V.

Past

It was midnight and the house was eerily silent. After the excitement of the day, I felt exhausted. The calmness seems so unreal. I was sure something will occur to break the peace. Everyone in the house were fast asleep, dreaming in their own worlds; everyone, except for me. My body begged to rest yet my mind still wanted to wander to where Ethan was. It was just a few miles away from the house yet the distance was unbearable. If I could just sneak there and see him, touch him to make sure he was not a dream. I still was not sure if this was the effects of the imprinting or if I have truly fallen for him. I do not know him yet but there was a yearning inside of me to familiarize him into my world. I wanted to know him yet I was afraid of what I will know.

I got up and disentangled myself from my sheets and walked around the room deciding if it was worth sneaking there. I felt like a teenager once again, sneaking out of the house to meet Sam but it was not Sam that I wanted to meet. I yearned to meet my statue. It was dumb for me to consider all of this. I did not know if he feels the same way towards me. I was bound to him yet he can go whenever he wants. Would it scare him if he found me staring at him in the middle of the night? Probably. If he found me there, what would I say? I can't say, "Hey I couldn't sleep and I was wondering if I could stare dumbfounded at you." Yeah as if he wouldn't freak out.

Yet he was so protective wasn't he? I remembered the memory of his intense glare with Jacob. He was not willing to let him hurt me again. Hang on, how did he know that it was Jake that hurt me? I guess I was just that obvious. Absentminded, I touched the spot where the bruises swell in my neck. The trace of it was long gone hours ago. The protectiveness couldn't be nothing more than a part of his fascination. I guess love comes with fascination but wasn't he also fascinated by the Cullens' ways of feeding? He might be just fascinated by wolves as far as he was concerned. I suddenly had the desire to find out. How dare I look for reasons to be there, yet I could not help it.

Another issue surfaced from the bottom of my consciousness. Why was Jane coming? Jane is Aro's pet vampire who has the special ability of creating hallucinations of pain. She looks dear and innocent which often deceives her enemies. She was a tough, skillful opponent that would not come here unless she was protecting Aro. Alice saw Jane coming alone and no one else from the Volturi was present. Was she here to warn us about something? I did not know every action of the Cullens yet I was certain that they have not done anything wrong to make one of the Volturi decide to come here. As a matter of fact, the Cullens avoided anything that would lead to that kind of situation. They have proved four years ago that Nessie was not a child vampire but a half-breed. Is Jane coming for some unfinished business? Is she coming because of Nessie or the fact that she could not affect us any longer because of my stepsister's ability to shield us from her attacks?

I decided to talk to Ethan if he knew anything about Jane's visit as an excuse to sneak out of the house to be with him. Yes, it was the middle of the night and I do not know how I could explain why I had to talk to him now instead of in the morning yet. I'm just going to come up with it later on. I approached the window to open it but it opened before I have even touched it. A pair of pale hands were in my window. One was clutching the bottom of the window while the other was pushing the glass upwards. I had to cover my mouth to prevent me from screaming. Adrenaline pumped in my veins and I got ready to fight this intruder. The two hands pushed up a body with such agility and grace that I did not even see any effort. In front of me was Bella wearing a black blouse and jeans while in her feet was a pair of the latest Gucci shoes.

"Sorry if I woke you up. It's my first time doing that and I wasn't sure if I would be able to keep it quiet. I guess I don't have the same ninja techniques as Edward," she smiled apologetically.

"It doesn't matter. I couldn't sleep anyways. You do know that you could always go to the front right? You didn't have to climb the window," I replied, striding over the lamp that stood near the table to pretend that I was going to open the light instead of jumping out of the window.

"Yeah, I know. I just didn't want to wake anyone up. Besides, I've always wanted to try that. Edward used to do it all the time. I just wanted to find out if I could do the same. Wow, this room changed," she said looking around the room. Guilt crept in my heart as I realized once again that this used to be her room. Her human smell still lingered though it was extremely weak. "What they said was true, I did smell good," she said after she took one deep breath to sniff her old scent.

"Yeah, uhm, sorry about the invasion," I told her, taking the turn of being apologetic but she shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. It's yours now. This room just reminds me of so many things though it feels like it was all in a dream; blurry and unclear."

I wasn't sure what she means so I stayed silent. She studied some of the objects in my room, some of them was still hers but mostly belonged to me. I sat down and tried to clean some of the junk that was lying around.

"You don't have to do that. This wasn't the cleanest room either when I was staying here," she laughed as she saw me picking up a pair of underwear, I wasn't really sure if it was clean or not. The room was normally cleaner than this but I was rushing awhile ago to run away that I just left things were I threw them.

"Sorry about that. I mean, I kind of didn't know where everything landed when I was packing up," I replied, a bit embarrassed.

"So you really were going to run away?" she asked as she saw the packed bags in the corner of the room. I nodded. "You really think that imprinting on a vampire was that horrible?"

"Yes."

