A/N: Thanks as always to my beta AshTwi. Please read and enjoy.
Disclaimer: As of publication Twilight nor it characters belong to me. If that ever changes I will let you know immediately. Via press conference.
Chapter 10 Rise of the Legend
The dream was too too good to let go, I fought to stay with my dream Nate. My body was close to release. I so... didn't want to wake now. Try as I might, consciousness overtook me but even as I woke the edge of explosion didn't let up. All of my senses were on fire. The wave of insanity and pure pleasure crested as my eyes flew open to see Nate's dark head between my thighs. My O didn't ask any questions, she just was. Before I could gather my wits Nate swiftly moved to push inside me.
"Beautiful, Beautiful Leah." His voice was husky and thick in my ear. I wrapped my legs around his waist wondering why the walls were white and not gold. He withdrew almost entirely and my hips gyrated greedily to reclaim him. He stroked back in forcefully, claiming me. "UGH!" I opened my eyes to the ugly swirl pattern on the ceiling. "Fuck!" I exclaimed. Nate stroked harder at my unintended encouragement. I was under my Daddy's roof having sex with a vampire. Nate was on my reservation. There was going to be hell to pay.
Then and there I made a conscious decision to make the fall out worth it. I tangled my fingers into his hair; nobody had better touch a strand of it. Nobody.
Aggression flowed as I captured his mouth for a kiss. My tongue dueled his endlessly for dominance before I asserted my strength, flipping him onto his back. Sometimes it was incredibly good to be supernatural. We didn't miss a stroke. I rode him hard and long, reveling in my ability to please him with every moan of pleasure that passed his lips. His eyes were on me the whole time, riveted. His open adoration, an aphrodisiac in itself, pushed me over the edge again and this time I took him with me. As our heartbeat slowed its frantic pace Nate took advantage of my momentary weakness to pin me to the mattress. "Good morning, Beautiful," he whispered in my ear.
"Good morning to you too!" I laughed rolling us onto our sides for more equal footing. He had risked his life to be with me. No, there was no risk, I would fucking massacre anything that looked at him wrong. Brave words. Empty brave words. I didn't want to fight, these weren't random vamps. I had actually babysat some of the newer members of Sam's pack. Those kids were the real threat because they weren't of my pack and therefore they weren't bonded to Nate. They had never been on the evening patrols like the older members of Sam's pack to even get to know Nate. All they knew was the imprint obligation just like they knew Nate wasn't supposed to be here. It was pretty clear to me which obligation would be stronger.
It was past time to think of an exit strategy. It wouldn't be long before Nate's scent was detected and someone would show up. Maybe I should call Jacob? I could really use his support. He could gather our whole pack to get Nate out safely. My pack would no doubt back us up but still, I didn't want to cause a fight. I would have to rely on stealth. Good ole wolf stealth. Wolves are known for stealth. I think everyone in the state heard about us last year. I rolled my eyes and groaned. We were doomed.
"Come on babe, I gotta get you out of here." I said this but made no attempt to move.
"Perhaps I have caused some trouble. I am terribly sorry Beautiful, you are like a drug to me. The more I have of you the more I need." He caressed my bottom and gave it a playful slap. His length hardened and twitched against me. My juices flowed in response, and I almost said, 'Fuck it, let 'em bring it. NaLeah is nothing to mess with.'
Almost, until I heard the heavy thump of a wolf's heartbeat in my house and it wasn't Seth, I knew his rhythm. "There's someone here!" I leapt from the bed, hustling into the sweats discarded at my bedside and grabbing my t-shirt. Or rather a part of my t-shirt, it was shredded and not tiny wolf shreds either but large, horny, half-vampire shreds. I took a moment out of my panic to glare at Nate; I had told him about ripping my clothes to pieces.
"Put your clothes on and be cool. Let me handle this." I grabbed the white button down shirt, obviously Nate's, shrugging into it quickly. Nate wore a shirt? I could ask him about that later. My fingers flew over the buttons with force urgency.
"Leah, relax." Nate's tone was calm, like it always was unless he was coffee deprived. Funny thing is I was rather relaxed. It was exceedingly hard to truly panic with the shared heartbeat. Nate was one cool dude and it made me cool too, whether or not I wanted to be, even when the situation clearly called for panic.
Nate climbed from my bed reluctantly and shrugged into his pants. Could he move any slower? He literally put his pants on one leg at the time instead of that hop thing he usually does. As soon as he was done assing around I grabbed both of his hands in mine, positioning him directly behind me as I marched from my room and down the hall. Angry glare in place, warrior chick mode switched to on, I was prepared for anything.
