Burning

AN: Sorry it's taken me so long to post (again). Standard excuses, etc, etc. At any rate, I hope someone out there's still reading this!
THANKS SO MUCH TO EACH AND EVERY REVIEWER!!!!!! Again, you guys really are my inspiration, and I hope you like this chapter. It didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to, but oh well. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again for leaving me a review! As always, comments, criticisms, questions, concerns, anything are all more than welcome!
Typical Disclaimers, etc.


How was it that despite the noise and commotion around the enormous bonfire, Sam's eyes latched right onto me the moment Embry and I stepped out of the shadows? Or, more precisely, latched right onto our intertwined hands with a glare that should've burned a hole right through them. Pathetically, I froze on the spot like a guilty rabbit and panicked.

That reaction only lasted a fraction of a second, thankfully. After all, what right did he have to glare at me for an innocent hand-hold between friends when he had his arm draped over his fiance, for god's sake. I lifted my chin and glared haughtily back at him, daring him to say anything. I didn't belong to him anymore. I didn't belong to anybody, and dammit, I was going to pretend like everything that I liked it that way.

Even though I really felt more like running away when Emily whispered something to him and he turned to her with a look of complete adoration. My hand tightened around Embry's as I drew in a shaky breath, telling myself sternly to keep it together. The concern in his eyes as he glanced down at me was at odds with the casually calm smile on his face, and he quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Okay?" he murmured quietly, and I gave him a tiny, jerky nod.

"Yeah. I'm good," I answered reassuringly, but it was really more for myself than for him. Because, honestly, I felt impossibly far from 'good'. I was feeling a whole lot more nauseous at the thought of sitting there pretending everything was hunky-dory than feeling any sort of 'good'.

"Hey, guys! I wasn't sure Rose and Alice were going to let you out of their clutches in time," Seth exclaimed, playfully shoving my shoulder as he bounded up to us. I wrote myself a mental note to thank him on bended knee for coming up to distract me just then.

Several of the La Push Wolves shuddered at the mention of the Vamp girls' names, and Paul actually spat into the fire. I bit back a laugh when Rachel Black gave him a scalding look for it, and he immediately looked sheepishly apologetic. Imprinting had it's rare moments; I hoped she gave him hell on a regular basis.

Embry kept a firm grip on my hand as we followed Seth to the empty spot by Jacob, despite the looks we were getting from most of the La Push Pack. I didn't really care; they all probably knew I'd been sleeping in Embry's room all week, so chances were high they thought something was going on, anyway.

Not that anything was going on. We were just best friends. That was it. Friends who happened to like snuggling. That wasn't so odd, was it?

It took me a few moments to realize that more than half of the Pack- specifically, the non-imprinted half- weren't staring at the pair of us. They were just staring at me. And to be even more specific, they were staring at parts of me. Like my legs. Or my chest.

I caught Brady ogling my legs over the edge of his cup, and I glared right at him until his eyes traveled up far enough to meet my own. He choked, coughing and spluttering, as he turned a brilliant shade of eggplant and looked away, mortified. Unfortunately for him, he was too busy looking anywhere but in my direction to notice the package of hotdogs Sam chucked at him, and I snorted with amusement as it bounced off of his head with a very satisfying thwacking sound. Suddenly, the rest of Sam's Pack was intensely interested in anything that wasn't me.

"Looking good there, Miss Clearwater," Billy Black exclaimed jovially as we passed his wheelchair, seated on the edge of the group of elders. I grinned at him, knowing his sharp eyes hadn't missed a thing.

"Thanks, Billy. Hey, this isn't your usual spot, is it?" I asked, even though I had a feeling I knew why he was over here by us, on the fringes, rather than in his customary honored spot.

"Yeah, well. It ain't usual for your mom to miss these gatherings, either," he replied, not bothering to lower his voice one bit. I was pleased to see several of the elders squirm uncomfortably under the caustic looks he swept over them.

"Cool it, guys," Jacob warned us quietly.

"Old bastards," I muttered under my breath as I directed a glare at the old man who had the audacity to take Billy's place before I obediently backed off.

