A/N: Trigger warning: animal cruelty. They're evil-possessed creatures, sure, but furry friends nonetheless.

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"I almost forgot, foolish me I almost forgot; where I'm from we see the rain before the rain even starts to rain. No wonder why you've been buggering me. This walk is a previous journey. And I won."

-Benjamin Clementine, Condolence

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The Lake of Lilies

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The unforeseen cruise down the 101 with Emily proved to be – oddly enough - pleasantly nostalgic. Despite the threat of brooding clouds and cutting winter air, the small fishing village of Neah Bay was ever hospitable and generous. These stretches of land were generally unfrequented by the wolves, and the winding tourist roads proved useful in avoiding unwanted detection. Emily, though atypically quiet, had at some point scoped out a seaside food-hut that served the best roast halibut Leah had ever tasted. The rich, hearty smell had her mouth-watering for seconds, undeniably worth the rain-soak that had ruined her last pair of trainers. Finally, the old, white Volkswagen cruised slower as they approached a bright yellow sign that read: The Makah Cultural Research Center.

Emily frowned at the derelict parking lot. "You sure she's here? Looks like some of the offices are closed for the rest of the festive season."

Leah responded somewhat absently; her mind unsettled by the downpour of rain that should have been snow by now. It was as though the weather was paying attention, a reflection of her pack's grief and apprehension.

"Should be. Well, she usually is. They exclusively hold the oral histories she's been researching for her paper."

As the car neared to a stop, an ageing man with grey eyes ran towards the car from the security station, pulling a dark woolly hat down his ears even as he held an umbrella up valiantly against wind and rain. He tapped lightly against the driver's window, and Emily rolled the window down grittily with both hands, old-style.

He offered her cousin a genuine smile, "Miss Emily Young? Long time! Fancy seeing you around these parts. How's it going?"

"All good little Jer," Emily grinned in return, "Look who I've got here with me."

Grey eyes grew wide as Leah fluttered her fingers in a small wave from the passenger seat. Her face offering only the weak grin she could manage, "Hi Mr. Long. How's it going?"

"I can't complain girl, no one listens!" The man's laughter was a boom that coaxed a more genuine smile out of both cousins. "And would you look at that, if you aren't the spitting image of your mother, Lee. My you must be…" He counted out on five fingers, thumb to pinkie. "Twenty-one?"

"Close enough. How's Mrs Marybelle?"

"Bursting at the seams now, we're waiting on our fifth. Doctor says any day now."

Leah stiffened at the subject, unsure how it would affect her cousin, but Emily surprised her. "Fifth!" her cousin exclaimed, with only a slight forcefulness to her cheer, "Sounds exhausting."

"You have no idea haha!" The man said proudly, "How can I help you ladies?"

Leah leaned forward, "We're looking for a Ms Tiffany Call. About Five-six, short chestnut hair. Glasses."

"Ms Call, oh yeah, I know the one." He nodded, a hand rubbing at his chin. "Smart lady, real smart lady, raised a good kid… Didn't come in today, some urgent business with the police down in Forks."

"Police?" Emily frowned.

Jerry nodded as he kept his neighbourly responsibility of passing along the small-town gossip. "Real sad, about that boy they found in the forest, reckon it's got her spooked about her own son, missing in action. Probably just with his sweetheart for the weekend, didn't want mom disturbing - you know how reckless boys get sometimes. And it's not like he hasn't disappeared before…."

Emily shot Leah a meaningful look, but neither of them were intent on interrupting the rant now.

"Guess you're never too old for a spanking where mamas concerned." He laughed again, but this time his eyes were cloudy, as though he was thinking of a time long past. His own adolescence, perhaps. "He's a great kid though, really, when he isn't following in his daddy's footsteps. Little wonder she's so strict with him. That Josh was mean and a downright rascal, never knew what she ever saw in him."

Emily's gasp was such that no human would have heard it, but Leah did. Quickly, she interrupted the security officer before he said something else she didn't need in her head, where half the Quileute adolescents inadvertently might access. With a quick thanks and well-wishes sent to Jerry and his expecting wife, Emily and her cousin drove away, still slightly astonished.

It wasn't until they were halfway to Fork's that Leah dropped her face into both hands, groaning. "Please tell me I didn't date two brothers."

