Hey you guys, this is chapter three woohoo! Thanks so much for reading the story and I hope you enjoy this update.

Guest: Yup, the plot is definitely thickening!

THEPrincessx: Updates here!

nakala: I'm glad you noticed the fur. That will be touched upon later. ;)

OoOMerry-had-a-little-lambOoO: I'm glad you're reading and lol yeah its confusing now.

Firefly-class: I'm glad you're excited to see what's happening!

Guest: It's awesome that you think the fic is intense. Seth and Sue are totally affected, its just that after being absent for a long time, Sue just wanted to give her son a dinner, you know.

brankel1: Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who commented/favorited/followed.

Two days later

Zulimar lightly slaps Leah's cheek, his eyebrows furrowed as he awaits some sort of reaction. This is the fourth time she's passed out in the past two days. Every time she wakes, she yells obscenities at him and lunges, making him follow his insticts, defend himself and knock her out. He taps her cheek a few more times. He rests his hand at his side when her eyelids begin fluttering. She shifts slightly to her side but makes no other movement. Zulimar scowls and shifts her body then leans down until his mouth is close to her ear. He takes a deep breath.

"LEAH!" he yells and with a yelp she awakens. "Wh-what- 'she begins to yell back, her expression slipping to that of confusion.

"Who..."

"You forgot?" Zulimar asks. "Damn," he whispers when she doesn't answer him.

He sighs but decides to act cheerful. "Well then hiya, I'm Zulimar." he offers his hand.

She ignores the gesture, looking up. She takes in her surrondings, the remote scene of the woods and the stranger before her. An unfortunate conclusion forms in her head, causing her to begin to snarl and for Zulimar to grimace as he catches on. He raises his palms in a sign of surrender.

"Hey, hey, look, it isn't like-

"You little-
she lunges at him and he ducks.

"Shit, shit, shit," he murmurs under his breath. Leah lunges again and he ducks once more but this time, instead of landing gracefully on the ground she goes too far and collides with a tree. The collision makes an echo in the woods and Leah passes out yet again. Zulimar walks over to her form, sighs and tugs at his hair. "Shit."

Jacob lies down on a pile of fallen leaves, the crackling sound they make as he moves is a small comfort. It's been two days since he's seen an illusion of Leah and he yearns for the sight of her. He closes his eyes and attempts to conjure up a pleasurable memory of her, tries to hold on to their moments of laughter, of intimacy. Yet all that he can manage to think of is the morning he woke in her bed, alone.

He knows something is wrong the moment he can feel the morning's breeze filtering through the crack in the window but can't feel Leah's warmth at his side. He instantly turns in bed and finds the place besides him empty. His eyes widen, his heart drops down to his stomach. Normally, awaking alone would not alarm him. Leah tends to take long walks in the middle of the night on certain occasions and other times she rises earlier than he does. But this is different. He feels it all over, the wrongness of the situation. He sits up, touches the sheets where Leah's body should be. The material is cold, an indication that she rose long ago.

"Leah?" he calls out, his voice cracking in panic. He does not recieve any sort of reply. His chest rises and falls rapidly as he pants and gets up from bed with shaky legs. He leaves her bedroom, walks down the hallway, his chest constricting when he hears absolutely nothing.

"Leah?!" He calls out again, desperately. Like he suspected, no one answers him. He runs back to her room and begins tugging at her drawers, pulling the door to her closet. Empty, everything is empty.

"No! no, no, no."

His hands curl into fists at his side and before he realizes what he's doing, he's running outside. He runs and runs, too preocupied to notice that there are pebbles digging into his bare feet and that his body is only covered by a pair of boxers. He makes it to Embry's house in a few minutes and pushes the front door open.

"Seth!" he calls for the boy, chest heaving.

"Jake! What's up ma-' Embry starts to greet him as he leaves the kitchen but stops at the sight of him, 'Whoa."

Jacob ignores Embry's reaction. "Where's Seth?"

"Uh," Embry is unable to answer him, still surprised at his friends appearance, at his bloody and muddy feet and the wild look in his dark eyes.

"Seth?!" The young boy does not answer him and instead, Quill comes out of the kitchen, his smile slowly slipping when he too takes in Jacob's state.

"Jake? What's going on man?"

"Seth!" He merely yells out again.

"What? Can't a teenage boy use the bathroom in peace?" he grumbles, zipping up his pants as he leaves the bathroom. Jacob releases a growl when he sees the boy and quickly rushes to him, gripping his shirt, lifting him a few inches off the ground and pressing his back against the wall. Seth gasps, his eyes widening.

"What the hell Jake?!"

"Where's Leah? Did she talk to you? Where did she go, huh, where?!"

"Isn't she at the house?" Seth replies in a small voice. Out of all the shifters, Jacob has always been extra kind to him. He doesn't think he's ever seen Jacob's eyes gleam this way.

"No." Jacob growls out.

"I-I" Seth stutters, unsure of how to answer and Jacob's glare deepens.