I tugged my hand out of Embry's as we sat down, suddenly way too conscious of the feel of his large, calloused hand gently gripping my own. A portion of the butterfly herd from that afternoon was back, fluttering around in my nervous stomach, and I looked around a little desperately for something to take my mind off of it.

My eyes landed on Quil, sitting on the other side of Jake, and I was momentarily distracted by the distinct absence of the toddler Claire.

"Hey, Quil. What's up? Is it past Claire's bedtime or something?" I asked him, trying hard to smile nicely instead of smirking.

He shrugged and dug in the sand with his toes. "Not really. I just... didn't feel right bringing her along if Jake couldn't bring Nessie," he replied quietly, but still loud enough that half the La Push Pack could hear him. He shot a swift scowl in the direction of Sam and the elders, and Embry and I looked at each other in surprise.

"Right on, man," Embry told him as a smile hiked up the corners of his mouth. Jake said nothing, but I could tell he was just as thrilled as Embry was with this little show of comraderie.

For a long time, the five of us just sat there, joking quietly amongst ourselves, and the separation of the two Packs was as obvious as a brick wall. There was us, and there was them, and it wasn't making the Elders very happy at all to see it.

"Wonder if they're really gonna try to talk us into ditching Jake," Embry whispered into my ear at one point.

"I hope it's soon. I'm looking forward to giving them my answer," I muttered darkly. "They could've at least fed us something better than cheap-o hotdogs if they were trying to soften us up, though."

Embry laughed, and Sam's eyes were pinned on us again like a laser beam. It took every ounce of self-control I had to ignore him, and I scooted just a tiny bit closer to Embry for support. That, apparently, was a mistake, because Sam's glare intesified tenfold. What the hell was I doing wrong now? I wasn't even talking to any of his Pack, I wasn't causing any trouble. I was just there.

To my utter horror, I could feel the telltale prick of tears beginning on the inside of my eyelids, and I blinked rapidly to keep them away. I knew Sam didn't want me around, but did he have to be so blatant about it?

Embry, living up to his role as my personal mini-Jasper, looked down at me with a slight frown, confusion written all over his face. He made a move to put his arm around my shoulders, then apparently remembered the hotdogs he had in both hands and thought better of it. I wasn't sure if I was happy about that or not. I mean, it would've been nice to lean into his warmth and know that he, at least, didn't want me to disappear, but I really, really, didn't want anyone else knowing how pathetic I was being.

Like a reflex, Embry's eyes shot over to Sam, and their glares clashed angrily from across the bonfire. Dark fury, like thunderheads, clouded both their faces instantly, and I gripped Embry's arm with a sudden fear that they were going to shift and attack each other right there.

"Whoa, Tank. That's enough," I muttered to him. I didn't think he heard me, and I tugged on his arm to get his attention. It didn't work.

On the other side of him, Jake suddenly noticed something was wrong, and he glanced swiftly between Embry and Sam. He looked at me, the confusion in his eyes mirroring mine, and started to rise to his feet.

"Ouch! Oh, no!"

The little cry of pain from Emily broke the tense moment, and Sam had turned to her with overwhelming concern before her hotdog had even toppled to the ground. Jake heaved an enormous sigh of relief as he sank back into his seat on the old log, and I let go of Embry's arm cautiously.

"What the hell was that all about?" Jacob asked us in a low undertone, even as we heard Emily sheepishly explain that she'd just burned herself a little on the hotdog. My stomach gave a funny little twist as I worked very hard at trying to ignore Sam treating her (very) minor burn as if it were a mortal wound, and I focused on Embry's face instead. The dark thunderclouds hadn't completely disappeared yet, and his eyes looked almost black as he stared into the fire. I had the most ridiculous urge to reach my hand up to try to soothe the muscle ticking in his jaw, but of course I resisted it.

"You okay, Tank?" I asked him softly. He gave me a short, clipped nod, and Jake scowled at both of us.

"Seriously, what the hell's going on?" he demanded.

Embry sighed and gave him a half-hearted attempt at a smile. "Nothing. Just Sam pissing me off. I over-reacted."

"No kidding," I agreed emphatically. "And it looks like your hotdogs payed the price, too."