Sam Uley rose from my sofa.
Fuck! The situation was worse than I thought. He looked pissed and kinda flustered. "What's your problem?" He barked. His eyes darting passed me to Nate.
"Look, Sam, I can explain." I tried the cool voice first. The last thing we needed was escalation.
Sam didn't follow my cue to tone it down as he damn near yelled, "I don't need an explanation! I know how the parts work!"
"It is obvious that you do." Nate spoke at my ear, still behind me. What the hell was he talking about? I'd try to figure that out later.
Sam glared past me, obviously at Nate.
"Sam!" I tried to get his attention to give him my brilliant explanation. I hadn't made it up yet but if he would just hear me out it would dazzle him.
"You were supposed to wake her up!" Sam roared.
"She is awake. Is she not?" I could feel Nate's smirk as he pressed a kiss to the base of my neck.
"You know what I meant," Sam was angry. I was confused and more than a little aroused by the neck kiss, the boy was learning my spots and making new ones every day. And Nate was clearly amused by it all.
He stepped even closer, wrapping his arms around my waist, squeezing me tight before kissing my neck again, "She is irresistible to me." What the hell? Did he think Sam should find me irresistible too?
"Did you even try resisting?" Sam asked dryly, "Even a little?"
"I very nearly did, but she was half-naked and the smell of her..."
"Hush!" I snapped quickly at Nate. Understanding began to dawn on me. "What? Wait...You knew he was here?" I was playing catch up because their conversation made no sense whatsoever.
"Knew? Of course. I brought him here." Sam puffed up in the chest just the way the old Sam did when he had done something to please me and wanted me to know and gush over it with appropriate enthusiasm. "But I may never do it again. I told you the arrangement. You are my responsibility the entire time you're on my reservation. I gave my word that you would be escorted at all times."
"I was never alone..." Nate taunted Sam. "And you weren't alone for long either."
As if on cue, I heard the water come on in the bathroom.
"Sam?" I questioned.
"I called Emily over after it became apparent lover boy wasn't going to come out anytime soon." Sam admitted with a little less of the self-righteous attitude. Now the flustered part of his appearance, the sheen of sweat and the disheveled clothing made sense.
"What have you been doing on my mom's sofa?"
"Beautiful, it is not that hard to figure out." Nate playfully chided me, adding, "I would say it was very similar to what we were doing. From the sound of things they both had a very good time. Are you really angry at me Sam, or upset that you almost got caught? You were scrambling awfully hard."
Sam's face was still hard but it was impossible to take him seriously now so I didn't. "Sam, why don't you go into the bathroom and straighten yourself out? You'll feel more Alpha-like once you zip your pants and turn your shirt right side out. Okay?"
He mumbled, "Try to help some people," as he walked toward us to go down the hall.
I put my hand on Sam's arm to stop him as he passed, "Thanks Sam. I really do appreciate you bringing Nate to me. It's just a shock, you know?" It was very much like Sam to go the extra mile to help someone, even me.
With a complete lack of subtly Nate shifted me around so that my hand dropped from Sam's arm. "We both thank you for your kindness."
"Yeah, think nothing of it," Sam shrugged. "But wait right here for me okay?"
Nate nodded and Sam joined Emily in the bathroom.
"You knew they were out here the whole time, doing it? I didn't notice." I had not heard a thing.
"You were distracted," Nate explained smugly, "by me. You always are."
"And you weren't distracted by me?" It was a blow to think he wasn't intoxicated by my very presence.
"Do not take offense but I am a vampire; I can think of many things at once."
A random thought popped into my head, "You weren't just pissing on my leg were you?"
He exploded, "I would never!" Then, "What do you mean?" He would get used to my wolfisms in time.
"Back there in my bedroom, you didn't do that for Sam's benefit, did you?"
He looked so perplexed, head cocked to the side, hair swinging just past his shoulder. Confused looks so good on him that I forgot what the hell I was talking about and it hit me. Nate was really here. In my house. On my reservation. I threw myself at him. "I can't believe you're here! You even wore a shirt!" This was damn near as amazing.
"I can hardly believe it either. Sam showed up this morning and spoke with Carlisle extensively about my coming here without consulting me, as though I was a small child. Rosalie insisted I wear the shirt and shoes."
"Rose?" I pulled Nate into the kitchen. I was freaking starving. "I would have thought Alice would see to it?"
