Chapter Nine: Confirmation

Bella's POV:

Time seemed to stretch on forever, as I lay in Edward's embrace, Renesmee in my own arms. With a smile, I wondered if this is what Russian dolls felt like. Renesmee's breathing was steady, and I knew she was asleep.

Carlisle was already eagerly at work, poring over my DNA to discover if I had any remnants of the Quileute power left in my body. Renee was with him, though she did not understand what she was looking for under the microscope. She was just so excited to see if I had inherited my heritage from her.

Leah was staring out the window for the longest time, just absently running a hand through some of her hair. Once, I caught her peek back at me, biting her lip. She was obviously troubled about something.

I sighed, knowing what I had to do yet not wanting to have to get up to do it. Edward's arms felt like a blanket around me, tight and comforting. I didn't want to leave. But my stupid conscience wouldn't let me go without a fight.

"Edward, I want you to wait for me, I'll be back," I moaned quietly, sliding off his lap. He followed my gaze and nodded.

"I'll always wait for you, love," he said, giving me a kiss. I handed him a sleeping Renesmee, and walked over to Leah.

She flinched only slightly as I approached her, standing at her side. But I noted that her hesitant demeanor seemed to suggest a dog who knows it's it trouble. Like she doesn't want to get on with something she knows she has to do.

"Hey," I began, looking out the window with her. "It's one heck of a view, isn't it?"

Leah nodded, still not speaking just yet.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, after a minute. Talking really wasn't my thing; something I had inherited from Charlie. But I could see that she needed a shoulder to lean on, and it was only right of me to offer mine. Even if she would in all likelihood shove it away.

Leah shook her head slowly. I nodded, and began to turn back to Edward.

But I was surprised when she stopped suddenly, and began nodding her head.

"Yeah, there's something I need to tell you," Leah said, her voice sounding sheepish and somewhat reluctant. "I realize that you have every reason to hate me, and honestly I wouldn't blame you. The things I said—"

"No, you were right. I was torturing—" I began, but Leah gave me a look that said shut up, I'm pouring my heart out. Don't make this more difficult.

"I shouldn't have said the things I did," Leah continued. "Well, let me rephrase. I should have said the things I did, but I shouldn't have said the things I did, the way I did. It wasn't fair to you to strike back at you right then. I'm… I'm sorry."

Honestly, I was blown away. Where was this coming from? Edward said that she was inspired by the thought that she could have children again, but this?

"But I think you were right. I was hurting Jacob. And I didn't want him to be hurt. I—I don't really know what I was thinking right then," I said, remorse at realizing what Jacob must have felt back then, seeing me withering under the child I had borne. "I just wanted him to be near."

"Still doesn't fix that I shouldn't have said most of that stuff like that," Leah said. She turned to me, her eyes downcast a little. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," I said. Internally, I was still confused. But I shoved that aside for now.

Leah nodded, evidently accepting my apology. She glanced out the window once or twice more, before she stepped back from the awkward atmosphere between us growing steadily.

"I'm… gonna go for a run," she said, before turning and briskly walking out the door. I hope I hadn't said anything to offend her.

Edward was at my side in a moment. "I believe," he said, almost purring in my ear, "That I was promised a continuation of our cuddle."

I hummed happily as he led me back over to the couch, before we resumed our previous positions again. But the way Leah walked out was still bothering me.

"Edward, do you think I said anything to offend her?" I asked quietly, not wanting to wake Renesmee.

Edward glanced down at me. "No, Bella, you didn't. I watched your conversation through her mind. She's truly sorry for how she said those things to you. And while the thought still enrages me that she dared speak like that to you back then, I could tell she was honest with you just now. And she wasn't hurt, either. She just wanted to leave because it was quickly growing awkward between you two."

I sighed again, kissing Edward before nuzzling back into his arms. "I like this Leah much better."

Leah's POV:

Aaawwkkwwaaarrdddd…

I had to excuse myself. The tension between us was just overwhelming as I fought to control the burn in my cheeks. I had apologized for those horrid words, and I had meant it. After so long, hating the Cullens and what they were, apologizing to one of them was… jarring. I wasn't sorry for the reason I had said those words to Bella, but I was truly sorry for the words I had used.

