Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight Saga and characters.

"Rise and shine, kiddo. We gotta talk." I heard her words through the thick veil of my dream. Truth be told, I was grateful for the interruption, I kept dreaming about Jacob leaving me; nevertheless, I was still annoyed she was there.

"It's 5 in the morning. I don't really feel like talking Leah." I told her as I curled against Daisy's back. Daisy had heard my sobs and started scratching my door to let her in my room. As soon as I did, she walked in, jumped on my bed, and waited for me to let it out. I really appreciated her company. Leah on the other hand, was a different kind of bitch.

"Well I just got off patrol and I thought you might want to tell me why my alpha ran off all the way to Canada. What the hell happened last night?"

"I told him how I felt. He rejected me. I gave him an ultimatum. He left. End of story."

"It was a little bit more than that kid."

"What do you want me to say Leah?! He left me! I showed him how I felt. I confessed my love to the man that is supposed to be my soul mate and he shut me down like in some dumb teenage sitcom. Why does this have to be some damn complicated? We're meant to be together."

"Ness, I think you went about it the wrong way. The guy is so worked up about it that he can't even phase back. I am not saying I agree with his decision to leave but… "

"Oh, so now you're on my side." I cut her off angrily.

"No. Jacob was right to want to wait and to give you time to grow up but I saw what you said to him and guess... I can see your point too. Its stupid for you to go and string someone along when you're already in love with the guy you are meant for but it doesn't mean its the right time either."

"You've already made your opinion on the subject clear. I don't need a recap." I got out of the bed and started getting dressed.

"For someone who claims to be a grown up you sure as hell aren't acting like one."

"The love of my life rejected me only a few hours ago so forgive me if I'm not in the mood for this right now." I finished tying my hair into a pony tail and I grabbed Daisy's leash. "Tell grandpa I'm taking the dog out and go get some sleep. You look worse than me. Come on Daisy."

I took the dog out for a long walk. While I checked all my missed messages.

Nessie, don't be mad but I made Andrew tell me. Are you ok? -Anna.

I hope your not home being sad by yourself. Do you want me to come over? -Anna

Carol asked about you. Can I tell her what happened? She's driving me nuts! -Anna

I'm really starting to get worried. Andrew said that you were pretty upset and that you might have your phone off. I'm going to stop nagging but call me as soon as you get this. -Anna

I felt so guilty for not answering her before. I didn't want to wake her at that unholy hour so I sent her a text instead.

Sorry I worried you. I did have my phone off until just now. I'm really fine. I feel a lot better. You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine. I pressed send. That was the first time I lied to her. The phone rang a few seconds later.

"Hello Nessie?" Anna's voice sounded drowsy.

"Hi Anna, sorry I woke you."

"Its ok. I'm glad you texted me. You wrote fine one too many times which makes me think you're really not."

"I'm just so angry and disappointed and worried that he's really leave. If I really thought he was going, I would have never... Oh God Anna, what am I going to do if he leaves me?" My voice sounded scared and full of emotion.

"He's not going to leave. And if he even tried, your family will drag his ass back so quick it would be like he never even left. I happen to know this for a fact."

"What do you mean?"

"You how I've been wanting to tell my parents about Brady and me?"

"Yeah. Last month, you said you were thinking about it but you weren't sure how they would react about you dating a college guy."

"Right. So two weeks ago while I was waiting for you to get back from your bike ride with Jake, I was considering asking your parents what they thought and well… You know Edward. He read my mind and they were suddenly there sitting next to me. I hate it when they do that!" I smiled.

"Sorry about that. You know how he is."

"I know. Anyways, point is that we talked about it and they told me that at first they hated that Jake imprinted on you but that when they saw how much he cared about you and how much you cared about him, they changed their minds."

"I know that. I remember."

