Bella woke the next morning with her face plastered against Leah's left boob. She held the right boob in her right hand. She felt a little drool on her cheek which meant she must have drooled on Leah. Oh shit. Still she didn't want to move. This was too hot. Leah gave no indication that she was awake. So Bella thought she could pretend to continue sleeping to hold the position.
However, Leah was awake and had been for about 20 minutes. She wasn't going to move a muscle though. She had Bella just where she wanted her, and knowing Bella's comfort, she couldn't go anywhere anyway. She had to be whatever her imprint wanted. That was the rule, right? So she'd stay right here.
When Bella's breathing pattern changed, Leah knew Bella was waking up. But Bella didn't move. Was she alright? Her heartbeat picked up and what was that smell? Arousal. Oh my God. This was amazing, but what could Leah do about it? Last night Bella was talking about slamming on the breaks, just being friends for a while. At least Leah knew how she really felt. Involuntarily, a soft chuckle escaped Leah.
Bella froze at the realization that Leah was awake. Leah stroked her hair. Then she reached down to Bella's right hand, the one that was still firmly holding her boob. She shook the hand a bit, not pulling it off the boob, causing the boob to jiggle endlessly, rippling in motion. Bella giggled then. "Hi," Bella said when the jiggling calmed down, looking up at Leah through her eye lashes.
"Good morning, beautiful," Leah responded. She leaned down and planted a kiss on the crown of her head. "You ready to get up?"
"Not really," Bella answered honestly. "I can't imagine that anything that we do today is going to be better than this." She groaned. "And you have patrols at noon so I won't even get to spend the day with you again."
"First, as wonderful as yesterday must have been for you, I was unconscious, so I think today will go better. Second, the rule is that injured wolves get two days off unless there is an emergency. I think Sam will count yesterday as an injury, even though I am conscious now."
Bella looked like she had won the lottery. "So… Do you have any plans today?"
The corners of Leah's mouth tipped up. "Isabella, are you asking me on a date?"
"Yes." Bella was firm. She knew what she wanted.
"Ok." Leah agreed.
Knock, knock, knock. Seth didn't want to open the door. He had a feeling he would not like what he saw. So he spoke through the door. "Bella, are you still going to make breakfast?" He asked timidly. He really wanted her breakfast but he didn't want Leah mad at him for disturbing her friend.
"Yeah, Seth, I'll be out in a minute."
"Breakfast?" Leah asked.
"Yeah, I promised Seth breakfast if he'd let me stay over."
"You know, Seth has no power here. None. You don't have to promise him anything to get permission for anything." Leah's stomach rumbled just then, so she continued, "But I'll let you make us breakfast, just this once."
Bella started to lift herself off of Leah's chest. She looked down at the beautiful breast that had cradled her head all night. She leaned down and kissed it. Hovering above it, she leaned down again and licked it really quickly before bouncing off the bed.
"Do you think I should wear this while making breakfast?"
"Damn, Bella, I'd love to watch that. Yeah, do you think I can wear this?" Leah was still naked in bed.
"Ummm, whatever makes you comfortable." Bella smiled. Then she leaned down and kissed Leah's temple and skipped out the door.
Wow, Leah thought this would be a great day. She bolted out of bed and went to her pajamas drawer looking for just the right pick. It needed to be skimpy enough to get Bella bothered but not so skimpy as to attract attention. She was so tall now. The night shirts that used to be thigh length now didn't even cover her butt. She could mix and match. She decided. She found navy, silky drawstring pajama shorts that just covered her butt cheeks. She topped it with a satin rose pink night shirt that ended a few inches above the hem on the shorts. Perfect.
She walked out to the kitchen only to be met with disaster. It looked like Seth was trying to get a head start, bringing out ingredients that he thought Bella would want to use. But Bella had bumped into the kitchen table, knocking over the bag of flour that Seth had set on the edge. Flour was everywhere. Seth and Bella were scrambling to pick it up before either Leah or Sue caught them with the mess. Their hurried movements were stirring up the flour into a dust cloud, spreading it everywhere.
"Stop!" Leah commanded. They both looked at her with guilty expressions. "Outside, both of you, go shake off." With heads hung low, they both slunk out of the house. They wanted to get this picked up before Leah got up so that she could rest.
Leah made quick work of the mess. She opened the door and invited the two back in. They had brushed all the flour off themselves, or most of it anyway. She pulled Bella into a quick hug on her way in, "please don't let him in the kitchen, baby. I can be your assistant this morning."
Bella liked that offer. She dragged Leah by the hand into the kitchen. "So what do you want for breakfast?" Bella asked Leah.
"Uh, I really would like waffles. Is that too much work?"
"Do you have a waffle iron? Because without a waffle iron, yeah, it is too much work, carving out all the little holes by hand."
Smiling, Leah reached under a cabinet and grabbed a jumbo, electric waffle iron.
"Sweet!" Then Bella started mixing ingredients. She realized that she had left the dishes last night, which was not like her. But this morning they were all done. Sue must have done them. She felt bad for leaving work for her.
"What do you want me to do?" Leah asked, amazed at how comfortable Bella was in her kitchen.
"Ok, all of the ingredients I need are on this counter. So you can put everything else away. Seth, can you set the table and get out any condiments you want. And I want peanut butter, Seth."
Seth and Leah moved around Bella, each finishing their tasks with speed. "How are you with the coffee maker?" Bella asked Leah.
"Oh, that's my specialty." Then Leah moved to start the coffee. It would be done by now if she didn't have to deal with the kitchen disaster this morning… Then she had been distracted watching Bella flit around the kitchen and totally forgot to start the coffee.
Warm waffles started to pile up next to the waffle maker. "How many should I make?" Bella wondered aloud.
"Tons." Seth answered.
"Do you think a triple batch will be good? I was thinking of one batch for each of you and a third for Sue and I. I don't think we'll finish our batch so there could be left overs for snacks for you two."
"Mmmm, that sounds perfect," Leah said, standing behind Bella, wrapping her arms around Bella's waist, resting her head on Bella's shoulder.
