The night that Harry died was the longest that Sam could remember. By all rights, Leah should have collapsed in exhaustion. She hadn't slept at all the night before, but had spent it writhing in her hospital bed, breaking through her restraints, and rapidly burning through the sedatives and tranquilizers she was given. Her first phase expended what little energy she had left after her body's traumatic preparation for the change. So Sam had no idea what was fueling her as the night passed.

She alternately shook, cowered, or paced, her head bent and her tail lowered. From time to time she dropped to the ground and stared straight ahead, watching memories of her father pass through her mind. Every time she was still, he lowered himself next to her, resting his muzzle on her back or neck and wrapping his tail around her. He watched her memories with her, and he added his own.

They even achieved a few moments of peace thinking of Harry laughing, kissing his wife, or bringing one of his children in for a huge hug. But for every happy memory, she replayed twice over the instant of her phase and his collapse to the floor.

Leah blamed herself for her father's death, and there was nothing Sam could do to stop her. Over and over he crooned to her, It wasn't you. It just happened. Your mom said he had already had silent heart attacks. He just had a bad heart to begin with. I'm so sorry, LeeLee, but it just isn't your fault.

He might as well have been shouting at the wind, and eventually he realized that her self-recrimination was easier to face than the realization that she would never see Harry again.

The only way he managed to distract her was by telling her how much her father had meant to him. He showed her memories she had not previously been privy to: Harry cheering so loudly for him at one of his basketball games that he lost his voice, Harry sitting in the passenger seat of the car and gripping the seat tightly as Sam pulled onto the freeway for the first time, Harry reluctantly granting him permission to ask Leah to marry him. Leah would be happy for a moment, and then her guilt would be eclipsed by her grief, and Sam didn't know which was worse.

Eventually Sue and Seth made their way out of the hospital. Jacob had left with Charlie and Bella some time before, but Billy had waited to offer his support for as long as possible, and he sat at the edge of the sidewalk while Seth and Sue detoured into the woods to find Leah. Sam could see in Leah's mind that she wanted nothing more than to collapse into the arms of her mother, but Sue was still wary of her daughter's intimidating form and hung back. Leah then added a new layer of frustration to her raw emotions, angry with herself for being too agitated to phase back into her human body. Seth didn't hesitate, though, immediately throwing his arms around his sister's neck and hugging her tightly. Leah's shaking stopped until her remaining family departed, and then she and Sam ran back to the reservation.

He sat with her in the woods behind her house as clouds began to gather, blocking the moon. She told him he should phase back and climb into her bedroom to get some sleep, but he refused to leave her side. She couldn't hide her gratitude at his insistence, and they curled against one another on the forest floor. He held her as she grieved, their only distraction the light rain that began to fall. He wrapped her in his warmth until she calmed enough to finally fall asleep, slipping quietly into her human body just moments before her eyes closed. Then he returned to his human form, gently carried her inside and dried her with fluffy towels, and lay her in her bed. She was so tired that she didn't stir a single time. He placed his head on her pillow just moments before dawn.

X-x-x-x-X

Leah refused to see anyone for days. Her control over her emotions was tenuous at best, and in addition to a grief-fueled desire to hide from the world, she was afraid she would slip and either expose her wolf to an unsuspecting friend or, worse yet, hurt someone the way Sam had accidentally hurt her. She declined visits from Emily and Rachel (the latter of whom had gone on a vacation with her sister to Hawaii earlier in the summer but came home alone). She even kept her distance from her mother and brother except for allowing Sue to remove the pointless sutures from her face and cut her hair into a short, flattering bob. After that she made sure to stay on the opposite side of any room one of them occupied, and after involuntarily phasing in the kitchen when Seth accidentally dropped a bowl on the tile, sending ceramic shards flying, she stayed outside as much as possible.

Sam only left her side in order to use the bathroom or get food, which he quickly brought outside to her. They found comfort in each other's minds, so eventually she gave up on her efforts to stay human and remained in her animal body. Sam soothed her. He didn't manage to convince her that Harry's death wasn't her fault, but she accepted the love and support he sent her through their telepathic link and returned it wholeheartedly. She thanked him again and again for being there for her, for buoying her up when all she wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry, and holding her when she was unable to do anything else.