I needed to go on a run. I wanted the wind to blow away the strange feeling inside of me. That jarred piece of myself. I stepped out of the Cullens house and didn't even wait to get off the porch before I phased. I turned, facing the river. I came at it, speeding as fast as I could before leaping high. I cleared the river easily, and landed solidly on the other bank. I ran, weaving between trees that were coming at me fast enough that a normal human wouldn't have a dream of being able to navigate. But my wolf senses were just fine at keeping this pace.

There was something else that my senses were picking up, however. The faint scent of smoke. I brushed it off. Someone lit a fire, I guess.

But as I ran, I gradually became aware that the scent wasn't fading out, like a normal campfire's trail of smoke would. It was like a jet's exhaust, sort of. A solid line of a smoky scent. And it didn't smell like wood burning. It just smelled like… fire. Just pure, unblemished fire.

The scent of fire was strange. There was no tinge to the smoky scent. There was no earthy wooden smell, nor the smell of meat roasting or leaves cooking. There was nothing. Just… smoke, and pure fire.

I slowly began following it. The scent of smoke was so faint, but I could detect the heat in the air. A solid line of flame-hot air. The creature that made this trail of heat had only passed by seconds ago, it would seem. Maybe a minute.

Curiosity ripped through me. I began following the trail of extreme heat. It sort of reminded me of my own shapeshifter heat. My body was superheated, since becoming a werewolf. Snow much more quickly melted at my touch.

But this… this was a whole new level of heat. Like a shapeshifter was honestly on fire.

I wove and ducked through trees, the ground blurring underneath me as I picked up speed. What was this thing?

The forest broke away from me. I looked around.

It was a small clearing in the forest. The foot of a small mountain shot up from the ground, and there was a small cave. It was an enchanting, forgotten part of the forest. And the trail of heat headed straight into that cave.

Slowly, I walked forward, realizing that a dangerous situation was possibly imminent. I bared my teeth at anyone that might have been watching as I walked slowly towards the cave.

I heard a faint hiss of air inside the cave. I peered into the darkness, and could only barely make out a strange shape in the back of the cave, curled up like a boy was trying to blend in to the cave walls as much as possible.

I locked my sights on the boy. There was nobody else in the cave, and I could feel the waves of fear washing over the boy as he turned to face me. I couldn't see his eyes in the darkness of the cave. But his fear didn't taste like normal fear, when faced with a horse-sized wolf. It wasn't of me. His fear was of me seeing him. It was more like someone might feel if they were intruded on while they were in an embarrassing situation.

I paused a dozen or so yards away. The two of us just stared at the other, though none of us could see the other's eyes. He tried to sit still, but it was like his form was trying to invent a new shape. I wondered if that was just the shadows playing tricks on my eyes.

Suddenly, I let a gasp loose as one of his eyes suddenly turned yellow, and cut through the darkness. I recognized that eye. Last night in the forest.

I quickly ran out of the cave, before turning a corner and phasing. I needed to talk to the mysterious stranger. I threw on my clothes as fast as possible, before rushing back into the cave. I couldn't see as well with my human eyes, but I peered into the darkness. I thought I saw something shift in the back of the cave again, and there was another hiss of air as the boy took a sharp intake of breath.

"It's you!" I said quietly.

The boy hissed again, gasping outwards. He curled up against the cave wall, shifting slowly so I couldn't see him. He kept himself curled up, like he wanted nothing more than to vanish from sight.

"Who are you?" I whispered, the cave amplifying my question.

The boy did not answer, but suddenly he did stand straight at the back. All I could see was his silhouette stand tall. He wasn't a boy. He was definitely a man. But he had a boyish feel to him, that was for sure.

"What's your name?" I asked, slowly walking forward.

That did it. Like a frightened animal, the boy suddenly sprang forward. I felt my form ripple for a moment as I tried to phase to protect myself, but the man rushed right past me, glancing over his shoulder as he ran. His eyes only glanced at mine as he ran past. Those stormy-gray eyes looked full of worry as two larger shapes suddenly sprang from the man's back, and carried him into the sky.

But I wasn't watching the shapes pump through the thin air, carrying their owner high up. I was watching the place where his eyes had met mine.

Everything I knew about myself didn't matter. My name, my identity, my heritage… none of it mattered.

I felt like I was floating upwards. Earth didn't hold me down anymore. The strings connecting me to Earth were all destroyed in a glance. Only one remained. A thousand remained. Thick ropes made of solid steel couldn't have held me more than that brief glance.

I had only glanced at his stormy-gray eyes, and they had only glimpsed at mine. But I knew I would gaze into them many more times, and I knew that I wouldn't rest until I had found that man/boy once again. That young man, the mysterious stranger…

…my imprint.