"What you don't know is that they said that if you and Jake decided that you wanted to date, they would give you their blessing. I even asked them if they minded that you were in high school and they said they didn't because they trust Jake and they would never let anyone say otherwise. They said that just like Brady had proven himself more than capable of being respectful over the past few years, Jake also has proven himself. They trust him."

"Mom told me something similar. If only he could trust himself. How did you convince Brady to date you?"

"We've only been dating for a few months. I still have a hard time with him. I'm only 16 so he draws very strict lines on our relationship. We only hold hands and kiss a little. Trust me, its very PG. Pretty much, what you've seen us do in public is exactly what goes on in private. Even then he feels guilty about it. Like he's doing something wrong. I want to at least make out once but he won't let it happen. We had our first fight because of it. Sometimes I feel like the more I push the further apart we get and the separation hurts him."

"Oh. I didn't know it was like that."

"Yeah. They feel pain even when we are upset. Fighting among imprints doesn't happen much but it happens. I feel bad because even if its only an emotional distance it still hurts him a lot and its a physical pain. I don't like seeing him struggle like that. Sometimes it makes me wish that I was younger again so that I could be satisfied with just holding hands or pecks on the cheeks."

"I know what you mean. I wish I could go back but I can't. I want more. I need more." I confessed sadly.

"It'll be ok, Nessie. You'll both figure it out."

"Thanks Anna."

"Any time. Come over if you wanna talk some more ok?"

"Ok. Go back to sleep. I'll call you later." I told her and we both hung up.

By the time we got to grandpa's everyone was eating breakfast. As usual, Leah hadn't listened to me about going to sleep and she was sitting at breakfast eating a large stack of waffles and waiting for me. I excused myself from breakfast, letting them know I wanted to hunt. Before Leah could offer to come with me, I told them Andrew was waiting for me to hunt. I lied. I saw him out in the forest during my walk with Daisy but I hadn't talked to him. I took my coat, so that grandpa didn't worry, and I left for Billy's hoping that Jacob would be there by now. He wasn't.

"No he's not here, hun. Apparently my son decided to go to Canada for a run. Paul said that you guys had some sort of fight?" He looked as me speculatively. I nodded. Another tear threatened to come out but I didn't allow it.

"I'm sorry Billy. This is all my fault."

"No its not. That boy can be as stubborn as a rock. Why don't you wait for him here? Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, but why don't I make us some?" I offered.

"It's a deal!" He winked at me, satisfied.

I spent a few hours with Billy before I realized it was pointless to continue waiting. He wasn't going to return until he calmed down and I knew that would take a while. I said my goodbye's to Billy and I went to the cottage to play my piano. Playing always helped me relax. I went in the house and was about to go to my music room when I saw my bike helmet on the side table by the couch. I stared at it contemplating the wisdom of my decision but I wasn't in the mood for rules and safety. I wanted to be defiant. I needed to do something reckless and this would only be minimally stupid. After all, the riding with supervision rule was really for legal purposes. There was no threat to my safety if I were to ride on my own. I took the helmet in my hands and headed towards the garage at the main house.

Riding my bike was thrilling. It was not like running or riding on Jacob's back, it was a human type of thrill. Aunt Rose and Jacob had made some major modifications so that it was both fast and gas efficient. Who had time to remember gas when they were riding at over 100 miles per hour? So I got on my new bike and rode to wherever the road took me.

The sun had gone down, indicating that it was late in the afternoon. It only felt like minutes but I knew that it had been hours by the time my gas tank was empty. I didn't even know where I was but I stopped for gas at a quaint gas station next to an old fashioned diner. I filled up my tank and was about to get back on my bike when the wind blew a familiar scent my way. I looked at the tree line and a moment later a tall tan woman walked out wearing a pair of shorts and a wrinkled shirt. She looked pissed.

"I have been chasing after your ass for hours! What the hell were you thinking running off like that?!" Leah was so pissed she actually looked scary. I fought back the tremor that threatened to emerge and I stood my ground.

