Disclaimer: The Twilight book series and all recognizable characters and situations belong to Stephanie Meyer I don't own any of that. But I do so love her stage.

Leah's Pov

Seth had the nerve to smile at me. "Leah don't make a scene," he said pleading with his eyes.

I don't even remember standing up. One minute I was sitting, and the next I was twisting his ear, bending him from the waist.

"Real mature Leah!" he gasped trying to shake loose. I let him go and took a step back bumping into Elijah who was standing behind me.

Seth rubbed his ear, "I can't believe you did that!"

I shrugged, "What do you have to say for yourself?" I felt so betrayed Seth saw it in my eyes.

"I'm training to be a guard," he answered defensively.

I raised my eyebrows, "You know that's not what I mean."

"Look it wasn't my place to tell you," he insisted.

I rolled my eyes, "You know better than to keep these kinds of secrets Seth."

My little brother stood up to his full height, "I'll do whatever I need..."

Elijah cut him off mid-sentence, "We have a lot to discuss, but not in public." The hint of steel in his voice was not lost on me.

I ignored it, "You stay out of this! Seth you were saying?"

Elijah calmly said, "Beta Clearwater. Now. Is. Not. The. Time."

"Fine," I gave him a scathing look and tried to move around him without touching, but he stepped into my path.

"Would you like to sit with us?" he invited.

I played dumb, "What?"

"We have imposed enough on Sir Crohmes hospitality. He delayed the auction for us," he replied.

"Sure," I huffed irritated at his high handedness.

His eyes pierced mine allowing the alpha simmering under the surface to show, until I gave in and lowered my eyes. Elijah's abilities far outmatch any other alpha that I'm familiar with. Who the hell did I just imprint on?

Chloe's heels clicked against the floor as she walked across the distance between us. She stopped in front of me, "You might want to wear these." She offered me a pair of designer sunglasses.

Then she tsked at Elijah before linking arms with me like we were friends. She flashed me a conspiratorial grin, "We girls have to stick together."

Elijah watched all this without changing his expression. He said, "Delta Carmichael notify Sir Crohme that we are ready."

For the next few minutes I was treated to the spectacle of Jedidah Crohme going out of his way to accommodate my imprint. He was all smiles as he led us into a hall leading to the "VIP Entrance." Elijah was cordial but there was an unmistakable air of tension between the two men.

I saw a powder room and ducked inside Chloe followed me. I walked over to the mirror and stared at my face. My hair was messy and the eyes a little puffy, but otherwise I looked normal. I started to fix my appearance.

Chloe stopped just inside the door. "You know I'm very happy for you," she blurted out.

I looked up surprised.

"Elijah is quite a catch," she explained nonchalantly.

I said, "Thank you."

Our eyes met in the mirror. She said, "Don't hurt him or I'll come looking for you."

I raised my hands in the universal gesture of surrender, "OK" "

She said, "Then we understand each other." and walked out the door.

I took a deep breath and followed her into the hall. Elijah was standing by the wall looking at his phone. His guards were trying to suppress their smiles.

Beta Alexe approached Chloe. "Lady Glass we have some openings in the guard are you interested?" he asked with a straight face.

A couple of the guards burst out laughing. She blushed to the roots of her hair.

Elijah said, "Shall we go inside?"

He offered his arm, but I held out my hand. His hand slipped into mine intertwining our fingers.

He said, "Beta Clearwater there is one thing you should know about me."

"What's that?" I asked.

He raised amused eyes to meet mine. "I am guarded by the ferocious Lady Chloe," he teased.

"Oh stop it," she stuck out her tongue at him.

He grinned at her.

Jacob Black once said that imprinting is our genes telling us we are happy. I disagree. Imprinting is a map leading us to our soul mate.

Unknown Pov

Jedidah Crohome was having a bad day. The Eryin had almost secured a valuable ally. Everything was on track for the Eryin's recruitment of Sir Reginald Parker, sole heir to Lucacini's largest shipping family. Then she walked in.

Sir Jedidah Crohome's POV

30 minutes earlier

Two months ago several long lost paintings of various Glass family ancestors popped up on the private art market. I beat out the competition by paying top dollar for them.

As I anticipated the Glass family inquired about purchasing them. I informed them I would sell the paintings at auction, only if High Alpha Korzka agreed to attend said auction. They thought that I wanted the publicity, but the truth is I simply wanted to embarrass him in public.

