Author's Note: Thought I owed you a quick update, considering the length of time you had to wait for he last one. I know it's not the solution to the cliffhanger that you wanted, but that's coming in the next chapter. For now, I hope you enjoy some time with Leah, who's still my favorite, as she lays down some old-school wisdom for her stubborn Alpha.

Next chapter is a doozy, friends. I'm looking forward to posting it and seeing your reactions. Thanks, as always, for reading!

Crit.

Chapter 39: Alpha and Beta

Jacob stood in front of the closed front door for several minutes, shaking with rage, before he was able to move. When he finally did, it was simply to pace a few steps back towards the living room and back again. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Renesmee had defied him. Completely. He had told her not to leave, and she had left without so much as batting an eyelash. His warnings, his feelings… nothing had mattered to her except for her need to make friends again with that freaky little telepath.

"Fuck," he said, as loudly as he could.

"Well," came a voice from the second floor. Jacob whirled around to see Leah leaning over the balcony, a sarcastic smirk on her face. "I was going to wish you a good morning, but I see now how futile the sentiment would be." She started for the stairs, keeping her eyes on him as she went. Her tone was joking, but Jacob could see the wariness in her face; she knew what it would take to talk him down from something drastic, and she was clearly ready for it if push came to shove.

And it might. Jacob tried his best to unclench his fists, but was unsuccessful. "Don't start with me today, Leah," he warned. "You have no idea."

"I wasn't planning on it," she replied as though it mattered less to her than anything else in the world. "I was just going to steal some of your breakfast leftovers and get out of the line of fire. Mm, fruit salad!" Jacob growled in the back of his throat, which caused Leah to turn and look at him in surprise. "Or I won't. Geez, Jake… what the hell is going on with you?"

So he told her. All of it, from Renesmee's dreams to Clara's ability to the fights they'd been having and the fact that she'd walked out on him. Leah, to her credit, sat and listened closely, barely reacting, until he was completely finished.

"Well," she said when he had fallen silent, "You sure are being a baby about this, aren't you?"

Jacob was flabbergasted. "I… what?"

Leah shrugged. "Well you are. You decided right away that you weren't going to trust this friend of Nessie's, and that was that. And in spite of the fact that she fought with you and eventually even begged you to try to get along and be civil, you just jumped right into an interrogation, which you followed up with a series of orders. And now you're standing here all wounded because she didn't listen?" She blew her short bangs out of her face with a quick, exasperated breath. "Gimme a break."

Jacob's jaw hung open. When she put it like that, it almost made him sound like he was in the wrong. "But she… I mean, it…" He stopped, figuring it wouldn't do him much good to put forward a poorly-constructed argument. It was just as well, because Leah clearly wasn't through.

"This is a pattern with you, Jacob, and I'm not too scared of you to point that out. You're treating Clara the exact same way you treated Rideau: with suspicion and hostility."

"Yeah, and I was right about Rideau, wasn't I?"

Leah's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. Because really, that's not the point. The point is, you didn't have any proof that you were right in that case, and you don't in this case either. It's not about you being justified… not really. It's about you not wanting to share Nessie. And I get that, Jacob… really I do. But you've got to cut it out." She leaned forward, staring him in the face. "You may belong to her, Jake, but she doesn't belong to you. And maybe you think you can live with her as the only person in your world, but she'll never be that way. You can't make her that way. And if you try… you'll lose her." Leah backed off slightly and shrugged. "You just will."

Nothing Jacob could say was any match for that speech, and he knew it. He let out a long, heavy sigh and shook his head. "Why do you have to make sense?" He grumbled. Leah just shrugged, straight-faced.

"Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? Why is the sun—"

"Don't push it."

Leah chuckled and took a seat on the couch. "Sorry. I know you're not in the mood. I just really get a kick out of not being the biggest basketcase in the room."

Jacob almost quirked a smile at that. "I'm enough of a disaster for both of us." He sat down beside her and dropped his head into his hands. "Why do I keep doing this, Lee?"

