A/N: Ok I felt like this was a little short but I thought it was a good place to end the chapter.

I originally had the Leah encounter go a little differently but after reading it i changed it to what you see hear.

Well I'll stop blathering and let you read. If you could review too that would make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Enjoy!

Chapter 5

Imprint

Leah

I was never going to be comfortable around the Cullens and guess where our pack's fearless leader had sent me, to play guard dog for them. Even though I cared about Nessie like family, her other family made me nervous. It wasn't rational, I knew they were good. They treated everyone with respect and a kindness that was hard to ignore. My instincts however saw only predators. The wolf in me was hard to overrule sometimes.

I'd been trying for years to control my wolf nature enough to be able to quit. I'd had limited success. My changes almost always happened when I willed them to, which was to say whenever I had patrol. The little slips had made it impossible to attend college though. Nearly phasing in a room full of people because I didn't like the C my professor gave me, had left me with the internet course route. There was one upside, I hadn't aged a day in thirty years. I smiled at the fact I was still the beautiful woman I had been when I phased the first time.

Jacob had called a meeting last night and said we needed to be extra aware of any strange scents in and around the reservation. Apparently some of the Cullen family had rescued a hybrid like Nessie from a pair of vampires. He was recovering at the Cullen house, and Jake had volunteered us to play watchdog again in case. I guessed that he was worried either there guest would prove dangerous or the offending bloodsuckers would track him down and finish the job.

So here I was running to play guard dog. I phased back to human at the tree line surrounding the Cullen home. I walked out of the trees after pulling on the shorts and shirt I had tied to my ankle when I phased to wolf on my way here.

I walked around to the front door and knocked. The Cullens insisted we were always welcome and to consider their home ours but I would always knock it just didn't seem right to barge into someone else's home.

"Hello Leah," Esme greeted me answering the door. "Won't you come inside?" She was always so gracious that I had to smile.

"Hi Esme," I replied following her into the main room of the house. She started to say something else but my attention was drawn to the gorgeous man standing in the kitchen doorway.

He was beautiful, tall and muscled. His reddish blond hair seemed to glow in the light. His lean face was complimented by deep blue eyes. The thing that drew my attention the most though was the light green aura that radiated from his skin. Everything else disappeared as I gazed at him trying to drink him in with my eyes. My pain at Sam's imprinting on another and breaking my heart vanished. My loyalty to the pack was still there but it felt muted compared to the bond I felt for this handsome man.

He was looking at me with a slack jawed expression. I brushed at my shirt absently wishing I had worn something more flattering. My other hand ran nervously through my hair. I had let it grow some but it didn't go past my ears. I had to say something I was just staring and Esme was looking between us with a confused look on her face.

"Do you know each other," she asked still with a confused look in her eyes though she was smiling. My mind shuddered at how I must look compared to someone as beautiful as Esme. He shook his head trying to clear it and looked at her, jealousy burned through me.

"No," he said in a deep resonating voice that made my knees quiver slightly. He took a step towards me and reached his hand for me to take. "My name is Thomas."

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Thomas

I stood there looking into the dark perfect eyes framed by her honey colored skin and short raven black hair. I wanted to reach up and run my fingers through it, to feel its texture. Now that I was closer I looked over her subtle curves and graceful neck and shoulders. She hadn't taken my offered hand yet and I frowned. My scrutiny must be scaring her or at least making her uncomfortable.

Finally she took my hand. She was warm a little warmer than me but it was very close, also there was a tingle, like touching an exposed wire. It was not unpleasant. She seemed to feel it to because I felt her hand shiver in mine. Her scent was amazing it was deep rich and earthy. I resisted the urge to pull her close and breathe in the scent of her hair.

"Ah Leah," Carlisle said entering the room. His sudden greeting made us both jump and drop our hands. I frowned again at the loss of contact.

"Did Jacob send you?" The mention of this Jacob made my mind race trying to figure out what he was to Leah. She finally spoke and her voice was soft and melodious, not musical voices of vampires, this was something better and I could not find words to describe it.

"Yes I should run a sweep for a while," she smiled at me again before walking out the door. I watched the door for a few minutes before turning to Carlisle with a confused look on my face. He smiled gently gesturing me to follow him to his study.

"I'd like to give you an exam just to be on the safe side," he said. I could have told him I was fine my leg was a little sore but other than that I felt fantastic. The blood had really helped. I felt strong and ready for anything.

Carlisle's office was like a library. I'd never seen so many books, a lot of them seemed to be medical texts. That made sense as he was a doctor. His desk was pushed off to one side to accommodate the exam table. He gestured to the table and I hopped sat on it removing my shirt as requested so he could see how the bites were healing. I was glad at the very least I hadn't been bitten in the face. Looking down on my shoulder was the very first bite wound. It was clearly visible against my skin.

"These seem to have healed well," he said reassuringly. He checked my shoulder and leg. When he pressed on my leg where it had been broken I winced.

"Still sensitive" he asked. I nodded it was fading but I would be careful not to bang it on anything. He probed for a little longer and decided I would be fine by tomorrow so putting a brace on was kind of pointless. I decided now was a good time to ask about Leah.

"So why did Jacob send Leah to keep an eye on things," I asked not sure how I wanted to ask the question that was burning up my brain.

"Jacob is the Alpha of the Quileute wolf pack," Carlisle explained "they are shape shifters whose form happens to be that of a wolf." A shape shifter well I couldn't imagine a better shape than her human one. It wasn't surprising that this didn't bother me, hell I was a human vampire hybrid so my weirdness tolerance was pretty high. Carlisle continued answering the question I had really wanted to ask in the process.

"Jacob is also married to my granddaughter Nessie," he said and my heart and mind raced she was unattached great. "It has eliminated the need for the treaty we originally had to keep the peace between us." That was a good thing I guess but it failed to compare to the fact that Leah was not involved with anyone.

"Ah, it seems the others are back from school," he stated just as the sound of two cars pulled into the garage.

"Why don't we go down to the dining room and introduce you to everyone." I was nervous I hadn't met everyone yet and apparently Carlisle had a big family. I didn't think of them as a coven because any fool could see that this was a family.

Pulling on my shirt I followed Carlisle down to the dining room to meet his family.