My sources reported the Glass family cashed in multiple favors to secure the High Alpha's attendance. Elijah Korzka had to know it was not a benign invitation. Yet for Chloe, he was prepared to walk into the hub of the opposition. I almost felt sorry for him.

For years my efforts to recruit Sir Reginald Parker were futile. However, recent events had him tethering on the fence.

I consider myself a charismatic individual. I know how to twist the truth to influence people, to use their weakness against them. Sir Reginald has one major weakness Lady Chloe. Her family paintings handed me an opportunity to exploit that weakness.

I sent Sir Reginald an anonymous letter informing him that Chloe is Elijah Korzka's mistress. For good measure I added the affair is kept secret from all but the High Alpha's inner circle and the Elite Black Guard.

Today's auction was the next step in convincing Sir Reginald the letter is true. I need him to believe Elijah plans to stay involved with Chloe until she marries.

I have several rather explicit pictures of Elijah and Chloe taken by my spies over the years. I had them blown up and framed as a last minute auction lot unavailable for preview.

The truth is the affair ended before her engagement, but Sir Reginald will believe what I want him to believe. The photos alone should push Sir Reginald firmly to Cevin's side of the fight for the crown.

I checked my watch. The alpha should be arriving in the next 10 minutes. I was putting the finishing touches on my display, the tribute to Ioana, when someone wearing flip flops walked up behind me.

Her scent caught me off guard, feminine wolf-shifter with flowery undertones. I stiffened afraid to turn around. It had to be a coincidence that a she-wolf was here in my gallery. I turned, soft brown eyes framed by the longest lashes smiled at me. I couldn't believe she was the American, but her accent told me it was her.

I almost forgot to introduce myself. I learned her name Leah Clearwater. She seemed sympathetic about Ioana. She even agreed to attend the benefit auction later today. If I played my cards right, I could gain her trust and recruit her to our cause.

There was a bounce in my step as I headed over to welcome my royal guest. I greeted Korzka with a confident handshake. A second later I realized the High Alpha's attention had focused behind me. The look in his eyes was the same one I'd seen on other wolves when they were looking at their imprint.

I turned, the she-wolf was ogling the alpha with a similar expression. I began to shake with fear and excitement. At first I wondered if she was resisting the imprint by avoiding eye contact, but then she became territorial with Lady Chloe putting that theory to rest.

I was still reeling in shock when The Rex steered his imprint into the privacy area, and I lost sight of the couple. I couldn't process what I was seeing. Shape-shifrers don't imprint on their own kind! They imprint on humans or Children of the moon, but not other wolves. There were a few myths of such imprints but no evidence to support such a thing until now.

This was going to cause major problems. First all plans of using Chloe to recruit Sir Reginald just went down the drain. An imprinted wolf wouldn't be chasing this woman. And then there was the Baptiste prophecy of 1959. The late astrologer alluded to the coming of a powerful she-wolf possibly a Rex.

Now I wondered if the reference wasn't so much to the she-wolf herself as to her progeny. There were old wives tales of legendary purebred children who phased in infancy. Those same tales suggested an overpopulation of purebreds would upset the balance of power among the mythical races. Also, they implied the rarity of the she-wolf was nature's way of limiting purebreds.

I was more worried about the balance of power between The Eryin and Leydwolf. Purebred wolf children could potentially give Leydwolf a decided advantage. The imprints must be alienated from each other and fast before they could mate. I decided to pull the pictures from the auction and find another use for them. Maybe some type of blackmail.

My people thrived in the safe haven of Vin Luna. The rest of Europe was a different story. The young she-wolf seemed like a nice person, but I couldn't allow her to derail my plans to end the century's long prosecution of the Italian vampires.

A/N: Thank you for reading, following and reviewing my story. Constructive feedback is always welcome.

How was the length of this chapter still to long?

In the next chapter: Leah finds herself in a sticky situation leading to quality time with Elijah. No they don't sleep together yet. She learns about mutual imprints and confronts both Seth and Adam for lying to her.

If I can work it in we will see Sam, Emily and the packs reaction to Leah's imprint.

Jedidah starts to play his hand leading to consequences even he didn't anticipate.

These are my current plans based on my outline but sometimes inspiration strikes and plans change. The above is not written in stone but should be pretty close.

Happy belated New Year everyone. May 2016 be great!