I looked pointedly at the mangled remains of his meal squeezing out from his tightly clenched fists and tried not to grin at his expression.

"Aw, man! Two perfectly good dogs, wasted!" he moaned, tossing the remains into the fire as he got up to go wash his hands. I snickered along with Jake and told myself firmly that I wasn't going to panic because he'd left my side. Keeping my eyes on the fire, I did my best to ignore Sam coddling Emily.

Jake scooted closer to me casually, watching the dancing flames as he leaned towards me. "Seriously, Leah. What happened there?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," I replied, shrugging. And that was the truth. Sure, Embry had seen that I was upset, and rightly deduced it was because of Sam, but that was no reason for the way the two of them were glaring at each other. Luckily for me, Jake seemed to content to leave it at that.

Unluckily for me, however, a few of the younger La Push Packmates were taking advantage of Sam's distraction over Emily to ogle me again. It kind of made me wish I'd shown up in a baggy pair of sweats and an oversized hoodie.

"Uh, hey. Leah. You, uh, want another hotdog or something?"

Oh, wonderful. Apparantly, at least one of them had worked up the courage to talk to me, too. I turned to look at the guy- Joshua? Jared? I couldn't remember his name- and dredged up a smile.

"No thanks. I think my limit's around five or so," I replied in as friendly a tone as I could muster. After all, there was no real reason to bite his head off, yet. And the effort it took to be at least passably nice was worth it to see the looks of shock on all my former Packmates' faces. The old Leah Clearwater wouldn't have hestitated to rip the kid a new one.

"Really? I think I've lost count..." he said thoughtfully, then grinned widely at me. Really, he was kind of cute in a boyish sort of way. It was a shame I couldn't remember his name.

A couple of guys around his age inched closer, braver now that one of them had broken the ice. I humored their awkward attempts at starting a conversation and wondered how long it would take them to notice that Sam had seen them talking to me and was getting progressively more pissed off by the minute. It shouldn't bother me so much that he obviously didn't want me to have anything to do with his Pack, but it did. The sting of it wound deep into my bones, and I wished I had an excuse to run home and cry.

Embry sauntered back, a hotdog in both hands and a bag of chips under his arm. He stopped in front of Joshua-or-Jared and looked down at him with narrowed eyes.

"You're in my spot, man," he said pointedly, arching an eyebrow, and the poor kid scrambled to get up and get out of his way. Grinning, Embry plunked himself down next to me and proceeded to stuff almost an entire hotdog into his mouth, bun and all.

"If you start choking, I'm not going to save you," I told him severely. "And anyway, that wasn't your seat."

"True. But I wasn't going to tell our high and mighty Alpha to move."

"It's good to be king," Jake drawled lazily from the other side of me. I gave him a playful smack upside the head, but our joking was cut short as the Billy-Replacement elder began retelling the familiar tale of the Cold Ones and the third wife.

His voice telling the story sounded all wrong. He just couldn't invoke the power of it like Billy could, and it was hard to pay attention to his droning voice at all. Billy winked and smiled at me when I glanced his way, as if to reassure me that his demotion didn't bother him in the slightest, but I couldn't stop myself from glaring darkly into the bonfire.

The story wound to a close, and most of the boys stretched and shifted gratefully. My Pack stayed perfectly still, waiting, in a silent, tight-knit group bunched around Jacob Black. He sat straight, his held held high, and I felt a momentary twinge of pride that he was actually trying to play his part as the Alpha of the Alphas.

The high pitched ring of a cell phone pierced the night air unnaturally, cutting off whatever the elder was about to say next, and Jake reached lazily into his back pocket to pull it out.

"Hey, Mutt. Give Leah the phone, would you?" Everyone could hear Rosalie's voice ringing as clear as crystal bells on a frosty morning in the silence around the bonfire. Rolling his eyes, Jake tossed the phone casually to me and blithely ignored the intensely curious stares from the La Push Pack.

"Rose? What's up?" I muttered, keeping as quite as possible. I stayed in my seat and attempted to copy Jake's nonchalance even though I felt like crawling under my log like a little grub.

