The bitch had me, and in the run I had nothing to fight her with. Her nature, in the simple motions, was my own: the coil and release, the wind in my face, the heat of the sun on my fur and skin, the smell of grass and flowers and sage. It was easy to forget why I was running, especially when I was so fresh, so ready to run.

I had no pups, I had no mate, I was free, a lone wolf.

Lone, my ass!

Jacob! The bitch was beat down a little by the former Alpha, and I was thrilled to share the mind of my friend again. It had been half a century.

Hey, don't get mushy on me.

That gave the bitch the reins again.

I just forgot how simple it was, I explained. Haven't you started thinking about something besides cars and girls?

Yeah! Kids! He wasn't Alpha, and he wasn't sad about it. It gave him the freedom I'd taken advantage of years ago. He wasn't tied to La Push any longer.

Not right away, but when Ephraim's ready, we're going to take full advantage of it. Nessie's excited.

I'm happy for you, Jacob. I never meant for my kids to make such a mess of your lives. I'm glad there is some sort of silver lining.

I have barely met either of them. When you go low, you lie low! The image was of a badger, buried in his hole. I was unimpressed by it.

And what did you and that freak breed anyway? I wondered I thought my kids were odd. Only one shifts at all, and then only to a wolf.

Odd? How're they odd?

I remembered coming in to wake Aaron, immobile on his bed, pulse and breathing slow.

Oh! Ephraim does that, too.

I had figured that out through his memories of Didi and fighting Aaron.

Some throw back? Jacob mused.

Sounds like a question for your wife and in-laws. I have no idea.

I heard your boy was out of control. Tried to kill Eph and Joe Ataera. I was in town. By the time I got out, it was over, and Eph was Alpha. I'm glad Marcus and Ness were...

His thoughts drifted as I growled, pushing harder, reaching for more speed. This was his fault too.

Leah, you know it's no one's fault. Nothing happened.

MY SON DIED! Nothing happened? Keep clear of me, Jake. Without the Alpha command, I might turn on you, too. I hoped my guilt and regret made it through along with the bitch's threat.

Heh, I can't outrun you, but I'll have a head start! He remembered some of our races. I threw in some of the run with Marcus to Churchill; he added parts of his run into Canada before the wedding.

His son joined us on memory lane. Ephraim, what brings you? The boy recalled setting up a date with Didi, and his mother learning that I was on my way. The bitch exalted at that.

I better go see that she's Okay. Jake phased out, leaving me with a very young Alpha wolf. The bitch gave over just a little in his presence.

He sensed the bitch's glee though, and it surprised him.

I like people to know their places. Your Mom overstepped hers.

The boy was rightfully worried about me attacking his mother. As bad as threatening his father, I could kill either one of them.

I could kill your Mom. I can't kill Marcus, so I'll take my anger out on him. He made the bigger misstep anyway, biting his own son. I used the Alpha against the bitch, regaining control. So, dinner with Didi. What do you think of that?

He didn't think in words much, simply remembering Didi feeding on a cougar, one drop of blood sliding from the corner of her mouth. I felt how aroused it made him, how new the sensation was to him. It had shocked him right out of his fur that first time.

You're young. Keep that memory; remember when that was enough to get you going. Go back when you can. I remembered how difficult sitting in Marcus' lap had been, for him and for me. How much damage that first time had caused. How easily his touch aroused me. Then I remembered how far he had taken me, how long he had kept me on the edge of orgasm, how much time he would take.

I felt Ephraim's discomfort and reluctantly shook the thoughts off. The bitch didn't have any place in those, and I nearly had control back for a moment. But it was too much for him, he was too young. Damn, sorry, kid. You got me a little worked up, too. I hoped my gratitude came through.

Maybe I'll have to steal him again. That had been unreal, feeling him moving inside me, watching him reconnect. Then again... It was fun, but way too weird.

The Alpha phased again, not out, but to a new shape. I felt bad. I really am sorry!

I just... distance. The thoughts were hard to understand. He phased completely out soon after, though not for long. I was still on the same open pasture.

I saw his plan to chase Didi, feed with her. That was good; she'd like that. He also seemed uncomfortable with my presence.

You don't want my advice?

Will your advice be anything you'd let me do with your daughter?

Bless the boy, the laughter almost pushed the bitch away completely again. Unfortunately, that was also the moment we encountered a bear.

Is that you or me? He wondered.

