After that first perfect moment of union the problems started. It was a good thing I healed quickly. Marcus carried me to a stream and wiped the dried blood off my back. "I'm so sorry, Leah."

I tried not to be too angry with myself. Why had I thought anything would come easily to me? "It's not a big deal. Scratches heal in no time. At least we didn't break any of my bones." I tried to smile but knew it was more of a grimace.

He frowned, too. "Yes. That would be..." he didn't finish his thought, wiping my back again.

The wind shifted. "Do you smell that?" I asked with a better smile. It was a cougar. He probably didn't recognize it specifically, but he'd know it was a predator. I phased to wolf and he was following at first. Then he passed me and engaged with his prey. I held back, planning to hamstring the cat if it escaped him. Like that would happen.

I watched his graceful leap and trembled when his jaws opened wider than I thought possible to latch onto the cat's throat. He tumbled in his leap, taking the prey with him. It was a flash of white a tan. Then he let the corpse go and rose from his crouch. It had been so fast, so clean. I had had to hunt and eat as a wolf, and I knew I had nothing on Marcus for predatory nature.

He stood now and cocked his head as though in thought. "The humans fight, but not like that." I thought I would be sick. I folded my ears back at the thought. "That was... invigorating. It was wild. I liked it." He smiled at the last. I took a breath and reminded myself he wasn't the same monster he used to be. He was still a monster, but I could work with this one.

I padded out and came to his side. My head was just under his shoulder, not unlike when I was human. I nudged him with my shoulder heading back to where we'd left my things.

Marcus packed the dress back in my bag and picked up the lot. I turned my head in the direction we needed to go, east for now, and then I broke into a run. He was just behind me to my side. I turned on a little more speed, he kept pace. I let my tongue loll. I loved running. I loved the wind in my ears, in my fur. I didn't run human at all anymore. It was nothing compared to this. I gripped my claws even harder and put on the final burn. I couldn't keep this sprint long, but it felt amazing to push so hard, go so fast. My heart beat wildly, my ears were deafened by the roar of my own wind, but my nose and eyes kept track of it all. I could smell Marcus, like sweet incense beside and behind me. I could smell moss, dung, humus, water, mold, spruce, pine, poplar, rodents. I could see green, brown and grey all streaking behind me. I let out a bark, leaped high and landed with a splash in the river on the other side of the road ahead.

I saw the white blur run to the edge of the river and leap across. He was laughing on the shore when I pulled myself out a little downriver. "That was wonderful!" he chortled. "I haven't run like that... I don't think I've ever run like that!" He dropped my bags and I thought evil thoughts toward him for breaking my laptop if indeed he had. Then he launched himself straight up in the air. It must have been fifty feet. I sprinted, put paws to the tree in front of me and launched myself up and out, toward him. We crashed a good twenty feet from the ground. I landed on all fours but he was tossed into the river.

I barked, laughing, on the shore. He climbed out, scowling. "That wasn't very nice," he said. I continued to laugh, now on my back with my feet in the air. I rolled and ran when he lunged at me. He was fast, but so was I. I circled back to my bags and dug in, pulling back my lip, not snarling, but ready.

He stopped, seeing me on guard. "Hmm, I think I don't want to wrestle with you." Smart man, he'd lose. Instead he picked up my bags and I led us on, still running, but at a pace I could keep up for hours.

We curved northward and crossed the 90 before I needed to call it a night. The pack had come and gone while we ran. Joe gave me a peep show on the wedding, everyone seemed to have had a good time.

Yeah, that's great. Now go sleep, I thought irritably. Of course, the problem wasn't that they needed to sleep, it was that I needed it. I wondered if they'd keep me up all night if I slept as the bitch. And what would Marcus do while I slept? Whatever vampires did at night, I guessed. I slowed to a walk and Marcus slowed beside me. Then I stopped and turned a circle before lying down.

"Oh, sleep. Right." He sat beside me for a while. "This is a strange new world you've brought me to. I've never lived outside cities. I've never been anywhere so, untouched."

I snorted. There were signs of men everywhere here. We'd been crossing roads, cut lines, subdivisions. Wait until we got a bit further north. When we found the areas even the logging companies dared not go; the ageless wilderness. Then he would see untouched. I had never seen it myself, but I wanted to. I wanted to see his world again too. The cracked stone, the white buildings, the groomed gardens and vineyards; the ancient civilization.

"It is all new. It has been so long since I've seen or felt anything, it would be new even if it was familiar. And this is not familiar."

I felt a cold hand on my head and back. Unfamiliar was good. If we could get him in a new situation, a new mind set, a new way of life would come with it. I closed my eyes and let his monologue lull me to sleep.

"The smells are different, the colors, the very air seems different. Cleaner for certain, moist, but not salty. There is a chill in the air that almost never came to Volterra. And so much life. Not human life – wildlife. This place is bursting with it."

On and on like that. I woke at one point and he wasn't speaking, but still stroking me. The chill between my shoulder blades wasn't unwelcome. It wasn't cold enough to be a bother and my fur was more than thick enough to cover. Waking brought the pack back though.

Yeah, did you see her? She was smokin'

Would you keep it to yourself?

Did you catch that? No, just a Cullen. Nevermind.

Do you guys ever sleep? I wondered idly.

Yeah, Leah. Most of us ARE asleep. They were right of course. The pack was so large someone was almost always up and about. I closed my eyes again and tried not to listen.

Why aren't you phasing back?

I contemplated just how chilly that would be without a proper sleeping bag.

Got it. Night night.

But it was no use. I was awake now. What are you all doing, anyway?

