Author's Note: Y'all are lucky af that I updated this so soon. Do you know how long it took me to put up the first chapter of my Harry Potter fanfic after posting the prologue? TWO YEARS. Yeah. I have serious writer's block. Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed so quickly. I love the support this rare-pair has.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Some white lady owns it because it was borne in her brainspace. StephMeyer THANKS BABE.

VERNAL

I ran through the forest in my wolf form. I wasn't supposed to be patrolling but I wanted to see if I could purge the anxieties that had been starting to consume me over the course of the morning. If anyone else in my pack phased I'd be doubly anxious. I didn't want these thoughts to be revisited by my pack brothers.

At home in a waste paper basket in the bathroom I discovered a pregnancy test. A used one (with a negative result according to its box that had been thrown away along with it). My mum is the only female living at home besides me, and Seth has never had any female houseguests. I feel a bit relieved about that. My little brother is sunshine personified, and there's a lot of bitches out there. I know I can't protect him from heart break but I sure as hell want to delay him feeling anything bad.

Anyway. The pregnancy test. It was such a shock to see. I mean I know my mum and Charlie have a physical relationship but the thought of my mum getting pregnant again was not something I had ever, ever considered. (It's not really as though she and Charlie are at an age where they would plan to have a family together after all.)

It hurt. My (not very) old mother could get pregnant and I couldn't. My mother who already had a family. This jealousy was pathetic, and I couldn't shake it off.

I kept running.

Seth had phased. I quickly started to list different flowers in my mind to block my prior thoughts. Lillies, peonies, freesias, nigella, peonies oh no I did that one. Oh it doesn't matter. Uh. Roses! Damn. Why did that one take so long to come up with? Peonies, roses, lavender, tulips, peonies. Oh not again damn it.

Brain dulling? Seth teased. Leah, wanna race me to the Cullens?

What? Why the hell would I go there? Seth, do you know me at all?

Jake, said to meet him there. I thought that's why you were phased.

Did he say that I was to come, or did you just think he meant both of us?

No he said your name too, Seth assured me.

I wondered what was going on. Jacob didn't often make us meet him at Leech Central. He would phase and communicate in our special telepathic method. It had to be something big, if it involved the Cullens.

Seth and I arrived at the edge of the forest within minutes of each other. I phased a little way, away from him so that I could dress. After I tugged my strapless dress on, I walked back over to Seth. He was barefoot like me but wearing just red shorts. My dress was light green and dark purple paisley print with white lace at the bottom. I'd been keeping it with me because it was one of the easiest articles of clothing to take on and off quickly for phasing.

Seth rung the Cullens' doorbell. Although they'd probably all heard us walk up to the house if not smelled us.

Bella answered the door. "Hello Leah. Hello Seth. Jacob's in the kitchen with Carlisle."

I knew the warm smile on her face was mainly for Seth's benefit. After months of me rebuffing her attempts to bond she had backed off. I wondered how Bella would feel if her dad got my mum knocked up. Behind Bella stood her husband, Edward and his brawny brother, Emmett. They were both talking in low whispers that even mine and Seth's enhanced hearing couldn't register. I walked past them following Bella to the kitchen.

The Cullen kitchen was gleaming, and clinically clean – much like the rest of their home that I'd seen.

Jacob sat at the kitchen counter on a sleek black and silver stool, Renesmee sitting beside him. Jacob turned towards the door and greeted us.

"Hey, you two. Something really serious has come up. Sort of. It might involve your family."

I raised my eyebrows. I opened my mouth to ask how he knew this but before I could speak the tiny, black-haired vampire flashed into the kitchen. A moment later her mate, the tall blonde fighter, appeared in the doorway, walking past Seth with a nod as a way of greeting.

"I was just about to tell Leah about what you saw," Jacob said to the small female. Alice looked at her husband nervously, and he took her hand in his and stroked it gently.

Now Alice looked at me and said "It's the stuff I'm not seeing that's making things difficult actually." She was standing rigidly, her light yellow sundress showed not a single crease or stain. I must have looked so scruffy but I had slowly learnt to let go of feeling unkempt where transforming into a wolf was concerned. Keeping a beauty kit and nice clothes attached to my hind leg while phased was a major inconvenience.

The rest of the Cullen family had now gathered in the kitchen, taking my thoughts away from my vanity. It was so cold in their kitchen. I would not have guessed that it was a warm March day to be honest. Not that this town is very warm to begin with, considering the persistent rain and cloudiness.

Edward walked over to the counter and exchanged a look with Jasper, who then spoke to Jacob.

"Alice's visions might come back regarding her own future, and until then she only can see others' paths. This does lead us to think that your whole pack could be involved, not just these two. Seth and Leah might not be the… hidden link here," Jasper explained. Jacob nodded but Seth and I looked at each other not following.

"Before you guys continue discussing this amongst yourselves in so much detail, mind filling us in?" Seth spoke up politely. The kid could even smile in a conversation about potential danger he and I were in. He's not dim, I know… he's just very patient. I could learn something from my kid brother if I tried.

Edward chuckled and looked at me. I felt a flicker of annoyance run through me and Jasper turned his golden eyes to me for a second looking curiously but then looked away at Jacob immediately. I didn't enjoy being the source of Edward's amusement. I wished Jacob would get on with his meeting.

