The Life We Live

Chapter 6

Pairing: Bella / Leah

Rating: T for Language and Content - Subject to Change

As I bounded into the forest near Bella's place, my heart was soaring. I had done it, I finally plucked up enough courage to ask Bella out. Granted, it may not have been an official date, but still, it was something. And she wanted to hang out with me again. That gave me hope that I had a chance.

As soon as I was deeper inside the forest, I stripped and shifted, my mind wandering. I howled in triumph. My wolf was also happy with the turn of events. I hadn't seen her in a week, and now I had the promise to see her more often. As I neared the reservation, I heard Sam in my mind. "So am I to assume it went well?" I laughed.

"Indeed, it went amazingly. We went out to dinner at one of the cafe's in Forks. It was good, we learned a little bit about each other. And she wants to hang out with me again." I couldn't even hide my excitement, and I didn't really want to.

"I'm happy for you Leah. I hope you'll be able to tell her soon and you'll be happy. That's all I ever wanted for you." I smiled to myself. Sam always was looking out for me. I had been so angry with him when he left me for Emily. He had every right to not want to see me again and yet he was always there. I could count on him, and I was grateful that I had him in my life still.

As I crossed the line to the reservation, I went to go find Sam. I figured the least I could do was to finish up my portion of the patrol. I quickly sniffed him out and joined him near the edge of the reservation. As I approached him, he turned and gave me a wolfy grin. "Ready to run perimeter again?" I nodded. He smirked and approached me. "Race ya." And he suddenly took off, sprinting away from me. I chuckled to myself. Even though he was the Alpha, he was still the goofy boy that I fell in love with. I started to chase after him.

When my patrol was over, I headed home. I needed to get some sleep. I didn't really have anything lined up for the day, but with all the patrols I had been running, I needed it. And the race with Sam took it out of me. He had beaten me, of course. He was the Alpha, but I did give him a run for his money. As I walked in, my mom was in the kitchen. She turned to me and smiled. "Hey sweetheart, how was your patrol?" I smiled to myself, remembering the time I had spent with Bella.

"It was great mom." I turned to head upstairs but was stopped by my mom.

"Hang on a minute young lady. I know that look. You're hiding something from me." I laughed nervously. My mom was going to be so pissed that I hadn't told her I had imprinted. It wasn't that I was ashamed of Bella, it wasn't that at all. I just wasn't sure how my mom would react to my imprinting on a female. She was one of the more open minded of the Elders, but being around sexist old men all the time could have an effect. I took a breath. I couldn't hide this from my mom. She could read me like a book, no lie got past her, at least when I tried. "IimprintedonsomeoneandIhungoutwithhertonight." My mom looked confused.

"Care to repeat that Leah?" I sighed and tried again.

"I imprinted. I took her out tonight. That's why I was looking so.. happy I guess." I cringed, waiting on my mom's reaction. First it was a hint of confusion, then a large smile broke out on her face. Her pulled me into a big hug. I had to bend over slightly, since I was quite a bit taller than her.

"My baby finally imprinted! That's great Leah, I'm so happy for you." I was a little shocked that she was taking this so well, but I wasn't going to complain. One less barrier between Bella and I. When we ended out hug, she stepped back and slapped me on the arm.

"Ouch, what was that for mom?" I rubbed my arm. I might be a wolf and all, but a slap from my mom still hurt.

"Leah Clearwater, how long have you been imprinted? You haven't been out much all in the last week or so. And the last time you were in mixed company was the night of the bonfire, and everyone there was an Elder or pack member, until it was canceled because of Jake.." Realization dawned on her. I looked sheepishly at her. "You imprinted on Isabella Swan?" I slowly nodded. I didn't know how she'd take this little piece of information. "What exactly happened that night?"

"What, weren't you told what happened?" My mom shook her head.

"We weren't told that much. Just that Jake and Paul were forced off the reservation due to an unknown threat. Sam told us that until he knew more about it, he wouldn't pursue it, and that he would keep us informed." I sighed. I didn't want to go against Sam's wishes with informing the council. But my mother had a right to know what happened, since I was there and I was her daughter.

"Mom, if I tell you, promise me you won't tell the others. I'm sure Sam had his reasons for not telling you." My mom slowly nodded. I took a quick breath. "That night, Jake had invited Bella to the bonfire. You know he had a huge crush on her, even though she didn't return his feelings. That didn't stop him. Well, as soon as I looked at her that night, I knew; she was my imprint. I couldn't handle that at the time. I ran off." My mom slapped my arm again. "Ouch, I know mom, running from my problems never solved anything, but I'm not running anymore."

"Alright honey, I trust you." I nodded and continued my story.

