Leah woke up when she heard the howl but Bella kept sleeping. Leah could see Quil at the border in the pack mind, surrounded by Cullens. She phased to human to make sure she didn't hurt Bella in her haste to get outside.
"I've got to go, baby," Leah whispered. Bella opened her eyes in horror, realizing that the howl was not from her dreams. She nodded and Leah disappeared.
Once Leah was out of the library, she phased again. SETH, STAY ON THE REZ, KEEP BELLA SAFE. EVERYONE ELSE, LET'S MEET QUIL.
Quil had run patrols that morning. The new patrol route went far into Cullen territory, so it was only by chance that he crossed their path at the treaty line on his way home.
He howled, then sat on his side of the line waiting for backup. When everyone arrived, Leah shook out of her wolf form to talk. The air was calm, eerily calm. The wolves all felt calm, not aggressive.
"I am the alpha of this pack. You will speak to me." She stood nude in front of them, unashamed, authority radiating from her essence.
"What happened to Edward?" Carlisle asked.
"He lunged at a human. We were not going to risk anyone's safety to keep him alive."
Esme gasped, then let out a sob. Carlisle looked at Jasper for confirmation. Jasper nodded. She was telling the truth.
"I understand." Carlisle said. "But it happened on our land. What were you doing there? It seems like you violated the treaty first."
"The treaty is no more. You are not welcome here under any circumstance. And if we find you here again, we will turn you into a pile of ash as well."
Emmet growled and Rosalie snarled, protective of their family. Esme heaved her shoulders in sobs.
Jasper was the voice of reason, easily reading the emotions of the pack. "Hold on, guys. There is more going on here than she's telling us. Darlin' we understand why you needed to take down Edward, or at least most of us do. I had thought of taking him out myself. He was erratic, a liability for our family. He endangered us all. But now that he's gone, why do you still want to break the treaty?"
"Do any of you know what causes us to turn into wolves?" Leah asked.
"I don't." Jasper answered. He looked at Carlisle who shook his head. "No, we don't know. Care to enlighten us?"
"It is our proximity to vampires."
"I didn't know." Carlisle said under his breath.
Leah waited, letting the reality sink in, then continued. "Once we phase, everything changes for us. We are forced to protect the tribe from your kind. When you came back to play high school, Sam Uley lost his full ride scholarship to UDub because he needed to protect the reservation. My baby brother started phasing at 14 when Alice came back to visit Bella. When I first phased, my father was in such shock that he died of a heart attack. Many of the boys' grades have slipped, futures ruined because they missed so much school protecting the reservation from Victoria. I will not let you do this to our descendants in eighty years or ever again."
Rosalie sighed. "We robbed them of their humanity."
Since they had arrived in Forks, Esme Cullen had felt nothing but calm. She was oppressed by a feeling of calm. It was not natural. It was not inner peace. It was a cage and she longed to break free. Her beloved son had been murdered, murdered by these mutts standing in front of her. Why was she so calm?
She felt her rage bubbling in her, finally throwing off the shackles of this calm, creating a bubble around herself where the eerie calm could no longer penetrate.
"That doesn't give them the right to kill Edward!" Esme screamand as she charged.
Esme charged right at Leah, who was in human form only two meters in front of her. Leah started to phase back to wolf but it was too late. Esme already had her hands around Leah's throat. When Leah phased, Esme's hands were torn apart, but Leah's neck was also mangled in the encounter.
Jacob was closest to Leah so he was jolted from the calm when Esme sprung past him. He leapt for her, slamming her down and clamping down on her neck.
Carlisle started to step forward but the calm around him became oppressive. Each step felt like walking through knee-deep mud as a human. He gave up.
Esme's head rolled away from her body with a bounce. No one else moved as the calm settled firmly around them once more.
"Edward always was her favorite." Rosalie muttered, seemingly unphased by her mother's demise. Jasper chuckled and the calm lifted a little.
Carlisle cried out in horror at the loss of his mate.
Paul phased to human and pulled a lighter out of his cut-offs, prepared this time. He lit Esme's remains on fire in a pile, then turned to Leah.
When Paul looked down at Leah's crumpled human form, all he saw was the blood. There was too much blood. "Doc! Can you help her?" Paul begged.
Carlisle tried to regain composure. He relied on that false sense of calm to help him now. He was relieved that he could walk freely. The other vampires had already backed away. The smell of the blood was just too much.
Carlisle stepped forward, crossing the now meaningless treaty line. He crouched down beside Leah. "She's losing too much blood. I can't see if any of the carotids are damaged." He didn't want to touch her. The wounds looked too delicate, even for him, especially where he would be going in blind because of the blood.
"What do we do?" demanded Paul.
"You heal fast, right?" Carlisle kept his eyes locked on Leah's neck, looking for changes in the flow.
"Yeah, but we can still bleed out."
Carlisle watched Leah's neck a minute longer before saying. "I don't think… She's not bleeding out. The rate has already slowed. Clotting has set in. She is healing but I can't promise that she'll heal fast enough to survive this. Rosalie, bring them a stretcher so they can move her."