"It's not that bad."

"You don't understand, Bella. Vampires and wolves have been mortal enemies for centuries. Imprinting on a vampire is like a dog falling in love with a...cat," I replied shaking my head.

"Nice comparison," she said jokingly. It was so like her, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Well, maybe it is a bad comparison. I mean the dog would have the choice whether he wanted to fall in love with the cat. Me? I have no choice. I'm stuck with him and I couldn't do anything at all about it."

She was silent for a while, thinking of something. "Do you want to imprint on him?" she asked timidly meeting my eyes. I didn't have an answer for that. I wasn't sure if I didn't want to imprint on him. I wasn't sure if I did.

"What are you doing here anyways? I mean, it's the middle of the night, Bella. What do you want from me?" I asked hoping to change the subject. She didn't look as if she was going to go with the subject but she didn't push her question on.

"I...just wanted to talk to you. I kind of missed the opportunity awhile ago."

"About what? Why couldn't it wait tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I think it couldn't wait tomorrow."

"Well then let's hear it."

"I want you to control Ethan and Jacob. I mean I could tell them both to stop but they wouldn't listen to me. Both of them means the world to us, now that they're both a part of our family. I don't want Jacob's hatred towards vampires transfer from Edward to Ethan. I don't want Ethan to learn how to hate wolves either."

"You sound like Carlisle," I said trying to lighten up the mood. Her face remained serious though.

"I know. But Carlisle does have a point. He really wants us to work in harmony. All of this rivalry between us is not good. It will just lead to nonsense battles and conflicts that would have heavy casualties on both our sides."

"Ok, ok! I'll talk to them."

"There's something else too. "

"What is it?"

"You need to talk to Ethan about Jane."

I glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you need to talk about Jane to Ethan."

"Wha-why?"

"He's the one who needs to say the truth to you."

"About what?"

"I have to go. Edward doesn't sleep and I told him I wouldn't be gone that long," she said as she headed for the window and opened it.

"Wait! What is it? I want to know."

"I don't have the right to tell you because the truth is, it's not really my business. Just know that we're going to be at Carlisle's place," she said and with that she jumped from the window and to the street below. The sight was amazing. I also jump out of my window but it wasn't as graceful as the way she jumps. I sometimes get caught in the branches of the trees near the window.

I got little sleep that night. Whatever little sleep I had was filled with pictures of Jane slashing Ethan, Jacob, and Seth to pieces over and over again before my very eyes. What hurted the most is when I saw Seth suffering under Jane. I would wake up screaming whenever I would dream of such a thing. The following morning I got up and didn't even bother to fix my bed. I rushed to Seth's room and saw him sprawled in his bed, his mouth wide open. This boy is just huge. His feet were hanging in the edge of the bed and his covers were barely covering every part of his body. He might not be a sight to look at right now yet I was extremely relieved at the sight.

I had to talk to my mother just after breakfast to clear things up with her. She did look hurt by my secrecy. Great, another person was added to the already growing list of people that I have hurt to keep them from knowing about the imprinting.

"Mom, Ethan's a vampire," I told her after Charlie left for work that morning.

"Yeah, I figured that out. He looked like he was the same species of them anyways," she smiled. "That's why I wanted to leave right away. I know the Cullens would protect Charlie and me but we don't know if he could control his thirst as much as the others can."

"Thanks. I can't really tell my...anouncement in front of everybody if Charlie was there."

"Why?"

"Mom, I...imprinted on Ethan," I said quietly. She dropped the piece of waffle that was half way to her mouth. Seth came in the room dressed and ready to leave the house. He looked at me and scoffed. He picked up three waffles and stuffed them whole in his mouth.

"Jeez Seth, ever tasted a waffle before?" I asked as he swallowed the whole thing.

"Bug off, Leah. I'm hungry."

"Well, if you keep on stuffing your face like that, then I wouldn't be surprised if you choke on whatever you're eating."

"Ha ha."

"Hurry up, pacman, we need to meet Jacob to patrol the whole town. We need to alert the Cullens when Jane or any of the Volturi comes."

He scoffed again. "Did he say that or you just want to be with that leech?"

He turned and head for the door leaving me staring at him with my mother. I looked at my mom, asking for help. She jerked her head towards the door for me to follow my stubborn brother. I did so. I expected him to be gone by now but I guess he wanted to talk to me also.

"Seth, shouldn't you be happy for me?"

"For imprinting on that...thing?"

"I finally did, didn't I? I mean, I don't have to be hung up on Sam any longer. I'm not bitter anymore. I thought out of all the people I know, you'd be the one who'd be happy for me the most."

"But I thought you would imprint on a human at the very least! And how could I believe that you really imprinted on him? What if you're just following Bella's way of romance, huh?"

"What?! Why would I imitate her? Why wouldn't you believe me?"

"Because you're a wolf. You're not really supposed to imprint Leah. You...can't reproduce anymore," he answered. That stung. But I know he was right.

