Please don't be too upset with me... I wanted to get this updated earlier today, but I suddenly had a brilliant little twist to add that became a brilliant big twist as my characters grabbed hold and ran with it, making the part 2 of Sam's POV which was almost completed except for proof reading last night, twice as long as it had been, meaning I had to split it a third time. I'm just completeing part 3 now, but figured you'd all much rather have one chapter tonight and another tomorrow, rather than wait and get 2 tomorrow once I've finished tinkering with part 3. So here's tonight's chapter and I promise I'll have the last part up tomorrow.

Still, 4 humongous chapters in 4 days is a pretty good treat eh? ;0P

Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight Saga. I own twitchy fingers that enjoy writing for no profit.

Chapter 31: Insults and Injuries

Walking into my room to get dressed, I thought once again about how good Bella had looked in my shirt. I'd not realised just how extreme my growth spurt had been until I saw her walk out in my t-shirt, only a size or two too big for her. If she'd put on a shirt that fit me these days, it'd look like a dress on her and it'd drop off one shoulder. Sternly fighting back that sexy image in my mind, I grabbed a pair of cut-off jeans from my closet, dropped my towel and pulled them on. I grabbed my towel off the floor and looked around for the towels Bella had been using so I could throw the lot into the washer. She'd left hers neatly folded and draped over the back of the wooden chair in the corner. As I picked hers up, a familiar and unmistakable smell caught my nose.

Blood.

I froze in my tracks, wet towels dropping from my numb fingers. "Did I hurt her?" I ran my mind back through the order of events, wincing to myself as I noted several occasions where it was almost certain that I'd caused her some discomfort or pain. The slam against the wall, the relentless pounding into the floor, the banging of her head against the toilet. Any of these could easily have caused some damage. I recalled the deep scratches and the bite that Bella had given me and for a split second I considered that maybe the smell was my own blood. I had to quickly dismiss that thought though; I healed so quickly that I doubted there'd even been as much as a pink line left behind by the time we'd showered. That had been why I'd made sure we'd stayed face to face in the shower. I didn't want her to notice the absence of scratches and ask awkward questions.

I thought for a moment of how she'd looked in the shower, running my mind's eye down the front of her body. Apart from the dark hickey I'd left by her collarbone, which hadn't broken the skin, there were no injuries to be seen, and I'd felt no lumps or bumps on her head when I washed her hair, so whatever damage I'd done had to be on her back. Probably as a result of the wall slam or the floor pounding. She hadn't said anything, so I hoped it wasn't much more than a few scratches, but I wouldn't be at ease until I knew.

Picking up the towels again, I took them out to the washer and threw them in with some washing powder and set the load to washing, then went back to the kitchen to find Bella tackling the debris left behind after my cooking disaster in the sink. She turned and gave me a cheery smile as I walked in and I wondered how I should broach the subject. "Bella, why didn't you tell me I'd hurt you? I'm so sorry." It sounded ok in my head, but I suspected that it would spoil the happy relaxed atmosphere between the two of us, and as she hadn't said anything herself, I also figured that she was intending to keep whatever damage I'd done to herself. I decided not to ask her outright, but to go the sneaky route instead. Walking slowly to stand behind her at the sink, I quietly sniffed at her, trying to narrow down the search by scent. It wasn't something I'd tried before and I was surprised at how well it worked. I could smell the blood pooled under her skin by her collarbone where I'd left that hickey, but it was a fainter, muffled scent as the skin hadn't actually been broken. "Huh. So that's what a bruise smells like." I made a mental note in case I ever needed it in the future. The same scent, along with a tiny trace of blood was coming from a spot near the centre of her lower back. Hoping that tiny trace, which couldn't have been more than a scratch was the worst of it, but not willing to assume and miss something, I took a second sniff. All I detected was more of the bruise scent, only fainter coming from lower on her body and I recalled the way I'd gripped her hips and thighs. "Yeah. That will've left a few bruises." I thought. I would've felt guilty about it, but again I recalled the gouges she'd dug into me with her nails, and that bite she'd given me and I figured that had I been completely even, I probably would've come out the worst, so I didn't see the point in angsting over it now. "I'll be more careful next time though!" I promised myself.

Stepping forward, I ran my hands up her hips and to her waist, "accidentally" lifting the hem of her shirt as I did so. There it was. That other bruise I'd scented, with a large but shallow scratch running through it. It must've been from the relentless pounding I'd given her on the floor and I felt a flash of guilt. I should've been more careful. I again promised myself that the next time I would be and I again debated apologising to her for the injury, but she seemed so cheerful that I couldn't bring myself to ruin her mood. Deciding to keep it to myself, I simply slipped my hands around her waist under the t-shirt and looped them around her front, pulling her gently up against my front. I kissed the side of her neck gently and murmured.

