I pressed back in my downward dog, relishing the stretch in my hamstrings and calves. I jumped forward into a full bend and slowly raised my hands to look out the window into the sun.

"Am I allowed to interrupt yet?"

I chuckled, bringing my hands before my heart. "Namaste."

"Namaste," he murmured lustily.

The bitch had made a brief appearance our first week in town. I'd spent too much time as the wolf once the weather turned ill for it not to hold some effect. I had phased in our hotel room, ruining one of my few bras, to lunge at Marcus when he made a comment about the sun being ever present. When it was out for less than eight hours a day, I took exception to that view. The sun was disappearing quickly as winter came to the north. It was cold and dark, and I wasn't a big fan of either. He couldn't really escape from me in our small room either, so rather than break anything he stood still and let me take off his arm.

I couldn't believe I'd done it. I phased back instantly and held it in place, kissing both sides of the injury. He chuckled and reminded me that he healed even more easily than I did. But even so, I'd been more eager than ever to lose the bitch. Yoga was always a good outlet. The deep even breathing, the feeling of energy running normally through my body instead of bursting out in waves of heat and then fur. Marcus enjoyed my yoga practice too.

Today he was busy renovating the house. I was surprised he'd noticed me at all. He'd been at work since sundown last night, well afternoon. We'd gotten lucky. There were very few houses in Churchill and they could only be built in the summer when it was possible to work outside. Well unless you were a vampire who didn't care how bone-numbing cold it was. Hence, renovations. One of the few white men in town over the winter, Stan, had a brother who only used his place in the summer. He'd gotten in touch with him and we were here until spring. If we succeeded in the renos he would give us a hand building our place in the summer. That was going to be difficult. Marcus couldn't go around the clock when the sun started shining twenty or more hours a day. On the other hand, if we could get it set up enough to live in, he could finish in the winter.

I'd never guessed an aristocrat, as the Volturi certainly appeared to be, would be so eager to pick up a hammer and nails, But it had been more than idle interest that had him browsing the hardware store all those months ago. He'd picked up the DIY bug and was fixing up Jesse's place very nicely. The bathroom was completely upgraded now and last I'd seen him, Marcus was re-insulating upstairs. You could never have enough insulation around here.

He put his hands over mine in the prayer fold and stepped close enough to reach my lips by bending very slightly. "I need a woman's eye," he told me, turning his hands so he took one of mine. He led me up the stairs.

Apparently he'd finished insulating. He'd hung a new light fixture in the bedroom and repainted. There were definite benefits to never sleeping. The chandelier was flat to the ceiling and studded with many LED lights. It looked like a star field.

"This woman likes it. I don't know what Jesse's wife will say, but I imagine she will too."

I flopped on the bed to admire. It was nice to have a furnished place. Mom was going to see what she could scrounge to send us, but it would probably be almost as thrifty to buy from somewhere closer. As it was, we were carefully avoiding most of Jesse's furniture. I slept on the bed, but that was the only time either of us really spent in this room. We had a mattress on the floor in another room for our amorous endeavours. I didn't want to have to explain how the headboard got bite marks or nonsense like that.

Marcus seemed to trust his control more than I did as he positioned himself over me. His lips met mine and then traced their way over my face. "I'm stuck inside for another three hours. What will I do?" he asked in a pitiful voice.

I laughed out loud.

"I want to marry you," he murmured.

"What?" I started to sit up.

"I want to marry you," he repeated.

"But we just told all the people here we are already married."

"So, we'll get married somewhere else and come back. It doesn't have to be tomorrow, or even next year, but I want to marry you."

That sobered me some. "Oh, well, all right then." I thumped back down, my head still spinning.

"Don't you want to get married?"

"I can't say I've thought about it since... Sam."

"Ah." He kissed my ear and let a cold hand slide under my tank top. "Give it some thought. Let me know what you think, and I'll ask properly."

I chuckled. "I'm pretty sure that's not how it works. You don't get an answer and then ask."

"I suppose you're right. Well, think about it anyway."

"I'm not thinking about much right now, as you well know."

He growled and carried me into the other room.

Three hours later, I was still laying there and he was still kissing me. "I think you should ask me sometime," I told him.