"Where's Bella?" Alice asked, seemingly out of nowhere.
"She's under our protection on the rez." Paul said, not volunteering any more information.
"Is she mated to Jacob Black now?" Alice asked.
Jacob whimpered sorrowfully.
"No, she is mated to her." Paul pointed at Leah.
Alice was unsurprised. She had always had a hunch about Bella. "Bella needs to come!" Alice exclaimed excitedly. "She can help her heal faster!"
Paul looked to Embry's wolf who nodded.
SETH, DID YOU CATCH THAT? Embry said. BRING BELLA TO THE TREATY LINE.
OK, I'LL BE THERE IN A FEW.
o.~*~.o
Bella and Seth had been sitting in the library this whole time Seth in wolf form. He sat there and whimpered when he saw Leah's injury. It made Bella anxious.
Finally, he phased to human. "Bella, they need you at the border. I need you to ride my wolf, ok?"
Bella nodded.
They ran to the woods. Seth phased to wolf and crouched down so she could climb on. As soon as she was securely on his back, Seth started running.
Bella did not like riding Seth's wolf as much as she liked riding Leah's wolf. Seth was going much faster. Bella knew that Leah was the fastest so that meant Leah had definitely slowed down for her benefit. Still, it was a better ride than running with vampires. Bella didn't know what to expect from this encounter at the border.
When they arrived at the gathering, she saw Leah being eased onto a stretcher. She saw that Leah had far too much blood coming out of her neck. Her neck looked kind of like ground beef, except very bloody, like oozing ground beef. She hurried to Leah, tumbling off of Seth's back, twisting her ankle on the landing. Still she hobbled to Leah with incredible speed and gently lay her head on Leah's stomach.
"Are you her imprint?" Carlisle asked.
Bella was shocked that they knew about imprints. She nodded.
Rosalie stepped forward. "Bella, you need skin to skin contact to help her heal. She should survive this with you helping. Just keep away from the injury on the neck. That's the only place you need to avoid. The more skin-to-skin contact, the faster her wounds will heal."
Bella looked to Paul for some confirmation. He shrugged. "I don't know Bella, but I don't see the harm. It's not like you'll squeeze more blood out of her. You'll probably calm her heart rate and maybe even draw blood to other areas of her body."
Bella stripped nude and put her clothes on the stretcher by Leah's feet. She carefully climbed onto Leah, legs on legs, trying to create as much skin to skin contact as possible. She laid her head below Leah's clavicle and rested her hand on Leah's breast, massaging it to relax herself, hoping Leah could feel it.
"Embry, Jared, you have the most steady hands. Bring them to Sue." Embry and Jared phased to human and started gently jogging with the stretcher. Paul turned to the Cullens. "You need to leave. We will destroy any vampire found within 100 miles of the reservation, no question asked, no more negotiations."
"Can we have time to clear out the house and get our affairs in order?" Carlisle asked.
"You have one day." Paul said in a voice that left no room for negotiation.
"Thank you. And you are?" Carlisle inquired. Jasper shook his head, knowing that was a stupid question.
"I'm in charge until Leah wakes up. That's all you need to know."
"And what happened to Sam Uley?" Carlisle insisted. "None of these wolves are Sam."
"He is not alpha. Currently, he is not even in the pack. If he wanted to share his personal life with you, I'm sure he'd contact you for a social call."
Jasper chuckled. "Ok, Carlisle. We have outstayed our welcome, by a lot. We'll be on our way now." Jasper said to the pack. He started pulling Alice by the arm. "Good luck to you all." Jasper continued as the rest of his family backed away even more.
"Can I call Bella?" Alice asked.
Paul and Jasper shook their heads in synchronized movements. "Let's go, Alice. Be a good friend and let her go." Alice let out a small sob and walked away with her husband.
Paul and the pack stayed where they were until the Cullens were out of sight. Paul phased. JAKE, QUIL, PATROL THE BORDER TODAY. I'LL SEND SOMEONE IN TO RELIEVE YOU IN A FEW HOURS. SETH, LET'S GO SEE HOW LEAH'S DOING.
It didn't take long for them to catch up with Leah. She was only about half way home. They both phased to human and put on their shorts. "Seth, do you want to go warn your mom and help her prepare, or do you want me to do it?"
"I'll do it."
"Ok," Paul said. "I'll go talk to Rachel, Kim, Sam and Emily. I'll tell them not to come to the library today. Bella, do you want me to call Charlie? Leah's supposed to go to work today, right?"
"Yeah," Bella's voice was hiccupy with sobs. "You should call him. I don't know what I'd say."
"I'll have to call Angela, too. She was going to come today." Embry said.
"She can still come, Embry." Paul encouraged.
"No, it's too soon for her to see this. Well, I'll call her and see what she wants to do." Embry said, deliberating.
"You can use the truck if you need it. That weird sound cleared up." Paul offered.
"Thanks! Oh yeah, the sound, it was just a loose clamp. I bought a replacement for it but it hasn't arrived yet."
"What do I owe you for the part?"