"No, she has given up on me." Nate hopped up on the chest freezer in the corner, a no-no in my house, but he was cute so it was okay. I made a bee-line for the fridge as he continued, "Rosalie said, Remember to them you represent the Cullens. You will be properly attired to stand apart from the dogs." Ah, that made sense. There would be an insult in there somewhere.
I wondered if steak and eggs would be too much for breakfast. I gazed into the fridge as though it held the secrets of the universe.
"Leah, I can fix you and Nate some breakfast while you shower and dress." Emily's kind voice floated into the room.
"It is Na-H..." My head snapped up as Nate started his Nahuel not Nate spiel. I gave him the glare. It wasn't my old angry all the time glare it was the, 'Oh no you didn't, I dare you to finish that statement, I fucking dare you!' glare. It was my first time trying it out with my imprint. Perhaps that is why he only looked at me curiously before hopping down from the freezer.
"It is Nahuel, but you may call me Nate, as you too are beautiful." That smooth talking devil strolled forward to offer Emily his hand. "You must be Leah's beloved cousin Emily."
Emily's hand flew to her face in reflex to cover her scars. "Yes, you are beautiful." Nate responded to her gesture. She had heard me say Nate's name with every other breath for the past couple of weeks. She knew he hadn't mastered polite lies, brutal honesty was his forte. She struggled visibly with the possibility she could actually still be a beauty.
"It is a pleasure to properly meet you. I wish to apologize for my behavior at our previous encounter. I do not awake in the best of moods." Nate oozed charm, giving Emily a devastating smile. I was a little irritated because he never tried to deliberately charm me; I got his wicked backhand instead which for the life of me I didn't understand unless I was gearing up to fight a vampire pimp. If he asked me to wear a mini-skirt and five inch heels I would finally have confirmation.
Emily preened and took his hand, "It is very nice to meet you properly as well, however I did bring a thermos of coffee over just in case." She winked with her bad eye, an odd sight but at least she wasn't trying to hide behind her hair.
Nate smiled approvingly, "Sam, you are far luckier than you deserve."
"Yeah, yeah I am." Sam ignored the obvious insult instead he gazed at Emily with that creepy psychotically devoted imprint look. Instead of being jealous of the heavy vamp charm he was pleased that Emily was pleased...by another man's flattery.
In a nauseating fashion, Emily ruffled, well there is no ruffling a crew cut, disturbed Sam's hair and cooed, "No, I'm the lucky one." Hmm, I couldn't see me and Nate doing that. We weren't really cute. No, we were cute as all get out; I had yet to see a couple that looked as good together as we did. We just weren't cutesy.
"No, I don't think you have been lucky at all." Nate stated solemnly, "Leah is very sorry."
At Emily's look of confusion he explained by gesturing to her scars, "Leah is very sorry for the pain she caused you."
Confusion shone in Emily's eyes. The usual protocol was for people to act as though the scars didn't exist. "Oh, it wasn't Leah. Sam did it." She answered, caught off guard, stunned into bluntness, letting a verbal admission out that I don't think anyone had ever heard uttered before. Once his meaning sank in she exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, Leah you think this is your fault?" She fingered the angry welts on her face.
Emily wasn't the only one caught off guard. "I'm sorry Em, I...I should have never tried to keep you apart...I shouldn't have asked you to choose. I didn't know what I was asking." Nate ran his hand soothingly down my back while I finally looked Em in the eye and apologized for my complete and utter selfishness. I felt such relief at finally saying sorry to Emily, just acknowledging my part in her disfigurement. So many times I had come close to saying it, but I always backed away from dredging up that awful, 'always about Leah' moment.
Emily crossed the room and pulled me into her arms. "That was my decision, I should have been stronger. I should have followed my own heart. You must know I don't hold you responsible in any way." The white elephant in the room was dead, slayed by my darling, and his general lack of appropriate conversation.
"It was my fault alone." Sam rushed to assert his claim on the guilt.
"I agree," Nate quickly reassured him, "Your mate was right there. Why could you not see that? You had no business touching mine." His tone was sharp.
I couldn't help it, a nervous giggle escaped. Nate touched on my favorite Sam and Emily theory. Men are, in fact, dumb as shit. Emily had been so crazy about Sam that it rubbed off on me. He had to know it was both of us calling his house and hanging up, following him to the community center, the beach, the store, the school playground where the kids hang out. We didn't follow closely but where he went so did we. It was always me and Em in his face when his girlfriend Rebecca wasn't around, but Emily was the one who was actually interested in the Quileute language and culture like he was. They were the only two paying attention in the summer classes. She was the one who liked the music he liked...hell she even liked the History Channel. What if, instead of asking me out, he waited a week for the 'other Clearwater girl' to arrive for the weekend? What if he had been slightly patient? What if during all the time we dated he noticed that when Emily was around they talked constantly. My pride and my vanity would have been hurt if he had thrown me over for her and I would have pitched a massive fit, but back then it wouldn't have touched my heart. It wouldn't have broken me. To be fair, I didn't notice how right they would have been together any more than Sam. What if I said 'no' and considered Emily's feelings instead of thinking that she would be happy that 'we' had finally gotten him. But I had been in his head so I knew he was dumbstruck by the imprint much like Jared was with Kim. Suddenly they saw what was there all along.
