Lunar Ascension

Chapter 5: Jealousy

Disclaimer: All things in the Twilight universe belong to Stephenie Meyer and her publishers. The song and lyrics belong to the band and their representatives. Any other copyrighted material included in this story belongs to their rightful owners. Cheers ma dears! Rated M.

Touch me and then turn away
Put your hands into the flame
Tell me if you feel this pain
'Cause I don't want to be a ball and chain
Hanging On by Active Child

It was easier to keep my head clear as I ran toward the Jeep, watching Emmett and Edward explain to the two traumatized humans that the wolves and super strong "people" were military experiments was highly entertaining. They'd even produced some official looking documents from who knows where and had the two hikers sign them, binding them to silence. Jacob simply sat on the sidelines and watched them work, amused that it was actually working.

As I got closer to the Jeep I held back and got ready to phase. I just had one more thing I needed to do.

'Jake, thank you for being an objective alpha and not forcing my hand. They wouldn't have got out alive if you'd ordered me to stay where I was.'

Jacob sighed, I knew this whole alpha thing still freaked him out sometimes, but he was better at it than he gave himself credit for. Time and time again he proved that being a leader included trusting the people that followed you. It wasn't always about what you thought was best. We'd been through so much together that he knew how I would handle things. He knew I would have never forgiven him for binding me and forcing me to watch the humans die at the hands of the vampires.

'I ain't gonna lie, Leah, it came close. I don't doubt your ability to look after yourself, but you're important to our pack, and I need you to remember that. You saved two lives tonight, and that was great, you did an amazing job, just try and stay safe. I need my second in command!'

'You got it boss. I'm out, I have my phone if you need me.'

I phased back to my human body and groaned as the healing skin stretched and split further open again, I lifted my arm and examined it closely.

There went my plans for the evening.

It was still deep and it was still trickling blood, but at least the bond was no longer showing. We healed fast but it wasn't a miracle, with a cut as deep as the one I'd suffered it would take at least twenty four hours to heal. The only upside was it would probably close within two, and be a puckered line by morning. As I pulled my shirt over my head I was well aware that it was sticking to my body where the blood was slowly seeping out, and tried to ignore it as best I could. I'd had worse, hell we all had. It was part of the job.

I climbed into the Jeep with a groan and pulled my phone out of the glove box. It shouldn't have surprised me that I had three missed calls, Zach was persistent to say the least, yet surprise me it did, and it also made me smile. The voicemail's that went along with the calls were hilarious in true Zach style, and all of them had the same question: "Are you done yet?"

His interest in me, which had been annoying as hell in the beginning, was actually kind of sweet. He had a reputation for being a player and making no apologies, even Danny had been surprised when Zach had introduced me as his girlfriend. It was something that had concerned me after that first dinner we'd shared together, but through the weeks I'd spent with him I couldn't keep a hold on that. It wasn't who he was when he was with me. Being as guarded as I naturally was, I knew I hadn't missed the signs.

I got out onto the main road before I dialed his number. I had at least an hours drive home and I figured I may be able to dissuade him from coming to spend time with me while I drove. It sucked, but I couldn't let him see the cut on my side, because I had no way of explaining how quickly I healed. It would be easier to wait until it was gone.

His phone only rang twice before he answered.

"Hey beautiful, what took you so long?" he asked. There was loud music in the background, and the thumping base made the ache in my head pound to it's tempo. It didn't help that he was trying to shout over it either.

"I told you it would take a while," I sighed, trying not to move my body too much. I was beginning to think I should have let the doc take a gander at it, it was itching like a bitch.

"You okay? You sound . . . Weird."

Weird? Was that a polite way of saying I sounded like shit? In all truth I actually felt crappy so it would make sense. Once again, I was left with only one option and that was to lie to him.

"Just tired. We took a hike into the mountains. It was a higher level trail and we ran it. I won't bore you with the details."

"Are you serious?" he laughed as the noise behind him died down as he shut a door. "How can anything that involves sprinting up the side of the mountain be boring?"

It wasn't, but it wasn't like I could tell him I took down a vampire and ripped his head off with my teeth. I couldn't even tell him that I'd had a rock thrown at me and I just wanted to sleep until it had healed. I couldn't tell him any of it because it would be going against the command of my alpha. I just had to convince him I was going home and going to bed, which was the truth.

"You have no idea. Would you be pissed if I rain checked? I just want to crawl into bed and sleep."