"Needless to say Jake was pissed that I imprinted on her. Sam had followed me, to try and calm me down. Jake followed us. He was going to attack Sam, take the Alpha position and keep me from Bella. Even go as far as to force both Bella and I to submit to him." My mom gasped. I swallowed and tried to continue. "He was ready to pounce on Sam, who was defending me. Suddenly out of nowhere, a black wolf appears and runs Jake off the reservation. I don't know what it wanted, but it left as fast as it appeared. We don't know if it's a threat or not, or what it wants. Just that it's a potential danger. But it fought Jake off like he was nothing, so it's powerful. Paul followed Jake, to help him fight the wolf and take the Alpha position." I quietly finished. My mom's face was a mixture of anger and confusion.

"Well, I can't say I exactly approve of having to keep this a secret, but I suppose I understand. Jacob Black was out of line, he has no right, Alpha or not, to keep a wolf from their imprint." Her eyes softened and she pulled me into another hug. I returned it, not realizing that there was tears in my eyes. "Don't worry sweetie, don't cry. It'll be okay." The salty tears running down my face didn't stop there. If anything more came. This was so overwhelming.

"I can't help it mom. I already feel myself being drawn to Bella. And we barely know each other. What am I supposed to do?" My mom looked at me, smiling.

"You get to know her better. Rome wasn't built in a day. Remember, she's your imprint, you two are meant for each other. What will be, will be, if you let it happen." I nodded at my mom, wiping the tears off my cheeks.

"You're right, as usual. It's just all so new. Even with Sam I've never felt this way about anyone. I'm physically aching when I'm not near her. Last week was killer."

"Then spend more time with her missy! That's something easy to solve." I laughed and nodded.

"Anyways mom, I've had a long day, I'm going to head to bed. Thanks for talking with me. It felt good to be able to talk with someone not in the pack about it." My mom gave me a warm smile.

"You can come to me about anything Leah, you know that." I nodded and headed upstairs to my room. I noticed as soon as I walked in that my phone was flashing; indicating a new text message. I quickly checked the number, it was unfamiliar, but I opened the text anyways. I let out a girly squeal; a sound I would deny ever came out of my mouth. It was from Bella.

Hey Leah.

I hope you got home okay. I'm sure you know this already, but I did have a good time tonight. I'm looking forward to our next date night ;) Sleep well.

- Bella

Oh my god, did she think tonight was a date? Did I want her to think that? I knew I wanted it to be a date. So I guess this was a good thing. I contemplated what to send her in reply.

I got home just fine. Thanks for checking on me. I had a great time too! I hope we'll be able to go out again soon. I hope you sleep well too!

- Leah

I set my phone back on my desk and crawled into bed. Thoughts of mine and Bella's date running through my head as I fell asleep.

"Leah, wake up!" I moaned, covering my head with a pillow. "C'mon Leah! Get up!" Ugh, I really didn't want to get up.

"Seth, go away and let me sleep!"

"But you promised we could go on a forest run today." I moan louder. I had forgotten I promised to spend time with Seth today. He wanted to take a run around the forests of the reservation.

"Fine, give me a little time to wake up and get something to eat."

"Yes!" I could just imagine Seth fist pumping in the air outside my door. I groaned and stumbled out of bed. Getting a white tank top and a pair of black sweats out of my drawers, I quickly got dressed and went to the bathroom. Doing my morning routine took a lot less time than it did when I was still in school. Probably because I didn't really wear makeup or anything anymore. As soon as I had finished, I headed downstairs to grab myself some breakfast. Seth was already there, scarfing down a scrambled egg or three. I chuckled at my little brother.

I grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard and got some cereal. As I sat down at our counter to eat, Seth decided it was a good time to grill me. "So, Leah. How's about you and Bella, eh?" I rolled my eyes. He had been pestering me about her all week.

"What about me and Bella?"

"Have you two.. ya know.." I blushed.

"Seth! No, I barely know the girl and she barely knows me. We're not just going to.. do that right off that bat. Besides, even when we do, it's none of your business. I'm your sister, why the hell do you want to know?" He looked down.

"I just want you to be happy Leah." He whispered. My eyes softened. I grabbed his shoulder. And he looked at me.

"I appreciate it bro, I really do. And she does make me happy. I went out with her last night. It was just a get to know you sort of hang out, but I was happier than ever with her." Seth's eyes brightened.

"That's great! When do I get to meet her?" I laughed and ruffled his hair. He groaned and tried to fix his mop of black hair.

"When I decide to bring her over, that's when. Anyways, I'm done, you ready?" He nodded excitedly. We both stood up and walked outside. Once within the safety of the treeline, we both shifted. I wagged my tail, smirking at my brother. "Race you to the boundary line?" I saw a glint of competition in Seth's eye, which I took to mean yes. "Okay, on your mark, get set, go!" We both sprinted off. I pulled ahead of Seth quite easily, but made sure he was in my sight at all times. I was wary that we still had this unknown wolf threat around and I didn't want anything happening to my brother.