"I am a part of Leah's past." Sam boasted his equivalent of 'I hit that first,' his smug tone made his meaning clear. "Deal with it."
An evil grin played across my face as I loftily stated, "I will never have to deal with exes, Nate took care of that."
"Yes, Beautiful, I did. If only you had done the same." We laughed at our own downright scary joke.
"So as I was saying," Emily steered the conversation away from Sam's demise, "Why don't you two get showered and dressed while I fix some breakfast."
"Nah, that's okay. We're good. I'm looking forward to chilling out for a bit." I wrapped my arm around Nate. I was looking forward to having him to myself. "We might drop by later when I take him on the tour of La Push, all 15 minutes of it." I grinned but Em didn't return my smile, in fact she and Sam both wore sour faces. "Okay, what gives?"
Sam cleared his throat, "The deal is Leah, Nahuel has to be escorted the entire time he's here."
"Big whoop, I won't leave his side."
"It's not that simple. In order to get past the council's protest and the Cullen's concerns I gave my word to guarantee the safety of our people and the safety of Nahuel the entire time he's on the reservation. My word, that I would remain with him at all times."
"As I told you Beautiful, like a small child, Sam is my sitter today." I was crestfallen but Nate seemed to be in a good humor about it. Of course, Nate seemed to be in good humor all the time lately.
I knew it was too good to be true. "Em, if you really don't mind cooking, anything will be fine and be sure to fix enough for you and Sam too. I'll try to be quick."
Sam seated himself at my kitchen table with the ease of long familiarity while Emily's frenetic homemaker energy took over as she started grabbing stuff from the fridge. I could hear the gentle patter of their conversation as I retreated to my room, pulling Nate in my wake.
We behaved well, getting showered and dressed with unnatural speed. It was the only way to prevent spontaneous sexing. It's hard to touch what you can barely see. Okay, so maybe there were a few kisses here and there and right there too, but we kept it reigned in. After all, if we didn't set a good example Sam and Em might follow suit and do the nasty on my kitchen table.
When we returned to the kitchen Sam and Emily were still chatting. Emily was busy at the stove while Sam relaxed. I set about getting the lay of the land, seeing what still needed to be done, while Nate settled at the table with Sam.
"Em, do you want me to scramble the eggs?" I asked tentatively. Emily was as sweet as apple pie, but she was a tyrant in the kitchen.
"Sure, thanks." She was working on pancakes at the griddle and the bacon was broiling in the oven. "Keep an eye on the bacon for me, will you?"
"Of course." I started cracking the eggs.
Sam's bass interrupted the melody of our work. "Em, will you get me a drink please?"
I had no idea Sam was crippled and couldn't get off his ass and get his own drink since Emily was clearly busy. It's not like he didn't know his way around my entire house. Anyway we would be eating in five minutes tops, he couldn't wait? My eyes rolled to the ceiling before I clarified the situation for him when Emily whipped into the refrigerator asking, "Do you want juice, milk or soda?"
Milk, please." Em took the milk out, flipped the pancakes and served Sam his drink all with a smile. It was times like these when the message, 'Sam and Leah were never meant to be' was flashing in blinkie lights in the night sky. I would have never stopped what I was doing to serve he who was doing absolutely nothing. I never ever did and I never would have. I suppressed the urge to dress Sam down like I used to back in the day. I shrugged and got on with taking the bacon out of the oven. Nate had better not be taking notes, of course if he was he was, I would disabuse him of the notion, quick, fast and in a hurry.
We settled down to breakfast chit chatting about bridesmaids dresses, vampires we killed, vampires we liked, my training progress and wolf stuff until I was done scarfing my food and Nate's too - except for his bacon, evidently a love of bacon is a universal male trait. Finally, I was ready to talk about Sam's babysitting plans for the day. "Do you have anything planned for my play date? The playground, perhaps? We need to get going before the swings are full."
