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Chapter 35

All Over?

Leah

"Hot!" I cursed, dropping the marshmallow to the ground. Double crap! That was the last marshmallow we had, damn it.

Everyone laughed at me and I stuck my tongue out at all of them. Only Ben, on whose lap I was sitting, immediately took my burned fingertips and put them around his cold can of Coke. Not that he wasn't laughing, too.

"Where's Romeo and Juliet got to?" Lisa asked chuckling, after some time.

"They're certainly practicing the balcony scene. Without witnesses!" Jenny laughed.

"Maybe, more like the wedding night," Jason said.

I laughed with the others, but that's not something I could really imagine. Jake and Becky had only been together for a few days. Even if neither of them could be said to be shy, I doubted they would be doing it already. On the other hand, the love between the two was already something special and had developed quite quickly in the past few days. They certainly gave the impression that they had already been together for a long time, or always. Perhaps they simply forgot the time.

Was that due to the imprinting? No idea. Probably the reason the two have been gone so long is because they were almost in Canada! Jake was pretty fast as a wolf, after all!

We gabbed for a while; goofing around, finishing the last bag of chips. It was almost midnight when Brandon stood up and offered Jenny a hand.

"Ladies! Thank you for an enjoyable evening and I wish you a good night's sleep!" Bran said farewell. "Ben, good night to you too," he added.

"Uh ... did he just call me a girl between the lines?" Jason complained.

"No," I said.

"Not between the lines!" Ben chuckled, and Lisa also smirked to herself.

"Are you going to sic your big sister on me now?" Bran laughed yet as he walked away, getting an empty can thrown at his neck by Jason.

I felt a little sorry for Jason sometimes. He was the youngest one of us and had just turned sixteen during the summer vacation. Again and again he had to listen to stupid sayings from all of us, because he also had his big sister always with him as his 'protector'. On the other hand, he didn't know any different. He was one of us. And he knew that we weren't all that serious.

"And leave your hands above the covers!" he called still after them.

"Forget it. They don't even know how to do that anymore," Lisa rebuked her brother. "But I'll retire then, too ... Good night," she said and went in the direction of her tent.

Jason was taking a closer look at the campfire, pushing the branches together and checking the boundary stones so it could die out without being watched and without anything happening.

"Until breakfast then. Sleep well!" Jason said with a wink, picking up the two blankets from the ground and placing them on the bench in front of the house before he too made his way to the sibling tent.

Everything was quiet and Ben and I were alone. Only the crackling of the fire echoed through the starry full moon night ...

Was I really getting nervous now?

"Are you also tired?" inquired Ben.

He actually sounded a little edgy, which kind of calmed me down.

"No. I'm not," I replied, and - sitting between his legs - turned sideways to him.

He put his arms around me and I let my head fall on them. We talked about all sorts of things, while our hands played gently with each other and we looked constantly into the dancing flames.

Like most of the time this evening, our conversation ended with us kissing and caressing each other for ages. My hands slipped under his T-shirt, as his under mine. As his fingers made their way to the clasp of my shorts, I stopped him. I chuckled at his expression, which looked a little perplexed.

Even if we hadn't slept together yet, we had already explored each other's bodies in detail. The fact that I stopped him now was not normal.

"Maybe we'd better go into the tent," I chuckled.

"I guess you're right," he admitted.

After all, we were sitting here as if on display. If anyone wanted to get something from the car or went to the bathroom in the house, they inevitably passed us. Jake and Becky would also probably come back here first to see if anyone else was awake, wherever they were hanging out.

So, we stood up, put our blanket aside, and staggered to our tent, kissing, where a large sleeping bag was waiting for us. We practically tumbled onto it as we crawled - ducking - through the low entrance. Immediately we resumed the exploration of each other. Little by little we undressed each other and caressed the others exposed skin. We stroked and massaged until we were finally naked.

So far, so good. Up to this point, nothing was new.

I was already getting nervous again.

Ben noticed my excitement and pulled me into his arms.

"We don't have to do it, Leah," he looked me in the eyes. "If you're scared or not ready yet ... I can wait. As long as you want," he whispered, gently stroking my arms that held him close.

"I'm not afraid," I clarified, however, in a more or less trembling voice. I didn't sound very convincing. "I feel ready ... I'm just really excited," I admitted, mumbling, and let my fingers slide over his chest.

"So am I," Ben smirked, and I looked up a little surprised.

He raised his flat hand in the air. It trembled slightly. I held mine next to it. It was also trembling a little. We laughed a little sheepishly and intertwined our fingers with each other.

'He's having the same thoughts you are. The same thoughts everyone has before,' Edward's words suddenly echoed in my head. Together with the 'Don't think'. So, Leah. Don't think! You want it. You want to finally know what love truly feels like. You've had enough of a taste of it. And you've fucking loved it! So good that you have often wanted more than just touching and lustful kisses ... Basically, I've felt ready for a long time, but we rarely had the opportunity to be truly undisturbed. When we were not out with our group, I was usually at his house. However, two of his siblings were always running around the house. That's why we had really planned it for today, because we knew that no one would disturb us ... That's enough! I admonished my head and pushed myself energetically onto Ben's lap.