Leah patted him unsympathetically on the back. "I'd say "because you love her so much", but that's a pretty shitty excuse for treating somebody like your property." When Jacob made a small, strangled noise of displeasure, she chuckled. "Don't be so down on yourself… I'm only half serious."

Jacob looked over at her with narrowed eyes. "But you're right… I'm a shithead."

Leah shook her head. "Not a shithead. Just a bit of a misogynist. And the sooner you get your head around the fact that you're not the big strong man who needs to protect the helpless little girl, the better. Renesmee is perfectly capable of making decisions and protecting herself— and what's more, she wants to. Probably the only reason she hasn't walked out on you before over this is because she's so used to it. I mean… you've met her father."

"Why does everybody keep comparing me to him?" Jacob asked, almost whining. Leah raised one eyebrow.

"I'm not sure how closely you want to examine that, actually. Your brain could very easily end up in some pretty disturbing places."

"Whatever." Jacob massaged the space between his eyebrows with his thumb and forefinger. "So… what do I do?"

"I thought it was your job to order me around, oh fearless leader." Her just glared at her. "Okay, I get it. I'll knock it off." She still had a tiny remainder of that smirk on her face. This was one of those mornings where Jacob couldn't decide if his second-in-command was his best friend or his worst enemy. She straightened up, and he settled in for a long lecture.

"First," Leah said, "You absolutely do not tell Cullen about this new girl. Not until Renesmee is ready. What he doesn't know won't kill him—or us, she's just a little human girl. You have to do things according to Nessie's plans from now on, at least for a little while. She needs to feel your confidence in her. Second, and this is really important… you need to make up with this girl and become her best friend. Not only because it's important to Nessie, but because you actually do need to keep an eye on her. We can shut her down easily if she gets out of line, but only if we see it coming. I don't think it's likely she'll do anything we need to worry about, from what you've told me… she just sounds to me like somebody having a bit too much fun with an ability she doesn't understand. But you never know. So watch her." Leah paused. "And the last part, which is also the hardest… you need to apologize to Nessie, and really mean it, and then you need to actually change how you act. Don't just say you're sorry to make her feel better… actually be sorry. Respect that she's your equal, and stop treating her like a child… because she isn't anymore. She hasn't been for a long time, and I know you're aware of that. You just have to stop picking and choosing when you treat her like a child under your care and when you treat her like your grown-up, capable girlfriend. She's either going to be one or the other, but se can't continue being both. It's unfair, and it's frustrating, and it's creepy, Jake. And you don't want to be creepy, do you?"

"No," Jacob sighed reluctantly, raking his hands though his hair. He cast a sideways look at his Beta. "Do you always have to be right?"

Leah shrugged, a sly smile beginning to grow on her lips. "Can't help it… it's nature, that's all." Jacob rolled his eyes in response.

"Well in that case, do you have to be so smug about it?"

"I told you… nature." Leah ducked quickly as Jacob chucked a cherry from the fruit salad in her direction. "Hey," she said, snatching it out of the air as it flew by, "Don't waste food."

Jacob leaned forward and, with a regretful look, grabbed a croissant. "Stupid, rich person food," he muttered, tearing into the pastry. Leah chuckled and went in for more fruit.

"Don't complain… free is cheap."

"Not when it comes with the price tag of having to make friends," he muttered around a mouthful of bread.

"Okay, that's enough." Leah stood up with her hands on her hips. "You're starting to sound like me, Jacob, and I'm starting to sound like you. If things don't get back to their natural state soon, I think the world might explode. So let's just…" she seemed to think for a moment, and then she nodded to herself. "Yep. Get up, go throw on some sweats and your sneakers."

Jacob looked at her skeptically. "Are you seriously inviting me on your run with you?" he smirked. "I thought that was your 'Private Time'." He put air quotes around the last two words. Leah raised an eyebrow.

"Just get your shoes on, smartass," she said. "I'll meet you downstairs."

oooOOOooo

Jacob walked out the front doors of the building and was greeted by the sight of Leah stretching her legs against the low stone wall surrounding the courtyard. He took a moment to watch what she was doing before sauntering over.

