A/N: I hate that it keeps taking me so long between getting these chapters posted. This one is a little shorter than the last three I put up, but it's still a decent length (I think). Anyway, I am still working on this story as much as possible. I will post the next chapter just as soon as I can.

CHAPTER 40

As soon as we got out of the truck at Emily's house, Jake's easy smile faded, his mood souring slightly. He glanced over at me.

Leah is here.

My stomach twisted. This could be interesting. I had never been around her without the whole pack there as something of a buffer.

Feeling my turmoil, Jake put his arm around my shoulders. It'll be alright. It's not like she's going to hurt you.

I gave him a small smile. Not physically, no, but just the fact that she hated me, and I didn't know why, hurt at least a little. I just had to try not to let anything she might say get to me.

Emily greeted us warmly, but Leah visibly tensed and just stared at us as we entered the kitchen and stopped across the table from where they were both seated.

"Are we interrupting?" Jake asked.

"Not at all," Emily said, glancing at Leah as she stood without a word and walked toward the door. When she was only about halfway, she turned back and looked past me to Jake… or maybe more accurately, she looked through me.

"I actually wanted to speak with you, Jake," she said with zero emotion, her expression unreadable. "Did you really mean it when you said we could choose which pack we were in? Even if it makes the packs uneven?"

"Yes," Jake replied with a gruff tone. "We're willing to give it a try and see how it works. Why?"

"Seth and I have both decided we want to join your pack. I wanted to make sure you were really okay with that."

I had moved around to the far side of the table to sit with Emily. Jake looked at me for a moment before returning his gaze to Leah, and I knew he was still frustrated with the way she had been treating me.

Don't tell her no because of me Jake. You gave them the choice, and you already knew this would probably be the one she chose… and probably the better option for her.

"Look," Leah said to Jake, right on the heels of my thoughts to him, "I know I've kinda been hell to be around and I haven't made things easy for anyone, and I'm sorry. It's all just been really hard to deal with, but I promise I'll try to be better from here on out."

I could tell Jake didn't like this situation. She hadn't yet even acknowledged my presence, let alone acknowledged the way she has treated me. He looked to me once more and a determination entering his eyes before he turned a stern gaze back to her.

"I meant what I said, so I'm not going to deny you your choice Leah, but there are a few things that need to be said."

Leah shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable under Jake's hard gaze.

"First," Jake continued, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Bella is. You don't have to be her friend, or even like her, but you do need to recognize and respect the place she now holds in this pack, because she's just as much a part of it as any of the rest of us."

Disbelief flashed over Leah's face as Jake continued.

"Everything changed yesterday, and Bella is no longer just a pack member's girlfriend. She is your Alpha's imprint and our Healer. Even if you chose Sam's pack over mine, that doesn't change the fact that she has a permanent and prominent place with us. I'm not saying this because I think either of us are better than you, or anyone else, but surely you can see how your treatment of her is going to be a problem if something doesn't change.

"Even if you set all of those things aside, the fact is there is no one who has more compassion toward you and what you've gone through than she does. You've been so busy being angry, for reasons you have gone to great lengths to avoid sharing, that you can't even see how much she cares. Even now, as you're ignoring her, she's defending you to me."

Indignation had begun smoldering in Leah's eyes while Jake was talking, but they cooled a bit and flashed with confusion at his last remark, darting between Jake and me.

Jake tapped his head. "Telepathic connection," he reminded her.

That seemed to take some of the fight out of her, a reminder of our new connection, and she huffed out a big breath then turned reluctantly toward me. Suddenly I could see her pain, visible, like an aura around her and I sucked in a small breath. Something inside of me reached out to her, just like with Paul and Emily, my power eager to heal. But she wasn't injured… was there something that I could do for Leah's mental or emotional pain? That seemed odd, but there was a lot of odd in my life. I would have to touch her to be certain. I doubted she would let me though.

"I'm sorry for the way I've treated you Bella," Leah was saying to me as I tried to decide what to do. I was pretty sure her apology wasn't completely sincere, but she appeared to at least be trying.

"I forgive you Leah." I said to her, and a moment of surprise crossed her face as she heard the sincerity in my voice, but she quickly squashed it.

