A/N: NannaRahRah – I'm glad it amuses you.
Here we go ^_^ you might need tissues at the ready!
What was going on? I remember being pulled off the cliff by the leech and then hitting my head on the way down and then everything went black. I can't feel my limbs or anything. Everything looked misty. I was confused and I started panicking.
"Do not fret young Clearwater" a deep voice called. Who was it?
"Who are you? Where am I? Am I dead?" I questioned. I heard a deep chuckle.
"You are simply unconscious young one, you are not dead. You have a long path ahead of you. I am simply the spirit wolf. You have a duty to fulfil" I sat up and looked around. There was a grey and white wolf walking towards me.
"Spirit wolf? Why am I here?"
"Simply because you need to let go of that burden of yours. You need to forgive Samuel Uley. You may forgive, but you will never forget. You will find love. Your imprint is nearby; you will meet him sooner than you think. You will fall in love with him. It's not because of the imprint that you fall in love with him. You fall in love with him for who he is and how he makes you feel. The imprint is just helping the wolf to acknowledge who their mate is, but it is up to the human to fall in love with their imprint. It will take time, unless you have already fallen in love with your imprint before you were a wolf. Just like Bella and Paul, they are the perfect couple. They fell in love with each other before they were wolves, that is why their imprinting bond is so strong" spirit wolf replied.
"Really? I sometimes feel like I'm not part of the pack. Why is that?"
"You simply need to find yourself. You need to find your happiness. You belong with the pack. You have an important role in the pack. You are an amazing warrior, one of the first females in a pack. You are a strong warrior young Clearwater. Now you must go, fill out your destiny. Find your happiness" spirit wolf spoke softly.
I saw the fog again. I could feel warm hands and cold hands touching my body. They were trying to wake me up. I felt something hit my face.
"Clearwater! Wake up you god damn bitch! I need you. Someone to bitch to when the pack get on my nerves. You're going to get fat for sleeping so much. Get up your lazy ass now!" I heard Bella scream at me. Something hit my face again. She must have slapped me or something.
'Wake up Leah. You have to wake up' I heard a voice inside my head. I still couldn't open my eyes yet. My mind wasn't coming round yet. I thought I saw him. The guy from my dreams. He had a southern accent.
I could feel the fog lifting. I felt my eyes flutter slightly. I wriggled my fingers and was satisfied that they could work properly, maybe a bit stiff. I opened my eyes slowly and my eyes were a bit foggy. I blinked furiously to get rid of the fog. I moved my eyes around and I saw Bella leaning over me with Paul and Jacob on each side of me.
"Thank God! Clearwater you took your god damn time to wake up. You had me worried for a minute or two there" she snapped at me placing her hands on her hips angrily. I just grinned at her. I tried to get up, but I groaned and lay back down on the ground.
"Leah? Are you ok? How does the head feel?" Paul asked concerned.
"I got up too fast. My head kind of hurts like hell. What happened to the leech? I remember attacking her and then she grabbed me and jumped off the cliff. Then I remember hitting my head on the way down and then everything went black" I explained. The pack shifted uncomfortably, they didn't like the fact that a pack member had got hurt because of the leech.
"Clearwater are you sure you're ok? What happened? You were out for a while" Bella asked.
"Jesus Swan. You're giving me a slight headache. Not that I don't have one already. God you have to be loud don't you Swan. Man when I was out cold, I saw the spirit wolf" I said softly. The pack stared at me with widened eyes and a shocked expression. "What?"
"Well Leah, it's just that… not many people have seen the spirit wolf before. I mean my dad has but so far only you two have seen the spirit wolf" Jacob said with a weird expression.
"Are you sure it was the spirit wolf you saw Leah?" Paul asked softly.
"Well yeah. He was massive. Grey and white wolf. That's what the legends say the spirit wolf looks like no?"
"Well yeah I suppose. What did the spirit wolf say?" Bella asked curiously.
"He just said that I had an important role in the pack and that I had to find my happiness. Meaning my imprint. He said my imprint in nearby. I guess I'll be meeting him soon. I just have a feeling that I'll meet him soon. I mean I get dreams about someone that is tall and has bronze hair. But I don't see his face. His face is just blurry"
"Of course you have an important role in the pack; you kind of keep the guys together with your bitchiness. You don't feel like you belong in the pack do you?" Bella said. She was spot on.