"Leave it, Bella. I'm just going to throw them all out and get new ones so you can cook for me and save me from my own ineptitude." She giggled and turned in my arms to kiss me back.

"I was hoping you'd say something like that." She said. "Come on – let's go get some proper breakfast." And so we headed out.

It'd been so long since I went to the diner for breakfast on the weekend that I'd completely forgotten just how busy they got. We took the only two remaining seats up at the counter and waited to be served. I didn't think that Bella noticed, but as we walked in, the buzz of conversation died down and then intensified as we sat down. All around us the other customers had just one topic of conversation. Us. With my enhanced hearing I could hear every version of the debate about the new chief and his new woman, and I determinedly blocked it all out of my hearing, refusing to let the local gossips ruin this day that had started out so incredibly. I wasn't going to let anyone or anything put a dampener on my post-sex high. As our waitress approached, I suddenly remembered just why I hadn't been in the diner on the weekend for long enough to forget how busy it got. Leah. "Oh shit. This isn't going to be pleasant. We should've gone somewhere else. FUCK! Why did I have to burn all the food?" I thought, but I kept my expression open and polite, hoping that there was some way of escaping a scene. Leah walked past Bella as if she was invisible, but the sneer on Leah's face clearly showed that she's noticed her. She stopped and stood in front of me with what I recognised as her flirty smile plastered across her face. "Shit. Here we go." I thought.

"Well hello, you." She simpered at me. "Don't you look great? I haven't seen you in here for breakfast on a weekend in forever. I guess you just remembered I would be here and wanted to catch up a little, huh?" As uncomfortable as I felt, I tried to keep my expression neutral, not wanting to antagonise Leah, but refusing to insult Bella by acknowledging Leah's smile and blatant flirting. Bella remained calm and cool beside me, though there was no way she had missed the deliberate snub and subsequent gushing at me. I was impressed at her coolness – if the situation had been reversed I wasn't sure I could've kept it together. "Shit, does that mean she's not all that interested in me apart from the sex?" I panicked for a moment, before realising how ridiculous I was being. "I'm such a dick. In the first place, it's not meant to be an emotionally based relationship. In the second place, Bella's just not the sort to cause a scene, and finally, when the fuck did I turn into a fifteen year old girl?"

"Oh, erm….. Hi, Leah. Erm. Yeah, it's nice to see you and everything but we just came in for breakfast really, that's all." I said to Leah, and the smile on her face faltered for a split second, before coming back in full force.

"Well what do you fancy this morning then, Sammy?" she asked in a weird breathy voice that really didn't suit her at all. I'd always hated it when she'd call me Sammy, and had told her so several times, but she'd always ignored me, saying it was cute. Her using that name actually helped me get my balance and when she added "See anything you like?" I simply raised a surprised eyebrow. Unfortunately it didn't dissuade her in the slightest and the discomfort festival continued. She playfully flicked the menu card. "On the menu of course, silly" she simpered.

I was glad to feel Bella's hand gently squeezing my knee, offering silent support and making it clear she wasn't pissed at me over the impending scene. Her touch helped a lot and I straightened in my seat, squaring my shoulders.

"Bella and I would both like a cup of coffee to start us off, thanks Leah." I said carefully and politely, not wanting to hurt her, but also not willing to allow her to dismiss Bella completely. "Then she'll have…" I trailed off, looking at Bella, inviting her to make her order.

"A stack of blueberry pancakes and a side of bacon, extra crispy please, Leah" She asked politely, and either missing or deliberately ignoring Leah's tense, clenched jaw as a she wrote down Bella's order.

"And I'll take the same, only a double order of both for me, and an extra side of sausage, also double, thanks." I added in an equally polite voice. Leah pressed so hard with her pencil as she wrote that her hands shook a little and I felt any hope I had allowed to grow wither and die. She was definitely going to create a scene. Leah went to grab a coffee pot and as she came back, her hands were still shaking. In anger, I guessed and I briefly felt a little sorry for her; she can't have expected to have to deal with this when she went into work that morning. My sympathy disappeared a second later as she poured boiling hot coffee all over Bella's hand in the most obviously fake accident I'd ever seen. Bella leapt up with a pained yelp and cradled her hand to her chest protectively.

"Ow owowowowowow." She whimpered, blowing on her hand. Looking around for some water or ice, I spotted a pitcher of chilled orange juice on the counter and I quickly jumped up and grabbed it, then turned and gently but firmly took hold of Bella's wrist, plunging her injured hand into the ice cold liquid.

