After talking to Sam, Leah crept into the dark forest, rapidly undressing, hoping to quickly envelope herself in the relief of the woods.
She wished.
I don't think I've ever heard Emily so angry, Quil commented.
Leah groaned, banging her furry head into a tree trunk, Shut up! she snarled.
How was your walk with Blondie? Jared asked innocently.
Steve, Leah corrected automatically, And none of your goddamn business.
Did he tell you he's an artist? Isn't that so cute? said Paul sweetly.
How'd he get those muscles if he was sitting on his ass all day? Jared rolled his eyes, which made him look a little manic in his wolf form.
Steroids, man, Paul said wisely, Only thing that makes sense. Your boyfriends' a junkie.
You should know, replied Leah sweetly, and the pack hooted at her response. Paul glowered.
For real though, Embry said, He did smell kind of wrong. Like metal, and acid and burning.
All the wolves turned their large heads to stare at him. Everyone knew Embry had the best sense of smell in the pack due to an incident involving a stolen pair of socks and a heap of cow crap.
I didn't smell anything weird, Jared said, He was just really... clean.
The pack murmured their agreements.
Leah? Quil asked, What does he smell like to you?
Leah couldn't keep her thoughts from tumbling out. Mint and soap, the old kind that's plain and pretty basic, and a hint of motorbike fumes.
Mint? Quil said, So when you kiss him he'll taste like toothpaste?
Shut up, Leah groaned, her growl edged with an oddly nervous note.
Don't worry, it's probably just my heightened senses. And he said he was from New York City, so maybe that's just what the city smells like, Embry rationalised.
Nodding her thanks, Leah stopped to from at him, Are you being nice to me? she said. The words sounded angry, but they were asked out of bewilderment.
You're not being mean to me, Embry said back warily.
After a pause, Leah huffed and turned away.
Hey! Where do you think you're going? Jared said, sounding playful, You have to show us your walk in the forest with Prince Charming.
Unbidden, the whole scene flashed in her mind, allowing the others to see.
Nice bike, commented Jared.
I so could have taken that artsy-fartsy jerk down, Paul snarled, He blushes as soon as you look at him!
It's cute! Seth replied to Paul, speaking up for the first time, It means he likes her.
I love that innuendo, said Quil cheekily, Are you gonna take him up on that offer? he asked her innocently.
The Fuck you she replied with was so strong it almost knocked him off his feet.
He's brave, Jared said, He was down right embarrassed, so I don't think he meant it like that, but when he realised the double entendre, he committed to it. Man's got guts.
You lot gossip worse then a bunch of old women, snapped Leah, turning around to run.
As she lay in bed at night, doubt attacked the imprint. What if they weren't 'supposed' to be together,and it was all just a big mistake? What if he did freak out? What if they were both so screwed up they made each other worse? What if, what if, what if...
"Are you pumped or what?" Seth grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Leah opened one eye groggily, wincing at the sunlight invading her room through open curtains.
"You're gonna ask him out..." he sung happily. Leah heard her cupboard being thrown open, and a piece of cloth landed on her head. Pulling it off curiously, she realised it was a low cut red top. A top she last wore when Sam had told her...
"Seth get out," she told him firmly, if still slightly croaky.
"Mum's got breakfast ready, so get ready quickly. Wear that top," he instructed her, "and wear that French perfume you got."
"Seth," she snarled.
"All right, all right, I'm going. Gone!" he called from the other side of her now shut door.
Dragging herself out of bed, she stared at the shirt, stroking the silky red material with her thump. Curious, she pulled it over her head. The fit was slightly more snug then the last time she wore it, before she'd shifted. The red still brought out the golden tones in her skin like nothing else.
She ripped it off and threw it under her bed. She wasn't going to try to glam it up for Steve. If he didn't like her in jeans and tee shirts, then he didn't deserve her in the sexy red top. That was her logic, at least the version she told herself. And it was true, to a point. But the true reason had more to do with the top's history then she cared to admit.
It was what she wore when Sam proposed. She made a mental note to give it away.
She pulled on a plain grey tee and shorts, and walked down the stairs. Halfway down, she turned back, racing to her cupboard, and adding a squirt of the French perfume a friend got her years ago.
She marched down the stairs, ignoring Seth's eyebrow wiggle when he sniffed her perfume. Ignored the breakfast her mother had set out, she locked the front door behind her breathing heavily. If she had anything to eat, she might just puke.
Halfway to the Forks Motel, Leah realised the perfume was a bad idea. It had slowly overwhelmed her nose, it's soft rosy scent becoming too sweet, almost sickly so. It made her twitchy and paranoid, and she was forever glancing over her shoulder, searching for an impossibly fast white blur.
Leah ran the rest of the way to the motel, sweating off a large amount of perfume. The motel was simply a set of short buildings in a long line, all opening up on a gravel car park. Steve had not told her the number of his room. Glancing around, making sure no one was watching, she lifted her nose, and breathed in all the scents around her.
There it was - Steve's fresh, minty soap smell. She followed it to the room with a number thirty in rusted bronze on the door, and as she got closer, she noticed a spicier, sweeter, more feminine scent mingling with his.
Ignoring it, she knocked on the door, crossing her fingers, then uncrossing them quickly.
"Yes?" the door opened, but it was not Steve Rogers standing there. A smaller, red headed woman eyed Leah carefully, before breaking out into a small, but perfect, smile.
"Can I help you?" she asked, quirking her petite eyebrows.
