Bella slept so soundly with Leah in her arms that she didn't notice when Leah left the bed in the morning. She didn't wake up until she felt the breeze as the covers lifted. Leah was climbing back into bed after using the bathroom. Bella's eyes shot open to see Leah scooching across the queen size mattress to snuggle in her arms again. "Good morning, beautiful," Bella greeted her.

"That's what I was going to say!" Leah looked up at her, smiling.

"Can I make you breakfast?"

Leah nodded. "I don't work until noon today."

Bella's heart sang. "So I can spend the whole morning with you?"

"Not quite," Leah said and they both deflated a little. "I'll have to get ready for work and I probably should have called my parents last night."

"Your dad knows about me, the wolf legend thing and how you're significant with the second bedroom and everything. If he was worried, he would have checked with the pack first, I think."

"The pack?" Leah asked.

"The wolf pack. That's what we call ourselves, the pack."

"Oh. Is that because Dad's an elder?"

"Mhmm," Bella said, not sure what she should say about the wolves. She started to nervously fiddle with Leah's long black hair, spreading it out over both of their bodies.

"So he knew about Sam being a wolf all along?" Leah asked.

Bella hesitated. "Yes. Sam and Harry stayed close through everything that happened. Leah, I really want to tell you the whole story. There was a lot that Sam couldn't tell you but I can."

"Why couldn't he tell me, but you can tell me?" Leah had known that Sam was keeping secrets. He had told her nothing about what happened during his disappearance. In some ways, that made their breakup easier. She had already lost some of her trust in him before he dumped her. Still it all sucked.

"It's legend shit," Bella said, shrugging her shoulders, "and I don't want to push you away. But you have the right to know."

Leah considered how much she wanted to go down that path. "There's only so much information I can handle, Bella. I'm going to say not right now. But I'm not mad at my dad, not really. You don't have to worry about that."

"So you don't want me to tell you any more wolf legend shit today?"

"I can't," Leah sighed, "not when I have to work later. I just want a normal life, Bella."

"Me too, actually," Bella said, a little downcast. "But I think it's too late for me."

Leah traced Bella's jaw with her finger, "Are you a wolf for the rest of your life?"

"I don't know," Bella said, shaking her head. "But I know I want to stay on the rez. The guys are my family."

"Oh."

Bella felt the weight of that one word from Leah's mouth, "Are you planning on leaving the rez?"

Leah hesitated, then finally admitted, "I don't plan on staying." Everyone knew that about Leah. She was planning on leaving as soon as she could. There was no point in hiding that from Bella. "There aren't any jobs here."

"Mmmm." Bella ran her hand down Leah's arms until she found her hand. She intertwined her fingers with Leah's. "So, to be totally honest, I don't have plans for work if or when the council doesn't need me anymore. It's not something I'm thinking about honestly. I'm taking it all day by day. What do you want for breakfast?"

"What do you usually have?"

"Breakfast sandwiches." Bella gulped nervously, then said, "I don't have much food in the house, Leah. I usually go to Sam and Emily's for meals. We should see what I have before I offer you something that I can't deliver."

Leah was stroking her thumb on Bella's index finger, surprised how soft her skin was considering Bella's occupation. "Maybe if I spend more time here, maybe, would that change?"

"Like the food situation? Or my relationship with Sam and Emily?" Bella asked.

"The food situation. I wouldn't ask you to give up your relationship with them."

"Thank you," Bella said, kissing Leah's cheek. "Umm, yeah. I'm actually on a vacation of sorts so I can pick up food today while you're at work."

"Vacation?"

"From my wolf job."

"Oh, so it comes with benefits?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrows. Her job at the diner did not offer any vacation time. All days off were unpaid.

"Sort of. It's time off for bad behavior."

"Bad behavior?" Leah knew this would be a good story. She couldn't help asking, "Do you want to tell me about it?"

"Do you know someone named Quil Ateara the fifth?"

"Yeah," Leah said, watching Bella's face for more clues. "He's friends with my brother."

The next words rushed out of Bella's mouth. "He joined the pack yesterday and he was close to your house and I almost attacked him."

"Attacked how?" Leah asked carefully, again wondering if she was in danger in this strong woman's bed, in her very arms.

"He was a wolf and I was a wolf."

"I thought you said your wolf was safe, a protector. Is Quil ok?"

"Mmm, he's fine," Bella said nonchalantly, not wanting to make the whole thing sound like a big deal. "Sam stopped me before I could touch him, but he's scared of me now."

"But why did you almost attack him?"

"He was near your house and I thought…" Bella sighed. "I thought maybe he was sleeping with you."

"He's a kid!" Leah screeched, more offended that she was accused of sleeping with a kid than she was worried about the boy.

"I didn't know that!" Bella said defensively. "He was a wolf. You can't tell how old they are."