"Fuck off, Paul. I'm not charging you for a $2 clamp. I'll maintain the vehicle to the best of my ability as long as you let me use it occasionally to pick up Angela. And then I'll maintain it to the best of my ability to keep you and Rachel safe. This is a family, not a business."
Paul grinned. He needed family and he knew that Embry did too. "Thanks, bud. I'm not going anywhere today, so use it at your leisure. I'm going to run ahead now."
First, Paul went to the Uley residence. Sam was waiting outside. He had been pacing nervously since the howl. He called Emily out when Paul approached. "I'll let you know if we need anything," Paul told Sam after telling him the whole story. Paul went to Kim's second, giving a short summary of all that happened.
Finally, Paul went to the Black's house where Billy and Rachel were sitting down to breakfast. Paul sat with Rachel and Billy and spoke fast, telling them what happened. "Billy, can you tell Old Quil? I doubt that Bella will be in today, but he might want to check in on the Clearwaters." Billy nodded. "And can you call Charlie? Leah was supposed to work today. Tell him that she was injured during the security job this morning, that she won't be in today but she'll probably be fine. I think he'll take it better from you than me."
"I agree with you. I'll call Charlie now." Billy headed for the phone.
"Rachel, will you come with me to the Clearwaters?" Rachel nodded. "Ok, I need a quick shower first, join me?" After their shower, Paul grabbed a box of cereal for his breakfast and they started walking to the Clearwaters.
Sue was setting up first aid gear on the floor. Seth was standing outside in the backyard, waiting for the men with stretchers to come into sight through the woods. "What can we do, Sue?"
"For now, just stay out of the way, but stick around. I might need you. She might need you."
Paul nodded. He sat in an armchair off to the side, pulling Rachel into his lap.
"I see them!" Seth called.
Sue ran to the door. "Seth, go sit down."
Embry and Jared maneuvered the stretcher through the back door. They placed it on the hard linoleum of the kitchen. Sue knelt down, looking at the wounds. There was a lot of blood, but most of it was not fresh.
"I need to clean and tape all of this. Bella, stay where you are. I think you are keeping her calm."
Embry told Sue, "The Cullens said that her skin to skin contact would help her heal. They asked if Bella was her imprint, then said all that about the healing."
"Interesting." Sue said. "You might want to ask Old Quil about that. But I don't see why they'd know that if I don't."
"Hmph." Paul grunted. He would definitely ask Old Quil about that.
Bella looked up as Sue worked, trying not to move much so that she wouldn't be in the way.
"She needs a transfusion." Sue finally said. "Without more blood, recovery will be very slow."
"Does she need to go to the hospital for that?" Paul asked.
Sue was looking through a three ring binder. "No, compatible donors from the pack are… Sam, Kim and Jake. Can you three run and ask them and see if they will donate? Paul, stay with me."
Three wolves ran out and came back with three volunteers. Kim was on Jared's back to speed things up. Bella was amazed at how much medical equipment Sue had stored away.
"Thank you!" Sue exclaimed. "I didn't expect you all to come, but this should be a good start. I might ask you all back tomorrow if she's still not awake. Now, I can only collect from one person at a time." Sue said, since she only had enough equipment for one.
"I'll go first." Kim volunteered. "Then Jared and I will get out of the way."
"Thank you, Kim."
Kim sat near Bella for the blood donation process. "Bella, I can ask Jared to get you a towel to cover your ass."
Bella had forgotten she was nude. Leah's body was so warm. She felt perfectly comfortable. "Is it distracting you?" Bella teased.
"No, I don't mind it at all. But Jared's here, and Sam and Jake and Paul and Seth and Rachel."
"I like it, Bella," Rachel piped up. "You don't have to cover yourself on my account."
Bella giggled. "Yeah, have Jared get me a towel. I think Rachel's secretly uncomfortable."
Jared laid a towel over the girls, trying not to look. Kim wasn't avoiding looking though. "Are you trying to wake her up through nipple stimulation?" Kim asked.
"I don't want to hear this." Sam groaned from across the room. Seth threw him a sympathetic glance.
Bella shared Leah's theory about how boobs were the original stress balls and how they both made use of each other's 'stress balls' to help calm them down.
"So, you must be pretty stressed with the way you are fondling those."
"I know she'll be okay. But it is relaxing and I think it maybe draws some blood away from the injury. Like, it'd be pretty inappropriate if I started fingering her right now, but I think this is more understandable."
"I think you're right about drawing away blood." Sue said. "This is healing really fast for the depth and quantities of the cuts."
"Any idea when she'll wake up?"
"Bella, it's too soon to tell but I think she's in a hypovolemic shock from the blood loss. I'm going to give her this blood, then I'll start feeding her intravenously so she can continue creating her own blood. I believe she will recover. She will recover fully. I just can't know when."
Sam and Jake were less chatty during their donation. They both insisted that Sue call them for more blood or anything at all they might need.
"I'm gonna call Angela, see what she wants to do about our plans today." Embry announced.
"You two can just hang out on the beach or something." Paul suggested. "She doesn't have to see this if you think it will make her uncomfortable."
