You can wear your fur like a river on fire

But you better be sure if you're makin' God a liar

I'm a rattlesnake, Babe, I'm like fuel on fire

So if you're gonna' get made

Don't be afraid of what you've learned

"Furr"

-Blitzen Trapper

Chapter 32:

This is like a weird freaking dream

The blonde growled at Bella and I couldn't help but laugh. Finally, someone who hated Bella as much as me. Too bad it was a vampire that we were going to have to kill.

I had to hand it to Bella, she stayed pretty calm as the blonde vampire surveyed the forest around her. A growl escaped my teeth as she took off to God knows where. Jacob saw what I was seeing. I felt the panic building up in his thoughts. He took a protective stance over Nessie.

Don't worry, she won't hurt the little half-breed, I assured him. Even though I still had a hard time accepting the fact that Jacob was living with a family of vampires now, I wouldn't want to see any harm come to them. That would hurt Jake. And I didn't want to see him hurt. Besides, the vampires provided for some fun entertainment in my otherwise boring life.

Bella sped over to where Jake and Nessie were. Nessie was still oblivious to what was going on around her. She was bragging about how her kill was bigger than the deer that Jake had taken down. Well, of course she was always going to win when she was hunting with him.

Jacob flattened his ears when he heard the brush rustling. When Bella appeared through the trees, he relaxed his stance, but I could still feel concern oozing from every portion of his body.

Quil, Embry. Jacob glanced towards the vampire. Don't let her get away.

We got your back, man. Quil was already racing towards where the angry blonde had been glaring at us moments ago.

Embry followed, I get the first piece.

I sighed, Try not to get yourselves killed.

Are you kidding? This is going to be a blast. It's been a while since I've had a good fight. Quil was pumped up.

Don't hurt her, Jacob warned them.

Wait, what? He didn't want us to kill her? What did he expect us to do? Catch up with her and ask her to join us for tea?

So, we're coddling all vampires now? I questioned.

She might be a friend of the Cullens. I don't want to cause any trouble with them. They've been very accepting of my relationship with Nessie. Like they had a choice.

God, he used that as an excuse for everything now. I shook my head and let it go.

What do you want us to do, Jake? Seth was ready for whatever our assignment would be.

You and Leah meet us in the clearing.

Bella was cradling Nessie protectively. I was feeling protective of the little bugger, too. I think most of it was the feeling that I was picking up from Jacob.

She hit the speed dial on her cell phone and not long after that, Edward was on the way. Oh yay, more vampires.

You want Seth and I to take point?

Bring up the rear. I don't want her to sneak up on us in case this isn't a social call. Jacob told Seth and I to run their flanks.

Seth was by my side an instant later. We heard rustling behind us and spun around, ready for a fight. We relaxed when we saw Carlisle coming into the clearing. He nodded at us politely and waved for us to follow him. I had to laugh...we were following a vampire. Edward had rushed past us to his precious family.

I watched as Bella explained to Edward about some chick named Irina. So apparently, they knew her. I wondered why the vampire had growled at Bella if she knew the Cullens. Hmm, maybe she just didn't like her. Edward looked pissed. Nothing new. Anytime someone showed an ounce of dislike for his wife, he got all defensive and crap.

"I'll go after her," Carlisle said softly. Apparently Irina was grieving about something.

I could see through Embry's eyes that the vampire's trail had gone cold. But he and Quil didn't let up.

Let Carlisle and Edward take it from here guys, Jacob ordered the boys.

I could tell that Carlisle was debating in his head whether or not he wanted Edward to come with him after Irina. After a few minutes he decided that it would probably be helpful to drag his son along. Personally, I was glad that Edward was going with Carlisle. He was so pissed that maybe he would kill Irina. That would make my day. One less vampire in the world. Plus, if he went, then I wouldn't have to put up with his irritating personality…or lack thereof. He was such a douchebag.

Edward shot me a glance. He'd heard me.

Yeah, and I meant every word, I thought back harshly.

He rolled his eyes and followed Carlisle. I smiled to myself, knowing that I wouldn't have to worry about Edward for at least a couple of hours. Bella stared after her husband like some idiot that had been hypnotized.

