Leah POV
The patrol was taking ages I couldn't stand it. How long had it been now? I glanced up at the sky, trying to locate the sun through the rain clouds. With a frustrated huff, I gave up on the stupid La Push weather. I pushed myself a bit harder, almost in a sprint now, as I ran the border of La Push.
'Hey, calm down. You're supposed to be taking it easy' Jared scolded me when I pulled away from him.
'You're not my Alpha, I'll do what I want' I sneered at Jared, hating that the guys still treated me like I was some delicate flower that needed to be protected all the time.
I'm just as tough as any of them and I'm faster than all of them. I made sure that that thought was easily heard through the pack mind, knowing Jared couldn't ignore it. Jared continued to run his patrol with me in silence as I slowly put more and more distance between us. It had been three days since Bella had left my place, but we had been talking to each other constantly on the phone or by text. I hadn't wanted to rush her or seem clingy so I didn't invite her back to La Push and managed to stop myself from dropping too many hints that she should come to visit. But she had asked if she could come to visit today after school. Just the thought of her visiting had me excited all over again, giving me a burst of energy I ran even faster. Sam had been more than okay to rearrange my shift so that he would relieve me just in time to meet her when she got out of class.
'I mean it's pretty close to shift change, if you were to take off a bit early I wouldn't tell…' Jared offered, almost playfully.
'Thanks, I guess' I said a little surprised.
'Hey, I get it too' As Jared said it I was hit with his own excitement to finish his shift so he could go see Kim.
'Thanks' I said again, changing course back to my house.
Before I had started my shift I had filled an old shopping bag with clothes that were a little more appropriate for being out in public. I was glad I had tied the top closed, hoping this meant they stayed relatively dry. I picked up the handles of the bag in my muzzle and began sprinting towards forks, through the forest.
'Gee Leah, excited much?' Jared teased, getting a head full of my girly excitement.
'Whatever' I responded too excited to fill the word with my regular hatred.
My wolf pushed even harder, knowing her way to her imprint, into a flat out sprint. The forest blurred past me and I could feel my wolf stirring, trying to push us even harder. What seemed like an eternity passed before I heard the sounds of a school in session in the distance. I had to fight my wolf for a split second before I could skid to a stop, she wanted to keep going, witnesses be damned. I phased and pulled on the clothes I had packed, white t-shirt, blue skinny jeans, black leather jacket, and black Nike sneakers. I folded the plastic bag and shoved it in a pocket in my jacket and started walking through the forest, towards the school. As I exited the forest the rain fell a bit harder, not having to fight the trees before reaching me. I mentally kicked myself for not packing an umbrella or rain jacket, as a normal person would have. I stopped on the sidewalk by the parking lot, knowing that Bella would come this way to get to her truck, picking up her scent from this morning when she went into the building. I noticed a small puddle and looked at my reflection in it, self consciously pushing back my soaking wet hair. A small chunk falling back forward as soon as I did, I huffed at its inability to conform to my will. Before I could fuss over my hair some more the bell went off signalling the end of the day. I shifted excitedly and then mentally shook myself. I needed to calm down, take it nice and slow. I moved slightly off the sidewalk and leaned up against a bench, crossing my arms, and watched the front doors of the school. It seemed like millions of students poured out of the doors before I saw her. She was walking with two other girls, one talking animatedly, and one guy who looked at her quite affectionately. I grit my teeth at that but was quickly pulled away from him to look back at Bella. She was holding an umbrella and I could see she was wearing my old hoodie, looking cute as ever in it. When Bella was a few steps out of the building her eyes slowly shifted over to where I was leaning and they lit up.
"Leah!" She shouted excitedly as she ran over to me.
I laughed and shoved off the bench, walking towards her closing the distance. Bella threw her arms around me, almost hitting me in the head with her umbrella. I hugged her back and over her shoulder noticed her friends walking towards us, the boy watching carefully. I couldn't help myself, I picked Bella up and spun her around in a few circles. She let out a small "ekk" but laughed regardless and I couldn't help laughing along. I knew I had to let her go when her friends caught up to her but I kept close. Bella took her time looking me up and down before returning back to my eyes. I smiled a bit smugly at her and got a blush in return.
"You're looking good-better! You look a lot better" She stammered out, blushing deeper.
"Thanks, you look pretty good yourself" I grinned, loving her blush. "That's a pretty sweet hoodie" I added as I took her umbrella, holding it over both of us, but mostly over her.
Bella blushed a deep red and I could hear her heart speed up a bit. Bella and I looked away from each other and at the boy when he cleared his throat. I frowned but Bella began introductions.
"Oh. This is Angela," She gestured at the girl with the camera around her neck who nodded at me shyly. "Jessica," The girl who had been talking animatedly tried to smile at me but I could see she was fighting to keep curiosity and fear off her face. "And Mike." The boy extended his hand and smiled at me, curiosity evident on his face.
