman long dead. She was old and decayed, even in spirit form. "Where?" she hissed. "Tututsi's descendants still live, Chenita's descendants live! You have failed me for too long! You feed and feast on blood, driven by ancient power I have given you, and what do I have? What mercy is there for a woman who's only crime was loving her daughter?"

She had committed far worse crimes over the many centuries he had known her, but he said nothing of the sort.

"My sisters and I gave you Immortality." She continued, crossing the waters to meet with him at the edge. He noticed the way the moon reflected at its edges, it's violent red light one of the only reasons they could converse as though she were truly there. "And even more, I gave you speed and strength beyond others of your kind. What use are you to me if you cannot kill a few, measly humans?"

The Old One growled, his crimson eyes flashing "Need I remind you Daka, that you failed to mention the wolves on your land."

"They did not exist in my time, and have nothing to do with our-"

"And what about the girl who reeks of the same, foul power you do? She reeks of your blood, yet she stands in your way!"

It was her sudden gasp that made him pause. Daka's giant eyes had gone wide at his words, the coils of smoke retreating slightly back to the waters, as though afraid to touch something at the edge, "What did you say?"

He moved forward slowly. "Do you want to know why I have not killed all your husband's offspring yet? They have filled this land and used you magics to bind themselves to the wolves. I kill one, and three more are born. Stronger than the ones before, breeding like vermin! And I alone have done your work. Without any help from your ungrateful ass."

He fell to the ground in fierce pain, every part of his body a burn. He wanted to scream, but no sound escaped him. "Do not mistake my silence for weakness Old One. I am older than you. And you were created to serve me. You are mine."

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He wished to say, but the words would not leave his mouth.

"You will be forgiven when your debt is paid." Daka smiled at him, revealing a set of strident, razor-like teeth cutting enough to rip him to shreds. "Deliver me what you promised and bring me this witch."

Suddenly released from his pain, the Old One straightened himself to his full height, "She is not a witch Daka. She's a wolf."

A look of genuine surprise crossed her face, and then a slow wicked grin spread evenly across her face. "My, my Sakari, I underestimated your cunning…. Bring her to me before the next full moon. I do not care how you do it."

Sam couldn't be sure how many early mornings he'd spent out of bed by now, in the dark, wishing he were unbothered and asleep instead of smothered with the crushing weight of responsibility. It was for a Chief to watch over the needs of their small, proud and often willful people. For a Chief to anticipate their needs.

Times had changed. The New America had come with its dreams and its cruel history. Oftentimes he wondered where his own place was in it, and the place for those who had been forgotten and displaced like him. Years ago, he and Leah would have had some brash, fearsome debates about it. He was always backing down first, ever diplomatic. A leader understood the value of placing others before themselves, and he had always been too good at that. Perhaps that was why the Spirit of the Wolf had chosen him first. Made him learn the hardest lessons first, so that the rightful heir wouldn't repeat his mistakes.

He didn't regret anything. Alright, he regretted that one thing that had tainted his righteousness and his soul and his reputation. His lack of control had shattered the heart of the woman he'd cared for most. But he could be proud of everything else; he'd raised boys into men and not only men but warriors. He had saved countless lives. He had helped a young generation remember the pride and beauty of where they came from. He could be proud of what he'd done.

Old Quil had come by in the night to warn him. By now it shouldn't have surprised him that even more in their lives could change. For such a small, unmemorable place, it sure did seem that the Great Spirit loved to cause upheaval in their small reservation. He sighed in exhaustion and weariness as the sun, orange and brilliant rose from behind swirling clouds, bathing him in warmth and light.

The sound he'd been waiting for, of a snapping twig and an adolescent boy was suddenly drowned out by a woman's laughter. He'd know that sound anywhere. Riotous. Uninhabited. When was the last time he'd heard her make such a sound? Then a dark hand swiped across some branches and Jacob's dark splash of hair appeared among the thicket.

"Of course, I can imagine myself in Alaska, but you? Jake you're more sun more than anything else."

He rolled his eyes. "And you officially sound like Bella."

"Ug, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth."

"And anyway, there's sun in Alaska!" Jake stopped, and Sam knew at once that the younger man had sensed him. Leah hadn't yet, her instincts still slightly weaker than theirs both, but she would soon. Selfishly, Sam let his eyes take her in one final time before she did.

Her hair was shorter than he'd ever seen it. And stylish, as though she'd finally given in to Sue or Jules and finally gone to the salon to trim it. And her eyes… they were hazy and full of euphoria and abandon. There was a flush to her cheeks and a light about her that he recognized immediately, and it stung him. Yes, Sam could remember the newness of that feeling all too well. It was the same look Embry Call wore around the rez these days, the look of someone on top of the world. The look of a woman in love.

And then it was gone. He saw her tense, her eyes suddenly alert as she became aware of his presence. By then Jacob had already seen him and he let his own focus shift to the other. Jacob stepped forward, his face on guard, and Sam allowed himself a tentative, welcoming smile. "Jacob. Leah."

"Sam," they said in perfect unison.

The older man was distracted from his surprise at their perfect link when Jacob's face broke into a playful grin, he teased. "You know, you can call me Jake, Sam. No need to be so formal." There wasn't a single hint of malice in it. He was just happy and open again, as though the last year hadn't happened.

Sam smiled in return. Certain that he was making the right decision. "I thought it was time we talked."

Jacob nodded solemnly and did not order Leah either to leave or to stay, as though affording her the choice as his Second. It never ceased to amaze Sam how different Jacob's brand of leadership was to his own, and yet his pack were fierce in their devotion to him.

The older Alpha cleared his throat, "The continued existence of two packs has had the Council worried for some time now. Most of its members feel more comfortable with me as the leader, and I know you… you never wanted the responsibility of a pack."

"Things change," Jacob said darkly, "But let me guess, you're all too happy to claim it, so long as I give you every member of my pack when I run off with the Cullens like I always do?"

There was too much bad faith in that one statement for Sam to keep his wolf from bristling, but he forced it into submission and steeled his resolve, barrelling forward. "Actually Jake, I'm here to tell you that you are doing an incredible job. Your pack doesn't just follow you; they respect you. They're loyal to you because you know how to balance their temperaments.

"And more than that… You've somehow managed to forge a lasting treaty with our greatest threat. Every time a threat has arisen, you've led the pack with incredible strength. And they will need that strength Jacob, they will need it for what is yet to come." Jacob's face had paled considerably, as though he'd never imagined his old alpha would say those words. "You will make an incredible Chief." Sam finished with an outstretched hand, so there was no confusion about what he was doing.

The silence between the three of them seemed to stretch on and it was Leah who finally spoke. "Why are you doing this?" she asked. "You love these kids."

So that you can finally look at me without suspicion. So that I can finally trust myself.

"I am tired." Sam admitted, sounding it. "Emily cannot do this anymore. I cannot. I have given up everything for this, but it was never mine after all."

Sam reached out his hand once more in offering, and this time Jacob took it. The old magic shook deep in them, settling into their skin, rousing their wolves. Almost immediately, surprised howls filled the forest. "Congratulations Chief!" Sam laughed, as the years of weight broke off him. It had been a heavy mantle to carry, because it had never been his.

"That's king," Jacob grinned, "To you."