I could be wrong, cuz I could never live with me before you came along

You made me whole, crept into through the window of my soul

This disease brings me to my knees

This disease kills me by degrees

Everybody gets what they deserve

"Everybody gets what they deserve"

-The Churchills

Chapter 13:

Let me tease the hell outta you

After Jacob and Seth had gotten a few more licks in teasing me, they asked me to fill them in on what they had missed.

There really wasn't much to tell. They left; Sam was speechless; Paul was an ass; I blew up and ran away. I left out my talk with Billy. I didn't figure it was of any importance.

Just like any other day in the pack, Seth laughed.

Sam rescheduled the fight. They were supposed to meet again this morning. I don't think they're completely aware that I've gone renegade, too. I mean, if mom hasn't found my note…

Ah crap, you told mom? Seth cried. If I ever go home, I'm going to be grounded til I'm thirty.

I didn't talk to her personally. Once I got home, I weighed the pros and cons of turning traitor. In the end, I knew that protecting Seth, I saw Seth roll his eyes at the notion that he needed protection, and…other things… I thought of being free of Sam, was a no brainer. Then I left a note for mom. She was with Charlie. I don't know why I felt the need to explain where she was. She was an adult. I shook my head. Sam probably still doesn't know where I am. He probably thinks I'm still asleep. I felt a laugh building in my throat. He's going to be pissed. I listened closely to see if I could hear howling in the west.

I can imagine, Jacob nodded. I'm sure he's got a few choice words for me.

Well, now that they were up to speed, I sat down and waited on what we would do next. Both Seth and I looked at Jacob for our orders. He shuffled uncomfortably. He wasn't used to leading, nor did he actually want to.

After a moment, he came up with a plan. We'll just keep an eye out for now. That's all we can do. Well, at least it was an easy plan. I was really beat. The not sleeping was starting to catch up with me.

Jacob noticed my fatigue. Geeze, you look like you're about to pass out. Why don't you take a nap?

I could tell that Jacob was just about as worn down as I was. He'd probably had as much sleep, if not less, than I had. I will if you will. You look like crap, Jake.

I can't afford a luxury like sleep right now. I saw a picture of Bella flash through his head. I growled. Even though I was a part of Jacob's pack now didn't mean I hated Bella any less.

I'm the Alpha here, Jacob reminded me. I thought you were going to do what I told you to.

I had wondered how long it would be before he brought that up. I had to give him credit, he'd gone longer than I thought before shoving it in my face. Jacob telling me what to do was going to get old.

Well, you know. Whatever. I don't really care. Honestly, I was craving some rest. But I don't know if I was about ready to crash yet. I think part of it stemmed from not wanting to listen to Jacob. The other part was the fact that I was still wound up from not having Sam in my head.

Seth piped in, eager to show Jacob that he was ready and willing to do whatever he wanted him to. I'm not tired at all. I can run the border.

I snickered. Little suck up.

Jacob didn't order Seth to do anything. He just shrugged and told us he was going to check with the Cullens. Man, I could get used to Jake being Alpha. He seemed pretty lenient. It would be a nice change of pace.

Seth leaped forward into the forest, trying to prove to Jacob that he wasn't bluffing. He really would run the perimeter. He was making me look bad. I figured I had an hour or two of running left in me before I completely succumbed to my exhaustion. I could easily lap Seth. I raced after him and quickly passed him.

Ah man, Leah, why do you always have to show me up? Seth whined.

I heard Jacob pondering how much his life had changed in the past twenty four hours. I could tell that he was still annoyed that I was here. He started running through the list of who Sam still had in his pack and tried to figure out who he'd rather have followed him. Embry was first on the list. Quil was on it too.

But am I still less annoying than Paul? I questioned.

I don't know.

He imprinted on your sister, I reminded him.

I could hear him fuming about that.

I'll try to stay less annoying than Paul. That can be my goal.

Not really a hard goal. Anyone is better than Paul, he shrugged. But keep working at it. He phased out.

Seth did his best to keep up with me. I heard him grumbling to himself about what an annoying pain in the ass I was. The feeling was mutual. But even my brother's foul mood couldn't bring my spirits down. I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

After a while, I broke away from Seth and made my way back to the Cullen's place. Jacob still hadn't phased back yet, so I was going to see what he was up to.

When the house was in my view, I slowed my pace. I could see Jacob slumped on the front steps of the giant mansion. Carlisle was at his side. They were discussing Bella's condition. Jacob's eyes were glazed over. He looked even worse when he was human. I wasn't able to see the bags under his eyes when he was a wolf, but now that he was human, he looked so vulnerable. His bronze skin couldn't hide the growing circles under his eyes.

That got me thinking about my brother. Exactly how much sleep have you had, Seth?

More than you and Jacob, that's for sure. Seth could see the picture of Jacob in my mind.

Just don't push yourself too hard. Sleep is important.

You sound like mom.

And since she's not here, you can get used to it. You're still only fifteen years old.

I'll be sixteen in a few months. I didn't have to see his face to know that he was pouting.

Yeah, because sixteen is oh, so mature. I rolled my eyes.

Truth was, Seth was actually pretty mature for his age. He had always been very balanced and level-headed. But I wouldn't be his big sister if I didn't bark a few orders at him.

I turned my attention back to Jake and Carlisle. I was surprised that Jake was sitting so closely with a vampire. But, if he was comfortable with any of the vampires, it was Carlisle.

I suddenly felt badly about how just hours ago, I had been planning for a way to destroy the gentle vampire sitting next to my leader.

Aw, look who's warming up to the Cullens. Seth teased me.