Patrolling, gotta make sure all is quiet.

I snorted. Because we're constantly overrun by vampires.

You just never know with them leeches.

I stood up and shook myself out. Then I went to relieve myself. Marcus started to follow until a growled at him. I am not a morning person. Especially when I don't get my coffee. I wasn't getting my coffee for a long time now.

"Running again today?"

He wasn't honestly complaining was he? I'd just left my life behind. I'd walked out on a perfectly nice guy, dropped my certification mid-stream, and chosen to run with a stinking vampire. Was he actually whining at me?

I felt my lip curling, the hair rising on my neck.

"Leah? Is something wrong?" he asked now.

I don't know; want to wait for her to bite?

Are you in for a smack down.

Wow, way to spot the obvious, dimwit. That one was me. That was the bitch talking. I needed to rein her in. He hadn't said he was against running, just asking. He wasn't whining; he was looking for direction. I needed to get a grip on myself.

I tried to stretch and felt stuck. I needed my arms and only had legs. Phasing, I started stretching, fighting the anger, fighting the frustration. I was a woman, not a bitch.

Marcus was patient. He wasn't even really watching me. It must have scared him how easily he could hurt me. I couldn't think about him now. I needed to focus on myself first. If I didn't get a grip on myself it wouldn't matter what he thought.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the release came. I felt the tension ooze out of me and I was a woman again. I moved to my bag and pulled out a pair of cords and T-shirt. Being dressed helped a lot too.

"Yeah, but maybe not as fast." I started untying my shoes and pulled them on.

"That's all right. Fast was exhilarating, but I'd like some time to talk with you too. The conversations are very one-sided the other way."

I chuckled. "What if I told you the real reason I'm human now wasn't to talk?"

"I'd wonder what it was. I'd wonder if you'd mind talking even if it wasn't your intention." His eyes were soft on my face. They were lighter again today. Definitely more orange than red now.

"I wouldn't mind, but... you might want to wait a little longer before starting any opinionated conversation." I headed for the nearest stream I could smell. I cupped my hands and drank. I hoped this water was a clean as it should be. I was too thirsty to do anything else. The cold water woke me up, too.

Marcus was waiting for me when I turned back to him. He had both bags looped over his chest. "Is there anything I can do for you, Leah?"

What an interesting question. Was there?

"I think you've done enough," I said. And I meant it. He'd taken me from family, from friends, from school. He'd brought me a sense of self I'd never had before. I didn't feel wrong anymore. Before that had always plagued me. Even after I'd managed to get control over the wolf, I still had that nagging imperfection hanging over my head. That was gone now.

He hung his head. He'd only taken it the first way, not the second. I didn't really feel like blowing sunshine for him. Instead, I just grabbed his arm and started stalking north. "I'm not a morning person," I muttered.

"I'm not a sleeping person," he said and I laughed.

"How are you feeling today? Need to hunt again? I'm going to need to. I didn't bring any food with me." I really wasn't looking forward to that. Jacob had taught me how to make it bearable, but that was still all it was. I shuddered a little at the thought.

"I'm feeling... intimidated." He wasn't whining. He was honestly scared. I understood this. I wasn't normally compassionate, but I could try for him.

"Starting a new life is frightening, especially when you don't know how or where you're going to do it." I was still walking, trying to find a pace I could maintain while talking. I did want to get some ground covered today. "It's scary not knowing where you're going, what is waiting for you there."

"You don't seem scared. Do you know something I don't?" he asked.

I snorted. "I just don't seem scared. Also, I've never known where I'm going to end up or how I'm going to get there. From the first time I phased into a wolf, any plan my life had disappeared. Well, before that even. My plan had been to get married, have kids, stay with my tribe. When Sam left me for Emily, that dream was ruined. It wasn't long after that, I hadn't gotten over being hurt at all, when I phased into a wolf for the first time. Since then, I haven't had a plan. I just wanted to stop hurting, start being a person again." I took a breath, feeling the pain of the memories gripping me. "I'm a woman, I'm not a bitch." Rolling my shoulders, I forced the anger and pain to roll off my back. I was used to that pain.

Marcus wasn't looking where he was going at all. He was staring at me. "What?" I asked in a snippy tone.

He looked ahead and I climbed over a snag. He jumped. Show-off. We were quiet for a while. Okay, I was quiet and he was silent. I swear the guy wouldn't breathe if someone didn't remind him. Meanwhile, I was snapping twigs, crunching dried leaves. I didn't sound like a herd of buffalo, but I made sure to be loud enough that the bears would know I was around.

Bears. I sniffed. Nope, but maybe later. That could be a fun catch. I wondered if Marcus would be quite as clean and efficient with a good sized grizzly. They'd be fresh out of hibernation too. Ah, fun times.

"Leah. Are you sure I can do this?" he asked.

"Why? Do you think you can't?" That was the wrong thing to say. Geez, did I really think I could do this for a living?

"I'm not sure." Of course he wasn't. That's why a compassionate counsellor would tell him that he could do it. It would take work and practice, but if he wanted to, he could do it. I growled at myself.

"I'm going to try. I am." Oh great, now I'd made him think I was mad at him. How many ways could I screw this up?

"I'm growling at me, Marcus. I know you're going to try. And I know you can do it. It isn't going to be easy, but if you want it, you can do it. We'll work together." There, that sounded right. It didn't sound like me, but it sounded right.

He smiled. "Together. I like that."

I smiled too and took his hand, twining my fingers in his again. He needed confidence and I needed a reminder that I wasn't a complete screw-up. I think it worked for both of us.