"Shh. Shh. It's ok, you're ok." I soothed her, pulling her into my arms a little awkwardly due to the attached pitcher. "Keep your hand in there for a few minutes while I sort you something better." I went to pull away so I could get her a bowl or pitcher of ice water, but Bella whimpered so piteously again and grasped at the back of my shorts, that I couldn't move away from her. I bent and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before turning, trembling as I fought the need to phase right there in the diner to glare angrily at a pale faced Leah.

"I don't believe for a second that you did that by accident, Leah, but we can deal with that in a few minutes. Right now you're going to get a pitcher of ice water for Bella to put her hand in, and you're going to do it so fast that I barely see you move. You understand me?" I growled at her and she began to tremble herself. She'd never been afraid of me before – I'd never given her any reason to be. But she certainly seemed to have a healthy fear of me at that moment. "Good." I thought. I knew I'd never lay a finger on her, I was brought up knowing how unacceptable that was, but I wouldn't hesitated to have a really good yell at her as soon as I had Bella's hand tended to. Dramatic scene be damned. Despite being afraid, Leah still had a bit of fight left in her and I was thankful when, just as she opened her mouth to say something that was bound to make me even madder, someone jumped up from their table with a pitcher of ice water and copied my firm but gentle wrist grab and hand plunge manoeuvre, settling Bella's hand into the cooler liquid. I turned away from Leah to see who had helped and was stunned to see my mom standing there.

"Thanks Mom." I said, my voice a little shaky with emotion, and Bella's head whipped around and up to look me in the face. She looked as stunned as I felt, but she stood there quietly taking in my expression, which I sure was shaken but hopeful – that's how I was feeling.

"Thank you so much, erm Mrs Uley" Bella said in a grateful voice, her smile tight and pained. "It feels much less painful in the water." Mom nodded slightly.

"It's Alison, Sweetie, Mrs Uley is the battle axe of an ex-mother in law." She gave a wry little smile which Bella returned, and I just soaked in the memory of having heard her say the same thing many times before. "Sam Honey, you get yours and Bella's breakfasts to go, and I'll take Bella outside for some fresh air and a bit of space away from gawking eyes." She said the last two words a little louder and with pointed emphasis and while I was glad that my mom hadn't changed much if she was still giving the local gossips as much grief as possible at every opportunity, I did wish a little that she'd not reminded Bella of all the people staring at her. She hated being the centre of attention. Sure enough, as Bella realised that all eyes were on us, she blushed bright red and cast her eyes down to the floor.

Mom began to lead Bella outside, having to tug quite firmly on her arm to get her to release her hold on me. I didn't for a second believe that Mom would manage to restrain herself from speaking her piece to Leah though, so I wasn't at all surprised when just before they reached the door, she turned and fixed a still trembling, furious looking Leah with a piercing glare.

"As for you, Leah Clearwater." She ground out with that eerily calm, voice, which when I was a child and had done something wrong, had filled me with dread, "I have loved you like a daughter, backed you whenever you needed it, stood up for you and what I believed to be your rights, even to the detriment of my own son and my relationship with him. And here, now, I am finally shown just what I've been standing up for….. A vicious, spiteful, vindictive, spoilt little bitch, who would deliberately injure someone simply because they have what you want but can't have. I'm ashamed of you. I'm ashamed of myself for being so stupid as to destroy the wonderful close relationship with my only child over someone like you. It seems he did know better than me the whole time." Mom didn't give Leah a chance to respond, she simply raised her chin and turned back to the door, pulling Bella along with her, Bella's chin dragging across the floor as she walked. I knew how Bella felt. I was completely floored by Mom's stirring rant at Leah, and I knew that it was also her way of announcing to all the gossips listening in that her loyalty now lay with me once again. Bella truly was amazing. Somehow she had managed to be the catalyst that brought my mom and I back together, and I would never be able to repay her for that. I stood there, staring at Mom in disbelief for a moment and then shook off the hock and turned to give Leah a piece of my mind.

"So just what the fuck do you think you're playing at, Leah?" I began in a growling voice, all set to give her a blistering set down. As I looked across at her though, I began to realise something. Something impossible. Something dreadful. Something that needed to be gotten out of there as fast as fucking possible.

Leah was about twenty seconds away from phasing, and would be doing it right there and then if I didn't get her calmed down. Striding over to her, I grasped her elbow firmly and speaking in a loud voice for the benefit of the still gawping customers I said

"I think we'll talk about this privately, shall we?" Leah's shaking intensified as I tugged her along the corridor that led to the back door, Mrs Redfern the manager shaking her finger at Leah as we strode by and saying something about poor customer service and the docking of wages, and I'd barely gotten her outside before she exploded into a light grey wolf. I stepped forward, catching her eye as she spun around, tripping and yelping much as we all did on our first phase, and speaking in as calm a voice as I could muster, I said.