"Just checking in," she answered lightly. "Everybody here's on edge, you know how it is. Esme's pacing a hole in the carpet, and Carlisle's setting up a makeshift emergency room in his study, just in case. Jasper's detailed at least three different scenarios- all worst-case, of course, which is only making Esme more worried, and Alice is giving herself a headache trying to see what's going on."

On either side of me, Embry and Jake's shoulders heaved with quiet laughter, and I slapped a hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle.

"Oh, sure. Go ahead and laugh, but Emmett and I have to sit here and deal with all the crazies," she complained loudly. "When are you guys going to be done so we can go back to normal?"

"Soon, I hope. What about Bella and Edward? Are they on the crazy side or the normal side?" I replied, still giggling.

"They grabbed Nessie and ran for their cottage the minute Jasper started in. Bella didn't want her worrying any more than she already was about her Wolf-People."

"Anybody get punched yet?" Emmett yelled from somewhere in the background. I could feel the glares like hot daggers from around the bonfire at that one, but Embry just leaned towards the phone with a laugh.

"Unfortunately, no. Night's not done yet, though," he said cheerfully, and I elbowed him the ribs. Jake gave me a pointed look, and I nodded.

"Right. This isn't the best time, so... just tell everyone to calm down because everything's fine, okay?"

"Will do. Just please, call us when you're done. For my sake," Rose begged before hanging up. I handed the phone back to Jacob before turning an innocent face towards the elders.

"Sorry. Our family's just a bit worried about us. You were saying?" I asked with false politeness. Nearly every La Push Wolf shuddered with obvious disgust at my words, but I was proud to see even Quil lift his head and nod in agreement.

"How can you call them family, Leah? Your family's right here..." Emily blurted out in a shaky voice before Sam shushed her quietly.

I lifted my chin and stared her down. "No, my family's over here, sitting next to me. And over in Forks, pacing the floors worrying one of us is going to get hurt. That's my family."

Emily blanched, but I didn't care. She sat over there, with her fiance that should've been mine, looking like she was the victim. But when had she ever shown the slighest bit of concern over what her betrayal had done to me?

"It's not right. It's not natural," the elder cut in. "Things were not meant to be this way. This is your home. These are your people. You can't turn your back on all this-"

"We wouldn't have, if you hadn't wanted us to attack innocent people," Seth threw in, surprising me to the core.

"That was a mistake," Sam admitted quickly, defensively.

Quil shook his head. "Yeah, but it was a mistake that could've cost lives on either side if Jacob, Seth, and Leah hadn't left to protect them. If it wasn't for them, you would've ordered us to attack that same day, and where would that put us now? The Cullens are good people. They don't deserve the kind of hate and distrust you all have for them. Wish I'd followed my instincts to leave the minute Jake did," he ended with a low mutter.

The elder stiffened haughtily. "They are what they are by nature. Cold ones. Enemies of the living. They cannot fight their nature forever. They have killed before, and they will kill again."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Who are we to judge them for crimes they might not commit? Or things they may have done long before our time? All we can judge is now, and right now, they're innocent," Embry insisted quietly.

"That doesn't erase what they are. Doesn't make them innocent," replied the elder harshly.

"I think it does. I'm proud to call them my family," I said in a firm, clear voice, looking him squarely in the eye with a determined glare.

"Oh, yeah. I'll bet you are," Paul snorted. "You just wish you weren't already a freak so you could beg them to make you a stinking bloodsucker, too."

His words hit me like a slap in the face, and I sat perfectly still, to angry to even speak. Embry stood up, meaty hands clenched into fists of granite, ready and willing to pound him into the ground. But before Paul could get to his feet, Rachel Black lit into him. He cowered sheepishly under her short tirade, and I tugged Embry back down onto the log next to me.

"Forget it. It doesn't matter," I muttered to him.

"Like hell it doesn't," he growled back, and I thanked my lucky stars that Paul was sitting across the bonfire from us, or no one would've been able to stop their fight.

Sam stood up, bringing the focus of the group back to himself. "Look, I understand how you could become friends with the Cullens. They're good people, as far as their kind goes. I won't deny that. But you can't deny the fact that they're still dangerous."

