A/N: Sorry guys! I had a block, then lost interest, then drafted (thrice) lost two of them then finally picked it back up. Don't hate me, please? I love all your reviews (and I always reread them for inspiration to actually update) and appreciate everyone who takes the time to still read this, my bad habits considered.

Finding You
Chapter 7

Leah frowned at the house before her. It wasn't fear of the unknown that kept her rooted to her spot on the doormat, she knew all too well what was waiting for her on the other side of that door.

She had to take several deep breaths to remind herself that not only was she doing this for Seth but that even if she did try to make another run for it right this second, she'd be caught in a heartbeat. In weighing her options she'd rather get lectured on her "duties and responsibilities" than storm off unprepared.

The gears in her mind were turning already; she could pretend to care about all Jacob's sanctimonious crap about how her sacrifice would benefit their people. That'd give her at least a month to get her crap together, and she could spend some time with Seth until she was ready.

As she wrestled whether to knock or simply walk on in the door opened itself. Leah was pretty freaked for a second until Jacob stepped into view, sweeping his arm to welcome her in. She obliged warily, not quite knowing what to expect.

"Leah, I'm really glad you came." He trailed behind her as she examined the fairly modern interior of his home. It was pretty nice.

"Are you implying I actually had a choice?" Jacob just shrugged. "Where's your wife?"

She'd halted in the middle of the living room, prompting Jake to take the lead and guide them to his office. Leah took note of the fact that, unlike what she'd seen of the home so far, Jacob's office was far more traditional and cozy.

"Bella went shopping," he sat in one of the two armchairs in front of the desk. Leah picked up on his cues and took a seat in the second one. "which means she's with her lover."

And her face must have betrayed her thoughts just then because it caused him to laugh heartily. Her stomach warmed at the sound, so rich, so him. A million memories came along with it, but rather than dwell on them she just shoved them down and continued to stare at him, hoping he'd elaborate further about how he knows about his wife's indiscretions.

"Leah, it's fine. I don't really mind." He waved his hand carelessly. "Besides the tribe can't stand her."

"You mean the pack." Leah's tone carried an unintentional bite. She wasn't sorry for it.

"Yes, the pack." Jacob's smile had dropped and he allowed a slow silence to creep over them while he considered where he should begin. He was so in his head that he barely noticed Leah's small sigh of relief when he spoke again, having found the perfect place to start. "I'm sorry."

She gaped at him. If the silence had made her uncomfortable then she didn't know what to call this. Sorry? He's sorry? She hadn't thought him capable of looking past his selfishness to feel remorse, and now that he had all he had to give her was sorry?

Leah prepared to launch into a full tirade about how sorry wasn't enough and that the whole fate thing wasn't really his fault but that his actions and the lengths he'd gone to were beyond ludicrous and that he'd all but ruined her life and also while they were on the subject of her life why was he allowed to marry Isabella and be unhappy but she hadn't had to option to marry who she wanted for a chance to be happy because, wow, misogynistic much?

But before she had the chance to voice any of that he spoke again, probably misinterpreting the pause of silence.

"I'm sorry for everything, but since it's such a large list I'll be happy to start from the beginning. I'm sorry for phasing and attacking your boyfriend."

"Wait, you knew?"

"Of course I knew, Lee." His brow furrowed the slightest bit, as though the thought of him not having known was the silliest thing he'd ever heard.

"Then why attack him? How could you possibly do that if you knew, if you had known how I felt about him the whole time?" she was standing now, and had worked herself up to a pant. At least he had the decency to look ashamed as she stared down at him on the brink of tears.

"My wolf, I…we felt threatened. That part of me was jealous and territorial and when that happens—when it happened, I couldn't help it. The instincts took over." He coughed. "If it helps I've gotten much, much better at keeping those kinds of things at bay."

"Your wolf?"

"Not every legend is a myth. Including the one's we grew up with."

"'When an enemy threatens our lands the pure shape shift to protect our people from death or a fate worse than death.'" Leah rattled off from memory. It varied by the tribe and the region but the theme was that the men would shift into a wolf, eagle, bear, etc., and slay the demons.

"Yes."

"Okay, so what demon threat are you tasked with protecting us from and how was Spencer one?" Jacob looked a little embarrassed here but he kept his eyes locked on hers.

"He wasn't a threat to our people, just me. Our natural enemy, the demons that trigger our initial transformations are vampires." He hardened his stare, eager to get his point across. "Leeches such as your friends Rosalie and Edward."

Leah felt like the wind had been knocked right out of her. She slowly lowered herself back into the plush armchair. This was too big a pill for her to swallow. Leah clutched at her stomach, eyes unfocused. She couldn't possibly have an actual place in all of this craziness.

She ran through all the legends she remembered and every second of her life that now looked so different from what she remembered. Her mind was running a mile a minute.

Jacob clenched his jaw tightly, ignoring the wold howling inside him, begging him to reach out and touch her hand, her arm, anything to comfort her. He wasn't exactly eager to tell her what came next, to explain to her how she fit in it all.

She was definitely trying to figure it out on her own but imprinting wasn't a conclusion she'd naturally come to and it was always a tricky thing to explain. It was tough to explain why some of his guys hadn't found one yet, it was tough to explain what happens when one dies, it was tough to explain what happens when they aren't who you expected, it was tough to explain the bond.