Emily's snickered, amused by her cousin's expression. "I always knew you had a type."

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The young man stopped briefly when he saw her, his rosy lips tilting up in a soft, heart-warming smile. Leah returned the gesture spontaneously, faltering only as he turned back to the forest, compelled by whatever spell it was that called to him. Her feet moved forward without her permission, her heart longing to rescue him – and an eagle settled firmly upon her shoulder in warning.

"Beware," Its eyes seemed to say. "That way lies wickedness."

Leah lifted her fingers to brush tentatively at its feathers, "I don't think I have much of a choice."

.

.

"Leah."

"Mm?"

"It doesn't look like anybody's home."

"Mm."

"You're not asleep, are you? One time I break an alpha's rule for you, and I'm already regretting it."

Leah tore her eyes open, solely to get her cousin to quiet. She'd forgotten how annoying Emily could be sometimes. Worse than Julie.

"No one's worse than Julie." Emily muttered as she parked the car.

The grey wolf woke with a yawn as the roar of the engine dulled to a snort. Her cousin shot her a glower, probably still upset about the Julie comment, but Leah was too sleepy to notice, and more concerned with wiping the drool off her face. She brushed stray hairs away, Emily's brown boots hit the pavement.

"Admit it sissy, you've had a wedgie up your butt since Samuel hit you with cupid's arrow. Live a little! Enjoy you short-lived dabble on the dark side."

So overwhelmed was Leah by a sudden yawn that she missed the vulnerable look that crossed her cousin's face over the old endearment, and they made for the blue door of Tiffany's charming house. Briefly, Leah mourned the death winter's kiss had brought to the pink cherry blossoms.

Emily snorted as she recovered, "Jake was right. You really do sound like Embry sometimes. And you sleep like the dead by the way." She added in accusation, "Thanks for the company during the drive." Leah rolled her eyes in answer as she swayed to the door. Carlisle sure didn't play with that dosage.

Emily broke the silence as the wolf raised her hand to knock, "Are you planning on telling her."

"I'm not planning anything, Emily, that's the point of our little rendezvous."

"Sam said Embry didn't want to tell her." Tiffany said, but before Leah could respond she added quietly, "But I think a mother should know… what happens to her son."

Leah appraised her cousin with a long, measuring look. And then she rapped on the wood.

The door swung wide open with a protesting creak, and Leah was ensconced in a trap of long arms and the smell of stale cigarettes. "Leah?" The Call matriarch yelled in uncharacteristic tones of distress, "Where have you been I've been worried sick!"

For a moment, Emily's words came back to haunt the young wolf, and she realised her cousin was right. Leah couldn't imagine what Tiffany must feel on a daily basis, or what she'd do herself if her only son suddenly changed overnight, and she could do nothing to protect him. She stood unmoving for a long moment, not entirely certain how to move forward, when Ms Call's panicked words broke through her haze of confusion.

"…haven't heard from him in days and it's been all over the news… mauled apart to pieces! They said the police dogs couldn't even find all the body parts and I – I – I thought – Embry-"

Leah's hands rubbed the woman's back soothingly. She spoke without hesitation. "It's not him. It's not Embry, it's Paul Lahote."

She'd meant to give comfort, but the older woman went stiff as a board. As Leah pulled away, she realised the older woman was watching her with a sort of horrified suspicion, her eyes darting between herself and her cousin.

"You know who did this." Tiffany said.

It was Emily who stepped forward, nodding. "It's not what you're thinking. This isn't about the rumours you've heard about my fiancé and the drugs and gang violence. They're wrong. You should know that Embry would never do that, but…" Emily sent her cousin a pleading look, she wouldn't share the truth if her cousin didn't think it was the right thing to do, even though she wanted to. It wasn't her secret to tell.

Leah sighed, "There is something Emily and I think you should know." With worried anticipation and too many unanswered questions to count, Tiffany Call stepped aside, and allowed two unlikely women (and their secrets) into her quaint little house.

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Three shapeshifters watched the Call residence from a distance, vaguely irritated by the pounding rain and the day's events.

"Your sister is annoying," Sam directed at Seth, who'd barely said a word in days.

"At least her loyalty is predictable." Jacob returned.

