"I don't know, Leah." Jacob's voice was husky, and his warm breath tickled her ear. She turned to face him, her dark eyes searching his. "Vampires are not our allies – they're our sworn enemies."
"I know that, Jacob," she said softly. "But you have to admit the Cullens have shown themselves to be respectful and trustworthy."
"Do I though?" Leah ran her fingers lightly along his jawline, willing the tightly clenched muscles to relax. "I'm not actually ready to admit that."
"We don't even know for sure they've broken the treaty," she persisted. She reached out and pulled up a sheet to cover their naked bodies.
His eyes widened. "Come on, Lee. It's me you're talking to. Do you have another explanation?"
She sighed and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. "No, but I decided to let it go. Maybe sometimes the end does justify the means."
His jaw tightened and he shook his head. "Not good enough," he muttered. "That's a cop-out."
Leah sat up. "This is really bugging you, isn't it? Let's put it another way. This treaty is between the Cullen family and the Quileute tribe. Is it safe to say that Carlisle represents his family? That he's their leader?"
Jacob made a "T" with his hands, a time-out gesture. "Are you planning to say that you represent the whole tribe? That you're our leader? Because I think the Council might have a problem with that."
Leah froze. "The council, Jake? Or you personally?" When he didn't answer, she yanked his T-shirt on over her head and left the room. He heard the back door slam and looked out in time to see the shredded remains of the white shirt flutter gracefully to the ground. The sleek grey wolf was already out of sight.
Embry looked up from his bowl of Cheeriios. "Trouble in paradise, boss?"
His grin melted away under Jacob's glare and he looked back down at his breakfast.
Dinnertime came, and no Jacob. It was Seth's turn to cook, so he was grilling burgers on the huge grill in the yard. Leah wore a scowl that kept everyone at arm's length. Quil and Jared were on patrol duty, Embry on cleanup.
"Meat's up!" Seth hollered, placing a large platter of rare beef patties on the picnic table alongside a pot of corn on the cob and Sue's contribution of potato salad. Leah stabbed a burger with the meat fork and maneuvered it into a roll, then stood staring at it.
"You gonna eat that, Sis?" Seth grinned at her.
"Actually, no," she snapped and dropped it into his hand before stomping back into the house. Seth looked toward Embry, who was shaking his head in warning. He finished piling his plate with food and took a seat at the table.
"Any idea what that was about?" Seth asked around a mouthful of potato salad.
"Something going on between her and Jake," Embry whispered.
Seth sighed. "Better stay out of her way then," he replied quietly. "I'll help you clean up and we can go to my house to work on homework."
Embry nodded and reached for another burger. "No sense letting this go to waste."
Jacob finally showed up the following afternoon, after his patrol with Sam. Leah was running the vacuum in the carpeted living room. She turned quickly when he pulled the plug. "Oh. It's you." She took the plug from his hand and wound it carefully onto the handle.
Still standing, he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "I stayed with my dad last night. He had some chores for me to do."
She shrugged. It was not unusual, but he'd always mentioned it to her first.
"We had a long talk," he continued.
Her dark eyes shot up to his face. "Going over my head?"
He shook his head and spoke softly. "I wouldn't do that, Leah. Don't you know better than that?"
"I thought I did," she replied curtly.
"We just talked in more general terms. Like the fact that it's not always easy to live with a strong-minded, intelligent woman. And how much we both respect you."
She couldn't help cracking a smile. "And how I'm always right, and you're sorry you argued with me?"
He grinned and plopped down on the couch. "Let's not get carried away. I still don't agree with you, but I don't think you made me your Beta to be a yes-man."
She smiled and sank down on the couch next to him. "You're right about that. I always want to discuss things with you, Jake. We are a team, and we won't always agree. I'll even go so far as to admit that some day, it's just possible you might convince me that I was wrong. But today's not that day."
"Fair enough. So what are we going to do?"
"We're going to let it go for now. Carlisle was straight with me. I believe he really doesn't know, for a fact, what happened to that vamp. If he had to guess, I'm sure he'd agree with our scenario. But there's nothing to be gained by going to war with the Cullens. We know that and so do they."
"Okay, Leah. I hope you're right. That's the best I can do."
She sighed. "Fair enough. Did you have dinner?"
"No, I just got off patrol and I'm starving." He sniffed the air. "And something smells wonderful."
She grinned. "My mom made lasagna. And apple pie. She really does spoil us, doesn't she?"
He laughed and pulled her onto his lap. "She does. Do we have to wait for the kids?"
"Don't push it," she said with a low chuckle. "That gives us more than an hour to kill. How about you get in the shower and then we'll think of something to pass the time."
"I like the way you think, Ma'am," he murmured, his lips brushing against her throat, and added, "I might need some help with the hard-to-reach parts."
Later, most of the pack was assembled for dinner. It was raining, so they gathered in Leah's big kitchen and Jared set two large steaming casseroles on the table. He retrieved several loaves of Italian bread from the pantry and sliced them thickly.
Seth buttered a slice of bread and popped it into his mouth. He chewed quickly and swallowed before speaking. "Anybody hear from Sam?"
Leah shook her head. "He and Emily finally found their own place. It's a basement apartment, but they can be alone there. She's cooking for him these days."
Embry grinned. "Muffins for dinner?"
"Come on, Em," Leah said with a smile. "I'm sure she can make other things."
"Hmph," was Seth's contribution as he reached for another helping of lasagna. It was halfway to his plate when they all froze. A howl broke the stillness of the late afternoon, and they all recognized Quil's voice.