Seth was pretty sure there was something going on between them. He cleared his throat. Leah didn't move away. Instead, she nuzzled her face into Bella's neck. "Mom's coming." Seth warned. That got Leah to step back.
But Leah didn't hear her mom coming at all. She turned and glared at Seth. "No she's not." She crossed her arms.
"No, she's not." He agreed, smirking. "Do you want to tell me what's going on? I'm covering your shift today and I need to know what I should and should not allow into the pack mind. Your little display this morning is sure to intrigue some of the wolves."
"Shit." Leah agreed. "Ok, I'll tell you, but please try to keep this to yourself."
Bella turned to face him, "yeah, keep it a secret or I won't cook for you for a week." Seth suspected that was an empty threat; Bella knew it was.
"Whoa! Maybe I don't want to know with that kind of threat."
"No, Seth, I want you to hear this from me and not the pack mind. If you slip up and she doesn't cook for you, I'll share what she cooks for me." Leah offered. Seth grinned at that and stuck his tongue out at Bella playfully. Leah put her arm around Bella. "I imprinted on Bella yesterday."
Seth was speechless. He had so many questions but none of them seemed appropriate. Then he heard his mom's door open and he knew he didn't have time to ask any questions anyway. "I'll keep your secret, but you'll have to tell eventually." Seth whispered, knowing that only Leah could hear him. She nodded, then guided Bella back to the waffle maker.
o.~*~.o
"Thank you, Bella," Sue said, sitting down to her short stack of waffles. "It's been ages since we had waffles for breakfast."
"Yeah," Seth added, "Dad was the only one who knew how to make them right."
"Oh," that made Bella a little uncomfortable, knowing that Leah had asked Bella to make her dad's specialty.
"But these are just as good as his, Bella," Seth grinned.
Silently, Leah reached for the peanut butter, grabbing a huge spoonful to put on the side of her plate. She smeared some on her top waffle, then poured the syrup.
Bella looked dumbfounded. "I didn't know you liked peanut butter on waffles, too."
"I think there's still a lot you don't know about me," Leah winked.
Bella thought that was true, but maybe not the best subject for the breakfast table. So Bella changed the subject. "Sue, I'm sorry I forgot to do the dishes last night. I was so wrapped up in worrying about Leah. I usually clean up after myself, I promise, you can even ask Charlie."
"Oh no, Bella, whoever cooks doesn't have to clean. That's the house rule. So, Seth, you'll take care of the breakfast dishes and clean up."
"Sure thing, Mom." Seth agreed.
"What are your plans for today, Leah? Did Sam take you off the schedule? I want you to take it easy, even though you feel better. You don't have many days of rest."
"Uhh…" she looked at Bella.
Bella piped in, "I'll make sure she takes it easy. And I was wondering if she could spend the night at my house tonight. We're becoming fast friends." Seth coughed. Leah kicked him under the table. "I've seen her world yesterday, the good and the bad, and now I'd like to show her a bit more of my world."
"Yeah, of course." Sue agreed. "I mean she's been to Charlie's tons of times but you two never really connected before now. Can I ask what has changed?"
Leah felt stupid. Why didn't she plan on what to say to her mom about spending time together? If she told her mom about the imprinting, her mom might not let her spend as much time with Bella.
Bella came to her rescue. "It was all Leah's doing. She saw the parallels of Sam's breakup with her and Jake's breakup with me and reached out. She thought we could commiserate. What started out as bonding over a shared trauma very quickly turned into real bonding and I feel silly for not noticing her sooner."
"Wow, Leah," Sue reached across the table and put her hand over her daughter's, "That was really nice of you, and it seems like you've gotten a lot out of it."
"I'll say," Leah sighed.
"I have also gotten a lot out of it." Seth piled a new tower of waffles onto his plate.
When Seth was cleaning up, Leah decided to call Sam.
"Uley residence." Emily answered the phone.
"Hi Emily, it's Leah," Leah was using her fake nice voice. Emily could hear that and she understood. "Is Sam around?"
"Sure Leah, he's just getting out of the shower." She heard Emily smack him a kiss as she passed Sam the phone.
"Sam Uley."
Fucking Sam. I know who he is, she thought, I'm the one calling him. "Hi Sam," Leah continued in her fake nice voice. "I was hoping to set up a meeting."
"For what?"
"Well, Bella and I have some questions about imprinting." She was using her real voice now. "I was hoping you and Jared and your imprints could meet with us, answer some questions, help Bella through this.… And me too. I need help too, Sam."
"Uh, sure, let me call Jared and then I'll call you back. Were you hoping to do this today?"
"That would be ideal." she answered honestly.
"Alright. Let me see what I can do." Click.
"He's going to get back to us." Leah told Bella, putting her arm around her shoulders kissing the top of her head.
Just then, Sue turned the corner. "What's that about an imprint?" Sue asked Leah, eyeing the arm she had around Bella's shoulder.
"Uh, sorry, Mom. I was going to tell you… eventually. I just wanted more time with Bella to figure it all out."
"Are you telling me that you imprinted on Bella?" Sue asked, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Yes, Mom," Leah was downcast, thinking her mom was ashamed of her.
"Oh, honey," Sue pulled them both into a hug. "That's wonderful!" Tears were falling down her cheek.
Bella was tearing up too. Sue was exactly the kind of Mom she always wanted. "Thank you," she squeaked.
Then Leah was tearing up too, but not crying. That wasn't her thing. She tried to blink the tears away. "So you're not mad?"
"Well, let's see, when did it happen?"
"Yesterday, when we met at the diner." Leah answered.
"Oh, so you've been keeping this secret for one day? No, I'm not mad. But it's a good thing I found out now. If you had kept it for too long, I'd have a right to be mad."
Leah chuckled, "Thanks, Mom."
"You guys can have a safe space here, whatever your relationship is. But I'm sure Charlie will be supportive too. And if he isn't, let me know and I'll kick his ass." Sue promised. Bella saw where Leah got her feisty side from. "My only rule is no hanky panky in this house that is loud enough for me to hear."
