Lunar Ascension

Chapter 11 - Like I Needed That!

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.

We cannot see you
We cannot see you now
It's as if I was falling down
so we could switch
New Tricks by Great Northern

Watching Emmett with the dogs was probably funnier than it should have been. Steve and Greg, who I discovered were named after Travis' best friends in Elementary school, were adjusting to life with the strange undead creatures they couldn't figure out. As far as Carlisle could tell, they had the same aversion to them as we did, which made sense considering their sense of smell was much the same as a wolf's. They adjusted like we had, and seemed content to be around the calmer Cullen's like Nessie, the doc, Bella and Esme. Even Alice seemed to find them quirky and cute. Emmett, however, was a different story entirely.

You could be sat anywhere on the Cullen's property at anytime, and at least one of them would shoot by chasing Emmett. He loved testing them, so he'd run flat out after winding them up and attempt to lose them, but their sense of smell would always send them in the right direction. It went from an antagonistic relationship to one of mutual respect. The longer we spent at the house, the more they calmed and settled.

Nessie loved them, and they her. Much like the natural order of things, they recognized Jacob as the alpha, and so Nessie became something to cherish for them, and she was over the moon about it. Travis was amazed by how quickly everything seemed to work out. We all were.

It had been almost three weeks since we'd agreed to stay here. Travis and I only left for work or school. We rode together in the mornings, and for my piece of mind, Edward agreed to apply for a job at Travis' company, which coincidentally he was well qualified for. It didn't surprise me, but Travis continued to be awed by amount of living the Cullen's had done. He also loved to have conversations with Edward in his head because he knew it aggravated me.

Edward still wouldn't let me in on Travis' thoughts, but I continued to hound him with my mental discography of Britney Spears, which incidentally, I would have to thank Claire for. Apparently, it drove Edward crazy.

I still loved school, but I found myself distracted by Travis' safety. Which was the very reason I continued to walk into Zach day after day. It seemed that it was turning into a habit of mine.

"It's easier to see where you're going when not studying your feet, Leah," Zach laughed as I once again tripped over thin air and right into him. I swear spending time with Bella was rubbing off on me. She may have been more stable on her feet as a vamp, but it didn't mean I wasn't gaining her previous affliction.

"Yeah, I'm starting to realize that. How have you been, Zach?"

He sighed, running his palms down the thighs of his jeans as though her were nervous. He always seemed nervous when we ran into one another like this, but on the upside he was mostly alone when it happened. I'd finally managed to get him to stop apologizing for shooting me, it only took me dragging him into a classroom and showing him my unscathed leg to shut him the hell up.

"I'm really good, I think."

"You think?" I laughed, shuffling my backpack to another shoulder out of habit.

"Yeah, I, uh . . . I have a date tonight. Is that weird to tell you that?" he asked, wiping his hands on his jeans yet again.

"No," I smiled, actually meaning it. Since we'd started running into one another on a more regular basis, I found myself feeling less and less guilty about what had gone on between us. We'd finally talked about what had happened and he'd told me about the conversation he'd had with Sam. He didn't want to hurt me again so he promised to try and be better, and he had.

"It feels weird."

"Then you don't have to talk about it," I laughed.

"Well, I guess I should be going then. Just keep your eyes up."

"Right, I guess I'll see you later?"

He nodded and with that we parted ways. It still wasn't great between us, but it was better than the anger that had been there pre-shooting. I made my way to the front of the college where I was supposed to be meeting Edward and Travis. One of my classes had been canceled so I figured it was a good a place to wait as any.

Unfortunately, having free time meant I had too much time on my hands to think. In the three weeks we'd been at the Cullen's, there were four more vampires that had been caught passing through. The numbers were slowly creeping upward and we weren't sure exactly how bad it was going to get. Jasper had been thoroughly checking his sources, but it was always the same news. The Volturi guard was doing sweeps and the guilty were running north.