Me. I lunged at the bear full on. I must have reached the Rockies to be finding bears; I was faster than I thought. I didn't fight the bear, simply pouncing and running on. Bah, he can't catch me.

I can't catch you And I can't catch Didi, either. Damn, I hate being the slow one. He whined. I hated whining. Still, I responded as I would with Aaron. One chance to snap him out of it.

You're as fast as thought, kid. You're fast where you need to be.

It worked. He perked right up. I wished it worked like that with Aaron.

Through Ephraim's eyes, I saw Didyme, feeding on a doe. Ephraim lunged for the hind, and I tried to pay less attention as the smell, taste and texture of raw meat came across our minds. I had never gotten used to it. It required giving in to the bitch to eat raw meat at all. I didn't intend to do that again.

They didn't take long to finish off the deer.

"You sure know how to show a girl a good time," Didi teased the boy. She was thrilled in fact; it was obvious from her face.

Ephraim was still unsure.

Yeah, she likes it. She tried to go all human food once; drove her crazy, but it was hard to hunt on campus. I recalled one particularly whiny phone call, after which I had sent her to a butcher, just to give her an option. Then I remembered watching her and Aaron. Even when they were tiny and sharing baby seals and foxes, they loved feeding together.

She is always glad to have someone to share with.

I've eaten like this with Mama. I was shown several hunts with Nessie, including one she didn't share. So, Jake's kid wasn't perfect. Good. Didi would need that. As long as he was more temperate than Aaron.

He phased out again and I started to feel my weariness. I would need to rest soon. I was well past half-way now. It didn't make sense to turn around, and Didi was in La Push. She had a way of pacifying even Aaron; she could help me fight down the bitch.

Ephraim phased in again.

Did Aaron tell you?

Tell me what?

Ephraim recalled sitting with Didi and Marcus. Didi had said he knew what I wanted. He had agreed and planned to wait for me on Crescent Lake. It was secluded, near the border. No one besides Didi and Marcus in the room seemed to know what the other did. Didi spelled it out for Ephraim.

"She wants him to win. She wants him to make her see that she isn't right."

I didn't make sense to Ephraim. Why would violence win an argument? The answer lie buried deep within me. He might have found it, he was Alpha, but he didn't delve.

Didyme has understood me since the day she was born. And no matter how she grows, she'll never be like me. She'll never fight the bitch. I am going to beat her one day.

When had I become so separate, so divided? It was before I had met Marcus that I had first tried to banish the bitch, but she only ever had fleeting control. We had too much in common. Marcus, he made her easier to fight, for longer. He had me longing for things she didn't, a home and family outside the pack, human things. It was only after I met him that I lost control for longer than a second.

I remembered more clearly when Marcus had blocked me from Alec. The complete loss of control then.

Now I remembered what I had blocked then. I had enjoyed it! My teeth had rung on his marble flesh, making my soul sing. The piercing sweetness had felt perfect on my tongue. The woman hid, just as she had then, only this time I was in the wolf. No one, especially not Chelsea, would be coming to pull me out.

Was I actually losing? Was I conscious through her control because I couldn't get it back? I was definitely fading. It was late and I had run for hours. My blinks were getting longer and shorter between.

I found a secluded dip and lie down under the shrubs there, good enough for the night.

Ephraim was still struggling with the concept of the bitch. Fair enough, so was I. When I laid down though, he stopped thinking about it, focusing instead on the stars, the hooting owls. My eyes drifted shut.

Thanks, kid. Sweet dreams to you too. Didi would do well with that one. And she'd finally found a boy who could not only heal, he could stand over Aaron! They would be happy. I hoped I could still be happy.

I woke alone in the pack. None of the wolves were with me as I pushed the rest of the way to Lake Crescent, maintaining my punishing pace. Well, Marcus shouldn't have any trouble kicking my ass if he chose to; I would be beat.

I caught his and Aaron's scents, and the bitch went rabid. If it had been Marcus alone, I might have kept control, but Aaron's scent brought back the memory of him, lying dead between Marcus and Nessie. Rather than fight, I hid. My body snarled, lunging for the shimmering beacon that was my husband, lit by the morning sun.

He was so beautiful. He hadn't changed since the day I had imprinted on him. Except for his eyes, they were dark burnished gold today. I watched, helpless as my body attacked him.

"Not this time, Leah." He grabbed my muzzle and twisted, flipping me onto my back. I pulled free and circled. The bitch was enraged that he would fight me; he had always stood, accepting, letting her sate her desire for his pain. I cheered. I had always wanted him to stop me, to make me back down.