And because the transformation that had overtaken them both was too astounding to ignore, they reviewed everything Sam had learned about their new roles. In telling her about the Cullens, he realized he had been lax in learning about their potential enemies; he could answer few of her questions about the unusual coven. He knew even less about normal vampires, and he knew frustratingly little about their own shifter traits.

He and Leah took the opportunity to learn. In a rare moment of levity, they decided to test their speed against one another, and they set off for a race through the woods. It was exhilarating. He had already enjoyed the speed, but pushing himself to keep up with her as she laughed in his mind was a new kind of joy. They headed east without any particular destination in mind. She kept darting ahead of him, agilely sprinting between trees and leaping over logs and rocks. He lost sight of her over and over, barely catching a glimpse of her silvery fur or a peek of her tail as she maneuvered through the dense foliage. She would turn away and back, literally running circles around him while he pushed himself to his maximum speed.

They ended up in the Olympic National Forest, startling smaller predators and countless woodland creatures. They were isolated from prying eyes, so when she caught a glimpse of his little fantasy of playing with her wolf until he pinned her beneath him, she made it come true. She let him catch her, playfully nipping at him, jumping up, springing away, and batting at him with her paws. He saw himself through her eyes, grinning happily, but yanked his tongue back into his mouth when he realized it was lolling out as his tail wagged gleefully. He pounced as soon as she darted within reach, and they tumbled together in the grass. She rolled onto her back, submissively baring her belly to him and exposing her neck, and he stood above her, caging her between his four legs. He imagined her shrinking into her lovely human form beneath him, so she indulged him and complied.

She was so beautiful. He stared down at her, marveling at the rich copper of her skin, the dark luster of her hair, the sensuous lines of her body. He lowered his muzzle, inhaling deeply of her scent. Since transforming into a wolf, the natural spiciness that she had always exuded had heightened. It drove him wild, particularly appealing to his own wolf, although he had forcefully shoved down any lustful thoughts in his attempts to comfort her. He extended his lupine tongue to taste the sweat that had gathered during their run, and she giggled and squirmed. "You're tickling me!" His fur was brushing against her from her neck to her belly, and he realized he was depriving himself of the sensation of her hot skin against his. He huffed in amusement and bent to lick a path from her navel, between her breasts, up to the dip at the base of her throat. She was delicious, and her laughing moan delighted him and hardened him at the same time. Leah shoved against him, but with little effort, so he knew she wasn't trying to move him off her. But he raised his head enough to get another look at her. She was smiling, and he hadn't seen the wonderful expression on her face since he had mauled her. But he couldn't keep his eyes trained on her face, not when her breasts were jiggling from her laughter and her neck was so exposed.

He didn't know what came over him. She had never had short hair before, and he really did miss the silky lengths, but her new haircut showed off the column of her neck. He found himself inexplicably drawn to it. Now he stared at it almost as much as he had previously focused on her round bottom, long legs, or perfect breasts. Since she was finally naked beneath him, he found himself unable to control his mounting lust.

Meanwhile, Leah watched him watching her. She peered down and caught sight of his aroused length, and her eyes grew wide as she stopped laughing abruptly. "Oh my god. You are not coming near me with that monstrosity! As it is, it barely fits in me when you're human. You nearly split me in two when you finally came home!" She was right, of course. The first time he had fucked her after his phase, when he crawled through her window only moments after he rediscovered his human body, he had taken her recklessly. His lust had blinded him as he lost himself in her heat, but not to the point that he didn't realize that her nearly impenetrable tightness was due to his increased girth rather than her lack of arousal. Because she had been as desperate to feel him as he was her.

And she was rapidly joining him in his inflamed state. Later he would wonder why, because although she embraced his wolf, she wasn't sexually attracted to his animal body. Perhaps she was reacting to his pheromones the way he did to hers.

Whatever the reason, it hardly mattered. He shifted back, and then he was hovering over her with one hand braced against the forest floor, and the other was free to roam up and down her soft skin. He reached to cup the back of her neck in his large palm and tilted her up for a bruising kiss, and when she finally broke away gasping for air, he lowered his hips so that his erection pressed against her inner thigh. He left a trail of thin fluid to mark her sex as his, and he growled, "How about this, then, baby? Feel better?"

Her response was incoherent, but he understood her anyway. She grabbed the back of his head and brought him back down to her lips once again, and they devoured each other over and over.