"The ones who shift, they're described in the legends as the 'pure'. It's a genetic thing and so the shifters would have imprints. The imprints would stand the absolute best chance of carrying on the shifting ability. So, shifters and their imprints would build families and their line would carry the gene, which lies dormant until leeches appear."

"You imprinted on me and I'm expected to be a breeding mare to carry on this mythical shifter gene." Jacob was quick to deny any such thing.

"No, no. Now imprints are more of a novelty. It's not about the gene, we've evolved."

"Really?" she scoffed disbelievingly. "Evolved how?"

"Well, now when one of us imprints it's less for the whole purity thing and more of a mate thing." She opened her mouth but he kept going. "When we were betrothed that was the Council's decision. They hoped I'd imprint on you but there was always a chance I could imprint on someone else and our betrothal would've had to be nullified."

Leah snapped her mouth shut and closed her eyes slowly. She rubbed at her temples in what was meant to be a soothing motion. Even so, she couldn't stop the impending migraine. This was way too much to digest.

How was she expected to react to stuff like 'vampires and werewolves are real, wolves have mates, you're my mate'. Oh, plus there was the bit they'd apparently glazed over that Edward and Rosalie were vampires. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Jacob was fidgeting ever so slightly, squeezing his folded hands together tightly.

He wanted to stop and just tell her not to worry about any of it, that it wasn't her problem but she deserved to know. And he also had to get it all off his chest, once and for all.

There was a chance it'd drive her away again. But there was also a chance that she'd understand and stay, right? He understood very well that the former was more likely than the latter but he was willing to gamble.

"We're—I'm really your mate?" Jacob nodded resolutely. "Okay, fine. But what does that mean?"

At this Jacob shrugged. It could mean any number of things. He thought for a moment on how he could explain this part to her and not seem creepy.

"As Alpha and chief, my bond to you is incredibly powerful. But as for the actual imprinting itself, Lee, it doesn't mean we have to follow through on the betrothal."

"We don't?"

"Not at all. We imprint to be whatever the other needs, we imprint because the person needs us in their lives as much as we need them, whether it's as a friend, protector, lover, whatever. The bond of needing one another is so strong that when we're away from them well…"

"You suffer." Leah finished, finally looking at him again. Jacob nodded as he let out a breath he had to have been holding for a while, seeming as if a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Exactly. And so I chased you across the country, but not to force you to be my bride. I just really need you, Leah. If anything I think you're my imprint because you'd make a great leader for our people." He was perking up now. If he had a tail—and technically he did— it would be wagging vigorously right about now. "You don't owe me anything I'd ever ask of you but all I'm asking of you is to stay."

He wasn't asking much. Or maybe he was. Leah couldn't exactly think straight but she doubted Jake was expecting an immediate response. He'd proved that he was, if nothing else, he was patient. She took a deep breath, knowing she had to press on to get the full scope of it all.

"And you said Edward and Rosalie are—"

"Filthy leeches. But they're Cullen's. The Cullen's have a long-standing peace treaty with our tribe. They only drink from blood bags and animals." He did his best not to show his disgust. "Their family has grown since the initial treaty and more of them create more of us."

This was really crazy. He'd understand if she couldn't handle this right? If she chose to run again? She had a much better understanding now though, so maybe they could come to a compromise. She'd be willing to visit.

Leah had so many questions and her mind hadn't slowed down not one bit, migraine notwithstanding. How many of her childhood friends and family were shifters, did they have mates, who were their mates, was Leah expected to be the Alpha mate to match Jake's apparent role? Why?

Jacob saw that she was wrestling with everything he'd thrown her way and finally gave in to try to comfort her. He stood and quietly went behind her and bent to wrap his arms around her shoulders.

The imprint aside, Leah was different in a lot of ways—almost an entirely new person with how she'd grown, but she was still Leah at her very core. They were family, Jake loved her.

It killed him to have to be honest with her but on some level he was grateful he finally had the chance to be. He was meant to tell her about all this a long time ago, maybe then he could have broken it down to her in pieces, he could have probably given her more time to take it all in rather than throw it all at her in one go.

He'd actually been on his way to tell her the night she ran away, he recalled bitterly. He hadn't gotten the chance to thanks to that pathetic excuse for a—not the point. Point was, he had that all under control now.

Eventually, Leah did seem to relax and her hand came up to pat one of his arms. He came around to sit in front of her again.

"Is Seth's…?" Jacob nodded, causing Leah to wince. "Oh, my god."

She could only hope that this whole ordeal had been more pleasant for Catalina. And Seth, Jesus, he'd shifted and imprinted and had to deal with all of this too? Her heart was sinking further and further down.

"Leah, it's okay that you need time. No one expects you to be even remotely okay with any of this yet. We're all just glad to see you." Leah looked up at him, brown eyes wide and glittering with unshed tears she'd taken to chewing on her lip to keep at bay. "Please, stay the night. We'll talk more in the morning if you feel up to it, okay?"

She nodded slowly, numbly. Her body was practically shutting down to compensate for her brain, like a buffering computer. She let Jacob lead her to a finely decorated guest room and laid under the covers, slipping into dreamland and praying it wasn't filled with monsters and magic.