"Ha, Ha. Very funny Leah. You want to show him around and I have a few people to see, we can do both." Sam didn't hesitate in making decisions for a group.
"Fun." I was nervous about Nate's public debut being in the forbidden territory of my reservation. He wasn't likely to get points for simply not killing people here. Of course with the packs running around half-naked, irrationally angry, and jumping from cliffs, the bar for weird had been set pretty high. It had only gotten higher as non-pack boys tried to emulate the pack by going shirtless in the Pacific Northwest winter. My boo had a shirt and shoes. He might just fit in with room to spare.
Our chaperoned date was not as bad as I expected. I would give Sam an 'A' for not letting his charge get out of arms reach, ever. Initially I gave him a 'B' for introducing Nate to as many Quileutes as possible. Only a 'B' because some people of La Push weren't on the reservation that fine Saturday morning. After realizing Nate met a few Quileutes at the diner in Forks where Sam stopped to get him all coffeed up and admittedly to give Nate's ability to not kill people a test run on the unsuspecting townspeople I had to bump his grade up to an 'A+'. For those lame ass excuses he used to take us all over the place, basically pimping us, I had to give him an 'F' circled in red. Sam's few people meant every available man, woman and child on the reservation. Sam and Emily too, she had to be in on it, showed us off shamelessly.
We were being pimped here and there and everywhere. Sam had to visit the council office. Plausible. We stopped briefly at the Coast Guard station where Daddy used to work. Odd but okay. We went to the store where Embry's mom worked to get eggs, but after they introduced us to every single person shopping Emily didn't buy a damn thing. Before the morning was over they stopped trying to justify it, Sam simply led the way to the resort, the marina, and the clinic. Seriously the one place there was good chance of encountering blood and we went there too.
Walking along holding Nate's hand and simply pointing about people and places was nice and felt almost too normal for us. Not a single solitary attempt was made on our lives. To spice it up I started a running commentary too low for normal ears, giving Nate all the dirt. I wasn't being bitchy, it was just preemptive retaliation. I had put a lot of time and trouble into offending the good people of La Push and they had remained offended. The things people said about me as I approached had ceased to bother me but I didn't necessarily want Nate to hear it.
Sam's mother was probably one of the worst. Her commentary was a litany of spite as she watched our approach through the plate glass window of her shop. "Sam's got that girl with him. I don't see how he can stand to be around her." She spit her like an epithet. "She said such terrible things about him and his friends too. Said him and Paul and Jared where into some kinky ménage-a-something or another on account they spent so much time together. I can't stand the sight of her." That was one of my better rumors. They were open for it, half naked all the time and Sam had to physically restrain Paul a lot in the early days. Half naked and always touching...it was the perfect set up. Nate chuckled at my side.
"Your son is such a nice young man." I couldn't place the voice of the ass kisser, but there was always one.
"Well you know what they say, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'." I recognized the voice of Jared's mother. She stopped there with her pointed reminder that Sam started it. Jared's mother knew the wolf secret because she and her husband were both descended from the pack preceding Ephraim Black's. Old family stories had been passed down. Like rational adults they didn't believe it all but when you have two teen wolves in the house you tend to change your mind about what's just old superstition. Teresa, however, didn't get involved with the pack life in any way, which truth be told was better for the secrecy angle, the fewer players the better.
Delores ignored her, "My Sam is a good boy and you know that Emily is so much better for him. Doesn't have my son jumping through hoops trying to please her highness." She sucked her teeth with distaste.
"Hey Mom." Sam walked in straight past his mother to get the broom from the corner. He started sweeping the hair on the floor just as he had always done since Delores opened the shop when he was eight. He did it automatically and with affection. It was like an absent-minded hug. "How's it going this morning?"
"Everything is good. Emily, it's always good to see you. She smiled at Emily and put on a poker face to nod at me, "Leah. Who is this fella here?" She inclined her head at Nate. Delores cut straight to the chase. She knew exactly who and what she was looking at. A strategic public conversation was about to ensue. Delores' shop on a Saturday was the news desk of the reservation. There were already four women there settling in for the gossip as they waited their turn in her chair. I squared my shoulders; I could do this.
"This is Na..."
"Nahuel," Sam cut me off and added, "This is Leah's friend." He stopped sweeping to walk over and clap Nate on the back. "Remember I was telling you about him? Leah met him a few weeks back, he's the guest of Dr. Cullen."
"Nahuel," I stated firmly resuming control over the introduction, "this is Sam's mother Delores Uley, she owns this," I cast my eye disparagingly around the room, "hair salon."
