Acceptance
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Twilight characters except for the new wolves. They are strictly of my own creation and imagination. ^-^ Because that's exactly what I need is more hot guys to occupy my mind when I should be doing more constructive or productive things, right?
The sound of many paws resounds through the forest as the occasional heavy panting and growl cuts through the air. Only a being with heightened senses can hear the many hearts beating rapidly; can smell the mixture of fear, excitement and determination in the air. Leaves and branches sway quickly and suddenly as fast moving bodies move by. The air is thick with a mixture of a sweet scent and a heavy rainy day. Then suddenly the trees give way to an opening at the foot of a mountain. A man and woman quickly stop at an inhuman speed. Both of their eyes are a bright bloodshot red but both hold fear within the depths. The man looks to be in early 30s, white male with a buzz cut styled hair. He's dressed in a simple pair of worn jeans and a red flannel shirt – much like a hiker. The woman behind is Native American dressed very much the same with a light blue flannel shirt. Both their skin is an unusual pale complexion and as the clouds break away their skin begins to sparkle as if covered in layers upon layers of crushed crystals and diamonds. "Up the mountain, Glenn. We have to go up the mountain." The woman whispers quickly tugging on his arm. He looks down at her and notices her shirt is covered in blood – that's not her own. He nods his head as she turns and begins jumping up the mountainside moving towards the cliffs.
He looks back quickly as the rumbling draws closer. The beasts are huge; much too big to follow them up the cliff's side. As he follows after the woman he stops to look as the beasts catch up and suddenly stop. He's finally able to get a good look at the beasts that interrupted his and his mate's meal – wolves? He sees four of them; a huge dark gray wolf with a black muzzle, the second is his exact copy only slightly smaller, light gray wolf with a white spot on its chest and a lean brown wolf. He growls at them as they look back up at him. Werewolves? But no moon. With a deep snarl from the larger wolf the three wolves run towards the mountain. They can't climb up here – they're too big.
Turning around with a smirk he proceeds to climb up the mountain. Hearing gravel sliding he looks down to see the wolves easily moving up the mountain. His eyes widen in shock as the largest soon joins them and maneuvers just as easily. "Mar," He calls up to his mate but is cut short as he hears her scream. Looking up he sees her falling with a small silvery gray wolf viciously clawing at her. He watches in horror and amazement as both plummet towards the base. The silver wolf releases the woman and changes into a girl herself grabbing hold of the cliff wall as the other slams into the ground. His eyes widen looking at the now naked girl below him; her black hair falling slightly below her shoulder, her olive skin glowing from the sun's rays. She turns to look at him and her hazel eyes dance with excitement. The she-wolf reminds him of his Marianna before her change. The wolf girl's eyes narrow looking at him before she releases the cliff and jumps down changing back into a wolf before hitting the ground.
"A beaut, ain't she?" Glenn freezes and knows that if it was still possible his blood would've run cold. Turning to look he meets a pair of dark brown eyes of a smirking copper skinned man. His shaggy hair blowing in the breeze as the smile quickly turns into a vicious snarl. The man lunges at Glenn and to his horror transforms into a smoky grey colored wolf with huge canines. A trap rings in Glenn's head. The wolves intentionally led them to the mountains and cliffs leaving two of their own in waiting. His back slams into a jagged edge and he screams out in pain as he feels his marble skin crack from the force and combined weight of the wolf. Quickly he knocks the wolf off him and jumps down to join his Marianna. There is already a fire burning and the she wolf is circling her like a natural born predator.
Marianna hisses at the wolf showing her vehemence and cursing the wolf in her native tongue. The other wolves stand back ready to pounce at any moment. Hearing a deep growl Glenn suddenly feels a massive weight on his back only dealing more damage to his back. He hisses as he suddenly sees two of the wolves lunge at him; one ripping off his arm and the other taking his leg. He screams out in pain as the first wolf maliciously claws and chews into his back.
Hearing his screams Marianna looks over and quickly moves to try and aid Glenn but falls – her leg is gone; taken by the bitch. The small wolf is fast upon her pinning her down with a giant paw on her head and proceeds ripping her arm from the shoulder. Marianna cries out in pain as the silver wolf's claws shreds her skin from her body. She tried to bite the bitch but only received a mouthful of fur for her efforts. She watches in horror as Glenn's body is ripped into tiny pieces and then thrown into the growing fire. His head and torso is the last to go or rather it is the last thing she sees as she is instead thrown into the fire first; and her immortal life is at an end.