"That's your new imprint?" Sue asked. "I should do a physical for her and Bella before too long, just so I have all of their info in my binder."
"Do you want me to bring her?" Embry asked.
"If she'll come, yes. I'm just going to be waiting around all day. I won't be able to get much done with my daughter like this. I'm taking the day off of work."
"Ok, I'll tell her and see what she says."
Embry and Angela walked in about forty minutes later. The stretcher was now on the living room floor. The coffee table was shoved to the side. This allowed Bella to watch Paul and Seth play video games. They offered to put on a movie, but she knew that they'd rather play games to keep their mind off of things. She knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate no matter what was on the TV.
Embry and Angela sat on the couch. "Any changes?" Embry asked.
Sue answered, "Her heart rate is less erratic and her blood pressure has risen, which is good. Angela, how old are you?" Sue could get away with doing physicals for Quileute kids without parental consent but she didn't want to risk it with a stranger, even an imprint.
"Eighteen."
"Did Embry tell you that I want to do a physical for my records?" Angela nodded. "And do you consent to that?"
"Anything I can do to help, yes, definitely."
"Ok, come with me. Now, this won't help Leah today, but you might help other pack members in the future." They disappeared down the hallway.
Embry got up to get his own game controller. Bella asked, "How's Angela doing with all this?"
"She's being brave. I think that she is more shocked that it was the Cullens than that there was a serious injury."
"I can understand that. She knew them for years. You know, I have no idea what happened. I mean, I know one of them hurt her neck, she phased and that vampire is dead now. But which one and why? I didn't even look at them when I was there."
"It was the mom, Emma, or something. And Jake destroyed her." Paul said, proud of Jake's progress and his quick defense of the alpha.
"You mean Esme?"
"Yeah. It seems she was mad about Edward's death."
Bella gasped. "It's all my fault." She breathed.
Embry paused the game. "Bella, none of this is your fault. None of it! Hear me?"
"How could it be your fault, Bella?" Paul asked. He needed to understand to help.
Bella was trying not to sob. She didn't want to jostle Leah's body, causing even more pain. "If I hadn't gone, you wouldn't have had to kill Edward. If Edward hadn't died, Esme wouldn't have attacked."
"Hmmm. But we might still have had to kill Edward." Paul explained. "The empath said that he had thought of taking out Edward himself, that he was erratic, a danger and a liability."
"Oh."
"And there was nothing that you did that caused that leech to attack. The leech is responsible for that, not you."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Bella, I know this is difficult," Paul continued, "but I'm going to need you to get over your guilt, like now. When Leah wakes up, you need to be there for her 100%, not moping about your own guilt. Got it?"
Bella nodded. That all made sense, and made her feel guilty for feeling guilty. Then she chuckled quietly to herself and resolved to get over it.
"Bella, did you hurt your foot this morning, getting off Seth?" Embry asked. "It looked like you were hobbling."
"Oh yeah, I think I sprained it." Bella lifted her foot and rotated it. "It doesn't hurt now though. Leah doesn't have to know about that." Embry and Paul gave each other a knowing glance. They agreed that nothing good would come from Leah knowing that Bella was also injured.
"We won't tell you if you don't," Paul agreed.
A few minutes later, Angela came out and Embry offered her a controller. She started playing and she was kicking ass. "I have a little brother," she explained. "We played together a lot." Embry kissed her, more passionately than he intended to in a room full of people. He loved seeing her kick ass. "Hey, no distracting me!" she scolded.
Seth stood and passed his controller to Rachel. "Wanna play? I'm gonna go start lunch."
Rachel hesitated, then took the controller. "Seth, you don't have to do that." She insisted. "Paul can make lunch."
"No, I need to do something productive with my hands. And I need a little time alone."
"Ok." Rachel agreed with a sympathetic smile. She was not good at the game, despite also having a little brother at home.
Seth reflected on the attack while he made a huge mountain of paninis. He didn't understand everything that had happened. Like, why didn't the empath or the seer prevent it? And why was everyone so calm at the meeting? But he did understand that he was terrified about Leah. Watching her on the ground through Paul's eyes, losing way too much blood, he truly believed that she was going to die when he saw that. He didn't know how to get over that.
He brought the mountain of paninis to the coffee table and brought one to Bella. "You need to eat."
"Thanks, Seth." Bella nibbled slowly.
"Leave some for Leah." Paul ordered.
Embry grabbed a plate and put four sandwiches on it for Leah. He placed the plate in the oven, optimistic that Leah would wake up soon. Rachel gave her controller back to Seth. After everyone was done eating, they started playing again. Watching Angela destroy Paul in the fighting game was a huge turn on for Embry. He kept on glancing at her lustfully. He wanted to take her away and be alone with her.
"Ummm, Angela, do you want to go for a walk?" Embry asked. "I don't want to be in the way here."
"Sure," Angela agreed. "Bella, text me if you need anything. I can bring Embry back in a heartbeat. He's fast."
"Thank you. You two try to enjoy yourselves. Hopefully she'll be awake before you leave today."