"Ok," Leah beamed, then to Bella, "She sleeps with a fan on."
The phone rang then. Leah grabbed it. "Clearwater."
"Leah, can you and Bella meet today at 3, my place?"
"Yeah, that'd be great!"
"And bring your list of questions."
"Will do, thanks Sam, See you later."
"Later, Clearwater." Click.
"So, Bella, we'll meet at 3 at Sam's. He says to bring a list of questions. Sound good?" Bella nodded. "Ok, I have to shower. I'm still grimy from yesterday. Do you want to shower here and wear some of my pre-wolf clothes? Or do you want me to take you back to Charlie's after I shower?"
o.~*~.o
"Why don't you show me your pre-wolf clothes, and then I'll decide."
"Okay." Leah guided Bella back into her bedroom. "The bottom two drawers of the dresser are pre wolf," she walked to her closet and divided the clothes almost down the middle, "and in here, everything to the left is pre-wolf."
"Wow, Leah," Bella gasped at the enormity of it all. "Had you thought about donating them or anything?"
"Uh, no. It's a little painful, honestly. I love a lot of these clothes and I'm bummed that I can't wear them anymore." Then her face brightened. "But you could wear them! You could try on anything you like, preferably everything. And anything that fits, we keep. If it doesn't fit you, we'll donate it. How does that sound?"
"Actually, it sounds kind of fun. It's like shopping, but without having to think about money."
"And, with shopping, the more you buy the guiltier you feel. With this, the more we can keep, the less I feel like I'm losing!" She loved this plan. "Ok, do you want to shower first so you can start trying things on, or do you want me to go first?"
"Why don't you go first, but give me a paper and pen so I can start on that list of questions."
After Bella showered, she came back to Leah's room wrapped in a towel. Leah was sitting on the bed, looking over the questions Bella had written down. She wrote down a few herself. She also saw that there was at least one that she could answer for Bella.
Bella went to the desk and put on her bra from the previous day. "You didn't happen to outgrow your underwear did you?"
Leah reached her foot over and pulled open her bottom drawer with her foot. "They're all in here. I think they'll fit. I used to have a tight little ass just like you."
"I like the ass you have now," Bella said.
"Sure it's fine. It's just that since the phase, everything is bigger, thicker, sturdier." Leah lamented.
"That's what she said." Bella quipped. Leah snorted. Bella stood between Leah's legs, looking down into her face for once. Leah was so beautiful but her face carried so much sorrow. Bella softly kissed each of Leah's eyes, the top of her nose, then her full lips. It was a closed mouth kiss. They didn't need to get distracted. Still it carried so much passion. "Where do we start?" Bella asked as she pulled away.
"Underwear?" Leah offered, grinning.
"Why don't I wear these today," Bella pulled out a comfy looking pair of purple panties, "and if these fit, we'll assume the rest fit. If I ever come across a pair that doesn't fit, we'll toss it out."
"Agreed."
Bella pulled up the panties under her towel. "Okay, so we're past underwear. What about bras?"
"Ummm, well I haven't needed them since I phased. I don't know why they are so perky now because they are much bigger. No complaints though. But I think my chest was bigger than yours before too. Not my boobs, my actual chest, like my rib cage." Leah leaned down and grabbed all of the bras from that section of the drawer. "You can take them home, try them on, keep any that fit and do what you want with the rest."
"Ok," She put them in a pile with her yesterday clothes. "Can I get a bag for them and my old clothes?"
"Yeah," Leah grabbed a bag from her mom's shopping bag full of shopping bags, located in the hall closet. When she came back, Bella was looking at the dresses.
"These are so cute." Bella complimented.
"I know. They all look like weird shirts on me, now."
"Do we want to start with dresses, then?" Leah nodded enthusiastically.
Most of the dresses fit Bella and she loved them all. A few were shorter than she was comfortable with, but Leah loved them on her so much, she decided to keep them but just put them towards the back of the closet for their private time. They got rid of all of Leah's formal wear that she had worn to proms and such with Sam.
Leah's pants were all too long on Bella. "We could turn them into cut offs," Bella suggested. "And then I could match the pack." She was mostly joking at that suggestion.
"Or we could turn them into daisy dukes." Leah suggested.
"If there are any that you really liked how they looked on me, we can cut and keep them."
Leah strategically grabbed four from the pile. "These." she stated confidently, remembering how Bella's ass looked in all of them. Bella folded those and put them back in the drawer for later modification.
Next, the skirts and shorts all fit her. She picked out a pair of jean shorts that cupped her ass to wear today.
Finally, she tried on the shirts. There were so many t-shirts and hoodies. "Was that like your uniform, t-shirts and hoodies?" Bella asked. She couldn't remember a time that she saw Leah wearing anything else before her father died.
"Pretty much." Leah answered.
"And now you have to wear a dress all of the time? Because it is easier to take off quickly when you phase?"
"Pretty much." Leah repeated.
"Where do you get all of the dresses?"
"I frequent the thrift store in Forks. My mom does too."
"Can we go together? We can drop off this pile of donations when we do."
"Yeah, that'll be fun. But first, lunch, and I'm cooking for you today."
"Oh, yeah, what's your specialty?"
"Grilled cheese." Leah announced proudly.
"Awesome."
Bella bagged up the donations in a trash bag. She put the list of questions in her bag of bras and dirty clothes. Then she brought her bag and the donation bag to the truck, putting both on the passenger seat. When she came back in, the smell of grilled cheese greeted her.
Leah made eight sandwiches. Bella ate one and a half. Leah ate the rest. Then Leah brought out the cookies. She ate six and she insisted that Bella have at least one, so Bella ate one, even though she was pretty full from lunch. The grilled cheese was really good, too. Leah used a mix of sliced cheeses to make a rich and creamy sandwich, much more flavorful than the ones Charlie made with kraft singles.