"I thought you weren't thinking right now?" He ran a hand over my sweat glistened torso and made me shiver.

"I've been giving it some serious subconscious consideration."

"Well, then I shall have to make some preparations." His cold tongue traced down my throat and I moaned.

"You could leave now."

"You want me to leave?" He sounded startled and offended.

"I only meant the sun has gone down." I rubbed my nose on his.

"Oh, well, I don't have anywhere else I'd rather be."

"Good."

That evening, I checked the Government of Manitoba's website. I was sure I could find a position here in Churchill that would put even my incomplete education to use. Today wasn't the day. I was starting to lose hope. I was going to wind up working in the cafe. We weren't going to get a lot put together to pay Carlisle back that way.

"What's on your mind?" Marcus asked me when we were in said cafe.

"What usually is?"

He knew how it bothered me to not know how we were going to fend for ourselves. I might not know where I was going to end up, but I usually made sure I could feed myself from day to day. As it was we were pretty much living off the Cullens' good graces. That galled me.

"I'm sure something will come. You know, the men here don't look very agile. I'll bet they could use your yoga instruction."

I laughed trying to picture the hunters and trappers doing yoga.

"I'm serious. I've seen the people coming and going from the town complex. I'll bet they'd love some sort of instructor."

The town complex housed all manner of facilities: the library, a pool, a curling rink. "I'll ask."

"Good. Now, let's go watch those lights dance again."

That was the signal that he'd had enough throat burn for the time being. It was time to get outside at the least, hunt at the worst. It was just outside tonight. He held my hand and led me out to the edge of the bay. "Are you sure you're happy here?" he asked. Not for the first time.

"I'm not unhappy here. I'm just a little scared, that's all."

"I understand. This whole life is new to me. But you make me feel strong." He held his head a little higher and I did the same.

Marcus was right. I hated it when he was right. There was a yoga instructor but she was looking for someone to take some of her classes, especially as winter drew on. She was planning to fly south to some sun. I couldn't blame her. She asked me to lead one of her classes, then another, and then had the town hire me on as second instructor. It wasn't much, just a few hours a week, but it was something.

Marcus was practically living at the hardware store. He had invested, his word not mine, in a set of tools and was making furniture in a shed behind Jesse's place. I was glad he worked out there. The power tools would keep me up all night if he worked in the house. I came and watched him some evenings until I got too cold to stay. My extra heat was good to a point, but -40 was just too cold for anyone, human or part human. It was only those freaky no-longer-humans that could stand it.

Marcus learned to shower before coming into bed with me. I broke my hand the first time and took off his foot the second. He was too cold when he came in from working all night in the shed. On the other hand, he was turning out some excellent pieces. He was definitely kicking my butt in the earnings department. I refused to let it get to me. When it did I reminded myself that he could work twenty-four hours a day. I would never be able to keep up, and I shouldn't try.

Even with all his new projects and studies, he was fascinated with all things electronic; I would still wake on occasion to find him watching me sleep. He claimed he didn't do it often, but I didn't believe him. Every time I woke to find him watching too closely, I just pulled the covers back over my head. He seemed to take that as the signal to make coffee. I had a good vampire, well trained, and he'd learned to brew a good cup of Joe.

When the weather warmed, supplies came in to build 'our' place. We'd bought the lot soon after moving into Jesse's house, but no one was willing to help us start until spring. Marcus knew the basics, but building an entire house was more than he was willing to take on just yet. Jesse came in May with plans, which we adapted slightly, and the knowledge to get us started. Jesse and Stan were always shocked when they came in the morning to see what we had gotten done over the night. But that was less and less as the days shortened.

Our place was small, just four rooms with an attached garage, well shed. Marcus got the outer walls up quickly so that he could work inside until the sun went down. The brothers kept telling him he was crazy and doing things out of order, but he just smiled and didn't argue with them. I followed all of Marcus instructions and tried not to hit my thumb with a hammer. I was not a carpenter, or electrician, or plumber.

Esme Cullen knocked on our door just after I'd finished painting the inside of it. "Um, hello?"

"Leah? Is that you? Your hair has grown out so much. May I come in?"

