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Chapter 12

Plans


Leah


Mom's tears were flowing with sentimental memories of our dad. I didn't know what I should do so I just wrapped her in my arms.

Mom quickly regained her composure and then told us how Dad fixed the bikes up and taught her to ride. She had retained some small scars from it. She'd had it sent here, together with her own, years ago and had placed them with Alex. He had planned to use the bikes for the driving school, so that the students would also learn a little about technology and mechanics. But he had always been too busy and never managed to get the bikes cleaned and repaired. In fact, he might even be quite happy to finally be rid of one of the scrap heaps.

Mom surprised me a little. If I was interested in riding a motorcycle, I should say so now instead of presenting her with my license someday.

But I waved her off. I didn't have any interest in those things. Riding on the back of one was okay - especially with Ben - but I was afraid of driving one myself. I missed having a seat belt.

Soon she called it a night, reminding us not to go to bed too late, and I found myself alone in the garage with Jake.

"So? What did you think about earlier?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know ... We had assumed that Edward just wanted to hurt Mom. Lied to her from the beginning and never intended to stay with her. Just knowingly broke her heart. His hobby just ... But I'm starting to get the feeling that it's just the opposite."

"What do you mean by that? The opposite?"

"After Mom left school this morning, Edward came running ..." he began.

I smirked.

Mom had apparently really told off the principal. It was completely necessary. That ass-kisser.

"So?" I asked more specifically.

"His face ... He wasn't angry because she, of all people, lives here or we know what he is or who he is exactly ... It was full of pain and suffering. His voice was trembling."

"Mom said they were good actors," I replied. We had enough reasons to kill Edward and I would not be dissuaded from that. We were right in our opinion of him, there was no doubt in my mind about it at all.

"Yes. But that's not the only thing that kind of makes me wonder ... Come on, I'll show you," Jake replied, pulling his T-shirt over his head.

Yes. Being a wolf. It was awesome. This freedom and the sheer unbridled strength that I experienced. I had to be really careful that this didn't go to my head, I grinned to myself as I undressed.

I quickly controlled the fire inside me, felt the trembling and phased with it.

We ran directly into the forest and enjoyed the feeling.

We liked being wolves, even if it meant we were actually freaks. The past week had been exhausting. Seth had taught us a lot. How we could most effectively patrol a large area. Jake and I had resolved to run through the woods once every morning and once every evening to make sure there really wasn't a vampire near our house.

After circling the city once in opposite directions, we met again within sight of our home.

This speed alone was amazing! '... Jake, you should really get a haircut! Your fur looks like it's a playground for vermin, you're so shaggy.'

'No chance. My hair is sacred to me!' he announced immediately. Somewhat meekly, he added: 'Becky likes it.'

'Only Becky, you ass.' Even though Jake only had eyes for Becky for almost two years, other girls hadn't overlooked him. Many girls would make mooneyes at him, only he never noticed them.

I smiled a little sadly into myself. 'At least you can tell her what you are someday.'

'Maybe Ben will find out somehow. Like Mom with Dad,' he tried to comfort me.

He ran to Becky.

'Just seeing if everything is okay with her.'

'Yeah, that's clear. How long has it been since you've seen Becky? Four hours? How on earth could you stand it?'

'I don't know!' Jake replied more seriously than I had asked my question.

But I also ran to Ben and looked up - in the shelter of the trees of the edge of the forest - to his upstairs window. He was still awake and seemed to be playing air guitar. With only his boxer shorts on.

I laid down in the undergrowth and enjoyed the sight of my boyfriend, who never saw me.

His still somewhat childlike face, with dark brown hair and equally warm dark eyes were so captivating. The lightly tanned skin emphasized his muscles that were only hinted at. The tattoo on his upper arm twitched with every little tension. His tight ass, that I couldn't keep my hands off of. Just a little bit away from his front. That look when I ...

'Leah! I'm still here!'

'Oops ... Sorry.'

I stood up and realized I was drooling.

'How much longer can bear to go without sex?' Jake asked with a laugh.

'Not much longer! And you?' I then asked when I noticed that Jake had arrived at Becky's house. But his thoughts were different from mine. Less lustful, more loving.

'You've been together with Ben for half a year. I've been with Becky for only a few hours. Of course, I think differently,' he explained, however, when I realized that the reason for his different feeling was due to his imprinting.

My brother then showed me how Mom had talked to Mr. Taylor on the phone.

That mutual hearing and seeing of thoughts was so cool. It was like I had been the one sitting on the stairs in front of Mom and not Jake - and she had really kicked his ass. Ha! And then Edward came through the door, tripping over Jake's foot. 'Good job, Jake.'

'Thank you,' Jake thought conceitedly.

But I understood what he meant.

There was no resentment, suspicion or ill-will in Edward's face. Only sorrow, grief and ... 'Was that hope?'

'Sure, looked like it.'

'Why hope?' He hoped that Mom is who she really is? For what reason?