"Teresa, give a minute. Will ya?" Not waiting for an answer, Delores abandoned her client and whipped off her gloves, tossing the gauntlets, I mean gloves in the trash. She took Nate's hand. "It's very nice to meet you. Glad to have you here." She cut her eyes at me. "I hope you're nicer to him than you were to my Sam." Her eyes cut back to Nate, "You know she used to break up with him every week?"
"Now, Mom, don't scare him off." Sam laughed the uneasy laugh of all children who really want to say, 'shut up, you're embarrassing me, you out of touch old biddy.'
She didn't like me; I get that, but in front on my imprint? I was ready to tell her about it but instead I blew it off, "Now, you know it was only every other week." Which was a lot closer to the truth, I never broke up him more than twice in the same month, sometimes in consecutive weeks but usually not. I was in awe of Sam initially but that wore off when I realized Sam, following the anti-Josh Uley philosophy would do anything to keep a woman happy. Anything. I straight took advantage of that, all day every day.
Delores got Nate's devastating smile too before he said, "Leah has been nothing but kind to me. Perhaps Sam did not know how to handle her." He defended me, in a backhanded way, but whatever, he spoke up for me.
"Well keep doing whatever it is you're doing. I've heard some good things about you, Ms. Clearwater, over at the school." Delores grudgingly admitted to me.
Pleasantries out of the way, she decided to get up close and personal, sticking her pudgy fingers in Nahuel's hair. "You have such nice thick hair. Reminds me of my ex-husband's the way it waves. Is it curly when it's short? I bet it is. My husband's hair curled up easy like." She fingered his thick black locks, which irritated me to the umpteenth degree. I bet she was doing it just to piss me off. Of course he did have really nice hair and considering hair was her line of work, could she really resist touching vampire hybrid hair? "Anytime you like I can cut it for you." She offered eagerly.
Nate eyes unmistakably flashed to my self-styled hair before saying, "No thanks." I wasn't too insulted by his candor. He had told me as much when he asked why I wore it so short. I explained about the burrs and impossible matting becoming worse the longer the hair because it translated into longer fur. He considered this and began brushing my coat at the end of each patrol. I was letting my hair grow out but that tended to emphasize the utter lack of style.
Delores followed the path of his eyes and sneered, "Oh no, I don't do her hair."
"But yours is the only establishment that offers such services around here?" Nate spoke as though baffled by the situation. Which he couldn't be, he knew the score. His tone was light, still gentle, actually it was rather sexy. His whole demeanor was sexy. What the hell had the Cullens been teaching him about interacting with people?
"Well yes, it's just that...Ms. Clearwater and I don't see eye to eye." Delores was flustered trying to explain under Nate's disconcertingly sexy gaze.
"Leah was a mere child..." I could feel Nate bristle beside me. I cleared my throat; it was the cue that meant 'shut the fuck up'. I had him trained pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. The 'mere child' was a slip, after all he and I were the 'same' age. I gave Delores the arched eyebrow of 'Ah ha' or 'Na-na-na boo-boo' if you will, before I hustled him out. We might not have cute but we had fierce down pact.
Sam hissed, "Mom, I asked you to be nice. He's crazy..." he let that hang looking around at his audience before adding, "about her." Delores apologized to Sam before he followed us out of the shop.
I realized I had to tone down my 'tude; I had to set a good example for Nate because it was obvious he would come out shooting. Not everyone was rude though and it turned out to be a very productive day. We met Paul's father, one of the nicest men ever, who was never offended by my bitchy stage because compared to his wife I don't think my attitude even registered. He offered Nate a job on the spot. Anthony Rivers was a general contractor who mostly stuck to painting but with Paul to assist him he was able to take on larger projects. It was nice of him to offer Nate a job but it was predatory too. Nate's job interview consisted of three questions.
"Have you ever done any construction or home improvement type work?"
Nate answered, "No."
"Are you unnaturally fast and strong with an inability to forget anything?" Anthony asked casually.
"Yes, that sounds right." Nate added with mock thoughtfulness.
"Can you stand to be around my son for hours on end and perhaps not kill my customers...unless I ask you to of course? Can't let people get away with paying slow."
"I will not kill your customers but your son, I cannot make any promises." Nate grinned at Paul. I wasn't worried about them getting along. Thanks to Paul's little 'I wanna be like Leah' trick he had actually seen some vamp action. Nothing seems to bond men like killing something together.
"Sounds fair enough." Anthony shook Nahuel's hand. "Paul and I will swing by to get you Monday morning, 7a.m sharp." Just like that Nate had a job and we were one step closer to starting our life in our own place. Sure it was one more thing for me to worry about but it wasn't by far Nate's first job. As he told me, "Good leather pants and good coffee cost." Huilen had raised him with an aversion to theft. Odd right?