It just didn't feel right though. The more that seemed to come at us, the more we all seemed to feel as though we were being tested. Poor Bella had been projecting her shield for weeks, which meant she was confined to the house. She didn't mind so much and I guessed that was because she always had been a bit of a homebody, but it was still stressful.

The most disturbing thing, however, was the flux of vampires with talents. Eleazar and Carmen had been visiting Nessie when the last two had moved through, and had it not been for Eleazar, we would have never known. They'd agreed to extend their visit, just to test the theory and they'd been in the house since. It was a houseful of vampires for sure, but they were all vegetarians, so I was being patient. It didn't make it any easier to leave Travis there to patrol, but I trusted the doctor, and he promised to keep an eye on things, as did Jacob.

We were all driving ourselves crazy trying to find answers to these impossible questions, and all of the guys in the packs were finding it harder to leave their mates when there was an ever growing threat. These vampires didn't honor boundaries, and that was a worry to us all.

"Hey beautiful, you need a ride?" Travis called from the car as they pulled up in front of the college. I couldn't help but laugh as he let his chin rest on his folded arms as he leaned out.

"You know what they say about riding with strangers."

"If I'm a stranger to you, then the sky is green."

I laughed and jumped down from the wall I was perched on, and jogged toward the car. As soon as I was in the back, Travis stuck his hand behind him and I grabbed it willingly. It was our way of making up for the day of separation. We had lots of little anecdotes like that. The Cullen's had even been kind enough to give him the room next to mine, so being apart would be a little easier.

"How was your day?" he asked, turning in his seat, his fingers not leaving mine once. When he smiled my stomach fell into a flurry of butterflies that seemed to rebound from my ribs. The more time I spent with him, the more my body reacted to him, but I found I was less inclined to fight it these days.

"Long, and boring. How about the two of you?"

"I handed in my notice."

"What? Why? I thought you loved your job?"

"I did," Travis laughed, his eyes flicking to Edward. "But when you have a mind-reader on staff and said mind-reader discovers that the company is unknowingly employing an undercover fed because of corporate espionage, you figure it's about time to cut your losses and run."

"You're kidding?" I asked, sitting forward. "What did you tell them?"

"That I was moving out of town to be with my girl and the commute was just too much of a pain in the ass so I was going to try my luck elsewhere. They told me that it wouldn't work out, that I was stupid to quit for a woman. I told them they had no idea what they were talking about and walked out."

"You're insane," I groaned, rolling my eyes playfully.

"Among other things," he laughed. "Edward is going to get himself fired tomorrow."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Edward chuckled as he pushed the engine harder down the freeway. He drove like a bat out of hell, but I found myself not complaining. I hated being stuck in a car, although I did miss driving the jeep.

"I'm still on a probationary period. According to the secretary in human resources, the most offensive thing you can do is come into work drunk. They have a zero tolerance because the CEO is an ex alcoholic."

You do realize that you can't drink, right? So what's your plan of action?

"I have my ways," he laughed.

"I hate it when you do that," Travis grumbled, his fingers tightening around mine as he eyes flickered between us. I gave him a smile in response. He was probably the worse one of us to have silent one sided conversations with us.

"Now you know how I feel when you consistently do it," I teased, giving him a wink. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, short term, Edward is going to pay me to teach Renesmee Latin and German, long term, I'll figure that shit out when this crap is over with. Or until we've adjusted at least."

"Are you going to wear suits and nerdy glasses?" I snorted leaning forward between the two front seats and wiggling my eyebrows at him. For some reason the thought of him as a nerdy looking teacher with glasses and a viper bite, really did it for me.

Neither of them said a word to that. Travis was staring at me with a wide smile, and Edward seemed . . . Well the only word I had for it was relieved.

"No, happy," he said under his breath. From Travis' lack of reaction, I figured that had been for my benefit alone.

Happy?

"Don't be dense," he teased under his breath. "You need to give him a chance, he's a good guy and he's all about you."