Paul and Seth played in relative silence. Bella stared at the tv, largely unaware of what was going on in the game. Rachel was sketching. They were in a daze, waiting for something to change, for Leah to come back to them.
o.~*~.o
"Seth, get your head out of your ass. He's going to beat you again." Leah hissed.
"Leah!" Bella squealed.
Paul paused the game.
"Mom, she's awake!" Seth yelled.
Sue came running in and crouched next to Leah. Bella was kissing her face, gently.
"Do you want me to get off, Sue?"
"No!" Leah shouted. "Sorry, I need you baby. Stay with me. But why am I on the floor of the living room?"
"Just scoot back down, Bella. You can stay with her." Sue looked over the ribbons of neck wounds. They were healing but didn't look normal. There would probably be scarring. "You need to stay here until your neck is fully healed."
Leah reached for her neck.
"Don't touch it." Sue warned. "I'll get you a mirror if you want to see it. How long have you been awake?"
"Two rounds of Seth being destroyed in Smash."
"And you didn't say anything?!" Bella asked.
"No, I did. I told him to get his head out of his ass."
Bella giggled. "But why didn't you say anything to me?"
"I had no complaints about your placement or activity." She covered Bella's hand with her own. Bella's hand was still caressing Leah's breast.
"What do you remember?" Sue asked.
"We were talking to the Cullens… We were talking about the treaty… and then we were talking about how phasing impacted our lives?" Leah looked to Paul. He nodded. "And then the crazy mom lunged at me. I phased and then I woke up here to Seth's continual defeat."
Sue handed Leah a mirror so she could look at her neck. "Gnarly." Leah handed the mirror back. "Will it scar?"
"Maybe. The more immediate concern is blood loss. I don't know how, but she didn't even knick an artery. We've done some transfusions this morning. Are you hungry?"
Leah's face lit up. "I'm starving!"
Leah and Bella stayed on the living room floor for a while. The guys told Leah all about what happened while she was out of it. Bella fed Leah and helped her drink from a straw. Leah felt fine but her mom wouldn't let her get up.
"I have to pee." Leah finally announced.
"Me too!" Bella said. She had been holding it for a while.
"Bella, why don't you wrap the towel around yourself and go pee. Paul, Seth, can you help Leah?"
"I feel fine." Leah insisted and tried to sit up. Bella pushed her back down, then got up to pee herself.
"Leah, you feel fine because you are lying down." Sue tried not to sound patronizing. "If you stand up, you'll probably pass out."
"Mom," Leah whined. "I can't just lay on the floor for the rest of my life."
"Right, that's why Paul and Seth are going to help you to the bathroom." Sue said as Bella returned from the bathroom and sat on the couch.
"Seth, you carry her, I'll help if needed when she gets to the toilet." Paul suggested.
When they propped Leah on the toilet, she had to admit that her mom was right. She felt light headed and put her head in her hands. Seth crouched next to her, trying to see her face. "You ok, Lee?"
Leah nodded. She peed, waited a bit then gathered the strength to wipe. "Take me back, please, Seth."
Seth cradled her into his arms and Paul opened the bathroom door for them. He laid Leah back on the stretcher carefully. Bella looked down at her from the couch.
"Baby, what are you doing up there?" Leah asked.
"Enjoying the view."
Leah smiled. "Come here."
Bella climbed onto the stretcher with Leah again. She hovered over Leah's face. "I missed you." She looked all over Leah's face and settled on her lips. She leaned down and kissed her slowly, trying to keep her face still.
Leah reached up and held Bella in place, kissing her for a lot longer than Bella intended. "Mmmmm." Leah hummed. The boys picked up their controllers and pretended nothing was happening.
"Let go of her!" Sue yelled.
Bella jolted backward as Leah released her. "Sorry, Sue."
"Not you, Bella, honey. Leah! You need to rest."
"Sorry." Leah mumbled as Bella snuggled onto her body.
"It takes two to tango, Sue." Bella defended Leah.
"Bella, unwrap your towel." Sue demanded, "I think there's something to that skin-to-skin contact. I'm going to call Old Quil. Are you up for a visitor if he wants to stop by?"
"Of course," Leah said.
It didn't take long for them to hear a knock on the door. Seth let Old Quil in and he sat on the couch. "So good to see you awake, Leah. I have been very worried. Neck and head injuries are the only fatal injuries that your kind has been known to die from. If you're awake, I am confident you will make a full recovery."
Paul spoke up, "Quil, the vamps were talking about skin-to-skin contact with an imprint, how that can help heal."
"Yes, wasn't that in the packet?"
"I only got Sam's packet." Paul explained.
"I don't remember anything about skin-to-skin healing." Bella said.
"I do." Leah said. "It was in the things that are strengthened by the mark."
"Ah, well, yes," Old Quil said, "and I'm sure your double mark makes it even more prominent."
"That does explain a lot." Sue breathed.
Old Quil continued, "I want you to know, Leah, a bunch of the pack are at the library, translating and reading. I think it helps them keep their minds off of things."
"That's great." Bella beamed. "Maybe we should let you get back there, Quil."