"So what's going to happen to him now?"

"The same thing that happened to me, I guess. Sam will take care of him. I'll have to apologize once he comes around."

"Comes around?" Leah asked, wondering if he was unconscious or something.

"It takes time to get your human form back from the wolf. It takes even more time to control the shift between one form and the other. That's why it's not safe to be around a young wolf. It's why I was a missing person and why Sam was too."

"Mmmm. Let's go see what you have for breakfast." Leah was ready to change the subject. She definitely didn't want to talk about Sam anymore. She realized Bella was not an immediate threat and that was all she needed to know.

The breakfast situation was pathetic. Bella had stocked the kitchen with dishes and utensils and pots and pans but she had not bought any groceries. All the groceries were things that Emily had bought for her. Emily had been encouraging her to move out of the log and into her house.

The fridge had a few gallons of water and an open container of baking soda. The freezer was empty. Everything edible was shelf stable, so breakfast sandwiches with eggs were out of the question.

"We could make pancakes," Leah said. "You have Bisquick."

"I guess Emily didn't think I could even make pancakes from scratch," Bella commented.

"Can you? Because you have all the ingredients… except eggs. You have powdered milk, though."

"Powdered milk?" Bella took the bag from Leah and read the instructions quickly. "Yes, I can make pancakes from scratch but not without eggs. Can you help me make a shopping list? What do you want me to get for you for when you come over? Like, will you come over after work today?"

"It'll be late and I don't want you to get sick of me," Leah said, dismissing the idea.

Bella wasn't going to let it go so easily. "I will never get sick of you," she promised, "but if you get sick of me, you can stay in your bedroom."

Bella opened the door to the second bedroom. It was painted an olive green. It had a queen sized-bed, a dresser, mirror, desk, and closet.

"That's a lovely guest room," Leah said, lacing her fingers through Bella's, "but if I visit you, I'll want to be with you

"What if I want you here even if you're mad at me or if you need alone time? Then you could use the room I set up for you."

Leah looked at Bella's eyes, seeing a bright hope in them. "It kinda feels like you're asking me to move in," Leah said softly.

"Fuck yeah." Bella held Leah's other hand. "I'd love it if you moved in."

"Bella, I will happily spend my nights with you," Leah said, gazing into her face. "Last night was amazing and I'm looking forward to doing that again. But I can't move in with you."

"Am I pushing too much again?" Bella asked worriedly.

"No, but maybe. I want to make this work and I want to spend time with you but I need my family."

Bella wrapped her arms around Leah's waist, whispering into her neck, "I understand." She rested her head on Leah's shoulder, then started kissing her neck. Leah turned her head just so to catch Bella's lips.

Leah loved the feeling of being held in Bella's strong arms. She felt secure here, protected. She was beginning to trust Bella, just a smidge.

In the kitchen, Bella found the measuring cups and started pouring the mix and water into a bowl. "So what should we put on the shopping list?" Bella handed Leah the pad of paper and pen from the fridge while she stirred the pancake batter.

"I want to try those egg sandwiches you like. Do you have the recipe from Emily?"

"They're English muffins and eggs, and then toast and eggs after the first one so we don't run out of English muffins too fast."

"Oh," Leah laughed as she wrote down those ingredients. "So they're just egg on bread? Why didn't you make them yourself?"

"She makes them with love," Bella said with a smile. "You have a mom and dad. I have a Sam and Emily."

"It sounds like they'll have their hands full with a new kid now, if Quil joined the pack."

"I guess. I didn't think of it that way." They might not be there for Bella as much, but she was proud of them, how they cared for the pack.

"Hey, it's ok though," Leah said. "You have me now."

Bella grinned at her. "What's your favorite ice cream?" Bella asked as she put a stack of warm pancakes on Leahs's plate.

"You don't have to get me ice cream."

Bella tipped her head. "But I want to know what your favorite is."

"There's a peanut butter flavor that my mom gets from Walmart in Port Angeles."

"Oh." Bella was pretty sure she could borrow Paul's car to go to Port Angeles.

Leah could see Bella thinking, almost picking the thoughts out of her head. "You are not going to go to Port Angeles to get it, Bella! That's insane."

"You don't want me to?"

"It's a three hour drive!"

"So is that a no?" Bella asked, turning back to the stove to make more pancakes for herself.

"No, Bella, you can't do that! Absolutely not," Leah said firmly.

"If you can wait until Quil's under control, I can run to Port Angeles and back in less than an hour as a wolf. I can get it for you then."

"You don't have to get it for me at all!" Leah said, a little flustered. "What's your favorite kind of ice cream?"

"As a kid I liked mint chocolate chip most but Emily sometimes gets me mint with Oreo bits and I think I like that even better."

"Oh, I love that kind," Leah lied. "Get that if you want to get ice cream."

"Ok. What do you usually have for breakfast?" Bella asked her.