Rye's POV:

The buzz of looking into her eyes was still feeding heavily through my veins. Every cell in my body yearned to turn right around and rush back to her, but I was petrified. I couldn't stand it if she took one look at me and screamed. I would not only crumble into dust, I'd dissipate in the wind. I'd melt into lava and drown in it.

I flapped my wings again, when I felt a shiver run through my spine.

With a sound like a faint shimmer, my wings popped out of existence, as though telling me that they wouldn't cooperate in assisting me to run away from her. I yelped as I flew forward on nothing but my own momentum for a few moments, but I felt gravity grab me around the center. The earth suddenly looked much harder and rockier from the height I had been flying at.

I crashed through the foliage of the tree-tops, trying to grasp a branch to slow my fall, but I couldn't grab any in time. I felt my back harden as my second set of skin tried to shield me from the impact with the ground that was rapidly approaching. With any luck, I'd only break both my legs and an arm at the rate I was going.

I felt my heart crumble. Not only had I just run from the one person who mattered most to me, but I was in all likelihood never going to see her again. This was it. I'd probably die in the woods, bleeding out from internal wounds that not even my super-healing could fix in time.

As I felt the blackness of unconsciousness coming over me, I felt a pair of smooth, strong arms catch me out of the air, somebody's body shielding mine as they crashed straight through a tree, before catching a trunk and slowing their fall, me still shielded in their arms.

I wanted to resist. I wanted to run. I didn't want to be caught in a vampire's arms again, which these felt like. But a different face than the one I was expecting met me. She had dark, long, mahogany hair, and her skin was pale, shimmering in the daylight. She was definitely a vampire. But her eyes shone a warm golden in the daylight, as opposed to the flaming red I was used to.

"Who are you?" was the last thing I heard the woman say, before I blacked out.

Rye gasped, waking up and looking around. He was in a small hut, on a straw mat. It was still dark outside. His entire lower half was covered in his cursed red secondary skin, and his feet were still curled up as though clutching the branch he had passed out on. He looked over, and saw a vague shadow in the corner, darker than the rest.

He scrambled backwards, fear gripping his heart. Had one of the villagers captured him? Was he going to die? But before he could panic too much, a soothing voice began to come forth from the shadow, which rose and began walking towards him.

"It's okay, Rye, it's just me," a woman's voice said. The shadow suddenly struck a match, and lit a candle it was holding.

It was the vampire woman who had promised to take care of him. She placed the candle down on the floor of the hut, keeping to her side of the room.

"It's just me," she said again.

Rye sniffed a little, the tears in his eyes dried and forgotten. Hesitantly, he spoke softly. "Who are you? What's your name?"

The vampire woman smiled at him. "My name is Ramona Diamanda, child. Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Rye gave a confused but also visibly upset look to Ramona. "No, why would I—"

Ramona reached around the candle, careful to avoid the flames. She gently grabbed Rye's arm, and lifted it to his face for him to see.

His human skin was covered with light bruising, which were faded purple. The bruising laced up and down his arms.

"When I carried you here, I ran into my friend, Dimitria Rosewood. She grabbed at you, afraid of what you were in my arms, but I told her of your predicament. By that time, though, your left arm had already shattered. You are a fast healer, Rye," Ramona explained in a soft voice.

Rye nodded. He had noticed this when the transformations had originally begun taking place. The burning in his body was not fast enough before his body healed itself. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt to have the flames constantly punching through his torso.

A thought sprang to his mind. "Where is your friend now? Dimitria?"

"She is out hunting at the moment," Ramona said softly. "She will bring something back for you to eat."

Seeing Rye's pained expression, Ramona laughed. "No, not blood. She will bring you human food."

Rye was mollified for the moment. And in that moment, the door swung open suddenly. Another woman strode in, carrying a game bag made of stitched leather over her shoulder. She swung it around, and two things fell out. A large game cat, and a delicately wrapped package.

Rye yelped in surprise as the cat's head lolled towards him, before he realized that the panther in front of him was dead. He was petrified in his corner of the hut as the cat's glossy eyes stared at him. The second vampire woman said nothing to him at first, crossing the room of the hut before sitting down at Ramona's side.

"The panther is for me," Ramona said, picking the huge carcass up as though it weighed no more than a rug. She carefully set the large cat down behind her, out of Rye's sight. "The package is for you."