"You might want to stretch too," she suggested, taking a moment to look over her shoulder at him. Jacob waved her off.

"I think I can handle a little jog without hurting myself," he said. Leah shrugged.

"Well, I'm sure you can, but there's really no point in hurting your muscles unnecessarily, even if they do repair themselves quickly."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "If this is supposed to make me feel better…"

Leah straightened up. "Fine," she said with an air of superiority, "You don't have to." She pulled her shirt down to straighten it. "There's a High School a couple blocks away… I found it the other day, it's got a pretty decent track, and it'll be empty today 'cause it's Saturday. You ready to go?"

"I've been ready to go this whole time," he said, aware he sounded cranky and annoying. Leah just turned on her heel and took off at a run. Jacob shook his head and then started after her. They reached the school soon enough, and Leah barely pause to open the door to the fenced in track before hitting the gravel.

"So," Jacob said when he'd pulled up astride her, "This is it? You just… run?"

Leah didn't turn her head to look at him. "Yep."

Jacob scrunched up his nose and looked down at his feet hitting the cold pavement. "What's the point?"

"Fitness," Leah said sharply. Jacob didn't buy it.

"We're naturally fit… I don't think it's even possible for us to be unfit."

"Fun?"

Jacob snorted. "It's pretty monotonous, if you ask me."

"Okay." Leah took a deep breath that Jacob figured was unrelated to the jogging. "I was hoping you'd just be quiet and figure it out on your own, but I can see that plan isn't going to work." Jacob cracked a smile in spite of himself and let her continue. "The monotony is the point, Jacob. You've got nothing but the same scenery going by, again and again. It's predicable, it's… relaxing."

Jacob raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I wasn't aware you knew that word."

"Shut up." Leah continued running without looking at him. "Why don't you stop questioning me and just try to focus. It's just like running when you're a wolf, except you're alone in your head. You might actually like it."

Jacob huffed slightly. "Sure, sure." He was about to come out with some sort of witty retort when Leah suddenly tore off, surging ahead of him at a much quicker pace than they'd been running. Jacob furrowed his brow and took off after her. He managed to get close, almost pulling up alongside her, but he couldn't overtake her, and after a few minutes he could feel himself slipping. If they had been in their wolf forms there would have been no contest, but in his more fragile human form, Jacob was surprised to find that he couldn't compete with Leah. She was completely outstripping him, and he realized that, while she seemed to be making no effort at all, he was starting to feel a slight ache in his thighs and a tightness in his lungs. With a regretful sigh, he slowed down and let Leah pull away from him. When she'd gotten a good distance away, he noticed her slowing as well, and he realized that she'd been trying to distance herself from him. They were now moving around the edge of the gravel track at about the same pace; an easy, relaxed run.

Jacob turned his focus inward, thinking of the way he felt when he ran as a wolf. He wasn't as automatically aware of his body's movements, and so he had to zero in on the individual parts of himself as they propelled him forward. He legs felt hard and strong moving through the cold air, and he noticed suddenly that he was breathing almost in time with the pounding of his feet. Could he make his heart beat in the same rhythm? No… it was racing too quickly. He closed his eyes for a moment; he could hear his own pulse thrumming in his ears. That was how quiet it was inside his head: no Seth, no Leah, no Embry. Just his own thoughts, and the motion of his body.

Damn it. She was right.

When they finally stopped, nearly an hour later, Leah met him with a small, wry smile.

"You made your point," Jacob said, barely meeting her eye. "But can we save the gloating for another day? I've got enough admitting I'm wrong ahead of myself today."

Leah chuckled softly. "No prob. It'll hit you up tomorrow."

"Gee, thanks." They jogged home side by side, silently, and Jacob used the quiet time to think over his apology.

In the next chapter:

"Look, I don't know what would ever make you think that I would just sit here and let you tell me I'm in danger without at least trying to stand up for myself. I know you say you're trying to protect me, Ness… but in whose universe is what you're doing fair or right at all?"

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