"Leah, don't panic. I know it's weird and terrifying, but you're not going mad, you really are a wolf and if you listen you'll be able to hear Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron trying to talk to you inside your mind." Leah stopped her yelping and turned to look at me with a furious gaze, snarling, growling and spitting as she tried to speak human words through her wolf mouth.

"I can't understand you when I'm in human form and you're phased, Leah. I'd have to phase too to hear you and I can't do that – my mom and Bella are right around the corner for one, ad for two, you need to be calm, not angry to make the phase back, and my presence in your head is not going to help you get to that point." I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice calm and even which was proving quite the task as Leah still hadn't let up on her snarling and snapping at me, refusing to accept that she couldn't speak in her wolf form. "You've got Paul and Jared right there to help you, Run through the back alleys and get into the forest, then run back til you get to your place. One of the guys will join you on the way, and your dad know all about this and will be able to help. Oh, and whatever you do, don't let anyone else see you." I stepped back a little, pointing out to her the way to go, and after a few more minutes of trying to yell at me with her wolf mouth, she finally gave in and, throwing one last hateful look at me, she ran off, surprisingly fast, through the alley towards the woods. With a huge sigh of relief, I leant against the wall for a moment, trying to regain my composure. "What the fuck? Women don't phase. It's always just the men. Shit. This is going to be a fucking nightmare." I scrubbed my hand across my face in frustration then quickly stepped back in through the back door of the diner to hunt out Mrs Redfern and cover for Leah.

After a brief chat with Mrs Redfern, I managed to convince her that it had been her own idea to send Leah home, and with the meals we'd ordered handed over, on the house, and a couple of cups of orange juice thrown in too for good measure, I quickly strode out of the front of the diner just as my cell beeped with a text. It was from Jared, who, obviously, had phased back to text me that the shit had just hit the fan at the Clearwater's and that I needed to get my ass over there. I texted back a quick "Hell, fuck no. I'll just make it worse – she's angrier with me than with anyone else, and right now I have to deal with the person that Leah injured." And rushed over to Bella and my mom who were sitting on a bench outside. As I approached I just caught the tail end of what my mom was saying to Bella.

"….You're a good girl, a strong woman, and just what my Sam needs." I heard her say and I realised that she was actually right, Bella was exactly what I needed. It hit me then that I'd done exactly what I'd told myself not to do – I'd fallen for her. It had happened so fast and so naturally that I'd not realised the danger I was in and now it was too late. I would eventually have to deal with the backlash which would come with either my imprinting, or her leaving. Either that or I'd have to break things off with her immediately. My wolf snarled in fury at that idea, and I couldn't help but agree with him. It was something I was going to have to give a lot of thought to, but just then wasn't the right moment. Bella was hurt and I needed to help her if I could. I crouched down next to her and peered at her hand through the glass of the pitcher. It was a very angry red colour and I could see a few places where it was bound to blister.

"Bella, are you ok? How's it feeling, Baby? Should I take you to the clinic?" Mom smirked at Bella after I spoke and I realised I'd slipped and called her "Baby" without thinking. Proof if proof were needed of the leap my feelings for her had taken. My mom had obviously been stirring the relationship pot herself, if I knew her at all, and that must've been why she was giving Bella the old 'I told you so' look.

Bella reached out her good hand and cupped my cheek gently.

"Sam Honey, I'm ok." She told me quietly, and I felt my chest warm as I hear the endearment coming from her. I wondered if she'd even noticed she'd said it. "Probably not. She's distracted and under stress. It was probably just a slip." I rationalised.

"See?" She went on. "It's already less red and angry looking. Another little while in its fish-tank and my lobster hand will be good as new." Both Mom and I burst out laughing at her turn of phrase, and as our laughter blended together I realised how much I'd missed hearing Mom laugh. My cell phone beeped just then, announcing a reply to my text. I glanced down at it.

"Seriously, Boss. We need you here. Now. Like yesterday even. Jared."

"Oh for fuck's sake. Why can't they handle it themselves? They know I'm busy." I grumbled under my breath. I looked up at Bella and Mom with a guilty, pleading expression. "Bella, Mom, I'm really sorry, but Jared and Paul are insisting there's something only I can deal with, and they're not taking 'hell, fuck no' for an answer. I'm going to have to go handle it and I don't know how long it's going to take." Mom reached out almost gingerly towards me, almost as if she expected me to flinch away from her, and then she squeezed my shoulder like she used to do to give me a little confidence boost.