I rolled my eyes and gave him a smile. He was a smart guy, but this was still my business. My pull to Travis was growing stronger and stronger every day and I loved spending time with him, he made me laugh. We never ran out of things to talk about and he had this amazing ability to make me feel like the only person that existed in his eyes. Even Rosalie prancing around the house in her designer skinny jeans and girly tops couldn't distract him.

"You asked her to do that," Edward mumbled without even moving his lips.

Bite me, Cullen.

He snickered under his breath, and I was thankful for his discretion. He was also right of course. I had asked Rose to do it, I was testing boundaries and he hadn't faltered, not once. If I was being honest with myself, neither was I. He was all I could think about, he was in my very un-PG13 dreams at night; he was what my mind focused on when I was miles away at college. I hated to admit it, but Zach was fading. I wasn't sure how to feel about it, but when I was with Travis, it was an afterthought.

We were only halfway to Portland when I started feeling weird. Things in the car had turned back to the company Travis had been working for and Edward was telling us about the feds thoughts when my body started going nuts. It began with me breaking a sweat, which even with the one-oh-eight body temp, never happened. It was followed by spasms in places that had been dormant for a while, and lastly a huge surge in my libido. I was horny as hell and couldn't explain why.

"Leah?" Edward finally asked, when rolling cramps made me press my fingers into my abdomen.

"I'm fine," I responded automatically, flashing a smile at Travis.

When Edward's eyes met mine in the mirror, I didn't need to be a mind reader to hear what he was saying. It was coming across loud and clear. He was going to distract Travis; I was going to see Carlisle. I gave him a nod in response, and hoped that Travis had missed the sudden mood change in the car.

True to his word, the moment we pulled up at the house, Edward asked Travis to come with him to talk to Bella about the classes. He did it with such ease, Travis didn't even blink, he kissed the top of my head as he always did and followed Edward to the house he shared with Bella away from the main dwelling.

I hated all of this secrecy, but without knowing what was going on, I refused to bring Travis into this. I'd never noted any of the guys going through something like this, so I wasn't even sure it was a wolf thing. I wanted a definitive answer before I said anything to him. He would catch on eventually, but armed with some answers from Carlisle would only help me in the long run.

Thankfully, when I went looking for him, I found the doctor in his study.

"Do you spend all of your time in here, Carlisle?" I asked, grinning at him as I stuck my head around the doorframe.

"Only when Edward texts me and says you're about to come looking for me," he teased in his usual manner. I don't think I'd ever me anyone as gentle natured as him, vampire, wolf or human.

"So he thought I was going to bail?"

"No," Carlisle replied, nodding to the chair I had sat in the last time. "He said you weren't feeling well and that it was probably best to talk in private."

"So he has his own theories?" I asked, pushing the door closed before taking the offered seat.

Carlisle nodded and gave me a smile. I found myself at ease with him now that I was living here again. I'd apparently had a personality transplant at some point and wasn't aware of it. Maybe they'd done it while I was knocked out during the buckshot removal.

"So, you tell me in your own words what the problem is."

I sighed and let the outward breath push my lips out.

"Cramps from what I can tell, and an . . . um over active drive."

Carlisle nodded thoughtfully; he was obviously developing his own theories.

"If you don't mind me asking, have your feelings toward Travis been changing?"

"In what context?"

"I suppose I'm asking whether you are finally giving in to the imprint?"

I thought about the question. Things with Zach had been changing; I'd noted that this afternoon when I'd run into him. That was the easiest way of thinking about things; he'd been the only thing holding me back when it came to Travis.

As for Travis himself . . . I'd been spending a lot of time with him here. I was laughing probably more than I ever had, I was smiling constantly and I missed him when he wasn't around. I would have loved to have attributed that to being worried about him, but I found it wasn't that at all. Even now, sitting in the doctors office while he was with Edward, all I could think about was his smile, the line of his jaw and the way he flicked his viper bite when he was annoyed about something.

"I think so," I finally said, looking up at him with a grin. "I mean it wasn't a decision I made so much as he grew on me, but . . . Why?"