"Where is my girlfriend?" He asks, his voice lowering to that of a panicky whisper.

"Whoa, you're dating Leah?" Quill and Embry ask but their shock goes ignored.

"I haven't seen her Jake."
Jacob puts Seth down, backs away from the boy as his hands shake. The younger wolf swallows and takes a step closer to Jacob.

"Jake, what happened to my sister?" his voice is soft, almost calm but Jacob can hear the pain, the worry behind it. "

I...don't know. I woke up and she-she wasn't there. Her stuff...all of it is gone."

"Shit." Quill and Embry exclaim as Seth's lips tremble and Jacob clutches his stomach, feeling ill.

Jacob snaps himself out of the memory of that horrid morning and stands. He ignores the clenching in his stomach, the persistant sensation of being on the verge of illness that makes him want to throw up and relieve some of the pressure, and starts walking. Leaves crackle under his feet, birds chirp as they fly from tree to tree. If Leah were here, he thinks to himself, she'd sigh at the birds chirping while pretending to not enjoy the sound. She'd junp on his back, playfully bite his neck and ask him just where the hell he was leading her. She'd complain about him being secretive and the ridiculousness of surprises but she would still follow him. She would still trust him.

Laid out on the Clearwater's dinning table is a map of the United States. Mother and Son stare at the map, their fingers tracing the drawn lines. Their eyebrows are furrowed in deep concentration. Seth grabs one of the red markers by his side of the table and uncaps it, ready to cross off California. Sue stops him with a hand on his wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"Crossing off California."

"Why?"

"It's sunny, Leah isn't really into sunny places."

"No, but she does enjoy the beach quite a bit sweetie."

Seth taps the table, shakes his head. "You're right, I totally forgot about that."

Sue drums her fingers across her lips, "Lets review what we've alredy crossed out."

After their dinner two days ago, Leah's family began immediately thinking about where Leah would have chosen to run. What place could make Leah feel safe and comfortable while at the same time being far enough for none of the shifters to be able to scent her or hear her thoughts? And so now they sit, crossing off states and attempting to compile a list of the places she'd be most likely to go, places where her friends and family can go and successfully find her.

"Alright, so far, we've crossed Virginia, Maryland, North and South Dakota, Illinios, and Pennsylvania."

"Okay, good, lets keep going." Seth nods in agreement.

Sue hums, Seth drums his fingers atop the table. Their eyes narrow, gaze focused on the map.

"Aha!" They exclaim at the same time as Sue crosses off Alaska and Seth crosses off Louisiana. "Seth, don't you think we should ask for Jacob's help in making in the list?"

"No...I don't think we should ask anything of him until its time to search for her. He's...pretty out of it mom."

Jacob stops his walk when he reaches a remote area of the woods, unknown to both the Cullens and his fellow shifters. The section in the woods is about two acres, filled with overgrown grass, bird nests and trees. Flowers aren't present but he knows that the soil is good enough to produce some if someone ever decided to start planting. Twigs, thick branches and the occasional tree stump litter the grass. Jacob touches the tree stumps lightly, traces the lines that expose just how old they were before they were cut down. He sits in front of the largest stump and rests his back against it. A cool breeze passes by making the grass graze his legs.

He had discovered the area a few years ago when he'd run away from home and the pack after receiving the invitation to Bella and Edward's wedding. It'd been his first place of rest and no matter how far north he travelled in those months he always came back this area. Back then when Bella had broken his heart, the serenity of this clearing managed to take his mind off of the situation. He'd been able to touch and actually feel, he'd been able to appreciate more than the beauty of a teenage girl. Yet this time the clearing can not make him forget, not even for a moment. He looks up at the sky, and patiently waits for the moon as he hopes for a clue in the form of an illusion of Leah.

The Next Morning

This time when Leah wakes, Zulimar's back is facing her and her eyes, normally a dark shade are now a bright blue. She snarls, a usual response, yet this time there is an anger, a touch of darkness in her snarl that there has never been before.

"Zulimar," she startles him. He drops the twigs he was gathering and turns around.

"Leah! you're awake!"

She sneers, "That I am."

He rushes to her, pressing a hand on her shoulder as she sits up and rests her back against a tree. He raises his gaze to meet hers and is surprised to see the color of her eyes.

"Leah?"

She chuckles darkly, "Sort of."

His eyes widen. "You-

"You're the wolf that haunted us, right?"

"Yes."

"How did you manage that?"

"A form of dream walking. It took me years to perfect it."

"Hm. What do you about me Zulimar?"

"I know that you can not be in control. I know that she needs to trust me."

She sighs, displeased with his answer. "What do you know about me?" she asks once more.

"Not enough."

"Good answer."

Zulimar nods, acknowledging her approval. "I will make her stop forgetting and perhaps push aside some hostility. Gaining her trust is up to you."

"I understand, thank you."

"Do not thank me."

Leah's eyes darken to their normal hue, her expression softens.
"Zulimar."

A/N: The us/me/her were not typos. They were included in the dialogue purposely. ;)