I grumbled. But I couldn't be mad. I had asked for it by pushing his buttons.

I'm not saying I like him. I'm just saying that he doesn't seem very…leech-like.

The front door opened and Edward and the blonde bitch stepped out onto the porch. I automatically tensed up. If I were Jacob, I would phase and get the hell out of there. Too many vampires were around.

But he just stared at the vampires surrounding him. Was he getting so used to these monsters that he was actually comfortable around them? I saw him yawn. Or maybe he was just so exhausted that he didn't care.

Then they started talking about the baby this and the baby that. I scoffed. Stupid little vampire baby.

I heard Edward explain that he had overheard something in Jacob's thoughts. I had forgotten that the bloodsucker could do that. That was a bit annoying. It was hard enough having Jacob and Seth in my mind. I couldn't stand the idea that a vampire would be sharing my thoughts as well. Even if I never got close to the controlling douchebag, Jacob would still be phasing in and out, which meant that he would be sharing my thoughts with Edward, even if he didn't mean to.

I listened as Edward talked about feeding Bella blood. Ew. His reasoning had something to do with giving the little demon child what it wanted. Yeah, start spoiling the kid now. This little brat was going to be ten times worse than all those out of control kids in today's society. Those squalling children whose parents were too wrapped up in their own little world to discipline their own offspring. God, those people pissed me off to no end. But this thing was going to be much worse than those kids. Because this kid was a monster. And if they couldn't control it now, then by the time the thing was running around, the world would be completely screwed.

Jacob scrunched his nose when Edward went over the plan. I saw the blonde light up with excitement. You would think she was the one having the mutant spawn. I really hated that fake bleached-blonde bimbo.

Jacob looked as repulsed as I felt. He stuttered, "Are you talking about making Bella drink blood?"

Well, why not? The whiny brat wanted to be a vampire. This would be perfect practice. I pondered adding something to her bloody cocktail. I wondered if they made a drug to make someone less annoying.

They disappeared into the house and Jacob followed. I couldn't believe that he was going to watch this monstrosity. What was he thinking?

I didn't judge him for very long. My curiosity got the better of me as I tiptoed closer to the house. I just wanted to see if Jacob was okay in the house full of vampires.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Seth quipped. I ignored him.

When I got to the window, I saw the entire lot of them gathered around Miss. Center of The Universe, all feeble and crunched up on the couch. The guy who knocked her up was leaning his dead face towards her and holding her hand. She and Jake were talking. I heard my name and my ears perked up.

Eavesdropping isn't very nice, Seth warned me.

We do it all day, every day. I'll hear it in his head later, I shrugged.

Seth knew that he couldn't argue with me. He was still running, his pads softly hitting the ground and creating a constant pitter patter in my brain.

Jacob was telling Bella that I was part of the pack now. She looked stunned. She probably thought it was some kind of ploy so I could get to her and rip her throat out. I wouldn't lie, I would if I could. She looked terrified beyond belief, and that made me feel…well, I couldn't think of a word to describe it. But giddy came to mind.

"Leah hates us," Bella said quietly.

Hate isn't a strong enough word, I mumbled to myself.

And then, Jacob surprised me. He actually defended me…to the girl he loved. I listened in shock as he told Bella that I was part of his pack now, so she should just get used to the idea. Bella didn't look convinced. There was still a hint of fear in her eyes. I wish Jacob would just let her continue to be afraid of me.

"What's that face for?" Jacob had noticed her fright.

"She just…scares me, that's all."

HA! I grinned confidently. She had reason to be afraid of me. But apparently, Jacob didn't think so. He let out a laugh.

"You're afraid of Leah?" he questioned. "Last time I checked, the psychopath blonde was your best friend. I'd be a hell of a lot more afraid of her than I would a werewolf."

That blonde did have a certain horror-movie-esque feel about her. Something told me that she had been through a lot. Any little thing could set her off. I wouldn't want to be around when that happened. I could definitely see her going all green and "Hulk" on everyone. 'Arg, Hulk smash. Hulk destroy. Hulk rip apart person who gave her expired coupon for manicure.'

I managed to make Seth chuckle with that one…

Jacob and Bella chatted for a few more minutes. I finally took off when they brought the blood in and she started sucking away at the straw like it was a freaking margarita or something. Yuck. The girl had problems.

I joined Seth again in his run. He had had some time to cool down, so he wasn't as snappy as before. There was a nice peace between us as we ran opposite ends of the border.

For the first time in my life, I didn't hate being a wolf. I felt like this is exactly where I was meant to be. They wanted me around.

I wouldn't go that far, Seth joked.

His sarcasm didn't bother me. After all, he had learned from the best. I let out a chuckle.

You're sounding more and more like your big sister every day. I couldn't help but feel a little proud.

Dear God, help me, Seth snapped back.

I barked out hysterical laughter.

Seth got serious for a moment. It's good to hear you laughing again. He paused. I was starting to think you'd forgotten how…

I shrugged. I couldn't believe how much happier I was. I felt like a different person. I quickly remembered that I was protecting vampires and frowned. Still a cynic. Guess I wasn't a completely different person.

My thoughts were interrupted when something in the atmosphere changed. Both of our moods shifted. The air was tense. We could hear the soft noise of feet trotting against the ground.

We weren't alone anymore. Seth and I raised our heads and let out a synchronized howl. God, I hope Jake hadn't passed out watching that joke of a freak show doing blood shots.

Seth and I both had the same thought. I had never really said the word "love" out loud. But, I needed him to know that I did love him...

...Because the footfalls were getting closer.