Carlisle didn't say a word; he seemed to be waiting for me to piece things together on my own. With the way my brain felt like it was scrambling I imagined he'd be waiting a while, so it was probably best to prompt him into talking.

"Carlisle?"

"Leah, as far as your species go, I don't know everything, when it comes to you, I know even less. You're the first of your kind, even in your history and I can't answer that in uncertain terms. The best that I can come up with is that your body is responding to him. He's your mate, the natural order of things would indicate that you're body is . . ." he trailed off as though he were looking for the right words. "Readying itself for him."

"Readying . . . you mean like . . ."

"The estrous cycle," he finished for me.

"Holy shit, is that even possible?"

Carlisle shrugged. Wasn't that fucking helpful. If he was right, did that mean Travis would react like a male? Would he be drawn to me? Would he have that wild calling of nature that he couldn't deny? Did I think that was a bad thing?

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, it could just be your body readapting, but with your imprint so close and the changing nature of your relationship. I can only assume that it's his presence that's triggered it."

"Will he react?"

"I can't answer that. He's not a shifter, so I'm not sure whether it's a possibility or not."

It seemed I was gaining answers with more holes than Swiss cheese. It wasn't the doctors fault, but it was still frustrating as hell.

"This isn't good. This can't be good. Should I leave for a while?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. If your body reacts the same way as your counterparts you're going to need it as much as he does."

I could not believe I was discussing sex with a vampire. This was all too much to take in at one time and I was feeling a little bit confused about it all. If I hadn't been so unsure about everything, I believe I would have been blushing and running for cover. As it was, I was simply sat here open mouthed unsure of what should come next.

"So what you're saying is . . ."

"See where it goes. We could be completely wrong. Either way you still have a choice, Leah. I know you're probably feeling a little uncomfortable about the whole thing, but don't be. It's nature, no one is going to dispute that."

I was so confused.

I thanked the doctor for his advice and wondered back to my room, unsure of who to talk to and what to do. Should I tell Travis, so he had a choice? Did I just sit back and see what happened? It was all so impossibly complicated. I knew the doctor had to have it wrong. For all I knew it could have been the super crappy nachos I'd had for lunch.

When I got back to my room, I noticed Travis' door open and popped my head in, only to be greeted by Greg and Steve. Both of them sat politely at my feet waiting for me to give them love. I knew what they were waiting for. Travis and I took them for a long walk into the forest every day after we got home. They'd been in his room all day because Travis preferred to keep an eye on them at all times. They were still young and even though he loved seeing them play with the family he wanted to continue to train them, and that was impossible with Emmett running them around like a wild pack. He wanted to keep them on a schedule, so the Cullen's respected his wishes.

"Hey beautiful, you ready for our w-a-l-k?"

"Always," I grinned, falling onto my back on his bed and letting my hand rest on my stomach. The cramps were already starting to come back with a vengeance, which only added more substance to Carlisle's theory.

"You sure about that? You're not looking so hot," he replied, falling onto the bed next to me and brushing some of the hair that was stuck to my clammy cheeks away. I leaned into his hand and closed my eyes, just enjoying his touch, which seemed to ease some of the symptoms.

A small silence lingered between us as we laid together. It was nice, and peaceful, especially considering how exhausted I suddenly felt. Just being with him here was something I loved to do. No words were needed, there was barely even any touching involved, yet there was nowhere else I would have rather been. For a second, I thought I could sense the same thing from him too.

"Stay here a minute, I'll be right back," he said quietly, getting up from the bed. I would have argued but my eyes were already closed and I was giving into the sleep that was heading toward me like a runaway freight train. I really hated change, and this was no exception. Just as I was getting used to one way of life, it seemed as though my body decided to do another switch-a-roo on me.

I must have napped while he was gone, either that or he'd suddenly taken on the speed of a Cullen. I felt the bed dip as he crawled back on it beside me, and I could barely open my eyes enough to greet him.

"Go back to sleep."

"We have to take Greg and Steve out," I mumbled, letting my eyes flicker open to meet the blue of his. He was searching my face for something. I just hoped he wouldn't find the answers he was looking for.