"It's ok, Son." She said proudly, "I know you work hard with that contracting business of yours, and if there's some emergency on one of your site, then you should go deal with it." I felt like crap letting her believe the lie, but I had no choice. I was grateful and relieved though, that she'd look after Bella for me, and proud that the two of them clearly saw the good in each other and were enjoying each other's company. Mom continued. "I'll take Bella back to my house and take a proper look at the lobster hand." Both Mom and I snorted in synch with amusement. "And we can visit together until I have to head to work." She looked at Bella for confirmation and much as everyone else did when faced with the full force of my mom's charm offensive, Bella gave in and nodded in agreement. "Oh, what happened with Leah by the way?" Mom asked as she and I both helped Bella and her 'lobster hand and fish tank' as she'd called them up to her feet. I worded my reply very carefully. Not saying a single untrue word, but shaping the truth with precision.

"I gave her a piece of my mind over her behaviour, Mrs Redfern, today's duty manager did the same, and seeing as Leah was so angry at being yelled at, I told her she should go home and work off her tantrum. Mrs Redfern agreed, and Leah went storming out the back." I shrugged. Bella pulled me closer to her with her good hand and raised up on her tip-toes to give me a quick kiss. I got the impression she felt too awkward in front of my mom to do more than that. Mom snorted and pointedly turned to stare at the sea, chuckling under her breath.

"I'll talk to you later?" Bella asked me.

"Sure sure." I said, feeling a little uncomfortable myself, knowing there was no way that Mom wasn't listening in. "Hopefully this won't take me too long to sort out, and I'll call when I get back." I gave her one last kiss and turned to my mom. Handing her the keys to my truck I said. "Here, Mom. I'll catch a ride with Jared. You drive Bella and I'll fetch the truck from yours later. We can have a proper talk then." I hesitated, a little unsure. "I mean, if that's ok with you?" Mom's eyes welled up.

"Of course it's ok, Honey. I'm so sorry. About everything. We'll sit down and talk when you're back." She sniffed a little and gave me a wobbly smile. "I love you, you know that, right, Sam?"

"I know, Mom." I replied, a tiny tremor in my voice. I'd waited and hoped for so long for us to be reconciled and it had taken Bella to make it happen. I didn't care how childish it might've sounded. I'd missed my mom. "I love you too." I told her and I wrapped her up in my arms and gave her a gentle squeeze. Setting her down I gave them both a little wave and strode off down the beach to deal with whatever shit storm was going on at the Clearwater's house.

As it turned out, it wasn't one shit storm but two, one a fair bit shittier and stormier than the other. I'd phased as soon as I'd reached the tree line next to the beach, and was instantly aware of Jared's strung out, desperate relief as he felt me phase in. He gave me a flash of memory so I could get up to speed as fast as possible. Leah had, somewhat to my surprise, actually done as I'd told her and run for home through the forest, but I'd cocked up; I'd forgotten that Harry was out fishing with Billy and Charlie, and so wouldn't be home to help her. I'd also failed to tell her to wait outside her house, and the idiot had barged in through the back door, looking for her dad and had instead encountered Sue and Seth sitting at the kitchen table with their breakfasts. Seth had promptly phased himself in response to the danger, and the only thing that'd kept Sue from being ripped to shreds in the process of his phase was that she'd had the sense to drop to the floor and hide under the table when Leah had burst in. It was a total fucking disaster. Wedged into the Clearwater's kitchen were two newly phased wolves, neither able to move enough to get to a door, and I arrived just as Sue had crawled between their paws to get out of the kitchen herself. Jared was in wolf form outside the backdoor, away from prying eyes and using every ounce of his will to keep the two new wolves calm and still while Sue crawled free and Paul was patrolling around Billy, Harry and Charlie, his hysterical laughter echoing through the pack mind as each new image from Jared, and now me, sparked off a new wave of inane giggles. My first task was to get Paul to shut the fuck up. Every wave of laughter from him was driving Leah's temper higher and higher, and if he didn't quit it soon, we'd have a half destroyed house and a pair of injured wolves on our hands. Paws. Whatever.

"Paul, are you going to shut the fuck up, or are you going to make me give you two Alpha orders in one day?" I snapped at him, and was gratified to find that my tone had been harsh enough to actually make him clam up without the order. I really didn't like using the Alpha orders and avoided it when I could. "Ok. Now dare I hope you had the sense to phase and tell Harry and the others what was going on?" Paul snorted and replied.

"Yes, Boss." I phased and told them as soon as I felt her phase in. They're on the way back and I'm running patrol loops around the car every few miles and just trailing them the rest of the time." I was relieved – it seemed he could be sensible and responsible when it counted.