"Well, Billy is there, but I am curious about what he's finding in your journals, so yeah. Please call if you need anything. Or send Paul for one of his piggy back rides." Old Quil winked at Paul. "What do you want me to tell everyone? Are you up for more visitors?"
"Maybe tomorrow." Sue said. "I plan to keep her here overnight."
"Baby," Bella said, "Did you do the skin to skin contact when I was injured by Victoria?"
"No, I'm sorry. I hadn't read much of Quil's packet then. But I've finished reading it now."
Shortly after Old Quil left, there was a knock on the door and Embry and Angela walked in. Leah and Paul exchanged a look and both smirked. "They fucked," Leah whispered to Bella.
"Awww." Bella was so happy for them.
Embry's face was beet red. "Leah! You're up!" He changed the subject, knowing that Angela hadn't heard Leah.
"Actually, they won't let me up, Embry."
"I could peel Bella off of you if you need me to." Embry offered.
"Don't you dare! They just don't let me stand or walk or even sit up."
"It might be a good time for you to sit up, dear." Sue said.
"Really? Can I still have Bella?"
"You need to keep Bella. Paul, can you get them a blanket or a sheet to cover themselves. I know modesty isn't important in the pack, but it will make me more comfortable. And Angela probably isn't used to all this nudity, either." Now it was Angela's turn to blush.
Bella waited for Paul with his sheet, then she stood with her towel. "Can I try to pull myself up onto the couch, Mom?" Leah asked as Seth leaned down to lift her. Seth paused.
"Yeah, Seth, Paul, standby to give her a hand."
Leah reached up to the couch and pulled herself into a sitting position. Then she turned herself over into a crawl while Paul tried to keep her body covered by the sheet without getting in the way. She crawled onto the couch and made herself comfortable.
"Bella." She held the sheet up for Bella to get in. "Drop the towel." She demanded when Bella had situated herself on Leah's lap. Bella looked flushed. She removed the towel and put it on the couch next to them. She knew what Leah wanted, but they were in a room full of people and she knew Sue wouldn't want them fooling around so soon.
On Leah's lap, Bella's head was closer to eye level than on the stretcher. Leah drew Bella's ear into her mouth and started to bite lightly. Embry was amused and Angela was transfixed. They were majestic together.
Seth was worried. "Mom, any guidelines on the hanky panky?"
"Leah, pay attention to the pain. If something causes pain, don't do it."
"Mmmmkay." Leah said, not stopping.
"And maybe also pay attention to the fact that you have a roomful of guests that I don't want you to dismiss. I want more than just Seth around in case something goes wrong."
Leah let go of the ear. "Ok. Sorry guys, I didn't mean to make you all uncomfortable. I just get so possessive and horny after a vampire attack. It's like I need to make her mine all over again. You know how it is, right Paul? Embry?"
Bella swatted Leah on the boob. "Don't tease Embry and Angela."
Angela looked a little shocked but not at all embarrassed. Seeing that reaction made Embry bolder. He scooped Angela onto his lap and grunted, "Yep."
"Leah, do you want me to make more snacks? Cookies? More paninis? Anything to get me out of this room?"
"Yes please," Leah said. "Seth, any food you make will be appreciated. I'm going to need my strength tonight."
"Like you're getting a turn tonight. I'm going to claim you as my own and you'll be stuck flat on your back, Sue's orders." Bella whispered. Leah growled. Seth ran into the kitchen. Still able to hear them, but he made a ruckus with pans and ingredients trying to drown them out.
Angela giggled at the whole scene. Bella turned to her. "So, Angela, having a good day?"
"Well, I'm sorry to see Leah so injured, it's rather frightening actually, but Embry and I …"
"Brown chicken brown cow." Paul said, and chuckled to himself.
Rachel spoke up, "Once you go wolf, you never go back, huh, Bella?"
Bella nodded and Leah squeezed her gently.
Angela looked like she had a lot more to say about her afternoon with her wolf man, but all she managed to say was, "We'll talk about it on Saturday." Bella nodded.
"When do I get to babysit the imprints during a pack lunch?" Paul asked. "It sounds like they have more interesting conversations than we do."
"Never, Paul," Leah said, "we need you during the run. We need Embry too, but this past Saturday was a special occasion."
"I can show you in the pack mind, Paul." Embry offered.
"Ma, can I phase? I want to see this too." Leah requested.
"No! Are you insane, Leah? Of course you can't phase." Sue was furious at the suggestion.
"But I have a patrol tonight." Leah countered.
"Paul will cover it." Sue said confidently.
"Actually, Quil and Jake are patrolling." Paul said. "At some point, we'll need to relieve them. Honestly, Leah, I feel very uncomfortable leaving you, probably like Seth does. I felt like you were my sister when you first phased. Now that I know our history, that our wolves were sort of twins, or the wolves of twins, I feel like I can embrace that relationship without anyone thinking it's weird, you know?"
"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, but you're still acting alpha while I'm out of commission. You have to decide what's best for the whole pack, not just you and me."