"Well yeah basically. I know none of us wanted this life. But I just feel like we will never have a normal life. We aren't allowed to tell our friends about how we feel without exposing our wolf identity. It's hard. I wish I had someone to talk to. I mean I do have you Bella, but you are going through a hard time. The other imprints don't even know what it feels like to be a wolf. It's different for them. I just want to be in a relationship with someone who loves me for me. I'm still hurting from my past relationships. I just want to heal. Doesn't anyone understand that?" I snapped before I started to get up.
"Damn it Clearwater. What Sam did was harsh; when you imprint you will fucking understand. You belong in this pack, you know that. You will find someone that loves you. Hell he might just be round the corner. If he happens to be your imprint then we'll drag him to a bonfire and tell him the legends like we do with all the imprints. It's no different. Your souls will be connected. But you count on yourself and him to fall in love with each other. That's how the imprint works. Clearwater, you know if you want someone to rant at, I'm always here. So what if I'm going through a hard time? I still have time for my family, for one to one rants with you or the other imprints. It doesn't affect my time at all. Just keep that in mind will you? Come on Paul, let's go home. We got a long day tomorrow. Jake fill me in later about anything you decide today. Thanks" she said walking off without another glance. I whispered a thank you and I saw her nod, to confirm that she heard me.
"Right. Guys we need to step up on patrol, two wolves at a time. We'll get a schedule so that it doesn't affect school. Now that there's a leech on the loose, we need to be on alert. I think we should all have meetings and family nights in more at Bella's. It's safer for the imprints; they will be protected more than if we were spread out. Anyone got any questions?" Jacob said jumping into the Alpha role.
You could feel a shiver after he spoke, the power he had. He had taken over the Alpha role without realising it. He stood up taller and he looked bigger. The pack shook their heads and Samuel looked unhappy slightly that he wasn't Alpha anymore, but he knew that he was going to submit to Jacob. Who would Jacob choose as his Beta?
Bella's POV
Today was the day. The day where we are going to bury my mother. It suddenly hit me. I wouldn't see my mother's smiling face again. I wouldn't hear her giving me rants about school. I would miss that. I would miss her voice. I would miss her fussing over something very little. I would miss mothering her.
It was like our roles were reversed. I was the mother and she was the teenager. I smiled at the thought.
I was deep in my thoughts, staring out the window. I snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a pair of familiar arms wrap themselves around my waist. I leaned my head back and rested my head on his shoulder planting a kiss on his neck. I found comfort in his arms, he knew I needed it.
I realised that my mother would never get to meet Paul, officially as my boyfriend. She would never get to meet her future grandchildren. The thought saddened me deeply, it broke my heart.
It brought tears to my eyes. I felt the hot tears trickles down my cheeks. I didn't bother wiping them away. Other days I would, but not today. Today was the day of grieving.
Paul pulled me closer towards him and hugged me tighter. I sniffled and placed my hands on top of his. I needed to be strong. For mum. Especially for Charlie. We need to comfort each other, and find comfort from one another.
I needed more strength. Paul is my strength. I took a deep breath and wiped away my tears. I turned to face Paul and kissed him softly on the lips before I headed downstairs lacing my hand with his.
I had chosen to wear a black skirt that flared slightly at the hem. I wore a black tank top to go with it, putting my hair up in a ponytail. I decided to go barefoot.
Paul wore a black button up shirt with black cut-offs. It kind of felt weird seeing Paul wearing a shirt.
We walked outside hand in hand, everyone else was already outside. We were going to walk down to where the funeral was going to take place.
It was near the beach, it was a special place. Somewhere I felt Renee would love. She always did love watching the tides come in, washing against the shore. I hope that she would like it here. It's always peaceful around here.
It was just a small ceremony, only the pack and the elders. The pack included the imprints. I never really knew my grandparents from my mother's side. Not that I even want to.
I know Renee would have wanted a bigger ceremony, but she didn't have many friends. It's the thought that counts. Right?
It was a beautiful day today. No clouds, just warm sunshine. Not that it mattered to me. But it would be nice if the weather was nice for Renee's funeral, it was like a bonus.
As we slowly started to approach the spot. I stopped walking, Paul stopped to look at me. I shook my head sadly at him.
"I know you don't want to go this Swan. But you have to. It's hard I know. But we have to move on in life, no matter how hard it is. The pack and I will help you through this. You are family, hopefully my future wife officially" he said rubbing my ring finger with his thumb softly.
"I don't know if I can do this Paul. I'm not strong enough" I argued.
"Swan, ya stronger than you think. You're one hell of a woman. I'm not leaving you. I'll help you through this" he persuaded.