Leah drove them to the thrift store in Forks. She calculated they had about 40 minutes to spend there, which was probably more than they needed. However, Bella wanted her to try a bunch of the dresses on. Leah would usually buy any that fit her loosely, even if they didn't look good. Bella had her try on some that were a little tighter than she would usually choose. They weren't great for flinging off quickly or throwing over her head mid run, but they looked cute on her. "For date nights." Bella suggested. Sold.
Bella convinced Leah to wear one of the cute new dresses to the meeting. It was new with tags, a rare find at the thrift store. Bella said that since today was a date, Leah should look her best. And she looked amazing in the black dress with a tiny floral print. It hugged her stomach but ruffled around her breasts, which Leah liked. She hated when guys stared at her chest. The dress ended mid thigh, so a little lower than she would usually prefer, but it was perfect for her date with Bella.
When they got in the truck, Leah put her arm around Bella's shoulder and pulled her close. She lifted Bella's chin up and kissed her, quickly parting her lips to bring it deeper. After a moment. She pulled away slightly, looking back and forth between Bella's eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.
Bella could see the sincerity on Leah's face. "For what?"
"For making me beautiful again." There were tears in Leah's eyes again and it was so beautiful.
"Oh honey, you were beautiful an hour ago! But I'm glad you see yourself that way, too."
Leah hugged her and then turned the car on. They didn't want the imprint meeting to start late on their account.
o.~*~.o
Seth had been patrolling with Paul a lot lately. Some members of the pack thought that Seth was a good influence on Paul but Seth was pretty sure it was the other way around. Paul was a quick thinker, brave, strategic, and didn't hesitate at danger. As the youngest member of the pack, Seth was probably the most timid in the face of danger.
Since the schedule had changed to give Leah a break, he had to patrol with Jake today. He wondered if Sam did this on purpose. Seth knew that other than Sam, Jake would be the one person most upset by the new imprint. So Seth had to prevent himself from thinking about it. This would be difficult, since having Bella at his house was the best thing that had happened to him in a while.
He decided that he'd let Jake know that Bella and Leah were friends. Then he could freely think about the foods he had been treated to. He wouldn't have a problem not reviewing the affectionate touches the two shared. Those were gross. Leah was his sister! Jake would already know about the attack yesterday, so that would explain why Bella stayed around, he hoped.
When Jake phased in, his head was swimming with images of Jen.
EW, MAN. THAT'S MY COUSIN! Seth said when Jacob was thinking about the first time he got Jen to take her shirt off.
SORRY, SETH. SHE'S JUST SO AMAZING. Then Jake was thinking about fucking her. Good thing I took Leah's place today, Seth thought.
YEAH, WHY'S THAT? Jake asked.
Oops. SHE AND BELLA ARE FRIENDS NOW.
I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT.NO PROBLEM. Then Seth thought about food: waffles, cookies, alfredo, leftover waffles. He hoped there would be some in the fridge. And alfredo. He never would have thought of pork alfredo but it was so good. He wanted the girls to be best friends. Best friends.
So Jake patrolled thinking about Jen. Seth happily thought of Bella's food and he never let slip anything about the imprint or the budding relationship. He didn't want to think about those things anyway.
o.~*~.o
Leah pulled up to Sam's house four minutes early. Everyone was already there, sitting around the picnic table. Sam and Emily were on one side. Jared was on an adirondack chair at the end with Kim in his lap. One side of the table was deliberately left empty for Leah and Bella, so that's where they sat.
Sam was gawking, open mouthed, as they walked to the table, holding hands. Emily smacked him in the chest. He closed his mouth but couldn't take his eyes away.
"You look lovely today, Leah. New dress?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, Bella took me shopping." She smiled down at Bella. Leah didn't know it, but everyone else at the table did. Leah was glowing with happiness and none of them had ever seen her look so beautiful.
"Before we get too comfortable, Leah, can you show us the moment of imprint in the pack mind? That will help us both answer your questions."
Leah scowled. "You don't believe me?"
"No, it's not that. I did this when everyone else imprinted too. It shows me the strength of the imprint which can help me to guide you."
"Ok, Bella, can you come with me to hold my clothes while I phase? I don't want them to get messy."
"Leah, are you sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked, worried.
"Bella, are you okay with it?"
Bella jotted something down on the list. "Yeah, of course, Leah."
She and Leah went to the side of the house for some privacy.
Sam phased first, telling the wolves on patrol to phase out for five minutes. When Leah phased in, she showed Sam and Jared the scene from the diner, even the vomiting in the bushes.
OKAY. YOU CAN PHASE BACK. Sam instructed.
Less than a minute later, Bella and Leah rejoined the rest of them at the picnic table. No one was saying anything so Bella unfolded the list and began.
"First, what do the texts say about imprints?" Bella asked.
"Sorry, Bella, I could have answered this one. Do you remember the story of Taha Aki and his third wife?" Bella nodded. "The third wife was an imprint."
"Ah, that's really sweet." Bella commented.
"That's not all, though." Sam added. He handed both girls a packet. "I have photocopies of all of the relevant texts for whenever someone imprints. You guys - er, girls, can read those at your leisure. If they invite more questions, I can answer them, or you can always go to Old Quil." he chuckled. "Although I don't know how helpful he would be. Maybe Billy Black would be a better choice. Whatever you decide, I'll have your back."
"Ok, thanks," Bella looked back down at her paper. "Sam, this next question is for you. How did you know you imprinted, you know, since you were the first?" She squeezed Leah's hand, knowing this one could be difficult.
"Well, I had never heard the term imprinting at the time, so I didn't know that was what it was. What I knew was that I was suddenly obsessed with Emily Young. Anything that could jeopardize my chances with Emily needed to be destroyed, including the relationship I was in at the time." He glanced at Leah apologetically. Then he turned back to Bella. He was more comfortable talking to Bella about this. "I followed her around like a puppy. No, that's not right. I stalked her. Old Quil was keeping an eye on me at the time. He knew I had phased and knew I needed guidance. He pulled me into a meeting and gave me a packet like you have there. His packet had a lot of extra fluff that I've cut out over time. There was a lot of theory in his packet, not just the histories," Sam explained. "I thought it would be best if the wolves and their imprints weren't so influenced by theory and instead were just allowed to experience the relationship on their own, not mold it into what some old guys thought was best." Bella thought there was a lot of wisdom in that decision. She liked Sam and understood why Leah had fallen in love with him a little better.