I kissed him with desire and very soon felt how Ben grew more and more under me. Carefully I massaged his middle, as he did mine. We moaned together under our touches until I could stand it no longer. Ben didn't seem to feel any different. I was still sitting on him, but he turned us so that I ended up with my back on the sleeping bag. Behind me were our backpacks and I reached into a small side pocket and pulled out a condom.

"Sure?" Ben asked as he kissed me again.

"Quite sure!" I stated more convincingly this time, punctuating my words by tearing open the foil and holding out this little floppy, already kind of gross, rubber thing to him.

Of course, I had already held one of these in my hands. I wanted to know how the put on worked. It had been an awkward evening with Lisa, Jenny, a few bananas and maybe a sip too much sparkling wine.

Gently and slowly he thrust into me, looking deep into my eyes, and I held my breath so as to not miss absolutely any of it.

How that felt!

Inch by inch he went deeper, filling me and it made me moan excitedly. My eyelids fluttered under this new sensation. We immediately moved in unison. Slowly and quietly, savoring every feeling. Hot flashes ran through my body and made me tremble irregularly.

Ben came closer to me with his upper body, almost leaning on me and grazing my erect nipples with every movement. It tingled. In contrast to this tingling stood our consuming intoxicated kiss.

This interplay of the most diverse perceptions flooded me.

Without releasing Ben, I flipped us over. Braced on his chest, I moved alone. A new face emerged. Pure erotic excitement was in Ben's gaze. His warm hands massaged over me- my sides, my thighs, my bottom, my arms, my middle.

Oh, was felt amazing!

I felt something building up inside me. A new feeling. I thought I was about to explode because I didn't know where to put all my senses. Like a detonation, a wave of euphoria flowed through my body and made me tremble from head to toe.

Ben also moaned out his climax and clawed into my thighs before I let myself fall powerlessly onto his chest.

I now felt somehow completely finished. Finished in a very pleasant and completely satisfied way! Wow ... What had those feelings been? It was perfect! I even felt a little dizzy. My heart was still racing and seemed to be in a race with my lungs. But I also felt more alive than ever.

I rolled off Ben's body onto the sleeping bag and laughed boisterously.

I was happy!

Ben put the condom aside and kissed his way from my fingertips up to my neck. It tickled when he reached the hollow under my ear. He knew exactly that I was ticklish there and I tried to escape his lips. But he stopped of his own accord and looked me in the eyes, his arms firmly around me.

"I love you, Leah!" he whispered lovingly.

"Me too, Ben!" I replied as well and kissed him. "Is this how you imagined it?" I asked curiously after a while, laughing happily at him.

"No," he said directly. He suppressed a chuckle, though not for too long. "It was better. Nicer ... It was you. Just you ... Spirited, tempestuous, and hot as hell!" he spoke, kissing me profusely.

I was floating like on clouds. We had reached a new level in our relationship. I felt it, but was by no means unhappy by it.

I had to drink something and slowly the erotic heat in my body subsided. I reached for a bottle behind us, snuggled into Ben's arms and pulled the sleeping bag over us.

Sure, wolves rarely froze, but I saw the goose bumps on Ben's arms. I had to adapt to that. Speaking of wolves! I felt so close to Ben right now and safer with him than I've ever felt before ... I don't think I'll find a better moment, I thought to myself and considered how I should start.

"You … Ben. I would like to tell you something. I have no idea what you're going to say about it," I scraped together all my courage.

"Then fire away, baby," he encouraged me good-humoredly, turning on his side to listen better and giving me a blithe kiss.

He was not a curious person, but if I told him something that he noticed that was bothering me, he was happy if I let him participate in it. But this time I was really looking forward to his reaction.

I began to tell him about the old legends.

For now, I wanted to concentrate on the wolf stories. I saved the fact that there were also vampires for later.

"And you believe such nonsense?" he asked, amused, when I finished.

"I'm afraid I have no choice," I said.

"Because you're Native American? ... Pfft! ... Do you also think that the earth is flat, just because you are baptized?" he made fun of me and my self-confidence became smaller and smaller.

He didn't believe me. Sure. That was also incredible. He would think I was crazy if I just insisted it was true. People thought alien-believers to be crazy. On the other hand, some of them were really loco, with their statements, 'They' were already among us ... Concentrate, Leah!

"Of course not. But there is always some truth in legends," I calmly contradicted.

"Come on, baby. People who turn into wolves ... Whoever thinks up something like that is mentally disturbed," Ben insisted.

"But if it were true?" I interjected, and Ben considered it.

He was thinking seriously about it. At least I thought he was.

Vociferously he laughed.