When we reached the boundary line between Forks and the reservation, I quickly came to a halt, Seth lagging a little behind me. I gave him a wolfy grin. "Aha! I win again."

"Yeah well, you have less weight you have to carry. That's why you're faster." Seth was a little whiny when he lost, but I knew he had fun with it anyways. Suddenly I smelt a strange, yet somewhat familiar scent. My head whipped around in the direction of Forks. "What is it Leah?" He hadn't smelt it yet. I had a suspicion of what it was, and if I was right, I needed to get Seth out of here.

"Seth, I need you to go home, now." Seth looked concerned.

"What? Why? What about you Leah? I can't just leave you here."

"Yes, you can and you will. I can handle this myself." Although subconsciously I knew I couldn't, but I couldn't let Seth get hurt by the strange wolf if my senses were right. "Go, now!" Seth whimpered, but scampered off. I was a little surprised he didn't fight me more, but now wasn't the time to ponder. As soon as he was out of range, the strange black wolf from last week stepped out of the trees, on the Cullen's side of the boundary line. My hackles stood on end and I growled at it.

It's golden eyes looked at me, as if appraising me. As it's eyes met mine, everything left my thoughts except the wolf that was standing in front of me. It slowly approached me, and I slowly backed up. Even if I felt calmer looking in it's eyes, I wasn't going to let my guard down. This wolf took Jake out with little trouble; I had no doubt it could crush me head to head.

As it noticed me back up, it whimpered a little. I stopped, my heart beating ten times faster. The whimper sounded so pathetic, so sad. It almost broke my heart to hear it come from this wolf. I took a tentative step towards this wolf. It seemed to notice and it's ear perked forward. We both approached the boundary line. As I got close to this wolf, I took a sniff of it and it sniffed me; like two dogs meeting for the first time.

I should have been scared. I should have turned around and bolted, but for some reason, I felt safe with this wolf. After all, it did save me and Sam from Jake. It could have ripped us to pieces after it dealt with Jake, but it just left. I didn't know why, but I felt secure around this wolf. It almost felt wrong, almost.

This wolf smelt.. different. It smelt like a burnt out campfire, mixed with something sweeter, something that was familiar, but I just couldn't place it. I looked up at the wolf and our eyes met again. It's piercing yellow eyes seemed to see right through me. I was about to take a step closer when the black wolf looked behind me and snarled. I turned to see Sam standing behind me, hackles raised. I don't know how I didn't realize he was there. I guess I was so wrapped up in the wolf in front of me, I didn't realize had shifted.

I turned back to where the wolf was standing, only to see the space it had been occupying empty. "Leah, what were you doing!? That wolf could be dangerous and you were just treating it like another pack member. You should have both run back to the reservation as soon as you realized what it was. I didn't like hearing from Seth that you were in danger." I groaned. Leave it to Seth to go get Sam when he thought I was in danger. Although, his intentions were in the right place, so I couldn't be mad at him.

"Sam, it wasn't going to hurt me."

"You don't know that Leah."

"Yes, I do. I could feel it. That wolf was harmless; it wasn't going to do anything to me." Sam sighed.

"Leah, I can't take the chance. Think about Bella. You just imprinted, you have your whole life ahead of you. Don't waste it on a chance." I groaned in frustration. I knew that this wolf wasn't a threat.

"Sam, I understand where you're coming from. Really I do. But the wolf wasn't going to hurt me. I just know it."Sam sighed.

"Alright, I trust you Leah. But please, don't get yourself hurt. I couldn't stand it anything happened to you. I'll leave you in charge of finding out more about this wolf. Let your instincts do the work. If you truly feel that it isn't a threat, then I'll report that to the council, but I need you to be 100% sure. Don't decide now, just tell me soon. The Elders aren't taking kindly to me keeping things from them." I nodded. Sam was putting a lot of trust in me. I wouldn't let him down. I needed to find this wolf again. I needed to prove that it wasn't a threat.

A/N: Okay, so I'm really sorry this took so long. I started school again last week and I got caught up in getting into the routine again. But I finally got this done. I wasn't exactly sure where I wanted to go after this, but I think this works out nicely.

I tried to portray a little more of the family side of Leah. As well as integrating Bella in a little as well. This is sort of a filler chapter, but I think there's a decent amount of plot progression too. Next chapter will probably be another date between Leah and Bella.

I'm actually really enjoying writing this story and I thank all of you for all the support. It really does help to motivate me to keep writing. I hope you are all enjoying the rewrite!

A Charmed Vampire.