"Wouldn't it be crazy if he felt how I felt, Overwhelmed and terrified, but he took my hand and he took his chance? Can I have this dance? If only we were in a Cinderella story."

Elle Varner, Not Tonight

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Fear

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For most of her life, Tiffany Call had owned close to nothing.

Her son Embry, a sweet boy with kindly ways and intelligent eyes, had cultivated resourcefulness and politeness in equal measures, as though an infusion of reputation and strong character was the cleanest way to make up for the lack of a father. He'd grown up to become as bright and beautiful as his beloved mother - a woman who'd planted herself securely in academia despite the tremendous difficulty of youthful age and single parenthood, and together they'd managed to transform a desolate, downtrodden scrap of land into an enchanting cottage-like home from the stuff of childhood fairy tales.

Strolling through Tiffany's bountiful library, with tomes all but stuffed into already bursting shelves and relics littered across tiny tables, Leah could appreciate what it must have been like to grow up in such a place. All too clearly, she pictured dozens of stories exploding from each well-worn couch, each handmade patch of rug. She imagined teenage Tiffany clapping her hands as a lank-haired toddler took his first steps, proud and sunny. She saw a young Embry and Jake wrestling on the floor while Tiffany yelled at them to stop and Quil cowered in the corner, crying.

Had a tall man with Embry's eyes ever lurked silently in the shadows, watching protectively? Had Embry ever seen his face and not known it was his father keeping secrets? And if Tiffany found out that Leah could never have a son of her own, would she extend the same warmth and courtesy all the same, the same sense of kinship?

Tiffany opened her arms in greeting, as though answering the unasked question. "Leah? You came!"

"Yes," Embry replied dryly, "Now you can stop nagging me to bring her by."

"Oh, hush." Tiffany admonished, rising from her worktable. "Mothers don't nag, we-"

"Meddle."

Embry yelped as his mother's hand made contact with his bicep. He rubbed it, pouting at the older woman as she drew closer to hug his lady friend.

Leah, uncharacteristically shy, was utterly overwhelmed by his mother's demonstrative nature. He watched as she stiffened at the easy touch and settled for awkwardly patting his mother's back in a pitiful excuse for a hug.

Tiffany lifted Leah's face to the light, appraising her with sensitive eyes, "Isn't that a gorgeous cut? And you're eating more, I'm glad to see you're doing much better."

"Thank you, Ms. Call. I'm glad to see you are well too."

With a playful roll of his eyes, Embry made his way to the door. "That's my cue. I'll be upstairs if either of you needs me. Clearly, you two need space to…" he gestured between them, grimacing. "bond."

As soon as he left Tiffany shook her head, "So cheeky sometimes… he gets that from his father." Before Leah could eagerly dig for whatever scraps of paternity-clues Tiffany would give, the older woman made her way back to her worktable, gesturing for the grey wolf to follow. "I heard you and your brother have been away visiting family. At the Makah residence, was it?"

Leah frowned momentarily before remembering the cover story the cooked up by Sue and the Council to appease nosy busybodies while she and the rest of Jake's pack 'plotted rebellion' against Sam's orders with the Cullens.

"Oh yes, we were visiting our grandma Sam. We don't get to see her very often." In fact, She and Seth had rarely spoken to them since her father's funeral. Too difficult, the Council had said, to see anyone who might be suspicious of their sudden changes in manner and appearance. Surely enough time had passed that a 'lack of control' over her wolf would be a problem. She promised herself she'd make more of an effort to see her paternal grandparents.

"Sue missed you terribly."

"She did?"

"Oh yes, of course." Tiffany frowned, "She's your mother."

Leah shook her head, blushing. "I simply meant… I didn't know you kept in touch or were even… friends."

"We're friendly, she used to babysit Embry," Tiffany said nonchalantly. Leah barely had time to register her own surprise before the other woman waved her closer to her workbench, pulling a smoothly polished box towards them.

The young wolf felt a sudden thrum deep in her bones at the sudden proximity to the box, as though its contents were alive and ready to spring forth from inside. "If memory serves me correctly, the last we spoke you mentioned an interest in the Old Makah stories about a magic woman named Sakari, the one married to a Quileute Chief."

"Yes," Leah stepped forward. "I have a… small obsession with their story."

Tiffany radiated happiness at the statement, "Well of course! It's a fascinating exemplar of how folklore changes through the ages and a stellar view on how culture affects archetypes. To the Makah people Sakari is a hero, but to the Quileute-"

"she's a temptress and a villain."

"An omen of impending difficulty." Tiffany opened the box, and Leah gasped when she saw what lay inside. She'd seen them enough times in her visions, strung over Chenita's back or wrapped around her arm. Two relics, a hunter's bow and a beaded bracelet, hand-carved and polished in perfect preservation.

"Is that what I think it is?" She breathed, wonderstruck. Kaheleha had said that Sakari's gifts were protective talismans. Powerful magics. "Where did you find them? How are they still intact? What-"

Tiffany laughed, seeming all too pleased by the wolf's reaction. "Slow down, those are too many questions to answer in one go. Grab a seat, and I'll tell you all about the progress I've made with my dissertation.

