20. An Unlikely Friendship

[Bella POV]

The web in my world had unraveled in ways I wouldn't have imagined. While I still longed for Edward and the Cullen's to return I had come to accept my life in the present.

Jacob and his pack had become my family but it was the unexpected threads that had surprised me the most. Leah being the biggest surprise of them all. As the only girl wolf in all of the Quileute's history, she had imprinted on my son. The aloft and stoic person that I'd heard about was gone and like Jacob, she had become the person she was meant to be. Between her and Jacob she was more overprotective.

Charlie had the hardest time with her given that he had known Leah and Seth prior to them joining the pack so he had known how Leah before her imprinting. The two things that seemed to help Charlie was that Sue and Billy often came by for visits and helped him understand the wolves' history. With Jacob and Leah around me like orbiting satellites, Billy even told Charlie about the imprinting but it was Jacob who could best explain it since Billy had never experienced what it was like.

Charlie hated the idea that his grand-kids would end up in a relationship like Paul and Rachel and then down the line engaged like Sam and Emily but I had told him that if all things went normal then we wouldn't have to worry about that for another sixteen to eighteen years. The central element for me in helping to deal with the imprinting was in knowing that my kids would never be alone. They had people in their lives who would love them unconditionally and never hurt them.

The second part to help Charlie was the bond that had formed between me and Leah. With her now living in our house she saw herself as a big sister to my son but between us she had become a best friend, not like the sibling relationship I had with Jacob. It was easy with her. Unlike my human friends who were often left in the dark about certain aspects of my life there were no secrets between me and Leah.

Leah understood me in a way that the guys in Jacob's pack couldn't. She understood what it was like for me to lose Edward, something I hadn't expected us to have in common and like Jacob, she was optimistic that he would return.

With the treaty ratified, the pack now felt free to come and go as they pleased but the only one who really did so was Quil. The other's felt at home here and they didn't have a Claire on the reservation to go back to. Embry's behavior continued to baffle his mom, Tiffany, but one night Embry had returned saying his mom was done with his behavior since there was not much she could do about it but she was at least grateful he had some place to go and wasn't roaming around on the streets like some low life. Embry occasionally went to go visit but rarely.

A week after the treaty had been rewritten and Leah had imprinted, Sam and his pack had shown up.

The three of us were in the living room. Jacob was watching an NFL game on TV, I was reading a novel based on the Civil War. Since Edward had left I could not bring myself to read any of my Shakespeare or other books that reminded me of him. And Leah was on the couch next me trying to study for an exam in science class.

Jacob suddenly turned off the TV and turned behind him to the front entrance near the stairs. I stood up and Leah was quick to stand by my left, the two of us following Jacob outside.

Sam came in from out of the woods followed by Jared and Paul. Seth and Embry came as well in their wolf forms huffing at Sam and his pack. Despite the changes this was the first time any of them had come to us.

"Easy," Jacob said to his boys. "What are you doing here Sam?"

"Relax Jacob," said Sam, "We're here to talk."

The eight of us took seats in the living room.

"I'm not one to easily admit when I'm wrong," Sam stated, "but I was this time. We came to apologize to you Bella, personally. We didn't want you to hear it second hand from Jacob."

"And Leah," Jacob added.

Sam nodded. "Your mom told us that you imprinted," he said softly without malice. "I'm happy for you Leah. And you deserve to be happy."

"Thanks," said Leah. "I can understand your feelings a lot better now, more so than when I joined the pack and got the full gist of everything."

"I hope this means we can start over. Maybe go back to being friends before we started dating?"

"I can't just go back Sam, I just can't forget like what we had didn't happen but I can move on. So maybe we can be better than what we were before."

"So does this mean you'll be a bridesmaid at the wedding and actually be happy about it?"

"You still want me there?"

"Leah, you're family of course we want you."

"Then I'll be there," she said with a smile.

"Speaking of family," said Paul as he nodded to my belly, "They're part of it too. We're sorry Bella, for the stress we put you through, me especially. I was pretty much-,"

"A jerk," I said for him.

He smiled, "I was gonna say ass but yeah."

"I think it was hard on all of us," said Jared, "No one had ever imprinted on a half human baby before. There'd never been any. And with that other half being vampires, we didn't exactly know how to deal with any of it."

"But with Jacob and Leah imprinting on the babies," Sam said, "how could they be a threat to us? It took us a while to realize that and we're sorry. You and those babies are as much a part of our family now as we are of yours. Jacob and Leah can't ever abandon them and so neither can we. And we won't abandon Jacob and his pack again. You have my word."

"And what about the Cullen's," I asked. Just because they weren't here didn't mean I didn't still long for them and wanted to protect them any way I could.

Sam looked at his pack and my wolf family placed their guards up.

"We are bound differently than they are," said Sam, "but from what Jacob's told us about Victoria and how your mate killed hers we've seen how deep their bonds run. Should they ever return, Edward will be safe from us as will the rest of them."

"Thank you Sam."

With Sam's pack no longer a threat to me and the twins, the rest of my life was pretty normal even at school.

My human friends had gotten somewhat used to my Quileute family. Jessica was the only one who was verbally hostile with the merger which was often met with a stern comment from Leah who could still appear to be threatening to others. Mike seemed to get a kick out of it since he and Jessica were no longer dating.

My only real concern now was Victoria.

By my twenty-seventh week of pregnancy the three of us were sitting in the upstairs loft, which Jacob or Leah now carried me to since the stairs had become a slight problem. I could still manage with the railing but neither of them wanted to chance me falling.

Leah sat on my left and Jacob sat on my right, positions they had taken up since Leah's imprinting.

"It's been months," said Jacob, "We keep tracking her but then she disappears. It's frustrating."

"Maybe it's over," said Leah.

"No, it's not over," I answered, "She's waiting."

"Waiting for what," Jacob asked.

"To get me alone," I said as I looked at my friends. "Think about it: with Sam's pack there are eight of you. She knows you killed Laurent and she knows one of you is always protecting me. She wouldn't risk coming at me with so many wolves around. It's suicide."

Jacob looked across at Leah with concern in his eyes. It was pretty easy to figure out what they were thinking. How were they going to catch Victoria if she was too smart to get near me?