"Thank you for sharing that. This one is for the imprints." She smiled up at Emily and then glanced over at Kim. She had loved Kim dearly not too long ago. Kim had been the one to introduce Jen and Jake. That wasn't her fault, but Kim never contacted her again after that. She didn't know if that friendship was repairable. She felt a tear gathering so she spit out the next question. "Do the imprints feel the same pull and devotion to the wolves as what the wolves feel?"
"Sort of." Kim piped up. "You know I had a crush on Jared before he imprinted, Bella. So I was half sold before we even started. But still, his affection for me far superseded my desire for him. Also, it didn't feel great that he was only into me because of this magic imprint effect, ya know?" Jared looked sad when she said that but didn't say anything. Kim continued, "Emily, what was your experience?"
"For me, no, not at all. I wasn't interested and I was freaked out. Sam had just broken my best friend's heart and my best friend resented me for it." She looked up at Leah, still hurt. "He honestly seemed like a shitty guy, which was weird because that wasn't what he was like with Leah. It took a long time for me to even talk to him, I'm talking months, Bella. So no."
After a quiet moment, Sam asked, "What has it been like for you, Bella?"
"Uh," Bella looked embarrassed. "Leah and I are on the same page. I feel like the intensity of my pull towards her matches her pull towards me." She looked at Leah and smiled.
"Oh, wow," Jared spoke up for the first time.
"Must be nice," Sam muttered. Then he spoke up, "But that kind of makes sense with the intensity of your imprint. It is the most intense one I've seen yet, wouldn't you agree, Jared?"
"For sure," Jared hissed. "We describe it as gravity shifting, but no one else has ever thrown up from that shift before. Powerful stuff."
"Ok, moving along," Bella continued, still embarrassed. "This one's Leah. Leah?"
"Oh yeah, I heard about this once in the pack mind and tuned it out but now I need to know. I heard something about stages or levels to the imprint. What's that about?"
"Are you guys, together-together?" Kim blurted out, "like romantically?"
"Yes," Leah affirmed while Bella nodded.
"Thank you, Kim, for clarifying." Sam said, "So you're already past the first two stages, friendship and the sibling bond. If you haven't, er, mated yet, that will increase the intensity when you do. Then there is marking, which, well, none of us have done it, so we can't tell you much about it. It's in your packet if you're interested. It's basically…" he was having trouble spitting it out. Why was this part difficult? He had explained it to the other guys with no problem.
Jared helped him out, "It's when the wolf bites the imprint during sex."
"You guys have sex with the wolves?" Bella asked, looking back and forth between Emily and Kim.
"No, baby," Leah said. Emily and Kim looked horrified, having just been accused of beastiality. Jared and Sam were trying to suppress their laughter. "Jared just worded that really poorly. They're laughing at him, not you, baby." Leah lifted Bella's hand, still in hers, and placed a soft kiss on it. "Remember we talked about the dichotomy of the man and wolf, how my wolf is already really protective of you and all that?" Bella nodded. "I think that's what they're talking about, or at least I hope it is." Leah looked at Sam, lifting an eyebrow.
"That's exactly it, Bella. And that's why Jared is usually quiet during these meetings. He just saw me struggling with how to describe it and wanted to help. So those are the stages of the imprint. Marking is the most intense, according to the texts, but as I said, none of us have done it so we don't know from experience."
Bello wrote something else down on the list. "Ok, next, what is up with touch? We always want to be touching each other. This was even more intense after the vampire attack."
"Great question! Touch is very important to wolves in the wild. Bella, you might want to read up on wolf pack and mating behaviors. Touch, in my experience, is the most secure of our senses. A scent can be old, a vision distorted by desire or even madness, but touch is real. After the vampire attack, that makes a lot of sense that the need for touch was so much stronger. The vampire was after Bella," Leah whinged in pain at the reminder, "and it actually hurt Leah, an otherwise life threatening injury if it weren't for the fast healing." Bella gulped, remembering the terror of seeing her carried into the house by these two men. "Do you want to add anything, Jared?"
"Yeah, actually. So far, all of the imprints have been romantic. I don't know how it would look for a platonic imprint, but touch is such an effective way to communicate love and adoration… and romance. I think that has a lot to do with it too. I think after you were both threatened yesterday, you needed to show each other how much you cared, and touch does that easily."
"Hm, yeah. Ok, next, this one is Leah's. Oh Leah!" she looked over at Leah and Leah looked scared. Bella maintained eye contact, squeezed Leah's hand and whispered, "I would never." To the rest of the group, "Ok, she asks, what happens if the imprint doesn't want anything to do with the wolf?"
"It hurts like hell." Sam answered. "I don't know what would have happened if Emily never talked to me. I don't know if I could function as a protector. I didn't know if any stories in the texts about rejected wolves. So either that is rare, or only happy stories are passed down. There are stories of delayed acceptance, like Emily and me, and those line up with my experience."
Bella was still looking at Leah, trying to will Leah to trust her. After a moment, she turned to the page. "Leah was talking about how protective the wolf is of me," she looked at Sam for this one. "Does the wolf love the imprint more than the man does."
"No, baby," Leah finally had an answer. "We're both crazy about you. Please don't doubt that." Leah pulled Bella into a hug, clutching Bella's face into her chest.
"Then don't doubt that I'm crazy about you back." Bella said, the words muffled by Leah's chest.
"Deal." Leah said, releasing Bella.
"I agree with Leah," Sam said, "but I want to add, it's different. The wolf's love is more feral, all passion and gut feeling. The man's love is complex and deep, sometimes intellectual, but it also has great passion and intensity. Bella, you're going to have to please both, tame both. That is something the girls can guide you through. And they may not want to share all of their secrets with us here. I hope you take advantage of the more experienced imprints though. And I hope you, in turn, will guide other imprints through this process when the time is right. So, any more questions?"