"Not to us," Jacob argued. "Not to any of you, either. Unless you're stupid enough to give them a reason."

Sam colored slightly under the hint of accusation in Jake's voice. He'd given them more than a reason to hurt the Pack when he'd wanted to kill Bella's unborn child- and by extention, her as well.

"It's your own fault there are two Packs. It was your decision that forced me to break away from you. And you and I both know that every Wolf here has the right to chose his own Alpha," Jake continued relentlessly. Sam clenched his jaw shut, his eyes narrowed, but he had nothing to say in reply to that. Jake looked back at us, and I gave a tiny nod of encouragement.

"I never wanted a Pack. That's not why I..." he trailed off, then stiffened his spine and held his head high as he faced the elders. "I told Seth, and Leah, too, to go back to La Push when they joined me. I didn't want to be an Alpha, and I sure as hell didn't want to lead a renegade Pack. But I didn't have a choice at the time, and those two made up their own minds on the matter. Embry and Quil, too. I didn't want a Pack, but I've got one, and I sure as hell won't put up with them being harrassed about it. If they want to follow me, that's their choice, not yours."

"An Alpha's first duty is to protect his Pack, Jacob. Not lead them willingly into danger," Sam growled harshly.

Next to me, Embry trembled slightly from the force of his anger, and I slipped my fingers into his tightly clenched fist and squeezed. Now was not the time for anyone to lose their control, especially given the fact that there were more than a handful of normal humans scattered throughout the group. Emily's scars would seem like a kitten scratch compared what might happen if one of us phased.

Jacob clenched his own hands into white-knuckled fists and snarled. "They're not in danger. The Cullens would never-"

"Leah was attacked in Seattle! She could've died!" Sam bellowed suddenly, making me jump. My cheeks burned with mortification, and I wished the sand would open up and bury me as nearly everyone's eyes fastened on me.

"That's not true. I was with the Cullens and they-"

But Sam cut me off wildly. "You shouldn't have been there at all! Out with the bloodsuckers..." He turned his burning, angry glare back at Jake. "You're the one responsible for that. You let her get into that car with them, you let her leave without protection-"

"In case it's escaped your notice, Sam, Leah's not exactly helpless," Jake answered with a hiss. "And three vampires are better protection than your entire Pack."

"The Cullens are the reason Cyrus won't hunt," Seth threw in, looking decidedly unhappy about how things were going.

"The Cullens are the reason Cyrus knows about Leah," Sam spat back. Embry's hand tightened around mine convulsively, and I shot a quick, confused glance at him.

"Sam," Jacob began warningly, but Sam cut him off.

"No. It's your fault that filthy bloodsucker wants her. Your mind-reading leeches told you how obsessively he wants to hunt her. If she had been in La Push, where all of you belong, he would never have even known she existed. Now it's just a matter of time before he comes back for her, and all because you thought she'd be safe with the leeches."

I swallowed hard against the sudden dryness in my mouth, my whole body turning abruptly cold and numb. Embry's hand covering my own felt like red-hot lead.

"That's not true. Cyrus wants to hunt the Pack. The biggest, the strongest..." I breathed out at the same time that Embry barked, "Sam, shut up!"

"You didn't even tell her, did you?" Paul asked acidly. "Some 'family'."

I turned my burning eyes toward Jacob, but he was too busy staring Sam down with narrowed eyes to look at me. Seth shuffled his feet nervously when I glanced at him, and Quil avoided looking at me altogether. As if that wasn't a dead give-away that they'd definitely hid something important from me, the look on Embry's face would've confirmed it.

"Cyrus... doesn't want to hunt just any Wolf in the Pack," he told me quietly, looking at me with pained eyes that begged me not to be angry with him. "Edward and Jasper, they read him and he... He's like Aro. And you're the most unique prey he's ever seen. He wants the hunt- but only if it's you."

Rarest of the rare. What a pet she'd make.

The deadly, musical voice chimed through my head as clearly as if Cyrus had been standing behind me, and a cold shiver of dread ran down my spine. I understood exactly what Embry was saying- and not saying. My god, why hadn't they told me?