Bells, get moving. Jacob shoved her with his nose. She shook herself out of her trance and we started on our way back to their house.

We were back at the mansion within a matter of minutes. Rosalie rushed out and immediately started fussing over poor Nessie. The kid didn't have a scratch on her. Rosalie was an idiot. Emmett and Jasper were right behind the bitchy blonde bimbo.

"Did Carlisle and Edward go after her?" Emmett questioned.

Well, they sure as hell weren't with us. Duh, Emmett.

Bella's answer was much nicer than mine.

"They're going to see if they can't catch up with her."

"I wonder what she's so bent out of shape about," Jasper said quietly.

Bella looked at Jacob and started to say something, but she took a moment to try and get the wording right.

"The wolves killed Laurent last year. She was very fond of him. Something tells me that she was reacting to seeing Jacob with Nessie."

Wrong words bitch. Now she was blaming us? Oh, how she annoyed the shit out of me. I let out a growl.

Chill, Leah. Jacob shook his head. We have more pressing matters at hand than your immature feelings regarding Bella.

Whatever, I grumbled.

Well, that vampire is long gone. I don't think Edward and Carlisle will be able to find her either. Embry came through the trees. Quil was behind him.

I saw Rosalie curl her lip up. "Great, the whole pack is here."

Well, hello to you, too...you stuck up bitch, Quil grunted.

"Rose, be nice," Bella pleaded.

I saw Rosalie shrug angrily, and then she turned her attention towards Nessie.

Six months ago, Rosalie wouldn't have tolerated Bella telling her what to do. For a moment, I kind of wanted that Rosalie back. The one who would have bitch-slapped Bella into next week. But now that Bella had provided her with the family that she had always wanted, she was much more tolerant. It was so sad to see her live vicariously through Bella. I wondered if Rosalie would ever get her happy ending. Then I remembered that I didn't like her, and didn't really care.

Jacob sniffed the air curiously. Someone was cooking.

Emmett noticed Jacob's attention.

"Esme and Alice are in the kitchen. We figured you guys might like to stick around for the game." He grinned. "Sue gave Esme this recipe for Baklava that she's been dying for someone to critique."

I listened as all the guys started hooting and hawing about some stupid sports event that was on TV. Jacob suggested that we phase back and pig out. Was he crazy? What about the loose vampire running around town?

Edward and Carlisle are on it, Jake shrugged. They'll figure it out.

Jake actually trusted the vampires now? When had that happened? Were we really going to sit around, watch sports, and eat pastries while Carlisle and Edward were out there having all the fun? What bizarro world was I living in?

Well, I AM hungry, Seth nodded.

Yeah, and the game should be fun to watch, Jacob smiled. Maybe I can manipulate Alice into telling me who wins so I can take Emmett for every cent that he has.

Who are you Jacob? I mean, really? Three months ago, he wanted nothing more than to leave this place and never come back. Now, he was all buddy-buddy with the vampires just because the girl he imprinted on happened to be one of their family. I felt like I was stuck in a bad episode of The Twilight Zone.

We need to stay around here, anyway, Jacob shrugged. We may as well have some fun while we're here. If you don't want to come inside, you're welcome to run the perimeters, but I don't see any point in that. I'm sure Edward has a better shot at finding Irina than you do. He and Carlisle have been at it longer.

That pissed me off. I could just as easily track the vampire as the mindreader. But I kept my mouth shut.

He quickly phased back to be with Nessie. Seth wasn't far behind. It was eerie how closely Seth followed Jacob's lead. He was like a little miniature Jacob, but one that I didn't want to kill so much.

Nessie did something cute that everyone cooed over. I wasn't sticking around here to watch this stupid after school special. I raced into the woods.

Leah, where do you think you're going? Quil questioned.

As far away from this freakshow as possible, I shuddered.

Maybe I could catch up with Carlisle and Edward. Spending time with them tracking Irina would be better than watching Jacob doting on his majorly underage girlfriend.

No way. Screw that.

Come on, come back. Jake's going to be pissed if you do something stupid, Quil grumbled. Which is pretty much a guarantee since you're you…

Go suck on an Éclaire and watch Figure Skating. I never did hear what sport it was they were going to be watching.