"I needed to think so I went out for a ride. I didn't know you were following me. You know I would have stopped if I did."

"Running away is more of a Jake thing. I really didn't think you could be this stupid!" I brushed off the stupid comment knowing I had to tread lightly with this wolf.

"I wasn't running away, just needed to clear my head. I was actually gonna return home now but since you've been chasing me for hours, why don't I treat you to dinner. I bet you're hungry." She narrowed her eyes at me.

"I know what you're doing kid. You can buy me dinner but you're nowhere near off the hook." She growled the words out threateningly.

"That's fine. Come on, let's eat." I said confidently, knowing that a fed Leah is far less lethal than a hungry one.

"Hold on. Let me just let Jake and the others know its ok. After 5 hours of me chasing after you he started to panic and started running back to get the troops together."

"Oh gosh! What a drama queen. He's can be worse than daddy sometimes."

"I'll be sure to tell him that."

She disappeared into the trees and emerged a few moments later.

"So what's the verdict?"

"He's pissed and your mom apparently has been trying to call after a frantic call from your grandpa and Jake so… so you're grounded."

"Wow, I've never been grounded before. I'm not sure if I should feel offended or excited."

"Try to feel offended when we get home or you might get a longer sentence."

"It doesn't really matter. There's no sentence worse than Jake leaving. Why did I have to give him an ultimatum?"

"Cause you're an idiot teenager which is perfect cause so is he."

We entered the diner and sat down to eat at a booth. The waitress was surprised at the amount of food we ordered. 'Got 'nuf for five truckers.' She commented as she brought our food. We ate in silence until dessert.

"Jake is going to stay with Seth at Stanford." She informed me. "He decided it last night. He thinks he might take a few classes and work for a bit until you go to college. He plans to transfer close to whatever school you wanna go to."

"Why? So that he can watch over me or because he finally plans to stop being ridiculous about us?"

"I don't think he's decided that part yet but I don't see him doing much resisting when you are in college. He might not care about some high school kid taking you to a dance but I'm willing to bet million bucks that he's gonna change his mind when he sees a bunch of horny frat boys asking you out. He won't be able to refuse you then. All you have to do is wait."

"Right because the imprint is going to tell him to want me all of a sudden. How great." I said sardonically.

"Bitter is not a pretty color on you kid. Why don't you leave that one for me and trust me. You can fool anyone you want, even yourself, but deep down you know that if that man had met you instead of Bella he would have been yours. Hell, even if he had met you after Bella and, of course, he would still be yours. Imprint or no imprint." There was confidence in her voice as if she had some insider knowledge about the subject.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Ok... I'm going to tell you something about Sam, Emily and me. I never told anyone this but... There was a reason why I tried to keep Sam away from Emily when he and I were dating."

"What do you mean? Sam knew Emily before he imprinted?"

"Emily was my best friend since we were little girls. She used to spend a lot of time at LaPush. We all used to hang out together when we were younger. Sam always preferred her, even back then. She said she wasn't interested but knowing Emily, I know the only reason she said that was because she suspected I liked him too. When we were high school, he finally gave me the time of day but even then he never really looked at me the way he looked at Emily when we were all little. It took me a long time to admit that to myself. Even Jared at Kim had the hots for each other before they imprinted, they just never knew so he never had the guts to ask her out. Same with Paul and Rachel. Those two grew up together but neither ever considered it because he was younger than her. They just needed the imprint to finally make it ok and to give them the courage to pursue one another."

"You really think Jacob would have asked out the half leech who killed his best friend?" We both knew there was no chance of that.

"Believe it or not, I do. For you and Jake, the imprint was more like bridge for him to be able to get to know you. If the imprint didn't exist, him getting over what happened to your mom would have been the biggest battle for both of you to overcome but after you gave each other a chance to know one another..." She shrugged her shoulders contemplating on the idea. "Or maybe if you met each other without knowing who you were then, yea. I believe that once you would have gotten to know one another you would have fallen in love." I tried to see the scenario she presented. Jake and myself in some alternate reality where we met without knowing our histories. Hiding who we were and slowly getting to know one another, falling in love and then finally, when the truth was revealed it would have been too late. I would have loved him regardless the past or what he was and I was almost sure he would have loved me also.