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The clink of fine china rung sweet across the living room, but Tiffany cup dropped unceremoniously to the kitchen table. "Not that I believe this most…fantastical story. But if I did, what were you planning to do to about the…"

"Ancient sorceress?" Leah supplied.

Tiffany snickered, "Yes, that."

Leah and Emily shared a morose, disappointed glance. They knew the truth about the supernatural nature of Forks was difficult to stomach, but they hadn't expected blatant denial and furious incredulity from the older woman. The wolf sighed, "Well, you wouldn't happen to be needing that bow and bracelet anytime soon, would you?"

"You mean that priceless artifact entrusted to me after weeks of talks with cultural anthropologists and my tribe's most respected Chief."

"Yes." Leah said so seriously that Tiffany laughed.

"No, my darling. Certainly not."

Ten minutes later Emily made her way back to the car, as Leah and Tiffany said their solemn goodbyes. "I think we broke her," Emily admitted as she unlocked the old thing. "Maybe we should send one of the cubs to show her."

Leah simply shook her head, "No, she believed us." She fingered the wooden box carefully, fascinated by the eerie familiarity of the bow and bracelet within. She could almost feel them. It was as though they bore a living pulse. "The last year of Embry's behaviour has come into a new light for her. I imagine it's a lot to process."

Emily watched her cousin over the top of the car with wary eyes, perturbed by Leah's inward mood. Their alliance was a tentative and unexpected one, with both cautious to avoid stepping on the other's toes. She didn't know how far she could push before her cousin closed up, for too long she'd been insensitive to the cost of her happiness at the expense of her cousin, and so she phrased her next words gently, with quiet caution.

"Embry didn't want her to know."

Her cousin glanced up at her with fierce eyes, squinting in the rain. "No."

"And you are worried he won't understand… that he will be angry that you went against his wishes."

Leah sighed. After a long moment she added, soft as a sigh, "She's to him what Seth is to me. He'd do anything to protect her."

For so long she had never understood why Embry wouldn't just tell his mother. She'd thought that perhaps it was simply so that Tiffany wouldn't feel compelled to tell him who his father was. She understood something else now; knew how helpless the wolves' loved ones felt when faced with the sacrifices of their pack members. How guilty Tiffany must feel now that she knew the truth, now that she looked back on their last years and saw all the horrible things she'd assumed about her only son.

"He'll forgive you, Lee. A fool could see how deeply he loves you."

Soft as a sigh, Emily got into the car. She revved the engine, and it took a moment before she realised her cousin hadn't joined her.

Slowly, as though it were a difficult decision and not the simple one it really was, Leah made her way around to the driver's window and bent to assess her cousin. "Emily…"

"Let me guess. This is the part you do that Bella level of stupid thing, isn't it?"

"This last part…" Leah said honestly, "I can't let you come with me in good conscience. I can't promise I won't be reckless. I can't promise I'll be careful. I'll do whatever it takes to save him, and I'm not willing to compromise your safety."

"You and Sam…" Emily shook her head, "Sometimes it's like you're the same person."

"It must make sense then, loving the both of us." Leah was surprised that the exchange didn't hurt at all. A year ago, even six months ago, it would have.

There was no way to explain to Emily about that pull in the wind, about that chanting that spoke of purpose. She knew without the shadow of a doubt that this was the right decision. Ignoring the sudden, kitschy urge to squeeze her cousin's hand in reassurance, she wondered if Sam's smothering attention hadn't in part been due to his Imprint's unacknowledged desire to reconnect. "Stay safe."

Emily snorted, "If I was gonna die, it would have happened sooner. You stay safe."

Leah smiled as her cousin drove away. She could already hear Jacob's voice ringing an I told you so in her head. She didn't need his sentimental silliness, but it was certain to follow once word got out that she'd spent a peaceable day in the company of her cousin. If she survived what happened next, that is.

She gazed at the box in her hand and tapped the top. "So… where to now, Kaheleha?"

Astoundingly, the cry of an eagle pierced the air in answer. With squinting eyes, she gazed upwards just as a familiar bird swooped to a dip above her shoulder. Leah jumped backwards with an astounded yelp, glaring as the eagle soared across the sky and into the dying forest.

"Subtle," she remarked with a hand pressed to her heart, yet nonetheless, she followed.