She turned expectantly back to Jake with a look as if to say "There, you happy?" He looked at her with disappointment at her not so genuine apology and sighed, knowing that was probably as good as it was going to get… at least for now. It was something, anyway. He apparently decided to just move on, and they started talking details about patrols and such.

I was still trying to figure out what to do, somewhat uncertain whether I was interpreting what I was feeling correctly, but mostly concerned about how Leah would respond to me approaching her. Feeling Emily's gaze on me, I looked to her and she was studying me intently. Her perfect scar-free face smiled at me, offering me some encouragement and reminded me that I was right about what I saw last night, and I needed to trust myself… I needed to at least try.

Leah had turned toward the door again, about to leave. My heart kicked into high gear as nerves set in. I needed to get her to trust me enough to just see if I was right. Jake raised a brow in my direction as he noticed.

"Leah, wait," I called out suddenly. She paused to look at me with a tense and guarded stare. I got up and walked over to where she was standing.

"Uh… I know you probably don't trust me," I started, looking down. Then took a breath and tried to swallow the knot in my throat and looked back at her, stumbling over my words a little. "it's just… well, it's just that I think I can help you. I feel drawn to you in a new way today and I think I can help you… with the pain you're going through." I lifted my hand out slightly toward her. "If you would allow me to touch your arm, then I—"

"No way!" She recoiled from my hand, not even trying to hide her disgust. "You're right, I don't trust you." She glanced over to Emily. "I appreciate what you did for Emily, but I don't want anything from you." She glanced over my shoulder at Jake, "I'm sorry, I just can't." She took a few steps back toward the door, obviously eager to leave. "I'll go get Seth and we'll meet you."

Her hands were trembling as she turned and bolted out the door.

My hand fell limp at my side, and I stood there staring at the door Leah had just disappeared through. I was at a total loss for words and saddened that she wasn't willing to let me try to help her.

"I wish I knew what I did to make her hate me so much." I said to the empty space in front of me, surprised at the amount of hurt in my voice and the ache in my heart for Leah's pain.

Jake wrapped his arms around me from behind. I could feel his bitterness probably as much as he could feel my heartache.

"I don't know why baby. It doesn't make sense to me. She's always been extremely guarded in her thoughts about you whenever she's in wolf form."

I leaned my head back against Jake's chest. "I just thought it was because I was friends with the Cullens, but I'm pretty sure there's more to it than that."

"I've never been able to get her to talk about it either," Emily said. "You've both given her a lot to think about today. I hate seeing her like this. I truly hope she comes around and soon."

"Things might get really hard for her if she doesn't," Jake said. "No one is going to put up with her attitude toward you anymore if it doesn't at least improve."

Jake turned me around in his arms and looked down into my face.

"I love the compassion you have always had for Leah, but if she's going to act that way, maybe she doesn't deserve it."

"Maybe she doesn't, but I can't help it. My caring for her is stronger than it ever was before, like this power of mine is influencing my emotions… causing me to care more… to feel more strongly. I don't think I could change it anymore, even if I wanted to. All I want to do is help her."

"Do you have any idea how you'll be able to help her Bella?" Emily asked.

I shook my head and looked at Emily. "No, I'd need to touch her for the power to show me. I don't see that happening any time soon. All I know is that I could see her pain surrounding her and felt a pull to her, like I did yesterday to Paul… and to you Emily."

"Maybe she'll surprise us," Emily said, hopeful, then smiled at me. "So, enough of that for now. Bella, are you planning on staying here while Jake is on patrol?"

I was glad to move on to other things. "Yes, that's the plan."

"Okay, I have a few errands that I need to run. I shouldn't be gone too long, so just make yourself at home and I'll see you when I get back. There's plenty of food in the fridge if you guys are hungry."

Lunch was a great idea. My tummy had been rumbling for a little while. We warmed up some soup and made sandwiches.

When we were done eating, Jake stood. "Welp, I need to get going." He pulled his shirt off and handed it to me.

"You need to be careful flashing all that muscle around me now," I teased with a smile as I ran my finger over a couple of his abs. "Don't want to ruin my delicate sensibilities."

Jake gave a short laugh and smirked as he moved in closer. "Why Miss Swan, I'm appalled! Are you having inappropriate thoughts?"

I gasped dramatically. "Me? No… never!"