The divide between my mind and my body widened, separating the woman further from the bitch. I left my body entirely. I was watching myself fight, lunge, dodge, circle.

I felt presences with me.

Mom.

I'll get Aaron, the other thought.

Go back.

There was so much more, but I wasn't one of them, not really. I couldn't grasp everything their minds were sharing. I was sure I knew who they were though, Didi and Ephraim. Aaron joined them, my children guiding me back to my body. Didi was trying to tell me something. I stilled my mind, ignoring the fight, so I could hear her.

You love Aaron, love yourself. You are the bitch.

I caught her deep concern even more than her words. I was killing myself and I had pushed my husband to help me do it. I couldn't; I wasn't ready to die yet. I seized my body back, embracing the other half of myself.

My body hurt. Marcus had crushed three of my ribs and broken my forelimb. I had bled from scrapes and gouges where he had thrown me into trees; most of those were closed now. I'd given as good. He was down a hand and a large chunk had been torn from one of his legs. He was favouring his right side, so I swung round to the left.

I went for his throat. I was the bitch; there was no mercy. He had to fight me, to stop me. It was what I wanted. The bitch revelled in the fight and the woman revelled in the love it took to stand up to me. We moved together.

He had no hand on this side to grab me with, but he closed his elbow around my chest and turned his head, his mouth open in a roar. His teeth came down behind my ear, and I screamed in pain.

He dropped me in shock, and I was human by the time I hit the ground. The wolf whine turned into a human scream. The venom burned like ice cutting through me. I felt it spreading with my pulse, pulled toward my heart. An icy line shot down my neck, marking that vein out to me. One more beat...

"No!" Marcus bit me again, opening the wound and drawing blood. I felt a strange pinching as the blood was pulled against its normal flow, but the ice receded with it.

Thump – ice surged forward and Marcus pulled it back.

Thump – I could feel the freezing even though my screaming had stopped. I was becoming light-headed.

Thump – the ice was at my skin again and Marcus drew the last of it from me.

Thump – no ice, no pain, just weakness. I was seeing spots. Marcus was still drinking.

"Stop." It was a faint whisper before I lost consciousness completely

Drip – I was alive.

Drip – I was in a bed, in a dark room.

Drip – I opened my eyes and was looking at an I.V. bag, the source of the dripping. I groaned.

"Oh, thank God." Marcus wrapped his arms around my neck. He peppered my face in tiny kisses. "You were alive, but we had no idea how long... how bad."

"I'm so sorry," I told him.

He buried his nose in my hair, by my ear, right where he had bit me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't stop Aaron. I'm sorry I couldn't stop you. I killed you both. I couldn't live without you, Leah. When you die, I'm going with you."

I chuckled mirthlessly. "First, that's stupid. You can't go with someone dying. Second, you didn't kill me; I'm not dead, and I'm not planning on dying any time soon. If Ephraim's mind is any indication we'll have grandbabies in the making, and I'm not missing that."

I heard a female chuckle and turned my head. "Not too soon, I hope," Renesmee said, pulling the needle from my arm. "I'm not ready to be a grandma yet. I've barely had time to enjoy being a mom."

"How do I look, doc?"

She sighed. "You lost a lot of blood, obviously. Your metabolism has slowed enough that I worried about you rebuilding it. Your arm hasn't completely healed, although your ribs have. I expect the arm will be fine tomorrow."

"She's awake?" Didi asked, carrying in a tray covered in soup and sandwiches. "Then she should eat, right, Ness?"

"Just take it easy at first. Make sure it settles with her. I'll leave you three." She slipped out the door.

"I told you she'd be fine," Didi told Marcus.

Marcus declined to answer, running his tongue over my unique scar.

"How did I taste?" I asked. "As bad as I smell?"

Marcus chuckled. "Much, much worse. You've always smelled good to me, Leah. Not sweet or flowery, but musky and moist – not bad, never. Your taste, however..."

Didi laughed. "After he brought you to Ness, he vomited, drank a gallon of water, vomited that and then did it again. I think you must taste pretty bad, Mom."

I laughed too.

"Even that wasn't enough," Marcus added. "I hunted down two deer, a bear and a cougar after that."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about you developing a taste for me."

His face as he shuddered was priceless. I pulled his lips to my own as I kissed him, laughing under my breath.

"Thanks for enduring it, anyway."