"Where's Steve?" Leah asked bluntly. Her shock and anger and hurt transformed her face into an emotionless mask.
The woman cocked her head, "Asleep," she said, "who are you?"
Leah opened her mouth to snap back, managing to shut it just in time.
"Never mind, I'll come back in a couple of hours," she said, turning to go.
"Wait!" a voice she recognised called, sending her spinning around.
"I wasn't asleep, just lying in bed, being lazy," Steve blushed, running a hand though his hair, though nothing could distract Leah from those delicious golden abs.
"Shirt," the red-headed woman ordered him, and his blush reached down to his neck. He disappeared for a second, reemerging wearing a tight white tee.
"Umm," he floundered for a minute while both women watched him carefully.
"Leah, this is Nata-Natalie, my... friend. Nat, this is Leah. She is, uh, we met at the beach?" he ended cautiously.
"She wanted you," Natalie told him. Leah wanted to bark at her for standing so close to Steve's steaming abs, or blush at Natasha's wording, but she managed to subdue the urge with a deep breath.
"Yes?" Steve asked, large blue eyes innocent.
"Some friends and I are having a bonfire at the beach tonight. I wanted to ask if you'd like to come," Leah said, hands fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.
"Sure, we'd love too!" Steve grinned, "What time?"
"We?" Leah blinked, staring at him, then at beautiful Natalie.
"Oh. It's at five thirty tonight. I guess I'll see you there," she said, nodding goodbye. Steve grinned back, "See you then."
"Bye," Leah said, unable to force a smile back. Natalie gave a small jerk of her head to signal au revoir. The door closed, leaving Leah in the middle of an empty car park on a misty morning. Suddenly, the air seemed so much colder.
On the way to Sam's house, she felt numb. She couldn't help but think about how Natalie had opened the door, dressed only in a singlet and shorts. She and Steve were so comfortable around each other, like they've known each other for years. She walked up the creaky steps stiffly, the front door opening with a shriek.
"Kitchen!" she heard Emily call. Leah followed her voice.
In the kitchen, Jared was talking to Emily as she prepared sandwiches her him to take back to where the pack worked, at the garage. Seth and Quil were happily munching away on their sandwiches. It was holidays, so the house was constantly flooded with younger pack members.
"Leah!" Emily beamed, shooing her into a chair, and placing a mug of hot chocolate in her fingers.
"We were wondering how it went?" she asked, sliding the box of sandwiches over to Jared and sitting next to Leah.
"Fine," Leah snapped, "It went fine." She felt everyone glance at each other.
"Leah?" Seth asked hesitantly.
"It went fine. He's coming," Leah said, glaring at the steam rising off her drink.
"That's good, isn't it?" Quil asked, confused. Leah sent him a glare so nasty, he nearly knocked over his drink.
"I told you, he's coming," Leah said, "with his girlfriend."
The silence in the kitchen was loud enough to hear the 'oh shit' each person thought.
"That's okay," Jared was the first to react, "you of all people know you can't resist the imprint. He'll come round," he assured her.
"Yeah," Seth agreed, "and if he doesn't do it himself, we'll beat the crap out of him till he does." Quil nodded his agreement.
"Boys! Of the few things violence can solve, making someone love someone else is not one of them," Emily snapped, and the boys hung their heads.
Leah banged her head on the tabletop.
"Okay, everyone out! Leah needs alone time," Emily hustled the boys out, waiting until she heard the front door close, turning and facing Leah.
"They're right, you know," Emily told her, "he'll come around."
Leah growled, "That's not... that's not it," she said, going to put her head in her hands, then backtracking, sitting straight, arms folded on the table.
"I know what will happen with him, Emily. And I know exactly how his girlfriend will feel," Leah said, willing back tears, "I don't," she choked back a sob, "no one deserves that," she finished in a small voice.
"Oh my god, Leah," Emily whispered, placing her hands over her mouth, "I'm so sorr-"
"Don't say you're sorry," Leah interrupted.
"I, I haven't forgiven you, not completely," she tried to explain, "But I'm getting there."
Emily stared at her cousin from her seat across the table, "Thanks, Leah," she said softly.
Together, the two women sat in subdued silence for what felt like a lifetime.
"Okay," Seth stepped in from behind the door, "Before you-"
"Seth!" Emily hissed, "I told you to go. I thought you were gone!"
Seth rolled his eyes, "Jared and Quil left. You think I'd leave my sister behind? What kind of brother do you think I am?" he stared at Emily with his big warm brown eyes.
"Seth, go away," Leah hissed, her voice muffled from her head resting on her arms.
Seth's face fell as he realised how hurt his sister really was.
"Did he say, 'this is my girlfriend,' or anything like that?" he asked seriously.
Leah sat up, "he paused, then said Natalie was his 'friend'," she explained duly.
"Tell me exactly what he said, Leah," Seth told her.
Leah threw her hands in the air, "this is Natalie, my," she paused dramatically, "friend."
"Maybe he had a relationship with her! Maybe he used to like her, or he's friends with her boyfriend! Maybe she's gay. Who knows?" Seth said, "Don't start worrying about it. You don't know what exactly is going on," he put her hands on his hips, staring at Leah sternly.
She glared back, then broke into a grin, "My god Seth, you sound just like mum."
Leah and Emily burst out laughing, washing away the pain from moments before.
Emily sobered up when she saw the annoyed expression on Seth's face, "There are worse people to be like," she offered, and Seth cracked a smile.