"Yeah, a couple, Leah, this one's yours."
"How do we keep dirty thoughts about Bella and me out of the pack mind? I don't want to spend the next few years kicking everyone's ass."
Sam smiled at that. "Well, as you know, there is no way to keep it out entirely. You can practice guarding your thoughts. When you're ready, show everyone the intensity of the imprint. I think that will go a long way to earning their respect. But I can't police their thoughts, Leah. You know that. Earn their respect. Bella already has. When she and Jake were together, people weren't fantasizing about her in the pack mind even though we both know some of them had a crush on her. That's my best advice to you, Leah, earn their respect and they won't want to disrespect you like that."
Leah groaned. That would be difficult.
"Ok, next question," Bella didn't love that for an answer, but she understood the logic. So she changed the subject. "Can the wolf hurt the imprint?"
Sam closed his eyes, slammed his fist on the table and whispered, "yes."
"Wait, she doesn't know? Or did you put her up to that, Leah?" Emily accused.
Leah was speechless. That question wasn't on the list when they left the house. But her mouth was suddenly dry and she couldn't form words. Speechless.
"She didn't know." Sam said, not lifting his eyes. "Bella," he lifted his head and looked her right in the eye, "Emily was not a victim of a bear attack." Bella was stunned. That meant… Sam scarred Emily's face. Sam grabbed the paper with the questions. He looked at Emily, "I'm pretty sure that was one of the two she added here. There's only one left on the list, so Leah didn't even know it was coming."
"Oh, okay, sorry Lee." Emily sounded sincere. Leah gulped and nodded.
"Ok, last question," Sam read from the list. "Why haven't any of you marked? Jared, can you take this one?" Sam put his arm around Emily, trying to comfort her. She hated when anyone talked about her scars.
"Yeah, Sam, I can answer for Kim and me. I don't think I've heard anyone talk about it in the pack mind. So there's two reasons for us. The first is I've never felt compelled to. From the texts, I believe that since I've never had that desire, I never will. Second, when Kim and I read the texts, Kim seemed pretty grossed out by the idea. I kind of agreed with her. So that's why. Sam, anything to add?"
"That pretty much lines up with our experience. Anything else you've thought of?"
"No," Bella said meekly, standing up with Leah.
Sam came around the table and gave Bella a big hug. "Welcome to the pack," he whispered to her.
When he let her go, Emily was waiting with open arms. Bella embraced her while Sam hugged Leah. "I'm so sorry, Emily"
"Don't be," Emily said. "Jacob should have told you. Hell, I should have told you, too. I should have told you a lot more than I did. Still friends?"
"Of course."
Then, for the first time in over a year, Emily pulled Leah into a hug. They said nothing.
Jared hugged Bella, next, "Got any more of those peanut butter cookies?" He asked her.
"Those are mine!" Leah shouted. Bella grinned.
Finally, Kim grasped Bella's arms, tears already streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry, Bella, I didn't know what to do when… all that happened, then you never texted and I thought you were mad at me. Are you? I don't want you to be. Jared said to give you time but… I didn't want to! I'm so glad Leah imprinted on you. I missed you!"
Bella pulled her into a fierce hug. "We'll need to get together soon, Kim, we have a lot to catch up on." Kim sighed, relieved that she might have her best friend back.
"Speaking of which," Sam interjected, "Bella, Leah, we would really like to have you over for dinner in the next week or so. We try to have all of the imprinted couples over at least once a quarter. It'll be just the four of us. Does that sound okay?"
Bella and Leah looked at each other and nodded.
"Well, I'll be in touch, Leah, about scheduling that."
"For sure," Leah lead Bella to the car, helping her in on the drivers side, then waiting for her to scooch to the middle. Leah climbed up into the driver's seat.
Bella wrapped her arms around Leah's waist, giving her the sweetest car hug. "It could have been worse, I guess." Bella commented.
Leah turned on the truck and started driving them toward Forks. "Bella, how did you not know about Emily? What did Jacob tell you?"
"He said it was a bear attack. He said Emily was self conscious about it and Sam was very protective of her. I wasn't going to ask her about it. Well, I wasn't planning on it. I'm mortified that it happened like that. Tell me it's going to be okay."
"Honey, of course it's going to be okay. This isn't your failure. This is Jake's. He's the one that brought you into all this but didn't tell you anything that you actually needed to know." Leah slammed her fist against the steering wheel. Bella flinched at the sound but still clung to Leah's torso. "Honestly, it pisses me off."
"Yeah, I guess. That makes sense. I don't want to think about him though, okay?" Then Bella ducked under Leah's arm and nuzzled her face against Leah's breasts. Home.
Leah loved looking down to see Bella's chestnut hair under her chin. She loved the feeling of that sweet face rubbing back and forth on her breast, brushing her nipple with her nose. It was divine. "Yeah, Isabella, we don't have to talk about him."
They drove in silence for a bit. "So what are we making Charlie for supper?"
"Potato stroganoff." she mumbled into Leah's boobs. "It's a family recipe. Charlie's favorite."
"Oh, are we trying to butter him up or something?"
"Yeah, we have to tell him we're together before the gossip gets around." Bella tipped her head up, "Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah, of course, but will he still let me sleep over?"
Bella sat up straight. "I hadn't thought of that. Shit. We could always go back to your house if he doesn't."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Leah reached her arm around Bella's shoulders and guided Bella's face back into her chest.
"Nice." Bella whispered.
o.~*~.o
It was 4:50 when they pulled into Charlie's house. They'd have to hustle to get dinner on the table by the time he got home. With Leah helping, it should go quicker, unless they got distracted.
Bella pulled out a big bag of potatoes. "Leah, can you peel and rinse about half of those?" She gave her two bowls, one for the peelings and one for the clean potatoes. "I'll start the beef, then come help with the potatoes."