Quil was chasing after me, but Embry ran into his path,

Let her go, dude. She likes to be alone when she feels like this. He always knew what to say. It was nice to have Embry on my side. He understood me better than I understood myself.

Just because she's your girlfriend doesn't give her the right to act like such a psychopath.

Least my girlfriend can spell psychopath. Wow, he took a shot at Claire's age? Ouch. Embry could be a dick when he was defending me.

You're going to regret saying that, Quil grumbled.

Bring it on. Embry wasn't one bit afraid of him.

I laughed, Kick his ass for me, Embry.

They got into a little girly fight and then a few minutes later phased out, or killed each other. I wasn't sure which. Whatever the reason I was no longer hearing their thoughts, it was nice and quiet in my head.

I raced forward, following Carlisle's scent. Believe it or not, his scent was more tolerable than Edward's. His scent was almost human. The faster I ran, the stronger the smell became. It didn't take me very long to catch up with them. They had taken a pause in their run to try and decipher which way Irina had gone.

"Leah?" Carlisle seemed startled to see me. I don't think Edward was as surprised. He had to have heard my thoughts when I got close enough.

Edward sneered a little when he responded, "She's come to help us." I heard a snicker escape his lips.

"Oh, well that's…" Carlisle paused in contemplation.

There was no way I was letting them send me back to the rest of their family. I couldn't stand seeing everyone so damn happy. I did have Embry, but there were still a lot of issues that I had to work through. Thankfully, Embry understood that I needed some time to get used to the idea of the two of us together. I had never once seen him falter. He was certain we were "meant to be." But I didn't know how to be that girl.

I sighed. Maybe that was my real problem. I didn't know how to accept happiness. God, I was being such a repressed crybaby.

"It's very kind of you to offer your assistance, Leah," Carlisle smiled. I laughed. Had he just used "kind" and my name in the same sentence? He continued, "But I'm not sure how Irina will react to you."

I didn't care if we had to chase her ass all the way to Japan, I wasn't going back to that house. Seeing the way that everyone looked at me was too much to bear right now. Sometimes, I felt like they were all staring at Embry and I, silently thinking to themselves that he was too good for me. And in truth, he really was.

It finally dawned on me why I was out here conversing with two vampires who were practically begging me to leave them alone: I was running. It's what I always did when I had pent up emotions boil their way to the surface. Apparently, sometime in the last three months, I had become a complete coward. Was I so afraid of having a happy future that I was sabotaging myself?

"No use, Carlisle. She's staying." Edward could hear every bit of what I was thinking. God, that was annoying.

Carlisle let out a sigh, and then nodded in approval.

"It might be best if we split up. It's unclear as to which path she took." He looked around. "Why don't you two go east?"

Great, he was paring me up with Edward Cullen: Mindfreak.

"You don't have to come with me, Leah." Edward seemed as opposed to the idea as I was.

"I believe that it is imperative that she does," Carlisle disagreed. "If Leah stumbles across Irina alone, there might be some confusion, especially with a lack of communication. We wouldn't want this misunderstanding to end in a fight."

Yeah, we do, I mumbled. I was surprised when I heard Edward growl out the same thing under his breath. Wow, he was super-pissed that Irina had growled at Bella. I let out a tiny laugh.

I had to wonder if Carlisle was making us stay together for another reason. Maybe he figured that by putting us together, we were more likely to fight with each other than with Irina. Carlisle said something in thought to Edward.

He murmured his response out loud, "That's hardly any of my concern."

Carlisle had probably said something about not letting his disdain for me get in the way of keeping me safe if something did escalate with Irina. Edward heard my thoughts and looked at me in disbelief, as if to say How the hell did you know that?

Of course he was wondering how I had picked up on Carlisle's thoughts.

Not all girls are as clueless as your wife, I rolled my eyes. It wasn't that hard to figure out what they were saying to one another. It's all about reading subtle hints.

Edward let out a snort. He was probably just jealous that he wasn't the only mindreader in the world.