His fingers sliding into my hair, he leaned in and gave me a marvelously slow kiss that sent tingles through me. When he pulled away, he pressed his forehead to mine and sighed.

"Alright, I'll see you in a few hours," he said.

"Okay. Be safe."

"Always."

When he was gone, the ache returned almost immediately. It wasn't nearly as bad as the previous night at least. I pressed his shirt to my face and breathed in his scent before folding it in half and draping it over one of the kitchen chairs. I relished his scent, but it did nothing to quell the ache. I needed something to do to distract myself, so I decided to go ahead and call Alice.

I settled on the couch, hoping she'd have time to have a nice chat and be my distraction for a little while. As the phone continued to ring, I thought how unusual it was for her to not pick up on the first ring. Just when I was sure it was going to go to voicemail the ringing stopped and there was silence on the other end.

"Hello?" I spoke to the silence.

"Hello Bella," a male voice responded, sending unease creeping up my spine.

"Edward?" I asked, confused. Why would he be answering Alice's phone? "Ummm… is Alice there?"

"No, she went hunting and left her phone here."

"Oh," I guess that made sense, but… "well I could have just left her a voicemail. Do you know when she'll be back?"

"Should be sometime tomorrow morning."

"Okay, could you please just have her call me?"

"Sure, I'll do that." His voice sounded different, but I couldn't figure out what it was. It wasn't in the haunted way it had sounded sometimes since he'd returned or in any kind of creepy way, though talking to him after yesterday was giving me some icky chills. I shook my head at myself… it didn't really matter, I didn't plan to have much, if any, contact with him again. I just wanted to get off the phone with him as quickly as possible.

"Alright, thank you. Bye Edward." I moved the phone from my ear but before I could hang up, I heard him quickly reply.

"Wait a second Bella. Would you just let me say something please?"

I hesitated, but then I shook my head at myself again. It's not like he could hurt me through the phone.

"Yes, what is it?" I said guardedly.

"I just wanted to apologize for what I did to you… for all of my behavior since I've returned. I haven't been handling any of it very well and… well there really is no excuse for any of my actions. I would prefer to apologize in person, but since I know that will probably never happen, this is the next best thing. So, truly Bella, I'm sorry that I hurt you and scared you. I promise it won't happen again. You've made your choice and I will respect it."

I sighed. I didn't know if I could trust him to keep his word, but I wanted to and he sounded sincere, so hopefully…

"Thank you, Eward. I accept your apology and I hope that you can find happiness." And I meant it. Despite everything that had happened, and how little desire I had to ever see him again, I didn't want him to suffer in sadness through the rest of his existence.

"I'm afraid that may no longer be possible for me, but it's kind of you to say. I just have one more thing I'd like to tell you, if you don't mind."

I suppressed my sigh this time. I really wanted to end the call but would hear him out. "Okay, go ahead."

"I'll always be here for you Bella. If Jacob were ever forced to leave you, I mean."

"Oh." A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. I certainly didn't expect that, though maybe I should have. None of the Cullens knew yet what had happened between me and Jake, and I never dreamed that I would be put in a position to tell it straight to Edward myself. I didn't want to be the one to deliver this news to him. I knew he would find out eventually, but not from me, and not while he was alone. He was clearly struggling, and I didn't want to do anything that might make it worse… of finally send him over the edge. I decided to just not respond and try to end this crazy call.

"Look Edward, I need to get going. Please just tell Alice that I called."

There was a long pause and I silently hoped he wasn't going to insist that I acknowledge his offer. He finally said, "Okay, bye Bella. Thanks for listening."

"Bye Edward."

I quickly hung up the phone and stood, shaking off the strange feelings the call had left me with. It had worked to distract me for a bit, but it definitely wasn't the distraction I had wanted.

The dishes were still in the sink from our lunch, so I washed those and put them away, then looked around for something else to clean. Emily's house was always immaculate, though, and I still had quite a lot of time before she was supposed to return, but I needed something to keep me busy.

I started by wiping down the kitchen counters, even though they probably didn't need it, then I moved on to the outsides of all of the cabinets. None of that took me long, so I needed to do something more in depth. One by one, I emptied out each cabinet and wiped down the shelves. This did the trick. My heart still ached, but I was able to keep my mind from dwelling on it. I was just starting to put everything back into the final upper cabinet when Emily returned.