"Sometimes on the weekends we have pancakes as a family. That's always my favorite but it's more about it being a family thing than the food, ya know what I mean?"

"My parents divorced when I was really little so I never had that. My mom was a Nutrigrain Bar on the go kind of cook."

"Oh, wow. So no pancakes?"

"I made them sometimes," Bella said, flipping the pancakes high with her spatula and catching them in the pan. "When I was little they weren't very good so she never ate them, even though they were pretty good when I got older."

"And with Charlie?" Leah asked.

"He takes me to the diner sometimes. I like it there. It feels like family meals, like what you're describing. At his house, I always knew he wanted to get back to the TV. But at the diner I have all of his attention, ya know?"

"I never saw you there."

"I've been three times with him since I moved here, so it must have been bad timing," Bella said. "I definitely would have noticed you."

"You think?"

"100%." Bella said confidently. She would have imprinted if she saw Leah at the diner.

"Does your dad know that you like girls?"

"I only like one girl, Leah. I don't know if Charlie knows. My mom knows."

"Is your mom ok with it?" Leah asked.

"She was fine with it, until her boyfriend noticed."

"What do you mean?"

"It was pretty fucked up. I had a girl over and he was perving on us." Bella put down her spatula, her jaw set. "He was spying on me. It was so violating but she took his side. She kicked me out… or at least she said I couldn't be there when her boyfriend was there and she was trying to get him to move in."

"That's so fucked up."

Bella sighed. "I know."

"I'm sorry, Bella."

"You didn't do anything."

"I know, but it's not fair," Leah said. "Like, no one on the rez is rich so we all kind of bitch about life, but we have a close community and we all have extended family on the rez, a huge support system."

"I know," Bella said, nodding enthusiastically. "That's why I don't want to leave. I have a family now."

"Mmmm. I'm glad."

Bella sat down to eat. Leah watched in amazement as Bella devoured her tower of pancakes. She helped Bella clean up the table, then said, "Listen, I've got to go home and get ready for work."

"What time will you be back after work?" Bella asked, putting her arms around Leah's waist and pulling her close.

"Is 8:30 too late?"

"It's perfect!" Bella exclaimed, merging her mouth to Leah's soft lips.

When they separated, Leah said, "And if you change your mind or have other plans or something, you can call the diner and leave a message."

"That won't happen," Bella reassured her, shaking her head.

Bella didn't want to let Leah go. Leah felt the same way, but she knew she had to be responsible, talk to her parents, and go to work.

~O~

Leah's dad wasn't home when she got there, just Seth and her mom.

"I went to a friend's house last night," Leah called to her mom as she passed through the kitchen. "Sorry I didn't call."

"You're an adult, Leah. A phone call would have shown some responsibility. Luckily, your dad figured it out. He knows more gossip than me. I swear those council meetings are worse than women's knitting circles when it comes to gossip."

"Makes sense."

"Have you eaten?" Sue asked her.

"Yeah, I had breakfast. My friend made pancakes. I'll grab something light for lunch before work. I'm going back to my friend's house after work."

"Are we ever going to meet this friend who made you pancakes for breakfast?" Sue's voice was teasing, but Leah knew she meant business.

"It's just a friend, mom."

"Sure, honey, but we'll want to meet him if it's ever not just a friend."

Leah's heart sank. At some point, her mom would find out that she was seeing a girl. Her dad hadn't told Sue and he was right not to. That was a conversation she would put off as long as possible.

"Sure, mom."

~O~

Bella went to find Sam shortly after Leah left.

"He's with the new kid, hon," Emily said, welcoming Bella in. "Paul's the liaison right now. You can call him. He can swap places with him."

"Maybe you can help, then we'll get Sam."

"I'll call Paul," Emily said as she lifted the phone off the wall. "Then by the time I finish helping you, Sam will be here to help too."

After the call, Bella started with, "Leah slept over last night. She wasn't too impressed with my breakfast offering."

"I left pancake mix and syrup," Emily said defensively.

"Emily, I'm not criticizing you! Thank you so much for the pancake mix and the syrup! It saved me from total humiliation. But I'm making a shopping list so I can have an even better kitchen for her. First, for your breakfast sandwiches, it's eggs, English muffins and toast, right?"

"And butter. I butter the English muffins and toast."

Bella wrote down butter. "And I'm looking for ideas for stuff that she likes. She told me a little, but I got the feeling that she didn't want me to go over the top and buy stuff just for her."

"Yeah, so she's my cousin. That's not stuff I paid attention to but Sam would know. I know Snickers are her favorite candy because she'd trade with me after Halloween."

"What about on her birthday?" Bella asked as she wrote down Snickers. "What special foods did she want? When's her birthday?"

"Her birthday's next month. She likes chocolate, everything chocolate. I don't remember what she'd have for dinner, honestly. Sometimes we'd go out to eat."