"No, that's fine. In fact, maybe I'll join you," he chuckled and I could almost see the eyebrow wiggle that would accompany it. If I'd thought I could get away with just watching movies and sleeping I would have been happy to have him as company, but I knew where it would lead, and I really didn't need to get naked in front of him.

"That would be nice, but I wouldn't be much company. Just stay at the party and have some fun, I'll take you to breakfast in the morning to make up for it."

"Are you sure you're all right? We've been talking for almost ten minutes and there hasn't been a hint of sarcasm."

I snorted into the phone and stifled the groan of pain. I could feel the blood drenched shirt moving on my side. Something told me I would have to make some makeshift butterfly stitches when I got home. We hadn't done sutures in class yet.

"That should just tell you how tired I am. I mean I can go with sarcasm if you like . . ."

"No, this is good. Two ordinary conversations in one day, we're on a roll and I intend to take advantage of it. I know you're tired so I promise we'll just hang out, but I want to see you."

"Awe, that's so sweet. You want to watch me while I sleep, you're not creepy at all."

He laughed down the phone and I heard the music in the background get louder as the door opened, then it closed again. I could hear voice in the background, but they were whispering. I could barely hear through the phone, even when I was straining to listen.

"Hang on, Leah."

"Sure thing."

He tried to silence the phone by putting his hand over the microphone, unfortunately the voices were speaking at full volume and I heard every word. Apparently some chick had followed him into the room and was trying to come on to him, he was politely asking her to leave when he dropped the phone and a couple of choice expletives. Without any limitations on sound I heard them even clearer.

"Listen . . ."

"Jennifer," she cooed, in a husky sex caller voice.

"Right, Jennifer, well as much as I appreciate the, uh . . . Gesture, I would appreciate it if you would back off. My girlfriend wouldn't appreciate your hand down my pants."

My mouth fell into a little O. I wanted to be patient and understanding, I wanted to turn off the irrational stream of jealousy that ran through my body, but it was impossible. He may have been trying to fend her off, but from the sounds coming through my phone she was pushing hard, and she was using all of her sexual prowess to get what she wanted.

I tried to think about what Zach had said about Danny and where he lived. If I could zone into the area I could sniff them out, listen for the sounds of a party. I could still hear the voices on the phone but they were muffled and I could only assume that the phone was under something.

A shiver worked down my spine and I hung up the phone before the urge to phase overtook me and I turned into a giant wolf while going eighty miles an hour. All of my thoughts were trained on one thing and one thing alone and that was Zach and the skank that was obviously not taking no as an answer.

I made it into town in record time and the lack of call back from Zach only seemed to make me move faster. The moment I got close to the college I opened my window and pushed out my sense of smell and my hearing. There was a faint din of music to the east of the college but it was the only thing that even sounded like a party on the wind.

I drove toward the sound, taking illegal turns and speeding through the residential streets. My anger was like a melting pot, it boiled my blood. Even my rational side couldn't talk me out of this. We weren't a couple, and yet here I was acting like an irrational jealous human, using my senses to track down the skank that was coming onto Zach. I would have loved to have been objective, but it was impossible, I couldn't see through the haze that had clouded my brain and judgment.

Some part of me realized that some of this was due to the fight with the vampires, that it had triggered my need to protect him, to mark him in some was as my own. He wasn't my imprint, I was sure of that, but there was something in my biology that was pushing me forward.

When I took another illegal left turn and went the wrong way down a one way street, I caught Zach's scent coming from the area. When I saw his car parked on the street I knew I had the right place and pulled the jeep up onto the middle of the lawn. It was rude, but there was nowhere else to park, and I wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind to correct my mistake.

I pulled the keys out of the ignition and pushed them into my pocket in mid hop out of the Jeep, there were people staring at me with wide eyes and people laughing, but no one got in my way as I route marched through the open front door. I tried to find my center of gravity and for a second I closed my eyes. I couldn't hear him over the the music, but his scent was coming strongly from the back of the house.

I pushed through the crowd of bodies, ignoring the comments that came back at me. I could have cared less what they thought. I would never see them again so it wasn't as though I was minding my manners. I had one mental directive, and it appeared nothing was going to deter me.

The only time I second guessed myself was stood at the door. My fingers were curled around the handle and I could hear Zach's voice. I shouldn't be here repeated over and over in my head, but then the echo of 'Jennifer's' voice pounded into my head and I threw the door open.