Surprisingly, Leah was done with the potatoes before Bella finished browning the beef. "You're amazing, Leah." She gave her a quick kiss. She dumped out the peeling bowl and rinsed it. Then she cut up one potato to show Leah roughly how small the slices should be. "Can you cut the potatoes into slices that size?"
"Of course, baby." Leah was fast again. They could be a real powerhouse team in the kitchen, Bella thought while gathering spices. "Anything else?"
Bella had already chopped the onion and it was simmering. The next step was the seasoning. "No, now we wait."
"Oh, my favorite," Leah said, standing between Bella and the stove she was watching. Leah brushed her hand against Bella's cheek, then drove her fingers into her hair on the back of her neck. She leaned down, tilting her head ever so slightly, and brought her mouth to Bella's. Bella stood on tippy toes to meet her more forcefully, then pulled away with just as much force.
"Um," Bella said, licking her lips, "I need to watch the food, Leah, but in a few minutes, we'll have time for that, okay?"
"Mmm, fine," Leah fake pouted. She stepped behind Bella, wrapping her arms around her waist. She rounded her back and put her head on Bella's shoulder. "I'll help you watch the food." A minute later, Bella added the spices, then the sour cream and beef broth. When the whole mixture was simmering, she added the potatoes and covered the pot.
"Now we have time for that." Bella turned around in Leah's arms and stood on tippy toes. Leah seized her mouth with her own.
"Have you ever considered high heels?" Leah asked, talking into the kiss.
"I'm too clumsy." Bella said, pulling back a little. "Why does your neck hurt like this?"
"No, I'm fine, I was just thinking it'd be more comfortable for you. Hmph, what if I…" Leah got on her knees. Her head was now below Bella's, just above Bella's chest. "Oh," She put her head right between Bella's boobs, then rolled from one side to another. Bella giggled at the sensation. She chose left and rubbed her face on the left breast, up and down, up and down. She felt Bella's nipple getting hard beneath her cheek. She started kissing it, pulling it into her mouth, along with Bella's shirt and bra, trying not to let them get wet
Bella gasped. "Oh, we definitely don't have time for that."
Leah stood back up. "Ok, one more thing I'd like to try." She lifted Bella up, and like instinct, Bella wrapped her legs around Leah's core. "Good girl." Leah cooed. Leah spun Bella around and put her ass on the counter. Bella and Leah were the same height now.
Leah stood between Bella's thighs. "Perfect," she whispered.
Bella moved her face closer to Leah's. Leah decided to let her set the pace. Bella touched her nose to Leah's, then slid her face to the left. She rubbed her nose and cheek along Leah's, back and forth gently. Leah sighed contentedly. She was instantly relaxed, fully relaxed, in a way she hadn't been since before her father died.
After several minutes like that, Bella pulled back and looked at Leah's face. Leah had been awfully quiet but Bella didn't think she had done anything wrong. Leah's eyes were closed and her face looked so peaceful. The moment was so intimate, Bella didn't know what to do next.
Finally, Leah's eyelashes fluttered open. "I liked that," she whispered.
"I'll have to remember that." Bella answered.
Then they both heard Charlie's cruiser pull into the driveway. Leah stepped back from the counter, bringing Bella with her. "What else do we have to do?" Leah asked.
"Salad and crescent rolls. You do salad and I'll do crescent rolls." She handed Leah the salad bowl.
She had always planned to have Leah make the salad. She wanted to see how Leah would choose to do it. Was she a lettuce only girl? If not, what vegetables would she choose and how big would she make the chucks? And finally, which dressing would she choose? Salad said so much about a person.
Bella was opening her second can of crescent rolls when Charlie opened the door. "Good evening, bells. Are we feeding an army tonight with all those rolls?"
"Hi Dad, no, but Leah's here. I hope you don't mind. I invited her to stay the night."
"That's fine. Hi Leah,
"Hi Charlie."
"Is that stroganoff I smell?"
"Mmmhmm."
"What's the occasion?" Charlie asked suspiciously. Bella never made his grandmother's recipe unless she was going to ask for something or had bad news.
"Oh nothing, I was just craving it." She lied. This was not how she was planning to tell Charlie about her and Leah. She wanted to feed him first.
"Sure Bells, it's nice to see that you're still a terrible liar."
Bella struggled not to laugh, "fine there is something I, well Leah and I want to talk to you about but not right now. We've got to finish cooking first."
"Okay, I can be patient." Charlie grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped it open. "Anything I can do to help?"
"Set the table please, dad." So he did.
Bella turned the burner all the way off after putting the double batch of crescent rolls in the oven. "It'll be about ten minutes dad."
"Okay," he took his beer to the couch and started flipping through the channels.
Bella went over to inspect the salad. Somehow, Leah had made the most generic looking salad on the planet. There was lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion and cheddar cheese.
"I don't know how your dad likes his salad so I thought I'd keep it basic." Leah explained while Bella eyed the salad. "What dressing should I put on the table?"
"Charlie always chooses ranch. I'm in the mood for thousand island. What are you going to have?"
"I thought a vinaigrette would be nice alongside the stroganoff." Leah answered.
"Oh, I like the way you think." Bella said. Leah brought the salad and dressings to the table. Bella scooped some stroganoff into a Tupperware for Charlie's lunch tomorrow. Then she wouldn't have to worry about Leah finishing everything that was on the table. When the timer dinged for the rolls, she asked Leah, "can you pour drinks for you and me?"
"Yeah, baby, what do you want?"
"Whatever you're having," Bella answered, filling a basket with the rolls. "Dad," Bella called into the living room, "dinner!"
Charlie strode in, beer in hand, and took his seat. He loved stroganoff and he was dying to know what Bella wanted to talk about.
When everyone was seated, Charlie served himself a large serving of stroganoff first and grabbed a crescent roll. Bella handed him the salad bowl. "Fine," he muttered and he took just enough to make her happy.
Leah served a small serving of stroganoff to Bella and a jumbo serving to herself. Bella put a crescent on her plate and three on Leah's. Charlie watched silently as both girls heaped a large portion of salad on their plates. Charlie bit into his stroganoff and it was perfect.