"Seth, you know that I don't know why I did that. You know that from the very start there must be something biologically wrong with me. I'm the only girl wolf! I just really hoped that you would be happy. For once in my life I had a reason not to be bitter nor mean any longer."

He didn't say anything but just looked down. I realized then that this was not really about me. It was also about him. He was truly feeling the pressure of not meeting his imprint mate yet. "Seth, I'm sorry. I...I really am."

"Gosh, I know this may sound so horrible but... I've always thought that I would imprint first. I mean, I didn't mind not finding her yet through all these years. I've just thought that we were complete opposite, you know? You were just itching to imprint on Sam while I didn't have anyone to be itching for. I've always thought that your impatience would make your wait longer."

"Seth, I didn't want this to happen. If I had a choice, I would love it if you imprinted first. Imagine, mom would have grandchildren running around and we can bet that new, strong wolves would be added to our pack. I know she's out there. She just hasn't gotten out of her couch yet to look for you. I completely see your point and truth is I also thought that you would imprint first but I guess we were both wrong."

He nodded,"We really need to go. We don't want Jake biting our heads off, do we?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Oh, and Leah?"

"Hmmm?"

"I am happy that you found your imprint mate. At least you'll have each other for the rest of your lives."

I smiled,"Thanks Seth."

We headed for the Cullens as we phased to wolves. Seth was still worrying about his imprinting and that occupied my thoughts for awhile until I saw the house ahead. I remebered what Bella said and I was concerned. What was it that Ethan was hiding from me? Seth growled from somewhere behind me. I forgot that I was sharing my thoughts with him.

I don't like him keeping things from you, Leah.

Chill out Seth. He probably has a good reason.

This might be a crucial information.

I know. That's why I'm going to talk to him

If he doesn't talk, then Jacob and me will make him.

Ooooh, look at the puppy trying to be tough and mean.

I mean it, Leah.

Of course you do.

Edward, we're here. Is Jake there? Tell him to come out. I knew we were near enough for him to hear us but I wasn't sure if he did. This was the unfair part of his power. He could hear our thoughts but we could not hear his. We waited for a few minutes before Jacob came out of the house. I guess he did hear us. He threw his shirt on the ground and hid behind a tree as he finally phased in a wolf also.

We still had an unfinished issue going on between us and he was thinking of it now. He was furious with himself for doing something like that but he was also furious with me for keeping my imprinting a secret.

Look, I'm sorry, Jake. I admit that I was wrong from keeping things from you. I'm sorry if that led to suspicion in our pack.

I just wished you didn't.

Let's just forget it all right? We were both wrong and we both made mistakes. He was now thinking of when he pounced on me so hard that I was sent flying back against my car. I saw pictures of it from Jacob's and Seth's heads and I was horrified that that was what they saw. It looked horrible. I couldn't believe that I could still stand after that impact.

You're strong, Leah. Seth thought out loud.

Flattery won't get you anywhere. We were now splitting apart, taking our own routes in patrolling both the Cullen residence, Forks, and our reservation. Though the miles between us three were getting far, the links to our minds were still there.

By the way, Leah, Bella wanted you to come by the house after you finish your route. Jacob thought inside his head and the nervousness landed in my stomach and settled comfortably there. Worry began to creep in my heart once again.

What is it?

Well, Bella came to my room last night and told me to talk to Ethan about Jane. At the sound of Ethan's name, Jacob reflected his anger towards him to Seth and me.

I knew he wasn't up to no good.

Oh come on. He might have something important. Didn't the Cullens say anything?

They were talking about something when I came in but they stopped it.

That must be it. They must be talking to Ethan about whatever it is with Jane.

And they didn't bother to fill me in?

They might still want Ethan to tell me whatever it is. They don't want me to find out through your thoughts. But that's not really right. I mean we're protecting them right? How could we do that when they know something we don't and they won't share it with us.

Then you must hurry with your route so you could go back there and talk to him.

Jane did not decide to come to Forks that morning. The whole town and the reservation did not have any unwanted vampire visitors therefore everyone was safe. All three of us headed for the home of the Cullens after we phased back to our human forms and got dressed.

"I don't see why we have to die for those dogs because of Ethan. Let them solve their own problems," Rosalie was saying when we entered the room. They looked at us and became silent. Rosalie was not embarassed by what she said, of course, but she was still silenced. Ethan approached me, stretching out a hand to greet me.

"What's going on?" I found my voice to ask. The arrival of Jane was a sign of something we were dreaeding-another confrontation with the Volturi and now will probably lead to a fight. The nightmares I had last night flashed back to me. My knees felt like sticks under my weight.

"You should really tell her, Ethan," Alice piped up, the joy that she had in her face was gone to be replaced by solemn and worry. Everyone's face was like that-solemn, weary, and sad.

"Jane's coming because of me," Ethan said softly.

"Why?"

"Because she chose me to be her mate but... I denied her."