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.

The softest of feathers fell from the eagle's coat, landing gently in the Chieftain's palm. Leah didn't ask him how it was possible. How he was here, in her world. A darkness seemed to loom and press down over the reservation, a warning pressure that felt of fate and age-old schemes and dark, wicked magic.

Her feet, small and wet with rain, slowed as she came to the perfectly carved figure of smooth, dark skin. His long, ebony braid shone as it fell over his shoulder, and his compelling jade eyes were fiercer than she'd ever seen them. Driven. It was like re-entering a known and hated nightmare, the only problem being that she didn't remember how it ended.

He must have been waiting for her, for he began to move as she came nearer. He was dressed in the fine, embroidered clothing of the old ways, and held a spear-thrower in one hand. Lifting a raven brow, he gestured lightly to the box in her hands, and she opened it to place the bow and bracelet around her uninjured shoulder and wrist.

"I thought they might be important." She whispered, unable to look away. "Was I wrong?"

"They are powerful. They will help you. But they contain the same magic that tempted Daka to misuse her power. Be careful how you use them and destroyed them when you are done."

She grimaced as she considered Tiffany's reaction when she finally returned. If she returned.

With a small uptilt to his lip, as though he knew her predicament and was laughing at her, Kaheleha turned and followed the eagle deeper into the forest without another word.

The woodland was barren and bare, cold and wet, and the grey wolf released steam with each puffy exhalation. Above them, the moon swelled to a crimson eye, as though ready to wage war at any moment, and she tried to ignore the snarls of the foxes she could hear congregating around them. This was the sound and setting of her every childhood nightmare, cruelly foreboding, and she dreaded whatever Daka had planned for them.

She knew, somehow, that the last fifteen years of her life had been leading up to this moment. Leah could remember the young girl who'd once stepped out of Sam Uley's car, her white dress and blushing face raised innocently to the sun. Somehow, that girl had drifted into this world, this place of murderous witches and living nightmares and grisly murders. And fairy-tale monsters. She had worked so hard not to become one of them. It had been agony. And then she had discovered that she could be someone she liked. He'd helped her find it. A different life, fulfilling and filled with purpose. She would not let anyone shatter what they had built together.

Kaheleha turned to her suddenly, "You love him." He said, without question.

"You always knew I would."

"Then I must warn you." His eyes grew hard. "She has lured him to the Lake of Lilies with the help of the Third Wife's powerful influence. Guard your heart. She will use him to hurt you. His soul is adrift between the worlds, and he will not be easy to restore."

Leah's heart dropped at his words, and a terrifying insecurity grew inside her at his words. What authority did she have to stand face-to-face against such an adversary? What would she even do when faced with her opponent? It's not like she could phase in her condition.

She focussed on something she had never been able to understand after all this time. "What does the Third Wife have to do with this? I have no fight with her."

He shrugged, "Witches be crazy sometimes, little storm. What can I say? She was the last of the Spirit Warriors, chosen by Taha Aki's wolf, and she gave her life in self-sacrifice. I do not believe that she means the Quileute harm, but she stands against the girl your Alpha's wolf has chosen."

It was about the Cullens then, and Bella's decisions. Of course.

Leah sighed, overwhelmed. "This is…Kaheleha how do I defeat her? How do I stop this? She is so powerful and… you never taught me how to use magic." She wasn't blaming him, but she felt so wholly unprepared. She was going to fight forces she could barely understand, and had no idea how to use her weapons, or what her weapons even were.

"I never had to."

At her confused frown, Kaheleha's gave her an indulgent smile. "You are not alone, Leah. I will fight with you. But either way...Did I show you how to dream of the future, or how to remember the ancient past? Did you hear the melodies of earliest songs of our tribe from me? No. My little storm, magic is already in you." Amused, he gazed into sky and rocked her world with his next words. "Besides, you didn't need my help getting the rain started."

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There was a melodic chant she had heard once or twice in the other world. An unnerving song, murmured by fragmented voices in the lost language of her ancestors. Leah heard it now as they approached the densest thicket of bark, a sombre place that not even the ancient shapeshifters had dared to enter. Ethereal pools of silver water came into view as they braved forward, compelling, and otherworldly in their elegance, but even without magic, she would have discerned the malevolence in the waves. The artful pull of seduction.