That wasn't the only good thing to come of our day. At the community center, a requisite stop on the 'ding dong the witch is dead, or at least getting some tour' we stopped at every class and the gymnasium. I may have hated going to the language classes there but I loved dance. Once I was old enough I helped out with instruction and participated in the summer shows put on at the resort for the tourists. It was a nice way to make money doing something I would have done for free. About a month before I phased I lost my ability to coordinate my steps due to the unnatural growth spurt. I didn't know what was going on and lashed out unfairly at everyone. Finally Kandi, the instructor, had to ask me to quit coming. Crushing though it was, I had Sam and Emily to blame it on; convenient scapegoats good for all occasions.
When we made our tour stop Kandi was trying to coerce the girls into a leaping move she could no longer master. That used to be my job; Kandi brought the know-how I brought ability and the cool factor. She asked Emily if she would be so kind as to show the pre-teens in the room what she was talking about. Emily knew what to do because like everything else, we had done dance classes together. However, asking her to dance alone in front of a room of people was the equivalent of asking her drink a cup of battery acid. Emily, for one would have preferred the acid. She was politely trying to get out of it, taking a slight step back in an attempt to disappear behind Sam.
She asked Emily again, "Surely you remember the steps? These old brittle bones won't allow me to show these girls such valuable parts of their heritage." She worked the sympathy/heritage angle to attack both Sam and Emily. Shrewd and pushy, Kandi's approach may have worked but Emily's discomfort was pissing Sam off. I could see the tick in his jaw. He was about to lose his cool so I peacefully interceded.
"Kandi, you never know when to stop. Emily said, 'No.' I'm sure you heard her. Now leave her alone. You know you wanted to ask me anyway. I was always your star pupil." I gave her an impish grin before taking my place at the front of the room to show the kids how it was done.
It had been almost a year since I danced the traditional dances but I felt invincible in this body. My confidence was not misplaced, everything I spent years learning flowed naturally. After five demonstrations or so the girls understood what had to be done. Another five and Sam had to remind me we had other places to go, you know, other places for him to act like he personally conjured Nahuel out of thin air just for me.
I ignored him easily, dancing through the routine twice more. It felt too good to dance, to let my body enjoy the movement, stronger, more powerful more graceful than ever. Not gonna lie, I rather enjoyed being the center of attention in a positive non-freak show type of way. I caught Nate's eye a few times as he watched me strut my stuff. Okay, I was showing off for my imprint too.
Kandi imperiously re-instated me in my former position as assistant for the three Saturday classes. I had no trouble refusing with equal regal attitude. She dropped the assumptive approach and offered the position with pay, pending the council's approval. She looked meaningfully at Sam. A person would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind to not notice the power Sam wielded on the reservation. He nodded his approval. As we left Nate quietly asked for a private show later.
Sam took the time to introduce Nate to his younger pack members too. I didn't think it was a good idea, but to my surprise they could hardly wait to meet him. There was no animosity, just unbridled enthusiasm and awe. To them he was like a rock star, a vampire slaying rock star. The boys not bouncing around him were too nervous to speak and then there was Mitchell.
Mitchell somehow didn't believe the hype; evidently he doubted what his pack elders remembered. Like with ass kissers there is always at least one skeptic, who thinks everybody else is an idiot and they alone know the truth. Naturally he tried a sneak attack. I mean really, a sneak attack, did the child believe nothing? It was like he was moving in slow motion in my peripheral vision. He got my wicked backhand ala Nate. Sure, I could have let Nate handle Mitchell but the way I saw it he was disrespecting me on my own turf. I bet he wouldn't try that shit again. A bruised teen ego was the only damage for a whole day.
When we finally got to Billy Black's place and Nate greeted him in flawless Quileute, a spontaneous get-together ensued. Billy's hesitant scowl turned into a, "Hey Paul grab some steaks out of the freezer! Rachel! Do you mind if I have a few people over? Could you cook?" Then last but not least, "Hey, why don't you all stay for awhile and have a meal with me? Rachel hardly gets to see you anymore Leah." He claimed us before we made it on the porch.
As the day faded I relaxed in the Black kitchen with Mom and the Wolfchicks. Nate was outside with the guys where they were smacking each other around for fun. Both packs were out there enjoying the last of the stingy sunshine before we relieved Alice of duty. With my entire pack present I felt Nahuel was reasonably safe, but I had been keeping watch over him from the window.