In the months leading up to his first phase, their coupling had changed from tender and playful to rough and desperate. Somewhere in the back of his brain he wondered if he even knew how to make love any more, because his instincts drove him to take, not to give. He rutted blindly against her thighs as she squirmed, trying to increase the contact against the little nub that gave her so much pleasure. She was growing damp between her thighs, but she wasn't yet ready to take his formidable cock.

He couldn't wait long enough for her to be ready. He coveted her in a way that was still new to him. A sharp urgency to dominate her overtook him, but he didn't want to hurt her either. He shoved off her and roughly yanked her to her knees. With one hand, he threaded his fingers through her newly shorn hair to hold her still, and with the other, he gripped the base of his cock. A mixture of shock and arousal caused her luscious mouth to drop open slightly. He pressed himself against her lips, painting them with his precum. Her tongue snaked out to lap up the flavor and to flick at his sensitive head, but he couldn't tolerate any teasing. "Open up. Now," he snapped. Her pupils dilated and her eyes widened at his tone, and she inevitably complied. "Take it all," he growled. And then he pushed forward into her wet mouth.

It was blissful. Her tongue undulated against him as he pressed himself in. He tried to hold back, but it was too much. She was too much. He bumped against the back of her throat, triggering her gag reflex. She tried to yank her head away, but he released his dick and held fast to her skull with both hands. "Ahh, shit." He let her back far enough so that she could breathe and settle, but left his sensitive head in the heaven that was her mouth. She reached up to grip his base, since she normally used her hands to stimulate the length she was unable to accommodate.

He had other ideas. "Hold still." This time it was an order. The man inside him was mortified, but the wolf was chanting take take take take take in his head, and the animal was in control. "Take it all, and no gagging."

He thought he had been brutal on the night he returned to her, but it was nothing compared to this. He had no ability to control his own actions. He pushed her down so that her buttocks rested on her knees, and then he pulled her head forward and tipped it back to create a straighter passage. And then he fed her the entirety of his cock.

She did exactly as instructed. Somehow his order prevented her from retching, and she held her breath as he pushed himself into the passage of her throat. He wanted to watch her, but he was unable to hold his eyes open. He released a guttural groan as he felt the rings of her throat stretch to accommodate him, and he nearly came on the first pass. It was nothing like he had ever felt before, and the ridges of her teeth scraping against his shaft only heightened the experience. "Fuck... fuck... yeah..."

But he wanted this to last at least a little while longer, and even his wolf had the wherewithal to pull back far enough to let her breathe. As soon as she recovered, he did it again. And again. And again.

Even a she-wolf couldn't keep this up forever, though, so eventually he grabbed her hair with both hands and fucked her mouth shallowly and quickly. He was about to explode when he scented how sharp her arousal had become, and he looked down at her in a mixture of surprise and lust. She was aching for him to fill her, and he knew it. And he had no desire to come in her throat when he could coat her womb.

"You're amazing." His voice was gravelly and rough. He pulled out of her abruptly, but even his wolf felt tender toward the beautiful woman kneeling before him, and he stroked her bottom lip with his thumb. "Thank you."

Then he pushed her onto her back and mounted her. She was wetter than he could ever recall, and the loving partner that had been subsumed by his animal self was relieved at her reaction to his ruthless display.

He buried himself in her impossible tightness and steadily began to pound while she threw her head back and moaned. He didn't have to read her mind to know the passion that flowed between them, to know that her avarice had risen to match his own. The way her head thrashed back and forth, the nails digging into his back hard enough to break skin, the arching of her hips to meet him were all he needed to know. She wanted him every bit as much as he wanted her.

But this time, he had issued no orders to restrain her. From deep in her throat her own growl came, and she used her animal's strength to shove him onto his back. He was momentarily bereft, but she threw her leg over his hips and slid quickly down his cock. He bucked up to meet her as she rode him hard. He no longer had the coordination to thumb her clitoris like he normally would have. All he could do was hold onto her hips in an attempt not to let her get too far each time she rose up on her knees. But it didn't matter. She leaned forward to grip his shoulders, and on the next descent her clitoris ground against his base and she began to clench rhythmically around him. She started to come.