"I thought you might say something like that. Ok, I'm gonna go fuck my lady one more time, then Jared and I will relieved the guys. Embry, when you go to take Angela home, can you see if Sam or Quil can take your place here?"
"I drove myself." Angela volunteered.
"So you're staying, Embry?" Paul asked.
Embry looked at Angela who nodded. "Yeah, I'll stay."
"Ok, let's step into the back yard real quick so I can get the memory of imprint babysitting off of you. We'll share it with you when your mom lets us, Leah. Seth, wanna come for this?"
"Oh, hell no!" Seth called from the kitchen.
"What's that all about?" Angela asked when they were in the backyard.
"They can read each other's thoughts when they are in wolf form. They can share whole memories that way."
"Does that mean everyone will see us have sex?"
"No!" Bella assured her. "Embry is good at guarding his thoughts. He can think about fucking you for hours and no one will even know unless he lowers his mental shield. Right, Leah?"
"That is true, Angela, Embry has excellent control. You can trust him."
Angela looked relieved. "But I can't trust him with gossip?"
"Gossip is freely given and freely passed around. He won't share anything that you don't want him to. I think he's probably giving Paul the details of what Rachel said, also how the wolf reveal went and maybe what I said about Sam and Jake."
Paul and Embry walked in, buttoning up their shorts. Paul walked over to Rachel, picked her up and ran away with her.
"So what did you say about Jacob and Sam, Bella?" Leah asked.
"Oh, ummm, they asked about what it was like to have sex with a wolf when you weren't the wolf's imprint."
"And what did you say about sex with Jacob? And Sam? I didn't know you had sex with Sam." Leah teased. "That makes me feel extra possessive." Leah squeezed Bella tight.
Embry spoke up. "She told the girls about her and Jake, and about you and Sam. About how you both liked sex with them, but that the fit wasn't quite right."
"She called Jake and Sam cervix pokers." Angela added.
Leah laughed out heartily. "How did Emily take that?"
"She was relieved. It confirmed to her that you and Sam really weren't right for each other. She still has a lot of guilt about all that." Bella explained.
"Yeah, we'll get through that. She knows I'm happier now, and that I'm not mad anymore. I think that her guilt is just a habit. But I don't think we'll ever be as close as we were. In some ways we'll be closer because we're pack, but as a friend, we're just both too different now."
"Don't give up on her, though." Bella said sweetly. "She isn't as close to anyone in the pack. I think she's reserving that best friend spot for you."
"But Paul and Seth are my best friends." Leah said bluntly.
"Paul and Seth are your brothers, honey. Maybe you and Emily need to set up a playdate or something."
Leah chuckled. "You know, Paul and I kind of did that for you and Rachel, set up times for you to be closer. Seth called it girlfriend playdates."
"And it worked! I adore Rachel and trust her and spill my guts to her maybe too freely. The Quileute lessons especially have made us really close. She's patient but also makes it all more fun. So playdates would work for you and Emily."
"Maybe. I'll ask her about it. Maybe we could translate together. I've been translating with Kim and I've gotten to know her a lot better that way. She's funny, Bella. I can see why you guys are close."
Seth brought in a plate of paninis and another with two types of cookies, fresh from the oven. He picked up a controller and offered one to Embry and another to Angela. Embry took one, but Angela declined, too engrossed in the conversation.
"So what else did you talk about during the pack run?" Leah asked.
"Well, we talked a bit about wolf-men penis sizes." Bella said. Embry shifted in his seat, a little uncomfortable. "That's what led to the conversation about Jake and Sam. And we talked about sexual history and then about the sensitive hearing of the wolves and other parts of life with wolves. Most of the time you were gone we were explaining the legends, then Embry phased, then we explained the imprint stuff. Embry left us very little time with Angela, so it will be better this Saturday, right, Angela?"
"You bet."
"So who will be babysitting us this weekend?"
"Either Jared or Seth."
"What the fuck, Leah?" Seth seethed. "I don't want to listen to that!"
"Seth, they need to be protected."
"Errr. Fine."
"I'd rather you guard us, Seth. I don't think you'd replay the memory for the others, would you?" Angela glared at Embry but he knew she wasn't really mad.
"Nope." Seth agreed.
Embry started kissing Angela's neck in apology, but they both knew he wasn't sorry.
Another knock on the door came about an hour later. Sam pushed open the door with Emily behind him. "I know you're not up for visitors yet and we won't stay. Emily just wanted to bring some food. She had this casserole in the freezer and thought you might not want to get up and cook, Bella."
"That is so sweet!" Bella agreed. "Seth, can you take care of that?"
"Of course," Seth took the casserole into the kitchen.
"We were just talking about you a bit ago, Emily," Leah said.
"Oh, me?" Emily looked a little frightened.
"About how you still feel guilty about taking Sam, and how our friendship hasn't gotten back to where it was."
"Yeah." Emily still looked a little frightened.
"Bella suggested setting up playdates between you and I, regular times for just the two of us to reconnect. I like the idea, but I don't want you to feel forced into it because I'm the alpha."
"Leah, I would absolutely love that. Maybe we could hang out for an hour on Tuesdays or Thursdays while Bella's at the library, then I won't be interfering with your Bella time."