I looked around to see we were alone. Everyone else knew that I needed to have some time to myself, but Paul knew that he had to stay with me for obvious reasons.
He pulled me towards him and wrapped his arms around my shoulders as I wrapped my arms around his waist tightly.
I snuggled my face into his chest and let the tears fall. I wasn't always close to my mother, but I loved her so much. A lot of good memories I had with her.
I lifted my head and plastered a fake smile on my face. He kissed me on the forehead before stepping out of the embrace and laced his fingers with mine.
I took a shaky breath before we slowly started to walk towards the ceremony. Come on Bella, you can do it, I thought.
We finally reached the place for special people related to the people from the rez. Everyone were standing, waiting for us to arrive.
Minister Weber was there with the prayer in his hand, reading for us to take our place. Jacob came over to me and gave me a tight hug before backing away, in case Paul would attack him again for it.
"We are gathered here today to remember the life of Renee Higginbotham. A loving mother and dear friend to those who knew her" Minister Weber spoke softly.
Paul wrapped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed me lightly. I let the tears fall. Charlie came over and gripped one of my hands with his with a pained expression on his face. I knew it would be hard on us both.
It broke my heart to see her coffin in front of us. Everyone had a white rose in their hand. One by one they said their farewells to my mother.
"I promise I'll take care of her for you Renee. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you officially. I love Bella and she is my life. I'll do whatever it takes to protect her" Paul said softly as he laid a white rose on her coffin. The speech he said to her made more tears fall.
"May you rest in peace my friend. We will always miss you. We will live on with the happy memories the four of us had in the past" Billy said as he laid a white rose before wheeling himself away. The pack and the elders said their messages to Renee, but I didn't register it. Charlie was next. He was shaking with tears.
"Renee, it's going to be hard without you. I'm glad that the man that did this to you will rot in jail, but it upsets me deeply that it cost you your life. That's not how it should have ended. It's not fair. You did nothing wrong in your life. Why did you have to die? Why?" he said sobbing. "I'll always love you Renee. I'll miss you so much" it caused a lump in my throat that I tried to swallow.
He laid the white rose down and kissed her coffin before he walked away sadly with his head down. Now it was my turn. I gulped and walked towards the coffin. I collapsed to the floor clutching the coffin.
"Hey mum. I'll take care of dad. Or try to. It'll be hard without you. I'm going to miss you so much. The way you fuss over me and over little things. It amuses me. I know you said that we couldn't have protected you. But if you were still over here, you might not be dead. You would still be here, alive and having a laugh with me. Fussing about Paul and how handsome he is. You would have loved him mum. I wish you were here. I wish you could see us get married, I wish you could meet your future grandchildren. Don't worry; I'll make sure that they know who you are. We won't forget you, ever mum. I love you" I whispered before I kissed her coffin. Hugging the coffin once more before I laid the white rose. I rose to my feet and Paul instantly had his arms around me. I turned and sobbed into his chest, wetting his shirt.
"We commit this body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life" Minister Weber muttered as Jacob, Embry, Brian and Jared lowered Renee to the ground before covering it up. I looked at her tombstone and it read:
Renee Higginbotham
1958 – 2012
Loving mother and dear friend
Will be forever missed
Everyone came towards me and Charlie hugging us and giving us their condolences. We all shared tears for those who knew Renee. Elena hesitated when she came to me; she just patted me on the shoulder awkwardly. I just nodded at her before I turned to the next person.
We had a mini podium where we would have our little speeches about Renee. Billy was first, I didn't really pay any attention at all. Jacob had a speech. Then it was Charlie's turn.
"Well as you all know, Renee was my ex-wife but I still love her deeply. It saddens me that she was taken away from us so soon and in such a painful way. She will never be forgotten. It'll be hard to move on, but with Bella in this with me together will give me the strength. I will always love you Renee" he sobbed. Now it was my turn.
"For those who didn't know Renee. She was a fun person. She was an erratic and loving mother. She would be childish at times, but that wasn't bad. When something wasn't going right, she would moan but she would make jokes about it. She was crazy at times; it drove me mad so many times. But it was another thing I loved about her. There are more pros than cons about Renee's personality. She was always fun to be around; you would have loved her if you knew her. But now I guess you won't get the chance to. I love you mum" I stared up at the sky as I spoke, choking on my tears.
We all decided to go back to our house and order takeaways. Some people politely declined. Angela stayed behind to spend time with me.
"Angela how would you like to meet the guys? So that you don't feel awkward with them when we're back at the house" I smiled weakly.
"Sure that sounds nice Bella" she smiled hugging me.