Kaheleha took her hand. She followed his gaze to meet the stark black eyes of her preincarnation's mother.

Her body went cold.

Daka's…. spirit? (It could hardly be called human) glided slowly along the surface of the water. Her cloak was blood-soaked and floated wraithlike along the coolness of the current. She had a face made of little more than grey dust and bone, and maggots seemed to writhe in the folds. With long dirty claws where fingernails should have been, the wraith brushed dead locks away from her face. Leah barely noticed the vanity of the gesture, so consumed by the look in Daka's hollow, soulless eyes.

"I should have known!" The Old Sorceress snarled at Kaheleha, "You are always involved whenever my daughter is stolen. No more. This time you pay in blood." The quiet growls of the hidden foxes rose to a crescendo, and utter terror filled the shapeshifter. Before she could utter a warning, the creatures pounced from the shadows with unnatural strength and agility, tearing at the outnumbered Kaheleha as Daka cackled all the while, "Let's see if your fighting skills really are as sub-par as Chenita always said they were!"

Kaheleha let out a vicious battle cry, and Leah immediately grabbed at the talisman around her shoulder. As though sensing her intent to protect him, the nearest animals pounced, their eyes bloodthirsty and their jaws wide open. Leah screamed as one tackled her to the floor, its teeth sinking into her already pained shoulder. She panicked as two others chewed eagerly at her feet, kicking and screaming all the while. With a shriek, she instinctively wrapped an arm around the nearest snout and jerked swift enough to break its neck. The animal whined in her ear as it died.

She barely had time to subdue her heartbreak as she grabbed blindly for her bow. More were assembling, teeth bared and panting, and she struck fatally at the two at her feet to face ten more. This was a battlefield, she reminded herself. Mercy would get her killed.

A brief glance revealed Kaheleha swiping furiously with his spear thrower, his feet quick and his strikes terrible in their precision. Bloodied bite marks ragged across his skin, marring the loveliness, but somehow adding to the sense of strength and majesty. He was a fiercer warrior than the legends had ever given him credit for. Daka no longer seemed amused.

"Hey!" Leah yelled at the Old Sorceress, if only to distract her from her chosen prey. "What do you want with Embry?"

With the bored disdain of a ghost that had roamed earth for over four hundred years, Daka waved to the silver pool of water. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Leah frowned as she drew closer, her heart hammering wildly as she saw what lay between the silver streams. Hundreds of bodies, still and perfectly preserved, wafted within. She knew in some way, sensed that they were not dead, but suffered anyway. Had been suffering for ages, unable to rest. She turned a furious scowl onto the woman. "You're evil!"

"Said the rock to the pebble. Really, daughter, I raised you to be more intelligent than that."

"Rock to the…" Leah laughed dryly. "Sakari was nothing like you!"

"Au contraire… you are more mine than you ever were Tututsi's," her voice was little more than a hiss, "or even Kaheleha. Did you not take what belonged to you the same way I did, Sakari, here at these very waters? Did you not make him adore you? You are every bit what I made you. Mine! And you will be mine, forever…"

The ghostlike creature drifted to her side, its long fingernails trailing along Leah's back and down her arm. "These men… all they ever wanted was our subservience, Kari. But women like us were never born to serve them. Look at how strong you are already, think what we could do…"

Daka tempted, and for a moment the vision worked its way into her head. Leah felt the touch of red silk on her skin, knew the way it would cascade down her throne. Theirs would be a reign to last generations, with the world bowing at their feet, and with her blood and heritage she would never age. She saw every vampire in the world grovelling at her feet, powerless against her influence. How the entire world would tremble…

"Can you see," her ancient mother whispered in her ear, her voice ever seductive, "how powerful we will be? Anything we want will be ours, just like you always wanted." And Leah remembered… oh how she remembered how much she had wanted it, once. Wanted the power to make her world what it should have been, before the Cullens. Her dreams had been simple. A little cottage in the woods, a sister who never betrayed her, a man with... brown eyes? Yes, his eyes had been brown. "Whatever you want…" Daka echoed, and she blinked.