"That's a great idea. Let's try tomorrow at ten. We can start by playing card games in the apartment for an hour and see how it goes. "
Emily looked so happy. "I'm already looking forward to it!"
"Great," Sam said. "Like I said, we won't stay. We just came to drop off food. We'll be at the library tomorrow. Hope to see you there, Leah, Bella." Sam led Emily home. Sam was genuinely happy that Leah was putting in the effort to reconnect with Emily. He knew that it would make Emily happy, and he would be proud that his mate had a close friendship with the alpha. He knew that there could be awkwardness with the ex and current girlfriend being friends, but he felt like he deserved that anyway.
It wasn't long before Angela had to leave to make supper for her dad. "Can you walk me to my car, Embry?"
"Of course. Seth, I won't be long. If you need me, holler and I'll run back."
Seth nodded.
It took about twenty minutes for Embry to return, even though the car was parked less than a minute walk away.
"So," Bella started, "things are going good with Angela?"
"Yep." Embry said and sighed.
Embry and Seth heated up the casserole and made a bunch of sides to go with it while Bella and Leah made out on the couch. Leah kept on reaching for Bella's mark but Bella kept swatting her away. "Not here. Later." She had to repeat it several times.
"Let's see if you can walk." Sue said, tossing one of Seth's oversized shirts to both Bella and Leah. Bella scrambled off of Leah's lap and tossed on her shirt. Seth came to support Leah as she stood slowly but let her walk independently to the table. "Slowly," Sue encouraged. "Your blood pressure is still low. I want you girls to stay the night tonight."
"But mom, the mattress has no sheets."
"I put some on. That's the guest bedroom now. I've been fixing it up for that."
"Ok, but Bella and I aren't used to being quiet. I don't know if we can stay quiet even for one night."
"Leah!" Bella scolded. "We can stay quiet, Sue." Bella assured her.
"Can I stay on the couch? Just in case you need anything." Embry asked.
"Of course, thank you Embry. Just call your mom so she knows where you are." Embry nodded.
They ate supper in relative silence. "I think I'd like to lie down again," Leah said when she was done eating, looking at Bella hungrily. "Seth, walk with me to the bathroom, then I'd like to go to bed."
"Oh brother." Sue complained. "Listen to your pain, Leah Clearwater. I don't want to have to keep you here another night because you burst something during hanky panky!"
"Yes, ma'am." Leah said, already standing and walking slowly to the bathroom. Bella skipped ahead to use the bathroom first, knowing she'd be done peeing before Leah got there. Bella was waiting on the bed when Seth walked Leah in.
"Let me know if you need anything." Seth said before closing the door.
"We need skin to skin contact to help with healing." Leah said, pulling her own shirt off. Bella pulled hers over her head as Leah crawled toward her.
"I want you on your back, Leah."
"What about what I want?"
"I could say no."
"You don't want to." Leah said, licking Bella's jaw.
"No, I don't but I do want you on your back."
"Fine, but you're sitting on my face."
"No way! That's terrible for your neck."
"Then I guess I can't stay on my back."
"Listen, Leah, you just walked all around the house. I want you on your back and then when I'm through with you, we can talk about switching positions, ok? Now flip and spread 'em."
Leah's eyes flashed with pride at her girl dominating her. She laid down and spread out her legs. Bella started by licking her clit until she came, always with one hand on her breast. Then she ground their clits together until they both came, kissing Leah throughout. She settled into her favorite snuggle position and Bella gently kissed the ribbon scars on Leah's neck.
"Today was so scary." Bella confessed.
"I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to scare you."
"I know. I know. It's your job and I accept the dangers. It's just, it was so serious, your neck. I never would have thought Esme could have done that."
"No, none of us were expecting it. It seemed like they understood about Edward. Everyone was so calm. The empath even said he had considered killing Edward himself because he was so dangerous. Then Esme lunged, screaming. If anything, it really proves that the treaty never should have been. There are no safe or docile vampires. They are all a threat."
"Everyone was calm? That might have been because of Jasper, you know, the empath?"
"Oh.… Oh. That explains our slower reflexes in taking her down, how she was able to get close enough to hurt me." Leah sighed. "They really aren't safe."
"So the Cullens are going to be gone for good now? It's funny. Them leaving once made me so sad. Now it is such a relief."
"Yeah, so anyway, is it my turn now? I promise not to hurt my neck, but I think it's healed. I'm only weak because of the blood loss, but I could still wall fuck you. I kind of want to and there are plenty of spots now that the room is empty."
"No, Leah. No! I just want to snuggle. I know you have needs, but I need to know that you're ok. I can get you off again if you want. Or you could watch me masturbate."
"Tempting," Leah said as she caressed Bella's butt with one hand, pulling Bella's body up a little. Now she could reach. She stroked her thigh mark, then stuck two fingers into Bella's hole. "I can do it from here, baby, we don't need to switch positions." She said as Bella started riding her hand.
Author's Note: Please review if you're enjoying the story. I'm frantically editing the final chapters and your comments are so encouraging!