"I wasn't about to let you die on me. I'm just glad you told me to stop. I couldn't taste my venom through it."

I raised my eyebrows. I must taste very bad.

"Don't ever scare me like that again." Didi kissed my temple. "When you joined Ephraim and me, I thought you were already dying. You were like a ghost."

Marcus closed his eyes and buried his face again.

Aaron poked his head in the door. "Can I come in, too?"

Didi opened her arm that wasn't hugging me. Aaron put one arm around her and the other around my waist.

"Y'know," he complained, "If you want me to live without you, there are easier ways."

I let go of Didi and Marcus, grabbing Aaron in both hands as I sat up. I laughed as I hugged him, the silly boy. "I love you. I love you as much as I love myself." I pulled Didi into my hug as well. "Both of you. Never again," I whispered to myself. I kissed each of their cheeks, then pushed them away. "I need a moment with your father now."

"Of course, Mom. Come on, Aaron." She pulled her brother out behind her.

Marcus still hung his head. I turned, swinging my legs off the bed, facing him.

"I'm so sorry, Marcus." I took his hands. "It's not going to happen again, not like this."

He shook his head. "No, never again – I can't..."

"I can't beat her. I can't kill the bitch; you can't kill the bitch."

He wrapped his arms around me. "I don't want to kill any part of you," he practically cried. I knew if he were capable of it, he would have tears for me.

"I did. I was so angry, I didn't want to control it. I've been controlling it less and less, burying it. I can't do that anymore. I need to be more like Aaron and stop trying to be like Didi."

His brow crinkled. "You are neither Aaron nor Didi. You are Leah, the first female wolf, the love of my life. I had Didyme, and she was wonderful, but I don't want her back. I want you. I want angry you, and soft you, and you first thing in the morning."

"Fight with me."

He hung his head, shaking it.

"Every day, every week, fight me. I can't fight myself anymore."

He still shook his head. I growled and lifted the sandwich to shove in his mouth.

His head came up, and he grabbed my wrist. "Don't."

I smiled, pushing against his hold. He worked his fingers around to my ribs. I dropped the sandwich on the tray. "No!" I held my hands up.

"You told me to..."

"No! Marcus!" I shrieked. He slipped the tray to the floor and I started to roll across the bed, away from him and his tickling fingers. He pinned me, face-down under him, as he wriggled his fingers over my ribs.

"Please!" I begged after mere minutes, tears on cheeks. "Stop!" I giggled between screams.

When he finally did, I turned and saw Nessie shaking her head at us. "Well, if that doesn't prove your in fine health..."

"I can think of one more test," Marcus implied, kissing my neck, just beneath the scar.

"After she eats," Nessie warned, eyes hard for a second. Then she smiled and turned back to the door. "Enjoy!"

"Doctor's orders," he murmured, kissing his way down my neck until he was able to pass the tray back to me.

I gobbled my sandwich and drank my soup from the bowl. He laughed. "You don't have to rush."

"Says he who has his hands inside my pants." He did, not far, but definitely under the waistband. He pulled it a little and I gripped his wrist. "Don't you dare." I felt the Wei Ha under my hand and it made me smile. I dropped the bowl with a clatter and pushed the tray aside.

He growled quietly and pressed himself against me again, curling into my side, his mouth at my ear.

"What does it look like, anyway?" I asked, fingering the scar.

I heard him whine very slightly. "Hideous. Promise you'll keep your hair long?" He kissed over and beneath, his cool tongue pressing into my throat.

"Mmm, I don't know, if it makes you cover it with your mouth."

He growled again, rolling over me. "I can think of better uses for that mouth of yours, too." He put his lips to mine to demonstrate. I reached down, pulling his shirt from his pants. His hands slipped into the waist of mine again, exposing my red-brown skin. It was such a stark contrast with his bloodless white hands.

He noticed me watching. He slipped the waistband down my hips and lifted my shirt to just below my breasts, exposing my entire abdomen. I was wearing Didi's clothes I realized now. He traced his fingers over my skin, drawing patterns, letters, hearts and arrows.

"Your skin is so warm, not just to touch, but to look at," he murmured.

I put one of my hands against one of his, lacing our fingers. "And yours is cold, hard, and smooth. It's like melting ice running over me." I pulled our hands higher, catching the bottom of the shirt again, exposing my dark nipple. I let his hand go and he traced that with his finger as well, making me shiver. "And they never warm up!" I complained through gritted teeth.