"Let us know when you're about ten minutes away, would you?" I asked him and with a simple

"Will do" He closed himself off a little, leaving us in peace from his giggling.

Paul's sudden silence made everyone else relax a fraction, and I turned my attention to the two newbies. They were both still struggling and squirming against each other and in doing so were steadily tearing Sue's kitchen to pieces. Sizing up the situation, I found the solution.

"Jared. Phase out and call Jake and Embry. Get them over here ASAFP."

"Ok, Boss. I'm sorry this turned into such a giant fuck up." Jared answered, sounding completely frazzled. He might be the current Beta of the pack, but as we all knew that if Jake stepped up, I'd end up as the Beta, and if Jake refused to step up, Jake would be the Beta, Jared found it hard to exert his authority, especially over Paul as they were such close friends. It was an issue I'd have to tackle, but right at that moment I had much bigger issues to handle.

"Ok, Jared." I reassured. "I know you did your best. You phase out now, and once you've gotten through to Jake, phase right back in. I think you'd be the best at handling Seth, he's a lot like you. As soon as I've gotten them both out of the kitchen, you and Seth take a run over to my place. Ok?" Jared gave me a mental nod and promptly phased back to human form, leaving me to handle the disaster area that was the Clearwater's kitchen. Leah's snarling and snapping at her brother was getting seriously old. Ok so she was scared and angry and frustrated and probably embarrassed, but so was Seth, and he was handling the whole situation a hell of a lot better than his older sister. I listened to Leah's mental bitching for another moment and considered the best method of handling her. I strongly suspected that most of her behaviour right then was coming from her embarrassment. When embarrassed, Leah had the tendency to react with indignant anger, lashing out at those around her to ease her own humiliation. I realised suddenly why I enjoyed Bella's reaction to embarrassment so much. Her dignity, honesty and humour every time she was embarrassed was such a refreshing change. I quickly clamped a lid down over that thought. Thinking even Bella's name right then would've been a very bad idea bearing in mind Leah's feelings on the matter. Finally sick of Leah's bitching, I attempted to put a stop to it.

"Leah. You need to calm down. Neither of you is going to get out of there until you do, and there's no way in hell that you'll be able to phase back into your human form until you're completely calm either, so it's time to shut the fuck up and chill the fuck out. Even Seth is calmer than you and he's much younger and probably more scared." On a normal day, that would've gained me Leah's compliance, albeit a scowling, glaring compliance that threatened retribution. Hearing that Seth was afraid would've normally done the trick; she wasn't a bad person, only bitter and angry, and she loved her brother very much. But this time I wasn't getting through. She barely slowed in her snarling and snapping and wriggling at all and I made one last attempt at reasoning with her before having to issue an order – both of us would hate it if I did. "Last chance, Leah. If you don't still yourself and shut yourself up, I'll have to do both for you and I hate having to give orders just as much as I'm sure you'll hate having to obey them." Leah went into an absolute frenzy of movement, crashing Seth into the wall and making his ribs creak. She was so far gone in her temper tantrum that she didn't even notice she was hurting him.

"Order me? Order? Me? Just who the fuck do you think you are, Samuel Uley? If you think I'd ever even think of obeying any order from you, you're completely deluded! I don't know what you did to make this happen to me, but you'd better fucking undo it right the fuck now because if you don't I'm going to break out of this kitchen and rip out your fucking throat, you condescending, arrogant, back-stabbing CUN…."

"Be quiet right this second, Leah!" I ordered and with a bewildered yelp, her tirade cut off mid-word. Both Seth and I breathed sigh of relief, and from deep in the forest on his patrol route Paul chipped in.

"Thank you, Boss. If I'd had to listen to another second of that self-centred 'woe is me' shit, I would've had to abandon my patrol, run over there and hit her in the head with a hammer to shut her up for a bit." I managed to restrain my amusement at this, but Seth didn't even try; he burst into a round of our choking, barking laughter and replied to Paul.

"Well if you ever need it, there's a pretty big hammer in the shed." Paul burst out laughing himself and even I couldn't keep a little snort from escaping me.

"Thanks, dude. It's noted." Paul replied and then went back to concentrating on his patrol run. Leah wasn't at all impressed by her brother's amusement and as she'd not for a second let up on her frantic wriggling and twisting as she attempted to get out, she deliberately gave a particularly big shove to Seth, banging him once again against the wall and probably at least bruising his ribs. At his yelp of pain, Leah at least had the grace to look a little ashamed, but as she met my eyes through the kitchen window her embarrassment once again made her react with anger and she jerked her muzzle up sharply and went back to twisting about in search of freedom. Enough was enough.

