AN

Hey guys,

Here's another update as promised. Glad to see the reviews and thankful as always - it would be amazing to hit 400 on this one. I also wanted to say thank you to those that review anonymously, obviously I'm unable to respond to the comments you leave, but I am grateful!

Anyway, I'm off on a mini break this week and heavy rain is fore casted woo hoo lol I'm going to end up staying inside the caravan we're renting for four days playing on my Ds and writing some more of Amaguq.

Leah's POV

I threw myself at him!

Yes folks, that's right - Leah Clearwater just threw herself at a man!

I didn't even mean to do it, I just launched out of my seat and hugged him without thinking. Unfortunately, I accidentally pushed us both off the log and into a heap on the sand.

I immediately felt everyone staring as I realised how out of character I had just been. Extremely embarrassed, I stood up and offered him my hand, all the while muttering apologies and blushing at my audience.

Cris's blue eyes sparkled at me as he accepted my hand. Once standing, he started to brush the sand off himself.

"I'm guessing you missed me?" He chuckled, but something was off with his mannerism.

I was about to respond when I noticed an unfamiliar face standing some meters behind him. The guy looked nervous and tired. I couldn't blame him, he looked tiny compared to all the other guys here. He was actually a pretty similar build to me, maybe an inch taller, with shoulder length black hair.

Before I had time to ask, Quil and Embry came flying across the fire and tackled Cris to the ground again issuing him some playful punches. After some half hearted tussling, he finally shoved them off his body and stood up to brush himself down for the second time.

"Guys I'd like you to meet Lee." He anxiously gestured to his friend.

Lee waved vaguely and then stepped up to join us. Gradually, both packs started to gather round them for introductions. I felt myself being pushed to the back of the crowd away from Cris, as everyone welcomed him back and got to know Lee.

I walked away begrudgingly to sit down and wait for everyone to disperse. I quickly realised I wouldn't be getting a minute alone with Cris for some time.

Much to my surprise, I saw Cris shoving his way through the packs towards me.

"There you are." He looked down cautiously down at me.

I saw Seth walking over to join us as well, while everyone else gave Lee twenty questions about his form and skills.

My little brother looked at Cris amused before shaking his hand. "You took your time."

I looked between the pair of them and Cris nervously glanced at me again.

"Long story mate, can I borrow your sister?"

He was asking Seth's permission?

"Right, what the hell is going on?" I stamped my foot and was rewarded with a mocking look from Cris.

Seth looked pleased. "Of course!"

Cris gestured for me to take a walk with him and, still spinning from his sudden arrival, I agreed. We walked along the beach in the dark; the moon was shining down on us and the only other light came from the bonfire now in the distance. Neither of us had spoken for ages, but it was unlike the usual casualness we shared. I started to feel nervous. Cris was on edge and I didn't know why.

I finally had enough of the quiet night and spoke out. "What's going on?"

He stopped walking and looked me in the eyes. "I don't know."

Irritated, I went to my usual defences. "Ok, well, why are you here? You surely know the answer to that one."

I heard him draw a long breathe before responding.

"Leah, I . . . I came here for several reasons."

"Well you better start naming them. You've been avoiding me all week and it's been doing my head in. Now you have the nerve to show up unexpected, acting all weird." I clenched my fists, the happiness that I felt earlier when I saw him was swiftly turning to dread. I had never seen Cris so nervous before.

"Lee's cousin . . . she was found."

I didn't understand why he wasn't happy.

"Well, that's a good thing?" I snapped.

"No, it's not. That's why he came with me. We're here to collect her body." As I took in the words I felt guilty and realised he was speaking not so much with nerves, but a sad apprehension.

"I . . . I don't understand." I stuttered.

"That conversation we once had, about the vamp knowing about Barrow . . . Well, Maxi's body was found in the Olympic Peninsular. You know, just days before the skinned wolf showed up. I believe you found the original newspaper headline."

Shock ran through me as I absorbed the full implications of the statement; "That's impossible, no way can that be a coincidence."

"I know." Cris slumped down on the sand.

"Is that why you've been avoiding me phased?" I sat down to his left.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Don't be so stupid. Why didn't you tell me!" I felt hurt that he hadn't told me this sooner, not only from the alpha point of view, but as a friend. I thought we trusted each other.

"Lee was a mess." His voice was grieved.

I instinctually held his hand, which was laying in the sand. I felt his hand adjust itself and found our fingers intertwined. He squeezed my hand lightly, which I took as a sign of gratitude.

"Talk to me Cris." I was trying to coax him into opening up.

It seemed to work.

"It took Lee two months to get Maxi's parents to even file an official missing report. Everyone, except our pack, just dismissed her leaving. Lee and me, we basically had to lock her mum in a room until she was sober and then drag her to the station. It wasn't the best way go about things, but we were desperate. When we got there we kicked up such a scene that the cops finally filed an official report and Lee's aunt signed it."

I squeezed his had again, noticing how perfectly it fit with mine. "So what happened next?"