"Nessie and Jacob are taking them. I told Nessie she could dog sit for the night as long as she didn't have them for a midnight snack. She was appalled, and told me that she could never do such a thing."

"You're evil," I laughed. "If she wasn't half vampire, and she didn't live with Emmett, I'd say you were a bad influence."

"I try," he grinned, leaning over me to grab a glass of water from his nightstand. He handed it to me with a look that said don't argue, so I obliged. "So, you wanna tell me why you had Edward distract me when we got home?"

I almost spat the water out, which wouldn't have been good considering his close proximity. He would have had a face full of it. I should have known that he would have figured it out. He was smart as a whip and never missed a thing. He just went along with it until we were alone and he could call me out.

"You don't miss anything do you?"

"Nope, I'm like a ninja," he chuckled, taking the glass from me. "But that's still not an answer."

"I went to see Carlisle," I sighed, turning my head on the pillow to face him. "I wasn't feeling good and I just wanted to talk to him and see if that was normal. We don't tend to get sick."

"And what did he say?"

I wanted to tell him the truth, but at the same time, I didn't think he needed to know everything. So I stuck with the basics.

"He said my body is adapting. I have an imprint now so once again changes are set in motion. It's nothing to worry about."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm omitting, there's just some things I know you'd prefer not to hear."

"Oh . . . oh!"

"Ding dong," I snorted, ignoring the spasm of muscles once again. I needed a muscle relaxer and a bed and I knew I'd be right as rain.

"So what do you want to do?"

"Sleep, but you can stay if you like."

"I would hope so," he mused, brushing my hair of my forehead. When I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he rolled his eyes at me. "You're in my bed."

I spent the rest of the evening in and out of a restless sleep, my body kept working against me and the aches were so intense I would wake up scowling. At one point, Travis tried to get me to eat something, but I couldn't fathom putting anything into my body while it was acting that funky. By the end of the night I was in his arms snuggled against his chest, he'd passed out at some point, and was breathing in his usual state of repose above me.

His closeness finally seemed to give me some ease and I slept through the rest of the night, my limbs tangled with his. When I finally woke up, and didn't feel better, I wondered whether I would have to see Carlisle again. It was so bad it was almost to the point of physical pain.

I left Travis asleep on the bed and went back to my room where I took a bath hot enough to blister a regular human's skin. It did nothing to ease the ache, so I threw on an over sized T-shirt and fell onto my bed in an attempt to sleep through it some more.

Nothing seemed to work, I woke up to my legs scissoring uncomfortably and my hands clawing the damp sheets around me. I rolled from the bed and paced the room, which eased it a little, but not enough to make a difference. I would have gone outside and phased, but I wasn't sure if it would make it better or worse, and the thought of it being worse just made me miserable.

There had to be something to make it better. Something that would ease the pain.

The more time that passed, the more my hands clawed at my body. I was like a wild animal trapped in a cage. I was pacing a hole in the rug at the end of the bed, but I couldn't stop, it was the only thing that eased the pain.

I wasn't sure how long I was like that, I hadn't looked at a clock since I'd left college the day before, and I wasn't interested either. It wasn't like the Cullen's really slept. I finally picked up the phone in desperation and dialed the extension to Carlisle's office. When there was no answer, I hung up and tried to remember the extension to their room, but instead my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Were you looking for me? I heard the phone in my office."

I could have kissed him for calling back. I was on the verge of panic and I had no idea what to do. For the first time, in a long time, I opened up to him.

"It hurts, Doc. I mean really hurts and I don't know what to do," I said, perching on the edge of the bed almost doubling over in pain.

Carlisle sighed down the line, which just pissed me off because they didn't need to breathe. It seemed I was starting to get irritable as well, and didn't that make me all sparkly and happy.

"I think you know what you have to do, Leah."

"I would if I could think, Carlisle. Unfortunately, my brain is a little preoccupied. Just say it straight."

"You have to give your body what it wants. I believe your body's reaction is a natural response to being close to the object of your affection. I may be wrong, but I believe you need to . . . mate."