The only thing that kept him from joining her in overwhelming bliss was the sensation of her bared teeth against his neck. No. She couldn't own him that way. Not until he owned her first. He would take her the way a wolf mated. He yanked her back by her hair, baring her tantalizing throat. "Not yet." She groaned an incoherent response. He felt her orgasm waning, but he wasn't ready for her to be done. He flipped them back over so that she was beneath him again, and he sat back on his heels, holding an ankle in each hand. The new angle meant that he jarred her cervix with each thrust, and the ripples of her second orgasm started to spread across her body.

"You see? This is only over when I say it's over. And I'm not done." The intensely tight grip of her pussy nearly sent him over the edge, though, so he had to still his own hips to keep it at bay. He waited, buried inside her, until she started to calm down, running her hands through her disheveled hair, panting and cooing her pleasure.

He released her legs and bent down to lick at the spot beneath her ear, and she clenched around him again. "What did I just say, hmm?"

"What?" she blinked groggily, her body still distracting both of them with lovely little aftershocks.

"I said I'm not done," he growled into her ear.

And he abruptly yanked out, threw her onto her hands and knees, and maneuvered her into position. He managed to slide in gently, but the movement used up the last of his restraint. She was too hot, too tight, and the sight of her bent head, bared neck, and ripe ass was just too much. He jackhammered into her.

She absolutely loved it. Her third and final orgasm was nearly endless. Wave after wave overtook her, causing her to arch, toss her head back, and wail. His wolf recognized the call, and he could not resist it. He curled over her, yanked her head to the side, and sank his teeth deep into tender flesh of her neck. She howled as he pumped his hot seed deep inside her and came harder than he ever had before. He nearly passed out from the pleasure.

When he finally registered the world around him again, he was lying on his back with her tucked into his arm. It gradually dawned on him what he had done. He was horrified by his unthinking animal behavior. He couldn't believe how feral he had become. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, his voice cracking.

But Leah was humming in contentment. She traced patterns in the sweat on his chest with the tips of her fingers. "Mmmm. Don't be."

He shook his head. "No, I was an animal. I can't believe how I treated you."

She lifted her head off his shoulder and pressed her lips to his softly. "Sammy, what you did just now... It was exactly what I needed."

He lightly touched the wound he had left on her neck. It was closing already. "But I hurt you."

She shook her head. "It didn't hurt. Trust me. It was the most amazing sensation I've ever felt in my life. I can't even describe it."

He peered at her skeptically. It didn't look like it would feel good. "Seriously?"

She drew her plump bottom lip between her teeth, and he remembered what she had done with her mouth just minutes before. He found himself impossibly hardening again. "I can show you when we phase if you want." Then she smirked a little. "I think it'll be hard to keep secrets from you from now on."

He grinned back as she moved to straddle him. "What secrets?"

Her answer melted his heart while her movements made him hard. "Just how much I love you. I don't know what I'd do without you. Thank you."

"For what? For that?" He couldn't believe her. He was worse than a caveman.

"For being here for me. For not leaving me alone. You're too good to me."

He shook his head. "It's you who's too good for me. And you don't have to thank me. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be than here with you. I know this isn't how we thought things would turn out, but as long as we're together, I'm happy. I'm not going anywhere."

"You promise?"

He reached for her, but this time his movements were deliberate and measured. He brought her down so that he could kiss her. "Of course I promise." They tasted each other's lips, lightly ran their fingers along each other's skin, and eventually merged again.

This time was slow, gentle, and full of love. They found themselves unable to stop kissing, so they just rolled over and back with her full breasts pressed to his chest and her mouth against his, trading places so that he was on top, then her, then him again. They joined their bodies again and again. But this time when she started to climax, and in her bliss pushed her teeth into his skin, he didn't stop her. Instead he felt the amazing sensation of his orgasm erupting from the wound in his clavicle, and he gave himself over to her.

He silently thanked the spirits for allowing him this unimaginable experience with the girl he had always loved.

X-x-x-x-X

Sam would look back to their time in the forest as one of the last moments of true peace in his life for a long time. Upon their return to her home, Allison was waiting for them. She hadn't questioned Sam's absence since he didn't want to leave Leah while the death of her father was so fresh. But questions had been brewing in her mind ever since Sam had disappeared. She asked about their plans for the upcoming academic year. Sam had already realized that he would not be able to go to college, but Leah had not stopped to think about it since her father had died. They looked at each other in dismay. Sam had no explanation he could give to his mother, so he ended up telling her that Leah might not be able to afford school without the support of Harry's income. Allison countered that unfortunate as that was, it should have no bearing on his own decision to go; after all, if he didn't use his scholarship while he had it, he was unlikely to be granted another.