"Leah?"

It took a moment for me to get my head clear enough to register what my eyes were seeing. The mental picture in my mind had been so strong I hadn't even considered this scene. I wanted to back out of the room and run but I was rooted to the spot.

Zach was on the couch, Alone. His phone was in his hand and his eyes were on me. I wanted to step further in to the room, but the sudden blast of embarrassment was just too much for me to take. As I took a step back, he rolled to his feet.

"What happened to you, Leah?"

I was floundering like a guppy out of water. My mouth was opening and closing as I tried to retreat another step, but he took two toward me and closed the distance. How was I going to explain what I was doing here? My irrational behavior? The fucking Jeep parked smack bang in the middle of his friends lawn?

"I fucked up," I squeaked and took off toward the door. I needed to erase this whole evening from my life but it was impossible. Being spontaneous had once again given me the royal shaft.

"Leah wait . . ."

I didn't. I pushed my way back through the crowd and out to the front of the house where Danny was staring at my Jeep. He looked pissed and I wasn't exactly sure how to explain it so I bypassed him and scrambled for the keys in my pocket.

"Shit, Leah. What the fuck?"

"I know, I'm sorry, I . . ."

"Woah," he said, cutting me off as I dug through my pockets. I couldn't find my keys. "Dude, were you stabbed?"

"What? No, I . . ." Had a rock thrown at me by a pissed off vampire? Yeah that wasn't going to fly. "It's just a scratch."

"Dude that is so not a scratch," Danny said stepping forward. "I was all pissed at the Jeep on the lawn, now I totally get it, you must be in shock or some shit."

There was a glint of metal on my fingers and I pulled out my keys almost crying out in relief. I could hear Zach coming up fast and I knew I needed to get the hell out of there. I opened the door, only to have it slammed shut. Two arms caged me against the vehicle, and the only thing I could do was rest my head against it, knowing I was out of luck and out of time.

"I find jealously a sexy emotion," he breathed into my ear. "But you're hurt and I need to know how it happened."

"It's not as bad as it looks, it's just in a spot that bleeds a lot. I took asprin for a headache and it thinned my blood making it worse."

"You're a terrible liar," he mumbled, turning me around to face him. I knew he could see the shame and embarrassment written on my face, but he didn't acknowledge it, he simply kissed the tip of my nose and took the keys from my hand.

"Go inside and wait for me in the room you found me in, it's Danny's fathers study, it's off limits to everyone else. I'll move the Jeep and meet you there."

"Zach . . ."

"No arguments, Leah. I want answers."

I nodded. There was no other way around it. I would never be able to give him the truth but I could find something that would placate him enough to let me leave. I felt like an idiot, everyone was staring. Danny was trying to corral them all back inside while making room for me to get back in the house and Zach was staring at me with an intensity that I couldn't put words to.

"Go, ignore all these assholes, they don't matter."

With a roll of my eyes, I took off toward the house ignoring the stares and the whispers of the people I passed. I'm sure they thought they were being discreet, but to my sensitive ears I could hear every word they said. It wasn't my finest moment.

When I got to the door, Danny walked with me to the study, he was acting though I was a porcelain doll as he pushed people out of our way and challenged people to keep looking and see what happened. It was a bizarre thing for me to deal with, and when he finally deposited me in the room and closed the door leaving me alone in there, I was finally able to take a breath.

Unfortunately, I could still hear everything being said as clear as day. Danny was still stood outside the door, and when someone approached him I was surprised by the conversation.

"Hey Lily," Danny said initiating the conversation, his flirting was obvious in the tone of his voice.

"Hey, Dan. New girlfriend? You're gonna make me all jealous," she purred provocatively.

I may have gagged a little. I'd never really been the forward type, and watching girls throw themselves at people did nothing but make me cringe. It was like an RTA, I couldn't stop listening.

"Me? Naw, baby, that's Zach's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Lily asked with a very unfeminine snort. "Since when? He's never been the monogamous type."

"People change, and Leah in there tamed the beast."

"Unlikely candidate. All power to her, Jen won't be impressed though, she came with a mission."

Danny laughed and started to escort Lily away and I moved to the door so I could listen a little more.

"She already tried and he wasn't happy. Zach asked me to kick her ass out. I made a compromise and told her to stay away."