"Thanks Mom." I took her a cup of coffee and settled next to her at the table finally giving up my vigil at the window. "This has been the best day ever. Having Nate here has been awesome, just incredible. How did you convince the council?"
She shrugged, "I didn't. I spoke my piece. Nate has never appeared to be a threat to me or Charlie. Billy was not at all at ease with it, but Old Quil was outraged. He wanted to know what we were patrolling for if we were going to open the doors and let vampires walk around on the lands of our ancestors. Sam contended you were our people and by virtue of the imprint Nate is too. Don't take offense, Old Quil called you an aberration of nature that should not have been. He said your imprinting on Nahuel was proof. "
I rolled my eyes as I had an epiphany; there indeed was a reason to kick an old man down a flight of stairs. He dared to say that to my mother's face. I wasn't her favorite, neither was Seth, it was Emily. Seth and I were cool with that. We had no intention of being that good, ever. Where was the fun in that? Nevertheless, I was still my mother's child.
Mom took in my expression, "Oh yes, he actually said that, losing some of Billy's support immediately. I told him he was a withered husk of a man, jealous because the ancestors favored you with the blessings he coveted." Old Quil was always downright hostile towards me since I phased. Mom had asked me to ignore it. She said Old Quil had waited to start his life, waiting to become a wolf. He delayed getting married in hopes of imprinting when his time came. He thought if he remained a free agent eventually the 'blessing' would happen for him. He was over forty before he finally quit whoring around and settled down.
"He went on and on with some tentative support from Billy, who simply thought it was too soon to have Nahuel over. Old Quil said it would happen over his dead body. Finally Sam stood and said the tribe had but one chief. One! And it is not you Elder Ateara!"
"WOW! For real Mom?" Sam was our unofficial chief but he didn't flaunt it.
"By the way where was Jake in all this?" Rachel asked with vague curiosity. She was too tired from being hostess to a wolfpack party for anything other than vague interest. Billy was making Jake attend council meetings these days. I thought he would have weighed in for me.
"In the corner asleep. Raised voices and the boy didn't stir once." Mom stated with the envious admiration of a light sleeper.
"Figures." Rachel sipped her coffee. Jacob might be an alpha but he had no intention of being chief no matter what Billy wanted. I think Rachel would have loved to be in Jacob's position.
Mom resumed her tale, "Old Quil wasn't speechless long. He reminded Sam of the one time he had ignored the advice of the council. His sneaking over to Makah to see Emily didn't turn out so well."
"Sam didn't back down or defer to Old Quil like he used to. He said he was a younger inexperienced man then and he should have listened to wisdom but he knew Nahuel and trusted his own judgment, that he was doing the right thing. Nahuel WOULD be coming to the reservation as his guest. Sam personally guaranteed the safety of the Quileutes then told Old Quil if the affront caused his death he would make sure he was buried in the traditional manner with great honor."
"I was rather proud to call him Chief Uley. Which I did to rub it in. Old Quil left in a huff after that." Mom finished her tale with a satisfied smile, she never like him overmuch; at least I assumed calling him a lecherous old dog meant he wasn't high on her list.
"Huh. Wow, that's something else." Sam had gone alpha male on the entire council for no other reason than to bring Nate to the reservation. I was in awe. That had to be the dumbest, sweetest thing he had ever done for me. Sam couldn't stop Nate, I knew this. I knew this in my bones; I knew it in every fiber of my being because most of them still hurt from yesterday's workout with my Nate. Sam didn't have an answer to him. If Nate had gone after a tasty little Quileute there would one less in the tribe come Sunday.
"Excuse me." I jumped to my feet rushing out the backdoor and into the testosterone territory of the back yard. I had to thank Sam properly for what he had done for me.
"Sam, can I have a word please?" Sam's head snapped up, big horsey grin in place, his face was open, his eyes bright with joy. His look was totally devoid of the pity and concern that had become omnipresent between us. I had an epiphany. Sam Uley loved me. Not that painful reluctant, 'Oh God, why is this happening to me' love, it had become 'hey, that's my girl Leah, she's cool, I'd do anything for her' love. It was normal everyday pack love. Of course he had still done something risky to make me happy which I chalked up to my excellent man training skills.
Sam gestured to Nate to follow him over to me. Nate narrowed his eyes glancing from me to Sam and I had my third epiphany, Nate indeed was going to piss on my leg, and real soon. But you know what? I was okay with that, I like a little jealousy in a man.
I was on my own turf with my imprint and surrounded by my friends and family. Could life get more perfect?