"Bella? What are you doing?" she asked me with a confused smile when she found me kneeling on the counter.

I gave her a sheepish grin over my shoulder. "I hope you don't mind, but I needed a distraction, so I cleaned all your upper cabinet shelves. This is the last one."

"Oh wow. No, I don't mind at all. Is everything alright?"

I let out a humorless laugh as I finished putting the last few things in the cabinet and hopped off the counter before answering.

Sighing, I sat in a chair. "No," I said forlornly.

At the look of concern on Emily's face I clarified.

"There's nothing wrong. Just a new challenge."

She put the sacks she was carrying on the counter and sat in the chair next to me, an expectant look on her face.

"It's just that it's become nearly impossible to be away from Jake again. It's different from the pull we had while I was injured… that caused me to be anxious and antsy. This is just a strong ache in my heart, but it also made it extremely hard to sleep last night. It feels, I don't know… wrong, I guess, to be away from him. And he's feeling it too. It was definitely worse last night than it is right now. Maybe it will fade after some time, but I don't really think it will."

I paused and looked at her earnestly. "This part of the magic is getting a little annoying. What does it want from us… to never ever be apart? I love Jake and hate being away from him, but to not be able to choose that for ourselves without having some forced discomfort is getting old."

Emily had been silently listening as I vented. She smiled at me with understanding. "Has it occurred to you that this may not be the magic? Maybe you're just really missing each other when you have to be apart."

"Well, yes, but I've missed Jake before, and this is so much stronger. I barely slept last night."

"It could be that the imprinting is just magnifying your feelings. Your situation is unique because you already loved each other before the imprinting… and you imprinted as well as Jake, so it may just be affecting you that much stronger."

I was quiet while I considered this.

Emily patted me on my hand. "I think you should just give it some time and see what happens."

I nodded. "Yeah, that's kinda the conclusion that Jake and I had come to as well."

"Oh, before I forget, Grammy Jo will be here sometime this week and she is so excited to see you both, especially now that you've imprinted. Would you mind coming to meet her?"

"Not at all! I would love to meet her." I felt some excitement at the thought. I was curious to find out what she might be able to see about me and Jake.

"I'll let you know exactly when she will be here once I know."

Emily and I spent the rest of the afternoon together. Having someone to pass the time with definitely made being separated from Jake much easier!

Both our guys arrived at the house together. We had some time before Jake and I needed to head back to Forks, so we visited for a while longer. Jake told them what we had discovered about me this morning and they were both intrigued.

"I bet that's why you were able to catch that plate last night," Emily said to me.

That hadn't even crossed my mind. "I bet you're right. I've been a klutz all my life… it'll be nice to not have to worry about hurting myself all the time now." I looked over at the clock and sighed, turning to Jake. "We should probably get going. I need to stop by the store to pick up some groceries."

Jake was nodding, but Sam stopped us before we could get up.

"Actually, before you take off, Em and I have a question we'd like to ask the two of you."

We looked at them expectantly. They looked at each other and Sam nodded to Emily.

"We were wondering," Emily started, "if you would both stand up with us at our wedding? If you would be a groomsman and bridesmaid?"

My eyes went wide, and I looked at Jake to see a matching expression on his face as he turned to look at me too. Our joint excitement came through our bond, and we smiled at each other before turning back to Sam and Emily.

"Of course, we would love to be a part of your special day," I answered then hesitated. "I mean, if you're sure. We haven't known each other for all that long, so I don't want you to feel obligated because of everything—"

Emily waved her hand, dismissing my concerns. "No, that's not why we're asking. It's true we haven't known each other long, and that's partly why we haven't asked sooner, but I've thought of you as a sister ever since you and Jake came for dinner that first night. As our friendship has grown, the more I knew I wanted to include you."

Sam added, "And I've wanted to have Jake stand up with me for even longer…"

Then Emily continued, bouncing off each other easily. "…but I didn't want to choose another girl just to have a third person. I wanted it to be someone special to me."

I smiled fondly at them both. "I think of you the same way Emily, so yes, I'd be honored. We're excited for both of you." I glanced at the clock again. "I'm sorry to do this, be we really do need to get going. Next time I come over you'll have to give me all the details."

We said our goodbyes then headed back to Forks.