"Sure they do. This is colder." He licked my nipple and I gasped, clasping my hands around his sides, holding him tight to me. "Just like this is hotter." He slipped his fingers into my pants again, teasing my folds and making me squirm.

He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear, "I hope you don't mind some 'old people' sex."

I laughed, tipping my head back into the pillow. "No, not at all. I'm pretty sure I'm not up for anything acrobatic yet."

"Not until that arm heals at least."

The cast didn't restrict movement very much. I'd forgotten it was on. "At least. Before we get too wrapped up in the sex, do you forgive me?"

He kissed me gently. "Always. I hope you forgive me."

"I will." I hesitated, not really wanting to disturb this moment. But there really wasn't a better time to deal with this. "I don't have to forgive you biting me; that was my fault. But biting Aaron?"

He sighed. "I know. I don't know how I did it. I barely scratched him. It took him minutes to die. Minutes in which he possessed another man, Leah." He shook his head. "I know what I did wasn't right, but something had to be done, and Ness and I were the only ones there."

I closed my eyes and found the bitch. I screamed at him and pounded on his chest, but I didn't phase. I clawed his shirt, his hair, his face.

He gripped my hands intermittently and I would stop until he let go, then unleash on him again. He fought me though. He stopped me.

"Are you done?" he asked, releasing me again.

It seemed I was. I smiled through the tears still on my lashes. My hands reached out and he moved to stop me again, but they wrapped around his neck. "Thank you," I murmured, pulling him closer.

"I love you, Leah. Anything I can do, anything."

I slid my hands down his back, pulling his shirt up. "Well, there is something."

He pulled my shirt off before fully removing his own. He wrapped his arms under my shoulders, pulling me flush to him. My nipples instantly hardened against his cold skin and I drew a sharp breath. He continued to kiss me, rolling and pulling me atop him. My hands were still on his neck, in his hair. His now found my ass and cupped it. He squeezed and I groaned, shifting myself down and onto him. Our pants were still in the way, but it didn't stop me sliding along him, making the fabric rub on my sensitive skin.

He squeezed harder, pulling my cheeks apart slightly before pressing me along him again. This time he arched up as he did so.

"Oh forget this." I lifted one leg to whip my pants off the one side.

He stopped my hand from opening his fly though. I looked at him, confused, until his fingers reached for me. I let go of his pants to grip his sides as he manipulated my skin. He knew all my spots, where to pinch, where to pull, where to push. I was panting in no time at all.

He put his free hand to my neck and the back of my head, urging me to lean down onto him. As we kissed he doubled his pace, and I knew I would be climaxing soon. His mouth ate my cries, for which I was grateful. I clenched his hand and hips tightly in my own, waves of euphoria rolling over me. My mind was so fogged I didn't quite understand where he'd gone when I leaned to kiss him again and he wasn't there.

He was easy to locate as he pulled my hips up from the bed where they had sunk. He pushed into me and the ice spread through me before melting away. The thickness, the hardness remained, but the ice was gone. He held himself, deep inside me, as he leaned over my back, his mouth at my ear.

"You are my wife, Leah." My brain really wasn't functioning, why would he say that?

He drew out to his tip and thrust in again, forceful. I arched, catlike. My cheek slid against his. "Without you I have nothing." He wasn't really expecting me to answer was he?

Apparently not, because he drew out again, pausing there until I whined. His hips crashed into mine with a slapping sound. "God," I groaned.

"Without you I am nothing." He kissed my shoulder now.

I wasn't surprised when he pulled out and paused again. I started to squirm, wanting him in me. "Please," I begged when he doubled the time he waited. He plunged deep, pulling my shoulder to make me arch this time. I whimpered.

"You are my life, Leah." Maybe that was what he had said the first time...

He seemed to be done talking, thankfully. He moved his hands to my hips, holding them as he fucked me. I bit into the pillow, moaning into it. I was about to lose it a second time. He sensed it, of course. I don't know how, but he always knew. He buried himself in me as I screamed into the pillow, my hips circling against his, grinding on him. He let out a low growling groan of his own and I felt him throb, pulsing inside me and releasing his seed.

He laid his head on the pillow beside mine. "Now you have a full bill of health." He smiled smugly.

Well, I think this is the end of the line. Unless you really want to see Leah's Point of View when she meets her grandbabies? The next chapter, I believe, will be the end. Are you ready for it?

Thank you Sharebear, for all your help, beginning to end.