"But he decided not to hunt, right? He's in Canada," I insisted, and I was very proud that my voice didn't waver in the slightest.

"For now," Sam replied tersely. "He'll come back."

"We don't know that for sure. He wasn't willing to fight us and the Cullens before. He might not ever think it's worth the risk to himself," Jacob answered stubbornly.

"It doesn't matter if he does come back. He's no match for either Pack, much less the Cullens. So it's just idiotic to get upset about it," I stated calmly, giving Sam and his Pack a dismissive glare. I slid my fingers out of Embry's hand, and I knew he saw right past my calm mask. I was seething under the surface. How could they have kept this from me? Why?

I couldn't look at Embry's face as I stood up, because I knew those dark eyes of his would still be begging me not to be angry with him. I was pathetic enough that something like that could make me cave completely, too, and I wanted to stay mad at him- at all of them.

"If that's all you've got to say, I'm heading home," I stated coldly, looking over the silent group with a hard glare.

"Leah, we'll ask you one more time, will you truly not reconsider?" an elder asked me. "You belong with our people, on our land. Will you come back to us?"

Straightening my spine, I stood straight and tall. "I stand by what I said. As long as there are two Alphas, there will be two Packs. Jacob Black has my allegiance, and the Cullens have my friendship for as long as they want it."

Not waiting for a reply and not caring whether anyone was following me or not, I stepped out of the ring of firelight and marched away into the night. Heavy footfalls behind me alerted me to the fact that all four of my Packmates were following me, but I didn't bother to slow down or acknowledge them.

"Leah, c'mon. Wait up! Let us explain," Embry called, a note of frustration in his voice.

"Explain what? Why everybody else, even Sam's Pack, knows more about what's going on than I do? Or why you didn't think it was necessary to let me know that I'm supposedly some crazed leech's target?" I hissed back with acidic sarcasm.

"That's not how it is," said Jacob defensively, and I swung around to face them angrily.

"It's not, huh? What the hell, Jake. I'm supposed to be your Beta!"

"I know that. I-"

"So why the hell didn't you tell me any of that? Did you think I'm too weak to handle it? That I'd freak out like some helpless damsel in distress?"

The four of them squirmed uncomfortably and shot uncertain glances at each other under my molten fury. None of them seemed able to come up with a good answer for me, and I blew out an angry, frustrated breath.

"Whatever. Forget it," I huffed, swiveling around on my heels and stalking off.

"Wait- where are you going?" Embry asked anxiously, jogging to catch up with me. The look I pinned him with was pure venom, and he quailed underneath it.

"Home. Unless you think I can't even make it that far by myself safely," I snapped viciously. "Don't forget to call Rose," I threw over my shoulder at Jake as I stalked off, leaving Embry standing dejectedly behind in my wake.

Stupid puppy dog eyes! How could he make me feel so guilty for walking off like that when I was totally justified for being royally pissed off? I had to give myself a few hard mental slaps to keep from turning around and running off to find him.

The house was silent and dark when I let myself in, and it thoroughly gave me the creeps. I quickly flipped on all the kitchen lights, wishing my mother had picked a different night to stay over at Charlie's, and started to make myself a huge midnight snack to take my mind off my jitters.

Now that the first shock of anger had worn off, I could feel the cold fingers of terror creeping up my spine. Cyrus. My own personal, living nightmare had just gotten a whole lot worse.

And it was only a matter of time until he came back.

A timid knock on my front door made me splatter myself with hot grease from the potatoes I was frying, and I cursed spectacularily under my breath. The angry, red blisters on my arms were just starting to heal when I flung the door open and stepped back in surprise.

"Hi. Can I come in?"

For a moment, I just stood there blinking stupidly at the figure in my doorway. I'd expected it to be Embry, or even Jacob, but instead, it was Emily who stood in the small halo of light, her scarred face twisted with nervous anxiety. My eyes darted through the shadows automatically, searching for Sam, and she fidgeted.

"He's not here, he's... I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?" she repeated, and this time I stepped aside to let her pass. I followed her into the kitchen and went back to cooking my potatoes in the hope that she'd just spit out whatever she'd come to say and get gone. I was in no mood to play pretend anymore tonight.