I almost fell off the bed, but it wasn't from shock, it was from my body's reaction. If I'd been in front of Carlisle I would have been embarrassed, but instead I gave him a grunted thank you down the phone. Pathetically, I was torn about the whole thing. There was no denying how I felt about Travis, I would have been stupid not to, he was amazing, intelligent and caring, he was everything I wasn't. The ying to my yang, the peas to my carrots, the rock to my roll, but I had never envisioned our first time together out of necessity.

It wasn't the first time I'd thought about him in that capacity, he was my imprint, my soul mate, it was natural. I had pictured a beautiful moment together, both of us giving over to how we felt. Now, all I could see was me crawling into his bed and begging him to put an end to this pain. It took the romance out of it somewhat.

We hadn't even shared a first kiss yet.

I curled up into a ball on the middle of the bed and tried to think of what to do. There had to be a way to put this off so I could still have that amazing moment with him. There had to be. When there was a knock at the door, I almost hoped Carlisle had decided to show some mercy and give me some morphine to help me sleep so I could get my head straight, but when I called out and the door opened. There was no doubt in my mind who it was.

"Holy shit, Leah?"

"Hey," I croaked out, trying to lift my head. "Sorry I left earlier."

He made his way to the bed, and every shuffle he made crawling onto the mattress sent waves of aches through my exhausted body. How was I going to explain this to him? It was impossible, the closer he got the more I reacted to him. When he tugged the shirt down on my thigh to cover me up, I found myself moving before I had time to think about it. He was below me with a surprised look on his face. Which was understandable considering I'd just tackled him onto his back and was currently straddling his hips.

"I'm sorry, Trav . . . My body just . . ." I rolled my hips, surprised how they moved on their own volition. The small groan of pleasure and his reaction only seemed to make the ache center itself between my thighs.

"You smell amazing," he groaned below me, his hands gripping my legs as his eyes glazed over. He was starting to feel it too, I could sense it through my body.

"It's . . ." I couldn't do it, I couldn't go through with it like this. "My body is calling you, I wanted . . . I mean, I . . ."

I rolled off him and immediately fell into the fetal position as my body punished me.

"Leah, talk to me," he said gently, leaning over me. Now I wasn't invading his space he was thinking normally again. It was a shame I couldn't say the same thing.

"I want you, I mean reallywant you, but not like this. Travis, my body is making decisions for me . . ." I trailed off as another surge of pin-like aches contracted through me.

"Leah, are you saying . . .?"

I nodded, I should have known he'd put it all together. When his hand gently rubbed my arm I almost pounced again and I knew I had to get out of there. I shrugged him off and tried to move, but found that I couldn't.

"But you don't want to?" he asked, misreading my body language.

"I do," I whispered, "but I never wanted it to be like this. We haven't even kissed for fucks sake. Every time I think about you and I together . . . I want it to mean something, not have it be a necessary action."

"It can still mean something, baby," he replied gently, shuffling closer. "If you make the decision, then that's all that matters. Would it help if I told you I'm in love with you?"

"Travis, I . . ."

"I know," he sighed. "Let me do this for you, Leah, let me stop this pain."

Oh how I wanted that, but more than that I wanted him. I hated that it was going down like this, but I had a feeling it wouldn't go away until I gave in. This was my only option.

A/N: Poor Leah! Can you even imagine having an urge to be with the person you love so badly that your body rebelled against the abstinence? Doesn't sound like fun to me, but it certainly sounds as though Travis is willing to help her put an end to the pain ;)

Thanks so much to all of you who read, alert, favorite and review. You guys are amazing and your comments and thoughts always keep me smiling. You put a lot of thought into your reviews and I truly appreciate it. I'm on deadline at work, but I will try and answer the reviews in the evenings.

Thanks also to Hev99 for being an amazing beta and friend, to Sabi'sSookie for being an amazing BFF and twinnifer, and to pinkindeed for being a great prereader and friend. Love you guys!