"Lee?"
"Hmmm?" Leah continued dressing, pulling her tank top over her head and sitting on the edge of Jonah's bed to tie her shoes.
"Why do you always leave before 5 a.m.? Do you have a date or something?" He was propped on an elbow, watching her. She could tell his smile was forced.
"No, Jonah. There's nobody else. Hasn't been for eight months now. Do you trust me?"
He sighed. Of two things he was absolutely certain. He loved this woman and she had some kind of secret. "I do. Trust you, I mean. It's just...well, I get the feeling you don't trust me. At least not enough to be completely honest. Look, I'm sorry. I don't want to make this into some kind of argument. I love you."
Leah stood, then leaned over and kissed him. "It's no mystery, Jonah. It's time to get some exercise." She grinned. "You don't think this just happens, do you?" She swept her right hand down her lean, muscular form. "Gotta keep in shape. I'm kind of fanatical about it."
"And you exercise alone. Yeah, I guess I get it." He didn't sound convinced. "Will you think about what I asked you last night?"
She nodded. "I will. I promise. And I'll see you later."
Leah saw his face in the window, watching as she drove away. The sky was beginning to lighten as she turned right and headed to the Black house. Parking on the street, she walked around the house and tapped on Jacob's window. Nothing. She tapped again and the window rose a few inches.
"What the hell, Leah? Do you know it's 4:30 in the morning?" Jacob whispered.
"I didn't come over here to ask you what time it is," she muttered. "And I didn't want to wake your dad. I need to talk to you." The window closed, and she could see movement in the room as Jacob shimmied into a pair of cutoffs. She met him on the back porch, and they sat side by side, legs dangling over the edge.
Running a hand through his short dark hair, Jacob looked at Leah. "Okay, what's so important?" As Alpha of their small pack, he was not unaccustomed to being woken up for some emergency or other - but Leah appeared to be healthy and whole.
"I need to change my schedule," she began.
"And that couldn't wait till morning?" he hissed. "You're on for 5 a.m. Are you telling me you can't make it - NOW?"
Leah shook her head. "No, that's where I'm headed. Look, Jake, I'm sorry but I'm freaking out a little. Jonah asked me to move in with him, and of course I can't do that. It would be impossible to hide who - what - I am. And he's getting suspicious about where I go every day at five."
Jacob sighed. "I know this has to be hard on you, Leah. Especially with Seth imprinted on Jonah's sister." He shook his head. "But I can't redo the whole schedule. You need to find someone to switch with so you're not so predictable. Just let me know, okay? I need to keep track of everyone."
"That makes sense, I guess. I really love this guy, Jake. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep secrets from him?"
Jake leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Yeah, thanks to the pack mind I kinda do. I'm sorry, Leah. You know I don't make the rules."
She scrambled to her feet. "Yeah, I know that. And Jake?"
Still seated, he looked up at her. "What?"
"Before you kiss anybody else, I'd suggest you brush your teeth." She grinned.
Laughing softly, he shook his head. "Good luck, my friend. It looks like you're gonna need it." She disappeared around the corner of the house as he went back inside.
"Hey Sis!" Seth came trotting up to the trailhead in wolf form. "I figured you were about due. Everything okay?" He could sense her unease but had no idea what was wrong.
"Same shit, different day," she grumped, swishing her silver tail. "Forget your watch?"
"Oh, man, he asked you to move in? What are you gonna do?" The siblings were accustomed to these shorthand conversations, the gaps filled by mind-reading.
"I don't know." She replayed the conversation she had with Jake and the larger wolf chuffed when she told Jake to brush his teeth. "If I ever said that to Jake he'd kick my ass," he commented drily. "I'm sorry, Lee. I honestly don't know how I'd deal with that situation. Would it do any good to bring your case before the council?"
The sleek grey wolf shrugged her shoulders, a comically human gesture. "Well, lucky you - you didn't have to deal with it because of the imprint. And I doubt it. Billy's a hard ass, and Mom's not much better." Seth nodded and phased, his back to his sister as he pulled on his jeans shorts. The pack was pretty nonchalant about nakedness except for Leah, and in Seth's case it was doubly true.
"I'll give it some thought, but I gotta run, Sis. All's quiet for now." He jogged off toward home as she began her first circuit.
Sue was waiting for Leah when she came home from patrol at seven. "You want some coffee, honey, or will you try to get some sleep?"
Leah poured a cup and flopped down in a kitchen chair. "No point, Mom. All I do is toss and turn."
Sue sat down opposite her daughter. "I'm sorry, Honey. I know it's tough for you, but we do have these rules for a reason." Sue had been appointed to fill her husband's seat on the tribal council shortly after he died.
Setting her mug on the table, Leah leveled her gaze at her mother. "You all need to realize that it's no longer the 19th century, Mom. Jonah asked me to move in with him. People do that today; they don't always get married right away. Sometimes they even have children. What the hell am I supposed to tell him?"
Sue sighed. "You make a good point, Leah. I'll bring it up at the next council meeting, but don't get your hopes up."
Closing her eyes, Leah exhaled slowly. "I know. But thanks, Mom. I know change doesn't come easily for the council - including you. I appreciate your support."
The vote wasn't even close. Sue was the lone dissenter to leaving the rules as they'd stood for hundreds of years. She argued eloquently, but the others were unyielding. Even Billy Black, Leah's godfather and Sue's dear friend, was implacable.
It was Sue's turn to collapse in a chair, defeated. "I'm sorry, Honey." She shook her head as she kicked off her shoes. "I tried."
"What would they do to me, Mom? Seriously. This situation is impossible." Leah perched on the arm of her mother's chair.
Sue wrapped an arm around her only daughter. "You know how the tribe operates, Leah. They rely on all of us to obey the rules. There are no tribal police, but they know we all respect the ancient laws - whether or not we agree with them."
After another sleepless night, Leah made up her mind. Steeling herself, she showed up at Jonah's apartment at seven the next morning. He answered the door in his shorts. "Lee? Is everything all right?" She looked awful.
"No, Jonah, everything is not all right. I can't do this any more." She paced around the small living room as he watched her, transfixed.
"Can't do what any more? You're not making sense, Lee."
She shrugged. "It's over, Jonah. Let's not draw this out."
Pulling her to him, he whispered against her hair "What the hell are you talking about? We don't even fight! Talk to me - please!"
"It's out of my control, Jonah. Believe me, you're better off. This...it's killing me. I just can't handle it any more." She slipped out of his arms, willing the tears to wait, and stepped outside slamming the door behind her.