"Leah, why are you doing this?" Emily asked suddenly, startling me.

I turned to look at her, genuinely confused. "Doing what?"

"Fighting us. Pretending that you actually like the Cullens."

"I'm not pretending!" I exclaimed. "I meant every word. They're my family now, whether you and Sam like it or not."

"But we're your family. You and I... we used to be so close, like sisters," she insisted, and I had to fight the urge to shout, 'yeah, before you turned your back on me without a second glance!'.

"We could be like that again, Leah. If you'd just let me... You don't need to fight like this, you could come home to your real family-"

"I am home. And I won't turn my back on the Cullens. Not now, not ever," I spoke quietly, but my voice was firm and certain. Emily swallowed hard, blinking as a sheen of tears sprang into her eyes.

"I miss you, Leah," she whispered.

"I think you should leave now," I told her emotionlessly, turning away from her to stir my potatoes. There were several long moments of silence before I heard her stumble out of the kitchen. The front door slammed, and I let myself slump heavily.

I was a rotten person. That much I already knew. I'd just rejected Emily, my once sort-of sister, and let her leave my house in tears. And if that wasn't bad enough, the truth was, I honestly didn't care all that much. I didn't miss her. I didn't want her friendship back. And I definitely had no desire to 'come home', as she'd put it.

Suddenly, I had an insanely intense desire to see Embry. Maybe it was simply a need to redeem myself a little by making things up with him. Maybe I just needed a hug. Whatever the reason, I dumped the black ashes of my potatoes into the garbage and sprinted out the door. Unfortunately for me, I ran into the solid wall of Seth's chest on my way outside.

"Whoa. Hey, where're you going?" he asked cautiously, obviously worried about getting another tongue-lashing from me.

"Out," I answered evasively, weaseling my way around him and out the door. He frowned and followed after me.

"Out? But, Leah..."

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving the rez," I snapped back at him, and he stopped and shoved his hands in his pockets with a resigned look on his face.

I blew through the trees to Embry's house, but pulled up short in the shadows as the sound of angry voices floated over to me. Sam! It was Sam arguing with my Tank, and by the looks of it, they'd been there for a while.

"...don't need to do this, Embry. You can't fix my mistakes," Sam was saying, and I watched from the cover of the trees as Embry bristled.

"Is that why you think I'm doing this? Get over yourself, Sam!" he snarled back. "I'm not doing anything for you. Or because of you. You're nothing to me."

Sam gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists. "Fine. Think what you want of me, but I ordered you to stay away from her for good reasons."

Stay away from who? Stay away from me? Oh, god! They were talking about me! I sank farther into the shadows, desperate not to get caught, but unwilling to leave, either.

"Oh, really? And what reasons were those, Sam? To make sure she stayed lonely and miserable? Or to keep anyone from knowing how much of an ass you really are?" Embry demanded harshly.

"No, dammit. Listen to me!"

"I think it's time you listened," Embry snarled, jabbing a finger at Sam. "I followed your orders in your Pack because I didn't have a choice. But there's no way in hell I'm following them now. You haven't got any right to control me, and you've got absolutely no right to control Leah. She's not yours anymore."

"She's not yours, either, and you know it. She can never be yours," Sam replied, running frustrated hands through his hair.

"I don't want to possess her. God! Leah's not a thing to be owned! I just want to be her friend. And I'm going to be there for her whether you want me to or not."

Sam glared at him with narrowed eyes. "Oh, will you? And what happens someday when you imprint? What then? You'll hurt her again. Are you willing to risk that?"

Embry's face spasmed, and I felt my own insides twist up the same way. Dear lord, why hadn't I ever thought about that? Someday, Embry was going to imprint, some other girl was going to mean everything to him, and I'd be left in the cold. Again. I was going to lose him- the one person who'd somehow become the most important thing in my cracked and broken universe.

How could I have let this happen?

"I won't hurt her," Embry replied hoarsely, and Sam snorted disbelievingly. "I won't." Embry insisted, louder this time. "We're friends. Close friends. Nothing can change that, not even imprinting."