Glenn feels the fight knocked out of him as his mate is thrown into the flames by the young girl. She steps away from the licking flames and she's congratulated by her pack as they brush against her roughly and nip at her. She means something to them and he wants to make the mongrels pay for what they've done to the love of his life. They were supposed to spend eternity together – 56 years wasn't enough and this bitch and bastards had come along and ruined everything. Searching down deep he summons his body parts to him – just enough to hurt the female. The lean brown wolf tosses him into his flames and he watches and waits; biding his time.
The huge dark gray wolf walks up towards Leah knocking the others away and nudges her neck roughly. She smiles at him proudly as the other congratulate her on her successful kill. 'Not bad, Leah.' John says returning Leah's smile. She had shown up within his territory a few months back. He was concerned about allowing this 'supposedly' lone female wolf into his pack in the beginning. To him it just didn't make any sense why she was running alone. Had she run away? And if so, why? Was she simply a decoy for some greater scheme to take over his territory? The fact that his pack fell for her at first sight seemed to only feed his fear that she was bait and her real pack would show up. Or even if she had come on her own would her pack eventually show up and accuse them of taking her? But that wasn't the case and she was always nothing but open and honest with him. She allowed him to search her mind and only looked at what he needed to know. Her personal thoughts and memories were her own. It floored him that the other pack had all simply lost interest over some women – imprinting, as she called it. He didn't like the sound of imprinting.
Leah has blended in well with his pack and even despite having to take on the status of an omega when she was a beta for years. He's impressed that she gets along with even the roughest of his pack, Ted, who she lovingly calls Teddy. He is mainly impressed at how quickly she's caught on to the mountain and cliff climbing by combining her strength and agility as a wolf and usage of opposable thumbs. Her speed has allowed her to become a very important asset to the pack surpassing even Leo who was the fastest. 'Well I will admit that I did have a pretty good teacher.' Leah throws back as she proceeds to start rubbing against John causing him to puff out his chest.
~*~*~*~*~* Three months ago ~*~*~*~*~*
John carefully moves closer to the female calling herself Leah; his ears fully erect listening for any strange sounds, nose twitching for any different smells besides hers. Leah sits waiting patiently or at least trying to wait patiently as her excitement begins to build as he comes closer and closer to her. 'Are you alone?' John asks and Leah nods her head. 'Where's your pack?'
'Disbanded…I guess you could say.' Leah answers mentally shrugging.
'And why are you here? Did you not wish to join them?' John stops a few feet away from Leah. He's surprised by her tiny size and cannot help but wonder what she looks like in her human form. Her legs are long and slender; yet are very toned and muscular. Her muzzle is slender and holds soft curves. Even her fur is a soft, bright and silvery grey that –
'What the hell are you looking at?' A deep voice breaks in interrupting John's muses. He snorts and curses himself for dropping his guard so that he wasn't aware that his twin brother, Paul, had just joined him. 'What's got you all distracted? Nothing ever distracts you. And why are you thinking about female wolves? I know we can turn into wolves and all but isn't bestiality going a bit too far. Gawd, you seriously need to get laid, huh? Preferably by a human girl.' Paul throws out as laughter begins to erupt within the pack.
'Well I must admit that he is picturing a pretty wolf.' Another deep voice throws in. John bites back a growl as he can hear the smug mockery in the voice. Looking up he notices the female cocking her head to the side looking at him with a wolfish smile on her face. Is she laughing along with his pack? Didn't they hear him having a conversation with her?
'Oh, shit! You mean there's actually a female wolf?! Like us?!'
~*~*~*~*~*
From there it was too late – the decision had already been made. The rest were more than willing to accept Leah within the pack. He remembers the frustration and anger he felt over his pack mates at their willingness to accept an outsider so quickly. Even Ted the more serious and introverted member in the pack seemed taken enough by her to even encourage John to give her a job. John hated Leah or rather he wanted to hate her – he just didn't trust her.
Leah lets out a laugh as she feels John nuzzle her neck and someone sit down on her. She's at the bottom of the hierarchy and so she has to put up with a lot of the rough treatment and teasing. Their roughness and teasing isn't out of annoyance or because she's a girl or Sam's crazy ex-girlfriend but just a brand new pack mate. Each of the guys are just showing Leah her place in the pack without belittling her, putting her down or even pitying her. John lets everyone work out their own problems whether it's in human or in wolf form by themselves. She can't help but think about how different he is from Sam who always took it upon himself to ensure that everyone got along; and if they didn't he made them. Yet, it's that small part that reminds her of Jacob – and she's suddenly hit with a hint of regret; she never properly said good bye.
