I rubbed my temples to ease the ache in my head. This was the worst part of my day; when I was at work. I sighed and looked at the clock that was hanging above the entrance door. At least I only had another 30 minutes before I could leave. After work I was due for patrol, but I decided that today I would pay a visit to Sam instead.

There was a heavy weight that settled on my shoulders the following week after I had gone into heat. Although I was happy that Jensen and I seemed to have come to an understanding about our relationship, there was a blade hanging above our heads in the form of Sam. No one approached either me or Jensen with the "decision", and it seemed like the whole incident with Cain never happened. The only problem was I felt like I was constantly looking over my shoulder.

I was tired of waiting, and it was bullshit that they were even discussing a "punishment" for Jensen in the first place. Maybe I should have just put up an announcement saying, "I go into heat every month, so leave me the fuck alone!" so the shifters would know to stay away from me, and this sort of conflict would have never occurred. But, somehow I knew, even if I told everyone and their mothers, I just knew it wouldn't have kept Cain away from me. Jensen was right – if he kept Cain alive, Cain would have come back for me.

I couldn't believe that even after I phased, and Sam and his pack realized I was in heat, that Sam didn't understand my side of the story. Instead he said he understood why Cain attacked me. Like my being in heat was some sort of justification for Cain's behavior. Unbelievable! I was pissed at Sam, to say the least, but I had to admit that deep down I was hurt. Even though Sam and I never imprinted on each other, we used to love each other to some extent, and it hurt me to realize that Sam took Cain's side in this whole mess. I wondered if Sam would have taken Cain's side if Cain had succeeded in raping me, but I decided I would rather not know.

A group of kids entered the store, and I groaned inwardly. I was looking forward to closing up the store and having my meeting with Sam. Luckily, they only came to buy some soda, and they left the store quickly. After they left, I closed up the store, and made my way to Sam's house.

"Leah . . . what are you doing here?"

"Sam, can you come out for a moment? I want to talk to you."

Sam stood silently, contemplating my request. I heard movement from behind him, and I knew Emily was coming to the door. Sure enough she came over and stood next to Sam. I usually felt uncomfortable whenever I saw Sam and Emily together, but now I felt indifferent.

"Hi Leah" Emily said quietly.

"Hello Emily. Do you mind if I talk to Sam for a moment? I won't keep him long."

"Oh sure. Go ahead Sam."

Sam looked down at Emily with his brow raised, and then he said, "Okay".

I didn't have a destination in mind, so we just walked the foot path that would lead us into the forest. It was twilight, and soon the forest would be completely dark, but the darkness wouldn't affect mine or Sam's vision.

Sam remained quiet, and I knew he was waiting for me to speak. I gathered my thoughts and decided to just get right to the point.

"What have you and the elders decided to do about Jensen?" I asked bluntly.

For a moment I didn't think Sam would answer me. I heard him sigh.

"I haven't talked to the elders yet. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this whole incident, and I don't want to jump the gun until I feel confident in what I'm presenting to them."

"I'm trying to be patient, Sam, but the longer I wait to hear what's going to happen, the more frustrated and pissed off I'm getting. Can't you just let this go? Don't you understand that Cain was going to rape me?"

"Leah, you were in heat. Of course he was going to react that way! Didn't you see how we all reacted when you phased to your wolf form?"

"Oh! So you're saying that it's MY fault that Cain tried to rape me?!! That's bullshit, Sam, and you know it!"

"Leah, calm down. I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm saying that I understood why he reacted that way to you because even I wanted you, as did every wolf in my pack. I suppose it's just in our nature, but you know this has never happened before, so we had no way of knowing how we would react."

"Fuck that! You're justifying Cain's behavior and that's a load of shit! Cain was wrong, Sam. Jensen was defending me! He does not deserve to be punished."

Sam became exasperated and he threw his hands up in the air.

"I can't leave him unpunished, Leah! By killing Cain, Jensen decided to be judge, jury, and executioner. No one has the right to do that, mo matter the provocation!"

I stopped walking, which forced Sam to stop as well, and I took a few calming breaths. My instinct was to tell Sam off, however I knew that the more I argued with him, the more pig-headed he would be. So, I decided to tell Sam the one thing that would save Jensen's life.

I stared steadily into Sam's face, and I calmly said, "Sam . . . I imprinted on him."

It took a moment for my words to register, but when they did Sam's face took on an almost comical expression. He was stunned, and if our conversation weren't so serious, I would have laughed.

"You imprinted on Jensen? You imprinted on a vampire?! Are you kidding me??!"

"No, I'm not kidding. I really did imprint on Jensen. I think that's why I started going into heat."

"Hmmm, that kind of makes sense. You never went into heat before he came into town" Sam said.

"You know what would happen if you decide to kill Jensen. My misery would be a hundred times more unbearable than when you broke up with me, and you would sentence my pack to the same pain. Sam, you know me . . . if you hurt Jensen I would make you pay with everything that's in me. I won't allow you to hurt me again."

Sam shook his head, in what looked to me like resignation.

"Alright Leah. I'll talk to my pack. I won't bring it up to the elders, however Jensen must uphold the truce we have with the Cullens; he's not allowed to cross the borders of La Push, and he's not allowed to kill humans or change anyone" Sam said meaningfully, and he turned to walk back to his house.

I sighed because it seemed like there was nothing left to say. I followed him, and we walked in silence until we reached his house. Sam stopped me before I could continue on my way.

"Leah, I know you and I have not been friends in a long time, but Emily misses you. Would you like to join us for dinner?"

I was startled by his request. To be honest, I didn't miss Emily. I supposed, though it was sort of unreasonable, it was because I was hurt by what I saw as betrayal on her part. I thought about how I felt indifferent earlier when I saw Sam and Emily together in their doorway when I came to get Sam, and I looked inside myself to see how I felt about Emily. I was not surprised that I found that I wanted to test myself to see if I could rebuild my relationship with Emily.

"Sure" I said, and I walked up to the front door with Sam, preparing myself mentally for whatever may come.

Dinner had been an interesting affair. When Sam told Emily I would be staying for dinner, I saw that she was genuinely happy. I felt guilty because I couldn't feel the same. I wasn't unhappy, but I was admittedly wary. I was cordial throughout dinner, and to my surprise I found that I had stayed for a good 3 hours. The three of us talked, and I found that I enjoyed our conversation. Though we had never talked together like this, I remembered how much I liked talking to Sam and how much I liked talking to Emily. Plus, the awkwardness that always seemed to be present whenever we saw each other in the past, seemed to have disappeared. I realized that if I had not imprinted on Jensen, I would have loved him anyway just for giving me back my cousin.

Since I had spent most of my time with Sam and Emily, I decided I would just go back to Jensen's cabin rather than go on patrol. I was excited at the prospect of telling him that we no longer had Sam to worry about. I practically skipped the rest of the way to the cabin because of my excitement.

As I walked through the front door of the cabin, Jensen immediately grabbed me by my arms. I jumped a little because I hadn't expected him to grab me. I smiled up into his face; however my smile died when I saw his expression. He was furious.

"Where the hell have you been?" he hissed.

I blinked as his tone registered and I realized he shook me as he asked his question. I was puzzled by his anger.

"I went to talk to Sam" I said, and to quickly diffuse his anger I added, "Sam has decided not to talk to the elders and he will not seek revenge for Cain's death."

I expected Jensen to be happy by my news, however his expression got even darker, and for the first time in his presence I felt like I was in danger.

"What the FUCK did you do that would make Sam decide to not seek revenge?"