He steadfastly refused to go without Leah, and Allison was furious. She chose not to express it because she did not want to upset Leah further, but Sam knew he had only delayed an inevitable conversation. If only he could tell her what was really going on. But the elders had cautioned him against telling anyone what had happened to him for the safety that secrecy provided. He had relented once he realized that not only was he safer, but she might be as well. She couldn't answer questions if when she was truly ignorant of the answers, and the Cullens had asked that as few individuals know of their species as possible. He wasn't interested in testing their boundaries using his own kin.

After she left, they went to her bedroom. Sue didn't bother them about sleeping together; the conventions of traditional behavior seemed unimportant now, and the last thing she wanted to do after losing the love of her life was to separate Leah from hers. They tried to fit themselves into Leah's small bed. It had already been a tight fit before their shifter growth spurts. Leah just lay on top of him, pressed against his chest. He felt her breath on his skin as she asked him what they would do. He didn't have to see her to know her face was falling as she realized how many of their dreams and plans were disappearing in the wake of their transformation, so he held fast to her and reassured her that no matter what happened to them, they would face their challenges together. She buried her face in his shoulder and gathered herself together, drawing on his strength.

When she pulled away, he didn't want to let her go until he realized she was reaching for her nightstand drawer. She pulled out his grandmother's engagement ring, which she had not worn since it had been removed in the hospital. "I wish I could put this back on, but I'm afraid of what will happen when I phase."

"I'll tell you what. We'll get a chain to put it on. Something sturdy that won't snap, that's long enough that it won't come off if you phase."

"You think?" She smiled.

He smiled back at her. "Sure. Grandma kept her original stone and reset it in a pendant that she always wears. Think of it as a Uley family tradition."

"That's wonderful! I love it!"

But he knew she would have loved it more if she could have put it back on her finger, packed their bags, and moved to Seattle as they had originally planned. He fell asleep wondering what they would do instead.

The next day they hid in her bedroom for as long as possible. She wanted to see how long she could go without phasing. Even now he was unable to last longer than a day and a half. Leah only made it half that time. By late morning she had to jump out the window, and they decided to run through the grey rain until she burned off her excess energy. He watched her tumultuous thoughts in silence. They alternated between grief for her father, guilt over her role in his death, irritation at her own lack of control, and frustration about their thwarted plans, but her gratitude for his help, her happiness that he was there, and most of all, her love for him balanced out every negative emotion.

His feelings mirrored her own, with the exception that he wholeheartedly disagreed that Harry's death was her fault. He hated what had happened to her and to her father, but her presence was every bit as important to him as his was to her. Neither of them could believe he had contemplated leaving her for her own good. He carried his own guilt for clawing into her soft flesh, and no matter what she said, he knew he would never forgive himself for it. She finally distracted him with a question about what they would do instead of going to college. He began to envision a different future than the one they had planned. It was hazy and unclear, but in it they stood together as guardians of their people, and they loved one another in ways that had not previously been possible with the limitations of separate minds. She joked that they would have puppies instead of babies, and he imagined her surrounded by a litter of furry black and white cubs. His little fantasy shifted into an image of her nursing a baby, and then degenerated into thinking about her breasts, and she laughed and teased him all the way home.

A now-familiar scent of decay assaulted both their noses when she opened the back door to the kitchen, and for a second they were both convinced a vampire had broken into the home. While she shook in front of him, he put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't phase. No one's here. The scent isn't strong enough."

She spotted the source of the acrid smell before he did. A letter rested on the kitchen table, the envelope adorned with old fashioned, looped script.

He peered over her shoulder. She held herself stiffly, fingers digging into the wooden table. "What is it?"

"I don't think I'll be able to control myself if I touch it," she admitted, her voice trembling.

"Then go outside and phase there. Do you want me to look?" She bolted out the door without answering.

It took every ounce of his will not to phase in the middle of her kitchen. He used a knife to slice open the envelope. It was a condolence card from Carlisle Cullen. Sam went to the forest to find Leah and phased to show her the card. Leah began to ask more questions he couldn't answer, and they realized that in the shock of his transformation and hers, they had neglected to learn about the vampires who were the reason their wolves had emerged. Sam didn't want to leave her, but Leah insisted that they couldn't wait much longer to make contact. Sam reluctantly left to discuss their next steps with Billy.