"So what do you want to talk to me about, Bells?"
Bella and Leah gave each other a knowing glance, then Bella put down her fork and reached out and took Leah's hand. "I know it hasn't been that long since Jake and I," she gulped, "and neither of us planned this, but it feels so right. Dad, Leah and I are together."
Silence. Everyone ate in silence. The stroganoff was perfect, but why wasn't Charlie saying anything?
Finally, he broke the silence. "How old are you now, Leah?"
"Nineteen, sir."
"None of that sir, here, little missy. You will call me Charlie, understand?"
"Yes, uh, Charlie." Leah sounded flustered.
"Ok, so you're both adults. Leah, I already love you like a daughter, although I admit I didn't see this coming."
"Neither did we," Bella giggled.
"Leah, I have to remind you that I am well armed and if you hurt my daughter…" he trailed off, remembering how things had gone with Jacob and the dislocated shoulder. "Oh, never mind, just do your best not to hurt her, okay?"
"Of course, Charlie, that is the last thing I want." She squeezed Bella's thigh under the table.
After dinner, Charlie returned to the TV. Bella took Leah outside with a blanket. It was such a clear night with no moon. The stars were bright in the sky. Bella laid out the blanket and they settled down.
Leah's head was in the crook of Bella's arm. Bella's hand was draped over Leah's shoulder. Leah was playing with Bella's fingers. They were watching for shooting stars.
Eventually, Leah broke their bliss filled silence. "I think that went really well with Charlie."
"I agree. I wasn't too worried but I've never talked about gay rights and stuff with him so I wasn't sure exactly where he stood."
"Is that what we are, gay?" Leah asked.
"I think we're both probably bisexual." Bella suggested.
"Mmmm, makes sense. You know I didn't really think about women before you. I always assumed I was straight. Sure I noticed beautiful women, and sometimes wondered what it would be like to kiss them, to taste their lips, but I imagine that's pretty common."
"Uh, no, I don't think straight people do that. Do you think Sam or Jake wonder what it is like to kiss beautiful men?"
"Uhg, you're right, I'm pretty certain that they don't think about that, pack mind." She said, tapping her temple. "How about you, did you think of kissing beautiful women?"
"Actually not really, not until yesterday when I wanted to kiss you. No, what I thought of was boobs. It was weird, whenever Jake and I, you know? In bed… Well, I always felt like there should be more boobs, like I just wanted to be touching someone else's boobs when I climaxed. I tried not to think about it at the time. No, that's not right. I tried to suppress that thought every time it came up, but it never went away."
"Pervert." Leah said after a moment. Then Bella was bent over giggling. When she settled down again, she had her face on Leah's boobs.
o.~*~.o
Leah had brought one of the dentist freebie toothbrushes to the swan residence. She was hopeful that there would be a spot in the bathroom for her toothbrush. She was delighted when she saw a toothbrush cup in the bathroom with a red and a blue toothbrush. Her white toothbrush would fit in no problem.
When Bella took her turn in the bathroom, she was tickled to see that Leah had left her toothbrush in the cup with hers and Charlie's. Their toothbrushes looked like a little family.
She bounded back to her bedroom where Leah was under the covers in the exact middle of the bed. "Which side do you prefer?" Leah asked.
Bella flicked off the light, shut the door and strode toward the bed. "This one," Bella climbed in on Leah's left. Like an arrow to its target, Bella rested her head on Leah's bare breasts. "Did you enjoy our date today?" Bella asked.
"Yeah, I really did. But to be honest, I've been looking forward to this part for hours."
"What part? Snuggling?" She asked, rubbing her thumb over Leah's nipple.
"The part where you play with my boobs, Bella."
"Oh," she could feel Bella's face change into a smile against her skin. "Me too. You know, I was afraid to tell you that I had a thing for boobs. I thought you might think it was, I don't know, too gay or something."
"Too gay?!" Leah sputtered. "I think we passed too gay a while back. I don't know what could be gayer than this." She took a few deep breaths, trying not to laugh, "but I like being gay with you."
While Leah was talking, Bella continued stroking the free nipple with her thumb. She had turned her face toward the other nipple and pulled it into her mouth, circling the areola with her tongue. Eventually she released the nipple and then licked the whole breast, from the fold under breast all the way to Leah's collar bone. Leah squeaked when her tongue passed over her nipple. Leah was so aroused by what Bella was doing. Leah started clamping and unclamping her thighs, trying to create some friction between her legs. Bella sucked the nipple back into her mouth and started playing with it, sucking it, twirling her tongue around it, grazing it gently with her teeth
"Oh my God, Bella," squeezing her thighs together and rubbing them up and down against each other, "I. Think. I. Might. Come!" This surprised Bella, but also excited her. She let go of the nipple and started licking it from every angle, trying to create as much pleasant pressure as she could before Leah came undone.
She kept her eyes glued to Leah's face. She needed to see what this looked like. She inched her hand down to the soft curls of Leah's mound, still padding the nipple with her tongue. She slid her finger into the wetness waiting for her, rubbing the fold between the swollen clit and the labia. She could feel the vibrations and tremors of the impending orgasm. She kept her pace, staying in Leah's warm center. She lifted Leah's head and encircled her mouth with her lips, swallowing the moans of Leah's orgasm. She kept her eyes open and so did Leah. They both felt the cord that tied their souls together. It was growing stronger, fiercely stronger.
Bella rested her head next to Leah's on the pillow. She brought her finger up from Leah's center, opened her mouth and sucked off all of the juices. "Mmmm, Tangy." Bella whispered.
Leah was feeling totally blissed out. She had kind of expected Bella to be a pillow princess and she was fine with that. She did not expect Bella to be the first one to give an orgasm. She kept thinking back to Bella, sticking her finger in her mouth, tasting Leah. She yearned to taste Bella. But how to ask? Bella was fully dressed in her pajamas. She didn't have the same access that Bella had to her body.
"Baby?" Leah whispered.
Bella responded with a light snore. She was asleep.