Everyone quickly phases back grabbing their clothes from the hiding places near the edge of the cliff. Leah slips on the summer dress John and Paul's mother has given her and is busy straightening it out when Paul bumps into her saying, "I think you're now 'officially' a mountain wolf." She laughs and pushes him back and begins looking for her flip flops. Looking up Leah notices the guys waiting for her; John her new alpha stands at 6'8" the same height as Jacob, with olive-colored skin matching her own and catches his light gray eyes looking into hers. She loves his eyes because when she looks into them she finds herself lost in the cool gray hinted with flecks of brown. His hair hangs loosely framing his face and as the wind picks up hides his eyes from her. She can't help but admire his high cheek bones and his square chin – she's convinced that good looks are a requirement to be a shape shifter.
John takes his role as alpha very seriously and has personally overseen her training. She knows that it's because he didn't trust her with the others who seemed more willing to accept her. The guys each run a very tight circuit around their lands and require that the entire pack contributes to the tribe as well. 'It's not enough to protect in secret because then otherwise those who don't know our secret will think we're nothing but a gang of lay-abouts' she recalls him saying when he required her to get a job. It's not that she didn't want to work but more that she was just caught off guard by the totally different outlook on the pack life. She's even enrolled into the local community college near the Rez thanks to the help of Janice, John and Paul's mother, who's teaches biology; she'll start in the next few days. It's these small things that have Leah smiling warmly and appreciatively at John because he's done more for her within the last three months then anyone has done her entire life.
"Looks like you've officially impressed John now." Paul teases as he wraps an arm around Leah's shoulders pulling her in for a big bear hug. Leah chuckles and elbows him looking up to see John's exact double. The only way to tell the difference between the twins is to just hear them talk. Paul is more playful, flirty and laid back compared to his brother. Leah likes Paul but knows that if he was in charge the pack wouldn't work so well together; he never would've bothered training and strategizing as John does.
"Well maybe if John didn't have his head up his ass all the time he would've been impressed at day one." Leo says pulling Leah away from Paul's grasp with a wink. Leo is the light gray wolf in the pack with the gray eyes to match – it's a family trait they share as cousins. But that's where the similarities in appearance end. Leo's skin is a deep russet color that makes his eyes stands out even more. His huge hand grips the top of Leah's head giving it a tight squeeze as reminder that she's still beneath him. His smile is bright and he reminds her so much of Seth in that he's always happy and willing to help anyone out.
Leah's eyes trail down Leo's chest to a huge scar, it's the same white mark that he bears as a wolf, that's a burn inflicted by his father as a child. Leah recalls Leo telling her that when he was little his father always got drunk after a long days work; he hated his job and took out all of his frustration on his wife and son. One night when Leo was 8 and had stumbled into the kitchen seeking a glass of water his father became enraged. His father was yelling at him, accusing him of thinking he was better than his 'old man' and was turning his own wife against him. Leo's father threw a bottle of alcohol at him hitting him in the chest and continuing in his drunken madness stated that he 'was going to save' his son's soul through a 'baptism of fire'. Leah recalls shuttering hearing the story as Leo's father then lit him on fire. His father was kicked out of the Rez after the incident; last Leo heard his father was in jail for armed robbery, assault on an officer, attempted homicide and three counts of homicide.
"I'm sure if you kissed it, it'll heal and get all better." Leo teases whispering in Leah's ear noticing her attention on his chest.
"Not today." Leah says shaking her head and earning a laugh from Paul at Leo's failed attempt to get a kiss from Leah.
The fire is still blazing strongly which concerns John but none of the others take any notice. Paul is always telling him that he over analyzes every little thing; and maybe he's right. John turns walking away from the fire looking to see Ted standing back looking on with a frown. Ted is the smallest of the males at a mere 6'1" with a lean, muscular build – the build of a true runner, his hair tucked behind his ears hanging just below his chin. Because of his small stature he's teased the most out of the small pack and, initially, it seemed that Leah was no exception and started calling the dark brown wolf, Teddy. His outrage over the nickname quickly ended once Leah started complimenting him on his gorgeous dark brown fur reminding her of a teddy bear; a huggable teddy bear.
"Let's go! We haven't got all day." Ted barks out gruffly to the remaining pack. Turning around John sees Gio, a huge guy (no matter how you slice it) easily separating Leah and Leo from one another and wrapping his arm around Leah's waist. Giovanni stands easily at 6'6" with huge broad shoulders and deep red skin. Giovanni always was the biggest even as kids growing up and despite his fun-loving nature he's always been very secretive; possibly why his fur color is a smoky dark grey. Growing up on the reservation the five of them as a group never really got along with Ted being the short-tempered one always thinking someone was mocking him. But now he knows that they've all developed a strong bond and become family – Leah included.