He found the chief by himself in his home. Jacob had apparently reconnected with Bella Swan while they waited together in the hospital. She had mentioned a grinding noise under her truck's hood, and he had gone to her house to check it out. Rachel had already left for Pullman and was spending her first weekend in her new dorm. First they discussed Leah. Unfortunately Billy could shed no light on the startling appearance of a female shifter, but he was full of theories. But theories got them nowhere, so they switched to the topic of the Cold Ones. Billy cautioned Sam against meeting the Cullens in person. After all, they were outnumbered more than two to one. But now that Carlisle had personally witnessed the next generation of wolves, it was time to readdress the treaty. They debated how to approach the coven. Sam would much rather have driven the vampires away to prevent any other teenagers from phasing, but Billy urged him to wait until he had enough backup that he would stand a chance in a fight. Sam wasn't convinced. Billy had told him that all shifters eventually stopped phasing and moved on with their lives. If the Cullens left, he and Leah might stand a chance at the future they wanted; it would just be delayed. But Billy came up with an argument that stopped him cold. With only himself and Leah as warriors, was he willing to put her into a situation in which she would need to fight a vampire? Was he willing to put her at risk?

He walked back to the Clearwater house more frustrated than when he had left. He phased and took another run to burn off his agitated energy. Rain had started to fall, but little of it penetrated his thick pelt. He calmed himself with the thought of his LeeLee waiting for him in her bed, warm and welcoming and lovely. She was asleep by the time he arrived, as was everyone else. She had kicked all her blankets off the bottom of her bed. Soon she would learn not to bother with anything other than a light sheet, if that, but she had not yet let go of the trappings of her old life. But for now, she was sprawled over the entire small space, and he wasn't sure how to lie down. Probably she wouldn't appreciate it if he lay on top of her the way she tucked herself on top of him. He crammed himself into the tiny space between her right elbow and the wall beneath the window, and thankfully she felt the movement. "Sammy?" she mumbled.

"It's me, baby."

She reached out for him, giving him room to lie down fully, and she stretched herself over him. "Everything okay?"

He wrapped his arms around her, fingering the soft cotton that covered her back. "Everything's fine."

But it wasn't, and he had no way to know how much worse it could still get.

X-x-x-x-X

The funeral was the next day. Sam and Leah phased and went on another run first thing in the morning, and Sam tried to convince her that she would be able to make it through the entire service. She didn't believe him, and the only thing that distracted her was thinking about how much she missed her father. But that invariably caused her guilt to consume her. Sam still didn't think that there was anything to forgive, and both Sue and Seth and tried to reinforce that on multiple occasions. But there was nothing any of them could do to change her mind.

Either way, she was determined to make it through her father's funeral. After they returned from their run, Sue approached Leah with a stack of gauze and medical tape. She had not been back to work since Harry's death, but she knew that rumors had been swirling about her daughter's mysterious disappearance from the hospital. Some outlandish stories had made their way back to the reservation, but as a newly appointed elder, she held some sway. The other members of the council assisted her in quashing or adjusting details before they got too close too the truth. But they had no influence over details being told in the hospital itself. It was Old Quil who suggested they fabricate a story about Leah being cared for by one of their own healers. It was the cover that Sue spread through the workplace, aided to her surprise by Dr. Cullen, who swore that he had checked on Leah personally and found her to be in good hands. He had also explained away her severely agitated state and subsequent escape with a combination of severe infection and unusual medication reaction. And it wasn't until Sue tried to pay for the damage done to the ICU and its window that she found out that he had already covered the cost himself.

However, none of that would explain Leah's astoundingly healthy appearance. Sue suspected that some of her closer co-workers would come to show their support, and she didn't put it past others to come to gawk. Many of them had seen her injuries themselves, and nearly every employee of the small hospital had at least heard about the supposed bear attack. The very least she could do was cover Leah's cheek and neck with gauze to hide her flawless skin. Leah had come in contact with so few people that almost no one knew that she had fully healed.