Arms hoisting her up, Embry's wide grin as she glared at him, "we have to stop meeting this way…"

A cool swim under pale moonlight, losing a race had never been so fun…

A warm hand against her cheek, a growling. "Tell me to stop…"

And Sakari, stood before Kaheleha in the black beach sand, face etched with shame as she begged him to understand, "I just wanted a way out. I needed to get away from her. Please understand."

Leah finally did. She did understand. It was excruciating, tearing away from Daka's mental hold, but Leah did. Not just for Embry, but for Sakari too. Her face glowered in signature scowl. "Get away from me, you creep! Sakari hated you! She abhorred everything you stood for! If this was her entire childhood… no wonder she couldn't wait to get away from you."

"No!" Daka screamed, her claws reaching out to dig into Leah's forearms. "You know nothing!"

"I remember everything!" Leah shouted back with an astounding lack of fear. "You used her. You abused her. And if she hadn't been smart enough to foresee it, you would have destroyed everything she held dear. No wonder you're so delusional. It must irk you how quickly she ran into the arms of a man she didn't know, just to get away from you!"

With a piercing scream, Daka reached across the distance to wrap her claws around the young wolf's neck. With maddened eyes and a grip of steel, she dragged a choking Leah into the murky waters.

.

.

The rain drew to an abrupt stop. The wolves glanced together at their alpha, their sharp instincts on edge as he came to a sudden halt. Wait!

Jake? Jared growled testily, what's wrong?

The scent grew stronger. And one by one they flinched at the metallic smell the alpha had scented. Paul's blood. Growling, Seth leaped first, unafraid and uncaring what waited on the other side of the grove. No one knew exactly how they had lost Leah's trail; it was as though the very woods had misled them, but he wouldn't lose her again.

But unlike his acting-Third, Jacob waited. Something was… off. The air seemed to grow thick with tension, and with a sudden intuition the russet wolf raised his head. Lounging lazily among the branches was the blond-haired vampire that had been hunting the Imprints. Jacob bared his teeth in a snarl.

Get down here, bloodsucker!

The vampire was amused, and clearly not intent on moving an inch, "How about you come up here and get me yourself?"

Jacob's phase was swift and fluid, steadied with sheer talent and experience. He climbed the nearest tree slowly at first, giving his human body time to adjust before dancing a set of complicated steps upwards like he once had done to get into Bella's bedroom window. The leech smirked at him, pinning him with eyes the colour of Paul's blood, and a snarl ripped free from Jacob's throat of its own accord. Jacob remembered then, Rosalie's words about vampire mates and Victoria, and that's when he realised…

"I'm thinking of Paul's blood." He said slowly, reaching for the final branch. "That's your power, isn't it? It's how you got so deep into Sam's head he forgot wolf 101: that we never attack alone. It's how evaded Jared after attacking Kim, and it's why you taunted Leah… You make your enemies so unhinged that they lose control."

The creature grinned again, drawing its hands together in mockingly slow claps, "Bravo."

"You've miscalculated though," Jacob added.

It lifted a single brow, "Oh?"

"Quite." Jacob's lips twisted in a cold, cruel smile. He wasn't like Sam or Jared or Quil. He had nothing against the vampire, no personal vendetta fuelled by an Imprint or bloodthirsty crusade driven by vengeance. The scent filling his nose didn't rattle him. He hadn't cherished Paul. To him, the creature was simply a threat to his pack, to Leah, who he'd grudgingly come to respect. "No, I won't lose control." He said coolly, "But I am going to enjoy every second of my kill."

.

.

Kaheleha's shout pierced the air as Leah went down, his battle with the conjured foxes momentarily forgotten.

Deranged with fury, Daka dragged the young wolf deep into the taciturn waters, entangling them both in wild roots and floating bodies. All hell broke loose. Leah screamed bubbles as the slinking corpses animated once more, clutching at her, tearing at her arms. Gripping whatever hair and limbs they could find. Her throat burned; her old wounds throbbed. Get off! Get off! Get off!

"We could have had it all together, Sakari!" Daka shrieked, "But you've made your choice. Now sleep, sleep sweet little daughter…"

"Leah!" Kaheleha dropped to a knee, weak with the loss of strength and blood. His eyes were torn between her and the foxes that kept coming like clockwork.