Leah followed the older woman's lead, too pleasantly surprised to resist.

"You know, you have no idea how wonderful it is to meet someone who values the old ways as I do." Tiffany said proudly, "Embry has chosen well."

The younger woman merely blushed at the praise. After all the gossip from the res had destroyed her reputation, she had never imagined another woman would welcome her so wholly and easily into her life and home, as though she was already part of the family. It was the greatest gift Embry's mother could have ever given her.

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"You're up to something." Leah suddenly declared, breaking a night's worth of silence.

Her bedroom had become their usual castle, their fortress and hiding place, but she'd been considering renting her own place away from the res and its demands. A secret hiding place. It wouldn't be tainted with memory. There'd be nothing there that didn't belong to just her and him. It was a logical step, healthy. And since they were both committed to seeing their relationship through to the very end it made sense. It's just… the decision felt like the final way on a royal seal, a beginning that led to the ending. She wanted to be certain that she was ready.

Embry turned to her, his hazel eyes hard and searching. How was it possible that being with him still made her feel so breathless? He lifted a delicate hand to her face, brushing a stray lock away, and drew her mouth to his in a slow, passionate kiss. "I thought you were asleep."

"You thought no such thing." She lifted her brow, hoisting her head onto her upturned fist, and peering questioningly at him. "So? Out with it. What's got your mind so deep in space?"

"What do you think is going to happen now, with the pack?"

"Whatever Jake and the Council decide, I guess."

"And since when do you trust them?"

"I've learned that some things are out of my control, Embry. What does it matter what I think anyway? It not like they ever listen anyway." She sighed, weary. "Seth is safe. You're safe. And I am done fighting."

A hard intensity filled his eyes, startling her. For a moment she would have sworn his eyes had flashed an astounding green. "Did you hear what Alice and Edward said to Jake? If the Cullens are to be believed – and they usually are – then our Alpha's Imprint is about to start a war. One with casualties."

"We've fought wars before."

"With centuries-old vampires? This is nothing like the new-borns." He was shaking now, and Leah placed her hands on his chest, dumbfounded by his passion. His sullen mood had descended earlier in the evening, and only gotten worse the longer he'd been in her presence. She hadn't known his thoughts were headed in such a dark direction. "Embry-"

"You're not fighting"

She stopped, "What?"

"You are not fighting." He repeated sternly. "Promise me that if this turns into a war, I won't be forcing you off that battlefield."

She searched his face, "How can you even ask me that? What do you think I'll leave Seth out there to fend for himself?"

"I'll protect him. Jake will-"

"I will stand with my brothers and serve my tribe!" She yelled, chest heaving.

"Don't you think you've served enough?" Embry softened, touching her face again, but she pulled away. "Don't you think you've lost enough? What about Sue? What-"

"Everyone in this has lost something they can't get back. Our families, our innocence, our free will. This is what it means to be a protector to the Quileute. We survive, and we protect."

"Well, I won't survive if something happens to you!" he exploded.

Leah was so shocked by his outburst that for a moment she didn't know what to say. "Embry, nothing's going to happen to me."

He was unmoved. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that's a promise."

She'd seen Embry angry a handful of times in the fifteen years she'd known him, but she had never been on the receiving end of his ire. My, he looked like a dragon breathing fire. Was he expecting her to cower?

She opened her mouth with a retort on her lips and stopped when she saw that flash of green again. Something was wrong with him. Something she didn't know how to fix it. She touched his face. "Where is this coming from?"

Ignoring her question, he pressed his lips to hers. The need emanating from him was irresistible and relentless. "Do you have any idea what this feels like to me?" he whispered between ragged breaths. "Do you think I've ever felt or could ever feel this for someone else." Leah cried out as his teeth skimmed across her neck, tracing across her collarbone and down to her chest. His breath against her mark took her to the edge of insanity. "Mine," he said. His hands were rough in her hair, his skin pressed flush against hers, and everything inside of her begged her to just give in. Claim. Own. Protect. She felt each of her intentions as though they were her own, as though she'd planted them inside of him herself.

It was love driving him, she didn't doubt that for a second. But it was something else too, something rooted in fear.

"You're asking for the impossible." She said against his lips. She knew what he was doing, even if her own body's response betrayed a pitiful lack of control. It amazed her how easily she wished to give in, how much her wolf wanted to please. Mine, he'd said, and she was. She'd drawn her hands to his face and wrapped her legs around him without thinking, but now her heart was breaking.

She pulled away from him, a tear streaking down her face. "Don't ask me to betray all that I am for you Embry. Because I love you more than anything, but I won't."

Without another word, the young man got onto his feet and slammed the bedroom door on his way out.

That was the last time she spoke to him.

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Leah jumped out of bed with fright, half expecting warm arms to envelop her and shield her from the terror of her nightmares.