She was completely wrapped up, big sunhat and glasses, long sleeved coat. She looked a little ridiculous given the temperature, but of course the sun was high in the sky, which it was almost all day right now.

"Of course. Marcus?" I called. When I got no reply. "I think you invited someone?" I knew he had heard me, even though he was in the shed.

"Esme? Did Carlisle come with you?" He came and hugged her. I tried not to sigh. He was so lucky it had been two months since I'd been a wolf last. He was still likely to bring on the bitch at this rate. "Leah, I invited Esme to help you with the decorating. When I told her about the furniture I was building, she wanted to come see it for herself."

How nice. I needed help decorating? My ideas weren't good enough?

He met my eyes and took his arm from around Esme. "Why don't you have a look right now, see how much Leah has already done. We're going to step outside for a minute."

"Yes, that's fine." she took off her coat and laid it in the closet where I hadn't gotten the bar up yet. I ground my teeth.

Marcus took my arm and nearly pulled me out into the yard. "I don't know what I did wrong. Will you tell me?" he asked in his naive way.

I breathed carefully and swung my arms in a wide arc. He set his lips in a worried line. He knew he'd done something. Could he figure it out himself? I gave him another minute.

"You wanted to decorate yourself, your way."

I smiled at him.

"I didn't think of that. I just thought you would like the help. I'm sure she will..."

"No, she'll suggest. She'll do it in a way that anyone would think it was their own idea the whole time. My mother is good at that too. Which is why I'm one of the few who can see it. Unfortunately, knowing I'm being manipulated doesn't help me resist it, and it makes me mad."

"Angry?" He sounded hopeful.

I took another deep breath and made another arm circle. "I go into battle. And tonight, you pay." I tried to make my face appear utterly contented. I think that frightened him more. "You continue what you were working on." He had been working on the inside of the shed, wiring I believed.

I came to find Esme looking though a book of paint colors. It wasn't mine. "I saw you hadn't painted this room yet. I was comparing it to the others and wondering what accent color might be best."

"Why don't we lay some carpet?"

"If you'd like."

Marcus found himself chased by a wolf when the sun went down. My bitch needed an outlet. I nipped his heels all the way to the bay and chased him in a good way before paddling back to shore. I was caught off guard when he came around me from the other side. He must have run all the way across the outlet to sneak up on me like that. I howled as he pulled me under the water. Then he tickled me. I don't know how he figured out that that made me phase back, but he had.

"Stop, stop it," I cried through tears, my head above water, held up by him.

"Only if you forgive me," he whispered in my ear.

"Okay, just stop." I blew bubbles in the water as I bent in another peal of giggles.

He held me to his chest while I caught my breath. That was when we saw Esme on the shore. "I've decided to leave early. I hope neither of you mind. I'm leaving on the morning flight. You don't really need my help here."

"You don't have to go," I argued, knowing I was being manipulated into saying so. Marcus didn't release his hold on me.

"Thank you for letting me see your pieces, Marcus. I will send you plans for a few things for my home."

"Certainly," he answered her, putting his mouth to my shoulder now. He wasn't going to get out to see her off? "Send my best to your family."

"Of course. Good bye."

She hadn't even turned when I felt Marcus push into me. I moaned and closed my eyes, hoping she would go. She didn't of course. "I wish the best for you both. I would never have guessed, but you seem well suited to each other."

Marcus starting sliding in and out of me and didn't answer her. He wanted me to do it. "I don't... know if I'd... go that far."

Marcus chuckled very quietly into my ear. "Farther?"

I closed my eyes and groaned quietly.

"Well, I look forward to seeing you again. Perhaps a wedding?"

"Per-haps." My voice rose on the second syllable as he pinched me.

"Yes, well. Good bye."

"Good bye, Esme. Thank you." Marcus finally spoke, thrusting in me all the while.

His fingers were still moving on me as well. Please let her leave this time. She turned away and I started moaning, still trying to be quiet. "You are evil. A bad, bad man." I told him.

"She didn't mind."

"I did!"

"I know." He used his fingers to better effect and I moaned louder. "It made it better."

All the tension oozed out of me as the sun started its return to the sky. I cried loudly for him, putting all the restraint I'd had to use before into my release now. He didn't let me out until the sun had risen over the horizon completely.