"Be careful." Carlisle sounded like he meant what he was saying. He glanced at Edward, then looked at me, and back to his son again. "I mean it, Edward." With that, Carlisle raced towards the west.

Ha, ha, your daddy likes me, I joked.

"Don't let it go to your head. Carlisle likes everyone."

Edward and I started running to the east. It stayed quiet at first, but then Edward had to go and ruin the silence.

"Why did you really come out here, Leah?" He sounded annoyed, but not angry.

I didn't have to justify him with a response. He didn't know me, and I certainly didn't want to get to know him.

"I am trying my best to be patient with you. This mindreading thing helps me understand people better. I know you've been through a lot, and I can sympathize. When the others aren't around, I can hear how much pain you're still in."

I growled. I didn't want to be talking about my problems, especially not with him. It was already irritating enough that he knew every last thing about me since he had been in my thoughts so much in the last three months. I did spend a good amount of time at the mansion as a wolf. And Edward was right; when everyone phased out, I didn't have to fight so hard to keep them from knowing what I was truly feeling. But sometimes, he could still hear me.

While the pack was busy playing air-hockey, or whatever it is that they did at the Cullen's place, I was usually outside by the river, reflecting over things. Mostly about my past with Sam. My relationship with Embry was a lot different than the one I'd had with Sam. And while I was happy letting Embry into my life, I was having a hell of a hard time getting Sam out of my life, my mind in particular. Ever since Embry told me that Sam hadn't wanted to let me go, all I could think about was what he was going through. He loved Emily, I knew that. But, did he still love me, too?

Edward was about to continue his statement, but I interrupted him, Don't even go there, bloodsucker.

To my surprise, Edward didn't ignore the fact that I didn't want to talk to him about this. He thought for a moment and then changed the subject. "You know, Bella wants to be friends with you."

I almost choked on my tongue. At first I thought he was joking, but then I remembered he wasn't funny.

"She bothers me all the time, asking me what she did to upset you so much."

Was he kidding me? I could rack off an entire list of things that Bella had done, not particularly to me, but irksome things nonetheless. Becoming a vampire by choice was at the top of that list.

If she wants to be my friend, then maybe she could try being less annoying, I shrugged.

"Could you at least attempt to make an effort to treat her nicer?" he questioned.

Sorry, this is as nice as it gets. I shook my head. Jake had had this conversation with me once before. I told him to go chase a parked car. If he couldn't convince me to be kinder to Bella, then Edward didn't have a popsicles chance in hell.

Instead of bitching at me like I thought he would, he accepted my hostility.

"I know you don't like us, Leah, but you have gone to great lengths to insure the safety of my family. Thank you for that."

Had I hit my head and become unconscious at some point? Could all this just be a concoction in some zany coma world that my dead brain was living in? Was he really thanking me? What the hell was this about?

Uh…yeah…okay, I nodded.

After a few more minutes of uncomfortable silence, we wound up back where we had started. Carlisle was waiting for us. The look on his face conveyed that he hadn't found her either.

"The only other option is to swim to the other side of the bank to see if her trail picks up in a straight line." Carlisle looked across the cool body of water.

You two are on your own there. I didn't feel like doggy paddling my way across the water. Not that it was too cold or anything. I just didn't want to do it.

"It shouldn't take long." Edward glanced across the bay.

Go ahead, hotshot. I'll time you, I said sarcastically.

I watched as Carlisle and Edward zipped across the water like it wasn't even there. They couldn't have been gone for more than ten minutes.

"I just don't understand," Carlisle frowned. "I've never had a trail just disappear like hers."

Whatever. She's gone, so you can go back to living your perfect lives. It was obvious that we weren't going to find Irina. She had gone to great lengths to make sure that she wouldn't be followed. I had to hand it to the vampire, she was actually pretty crafty.

Before Edward could respond, I heard a little jingling noise. The phone was up to his ear in half a second. He spoke so quickly that I couldn't understand what he was saying. When he hung up the phone, he looked at Carlisle and me.

"We're going home now." And that was all he said before racing forward into the trees. Carlisle quickly followed.

I took a moment to pause and consider the possibility that this was all some whacked out nightmare. Then, I let out a sigh and followed them.