"Leah" I stated, taking Mike's hand our eyes meeting easily, he was only about an inch taller than me.
I could feel Mike trying to squeeze my hand as tightly as possible. I tried to stifle the sly grin that threatened to expose me as I squeezed his hand back as we shook. His face changed from curiosity to poorly hidden pain and I had to convince myself to release his hand. I turned back to Bella and tuned back into the conversation the girls were having. Bella was explaining we had been friends as children and had just gotten back in touch. Angela and Jessica were nodding, Angela smiling paying attention to Bella. Jessica, however, was trying to sneak glances at me more than likely taken aback by my impressive 5'10 height.
"So like, are you a boxer or something?" Jessica asked me, taking a not so subtle up and down again.
"Uh, yeah I guess you could call it that" I responded, smiling to myself at the thought of boxing with vampires.
"So are you any good? Would I have heard of you?" Mike asked curtly.
"We can spar some time and you can judge for yourself" I grinned at him, enjoying the idea of knocking him down a peg. I didn't like the way he looked at Bella.
"Angela!" A boy's voice called not too far from us, in the parking lot.
"See you Monday, Bella." Angela gave a quick smile and then looked at me, shyly "Nice to meet you Leah" and then she was jogging lightly into the parking lot.
Bella said goodbye to Mike and Jessica and we too turned towards the parking lot. Billy's old pick up not hard to find in the lot. We hopped in her truck and started towards La Push.
"Did you run here?" She asked, curiosity obvious.
"Best way to travel." I chuckled lightly.
"Wasn't it hard to fit all those clothes into your…" She trailed off failing to think of a word.
"Leather strap?" I questioned, not fully knowing if that was even a good name for it.
"Yeah...How do you even fit shoes into that? Wouldn't they get dirty?" She pushed, excitedly.
"I had it all in a plastic shopping bag, carried it in my muzzle" I laughed lightly.
Bella started laughing hysterically, tears welling in her eyes.
"What's so funny?" I smiled at her as we pulled into my driveway.
"I can't picture a wolf carrying a shopping bag in its mouth. Could you imagine walking through the forest and seeing a giant wolf on a shopping trip?" She laughed through her entire explanation and I couldn't help join in.
"Do you want to see?" I continued laughing.
"Are you serious?" Her laughter died quickly and her face was completely serious.
"Yeah I mean if you want." I furrowed my brows a bit confused by how quickly she became serious.
"I'd like that if you don't mind…" She trailed off, looking away from me out the window, blushing lightly.
"Yeah, c'mon" I hopped out of her truck, closing the door behind me.
I heard her hop out quickly and her umbrella opened again, her quick footsteps catching up to me as I led her towards the forest. We walked silently for a while and the rain gave out to the trees so it was only coming down as a light drizzle. I stopped and looked down at Bella with a small smile.
"You're not going to be scared?"
"Really?" She asked with a huff of impatience.
"I just want to make sure…" I smiled softly at her "wait here, okay?"
She nodded at me, smiling wide with anticipation. I turned and disappeared behind a large tree. I pulled the bag from my pocket and started stripping down, putting each item of clothing in as I did. I set the bag down, took a few steps back and phased before picking the bag back up in my muzzle. I could vaguely hear Sam and Jared in my head but they were making an effort to give me some privacy. I stepped out from behind the tree, incredibly slow so I didn't startle Bella. Her laughter sang through my heart, my ears perked and my tail picked up a little, swishing through the air slowly. I kept moving towards Bella keeping my slow pace. She kept laughing, hysterically, tears running down her cheeks. Once I reached her I set the bag down by her feet and left my mouth open, letting my tongue loll out, making a bit of a goofy face. She laughed even harder, gasping for air. It took her a moment of holding her sides and wiping tears from her face before she got a hold of herself. She looked me in the eyes and the laughter slowly died down. I sat on my haunches, admiring her and noticed her nose was a bit red and she was sniffling. I wanted to warm her up or get her inside but didn't really want to move, afraid of doing something wrong to scare her. As I thought through my options she slowly raised her hand and gingerly placed it on the top of my head. I pushed into her hand a bit, extending my head towards her to be a bit closer. She smiled softly and her other hand came up to my cheek, stroking my face slowly. Her first hand sliding down my head to the back of my neck as she closed the little distance between us. I closed my eyes and sighed softly, I could feel my wolf radiating love and contentment at finally having her imprint touch her. My own heart matching the feeling causing me to lean more into her hand on my cheek.
"So much better than a dream" She whispered.
I opened my eyes at that and looked at her with a questioning look. She blushed a little and watched her hand stroke my cheek as she explained.
"I've been having dreams about being around a grey wolf-well about you…" She trailed off, her heart rate picking up as she spoke.
I couldn't help smile and she smiled with a light giggle.