I backed away from the door, unwilling to hear any more. Talk about getting it all wrong. I felt like a bigger fool that I had standing at the door and seeing him alone. He'd never lied to me about his past, and he'd been trying so hard to be a gentleman. He'd actually succeeded where I had failed, I'd let my jealousy get the better of me, I'd let myself react from distrust. I didn't deserve him at all.

The walls in the room started to close in on me. I'd never been the type to handle humiliation well, I preferred to walk away from it and pretend it didn't happen, but here I was, pacing this study with determined steps trying to keep myself anchored long enough to apologize and get my keys back.

When the door to the room opened, I didn't turn. I found I couldn't face him. All of these new emotions were swimming together and coagulating into an emotion I'd never really been familiar with.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, leaning against the frame of the window that faced the backyard. There were people gathered in groups talking together, but I was ignoring the voices; I was ignoring the scene. Instead, I was focused on his reflection in the glass, looking for a reaction that told me he was going to help me then send me on my way. but there was nothing there but worry, a genuine concern for my safety.

"Leah, I wouldn't have reacted any better. I'm sure you heard pretty much everything that went on, and I'm sorry you had to hear that. But right now, all I want to do is look at your side and see whether we should make a trip to the ER."

"Not necessary," I sighed. I knew he'd want to look at it, but it would be nothing but a partially healed scratch by now, it wasn't even irritating me anymore. The itching had gone which meant the skin would have fused back together. "Honestly, it's not as bad as it looks."

"You keep saying that, yet the amount of blood on your shirt is contradicting you. Just let me take a look."

"You're an architectural student."

"This semester I am, I was in the medical for three before this," he chortled, stepping up behind me.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" I asked, turning around to face him. "You never do anything like a normal person."

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. My arms moved of their own volition and encircled him as I let my cheek rest on his shoulder. He was careful to avoid the drying blood on my shirt as he held me close, but I wanted more of this, I wanted the comfort of his arms to encircle me and tell me everything was going to be all right. For a brief second I was disgusted by this girly need for reassurance, I was stronger than that. I was a wolf for crying out loud. Yet I couldn't deny the ease I felt being comforted by him.

"Please let me look," he whispered into my hair. "I've always wanted to try my perfect stitching on someone."

I finally let out a laugh and pushed on his chest. This was going to end up being a pain in my ass for a couple weeks, but he wasn't going to let this go. Whatever I showed him, I would have to keep cutting myself while he played Florence Nightingale.

"Fine," I finally answered, and lifted up my shirt revealing as little as I possibly could. I let my eyes roam over the surface and was happy to see only a slight jagged line that backed up my story of it being a scratch. The dried blood around the edges made it look a lot worse than it was.

"This looks days old."

"It is, I reopened it on a branch on the trail," I lied.

"What about this fading contusion, it looks really bad. How have you been walking around normally?" he asked, lowering himself to his knees and fingering the area gently.

I placed my hand on top of his with a small smile. "I'm female. Whether you like it or not we have a higher threshold for pain. It looks worse than it was, and I heal quickly."

He dropped a kiss on the bruise reverently before resting his cheek on my stomach. The warmth of his cheek felt good against my skin and I couldn't help the sigh that fell from my lips. I was exhausted, my body was putting all of it's energy into healing and I wasn't sure how I was still on my feet. Now the drama had passed I just wanted to go home and go to bed.

"I'm sorry I freaked you out, Zach. I don't know where it came from."

"Are you kidding me?" he laughed, as he stood up and led me to the couch. "You being jealous means that you care, how can that not be a good thing?"

He sat down and pulled me onto his lap, his lips instantly found my neck and pressed against it.

"I don't want to see other people, and I don't want you to either," he said between reverent kissed, his fingers breaching the hem of my shirt as they circled my skin.

I let my head lie on his chest as I laughed. "Are you saying you want to try and master the art of monogamy?"

"When you say it like that it sounds dull."

I shook my head and smiled. "Not to me it doesn't."

"Is that a 'yes, I would love to try this with you'?" he asked, pressing his lips to mine and distracting me from my answer.

Our kiss grew deeper and before I knew it we were horizontal on the couch, moaning and tugging at the others clothes. We were both topless, but that was as far as we'd got when I felt just how eager he was to take this further. Unfortunately, when I went for his belt buckle he pulled back and stilled my hands.

"Not here, not like this. I don't want to be interrupted."

"You're killing me," I groaned in response, my hand moving down so it was covering his, very obvious, excitement.