"Well this is the guys. This is my man, Paul. My best friend Jacob. My half-brother Embry. These are Emily, Leah, and Kim whom are my girlfriends as well as you. These are Jared, Sam and Quil whom are already taken. Last but not least, Brian our new member of the gang" I said smiling indicating to each one as I named them.
She smiled at them all in turn, until she laid her eyes on Brian. Ding! Imprint! I saw the dazzled look on their faces, I knew right away that they had imprinted. He grinned at her widely and she ducked her head down and blushed madly.
I chuckled to myself with a knowing smile. I looked at Brian and he was still staring at her. I cleared my throat, they didn't hear. I cleared my throat again louder and that broke their staring competition.
"Let's go guys. I'm not sure about you lot, but I'm starving" I moaned. The others all just chuckled at me. We slowly made our way towards the house.
I pulled out my phone and called Jasper. I asked him to buy some takeaways and bring them over to our house. We were going to watch some movies. He agreed that he would buy some takeaways and some booze. Man he knew the score.
I asked him how long he would be, but he didn't answer the question. He just said he will see us in a bit before he hung up on me. I raised an eyebrow and looked at my phone. He hung up on me. Man that was rude. Especially coming from him. I shrugged.
Angela was in a deep conversation with Brian; they were both grinning and looked happy. I thought it was quite cute. I think they will get on just fine. I listened to their conversation for a few minutes.
They were talking about cars and what their favourite car models were. Oh man, that will put her into Brian's good books hands down. He loves his cars so much. He loves a girl who knows her cars and stuff.
I mean I do, but I'm taken. Plus he only thinks of me as a little sister. I never really know that Angela loved cars, but then again in high school she was quite quiet and kept to herself.
She was pretty, but to me she was a bit too skinny for my liking. But my opinion doesn't really matter anyways. Although I do think I need to take her shopping, she has worst taste than me. I need to help he improve her style a little bit. Become a bit more girlie girl maybe.
We had reached the house, the pack had already rushed into the living room and started going through my DVD collection to see what decent movies I had on.
I went into the kitchen and decided that I was going to make dessert. Angela, Paul and Brian followed me into the kitchen.
I was going to make Brian's favourite, strawberry cheesecake. I just had a craving for it, I don't know why. I decided to make chocolate chip cookies and chocolate brownies. Charlie said I made a mean chocolate brownie and chocolate chip cookie. I would test out that theory tonight.
I started making the cheesecake bases and put them into big tins. Before I started making the cheese part. I loved making that part. It always tasted so yummy.
I went into the cupboards and pulled out bags of chocolate chips and bars of chocolate. I started making the mix for the chocolate chip cookies. Paul dipped a finger into the mix and licked it off. I slapped at his hand and he just grinned at me. I shook my head at him; he was like a kid sometimes. But it was cute.
I added a lot of chocolate chips into the mix and made big cookie shapes on a few trays before I shoved them into the oven. I put the cheesecakes into the fridges to cool. I had about 6 of them done; I knew how much the pack loved to eat dessert.
We had light conversation and it was quite fun, just the four of us having a laugh. Angela widened her eyes when she saw how many cheesecakes I had put into the fridge. I assured her that the guys had a big appetite and that I was quite starving. She just smiled nervously.
I started making my favourite chocolate brownies. The cookies were done already. I put them onto the cooling trays on the bench. They all pinched one each and bit into them. I waited for their reaction. They loved it, I could tell from their expressions. I was satisfied with that.
The chocolate brownies were in the oven and we walked into the living room. The pack were sprawled on the floor or sitting wherever they could. I looked to see what they were watching. They were watching Lord of the Rings: The return of the king.
That was my favourite out of the three. I loved Aragorn, he was so hot. I drool every time I watch it. I loved it when Gimli and Legolas were having their kill count. Legolas was lethal when he had his bow and arrows. Gimli was so adorable yet funny. It was fun to watch them two battling it out. It kind of made me think Brian and maybe Leah would be like that. Both of them are lethal in wolf form.
I went back into the kitchen and pulled out the brownies and put them onto the cooling trays. I stacked the cooled cookies onto plates and put them aside. The chocolate brownies smelt amazing; I added more chocolate to these brownies this time.
As they started cooling, I walked out the kitchen. Leah was coming down the stairs from the bathroom when the doorbell rang. We shrugged and walked to the door together.
I opened the door and I looked up and I thought oh shit. I looked at Leah and she looked dumbfounded. Holy shit.
A/N: Dun dun! :D hope you guys like it.