"How is it I can see expressions in your eyes so well?" She questioned me, whimsically.
I let out a puff of air and gave a light shrug, stepping even closer to her so my front leg was almost touching her. I moved my large head so it was over her shoulder and turned it, causing her to be pulled closer to me. She stumbled the first step, out of surprise, but caught herself by grabbing onto the fur on my shoulder. She stepped right up to me so her body was pressed against the side of my leg and shoulder, her hands both disappearing into the fur on my shoulder.
"You're so soft…" She sighed, watching her one hand as it moved up and down under my fur.
I couldn't suppress the content moan that escaped, both my wolf and I were so happy to just have her touch us. My head still turned to watch her as she watched her hand run through my fur. She turned and smiled at me, contently.
"You make a pretty cute wolf." She laughed lightly.
I laughed my wolfy laugh with her and then I saw her moving. My wolf speed able to see it happening slowly even though she was moving quickly for a human. I stood as still as a stone, not wanting to ruin anything. Bella quickly leaned in and gave me a quick peck right on my nose, her heart racing and her cheeks turning even pinker. I stood stunned for a second, vaguely aware of the dopy face my wolf was making. I was pulled out of the pure bliss I was feeling when Bella sneezed into her elbow. I squinted at her and noticed how much redder her nose had become.
"What?" She asked noticing my face no doubt.
I moved, slow enough that her human eyes could easily process what was happening, so I was behind her now. I tilted my head down and pushed her delicately towards the house.
"Oh, you're coming too right?" She took one hesitant step towards the house.
I snorted and gave her another more insistent push.
"Okay, okay" She laughed a little, walking towards the house, picking up her forgotten umbrella.
I quickly phased back and dressed in my jeans and t-shirt leaving the shoes and jacket in the bag. As I left the forest I just saw Bella's back disappear into the front door. She didn't have her bag so I grabbed it from her truck before following her inside. Seth was in the living room, homework scattered across the coffee table, he was sitting with his back against the front of the couch. Bella was taking off my hoodie, it was a bit damp now, and hung it on the coat rack.
"Hey, Bella" Seth grinned his boyish smile, full force at her.
"Hey Seth, what are you working on there?" Bella questioned looking at the papers scattered everywhere.
"Ugh, history" He groaned throwing his head back against the couch for dramatic effect.
I laughed, setting my bag down at the door but carried Bella's bag with me as I made my way into the living room. Without prompting Bella followed me and I plopped down on the couch, setting her bag beside me. Bella sat beside me, her bag between us and she looked down at it with a frown, moving it to the floor.
"History is an easy subject" I gloated, messing up Seth's hair.
"Oh yeah, you should show me how easy. Why don't you start by finishing this essay for me?" He grinned his 100-watt smile at me, holding up his notebook to me.
"Not a chance" I snorted.
Bella giggled lightly beside me and I turned my smile to her.
"Do you have any homework you have to get to this weekend?"
She frowned at me "Yeah, but I'll get it done tomorrow or something"
"May as well do it now, we can't watch tv or anything cuz bricks for brains here has taken over the living room" I playfully shoved Seth with my bare foot.
"Play nice kids!" Sue called from the kitchen.
"Whatever, teacher's pet" Seth muttered low enough that our mother couldn't hear.
Bella snickered, obviously hearing Seth's comment, which earned a playful smirk from him.
"At least I don't have to do homework anymore" I turned back to Bella "What do you have to do?"
She reached down and opened her bag, pulling out a textbook and binder, a piece of paper falling out of it. Seth picked it up and flipped it over, his eyes widening a bit.
"Wow, that's really good Bella," He said as he admired the paper more.
I looked over his shoulder, curious, to be met with my own wolf staring back at me. Bella quickly snatched the paper from Seth and shoved it into her bag, her blush flooding her cheeks and flowing down her neck, disappearing into the collar of her shirt. She cleared her throat and opened her textbook, focusing on it intently. Seth getting the hint turned back to his own homework. I smiled slyly to myself feeling pretty great that she was sketching me in her school work. I looked over at Bella, suddenly very intent on her work, her blush still present but slowly fading.
"Come here," I said softly, pulling her into my lap with ease so that she was sitting sideways on me.
I heard her heart race incredibly fast and saw Seth turn his head halfway, looking at Bella out of the corner of his eye before turning back to his homework. Bella sat stiffly for a split second before relaxing with a content sigh. She leaned her side into my chest, resting her cheek against my collar bone. That's when I realized just how cold she was, I wrapped my arms around her protectively and rest my chin on the top of her head. It took Bella's heart a while to calm back down but once it did she pulled her homework into her lap and began filling it out. I held her close against my body, wishing this would never end. Every once in a while I would move my head so my lips and nose were pressed against her hair so I could enjoy her scent. And I did quite enjoy that her heart would race for a minute or two every time I did it. This was better than any dream I had had about her.