"Stop moving, Leah. NOW!" I ordered her again and with a bewildered expression on her face, Leah suddenly found herself unable to move so much as a muscle. "I was going to do this the other way round, as I know Seth wouldn't give a shit how you both got out of there, as long as you both did. But after that little display of viciousness, hurting your brother just cos he had the nerve to laugh at your ridiculous behaviour, we're going to do it this way instead." Her eyes snapped over to look at me through the window in confusion and maybe if she hadn't injured both Bella and Seth right on front of me in only the space of an hour I might not have enjoyed it so much, but as it was I didn't even try to keep the wolfy grin off my face or the amusement out of my mind as I fixed Leah's gaze and issued another order.

"Leah, lie down." I could feel the indignation pouring off her and the amusement pouring off Paul, Seth, and off Jared who had just phased back, as without a second's hesitation, her body obeyed the order and she dropped to her belly on the kitchen floor. Suddenly able to move a little, Seth took a few deep breaths and looked out of the window to grin at Jared and I. From the kitchen door, Sue clapped her hands.

"Brilliant, Sam. Well done." she said. "Now why didn't any of us think of that?" she was handling the situation very well for someone who suddenly had a pair of horse-sized wolves for children, but then she'd known Seth would likely phase ever since he began his growth spurt a month or so before, so at least she'd had that little bit of warning.

"Right. Now Seth, you clamber over Leah and walk out of your poor mom's kitchen." He did just that, slipping a few times as his lack of control over his new form made him stand right on various parts of his sister who still lay, unable to move, on the kitchen floor. As he passed by his mom, Seth paused and pressed his cold, wet nose to her cheek, earning himself a shocked indignant squeal and a light, playful slap to the shoulder.

"Quit that, Seth." Sue said. "Now you go on out there and do whatever Sam says. I'll see you back here in a while. He lolled his tongue out in a wolfy grin and padded outside where Jared and I were waiting.

"Well done, Seth." I told him. "You're handing all this remarkably well. Now you and Jared head off to my place and once you've managed to phase back, you can use a pair of my cut-offs that I keep in a box under the back steps for emergencies."

"Ok, Boss." He replied, falling instantly in with the annoying habit that Paul had started and which I'd given up complaining about as it did me no good. "I know she's being a royal pain in the ass about all this, but please don't go too hard on Leah. She's completely freaked out." He added, looking back over his shoulder towards the house where his sister was still lying on the kitchen floor.

"I know, Seth. We all were when we first phased. Especially me, as I had no-one around to tell me that I wasn't going completely insane. But none of the rest of us took it out on the others or deliberately hurt someone else like she just did, so there's only so much sympathy I can muster right now." I gave him a quick flash of the memory of Leah hurting Bella just before she phased. "She also did that today, just before her phasing, so you can see why I'm struggling to muster up any sort of good feeling for her right now." Seth gave a little whine as he saw the damage his sister had done.

"I didn't know about that, Sam. I'm sorry she did it." He apologised sincerely. I felt bad for making him feel bad.

"I know. And I'm sure that Leah's sorry too, somewhere inside all that anger. She's never been a bad person, or the sort to deliberately hurt others. I'm sure that part of it was down to the anger most of us get all snarled up with just before we phase." I was reminding myself as much as saying it for Seth's benefit. Leah probably hadn't been in control of herself when she burnt Bella, and I needed to keep that in the front of my mind when dealing with her. I was also saying it for Leah's benefit. She might not be able to say or think anything at us right at that moment, but she could certainly hear us, and being able to see the result of her actions against Bella, as well as hear that I understood she wasn't completely responsible for her action, would hopefully help her to see how unreasonable she was being without getting all defensive as she was prone to being when she knew she was in the wrong.

As Jared and Seth ran off to my house, Jake and Embry emerged from the trees behind us. Having phased in time to see the image I showed Seth of Bella's hand, neither were very impressed with Leah, but both had the good sense to keep their annoyance and anger to themselves.