"Gio, Leo and Paul; leave Leah alone." John orders as the three frown quickly leaving Leah alone and heading towards their alpha. "Let's go. Some of us have work to do." John calls back and looks concerned at the still burning fire.
"Can't find my flip flop." Leah calls out searching around on the ground near the fire. "I swear you guys really need to learn how to keep your fires in check." Leah snaps over her shoulder completely unaware of another set of eyes watching her every movement closely. Glenn has sat silently biding his time, hoping and praying for the wolves to leave the female alone. His gift has been a shield that protects him from fire but only for a limited time and feels it slowly weakening. The wolves had torn his legs and arms to little pieces but his hands were thrown in whole – he doesn't need arms to get his revenge. He just has to bite her and let the venom do the rest. "Found it." Leah cheers happily turning her back to the fire and showing the shoe as a prize – that's his opening. Summing all his remaining power he leaps out the fire and knocks Leah down to the forest floor his burning body eating away at the cotton material and the flesh on her back. He revels in her cries of pain as the fire quickly spreads but he soon remembers his plan – bite her. Must bite her.
John listens as the pack bonds over their latest vampire kill and he lets a rare small smile grace his lips. He can't help it when his smile grows when Leah's voice rings out over finding her shoe. He felt tempted to tell her not to worry about a damn flip flop but she's very careful with everything that he and his family has given her. His eyes narrow noticing a slight flash in the fire and his heart stops as something jumps out of the fire heading straight for Leah. John doesn't register what he happens around him next; he doesn't notice the shock and surprised look of his brothers as he quickly explodes and charges at the monster attacking Leah. All he hears are Leah's cries in pain as the fire is eating her alive and the smell of her burning flesh hitting his nostrils.
John's eyes widen and his ears fall back flat against his head as he sees the vampire fall on Leah and he catches a glimpse of his teeth dripping with venom. Before the vampire can continue its decent he's upon it and quickly rips it away from Leah. The logical John would've thrown the damn thing back in the fire but the wolf in him is enraged and livid that something would attack her. He quickly pounces upon the vampire ignoring the biting fire as he rips and tears it to shreds. His tongue hurts and burns but all he cares about is making the damn thing suffer for its transgression. John's assault doesn't stop until the vampire's head is crushed beneath his paw and he continues snarling and lunging at the pieces until there is nothing left. "We gotta get them both to your moms." Leo says snapping John out of his trance. The Alpha in him immediately kicks in seeing Leah hunched over now on her knees holding Paul's hand tightly and her eyes squeezed shut as she bites back any signs of pain. He runs up and urges them to put her on his back. "I should probably carry her since I'm faster." Leo offers but a growl quickly ends that thought as Gio follows through with the request and places Leah on John's back. Without another moments thought John tears off through the forest heading towards his parents' home to get Leah some help. He doesn't know how bad her burns are but the glimpse he did catch was of a festering wound that was a mixed color of red, white, brown, black and yellow – the yellow concerns him. He continues on completely unaware of his own aching chest, his swollen tongue and the smell of decay on both of them.
'Hang in there, Leah. Please.' John pleads as the rest of the pack joins in following behind him.
A/N: Well there goes the next update. Sorry for the delay...you know what. Never mind, I take that back. There wasn't a delay - don't want ya'll to get spoiled. LOL. But I'm finally back on track; my internal clock is running just fine. So we'll see how things progress. But thanks for all the reviews and I'd like to welcome some new readers to my work and really appreciate your kind words and the PMs.
But you all know what to do. Read and review. If you don't review at least tell me how excited you are for ME to be going to Twicon in Chicago in June!! *squeals excitedly* I'm going to meet Kellan, Alex, Bronson and Kiowa!! *squeals and jumps up and down excitedly* I missed Kiowa when he came to my town for the New Moon release party but I was sicker than a dog and tried as I might I couldn't find the energy to even put on pants, let alone drag my ass down the stairs, through the door and open my car door. ;_; However, if it was Alex or Chaske or TayTay, himself, I'd down a whole bottle of Pepto and whatever else was in the house and prayed I didn't get sick over them - regretfully, the other fangirls could go suck it. I wish I could apologize to any girls who DID go to Hot Topic here but what can I say...you'd feel the same way. ^___^ Sighs, Alex and Kellan. Hehehehe...a wolf pack photo with me in the middle of hot guys!!!!!! C'MON JUNE!!