"Sleep with your latest of lovers… Embry, you called him?" Daka snickered. "Cute. You'll see him just now. And just in case you get bored, don't worry. Kaheleha will follow soon enough!" The crazy old bat broke out in a sharp, hollow laugh.

What is it with hags and cackling? Leah struggled heatedly, desperately, against Daka's sturdy clutches. She felt weak, so weak. And fleeting words and images floated around her in the water. She thought about all the people she loved and that she'd failed. Sue and Seth, her treasures. Seth. Embry. And even the older ones…. Chenita. Even Chief Tututsi as he shook his head at his eldest, 'how does one fight the wind?'

They don't.

"Leah!" Kaheleha roared, and Leah's eyes flung open.

A blinding white light immediately filled the water, and Leah glanced at her burning wrist, and the glaring talisman. It was clear now, how its effervescent, tantalising power, was just waiting to be called upon. What was it Kaheleha had said? That no one had ever taught her how to sing, or how to remember her previous incarnation. That her power was instinctive. A part of her being. Like breathing. Ho one had ever had to teach her how to call the winds or start the showers.

And yet, she knew. She had always known.

The deep, echoing chant she'd heard before came back to haunt her now, growing louder. It was a song as familiar as her father's voice. Deep in her heart, and she knew every note. Humming with everything she had left to give, she let her arms float open, sinking deeper into the water as Daka's chokehold loosened. The song of her heritage and blood called to her, all she had to do was listen.

For a split second, Daka's dark eyes went wide with alarm, and then the pool of water trembled. Scatter. Leah commanded. And it did.

.

.

A sandy brown wolf stalked forward as a thunder-like roar snapped across the forest.

Darkness descended, and Seth's eyes went wide as three things happened in quick succession. First, a man he'd never seen before, (and yet who seemed quite familiar) flung a spear-thrower hard across the clearing, impaling a floating woman. Second, a stray fox seized the opportunity to sink impossibly large teeth into the man's neck. And third, the floating ghost-woman fell into the silver water, just as the stream evaporated. Immediately, dozens of cadavers appeared out of nowhere, dropping to the hole in the ground where the water had been in loud, hard thuds.

And Leah… Oh God, he could smell her buried in there.

Seth sprinted forward, paws brushing against corpses as he dug through a wide assortment of bodies. They were people of all ages, long dead by his guess, and decaying quickly by the smell of it. He forced the dry heaves down, distantly aware of his brother's voices and the franticness in their questions as they too faced what he had uncovered. The collective shock from the pack echoed in a way he was forced to ignore. He didn't have much time. Leah didn't have much time. He understood this intuitively.

Leah, what the hell did you get yourself into?

He didn't know how long he'd been digging when his brothers finally found him. Jacob rushed to the side of the fallen man, covered in the stench of leech, and did his best to fend off the flow of blood. It was a lost cause, Seth knew, but he didn't stop his Alpha. Jared, Quil and Colin helped Seth dig wordlessly through the mess of bodies, and it was quite some time before Colin yelled his surprise and dragged a male body from behind heavy limbs and tangled roots. "I found him! Guys, he's not breathing!"

Jared was nearest and helped him carry Embry out of the pit. "He's still warm…"

"Anyone know how to do CPR?"

There was a long silence, and Jared grimaced as he realised first: only two people in the pack knew how to do CPR, and both were presently incapacitated. Jacob groaned, "You've got to be kidding me… Jared, get him to the Cullens. Now!"

"Honestly this is your fault," Jared ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, "Bad crisis-management system."

Jacob glared at that, and the other wolves resumed their digging until finally, Leah's scent became clearer. It was Quil who found her, Seth and Brady pushed seven bodies out of the way to help him get her free. Quickly, they carried her to dry land. She looked terrible. Bedraggled, dirty and exhausted even in her sleep, and large purple bruises all around her neck. Seth's heart broke just looking at her. He didn't know where to start to help her.

"Hey kid," Jacob appeared by his side, his voice soothing as he placed a bloody hand firmly on his shoulder, "Let me carry her."

It was a testament to how out of it Seth was that he didn't argue, easily relinquishing his hold on his sister. "Jake, she's gonna be fine, right?"

Jake offered the boy a gentle grin, "Seth. Leah's too angry at life to die."