"Leah. In a minute I'm going to lift both orders so you can talk to us and you can get up and get out of there. But before I do, there's a few things you need to hear, and as you can't interrupt at the moment, it's probably best if you heat them now." I could feel a spike of indignation and anger coming from her, but under that was a small thread of curiosity so I had some hope that he'd actually take what I had to say on board. "Firstly, I should apologise." Jake and Embry snapped their heads towards me in shock, wondering what on earth I was saying. "I should've come with you when you phased, rather than sending you here to find Paul and Jared. But I was certain that my presence anywhere near you at a time when you needed to be concentrating on calming yourself so you could phase back would be a real hindrance, rather than a help, and Jared and then Paul have the most experience in all things wolfy after me, so I thought I was acting in your best interests." I gave a wry snort. "Clearly that didn't work out so well, so for that I'm sorry." The anger pouring off Leah began to wane a little and I knew I was on the right track with her. "I know that Jared and Paul tried to explain what's happening to you, but I don't know how much you took in. So the basic facts are that we are the wolf protectors that we were told about in the old stories. We are here to protect the tribe and our lands, and we have taken upon ourselves also the protection of the town of Forks, against our natural enemies, the cold ones. Yes I know it's hard to believe that vampires exist, but then just look at the situation here. There you are, a wolf nearly six foot at the shoulder, trapped in your mother's kitchen because another wolf is pulling some Jedi mind trick on you. Are vampires really such a stretch of the imagination?" I could feel her reluctant amusement and I knew I was now winning. "Now for the tougher stuff. It's a pain in the ass, this life, Leah. I'm not gonna lie to you. But it's also an honour. As much as I often wish that none of us were needed so we could have normal lives, I can't deny that being a protector, having a duty to our tribe, our friends, our families is something to be incredibly proud of. I know that you're angry and afraid, and probably full of hate and indignation and a million other emotions right now, but you need to realise that so were all of the rest of us. Your situation is no worse and actually a little better than some of us had it. I know you heard me tell Seth about my first phase." At this I allowed her to see a full viewing of my first time as a wolf. I let her feel my terror and anxiety, my loneliness, my desperation, and I let her see just how long I went on like that, completely alone and not understanding what had happened to me. I felt the sorrow and regret for my situation coming from not just Leah, but also from Jake and Embry, and I cut off the memory before I could get too upset myself. "So you see, it's a little difficult for us to really feel sympathetic when you go off on an hour long rant and rave, ignoring your terrified little brother and mother, and actually injuring your brother in the process, when not one of us, not even Embry, who had never even heard the old stories and must've been convinced he was mental, pulled the shit that you just did." The sorrow and regret coming from Leah had intensified and a heavy dose of shame was creeping in to join it. It was time to release her from the orders.

"Leah, I'm releasing you from your orders now. You can get back up and you can talk with us if you want." I told her with the Alpha tone. Then I added in my normal tone. "How about you come on out here and meet your new brothers? You'll never find a more loyal bunch, even if they can be some of the most annoying beings on the planet when they try." Three amused snorts, two from beside me and one from inside the house met my joke, and then a light grey wolf came padding out of the house, Sue Clearwater following behind.

"Ok. So Leah, I'm going to send you off with Embry here – he's the calmest and most sensible of the bunch and was the quickest to phase back into human form, so he's probably the best one to pair you with for now. There's a little clearing out in the forest that's quiet and peaceful and private, so that's probably a good place, as long as you don't mind walking back in human form?" Both Embry and Leah shook their heads, no, so I quickly flashed an image of the location to them. Then added. "Oh. Before you go. Leah, you see that Embry, Jake and I all have our cut-offs tied around a leg?" I asked, bending and touching my nose to the cord tied around my own leg, where my cut-offs were secured. She nodded. "Well I'm sorry to say that we don't do it as a fashion statement. When you phase back you'll be naked – don't worry, Embry won't look. So if you've got a light dress you can slip on and off easily in an emergency, that's easy to fold down and tie to your leg, we should have your mom grab it quickly for you." Leah looked over at Sue, back to the cord on my leg, and the back at Sue again with a hopeful expression and Sue smiled.

"That yellow tea dress?" she asked and Leah nodded in relief. "I'll go grab it for you." Sue said and quickly darted off.

Once Leah's dress was firmly tied to her leg, she and Embry ran off towards the clearing I'd mentioned, leaving Jake and I alone with Sue.

"Jake I need you to go take over Jared's patrol. I know you've not long finished your own shift, but we've got to have someone doing it, and it looks like I' going to be stuck here doing repairs to the Clearwater's kitchen for a few hours." I scowled at the house.

"Sure, sure, Boss. I'll head out now. Happy hammering!" He added the last with a cheeky yelp and ran off before I could respond. Shaking my head, I walked off to phase behind a bush and then wandered in to the house to survey the damage. It was going to take several hours and I let out a large sigh, echoed by Sue.

"I'm sorry about how this all played out, Sue." I told her. I should've phased and come with her. I just thought my presence would make matters worse. She patted my arm soothingly. Its ok, Sam. You can't be everywhere all the time and the best of us makes the odd wrong call. Just chalk it up to experience and move past it." I smiled at her matter-of fact tone and grabbed a note pad from the kitchen counter.

"Well ok then, Sue. And the first thing to do is to make a note of what I need to pick up from the hardware store to get this all patched up."