"Frankly, I always thought Bella was all wrong for him. She was such a quiet whinny bitch. You are much more his speed." She continued. It was still a little weird to talk about my mom and my Jake in that sense but unfortunately I cannot changed what happened.

"I was pretty quiet too, as a kid."

"Yeah but after hanging out with a bunch of talkative, loud, bad mouthed wolves, you finally stated acting like a normal kid."

"Yeah. There was no way I could just go walk around touching all of you every time I had something to say."

"See. Jake is good for you too, just like you are good for him. That's why fate brought you together even though you were just a baby. You both needed each other."

"Thanks Leah." I smiled at her to let her know I was ok. "Let's go home. I'm thirsty."

"I thought you were going hunting with Andrew this morning?" She said sarcastically.

"You know very well that I didn't so come on before I attack you, wolf girl."

"Ha! As if you could ever catch me."

We went outside and I headed towards my bike.

"Do you want a ride?"

"Why? So you can have a taste of me when I'm not looking."

"Sure, sure. Cause you're absolutely ravishing."

"Maybe after you drink something we can go. I'd hate to have to break those pretty teeth of yours."

"I can wait 'till Forks."

"You just want to see Jake. I'm not enabling you your sick need to be near each other. Let's go hunt now. You've never hunted in this area before. Might find some nice mountain lions here."

"Ok. You're right, I'm tired of elk anyway. Let's go!"

We hunted for about an hour. The sun was starting to set by the time I was done. We found a stream so that I could wash off some of the leftover blood. Leah was in human form making fun of my sloppy feeding session when we were suddenly frozen, our bodies immobile. The panic that filled me at that moment was palpable. I couldn't even move my eyes but I could see Leah's panicked eyes in my periphery. We didn't know what was happening, we didn't see the danger that was approaching us downwind, where we couldn't smell them coming.

"You were right Ramon. There was a fine prize up here."

"I told you I had sensed something good. It's a bit out of our way but worth leaving the other two behind, don't you agree?"

"Ha! You and your feelings, you lucky bastard! I'm just glad you fished us a hybrid this time. Things should be a lot less messy with her. Maybe I can finally have a taste instead of letting you have all the fun." He said as he collected me in his arms. Ramon already had Leah so they both stated running through the trees. I didn't understand the meaning their words but I guessed that they were both gifted. I suspected that Ramon could sense victims (or perhaps he could sense whatever object he desired); while, the other could paralyze his victims. Yes it had to be the other one who was causing this immobility. It's very rare for vampires to have two different gifts. I couldn't move but I could feel his cold hands against my back and the warm tears that stroked my cheeks. I was terrified. I wasn't sure what they wanted but I knew it would be bad.

Jacob

I really couldn't understand why I had to leave her like that. I should have known this was coming. Ever since her birthday, she had been different and so had I. Her scent started to change less than a week after her damn birthday. It was only a matter of time before the wolf would take notice that her scent and her body were becoming more womanly. It was the wolf made me get sparks all over my body whenever she touched me, now. And then when I kissed her... Ugh! I've kissed her on her head a thousand time but it never once felt the way it did last night. I felt something surge through my entire body like if our connection had suddenly gotten stronger. Like something shifted. I was beginning to realize that I was falling in love with her.

Things were changing. Last night her touch made me long for her in a way that was different from how I usually long for her while she's at school and I'm stuck at work. Thankfully it wasn't the way my brothers longed for their their imprint. It felt more like how the pups feel when they go out with a girl they liked. There was an innocent virtuous component to it. But it was only a matter of time before that changed too. This was a fucking nightmare! Of course, my feelings had nothing to do with sex. I would never allow anything remotely sexual happen between us but things were changing and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Why can't things with Nessie ever be easy? All I want for her is to have a childhood.