"Okay so you know how my ability to see into the future is affected where you guys are concerned right? The future is blocked off whenever shape-shifters are part of it." Alice spoke in her light musical voice.

I simply nodded, and Seth answered with a chirpy "Yup" and looked around at the Cullens, while I kept my eyes on the small dark-haired leech.

"So... before when the Volturi came to Forks, Aro one of the leaders… he noticed you, Leah," Alice said in a stunted way, trailing off.

Mama Vamp, Esme looked really upset. Odd. What concern did she have for me? Her husband placed his hand on her arm and stroked it lovingly, giving her a reassuring look.

Alice was looking at Edward now. Silently communicating probably. Edward placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder and said "Renesmee, let's go upstairs for a little bit okay? Jacob will come and play with us later after he's done here."

Renesmee smiled resplendently at her father, her bronze curls glinting in bright kitchen. She was a very picturesque blend of Bella and Edward. I started thinking about my own inability to reproduce again and I shoved the thought out of my mind forcefully. I didn't like to think about painful things with the leech around. I probably would have found Renesmee's combination of warm brown eyes and bronze hair beguiling if she didn't smell so atrociously sweet and burn my nasal passages. Edward carried the child out of the kitchen and said to Bella, "I'll be listening from upstairs".

It was quiet again in the kitchen. I snapped. "Is anyone going to tell us the damn reason we're gathered here or are we all going to just stand around in cryptic silence?"

Emmett and Carlisle laughed. Esme frowned at them and admonished them. "This is serious. She needs to know. Seth as well. It hasn't even been three whole months since that debacle! And already they're thinking of doing something to collect?" Esme looked really upset.

Jasper left Alice's side and turned to Esme, she suddenly appeared visibly less worked up, but now I was on high alert.

"What are they wanting to collect?" I say looking between Carlisle, Esme and Jasper, and Alice and Jacob. Very uncharacteristically Seth growled at the same time as Jacob. My jaw dropped. "No," I said looking in shock at Alice. "No, surely you can't mean that that grotesque excited leech is wanting to collect me?"

Alice nodded. "We fear he might be wanting to keep you as a part of his guard, but for more perverse reasons. That's why I had Edward take Renesmee out of here. She didn't need to hear these details."

Jacob had stopped growling but Seth was starting to convulse beside me. I was touched by his strong response, but it wasn't surprising. No little brother would be pleased to discover that an ancient power-hungry vampire wanted to basically enslave and abuse his older sister. It was sickening. I was surprised at myself for not shaking with anger. I needed more information though. God. Why the hell were they approaching this so slowly? Any other topic I'm sure they'd have explained in a flash and conjured a billion solutions to by this point.

Now Carlisle spoke, his eyes resting on each face in the kitchen, looking around from Rosalie, to Bella and Seth and then at me. "Aro expressed some interest in your kinds' abilities last December. They left in a hurry though, fearful no doubt that an unwinnable fight would break out, as we'd planned. Edward heard some concerning stuff in Aro's thoughts then regarding having you and Alice join his coven in Italy."

"Yeah, but that was just one instance of Edward listening to Aro's thoughts. Now that he's not in Edward's range to listen anymore, I kept checking in. All of a sudden my visions where the Volturi are concerned are just inaccessible. The only logical explanation at the moment is that Aro has resolved to claim you or others of your kind somehow." Alice paused for a moment. She looked between Seth and Jacob and then back at me. "Edward thinks he's after you. He's very… enticed by the thought of having the only female shape-shifter in known existence."

Suddenly the cold in the kitchen intensified. Disgust and fury rolling through my chest, but not directed at a single vampire in the room, which was new for me.

I tried to take deep breaths. Seth composed himself before I did, and he looked to Jacob and Alice and asked, "So what are we going to do about this?"

"Well, that's what we're going to figure out together. I thought we'd better go over it with the Cullens since their family is involved too," Jacob explained. Eugh. When are they not?

Jasper's mouth curved slightly, as if he'd unwillingly found something amusing. "Maybe Seth and Leah should sit down?" he suggested in his lilting, deep voice so characteristic of leeches. "There's quite a lot to go through, and then I have a feeling you'll want to ask Edward more specific questions."

Seth took Renesmee's vacated seat, and I took the stool on Jacob's other side. I looked around the at the family of leeches patiently and using my most controlled voice I asked them to share everything they knew so far.

Today was probably a record of the most polite behaviour I've ever had around the bloodsuckers. I felt sick and worried as well as disgusted and furious. Although I wasn't facing him, I could feel Jasper's stare on me as his petite wife spoke. The sick feeling slowly disappeared. Even knowing the blond leech had had a hand in that, I did not protest.

I needed it.

Author's Note Continued: Okay so I have a lot of stuff to say about Leah and her heritage in terms of how it's described and treated in canon and fanfiction culture, but if I was to write it out now I wouldn't be able to give you this chapter as fast as I have. I apologise for any mistakes with grammar, tense shifts, formatting, or canonical errors that don't make sense! Please feel free to point them out to me and I will correct them.

Also I know my summary is a bit of a tease but I plan for the ship to sail (so to speak) at an eventual pace. Please review and tell me what you think so far!

xo Sabrina | Wednesday 8th of July, 2015