Leah accepted the small disguise without question, but Sam's gut twisted at the sight. He had been too busy grieving and taking care of Leah, but he was immediately transported back to the terrible moment he burst out of his skin and tore into hers. It made him understand better how unfathomable she thought it would be to forgive herself for phasing in front of Harry; Sam knew he would never forgive himself for hurting her. There wasn't even a tiny line on her skin left as a reminder of what had happened, but there was a gaping hole in their world left behind by Harry's passing. Then Sam had another awful thought. If he hadn't clawed Leah, she wouldn't have ended up in the hospital, she might never have come in contact with a vampire like Dr. Cullen, and she could have left for college exactly as they had planned. But then he would have been alone, waiting here by himself for the rest of his pack to phase, and he would only have a bunch of boys for company. And Paul was already little better than an animal.

He regretted everything that had happened, but he couldn't bring himself to be upset that LeeLee was still here by his side. He felt so selfish.

He left when Leah disappeared into the bathroom to shower. He wasn't presentable enough for a funeral, and he needed to pick up his mother and grandmother on the way.

The public part of the service was held in Forks' only funeral home, an unassuming brick front house at the junction between a commercial zone and a small neighborhood. Sam wondered how the residents felt living so close to a place of death. He didn't look at anyone as he entered the room. His eyes were fixated on the casket at the front, surrounded by flowers. Walking forward, he felt like he was moving in a dream. His feet were heavy, like he was fighting his way through an invisible pool of molasses. His anxiety mounted.

Then he saw Harry's body for the first time since he had left the hospital, and he realized that there was nothing here. Nothing to be afraid of. Nothing left of the man Harry once was.

He lay still in the deep brown casket. His eyes were closed, never to reopen. His skin was oddly smooth, the color beneath the makeup a dull grey pallor. His hands were folded over his chest in an artificial position, and he wore a suit that Sam had never seen before. He looked like a mannequin fashioned after a man. And that was when it finally hit Sam. He had been so busy caring for Leah that he hasn't processed what had happened.

Harry was gone. Completely gone. What lay before him was an empty vessel and nothing more. Whatever existed of the vibrant, warm, loving man that Sam knew had vanished, melted into the atmosphere, dissipated in the ether, energy dispersed back into the universe from whence he came, soul sped to an afterlife Sam didn't believe in. Or maybe, just maybe, his spirit was somewhere nearby, watching over all of his children. Watching over Sam.

He held onto the thought, because it comforted him. And then his mother discreetly handed him a tissue, and he realized he was crying. He hugged her so tightly that she grunted a little in discomfort, and over her shoulder he spotted Leah. She was seated in the front row clutching Seth's hand while Sue was off to the side greeting one of Harry's friends from work. Her eyes were locked onto the casket, and she was stiff as a board. The sheer devastation on her face warned away anyone who tried to approach her.

Sam knew better than to leave her alone. When she didn't move, looking right through his solid form to where her father lay, he simply knelt on the ground at her feet, leaned forward, tucked his head under her chin, and wrapped his arms around her waist. For nearly a minute she didn't move. He didn't think she even breathed.

And then she collapsed on him, and he held her. Tears began to fall onto his hair, and she trembled with silent sobs. But she didn't make a sound. He worried for a second that she might phase, but no, her body was not nearly tense enough. In fact, she felt boneless. So he buoyed her up with his strength and his love.

And then he felt heat behind him, and a gentle voice sounded, "Leah, Seth, I'm so sorry."

He pulled away as Leah reached out for the speaker, who pulled her into a hug. He stepped back as they embraced each other, and Leah buried her face in the other girl's neck.

And then her cousin looked up at him over Leah's arm, and the world shifted off its axis.

She had warm brown eyes, the color of dark chocolate. The exact same color that Leah's were. Heat flooded through him, stronger than before, but it was a new kind of heat, not a burning. It was glowing. Everything that made him who he was: his love for Leah, his love for his mother, his love for his grandmother, his loyalty to his friends, his hatred for his enemies, his home, his goals, his dreams, his name, his self, they disconnected from him in that second, snip, snip, snip, and floated up into space. He was not left drifting. A new string held him where he was. Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying him to one thing: to the very center of the universe. He could see that now, how the universe swirled around this one point. He'd never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain. The gravity of the earth no longer tied him to the place where he stood. It was the girl in front of him. Emily.

X-x-x-x-X

A/N: You'll recognize the last paragraph with only minor changes from Ms. Meyer's description of Jacob's imprint, so all credit for that language goes to her. I know this was a terrible place to leave off. Don't blame my lovely beta for my cruelty.