Sam came in the door and immediately pulled Bella into a hug. He could smell Leah's scent on her and he was so happy for them both. "Did you complete the imprint?"

"No, she doesn't want to know about wolf legend stuff. I didn't tell her about the imprint. I don't know when I will."

Sam stepped back holding her shoulders in his hands. His face was deeply creased with concern. "Is that what you need my help with? I'm not sure it will help if I talk to her." Sam knew he'd have to talk to Leah again eventually. She was Bella's imprint. But he knew it wouldn't go smoothly.

"That's not it, Sam." Bella smiled. "I'm making a shopping list."

Sam put his arm around Emily's shoulder and kissed her on the temple. "That's more of Emily's thing, Bella. We have two lists on the fridge." Sam pointed to magnetic pads of paper on the fridge door. "One is food I request, like chocolate chip cookies. The other is her shopping list, because she got mad about me putting meals on the list."

Emily explained, "He would write lasagna on the list, like he wanted one of those frozen ones or something. I don't know what your dynamic with Leah will be like, both being girls, but that works for us."

"Sam, I want to know what foods to get that Leah will like."

"She likes chocolate," Sam said without a thought.

"I gathered that," Bella said, glancing at Emily. "What about meals? She told me the cereal she usually eats. I want to be stocked with foods to keep her coming back. Fruit! What's her favorite fruit Sam?"

"Apples, the green ones."

"That's me, hon," Emily said, rolling her eyes playfully. "Leah likes the red ones."

"Red delicious?" Bella asked.

"You sure?" Sam asked. "I remember her eating the green ones."

"She'll eat them. I won't eat the red ones, so they would get the green ones when I came. It was a bit of a fight sometimes."

Bella wrote down red apples. "And for meals?" Bella asked again.

"She likes Italian food," Sam said. "She likes pasta and tomato sauce and lasagna and pesto and Alfredo."

"Isn't she lactose intolerant?" Emily asked.

"She is," Sam said, nodding. "But she takes that medication and just lives her life. She always has it in her purse. If you really want to impress her, put some lactaid in your medicine cabinet."

"Would it embarrass her, if Bella knows that?" Emily eyed Sam warily.

"Uhh, she was never embarrassed about it around me." Sam shrugged.

"She knew you a lot longer," Emily reminded him. "Didn't you guys know each other since kindergarten?"

"I'm getting the lactaid," Bella said definitively, not wanting to get into Sam and Leah's kindergarten antics. "I don't want her caught off guard. Does she ever drink milk alternatives? Oat milk or anything."

"Vanilla soy milk. She's going to know that you talked to us, Bella," Emily said.

"She knows that I love you guys. I think she accepts it. Can you make Alfredo with soy milk?"

"Don't!" Emily answered quickly. "You can get complicated recipes from the Internet to do that but it's not as good and she'd rather just take her medication and have the food she wants."

"Don't try to help her with the lactose intolerance," Sam warned. "She'll find it patronizing. I did that once, a whole milk free meal. It took me a long time, too, because I'm not the best cook. She hated it."

"The food might not have been the best," Emily added, elbowing Sam gently in the ribs.

"She ate it," Sam said, "but she told me never to do it again."

"Ok, so I'll let her manage her own medical issues, that's fine. What's her favorite cheese?"

"No fucking clue," Sam admitted.

"Me neither."

"Ok, Sam, you've been so helpful. You can go now."

Sam and Emily exchanged a playful glance at Bella dismissing him like that. "I'll see you later, Emily." Sam kissed her lips. "Bella, I'll let you know when you're back on patrol. I'm guessing it will be at least a couple more days."

"I'm sorry about that." Bella didn't like letting Sam down. The whole pack had to pick up the slack with her missing patrol.

"Yeah, you'll have to apologize to the kid, too. He'll be one of us, family, so we have to mend that relationship."

After Sam left, Bella said, "Emily, you know what's in my pantry. If I add this stuff," she said, pointing to her list, "what will I be missing? What do I need to add to have a normal kitchen?"

Emily looked over the list and thought for a minute. "Vegetables! You don't have vegetables. I recommend frozen. Then you don't have to worry about using them before they go bad. The exception is potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery, which you'll want fresh. They all have a long shelf life if stored properly and are useful ingredients in lots of dishes."

Bella wrote all that down. "What else?"

"I usually keep ground beef and chicken breasts in the freezer. I also look at what meat is on sale whenever I shop and try to make meals out of reasonably priced meats on sale. Hey, do you want me to come with you? I can show you all my shopping tips."

"You would do that?" Bella was excited for an outing with Emily. "Don't you need to make Sam's lunch or something?"

"I'm not his slave, Bella, and even if I were, he'd want me to help you. I'll write a note though. I don't want him to worry."