"Fuck, shit, don't do that," he growled, nipping at the skin on my neck. "I'm trying really fucking hard to be good."

"Then don't," I whispered.

For a second he looked like he was going to refuse me, and when he got up I almost argued with him. That was until he dropped the blinds on the windows and twisted the lock on the door. I smiled as I popped the buttons on my shorts, but when he turned around his eyes went wide.

"Stay. Don't move."

"What? What is it?" I asked fighting the need to rub my thighs together out of pure need.

He came toward me in a predatory way, and stopped in front of the couch. Reaching out with one hand, he pulled my legs from their spot so they were placed on either side of him. When he leaned forward and hooked his fingers around the waistband of my shorts I almost lost myself right then. He worked them down over my legs and let his eyes drink me in as they lingered at the apex of my thighs.

I could feel myself reacting to his looks. When he dragged his tongue along his bottom lip I let my hand fall on my stomach. The burning need for what was about to transpire made it roll and clench with anticipation.

He discarded my shorts on the floor beside him and fell to his knees, his hands ran up from my ankles to the backs of my knees and he pulled me until my ass was at the edge of the couch. I watched him with curiosity as he kissed the inside of my thigh, and when his teeth grazed the skin, my body arched from the leather as a moan escaped me.

"I like that sound," he whispered against my skin as he traveled upward. "But if you keep making it, I won't be able to concentrate."

His tongue ran a warm path between my legs as his fingers dipped inside of me and I couldn't help the response I had to him. My mouth hung open as my body shook under his hands. My whole body exploded into trembles of pure unadulterated pleasure as he worked his magic. He brought me to the brink but pulled away every time I got close. After the third time my hand dipped between my thighs and I pushed myself to the end.

He pulled back and watched me fall over the edge into the bliss he'd created in my body. His hands gripped my thighs as my body trembled and undulated under his vigilant gaze. I wanted to pull him down and offer him the same ecstasy he'd given me, but before I'd even finished, he was pushing into me.

"I couldn't wait," he groaned as we both shook with pleasure.

My fingers curled into his back as he pulled back and pushed forward again. I let him have control while I came down from the euphoric high he'd given me with his fingers and mouth, but the moment I was back in control I pushed us to the ground and took control of the tempo.

He almost seemed surprised by my movements but the moment his hands gripped my hips and I picked up the pace, his head fell back to the ground and his eyes fluttered and rolled under the almost translucent skin.

We worked together in a push and pull effort, both of us hungry for more. He sat up against the couch, his hands on my ass as he guided me. His eyes, fascinated by the spot where we were connected, occasionally flicked up to meet mine. I knew when he was close, his muscles strained until they caged me in his arms, both of his hands were on my back as he arched up to meet me.

He came hard as I slowed. I was so close to finishing myself that when one of his hand dived between my thighs I shuddered with pleasure and collapsed against him as the fire of my orgasm took control.

We both slid to the ground wrapped in the others arms as our breaths mingled between us. I was still trembling when his lips met mine.

"That was indescribable," he whispered as he dropped a kiss behind my ear.

I hummed in response. I had nothing more to offer him than that because I was spent. He pulled a blanket from the back of the couch over us and wrapped one arm around me as the other ran through my tangled hair. I tried to stay awake, but fatigue overtook me and pulled me into the darkness

Nostalgicmiss: I'm not exactly sure that's what Leah had in mind when she left the scene with the vampires. Her jealously came on suddenly and I don't even think she's sure what fueled it to that level. At least she found him alone! I just want to thank you guys for reading, favoriting, alerting and of course reviewing. I truly appreciate your thoughts, comments and encouragement. You guys inspire me

Thank you also to my awesome beta, Hev99, or Bobble as I call her. Even with everything going on in her life, she's gracious enough to find time for me and I love her for it! We have a collaboration on a different profile, it's a BellaxEmmett (Letting Go of Maybe) that we wrote for Newmoonaholics birthday. Thanks also to my bestie, Sabi'sSookie, for prereading, inspiring me and understanding my neurotic tendencies enough to slap some sense into me! Also for writing with me. :) We're writing a PaulxBella collaboration (Harmonic Convergence). Finally to my knitting Ninja and friend, PinkIndeed, she's always honest and is possibly the one person in the world that is more neurotic than me lmao (j/k). You need something knitted, this is your girl!

I love you all!