I do not own any of the recognizable characters presented in this story. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

23. DESTINY

I have missed the sun. I way laying out on a towel next to Jacob, soaking up the sun's glorious rays. It was so hot out, but it felt so nice. I suffered through clouds and rain for so long, being here was such a nice change of pace.

I felt bad for Jacob and everyone else that lives in Washington. They miss out on perfectly clear days like this one.

I opened my eyes to the sound of Jacob's cell phone ringing. "Who's that?" I sat up, curious as to who would call us on our honeymoon. Not that it was that big of a deal or anything.

Jacob got up and grabbed his phone from the picnic table next to us. "It's Seth." He answered the phone. "What's up, Seth, my beta?"

I smiled. I liked the way Jacob got excited whenever he talked to Seth. They were really good friends and I was glad for that.

"No, you're not interrupting anything. Well Terry has his mouthful, but I can talk." He smiled at me devilishly.

"Jacob! Everyone is going to think that's all we ever do!" I got up and walked over to him, trying to reach the phone.

He put his hand on my head, holding me his arm's length away as I struggled to get the phone. "So what's going on? How's the pack?"

I stopped struggling and just sat back down, watching Jacob put on his serious 'I'm-the-Alpha' face.

"Alright. Collin and Brady?" Jacob chuckled. "How can you keep those two under control?"

Collin and Brady used to wear Jacob out every time he would run with them. He would come home sore and exhausted and it made me feel really bad for him.

"And the guys are listening to you? Paul's not giving you a hard time?" A smile crossed his lips. "Yeah, I know. Any word on Leah?"

I listened carefully, not that listening any harder could help me hear what Seth said. I was concerned about how Leah was doing and I hoped she was doing ok.

"Ok, and?" Jacob's eyes widened. "She what?"

"What happened?" I stood up and walked over to Jacob again. If Leah was still unstable, who knows what she would be capable of.

"On who?"

"Jacob. What happened?" His refusal to even acknowledge that I was standing there was killing me.

"Seriously?" He made a doubtful face. It wasn't angry or concerned so that was good. "What are the odds of that?"

I figured I would just have to wait until he was done talking to Seth to get any information from him, so I sat back down on my towel again.

"Well, good for her. It's about time!" Jacob laughed. "Alright, thanks for letting me know." He hung up his phone and laid back down next to me.

I waited. He wasn't going to tell me. "Well?"

His smiled. "It's about Leah."

"I got that much. What about her?"

Jacob just closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head, the big dumb smile still plastered on his face.

The suspense was killing me. I climbed into his waist and grabbed his arms out from behind his head, pinning them by his sides. He could obviously escape my grip if he wanted to, but he continued laying there. "Jacob! For the love of God, tell me what happened!"

He opened his eyes, staring into mine, waiting for me to do something.

I shook my head and got off of him. I laid back on my towel. "Whatever. I don't care anymore."

I felt Jacob's hand on my chest. I opened my eyes to see him leaning over me. He had that stupid smile still on his lips. "Aww come on. I wanted to see how far you'd go to get me to talk."

I rolled my eyes, trying to resist a smile.

"Leah imprinted."

"She what? On who?" I sat up, pushing Jacob off of me. Leah imprinted? She found someone to love?

Jacob laughed, shaking his head. "That's the weird part. It was on a guy she met in California."

"California? What was she doing there?" That was two states away from Washington.

"Seth said she just had the sudden urge to go there. Apparently as soon as she got there she met this guy and imprinted." Jacob looked amazed.

"So it was just random chance?"

He shook his head. "I… don't think so. I mean she randomly had this desire to head down to California, that has to mean something."

"I don't believe in destiny." Even with how coincidental that was.

Jacob looked at me. "You don't? What about us? What about imprinting in general?"

"I don't know. I can't explain imprinting, it's your thing."

"Before you came to Forks that day, something kept me coming back to the Cullen's house everyday. I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to be there. And then you showed up." He brushed his fingers across my cheek. "That's destiny."

"Alright, fine." I held his hand. "I'm glad Leah imprinted on someone."

He nodded. "Me too. Now she can finally move on from Sam."