The package was in a neat paper wrapper, and Rye slowly opened it, afraid of what he might find. But inside was simply a fresh pie. It was still smoking hot, as though it had just come out of the oven. It smelled good.

Rye couldn't help himself. He reached into the package's paper wrapper.

"No, you'll burn—" Ramona began worriedly, but both vampires just stared as Rye lifted the flaming-hot pie out of the paper. To him, it was no hotter than his own hand. In fact, the pie actually started steaming a little more at his touch.

"I don't get burned," Rye said, quietly. It was the first time he'd actually talked about his curse to anyone. His voice sounded weak, and scared. He was still exhausted. He hadn't eaten anything in two days. The pie was enticing him, but he managed to finish his sentence. "Heat doesn't bother me. Cold things warm up when I get close."

The two vampires watched in fascination as Rye consumed the pie as fast as he could, while also trying not to make a pig out of himself in front of the two women. He took bites, but they were large and fast, and went down easily. The pie was very filling. He had finished nearly half of it when he looked up again.

"Do you want some?" he asked, holding the pie out to them. He cursed himself internally. Why did he use his hands to eat? Like a savage. At least he could've grabbed some bark or something to eat off of.

"Thank you for the thought, but no. Human food does not appeal to either of us," the second vampire said, speaking to Rye for the first time. "The pie is for you, shifter."

Rye dug in again and tried not to notice as the two vampire women only broke their gazes to drink from the cat behind them. He didn't want to criticize their eating habits; that felt rude. But they did drink blood, and as far as he knew he did have blood in his veins…

"Do you always drink blood?" Rye asked, looking up from his finished pie plate. The plate was still steaming, and the pie was hot in his esophagus, but no hotter than his normal temperature.

"Yes, it is a part of this life I have participated in," Ramona said, turning back to face him. She raised an eyebrow. "I suppose your next question will be to ask why I haven't drunk your blood yet?"

Rye nodded, sheepishly. He was worried about that; who wouldn't be? Especially considering that he was sitting in front of two vampire women who by all counts appeared to be stronger than him.

"Your blood does not— how to put this gently—" Ramona said, turning to truly face him, as Dimitria continued to drink. "… your blood has a different scent to it. One that repels. And to be honest, it smells like it's been charred. The smell you might find if you roasted a live animal."

Huh. Rye nodded. His body had always felt like he was burning from the inside out. It was only last year that he had been able to stop whimpering from the heat and pain. He'd be surprised if she had told him his blood didn't smell charred.

"Well, that's nice to know," Rye said, relaxing to some degree. Ramona nor Dimitria would try to drink his blood, it didn't smell any good to them.

"You should beware us, though, child," Ramona went on, "If we are lost in a bloodlust, it can be hard to control our thirst for blood. Any blood."

Rye gulped again. "And to get into these bloodlusts, you need to—?"

"Usually, it occurs when a delectable human's—or animal's—blood is spilled. When that happens, just stay out of the way, and you'll be fine, alright?"

At this point, she gave him such a warm smile, he couldn't help but smile back.

"Okay," he said softly. He yawned widely, feeling sudden fatigue wash over him.

"Sleep. You need rest to heal, and to get better," Ramona soothed. "Sweet dreams, Rye."

Rye curled up on the straw mat, his tail wrapping around his body and curling his body all up into a ball. He was out like a light in moments.

"Ramona," Dimitria said, very, very quietly. "We cannot keep the boy long. If the Volturi—"

"The Volturi will not attack, and he will not betray our secret. The boy hates contact with humans even more than they do. The humans believe him to be a demon," Ramona whispered, staring at Rye's sleeping frame.

"Is he not?" Dimitria said, glancing at Rye. "There's not many other explanations for such a shapeshifter as he is. Most turn into lions, or panthers, or wolves, or even some form of bird. But he… he doesn't belong to any of these…"

"No," Ramona said, a harsh glint lighting her eye as she smiled. "He doesn't. He belongs to me."

Well, whaddya think? Please don't get mad at me for giving Leah an imprint, it made me sad at the end of Twilight that she really wasn't mentioned in the 'Now Everyone's happy!' celebration. XD

So I gave her an OC imprint. But with Leah, things don't always come easy...

Any guesses as to what Rye is yet? I mean, aside from shapeshifter. What's his other form? Like I said before, feel free to leave a review or PM me with your guesses! :)

-DragonHighElder