Jake continued to recall - The moment with Becky before second period, his 'You're welcome' in the hallway, the last class of the day, and the 'conversation' between him and Edward.

'Respect! You didn't even really think about Mom. I probably wouldn't have made it. And a threat!'

'Thanks again ... It was really exhausting ... I'm glad mom is allowing us to stop keeping her a secret. Because I don't know if I could do it for a whole year.'

His memories made me think.

For what reason would Edward have done Jake this small favor of nudging Becky into his arms? Why did he do that?

I ran through it again, from Jake's point of view. He had been afraid. Believed that maybe Becky didn't want anything to do with him. But apparently Becky had had the same fears, because after Edward's nudge in the right direction, she looked perfectly content.

Had Edward heard that in her head and that's why he interfered? If it was like that, that was really nice of him. Who knows how long they would have beaten around the bush otherwise! Both would have driven themselves out of their minds with their own thoughts, because neither would have been brave enough to make the first move.

I also remembered what happened over lunch. I had seen Jake and Becky grinning happily. However, my gaze had automatically gone across the cafeteria, to the bloodsucker's table. Edward had also looked at them.

'But with what kind of look? I tried to interpret it ... Satisfied? Pleased?'

'That's what I thought, too,' Jake now interjected. 'Or maybe it's just because you're distracted by them!'

'Maybe.'

On the other hand, Edward actually looked pleased. Instead of sneaky or condescending because he had gotten rid of Jake with it. And then during the last class Edward's face looked emotional when he spoke about Mom. As if it would hurt him to remember her.

'However - there was hope in his eyes. Or was this love? …'

'Show me how imprinting feels,' I prompted Jake. I was curious I was flabbergasted when I saw that then. 'So, Edward feels the same way about Mom? Who does he think he is? He's nuts!'

'Don't forget that Edward saw it too. He was in my head! Just like you are now. So, he's well aware of the magnitude of it,' Jake pointed out.

'But don't forget they're good at pretending. Maybe he's just hoping for our compassion so he can force us to recall a memory of Mom. A confirmation that it's really her. Only to then do something to her.'

'I thought of that, too. But wouldn't he be here by now? Getting our address should not be a problem. Even if he didn't have it, he should be able to find us easily.'

'You're right about that ... You really doubt he's as callous an asshole as we think he is?'

'Sort of, yeah. After all, he basically admitted that he changed Samantha. That it was his fault. To even call it a mistake and then just tell me ... Why would he do that? He's practically giving us permission to kill him. And we have every right to on our side. There's nothing this Carlisle guy can do about it, either.'

I saw the vampires in my mind's eye. How we experienced them in school and how Seth had shown them to us.

They were relayed memories from Sam, who was the only wolf at the time, who had also once crossed paths with Carlisle. They had respectfully exchanged a few polite words with each other. That was a shameless exaggeration. Sam had reminded him of the contract. Every single word within it! Everything else was just views of them from a safe distance. They appeared like one big happy family. It really couldn't be described as anything else. And at school, everyone had their partner. One didn't see any of them making out or anything, but it still appeared very ... sickening. 'Rosalie and Emmett. Alice and Jasper. Edward and Samantha. The latter behave strange in comparison to the others. Samantha seems to run after Edward rather than the other way around. A little bit too willingly for my taste. Oh well. Not my problem. In any case, they seemed more like they just wanted to live their lives.'

'Maybe we really are wrong ... We should find out what Edward's behavior means.'

'And do you have any idea how to do that?'

'In principle yes. It's risky, though, it's still possible he's just trying to set us up after all.'

'Let's hear it.'

'We'll show him who she is on Wednesday. Mom said they'll want to draw as little attention as possible. He has no idea where she works and can't go to her immediately, if that's even what he wants. And Mom is also in Portland all day Wednesday with Peter to present their report. He can't find her during the day. I think he'll remain in school. On top of that, Wednesday is the only day we don't have practice after school, so it's the only day we're definitely home before Mom to watch over her. Then we'll know if Edward is just tricking us and Mom will be rid of that uncertainty.'

'The latter would be good. She's become a bit of a nervous wreck already these past few days.'

'Would you feel any different?' my brother taunted me.

'Probably not.'


The next morning, I was much less excited.

I knew what was waiting for me. A vampire who was looking for a very specific thought from me at any price. But he could kiss that goodbye.

I stubbornly focused on class and in between I thought about Ben. Ben and me. On Saturday. A trip with our friends. A romantic lake. A two-person tent. Set up at a fare distance from the other tents. I was getting hotter at the thought of the upcoming Saturday.

The school day was uneventful. Except for practice in the afternoon.

Becky didn't practice yesterday because of her knee and had just sat on the bench or collected the balls, but she and Jake were funny to watch. Today it was even better. Again and again they got balls thrown at their heads.

Everyone knew by now that they were together, they could hardly take their eyes off of each other. They both played incredibly badly. One basketball, the other volleyball. I was just happy for the two of them.


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