My heart leapt with hope at that, but came crashing back into the soles of my feet with Sam's next words.

"You won't be able to help it. You'll see."

That was enough for me. I couldn't take it anymore, listening to Sam detail how someday I would lose the person who'd brought light back into my stormy world. I trembled in pain as I stumbled back through the trees to my own house, my mind on repeat: someday I was going to lose my Tank.

Seth was aimlessly flicking through channels when I let myself back into the house silently. I ignored him as I headed upstairs to pace my small bedroom relentlessly. My brain didn't want to stop going in circles, and I just knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep that night.

Sam. Emily crying. Cyrus, out there somewhere, wanting to hunt me. Embry, my Tank, destined to leave me behind for some stupid imprint.

Oddly, it was that last thought that brought tears to my eyes, and I angrily wiped them away with a rough hand. How stupid could I have been, getting close to an unimprinted Wolf? But it was far too late now. I needed him, for as long as I could get him. And someday, maybe, if I was really, really careful, we could still be friends after he found his soulmate. As long as I never crossed the line from friendship into... something else.

But that wouldn't be a problem, right? All I wanted was friendship. I wasn't ready for anything else. I wasn't even sure I could want something more, anyway. Sam had shattered my heart into so many pieces, I didn't think it could ever be whole and healthy enough to give to someone else.

A light tap on my window slammed me out of my whirling thoughts, and I flung it open to stare wide-eyed at Embry's shadowed face as he hung precariously from the tree outside my room.

"Can I come in? Please?"

Wordlessly, I pulled out the screen and backed up far enough for him to ease his hulking frame through the small frame. It had started to rain, and a few droplets slid down his chest when he straightened, leaving searching paths through the chiseled muscles. I watched them silently and wished that we were just two people in a normal world, with no monsters or complications. And no such thing as imprinting.

He shifted from one foot to another, big hands shoved into the pockets of his ratty cut-offs, obviously uncomfortable.

"Leah, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here," he began, and my stomach plummeted through the floor at his words. Oh, god, was he here to tell me we shouldn't be friends anymore? Had Sam managed to convince him of the lie that I was better off without him?

"I know you didn't want me to come, but I..." he trailed off and rubbed a nervous hand over his short-cropped hair. "You've gotta know that I didn't tell you everything we knew about Cyrus because I just couldn't stand seeing you more upset about him than you already were. Not that I thought you were weak or anything," he added hastily when I just continued to stare at him.

Relief flooded my bones. That's what he'd come here to talk about? I could've laughed; I'd forgotten all about being angry over that.

"Really, Leah. None of us thought that you couldn't handle it or that you weren't strong enough. We just didn't want you to have to worry about it. You're too... important. To all of us," his voice was quiet, hesistant, but it throbbed with certainty. The only problem was, I couldn't care less about his apology at the moment. I was just glad he was here, still wanting to be with me.

I think I could've knocked him over with a feather when I suddenly darted forward to wrap my arms around his waist and hug him for all I was worth. I pressed my face into his shoulder and breathed his scent in deeply, memorizing it for a time when I wouldn't have the right to hug him like this anymore. His arms came up to press me even tighter against him, and I smiled into his skin despite the lump of tears lodged in my throat.

"So... I'm forgiven, then?" he asked me huskily, and I reminded myself firmly that I needed to play my part so he didn't suspect anything.

I pulled back just far enough to give him a half-hearted glare. "Well, I suppose a life-time of servitude might cover it. For starters, anyway."

"Sounds good to me. But what's my punishment going to be?" he joked back, waggling his eyebrows at me. Oh, how I wished I had the right to truly ask a lifetime of anything from him.

Resolutely keeping the lighthearted grin on my face, I pulled away from him with a laugh. "Ugh, you're all wet. Wait here while I go get some of Seth's shorts."

"Sure... Ah, why?" he asked me, his grin now tinged with confusion.

"Well, I really don't want you getting my sheets all soggy," I replied, then bit my lip. "You are going to stay tonight, aren't you?"

A grin like the morning sun broke across his face. "Absolutely. Anything for you."

I forced a laugh as I headed out of the room toward's Seth's. Oh, if only. If only.