"Can't you even try to imagine it? Isn't your imagination big enough for that?" I complained now. Somehow it made me mad that he paid so little attention to our legends and ONLY made fun of them. Because two weeks ago, before I knew that I was part of these fairy tales myself, I had thought about it now and then. These stories had to come from somewhere. I had also not been able to believe that one could really phase, but still.

"No. I can't. It's too ridiculous," Ben declared coldly.

We bickered about this topic further and my mood changed from pissed to offended and finally to insulted.

Then it became too stupid for me.

I pulled him outside, naked as we were, walked a little way into the wood and looked him in the eyes.

"I can't ignore these legends because I'm a part of them," I took his face in my hands, gave him a kiss, and stride back three steps.

He asked, annoyed, what I was up to, what this was about.

I phased. Before his eyes, which grew larger and larger. Any cheerfulness had completely disappeared from his face. I calmly lay down on the ground, so as not to appear threatening at all, and looked toward him.

Ben paled, took a few steps back, and then leaned against a tree that was in his way.

I phased back, but stood still in place. We remained there for an eternally long moment.

"Ben ... I ..." I then said carefully and hesitantly took a step towards him. I didn't know what to say.

"No ... Don't you come near me! ... You're a goddamn mutant!" he yelled gruffly and ran back.

I was dumbfounded and couldn't think straight.

I shouldn't ... get too close to him? But ... we loved each other? ... The one could not be reconciled with the other! ... Or ... had Ben just ... broken up with me? My heart tightened painfully together. This couldn't be true.

I quickly ran after him. He was in the tent getting dressed. I wanted into his arms, but he pushed me back.

"Don't you touch me, you monster!" he nagged at me.

He immediately left the tent and I curled up into a ball.

I tried to concentrate on this last minutes. To find some meaning in them. Again and again I repeated what had just happened. Until finally I began to cry ...

I had lost Ben. The love of my life was over. The pain Mom had felt back then suddenly didn't seem so exaggerated to me.

I wailed to myself with no sense of time.

At some point I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I felt were my brother's warm and comforting arms. He said nothing, but simply held me tightly.

It did good. At least one person on this earth would always stand by me. I would not lose him.

"So, he didn't really get it?" he asked at one point after I had cried again.

I just shook my head.

"Hello. Anyone in there?" I heard Becky ask cautiously outside the tent.

She hesitated for a moment when she saw Jake and me.

I asked myself why. He was my brother.

Then I remembered that I was still naked. I reached behind me, grabbed the first T-shirt I could reach, and stopped.

Ben's T-shirt.

I was already sobbing away again.

"Oh Leah, I'm sorry," Becky seemed to understand the situation, coming all the way into the tent and also taking me into her arms.

She asked what happened and I told her.

"... he called me mutant ... and monster," I murmured afterwards. His words had hit me deeply. He detested me. And after we had slept together only such a short time before. The pure happiness and the deepest agony. So close together.

Jake broke away from me, looked in my bag for something to wear, handed it to Becky, and left the tent.

He looked angry.

Becky was fantastic. She had such a calming presence and found just the right words that I really calmed down.

"What do you say if we jump in the lake? So, we can really perk up?" she then asked and I nodded.

I took the clothes from her again and looked for my bikini.

Ben was no longer part of my life. I had to deal with that. But with Jake as a brother and Becky as a friend, I would manage. And at home there were the best parents one could wish for ... There it was again ... that word. Parents.

The jump into the water made Becky and me briefly yelp. It was much colder than we had thought, but it felt good. I dived several times so that my swollen eyes also got something from the freshness. Gradually, the others woke and joined us in a good mood.

Only Jake stood at the cabin with Ben, and he seemed to be talking insistently to Ben.

My senses had been sharpened as a wolf. I could understand isolated snippets of conversation.

"Leah ... still a human ... you have ... yet you also ... Leah ... I am ... warning ... at home ..."

Jake would enlighten me later.

Breakfast was exhausting.

Ben kept the greatest possible distance from me and did not say a word.

The others, of course, noticed that something was wrong between us ...

It was over, I reminded myself, to bring the finality to my mind.

Becky was great. She hardly left me alone and tried to distract me with all kinds of unimportant stuff.

But the tense atmosphere among us dragged the others down with us. I asked Jake to drive home ahead of time and he agreed.

Jake talked with the others. There was enough room in Brandon's SUV that Ben could ride with them later.

I quickly packed my things together and we said farewell to the others. I apologized at least to Jenny and Lisa for my mood, but they were just my friends. Even if they didn't know exactly what was going on, they encouraged me.

Jake and Becky said farewell to Ben in private. I heard Becky say Ben was making a huge mistake and Jake threatened him that he shouldn't say anything to anyone.

During the drive, Becky joined me in the back and held my hand reassuringly. I didn't want to drag the two of them down more and instead asked how their evening had been.

"Nice!" they said almost in unison and both chuckled quietly to themselves all at once.

Is it somehow a law of nature that only one twin was ever allowed to be truly happy?

Thanks for reading!