A sad smile appeared on Cris's face as he looked at our hands, before he spoke again. "A week ago, we got the call. The missing report matched the body found down here. There had been no ID or record of her to trace back to until we filed the report."

"I'm really sorry Cris." I didn't know what else to say. I knew how heavily he carried the weight of his pack, and how he took it upon himself to take care of them.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to block you out, but I knew you had enough on your plate with tomorrow. I didn't want you in my head, seeing all this shit going on. There was nothing you could do, and I knew you would take it to heart . . . I was already coming you know . . . ?" His voice trailed off.

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Before Maxi was found, I was coming to see you this week. I wanted to surprise you and be here if you needed me tomorrow. It just happened to all fall apart in Barrow at the same time and Lee volunteered to come get the body." Cris was now looking at me again.

Even in the dark, I could see every word he said was true and comprehension dawned on me. "Seth knew."

I heard him chuckle.

"Yeah, he's kind of been working with me. I like the kid, you're not the only one I got fond of."

"So what now? Is Lee ok back there on his own?" I didn't want to move, but felt bad leaving his pack mate alone.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. The distraction will do him good. We need to tell everyone though. The wolves might be angry with me for the delay, but I've only had two priorities this week . . . my pack's well being and you." Cris stood again as he spoke, but he didn't release my hand and pulled me up with him.

We slowly walked back to the group hand in hand while I felt numerous emotions flooding through. His being here was bitter sweet and my feelings towards him were flying all over the place. The alpha and the girl inside me were battling over their own needs.

When we reached the bonfire I felt a few people staring at our hands and quickly let go and stood away from Cris; I didn't know what was going on, but people in La Push were quick to gossip.

I addressed everyone loud and clear; "Right, Cris and Lee have some stuff to say. I don't know if you want the imprints to go home, but we need to hold a meeting."

The imprints decided to leave us to it and some of the cubs took them back to Rachel's house to wait for the packs to finish the meeting.

I let Cris and Lee explain the ins and outs of Maxi's death. They added more than he had told me during our walk. Like the Cullen's said, the body was battered, torn, broken and bruised, but there was no signs of blood draining, or other such vampire traits. The coroner's report stated the cause of death could be a number of things; the crushing was certainly a high possibility, but the blood loss from her wounds would have been substantial as well. He deduced it was caused by a human, no animal could do that to a body. She had been murdered cruelly and ripped open. Her insides were just one big mess, they didn't know how exactly she had been killed and there was no evidence of anyone on the body. Lee had cringed as Cris told us all these facts in detail; we needed to know everything though.

By the time he finished, the packs were in disarray. Me and Jared immediately called for silence so that we could discuss things properly, rather than us all yelling over each other. We agreed it was likely to be connected to the mystery leech, but they had been gone a long time and nothing more had happened. We didn't even know if it was actually a vampire; we hadn't found any drained bodies around the area and Claire was the only one of us to see her. Seth headed home on my instruction to call the Cullens and Jake and keep them informed. After a while, the group started to break down. No one knew what to do, what else could we do except patrol? We just didn't have the information to put everything together.

How do you find someone that can't be tracked?

As soon as we all started to head home, I offered Cris and Lee my house to stay in and they gratefully accepted. Cris showed Lee into the guest room while I put the kettle on. Seth joined me and we updated each other on the Cullens and the pack meeting. The Cullens and Jake were just as confused and Alice said she would try and see something but, with us involved, it was still pretty impossible.

After a while, Cris came in. "Lee's crashed already, he's pretty tired."

Seth looked just as drained as Lee. I knew he didn't need this extra worry tonight any more than I did, but he was a Clearwater and in front of people he would take it like a man. I had no doubt once he got in bed his tears would come. He made his excuses and went to his room.

Alone again, I made us coffees and gestured to the living room. We settled together on the couch and this time the silence was comfortable again.

"I'm sorry for bringing this down on you tonight Leah. Tomorrow is about you and Seth though, ok? No pack stuff, I promise you that."

If anyone else had said this I would have felt weak accepting, but I just couldn't feel that way about Cris. Instead, I found myself wishing he would stop apologising. "This isn't your fault Cris. I'm just glad you finally let me in, but I admit I'm a bit disappointed in you too. I thought we were equals, you should never have held your problems back. I'm a bitch, but I'm not that insensitive."

Surprisingly, Cris was the one to take my hand in his this time. I blushed at the unexpected butterflies it caused.

He smiled shyly again. "Let's just call it quits ok? I should have trusted you to be able to handle it, but you should also respect my wishes to not put it on you."

I finished my coffee far to quickly and realised that I needed to go to bed. Tomorrow would be a bad enough day, without being tired. Sensing my need to get up, Cris let go of my hand and I felt cold without the contact.

"I'm going to have to head to bed. You remember where everything is, right?" I asked, while trying to be a dutiful hostess.

"Sure. Goodnight Leah."

Cris's voice sent a shiver down my spine as he said my name. I managed to croak out a brief "night" before going to my room and digesting the events of the evening.