I'm such an idiot! I should have never left her. All she wanted me to do was to try. Sure it felt completely horrifying but I could have faked it for her.

You wanted her to have a normal life. There's nothing wrong with that. That kid sure could use some normal! She's even talking and acting more like a teenager now that she's in high school. Embry reminded me.

I know. She's been doing so great. I thought she was happy. Why does she need more than I can give her?

She's a teenager. Teenagers always want more, besides, Ness is different. She grows fast, bro. She needs more because she's grown up.

She's not fucking grown up!

She may be four but we all know she's not. She may look 14 but we also know she's not. All I am saying is that she needs more than just companionship and its stupid to ask her to get it from someone else when the only person that can make her feel right about who she is is you. I caught the under current of his thoughts.

An I just made her feel like there's something wrong with her, with us.

Yep.

Way to make me feel better. I told him sarcastically. Asshole only made me feel worse. Now I also had to worry that I made her feel bad about herself. She had been doing so well at school, feeling like a normal kid. Damn! I really hopped I didn't set her back. I was already close to Forks when Leah finally phased to me they were going to have dinner some girl talk. I relayed the message Bella had given me earlier trying my best to convey her the anger and worry I was feeling so that she could let Nessie know she was in serious trouble. She only laughed at me as she phased back. As much as she annoyed me, I thanked God for Leah every day. I don't know how it happened or why but I was grateful for her friendship with Nessie. She needed someone like her. Probably more than she needs me.

Don't be ridiculous. They both need you. Leah loves her and she loves you too. That's why she protects her. There's nothing more important to Leah than family. Why do you think she's stuck around all these years?

I don't know. Cause she's a masochist. Seth is California. If what you say is true then why isn't she with him?

Because he doesn't need her anymore, dumbass. Nessie does. I mean think about it. It would be so much easier for her to get away from all this. Away from Sam, his family. She stays for you and for her.

I thought about that. It made sense. Underneath all the anger and bitterness Leah was a loving caring person. She was also fiercely protective. We all knew this about her. I saw it the day she braved going into the Cullen house, on her own, to yell at Bella for stringing me along. I thought that was reserved for her brother but after some time her protective nature extended to all of us.

Just don't let her know that we know about her soft side or the bitch side will kick our asses. I laughed realizing how true that was.

I got home just as the sun was beginning to set. We felt Brady phase and he started running rumbling something about 'stupid wedding planners'. We tried to leave him alone to give him privacy but I could see his frustration. His sister was getting married to a rich guy she met in college and his family wanted a big wedding in some country club. He had to wear a tux. I was about to tell him to relax when I felt a sudden rush of fear unlike anything I have ever felt before. I knew immediately that is was Nessie.

Nessie!

Calm down Jacob. It could be anything. Brady told me. I was about to phase but I remembered I had to call Bella from a pay phone earlier cause I didn't have my phone with me.

Brady, phase back and try to get a hold of Leah or Nessie! I tried not to make it sound harsh but her emotions were too strong.

We'll come over to your location. Just put them on speaker phone. Embry told him.

Hurry up! I snapped. We felt him phase back as we ran towards him. I felt bad for snapping but her fear and desperation was too strong for subtleties. Embry got to him first. I could see him on the phone through Embry's eyes. No one was answering.

"I'm gonna try Nessie this time. They could both be on the bike. Its hard to hear a phone ring on that thing." He said as he dialed the number but I could see the worried look on his face. If they were on their way home, there was no reason why Nessie would be terrified. No answer. He tried them both several more times but they still didn't pick up.

Dammit! Phase back and tell him to call Edward. I yelled at Embry.

Ok, but calm down bro. We'll find them. I knew he was worried too. I prayed. I prayed as hard as I could that the girls were ok.