Kaheleha rarely appeared with eerie warnings and revelations these nights, instead, she saw on repeat almost every night the face of the young man she loved, as he crossed a nefarious forest under a pale moonlight. A quick glance at the watch by her bed confirmed it was a little after midnight.

That meant it was the first of December, and Embry was on patrol with Paul Lahote.

Jacob had taken well to leading the reunited pack, and she'd managed the patrol schedule with more finesse than expected. The younger wolves had more time at school and the older ones rested a bit more on the weekends. Those who'd initially had an issue with Jacob's decision to make her Second were slowly coming to appreciate her thoughtful sense of planning and strategy - how productive she could be when she wasn't contending with Sam as an authority. The new cubs, James, Toni, Madison, and Alex had never known her bitterness and adored her with steadfast, trusting allegiance. With all the difficulties she'd faced, it seemed she had a way of understanding and comforting the cubs in a way the other wolves couldn't. And to avoid any further infighting, Jacob had forced Embry to make peace with Paul and as a precautionary measure, never allowed Leah and Embry to patrol together.

"It makes perfect sense Lee. You're just as bad as the Imprints," Jake explained one day over a mouthful of Sue's cooking, "If one of you gets hurt the other immediately becomes a weakness."

She snickered, "Em and I aren't the problem. This is about Paul's wounded pride and the Council's disapproval, and you know it."

"I'm Alpha now Leah, I have to do what's best for everyone. Trust me when I say that's what I'm doing."

"Everyone's acting like all we do in the forest is-"

"It's not your work ethic I don't trust, Leah. But you two are in love. Would you trust Kim and Jared to think straight if they were in the same situation."

"Em and I are not half as mushy-brained as any of the others."

"It never hurts to be safe," Seth yelled from upstairs, no doubt getting better acquainted with hair jell for his first date with Julie's little sister.

"Exactly," Jake grinned cheekily, opening one of her cupboards. "Someone gets it. Speaking of Em, what's up with the two of you anyways?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"They're trying to outdo each other with stubbornness." Seth provided.

"We're at an impasse," Leah growled at them both, "Not that it's any of your business."

"Well fix it." Jacob said, frowning at an empty container. "I don't like how testy you both are recently. Where's the mustard?"

Rolling out of bed, Leah decided that Jacob was right; they couldn't go on like this. They hadn't spoken in over a week, and though she wouldn't admit it, she missed him terribly. She needed to find a way to make peace with him without compromising or apologizing. Donning some light tracksuits and sneakers, she flung the window open and prepared herself for a meditative evening run.

A sharp gust of air thrust into the room, slapping across her face with icy punishment. She suddenly felt a gnawing sense of wrongness, a cold sense that something was out of place. Shaking herself free of the sense of unease, she crawled out of the window and onto the ledge, ready to make her way down the giant tree.

Suddenly, a blow struck her from the right with the power of a mountain. Shocked by the pain and force, Leah barely had time to reach for a branch before she was slamming against bark and vine, screaming on her way down to the pavement. Her body crashed with a bone-crushing thud, and she coughed as she hit the ground. Her breath was constricted, she was breathing in sharp short bursts that were more painful than supportive.

Everything, hurt.

She tried to call for Seth, but she couldn't seem to form the words. The night air stung, but her body was engulfed in fire.

A nearby crunch brought a pair of bare feet into her vision. Her eyes drifted upwards, and fear filled her as she saw the leech that had attacked Emily and Kim, pale and smiling. "Shhh." It whispered in a soothing male voice. "You wouldn't want dear mommy to come outside, would you? Then I'd have to have a late dinner."

A sharp fear seized her, and it was then that she realised she was screaming. She tried to stop, tried to locate a clear source of pain, but she could barely make out anything else but the fire, sweltering, burning like…

"Venom, yes." The leech supplied, as though it could read her mind. "Sorry about that. Can't have you transforming and ruining my plans, you understand? I must say it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Leah." He said the name in a gentle hissed. "Original female shapeshifter and first spirit warrior in over four hundred years. Such raw, untapped power."

Leah watched helplessly as the creature crouched lowly, licking its lips. Its eyes filled with glee and grisly hunger. "My…You look exactly like her. No wonder our mother is so eager to meet you. Better not keep her waiting-"

Leah's heart caught in her as he reached out for her, but as soon as he touched her a russet blur flew across her vision and deep growls filling the silence. Almost immediately, two other wolves materialized from the edge of the forest, Seth and one of the new cubs, Madison. There was no sign of Paul, who had been on patrol and should have been the first line of defence under attack. No sign of Embry….

And there was an ancient vampire roaming on Tribal lands.

The uneasiness she'd felt earlier turned into fully-fledged terror.

"Where's Embry?" she croaked, but no one seemed to be paying her any attention. Jacob, Seth and the leech had disappeared in the direction to Forks, and the smaller cub was howling at the door as though to get Sue's direction. Leah guessed he was struggling to phase back with the scent of leech so rich in the air.

Leah must have drifted out of consciousness. When she opened her eyes Sue was dressed in a sleeping gown, screaming, and running towards her and the younger wolf with no reservations. It all faded to black.